Something in the Water

July 27, 2024

As I am sure you all remember, our arrival on Sundrop Island was heralded by the coming of a great sea serpent which detroyed Rankin's Ferry and nearly killed all of us. Even now, the creature lurks in the waters between our island and the mainland, hoping to pull us down into the shadowy depths below.

But, have you asked yourselves where this beast came from and why it lashed out? This is the exact question I have set my mind to solving, and I believe I have the answer.

First, it must be established that we are not the first inhabitants of Sundrop Island. The island was once the home of a great, highly advanced race of people, the evidence of which is in the ruins all around us. And yet, for reasons as yet unknown, these people abandoned Sundrop Island and left their once-great civilization to fall to ruins. Our very own Flora has dedicated much of her time to revealing the fate of this great civilization, but so far has been unable to come to any conclusive result. How could such an advanced culture disappear without leaving any sign of where they went?

But what if they did leave a sign of where they went?

I propose that the very sea serpent that attacked Rankin's Ferry and which now haunts our shoreline is connected to this ancient culture's disappearance. According to Jain Farstrider's travel journals (accessed courtesy of Marion) Sea Serpents can live for several hundred years. And one of the size that attacked us must reasonably be assumed to be old even by Sea Serpent standards. It is not unreasonable to suppose that it would have been alive at the same time that this civilization was in its decline.

So, given a civilization that mysteriously disappeared for no apparent reason and an ancient serpent from the time of that civilization that is oddly protective of that civilization's former home, one explanation seems almost too obvious to say: The sea serpent is a former member of that very same ancient civilization. Perhaps its last surviving member, or perhaps one of many survivors lurking deep under the surface. And how did the survivors of this civilization become sea serpents? I haven't cracked that part of the mystery yet. But I intend to.

Oil in the Trees

July 30, 2024

The mysteries of this island continue to amaze and intrigue me. As I am sure some of my fellow truth seekers have noticed, Sundrop Island has an inordinant number of dead trees seemingly growing in patches. These trees captured my attention when we first arrived, and I knew that I had to get to the bottom of their strange appearance.

This very afternoon, I and a handful of fellow truth seekers (who shall remain anonymous for their protection) set out to find the secret behind these strange necrotic plants. One of our number, who I shall call Alex for simplicity, began by inspecting the soil around the trees while I and another investigator who we shall call Bill investigated the trees themselves. What both groups found answered one question but created so many more. Saturating the soil and creating a thin film under the trees' bark was some sort of reddish-black oil. The substance has a slightly acrid smell and is very thick, but neither myself nor any of my fellow investigators could identify what the substance was. Intrigued, we checked some of the other trees in the vicinity and soil in other locations. Almost all of the dead trees had a thick buildup of this oil under their bark, and the oil was only present in two of the eight other soil samples we took further away from any trees. We checked nearby living trees and found no oil in the soil around them, but many had a thin film of the oil under their bark. This film was much thinner than that present under the bark of the dead trees.

The questions continue to mount even now. What is this oil and how did it get into the ground? Are the trees absorbing the oil from the area or are they producing the oil and allowing it to seep into the ground? I will get to the bottom of these and any other questions that come up in my investigation. And you, my fellow truth seekers, will be the first to know the secret of the oil in the trees.

The Hobgoblin

August 11, 2024

When I was a child, I had a mischievous side that often led to me getting into trouble with parents, teachers, and other authority figures. I guess that never really went away, now that I think about it. The adults in my life were always looking for ways to keep me in line and unquestioning; a quest they ultimately failed at. But one method that worked for a time when I was little was to threaten that bad things happened to bad children. Sometimes the "bad things" would be trolls sneaking in through bedroom windows or witches kidnapping naughty children to turn into soup. But the one that really kept me in line was the threat of The Hobgoblin swooping out of the sky to take me away if I misbehaved.

The Hobgoblin is a common way to scare children straight, as I'm sure many of you are familiar with. According to my grandmother, the Hobgoblin was a shapeshifter that could take on any form; however, he preferred to appear as a very tall, thin man with pink skin and long ears, wearing a black cape and top hat and sporting a long, thin mustache and beard. He rode on the back of a flying black panther and would fly around at night looking for naughty children to kidnap from their beds. Typical fairy tale nonsense to make children go to bed on time and finish their supper. And it worked on me for several years, until I realized I was too old to believe in ridiculous nonsense.

But now I wonder if I was perhaps wrong to doubt my grandmother's stories. Yes, she used them to get me to pick up my toys and eat my vegetables, but that doesn't necessarily mean there wasn't a nugget of truth to them. When some of my neighbors returned today from exploring the hills north of town, and informed me that they had found a black felt top hat in a tree, my mind immediately went back to my grandmother's stories. Thinking this was childish nonsense, I ignored my instincts and said nothing. But now it appears that the hat does have magical properties after all, and seems to match the descriptions of the Hobgoblin's magic top hat.

Now, as you all know, I am very scientific and skeptical in my approach to these sorts of things. Could this actually be the Hobgoblin's hat? Perhaps. But it could also be a fake, or an unrelated magic hat. And if it were the Hobgoblin's hat, why was it in a tree on this random island? The questions are too many for me to feel comfortable saying one way or the other. But one thing I do know deep in my bones: Whether the hat belongs to the Hobgoblin or someone else, the owner is certain to want their hat back.

Juksu Mymbeltroll

September 2, 2024

When some of my fellow residents of Sundrop Island claimed to have found the hideout of Juksu Mymbeltroll, I don't think I was the only one who was a little skeptical. I was raised on stories of the legendary thief's exploits, and it felt a little too convenient that his hideout would be found on a random hike through the hills.

I can hardly believe that anyone has not heard of Juksu Mymbeltroll, but just to make sure we're on the same page I will give a short summary of the adventures I remember hearing about as a child. Juksu Mymbeltroll was a Mumrik; a sort of Troll creature that looks a lot like a Human. He was apparently a prankster, which is what most of the children's stories focus on. But, he was also a master thief, seemingly enjoying the challenge of stealing the most well-protected items he could. In some of the stories I can recall he stole the crown off the head of the King of Austoth, the legs from snakes, and even an entire castle somewhere in the Whispering Desert.

All of those stories might be just that, but we now know one thing that Juksu Mymbeltroll did steal: The Serpent's Eye. It turns out that's why the sea serpent marooned us on Sundrop Island. The sea serpent is actually the spirit of the strait between the island and the mainland, and hundreds of years ago Juksu stole a massive emerald called the Serpent's Eye from the spirit and hid it away in his hideout on the island. It turns out the spirit just wanted us to recover its treasure; a task which some of my fellow islanders accomplished just yesterday.

I should point out that we only found out about all this because of a new friend we recently met. Leia is a mermaid who lives in the waters around Sundrop Island, and she kindly informed us of the sea serpent's request. I bring her up mostly to explain why we haven't returned the jewel to the sea serpent yet: We are waiting for Leia to visit the pond in our town so she can tell the serpent we have its gemstone. Once that's done, we should be able to get the ferry running again back to the mainland.

Little Ghosts on Little Boats

September 11, 2024

This island really is making me rethink some of the stories my grandma used to tell me as a kid; the ones I eventually grew up and stopped believing in. Only last month we found the Hobgoblin's magical top hat, and then the hideout of the legendary thief Juksu Mymbeltroll. Then, an honest-to-goddess mermaid decided to take up residence in the pond in the middle of our little island. And now, yet another story my grandma used to tell turns out to be real: The Hattifatteners.

These little creatures have pale white skin almost like ghosts. They have little fins in place of arms and large eyes, and are constantly on the move towards the horizon, floating across the sea in boats made of wide leaves. According to my grandma, Hattifatteners are not aggressive, but may accidentally shock you if you get too close. Apparently they get their energy from lightning strikes and will gather around poles and trees during thunderstorms. Exactly why they move ever onward toward the horizon is a mystery, at least as far as I know, but Gran told me that they never stay in one place for more than a few days if they can help it, feeling the constant urge to follow the horizon.

Ghosts and Witches

September 23, 2024

Two weeks ago, I was taking a hike and wandered into the woods southwest of town; the so-called "Witch's Forest." Of course, I wasn't put off by that silly moniker or by the childish stories about the witch that inhabits the woods. Stories that say that anyone who goes into the woods is never heard from again, or that the witch turns trespassers into lizards and frogs, or even that the witch eats children. Naturally, these stories are ridiculous to anyone with a fully-developed brain. If there were anything really dangerous in the woods, surely there would be no survivors to spread the stories. No, the forest may be spooky but clearly is not home to any witches.

Well, any EVIL witches, at least.

You see, during my stroll in the woods, I came across a peculiar remnant of the former civilization that lived on this island: An overgrown cemetery with barely-legible headstones, no sign of any nearby town or ruins in sight. I will admit I was a little spooked at first at the sudden appearance of a graveyard in the middle of a dark forest, even if I was consciously aware that there was really nothing here to be scared of. But I quickly braced myself, pulled out a few sheets of paper and a charcoal stick from my backpack, and started towards the rusted gate to make some rubbings of the headstones. But just as I reached the gate, a haunting, sad voice reached my ears from further within the cemetery; a human voice, singing a haunting melody from somewhere just beyond the dead trees ahead. I stopped and listened for a moment, trying to determine whether the owner of this voice was friend or foe, and why they might be in the cemetery singing. I weighed my options and was preparing myself to go forward and unmask this mystery singer, but was pulled back by logical reasoning. While it seemed unlikely that anything truly dangerous were in the graveyard with me, especially something dangerous by my quite high standards, I had to think of the town. After all, if the creature truly were aggressive and dangerous enough to harm me, then the town would be left completely undefended without knowledge of the creature's existence. No, it was my duty to decline the glory of first discovery for myself and to instead bring the information back to my fellow townspeople so that a thorough search could be completed and so that the town would know if they needed to prepare themselves.

And so I left quietly the way I had come. Back in town, I passed my story along to one of my more adventurous neighbors. They assembled a party and ventured back into the woods to investigate further, and I could hardly believe what they returned with.

First, the returning party brought part of the graveyard back with them. Headstones, gates, even a few of the exhumed bodies. They quickly stated that they planned to move the cemetery to town so that the dead could be cared for here and could become part of our new town, but some of Thadius' questions and comments have started to make me suspect they may have ulterior motives.

Second, the party had acquired a new member: The witch of the Witch's Forest. Or, a witch in any case. This young woman, Stig, is apparently the granddaughter and apprentice of the witch that the forest is named for. Stig spends much of her free time in the cemetery and was very supportive of moving it to town so that the graves will be cared for; however, she did warn us that her grandmother is not as friendly as herself. Not evil per se, just not friendly.

And if I was surprised by Stig, that is nothing compared to how I felt meeting Vivienne. You see, in addition to my neighbors bringing back a member of the living and several members of the dead, it turns out they also brought back a member of the living dead! Vivienne is a spirit tied to her physical remains. She is usually rather inactive, but Stig is able to awaken her for a short period of time each day. During this time, Vivienne appears in a ghostly form originating from her physical remains. Oddly enough, at least for someone like me who was raised with certain expectations about the undead, Vivienne is quite friendly and a fun conversationalist! She loves to discuss her former life as an adventurer, a student of magic, and a fellow seeker of the truth. While I, like many people, was raised to believe that Necromancy is evil in all its forms, I must admit that Stig's trick to summon up Vivienne has made me think that it isn't as black-and-white as I thought. In fact, and I realize I am taking a big risk by admitting this publicly, I may check with my local book seller to see if she can acquire any books on basic Necromancy for me. There is unfortunately little that Stig can teach me without a basic knowledge to work on, but I would very much like to be able to summon Vivienne myself. If only I had access to someone with more knowledge of Necromancy who might be willing to tutor me.

The Freshmen

October 4, 2024

Fellow seekers of the truth, the most amazing thing happened to me today! As I was doing my usual work landscaping around the community center, my neighbor happened to pass by. I will call him "Bradius" to protect his identity. In my town it's a bit of an open secret that Bradius practices the arts of Necromancy, a reason that I previously kept a healthy distance from him; however, with my recent revelations around Vivienne and Stig, I decided this may be a good opportunity to close the distance I had built up between myself and my neighbor.

When I first approached him, I was not entirely sure what I was going to say. I had unfairly distanced myself from this person based on superstition and backwards thinking, and I was not sure he could or even should forgive me. But, what I wasn't expecting was for him to not only forgive me but to agree to make me his apprentice in the dark arts! I could hardly believe it and pledged my loyalty to him, which he humbly deflected. He even asked me to continue calling him by his name instead of master or sensei, as if we were equals instead of teacher and student! I start my training tomorrow morning and hope I will be able to do some basic necromancy in the next few weeks; perhaps using those sticks that Stig uses to wake up Vivienne?

The Hobgoblin Returns

November 22, 2024

As I suspected so many months ago, the magic tophat found in the Black Hills turned out to belong to the Hobgoblin! This was confirmed recently when he made an appearance and began asking some of my neighbors if anyone had seen his hat. Apparently he was so excited to get his hat back that he gave away a whole handful of rubies as a reward; a reward that I was unfortunately not a recipient of. But, I did have the opportunity to see the Hobgoblin for myself up close when he visited a local cafe after having his hat returned.

Perhaps the most surprising detail to me was how the Hobgoblin arrived on Sundrop Island. He flew down out of the sky on the back of a large panther, a detail I assumed was invented by my grandmother to frighten me. And he was even taller than I expected, easily 7 feet tall even before counting his oversized hat. While he is a courteous conversatonalist, it was clear that he wasn't comfortable saying too much. But, what little he did say was fascinating; tales of traveling to far away lands and even distant planets, searching for a giant gem called the King's Ruby for the last 200 years. I hope he keeps his promise to return to our island. He adds a certain oddness that I think our community needs.

The Mari Lwyd

January 1, 2025

The Winter Solstice festival is an important time for people all over the world, with different people having a wide range of customs and practices to see out the old year and bring in the new. Usually these practices are the result of several generations choosing to participate in a continuing tradition; however, sometimes strange circumstances force a practice on you, leaving you with little choice but to participate. I believe such is the case with Sundrop Island's newest Winter Solstice tradition: The Mari Lwyd.

Last night, as I was enjoying the solstice party with the rest of the town in the Blue Bar, we were all suddenly aware of a strange presence outside as the wind died down and the sound of small bells drifted into the bar. I peered out into the dark to see a creature approaching the bar; at least 8 feet tall, almost completely covered in a white shroud, and a horse skull for a head. It moved with a disturbing liquidity as it drifted directly for the Blue Bar, and finally stopped at the door before giving three sharp knocks.

Knowing that people would be looking to me for leadership, I quickly pulled as many people as I could away from the door and windows, corralling them into an easily-defended position where I could place myself between them and the creature. Then our town's antiquarian, an adventurer in her own right, cracked the door open just enough to address the creature. The pair went back and forth exchanging rhymes and song, the creature attempting to gain entry to the bar while the adventurer gave reasons it could not come in. After several bouts of banter, the creature agreed to come in only for a moment and then depart once again into the night.

According to a part-time resident who has been coming to Sundrop Island for many years, the Mari Lwyd makes an appearance every Winter Solstice, so I suppose we have some time to come up with more rhymes to keep it at bay.