Dark Archive diary
When Tallak the Mad located the Dark Archive in Erastus 4722AR, he unwittingly set in motion a paranormal chain of events that are noted here.
The Gathering of the New Archivists
In The Weeping Hag, in Magnimar, Tallak gathered a small crew of paranormally experienced adventurers to investigate the Dark Archive he had found. The first to arrive was Kishki, an orcish barbarian who Tallak had helped nearly two years previous. The two friends greeted each other warmly, but Tallak expressed that they would be moving on from the tavern swiftly enough. Quickly afterwards, another orc arrived, this one more finely dressed than Kishki. Tallak signalled Aurath to come on over, and after a brief discussion, they were interrupted by a tired young courier for Tallak. The letter informed the thaumaturge that the final member of the party would be delayed. Disappointed, Tallak led the group out of the pub, and to an abandoned pathfinder society lodge. Inside, past a freshly locked door that Tallak had the key for, a long table supported the great grimoire called the Dark Archive. He explained that the tome would contain many secrets, and that he would appreciate his orcish comrades' assistance in finding them; Aurath and Kishki were happy enough to help, and it was at that moment that the archive opened itself to a page entitled The Beach of Birchfrost. The tome started emitting a pale light, putting the archivists to sleep.
The Beast of Birchfrost
Moments later, the trio awoke, and found themselves on the middle of a well-worn trail cutting through a forest. Next to where they had apparated, a wounded half-elf was resting in the shade of a small hut. Surprised to see the strange-looking trio appear out of thin air, she barely got a word in before Tallak began interrogating her as to where they were, and how she had teleported them here. Eventually, Tola, the half-elf, explained she was simply a trapper, and that she was as surprised as they were to see them here. Happy that the teleportation had been something from the dark archive, Tallak pressed on to ask Tola about her wounds. She explained that her trapping partners, two human twins, and her had been hunting in the woods when the mythic Beach of Birchfrost had attacked them. Tola had been gored by the strange badger-like beast, and the twins had been chased off deeper into the woods. The archivists took on Tola's task of hunting down the beast, and she told them to go talk to the local angler, Ligh, for more guidance.
After an hour or so asking around the village, the archivists found their way to Ligh's house, where they were bringing in a fresh catch with the help of their young daughter. Surpirsed to see the unlikely-looking party arrive at their door, Ligh was nonetheless very welcoming, and invited them inside for a cup of tea. Ligh explained that the beast originally emerged as part of an old myth about a very over-agressive businessman who after exploiting the local lake, had mysteriously disappeared. Since then, the beast had popped up in folklore whenever the town endured the threat of incoming industrialisation. However, the beast had recently grown more agressive, and the legends around it had grown darker. Ligh mentioned that the beast roamed the woods to the east, and they should seek out Ivan, the local druid, if they wished to explore the woods more easily.
Near the town, on a small cliff overlooking the Lake of Mist and Veils, the archivists found Ivan, who was gazing intently at a small patch of cumulus cloud drifting across the sky. He ignored the party at first, and started getting irate when Orath blocked his view, until Tallak drew his attention by reciting a slice of Mendevian cloud lore. With his intrest piqued, Ivan listened intently enough as the archivists explained their quest. After Tallak finished explaining the group's intent, Ivan agreed to guide them through the forest.
In the clearing where Tola normally set her traps,
- broken traps by a large beast, something burrowing
followed the tracks to the twins, stuck in the tree. they were arguing as to whether the beast was a badger or a demon, or something else entirely. they provided information that its tail was dangerous, and that they saw it around stone beach
5 clawed hooves resembling something like a boar
set up stakeout at the beast's hunting ground. Orath went through the motions of being a trapper, and this attracted the beast, cahrging in from the west. it resembled a board with beaver's feet, a strange creature indeed. it attacked us, and during the fight, Ivan the druid remarked the thing had horns, which it did not appear to. when hit, the things form seemed to shift between a badger and a boar.
it was slain, and Orath healed as necessary. found 2 sets of much smaller tracks alongside the beast's. made to follow the beast's trail back to its lair.
found an arrangment of corpses in the beast's lair
found the beast's mate, and realised that the beast was formed of the tales that was told about it - the story was tranferring to the beast's mate, changing its nature such that all tales told of it were true.
returned to the village and proclaimed the beast dead such that the morphing legend around it died with it. at that very moment, the crew were enveloped in light and found themselves back in the pathfinder lodge, safe and sound, with some new treasure on the table in front of them.
