Author: Kimia

Meet Author Mara Tran
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Meet Author Mara Tran

Indie author Mara Tran asked me to help celebrate the publication of her new book, The Ward. Please enjoy my Q&A session with her – and at the bottom you can find out more about her book and where to find her online! Welcome, Mara!

Family is a huge part of my life, and has had a profound impact on my writing. Tell us about yours. Are they supportive of your author ambitions?

I always tell people that I probably wouldn’t be the writer that I am today without my family. I grew up homeschooled, and my parents were always very encouraging of my siblings and I developing our talents. My elder sister, who illustrated my book The Ward, also has a gift for writing; she and I were always close, and for sure her interest in writing helped cultivate my own. She always took even my silliest story seriously, and we held Author Meetings constantly to talk craft and stories. My dad was also a huge support; he had every faith in my ambition to become a published author, giving practical business advice and never once doubting that I could do it. One of my fondest childhood memories is when my dad would bring home his work laptop and he would let me spend hours typing on it, and he gifted me a USB to keep all my documents on that I still use to this day to back everything up. The support and encouragement has definitely continued as I push through the process of getting my now-published book into people’s hands, always expressing interest and telling their friends all about it. I don’t know that they always understand the eccentricities of a writer, but they accept it – and I think my parents, at least, are used to it by now, because they simply have eccentric children. XD

That’s so great to hear 🙂 (And major kudos for backing up your work – so important!)

What are three things about you that are interesting, unexpected, or unique?

Ahh, that’s a hard question to answer; I don’t know that I’m all that unique. I think one thing that surprises people is that I practiced the martial art Kendo for six years before other priorities took over.

My level of stubbornness when I feel like I’m being peer-pressured is probably unexpected because I’m a relatively quiet, keep-myself-to-myself kind of person and a lot of times that’s mistaken for being a pushover – and I’m extremely difficult to push. XD

And an interesting tidbit might be that I used to have hedgehogs as pets. My first, Bilbo, was my pocket buddy and I’ve never quite gotten over losing him; my second, Despereaux, loved to explore. I never got a third after him because living situation didn’t really allow for it. But someday I might get another one!

I’ve learned to not ask for a Most Favorite Book…but name One Of your most favorite books, and WHY you like it.

Meet Author Mara Tran - Kimia WoodNaming one favorite is almost as hard as picking a single favorite – haha! But the first book that jumped to mind was Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens. This was the first Dickens novel I read, and really introduced me to Victorian writers, and ignited my love for the genre and era. I feel like Nicholas Nickleby offers a good balance of humor and drama, it has some hysterical characters, and honestly how can we not love Nicholas when he beats the evil schoolmaster Squeers for abusing the boys? It has so many wonderful moments and characterization, and the way the plot comes together and Dickens connects his characters is really fun.

Your bio says you’ve had a number of jobs, including librarian and medical office assistant. What are some things you liked about those jobs? Did any of your experiences help you on your path to being an author?

I’ll start with the easiest one, and with a little bit of background. I worked as a Youth Services volunteer at my local library for 9 years – though unpaid, it was every inch a job to me and I was trained in a lot of librarian-level duties because I had plans to become an “official” librarian down the road. Life had other plans, but I still learned so many skills and had the best two bosses in the world who were also extremely supportive of my writing ambitions and provided me with a ton of information and resources in learning about the publishing industry.

My time as a professional Irish musician taught me public poise, and also taught me that for some people stage fright does not get better with experience. Being a bookseller helped me along my path to being an author by teaching me that retail is not for me. XD But I’ve maintained good relations with the bookstore and they’ve become my first bookseller supporters for The Ward!

And in fact, because two of my characters are doctors, working as a medical office assistant was actually very helpful in terms of research. While modern medicine has come a long way from 1888, there’s still so much about policy, attitude, and procedures that has not. Neither of my doctor characters are eye doctors, but I have every intention of putting what I learned about eyes to use in future volumes.

But of course, my ultimate job – being a housewife – has helped the most in my pursuit of being a writer. I finally have energy to devote to my writing, and I really am at heart a homebody, so being able to spend time at home, create my own schedule, pace myself as I need, has been infinitely helpful to my creative mind.

Yes – I could spend every day at home, too, and be perfectly happy! But it’s true we learn so much from being pushed out of our comfort zones 🙂

You say your book is “CleanFictionApproved”. Please tell us what this means, and why it’s important to you.

#ProtectCleanFiction is a small organization that is working to promote books that are free of blatant sexual content and authors who have made the decision to write stories that parents and mindful adults don’t have to worry about. I’ve been a lifelong reader of Middle Grade and YA fiction primarily because I like stories about kids, and it’s rare to find adult fiction that doesn’t revolve around adult content. I’ve noticed the increasing trend to make kid/teen fiction more and more content-heavy, until in some ways adult fiction is almost safer to pick up these days! As a Christian, I hold a strong belief in not only raising kids/teens with age-appropriate content, but also filling our adult heads with good things and not the world’s interpretation of what’s normal and acceptable. I used to run a book blog that a lot of people who were content-conscientious enjoyed, so now as a writer I would like to provide books for adults and teens that they can be assured has no sexual content and implied violence only.

<h4p”>One of the best things about meeting new people is learning what they’re passionate about, and sharing about our deepest held beliefs. Thank you for sharing with us!

If people wish to discover me on the Wide Web, they can find me on my website msha.ke/maratran – and on Instagram under @thereadinghedgehog [and on Goodreads]. Though I’m not nearly as active as I once was, I do still maintain something of a book blog called The Bluestocking Biblio Buttery Blog, where I give short reviews, sometimes longer reviews, book-inspired recipes, and minor life updates. People can purchase The Ward on Amazon.

Thank you so much for hosting this interview, and if anyone wants to drop a line, you can email me from the website msha.ke/maratran.

The Ward

Spring 1888. . . .The Ward, Mara Tran - Kimia Wood

TUYA PAZNIC was left by her father one dark winter night and now, seventeen years later, is plagued with night terrors from something that happened that day—something she can’t remember.

BRAMWELL DEVRASI, a recent medical graduate, is eager to follow in the footsteps of his guardian in heading medical reformation and the treatment of psychiatric patients.

GIDEON PAZNIC thought he lost his wife twenty-five years ago, in childbirth, until a mysterious note arrives one night which drastically alters his opinion.

LUC MONTAGUE is ordered by his master to investigate a series of bizarre crimes in Venisia, whose ritualistic nature is peculiar and suspicious.

When Bramwell and Tuya go to Venisia for the Season to witness the renowned revelries of the Black Masquerade, wherein they are inadvertently drawn into Luc’s investigations, and Gideon searches for his wife—paths cross that spark memories best forgotten, dredge up terrors in the dark, and family conspiracies stretching generations are brought to light.

In the spirit of Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens – family secrets, lost legacies, murder and intrigue abound in THE WARD – the first book in THE BIRTHRIGHT CHRONICLES.

Author Bio

A Pacific Northwest native, Mara Tran has been pursuing the written arts since she was little and would type on her dad’s laptop for hours on end. In her lifetime, she has been a musician, librarian, bookseller, blogger, medical office assistant – and now a fulltime housewife and author. She’s a summer girl, but has learned to appreciate each season for what it brings, and she’s passionate about everything Victorian. Her top hobbies are reading, baking and cooking, swing dance, junk journaling, tea and cheese sampling, and embroidery. Her favorite authors are Wilkie Collins, Charles Dickens, and Jane Austen. THE WARD is Mara’s first published novel.

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Dear Diary…you meet such interesting people in dungeons

Alert: May contain spoilers for the adventure “Against the Giants”

Ezekiel went with Aliana and Princess Shallaria to Gorna, since he wants a professional’s opinion on all our potions we’ve amassed over the years, and I suppose it’s true we’re rich enough to afford that. He hopes someone can recommend a professional in Gorna.

Miss Dree had some exciting news to share with us. She says she and Miss Lysa and the super-energetic guy whose name I forget have been casting Cure Minor Wounds this morning. She says she felt “a stirring in her spirit” yesterday, and after her prayer time this morning (where she always asks for spells, since Father Ezekiel says just because you don’t receive is no reason to not ask) she tried the chant on Miss Lysa’s scraped knuckles, and the power was granted. I have never seen Miss Lysa so excited and forget herself so much that she explained the whole story to us again herself.

(Ragni and Agni have set up a sort of little catapult in the tree house, and have been chucking over-ripe fruit at the druid grove. Madam Moonwhisper assured me they grew some protective boughs and no one could actually be hit, but Leomas said she’s been knocked unconcious multiple times and showed me a broken pumpkin to prove it. I said the pumpkin must be what she used to think with, since it was too big to fit in the catapult, and she was half transformed into a panther when Madam Moonwhisper said Leomas was the one who told her about the ring of truth, and she should have known she couldn’t pull my leg (makes sense that’s why I actually said that out loud…). I asked Ragni and Agni to take it easy on the druids, and besides it’s the pass that enters the valley that we need to defend, and Ragni got very red and said Sirion and Usin made strict rules about firing at the pass after some pilgrims came to be healed of a disease and also needed baths once they got to the fortress. I’m so glad I warned Sirion about the Frost Giants that will be moving in nearby…I can just picture the entire mountain sliding down into the valley, with a sound of soft explosions, strewing rotten apples in its wake… Ezekiel would probably tell me that’s beyond Ragni and Agni’s capabilites, but I’m really not sure.)

Anyway, when Ez and Aliana get back, we leave for the giant fortress. Might not exactly be an early start, but we’re making the effort.

**

We started big, by investgating the wall opposite the illusion that led to the temple. Ezekiel hadn’t seen anything specific while looking at it through the gem; it just made his skin crawl, he said.

We started off by just looking at it…it seemed made of brownish purpleish stone, which really gives the impression of fungus – but not any normal kind of fungus. I wanted to poke it with an arrow, to see if the surface was really solid, but I was invisible…so I asked Heiron to do it, so we could actually see the results.

The wall reacted by spitting out a purpley tentacle, grapping Heiron’s wrist, and trying to pull him toward a gross, clicking, beak-like mouth. No one touches our Heiron – we all sprang into action. But it was the weirdest, grossest thing we’ve seen in a long time. Even Aliana’s sword seemed to bounce off it, like the wall was a giant rubber sheet. I pelted it with arrows, but again, they seemed to not so much as tickle it.

Agnar managed to do something to it…and it lashed him with a couple more tentacles. I think there were ten or twelve flailing about, with unnerving movement patterns. A couple of them grabbed Oaklock and smashed him against the floor, but Ezekiel pulled him away.

Nothing seemed to bother it much (although Tressarian worked better than my bow – maybe it was something to do with magic weapons) until Lydia muttered something and threw out her hand…and the whole thing collapsed and faded. Agnar says in all his uncle’s stories of the underdark, he never heard of anything like this. Lydia thinks it was partly enchantment, since Dispell Magic is what killed it, but she admits it was a shot in the dark, since she’s never seen something like it before.

Once it was dead, we saw the wall was actually a “curtain” of sorts, concealing a suite behind. Maybe those Evil rings the drow had would have let them pass it, like the statues and the violet fungus in the Temple of Elemental Evil, but I for one am not interested in experimenting…even if we hadn’t already killed it. Continue reading →

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Dear Diary…ruining the moment, it’s what we do

Alert: May contain spoilers for the adventure “Against the Giants”

We found the kennel room where they kept the hellhounds, and a couple barracks – one of them equipped for juvenile giants. I don’t remember seeing any of those here yet.

Also found a kitchen with a fire pit that seems naturally heated…as in, maybe a volcanic vent. Ezekiel would have a better idea. The fortress definitely sits on lava in some places – they used a natural vent as a garbage chute. Someone very unhelpfully cast darkness at the mouth of the opening, so if we were not so careful and thoughtful, we might have slid in the grease to a sudden and crispy-fried death in the lava below. Even Raven needed a rope while checking that the chute didn’t lead anywhere interesting.

According to our map, there’s nothing else on this level to explore, so it’s time to take the stairs down…

**

How to begin? For starters, splitting the party always makes things confusing.

When we reached the bottom of the stairs, we heard chanting…it could have been giant voices, but it was too far away to be sure. Almost at once, though, we heard hellhounds barking, much nearer – perhaps they scented us.

Ezekiel told me to take my invisible self and run the other direction to check for prisoners that might need rescuing, while the others dealt with the threat at hand. After taking a moment to swap for my ring of infravision, I headed up the north passage.

I passed a room lit with lava (probably the same lava we saw from the kitchen chute), and a couple trolls – but they had no prisoners, and seemed to be minding their business, so I kept on. Not too much farther along, I turned a corner of the passage and found a giant guarding a door. The sound of chanting came much louder from the other side of the wall – right by me – but I didn’t think I could take out the guard and still be sneaky…and I didn’t want to take on the whole group by myself. Continue reading →

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Dear Diary…”I am not a demon”

Alert: May contain spoilers for the adventure “Against the Giants”

I guess we finally got smart. After a couple more giant stone doors that we couldn’t budge, even with the Power of Teamwork, I said, wasn’t it a shame we couldn’t just get bigger. And Lydia dug through her bag until she pulled out a wand and did just that – she made Heiron over twice as tall as Mikael. (Fortunately she made his clothes and muscles match, too.)

At that size, he could open doors all by himself, and he let us into an armory, and a closet-type room full of foul-smelling hay. The prevailing theory is that is where they kept the chimera…I guess even freaks of nature need to sleep and eat somewhere.

I’m pretty excited about the armory – Tressarian and I snooped around in the corner and found a bow that tingles magically. I need to remember to try it out…hopefully it will let me hit things that are resistant to normal weapons. Haven’t met any of those recently, but you can never be too prepared.

Worked our way around until we connected with the passage leading north from the other barricade (we assume, from the patch of darkness floating there that refuses to dispelled by our lights). Seems to be another passage leading west, on our side of the barricade, but the darkness makes it hard to be sure. Continue reading →

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Dear Diary…knowledge is power…magic items are also power

Alert: May contain spoilers for the adventure “Against the Giants”

We returned to the giants’ fortress after Mikael made an unnecessarily long speech to his people. Clatrial insisted on coming, since she says she’s Aliana’s bodyguard, and clearly Ezekiel has not done an adequate job of safeguarding her ladyship.

As Sirion and I had noticed before, when we stepped into the hall, the bodies were gone (except for the chimera-three-headed-monster-thing). Ezekiel tells me you don’t usually turn gnolls into zombies, but I like to be prepared for anything.

We did a little looking around in the great hall – pillars of obsidian and red stone support the roof, and the east end holds a throne atop marble steps inlaid with colored stone. It forms pictures of a giant king – we assume King Snuri, whom we killed – conquering things (I didn’t spend too much time looking at them). The wall behind the throne holds a picture of a flaming skull surrounded by fire giants with clubs. Ezekiel wracked his brain for religious symbology that involves a flaming skull, but nothing is for sure yet. It could just be Snuri’s self-image.

The two main corridors out of the hall – to the north and north-west – are blocked by sharpened wood barriers, so we’ll have to do some problem-solving to get over them. Meanwhile, though, Schakka and Ezekiel’s gem of seeing found a secret door behind the throne, and Raven opened it by finding the torch cresset that moves it. Continue reading →

“The Ranger of Smylt” – Book Announcement!

New book time! If you’re a fan of this blog, you already know Elwyn the Paranoid Ranger, my character from our AD&D campaign. Well, I’ve written a short story (if 50,000 words is “short”) about a side adventure he has a few years from now (Flanaess-time).

The Ranger of Smylt

Fourteen-year-old Jarin finds a badly wounded man in the woods, and takes him in. Little does heThe Ranger of Smylt - Kimia Wood Author suspect the stranger is a Level 12 Ranger Lord, and his simple act of kindness could be the key to saving his entire village.

If you like fantasy adventures, especially “LitRPG,” you might like this book. If you like the world and lore of the Flanaess (home of Greyhawk), you might like this book. If you like slow-burn stories that build to dramatic climaxes, you might like this book. If you like memorable side characters and stories that make you laugh, you might love this book.

If you like father-son dynamics and stories that honestly portray the differences in how men and women see the world, this book is for you. If you like friendships that grow realistically from little moments, this book is for you. If you like raw battle scenes, and heroic moments – this book is for you!

Smashwords – Barns&Noble – Kobo

(I’m trying out Smashwords’ feature for letting readers choose their own price, so if you visit their site, you could get it for free…or pay $20, if you decide my work has really enriched your life, and you want to encourage me. Whatever you like. I think this story is really great, and I want as many people to enjoy it as possible.) Continue reading →

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Dear Diary…a deep breath

It’s amazing what a few days can do. Time, and the cleric types, have us all back to fighting fit, and we’ve had a chance to assess what’s happening with our fortress in our absence.

First off, an entire detachment of men has come to find out about the God of gods, all following some guy calling himself Verachenk Jaln (is he actually after something else? Not sure, but I’m glad Miss Dree knows how to take care of herself). He says he heard about this place, and just convinced more and more men to come with him as he made his way here, all to learn more, and “protect the Arbiter” (meaning Ezekiel).

Also, a couple druids have come to follow Mikael; they say they see some flaws in the whole circle system, and they’re looking for broader ways to serve Obed-Hai.

When Lydia grabbed Sirion to help us out, word must have spread, as Ragni and Agni were also gathered in the fortress library with Usin’s battalion. They brought a big, burly man with a huge beard with them (his name is Keiran). When they introduced me, I thought he was struggling with fierce disappointment over my appearance, but turns out he was just mad that King Snuri almost took off my arm. And he’s not even the one who fumbled the block…

Ragni and Agni took me out south of the lake, where they’ve set up a tree house in a position overseeing the entrance to the valley. The ladder lets down into a palisade, so Madam Whiney and Master Chestnut can be included. Master Chestnut says they’ve developed a routine for patrolling, and all the activity seems to be keeping most wild animals away. (Not all of them, though – they shared some sausage that Keom made from venison they caught.)

The druids have mostly finished their grove in the copse near the road, and now they’re helping Keom and Ronhass plan out some fields and gardens in the rest of the valley (since we keep getting more mouths to feed). Oh, yes, Keom and Ronhass have some more aspiring monks that found us and are eager to learn under Raven. (Ronhass said they tried to hand off some dragon responsibilities, but the dragons get attachment anxiety if he and Keom are gone too long.)

As for Keiran… He says he hates undead – that they get stuck under his nails – and he traveled from Ten, which is mainly Flannish. When he speaks in Flan, I can basically understand what he means…but it’s a bit like when Uncle Yurgen got theological and suddenly he wasn’t using normal words anymore.

He said almost nothing while I was telling the story of the giants, and while Ragni was telling his follow-up story of when Madam Moonwhisper and Master Guil of the Glen first showed up (that’s the two new druids). He doesn’t look discontented…but it’s kinda hard to tell. Sirion seems at ease with him, though, and Sirion’s come through for us enough times that should count for something.

Part of me just wonders what Ehlonna is preparing us for, bringing all these extra hands to us…

**

Ezekiel told us a long, involved story about how he and Aliana took Agnar to investigate a cave hidden behind a door in their bedroom. They found some kind of creature, but Ezekiel got bogged down trying to describe it. Aliana called it a “shadow creature.” Apparently it can change its appearance, but it always looks like a shadow of something else. Ezekiel is going to put a ward on the door, as we don’t know if it’s friendly or not (but Ezekiel, who is friendly, wants it to stick around or at least come visit again).

He also said there’s “holy water” dripping off one of the stalactites in that cave – it’s shimmery, milky white, and if you drink it, it heals you. I’m not sure I want to know how they found that out. He and Aliana investigated it more thoroughly after the “ceremony” – but they haven’t had time to tell us the whole story…Ezekiel is too giddy.

He did officially induct Master Jaln and Sister Lysa with a ceremony in the chapel (and with Raven and Aliana’s help). He told me I had to come and wear something nice. I’m always wearing something nice. Sirion said it felt very Heironian, which is only natural.

****

I tried to scry the giants’ fortress to keep an eye on what the survivors are up to. The first night, someone had started laying out the bodies, as though preparing them for funeral/burial. By the next morning, all the lights were put out along the walls. I asked Sirion if he knew how to use the crystal ball, and he said he would try. He didn’t see the fortress for very long, but he said he found it, and they’ve started to move the bodies out (starting with the king and his men). He thought one of the hallways had a barricade of spiked wood, also.

It’s probably just as well Dame Clatrial insists she’s coming when we go back. She lectured Ezekiel that he was not taking proper care of Lady Aliana, and she needs her bodyguard with her from now on. Clatrial is a paladin, so I don’t mind.

**

Ezekiel called me and Mikael in to have dinner with the others in Haven’s great hall, so he could tell us all his big story. Yesterday he and Aliana followed the trickle of healing water up through cracks in the mountain until they reached the peak, and discovered the source – a Gold Dragon (one of the Good ones) lying in a cleft of the mountaintop. Ezekiel says he is old beyond belief (just his mouth is bigger than Mikael’s pirate ship) and is sitting there, waiting to die…but he’s been waiting there for lifetimes on lifetimes.

So Ezekiel did some nerdy gushing, and the dragon was tolerant and said he chose this spot to die because “his king’s King” would be founding a fortress here some day. Naturally Ezekiel has been over the moon ever since, and even Aliana looks like this isn’t something she’s seen before. Sirion looked thoughtful.

Anyway, they stayed up on the mountain until this morning when Ezekiel had another windwalk spell (that explains why he wasn’t around when I wanted to tell him about the giants’ barricades. Lydia said he and Aliana were working on a “project” in their bedroom, so we left it at that).

I did get her to mirror me and Agni to Mitrik so I could buy more healing potions. They sure come in handy when the clerics are busy…more handy than gold and gems, at that moment. Agni said he’s never been to Mitrik before and wanted to sketch some of the cathedrals, but we had to get to the meeting place for Lydia to pick us up.

Ezekiel has some people wanting to be healed of diseases, and then he says we’re returning to the giant fortress tomorrow. About time…we’ve given the surviving giants plenty of time to heal up and organize their defenses, and Aliana says she thinks some drow got away, too. And they can be even more dangerous than giants in some ways.

Anyway, I can just about land an arrow in the pass at the entrance to the valley from the rampart of the tree house, but Leomas says I should really warn the druids if I’m going to be doing that kind of thing, but I’m really not sure the arrows had that much power anyway, especially when her limp and the way she was holding her side were so obviously fake (although she kinda took Agni in, for a minute).

Find the previous entry here.

Read the next entry here.

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Dear Diary…fighting fire with friends

Alert: May contain spoilers for the adventure “Against the Giants”

Sirion says I shouldn’t stress my arm too much until the clerics have a chance to fix it. It already feels much better, and I can more or less move it, but he’s right if it somehow counts as “disattached” their ordinary healing spells won’t fix that. Like when Mikael lost his arm. I think it’s just the ligaments, but I can take it easy for tonight. It’s not my writing arm, anyway.

Ugh it feels like it can’t have been only this morning that we were sitting in a cave, planning our assault on the Fire Giant fortress. And yet that’s how much stuff can be packed into a short amount of time, when you’re in this line of work.

We started with some standard protection procedures…passing around fire protection, summoning the earth elementals, that kind of thing. Ezekiel did some kind of ritual over Heiron and Raven. I made sure the cloth cover over my shield was in place, to give my invisibility all the help I could. The others say they notice when I hit something – the light distorts and I come into focus, or some scientific confusion that – but at least it still gives me an edge. I think. I’m feeling confused right now.

Then – onwards to the assault: through the iron door in the hillside, which whether it was a back door or not was the only entrance we knew of. It could have been an emergency escape hatch for all I know – I think they knew where we were coming from. Continue reading →

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Dear Diary…Ezekiel recruits the rest of the fortress

Alert: May contain spoilers for the adventure “Against the Giants”

Everything started happening at once again. We started this morning with Ezekiel having a private talk with Aliana and Raven (something religious) while Mikael prepared to melt the boulder blocking the door, and I put on the sword of Lyons.

That tunnel system definitely felt like a main fortress. Outside the dragon room, the hallway opened up to either side, with bas-relief carvings on the walls of giants in battle or hunting. Baskets hung at intervals holding some kind of glowing beetles that gave distinction to the surroundings. I didn’t get to study them at length, though. Passages trailed away to our left and right, but we decided the boulder directly ahead looked like it was blocking something, so we started there. I think Ezekiel was worried that we’d taken too long clearing the guard posts up above, and that Jarl Grugnir might have prepared something especially nasty for us, or fled like Marquessa (I hear Heironians talk battle strategy over breakfast). Continue reading →

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Dear Diary…Lydia’s revenge

Alert: May contain spoilers for the adventure “Against the Giants”

We keep finding strange things. We found and defeated a squad of ice toads loving in a cave…that could well be just part of the environment, meaning they have nothing to do with the giants…which means they probably aren’t technically a “squad,” but that makes me feel better than calling them a “family.” Their floor was coated with gnawed on bones, and they had a lump of amethyst sitting on a broken-off stalagmite that looked vaguely like a toad. (The stalagmite did not try to eat us.) Doesn’t look like there was anything of real importance in that cave, although Ezekiel said that toads totally have a god that they worship, which is sending me into difficulties. Lydia said that doesn’t really have anything to do with anything right now, but Heiron said it’s important to think about what you’re dealing with (even if you can’t understand it).

**

The toad cave led out onto the ledge that’s been circling this central ravine, and we got another look at the snow dome or something that’s down in the bottom. I can’t see an entrance from this side. Lydia says it makes her uncomfortable.

Ezekiel put a booby-trap glyph on another pile of prepped boulders, and we found the last cave system on the upper level of the ravine. This must be where the rest of the giants lived, as we found more sleeping hides, barrels of food, and a little gold hidden in the snow (plus a clerical scroll that might come in handy).

Hard to say if they were waiting for us to be distracted by the goods, or if they were out looking for us, and just returned at that moment, but the last frost giant sentries sicced their winter wolves on us, and put up a good fight. Lydia got to use stinking cloud again, like the old days…but this time, I didn’t gag on it.

Two of them fled at the last moment, and Ezekiel and Mikael pursued them while the rest of us were busy. Their legs are shorter than giants’, though, (even Mikael) and they lost them. Then the walls started shaking, and little ice fragments fell down from the ceiling.

Ezekiel told us to quickly grab anything the giants had (though they didn’t have anything on them – I guess it was all in this cave) and follow him before they collapsed the cave down on us. By the time we caught up with him and Mikael, they were considering a pile of ice debris where the giants had blocked us in (yet again; if I didn’t have claustrophobia before, I probably will now). The good news is the giants gave up trying to collapse the roof, so all we have to deal with is clearing the entrance.

Ezekiel proposed using his magical spinning blades to dice the barrier into fragments that can compact onto the floor and walls (and maybe the friction melts them a little, too)…so we’re trying that. It is kinda cool watching his disembodied blades whip back and forth, but there’s a serious amount of snow and ice to get through. He’s been at it nearly a half hour. I guess it’s good he’s having fun.

**

Oof. Five days of boredom, five minutes of terror…that’s the adventurer’s life.

We finished digging ourselves out of the giants’ cave, and found them not waiting in an ambush for us. Maybe they’re off getting friends or something. At any rate, the only thing left to explore was the floor of the ravine and the snow-covered dome, so we lowered ourselves down on ropes.

At first, all was quiet. There’s a hole in the southern end, surrounded by cliffs, that drops into a cave system underneath (made of actual rocks, this time). Not too far from that, though, is the huge dome of snow.

The snow must accumulate here after whipping back and forth up above trying to waylay arrows, and it’s a little hard to walk in. We were heading to explore the dome, and the girls were talking about a smell in the air. Lydia had caught a whiff earlier – like baking, she said – while Aliana said there was something spicy or cinnamony in the air. But before anyone else had a chance to sniff around, the Thing came for us.

Basically, it’s like an ankheg, but white…but of course you don’t look at an ankheg that’s rushing you, and say, “You’re just a big earthworm with horns!” No, you duck out of its way and try to decide in a split-second which part looks most vulnerable to the weapon you happen to be holding (I chose the underbelly – frequently vulnerable to blades). Ezekiel tried to throw light in its face, and then Lydia hurled lightening down the length of its body, and it jack-knifed and flopped to the snowy ground, shriveling like an earthworm in the sun.

Afterwards, Lydia told us that it’s called a “polar worm,” and the carapace on its back will melt weapons (Tressarian said, but he puts out fires! but I explained it doesn’t melt like that). It also likes to eat people and digest them in minutes, and the Barbarian word “rimorez” is what people called Lydia’s mother. She cut off one of its horns, and she wasn’t explaining things with the gusto she usually has about sharing knowledge, so I told Heiron to give her back-up while I went with Ezekiel to search the dome.

I think the worm has been hunting here for some time. Apparently it doesn’t digest bones, since we found plenty of those…human, dwarf, and goblinoid. Also a magic ring (silver with some engraving) and a sword we saw glowing under the ice. Mikael had to cut it out with a flame-blade, but when we freed it, the hilt had Old Oeridian writing that Ezekiel says means “for the slaying of giants.” Agnar thought that could be useful, but when he tried to pick it up, he says it “bit” him, so we gave it to Master Oaklock. I hope they will be happy together. (Ezekiel told Agnar that some weapons need to have a “kinship” with their wielders to work best, but I’m not sure how much he got out of it.) Tressarian went so far as to admit it would be nice to have a sort of “kindred spirit” sword with us – once he was sure I wasn’t going to swap him out.

There wasn’t much else in the ravine…which meant all we could do was attach ropes and climb down into the cavern underneath our feet. (I suppose the frost giants had another route to get down there, but we didn’t know where it was…and possibly we wouldn’t be able to climb it.)

Aliana was to go first, and Agnar was ready to climb down once she was clear of the rope. But plans are for boring people, I guess.

She couldn’t have been more than halfway down when we heard a roar, and saw a flash of something white down there (the hole is twelve feet across, so big enough to see a little) – and then we heard her trumpet-like challenge, and the rope went slack. Dragon versus paladin. No holds barred.

Agnar waited for nothing and no one – he leapt feet-first, sword-drawn, into the opening, yelling the whole way (it’s a wonder he had any breath left by the time he landed). He’d barely left the ledge when Ezekiel pounced on the rope, skimming down with his gauntlets of ogre strength, and Mikael just dove into the hole (transforming into a falcon by the time he disappeared below the level of the ground).

Raven took the rope next, while Lydia hopped into the hole and used her staff to lower herself at a gentle rate. In all the commotion, I kind of lost track of myself…I saw flashes of light, and felt blasts of freezing air as I climbed down the rope – but by the time I reached the floor of the cavern, we had two dead white dragons, and Ezekiel was on his knees “having a moment,” as Aunt Elaine might have said. Mikael was chanting away Aliana’s frostburn, and Agnar was grudgingly admitting that maybe his ankles didn’t appreciate falling over a hundred feet onto stone (I just pictured Tomlin’s reaction to hearing that sentence! Ha!).

Everything seemed wrapped up… These dragons were clearly stronger than the ones we fought in the Node with Master Elmo, but they still were no match for our teamwork (and Ezekiel’s spell, apparently, that’s he’s been muttering to himself about and whimpering, “What have I done?” sorts of things periodically).

We only found one obvious exit (aside from the roof, of course) – blocked with a giant boulder, just like Flame’s bedroom was. So we set up the instant fortress in front of it for Heiron and Master Oaklock to guard, and for Agnar to take a little rest, while Ezekiel and I gathered the dragons’ treasure into the portable hole.

Silver, electrum, and platinum pieces…silver boxes filled with ivory…various little non-magical carvings out of marble and alabaster…a pile of white gems…yes, these dragons liked getting treasure that matched their hides. Even among the weapons and armor (no surprise that dragons had some of those, right?) we found a suit of black chainmail painted silver. It’s magical, but we haven’t experimented to see how good it is. Ezekiel checked the corners of the nest for any eggs, but found none. I think that’s just as well – poor Keom and Ronhass have their hands plenty full.

Lydia has gone to Haven to drop off the treasure, and Master Oaklock asked her to take the new frostbrand sword and get it a sheath made. (Tressarian took the opportunity to mention he likes his special sheath that lets him glow and talk from inside it, so I’m glad. We don’t know if the new sword talks, though.)

Aliana suggested one of the statues might be a good wedding present for Prince Thrommel and the Lady Jolene. It does seem to be of a married couple, though I’m not sure it would be the kind of thing my mother had in her house. On the other hand, part of being nobility is just having a lot of treasures to hand out at necessary times…it’s the thought that counts more than the actual gift. They don’t have to like the item for itself. I feel like I once heard Archie explaining that to Alpheus, and Alpheus felt a gift should have more thought put into it, even if he acknowledged that a lord couldn’t put that much thought into every single thing he had to do. Which I suppose is why he needs an “Archie” person.

Ezekiel in deep meditation, and looking broody, which is not like him.

Find the previous entry here.