Riloth 19th the 7th

Dear Spellbook,

I’m feeling particularly “frumpy” today. Every morning feels worse than the day before. Is that possible? I don’t know, but so far nothing has changed on the square. I can’t do another day of staring at the market. Nothing has changed. I am going back to sleep.

It's very late. I feel a lot better, not great, but better. I don’t know what to do. I can stay up waiting for the reset, we can see if I can manage today with a nap.

Riloth 18th

Whatever kept Daulf from acting as a wake-up service the day before did not save me on this day. Once again everyone was waiting outside my door with breakfast to go in hand. I grew up on the road, I'm used to rising early, but these people are insane. That's what I was thinking at least until I looked out the window to see it was almost noon, and my to-go breakfast was a to-go lunch. Maybe I'd grown a bit indulgent of late.

Outside the Parlor the market square was teeming with activity once more. Some urchin children were pestering a dwarf who looked to be passed out drunk near one of the carts near the Parlor's steps. A man hollering about a giant goat grabbed Roland's attention.

"Come see the giant goat, biggest goat on The Continent, see it for five copper, feed it for ten!"

"Let's go see that goat," Roland insisted to everyone's surprise.

"That's a bit steep," I paused and finished deadpanned "to see a fat goat."

"Not a fat goat, a giant goat." At that, Roland walked right up to the tent, tossed the man a silver coin, and went in.

He was in there so long we all decided to go in and check on him. After handing over fifteen copper we walked into the tent to see Roland just standing there admiring a giant goat. I don't really know how else to describe it. It looked like a regular goat, it was just the size of a large plow horse.

We stood there trying to see where Roland's fascination stemmed from, but to no avail. Eventually, Daulf said, "Well this was magnificent, worth every bit, but we have to get moving."

Roland made a conciliatory sigh, and then took a big deep breath of the stinky goat manure air, which he seemed to savor before walking out with us. Passing the man running the "show" he grinned and flipped him a silver coin as a tip saying, "Majestic creature you have there. Take good care of her. Assuine's blessings."

I really don't understand that guy at all.

The plan today was to just go up and ask random people if they'd seen Bearskin. Not exactly our most sophisticated one yet. We split up once more and I asked everyone who made eye contact with me if they'd seen Bearskin, describing him in detail. No one seemed to have seen him but... That's strange, I'm remembering something. No one I spoke to recognized Bearskin from his very unique description, but when I was speaking to a baker I now remember someone reacting strangely. There was an adolescent kid at the bakery talking to the baker's apprentice. He looked like an urchin but was buying food and not stealing which I should have noticed as strange by itself that day. I don't even think I saw him. This memory enhancement is amazing. At mentioning the name Bearskin the boy froze, and at my description, he put his bread down and quietly left the store without saying anything to the apprentice. I need to find this boy. I can see his face so clearly. Can you help me draw him?

[Drawing of a young boy]

Hmm, that wasn't too bad. Portraits are not my strength. You didn't improve my ability but you did allow me to draw from memory with no reference—something I was never good at before.

After canvassing the market I headed out the west gate to look through the camp. The tent city had come a long way. All the tents were now laid out in orderly rows with roads between them. Every so often there were clearings with communal campfires and I could see work beginning to dig wells.

In one such clearing, I came across a group of people packing up and preparing to set out. A Landing guard was nearby and I asked him what was happening.

"These lot are heading up to Edgewater, the new Mayor said he'd take any refugee who'd be willing to work some land or set up as a tradesman. No taxes for a year too! I suspect that town is about to become very big very quickly. People don't seem too keen to go back to Landing after the, ah,” he paused "incident."

At that, the light-hearted nature of our conversation died and I sensed it best to move on.

I circled the town, the refugee camp now completely surrounding it, asking about Bearskin as I walked but to no avail. When I got to the northern gate, I saw that near the tree line, which was steadily being pushed back from the demands for firewood, there was a group of wagons. As I grew closer I saw that it was not refugees but a dwarven caravan.

Dwarves are very rare on the surface. Before the events at Edgewater, I had only encountered dwarves a small handful of times throughout my life and travels. To see a dwarf was rare, to see an overland caravan is unheard of. It's rumored that they have their own subterranean roads that they defend fiercely from the other denizens of The Torack.

The Torack is the subterranean world they call home. It comes from the Torcish word Tor, which means the earth itself, and ack, which means dry. Before the Flood, I imagine they just called it all The Tor.

My curiosity piqued, I altered course for the wagons. As I got close enough to see their faces, I could see that they were not welcoming. In fact, they almost looked hostile. Not wanting to offend I decided it would be best to not approach and headed in through the gate.

The last stop was to see if the local booksellers had anything that would help translate your text. Asking around the market I was directed to a shop in the more affluent part of town. Like most shops in this district, it was a two-story building with a shop on the ground floor and living quarters above. The sign read “Levar’s Books and Alchemy” and has a painted carving of a stack of books with a glass bottle atop it, and curiously a rainbow bursting behind it. When I entered a bell attached to the door rang and I heard a voice from the back room yell “One moment please!”

Using the time, I looked around the shop. The section nearest the door had an assortment of jars filled with powders and liquids, alchemy supplies I assume. They were neatly organized and labeled. They also had prices, very, very, high prices. Powdered unicorn horn, fifteen gold per ounce. Preserved hag’s eye, ten gold per eye, two for eighteen. The back of the shop was packed with shelves, tables, even baskets, filled with books and scrolls of all kinds. Behind the counter was a small assortment of jars and vials with what I assume were potions. They had vibrant colors that shifted with the light and were unlike any liquid I’d ever seen.

Potions are not something I have a lot of experience with, any really. Potions, while almost a magic unto themselves, are ridiculously expensive. A potion made from the right magical creatures can do wonders only possible by a Chosen of a major god, like Daulf. But those wonders come at a cost that is more than the average person will make in a lifetime. There is no magic involved in the crafting of potions, the magic of potions resides in the ingredients, and magical ingredients are difficult to come by. For many, potions are more costly than they are worth. A potion made from the blood of a hydra might allow a person to regrow a limb, but many lives would be lost in the acquiring of that ingredient.

Spellbook, you might then ask “How does a market for these even exist?” And if you did ask, which you can’t (right?), I’d answer your question with a question. What population of people are often losing limbs, flush with gold, encountering magical beasts on a regular basis, and killing them?

Adventurers.

Which... I guess I sort of am now. Anyway, I got distracted again.

While I was looking at the wares, and thinking about what the total costs of the raw ingredients laid about must be the shopkeeper, Levar I presume, came out from the back with a stopped bottle of liquid the blue of a sky during a bright cloudless day.

“Welcome master wizard, sorry I was just finishing the bottling of this clarity potion.” He said gesturing to the stopped vial. “I don’t suppose I could interest you in it, could I? I had an abundance of ingredients that needed to be used, this is the third batch I’ve made this week, I could give it to you for a discount, say twenty gold? A real bargain.”

“I’m sorry, that's a bit out of my allowance, I am only an Apprentice and rarely have the need for such a costly thing. I’m actually looking for a book to help translate some text.” I replied

Making one more attempt to get the sale he said, “You sure? They are expensive but they make one hell of a hangover cure.”

FLOOD!

How did I not remember this conversation? I have been sitting here for weeks MISERABLE. I BEGGED Daulf to heal me, I drank that sludge from the hotel staff, I ate dirt! And this guy just casually mentioned in passing that he can fix my torment and I forgot!

I will be right back.

I'm back. Can you even tell that time has passed? I ran down to Levar's. It's about an hour past midnight, so... he was not happy to see me. Also, I forgot to bring my coin. Needless to say waking him up in the middle of the night to buy something, and then not having the money to buy it didn't endear him to me. Good thing the whole world is going to reset in an hour. Counting my money I’m about thirteen gold short of that potion. I am going to have to think of something.

Anyway, it's almost time for the reset. Back to the first, more pleasant time, I interacted with Levar.

Making one more attempt to get the sale he said, “You sure? They are expensive but they make one hell of a hangover cure.”

The stupid moron replied “No thanks, that's a bit steep for a hangover cure,” I continued, “and I hardly ever drink that much.”

I hate myself.

I can feel how ridiculous I thought the idea of a twenty-gold hangover cure was. Like I am living the moment once more. I thought ‘This guy really thinks someone would pay twenty gold to cure a hangover. Would that pitch work on an adventurer? They must be insane’.

“I am actually looking to translate some text.” Bringing out the sample page I laid it in front of him.

“Hmmm,” He muttered, “Fascinating, this surely must be the script of a monstrous race. I do have some contacts in the world of adventurers, I can see if anyone has any idea. Let me copy some of these symbols and I will see what I can find out.” I let him copy some of the text despite knowing we were leaving the next day, but there was a chance we could be coming back.

After that I started to head back to my room, but sought out Trish to talk instead. The deaths of my parents had been on my mind a lot as of late. We often drink in silence remembering our pasts but not sharing. We drank. Oh man, that's disgusting. I taste it again. We drank dwarven ale. That at least explains my wretched state each morning. That toxic sludge is not fit for human consumption.

We drank a lot—somehow, I still don't know what I was thinking—and talked very little. Sitting in companionable silence had become a regular activity for us after the night we first met. She has some tragedies in her past she eventually opened up to me about, but that night we sat, quietly looking out the window at the moon-lit square. Maybe it would be good for me to recount my own here.

Not tonight though.

Show a copy of my leads to do list and resources whenever I write -Update-. Leave space between them for me to add.

-Update-

Leads:

House Barion Landing Command tent Giant north of the town Outlaws out in forest ruins. Investigate runes Baths Giant goat Dwarven caravan

I can't believe I'm adding this to the list but a giant goat is out of the ordinary. The dwarves are an oddity as well, though I have not seen them since the resets occurred.

Resources

Library Lavar the Alchemist

Lavar, the sweet genius of a man, is a resource I need to figure out how to capitalize on immediately.

To Do:

Find a way out of these resets Find others aware of the resets Find a way to wake up early Cure this hangover Learn the capabilities of this book Learn the language of the spellforms Learn how to read spellforms Learn spellform writing Find boy from the bakery Find gold.

I did not expect to find a lead on Bearskin while trapped here, but I can't let this opportunity by to possibly find him. I won't be in this forever. Right? I must plan for life after, or I will go mad. If I’m not already.

I am going to try to stay up for the reset and see if I can figure out when it occurs. I will plan Operation Cure in the tomorrow.