A largely uneventful day preceded another godly visit, last night.

Cory and Miranda came to Dundee with the intent of hearing Valorn's adventurers perform in groups. Very little time was given to prepare, and I was roped by Raffe and Urkki into becoming part of their little performance group in the name of 22.

With such little time to prepare, we had no option but to improvise. After sitting through a couple of... Interesting... Performances, I prefaced our little groups piece by explicitly stating that we were improvising a dramatically read story with Zither accompaniment. And that we were going to make it rhyme, if possible.

I've never been one for impromptu lyrical genius, but I gave it my best shot. I quickly decided that we would tell a tale called "The man with the slippery hands" or something.

Here is the tale, complete with Raffe and Urkki's parts.

Korrith: There once was a young adventurer... By the name of Billy Zands... And he heard the call of duty once, and he answered it's demands...
So kissed his mum upon her cheek and set out to explore the lands... The story would've been fairytale-ish, had he not such slippery hands...

Smooth and as yet unblemished, yet lacking any grip.... His sword and shield were both quite prone to the occasional slip. And as you can imagine, on training this is a blip. Infact it's probably fair to say, Billy's life was a sinking ship

But still he tried his hardest. He stumled into rats. He tickled acid jellies and he poked some mean plains cats.... His language grew quite colourful, he littered it with "drats", but he didn't give up, not Billy, 'Twas not time to hang up his hats...

Raffe: One day he up and left home the better for these lands to roam.

Billy sought both far and wide, something that could be made or tied...

Around his sword to form a grip, to solve the trouble of his slip

He started out with soul leach poo.. and then tried some zombie goo

But alas poor Billy just couldnt make, anything (for Cory's sake!)

To help him keep his sword in hand and help him to defend the land

Urkki: He sought out candyman and bought...

Lots of candyballs to stick the sword into his hand so that he'd be able to answer the calls...

of world crier...he hoped so the be sired...

that...ummm tippety tippety tip tip....uhh...slip.



And that was the end of it. It gave many a chuckle and it felt good to have concocted something on the spot. The gods blessed us before we left, and many people were left happy.

I've started using my Zither more than my weapon, it seems.

From time to time, I am called upon to play my Zither. As one of very few people trained and in possession of one, I am asked to do all sorts of things. Play at bonding ceremonies, parties, accompany tales... Entertain goddesses, as I wrote recently.

Last night I was called upon to play Zither for rather a different purpose. While I sat in the inn, idly chatting to those who were around, I received an interesting message. Marked with a royal seal and the words "Secret", I was instructed to go immediately to the Dark Tree and to bring my Zither.

Once there, I nervously waited. Valina arrived and there was some tension between us until we each realised that the other had also been "summoned". Urkki too, arrived and appeared to be connected to what was going on, a suspicion that was later confirmed.

Eventually, High Queen Cordelia arrived with an escort of Hojo and Sreip. The plan was quickly laid out before us. Cordelia was to venture into N'rolav with Urkki and Valina, among others, as escorts.

Sreip and I were tasked with making sure that no one followed them into N'rolav at these unsafe times. We were also told to aid nearby areas in the event of demon attacks, though there were guards set up in all the major towns. Thorin in Caernivale, Skylsganin in Milltown and Yulan in Dundee.

Sreip asked me to play, and I quickly began to strum. Playing a zither is a strange thing. You can immerse yourself in it and sometimes it just seems to... Come naturally, once you've started. I am consistantly amazed whenever wonderful tunes seem to tumble out of my fingers across the strings. As I played, Sreip began to tell a tale.

And for a while. Nothing. The occasional passer by, the sound of Sreip's heavy accent, my playing and a mild wind blowing through the trees.

As if the event were some metaphor for our daily lives, this idyllic peacefulness was shattered by calls to arms. The World Crier's voice bellowed across the country. Demons in every town, Dundee, Milltown, Branishor, Caernivale, ... The Forest.

I looked to Sreip and she encouraged me to continue to play, to stop anyone going to N'rolav, while she went to deal with the demons. So play I did. I concentrated and played and sang, becoming immersed in the zither playing, managing to ignore the Crier's calls and my strong sense of duty in favour of my orders.

Eventually Sreip returned. Only for the World Crier to instantly announce more demons. This time I was to go. I quickly grabbed my hammer and ran up to Milltown. Young adventurers battled demons, and I helped them on the way, healing, blessing. One demon was skulking around in the forest. I got to Milltown bazaar and walked headlong into a massive crowd of people surrounding Cordelia. She was back and she was giving orders to various people, hearing reports, coordinating defense.

With Milltown relatively safe I went back for Sreip. I arrived to see her reading a message and she said we were to go to Milltown. I turned on my heels and went back, this time the skulking demon in the forest was engaged in some battle. I ran ahead to find help and brought some back to defeat it, and then we all met up in Milltown Bazaar, the Queen's temporary command post, it seemed.

She gave orders and heard yet more reports. Eventually she decided to go to Caer Laleldan, and she asked me and the Iron Knights to accompany her, and sent word for her defense commanders in each of the towns to come as soon as all was safe.

As Cordelia is no doubt used to, despite her order that everyone else stay and defend Milltown, many people came to Caer Laleldan. As the attacks seemed to die down and the leaders of defense gave their reports, it seemed as if all eventually arrived at the castle for some sort of celebration. Many were highlighted for their acts of bravery and courage throughout the days events. I got a small mention despite being of very little help.

As we began to settle down, The World Crier called out that Sea Rats were making their way up the beach. Well. They picked a bad time to, when all of Valorn's defenders were out in force. I ran to the beach while everyone else simply portalled, and the raid was largely already dealt with.

Finally, it was over and Cordelia settled down to rest. I made my way to Cerbies where I exhaustedly watched the celebrations and festivities as people celebrated our victory.

The best wake up call is "of duty".

Sleep is an odd thing. It seems to be... Somewhat necessary for us to function, and yet, it seems to be detrimental to our progress if we indulge in it too much.

I think I have indulged in it too much. The warmth of the fire in Dundee Inn or the grill tempts me into a deep sleep far often than is necessary. I may look into some remedies for staying awake... I was never very keen into the "herbal" aspect to cleric hood that some take, but I will say, some of those plant and herb concoctions can work miracles.


So. Yeah. Aside from sleep, very little to report. Oh, actually, since I last wrote it seems Az has managed to overcome whatever was bothering her about Miranda's visit. And it seemed like I had a part in it... Thankfully she's alright now and I can stop playing an all too lethal game of hide and seek across Trinald with her. I do wonder if we'll EVER get to Ethucan...

Hm. I think my dreams are calling me...

Not too long after my last entry was written, infact I'm sure the ink would still have been wet, I was sat in Dundee Inn when Miranda, the goddess, appeared.

I was somewhat shocked, but at the same time... Almost... Confident. Which is a strange way to feel infront of a Goddess, but I was fairly sure she had enjoyed my zither playing in Cerbies some days ago, through a chain of events I've previously described.

Miranda quickly made her presence felt as the crowd started to heave and make Jeffrey's eyes light up like little platinum pieces. She did infact inflict death on one or two adventurers, and lice on at least two more throughout the night.

Anyway, Miranda came to us with a proposition... A proposition, in these dark times, to put aside bickering and differences, and make her smile. Turns out, making an all powerful being smile, may not be as easy as it seems.

At first we sort of fell over ourselves as people desperately attempted to please Miranda. Several adventurers made the oh-so-foolish error of "Her eyes are shiny. I must interrogate and question her immediately". Finally, some clarity and respect for others came in the form of Talisk's comedy routine, consisting of one rather hilarious joke (Or at least, I laughed). It was definitely a step in the right direction, but not quite enough to make her smile.

Remy, an old friend, and indeed, companion on a couple of well documented Valornian "adventures", I guess, whispered to me that he would like to perform a song. He had one in mind, with little lines for me and everything. He quickly gave me the details and I was able to provide Zither accompaniment.

The song went down quite a treat, and (somewhat reluctantly, I believe), Miranda broke a smile. Among the greatest confidence boosts I receive (And... Thinking about it... I receive quite a lot, these days) are those that stem from playing my Zither for someone in need. I was truly pleased and felt a great sense of honour for Miranda, of all people, to enjoy my playing on more than one occasion. First Cordelia, now this...

Anyway, Remy got a little reward for his humour and charming lyrical prowess in the form of a mystery box, and I got a godly blessing. Miranda did then stay around to hear tales and limericks by various folk, including Azure who was on good form, but seems to be somewhat worse for wear today... Probably because Miranda gave her lice. However, if there's one thing I've learnt about the Gods, it is that they don't seem to hold grudges, and are very open to people redeeming themselves. I know I have made many, many mistakes, and yet even today, they see fit to govern my life with a generous drizzling of good fortune.

Overall, it was a wonderful evening, and I would've written sooner if it were not that my eyes needed a slight rest after staring at the impressive visual display that accompanies Miranda's arrival, exit and very presence.

Right now, I am sitting among a somewhat smaller, but still considerable crowd. I am at the AVE guild hall tavern (No, I won't call it the name they wish us to) grand opening, sitting on one of the most uncomfortable chairs I've had the chance to lodge myself in in some time. Everyone seems to be having fun though, and much singing and merriment is afoot. Fleur's sitting next to me... Guess I oughta make myself sociable...

Today marks the first day of my war against the ants. Today also marks the first day in a while that I've managed to get myself totally lost. Shame I chose to combine the two, really.

The ants themselves are rather fearsome, and very strong. And the have disgusting feelers.

Anyway, yes. I got lost. The ant hill goes far deeper than first appears, and before I knew it I was stuck between rock hard sandy tunnel wall and several ant warriors eager to prove their worth. I managed to survive, with the help of my blessings on myself and a couple of ring blasts, and from some of the ants I managed to gain myself some armour, to gift to new adventurers I see about.

After a few marcs, I finally managed to find my way out. I saw a Mysterious Portal on the way out, but I managed to control my adventurous side enough to just take the way out and leave it for some other, more curious person.

I came out in the Wall, which is usually not a difficult place to get out of. I decided against trekking across the wastelands in favour of dropping down into the Wall Beasts lair to use the portal stone to Milltown.

The Wall Beast was at home, so I decided to call someone to come and get it. I called for Shalazan, more commonly known as "Shal" or "The Flea ridden one" as I knew he could use the Wall Beasts claws as a pair of gauntlets. As I clambered out of the lair and into the general tunnel under the wall I overheard that a group of adventurers were inbound trying to get the Wall beast themselves, so I called Shal off and left them to it. I ended up finding TWO red crystal guardians while I wandered the area though. One yielded a red crystal, which isn't exactly what I wanted. I need one more orange, really. The red crystal was quickly decoded into a gibberish scroll (much to my dissapointment).

Finally the adventurers slew the beast and I could get home... It's been a long day. And I don't especially fancy going after those ants again... But what am I going to train on if not them?