About to take on the Brotherhood of Dread...

July 4th, 708CC
2nd day of Brightmoon

The phases of the moon are particularly important at the moment; according to our "guide", we will need to be able to reach our destination within a certain phase. I explained this, as well as our adventures over the past week or so, over in the journal of my group. Here I will just write of things that are more personal in nature.

First, a minor observation- minor because personal is not the same thing as important. When trying to find ways to hurry to our destination, Ayman's Haste spell was brought up. Just... no. I am sorry but I will never allow that spell to be cast on me. Gaining a few minutes of extra speed is not enough to balance out making me one year older. This does not seem to bother the rest of my traveling companions but it very much does to me. Why, I will not explain though they are likely to learn the reason at some point, but I cannot do anything that will make me age faster than I already am. I have a good reason for this, even if I am too reserved to explain it.

Now to move on to what is actually important. If there is one thing I dislike more than the aristocracy, it is evil priests. "Loathing" and "repulsion" do even begin to describe that hatred. As much as I would like to never have to face these abominable creatures again, I am also quite impatient to get this quest sorted out and the duke rescued... if the vile priests have not already taken control of his will and bent it to their own. We certainly need to rescue the duke, but we also need to be prepared for what shape he may be in. This is not just goblins and a stray evil bugbear cleric or two anymore. This is a huge temple of the Brotherhood of Dread, the priesthood that already wants to see us destroyed. How can I get my friends to understand what we may face there?

I am not just speaking of undead or monstrous minions, either, which are things we have defeated before. My companions see me throwing around mind control magic on a regular basis with little effort and I am limited in what I can do with it, being bound to a priesthood of Good and my own principles (yes, mischievous people do have those). These individuals will not have my morals; they will not refrain from using us as they wish should their magic take hold. When you are mind-controlled, you lose who you are, your ability to think and react properly... that sounds obvious, I know, but it is not a good feeling to be on the wrong side of that, particularly if the person wielding the magic is using it for nefarious purposes. Even getting hit with mild mind-control is not pleasant (been there- how do you think we Messengers learned?) but my kind is at least harmless. I need to get my friends to understand what they may face so they can be wary. They are not nearly wary enough.

I do not think they understand how much of a threat Tarus still holds. I know I am coming off as paranoid and peevish, but I am feeling paranoid and peevish. I do not understand why the others seem to trust him. After using magic for well over a decade I know my limits and the reach of what I am granted by my god, particularly when it comes to charm and beguilement as those were what I was taught first. Something as empty-headed as a goblin will remain beguiled for quite some time, but a human priest? I would not be surprised if the spell wore off before we even reached the temple and then what? Once an evil priest, always an evil priest; how can we know that the moment he breaks free from the spell I placed on him, he won't gleefully stab one of us in the back- or worse? This is a spellcaster who has tried to kill us on more than one occasion. I know the kind of magic he wields and how it can be twisted so I will continue to keep a watchful eye over him, being the only one who truly knows what to look for and how to cancel it. This is fine and good for now, but one Messenger cannot possibly shield his friends from ranks of those with this kind of magic. Not for the first time, I wish I had one of my brothers or sisters by my side as I approach evil.

Hermes, please guide our steps, let me keep my wits and my magic ready so I can protect those I travel with. I know my magic is not the most powerful, but let it serve us well. Please.

Two letters sent from Joven

Ken,                                        June 14th, 708CC
Friends and I are heading west in company of ex-traveling companion. I have message of some importance to bring to Rinos; once delivered, I shall seek you out. Have much I want to tell you and would like to introduce you to said group.

Still no word from R and am rather worried, hoping you have news.

See you in a week or so,
~C

This first letter was tied to a bird and sent off about a day's travel away from Joven. On the outside it was addressed "Lieut Kendric Conroy, army barracks, Rinos". Short, but it'll get it where it needs to go, assuming the bird makes its way safely there. Kendric's fairly used to small animals showing up with things tied to their legs- comes from having Messengers as brothers. The note itself is short, as well; that's in case it gets waylaid. Cyn doesn't exactly want to advertise something like "Hey! The duke of Joven and us very famous and known adventurers are near!". He's smart enough... okay, paranoid enough to be vague.

----------------------------------------

This letter was sent north from Joven. Cyneric is from the south, but his parents have since relocated to the northern coast. This is quite to his liking, as it means he has an excuse for infrequent contact.

Father,
After spending my entire life avoiding what you tried to force me into, I've stumbled onto a path much like that anyway. Hope you are happy and thank you for leaving me so screwed up that I feel too guilty to enjoy it properly. You elitist snots can bite me.
... Where did THAT come from? He really needed to pay more attention to what he was writing as this clearly isn't what he wanted to say... although he'd sheepishly admit that getting those words out felt good. Crinkle that up and toss it into the waste basket. Try again with more tact.

I figured now would be wise to send you word as I am traveling through Joven and word would reach you quickly with the least amount of effort on the part of my brethren. No use asking one to travel far to where he won't be appreciated and likely will be thrown out on his arse as soon as he hands over this letter.
... Sigh. Crinkle that up, try once more. It's not like they'd actually do that. Probably. Possibly. Hopefully.

I am traveling through Joven and thought now would be a good time to contact you. As I've learned recently, word of the endeavors of my traveling companions and I has spread far, so I imagine you have an idea of what I have been experiencing, should you have cared to listen. Likely this is exaggerated, but perhaps now you will finally be pleased with your pacifistic, pariah son.
Crinkle crinkle, curse, grumble. One more try and if that doesn't work, he'll admit defeat and go back to pretending that his parents don't exist for a while.

Father,
I am traveling through Joven and, as I am relatively nearby, wanted to contact you. However, since it is west to Rinos my companions and I are headed, rather than north, a letter shall have to suffice. I hope that you and Mother are doing well and that the coast has proved an environment of comfort to the both of you.

Upon reaching Joven, I learned that news of my traveling party's exploits have reached great distances. I am not overly pleased with this, but I am going to assume that it means you've heard word of me, as well. Likely this has been exaggerated. However, yes, it means your clerical son has become an adventurer of some distinction. It is certainly not the path I wanted to end up on, but I am sure this is more to your liking than the thought of me toiling away in the backwaters, delivering mail from anyone who wandered into the mosque that day. I know you have always disliked that I entered into the priesthood (and this one in particular), so any amount of heroics is probably an improvement.

While in Rinos, I shall try to keep track of who is what and what is where because I know that sort of thing is of interest to you and Mother, but I have a feeling that Kendric is far better at relaying such news than I. Still, I will dutifully try to keep my eyes open.

We are setting out momentarily, so I must quickly seal this letter and ask one of my brethren to take care of it for me.

As I wrote above, I hope this finds you both well.
Your son,
Cyneric
Well, that'll have to do. It's unlikely his rather obtuse father would catch the contempt he felt, anyway, and this was about as civil as he could bring himself to sound. At least it appeared that he said all the right things, even if in actuality he'd either "forget" about that promise or give slightly wrong information, depending on what kind of mood he was in that day. Why did his family always have to be so difficult to deal with?

As we are about to face a dragon...

May 22ndish, 708CC, ? day of ---moon.
(We have been underground for far too long and I've completely lost track of the date or even the current moon phase. It's possibly Darkmoon by now, but don't hold me to that.)

Goblins, slaves, chaos... it has been an eventful past few days. We have freed those we set out to rescue, but are not in the clear yet. Our next task is to face a dragon and the bugbear goblin king at an underground lake and fortress, down at the bottom of the goblin mine. Straightforward enough, I suppose, but as we rest and try to prepare for an upcoming battle, as a priest I find myself facing somewhat of a moral dilemma.

There's a fine, fine line between mischief and harm, and that is a line which all Messengers must be careful to stay on the correct side of. Using our divinely granted magic to get someone to aid us who otherwise would be loath to do so is okay. Charming someone to ignore us and go away is obviously fine. Getting them to give us information? Fine, as well. But here's where the line gets sticky- it is not an act of Good to beguile someone into being friendly with the sole intention of killing them. In no way is it an act of Good to use mind-control with the direct objective being harm.

To explain this with relevance to recent events: using beguilement to acquire a monster as a guide? Perfectly okay. Using it to get information we need from a mimic? Fine. But I'm not entirely proud of the fact that I used it to send a group of goblins off to fight other goblins- that's too close to harm for me to be comfortable.

But I foresee us coming to a point very soon where I will have to use it for harm, and that fact troubles me. Part of the advice Hermes gave when I asked how to save those we came to rescue and get out ourselves was "join your strengths if you want to win", and, like it or not, beguilement is my greatest strength. I may prefer the more druidic magic Messengers are granted, but that is not our greatest ability. (Not being able to access that magic and having to rely on just beguilement has me longing to return to the surface, but I won't get into that here.)

The goblin king and dragon are most certainly Evil and have been capturing and killing a great deal of innocent people, so getting rid of them as quickly as possible is the ideal. My Charm magic may not be powerful enough to influence enemies of this magnitude, but it is my strongest weapon- in order to help my friends, that is what I should try, even if I am unsure of the result. But here my dilemma arises: since we do want to kill these two creatures, any amount of beguilement I do will be with harm as the direct intention.

Likely I am unduly worried here, as my god's words should reassure me that I would be allowed to do this and taking down Evil is certainly the righteous thing to do, but... I've just never been comfortable with doling out injury. Using my quarterstaff or flame magic to attack someone who is trying to hurt us is one thing (not that I particularly enjoy that, either), but mind-controlling them in order to hurt them... it just seems wrong.

So this is why I'm feeling rather torn. I know what I must do to aid my friends, but it's not something I want to do and I'm not entirely certain if it is something my god would approve of. But if I can charm something powerful into not harming my party- or even just distract it long enough for the fighters to take it down- surely that is the right thing to do. Maybe sometimes mischievous harm used in the name of Good is still a good act...

Or maybe I won't have to worry too much about this. We do have a potion of black dragon control and Linora has said that she knows Draconic (whereas I have a spell that will allow me to speak the dragon's language, but only for about ten minutes). With luck, she can handle this kind of thing and I won't have to resort to beguilement, giving me the option to instead focus on disruptive magic to try to nullify anything the dragon (dragons are magical, right?) or hobgoblin priests throw at us. I'll have my Charm magic ready as I always do, however, because it would be positively stupid not to. Fingers crossed and prayers sent, we'll get through this with minimal damage.

Rant from the Goblin Mines

((One of my friends was curious about the long rant Cyneric spewed in a recent D&D game, so I figured I'd share so she could read it. I wrote half of this and my fiancé, the DM, elaborated, apparently enjoying the fact that my poor character is slowly losing his marbles. This took place right after this journal entry and involved Cyn yelling at the top of his lungs at the rest of the party of adventurers. Never before has my usually-stoic cleric freaked out like this...))

"You are all a bunch of brash and recklessly addlepated twits! Morons! Complete and utter idiots! Do any of you have an iota of common sense? Don't any of you lot ever think? What a sorry bunch of so-called adventurers! Smart- get yourselves in a position where you have to be rescued. That will really help those we've come to help. I'll say it again- morons!

"I don't know what in the gods' names came over Ghost, but the rest of you... Why did you join in that madness? What are we, throwing a kegger out here? And don't get me started on the whole 'stealth operation' thing. What part of 'don't let them see you under any circumstances' was so difficult for you to wrap your heads around? AIIIIIGH!

"I don't believe this! I was under the impression that I was adventuring with a seasoned and experienced platoon of elite mercenaries, but APPARENTLY 'watch out for the goblins' wasn't in the curriculum! I've got half a mind to... RRRRRRGH! Hey! I've got an idea! Let's go in and get us all killed this time! It worked so well on the first attempt, I figured we'd take another shot at it! When they were handing out brains, you must have thought they said plains, and yours got burned up in a brushfire! I don't believe this! I thought my family was bad, but... my family! I have a family to feed! AIIIIIIIGH! ... I'm going for a walk!"



((At which point his rant quickly turned into utter nonsense and he stormed off in slightly-insane fury [like I said, some marbles have gotten loose] to spend the next few hours alone in the woods, talking to animals and praying to try to calm himself down. Messengers are rather eccentric to start and there's a reason for this extra level of... well, oddness. He's not "crazy" so much as distracted and out of sorts; to say he's not feeling like himself right now would be an understatement.))

A letter to Kendric, Cyneric's brother

Kenny (oh, stop rolling your eyes; you should be well aware by now that we're not going to cease calling you that),
It is unfortunate that you are not nearby because I could really use your good sense and knowledge of military strategy. Yes, you read that accurately; I'm sure I've piqued your interest since I loathe military matters, so I should amend that to say that my traveling companions could use that expertise. They certainly won't listen to my reasoning. However much I've always avoided learning about martial tactics, even I realize that running into a battle where you're outnumbered in enemy territory after the warning alarm has been sounded is a bad idea. I like my friends, but gods, if there's an iota of rational thought in any of them, I'd be surprised. What's the use of charging in as a rescue party if you're just going to need to be rescued in turn? Times like this I look forward to the day when I'm in charge of a mosque and no longer have to deal with stupidity or recklessness. Oh, all right, that's naively optimistic; I see what complications Armand has to deal with on a regular basis and know that it will just be a different kind of asininity and stress. Let me have my moment of daydreaming, okay?

I know it irks my traveling companions that I'm not any sort of fighter and will avoid doing harm unless I have no other choice, but... I'm no adventurer. (I'm not even a normal Messenger, when you think about it, which would at least make me some help to the party...) If I must fight, I prefer to go into it with a carefully thought out plan and an escape route ready. For that matter, I prefer to go into anything with a plan and a means of escape, and I don't understand how people can just throw reason to the wind and hope for the best. But this is a rant I won't get into; you are already quite aware of my feelings on the subject.

Speaking of brash individuals, have you heard from Raff lately? Perhaps his correspondences haven't caught up to me, but the last one I received was well over a month ago and that's rare for him. I've sent a few letters in that time but I have no idea if he's getting them or not because surely he would have replied by now. I've heard some rumors while passing through Woodland, but... if they are true, I certainly cannot go into them here, so suffice it to say that it could explain this delay.

I'm going to try not to worry because I'm sure I would have heard word if something was amiss, but please let me know if you hear from him; last I knew he was traveling west, so you'll likely get in touch with him first. It's just my luck that the two people I hold most dear are to the west when that's the one direction I have never been sent.

If only the Messengers had a way of sending word over vast distances in a more expeditious (and secure, if my above speculations turn out to be correct) manner. The Gates are a step in the right direction (pun intended), but I can't help thinking that there could be another way- preferably a way that didn't involve things exploding. Sound travels well so perhaps there could be a way to harness that, or perhaps something involving telepathic magic... well, it's something I shall ponder.

Your exasperated little brother,
Cyn


((Look at me, sneakily tying together two of my plotlines and three of my characters. ;) I had originally planned on posting this after the D&D group finished our current adventure, but since we haven't been able to play, it turns out I'll end up posting Raff's story before that happens. And why does that matter? Because this letter ties into that story, which I'll start posting here on the 13th. Ye gads, do you know how hard it is to keep a story secret for five months?))

A letter to Cyneric's best friend

Raff,
I hope this letter finds you safe and not getting into too much mischief, but I know you far too well to assume that wish to be at all likely. (That no one is catching on that you are the cause of the antics you wreak would be a more appropriate hope.) I have a great deal I want to tell you since my last letter, but much will have to wait until our paths next cross, partly because I don't want this letter to turn into a tome and partly because some of this information I do not feel safe sending even with our brethren. Yes, I know you are rolling your eyes and thinking me overly paranoid but I do have my reasons to be so worried.

I will give a vague warning here that I will elaborate on when I next see you: please, please be careful with a certain disguise. My party has become unfortunately high profile and as a result that disguise may no longer be safe for you to use on this side of the continent; in fact, it's probably not safe since being conspicuous means my group has made enemies. Once again, I am likely being unduly paranoid, but... well, please be cautious. And do not worry about me; you know I am not a risk taker, and traveling with adventurers has not changed that fact. I even have a bodyguard now who I trust to always have my back; he's an orc we met on the road who is bereft of his kin, so I'm hoping that traveling with my group makes him feel less alone. I know from experience that having friends can fill that kind of void, as you are quite aware.

So much has happened to me and my traveling companions lately that I can't possibly fit it into one letter, so I'll just give you a short summary. (Honestly, there are so many monster infestations around the area that I'm having some trouble keeping track of what's happening where and what the locations are that we're likely to be sent next; you know I have a horrible head for anything involving battle plans and fighting.) I mentioned earlier about being high profile; well, you know the dragon Khrom-Vel that I've mentioned before? We've become his champions (complete with uncanny wrist tattoo) after we helped heal him from a battle with two other dragons. I'm not entirely sure what this entails, but it seems like it means that we now can call on him if we have the need, and having a dragon on your side cannot possibly be a bad thing.

We've been traveling up and down the coast for a while; we were in Joven recently helping out Dwight, our old traveling companion, with a gnoll problem in that area. While there we also had an ill-fated encounter with a wizard that resulted in the death of one of our party members, the gnome Caleb. (I'm beginning to think that wherever we go, trouble is bound to follow close behind.) Our travels have finally taken us back to Woodland, but since the mosque has no assignment for me at the moment, I'll be going south with the rest of the group on a task set by the mercenary's guild. Between my duty and the tasks set by the guild, I'm rarely in Woodland anymore for more than just a quick stop over; I'm aware that sounds silly when you spend even more time away from there than I do, but I can't help feeling a bit homesick when on the road for an extended period of time. I know that soon enough I'll have permanent duty there, though, and will then yearn for all this traveling. Go figure!

Anyway, I've had an ongoing assignment for a while that you will find quite interesting. The Messengers in Port Town have developed a kind of magic... thing (I still do not completely understand it) that allows one to travel between mosques in a matter of moments, no matter the distance between them. It involves a stone altar-type thing and a canopic jar; the jar powers the Gate and allows it to function. (I think.) I have been dropping off the plans for this gate at each mosque I pass through and sending some along with those I deem trustworthy. Once every mosque has one, I'd imagine our assignments will be safer and quicker, but I'm still having mixed feelings about it since it means less traveling and that has always been what Messengers do. I can't say that I dislike being able to get home from, say, Joven, in seconds, though!

There is so much more I want to tell you, but, judging from the length of this letter, it will have to wait until I see you in person. Speaking of... do you think you could perhaps hint that you'd like some assignments that will take you back towards Woodland? I have no idea if the mosques you've been working through have any deliveries that have to come that direction, but I know you're quite good at persuading people to do things to your advantage. I'd like to give you a copy of the Gate plans to take back in that direction and have new information to give you for a disguise, but I'll admit that my wish to see you is not entirely (alright, not even close to entirely) duty or mischief-related; I miss you terribly. I'd joke that Hermes is having a good laugh over our assignments keeping us so far apart, but knowing Him, that's probably the truth. Hmph.

Sending my love,
Cyn

((I'm still not quite done the next part of Cyneric's backstory, but Josh [the DM and creator of this world] mentioned that since Cyn has letters he wants to send to a few people in-game, I may as well start writing them up. This isn't quite up to date, since it's a few gaming sessions behind [because it's a letter, it's only up to date to the last place he was able to mail it from], but it's the most "now" thing I've written in a while.))

Observations from outside the mines

May 17th, 708CC, 3rd day of Bleakmoon

As always, most of my narrative can be found over in this entry I just penned in our group's journal.

~I love that Ayman wanted to get in on the mischief in the halfling village; I'll have to remember that he enjoys a good practical joke- I'm sure I can use his help in the future. And speaking of mischief, who knew Linora is so afraid of fish? I always thought the ocean was full of random sea creatures, so surely she's come in contact with a live and wriggling one before? I suppose her shipmates just never pulled any pranks on her.

~I'm wondering about this amulet that's been talking to Dallas. If it really is Ayman's, we really should get rid of it as soon as possible since it does not sound like something we want near us.

~These randomly appearing and disappearing tattoos are not becoming any less disturbing. I really don't like things appearing on my skin and I'm not sure if I trust The Master. It was bad enough when we got the tattoos from Khrom-Vel; at least the dragon we know to be trustworthy!

~Speaking of dragons, I'm wondering which one that was we saw take out that army of strange creatures? It seemed to be on "our" side, but the enemy of our enemy doesn't necessarily make it our friend. I hope there are no more of those creatures, or if there are, my message gets to Logging Town (and noticed) in time for them to have fair warning. I wonder if those creatures had anything to do with the mines?

~And on the subject of the mines, I am so frustrated at my friends! Why, in the name of Hermes, would you run into a battle after the warning alarm has been sounded, when you know there are a lot of monsters in the area? Getting rid of them is all well and good, but not with that much risk! When a plan goes that belly-up, you should fall back and make a new one, not blindly go running into danger. I am glad SwampFox didn't go charging into that unnecessary fray; the group may have needed him to guard their backs as they limped away. It wouldn't surprise me if everyone is angry at me for not helping, but I am no fighter and had no fighting spells ready since I had been granted ones for our sneaky plan, not for a battle (not that my magic is particularly offensive to begin with...). Although, now that I think about it, what would have been useful would have been a lasso-type spell, so I could have dragged them from that insanity. And for that matter, it's one thing to go running into danger to rescue your friends from being kidnapped or from something not of their own doing; it's quite another to put yourself into a dire situation because of their own stupidity. Had the fighting gone on longer and things gotten much worse, though, I would have ran back (and sent a message ahead) to Logging Town to find some help in rescuing them. As it is, we're now short another druid...

Thoughts from Logging Town

May 13th, 708CC, 6th day of Brightmoon

Like always, most of my narrative can be found over in this entry I just penned in our group's journal.

-I somehow forgot to ask the apothecary Armand knows about the moon shield; I'll have to do that the next time we're in woodland. (Note to self: remember this.)

-I loathe spiders, especially ones that are dog-sized; I sincerely hope Dorrmags drops that particular pet soon. I'm fine with normal insects (I summon them often), but spiders that are that large? Ugh!

-Why must everyone we meet automatically act scornfully towards SwampFox? Yes, he's an orc, but he's wearing very nice plate armor and traveling with an obviously un-Evil party; obviously he is not what they seem to think he is. It frustrates me that even my vouching for him doesn't often help- I've never had anyone doubt me before, and I can't see why they should about this, either. We priests of Hermes are trustworthy (well, when we're not causing mischief, but people tend to forget about that half of our Calling), so my word should be all that is needed. Honestly, this would not bother me half as much if it was me they were insulting, but they're shunning and insulting my friend who I trust to always have my back; and now that SwampFox is learning some Common, I hate that he has to hear the hateful words bigoted individuals throw at him. I suppose he may be used to it, but it's still not right or fair.

-This whole thing with Homer and Dorian is odd, to say the least. Why would Homer be traveling west when his task was to go south? Did he need help from the halflings that live in the forest? Are those halflings his kin? Did Dorian run into trouble? His task should not have taken him this long to complete. Could his group and Homer's both be in trouble? If so, I think it will take more than us to get them out of it. I'm thinking that once we learn what we can in Logging Town, we should try to find that halfling village to see if anyone there knows where we could find Homer.

-Are there many kobolds in the area of the fort? I know goblins are in the area, but will we have to worry about kobolds, as well? And do they normally carry their lunches around when they sneak up on empty forts?

Thoughts from the road

May 8th, 708CC, 1st day of Brightmoon

As always, most of my narrative can be found in this entry I just penned in our group's journal.

-I'm slightly frustrated that my knowledge of religions has failed me; I'm fairly certain that the moon shield we found at the gnoll camp is related to Artemis, but since the Older Gods are waning in this part of the world, it's extremely difficult for me to learn more about this. Fortunately Armand knows someone who knew some old priests, so I'm going to find the man and see if he can give me more information on this subject.

-Gating is rather terrifying, especially when parts of it explode when you're going through it. I'm quite thankful that it was not me who was shot out of the Gate! (Honestly, I think Shocko enjoyed that...) It's just scary to trust your life to a jar. It is nice to be able to get from Joven to Woodland in a matter of minutes, though!

-I'm proud of SwampFox; he spoke some Common the other day, which is great! The more Common he learns, the less he'll have to rely on me or Linora to translate for him. I don't mind, of course, but there are some situations where he's separated from us Orcish speaker, but has to know what's going on around him.

-It's strange to have so many animals around. I love animals, but two dogs, a fox, a cat, and a parrot (a parrot? Where'd Mags find a parrot, anyway?) means there are almost as many four-legged and winged members in the party as two-legged ones. ... actually, now I'm wondering if I should start casting Speak with Animals more often.

Some thoughts as we rest from a battle in Joven

May 1, 708CC, 1st day of Gladmoon

Most of my narrative of recently events can be found in the journal entry I just penned for the group, but I would like to add a few thoughts.

-I have found that I do enjoy being called "Senior Brother". I'm not normally one with a large ego; I had to pause for a moment before I realized the Messenger was referring to myself. It feels like just yesterday I was Called by Hermes; I suppose I don't really think of myself as "senior" yet. I mean, I'm just a Messenger.

-Random appearing and disappearing tattoos are disconcerting. If it hadn't been put there by someone I trust (and, frankly, it was a great honor for Khrom-Vel to call us his Champions!), I think it would have bothered me even more.

-I am going to miss our crazy ballistics gnome. Rest in peace, Caleb.

-I may not mention this enough, but I very much appreciate my friendship with SwampFox. As I witnessed yesterday when he prevented an orc from attacking me as I was engrossed in a spell, he always has my back.

-I am a bit worried that these Gates will make travelling so easy that ... well, Messengers will not be as respected as we are, and that people will begin to take us for granted. I likely have no reason to worry, or perhaps the real reason for my worry is that I enjoy travelling so much and I would not like to lose that. I will have to talk about this with Armand, or possibly the Head Messenger in Joven.

What indignity!

March 30, 708CC, 2nd day of Darkmoon

That racist, inconsiderate, narrow-minded hick of an innkeeper! How dare he deny service to SwampFox! It honestly took me a moment to realize what he was saying; I am unused to being denied service or lodgings (because who in their right mind would slight one of the few people who can be trusted to carry important messages and packages both quickly and safely?), so I just couldn't believe the gall of that man. Sure, Dallas was willing to lend SwampFox her disguise hat, but I most definitely did not want to give that fool any coin after that attitude he showed. When I finally regained my composure, I said a few indignant words and stormed out. The rest of the party were wonderful in following soon after.

I suppose this is something I should get used to, but we've been fortunate in staying either outdoors or in the establishments of people more willing to accept coin than to worry too much about the scruples they may have with other races.

Anyway, Ghost pointed out that she would spread the word in Joven and Woodland that a member of the Mercenaries' Guild was turned away in Montvale, so hopefully the innkeeper will reap what he sowed. And even if he doesn't lose custom that way, I got some instantaneous revenge in the form of "Summon Insects" cast on the inn. (No one degrades one of my close friends and gets away with it!) Perhaps next time he'll recall that Hermes is a Trickster as well as a Messenger, and that His followers can act accordingly.

I'm not really sure what SwampFox thought of all this; I think it was mild amusement that I felt such insult on his behalf, anger at being treated that way, and some pride in the fact that the party stood up for him. It's hard to tell what SwampFox feels, though; he never says much, even to me.