The scars from the giant scorpions are hidden under my breaches and armour but I feel the pain. I can still see their nettled barbs dripping with what must have been lethal poison. I have not dared to ask Joranth what those shadow creatures were, but I am thankful that I overcame my fear of that place. Otherwise I would be alone now on this deck trying to explain to the gnomes why I did not assist my fellow searchers. There seems to be some supernatural force about these events that I cannot fathom, it seems as if others control where the others and I go. What lies ahead of us in Feroll, I cannot foresee but I have a sense of foreboding about that city.

My impression of these travellers when I first met them those many moons ago was one of "too many carpenters spoiling the chair". Each has a certain specialist training in one or another sphere. I sensed that the high priest had brought us together to make a versatile quest group which could handle any threat. This showed itself quickly in the future months and there seems to be a certain respect for each others progression in our chosen spheres.

As I walk the deck of this "pseudo" ship looking at the gnomes on night duty running around in their near mindless state doing whatever comes to mind, I examine each companion as I see him or her...

The first member that comes to mind is the mage Souriin. He has the air about him of one who is destined for greater things and that this is just a means to an end. He has a very mercenary spirit about him. His is one of cold calculation doing anything to achieve his goals, he is however probably the most versatile member of our quest group. He has also been present in the first quest groups, has seen the retrieval of all the pieces of the Rod, and knows much of the enemies that we face. He has worked hard on his arcane powers and already the commoners in the streets that we travel avoid his presence for fear of croaking and hopping home. His mind is well disciplined and has definite thought processes that are steeped in the arcane powers. His problem solving and combat tactics are heavily biased towards a magical outcome. This brings up another point: have you seen how many rings there are on his fingers, all of which are magical? He is eager for some time on his own to do some spell research and I imagine has probably planned where his mage’s tower will be built. I know little about his past even the motivation for being what he is, but sense that it is well suited to his nature. He can be selfish and is not unhappy on his own, he has a lusting for more power and above all he has a very powerful mental strength. The arcane powers seem to fulfil all these needs for him. If there is any person who may rub me up the wrong way, it is Souriin. At present he has split up with the elven swashbuckler attempting to bring a very powerful sword to the elves.

The swashbuckler shows an unfailing ability to say the wrong thing at the wrong time. One occasion of this was with the previous thieves’ guild head of Rotan, we very nearly didn’t get out of that one. He does however have a remarkable knack of getting us out of the stickiest messes often created by the previous trait. He has a certain charm that is often attractive to the lasses of the towns we pass through. He has a strange disposition for an elf, he is not introverted nor is he overly serious. He tackles life as if it were a card game: when his funds run out he’ll probably get up and go try something else and not worry too much that he is in fact dead. I have a feeling that he and Souriin will have many close shaves together. In a bar brawl I expect he will be experimenting with fancy manoeuvres and tricks with the blade, and be totally unaware that the bar patron wishes grievous bodily harm to his person. His fighting prowess extends to missile combat as well. He is the most accurate marksman that I have seen and no one has been able to show better skill. He went so far as to design quick loading arrows to quicken his fire rate. From his choice of weapons I perceive a love of a good long duel with each opponent. This is not very efficient and can tire one out faster than the enemies numbers diminish. Our fighting styles differ considerably but our ability to make a blow count is similar. His mind is erratic and it is difficult to actually understand his meanings. Maybe it is because the common tongue is not my mother tongue and I think the words into Yablonch, there it must lose something in the tongue change. When we do understand him, his solutions are quite detailed but rather technical and often require perfect timing to execute.

The third member of the party is a half-elven bard with an unusual lust for magical items. His favourite is the cloak of "bat" as he calls it. He avidly follows the ways of our mage Souriin but seems to progress slowly through the levels of spell casting, as he concentrates on the other fields of study that also interest him. At this very moment, he feels rather confident about acquiring a few more spells for his "grimoire". He is useful with the blade and is a very good surprise package when he uses his arcane powers on the foes of the battle. They do not expect him to be a spell weaver and as such, they tend to die or flee due to gross underestimation. It is often his song in battle that has swayed the odds in our favour, this alone is a powerful asset to have; the ability to be mentally stronger than the enemy. His attitude is one of elven temper more than of human, he does not do things without careful balancing of the causes and effects of his actions. He prefers not to leave any unfinished business and this is perhaps his weakness, he always becomes engrossed in completing each event or happening before continuing. This has shown itself in his analysis of the events in recent days at that place. He has attempted to understand the full implications of each participant’s actions, even those of the deceased clerics. His is a life of completed deeds and fully understood events and this requires a fast and agile brain, which can perceive that which is behind the veils. His roguish talents have not gone unnoticed, and he does resort to their use if it does not cause unfinished business. If anyone can solve those events then it is Damus.

Our resident "terminally habitual herbalist" denies on repeated accounts that his concoctions are for ending life in many interesting(?) ways. A recent cataclysm affected his spiritual, mental and physical health and he is having a difficult time readjusting. I refer of course to the damage of his left limb. His nature is one of quietness and quickness. He thrives on tests of dextrousness and the sleight of hand. He seems to have an air about him of one who has lived on the streets and he could probably manage passing himself off as a "second storyman" quite adequately. He has no qualms about death, his attitude is: "him before me". Although this may seem rather harsh it is in fact brought on by what seemed to be a troubled childhood and he appears to have been directed on the paths of shadow by these events. He does not say much and is reserved on most occasions. He does not show his inner feelings at any time and this trait can have a most unsettling effect on his adversaries. In recent weeks he has blundered aplenty especially with what he calls pick-pocketing. This upset a certain travel companion and nearly led to a most unfortunate impasse. I nearly had to cut him to honour a road travellers’ agreement and only after a long explanation did we obtain the man Stalk’s trust again. His one sacrifice which brought back to life one of our companions brought the good favour of the all powerful God of balance Hicluin and his dexterity was honed even further by the God’s blessing. His ability with the dart and projectile weapons is rather surprising but not yet equal to the elf. His one great asset is his reliability in tight situations.

And so I arrive at Joranth. His heart is pure and eager but his brain often lets him down. He has done many foolish things in the middle of a fight and has paid heavily for these errors. I have undertaken the protection of this half-pint cleric but I foresee that it might be of little use if he makes further errors of judgement. His faith in his god is rather strange. Although the god appears to be a patron deity of war and battle he does not appear to attempt to subvert any new followers nor promote any sort of violence between opposite factions. He does on the contrary try to make peace between them? This is probably the reason behind why his prayers are so rarely answered now a days. The weakness of his size is that it can be used against him and he has often been pressurised into doing something he is not entirely happy with. So far all he has been able to do is a limited healing ability and some two-bit spells that although are effective, are only so for himself or for a short duration. He and I have decided to journey together to my home and then to travel further to see his home. I think he is rather pleased to have me around him, it now means that he probably won’t be intimidated by outsiders with me around. Joranth is easy-going despite having many decisions made for him. He was badly treated by our party when he first arrived by falling out of a tree on the estates of our Rotan base, but he overlooked all that and has become a permanent member of the quest party. Somehow he has acquired many magical items in recent months and is fairly bristling with the magical weapons. A few members offered their opinions about the sharing of booty in future but nothing concrete has been done about it; maybe because he and I have a long road to follow together and I might be a little more than vocal in his defence.

Speaking about sneaky comments: Tekuna a slightly larger than life roguess has had many opportunities to redistribute the parties possessions and wealth but she has been subsequently warned to refrain from any more inter-party "trading". She doesn’t try to hide her tendencies but uses and abuses them (yes there is morality in the worst of thieves) for ill-gotten gains as well as increasing the number of items of the party and decreasing the number of the present town. Even though she and I do not see eye-to-eye there is a certain limit to what actions are taken against each other. Her roguish abilities seem to have kept her alive for quite a while now, but what has really kept her breathing are her quick tongue and her lightning-quick mind. Her originality in getting out of tight situations is quite astounding and the recent events have proved this mental agility one hundred percent. There is no doubt that her rejoining the group will alleviate the pressure on the minds and bodies of the rest of us.