Shrike's Journal (Session 7)
Glorious is the blade that kills without needing wielded. Grand Duchess Cecile was always a coward who sent her little assassins out to do the ETE’s whims. Well… except Annabelle. Ah, Annabelle… the writing is shaky here I must not think too much on that. The writing hardens again, thick ink drawn in deep lines. At least she took that devil Wyserias with her. Which reminds me, Cecile, a glorious lapdog for Wyserias that kept my friend Vryn tangled in her leash, is no more. Katrina Pendel Oslam will no doubt be a better ally to her little brother than that wretch of a woman. Good job, Archie. Oh he looked quite shaken but humans are resilient and he’ll be just fine. Katrina sent off scouts to get an idea of the ETEs movements. No doubt Fritz will be carrying out Wyserias’ orders, especially if Cruor, that red dragon that was with Wyserias, has anything to say about it. But now, now is the time to undertake our deal. We must free Iris from the Great Bane which.. which..
The writing is shaky again It can’t be a dragon… this cant be the fault of dragons. The ETE has been meddling with the travelers, corrupting the stories they feed to the seasonal dragons. That’s what the Guardian, Ark, says. But the constant brushfires in the Duchy, the clockwork travesties on the Isle of Calamity, the whirlpool that makes it so difficult for the Sunset Sentinels to send ships anywhere, and all the other issues? They can’t be the dragons fault. Even if Ark is right the dragons are just victims to the travelers who are victims to the ETE’s meddling. This, is all the ETE’s fault.
The ink strengthens again We went to the Earldom of Decent, a safe haven for witches, there we found over a dozen witches injured by fire and wind. Injured by Flamewrought Vigil or ETE? It matters not they were acting under the same hand until I handled it. They permit the monarchists to call them Earls here but they choose their leaders democratically. Maybe I’ll visit here during the next election cycle, find some travelers, and really stir things up. Or maybe these folks will actually be useful and able to create the ritual they talk of which will free Vryn’s wife Iris from the demons summoned by the Great Bane. They sent two legions of soldiers, the largest amount of help we’ve received yet, to the Isle of Calamity to assist with slowing down the advancement of ETE. But this will be a heavy toll on Decent’s forces (I know they only have about 30,000 soldiers, the ETE has at least 100,000, though how many they dispatch to Calamity is uncertain.)
We went to the Guardians, once called the Nimhish next and Pash fed the dragon under their care his awful tale. The dragon seemed amused by it, maybe it wasn’t so terrible after all. I think this is just proof that the Guardian’s theory is bullshit. No matter, the Speaker herself is leading an army of to Pendel lands and the Usagi-Taguel have promised to bolster their ranks. Who knows what their numbers will be but hopefully it will be enough.
On our way out we Deneb received a letter, her Grandmother will help with the ritual but needs some reagents which Deneb hasn’t told us yet. Koal got a letter too, it seems he has in-laws that dislike him and family that doesn’t quite understand whats going on with him. Perhaps its something I can muck with, though family drama is more Pash’s gatehouse. Truth is, these travelers are wholesome and largely good, they lack the temperament I usually prefer in a traveler. They lack the ruthless desire to get something done no matter the cost. But I’lll work with them, and I’ll remove every barrier I can to recover my original travelers and finish my original story, and this story as well. They mentioned Usagi-Taguel were being kidnapped? Perhaps that means we’ll find Eiji on the field of battle. Then its just the matter of locating my last original traveler… I can do this
But for now I need to look after my current travelers, I can’t lose another story to ETE meddling. Let’s gather the reagents, go to the Sunset Sentinels, get Iris (she’s Deneb’s other mom) and take her to Decent. Of course we’ll also need an appealing body to pull the demon out of Iris into… but I’m sure we’ll think of something. Hm hm hm.
Shrike’s Introduction is now up in the post where I introduce Ryuujin (I believe it’s post two?) for all to read, I haven’t done much preparing yet so I better get on that after I watch four episodes of Princess Tutu.