Our journey back to Shadowdale was mostly boring, except for the eighth day. We were riding along the trail, minding our own business, when bugbears jumped out from both sides. Arrows flew from the bushes beside us, too. Screams came from both sides; apparently they hit each other. The two in front attacked Mical, and his horse freaked out. He nearly fell from his saddle, but the animal managed to kick both of them. Mical charged through, but a bugbear slashed him with its sword.
I jumped off my horse and dove into the bushes. Lagasse also dismounted, but he calmly advanced toward the threat. Lyra rode into the woods, firing arrows at any bugbears she saw. I tried to get around for a backstab.
Mical cast 'hold person' on the two nearest him. Lagasse, however, missed the easy target and got his sword stuck in a tree. I finally got to backstab something. I killed one of the 'held' ones, hurray! My companions finished off the others while I rounded up the horses.
We arrived in Shadowdale just in time to keep our house. We saw the halfling woman, who said she was going to auction it off the next day. We bought it for 5000 gold, so we wouldn't have to worry about it anymore. (Whew!) Upstairs, there was a broken window, and outside the enchanted chest was stuck in the ground. On the first floor, a window was also broken. I guess someone broke in, and the chest ran and jumped out the window. The chest running must have scared whoever it was, since they didn't break into it. It would have been funny to spy on.
We stabled our horses for a modest fee, and went home to relax. Soon after, the taxman arrived. We paid him 1500 gold, or about ten percent. The guy was a total jerk. He was rude and ignorant, and I would have thought so even had we not paid him our hard-earned money.
At the tavern we found that the old elves had left about three weeks ago, heading toward Daggerfall. We hired a messenger to go find the elves and tell them we found what they were looking for. We gave him the small painting of the elven prince as proof, as well as goodberries and 50 gold. We promised him 100 more if he returned with the elves and 25 if he returned without them.
I drew an astrological chart for Lagasse, but learned little, except that he was going to gain knowledge. Sure enough, he met a warrior who would teach him complete mastery of the sword, or something like that. Lyra went to the temple to learn how to cast more powerful spells, and I met an ugly male human named Ciris, who taught me some acrobatic skills. Also, Mical went to the stable to learn more about handling, training, and riding horses. All of our training lasted about a month, and cost a lot of gold.
After nine days, the messenger returned. The elves were going to the Dragonspine Mountains (where the dwarves we had rescued were from!), then to the Citadel of the Raven. He was depressed that he had missed them. We gave him the money we owed him, and thanked him for trying.
