Journal #9 - By Land and Sea

On the western borders of the Applewood, we took stock of our situation. Domino had been teaching her newfound sister Tanabraya the ways of the free world, and the rest of us discussed the revelations of our recent confrontation and how it pertained to recent history as we made our way out of the depths of the forest at a leisurely pace.
 
Domino’s father had been Rasaravich Duval, an associate of Alastar when he was younger, apprentice to Surindo the Light. A Ring of Maldromos surfaced at that time, which required Surindo’s magic to wield, as she was a flamereader born on that soil; to wield the ring, or as she put it, to destroy it, required that connection. A plan was hatched by Duval and Domino’s mother, Lucibelle, to infuse beings with the power of two forces at once, to bring the Changebringer - ultimately, Domino. This is what caused the situation with Tanabraya. Ultimately, Alastar confronted Rasaravich and banished him beyond the stone portal in the grove. He was last seen in a dark cloak with his hand on a two-headed dragon cane, as an old man. These details worried me at the time I heard them; it seems he may not be entirely out of the picture after all.
 
There was much talk of rings. The ring of Maldromos, the signet of Mar, so many rings I began to be confused. Part of me wonders if the same ring is known by different names to different people. Regardless, as we camped on the borders of the forest, taking stock of our situation as I noted earlier, we considered our plans. The Applewood was at rest, where to go next on our self discovery for Malastar?
 
It was decided that without Mar’s signet, our impact in the Sunken Summits would be less than ideal. So, we must retrieve it. It was lost in the south, near the homelands of Tybeerian the Dwarf, so we decided to venture in that direction. In this case though, to go south we had to go north, and to go west we had to go east.
 
During this conversation, Myra informed us that she was running out of funds. She suggested she stayed in a city while we journeyed on, so that she could replenish her funds with work. We agreed, and set out for Tamalir, west across the plans and through Skydown, crossing the river near Forge.
 
The night we crossed the river, we were forced to pay a toll as it was heavily guarded; without a hint of irony, the guards warned us of trolls. Doubly ironic, as we were the first to raise the alarm on trolls. As we camped that night, Ghiravont and I were caught alone when a strange lone dwarf approached us. He was large and burly at the shoulder, with a nose the size of my fist and a gigantic grey beard emerging from his hood. His fingers looked chipped and bleeding, and he pulled back his hood revealing gemstones set into his skull.
 
He would not give his name, but greeted us as a dwarf of Dunwarr; he said he was on his exodus, a journey to capstone his career as an honored and masterful craftsman. He muttered in unintelligible Dwarvish and asked us to meet him that night, alone on the other side of the bridge, and that he would forge us a one of a kind item for our journey.
 
That night, we met him. He was half naked with his robe off, I was inspired by the magic and theatrics on display, as magic and fire ornamented his space, fire sparks and deep musical thunder. He said we must duel, that only one item would be created, and it would be made for the winner.
 
He recited a ritual, and informed us of the rules. We could win through bloodshed, or by forcing our opponent through the ring of fire which now bordered the space. Neither I nor Ghiravont wished to harm the other, so it became a battle of wrestling. I managed to overcome him, and pushed him out of the circle. After we shook hands, the dwarf congratulated me. He touched my forehead and said I was worthy, as long as that symbol remained on my head, he could find me and deliver his exodus, then he disappeared into the night.
 
As we journeyed on towards Tamalir, we were beset by trolls in the forest. They had laid an ambush, overgrowth grasped the cart and tore it asunder. There were both highborne trolls and low, but we managed to smite them all. Ghiravont was bitten, as was a horse; we treated both with the precious antitoxin. Knowing its value, we harvested blood from the highborne trolls to create more antivenom, and proceeded to Tamalir.
 
We passed through Tamalir, and bid farewell to Myra, leaving her with the troll blood to resupply Malastar’s alchemical operations, then hurriedly continued on towards Jendra’s Harbor, where we planned to take ship to the south. We took a ferry down the river to make quick passage to the harbor.
 
The carriage stayed in Tamalir to be repaired, and our official contract with Myra came to an end, though we remain friends and allies. She told me that if I found the summits and needed a friend, I have one in Tamalir with her. She said she will spread the word of our Nothric Office #723.
 
It was six days down the river, and eighty more on the sea as we sailed south along the coast, into the Mouth of Divrend, and up the Thunderdrake River to the Imperial Bay, and Almstead Castle.