the story continues

i as still digesting the events of the previous battle and the last few months of captivity.

we spent months in chains and picking turnips and being in bad shape all in the hands of the titus vaul , then leather head mike rescued us and was killed soon after in the strangest battle i head ever seen and again it was just us. now that we were free once more , thought still in Titus vaul controlled territory, we spoke often of revenge. a few days after clang sea whiskers left us in search of his family heirloom , leaving me with Artemis the rouge. in town we met up with shana kai , we told her the sad news about leather head mike and she was saddend. we spent the next few days recuperating and i was frantically rewriting my spell books. being without it for some months felt awkward, stripped of my power, it is back now. but i am still so weak compared to others we have encountered on the way, i need to be stronger, much stronger. recent ordeal have made me stronger, i have new capabilities now, but i am too far from where i should be.  

losing sea whiskers is a blow, he was a capable fighter. lucky artemis brother destin was also freed by leather head months before and he was waiting fir us with shana kai. he is also a big guy that i can use as a shield. well , destin will have to be my shield now. i cant seem to retain my body guards. 

as we consider revenge options and wait for our ship to be ready and return us to the sea dragon, we discuss striking a slave revolution, raiding Titus vaul supporters and some other random acts of violence. in the end we decide on something creative. we get barrels of oil and load our ship, we also leave some at critical places on the docks. i also added grease at on the docks just before we leave. the ship sails and we simpy lit the docs on fire, it was beautiful. the wind was blowing in the right directions and 8 schooners of the titus vaul were burned. this is not a decisive blow in the war but without a doubt a painful blow and revenge is sweet. but we were not over yet, we left a note from the spectral hand, made up name that revenge is coming and we blamed Ragnar, the general who betrayed us months ago and led to us captivity , we need to close the score with him.

after a few days the sea dragon met up with us and we retold the story of our captivity and rescue. the captain stasha gave us our share finally after delivering the helmet to Ivan months before. with the new fortune, i replenished my spell book and felt stronger then before, but still i lost the amazing device that allowed me to store many spell, that was invaluable. we sailed with the sea dragon for a few days and reach the town of <add town name> and went with Stash to meet Ivan.

Ivan who discarded the help, who was behind us releasing the five lords, the one we suspected was evil. well he might be, but he fights the titus vaul, my captors, so for now we are on the same side.

Stasha also gained my trust, she rescued us and paid her debts, i prefer her on my side. so when Ivan offered us a mission to rescue lutaria from the titus vaul, (lutaria who was captured with us) i agreed right away but artemis was seriously reluctant. they were kept in some keep and we were to break in and rescue them. the keep is in the forests of the giants, sounds easy right? artemis was scared and we had to convince him to join, a thief is useful when you try to sneak in. Ivan equipped us for this mission. he  gave us invisibility rings and cloaks of silent. did i say that i like this new benefactor? he took us to his temple and said he would show us the power of his godess, ishtar. he tapped his diamond hammer on the alter and tapped us and we felt a surge of health, it was impressive. i wont say i believe in Ishtar, but i was impressed. Artemis was given a new bow and Destin was given armor and new axes and shana was given armor as well.

we were bold to ask lordship of the lands we are to free once the titus vaul were defeated and Ivan agreed, well he has nothing to lose by promising lands he does not yet control . artemis asked for rights to the silver mine we passed in months before with the ants and he got it. wow we lucked out. now all we have to do is deliver.

on one of the nights we were there relaxing at the bar and a familiar female face was seen, we went to say hi and saw [add name ], the girl with the amazing staff who slayed the titans. what was she doing here. she mentioned that she promised us a favor , but we didnt ask anything, someone this powerful you want to keep as friends, she is awesome. she drank some wine and seemed buzz and we told her about our mission. she said her family out west and their nation also do not like the titus vaul. after a nice long chat she said we would meet again and disappeared.

the next morning,we took our goodies and made our way to our transport ship, while Stasha and the rest of the sea dragon crew went for another mission.

after a few days of quiet sneaky sailing to our destination island. we were let off ad a port village where no one knew anything about a keep. but we had a rough map of the area, people did say that there are giants that way and that we should stay away. so of course, we got horses and headed that way. three quiet days later we reached the big swamp. we debated what to do with the horses and we sent destin to scout ahead, he reported that there is a path way over the swamp with narrow bridges in bad shape, and the horses will not make it across. we tied the horses, put our rings and cloaks on and slowly went on the path. several times it got real narrow but we didnt fall over. at some points the water stirred and we saw huge claws of something underneath, we stayed away from that. we also saw giants, but we snuk hidden and stayed away. the swamp became narrower and woods became more dense,  then we reached the end of the swamp and saw a lonely tower with nothing around it. we debated what to do and how to breach the place. it did not have 25 archers as artemis feared , it almost seemed abandoned. then we heard voices behind us on the trail and saw three gourds approach. they didnt see us with our rings, it was easy to ambush them and slay them all without resistance, artemis and shana slayed the first and i put the other two to sleep and in that shape they were no opposition. then we wanted to go in fast to the tower before the guards are missed, but we didnt know how many foes inside. artemis climbed the tower and entered from the window while the three of us entered slowly from the front door using a key one of the guards held. 

at the 2nd floor artemis saw our prisoners tied to racks and screaming, but no one else was at that floor, so he headed down to meet us on the 1st floor. we entered slowly, it is somewhat difficult to fight when we are all invisible, what awesome rings. the 1st floor had four small room, the 2 to my side seemed empty but i couldn't see clearly on the other side as three gourds were sitting by a table, without shields and weapons. we had the surprise impact and took one out quickly and dispatch the other two in seconds. then we went up the 2nd floor and then i saw our prisoners tied to the wrack. this big room seemed too empty. these are important prisoners, there must be more guards. i cast detect magic and then i saw him, someone familiar on the other side of the room, i hat him, so i cast my strongest spell and failed, why did i fail, general ragnar, the betrayer, who killed half of the southern armies of ishtar on the same night he turned and had us enslaved. i cant believe my spell failed.

this general seemed very formidable, well he is a general for a reason, artemis hit him with an arrow but he laughed at that then he was about to do something nasty, then from nowhere she appeared- the girl and cast something that froze the general in place. she said that he is shielded but not defeated and he would be out soon. i have seen what she did to those giants, and she cant beat him, what the heck is he? we debated how to unfree the captured from the magic rack that tortured them all day and then healed them, and again and again. shana casted some other disabling spell on the general which allowed the girl to dispel the magic of the trapped and we slowly pulled them out of those torture devices and didnt have time to search the loot the place. we left the tower and ran north towards the trees, it will not be long before the general escapes.

 

on learning , kings and shoulders

a little while ago we went to the pancake house. after enjoying a burrito, i moved to sitter duty, following the little one around the place. if you come on the weekend to this place at 10:30 you can come in quickly, no lines, come at 11, and you can wait 30 min or more. we came on time and when Mattan walked to the entrance area full of waiters all excited for some distraction. mattan came to the door and tried to escape, but the door was too heavy for him. we walked back and forth in the restaurant and then he tried the door again, and still no luck, the same people were waiting and saying awe... when he couldn't. 10 minutes later same thing. we walked over to the bathroom door and i showed him how to push the door with 2 hands and using his legs for leverage. for a few minutes later , he was pushing the door which was also heavy and finally he made it, so he moved to the door of the ladies room... i stopped him, after several attempts he became and expert in heavy door opening. then it was time to leave and on the way out of the restaurant much to the joy of those poor people still waiting, he just blazed through the main door without giving it a second thought. 

for new years we went for a fancy place. the concert hall had an evening with the mambo kings. i am not a mambo expert but i expected a fun musical evening.

the first part of the show was a 30 min concert by the Cleveland pops, playing some familiar songs, and i sang along bohemian rhapsody. this concert is a tradition, and the crowd came prepared and brought duck whistles. we had no idea about this tradition and in a couple of songs the conductor also used the crowd with the duck calls to enhance the effect which was lots of fun, note to self, next time bring a whistle.

the 2nd part was the mambo kings, they played mambo jazz and i started falling a sleep. isn't mambo fast pace? well it was not. after that a band named the "no name

band was playing and we danced to music of all decades- mostly 50,60,70 - and in the main hall of the building they had lots of balloons that fell down on everyone at midnight. nice fun evening. will we come back next year, perhaps, if the mambo kings are not there.

 

this winter is mostly mild, decent snow but not to many storms, on a warm day of 4C last weekend , I took Mattan back on the buck eye trail, after months of hikelessness, the next section was a road section and the sidewalks were all snowed in, so the road it was and i carried him on my shoulders. he was cooperating most of the time, but needed distraction. passing dogs proved useful but not for long. on the way back, he had enough kept trying to get off and when i let him, he walked to the snow, the other directions , the side, any way but going forward. finishing this trail with this opposition will be a major challenge. might take a few more years to complete then originally planned, now waiting for more over 0c days to proceed.

Alla was trying to teach me the difference between soap. well, there is organic soap for mattan's dishes , this soap is being fed nothing but grass when it grows up and without antibiotics. then there is the hand soap, which must be not farm fresh and finally the soap for the rest of us mortals.  i just tell her, soap is soap i cant tell them apart.

I went with the little cub to the zoo, we take him there often but he is still more interested in going up and down stairs and walk ways then the animals, but this is a work in progress. we went to the wolf den which is usually empty, the wolves are  napping out of site and the beaver in the pool in their enclosure is hiding, but today it was different. a wold was one meter away from me, on the other side of the glass and the beaver was swimming back and forth in plain sight. i was excited, but mattanchuk couldn't care less. i need to make a request to the zoo to move the stairs away from the wolves so i (and the hounds) would stand a chance.

recently 2 series came to an end. the books of Narnia which i started just  before the movie franchise started about 7-10 years ago- way too long for relatively short books. strange ending.

the 2nd series was  breaking bad, i am only a year behind, but definitely a good ending here

that is it on current events, hope to be able to write more often...

cheers