A/N: Hello there. Trying to decide whether to go out and get a midnight snack. Figured I should probably finish editing this and post it first, though. Let's do this.

Day 64, Hour 20

We left pretty early this morning, Mr. Journal. After everyone woke up, that is. Waiting for that wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be, though, because Xan came out into the main room before the others and we talked for a while. Mostly about magical theory, but also about other things. I am learning more, Mr. Journal. Xan is a good teacher.

Anyway, like I said, we left Nashkel early. While we were on the road, Immy found a perfectly good set of armor just lying about in the woods exposed to the elements. Wonder it didn't rust. Turns out it fits Kivan real well, so we gave it to him. It's a lot better than the armor what he had before. We were also able to get a halberd for him once we got to Beregost.

While we were walking around town this morning, we heard from the town crier that the head priest at the Song of the Morning Temple is offering a five thousand gold reward to anyone who can take care of some mad cleric what's called Bassilus. FIVE THOUSAND GOLD, Mr. Journal! With that kind of money, we could get the very best gear and go after Davaeorn in Cloakwood with confidence!

For most of the day so far, we've been asking around about this Bassilus character in town, looking for leads. Apparently he's some evil priest what's been murdering people left and right and turning them into zombies. Probably has enough by now for his own undead army. He's been hiding out in the wilds near here, and it's got the townspeople all worked up.

We've decided to go after him. Sure, it sounds real dangerous, but with a reward like that, we can't afford to pass this up. This could be our chance to get back on track. Xan protested of course, said he'd sooner die than become a zombie. Then Immy pointed out he'd kind of have to die first for that to happen anyways, and then he just got quiet. He's been shooting grumpy glares over at Immy for the past half hour now. He's in a real bad mood. Even for Xan. Word to the wise, Mr. Journal, it is best to ignore him when he gets like this. That's why I'm taking this time to write. Also, eat. It's dinnertime. We're staying at the Jovial Juggler for tonight, and moving on first thing tomorrow morning.

P.S. We tried to give that dwarf guy back his cloak, but he didn't want it. Said he'd become pretty famous around here for his story about losing the thing, and he didn't want to let go of that. So, he told us to keep it and bugger off.

P.P.S. Officer Vai came over to talk to us about an hour ago, and said she was leaving Beregost. Apparently, she's got orders what tell her she's got to go back to Baldur's Gate and report.

Day 65, Hour 8

Good morning, Mr. Journal! We're just about to head out once we're done with breakfast! I've been down here for the past couple of hours drinking tea and working at studying my magic. Trying to figure out how some of the theory Xan was teaching me yesterday fits in with the spells what I already know. I've...been making less progress than I'd care to admit. I'll have to ask him about it sometime later. I would right now, but I'm eating with one hand and writing with the other. Besides, he's had his nose stuck in his spellbook since he came down here. I'd rather not disturb him.

Anyways, here's hoping for the best, Mr. Journal. Wish us luck!

Day 66, Hour 0

We've been traveling east all day, Mr. Journal. Still no sign of Bassilus. Actually, no sign of anything, aside from a group of xvarts what attacked us about six hours back. Kivan and Branwen have been talking more about warrior stuff a bunch on the way. From what little of it I understand, I think they're comparing weapon techniques. Still, it seems to have put them both in a good mood, and it's always nice when Kivan isn't all scowly. I've mostly been enjoying the scenery and running ideas by Immy about this new ballad I'm trying to think up about how we stormed the bandit camp like a bunch of total badasses. Hopefully, it'll turn out better than the spidery woods one. Anyways, Mr. Journal, it's late now, and I'm tired, so I'll see you in the morning.

-Near all the text on the following page has been scratched out. From what little is still legible, it appears to be a list of words that rhyme with "camp."-

Day 66, Hour 11

Hello again, Mr. Journal! Kivan made breakfast this morning. And by "made," I mean he gathered a bunch of nuts and berries while we were asleep. I get that he knows all sorts of survival stuff, but I mean, we've got rations, you know. Oh, well. It's actually not half bad. They taste all right. Not very filling, though. Soon as we're done eating, we're heading out again.

P.S. It turns out Xan is allergic to nuts. He's off about ten feet from the rest of us, grumbling to himself about how hungry he is. Refuses to eat the berries, too, because they might have touched the nuts. Seems a little excessive, but then again, I don't have any allergies, so I've got no idea how the things work. I don't know why he'd just not eat at all. I mean, like I just said, we've got rations. It really makes no sense, unless he's just trying to be over-dramatic about the whole thing, which, honestly, I wouldn't put past him. This is Xan we're talking about, after all.

Day 66, Hour 23

The gods must have been feeling punny today, Mr. Journal, because we went off this morning to find Bassilus, and we found basilisks instead. Lots and LOTS of basilisks. But of course, I should tell you about the day from the beginning, else the story won't make no sense. Stories aren't meant to be told out of order, after all.

So, where did I leave off last? Oh yeah. Xan was being melodramatic about nuts. I finally got fed up and threw a piece of bread at him. That shut him up. Also kept him from skipping a meal. He has a bruise on his arm from it, though. It wasn't even hard bread, Mr. Journal! He really is kind of a pushover, isn't he?

Soon after we set off, we were ambushed by a group of tasloi. Things weren't looking real good, but suddenly a ghoul came out of nowhere and ripped them apart! We got all ready to fight and stuff, but the ghoul told us not to attack, and that he was our friend. Then he started following us around and helping us out with fights. He smelled pretty bad, and he was kind of creepy, but he seemed friendly enough. Xan of course, was convinced that Korax – that was the ghoul's name – was just waiting for us to let our guard down so he could eat us.

Turns out he was right. After a few hours, Korax said he was real hungry and that he was sorry, but he had to eat us now. We didn't have to fight him, though, because around that time this big, hulking basilisk lumbered out from behind a rock and attacked him. Got him real good. Of course, then we had to fight the basilisk, and that was not fun.

As we went through the area, we saw more and more folks what had been turned to stone, and ran into a lot more basilisks. Somehow, we all managed to make it through the day without getting our arses stoned. To be honest, it was part skill and part luck. See, Branwen had a real good idea after we fought the first one. She raised a skeleton we found lying around and sent it out to scout ahead. Most basilisks showed themselves to attack the skeleton, and then we could join the fight while they were distracted. We had a few close calls, but we're all still made of skin and hair and other stuff what's not rock. I do feel sorry for whoever those bones used to belong to, though. Oh, also for that one statue what got his nose knocked off by one of Immy's stray arrows. I feel sorry for him, too. He's in for a nasty surprise if anyone ever unpetrifies him.

Sometime in the afternoon, we met this crazy mage what had been commanding the basilisks. He'd been having them "make art" by turning most travelers in the area to stone. When he found out we'd killed most of his "pets," he attacked us and said we'd become art, too. So we made some of our own brand of art, no petrification required. I call this one "my bootprint on a crazy mage's arse." It's a bit of a modernist piece.

He was carrying several scrolls on him what we managed to loot after. We also found some on the basilisks we fought earlier, though those were slightly worse for wear. Still, we got a lot of scrolls. I put them all in the scroll case. We're going to look through them once we get back to town. The crazy mage apparently also brought a change of clothes, as we found a neat robe in his pack what was enchanted to protect against petrification. Guess with what he was doing, he'd need that. Pretty small robe, though. Xan's the only one short enough to wear the thing without looking completely ridiculous. No, seriously, Mr. Journal, elves are short as all get out. Maybe not as short as, you know, halflings or dwarves, but they're pretty short, and Xan's short even for an elf. Seriously, the man's tiny. He's shorter than me, and that's saying something. I'm going to level with you, Mr. Journal, I forgot where I was going with this about two sentences ago. We'll just say the robe fit him and move on.

Later that evening, as we were setting up camp, we were approached by a warrior lady what challenged us to a duel. She said her name was Shar-Teel and that she wanted to fight the strongest man in our group, so Kivan gave her what for. Now she says she's willing to pledge her sword to our cause, but she really doesn't like large groups like ours, and we'd have to thin our numbers if we wanted her to join up. I told her we'd take a rain check on that and asked her to keep an eye out for Khalid and Jaheira for us, let her know our situation. She doesn't have to travel with us to help us out. I don't know if we'll ever cross paths again, but it never hurts to have more friends out there, you know? Especially if they're badass warrior ladies. Those make the best kind of friends.

We continue our search for Bassilus in the morning. Hopefully we actually find him this time, and not something that just sounds similar. ESPECIALLY not something that just sounds similar. I have had enough of basilisks, especially since our next encounter with them might end up a little more rocky. Pun absolutely intended.

A/N: And there we go! Tune in next time as our heroes continue their search for Bassilus! As always, please leave a review if you can, and if you like what you see, dont forget to follow/fav! Byeeee~!