It hasn't exactly been a productive day. We walked slowly and sadly back to town to rest by the lake while we recuperated and learned what we could about the Lord of the Grave, or whatever he calls himself. Of course, on the way through town, we came across some guards in the process of robbing some poor fool, and as the great heroes we are, we told the guards where to shove it. They weren't too pleased, but we weren't really in a mood to care, and hey, they're jerks anyway. So before too long, we'd fought off another contingent of guards (they had the audacitiy to call ME a thief, just because I claimed the Captain's cloak as spoils of war!) and simultaneously further endeared ourselves to the locals and further made it more dangerous for ourselves (and anyone caught associating with us). I have the suspicion that soon, matters with Lord Skol will come to a head...

It turned out that the man we saved was none other than our friendly local apothecary, Paton. Personally, if I'd known it was him the guards were beating, I wouldn't have been as likely to stick my neck out to save the little worm, but I decided as long as I'd done it, I might as well try to make a fresh start with the man who would by now be deeply in our debt. In gratitude, he promised to whip up a few weak healing potions for us; these ought to come in handy later on, so I guess maybe he's okay, sorta. But I still think he's a rat, deep down inside.

Since we wanted to get some information, we stopped by our friendly local information center, also known as the village pub, and talked to Zeger. He couldn't tell us much; the Lord of the Grave was some evil bully who lived here in Chimera some 200 years ago. Of course, Skol eventually crushed him like a worm, but strangely, rather than merely killing him, the local laird seems to have recruited him, making the man even more powerful and evil. Naturally, the citizens back then had more backbone than the ones of today, so the town's only chef prepared a garlicky meal for the Lord of the Grave, which just happened to be thoroughly poisoned, and that was the end of him, as far as the villagers are concerned. Sounds like superstitious nonsense to me!

After an abortive attempt to sell some of the guards' stuff to Zeger, we decided it might be prudent to retreat and regroup, so we went back to the lake to heal up. Alamon made some holy water for himself, then he, Sam and Pri went to go get the potions from Zeger, and Liss, John, and I just lazed the day away. I can think of more productive ways of avenging our lost companion, but again, my voice of reason was outvoted by my fellows. I just don't understand them sometimes.

One thing of interest, I guess I should mention while I'm thinking about it, is that the town guards have vanished since our encounter with them this morning. We're all convinced that they're holed up the in castle, waiting to attack us en masse later on. Well, let them try! They haven't exactly seemed to be the epitome of competence thus far, as opposed to, for example, myself! Any party that includes Jennara Raventhorn amongst its numbers has naught to worry about!