the "wayfinder society" is a group of explorers and historians who one day found a dormant forged with a tree growing through him so they freed him and activated him and named him "relic"
"ander reed" was among that group and he was the one to greet us all at the fairhaven rail station
he's a talkative and friendly halfling who reminds me of my aunt "polly" so i was instantly at ease around him
plus he took a positive interest in my legs so he's got good taste
on the way to the wayfinders' headquarters ander rambled about landmarks and new construction and the like
i was happy to listen but found myself having trouble focusing which turned into nervousness and then a sort of gut-level fear
medya tried to calm me but just as i was starting to really panic everyone else in the group started to feel it too
then we saw a human in shiny but heavy-looking armor chasing a low-flying elf with gaudy fashion sense
the human called the elf by name – "raelvan surimandëlma" – and commanded him to stop in the name of the silver flame (which explains the whole shiny theme she had going)
he did stop but only to smile and apologize that he didn't have time to dance with her?
then he flew right up to us and said he was sorry for being late but glad to finally meet us then he threw some crystals at the ground which immediately began to sprout into four huge corrupted elementals
bell hit him hard enough to visibly dislocate his jaw (ouch!) but he just popped it back into place with a smile and then flew off
(i did later confirm that none of this is common behavior for elves)
that left us to deal with the elementals before they could endanger bystanders but with the help of ander's rapier and the mystery paladin's hammer it was a thankfully short battle
afterward the human turned and demanded to know where bell got her hammer
next to the hammer we recovered from cazha's trophies was a ring with two inscribed names – "meledri corus" (standing in front of us) and "teles corus" (resting in harmony)
bell gave her the ring
she took the bad news with surprising composure but asked us to come by the inn she was staying at later in the day to talk it over
as she left to process it all i thought about what that must have been like for her
... even while dead cazha is still hurting others
after that morran told us he needed to visit his cousin "jorlanna" and that he'd travel solo and catch up with the rest of us later on
i was still reeling from the chaos we'd just been through so i don't think i explained my concerns very well but he seemed confident that he'd be fine
he thanked me for all my help which i've got to admit i was glad to hear
with that the six of us and ander continued walking to the wayfinders' headquarters
we passed by a large bazaar called the "distant exchange" which offers imported goods – and only imported goods
it was a riot of interesting sights and smells from places i hadn't heard of yet but pretty quickly i caught a suspicious whiff of a favorite from home
i excused myself and followed it to a tent where some humans and orcs were giggling! around an unusual sort of vertical water-pipe with three hoses and a bowl on top
i asked about the contents of the bowl and the proprietor of the smoke shop called it "reedpaste" and said it was from "the tender's own fields in patrahk'n"
she offered me a taste
i consider myself to be very experienced with glitterreed and the stuff i found growing in ringbriar was weak so i had every reason to expect a single puff to have a barely noticeable effect
suddenly i was reminded of my foalhood in that i could barely speak and felt clumsy on my hooves
reflecting on that now i see it wasn't my finest decision
thanks to prior not-so-fine decisions i also have experience in staying on task when i'm a little too glittery
and it helps that medya has nearly as much experience keeping me on task when i'm a little too glittery
anyhow the reedpaste delivered a sharp kick and a long gentle tail such that by time we got where we were going the giddy rush had relaxed to a manageable level
moments after we stepped into the wayfinders' building i recognized it as the one luminace showed me
while we look around ander's headed upstairs to gather some notes to share
i'm taking the opportunity to write all this up so later on when i wonder if the last couple hours could actually have happened like that i will have written proof that it did
i asked medya to verify this account and she just clacked her beak at me
like she does
she's the best