I finally made it out of the library after spending almost a full year studying. While hunting to recover the rather large sum I spent on storage fees, the word went out via sunstone that pirates were at the dock.

I was near Puddleby at the time, so I rushed to the docks to discover Darshak rebel Kurt Bentarm and three of his men. Illora Mone offered him some supplies that she had gathered for the rebels (at my clanmate Largo's request), but before they could be delivered Kurt spotted an approaching Darshak force. The Darshak invaded West Puddleby, forcing the exile defenders back from the gates several times.

Kurt Bentarm and his men fought alongside us--which sometimes led to confusion, as they were dressed almost exactly like Darshak Marauders. In the darkness there were several incidents of mistaken identity.

Although the Darshak had apparently invaded to get at the rebels, once they were actually here their attention seemed to be focused at least as much on the brewery. Eventually the invasion was driven off without loss to either the rebels or the beer supply.

Tonight I headed to Ash Island to help with a rescue, and discovered ether flowing just south of the Dark Temple. There were no ethereal creatures in sight, but the undine found there were willing to attack some of the flow--this proved useful when exiles became trapped by the flow.

This is the first time I've seen ether flowing without any sign of an incursion or other unusual ethereal activity. I wonder if it has something to do with the large numbers of Greater Deaths reported on the ethereal plane recently?

There was another ethereal incursion in the interior of Devil's Island early this morning. This time the strong force of exiles present was able to overcome the ethereal creatures and establish a kyuem after eight hours of hard fighting. With this victory, I believe the only remaining incursion site is located on Kizmia's Island.