Early morning, Seedtime, 30

Watch time again. The moon is almost new. If it weren't for the fire, I would have a very difficult time writing. I am going to try to catch up on my journal. The good news is that we have been able to begin converting the table we found into a workable boat. After a good night's rest, Raven informed us that she could use her gifts to begin rework the wood into usable shape. Upon reflection, I am surprised that we didn't think of this yesterday. Clearly, rest is a good way to clear the mind. The only drawback, is that we won't be able to sail until sometime tomorrow. I don't really think of this as a drawback. Given the difference between a cobbled together raft and a shallow, but functional boat, I will go with the boat hands down.

Because Raven is using her gifts, there is much less for the rest of us to do. MacGyver and her spend most of the time consulting on the best way to proceed and sketching many things out in the sand. Then, once they have agreed on part of the design, Raven steps up to the table and begins sculpting the wood into shape. It is wonderous to behold. Beneath her touch, the wood bends and molds itself to her will. Already, she has worked about two-thirds of the table into a recognizable boat. It is odd to look at, the rest of the table is still completely unworked. Raven is sure that she will be able to finish up the boat and add some stablizing pontoons, that MacGyver insists we need, by tomorrow.

Raven asked me to assist her. She was going to be meditating and wanted me to keep a rythmic beat on her drum during this time. Naturally, I was quite happy to do this. I am not really accustomed to her drum, but it managed to withstand the assault of the sea water. She smoked something from an improvised pipe. I was not sure what was in it, but she assured me that it would not harm her and would help with her meditation. Since I neglected the study of herbs while at the Guild, I certainly cannot gainsay her. Besides, Raven has never been wrong with such things. It was extremely interesting to watch her slip into her meditation. She quickly dropped down into a trance-like state. I watched her keenly for a time. She appeared to be relaxed. Her breathing slowed to the point that only my belief in her kept me convinced that she had not given up her life.

As I sat playing, and watching, a raven flew down. I am not sure if it was the same as the one the night before. But, it would be odd that more than one of these birds would be flying around in the night. I thought of speaking with it, but I was unsure of what might happen to Raven. The bird appeared to be studying both Raven and I and then flew away.

After quite some time, Raven opened her eyes. She looked slightly unfocused, so I continued playing for a bit. Soon, she looked aware, sat up and told me I could stop playing. It appeared that her meditation was fruitful. She described the things she experienced. It was very interesting, but I am not sure I have the wisdom to understand what it all means. I don't think I will record her vision in my notes. It was more of a personal experience and I will respect her privacy.

The next day arrived and it took a bit longer than we anticipated to complete the boat. MacGyver and Raven spent a lot of time trying to attach the pontoons securely. But, it is finished, and it is beautiful. The rest of us have been getting everything we can together. We will be taking the crystal decanters and as many goblets from the structure that we can to hold fresh water. We are also taking some of the oil from the barrel. We will leave the chest and silk, as well as the barrel inside the structure to protect them from the elements. Sadly, our opening of the building has caused everything inside to begin deteriorating. Apparently, it was quite old.

We decided to wait until the high tide before we leave. Raven could use some rest and none of us is an accomplished sailor. It seemed prudent to wait.

I meditated again this evening. Once again, a raven flew down. We looked at each other for a few moments before I greeted it. It didn't immediately fly away, so I spoke to it some more. It began hopping around and looking at the rest of the Company, so I introduced everyone. It then hopped over to our pot, dug out some fish and flew away. I am still not sure if this is good or bad.

Anyway, the sun is beginning to rise. I need to wake everyone so we can be ready when the tide is right.

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Early Morning, Blossom, 1

Well, we managed to make it off the sandbar! The boat held up beautifully. As we were preparing to leave, we had a long debate on what we should do at the next island. Blackhawk didn't think it would be a real island. Rather, it would be just another sand bar. We finally agreed that if it didn't look like we could improve our condition, we would not land on it and risk damage to the boat.

We did manage to get the boat going in pretty much the right direction. As we approached the next island, our fears were confirmed that it too, was nothing more than a sandbar. I called out many times and we tried to signal often to be sure that another shipwrecked survivor hadn't made it to the island. The last thing we wanted to do was leave another Guild Member stranded. But, nobody answered. Having seen a mountain rearing out of the sea, we decided to continue onwards, toward it.

Our journey took much of the day. But, it was fruitful. A real island slowly came into view. Blackhawk and Raven guessed that the summit of the mountain was nearly 700 feet above the sea. We clearly saw a waterfall and real vegetation. We located a small cove and beached the boat. We drug it well above the high tide mark and surveyed our surroundings. As it was nearing twilight, we decided to hike up the mountain to see what else might be near the island.

As we made our way up to the top, Raven found some Mage Weed, though she called it Dragon's Tail. Unfortunately, she has no better idea what it does than I do. She collected some in the event that it would be valuable at some point.

Once we reached the peak, we all chose a direction to look. I had just spied a regular form that looked to be some sort of structure on the island when MacGyver urgently informed us that a dragon was flying nearby. Turning to look, we were able to confirm that a dragon was flying nearby. As the sun was setting, we were unable to make out much about the dragon. Since we still had no idea what the torc and arm bands do, I decided to try communicating with the dragon.

First, I tried to mentally contact it. this was less than fruitful. To better focus my thoughts, I said hello aloud and concentrated on the dragon. This still did not produce any real results. At this point, I asked Jaden how to say hello in the draconic tongue. He told me and then scurried towards the nearest bushes in the event that I really did get it's attention. Around this time, the dragon appeared to notice us. At least, it turned and flew directly toward our island. We thought we could make out some sort of jewelry on it.

Since we had already seen a dragon that had not eaten us on sight, and this one had apparently seen us already, I stood my ground and told everyone else to scatter. What the heck, I can dodge pretty good when I need to. It was probably a foolsih gesture nonetheless. As the dragon swooped down, I boldy said "hello". The dragon swooped down very low. The air rushing past me almost knocked me down. But, as it passed, it turned it's head and distinctly said something in a very low tone. It sounded vaguely draconic, but neither Jaden or MacGyver understood it. The dragon passed out of sight almost immediately and did not return.

We had quite a bit of uproar immediately afterward. Apparently, everyone thinks that I was taking too many risks. Blackhawk was upset at me for "screaming my head off" at the dragon. I thought this curious as I had only said "hello" out loud. At even that wasn't at a great volume. I also said "hello", in draconic, as it passed. I thought it quite curious that Blackhawk, apparently, heard me yelling in my head, but decided not to comment on it. I keep wondering what it means. I certainly don't remember yelling. After we had all relaxed a bit, we started the trek back down to the beach. As it was quite dark by now, I had to use some minor magics to light our path. Jaden and Raven both volunteered, but their gifts tend to be more potent than mine. Consequently, I feel that I should shoulder the responsibility for the minor things and save their energies for when we run into real trouble. One would think that we had enough excitement for the day. Strangely enough, our excitement was just beginning.

As we reached the bottom of the mountain and came to the edge of the trees, we saw a form sitting on the edge of our boat. We tentatively stepped onto the beach and realized it was an otter sitting there. I am not entirely sure why, but something prompted me to look at the otter and say "Well, hello there fair otter." To my utter surprise, the otter said "Hello" back. I can't think of any time in my life that I did not have a response. There may have been times when I didn't use my response, but to not have one? It is almost shameful.

After getting over our shock, we engaged the little guy in conversation. I am sure that Blackhawk will dutifully record much of the conversation in the official log, so I will focus on my impressions and the things Otter and I are talking about during the night. He is a very interesting little guy. He seems willing to share information. After being interrogated by the rest of the Company, he began to become more evasive and vague with his answers. Since he had already invited us to share some of our stories with him, I began to suspect that this was a direct result of our evasiveness. He did seem to like our fish stew! Once it got to the point where the conversation was going nowhere, I decided I was going to get some early rest and try to catch him later.

I awoke reasonably refreshed. From what I could discern, Otter had said something that took Raven somewhat by surprise. I started making some small talk with Otter and continued to give him bits from our stewpot. I figured that if I shared more information with him, he might be more inclined to share some with us. Finally, I settled down and began describing some of the weatehr we encountered on the voyage, and after. He commented that it seemed "unnatural" to him. Hmm, a talking otter telling me the weather is unnatural. We also discussed the cuisine of Tholos. Otter semed quite eager to sample some of it. He is such an interesting creature, that I would get some for him if I could. We discussed the structure on the sand bar we were beached on. Otter was able to tell me that it was a human building, used long ago, to warn ships away from the rocks of the area. I find it quite interesting that he knows that. We also made some smal talk about this and that before I asked him if people ever stop on any of the islands. Otter was able to tell me that sometimes people stop on this island for fresh water.

During our conversations, I stopped to meditate on the torc and arm bands. Sure enough, a raven showed up again. Otter seemed interested. I introduced the two and asked Otter if he could talk to the raven. Sadly, he just spoke to it in common. I had been hoping Otter could talk to all creatures or something equally romantic. Not that he isn't impressive enough already . . .

By this time, it was well into my watch and Otter had eaten a good portion of fish. Finally, I explained that we had lived in Seagate for a while. I also told him of the battle with the Dark Circle, as he seemed interested in recent news. It was odd, he asked many questions and understood the nature of the trap that had been designed. He thought we did well. I must confess, I never imagined that I would be discussing battle strategy with an otter. I also asked him about hostile sea creatures. Otter indicated that the area was reasonably free of sharks and Sahaugin, the Sea Elves prevent them from coming around. He also told me that the Sea Elves would just as likely kill us if we were to swim through the area. Good advice! So, I proceeded to tell him about our encounter with Sahaugin. He thought we did well, but pointed out that fire would have done a quicker job of driving them off. He also expressed some interest in what I was writing. I showed him some of the journal. As dawn neared, I told him of our need to reach Bliss and asked if he could help us. Strangely enough, he seemed saddened by our need to depart, and he volunteered to help, if we brought him enough fish. Clearly, today is going to be busy trying to satisfy his appetite. He managed to finish off all of the remaining stew. He also stayed awake the entire night. Otter is a very curious creature indeed.