The Journal of Antwone Kain

Entry 1:
Well, due to resent events, I have found it necessary to recount some of my recent deals onto paper, in part to aid me in understand the meaning behind them, and in part as a mode of stress relief. As for the security of this document, I cannot be particularly sure, but honestly I don�t believe that keeping these thoughts locked up in my head would really keep them any more secret then they are presently, the reasons for this becoming apparent throughout the reading of this text. I shall begin the telling from the point at which I received the letter which really started the entirety of resent events. The day I received the letter was really not of any consequence otherwise, just a typical Yans Port day of sorting through the horrid legal mess which has done nothing but compound over the years since my father was killed. I found the letter in a pile of notices sent by long neglected merchants screaming for reimbursements, discontinuations of shipments, and several for my resignation as proprietor of what little remains of my father�s estate. It amuses me that in just several days I have come to miss the logical, although ruthless, fashion in which we merchants due business. The contents of the letter where as such: mysteriously alluding to an opportunity for me to meet with a self proscribed person of importance (not a direct quote, but easy perceived) and for a possibility to gain insight upon my own mystery (which I most certainly will not write of here, as would be foolhardily risking what little privacy I have left). The basic intention of this letter was to have me to travel to The City and meet with this personage and to be informed in more detail of the specifics upon arrival (little did I know�). I normally would have ignored such an offer calling me out of my studies, but recently my access to new texts has waned, and the man was offering first class tickets to The City by train, which in itself implied some wealth behind the man. Soon my curiosity got the better of my good sense, and I put the accounts on hold until I was to return, hopefully more informed on my personal matter. On the way to the train station, I ran into what I believed to be simply a friendly acquaintance by the name of Taeah Renee. This was a local baker girl whom I had known from down the street, and who, though past and current actions and attitudes towards myself, I had concluded had had a bit of an infatuation while me. While I was certainly flattered at the thought, I didn�t have anything nearing proof of this, and my current business was simply too important to cease, so I informed her as nicely as possibly of my coming trip to The City (although, I of course made up a convenient excuse to the purpose of my journey). Leaving it at that, I boarded my train and headed for The City, lost in thoughts of finding new and important clues. Upon arriving, however, I found that Taeah had, in fact, come along as well (although she had given no indication that she was also visiting The City when we had talked previously). Surprised, but a little too busy and anxious to spend any time with her, I simply suggested we head for a hotel, perhaps making reservations in the same building, so that we might know someone in this large city to which neither of us had been to before (although I certainly had a vast knowledge of the place, as the merchant lifestyle requires one to know much of the ways and customs of trading partners). Taeah agreed, so we hoped upon one of the transportation vehicles (which are simply beyond my powers to describe) and headed for The Fine Lady hotel. Upon arriving, I immediately went to obtain reservations for the night before heading out on my business, but something in the way Taeah was acting bothered me, as she really seemed to have no intention of securing a room for herself, and continued to be vague whenever pressed for any details about her intentions in The City, beyond leaving Yans Port. I was a little put on edge by her strange behaviour, but I realized that regardless, I simply had to meet with the mysterious someone spoken of in the letter. Obviously, before leaving I made it a concern to hide all of my personal effects in what I hoped to be a secure place (hidden in a drawer underneath some blankets, and inside my locked room). I had no problem finding the meeting place, it just being a simple tavern in the eastern section of the city, although it was comforting knowing that my earlier life as a merchant, listening to travelers from all around, didn�t go to waste. When I went inside, the bartender immediately recognized me, and brought me to visit with his master. Inside a waiting room, I meet another personage whom was to become quite important in the fallowing days. The man was elven, tallish as they seem to be (despite how I�ve heard there tend towards being shorter) and attired as if he had spent much time in the woods. Beyond just his attire, he also was a bit ruff of skin and long of hair, and had a woodsy odour that I was loath to mention. He introduced himself as ELILE. Shortly after our mutual introduction, we were taken to see my mysterious letter sender (whom I learned had also contacted ELILE, oddly enough). The man turned out to be a gnome, actually, how gave the name of Bill (although I�m quite sure it wasn�t his real name). After brief introductions, we got right to business. He had apparently summoned us both in order to obtain information on a cryptic arcane book which was in his possession, and intended us to locate someone who could decipher its mysteries (as it was not written in any tongue he or his affiliates could comprehend). Now, this is where I lost track of the whole situation. It seemed that, although he had access to various members of local wizard�s guilds, lots of money, and mysterious informants, he (or his informants) had chosen ELILE and myself as the ones to partake in this journey. While ELILE seemed a fairly competent tracker, I hardly saw how he would be the best suited to a mission of lore gathering, and as for myself, I could not see what a young merchant from Yans Port could possibly do to aid him (of course, this was when I was assuming that he had no knowledge of my private activities, although now I doubt anything of myself being private). Another interesting point in our discussion was his apparent lack for any sort of payment for ELILE and myself, a point which I naturally assumed he would wave beneath our noses as assurance to our co-operation. While he did make vague reference to some payment in gold, he spoke of no amount, and seemed surprised that I would even bring it up, as he seemed to think that we would be driven to go on some mad quest simply by our curiosity. Naturally, the merchant side of me was down right offended by his lack of negotiating skills, and I probably would had left immediately if not for my blinding need to know what it was he had hidden away in his cryptic tome, although I of course did my best to hide my feelings. Yet a third inconsistency was present in the fact that, while he claimed that this was by far his most important project, he was not willing to even leave the city in order to pursue it, as his only excuse was more vague references to �other business�. What really got me worried, however, was when he started alluding to the fact that we might be in need of protection while pursuing information about his book, and even went so far as to add a mercenary to our ranks. Present in the meeting room the whole time, apparently, was one Genevieve Laurent, another tall, silent elf type; although this one was noticeably of a mixed ancestry (at least I don�t believe silver hair and skin conditions are common among true elves). While I was still not sure with ever I was going to participate in this mummers farce of a proposition, I agreed temporarily in order to gain access to Bill�s personal library, as well as to gain more time to look over the tome. We agreed to meet again the next morning, and I was about to leave when there was a load crash from the upper regions of Bill�s apartment, and Genevieve went to investigate. Upon seeing what was to come next, my anxiety raised several levels. It seemed Taeah had not only fallowed me to the tavern, but had been listening in the whole time. At first I was dreadfully afraid that I was going to have to do some fast talking to keep her from ending up in jail, or worse, but not only did neither Genevieve or Bill seem to be angry, but I thought I detected a slight humour in Bill�s face beyond that of what had just happened (as if he knew what was to come, although I must admit I never have been the most perceptive of men when it comes to judging the intents of those from other cultures; the product of never dealing with many besides those seeking our money, I suppose). Happy that I was not going to need to start calling favours this early in the game, I quickly escorted Taeah outside so that I might question her as to why, exactly, she was fallowing me. Unfortunately she was very distraught about the whole affair, and seemed in a very unforthcoming mood, so I simply brought her back to the hotel so that she might have the night to think it over (although I was determined to have a straight answer out of her by mornings end). As an added annoyance, and just adding to my curiosity, it seemed Taeah had, in fact, no money, and I ended up paying the horrendous price at the inn again so that she might have a place to stay, although she seemed devastated in the fact that I was paying for her. She also made some reference to cider, but memory fails me as to the specifics. As a final and terrible end to my day, it seemed someone had broken into my room at the hotel, and had, in fact, found my private logs. I frantically searched through them, but luckily they seemed to be all present and undamaged, although on the inside cover of one of my most important texts I found the unsettling message �love: from Piper�. Although I was most certainly not about to forget such a brash invasion of my most private memoir�s, I saw nothing else I could accomplish that night, and so decided to wait till morning to decide on my next course of action. While this entry does not yet bring this log up to the present time, I will leave it for now, as it seems my companions and I are about to press forward for another days work.

The third day past moon�s full, 198 CR.
The words of Antwone Kain