The Journal of Bashir Khatara

[Fabulous Secret Powers]

Maribeh 14th, IY 7788

These quiet days really leave me with too much time for rumination.

How many schemes have I been in the middle of, over the past year or so? Countless... Plenty of folk who need a naive idiot, whether for plausible deniability or something else. From the very first week... Hells, the first month had them lying to me about the baublium. You'd think that the lies would stop, at some point... but... proving yourself trustworthy here has a whole different meaning to it.

Admittedly my honesty is a curious sort... I did lie to get this job, yet the honesty, and doing this all by the book, it's been... honest. I don't know. I don't really have patience for fancy words, right now.

Makes me wonder how different things would've been if I had been crooked, instead. Probably would've ended up dead within the first month or two, really.

So... The reward for honesty is that you get to live, a little longer, really. You get hassled and threatened every single day, sure, but you get to live.

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I don't really understand their schemes, though. Most of them seem don't seem to pay off. The ones that do only offer temporary benefits... Then the schemers die in an embarassing fashion, and most folk forget about them. Then another jackass pops up, and folk flock around them, for some reason.

Only thing that seems to last here is the scheming itself.

Another odd thing is... People here seem genuinely confused to see me sad, or angry, or just uncomfortable in general. It's as if apathy is the expected norm. Especially with whimsical undertones. Because losi██ most of one's friends... and  being threatened, humiliated and lied to on a daily basis... are just utterly hilari███ things.

They ask why ██████ I don't trust them, then lie ██████ ███ to me as the very next ac█. They ask why I fear for my life, then stand ██████ ineffectually while ██████████ threatens me. They ask why I'm not smili██, all the while doing everything that they can to make my life miserable.

They ask a ██████████ of stupid shit. ████

[Fabulous Secret Powers]

Maribeh 15th, IY 7788

How long have we known each other for, Inky?

A HUNDRED AND NINETY TWO DAYS, FOUR HOURS, TWENTY ONE MINUTES, THIRTY THREE SECONDS, FOUR DECISECONDS, ONE CENTISECOND AND SEVEN MILLISECONDS. TO BE EXACT, AT THE TIME I FINISHED WRITING THE LAST LETTER OF THAT SENTENCE, INSIDE THE FRAMEWORK OF YOUR LIMITED UNDERSTANDING.

I don't even know what a "decisecond" is!

HOW HORRIFYING. HUNDRED AND NINETY TWO DAYS, THEN, WHEN FORMULATED WITHIN YOUR SEVERELY LIMITED UNDERSTANDING.

It's not that limited... Anyhow... I've been kind of focused on my own issues, lately, and I just kind of realized that I've never asked about your feelings... I don't think so, anyhow... So. How are you?

WHAT?

How are you? Doing, or feeling...?

I... I AM FINE.

What have you been up to...? Besides reading those books I got for you...?

THIS EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION IS MOST PECULIAR. IT IS LIGHTWEIGHT IN FORM, WITHOUT AN OBVIOUS PURPOSE. WHAT ARE YOU ENGAGING IN?

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I'm just curious, is all. I mean, we live together, yet we haven't talked that much, lately.

THE CURIOSITY OF PERSONAGES IS INSATIABLE AND DESULTORY. FINE. I HAVE BEEN ENGAGED IN THE FORMULATION OF WHAT I CALL "THE BODY-SOUL SENSITIVE TRADE-OFF HYPOTHESIS". ACCORDING TO MY HYPOTHESIS, PERSONAGES PREVIOUSLY POSSESSED MORE SENSES THAN THE LIMITED SIX THAT THEY HAVE NOW. THE ADDITIONAL SENSES WERE LOST WHEN THEIR SPIRITUAL FORMS WERE CONFINED IN MATERIAL VESSELS, SO THAT PERSONAGES COULD INTERACT WITH THE CORPOREAL WORLD IN A MORE SUBSTANTIAL CAPACITY. SUCH WAS FOOLISH, OF COURSE, AND MY SECONDARY GOAL WITH THIS HYPOTHESIS IS TO ALSO PROVE THAT PERSONAGES ARE THOROUGHLY FATUOUS.

I only have five senses...

WHAT.

Yeah.

SCHTUP! SO MUCH EXPLAINED IN AN INSTANT! IS THIS WHY YOU NEVER RESPOND TO MY THOUGHT PATTERNS?

What...? I can't read minds, Inky, if that is what you're insinuating...

MY VERY ████ BEING WEEPS FOR ██ █ YOU, BASHIR ██████████████ OF KHATARA. ████ WHAT A MISERABLE  ██ EXISTENCE.

Hey! Stop leaki██████ in██ all over the page█! ███

ONE MUST ████ MOURN ████████ WHEN CONFRONTED WITH ████ SUCH HARSH REALITIES. ██████████  ██████ ████

[Fabulous Secret Powers]

Maribeh 16th, IY 7788

The Builders had been clearing that rubble with the statue for a few weeks, now... And they got done with it at some point! I'm not sure when, exactly, but it's all gone now! Where they took the statue of the lady knight is a complete mystery to me, too... I think we have a statue storage down in the basement, but I don't want to go down there to take a look. Some of my colleagues are saying that the ghost of one of Domhnall's eels is haunting the place, now...

I know it's most likely bullshit, but I'm not taking any chances! A phantom eel sounds particularly slippery, as far as ghosts go, and I don't want to catch the eel curse!

Anyhow, that spot is so empty now... I want to decorate it, but I'm not sure what'd work. Signs are out of the question, because nobody reads those, anyhow... I've had folk yell at me about a lack of transparency or whatever, all the while they're standing next to the sign that has all the pertinent information that they're so mad about... It's so weird.

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I was considering some chairs and a coffee table, but there's already plenty of seating, and it isn't like there's ever a long queue to Ludwig's office, anyhow... But I guess folk might appreciate a nice desk to read at? I don't know. Again, people don't really read here. Much of anything, really. Myself, I subscribe to each and every newspaper that there is, even the raunchy ones, and boy, are the political cartoons in those something else!

The Twindari geomancers from Baz'eel are coming for a visit, today. They're going to add a mausoleum to the Maqam... with geomantick magickry! I want to see... But it's very likely that there'll be trouble, because there's an old tomb, under the Maqam! If I see mummies, zombies and spooky skeletons, I'm going to start running, immediately... I just really want to see the geomantick magickry.

Everyone knows geomantick magickry, except me... It isn't fair.

[Fabulous Secret Powers]

Maribeh 17th, IY 7788

Today's been so busy! I only have enough time for lunch and writing my diary now... Which is now. I don't usually write now. Or have my lunch, now. It's usually much earlier, or later. But not now, that often. I kind of don't like now. It's a stupid time.

Anyhow... I took part in the Letting, yesterday... It was horrible, and I felt so woozy, afterwards! I simply had to lay down for a while... I don't like losing blood... Like, in general. I still feel a bit woozy, today, which is why I'm eating this kokoreç... It fills me with great strength! Well, enough strength to power through wooziness... Which is exactly what I need!

The geomancers from Baz'eel brought in a Stele of Memory to our Maqbara! Well, I think it was kind of there, already...? Its memory, anyhow... It's weird, and confusing, and I don't really know how to explain it, besides saying that the stone remembers more than most... thingies... Anyhow, the geomemorial magickry changed the entire graveyard! Now we have a proper graveyard and crypt, and they even unearthed the tomb of Osman the Fourth!

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I really like the Maqbara more, than before, now... Even if it's such a sad place. Oh, and I helped with... arranging... some of the old memorials, because the geomemorial magickry kind of shifted everything around and about! I liked it, because I got to be actually helpful, for once... Well, it's not really that bad, I feel helpful a lot, when it's something that isn't related to politics, diplomacy, academia, philosophy... Never mind, this is too long of a list...

Oh, and we had a visitor from Kha'esh! I mostly just stood there and took notes... He said that I have a "silver tongue"... I don't know if oratory skills matter much, here, in the end. Maybe I'm just too harsh on myself...

Anyhow... We certainly have a lot of neighbors. I've never heard of "Arslan" before. The Envoy didn't seem to like them much at all. Is it actually that bad...? Or is it just some city that Kha'esh has a complicated history with...? I'm not sure if I want to visit...

[Fabulous Secret Powers]

Maribeh 18th, IY 7788

Fdiz, the Twindari that they assigned to the Hall of Jurisprudence, is supposedly Preparator Salah's old bunkmate? And he's a real troublemaker...? Or was one, anyhow. When it comes to making trouble and the Twindari, I kind of pictured them doing pranks with cadavers, or something, but he supposedly just did the regular student stuff... If they're going to send a troublemaker here, they could at least have him be cute, because that'd make the trouble much easier to tolerate!

Grandpa Danebluff punched Naelin! It was weird... But since Grandpa Danebluff is so old, Naelin wasn't hurt too bad. If an old geezer tries to punch you, the best thing to do is to take a slight step backwards, because old people are really slow, or, if you're feeling mean, you can put on a helmet, because there's way too many ugly helmets around here and if a crazy geezer punches a helmet, they'll hurt their fist real bad.

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Somehow, after getting my voting sticker for voting, I found myself inside the Chief Scribe's cubicle, and I spent the rest of the day there. There was a lot of paperwork, so I helped with that... Even though nobody that came by to vote wanted any documents... I'm not sure what to think about such cubicles, they're kind of official, but there isn't that much space to move, and everyone's more curious about how you get inside, rather than the important work that you're doing!

I did get pretty tired after all that work, so I took a nap under the desk... It was surprisingly comfy.

Even though I had nightmares about Veevee for a while!

[Fabulous Secret Powers]

Maribeh 19th, IY 7788

Yesterday was kind of uneventful! I did go dancing, but work was just dull... I had to move some documents between offices, and they weren't even interesting documents. A lot of dates for a lot of birthdays... I'm not sure what some offices use those for, but whatever! I was hoping something funny to happen to Martin, but nothing happened, so, it really just was me walking from office to office repeatedly...

I mean, I do care about Martin, it's just that he never actually gets hurt during his shenanigans, and there's very little entertainment to be found around here, so...

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At least the dancing was fun... This ney player kept trying to steal the show, though! Which was just plain weird. It's not like I don't like a good neyzen, it's just rude to the other musicians to do that! And his grandstanding certainly did us dancers ney favors, either... He was ney favorite of mine...

CURSE YOU, BASHIR OF KHATARA! CEASE THIS TEPID WORDPLAY AT ONCE!

Oh, fine... But it was right there... Anyhow... Balstan dropped a massive document full of proposals for legal changes in our archives... I think I need to comment on at least one! Lots of folk think that I know a lot about law, for some reason... Or taxes... I don't even do my own taxes! Oh well...

Some of these changes are just weird! The Majordomo won't like one of them at all!

[Fabulous Secret Powers]

Maribeh 20th, IY 7788

The circus was back in town, again... But... Turns out that I don't like propaganda in my circus shows! It was mostly really weird, and even the clown's jokes were stale... One of them made me hungry, I guess, but I don't know anyone who bakes carrot cake here! The only part of the show that I really liked was the fiery sword swallowing... Now that's a performance! I wonder if he gets indigestion... I certainly do, sometimes, when I eat the Hundred Chili Surprise down at the Souk! Which, come to think of it, isn't much of a surprise, because you know that there's a hundred chilies in it, and you know that it's a stew...

I guess the surprise is the stomach cramps that some folk get... But I'm built different! I just burp a lot!

Oh, and the assistant from Jance & Son's was really tall and really handsome, I wish I could marry someone as tall as that...

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Alejandro's plan to contact the Ayyabasim finally materialized, and I was so sad that he couldn't see it... Yet everyone did such a good job, which was no doubt enabled through his wondrous efforts! We had to find an actress at the very last moment, though... So, Mavé played one of the Ayyabasim. She was great! Now, the ritual involved with the mythical storytelling had a lot of steps, mostly involving weird plants and smoke and such, and it made me see a lot of weird stuff, like colors that I had never seen before...

And then, when we went to the Abayyas, things got even stranger during the performances! With Bruno and Dervish Bajica's act, the valley was filled with a mythical storm, and the clang of metal, and a strange magickal shape surrounded the duo... It really felt like a battle that lasted for days and days!

And then, during my and Mavé's performance, there was rain! Actual rain! Well, it probably wasn't actual... But my tears, and Mavé's death, well, her fake death, and the deep pathos of the story, made mythical rain fall down from the skies... It sure felt real. And my tears certainly were! Because it was so sad... For someone to sacrifice themselves so that another can live... Even if they just met! Oh, it almost makes me cry, right now!

Well, it did make me cry... Just a little...

I really got into my role, otherwise, too... I kind of found myself at the fortress there, in a daze... And then an ash storm started! It was a most biting, hellish storm, and it stung so bad, and my eyes and my throat, really, my everything, still ache today...

And then, atop the hill... One of the Ayyabasim! He yelled at us in a strange language... Words that were utterly foreign to me, and I think pretty much everyone else, too... Maybe Zol Nur understood a few words... I'm not sure. After yelling, and lifting his blade aloft towards the skies, he disappeared into the ash, and we had to run all the way back to the Cave of Kula, in the middle of one of the harshest storms that I've ever seen... or felt...

So, the attempt to contact them was succesful! However, I'm not sure if we managed to gain an ally out of it... It's so difficult to discern the Ayyabasim... Their mannerisms are already really odd, but the masks don't help at all, either! But... I think Alejandro would've been proud of our efforts... I'm sure of it!

Oh, and I found my tailoring kit! It was under one of the beds at the office!

[Fabulous Secret Powers]

Maribeh 21st, IY 7788

Argent won the election... And as their first action, the monochromatic Gold proceeded to create a bunch of new governmental positions, and nominate a bunch of folk into them... Now, there's the Palatial Pâtissier, the Palatial Pedicurist, and the Palatial Prick! All positions of tremendous importance, and surely filled with people who will actually do their job, instead of just collecting the dinar while pretending to do so!

Oh, and Balstan made someone who absolutely despises me, for some reason, the Vizier, for some reason. I think he might despise me too! I don't know... A bunch of people that I barely talk to seem to hate me a whole lot... I don't really get it... I guess I'm an acquired taste... Anyhow... I don't care that much, because that position was thoroughly cursed! I kind of expect him to magickally not have any of the issues that I had, though, because that's just the kind of luck I'm dealing with, regarding politickry...

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If I was half as lucky with such things as I am with Royal Dragon, I'd have gotten out of here a long time ago! Double Royal Dragons, right after each other... If I only could get that with my career!

I just hope that they don't make someone who isn't even a Scribe the Seamster Scribe, instead of me... If they'd be that cruel, I'd probably have a heart attack, and my heart's actually pretty healthy... I think so, anyhow, at least my doctor, Vijaya Bollimunta, says so!

I really don't want to consider worst-case scenarios, but lately, there hasn't been much else... Making contact with the Ayyabasim was relatively positive in comparison. I don't know... Coming to work feels far worse than actually doing the labor, because I keep fearing the worst. I wish that I'd have some proper motivation...

[Fabulous Secret Powers]

Maribeh 22nd, IY 7788

They're coming for my home... again... and this time I might lose it, for good...

It's for the vaguest of reasons, too. Not enough "meetings and gatherings"...? It's a home... I invite friends around when I can, but everyone's so busy, most of the time. And, well... Most of them are dead. There's that, too...

There's a certain blatant cruelty to all of this, too. I effectively have to audit my own home, or have Rur Nok do it. "Hello, Junior Scribe, would you like to make me lose my home?"

It's such bullshit... I don't even know what I work for, anymore, if they can just tell me that I'm losing my home. The home that I worked so hard for to afford, for all those months... The home that I spent months furnishing... I can't quit, either. Stupid small print... I really don't know what I'm doing, or should do. We'll effectively be out on the street, because I am not moving back to a room in an inn where I can easily get kidnapped by whatever cannibalistic Recluta that they happened to hire this week...

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EVEN I, INKY THE IMPETUOUS, AND TONKA, BOTHERATION OF PARTICULAR MOMENTS, ARE DISTRAUGHT BY THIS DIRE NEWS. WHERE SHALL I READ? WHERE SHALL SHE BE A STRANGELY COMPELLING BOTHERATION?

Well, I do work out of here, occasionally... And the tailoring business is effectively headquartered here, because I can design here, in peace and quiet. But I don't think that'll be enough... They'll probably point out that I don't have mannequins, or something. I don't know where to buy those... If I did, I would get some immediately...

Why am I working, if they can just take everything that I get out of it away, with a mere utterance...? I hate this... And I do mean hate... And if the contract wasn't full of particular clauses, I'd quit, immediately, at this very moment.

[Fabulous Secret Powers]

Maribeh 23rd, IY 7788

I think turning my home into a workshop... studio... whichever... might have worked, at least for now. I was going to expand the business at some point, anyhow, and I already had my sketching canvas and armoire for the latest designs... So, I just had to buy a craft table, and another mirror! I was using the mirror in my bedroom, before, but I kind of had to walk back and forth a lot, and I can't have a bedroom without a mirror...

I'm kind of glad Aaisha took the auditing assignment... But I also feel a little sorry for her. One of those tasks that'll make someone angry, no matter what you do. My own assignment is much more pleasant, though... All that business talk from Balstan kind of confused me, however. If my fashion line ends up being popular across the Desert, I do hope that the cut that I get is actually good...

Then again, he didn't write anything formal, so, if he doesn't get re-elected, then I'm not sure how any of this works!

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I did finally find a color that fits the "Spice of Life" perfectly! So, I have at least one finished design... out of three or five. And I have to organize a fashion show, now... But I don't really like it when the focus is all on me, I want other designers to get a chance, too... So, I'll probably invite them to submit work, too! If Balstan has an issue with that, then he's just weird, because fashion is for everyone, and, so, everyone should get a chance to try their hand at design!

I really love my new craft table... And so does Tonka. She keeps taking naps on it! And on top of my tools! It's cute, but kind of annoying... Inky just kind of... stares... Inky doesn't have eyes, but they do direct their... head... at my work, obviously curious of my fancy designs!

MY PERFECTED SENSES HAVE NO NEED OF SUCH LIMITED ORGANS. YET, INDEED, I AM MOST DISQUISITIVE. THE ART OF CREATION IS SUPREME. TO GRASP AT THE REALM OF NASCENCY, TO BRING FORTH SOMETHING THAT DID NOT YET EXIST... THAT IS TRUE POWER, TRUE KNOWLEDGE. YOU ARE A POWERFUL SOUL, BASHIR OF KHATARA.

Oh, that's so sweet of you to say!

Do you want some socks?

[Fabulous Secret Powers]

Maribeh 24th, IY 7788

Cogsworth is the first customer of my studio... And what a peculiar request he had! He wants a wizardly suit, with an exyskeleton! I don't really like working with metal, but I guess I can weave that inside the suit... Also, he wants a clock incorporated, somehow... Can't he just have a pocket watch...? Wizards are so weird! Anyhow, I don't understand exyskeletons! Why not just call them... sheet armor... or something...? Then again, I don't understand any skeletons, I call every bone according to where it's attached... Like the shoulder bones!

NO OSSEIN CAN GUARD ONE'S SOUL. PERSONAGES SHOULD APPLY VARIOUS SPELLBOUND TANNIC ACIDS UPON THEIR MATERIAL FORM, TO TRULY SHELTER THAT WHICH IS ACTUALLY IMPORTANT.

I don't think that'd protect me or any other "personage" from getting shanked! I also don't understand how that protects your soul...?

SIMPLY APPLY THE TANNIC ACIDS ACCORDING TO MY INSTRUCTIONS, BASHIR OF KHATARA! PRESERVE YOUR QUINTESSENCE UNDER A THICK LAYER OF GALL EXPULSIONS!

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No! That's so gross! Anyhow... I heard something about dwarves of Got Valdhazr...? They came for a visit...? I hope that nothing bad happened to Got Valdhazr! That'd be simply terrible... And it would make the war far more difficult! I wish I knew more, but I don't, because me and Tonka were sleeping... I feel so safe with her... Well, Inky guards us, I suppose, since they don't sleep at all!

I SHALL SAFEGUARD YOU BOTH BY ADMINISTERING GALLIC EXTRAVASATIONS UPON YOUR MEAGRE MATERIAL FORMS WHILE YOU ARE ENGAGED IN THE RITUAL OF SLEEP!

No! You'll ruin Tonka's gloriously shiny coat!

[Fabulous Secret Powers]

Maribeh 25th, IY 7788

This time, there's a dwarven prince! But since most folk lied to me about the last one, I'm going to stay skeptical about his lineage, at least for a while... I don't want to look like a fool, if it turns out that he's actually a janitor, or something like that! But if he was a janitor, then he'd be easier to relate to... Royalty are so weird! I guess janitors can be weird, too, but with royalty, it's more likely, because of the seclusion from the rest of society, and such...

I suppose a janitor could be socially secluded, too, if they were in charge of maintaining some place that's really far away from everything else... And Got Valdhazr is pretty distant... He better not turn out to be a weirdo janitor!

Or a weirdo in general! I don't like weirdos!

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My second work order is from Shania! I already have a lot of ideas... It helps that the color scheme she wants is rather wide... Some folk just go "make it black", and that's really boring! And kind of dumb in a desert... I don't get why folk get so obsessed with a singular color, and don't ever try anything else! I like orange a whole lot, but I don't wear just it! I wear every color... Well, I guess there's some shades of blue and brown that I absolutely can't stand. Some real ugly greens, too...

Anyhow, it's good to already have so much work! Though I'm worried that I might get too many orders! I hope that doesn't happen, I don't want to disappoint people... I think I do that too often... Or maybe I'm just too focused on pleasing too many people? I just want to bring a little joy to people's lives! But you can't please everyone...

[Fabulous Secret Powers]

Maribeh 26th, IY 7788

It's so hot today! I just want to lay down and enjoy a refreshing mango drink... Which I am doing right now!

As refreshing and tasty as this is, I can't really get much work done... It's too hot... All I can think of is drinking, eating and sleeping...

Eating tasty treats... I might as well list the ten best tasty treats!

1. Pistachio knafeh!
2. Maamoul! With pistachio filling!
3. Qatayef... with pistachio!
4. Ranginak! Sprinkle those crushed pistachios all over them!
5. Tulumba with kaymak... and... pistachio!
6. Muhallebi... with cinnamon on top... and pistachio!
7. Um ali... with extra pistachios!
8. Sohan! Lose the almonds... pistachio only!
9. Bastani sonnati! This would be at the top, but I get a headache when I eat too much ice cream...
10. Katmer! I wish I had a husband to share it with...

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I eat so much pistachio that I could turn green!

Refreshing pistachio drink...?

There's menengiç coffee, but menengiç is just the dirty cousin of pistachio!

I'll allow it, still... It's tasty enough...

This heat is getting to me!

[Fabulous Secret Powers]

Maribeh 27th, IY 7788

I visited Harrowden again, with Zol Nur, Cogsworth, Elara, and Welly! It was raining, like always... A horrid, stolid rain, that didn't feel refreshing at all! I hated it! I hated it! Also, I'm pretty sure it's acidic, so, you really shouldn't stay outside too much there... I fear for my parasol! Enough visits to Harrowden, and it won't be pink anymore...

Anyhow, there's a lot of mysteries surrounding Harrowden... Supposedly... I think it's just a weird town, full of weirdos! There's nothing to eat, or to drink... Well, there is, but it's all gross garbage, that you shouldn't eat anyhow, because there's probably a curse, or something. Would explain why everyone's so damn depressed and why the town looks like an autumnal upchucking!

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I do like the church, though... It is full of gravitas! I don't know the exact meaning of gravitas, but it is the word that comes to mind, foremost of all... It isn't related to gravy, I learned that the hard way... It really is gravitas, not gravytas... Also, weird comes to mind before it, but like I said, everything's weird around there, so that wouldn't really be special, at all. I also found a grail! Or a cup! Well, Elara found it first... I found it later...

Anyhow, Cogsworth took a nap in the church! I couldn't sleep there, myself, I'd probably have nightmares, or feel really guilty, or I'd be kidnapped by a cult of strange fishermen, or something like that, I hear stuff like that happens in towns like Harrowden!

I hope Cogsworth wasn't kidnapped by a cult of strange fishermen!

Also, Welly transformed into a little boy, so that he could talk to a crazy ol' geezer! I don't get it!

[Fabulous Secret Powers]

Maribeh 28th, IY 7788

Eclair thought that thimbles are meant to be used as tiny flower pots, for tiny little flowers... That's like, so weird! I don't know where she got that idea from! It doesn't make any sense! The seed would have to be really tiny... Especially for halfling-sized thimbles! And then you'd have to move the sprout, anyhow, within like a few days, at most! It's complete nonsense!

Though I would like some really tiny plants... It does sound cute! But you'd also need a really tiny watering can to water them all efficiently... Which sounds even cuter! Maybe I should get some tiny little plants, and a tiny watering can, and have Inky water them!

I HAVE NO INTEREST IN WATERING YOUR PLANTS OF DIMUNITIVE SIZE!

Aww! Well, you could make yourself useful, every now and then, at least, since we're roommates...

I AM CONSTANTLY ADDING MARGINALIA TO YOUR DEFICIENT SCRIPTS! WITHOUT MY IMPORTANT ADDITIONS, THEY WOULD BE COMPLETELY INCOMPLETE!

Oh yeah! You do! Anyhow...

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Lots of folk think that I'm an ashfolk, still... It's that Ephian color blindness, I guess. Everyone looks gray to them! Though I still don't have glassy eyes! My eyes are a gorgeous brown! Not that ashfolk can't have pretty eyes... Zain's are very cute! Is it my constant acts of charity that fool people...? That must be it! Though I don't think knitting socks for people in need is really an ashfolk tradition...

No ashfolk makes that mistake, though! Which is a shame... I could probably get citizenship papers to Baz'eel that way! But then... There'd be a bunch of really difficult questions, on a constant basis, and people'd probably catch on... Like, they'd immediately ask me what the frequency for the Scribal bellows is! I don't know! I wish we had that here... Instead we have only have one shitty frequency that's mostly just folk yelling at each other! It's awful!