"Captain's" Log, Eleventh Entry

We've made contact with Van Hal'essa via Page of Sending, telling her where we're headed - she was already amidships, and wanted us to meet her in Shan Derakuth. We managed to access the teleportatiom circle without incident, and passage from Naihen to Shan Terket was uneventful. I got us a job delivering some spices to a merchant in Shan Derakuth to make the travel expenses go down a little easier, rebuild the party chest a bit, but it's not as much as it could be. Gonna have to keep our eyes peeled for opportunities if we wanna make some coin while we're down here.
 
Speaking of, it's been a while since I've been Fireside of the Disc. The Shrike sometimes had occasion to visit Hontatha or Kuroth, but not often, and never too close to the Gates. This place - maybe it's just the Fire Gate's influence, but there's a very different feeling in the air here than there is back home.
 
We stayed the night a bit before we departed, but while we were staying, Chuck seemed to be studying a strange crystal. They're called "Lifedrinkers." They found three of them in the ruins of Leadon Effrig, and apparently, when you crush one, it saps a bit of your vitality, but it... improves you, somehow. They decided to integrate one, and the feeling of clarity they described was... compelling. So, inveterate gambler that I am, I decided to try out the second, and Caeli followed suit.
 
I don't rightly know how to describe how the thing made me feel. I could feel something spreading under my skin, lines and runes glowing underneath, and I could tell it was taking a bit from me, but when it was done... Everything feels a bit sharper. Things come easier than they did before, every movement and reaction happens just a bit faster. I can't tell if I've sped up, or the world has slowed down. Chuck said something about how Leadon Effrig was part of us, now, and I'll admit I do feel a bit closer to the two of them now.
 
Chuck, surprisingly, knows a bit of Kurothi, as does our new friend, so they're interpreting for us. They managed to get us faster passage to Shan Derakuth guarding a caravan. Other than a brief skirmish with some bandits, the journey passed comfortably.
 
When Van Hal'essa arrived, she looked much worse than when last we saw her. She has trouble moving unassisted, and speech clearly pains her. Between coughs, she gave us our instructions: we're to visit five landmarks on the way to the ruins of Arakathia and survey them for suitable campsites, send our reports back to her so she can inform the bigwigs back in Araxis. We've free reign to explore beyond that, but at the very least, we should be at the First Wedding to meet her before the month is out, where we'll proceed into the ruins in the Scorched Lands and, hopefully, find another Piece of Eight.
 
Gotta admit, I'm pretty excited to set out. There's a whole lot of danger out there just waiting for us, and I think we're more than ready for it.