I'd say all in all, things are shaping up rather well. I thought our group was developing a bit of rapport during our time with the rangers and it seems I was right. I'm glad the group has let me find and negotiate our commissions so far. As a child of the city, I know many of them easily overmatch me in combat prowess, so it is nice to still feel useful. And admittedly, it is good to be away from Isard. I didn't fully realize until we were well away from the city how much I had been living in the shadow of my family's bad luck.

The Donghenge debacle didn't go quite as planned. Luckily, the prospect of tourism popped up, so the Johnsons didn't bugger us in the court of public opinion. Our reputation slowly grows. And it inspired the name of our group: Just the TIP. It is definitely better than my (admittedly selfish) suggestion, the Keene Companions. And Just the TIP has the advantage of being ribald and unique, and therefore very memorable, like a dirty drinking song. 

"I say, are you the TIP Party?"

"No, we are Just the TIP, madam. Just the TIP."

It is perhaps a bit early to be forming much of an opinion about my companions. First impressions can be wrong, after all. I am only clear on two points. One, while Vani is adorable, her curiosity presents a potential danger both to herself and to the rest of the party, as we all seek to protect our own. Two, dispatching the ankheg larvae and the other large insect seemed to anger Ren. I'll have to keep my eyes open for an opportunity to set that right. It was not my intention to sow discord within our group, especially not on our 2nd commission. I regret having to kill them. Hopefully she can see that we lacked both the means to transport them safely to some other habitat or to protect them from frightened or angry farmers. And that is to say nothing of fact that we know nothing about raising an orphaned ankheg. It seemed the most merciful thing we could have done for them. Still, I shall have to see about mending that fence.