Halsin's Journal, Vol II
After more than a century of hard work, false leads, and dashed hopes, the means of saving Moonrise Towers may have just walked into the grove and presented itself to me. Thanks to the effects of the shadow curse, the roads leading to the citadel remain as impassable as ever, but there may be another way. An adventurer band led by a certain Aradin appeared, seeking my help with infiltrating a large goblin nest found in the ruins of the old temple of Selûne. He believes there is a vast network of Sharran passages and strongholds hidden deep under the temple, and that somewhere within these structures there is a rare artefact called the Nightsong. These newcomers seem like little more than mercenaries, but what they described rings true, and could explain so much - like how Ketheric Thorm managed to raise such a force of Dark Justiciars in utter secrecy, and how they seemed to vanish just as Thorm unleashed the shadow curse upon Moonrise. It's clear that there is a secret route from the temple of Selûne that weaves through the Underdark, all the way to Moonrise Towers. I have to see for myself - and that means I must join Aradin on his little expedition. One of his lot, a dwarf named Brian, has something in writing that's supposed to guide us to the hidden entrance in Selûne's temple - but finding the way is the least of our worries. The goblins there seem to worship the very same 'Absolute' as the ones who attacked Nettie and me - the same ones who also were in league with a drow infected with an altered illithid parasite. Worse still, my birds report that even more of these cultists are converging at Moonrise Towers, moving freely with little care for the effects of the curse. In my efforts to vanquish one plague, I may have stumbled upon another - whatever is behind these cultists and the tampered illithid spawn seems to have made its lair in Moonrise, right where the shadow curse is at its strongest. We will depart soon. I can only hope that our infiltration goes smoothly and we manage to elude these Absolutists - at least until I get to Moonrise Towers and lift the shadow curse. Then perhaps I can stop whatever illithid conspiracy is unfolding in those ruins, and the balance of nature will be restored once again. May Silvanus guide my path, and lend me all His strength for what is to come.