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.
3 Likes
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.
3 Likes
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.
3 Likes
Pash is foiled again!
2 Likes
Ryyan's Journal - Session 10
It has been a quite eventful voyage to the Isle of Catastrophe, but we have finally reached its shores. After driving the demon out of Iris and meeting our newest dragon guide, Coeller, we were transported on board the Bad Luck, the flagship of the three ships the Sentinals were sending to the Isle. The other ships of the line were the Misfortune and the Jinxed. I did not find the naming traditions of the Sentinals very humorous at all, but it was not like we really had any other choice.
The first day of sailing was pleasant, though Koal was still incapacitated by nausea (I wonder if he suffers from some sort of inner ear imbalance?). As the sun began to set, we sighted a hurricane brewing in the distance, and both Deneb and I could sense that this was no natural occurrence. In the distance we could see several ETE ships tormenting a Dragon Turtle, which was causing the creature to conjure up a mighty storm. There was no doubt in my mind that such a storm was aimed directly at the Flamewrought Duchy. I knew we would have to stop the ETE here, but I was filled with such paralyzing fear.
Koal was suffering too, as I saw him turn pale and begin to shake when the storm came into view. I realize now that, out of all of us, Koal has suffered the most from such devastating weather. I followed him below decks, where I found him carving something out of wood (a ring, perhaps, though I know not for what purpose). I have always been taught, that in times of peril, those of noble birth must rise as leaders and inspire those they fight alongside. Truth be told, the words of encouragement I shared with Koal were intended to bolster my own resolve as much as his. I knew that mere words would not be enough, so I put as much power as I could into a protective enchantment over him. He seemed to steady himself after that.
When Alice commanded the opening salvo, I could scarcely believe how loud the cannons were. And when we received the return fire, I could barely stay on my feet. Everything was shaking and burning around me. I saw Deneb prepare to leap onto the Dragon Turtle, to soothe and heal it, and I watched as she tripped over the railing and fall into the water. Without any hesitation, I grabbed the nearest line and dove in after her. In retrospect, I really should have tied the rope to something first, as well as remember the proper form for diving. Slamming face first into the surface of the water is in no way heroic or sensible.
Unfortunately, the Bad Luck was hit too many times by the opposing forces, and began to sink as I pulled up onto the debris Deneb was on. I ordered the Sentials to get on top of the Dragon Turtle, trusting that Deneb would be able to pacify it in time. Our only hope was to board one of the ETE ships and commandeer it, and it seems like Alice and Koal shared the same thought.
I felt… as if I had become untethered in that moment. I could barely make any sort of dent in the hull of one of the ships with my magic, and the enchantment I gave to Alice was nowhere near as powerful as Koal’s. It was the first time I ever reached the limit of my magical abilities. I am so thankful for my companions, for they were the ones who pulled us all out of a terrible situation and brought us victory. My memories go blank after boarding the captured ship, right after using the last of my reserves to heal Koal.
I can’t remember much of what I dreamed of, bits and pieces of incoherent sights and sounds. When I came to, I felt utterly awful, worse than any headache I could remember. Again, I have my companions to thank for successfully guiding our ships past the blockade and onto the shore. Agatha and the Sentinals sent their forces to Dacafe, in order to break the siege there, and our dragon guides flew off to scout ahead for us. For the first time in a month, we were by ourselves.
Deneb seemed to busy herself on the beach, though I did not see what she was looking for, or if she ever found it. Alice said she wanted to practice hunting, but considering the incredible haul she brought back, I would say she doesn’t need to practice anymore.
Koal told me about the island, his home. I never realized how different their traditions could be, but it makes perfect sense. Burying someone means nothing when the land floods on a regular basis. Koal spoke of how his family makes keepsakes and mementos, to honor those who have passed away. He showed me the bracelet he wore, that, should he perish, he wanted us to send back to his family.
Then he gave me an amulet, carved out of wood, bearing the seal of the Flamewrought Duchy. I had no words for how much such a gift meant to me, to honor the passing of my Aunt. I realized in that moment that I had yet to shed any tears for her, and began to on the spot. I don’t know how I can ever repay Koal for this kindness.
Coeller and Caper returned to us in the evening, and brought us news about what we would be facing tomorrow. It does not surprise me that Beatrice has made it here already, and knowing that there is a way for her to save Emerene gives me hope. We need to decide on a battle plan, but our ultimate goal remains unchanged: Break through the enemy lines and rescue Oh-Kae. Once we have accomplished that, we can focus on finding the dragon on this island and put an end to storms that have plagued it for so long.
I can only pray for our allies to succeed, and, should we fall in battle, I pray that our story is never forgotten.
3 Likes
Koal's Journal Session 10
Setting Out
We started our voyage back to my island today. The ship we’re on is called the Bad Luck. I hope the name is ironic.
It’s only been a day, but I’ve not felt well since I left land. I think it’s my nerves. I’m worried about being on the sea, I’m worried about my island, and I’m deathly worried about Oh-Kae.
A short while ago, we found something I had hoped to never see while on a boat. A hurricane. I’ve never been able to remain calm around storms, and being confined to a ship did nothing to help. I think my friends saw the cause of the storm. I agreed to do whatever they needed me to. Anything to stop that storm.
I went below deck afterwards. I didn’t want to look at it anymore. Instead, I tried to make two pendants. One for a wedding, one for a funeral. It probably wasn’t the best idea. Instead of just worrying about the storm, I’m now worried about the storm, my fiancée, and death.
Ryyan visited me. He told me to be brave, which I thought was a little laughable at first. He acts like this all the time, surely I deserve at least one fear.
But his help didn’t stop at his words. He cast a protective spell on me; one that could keep me safe even if I was overcome with fear. I thanked him. I feel bad for being dismissive of him.
He’s a really good leader, even if he doesn’t think so. He truly wants me to be the best I can be.
At this point, I have to at least try and fight. But I do think I’ll just wait for someone else to drag me into it. It’s one thing to be thrust into a perilous situation; it’s another thing entirely to walk into one of your own volition.
The Dragon Turtle
I’ve done it. After years of cowering in the wake of every storm that pops up in the sky, after years of being paralyzed by the sight of a dark cloud, I’ve managed to overcome my fear. I don’t know if I can do it twice, but I’ve at least done it once.
While I was below deck, a cannon ball burst through the hull. I wasn’t hurt, but I was brought face-to-funnel with the hurricane.
I admit, I was still terrified at the sight of it. I started to hyperventilate. I could feel my body locking up. But before I could black out, I heard Deneb’s voice. Shortly after, I saw the moon. I focused on it instead of the storm. It helped me stay calm. The hurricane was still there, but I didn’t have to focus on it anymore.
At that point, I realized that fire was starting to spread through the ship. Our crew was panicking; they didn’t have any clear direction. I decided to teach them what I had just learned.
I addressed the whole group, and I asked them, “What are you afraid of? The fire? These measly flames? This is nothing to be scared of!” I then ran through the flames to get to the hole in the hull. Ryyan’s spell kept the fire from touching me, so I started removing the burning parts of the ship. It probably wasn’t the best way of doing things, but it was all I could think of. Thankfully, the Sentinels were able to get to work on the actual repairs.
Before the hole was completely patched up, I saw a black-robed figure fall past it. I thought it was Deneb, and I was proven right as Ryyan immediately jumped after her. He was carrying a rope. I tried to grab it because I was worried that he forgot to tie it off. I was right, but I was of no help. Afterwards, I raced to the deck of the ship. It was the only way I could keep them in my sight.
It wasn’t long after that that the ship split in half. I fell in the water next to Snickerdoodle. I managed to get her to the Dragon Turtle, which was tethered to the other ships. I noticed that Alice was trying to climb onto one of the ships with those tethers, which gave me a much flashier idea.
I sprinted from the turtle’s head to its tail. The tail was wagging up and down; I jumped from the highest point in the tail’s movement, and I landed on the enemy ship.
Ryyan’s magic proved to be invaluable. I was immediately set upon by four ETE members with spears. None of them were able to lay a scratch on me. They retreated almost immediately. The one ship that remained uncompromised tried to fire upon me. I knocked the cannonball into the ocean with a headbutt. With Ryyan’s support, I had become invincible!
I decided that, if we were going to commandeer this boat, we would need to be rid of its remaining crew. I burst into the lower deck and immediately embedded my axe into an ETE member. The remaining members, who appeared to have run into Alice, decided to run off. They’d rather face the tumultuous waves of the ocean than my axe! There were two members who properly surrendered. We haven’t really done much with them. We eventually just lashed them to the mast.
Ryyan helped me one last time during this encounter; he healed the scrapes and cuts that I had taken during the fight. This caused him to pass out, but I kept him from falling over. Pash seemed really happy about that. I’m not sure why.
From Turtle to Landfall
Deneb sent the turtle on his way. The only thing between us and my home was the ETE blockade. Thankfully, Alice was able to navigate us through it.
Once we finally made landfall, our dragons set out on their missions. Shrike took his stories to his dragon, Pash infiltrated Arbor to make it easier to save Oh-Kae, and Coeller scouted out the guards.
The four of us had plans as well. Deneb tried to find some healing herbs, Alice hunted every living creature on this part of the island, and Ryyan tried to write a song about the desert.
I decided to have a chat with Ryyan.
I wanted to thank him for what he’d done. I told him that I only wanted to teach him about my island’s customs, but that wasn’t exactly true.
I told him that permanent graves were very rare due to the difficulty in maintaining them when you live in a nightmare. That instead, we make keepsakes and mementos that we keep in our house. Remembering those that have passed is a deeply personal thing, and we take it very seriously.
Once I was done, I presented him with my real gift: A heart-shaped pendant with the sigil of the Flamewrought Duchy on it.
I was worried about him. I knew that losing his aunt bothered him, but I wasn’t sure if he had time to mourn. There was no funeral, no eulogy, no wake, and no sign that Ryyan was ready to move on. I wanted him to know that, while he was on my island, he was welcome to take as much time as he needed. It feels weird to say he liked it, but I think he appreciated it.
For some reason, I thought I heard the sound of a lovebird freaking out while I was hugging Ryyan. I don’t remember seeing lovebirds on my island, so that was weird.
Planning
Coeller finished her scouting mission, and she brought back bad news. Arbor is being guarded by our friends. Arrata is leading the guard. I don’t want to sacrifice one friend for another.
Caper also paid us a visit! It wasn’t the best circumstances, but it was nice to see her again.
She told us about the nature of the ETE army. They use undead creatures called Skindancers(walkers??). These creatures take control of another person, and force them to do their bidding. They’re weak to fire. You can free someone by either killing the skindancer, or performing a ritual on their victim.
I am scared. I don’t really know what to do. The others seem to have a plan, but I’m too scared to think of one. So far, I’ve only been good at killing the ETE. That’s not an option. What can I do?
What can I do?
EDIT: I decided I wasn’t happy with the last paragraph, so I took it out.
2 Likes
Alice’s dual-class story: She got really bored and decided to hunt. Then a crit die happened, and an ecosystem was destroyed in only a few hours.
In other news: I don’t know what month comes after Forta in this fantasy setting! Or if months are even 30-31 days in it.
Session 10 Journal (28th to 30th of Forta)
28th of Forta, 1107
Despite setting off on the Bad Luck, (a perfect name for a ship setting off to Calamity Island,) today was a fairly slow day. My stomach was sloshing about like nobody’s business, but that’s the price to pay if you want to prevent a hangover. I stayed as sedentary as I could not to get seasick, and it worked. Koal didn’t do too well, but then again he never does on boat trips. We did get a group of Nomads joining our journey, though. They deserted their own tribes in hopes that wouldn’t get them mixed up in the war proper. It is the ETE we’re talking about, so one can’t be sure how well that will work. We can hope for the best, and if this ends quickly enough it may not even be concern.
29th of Forta, 1107
We didn’t exactly sleep the best; our ship tossed and turned, and given the upcoming events none of us could really rest easy. Still though, we were at least able to make it out of the river and into the sea.
During our travels, we came upon a small fleet of ETE ships attacking a poor, defenseless, delicious Dragon Turtle. We’re never a group to pass up an opportunity to fuck up some ETE shit, so of course we dove right in and intervened. I won’t say it was a mistake to do so, but it was certainly taxing on our resources. I opened the fight strong, sinking an entire ship with a volley of only three cannon shots. The rest of the fight… did not go as smoothly. For me especially. Their aim was as good as mine, and when the rest of the ships opened fire, we discovered the Bad Luck was an apt name. The ship sank, and our crew made their way to the back of the Dragon Turtle, who Deneb attempted to befriend. I thought I’d be cool and fire off one last cannon shot at the captain of the other ship, but it didn’t pan out. At all. So while everyone else kept busy, I wasted my time with a pointless attack, then had to tread water later than everyone else.
In other news, my other attempted cool move (nabbing a rope and climbing aboard a ship,) also did not go well. Koal pulled a far cooler stunt and leapt off the turtle and on to the ship. Meanwhile, I struggled to make it onboard, and only barely made it in. I was totally prepped to take care of the cannoneers, but there was no need, as Koal came down and interrupted their laughter at my entrance by terrifying them with his sheer might. That’s fine, clearly today was not the day for cool moves.
At least I scooped up some of the meat that came off the turtle when it was attacked. It was good.
30th of Forta
Today we arrived on Calamity Island. We need to storm an ETE fortress, so must of us separated and did our own thing. Considering I managed precisely one cool move yesterday, I thought I’d brush up on my hunting, since I haven’t done that since I was little. And you know, I thought I did pretty well all things considered. As my mom always said, if you can’t carry everything you bagged, you had a good session. I’m pretty sure she could have handled the load I got, but I thought it was respectable.
And… if I’m to be honest, it was also most of the creatures I saw lurking around this section of the desert. Thumbs up?
After I finished up dinner, we were greeted by Caper, who returned after some brief time with Beatrice. Things aren’t looking good, because Emerine is in exactly the kind of situation I was hoping she wouldn’t be in. And in this case, she and many other people we could count amongst our allies are being controlled by things called Skincrawlers. Also known as Puppetmasters, these things are undead monstrosities which can bind living beings and control them. Even worse, a large number of them are bringing an even larger number of soldiers to Calamity Island, and of course Emerine is amongst their ranks.
Okay, so, opinion time: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA FUCK THESE THINGS SOUND AWFUL HOLY SHIT WE MIGHT HAVE TO KILL GOOD PEOPLE AND THERE’S A SLIGHT CHANCE ANY OF US COULD GET CREEPY MIND CONTROL STRINGS IN OUR BACK AH DANG AH HELL.
A note to anyone who might read this in the case I die tomorrow: Please cross that part out and write something about how confident I am that tomorrow’s going well. Personally, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I’m writing a story in which I go from dread to relief after surviving a harsh fight. But if that’s not the case, shouting about how terrified I am right before a potentially gory death seems like it’d make for a bad story, and bad stories are the last thing we need. So yeah, just get rid of this whole thing.
ANYWAY, we’re gonna contact my dad and any other groups of soldiers hither and thither, and tell ‘em not to kill anyone but the undead jackasses. Honestly with those guys on the island, and both Beatrice and Annabelle fighting their way towards the island, we’ve got a pretty good pincer attack set up. I won’t jinx myself, I’m just going to finish writing and go cook. I’ll make note of what I cook tomorrow; I’ll probably just pass out after I eat.
2 Likes
Um Forta, Fifthe, Sixa, Septe, Octet, Nineian, Teno, Elevent, Dozenth
30 days each.
Best creative mind ever over here.
Ryyan's Journal - Session 11
The first sight I had of the battle before the Arbor Estate was of the banners, rising over the horizon as we approached. It was mesmerizing, in a way, just how many people took part in the conflict. Then we crested the hill, and any feeling of awe gave way to disgust. The ETE’s use of Skinwalkers is inexcusable, and I hope never to see them used again.
I was worried that our band of four would be unable to help turn the tide of battle in any appreciable way, but our clever use of the flammable solution Coeller gave us proved those worries to be unfounded. Through our actions behind the ETE’s lines, we managed to disrupt and scatter the Skinwalkers, and give our allies time to push through and achieve victory. I dare not take any credit for the victory, as I know Beatrice was just as essential, if not more so, as the leader of the combined forces.
What I saw in the Arbor Estate was nearly as horrifying as the carnage from the battle. I had thought the ball in Flamewrought was as bad as Pash’s abilities could get, but this was a nightmare. The influence he has on people is terrible, not because of the situations he puts them into, but because of the fact that _he doesn’t force them into it._Everything we saw the guards doing, they were doing out of their own desires, just amplified by Pash’s magic. It is sobering to consider what I have done while under that same influence.
With the guards and servants thoroughly distracted, it was rather simple to sneak into the dungeons and free the captured Arbor forces. Through a secret passage in the deeper cell block (no doubt installed in case of this kind of situation), we climbed up to the roof, where Koal was reunited with Oh-Kae. Baron Arbor and Julian were there, though I could hardly speak to them, as I was focused on scolding Pash for what he did to those poor people. It was at that same time that Beatrice, together with Emerene, took the castle with hardly any resistance.
Seeing my sister with Emerene made me realize how few opportunities Beatrice has had for romance. She has always been a little obsessed with training and fighting, but I have never seen her so conflicted about how she feels about another person before. It was in that moment I knew that, if there was any chance for her to be happy after this war, I needed to do something. Giving her our family’s engagement ring was the right thing to do. There is… a lot I have to think about before I try again, and right now I need to focus on the war effort.
Oh-Kae seems insistent on traveling with us, even though we plan on heading right where Wyserias’ forces are strongest. I think that, without her retainer there to chaperone her, she is acting more aggressively than she normally would. Koal doesn’t seem to mind, though. The next morning, however, brought a rather loud objector to their relationship.
I had just spent half that night tossing and turning in between nightmares, and Oh-Kae’s younger brother decided the crack of dawn was the perfect time to start a fight with his sister’s fiance. I was not having it. I managed to get him to calm down, or at least stop shouting, and the rest of my party were able to make him see how immature he was acting. Hopefully, he will reconsider his position towards Koal in the future.
We are about to set out for Windswept, and Coeller has made certain Wyserias will be there to face us. I haven’t been able to shake the feeling of dread ever since this war began, but never has it been this strong. My only hope is that, should I die, I die fighting so that my friends can end our story, and bring peace to this stricken island.
3 Likes
Koal's Journal - Session 11
Destroying the Skinwalkers
Our fight against the ETE went better than I expected. We were able to sneak around the main front of the battle and strike at the Puppetmasters. I had a chance to strike when Alice distracted the flank’s guard by harrying them with Snickerdoodle. I didn’t even know Snickerdoodle was a riding animal. I was able to use magic to throw a bottle of highly flammable solution at the cluster of puppet masters. I must have killed 100 of them.
But that number was nothing compared to what Deneb’s moms did. The two of them crashed a flaming ship onto the battlefield. They wiped out the majority of the Puppetmasters, which freed all of their victims. We kept casualties to a minimum; this battle was a success.
Saving Oh-Kae
This rescue mission was bizarre.
I was like I was back at the Flamewrought Duchy, where I first met Oh-Kae. All of the guards were overcome with emotions; there were love triangles everywhere. But I expected that from Pash.
What surprised me was the way everything was presented. It was like some bizarre performance. They were all doing “normal” things, but they all acted like there was an audience watching them. It was a little unnerving, and I was already on edge.
Eventually, we were able to find where Oh-Kae, the Baron, and his lover had all ran off to. They used magic to escape their cell, and then used a hidden passage to escape to the roof. The stairway had some strange music piped to it. I think it was shouting something about darkness?
I was relieved to find Oh-Kae again. The second I saw her, I ran towards her. I held her as tightly as I could. I barely know her, but I’m still terrified of losing her.
When she asked to come with us, I knew I had to take her along. The only way I can know she’s safe is if she’s with me. And, more selfishly, I just wanted to keep talking to her. She’s just so much fun to be around! I don’t think either of us have been quiet since we left Arbor!
Editor’s Note: This is followed by pages of uncomfortable gushing about Oh-Kae. They have been removed for the sake of the reader.
In-Laws
Eh-Good-Nuff is back. I wish he wasn’t.
It’s not like I don’t understand what he’s doing. Hell, I ran away from my home in a desperate attempt to save it. I get where he’s coming from.
But he is not prepared for this. He hasn’t considered tactical operations at all. He was going to lead his followers to their deaths, and he had no idea.
I was able to talk him down. I had to make Major Northwoods babysit him for a while, but I think he’ll be safe for now. I really need to work on figuring out how to talk to him normally. If we’re going to be family, we need to at least understand each other. If we really can’t stand one another, that’s fine. But I really don’t know enough about him to make any opinions.
…Wyserias is waiting in my hometown. Coeller placed an enchantment on him, and now he’s actively pursuing our group. We can’t leave without engaging him. But I don’t want to go back.
I thought I was done. I funded the latest repairs, and I was going to stop the nightmare once and for all. I truly thought I would never see that nightmare of a town again.
I will just have to make this quick. I’ll be in and out as fast as I can. Hopefully, I won’t run into anyone I know.
Presented Without Context
3 Likes
Knights of Flavortown is my favorite summon.
Session 11 Journal (30th of Forta to 2nd of Fifthe)
It was pan-fried chicken with a mushroom-gravy sauce. Bitch.
1st of Fifthe, 1107
We woke up early today. Coeller gave all of us a bottle of flammable solution, which would be effective against the undead skincrawlers.
Solution is very flammable; more so than most oil. May be good for stir fries, but if I attempt that I must be very careful with how much I use.
The skincrawlers were certainly a terrifying force to be reckoned with, and the battle had already begun, with the results of it unclear. Thankfully, we managed to sneak our caravan amongst some rocks without notice. While Koal prepared to attack, I untied Snickerdoodle from the wagon and rode her valiantly. Not into battle, there was no chance I was fighting while riding an animal as is, much less one as irritable as Snickerdoodle. Still though, I drew the ETE army’s attention, which meant the skincrawlers’ human shields were on the wrong side to block an attack from Koal. And it was quite the devastating attack; he used the solution and burned up a large group of the things. Which is good, because my dumb move would have certainly gotten me pincered.
Either way though, Decent made one hell of an entrance; in a single moment, their ship crashed on to shore and unleashed an attack devastating enough to burn away the rest of the skincrawlers. It was,
quite frankly, cool as hell. And it allowed us to get a move on to Arbor without a fight that could kill us. I’ll have to thank those guys later. Them and Vryne.
Thanks to Pash, getting through Arbor was easy. It was quite the sight though: we were witness to turbulent fits of passion and rejection. Sometimes both at the same time! The worst of it all, though, was the kitchen. Where most of the fortress’s residents were merely kissing or bickering (or kiss bickering,) it seems a group of people were holding a cooking contest, similar to the one I participated in back at Flamewrought. EXCEPT THEY WERE ALL AWFUL AT COOKING. Amateurs. All of them. I would have kicked them all out and showed them the basics from a safe distance if we weren’t in the middle of something else.
At the very least, the rest of the jailbreak wasn’t so taxing. We freed the prisoners, who took little time to charge to the ground floor, before we found a secret elevator that led to the roof. As it turns out, Oh-Kae, Koal’s fiancé, as well as Baron Arbor and his lover Julian had managed to escape and hide out on the roof. Koal had a very, very intimate reunion with Oh-Kae, most of which I did not pay attention to out of respect.
Right on time, Beatrice came charging into Arbor, which was as sure a sign the battle was over as one could hope for. After everything had settled, I was finally able to apologize to her for my earlier lackluster attempt at human interaction. We both seem to be in the same boat, in that neither of us are really good at romance. In any capacity. Even now she’s unsure of her feelings for Emerine, but at the very least I wanted to make her sure of our friendship. I don’t know if I’m good at that either, but she left seemingly happy, so I can only hope for her best.
To my relief, both Dad and Ark survived the battle. Ark ended up pretty hurt, though. From the sounds of it, he pulled of some really impressive stunts. I wish I could have been there to see them, but his boasting about catapulting himself across a battlefield are great in their own right. He’s a gigantic dork, trying to sound as cool as he possibly can, despite the fact that half his body was covered in gashes and bruises. It’s adorable, really.
2nd of Fifthe, 1107
I woke up early this morning to make a nice challah for French toast. I figured, hey! It’s the final battle! Why not make a really nice, (if very sugary) breakfast for everyone? Well apparently, Oh-Kae’s brother Eh-Good-Nuff got real pissy at Koal and started arguing with my dad about who should lead the army in the coming fight. He didn’t have a plan, he was just mad about Koal marrying his sister. He didn’t get bacon or tea to go with his breakfast. Because I can be spiteful too.
There was some deliberation about what to do today. Wyserias waited for us in Windswept Dragonswept, but we knew the Storm Dragon waited not far out to sea. Wyserias’s men were apparently heading out to meet that dragon, presumably to do further damage to them. But Wyserias’s death would not only make those soldiers think twice about harming that dragon, but it would also serve as a climactic end to a story we could feed to the dragon to heal it. So thanks to Coeller’s weird magic, Wyserias has been given a grudge against Deneb; an opening which should allow us to challenge him face to face.
With our goal in sight, we sailed around to attack Dragonswept from the back, while the rest of the army attacks from the front. We docked, and managed to scare away most of the soldiers in the process. We weren’t given a free ride to Wyserias, though, as we were stopped by a small group of soldiers, who I would have assumed were elite guards or something. Except I think one of them was some guy who owned a winery? Blackthorn or something? I have no clue why that guy was there. He was really tough though. Everyone else had an easy time with the guards they clashed with, (Koal murdered a man with lightning,) but I got my head handed to me. At least until he was alone, that was the point we all ganged up on him.
Now that that’s done, we’re all dusting ourselves off. We left (most of) them alive; we can’t be bothered fighting people who may just give up once Wyserias dies. The way is clear, and we know where Wyserias is hiding. I gotta write off the cuff now, because the moment that fucker dies, I’ve got a dragon to feed.
2 Likes
The game ended today and I’m really gonna miss this crew. I’ll have the Dragon’s journals up here eventually (though I feel it’s mostly rehashing what else is being told.)
This was an amazing game and I was so blessed to have you all in it. Thank you all so much for bearing with me as I fumbled through Ryuutama.
Your dragons were:
Caper:
Pash:
Shrike:
And Choler:
The best dragon was:
- Caper
- Pash
- Shrike
- Choler
0 voters
And so, we defeated the final boss with the ultimate weapon: a group hug.
Session 12 Journal (Finale and Epilogue)
We encountered Wyserias at the top of the Clock Tower. As expected, he was smugly waiting for our arrival, with a demon bodyguard at his front. We exchanged few words, because talking to Wyserias is the worst. Immediately, Ryaan cast cicadas and passed out from a lack of magic. He was prone for most of the fight, but his spell worked wonders for us. Wyserias was completely useless during the fight, letting us focus on his demon. And, thanks to him, I have a birthday present for my sister now! I don’t know how old that demon was, but Gallie’s the archeologist here. She could probably count the rings on the horn I tore off it or something, I dunno.
While I did “kill” the demon, he burst into flames and was reborn into a form far, far worse. By this point, Wyserias had had enough of being silenced by cicadas, and attempted to move to the front to fight beside his newly reborn demon. Now, I don’t want to say Wyserias was a chump. He did pick up an unconscious man and bite him, I’ll give him that. However, Koal murdered the shit out of him with a bell, and that was that. We were all running on empty at that point, but Koal decided to be Koal and tear into that guy with pretty much no issue. Except that fiery blood explosion that happened when he tore through the demon’s flesh, Koal seemed to reel from that.
Wyserias and his demon were killed, but the tower began to collapse, and two of us were out cold. Deneb took Ryaan, and I managed to pick up Koal (with a little help from Coeller,) and we both booked it out of there. As I bravely flipped the bird to Wyserias’s dumb corpse as we passed it by, it transformed into… some awful demon form which I really didn’t have time to deal with. Coeller and Pash both helped us escape, keeping the demon Wyserias at bay as we ran. Also that Blackthorn guy got in the way, saying something about how we ruined his plan or whatever. Deneb bum rushed right through him, then Snickerdoodle plowed through him as she left the building. I don’t know where he got dragged to, but he really got some distance.
And so, that ends our fight against Wyserias and the ETE. We’re waiting for the arrival of our dragons, but now th
Okay, close call there. We sat at the harbor, looking at the smoldering ruins of the clock tower and resting for the final leg of our journey. Ryaan and Koal had regained consciousness, though we all retained quite a few wounds. Then, Pash, emerged. He seemed so sad, despite having finished the battle. Ryaan tried to heal him, but Pash refused, then revealed that he had been possessed as well. It
seemed pretty hopeless for a moment, but Coeller came swooping in and used her power to restore Deneb’s magic. As it turns out, that was exactly what we needed; Deneb had a spell to blast the undead energies right out of him. And to ensure Deneb had enough time to connect the spell, I gave Pash a hug. As did Koal. And even Ryaan. The weird demonic energies, (WDEs for short,) didn’t have the time to do much. I mean I think one stabbed me, but whatever. It only got me in a previous claw gash. I’ll live.
Okay, we’re on the boat. All the dragons that joined us on our journey arrived safely, and Pash is fine. So I guess I have to find some way to end this journal on an… I dunno, actual ending note? Uh… we learned that… human nature is… uh… pretty good sometimes, but not always. And um… friendship is pretty cool? Oh whatever, I hecked this up. I hope the dragon doesn’t mind.
Oh dear. Shrike read the journal out loud. The entire thing. Oh boy, do I wish I were less meandering for this last bit. At least Storm’s okay? I didn’t screw that up???
5th of Fifthe, 1107
We spent a bit of time relaxing in Koal’s village. Now that Storm has been healed, the people here are discussing a new name for the island. Calamity Island probably isn’t the best thing to call it now that the storms over it have dissipated. Koal’s thinking of renaming the town Unswept; it’s a good name, if still on the nose.
That being said, it is time for us to go our separate ways. We just said our goodbyes to Koal, and we’re sailing back to the mainland. I’m gonna miss that guy. Maybe not the atrocities he commit, but that’s behind us now.
Ark is also heading home with me to help out in the restaurant. Dad seems to really appreciate his company, even if he does give him dirty looks sometimes.
10th of Fifthe, 1107
Ryaan was chosen to be Baron of Pendel today. I’m certain he’s not taking the news well, but from what I hear, Beatrice abdicated the hell out of that throne, and there’s no arguing with that. I’m sure Ryaan will make a good ruler, though. He’s got a good head on his shoulders, and if anything his sheer terror at basically any conflict can help him avoid any missteps. Paranoia like that can be really inspiring, from what I’ve found.
15th of Fifthe, 1107
Gale’s birthday was yesterday, and I knocked it out of the park. Beatrice recovered a mirror on Calamity, and apparently it’s from an even older civilization than the one I broke. I consider that an improvement, really. I also made that demon’s horn into a necklace, and that also kicked ass. And of course, every meal yesterday was on point. French toast for breakfast, toasted ham and cheese for lunch, and burgers for dinner. And of course, a triple chocolate cake, but that’s not a problem. I’ve had that recipe down four years straight, (and quite frankly I don’t think the Great Disaster of 1102 even counts.) Basically, I’m the best sister. I’d say that’s enough to make up for breaking that mirror. I mean, Gallie was overjoyed that I came home alive, but the birthday party was important.
27th of Sixa, 1107
The Fairy King finally came around to honor the… two? Three deals we made? Well anyway, the point is he asked me to help him with a pretty big feat: he wanted to use a magic similar to the one used on the volcano in this region. Apparently he and the Fairy Queen have been clashing pretty frequently lately, so he just decided to rule the northern volcano instead of standing his ground. I suppose I can’t argue if he only wants me to do one (potentially lethal) favor for all the help he gave us during our travels.
30th of Sixa, 1107
I met with Caper today. In addition to taking Ark and the Fairy King along, she also brought Beatrice and Emerine to Pendel so they could join us.
7th of Septe, 1107
We arrived in Flamewrought. Everything’s a lot different with Katherine on the throne, and not having to deal with its former bureaucracy is a blessing. After our journey, Beatrice wanted to speak with her sister, and Ark and I both were really antsy to work in a proper kitchen again.
8th of Septe, 1107
Our journey into the volcano, dangerous as it was, was a success. According to the Fairy King, the eternal bush fire of Flamewrought will be less eternal once the process is complete. It’ll be strange to see that volcano flowing with water, but maybe Flamewrought will be safer now. I say maybe, because chances are the fairies will just start a different bush fire or something. Who knows with those guys. Either way though, our job is done, and we can return home again.
2nd of Fifthe, 1108
Today was the first anniversary of our victory over Wyserias and the ETE. I met with Ryaan, Deneb and Koal in Unswept. Everyone’s been doing well, including Koal. He and Oh-Kae are getting married soon! We’re invited, of course, and both Ryaan and Pash are going to be the best man… er, best men, I guess.
It was a lovely night. Our cooking was on point, as per usual, though the highlight for me was hearing that the ETE was finally done. Koal and Ark (and technically me as well, though I’m 100% certain I drew the least blood,) were a major factor in it, but Ryaan helped put the final nail in the coffin. Good riddance.
19th of Teno, 1108
Today was Koal’s wedding day! He and Oh-Kae seemed so happy. Ark caught the bouquet… and ate it… which may or may not be good luck. I don’t know with that dork sometimes, but if I make it a good sign it’ll be a good sign.
2nd of Dozenth, 1109
Today was the day I married Ark. Today’s also the day we both learned that we don’t like wedding ceremonies. They don’t even let you bake your own cake! Ah well, we have the rest of our lives for good days. And for our own cakes as well.
I’m not normally into guys… or rats, I suppose, but that dork will always be the exception.
10th of Fifthe, 1111
Ryaan was reelected today. I swear I could hear the anguish all the way from the restaurant.
4th of Forta, 1113
Ark and I adopted two kids: one Human, on Guardian. Considering we can’t have our own children, (and even if we could I sure as shit wasn’t about to do that work,) this seemed like a nice idea.
10th of Fifthe, 1115
Pash replaced Ryaan as Baron of Pendel today. Ryaan probably would have been re-elected, but he passed a law to ensure that Barons could only serve two terms. A clever ploy to ensure he doesn’t have to continue on doing a job he didn’t exactly want. But he did a good job over the last eight years, and he seemed so happy during dinner. He hasn’t settled on what to do, but he’s excited about all the choices.
2nd of Fifthe, 1116
It’s the 9th anniversary of the end of our journey, and we finally decided to finish our story and heal the Great Bane.
7th of Fifthe, 1116
I guess it’s technically the end of our journey now. It felt like it ended a while ago, but the Great Bane has remained unfinished business all this time. But a problem like that takes a long story to fix, and that needed a lot of storytellers to finish. The Great Bane was healed at last, and I made sure to have a nice warm meal ready for its revival. Honestly I made it a pretty large burger, which I thought it would take its time with, but no. It ate the entire thing in one gulp. And so while I was happy to have given it something nice to come back to, seeing it down that burger made me think.
Could I make a burger so large that not even God could finish it?
3 Likes
From "The History of the Pendel Barony (3rd Edition)"
… With the ETE a relic of the past, the Barony entered a new age of peace, one marked by a new system of representative government. The title of Baron became elected, rather than inherited, though it is no surprise that the first new Baron was Ryyan Pendel. Even though he insisted on not campaigning for the position, a majority of write-in votes bestowed it upon him anyway. After all, he was a war hero, contrary to his own recounting of the conflict. And so it was that the first elected Baron of Pendel was also its last inherited.
Under the leadership of Ryyan, with his most trusted advisors at his side (including the next Baron, a rather mysterious newcomer to the court), the Barony prospered. Refugees from the former ETE and their victims were given a new home, and laws were enacted to ensure equality and fair treatment for all peoples. With his eldest sister ruling over the Flamewrought Duchy, the diplomacy between the two was never better.
After his second term as Baron, he remodeled the Pendel family estate to serve as the home and offices of future Barons and other key officials, and then retired to Unswept. There, he became a school teacher, furnishing the school’s library with many tomes from his personal collection.
Interestingly, Ryyan Pendel never sired any children. While his sisters both produced healthy heirs, Ryyan seemed content to play the part of doting uncle. According to his personal memoirs, he never found the idea of a romantic partner especially compelling, and was happy enough acting as a part-time tutor and full time uncle for his nieces and nephews. As for the second Baron, Baron Pash, his two terms were similarly peaceful, were it not for the distressingly high amount of infidelity and scandals among his advisors…
3 Likes
Koal's Journal
Our Final Battle
This fight was rough.
Wyserias wasn’t a big deal. Ryyan shoved magic bugs in his ears (and passed out in the process), and the took him out of the fight. His demon was more than ready to kill all four of us, but we never gave him the chance. I got to ride a pendulum through him! He exploded and it nearly killed me! I think Alice dragged me out. That was nice of her.
…I’m still shaken up from what happened afterwards. The Puppetmasters got to Pash. But he wasn’t mindless, like the other victims I’d seen. Not only was he aware, he was trying to convince us that he deserved this. He told us that he was ready to die.
I couldn’t do it. If this had happened after we first left the Flamewrought Duchy, I would have killed him. I wouldn’t have liked it, but I would have done it. But now, I couldn’t.
Deneb was able to save him. I’m so relieved.
After that, we were able to save Pash’s dragon, the dragon that was ruining my island. My island is safe now. I’m safe now. I can finally feel at ease in my own home.
My companions’ deeds
All of my friends have been quite busy. While I’ve been enjoying the newfound safety of my island, they’ve been putting the world back in order.
Deneb traveled to Decent to help the witches recover from the ETE’s atrocities, Ryyan was finally coronated as Baron (I think? He kept yelling about an election, which might just be the Pendel word for coronation?), and Alice extinguished a goddamn VOLCANO!! I’m so glad to know all of them.
There are several pages that have been marked out. They appear to be a combination of self-loathing, gushing about Oh-Kae, and nervous ranting. The phrase “I killed a goddamn demon but I’m scared of THIS?” was written immediately before the following entry.
The Wedding
Wow, I completely forgot that I had a journal! It looks like someone else marked up a whole bunch of pages, which did not have any text in them.
My wedding was today. It was beautiful, the day was beautiful, and Oh-Kae was beautiful.
It’s time like these I wish I was a better writer. I mean, what can I say other than “I’m happy”?
…To hell with it, that ought to be enough.
FUCK
Oh fuck oh fuck oh god fucking dammit I fucked up
I was talking to Oh-Kae about saving her from Arbor’s dungeon, and I tried to act cool about it, and it made me remember that we never saved Archie.
It’s been a year! Has anyone even been feeding him?
We’re on our way to the duchy now. I should probably write Katarina and ask her to pardon him. Or maybe I should ask Ryyan to ask Katarina? I don’t really know her that well.
Good news: Archie’s not dead.
Bad news: He may as well be.
Spending a year in the Goulag-Oubliette was not easy on Archie’s psyche. When I went to free him, he just stared at me. He never even spoke. I can’t believe we just left him there!
…I’m going to have to buy a new journal after this. I don’t want to look at this entry ever again.
Whoops, I ended it on a sad note. Oh well.
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What story are you telling?
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Shrike's journal
Journal, little did I know these scamps would be so resistant to my wiles. I’ve never been particularly good at this though, betrayal was never my strong suit though unscrupulousness follows me always. In the end, I wasn’t able to upset the order in Decent as my dagger does not work on them. I was hoping to make a unified world, put Vryn in charge, Iris would surely forgive her then and it would be a great story… but I think all I did was anger everyone.
Journal, I hate ships. This island is horrible. Nobody should live here. Pash ran off to do whatever but I need to finish my stories… they need to be good. I hope Alice is a skilled liar.
Journal, Vryn got her vision back today and she and her mother-in-law had a long talk. Annabelle almost murdered Egon because of the Skindancers… this is a mess.
Journal, Caper just told me what Pash did at the Arbor estate. Dragons that is terrifying. His cousin helped him.
Hey Caper stop reading my journal.
Journal, Iris forgave Vryn, Egon and Arata aren’t getting along… maybe Pash is onto something.
Journal, I’ve been travelling with Arata, Egon, Annabelle and Tear for awhile now, Choler is supposed to inform me of when I’m needed. We’re on our way to Tirca. We ran into Eh Good Enuff and Egon tried to call the poor boy as he attacked us. Tear kept me from killing him.
The page is bloody Blessed Dragons, Journal! Annabelle is ruthless… she carved a path through the ETE. Tear left me with Egon and Arata to go deal with Emerine and Beatrice… fuck.
Journal, I’ve seen boats explode before, because of the Dragon Turtle but wow.
Journal, …The armies just disappeared or surrendered. That must be the signal Choler was talking about.
Journal, we did it, we healed Storm. Choler has been trying to do this for 30 years. I FINALLY did something right for once.
Journal, I’m so happy to be back at Vryn and Iris’ sides… I’ll always be there dragon.
Choler's journal
I’m coming, Storm.
Oh man, he turned himself undead. This is great. And a summoned demon? Caper will be so jealous.
Oh fuck, Ryyan what are you doing?!
I don’t have the energy to heal him again.
Pash no!
Oh thank the dragons.
These heroes helped me cleanse my girlfriend. But I still hunger for conflict.
I talked to Pash about his crush on Ryyan but he won’t listen to me. Caper help, I’m not good at this.
Koal is really good at killing, goodbye ETE.
I found another island, Storm and I will handle things here.
Caper's journal
Dear journal, I will never tell a better story. I will never have better travellers. I gave them all the happiest ending I could, they deserve it. We saved the world!
.
.
.
I miss them.
Dear journal, I’m going to keep Pash company because he’s a dingus.
Dear journal, Pash worked out a way for Emerine to have a child, he wouldn’t explain it to me.
Dear journal, I don’t think Pash is over Ryyan.
What’ll he do when he dies? Oh… they’ll all die won’t they? …Now I’ve made myself sad.
I wrote their story and published it as a book. Let them go down in history.
…Oh Pash you big dork.
Ha ha, Koal and Beatrice’s daughters fell in love and I don’t think Pash had anything to do with it. Now Ryyan and Koal are grandparents-in-law
…I’m glad we have each other because I don’t know what I’ll do without them…
Pash's journal
FUCK, I should have listened to Choler! Argh, I’m the love dragon this is bullshit.
Sigh, I’m over it now. I have to respect his wants.
Caper has been keeping me company.
Oh shit, Archie!
Somebody needs to look after this place. I guess I’ll be Baron.
Loneliness suits me.
Caper is nice.
Alice and Ark’s children are adorable.
I can’t believe they named the kid Cinder.
…Does she pity me, or is she sincere?
I can’t believe it took this for Annabelle to realize darkness isn’t evil.
…I guess I’ll just trust Caper.
Whoops, Emerine is pregnant and they’re not even married. Um… I had nothing to do with it.
…She’s right.
(/me likes own post)
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Congratulations on your journey! I’m going to be running my first session next week and I’m trying to collect as many different scenarios as possible. Is there any way to get the scenario/event sheets for this campaign? I would really love to see them! If not, that’s alright. Just thought I’d ask!
Oh god um okay so here’s my notepad full of ideas… sorry for my awful handwriting.
This says:
Cloakers + Mimics because Reasons.
- Caper summoned them
- ETE sucked the air out of here
- How did the Steam Salamander survive?
–HA they didn’t ask.
This one says:
Pash has shipping diagrams
Northern fortress place Heyboots made is full of demons
What if the story you feed the dragon is awful?
- It should corrupt the dragon #Metzen
What is fucking up Koal’s Island?
BLAME WITCHES
This one says:
100% more gay moms pls
Dating show
–Breadmaster made Cecile his aunt
Swimsuit competition
ENDLESS bureau. (Short for bureaucracy)
Black Dragon = Shrike he has a bad story he is obsessed w/ fixing.
< So many dragons! >
On the side is ☆ Susan Crushbone!!!
This one says:
Stealth section?
Yes!
MAKE chaos
Red dragons
-Choler
-I dunno
Arranged marriage for Koal
Fairies in a cloak
One party guest is blue dragoned.
AFTER THIS ONE I HAVE NO IDEAS AND JUST START PULLING STUFF OUT OF MY ASS LIKE A PRO.
I don’t take many more notes other than,
- Don’t kill Snickerdoodle.
- Shrike’s dagger doesn’t work on Decent Nobility.
- The Great Bane is a fucked up dragon.
- Puppet masters / Skindancers.
It’s me, the best GM.
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