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Message: <blockquote data-quote="sniffles" data-source="post: 3326212" data-attributes="member: 30035">Letter #341 HarvesterZier-i-ZiefDearest brother;Well, we've finally done it. I never thought we'd make it before some of my companions ended their too-brief lives, but we've finally reached the ocean!We didn't get here without trouble, of course.We left Lopolla with plenty of rewards for our efforts to stop the rakshasa. Rose came along with us after all, as she'd heard news of the missing brother she's seeking. We hadn't been out of the city long when trouble reared its head.We came upon a group of rcs and some bodies in the road. The orcs were some of the Sultan's mercenaries such as we'd met before. In fact, it turned out they were the same ones we'd met previously. They were investigating the remains of a merchant caravan that had been attacked by brigands.Ninad rode ahead to talk with them, and Thor very nearly managed to get us all into a fight with them when he flew off in bird form and then returned to his natural shape right beside a scout. If their captain hadn't recognized us it might have gone badly.While Ninad was talking with the captain some other travelers came up the road from the opposite direction and wanted to know what had happened. Then a merchant and guard from the caravan appeared, claiming to have escaped. They reported that the bandits had taken some captives.We offered to help the mercenaries recover the captives, and the other two travelers also offered their assistance. They were well armed so it seemed wise to accept their offer. I wasn't happy about working with orcs, of course, but this meant I could fight orcs too, since the bandits were also orcs.After we'd agreed on a plan of attack, Rose and Erasyne made themselves invisible and went to free the prisoners. Just as the rest of our company were about to proceed, a magical gate suddenly opened up behind us. Who should emerge from it but Ninad's twin Shishir and his bride Liselle, accompanied by a small child! The twins had a quick reunion and Shishir joined us for the assault on the brigands.I didn't see much of my companions or the two travelers after that. No one was near enough to me but Ninad. I caught glimpses of bursts of flames from beyond some trees that turned out to be Shishir's doing, and I could hear the bandits' companion bear roaring until Thor drove it away - which he was very proud of later, of course. Rahon fought bravely beside me. He's become a very faithful and useful companion. He told me the bandits were orcs before the mercenary captain mentioned it. He even managed to bring one of them down himself.Once we'd eliminated all but a few of the brigands, the mercenaries had no further interest in pursuing them, which I found a little odd. But we didn't have any interest in hunting down the last few either. Rose decided to ride with the caravan the rest of the way to Zief. But our new acquaintces, the two well-armed men, seemed very interested in staying near my group. Their names are Varian and Xolo.Varian seems to be a knight of some sort, though he wears no insignia. Xolo resembles the local people, but he says very little and usually keeps his face covered.When we came to the River Road Inn, Varian wanted to speak with us in private. He took a private dining room and paid for dinner for our entire party. He then told us a long, complicated tale about a prophecy he'd received. As you know, I'm not much a believer in prophecy and this one was particularly obscure. I can only recall portions of it now.Varian is on a quest to find the lost city of Darjiin, which can apparently be found using a map drawn on the shell of the egg of a kokobu bird. He claims to have two of these shells, though he didn't show them to us. He's on his way to Zier-i-Zief to see a third egg in a museum there. He'd been given his prophecy by a seer who told him to beware "followers of the ebon fire" and "the sliver of darkness that divides the one". My friends thought that the "ebon fire" sounded a bit like the black flames that had slain Illtud, and the "sliver of darkness" naturally reminded us all of the black diamond shards. But we didn't mention this to Varian at that time.Varian believed that the prophecy mentioned us, as it said something about "four and one" and "one with two heads", or something of that nature. He thought the twins represented the two heads. The prophecy also spoke of something called archomentals and a lost temple of elemental good, which mean nothing to any of us. But Ninad was interested in the story, as were Erasyne and Thor. We decided that as we were on our way to Zief anyway, we may as well see this egg Varian is so eager to view.Ten days after leaving Lopolla, we came to the ocean. I would have spent longer strolling the beach watching the waves roll in, but my companions of course are always in a hurry. Zier-i-Zief is a very large and cosmopolitan city, much more so than Lopolla. It has two vast palaces and a huge temple to the god Vishnu. Varian kindly paid for our lodgings in a very nice inn near the museum.As we made our way to the museum we met another of the prolific Magoon clan of Halflings. This one is called Norp. He seems a bit more trusty than his brother Kirp. He was engaged in escorting a young princess from some distant land. Erasyne thought there was something odd about the princess, but I noticed nothing out of the ordinary.Speaking of little girls, I neglected to mention the little girl who came with Shishir. She is his daughter, Pari. If you recall, just before they parted from us Liselle had announced she was with child. Of course humans don't ordinarily grow so quickly, but it seems that Shishir and Liselle have been living in the fey realm, where time passes differently than in the ordinary world. Though it has only been a few weeks for us, five years have passed for them. I expect Ninad is going to have a little difficulty adjusting to his twin now being several years older than he is, not to mention getting acquainted with a niece who shouldn't even have been born yet by his perception.Norp and the princess went with us to the Sultan's museum. They wanted to see an exhibit of animal curiosities. We went with them to view the exhibit. Among the creatures on display we saw an owlbear and a manticore. But the most unusual creature in the display was a two-headed serpent with wings covered in multicolored feathers. It was contained in a crystalline case, still living, and behaving rather oddly. One head hissed and snapped at viewers while the other head appeared quite calm.Varian now concluded that this creature might be the two-headed thing mentioned in the prophecy. While he was exclaiming over the creature, Erasyne took her gem out and began peering all around through it. Then Ninad whispered to me in the sylvan tongue that he'd used the dowsing rod to detect black shards, and it sensed something in the direction of the winged serpent!We weren't certain what to do about the black shard. For the time we stayed with Varian and went in search of the egg he'd come to see. To his great disappointment we learned it was missing. We found one of the museum docents, who explained that several years earlier the Sultan's only son had removed the egg from its case and it had simply floated away! The docent showed us a painting that had been made of the egg, but it showed too little detail to see clearly the map Varian seeks.I'm not certain what we'll do now. I have no doubt we'll try to find a way to recover the black shard from the winged serpent, if it truly has one. But I don't know how we'll achieve that without causing ourselves a great deal of trouble. I hope I'll be able to write you again soon to tell you how we fare.Your sister, Lothiriel________________________________________________Quips & Quotes:patv: "If you're within earshot you can make a Listen check."sniffles: "How far can an ear shoot?"Zora: "Did you say it sucks to be an edible companion?"Devo: "Because it bites to be an edible companion."patv: "Describe your characters to DH (Varian's player)."Devo: "Well, Thor is a common meadowlark, with brownish feathers..."patv: "Does he take fire damage this round?"Devo: "The dire bear could put him out."Hedrin: "You can never find a decent docent."</blockquote>

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