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