I should be able to start the next step of the Ent tomorrow. Specifically connecting the dozens of points of contact I have created, that should allow me to make pretty rapid progress in the next couple days.

I talked with Thes today. Tried to get to know him. Luckily the conversation came up organically during lunch. From what I know of him he’s a good guy. We talked about everything from favorite foods to past exploits to family. Apparently, he has a couple children wandering around the world, though he doesn’t really see them as being his. Pretty much all of those children are the result of one night stands and the like, which is a concept he had to explain to me. He sees Mest as a wise older brother, a best friend, while Tiddol is simply a close friend. He sees Parius as being his apprentice, a view Parius shares.

He and Mest go way back, everyone else they have partied with has come and gone, with many losing their lives in the process. Dungeon diving has a high death toll. Tiddol joined them a couple years ago when she was only a year older than I am now, sixteen. She’s the longest lasting of their party members to date, which is actually really impressive.

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He’s an old man. His species doesn’t live very long and at twenty-five, he’s on the edge of old age for his species. If he doesn’t evolve within the next ten years he will die within them, and even if he does he will still be suffering old age. It’s sobering to know that while I can theoretically live forever, the people close to me will grow old and die.

He told me that he’s jealous of me. I did not ask, he offered the information readily. He’s jealous, not because of my youth and potential immortality, he doesn’t care about that, he’s jealous because all he can do is destroy, while I strive to create. He’s jealous of my ability to shape life, and at the same time, he expressed a desire to protect that. He realizes that he won’t be able to create in the same way Mest or I can, any time he tries it ends in failure if he’s lucky, otherwise, disaster.

I left the conversation feeling as if I had a reliable ally in Thes, makes the me of yesterday feel childish and naive, ignorant if you will.

Anyway, Good Night Diary