The Party
- Sharrd, a young, human sorcerer with a crush on Ameiko Kaijitsu
- Masamune Mitsuhide, a human samurai with an odd, brotherly relationship with his horse
- Jacen 'Ash' Teleris, a human Oracle of Life who learned not to play with fire the hard way
- William Drak, a human fighter who is, apparently, a fan of elven music
- Piper Hemlock, a mute bard who also has a crush on Ameiko
- And finally, yours truly, Alara Dawnchaser: a happy-go-lucky elf girl who enjoys singing and running around!
1st of Gozran, 4712 AR
Sorry I haven’t had much time to write lately. I’ve been on the road for, what… six days now? And I just got to town! It’s not very big, from what I’ve seen so far, but then again, I only just arrived here. There ought to be more to do here than I think.
So, after I made it to town, I did what any sensible traveler would do: find the best inn in town, get a good meal, and get a good night’s sleep. I’m proud to say that I’ve accomplished all of the above, and more, courtesy of the Rusty Dragon!
In hindsight, everything probably would’ve gone a bit better if I had picked a table that didn’t already have someone seated at it. After availing myself of a plate of the Rusty Dragon’s spiced salmon & stewed veggies, I more or less picked the first table I saw. I ended up accidentally disturbing a cute, blond apprentice sorcerer as he was creating tiny dragons out of thin air. He was really understanding about me interrupting him as he was practicing magic. I’m REALLY grateful he was so understanding, because his big brother (an impressively built black-haired, grey-eyed gentleman) walked up not long after we started talking. I thought for a second he was going to bust me one, but after introductions were made, we got along just fine! The sorcerer called himself Sharrd, and his beefy big bro called himself Masamune.
We chatted for a bit and Sharrd decided to show off his magic: he conjured some green lights for me to catch. I caught the first two without too much trouble, but the third one caused me to flip out. Literally. I backflipped out of my chair to catch that one; after I did, another muscular guy came up to me and complimented me on catching the lights (what is it about me that causes burly men to flock to me? I really don’t think I’m THAT cool).
We chatted for a bit and introduced ourselves again (the new beefy guy’s name was William, by the way) before I met the oldest brother of Sharrd & Masamune (is everyone in this town related? Probably not, that’d just make things really awkward really quickly). His name was Jacen, but everyone I’ve met so far just calls him Ash because of his hands: burnt black and ashy. He said he made a huge mistake when he was a kid, and his scorched hands now give him the power to heal others.
The last member of our crew that introduced himself to us was a mute bard named Piper. He carries a chalkboard around everywhere to write on, and knows Tien & Elven, so he’s already awesome to me!
We didn’t get much time to chat before the sheriff (who’s also Piper’s dad) walked into the tavern and put out a bounty on goblin ears. It sounded like something fun to do, and I was itching to kill some goblins, so our motley crew banded together to fulfill that purpose!
Sharrd then asked me how to compliment the Rusty Dragon’s proprietor (an Ameiko Kaijitsu, who’s a really beautiful lady) on her beauty in Elven. I told him the phrase, he walked over to her, and then proceeded to mess it up. His second try, I thought, went much more smoothly, if only because he tried to woo her in Common. I don’t blame him for messing up; hell, if I had to try that, I’d probably have done worse. Especially if it were Shalelu I was trying to flirt with…
Er, anyway, Piper didn’t really take Sharrd’s efforts well. He had to step outside for some air. As it turns out, Piper also has a serious crush on Ameiko, and Sharrd having the guts to try and court her when he did not caused him no small amount of jealousy.
After he calmed down, Piper and I got to chatting about Ameiko while everyone else was making plans regarding how we were going to carry goblin ears and their chieftain’s head around. It was pretty obvious to anyone who understood Elven that he’s totally head-over-heels for her, even going so far as to compare her voice to that of an angel’s.
Well, it was at that point that I decided to try to out-sing Ameiko, if only to show that I can sing. I sung a little too well and too loud; sure, Piper was impressed, but I don’t really know if everyone else really liked my song. I know William was impressed, at least.
Tomorrow, we’ll be heading to the sheriff’s place to get info on where we need to go.
2nd of Gozran, 4712 AR
Boy, was today a busy day. The sheriff hired us to clear the goblins out of Brinestump Marsh, and proposed a bounty on goblin ears as well as the goblin chieftain's head. Gutwad's his name.
As we were getting ready to leave, I caught Piper & Masamune visiting Piper's crazy dad in prison. After we left, Piper and I chatted, and... well... things got kinda awkward.
ANYWAY, after setting out, things got even more heated between Piper and I A lady doesn't kiss & tell! interesting by the time we reached Walthus' place. Sharrd & I wandered around to the back of his house while Piper & the others kept Walthus from noticing us.
Well, noticing *me*, at any rate. Sharrd means well, but the boy can't sneak his way out of a dark room. At least he's aware of it.
After sneaking up to the second floor of Walthus' home, I started poking around to see what I could find. Imagine how surprised I was to find him in a secret room in his bedroom! As it turns out, the 'Walthus' Piper & the gang were speaking to was an impostor!
William & Masamune kicked the thing's ass, and Ash did a great job of fixing Walthus up. He even gave me his lucky cloak! That was incredibly nice of him!
We got directions to the Licktoad goblin village, and tomorrow we're setting off.
3rd of Gozran, 4712 AR
It's official: the Licktoad tribe of goblins is no more.
By the time we got to the Licktoad village, it was more or less sacked. Not sacked enough that the Licktoad goblins weren't totally wiped out, though. Masamune carved goblins up like there was no tomorrow, and Sharrd got to show off by throwing javelins at them and climbing all over the village's rooftops. Ash did an amazing job keeping us all up and healthy.
It's with regret that I write that I wasn't at my best when the goblins came out to fight. For starters, I whiffed a great opportunity to bushwhack one of the goblins, and didn't really contribute as much as I hoped I could've. But we won! Yay! :D
One of the goblins (his name was Zupog) was still alive after the fight, so we tied him up and I interrogated him. Apparently, some Licktoad goblins brought back a bunch of treasure from an old shipwreck in the marsh, and that caused some skeletons to come out and basically tear the village apart looking for their loot. Gutwad had enough sense to give it back, whereupon they left.
Zupog showed us where Gutwad's hideout was, and we let him go. After sneaking around and getting ready, we kept our slaughter spree up. Masamune gutted Gutwad, and I finished him!
We found a treasure chest from Minkai in Gutwad's treasure hoard. It's been so long since I saw anything of home... hey, I at least got a sweet hairpin and some masterwork shuriken!
There was also a map of the marsh on the back of a geisha's fan. Incidentally, I wonder if I should be embarrassed that Piper would make a better geisha than me...
Well, I'll have time to be embarrassed later. Piper's asked me if I'd like to learn Sign Language, so of course I said yes! :)
Gotta go. Will write more soon!
5th of Gozran, 4712 AR
I haven't had much time to write lately, mainly because there's been so much happening the past couple of days.
After my Sign Language lesson, Piper and I did some… well… 'magical experimentation'.
By that, I mean I allowed him to cast unnatural lust on me.
It worked out okay, don't get me wrong, but he couldn't look me in the eye for a few minutes afterward. At least he knows better than to try that again without my consent.
He also told me of some of his college experiences, specifically that he was once on an all-female bard team. During that time, he never noticed that some of them were making eyes at him. No wonder he makes a better geisha than me.
By the time we got back to Sandpoint, we were local heroes! Kids kept badgering us for details on how we beat the goblins down, and Sharrd & Masamune were more than happy to entertain them.
Not that the whole time in Sandpoint was all fun and games, though… Piper's dad is being moved to a sanitarium. Considering how out of his mind he is, it's really for the best. Still… it's not right. I really wish things could have been better...
I really got to meet Ameiko-san once we made it back to the Rusty Dragon. She was happy to provide free drinks & food when we told her all about our romp in the swamp! Shae-chan showed up too… I acted like a giddy schoolgirl around her. She liked the animal bane arrows I gave her!
Masamune, on the other hand, doesn't like her much. He thinks she's a coward just because she uses a bow. Everyone else disagrees, thankfully.
Anyway, we're heading back into the swamp today, this time to take out some skeletons and keep Sandpoint safe!
Great stuff! This reads just like an authentic young girl's diary.
Thanks!
6th of Gozran, 4712 AR
I hate spiders. I hate spiders. I hate spiders. I hate spiders. I hate spiders. I hate spiders. I hate spiders.
Did I mention I hate spiders? Because I do. Especially when they bite me and make my arms go all wobbly.
Anyway, we found the cave the skeletons were hiding out in... and we took them all out! Even their boss!
Apparently, he (and I can only think of that skeleton as a he) was a bodyguard to somebody named Rokuro Kaijitsu... is he Ameiko-san's grandfather? We found out who he was from a letter he had in his sword... it mentioned a place called Brinewall.
When we got back from the cave and showed her the letter, Ameiko was insistent that she find out what, exactly, was so special about Brinewall and what it had to do with her. She and the rest of the team decided to put together a caravan to go check it out! And Shae-chan's coming along too! <3
Piper-kun took me out on a date around Sandpoint--first, some noodles at the Rusty Dragon, then to a play at the Sandpoint Theatre (I'm surprised how different theatre performances are here than in Minkai--oh, and the play was about two cynics being set up to fall in love with each other), then we visited the Sandpoint Cathedral. I'm AMAZED at how beautiful the place was...
After visiting the Cathedral, Piper asked me to visit his mom's grave with him. I really wish I could have met her...
We stopped at a place called Hannah's so I could purchase night tea, then stopped by the Pixie's Kitten to meet Piper's mother. Her name is Kaye Tesarani, and she owns the place--it's a brothel. For some reason, I thought it was a pet shop. Imagine my embarrassment when I learned otherwise.
To finish off the date, Piper took me to see Old Light--a structure from the time of Thassilon that was built as an artillery piece. We climbed up it to watch the sunset... then shared a room at the Rusty Dragon.
Piper-kun is such a gentleman... he's insistent on not doing anything that would make me uncomfortable. I feel so at ease around him and Shae-chan...