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Message: <blockquote data-quote="sniffles" data-source="post: 4035356" data-attributes="member: 30035">Letter #47[sblock]Patv: “So, nothing happened last time, nothing at all.”Sniffles: “Just like always!”------------------------Patv: “Let’s summarize. No, no, that takes too long.”[/sblock]24th PatchwallZeir-i-ZeifDearest brother;I'm sorry my last letter ended on such a dismal note. As it turned out, returning Shishir to life was far simpler than we expected. Prince Vultan's people had a priest among them who was capable of using the scroll to return Shishir to us.[sblock]Patv: “That’s how you get elves. You plant a fairy and water it and put some fertilizer on it, and it grows up into a full-sized elf.”Devo: “That’s what I’m going to do the next time I get my hands on a fairy – bury it.”[/sblock]It took us four days to get back to the portal to Zeif. Our journey there was uneventful. I've learned to shape myself into larger animals, and spent my time enjoying being a large owl. But as we found the portal, we were attacked by three very large creatures of air. We had reason to believe the elemental prince of evil air creatures had sent these three to claim the kokobu egg. If you'll recall, when Thor employed the Rock of Mages in the Moon, an earth creature appeared and demanded we hand it over to him. These creatures didn't speak to us, but we felt certain they wanted the egg. We hadn’t put the egg’s powers to use, but as we were still on the Plane of Air the air creatures could probably sense it more easily. As they were made of air they were difficult to hurt. I was pleased with myself that I was able to direct a bolt of lightning to arc between two of them, but it did them little harm and I couldn't use the lightning again. Erasyne and Xolo managed to open the portal and we all darted through into Kouroush's inn as quickly as we could. Thankfully the air creatures didn't follow us.We were greeted by a startled servant, who rushed off to notify Kouroush that we’d arrived. After we'd caught our breath, we descended to the common room and were met by Kouroush. After he greeted us and we told him a little of our adventures, he told us he'd recently become acquainted with someone who used to belong to the Black Flame cult. I think I've mentioned them before. They've been troubling us ever since we disturbed the Kali cultists in Ket, and they were responsible for Illtud's death. We believe these cultists have something known as the Flame, one of the four objects we need to complete the quest from Varian's prophecy. The Rock and the kokobu egg are two of the other items. Each of the items is related to one of the four archomentals. The Rock obviously represents earth and the egg is the token of air. It amazes me when I recall that we went to the Plane of Air only as a result of meeting Varian on the road a few weeks ago. Kouroush has arranged for us to meet with this ex-cultist in a few days. In the meanwhile, we've been reunited with our missing companions. I left my dogs behind with Shishir's wife and daughter and Thor's beloved Beaker while we visited the Plane of Air. It was a joy to feel Rahon's fur under my hand again and cuddle Morwen in my arms. As much as I enjoyed taking bird form, I'm glad to be back in a place where there is more solid ground.We met with Nadereh, Xymos's confederate who took Pheretimma's bottle to the Plane of Air. We had to return the ring of flight that Xymos lent us. Nadereh wants to purchase our flying carpet. Since Xymos's organization is not exactly seen favorably by most of the citizens here, Nadereh can't be seen openly shopping for a flying carpet. I don't care what is done with it now that I can assume bird form easily.After we finished our other business, we decided to visit the Caliph's menagerie and check on the couatl. At the menagerie we met a young man called Aziz, who serves the old priest Kianeous whom we'd met there previously. Aziz arranged for us to see Kianeous and show him the kokobu egg we'd recovered.The old priest is absolutely convinced that the couatl and the kokobu egg are part of the fulfillment of the prophecy. Naturally Kianeous was very excited to see the egg. Erasyne discovered that the egg could be opened. Inside is a small golden statue of a couatl with two heads, which lends credence to Kianeous's beliefs. He's also certain that the couatl in the menagerie is the "Perfect One", which can use the four objects to fend off some great evil and restore the balance between the good and evil elemental princes. Kianeous explained to us what the imagery on the outside of the egg means. It all has to do with the elemental princes and the Perfect One. This encouraged us to pursue the Black Flame cultists, although Kianeous seemed a little confused as to why we think they've got anything to do with our quest. We haven't told him everything, though, so I suppose I can't blame him for being confused. You're probably confused, too. When I see you next I'll have to explain it all to you in detail.Kianeous still wants to free the couatl, as do we. We're considering returning the reward the Sultan presented to us for the minotaur's head, in exchange for his releasing the couatl. Since his neighboring countries are currently at war with one another over the bit of land once occupied by the minotaur, we hope the Sultan will find the offer of funds enticing. But we want to try to retrieve the Flame first so that we can leave the city in company with the couatl when it is freed.I wish we knew the creature's name. I recall that such creatures are said to be quite intelligent, though this one hasn't shown much sign of that. I also recall that the little girl, the northern princess, claimed she knew its name. But in childish fashion she wouldn't tell anyone. Now that we think we can remove the black shard from the couatl without harming it, we hope that it will be able to show us to the temple in Darjiin that is spoken of in the prophecy.We're on our own until the meeting with the former Flame cultist. Since we're expecting to be traveling into the desert soon in search of the water-associated object from the prophecy, we decided to have some special items made for ourselves. I've heard that some armorers can make enchanted armor that will remain useful while I'm in animal form. I think I'll see if I can obtain a suit of such armor here. It could come in handy.We’ve also sent my broken spear to be repaired. I don’t recall if I mentioned before, but we’ve discovered that many of our enchanted weapons were made by a wizard called Castanamir, who found a way to combine multiple enchanted items to make an item that has different properties than each of the items demonstrate separately. The spear, when combined with a buckler we’ve also acquired, will form a lance that Varian finds very enticing. I’ve decided that I may as well let him have the spear, as he’s been pestering me for it since we first discovered what it can do. Humans get so attached to things.I'll write again after we meet with the Black Flame cultist.Your sister, Lothiriel</blockquote>

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