Session notes 28-3-2020 & 5-4-2020

14th of Istrith
 
We have decided to take the following weeks off. Lieutenant Olden has no jobs for us, so we will just wait until we can more Lieutenant Dunn to his new home on the 6th of Vilrand. So until then, time for ourselves. Honestly, I think it might be good. Everyone is really excited about Apelés, there is still so much to see! I really want to try out that fancy alchemy book and I think Anrath can help me and Ferrum figure it out, or maybe she knows someone. I will ask Ferrum if he wants to go there someday this week. Also, I would love to get some more parts of my tattoo done, so I should contact Shef. I will just use today for a bit of relaxing and thinking about what I would like to do the following weeks. Maybe I will make a list, so that I may stick to it, maybe not.
 
 
 
16th of Istrith
 
Went to Shef today for the tattoo plans and we made some appointments to finish it in the following three weeks. -he was really surprised how quick it had healed, little does he know that I can bother both William and Thalmiir for that- But, he did some parts of outlines today and next week we will have some longer sessions. Also got introduced to some of his flatmates, they are all such eccentric people, it was quite fun! They all loved Mina, she is not really a bird who likes petting but I think she did like the attention. But my arm hurts, I am going to see if Thalmiir or William is around to help me out a bit with that before going to bed.
 
 
 
18-20th of Istrith
 
On the 18th, Ferrum and I went to Anrath for some alchemy supplies, and she redirected us to two places where we might get them. One was a simple general store, where we could buy some flasks and a device that shows you the temperature of the substance you are heating up. The other was a family business specialised in the craft, called The Bearpickers. Excited and curious, we made our way there. With Anraths directions, we easily found our way to the small house close to the park. When entering, we are first met with a sleeping, elderly goliath woman, who is sitting in the corner of the small shop. As soon as we enter, another lady walks up, also a goliath who greets us. What we noticed immediately, was that her eyes were stark white. -We did not mention it.- Explaining who we were, our plans with the alchemy book, and how we know little of the art of alchemy. Our extreme lack of knowledge on the subject seemed to amuse her, but this did not make her any less kind, with a lovely smile she showed us the way to the back of her store. It was not what we had expected. Behind the counter, through the door, there was a surprisingly large greenhouse-like structure. Full of plants and wooden shelves full of small bottles and potions. The lady, Galgia, picked up the ingredients we needed without issue. (We only helped her a bit with finding a small blue bottle, and there were like a lot of other bottles, some foaming some bubbling some seemingly empty, it was really fascinating but Ferrum urged me to be very careful with them) Eventually, we gather all the stuff, -not only for the sovereign glue, but also for the universal solvent- and we even meet Galgias son, Tokhal who fetches us some sturdy leather gloves. Which, as Galgia said, were very very important when working on the sovereign glue we wish to create. The boy, who is already as tall as Ferrum, was somewhat curious about him, as he, unlike his mother, realised that this was not a man in armour. Ferrum kindly declined the question of how he became this way, and that seemed to be okay.
Galgia said were always welcome to return, for alchemy supplies or enchanting, which her husband, Zorian, is good at. And, if we had forgotten anything we could always come and ask. (Grandma Bearpicker knows a lot!) With that and a few additional tips, we made our way back to the Crossed Candles to try out our new stuff!
 
Ferrum and I are a good team, the evening before, we had already made the oil of slipperiness as a first step in the processes of making sovereign glue. We learned from Galgia that we have the 'scientific version' of alchemy in our book. Which means that we should just try and follow it as precisely as possible. So that is what we did. Starting out with the solvent, as advised we spend our day carefully grinding the ingredients, cleaning and heating the bottles and chatting about our adventures. Ferrum read out the steps as I did the more secure movements, while he used Mage Hand spell to pick up the hot bottles after the right temperature had been reached. All went to plan, Burga would never know we were cooking potions up in our rooms. About that, I have not seen Liya the past few days, I think she might be out and about. She said something about the forest, but overall just seemed very eager to go. I suppose she is doing okay, she is always more in her element in the forest.
 
The next day, the really scary part started the sovereign glue. Ferrum told me that it can be used on basically anything and is 1. very cool. and 2. sound like we should be reaaaally careful. But, everything went smoothly, spilt some oil but nothing that a little prestidigitation can fix. And now we have two little bottles that we are quite proud of.
 
 
 
22nd of Istrith
 
This evening I played some nice parts for the guests at the inn. Burga was a bit sceptical about it at first but allowed me to play if I ensured it sounded nice. I think I did well, as she said I may play again someday. It was really nice to play a bit again, it had been a while. I should really practice more, or Ciaran will be disappointed in me for forgetting the parts we used to play together.
 
 
25th of Istrith
 
Walked with Ferrum and William to the library today, apparently, they have gotten access to it somehow. Some old connections, I did not quite catch it. But oh my am I jealous about that! They may only research Ikadosh's history but even that is already cool. I know little about it, in my studies at home it was more about the northern history and its law systems, but I wonder if and how different it might be/have been in Ikadosh. But during the walk we talked a bit, Ferrum spent most his time in the library, but William told me he has also filled quite some of his days in the forest, practising his crossbow. As we arrive at the library, our ways parted, so I made my way to Shef, for one of the longer tattoo sessions.
 
This time, it was quite hard and we were both tired after the hours of inking, but man is it looking good! Shef is humble about it, but I know he is happy with it too. Tomorrow we might just hang out a bit to talk a bit, and perhaps we will go to one of his studies parties, it is Neder tomorrow so there are quite some drinks to be had.
 
 
26th of Istrith
 
My arm, it hurt a lot this morning. I had hoped to catch William and Ferrum yesterday on my walk back from the university, but we missed one another. But luckily, Thalmiir was at breakfast this morning. He is really busy, not sure with what exactly. I have seen him pondering over sketches and discussing some kind of mechanic with Erky, but I do not understand it. I hope he will demonstrate it when it is finished!
 
I practised a bit with seeing through Mina's eyes. When the weather is nice, it is really cool just to lay down in the park and let her roam around. I had somewhat expected to see Stuard Dunn or Liya here, but I have not spotted them. Perhaps I fell asleep for a little while.
 
Going out at the campus was fun! A lot of very talented people there! And very diverse. From artists who paint or sculpt, to those studying magic who have animal companions just like Mina! There was a guy who had an almost entirely white cat called Pangur, and a girl with a weasel called Malva. Overall we just really had a good time, with tales and music and a bit of magic. I kind of would really like to be part of this life, but feel like it might become boring. Before heading out to go and study which eventually became what it is today, I might have been content with this, but now, I think I would really miss the group and the thrill of going somewhere new. And I also think that there is something out there to find. Not sure what, just a feeling. Anyhow, time for bed, I should buy some new journals next week, this one is almost full.
 
 
1st of Vilrand
 
Today I went out to buy some supplies, a new fancy journal. I even bought one with metal rings that hold the pages together instead of one with a regular back and leatherbound -I also have one of those tho-. I was it at Anraths place that I saw it and I just liked it a lot. Anrath commented on the number of books I carry with me and showed me this fancy bag that works like the bag Ferrum has or the quiver Liya has found. It can store an unlimited amount of books. Sadly, it was a bit out of my budget and I dare not ask Thalmiir to pay again, so I will just have to save up.
 
 
3-4th of Vilrand
 
The past few days were really calm, I went to Shef for an afternoon to show how the tattoo is healing. It looks really cool, I am already thinking of extra ones to take but I will wait a bit with those. Shef also advised me that, in his own way: "noo man, just, wait a bit and think about it". But we had a fun afternoon. I also took some time to copy the recipe of universal solvent into one of my journals. The recipes in the second book we bought are still a bit too difficult for us, so Ferrum and I thought about perhaps selling it again, but we could not do it just yet. Those first potions kind of sparked our interest. If we have some time off again, we might try to make some others! I thought about doing some myself, but it is more fun together I suppose. Have not seen everyone in some days, perhaps it is because I tend to sleep in in the mornings nowadays. Normally Liya is up early, which wakes me up, but Liya has not been at the inn since we took our time off. It is quite relaxed I must say to have my own room, but I miss our conversations. I did, however, use her bed somewhat like a dumping spot for all my stuff, I should clean it today or tomorrow.
 
 
 
 
5th of Vilrand
 
This morning, Liya was back at the Inn! During breakfast, she told us what she had been up to the past few weeks. Mostly, she took time to recharge from the city in the forest, hunting, exploring and such. Quite cool, but rather her than me, I enjoy sleeping in an actual bed. With everyone around the table again, we just caught up a bit, we have not seen each other much these past few days and it was nice to sit together again. Thalmiir was very excited to show what he had been working on but insisted we wait so he can actually demonstrate it. He also gestured proudly towards the engraved tattoos that he and Ferrum created on Ferrum's arm. Ferrum told us that he had found some of the names of his past lives or his ancestors, in the library. I do not quite understand how it works, mother never took the time to explain it fully, possibly because it does not affect me or my brother and sister like it does someone who is a full elf. Anyhow. A part of the information he found is about a lady named Lokwiët. She was a powerful high elf caster, who used a spell called Gate to save a lot of people of the council during the attack on Ikadosh. This cost her her life. It is a very heroic story, and I could see that it touched Ferrum but that he was also slightly proud of this lady, who he partly is. He wears the tattoo, which looks like a round gate with 3 figures walking through, with pride. The engravings around it are a beautiful combination of the giant runes and Elvish script.
 
After a long breakfast and even more talking, we decide to take a walk together and just chat a bit more. We take a detour through the park, before going past Lieutenant Olden's office to get some information for tomorrow.
 
Thalmiir just showed us his invention while we were in the park. We also got a fine for one of the guards. But first things first. The thing Thalmiir has made are some kind of intricate arrows, specifically created for crossbows and specifically to be used on Warforged. Because of this, Ferrum was his demonstration partner whether he liked it or not. The arrow consists of a contraption which is fired and aimed like a regular crossbow, but after hitting transforms in a device that can prevent limbs from moving. An example, William, using his crossbow, shot at Ferrums armpit -he was holding his arms up-, and the arrow snapped and revealed two other pins that pinned into Ferrums chest and shoulder muscles, preventing him from moving his arm down. The same happened with his knee. It was quite a sight to see and we were all very interested in how Thalmiir had made this, but we were interrupted by a guard. He was not amused about us firing actual weapons in the park, which is very understandable, and demanded that we pay a fee of 50 GP. We thought it was a bit much, as we were just shooting on ourselves, but he insisted and we did not want to make him any madder than he already was, so Erky paid and we quickly left and went to the Lieutenant.
 
Olden did not have much to say, we simply have to be at Stuard Dunn's house tomorrow morning and he will tell us what to do. He was very interested in the arrows Thalmiir showed him, and he would happily have the army make some copies for the up and coming war.
 
The evening is calm. I had to clean all my stuff of Liya's bed before she could get in. She was not super amused but did not mind as much as soon as it was fixed.
I went by Ferrum and Williams room to ask if I might borrow the fancy belt Ferrum has, just for a day I am so curious as to what it does and how strong one can get using it. And I can borrow it, I have it on my bed right now. - Ferrum carried it here, because yeah it is a heavy belt- and I will start focussing on it now so let us see what tomorrow brings.
 
 
6th of Vilrand
 
Never have I ever felt so strong. I woke up this morning, and at first, I felt a bit weird about having fallen asleep with a giant belt on. But would you know it, it is super light now! Mina was a bit shocked when I tried to lift her I nearly launched her up. she is not heavy for me normally, but now it was close to nothing. Also, my bag is lighter than ever before. I could even almost lift Ferrum this morning! What an experience!
 
We arrived at Stuard Dunns place early, but he was already waiting for us outside of his house. He had nothing packed, so we used our bags of holding for all the small stuff, and then filled our cart as full as possible with all the larger furniture. Ferrum and I took care of the stove without issue. I must have been grinning the whole time we were loading stuff upon the cart, I will miss this feeling of being able to lift anything.
 
The moving went relatively smooth. After we had gotten everything on the cart and had swept the house, we were on our way to the new house, close to the park. An afternoon later, all the furniture had been moved in, and the now actual Lieutenant could start sorting his smaller stuff. Sharon was happy to see Stuard happy with his new location. You could see that he was very content being so close to the park now. He told us that he will now spend all that commuting time in the actual park, and that delighted him greatly.
 
Back at the Crossed Candles, we take some time to relax and after I tried to do as many pushups as I could - 53 was the max - I gave the belt back to Ferrum. Over the course of the evening, I felt the strength leave me again. It was fun while it lasted. And I think Ferrum can wield such strength much better than I can.
 
 
7th of Vilrand
 
 
Yet again, we find ourselves at Lieutenants Olden's doorstep. He had called us forth. We are getting paid - 30 GP per month- and he has a task for us. We need to pack something for light and rations for a week. Tomorrow we will hear more.
 
We joked around while buying supplies. As William is our Co-Corporal as Corporal Thalmiir has dubbed him, he stated his full name and title should now be, Mister Co-Corporal William Quickstep to all of us. So any time we wanted his attention, we had to say the full sentence that is now his name. It was a fun bit of horseplay and it made the shopping go quickly. After buying the supplies we spend the rest of the afternoon packing our stuff and talking to and paying Burga for the rooms. To our surprise, Liya arrived home with about four dozens worth of torches.
 
Something more serious, Thalmiir was looking quite troubled this morning so I asked him about it. He shared with us that he had had contact with his sister in law, Gizelle. With some clever code-like communication, he had learned that she definitely was not safe but that she was in Sarton. It was really bothering him, but he was happy that he now at least knew the truth.
 
We went to bed early, in order to be on time and fresh the next day for our task. However, our sleep was disrupted by some kind of shockwave. I did not notice it myself, but that was how Thalmiir and Ferrum described it. Some kind of explosion in the north had caused it. I let Mina fly up and tried to see what it was, but it must have been very far off, at least 80 to 100 kilometres (or about 60 miles) We could not go and investigate now, so after a short message to Olden, who responded even shorter, we went back to bed.
 
 
8th of Vilrand
 
There is a lot of speculation about what has happened last night. It could have been anything, really. Burga suspects something happened at the college, but we know that is too closeby for what I had seen. Another theory was the war, but that would be really bad if it was north of Apelés. Whatever it was, Burga proudly stated that "as long as the Crossed Candles stands, I will be there". After a final breakfast, we thank her for her time and say our goodbyes, before once again walking to the Lieutenant.
 
It was quite busy at the outpost. Apparently the pulse that was felt yesterday stirred up quite some things.
 
Olden tells us about what he the strange incident from yesterday: something changed in Old Apelés, the ancient city that fell from the sky. No one has been able to enter it since it fell, but the pulse has changed that. Olden has decided that it is up to us to find what has happened, what caused the sound we heard yesterday and retrieve whatever information or artefacts we might find. If we find a teleportation circle, relaying that information would be most appreciated. But most importantly: Find out why the device went off!
 
We expect the journey there to take about two to three days. However, with Liya's newfound knowledge off the forest, we can do it in about half the time. So, with a bit of luck, we will arrive there halfway the 9th.
 
The forest is dense and quite calming. I can see why Liya likes it here. Still, I am happy that she and Ferrum lead the way, I would have been lost for sure. What was interesting was a group of foreign soldiers that we spotted about halfway through the forest. I could not see clearly, but Liya sneaked there and later told us that they were four of them (three humans and a (half)elf) wearing some kind of armour decorated with red, similar to the decorations often used in and around Sarton. When they first saw her, they were really spooked and pointed out all kinds of weapons at her. But when she inquired about their business so deep in the forest, she learned that they were simply lost after being teleported here by some force? They are on their way to Apelés to ask for help, the south is strange at the moment with the war going on. Liya, being kind as she is, told them the way out of the forest, and they went on their way.
 
They looked kind of confused when we, with Liya traversed past them a few minutes after Liya had left them.
 
Mina has picked up the habit of sitting on Anwyns head when she is tired. Anwyn found it very annoying at first, but now he is okay with it I think. It just looks very funny I suppose, an owl sitting on the head of a horse while riding.
 
The evening is spent in one of the tiny huts, we really must sit close together for it to work properly, but it makes camping quite cosy. You do have to be very careful when keeping watch i have learned.
When Thalmiir woke me up for the second watch, he told me that he felt watched and had traversed out of the circle but had not seen anything. Together with Mina, I tried to look out of the hut to see if I would spot anything. I just found Thalmiirs flute that he had left out once again, which i had Mina bring in again. It was very uneasy for a quarter of an hour or so. The forest was so quiet. After this, the regular sounds returned and sometime later I could wake up Liya and get some more rest before tomorrow.
 
9th of Vilrand.
 
We are awoken by Ferrum who has cooked up a lovely breakfast of our rations. That may sound sarcastic, but I think it was really thoughtful of him. With a positive vibe, we continue our journey towards the old fallen city. Now that we are out of the forest, we see the beauty of the Bountiful Planes once again. The sight has changed a lot since we first rode through them when we were on our way towards Apelés. The cold morning air, the slight mist around the cattle and the seemingly endless rolling hills created a picture seldom seen.
 
Towards noon, we arrive in Pendlefrost. As we drive through the small, but bustling fishing town, we can already see the ruins of Old Apelés over the water. William, excuse me, Mister Co-Corporal William Quickstep, leads the way towards the docks. As we look around and check out the different ships, a lady walks up to us. She introduces herself as Kelly Ryhera, and she is willing to sell us her boat for the fair price of 500 GP. Taken back by this, we tried to negotiate that she might just bring us across the water towards the ruins for a small fee and that she then picks us up again in a day or two. This resulted in a lot of laughter and a 'fun story'. According to Kelly: "a big fucking bird lives there". But we are not taken back by this. With some clever (?) talking, we pay Kelly 500GP as a deposit, and when we return we will get it back. The boat itself is large enough for about eight people. As we enter, we get some helpful tips from Kelly: 1. Do not go overboard. 2. Row with the oars you have. 3. Do not set your sail directly into the wind. With that, our stuff packed into the boat, and the horses in the stable, we set out to go towards the ruins of Old Apelés. With two people rowing, Liya and I are just going to keep a lookout for that bird.