Shireroth

22 Fishday, Ikolstyme 3614 ASC
(Vijayanagara)

After six long months at sea I was most heartily relieved to set foot once more on dry land. Babkhan seamanship leaves almost as much to be desired as Babkhan conviviality and Babkhan conversation. They say that Vijayanagara was founded as a port for Babkhan migrants who arrived in Elwynn in comparatively ancient times to exploit the interior of the continent. They also say that the city was overrun by seven foot tall giant spiders. I am pleased to say that I saw scant sign of either upon my disembarkation.

The city has not recovered much yet from the fearsome devastation that was visited upon it by the notorious Khan in 3597 ASC. Truly seventeen years have passed but still entire streets and city blocks remain eerily ruined and rubble strewn scenes of the utmost dereliction that can scarcely be imagined. It was not, as far as one can gather, the impact of the Ikol itself that did for the city but rather the conflagration it unleashed in its wake. With no semblance of public order in the strife torn city and indeed with many of my brother mages being heavily involved in evacuating as many civilians as could be laid hands upon it is not to be wondered at that there was no one present to man the pumps and so the fires triggered around the impact crater, which is now a pond of stagnant water, quickly turned, under an ill-favourable wind, into a perfect firestorm.

The signs of recovery are here of course; the docks where I disembarked from the Babkhan tramp-steamer (Sakat knows not only the design of that ship but the ship itself could easily be 1000 years old) was home to certain warehouses. Hotels and hostels for travellers, sailors and merchants also abound, but there is no way that this once great city is anything like the jewel in the crown of Nordland that it once was.

I am starting to regret the choice of Manderville-Strange as an alias, not that there is anything intrinsically wrong with the near genuine Bosworthian passport I bought from a gentleman in Newport or my ability as a consummate actor, but it does become wearyingly tedious when Shirerithian I encounter feels the need to mention the War of Jeremy's Nose in a wink wink, nudge nudge, don't mention the war kind of way. Normally I would share in their merriment but the onus is on me to remain in character and be indignant at every turn. I must confess that being consistently so is incredibly wearying. So much so that I know not how Jeremy ever endured it.

Would that this deception need not be necessary but alas I heard continual reports that certain authorities in Elwynn are uniformly hostile to practitioners of the noble arts of magic. The disguise seems to be holding, even local law enforcement treats me with a level of respect and almost deference that run contrary to almost everything anyone knows about the conduct of such officers in this duchy. Perhaps they just recognise one's innate superiority of character.

My stay in Vijayanagara will, of necessity, be brief, but a mere two nights at the Mango Hotel (not perhaps a particularly original or appropriate name but nonetheless it is the only one in town with even a three star review), which should be time enough to organise ones travel arrangements for the journey south. The assignment is necessarily vague and its outcome doubtful but the temptations are so great because the rewards promise to be beyond reckoning. It could easily be the scoop of the decade, the century even if it were true. A necromancer, alive and active on Mount Balor - this is just too good an opportunity to pass up.

23 Arisday, Ikolstyme 3614 ASC
(Vijayanagara)

Spent the morning killing cockroaches in my room, they were large enough to be Ohl'tar themselves! Concierge seemed completely unconcerned. Service here is a disgrace.

Travel arrangements not going well. Difficult to find a guide and porters willing to risk the Cudgellers on the roads past Eliria. Have wired Almanac for more erb. Hope this will provide sufficient incentive. A bit stuffed otherwise. Not fancying a journey through the Khan's realm on my own. Safety in numbers is considered advisable. Even the guidebook says so. There are times when I wish that I had studied a bit harder on the teleportation and concealment modules. Oh well, it was the guild's loss that it did not recognise my incipient genius at the time.

Spent the afternoon wandering the ruins. Visited a bombed out street near what was once a Butter Temple. A street urchin tried to induce me into buying what he claimed was a part of the engine from the Ikol's ramjet, the part that would have been involved in the warhead's terminal descent onto target. It looked more like a smashed up rusty old boiler. I laughed and then slapped the child who ran away cursing me loudly between uncontrolled sobs. Still, you have to admire the entrepreneurial spirit that has risen up in the ashes here.

I saw an interesting piece of graffiti plastered on the side of a collapsed tenement building. It read:

Tod zu Ohl'tar
Tod zu Babki
Die Pandur Kommen

It is quite easy to understand why the human population of this town might harbour resentments towards the Ohl'tar and the Babki who considered it a bright notion to destroy the place in order to save it. But I wonder who the Pandur are.

24 Homersday, Ikolstyme 3614 ASC
(Vijayanagara)

Delays bordering on the ridiculous. Absolutely no one is willing to help. Funds I have wired for have not yet arrived. At this rate funds will be exhausted by Morsday.

Still on the upside there is rumoured to be a caravan from Echo City arriving in town on Hasanday. Echo City is a cudgeller free zone. If I travel there and then negotiate a fee for a river crossing.

In other good news I've learnt of an orphanage which accepts dead animal matter... any dead animal matter... in order to bulk up the contents of the stews it doles out to the unfortunate youth. As I have managed to accumulate a small sack-load of all manner of bugs from cockroaches, to something that, for all I know, could quite possibly be an Ohl'tar spawn, I have a feeling that this could be an advantageous trade.

25 Gahgday, Ikolstyme 3614 ASC
(Vijayanagara)

Bugger. It would seem I won't be joining the caravan on Hasanday after all. I only got three erb for the bag of bugs and, worst still, I appear to have been drafted onto a MoMA led County Urban Normalisation Team... I seriously hope that they aren't fond of using acronyms otherwise someone really should tell them...

This team apparently moved into the town on Fishday same as myself, curious though that this is the first that I had heard of them. They have taken over the orphanage and moved the children off to another facility further in land. They seem to have retained the same kitchen staff who did the trade with me earlier in the day (Indeed I was only collared by this outfit after I made the mistake of leaving by the main entrance than through the staff gate) so I can only hope that they have not been in a position to inspect their evening meal too closely.

They are here to repair the quite extensive damage caused by the suppression of the Ohl'tar. Given they are seventeen years late this explanation might possibly stretch ones credulity. They have quartered me with other conscripted dregs in a mess tent. I have had no time to head over to the hotel to gather my effects, indeed by the look of these military types they would probably refuse any such request.

Oh and I am Kehl’Jat again now. I was hauled in front of a foul-mouthed Sergeant, probably seconded from the Elwynnbrigaden - a fierce looking Babki if ever I saw one - who barked a series of rapid fire questions at me and I did not have time to gather my wits about me and use my alias.

This whole adventure is becoming a bit of a write off. I must try and communicate with the Almanac at the first available opportunity otherwise the next thing I can expect to receive from them is a severance notice.