Current Training: Balthus, with Mujin-kun.

Circle test this week: Killed by the Orga Wrath.

Donations: Helping Cassia Allin build fortifications.

Exploration: Oh my, did I miss a lot while dreaming.

Fordi, day 46 of Spring, 549.

The usual round of hunting and coining has been keeping me busy lately. Nothing outstanding to report there.

I am still concerned about Swengus and when he will deign to recognize my 900th lesson. I decided that I would keep on training with Regia until her next major breakthrough (450 lessons, in a few more days), and then switch to Balthus to see if indeed Swengus wants to see me inprove that skill more before recognizing a new level. I still hold out hope for a training ledger from Swengus, but it seems it will take longer yet. Patience, patience...

I have noticed a few odd things in my travels lately. The floor in the Dark Temple has a more mottled look. Apparently the undine don't like to push a mop around very often. Since the higher-up authority undine don't bother to touch the floor anyway, I suppose it's easy for them to ignore this and for the lower level undine to get away with being lazy.

There has been a lot of talk lately with the breakthrough in finding Giayl's advanced pathfinding training book in the distant Malachite lair. I aspire to get there one of these days, but I doubt it will be soon, since it is so far away and takes so long to get there. I did hear a rumour today that one can only train a limited amount there before having to go back and start another separate chapter. It'll be tough for me to find time to do that!

But I have noticed that regular pathfinding has gotten sluggish lately. That is, even when I know precisely where a path is, I always seem to take a bit longer to enter it nowadays. So much more so, that I now seem to recognize that I have passed through the path even before I have entered it, as if I had gone through and back again and could see I had gone through the first time! I find this very peculiar and perplexing.

Another thing I noticed awhile ago that no one else seems to have reported, is that Island Locusts seem to have a sleeker and more insect-like look.

I should have sketched one against a dirt background instead of the moss in the Muddy North Forest, but that's where I happened to stop to sketch this one.

Sombdi, day 26 of Spring, 549.

Today, I joined in a daytime "coin" hunt on Kizmia's Island. It was a very small group, just myself, Mujin-kun, Elenis Reyav, Larno and Sephroth.

We entered just after dawn and hunted very quickly in kill-mode.

Things went sour when we got careless and started just running into the next snell instead of scouting and luring, when we ran into a snell that had a bevy of hungry Cave Cobras looking for a snack. All but Mujin and I fell quickly, and while the cobras chased her, I managed to grab the others on my chain.

Two snells later, the cobras caught up to me too, leaving only Mujin-kun. She retreated all the way south to the hut, and recruited Ace Rimmer to help. Poor Elenis actually departed and re-entered the South shore to come chain the rest of us to safety. We still needed some offshore cadders help to raise everyone, and Ace thankfully decided to stay with us the rest of the hunt.

We had another couple of close moments, particularly in the very busy Cabin Creek Ranch, but overall did quite well. At dusk, we finally reached the boatmaker and left for home. I managed to train a full lesson with Regia on the Island, as well as earn a large sack of coins, so it was a day well-spent.

Fordi, day 18 of Spring, 549.

Regular readers of this scroll (if there are any left ...) will no doubt be wondering why I have been so silent recently. I have been stuck in the library in a dreamstate for such a long time. Ahh, the wonders I saw in my dreams, flying machines, beaches and palm trees, and dozens of people muttering strange and wonderful and almost unintelligible things, one after the other.

How cursed I felt that I could not rouse myself. It was a joy finally to awake and stumble out of the library after such a long time.

Oh the stories I heard in town today! Darshak invasions, breakthroughs in the Foothills, a sunken floor in the Temple. I missed so much!

Of course, so much is left undone yet too, and I will strive to take part in these grand adventures once again.

I have continued to train with Regia relentlessly, but something is amiss. I had expected Swengus to recognize another level of mastery at a particular level of Regia, weeks ago, but he has steadfastly refused to change his assessment of my skills - as I have completed training after training with Regia. How can I qualify for a training ledger requiring well over 900 lessons if he won't admit that I have reached 900 lessons? I am beginning to wonder whether he is looking at fighter skills in some new way. Perhaps he is emphasizing Balthus even more now, and thinks I need more? I will have to compare notes with others to make sense of this.

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