[coronatiger]

24th of Mitra’s Second Month, year 412 (continued)

The island was mostly cultivated, but there were some patches of wood here and there, and some shrubs along the edge of the plateau. Xipil asked if I thought there were snakes in the bushes, but I found it unlikely. A blessing if there were, but unlikely.

The farmers greeted us when we arrived at the “village”, offering food, but we had just had breakfast, so we declined their offer. Pak stood shyly in the background. Lunari asked what they did for entertainment around here, but the farmers said they had enough to do, indicating the fields around us. With nothing better to do until Lunas arrived, Lunari suggested we help them. The farmers were grateful, and explained that they had been ordered to chop down all those trees, and were any of us familiar with axes? Lunari tried to indicate Pak, but he withdrew from the weapon-like implements. Pak had other responsibilities anyway, so I asked the farmers where his cargo was located, as he didn’t want to interrupt while we were talking.

Xipil helped Pak with the smaller sacks, and the two of them returned towards the fort. I borrowed an axe from the farmers, and headed for the trees with Grogg and Lunari. Grogg had his own, troll-sized hatchet, and Lunari wasn’t really into manual labor after all. He decided to whittle a flute instead. Xipil came over after a while, and told me that Pak probably blamed himself for something that happened to Groman, the dwarven scholar.

One of the farmers came to tell us it was time to eat, and we all returned with him to the “village”. Over a meal of soup and bread, the farmers asked if we were the extra hands they had been promised. We explained that we weren’t, we were staying at the fort, and only offered to help because we were bored. As soon as we revealed where we were staying, the mood changed. Guests at the fort shouldn’t do farm work! I had to talk them into allowing us to continue chopping trees after we had eaten, although Lunari took the “job” of watching goats, and continued working on his flute. Xipil walked with Grogg and me back to the trees, but soon left to look for Pak, who had said he would come back down from the fort. Xipil couldn’t find him, and came back after a while. Lunari and Nujan strolled over as well, to look at Grogg and me working. Then a farmer arrived to let us know it was time for the evening meal.

On the way there, Xipil talked about going to town to visit the chapel, but wasn’t eager to spend the night in town, which he’d have to do, as the land bridge is only open for an hour or so. Nujan and Lunari headed for the fort, hoping for a finer meal there, but the grilled fish and vegetables the farmers served Xipil, Grogg and me were delicious. Lunari and Nujan returned shortly; they must have changed their minds about where to eat.

The whole village gathered to socialize, and I noticed Lunari was watching Nujan more than he watched the two farm girls or me. They were both pretty, and I thought they were sisters. The little sister looked to be around fourteen, so I figured she was too young for Lunari, but the big sister was around my age, so I couldn’t fathom why Lunari didn’t make a pass at her. He didn’t make a pass at me either, for which I’m thankful, but his body language has made it clear that it’s only a matter of time. Not now, though. Something about Nujan held his attention.

Lunari played the violin, and some of the villagers danced. The young girl watched her big sister dance, and I detected a touch of envy. Since nobody invited either of us to dance, I asked her if she would like a twirl on the green with me. We danced for a while, until Lunari put away the violin and started telling the story of Gromgar.

In the middle of the story, Grogg cried out for Kraa with desperation. He declared he was going to the mainland, for that’s where Kraa was. Xipil followed him. The farmers got nervous because of the loud troll, and started to disperse. Lunari and Nujan left, too, but returned before I could decide where to go. Lunari offered me “fun juice”, but I told him I didn’t see the charm in it. Since everyone had left the village green, we headed out, too, towards the fort. Grogg and Xipil turned around once they remembered they could have difficulty getting back over the land bridge, and came to the fort with us.

At the fort, Mina told us dinner was ready, and so we wouldn’t seem ungrateful, Lunari, Grogg and I followed her to the dining hall while Xipil watched the sunset. We met him in the hallway afterwards, and he said that Nujan was concerned that something magical in town didn’t glow anymore. As a side note, he added that Markus had gone to town, and didn’t return before the bridge disappeared beneath the waves.

Grogg thought that I should look more through his magic ring, so we all went out on a balcony overlooking Guling. Through the ring, I noticed that something was disturbing the shadows around a tower there. This had upset the others to varying degrees, and Nujan was talking to the guards to the inner courtyard. We were too far away to hear what he said, but his arms waved with agitation.

Xipil prodded me to ask the guards at the main gate what that tower was. Once I pointed it out, they exclaimed that the tower was supposed to have a light. As long as the light was lit, everything was well in town. The guards were unconvinced of the veracity of their statement, making me think that someone had tried to spread a rumor about the light being a good omen, but with varied success. I returned to the others and relayed the information to them. Lunari yawned and declared he was going to bed. He had worked so hard today, he claimed. I rolled my eyes at his retreating back and thought to myself that it would have been more accurate to assert that he had hardly worked today.

Xipil wanted to look at the stars, and Grogg and I joined him going down to the plateau, where he could touch good, safe soil while meditating. Xipil warned me that I should try to say his name before prodding him awake, should I decide it was necessary. Maybe that would pull him back more safely. I sat down to pray beside him, and Grogg got out his sewing kit.

Immediately, Xipil told me that star essence coming from the dark tower blocked his view of the stars in the sky. The star essence was starlight without the light, he explained, and he felt as if he was looking for faint lights behind a bright lamp, just without the light, if that made any sense. Through Grogg’s ring, I could see dark tentacles reaching heavenward from the tower. This darkness must be what blocked the heavenly essence from reaching us. Without the ring, the stars were just as visible as always, but there’s something special about Xipil’s meditation, and he wanted to find a spot in the shade from the tower. We tried a few places, but returned to the fort once we realized that nothing else blocked the tower completely from sight.

In the courtyard, Nujan was speaking to a servant, and we approached them. Xipil told them that the tower had gathered large amounts of star power, and Nujan told us he’d let Remi know; the chief servant was expected soon.

Xipil sat down by the wall to see if it blocked the tower enough for him to get anything useful from the stars. Grogg went to fetch Lunari. This was too dire not to have him with us. When they returned, Grogg was saying something about the Digging Rat doing something in town.

Grogg decided to bellow for Kraa again, and everyone turned towards him. Soon after, the door to the inner courtyard opened up. A young girl stomped her foot and made it clear to the guards that she was going out, their orders be damned. When she came closer, I could see that she was an elf, so even if she didn’t look much older than the young human girl in the village, I guessed she was in her thirties. She was beautiful.