Date: Twenty-third of May, year 810 Post Seminal War (810 PSW)

Location: The Ruins of SiDiabolo Tower, The Jeweled Republics.

Job Arseoth frowned as he thought the problem over. “How many people do you reckon knew about our trip out to Armageddon Reef? It's not like we tried to hide what we were doing...”

Lady SiDiabolo's ears perked up, “hundreds, probably thousands. Anyone interested would have sent someone to find out and report back.”

Job nodded, “and they probably haven't seen us come back, given the devastation and the fact that we went to Opal instead of Sapphire. I say we ditch the boat and take the overland route down Carrion Road. Let them think that we died either on Armageddon Reef or at sea. The deception won't hold forever, but it should give us time to get out of town and you two started on your new lives.”

Blue nodded, “but would you be able to present the scroll tube once we get to Altheim?”

Job gave a lazy grin, “That shouldn't be a problem. The real question is how and where are we going to get food on our journey?”

“We can just buy... Oh. Right.” Blue looked bewildered.

Job gestured towards their packs, “we've got another two days of food, and it's fifty days form here to Chedal, with no towns in between. We don't have a any foraging experience, nor a Ranger or Druid to assist us. We're going to need to scavenge what we can from Opal before we leave.”

Blue grimaced and pulled a blue-hide bound book from her bag, “I might be able to help with Purifying Food and Drink we find, but not creating any.”

Lady SiDiabolo nodded, “You recovered one of the Wizard ritual tomes? Good work. We'll have to look for canned goods, anything else is so much rot at this point. PFaD will let us get a bit more, but it can't save food already gone to rot.”

Job scrunched his nose, “a diet of beans and veggies it is I guess.”

. . . - - - . . .

Date: Twenty-sixth of May, year 810 Post Seminal War (810 PSW)

Location: The ruins of Opal, The Jeweled Republics.

Job Arseoth shouldered his pack and groaned under the increased weight.

“I'm glad we found the remains of that warehouse but these are damn heavy. Still, better we have them then not.”

Blue shouldered her pack with a grunt of effort, “Never thought I'd see the day when a Bag of Holding would be full.”

Lady Sidiabolo shrugged the straps of her backpack into a more comfortable position, “you think the boat has sunk yet? We did jam the throttle open and aim it out to sea, and it's not about to run out of fuel anytime soon...”

Job spat on the roadside, “no way of knowing, and no point in wasting daylight. It's about four hundred miles from here to Chedal given that we're going around Sapphire instead of through it. Lets go.”

. . . - - - . . .

Date: Twenty-seventh of May, year 810 Post Seminal War (810 PSW)

Location: Carrion Road, Fifty days to Chedal.

Blue poked the remains of last night's campfire, making sure it was actually out. Job still snored from his seat against his pack, Mr. Nibbles asleep on his shoulder.

“Daughter, have you thought about changing your name?”

Lady SiDiabolo stretched luxuriously, “no, not really. Why?”

“Well, for one, you are a Paladin now, not... And for another, under Altheim law, if that is where you choose to live, a reincarnated person is legally the child of their previous incarnation. So a new name might be appropriate.”

“That is true. I suppose I should keep my surname...”

“You don't have to, and it may be better not to. How would you explain where it came from?”

“Well... if I am my own child, legally anyway, then I kind of have to. Doesn't mean I'll ever commonly use it. A 'deed name' will follow in the natural course of time, so just a given name will do. Let's see here, Tabaxi naming conventions, tribal format and ignore the clan name, I'll be using SiDiabolo instead... Candle in the Dark, or just Candle for short.”

“I guess I should start calling you 'granddaughter' too”

“Ehh, you got reincarnated as well, or at least reverted...”

“I was Reincarnated, not reverted. That process... I did not design it to be revertible.”

“So, if you are also your own daughter, that means I should call you 'aunt Blue'?”

Blue laughed, “true enough Candle, though that's strange and a half given our chronological ages. You have four hundred years of living on me.”

Job yawned, “Candle?”

Candle waved to him, “Still me, I just chose a new name to go with a new body and the fact that I'm now a Paladin.”

Job rubbed sleep from his face, “ok, so, are you still 'Lady SiDiabolo' or...?”

“Candle in the Dark of Clan SiDiabolo is the full legalese, so just call me Candle.”

“Umph. Candle it is then. Sigh, should I restart the fire for breakfast then?”

Blue held up a can, “does this need cooked? It said 'canned bread' on it before the label got trashed. Is it dough that we need to cook somehow or...?”

Job shrugged and tossed her a can opener, “find out.”

A few moments later a dense brown cylinder slid into Blue's hand.

“Uhm, this is fully cooked bread?”

Job grinned and took the can opener back, “yup. Grab a knife and carve a slice. Goes better with butter, but it's plenty sweet enough on its own. Hey Candle, if you're a Paladin, where's your Mount?”

“Mount?”

“Yes, Paladins have the 'Find Steed' Spell as part of their standard set of available spells, if I recall my Spells 101 class correctly.”

Candle dragged a claw in the dirt, “That's a Tier 2 Adventurer spell. I don't know if I can... If I dare to...”

Blue shrugged, “She who dares, wins. Try tonight when we break for the day. The world won't fall over from one slightly-more-than-mortal horse or whatever else you manage to find.”

Job nodded, “I'd wager most countries have some Tier 2 Adventurers either in their employ or on retainer by this point. Lord Cencin and his wife for example, and the rest of his party. The Guild probably has records of quite a few more, and I'd wager most Archmages and Archdruids qualify for Tier 2 at minimum.”

Candle sighed, “alright, I'll try tonight. Lets get another eight miles down the road before then though.”

Job grinned and cracked a can open for his own breakfast, “who knows, maybe it can even help carry some of this weight?”

. . . - - - . . .

Date: Twenty-seventh of May, year 810 Post Seminal War (810 PSW)

Location: Carrion Road, Forty nine days to Chedal.

Candle in the Dark sighed as the last words of the incantation faded into the night. She had felt... something in the way the primordial chant had echoed and resonated unnaturally, but nothing had responded to her spell. Instead she had this odd itch on the back of her neck, like something was watching.

“Uhh... Candle...!”

The rising, worried tone of Jobs voice made her turn. There in the upper branches of a tree, two huge golden eyes glittered with reflected firelight. Candle blinked and forced her eyes into the harsh grayscale of darkvision. She still wasn't used to the sensation but it did let her pick out the giant cat curled tightly about the trunk and the expression of confusion on it's face.

Blue sat down hard and started laughing, “I think... I think It worked Candle. Now... now you've got to get it down out of the tree.”

Job looked at the laughing elf, “The nine hells you talking about?”

Candle sighed, “Are you stuck or can you jump down...?”

“Stuck, I think, I've never been able to be this big before.”

Job let out a huge sigh of relief, “Psheeeew, so your Mount is stuck in the tree then? How did it end up there?”

“She, thank you very much scale-brain, and I manifested here.”

“Job, Blue, start thinking of a way to get a one and a quarter ton cat out of a tree?”

“Uhhhh...”

“Ok...”

The sharp crack of splintering wood echoes loudly in the night.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAA”

“JUMP! RUN!”

“SHIT SHIT SHIT”

“NOT ON THE FIRE!”

The tree crashed to the ground with a thundering crash, giant cat leaping clear almost too late. The fire was extinguished by the downdraft of the falling branches. The trunk bucked and bounced, shaking the ground and tossing Candle from her paws. She got back up and dusted her raiment off.

“Well, that's one way to make an entrance. What's you name dear?”

“Mon'Do'Vulon, Daughter of Night in the trade tongue.”

“Daughter of Night eh? Any relation to Lord Cencin's Familliar?”

“Mother? You could say that.”

“I'll take that as a yes. Now, what am I going to feed you?”

“I'll just hunt up a few deer, it's no bother.”

“Good to know you can feed yourself. Job? Over here, follow the sound of my voice and try to not stub your toes. We'll need another fire to heat up dinner.”

Job used a quick Prestidigitation to turn a fallen branch into an improvised torch.

“Candle, what in the world did you manage to call as your Mount?”

“Daughter of Night, a giant panther.”

“Oh boy, Mr. Nibbles is gonna be terrified.”

. . . - - - . . .

Date: Twenty-eighth of May, year 810 Post Seminal War (810 PSW)

Location: Carrion Road, Forty eight and a half days to Chedal.

Candle in the Dark sighed in contentment. It was wonderful to have glamoured leather armor for her raiment. 'Changing' them to a pair of sturdy black silk riding pants and blouse for the day was the work of moments, though that did come with a mithril sunburst belt-buckle that she couldn't get rid of. She did have to tweak the thickness a few times, due to riding bare-back. Daughter of Night wasn't able to carry any supplies directly due to the lack of proper cat-compatible saddlebags, but Candle could (and did) ride her mount by perching up by the front legs and laying out along Daughter of Night's back.

Job and Blue matched Daughter of Night's pace easily, staying well to the left and right of her to avoid tail as it swiped back and forth. They also stayed to sides to avoid tripping in the paw prints she was leaving. Candle scratched behind Daughter of Night's ears, drawing a rumbling purr of contentment, and contemplated her new Mount. A little over four feet tall at the shoulder, six and a half feet from nose to rump, and weighing in at 2,500 pounds, Daughter of Night was a lithe streak of black fur and muscle. She was also the first to hear the “Ug! Ug! Ug!” coming from a short distance off the trail.

Candle and Daughter of Night both turned to look towards the source of the sound, Job and Blue not a moment behind.

Job rubbed the back of his head, “Sounds something like a person making mother bear sounds. Should we investigate?”