Our travels back to the oasis were a quiet ordeal. I started teaching Draconic to those of my friends who wished to learn. Tristan took up a keen interest in learning and was quick to pick up on the language. Despite trying to hide it, he seemed at least somewhat familiar with the language, either that, or he is the quickest learner of a new language I have ever met. 

One night, after teaching, Tristan pulled me aside and gave me some interesting information. While he requested I not write it down, nor would I in my non-secret journal, I so want to write about it. Speaking of things I was requested not to write down, Altan also requested I not write down some of the things I discussed with him… No one trusts my secret journal! Well, if anything, I am a Tortle of my word.

We made it back to the Pumaango Oasis. Most of us found rest that night. Rainer went to speak with Tondoth. Tethis asked Tristan to help guard them on their way north. Tethis, understandably, needs some time, he has lost most everything, including many friends; the desert is an unforgiving place. While saying goodbye to them, I got the distinct feeling we would encounter them again sometime later in our travels. I hope so; they are good people.

In the morning, Rainer seemed very out of it. Asar helped him out with a spell I had just received from Uzeumaar, Lesser Restoration. If she hadn’t helped him, I was going to. He looked like beetle dung. Seeing as my friends were taking their time to prepare for the day, I decided to head out and do some errands. 

I picked up some rations myself and my friends, as I was sure we would be traveling to lands untold! I also stopped by Tondoth’s to see if I could get one of the Dragon teeth turned into a dagger. It cost me most of the teeth and 50 gold upon competition. I did not have 50 gold and would need to find a way to come up with that sum. 

Returning to the tavern I saw Asar helping to wash up Rainer, she is so kind to make sure he is taken care of. I brought them their stack of rations and headed into the tavern to disperse the rest of the goods. As much as I like salted fish and dry flat bread, I could really use some raptor eggs now and again. 

We talked of our plans to continue traveling together, our next goal of finding Mossy’s crew. Tristan revealed he had troubles in the past that might catch up to him… He paid me 10 gold not to write those troubles down… If this keeps happening, I am going to have to revise how I handle secrets… maybe an extra secret book with an even more confounding cipher! With traps that can poison people who open it without the key, maybe even a spell to trigger when a passcode is not spoken! Now this is a great idea!

After our discussions, I tried selling a spell to the bartender, Continual Flame, I had cast that on my lantern. When doing so, it seemed to take more energy than normal and left me feeling weak, I believe I was missing a component. When I cast it again for the bartender, it was like I had nothing left. I should definitely make sure I have all the components next time I try to cast a spell. I have a feeling  Uzeumaar will strike me down If I keep skirting the rules.

In the vein of making money, I ran some more errands with Arden. I was surprised at how much gold Arden had, now it seems he has none. We then went to the herbalist so I could sell the rest of the scorpion venom to earn enough gold for the dagger. The transaction went smoothly and the herbalist is such a sweet lady. She basically asked Arden out on a date and I think they could have had an enjoyable time, but I noticed Arden did not seem keen on the idea. At that point everything kinda becomes blurred. Arden was saying something about me not wanting to leave his side, and me, wanting to help a friend out I kinda just said what came to mind. Something along the lines of “Till death do us part”, a very common phrase for people who get married. That obviously implied Arden and I are romantically involved, which was effective in helping Arden avoid a date with the herbalist. To sell it all, Arden took my arm in his and held it all the way back to the inn. 

It was a moment. Not a bad moment I suppose, but I am not inclined for any relationships at this time, it’s just not the tortle way. We live heavily by instinct. I’m sure in my later years, the drive to raise a family will cause me to seek a mate, as is common with tortles, and then I will die a peaceful death having brought up my own brood and taught them all they need to survive by the age of one. 
In our efforts to find a clue to where Mossy’s crew might be, we decided to see if we could get any information from the Zujiri Distribution. Before we tried any of our plans, I wanted to cast a spell called Augury, which could help us decide if our course of action would be a success or failure. To do so I needed a moment to regain my energies. While doing so, Altan decided to take it upon himself to investigate. He did an amazing job and got some info we could act upon. It was time to head to Nalyia.