August 601

8-01-601 (Wednesday)
It's pretty lonely here in Baddira by myself. I have been trying to contact Tinker for weeks now with no luck. I wonder if he's ok. he should be, but still...not like him to be quiet for so long.

8-15-601 (Wednesday)
The past month has been almost deathly boring...especially with no one around to play with, so I thought maybe I'd head back up to Drakemyre for a few days. I've already taken care of everything here that I need too...at least until the end of the month, but my preparations are complete anyway. Seeing as how I have a few days to kill before I'm needed, I think I'd like to go pay Dusty a visit. Need to get some good giggling in...

8-18-601 (Saturday)
I swear this place is cursed or something... It's almost as if nothing happens to me unless I'm somewhere in the vicinity of this inn. Maybe I should talk to Arainyn about that... No matter, this wasn't exactly a bad thing, but then it wasn't really great either. Seems I found out why my new friends had betrayed me last month. Almore was right...and I'd like to shove a really big muffin up her teeny tiny nose for it. She really had made sure they wouldn't interfere...grrrrrr... I just never thought I'd be abandoned, but I guess things change...hunh Dusty? Well it seems Seith no longer can train me, and I had to make all sorts of deals with my new master in order to get any sort of help. I wish Seith could help me still...he was nice, but we'll see how this new guy does. If he can help me with my end goal, then I'm sure we'll get along just fine.

8-23-601 (Thursday)
Boy was Dusty surprised to see me. Almost like he never expected me to come back or something... Unfortunately I won't get to play with him for very long. He has to head out to Corvos in the morning. I wanted to stay the weekend and play, but since he won't be here, there's no need. Guess I'll rest up a bit and then start walking back Saturday. Oh well...at least he'll still be here when I get back, so it's something to look forward to anyway.

8-24-601 (Friday)
Tonight I had decided to keep to my room and enjoy maybe enjoy some reading. Olven had tried to get me to eat several times earlier despite my protests, so when the knock came on the door, I shrugged and prepared to tell him no again. I just really didn't feel like eating anything tonight...especially potatoes. It wasn't Olven at the door though, in fact, the only thing there was a pretty red box at my feet with a golden bow. I wonder who left that? Or better yet, I wonder what's in it? All excited about this secret gift, I picked it up and my world exploded...literally. When my vision focused again, I was laying on the floor (When did I get there?) and I was covered in blood. I assumed it was my own, given the enormous pain I was now in. I tried to get up, but being to weak to support my own weight now, I collapsed. Then in the corner of my vision I saw the box...an almost surreal vision. Perfect still, except for a little that was charred on the bottom and the bow untouched by the pool of blood it now rested in. The card was still attached... Maybe they were dumb enough to leave a name...oh and look they were...

"I HOPE YOU DIE WENCH!  Lady A.

I should have known...

Then I heard it...faint footsteps in the hallway. At first I thought it was my imagination. Loss of blood, paranoia...but then it got louder and closer. No...someone was out there. Maybe it was Olven come to find out what the noise was. I wished for it to be, but somehow I knew I would be disappointed once again. Sure enough, a small man who looked more the part of a rat then a human came scuffling in. Maybe he would help me...surely someone heard the noise. You can imagine my disappointment when he pulled out a small, thin dagger and said, "Shucks, you didn't die." Okay, now I was mad! I pulled out the dagger I had and on shaky legs stood to face my now would be attacker. I searched my pockets with the other hand for the vials I knew were there. The man smirked and began slowly advancing on me, like a cat who had just cornered his prey. Suddenly I found the box, and snapping it open, I grabbed a vial and poured it down my throat. He watched in surprise as a few of my wounds healed, as the limp in my gait disappeared, and then seeing he was about to lose his chance at an easy kill...he jumped at me. I leapt to the side as his dagger came down, and brought my fist down against his head, knocking him to the floor. He looked up at me, with my dagger poised, and began to beg for his life, claiming he was being forced to do this. Right...like I saw his elbow being twisted when he came in to finish the job himself. Then he began to cry as he gave me a description of the woman who sent him...Almore. As if I had thought it anyone else. With that, I took his weapon and booted him out before I changed my mind on whether not to take his life.
    Now all I had to do was find the slut. That's the hard part since even Eric claimed he didn't know where she lived. More lies, I'm sure, but right now that didn't matter. Where was the help I was supposed to get? I swear, if they let me down again... I kicked the box as I thought about what to do next, and as it slid down the wall, leaving a red trail behind it, I got my help. Well sorta. I was hoping for Seith, but that was apparently not to be. It seems that I'm stuck with this this new guy until further notice. He's just....mean...and rude, but at least he was willing to fulfill his part of the bargain...and so he helped me.

8-26-601 (Sunday)
I met up with Grey today on my way back to Baddira, and luckily for me he was in a storytelling mood. We sat for a while and exchanged a few tales before I realized that the time was getting late. So with a few kind words we parted ways and continued on my way...

8-31-01 (Friday)
Now that I had the help I needed to find Almore (not a Lady by any means), I continued my search for her. My new master was not nearly so forgiving as Seith, and not nearly so kind either. At least he was helping me though, though reluctantly. That's fine. As long as he keeps his promise, I'll keep mine.
Anyway, I wandered through the forest around me using a new trick I had learned to find Almore. It was strange, I could see everything about me age...everything had a time to pass on...everything except what seemed to look like a gate off to my right. I had been to this place before and never seen this here. It was as if Death didn't touch it...couldn't touch it. I knew this was where I would find that pus pail of a whore. I gingerly crept toward the are and using another trick I learned, found myself in Almore's home. I remembered it from the last time I was here...in fact, there's the back room she beat me in. I was standing in the doorway of her bedroom, and in front of me was a doorway to what appeared to be a child's room...Tiffany's. I peeked in, seeing no one nearby, and sure enough, she sat on the floor playing with her dolls. Good. Maybe I could finish this before she noticed. Then I could take Tiffany somewhere safer.
I padded softly back toward Almore's laboratory, to see if she was there. No sense in rushing in and having to deal with everyone. As soon as i reached the door, however, and peeked in, Tiffany called out that she was hungry. Almore replied that she would bring her something. Cringing, I scurried back to Almore's room and ducked in. Not long after, a golem passed by with what smelled like fruit. After another few minutes, it reappeared from Tiffany's room and headed toward Almore. With a sigh of relief, I tiptoed toward the lab. Again, tiffany called out to her adopted mother...this time she was thirsty. I once more headed back to Almore's room and the scene with the golem was repeated. I wasn't sure anymore if this was such a good idea, but a deal is a deal. So once again, I snuck toward the room, and once more Tiffany called out...this time, however, she told Almore I was there to see her. My advantage gone, I decided to take what surprise I could and leapt into the room. There was Almore, surrounded by her golems, including Leslie. The circle nearby was surrounded with skulls and the look on her face when she saw me was...priceless. She quickly regained her composure though, and after ordering the golems to attack, she jumped in the circle and disappeared. NO! She was not getting away that easily. I closed my eyes to the rushing mass of iron coming at me and when I opened them, I stood in the forest again, with Almore. She was mortified, and began throwing spell after spell at me. I jumped at her, and after she realized she wasn't causing me any harm, she turned and ran squealing like a pig. My sword landed blows on her several times, but before I could finish her she ran into the portal only we could see and was gone again. Once more I closed my eyes to follow, and when I opened them, there she was. Of course, the golems were too, but I was on a mission now. The golems surrounded me, but one by one I fought them off. Covered in scratches and wounds from their blades, I steadily walked toward Almore...almost delighted at the fear in her eyes. She left again, back to the forest, with me close behind and seeing that she couldn't get away by running she jumped back through the portal one last time to the safety of her home. My rage nearly filling me now, I followed without thinking. I reappeared in the circle back in her room. Oh no... and there was Almore, smiling...on the outside. How could I be so dumb...?! I begged in my mind for help, and as I pushed on the circle in what I thought would be a futile attempt to get free...I fell through. YES! Now she was more then terrified! Excellent! I began backing her into the corner, to finish her off when I caught a glimpse of a Leslie rushing at me. I turned barely in time to block his blows, but it was too late to get away, I had to fight. He started out teasing me with smaller blows, almost like he was giving me a chance, but by the end he was swinging so hard, the ground wanted to shy away from his hits. Several times he knocked me to the ground, and several times I got back up. I would not be stopped! Finally, after what seemed like an forever, he crumbled to the ground. Though that was a victory in itself, I was here for another reason. seeing that Almore had left the room while I was being kept busy, I ran to her room. She wasn't there. Tiffany's room. Nothing...even Tiffany was gone. Grrrrrrrr! NO! Seeing that I had failed again, I closed my eyes one final time to return to the forest where I had started. My help was gone, and so I continued toward my next goal...