Khalo's Journal: Meetings, Greetings, and Eatings

We returned the children and their tutor home, but getting to know them did not endear them to me. Jericho, the tutor, he's fine, and the boy, Charles, has the makings of a survivor, but I was not fond of the teenager, Abigail, who, if I overheard correctly, is the one responsible for getting them into the mess they were in when we rescued them. It seemed like little matter once we dropped them off. More on that in a moment.

The Royal District had more caged trees and plants, but the soldiers and feather-hat men of Bornos acted like WE were the aberrations. I was glad to be out of there, though I would have taken every blade of grass with me if I could have. Of course, we had to go back the next day for lunch with the mayor - some arrangement made by the others. 

While passing through the Harbor District, we came across a shady fellow who struck up a conversation with Jace. We think he may be a member of the Topaz Syndicate, and he seemed interested in recruiting us. We told him no for now.

We were delighted to find Black Tom had made it to the Three Cups when we arrived back at the inn for the evening. We gave him Ostar's message, and learned a few things:

1. Black Tom is not a member of Ostar's organization, the FiftyGnomes. Tom is an Illrean Ranger. Apparently, these two organizations have worked together for a very long time. 

2. He mentioned another person in the FiftyGnomes, a fellow named Osgood.

3. He told us about two ways other than the caravans to get to the Domelands, one by air, riding flying beasts, and one below ground, following a lava tunnel. Both ways are considered very dangerous. The caravans are considered to be the common sense path, even though they are routinely harassed by bandits. 

4. There is something of a living dead problem in the Graveyard District, which we have resolved to investigate. Black Tom will stay in town an extra day to look into this with us.

Later that night, Tarv, the scallawag we first met at this bar, came in with another rapscallion, and pointed us out before leaving. We attempted to follow them, but Osbert's inability to decipher my hand gestures while I was in owl form resulted in us losing his trail.

The next day, we stopped by the house of the Blue Star Lore Seekers and beheld their bounty of sellable goods. Because they offer steep discounts to members, both Osbert and I joined. Their membership terms were fair, and the less desirable obligations seem easy enough to ignore. 

Then, it was back to the Royal District for lunch with the Mayor. The meal was simple and hearty, and they allowed Mome Rath to join us in the room (not at the table, but I am realistic about this expectation). My views on them softened a bit. Jace made his pitch for legal performative fighting, and we learned that Abigail wants us to accompany the caravan she and Charles take to the Domelands after the thaw to serve as their protectors. It seems the Condor has deemed it time to send for his family.The prospect of spending extended time in the company of these children does not excite me, but it could prove beneficial to our prospects going forward, so my opinion will be kept to myself.

As we left the grounds, some scoundrel - we seem to have caught the attention of many - made an attempt on us, but it was foiled before we could even counter it. Jericho witnessed the encounter, and noted that the arrow that killed our would-be assassin had Redcap fletching. He then speculated as to what might be trying to protect us. As much as we'd like it not to be true, memories of recent events suggest that it could be true. But why?

Entry concluded.