Preparing for Adventure
The Lady warned us that we would need fire, since apparently this heirloom was 57 levels below the current tower's sewer system. Fun Fun. Anvil and Sheaf didn't seem fazed, but I was a little repulsed by the idea. In retrospect, boots might have been nice. Anyway, Tic went to Crinshaw at the Magick Emporium, along with our 120 gold piece retainer and some of my gold to assist with the purchases. There's nothing I could do with the money anyway, except buy ale and wine, of which I have plenty. Everything seemed to me quite expensive, but Tic was haggled the owner down a bit. I spent too much time trying to find a good stabler for my pony...

We were all hungering for the journey I guess, because we went straight down to the sewer level. Durrak apparently bonded quite well with his pony, as he insisted upon bringing it. I don't think the pony was that thrilled. A mysterious door that we have to find is near a "valve cluster," which didn't help any of us. The goblins that ran a nasty market seemed to know, although it took some bribing buying power to get the information. Durrak and Flop struggled to avoid killing them. That seems to be their pastime.

The goblin led us to a passage and stairs to where the valve cluster was. Most of us were either in the tunnel or staircase when a "dropping thing" appeared. While his death wasn't too stressful for us, the appearance of three shifters had potential problems. The others closer to the shifters seemed to have the upper hand though, although I think one got away.

Yes, I would say that we are well into our way for adventure!

Taking a "Job"
Who knew that our first job offer would result from a post bar brawl in the middle of a sky bridge. We saw a bit of a lump on the bridge, then a cloaked figure who jumped off. Flop was immediately attracted to the satchel, probably hoping for an ale flask, thereby become a little distracted from the same cloaked figure coming back over the bridge. Apparantly he didn't actually "jump". His intent with the battleaxe seemed somewhat clear, even to Flop. As Salshar and I tried to engage the dark figure, Flop threw the satchel back to his brother, Durrak. This did not seem to be a well thought-out strategy, but he did get it to Durrak safely. I took some injury as I stood watching this throwing scene, but the dark figure was finally disposed of, just as the nightwatchman and his compatriots told us to stand down. Tic glibed through an explanation and we left with the satchel.

The next morning we met a clothed figure claiming to be a messenger for Lady Aladrin. Tic recognised the ring he bore as the House of Cannith (creation). Calamox was very excited to relate it to the book and noticed that had a strong "universal" magic, but this conversation was certainly out of my knowledge range. They argued all day of whether to take the book or not to meet the Lady, since she evidently knew we had it, and somewhat evidently would want it returned.

Dawn finally met us with our way to Lady Aladrin in the Broken Anvil. I successfully avoided any smart remarks in relation to Anvil. He didn't seem the type to take a personal joke well. Flop, Sheaf and Anvil seemed more than willing to wait in the front with drinks on the house. The rest of us were led to a lovely lady, and to make a long storey short, made a connection with a lost heirloom piece and the book that held a clue to it's location of which Calamox relented to show the Lady. I wasn't catching all of the details, but the essential issue seemed to be that we were already in trouble since the final messenger of the cloaked figure that we killed (did I mention he was warforged?) had probably related our faces to Lord Blade. Based on this information, we might as well take the quest that the Lady offered. Although Tic extended this conversation a few hours, the final answer was, "yes."

Starting Over
In a sense, I feel like I'm starting over. Training and studying in the monastry for so many years has made the outside world a different life. Once I got to Sharn, I quickly found two dwarf friends...or at least two dwarves who recognised somebody with ale. Flop and Durrak don't seem to very ... intelligent ... but their alocholic tolerence levels are amazing.

I'm not quite sure how adventuring parties are formed, but in my case, it just happened, mostly in taverns. To make a long storey short, I am now involved with two dwarven clerics, two humans (wizard and bard), an elven artificer, a shifter ranger, and a warforged fighter/rogue something. Quite an odd lot, if you ask me, but it should be interesting...and fun, which is the point.

The dwarves are loads of fun, drink and laughes. Tic (bard) and Calamox (wizard) take life just a little too seriously in my humble view, while Salshar (artificer) seems both intelligent and fun loving, as rare as that may seem out of an elf. Sheaf (shifter) and Anvil (apparently he was mistaken for an anvil as a warforged thingy) are more than slightly hopeless in regards to social life. No talking, good fighters, and pathetic eating manners. They seem to like the ale though.

As I said, this should be interesting! If I can endure so much training both physically and mentally at the monastry, surely I can survive with this lot, right?