We've rescued an enemy. Ashes. The Szir Tmyo bandit... captain? Is that the word they use? I'm guessing here. The bandit camp we found was some Szir Tmyo using charmed slaves to excavate the buried Pyramid of Alhras. Ashes, who greeted us at the gate, was going by the name Providence, and was also charmed by the circlet these white-robed slaves wear. She did not recognize me or any of my allies. Well, she would only recognize Lo-dak anyway. But she didn't. She would also recognize me. She didn't. I would guess that the rest of the white-robed charmed slaves were also once part of the Szir Tmyo, but that is only a wild guess, without evidence.
Providence let us in and we had a small chat. I promised that I'd go to see her work, and before we did, we left the camp for a moment to talk to those party members who stayed outside. Those who stayed outside were Lo-dak and Szhezeyil. Also Rahas. Maybe some others, my memory is foggy. We explained the situation, then most of us went back in to investigate the dig site. We went underground, found "Providence," and from there the situation escalated. I tried to pull off the circlet that's obviously magical, but it was stuck on tight. I had to use my staff for leverage, as it tried to take me over at a simple touch. We began getting escorted out, but Torina ran back to rip the circlet off, getting charmed and failing to rip that circlet off. This is when things went down. We had to defend ourselves from several Szir Tmyo while Torina fought us for a moment, then Providence became hostile too, so I can only assume that Providence had returned to Ashes at a command from the Szir Tmyo. Then Lo-dak returned riding a gold dragon, who was Szhezeyil using advanced magic, we paralyzed Ashes and carried her away, along with all of our party and a few burn marks from a Szir Tmyo who tried to magic us to death at the last moment.
Ashes was not cooperative, but after we had travelled a far distance, we managed to pull off the circlet, knocking out Ashes as a magical result. Torina was charmed for a small moment, again, and then we demolished that cursed circlet. A thing that looks like a gargoyle's ghost floated out of it and away. Fun times. That is sarcasm. They were not fun times. Maybe a little bit. But I should not call them fun times.
We found a place to rest, put up our armoire, and enter the mansion that Szhezeyil summons. Ashes was put into a depressing room. The room didn't fit with the rest of Szhezeyil's mansion. He was so clearly afraid of her. But he was hospitable enough, considering that he is as afraid of her as many people are afraid of spiders. Except that this spider can beat the gods out of you and then bite you with a venom bad enough to kill your family. That's a metaphor, of course.
She has not yet woken up. I'll be going to bed very soon. I'm hoping that she'll be well when she wakes up.
20th of Quen'pillar, 942 PED
