Journal of Jocelin, Knight of the Riders of the Watch

Right. So, I ain’t much for writing, but Agatha says keeping a journal helps a knight remember important things. So here it is. What’s been happening lately? Well, a lot. Too much, honestly.

We went back into the tunnels under Broken Spire Keep. Booger and Leander went back to Fallcrest, and Oleanne stayed behind to keep an eye on the place. Seems fair, since last time we left the keep alone, it got swarmed with spiders and goblins. Anyway, we pressed on, following the path that Marcus—the evil priest of Asmodeus—took when he ran off like a coward. Found some spider-riding goblins along the way, which was just as terrible as it sounds. We fought ‘em, cleared the area, then went back into the Underdark. Can’t say I was happy about that part.

Then we ran into some Brokenskull Orcs with an ogre. Didn’t seem like a fight we wanted to take head-on, so we told ‘em we were slavers and looking to make a deal. I let Kvothe do most of the talking, since he’s good at making things up. Worked well enough—they led us to their camp, thinking they’d get some ‘slaves’ out of it. But they tried to turn the tables on us in the middle of the night. Zarah spotted ‘em getting ready to jump us, and we managed to get the upper hand. We even took one of the orcs prisoner, thinking we could get some answers out of him.

And then—well, then the weirdest thing happened. There was this sound, deep in my head, like a hammer pounding on the inside of my skull. I just went blank. Next thing I know, hours had passed, and Agatha and the orc were just as out of it as me. The others were freaked out, which, y’know, makes sense. They killed the orc before he could wake up and start trouble, then Sharwyn pulled out some fancy magic that let us hide in a tiny pocket of space until we all came to.

We had no idea what that sound was, but we weren’t about to keep pushing forward blindly. So, we went back to Broken Spire Keep. Turns out, we weren’t the only ones who heard it—Fallcrest did, too. Agatha and I being knocked out? That happened to a lot of people. Not great. The Lord Warden put the city on high alert, and the Septarch started digging into it. Turns out, whatever it was, it came from deep, deep underground—way lower than we’ve been. Not reassuring.

We had some business to deal with in Fallcrest. Kvothe traded that fancy Golden Apple to Voren the Green, the head wizard, in exchange for spells. Leander offered to Hallow the Asmodeus shrine back at Broken Spire, but we’d need to get the right stuff for the ritual. And speaking of magic, Thistle had some enchanted armor for sale. Problem was, the armor had a weird side effect—it permanently changed whoever wore it. I figured magic armor was magic armor, so I bought it. And now I’m a woman. Huh.

The others were surprised, but honestly, it hasn’t been that big of a deal. Armor fits fine, sword swings the same, so what’s there to fuss about? Maybe my family will have something to say about it later, but that’s a problem for future Jocelin.

Next up, we’re heading back to Harken. Andren might have something of Jaylin’s, and Voren thinks he can scry her better if he’s got something personal of hers. I don’t like the way this is shaping up. The Septarch saw a Mindflayer in his last vision, and if there’s anything worse than brain noises that knock you out, it’s a creature that actually eats brains. I’d rather fight a dozen orcs than deal with something like that.

But I’m a knight, and knights don’t run from a fight. So, I guess we’re doing this. Torag help us.

Jocelin