Dear Diary,

Axelotl is an incredible idiot and entirely wrong about almost everything. He's going to lead his bandit like locusts until they've devoured everything weaker than themselves, and then they'll devour each other. I don't need to be able to see the future to see that coming. 

He's a little bit right about a couple of things, though. We both have power. He's conflated power and strength, and thing that having power gives him the right to take from those that don't. What him nearly…

Dear Diary,

Tomorrow I'm going to let Axolotl chop off my head. Well, "let" is a strong word. It's more that I expect to fail to be able to prevent the chopping. Also, it's not entirely clear which bits of me he'll chop off, but I rather expect that they'll be sizeable and fairly important.

My real hope is that I'll be able to negotiate with him. He's not unreasonable.

Okay, he's not always entirely unreasonable. He has ideals and aspirations, and he's always more open to new ideas after he's…

Hey Son,

So I found your diary. You should hide it way better. Get a pocket dimension or something. 

Don't worry I didn't read it. Your lovesick poetry or whatever is safe. Seriously, though, a diary? That's what bards are for. You have a bard, a good one. Get her to write down your shit. It'll be way better, trust me. Besides, you're a big damned hero whether you like it or not, and heroes do. Other people write about it.

Ah shit, there I go again. I'm not trying to tell you to be like me, or…

So I don't know basically anything about music or, as it turns out, magic. But I do listen when people say things to me.

If I understand it right, Satrine is a song. Or at least she's the physical embodiment of a song. She doesn't sing the song, so much as the song sings her. If that's right, Odam, Avitu, and Partashah are like three movements of that song. 

What I'm wondering is if it's possible to change the song, make it a lullaby instead of a march, or something like that. Someone told me…

Dear Diary,

I think I get it now, why my parents do really stupid things. Tia, too. They keep finding... putting themselves in situations where doing nothing isn't an option. 

That's where the town is now. If we don't do something, the town will be swallowed by spiders, devoured by monsters, crushed by bandits, or all three. 

The problem with seeing the future, is that I can see all the possibilities and it's paralyzing. Every time the wind blows or I take a step, the branches change, so my…

Dear Diary,

For a couple of spontaneous and creative people, Mallow and Tails can be terribly predictable. They're like a pair of loaded dice. Ugh.

So they're cursed, or blessed, or gifted, or whatever. They're part of it. Now we have to worry that if we kill Avitu, it's going to impact them, as well. Great. Like this wasn't already over-complicated. 

That's mostly their own problem to deal with, though. Probably. Hopefully.

My current concern is Celendrial. I have something that might help her,…

Dear diary,

I think I'm leaking.

I don't think anyone has noticed yet, but they're starting to react to things that haven't happened yet.

I thought at first whatever was wrong with me was being spread to others because of our local enchantment problems. But if I focus hard, I can make it stop, or turn it up so much that the kids can outmaneuver Vanayo, so it is me.

I don't really know what to do about it. I don't feel too good about casually warping people's minds. What if it's harmful. Is it…

Dear Diary,

I've had a complicated day. 

We rescued some kind of angel and they promised to make us a weapon that could kill the source of the curse. That's good right? Probably... yes. It just feels like the weapon they're building is going to be its own problem.

You know that song about the old woman that swallows a fly, and then through a series of ill-considered solutions, she becomes a massive, all consuming monster that devours an entire kingdom? It feels a bit like that.

We need to solve…

Dear Diary,

This is probably my last entry. I know I say that kind of regularly, but we're descending into a cursed ruin that is turning everything in the area into monsters. I'm not really optimistic about this one.

I'm strangely comforted by the presence of a new... ally? Hellsteve Woereaper is coming along with us and it's sort of comforting. It's like having most of my family along with me. He's angsty like Axle, shows off like dad, and sets me on fire like Tia. I haven't been set on fire…