DAY 516 (1st Eleasis) (August) cont ...
Later in the evening me and Lavinia went to the pub (a place called 'The Wolf and Cat' to hopefully flush all my worries away in regards to the handover of Midpoint Island to the Confluence.
'The Wolf' is a large place and there were quite a few people in the main room. There is a stage and piano there so once it became free I played on it for a while.
A fat idiot called Brian went over to talk to Lavinia and didn't go away when I returned. I was still feeling out of sorts regarding recent events and not particularly interested in turning a drunk into a frog or something, despite how rude he was being to everyone, so I ordered a bottle of brandy and matched him drink for drink until he was sick and taken away. We then switched tables.
Later on a local merchant who knew Lavinia a little came to talk to us. His name was Ilde Balderk. We talked for a while and he told us that he needed someone to go along the coast and check on his friend Durgen Hillstone. Since I can fly, we volunteered to go to Hillstone's house in the morning.
DAY 517 (2nd Eleasis) (August)
It is maybe a days walk to Hillstone's house on the coast to the east of Westgate, but it does not take long as the giant owl flies.
I noticed an area of dead trees on the road, and black tarry substances bubbling. It is only now that I write this that I realise what it was that I saw, but at the time it was far below me.
The house appeared unmolested, but quiet. A large single-storey villa situated in a nice secluded spot not far from the sea. I knocked on the door, but there was no answer. I gently opened the door.
Leaving Lavinia outside to keep watch I ventured into the house. The first room I came to was a living room. The walls and floor were made of solid oak. The room smelled of mould and the fireplace was cold. The furniture was covered in a thin film of sticky goo, like slug trails. The bottoms of the doors were worn, almost corroded in appearance.
The next room was a dining room, where it looked like a meal had been eaten in a hurry. The silverware was corroded and there were signs of a struggle.
The next room, down a corridor, was a bedroom and I was attacked by three Ochre Jellies. These are large yellow slimes, dangerous in large numbers, but not the worst of slimes to combat. I summoned a load of crocodiles into the room and stepped out. The Jellies did not last long.
I walked past the kitchen and searched more rooms. I searched three more bedrooms, which all had en-suite bathrooms and which each contained a Black Pudding. There are much larger and nastier than Ochre Jellies, but again, they could not defeat wave after wave of summoned crocodiles.
It made a right mess of the rooms, but these abominations are best destroyed.
In the library and some of the other rooms I discovered letters and other papers that painted a picture of a money making scheme gone very wrong. It appeared Hillstone had been trying to make gems with a 'magical crystal'. Somewhere down the line though he had ended up with a house full of deadly slimes. It took a few magical scrolls and other things, considering it fair game as Hillstone wouldn't be needing them.
There was only one place left to check. The cellar. I got Lavinia to come inside while I went down the ladder to take a look.
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