Log, personal: Mirren Anjivar Resh, 20.19.G7044
--Begin recording--

Upon returning to Kidron, we were greeted with quite a surprise - the entire population of the High City of Refuge had turned up to greet us! Apparently, my orbital comm message to the port master, telling him we'd defeated Zalaster and his gang, had already made its way from mouth to mouth into the domed city. When we entered its walls, a cheer was raised that almost bowled us over!

We were quickly whisked away into the centre of town, namely, a bar called The Wayward Bantha. A celebration began immediately, as the locals set mug after mug of strange liquids in front of us. Across the bar, I spied Avery trying to conquer his old nemesis, Trandoshan mead, and decided a certain measure of sobriety on my part would be a prudent course of action. I asked for a bottle of Tozz, and clinked it against a mug held by the grinning local who'd bought it for me. I could see Itar, the resident non-drinker among us, had been lured into some sort of game of chance involving two very large, fierce-looking insects who fought one other within the confines of a large wooden bowl. Everyone satisfactorily engaged, I set about chatting with the locals, and enduring multiple heavy slaps on the back.

I was partway through a conversation with a drunken Nimbanel, regarding which end of a rancor the late Dorok Zalaster had more closely resembled, when I was interrupted by a small hand tugging at the end of my coat. Turning, I was surprised to see one of the Arcona children we'd rescued from Lanthrym.

'Well hello, Xuq,' I greeted him, 'how goes the search for new lodging?'

'Please,' the young boy told me, peering nervously at the drunken merry-makers, 'you must come with us at once!'

Xuq led me outside, where he and a band of his friends escorted me at trotting pace up the street. It was dark under the dome by this time of night, but the Arcona kids seemed to have a good idea where they were going. With barely a word, they whisked me to the top floor of a largely vacant apartment complex, and we all gathered around a large, imposing door.

'You must go inside', Xuq told me, then added, with wide eyes, 'he does what you can do!'

My curiosity piqued, I told the little ones to wait outside while I tried the door. It opened without incident into a large, long room, lit only by the light that entered from the street below. Tall, pane-less windows lined either side of the room, pale drapes blowing softly in the warm breeze. Opposite me, at the other end of the room, there stood a sort of stone dais, upon which sat an unseeable, shadowy form. Drawing my blaster, I took a tense step forward.

'Well, howdy!' said a very loud, friendly voice from the darkness. 'You can put that thing away, I ain't gonna give you no trouble! Hey, hang on a sec...'

I stood dumbfounded as a small shape leaped from the dais and hopped toward me. The being was amphibious, about forty centimeters across, and it was smiling up at me as it waved one small, webbed hand.

'I was wonderin' when you'd get here!'

'I know you?' I asked, puzzled.

'You do now!' the little frog-man replied, extending a forelimb up toward me. 'I'm Rote!'

I knelt down, shaking hands with the strange being. 'A pleasure. But how do you know me?'

'I've been aware of you since you landed,' he replied, then fixed me with a serious gaze. 'I'll give it to you straight, Resh. You've got certain powers that nobody around you has. So do I. I'm here to help you learn about 'em.'

I stiffened, having never spoken openly of my abilities with anyone other than my missing Uncle Gren. 'I don't know what you're talking about.'

Rote snorted, then waved a hand. In seconds, the drapes hanging over the open windows ceased their undulating, and hung motionless. Startled, I took a step backward... there'd been no breeze at all.

'That oughta do the trick, as far as credentials are concerned', Rote cackled. 'Tell you what, son, you go on back to your party, and think about the offer. Tomorrow morning, if you're interested, you'll know where to find me...'"

My head swimming, I saw the Arcona children back to their elders, then found a modest inn where the guys and I could bunk down for the night. Making my way back to the Wayward Bantha, I found Avery propped up at the bar, hip deep in flirtations with an exotic looking alien girl. Itar was sitting in a booth alone, looking bored. As he explained to me, the drunker all our new pals got, the less interesting (and less intelligible) their conversation became. After giving Avery directions to the Inn (Avery, of course, trying to wrap up the discussion and get back to his new acquaintance as quickly as possible), Itar and I marched down the street to the Inn, with a pale orange sun barely beginning to peek over the horizon.

Lying on my bunk, sleep couldn't have been further away as I wrestled with the possibilities of what my meeting with this 'Rote' creature could mean. I didn't get to think about it long, however, for that was when something horrifying happened...

It began as a feeling. A vague sense of worry, soon blossoming into full-blown dread and despair. I only had to hear Itar call out to me in a panicked voice, 'Resh, what's going on?', to know that he could feel it, too. We lay in our beds, paralyzed with terror, as the horrible revulsion we felt took shape outside our window. A being was floating there, singly the most terrifying sight I have ever beheld. I couldn't describe to you its shape, which seemed to be constantly changing, anyway. I can only say that its horrible visage reminded me, on a subconscious level, with everything that has ever caused my blood to run cold.

With a smash, the floating nightmare came through the window, doubling our fright. I tried to rise, to run, even to turn my face away from the horror but could not. Itar and I were utterly paralyzed with fear. I could only watch as the being entered our room, floating over to hover above Itar, frozen in his bed. The thing descended upon my friend, then lifted him slowly into the air with shadowy, half-seen smoky tendrils. Hanging limp, his eyes glazed over with terror, Itar was carried out the window by the horrible shape.

The thing hung there for a moment, Itar hanging beneath it, and seemed to regard me in my fear for a time. Then the gruesome specter gathered up my friend in its clutches, and whisked him away into the blood-red creeping dawn...