Date: Scorchedsky - Windday the 27th, 3725

I am now a citizen of Freeport.

With the assistance of a lovely Kerra woman I met at the Mythic, I was able to eliminate the last orc and traitor required to me by Matthias; after offing a messenger and some dock hand for him, he then insisted on having me confiscate various items from former rising stars and return them to him.

His last task made us laugh - some noble of Freeport was running off to Qeynos to be the Queen's bedmate. The idea of the pure Antonia Bayle getting it on with the likes of a scruffy Freeport noble is just hilarious - she had no accounts for taste if this is true, as the man is quite plain with the most aweful hairstyle on Norrath.

With my citizenship approved by that sketchy Matthias - he claimed to be like the eyes and ears of Lucan, the Overlord's shade and some crazy stuff - we took a long break from any fighting to secure me a place to live and some furniture to hold me over till I learn enough to make my own.

With a little bit of coaxing from the Courtesans that work the commons area of the second floor, I purchased a suite at the Jade Tiger Inn up in North Freeport. Nothing like seeing a pair of beautiful women dancing outside your door as you come and go from your home.

The place itself is absolutely huge. I can't even remember any suite in Qeynos that was that large with that high of a ceiling. We were able to hang the large feyiron chandeliers that came with long chains up without them being below the lower rafters - Sathra suggested building a bit of a loft somewhere in the apartment.

I think I may build one over the area where my bed is, and move my bed up there - turn the area its in right now into an office space of sorts, or maybe make that the tattooing and piercing area. There's just so much I could do for it, once I learn more about carpentry.

Sathra and I had a long conversation. She has a pretty poor living situation, so I invited her to stay in my Jade Tiger home. Turns out she grew up in Freeport, which sounded rather traumatic due to Lucan's cruel trick of putting the Erudites in with the Kerra; I found it creative torture, myself, but I suppose I lost more of my humanity than I'm willing to admit.

She asked me where I had come from, I guess I never really let on exactly how old I am in ways people pick up on. She seemed to think I was much younger than I am, though I've aged gracefully, even for an elf.

I sort of explained to her what happened in Felwithe, about killing my father for molesting me after almost ten years, about how the War of Fay broke out before we could make it off Faydwer...Willam dying so Loilorien and I could make it to Butcherblock then to Freeport.

We were so naive, thinking that Freeport hadn't changed that much since the spires were destroyed. We were wrong; the dwarves heard tale that the dark elves had taken Freeport before storming Faydwer. They were sending as many of the women, children and weak they could to Qeynos instead, hoping we would survive to tell what happened there.

The tale actually took a good deal of time to tell, and Sathra asked a lot of questions about it. She finally decided to call it a night, asking me to continue in the morning.

I left the Jade Tiger, and talked my way into being allowed into the Dark Bargainers. Freeport seems to have plenty of Teir`dal, and their facilities for crafting are the largest here, so I decided that was the best place to work on my skills.

Once I finished at the Jade Tiger, I finally made it back to the Raven, Mythic. Duvessa was waiting for me, apparently, as a server stopped me on my way in, informing me that I should go to her chambers. It wasn't much of a surprise, after the first night we spent together, though I suppose she wasn't aware of where I was or how long I would be gone.

We relaxed in her room, and I informed her of my citizenship before we settled down to sleep. Sadly, the peaceful sleep was broken by a servant with an urgent message; there were claims of violence within the Mythic, which was nearly impossible because of the extensive wards there and the golem.

She went to go question what few patrons were probably left at that hour, and I tried my best to go back to sleep. Unfortunately, I'm horrible when it comes to being woken up suddenly, and just never can get back to sleep easily.

Duvessa returned a short time later, citing it had all been a misunderstanding from what she could gather, and that it would wait until the moring to be finished. Even with her back in the bed, I couldn't sleep; once she was soundly dreaming, I slipped away downstairs to get something alcoholic, hoping it would knock me out.

I encounted Astald down there. He's this far too good for anyone's health paladin that lives at the Mythic. I tried to get him all flustered, and it was working pretty well, even after the lady friend he was waiting for arrived.

She's apparently entirely deaf, and more often than not, mute; he was teaching her to read and write while she was teaching him to sign words.

She used to have to sign. I never thought I was going to have to think about her being so helpless like that again. It had always been so easy to lie about it, to say she'd been slaughtered below the streets of Qeynos, to blame her death on the Bloodsabers.

But it isn't the truth. Its a pretty lie I tell myself and everyone else, to take away the guilt.

It was my fault she became that way, a shadow of who she had once been, a ghost of the woman I loved.

Damnit, I thought I could hide from that forever. Why the hell did my perfect new home have to be invaded by this? Why did this girl have to come here, of all inns, with her pretty little hand signs...just like the ones she had to use after.

Damnit.

I'm going back to bed before this drives me insane - Duvessa's presence is oddly comforting, especially when the contact is so intimate. It'll make me forget about...her.