Curses! Have we not thought to put locks on the doors? Our forgetfulness and our arrogance has led to a break in at the manor. Of course, Jeremiah was not much assistance in our absence. He makes a good underling but a terrible guard. I believe I heard him muttering something about being "a lover not a fighter". However, nothing of import seems to have been taken from us so it is unclear what the purpose of our intruder was. Perhaps to unsettle us? Vani demanded I do "a magic thing" on the doors to protect them as I attempted to explain to her I don't do that kind of thing. 

Knowing not much worse could happen in our absence, we went into town. I had my own purpose for being there so I broke off from the rest and headed for a central location. I focused and saw a clear vision of my ring in my mind's eye and in that moment I called upon my magic to give life to a divining stick. The stick felt my intent and granted me the direction in which to head. I felt a rush as I followed it, feeling excited for the first time in a while at the opportunity to get close to my ring. Yes, MY ring. Let us not forget what I went through to obtain it before I fled my home. 

The stick lead me to a man. I could see from his practiced glance (lazy to the unassuming eye but carefully appraising if you know how to look deeper) that he was not senile or simple. He was here for some purpose and I would need to advance with caution as to not ruin my chances. I made it sound as though I was interested in doing some deal, which got me some bizarre instructions, but eventually he moved off to the side. The stick swiveled to follow him. My breathe caught in my throat. My blood turned to ice. This man, the man right in front of me, had my ring. My smile dropped and I walked right up to him. I could hear my voice, hard like steel, giving him a choice while also offering a path of honour. Like many people outside of my Grue home, he showed no sense of respect and turned away to leave. No, no this would not do. He would not leave with my ring. Now my blood unfroze and began pounding through my veins. I called to Nurzhan to grant my words power and called him to stop. He walked on. I pulled more power towards me and my words rang out into the air with a ripple of magic, "HALT!". I could feel my magic ensnare him and he stopped. With but a moment's time, I tried to find the ring. Alas, he had too many pockets and too many hidden weapons and objects that distracted my search. Suddenly, he was free and slashing at me with a hook, then punching me to the ground and disappearing up the stairs. 

I found myself running back towards the town square, looking for the rest of the TIP. Perhaps if we worked together we could corner him! I quickly found them and knocked something out of Vani's arms, immediately getting her attention. She grumbled and lamented something about "sandwiches" but they all followed me keenly enough. At the building, the fighters took to the stairs while our more acrobatic team members climbed and flew up the side. I watched, eager to hear some word from my companions of the monk's whereabouts. After a moment of nothing, except some crashing noises and a strange high-pitched ringing sound from one of the upper floors, I pulled out the divining stick once more for some clue as to his location. The stick hovered then dropped, my stomach sinking with it. He had already escaped. I called to the TIP to return and at once Vani and Ren were flying out of a window. Bird Girl descended from the top floor, some baked treat clutched in her talon. Ildan was nowhere to be seen so I called once more, magically boosting my voice. He too flew out of the same window. 

Before we could get anywhere, the City Watch arrived and we were caught. From the corner of my eye I watched as Vani magically disappeared into the crowd, one of her many specialties. Once, I would have fought tooth and nail when faced with such a situation. Today, I am a changed Grue and I know that more than my own life lies tethered to my fate. We have a reputation to keep, especially should we want employment in the future (if we ever get out of this nightmare). Instead, I wove my words together into a story to turn the people towards our side, to show them how our intent was not to harm but instead to reclaim stolen property. Many of these people do not live well, and have known oppression to be a life-long friend, so some of the words rang true to them. The guards seemed not as angry at us but still intent on taking us to the guard house for further questioning and fees associated with disturbing private residences. I called back to Vani, in hopes that she would further questioning some of the nervous people we witnessed testifying false information about the man. As I sit here, at the guard house and awaiting questioning, I can only hope she heard and understood my words. Let us hope that our reputation is not too far damaged either, or we will hear of it from both Dorian and J later.

Narcel'Uss Tanorthal