21 Hammer 1371

Dear Master Zorthaster,

Once again I find that we have ended up farther from home faster than I could have imagined a few short months ago. Before I begin that tale, though, I should finish up the one from my last letter.

Our expedition into the cavern had reached its goal after defeating the coin dragon and finding the books Peraus Wands sent us after. We were untroubled by jermlain on our return to the cave entrance. In fact, someone or something laid a long, sturdy plank across the chasm. At first we thought that perhaps this was another trap set by the jermlain. We tested it thoroughly before using it to safely cross the tricky spot. Back in the room with the spider trap we found a great white flame gouting from the floor. Close examination revealed that it did not seem evil or harmful. In fact, when Primula placed her hand in the flame she said that it felt very good. She stepped fully into the flame for a moment and then passed through unhurt. She had a big smile on her face and simply told us to follow her through the flame.

When it was my turn I stepped in and felt a potent flood of goodness and strength. When I stepped through to the other side, a bit of the goodness and power seemed to stay with me. I felt better than ever.

Soon it was time to leave. Shane was the first one up the rope and immediately he called back a warning. It was an ambush! A ragtag band of adventurers had set up an alarm attached to our rope. Fortunately for us, the cans they attached to the rope were packed with snow and muffled the sound of Shane's ascent. They spotted him almost immediately though and came running. Xan started up the rope at a rush, but slipped part of the way up. He plummeted down until he hit the end of the belay rope. He hit the end hard just as the sounds of battle began from above. Xan was hurt but still attached to the rope. Oskar pulled the ranger up and the priestess hit Xan with a healing spell as he started back up the rope. He made it over the edge at the top and Aramil followed almost immediately. I lay with my head out the entrance, hoping for a glimpse of the enemy so I could employ a spell. None of them got close enough to the edge to be seen. Thankfully, Shane, Xan and Aramil were able to defeat our attackers.

When I finally made my slow, unsteady way up the rope, all four of the ambushers were dead. Shane was badly injured, but remarkably had held off a barbarian, dwarf, monk and a rogue. Xan and Aramil had arrived just in time to help the halfling finish them off. They had little treasure on them and had obviously been a pretty desperate bunch.

It was still early enough in the day that we could get a full travel day in after the ambush. Our pace was good for the remainder of the day and the following day as well. We returned to Daggerfalls on the 20^th and met with Master Wands almost immediately. He recognized a magic sword we had recovered from the caves as a "Hoard Master." Placing it with a pile of coins and treasure allows the sword's owner to create a coin dragon to protect the treasure. It also has the ability to detect coins. Master Wands told us that he had not really wanted the books all that much, he just wanted us to go out and get some more experience. As a result I ended up with the spell book and the scroll. The remainder of my share only came to four gold lions. Not enough to buy materials for any potions or scrolls. I offered to make up some potions for folks that wanted to put some of their lions to use. Shane took me up on the offer so I picked up components for Endure Elements and Mage Armor for him. He added a bit extra so I was able to get a little for myself as well. I realized later as I was laying things out in preparation for the potions, that I actually got enough of the materials for six Endure Elements potions rather than the 2 Shane wanted. Oops.

Master Wu, when we arrived at his compound, told us to return shortly before the middle of the night. When we did he put us into a little boat and had us push/row out into the middle of his ice covered pond. From there he either cast a spell or steered us through a gate that took us to a very strange place. The stars overhead spun wildly for an instant. We arrived at a small dock swarming with robed warriors wearing curved swords. Everyone spoke a strange language. Master Wu directed a servant to lead us to our meeting with Sgt. Potulous. When I had a moment to look around, I was astonished at what I saw. Overhead, rather than seeing Selune and her tears, I saw a huge blue planet. It took only a moment to recognize the shape of the Sea of Fallen Stars. We were gazing at Toril from one of the Tears! The huge shape of Selune was visible just above the horizon to our right. Here she is a great huge orb that almost fills the sky.

Guiding us took a bit of work by the servant. We kept stopping to gawk. When we finally arrived at the docks that hung out into the black void, our guide left us at the gangway to a huge ship that was shaped much like a hammerhead shark. The big Sargent was busy getting the ship loaded for the trip, but took time to welcome us aboard and hand us off to Kora. The elven engineer showed us to our quarters where we could store our gear before taking us on a tour of the ship. She seemed to be happy to explain to us all about the workings of the ship and the strange way of traveling through the space between planets and "crystal spheres." We learned about spelljamming helms, gravity planes, air envelopes, Realmspace, Selunites and the Garden, a living tree and rock conglomerate the size of a planet. This was to be our destination for the voyage. We would likely be a ride or so out and about the same time coming back. Our cargo was secret, but our role was to be general trouble shooters and guards. Kora told me that I would be welcome to use the ship's facilities to brew my potions whenever I could find the time as long as I got the Captain's okay. Potulous was the acting Captain for this voyage as the regular Captain was away. In all, it was enough to make my head swim. Even so, I couldn't get enough. Ciercie and I spent the next several hours exploring the ship and pestering the crew with hundreds of questions. How exciting!

From the Rock of Brall, in the Tears of Selune, I remain your faithful student,

Cedar