Campaign Log: Chaotic Pioneering

[coronatiger]

Thoughts on February 22nd

Nothing much happened today, except rain. My acrobatics practice was limited to a short contortion act for Olivia in the evening, followed by a duo performance.


Thoughts on February 23rd

With all this rain, perhaps it had been better to go by riverboat? Perhaps not. Seamen are nasty.


Thoughts on February 24th

Leopold pulled out the balance scale, again and again, indifferent to the rain. The two scales held a silvery lump and a purplish lump, and he had a pouch full of other lumps of approximately the same colors which he compared to the two lumps that were part of the artifact. It was incomprehensible to me how he produced a reading – I believe he compared the colors of the artifact lumps to the colors of the contents of his pouch – but he declared that this place was a seven, that place had been a six and so on. From all those numbers, he concluded that there was more Chaos away from settlements and more Order where people gathered.


Thoughts on February 25th

The rain lightened during the morning, and by midday we even got some sunshine. I celebrated with a horseback performance while we traveled. Since Olivia and I bring up the rear, it was mainly Olivia who got to see the show, although Ilzo and Va’lyndra turned and watched a little. Leopold just glanced back once, and I thought I detected a slight headshake. That man has no sense for aesthetics! If it isn’t written down, it has no interest for him. I already knew he wasn’t really a fan, so I didn’t take offense. What soured my mood was the rain starting up again.


Thoughts on February 26th

Yesterday’s brief respite from the rain heralded an improvement of the weather. We had a light drizzle all day, and Va’lyndra thought it should stop completely tomorrow. We’ll see.


Thoughts on February 27th

Va’lyndra’s prediction was right. This afternoon, the cloud cover broke and the sun greeted us warmly on its way down.


Thoughts on February 28th

The rain gone, the gods decided to give us another burden instead. Va’lyndra had another of her insomnia episodes, and I don’t think she slept at all last night. She certainly was grumpy and tired today. Looking on the bright side, I got to practice acrobatics all day.


Thoughts on March 1st

Va’lyndra didn’t sleep much this night either. Everyone was on their toes around her; she needed to work through it on her own. I thought it was good that we were on the road, and largely alone. Sulla forbid that anyone should talk to her, let alone brush against her! Then we’d have a spectacle on our hands.

Darn! Did I just swear by the love god? My evening pre-sex prayers are affecting me, and I don’t know that I’m pleased with that. I’m not going to stop, though, at least not before I understand the message that Sulla is trying to hammer into my head.


Thoughts on March 2nd

Va’lyndra was looking a lot better this morning. Still tired, but without the dark, heavy circles under her eyes. Whenever she has one of her episodes, Olivia and I try to be extra quiet when we perform our devotions to Sulla. It seemed to work.


Thoughts on March 3rd

Now that Va’lyndra’s episode was over, the rain returned. It wasn’t as heavy as last week, but it still prevented acrobatics while we were travelling.


Thoughts on March 4th

As we travelled, I could tell we were approaching Surd. The traffic on the road increased, and villages lay closer and closer together.


Thoughts on March 5th

The rain stopped, allowing me to promote my upcoming performances whenever we passed other travelers or when we rode through a village. Sadly, I didn’t know how long we would be staying in Surd, or where the tour would take us, so I didn’t have much information for those who asked.


Thoughts on March 6th

Olivia decided to empty all our saddlebags inside the tent this evening, and she asked me nicely to stay away while she took stock of all our belongings. She needed the space. She invited me inside after an hour or so, and explained that she had weighed and measured everything. I planned to acquire new sets of gymnastics frames when we arrived in Surd, and they were quite heavy, but Olivia discovered how to rearrange our luggage on the horses so we didn’t have to buy a wagon to carry the frames.


Thoughts on March 7th

We made good speed in the fine spring weather, but didn’t get all the way to Surd.


Thoughts on March 8th

I haven’t received any new dreams from Sulla, thankfully, but that could be because I haven’t been able to interpret the ones I’ve already had. Zalek said to use logic to understand them, but I’m no good with logic.

We arrived in Surd around midday, and when we had passed the gate, I declared “The White Truffle awaits!” There are better accommodations available in Surd, but none that have common rooms and audiences. I promised the innkeeper to perform in the evening, and got a free suite for Olivia and me. I planned to set up real shows here, like I did in Landfall, and suspected I would need to pay for our lodgings then, as I wouldn’t have time to perform in the common room too.

Va’lyndra and Ilzo wanted to go to the public bathhouse, but Leopold just wanted to take a bath at the inn before reporting in to his guild. Va’lyndra reminded him to let them know that someone might come looking for us, since she had given the history guild as a possible location for the weapon seeker to find us, once they located an anti-Order weapon. I added that Leopold had promised to check out the snake symbol from my dream vision.

Regarding bathing, it would be pleasant to indulge in some luxury, but the public bathhouse was just that, public, and I suspected that once Olivia and I got nice and naked, our behavior wouldn’t be appropriate for public display, in fact I planned for it. Therefore, I ordered a bathtub brought up, and plenty of hot water. After a good, long soak, Olivia and I helped each other shave, washed each other’s hair, and exulted in each other’s company.

Since we had business to attend to, we eventually had to get out of bed. We brushed and braided each other’s hair, and I sent one final devotion to Sulla. When Olivia had her breath back, we dressed and left. Asking around town, it didn’t take us long to find a craftsman who could make my new gymnastics frames. I ordered two, and Olivia interjected that they needed to have some mechanism for unattaching at the middle, as six-meter-long poles were too long to transport on a horse. The frames should be ready some time tomorrow, and I told the craftsman to deliver them to the White Truffle.

I performed in the common room in the evening, and had dinner with Ilzo, Va’lyndra and Olivia afterwards. Ilzo told us he had a wonderful time at the bathhouse, where he’d had a private room with his own attendant. Va’lyndra had been in the women’s section listening to gossip.