Now that there is some free time and the seas are relatively calm, I
will start the entries in this tiny book.

I have decided to keep a log of the time away from home, since the
elders have asked me oh-so-discretely to do so. But since this is my log,
I will write whatever I want!

...

Why, oh why are we here on a boat?! Are our own two feet not good
enough? It must be of great importance that we reach wherever we are going
as soon as possible if we are to be subject to this endless rocking rather
than a healthy bit of walking. Perhaps I have no idea how far we are
going, or perhaps the elders have some greater reason for making me suffer
through this...

Honestly, I am glad that I can finally do something for dear An, I
cannot count the many years of sleepless nights we have spent together
because of these dreams. She tries not to show how much they affect her,
but she cannot hide such things from me. What a helpless feeling to see
her suffering and have nothing to offer but my presence to comfort her! Ah,
her unhappyness has deprived her of her magics, how could her Goddess do
this? If only we could have known what to do sooner. But now, at least, I
have a way that I know I can do something.

I hope the elders know what they are doing. I hope we know where to go
once we are off this damn ship. I hope Annu may again return to the truly
happy elf I grew up with. I hope these things with a growing sense of
urgency to this mission.

This is the symbol that the Monk described to us. He said this symbol was worn by the man who instructed his master to give us the message.

This symbol is of the Emerald Enclave, a druidic organization that has existed for almost 1,000 years. They are concerned with protecting the balance between nature and the races of the world. I have had some dealings with them in my homeland and expect that they would have at least a few representatives here in the Dalelands.

But this, a message to us sent through their order, is unexpected. There seems to be more going on then we know.

I was given this letter this morning...

Falahara,
I find that I have urgent duties in my homeland. I must leave, and I know that you would understand. As your destination is no longer Nar? Fael, and I have successfully lead to you to the monastery of Kelemvor along the Path of the Dead, I consider my debt to you fulfilled. Especially now that Xon is free of the demons that have plagued him for almost as long as I?ve known you. If you ever find your way to that Northern City, I will be amoung the Wardens of my people, and I will hear of it. If that duty permits me, I will seek you out there on some future day.

I also wanted to thank you for everything you have taught me, and for letting me live again. I want you to have this amulet. It will be of more use to you than it will be to me, and as I cannot stay and face the Dragon that won us this treasure, I believe it should go with you instead.

Protect your charges, and look after Xon for me. May the Gods of Battle look favorably upon you. - Ravensong

oh, RavenSong... are you that afraid of goodbyes? I feel as if a part of myself has left, since you are not here. I had not realized how fond of you I had become. I still remember the first time I saw you attack those Orc beasts, I had to admire your ferocity, such even that is rare among my own kind, even while shaking my head at your fool-hearted methods. Ah, at least I could teach you a little of how to guide your rage before you left. I hope you find what you now seek, and I am glad I could help you to see that there is more in life than revenge. Until we meet again, may Rillifain guide you, keep your blade swift, your eyes keen, and your mind clear.

Today was a strange day. Today we received another reminder that there are forces at work in this world beyond what we often realize. We seem to have added another member to our party. She had this letter for me.

Falahara,
You probably do not know of me but we have a common friend, Master Radashan of the Emerald Enclave. I too am one of that august body, and I write this message with three purposes. The first is to inform you of a vision Radashan had. I am just one of many who received his warnings, and though it will be of no aid to you, I will fulfill my duty by passing on his warning. The warning from his dream is this: ?Beware the road north. Before choices must be made, blood will spring black from the forest unseen.? Not very useful, and in fact, this message did not reach me in time to be of aid to you. According to the auguries I have performed, you have already been ambushed and survived. The auguries also inform me that the monks of Kelemvor will send you against Kithensh the White.

This is the second reason that I write to you. Kithensh is known to us, because while she is not a member of the Blood, she is an ally of it. There are few amoung the Black Blood who have caused as much devistation over such a large range as she has. I wonder how she still feeds herself, given the desolation of the natural order she has caused. But that is another matter. I write to warn you that she too hunts you. The members of the Black Blood do not always work together (in fact, there is continuous struggling for dominance within that order). There are at least two factions hunting one you guard, or perhaps something he gaurds, and she leads one of them. Be wary, for I am sure she knows you come for her and she will be waiting.

The last reason for this letter is to introduce you to the messenger. She is Boudicea, and you will need her assistance to deal with Kithensh. She is not a member of the Emerald Enclave, but she is a follower of Obad-Hai, and it is her duty to face the dragon, to seek vengeance for the lands Kithensh has destroyed. Also, as I was unable to determine if the blood of the lycanthrope has infected any of your party, I suggest that at the time of the next full moon, you find a way to individually bind and secure each member that was present, and allow Boudicea to observe. I doubt she would have the power to remove such a curse, but it would be better not to allow the blood to flow freely.

Taliesin

Being a Wild Elf, I've always fancied myself an excellent climber, but I began to wonder if this was really the case when I first witnessed the amazing speed at which Xon can scale a tree to flee from enemies.

It was a wretched fight in the dreadful cold. We had been walking for days, each footstep colder than the last, when we were surprised by a pack of giant lizard creatures hoping for a meal, I suppose. Well, it is fortunate they would settle for meat of their own kind, for we were in no condition to deal with them properly. After taking down a few, the rest settled for dragging away the carcasses rather than attack us further. We could have handled them all, but I feel our spirit just wasn't in it.

As I said, we have been days in the snow, walking -no, wading through the stuff southward. There have been little disturbances other than the lizards, the days begin to meld together. We have no idea where our other companions are. With so little time for Auron, I have no idea if we will be able to find him. Ah, what sort of protectors are we?

I write tonight out of the need to sort through my thoughts... thoughts of friendship, and confusion. I am in turmoil these past days, I am beginning to fear that my feelings may be clouding my perceptions, interfering with my duties. I had not felt this way, until Annu started acting very strange towards me, and especially towards Xon.

Perhaps it is the events in the Temple of the Wind, of losing Aurhon, of this bitter cold, I don't know. But one thing is clear, she has been making her distrust, perhaps dislike of him more and more overt.

I know I don't share her misgivings, but I still am not sure how I feel about him. There is respect for sure. From moment one, he has impressed and inspired me. I will never have his skill with a blade, nor style of movement. How can one with no elven blood whatsoever move through the shadows so stealthily, like the wild cats of the forest? And be so precise with his attacks. My weapon feels almost messy in comparison. But I know it is more than effective still. I have asked him to teach me some of his techniques in battle, and I am convinced that it is due to these lessons no single foe has been able to stand when surrounded by the two of us.

But what of the other elements of friendship? Kindness, trust?

I find myself remembering that first encounter with Xon. How we spent nearly 10 minutes with Aurhon holding his own weapon at his throat while we interrogated him about the priest's death. He answered all of our questions without actually saying anything of substance! But it was not what he said, nor what he didn't; it was his eyes that led me to believe he was innocent.

Those eyes? fearless, reckless even, but honest. Almost out of place in a man who surrounds himself in confusion, shadow, and arrogance. I have no doubt I trusted him from the start. I know Annu had no such feelings. And I know he held no trust of us in the beginning. He obviously resented the position he had been forced into. Entrusted with the amulet, yet denied it, only to be left following two elves with some ambiguous goal in the northern lands. Perhaps that is why I let him have the amulet back... I hoped to gain some of his trust.

I believe I have gained it. I must believe this, for I seemed to have become more than a little close to this man. I thought I was unafraid, that I could be spontaneous without hurting myself. I suppose that is a bit foolish, thinking on it now. I believed I was untroubled by our closeness, and he seems far from adversely affected.

But I realize now that, for the first time, I have acted on my own desires without thinking of my dear friend. Now I fear I may have seriously troubled Annu. I fear she still does not see what I see in him. She still does not trust him. I must speak with her of these things. Soon.

I cannot ignore what has happened between Xon and myself, nor would I want to. I am not ashamed.

I have once again opened my heart to Annu, who forever has been my guide through life. When I talk with her, I know she understands me better than I do. Rillifane, Mystra, why am I so blessed? With each time I look at her, I see strength. If only my faith were as unwavering.

God, I was so lost without her... When she left with only a note behind, I thought it would be all right, that I could be strong and carry on our mission. All the while not daring to allow myself to think about the fear that she would not return. I will never lose her again, I will not allow it.

I was foolish to think of not confiding in her from the start. My feelings for this human, Xon are so very jumbled. Why am I so confused? This is so unlike me. I have not been myself, or perhaps I have, I seem to hardly know myself anymore.

I know I am friend and guardian to my dear Annu. I have always defined myself this way, and I believe I always will.

But now what about this Xon? Before leaving Chandlewood, I could never have understood this type of friendship. Indeed, Aurhon's very existence was a mystery to me, but I know it now, those sorts of boundaries have nothing to do with love.

A few days before the 2nd full moon since the original ware-panther attack.

Well, these past three days have been quite an ordeal. Let me start form the beginning. The morning after we met with the Dwarven Wizard Raymond, half our party went to the swamps to hunt for wyverns, while the rest of us stayed in town.

That morning, while breaking our fast in the common room , I heard some guards talking about seeing a 'large cat', in the area. My heart skipped a few beats, I know it must have, at the mention of those creatures nearby. We had run into ware-panthers two months ago, the day we first met the monk, Dante. Unfortunately, they had escaped after their failed ambush on us. I don't know how, but I was sure they had found us again.

After talking with the guards, and checking out their story, we went out to the area the creatures had been seen. There in the snow, we found a note, in elvish, addressed to me! It was a threat, of sorts:

Lady Falahara, You are a difficult one to track down. It is almost as if you fly through the lands you travel. I hope I have not endangered your masquerade, but we both know you are not long to hide in such a place of civilization. Our Blood longs for the open wilderness. We must speak. If nothing else, I know the dark one who seeks for the White Castle. You travel with one who has something my mistress seeks. I believe we can arrange a beneficial trade. Meet me at the archery range when the moon crests the mountains, come alone. If your do not, then I will be forced to reveal your nature to the Silver Sword of this town.

Yours in Blood,
Jaga

Obviously, the ware-panther who had bitten me two months ago thought he had successfully induced lycanthropy, but we already knew this could not be, since Anuu had cast some magics on me just after that battle, and I had not changed the previous full moon. Still, I was nervous. I do no think I could stand that curse upon my being, nor any of my friends.

It was also obvious that this Jaga knew quite a bit more about our enemies than we did. Perhaps we could get some information out of him before we cleansed the world of his presence.

We had no luck discovering the whereabouts of anyone from the Emerald Enclave (an organization whom opposes the Black Blood and who would have surely given us aid), or the Silver Sword spoken of in the letter. So the four of us, Anuu, Xon, Aurhon, and I went to the meeting alone. I don't think they wanted to go at all, but didn't want me to go alone, so they hid nearby and waited for my signal.

Frankly, I was surprised that Xon was so not interested in confronting this Jaga. I still don't know if it was fear or apathy that drove him. Perhaps I misjudged this human, I must reflect on this more.

Anyway, upon speaking with Jaga, I learned that he in fact did not believe I was a lycanthrope, it had all been a ploy to lure me to him, which I stupidly fell for. I seriously underestimated this creature, who simply played off my fears. He seemed to know quite a lot about me for a bounty hunter, for that is all he was.

Jaga, along with his regular panther friends, had been hired both by the dragon Kissenth, and by Maloc to get the amulet, and our heads. But, the ignorant fool had no idea what the amulet even was, nor the power he would be handing over. He simply thought to make a deal with me for the amulet, and present our heads to Maloc after Kissenth took care of us for him.

He was quite talkative, he told me all this, and even told me about how Kissenth had a serpentine sorceress working with her and many minions. Killing Kissenth will not be an easy fight, one thing I think Jaga was right about. I thought we could probably get more information out of him as well as be more prepared to take him on, if we had more preparations, I was not the only one near him, and we had some allies with us. He surely had forces surrounding us that night, and the four of us were separated by many strides. I did not want him to get away again. So I bluffed him into thinking we would be cooperative, would pay him more that he had been offered, for him to betray his previous contract. He seemed completely interested in the prospect and perfectly willing to meet us again in three nights.

This should have allowed us to set a proper ambush, gather allies, and be sure to take him and his friends in one attack. But I didn't know the whole story.

My friends were completely baffled, they did not understand my reasoning in allowing him to walk away that night, instead of just taking him then and there, I tried to explain how I thought that he had more information, and he had had forces surrounding us, and we had been too far away from each other. The risk would be less when we were all together, plus our other friends, Bellum ,Boudicea, and Dante would be back and the fight would be much more in our favor.

I should have listened to them. It was a stupid plan. Perhaps it was fear that drove me to turn away from a fight that night. It was almost 90 years ago, but I still remember the night that the Black Blood took my brother... Perhaps it was the possibility that we would be able to take more of them out if we waited..

As I have said before, I did not know the whole story. As we came back to the city after the meeting with Jaga, we were surprised to find a hostile city guard unit awaiting us. Not wanting any bloodshed, we were forced to surrender ourselves into capture, and were then separated for questioning. I remember the captain accusing me of first being a lycanthrope, which I denyed vehemently, finally proving with a silver dagger wound, and secondly of being in league with the Black Blood. I learned that the note from Jaga had been discovered by the guards and then re-planted for us to discover, so that we could be found out and arrested. The fact that we spoke with Jaga and then let him go only confirmed their suspicions of us.

I don't really know how we eventually convinced them that we were not friends of the evil ware-creatures, but probably being uninfected, speaking under a magical truth spell, and my professed hatred of their kind as well as my mention of my father's connection with the Emerald Enclave may have helped. However it was, they decided to let us meet with Jaga again, but did not agree to help us with the encounter. Curse them for that, we were not strong enough to handle this enemy on our own.