26th Light beneath the tenth Moon

3761 Cycles beyond the Dark

722 Years after the Repentance

Entry: 1/013

Dear self,

There was frost covering the world when dawn came. You’ll be seeing winter spread in the coming days. It came a few days early so it will be a very cold few months this year. More immediately this meant that we had to hurry with our hunt for the Darcinderaht before any frost spirits began tormenting it.

Instead of trying to risk the Blithweed potion by testing it normally I took a drop of my blood and infused it with some vitality that allowed me to control it. Moving it into the potion I could feel my hold over it loosen and vanish as the potion took hold. I used the blood to form a temporary bond with the potion that should allow me to sense when it takes effect. If I hadn’t done that there was a chance it might have warped the potency unpredictably after the fluids bonded without guidance.

I set up a sign by the door in case anyone came to the shop as I was closing earlier than usual. Axl and I wanted to avoid any issues so I recruited farmer Erhin to help with the grunt work and generally be useful. He counted it as his favour to me. I once again took a pixie to help us track the critter down. Finding one is as simple as capturing one in a cage and then bribing it with freedom and treats to help you out under a contract sigil. Difficult, but simple.

Traveling through the woods we passed by a nest of nasty sprites already weaving webs of frost and magic. Some few among the trees were starting to have their bark harden with iced crystals. You might even see the pale blooms of ice leaves before the month is out.

The damaged markings the critter was presumably responsible for were especially prone to frosting. The spirit of the forest seemingly deemed the foreign creature as the highest priority threat at current, and the ambient magic is targeting the invasive presence directly.

We found a gathering of sprites surrounding a bed of embers filling the bowl I used to give them cream. The Darcinderaht was tightly bound in fairy twine and seemed to be rather helpless. The spirits had clearly decided to prank the critter in their wrath to protect the forest from its minor vandalism. It turned out that we didn’t need to hunt the Darcinderaht as much as negotiate and bargain with the fairies for its release.

Axl being the most sympathetic towards it, and me being presently lacking in resource, we had the owl exchange a good few shiny trinkets and Glit for the Darcinderaht. I got my bowl back too now that the sprites didn’t need it to lure their prey with. I fed the paralytic potion to the critter to sedate it and had Erhin haul it on his shoulder. Axl spent our trip back examining the creature’s health while I guided us home and released the tracking pixie. It proved to be a surprisingly hefty lizard, and burdened even farmer Erhin’s strength. It likely weighed half of what I did while being shorter than my knee.

Axl and I set up a small confinement circle to hold the Darcinderaht during its stay in our house, and to help keep it cozy and warm. I had to mix up some Embernap from the embers the critter’s been coughing up everywhere and mixed in the Swelterwort just to have a way to get rid of the stuff.

We all shared a meal and I exchanged news from around town with Erhin. Axl was still searching the region for traces of the Quislings, but he’ll soon have to move on after he’s set up a finding ward or two.

Hope we fare well.

Regards,

Me.

~*M*~