Legacy of Guk
or
What History Remains
Kruuk Glugop

Our people are a strong people. With Mithaniel Marr behind us, we have endured many catastrophes in our history, and have always managed to come back stronger than before. Recently, we were able to rise against the vile trolls, and took the city for our own, as Gukta, the Outpost of Marr. The trolls have been unsuccessful in reclaiming the city, and Mithaniel willing, they never shall.The ancient home of our people, Guk, was not so lucky. It was consumed by a curse unleashed by Innoruuk and the troll villain known as Ykesha. Many of our brave warriors were trapped there, either taken by surprise due to the attacks, or they stayed behind to fend off the undead hordes long enough to allow the rest of our people to escape. Now, in a dark twist that makes me shudder, they have joined the ranks of the walking dead.

Many of us have wondered if there is a chance to study who from our history might be still wandering the depths of Lower Guk, and what might be learned by discovering this information. I am to accompany a group of adventurers who are currently resting here within Gukta, and I will see if I can learn this information. We leave at dawn.It took some time, but we were able to make it to a small chamber near a few precarious walkways. It was here that we found the first interesting member of the cursed frogloks. As we rested, we began to hear a sound off in the distance. It first sounded as if it came from above us, then it seemed to circle around to the sides of our small camp. It seemed like it was looking for a weakness in our defense. Then, suddenly, it was silent – we heard nothing more. When we were ready to leave, we began to look for the source of the sound, but could not locate it. Just when we had given up, a black-colored froglok ghoul leapt at us from the shadows, and directly at our warrior. He was just fast enough to deflect the attack and together we were able to beat the creature back. However, I always had the feeling it was there… watching us, just out of sight.

Further in, we found another strange room, where it seemed like the ghouls themselves would not even enter. We could hear a strange sound coming from it – something like a breathing, but more like a constant hiss, and the sound of rushing wind, almost as if something inside could not remain still, and moved incredibly fast. We approached cautiously, but it became evident that whatever we had heard, had heard us as well. We were instantly set upon by a creature of tremendous speed. It was a ghoul like the others, but was blindingly fast. It seemed chaotic in its attacks as well – one of us would be hit, then suddenly another would feel the sting of the creature’s unrelenting attacks. We were able to land a magical shackle on the beast, which caused it to howl in anger. Immediately we fled the area – this creature proved to be too mighty for our group, and we hoped to leave it behind us.Finally, we came upon the throne room. Fighting our way through, we spied the dais and throne on the far side of the room. We dispatched the guards, and before us we could see what appeared to be the ruler of Lower Guk – the Ghoul Lord. Once a noble paladin of Marr, this creature is now twisted and corrupt, only a shell of what it once used to be. We engaged the beast at my urging, as I thought it would be best to end the eternal suffering of this once noble froglok and hopefully return his spirit to Marr. We were not ready for the strength of this opponent in darkness, he had grown stronger. He felled our warrior nearly immediately, and it was all we could do to parry off his strikes, and carry our comrade to safety. We escaped with our lives, but truly, the curse of Ykesha is still strong within the depths of Lower Guk.