Glim was packing a few of his things, he had sent the letter letting Burgell know he was visiting tonight.
The night before Caramip gave a simple option to help solve the problems and he made the decision to follow his innocent daughters request. Him and Burgell had been friends for many years sense childhood even though their families had some major past incidents they had managed to overcome it. This would just be another time to work together once again to overcome such things rather than to look to the past, it was time to look to the future and it would start with an apology. Glim sat down at the kitchen table from Caramip who was coloring a picture of something he couldn't comprehend, she wasn't the greatest artist but it made him smile. Lorilla was sitting next to Caramip sewing something, most likely some form of clothing for Caramip to dress her in for her fifth Birthday just a month away.

He wasn't the most keen on his senses but when the knock at the door sounded three deep knocks a shiver entered his mind. The knocks seemed ghostly and haunting. Lorilla got up immediately heading into the next room for the door. Glim stood up hollering after her.
"Lorilla why don't you let me get that." He felt somewhat panicked.
"You just sit down you have a ways to walk to Burgells and I am right here." He heard the smiled in her voice as the door he heard creak open.
He looked to see Erky enter the kitchen from the library his face showed alarm. He was the more sensitive one to such things. Glim was about to run forward into the other room to defend his wife but before she could even scream her body was flung into the wall and she lay crumpled.
He ran to kneel beside her reaching toward her frail body already knowing she was dead. He looked down the small hall at the large black figure as it shuffled into the light he realized what it was and who's family was known for these creatures. The large black golem looked straight at him walking mechanically over to him. He reached for his sword drawing it up to defend himself. The golem swung at him and he parried it, but he miscalculated the golems speed it swung around with it's other arm knocking him against the living room wall. He watched as the golem turned toward the other room where Erky ran to grab Caramip. His last conscious thought was Good you take her and run.

Of all the dreams Caramip had the ones with her Grandmother in them were the most soothing. She didn't understand this at all for she had never met the grandmother who had been a grand bard among Gnomes. She had only heard stories from her grandfather. On occasion her grandmother would come to her and offer to teach her things, things that she didn't know about a bard or life in general. Her sound nap turned into what seemed like a small eternity with her grandmother.
"Hello my little deary, why are you so down?"
"The group I'm with got hurt a lot, we been fighting a lot of scary things and I wish I could be of more use. Grandpa said to work on my magic stuff but I don't know where to look."
She smiled nodding. "Well my dear I think your ready to learn a few that I found useful on some of my adventures."
"Is that how you met grandpa?"
She looked a bit sad in the eyes.
"We did meet, he was always one to put others before himself carelessly, but that is why I married the buffoon."
Caramip grinned, she knew her grandfather must have been even more of a pain when he was younger, he loved pranks and enjoyed spoofing everyone. Including the not so happy neighbors. Then the thought of what had bothered her sense she was little game to mind, surely her grandmother would know.
"Grand-mama, why is our family so tiny compared to all the other families, we only had me, Erky, mama and papa. Why does everyone else have their grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts and uncles, and twice as many brothers and sisters?"
Her grandmother barely hid the shock in her eyes from the question. She didn't figure this would have been brought up so early.
"That is something that will wait for another day, now on two the two things that will help your fellow adventures wherever you follow them."
Her grandmother placed both hands on her shoulders leaning in to whisper in her ear, it reminded her of what Erky did when she was little and she focused solely on what her grandmother had to say. As her grandmother whispered on, things started feeling distant and farther away, her dream was losing it's color and her grandmother spoke a bit quicker sounding even more distant as time went. She felt her grandmother then hug her and then her presence vanished.

Caramip sat up to her mouse nudging her hand, most likely looking for some food. She sat looking down at the little creature feeling as if she had both lost something but also gained something. Then it hit her, her grandmother who she had seen in her dreams had given her something. She thought harder and it hit like a battering ram the two spells to help her odd friends, Song of Rest and Detect Magic. It felt like it was something she had known for years and years but she just hadn't remembered, but she knew she had never encountered them anywhere and that the strange dreams had given her something precious. Not just in magic or knowledge but another conversation and embrace from the grandmother who died long before she was even born.

She reached in her pocket for a tiny tart for the small mouse who dived in to retrieve the snack, she hoped that next time her grandmother came to visit her she would be able to ask her more questions.

After fighting the gibbering mouther, in what I'm now calling the Mine of Malevolence in my charts, we started to head back towards Torchwood (but not before I made a hastily constructed sign that read "Mine of Malevolence" and affixed it to the miners' shack). As we walked back past the harpies, who eyed us suspiciously, Xarseth the half-dragon spoke of a place that we may reside while we are in Torchwood, apparently an old Imperial barracks. I decided to decline his gracious offer, as I much prefer solitude. -L

The morning after the incident at the mine, I decided to return to my monastic rituals. This included cleaning my room at the inn, organizing all of my possessions, maintaining my equipment, practicing my striking(punches, kicks, knees, and elbows) on tree trunks, as well as doing balance exercises(balancing on each foot, each hand, and whilst doing the splits for an hour each) on fence posts. I continued this routine the next day, hardening my body and centering my ki. -L

The day after, however, I took no food or drink and left strict orders with the innkeeper that I was not to be disturbed. With no distractions, I sat upon the floor and remained deep in meditation from dawn to well after dusk. During the last hour of my meditation, I could feel my ki grow stronger. It continued to gain in strength, until I could feel it pulsing through me like the blood rushing through my veins.
I knew then that I had unlocked something that only the senior brothers at Huangzho had achieved, the ability to harness and use their ki to enhance their bodies and minds.
I am truly humbled by the power I have received. I will build upon this revelation to one day avenge my brothers. -L

Sitting in the basement allows the darkness to dwell, even at midday. Here I can be naked, not just in body but in soul. I wrote with three faces looking at me, one of bronze, one of ivory and one of gold. One of death, one of life and one of something new. They watched but did not judge.
My hand flowed as a river of ink spilled onto the pages. Each line describing a method to bring agony, pain or malice. As much as I dislike my station I cannot bring myself to hate it, for to hate it would be to hate him, and I cannot hate something that I love so much. I am his weapon, his herald, and I speak the words for those who live in the dark.
My hand stopped, as did the world.
I closed the book shut, the sound piercing the solitude of the basement, and took the quill to my forearm. The blade cut into my flesh as ink flowed into blood. This was a reminder, a taste of what I inflict upon others for the sake of thirsting gods. I didn't cover the cut, didn't wash out the ink, I just let it set. This was my penance, my price, for the first chapter of many.

M_sgui_ed allies sco_f at him and my r_ve_ence. It mat_ers not, their op_ni_ns, as long as the dark remains pure. They simply lack the vision or the understanding. Their thoughts are on the surface, ignorant to what lies beneath. M_s_s ha_e p_wer.