Sen Stranzini, luthier

[Stranzini]

Well, my first days here in Hlint have been amazing.
You see things in this town I never heard of. There is a lady who turns herself into a bird, a bear and all kinds of other things. She said she can turn herself into nine different kinds of animal.

Luckily, I can fish here, just like I used to do with papa. There is a pond and I always manage to catch some fish in it that I can cook over a campfire. In the kitchen at the inn, I met a really cute elf girl, Nyyala. She is kind of shy, but I asked her if she liked fish and she said she had never tried any, can you imagine that? I guess she didn't grow up in a town like Krandor
I made her some fish, and she really liked it.

You know who else likes fish which is kind of funny? I met a dwarf called Axe Stonecutter - funny name, huh? He loves fish! So I gave him some right away and I think I made myself a friend that way. He's very brave and very strong and he helped me do some things. First we went in the sewers to kill the rats and get back a tax book that somebody called the rat man had stolen.
Mostly Axe killed all the rats and I tried to stay out of the way. But I still got bitten pretty badly when I took the wrong turn and got away from Axe for a minute. Then Axe helped me get some goblins' ears for the quartermaster of the army - I don't really know why he would ask a lute-maker to go get goblins' ears, but he did and luckily Axe was there to help me out. It was pretty much the same thing, I stayed out of the way while Axe killed them - but I had these nice little darts that a guy named Rylok gave me and I managed to do a pretty good job on a few of those goblins with my darts. I'm a pretty good shot anyway, and these darts were really well made and when I threw one at a goblin - bing!

Rylok - that was another funny thing. He's a really big, kind of ugly guy. I think maybe he's part orc. There are people in this town - if that's what I should call them - that look like giants and ogres and all kinds of strange things. It makes me a little nervous. But anyway, Rylok is a really nice guy, even if he is a little hard to talk to. He and his friend Pendar
were the first people I met, and it turned out that Rylok likes fish too! Of course, I think he said that he liked eating the rats in the sewer too, so maybe he likes everything...Anyway, he makes things out of metal, and he gave me a dagger and these darts that he made. The darts are working out really well, today I killed a bandit halfing with one in one shot - bing! Got
him from behind, you know?

So anyway, Axe took me with him and his friends on another errand...a really dangerous one! The lady who turns into a bird was there.  And Rylok came along too, and some other people. We went outside the town and into the hills and then into a forest and into a cave. There were spiders in the forest - it was really dangerous - but that's good to know because I'm going to need their
silk for my instruments. Its getting it that is going to be the problem for me. But anyway, we went into this cave and fought with some monsters in there too - I tried to stay out of the way and throw a dart - bing! - when I could, so sometimes I helped a little. In the end, we got back some necklace for a bard here in the town.

A bard! Of course, that's what I want to do is get to know the bards here, and make instruments for them. But I tried talking to this bard, in the inn, and she didn't really have much to say to me except "thanks for helping get my necklace back". Maybe when I have some great instruments made up, she'll  want to talk to me then...when I have made my reputation as the greatest luthier in Hlint and beyond...

Anyway, I learned a lot on those trips with Axe and his friends. I feel stronger and little more able to defend myself...but sure not like Axe and that birdlady and Rylok and all of them. I need to stick close and make friends - that's the first thing Pendar, Rylok's friend, and Rylok told me - don't go alone, make friends, stay out of trouble, those were Pendar's words. Rylok would have said the same thing if he could I think.

Anyway, I learned a lot. I have been learning how to use two weapons at once, and I bought myself a rapier and have decided to work hard on learning how to fight with it. The dagger Rylok gave me is good, but it's dangerous around here and I thought I needed something a little more serious for the times when I didn't manage to follow plan a: stay out of trouble, stay out of the way and throw darts - bing!

I've also been working on my singing. I know I'll never be a real bard, but I do need to know a lot about music for my instrument making. So, I've been working a little on my basic solfege...I don't think I'll try it out on that elf Nyyala yet though...

Anyway, today I went to work on my real work for the first time. There is a craft hall here, so until I am well-enough off to have my own workshop, I can work there. I found the different tools I'll need - lucky that I picked up some money from those adventures with Axe and his friends. But I need wood, and other supplies. So I started trying to find out where I could get them. I snuck outside the town and looked around a little and bingo! - just to the north I found a stand of hickory where I can get some wood, and some cotton plants. The problem is there's just about always orcs around there. That's a big problem for me. I dont think I should be mixing with orcs just yet. Maybe if I keep practicing with my rapier and get myself some better armor, but not just yet. Anyway, I know where the stuff is that I need, I just need friends to
help me get it.

Then I tried looking outside town to the east, and that was almost the end of me! I was looking around a little stream to the northeast and this elf just started shooting arrows at me. I think they were poisoned too, they hurt me real bad. I ran as fast as I could back into the town, but he came after me into the town! I ran into one of the shops and waited a while and got myself patched up as best as I could, and when I came back out - he was still there! He chased me to the other end of town and I made it into the Wild Surge Inn (which is not really a very wild place by the way, I dont know about the surge part). So I stayed in there yelling "Help!" and lucky for me, an elf - which made me a little nervous right at that moment given what
had just happened to me - named Nereus came over and offered to help. First he healed me, and then he went back outside with me. We didn't find the elf - which made me start to feel a little silly except it wasn't funny at all the way he almost killed me - and so we went back outside the walls. And of course, we found the elf alright, and a bunch of his friends!

Nereus turned out to be one formidable elf - he summoned up some strange sort of whirlwindy thing that started attacking them, then some kind of flying creatures, and did some whacking himself I think - I was kind of busy running away when they came after me and turning around and doing a bing! when I got the chance. There were a couple of these bad elves, and a bunch of
halflings, that's when I got one of the halflings clean out with a really good bing! Anyway, the two of us and all the other things Nereus kept calling up took care of the whole lot of them. They had a little campsite set up there, we really couldn't figure out what they were doing there. One of the halflings - I think it was the one I binged - had a glass eye, I kept it...for a souvenir I guess.

Anyway, Nereus was a great help, and he after went with me to the north to help me get some wood. Funny thing, the orcs didn't show up. Maybe they know about Nereus and stayed away. Nereus is a sea elf - so you bet he likes fish. I gave him some and I promised him the first instrument that I managed to make. I cut some wood while he stood guard, but darn - I broke my axe.
Next time, I'll  bring a spare, it's too dangerous to go out there not to bring back all the wood I can when I go. So I got some wood, and some cotton - and now I'm in business. I made my first instrument, a simple hickory chimes, just like old master Concordia taught me. I don't think Nereus can actually play, but its his as a present the first time I see him.

Oh...and I learned today that if I ever had somebody to take on a date, I should invite them to see the waterfall behind some castle.
(Hmm, I haven't seen this castle yet.) But just in case...

[Stranzini]

Well, the little bit of wood I got with Nereus didn't last long, so I needed to get some more. I tried sneaking back out there by myself, but as soon as I started picking the cotton, a big mean orc came running at me. I ran, and got back inside the town walls OK. I told the people in the town that there was probably an orc waiting right outside the gate, and this man called Celgar said right away that he would take care of it. I followed him outside and man - I thought Nereus was something, this man was unbelievable.

He summoned up these big metal monsters called golems,and threw a spell that just made a bunch of orcs fall down dead. Well, he said it wasn't a spell, it was the holy word of somebody...Lucinda, he said it was his goddess. I wonder if Ilsare has a holy word like that? I mean, I always pray like Master Concordia taught me, but I've never learned about things like that.

Anyway, he just went through and killed all the orcs. More boom! than bing! I tried to throw a dart or two, but the orcs were falling down dead before my darts ever got there. Then he waited while I cut the wood I needed and helped me find all the cotton.

I broke another axe, they must have really lousy smiths in this town, but this time I had been smart and packed a spare. I chopped all the wood I could, and this Celgar cast spells on me that made me really strong so I could carry the whole tree without an effort. While I was working, some other guy came along and he and Celgar got into a really nasty-sounding argument, I was really nervous but just kept chopping my wood. I didn't think anybody could do anything to this Celgar, especially after he called up another one of those golems. But they just kept talking, arguing it seemed like to me, although I really couldn't understand half of what they were talking about.

So, we got back to town, and I promised Celgar he could have my second instrument - since I promised the first one to Nereus and I ought to try and keep my promises if I can - and gave him some fish. He said he likes fish too. I went straight to work. So far the only thing that is working out is the hickory chimes, but I just have to keep practicing. The tambourines need a lot of cotton, so I'm afraid I'm going to have to go back out there again very soon. I was able to make some parchment, too, out of the sawdust, I can use that if I want to try my hand at writing a song or two...I have a few chimes ready now, I owe one each to Nereus and Celgar, and I can always use one too if I want, but I am ready to start finding some clients and start establishing my reputation. I tried at the pawn shop, but that brute has no appreciation of a musical instrument, he offered me one gold piece. He'll be sorry when I'm famous.

After these adventures with Axe, Nereus and now Celgar, I have to admit I kind of enjoy this adventure stuff. When I was picking cotton with Celgar,  I got around a corner from him and three orcs came after me. I pulled out my rapier and I think I actually managed to stick one of them with it. Of course, I yelled help! at the same time and Celgar came running and did another one of this things that made them all fall down dead. But I was able to keep them from hitting me at all, and I think I stuck em...I think I wouldn't mind joining inwith Axe or somebody on their next little adventure, I might just be able to look after myself a little and help them with a bing! or two...And I did learn all those tricks about opening locks, and traps, from the other guys in the neighborhood back home, they probably need locks opened sometimes.

Besides, now I need spider silk again so I can make a violin, I am ready to try and make a violin. I'll get some fish, and then keep an eye for my friends Axe and Rylok...

[Stranzini]

Well, I guess I am settling into the life here in Hlint. Sometimes I find someone who will help me with the orcs so I can get some wood to work...Rylok helps me sometimes, he seems to enjoy racing around killing all the orcs with his huge double-bladed axe he has now. Today
it was a couple of dwarves, Thain and Dane (but they're not related, they hardly knew each other). I was cooking my fish over a fire and Dane came by. Of course I gave him some fish and we got to talking and then Thain came along and they got to talking and when I said there were orcs outside the city, they said "let's go kill them!". And I said, well let me chop some wood then if you're going to that. So I got my ox - oh, I bought an ox, a fellow on the road told me that I could get an ox and it could carry a lot more wood than I can (at least when Celgar is not around to throw his spells on me). So I bought an ox, bargained his price down to 80 gold pieces too, and the man was right - I can load lots of wood on the ox and bring back more every time I find somebody who will go out there with me.

Anyway - sometimes I go out for wood, sometimes I work in the shop (I've made lots of chimes and a tambourine now), and sometimes I got out on an adventure with a group of people I meet. I went on another adventure with Aries, the woman who turns into birds and things, we went into the forest where the spiders are and I can get silk, and back into that cave. There are all kinds of ore and minerals in that cave. And tonight, I went on my own back into that forest to get more silk. I got some too, but I get sickened by the beetle creatures that live there. Me and a wizard I met in the forest killed them all. I got me a bow now, since I dont have many more of Rylok's darts, but I am getting pretty good with the bow, I killed several orcs when I was out with those two dwarves, and I killed some of those beetles tonight. I can feel that I am learning and improving, especially on that last trip back into the  cave in the woods. I'm still concentrating on things like using the rapier and the bow, sneaking up on things and not being heard or seen, things like that. I haven't really been working any more on my singing, I think I need to be able to defend myself around here first.

I think I'm getting the hang of this place, and I'm going to fit in here fine.

[Stranzini]

Well, these last few days have been just a disaster. I guess I got overconfident. I got myself killed trying to mess with the goblins outside the city - one of them hit me I think with a poison arrow and then I couldn't even run very well, and they came after me and I didn't have a chance. It had looked so easy when that Ariel just cut through them like cheese and I was hitting them with my arrows and taking them down too, I thought...wrong. That was the other day. And then today - I got killed by the orcs who hang out in the hickory stand. I got the first one that I snuck up on, one arrow and then finished him off snick-snack with the rapier, and I would have had the second one too, except that he had a buddy with him I hadn't seen, and then I was in big trouble. What's almost worse is that they got my ox too of course - and I don't have the money left to get another one. So I'm back to lugging the wood on my back.

I guess I got way too overconfident there. It's true I'm pretty smart in all, as far as reading and writing and working out scales and stuff like that...but my pa always said I don't have a lot of common sense, I get myself into situations. I guess he's right.

I did manage to sneak into that forest and get some silk. That dwarf Thain came with me, but we worked out that he would stay back and come running if the sneaking didn't work. It mostly worked, I snuck right past a big nasty spider and an ettercap and picked up a bunch of silk - enough to have made that violin, if it had worked out. But it didn't. Anyway, Thain and I worked around in that forest a bit, sometimes the sneaking worked and sometimes we had to fight a little, and he took me into a glen where there is a sort of forest temple, and no spiders or other bad monsters. It was very beautiful in there, and there was a guy who healed me - I had got sick from some meat that I must have cooked bad or something. I can't let that Aries find out, but sometimes I shoot a deer to have some meat for a change instead of fish all the time. Thain liked it too, I think dwarves like meat. And so did the lionman - I met a lionman, real nice although he pretty much doesn't speak common and we don't speak his language - except a couple words he taught me, hunter and orc in his language. Anyway, he got some meat too and lionmen definitely eat meat, let me tell you. And fish. Both. Zindaka he's called. I think we're friends.

Thain and I met these two women, and we went into the goblin cave with one of them, Talon. Boy, that woman is fierce, I would not like to be on her bad side. When she is ready to go into battle, she sprouts this bark-like skin and pulls out two wicked looking swords - I think they're called katanas - and she just charges in there slicing things up. If I'm trying to sneak in the shadows, I'll be about 500 feet behind her before you know it and she'll be sitting there cleaning her blades off by the time I even get into the room. So we just raced through the caverns killing all the goblins - or she did anyway and we raced along behind her trying to get there in time to at least shoot an arrow at one that was still alive. Then she and I and the lionman did the same thing to a group
of kobolds camped out by the lake. That was a little nastier, the lionman almost died there. I stayed back and shot arrows of course.

So, anyway, now I'm kind of back to the beginning, I'm out of money - supplies for my work kind of uses up a lot of money - and humbled. I think I'll go with some of these adventurers for a while, so I can make some money back to get another ox and to keep buying supplies, and so I can learn from them about adventuring. Oh - I need to get a better sword too. I forgot about the third time I got myself killed already, one of the times I was in that forest after spider silk, a certain kind of big spider came after me. I had gotten his friend the ettercap, and I figured no big deal, I'll get him too but no - nothing I did would hurt him.I shot him with arrows, they didn't do anything. I tried a bing! with the last of Rylok's darts - didn't hurt him. So, I tried to fight him off with my rapier - no effect. So I ran. But he poisoned me too, and then I couldn't run, I sort of staggered out of the woods and he killed me on the road. I have got to get me a better sword. Pa would say I should maybe get some better sense...that's probably true too, but sometimes I just can't help myself, I get my blood up and I want to kill these nasty things like Talon and Aries and Thain and Nereus and Celgar and Axe and all these people do. And I'm going to, I just need to practice and get a better sword. But that's going to take money too.

I have a pretty big pile of tambourines and chimes now, but I haven't seen anybody who would want to buy them. Hlint is not really a big town and not very cultured. But once I get famous, people will come here to get things from me - or maybe I should eventually move to one of the other cities around here, I should probably start to visit them to see if there's a better place than Hlint for the greatest luthier in the land to set up his shop.

[Stranzini]

Well, today I had a strange encounter. I was going into the bank to put some of my finished instruments into the vault - the vault is filling up with tambourines and chimes - and this man talked to me. His name was Sam -well his real name is a little more complicated, but he goes by Sam. He asked me what I do, and I told him and showed him and he looked at my instruments. And then he said he would like to give me a retainer, he gave me 200 pieces of gold, which I sure needed since I needed to buy a new ox after the other day's problem with the orcs. He said that in the future he might need me to do some work for him, he said that I should keep my ears open
and that information was a very important commodity. He talked about something called the Mark...anyway, I always keep my ears open even if a lot of the stuff I hear around here is pretty confusing to me so I told him I would. And then he asked me some more about my work, and in the end he gave me a bunch of ingots of copper - which is just what I am going to be needing for the next instruments I want to work on. I put them away in the vault until I am ready for them, he said not to waste them and of course he's right. Then outside he asked me if I needed anything else so I told him about the wood and he went with me to get wood. He wasnt actually as
good as Axe or Rylok or Aries or Talon or Nereus or Celgar are at killing orcs - he certainly had some spells and tricks, but a couple times the orcs almost got the best of us and he and I were both hurt pretty bad in the fighting. My new ox got hurt too, but he's going to survive, I was really mad when the orcs went after my ox and I laid straight into the ones who were after it, and took em right down with my bow.

I've been wondering about this Mark business, after I talked to him. I think I should ask around about it. I don't think that Aries is going to be interested in things like this...maybe Celgar would know about it.

[Stranzini]

Well, today was a special day. I succeeded in making the first violin bows - they're much more difficult than the chimes and tambourines, you have to form the wood just right and they are quite delicate and demanding and the shape must be perfect, and then you have to string the spider web without breaking it, just the right tension. If you break it - well, its another trip into that horrid forest to steal more from the spiders, so you really don't want to do that. Anyway, it worked, I made a couple, and now my skills as a luthier have definitely taken a step up! I'm so pleased, Sen Stranzini is on his way to becoming the greatest instrument maker in the land!

Postmaster Vale has asked me to deliver a letter to someone on the continent of Rilara, I wonder how in the world he thinks I am going to do that, and why he asks people he hardly knows who are not public servants to carry important letters halfway around the world. It seems strange, doesn't it?

[Stranzini]

Well, I tried to deliver postmaster Vale's letter, but I failed. I left by the road to Fort Lasst, my first real travels outside the immediate vicinity of Hlint. I visited Fort Lasst - and people need help everywhere here it seems, the officer of the guard there asked me to bring him some weapons, starting with a dagger, and the horse trader asked me to get back something she has lost in the mountains - and continued. I found that Blackford castle I heard about and its waterfall (the place that's good for dates?), and its true it would be a lovely spot to take a girl on a date - but that's not what I was there for. I found my way to a city called Leilon, on the coast northwest of Hlint. Its a much grander city than Hlint, and you can take boats from there to different places.

I continued on foot though and made my way south. I even passed near my old home Krandor. Some sort of strange walking vine came after me in the forest near Krandor, and some undead creatures. I was able to kill the vine-thing and get away from the undead and get into Fort Hope. South of Fort Hope I was attacked by a giant flying creature, a griffon. He nearly had me,
but I was able to get back into Fort Hope, badly wounded but still alive. I stayed in Fort Hope long enough to heal my wounds, and when I continued, I snuck along that road and stayed out of the open as much as I could, and was able to evade the griffons and get down to Port Hampshire, a big city to the southwest. Port Hampshire is a very impressive city. I took some time to explore it and visit its impressive craft center and its shops before I took a boat for Rilara.

The boat leaves you at Point Harbor on the northwest corner of Rilara. I thought to myself - this is going OK, I will get this letter delivered for postmaster Vale. But the letter is to be delivered to Fort Himlad, in the center of the continent and further south. Outside Point Harbor, you pass through the Dinen forest to get about anywhere else in Rilara. And there
I was attacked by another one of those deadly elves. He made short work of me, I had no chance against him and couldnt hide from him either. I found myself back in good old Hlint when I was revived.

I guess I know now why postmaster Vale doesnt want to deliver his letters himself.

[Stranzini]

I seem to have a latent talent, for alchemy. For things magical too perhaps? I met a little fellow called Rugo Falanger today. He is an enchanter of some kind, and he made me a proposition - I needed to get a boar's hide for that fellow in the craft house and Rugo needs a lot of minerals for his enchanting and he isn't able to mine them himself. So we went into the cave outside Hlint and I mined greenstone for him, and then he took me to where the boars can be found, and showed me how to defeat the creatures that you must pass to get to the boars. There were these birds that could turn you into stone with their cries, and ogres, and some kind of strange little people who rode horrid looking spiny wolf-like creatures. Rule one was: kill the birds before anything else. Rugo and I and another archer were able to defeat them all (it wasn't easy) and I got my boar.

Afterwards, I went back to Hlint with Rugo and he seemed to take a special interest in me due to my qualities, my intelligence and my manual dexterity. He took me into that tower north of town, gave me some materials, sat me down at the alchemists' table and told me what to do and darned if my very first attempt didn't produce a perfectly good essence of cure. Then I made an acid
flask from a beetle belly I had. It turns out I'm a natural for alchemy! Rugo gave me a lot of advice and information, how to make different kinds of things, what ingredients to look for, which things I should try first and so on. I will begin practicing at this when I have the odd moment and the right ingredients in hand.

I had another fortunate encounter a little later. I was conversing in the town with Silool Beerath, a young bard. It was quite something talking to her, she is full of life and wit. It turned out she needed an instrument, and I sold her a tambourine - my first real instrument sale. She wants a dulcimer - I don't know how to make a dulcimer, but I'll figure it out, I am Sen Stranzini - and on the other hand, she feels that I am not dressing in a manner that fits my reputation and the fashionable company that I should be keeping. I think she is probably right...of course she's right, I want to associate with bards and high-class ladies, I must dress better. She said I dressed like a ranger, not a luthier. I don't think it was meant to be a compliment. So we agreed that I would make her a dulcimer and she would get a discount if she made me a suite of better clothes. It seems that she is a tailor, and she showed me the dress she made, it was quite stunning...or she was quite stunning...or both...

My first real sale, and a commission for another! Things are looking up.

Now I just have to invent the dulcimer...

[Stranzini]

Well, I made a second start in the direction of Rilara. This time I took the boat from Leilon to Port Hampshire. But I got no further than Port Hampshire - well that's not true, but no further in the direction of Rilara. Here's my tale:

Port Hampshire is a much grander city than Hlint, but it can be fairly quiet, the inhabitants live quiet, stable lives inside their houses and you do not meet the strange collection of creatures all eager for adventure that you meet in Hlint. The craft center was fairly quiet, but there was a woman working there and she came over to watch me work when she was finished. We conversed, she was named Dal'Venus Suranen. I proposed to make a number of ring molds for her, as I had brought a large amount of clay with me and was firing it up mostly for the practice. I made her quite a pile of ring molds - her crafting seems to run to enchanted jewels and things
like that - and asked her to give me information in exchange. And so we talked a bit about the area.

Her current work requires immense amounts of sand - as mine requires immense amounts of spider silk - and she asked me to accompany her into the desert for sand, proposing to accompany me into the mountains for spider silk in exchange. It sounded like a good proposition to me, and I accepted. Naturally, getting the spider silk required fighting spiders, and unfortunately we got only a very little. But I accompanied her into the desert and we were able to find quite a lot of sand.

She was a powerful cleric, I think, and she would summon up a tremendous creature she called an earth elemental to fight for us. She was also so kind as to give me a ring and an amulet, both of which increase my strength - never my strongest quality. In the desert we faced ogres, curious winged lion creatures, poisonous scorpions and snakes. I fought to the best of my abilities, and I learned a great deal travelling and fighting alongside Dal'Venus, that is certain. I learned to duck and dodge in combat, a very good idea when facing the ogres who can deliver blows of crushing strength. The best idea of all though was when she threw up a wall
of dancing blades between us and the ogres, and I could shoot them with my bow, and any that
tried to come at me were sliced to pieces. That is a particularly nice way to fight ogres. We travelled very widely in the southern part of the continent, visiting all the sources of sand that were to be found all the way up to lake Alon outside Hlint, and I left her busily working in the craft center in Hlint with most of the Blood Desert piled about her in sacks.

I didnt get to Rilara this time either, but I have learned many things and Dal'Venus kindly allowed me to keep this ring and amulet as recompense for my guard services.

[Stranzini]

A most curious development in my craft! Nyyana asked me to make an umbrella, it seems that she is easily sick and with the constant rain lately, she is suffering. (And by the way - they say that this rain is not natural, that it portends either a disturbance in the "weave" or something bad that is going to happen. I don't know, but it is seemingly strange.)

Well, thinking about it a bit I realised that the techniques I use for making certain instruments - stretched cloth for drums and tambourines, the ribbing to hold it in place at the proper tension, a little mechanism, some light and fine woodwork like I use for the bows - could be just the thing to make an umbrella. I disassembled an instrument I had made, and started working on this umbrella idea. Nyyana lent a hand as well, helping me to think things through and try them out. In the end - it works, I can make umbrellas, of various designs, and fans too, by the way. I gave the first completed one to Nyyana, who was delighted.

Well, I got to thinking - with it raining so much and all these ladies running around Hlint in their finery, and some of them rather liking to make their fashion statements, Nyyana was probably not the only person who would like an umbrella. I made up a few more right away. I showed one to Anna, she bought it straight away and placed an order for two more...and a bit later she sent me a message by carrier pigeon saying she would like even more and special ones made for her wedding. Don't know what the wedding business is all about, but I'll be glad to earn some coin making her whatever she needs. Obviously, these umbrellas are going to sell.

I feel a little funny about this - hardly anyone in Hlint wants to buy instruments, my true calling in life, and here I am using my  gifts and training to fashion accessories that are going to sell like hotcakes. I don't know what Master Concordia would say to me. I must not abandon my true craft, but this can perhaps help me to finance it...

[Stranzini]

Speaking of Anna, I joined up with my old friend Axe to help her get back to her grave in the moors. She seems to be quite reckless, that Anna, she rushes in in battle and is frequently killed. In fact, I remember she was in that pale, post-recovery state the first time I met her, and it has been several times already that I have helped her get back to a grave she left in one place or another. Reckless - I
wonder if that has anything to do with this marriage business? No business of mine, I guess.

At any rate, the three of us recovered her grave easily, and then decided - like that, did I mention reckless? - to go on to the mines of Haven. Axe, of course, has a great interest in ore and mines and gold, so he was eager for it, and so was Anna (of course). So we went into the mines of Haven. There are a great many ogres in there, but Axe is a powerful fighter and my work with the bow is more and more effective, especially since what I learned traveling with Dal'Venus, I can place very deadly shots sometimes now. And Anna is quite fierce and wields a deadly sword, it is just that she charges in and can be overwhelmed. Anyway, the three of us were able to clear the top level of the mine and move down into the deeps - and this is where disaster struck again, a large number of ogres swarmed us, Axe was battling furiously and Anna charged up ahead as well where she was badly hurt. She was able to retreat but  several came past Axe and after us. Anna tried to fight them head on, while I stayed back and continued firing my bow - and she fell again. From the frying pan to the fire, I said to Axe when we had subdued the last of the ogres and saw her gravestone there.

We met her outside the mine, and went through the mine one more time, this time being a little more attentive to our tactics. And it was successful, we were able to get Anna to her grave, and to go on and clear the lower level and allow Axe to do a bit of his mining. A little hair-raising at times, but a successful adventure in the end.

Axe and I continued on together, joining up with a large group to retrieve the grave of a fellow named Kaz who I befriended when he arrived here in Hlint a few days ago. A most curious creature was with us, a gigantic half-ogre named Roxx who is a fearsome warrior and a kind...creature at the same time. A most reassuring...creature to travel with. Axe was with us and a woman named Ferrit and a skilled and brave fighter named Kyle Pandorn. After we had assisted Kaz and some other young recruits to get into and out of the redlight mines - with goblins who just did not stop popping out of dark corners, the core of the party headed off to pursue its real goal. Although I had already gotten my boar, the others had not yet - even Axe needed to get his boar skin for that man in the craft center and his many wives...As I had told them that the next one I needed was a cougar, we had also agreed to continue on in pursuit of the cougar when we were finished with the boars.

We travelled quite far that evening, south through Sielwood to the boar hunting grounds, where we fought again the cockatrice (that is quite they call these chicken-like birds that can turn you to stone with their calls), the ogres and the strange pygmies riding their thorny mounts. This was a strong and intelligent group of fighters (a combination of qualities I greatly prefer), surely the most capable band overall that I have traveled with, and we were able to overcome all the obstacles to get the
boars. We continued onwards, and did find several cougars, of which I kept one skin, and various other creatures. On our way further through Sielwood Forest we came to a deposit of aventurine, guarded by a large number of ogres, and a basilisc - that scared me greatly - and further on yet we fought with harpies, and then a band of those fierce mercenaries, halfling and dwarves. In the Broken Forest we fought the undead that I had hidden from when I passed through there before, and found a supply of oak - that is the second place that I have found for oak now, the problem of course is always the guardians.

I felt confident with this group and things went well - until disaster struck at the bridge over the river south of Fort Llast. (The same place that I had fallen on my own while trying to sneak mushrooms a few days ago.) There were mobs of ogres in the meadow across the river. We had defeated wave after wave of them and were probably getting slack, thinking that we were finished and just looting and picking oats and mushrooms, when another band of ogres descended upon us. Roxx was quickly overcome, but eventually able to get up and retreat across the bridge, I fell quickly once I was surrounded by the ogres and could not get away to do my preferred sharpshooting, and all the others pulled back across the bridge, mostly defended by Axe. When I returned from the bindstone I found Axe and Kyle waiting beside the tombstone of Roxx - he had been able to drag himself across the bridge but fell in the fighting
on the other side. I would gladly fight beside...well, let's be honest, behind...Roxx any day, he was brave and strong and I think he has a very good heart, despite his imposing appearance.

[Stranzini]

Today was perhaps my strangest day of all. I was in the craft center working, when this little fairy flew up behind me and starting flying about making a trail of sparkles. I said hello? and she started talking with me. Her name was Mare, she was a little silly but fairies are probably like that. Anyway, we had a nice little talk. She told me about her - master? she calls him that but he says he doesn't like it - anyway, Leo, Leo "the Great" Mare calls him. I couldn't figure out exactly how they are connected but she follows him, anyway. She said she was lonely with the other fairies, so its like he sort of adopted her I guess. Anyway, we talked and then she introduced me to this Leo. An interesting fellow, Leolakas I think is his full name. He offered to train me in the use of my rapier, and of course I accepted eagerly. He showed me some movements that he uses and explained how his strategy works in a fight. He uses a lot of magic in his fighting - he enchants his blade with flame and magic, enchants himself with a protective spell and then throws a strange spell of colored lights at his enemy. Then he attacks. I think it would be pretty easy if you did it like that...but I cant. But the bladework I can still use.

After Leo had shown me some things, he took me out to practice together. We started with the orcs across the river south of Fort Llast. This didn't quite work out, so we went off and practiced on different monsters, first the two of us and then a couple of friends of Leo's joined us - including a goblin! Actually, a perfectly nice goblin which is a little surprising I think, named Sark. Unfortunately,
we finally decided to go practice on satyrs, and there were a lot of them and one of them got at me from the side without me seeing him coming and killed me while I was working with my bow. Sark tried to
take me back to my grave - he is good at sneaking and I think I'm not bad so his plan was to sneak back to the grave. But it was in the middle of a whole lot of these satyrs, and I could not manage to sneak back to it. We tried a couple times, but it just didnt work.

I learned a lot from Leo about using the rapier, and practiced a lot jumping in with the rapier in the close quarters fighting  beside him. But I have to say he depends a lot on his magic to make his style work, I don't know that he would last long without it...

[Stranzini]

Well I finally got that letter delivered on Rilara. I made another try to go down there, and in the forest just outside of Point Harbor I ran into Trysk - the guy with a tiger's head? He's a very capable fighter who really knows his way around on Rilara, he likes to gather all the different fruits and cook. Rilara is a beautiful place, lots of different fruits and berries grow wild all over, and there is great fishing in the lakes and rivers - I caught some salmon and shared it with Trysk. And we went into a city where there were grapevines just growing on the walls, I picked some grapes and made wine with them when I got back. Rilara is a nice place, it
would be good for a little farm or a cabin in the woods...

Anyway, we found the farmer at Fort Himblad and gave him his letter. He told me he was having a problem, that one of his cows had wandered off and asked me to go find her. Well, the problem was, there was a griffon outside the fort that had eaten his cow. So, I couldnt do much for him but bring back her collar...

But I was glad to have gotten that job done and to have seen what a beautiful place Rilara is. I think I'll go back there.

[Stranzini]

Such a fool I have been!

It began simply - Rugo showed me the basics of alchemy and I found my talents suited me well for it, I have been making various essences and potions, fire and acid preparations, concoctions for tanning and for gem polishing. I discovered that I was quite good at cutting and mounting gems, and I began making simple rings and trading them for raw metals with the other adventurers. I discovered I could hunt lions and bears and jaguars, and began working on skins, and my first two pairs of gloves were exceptional pieces of work, really first rate, and so I started working on more gloves and hoods and belts and suits and such. I was reading those books in Moraken's tower and talking to his assistant and trying things out and I even made that scribing ink I gave to Zador, and enchanted this little gem I carry around in my pocket even though I don't really know what it's good for exactly. Then there was the call for preparations for a battle and I volunteered with Barion and used my skills at tinkering and wood working to craft a huge number of shafts and arrowheads, and then everybody started asking me to make bows and shafts and such for them, and Menidar wanted me to work on bow modifications. I am always happy to help out people like Menidar or then it was my friend Axe who needed some shafts for his weapons and a bow for a friend...and then Axe offered to sell bows if I would make them, and I always need money...

And yesterday was my wakeup call. Axe had promised a heavy oak crossbow to a man named Renji, and there I was slaving away at the carpenter's bench trying to put it together and I couldn't do a thing. It should have worked, but everything I did went wrong - a wrong cut and the wood was ruined, too much tension and the string broke, one tap and my tools fell into pieces. I ruined plank after plank and string after string. And this Renji was strangely eager to go back into the forest to replace the silk - and I saw why when we went: he was killing and collecting the poison from the spiders. A poisoner! No good person puts his hand to such horrible things, this Renji is a nasty evil person who would have done who knows what murder and crime with the weapon I was going to make him. Shoot poisoned bolts, that much is practically certain. At who? Best not to even think about it. All at once I understood why my talents had left me, why my tools were breaking at every turn and I could no longer do the simplest things - I have lost the favor of Ilsare by wasting my talents, by pursuing crude gain, by making weapons of war for poisoners. Oh sweet Ilsare, how could I have been so blind, so stupid?

I stopped what I was doing and gave this Renji back his materials and told him to find someone else to do his work. And I went back to the luthier's table and I tried to make some simple hickory instruments - nothing! My tuning fork splintered straightaway into shards, my axehead burst when I tried to cut some more wood, and my wood-working tools broke; even a simple hickory chimes I could not make. The damage was done, my talents are completely gone.

My calling, my years of apprenticeship, my talents were supposed to be at the service of music and Ilsare. When I began my work here in Hlint I was thoughtful, deliberate, careful to reserve to my instrument-making the materials that were expensive and hard for me to get - the oak, the spider silk, the metals. I dedicated my time and energy to my craft, working on other things only when I truly had need. So noone wants to buy musical instruments, so everyone is offering all kinds of gold for all the other things that my talents permitted me to make...I was seduced from the true way by easy success and easy coin. And my goddess is angry with me, she has surely and rightly taken away my talents.

When I realised what I had done, I went straight to the temple, and offered a prayer of atonement to Ilsare, and then sat and thought for the rest of the afternoon. I'm not so good at this kind of thinking but I don't think I was wrong to help with the campaign for Stone, to make what I needed myself, or to help a friend like Axe. Even to make a few rings or things to trade for the materials I need for my craft doesn't seem like a bad thing. As long as it is at the service of my craft - but that is where it was easy for me to go astray and I went astray. I know I can easily be led astray anyway, you know how you are Sen Stranzini!

I have resolved to try and win back the favor of Ilsare. I rededicated myself to my craft, and began all over again, making the simplest of instruments, carefully, methodically, like my master taught me, like a beginner. And I will give all to Ilsare. I will carry cartloads of instruments to the temple, everything I do goes to the temple, they will need to add on an extra building to the temple for all the instruments I am going to bring to the temple. Perhaps, perhaps Ilsare will soften her heart and restore my gifts to me. I can only hope - and work.

Fool!

[Stranzini]

I remember one of the days when I was training with Leo - and I haven't seen Leo in a long time, I hope that he's all right wherever he is now - we decided we should go to Krandor and recover some ashes from the crypt. Leo said we would need some help for this so we looked about Hlint and found some very capable adventurers who were ready to help us with the job. They had a dark elf named Zan with them - and Leo became very upset and said he would have nothing to do with her, that her kind was evil. The others insisted that Zan was not evil at all, that she was a paladin even, and that Leo was wrong to hold preconceptions about people based simply on their race. It was quite a bitter argument that followed, and in the end they made Leo apologize, but Zan did not come with us.

I've heard tales of the dark elves, and they are terrible tales indeed. I didn't know what to think - was Leo right to think what he thought, that you cannot trust a dark elf, for example, since there's no doubt that at the very least the great majority of them are terrible creatures indeed? Were the others right to say that you must accept that not everyone is the same, that people must prove themselves, that you must never judge them by their appearance and its not a dark skin that makes you bad, but a dark heart? I don't know. If I wait to judge the ogres, orcs, goblins and kobolds around us by their behavior, if I give them the benefit of the doubt when I encounter them...I think I will be dead very quickly. Yet one day, a little after that, I encountered a goblin outside the craft hall in Hlint - some odd goblin named Bil, a sort of goblin wizard I guess. I was very suspicious and hostile towards him right away - I think it had only been a few days before I was brutally attacked by the goblins just outside the town - and yet some other folks I know came along right then and they told me that Bil was a very good fellow, that I could trust him with my life...it's all so confusing! And its true that later I became pretty good friends with another goblin, named Sark - a very fine goblin, someone you could trust in battle and out. Yet, I really don't think I can afford to give the benefit of the doubt to any odd goblin I should happen to meet outside Hlint, say in the red light cavern - I think I would be dead very fast if I were to do that. How can you know who to trust and who not?

One day there was a group sitting around on the benches in Hlint. People were talking about the gods and whether they existed...of course they do, I never heard such a ridiculous question before...but some, mostly the elves, said that they did not. That cute little elf girl that I kind of liked, Nyanna - that I used to give fish and stuff to and invented the umbrella for, who made me cornbread and apple juice and stuff? - it turns out she doesn't believe in gods and she was talking. OK, if she doesn't believe, well I guess she can think what she wants, must have something to do with how elfs are brought up or something although master Concordia always told me that it was especially the elves who knew about Ilsare. But anyway, then she started talking about "superior beings"...like what the gods are, right? And she said "of course elfs are superior to humans, for example..." just like that. "Elfs are superior beings to humans." Not a question, not a hypothesis, it's what she thinks, just like that. I guess it's what they all think, the elves. They think they're better than we are.

Well, that didn't sit very well with me, that's for sure. I didn't show it, but was I upset, and hurt, and...I don't know, something I can't really put words to but it felt really bad. And all these beautiful elf women around here, they sure look different to me since that day. But I think now I know a little bit how somebody like Zan or that Bil must feel sometimes, when people are looking at them with distrust or disdain just because of what they are or where they come from. Its confusing.

I guess it doesn't matter, I haven't seen that Nyanna around for a long time either. I wonder if the gods do strike people down for not believing? I would be sorry if something happened to her, no matter what she thought and said...