Monday, 12th of Muvay.
It’s my birthday. Happy 24th. Not that it matters. It’s a day.
We’ve met up at a place called the... Leather Jacket? Discussing to see what of our tasks we wish to do. I’ve mentioned the Chalice may be better (Oris called it a teacup? I don’t see how that comes into it) because there’s a time limit.
Oh. Wait. No, today does matter. I hate my birthday. I’m immediately irritated by Oris just calling something the wrong thing. Breath, Ratyn. It’s fine. This group agreed to be your allies and act together. You were the one to sit them down and tell them to cooperate. You can’t be the one to act like a petulant child. A bad leader (not that I consider myself that) is worse than no leader.
The place we’ve got to investigate sounds like a dead end, according to Christopher. He says it’s been looked over by a good number of people already. The moment it’s been looked over twice people just assume it’s been done. I’ve had enough experience of full squads overlooking something obvious, before.
When we got to the temple, there was a troll cooking a deer above a fire right in the entrance. We paused and had a short debate whether or not we should approach them or just try to sneak around. Oris was insistent on talking to him. He raised a good point, but I still wasn’t certain. I don’t know much about trolls but I’m fairly sure they’re volatile.
Despite saying and doing what I would consider the exact wrong thing in every instance somehow he managed to befriend the troll. Aggma, thankfully, seemed to finally manage to get to the heart of the matter. Troll seemed fine with letting us go in for 10 minutes.
I got impatient and clambered through a hole in the wall. Engraved above the door was the name ‘Domont’. I watched from a distance inside, and as the others tried to find a way in the troll spoke strangely eloquently in non-sequitur. It was all gibberish to me.
I feel off my game, today. Fucking birthday. Not good for anything. I’m stumbling like a lame goat making noise and kicking up dust, I’m distracted, irritable. I should have just stayed in bed or gone on a hunt with Kuro.
When they finally came in, I asked if we were ready to go in, Oris made some passive aggressive remarks at me. My blood went cold. I was about a moment away from either leaving them altogether or throwing him at the troll. We walked inside and tried to look around to see if anything unusual stands out. I did a walkthrough and then looked at the layout of the building to see if anything stands out, a room that’s walled off or too small in case of secrets.
I saw someone in the graveyard practicing sword forms or something. I snuck forward to get a better vantage point. Seems to be an elven woman, middle-aged perhaps. I felt something nearby, and my mind became addled. I wasn’t myself. I never dealt with this before, but now twice my body hasn’t been mine since meeting with this group. Maybe I should retire.
I was ordered twice without the orderer realizing. I felt compelled to obey to the letter. Oris asked me to go first, so I did. Without any sort of hesitance or concern. I don’t check for traps, I don’t creep to make sure nothing lies in wait; I march through. When he tells me to step out of the way for a moment, I follow to the letter. Only for a moment and then I scramble under the hole he created. I have no control.
We came to a lock on a chain, I reached through the gate to pick the lock but it’s a tough bastard and hard to crack. It’s like walking through water, but I’m still vaguely aware. This puzzle is the one good part of all this. A hard lock is a joy to try and crack.
We kept going and came back out at the graveyard. Back to where I got this stupid muddy-mindedness. In the den of it.
I. Hate. My. Birthday.