[coronatiger]

14th of Mitra’s Second Month, year 412

O Ashtar, Mother of Snakes, Keeper of Death’s Door, hear my confession!

I had breakfast with Rhuk and picked her brains for local news. She disclosed that Guling and the Farmers’ Republic had entered into a secret alliance, which concerned her deeply. This may bring unwanted attention from the other noble houses. She had also heard rumors about wild orcs supplying the slave uprising. I knew that the Farmers’ Republic welcomed escaped slaves, and asked if she knew whether they had a hand in coordinating the uprising. She hadn’t heard anything of the sort, and thought it unlikely. But it wasn’t impossible.

I knocked on Xipil’s door so we could go to the Lazy Hound, but he wasn’t in. I found him in the chapel, still meditating. It was still early, so Xipil ate at the inn while we waited for Lunari and Grogg to come downstairs. I started to worry after a while, and asked the staff about the elf and the troll. For two copper pieces, I learned that their luggage was still in their rooms, but they hadn’t spent the night there.

Xipil stayed in case they should make an appearance, and I returned briefly to the office to delay Rhuk’s departure. As he hadn’t had any sleep last night, Xipil lay down on a bench in the common room to get some rest when I got back.

Lunari arrived an hour or so later, having spent the night in a brothel. He had expected Grogg to be here, as the troll had left the whorehouse before him. I roused Xipil and said we had to go out and search for Grogg. I valued Rhuk too much to disrespect her time, so I sent a street urchin to the office with a message that she should come by the Lazy Hound when she left town, and if I wasn’t there, she should leave without us.

Xipil, Lunari and I split up to search for Grogg. I asked around, describing Grogg to various people whom I knew paid attention to the goings-on of Sam, and eventually bumped into Lunari again, who had tried to track Grogg from the brothel. We spotted our lost companion on the docks a short while later. I called out to him from a distance, and Grogg berated me for scaring off the raven. Lunari pointed out that the raven was inside him, and I urged them to hurry back to the inn with me.

Xipil was already there, as was a message from Rhuk, informing me that she was waiting at the office. Lunari paid for the rooms while Grogg retrieved their packs. We found Rhuk asleep in the office, for she planned to drive into the night. She had another passenger, a young man named Talo who had come to the temple a few years ago. We knew each other already, so I made introductions.

Rhuk fetched a small leather bag, and we were off. It was too small to hold a head, but I knew enough not to ask its contents. To the guards at the city gate, she said she only carried passengers, no cargo. We made a brief stop once we were out in the open, to erect a shade above the cart. It can get hot in the stony desert between Sam and Ur.