We walked from the abandoned village down to the coast, figuring we could just follow the beach until we ran into the monastery. Of course, this was before we discovered the little fact that the beach was a good hundred feet down from the cliff that we so conveniently found ourselves on... But I was not to be stymied (I love beaches!), so I bravely set the example and led our descent down to the sand, and the others soon followed me; maybe they're actually beginning to appreciate me for a change?

So we walked and walked and walked; I wanted to rest and just lay there on the beach for a while, but every time I tried to stop, Leighla or Haley or Liss or one of the others would make some comment about "lazy elves" and I'd have to get up and go with them. Grr... Eventually, we came across a very strange sight that we decided must somehow have something to do with the monastery.

There was, you see, a statue of a monk there (which you have to admit is kind of a dead give away); the monk was holding onto a box of some sort and carved into a big long bronze tube. We all looked around (Dogboy especially proved surprisingly dogged in his investigation), but we couldn't really figure out what it was all for. We did discover the monastery (several hundred feet back up the cliff; I wanted to climb, but the rest would never have made it), but since there wasn't any good way to get to it, this discovery didn't prove very helpful. Someone (Prihelm, I think) was investigating the tube, and of course he was making a heck of a racket; and then he yelled for me to come look at something, and the tube somehow amplified his voice so that I swear you could have heard him back in Fran's manor!

Needless to say, I was most upset about this (I have sensitive ears, darn it, and besides, I figured the paladin had probably just summoned an entire tribe of Broken Ones), but not as upset as I was when, without any warning, Liss picked up a rock and threw it as hard as he could at the tube! It made a huge noise; I couldn't hear a thing for a couple of minutes afterwards, and I'm surprised I wasn't bleeding out my ears, it hurt so bad!

Well, while Leighla and I laid there on the ground in pain (probably both fantasizing about getting our hands on our oh-so-helpful comrade...), the others were making frantic efforts to find some place to go hide when they saw a big shape descending from the monastery! They scattered, frightened out of their wits and of course leaving those of us who were still trying to recover from Liss' impetuousness (i.e. me and Leighla) behind, but fortunately, it turned out to be nothing more than a big basket. The men immediately decided to jump in and ride it up to wherever it went, while Leighla and Haley and I, being more prudent, decided this wouldn't be such a good idea. Alamon joined us, since the men were too heavy for the basket to take all four of them at once (and does anyone make any jokes about how much Prihelm or Liss weighs? No, of course not! They only believe in being mean to me, it seem... It's a good thing I'm thick-skinned and that Haley and Leighla, at least, are still nice to me!).

Leighla found a path up the cliff, and we started on our way up while the men rode in comfort (how chivalrous of them!), but alas, about twenty minutes up, I turned a corner in the trail and almost fell off the cliff! There was a rockslide, and only my incredible reflexes kept me from falling off and taking a friend or two with me. With no other options, we went back to the tube, waiting for the basket to come get us. Of course, no basket was forthcoming (the men aren't always very helpful!), even when Leighla decided to try to summon it by throwing a rock at the tube... I wish she'd warned me about that (my ears will never be the same!), but she apologized profusely, and I can't stay mad at her for long, so I guess she's forgiven, even if it wouldn't do for me to tell her that!!

Sadly, however, the basket remained up at the monastery. We were just set to try to climb when Leighla stiffened and snapped "Get out of my mind, you little worm!"

Well, I was assuming that she was suffering from some weird jungle fever or something, but it turns out it was only Liss, telling her that they were safe up top and we should go up to join him. This was a little problematic, of course, until we realized that the basket was finally on its way back down. Leighla was feeling a little sad for having been so rude to Liss when he strolled on into her head uninvited, so she was going to apologize, except that the first thing he said when he saw us was "Well, I see that yet another of Jen and Leighla's plans backfired," and the apology kind of went out the window...

We found a lot of not very interesting stuff in the place, but there were a few minor things of interest as well. First, I am now the proud possessor of a light-stone! This will no doubt come in very handy. No more torches for me! The others seem to be less impressed by all of this, but to each his own.

We also found, unsurpringly, a journal! Ye gods, I'm sick of those things! It revealed that Leighla was actually right about Fran all along! It seems his real name is Frantisek Markov and he likes doing things to animals which needn't be repeated here. He's after the table, because people who are on it don't die, and this is naturally a great aid to him in his attempts at vivisection and so on... Evil bastard! Although I think the journal is being just a little melodramatic when it says the whole world should tremble if Markov ever gets his hands on the Table... Personally, I just want to get my hands on him!

Well, Leighla stood there looking smug and superior, as if the fact that she just happens to be right about this psycho means that being paranoid is a good thing. But before anyone could break the uncomfortable silence and own up that she was right, a new person showed up, Father Millhouse by name (where do these people get their names from, anyway?). He confirmed this story about Fran, causing Liss to comment on how his theory was correct and making Leighla turn quite an impressive shade of scarlet.

Millhouse, wanting to preserve the peace, brought us to look at the Table (except for Leighla, who stayed outside in an attempt to calm down ); it was a really lovely black marble table with lots of little gold flecks in it; I was trying to think of a way of taking something with me, but alas, it wasn't to be, and I'm still broke!

Millhouse offered us the chance to stay for the night and eat and so on... The monks don't really eat, since the Table keeps them from needing to, and I took the opportunity to share some of my feywine with Leighla to apologize for doubting her (although if she ever tells the others, I'm going to have to strangle her!). The others apparently don't understand the joys of this magnificent stuff, and they made fun of me and Leighla for being a little giddy... I wish there were more elves in this group! Now I'm sitting here writing, and tomorrow... Well, we'll just have to see what tomorrow will bring.