Another surprise awaits me at work this morning – Ilmarian is gone! Nivak is still locked up, though, and pleading with me to do whatever is necessary to secure his release. I meet with the head jailer and he tells me that there are nobles in town that would be interested in some elven “entertainment”. What? I get the feeling that “entertainment” does not consist so much of singing and dancing, but rather other things. I ask him of Ilmarian’s whereabouts – he won’t say. This upsets me because now my brother is missing, although, I’ve got the impression that he’s still alive. I’m undecided as to what I should do. On the one hand, Nivak has been with us for about five months now and I have grown accustomed to his presence. On the other hand, I am sure that my brother’s sudden change in behavior can be directly attributed to him. The head jailer gives me an hour to think it over and I go back down to Nivak’s cell to discuss the matter with him. He is unable to make any convincing arguments for his case and I apologize before telling him that he is on his own this time. But, we get yet another surprise when the jailer releases Nivak with absolutely no explanation.
Day 413 (1 week later)
“Jeweled Belt Man” has been found! Turns out he is one of the lesser nobles here. Nivak followed him back to his house today and says he will case the situation for us.
Day 421 (1 week later)
Ilmarian returns…with quite a bit of gold in his pocket. He says he has been entertaining the nobles and will not elaborate beyond that. We are all suspicious. I mean, “Il” has never earned more than coppers and maybe a few silvers for his song and dance show before and now he has more gold than the whole party put together! On another note, Nivak has news about “Jeweled Belt Man” – he was out on the town today buying rations. We suspect he is leaving town tomorrow. Jezeg bribes the harbor master to see if our man is going by boat – he is not, so that must mean a land route, right?
Notable Quotes: Ilmarian: “Maybe they were fooled by my exoticness.” Ilmarian: “It’s a precious commodity, I don’t want to waste it.”
Day 422 (the next day)
We all skive off from work today in hopes of “ambushing” Schultz just outside of town. (Caradryan, I have only used the word “ambush” for lack of a better term. I know you would never condone such ruthless behavior within our party!) Nivak spies on Schultz and then runs back to where we are waiting at the flophouse as soon as Schultz leaves his house. Nivak says that Schultz has at least five human bodyguards with him, but he is traveling in a closed coach, so there may be a few more. We can safely assume that the Kislevite is one of the passengers in that closed coach! Since Schultz now has about 15 minutes on us (in a coach, no less!), we see no sign of him outside of town. No matter, the road is straight…we will just follow that! But, of course, as luck would have it, we come to a fork in the road about mid-day and cannot determine which way our man has gone. A party vote takes us on the right fork and we soon decide we must have chosen the wrong way. We turn back and then take the left fork. It is nearing evening, there is still no sign of Schultz, and we have only got one day’s rations with us. It’s time to admit defeat. We camp by the roadside for the night.
Day 423 (the next day)
It’s back to Krugenheim for us. We pass Schultz’s house on the way through town and there are several town watchmen hanging about – looks like they might be on guard duty. That doesn’t make sense because we know that Schultz left town yesterday, right? I stop to question one of them. After all, it is a bit unusual for them to stand guard at specific houses. They don’t offer up any information, but my inquiries peak the interest of one of Schultz’s human bodyguards who was apparently left behind. He readily tells me that his master has gone on vacation to a place called “The Meadows”. He even gives me vague directions and tells me how nice it is out there after I tell him that I am new in town and have been looking to do some leisurely traveling. Finally a break! Our luck does not hold out much longer, though. For missing a day and a half of work, everyone (except me) has lost their job. It’s a good thing that the flophouse is only paid up for another few days!
Day 426 (3 days later)
We decide it may be in our best interests to take on some additional warrior-types for this mission. That night: Caradryan and I venture out to one of the taverns in search of some such people. We meet Varthlokkur (a dwarf - ugghh!) and his two friends, Creeg (another dwarf!) and Rick (a human). They are all pit fighters right now, but want to get into the adventuring scene. We neglect to tell them that our party consists of all elves, save but one human who is barely an adult. Would not want to scare them off too soon, now would we?
Day 428 (2 days later)
Varthlokkur had requested the other night that we come to the pits to see his last fight. Caradryan and I are the only ones to make an appearance again. The fights are good – very exciting! Varthlokkur is an impressive fighter! He and two others went up against a goblin horde and he just tore through everything with that hook of his! He only left one goblin each for his teammates. Absolutely amazing! (But, of course, I would never admit that to him!) Caradryan even won us a bit of money off the fight – 12 Gold off of a few Silvers and Coppers! I feel a little bit better now that we have some money in our pockets.
Battle Records: Varthlokkur: 7 kills/no injuries.