Sarenith 29 (Evening, Magnimar)

Tien is dizzyingly complicated. The written form has thousands of pictographs and the spoken language is tonal. I’ve gotten started with some introductory lessons here over the past couple of days and some books that will allow limited self-study, but this is not going to be an easy process. Fortunately, I’ll be spending the next month on a long, and likely dull, caravan journey with a native speaker.

Erastus 1 (Afternoon, Sandpoint)

I checked in with Sandru and the caravan preparations are complete. The last of the wagon upgrades was finishing up while I was there and the provisions have probably been loaded by now. We’ll be leaving at dawn tomorrow morning.

I first got to know Sandru when he was working as a caravan guard back in the early 4700’s. Dad used caravans a lot for transporting goods between Sandpoint and nearby settlements, even the coastal ones like Riddleport, and I watched too many to count load and unload at the warehouse. Most of the caravan guards tended to be gruff and not very sociable, assuming that they even had anything intelligent to say, but Sandru was the exception. It may have been in part because he grew up here, but I think it was mostly just Sandru: he likes people, he likes to talk to people, and he’s genuinely friendly. What I remember the most about him, though, is that he talked to me more or less like an adult. A lot of people talk down to children. Sandru just wasn’t like that.

His family has been entangled with the Sczarni for as long as anyone can remember. Sandru is one of the few that wants nothing to do with them and he tends to keep away from Sandpoint except for business. My understanding is that he and his older brother do not get along; dad tells me that Jubrayl is the local Sczarni leader so I can see how that might put a strain on family relations. Staying away probably makes that easier.

When Ameiko ran off that second time to pursue an adventurer’s life Sandru was part of the group. Neither of them talked about what happened out there when they came back a year later and he disappeared for a while after that. In a way, they both did: Ameiko retreated into herself and threw up walls while Sandru was more literal about it. In time, he came back to Sandpoint only as the owner of his own caravan. Like Ameiko, he had used the coin he’d earned from that year in the wild to make a new life for himself. Mom and dad actually used his caravan a lot in that time—I think they still do, in fact—as he tended to keep it pretty close to Sandpoint, Magnimar, and Riddleport and they already knew and trusted him.

Mom gets a kick out of flirting with him and basically making him uncomfortable, which is just one of those things mom does sometimes. I’ve often wondered if it bothers dad. I brought this up to him once a couple of years ago and he said, “I trust your mother completely”. Which was not the question I asked, but I guess it’s the one that matters. The last time we were in Korvosa was several years ago, and I asked grandma about what mom was like before she and dad met. She said mom was a pretty heavy flirt back then, but she intimidated boys. Like, a lot. Even the ones she liked. She chuckled and said, “Your dad was perhaps the only one that wasn’t scared of her.” Maybe that’s why he doesn’t worry.

I saw Qatana this morning as she was getting in from Magnimar. She seemed disappointed that we hadn’t traveled together. It should have occurred to me to ask.

Erastus 10 (Evening, Roderic’s Cove)

We encountered a small band of ogres just a few hours outside of Rod’s Cove. Sandru was very concerned about this, as ogres are just not very common in this part of Varisia, much less as a group working together to ambush travelers. We spread the word once we got into town to be on alert for others, just in case it wasn’t an isolated event.

Fortunately for us, our scouts spotted them before we rode into the trap. Our archers circled around behind them while the rest of us stayed with the wagons. Nihali actually played a key role in letting our two groups communicate with one another, albeit crudely. Once the scouts were in position, they let her know and I could feel her excitement. I relayed this to Sandru and Qatana, and they moved the caravan ahead, into the ambush.

Qatana was seated in the lead wagon. She lit one of the sky rockets, aimed it at the ogres’ position and let it go. The explosion spoiled their surprise but left us with several angry, injured ogres still intent on attack. Olmas bravely charged them on his horse, but they were just too big and too strong, and he ended up facing them alone without close support and got badly hurt. Help did arrive and he survived, but it was yet another close call for our group.

I bring this up in detail only because I felt like I was not able to contribute significantly to the engagement. Eventually, I was close enough to toss one of those little acid darts, but overall I felt so limited. And, to be honest, I am a little shaken after having had a lethal exchange with a living creature, even under these circumstances. (I’ve carried a crossbow for years, too, but have never shot at a living target with it, either.) It was one thing to do this to skeletons, and another when it was flesh, blood, and bone—ogre or not. But I couldn’t get close enough, fast enough, to use something else.

This sounds ridiculous after writing it out. I just don’t know how to explain the feeling. I am going to have to come to terms with it.

We tracked the ogres back to their temporary campsite. They’ve been out here a while, it seems, raiding who-knows-what. We found an eclectic assortment of money and valuables which can be used to fund the third supply wagon once we reach Riddleport. Once again, we are profiting off the misfortune of so many others.

Something else I’ll have to come to terms with, it seems.

Erastus 12 (Night, Riddleport)

We are fortunate. Riddleport is a large enough city that a supply wagon with an enhanced undercarriage was available, no waiting. It took us less than two hours to find both that and a driver for hire. We will be able to leave for Brinewall tomorrow morning.

Erastus 14 (Afternoon, Velashu Uplands)

Ameiko is currently sleeping in the covered wagon and we don’t know what’s wrong. Koya is looking after her as best she can.

We stopped briefly for lunch and I noticed that she was looking a little off. In Tien—we’ve been practicing daily, and I’ve asked her to only speak with me in Tien so that I can learn—I asked if she was feeling ill, but she answered in common because some of the others had also noticed and appeared concerned.

“I’m fine! Just a little tired this morning is all.”

She turned to finish cleaning up the mess area of our encampment, took a couple of steps and then collapsed.

No one knows what is wrong. There are suspicions that it’s a magically induced sleep of some sort, and may be related to Brinewall, but it’s all just speculation. What we do know is that her condition isn’t worsening, but it’s not improving, either. For now, we’ve decided to press on and monitor her. If something changes, we can always turn back.

Erastus 14 (Night, Velashu Uplands)

I am staying the night next to Ameiko. Earlier this evening she started talking in her sleep, only speaking in Tien. Koya had someone come and get me, but by the time I climbed into the wagon she had stopped. Koya agreed to let me stay with her, just in case she speaks again. It turns out that this was a wise decision because it happened two more times after that.

My Tien is still not great and her wording has been cryptic if not outright archaic. I can’t realistically use a spell because the incidents are too short and too far apart, so instead I have been writing down what she says phonetically and translating it after the fact as best as I can. This is what she said tonight:

Beware the birds that wish to fly but cannot.

One treasure beyond two seals in the third vault.

Ameiko has never, to my knowledge, spoken in riddles like this. More support for the theory that what is happening to her has something to do with where we are headed.

Erastus 15 (Evening, Velashu Uplands)

Ameiko spoke again today. I almost missed it.

Beware the cuckolded cuckoo. It is in his shattered, silent love you should seek aide.

My translation is a bit speculative there, but as I said yesterday Ameiko’s word choice has been unusual. There is no direct translation for the Tien, but it appeared to be a play on words of some sort between a terrestrial bird and one who had been cheated on by a mate or lover. The second part is ambiguous as well, and I don’t know if “love” is intended to mean an emotion or a person. That would mean the difference between seeking out “him”, and seeking out his lover. Since we are told to “beware” him, I am assuming the latter.

This is also the second reference to birds. The only bird-men I have heard of are Tengu, but I have never seen any in Varisia.

Erastus 16 (Evening, The Nolands)

Today’s clue is:

The key you seek lies in the grip of the ten-handed one. His fear is your greatest ally.

There are demons with many arms and hands. But what would a demon fear?

Erastus 17 (Noon, The Nolands)

Ameiko spoke again this morning.

Grandfather waits in the dark, but he knows not who he was.

We are all in agreement on this one: Rokuro has been turned into an undead. Possibly a kind that retains its will.

For the last several days, Ameiko has had neither food nor water yet her physical condition remains unchanged. There are spells that can sustain a person in this manner, but there’s no evidence that one is in effect. More mysteries.

Erastus 17 (Evening, Brinewall)

We have arrived.

Sarenith 24 (Afternoon, Brinestump Marsh)

Like all residents of Sandpoint I had heard of Old Megus, but I’d never actually met her myself. Rumor was that she rarely left the swamp, coming into town only to purchase obscure magical supplies. Most people referred to her as the Swamp Witch and based on Etayne’s reaction when we found her home that wasn’t just a colloquialism (and so it would seem that the Witch’s Walk was also aptly named). Of particular interest to Etayne were the numerous windchimes made of bone that were hanging above the porch, but when asked about them she replied that although they looked familiar she did not understand their purpose.

The shack was in poor shape. Neglect and the elements had taken their toll and the walls were dingy and sagging. Next to it was a partially collapsed shed which had long since given up the fight. No one had lived here in some time.

The ground around the buildings was covered with large rodent tracks which, of course, peaked Qatana’s curiosity and when she heard skittering inside the house it proved too tempting for her to resist. At least she knocked first. When there was no answer, she opened the door—this took some effort because the frame was warped—and went in with Etayne and some of the others close behind. Given the number of tracks on the ground, I chose to stay outside and keep an eye on both buildings from the front. Olmas went around back to do the same.

I heard but did not see the skirmish. Etayne emerged briefly to clean that long spear of hers, the end of which was covered in blood. “Dire rats,” she said with a half-smile when I looked at her quizzically, and then she went back inside without another word.

People surprise you.

Old Megus, it seemed, had died at her own hand. Etayne spent a lot of time examining the remains of her laboratory and had no doubt that there had been a mishap of some sort with one of her experiments. It was kind of a sad discovery. Megus had presumably come out here to live in solitude, but that also meant that she died alone and no one had noticed aside from her ratling familiar. Not that I approve of what she had been doing. Obsessed with transformation magic, her deformed corpse suggested she was mucking with the process of nature itself; it’s the sort of experimentation that taints all of us, especially in countries like Varisia where superstition runs strong.

As for the ratling, the arcane world has low opinions of these creatures but I am pleased that this meeting did not end in bloodshed and that we were able to part amicably. He was, after all, just defending the only home he has known for many decades, and we were the intruders. There was no reason to fight, and he seemed touched by the offer to bury his mistress. He even pulled out an amazing surprise: Old Megus had maintained an astonishingly detailed map of the Brinestump Marsh, and we made a rough copy of it in order to amend and correct our own. It is amazing what you can learn when you just talk to other beings and treat them kindly. Assuming of course, that they are not plotting to stab you in the back as you leave. (I think it also helped a great deal to have Etayne take the lead, for there was a level of understanding with her and Ling that would not have been possible with the rest of us).

One interesting mark on Megus’s map was the cave, which she indicated with a simple skull.

“My mistress said that the cave is very dangerous. Even she never went in there, and she was very powerful.”

Etayne replied, “Your mistress was very wise, and she was right to avoid it. Inside were many skeletons, undead created from the corpses of the crew or passengers on those ships.” Among other things.

He didn’t know anything about the skeletons. When asked if Megus ever dabbled with the undead, he shook his head.

“No. She was only interested in life.”

We told what we knew of the goblin village, the skeletons and their attack on it, and even the faceless stalker and the Warden. We were the oral Swamp Times, delivering the latest news to the denizens of Brinestump. And it turned out he had something to add on these matters, as well.

“I’ve been to this ship, too, which the goblins made up into a house. More goblins came to it one day and they fought each other.”

More mysteries. It explained the corpses, answering one question while raising a half-dozen others. Rival tribes? An exiled group? Not that it mattered.

We were able to walk to the second shipwreck from there which was a pleasant turn of events, but that decaying hulk of a Chelish ship was in much worse shape than the other. Without the benefit of any protection from the elements, there was little left beyond the deteriorating hull frame and remnants of its outer plating. A quick search turned up the nameplate which was still intact but severely weatherworn. A few cantrips cleaned it up enough to see a pair of Tien pictographs, and of course, I recognized the name Kaijitsu (I try not to be stupid in the same way more than once). The meaning of the other would have to wait.

Sarenith 24 (Afternoon, Sandpoint)

If it had not occurred to me that we hadn’t searched the entirety of the goblin village, we might not have encountered the Soggy River Monster. Once again, what the name lacked in originality it made up for in technical accuracy,

It was a foul thing and my magic couldn’t touch it, but there were many of us and just one of it, and now it’s dead. According to the Sheriff, this was one of the Sinspawn, horrid creatures that were discovered along with an ancient Thassilonian runewell under Sandpoint a few years ago. I remember several long, tense, and (I am not ashamed to admit it) frightening nights when the sinkhole had opened up, exposing the long-buried temple to the world above. We could hear unnatural, dog-like sounds coming from within. Eventually, the “Heroes of Sandpoint”, as the town called them (Sedjwick no doubt had a hand in that one), had returned and dealt with it. By then, mom and dad had already decided to move. I guess they had had enough.

Why bring this up? For one, it was interesting. For two, as I said my magic had no effect. None. It’s something we were taught while studying the craft as a warning against putting too much faith in spells as an offensive weapon. Some creatures are just innately resistant to mortal magic. Me? I took home a slightly different message, but it will be some time before I am able to master the alternatives.

Olmas and Anavaru are fierce opponents. Olmas you’d expect, but Ana? It still astonishes me. It shouldn’t, I realize, but when you know someone as long as we’ve known one another your perspective gets skewed. She was always quiet, kind, and funny, and we had quite a few laughs about her camel (I meant “horse” there), and that’s just how I remember her. I certainly noticed when she went from adolescent girl to young woman that-you-do-not-want-to-piss-off, but my head is still stuck a couple of years earlier than that.

She started spending a lot more time out in the wild after her dad was killed. She’d always had this thing for animals and getting away from the city seemed to bring her some comfort. I actually joined her on some of her overnight forays into the hinterlands. Once, we event spent a couple of nights trying to catch a glimpse of the Sandpoint Devil after having heard rumors that it had been seen in the farmlands near Tickwood. In retrospect, that was a really stupid idea but I must have felt safe with her around or I wouldn’t have even considered it.

We went to see Sheriff Hemlock as soon as we returned to town. I was just as happy to be rid of the ears and head we were required to provide as proof of our success as I was to collect the bounty on the same. While this sort of troubleshooter-for-hire work certainly seems to pay well, it does strike me as being particularly gruesome. It is also a little disquieting that you end up profiting off of someone else’s suffering. We are all several hundred gold wealthier than we were before—to the average person, an enormous sum that they will not see in their entire lives—but several less fortunate individuals are still dead.

Sarenith 24 (Night, Sandpoint)

Tonight I showed Ameiko the letter. Ana and I grew up with her so the two of us made plans to meet her at the inn before the dinner rush would leave her too busy to talk in private. We were joined by a couple of the others.

At first, there was that awkward moment that comes from delivering unexpected news where you are having two different conversations at the same time. But as our story reached the Minkai chest, and then the Chelish ship bearing the name Kaijitsu Star, I saw the realization dawning on her. We paused to let the news sink in. I was acutely aware of the sounds from the inn’s common room because the one we were in had become completely silent. There was a long pause before Ameiko spoke.

“A Chelish ship? The Kaijitsu Star? I…I’ve never heard of any of this. It…it doesn’t make any sense…”

“There’s more. A lot more.”

Ameiko looked at me and I continued.

“The footprints led to a cave on the edge of the marsh. Inside, we found over a dozen skeletons wearing Tian Xia style armor. We think they were survivors from one of the shipwrecks, but we don’t know what killed them.

“They animated and attacked as we explored the cave. In a smaller cave next to that was another skeleton, also in Tian Xia style armor, sitting on a jade and cherrywood chest, also of Minkai origin. This skeleton was also undead, only…it seemed to retain some of its will and memories. It pulled a sword from its own rib cage, issued a challenge of some sort to Olmas, and attacked.

“We think the goblins had stolen these chests, and that this is how they got the fireworks. And, somehow, this person returned as an undead and took revenge. He could control the other skeletons, and they raided the village and took this chest back.

“As for the sword, we identified it with magic and it has a name, The Whispering Shrike. It had a loose hilt, and inside the hilt was this letter.”

Rokuro’s Letter (Tien)

Rokuro’s Letter (Common, see text)

I slid it across the desk to her as I went on.

“We didn’t know what it was, and of course, none of us understands Tien. So I used a spell to read it. We think it was to your father from your grandfather. If we had known I wouldn’t have done it. I’m sorry.”

Before she started reading, I also showed her the name of the second ship.

“I didn’t have the spell available for the second ship. It’s also Chelish. I recognize Kaijitsu, but not the other pictograph.” (She would eventually translate this as Kaijitsu’s Blossom).

I watched her read. Ameiko does not always hide her emotions well and I could follow her progress just by watching her expression change from one to the next. At one point, she shook her head and, in a frustrated tone, said quietly, “Father, you could have told me…”

Lonjiku was not a pleasant man. Officially, Ameiko did not have many friends when she was growing up and even fewer still were allowed in his home (I was one of those few, but I never felt comfortable there). Unofficially, of course, Ameiko would never let her overbearing father dictate her life and she snuck out of the house so often to do as she pleased that he was either oblivious to it or resigned to her irreverence. I think the only reason she stayed at home was because she was all he had left and her culture has a strong sense of family and duty.

This letter, which she confirmed as coming from her grandfather (or, at least bearing his name), teased her with answers about her father and her family that had been gnawing at her for as long as I’ve known her.

She thanked us for bringing it to her and asked us to join her for dinner that night. She also, mercifully, said we could keep anything that we found out there (I say “mercifully” because it headed off a brewing argument over property and salvage rights, and other quasi-legal matters that were making me sick to my stomach, putting Ana’s, Qatana’s, and my history with Ameiko in conflict with the others). All she wanted was that letter.

Dinner, as it turned out, involved a few more people than we had expected. Joining us in her private dining room, which was packed tighter than I have ever seen, were Koya, Sandru and, of all people, Shalelu. It was obvious we were not there solely to share a meal together..

I’ll be honest. I was not the least bit surprised when, after everyone had finished eating, she announced her intention to travel to Brinewall and pursue this family mystery. I would have done it were I in her position. I also wasn’t surprised at her plan to use Sandru’s caravan to get there. She invited all of us to join her—Brinewall being what it was, it would be foolish to go alone—and from there, the other pieces began falling into place.

I, of course, was going if Ameiko was going and Anavaru was right there next to me. Qatana wanted any excuse to go anywhere. Shalelu would also accompany Ameiko, and that clinched the decision for several of the others. And Koya? Well, Sandru was going and she had practically adopted him, too. When all was said and done, the eleven of us had signed on.

Sandru gave us a quick overview of the trip, a one-way distance of about 500 miles over well-traveled roads that would take roughly 16 days. The last leg, up to Brinewall, was not as busy, but there was still the occasional caravan to and from the Lands of the Linnorm Kings. He did not expect any significant trouble along the way.

His eyes scanned the room as he spoke, finally locking his gaze on mine. “I have a small caravan of three wagons. Though if we need to make some upgrades or additions, we can talk about that now.”

I swear the smug bastard even winked. And, just like that, I had come full circle.

Several years ago I was standing on the bridge just below the Cathedral, idly watching the wash being carried by the river. There was a maple leaf, large and bright green, drifting along in the current and it would hang up on a rock or a log or some foliage on the surface of the water, then break loose in a spin, meandering further downstream before catching on the next. I followed its slow progress towards town and the harbor beyond.

Ameiko had just left Sandpoint, again, and I was fighting this urge to wallow in self-pity after having lost my best friend. It seems so pathetic now, writing that, but when you’re fifteen the world is always ending because of some crisis that years later you learn is just life. I remember thinking at the time that she might be gone for good—though you could never tell with Ameiko—and what was going through my head boiled down to one question: “Now what?”

I had often come to this bridge when seeking solace and for a moment that afternoon I almost had it. It’s isolated in a way, a lightly traveled road on the edge of town. Look to the east and you could imagine you were in the forest instead of downwind from a tannery. I found it relaxing and centering. But as the leaf disappeared underneath the wooden planks of the bridge, I caught my reflection in the water and the bottom dropped out of the day. It was like the scene in front of me was my own personal metaphor.

Mom and dad just assumed that I would join the family business, and it’s not like I had given them any reason to think otherwise. This was worse than choosing or not choosing: it was not even acknowledging that I had a choice at all; just letting it happen. Childhood curiosity, an innocuous “What are you working on?” here and there, was the spark for that fire. They involved me in the simpler logistics early on, and it burned out of control when I proved to be good at it. Really, really good. Cargo manifests, bills of lading, customs forms, capacity planning, legal agreements, insurance, payment terms…even some preliminary passage planning. And I saw my future spread out ahead of me, sitting behind a desk buried in maps, calculations, paperwork, and forms.

The leaf didn’t have any say over where it went. I did. The next morning, I became an active participant in my own future for the first time and chose a path that had nothing to do with the mercantile system.

And yet, here I was years later, taking Sandru’s bait. At least, this time, it was my choice.

Sandru could have done this in his sleep but for whatever reason he wanted to involve me in the process. Or maybe he just got a kick out of putting me up to the challenge. It was all very Sandru, playing mentor, big brother, or uncle as the situation warranted.

Fine. Challenge accepted. Move over and let me work.

Ameiko offered up 2,000 gold of her own in financing. Which, first of all, is one hell of a sign of commitment on her part. We were sitting in the last thing I’d seen her commit to, and that was six years ago. Ameiko just didn’t do “commitment”. On top of that, our little group threw in the bounty from the Soggy River Monster, raising the purse by half. And with that, Sandru and I were off.

We numbered twelve in all, fourteen with Sandru’s drivers. Our caravan was already too small unless you like traveling with no margin for error. There were some efficiency improvements we could make, taking advantage of our collective experience bivouacking around the marsh. On top of that, we could reinforce the undercarriages of the wagons and increase our travel speed. Add in a few other improvements and I estimated we could cut our provisions by 15% and reduce the travel time by 3 days. If we were willing to stop at major settlements and sacrifice some travel time we could also do trading to pay for our provisions as we went.

Our route would take us through Galduria, Wolf’s Ear, Ravenmoor, Roderic’s Cove, and Riddleport. With the time spent stopping to trade in each settlement, we’d need 15 full days for the journey there. The longest leg was the round trip from Riddleport to Brinewall, and we’d need enough provisions for that plus a few days stay and a modest safety margin.

It took us a couple of hours, and I think we bored most everyone to sleep, but when Sandru and I were done we had the following plan:

1. Buy a supply wagon for the caravan here in Sandpoint
2. Outfit all wagons with enhanced undercarriages
3. Buy a second supply wagon once we reached Riddleport
4. Add an enhanced undercarriage to that wagon
5. Hire a third person to drive it

We had also worked out roles for everyone to contribute along the way (scouting, cooking, guard duty, and so on), and ensured that there were backups for each one.

And that is how you plan a caravan.

Tonight I also learned that Qatana remembers some of the fundamentals of the business, despite it having been over a decade. The wonders never cease. Throughout the planning discussion she was pretty alert, even offering her unique brand of helpful advice. (Some of it was actually quite reasonable, such as “If there is abundant water along the way, pack only dry goods like grains, nuts, dried fruits and salted meats” and “Cheese and dairy should be carried in waxed paper or cloth wrapped in damp cloth or stored in damp wood chips”, but others, like “Round wheels roll better than other shapes”, were less so).

Our plan calls for a lot of heavy equipment for a small city like Sandpoint, and it’s not going to come together overnight. Sandru estimates that it will take about a week before we’re ready to depart. Which is good, because I really want to go see my parents. When I left, this was only supposed to be a two-week visit. Gods, how things have changed.

Sarenith 28 (Night, Magnimar)

Tonight I told mom and dad about our trip to Brinewall. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I almost wish I hadn’t done it. I thought they might worry—dad especially—but I never imagined it would end in an argument. I was so angry afterward I just left and spent much of the night down in Ordellia. But i’m getting ahead of myself.

I showed them the fan and the pin, and told them the abridged version of events in the Brinestump Marsh because this was going to be hard enough as it was. In the end, it probably didn’t matter. As soon as I said I was helping charter and plan a caravan trip to Brinewall, and that I was going to be on it, everything just stopped. We sat there in silence for I don’t know how long. I don’t remember the last time I saw mom at a loss for words, or dad looking so…blank. Right then, I wanted to take it back and do the evening over again.

Dad recovered first. He spoke quietly but firmly. It’s a voice I knew well, and my stomach twisted in knots as the words came out.

“Why? Why are you doing this?”

And I realized I didn’t have a good answer. I mean, I did, but how could I explain it? I had been back in Sandpoint for only a few days. What was I supposed to say? That in that time I had reconnected with Anavaru, Ameiko, and Qatana and we were suddenly best friends again? That we’d met some others and gone off on an adventure together, bonding over the blood of goblins, the bones of skeletons, and the hidden beauty of a putrid swampland? That there was a mystery involving an old friend and I wanted to help her find some “closure”? How do you say that without sounding ridiculous? Without sounding like we were treating our lives as disposable?

“Ameiko is my friend, dad. We grew up together. Why wouldn’t I help her?”

“Kali, listen to me: you are talking about Brinewall. Something terrible happened there. Something so terrible that it has been left abandoned ever since. People do not go there for a reason.”

This was true, but not in the way he was implying. All of Varisia had heard about Brinewall. The residents of the castle and town had simply vanished one day, just a few years before I was born, and no one knew what happened to them. Those who were sent to investigate described a disturbing scene of a normal day interrupted as if the whole town had simply stepped out for tea in the middle of what they were doing and never returned. The native Varisians and Shoanti are a superstitious lot and they invent explanations when none are forthcoming. People avoid Brinewall because 20 years of rumor have been fueled by a frontier land that’s bathed in mysticism. Depending on who you ask, Brinewall is either cursed, haunted, or both.

“And that reason may have something to do with her family’s history. She needs to know. She deserves to know.”

“Maybe she does. But you do not need to go with her.”

And if the mood was awkward and tense before, it suddenly got much worse. I knew where this was headed, but I couldn’t stop myself.

“She’s my friend and I am not going to walk away from her.”

“Because she never did the same to you?”

And there it was. I couldn’t keep my temper under control. “That is not fair! Not to her, and not to me!“

OK, fine, Ameiko had left and she had changed, and yes that had hurt. But reducing her life to just this event was wrong, and it was also a cheap shot. The rest of what we said to each other I don’t remember well enough to write down. Let’s just say it was mercifully short, and gratifyingly loud. At least, it felt that way at the time. Now? I just want to throw up. What I do remember is that mom never said a word. Not one word.

It was a long walk to Ordellia but I needed the time to calm down anyway. The district is mostly foreigners and is one of the few places in Magnimar where I actually blended in. I didn’t have a destination in mind, and except for a brief visit to the Rose and Rake I didn’t go anywhere particularly memorable. I just wanted to be anonymous and clear my head, something easily accomplished with a few drinks and plenty of crowds. After a couple of hours alone with my thoughts I was feeling pretty awful about how dinner had gone, what I’d said to dad, and how little I had tried to avoid an argument. So. Mission accomplished, I guess.

Despite its active nightlife, Lowcleft is not the safest place for a woman to be walking alone after dark but the route along the docks would take me twice as long and I just wanted to get home. Like Ordellia, most of the street patrols here are privately funded, only some of Lowcleft’s build their moral foundation on sand or silt. You don’t always know which of them are looking out for you, looking the other way, or just looking for opportunities to be street thugs with a badge and a salary. I got propositioned and catcalled a half-dozen times by an assortment of creeps and lowlifes, including one from that third category. But I am not a complete fool, and Nihali was discreetly watching over me, flittering between rooftops. She was a hole in the night sky; a shadow in shadows. Even I couldn’t see her, and I more or less knew where she was. As I crossed into the neighboring district her agitation told me that someone had decided I was worth following. I was too distracted or lost in thought, and had failed to notice the “victim” sign that had been hung around my neck.

It’s dangerous to start an armed fight in Magnimar. It’s not the city guard so much as the people: the guard will probably only arrest you, but in a city this size there are too many folks that are likely tougher and more deadly than you are. Pull a lethal weapon and you might find that you are woefully outclassed against someone who is all too enthusiastic to emphasize the point. As a woman, though, the rules are a little different because it’s a lower grade of thug and there are no guarantees that they will stop at your money or your jewelry. You need to establish that you will protect yourself by any means possible as soon as possible so why don’t you just move along. I’ve had to do it a few times, but tonight I was not armed with anything other than my dagger and magic is a terrible deterrent because you have to use it for people to get the message, especially when you don’t look the part. Note to self: next time you stomp off in anger, try to plan ahead.

I was already in a mood, though, so I decided to put a stop to this before it even got that far. With Nihali’s distress as a guide, I slowed to let my suitor get a lot closer, waited until I passed through a suitably dark shadow blanketing the street, and tried a new spell I had learned. A temporary pothole opened in the middle of the cobblestone pavement immediately behind me, and a satisfying thump followed by a mental snicker from my familiar told me my friend had tripped and fallen on his face. By the time he had gotten back on his feet I had entered the crowded square at the base of the Seacleft and the Irespan, and my second spell sent fog billowing out around me. In shoulder-to-shoulder people it wouldn’t be obvious who was responsible for that and I let the confusion buy me some time to let it spread and thicken before dropping the spell and turning up the hill to the Capital district. By the time I reached the top the fog below was so thick you couldn’t see more than a few feet, and I no longer had company.

I could officially get my hands slapped for doing that in the middle of town, but as I said I was in a mood and, at any rate, they’d have to catch me first and I didn’t stick around to let some bystander assemble a narrative. I kept moving and reached my parents’ home in Naos a little before midnight. Mom was still up and she knocked quietly on my door just as I settled in and started to write. We talked for a little bit and this time, I managed to stay civil and calm. See? I’m learning.

“I’m not a child anymore, mom.”

“No, you’re not. But your father is allowed to be worried, and he does have a point.”

“I’m not going there alone. There are twelve of us, including Shalelu. We can do this.”

“And how hard did you try to explain that to us, earlier?”

Heart-to-hearts with mom have this way of making me feel bad.

Sarenith 29 (Noon, Magnimar)

Dad and I apologized to each other this morning. Me for starting a fight that didn’t need to happen, and him for making that dig that was a little more personal than necessary. It was fine. We talked it out. I took my own advice (and mom’s) and told him more about our group and what each of us can do, and how we worked together in the marsh, and that seemed to put him more at ease.

There was one moment in that conversation that really stood out, though. He said, “It’s not what you tell us, it’s what you don’t tell us. You hide things from us, Kali. You always have.”

I felt like an open book, then. Just how much did they know?

Dad reviewed my preliminary caravan plans and, surprise, had no changes to suggest. As I said, I am good at this. He wasn’t thrilled about the stop in Riddleport (I got the feeling that Sandru wasn’t, either), but math doesn’t lie and there was no avoiding it, at least not on the way up.

We were able to dig up some maps that would be helpful and he pointed me at a couple of shops where I could find what I’d need to fill in the gaps.

Sarenith 23 (Mid-day)

I fell gravely ill when I was very young though of course I don’t remember any of it. My parents tell me they were traveling across the Carpendan Plains when I was four years old and the road took them along a marshland probably not unlike this one. No magic, no curses, no ancient horrors: just a simple mosquito bite paired with everyday misfortune.

We followed goblin tracks almost all the way in. Up above us, Nihali kept a watchful eye on the trail but the thick vegetation made seeing anything beyond its boundaries very difficult, and it felt like the swamp was slowly closing in around us the deeper into the marsh we pressed. If they somehow knew we were coming, we’d not likely see the ambush before it was sprung.

As it turned out I needn’t have worried. We emerged into a clearing of sorts that revealed the village in the distance, and from where we stood on the trail it looked eerily deserted. The front gate was completely broken down and there were no signs of activity. I asked Nihali to scout as safely as she could and she returned in short order with an ominous report.

“No guards, signs of life. Burned bodies, bones in the hole. Much fear.”

We approached the village cautiously and stepped into the compound. The gate had been broken down from the inside and then crushed in a stampede. Small footprints, dozens and dozens of them, told a story of a chaotic escape into the marsh. Whatever had happened here had terrified the goblins, sending most of the village fleeing in a mass panic.

A closer search of the grounds turned up a sinister explanation: skeletal footprints in the dirt, human-sized, leading into the village and back out again.

The charred bodies in the central pit were definitely goblins. A pig stye turned mass grave. It suggested there were still survivors here since someone had to be alive in order to burn and bury the dead, and we found the first of them in a small outbuilding. A half dozen goblins were cowering there in abject fear, and I suddenly felt uneasy about what we were here to do. Yes, they were goblins, and yes, we knew what this tribe had done, but that did not mean it was right to slaughter them in this manner.

But it did not take long for the situation to change: they became hostile and violent as soon as they saw what we were. The fight broke out in that first building and then spread to the courtyard when more goblins appeared at the window of one of the guardhouses. I tried to circle around using the platforms on the other side, but there was no direct path across and I ended up going deeper into the complex instead.

Eventually, I ran into Olmas, just as the rest of the party was preparing an assault into what they presumed was the goblin chieftain’s throne room. Etayne dropped down to the ground below and was able to count at least a half-dozen of them, in addition to the chieftain, through gaps in the raised floor. I was detecting faint traces of magic inside just as Qatana smashed the door in.

Nearly seven years ago on the beach in Sandpoint she flattened Jefy Theern, breaking several of his ribs when she slammed into him. I didn’t see it happen, or if I did the concussion erased my memory of it, but this is what it must have looked like. While goblin engineering, if you can call it that, is clumsy and primitive that door was still barred on the inside and sturdy enough to resist entry. Yet, under the force of her impact it shattered, sending a shower of splintered wood into the room.

Just seconds after the assault began an explosion in the doorway confirmed that the Licktoad tribe had, indeed, found a cache of fireworks. Several of us, including the chieftain’s own defenders, were enveloped in a starburst of searing, metallic powder that would no doubt have been quite beautiful from a few hundred feet away. While it was probably a waste of a spell—he immolated the last of his own with this trick—I answered with a color spray that left him blinded and stunned; Olmas and Anavaru delivered the killing blows.

A crudely hidden room turned up an astonishing surprise: a chest with a beautiful, red lacquer finish, decorated with etchings of cranes and frogs. I was stunned. It was obviously from Tian Xia, and almost certainly the Minkai Empire. It was a work of art.

Inside was something even more curious: a delicate Tian Xia fan which we unfolded. One side had an intricate painting of a gecko on backdrop of cherry blossoms. The other, unfortunately, had been painted over by the goblins but they had done so in order to draw a crude map of the marsh in wide, sloppy strokes. Bold X’s marked two locations along the shore and a third at the base of the cliffs just a short distance from the Witch’s Walk. (I don’t know if the goblins’ paint can be removed without damaging the original artwork, but it seems like something that should be attempted. When we are back in town, I will ask about this.) Presumably, one of these X’s is the shipwreck that is the source of the fireworks, but the others? Yet more mysteries.

Sarenith 23 (Evening)

We found the weatherworn shipwreck inland from the bay, far enough from the water that it was likely grounded there in a storm many years past. Curiously, the goblins had built a rickety fence around it complete with a broken gate. Ever the opportunists, they had apparently turned it into a home…which they subsequently destroyed by inadvertently setting it ablaze. From the outside, the two-mast Chelish vessel looked intact but the inside was completely gutted. Most likely their luck with the cache of skyrockets had finally run out and there had been an accident that led to a fire.

The dead goblins outside the ship, however, were anything but an accident. The badly decomposed bodies bore the telltale signs of battle injuries but gave no clues as to their assailants.

The name of the ship was still visible, and astonishingly it was written in Tien. I copied the pictographs as best I could since none of us could read them and even if I had the spell prepared it would have been a waste for just this purpose. Vudrani is a relatively young language on the scale by which these things are measured, and it evolved with heavy influence from Tien (I am told that in Tian Xia, Vudrani is even widely spoken as a foreign language). The two cultures have intermingled for centuries and I had an opportunity many years ago in Jalmeray to start learning Tien. Foolishly, I passed it up. As much as I have regretted that decision over the years, I am doing so even more, now.

Maybe if dad knew Tien things would have turned out differently. That may sound like I am shifting the responsibility for my decision to someone else, but the reality is that nearly all of my languages are a result of my parents’ influence. Dad, of course, spoke Vudrani at home as often as he did common: he very reasonably was not going to raise a daughter that wasn’t fluent in his native tongue. By nature of growing up in Varisia and having my mom as my mom I, of course, learned not just Varisian but Thassilonian as well—and knowing mom she probably started Thassilonian lessons while I was still in her womb. (Never mind that it’s basically a dead language known only by scholars and eccentrics.) And Elvish? A very useful language to have, of course, but that was both dad and mom, and motivated more by the family business than anything else. Only Draconic and Celestial didn’t originate with them, and if we’re being totally honest here the former wasn’t exactly a choice, either. Sure, you can learn magic without knowing Draconic, just as you can see with only one eye.

We are camped above the bluffs along the Witch’s Walk for the night. Down below, we came across the skeleton footprints and unsurprisingly they led to one of the locations marked on the goblins’ map, which turned out to be the entrance to a cave. What we were not expecting to see was a second shipwreck, visible just offshore in the distance and roughly corresponding to the sole remaining X. With the sun setting and the whereabouts of the skeletons unknown, however, the increasing prospects of a battle with the undead in a swamp in the dark seemed strangely unappealing.

Sarenith 24 (Morning)

Gods, I am an idiot. How many years did I spend around Ameiko? How could I not recognize the pictograph? How many times have I seen it? Dozens? A hundred? The Kaijitsu Star. There is an old adage about not noticing what is right in front of you, or what you don’t expect to find, and I guess this is what they mean. But still. I should have known.

I also feel like I have invaded her privacy, something that she has guarded carefully for as long as I have known her. I can’t say for certain that this letter was intended for her father, but the timing would be right. It’s dated 4687, just a couple of years before Ameiko was born. Sandpoint was founded in the 4660’s by the Mercantile League, an alliance of four families that included the Kaijitsus. Who else could it have been written to?

Ameiko did not talk much about her family, but I saw and heard enough of her father to know that he was a bitter, angry, and resentful man. Perhaps this letter explains some of that. Ultimately, I believe that we are responsible for our own decisions and choices in life, but we are influenced by how we are raised and how we are treated. How we respond to these trials is a test of our character, and perhaps this was one too many indignities for his. Did her father feel abandoned by his father? Did those feelings ferment over time into anger and rage, eventually driving his family away from him? What would have been different had this letter been received?

I need to see Ameiko. I need to be the one who shows her the letter, and the one who apologizes for this intrusion into her past. I’m sorry. We didn’t know.

And then there are the treasures we have found. Technically, they belong to the Kajitsu family which means that they belong to Ameiko. She will need to be told about these as well.

And what of this mystery? The caves below were filled with skeletons dressed in Tian Xia style armor. The second chest, made from cherry wood and jade, was clearly from one of the ships, and among its contents were more sky rockets and depressions where others had been removed.

It was enough to start forming a story of what had happened: the goblins found the chests which contained the fireworks and taken them, but someone, somewhere, created skeletons from the dead off of one or both ships. One of those, the one guarding the chest, had somehow retained its will and memories, and it must have been able to control the others. They raided the goblin village and took the chest back and brought it here.

But who created the skeletons? And what is the other shipwreck and how is it connected (if it’s connected at all)?

The caves were a harrowing experience. In the main cavern, the skeletons converged on us from all directions and many of the others had pushed too far in to be able to safely retreat. I thought we were going to lose Olmas but Ivan was there to provide some much-needed healing. Qatana, however, was quickly surrounded and there was no one close enough to help her in time. I don’t know how she did it, but miraculously she managed a healing spell just as the group of three skeletons descended on her and it saved her life.

This was the first time I have ever used those little acid darts in anger. I saw the effect it had on the skeletons. Dad, you can officially stop worrying now.