Journal Entry #16

Osgood,

I don't know where to start or where to begin.  We had our meeting with the Parliment of Owls, and well, it has given me a lot to digest.  I am only going to relate what we "know", but once you read what transpired I am sure you will have no difficulty in imagining the myriad speculations regarding the nature of the universe and our place in it that took place.

I will attach the list of questions I intended on asking, although I did not get to all of them.  Let me start with the Marquis.  Little was actually know of him by the Owls, but another gentleman named Marwyn was there and had met the Marquis.  He also had no new information to reveal.

We did get some clarification of the Awakened.  They seem to have no commonalities among them other than the fact that they survived the end of the First World.  They could range from a squirrel to something like the Marquis.  It seems as though those things that were underground fared much better than those above ground.  It makes me wonder if there are extant bloodlines from Dwarves who were underground at the time of the apocalypse.  That might be a line of research worth our investigation.

An Owl named Oscarius has a theory that there is no "First" or "Second" world, but that it is a continuous time frame.  I think we have enough information to abandon that theory, but he also believes that the world is round, and if that is the case, I am curious to see how the concept of the Void fits into that theory.  The other thing Oscarius had to say was that when you summon something, like a dragon, per se, it does not enter in a shape that looks like the dragons we see in the Dragon Wastes.  These dragons are vibrant in color, have wings, and look considerably different than our dragons.  I wonder if it is possible for a species to change over time, losing certain attributes and gaining others as needed for their environment.  I guess something like a growing, or an adapting?  I should come up with a catchier term . . . natural determination?  Selection?  I don't know, but there might be something to this theory.

(If you can't tell, I am looking for material for my first book, which I want to start on as soon as I get back home)

We also learned that Mario is indeed in the south trying to raise an army.  And by raise I mean RAISE an army.   So we added that to the super heroic hero clubs list of things to do.  I suspect he might be using a Xinnian tomb system in the south that we learned about from Telmon.

Let's see what else . . .  I learned that my maternal grandfather was the person that Vespacitous modeled himself after.  So there is that.

OH!  Right.  So apparently there was a pantheon of Gods in the First World, among them names like Arglos, Omnos, Bruhlor, Ellicor, The Puppet King, The Shadow Entity, the Carrion King.  So now these entites are here (NOT as awakened) but in a limited capacity.  They want something, Osgood, I just can't see what yet.  I suspect it is the same thing Vespatious wanted.  We ride out with Marwyn tomorrow heading in your direction, and I am hoping to quiz him a little more.  I am also getting the feeling that we are starting to play a much bigger part in this than I imagined.

Almost as soon as we left Halvenspring, we were visited by representatives of these entities.  The first being the Puppet thing in the woods, asking for the box.  I think we did, or took, or started something in that tower, and the fact we were in Halvenspring kept them from being able to find us.  Now that we are away from the protection of the spring, we seem to be being tracked and watched.  I wonder if perhaps this book box has a larger capacity than I previously thought.  I have never tried to pull books off ANOTHER shelf before.  We should play with this idea when I get home.

Let's see, I feel like I am leaving something out . . . Oh, I petitioned to become an Owl, and was accepted.  As a matter of fact, I might be, outside of Ilmar's university, a foremost authority on First World knowledge.  That just shows how little we know!  Speaking of Illmar's university, apparently they are trying to prevent First World knowledge from getting out.  I wonder if they are trying to keep certain facts/destinations of importance out of the wrong hands, or if their agenda is more nefarious.

Marwyn did tell us that the Bishop of the Choval Empoire has declared himself a sort of supreme pontiff and is forcing conversions to his brand of Omniamism.  He has taken control of that regioin, and looks to start a full court press (hoopball term) into bordering regions.  That can't be good, and I know Frumious will want to make that a top priority. 

Oh, I am not a human.  That was the thing I was forgetting.  NOT A HUMAN.  Apparently, the Xinnians were human, but we are not.  So, I don't know what in the hell to do with that, but the group's plan is to go home, take care of things, and then sail west looking for answers.  I don't even know what to say about this last point.  So I am going to leave it there.  Goodnight, and hopefully we can set eyes upon one another in a little over a week's time.

Grigor