Day 39: Starday the 27th, Lamashan, 4707

Savah had woken up before me today and got breakfast made. I thanked her and she seemed a bit nervous. I told her that if she was really worried, that she didn't need to try out the bike this time, that I would ride mine and that she could just ride behind me. She said that she just didn't want to damage something that I had made for her. I told her that this was just the thing that Mending was made for. I helped her get dressed and she asked if the armor was useful for this. I told her that it definitely was, as she didn't want what was termed back where I was from as "road rash".

She nodded and we both got our armor in place. I went out to the bikes, and filled both of the tanks up with the distilled water. I figured that I would give Vaeren the explicit rule not to fill the tank up with anything but distilled water before we would leave. I wasn't really wanting to try to figure out if the ice crystals would work on vinegar to try to de-scale the boiler. I got both of the power supplies and installed them in the bikes' boilers. Savah came in and said that she was ready. I told her that I would ride right alongside her during this practice run. Savah smiled weakly to me and I helped her get on board.

I unlocked the doors and opened them up. I helped Savah roll her bike out, and I did the same. I locked the doors behind us and got down on my bike. The day was clear and it was before a lot of people were out on the streets. I told Savah to slowly open her main valve, she did, and I did the same. I told her that I would be doing much the same things as her, but that I would be yelling out commands to her as she needed to do them. I told her that on the first run, I would be running alongside her, and on a second run, I would be running behind her to watch if she could do it without my commands.

Savah gulped, and I told her that I had no doubts about her ability. She smiled and I reminded her where her brake was, and where the throttle was. I told her that I would count down, and when I said one, she should slowly rotate her throttle. Savah nodded and I counted down. When I hit one, I saw her vehicle slowly lurch forward. I copied her and eventually we were going about as a little bit more than a walking pace. We took a lap around the town, and then when I was certain that she could keep up. After that first lap, I told her that we would go a little faster, and instructed her to goose back the throttle a little further. I followed suit and she seemed to be a lot more relaxed than she was initially.

We were going almost three times an average walking speed when I told her that this was probably about as fast as she would need to travel on the road to Magnimar. She asked if she could try to go faster. I told her that of course she could, and she throttled it up to about four times walking speed, a healthy run for most humans. I easily kept up with her, as I goosed my speed up to her level. With the massive twelve miles an hour wind running through her hair, she asked me how long it would take to get to Magnimar at this speed. I thought for a second, and told her less than five hours at this speed. She was amazed that she could cut a day and a half off her travel time.

I told her that once I got some money, I would be getting the wheels enchanted to be able to look like they were bursting into flames, as that was what it looked like for a character back on my old world's vehicle did. Savah shook her head and smiled. She slowed back down as we finished out laps. We pulled back into the area by the Loading Room. I got off the bike and unlocked the doors. I opened them up and helped Savah back her bike in. I backed my bike in and shut and locked the doors behind us. Savah gave me a hug but noted that we needed to be able to carry everything that she needed. I smiled and told her that I would be right back.

I put my magically enhanced backpack on and loaded up the sack of furs. I figured that I could drop them all off at them time as picking up the saddlebags that we needed from Daviren. I gave her a kiss and told her that I would be back shortly. She smiled and said that she would be waiting. I rode over to Daviren and knocked on his door. He opened up the door to The Goblin Squash Stables. He took a look over my bike and asked if this was my new vehicle. I told him that they were called Iron Horses back where I was from, and that he was more than welcome to keep the horse that I had previously owned, as long as I could have a pair of saddlebags, Savah's and mine.

Daviren nodded went to go get the saddlebags. When he came back with both he handed them to me. He finally worked up the courage to ask if he could try out one of these new "iron horses". I told him that I would schedule him for a ride when we got back from Magnimar. Daviren nodded and asked me point blank if I thought that these would replace horses. I told him that my motorcycle was worth almost three thousand gold, and that Savah's was worth about a grand. He nodded and said that horses were much cheaper. I agreed with him, and said that these would only be useful in that they could maintain their top speed for longer than a horse.

Daviren thought for a minute and said that this was a trade-off. I agreed and said that only those who really needed to be focusing on the speed would be looking to get one. I told him that I would always send people his way to look for horses. Daviren thanked me and asked if he would need to get any other horses ready for travel. I told him that he might want to look into getting Faunra's, Jonathan's and Dame Rebekah's steeds ready. He nodded and went to work. I left his place and rode over to Lars's place.

Lars came outside to see my machine and was impressed. He asked if I was thinking about any leather or fur trim for the vehicle. I told him that this would come later, but that I definitely had it in my plans. I told him that I had more firepelt cougar pelts for him and almost a dozen other pelts, a mixture of mink and ermine. He asked what I planned on doing with that, and I shrugged, and said something for the ladies. He noted that ermines and minks were not very large, so I asked him if he thought that a set of cuffs for the women's dresses could work. He noted that he could make that work. I thanked him and said that I would check back in when we got back from Magnimar.

I headed back to the Armory and made it back in decent time. Running my bike at almost double regular walking speed means that I react as quickly as I would on my feet, but get back much quicker. I didn't press it to go faster, as there were now a lot of people out on the roads and alleys. That meant a LOT of people rubber necking and freezing when they saw my mechanized monstrosity. That meant some swerving for me. Granted a lot of people jumped out of the way when they noticed the burning skull in the front of the bike.

I opened up the doors wheeled the bike in, and locked it behind me before a crowd could force their way in to gawk over the bike. I put Savah's set of saddlebags on her bike, and made sure that mine were on tight. There was still the top of the fender rack that could allow a fair amount of material to be stored on it. I went to go get Savah, and saw that Vaeren was in the shop with her, getting the last bit of information and orders from Savah before they both turned to see me come in. I asked Savah what she needed to have packed up, and she pointed out a pile of items. I nodded and started to carry them over to the Loading Room. I heard Vaeren ask Savah what the reserve price was for people who were wanting one of the bikes.

I smiled as I left the room, as I figured that Vaeren might be getting a LOT of questions about the bikes after this morning. Savah came into the Loading Room while I was loading the various things that had been pointed out to me into the saddlebags. She noted what I was doing and she started to help. I told her that we could take anything else that she needed to take, either in my saddlebags or on the top rack of the fenders. She went to go get some other things from our bedroom.

I checked each of the bikes over and ensured that there were no issues. I found a few minor things that I missed the first time, and fixed them right quick. Savah came back with her backpack and I lashed it down to the top of the fender rack. She handed me mine and I lashed it down as well. I distributed the weights of both vehicles as best as I could, taking some of the sale items from Savah's bike to add to my saddlebags. Faunra came in and asked if we were heading to The Goblin Squash Stables. I told her that we were, and she hopped on the back of my bike. I looked to Savah and she just shrugged. I helped Savah get set on her bike, and I unlocked the door.

We wheeled the bike out to see that people were mobbing the front of the Armory. Oren and Arika were posted outside of the door, smiling at us. Faunra shut the door behind us and locked it, and we rode off. A couple of people from the crowd noticed us and started to follow behind us. I asked Faunra if she was done with whatever magic items she needed to make and she said that she was. We rolled off to the Goblin Squash Stables with the horde following us. We got to the Stables and both Dame Rebekah and Jonathan were already there. Dame Rebekah was on her horse and Jonathan wasn't. They saw the horde behind us and looked to say goodbye to Daviren before moving to leave, Jonathan moving almost as fast as the horse that Dame Rebekah rode.

We rode out of town over the bridge, where Sheriff Hemlock was standing, nodding to us. Jonathan was keeping a decent pace with us, and seemed to not even be breaking his stride. I noted that we should slow down to talk for a minute. Savah walked her way through it and I commended her for remembering exactly what to do. We all stopped together a good distance outside of town. I asked Dame Rebekah if her horse was having any problems with the bikes. Dame Rebekah told me that in fact, they were no problem at all for Bucepherous. I nodded and said that I had planned to ask her before we left, but I guess that quite a few people had gotten interested in the new bikes.

Faunra got off the bike for a minute to walk around. I got up and went over to Savah and asked her how she felt about the bike. Savah told me that she was feeling a lot more comfortable with it. She added that it felt like she was riding a blind horse at full speed, but that she was getting more acclimated to this new vehicle. I smiled and told her that I was glad that she was taking to it so well. Jonathan spoke up and said that he could go faster if everyone else could. Dame Rebekah playfully slapped the side of her steed and said that they could keep up with my mechanical monstrosities. I asked if we needed to have someone head back to town to get Faunra's mount. Faunra shook her head and said that she'd be fine riding on the back of one of the bikes like she was. I looked to Savah and she said that she would feel safer with Faunra on my bike for now. I asked Savah if she wanted to follow me or if she wanted me to follow her. Savah noted that she'd be okay with following me, especially since she had her radio with her.

I nodded and got back on my motorcycle. I motioned for Faunra to get on, and we all got ready. Jonathan hazily changed for only the briefest of seconds before looking just like he normally did. Dame Rebekah was smiling and getting into position. Faunra put up a prestidigitated light in front of all of us, in the color red. I asked Savah if she was ready, and she replied that she was. Faunra changed the color to yellow, and I made sure that my bike was ready too. Faunra changed the light to green and we all took off. Dame Rebekah and Jonathan took off like a shot, both speeding up to a nice seven miles an hour roughly. Savah sped up her bike, and I followed suit. Savah's bike was a little slower than mine, because I had not installed a preheating coil in the water tank, so I kept pace with her.

Dame Rebekah was keeping pace with Jonathan, who seemed to be thoroughly enjoying getting a chance to run. Savah and I both goosed our speed a bit more, and we started closing in on both of the two in front us. They were about sixty feet ahead of us at this point. I called over to Savah to ask how she was doing, and she noted that she was doing fine. Savah asked if we needed to go faster. I shrugged and said that we could if we wanted to blow past the ones who got to their cruising speed, but that we were already going to have to slow down when we caught up. I heard her giggle as I saw her goose her bike a little bit more. I followed suit and we blasted past the other two. She giggled a bit more and let off of the throttle to allow herself to slow down a little. I did the same and soon we were all going at Dame Rebekah and Jonathan's new speeds. Jonathan noted that he didn't think that he would ride a horse again after this.

We were making better time than we had before, and I asked if everyone wanted to go faster. Savah yelled that she did, and she goosed her bike up to top speed. I followed suit, catching up to her speed. Dame Rebekah's horse was taking this speed in complete stride, while Jonathan seemed to enjoy hustling at twelve miles an hour. In a great spot for an ambush, about a half an hour outside of Magnimar, a group of bandits leapt out at us. I don't know if they were quite planning for how fast we were going, because they timed their pounce a bit off. It also helped that Jonathan had spotted them from a good long distance off and warned us.

We slowed down in advance to manageable speeds and the bandits pounced out at us. I asked Savah to slow down more carefully because she had never had the chance to fight on her bike. She nodded and agreed. They didn't even get a chance to try to threaten us before Dame Rebekah charged through their lines and took one's head clean off. Jonathan ran up and spiked one thru the chest, dropping him. I veered off to the side of the group and Faunra took a pair of shots at another Bandit while I took and dropped a fourth. They were down to just half their number before they could even blink.

The bandits responded with fury, shooting an arrow at Faunra, missing, striking Jonathan (but I think that his field blocked this one), fired an arrow at me (which glanced off my armor), and firing a second arrow at me, that penetrated deeply into my calf. I was going to have to get more armor on my legs apparently. Dame Rebekah responded to this by slashing the bandit that had shot at Faunra, opening up a great slash with her holy blade. Jonathan leapt into the fray next to the two that had shot at me. He missed with his first punch but then hit with his second two punches, landing one on each target, dropping the second one, and viciously wounding the first one.

My bike slowed to a stop and Faunra opened up a barrage against those that were still standing, dropping the one that had stabbed at Jonathan and the one that he had punched first. That left only one standing, which I took aim at and fired. The bandit dropped and it looked like the encounter was over. I asked Savah what she thought we needed to do with these bandits. Savah noted that this gang would probably have a reward associated with them, but probably only as long as they are alive. Everyone agreed and we did what we could to bind their wounds. We used all of the paracord we needed and bound them all up. I guess the navy experience with notes helped. Jonathan focused his powers to get them stable, forcing the drain on the takers themselves. We took their equipment and spread it throughout our packs.

Even with this break in our travel speed, we had made fantastic time, getting to Magnimar in five hours. We had left at just after sunrise this morning, and we got into town after noon. I told Savah that once I got a bit more time and money for the parts, I would upgrade her bike to be as fast as mine. Dame Rebekah looked at me and asked if my bike was faster than that. I told her that it was, by a good two miles an hour faster. I noted that it only would have shaved a max of half an hour off our time.

When we were getting close to the gates, we all slowed down and the guards seemed a bit stupefied. We were a group of five individuals, one on horseback, one jogging along, three on two vehicles, leading eight horses with bound bandits on them. Dame Rebekah had noted to the rest of us that she had gotten the key from Ameiko before she left. I noted that we had a few leads to pick through, but heading to Foxglove Manor to see if Aldern had any other clues there would be a good start too. We could stop off at the Kaijitsu Manor to drop off the steeds and vehicles and proceed on foot. Savah was the brilliant one of us, and suggested that we drop off these bandits with the guard before entering in the city.

We got to the gate and the guards came down and asked us what all this was about. Savah told the guards that she was a merchant, in good standing, from Sandpoint that was looking to sell some of her goods here and get some more from here to sell back in Sandpoint. She noted that we had travelled with her to offer her protection, and these eight bandits had attacked us. The bandits tried to lie at that point and say that we were the actual bandits, and that we were trying to sell them into slavery. I asked if that was true, why would we leave them conscious so that they could give some kind of story. The guards listened to Savah's and my words, and Dame Rebekah took the opportunity to present the guards with the head of Red Shiv.

That settled it for them, and they took the bandits off of the horses, put them into their own manacles, and gave us back my "Fairy Rope". One of them said that Justice Ironbriar would set these bandits straight. We asked if there was a good place to sell horse-flesh, and one of the guards noted that the Bazaar of Sails would probably be the best place. We got clearance to head into the city and Savah led us directly to the market in the Dockway. Dame Rebekah had thought about heading directly to Kaijitsu Manor to drop off our horses and vehicles, but Savah said that these things were big enough draws that people would try to steal them immediately. I looked to Jonathan and he agreed. We drove down to the market and Savah made the deals for all of her equipment and the sale of the Bandit's steeds and gear.

I was a bit happier that all we did was basically rough up the bandits rather than kill them, especially after what I had to do to the goblins yesterday. Savah and Dame Rebekah both noted that they needed to talk to me about everything. I was a bit worried, but they said that it can wait until after we get to Kaijitsu Manor tonight. I nodded and asked where we needed to head to next. Faunra lifted one of the cages out of her pack, and said that Pug's Contraptions would be the first thing that we needed to go to. Jonathan was a bit distracted but agreed when he was asked a second time. So we headed from the Dockway all the way down to the Ordellia district. Savah apparently had asked a couple of merchants at the Bazaar sails and summed up what they could tell her into finding out that he was in that district.

We went down the main thoroughfare from the Dockway to head down towards the Keystone district, I asked if we could stop off at the Stone of the Seers, to try to visit Taren to get the Constant Heat spell for anyone who wanted it. Faunra said that she could second that, and Savah said that it would be useful to her as well. Dame Rebekah and Jonathan concurred, saying that it wasn't that big of a deal to stop on the way, especially since it was right on the edge of the Seerspring Garden. When we got there, there was a large amount of people waiting outside the building itself, including Master Leis Nivlandis and Taren.

Master Leis came forward and looked over the bikes and noted the construction. He took a minute before addressing us. Instead for talking to me or Savah first, he looked at Jonathan. He made an offhand comment about not letting the beast take over for the man, and that the focus of his ire would be present at the end of this, to just hold out because he would not be able to reach them to get his revenge until then. Jonathan snarled a little but Leis told him that it would be physically impossible before the time that we got him to there.

Master Leis then looked to Faunra, and told her that she still had a chance to get her revenge against the one that had wronged her people, but that it was a long way down the road. Faunra nodded and asked if there was anything that we could do to get ready better. Master Leis told us that eventually we would find out all we need to know from a very old library. Faunra thanked him for his divinatory prowess and Master Leis moved on.

Master Leis then went to Dame Rebekah, and told her that one member of the group would get closer to death than ever before and it will be during a period that is a big problem and that we needed to be ready for that. Dame Rebekah reflexively looked at me for a minute before thanking Master Leis for passing this warning and information on to her. Master Leis then told her that she could consider this to be her holy crusade if that helps, as she would be continuing to fight enemies of her faith. Dame Rebekah thanked him for his knowledge and said that this did help. Master Leis added that our chosen residence would need us in the near future.

Bypassing me, Master Leis went to Savah and smiled at her. He told her that she had a good future ahead of her if she could just rein me in a little and help me maintain a focus. Also, there would be massive economic opportunities in her future if she helped position the group after the various heroics that we were up to constantly. The Master Leis whispered something else into her ear and she was all smiles. She thanked him for everything. The Master Leis turned his face to me.

It was then that I noticed that his eyes were clouded over. I hoped that this was the result of a spell, and not a backlash from the previous spell that he had used. Master Leis looked me over for a good minute before he said anything. The first thing he said was that this was not due to the previous spell, but he could not reach out to the entity he had reached out to last time again for a while. I nodded and Master Leis continued. He said that he would be glad to go to the Crystalhue ceremony in Sandpoint in a few months, and that I had better be prepared to high-tail it back from where we would need to go next after dealing with the current menace as I would have a good reason to defend my new home.

I was glad that he would be there. He also told me that I could swing a couple of other high end people from here if our little group do really well in our mission here. I thanked him and he told me one more thing. He told me that I should use a regional unilateral neo-education services to contact the entity that I needed, as it is less obvious of a means of communication if I caught his drift. It took me a second but I realized what he was doing there and nodded.

Master Leis looked to Taren, and the apprentice came over. Taren asked if the spell he had cast was the power source behind these things. I told him that they were, and that I was here this time to get a copy of the spell so that we would not have to bother him as much anymore. Taren smiled and produced a small journal. He told me that inside it was his notes on this spell and the opposite, and asked that we give him acknowledgement for the creation of both spells, and a small fee of course. Faunra spoke up and said that she would make sure of it, as one practitioner of the Arcane to another. Savah asked him how much, and he told her two hundred gold pieces would cover it. Without even balking, she handed him the asked for sum in twenty platinum pieces and thanked him for everything.

Master Leis noted that our business should be done, and told us the directions to get to Pug's Contraptions. He noted that we should pay special attention to Kyver's Islet, the island between Magnimar proper and the Mush, because there were mills of all sorts there and those were still dangerous places. I thanked him for the directions, and we headed off back down the Main Street. Savah looked at me, and asked me if I really needed to invite everyone to the ceremony. I told her that I wanted to make sure that everyone's faith had a representative, and since mine was so far off, Leis was the closest thing to a representative. Savah shook her head and smiled.

We crossed the bridge to the Kyver's Islet and noticed all of the saw mills, grain mills, and tanneries that flanked the main road. Faunra spent her time looking over the various buildings to get the names of any that she could. We continued across the second bridge and were in the main portion of Ordellia. We drove down the main road until we were flanked by two massive buildings. One was that the Embassy, the place where other towns and countries could have their own ambassadors. The other side was a theater named the Rose and the Rake. I wondered if this was the theater that Cyrdak had been kicked out of. I didn't bring it up to the others.

We turned to head down the street by the theater and moved straight on to Pug's Contraptions. When we got there, word must have gotten to Pug about our vehicles because he came straight out to look them over. Faunra asked him if he had made the cages. He pried his eyes away from the bikes to say that yes, he was. His eyes drifted back to the bikes and asked how it works.

I looked to him and told him that if he told us about this cage, I would tell him how the bike worked. Pug readily agreed and said that the cage was one of the ones that he had sold to Aldern Foxglove, not too many months ago. I asked him if he knew why Aldern might have needed them for. Pug shrugged and said birds? He added that his townhouse was up in the Naos district. I realized that he didn't know more, so I relented and gave him a brief explanation of a steam engine. Pug was ecstatic with the new ideas coming to him, and briefly gave us directions to the Foxglove Townhouse. I allowed him a few questions and some of the ones he asked gave me some ideas about improving things on the bikes. Then we had to leave.

We turned around and headed back to the bridge to Kyver's Islet, and then across to the other bridge without stopping. Faunra noted that even though it was getting late, one or two of the Sawmills still seemed to be operating. I tucked that information away for possible retrieval later. Since it was getting late, we made our way to the Kaijitsu Townhouse. We approached the villa and unlocked the gates to allow us to enter. We put Bucepherous in the stable and figured that the stables might just be the best place for the bikes. I helped Savah get her bike shut down and did the same to mine. We were both about out of water, so I made a note to ask Dame Rebekah for her help in filling up the tanks before we headed back to Sandpoint.

We did a quick check of the area and Savah volunteered to stay back with the Villa to make sure everything was fine. She checked her radio, and it had an okay battery. I got a replacement for both hers and mine, and I had the others check their batteries. No one else even had their radios on, so they were all fresh. Faunra, Jonathan, Dame Rebekah, and myself all headed out. We took the back roads to the Foxglove Townhouse and it scouted around it. It was fully boarded up, except for the front door. We still had the keys from Aldern's Manor, so we went to the front door and tried the larger key. It opened the door just fine. I pocketed the key and we all walked in, and closed the door behind us.

We all quietly walked in and looked around. The place was ransacked and we heard a voice from upstairs asking who was there. It was Aldern's voice. A woman's voice responded to him from the kitchen that it must be their friends from Sandpoint. The woman's voice was Iesha's. I looked to everyone and they seemed just as confused as I was. Faunra took a few seconds to activate one of what I learned were spell-like abilities to detect magical auras. Dame Rebekah prayed for Guidance and Jonathan activated his telekinetic abilities. I didn't know what else to do, so I just called out to them saying that it was us and we were just dropping by since we were in town. Aldern came down the stairs saying that it was good to see us and Iesha came out of the dining room, saying that she had just finished some goulash and that we were welcome to have dinner with them.

I looked to the others in the group and I tried to read their faces. Dame Rebekah was confused, apparently her goddess had precious little to guide her with at the moment, or maybe she was saving that guidance for another time. Faunra looked to be studying the two cautiously, like she had noticed something about them. Jonathan however, seemed irate at the two of them for some reason. He activated his ability to shut doors to have the dining room door slam shut behind Iesha.

Then he grumbled about her not having her scarf. Iesha looked to Aldern and said with a distorted voice that it looked like they were found out. They both started to lose their appearance to look to be a thing that popped right out of that painting by Edvard Munch, only buffer and redder. Oh yeah, and with a sword in their hands. I don't know that I want to know where they were hiding that, because I don't remember seeing that they were armed before changing. They looked like they were about to attack, but it was Jonathan that had struck first blood.

He launched one of the pieces of debris that was on the steps towards the back of the formerly Aldern shapeshifter. That seemed to annoy it. Dame Rebekah, being on edge since she heard Aldern's voice, took up her ready stance and waited for the attack that she knew was about to happen. The thing that was formerly Iesha yelled at Dame Rebekah that she could never take Aldern from her, and rushed towards her with the thing's sword going for a wild slash. Before the fake Iesha could get close, Dame Rebekah hit her with a vicious slash as soon as the thing got within striking distance.

Iesha's wild slash missed, but the slash that Dame Rebekah didn't avoid was the one from the former Aldern, who had snuck up to be flanking her. The blade struck her thigh and opened up a cut. I was really pissed at this, so I slashed at the former Aldern after studying him for a brief second. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw three arrows fly towards the Iesha thing, but only two hit it. Jonathan stepped up and took some shots at the former Aldern thing. These things were wily and Jonathan only managed to hit the damn thing once. That was all he needed to drop it the thing though. Dame Rebekah followed it up with a back slash that dropped the Iesha thing.

I went to check if they were alive and I couldn't tell how to check. The things didn't look in any way to be actual living things. Faunra stepped up and told me that these things were called Ugothol, and that they were engineered by the Alghollthu to be spies and saboteurs against the surface dweller civilizations. She added that they were aberrations, just like their giant fish-like creators, and not worth worrying about. Dame Rebekah asked what the Alghollthu were, and Faunra noted that they were commonly known as the Aboleth. Dame Rebekah kicked the corpses a couple of times, and noted that these things enslaved countless peoples. I can't say that these things deserved much of a positive fate if they were used to like Faunra said.

I looked around and it was very clear that this townhouse had been rolled for any evidence. I noted as much to the rest of the group. They all agreed and Jonathan suggested that we a thorough search from top to bottom, just to see if they missed anything. Dame Rebekah thanked him and we all went up to the top floor to start on our search. Almost immediately upon arriving on the third floor, Jonathan spotted a tiny keyhole in the mouth of a lion on a fireplace. I handed him the key while I looked in some other places. If there was a trap, I was sure that he would tell me.

Jonathan came over after a minute and handed me ledger of papers, including a deed to Foxglove Manor. I looked over the thing and decided to snap a picture of it. If this, along with the letter of Xanesha, would mean that the debt of the Foxglove clan should be discharged. Xanesha didn't specify that it was only a specific portion of Aldern's debt that was forgiven, so I could see it argued that this should serve to be a discharge of the debt. Maybe Savah could argue it better. Especially if it is proven that Xanesha had betrayed Aldern in some way to make him become the monstrous parody of life that he became.

Looking over the other paperwork, it seems that Aldern was also making some kind of recurring payment to "The Seven's Sawmill". Maybe he was trying to pay back the loan for the building? It definitely means that we need to look into them. I filed all of the paperwork into my backpack and thanked him for bringing it to my attention. Jonathan nodded and said that he was going to continue searching. We finished up our searching and saw that the house was really picked through and all valuables were taken. It pretty much looked like a house that was gutted in meth country back in the old world.

We saw the bodies of the Ugothol were still on the floor. They had not moved an inch, but to be sure, Jonathan launched some of the shattered wood into them. I asked if we needed to inform the watch or bury them or something. Dame Rebekah said that she would inform the church of Iomedae after we left. Jonathan found a key on one of them, and handed it to Dame Rebekah. She took it from him and asked us where we should head to next. Faunra said that she had seen the Sawmill when we went over Kyver's Islet on the way to Ordellia. I noted that we should probably head there without the vehicles or horses. Dame Rebekah agreed and we left the townhouse in the condition it was, and locked it up before we turned down the street.

I asked Faunra if she had noticed anything that might have warned anyone outside the building that something had been done. Faunra shook her head and said that it was likely that we might be able to catch a group by surprise if we act quickly. I looked to Jonathan, and he said that the quicker that we dealt with this the quicker we could get back to Sandpoint. Dame Rebekah said that she had wanted to go to the Iomedae Temple before heading to the Sawmill. I asked Dame Rebekah if she thought that they might keep us for questioning. Dame Rebekah said that she expected that they would. I told her that I voted to go directly to the Sawmill then, as anyone could be a spy on the street and having seen us go into the townhouse and then back out would give the Seven time to prepare.

Dame Rebekah relented, but said that after we deal with the Sawmill, we go directly to the Church of Iomedae. I said that this was fine, that I had some business there anyway. Dame Rebekah kind of growled at me under her breath, but I couldn't make it out. I think that she was just showing how happy she was that I was trying to include everyone. I'm going to go with that. We headed back toward the way to get out of Naos and down into the lower side of the city when Jonathan came upon an idea.

If we went to the Kaijitsu Manor, we could drop down the back side and maybe skip most of the long way around the cliff. Faunra didn't have an issue with it, and Dame Rebekah noted that she could at least leave a message with Savah to head to the church with a key if anything happened. I noted that if we were going to go full bore towards the Sawmill, speed might be of a use for us. Jonathan said that with some struggle, he could lift all of us and our horse/bikes, especially if there was something that could support everything.

Faunra noted that with just a bike and a horse, we could get through the side streets quicker and easier. I grumbled and said that I'd get to making a bike for her when we got back to Sandpoint, after we got the parts. Faunra said that she would discuss it with me later. We quickly made our way back to the Kaijitsu Villa. When we got in Savah was waiting. She asked us what had happened. Dame Rebekah briefed her on what had happened with the Townhouse. I gave her the deed, and told her that she could look over all of the paperwork if she wanted, and that maybe she could find a way to make it profit for us. I left the Xanesha note with her as well.

We got to the stables and got my bike and Dame Rebekah's horse ready. We moved everything to the back of the villa but couldn't find anything large enough to support everything in one go. Jonathan focused his aether might and lifted a stable door off its drop in hinges, and lowered it to the ground. Dame Rebekah and her horse got on it, with Faunra on the door as well. Jonathan lifted the door up over the back wall and down into an adjacent alley on the underside of the cliff. He brought the door back up and put it back in place. He then focused on my bike, and we both got on. He lowered us down into the same alley and then he got off the bike.

As soon as Jonathan was off the bike, I felt an earthquake happen, almost as if there was some divine force that was upset with us for bypassing a section of the city that most people go through. A terrible rent opened in the cliff-face behind us and out poured six of the worst square cube law things that I had ever seen. People who had seen us land scattered and we took up arms. We were not quite quick enough to stop the vile things from drawing our own blood, but we did stop them from going through the city and killing others.

The lead one rushed out at Faunra and tried to bite her. Thankfully it missed. Jonathan stepped up to it and smashed it to pieces with his telekinetically enhanced cestus. The spider things rushed Dame Rebekah next and got blocked by her shield. These things were FAST. Stupid Fast. Faunra took a step back from the one that had tried to bite her and powered up her bow. The arrows that flew from it burst into flames. She yelled out that they were weak to fire and that they were abominations. I don't know why that was important, but she struck three of them, two with flaming arrows and one with a regular arrow. I'm guessing that that third one was launched by a spell. I stepped up to the one that had charged Dame Rebekah, and slashed at it.

That was the end of what looked like our big positive advance. Three of the things, I later learned that they were called Shriezyx, charged from the hole, going after Jonathan, Dame Rebekah, and Faunra. They missed Jonathan, but their fangs sunk into the exposed thighs and biceps of Dame Rebekah and Faunra, even around the shields that they both had, Faunra's force and Dame Rebekah's B4C. I saw some vile green ichor leak from the wounds and I prayed silently that they were not poisoned. Dame Rebekah returned the hit with a slash of her own, but the thing did not fall.

That was when I noticed that these things were not actually spiders after all. I mean, they had eight legs and an apparent abdomen and thorax/head combo, but the mouth structure was completely different, and they had three eyes, not even compound ones. They main reason why I noticed this is because one came charging at me, and tried to bite me. It missed, clamping on to my dastana. It let go and howled in some kind of ancient language that Faunra seemed to recognize. Jonathan took the opportunity to attack the one that had charged him, pummeling it with two strikes from his cestus and dropping it before backhanding the one that had charged Faunra.

That was when our errors really showed up. It looked like this was just another battle to slog through when the first one that charged Dame Rebekah started flailing out, biting and slashing at Dame Rebekah. Under that onslaught, she caught two claws to the thighs. Shallow wounds, but there is something to be said about the death of a thousand cuts. Faunra stepped back from the one that had bit her, favoring her wounded thigh, and firing off pair of arrows into two of the vile thing's eyes, dropping it. She launched off a non-flaming arrow at the one that had bit Dame Rebekah first. I stepped up to hack at that same thing and hacked it. It STILL wasn't down. That must have pissed it off, because it turned to face and flail at me. My armor held it off for the most part, but it managed to cut my legs up a bit with its claws. Shallow cuts still, but they hurt.

Dame Rebekah responded by hacking at the one that had just focused its rage on me and gave it a good solid hit. IT STILL WASN'T DOWN. This thing had been pierced by arrows, hacked by a machete and a longsword. Was this the Boromir of Shriezyx? I wasn't paying enough attention to the one that had charged me first, because it maneuvered to be behind me and bit my arm. It also managed to slash both me and Dame Rebekah with a claw each. I was kind of distracted from noticing what he was doing, but Jonathan managed to take out the one that had first charged Dame Rebekah with his gore encrusted aether enhanced cestus.

Faunra took aim at the remaining two Shriezyx, taking the one that had bite me with two burning arrows and dropping the last one with just her spell launched arrow. Sometimes Faunra can be such a kill-stealer. Not that I am complaining this time. Jonathan and myself spent some time going over everyone's wounds, making sure that none of us were actually poisoned, and so on. He offered up the use of his power and we all took it. It closed up the wounds that we had received from the Shriezyx and now I would have a new batch of scars to explain to Savah. At least this wasn't a fight that I tried to get into.

Jonathan noted that we should check into the cave to see if there were any more to prevent people from being attacked by other ones after we left. He spent about thirty seconds in there before coming out with a bag full of things. He told us that the earthquake had caved in the back side of the cave, so that this pack of six were all that were in there. I shrugged and said that we should be moving on to the Sawmill, just as we started to get settled in to ride off, a City Watch captain and his team came running up, yelling "All right, All right. What's all this then." I almost fell off my bike laughing, even I had seen this sketch.

The Dame Rebekah told the watch captain that we happened to be in the area when the earthquake happened and these six Shriezyx burst forth from the cliff face and started to attack us. She added that we killed them with extreme prejudice, and prevented them from attacking any of the civilians in the area. That seemed to mollify the watch captain until he noticed me snickering. The watch captain asked me why I was laughing. I told him that I was just taken aback by all of the lunacy of a watch captain yelling at us when we just killed the giant spider things coming out form the earth.

I shit you not, the watch captain, without missing a beat, yelled at me, "Are you trying to tell me my job? Look! I must warn you that anything you may say will be ignored and furthermore, given half a chance I'll put my fist through your teeth." Jonathan tried to help, by saying that I wasn't the problem here, but the Watch Captain yelled back at him that he was tired of him and that he was under arrest. Faunra tried to reason with the officer, saying that I had even been wounded by the Shriezyx in the fight. The Watch Captain told her that one more peep out of her and he'd have her charged on Heresy. I couldn't stop myself.

I told the watch captain, "Blimey, I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition." I fell off my bike, rolling on the ground laughing. Even in this world, things still happened this way. The Watch Captain came over to me, and lifted me off the ground with a fist to my face. Dame Rebekah was the hero, stopping everything from getting worse. She told the watch captain that I was a lunatic but that she was responsible for ensuring that I did my best to help others. She walked over and elbowed me in the ribs. I stood up straight and told the watch captain that I was sorry. He was pissed but accepted it, especially since the witnesses were saying that we had defended them. I asked for the watch captains name and he told me. It was Panam. Watch Captain Panam.

I don't know how I stayed silent until we got out of ear shot, but I did. Faunra was on the back of my motorcycle, threatening me with all kinds of harm if I didn't stay quiet. I got my bike up to speed and we took off, going at a speedy fourteen miles an hour. We wanted to get away from the scene we were involved in. We were not going to be travelling for an hour or anything like that anyway, so rushing like this wasn't an issue for Dame Rebekah's horse and Jonathan could apparently run forever. I knew that my bike was running on empty, but Dame Rebekah could fix that when she prayed for spells in the morning.

As we drove down through Lowcleft, there were quite a few people still up and about. I'm sure that the earthquake and the fight didn't help. I'm sure that my glowing skull headlight didn't help matters much for keeping a low profile. We pulled through the Seerspring Garden and on through the Keystone District. The Stone of the Seer was all dark, with no lights lit. We rolled on, and passed a strange spherical building. Faunra mentioned to me that it was apparently an aquarium. I must not have been paying attention this afternoon.

We rolled up the bridge to Kyver's Islet. At this time of night, most of the mills had shut down, as it was cheaper to not have to pay for the torches or oil for the lanterns. I was very much doubtful that the people cared about the fact that it is dangerous to have open flame in areas with floating dust in the air. However, there was one mill that still seemed to be running at night. We put Dame Rebekah's horse up next to a hitching post, and my bike next to it. I jokingly told Bucepherous that if they needed they could duck down behind my bike for cover as long as they made sure that no one stole it. To my surprise, Bucepherous nodded. Going with the nonsense, I put my cellphone on record and set it up in the chest pocket. This seemed to be something that I might need recorded.

We looked over the walkway and found a set of stairs going down. We went down stairs, to see what we might be dealing with. We opened up the door to the lower level and there were four huge waterwheels that were churning away. The room was a mass of belts, chains, gears, pulleys, and ropes that were spinning and churning away. We filed in and saw that there were three people who looked to be minding the chaotic machinery. One of them called out to us that this wasn't the place for visitors. I smiled and told them that we were sent by Aldern to settle his debt.

The people all left their stations minding the equipment and got close to us, saying that they would escort us to the upper level to the manager. Dame Rebekah asked them if Xanesha was in. They apparently did not like that. They started to pull out something that looked like masks and leapt at us. I took a swing at the first one that came next to me, but it was for naught. The three of them ganged up on me, pulling me into the area of whirling belts and slashing my thighs twice. I nearly missed getting caught up by the belts. Jonathan moved into my place behind me and took out the two that slashed my legs and a pair of arrows took the cultist that had tried to pull me into the dangerous areas.

Jonathan focused his powers into me and the wounds started to close. Dame Rebekah helped me heal the rest of the way, baring the energy that had been sapped to heal me previously. She also added that these people looked to be devotees to the cult of Norgorber, a god of murderers and thieves. Faunra noted that her power would run out within a minute so they should hurry on to the rest of the building. I agreed and we rushed out and ran back up the stairs. We ran around the deck and busted into the ground floor. We ran into that first floor. Jonathan said clear quietly and we turned to run up the set of stairs that were next to the door we came in. We ran up the stairs and saw another set of stairs right next to the ones we just came up. We saw a door, and nodded to each other.

We opened up the door and Jonathan rushed in, seeing four more of the people. They drew war razors and Jonathan went nuts. He dropped the first two almost instantly. Dame Rebekah charged in after him and attacked another one, lopping off its head. I charged in after her and attacked the last one. I hit it with a decent hit and actually managed to parry an attack that was coming towards me from it. Faunra put an arrow between the cultist's eyes and Jonathan scanned the room. He nodded and we rushed up another floor. I pulled out my air rifle as we went up a level, remembering the warning that I had gotten in my dream. We busted open the door and the noise was horrendous.

We didn't even wait for them to attack us this time. Faunra opened up with three of her flaming arrows, shooting one through the throat, dropping them. She shot another one with her second flaming arrow and the spell arrow, dropping it. I shot one with the air rifle and managed to hit it the head and cause it to stumble back, right into the path of the some of the whirling blades. The cultist disappeared into the area below this one, where we had just cleared out the attackers. Jonathan blasted the last one and knocked it into the blades. I was pretty sure that it was dead before it reached the blades.

Dame Rebekah ran upstairs and we all followed. We rounded the corner and found two cultists cleaning up from a sacrifice. Jonathan turned the corner and blasted one quickly. I took aim with my rifle and pegged one in the head, knocking him back, causing him to slip in the blood that he was cleaning up, falling backwards and snapping his neck on a bench. Faunra ran up to a closet and check there, nothing. Dame Rebekah checked another door and found nothing, leaving a set of double doors. We lined up outside the doors and got ready. I checked the door and found it was locked. I got my tools out and got the door unlocked. I signaled to everyone else to get ready and they did. Jonathan charged up, Dame Rebekah prayed for guidance, Faunra charged her bow up with shocking energy and I put my rifle away and pulled out my pistol, as the last room could only be small. I nodded to everyone and they nodded back.

I pulled the doors open and the cult leader was waiting for me, invisibly. He stabbed at my chest and the blade glanced off and opened up a gash on my machete arm. I was about to react, but Faunra was quicker. She fired three shots but only hit with one. The zappy energy from her arrows must not have felt too good, but this guy was really tough to hit. Jonathan stepped into the room and took a few swings at him, again, to only hit once. I stepped back and fired a shot from my pistol, and it struck his armor, burrowing through it and into his chest for a plume of red. He smiled when he saw my gun, saying that this at last was a weapon built for death. He did what I can only describe as the reverse of what Dame Rebekah does every time she channels energy and heals me, but it burned all of us. Dame Rebekah neigh on took his head clear off for that affront. Jonathan then stitched him up. I pulled my cellphone out and stopped the recording.

We looked around and saw that the combats were over. We calmed down and did our full inspection of the man and his gruesome trophies. Jonathan was field-stripping him of his goods while Faunra had gathered everything that could be magical into a pile. Dame Rebekah and I started a brief discussion about what to do about this. Apparently, from what we could tell, this elf was a justice of the town. He was also the head of a serial killer cult. This wasn't Xanesha, and we were at a dead end. Jonathan went up the ladder that was in the room, and was up there for a minute while Faunra got in on the conversation between Dame Rebekah and myself. In the end, Dame Rebekah's logic seemed the soundest. Get the elf to the Iomedaean temple. I asked if the members there would be willing to be a bit duplicitous about it. Dame Rebekah shook her head, saying that she was the most lenient person in that regard that she had ever met in her clergy.

Jonathan came back down and told us that it was a rookery, and probably used to send messages to some other confederate within city limits. Faunra pointed out that there was probably a fair bit of information in this book, but it was in a three-part code in a language that she was not familiar with, in addition to Draconic and Elvish. From what she could see, it does reference killing others and fooling the nobles in the town, especially some fool named Grobaras, and eventually kill them all in the name of Norgorber.

I looked to Dame Rebekah and agreed that we needed to get this guy to some kind of prison that would hold him. She told me that the temple to Iomedae should have something, and if not, they would know who to trust. I noted that we needed to get him through the town to the temple without people identifying him. Jonathan asked if his hat would help. I looked at him, and he pulled a hood off of his head. When we saw him, his form was much more bestial that we had even seen before. His wasp flew off of his shoulder and landed on the stabilized elf. Without any fanfare, the wasp stung the elf. It didn't do a lot of damage, but the elf needed further treatment. The wasp flew over to one of the framed faces on the wall and hovered looking at it, and then back at the elf.

Jonathan told them that he was being told by his wasp that the elf had killed the wasp in a former life and it wanted revenge against him. That kind of threw everything for a loop for me. I mean, we were going to have to take this elf a fair distance, with an irate wasp that was bent on killing the thing that had killed it in a former life. I looked to Faunra, and she seemed blasé about it. I knew that Jonathan would be willing to let his wasp do what it felt it had to do. Dame Rebekah was the main concern. I asked her if she was concerned that a former victim got revenge upon the perpetrator of their torture and murder. This was doubtlessly a tough question for her. I mean, she should probably be looking for redemption for this person, but they had committed such atrocities in the name of their evil deity that their soul might be inescapably evil. It was her duty to vanquish evil wherever it stood. And this individual had not surrendered, even when it had the chance.

Dame Rebekah asked Jonathan if his wasp was certain that this was the one that had killed them. Jonathan asked the wasp and it was angrily buzzing and pointing right at one of the stretched out faces. Jonathan told Dame Rebekah that it was back several months ago. Back when he had just started leading this cult. Jonathan relayed the words that the wasp's former form was that of an elvish prostitute at the shucked clam that had been kidnapped by the Justice. The translation continued that her face was one of the first that he had put up on his wall. Dame Rebekah prayed for some form of guidance, and I thought for a minute. I looked to Jonathan and asked him if the wasp would be okay with someone else avenging them. Jonathan seemed to hum to the wasp, and the message was relayed back that the wasp would be fine with that.

I took my machete and jammed it into Justice Ironbriar's throat, point first. Dame Rebekah was pissed, saying that it should have been her call. I told her that she did not need to suffer the responsibility of it, and that if she wanted, she should turn me in to the Iomedean clerics. I told her that we were wasting time with this. We didn't know if Ironbriar had gotten a message to someone else while we were storming this place, so the other person was probably ready for us. Faunra noted that she had an idea. I wisely shut up and waited for her to declaim her idea. She noted that she could try to send a message to Xanesha that her, being Ironbriar, had killed us and assigned the Ugothol to be mimicking us throughout town to then send them back to Sandpoint to further the rituals. My jaw dropped. I told her that this was a fantastic idea, and that it might serve to make her less worried. Jonathan piped up saying that he could have Cytheria, his wasp familiar, just follow the raven that was sent to deliver the message, at a distance, and get an idea where we would have to head to next.

Dame Rebekah was still pissed about what I had done, and told me as much. But she continued with telling me that she was going to make the call to let the judge be killed. I told her that I didn't think it would be just for it to be drawn out with multiple stings. Dame Rebekah said that she could respect that reason at least. I said that it would be more difficult this way, hauling a dead body through town, but that we needed to get it to the Iomedae temple as quickly as we can. Faunra said that she could make the body invisible temporarily, but that it would only last six minutes or so. I noted that we should probably get done with whatever we needed to get done with and get back to the Naos district, and that we can deal with getting the body and everything to the Iomedean temple from there.

Dame Rebekah and I both came to the same conclusion for different reasons, at the same time even. We both said that she should take the body and inform them that we ae following. Dame Rebekah asked me why I had come to that conclusion, and I told her and her mount were the only ones that could be likely to make it in the time needed. Dame Rebekah nodded and said oh. I told her that as my bike was about empty and Jonathan might not be able to carry the body and be at the speed required. With everyone agreeing, we cleared out the place and got everything downstairs. We arranged the bodies such that whoever found them would know that they were murder cultists and were killed for being such.

Faunra made her fake message, and Dame Rebekah took it up to the raven with Jonathan. They attached the note and sent the raven on. Jonathan sent his wasp to follow. Then Dame Rebekah headed back down to where her horse was and got ready. I asked her about the create water spell and she sadly apologized for not being able to cast the spell today, since she had not prayed for it this morning. I shrugged and said that I would figure out something. Before we brought out the former Justice, we looked about a bit and made sure that the no one was really around brought the robed body down to the horse.

Faunra quietly cast the invisibility spell on the dead elf and nodded to Dame Rebekah. Dame Rebekah took off on a dead run on Bucepherous. Jonathan came down from the top of the building, and told us that Cytheria had took off on a North East tack. I told him to follow and try to keep us informed. Jonathan ran off, trying to do what he could to keep an eye on Cytheria, who was tracking the raven. I got to my bike and Faunra asked if it had enough water in it for the trip back to the Temple or to follow Jonathan. I opened up the tank to find that it was bone empty. It must have just coasted into position here. I checked the valves and made sure that they were closed. I remembered my hydration pouch, and it was still full from back when I filled it in Sandpoint.

I emptied my entire hydration pouch into the tank and tried to figure out how far I could reach with it. I guessed that I might be able to make it back to the Villa, but that last hill would be a pain. Faunra asked what I needed to get the bike running, and I told her that I could use a fill up of pure water. Faunra noted that there was a temple to Desna in the Keystone district, not too far away. I noted to her that we should be able to make it there. I got on the bike and Faunra hopped on the back. I opened up the main valve, and let the pressure build up as much as possible before opening the throttle.

We popped a bit of a wheelie and Faunra squeed with delight. She yelled out that she definitely wanted to get one of these after-all. I smiled and followed her directions to get to a temple known as the Cynosure Tower. We zipped over the bridge and made the fast turn. I didn't take it at my best, but I got the bike righted. The change in the weight dynamics really got me off-balance but I righted the bike before it fell. Faunra was still giddy with the ride. I asked her if she was okay, and she told me that she had just realized that things could have gone a lot worse back there, but we managed to pull it through.

I nodded and said that I expected that this would be the case from here on out, that my days of being in danger were probably not over. Faunra said that she definitely thought that we had a long case ahead of us. What little that she had read in the journal indicated that this was a much larger threat than we had even anticipated. I sighed and told her that Savah would probably be pissed. She nodded and said that we would need to work out a way to get word back to Sandpoint easier if we needed to spend a lot of time away from the town. I told her that my radios wouldn't work too well over distances of thirty miles, and that we might need to look into magical means. We were zipping and dodging through the keystone district until we pulled right up to the Cynosure Tower. I heard the last bit of steam leave the boiler as we did.

Faunra went up and knocked on the gate to the courtyard. A middle aged Varisian woman came to the gate and asked us what we needed, before seeing my bike. She looked over it and then at me. She seemed to recognize that I was "not from around here" TM. She welcomed us into the courtyard and introduced herself as Mother Bevaluu Zimantiu. She also indicated where I could park my bike and asked that I cover the head and tail lights. I followed her directions and she asked me how far we had travelled. I smiled, and told her that I had travelled incalculable distance, and Faunra, pointing to her, had travelled through many millennia. The Cleric looked at us knowingly and said that we had the look of people who had travelled from different areas and different eras.

I thanked her, as from what I had learned, Desnans tended to respect travelers. She asked us what we might need help with, and I told her that I needed to beg a minor miracle from her. She asked us what I needed, and I told her that I needed my bike's tank filled with pure water. She told me that she would do so, as long as I could give her as much of an explanation of how it worked as I was allowed. I shrugged and looked to Faunra. She shrugged too, so I told Mother Zimantiu how the bike superheated water and then turned it to steam, before using the steam to push a turbine like a water wheel, then the steam condensed to be returned to the tank, via a pump that was connected to the turbine.

She nodded and asked me if these were common where I was from. I told her that the vehicles where I was from mostly ran on a derivative of oil that caused some damage to the environment, and I wanted to avoid that here. Faunra looked at me with what I guessed was a bit of respect. Mother Zimantiu nodded and filled up my tank and my hydration pouch. She asked if there was anything else that we needed. Faunra kicked my shin and I looked at her blankly before she made the indication of pulling a mask off. I got the hint and asked Mother Zimantiu and asked if her faith was in the business of buying evil artifacts to keep them off the streets. She asked me what all I had. I pulled out all of the masks and the poisoned darts. She looked them over and was astounded. She asked where we had gotten all of them, and Faunra told her that we had busted a cult devoted to Norgorber a few minutes ago.

Mother Zimantiu asked how we had dealt with them, and I told her, with one word, terminally. Faunra added that we had been sent by Sandpoint because the cult had sent someone to start a serial killing and ghoul creation spree there and we had tracked them down to the cult to a lumber mill here in Magnimar. She continued that we had taken out the cult with, as I had referenced earlier, "Extreme Prejudice", but that there was a leader who had given the order to the cult that another of our group was still tracking down. She nodded and said that getting rid of a serial killer cult could only be a good thing. She asked why we had not went elsewhere, and I told her that my bike had run out of fuel after dealing with the people, and that this was the closest good temple that we could reach.

Mother Zimantiu looked over the items again and noted that this was a phenomenal amount of evil that was removed from the streets, and that she did not have enough in coin to cover what a good amount would be for this. I nodded and felt ashamed for a minute. She noted that she did have somethings that she could offer us though. We thanked her for whatever help she could provide. She took all of the evil things and came back with four belts. They each added to someone's physical capabilities in different ways. There were two belts that increased someone's health and wellness, while another increased a person's dexterity. The fourth belt increased someone's strength. Mother Zimantiu said that she could put the rest towards any medical emergencies we might have with a letter of credit.

I looked to Faunra and she seemed okay with it, but asked if it would only be usable here in Magnimar, at the Cynosure. Mother Zimantiu noted that she would have the paperwork drawn up tomorrow with the Mayor to have the seal of Magnimar attached to it to allow us to use it at any Holy or Balanced church in Magnimar, and further, her word and signature on it would definitely carry enough weight for it to be useful in Sandpoint if needed. Faunra nodded and I said that this would be more than sufficient.

When I thanked Mother Zimantiu, Faunra elbowed me again. I looked at Faunra and she made a motion pointing to her ring. I smiled again and told Mother Zimantiu that I was in error, that we did have one more thing to ask of her. Mother Zimantiu asked what we might need, and I told her that I would like it if she could make her way to Sandpoint for the Crystalhue ceremony this year. Some of the followers of Desna are getting married there, and I was hoping that it would be a nice surprise for them to start their relationships with well-wishes from members of their faith.

Mother Zimantiu smiled and thought for a second, and then agreed. I thanked her greatly and asked her if she would like those followers to be told that she would be coming, or if she would like it to be a secret. Mother Zimantiu said that it would be best for those getting wed to know who was coming to witness. I told her that I would tell them as I saw them. I added that I would try to get a book about maps of my homeland for her for when she arrived. She thanked me and told us that we could come back to talk whenever we wanted. We thanked her for everything, got back on the bike, and rode off to get back to the Villa.

On our way back, Faunra cautioned me that this water would disappear within twenty-four hours. I told her that I would keep that in mind. As we wound our way through the Keystone, Faunra noted that Jonathan's church was nearby, and we could ask them. I told her that I hoped that this was a good idea, because I didn't know much about Calistria. Faunra said that she would try to help. We turned on the road to get to the Dome of the Savored Sting. I noted with confidence that I had never seen a dome with as pointy a minaret in all my travels. When we got there, Faunra took the lead and went to head inside. Before she could head in, a beautiful elven woman in extremely sheer black and silver silks came out to inspect us.

She took a long look at me and my bike, and then at Faunra. She noted that she could definitely see on us that we were both wronged in some way and were touched by vengeance. She asked who it was that we might be seeking vengeance against. Faunra spoke up and said Karzoug. The elven woman blanched and said that she didn't think that she could set up that contract.

The elven woman looked to me and said that I had just helped a soul gain its revenge on someone. I nodded and said that I had just killed a person who had tortured and killed the soul before. The Priestess, Ayamyra, said that as a thanks for fulfilling that contract, I could ask for one favor. Even I could tell that she was trying to insinuate that she was trying to get me to pick a specific "favor". I looked to Faunra, and she nodded.

I told the high priestess that there was a couple that were getting betrothed on Crystalhue this year in Sandpoint. The elven priestess interjected and said that one of them had wronged me and I needed them to be dealt with, right? I shook my head and told her that at least one, if not both, of the couple were getting married, and I would like to claim my favor as her being there for the wedding, for them. She gritted her teeth and asked if there was anything else that I would ask for. I shook my head, but told her that I would be glad if she gave all of those getting married a cautionary tale about the revenge that might come from cheating on your spouse. She smiled at that and that she agreed to this favor.

I thanked her and said that we needed to head out as we had just killed a serial killer cult and needed to track down its leader. Ayamyra smiled at that and said that it was good to further the cause of revenge. I jokingly noted to her that the stylization of my bike was from a vehicle that was known to be associated with a spirit of vengeance back where I was from. She told me that she needed to ride on the bike now. I looked to Faunra, and she made a kind of conciliatory shrug.

I told Ayamyra to get on, and headed back towards the Seerspring Garden, goosing the throttle to speed up and then headed back to the Dome. I only needed to tell her to not let her hands drift four times. She got off the bike and asked if I was making these and selling them. I told her that she could place an order with my fiancée when she met her in Sandpoint. She nodded and said that she might like to have one of these for herself.

Faunra got on the bike and we heard a radio call from Jonathan. He told us that he had found the location and that he would meet us back at the Villa. I nodded and said that we should probably head back. Faunra taunted me that my fiancée was probably waiting for us. I nodded and we took off in a hurry. I heard Ayamyra laughing behind us. We took off through down the road that partially split the Lowcleft and Dockway, until we got to the point where we were fully in the Dockway District. Many heads turned as we rolled down the street at a fairly fast pace. I kind of regretted not putting a horn on it, but at least I could play something appropriate while we were riding through the Dockway District.

I stopped outside the Bronze House, which was currently closed, but definitely defended, and pulled out my cellphone. I pulled my MP3 app up and played "War – Low Rider". It seemed only appropriate due to the relatively slow speed that I was travelling at. We continued on and Faunra noted that she might be able to enchant the tires on this to allow us to go faster. I nodded and asked her if she could also enchant them to have illusionary flames and have a trail of flame after the bike for a few seconds. She told me that she would think on it as we headed off.

We turned with the road at the Shucked Oyster, and all manner of underdressed people were yelling down offers and insults at us. I ignored them but Faunra spared playfully back with some of them. We kept on the road until we got to a large area where we would have to make a sharp right to get up into the Naos District. Rather than make a hard right at speed, I took the chance to get the bike going a little faster and spun it around the outside of the circle before heading up the ramp to the Capital District.

We passed a large monument depicting an armored warrior fighting some kind of large two headed serpent stuffed with quills. I slowed down to be respectful. Faunra noted to me that the monument was called "Indros cui Vydrarch" and was a remembrance of a great paladin fighting off this monstrosity. I nodded solemnly and continued my path towards the Villa. We passed the Osprey Club, ignoring the Faerie Fire enhanced exterior and continued on. We made the appropriate turn and got back to the Villa without further issue. Jonathan and Dame Rebekah were already there, as was Savah.

I parked my bike and got the heat rock out while Dame Rebekah explained that the Iomedean clergy were not too happy with my actions, but that the actions themselves were not enough to bring any sort of official condemnation. She told us that they would be turning the body in to the Order of the Nail and that we could expect an investigation into us tomorrow. I told them all that I was glad that I recorded everything up to the point where Jonathan bandaged the justice up. Dame Rebekah asked why I had stopped at that point, and I told her that I was used to everyone rolling the bad guys for they stuff after that, so I wanted to minimize that being caught on recording.

Jonathan noted that this was smart. It was his turn to share, so he told us all that Cytheria had followed the raven at a distance and it made its way to a tower in the Underbridge known as The Shadow Clock. Jonathan added that there were rumors of a large monster living there, and others of something else taking root there as well. I nodded and said that we should prepare for another battle tomorrow night. Jonathan asked why then, and I told him that being tomorrow night would give us a chance to answer all of the Order of the Nail's questions, and recover any magic that we needed.

Faunra spoke up and said, speaking of recovering, we had gotten somethings in trade for the evil artifacts that we had recovered from the cult. She passed a belt each to Jonathan and Dame Rebekah. She noted that Jonathan's increased his health and Dame Rebekah's increased her strength. They both greedily took them and then put them on. I looked to Faunra and she was fastening a belt around her waist and said that this one increased her physical reactions. She threw me a belt and said to everyone else that the one that was left was another one that increased their health. I noted that at least I wouldn't be as susceptible to poisons or the like anymore.

Savah asked if it was true that I had gotten cut up a couple of times in the fights. I told her that it was, but that Jonathan and Dame Rebekah had taken care of me. She thanked them all and said that while we were being investigated, she would get all of the shopping that she needed done, and that if we needed anything, she could source it for us. I joked that we both could use a way to keep out bikes full of water and she seriously told me that she would look into it tomorrow. She asked everyone else and got a few different answers from the other people. Jonathan contributed the gems that he had discovered in the Shriezyx lair.

I told everyone good night and that I felt the urgent need to retire. Savah and I got to the room we were sharing and she helped me get out of my armor and into our night clothes before helping me finish out my notes for this extremely LONG day.