[Animayhem]

" Naturally as an Elf and one with arcane abilities, I need to be less noticeable than others. Though some would say that's a moot point considering I have a home and merchant. Well, I do pay the fees and taxes and as long as I do I am left alone for the most part, well, except for assassins who never leave anyone be.

A few months before the tournament, an apprentice to a red wizard named Jutta was seeking adventurers to acquire spell components for her master. I along with others received a raven saying if we were interested to meet at a place called the Decent Drink. Not having anything better to do, I decided to try and find this place. It was good I was in Tyraturos as it seems that was the location of the meeting place.
A few others were there. They were Hirt, Maera, Neb'tha, the apprentice Khal Ren and Cassae an sister elf who acted more like the apprentice's servant than a free person and also Petra a recent acquaintance.

Eventually we found the meeting place and the apprentice Jutta. As she was making her introductions and surveying those who arrived, a few others managed to enter. One was the half orc Vrogdush whom I knew and an unknown man who later revealed himself to be Sand Ibn- La and a woman who later revealed her name as Kaya. We displayed the messages we received and when we did Jutta revealed what her master sought. He sought two spell components, fallen sea stars and wild Elf blood. Naturally I cringed at the thought and sadly was not surprised that it would be sought. As a few things can be made from pure Elven blood. Naturally everyone looked at me by Jutta said I would not do. The other components although called sea stars where not actually stars but metal which fell
from the sky and landed on the sands of the Alamber Sea. It was also a race as the group who collected their components and arrived at the Golden Dragon in Amruthar would receive an extra reward.

I was getting ready to leave as I would not be apart of anything knowingly harming any Elf. However I did not need to as we were being divided into to groups. I went with the star hunters which included, Petra, Kaya, and Sand. It was decided we would go to Murbant. We arrived and made our plans there.
In talking to the locals, we concluded our best chances would be the sea caves and talking to the man who called himself Captain Sparrow. We decided to speak to him first.

If anyone were to take the tales and descriptions of sea captains as truth, Sparrow was the living proof. He reeked of too much drink and was trying to, as the humans sometimes say, 'to pick up women'. Thank the Goddess Elves were not high on his list. I warily observed and let the others talk. Petra and Kayla were using their feminine charms and experiences while Sand and I looked on. As if trying to impress us as he was a man of breeding, Sparrow reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a lace handkerchief. Unbeknownst to to Sparrow, an item fell out of his pocket which oddly enough looked like a fallen star. As quickly as he dropped it Sand picked it up and put it in his own. To further prevent Sparrow from noticing, Petra and Kaya sat him down on the bench, each sitting next to him.

Seeing he had more or less had a captive audience, Sparrow suggested a game of dice. We were not to enthusiastic at first as it would delay our task. However when he pulled out the fallen star as his stake, we became interested as Sand had one already. After he had set down the star, we all put items in the 'pot' as it was called. We all took our turns at the dice with Sparrow being last. The highest roll so far was thrown by Sand who got a 9. Sparrow stood wobbling from the bench and threw the dice. He got an 8 and we got our items and the fallen star. Knowing time was passing, we made our farewells to Sparrow and headed for the caves.

We entered the caves cautiously not knowing what we would face. The caves were damp but not underwater. After battling the first group I found one of the stars which boosted our hopes. We continued battling our way through the cave and managed to gather all the stars. Stars and loot where not the only things found. I had found portal stones, one for each of us. We debated whether to risk using them or take the caravan. Weary and anxious to get back we decided on using the stones after we got out of the cave.

We arrived at the outskirts of Amruthar and quickly proceeded to the Golden Dragon. Unfortunately we arrived about a minute or so after the blood party. The items were given to Jutta who seemed disappointed and claimed they were ruined because each group had used the stones. A discussion ensued about what should or should not have been done by all those present. However in the end it was determined that the apprentice not we who gathered the items would deal with the consequences. We all took the reward and went our separate ways.

It was quite a learning experience. I felt we did well considering we did not actually work as a group before. I may do it again if circumstances are right."