July llth
The road to Bythe was not long. A few coins tossed to a merchant provided transportation on comfortable, if not very luxurious, wagons. Two days and they were back home, ready for a short break prior to beginning the next round of activities. Nial thought about the plans they had discussed during the trip. Splitting up had its advantages, but he still felt a few qualms at the thought. In the past few months, he had found a group of people that he could more than trust; a group of people he could call friends. Still... he had to agree that the only way to keep up with the pace of current events was to get things done in parallel, regardless of the obvious risk.

Nial's attention returned to the task at hand. Hammerhand was thanking his previous owner again. Nial had brought him up to date on the parties activities while negotiating with Traffen Ulesk over the price of the troll's freedom. Much of the conversation passed over the troll's head, but he understood that the activities that allowed his purchase from slavery had claimed the lives of several people, including Guido. Hammerhand obviously had felt a moment of loss. Guido was an outcast in the same way he was; a non-human lost in a sea of humanity.
The deal was completed quickly, and Nial and Hammerhand headed across town for the security of Nial's house. As they turned the last corner on the way, their pace picked up a bit; the thought of a warm bed with a mattress seemed almost infinitely comforting to Nial after the accommodations of the jail. A few feet short of the door, Nial suddenly stopped, Hammerhand almost bumping into him. Was that a shadowy figure in the doorway? Movement confirmed it. He backed away quickly, preping a spell. The clatter of cobblestone behind him caused him to twist around, reaching for his dagger in a panic. He was just in time to see Hammerhand's large mace whistle threateningly past another shadowy figures' head. Nial heard the the man curse in a voice that sounded familiar. There was no time to think about it; the previously noted man in Nial's doorway was jumping toward them.

Nial hated to do it, but he had no choice; he stood aside and allowed the attacker to come to the obvious, and wrong, conclusion. The attacker went for Hammerhand's back as expected, and Nial heard the troll bellow in pain as a dagger was rammed home into his leg. A twist around and another whistling blow by Hammerhand caused the man to jump back, unharmed. It was enough of a break for Nial. He released the firebeam he had preped at point blank range. The man screamed as his clothes burst into flame around his midrift.

Nial heard another bellow from Hammerhand. The troll was down, two daggers protruding from his back. Nial began a hasty prep, but the attacker was too close. A dagger flicked into the man's hand almost faster than Nial could see, paused for a second at the top of the arc, and... went flying as Hammerhand finally landed a blow on the surprised attacker. The thud was jointed by a crackling that Nial knew could only be the man's ribs. The man collapsed. Nial finally recognized the sharp faced man he had met in the Salta jail. In obvious pain, the individual arced his hand back for another throw at Nial. The broken ribs made it unlikely for the attacker to score a hit. Nial ducked as the dagger went spinning down the street, noticing that the man he had hit with the firebeam was gone. He looked back and the guy had another damn dagger in his hand. This one was for something different, however. With a sickening sound, the man jammed the dagger into his own eye, falling prone with one jerk of supreme agony.

Nial pulled the daggers from Hammerhands back. The troll was seriously injured, but appeared able to walk. As he helped Hammerhand toward the house, the troll spoke slowly. "Lucky", he said, "Lucky". Nial looked at him questioningly. Almost dying did not seem like luck to him. Hammerhand looked at him with a slow, measured gaze that belied the pain he must feel. "If I human, would be dead" the troll explained, "my back more bony than human back. These be very, very good knifemen". And Nial did not like the sound of that at all.

July 12th
Ziwa woke with the sun in her eyes. The prior day's disappointment still sat heavily upon her. She had approached the Elvish Embassy with such hope, only to have it dashed as the human guards around the place refused to let her enter. The note one kind man had carried in had been returned with a simple message... "To meet you would be death for us and possibly yourself. We can not help you". She remembered the kindness Hotherial had shown her. Nothing had happened there, in Nol. Why then were these others so unfriendly? Nothing made sense to her. Well, almost nothing. Facinalethvree's hilt was a warm feeling in her hand. She was beginning to get a feel for the sword, with its subtle little pushes this way and that, and now it seemed to point her in the direction of the elves. Well, there was no help for it; she would not sneak past the guards to see those who obviously did not want her. Facinalethvree's hum seemed a little more subdued at these thoughts, which irritated the hell out of her.

It hardly helped that others were doing no better than she. Speaking with Rocky last night when he had finally reached the small apartment they had decided to share with Baldar and Legum revealed that Baldar had slipped away just a few minutes after the group had split up. Rocky was alert, but not very bright, and Baldar had used a very obvious ploy to distract him.

Ziwa hopped out of bed, took a few moments to wash and throw on clothes, hooked Facinalethvree to her belt, and headed out without seeing any of the others. The sun was warm on her skin, and she decided to head for the market to purchase some fruit for breakfast. The trip was short, and soon she was wandering through the stalls of the merchants. Her eyebrows raised momentarily as she passed a few of the local fishmen's stalls. Prices for fish were double what they were a few months ago. She shook her head. The poisonous yellow fin was obviously taking its toll on the pocketbooks of Bythe shoppers. It was strange how a common fishing staple could suddenly become a deadly threat in the span of a quarter year.

She could make out snatches of conversation over the background roar of the market, "...and old Jones, he and his two sons, gone in broad daylight, a fine vessel there one second and then in the next.."... "Yah, and Prizat's looking like he ain't gonna make it..." ... "... thing just ripped the place apart, I tell you. The entire waterfront looked like the Stangri raids of fifty years ago, burnt to the ground, I tell you." Ziwa casually glanced around. Two sailors were talking about something a little more significant than poisonous fish. The other one was replying to the first's statements. "Tendut? Hell, I thought those guys were armor city, sitting where they are." "Hey," replied the first, "You haven't heard the best part yet. They said that it was done with one ship!" "No?" "Yes! The stories off the waterfront talked about this massive sucker, maybe 18,000 gross tons! That's got to be the biggest damn thing on the water if it's true..." The two began to move out of Ziwa's hearing range, and she moved to follow, when a figure unexpectedly popped up in front of her.

"Ziwa", the strange woman asked hesitantly. "Yes?" replied Ziwa, hand dropping to her sword hilt automatically. The woman glanced down and smiled. "Ghod, you people are paranoid" she exclaimed. "I'm Everly Underhill. I have a few friends at the elvish embassy who asked me for a favor." She smiled a big, warmhearted smile. "Always useful having elves in your debt." Ziwa looked at her questioningly. The woman was not particularly impressive in build or in looks. Everly laughed. "Don't sweat it, my friend, just believe that I have a few little tricks to teach you". Facinalethvree hummed happily to her, and Ziwa smiled back. Breakfast would have to wait a bit