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Gap of Skulls

The Zhents are waiting for us to clear out the Gap of Skulls so that their caravan may safely pass.  They have some powerful leaders, so I was a little apprehensive about clearing a path with out them.  What were they afraid of?  My companions’ courage helped to bolster my own.  I must admit, I do not feel comfortable in these unfamiliar surroundings. 

Shortly after leaving the protection of the caravan we found ourselves in the Gap.  The towering spires offered protection from the intense sunlight that plagues this region.  So much so, I must look strait up in order to see the sky.  After carefully moving by torch light for maybe an hour, we came upon a strange sight.  Before us was a pyramid of skulls about my height.  What did this strange omen portend?  After some discussion, it was decided to try striking it at a distance.  Xan did so with one of his arrows and a loud, ghastly wail issued from the skulls.  Immediately, several Vargoulle appeared out of the ether to attack us.  Fortunately we were able to dispatch them with little effort.  We then decided that it was best to destroy these early warning systems.

We moved confidently forward, destroying the sentinels, making quite a racket in the process.  Or bravado alerted some of the disiens of the Gap whom came upon us with a vengeance.  It was then that I realized that too many of us were grouped together.  One of our opponents was a magic user that immediately became invisible and hurled fireballs at us.  I was not able to get out of the way and endured its full force.  I thought myself fortunate until a second fireball hit us and my dear friend Kerith was struck down.  Xan, using only his keen ears to guide him, unleashed his arrows upon our unseen enemy.  When one of his arrows found purchase, Ceder returned the favor by letting loose a fireball and I bestowed a flame strike for good measure.  I then ran to Kerith only discover that I had failed to prevent his death.  I had little time to mourn for all the commotion had not gone unnoticed.  It was here that I had my first encounter with the fell Drow.  My blood, already hot to avenge my fallen comrade, was raised to boiling at their sight.  Long have I yearned to repay those whom despoil our homelands.  Without hesitation, I called upon Corellen to smite these parasites of Cormanthor.  Offering no quarter, we returned them to the darkness from which they arose. 

Xan and I found ourselves over their bodies, venom in our eyes.  I know not why, but we were united in our hatred for the Drow.  I picked up a vial from one of their lifeless forms and immediately recognized it as sleeping poison.  My eyes met Xan’s.  I did not need to say a word, for we both knew how this discovery would be cruel justice if poured upon our arrows.  Oskar and Shane must have seen the look in our eyes and delicately reminded us that to use their evil would invite evil upon ourselves. 

I am ashamed that I even considered it.  How sad it would be to loose a friend and to honor him by stooping to the level of the underdark!  I must admit that passion clouded my better judgement.  Praise Corellen for Shane and Oskar’s disipline. 

We shall overcome evil, not by fighting it on its own level, but by rising above it.  For if there is one constant in the multiverse, it is this:  Evil cannot trust itself.  I believe this is the key to our success in purging the Drow.  What we cannot win by brute force, we can achieve through exploiting evil’s fatal flaw.  The Zhentarum and Drow have conspired in the east, but not so here.  As agents of the Zhentarum, we can sew doubt on this alliance and pit two of our enemies against each other. 

First I must attend to my fallen comrad and then…….

To find a Drow to carry out my plan……..

Respectfully,

Primula