I begin walking to the town square.
I follow my feet as I wonder through the streets, taking my time and enjoying the bustle of the town.
I have completely forgotten how relaxing it is to have nothing on the agenda. Thirteen years of constant figthing do that to you.

"Poi poi!"

The pango pulls me out of my musings before I can delve too deep, and we reach the square eventually.
I recognize the statue of Alaina.

"Woof!"
A small, brown feline of some sorts, only a little larger than the pango, watches us. Its tail wags slowly when it catches our attention.
I believe it's called a 'dog', Leanna once told me. I don't see any reseblence with dogs I know, like the Akk dogs, but whatever.
It looks quite harmless and somewhat cute.

"Hey dog, are you lost?"

The dog wags his tail. I extend my hand and it cautiously approaches.
After giving me a few good exploratory sniffs, it barks excitedly.

"Good boy."
Its tongue lolls out as I scratch behind its ears.

"Poi!"
The pango bounces angrily. The dog stares at the pango as if noticing him for the first time.

"Woof?"

"Poi poi!"

The pango pouts and jumps even higher. The dog covers and whines.

"Pango, what's up with you?"

"Poi!"

I go to pat the dog, but the pango butts my hand away.

"Poi poi!"

I stare blankly at the pango.
"Are you jealous?"

"Poi!"

I sigh as I reach out a hand and pat the pango who seems to calm down slightly.
The dog perks up as the pango relaxes.
"Woof!"

It waggles its tail as it nuzzles the pango.

"Poi?!"
The pango bristles at the dogs touch and scrambles back.

"Poi poi!"
He hops away but the dog happily chases him.

"Woof!"

As the dog catches up, it licks the pango, who grimaces.

"Aw, he's playing with you."

"Pooooiiii…"
Was that a defeated sigh?

"Mocha!"
A little girl races over to the dog, who barks excitedly at ther presence.
She throws her arms around it and holds it close as it licks her face.

"I thought I lost you!"

Suddenly, she notices the pango and her eyes grow wide.
"Oooooh, you're so cute!"

"Poi?"

She gently pats the pango on the head and his little frown melts into a smile.
"Poi poi!"

"Are you lost too?"

Choose your pois wisely, little one.

"Poi poi!"
He hops over to me. Good move.
The girl looks me over then smiles shyly.
"Oh, um, hi."

I return her smile. Just not shyly.
"Hello. Is that your dog?"

She nods.
"Thanks for finding him for me. Sometimes he's too fast and I can't catch him."

Mocha, as seems to be the dog's name, sniffs around my feet and nudges my hand to be patted, but the pango bounces between us.
"Poi!"

The girl giggles and waves.
"I guess we should be leaving. Bye bye little pango friend! Thanks for keeping Mocha company!"

"Woof!"

I smile at her enthusiasm.
"Bye."

Before Mocha can escape again, the girl slips a leash around his collar and the two of them gradually disappear from view.
I look down at my pango, who looks back up at me.
I smile and pat his head affectionately. He squirms happily against me, then hops onto my shoulder and nuzzles my face.

"How about we continue on that walk together, hm?"

"Poi!"

Together, we head further into town. Now if I had access to my clothes from Rishi…
I decide to check out some of the storefronts and streets that I didn't get a chance to see yesterday.
The pango wanders off whenever it gets too crowded, but he always seems to find his way back to me.

That didn't take me as long as I thought it would, though, so I search for a nice spot to meditate.
I find a tree on a slight hill, overlooking the town. I seat myself against the trunk and meditate about my situation.
There's something going on behind the scenes. If I just could figure out what…

After most of the day has passed, I decide it's time to return to the inn.
Leanna, Amelia and Zack are already there waiting.
Leanna stands when I arrive.
"Here, I got you something."

She passes me a gauntlet similar to the one on her wrist. The sphere inlaid is the same colour as Leanna's. It must be a wind crystal.

"Is this a manipulator?"

She nods.
"Yeah, I was thinking about your last attempt at casting, and I figured this might be more helpful with future training.
Having the manipulator as the focal point of concentration is how Amelia and I learned to cast."

I raise my hand to my chin in thought.
"I couldn't grasp the absorbed energy due to my already tremendous power. Having this as an external focus point could really help."

I look back up to her.
"Thanks! And while we're at it, I have something for you as well."

Leanna looks suprised.
"Oh? You didn't have to…"

I rummage through my pockets and find the small plushie I won yesterday.
"It's nothing big, don't worry. As I was at the 'carnival' yesterday, as Amelia calls it, I won something that I thought you'd like. Here."
I hold it out to her.

"Aww, it's really cute. How thoughtful of you!"
She blushes as she takes the plushie from my hands.

I smile.
"I hoped you'd like it."

"I do, thank you!"

Just as we were finished Kara returns, and the attention shifts to her. Her timing is impeccable.
"The crystal pick-up will happen soon. We should start heading over."

Leanna nods.
"Once they complete the exchange, we should follow the guy to see if he leads us to their hide-out. He might have other partners so we should be on guard."

"I still can't think of why they'd want these crystals."

Amelia chimes in before I can.
"Energy crystals have varying utilisations… some of which are outlawed."

Kara seems a bit suprised but Leanna doesn't react to that. I have some ideas what those 'outlawed utilisations' could be, and I don't like one of them.

Zack perks up.
"We have our plan. Let's get started."

We trace back to the ruins and find the abandoned house with the children. Instead of entering, we spread out around the perimeter to maximise visiblity on anyone approaching.
Kara and I stay close to the house and hide behind some fallen bricks. Our field of vision is limited, but we're close enough to overhear any conversation that take place inside. Plus, I don't only see with my eyes.
After we position ourselves, we wait.

We don't know when the man is going to show up, and after about twenty minutes I start to get slightly impatient. I know, patience is a virtue, but I highly dislike sitting around in one place and waiting for something to happen. I wish the kids had given us a time. Too bad we didn't ask.
Who knows how long we'll be stuck here.
My legs are starting to cramp, but because I don't want to draw any attention, I simply force it away. Literally.

Finally, a man approaches. He appears to be in his twenties, and wears a peculiar form of hat on his head.
Kara grabs my collar, but I was just as fast to duck down as she was. She covers my mouth with her hand and puts a finger to her lips.
I roll my eyes, but refrain from doing anything else.
Seems like it's our job to listen in. The others will be our eyes.
I hear a door creak followed by the faint sound of footsteps.

"Ayyo, you punks got my crystals or what?"

Hmm, voice is laced with false bravado. He plays the tough guy because he's dealing with people weaker than him. Just a goon.
I listen for any extra footsteps but it sounds like the man came solo.

"Here."

There is rustling of a bag being opened.

"What is this? These crystals are weak, yo!"

"That's all we could find."

"Nah, nah, this ain't good, man."
There's something else in his voice, a certain sluggishness. Maybe he's sleep deprived?

"Sorry."
The boy's voice is weak.

"Hmph."

The bag closes and the man grunts as he lifts it up.

"Wait! Where are our coins?"

"You'll get your payment when you deliver, yo. This is only half of what you promised."

There's a silence. I carefully peek out to see the boy straining with his hands clenched.
"…Fine."

"That's what I thought."

The stranger lugs the bag over his shoulder. I quickly duck back down as he exits the house.

"Time to go-"
I turn to face Kara who wears a serious frown and has fury in her eyes. I don't think I've seen her angry before, let alone this livid.
She looks like she's about to rip that guy's head off.

I speak softly.
"Kara?"

"Did you not see that? We should take him out now!"

"We will, later. But he could just be a messenger. We have to stick to the plan."

Kara clenches and unclenches her jaw. Then she nods, still fuming.
"I know you're right, but still…"

"He'll get his justice soon enough."

She looks back up.
"Let's hurry up and go."

"Yes."

We trail the man out of Stonecrest, making sure to stay behind buildings and keep to the shadows to not be spotted.
Kara slips in and out of the alleys with ease and it takes quite a bit of my concentration not to loose her.
No wonder she's always sneaking up on us!
The rest of the team follows him as well. Although I am unable to spot them visibly, I can feel their presences around. That's good, the less chance of being noticed the better.
Outside of the city gates, it's a little harder to stay hidden as it opens into a more open field.
But I am unconcerned. Even if he'd try to escape, he wouldn't get far. Not with me around.
We successfully follow him to what looks like an abandoned train car.
There's some kind of dark smoke emitting from the top.
The man pauses and we crouch lower behind cover as he looks around.
He doesn't spot any of us and enters the train.

Kara again puts her finger to her lips and I nod. Staying low, we sneak towards the train. The windows are all blocked off but we crouch below them anyway.
I can hear muffled voices as I gently press my ear against the train.

"Yo, Mr. Wight."

"Jesse, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Heisenburg?"
The man speaks softly but his tone is strict and disapproving.

"My bad, but I got some crystals."

"Let's see."

"There aren't many and they're pretty small. I don't think we'd be able to get much out of them anyway."

"It doesn't matter their size. Once we're done cooking them, they'll be exponentially more effective."

"I dunno, man. They're tiny. How does that even work?"

"It's a simple matter of science."

"You serious? You can do something like that?!"

"Indeed."

"Yeah, Mr. Wight! Yeah, science!"

"Heisenburg."

"Oh, right, my bad, yo."

I hear faint clanging of glasswork. I wish I could see what they're doing…
A sharp snap cracks somewhere from behind me! What was that?
I shift out of position to look behind me and see a small animal scampering away.
As I breathe a sigh of relief, I notice the absence of noise in the train.

"What was that?"

Before I have a chance to get down, one of the windows swing open and I'm face to face with both of them.
The younger man with the funny hat, Jesse, stares at me with wild eyes.
The second man is much older, maybe the age of his father and fixes me with an inscrutable stare.
He looks suprisingly normal, not like someone who'd get mixed up in something shady.
But looks can be deceiving.
I fix them with a predatory grin. This should be fun.
Jesse seems to not think so, as he turns around and darts out of the back exit.
"Run!"

Mr. Wight joins him as Kara and I sprint to the other side of the train. Thankfully, Leanna and Zack are already there.
Leanna points her blade at them.
"Surrender and come with us peacefully."

Jesse looks like he's about to bolt, but Zack fixes his discharger on him.
"I wouldn't move if I were you."

"Crap, what do we do?"

"Hahaha…"

"Why are you laughing at a time like this?!"

Jesse clearly does not know the laugh of someone with an ace up their sleeve. Or of a diabolic mastermind. Somewhat of both here, which concerns me ever so slightly.

Amelia stands a good distance away, her manipulators glowing. After looking over the older man, she frowns.
"The branding of VOID."

"Quite the observation, young miss."

"Wait, what?! You're a part of VOID?"

Seems like Jesse didn't know that detail.
Mr. Wight merely smiles.

"I didn't sign up for this!"

"Don't be so naive! You think the crystals were just going to magically create more energy?"

"Your intent was to perform shadow transmutation on the crystals to create tainted spheres."

Again, he doesn't answer.

"It appears confrontation is imminent."
I share that feeling, Amelia.

"Why don't we even up the odds?"
With a flash, Mr. Wight grabs two shadowy spheres from his belt, similar to the one I saw in Raven Pass. He throws them to the ground and a dark smog emits, curling in the air.
Leanna reacts first and blasts her wind magic to dissipate the smoke.
In it's place are two shadow creatures. Their warped appendages are nothing that I recognise and their long shadow claws come into a sharp point.
Intruiging. It would appear that these creatures are made purely out of Dark Side Force energy, shaped into a physical appearance.
They stand between us and Mr. Wight with Jesse cowering beside him.

Leanna exclaims.
"Shadow familiars?!"

"This is getting way too crazy for me. I'm out!"
Jesse breaks into a sprint and Kara immediately gives chase.
"I've got him!"

The two of them dash out of sight.

"Unfortunately, you've disrupted my work, which means I have to start all over again. So, I'm going to get going."

He channels a spell and starts to run. As he continues to chant the spell, shadows crawl up his leg, threatening to engulf him completely in shadow.

"We can't let him get away!"

"As much as I want to go after him, our top priority is to defeat these shadow creatures!"

"Indeed. Shadow familiars in this close proximity to a city can wreak havoc and incite widespread panic."

I click my tounge and let Heisenburg trip telekinetically. He tumbles and looses focus on his spell, the shadows dispersing.
He mumbles some profanities as he picks himself up and begins to run again.

I switch to my commanding tone.
"Guys, go after him! I got this."

"But-"

"Go!"

They are startled by the shift in my tone and presence.
I sigh.
"Alright, Leanna, stay with me as back up. Zack and Amelia, follow him!"

Zack and Amelia shoot me uncertain gazes, but do as I told them and give chase.

Leanna looks at me just as uncertain.
"Are you sure about this? These shadow familiars are incredibly strong. It would be a difficult battle, even for all four of us."

I smirk confidently.
"Leanna, calm down. I'm a god, remember? I admit they are powerful, but still small fry for me."

"Yeah, about that…"

"By the Force, just trust me for once, alright? Just hang back and observe."

Leanna wants to retort something, but the shadow familiars choose this moment to lunge at us.
I use one arm to gently push her back, and the other to produce a shockwave through a quick cast of overload.
The shadow familiars are flung back out of their jump.
One tumbles to the ground, the other lands on his feet, but is bound by residue energy.
I throw my arm forward, shocking the one lying on the floor.
In that moment the bind of the other wears off and it charges at me again.
I simply throw an electrocute at it, the more potent version of my shock. It's body spasms as it got hit by the high voltage.
Using that moment, I cast a whirlwind on the other creature that still lies on the ground.
I need a few seconds to get the spell out, but once I do, I watch the shadow familiar dangle helplessly in the air.
Just a moment later the effect of my electrocute wears off, and the formerly stunned shadow familiar begins it's charge anew.
I stop it dead in it's tracks, however, when I channel a Force Drain.
Reaching out both hands a bit, I use one to send a small stream of energy towards the creature to root it, and use the other to siphon it's energy.
That process takes me a while. One minute, to be exact, and there's nothing left of the first shadow familiar.
Just then the whirlwind dissipates and the other one falls down on the ground, completely disoriented.
I don't give it a chance to recover and repeat the procedure with my Force Drain.

As the last creature dissipates, I drop my hands and know my eyes glow slightly yellow golden.

Leanna's mouth hangs open.
"You did it. You completely defeated them on your own. How?"

"I would like to know that as well."

"Wow, would you look at that. Maybe there's something true to your claims, after all?"

Seems like Amelia and Zack returned in the middle of my 'match'. I sensed them coming, but didn't pay any mind to it.

"Easy. Those where manifestations of Dark Side Force energy, so I absorbed them.
But more importantly, this Heisenburg guy got away?"

"Unfortunately, yes. He was able to conclude the cast of his spell before we were able to interfere, so we immediately returned to help you out. It appears our worry was gratuitous."

I nod.
"It was. There's nothing on this planet that poses a real threat to me. And by proxy, you."

Zack smirks.
"Oh, really? What was that time you took the shadow blast?"

I grimace.
"My absolute defence is based on a clear mind. I panicked in that moment, so my barrier failed me."

"And that time I shot you?"

"I had my defence deactivated on purpose. The point was to train my swordmanship, not my resilience."

"You really have an answer to everything, don't you."

I smirk.
"Yeah, most of the time. Part of the job, you know."

Zack glances at me questioningly, but before he can say anything, Kara's voice rings out.
"Hey!"

We turn to the sound of her voice. She waves at us with one hand as she uses the other to drag Jesse back.
She plops him down in front of us and he falls ungracefully to the ground. I see that his hands are bound.
Kara stands over him, her face grim.
"Now, you're going to tell us exactly what you know."

"I don't know jack squat! Mr. Wight was paying me to get crystals and that's it, yo!"

Amelia perks up.
"So you were not an accomplice to the shadow transmutation?"

"I don't even know what the shadow transportation is!"

Leanna chimes in.
"Transmutation."

"Exactly!"

We glare at him.

"Look, I made a few deliveries to him. The first couple of times he wouldn't tell me what he did but paid some good coin.
But later he said he was going to show me so I could 'help with his operations'.
He was going to give solid pay for that too, yo!"

I look him up and down. He stares desperately at us and it's clear to me that he's scared. This doesn't seem like the kind of man VOID would trust with any kind of responsibilities. I furthermore can sense the truth of his words. I believe that he's just looking for some fast cash.
Kara seems skeptical, but Amelia and Leanna seem to have come to the same conclusion I have.
Zack crosses his arms.
"Better hope the guards believe your story."

Jesse looks like he's about to protest, but sighs instead. I think he realises there's no chance he's going to escape.
"The bag of stolen crystals is in there. He didn't grab it before running out."

Leanna enters the train and returns with a bulging bag.
"Let's go take him into the guards. They'll take it from here."

Zack hauls Jesse back to his feet and leads him back towards town.
Luckily, it's late at night so very few people walk the street. The few who do give us long stares as we pass.
A few meters in I take the bag from Leanna, it seemed pretty heavy.
She tries to protest, but I can hear the strain in her voice.

When we arrive at the guard barracks, the person on duty gets on his feet. He looks at Leanna in recognition.
"Oh, it's you again!"

"We've found the source of your missing crystals."

I take that as my cue and hand the bag over to the guard.
He takes a quick glance inside before putting it aside, nodding in thanks.

Zack pushes Jesse forward and he stumbles into the guard, who grabs ahold of him.
The guard eyes him up and down.
"It's this guy?"

"Nah, man, it was all cause of VOID!"

The guard stares at him, clearly unconvinced.
"Uh-huh, maybe in lock-up you'll have time to think of a better story."

"I'm telling you the truth, bitch!"

The guard frowns and passes Jesse off to another guard who takes him into the back.
Then the guard turnes back to us.

Leanna speaks up.
"Hopefully you won't have any more issues."

The guard grins and looks relieved.
"I can't thank you enough. You have no idea how much of a thorn in my side this has all been.
As promised, there's a reward for helping us catch the culprit."

He produces a heavy satchel of gold which he hands over to us.
"Thanks again for all your help, and I hope you have a safe night."

Leanna nods with a smile.
"Thanks."

We leave the guard house and equally divvy up the reward money.
As everything settles down, the group decides to return to the inn.
I'm glad we got to the bottom of things, but I can't help but wonder what will happen to those kids...

"I'll meet you guys at the inn. I think I forgot something."

I slip away before anyone can ask me any questions and make my way back to those kids.
On my way I pick up some small pebbles.
They were dependant on that crystal money to survive and I can't sit by and do nothing to help them.
I could help the poor of Nar Shadda so I can help these poor kids.
I know I don't have much to offer, here, but maybe giving them a cut of my reward can help tide them over. Plus I always can offer my assistance...

Quietly, I enter the house so as not to spook the children.
As I near the trapdoor, I hear Kara's voice.
How did she get here so fast? And what is she doing here?
Well, probably the same as me, when her former reactions were any indication.
Slowing my steps, I silently creep towards the trap door and spy on Kara and the kids.

"Here you go guys, take this."
She hands the oldest boy a fat coin purse. Yep, she had the same idea I had.
The boy silently accepts it, too shocked by the amount of money to even speak.

"The man won't be coming for crystals anymore, so use that to help you find a new way to survive."

The boy nods numbly. Some of the younger children huddle together, clearly frightened for their futures.
Kara smiles reassuringly.
"I know it seems scary, but I promise if you stick together, you'll be fine."

The kids hug each other.

The oldest boy perks up.
"I won't let anything happen to anyone!"

"Good! I know you won't. Take care of yourselfes, okay? And stay out of trouble."

Kara turns to leave and I scramble out of sight. She doesn't notice me as she hurries away.
It seems like she's got a soft spot for these kids.
I better do what I came here to do and get back before people get too suspicious.

I knock to make my presence known.
"Hey, kids."

I go down into the trap room. The oldest boy looks up at me in suprise.

"Here."

I toss him a small bag of my coins which he fumbles before catching. He looks genuinely suprised, as if he can't believe it's actually happening.

"But... why?"

"If it weren't for you we wouldn't have cought the bad guys. You kids were a big help."

"Really?"
He looks at the other children who give him hopeful eyes. Then he grins.
"Thank you!"

I nod.
"You're welcome. Besides, I know how scary it is to be alone. But you guys are not alone. You have each other."

He takes another look at the other kids.
"I know, and I will keep them safe!"

I smile.
"That I know. But if you, anyone one of you, ever need help, call for me."

As I say that I hand each of them a small stone which I infused with my energy.

The kids look confused, and the oldest boy speaks their minds.
"Thank you, but... what are these stones?"

"They are infused with my energy. I'm a sorcerer you see, from a land far across the great ocean. I know secret powers the mages of this land can't even dream about."

"Really? You certainly don't look the part."

I sigh.
"If I'd get only one coin every time I'm told that… Well, I was... persuaded to change my robes. But I assure you, my powers are real."
I let some lightning crackle between my fingers to emphasize my point.

They look at the lightning in awe.

"So if you ever are in a pinch, in danger, injured or simply need help with something, anything really, just hold the stone and think my name, and I will be there."

I Phase Jump behind them as I say the last part of the sentence. Then, I jump right back.
The kids are absolutely awed.
The oldest boy finds his voice first.
"Woah… We will remember that. But... why do offer us so much help?"

"As I said, I know how it is like to have no one to turn to. Now you do. Have someone to turn to, I mean.
Well, I've been here longer than I thought I'd be. I should be getting back."

"Just one more thing."

"Yeah?"

"What's your name?"

I rub my neck and grin sheepishly.
"Xerath. I am Xerath Kallig."

The boy grins as well.
"Thank you again, Xerath."

I nod.
"Anytime."

Once I return to the upstairs, I hear the children scramble below and a series of excited gasps as they inspect the reward money.

"Wow, the girl gave us so much!"

"I've never seen so much money before in my life!"

"The boy, Xerath, still gave a lot though. More than we got from crystals!"

Woah, just how much money did Kara give? Was it her whole reward?
For a treasure hunter, that seems very generous. There's probably more to it.
I wonder what it could be as I return to the inn and meet up with the rest of the group.

As I enter the inn, Leanna looks around.
"Where's Kara?"

Kara's not back yet? But she left before me...
"I don't know. I thought she was following everyone back."

"I thought so too."
Leanna bites her lip cutely and furrows her brow.

"I'm sure she'll be back soon."

While we wait for Kara to return, we decide to grab something to eat. With all of the excitement going on, we forgot about dinner.
We get our orders and settle in.
Zack and Leanna dig in. Amelia, on the other hand, is quiet as she stares at her plate. Is she okay?
"Amelia?"

She looks up at me.
"Yes?"

"Something wrong?"

She shakes her head.
"No, I was pondering about the lab at the VOID hideout which was used to perform shadow transmutations."

"So, from what I gathered this shadow transmutation is to use shadow magic to create a stronger, possibly instable version of the base material. Am I correct?"

"Mostly. It is the process in which shadow energy is merged with a crystal containing another form of elemental energy.
This fusion causes an overwhelming surge of energy to spawn which consequently, de-stabilisies the crystal and causes the shadow energy to become uncontrollable and very dangerous."

Leanna chimes in without missing a beat.
"This is what we refer to as a 'tainted sphere', like the one the treasurer used in Raven Pass and what was used to summon the shadow familiars."

"It didn't seem uncontrollable when they used it though."

Amelia answers again.
"Perhaps not those times. However, as it is a de-stabilised sphere, the energy is unpredictable. It's possible it will cast properly, but equally possible it will implode upon itself at any time, which would be fatal to the mage in possession of it."

Zack chimes in, suprisingly enough.
"That's a best case scenario. Imagine if one of those crystals went off and spawned a shadow familiar in the middle of town."

That would definitely be bad.

Leanna speaks up.
"That's why shadow transmutation has been outlawed even before the treaty of Esaria."

"I thought you said all use of shadow magic was banned?"

"Yes, but there were legitimate users of shadow magic before the war."

"You lost me."

Amelia pipes up again.
"Shadow magic is not innately harmful. It was originally used in non-destructive ways, just like any other element.
That being said, a group of practitioners abused the usage of shadow magic, which revealed just how dangerous it can be when used in such a manner.
That was what caused the eventual War of Esaria and the subsequent banning of shadow magic."

"I suppose that group was VOID?"

"Correct."

Things are starting to make sense. However…
A loud slap is heard when my hand meets my forehead.
"No offense, but... that reasoning is stupid. I mean, I get where you're coming from, but what if they used another magic? Wouldn't it be possible to, I don't know, summon tornadoes and other storms with wind magic, or flood waves with water magic, and so on? You simply banned what you did not understand, instead of trying to look into it. What VOID did is bad, yes, but see where that ban of shadow magic brought you.
There are those that practise it in the shadows, outside of any form of control or supervision. If my fear comes to pass, then VOID is out there, doing the Force-knows-what in unknown proportions. One shadow mage popping up with the branding of VOID? Could be a relic. Two? Hints at something bigger going on behind the scenes."

Leanna looks pensive.
"It is troublesome to think that there was someone performing shadow transmutation just on the outskirts of Stonecrest… and with a lot of crystals too…"

Zack chimes in.
"Even though VOID was defeated, it wasn't completely wiped out and their remaining members have just been laying low."

Amelia and Leanna nod.

The conversation lulls as we think about what was said. We finish the rest of our food in silence.

By the time we finish up our meals, Kara returns.
"Hey guys, sorry I'm late. I met up with my contact and he came through. He said that there's some adventurer who's been talking about one of those high concentrations of energy. He's at Hearthpoint right now but probably won't be staying for too long. We should head there in the morning and see what he knows."

Zack pipes up.
"What's the guy's name?"

"Artan Hunt."

Zack shrugs. I guess he doesn't know him.

"It might sound like just a rumour, but there's always a grain of truth in a rumour. At the very least we should be able to get a clue or two."

I nod.
"Can confirm that with the rumours. About a quarter of my rise to power was based on rumours. All turned out to be true."

Leanna nods.
"Okay, tomorrow we'll head for Hearthpoint."

Amelia nods as well.

I yawn widely.
"Tonight though, I'm ready for bed."

The team murmurs their agreement and we all turn in early.

It's been a long day and that confrontation with the shadow familiars has exhausted me a bit. I don't use Force Drain often, so I'm not that used to it.
After getting ready, I climb into bed and immediately fall into a deep sleep.