This is me turning the tide. Going down to low tide, showing the wet sand and other soft things beneath. Who really wants to do that though? It’s where old feet press along the path in pairs. Couples that didn’t bother leaving an interesting enough life to die in a glorious fight, or better yet, at sea. Not many young feet stamping through the old sand. I was told to try it though.

So in Malkara I’m going to try not to hurt anyone. Lots of people are here to hurt me. The town watch wants to, even though I made that deal with Carson. I don’t think they’ll try anything against me  Carson is doing a very good job at hurting me. It’s with his mind and part of me thinks that doing this soft path will make me a stronger person against those attacks. Simon is doing a really good job at hurting me too. His methods are a little bit different. I see how he is hurting the others and that’s how he’s hurting me. I shouldn’t have told the others about him. I think it will hurt Dorian the most.

I have thirty and six hours to save Eurydice. When we wake up I ask Ake and Rinn to help. They turn the conversation to Mystics. Sure, I’ve seen Mystics. They cause a lot of trouble, and not only around the lands. They trouble your head, but in different ways than Carson or Simon. It’s like they see and shape the world in different ways than I can. That’s a tricky thing to understand. And that’s with me thinking about magic too. Rinn uses magic and even though I can’t do it, at least I can see where it comes from. It’s like casting a net and taking in fish. With the mystics it’s always different. It’s like you’re looking at the sea itself when you’re looking at them.

We go through mail and plan the day. Lots of things to do. I need to save Eurydice so I tell the others about that. We just need to find some information for Carson. I’m not very good at that sort of thing so I ask the others for help. Giacomo finds a ring from House Del Dega that was magical before the Sundering. We set off in the morning to see about mystics from the infamous Hannah Treu. She’s pretty.

There’s a dead drop we grab in the South of town. Ake leads us there quickly and easily - a capable Ranger he is. He seems very focused on this task - I haven’t seen this side of him. He very much wants to find out about Mystics. I don’t think I’d understand the answer if I asked why, so I follow him. One thing I want to know about is what’s inside the package. Ake says that we can’t look at it because it’d break our promise or something, and I think that’s a pretty noble thing. So I don’t open the box even though I very much want to.

Box is to be delivered to Hannah Treu at the Scarlet Chain. Haven’t been myself. We go inside and it’s like the brothels that the wizards in Volos would keep. All pomp and pageantry. The Matron of this place seems to have a good head on her shoulders though, so I can’t complain much. Maybe coming back for a romp would be fun. Don’t think I can afford the time.

The T.I.P. can’t afford the money for seeing Hannah. That means we need a solution. Ake has a strange look in his eye as he asks Giacomo and I about The Crimson Sail. I wonder if me telling Carson about all of this nonsense will save Eurydice, so I nod and take him. We arrive and get harassed by the bouncers. Little peckers want to rouse something in me. But I am soft.

We see a surprising sight after we finish our business: Dorian, staggering around the docks and smelling like sex. Maybe Simon made him find a consort. Giacomo shows him what we’ve been upto. In a moment, Dorian snaps out of his haze and focuses on the ring. He swipes it from Giacomo and yells at us for a little bit. I yell at him back for a little bit as Ake finishes his business with Carson. Then we continue yelling at each other when Ake takes us to see Lucien.

Now that I think about it, it seems strange that Ake is so interested in these people. Lucien, Carson, even Simon. I don’t want nothing to do with them and yet he wants to get all wrapped up in their nonsense. To each their own.

We get up to Lucien’s shop and Ake conducts his business. I find out what we’ve been dealing for: a book. We also hear about a character named Mollia that apparently killed Narcel’Uss and scared away Ildan, but I don’t believe that. I’ll have to find this person and ask them about it. But a book for all of this trouble! I let out some restraint and yell loudly at Lucien. I know that if I hurt him I’ll just feel bad about myself, so this is my way of at least getting some pleasure out of all of this. He smiles and snarls and ponces around using his words, but I think I got him good. We leave.

Dorian and I discuss these dealings of late. I desperately need him to help - he’s the smart one, the planner, the one with the answers. It seems like he doesn’t have any quick and easy answers to all of this and I regret having to let stuff out on him. He’s trying to keep us together. Trying to find jobs and establish ourselves as good standing members of Malkara. That stuff matters, at least some of the time. I don’t have much of that these days. He gives me something that maybe I can use - a secret temple beneath the city. Riches and other treasures below, hopefully useful to the Tong.

As I’m thinking about all of this deep stuff more people die in the market. Wasn’t me this time! Dorian and I are quicker to run to the shadows this go around. It was strange - I should’ve seen something beforehand. I was focused on Dorian, but I should’ve felt a tingling that something was off.

Rinn confronts me as we head back as I say things about what I would’ve done if we caught the killer. They have a sensible nature; patience to them is a virtue. I tell them that I’m trying to be soft but that it feels more like a vice. It’s hard because I’m so different than that, and this person here is so different from me too. They can sculpt the elements with their thoughts. I have to shape things with my bare hands. That influences your thinking a lot. But I see their point. Some bad people aren’t bad all of the time. I don’t know about giving second chances - that’s a good way to get yourself killed. But it makes me think about something that’s been nagging me.

At the Crimson Sail I go to Carson one more time. I am still his. I give him his information that I stole from Dorian. He smiles and is pleased with me. I am soft and accept it. But now I know that being soft can be about being patient too. And I will be patient with him.