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Partial log (edited by the Doctor)
Note: I thought I was logging, but turned out to be logging the wrong
window, so I'm reconstructing the bits I cat and pasted.

Lugh, Elan, and Faiza head into town. They are ambushed by a loose assassin
vine along the way, but manage to destroy it (especially with the help of
Elan's dire wolf)

[...]
And another hour or two of riding brings you into Haldresburg. The ogre guards
    recognize the Arkites and pass them through. It's rather quiet, this being
    the middle of winter, but some shops are open, the crafters and so on
    working as usual. Following the road down towards the river, the camp of
    Sligh, the animal trainer, comes into view. Actually, it seems mostly
    disassembled right now, with two wagons packed up. Four horses graze in
    the meadow, while what look like cheetahs sit on the wagons: guarding the
    loads? One tent is still up at the moment.

[Elan introduces Lugh and Faiza to Sligh. Elan goes off to see the baby
owlbears, while Lugh and Faiza talk to Sligh.]

Lugh takes off his hat, settling it beside him. His neck is a little bruised
    still from being strangled. "Well, I do. I"m sure it might be a touchy
    subject, so if it is I mean you no offense. I've heard though that you
    might know something about the ancient civilization that fell in the Gnome
    City of mud. At least, one of your family would. I don't know how familiar
    you are with our Ark, but I've been told the way to save us from it might
    involve 'nexus points' which can be accessed through the mirror. It may
    very well be a trap, but I was hoping you might enlighten us."
Faiza nods. "We heard that you were Yrktheran..."
Sligh, at that, frowns slightly. He looks from one to the other from under
    furrowed eyebrows. "Yrktheran I am and Yrktheran I may be, but wisdom says
    let ancient dangers die. If the gnomes build over our graves, all the
    better. Our doom should not destroy a land forever."
Lugh says "The story I heard tell, from a goodly mind and heart, did say it
    was a sorrowful and dangerous tale. He also said your people had to live
    nomadic, or is that simply a preference now?"
Sligh shakes his head slowly. "Our doom follows us and finds us through
    mirrors. So we do not stay in any one place for long." He laughs. "It
    could have been worse. A race ancienter than ours found their hell in
    corners - any place where walls met. Imagine that! The Hounds hunted them
    down, every one. Yrktherans, though, we still endure."
Lugh says "What is meant by mirrors though?"
Sligh holds up a hand. "Light is stopped by my hand and loses its soul. But a
    mirror will receive the light's soul. So if you can see your own face in a
    mirror, it can see you. But there's a trick to it, of course."
Lugh says "That's strange. I'm not sure I understand what you mean."
Sligh smiles a bitter-edged smile. "Perhaps it is better that you don't.
    Mirrors are best left in their natural state."
Lugh frowns a touch, "What can you tell me about time streams then. I've been
    told that our Ark has a way of slicing through space and time. It feeds on
    those that draw us into it.. those that die. It grows stronger and
    stronger. None of us asked for this curse. We're hoping we can sidestep
    the problem by crossing what is known as a 'Node'. If it is possible."
Sligh shakes his head. He says slowly, "Old stories...grandfather legends,
    grandmother tales...they said the Mirror folk did not perceive time the
    same way people do in this our world. But what that difference is, I don't
    know. The stories didn't say."
Lugh hmmms, "Let me say, that our aim is not to rush headlong into this. We
    want to understand what we can to see if there is a potential safe
    crossroads we can pass through."
Faiza nods. She taps a finger against the side of her crate. "Are there
    crossroads in the mirror plane?"
Sligh says, "Possibly. Safe? I would not call it safe, no. But no Yrktheran
    has ventured across that border for centuries. We keep no mirrors, and
    throw pebbles into still water."
Sligh sighs. "We do not know for a certainty. It might just be superstition
    that no one dares test. But...as the stories say, time is not the same on
    the other side of the mirror. And the mirror folk hold their grudges dear."
Lugh frowns and asks, "What did your ancestors do to them?"
Sligh shakes his head. "Promises were made, promises that meant different
    things to different ears. So, an Yrktheran's advice: if you ever cross the
    threshold of the mirror, guard your name and your face, and strike no
    bargains, and accept no gifts without knowing the price. They are not
    devils, to twist your words, but rather...reflections, that show you
    something you cannot see straight on. And that can be dangerous."
Lugh muses this and asks, "You suggest we wear masks? Or do you mean something
    a bit more metaphorical? t is my hope we do not have to deal with these
    frightful things at all, and simply make our way in safety through the
    highway of ... blessing, I suppose you could say."
Sligh blinks. "The 'highway of blessing'? What do you mean by that?"
Lugh replies, "We are all accursed, not by our own doing as I have said. Its
    simply by merit of being sucked into the Ark. It could happen to anyone,
    even you. Whatever the probabilities may be, or even if it is intentional
    to gain samples. I don't know. Whatever the case may be, I have learned
    that one means of saving us from the curse involves the silver highway to
    a 'node' in time. It is this understanding of Time travel that I'm trying
    to understand."
Sligh nods slowly. "I have only traveled in time one way: step by step, one
    moment at a time in sequence. Mirrors are said to trap time. Perhaps that
    is what your source referred to? But they who dwell in the Mirror Planes
    are more knowledgeable about Time." He pauses, then adds, "And yes, I do
    mean masks, literally. And if you have spells to conceal your mind, use
    them."
Lugh hmmms, "They can be acquired, assembled, prepared. The matter of time
    needs greater consideration though. I admit I'm a bit squeamish about
    this, after hearing what I have heard so far, but do you know where we
    might find sources of lore with regard to Time?"
Sligh shakes his head. "Not from inside it. Things like demons and devils may
    try to deceive you into swallowing lore from their hands, but it's best
    not to believe them. Only the Outer Darkness and the Mirror Realms lie
    outside time. Or perhaps the far reaches of the Astral or Shadow planes..."
Lugh mmms, "I wouldn't consort with them either. Its not my way." he
    considers, "Astral, Shadow, Outer Darkness and Mirror Realms. - from my
    sense, that is the order of fearfulness I have of them too."
Sligh winds the snake around his arm again. "Maybe. It's not for me, planar
    travel. I have my friends here, with me, that's where my home is."
Lugh considers, then says, "If I find a way to help your Clans out of their
    curse in my careful pursuit. I will weigh it in the balance and try to
    meet with you again. You may perhaps enjoy your travels, but I hate to see
    any people in fear over the ancient mistakes of their forebears."
Sligh shrugs. "We are used to it. It is a gift of freedom, if you look at it
    the right way."
Lugh nods his head with that, "You certainly lead an interesting tale. I will
    agree. Still." he considers, "Without meaning to insult, may I ask about
    your marks? What they mean?"
Sligh turns his eyes on Lugh. "Yrktherans all have an odd ancestor or two in
    the family line. It means nothing, now."
Lugh nods his head and tells Sligh, "My numina-arcanum is innate as well, if
    that is your nature. I am more than elf, as it were, as well. Feyfolken."
    he pauses his thought. It seems only fair since he has prodded into this
    man's life.
Sligh's lips curve in a small smile. "Ah. I see. Then we may be remotest kin,
    for it was indeed a fey alliance in the founding of my family."
Lugh smiles and says, "Perhaps, though ... I am from a very different world
    than this one. There may be ties between the worlds though - I do not
    know." he pauses, "I hope we can meet one another again. Before you depart
    do you have any advice for us?"
Sligh says, "Work with what you have. Things do what they want to do. But if
    you must meddle with dangerous planar forces...be sure you have enough
    strength to stand up to whatever may find you."
Lugh nods once again, "I agree. You can rest assured we will make no
    attempts... However. I need one more question. As I think of it. How does
    one enter or peer through the mirrorlands? I promise you, this is
    something I won't even consider till I know much more."
Sligh studies Lugh carefully. "Are you sure you want to know?"
Lugh nods his head. "If a means can be found, without waking giants, then we
    may consider it. I don't know when we'll get the chance to learn this
    again. Or even if our Ark will move us on. I need to take the opportunity
    at knowledge before it is lost."

You paged Lugh with 'He tells you: You need three good mirrors. If you wish to
    enter the mirror realms, they must be large enough for you to step
    through. On the backs of the mirrors, you must write a certain symbol. In
    between the mirrors, you must levitate a light source. It must be
    perfectly balanced between the three mirrors, and the three mirrors must
    also face each other perfectly...'.
Sligh shows Lugh the symbol in the dirt (some arcane glyph)

[...?...]

Lugh nods again at this. "I'm afraid." he says. "But I very much appreciate
your help." he then muses, "Do you think if we tossed our Ark into the node,
wtih all the people aboard, and sent it into a time node... Would it therefore
safely remove us from the curse, and also avoid our interaction with the
denizens of the realm?" a novel idea, of course it would land them on the
strange planet.

Sligh shakes his head. "I don't know."

Lugh says "These are the sort of theories I need to work out. It will take me
many years just to get a reasonable model. The Co-existence model is one that
I've been tossing around."

Sligh smiles ironically. "To each his own. For myself, I am not a theorist. I
only know the old stories."

Lugh says "If I help you load your things, could you share some of the old
stories with me?"

Sligh chuckles. "All right." He stretches. "Just a few more crates here, then
we strike the tent when the lads get back."

Lugh moves to help Sligh with the preparations...

<OOC> Lugh needs to go soon anyway this is a good time to pause
<OOC> Lugh says, "gotta drive home."
<OOC> Elan nods, thinks so.
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