Nightwind’s home

There is a very good reason I’ve opened again the doors of the Wander’s Inn. That reason is to redeem my name, after passing the test of time … that contest one mu participate against oneself. Old Binh Silversword once told me that this is the only test worth taking, the only one that must essentially be won. Ever since I left the Inn to take up arms for Deforest’s company, I bore in my mind these words.

What does one have in life except for himself? Just that which one creates, that which one puts together with passion and patience. I learned that the hard way, as those which I cared went away … or even died. My beloved wife paid my mistakes with her life, because I was too much of a fool to realize that in a family mistakes are shared, and so are the consequences. What do I treasure most now? This is an answer I must tend to.

The Inn still feels like home. The demoness Gitana is unchanged, which as scary as it might sound, it’s quite comforting. Families have grown, some people have scattered to the four winds but those I trust are here. Blackthorne now has a family, Malakar too. They have built a name for themselves, aside for the Families which they deal for. Mareena and her sister, Deforest, Straven and Stravia, even the Arondia’s though Zoe is the only one I saw so far. She’s grown and matured a lot since I last saw her. I wonder how Mac fares. Not too bad I imagine.

But my time here has started not so good. Mari has asked a few of us to end deals with a group of dragonhunters that had gathered near the Golden City of Ciannin. It took us a while to get the recommendation to use in order to infiltrate their group but when push came to shove we manage to destroy all of Mari’s efforts to get us close.

The actual fact does not bother me. What does is the inability to recover, even in a group, and turn things around. Perhaps if I had been more skilled in the works of magic, I could’ve seen through the trap much faster and better. The impatience of our Braedon and Dark Matter alerted the hunters, mistakes that continue with my own, who, upon discovering the leader was in fact a decoy of a golem, didn’t consider necessary to follow the hunter thinking it was just a test of trust. Well, it was, but not the kind I anticipated.

They escaped and in a last desperate attempt I called lady Helena Payne, asking her to have guards alerted on her domain and that of House Rage, those that seemed likely to be used as poaching grounds. She seems rather unmoved by the events, understandable given her statute but she did help us with forging a new plan. Lady Ria helped us too, as much as she was allowed to, however I am uneasy at calling in too many favors. Of course we could ask Iscah and Lithandry or even Malakar and Deforest … I could even call upon my contacts within De’s scouts, but what bothers me is that this was to a good extent my botch and I prefer to handle it personally.

For now all we can do is wait. The move is in their court. The city of Ciannin was alerted and is unlikely they will return there. But the others are still much dormant in this regard and they will be compelled to act there. When they will, we will know.