Moonhaven Logbook
The book is filled with pages and pages of observations, tracking travellers and people in the village. ’Eleasis 26. Oliver Synge - Merchant - arrives in Moonhaven. Departs next day. Callishite. Eleint 7. Stranger - Name unknown - passes through. Not Thayan. (Rashemi?) Marpenoth 14. Three men in black armor pass through. Not Thayan.’
’Uktar 2. Hackett - Journeyman - passes through. Not Thayan. Uktar 30. Raid! Black armored soldiers. Some damage. Not Thayan, but dangerous. Nightal 14. The book's key gem has gone missing. Familiar ordered to watch my apprentice.’
’Nightal 14. Synge passes through. Doesn't stop. ’Nightal 15. Familiar reports apprentice disappeared near well. Will observe.’ ’Nightal 18. Raid. Same soldiers as before. Townsfolk taken. Nightal 20. Smoke on horizon. Raid?’
‘Raise Dead. Failed - Gone too long. Body decomposed. Reanimation. Failed - Came back as ghoul. Had to kill again. Speak with Dead. Failed - Answers unhelpful.'
Pausing here. This is what I was talking about with the "Answers Unhelpful." He was asking the corpse of this important person. Thus, I concluded that the important person was an associate of his; someone with some secret he was attempting to recover from her corpse. 'Clone. Failed - Needs living tissue. Reanimation + Clone? Failed - Had to kill both ghouls. Resurrection. Failed - Why?! Magical curse? True Resurrection. I have reached the limit of my skills and resources. The book offers help. Dare I accept?’
Logbook XII 1371
’6 Uktar: Sent two druids, some of the newer recruits, up north. Village there has had two years of failed crops and are unlikely to survive the next winter. 9 Uktar: A group from Baldur's Gate arrived. They've set up camp on the edge of the forest. Two bears and a fox came by. Their territory has been burned out. Half the fox's cubs died. Paying this new group a visit tomorrow. 10 Uktar: Visit did not go well. After telling me where to shove it, they said they'd cut down half the forest and burn out any wildlife that dared to stick around. Claimed they were going to 'farm the land and make a new city of their own.' Time to get creative.’
’12 Uktar: Mudslide did the trick. Buried half their farming equipment and made the rest useless. They won't be back any time soon.’
So, looks like Roah and Halsin likely ran into Dark Justiciars north of Moonhaven who were causing issues. They created a mudslide on Uktar 12. Then the Dark Justiciars left and returned 18 days later and raided Moonhaven for the first time. Thus, the conflict was beginning. Almost a month later, on Nightal 15, the apprentice disappears into the well, likely with the keygem since it went missing on the 14th. 3 days later, Dark Justiciars attack again. Some townsfolk were taken, but not all because on the 20th is the last entry mentioning smoke on the horizon and a final raid.
'The Cost of Sorrow'
"'But Why?' Roa screamed, the beast within barely contained. 'Why follow Shar? Why destroy Moonhaven?'"
"’Ketheric stared down haughtily and cruelly at Roa as he stepped over bodies of Harpers and druids alike. 'Shar knows all.' He smiled maliciously. 'She gave me a holy mission. I'm merely fulfilling it.
"The people of Moonhaven trusted you!' Roa cried, his anger rising. 'How could you turn your Dark Justiciars on them?'"
Stop there. So yes, Ketheric was once trusted by the people of Moonhaven. He was someone they trusted and viewed as an ally and friend. Read the first two volumes of this series of books (this is the third) and you see Ketheric coming for the first time to the Emerald Grove. He comes with Selene and the Harpers and such, so he was likely one of them or a member of the town of Moonhaven. It is unclear.
"’Ketheric smiled. 'They needed the target practice. Can't have Shar's elite getting rusty, now can we? As for you...' A crescent blade appeared in his cruel hands. 'You are but one lone druid, Roa. Who are you to stand against me?'"
"’Roa forced himself to his feet, Silvanus' fury coursing through him. 'I'm your downfall. Today you die, Ketheric!'"
'Book Draft Volume Four!' 'Shadow's Kiss'.
It's written in bold on the front, just like the other. Pages of crossed out lines have notes in the margin reading 'finale!', 'more exciting,' etc. The final entry reads: 'Get out of here.' Roa whispered, clutching his side. Blood poured from his fingers, a final gift from Ketheric's blade.’"
"'I'm not leaving you,' Selene sobbed, blue eyes filling with tears.’"
"’Roa cupped her face. 'I won't make it out in time. But you can.'"
"’Selene pressed her forehead against his. Her ebony hair fell forward, forming a curtain that enveloped them both. Roa closed his eyes, a smile lifting his lips as her scent, wild roses, washed over him. 'That grappling hook. You still have it?' he asked.’"
"'Of course. Why do you -' With the last of his strength, Roa pushed her from the balcony. He watched her fall, watched her pull the hook from her pack and expertly throw it, swinging gracefully to the ground. A mighty crack split the floor beneath him as the tower crumbled. He smiled contentedly. Selene was safe. That's all that mattered.’"
’Epilogue: 'Selfish bastard,' Selene said, kicking the base of the grave. Balsin placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.’ - Balsin! Hah! I love it! I wonder who THAT could be. Ahem. - 'He was the greatest of us all,' Balsin said, a towering behemoth of a druid, although not as tall as Roa. 'We will forever honor him, for he single-handedly broke Shar's hold on the land, and helped...'"
'Roan,' it says. 'You had one job. This is not a historical record of what occurred. It is a poorly written romance with no basis in fact. And if I ever see the name Balsin again, I will personally feed you to Ormn.'" It is signed 'Halsin.' Hmmm.
Note: Ormn was a bear in the grove down by the river front. So, obviously, Halsin was alive back during the 1372 incident and was likely the 2nd Druid of the Grove at the time. That is why he is included in the dialoge with Selene, and he also mentions unfinished business at Moonrise when he talks to you about going with you to that place. He likely became First Druid way back then when Roah died.
Murals
'The forest rose with claw and tooth to tear the darkness from its roots.' "'By claw and tooth, from root to thorn, The Old Oak's grove, to wildlings sworn,'" The third one said, 'In darkest hour, a concord made, twixt harp and wild against the shade.' Then the fourth said, 'The towers seized, the battle done, the moonrise broke the Darkest One.'"
Sounds like it is referencing the above events; at least murals 3 and 4.
’Journal of Ilyn Toth.’
’6 Nightal, 1371 DR. I pay no service to the gods, but by some blessing, this village believes me and my apprentice to be simple healers. My tattoos are hidden, my red robes locked away, and my lab secured. I have not heard the word 'Thay' since we arrived and only my apprentice knows me as Ilyn Toth. This place is not ideal for my research, but I can never return home - not the way I escaped. I'd be put to death, with worse to follow.’
’The work here is simple and allows me to continue my research at night, but progress is slow. Reanimation seems easy, but restoring life? That prize eludes me. The tome contains the magic, but it fights me at every step. As does my apprentice. At least my familiar has made it easy to secure bodies without raising suspicion. This will take time. Will the Zulkirs find me before I can bring her back? I cannot say, but if they do come for me, they'll have to face the guardians I've raised."
Whose bodies? No one else is recorded to be missing except the children in Moonhaven. I suppose the bodies could be something besides children, but how would a familiar help the wizard secure bodies of corpses found in a graveyard or something? Wouldn't it make more sense that the familiar was helping him to acquire living bodies? After all, a familiar could lure a child into a trap. Cute kitty. Let me pet you. Bam! Body secured. But I suppose he could have been casting necromancy spells through his familiar, animating the dead somewhere else and having them roam through the night to his lab. However, Animate Dead is not a Touch spell, so it can't be cast through a familiar. It'd have to be some sort of quasi-Animate Dead spell given by the Necromancy of Thay, or something of that nature. That's always a possibility. I just assumed, though, that the missing children would likely have been the bodies that he was referring to. Nothing else mentions the taking of any bodies or kidnapping anyone, and the Dark Justiciars above are clearly raiding Moonhaven and taking villagers by force, not sneaking in and kidnapping children. If they were just raiding and taking people via raids, why would they also sneak in and kidnap children? So, I reasoned that it was more likely that the children were the bodies Ilyn Toth mentions.
Journal found in backpack by skeleton in Whispering Depths
'3 Uktar, 1371 DR. Let it be known that I left my homeland because I was bound to my master, and not because I chose to. Were it not for the oath I swore, I would still be home, serving the Zulkirs, and not tending to hog pox in this crude hamlet. However, an oath is an oath, and I will serve him, as is my duty, until I am released.'
Clearly the apprentice of Ilyn Toth.
The early journal entries are written in a delicate, intricate script that gets rougher and wilder the more pages you turn. It ends with one hastily scrawled entry. 'They did it! The Dark Justiciars got the old bastard before the Zulks could. Now he's bleeding out, and once he's gone, I'll be free of this oath. I can go back. I'll return the tome of necromancy he stole. They'll forgive me then. They'll know I'm loyal. The key gem's secure in the tunnels. Once I have the Necromancy of Thay, I'll slip into the cellar, take what I can carry, and then - home.'
Blood Covered Journal found in Whispering Depths
Though originally a script on Lolth penned in blood, this book's crimson script has been smeared away in several places, a different handwriting atop it. 'I recall my life upon the surface with more than regret. I weep for the decades spent treading the murky waters of profanity while my true Queen waited in the shadows. Even my name, Eliette, feels foreign and foul upon my tongue. A high elf exalted by Lolth herself - my drow captors cannot fathom it. But I see their house's downfall in visions granted by the Spider Queen herself. When that day comes, when some unnamed whelp from an insignificant house cuts the matron mother's throat, I will escape. I will find solitude, and I will worship Lolth with my very soul.'
So, Eliette is a High Elf from the surface. The journal is in the well where the apprentice escaped to. She was captured by drow. She serves Lolth and views her time on the surface with regret and as a waste. Who else could it be but the apprentice? After all, why is it in the Whispering Depths near the other journals unless it belonged to the same person? And where do you find the keygem to the book? The Spider Matriarch's nest with Poisoner's Robes. It is pretty clear to me the Spider Matriarch was once a person turned into a spider queen, and who else in the story up to that point could it be? All the evidence points to the apprentice, since she disappeared into the well a day after the keygem vanished.
Journal found in Whispering Depths near the Blood Covered Journal
This one's a journal filled with hastily sketched diagrams of spiders and various spell runes. The captions are largely written in code, save for a few passages near the end that are penned in shaky Common. 'They can sense my devotion. It draws them. I hear them in the shadows, whispers from the dark mother. I woke to a gift wrapped in spider's silk: a pair of boots, taken from a heretic's corpse. Lolth sends her daughters to reward my faith, to let me know I am on the right path.'
'Another gift: the corpse of a Drow, sigils scarred upon his face. An arachnomancer - one with the power to inhabit the spider's form. It is a message, a calling. My blood already dries upon the dagger, her blessed image carved into my skin.'
Ornate Diagram found in Whispering Depths near the journals
It was an ornate diagram drawn upon a parchment depicting a ritual. At the bottom, two figures - a spider and an elf - a sketch within overlapping circles. A single word was penned beneath them; "Transcendence."
Doesn't say Spider and Drow but Spider and Elf. It is pretty clear, then, that Eliette, the High Elf, is the Spider Matriarch in the journals who was becoming more and more insane and turning more and more to a love of Lolth and spiders, eventually turning herself into one. Over time, her handwriting becomes worse and worse because she's going more and more insane. I also think the transformation was not instant but gradual, which is why one journal is covered in blood and another in webs. Her handwriting is becoming worse and worse the more she transforms from her elven form into a spider.
Web Covered Journal found in Whispering Depths near the other journals
This book's leaves are stuck together with thick webbing that leeches ink when pulled from the page. Only the final entry remains remotely legible. 'It is time. I will forever transcend this blasphemous flesh and refashion myself in the Queen's image. No longer will I be bound to this lowly form; this base shape of organ and bone. Even the arachnomancers of Menzoberranzan shall weep at my feet, their little spells so feeble and fleeting. Today, I found the house of Lolth, and I shall be its Matriarch.'
All of these indicate a slow progression from her being the apprentice of Ilyn Toth to her being the Spider Matriarch.
Grove Log, present day
’The Fading, 14th Day. The Elturians - for of Elturel they are, even if that city rejects them - have largely recovered from their ordeal. The physical aspects, at least. Zevlor is still set on Baldur's Gate, though I plead with him to wait. The grove remains undisturbed, but the forest around has grown dark. Leaffall, 2nd Day. Our grove grows. Adventurers in search of an artifact in the nearby ruin. I should steer them away, but if it's what they suspect... perhaps there is a way to push the darkness back, and make the roads safe once more. They'll need a guide… Here a neater hand takes over, the ink barely dry. 'Uktar, Year of Three Ships Sailing, 1492 Dale Reckoning. Master Halsin, First of this Circle, has not returned with the mercenaries - they report a significant goblin presence in the area. Mistress Kagha, Second of this Circle, has turned the grove archives over to me. The first event to be noted - her ascension to the position of First Druid. Silvanus send that we are both but stewards, awaiting Master Halsin's rightful return.' It is signed 'Servant Orran.' Uktar is 2 months after "The Fading". Uktar is the month after Leaffall. So, on the 2nd of Leaffal, Halsin leaves. Then, some time in Uktar, Kagha becomes 1st Druid which is presumably after Aradin returns. Since the log book at the toll house says that Uktar 16 already occurred. We can assume that the events of the crashing of the Nautiloid are after Uktar 16 and that's when Aradin returns. So, about a month and a half after the adventurers went after the Nightsong.
