Between the Moon and the Sea

Why are people so stupid? We just wanted to respectfully bury the body! Trust me, I wouldn’t choose to go into some dingy stinky dungeon to get a rotten stinky corpse to bring back to some backwater stinky town.

When we got to town we should have just left the body on the ground when we got there. Instead we for some reason chose to deal with the mob … peacefully … even though the feeling was not reciprocated. What a disaster. What a pain.

We could have left the body in Coincidence as soon as the mob approached us, turned around and had a significantly better day.

Honestly, why are people so stupid? Including us.

Finn is AWESOME!!! And miss Daphne, and Miss Araxis! But also, Finn is AWESOME!!! He showed up a few days ago and I got to show him around the temple. It was awesome. I showed him all the “forbidden” parts of the temple, and how to borrow tomatoes, and where the monsters probably are, and where all the treasures could be. And then Finn and Miss Daphne let me go with them into the secret parts of the temple and it was awesome!!!

The next day I decided to sneak into another secret part of the temple by myself to show Miss Daphne I learned how to open locks like she can, and to show Finn I could fight monsters like he can. I got down ok, then I found the treasure map, and then I found a mask, and then I was napping. That wasn’t too awesome. But when I woke up Miss Araxis was there and it was so awesome. Then we walked around the undercroft for a while like real explorers. It was dark. If you weren’t a paladin like Finn and me it was probably scary. But not for Finn and me. Then we found a room and I think there was someone in there who had gone to The Light. Miss Daphne didn’t want me to see, but I think I saw. And it wasn’t scary because The Light takes us and protects us when we go, and that’s ok. 

And then all of a sudden, there was a whole bunch of flying, biting monsters and Finn killed a ton of them. He would just swing his sword and he could kill like ten at once. And then Miss Araxis was killing monsters ‘cause her punches were so strong they made the air move and the air killed like 20 monsters. And Miss Daphne had a CROSSBOW!!!!! And she was killing like 30 monsters and it was so awesome!!! And then I was gonna kill some monsters too, but then we ran out of monsters. 

We walked around some more, ‘cause we were on an adventure. And then I flied and it was awesome. Finn seemed concerned, so he tried to see why I flied, and something hit him, but he’s so strong he didn’t even fly a little. And then Finn and Miss Daphne and Miss Araxis tried to decide if we were in trouble. They decided we weren’t, but they didn’t want me to fly any more. But the best part was when Finn made a wolf!!! Miss Daphne said that wolves could eat noisy little boys. It’s a good thing I’m a good paladin and I know how to adventure good and not get eaten by dire wolves. He was so fuzzy! 

I was really good at using the map and showing us where to go. I helped us find a super secret hidden part of the undercroft. I think it was attached to the lake. We spent some time in the cavern and we met Blue. I didn’t know blue lived in the lake, but now I do. I wasn’t scared of blue ‘cause I’m a paladin like Finn, but blue was really big and could probably eat lots of stuff, so I don’t think I’m gonna swim in the lake for a while. 

Then we were done adventuring for a bit, so we left the undercroft. Finn and Miss Daphne and Miss Araxis were talking about Blue with Master XX and maybe blue is a DRAGON!!! That’s so awesome. And Finn and Miss Araxis and Miss Daphne found some little goats that maybe will turn into big goats like Finn’s furry bag turned into a wolf and a weasel. Big goats would be so awesome. I hope they don’t eat all the tomatoes.

As was often the case after a few hours in the saddle, Finn’s mind began to drift back the Temple of Ulther. It was the only home he had ever known until setting forth on this journey of discovery so long ago. Finn liked to think that he had grown and matured along the road, but truth be told, he still craved adventure and had no qualms about rushing headlong into a fight—if he thought he was serving The Light. Nevertheless, as the Temple of Devotion rose in the distance and the angel winged sentinels guarding the gates came into view, Finn was immediately at peace. He looked forward to the sanctuary and relished the opportunity to spend a few days in quiet contemplation of The Light. He was sure Araxis would appreciate the incredible records that Temples of Devotion were known to keep. And despite trusting Daphne with his life, he secretly hoped she wouldn’t get into too much trouble here. After all, he was responsible for their conduct.

Upon entering the courtyard of the temple, Finn and the rest of the trio were greeted by a kindly old Paladin who had clearly spent all of his years devoted to the tenets of his faith; treating others with fairness, letting honorable deeds be an example to others, and doing as much good as possible, all while while causing the least amount of harm. He welcomed them heartily, offered them food and lodging, and even pointed them in the direction of the archives, so that they could begin their research for Professor Morgandon. 

Now, it’s not that Finn wasn’t grateful for the incredible hospitality offered by the old paladin. Truth be told, the old man reminded Finn very much of his own master at Ulther. So much so, that Finn felt as though the long road travelled had brought him right back home. He was; however, having some trouble paying attention to the old man, for over his shoulder, peeking out from behind a wall of the temple, was a precocious young lad who was introduced as Tobias. 

Tobias was a young paladin of nine or ten, and it was immediately clear that Tobias was smitten with Finn. Unlike Ulther, the Temple of Happenstance was relatively small by comparison. As such, Tobias did not have any peers his age. Moreover, true to their name, most of the paladin’s at the temple were utterly devoted to a study of The Light. This came at the cost of the physical training that usually went along with the order. It was also much to the chagrin of Tobias, who wanted nothing more than to slay a dragon and discover treasure. When he first saw Finn, fresh from a journey of adventures, Tobias knew exactly what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. And if Finn was being honest, he saw a younger version of himself in Tobias. In reality, Finn was smitten with the young lad. 

It wasn’t long before Tobias was leading Finn and Daphne around the temple, showing them the common rooms, but also going out of his way to point out the “forbidden” areas of the temple where he was sure monsters lurked, and treasures were buried. The tour was fairly comprehensive, and easily filled the hours between their arrival and dinner. While no monsters were disturbed, or treasures uncovered, there were some interesting architectural designs in the temple that Finn and Daphne both agreed might warrant some further investigation. 

The temple truly was a place of peace and quiet contemplation for Finn. That was, until breakfast the next day, when he discovered a hand written note:

“I went scouting to look for cool adventures. I want to fight monsters on my own. 

Ps we can share the gold

Pps tell Daphne”

Finn was struck with terror. He knew he had been a bad influence on Tobias, as well as he knew it was his responsibility to save the young lad from whatever trouble he found himself in. Finn’s terror was abated when both Daphne and Araxis said they would help to find Tobias. The trio had shared so much that Finn should have expected they would have his back now. Still, he was grateful for their help and he knew that the three of them together would have no trouble returning the young man home, safe and sound. 

A whole world inside a box? What magic! Ivy was so annoying but also so cool! That creepy woman under the water … was her skin falling off? It was so gross. Why did she like puns so much? Ivy loved puns. She’s a great singer, I guess that’s how she drew me in. Well, I guess maybe that’s probably where I should have started.

So, there we were trying to rest after our incredibly strange encounter at the river where we got the Leaf of Light and we hear Ivy singing. I guess we didn’t know it was Ivy at the time and at first we also didn’t know where it was coming from. So turns out the singing was coming from inside the box that we found the Leaf in! When you look inside the box you see a map, well not a map but a map, of a place called “Norman’s Village in a Box”. A tiny little village in the box. After some convincing, we went to the town. As in, we went into the box but we fit and the village was normal sized. Or were we small? Or was it neither. I remember a wizard coming through the inn a few years ago talking about a pocket dimension, this sounded a lot like that but I don’t understand those things.

Well, getting to the village was easy. I actually did this really bad ass flip into the box, not awkward at all, regardless of what Finn says. I was very nervous because I didn’t know Ivy yet, definitely thought we were trapped. Well, we weren’t trapped we could leave but we also couldn’t go in because there were big lions blocking our way. The drawings dad showed me of lions looked a lot less scary though, not as scaly. We made pretty quick work of those things though but then Ivy kept insisting we had something that belongs to her. Eventually we figured she wanted our map. For her records of “The Watch” which isn’t actually a watch just one of those weird things scholars do with words sometimes, it’s so pretentious. The whole place was filled with buildings, several Ivy said we could not enter or else there would be consequences. Some even required puns to enter them, I suspect that wasn’t an actual requirement of entering the building and more so something Ivy made us do for her own entertainment. Even the names of building were tricky words. I’m not sure what it was about her, or that place, but Finn listened. It was odd. Rather, he showed more restraint than usual I should say. He still did get me dragged into a building filled with water (it was called “The Title” which Ivy thought was quite funny that it sounded like “tidal”) and a strange underwater witch. I didn’t do much to help but they dealt with her pretty efficiently. We got to see an illusion of the The Watch in another building. It was a device created long ago to detect discord created by dragons. DRAGONS. The Watch is for dragons! Except it worked too well and wiped them out. Which made it behave funny and create issues for people and bla bla bla. It was boring. They broke it into several pieces. I think the Leaf of Light is one of those pieces though. If we need to put it back together again does that mean dragons are coming back!? So exciting. There was a few other things we learned but I’m not the scholar here, Araxis can remember all the history and boring stuff.

After that we left the village. I don’t know how but when we went to leave we were back at our camp. I think it’s going to be nice to have a friend with us all the time in the box. At the very least just for her beautiful singing voice.

As Araxis contemplated what had just unfolded, she thought to herself that this indeed had been a very long day. Someone wise once said to Araxis that there were two types of tired: one that required rest and one that required peace. She knew at end of this day, she would be in need of both; but at present she needed all of her mental faculties about her. Thinking back to how the day started she had hoped to come across some nuggets of knowledge to help her team get through their current predicament.

The day started innocently enough with the team finally underway for their next part of their journey. They decided to follow the River north to Happenstance, which typically was a two-day journey. Finn was decidedly and annoyingly focused on the procurement of the Leaf of Light; although to be honest Araxis was impressed by his determination. And so long as this was a part of their greater mission, she was perfectly fine to indulge Finn and his steadfastness towards his vocation.

As Finn, Daphne and she travelled along the River, Araxis noticed that the water was flowing backwards. Thinking to herself that this was strange she vocalized her observation to the team. All of a sudden, Finn darted into the river to see what the fuss was all about. Never one to heed the advice to be cautious, especially around new and unknown circumstances, Finn once again seemed determined and focused to figure out this new and welcomed puzzle. Suddenly, a serpentine form surged out of the water; cerulean in colour and quite vicious in nature, and grappled Finn. Quickly remembering a conversation with Gimbel, the Archivist at the University, Araxis employed a Fist of Unbroken Air upon the unknown creature, which unfortunately bounced off with no effect. Daphne, also quick on her toes, shot the figure; and caused it to flinch, though not doing much damage. Finn’s physical prowess allowed him to successfully escape the creature’s grip; albeit only momentarily, and after significant effort. To continue the attack, Araxis shot darts at the creature and noticed it seemed as though it was protecting something. Finn was determined to continue on in the struggle despite the fact that he was repeatedly grappled by the water serpent every time he broke free, and at times was close to losing consciousness due to a lack of oxygen. Thank The Light that he had Light Bringer to assist through the battle.

Araxis thought to herself that the continued attack on elemental forces—the water serpent—with significant effort, would end this. All they had to do was continue their attack with force and determination. With quick wit and skill Araxis decided to freeze a cubic meter of the water serpent to enable the group to see where they needed to focus their attack. This helped significantly. Despite Finn’s reckless abandon endangering the team, he was making significant gains and finally the serpent imploded and settled back into the river as water and nothing more.

Once free, Finn dove deep to the bottom of the river and returned with a box.
This box had some sort of combination lock, which in very little time was solved due to the clues that Araxis had remembered from her conversations at the University, the smarts of Daphne, and determination of Finn. Once opened, the box had a cushion upon which a leaf was pinned, but this was not just any leaf. Finn was sure it was the Leaf of light. Finn struggled to come to terms with their discovery. For him, it was his singular purpose and he was thinking about the significance of this. Finn knew and vocalized his thoughts to the group. The Leaf of Light could turn the tide against the forces of Dreaming Dark. This was a defining moment for Finn and for all beings. This was a moment of great significance and Araxis and Daphne now understood and awaited Finn’s reaction.

Finn was so excited and focused that he blurted out that they should all return to the Temple with the Leaf of Light immediately, or at least soon after the group had taken a rest, for he was exhausted after his tussle in the river. Finn was reminded of the commitment to the University and the journey that still lay ahead. Admitting he’d forgotten momentarily, in the excitement, he and the group were contemplating rest when all of a sudden, they were beset with a strange breeze. Sadly, there was no rest to be had, as another attack ensued. This time Finn employed his full bag of tricks; conjuring his elk and badger. This next feat required all of the team’s expertise, and each member rose to the occasion. Daphne threw snow into the air to reveal the shape of the new creature. This was extremely useful as it aided in the new attack on this creature. Again, it took time and energy, but the trio was able to emerge victorious and defeat this next elemental figure. Hoping that it might now be time to rest, Araxis pondered to herself, what was this magic? And what was so special about this stretch of the River?

It had been three days and nights of travel since Finn and his companions had left Wayfair. And yet, Finn still found that the distance that they had put between themselves and the University had not been enough to forget the horrors of the archives. The ordeals in the many rooms of the archives had galvanized his relationship with Daphne and Araxis. He’d long considered Daphne a little sister and had adopted Araxis as a mentor from whom he could learn. And these thoughts were distilled to crystal clarity within the archives. For Finn, where there was good, beauty, love, and laughter in the world he would stand against the wickedness that would swallow it. That is how he justified what had happened. Nonetheless, he had awoken in a cold sweat every night since Wayfair, haunted by the innocent whose life he helped to snuff out. 

That is why, when the trio came upon a lonely looking Inne along the side of the road, Finn was keen to shelter for the night. He was looking forward to an evening of song and laughter. He was profoundly aware that when you let the Light die in your own heart, you can’t preserve it in the world, and there had certainly been a dimming about his heart. Finn tied his steed, Light Bringer, to the hitching post and made his way into the shelter. He was immediately enveloped by the warm glow of a crackling fire, and suffused by the intoxicating smells of the cauldron bubbling over the coals. It reminded him of the night so long ago at the Ribbon at Arms, when he first met Araxis and Daphne and set out on this unlikeliest of journeys. 

On this particular evening, however, the three travelers were greeted by a curious owl, a cat, and the host of Tuesday House. Certainly, Finn had read much about the various creatures of the material plane, and had encountered a fair number of them already. He also know that the Light worked in mysterious ways, that all creature had Light and Dark within them, and that by harnessing The Light, one could accomplish miracles. Through prayer and meditation Finn was learning how to harness The Light in truly magical ways, and he had certainly witnessed miracles and incredible feats performed by both Daphne and Araxis. Nonetheless, coming face to face with anthropomorphic creatures was unusual enough to set Finn aback for a moment. It wasn’t long; however, before the small group was gathered around the fire sharing stories of adventure and daring. Finn shared an exceptionally scintillating tale of the oath of silence he had once pledged, but he had to admit that Daphne and Araxis were tough acts to follow. 

As a reward for their tales, and incredible skill at solving word puzzles, Finn, Daphne, and Araxis were granted access to the Inne’s garden. Crossing the threshold to the garden was like crossing the threshold into another world altogether—like an echo of the material plane where the sky was alight with the faded colors of the setting, or perhaps rising, sun, dusky and low in the sky. The trio began to explore the garden and were almost immediately faced with a puzzle to solve—three keys needed to be found to unlock the secrets of the garden. Daphne quickly set to work, and within moments had found a literal key hiding amongst the beautiful foliage. Finn was taken with the setting. He sensed Light and good in all of the surroundings, particularly the birdsong dancing on the breeze. Within moments he was humming along with the birds, but it was a few minutes before he realized that he too had found the right key. Ever wise and patient, Araxis allowed the situation to unfold in front of her, before taking action. Harnessing her own Ki, Araxis molded the Earth to her will and soon enough three keys had been found.  

Within moments, the tree before which the trio was standing was alive. At first Finn was only able to catch a passing glimpse of a furtive creature dashing here, or a mischievous creature causing a ruckus over there, but before long the three were beset with the most magical beasts Finn had ever beheld. A brace of blue Fairy Dragons rooted through purses and rucksacks, nuzzled necks, and ultimately bilked Finn and Daphne out of a few coppers before disappearing….

Leaving the Inne the next morning, Finn felt refreshed and invigorated. He had slept through the night for the first time in recent days, but it was more than that. When he was called to The Light he’d sworn an oath to kindle the Light. Through acts of mercy, kindness, and forgiveness, he would kindle the light of hope in the world, and beat back despair. What he’d come to realize in the garden, in the presence of Fairy Dragons, and his new family, was that they had in turn kindled the Light within him. Their kindness had beaten back his despair and renewed his hope in the world. Finn turned to catch one last glimpse of the Inne as the trio set off down the road, and he wasn’t the least bit surprised when he noticed it wasn’t standing where it had been just a moment ago.  

Well that was certainly an expeditious mission! Those three accomplished in two days what our best bibliohunters have been trying to do for months. All that fuss to find all those adventurers … what a misapplication of library funds. I’m glad to have the book but I hope the parties that are being turned away don’t get too disorderly.

The Archive Scouts have informed me that not only did the party thoroughly explore all known parts of The Depths but they successfully solved some of the mysteries that have remained unsolved until now, helping to elucidate some aspects of the inner workings of The Depths. It’s also to my understanding that they seemed to have profited greatly from their time down there, leaving them significantly wealthier than when they went down.

It seems they navigated The Depths in an order not typically attempted. They immediately gained some rewards from Sea’s Gift, an interesting strategy moving their way into what I refer to as Lewis’s room, where they made quick work of The Rat King and his foul kinsmen. The one they call Finn was able to climb up to the desk and discovered some potions to help him not only grow to the size to match the room but also reverse the effect while in possession of The Diet of Dragons! Why they didn’t just turn around and return the book to us that instant is beyond me, but these types are always searching for more “adventure”. The Synonym Swamp caused them little issue after which they moved on to another room, and then another, where they inexplicably destroyed some of the library’s favourite gargoyles, some of the most beautiful decorations down there. They spent some time figuring out the tricks inflicted by Dooreen and Theodoor and not long after murdered a poor soul. I’m told he went down last year when we were searching for a Manual of Flesh Golems and his party came back deafened without him. I feel for the poor man, lost and abandoned only to have his life taken by whom I can only assume he saw as salvation. Alas, those are the perils of The Depths. The important part is The Diet of Dragons is now in the hands of our scholars!

I’ve decided to take the group on as my research team. I’ll be sending them North to investigate some of the reports of monsters in Kalmor Lake.

After the events of the last day, Finn wasn’t sure why he wanted to return to the Temple. Perhaps it was because he just couldn’t remember much more than feeling cold, and then feeling soggy. Nonetheless, there was a compulsion that seemed to call him to the location, despite the foreboding sense of evil that seemed to permeate the ruin. 

After a brief walk through the sand and heat, the trio found themselves once again on the threshold of the great old building, and this time Finn was wise enough to keep his senses in check, despite the pressure that seemed to be pressing him from all sides. Daphne sent her rook, Theo, soaring over the ruin to relay any information it could discern. Finn was amazed at her ability to commune with the majestic animal, and longed to hone skills like that someday. 

With a vague sense of the building layout, Finn pushed his way through the front door into the cavernous nave of the Temple. It had clearly been avoided for some time, as a layer of sand covered all. In front of Finn stretched a row of dusty pews facing an alter upon which sat a wooden chest. Intrigued by what the chest might contain, and hoping to find some ancient scriptures or religious artifacts, Finn made his way to the front of the great room. 

As soon as Finn was close enough to get a good look at the chest, he found that he had been walloped by what appeared to be a giant tongue. A wave of emotions flooded the paladin as he reeled backwards. He was embarrassed that he had been blindsided by a giant tongue, he was angry at himself for embroiling his friends in a mess of his creation, and he was fearful that some harm may come to them as a result of his impetuousness. He was also surprised when, a moment later, Daphne and Araxis both sprung to his aid and started peppering the tongue with bolts, darts, and a flurry of unarmed strikes. Joining in, Finn sliced at the tongue with his longsword, and hacked with his axe. It was a well-choreographed ballet of ferocity, and before long, the trio had vanquished the tongue, suffering only a minor slathering of saliva. 

Looking at Daphne and Araxis, Finn felt a deep kinship with his travel companions, the likes of which he had not shared with anyone other than his closest friends at the Temple of Ulther. Without a word, it was understood that they would forge ahead through the ruins, confident that between the three of them, they could handle whatever evil they encountered. 

They cleared the hulk of the old building room by room with the only real trouble they encountered, after the tongue, coming in the form of two undead skeletons. The first skeleton took both Finn and Daphne by surprise. Again, this was something Finn had read about, but never encountered in the flesh. Out of a hasty fear both he and Daphne set upon the bones and dispatched it quickly. The second skeleton did not surprise the group nearly as much, and with an opportunity to be rational, Finn attempted to communicate with the creature. Sadly, it seemed the only thing the apparition cared for was release, and so Finn dispatched of it also. 

The trio work its way through one side of the crumbling building, and then the other. They came across one room furnished with a dusty chest and a mysterious looking credenza. Daphne began to examine the chest, but Finn was drawn to the credenza. After some investigation, he was able to access a hidden panel of sorts, and removed from the credenza a silver book. He sensed a magic about the item, but was loathe to attune to it in such a place as this. Despite the evil aura about the building, Finn decided he would keep the book, and remove it from the temple. He did not think it held the answers he was looking for, but at the very least he would return it to another temple along his journey, to allow further study of it by his brothers and sisters. 

While Finn was pondering the silver book he had just found, Daphne had been enraptured by a treasure of her own. The trunk had produced a few gemstones, and Daphne was happy to share her spoils with Finn and Araxis. Finn declined the sardonyx that was offered him. He felt bad enough taking the book from the temple and didn’t want to risk tempting The Light by being avaricious. Daphne returned her treasure to her backpack, but Finn sensed an excitement about her that wasn’t quite explained by three semi-precious gemstones-valuable as they may be. 

The last room explored by the trio was almost missed entirely. Finn had not noticed that a rug aslant on the floor might be hiding something. Ever the wise and sage elf however, Araxis peeled back the rug to reveal a trap door. Once more, Finn was reminded of how much he had to learn from her. The door itself led to the smallest and dankest of rooms, with nothing in it but a book of necromancy and an impending sense of evil, the likes of which Finn had never sensed before. He could not leave the room fast enough, nor the temple for that matter. 

Although he had arrived with the hopes of finding answers to questions he wasn’t sure he’d asked, he left with naught but a silver book and some mildewed holy water. Nonetheless, he felt enlightened, and that he had experienced something valuable and necessary. He was content to continue the journey to the university with his new-found friends, and after two more nights in the desert the trio found themselves amidst the foothills on the outskirts of Wayfair. Finn looked forward to what might happen next, provided he didn’t spend any more time as a cactus.  

            Araxis wasn’t entirely sure what she would be getting herself into when she decided to allow two green and unexperienced younglings to tag along with her on her journey to the University, but it certainly wasn’t this. In the last few hours she had found herself joining Finn and Daphne to explore an abandoned temple, only to be beset by surges of wild magic and swarms of giant spiders. Neither of which troubled Araxis too much, besides the minor inconvenience that they caused for her, but somewhere along the way, Finn had gone and turned himself into a cactus!?! This was somewhat troubling to Araxis. She was sure it would set her back at least a day in her travel plans. And if she was being perfectly honest, there may have been a very small part of the sage elf that actually felt bad for the young paladin. Araxis sensed Daphne’s concern as well, as the young rogue had not let the cactus near any harm since leaving the temple—it was endearing. 

            No sooner had Araxis retired to her tent for the night, determined to spend some time in a trance and thinking about solutions to Finn’s problem, than she heard a terrible commotion coming from just outside of Daphne’s tent. Rousing herself to see what was the matter, she was shocked to find Daphne and the two young paladins they were travelling with engaged in combat against another swarm of spiders, this time accompanied by a giant spider. The situation looked as though it could become dire, and so Araxis was quick to step in and fight alongside her friends. Throughout the skirmish, she couldn’t help but feel a small sense of pride swell within her to notice the deftness with which Daphne attacked the spiders—would that she could say the same for the two paladins. Clearly, the combat training at their temple was not nearly as rigorous as the training Finn had received, as most of their attacks were useless and futile. Despite the paladins’ best efforts to hand the victory to the arachnids, Daphne and Araxis were able to prevail, with Daphne dealing mortal damage to the eight legged creatures, and Araxis dealing the fatal blows.  

            Now thoroughly depleted of Ki, and feeling a little worse for wear, Araxis was determined to rest, hoping that the prickly problem of Finn’s transformation might sort itself out with time. The next morning, Araxis was again roused from her tent by another commotion coming from Daphne’s tent. There was a brief thought that if she had to deal with anymore spiders, she might just leave the entire party behind, and strike out on her own. Thankfully, instead of a swarm of Solifugae, Araxis was greeted by a smashed clay pot, a dazed Finn, and an equally confused Daphne. Before long, Finn had pointedly been told about his time as a succulent, and the means by which Daphne had solved the problem. Again, Araxis was impressed with the young woman, she was proving to be full of surprises. 

            After breaking their fast and breaking camp, Araxis found herself at a crossroads. Finn had made it clear that for some inexplicable reason, he felt compelled to return to the temple and explore it at length, this time without the use of any mystical powers. He had said that he would understand Araxis’s desire to continue on her journey without him, but had also extended an invitation for her and Daphne to join him. There was a fighting about Araxis’s soul that she was not used to. Normally, she would have gone on to continue her work, without question. But the adventures that she had shared with these two younglings had endeared them to her, in way, and she too felt compelled to visit the temple one more time. 

            Goodbyes were exchanged with their escort, and before long the trio was heading back to the temple in the middle of Erron. Once again, Araxis wasn’t entirely sure what she would be getting herself into when she decided to follow two green and unexperienced younglings into the desert, but she was sure she was making the right decision. 

Finn found himself a cactus.

The end.