I suppose that it's about a week after Ring Day now. The past week hasbeen spent visiting a life mage in the village on and off about mybusted arm. I figure that he's managed to knock off about a month offmy time in a cast… which hopefully means I'll be out of the cursedthing in another few weeks. I get the feeling I'm going to need to beat full abilities when I visit the Naochi house. Once the throbbingfrom the magic finishes out in my arm, I think I'll try and go a fewrounds with Burr in the fields. We both need the practice.

The cheetah priest Testament-Blaze has been doing a fair job ofchronicling my discoveries in the libraries here, although hisilluminated lettering here and there creeps me out somewhat. I thinkit's because those are the same hands that write copies of those holybooks of his… so am I going to end up as another chapter in his nextholy book? Heh, maybe I'll end up being sainted. I can see it now… Saint Foxfire, the Patron Rat of Mistakes and Bad Luck.

I shouldn't joke; there's far too much happening far too quickly tojoke. The past couple of weeks have made me feel like I'm livingthrough a dream that any moment I'll wake up from. Maybe I'm stillflying over Bosch… or maybe I pitched myself over the deck in my sleepand this is the madness that the land promised me. It's not as blissfulas it's supposed to be, although not as nightmarish as that dream ofthe skinless Shiga either. I've thought a lot about that dream and whatit might mean.

But for now the dream is only one of many things happening. Testy hasalready chronicled most of that, so I'd rather not waste ink going backover old news. Needless to say, it seems as though I might not be fromHimar like I thought. Supposedly there is a royal family here by thename of Naochi… which used to be my last name. People of royal bloodapparently have straight legs like the city Jupani or humans… and likeme, and they also have manes of hair on their heads. Plus somecreatures that attacked me (and apparently only me) in the forest onlygo after people of Krozite ancestry, and are particularly nasty to folksof royal blood.

So now I'm left wondering what the fires is going on. Is this one ofDagh's silly jokes? Maybe he's hoping to trick me into taking up ahouse here by planting names here and there. For all I know, heconvinced a piece of harlot street trash who threw a backwards lookingbaby to name the kid after a dead princess just to mess with her mind.Maybe he wanted the airship to land in Kroz and started all of that messwith Suprier le Chien to get me here for some bloody insane reason.

Then there's the alternatives. Okay… let's assume that I am thedaughter of Prince Tachiri and Ria Naochi; how the hell did I end up inHimar? What happened to the other three girls? Are they floatingaround blazes-knows-where as well? Was I sold? Was I stolen? Whyaren't I dead? If someone simply didn't want an heir, it would have beeneasier to just strangle the baby in the crib and claim that it diedmysteriously… Fires know I've seen enough of that in Darkside. Whydo I have some inner dread that Dagh might have arranged for that aswell, that he needs me for something, and the time is getting closer andcloser for that need to come into fruition?

There is also the possibility that Tachiri was so desperate for a maleheir that he… Rrrgh, I can't even write it. Could Ria have made adeal with Dagh to save me? So many different things it could be.

I met a half-mad old Khatta back in Sylvania by the name of Absalom – aname also shared by a life mage of the Dack household who was presentfor the births of all five Naochi children. Absalom was a follower ofDagh, and although he's probably just as much of a loon as Wyrd, still hewas a life mage, and may have had the ability to make a baby appear to bedead while he slips it off or worse.

If only Tachiri and Ria weren't dead… The more I peel back the layersof this onion for answers, the more complex things get. Am I just acoincidence? Or is all of this some deliberate thing that's still beingplayed out? I'm so confused and frustrated, I could scream. Is all ofthis just a big wad of coincidence? A simple case of a man who wanted amale heir, so he murdered his children and one of them got away? Or isthis a big web spun by Dagh?

I wish I could remember where I'd first learned what my name was. Idon't remember a mum or a pap, just mobs of kids just like me, and I wasalways known as Chiria. Still, if I was stuffed somewhere to beforgotten… why do I remember my name at all? Why didn't I just getstuck with a stupid name like Whitehead's and sent on my way? Heck, ifAbsalom was such a powerful Life Mage, he could have even changed myappearance as a pup, so I wouldn't look like anyone in the Naochi house.Blast it all… maybe he did.

Who the hell am I – and do I really want to know?

That trail is getting cold, and I'll only be able to warm it up bypaying a visit to the Naochi Castle. I also want to look at thesegraves that belong to my family, and supposedly to myself. I'll dig upChiria's grave, if it means finding answers, and I also want to have somewords with the stones of Tachiri and Ria. They're dead, but maybe Ican find some resolution in getting what I want to say out. Damn you… Why did you have to be dead? I'd be willing to scream at a zombie or aspook if it means I could get some answers.

The Dack house has mages in its ranks, as well as a history of contactwith Bosch. It's hard to pick useful bits of information from this,except that I need to tread very very carefully around them. Notantrums, no accusations… Just subtly try to find as many answers as Ican, and be prepared if they already know I'm coming and who I am when Iarrive.

One thing that has me thrown somewhat was reading Testy's reports ofMother Diamante's reaction to the news that I might be part of royalty.She has an amazing way of phrasing things that are both cryptic and yetabundantly clear, while still retaining the demeanor of a gentle lovingmatron of a house. She said that she wasn't surprised that I wasroyalty… but what did she mean by that? Was that a compliment orsomething else? As much as I think it might have been a compliment… the fact that I've been doing nothing but having tantrums in her hallsand brought in a whole crew of filthy airshipmen makes me fear she looksat me as though I'm just as bad as Prince Kiri. Maybe I am… I can'tthink of much I could have done to make a good impression on her.

There's also the matter of Nene and her death. Nene would be about thesame age as I… I can't be too sure about the particulars, since I don'tknow when my birth date is, but through reading her notes and sleeping inher room I can feel a kinship with her. I get the feeling that she wasabout to find something important, and was murdered not because she wasin the wrong place at the wrong time, but because she was in the rightplace. Does Dagh have a hand in this as well? Beh… Why can't the badguy leave a calling card when he does his dastardly deeds, like they doin story books?

I think I'm going to leave some flowers for Nene and then ask Prince Ralto see if his huntsman friend would be willing to join me in exploringthe area where that statue was. Maybe there's a cave hidden in thetrees, or other statues or anything that might help me figure out if thetunnels and the underground empire might be linked with Dagh somehow. Iwish I could find out more about Tyrne Dagh himself and who he was.I'll try to get Burr and Testy to come along as well. Neither of themare Krozite, so they can serve as another pair of eyes to keep thecritters back, and Burr can always just grab me and run like mad ifthings start attacking me.

There's also the matter of seeing if there's any tunnels under theNaochi and Dack houses, and if there's any legends associated with thetunnels in that area. I can't help but think that there might be alink; I just need to find some proof of it.

Just after all the hospitality that the Diamantes have shown me,including putting up with my tantrums, I'd like to do something for themin return. Maybe finding out the truth of their daughter's demise or atleast finishing the work she started may be of some help.

So until my arm heals completely, I think I'm going to focus on thebookshelf and try to find any information in there about Tyrne orworshipers of Dagh in this area, prepare myself to braving the snicjersin the forest (And if Pri – the Huntsman says we need to turn back andbail, then I'll take his word. He knows this area better than I do. Whoknows, maybe he's explored the area a bit himself.).

There's also the matter of the tunnel system. I know that theunderground empire was ruled by Skreeks, but I know nothing about theirsociety or their culture. Were they dabblers in magic? did they have ahistory or a political system? A religion? Or were they just a big mobof wormy rats that brought down their own end? I'll try to look intothe history of the empire and see what's to be found.

I also hope to have dinner with Prince Cobalt sometime soon. He seemslike someone that might grate on my nerves after a few comments, but aslong as he isn't hell-bent on insulting me, I can probably tolerate it.If Prince Cobalt is willing, I'd like to look around his library as well,but as I'd rather not announce who I am for the whole country to hearand give Dagh time to make a welcome mat for me, I think I'd rather seehow quiet this Prince can be… or how much he'd let a stranger perusehis books. The more I think about it, the less I think I'll be able to.He doesn't strike me as horribly scholarly anyhow, but maybe I can gethim to blurt out a few opinions that might be useful.

Beyond that… I'll just keep my eyes open and wait to see what Daghplans to throw at me next.