Here There Be Dragons: Let's Play Ryuutama (Anime is Real Edition)

Proud to be the second-least likely character to murder someone. Unless fantasy PETA is a thing, in which case: dang.

Pash's Journal (Session 6 Summary)

13th of Forta, 1107: Koal had a long talk with Oh-Kae, Ryyan had a long talk with his mom, Deneb had a long talk with Annabelle. All these soulful conversations were great for my story even with all the conflicting stories at play. We resolved to get rid of as many dragons as we could.

14th of Forta, 1107: Well we did it. We managed to get rid of my cousin Tear and Sprig, the green dragon, by rigging the dating show and sneaking the adventuring party out respectively. Then they got swimsuits, which was lovely. The red dragon with Wyserias, his name is Cruor. Wyserias is not one of his travelers and Cruor answered my inquiries only with the insistence that he see my story so he might know what I’ll be feeding the seasonal dragon.

When it was Ryyan’s turn at the dating game he picked Deneb to win. I’m just as surprised as you! It’s great for my story. Baron Sedwick started hunting for armies and a new opportunistic red dragon made her appearance. During the swimsuit competition, Koal won with his magnificent wolf shorts.

At the end of the day, Ryyan proposed to Deneb, but Deneb said no. What drama! What heartbreak! This story is amazing!

Alice confronted Grand Inquisitor Vryn, with Ryyan’s assistance, and Vryn wanted only her wife saved and interaction with her daughter (who is Deneb.) The negotiations went poorly, leading to Vryn swearing to kill the Nimhish.

Grand Duchess Cecile largely ended the festivities but Ryyan called his meeting with Wyserias and brought Vryn and the Sunset Sentinels (Nesrin Suremar, her wife, and their guard Est) to the meeting. There he put Wyserias on trial and it was discovered he was possessed by a demon before he struck Deneb with dark energy and was charged by Annabelle. Both he and Annabelle fell out the window and into the sea.

I don’t know where to take my story here. A lot of drama and outside players factored in. But I feel my travelers have grown closer than ever. This will be a fine story the the seasonal dragon.

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It’s Wednesday and for the second week in a row only one person did a journal. I’m all ready for tonight, in which I guess we’re gonna do a murder mystery or something. Shrike likes murder mysteries, right?

Session 6 Journal (13th and 14th of Forta)

13th of Forta, 1107
Okay, so today didn’t go well. At all. It started in the dead of night, and I was already dead tired. But we realized we didn’t have swimsuits, so Deneb and I went to town to buy some for all of us. Of course, Deneb did most of the work because everything looked like a pillow to me. We also helped some girl, (I missed her name. I think it was Lufia? Lucina? Luna…r Dragon Song? I was tired, I’m blameless,) and her party escape the treacherous confines of this event. They left to continue their adventure, and Pash had one fewer dragon to concern himself with.

Purchasing swimsuits went well, and upon our return Deneb did a sweet jump up to the balcony. We met the Red Dragon as well, and he revealed that he wasn’t with Wyserias. I’m glad he didn’t stick around; I beelined for bed.

At the very least I was able to sleep off most of yesterday’s stress, despite that midnight interruption. And honestly, the afternoon was nice enough. Beatrice took part in some dating quiz show, and did fantastically. So much so that, despite being a set up by Ryaan or something, she and the person, (a traveler like us,) actually got along pretty well. I can’t say I quite follow what the real and fake dates were throughout this entire competition, but Beatrice seemed really happy so I suppose everything worked out.

The second round went poorly. Deneb and I both took part in the game for funsies, and in this particular quiz Ryaan was the bachelor in question. Now, I think I did pretty well, even with the killjoy sitting next to me, but Deneb won overall. None of that was the bad part. The bad part was when, what now seems fairly predictable, Anabelle charged in, very angry that Ryaan and Deneb were leaving hand in hand. And even worse, her feelings were amplified by a Red Dragon. She attacked Ryaan, and it definitely seemed like she had the advantage. But Deneb came up with a good plan on the fly and aimed a spell at the Dragon. And thanks to my even-faster reflexes, I managed to pin her to the wall with a couple of expertly tossed spoons, (a feat which I absolutely need to tell my Mom about next time I mail her,) the spell hit its target. Without the influence of the Dragon, Anabelle was able to calm down. We left the room in relative disarray, and moved on to the swimsuit competition.

Okay, so I will admit that in my tired state I may not have thought my choice of swimsuit for Koal out all that well. Did it have a very real-looking wolf printed on it? Yes. Did it visibly induce fear in Koal when he laid eyes on it? It most certainly did. But did he dominate the swimsuit competition, leaving all of us peons in the dust? Oh buddy, you damn well better believe he did.


Okay so afterwards was the worst part of the day. I tried to talk some sense into Vyrne. And it seemed to be working. Like Anabelle, she doesn’t trust witches for some reason. But her wife, Deneb’s mother and the daughter of Gram, apparently turned into a beast. Given we’re on good terms with the Sunset Sentinels, I could have gone to see if there was truth to her words and if there was anything we could do. Then Ryaan came in, full of piss and vinegar for some reason, (if this is over the swimsuit competition I’m gonna throttle him,) and basically ruined the entire damn thing. I was this close to maybe getting Vyrne to release the Nimhish, and then Mr. Competitive comes along and ticks her off to the point where she’s threatening to execute them. Great. Good. Just what I wanted. If I can’t smooth things out, I’m going to have to stage a jailbreak. Cool.

14th of Forta, 1107
So today was worse. Ryaan had his meeting with Wyserias, as well as other delegates from around Theras. We got more insight into the situation of Vyrne’s wife, and it seemed like people were willing to help. Wyserias was a demon. That’s about when everything went south. Deneb was the one to point it out, no doubt her boredom led her to using that relic of hers. Wyserias attacked her, and the wound was pretty bad. Not fatal, but bad. Annabelle reacted promptly, and she knocked Wyserias out the window. She followed. Last time I checked it was fairly chaotic in that room. I had to duck out and do some writing. This day’s not even half over and it’s already felt like a week.

A Letter to Alice's mother, Katherine Northwoods

Dear Mom,
I dunno if I’m in the best place to write this. And I know I just sent a letter home, like, a week ago. The short of it is, we’re apparently going to war. At least, if the words of a man falling out a window are anything to go by. I was fine with my first journey, and even this one, but war’s something else entirely. And I don’t know if I have much of a place here. If the southwestern peninsula stays neutral, then literally the only reason I have to stay is because I have friends who will be involved.
I don’t know if I’m cut out for fighting, but maybe I inherited something of combat from you and Dad. Which is why I want to ask you if you have any advice. And if you can send any of your old weapons. I wish I had time to train with you, but I have no idea where I’m going to be in the near future. If you have anything to help, I’d really appreciate it.
Love,
Alice
P.S. I nailed a Dragon-bird to the wall with spoons. It was a really cool throw, you would have been proud.

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Session 7 Journal

14th of Forta, 1107

A lot has happened, so I should probably start writing it down.

I should start with the good things: I am engaged to be married to Oh-Kae Li of Dacafe. I’ve only spoken to her a few times, but I hope we end up liking each other. Part of me says it’s a bad idea to get engaged to someone you’ve just met, but I think this is just how things are done.

Something else worth celebrating is the emancipation of the Nimhish. While I was busy speaking to my neighbors, a̶n̶d̶ b̶u̶t̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ h̶e̶a̶d̶s̶ w̶i̶t̶h̶ t̶h̶a̶t̶ P̶e̶n̶d̶e̶l̶ b̶r̶a̶t̶ Alice and Deneb were navigating the Flamewrought bureaucracy. The Nimhish are safe now, but we’re still going to take them home.

I’ve avoided writing it about it long enough. Pendel has blood on his hands.

During our confrontation with Wyserias, I attempted to shove him out of the castle and to his death. As soon as I took a step forward, Pendel grabbed my arm and told me to stop. Even though I listened to him, Wyserias still went through a window. And he took Annabel with him. In her honor, I’ll never strike down another boar. She bested me in life, and she shall continue to best me in death.

Shortly after this, our group changed hands yet again. We decided to follow Shrike, a black dragon. This proved to be a mistake; within ten minutes he murdered the Grand Duchess by using Archie. She was immediately succeeded by one of Pendel’s sisters, which is awfully convenient for him. While I no longer believe has plans for Oh-Kae, I still can’t trust him.

15th of Forta, 1107

This day kicked ass.

To start, we stopped by the Earldom of Decent. Apparently, it’s actually a democracy; Earldom is just a name to them. Decent had been taking in witch refugees who had been displaced by the ETE, and were running short on food. While this is obviously horrible, it was good news to me because Alice and I got to fight sharks and a zordfish. We were unstoppable! I’m not washing off the shark blood. I want people to know that I’ve been killing sharks.

And for the cherry on top, I got to show up Pendel when I got back!

Ark, who is a Guardian, not a “Nimhish,” revealed that my island is being ravaged by a corrupted dragon. My people have suspected that the dragons were responsible; knowing that it’s the fault of an anomalous dragon, rather than a dragon in complete control of its sense, is oddly comforting.

Shrike was not eager to accept this. In what I can only assume was a misguided attempt, Pendel tried to call him out for not caring about other dragons. I couldn’t stand this hypocrisy. My people have lived in horrible circumstances. As far as I know, the Sunset Sentinels were the only group that was willing to help.

After shouting about my hometown, the leaders of Decent decided to send aid to my island as well. In order to help them reach the island safely and avoid the ETE blockade, I loaned them our magic compass. There are now 2,000 soldiers en route to Calamity Isle. I know that they will keep my people safe.

A̶l̶t̶h̶o̶u̶g̶h̶,̶ t̶h̶i̶s̶ m̶a̶y̶ n̶o̶t̶ h̶a̶v̶e̶ b̶e̶e̶n̶ a̶ g̶o̶o̶d̶ i̶d̶e̶a̶.̶ T̶h̶e̶ B̶a̶r̶o̶n̶y̶ o̶f̶ P̶e̶n̶d̶e̶l̶ i̶s̶ u̶n̶d̶e̶r̶ i̶m̶m̶e̶d̶i̶a̶t̶e̶ t̶h̶r̶e̶a̶t̶.̶ D̶o̶n̶’̶t̶ t̶h̶e̶y̶ n̶e̶e̶d̶ p̶r̶o̶t̶e̶c̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ r̶i̶g̶h̶t̶ n̶o̶w̶?̶ M̶y̶ i̶s̶l̶a̶n̶d̶,̶ t̶o̶ m̶y̶ k̶n̶o̶w̶l̶e̶d̶g̶e̶ i̶s̶n̶’̶t̶ e̶v̶e̶n̶ u̶n̶d̶e̶r̶ a̶t̶t̶a̶c̶k̶.̶ H̶a̶v̶e̶ I̶ j̶u̶s̶t̶ a̶n̶t̶a̶g̶o̶n̶i̶z̶e̶d̶ t̶h̶e̶ E̶T̶E̶?̶

That is all for today.

16th of Forta, 1107

I hate this, I hate this, I hate this.

Right out of the gate, our “”“Glorious Leader”"" immediately took us through the most dangerous route he could have. I think Alice and Deneb managed, but I felt miserable.

When we tried to camp for the night, we were quickly attacked by Bog Dogs. I still hadn’t washed off the shark’s blood, a̶n̶d̶ I̶ t̶h̶i̶n̶k̶ t̶h̶a̶t̶ m̶i̶g̶h̶t̶ h̶a̶v̶e̶ a̶t̶t̶r̶a̶c̶t̶e̶d̶ t̶h̶e̶m̶ because I thought it might have preserved my fighting spirit. It didn’t.

Alice, Deneb, and I were all heavily assaulted by the dogs. Pendel, of course, wasn’t touched. He helped, I guess, through his magic; but when push came to shove, he made sure that all three of us were between him and the Bog Dogs.

I’m going to bed. I hope I dream of killing sharks.

17th of Forta, 1107

We arrived at the Guardian’s Great Hall. It somehow took the entire today. I’m still miserable.

18th of Forta, 1107

Some good news, finally. We quickly got an audience with Freya, the speaker of the Guardians. Apparently, they already had plans to ally with the Usagi Taguel. Getting them to come to the defense of the Barony of Pendel was not difficult at all. With that handled, we can turn our attention to our other main goal: rescuing Deneb’s mother.

…I don’t know what we’re going to do about that. Apparently, Deneb has a plan. It’s probably best to just leave her to that, then.

Additionally, I think I need to talk to Oh-Kae’s little brother. I knew he wasn’t happy about me, but I though he was only mad about my actions. After all, I did make his sister cry for several hours. But apparently, his anger runs deeper than that. As in, “send a letter to a place nobody knows exists to call me a fuckhead” angry. Hopefully, I can talk him down from this. I don’t want Oh-Kae’s family to hate me.

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Ryyan's Journal - Session 7

I have made a terrible mistake.

When we were offered the choice between going to war with the ETE immediately, or taking the time to find allies first, I thought choosing the latter would prevent unnecessary deaths.

Instead, not five minutes after that decision, when my aunt, the Grand Duchess, expressed hesitation as to breaking her alliance with the ETE, Shrike killed her.

I know that Archie was the one to wield the knife, but Shrike pulled the strings. He knew Katarina would succeed as Grand Duchess, and that Pendel would have a powerful ally in the Flamewrought Vigil. But to end her life so quickly, without even trying to debate the issue… I am certain we could have convinced her to change her mind!

Even as I write this, days later, I still am in shock. As we traveled south with the Nihmish (or Guardians, as they prefer), I could barely muster the effort to move my feet. Visiting the Earldom of Decent would have been a pleasant outing, had I any desire to take in the sights of such a unique culture. My companions were invaluable in assisting the Earldom with the needs of their refugees, and it was their efforts, not my own, that secured two legions of soldiers to secure Koal’s island.
The swamp we trudged through the next day was bleak and exhausting. We barely had our camp set up before we were attacked by two bog dogs. Again, I froze in the middle of combat, and had to force myself into motion, before we were overwhelmed. Once again, my companions demonstrated their skills in battle, while I simply stood back to support them. At least our arrival to the Nihmish Great Hall went well, and now Pendel will be a bit safer with their warriors bolstering our forces.

I feel the eyes of my companions on my back, and I sense their questioning of my actions. I am starting to think I was never fit to be their Leader. Is this Shrike’s doing? Is he trying to tear us apart, as much as Pash tried to force us together? Why do these dragons care so little about the harm they cause, the strife they sow?

I miss Caper. At the very least, she asked us if we liked the story she led us on.

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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.

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Last session, we fought some fish and there were no other battles whatsoever.

Session 7 Journal (14th to 18th of Forta)

Deneb also slipped out during the confusion, and she was nice enough to see how I was. Admittedly, I was far better after seeing my father. They certainly called him up quickly enough, and for my sake he left Mom and Gallie to run the restaurant for now, (though I can’t see mom staying for long. And Gallie’s going to be 18 soon so she can run the restaurant.) He couldn’t stay long, he had to go right to the front. Still though, even will all this suffering and death, at least seeing family can still be refreshing.

Oh no Gale’s birthday is in a month and I don’t have a present for her yet aaaaaaaaaaaagh.

I left my room just in time to find the Nimhish being led to the council room. Ryaan demanded they be freed on the spot, as did his sister Katherine. Trek freed them and immediately received a well-deserved backhand from Ark’s grandmother. We decided we’d travel to the Nimhish Guardians’ citadel and see if we could gain them as allies. We need a lot of allies not only to fight the ETE, but to defend Pendel as well. I must admit though, I do have to wonder why Katherine’s so involved. She’s one of the Pendel kids, she doesn’t rule Flamewrought.

15th of Forta, 1107
We set off from Flamewrought at last. I must admit, I missed travel. Everyone was pretty energetic, though Ryaan had a bit of a rough time on the way. Reaching the Guardians’ Citadel would take some time, so we stopped in Decent Stronghold for the day.
We were greeted by the Earls of Decent, though Esse and Yuri are some of the most relaxed rulers I’ve ever met. They only took the title because that one was entertaining to them. Either way though, they’ve been taking refugees, and I was happy to volunteer catering for them. Supplies were short, but


beans and rice is a really easy dish to make. So I whipped that up real quick, left Deneb to heal them before they second course, and took Koal to the river to fish.

Koal and I managed to catch some pretty hefty fish! We isolated a Zordfish, and loathe as I am to serve Zordfish, it is a good hearty fish so it was perfect for the situation. It’s a pain to cook and hard to swallow, but I’d have to deal with it. But thanks to my disdain for the fish and Koal’s general Koal-ness, we trounced that Zordfish. And when its blood attracted two sharks? Yeah, we kicked their… asses? We kicked something and took home dinner, is the point.

I came into a conversation between everybody after finishing up some fish dishes. Decent could spare only a few legions, but it’d have to be enough. We also discussed a way to free Deneb’s mother; Esse knew a ritual to transfer demons from one body to another, and as they informed us that was pretty much the only thing we could do short of killing the host. The only problem is that demons will always inhabit a body, though they do prefer to stay in a stronger host. So I believe we need to fool the demon into thinking it’s entering a stronger body, when in actuality it’s entering something easy to kill. Now how we actually go about that, I have no clue. But we can work that out later.

16th of Forta, 1107
Today was, sadly, a bit less productive. We bid farewell to Decent and thanked them again for their aid. I got another good night’s sleep, thank goodness. Ryaan and Koal must have slept poorly though, because they were arguing most of the way. Then there were leeches. They didn’t deal well with the leeches.

I figured I’d help out tonight and set up camp. I did a pretty poor job, unfortunately. Swampier lands are my usually my kinda territory, but I was doing pretty poorly even before a couple of Bog Dogs attacked us. I felt really bad; the encounter exhausted us further, and we didn’t even have a good place to rest. Sorry, everyone!

17th of Forta, 1107
Well, that day didn’t get off to a good start. I mean I slept well, which was a good change of pace, but we were a little iffy on the route, and both Deneb and Koal were stung by wasps on the way. And when both your navigator and strongman have that kind of day, you don’t get to your destination quickly.

At the very least, we made it the Guardians’ Citadel before the day ended. I’m just thankful we made good time yesterday. And even better, they were pretty welcoming. Ark’s grandma told us they’d be distrustful of humans, and while I don’t begrudge them a bit of rudeness, I must admit I’m relieved that there haven’t been any open hostilities. They led us to bed, and we’ll have our meeting tomorrow.

18th of Forta, 1107
We awoke early in the morning, and after getting ready Ark brought us all to meet their leader. Frey promised us the Guardians would be aiding in the defense of Pendel, and that they would be working alongside the Taguel. Now that we have plenty of allies, we’re free to go and help Deneb’s mother.


Before we take our leave of the Guardians, Pash is going to feed our journey to the seasonal dragon. I don’t know if he reads this when he does his magical transfer thingamajig, but I’d like him to know that I appreciated his enthusiasm. It’s just, his excitement could be better utilized elsewhere. And in the end, Koal seems happy with Oh-Kae, and Beatrice wound up with that Emerine girl despite them both being disinterested in romance, so Pash must be doing something right. It just seems he’s more effective without those “shipping charts,” whatever those are.

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Deneb's notebook

Gran sent me a list of instructions and components we’ll need for the ritual that will attempt to exorcise the demon that is currently possessing my mother.

This spell is… way more complicated than anything I’ve ever cast before. Gran said I’ll have to be the one to cast it too, because I’m my mother’s daughter. I can’t help but worry a little about that. She also went on for about a page about how it’d be so much simpler and quicker if we could blood sacrifice a goat as part of the ritual but the other witches talked her out if it, saying it’s bad “optics”, whatever that means.

Gran directed me to find a pouch of faerie dust from a highborn faerie (given willingly, she specified), a pouch of diamond dust, a sealed bottle of red wine that’s at least 50 years old, and worst of all, the demon’s True Name.

I’m going to have to talk to everyone else, I don’t even know where to begin for most of these. I have no idea how in the world I’m going to learn the True Name of a demon… this is really stressing me out.

And, it gets worse. The ritual will only expel the demon, not destroy it. It’ll still be able to jump into another body. Everyone else thinks we should give it a tempting target to possess that we can fight, but I’m worried that could go terribly wrong and I wouldn’t want to sacrifice someone, even for my mother.

If only there was some way to stop it from being able to possess someone… or trick it into going into an inanimate object.

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Thread
In which the rivalry bond got stronger in the span of a few short rolls.

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Ryyan: I find the sea breeze quite invigorating, don’t you agree Koal?
Koal: :face_vomiting:

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Koal's Journal

Whoops. I forgot to keep this daily, and I’ve lost track of the days.

Whatever. I’ll just sort things by event. I don’t think the dates matter that much. OOC: I’m so sorry, I wasn’t taking notes! I have no idea how many days passed in the last session! Just assume that each entry is entered at the end of each event.

Fish Slaying

After leaving the Great Hall of the Guardians, we set out to find ingredients for our exorcism ritual. First up was f̶a̶i̶t̶h̶ t̶r̶u̶s̶t̶ a pouch of pixie dust. Alice knew where to find a whole island of fairies, so we chartered a boat and set out immediately.

It wasn’t long before we were attacked. Thankfully, it was only a large alligator. Since an alligator is just a legged fish, I wasn’t too worried. After all, I knew Alice had my back!

During the attack, Deneb was knocked into the water and I soon followed. I just know Pendel is going to say that I was knocked in too, but I deliberately fell in so I could attack the gator.

Alice, my aquatic annihilating acquaintance, leaped in after the two of us. The gator’s fate was sealed in that moment!

Pendel, of course, stayed on the boat. I know he uses a bow, but would it kill him to at least pretend to have an ounce of courage?

Dealing with the Fairies

Why do we trust Pendel to do anything? We asked him to look around town to find diamond dust and a 50 year old wine cask, which are two more components of the ritual. He came back smelling of brine.

Apparently, he fell into a barrel of pickles at some point during his search. Now, I’m just a builder. Civic planning is more Ash’s domain. But I’m pretty sure that the place that brines pickles and the place that sells diamonds and wine would not be anywhere near each other.

After that debacle, we had to get to the top of the fairy’s mountain. We took a cable car up. It was expensive, but Pendel heard that it stopped by a hot spring, and then we just haaaaad to take it.

I think he came to regret his decision. I saw Deneb chasing him with a bar of soap; that was probably all sorts of unpleasant.

Alice managed to find the Fairy King. He was willing to do us a favor if we did one for him, and he wanted us to clear out some ETE scoundrels who opened up a toll booth on the path up the mountain. Pendel found some more barrels of brine (because of course he did) owned by an old hermit, and he decided to use them to get rid of the ETE. The combination of being hit with a barrel and smelling terrible was an idea with merit. I decided to grab a barrel so I could enact the plan the right way.

Sure enough, Pendel completely screwed up his own plan. Both he and Deneb just threw their barrels down the stairs. Barrels are designed not to break when dropped, so they just bounced down completely intact. Deneb managed to break hers with a spell, which may have been her intention from the get go. I, on the other hand, did not want to take chances. I broke mine open on the wall of the cave, and threw it down at the ETE. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough. I guess that should have been expected from one of Pendel’s plans. I rescued our operation by rushing into the confused ETE toll both while swinging my axe and screaming at the top of my lungs. They could not get out of that cave fast enough.

The Fairy King made good on his promise to Alice, which brought us one step closer to saving Deneb’s mother.

The 50 Year Old Wine Cask

I hate the ocean. The ocean destroyed my town, multiple times. The ocean has taken the lives of many of my friends. And the ocean made me look like a fool in front of Pendel.

Deneb and I got seasick. It was horrible. Pendel, through some inane stroke of luck, was completely fine.

It’s hard to overstate how disgraceful this felt. I grew up by the sea! And the Barony of Pendel is landlocked!

Once that unpleasant experience was over, we arrived in Alice’s hometown. Her family, in addition to being a lovely group of people, had a cask of wine that we could use. They were willing to part with it, but only if we could help them run their restaurant for a day.

I don’t know for sure what everyone else got up to; I was running deliveries all day. I did manage to see what Pendel got up to. Apparently, he got a job as a host. This job had a uniform; specifically, a maid’s uniform. O̶f̶ a̶l̶l̶ t̶h̶e̶ t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶s̶ t̶h̶a̶t̶ c̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ u̶p̶s̶e̶t̶ m̶e̶,̶ t̶h̶e̶ f̶a̶c̶t̶ t̶h̶a̶t̶ h̶e̶ l̶o̶o̶k̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶̶ g̶o̶o̶d̶ i̶n̶ a̶ s̶k̶i̶r̶t̶ w̶a̶s̶ n̶o̶t̶ o̶n̶e̶ I̶ e̶x̶p̶e̶c̶t̶e̶d̶

We didn’t screw anything up, so Alice’s family was willing to part with their wine. And the maid uniform that Pendel spent the day in. M̶a̶y̶b̶e̶ h̶e̶’̶l̶l̶ w̶e̶a̶r̶ i̶t̶ a̶g̶a̶i̶n̶

The Pouch of Diamond Dust

More time on the vile ocean. I’m going to strangle Pendel by the time this journey is over. It’s not enough that he found his sea legs immediately, he just has to gloat about it.

well MAYBE some of us just can’t get used to the ocean. maybe some of us despise it. maybe the thought of being surrounded by it is upsetting. maybe i’m not vomiting because of motion sickness. maybe i’m remembering. in great detail. what a drowned corpse looks like, PENDEL

I’m back on solid ground, and the ocean is at my back. Once again, Alice did most of the work in securing the ritual component. She went to speak with the Fisher King; both to secure an alliance for the Barony of Pendel and to secure a pouch of diamond dust.

Thankfully, the Fisher King only asked for one thing in return for both requests. Pendel agreed to send a regiment of troops to defend the Fisher Kingdom, and the Fisher King agreed to give him a navy and a pouch of diamond dust. We’re heading back to the Sunset Sentinels, by way of Pendel’s home town.

Maybe I’ll get lucky, and I’ll accidentally chop my own head off before we get there.

̶̶I̶ P̶a̶t̶c̶h̶ T̶h̶i̶n̶g̶s̶ U̶p̶ W̶i̶t̶h̶ R̶y̶y̶a̶n̶̶̶
̶̶I̶ O̶v̶e̶r̶c̶o̶m̶e̶ M̶y̶ A̶n̶g̶e̶r̶ I̶s̶s̶u̶e̶s̶̶̶
I Stop Being A Piece of Shit

I don’t want to write anything, but I feel like I have to. I definitely can’t talk to anyone right now, so writing is all I can do.

I fucked up. I fucked up!

I ruined a large portion of Ryyan’s castle. I don’t even have a reason.

I was trying to find him. I couldn’t find him, so I started yelling for him. He didn’t come, so I started destroying things.

I think Shrike told me to do it, but that doesn’t matter. I still listened to him. It’s still my fault.

I didn’t even focus on Ryyan’s stuff! I destroyed his mother’s throne! I didn’t even see most of what I wrecked!

How many family portraits did I destroy? How many heirlooms? How many mementos and keepsakes?

I was tearing down the door to Ryyan’s door when Deneb dragged me to talk to him. I was so angry. I couldn’t think straight.

I tried to guilt-trip him. I told him that it was his fault Annabel died. I don’t even believe that anymore. The second it left my mouth, I felt my stomach tie itself in knots.

Ryyan was having none of my bullshit. But he was stilling willing to apologize. He wanted to make me feel better.

I felt disgusted. Not with him, but with myself.

Pash tried to help. What he said was true, but I couldn’t bring myself to say it. I couldn’t make excuses anymore.

When he was done, he hugged me. It felt nice. I have to thank him.

Ryyan must have been willing to listen to him, because he forgave me.

I’m going to better.

I have to be better.

I need to be better for Ryyan, for Alice, and for Deneb. For Ark, for Annabel, and for Arrata. For Oh-Kae, and for my island.

I need to make their lives better not worse. I need to push them forward, not hold them back. It’s the only way I can make up for my behavior.

A̶n̶d̶ i̶t̶’̶s̶ t̶h̶e̶ o̶n̶l̶y̶ w̶a̶y̶ m̶y̶ f̶a̶m̶i̶l̶y̶ w̶i̶l̶l̶

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Ryyan's Journal - Session 8

The last few days have been going well, I suppose. As we set out from the Guardian stronghold, we set a course for collecting the ingredients Deneb needed for the ritual to remove the demon from her mother: a bag of noble fairy dust (given freely), a bottle of wine (at least 50 years old), and a bag of crushed diamonds. She also said we would need the true name of the demon, which I guess we’ll have to pry out of it somehow, and also one other thing she didn’t seem to be specific about. Something to house the demon? I’m not sure, but I’m confident that Deneb can handle that.
Our trip down the river into Fairy lands was surprisingly uneventful at first. I had heard tales of the tricks fairies loved to play on people, and was expecting our party to be led astray at some point. But the worst thing that happened was an attack by a river alligator (or was it a crocodile?). It was tense at first, as Deneb got knocked into the water, but Koal and Alice seemed to be in their element when fighting in the water, so I let them handle most of it.
I am embarrassed to say it, but I was completely useless when it came to finding anything when we arrived in Basin Pass. Through my own negligence, while discussing matters with a local merchant, I was not looking where I was walking, and stepped off of the raised walkway, directly into a barrel of brine. The smell was atrocious, and it made the trip up the mountain in the ropeway carriage rather unpleasant. Both for myself and my companions. I was looking forward to cleaning off in the hot springs, but Deneb wouldn’t leave me alone. I’ve never felt more embarrassed than when she started bathing me!
Anyway, the King of the Fairies was willing to give us some fairy dust if we removed an illegal ETE toll booth in the middle of the tunnel road. We put to use some barrels of brine donated by the local hermit, and managed to drive the ETE out without anyone getting hurt. Once we had the dust in hand, we chartered a ship to Alice’s hometown of Obsidian.
Overall, the voyage was rather pleasant. I had never been out on the ocean before, and the sea breeze was quite invigorating. I get the impression that not all of my companions felt the same way, but I must admit I’ve been trying to avoid them recently. They probably could accomplish more without me dragging them down. Alice’s family’s restaurant was quite nice, and her mother agreed to give us the wine we needed if we helped out around the place. Alice and Ark were deft hands in the kitchen, while I waited tables and seated people out front. I will admit, I hadn’t worn a skirt since the last time my sisters convinced me to play dress up with them, but I found it somewhat fun. Of course, if my sisters ever find out, I’ll never hear the end of it.
Once again, we set sail to the the Fisher Kingdom. We surmised that, if anyone would be likely to have diamonds, the most prosperous trading kingdom would be it. And once we arrived, they were open to negotiating an alliance with my family as well. With diamonds in hand, we set out on the road towards my home, on our way to learn the demon’s true name.

Things have been going well, but I still feel unprepared for what lies ahead. Seeing the armies of the Usagi Taguel mustering reminded me of how costly war can be. How many of those people will come back home? When we got to my family’s estate, I wanted nothing more than to be alone for awhile, to think over my recent decisions. I… may have snapped a bit at Pash, about what had happened during his period of watching over us.

Koal… Koal has every right to be angry now. Despite his rampage through the manor, I won’t hold it against him. His people have suffered far more than mine. He’s right, I could have saved her if I
We talked things over. I hadn’t considered how it must look when I fail to show how I feel outwardly. Being raised as a noble, one is taught that openly showing what you feel is oft considered a sign of weakness. I have spent most of my life trying to conceal how I truly feel, to the point that I must look like a monster when tragedies occur.

What will happen if Beatrice doesn’t come back? How could I possibly live up to her legacy?

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Deneb's Notes

I never want to go on a boat again. :face_vomiting::sparkles:

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Guess who’s late? (It me.)

Session 8 Journal (18th to 22nd of Forta)

18th of Forta, 1107 (Continued)
With the Guardians preparing for battle, we set our sights towards freeing Deneb’s mom from that demon. For the ritual, we’d need four things: wine of at least fifty years of age, diamond dust, fairy dust and the demon’s name. Everyone seems nervous about that last one, but I don’t think it’ll be so bad. They’re probably just named after a sin or something. No matter the case, though, we decided to save it for last. The fairy dust would have to be obtained from a royal fairy, and the southwestern mountain is the best place to find one. But that’s not all; we definitely have a 50-year old wine in the cellar, and diamonds should be no problem to find in the region, so we’re going to the Fairy Kingdom!

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful; Ryaan decided it would be faster if we traveled down the river by boat, and though both Koal and Deneb looked a little shaken, we made it to Bright Scale in no time, and we could continue for a little longer after a quick stop. When we later set up camp, we saw some baby turtles hatch and helped them reach the water. Alas, there were of course no adult turtles to be seen, so tonight we did not dine on turtle soup.

19th of Forta, 1107
Well, the good news this morning was that I snagged a turtle, and made a little makeshift tank for them. They’re too small to eat now, but I figured since we were swinging by Obsidian, I could drop this little guy off. The bad news is, as I was putting him on the boat a fairy drifted by, intending to key-scratch our boat, and got my leg instead. Fairy pranks.

Our journey towards Basin Pass wasn’t without incident; on the way, we were ever-so-slightly toppled by a passerby crocodile. Deneb and Koal were thrown in, (it seems like their luck around water is, as they say, bad,) but Ryaan and I kept our balance. I dove in to help, and it didn’t take long for that ‘gator to go down. Of course, we kinda crawled our way to Basin Pass at that point, and had to stay in the inn for a night.

20th of Forta, 1107
We began our search for diamonds to make into dust, and somehow that led to Ryaan falling into a barrel of brine. And so, we postponed our quest to find diamonds, and instead began a search to find Ryaan a good bath. And luckily for us, there was a rope that led right to the summit. Must be a recent thing. It was certainly priced high enough to be a tourist trap, I’ll say that.


I searched the wellspring for the Fairy Queen while my companions were doing… whatever else it was they were doing. But instead, it happened to be the Fairy King I found; the very same I met back in Flamewrought. He had little issue giving me the Fairy Dust, provided we first cleared the mountain of the ETE men who had recently infested it. Apparently they had found a way to block fairy magic, meaning they could prance about the inner caverns without fear of being pranked by the many, many fairies within. Given nobody likes the ETE, everyone in the group was completely okay with the request.

To develop a plan to oust the soldiers, we paid a visit to the hermit. They provided us with barrels of brine, with which we could basically gas the soldiers out of the cave. It didn’t matter if they could negate magic; that smell would be something they couldn’t ignore. After I bravely went down and accidently attracted their attention, my companions pummeled them with barrels. They barely had a chance to raise their weapons before they couldn’t stand remaining in the caves any longer. As for the fairies that dwelled there, who knows. I’m sure some of them appreciated it. The janitor fairies, perhaps less so.

With our task finished, we obtained the Fairy Dust. I still need to repay the Fairy King’s favor for me back at Flamewrought, but for the time being we can leave. Of course, it was pretty late so we just decided to pack it in for the day, (we could go over to Obsidian and stay the night I’m sure, except I can’t say Koal and Deneb would take sea travel at night any better.) Tomorrow, though, I’m going home.

21st of Forta, 1107
Provided you weren’t Koal or Deneb, sailing to Obsidian was a breeze. We arrived just after the breakfast rush, and I introduced my companions to my mother and my sister. Our request for a bottle of wine only met with a small complication; a bottle of at least 50 years of age is, naturally, something you don’t just use outside of special occasions. But Mom was willing to part with one provided we did a bit of work for the afternoon’s lunch rush, though she was a tad worried about how capable my friends were at restaurant service. Deneb and Koal both came in seasick enough to purge their guts out, so I can‘t exactly fault her for the concern.

All three of them did pretty well, and on a similar note they pulled off the maid outfits very well. And no plates were broken either! I didn’t think they’d pick it up so quickly; I’d say they did about as well as I did when I started out. I was underperforming a little, though. I was making a pretty mediocre meal, but luckily for me Ark turned out to be just as capable a chef as he is a warrior. I shouldn’t be surprised; my parents were the same way. But he really pulled out a good meal, and it’s a shame we couldn’t stick around to make dinner.

After the lunch rush finished, Mom went down and grabbed a bottle of Littleford Vineyard 1038, (nice.) As everyone else prepared to leave, I figured I’d check my sister’s room to see what she didn’t have, and get some ideas before her birthday. It seemed like a good idea at the time, and it would have been. Provided I didn’t happen to knock a mirror off her desk. And had said mirror not been a priceless artifact from a civilization long past. And, well, deciding against just leaving without telling her what I’d done, I let her know. She punched me. Very hard. In the shoulder. Deservedly so, I’d say. I’m, uh, gonna need to make her birthday present a good one.

We traveled for the rest of the day, and it was fairly uneventful. Deneb made us some hammocks, though, so that was nice of her. I’ve never slept in a magic hammock before.


22nd of Forta, 1107
Things went smoothly on our way to the Fisher Kingdom, or at least as smoothly as it could have with half our usual entourage ill. Ark took his leave when we arrived, unfortunately. It’s not like this wasn’t the plan or anything, but I only just learned he knew how to cook, and I haven’t gotten to talk to him at all about the subject. Hopefully if all goes well, we’ll be able to meet again.

Things haven’t been looking great on the Pendel front; the ETE managed to take Littleford, and although the caverns back to their territory have been collapsed, they’re fighting tooth and nail to keep their position. The Fisher King is worried that they might be sitting ducks if the ETE decides to attack from the south, so Ryaan has promised to send in what aid he can. So, it’s just another day in war politics, I suppose.

We decided to stop by Pendel Town on our way north. Thankfully, the warzone hasn’t reached this area yet. Even still, the plaza is far more vacant than it was… nearly a month ago at this point. Caper wasn’t there either, not that I was expecting her to hang around. Nobody was in a particularly good mood; Koal was fuming, Deneb seemed continually worried about our upcoming demon encounter, and Ryaan was just… kinda sad. I myself had a chance to speak with Beatrice again, and unfortunately her friend Emerine is working with the ETE, who have promised to resurrect her former lover for her compliance. The ETE are notorious liars so I already know that’s not true, but I’m dumb idiot and I was stupidly noncommittal when I tried to speak with her, so she left in a huff. So that’s two days in a row of pissing people off, and I didn’t even have to break a priceless artifact this time! Good going, me.

I looked for the rest of my companions to discuss dinner for the night when I arrived at Ryaan’s house, or manner, or whatever it is. It had been the site of a small, one-person rampage, which may have continued if Deneb hadn’t intervened. Koal’s attitude and Ryaan’s general gloominess weren’t doing either of them any good, but when it came down to an actual confrontation they managed to talk to one another and come to an understanding. Both of them still seem uneasy, as one would expect, but I’m glad some of us are actually good at talking.

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Ryyan's Journal - Session 9

Our plan to remove the demon from Deneb’s mother was successful, though not without challenges that opposed us. We left Pendel Town on the 24th, heading to the hut Deneb’s grandmother owned, in order to find things for the ritual. Deneb wasn’t specific about what exactly we were looking for, and I was too distracted while we were traveling to ask about it. The battle over Littleford was starting to spill over to the west, and we managed to skirt around the worst of it, but… By the Dragons, I had hoped we would be able to avoid such scenes for a bit longer. I choked back my bile countless times looking at every corpse we came across. I had to see them, no matter what, just to make sure my sister wasn’t among them. She wasn’t there, thank goodness, and we reached the hut without further difficulty.
The hut was rather quaint, I suppose, even with the fire damage. Deneb instructed us to look for anything that could be used to make a scarecrow, which she intends to bind the demon to. What I found, however, was much more important, as it was a musical locket with a picture of Deneb’s mother and Deneb as a baby inside. I couldn’t tell what Deneb was feeling when I gave it to her, and I can’t imagine what it was like, growing up without her parents.
We decided to head to the Sunset Sentinals first, to escort Deneb’s mother to the Earldom of Decent. Our reasoning was that it would be safer to travel with one extra person, rather than all of the people who would be performing the ritual. Along the way, we encountered a Sentinal patrol fighting the ETE, and we stepped in to assist. While I kept their spellcasters from casting anything, Koal… dispatched them. Very messily. It was all I could do to take his clothes and send them to the Knights for cleaning. So much blood…
We arrived at the Sentinals’ stronghold and finally met Deneb’s mother, Iris. It seemed that she had allowed herself be part of the barrier keeping the Great Bane in check. Shrike told us he would be able to force the demon inside her to give us its true name, but he faltered, and actually needed us to help him. It seems that he isn’t as all powerful as he makes himself out to be. Deneb them poured all of her magical power into the barrier, to strengthen it as we took Iris away. She collapsed from the effort, and I carried her for the rest of the day. The demons beyond the barrier seemed to flee, except for a hideous form of what once was a dragon. Going by Shrike’s expression, it must have been his charge. In that moment, I almost forgave him for killing my Aunt.
We headed out with Iris and Vigil Est, Est coming along in order to keep Iris from losing control. I carried Deneb for the first day, and she looked in pain while she was sleeping. It pained me to see her like this, and it was worsened by the incessant whispering in my head. I felt the demon, trying to take hold of me, trying to trick me into becoming its host. But I stood strong against it, and would not be swayed. The second day of traveling was harder than the first, even with Deneb waking up. Somehow, we all managed to pull together and help each other make it to the Earldom.
Deneb’s Grandmother was there to help set up the ritual, though we all had a part to play in it. I helped draw the ritual circle, then everyone had a swig of the wine from Alice’s family’s restaurant. Alice and Koal seemed to feel the effects of the wine more than anyone else, so Deneb and I had to double our efforts with the spell. Once we cast it, it felt as if it didn’t take, and the demon was about to leap out and possess someone. But then the bindings came to life, and the demon was sucked into the scarecrow, where it was powerless to hurt anyone. Vigil Est made sure that it wouldn’t bother anyone ever again, and we thanked the Earls of Decent for their assistance.
Vryn showed up at that point, no doubt thanks to the meddling of Shrike or Pash. She insisted on taking Iris back with her, and it fell to me to explain what consent is. Honestly, it was so embarrassing to have to explain such a concept to someone at least twice my age. Deneb seemed rather uncomfortable with it too, and I can’t imagine seeing one’s parents fight is very fun at all. Once the dispute between Vryn and Iris was settled, our next dragon guide showed up. A red dragon who wishes for war, and who frightens me to my very core.
I knew that Koal and I had personal reasons for going to war, but I offered Deneb and Alice the choice to leave and live their own lives. They both chose to stay on, Alice saying that her father was a mercenary in the war, and Deneb… didn’t really give a specific reason, other than the fact that the ETE were against witches in general.
Caper returned then, and she said she was working on a plan to purge the Great Bane once and for all, so that is good. She said she would do what she could to protect my sister and Emerene, which calmed my worries a bit at least.

Also, Alice was never dating Beatrice for real?! Is Koal the only one with an actual partner?!?!

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It’s just now hitting me that my character is an eternal “Alice’s Restaurant” reference. How did I do that I wasn’t even trying???

Deneb's Notes

The spell that purged the demon from my mother was successful, as was the attempt to stop it from possessing another person. The whole ordeal wasn’t great, and I’ll be the first to admit that we got incredibly lucky that the demon got pulled into the scarecrow. I have to keep learning so we can free everyone that’s possessed without it being up to blind luck.

And after, well… I… don’t really know how to process going from having zero parents to two in the span of a couple weeks. I guess I’ll just have to get to know them when there’s time and see what happens.

I also found out that Annebelle is alive but in bad sorts. I couldn’t find the emotional energy to see here after everything that happened today, but I’m sure she’ll turn up again. I suspected she’d be ok, but this also makes me wonder… if she’s ok what about the jerk who rules the ETE?

Ryyan seemed confused as to why I’d continue putting myself in danger but I don’t want the ETE to keep doing these awful things. The dragons are the physical embodiment of nature itself, if they keep corrupting them, who knows how much of our world would be affected.

I won’t stand for it.

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Koal's Journal

Investigating the Witch Hut

I think things are looking up! This little expedition went well, from beginning to end!

Now that we have everything we need for Deneb’s ritual, she decided to raid her grandma’s house for anything that would help her scarecrow plan. I found some demon-attracting straw, which apparently exists, but Ryyan went above and beyond. He found a locket which contained a family picture of Deneb and her mothers. I’m happy for him; he was long overdue for a win.

…I really hope this plan works. I want Deneb to be able to see her mother. I hate to see a family torn apart. She’d probably hate to hear me say this, but I hope they can patch things up with Vyrn. I know she doesn’t really deserve any more chances, but they’re family!

Now that we were ready and prepared, we decided to get Deneb’s mother. We figured that walking one demon to a coven of witches was easier than walking the coven to the demon. On the way there, we were accosted by a group of ETE mages.

I’m happy to write that I think I’m living up to my promise in my last entry! I really made an attempt to bond with Ryyan!

During the fight, Ryyan decided to take a shot at the wizards. He missed, but I was proud of him for trying. I decided to improve his morale; I managed to decapitate their healer in such a way that his head was impaled on Ryyan’s arrow! Sure, it didn’t really help, but I’m sure it made him feel better about missing!

I also sliced one of the wizards in half! W̶h̶e̶n̶ I̶ c̶l̶o̶s̶e̶ m̶y̶ e̶y̶e̶s̶,̶ I̶ c̶a̶n̶ s̶t̶i̶l̶l̶ s̶e̶e̶ t̶h̶e̶ f̶e̶a̶r̶ a̶n̶d̶ p̶a̶i̶n̶ o̶n̶ h̶e̶r̶ f̶a̶c̶e̶!̶ A̶n̶d̶ I̶ c̶a̶n̶ h̶e̶a̶r̶ t̶h̶e̶ h̶o̶r̶r̶i̶b̶l̶e̶ s̶o̶u̶n̶d̶ s̶h̶e̶ m̶a̶d̶e̶ a̶s̶ h̶e̶r̶ l̶i̶f̶e̶

The last one ran off. I guess I was just too scary for him!

Securing Iris

I don’t really like the HQ of the Sunset Sentinels. They have no regard for morale.

There are demon possessed people everywhere. There’s a person chained to every wall. And everyone acts like this is perfectly normal.

Iris did not recognize Deneb. It was unpleasant to hear. Deneb didn’t deserve to be ignored by her mother.

I didn’t catch most of the conversation that followed. I think I was too mad to retain most of it.

What I do remember, is the sight of the Great Bane. It’s a zombie dragon. I’ve seen corpses. I’ve seen death. I was not prepared to see this.

It was a horrible undulating mass of flesh, scale, and bone. Its heart was lying exposed, separate from most of its body. Apparently, this is all that remains of Shrike’s dragon. He passed out, and Ryyan had to carry him.

We left the mountain with Iris and Vigil Est in tow. I hope that a demon-free Iris will at least recognize her own daughter.

The Ritual

GOD my head is pounding. I took one swig! ONE! I need a gallon of water.

The ritual was a success, but it seemed like a close call. Part of the ritual involved drinking the wine, and it affected me a lot, so I only think I remember what happened.

When the demon first broke out…I think it tried to possess me. For a brief second, I thought I heard it speak. It said, “Koal…How do you feel about them? The ones you claim to ‘love?’ You can lie to yourself, but you can’t lie to me Koal!”

At that point, it was suddenly sucked into the scarecrow. For that, I thank the Dragons. I don’t know if I could have resisted him. I was too drunk a̶n̶d̶ h̶e̶ w̶a̶s̶ m̶a̶k̶i̶n̶g̶ t̶o̶o̶ m̶u̶c̶h̶ s̶e̶n̶s̶e̶

I’ll admit, I’m a little hazy on the details of what followed. I think Ryyan had to lecture Vryn about consent? And I think Alice immediately defaced the scarecrow, which rules?

I do remember that Vryn left without her sight, which means that she’s not accepted by her family. This is for the best. This is for the best. I wish it ended better, but this is for the best.

I also know that Annebelle is still alive, which is great news! I didn’t go and see her. I don’t think she actually counts me as a friend; she only really talked about Deneb.

One last bit of good news, the relief troops and supplies were able to make it to my island.

Now for the bad news…Oh-Kae has been taken prisoner. I think Coeller, our new dragon, said she was taken hostage. That means the ETE is trying to keep Dacafe out of the war. I don’t know what Ahn-So will do. He might order his army to stand down to save his daughter. He might sacrifice her to save others.

What I do know, is what I will do. I’m going to save her. I don’t care if the entire ETE army stands between me and her, I will save her.

I will not repeat my mistakes. I will not stay my hand. I will be quick. I will be decisive.

The ETE is a world-spanning organization. They have touched every part of the world I have seen. They have vile dragons, ancient magic, and a massive army at their side.

But I have my axe and my anger. I have Deneb’s magic and her creativity. I have Alice’s polearm and her determination. I have Ryyan’s bow, his spells, and his adaptive nature. Furthermore, we have the military might of our coalition at our backs. The ETE will fall, and I will watch it die.

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Unfortunately I did not, at any point, get drunk over the weekend, so I just settled for typing as though I were drunk. Like an amateur.

Session 9 Journal (23rd to 27th of Forta)

23rd of Forta, 1107
We left Pendel Town in a hurry this morning, intent on evading any ongoing battles. We avoided active fights, but as we traveled we were forced to witness numerous corpses littering the road. Horrifying as the sight was, we had as much time to give these soldiers are proper burial as anyone else in the region did. It didn’t take us long to reach Deneb’s house, only slightly singed from when Annabelle came by and torched it. We scoured the hut for various pieces that could be combined into a scarecrow. I found a hat. To my credit, it was a pretty rad hat.

In addition to those, we also found a pendant and a box of letters, both of which were connected enough to Deneb’s mother Iris that we figured we could take them along. With this done, we had no other reason to stay. The rest of this day was, thankfully, uneventful.


24th of Forta, 1107
Koal and I both woke up on the wrong side of the bed, it seems. Or perhaps it was the corpses getting to us. Either way, we were a little sluggish while travelling. And unfortunately, we ran into trouble at the border. The Sunset Sentinels were fighting with a group of ETE soldiers. I think they might be pincer attacking the battalions that dug themselves into Littleford, but a small group of three mages broke free and attacked us. Figures. Koal… well, we were all doing kinda meh in that fight. A few misses, a few hits, that sort of thing. Koal murdered the ever-loving hell out of two of them. The third ran away. I can see why. One was decapitated, the other… uh…

Koal was extremely heroic. His axe shined with blo the sweat of battle. With only a little support from us, he defeated two of the mages. The third looked paralyzed with fear, but fortunately for him his legs still worked and he booked it out as soon as he could. We all congratulated Koal on a fight well won. We were so exhausted by his heroics, we set up camp near the old warren, right where we’d settled the last time we were through here. It was nostalgic, I must admit. Alas, I didn’t make note of what we had for dinner that night, or I would have made it again. I think it was boar? We had plenty of boar that night.

Shrike and Pash seem to be arguing over whether Iris and Vyrne should get back together. Oddly enough, Shrike’s the forceful one here. I mean, I get he wants his two travelers to be back together and happy, but Pash is arguing against “shipping” two people together? Am I already asleep?

Just woke up. Can confirm, not a dream.

25th of Forta, 1107
The Sunset Sentinels sure is an interesting place. I’d never guess there could be so many people acting so casually about being possessed by demons. Right when we stepped in, we met with Nestrin. That someone with a demon that ingrained in them basically lives in the foyer would make anyone think twice about robbing the place, that’s for sure. We were brought to the barrier keeping the Great Bane at great bay, and the current resident powering the thing happened to be Iris. Oddly enough, my plan to ask the demon its name without a question mark didn’t go over well. I suppose it only makes sense that Deneb would be the only person who could draw that out, though Shrike certainly helped. The demon’s name is Garland, and because of Shrike we can be sure the fiend wasn’t lying. With that information, we could head to Decent Stronghold to perform the ritual.

Before we left, Deneb offered to help empower the barrier. Anyone could do it, and taking Iris off that duty wouldn’t spell doom for the continent. But something odd happened when she did so; Deneb herself used up so much energy she passed out, so she wasn’t awake to see it. Ryaan, Koal and I certainly did, though. It was the corpse of a dragon, animated as though something that rotted and torn up could live. It rammed the barrier, and though frightening, it didn’t possess the strength to break it down. Still though, with its guts strewn about the floor and hanging from the ceiling, the fact that it made such an impact is frightening to say the least.

Apparently that corpse was Shrike’s Dragon. When he told us stories affected dragons, I only thought he meant their mood. But the garbage the ETE fed to them beforehand turned them into a one-dragon mortuary. If there’s a power that can reverse that, it’s certainly not something we can do alone.


We set off as soon as we could. Deneb’s still passed out, and Ryaan’s pretty shaken. Not to say Koal or I aren’t, but Ryaan’s constitution has never exactly been the best.

26th of Forta, 1107
Oh, wow, not much happened to today. Garland was giving us the evil eye most of the way, but honestly it’s not that difficult to tune them out. Thanks to the chains barring any movement from Iris, we just had to throw a blanket over her and the problem was solved.
Thanks to a quiet day with no threats to our lives, I was able to cook so good meals today. Pancakes for breakfast, some BLTs for lunch, and a stir fry for dinner, which helped me use up most of those mushrooms. I probably cook the rest soon. They’re nearly a month old since we got them back at the warren. At least they’re still in good shape, against all odds.

27th of Forta, 1107
Today’s the big day. We’re all prepping for the ritual. I did my part, (lunch was excellent, thank you very much,) but the bulk of the work went to the magic users. Or magic knowers, I guess. I don’t know what’s going to happen in there. I’m writing this now in case I die horribly. Hopefully that doesn’t happen. That’d make for a bad story. But fingers crossed everything goes well!

Okay so that wine was good as hell. I dunno why we all needed a swig of wine for this, but damn does Denebs grandma know hown to do a good ritual if this is how it starts.

I don’t wanna be rufde and write my journal in the middle of a very good ritual, but we solam dunked Garland right into that scarewcrow wait shit no I mean we slam dunked Garland “rite” into that scarecrow. I dunno how magic worjks but

Okay so fior some reason they won’t let me throw the scarewcow into the sea, I dunno why I thin that’s a perfectly fine way to get rid of demons. Oh well growing a tree over him is another good option.

Okay! So last night was fun, despite the afternoon starting with demon shenanigans. I must admit, though, I’m surprised I got drunk so easily. That must have been some pretty potent stuff! Now, I don’t think I was that drunk, but my memory from that afternoon’s a bit… perhaps not spotty, but very strange. For one, I swear I remember mention of Grand Duchess Cecile’s death. Granted, that would explain a few things. But someone would have mentioned that to me by now if it really happened, right?

Either way, I do remember Caper’s arrival quite clearly. Although she can’t join us on our sea voyage, we asked her to help Beatrice and Emerine. If a Green Dragon is involved, their story may become one of a light-hearted journey in the midst of a bloody war, which in turn may convince Emerine to leave the past behind. And while I still need to speak with her myself, I told Caper to pass on a few words for me. Normally I’d be disappointed that I’d sobered so quickly, (damn my good liver and experience with alcohol,) but it’s good I could form some sort of coherent apology.

After that, though, I got blitzed. I didn’t want to lose my drunk high and the flights were cheap.

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