The road to Palud Vivente was long, and fortunately, quite uneventful---I've had my fill of bandits. The merchant dragonborn was not very talkative and didn't seem to want to share much about his hometown. Which surprised me, as merchants are usually the type that never shuts their mouths. And with how little the gith has shared about his home, this has me on my toes. Was allowing this gith to guide us really the best choice? What if he really was an agent of the Pact?
Oct 22nd
On the first day of travel, I decided to ask the gith some more questions about his home. If he wanted us to trust him, he had to earn it. But almost every question I asked was deflected, and the ones he did answer, he confidently stated that he didn't know. Dread began to gnaw at my mind as I turned my sight to the child I had entrusted with the Eye.
Had I unwittingly sentenced him to death?
Oct 23rd
To give myself time to think, I started carving away at some of the stones in my pouch. If this gith is truly aligned with the Pact, we were already trapped. We somehow made it just in time for the only cart leaving in the timespan of a month; This had to have been planned. But that also meant that the merchant driving the cart was a part of the trap. None of the others seem to have caught on yet, but if I tell them now, there's no doubt that the gith will hear. I'll have to keep my wits about me.
Oct 24th
Overjoyed they were, when I presented the party with the pieces I had been carving. Pieces of games I had enjoyed in my childhood, and sometimes still do today. I explained the rules and showed them how to play. Seeing them this excited put a smile on my face. I missed that feeling.
I miss home...
Oct 25th
Our conversation had led us to weapons, since most of us came from Kuta Ukrypt, I wondered if any of them wielded Dogdor-made weapons. I wasn't surprised to learn that Inuyama had their own smiths, but I didn't know that the dragonborn also made their own. A tiny forge on the open plains seems terribly inadequate compared to the mountainhearts Baroklith uses.
The gith wanted to show off his own weapon. I had already taken an interest in it due to his unique fighting style. Since he uses his weapons to channel his unique form of magical energy, there might be something I could learn from the circuits engraved into the blade.
But as I inspected this bone dagger, I was surprised to find that there were no circuits embedded, no markings engraved. The craftsmanship was decent, but the material was interesting. The bone was much denser and smoother than any I had seen before. Could the material be the key?
Oct 26th
We were getting close to Palud Vivente now, having only about a day of travel left. But the younger ones had run themselves dry, now laying on the floor of the cart out of boredom. Until the child suggested they draw on the barrel we had purchased in Tamia. I did not join in, but Ori seemed eager to engage with them. The amount of magical power and energy it took to first imbue life back into that stone almost made me faint from exhaustion. But now, the little bugger is able to appear on his own. Is it because I've gotten more skilled with magic, or is it because of the lingering energy building up in his stone?
I wonder if I could find any more of these fossils.
Oct 27th
On the morning of Primsday, we finally arrived in Palud Vivente. The journey made me reflect on this last month, and how much had happened since the Master died. The grudge is still fresh in my mind, and though I long to return home, I will not stop until the Master is avenged.