. This Journal is a collection of private notes and thoughts written by Darnius Olophin, the self-prof essed Scholar For Hire. :: Day 1. :: I was busy reading some old scrolls at the library nearby the Cloud Temple yesterday. Apparently, or cs allegedly used to sacrifice humans to a god seperate from the Creator. Probably nothing to the st ory, but it is interesting as it is probably a very early ancient bigot’s ramblings…. :: Which unfortunately is something that still exists today, with even the guards of the city of Al’Kha zar not allowing an orc through the gates because he looked ‘shifty’. :: Then again, I didn’t do as I felt like doing, which was to sneak past the guard and open the gate, m ost likely at risk to my own life, but… Yeah, okay, that guard was too bow-happy. Bad idea. :: Perhaps we humans are inherently biased towards non-humans, or even perhaps just towards people that do not adhere to our ideals of a societal norm… But that, Journal, is a tale to be published in a research document to the University. :: I’ve currently been sleeping in a traveller’s lodge between Laurelin and Al’Khazar, a rather grim pl ace, but it at least free, with some scraps of food to bolster strength. I’m planning to go on another tour of Aegis again, see if the great libraries have anything new to c opy to my collection. :: There’s rumours of another war between the dwarves and the humans again. I hope not. It’ll mean old F’hreadoak The Red-Skinned won’t be able to show me the mining guides in the dwarf libraries again. :: I’ll miss him, if it does come to a war. He used to call my beard obscenely short… For a human, it ‘s actually quite long. But then, I’m not a dwarf, so yeah. :: It has been odd lately. A lot of bookshops have been deserted… Has there been some epidemic utilis ing some disease hidden within a popular book? I hope not! :: I’m planning to go to the elflands in Laurelin. Although they creep me out slightly, the elves do ha ve the highest amount of magic users, and I am interested in that art. :: Note: Shortly after writing that, I found myself teleported to the orc city of Sanjezal. Luckily I w as holding my journal. My soulstone didn’t work right away, but a dwarf offered to charge it for me, using his own stone’s energies. :: Day 2. :: I spend the day on the road. Was ambushed by another undead mage. He cast a lightning spell at me, b ut I narrowly dodged it, ran away, and hid in a ditch. I do have a bow, but I’m not very good with it… Also, arrows have been getting expensive lately. : : Slept in one of the old thieves’ caves. They were once used to store various stolen goods back in th e 1100s, but these days they’re just used as places to rest in emergencies. Maybe when I get to Laurelin I’ll chat to some elven fortunetellers about that weird dream about a r ed pants-wearing mouse-like creature, laughing. :: Day 3 :: Woke up with a wild dog licking my face. I seem to have a tendency to meet the most gross creatures. It w as too well natured to be a wolf, but I had no treats for it, so it just wnadered off. Shame. The Ol ophins did have a pack of dogs whenI was little. We used to use them to hunt beasts, fire an arrow at a creature, say a cow, and they’d all tear it t o shreds. We even trained them to tear out the precise chunks to make it easy for a tanner and leath erworker to make clothes out of. :: Laurelin is beautiful as ever. Ignore the slight snootiness from elves, and you soon feel like a wei ght has been taken off your back. A common misconception about elves is that they’re all magic users. This is not the case. Magic is p retty rare as an ability across all races of Aegis, it just so happens that elves train themselves f rom an early age to be receptive to magic even if they cannot use it. :: Elves do have some innate magic, even in the times when magic was gone from Aegis, called a Glimrach , or more commonly known as a Glamour. Basically, they project a field of magical energy which cause s them to look appealing to other races, especially humans. This may explain the recent rises in the births of half-elves since magic began to return when Iblee s’ minions opened the gates to allow it to exist again here. :: Day 4 :: So, apparently elvish drink is MUCH stronger than it tastes. Luckily, they do make reall y good pain relievers here, although I am suspicious of their ‘all natural ingredients’, for arsenic is natural, so… :: I’ve purchased a large map of Aegis while I was here. There’s a place called Besarn far to the East that I’ve never been to, I’m planning to head there soon. ::