this morning brought our usual courier who brought a large packet for me from the arcane congress – 3 copies of my now fully published paper!
i forwarded one to lead design as requested
one went into my saddlebags to come with to fairhaven so i can give it to the patent office to establish prior art
the other went into my saddlebags so i have it as reference
don't worry these bags are bigger on the inside but still very light
i went with zer' and relic to talk with sava kharisa who is doing just fine and has already started rebuilding 6t2
only 3 drawings survived well enough to maybe be restored but at least those can go into the king's "enduring gallery"
we shared what we knew about the arson and she recognized the halfling relic saw as half of a notorious pair within the "boromar clan" of criminals
they've been fighting with daask and in the process putting innocents in danger
so it's likely the torching had nothing to do with the art being shown or even the gallery itself – it was their way to claim territory at whatever expense to whomever
they might go after beren to keep him from testifying against them and sava says the watch can't be trusted to help so she'll personally see that he's protected
she's definitely one of the good folks here
and it's still baffling that the watch can't even seem to keep their own people honest
while we did that bell met up with crucible and the newly self-named "chromatic"
yes she named herself after the spell used to destroy her work
she also wants bell to rebuild her plates (like i did for ploughshare) but in glass and polished steel with that clouded diamond mounted in front of her core
she is absolutely fearless and i really admire her
so they talked a lot about how the forged can build their own community and their own culture through the arts!
from there they went to talk with d'cannith merrix 2 about their part in crucible owning the red hammer
it's their story to tell but one interesting (to me) fact comes of it which is that merrix's assistant "vex" is a "changeling" – a being capable of altering their form at any time to look like someone else!
now i'm really curious and when i get the chance i'll try to find out more about them
...
what unique ideas about identity might they have?
on their way back to the h&h zhakil found them and delivered a message – "the ash doesn't come from daask" – then disappeared like she does
she hasn't lied to us yet so i think we can trust her words but why tell us?
bell decided it was time to set the day's new questions aside in favor of inviting the group over for intoxicants and a heated oil-bath
i was encouraged to dip my front legs into the oil
...
so many complex emotions
and it felt so good
relic is still a bit new to the idea of relaxation (as distinct from meditation or rest) but with some positive encouragement he took his robe off and joined in the oil-bath
when smith saw his dragonmark they said it's a miracle and a sign from the gods that the forged are part of a divine plan
i'm not the one to ask about whether the gods have a plan but if they do then how could the forged not be a part of it? wouldn't everyone be a part of it?
crucible announced that they're running for political office to be a proper representative for the cogs and those who work there!
sava agreed to help out with the legal part of the process
of course everyone in the h&h wants to help as we can but that has to wait until we're back from fairhaven
speaking of which we go there in the morning
hopefully aundair isn't still mad that we helped a brelish agent kidnap emmer sykes
it may be awkward in aundair