Horukh’s Journal: I am amazed by what we have been doing! This party---this band of adventurers---accepted me. This is a harder life than I EVER expected, and as horrifying as it can be, I think … I think I love it. I don’t love it in the same way as a sweet-smelling temple, or a court feast, or quiet time with nothing but my instruments and models, creating things. I love it in a new way, a visceral way. My visions showed me, for years, that the adventuring discipline is a painful life of blood and broken limbs, but now that I have had a few tastes of it, I think it is a significant part what has been missing in me. I needed this . Kryikh and I met! He is everything the others said he was and more. He plays himself as shy and distanced, but he is magnificent. Imagine what kind of bravery it takes to have a broken wing from adventuring, and then recover and come back to your party? He sets a good example for me, and I hope we can be friends. Just having another kenku nearby reassures me, even though I’ve trained most of my life to be comfortable around any species. And, I don’t mean it in any denigrating way, but it is a pleasure to talk with someone who may actually be smarter than me. Despite our scouting and mapping, there was a miserable fight with sewage creatures, and very evil bullywugs. Gah, the stench, and the bloodshed! The evil bullywugs were amazing in their ambush though; it was hard to believe they aren’t flyers ---but more on that later--- as they leapt above and across the party, making consistent attacks in midair. They weren’t exactly bright, but, there was a base cunning to what they did, that I can learn from. My architecture for defensive structures concentrated on mass movements and channeling and choke points, but never have I paid attention to the personal-level action until this fight, and the ones with the ogres and trolls. I am enlightened, seeing the tactical level and not solely the strategic level. I must learn this more. My admiration for the choices that Airen has made in his life were underscored by encountering the other bullywugs. I’ve often maintained that “evil is easy,” and yet Airen takes the harder path of being brave and good. His conscience is remarkable. And what a spellcaster! That wall of despair he can conjure is quite effective. Mora, Torvald, Sam, Oceanus, and Sandoval proved their efficacy in combat yet again. Sometimes it feels like there is more than physics guiding their blows. This is not to say that I just stop amidst a battle and watch idly; it is just that I soak in all that happens around me, and I hope I never lose the sense of wonder I feel when such a party as ours faces off against an attack in such ways, and emerges victorious. They have such skill in combat that I can see a swing of a blade and observe it curve, dip and then slice upwards in arcs that bypass the defenses of their foes, or watch arrows strike a split-second between impossible shots, as if all of time awaited that instant and then invited the arrow’s flight. Afterwards? We were a mess, with every kind of mud, dreck, and slime imaginable on us, but I was able to hone my senses and make a sweep of the area for the glows of magic with the third sight. Such wonders were found! A statuette of a black fly was discovered and it transformed into a giant version of itself, and Airen went a-flying! He is a born rider, that one; he can certainly fly on a fly! And we found some gold and gems, and a ring that I like very much. Sam got a necklace that matches the ring and I’d like to have that very much. I hope we can find some sort of magic item worthy of him, that I can trade for the necklace. What a dream it would be, to fly underwater, better than I could in the air! I wish I could find the dream item of all diplomats, while we are on our adventures, something that can allow me to speak and understand any language and writing. I study the past, exult in the present, and want to make the future! But I digress! We found something incredible! Ancient stones, the kind that were made as examples of how enchantments could embed in objects from maybe thousands of years ago, were dug up from the muck. I was fortunate enough to be offerred one, and it is strange… I feel stronger. I have been such a weakling for so long, but this stone somehow helps ---how to put it best? --- it understands when I need help lifting or carrying, and it boosts up some of the weight for me! I love it! The fact that it might have been made by the ancient masters themselves and lost for millenia thrills me as much as its effects upon me. Could it be enchanted by the hands of Eruditea , or Homn, or the Red Bard, or maybe Kimin’ter ? Could it be a link to ancient heroes?
