To the Council of Grognards,
This is a summary of our expedition to escort Mortimor Wells up the Black River to find a suitable location to ford the river and build a bridge in the future.
The following Guild Journeymen participated in this scouting/mapping mission: Chillax, Novad, Manawa, and Wenzan.
We headed out of Rockport to the Northwest along the black river. At the end of the first day, we were still in the forest. As we were setting up camp, we were attacked by three land-octopi who secreted a purple haze to obscure their location. We were able to defeat these three creatures. We were fortunate to not lose one of the oxen. After defeating these creatures, we investigated them more. It appears that the tentacles have sharp barbs like the quills on a porcupine. We will now describe these creatures as porctopi (combination of octopus and porcupine). These were the same type creatures as the one I encountered along the giant wall to the East of Rockport while out hunting the wildcats.
The next day the trees of the forest gave way to grasslands and rolling plains.Once we were clear of the forest, the feeling of foreboding, gloom, and sadness that is prevalent in the forest went away. The air felt fresher. Also, as we moved farther from the bay, the periodic thrumming became more faint. While we were setting up camp for the evening, a Griffon was circling above the camp but did not attack.
The third day we made much better time since we were in the grasslands the entire day. About the middle of the day we found where three different rivers converged into the one river we know as the Black River. One river came from the North, one flowed from the Northwest, and one flowed from the West. The branch from the West appeared black in color. The other two branches that converged had clear water. We continued following the clear river to the North for the remainder of the day. The water was still too deep to ford at the point of convergence into the Black River. Toward the end of the day, we found a location suitable for fording the river. There were some rocky shoals where the river was shallow. We saw an old stone tower on the other side of the river. Once we had forded the river, we were attacked by two Griffons. We were able to defeat them. Manawa was almost lost in the battle. We were able to save her. The Griffons can fly with great speed. They attack with both claws and beak.
We explored the tower before setting up camp for the night. The Griffons had made a nest on the top floor (third floor) of the tower. The bottom floor was a square structure about 140 feet along each side. The height of this square bottom floor was about 10 feet. The tower was centered in the building. The tower was about 100 feet in diameter with a spiral stone staircase leading up to the second and third floors and to the rooftop. The tower was between 30 and 40 feet in height. The roof had a hole where the Griffons entered and built their nest on the third floor. All of the wood (including the one door on the ground floor) had rotted away. We discovered four Griffon eggs. We have brought the eggs back to Rockport. It is our intent to hatch, raise and train these baby Griffons to serve as mounts.
The fourth morning we set out to return to Rockport. We encountered nothing out of the ordinary when we returned to Rockport. We made it back to Rockport late in the evening of the sixth day.
Here ends the summary of this six-day scouting mission.
Wenzan Treeblitz