Ghouls

Day Three

Never before in my life, through any of my travels, have I felt this amount of soreness and agony in my legs. When I awoke this morning, everything was sore, and aside from the most active of our group, the others shared in my discomfort. And then the walking started once again...

I swear, if it weren't for the fact that I am walking this journey unencumbered (the workers take care of all of the heavy lifting), I would have sent somepony else to take this journey. The discovery is a lifetime is worth nothing to me if I drop down dead from exhaustion on the journey to find it!

In any case, we've now set up camp, in what Night Cloud tells me is the deepest any of his tribe has ever gone. Technically speaking, these are depths that are considered forbidden by the thestrals, regions to dangerous to venture into, especially since it is supposedly close to where they believe the underworld where the ghouls take the dead resides. Nonsense of course, but I do feel that the deeper we go the closer we shall get to finding evidence of the ghouls.

I mainly wanted to write this passage to vent off frustration before the next phase. We plan to split off into groups and look around for any more evidence. So far, we haven't seen anything out of the ordinary, aside from a few live specimens of the giant cave beetle and some previously undiscovered species of bio-luminescent moss. It is my hope that we will find something more substantial down here in one of these many branching paths.

I am to head off with Scribe and Shield in one direction, while Honor Guard, Night Cloud, and a worker take off in another. We are to explore for no more than an hour. We don't know just what dangers lurk down here, so we cannot stay apart for long.

It's time to head off. I will record any findings when I return. Until then...

Amazing new! We've found what appears to have been another remainder from a ghoul attack! Deep in the tunnels, my party found an assortment of bones that, after careful examination on my part, were determined to be of an adult diamond dog! The cave floor had traces of dried blood on it from the fight, and each bone had been visibly picked clean by sharp fangs. Even more impressive was that each of the bones had been cracked open, the marrow within scraped out. Many of the bones were missing, likely taken back to wherever it is they reside to be eaten later.

Judging by the multitude of different hoofprints and the size of the dog, I believe that the ghouls may be pack hunters. I'm currently looking over some of the bones back at camp as we await the other group to return, and I have to say it's quite fa

Something's happened. The Earth pony worker who had left with the other expedition just ran back into camp, screaming about an attack. I have to go see what's happened right away.

Dear Celestia, no. This can't have happened.

Night Cloud is dead. Our guide, the only one who knows these tunnels and knows the way out, is dead.

He had apparently split away from the group to go and 'take a piss' as Honor Guard so elegantly put it, going down a separate path from the other two in an area with an exceptional amount of pathways. After a few minutes, Honor says he heard a deathly, unnatural shriek from in the distance, followed by the sound of Night Cloud screaming in terror.

From the account, Honor thinks he heard him screaming something along the lines of, "No! You can't be real! You're not real! Luna above preserve my soul! I'm sorry!"

Honor sent the worker to get help while he tried to get to Night Cloud to help him. However, apparently the echoing in the caves disoriented the guard enough that he couldn't tell where it was coming from. By the time he'd finally found the right tunnel, it was too late; Night Cloud's body had been dragged away down the tunnel system, a trail of blood indicating the path.

We are trapped. Our only options are to head back and hope for the best, or continue onwards.

I don't know what to do...

I have decided, ignoring the protests of the workers, that we shall continue onwards with care. The tunnels couldn't possibly only have one single exit at the surface. All we need to do once we leave is head upwards, and I'm sure we shall find some exit somewhere. Right now, I just want to continue onwards. This trip will not be wasted just because of a single careless death. We knew the dangers of this place, we will not turn back because those dangers turned out to be real. If anything, this just proves that what we seek is out there.

From now on, nopony is allowed to be out without somepony else to accompany them. Somepony also must keep watch at night. As long as we are careful, I am sure that we will be fine.

In any case, Honor Guard mentioned to me something of note he had noticed that proves to be interesting. Before the attack, he had noticed a faint clicking noise in one of the tunnels, which he described as like 'the sound of a tongue clicking against the top of the mouth'. There was a moment where it stopped for a moment right before the creatures screeched. While he was examining the area Night had died, he'd heard it begin again, closer this time, and somewhat faster paced.

I theorize that this could be some sort of form of communication. The clicking could be a call to announce the presence and location of prey, and the shriek could be a declaration to attack. I would need more evidence to prove this hypothesis, but at the moment it sounds fairly sound.

In any case I must get some sleep now. We continue our journey in the morning. Until then.

I have been awoken in the middle of the night... awoken by the sound of rapid-fire clicking noises coming from the tunnels around us. After it stopped, the sound of more clicking, farther away sounding, replied. I dared a peek out of my tent, looking into the darkness of the tunnel it sounded like the initial clicks had come from.

Staring back at me in the dim were four shining red eyes. Immediately, their owner dashed away. Due to the short range of the night vision spell, I couldn't see the creature. But judging from the evidence... I believe it was a ghoul.

A ghoul... stalking us and calling for aid from its pack...

I need to sleep. We will be safe as long as we all stay together... There is nothing to worry about... this will all be worth it...