Wedged between two cliffs, the small lumber town of Otari sets on the southern coastline of the Starstone Isle of Kortos. Its biggest notable landmark is the lumbermill itself with the 30-foot-wide waterwheel called the Giant’s Wheel. The creaking sound it makes as it turns can be heard for miles. It helps feed the logs on a long chute from the northern wood to the mill where it is manufactured into boards and planks, then sailed off to distant lands. The lumbermill is the towns greatest source of wealth, which is owned by the towns’ mayor Oseph Menhemes. Oseph is a middle-aged man who is fair in his role as mayor and is liked by most of the townsfolk.
The town has four taverns that are busy in the evening and late-night hours. The Crow’s Cask owned by a cheerful halfling named Magiloy, The Crook’s Nook which owned by an Osirion woman named Yinyasmera, The Rowdy Rockfish owned by a dignified female dwarf named Brelda Venkervale, and lastly the Otari Fishery owned by Tamily Tandervale a female half-elf.
Note: The Crow’s cask is also an inn which one may stay for 1 silver piece per night.
Otari has only one temple which is called The Dawnflower. Its high-ranking priestess is a beautiful halfling named Vandy Banderdash. The Dawnlower’s main deity of worship is Sarenrae, but any non-evil deity members are welcome. The temple is also a library filled with many religious texts from across Golarion.
There is one shop where one may find arcane books and scrolls which is called Odd Stories. Its proprietor, a wizard named Morlibint is always on the lookout for more books and scrolls to add to his collection and inventory.
The blacksmith in town, a human male named Carman Ranjani is hard at work during the daylight hours at Blades of Glades. He can make any nonmagical weapon one would need on an adventure or just to protect oneself from the dangers lurking in the wooded areas to the north.
There is also a curious domed building at the northwest corner of town call Wrin’s Wonders. Its proprietor Wrin Silvinxi, an elf tiefling, sells a variety of items ranging from adventuring gear to magical items.
Just outside of town rest a group of standing stones called the Stone Ring Pond. There you will find a female elf druid tending to the upkeep of this sacred site.
On top of a hill beyond the Dawnflower is the town’s cemetery. Rumors of undead being seen wondering around at night is common talk within the town.
The current date is Oathday 4th, 4719 AR late afternoon
As the afternoon passes the workers at the mill begin to make their way home for something to eat and some venture to one of the four taverns to unwind after a long hard workday.
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Hammid inspected the curious scroll situated within the noble's sarcophagus - a possession likely intended to be carried between existence upon one plane to another. Too bad the old fool forgot to properly secure his deathly vault - the wards easy enough to unscramble, the booby traps easy enough to anticipate and disarm, the undead guardian easy enough to sneak past.
Studying the map, he learns two thing: The first, that there is a second vault tucked away with further riches across near the other side of Golarion. The second, that it houses knowledge thought to be lost to time altogether. Intriguing! Something this potentially exciting hasn't happened in at least half a century!
Taking the map with him, Hammid leaves the other possessions, and reverses his progress back through the cavernous burial chamber, leaving nary a trace of his entry. I'll come back for you another time. Emerging onto the dunes above, he treks back to waypoint cactus where he had tied his camel, and mounting it once more, heads off for the city of Otari...
...the map turned out to lead our shadowy hero to an empty tomb... and boundless opportunity!
Months had been his journey from Azir to Otari, and Years had he dwelled there, delving the plucked-clean ruins of the hinterlands by starlight, and sleeping by daylight, alone with his unnamed camel, discovering little more than a bauble here or trinket there, clues leaving him curious as to the myths and legends of the sorcerer Roseguard slew, and pointing him in a single direction: towards the creepy Lighthouse with the ominous name!
For, what the shorter-lived races may call procrastination, Hammid calls preparation. Surely the rumors of the site being plumbed and plundered to it's depths long ago were little more than an evolution of a fact that no survivors lived to tell the truth. He had a hunch for things of this nature, a "feeling", the weight of "knowing" slowing his pace, lest he fall victim to the missteps of those foolish enough to be swallowed by a dungeon older than most people care to imagine.
He needed a team. If this were to be done right, he needed to convince a group of the possible riches to be gleaned. For Hammid's motivations are not aligned with his material wealth, but his intellectual wealth! But where could he find such foolhardy adventurers? Why, at an Inn of course! Having heard of Otari, in the shadows of night, he took a week to study the town, recording it's major points in his Archeological Notes, listening from afar before daring to venture near.
Until today.
Walking into the Crook's Nook, Hammid rings the bell for service, waiting for to answer the tiny knell, and looking around to see who or what is afoot!
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Taverns
1) The Crow’s Cask, "Magiloy" (cheerful halfling)
2) The Crook’s Nook, "Yinyasmera" (Osirion human)
3) The Rowdy Rockfish, "Brelda Venkervale" (dignified dwarf)
4) Otari Fishery, "Tamily Tandervale" (half-elf)
Other Points of Interest
5) The Dawnflower, "Vandy Banderdash" (beautiful halfling priestess)
6) Odd Stories, "Morlibint" (human wizard)
7) Blades of Glades, "Carman Ranjani" (human blacksmith)
8) Wrin’s Wonders, "Wrin Silvinxi" (elf tiefling)
9) Stone Ring Pond, "?" (elf druid)
Fyi the lighthouse is unknown information to the group at this point.
The tengu known as Akka-Dak walks down the street, lute on a strap across his neck and shoulders. "Ah, another fine day to sit and sing in a tavern... but which one shall I bless with my lucid tones today?"
Strutting across the yard, he finally sets his sights on the Crook's Nook. Walking into the bar, he looks around for someone that might appear to be the proprietor.
Snag walked down the street giggling to himself. His work day with Wrin was over and he sought out a place to get a glass of beer bigger then his head and some food.
Snag sees a strange bird looking man enter the Crook's Nook before him and followed him in giggling to himself. Seeing the lute strapped to the birdman Snag gives a toothy grin and says, "Snag likes lute music. You play today?"
"Yessir, I think I just might! Assuming the owner is amenable to giving me a few drinks."
Holding the door open, he gestures for the goblin to enter ahead of him. "After you, friend."
Snag smiles at the birdman and then wanders in to go buy his giant sized beer.
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To the dark-skinned woman, Hammid nods "By way of my travels, I have spied this place, and decided upon a venture, wherein my endeavors will be to ascertain the skillsets of one or another of your glad patrons, as towards leading their noses towards the possibility of great fortune" he speaks Taldane (Common) with an Osiriani accent, having spent a recent portion of his considerable lifetime in the region, his tongue taking upon the customs and mannerisms of those whose culture he had immersed himself in.
As an unknown - and unspied! - tengu, then goblin(!), walk inside, one of his eyes creeps in their direction.
"As it seems" he continues with his little introduction of himself to her "I wonder if my lucky stars come shooting down to earth at this very moment!"
Lacking social grace, even if he speaks with high-born parlance, his general demeanor is by shades unpleasant - shady, in a word - as he smiles darkly watching this situation unfold before his beady eyes!
The woman at the bar just smiles and says Good luck finding a group to venture with.
Finishing her brief interaction with the elf at the counter, she looks over at the tengu holding a lute and asks Are you looking for a place to entertain this evening? Yinyasmera glances down at the goblin responds How are you tonight Snags, I assume you want the usual? She grab a clean dark clay mug and pours him a ale. That'll be one copper!
Snag lies a copper on the bar and reaches up as his eyes go big at the site of the human sized mug. "Yes...stew tonight?" he asks as he looks over at the elf that is looking at him and giggles before taking a big gulp.
Yinyasmera looks at Snag I'll let Shara know and have it sent to your table.
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Motivated by his stomach, is he?
Hammid approaches Snag, notes which beer he has taken, and says "Upon your door, opportunity knocks: Have you ever seen one of these?" he drops a trinket from [redacted] ruins in the hinterlands onto the table "Or perhaps you know it's worth?" brandishing it before him "There is more where that came from. A Lighthouse. I can take you there. Very dangerous"
Trying to lure him applying everything he has learned so far about goblin psychology!
Jhereg, his shift finished at the mill, while not a skilled craftsman, his broad shoulders, thick arms, and sturdy legs allowed him to haul lumber for the carpenters and woodsmen to mill into planks and beams, a days work had been enough to pay for the clay tankard of frothy ale that sat in front of him, the rough baked load of bread, and a hearty fish stew.
Despite the mid-day heat, the barbarian was cloaked in a sturdy, stained, hand spun wool cloak, it's deep hood pulled over his shorn head. He sat close to the mantle, and by some trick of the light seemed to be illuminated by it's glow, or perhaps, it was a fire that seemed to burn just beneath his skin, that illuminated his table. Besides his meal, a large, clasp bound book lay open, where the man studied the words written there, an intense focus on his face as his lips moved while he formed the words in his mind.
So focused was he on Jheegala's journal, that he missed the entrance of the motley crew, until their conversation grew to such a degree as to interrupt his studies. He leaned back, tacking a deep breath, smelling the river beneath them, and the salt, brine, of it's deep waters. He watched the short, green skinned goblin, their black feathered companion, and a man swaddled in the desert garb of Osirion.
"If you are bound and determined to interrupt my reading," he called across the room, his loud voice demanding their attention, "then at least have the courtesy to share my table and join me in a round of drinks!" As he spoke he slid a chair back from his table with his foot.
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You are ruining the storyline. If you have been a part this campaign before you should bow out. You don’t notice the lighthouse because it hasn’t been activated yet!
You've looked through some of the smaller ruins in the Otari hinterlands but have never quite built up the courage to check out the creepy lighthouse called Gauntlight. You've heard that these ruins are pretty well picked over, and mostly collapsed, but you always planned to some day explore them and perhaps find some bauble left behind from the centuries-old battle where the Roseguard slew an evil sorcerer. You know that the crumbled stone of old ruins has a tendency to shift, so you'd better step lightly if you get the chance to explore Gauntlight.
Snag enjoys all of the people paying attention to him without screams or throwing things and so he decides to wander to where the human is sitting and plunks his large drink on the table before sitting down in one of the chairs. He gives the human his best toothy grin and giggle and says, "Snag is happy to join at table. Snag will take time to finish first round though."
Snag picks up his drink and downs a huge portion, for a goblin, leaving a lot left to go. Then Snag looks at the elf and says, "Snag has job, but loves opportunity."
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A single cunning eyebrow raises as Jhereg Draegaran yells across the bar.
Reading? I see no book...
He retrieves the trinket from the table in front of the goblin "Come - another one of those" pointing to the beer now "may be in your future" and waiting on Snag the Shadowcaster to join him, our shady hero swaddled in desert garb walks over towards the wooly-cloaked brute in the corner - noticing the flame tickling just beneath his skin. Curious...
"My business associate and I" Hammid begins, referring to the goblin but addressing the barbarian "Were just discussing a prospect. You see, I am in the need of a few good mercenaries, and can promise an equal share in a potentially lucrative operation - one in which the prospective danger comes in likely equal ratio to prospective opportunity for generating wealth. There is a lighthouse in disrepair, but my intel reports that it sits atop treasures lost to time - treasures sufficient to generate more than a fortune!" with added effect his exaggeration is gross, hoping to sink a second hook.
Sitting together the three of them, and assuming he has piqued the interest of those sharing a table, he transitions to point to Akka Dak and whispers to Snag "Who's the bird?"
Snag giggles and says, "Snag boss knows about lighthouse. Wrin. Says she watch lighthouse. See glows. Snag boss very interested. Snag friends want lighthouse should definitely come see Snag Wrin boss in morning. She nice and helpful to Snag and Snag friends." Snag nods wisely and then giggles and shakes his head slightly side to side before he drinks more beer.
The occasional patron looks your way, they seem to hear bits of your conversation between The tengu's performances.
Snag finishes drinking and leans over to Hammid as if he was going to whisper in reply and then doesn't. "He nice bird man. Call himself Snag's friend. We invite to see Wrin too. Big friend meeting with Snag and Wrin boss."
Dappled by sunlight shining through the dark leaves above, Dhruva Ven stalks carefully through the forest, careful not to step on a twig and give away her location. She grips her crossbow, loaded with a sharp wooden bolt. Just ahead, her faithful hound Diana trods just as carefully, her nose pressed down against the ground, sniffing for signs of prey. The two are perfectly in sync, almost one hunter in two bodies.
Dhruva is a young woman with tanned skin and short dark hair, just coming into her own as an adult. A dark greenish-brown hooded cloak hangs from her shoulders, helping to camouflage her in the forest, and she wears a vest of leather armor over her clothes, in case of trouble. Diana is a handsome little brown dog with large floppy ears, her body strong and her eyes intelligent and focused.
Something at the very edge of Dhruva's perception shifts, and the duo stop. Dia pads up near some shrubs and points with her snout. Dhruva aligns herself carefully in the direction Dia indicates. A dark shape moves between bushes near the forest floor - a wild turkey! This will make a good catch. Dhruva squeezes the trigger on her crossbow, and with a brief cry the turkey falls, having never even realized it was in danger.
Dhruva and Dia walk over to the animal, checking to make sure it's dead. Dhruva smiles and crouches down by her dog, patting the happily panting creature on the head. "Good girl!"
Having secured her quarry for the morning, Dhruva hefts the bird's body over her shoulder, and they begin their climb back down to Otari.
***
Having dropped the turkey off at the butcher's and claimed her reward, Dhruva decides to treat herself to eating out for lunch. She and Dia make their way to the Crook's Nook.
Stepping into the shady tavern, Dhruva shrinks into her cloak a bit, nervous at all the activity. The clientele seems to be quite exotic today, and Dhruva tries to avoid staring too long at the intriguing outsiders - particularly the tengu - as she sits down at the bar. Dia sits by her master's feet, panting from the day's exertion and thirst but overall well-behaved. Dhruva awkwardly waves at Yinyasmera.
"Ah, hello. One beef stew for me, please," she says hesitantly, "and a bowl of water for my dog here, if that's alright."
"Good evening Dhruva!" "Been out hunting today?" she asks. She pours some water into a clay bowl and places it on the floor. "Your food will be out shortly."
Snag gets distracted by the woman and dog entering and stops listening to whatever the two larger men are saying so that he can wave at the dog and give it a toothy grin. Idly, he thinks that it looks much softer and like it would be more enjoyable to ride then the goblin dogs from back home.
Feeling a slight buzz from the half of a human mug he has drank he calls out, "Hello doggie..." as he waves.
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If Hammid notices the ranger, he doesn't let on - not yet.
"This Wrin" keeping the conversation with the goblin moving "What information does he have about the lighthouse? I only ask because, well, according to my studies, none have plumbed the depths and lived to tell the tale. And if so - if this Wrin - whom I may presume to be some sort of wizard? - if this Wrin has indeed done so - survived one or more trips into it's shifty depths - then I wonder what riches he is hiding!"
Our shady hero conceals his motives here: All this talk of material wealth. But what he is really after is knowledge. For knowledge is power. So it is written in the stars!
Snag stops considering trying to lure the dog over with some stew and glances back at Hammid. "Snag is not Wrin, how Snag know. Ask Wrin what she know. Wrin is girl too. Might want to know about that. You want see her tonight instead?" Snag asks as he reaches up and get some stew to chew on.
The tavern keeps filling up as more and more townfolk get out to enjoy the night life. The Crook’s Nook is a fairly large tavern. The external features are stone walls with wooded trim at the corners and around the windows. The roof is decorated with bluish-green ceramic tiles. Inside the walls are comprised of aged wooden planks. The tables and chairs are almost as aged as the walls, but worn from the constant use. In a far corner is a small stage which rises about a foot off the main floor where the tengu that walked in just a short bit ago is playing a joyful tune. Each table has a small lantern with a candle burning inside. All the dishes you see are of a dark gray clay which not all are the exact same. More than likely some pieces have been replaced over the years.
The large, broad chested Osirion man grunted as the strangers joined him at the table. He lifted his chipped clay tankard, "To your health," he muttered in a gravelly voice, before draining his cup to the dregs.
He shrugged as the squat goblin, and the swarthy skinned merchant began to discuss inhabitants of the town, ventures, and ruins. "If you are looking for local history and rumors, head to the Dawnflower, speak to High Priestess, she's a kind woman with a bright mind, and eager to educate the ignorant." He grunted, soaking up some fish broth with the crust of bread.
On seeing the ranger and her hound, his face broke out in a broad smile that, literally, lit up the room. "Dhruva!" He called, while thick, calloused fingers picked a fish head out of his stew and tossed it to the fine looking dog.
Dia happily snaps up the fish head and dashes over to greet Jhereg, tail wagging. Dhruva smiles shyly and gets up to follow her hound, taking her stew bowl with her.
"Jhereg, it's nice to see you," she says, hovering awkwardly by the table, unsure of whether or not she should sit down. "How have things been at the mill?"
Akka-dak nod and says ”Would love ta, love ta play and sing for your folk tonight. Maybe a drink to loosen me up?”
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What a lovely brute!
"Dawnflower, yes yes, that is an excellent..." the sentence is cut off by Jhereg's yelling for Dhruva - Hammid brooks easily to allow them to catch up - then shoots a perpendicular invitation Akka-Dak's way "Shall this drink be the same your friend Snag here is having?" he is already looking for Yinyasmera now, trying to get her attention to put in the request "I am curious about the history of the song you just sang!" always the archeologist, the elf beckons the tengu to share about himself, preparing to listen attentively.
...
After a beat, if the ranger is still standing awkwardly, he slides himself over to make room, but doesn't initiate conversation, even as he is willing to respond to anything she may ask: Perhaps as part of the table's continued conversation about who to talk to, what potential riches await, and any rumors about the mysterious lighthouse so long in disrepair...
Jhereg smiled at Dia, scratching the Kotsoi pointer behind the scruff of the neck, he nodded towards Dhruva as the ranger joined them. "Hauling logs, splitting logs," a scowl that could be a smirk, "no runaway carts this day though, they have learned to be more attentive,"[b] down towards Dia, [b]"haven't they my friend?!? Yes they have." Quieter, this time, softer, "Yes, they have."
He nodded towards the odd assembly at the table, "This sand swept merchant comes bearing a tale of danger and riches to be had." He shrugged at his friend, "Though I am inclined to trust him as far as I could throw him," as he spoke, his brow furrowed, and his deep brown eyes seemed to smolder like two pieces of charcoal, the threat of violence should the merchant be less than truthful would be clear to a blind man.
Dhruva smiles at the friendly interaction between Jhereg and Dia. Feeling a little more at ease, she sits down in the space Hammid leaves her, though she seems to feel awkward now being between Jhereg and this stranger.
She looks from the massive human to the frail elf. "You must trust him pretty far, then!" she teases.
Snag smiles at Dhura and says, "Dog looks nice and soft. Much nicer and softer then goblin dogs Snag rode before."
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Indeed quite accustomed to being mistrusted and even maltreated, Hammid removes his hood, and agrees with the friends between which he sits "If I didn't feel as though you would be, at minimum, skeptical of my proposal, I wouldn't suggest that we travel together into unknown danger in the first place: If I wanted to hire fools, I would surely have foist myself upon a different table..."
There is a disruption!
It becomes difficult to follow his words here, because just as soon as he removes his hood, the violent story that is his face becomes "visibly loud": Where his elven ears should protrude upwards, they are instead chopped short, almost human in length and shape, were not they sheared unevenly; A cheek scar across his face looks as though it were carved with a nasty blade, and the eye is drawn to it's contours; The lower half of his face, the jaw area, looks to be badly burned and never quite healed right, the skin lumpy and gnarled and dry, his chin receded into his neck somewhat, as if by melting. In a word, though perhaps not born "ugly", you get the sense that someone or something made him to be so.
The intellectually keen amongst you perhaps connect the dots that his naturally unpleasant and "shady" demeanor, and the permanent condition of his face, are not two unrelated phenomena!
The socially apt among you would know better than to ask!!
He continues "I can promise you this" his tone changes here, as he drops the "act" of trying to "sell" the idea to the party "If you venture with me into the lighthouse, I will keep you safe, by my place in the Cosmic Caravan, to the best of my ability"
He smiles here, and finally begins to drink from his cup.
Dhruva is a little nervous at the attention of this goblin. She's seen him around Wrin's before, but they've never really interacted. Still, she smiles hesitantly at the compliment to her hound. "Ah, yes... she's not for riding though," she says.
She turns back towards Hammid, and almost jumps in her seat at the sight of his deformed visage, audibly gulping. She immediately feels ashamed of her reaction and shrinks into herself, looking away to avoid being caught staring. Something in his words catches her attention, though. Without looking directly at him, she tries to rejoin the conversation, as though she hadn't just visibly recoiled.
"Ah, the uh, the Cosmic Caravan... do you know Wrin? She's the only follower of them I've met..."
"Snag tell about Wrin. Say friends should meet Wrin in morning. She watch lighthouse and talk." Snag says in agreement with Dhruva.
Jhereg's smoldering eyes regarded the unwrapped face of the burned man, he did not flinch, nor did he seem to be shocked by the violence that had been inflicted upon the elf's face. "I have witnessed the fires of Asuulek, which cause mountains to flow like wax, melt a man's flesh from his bones, before both disappeared in ash, char, and the echoes of screams." He paused, nodding, never taking his eyes from Hammid's, "But I am sorry for the violence that has been inflicted upon you, and while I know little, and less, of this Cosmic Caravan, it's value, to you, is writ clear in your voice."
He leaned forward now, "A man who swears a thing upon something he holds dear, is a man I will trust. Unless I am given reason not to." He stood, thrusting his hand forward, yellow-orange light flickering across the table, the fire within his veins pulsing for all to see. "I am Jhereg Draegaran, a slayer born. Your name? So our cause be joined in spirit and intent, I will see you to your goal, if by my aid, such is obtainable."
Responding to Hammid, "That song was a ole diddy my grand-pappy used to sing. I spruced it up a bit, but I think the origin was about a elf that fell in love with a pixie, but the flighty nature of the faerie folk doesn't often end in everlasting love."
"Most of my songs come from old tales. It would be nice to write a few of my own, if only had the proper inspiration."
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Hammid, with only the faintest shade of knowing reluctance, allows his this arm and hand to be throttled in the large man's handshake - and is perhaps surprised to discover unexpected gentleness (or not!?)
In either case, he proposes a cheers "To the Lighthouse! To riches! To knowledge! To Sarenrae! To meeting Wrin in the morning!" holding his cup up - and spending the remainder of the evening more-or-less simply going with the flow rather than trying to pull on the strings of events - and is surprised to find himself starting to like his now-companions!
Recruitment a Success!
Dhruva's eyes pass from the scarred elf, to the musical tengu, to the friendly goblin, and back to Jhereg. "You all are quite a group... you're really hoping to explore the lighthouse?" She turns to address Hammid, her curiosity overriding her shyness. "I've always been interested in the ruins - I've even explored a little of the edges near the forest - but I had heard the lighthouse was picked through years ago, and a lot of it has collapsed anyway. Are you sure the risk is worth the reward?"
Snag giggles and finishes the last of the tankard and wonders through the haze if he could have another but decides it might be good if he could speak in the morning to introduce his new friends to Wrin.
Snag pops out of his chair and says, "See you in morning. Wrin be happy you stop bye. Snag go sleep off beer now." And then the small goblin stumbles off into the night to find his bed.
The evening turns into night as Akka Dak entertains the crowd, a small fight breaks out between a couple mill workers, but it's stopped quickly. you make your way to your beds and get a decent nights' sleep.
As the sun rises, you each make your way to a place to grab something to eat before you meet with Wrin.
Snag comes out to do his workday blinking at the sunlight and wonders if his new friends will make it to see Wrin.
He finds Win and tells her, "Snag find new friends. They come ask about Lighthouse today. Snag mention you mention lighthouse."
Wrin looks at Snag with a concerned look, where did you meet these new friends?
Snag giggles and says, "Dinner time over giant tankard. Some know Wrin already. Girl with pretty dog, Dhruva, mention Wrin as well."
well Snags, looks like you’ve found us a group to go look into these old Gauntlight ruins.. She smiles and pats him on the head, then returns to the upper level of her shop.
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To Dhruva, a little mischievously, the spirits taking their effect over his thin frame "Sure?" he emphasizes the word "I can say this: Nothing is ever sure in this universe. I can also say: One who never tries also never finds out!" finally "But I do hope so" a little matter-of-factly...
Hammid does not break fast until later in the day. In fact, he had gotten up early to "case" Wrin’s Wonders before he would imagine the proprietor would be up. What "wonders" is Wrin hiding? He had heard the night before that she too was a follower of the Cosmic Caravan - the priests he had interacted with in his own faith: Few and far between. (After all, a primary edict is to travel with no particular destination in mind!) Figuring she's be up late having spent last evening stargazing like a good supplicant.
Dhruva has trouble sleeping that night. Hammid's words - "One who never tries also never finds out!" - echo through her thoughts. There's always been a restless energy in her, a wanderlust that's drawn her all around Otari's part of the island, even as far as Absalom on occasion - but her responsibility to her family has always kept her from ranging any further than that, no matter how much she might want to.
The Gauntlight is close to home, at least... if there were to be a chance for adventure, to experience something unlike anything she's experienced before, without leaving her mother on her own, wouldn't that be perfect? But of course it could be dangerous, and she's no good to her mother dead. That thought gives her pause as she strokes her sleeping dog's fur. But that elf seemed self-assured in his skill, and she knows Jhereg is as strong as he is kind. Maybe she could trust them to keep her safe. And maybe they'd need her, too - she may not have delved into the Gauntlight before, but she knows this region better than anyone, especially a bunch of enthusiastic outsiders and recent transplants. She has a keen eye and ear, is a crack shot, and her dog can sniff out trouble from a mile away.
Though of course there may not even be anything to fear - after all, what could still be in that old lighthouse after all these centuries? Old ghosts, maybe, or strange magic left behind by the sorcerer the Roseguard slew... Dhruva's curiosity begins to get the better of her fear.
After all, if she never tries, she really never will find out.
The next morning, she kisses her mother goodbye and sets out to Wrin's, Dia following eagerly at her heels. She tells herself she hasn't made any decision yet, she just wants to hear what Wrin has to say about this (honestly) hare-brained scheme... but in her heart, she's already on the road to adventure.
It's not a long walk from her family's house to Wrin's Wonders, and she and Dia have visited often to hear tales of magic and strange lands. Still, there's a bit of trepidation in her when she opens the door this time.
"Wrin...? It's me, Dhruva, are you here?"