Entry two: The bramble

Dear diary,
 
I believe there are a few matters I should attend to, regarding Luke and Elsa for one, and the worrisome abundance of Reinards in the forest lately. But I am getting ahead of myself.
 
In villages like ours, parties for joyous occasions like the coming of age of the youngsters, is an excuse for excessive drinking and rowdiness. The later it becomes, the more inebriated everyone becomes, so as soon as I had said my hellos and did my round, I found myself a quiet spot away from the festival to have a closer look at the dagger Terrin had gifted me. It turns out to be actually magical in nature. I will proudly turn this into my very first Athame as soon as I am capable of doing so.
 
When I returned to the party, Terrin had shown up and took us to the side for his parting speech. He used some illusion magic to shield us from view and hearing, which is how these speeches keep a secret, and then imparted us with a final task, one we are free to do as we choose. Of course all of us agreed to do it anyway, even though it actually poses mortal danger.
 
We were to venture into the Bramble, to an ancient ruin of the long lost Fae kingdom of Immerglade. Before this place was Tarn, or even humans lived here, the fae ruled these lands. However the kingdom of Immerglade fell to a rival fae empire, that of Neverhold, and now the Bramble and the ruins within are all that remain of its former glory.
Our task? To venture to the ruin and solve the riddle that we will find there. Not an easy task. The bramble is dangerous, poisonous thorns await those who stray from the path, and dangerous creatures lurk there. And interestingly, a prophecy tells that one day, a mortal who solves the riddle will become the new ruler of Immerglade.
 
As we got ready to leave, Terrin gave us a final parting gift, a hint to the riddle.
 
“Forward, Backward, Upside down. Given time, same is the sound”
 
It made little sense to me at the start, but I was sure as soon as we saw the actual riddle, it would all come together.
The trek to the ruin itself proved to be uneventful as Gael led us skillfully along the path. As we arrived there, I noticed some of the thorns starting to move and take shape, turning into humanoid figures. Guardians of the ruins I presume as they attacked us on sight. Poor Ileas went down quickly, once again, but Liliana rushed in to save her. A harsh fight ensued, but other than Ileas, we managed fairly easily. As the last of the blights went down, we noticed a majestic stag looking over us from a distance, its pelt white as snow and its antlers gleaming golden. For some reason a Cernunnon, an intelligent fae deer, had been watching over us. Even more surprising, Gael seemed to be familiar with it. The two spoke shortly and the Cernunnon, named Sylvesse, told us it was just there to watch for now.
 
Inside the ruins we found four runes circling a menhir. The runes depicted a rising sun, a sun at noon, a setting sun and midnight ... .and as soon as I saw them, the words made sense. The riddle is a Palindrome, a word that is spelled the same forwards, backwards and upside down… like for instance Noon. The menhir itself serves as a sundial, so when Luke stood in the right position to let the shadow of the menhir fall on the rune depicting noon, a chest appeared at the foot of the menhir. The chest was filled with stones, all bearing a marking, like a sundial, and Luke told us that there was evocation magic in them. We each decided to take only one of the stones, and leave the rest in there.
 
Sylvesse was waiting for us when we came out. Apparently the Cernunnon is Gael’s mentor and friend. Quite the friend to have I would say. It promised to shadow us on the first part of our trip, to see us safe. Before we left, I quickly created a shamble from some twigs, stone and some rope I carried around and hung it from its antlers. A gift of appreciation, which it accepted.
 
When we arrived back at the village, most of the party had died down, so we decided to go and have a few hours of sleep before our big trip in the morning.
 
As we made ready to join the caravan with our newly acquired horse and cart, we noticed one unknown person there, barking orders at the others. An older looking elf named Onvir. And I mean an older looking elf, not just old, which they all seem to be. Apparently he was hired to lead the caravan on this trip, and he seemed glad for the assistance Alistan obviously offered. So we will be scouting ahead of the caravan on this trip.
 
Before we left, Edna showed up. She informed us that she was not joining the caravan, hence why they hired the old elf. But she wanted to gift us with a reward for aiding her with the traps. So she handed a finely crafted bow to Gael.
 
Then we finally departed and we spent the morning scouting ahead for any danger. I spent most of my time sharing my senses with Fiachna, to better observe what is going on, and keep an eye on the caravan itself also, but nothing happened the first few hours. When we made camp at noon, Edward, the son of Lord Colline, came up to us and asked if he could join us at the front of the caravan instead of riding his cozy couch with his sister.
I saw the opportunity, even if my brother didn’t, so I quickly whispered in his ear to propose he keep the fair lady company. Elsa and Edward agreed to this. This is one of the reasons why I will spend some of my day tomorrow with the girl instead of my brother. I have questions for her. Not with regards to Luke. While I will surely be the one to mend his broken heart, once again, that is between him and Elsa. No, I am more curious why she sleeps so much.
 
So after Edward and Luke switched places, we departed again, and the afternoon was as uneventful as the morning had been, right up until Gael and I spotted a campfire up ahead. Our brave ranger decided to go and check it out, while I kept an eye out through Fiachna. What he found was a campsite where four Reinards were mugging a human traveler. Yet again these Reinards, which is why, next time we encounter them, we need to capture one alive. Mental note to tell the rest. Gael, brave and foolish Gael, didn’t wait for the rest as he stepped in to intervene. I informed the others and Edward and Ileas darted off rapidly with Alistan and me in tow, while Liliana and Dadroz rushed to the caravan to alert them.
 
When we arrived, Gael was fighting off the Reinards desperately, and it took the intervention of his friend and mentor Sylvesse to keep him alive. After we arrived the fight was over quickly though, especially as Edward proved to be quite the capable swordsman.
 
The man who was being mugged introduced himself as Robert Talespinner, a bard “extraordinaire”, as he says himself, and he was very grateful for us, or rather Gael, coming to his rescue. As he is also on his way to Hillfield, he will join us in the morning.
 
 
Dated 1st of Lug, Year 121 era of the Tree