Autumn 58th, 543

The Feast of T'srrin has come and gone once more, and finally I have found the time to write a bit. The usual events occurred, including the Undine invasions, and the candy hunts, but for me, the highlight was a live concert by the Sylphonics.

It was a marvelous event, most of those who turned out came in costume as you can see. The Sylphonics were in rare form, and the number of appalling gaffs were kept to a surprising minimum. Slyph, despite rumors to the contrary was not suffering from Lyfelidalism, she only forgot her lines about 3 times, and on top of it all, she didn't even seem slightly drunk.

Sleipnir had some difficulty getting up on the stage in his costume and had to be hauled up with a chain, but not with a winch, as has perhaps been reported elsewhere. Coriakin assured me that his 5th circle fighter belt really was real. But... I think we can all understand that Zyzyz really summed up the mood of the crowd best when she first caught a glimpse of Forey.

The concert was also attended by Keemhan the story teller, who frequently comes to Puddleby on rare festival events and tells us the story behind them.

Probably the highlight of the evening was when some of the band members came down from the stage and danced with members of the audience.

In other events, I have made several more trips to the interior of Devil's Island with Kiriel and company.

While the route becomes routine, the individual trips are fraught with danger. Sometimes we are successful in reaching our goal, sometimes not. Of the three trips we made over the past week or two, we were able to reach the Drake den twice. One of the more unusual hazards was the appearance of 4 Lava Walkers, as can be seen in the sketch to the right.

The time we failed to reach it was due to a problem with the illusory barriers. Beyond the Volcoon pit, there is a rocky corridor filled with illusions, one of these leads into what Kiriel calls the Maze. On the occasion we failed, I was unable to locate which passage lead onwards. All our scouts reported ending up outside the Volcoon pit. At first I was concerned that whatever force it is which maintains the illusions had strengthened them beyond my ability to see through, but the following trip we were able to get through.

The Dragon Den lies beyond the Maze, and seems to be a vast open pit, covering a space larger than Puddleby itself. There is a curious force present there, the caduceus does not function there. On the latter of our successful trips, I attempted to use both the Rod of Akea, and the Staff of Ballou which I carry, and both shuddered uncontrollably. My Skristal and my Orb however worked perfectly. It is curious that whatever this force might be suppresses abilities which work at a distance from the user.

The problem bears further study. I shall have to make a return trip now that I have completed the training which Leladar offers, perhaps there is unusual Ether activity there...

Still other events include the continued work on the Kizmia's island Travel log, while I have added nothing new to the log, I have been hard at work reviewing the vision stones of the trip, and culling sketches of the more important aspects. I ask that readers forgive me the time it takes to gather and sort the necessary images.

Lastly, the Council has again acted, and has assigned me another new student, one Taladwy. She seems bright and eager, one hopes that she can maintain that outlook in the face of the task ahead of her.

Autumn 19th, 543

This was an important day for me, today, I ventured to the interior of Kizmia's Island with the Puddleby Task Force. As I began to compose my diary entry, I realized that It was becoming a huge travel log, so huge in fact, that I felt it would be best to present it seperately. Those who wish to view my Kizmia's island Travel log, may follow the link. I will warn readers however, my log is quite detailed, and contains many sketches, those who wish to explore Kizmia's island for themselves, might wish to avoid reading my report.

The island is huge, and quite dangerous. Worse, it is far more dangerous at night. Our group was strong, and well prepared, we landed at dawn, and hurried to our objectives, and then made haste to depart the island.

We had two primary reasons for braving the island, the first reason was our attempt to obtain a copy of the Phantasmonomicon for Elenis Reyav. The second reason was to bring the mystics of our party (in this case myself and Himitsu) to see Leladar, in order for us to begin the study of the Ethereal Amulet. Neige was also with us, but he had been to the island previously, and had already completed his training with her.

In addition to these other goals, we also found an individual whom Achates was able to engage to make a cloak out of the Albino Maha skin he had in his pack. You will no doubt see him wearing it around town.

Our trip was a resounding success as far as I was concerned. Leladar proved easy to reach, indeed visiting her was one of our first stops. From this point of our journey on, I was prepared to depart and consider it worth the cost, although I am pleased that it turned out to be unnecessary.

I still am wondering at the short course of study offered by Leladar. Tenebrion has hinted that the Amulets may offer a deeper understanding of Ether, and might allow planar transitions where the Ether is thickest. I find it hard to believe that the paultry few tips Leladar is willing to offer would be sufficient to allow that. Further, even those who have completed Leladar's training still report high breakage. This is similar to effects I would expect to see from mystics poorly trained at the use of a given tool. All of which leads me to specualate that there is more, deeper knowledge to be had.

It is possible that Umbrion does not trust us, and is holding back further training on these grounds, perhaps Leladar will offer further study at a later time. It is also possible that there are other teachers who know more, whose locations we have yet to find.

Time will tell.

Autumn 12th, 543

I have received various comments on what I choose to write here, these comments have increased as the fact that I do write, and the knowledge as to where to find my writing has increased. I have been pleased to discover that most of those who choose to comment do so favorably. There have however been detractors as well. And while I do not expect to please everyone, nor is that why I choose to write in the first place, I am nonetheless moved to offer a response.

This is my diary, it is a place for me to record such adventures of my own as I think might be of interest to the casual reader, or simply those which I wish to remember. It is a place where I record my thoughts on those adventures, and on those other events which I feel concern me. Under no circumstances should you assume that what is written here is without bias. There is much which happens that I do not cover here. There are many other fine diaries, and places where more objective views of our world may be obtained. This however, is my place.

Just the same, there is much I will not record here, my job within the Mystic's Guild consists of many routine tasks which the casual reader would in all likelihood find dull. I exclude some things for personal reasons, and some things because to present them would violate the rules of my Guild.

Kiriel was kind enough to organize an expedition to Tenebrion's keep so that I could obtain an Ethereal Amulet. To my surprise, the price for this item turns out to be no more than the metal necessary create it, although getting there is a challenge for someone of my profession to be sure. With us were Lex of Hunter, Ahh, Otepei, Mario OneEye, Sephorus, Theo, two of my own students: Drablak and Xrith, and of course, the one and only Foo!

Depicted above is the party as it set out. The Castle grounds were thick with guards however, and most of us fell. Several other exiles, including Michael, Jannar, Jazz, and Jotran arrived to assist us. With their help, the guards of the grounds and courtyard were quickly subdued, and I was able to get in to see Sorer, and obtain from him (it?) an Ethereal Amulet.

The Amulet is supposed to amplify the natural sensitivities of those who follow the Sun. It is however a fragile thing, and it requires training to use well. The reports I have heard thus far, indicate that attempting to use it without training will tax the item, and probably destroy it within 10 attempts at the outside.

Lundar has done considerable research into this subject and has managed to locate a Thoom woman named Leladar, who has been assigned to teach us how to use the Amulet. Her instructions come from Umbrion, the Pyromancer, and it is in his keep that she may be found. Umbrion, according to Tenebrion, is the actual creator of the Amulets. Lundar reports that Leladar will teach only those of the mystic profession, although anyone can obtain an Amulet from Sorer. From the initial indications, it was my assumption that it would take a considerable amount of training to be useful.

I have been giving some thought to the subject of the Amulets, and the study thereof. From Tenebrion we have learned that the Amulets will allow a trained user to determine the level of Ether present in a given location. The reports I have seen on the readings which the Amulets provide have thus far been confusing at worst, and inconclusive at best. From these early indications I assumed that the Amulet would require considerable study. Also, the reports of Tenebrion's comments on the Amulets would seem to indicate that they may be of some use in determining locations where exiles might pass from our world, into the Ethereal Plane. It is even possible that the Amulets might facilitate this process. All these indicators gave me reason to believe that the Amulets would require considerable study before yielding useful results. It was then with some surprise that I learned from one early adopter, that Leladar will only teach 10 lessons in the subject, and no more.

I still expect that the Amulets will offer rather esoteric results, however I am somewhat relieved as well. When I first considered the Amulets, and heard the large number of Guild members who had chosen to begin studying them, I was quite concerned. Many of those pursuing such studies were younger students of the Guild, I worried that they would pour their time and attention into a device which I believe will be tricky to use at best, rather than attending to the more fundamental lessons in the basics of the Guild. However, the brief course of study offered by Leladar seems unlikely to unduly influence them so I will hold my tongue

In other news, the number of exiles who have contracted Lyfelidalism grows, I have now heard of six cases. Althea, who has since managed to find a cure, Lex, Panos, Glaurung, Aki and now Neige. Neige's case is by far the most unusual, as he informed me that he contracted the disease after being bitten by Aki. Thus far, I have not heard of any Healers contracting the disease, perhaps affinity for the Moon provides some immunity? Who can say...

All contained herein, are the works of Callia the Mystic,
who is a character in the game Clan Lord by Delta Tao Software