Letter to Gideon 6

Hey Brother,
 
Either we look for trouble, or trouble finds us. The 7th of Lug was definitely the latter.
It started out well enough, doing a morning spar with Edward (would it be weird to call him E.J.?). And once Elsa was up and we had breakfast we met up at the inn.
Onvyr explained that the caravan has been greatly reduced: basically just us, the Collines and Robert Talespinner. Shame we'll miss the fun of a large group at night but it's replaced with a more cozy group. We decided the next day would be as good a time as any to leave, our next stop being Logvale 7 days down the western trail. So Onvyr took to getting supplies while we started our little tour of the city that we promised Elsa and Edward the previous day.
 
The tour was going remarkably well (somehow I remember more than I thought from Desiderius' history lessons) when we all realized we were being followed. As Hayley just approached this person we all ended up in an alleyway with what we learned was a childhood friend of Ileas called Grizelda, who wished to speak to him in private. Afterwards we learned she wanted to check in on him as she saw us enter the city and wanted his help in preventing more bloodshed by asking him to bring a package to Sgt. Berris. Ileas showed us the package and some magical prodding by Luke taught us it's a bomb, holy shit right. Ileas was a bit torn between reporting his friend to the guards, citing his uncle as the reason these people have gone so far. But everyone made it clear she risked his life and was clearly trying to cause more bloodshed. They had to be stopped. So we went to Sgt Berris who took over the bomb and sent it away to be diffused. Here Hayley revealed they knew Grizelda was in the Sylvan Pastry, probably keeping this information until now to avoid us going after them ourselves which... we totally would've done. Ileas also mentioned Grizelda was waiting at some ruins west of Keralon and Sgt Berris agreed to send some guards there to check it out.
 
Berris took some men and we saw some Satyrs and Bugbears be arrested next time we passed by the Sylvan pastry , so all's well that ends well. We finished the day with some shopping as Luke spent a few hours in the library. He also wanted a chance to identify our garden Menhir's magical ability. But mom, in her eternal wisdom, stationed a guard there specifically to ward us off.
 
The evening went about the same though as Edward, Elsa, Ileas, Lil and I talked about Keralon I got curious and asked what Elsa's plans were once in Keralon. She told us her parents arranged some courtier training and that she'll stay in Keralon to find a husband. Which lead to Lil poking me and saying that maybe she already found someone. Let's just say Elsa was very happy when I changed the subject back to something less embarassing to both me and her. I also took the chance to talk to the new guard posted at the menhir but couldn't persuade him to take an edge off with a glass of wine.
 
The next day Luke came in quite chipper and eager to try out some new magic as he found me sparring with E.J. His new magic managed to charm the guard into just standing aside as Luke magically identified the Menhir. Remind me not to piss of Luke, he can make you do things now. Luke learned that the menhir is a sort of direct line with what we assume is the Fey king Ulther but also a conduit to enter his domain if we have the magic to traverse planes. Lil also noticed that the Immerglade stones lighted up as you touch the Menhir. Maybe this stone from the Neverhold Kingdom recognizes magic from the kingdom it once destroyed? I also took the time to quickly write a note to mom and handed it to the guard for when he came to from Luke's magic, explaining he did all he could and mom shouldn't punish him for not being able to resist Luke's magic. And for a second I thought she saw us when she asked me and Lil for a quick word. Luckily it was just a quick farewell, though she did deride our choice in friends and said she pulled some strings so Lil and I could be magically transported to Keralon. Obviously we rejected her offer, I wouldn't leave our friends alone on that road and miss out on the eventful journey for the world. Mom took the refusal suprisingly well and gave us a warm farewell. And of course told Ileas to take care of us... It's going to take a lot of effort to get that attitude out of him again, it went well until mom dragged it back out of him. Oh yeah, we also got the keys to the family house in Keralon. Hope you didn't leave too much of a mess, brother.
 
Now when we arrived at the inn to join the caravan Onvyr was in a shouting match with Edward. Apparently E.J. dismissed his family guards for the road, messing up a whole lot of planning Onvyr did but E.J. hated having these guards around telling him what to do, which I honestly get after the last few days in Hillfield with mom. It's just a shame we'll have to do more guard duties for it. So with that we set off: us in front, the Colline carriage in the middle and Robert Talespinner's carriage in the back. As we went out we found out Onvyr arranged for another passenger: Dorr, the duergar we fought just two days prior. Apparently he was kicked out of Hillfield after we confronted him and he's going to Keralon now. Everyone deserves a second chance and hopefully he takes this one to do more honest work. The journey started off quite dour, the weather soured and the forest became denser and the path narrower. Though what really caught our eye was when we arrived at a split in the road were some horses off the side with the heraldry of Hillfield on their saddle. Immediately thinking this might be the squad Sgt Berris sent out to investigate I asked Onvyr if these ruins are in the area which he confirmed.
 
So after getting the wagons off the road our group checked the ruins where we found Grizelda waiting. She tried to convince Ileas to let her go free and join her, talking about how the plan was not to have him blow up when delivering the package but to take out the whole council... Our family in other words. Ileas was in doubts but I made it clear someone who treats our friends this badly and wanted to kill our family cannot go free. I can emphatize with the clan wanting to be free but they were going too far. So a fight broke out when she called in her Displacer Beast friend and while I tried to catch her she managed to escape, leaving us to deal with the Displacer Beast which didn't last long as Lil smited it with that righteous fury she musters. Afterwards we found the corpses of the guards and luckily Hayley could send a message with her raven, saving us a long trip back. I took some time to calm down the horses, give them a look over and put them somewhere the coming forces from Hillfield could easily find them. The wounds were superficial luckily but what drew my attention is that these were full trained warhorses, strong creatures that would serve their next masters as faithfully as they did their former. But they weren't ours to take, regardless of what people like Dorr think. So confident that Sgt Berris would send people we moved on. To Keralon.
 
The city almost feels within reach, though we have quite a road to go still.
 
With love,
Ali