A Last Day in Enzknn

Once again we arose late after a night spent drinking for far too long.  Mishrune took it very easy with the beer, I was only a little more adventurous, but as always it was Kenner that took the lead in quaffing.  By the end of the night he was also ready to lead us in a round of singing. I joined in enthusiastically even though we Dzarraf are not equipped to do justice to Hznamen drinking songs.  There is a multi-level humour in the songs, but I found them to be lacking in humour altogether.

Both Daran and Barr tried to explain.  I think they called it 'doppel verhandlung', where normally there is one or more dull dull meaning to a phrase and at the same time there is a more obscure second meaning that relates to the act of reproduction.  That's hardly something to find humour in; it's a purely functional activity, as un-funny as most other bodily functions, such as going to the toilet or having a bath.

Through the evening, in bits and bobs, we discussed the plan for our upcoming journey into the lands of the Hznamen.  My friends are looking heroic tasks that they can achieve that have a good chance of financial return, and so the plan is to head out to Fornan Bay.  There may be work with the caravans heading south from here, or there may be work aboard ship - they seemed to think that would extend my experience of the world significantly.  But the main objective, they said, was to find work along the way that pays well.

We'll be heading out of the ornamental entrance and heading south, and following the route south and then east until we reach the passes of the mountains.  There are two routes from here, the main one heads back north and joins the main trade road that leads east again and out to Scourt Hills.  The less travelled route is the one that we'll be taking , it is a longer road, but it joins the main road out just north of Saltley.  It's a longer time spent in the mountains but it's a shorter route to Fornan Bay overall.

My new friends told me that the last time they were in Saltley they were hired by one of the craftsmen's guilds to protect them from a local thief guild that had been causing problems.  They dealt with the leaders of that thief guild, some were hurt, but they were made to pay compensation.  That was a couple of years ago now, so they're not expecting any repercussions from the surviving guild members.  They've also done little jobs around the area of the town there for several of the farmers - dealing mostly with bandits, but there was a problem with wolves once, which was a surprise in these parts.

The evening quietened down after that.  The journey had clearly taken its toll upon us all, and we drifted off to bed.  I went back to my own home for the night's rest.  It smelled like it hadn't been used for a while, so I'll be asking Mishrune to pop into here every week or so just to open the place up and let some fresh air through.

Today will be an interesting day too.  I've already been back to the inn to see how everyone else is, and they're mostly fine.  I'll be spending the day with Mishrune running through the last parts of my handover, before we depart first thing tomorrow.  There was general agreement that there'll be no beerfest tonight, as we want an early start.  It can take two days from here to get to the ornamental entrance, and as you draw closer, the traffic can become heavy.  There is another delve entrance to the south of the main one.  It's normally used just by heavy traffic, and so isn't as attractive or as epic as the ornamental entrance - and I want to show off a little of the Dzarraf craft to my friends.