ralph_dnd | Larissa's diary: on the road

August 20 (Friday)

We've now been travelling for two days, heading approximately north. We're on a road, and Colm says Duvik's Pass is a town a few days away, but I've never been up here before. We've moved from grassland into hills. It's kind of pretty up here.

Yesterday I rode one of the horses. I've never spent all day on a horse before; it was kind of uncomfortable. So today I rode on one of the wagons, which was much better. It was also easier for me to conduct small magical experiments without having to worry about spooking the horses. Today I was able to keep an apple floating near Colm for close to two hours. He told me I should stop playing with my food. So I conjured up some butterflies to follow him around instead. He may sound grumpy, but inside he's amused. I can tell.

I've been thinking that the dowry mom and dad gave me might provide enough money to be able to get myself a familiar, once I can get to a place where it's possible to summon one. Ferdinand told me about them. That'd be neat. Mom and dad would probably be upset, though. *I* think it makes sense: a dowry is to get myself a life-long companion, right? It's not too much of a stretch for it to be a familiar rather than a husband, is it?

August 21 (Saturday)

More hills. Still pretty, but kind of boring.

Liandra's been feeding us some sort of herb concoction (tea, she says). It's supposed to protect us against the plague. I suspect that she's right that the plague would be worse than drinking this stuff, but I'm taking that on faith. I told her it needs nutmeg, but she said to leave it alone or it won't work. Oh well.

Turok's been pouting. I suspect it's the lack of beer. I *told* him he should buy a keg from Jehan before we left.

August 22 (Sunday)

I conjured up a mug of beer for Turok this morning. Well actually, it was some of Liandra's tea and a prestidigitation spell, but he doesn't need to know that. He said it needed more, um, "tikhar", I think he said, but I couldn't figure out what he meant. I tried curry, but apparently that wasn't it.

It's been getting more and more hilly in the last day or so. Today we approached a pass that Colm said would be a really good spot for an ambush. Kyle scouted it out and didn't see anything. I suggested that Prolix conjure up some more wagons and guards to maybe convince any ambushers that we're too big for them, but we ended up not meeting anyone.

Colm says we'll get to Duvik's Pass tomorrow morning.