[coronatiger]

Thoughts on May 29th

The day started as days do here in town, with a visit at Guddan Bulguf’s little bakery for some wheat buns and reporting. Then, as I didn’t have time to do it before we left a week or so ago, I spent half the day modelling for the portrait that I would give to Olivia. I’ve already got her picture safely tucked away. In the afternoon, I performed in the street, before retiring early with Olivia. We had some enjoyable business to attend to, and we were both still tired from the ordeal with the witches.


Thoughts on May 30th

Yesterday, we noticed that there were more people in town than usual, including a bunch of adventurers, so after the wheat bun breakfast, Olivia and I went to the guildhall for a bit of socializing. I also looked at the announcement board, hoping there’d be brass knuckles or a composite bow for sale. I had no such luck.

I noticed, however, that there were several new quests up for grabs. One in particular appealed to me. The note said that we should travel by land to the province capital, Garuk. One usually goes by boat along the coast of the Silent Lake, a journey that takes two days. On the way, we should map out the area between the two settlements, and mark any dangers as well as interesting plants and minerals, in general things that might encourage or discourage civilization from spreading there. It didn’t seem like a very perilous quest. As well, I think our little group has the necessary skills to succeed. Magnar has shown an adept hand at drawing maps, and Lady Karita displayed some knowledge of plants back when we were chasing the goblins who had stolen all the animals from that farm. As for minerals, well, Magnar is a dwarf – what else needs to be said? The quest would in all likelihood end up in Garuk, where I’ve been led to believe that there is a larger selection of weaponry, so maybe I’ll be able to get some fancy gear there.

I eventually discovered why all the new people were in town: The day after tomorrow, there will be a festival with games and competitions, as well as dancing in the evening. I’d very much like to be there. I love dancing, and it will be fun to join in the games. My thought when I heard about the festival, was that I’d stick with sack racing and egg racing, and let the amateurs have the serious competitions to themselves. I don’t want to upstage them at this day of celebration.

Since Magnar is a veteran in the adventurers’ guild, I would have liked to discuss the quest with him, among other things asking if we could postpone it to after the festival since I wouldn’t want to miss it. But neither Kine nor Lady Karita knew where he was. Kine thought he might have gone on an expedition, but he hadn’t said where, or when he’d be back again.

In the evening, I performed in the street again, before returning to the Golden Swan, where Lady Karita told us that the overall winner of the competitions would gain fame and glory. That changes everything, of course. I’m going to compete, and I’m going to win.

Tomorrow, I want to check out what kind of dance the locals do. So far, I’ve only danced alone, to perform, while we’ve been in this town. The local variant shouldn’t be too different from what I’ve seen elsewhere in Virendia’s colony.


Thoughts on May 31st

When Olivia and I were leaving the inn to report to the baker, Magnar and Kine intercepted us. Magnar said that we needed to declare that we were taking the quest before anyone else could. We were also required to report to the guild leader, Gnomus Stonebite, about the previous quest. Olivia and I agreed to meet Magnar at the guildhall one hour later to reserve the quest, and when Lady Karita had risen, we all should go there again for the debrief.

During our first meeting with Master Stonebite today, we learned that we needed to register for the competition, so Magnar and I went to the officials to register. Olivia tagged along, that is to say, she walked arm-in-arm with me, but she didn’t sign up for the competition.

When it was time to debrief, Kine had wandered off. We eventually found her trying to sell a cow she had nursed back to health since the case with the goblins. Master Stonebite let us know that Lord Fidel was pleased with how we had handled things, and reiterated that the quest was secret, so we shouldn’t discuss it with anyone. Olivia wasn’t comfortable receiving as much payment as she got for this quest, and insisted she should get less on the next one. We agreed that she should get one share, and the rest of us three each. Magnar revealed that he didn’t know much about prospecting, but he knew another adventurer who did, an elf of all things, and planned to ask her to join us.

Olivia and I went to one of the less fine inns, where I learned the local dance. It wasn’t difficult to learn, and Olivia dragged me off before anything untoward could happen. Instead, we had a good time at the Golden Swan, just the two of us.