Tonight is peaceful and cool, a nice ending to my last day in Ul'dah. I'm leaving for Limsa-Lominsa tomorrow afternoon by airship, and this time I'll be sure to board the right one. I'm excited and nervous, and I don't think I'll sleep much tonight.
I've hired B'rahz to come with me.
We've gotten to know each other a little better in the past few days I've spent here in the desert. I think he may be one of the few candid people in this city. He's short on work and food; I happen to have a little gil and skill at cooking. It's a good arrangement. He doesn't seem to want anything from me, and despite being a rough person, I think he will watch out for me. Besides, people in his line of work probably need a healer often.
Still, B'rahz is a little strange for a Seeker. He has a tribal name, but a city accent. He could only be a tia, but he hasn't taken any opportunities presented to him with other females. (That Keeper, Glow, is strange, but still very attractive. At least, that's what I think.) B'rahz says he's not the 'one night' kind of person.
But what tia isn't?
It's a mystery. I might get an opportunity to solve it, if he decides to stay awhile in Limsa-Lominsa. We both need gil, and we could probably make a good team. I hope he stays. Aside from gil, I think one thing we're both short on is friends.
I put another gil in the Gold Court's fountain for a wish. It seems like every time I go there, I meet someone new...
A female roegadyn, tall with fiery hair and mismatched eyes of vibrant green and deep red. The eyes are a common trait among miqo'te, but I've never seen it among roegadyn before. She does have a heavy Lominsian accent though, which is common enough. Her name is Lost River.
...She calls me Miss Mow Mow. I... I suppose it's endearing. A little.
Lost River is a bigger puzzle than B'rahz. She's a bounty hunter of sorts, but when I mentioned I wanted to attend an academy in Limsa-Lominsa, she had something to pass on to me. A grimoire--a textbook of her own, worn over the years. She doesn't look it, but I think she's some kind of powerful mage. No one would think so at first, not with that athletic build, enormous bow, and thick accent--which she can rein in perfectly, when she wants to be understood.
I told her I would treat her to cooked meals in exchange for the book. (I will have to figure out how to saute giant ants on my own, but I think B'rahz can fish up some good trout.) When I asked her where I could find her, she gave me a pearl to contact her.
At least, she said it was a pearl. It doesn't look like any pearl I've ever seen.
I have it on my desk now, while B'rahz is out. It's a strange, eerie thing of deep black, etched with runes I don't understand. There's something odd about the way it looks--aside from the obvious, ominous design--but I can't put my finger on it just yet. When I asked who had made the pearl, Lost River only said questions like that would get me eaten by the Voidsent.
She was joking. I think.
A black mage I met recently at the Quicksand, Xel, discouraged questions about the Void. I don't know what it is, not exactly, but I don't think it's something to be tampered with. I might not be able to study the pearl, but I don't know of anyone knowledgeable enough to help me, either. I can't throw it away. I'll figure out something, but I think I'll have to hide it when B'rahz is around. It looks ominous enough for even the most oblivious people to question it.
I'm beginning to think that the truly mysterious black mages aren't the ones parading around in black!