Arrived in Thistle Hold. It is a strange place, though perhaps that should be expected of a city built almost entirely around the promise of what lies beyond its walls. The Davokar Forest seems to occupy everyone's thoughts here. Merchants sell provisions to expeditions heading into the forest and buy whatever those same expeditions manage to bring back; I've heard so-called treasure hunters exchanging increasingly improbable stories over increasingly generous quantities of beer; and everyone appears to know someone who has ventured into the green.
Being able to read and write has already landed me some work doing inventory for expeditions headed outwards, forest-ward groups included. Hardly the sort of work I imagined myself doing after leaving Ordo Magica, but it pays, and it has afforded me the opportunity to learn something about the people who make their living exploring Davokar. They take an extraordinary amount of equipment with them. Judging by their preparations, one would think stepping beneath the trees an undertaking comparable to invading Alberetor.
So far, I've got no clue as to where I should search for Vernam. I thought it wise to acquaint myself with the city first, rather than go blindly asking random people about a former colleague. So tomorrow I will join an expedition headed into Davokar. It seems a manyfold opportunity: I can earn some coin, acquaint myself with the forest, and perhaps gather some useful information about Vernam along the way. I am particularly curious to see what warrants all the apprehension surrounding the place. It is just a forest, after all.