A Bloody Journal
From Atlantic Roleplay Wiki
Title: a bloody journal
Author: Korloth
-some entries in this blood spattered journal from the past year catch your eye-
October 20
Maybe if I put it down on paper I can begin to process it. Elysia was found yesterday, dead, a dagger wound straight through the heart. Her coin purse and spell book were still on her body. The only thing missing was the wedding ring I gave her, though the spell enchanted on it should have prevented its theft. There were no signs of a struggle according to the coroner. Whoever did it was able to get close enough to put a dagger in her chest without her ever realizing the danger, and he must have had spell power enough to remove the ring. I suspect it was one of the other mages competing for the same position Elysia was selected to advance to in the Council of Mages. She described their petty power plays to me, how some of her fellow mages would stop at nothing to gain rank and power. She never did anything to them. She refused to hurt another to advance her own position. Who would do this to her? Why? I'm still numb from her loss, and the vaunted healers and mages of Moonglow have been unable to call her spirit back to her body. She is lost to me forever, and she has taken my heart with her. I wish I could tell you just once more how much I love you. I wish I had you for one more day. Just one more hour. My chest aches, and it is the worst pain I have known in my life.
October 22
I saw a woman in town today. Coal dark hair, eyes blue as the deepest waters when hers met mine. For a brief moment, my heart soared, I thought my Elysia had come back to me. It wasn't her. I was so hopeful, I'm starting to see things that aren't there.
November 9
I've made some discreet inquiries. Greasing palms took most of the gold that I had managed to save up to try to provide a better life for Elysia, but none of that matters now. Nothing matters but finding the bastard who did it. I've done no fighting for years, but I would give my life if it meant getting revenge on the one responsible. Waiting is the hard part, but I can fill my days digging graves and chopping wood enough to get me through another miserable, wet Moonglow winter. I don't have to think when I dig, and the goblin rotgut I've been able to buy for a few coins is enough to send me into a drunken stupor that lets me sleep without the dreams. Visions of her death, her being murdered over and over again, haunt my dreams. The small mausoleum I take care of has become her resting place, and I sleep in the chamber above it now to be close to her. I fill it with some of her favorite flowers, and I make sure to save the coin to purchase a freshly cut rose to put on her coffin every day. I miss you more than words can tell, Elysia. Please come back to me.
December 2
At long last, one of the weasels in the Council was willing to betray his own for enough gold to purchase a new scroll. One night of drunken revelry was enough to loosen the lips of *ink blot*, who confessed with pride to his fellows that he had eliminated his rival candidate for advancement with an ensorcelled dagger that would sever her spirit from her body. His "rival" was my wife. She trusted him. She mentioned him as a pleasant colleague. She never suspected a thing. He laughed, my informant told me, as he described how he walked up to her with a smile on his face and put the dagger straight into her heart, its black magics dissolving the blade to get rid of the evidence as it dissolved the bond between her spirit and corporeal form. She didn't even have time to raise her hands. His fellows at the table cheered for him, congratulated him for being clever. I hate him. I hate them all. I *ink blot* until he *ink blot* and then I'll *ink blot* don't care what happens to me after that. I hope that I die. I don't want to live anymore. Not without you, my love.
March 6
I can't control my anger much longer. I feel it building up in my chest. Going into town, seeing the mages walk around like they own the place, it makes me see red and I become nearly insensate with rage. I will get my revenge. I must be patient. I must find him alone. Then I will kill him, as he killed my wife, but he will know his end is coming for him. Unlike Elysia, he'll know he stares into the eyes of his killer. I've been practicing with my axe again these past months. It's amazing how quickly it comes back when you have the right motivation.
March 8
-this entry is speckled with dots of something red, but the passage is legible-
I found him. Actually, he found me. He was strolling through the forest while I was chopping wood, as if the Fates had delivered him to me personally. He smiled at me and waved like a lord to a peasant, and I snapped. I rushed him, knocked him down, and while he was stunned I used my axe to chop off one of his hands to prevent him from spellcasting. It was so easy, just like chopping wood. Like Elysia, he didn't have time to cast a single spell. Unlike Elysia, he had enough time to scream. I punched him. Again, and again, and again, until my knuckles were bloody. His blood or mine, I don't know, and I didn't care. Before he could die from blood loss or go into shock, he was coherent enough to understand me as I told him who my wife was and how I knew exactly what he did to her. The look of horror on his face when I told him was sweet as honey to me. I told him exactly what I was going to do to him, and he screamed again. I planned to take my time, to make him suffer, but my rage was like water bursting a dam and I hewed his head from his body with a single blow. It was so easy.
March 9
I couldn't sleep. Even though I had my revenge, my chest still feels hollow. What if he comes back? What if they can resurrect him? Have I really accomplished anything? It did nothing to satisfy me. I'm still so angry, it's all I can feel now. My joy is gone. My heart is gone. Elysia please come back to me.
March 16
He hasn't returned. I don't know why. Perhaps he is so filled with terror that he quit the island and went into hiding like the coward he is, or perhaps he is well and truly dead. There was barely a mention of the incident in the Town Cryer. First my wife and now her murderer, the Council of Mages doesn't seem to care for its own whether they live or die. My wife's killer was a symptom, but the Council of Mages is the disease that festers and rots and kills anything and anyone good that might be in it. If I had the power, I would slaughter them all.
March 25
I was digging a grave under the fading sun, my last one for the day, when a man in a dark and hooded robe approached me. He held a scythe in his hand, and for one surreal moment I thought Death himself had come for me at last, but it was just a man. He knew me, and he knew what I had done. He told me his master wanted to speak to me, that he had an offer for me. Since they knew what I did, I seemed to be in no position to refuse the invitation. I went with him. He took me to his master, a man he introduced as Nolin Zar. It's strange, but all I can remember now were his eyes, intense and dark and fiery, like they could see right into me. He knew my name, and he knew what the Council had done to Elysia, for the Council was as culpable as the man whose hand held the blade that stole her from me. He told me that he could help me get revenge on the Council. I don't know how he knew all this, but he offered me weapons, armor, and the means by which I could exact my own revenge. I asked what price I had to pay, but in truth, I didn't care. I would pay any price if it means I could take my revenge on the Council of Mages. I would become a daemon myself if it could end the nightmare. He told me that there was no price that I had not already paid, and that his Velvet Shroud walked the same path that I did. He welcomed me to join them on it. I accepted without hesitation.
July 5
Long has it been since I last updated my journal. I know Nolin Zar is using me, but I do not care. He provided me with an ensorcelled axe and magical armor made from the bones of dead mages. When I wear the armor, I feel faster, stronger. The axe seems to drink in the blood it spills and I feel invigorated, alive again. The wounds that their spells inflict on me heal before my eyes as my axe gorges itself on their blood. Killing mages has come so naturally to me these past months, it feels like it was my true calling all along. "Korloth the Executioner" the Shroud refers to me as now. No matter how many mages I kill, it does not slake my thirst for long. When I taste the tang of their blood in the air, the mage's blood, it's the only satisfaction I feel now. It's hard to maintain even the pretense of being Korloth the Gravedigger when I take off my skull mask. I do not know why I do it anymore. I bring fresh flowers to Elysia's tomb every morning and I weep and I feel dead inside all over again. Then I put on the armor, I take up the axe, and I begin my true work for the day. I am only alive when I am exterminating the mages now. The more I kill, the more I want to kill, to feel their blood flow over me as my axe delivers them to their end. I must not die. I cannot die yet. I must survive. I must kill them all. They must all die, and I bring their heads to Nolin Zar to repay him for his generous gifts.
August 17
Nolin Zar is right. They are my enemy. They are our enemy. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill them Korloth. Kill all of them. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. When they are all dead then you can die too and you can be with Elysia forever.
August 26
I will build her a shrine of bones *ink blot* skulls of dead mages will sing to her and soothe her spirit wherever it is *ink blot* I will collect the skulls the skulls will sing so sweet just like their screams when they die I don't care about the other graves anymore pile the bones high let them sing *ink blot* Elysia I miss you so much why did you have to leave me I hate the Council hate hate hate hate hate *ink blot* nightmares haven't stopped can barely eat can barely think just need to kill more mages then I will feel better *ink blot* head hurts heart hurts everything hurts
August 27
some days better than others *ink blot* rage never goes away just need to remember to leave a rose for Elysia my beautiful Elysia I will kill the whole council for you they will burn they will all burn I hate them
Aug*blood stain* El*blood stain*ia *blood smear* miss yo*blood stain*