Outside of a Bedlam, somewhere in Kingdom of Garthia

23rd of Amsiel, Second month of Summer

2130 years since the new gods came.

I'm free. I have convinced them that I am sane. I have stopped writing my name on the wall in my own blood. I must search. Something will tell me where to go. I have...a place. I will go north. Demons...

NORTH.

The haggard and disheveled young man thought as he staggered forward. His journey just begun.

*-*-*

City state of Knutson, Western Wilds.

18th of Amsiel, Second month of Summer.

2134 years since the new gods came.

The cleaning has started. We have begun at the top of the shop. Not just the roof, but the attic.

...The attic has ROOM. Lots of room. It is a lot like my chest. I checked, and the runes around the walls are, indeed, the same. There are similar runes in the shop area, although those are proof against explosion. Brandy is actually pretty good at cleaning. I am thankful for that. Also, the attic is a gret place for a bedroom.

19th of Amsiel,

Attic is done. Starting on the main floor.

22nd of Amsiel,

Found a brass ring in the floor of the back room today. Several runes, and layered magic built in. It was under an ancient rug that Brandy lifted to mop beneath. I will put more attention to it later.

25th of Amsiel,

The place is clean. We have officially moved in. I am now sourcing the ingredients we will need for opening.

33rd of Amsiel,

The shop is set up! I have started on the production of glass candlesticks. It is good to be back in business. Opening wit be in a week or two.

35th of Amsiel,

Got word that one of my orders got hijacked by river pirates. I am going to leave it to the locals to figure out. What are pirates going to do with 200lbs of sand?

40th of Amsiel,

Got my sand. Apparently the pirates had no use for it. No one here knows me. It is so good to be free. The Goat followers are a bit strange. But they are excellent cooks. I wonder if Bjorn will stop by.

48th of Amsiel,

Grand opening tomorrow. I have about 100 'sticks made, as well as a couple dozen floats, and some glass baubles.

49th of Amsiel,

The number of people who descended on my shop was surprisingly small. But I covered my costs, so all is well. I did sell the string of floats, this time without the steel rings.

53rd of Amsiel,

A 'Private Tutor”, who teaches about stars and such, has asked me to make a pair of ground glass lenses to mount in a tube. A large tube. He wants to map the surface of the small moon. This will be an interesting undertaking.

4th of Kusha, the month of Harvest,

Didn't know glass lenses were so hard to make. There was a department at school that specialized in it. I should have taken those classes as well. I didn't know that lenses could start fires. Oops.

7th of Kusha,

The first lens is done. It is the smaller of the two. It triples the size of things. Interesting.

10th of Kusha,

The ruler of Knutson bought a couple of pieces today. I have now made back all of my investment.

16th of Kusha,

Magnified light could be an interesting weapon.

20th of Kusha,

The second lens is complete. I had to re-make it three times. Brandy broke the first one when she dropped it while burning ants. The second got horribly scratched. This one is better than the first two.

21st of Kusha,

The 'Telescope' is done. I love it. Don't stare at the sun.

23rd of Kusha,

I have had two orders for telescopes. One from a ship captain, the other from Lord Knutson.Not what I want to do, but Meh.

*-*-*

The Demon Lands.

Date unknown.

2132 since the new gods came.

My name is still James. I have finally found our cache. It is ours, not just mine, right? I have found one of the tablets. It has a map. I can see the target. I still dream of the electric shocks. I scream myself awake. At least they didn't put an icepick through my eye into the brain. What is that called again? Oh well.

The target is to the west. Outside of the forbidden zone. I can make it. This is a rifle...no a shotgun. That over there is a rifle. My world. How do I go back?

Family.

Home...

Where are my friends?

*-*-*

A large rabbit hopped around his territory. The trap ahead was small, as most human things were. He stopped, and sneezed. Then he went over to the trap, grabbed it in his mouth, and ripped it out of the ground. That could have hurt someone, he thought, then he hopped off in search of some more clover.

*-*-*

City state of Knutson, Western Wilds.

22nd Kusha, Second month of Summer.

2134 years since the new gods came.

I think I have most of the spell work done on the trap door. Going to study it more tomorrow.

TTFN!