Author Archives: Darren

Letter to Julia

Julia,

I have finally made it to Roderics cove. I know that you are not surprised to hear that the trip here was fantastic. The open air on the water was wonderfully refreshing. The ship’s captain is an amazing woman and even a fool would be able to tell that her crew has great respect for her.  While the trip is was fun the open sea doesn’t seem to be my calling. I have found a group of adventures to team up with. Sadly they have recently lost one of their companions. After what happened to Ricardo I understand their pain.

I of course will not be in Magnamar for the Ritual of Stardust so your will just have to get along without you favorite follower of Desna. I know that you always look forward our traditional day of new experiences but with a new child it is best if you don’t do anything dangerous.  Besides your child is your great new experience this year. I will do my best to keep out of trouble this year, how could I possibly get into as much trouble when you are not around.

I have only been with the group a short while but it is very encouraging that the 3 follower of Serenrae are all women. It is refreshing to once again to be able to fight alongside capable women.  The men in the group seem reasonable but the Halfling wizard Jigu seems to have forsaken the gods and I worry for his soul. It is not may place to judge or even try to convert him so I just let him follow his own path as long as he is not disrespectful of Desna. One of the Serenrae followers Sasha has been bless with the gift of both arcane and divine magic. Her sister and the other follower of Serenrae seem to be more of the path of the sword. The two warriors of Serenrae both seem to have the ability to detect evil like a Paladin or inquisitor. The man called Droste favors the bow and seems to have rogue skills as well. Droste is one of those major Thassilionian geeks and I haven’t figure out the lengths he would go to gain Thassilionian knowledge. The last guy is Vlad. Vlad seems to be a cross between warrior and magic user so he might also have an interesting story to tell.

I have fallen into something major with these people. Obviously I can’t write about it so you will just have to wait until I come to visit. Without going into details I am a little bit worried and a lot curious about the very dangerous situation here.  The task is huge and I now see why they allowed me assist them in this task. They really haven’t said what they plan after the current issue is resolved but at least for now I am getting an equal share to assist with this situation.

I want you to know that I just couldn’t stand being cooped up any longer and this has nothing to do with last year’s Ritual of Stardust. Beside with a new baby girl you should focus on the new baby Jessica and your husband William so you don’t have time to try to top what you did to me last year. I promise that someday in the future to return to Magnamar for the Ritual of Stardust and as always I will without question accept whatever you have in store for me for the Ritual of Stardust.

Your best friend forever

Remi

Yanor’s Journal Early Sarenith (Feb 2020)

This just has to be an old buried Thassilonian site and the bandits like the goblins are searching for something. What could possibly have the power to drive both goblins and humans on a frantic search for Thassilonian secrets? As much as I want to stay and further investigate the portal it’s time to get a closer look at Roderic’s maps.

The trip back to Roderick’s cove was uneventful, Apparently Lullaby doesn’t want to tangle with us at the moment.  The map of Churlwood had the symbol of the Runelords marking a spot near where we dealt with the goblins. I copied that and other missing points of reference onto my own map.

How is Audrahni tied to the Runelords? Or did she just happen to settle in Roderick’s cove for no reason. I know we have to build trust before she feels comfortable sharing more of her story and motivations but I just hope she doesn’t wait too long.

Spending time with Svaci truly shows how much these animals mean to her. Just hearing her talk about her dogs is clear to anyone that she is doing what she loves. I admit that Lucy has to be my favorite. If I was going to settle down or become a fur trader she would be my first dog but there is no place in my life for a dog. All in all Svaci is a good person and hopefully in the future she can find someone to marry that will share her passionate about dogs. In the meantime there is no reason for her to feel lonely.  I am not really sure if we are becoming just friends or friends with benefits but she seemed to understand that I am not the marrying type.

Yanor journal entry #1 Roderic’s cove

Sister where are you? I have searched everywhere for any sign of you but nothing. Roderic’s cove was yet another in a long line of dead ends. For so many years I kept expecting you to show up, I just couldn’t understand why my sister would leave me alone in this odd world. I have search cities and towns throughout this continent looking for any sign that you ever existed. Even the old thassilon ruins show no signs of you. I have finally come to the conclusion that my method of searching for you is not going to work. All the data clearly indicates that I came through a portal from somewhere, in all my travels everyone just looks at me strange when I explain my story with most thinking that I am making it all up. There is one place that I haven’t searched yet: Time.

I’ve heard a theory that the runelords had mastery of time. If we ended up in different times then that would explain why you haven’t found me after all this time. Given my research you likely didn’t end up in my recent past.  Did I pass through time or did you? Maybe both of us?

The fact that I had to learn to speak common after traveling through the portal supports being born in a different time. But was that from the distant past or distant future? I really wish you would have given me more information on why this happened. Was this an accident or did you purposely send me here.

My new companions here at Roderic’s cove have begun to uncover powerful runelord magic and there is talk of the runelords waking from their slumber. I feel like the hero’s of the past need to band together to prevent the runelords from raising to power again but the way Jigu and Droste talk about the hero’s they seemed uninterested. Who is going to stop the runelords. Sister did you send me here to help stop the runelords or was it to help the runelords.

Roderic’s cove is one of the last places that I expected to find a runelords champions weapon, but that seems to be the case. Their seems to be something related to the runelords that goes all the way back to the founder of Rodric’s cove. It might be good to work with this group for a while to see if they can uncover the source of the runelords time magic. For now I will keep my ideas about time magic to myself, a least until the subject comes up.

My assumptions about my curse were wrong. Maybe I should have research divine curses to figure out more about this curse. Several times while at Roderic’s home the cursed activated and now it seems as though fighting triggers the curse. Looking back at the last several times the curse happened back in Korvosa I can now clearly see that they were combat situations. I guess it is lucky that Sasha is here to understand me during combat. It looks like this curse is going to happen a lot more with these people so I need to at least start improving my ability to fight. Maybe learning to fight better will help me fit in better, the twins as always are still kicking ass.

Yanor, human Oracle of Lore

On Gozran 17th 4710 the elderly couple Yani and Eleanor were enjoying a quite game of shogi when a portal suddenly opens inside their home. As the portal is closing a young boy is hurled from the portal hitting the wall with great force and then crumpling to the ground in a bloody heap. Examining the boy they discover a severe head injury but that the blood dripping off him was not his blood.

Yani asks the church for help with the injuries on the boy but the cleric is away. The young boy remained unconscious for three days before waking up and had no memory who he is, he can’t even remember his own name. He immediately asks about his sister Isabela but Yani just gives him a strange look.

Eleanor puts her hand on her husband’s arm and says something in a language the boy does not understand. Final she turns to the boy and explains that he was the only person that came through the portal. She then goes on to explain that her husband doesn’t understand the language the boy is speaking. Eleanor tells the boy that she always wanted to have a son but that they were not bless with any children.  She names him Yanor, at least until his memory returns.

For the next month Yanor wears bandages as the injury on does not seem to heal. When the cleric finally returns he examines Yanor and discovers low level lingering magic and dispels that magic. With the magic dispelled Yanor is finally able to properly heal and learn to speak common. It is then that Yanor truly discovers that the people of Wartle see him as a bandage wearing freak that comes from a backward place that does know how to speak a proper language.

The only kids in town that would play with Yanor are the twins from the church and even they seem a little put off by him. The other kids in Wartle either bulled or just physically beat him and he Yanor soon was very envious of the fact that the twins always had each other’s backs and he often wished his sister would come take him away. Yanor spent most days growing up at the church going through the books in the church library and talking with the elder woman.

As Yanor grew into manhood he noticed that women started to look at him differently .The same girls that for years treated him poor start meeting up with him in private. These private meet ups go on for several years even though the twins keep insisting him that they are using just him. At 16 his adoptive mother dies and 1 year later her husband passes away. Yanor finally has had enough and leaves Wartle at the age of 17.

Yanor has been in Roderic’s Cove for several months after working as an assistant for a small group of researchers investigating a possible Thassilonian ruin a few hundred miles away. He originally was looking for information about his sister Isabela so he eagerly seeks out Miesalo Salen from the Temple of the Stars and Roads as well as Desil Marphan and Audrahni at the Graveyard/The Lady’s Chapel to any records or grave sites related to the name Isabela or anything they know about Thassilonian. He is openly obsessed with anything Thassilonian and would seek out anyone with similar interests and exchange information with them.

He is intrigued at seeing a person he met at Riddleport ‘s Cyphergate just lying down in the circle.   At the idea of this being a Thassilonian ruin he begin looking into the possibility of the circle being a Thassilonian ruin.

Yanor after looking over the site for many days Yanor take a few moments to gather himself before using knowledge arcane skill to try to figure out information about the circle. If there is a connection he would then drop into geek mode explaining in detail how this is connected with Thassilon.

ivan’s journal

The Oni in this city are worse than an infestation of rats. It seems to Ivan that in Kasai the rats have taken over the city. These Rats have taken it upon themselves to weed out those that do not conform to their whims. They even had the nerve to try to make Hatsue their latest public execution. Regret shows on Ivan’s face as his thoughts go back to the woman at the city entrance when they first arrived in the city. He faces the fact that doing nothing likely resulted in her death and that he is partly to blame for not taking action.  Ivan is not really sure how long he was staring at the spot on the wall behind Ameiko but his view was suddenly blocked by someone.  Ivan’s eyes quickly adjust and refocus on the person standing before him.

“If we can’t get a boat until tomorrow I want to go shopping for new clothes.  It’s not safe for a woman like me to wander alone in Kasai so I will need an escort” says Koya excitedly

Before Ivan even has a chance to respond Koya continues with “I should be safe with you and Hatsue as my escorts.”

“Ah” replies Ivan

“I am trying to decide if Hatsue would look good in pink or not. What do you think about Hatsue in a pink outfit?” continues Koya in a cheerful voice

“Shouldn’t you make sure she likes pink first?” replies Ivan

Ivan is relieved when Isao quickly finds a boat and he learns that they will be departing later today. Maybe Koya will change her mind about buying Hatsue clothes by the time we get back from the island Ivan thinks to himself. Realizing that this is a battle that he cannot win Ivan decides to leave this in the hands of fate.

As they walk through the city to the docks Ivan wonders why the group so easily accepted allowing Hatsue to come with us to the island.  He is very surprised that no one voiced an objection. Ivan concludes that they must be thinking that he is just doing this to keep her close. Admittedly there judgement about him is correct but he decides to keep the other reason hidden for now.

“Fate is very strange. It seemed impossible to find a way to get Hatsue to the island and yet fate makes it all seem like it was preordained.” thinks Ivan to himself

Passing through each of the gates Ivan can’t help but notice that Amieko seems a little nervous and unsteady. Olmas is dutifully standing next to her and Ivan hopes that Olmas will notice if she starts to fall out of the boat. Ivan ponders on the question of who would be the first to save Olmas if he falls into the water and what would happen if he dropped sushen.

After passing through the final gate the island reveals its true nature. To Ivan’s surprise he can still since Isao back in the city. Ivan just observes the others as they step onto this mystical island. Everyone seems to be a little bit excited about the island of the kings but Ivan can clearly see the toll this is having on Ameiko. Ivan finds the whole heir situation very confusing as his instincts are to comfort her and tell her that we are all with her but he is pretty sure that is not appropriate anymore.

The Jade regent guardians apparently were lonely according to Olmas’s recount of what he overheard. Ivan could not help but notice that the guardians seemed to target the males with their curses. For a just a moment after hearing Olmas say that he is not worried about the supposed curse Ivan considers not interfering. Ameiko did not say a word but her eyes sent the clear message to Ivan that Olmas is acting like an idiot. Ivan removes the curse from Olmas and ponders whether this was a lust curse or as Kali suggests would turn them into one of them.

“At least I am not the only person that stupidly walked into a graveyard not expecting shadows. I should have at least protected Ameiko and Koya from undead but luckily the antimagic spell saved most of the group. I am really glad that the gods decided to give me deathward, Radella with deathward would be even more dangerous than Hatsue. I better just keep that part to myself. ” Ivan thinks to himself.

Ivan’s journal The granary

Ivan heads through the streets on his way to meet up with Hatsue. She has not moved for some time so he suspects that she has already arrived at the meeting location.

Ivan walks into the room and meets Hatsue’s gaze. After a few seconds her eyes soften as once again Ivan seems to have successfully passed the Hatsue judgement greeting. Ivan often wonders if he also has a strange look in his eyes when he first sees her. Maybe he is the problem and she is just reacting to him. Or maybe he thinks to himself that this is just her way of making sure he is ok.

Ivan sits down next to Hatsue. “First I should get you caught up on the plans” says Ivan. The two of them exchange the latest news whispering quietly to prevent their conversation from being overheard.

While Ivan had a good game it was not enough to overcome the skill of Hatsue. He must be getting better he thinks to himself as he notices Hatsue’s eyes light up as she moves in for the kill.

Ivan is still looking into her eyes has Hatsue looks up and says “What”

“Nothing. I am just enjoying being able to play the game of shogi with you” replies Ivan

“Well I would like to spend the day playing shogi with you but we both have things that we need to do. Maybe someday I will be able to watch you play a challenging game “ says Ivan

“That would be fun” replies Hatsue

“Ok now remember these will last for just over a day so we will need to meet up again tomorrow.  Don’t forget that a single minor injury is the signal to contact you and two minor injuries is that you need urgent help. “ says Ivan as he cast beacon on Hatsue and himself.

“Yes I do remember” replies Hatsue

“Ok that will do it” says Ivan as he finishes casting the last of the spells on Hatsue

“Good luck tonight” says Hatsue

“You be careful too” replies Ivan

The two part ways each heading to a different part of the city. Ivan makes his way through the city back to the hero’s.

The day progresses very slowly as Ivan can only just wait for the appointed time to arrive. This would be a great time for playing shogi Ivan thinks to himself but looking around the room he decides that it would be best if he didn’t start pestering the others about playing shogi. Someday maybe he can teach Abby how to play shogi.

Simple math seems to confuse this group as Ivan always assumed that when you are counting down to one that you go on 1. Apparently you go on two and not one. Hero’s make their own rules.

The sounds of battle fade as Kali, Hatsue, Ivan, and friend appear back at the granary. Ivan kneels down close to Hatsue placing his hand on her cheek while casting his spell to heal all in range that required healing.

As Hatsue opens her eyes Ivan see the momentary panic in her expression. This quickly changes to a look of relief as it is obvious to him that she recognizes that she is with friends. After a few seconds Hatsue appears to have regained her composure again and Ivan moves back to give her some space. After giving her a few moments to get her bearings Ivan offers out his hand and helps her off the ground.

Ivan’s Journal

Exiting the portable hole Ivan hands a cinnamon roll to Koya before heading over to Hatsue .

“You know we could use an extra pair of hands to help get everything ready for tomorrow” whispers Ivan to Hatsue as Ivan hands her the last cinnamon roll and then proceeds to cast beacon (status) on Hatsue.

“Be right back” says Ivan has he walks over and retrieves his quiver and bag of holding from Radella. Ivan is unclear if the response from Hatsue was an acknowledgement or if she was simply enjoying the cinnamon roll.

“Thanks” Ivan says as Radella hands over the equipment. He can’t tell if she suspects something or not. It’s the same feeling that he gets each time and thus far she hasn’t felt the need to interfere.

Hatsue finishes up the cinnamon roll as they arrive at the doorway to the storage room. They only had to wait a few minutes before the door opened and Akiko, Honamiyo, Miiko, Tamae, Yoire, Naomi, and Remi enter the storage room.

“Ok. As normal we will start with your treats” says Ivan as he hands out a cinnamon roll to each of the women.

“Don’t worry I also picked up one so that you can give one to Jiro” continues Ivan as he sets the cinnamon roll down on the shelf.

“I saw Jiro heading back to his office so once you finish your treat you can go present your gift. Today I brought help so we will start getting everything ready while you talk with Jiro.” Continues Ivan

“ok” replies Remi

“So this time is a little different than the ones in the past. I know this is old hat for all of you but since we have someone new let’s just review everything while you eat your cinnamon roll” says Ivan

“Firstly everyone gets a ration of food which today is your containers filled up 6 times with dried beans. I know that I am repeating myself but this is each person and not each family.” Says Ivan

“I still insist that pregnant women get an additional ration as they are eating for two and it is important for mother and baby to get plenty of food. Like before I leave the decision of determining which women are pregnant completely up to you. I am not qualified to figure out which women are pregnant and I am not about to start asking women if they are pregnant.” continues Ivan

Ivan pulls another bag out and sets it down “What is new this time is that we are also going to give everyone in the fort 3 pieces of these sweets, including Jiro and his people. These are tough times and everyone deserves something a little special. You can of course give the children an extra piece of candy“

“In the past I have asked you to not share where this food is coming from to anyone. Except I did tell you to always tell the truth to Hatsue, Jiro, and Amieko. It was important to me to let my companions discover their own path. You can now honestly tell people that this food is provided by those that follow the heir.  If you are question by my companions you are free to tell them the truth” says Ivan

Ivan motions towards the door “Ok now go talk to Jiro while he is still in if office”

Hatsue describes in details the ideas behind the end game Tsume shogi as the two of them get the food ready for distribution in the morning. Just as they were finishing up the preparations  the door opens and the women re-enter the storage room.

“Are you still talking about the game?” says Akiko

“Yep, maybe someday I will get far enough into a game with Hatsue to try one of these strategies. Anyway perfect timing as we are done.” replies Ivan

As Ivan and Hatsue leave the store room Ivan says “how about you show me one of those moves on the board before we play an actual game”

Ivan and Hatsue head back to the common area.

Ivan’s journal: April 2019

Like the wind Radella moved through the rooms on the way to the horses. Ivan only paused for a moment to pick up a couple of pastries for later as he hurried to keep up with the determined Radella. Dead guards lined the path way as Ivan and Radella made their way to the battle ground.

Holding the head of Sennaka up high Radella tried to get the attention of the soldiers. Ivan looks across the battle field thinking to himself “Clearly they do not understand they need to listen to Radella”. The illusion of the fire dragon hovering about Radella provided the proper motivation for the soldiers to stop and listen to her.

“The samurai have all agreed to follow Itsuru. If you guys can come back to the house then I can heal up you guys and the samurai.” Says Ivan as they head back to the house.  By the time Radella, Ivan and the others returned to the house the portable hole was pretty much filled up by Zosimus. “So much for travel by portable hole” thinks Ivan to himself.

The party parts ways with the samurai and teleports back to the fort.

“I think it is best to stay in tonight” Ivan thinks to himself as he picks up the Shogi board and sets it on the table. Sitting down at the table Ivan does not have to wait very long for the usual opponent to join him in a game of Shogi.

“Tonight I hope to be able to make 18 moves before you win. Don’t you dare insult me by going easy on me” says Ivan to Hatsue.

After failing to get past 9 moves in the first game Ivan recounts the story about the night he created the circle and the two people that he interacted with on that night. Ivan casts an illusion to show each of the people that showed up in his vision as he tells the story. As soon as Ivan brings up that Kali’s says she follows Lamashtu Hatsue immediately interrupts Ivan with “No, No, No you are not to have anything to do with her or anyone else that follows Lamashtu!”

After Hatsue finishes explaining the reasons why he should not have anything to do with the followers of Lamashtu Ivan simple looks at Hatsue and says “Ok, I trust your judgement”

As they begin the second game of shogi Ivan pulls pastries from his bag and offers one to Hatsue. “I picked these up at Sennaka’s house, he’s dead so he didn’t need them. If it really bothers you I can pay his brother for the pastries” says Ivan

“I think this one time it will be ok” replies Hatsue as she takes a bite out of the pastry.

Game after game Ivan played against Hatsue but he was not able to progress past move 11 in any of the games.

“Well I guess 18 moves was a little too ambitious. That just means that when I get there it will be that much more special “says Ivan with a smile

“Well I am going to turn in” says Hatsue as she stands up.

“Good night” replies Ivan

In the morning Ivan is walking through the camps when he is interrupted by the young Musha sisters Chie and Arisa as they take his hand and guide him to the tent which obviously is not very usable.

“They broke the tent again” says their pregnant mother Yuri holding the youngest of the three daughters.

“Ok let me take a look” says Ivan as he climbs into the tent.

“I can fix this but I will need a couple of brave helpers” says Ivan as he sticks his head out of the collapsed tent.

“We’ll help” reply the girls as they climb into the tent.

“There the tent is all fixed” says Ivan

“Can we play tag now” replies Arisa

From outside the tent a voice says “Not in the tent”

“Thank Ivan for fixing the tent” says Yuri

“Thanks” says the two girls

“Your welcome. You know I couldn’t have done it without …” replies Ivan but the girls were already long gone before he could finish the sentence.

“Thank you Ivan. Would you like to stay and have some tea?” says Yuri

“Oh sorry I can’t today maybe next time” replies Ivan

Ivan parts ways with Yuri and heads back to the others.

The discussion at hand was how to get Ameiko back to Enganoka. Portable hole once again seems to be the only good option to get everyone to Enganoka. Ivan just watches as it is explained to Ameiko that traveling via portable hole is the best option to get her back to Enganoka.

For obvious reasons Ameiko and Shalelu seemed to be a little nervous about getting into the portable hole. After taking off all extra-dimensional equipment Ivan steps into the portable hole to show them it is ok. Casting life bubble Ivan reaches through the doorway and takes a hold of both Ameiko’s and Shalelu’s hands and then gently pulls them into the portable hole.

“See this is not so bad, there is most likely enough air in here for this short trip but this spell will provide 8 hours of breathing. Don’t worry I will keep you both safe” says Ivan to Ameiko and shalelu as they enter the portable hole.

Ivan’s journal: you can’t always choose your gods

“Damn they spotted us” thinks Ivan as the three of them escape over the wall and head back to the rest of the group.

“Why is Ameiko trying to hurt herself?” asks Ivan as they walk into the camp.

“What do you mean he is at the fort” say Ivan

Sending “The assassin is at the fort. He is very dangerous so do not engagement him until we get there”

Second sending “I will be there soon and we will keep everyone safe. You have to trust me.

“I’m going to the right now, Radella..” Ivan says but in interrupted by Radella

“Yes I am going” replied Radellla

“I am going too” says Ameiko closely followed by “not without me” from Shalelu

“I can read his thoughts so I will go to” says Dasi

Ivan thought Kali and Qatana might be still trying to explain the benefits of their plan as his group vanishes. Halfway down the hallway it is obvious that Olmas has arrived as he still seems to be complaining about being separated from Ameiko.

“This is the person” says Hatsue

“No Dasi says this is a common theft not the assassin” whispers Ivan into Hatsue left ear.

The group moves around until Dasi points out the assassin and most engage.

“Hatsue that’s the assassin. Trust me” says Ivan

“But he is not Evil” says Hatuse

“But he has weapons” says Olmas’s voice from above.

The corpse of the assassin into the alter room. After a few minutes pass Dasi starts freaking out about the Amulet

“Dasi just drop the Amulet on the ground” says Ivan

“No one should touch it, you can’t have it” says Dasi

“Just put it on the ground” says Ivan

The moment the amulet hits the ground Ivan covers it in a dome of stone so that no can grab the amulet.

Ivan heads out of the room and motions to Ameiko asking her to follow him.

“Ameiko can I speak with you for a moment” Ivan says as he is looking down at Hatsues blood on his hand.

Ivan and Ameiko move away from the others. In the background the discussion on what to do with the amulet continues. The door closes and an eerie silence fills the room.

“Wah Wah WAH., WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH. WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH. WAH WAH WAH WAH. WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH. WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH. WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH, WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH” Rambles Ivan speaking so fast that Ameiko is struggling to understand him.

“Wah Wah WAH., WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH. WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH. WAH WAH WAH WAH. WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH.” continues Ivan

“Wah Wah WAH., WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH. WAH WAH WAH. “Wah Wah WAH., WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH. WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH. WAH WAH WAH WAH. WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH.” continues Ivan

Ivan suddenly stops which Ameiko presumes was to take a breath but then says “I’m sorry” as he gives her a good bye hug.

Ivan opens the door and steps into the main room. Avoiding eye contact Ivan moves across the room to the stairs and starts heading up. No one seems to notice that he is leaving or he thinks maybe they just don’t care that he is leaving. They are busy with the amulet so they have other things to worry about. The ghost sounds seem to be getting louder and louder and Ivan is surprised that the others have not notice. Ivan gets to the top of the stairs and then walks off into the darkness of the woods.

Ivan works his way through the woods until he reaches the little clearing near the edge of the cliff.  He just immediately gets the inspiration to put shapes in the rocks. He pulls down his goggle and just lets the magic create the shapes in the stone. One by one Ivan moves around shaping the stones until he has eight of them.

Ivan suddenly feels like someone pushes him off the cliff. He is thinking “why did someone push me, wait wh..” as everything goes black.

Ivan wasn’t sure how long we was out. He slowly opens his eyes and immediately notices that someone is standing over him with their feet next to his ears.

“Oh you’re finally awake” a female voice says as she taps the sides of Ivan head with her feet.

It is then that Ivan realizes that he seems to be tied up and can’t get up.

Ivan doesn’t recognize the voice and looks up to get a view of the person but her positioning only provides a view up her skirt.

“Why is your underwear blue with flowers” ask Ivan out of curiosity

“Blue! These are sky blue with white daisies” the female voice flippantly responds.

“I would prefer to be able to see the people that I am talking too” replies Ivan

At that she sits down on Ivan’s chest and disappointedly responds “Is that better? I just came here to help you and this is how you treat me”

“I am here to give you everything you ever wanted. There is just a small little matter that you need to do for us and then you can have everything” says the woman sitting on Ivan’s chest.

“I am sure you know where to find the seal, right. If you just do us this small favor you will want for nothing” continues the woman

A woman appears that he immediately recognizes as O-Sayumi. The dress she is wearing is just not the right color for her, Ivan doesn’t even think Koya would wear something with this color combination.  Clearly the woman with the strange underwear thought this was a good combination.

“We can make her your slave to do with as you wish” says the woman

“Why would I ever let you make a slave of one of my friends?” angrily responds Ivan

“That’s ok we have plenty of other women for you!” she says sounding pretty sure that she is close to sealing the deal.

“What no that is just wrong” response Ivan is frustration

“Oh I see. I didn’t realize you preferred men” she tries to say seductively as her body transforms into the form of a man. The blue underwear with flowers took on a new level of creepy as she changed into a male.

O-sayumi vanishes and is replaced with Sandru dressed in skin tight clothes.

“No I do like females” Ivan says in a creeped out tone.

“So do we have a deal? You go get the seal and you can have want ever you want” he/she says as the voice changes from male to female mid-sentence.

“I don’t think so. Can you please leave” says Ivan

“I can do this all night if we have too” says the female form still sitting on Ivan’s chest.

“You know some people are never going to fall for your old tired tricks” says a male voice from somewhere behind the woman.

Ivan realizes that his hands are now free and pushes the woman off him and can now see a man standing on the other side of the room. He recognizes the symbol on his left cheek as one of the symbols representing the gods but he doesn’t remember which god.

“Go away I was here first” the woman says angrily

The scene changes and Ivan finds himself in a big lavish room. Tapestries cover the walls to scenes of men and women in victory poses. The man with the symbol on his cheek is to his left while the woman is to his right. Sun light shines into the room from a row of cathedral windows. Lavish carpets line the floor.

“Can’t you just imagine yourself living this type of life” says the woman standing next to Ivan.

Ivan looks around and says “were is the doorway to the alchemy laboratory”.

One of the young female servants walks over to one of the tapestries and pulls it to one side revealing a door. Above the door a sign says alchemy Lab. Just then the door opens and Zosi steps out followed by three attentive women shrunk down to his size.

“No but I think this would be perfect for Zosi.” replies Ivan

The area around them changes and Ivan finds that they are back at the village of Kokomigi. Kimoto is directly in front of Ivan mourning the death of his family.  Ivan just sits there watching Kimoto as he says goodbye to his family.

The scene shifts back to the cave.

Suddenly Ivan notices that Ameiko is now in the cave with him but she is wearing the same clothes that he saw in the vision from the seal. In fact he is pretty sure this is the vision.

“You can become the ruler and possess all of them if you just take the seal” the woman says in response to the image of Ameiko.

“Ivan you are linked to the seal and your friends. Until the seal is used to proclaim the ruler of Minki the gods expect you to follow this path. Are you going to abandon your friends?” says the male voice

“So are you going to also tell me that I need to save the hero? Do you really think a commoner should be walking the path with Heroes and royalty? ” asks Ivan

“I don’t know about their status as heroes but I suspect that at some point you might have to save one of your friends” replies the man

The woman vanishes with the parting words “You haven’t won yet”

Ivan makes his way out of the cave and climbs up the cliff back to his meditation spot. When he gets to the top he is greeted by Hatsue.

“Ameiko asked me to come check on you.” says Hatsue as she sets up the game board.

“You still owe me a game, it’s your move” says Hatsue

“Well that was a pretty good move” says Hatsue as Ivan moves a piece to the right side of the board.

Hatsue moves her piece into position as Ivan just watches and waits

“I will move this piece over here” says Ivan as he moves his piece

“Well you’ve lost already” says Hatsue as she makes the move to end the game.

“Ok since I won you have to do something for Me.” says Hatsue

“Who are you, you are clearly not Hatsue.” says Ivan

Hatsue’s form gives way to that woman as she says “I just want you to get the seal for me”

“Ivan she can only talk with you because you are still on the ground unconscious and bleeding. You’re not afraid of snakes right?” says the now familiar male voice

Ivan wakes up and slowly gets up from the ground as to not upset the snakes. He thinks to himself that there is no need to hurt these snakes. Ivan feels a little dizzy and stumbles over to the nearby wall. A quick heal and his head begins to clear up. Looking up Ivan sees the outcropping of rocks that he most likely hit this head on.

Ivan makes his way back up to the meditation spot. Looking around he sees that he created a circle made out of symbols. Four of the symbols he knows as Irori and opposite each of the symbols of Irori are the same symbol that he saw on the man’s cheek. He should know this symbol Ivan thinks to himself.

Ivan lays down in the middle of the circle looking up at the stars as he drifts off to sleep. He wakes up just in time to regain his spells.

Sitting there Ivan sees a rock just outside the circle that catches his attention. He walks over, picks up the rock, and uses magic to allow the proper shape to manifest itself. Ivan searches his bag until he finds what he feels matches the new shape of the rock. He sets this new item down just outside the circle.

Ivan picks up his pack and quickly heads towards the fort. Ameiko has only been hurt a little but he better head back to the fort and check.

About the halfway point on his return Ivan pauses for a moment. “Oh god what did I say to Ameiko before I left. I really wish I could remember what I said” Ivan says out loud to himself as he hurries back to the fort.

Ivan makes his way down the stairs and then glances at Ameiko, he is relieved that she is not holding any weapons. He then diverts his gaze to avoid eye contact.

The talk is consumed with news of Qatana leaving. Ivan realizes that he does not since Qatana but remains silent and continues to avoid eye contact.

Ivan has dried blood starting at the top of his head, across his face and down his neck. His clothes are tattered and ripped. He is also covered from head to toe with dirt, sticks and various local plant material.

Ivan’s Journal

I am really not sure how to respond to Hatsue.

I thought it was completely ridiculous when O-Sayumi was telling me stealing the bodies of the dead is wrong. Who would have guessed that this would actually be a thing?

Although I can’t fully understand how the people of this country think I accept the fact that the fear of undead is a cultural thing that is not accepted in any country. So I have given up on Undead.

It is confusing why Zosi’s new form of undead is ok with the party. These are sill unliving monsters created from once living creatures and controlled by a master. Isn’t that the same necromancer? It just seems that he has found a way to alter undead so that enough to fool even those searching for undead.

There is nothing to prove that this new type of necromancy does or does not bind the soul back to the creature but if I have learned anything about people, common people will view this as necromancy.

Deep down prefer to interact with living people more then I want to experiment with reanimated creatures. Living in the world requires us to adapt to the people around you.

We have been traveling around thinking that everyone what to fix the Oni problem. The people of the city know the guards are Oni. Their reaction to Kali and Qatana attacking the guards was a little surprising. I heard the crowd speak as if Kali and Qatana were interfering with the guards just doing their job.  As the two of them fled the people seemed to be grateful to the guards for saving them from being killed. I think the people fear that Kali and Qatana were going to turn on them next. Kali seems to care a lot about whether she is considered good or evil. Maybe I should start calling Kali the evil wizard of Enganoka.

Sparna did always talk about following the laws of the land. Now there are going to be stories about how the two evil wizards went through the market killing off people. I can just see the stories about how the brave guards killed their master but paid with their lives. As it would happen these two evil wizards brought their evil master back from the dead. Once again the three of them will rain terror over the land until some brave heroes can finally put an end to the evil wizards.

So we have two evil wizards and their evil master that they brought back to life. Oh we can’t forget about Zosi the necromancer. I guess I should be more correct and say one evil wizard and one evil cleric so as to not upset Qatana.

So in truth I have no idea if they are evil or not but it was funny thinking about Kali’s reaction to being called the evil wizard of Enganoka. Hatsue has not freaked out about the gorgon so Zosi might not be using necromancy. I trust that Hatsue would take action if there was obvious necromancy. I still think that most people will view his creations as unnatural and likely use the work necromancy and undead to describe the creatures.

It just seems like common since the people get upset about stealing bodies. How can we ever attempt to fix the grief we have caused the family.

Well I will just have to face it and ask Hatsue how stealing the body affects this family.