The second Werga of Sunna 11.2

Location: Captain Tom O'Malley's ship
 
Dear diary,
 
I have finally found the honorless cur that sold me the rotten forgery of the Scroll of Melf's Acid Arrow, that cost me weeks of hard work. This slithering salamander is named Eldove Relynn and she has quickly become the bane of my existence. It is hard enough for an aspiring female mage to make living, without the connections of my Esteemed Collegues over at the Circle of Brown Noses, without being fleeced and conned, laughed at and belittled every step of the way! Challar and Sunnari please forgive me for my bathing in my tears of self-pity, but the injustice of it all infuriates me. Perhaps that others do not appear to care infuriates me even more. How are we to build a better world wh
 
Aegir just put his head in my lap and demanded my attention. I had a moment to collect myself and gave him one of those bones I bought. There is a wisdom in that creature that I've come to rely upon. On some instinctual level he seems to know when others are in Pain and he sees his place is to ease it and to guide others to see the positive side of things. I think that is why he has been spending so much time working the case of the Sinnaran priest Darvin Helder, an interesting man that we came across again. I met mister Helder previously some time ago as I was tracking my father and bringing his maps up to date. I don't mind Aegir spending his time with the man, seeing as the needlessly feared and shunned priest could probably use the companionship and Aegir won't beg me so much for scratches, because I have things that need doing.
 
I met Amariel, a priestess of Metsulahaba, on the way to Merchant's Rest, which is nice. Amariel is of course a family friend and therefore I took her words of prophetic dreams with utmost seriousness. Remember: Four Rivers Run Red. Last I saw her was some 30 years ago, which in elven counting is probably something akin to last week. For now she has been very helpful and reasonable in every turn, which I did not expect of an elf, but there you go about prejudice.
 
I held a card reading because I happened to have the eyes and ears of two clergymen, hoping to gleam some wisdom about what the future might hold for us, besides the grave implications of Fourways becoming a bloodbath. I had the two priests shuffle my deck in the hopes that it would help get the divine involved. The reading came up as follows.
Dictator: All that is wrong with goverment and leadership; those who rule through fear and violence.
Missionary: Those who spread wisdom and faith to others; warnings of the spread of fear and ignorance.
Philanthropist: Charity and giving on a grand scale; those who use wealth to fight evil and sickness.
Beast: Great rage or passion; something bestial or malevolent hiding in plain sight or lurking just below the surface.
Marionette: The presence of a spy or a minion of some greater power; an encounter with a puppet or an underling.
 
The foretelling omens right now, beyond the readings and prophecies, are all coming up horrendous now. And yes. The ship I'm working on as a navigator was attacked by pirates. It was an inside job too. We had pirates hiding amongst us, no doubt informing their comrades on our exact position every hour. I think we would have been sunken too, if it wasn't for the intervention of our ship's diplomatic passenger Grandmaester Auron of the Xanatonian empire, who appears to be quite learned in the arts of Conjuration. Reminder: Do not eat octopus.
 
I made attempts not to shame my clan in the face of an old enemy, but it was made difficult as I travel with scoundrels. Fortunately, the pirates being complete and utter fools, launched a hunk of Starstone at our ship. I think that hunk would have allowed for a early retirement for atleast a couple of those scurvy ridden morons, had they just put their thinking caps on. Little did they know we had a monk named Kon on our ship, who somehow managed to stop that spherical piece of flying death with something akin to a Shield spell, but not quite. Monks are an enigma wrapped in mystery. I managed to gather some highly useful components off of it for later use. And with some gentle nudging and guidance, managed to get the elven monk to trade his incredibly heavy ball of Magical Catastrophy, Madness and Death, for something that is more practical to adventuring life. I even got a magical staff for the trouble!
 
Unfortunately, it's a Xanatonian elven staff. I dread going through chronicles about how many of my ancestors have fallen to this very staff in the wars of old. Fortunately, it is not entirely vile in its properties. It allows me draw upon it to restore some of my magical power each day. Whatever this staff is responsible for, I will work to redeem its name. Let it be known that there is no destruction others can wreak that a proper dwarf can't fix.
 
Well, that was arrogant. And factually challenged. But dear diary, you know what I was going for. Because you are me. And also me from the future. Speaking of which, future me. You better appreciate that waistline, because I haven't had any sweets in a good while and I'm cranky as hell.
 
Speaking of cranky, one of the pirates slipped their cell in the brig. The captain, no less. Lena "Red" O'Hara, that Sneaky Cunt, managed to pull a fast one on me. She had a ring that masks the presence of magical objects on one's person and magnifies the presence of the ring to magical detection spells. Which is how she managed to somehow sneak a Key of Dimension Door in to a brig, gods know how. That Utter Bitch is going to regret ever making herself known to me when I learn some higher divinations, because now I have something of hers. I will find her and I will ruin that fish smelling barnacle diddler. She cost the lives of good men and women on that ship, lives that will be avenged. I will have to remind my new travelling companions that a pretty smile and a pair of over exposed mammaries does not make one any less a murderer.
 
What else? Ah yes, the gnomes. Always forgotten by history. That slimy maggotmuncher Eldove has a partner in crime called Kaerwyd. He is a gnome. I haven't noticed anything missing from my things as of yet, and I have been dilligent about checking that, but I'm sure that little imp is up to something. He and Eldove are looking to score something big. It's obvious. And I won't get fooled again.
 
Lastly, I obtained a scroll of Alarm from a mage that tried to fleece the uninitiated Kaerwyd with prices more akin to robbery and banditry than anything closely reasonable. I should study the scroll now that I have means to, especially because of that gnome.
 
Reminder: Get to know Kon better and thank him properly. Hopefully he will be an ally when we curse the scoundrels' sudden, but inevitable betrayal.