I have been finding out more about the mysterious Nikolai Hel, some of it disturbing and all of it intriguing. He is clearly someone who can teach me many of the skills I want to learn, but whether his group is the right fit for someone with my "constraints" has yet to be determined. He seems to have a residence in Trovantain, which is convenient since we will soon be journeying there. It is also unclear whether he actually runs a group of assassins or just has a clandestine organization that sometimes assassinates people as a way of "solving the problem". Either way I must find some means of meeting the man (and surviving). I think that I actually prefer to learn the skills he has and be a "problem solver", but not become a full fledged assassin. I think that would become a problem, both with Tera and with some of our new group, which thankfully has lost the biggest opponent to my talents (Vernon). Still, I think Kestral (maybe we should call him Kestra now) and Errol might object to me wandering off and whacking people, and the fewer times I have to do it, the better. The biggest problem is Tera. I just can't see how she could reconcile my profession even if she somehow gets over my race issue.

Nikolai is definitely the most interesting person I have heard about in our travels. The fact that Pippi (who seems to know way too much these days) doesn't know or won't say that much about him means that he must guard his secrets quite well. Apparently, I may have already pissed him off just by asking about him, which hopefully will lead to an encounter with one of his underlings. I can't believe that someone of his intelligence and connections would "off" me without seeing if I could become usefull in some way to him. I will remember that when I see him.