Jonath's Journal[]
Tomorrow I set out for the bigger islands.
Too long have I sat upon this tiny rock! The fish I catch are foul and oily. They cannot be good for me--I know that I am not well. My skin is too pale. In the time that I’ve been marooned here, I think I’ve eaten everything on this tiny island that a person could possibly eat. How long has it been?
I can suffer this rock no longer. I will take what precious few belongings I have and row my raft to the accursed island I can see on the horizon. Whatever I find there cannot be worse than starving here. I have an oar, a spear, a water skin, the cloths on my back, and a raft that is little more than remnants of my shack strapped into a bundle.
May the sea have mercy on me. Perhaps I shall drown.
-Jonath Timlake
Once again, my will to live has delivered me unto suffering! No sooner than I had gone half a league, I was beset! Slimy limbs grasped at my legs, and I had to kick to keep them off! I stabbed the sea, but my spear struck nothing each time.
Then the specter came. A cruel demon that tricked the mind! If I dared peek over the side, there it would be, staring back at me in my reflection. Not me, but a gaunt monster with sunken eyes, no lips, and only patches of hair...
It nearly bewitched me, and I fell into the water! It was inky and ice cold. With my last breath, I collapsed on the shore. I do not know how long I swam or how long I slept. I shall rest some more now.
-Jonath Timlake
How long did I sleep? At least on my rock, there was day and night. Here it is perpetual gloom and roiling clouds. My raft is gone, taken by the tides or some other specter. I found some roots to gnaw on; they were bitter and left my mouth dry as cotton.
I spent minutes, hours, or days searching for fresh water. I found a pool but dared not drink, as the bones of all types of critters lay near the edge.
Finally I found a stream! The water was hard to stomach, as it had a ghoulish taste, but I was able to keep it in and did not die. My energy does not seem to be returning to me, so I shall rest some more.
-Jonath Timlake
Sleeping doesn’t help. I awoke no more rested, but thinner and thirsty again. It was a cruel trick.
I fled inland, following the stream of foul water. I found a vermin to kill and eat; a spider large enough to cook and eat like a lobster.
Where the river split, I was given two options. One path went into a grove of trees; a tempting option were they not mostly dead and covered in webs. More spiders sat in the branches in terrifying numbers. So I chose the other path, which was rocky and unremarkable. I will remember the grove, should I end up desperate enough to try for another spider.
-Jonath Timlake
Blessed is my wisdom! The water was far better on the rocky path, not tainted by the spider grove. It was still heavy with the taste of stagnant soil, but at least more natural. Of course, all blessings come with a curse here.
The specter is back, once again staring at me from the water’s reflection. Lipless teeth and black eyes. I am forced to look away or shut my eyes when I try to draw water. Why do I persist? This is a dead land with dead people to match.
I saw a swamp as I followed the stream. I thought about exploring it, but I noticed strange lumbering shapes in the mist. The river branched again, this time presenting a choice to continue upstream or go down a new route. I shall go downstream, as people would likely be near the sea.
-Jonath Timlake
Shadows and specters, I hate them! The demon thinks to trick me, to convince me that it is my reflection, but I know better! It is the thing that steals my rest! I have not slept more than a few minutes at a stretch since I saw it under my raft at sea!
I do not know how to destroy this evil thing, but I will find a way. Something pushes me onward, towards the coast. Perhaps my soul is guiding me to find this monster and destroy it! To feed on its flesh just as it has fed upon my sleep!
It will not win. I am following this new route downstream. The river will take me to the vile monster!
-Jonath Timlake
I’ve found the sea again. I hate this prison of a land, but at least I am adjusting. I no longer stumble over rocks as I once did and can now move quite safely and stealthily when I need to. Good thing too, as there have been many ghosts downstream.
None of them were the demon that haunts me. I passed a town where I swear I saw glowing apparitions going about their daily lives, as if they still had lives. But I know a trap when I see one. I stayed away. I will murder the demon that haunts me through the water.
-Jonath Timlake
I did it! At long last, my torment is over!
I found the demon on the shore. A fat and foolish demon, when caught in the open. It pretended not to see me as I snuck up on it, but I knew better. It took the shape of a healthy person from some other land, just arrived on a boat. It thought I was a fool! I got close and fell upon it with a heavy stone! Its head snapped and cracked, but I didn’t stop! I would be free!
When I was sure it was dead, I ate its flesh raw. Such elation! Rich, warm meat. I felt my strength return to me at last! All that strength it had stolen from me in my sleep. I had what was mine!
-Jonath Timlake
I heard a new sound today.
The bones of the demon were freshly out of marrow, so I had to search for new sustenance. The rations in the boat were clearly poisoned, too good to be true, so I tossed them in the sea to avoid temptation.
The new sound I heard was strange. Chains. Or keys? I haven’t heard the rattle of metal in so long. Perhaps another specter is disguising itself as a person, seeking to torment me? No. I will kill it like I killed the other. I am the true survivor.
Tomorrow I shall enter the strange clearing where I heard the chains. If there is another demon, I will eat it.
-Jonath Timlake
