March 2

After the fight with the mutated tigers, the party camped in a rope trick.

March 3

Vernon cast a lesser restoration on Blink, and the party sent Rhobab out to search for another bird while they walked through the forest. The party spotted some ants, with the same 4-spider-leg mutation, and quickly killed them. Malif's use of a lesser globe of invulnerability effectively negated the ants.

The party followed the tracks of the ants a bit more, but after two hours gave up and turned back.

They then spent the next few days heading back to Manthir on phantom steeds.

March 7

Malif started work on his new superior gloves of dexterity, while the rest of the party took a break.

March 25

Gloves done, the party made plans for the future. The elves wouldn't allow Malif to run around unsupervised in their magical labs, and the party had come up with a counteroffer for Haplo, the elven archmage.

Malif teleported to the elven capitol with Errol and Vernon. They met with the archmage and convinced him to trade Vernon's bag for a bag of holding which was the next biggest size. He also agreed if they were able to recover the spell, they would give the party a copy, as well as a membership into the Research Circle's National Library. He did not think he would be able to get Malif time in one of the magical labs in Lintinil, but he offered to teleport Malif to one of the human cities and back.

The party accepted this offer, and Malif spent the next few days ferrying the rest of the party to Lintinil before asking Haplo to take him to Tallo.

March 31

Haplo dropped Malif and the horses of Kestrel and Vernon outside of Tallo, explaining that he didn't want to be seen in the area. As Malif walked into Tallo, he instantly felt a difference in the mood of the town. The first time they had visited, the mood had been festive. The mood now was tense, and he saw many guards patrolling the streets. As he approached the castle, he saw field exercises being practiced.

Malif sent a note to Jay, and then went to see about getting a permanent stable for the horses. He also visited the Fabricari where he learned the cause of all the tension.

Late last year, the Yogar belar demanded access to the Trovantain lands, and the Trovantain belar capitulated. Then, about a month ago, the Yogar belar were able to surprise the East Mantar belar and land numerous troops onto their shores. They then demanded that they be given access to the East Mantar lands.

Not having a force sufficient to repel the invaders, the East Mantar government allowed the Yogars to have free rein. West Mantar was able to mobilize during this time, and the Yogars were forced to send their troops to the border to negotiate.

The Yogars were demanding full access to their lands, which the West Mantar belar refused. Most people expected that hostilities would probably break out within the next two months.

Because of this, all the magical labs were being used, though the person told Malif he could sign up on the waiting list, which was currently at 14 days.

He signed up and returned to the castle. Eventually Jay sent for him. She hugged Malif and asked where the rest of the party was. Malif gave her the highlights and assured her that they were fine.

Jay asked for more information about whether the Yogar belar were wandering through Trovantain, and then mentioned that Tera would probably want to speak to them.

Malif asked Jay if it were possible to use one of the royal magical laboratories. Jay replied that they were all busy making magical items in case war broke out, but she also remembered the party had saved her cousin Rillan's life, and suggested that Malif try there.

April 1

Malif teleported to the road outside Rillan's house. Malif walked to the door and knocked. Rillan looked surprised but greeted him. Malif explained that he needed a lab to work in, and Rillan replied that it wouldn't be a problem.

That night Pippy returned from Gront, and the three of them chatted about the current political situation. Pippy remembered that soemone had dropped a package off for the party about a month ago. Rillan checked to make sure it wasn't magical before he accepted it, and soon afterwards Pippy's insatiatble curiousity got the better of him and he opened the package.

Pippy explained that it was just a painting but he did a little research and found out it was a Torintz, a painter who lived a couple of hundred years ago. He thought the painting, which depicted a scene from "The Lost Prince", was worth around 500 gold.

Pippy retrieved the painting, which was partially wrapped in burlap. Malif took it into the guest bedroom and later examined it. Between the back of the painting and the burlap were 5 strips of paper, each written in exquisite calligraphy. With a little bit of rearranging, the strips formed a verse:

Lots of people say beauty
Comes from within; but
I think those who are powerful
Discern that true value is
Evident from the outside.

Malif thought about the verse for a bit and decided it would be better to bring it before the whole party and went to sleep.

April 3

Malif finished crafting his lesser headband of intellect. Haplo had agreed to send Malif a sending every other day to see if he needed a pickup. Unfortunaetly, it wouldn't come until the next day, so Malif relaxed for the day.

April 4

Malif met Haplo and they teleported back to Lintinil. Malif informed the party all the news he heard, as well as the painting and strips of writing. They also used the book to contact Mortenser. After a couple writings, they agreed to meet Tera in Tallo in 3 days.

April 7

The party had stopped over in Danlo. Each day Malif would teleport who he could forward. When they arrived at the castle, they were informed they were expected, and rooms had been assigned to them.

The party rested in their rooms for a short while. Tera, again disguised as a human, knocked on their door. Tera filled the party in more on the situation. She informed them that the three Bedorae territories had merged into one, and was being controlled from Middle Bedorae.

The Bedorae's had been negotiating with the Yogar, and enough progress was being made that Yogar hadn't yet threatened Bedorae. When asked if Cressa had pursued an alliance with Bedorae, she declined to answer, but replied that they weren't the first people to have thought about that.

She also apologized for misleading the party, and explained that while the party may have thought they were official representatives of the government, they were instead working directly for Tera. She further explained that this served to protect them more, as evidenced by the spy sweep having missed them. She reassured them that she had their best intentions at heart.

She also said that is why she and Mortenser had been reluctant to use the book to speak with the party. Kestrel asked her what the party should do, now that they could actually talk to her.

She said that one of Cressa's groups had been in northern Trovantain, near the elven forest. A couple of years ago, a belar named Stein had been working with potential hybridization of various animals. Because of some disagreements with the other belar, he disappeared from Pavalar.

The belar later found he had moved his lab to outside Asterin, but by the time they arrived, Stein had left. Rumors then surfaced that he had moved to near the Elven Forest, and the party's report seemed to confirm it. Tera thought there was a good chance that was the case, and a group had been sent to search for Stein, but they hadn't been heard from. She feared that they might have died in the purging of known foreign agents.

The conversation then ranged to other topics, and eventually the party told Tera the story of the painting and strips of paper. Tera looked at the strips and noticed almost immediately that if the strips were rearranged, they spelt out Lidec.

Looking at the stanza, she also thought that the "outside" might mean the burlap covering, but when she studied it, she found nothing unusual about it.

The party also looked at the burlap, and one of them noticed that it seemed to have pinch marks where a rope or strap might have been tied around it.

Excitedly, the party asked Tera to teleport them to Rillan's house. They retrieved the leather straps and with a little experimentation discovered it was indeed Covalence.