Day 102 - Wednesday

I still have no leads regarding the locations of the orbs so it’s looks like I’ll either have to go to Dawnhope Cavern to look for the last relic fragment, or go to Scared Grove to look for the Dark Chest’s next meal.

Maybe I’ll go up to the Atriums and see how the upgrading of the Gildenhall Gallery is coming along. Perhaps by the time I return, something new that needs urgent attention will turn up.

Work is progressing on the gallery and should be finished later today. I hope I have time this weekend to view the paintings. Nothing new is waiting for me at Town Hall, however. Let’s see. I could take some things to sell down to the auction, maybe check and see if there’s anything to buy. That should kill some time.

When I once again return to Town Hall, Mira is waiting for me along with Greg. Mira has spoken to the fairy at Stone Circle about the war ring. According to Mira, it was stolen, Greg has caught the thief, but the ring was lost during the thief’s escape. She can only be talking about Artist Myke.

Artists Myke has been questioned and says he may have dropped the ring in the Glitterstone Mines, at Ancient Pond, or in the Forgotten Glen. Mira would like me to come with her to search those areas.

I think it’s a waste of time. It’s been over two months since Artist Myke escaped. That ring has probably been found by somebody else. Maybe it’s among Triffledore’s trinkets. But I’ll go with Mira anyway. Beats searching Dawnhope Cavern.

We don’t find the ring and Mira wonders if Artist Myke misled us regarding where he dropped it. Enter the Peddler. Once again, somehow he’s heard what we’re looking for and once again he knows where it is.

It’s for sale on the black market. According to the Peddler, ‘somebody’ must have found it and sold it to a black market trader. The Peddler knows who has it, but we’ll have to trade some items to get it back.

I look at Greg. That can’t be right, can it? It’s stolen property, surely Greg can go and demand that it be handed over. Greg shakes his head no. That may be how things work in Beechwood Cove, but that’s not how things work here.

Fine, what does this ‘somebody’ want? Quite a bit it turns out. Ten Goblin clockwork crossbows, ten Goblin Trader Crests, and ten owl sage feathers. Amazingly, I already have the crests and the crossbows. But I’m don’t have enough feathers, so it looks like I’m going to have to go to Dawnhope Cavern today after all.

Lucky and I trudge off to Dawnhope Cavern and before long we’ve found enough feathers. I can’t shake the suspicious that the ‘somebody’ who found the ring and the ‘somebody’ who now has the ring are one and the same. And that same ‘somebody’ has sent me out looking for feathers.

When I get back to Town Hall with the feathers, the Peddler takes them and the other items the ‘somebody’ is asking for and says he’ll go and see what else the guy wants.

What else? I thought that was it! I can’t believe the Peddler has done this little trick to me again. I’m beginning to wish I had never visited Stone Circle. Ever since my visit, all I seem to do is hand over a large amount of resources to either repair or retrieve the Stone Circle’s residents’ belongings.

Why didn’t that stupid fairy report the ring stolen when the theft occurred and we might have been able to find the ring instead of having to pay ransom to get it back?

When the Peddler returns with a new list of things, I hit the roof. Ten ruby jewelry boxes, five Goblin chain mail armor, and six jars of lavender honey? This is outrageous. Not to mention that I don’t have everything on the list. I’m going to have to go back to Stone Circle tomorrow to look for the chain mail and honey.

Day 104 - Friday

I thought the toy soldiers would stop Greg from using the dinnerware to work out battle strategies. I was wrong. If anything, they’ve made the situation worse. The little soldiers have captured not only the china, but the entire table, leaving nowhere to sit down and eat our meals.

Not that Greg even noticed what dinner was last night. I could have boiled his old boots and served them instead of the stew I had prepared. But at least I didn’t have to hear him say "Stew again?" so I’ll let the situation ride for a while.

Lucky is pleased with his new bell pendent and decides to wear it today along with his green porkpie hat. I decide to wear the new dress I bought, but Greg doesn’t notice. Too busy playing with his toys.

Yura must have been listening to me yesterday, even if nobody else was. Although the Forester has shown up wanting me to deal with that mushroom blocking the path in the Stone Circle, Prince Edric has decided to pay the kingdom a visit and needs my help. And royalty must not be made to wait.

The Prince wants me to help him find souvenirs to bring back to his kingdom. He’d like ten replicas of the Dreamless Castle, five Goblin train models, and twelve Skyward Castle snowglobes. I can easily spare the ten Dreamless Castle replicas, and I’m willing to part with the train models, but the snowglobes are a different story. I only have six of them.

No problem. The prince doesn’t mind waiting for me to find more of them. He’ll even come with me to Apricus Plaza. I leave a note for Greg telling him where I’m going and with whom I’m going. I hope he decides to meet me there. It’s going to take all morning to find those snowglobes and I doubt Prince Edric will be much helping finding them or carrying them home.

Prince Edric finds a shady spot to sit and watches Lucky and me search for the snowglobes. Lucky is none too pleased when the Prince decides to snack on the fruits and veggies we had found. Thank goodness Greg managed to pull himself away from his war games and found my note at Town Hall. With his help I finally find enough snowglobes and we can return to Landsong Village.

I look over the list the Prince has supplied. I think I have everything that’s needed up at the castle storage room. If Prince Edric will just wait here, Greg and I will fetch them. Maybe he’d like to visit with the Mayor while he waits.

As we trudge up to the castle, Greg and I have a heated discussion about the Prince. I figure he’s got to be at least distantly related to Queen Sophia and therefore we have to be hospitable and make him feel welcome.

But what should that entail? Do we invite him to dinner? Are we supposed to make arrangements for him to stay at the castle? Greg thinks we should either dump him on the Mayor or let him fend for himself. After all, nobody invited Prince Edric to come here and we’ve received no instructions from Queen Sophia or Linea regarding visitors.

One thing we’re agreed on: Prince Edric will not be spending the night at our house. I have no intentions of sleeping on the floor so the Prince can have our bed, and Greg has no intentions of allowing Prince Edric anywhere near his private collection of weapons and armor.

  We return from the castle with the daggers and shields Prince Edric requested. He pronounces them exquisite works of arts and is sure his soldiers will fawn over them. Greg nearly chokes. We avoid looking at each other. The soldiers in Greg’s command do not fawn over their weapons. They regard them as merely tools of their trade.

Prince Edric has one more task he’d like my help with before he returns to his own kingdom. He’d like me to help him pick flowers for a special girl. He’s noticed Cloudspire Meadow and thinks it is the perfect spot to find flowers. And how hard can it be to pick flowers?

It will have to wait until tomorrow. We’ll need dew nectar to make the flowers bloom and I don’t have any in stock. I’ll have to go search for some and it will take the rest of the day and and part of tomorrow morning to get enough.

Prince Edric is feeling tired and decides that I can search for dew nectar without him. He’ll meet me late tomorrow morning at Cloudspire Meadows.

Day 106 - Sunday

It’s been over ten days since I last fed the Dark Chest. It might be a good idea to go to Sacred Grove and look for the enchantress statuettes the chest wants before Linea remembers that Shelsea is still missing and that the chest might provide a clue.

Linea is waiting for me at Town Hall. Before I can inform her of my plans, Linea starts telling me about a letter fragment she found. Linea thinks it could be part of a love letter and wants me to help her find the rest of it. She wants to begin the search in Rosetum Gardens, Central Station and the Stone Circle.

Hmm, she hasn’t mentioned Shelsea. I would have thought finding her friend would be more important that piecing together a love letter, but Linea does seem to have a love of gossip. And I’d since rather search for letter fragments than look for food for the Dark Chest, so I don’t mention Shelsea.

Linea has found another fragment. This one mentions says ‘enclosed a symbol of my love’. She wants to ask around to see if any knows what the letter could mean. I think she just wants to show it to people to see how they react. I don’t recognize the handwriting, so I know it’s not a letter Greg sent to an old girlfriend. I just hope it isn’t a letter to Greg from an old girlfriend.

The first person Linea shows the letter to is Greg. He doesn’t appear to recognize the handwriting either. I guess Greg hasn’t sent many love letters because he says he’s not sure but maybe it means something was supposed to be in the letter. That’s generally what ‘enclosed’ means, Greg, but thanks for your help.

Next Linea questions Triffledore. He things the symbol of love must be a piece of jewelry. When Raphael is shown the letter, he declares it to be romantic and curious. He thinks it’s a letter of proposal. Linea thinks the piece of jewelry could be a ring. She’s very excited and wants to search for more letter fragments.

The next places we search are Dawnshadow Lake, Glitterstone Mines, and Coral Cove. Even at Coral Cove Linea doesn’t mention Shelsea. She’s all atwitter over finding another letter fragment and really wants to know who wrote it. So we continue to search, first at the Gnome Village, then back to Stone Circle, and lastly Dawnhope Cavern.

We finally have enough fragments to determine who wrote the letter. It’s from Prince Edric! Linea thinks we should tell the prince what we found immediately. If I will write a short note, she will deliver it. I just hope Linea doesn’t lose it along the way.

While Linea is away, I’ll go back to Town Hall and find somebody to retrace my steps and bring back the items I’ve found. Too bad I didn’t find the final relic fragment at Dawnhope Cavern.

Before I know it Linea has returned with Prince Edric. He tells me thinks he must have lost part of his memory when he was turned to stone. But he remembers now that he wrote the letter, a letter of proposal, and enclosed a ring. He lost it when he was attacked.

Prince Edric would like me to find the missing ring. He has remembered that he lost it at Sacred Grove. Looks like I’m going to get a chance to look for those statuettes after all. I find the ring, but don’t find any statuettes.

The prince is very happy to get the ring back and is in a hurry to go propose to his love. So much in a hurry that he neglects to tell us who she is. Greg guesses she’s probably one of the three princesses who were duped by Artist Myke.

Speaking of Artist Myke, I hope he’s still under lock and key. Don’t need him escaping and stealing Prince Edric’s ring. We really can’t afford to ransom any more jewelry. Greg agrees and heads off to double the guard.