we spent two days in starilaskur which is also known as "breland's watchtower for the world" to hear them tell it
it's basically a military fort that grew into a city which isn't that different from what medya grew up in so she said it all seemed weirdly familiar
it just seemed weirdly weird to me because they kind of overdo the recruitment posters
but it felt like a safe enough place in kind of the same way rakela feels safe
of course the most important thing to do in a new town is head to market and soak up the local arts-and-crafts culture and this is how we found a tent with a shingle reading "nebik del davandi: prospecting and carvery" which contained:
lots of stones (in bags marked "pretty" and "interesting" which as a method of classification is pretty interesting)
lots of small and very skilled stone-carvings
and an especially rare treat – a biped who didn't tower over me
they seemed to have very limited sight but the whole time we browsed they were carving a figurine going entirely by the feel of it in their hands which is impressive
i really liked a lot of what i saw there but i didn't want to buy anything too fragile because i knew we were headed for some rough travelling and i can't go collecting loads of souvenirs to haul back home
so i found some quartz slivers that would be perfect for medya's wings
when i paid i passed the coins to them with horngrip like i usually do but that seemed to surprise them and they asked me to take their hand
well the closest i have is a hoof so i offered that
they were very still for a couple seconds and then said "you're very far from home aren't you"
yes
yes i am
· · ·
every time i think about how they said it i feel like i'm going to start crying
anyhow nebik gave me back the coins and asked me to keep the quartz and they said "thelanis minds their own"
this pretty much confirms my theory that the everglow is a co-terminus – the intersection of two different "planes" of existence – and the hedge is the border between them
thelanis turned up in my research here and it's known as "the fae realm" so that explains the different feel of the magic here
good to know
relic found a jade dragon figure that he liked and when he purchased it nebik threw in a bonus in the form of a flame carved from crystal that they said was for his sister
it was pretty obvious to me by that point that the gnome had some serious magical insight going and i really want to visit again on our way back to sharn if they're still set up in that spot
anyhow relic gave that to spark as intended
it reminds me of their mane of flame
on our way back to the inn medya found for us we met up with bell and – surprise! – siege seventeen
they found work helping assemble the new town hall in starilaskur and while they were at it they found an close friend in another forged named "ballista four" so they've really turned their life around from when we met in sharn and i couldn't be happier for them!
also siege gifted bell with a tailspade they'd forged as a thank-you which was a really sweet gesture
that's where the really nice stuff ends for now
next stop vatherond and then on to the happiest place in khorvaire