Captain Vance’s time estimate seems to be relatively accurate so far. We have managed to get to the violet forest in three weeks. The journey here was fairly uneventful. Bumped into some weird travelling monks from ‘The Church of Laezel,’ which is a god that I have never heard of before. Apparently, they worship her to the south. They are trying to spread her word throughout the land, doing charitable stuff and the like… helping the sick and needy, etc. Which is a good way to spread the word really… people talk of those that saved them quite often.

  Phoenix did have to talk some adventurers out of trying to rescue her, Tadwick, and Kiyui at one point. Luckily, there don’t seem to be many adventuring parties in this area at the moment, otherwise that kind of thing would probably occur daily.

  Bandits don’t seem to be bothering us… probably due to the sight of Damecus and Nomius… and Nomius seems to be killing off most of the predators before they even get near us. We have way more meat than we need. So, we have been eating pretty well. Damecus even cooked some fried watermelon for us once. All he used was butter to fry it in and a bit of salt and pepper for seasoning. It had a strange texture… significantly chewier than the normal watermelon… almost like undercooked fish… I’m not really selling this very well, but it was actually surprisingly pleasant.

  Damecus seems to be much better now. His rage seems to have diminished. I’m not sure if he just got it out of his system by killing all of those rats on the ship or whether he took my advice. I have seen him talking to Phoenix on a few occasions. The conversations looked to be quite serious. But those two often look serious, so I may just be reading into things too much. Nomius appeared to get over his rage significantly quicker than Damecus… or maybe he’s just better at hiding it.

  The temperature has certainly been drastically different on this side of the sea. Not only has Tadwick actually kept his clothes on, but even the lizardmen have resorted to covering up. Not entirely, obviously… but they have more on than just loin clothes now. Of course, we didn’t have any clothes that fit them initially… and nowhere around here sells anything of their size.

  The third village that we came to had recently been attacked by the Viridian clan. They had managed to kill a warrior and a shaman so we managed to buy their attire from them. Damecus took the warrior’s armour… which still left quite a lot of his scales bare… but it did cover most of his trunk and protected his legs somewhat.

  Nomius was not a fan of the shaman’s black robe. He has torn the arms off it because he likes having his arms exposed. He has also ripped open the front all the way down the centre… so now it is more like a long black coat. He has also bought a wide brimmed black leather hat… not sure why… he bought a matching one for Tadwick… although it is too big for Tadwick at the moment, so Tadwick normally wears the string around his neck so the hat sits on his shoulders. It is kind of sweet that they match. He also bought Tadwick a shirt that actually fits him… which is an improvement… as well as a little belt with a bag on it for Tadwick to keep his own things in… so far it is mostly full of rocks that he claims are “cool.”

  I think Nomius seems to be enjoying himself… seeing a whole new continent seems to be amusing to him. When I was on his continent, I was mostly just terrified that I’d end up brutally murdered or kill myself by eating the wrong thing. But he’s having a great time… which is really making Tadwick smile.

  When it comes to shopping, I have been enquiring about that pistol thing that captain Vance had… nobody round here seems to have heard of them. I suppose, if she got it from a halfling, then maybe they can only be found in halfling territory. Which is a shame… I really want one of those…. And the nearest Halfling town is way way way to the north, on the complete other side of the Equine Kingdom. I doubt I will have cause to head in that direction any time soon.

  I am really glad that I have been able to have some alone time with Kiyui for the first time since we got to the Hitaro jungle. Tadwick is still sharing a tent with us, but now nobody else is. So, once Tadwick is asleep we can talk openly… as well as other things.

  Kissing isn’t freaking me out as much as it did before. I’m no longer paralysed with fear and I have started to move my tongue a bit. I am pretty sure that I am still awful at it… but at least I feel like I am actively involved now. I still don’t last long… at all… when it comes to being touched… down there… but Kiyui keeps reassuring me that that is common for first timers and stamina will build with time.

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  Not everything has been focussed on that kind of thing though… we have talked a lot about the journey ahead. Poor thing is absolutely terrified of being seen by his people when we pass through the Violet Forest. I suggested that we talk to everybody and explain why. If they accepted me then I’m sure they would understand. He says he can’t bear the idea of them knowing. I did suggest we alter some details to make events a bit more palatable, but he doesn’t want to lie to them either. So, it looks like we are going to continue this path while he is killing himself on the inside… which I hate. Not being able to help him makes me feel physically sick… I find it truly horrible.

  Crippling emotional issues aside… the only real issue that we have had so far during our travels is to do with the fact that whenever we first arrive in any given village, they always assume we are there for some dubious purpose. What with our party having two lizardmen, a goblin and well… Flora doesn’t exactly look friendly. We are normally met with pitchforks. Then we have to send Phoenix & Kiyui in to calm everyone down.

  We have had that issue less recently though. Nomius has taken to walking into villages with Tadwick on his shoulders, smiling. I think those two looking so friendly with each other puts people at ease somewhat… I hate to admit it, but the fact that they have matching hats also probably helps. It tells people that they have a history together and that he hasn’t just abducted a poor innocent child to eat later. Flora walking into their farms and healing any of their dying crops also did a lot to help us win favour.

  The humans in the villages seem to be getting paler the further west that we travel. Which lends credence to my geographical theory. Maybe it has something to do with the sunlight. Phoenix, Tadwick & Kiyui all have very pale skin… and the weather is awful 70% of the time where we come from. Whereas to the east I felt like I was going to die of heat stroke most days. Even when we were in the marshlands. Fuck, that place was awful… it was moist heat… normally when the sun is out you get that dry heat that is warm but not massively unpleasant… but gods… the marshlands… they were just so… sweaty… I just could not get cool there… at all. Sorry… my thoughts are spiralling again.

  We arrived in the Violet Forest earlier today. We entered to the south of Purresia. Kiyui has been very close to Nomius since we arrived here. He has given Nomius strict instructions to turn him invisible should any felines approach. Bless him… he looks so nervous about being back here.

  We have set up camp for the night, Nomius is teaching Tadwick and Kiyui how to skin a rabbit, Phoenix is carving something again, Damecus is cooking a stew and Flora is caressing a tree near the camp… she is seriously weird.

  Flora: “Why… does this forest…. glow?”

  Damecus: “That is something that I would very much like to find out. I have never seen a forest like this before.”

  Flora: “Should be green… instead… violet… why?”

  Kiyui: “It has always been like this. Certainly, since way before I was born.”

  Flora: “Hmm…”

  Dwynfel: “Phoenix…”

  Phoenix: “Yes?”

  Dwynfel: “I thought you had already finished your carving of Nomius & Tadwick.”

  Tadwick: “She has, look!”

  Tadwick bounded over and pulled the carving out of what he has named his belly bag.

  Tadwick: “Look how cool it is! He even has little axes!”

  Phoenix: “You will have to paint it when you get back.”

  Tadwick: “Oh, I will, I definitely will, it’s so cool, I’m gonna keep it forever and ever….”

  It is certainly very detailed. She has got very good.

  Dwynfel: “So, why are you making a second one?”

  Phoenix: “The first was for Tadwick. The second will go with the rest.”

  Dwynfel: “You must have quite the collection by now.”

  Phoenix: “I have certainly carved many over the years.”

  Dwynfel: “Did somebody teach you…”

  Flora: “Quiet.”

  Dwynfel: “Huh?”

  Flora: “Something… nearby.”

  Kiyui: “Probably just a boar, this forest has always been full of them.”

  Flora: “Not boar… something… unnatural…”

  Kiyui: “Don’t be silly, this forest has always been totally safe. I used to camp here when I was a kid.”

  Somehow, I doubt she is being silly… I don’t think she is capable of it.

  Dwynfel: “What do you mean by unnatural?”

  Flora slowly moved down to the floor… she removed two of her gloves, placed one hand on the tree and the other ungloved hand on the floor. She tilted her head and made some strange croaky noises. Suddenly she stood upright again.

  Flora: “Damecus… above.”

  Damecus looked up and suddenly a winged creature dived down on him out of the trees above. It bit right into his neck before he was able to get hold of it and throw it to the ground.

  Kiyui: “What is that thing?”

  Damecus clutched his neck, it was bleeding heavily. He picked up his club from the ground with his other hand. The creature stood up in front of him. It matched him in height. It was a truly ugly creature. It had grey, crusty skin… absolutely huge wings, vicious claws on both its hands and feet… and its face looked like that of a rabid bat, complete with the drool.

  Damecus: “Vampyre.”