17th of Mirtul:

We had the most amazing reunion today with our friends from the Ruthless Blades. I knew they would be excited to see Swift, after all, they worked together, but I wasn't sure about me, we barely know each other. And since the fire, I haven't made any friends outside of the church.

We met Wilavor's caravan at the front gates first thing this morning and Hunter, Gilra, and Czorn were waiting to greet us.

"Zira! Val! I'm so excited to see you again!" Czorn came over, hugged me, and then Swift.

I broke out into a huge grin, "Hey Czorn. It's great to see you too!" I waved to Gilra and Hunter, "I wasn't sure when we'd see the three of you. I know you're working."

Gilra, "It's so good to see you both, as well. Since we knew you were coming, last night we got packed and ready. That way we would have a moment to come over and greet you."

"Hey Val and Zira. I'm so happy Wilavor said yes. I'm excited for more shenanigans during this trip," Hunter said with a sly smile.

"I'm so overjoyed to see you all," Swift said and embraced Gilra and then Hunter, "We've made some new friends," he gestured towards the rest of our group.

Elisha took that as his cue to introduce himself and stepped forward with his charming smile, "I'm Elisha Stoner, and this is my brother, Israel Stoner," he motioned to Israel, "I'm delighted to meet you."

"Well I'm not surprised someone as charming as you, Val, would return with new friends. And you've brought someone even more charming with you. I am indeed lucky," Czron looked over at Elisha with a smile, "I'm Czorn. It's a pleasure to meet you Elisha… and Israel."

"He's taken Czorn," Swift said.

"Well whoever they are, I hope they know how lucky they are to have caught you," Czorn flirted.

"Yes, Amnel knows how lucky he is. And I'm just as lucky to have him," Elisha responded and his face lit up when he said Amnel's name.

Adrala took the moment to speak up, "Hi!" she waved, "I'm Adrala Stormbrow, third generation guards person of Thornhold," she grinned from ear to ear.

"It's great to meet you all," Hunter said.

"It's very nice to meet the three of you. I'm Gilra Ashwalker. Not to be rude, but I have to ask, Elisha and Israel Stoner are you from Settlestone or the surrounding area?"

Elisha replied, "Rivermoot actually. What gave it away; the accent, the beard, or stating my clan name?" As he said beard, Elisha stroked his beard.

"A bit of all three, but the Clan name was the biggest clue. I've found in informal settings humans, and a few other races, rarely share more than their given name," Gilra shared.

Elisha rubbed his chin through his beard, "Interesting. Growing up in a mixed dwarven-human society I never really noticed. This is how everyone I've met introduced themselves. I'll have to be on the lookout for that."

"You'll have to let me know how your observations turn out as you spend more time in the world away from home. I've always enjoyed observing the different customs people have," Gilra said.

I noticed with that last part she briefly glanced at Swift and he just as briefly shook his head "no".

Geo ran over, "Hi Swift. Good to see you again. Pyre sent me to get the three of you. It's almost time to head out. You're going to piss off Wilavor if you make us late."

"We'll talk later," Hunter waved and headed after Geo.

"It really is great to see you again, and to meet the rest of you," Gilra said before she left.

Czorn gave me another hug, "Catch up with you later pretty lady. Nice meeting you all. I can't wait to get to know you all better," and he too left.

"You're friends seem nice. Especially Czorn," Adrala smiled slyly at me.

"They are really nice people. I'm so lucky to have met them and created wonderful friendships in the short time we were together," I smiled, "I've been really blessed with friendship recently."

"That's not what I meant. I think Czron likes you, Zira," Adrala said teased.

"Oh. Well I think he's a great friend," was my answer.

I was saved from more awkward conversation when I heard a young voice call out my name, "Zira!"

I turned and saw Westerly running over to us, "I heard you were joining us again and I had to come over to see you." He gave me a big hug. "Hello Val. It's great to see you too," he shook Swift's hand.

"Westerly. It's wonderful to see you. It looks like your time on the road has been good to you." It hadn't been long but I could see a difference in the teen's mannerisms. He seemed a bit more mature. I introduced him to the rest of the group, "Westerly and I fought off skeletons together back to back."

"Oh, Zira's giving me too much praise. She, with some help from Val, saved me from those skeletons. I'll never forget that night," Westerly said.

Adrala tried to keep in a giggle as she smiled and introduced herself, Israel, and Elisha.

Westerly smiled at them. Then he turned back to me and said, "I just wanted to say 'hi' but I need to get back to work," he gave me another quick hug and ran off back to his duties.

Elisha looked at Swift and me, "I think it's going to be a fun few days on the road. Let's get settled in so we don't cause a delay."

"Agreed," said Swift.

I'm so happy to have rejoined our friends and although they're working I know we'll get opportunities to spend time together on our trip towards Waterdeep.

Z