#sephrenea

After all, it's raining and I'm not sure what's going on.  We left our town to look for information in a bigger town, but we've been under attack ever since we left.

Blaine is a doofus.  He peed on a snake, antagonized it into attacking us.  Maybe that's why everything's been after us lately.

I mean, Ithinkthe situation has been settled.  It looks like the strange two-headed beast has overcome his curse, he seems to have tolerated my treatment well, and everyone seems quite a bit... calmer.

It has been the most upsetting day[s].  From this strange two-headed beast ravaging the town to the long airship ride and my sacrifices to obtain a wand ofCure Light Wounds, I'm not sure how I'm still sane. 

We left Cloudport after some date with Aliandrin, but not before Rope nearly started a fight with some shady dealer over a "Cure Light Wounds" wand.  I figured he must have been that emotional about the thing for a reason, so I wandered the town in search of one to purchase.  I suppose it was just bad luck that brought me to the particular store that I landed in.  I pulled out all of my charm to try to get a good deal on this wand.  What began with good intentions and fun negotiating turned into a proposition.  He asked me to meet him in the back room for some "negotiating".  I wasn't sure that it was a good idea, so I convinced Rope to strip off his clothes and speak with him first.  He wasn't impressed with Rope, so I reentered to fulfill my end of the bargain.  I was not met with what I'd been expecting.  I left feeling ashamed and confused, but with the wand in my bag thanks to some firm words from Blaine.  We boarded the galleon and landed near a little town, which the captain called "Oldkeep". 

It wasn't Oldkeep, by the way.  We didn't find this out until later, when we realized that the bridge to the town was out.  While Rope and Blaine were helping to rebuild the bridge, I was listening to the townsfolk tell of a two-headed giant that was terrorizing the town of "Newkeep".  They implored us to help them, so Rope and Blaine began strategizing and setting up a post for the night.  It wasn't until morning that this giant, called "Ettin", appeared.  I didn't know it at first, as I was busy helping the townsfolk build a pit, but the men went off to fight the thing and soon shouted warning that the creature was approaching. 

I should probably mention, although the details are a bit blurry by now, that our ranger Blaine had found an old building with a mysterious poem engraved.  The poem seems relevant, now.  Something about A creature with one head becoming one with two, serving the Invincible, and heeding some six-armed king prior to becoming cursed.  We'd thought that this creature was the key to this riddle, and I suspect that Blaine thought that killing it was the solution.

As it were, the men managed to wound the creature quite severely before it took off, racing toward some lair.  I tried to give chase, but was outpaced rather quickly.  I waited in the forest and gathered some berries while I waited for news.  It was quite some time before he came back, asking us to come to the lair of the beast with him.  Rope and I followed, curious about solving this riddle finally.  And we did!  It was the beast's overzealous violence that had cursed him!  I was worried, when he broke the spell, that he'd been rescued only to die.  He was in dire condition.  I managed to heal him just a little bit.  He seems to be doing a bit better, now.

...and some very nice new clothes, a gift from our friend the Silver.  I donned them and packed away some cheese for our journey before happening to glance out the window, which spanned my entire wall.  It seemed that there was some odd shimmer in the air in the distance, a field separating what appeared to by flying creatures from the open sky.  I suspected it was some form of beastiary, which piqued my curiosity mildly.  I stepped into the common room and waited for my companion to get ready.  It seems Rope, the third, was feeling under the weather.  It must have had something to do with those blackberries.  I shrugged and walked out the door with Blaine, heading in the general direction of the ranch.

It was called "Mount Olympus".  I suppose somebody thought that it was an amusing title, but I just wanted to see the creatures.  From the outside, there appeared to be ancient scaly things with wings and great feathered beasts alike.  The other people in the waiting line with us were making some great commotion about a phoenix.  My companion spoke with them.  I'm not sure why some humans feels like they must be social every time they run across other beings, but he somehow convinced this strange couple to invite us to dinner.  Huh.

It was quite a while until dinner time, though, so we wandered into the art district to try to make a plan for acquiring trained Pegasi or something.  Something there caught my eye, a regal looking image of our dragon friend descending from the sky.  It seemed like it was practically glowing with culture and magnificence, so I had some words with the artist and bought it for nearly nothing. 

And then we nonchalantly made our way toward the cottage for dinner.  When we arrived, the door was ajar and there were creepy noises coming from the inside.  Blaine called for them, but nobody answered, so we stepped inside their incredibly messy lair and wandered stupidly toward the sounds.  We found some crazy imp, who had tied up our Patron Grendew and had started tearing through some books.  My companion tore through it quite impressively and we tended to the wounded man, who implored us to take care of some mess that they'd made in the pantry.

And it was quite a mess.  Some animated, doughy thing that oozed red sauce every single time we hit it.  Every time I tried to freeze the thing with my ray, it would slow down, but it seemed hardly phased by any attack that I made.  I'm lucky that Blaine was there to take care of it, too, although not before I'd taken substantial burns from its tomato based sauce.  Not that it bothered me much.  I'm not here to worry about physical wounds, after all.

They're preparing dinner for us, now, so I suppose I should be polite and attempt some sort of small talk or something.

My name is Sephrenea.  I'm a gray elf, traveling very, very far from home to find a miracle.  I acquired this journal along my journey, and I'll be chronicling my adventures henceforth.

There's such a thing as "storm truce" in this region.  I had heard about it in the past, but my home is very far from here.  I'd never had occasion to call upon it before.  ...Perhaps Ariadne had a plan for me last night, for as I approached an ancient edifice last night, a violent lightning storm broke out.  I, as well as two other travelers, ducked inside for shelter and called upon this truce as an act of neutrality, an agreement to refrain from skewering each other as we slept.  The night was not restful.  The human, a clumsy warrior named "Rope", and the half-elf Blaine clambered about the building, attacking resting creatures and scooping up discarded gold.  I helped when I perceived some danger, although I was as discreet as I could be.  There's no need to become comfortable with these strangers just yet, after all.  I acquired a seemingly enchanted headband and some pearls for the effort and slept in peace.

The morning resumed rather peacefully.  We left to building to find clear skies and decided to head Northwest, toward the waters where we may find this "Placeholder Island" and the silver skeleton that so many flock to.  I may be able to find what I'm looking for, among so many travelers.  Ariadne had other ideas.  Almost as soon as I noticed a large wooden chest outside the building, that boorish human started screaming.  Instinctively, I pulled out my bow to defend myself from the wailing creature, tripping the fool.  Behind me, I heard the beginnings of a tussle, but I approached the chest to examine it.  To be frank, the chest was a creature, and it spewed out the foulest, most disturbing creatures I'd ever seen.  They were gelatinous!  I was paralyzed with fear, and so the battle seemed to happen within the blink of an eye.

And then it was over, and we'd just barely begun our journey when we were again disrupted.  Just on the crest of a hill, I spotted a small red dragon with a small silver dragonlet in its maw.  Again, the human started making a racket and yelling some obscenity at it, to which it warned him to leave him in peace with his meal.  The human didn't listen.  He ran up to the dragon to begin attacking it.  Reluctantly, I began firing cold rays at it to assist.  This battle did not go smoothly.  Both of the ones with human blood seemed to be gravely injured by the deliberate flapping of the Little Red's wings.  My cold was starting to affect the dragon when it flew away, warning us to remember this day in the name of Drachepyron.  Foolish Dragon, doesn't it realize that names have power? 

The little Silver one was harmed pretty badly.  I asked it in its native tongue to follow me for some delicious apples that the half-human had discovered in a nearby orchard, as well as to some salted pork before we began our journey again.  This time, it was almost immediately that we were interrupted again by a Draconic-speaking traveler in black robes.  He addressed the Little Silver familiarly, referring to it as his child and asking how we'd treated it.  The cute little baby chirped its response, and before the oafling humans knew what was happening, the human had become an ancient silver dragon who carried us into a city in the clouds.  The journey in the sky took to rest of the day, naturally.  Being in the sky like that was remarkable.  I doubt I'll forget the image in my entire life.

The city itself was just as spectacular.  I recognized the emblems of many noble families on the banners of the airships docked on its edges.  There were lakes and tall, elegant buildings all around, as well as flying mounts darting through the streets.  We were introduced to a guide of sorts and admitted with strange passports that captured our images when we opened them.  Our "party", which we were asked to name at the entrance, is "The Crack Apples".  I suggested the name after we'd spent a good portion of our travel time with the Silver Dragon searching the orchard for the most divine apples that trees could produce.  We found them, by the way, and I have mine tucked away in my new bag for a rainy day.  The city offers discounts to parties, which I suppose spurred our "party" into existence.  I'm not sure what the implications of this "party" may be, and I'm not sure that I care to find out.  The bags that we received at the entrance were nice-- Handy Havershacks.  Mine is a delightful crimson shade, and it contained several useful items.  This place certainly knows how to treat its visitors.

The rest of the day was spent exploring the city.  It's quite extravagant.  So are the prices.