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&quot;Did someone say murdered?&quot; Reaper murmured as she peered around the garden looking for the source of the conversation that had caught her attention. She came out here looking for Spike, that damned dragon was always disappearing lately - probably even more restless than she&;d been getting. When she decided to stay at the Squirrel for awhile she figured she&;d enjoy the relaxation, she didn&;t count on the fact that she didn&;t actually know how to relax. The quiet was nice for a night, but then she started to miss the noise and excitement of adventure. Unfortunately, there wasn&;t much going on around the Squirrel lately - it was fairly empty after all that had happened with the portal. She wondered where her friends had wound up, stood there idly pondering what they might be doing before she heard a voice squeak out something about solving something or other. Reaper mentally shook herself and started off towards the shed that the voices appeared to have been coming from and realized there was a small detective agency in the east end of the garden. Just before she could open the door (she might be overhearing, but that didn&;t mean she was going to keep eavesdropping), Spike dropped onto her shoulder and let out a small huff that singed the edge of her top.</p>
<p>&quot;Thanks Spike, super helpful there buddy,&quot; she grumbled at him, which only made him sigh again and had her slapping out a small flame on her shoulder. She narrowed her eyes and decided to give him something to do before he burnt everything she owned out of sheer boredom. &quot;Why don&;t you try to round up the gang? Maybe there&;s something here we can work on - a little adventure between the adventuring?&quot; She swore Spike rolled his eyes at her, but he also gently squeezed his tiny claws into her arm and took off on the task she gave him. After watching until he was out of sight, Reaper took a deep breath and knocked on the door of the &quot;agency.&quot;

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Things hadn&;t been going well for me. Ever since my dark drow impulses came back from my deeply seated place of inner serenity, I have struggled to keep hold of my anger. More than one occasion I felt my eyes glow and my power flow through me. It would thrum up my spine -- the power burned with intensity--as if it would devour me if it could. This above all was the worry I had. I knew what my kin were, I knew that I&;ve been there at times myself. I thought I had a handle on it, but at only 50, I was barely a teenager in drow standards.</p>
<p>I had gone to see the elves in the woodland realms, but they could not tell me what was happening. It felt like a lifetime ago when I left my friends at the Squirrel. But I had thought of them often--especially when I felt myself slip away. I didn&;t know if I could trust myself to be around people. Why couldn&;t I control this dark power of mine? Still, when Spike appeared above me one morning, how could I refuse help to my friends? I called Claire, my raven companion, to me and headed for the nearest portal---looks like I was heading back to the Squirrel.

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Taking advantage of the full moon having already passed for the month, Paddy had decided to take a short vacation somewhere hot &amp; sandy. And no, that wasn&;t anywhere the Sacred Lands - she wanted to see the ocean as well as the beach.</p>
<p>Settling down for a nice evening of moon-bathing (and before you laugh, that&;s a quaint old werewolf custom, just ask her uncle), she heard a murmured &quot;huff&quot; and looked up to see a smouldering palm tree frond floating down to the beach. Only one thing could burn a palm tree, and that had to be Reaper&;s dragon, Spike. This must mean there&;s a new adventure just waiting for her.... but would she not prefer to sit and luxuriate on the beach instead? After all, she didn&;t get many chances for a really relaxing vacation.</p>
<p>Taking one final look at the purple-glowing ocean, she grabbed Dani by the tail, dragging the deer back to the hotel. Grabbing armfuls of clothing, she shoved all of her stuff back into the suitcase and set off for the very long walk back to the Squirrel, cursing under her breath that she hadn&;t gone on vacation earlier, as then she&;d have been closer to the Squirrel by now.

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Die had kept busy, after all any alchemist worth his salt would be buried in his lab; experimentating, creating new things and perfecting the old. He tended to lose track of the days when he had a particularly good problem to solve. He held up the small crystal orb carefully, eying the fine bluish powder inside with a sense of triumph. Then he almost dropped it as a god awful screeching started outside his home/lab.</p>
<p>Setting his experiment down he rushed to the door and stepped out onto the low, wraparound porch only to hastily slam the door behind him. “MUST YOU SOUND LIKE TWO CATS MATING!” He bellowed then had to duck a small burst of flames aimed at his head. Very cute… but there it was. He would recognize Spike anywhere, who was currently flying like a drunken sailor, looping around his little hawk Hurroc who had been doing the screeching. If he didn’t know better he would think the bird was amused… no he probably was the traitor.</p>
<p>“Fine, I get the message. Go ahead without me-“ At least then he might travel in peace. Still, there was a sense of purpose and excitement which he ruthlessly pushed aside as he hurried to clean his mess, pack a bag which included more of his ‘product’, hair and skin supplies than clothes then locked up and headed out. He wasn’t stupid, taking time to go to the nearest stable and rent a horse.</p>
<p>He mounted, shifted his new staff, which he admired greatly, then nudged his mount into a canter. His hair would be a mess when he arrived but that could be sorted out later. No, he was going to see his- friends back at the Wayward Squirrel. Could they be called that? Yes, he supposed they could.