Gabe3e

27 Uktar, 1357DR
[Game of August 29th, 2003]

yay, found and raised Connor.

Entry #4 (27 Uktar 1357DR): Guess I’ll Stick Around for a While
After my unsuccessful attempt at lifting G’kar’s fear, my comrade Kalcrix tried the same thing, but was also unsuccessful. I used my wand of wonder to try to alternate his attempt, but it backfired on myself and instilled in me an unintentional polymorph. The real problem was that it turned me into a living stalagtite speared into the ground. Here is where I wished my comrades did NOT remember my alternate reality. How embarrassing to drag along the ground at a dreadfully slow pace…and rely on the cleric to dispel my awry magic!

Entry #3 (27 Uktar 1357DR): Can Lead a Dwarf to Water, but Can’t Take Away his Fear
Poor G’kar. Seems to be afraid of his shadow. A demon instilled in him a cowering and debilitating magical fear, which I tried to dispel. Being unsuccessful, I alternated reality to…keep him in a cowering and debilitating magical fear. Sigh.

Entry #1: The Road to the Happy Plane is Paved with Good Intentions
In attempting to wreak havoc on our enemies, my greater surge opened a gate to a ‘happy’ plane (evident by a little pan hopping by, piping a pipe). Our enemy, a thief, lifted Kalcrix’s belt of pouches and quickly escaped through this gate. Not wanting to lose his belt, Kalcrix followed…and then the gate closed! I altered my greater surge so that there never was a creation of a gate, so that the thief could NOT escape, and Kalcrix could NOT go who knows where with us not having any idea how to get him back. Whew!

27 Uktar, 1357DR
[Game of August 15th, 2003]

Did not find Connor.

26 - 27 Uktar, 1357DR
[Game of August 8th, 2003]

26 late afternoon — cleaned up caravan, lost Connor
26 evening — Lyta identified captured items
27 morning — used Word of Recall to enter enemy base after Connor

All is again as it should be, though the tale of it is hardly to be believed, so strange and wondrous were the happenings of last night.

Kalcryx was decidedly wrong, and for the first time in my life I was glad to enter Port Kir, for I had hope we would find some manner of aid for him. There was no wizard in Port Kir with the power to restore him, however — or at least I assume so. The more accomplished caster would not deign to speak with us — and so Jaran and I closed our eyes that night with worried minds and uneasy hearts. Not long after I had started dreaming, a banging clamour woke me — G’Kar at the door, himself greatly anxious.

He spoke to us with great fervor. Clangeddin’s word was that Kalcryx had been taken from Helm’s grace, and G’Kar thought if Kalcryx atoned for his sins, his faith and his heart would be restored. The difficulty lay in sincerity, for if Kalcryx did not truly repent, our efforts would be wasted, and we had not seen in him any remorse or regrets or even concerns. And even if we could convince him he was astray, I was not certain he would care…

We gathered up William and James with the Lifebringer, and together went after Kalcryx. He had volunteered for the night watch and could have been anywhere about the city, so we went first to the Protector’s temple, asking after Kalcryx’s route. We followed the path from both ends, Jaran in what we hoped to be the longer leg, and the rest of us the other way. Not long afterward, Jaran and Kalcryx intersected us, carrying with them a wounded man — a thief, we were told, who had sought to relieve Kalcryx of some of his treasures. I could hardly believe such an act of foolishiness; Kalcryx is intimidating enough in his charity.

The man was brought to justice and we then tried to do the same for Kalcryx. He agreed to G’Kar’s spell of repentence, and G’Kar unfurled his scroll and began to read, but he did not complete his incantation. He froze suddenly, and in a strange discontinuity, he had then suddenly two scrolls in his hand. With great urgency, he thrust this new scroll toward Jaran, proclaiming its efficacy was vouched by a high authority — no less an authority than Helm, himself, he later explained.

Jaran seemed no less surprised than I, and even more so when, after she unrolled the scroll and studied it, she proclaimed the spell scribed upon it to be a Wish. There were many confused and contentious words, and Kalcryx nearly fled from us, but in the end Jaran read the scroll, wishing Kalcryx was restored to his self of a few days past.

And so he has been, pure heart and peg leg and all. He has no memories of any events that transpired since Zazesspur, and I am not certain if I am sad for him. To be ripped out of time, become unsynchronized with the world… The very thought is unnerving. And yet, if I suffered so from such ill magic, would I want the memory of that insanity?

We are a day from Zazesspur, now.

We have with us two new travelmates, of sorts. Jaran met us at the gate with a large black cat. Mori she calls it. It is an uncanny creature, and behaves in a manner most unlike any cat I’ve ever seen… It clings to her side, docile and obedient.

And so also I have attracted myself a little pet, a puppy of four or five months, with shaggy golden hair and tongue always lolling. As I waited for the others near the gate, I watched a boy selling four such. His face was stained with dried tears, and he did seem most sad-hearted and desperate. His house is small, he told one man –an elderly devotee of Azuth– and his mother would allow the beasts no longer.

It seems he had been about the city, in the bazaars and at the gates for three days, and this was his last — if he did not sell the puppies by day’s end, he must give up his dog, their mother, as well. And as I watched him and them, the puppies and their elegant mother, I thought how glad I would be to have such a companion, myself. So I bought the last, as we left.

His name is Uri. He sleeps at my side now, on his back, without worries for his exposed belly, with his still too-large paws hanging queerly in the air. I could swear he smiles, such is his contentment. He warms my side, and in my heart there is a warm place too, because of him.

We make our way to Port Kir tomorrow. Kalcryx is clearly no longer himself since he put on that helmet, the one from Lord Ordath, which eludes all diviniation, and we worry for him.

22 - 26 (late afternoon) Uktar, 1357DR
[Game of August 3rd, 2003]

Stopping by Port Kir, caravan assaulting in the Wealdath, caravan assaulting north of Mosstone.

Long Summary

back business

Flanna buys a puppy (10gp)
Jaran lures a familiar (black cat)

*22 Uktar*

ride out

*23 uktar*

enter port kir, book lodging

Kalcryx excuses himself to take a nap, saying that he wants to rest so that he
can join the night watch.

Flanna and Jaran say they’re going out to a pub to seek out gossip. Along the way,
they seek out a high-level mage. They find the house of the fellow. Jaran knocks on
the door,

“Hello, are you the wizard of the house?”
“No, I am the housekeeper…”

Jaran asks if the mage is at home.
“That depends,” he answers. He looks at Jaran suspiciously. Seeing this Flanna
speaks up…

“I am a young mageling myself…”
The door is closed on them.

Jaran knocks again, while Flanna calls out, “I’m not looking for an apprenticeship!”
A muffled voice from within calls out, “Go away!”
Jaran keeps knocking.
Minutes go by…
“I’d like to buy things!”

Eventually they give up.

Go to a new shop. There is an old man sitting there, mumbling to himself.

“Hello good sir, are you the wizard of your shop”
Of course

“Are you familiar with magical items?”
Yes

“A friend of ours appears to have had his personality changed to the opposite of his
usual. Wheras before he was concerned about the duties and practices of his religion,
now I am starting to fear that he is turning away from it.” Explains that the change
is sudden…

The mage offers to cast dispel magic. Jaran determines that he can’t help us, asks
for a recommendation of someone more powerful.

“There’s a house just down the street…” He begins to say. The one we were just
at, of course. The mage is surprised that the owner actually answered the door.

Move along…

–
Near suppertime, Kaclryx wakes up. He goes to get dinner and meets up with G’Kar.
They sit, and a girl comes to them. Kalcryx asks the serving girl if she would like
to be “his little priestess.” She giggles and sits on his lap. G’Kar talks…

Kalcryx asks the tavern girl if she wants to go upstairs and perform some sacred
rites. “Of course… for a price. A couple of gold, night of fun.”

Kalcryx pays the girl three gold and has his fun. He asks if there are any mages in
town. She answers that there are a few, and gives him directions.

Kalcyrx heads out, G’Kar intercepts him.

“How do you feel about Helm?” G’Kar asks.

“He is the god I worship…” Kalcryx says after a long pause.

“Do you still love him, do you still respect him…? If something were to change you,
if you were no longer […] Would you be remorseful?” he asks. G’Kar confronts
him about the alignment change… biblical brimfire speech…

“Don’t you normally pass out? Do you even know what you’re talking about?” Kalcryx
says.

“Clangeddin has shown me that the helm you placed upon your head has damaged you.”

“It didn’t do anything.”

“I assure you it has. The girls back in the bar…? Can you hold the Lifebringer?”
Kalcryx says he hasn’t touched it since it was loaned to James. He didn’t see the
need to take it back since, as his two-handed sword is better, anyway. G’Kar
convinces him to try it, to prove that he has been changed. [ Doug is way too good
at this. =)]

Someone yells at them to shut up.

G’Kar is shaken off.

Kalcryx presents himself at the temple of Helm, offers to join the night watch.

“Of course. We can always use another body.”

G’Kar knocks on Jaran’s. Jaran readies a dagger, then opens the door quickly in an
attack stance.

“Oh, it’s you. Are you drunk again?”
“This’s important. I think I have a way to help Kalcryx.”
“That would be imporant.” Flanna says.

“The trick is, he has to want atonement. I dpon’t know… I talked to him about how
he felt about helm […] but here, I bought this spell…” He unrolls a scroll for
the two girls to inspect. [”It’s all dwarven to you.”] “It is a spell of atonement,”
G’kar explains.

Flanna asks what the plan is…

G’Kar explains that he hopes to convince him that he has changed by having him hold
the Lifebringer. He expresses fear that Kalcryx might do something awful during the
night, and that he refused to come upstairs to touch the sword before morning.

“So let’s bring the Lifebringer to him,” Flanna suggests.

Jaran agrees to follow Kalcryx. She sneaks to the temple of helm and sends out her
familiar to help in the watch.

G’Kar wakes up James and William, tells them to get the Lifebringer and come now.
Flanna, G’Kar, James, and William go to the temple of Helm and ask after Kalcryx’s
route, then they follow it.

–
Kalcryx takes a nightwatch route that passes the houses of several mages. He comes
to the first, and pounds on the door. A few minutes pass and he pounds again, more
loudly. A window up above opens, and an old man pops his head out. “I have a diamond
here, maybe if you could help me…?”

“What? You have a diamond? What the hell do I want with a diamond?”

Kalcryx asks for teleport without error spell. The mage does not own any and cannot
make one. He moves on to the next mage, asks the same thing, receives the same
answer.

Kalcryx hears some strange footsteps. “Who’s there?” He hears a whizzing noise then
a thump. Kalcryx goes to investigate what he hopes is the source of the noise. He
feels someone pawing at him from behind… A hooded figure in a block cloak, kneeling
near him. The shining diamond is now in the thief’s hand. Kalcryx calls out “Stop,
thief!”

Observing this, Jaran casts magic missile on the thief and calls out, “Kalcryx! Look
out! Behind you!”

Kalcryx is shivved, but it bounces off the platemail. The thief rolls away from him
into the shadows. Kalcryx swipes at him with his claws. There is a thudding sound.
Kalcryx follows, and sees a body slumped against a wall.

Jaran jumps down and runs to the body. He is alive, breathing, but there is a deep
gash in his chest. Jaran starts to bind him while Kalcryx heals him and searches him.
Kalcryx recovers his diamond and also finds, 20 gold, the shiv, and little a heart
pendant with the design of a woman holding something, like a baby. It does not appear
to be a holy symbol.

“You should be careful just carrying that stuff around… You should hide it a little
better.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

“I was hoping to catch these mages when they were awake, they seem to never come
out of their houses.”

Take the fellow to jail. He will be kept there for about two or three days and fined.

On the way back from jail, Kalcryx and Jaran run into the other half of the group.

“What are you doing? Shouldn’t you be asleep?” Kalcryx asks.
“Yeah, why are you guys up?” Jaran adds, all… sneaky-like. =)

“Kalcryx, you remember James…” G’Kar says. “James, hand Kalcryx the Lifebringer.”

“Just be a minute…” Kalcryx says…

“You entrusted it to me while you were imprisoned. But it is rightfully yours to
carry,” James says, holding the sword out to him, hilt first.

Kalcryx casts detect magic.

“What are you doing?” James asks.
“Yeah, just hold on…”

Jaran spellcrafts, as does G’Kar. “Why are you looking for the presence of magic of
here?”

“You know it’s magical…” Flanna adds.

“Take the Lifebringer,” G’Kar commands. “Or is it, you’re afraid to take the
Lifebringer? That you are afraid I am right and you have been changed?”

“Certainly you should hold it. It was entrusted to you by the […]” Jaran agrees.

Kalcryx casts dispel magic on the Lifebringer. G’Kar spellcrafts… [”Ok, roll
initiative!”]

Kalcryx grabs the sword. He feels that the sword is still magical, his spell did not
work. The sword scolds him, telling him that it will only work for the just. Jaran
casts detect magic.

“So, what does the sword tell you?”
“It says it’s good to be back in my hands.”

G’Kar thinks for a bit, then pulls out a scroll and begins to read it.

“If you truly wish to follow Helm, then hold that within your thoughts, regardless of
whether you think you have changed or not,” Jaran says quietly.

Kalcryx assents, and says to himself over and over “I wish Helm would grant me spells
again.”

Ten minutes of chanted dwarven pass… It begins to rain… G’Kar holds his
sheild above his head, somehow still touching Kalcryx and holding the scroll to
read it… Jaran holds her cloak over G’Kar to help.

Time seems to slow down for G’Kar and he hears the clanking of metal behind him. He
turns to look and sees [something…]

“This will not work. He has committed no misdeeds. There is nothing to atone for.”

G’Kar bargains… “Isn’t it a crime to leave Helm?”

“I cannot let you waste this opportunity. That is why I am here.” [something] hands
him a scroll.

“Will I be able to use this scroll?”
“No, but your mage will. And this thing…” He takes the helmet and crushes it in
his hand.

“This will restore Kalcryx of Helm?” G’Kar asks, one last time.
“It will.”

“You are a fair and just god.”

Time and space restore. G’Kar hands the scroll to Jaran.

“This will restore you him. I have it on high authority.” Jaran takes the scroll,
and spellcrafts it.

Kalcryx asks, “What is it? What’s on the scroll?”

“It’s a wish spell. Scribed at wizard level 20. If it is all right, we can word
the wish to restore you to the state you were before you tried on the helm.”

Conversation about how the helmet had no affect, how Kalcryx had not changed.
“Then the wish will do nothing,” Jaran asserts.

“Jaran, just read it!” G’Kar

At some point, Kalcryx becomes invisible.

“Do you have problems with this wish?” Jaran asks.

“This comes from the hand of Helm!” G’Kar cries out.

“I wish Kalcyrx to be restored to his state from right before he put on the helm.”

The scroll crumbles to dust… the rain slows again… the flames… all slow
again… Kalcryx’s body starts to fade. Jaran sees that the dirt of the last day
and a half or so, the sweat on his brow fades away, his leg fades away and the peg
fades in…

“…comes from Helm himself! Helm gave me this scroll! Did you do it? Kalcryx,
where are you?” G’Kar says.

“I’m right here,” Kalcryx whispers into G’Kar’s hear. He is very confused, for he
remembers nothing.

“You’re doing the nightwatch in Port Kir. You probably don’t want to know more than
that.” Flanna tells him.
“Don’t put on strange helmets again.” Jaran admonishes.
“Never again.” Flanna affirms.
“That goes for all magical items,” G’Kar amends.

“Oh, and you’re invisible too, this will be good.”
“What do you mean? I’m not invisible,” he looks at his hand.
Jaran casts dispel magic. “Nope, you’re not invisible.”

Jaran introduces Kalcryx to her cat. “I’m thinking of naming it Mori.”

The rest of the night passes uneventfully.

Jaran and Flanna go back the inn. Passing by Lyta’s door, Jaran knocks on it. Lyta
answers, peeking through the crack. “He’s fixed.” Jaran tells her.

*24 Uktar*

Sleep in, leave at midday. Jaran casts polymorph other on Kalcryx again. Head into
the Wealdath past Mosstone. Along the way, decide to scout about Mosstone, to see
what is up, where caravans could be coming from. End of day, reach border of forest. Camp.

*25 Uktar*

Travel and scout.
Jaran casts invisibility on Connor and they, plus Mori and Natasha, sneak around.

Soon, a caravan comes into view, moving through the woods. It seems to be a supply
caravan with maybe six fighters in metal armour, and a few men in black robes.

The spider reports back to Lyta “Crunchy people. Lots of coccoons.” Lyta passes this
information back to the others.

Planning happens…

G’Kar casts strength of one on himself, Connor, Kalcryx and Flanna.

Kalcryx casts silence on one of the robed figures. At the same time, Jaran hides
behind a tree and casts acid bolts toward two of them, then tries to hide herself.

William, with the heartseeker bow, approaches the road from the other side of the
wood. He shoots. Twice his aim is true, and two arrows lodge in the side of one of
the lead men. Connor also hits, his arrow sinking into the leg of one of the mages
Jaran acided… and something else.

James advances with… something…

Lyta casts a lightning bolt… something… [poor lyta, I always get distracted on her
turn!]

Flanna attacks the remaining, standing mage with ward away. His mouth opens as if he
is in pain! [Yay! Finally someone failed a save!] And again on one of the fighters.
It seems as if he tried to scream. The fighter moves to the nearby dead mage
[whistling a cheery tune] and starts rifling through his pack.

There is a skirmish between G’Kar and a blue bead… =)

Connor casts his bow aside and draws his sword as he strides toward G’Kar. With his
first blow, he downs the fighter.

One of the lead archers considers the situation and decides to flee, as does one of
the fighters. Lyta tries to attack the archer, following him as he runs.

Kalcryx runs into the road, shooting at and killing the fighter embroiled with James.

G’Kar throws his hammer at the rifler, killing him. A pouch of gold comes from his
hands. “No honour among Banites…” he grumbles.

Jaran casts icy sphere, hoping to catch one of the runaways. An explosion of frost
appears in the distance.

William moves into the road and shoots after the other runaway. With one shot, the
man is downed.

Connor retrieves his bow, then scouts after the remaining runaway. He finds a very
frozen body.

Jaran says, “Someone tie one of these up… I’ll make sure the rest are dead.” She
peeks inside one of the carts as she goes about. She sees grain, barrels of ale, dry
rations, and animal feed. The three surviving prisoners are bound, stripped, gagged,
their fingers bound… a lesson learned from Zonas and his men.

Lyta detects magic. She finds a ring with a very faint aura of abjuration. Kalcryx
detects evil and finds that all in the caravan and the ring are evil.

They decide to burn one cart, gathering all the goods into the other two. Jaran goes
about scraping the mark of Bane from the sides of the carts. But… what to do with
the prisoners?

Decide to interrogate them. Kalcryx casts zone of truth and uses his mental
abilities.

“Where were you headed?” Kalcryx asks.
They are non-compliant. They think little rhymes… from one of them there
is the vague sense that they have been trained to do so.

Decide to execute them. Jaran gives an admirable speech condemning them… *bork*
Then they are executed; their bodies burnt on a pyre in the middle of the road.

The goods and the carts are hidden in various places… wheels in one spot, body and
axle in another, etc. Jaran and Flanna mark the locations on their maps. Having
dealt with this so, they travel to the northern trade route. That day they find no
more roads, no more caravans. Camp out, leave early next morning.

*26 Uktar*

About midmorning they come across the Northern tradeway. The scouting group goes out
and from a grassy clearing adjacent to the woods, they see in the distance another
caravan with five or six carts. Four robed men walk along beside it, and there are
three armored men as well. One, bald and in plate, leads the caravan, the other two
sit atop the carts. This is an official party, and each cart flies a flag with the
mark of Bane.

*mid afternoon*
Jaran, invisible and flying, casts web, catching the bald man, but the two fighters
leap free.

>From one of the middle carts, a note is sung. Jaran spellcrafts, and determines it is
not a spell.

G’Kar and Kalcryx cast silence, G’Kar on the rear-mage, Kalcryx on the bald man.

Baldy takes his warhammer to the web restraining him. He seems to be angry, and
yelling.

William takes a step forward, next to the dwarf and takes a shot at closest dog, which
falls over. James pulls out his bow, aiming for the mage, but missing with both
shots.

One of the mages points to the party’s direction, the other takes off running to the
rear of the cart.

Lyta casts web on the middle three carts. The frontmost armoured man jumps off, free
of the web. He looks at Lyta, and his hands start moving. He begins to say
something, but stops when he realizes he is silenced, then decides to move to the
other side.

Flanna makes herself invisible… [for lack of anything better to do…]

Connor shoots two arrows at Baldy, but misses.

Jaran casts an icy sphere on two of the rear carts. Four horses fall dead. The a
capella chanting from the middlish cart continues on.

G’Kar casts strength of one on himself, Kalcryx, William, James, and Connor and moves
to the edge of the forest. Kalcryx casts recitation and moves somewhere. The dogs
move forward.

William moves to the rear of the caravan, shooting and missing the armoured figure on
top of the cart, twice. James moves forward and shoots at Baldy.

A robed man runs up to G’Kar, drawing a longsword. He swings, throwing all his weight
into the swing, then falls over. As he falls, a glint of armour can be seen beneath
the robes.

{some stuff while I looked up spells.}

Lyta casts cloudkill around the center cart, and the singer.

Flanna mirror-images herself and runs…

Connor advances toward G’Kar, training an arrow on Baldy, aiming for his head. He
misses, tragedy.

Jaran floats.

Someone climbs from the cart and runs away, restarts singing.

G’Kar smacks down the mock-mage.

Kalcryx fires two arrows at Baldy, hits twice. Baldy [not being an idiot] fetches
something from his pouches and brings it to his lips.

A dog reaches G’Kar and another James.

William takes another two shots at the guy sitting on top of the rear cart. Both
miss. James kills the dog biting him.

Another robed man runs toward G’Kar, sword in hand.

Lyta moves and casts icy sphere on the fleeing bard and the front armoured man/mage.
The latter casts a spell… Jaran determines it was like hers, but better.

G’Kar is surrounded by be-robed swordsmen. With four blows, only one lands.

Flanna casts ward away on the remaining guy sitting atop a cart.

Connor shoots into the web…

Jaran casts earthen grasp on the bard… it does not connect. The bard does not like
Jaran. He drops a wall of ice on her, killing a horse.

G’Kar wails on one of the robe guys. Kalcryx smacks the crap out of baldy with one
arrow. With his other shot, he aims at, but misses the blue bead not on a cart.
G’Kar is attacked by a dog. He ignores it.

William fires two more arrows at the mage guy in the cart and misses… However, Lyta
seems to think the arrow went right through him… Hmmm

Robed guys continue to attack G’Kar.

Lyta sees a man in platemail, wearing a big symbol of Bane on his chest, and a large
flail, climb out from under the tarp of the rear cart. Lyta drops a wall of ice on
him and the blue bead guy who may or may not be real… The killer cloud drifts…

Robed guys CONTINUE to attack G’Kar. Two misses. [”One came real close…”]

The mage-in-armour drops a wall of ice on Jaran again. [Bummer] Jaran falls to the
ground.

FlannaX4 reads a magic missile scroll on the Bane-mail guy.

Connor attacks mock-mage, hitting twice.

Jaran bleeds. An earthen hand comes up from the ground and paws the globe of
invulnerability around the mage-in-armour.

The bard looks at Lyta, and casts a spell… A small bead of fire rushes toward her,
expanding as it travels until it would be really ouchie, but, fortunately, she is
fire-resistant.

G’Kar wails on the remaining mock-mage. The dog runs to G’Kar, leaping madly at him.
G’Kar ignores it.

Kalcryx moves and targets the mage-in-armour, hitting. One of the helmlings
(William?) moves to Jaran and administers a cure critical wounds potion. She comes
back to consciousness. [Helmite saves the day!]

James cries out, “You’ve got better things to worry about, G’Kar. I’ll take care of
this!” and thoroughly skewers the dog.

“Ah, fuck!” the mock-mage says and tries to run. Connor slices him nicely.

Bane-mail man drinks a potion and disappears. Lyta targets his last known location,
using a wand of wonder. Mage-in-plate grabs a scroll, grabs onto the mage and
disappers. Jaran casts spellcraft, but cannot determine what it is… it is something
she has never cast before, and is above her spell level. She tells her cat to hide in
the woods and she will heal it later. She stands and quaffs a healing potion.

Connor, now having nothing better to do, walks around surveying the area. G’Kar
flings his hammer at the blue bead guy still sitting on the cart. It goes right
through him. Kalcryx casts faerie fire on the last known location of the Bane-mail
guy.

Suddenly there is the sound of spellcasting from toward where Flanna was, then it
stops. Lyta uses the wand of wonder to cast detect invisibility. She points at
herself and casts… [”This is amusing…”] She is suddenly blinded by hundreds of
butterflies streaming from the wand. “Detect invisibility! Not detect butterflies!”

Lyta, Flanna, Jaran, and one of the helmites has a funny feeling, like… they’re
being spied on. “We’re being watched,” Jaran announces.

Flanna does something silly… Feeling ill at ease, she wanders somewhat into the
forest, within sight. She lies down and casts shield above her.

G’Kar pulls the tarp off one of the carts and… it is empty. In the distance, there
is the sound of horns and galloping horses.

Frustration and insult… that is what I have earned today from Zonas’s promise to me. We went as summoned to the castle. He did not speak with us himself; it was from the Mystran, Sir Justblade, my companions took their orders, and it was the Mystran I called upon to fulfill Zonas’ word to me, in his stead.

“Certainly,” he said. “You seek a husband?” His manner was so sincere, and since he is a paladin, like my Lady Faye, I cannot think he meant offense by it, but still I am offended. He told me no more than I already knew –the greatest mages do not stay in Zazesspur long, but are soon seduced to Calimshan.

Which makes me question again Zonas’ power… Why has he not sought riches in the south? But that is easily answered by his loyalty, I suppose. It is wicked of me to wish him weaker and less noble, merely because I am vexed by him.

My companions have received their orders. Tethyr looks to reclaim Mosstone soon, but first she must isolate the town from the support of Amn. We –they, I should say– are instructed to seek and disrupt the supply lines, with free license to execute extreme prejudice in our task.

The wild half-breeds have secured employment at our sides. They risk their lives for 500 pieces of gold, and I risk my life for… I know not what, but the Crown does not employ me.

And so we all of us leave Zazesspur tomorrow, and I am little the better for it, though I have not lost so much as I feared.

Kalcryx is very strange today… I wonder if the pain of his crimes is too great a strain on him…?