I am… so hungover. And horny, but we’ll get to that later.

The course of our investigations into the Tenth Pit brought us back to Refuge to speak to an old elf, Admiral Leafbower, about the magical chess set Kenari found on the Frostfyre. We made our appointment to see the ancient one and were resigned to wait a few days. I guess Admirals are busy people.

With a few days to cool our heels and a bit of replenishing to be done (we lost a couple of our ballista bolts to a creature known as “the Kragan,” a gargantuan tentacled beast that swims the flogistan between spheres. I got to see first hand what a tiny spark can do to our ships’ main sail and helped Kenari and Ef on the bucket brigade to put the conflagration out.)Efutan and Lenata went to go see what could be bought in the famous Arcane marketplace while Kenari and I went to hit the bar. You would think with my having worked in a bar so long that I’d do my best to avoid them, but I find that taverns and places like them happen to be where I’m most comfortable. I feel in control, knowing everything that goes on behind the scenes and I like the boost to my psychic abilities they grant. It’s much easier to know how others are feeling when they are thinking about what it is they want. I can hear their desires and it makes me feel a part of them. There’s so much to listen to and I find myself growing even more quiet just to hear.

Kenari found the most beautiful male in the bar to chat with. He seemed human at first, but it was later that a few details, half-forgotten, slipped into place. The tattoos, piercings, ostentatious silk garb, and the aura of glamor about him finally clued me into his race: a Reigar. There happens to be a famous Reigar on Bral, known for his wild parties that last weeks long. Body painting, drinking, carousing, jumping naked into the lake, orgies, gourmet nibblies, you name it. More than half the rare expensive delicacies and vintages end up on that estate, the other half being fought over by the tavern keepers and the gentry.

So, in any case, when Tain invited us to his own soiree, we HAD to jump at the chance. When we returned to our ship, the Admiral’s message had beaten us there and it seemed that we would be in town for a coupe of days before our meeting would take place. With nothing else needing our attention, it was all-clear for us to party past dawn and take the next day to recuperate. I decided right then and there that I was going to live the experience to the fullest—to cut looser than I have ever done before.

I had the most amazing night since I left Rajrin. I felt so close to the dream, so connected to the essence of the universe and all its peoples. I drank something known as Absinth: a green, thick syrupy alcohol that tasted odd and sweet. Tain remarked at one point that it was flavored with something called ‘fen-nol,’ and got its psychotropic properties from ‘wyrm-wood,’ both herbs found in some places on the primes, neither sounding very appetizing, in my estimation. But the way that he spoke of its mind-opening possibilities had me itching to try it. Perhaps it would blow the door open on my consciousness, like the herbs the seers used back home to amplify their powers.

I could hear colors, see sound, and feel every mind at the party with me. When Kenari danced, I could feel her joy. I almost got out there and danced with her! The pulsing of the drums brought me in close to the bonfire, although I hadn’t moved very far from Efutan’s side. It was exhilarating!

I don’t know really how it happened, but I found myself drawn into conversation with a beautiful elven couple, locals to the sphere. Charmed by the gorgeous pair, I took their invitation to sit beneath a tree and continue our association. One thing led to another, I suppose, and soon I found myself entwined with the both of them like the boughs of the tree. I hadn’t had a lover since my first, back home, and now I am reminded of everything I’ve been missing for the last twenty years! Come to think of it, I’d never really considered whether or not I was attracted to females. In the light of day (with a pounding headache) I can’t really say I am. But she was. Oh, yes, most definitely. I could feel her desire like it was my own, every sensation amplified beyond understanding. I can’t even summon up a stitch of embarrassment that we did it right out in the open like that. We certainly weren’t the only ones engaged in such activities out there on the lawn.

The night passed in an ecstatic blur of sight and sound intermingling. Uproarious laughter bounced around everywhere until the first false strains of dawn could be heard cresting the hills. By then, I think I was starting to come down, because although everything was still amplified, by this point the intermingling was making me nauseous and the sensations were bordering on pain.

We trudged wearily back to our ship in the dock. I’m ashamed to say that I asked Ef to carry me and he informed me that he couldn’t. I sometimes forget how heavy I am. So instead, both he and Lenata had to half-drag me back, which was just fine. Until I caught Mr. “go ahead and party, I’ll keep you all safe and not partake” bodyguard tried to put the sensitizing lotion into my ear! As if I needed it! Apparently, he was a little miffed about not getting his own party on, not that he’d even mentioned such a thing the whole night through. In any case, it was a dirty trick he tried to pull and I’m still miffed about it.

We’ll see how he likes being pranked when he’s feeling the sting of Baccus’s poison, if he ever lets his hair down that long. Hmmm… maybe on the next long voyage, I’ll get him drunk and he can wake up trailing the ship just inside the air bubble on a rope, or maybe I’ll just use my Psionic Outburst on him when his head’s aching from the night before. Or maybe I’ll just take his clothes and run them up the main sail when he takes a shower. Or maybe I’ll just get him naked and…. ugh. No no no no! Bad Vedis! You’re not supposed to look at your shipmates like that! Don’t sleep with your coworkers; how many times did Luigi say that? It always ends in disaster!

But… that box is looking pretty good right now, if any of the toys survived being snatched up by that halfling girl back at the party. Maybe I can kick Ef out of the hold for an hour or two. Or maybe he’d want to join me… damnit! NO! Ayrun’s off the menu, too, so don’t even think about it!

I shouldn’t even be contemplating sex right now. I really do have the most massive headache since earlier this morning, although it’s down to a dull roar since I downed a gallon of water and this alchemical remedy one of the young clerics brought back. Oh, how nice. Tain sent a note and actually remembered me by name!

Mmm… Tain.

Oh, Gods Damn It. I think I’m in heat.