Our Next Move

Eighteenth of Solae, 1485
 
This is going to be a quick entry, for I’m planning on drawing my teleportation circle as soon as Secilia is ready. I wrote a quick note to Grimaldus to let him know my plans, as he is sleeping. I should probably just wake him, but I don’t want to have to explain to him why I am doing what I’m doing…
 
I am taking Secilia with me and returning to Alcarin… for multiple reasons. Firstly, I feel as though this is my opportunity to do something good in this world… perhaps rectify a bit of the bad that seems to have followed Secilia throughout most of her life… she needs to know of her Elven half, there is so much that she doesn’t know about her mother’s people – and that is unconscionable.
 
I have also been feeling for some time that it is past time for me to visit home. I didn’t go see my parents… I didn’t want to face them knowing I was going to go off against Mustafat again… and then, I was so wrapped up in my head afterwards, that I didn’t want to go home then either. But… that is unfair. For, I do not believe in my heart that either of them would think less of me… unless it is for my absence. It has altogether been too long since I’ve been home… something that I plan to rectify within the hour.
 
But, even with these reasons… if I am being perfectly honest with myself… there is one, foremost in my mind… it has been ever since I spoke with the axiomyte some time ago… I need to speak with Filandrel. I know it is probably a bad idea… but I cannot help it. Questions are burning in my mind and heart – I need to know if what the axiomyte said is true… if Filandrel, who professes to care about our people as a whole above anything else, was actually privy to the sacrifice of three thousand Elven lives… three thousand… I must speak with him. And I must speak with him alone.
 
But… I am not going to be completely reckless, without precautions – for I shall ask Secilia to lend me her medallion, and wait right alongside the Alcarin teleportation circle when I go to speak with Filandrel… that way, should everything go to hell, then I will use the medallion to teleport myself back to Secilia… and be in the position to immediately return to the party in Loec.
 
Loec… I cannot believe that I willingly came to this place… yet, here I am…
 
And… now that I think about it… I probably should write about how we came to be in this gods-forsaken place…
 
Yesterday, we wiped out a stronghold of the Serpent’s Tail that Hasim has been hunting. It was a pretty decent fight… one of them hit me with a poisoned arrow, which hurt… badly. I’ve never been poisoned like that before – and it isn’t an experience that I’m inclined to repeat. Fortunately though, Grimaldus removed the effects before too long, so I’m sure it could have been far worse.
 
We cleared the area with no casualties – injuries, but no casualties. Hasim, I believe, killed another one of the individuals responsible for the murder of his wife. He drove himself somewhat crazy with revenge, I think, as he kept stabbing his quarry for a good five minutes after he was dead… it bothered me for some reason, so I went and put my hand on Hasim’s shoulder, and talked to him until he stopped.
 
We stayed the night in that place after securing it. We had an unexpected visitor in the morning… some dragon-blooded man covered in blood who claimed to be sent to tell Grimaldus that he needs to give his mace to the black dragon who is causing all of the sandstorms. A stupid thing to ask Grimaldus if ever I heard one…
 
So… shortly thereafter, we decided that we needed to leave Wei Jang… Hasim snuck out and retrieved our earnings for clearing out the serpent den. Everyone was discussing (arguing) about how best to leave the city, until they finally realized that when I said I can take them anywhere that I have the coordinates for, I meant it…
 
Inira insisted on going to Loec. I know that Secilia wants to go there too, to visit the Mother of Churches or something like that… I can’t say that I’ve ever paid much attention to the church in my life. Loec was the last place that I wanted to go, but everyone agreed to accompany Inira, and I wasn’t about to abandon everyone to the realm of vampires and undead. So… I did what I never would have believed I would do… I willingly teleported into the heart of Loec…
 
It is a horrible, dreary place. I don’t even want to write the details of the land here… it is lacking in sunlight and joy and life. In fact, the only thing that it seems to have in abundance is magic… and even the magic in the air isn’t enough to cover the taint of undeath…
 
I hope that the forests and gardens of Alcarin will wipe the shadow of this place from my mind for at least a brief respite…