Savage Tide: ECL 4 Babafemi human spellthief 1, wizard 3: Journal 1

سجل لليسافر ولي العهد الأمير بابافيمي من زئيفي

Wond'rous!  Tho I must now away my pretenses, I am blessed not to be in the company of base assassins.  Perhaps I was foolish to hide at the outset - Ah, but no, my foes are many and their arms long indeed.  My present foothold is precarious, and owed to fortune alone.

Our party, numbering five now, returns to the Olman ruins where my immediate predecessors met their fates.  Foolhardy, perhaps, but I say nothing, and I say nothing again when we reembark numbering four.  In my heart, I am not sad to see the dwarf go.  His brashness unnerved me.  But his cursed, agonized corpus shall haunt my dreams for a time.

And now!  The stumbling, suffering priest.  In my heart, I know: that poisonous egg was meant for me.  It emerged from Bassam's foul gizzard, and the hapless fellow ate that vomitous meal in my stead.  The debt he owes me, he can never know, and never will.

But let it not be said that we set out a macabre voyage of envenomed knives and the hideous, misdirected vengeance of long-dead kings.  We surely do, but so goest all daring ventures.   Scattered amongst that bitter gruel, though, are candied plums.  The fruits I speak of?  They are those of sweet Lavinia.

She is a capable woman, having organized this expedition almost single-handed, noble enough for a tryst not to be unseemly, and beautiful besides.  I think she is as intrigued as I am, and how could she not be?  I am all that I am.

لوالدي، ووالده، وجميع من أساتذتي، سأعمل جاهدا من.

Savage Tide: ECL 4 Babafemi human spellthief 1, wizard 3: Bio

The crown prince of Zeif is a reclusive, mysterious figure.  Typical for children of the sultan, he was born and raised in the harem at the Palace of Peh'reen in Zeir-i-Zeif, the fortunate son of one of many concubines.

He has seldom made public appearances, and then only as a small child.  More recently, his father the sultan has been afflicted with a terrible illness, and rumors circulate furiously among the populace that the unseen prince must be dying of the same disease, missing, or dead.  Some doubt he ever existed, the young boy in lavish robes remembered by older folk having been merely a slave conveniently playing a part in some greater political machination.

In the apparent absence of able royal blood, the Sultanate is governed by the Grand Vizier, Bassam ibn Bulus al-Zeif.  The Grand Vizier is a man who is loved by all without exception; a man of unwavering, unparalleled honor and morality; a man with no failings or unfortunate predilections whatsoever.

Zeif is lucky to have Bassam.

The man aboard the Sea Wyvern is not dying of a terrible disease, nor is he sequestered in the Palace of Peh'reen, obviously enough.  He seems to be nothing more than a genteel crook who isn't as good at lying as he thinks he is.

Savage Tide: ECL 9 Tuaca half-fey phanaton spellthief 6, cleric 1: entry 1

It wouldn't come off.

Two nights in a row, now, I've dreamed it. The troglodyte king's murder. And as they chop his smiling head off, the blood splatters across me. I wasn't even there! And I will wear that forever.

Stupid lady.

Stupid town. It should fall back into the sea, or be eaten by the jungle. They've outgrown themselves. They've decided they don't want a place in the world - they want everyone else's place too. And their blood is on me. The orca guy doesn't seem to mind as much. He says it is the law of nature. The strong over the weak. I guess I believe that, but that doesn't feel like what happened. When our little scouting party saw the troglodytes in the banana field, it was a battle over resources. Us versus them. But then I go and use my charm on the leader. And everything went wrong. I thought it would be a great way to stop the fighting. And it was. I guess the problem was it worked too good. As long as the king stayed under the effects of the charm, he was willing to not just stop the fighting, but stop the war between his people and the humans in the city. Not one other person in our group seemed to think so, tho. We argued about it, and came to no conclusion. We even took the Trog king to the city gates to talk with the human leaders (against his and my better judgement) and nobody said anything but "Kill him. Kill them all."

Kill the "others".

Sure I don't like the Trogs. They are violent and stupid. And GODS do they stink. Oh such a stink they make. But killing one who has been rendered helpless and friendly. Helpless by whose magic? By MY magic. The humans wanted no part of a truce. They want no part of sharing the land they think they own with "others." So they demanded we take the King back to his tribe and execute him in front of them.

The Orca says law of nature. I don't think so Death in battle, yes. Death because the humans don't want to share, so their city tells them to kill the (temporarily) helpless? I won't do that. I won't do anything this city asks me to. Not any more. They are getting ready for a pirate attack. The pirates want the town's gold, I guess. Well, survival of the fittest, right? I am not part of this city. I don't feel welcome. And I will feel no loss if they lose.

A tribe of Phanatons from the south of the the Isle of Dread (a stupid name for the Land, that of course, the humans came up with) are supposed to join the city to help fight the pirates. I have half a mind to sneak a boat and cut them off, telling them not to bother - half these humans already see the tribe as a nuisance and could likely turn on them once the bigger threat is gone. I see nothing here anymore that would make me feel differently. In any case, I will be leaving the city when the battle is over. Either with the Phanaton tribe back to their lands, or with the orca if I can convince him to take to the seas once more. That might not take much. He spends more time on his boat - even while docked - than just about anyone else. I just hope he takes all the other ships with him. This settlement doesn't need a fleet to tempt them to try conquering other lands they think they deserve.

I've never been on the open ocean before. I must admit the thought frightens me some. But my place isn't here.

I am an "other."