Journal #4: The Land of Lost Letters

You grab the bow. Sure, you took down that bee just fine at close range, but there are probably monsters or other mean things in The Land of Lost Letters. There's also Flanner, who has been talking at a mile a minute for many minutes of miles. You could pop an arrow up his head and finally make him shut u-

"You okay, laddie? You been staring at the back of my head like it's a fluppin target."

You're fine. Maybe the heat's just getting to you. As you walk down the path to The Land of Lost Letters you realize a haze of fog is falling in front of you. You ask Flanner about this strange land.

"The Land of Lost Letters? Strange, strange place, laddie. Once a year sects of the Cult of Lost Letters infiltrate Camp U.S. and steal young men and women. It happens at night and quick as a lightning bolt. They call it 'rush,' and no matter how hard parents try they can't stop those of the Lost Letters."

You step over a hill. A giant gate stands before you with a robed man in front of it. His hat is backward and his robes are cut off at the sleeve.

"Best let me do the talking, laddie."

Flanner approaches the robed man. He points to you and nods. They both laugh and pound fists in a way you don't understand.

"Welcome to the Land of Lost Letters."

The gates open and the area inside erupts with color. Robed men and women dance around bright fires of green and yellow. Houses line the edges of the open court as far as the eye can see, each marked with letters you can't read. You follow Flanner into the crowd. He grabs a tankard from one of the robed women and hands it to you.

"Drink up, laddie."

You're sick of him calling you laddie. You have a super cool name and HE KNOWS THAT. You put the drink in your inventory.

You break through the central court and between two houses to a dark stone wall.

"Those of the Cult of Lost Letters live their lives from one party to the next. Back in the day they worshipped the letters they represented. All of the letters were logged in the Book of Lost Letters, thought long lost."

Flanner knocks on one of the bricks with a rap tap-tap. The stone recedes, opening the door to a cave below.

"But I found it, laddie." Flanner says. "I found it and it's going to fetch me the prettiest penny in all the land."

You wander through the dark cave. You find 3 gold coins on the ground. You find five arrows. You wish you weren't afraid of the dark.

Finally you arrive in an open chamber. Sitting on a podium in front of you is a worn book. Flanner walks toward it. Stops. He grabs a rock and throws it against the podium. A fireball shoots toward Flanner. He dodges it, but it starts coming for you. You pull out your bow. Shit. That was stupid. Just duck or roll or something. What's the button for duck? I press down on the joystick? It's a joystick how does that even work? Fine.

You duck just in time.

Flanner steps up to the podium and grabs the book. He holds the book above his head and yells, "We're going to be ric-"

He's struck with an arrow in the chest. You turn to see five bowmen and a woman in a short robe. Too short, really.

You pull out your bow and loose three arrows. They drop three bowmen. You finally figure out how to roll and do so toward Flanner, grabbing the book as you dip behind the podium.

"Kill him!" Yells the underdressed lady.

You look above the podium. A shaft leads up to safety. Hanging from the top is a convenient rope on a pulley system attached to something heavy at the top but anchored at the bottom. You take an arrow from your quiver and cut the rope at the bottom of the shaft sending yourself shooting to the top.

The pull throws you out of the tunnel and face first onto the ground. Ouch. You lose 3 health points.

YOU'VE REACHED LEVEL 3

+1 Strength
+3 Intelligence
+1 Agility

Unlocked: No longer afraid of the dark, The ability to read, Better sense of direction

As your face stops hurting and your vision clears, you see a sign ahead of you pointing in opposite directions. One reads "Speaker's Stronghold," the other reads "Maker's March."

Which path do you choose?

A) Speaker's Stronghold
B) Maker's March
or
C) Sit and cry until the guys from The Cult of Lost Letters come and kill you (not advised)

The choice is yours...

On the two of Barebark,

The Scribe