First of all Gerard I wanted to say thank you for putting in a good word for me with Arty.  So far he seems to be a very competent leader.  We made good sail and have not run into any trouble yet.  

 

I on the other hand have been troubled; that you might think me ungrateful for what you and your party did for me on Mantol-Derith, 

 

The truth is that I never wanted to become King.

 

I would have been content to live out my life as the humble bard of Blingdenstone just like my father and his father before him.  They tended to the Singing Stones but were never able to make them sing.  That is why I am so grateful to the Lady Menolly and the rest of your group for bringing me the stones that completed my family’s life’s work and allowed the stones to sing. 

 

As I said I could have lived out my life as a humble bard, but that was not to be.  Pingtu made the Speaking Stones speak and they said that I should be King.

 

And so I tried to be a good. King.

 

I proclaimed there should be a trade mission to the surface of the island.  Everything went so well in the city of Mantol, we easily banged out at trade agreement So I had high hopes for Derith..  They were soon dashed.

 

The first thing we noticed upon entering the city was that a traveling carnival was in town, but I and my bodyguards paid it little attention then (I had gone against the council’s  advice and only taken two bodyguards with me). 

 

I should have known that something was amiss when the ambassador of the city refused to remove his hood or cloak.  Turns out he was a mind flayer and he made mincemeat of my poor bodyguards’ minds and then he turned his probing eye on me.

 

The next thing I remember I found myself locked in a cage and the name of my tormentor was Lady Gahgah.  I am sad to say she had her way with me….many times.  And when she tired of me, she dumped me in that chamber at Stony Point where the Spider-Creatures webbed me up and I would have surly died if it wasn’t for you and your party.

 

I have no idea what the council at Blingdenstone has made of my disappearance, but I can’t go back there yet. During the mind flayer’s probing of my mind he unlocked a memory that I had long repressed and the answer to that memory lies somewhere on the Western Continent.

 

The waves are starting to get choppy, so I’m going up on deck to see what’s going on.  I will write more later.