So I met an individual who stopped me and asked to recreate my likeness upon parchment. Thought to humor him and waited. Afterwards he showed the work and I must say I was not unimpressed. Then, he asked for coin to present it to me!
I granted the coin, but then demanded he use his skills to depict the Linked Arcane-Sustained Eldritch Ranged Repulsor Bracket Embedded Arm Mount. Not a bad job of that either, though only done in charcoals.
A good representation, I will keep it here in my journal.
There are some interesting individuals residing in Silverymoon. In the Golden Oak, where I spend most of my time since Father left with the Expedition, I have taken note of a few regular patrons to the establishment.
There is a human(?) woman named Persephone, and her elven companion... Ale. I've yet to learn much about them, but the woman is an oddity for certain. Her skin seems to lack any pigmentation, leaving her a very odd, practically white color. I assume she is human, for she shows no other signs of being anything but, however it is possible that she is some other race. Her hair lacks any color as well. Despite this she is rather beautiful. She also seems kind.
I say 'seems' because yesterday I saw her spattered with blood and a dead ursine slung over her shoulder. Why someone would go out and murder a bear is beyond me. Perhaps there is more to it.
I also met a human woman named Madeleine. She also seemed nice, if somewhat moody. She is a bit of a Poet and studies 'Loross'. I didn't know the term, but turns out it is the lost language of the Netherese, an ancient race of human spellcasters that Father knows more about than me. Or anyone I know.
Most interestingly, I met a Gnome who is friends with all three of these. He hasn't been to Lantan, I should show him, one day. But in Silverymoon he is a Spellguard, which is like any normal Guard, except they are wizards. Which makes them totally different from normal Guards. He is also an illusionist, though he says his work with the Spellguard often takes him away from the thing he loves.
Of course, you should always do what you love and love what you do. I suggested perhaps a collaboration for a puppet theater for children... a combination of clockwork puppets and illusionwork to enthrall audiences. He seems to like the idea.
We'll need to find a yarnspinner for a good tale, but it seems like it would be fun. I'll work it in with the other projects.
Death. It is such an oddity, unfathomable to those who are still alive. Certainly there are those who carry a sort of morbid fascination, they think themselves the masters of it, or associates and partners, but nobody can truly understand it. The last moments as life slips away into the... what?
Scholars, arcanists, and clergy all say one and the same thing. The afterlife beckons and the just rewards await. Those who faithfully follow a God, align themselves with that Deity's dogmas and philosophies, will find themselves within the Godhome, no? Waiting in perdition until their Patron rides in on a silver chariot to take them to the end. Or a golden chariot. Or a fiery chariot. Or a yellow sled. I do not think the Strifelord is one to ride a sled, however.
Still, even knowing, we don't truly know. Have we served faithfully? The priests perform miracles every day and attribute that to the Gods, but Wizards can perform arguably greater works, and their powers come only from application of will and the tenacity to master the world around them.
The Gods walked the Earth, even my beloved Gond, whom I watched with shining eyes when I was but toddling. He showed us such marvels that it is no wonder that mortal men bowed before him. Still, other so-called avatars were killed by mere men, and mere men ascended into Godhood. What are Gods, then, perhaps... but the most powerful amongst men?
We do not know, until we have experienced it. Faith, I have faith certainly. The miracles of invention call to me in a way that can only be defined as spiritual. The precision of the clockwork gears, interlaced and tick tick ticking... a wonder to behold each and every time.
But death... oh frightful, unknowable death... Miss Jennifer, how do you fare, I wonder, in the Fugue Plain, awaiting Tyr the Evenhand to gather you to his Bosom. To serve forever as... an administrator? Cateloguer of the Trials in Faerun? A Divine and Holy Celestial warrior charging through the plains in his service?
Hard to say. Xeth says she died the way she would have wanted. How could he know? I do not want to die in any way, shape or form. Thankfully, it was not my time, though the black fletching of the arrow stays sharp in my mind.
Oh, Miss Jennifer, with your unseeing, eternal stare... glassy eyes looking blankly into the afterworld... I hope you find peace, bliss, happiness, or whatever it was that you sought for after you died.
Testing further theory of continued and varied use of funneled eldritch power. If ambient eldritch energy is gathered, it is possible to divert stream to multiple powered locations. Secondary powered source crafted is the Expansion Overworn Force Reactive Articulated Muscle Enhancer.
Slim brace worn over legs make use of eldritch energy to provide additional agility and quicker reaction to movements requiring leg muscle use.
Results thus far have varied, but continued field testing is necessary.
Meanwhile, setting on the Linked Arcane-Sustained Eldritch Ranged Repulsor has been calibrated, allowing for greater range.
Observation: When abjured with a stoneskin enhancement, evocations may still penetrate freely. Proof of conceptityzation: Whilst traveling with my friends beneath the streets of Silverymoon I was thus abjured and was then subjected to the sphaira incendia, or what is commonly referred to as the fireball.
It is important to note that being consumed in flame is painful and to be avoided in future encounters.
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Friends. I note that I use the term 'friends' above. Three individuals, a fourth...
Are they friends? I only just met the one that day, the Sir Lady Knight. But the others I have known near on a week at this point. I have only seen them a few times and have spoken little... but in that time have learned a bit as they have likely learned a bit about me.
I like Olaf, but that may stem purely from a racial proclivity to attract to our own. I have seen no other gnomes of interest in Silverymoon, though a few can be seen bustling back and forth on various unknown errands. IT seems important to me to have a Gnomish friend. I cannot be certain why, but it does. Perhaps subconsciously I feel only another Gnome can really understand who I am.
Of course that has absolutely no Scientific Method behind it... but it feels that way.
The others seem right enough. I like them just fine and it seems that they are inclined favorably towards myself. Still it has been a short time, only a week. Even with Olaf I think friends is too strong a word. Acquaintances with Great Potential.
Meanwhile, after our traipse about the sewer, I think upping the output on the LASERR would be wise. A stronger blast would definitely be beneficial.
