Sombdi, 11 Winter 542 (5/19/01)

Alchemy bowl madness has gripped the town of Puddleby, no sooner had I walked out of the library for the first time in the new year than I ran into Achates, who proudly showed me his new bowl. There seem to be a number of new businesses opening up on the island, and the new potter has made it possible for exiles to finally obtain those darn bowls the absence of which has prevented access to the alchemy lab for so many years. Achates told me that he could make red potions, but my understanding is that only healers can do so (I guess they give you the recipe when you make Second Circle). It is possible that other potions can be made, I've heard of other mysterious ingredients being available recently. And then just the other day several exiles told me that Algy was in the town jail, it seems that he had been sued for leaving town (I wasn't aware that this was a crime, but go figure), convicted, and a banishment imposed! By now the time limit should be up, but the poor guy seemed a bit distressed about the whole thing (unlike that rascal Joe, who has yet to show a speck of remorse). So already the new year is off to a busy start, who knows what might happen next?

Soldi, 19 Winter 542 (5/21/01)

Last week I finally got a chance to join a large group headed towards Umbrion's island, sometimes called "Lyfe Island" due to the large number of cat-like creatures able to transform into humanoid form that inhabit portions of the isle. After the usual milling about we all headed for the landing spot, and after a brisk battle with some cobras and cats we were in and ready to explore. First we had to fill our empty barrels with tar in hope of an eventual escape via boat; filling the barrels involved dodging fire from a number of lava walkers. We then made out way into the tunnels that run beneath the surface, eventually reaching a sandy area guarded by gigantic bugs that were even stronger than 'noids. From there we tried to explore a new path, but when Henryk went in to scout he immediately fell to a flame, as did the next several exiles, it seems the passage was infested with flame bubbles and we now had several exiles who were near death. By using a few potions we raised Gurgi, and I chained the others along as we continued to explore, eventually making our way to a village swarming with the big cats, where there was quite a bit of fighting, some of it getting a little too serious to my way of thinking. Up until now we had been able to deal with any threats we came across in short order, but it was getting late in the day as we started to make our way towards the exit. Suddenly night fell just as we were entering an area with a large number of cats, all of which quickly transformed into their much more powerful humanoid forms and began to whack us back. In short order the healers started falling, and after that it was only a matter of time before everybody was down. I did a quick depart (still only number 31) because I need to get to the library fast, but yesterday Henryk told me that everybody ended up getting home that way. Still, I had a great deal of fun, and I still have that barrel of tar for next time...

Soldi, 26 Winter 542 (5/23/01)

No sooner had I stepped out of the library this week than I heard sunstone chatter about a "mother sasquatch," and shortly after that Marfisa told me that a new area had been discovered that led to a dangerous valley swarming with the big monkeys and dangerous cats. Despite warnings from exiles already in the valley not to enter a group of us formed at the pathfinder-only entrance and prepared to risk a close encounter with an unknown number of cave cobras, very quick and highly venomous snakes previously thought to be restricted to Umbrion's island. At this point the group inside the valley still weren't sure where the exit was located, so we fully expected to depart, not having a good idea of how far in they were or what we were going to encounter. As it turned out most of us made it past the big snakes and quickly dashed through a sheltered valley, linking up with the main group just as they were finishing off some young sasquatches. It also turned out that they were near the exit, and after rescuing a few stragglers and dispatching some stinging beetles we were able to exit depart-free. It was fun, and I went back the next day to explore a bit more, but this time luck wasn't with me and I ended up spending a lot of time providing snacks for various carrion eaters, but thanks to the combined efforts of a number of healers I was able to get back up and whack some more beasts. Lots of people were very interested in hunting in the new place, it reminds me of how 'Noids used to be, but I suspect it won't be long before the sasquatch population takes a dive due to overhunting.

Fordi, 52 Winter 542 (5/29/01)

Before making an extended stay in the library this past month I managed to find all the components needed to acquire an alchemy bowl, so now I am able to enter the lab (at long last!) and start learning about potions. Finding the components wasn't too hard, all it took was a bit of wandering around (well, quite a bit of wandering around in my case), and then I had to retake the final test several times before making the grade. But in the course of my wanderings I happened across my first bard part; I'm not planning to take up music myself, but I have heard that the components needed to make musical instruments are quite scarce (although I've since learned that they are not as scarce as they first were when the Bard Guild was starting up). All of these acquisitions are cluttering up my inventory, to say nothing of chains breaking and having to lug around barrels of tar. I guess it's time to put more stuff into storage, if only Storenna wasn't so hard of hearing...

Somdi, 67 Winter 542 (6/2/01)

When you don't come out of the library much, you don't really expect much to be going on in town when you do, but yesterday no sooner had I stepped out than I heard calls for help, and an exile ran into town center pursued by...well, by a big bluish cloudy thing. We soon determined that the thing was hard to hit but had no trouble hitting us, and was able to really do a load of damage when it did; and then another showed up, and another, and things were looking a bit grim for the home team until a clever exile (not me, of course) lured the clouds on to Mai's Lawn, where they were unable to pass the fence. Several of us snuck up on them from behind and began to whack at one of them, and then more appeared, along with a number of riptures similar to those that lead to the Ethereal Plane. Sure enough, a number of brave (or foolish, take your pick) exiles ventured into the ripture and found themselves outside the ring on the Plane, where they quickly fell to the inhabitants, all except Silky, who was running for her life through the EP and came across a tower, and near the tower she found a mirror that led back to our plane. By now we had a bunch more clouds back in town, but we also had a bunch more exiles, and with careful luring we were able to lead just one out of the lawn and kill it, discovering in the process that these were "clouds of ether."

Pretty soon we had at least a dozen of the clouds trapped on the lawn, and we carefully lured and surrounded them one by one. Sometimes a couple would get out, or more would spawn near the one we were fighting, and the fighters would start falling and a fast exile would need to run the clouds around town a bit while we healed and set up to fight again, but things would have been well under control if it weren't for the rips that kept appearing near the clouds. Several exiles bumped into the rips by accident, among them Algernon, who was walking along near the fence when a rip suddenly appeared right at his feet and he toppled in. Needless to say he didn't last long on the EP, and a couple of brave healers tried to rescue him, but to no avail, it was simply too deadly there. By this point we were finally running out of clouds on the lawn, and when the last was dispersed a large group decided to make a valiant effort to rescue Algy, and effort I am ashamed to say I wasn't brave enough to join, although they did meet the same fate as the other exiles, falling almost at once to a large crowd of undine and ethereal creatures. When I returned to the library Algy was still fallen in the EP, and the riptures in town had vanished, at least for the moment.

Fordi, 80 Winter 542 (6/5/01)

Koric has reported more sightings of "ether clouds," along with their attendant portals leading to the Ethereal Plane, and Axell has reported that the Purgatory Pendants used by many high-level healers are becoming more unreliable as time goes by, all of which leads one to ask "what's that darn Tenebrion up to these days?" Somebody ought to go have a chat with the wizard and tell him that he needs to stop his ethereal experiments before we get full-fledged riptures again. And by "somebody" I mean "somebody much stronger and/or braver than Norm..." As if this were not enough, Koric also reports that town has recently been attacked by "scaramis" bugs (which I previously encountered on Lyfe island), and I myself was out of the library during a big battle with the orga forces, there were lots of fallens in the Orga Camp, along with tons of 'locks, some rages, and a few big red ones. We were also encountering "baby" rages, which look like normal warriors but require a ton of damage before they fall. After a great deal of rodding we wore down the orga troops, but it was touch-and-go for a while and I wasn't able to stay until the bitter end, worse luck. Again, I think somebody ought to go have a chat with the orga magician on the next full moon (which is in just a couple of days); and in this case by "somebody" I mean "just about everybody in town that day." I just hope that the mystics can take a break from their internal disputes and help us out on this one...

Merdi, 3 Spring 542 (6/8/01)

Spring has arrived again in Puddleby, bringing with it a Darshak invasion on the town beach, it started with Axell reporting a few thugs roaming about and ended up taking most of the exiles out of the library to clear the invaders out. There weren't a lot of really strong pirates, only a couple captains, but after we cleared the beach we saw a ship just off the dock which quickly dropped a detachment of rather strong thugs behind our lines and trapped most of us; those exiles not felled by the thugs reformed the defences at the gate and wore down the new darshak troops and effected a quick rescue; we then surrounded and pounded an "admiral" in town, which ended the festivities for the day. Other than that I've been busy breaking chains, hunting for coins to replace the broken chains, and making frequent trips to the Sasquatch Valley, which has become a very popular hunting spot. I also held a small lottery for the bard part I found a while ago, Coriakin was the lucky winner. And I finally found another uli flower, bringing my equipment back up to spec with another red potion, but in the meantime there are rumors that a stranger in town is trying to sell a recipe for a more advanced healing potion, my personal guess is that he's a friend of Boondoggle just trying to raise some easy coins from the rubes.

Soldi, 20 Spring 542 (6/12/01)

I just got back from the "full moon" raid on the Orga Camp, or rather the attempted FMOCR; Nyssa had been promoting the event again and we had a pretty good turnout by the time I arrived this morning, with OC1 through OC3 under firm exile control, but the mystics were having a great deal of trouble locating and opening the proper path from one camp to the next, I had to wait about a bit in OC1 before getting to OC2, and the mystics were never able to find the way in to OC4 at all. Needless to say the crowd grew restive as the long morning wore on, and shortly before noon there was a mass exodus. I hung around in OC1 until well after noon, but all we saw were a few 'locks and a confused rage. My guess is that the orga have strengthened their illusion sheilds in some fashion, or perhaps the fact that we haven't used the paths in a while is making them just naturally harder to find. Other than the FMOCR non-event this month there's not much to report, I saw a very small invasion of the East Field by darshak thugs the other night, it makes me wonder how they are getting there, all the way on the other side of town from the sea; perhaps they are coming up through Alchy's Folly, or maybe they have a mirror portal that exits in the area. I just hope they don't decide to try an assault on both the town beach and the east gate, especially since we don't have a catapult there any more.

Terrdi, 30 Spring 542 (6/15/01)

The talk of the town this month is tests, the Fighter's Guild has come up with some new ones to challenge even the strongest exiles; only half a dozen of the very strongest were able to pass the new Fifth Circle test, and nobody has yet managed the new Sixth Circle test, although I hear that Urgelt was down to the last beast before falling. I'm still working on that Fourth Circle test myself, getting close but no cigar, and since I study using the "Norm Method" it may still be a while, I had hopes of doing it this year but now I'm thinking that it may be next year instead, time is simply flying by and I'm now studying pathfinding, just a bit so I can see some of the easier paths and maybe show up a little sooner on rescues. Plus I've been talking to Regia about a training ledger, she says I need just a bit more work before she'll consider me, but I have plans of making the grade for that this year or next as well. I had been thinking that once I made Fourth and got the ledger I could just kick back and relax, but now I'm going to start getting those "what, you aren't Fifth Circle yet?" comments the day after I pass Fourth. Oh well, I suppose it could be worse...I could have been a mystic. And at least we fighters do have higher circle tests, there are a lot of healers who passed their Fourth simply ages ago; we were speculating that their Fifth circle test would be two raise two mystics and keep them alive while a fighter ran around the testing area leading a crowd of monsters and dropping them on the healer.

Terrdi, 51 Spring 542 (6/20/01)

I've been spending a bit of time in the Rocky Cavern lately, including a fun hunt with clanmates Geotzu and Ffodor and the famous thoom fighter K'Pyn in which we did in a number of both blood and gray wyrms. Earlier in the week I was there with K'Pyn and a large number of other exiles fighting no fewer than three sun wyrms, which have become much harder to hit now that they don't swing out as quickly as they used to, and they heal up pretty fast as well, making it very difficult to wear them down. For this assault the four powerful healers surrounded the wyrm on three sides, leaving room for three fighters at a time to swing at the lizard; then Zorton the mystic used his rod of Akea to power up the fighters with three boosts each. Zorton has been making a study of the rod, and his boosts were so powerful that even a lowly dwarf such as myself was able to hit the sun wyrms. Of course, I only got a couple swings at a time rather than the usual four or five, but there were plenty of fighters there to rotate in and we were able to kill the wyrms in pretty short order. Other than that, the only news I've heard is that some of the fighter trainers are out coin hunting, they seem to be raising funds for that potion seller I mentioned earlier (and am still pretty dubious about).

Fordi, 67 Spring 542 (6/24/01)

The big news about town this month seems to be potions, in particular the outlander Zo named Mor Solken who is claiming to have an advanced healing potion recipe and is willing to sell it to us exiles for a mere 100,000 coins (or thereabouts, the price keeps changing). A number of exiles (myself included) think that this is equivalent to buying a pig in a poke, and would like to see a convincing demonstration of this potion's effectiveness before we part with our hard-earned coins (and I am personally loathe to part with the funds I need to maintain my extensive collection of chains). The situation was made worse by the fact that the Zo in question is using questionable accounting practices (and believe me, I ought to know), refusing to tell exiles how much money he has collected so far, and constantly demanding more payments in a very insulting fashion. For some reason Master Atkus didn't like this situation, and started raising funds himself, traipsing around the island with various exiles on coin-hunts, and Mistress Detha seems to be doing the same. I've now heard that the Winds of Dawn clan has set up an exile-audited fund for the purchase of the recipe, and Atkus has donated the coins he has collected to that fund. If we could just get a straight answer from the recipe-vendor as to how much he fleeced...er...collected to date, we would have a much better idea of where we stand. The price still seems a bit extreme, it's about as much as we collected for the repair of the Altar after the orga broke it; perhaps with ready cash we can haggle the price down a bit.

Fordi, 74 Spring 542 (6/26/01)

Well, here I am in the Foothills, away from my home near Puddleby for the first time in a while. The trip here was organized by the Darkhorse Clan at the behest of Master Atkus, who is pursuing his coin-whoring with a single-minded determination that I suspect has a lot to do with his ability to hit just about anything. I joined up with the second wave of exiles in the Orga Camp, along with Atkus and Detha, and followed the crowd through the Snaggy to the "Bones" snell, where we were met with...Bones, of course, there in person to greet us. The first wave already had control of Hatred Hollow, so we quickly made our way through into the Outback, a little too quickly as it turned out, since sure enough a hatred spawned and felled a couple of exiles, requiring a lengthy wait while a select group went back to rescue them. While this was going on Atkus and Detha talked with the fighter trainers in their cave, and convinced Knox to come along on the expedition with us. Then it was careful slogging through the Outback following Kojiro's expert instructions to reach the Magic Tree that leads to the fearful Dread Passage. At this point we had a rather large army of exiles, and after making a number of fighter runs to clear the entrance we brought the rods up and marched forward; the orga seemed taken aback by the strength of our forces, and put up only disorganized and sporadic opposition. Soon we had complete control of the Passage, but again some exiles had managed to take a wrong turn and were fallen back in the outback, so a large force held the Passage for some time while a rescue was effected. A backspawn or two and we assembled at the entrance to the Foothills, finally pushing through to reach the safe cave where Katpus has been seen in past expeditions. I am penning these lines there before I sleep; later this week I hope to see some of the tourist attractions here, and with luck I will be back in Puddleby after the upcoming chaos storm. GrayGradi has been holding the coins for the potion fund, so far he only has about 1,000 or so collected.

Fordi, 81 Spring 542 (6/27/01)

As expected, the chaos storm has blown us all back to town from the foothills, but not before I spent quite a bit of time with the unruly mob luring and whacking the midnight wendies in the Foothill's south pass. The midnights aren't too bad, except for their little habit of throwing small pebbles at you, which do just a ton of damage if you get hit and tend to come in swarms (I guess the wendies are coordinating their tosses in some fashion). We didn't get much exploring done due to a lack of shovels, I was told that Ziff gave his to Jackie who then stumbled out of the foothills during some bad weather and fell someplace in the Outback. If somebody were to try to organize another expedition like this one, they would do well to scare up some shovels before heading for the hinterlands. After collecting a large number of coins for the potion fund most of the exiles headed back through the Orga Village, leaving just a few of us for follow-up hunts, where we hunted a few more wendies and the occasional large orga; I got to see SnowLion use her bloodblade on a frenzy, which was quite impressive. I'm not sure how much money we raised for the fund, but it must have been a fair bit, some of the wendy furs were pretty valuable (I managed to do a couple at around 40 coins, and somebody scored a 75 at one point). But now here it is the end of spring already, with the solstice coming up in a few days, and who knows what changes the chaos storm brought with it?

Soldi, 49 Summer 542 (7/11/01)

It's been a while since I put quill to paper, having spent the first moon of the summer at the beach taking a bit of a vacation. I'm not sure that much has happened here in town while I was gone, but I haven't heard any really good rumors since I've been back. Well, there are reports that Urgelt has passed the Sixth Circle fighter test, and I have personally seen the famous exiles Jo Ma'ril and Slasher about in the lands, but that's about it. My own efforts at the (now-lowly) Fourth Circle test are not going as well as I was hoping, but I am slowly making progress and can almost do in both the Wraith and the 'Noid. I have heard that the Potion Fund is now up to about 35,000 coins, although we still don't know for sure how many that thief of a potion seller has collected from unwary exiles. After the recent chaos storm I have heard that the Sasquatches are now much fiercer than before, and a number of exiles ended up pretty much squashed by the nasty rocks tossed by the angry mommies down in the valley. Since returning from vacation I've managed to fall in a number of the usual locations, including one ill-advised strip beyond Wisher's Gate where I ran the wrong direction during a hasty retreat and ended up fallen and well bolted on the wrong side of the gate, together with the only pathfinder in the group able to open the gate; I ended up departing on that one, but my other efforts at self-destruction have so far resulted in rescues.

Lundi, 64 Summer 542 (7/15/01)

Yor of the Darkhorse Clan has announced that his clan is establishing a cross-clan organization for the exploration of the Foothills (and several other regions), and is asking for members who will commit to the group's rules. Most of them I have no problem with, and would probably join if it were not for scheduling issues (I never know in advance when I will have a chance to be outside the library for more than an hour or so). I've been spending my time lately looking for Uli flowers, coin hunting in the Savannah, and helping bash blue cloaks in the Dark Chamber. I was there recently with a group of strong exiles and we even made it as far as the Astral Plane, where I almost made an unscheduled trip to the Abyss when I popped in to the AP a little close to the pink fog. I also made one attempt on the panther challenge, you need to try it when there aren't a lot of people in the South Forest, and I came very close but ran out of time with three more panthers to go. And then just the other day I came out of the library to discover that many people were fallen in the Darshak Horde on Ash Island, there were a lot of elite Darshak in there and a bunch of acolytes. After waiting a bit for more help to arrive, and firmly against my better judgment, a small group of fighters ran in to see if we could chain anybody out. Needless to say I was quickly trapped and then flamed to death by the acolytes. I quickly lost consciousness, but when I awoke I was just in time to see Urgelt finishing off the last red-shirted pirate. Next time I will remember to wait until he shows up before popping in to the Horde...

Soldi, 77 Summer 542 (7/18/01)

I had some sad news the other day, Rieger has tendered his resignation from the Alliance and left the clan. As usual I can understand that the Zouclougeist Alliance is not for everyone, and that some exiles do feel the need for a more cohesive organization (or any organization at all, for that matter), but I still feel a bit let down when one of the many friends that I have met through the clan decides to leave for "greener" pastures. When this sort of thing happens I make resolutions to do a bit more with the clanmates, and to establish better lines of communication, but...well, the phrase "herding ducks" comes to mind, and I never was much good at herding anything (my goat-herding efforts so far have been a complete failure). Besides, I've been busy lately, with hunting swampies in the Lily Pond, and helping with a culcan off of Umbrion's island, after which all the other fighters left leaving myself, Webow, Topaz and Ledward looking for trouble, which we found on the sandbar that has formed off the west coast of the island. As usual the place was crawling with large sand wurms, but there weren't as many as I had seen on my previous visit and with three capable healers at hand I was able to slowly wear them down and eventually clear the sandbar, only falling a couple of times in the process. And then just the other day I was in the South Forest at night and noticed a large number of island panthers about, so I decided to try the "panther challenge" again, and this time with the help of Axell and Shadowfire I was able to track down and bop the requisite fifty cats and earn a cash award, a stuffed panther head, and a bit of experience. Next I'll have to try for those night wendies...

Terrdi, 12 Autumn 542 (7/24/01)

I've been spending a fair amount of time in the Rocky Cavern lately, mostly fighting with grey wyrms, although I had a fun time there with Silky and some other folks chasing down blood wyrms while sun wyrms were trying to chase us down. We eventually got all of the red ones, and then Gurgi showed up and demonstrated his sun wyrm fighting techniques, he has been studying the fell blade quite a bit and gave us some pointers on the theory and use of that weapon, and we got to luck-hit the suns while he was wearing them down with the fell. I haven't seen much of interest going on in town, but Lundar has reported several newsworthy events, including a major Darshak invasion and an organized attempt on the Astral Plane. I've been working up the nerve to try the fourth circle fighter test again, and considering my strategy for killing that blasted green noid without getting too badly hurt in the process; next time I think I'll try the radical step of going toe-to-toe with my dagger and see how that goes, rather than my usual (and so far unsuccessful) hit-and-run with the axe. What I'd really like, of course, is a main gauche, but those are few and far between and I have yet to see one offered up for sale or auction.

Terrdi, 26 Autumn 542 (7/28/01)

Well, my use of the dagger seemed to be making an impression on the green 'noid in the test this past moon, but the end result was still the same, although I got about as close as you can get without actually passing the test. While I bide my time (and pick up some more pointers from Detha) I have been practicing my bug squashing techniques in the Deep Cavern, which I doubt I will solo any time soon but with a reasonably fast healer as backup can now clear in fairly short order. It is a good way to release some of the test-related frustration with big leggy bugs, and with the occasional mandible you can actually make some money at it. As usual I have been missing out on the invasions, I heard that there was a big orga army in town recently, with dreadlocks in the East Field, and the Darshak seem to have stepped up their attacks again. I have also noticed an increase in interest in the Ethereal Plane, more people seem to be making trips there (usually coming back by way of Purg, I'm afraid).

Gradi, 38 Autumn 542 (7/31/01)

It seems that Tenebrion has noticed the increased activity in the Ethereal Plane as well, and has taken steps to let Rieger and some other exiles know about his displeasure with the development, making vague hints about ethereal clouds maybe leaking out through Purgatory. At this point I don't think we can have much confidence that T is doing this out of concern for our well-being, but it does indicate that something we are doing is becoming a threat to T himself. On the other hand, I did get some good news; just the other day I was chatting with Worm and remarked that we must be close to getting sufficient coins in the "potion fund," and he could barely contain his glee as he led me to the Alchemy Lab and showed me that the recipe was already in the book! It seems that the previous day the Winds of Dawn clan had payed off the visiting Zo, who turned over the potion and quickly left the island. Coriakin has reported that he pulled an all-nighter to learn how to brew the new silver-colored potion and that although it can be used by both healers and fighters (oh, and mystics, too), it can't be used on the fallen. For the moment the town is togron-nut crazy, and once I have a bit more room in my pack I'll pick up a bottle or two myself to experiment with. And speaking of potions, there's a person named "Alice" living in a hut on the beach of Umbrion's Island who seems to be in the potion business as well, although what her potions do I haven't heard yet.

Lundi, 51 Autumn 542 (8/3/01)

The year is rapidly drawing to a close, and I'm still a lowly Third Circle fighter, my last test didn't even go as well as the previous attempt. At this point I'm looking at one more try this year, and my inclination is to postpone it as late as possible in the hopes that a few more lessons from Master Evus will sink in and do me some good. Lots of stuff seems to be going on these days, but I am feeling a bit out of the loop and haven't really been in on much; there are rumors that a certain clan (and we all know who that is) has found a path leading beyond the Foothills, and there have been a number of expeditions to that area in search of the entrance. Speaking of orga, I had an interesting experience the other day, while wandering about I heard a report that my former clanmate Kojiro had fallen to a fury in the Tanglewood, so I wandered in that direction and poked my nose into the Orga Camp to see if I could chain him out. I heard him yelling something as I stood in the entrance fiddling with my sunstone to report his location, and it wasn't until I was burnt to a crisp (shortly before I was able to sunstone, of course) that I realised he was trying to warm me of the many 'locks infesting the camp. Then imagine my surprise when one of the orga slapped a chain on me and dragged me to the center of the campfires, leaving me lying there next to Koj! Over the next few minutes a number of other exiles arrived and were added to the pile, but eventually those outside the camp figured out that solo runs weren't going to do the job, set up a rod, and rescued us all. Still, it is a big concern that orgas are starting to use chaining technology, and one of the fallen was even chained in to the pile from outside the Camp!

Soldi, 64 Autumn 542 (8/6/01)

After many moons of searching for my spirit guide, I finally found it again, but under rather strange circumstances. It happened just a few days ago shortly after I came out of the library and started hearing reports of Darshaks near the West Gate, so I quickly headed in to town to join the defense. I helped clean up the town square and then headed west, where we found a large number of the more junior Darshaks swarming around the gate, and among them was...my goat! Now, understand that I meet my goat while I am in the midst of chopping down pirates with my axe, and in the confusion I soon lost sight of the poor creature, but after we had cleared away the raiders I wandered around town looking for it and soon found it huddled behind one of the rat towers. With much coaxing I led it through town and in to the East Field, and after wandering around there for only a few minutes who should I run in to but Ma Tota herself. I learned a fair amount from the whole experience, but what I'd really like to know is what were the Darshak doing with my goat? It seems pretty clear that they must have been holding it hostage in one of their pirate hangouts, and that it somehow snuck aboard the ship in the confusion of preparing for the attack on town, but one shudders to think of the treatment an innocent goat might suffer in the hands of those monsters. I am glad I was able to rescue it and lead it back to Ma Tota, and can now rest assured that my goat has resumed its usual goatly pursuits with her protection.

Gradi, 87 Autumn 542 (8/12/01)

I know, I know, I've been remiss in keeping my journal up lately, I've been so preoccupied with the darn fighter test and hoping to pass it before the year ended, and today I finally got up my courage to attempt it again and ended up tripping over my own feet and barely beating the fury, which to add insult to injury I merely killed rather than vanquishing. I know it seems a bit vain to attach so much to a mere test, after all I will pass it soon enough, and I can't really expect to hold to a schedule on this sort of thing...but I never claimed to be without vanity, and back a few moons ago I really thought I was a bit closer than subsequent attempts have shown me to be. I even spent the past moon paying the exorbitant rates that the new library extension charges to study the ancient tomes discovered by the dwarfs tunneling under town; that's a fair amount of change, and I've just about decided that the payoff just isn't worth the trouble, I keep feeling like every moment I spend out of the library needs to be in the pursuit of coins; not that I object to coin-whoring, I can do that pretty well, but I'd rather not make it a full-time job. I'd much rather take part in fun hunts like I had the other day, I joined up with a group in my current favorite haunt, the Rocky Cavern, which then headed to clear the Savannah of mahas and ore lumps, then the Breeding Grounds where we met up with another big group to do in some willow giants, then I headed off with clanmates Ffodor and Geotzou and the talented Lorikeet to whack some more mahas and some sand wurms as well, and finally just about everybody ended up in the Dark Chamber to rescue some fallens and do in half a dozen ghastlies. All in all a good end-of-the-year adventure, and much more fun than yet another trip to the passes to dodge rocks and collect wendy furs. And I just know I'm going to pass that test next year for sure!