5 Nightal 1371

Dear Master Zorthaster,

It was so wonderful to see you again last month. It seems like ages ago since I was last home. I can hardly believe that less than a year has passed since I joined up with my friends the Wandsmen. The two rides I spent back at home last month were great, but it hardly seemed as though I had any time to tell you about anything. So, I thought I should write again.

I suppose I don't have to tell you that I've been working hard to convince my companions to put a priority on following the path south to where the scroll is calling me. I should tell you that I have thought a lot about my feelings concerning the scroll and my motiviations. There was much I did not say when we spoke for my hurt was too fresh. When Xan and I were planning our trip to the capitol seeking buyers for the treasures from the underdark I told the others of my plans to visit home. Shane offered to come to protect me. It was an offer I sincerely appreciated even though I did not feel I would be in any real danger while at home. Primula, on the other hand demanded to know if I was plannning to take the scroll with me. I was a bit taken aback and told her yes, of course. I couldn't see leaving it behind for no reason and I feel responsible to guarding it. She then insisted that if it was going then she was too. I was shocked and deeply hurt by her obvious mistrust of me. She did not offer to help protect me but implied that she was going to be there to guard the scroll from me whether I liked it or not. The thought of her reaction still gives me great pain. I don't know what she thinks I might do if I stray out from under her watchful eye, but her lack of faith in me was like a physical blow. I tried to cover my injury with the appearance of nonchalance while making preparations for the teleport and instructing the others in proper protocol once we arrived at the War Wizards teleport station. I don't think she had any idea of how deeply wounded I am from her mistrust.

She acts as if she expects me to go off and murder the godess of magic if I am not kept under constant guard. I don't know what I've done to earn that sort of treatment, but I resolve not to let her know how much it hurts me. I will continue to treat her fairly despite her prejudices against me and my race. Our task is too important for my wounded feelings to interfere.

On a more pleasant note, you will be interested to know that Shane presented me with a scroll of permanency several days ago. He asked if I could use it to help him gain a permanent magic fang enchantment. He even gave me a substantial fee for my trouble. I was happy to oblige and now I have the permanacy spell written in one of my spell books. I feel a bit guilty accepting the fee, but that was before I wove the spell. I was surprised at how drained I felt after the work. I also took some time to finally enchant my staff with some art that makes it a more effective weapon. The priestess even helped by infusing it with Corellon's power so that it is particularly damaging to evil creatures. This was another, very draining weaving of Art. I think it will be worth it in the long run though.

Sadly, after returing to Daggerfalls, I had so much work to do with the staff, new spells, writing a few scrolls, and so many other projects to work on that I completely missed the Feast of the moon. It sounds like the others had a good time. I did think a lot about my grandparents and the sad fragment of Mystral trapped for ages under the sands of Anauroch. I don't think the day was terribly productive as far as getting work done, but I was at least able to get the day's critical tasks done. I was working on the staff during this time and tried to keep my thoughts of Her in the fore as I infused the staff with Her weave. I hope She would have been happy with my efforts.

When I was home I was finally able to give Mom, Dad and the girls some gifts in person. They were all thrilled with the things I gave them and I'm sure that they will all spend a more comfortable winter because of the food and firewood I was able to secure for them. The thing I am most happy about was the set of finely crafted planes I found for Dad's nascent woodworking business. While selling our treasures I stumbled into a great deal on a set of masterfully crafted planes that included two bench planes (a #2 and #3), a #4 smoothing plane, a #5 jack plane, a #7 jointer plane, a low angle block plane, a #10 1/4 rabbet plane and two scraper planes (a #212 and #112). You should have seen his eyes light up when he saw them. I think it will be a while before he he really believes that they are his very own. What a great feeling to be able to give him such a gift.

Back in Daggerfalls, Master Wands is making me nervous. He has not been around for the entire time we have been back in Daggerfalls. I know he tends to disappear for long periods of time, but still, I'm worried. Oskar tells me that the Brightblades are working on building huge, reinforced metal casks for Master Wands. I wonder if perhaps he isn't planning on going after a supply of heavy magic. I can't think of anything else that could merit such impressive containers. I have to admit that the other reason I am eager to see him again is that I wish to spend more time examining the scroll we left with him. I regret that I do not have it available during this time of rest and study and begin to think that leaving it with him was a mistake.

The dwarves have also started on a project for us. They made an inital foray out to Shadowhold and gave us an esimate of the cost to repair the keep. The total cost will be 163,250 lions and may climb higher if the caved in section below the castle is extensive. We got them started with repairs with a downpayment of 33,250 lions, including the grant of 5,000 lions from Lord Morn. We still have 120,000 to go, but I've been saving a bit, and even after picking up the gifts for my family and a few new spells for me, I'm doing pretty well (very well by my standards of only several months ago). I almost spent a huge amount of gold on some fantasitc magical items I came across while selling our group's treasure, but if we are going to afford the repair of Shadowhold, I am going to have to tuck away my fair share in the next year or so.

Some of the others have been spending their time in study and their efforts have paid off. Shane has discovered that the famous mage Beldin of the Eight and a Half (renamed the Sword of the Dales) can be reached through the library and is willing to share with us some information regarding the lost mines of Tethyamar. He told Shane that there is a terrible curse that has prevented the dwarves from finding their lost halls and that the curse could result in the death of Oskar if we were not careful with the knowledge. A couple of my friends want to immediately set out to find the mines and clear them out. While I share their desire to see the dwarven kingdom restored, I cannot help but think that our mission of discovery about the scrolls is of far greater urgency. We had a long discussion about what we should do next, and I had to convince my friends that we should be pursuing the other parts of the scroll. Primula was only convinced when she came to the understanding that others coming after us could find them. As she so nicely put it "If you can do it Cedar, then surely many others can as well." Again, she hurt me deeply with her careless words, and again I had to bury my hurt and try to convince her and the others that the scrolls were the most important thing for us to take care of. Perhaps the thing that convinced them finally was when I linked our search for the scrolls with what we knew about the Shades. I told them that I believed that when the Shades return, as we know they are attempting to do, the scrolls will be in great danger of being found and put to use by their mages. I told them that I thought we needed to do everything we could do to find weapons to use against them or at least prevent them from acquiring those same weapons themselves.

When I was home I tried to convince Oriseus that the plans of the Shades were soon going to put everyone in danger. He had more immediate threats on his mind. He was busy training War Wizards on battle field tactics and dismissed my fears as ravings of someone worrying about mythical enemies. I was disappointed with his reaction, but not surprised. I did tell him to remember my words when the time came that Cormyr needed my help. I know that both he and you would prefer that I stayed home and became a War Wizard. I just know that for now, that is just not the right path for me. I am however glad to see that the War Wizards are do a lot less strutting around and a lot more serving the realm. Perhaps some day I will feel that I can return and do what you ask of me. I regret that I cannot do that now.

Your wayward student,

Cedar