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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Aust Meliamne" data-source="post: 783" data-attributes="member: 95">Karanaj Journal Entry #1I had spent the night in Athkatla, and I was feeling more rested, and less sad. I was feeling a bit anxious to find Vallia, so I headed down to the Watt, which was where I was most likely to meet her.I arrived at the Watt to the sounds of commotion. A large crowd had appeared, and I safely assumed that that was where the ruckus was coming from. I pushed my way through the crowd, and I saw the last people I expected to see. It was Kathkallen and Bezzem again, and in the same bit of trouble that they had just gotten out of not half a day ago. I rushed to help them, and was joined by a half-orc monk, an acrobatic fighter, and Vallia (though I didn’t know who she was at the time). We easily thwarted the band of thieves, and the last one was being held by Vallia. The thug tried to get away, but was stopped by the self-proclaimed merc (I must admit, he seemed very convincing at first, but I can see through his braggart’s nature now a bit better).We helped to settle Kathkallen and Bezzem down a bit, and received a job from him. He offered us a sum to protect him for a few evenings, and to find some contracts that an associate of his had lost (though the associate himself was lost as well). This was, of course, not enough for the “merc.” He haggled with Kathkallen until finally agreeing upon 300 gold pieces, I believe. We were also promised 150 gold pieces when we returned his associate Galliad or, at the very least, the contracts that he was carrying. We all agreed, and went about to introduce ourselves, since we were going to be working together, after all. There was “Burning Rose,” the merc who was supremely confident in himself, Gruush, the half-orc monk, Kayla, the halfling monk, and of course, Vallia, the elven cleric. Vallia recommended that we all split up to look for clues and supplies that might help us. I could tell she wanted to just get away from them, but I wasn’t about to say anything.“Burning Rose,” or as we came to know him, Misha, went with Kayla, and Gruush went to see his master. Vallia quickly turned from the group after telling them her plan, and quickly linked her arm in mine. I was a bit surprised at first, but I don’t mind having a beautiful lady being a little bit forward (not that it really mattered. We both knew that nothing was going to happen between us). I could tell before we even got five steps away that I would not live this down for some time.I enjoyed walking and talking with Vallia. It reminded me a lot of talking with Talindra, and I was glad to be reminded of her. We walked for a little ways, and happened upon a bar. Vallia was in working mode, and she asked me if I would go in there and try to get some information. I hadn’t the slightest clue what to do, put I had always heard that gold in the palm can loosen most any tongue. We went inside, and I ordered Vallia and me some Ale. She didn’t take very well too it, but she did make herself drink a bit of it. I paid the barkeep a sum vastly more than the cost of the drinks, and he was all too glad to tell me about someone who might know something about Galliad. The man’s name was Bernal, and the barkeep told me that he could be found in the bar of the inn that we were staying in.We met up with the rest of our ragtag band, and found that they had learned the same thing we had. We set off toward the inn. When we reached there, I waited outside for a moment, then snuck in so no one would see me. I saw Vallia flirting with who I assumed was Bernal. She was doing a fairly good job, and I wondered if she had had experience before. She didn’t give me time to think about it. She told me that she wanted me to come get her out of her little charade (she had a ring just like the one that Talindra gave me). I came over and played angered husband, though I’m not sure how well I did. I guess it was pretty convincing, because Bernal ran out of there pretty quickly. I dragged Vallia out of the building, still playing my part. We waited outside for the rest of our group.They came outside, and the halfling was apparently drunk; this didn’t help her keep in her choice thoughts about what I pretended to be. We decided that we would split into the same groups again, this time, Gruush came with Vallia and me. I wouldn’t let Kay’s comments go unchecked, however. I used a little magic push give Kay a good shove. She was already feeling sick, and I was hoping a little bit that she would loose her lunch while she was still sitting atop Misha’s shoulders. Kay simply fell to the ground, and promptly let go of the ale in her stomach. I chuckled a bit, but I think no one noticed. We left Misha to deal with Kay, who was now swearing up and down that she was hit by someone. We went to question one of Kathkallen’s buyers, while Misha and Kay went to see about one of the courtesans that Galliad was rumored to have left with. We found the man named Jazasari Arrasti, and asked him about Galliad. The man didn’t know much, but his scribe told us that Galliad had scheduled his appointment. The scribe also said that he had seen Galliad outside speaking with a courtesan just outside the building. The courtesan had recommended that he go to a place called the “Platinum” something. We decided to move on from there to find any sort of store that had “Platinum” in it. We heard someone auctioning off vanilla and went to investigate. When the auction was over, we went up to the man, and began to ask him what he knew about Galliad. The man either didn’t know anything, or didn’t feel like sharing. Either way, he didn’t respond to that, so we (meaning Gruush and I) moved on to threatening the man. The merchant began screaming, so we left before the Watch could act.We moved into the financial district, and soon found the “Platinum Quill,” but it was closed for the evening. We headed back to the waft, where we were all supposed to meet. We all traveled back to the inn, where we kept good on our other duty of guarding Kathkallen. Gruush went upstairs and checked Kathkallen’s room while we all discussed going back to the Platinum Quill the next day. We were interrupted by an old crone. She offered to tell our fortunes, but before she could, she fell into a trance and told a bone chilling little riddle. I don’t remember what it was exactly. Something about second hand mages and thieves, and that we should go “where sight, and smell, and sound meet.” She promptly fainted, and Vallia and I helped her to the door, giving the old one money, even though she apparently didn’t remember any of what she had said. I felt that there was something to what she said, especially since she refused payment at first, insisting that she still needed to tell our fortunes. We had much to worry about, but that would last until the next day.</blockquote>

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