Found:
I must be getting old! I actually dozed off in the afternoon which is terribly unlike me. The morning had not been terribly onorous, so I've no clue why I would do such a thing. Boredom, perhaps?
Regardless, my light slumber was disturbed by Rahvic, who sought me for further advice on the matter of the basement-dwelling manipulator. It seems that her release was not actually desired by her. Indeed, she first tried to argue that Vanden would not like it, then that Rahvic has been not her jailor but guardian this past week, and then suggested that she has developed feelings for the man!
Now, I'll grant that my little brother is not exactly hard on the eyes and his soft-hearted nature can be rather endearing, but I cannot help but think that she is toying with him for her own ends once again. Of course, stating this outright would have done little good - the man is easily charmed and she certainly seems to know how to wrap them around her... something, at least - so I instead advised him to watch and wait. In time, I hope, he'll discover her true purpose, but she's not likely to slip up easily and he's not the most... patient...
Ah, crap! He's going to be hip deep in her by the end of the week, isn't he?
I should have just told him to run.
My efforts in cookery of late have been... well, about as good as my efforts before. Disasterous for the most part. Thus I am now running short on supplies. To remedy this, I went into Bree to order more and there ran into Orduin again. He seemed in good spirits, which was nice enough to see and offered to make me a new cane. Having so recently been gifted the wonderful work of Balnirar, I was compelled to decline. As I was also compelled to decline his kind offer of other craft-gifts.
It is kind of him, of course, but utterly unnecessary. If he has a wish of company, he only need ask! I need not be bribed by anything more than the promise of good conversation.
To that end, I traveled with the man to visit his forge, which is conveniently located outside of his house. Truly, being within those walls brought back unpleasant memories of years gone by, but to be near the coals watching him work was a fine thing!
Another trip to Bree later in the day saw me once more within the halls of the tavern, and again without any wine! I am behaving myself as well as I might, as promised. This is probably for the best as Jostir and Balnirar were once again at odds when I entered. After some back and forth, they seemed to strike an accord, however, with Jostir promising to pay Zurri twice the coin he had gifted, although this was on pain of signing a contract with Balnirar stating such. For obvious reasons, my dwarven friend seems to have little trust for the quick-tongued bard.
Perhaps, in time, when the sting of stained bagpipes has lessened, he might even see his way to forgiving the man. Or, at least, tolerating him a little more. I'm not holding out much hope for this, of course.
Meanwhile, I almost managed to upset the lovely dwarf as well with some poorly chosen words that were subsequently misconstrued. I can only blame my prolonged lack of restful nights for this.
I need more sleep.
