From the journals of Kenari Sanura

After seeing Sephira's heated reaction to what her father did to her room on Sigil and then seeing her rather stoic response to him now, I can see that Sephira believes this to be nothing more than a projection and not the real thing. If he was real, I'm sure the library would be on fire by now. The projection does its best to irritate us all… but soon as I goad him into leaving the room with us, he disappears in a puff of smoke.

We move on to another hallway, this one with multiple doors. To test a theory, each one of us opens a door at the same time. I don't know about the others… but as soon as I opened my door and saw what was behind it, I quickly slammed it shut. If I ever see Amenhemti, that bastard of an Osiran priest again, he will witness firsthand just how strong I have become. We will see just who will be the slave… and who will be the master.

I take a deep breath and let it out before I open the door again, and this time I see myself in the skullcap and robes of a priest of Ptah… before it disappears in a puff of smoke. While these doors are a curiosity, I am more interested in what I can become in reality. Why waste time dreaming of the what-ifs… when one could be taking actions to determine what will be?

We take a look into Ef Utan's doorway to find him talking to a projection of his father. As some of us step through the door our surroundings seem to change, to become that of what was once his home. I know this is not the case, however… and as we step back through the door we find ourselves back in the hallway.

Meanwhile, as the rest of us discuss theories and trying to use our tattoos together, Vedis makes the best of her doorway and flirts with what I assume is a projection of her boyfriend from home. I flinch inwardly as I hear the giggles and whispers and try to focus on the plan at hand, instead of my past.

Romantic encounters were hardly something I had to deal with back in Gheldaneth. Whenever one of the humans showed interest in me, it always ended up because I would make a unique addition to their collection of concubines or slaves. But what do you expect from a race so full of themselves?

I'm always looking for the next adventure, but I think one of the real reasons I left home was because I knew there had to be something more to this life. I saw so many grand and wondrous races looked down upon because they were the wrong race in the wrong place… but what if I went to them in their own homelands to see them in their glory? The Elves of Spiralspace proved to me that they are more than the concubines of Mulhorand… and I will prove to Mulhorand that Catfolk are much more than just slaves.

I try to shake the melancholy that threatens to overcome me in this dream… but it is hard when every time you turn a corner you are confronted with your past. As we try and make our way back to the ship, I see other visions of my childhood when the kind ones of the Temple of Bast taught me how to read. I close my eyes and shake my head as I repeat my mantra in my head: The past is behind me… the future is for me to discover!

I catch up with the others who have stopped in the next room to witness a strange tall and gaunt man with straggly black hair and pale skin. Vedis bows reverently to him and asks him if we are dreaming, when he waves his fingers and everything changes around us till we're standing on a rock in space. I look around and see Ef Utan and Lenata disappear in a puff of green smoke, and when I turn back it is if he's staring into our souls. I see younger and older versions of myself flash before my eyes until he snaps his fingers and they all disappear.

"Beware false visions," he warns…

…and then I wake up.

I sit up in a cold sweat and grab the edges of my hammock before I fall out into a heap on the floor. As I look around I see that we're not on the Spelljammer anymore; in fact, we never left our sleeping quarters.

After waking up the rest and conferring, we discover that it's still three days previous and we've yet to meet Torgan Betts. Great… now I get to hear yet again how that greasy windbag plans on setting us up. As I pack my gear and get ready for the day I notice the remnants of burnt incense in the portal window. Hmmn… it seems the Dream Lord's warning should definitely be heeded. Someone is making sure we sleep and manipulating our dreams. Perhaps I should talk with Vedis for some advice on preparing myself for the next time?

We go through the motions yet again with Torgan Betts, but this time take a moment to check out the Sphere Arcane on the way. What could it hurt, right? If these people are so big on building helms, maybe they'd have knowledge of the Spelljammer; and if they don't, I can at least check out the gambling houses for some quick money.

We go through the obligatory inspections from the Arcane Fleet who happen to be in system capturing one of OUR marks (I bite my tongue at this), and nod politely when they warn us to "be good or else." Trust me… I'm not planning on getting into trouble around here, especially after seeing the multitude of Stone Golems floating in rings around their moon.

After a rather uneventful information gathering attempt (though I did make 50gp off of a naïve blue-skinned creature) we take off from Refuge and head from Realmspace to Greatspace.

I stand with Lenata as she pilots our ship and do my best to keep an eye on Dorbo and his mystery box. I try not to think about what might be in it and instead start comparing Dorbo to Wilhelmina in my head when something strange happens; for just a brief flicker of a moment, his appearance changes and I swear he went from a sharply dressed military Giff to a savage hippo covered in blood. I shake my head and quickly look away; could this be one of those rips in reality the Kobold spoke of, or is it just my wild imagination?

Before I can ponder this further, a silent-running Wasp ship suddenly buzzes past our windows, bringing us out of warp.

"Did you see that?" Darbo asks.

Lenata replies and before I can turn to give my answer I hear something that makes my stomach drop.

"That's a shame, because it's the last thing you'll ever see."

With a loud rapport he shoots Lenata through the chest, leaving the cleric bent over and gasping sickeningly before he follows through with his sword.

I swallow my fear that I am no match for this giant of a creature, as I am determined to make him pay for what he's done. Fortunately what I lack in brute strength I can make up with deviousness. I leap across the bridge in a rage and swipe across his chest with my clawed gauntlet before stuffing a Thunderstone in his shirt and launching myself to safety.

With a loud band Dorbo drops to his knees as he grasps his bleeding ears and Vedis finally makes her way to the bridge just in time to use her abilities to make Dorbo take a nap while we figure out what to do to help Lenata.

Before we can act, however, a large ballista bolt decides to intrude on our thoughts through the hull. Apparently that other ship we saw decided to come back; I imagine making sure there were no witnesses.

Thanks to the Gods that be, Lenata managed to utter a healing prayer that took care of the sucking chest wound, though I imagine that's going to leave her shaken for a bit. Goodness knows being shot and impaled all in one day would be something I'd be hard pressed to forget.

With everyone else rushing to the deck guns and Lenata healing herself before re-establishing her connection to the helm, that leaves me wondering what to do with our sleeping enemy on the floor. With a quick double-check to make sure Lenata isn't watching, I kneel down and take my dagger to his throat to finish him off. "A warrior such as yourself is familiar with the perils of war, I'm sure; I can't leave you alone with Lenata, even if you're asleep… and I don't trust that you wouldn't be able to break free of ropes. May your heart weigh heavy for your betrayal."

With a quick motion our problems with Dorbo are no more… and I now have a new box to inspect at my leisure once this fight is over. I move to head for the deck when Lenata grabs my arm.

"Here, take this healing wand with you so you can help the others while I am busy here."

Two new treasures in one day? I must remember to thank the gods for their favor. I nod in gratitude and run up through the doorway to the outer deck just in time to see one of our ballista bolts launch toward the enemy ship, the heavy rope attached to it uncoiling with maddening speed. It suddenly dawns on me what's going to happen when that rope attaches itself to the other ship, and I quickly make a grab for the nearest thing bolted down to the deck.

The bolt makes a dull thud and the rope goes taught before the creaking noises start… and then our world is turned upside down. I swallow hard as I close my eyes and grip the rail tight… trying not to throw up when the two ships start spinning around their new mutual axis. Eventually I manage to open my eyes and regain my space legs enough to tend to the unconscious Wilhelmina Uft with the healing wand. As I look up to the battle I see the human Ef Utan launch himself up (or is it down or across now?) the rope and make his way to the other ship. I have to give him credit… he's not only a great warrior, but he's got a truly hardy constitution. That doesn't mean I'm going to let him have all the fun, though. I launch myself up the rope to follow him the best that I can now that I know Wilhelmina will be all right.

"Death from above!" I wail as I drop from the rope onto the back of an unsuspecting warlock busy trying to kill my friend. I finish him off with a set of claws to the back of the neck while Ef Utan turns and nearly chops an Elf thug off at the waist. Yuck! Elf blood is going to take forever to get out of those clothes.

I run to the edge of the raised deck as I hear the noises of crew making their way up from below, and promptly grab a tanglefoot bag from my pack. I'm almost amazed I still have one of these things after Simi got a hold of the rest of them. In an effort to really make it count, I smack one of the thugs making his way up a ladder with it, which causes him and the growing mass of vines to drop down the ladder and take any crew unfortunate enough to be behind him with it.

Now that we've got a moment to regroup, I whip out the healing wand for Ef Utan and quickly search the warlocks body while he yells "I've got an idea!" and leaps over the side of the ship. I chuckle and shake my head in amazement at the crazy human. If he lives, I'll have to let him know how much I approve of his current insanity.

In the meantime I discover the warlocks name was Gregori, Torgan Betts told them of us in a note, and his platinum and gun make a great fit amongst my things. Vedis joins me on the deck after finishing with her own fight, and an idea for some fun begins to form.

"Hey Vedis…come here…" I say with a wave of my hand as I look down the ladder to see the squirming pile of pirates and vines at the bottom.

"Nice work," she comments as she looks down. "Were you thinking of going down there to finish them off?"

"Actually…" I can't help but grin, "I was thinking maybe you should jump down there and do it."

"Me? I'd probably go right through the deck," she says in doubt as she bites her lower lip and looks again down the ladder.

"Nah… look at the bunch of them… they should be able to break your fall with their bodies no problem," I say reassuringly. "In fact, I'm counting on it."

"Okay… here goes nothing, then!" With a step she plummets down the ladder and lands in their midst with a series of satisfying crunches and groans.

"That's the spirit!" I encourage with a smile as I leap down after her and make my way into the next room. I announce my entrance with the fling of another handy Thunderstone, and quickly follow it up with some well-placed gun shots to kneecaps and claws.

I'm about to finish off their pilot when I make out Ef Utan yelling at me from the other room. Well what do you know… he survived after all? I'll have to ask him just how he managed that. In the meantime, I'd certainly like to know why we're supposed to stop fighting after all the mess they've put us through. I snarl into the pilot's ear and press my claws to his throat when he yells again for me to stop. "Damn it!" I grumble and throw the pilot to the ground before I join Ef Utan in the other room. "This better be good!"

Okay, okay… so the pilot was rigged to explode if he died. I still think I should've disabled the trap and killed him anyway. After some heated discussions with the captain of this mercenary ship we discover that they were merely hired to do a job by a ½ elf with violet eyes at the Drunken Neogi on Bral… and it's not worth the trouble we've put him through. I know enough to keep my mouth shut after killing so many of his crew and nod quietly as Ef Utan makes his deals with the Teeth of Arasca. You never know when a mercenary contact might come in handy, I guess.

Once the battle smoke clears and the deals are made, we head back to our ship to take tally of the damage and begin repairs. In a bout of inspiration, Lenata decides to try and consult with the deceased Darbo for some answers. Unfortunately the only real information we learned was that this attack and Torgan Betts wasn't involved with the 10th Pitt. Will that's one enemy off the list… with three or four more left that I know of who might be out to kill us.

"So what now?" Lenata asks us when her spell wears off.

Ef Utan shrugs. "What the hell… we were on our way to deliver a package, so let's deliver it already."

Why not indeed? We might as well see if we can make some money to help with the repairs to our hull.

We continue our flight and eventually make our way to Hecht, a pastoral moon of the 2nd planet in the system. We land at a private port at the base of a mountain and exit the ship to meet a small bald potbellied human with an eager look and impatient hands.

"Did he actually find it? Did you bring it?"

I have to admit, I am curious to see what's in this box; some of us have bets on a Sphere of Annihilation. Me, I'm half expecting it to explode. I try not to jump back when the lid finally is lifted on the box to reveal… soft velvets wrapped around an ancient medallion.

"Fantastic! This is an excellent representation of the artist's early work!" the man mutters to himself.

An art deal? I'm surprised to admit that I am almost disappointed.

After many profuse thanks from the small rotund man and a payment in 25,000 gold worth of diamond dust, we chalk up Joran Shambrath as another potential contact should we come across any more ancient artifacts.

What a day, right? I think it's time to celebrate and go shopping in Waterdeep.

Unfortunately the gods have rearranged our plans once again (with no warnings – the nerve!). On our way home we encountered a rather unfortunate Gnome Tinkership under fire by none other than The Frostfire, a ship that just happened to be on our bounty list.

Remembering our last encounter with people on that list, we decided to be a bit sneakier this time and boarded the Frostfire via ropes while most of their crew was busy on the Side-wheeler. We promptly cut the ropes belonging to their own boarding party and went about taking down the pirates left on the ship with some well-placed ammo and a rather commendable leap from Ef Utan on one of the offending crewman (I wonder how I can get Lenata of Celestian to jump next?).

I immediately call "DIBS!" on a rather interesting sword that one of them was waiving about before I shot him in the shoulder. It looks a little big for me to wield… but it doesn't mean I don't want to look at it first. I've never seen a sword with a gun in the handle… I simply MUST investigate this later.

I can't help but double-take as I see a flailing pirate shoot above my head and off into space. What in goodness name are they doing now? I look over the side at the Gnomish ship with a raised brow and can't help but snicker as I watch the pirates use the catapult to launch another of their crew at their ship. Heh… they should get stronger ropes next time.

One well-placed Thunderstone later and we're clearing out the remaining crew from below decks while Simi runs off to undoubtedly look for something it can stuff in its mouth. I roll my eyes at the space monkey… lizard… whatever… and start looking for rooms to loot for goodies and information.

Well… this isn't exactly what I was looking for, but it will do. While I didn't find any goodies in the first room I checked, I found something even more interesting: a captive wizard strapped to a helm and pleading that we don't blow up the ship.

Aww… and here I was enjoying seeing Vedis Valentine's chaotic side come out. I guess we'll have to tell her not to fire the ship's weapons at the deck after all. Thankfully Ef Utan Izenik is available to do that… because I've got something new to try my skills on: A Lifehelm.

Apparently this wizard isn't just_ strapped _in… he's bolted, tied and trapped in in the chair too. I walk into the room and whistle in appreciation as I take in the alien inscriptions and complicated mechanisms.

"Have you ever unlocked one of these before?" the wizard asks worriedly as he stretches his neck to try and look at me.

"Nope… never seen one of these before in my life," I say matter-of-factly before I crack my knuckles and kneel down and start with the first locks. "But there's a first time for everything, right?"

I keep the wizard talking to me (turns out his name is Ayrun Sorpic) about how he got here while I let my fingers work a magic all their own. "Who's the cat?" I stand up and cheer as the last lock pops open and nothing explodes.

Damn… everybody is busy doing something else. At least my new friend is here to appreciate my skills. Unfortunately that's about all he's got the strength to do, as apparently this Lifehelm was built to suck the life out of wizards to power the ship. I help him out on deck as I see that the others have been busy with loading the Frostfire bounty onto a cargo net lowered from our ship. After some quick introductions, we proceed below decks to look for any other loot as well as Ayrun Sorpic's missing equipment.

Once the rooms have been thoroughly looted and everything has been loaded onto the ship, we decide to drop in on the rest of the pirates stuck on the Gnomish Side-wheeler. We decide it best to go down invisible… so I ride on the back of Ef Utan Izenik, while Ayrun Sorpic rides down with Vedis Valentine.

Unfortunately… once again… it's like the gods stepped in and said "No… I don't think so."

We manage to get about 1/2 way down when the Gnomish Side-wheeler blows up in a cloud of wood shrapnel, fire, and… what is that smell… fur? Unfortunately checking to see if my tail is on fire has to wait as all my attention is quickly focused on keeping a hold of the rope that is suddenly bucking like a mad camel. I wrap the rope around my wrist and hiss in pain as I hold on to Ef Utan Izenik with the other. Did I mention he wears heavy armor? I think my shoulder is going to be sore for a week, at least.

Once we're able to get back aboard we're able to look around and notice that the others weren't so lucky and are now floating in space. Well… they don't have a grappling hook and rope like I did, so the next best thing is to give them one. I tie some rope to one of Ef Utan Izenik's arrows and he takes aim in the hopes that the rope will pass by close enough for them to grab. After a few attempts (and me biting my tongue not to suggest he shoot them in the leg since he has experience at that), they are finally able to grab the rope and rejoin the rest of us.

I lean over the rail and look at the debris that was once the Gnomish Side-wheeler. "Sorry guys… you'd probably have been better off if the Elven Fleet found you instead of us. We'll be sure to make them pay, though," I mutter.

We may not have gone shopping, but we definitely came across some interesting new things, though. With the help of Ayrun Sorpic and Vedis Valentine I do my best to appraise and identify everything we grabbed while Lenata of Celestian takes our ship back to Bral to report our encounter. I remain on the Frostfire with Ayrun Sorpic as he uses a back-up helm that we found to follow.

FROSTFIRE TREASURE

400gp, 200sp, 300cp

900gp in gems

1/2 dozen paintings worth between 400-500gp

Tapestry – 200gp

(3) Bolts of silk – 1,000gp

1,500 gp

Hand-carved ivory figurines

chest full of odd rocks

Ring of Sustenance

Tapestry (aura of illusion magic)

6-8 scorched smoky crystals (turns out they're used Ioun Stones)

Erotic Painting (enchanted) – 1,500gp

Anti-Scrying Curtains

"Wizard Chess" Chess Set

(3) +1 Daggers

(5) Repeating Crossbows

Mars Blade (that interesting gun/sword I called dibs on)

In a locked desk on the ship we also found a note discussing "arrangements made on Bral" and a hand-drawn star map plotting the path of the Gnomish Starwheeler.

Once we get to Bral and disembark from our ship, we can't help but overhear some members of the Elven fleet commenting on "vicious women."

"That's right," I say proudly as we stroll past them. "All hail the conquerers!"