Wednesday, September 8, 2010

9/8/2010 – Sky Garden Found!


9/8/2010 – Sky Garden Found!

After taking stock of our situation following the fight, we found the only one with any wounds of concern was Kain.  He had taken serious cuts and bites; everyone else was only bruised or nicked but otherwise okay.  Twink cared for everyone anyway, doting on Kain the most.

The ship did not escape unscathed though it was easy to repair.  Twink went on deck to clear her head after tending the wounded and caught the scent of something on the wind.  After some urging she gets Ariadne to agree to move the ship towards the scent of mint she has found.  First though, they need to figure out how to get free.  While the saliva worked well at first it quickly lost its potency and stopped.  Frustrated, she agreed to let the crew break open a barrel of wine and two of beer while she thought.  A careless from one of the crew quickly revealed the alcohol in it dissolved the webbing, which sadly was keeping them trapped.

After some trial and error, they used some of their stores to clear the webbing away and to use as a way to clear a path through the near invisible stuff that clogged the sky they were in.  The rain that came didn’t help anything.  Otso, tired of it, gives Sultrani a quick tutorial on how to drive the ship and then goes on deck to counter the rain with magic.  He is confused on how the rain is even hitting them, since any clouds with rain are too far below them to rain on them above them.  Regardless, he combats it with magic and then uses more spells to force the wine and beer out more efficiently while Sultrani drives.

This works well, even though it pains everyone to part with the alcohol.  Hours later, he motions for Sultrani to stop.  Moving forward, we can seen that he had sprayed the alcohol and dissolved the webbing and revealed a tree seemingly growing out of the clouds.  Seeing it begged explanation, especially after Twink, our resident herbalist noted that it was still alive and actually rooted in the cloud somehow.  

Vangtse flew and verified it, though he nearly walked as much as he flew.  Unable to contain herself, Twink jumps with the away crew to check out the tree.  Its intact, roots and all and the cloud is firm if spongy.  Twink scraps some of it away and pockets it (she later learns that the stuff is called Cloud Soil when she consults her books).  Meanwhile, Sultrani, concerned about her is going to join the away party when she is stopped by Otso.  He gives her a runed (Eldarin) rock that he says will allow him to pull her back to ship if she is closed enough.  He has more for the rest of the away team.

His timing could have been better, as in the searching, Twink and Vangste plummet through what they thought was solid cloud (hah!).  Twink drops like a rock below while Vangtse throws out his wings to slow his fall and then promptly tangles in more webbing.  Sultrani dives over the side after dunking an open barrel of beer over her head.  She slips through the webbing and quickly makes her way (falling through the air) to Twink and activates the stone.   They rubber band back to the ship deck but the return is not controlled (bad roll) and they slam into the deck.  Hard.  Hurt, Twink gets an earful while the rest free Vangtse.  Twink finds some of her healing medicine and feeds them both.  

They are out while the rest decide to continue on.  They fly, slowly through the area, noting with amazement more and more greenery; birds are seen as well as numerous insects.  When they come across true earth on the clouds it dosen’t seem a surprise but when they come across what seems to be an entire colossal garden with tall trees, hanging vines and even – who knows how – the hint of high hills or a mountain, they are agog.  When night comes they decide to drop anchor and rest.  Right before twilight, Otso had noticed wreckage from other skyships or airships.  He has no desire to fight through this at night.

Concerned about things, two people are set on watch at all times, fully armed.  Ariadne, later that night, drawn by some sixth sense, wakes up and goes on deck.  She finds that the two on watch are asleep and covered in large insects.  She grabs torches and shoos them away.  After waking the others, they pull the two inside to make sure they are alive and safe (they are) and then plugs up area the insects could get in.  The rest of the night is spent watching insects that carpet the ship and the night air.

Morning comes (thankfully!) and high above something huge flies over, casting a giant shadow across the ship and the greenery spread out before us.  We move the ship a little, to a better berth and then disembark as a group to check out the wrecks.  Stopping when we did was good since we found masses of rocks and more debris from ships.  It looks like the remnants of at least four ships, maybe more.

Vangtse overflew the area and report masses of birds, insects and a giant thriving forest.  It seemed like a forest floating in the clouds.  He also reported a pure pool of water fed by dozens of tiny streams.  We made our way to it, nearly losing Twink along the way as she harvested one plant after another.  Or at least she tried to until we dragged her away.  Reiner and Fin couldn’t resist a swim in the pool while Sultrani escorts Twink to gather more plants.  Kain broods and talks to the others.

While gathering, Twink is set upon by a wild cat of some sort.  She gets a lucky shot in with her knife, gutting it.  Sultrani finishes it.  Meanwhile, something akin to a giant land gator shoots out from the vegetation, narrowly missing the two of them.  Sultrani grabs Twink and runs towards the group.  Twink squeaks the whole way, raising cane.  Everyone comes running right as an albino Saurig drops from branches above the land gator and slams it into the ground.  Kain gets a good cut in before the Saurig snaps the crock’s neck by twisting its head around.

Unsettled by their new visitor, everyone stares at one another for a moment before the Saurig speaks.  Runes burned into his skin glow as he talks.  He explains he is out of time: throw forward across a gulf he has no idea how to measure.  We quickly find out he is from the time of the Kthoi, one of their drop troops genetically engineered to fight on other planets.  Not that all of that made sense to us.  He was just as confused as we were and grappled with what had happened.  He showed us a wound he was recovering from and said much of his memory was lost, including his name.  Not knowing what to call him, we gave him the name of “Timeswept”.

The journey back was filled with Twink’s incessant questions to him and his seemingly endless patience.  Or, perhaps amusement would be more exact.  He didn’t answer everything but he did at least address the question.

Closing upon the ship made us realize we could hear the sound of combat.  Redoubling are stride we came to the ship rapidly.  On the deck, a huge manticore was tearing into a golden field that Otso can called into being to keep from getting killed.  Or eaten.  Three more of the beasts were flying above and soon we were embroiled in a battle between us and the four of them.   If not for Timeswept we would have died.  Still, it was Sultrani and Kain that turned the tide.  Kain with some mad sword skills that defied mastery (and were utterly rooted in luck) and Sultrani by using her injured arm and finding hitting one of the manticores so hard it broke its back and cracked the deck all in one.

Three died and one survived to fly away – the one with runes trailing down its chest and across its shoulders.  In its trail it left a dying Kain and Ariadne and everyone but Timeswept , Sultrani, and Otos heavily wounded.  Timeswept poured water from a spring he had found on the island.  It rapidly forced healing, an act that knocked out nearly all the crew, though we gritted our teeth and managed to stay conscious through it.  It also brought on an intense hunger and got Twink feeding everyone.

Timeswept left with Sultrani to get more of the “healing” water.  Their journey was swift: they were among the fastest in the group.  It was not without accident.  They were set upon by the one that had escaped and obviously knew of the healing pool too as it was healed.  Their fight was short but intense.  It ended when the two of them killed it but not before the Manticore bit off one of Timeswept’s arms.

He manages to lead her to the pool and then dives in.  Sultrani gets the water and waits for him but he never surfaces.  She dives in but cannot find him.  Uncertain, she returns to the ship.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

9/1/2010 - To the Skies and Beyond


9 -1 – 2010
After the events of the previous day, the next couple of days seemed to fly by quite quickly.  Ariadne was a flurry of activity, gathering up crew and authorizing different people to come along.  Otso was particularly interesting.  He floated!  Well, actually kept a mass of clouds beneath his feet so he never touched the ground.  Something about a curse or some sort.  And all it would take is a single touch to the ground for the things after him to locate his position.  

It made us scratch our head but Ariadne swore he was the best and it was her ship after all.    He brought with him a bunch of plants, something that made Twink incredibly happy.  She snipped off a few leaves, which he scolded her for (but not really meaning it).  The plants were known as Oxygensus though most knew them by their nom de guerre of “oxygen leaves”.

Ariadne also employed Kain, bringing him on as a handyman and crewmember with the promise of a portion of profit and who knows what else.  Twink spent some time looking for more herbs to add to her collection and who knows what Sultrani did.  Spoke to Collin at least.  He had used an interesting martial move know as the “Wolf’s Fangs”.  He was closed mouthed about it but they had a friendly conversation, nonetheless.  She did convince him that the name he overhead when she cast it into the moon pool was Ariadne’s to give and not hers.  He looked skeptical but acquiesced after she pushed.

While the crew slowly showed up and everyone else was busy, Sultrani took some steps to keep pursuers (wonder who she thought was following…?) from tracking them down.  She spent freely to book passage on several caravans and carriage routes out of town as well as some billets on airships and skyships.  Quite a busy bee.  In fact, she was near the docks doing just that when a freak swell caught her by surprise and right into the drink.  Sucked in by a riptide, she was pulled out but managed to fight her way free of it.  She was a bit out then but started swimming back.  She was sucked in by another riptide but was pulled from it by another merman.  Thinking it Reiner she went along.

She was quite surprised to find out it wasn’t when they neared shore.  He noted his name was Fin and while not Reiner he was aware of the man.  Sultrani, for her own reasons, introduces the too.  After some conversation with Ariadne and Reiner, Fin joined us.  Their discussion was behind closed doors but in private she assured us he was trustworthy.

The week pulled to a close with the crew going on board.  They were an interesting and tough looking bunch, reconciled to potentially not coming back for years.  Just like we were.  That conversation with Araidne after she laid out that she had acquired a ship had hit us like a stone.  Everyone talked, even Sultrani! At least for a little bit.  Regardless, the sense of adventure and fun in flying across Khaora seemed to much to turn down.  Anyway, the crew were as follows:

Ariadne:  Captain
Navigator:  Otso
First Mate:  Hignphaxis
·         Geof
·         Marjorie
·         Antel
·         Shayn Duomo
·         Sable
·         Kurtag
·         Mina
·         Draj
·         Endil
·         Cade
·         Vangtse (hawkman)
·         Ryx
·         Kain

Twink was our medic and cook.  Sultarni was, well, herself.  We had one other passenger who didn’t muster that came on board with Fin.  She was something special, I guess, and there at Kolera’s insistence.
Twink left food outside her door, as she didn’t seem to come out at all.  Maybe late perhaps. 
Leaving Khurahaen was a grand adventure that quickly grew boring.  Time slipped away as the drill of sailing the skies took over and we fell into a rhythm.  The first push was to gain altitude to clear the Prismatic Mountains, which meant pointing the ship skyward at a steep angle and rising.  Otso took it easy on us, taking his time guiding us upward.

In fact, it was rather boring for a while.  At least, until we actually got up into the upper layers of the atmosphere.  Even the mountain tops looked rather small below us through the clouds.  It was dark and cloudy when the watch saw them first.  Multicolored lights, dancing and moving in patterns with the clouds as a backdrop.  One did not concern them.  It was when it grew to three and then seven and then more when they (Ryx) set off the alarm.


Ariadne orders the weapons locker to open and everyone arms up.  Fighting them seemed impossible as they moved and zoomed across the ship.   After some rather dramatic  failures, Sultrani landed a blow on one that destroyed it.  I think.  She grew very agitated after failing to defend or attack them and landed upon one of them with a horizontally spinning kick then thrust her hand inside its core and ripped out its lights.  Her hand went dead; numb at the least, maybe more.  That seemed to animate them even more.   It was Otso who struck them with lightning forcing them away.  It charred the ship in the process and Ariadne orders an immediate payment of 1 GP in hazard pay!

The next day saw some sore heads from celebration of surviving the first conflict.  It was quiet during the morning as we passed over the mountains but a little more hectic as we got into some rougher weather that forced us up a little higher.  Everyone was on oxygen leaves then and during the afternoon count we realized that Kain was missing!

A search of the ship revealed nothing but Vangtse in scouting the area finds trails of Kain’s hair near a strange creature.  It looked, for the lack of a better term, like a slowing turning mirror floating through the sky.  Fearing it had devoured Kain we sailed over to it and it ignored us, making no attempt to move away or attack.

Unknownst to us, Kain had been snapped up by the creature, which was a bizarre thing that consisted of little more than a giant stomache attached to an open aperture.  It lived on bugs and small things mostly with an occasional larger prey (high Kain!) once and a while.

Kain was not still why we struggle to figure out what to do.  He quickly realized he was getting weaker (it drained the life out anything inside) and scrambled his way through the debris of insect husks and bodies to try to find a way out.  He had no luck but did stumble a spirit of another victim.  She had been swept off a skyship as well and died as he would if nothing changed.  Her spirit was trapped within and wanted only escape.  She told Kain she had a powerful voice and knew that the right vibrations would force it to regurgitate its stomach if they hit the right vibration.

She (Tentari) had been doing that before she died and has nothing but time to figure out what was needed since.  If he would let her possess him, she could sing them free.  Kain quibbles but given a lack of any choices, agrees.  She possesses him without a hitch and moves to a point indecipherable to him but where she says they must stand.  She opens her mouth tossing  when it happens:

Back on the ship, no one could figure out what to do.  After a lot trial and error, they find it can take things in but nothing seems to come back out.  Lacking options, we decided to empty the bilges and septic tank into it.  Poor Kain was starting to sing when he was deluged with water and shit!  He survives the shitfall and still manages to sing and nearly contemporaneously it belches him and a lot of the shit, water and insect corpses.
It floods our ship and sends it canting to one side and we nearly lost two.  Luck was with us (even though nearly all the food was spoiled and the ship stank for days).

Tentari, freed pulls from Kain and begins to fade.  As a last gift she burns some of her passing essence into the ship, building it into a song that brings a gentle rain.  It doesn’t last, at least the rain, but the song lingered, always there with the ship like a haunting air.

We thanked the gods the next couple of days were quiet as we left Arduin behind us and travelled high across the plains of Falohyr.  It ended, sadly, when late one night as we were heading towards some horrible place called The Withering Lands we caught sight of a large serpentine form wriggling through the air.  Figuring it a dragon we dodged it and went higher to hide.

We were lucky and dodged it.  Some time passed without problems until we slammed into something we couldn’t see.  It rocked the shop and our tempers.  We rushed out to find out what was going on.
A quick recon showed it was some kind of translucent webbing that didn’t show up against the cloud background.  Where webbing exists, spiders always follow and we quickly found ourselves fighting translucent spiders.  They fell quickly to our blades without much effort.  Getting out of the webbing took longer and was interrupted by what I can only call a hail of jellyfish, or so it seemed.  That complicated things but once we had swept them off deck, we used the webbing to replace some damage (it worked really well) and their saliva to burn away the webs otherwise.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

8/25/2010 - Khurahaen & Xe Manse

The ship was headed to Khurahaen and when we arrive the port was closed due to an attack by a swamp demon that someone had loosed in the Misty Sea.  Dozens of ships have dropped anchor and are waiting.  Ariadne seeks out Reiner and asks him to go into the sea and take a message to Kolera.  He takes a small pack with him and goes.

Omar, the first mate warns the waters are treacherous, filled with riptides and porcelain crabs.  He also hints about a place or event called the Crucible of Salt.

While waiting for it to be over, Ariadne sent Reiner into the city by swimming.  He then becomes worried later and asks Jezzik to relay a message to him.  It involves some humor as he requires a fish.  It takes some time to catch one.  Once in hand he breathes a message into it that will be relayed to Reiner when it swims to him.

Everyone finds something to do with their boredom and wait it out.  After day two the ennui finally ends after they hear a ruckus above.  They see some great beast swallow up an anchored ship not far away.  As everyone cries out and begins raising the anchor, it turns into chaos.  The demon takes on another ship before being attacked from above by a figure held in the winds.

The creature spits out a mass of slime and garbage, as well as slime encrusted undead crabs and a few men.  Some land on the ship decks  and we engage them.  Twink has bad luck and breaks her sling.  Kain reaps them like chaff as does Jhary and the others.  Halfway through the fight, Krixil wakes up and joins in the fray, destroying them by touch.

Ariadne kills the "leader" if there was one, with a consecrated bolt he got from Jezzaine.  The creature is eventually put down by Ariscio of the Three Winds, who destroys it in the sea.  Adze provides healing, but at a cost and Kain gives up his glowing leaf to ensure Twink and everyone is healed.

The port was torn asunder in the fight so we were redirected to the Mud Flats to the east of the city.  We say goodbye to the brothers when we depart.

There we left the ship on long boats.  Officials there do not charge us tax as an apology for the attack.  Krixil slips away from us, lumbering off to send down roots near the mound that acts as the center for the Amarydion religion here.  He was odd and none missed his departure.

Ariadne split away to search for word of Reiner.  The rest noted the large makeshift hospitals in place to treat the wounded.  He isn't there but Ariadne charms some people to send word to her when or if he shows up.

The city is in an uproar but it quiets down after a while.  Reiner shows up finally and leads Ariadne off to discuss things with Kolera.  The rest of us bunk down in an old, rustic mansion that lets out rooms for travelers.  The owners are odd and Sultrani gets spooked and won't go inside.

The others are not so sanguine and take rooms at the place, known as Xe Manse.  Kain spends some time in the yard and then in an attached lower level room to train with his blades.  While shadow fighting the mirrors he finds, his reflection talks to him and then drains into his eyes, taking him over.

Meanwhile, Ariadne fare well with Kolera, managing to sweet talk her factor, whose name seems to be Neggie.  He passes on to Ariadne that staying at the Xe Manse and that it has a bad reputation.  So much so that he insists Ariadne return, taking with her one of his tower guards

Twink, meanwhile is succumbing to the same influence back at the Xe Manse, though her innocence allows her to fight it better.

Sultrani meets up with Collin and Ariadne.  They agree to go in together.  A bell rings and Ariadne starts going inside.  Sultrani tries to stop her by knocking her over but she hisses and glares back at her with burning red eyes.  Eventually, Collin grabs her  but whatever it is takes over Sultrani and frees Ariadne.  With her last bit of will, Sultrani breaks her shoulder and the pain dislodges the spirit.

They see a ghostly figure in a party dress run into the mansion. 

After they recover, Collin provides the two necklaces of his god.  He hopes they will help.

They move back and see the possessed Kain and Twink threaten them from the windows of the mansion.  Uncertain what to do, they depart, going to where Krixil had taken root.

The way there was covered quickly but entered in disappointment.  He will not waken and the priestesses will give no help.  Someone speaks up, perhaps all at once it came to us, that we should go to the moon goddess' temple.  So, back to the city.

They moon goddess' priest lets us in and we pray before the pool.  Sultrani goes the extra mile and sacrifices her true name to the pool.  Help comes in the form of an aged man, heavy with power.  He says little but smiles much and in the light of the moon walks the city to the mansion, us trailing behind him.  He has us stay outside while he goes within.  In minutes, light streams from the mansion and then smoke.  We resist going in but only just.  In seconds Twink and Kain come out, free from their possession.

The man speaks with everyone before leaving to go back to the goddess.  He gives his name, Sotineln Moonwalker and marks Kain's cheek and Twink's shoulder with the mark of the goddess.

Exhausted but free, they depart.  Collin takes them back to Kolera's Tower, sure she will let them stay.  Neggie greets them and lets them while Ariadne rejoins up with Reiner, who is finally awake.

Everyone beds down except Ariadne who meets up with Kolera.  To Ariadne's surprise, she's a gnome.  Loquacious too.  They haggle and deal; when it ends, Kolera get back her goods: the lightning in a bottle.  Ariadne gets a line on a ship, a skyship to be specific, for which she gets to be the captain.  She won't own it until she finishes the journey and has to work for Kolera for a time afterward.  She wants Ariadne to pilot a trade route from Khurahaen to Arad in Aradnast.


Wednesday, August 18, 2010

8/18/ 2010 - Blood in the streets

After arriving into town, Kain is pulled aside by a guard.  He still holds allegiance to Hyrkhallia and warns Kain that the king has called an emergency session.  It will be bloody.

Greywing departs, promising to return.  The rest decide to follow up and visit with Tandris at the College of Magik, after visiting an 'old friend' of Sultrani.  Ariadne was on the way and since the way was clogged ahead with people and everyone was hungry.  She had been humming and singing for dinner.  Drawn into it, everyone joins here, listening to her tale of far of Maelshyra set to a violin.  Perosk, the owner, later talks to her.  She had inquired about certain business and he only knows of one reputable merchant.  That of Velar, a mover of quality goods.

Everyone leaves to gather up tea at the market.  Ariadne, not quite part of things yet, tags along at a distance.  She watches when Kain speaks to Throon, who talks to him about a contract of protection.  Uncertain what to do, Kain says no but the Throon bids him to look him up at the Brown Coin later.

Sutrani splits away to meet her friend while the others continue through the market.  Kalabar's hobbits meet and warn Twink to leave the city.  They tell her that Kalabar has offered a trip on a boat to get out of the city before it gets bad.  Ansi, one of the hobbitt gang, has a quiet word with Ariadne.  Kalabar knows of her and offers on his behalf to purchase his wagon of goods for 20 crowns.  After some bartering she agrees.

Ansi introduces her back to the party, insinuating that she would be a good comrade.  No one has any issues, given his recommendation and they go to the college.  Sultrani joins back up and they have a pleasant time with Tandris.  Given the rising tension they think the trip by ship is a good thing and move rapidly to the docks. 

The Hespira awaits them.  The captain is Adze.  She dislikes the interruption in her trip to Khurahaen but has agreed for up to 3 days treasure hunting in the Wrecks.

Kain slips below to work out while Twink goes into the kitchen.  She pisses off the cook but makes good on it.  Kain meets up with Jhary who is training.  After some discussion they take a liking to one another and train together.  He talks about his two brothers as well, Jezzik and Jazane.

Ariadne spends much time on the trip gathering information.  They talk of salt zombies, ghoulsand other things in the wrecks.  He also spends some time talking to Jezzik and the three brothers and the group come to a quick accord and liking to one another.

Ariadne spends some time with Sultrani and they come to an accord.  She will guard his back on her journey.  Kain spends some time with the three brothers, especially Jhary.  They spar and work with one another, taking in a great appreciation for each others' measure of skill.  His brother, Jezzik, examines Kain's blades, remarking that underneath their battered appearance lies true quality.

Time passes, three days to be exact.  Three days of boredom with little more than endless sparring and talking.  Notes are swapped and we find that the three brothers work for the College of Magik in Talismonde.  Well, actually only Jezzik truly works for them since he has a position in their arcane retrieval department.  The other two assist as time and occasion allow.

They seek the college's cargo on the ship called "The Fairy Maiden".  The group seeks out Kalabar's goods on the "Hobbitt's Kiss".  Except for Ariadne who is after some goods for Kolera, who lost them when one of her vessels ended up at the Wrecks.  After some discussion, they agree to team up and work with one another.

The captain warns that he will not come too close to the mass of the Wrecks.  Still, he does come close, to an area where a mass of recently torn free wreckage has formed a path of sorts.  That seems good so the others agree.

It is late morning when they disembark.  The way is wet, dangerous and shifting.  Some quick discussion and the revelation that Jezzik at least has a way to navigate to his cargo, they decide to go after "The Fairy Maiden" first.  After long it doesn't surprise any one that they come across ghouls.

After some quick communication they wait it out, letting them pass by.  Then, as luck would have it they come across the remnants of the vessel that Ariadne sought.  She sends her servant, the merman Reiner down below to explore.  Things go horribly wrong then.

While he is below he awakens something.  Something akin to a Kraken!  It explodes out of the water, slapping down Twink.  Or, it would have but the protective magics that Jezzik had put on her kick in and she is transported back to the ship.

Everyone is embroiled in the battle, usually avoiding writhing tentacles as they slam into and upset the area.  Jezzik is pulled under and Jhary quickly follows afterward.  Lightning flickers down below, showing he's still alive and fighting.  In the end the water settles as it sinks below the surface, finally dead.

We take stock and lick our wounds.  The fight was not without hurt but all is well enough.  The Lightning in a Bottle is recovered, still intact in its crates.  Luck follows along with them and they quickly find the Fairy Maiden wreck and then the Hobbitt's Kiss.

Getting back involved getting into a struggle with the ghouls and spirits that possessed some swollen salted bones.  It was a quick struggle that ended with them wet and a little more blooded but otherwise healthy.

On the ship, the three brothers talk more freely.  They tell Twink about the Century Soup Festival in Viruelandia that starts in a year.  They also speak about the possibility of joining the group planning on participating in the World Ring Quest that will start in Talismonde.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

8/11/2010 - Talismonde and the Streets

A lot happens here but the notes are lost.

However, as a scattered series of events that occurred:



Graywing finds foes and friends here.  He loses a feather and it is used against him with the feathers as part of the fletching.  It nearly slays him.

Twink meets Kalabar and learns of their relationship.  He's an underworld and street figure of some reputation and heads the Great Hobbitt Network, or so he calls it.  She also attends a party at his underground club and he tries to marry her off to a good hobbitt boy that will take care of her.  She has know of that and splits.

She learns about his adventuring days and love of treasures finding.  Not in keeping, just finding, mind you.  He loves collecting maps, tales and different artifacts to remind him of those days.

Kain earns some more bumps and bruises here wrestling with hobbitt martial artists. He also get some serious fighting time in too but loses as often as he wins.  His bad luck still holds.

Twink is approached by a shade, that of a ghost relating to Elf Hill.  Some research is done into it, enough to find it was a mass burial site from back in the Nexus War days.  Everyone purposely distracts her away from pursuing it.

They see some of the landmarks and sights of the Grand City (Talismonde).

They get in a fight her, the one where they track down some thuggee/assassin types and where Graywing is nearly slain by an arrow fletched with feathers from his own body.