Unattentive Umbrage

Jace

Quartz isn't awake yet. I should take this opportunity to see if I can successfully combine the human aspects of freedom and embodiment to create the effect I desire. Freedom and embodiment both have five different points that the grimoire can use to manipulate reality.

The question I want answered right now is whether or not I can use a mix of the third point of embodiment and the first point of freedom to teleport to any desired location without the use of shadow shift:

"As humans are capable of controlling their respective existences because they are self-aware and humans exist in a particular time and place, I, a human, am capable or controlling my respective time and place as my time and place are a part of my respective existence."

As I finish reading the short verse I wrote down in the grimoire, I pictured the clearing on the top of Mount Ire and attempted to channel the grimoire's power. Sadly, everything has its own limits. I believe that if I coud just paste a picture of the desired destination in the journal, the incantation would bring about the effect I desire. Unfortunately for me, no picture of the top of Mount Ire exists. Why does this journal always require such specific things? If James hadn't taught me about the journal before he passes, I would've never been able to use it. Well, on the bright side, even if an unsavory sort were to gain posession of James's grimoire, the person wouldn't be able to use the darned thing as anything other than a typical journal.

Although I personally don't follow any religion, James was a devout follower of the... what was it... eh, his faith probably isn't important in my current situation, is it? I need to focus on figuring out a way to get to the top of Mount Ire as quickly as possible. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if the other three Wanderers catch up to me within a week.

Wait, if James is dead, then why is his journal still a grimoire? If a paladin or a warlock dies, unlike the enchantments of ordinary magic (such as the enchantment on my flask), their holy or unholy enchantments and or other residual holy or unholy magical energies should disperse over a period of three to six months, reverting into thermal energy. Why, then, does James's journal still retain James's enchantment? Maybe Dr. Collagen will be able to provide some answers... if I ever manage to reach the peak of Ire, that is.

I used to be an aspiring artist, but back then I didn't know I would meet James. Thank whoever the heck James worships that I know how to draw, otherwise I'd be fresh out of ideas for ascending Ire. I don't necessarily need a picture of my desired destination; I need an image that could only appear to depict a single location. For example, if there were two identicle places in Unnatrulus and I took a picture of one of the two identicle places, I wouldn't be able to manipulate reality to get back to the place where the picture was taken. However, if a hand drawn image--even if said image isn't all that accurate--could only conceivably depict a single place with no remotely similar location anywhere else on the globe, the incantation should (theoretically) be successful. Sadly, I cannot be certain that a hand drawn image will work as a substitute for a photograph of the location itself--I didn't create the grimoire, afterall. To draw an image, however, I need paint. Needless to say, I never mentioned grabbing my wallet when I went back for Silence... because I may have... uh... forgotten my wallet back on the island of Yore. Don't get me wrong, I'm not completely penniless because I have three cents left over after paying for passage from Tidebreak to Barracoon! Wait... I'm basically broke?! You've got to be kidding me. If Hazel, Alex, and North catch up to me because I forgot my wallet, so help me gods I don't know what atrocities I'll commit.

The best way I know for making money is looking for the biggest bounty on a single creature on the adventurer guild's bulletin, accepting it, and assassinating said single creature as it sleeps. In this way, I can make a huge sum of money from a single bounty in 24 hours or less. However, my wallet also just so happened to contain my adventurer's lisence... oops!

Oh, right, the three keeps! James said something about three hidden keeps in his journal if my memory serves me right, but would any of them be close enough to Mount Ire for me to get there and back within a week? Hmmm, let's see... the first one is back on Yore, so that one's out of the question, the second one is in the Theocracy of Holy Day--ah, so that was the religion he worshipped. Wasn't that one's central god named Nuntius Finis or something like that? ...Wait, I shouldn't be thinking about stuff like that right now; I need to check the location of the third keep. Third keep, third keep, third keep... oh you've got to be joking, James, why did you record a private pool as a keep? Also, I'm pretty sure a keep is the strongest (central) tower of a castle, so why did James call these locations keeps? Regardless, there's no way I'll be able to get to any of the two locations that might have money, and, even though it is only two days away, going to the private pool would absolutely be a waste of valuable time. I guess I'll just have to try to get as much money as possible within the next six days, paint the top of Ire in James's journal as accurately as possible in one day, and attempt the incantation once again on the last day. If the incantation fails once more, I'll have no choice left but to leave these unnamed villages and give up on meeting with Dr. Collagen.