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It has been a difficult few days… We had been going around to the families of the crew we had lost against the Ta Atouans and giving our condolences. While most of the families were upset but understanding, Shakeel’s sister was most definitely not. She shouted at Sitara, cursing her for letting her brother die and took a swing at Sitara. Mesi, trying to defend our captain, was hit instead and we decided to leave. It was then that Sitara finally broke. She couldn’t take the deaths that were on her hands and broke down crying at the door. I have seen that kind of anguish before, I’ve lived it. But still, Sitara and the crew knew what the risks were when we took on that ship, but they all agreed to take them on. Loss is inevitable, and you must be ready to accept that reality.
A couple days later, we went out in search of Emrys, as no one had seen him since we arrived in Rhakosis. I found him at some dingy bar, wallowing in grief and alcohol. I managed to get him up and we took him to the Lantern, and got him a room. The conversation that followed this has left me stunned. I don't know what has become of Akash, but I clearly do not know him as well as I thought. Normally lighthearted, Akash went off about the weakness Sitara showed as a leader, and how he thought he might not care about our lives. This revelation, combined with his general not understanding of what we were saying brought me to violence. I actually punched him in the face... While I regret the fact that I actually attacked him, I couldn't think of any other way to snap him out his self imposed nonsense. I knew he cared about the crew, but he was so caught up in himself that he somehow didn't see that... I don't know exactly what will come of this, but I hope I haven't ruined anything.
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We arrived in Rhakosis and were promptly greeted by Alim. He dismissed us almost as quickly upon learning about the death of the crew members. We went to the Purple Lantern, the business that we had caused some damages in last year. It was comforting to know that the place had not only recovered, but actually improved since our last stay. We later received word to meet Alim for dinner in two days.
We made our way to Alim’s home, and I was impressed to see the restraint and humility on display, as most of the buildings in this area were gaudy mansions, but Alim seemed to use what he needed, and nothing more. We were quickly alleviated to find that Alim harbored no ill will towards the captain and we went on to describe our adventures. At the end of the night, we discussed which treasures Alim would keep, thankfully he left us with the Mon. He also let Mesi keep the spear, as replacement for losing her old one in the fight against the forest monster. Afterwards, Akash took me around the city as we expected to spend some amount of time here. We have been sailing for some time, and naturally we have been attempting to make sense of the treasures we have recovered. The mirror seems to reveal some kind of truth about the things you see in it, showing what is happening perhaps on a spiritual or abstract level. The spear does not seem to have any definite effect, however when seen in the mirror before striking something, a flash of light appears on the blade. I think that the spear’s true nature will reveal itself at a later time. The necklace recovered seems to improve the wearer’s appearance or demeanor, but I cannot be sure how. The monocle seems to tell the perceived value of something, as it showed that both the Mon, and Dasha’s wooden carvings were both “beyond value”. I don't exactly know what to make of it. The crystalware seems to improve the qualities of whatever is put in them, as it made the seawater drinkable. They DO NOT PURIFY things however, as I quickly found out myself. I was so confident that the glasses purified liquid that I poured some minor poison in (nothing particularly lethal but enough to make you sick) and it nearly killed me, even with the antidote. I really should be more careful, but sometimes I just can’t help myself. I have a desire for knowledge and powerful items like these, and I seem to abandon all sense when investigating them. I really should apologize to Dialla for everything I put him through...
This trip back to Callica has been strenuous, and Sitara has done nothing to help the situation. I swear you’d think she was a child the way she behaves sometimes. I could tell that she was irritable the whole way into the forest, and she is just as bad on our way out. A few nights ago while I was cataloguing the items again, Sitara took issue with the fact that I was doing what I’m literally paid to do! In what I can only describe as a temper tantrum, she knocked over the items I was counting and stormed out of the camp. Akash ran after here and I assume they worked out some of the issues as we’ve gone without an incident since.
Well, we made it back to Callica, with tales of adventure and a lot of treasure… The town seemed to be making progress rebuilding itself with help from our crew and the now free Ta Atouans and a great party was held in our honor. Dasha was finally reunited with her fiance, and so she gets a happy ending for herself. We left yesterday, with Dasha staying behind to rejoin her family, and the crew gifted her the clothing that belonged to Cecarza Rozka. I suppose we will make do without it, although I would’ve liked to investigate it. It’s almost been a year since this journey began, and now we are on the way back to where it started, The City of Sails. This is written shakily with many pauses
It has been over a month since my last entry, and I have come face to face with the impossible. As much as I want to write about it now, it would be prudent to start at the beginning of this journey to organize my thoughts... After freeing the slaves and villagers from the Ta Atouan Slavers and aiding with rebuilding the village, Sitara decided the core group would travel inland to deal with the creature that had been attacking Oami caravans. After weeks of travel, we found the creature, or rather it found us and dropped from the treetops to ambush us! Whatever this creature was, it was an old evil and nearly killed us all. From the start of this lob, almost a year ago, I’ve had to come to terms with magic, magical items, and creatures. All of those creatures and items were blown away by what we found next. After defeating the creature, we took up camp near a cave and went to explore it the next day. I was in a sour mood after being crushed under the creature, and Sitara was uncharacteristically antagonistic of the rest of the group searching the seemingly empty cave. Akash swore he saw some kind of seam in a raised stone in the center of the cave, but it looked to just be a rock. It was not. Akash, Dasha, and Mesi were able to lift the stone and revealed some strange glass container, almost like an egg or a cocoon. Akash, with all his sagely foresight and wisdom, touched it. The cocoon grew and opened up to reveal a being… a being of beauty and of terror. We believe it to be the creature spoke of in old Oami lore, Cecarza Rozka. He was like a statue, sculpted to perfection, his skin was alabaster, and wings made from stained glass. His power dwarfed any magic that I had felt before and made Akash’s control of the wind seem like nothing more than a parlor trick. I consider us blessed that this being wasn’t malevolent, as he could likely end us with little more than a flick of his wrist. I had so many questions, so much I wanted to know from this divine being… but he left. I may have lost myself in a moment of rage and confusion, but I challenge you to remain composed when an impossible being, one that undoubtedly has knowledge and wisdom that could topple our civilization, JUST LEAVES YOU! He left, without a word, simply flew off into the sky and never came back... After recovering from the shock, we went back to the spot he emerged from and saw that it was filled with treasures! Akash felt magical properties in all the items. I will be sure to keep track of these items. In order from least to most interesting to me, there were a set of rocks that glowed and were always warm, a set of crystalware and glassware, a set of clothes that were what this being seemed to be wearing, a necklace, an impressive spear, a mirror that seemed to reveal some hidden truths about things, a monocle that seemed to appraise the value of items (should be very useful), and a small orb that Akash seemed to take a liking to, claiming it to have some connection to his wind powers. There were other items that were not magic in nature and simply seemed to be items of value. While I would like to experiment with all of these items, it would be prudent to make it back to the ship. The ship is filled with an air of somber and grief at the events of the last few days. We left Sitara’s family and headed down the coast to find a village by the name of Callica in ruins, as if an attack had recently taken place. Our search found no people in the village and an Oami caravan. It was the caravan of Dasha’s family, however it too was abandoned. Mesi realized that the tracks we found on the beach were that of a Ta Atouan raiding ship, and that the inhabitants of the village as well as Dasha’s family had been taken as slaves. We rushed off to intercept the ship and save them, fully aware of our low odds of success. Using Mesi and Diallo’s status as criminal against the state, we got them onto the ship under the guise of prisoners and started to try and strike up a trade for cargo. I slipped away into lower decks to try and free the enslaved rowers, and the surprise attack began. When the battle ended the entire slaver crew had been killed, and we had lost three of our own. Shakeel, Nimat, and Kamal. I did not know them well, but they followed Sitara loyally until the end and have my respect and gratitude. I only wish I could have done more to prevent their deaths. One of the slaves who knew trade and helped me organize the slaves during the battle, Idowu Idr, has taken up a leading role for the liberated slaves. They plan on taking their ship to the Free Isles and will likely spread the word of our ship and crew... I don’t claim to be a leader, I’ve never had the talent or desire to do so and I hold Sitara’s skill at it in high regard. Losing her crew members has sent her into depression, but hopefully she will come out stronger and even more determined to stop this from happening again. We are heading back to the village that had been raided, and will begin to rebuild as well as give the crew time to grieve.
We soon departed from Vargarstaad, but not before first being approached by an odd Oami woman... Although calling Oami women odd seems redundant considering the our crew. But this woman, named Sasha, has some inexplicable interest in our giantess. I cannot believe it, however. There has to be some ulterior motive here. It takes a liar to spot a liar, and something about Sasha's story doesn't add up. Regardless, Captain has taken her on as a temporary passenger.
We made it back to Bystanar and stayed in the house that was being built and I was asked for a favor by this Sasha. She wanted help getting to know Dasha better, and asked if I knew what she liked. And so, for a price, I had Sasha deliver a letter to Akash, warning him that something was suspicious with Sasha and we should try to interrogate her at some point. We made it into Oami territory and met with Captain's family. There was quite a bit of drinking, smoking, and storytelling. I partook in one of these. Apparently Akash was cursed by Sitara's grandmother. To be honest, I mainly drank, trained, and relaxed during this visit, so I don't have much to say about it. (This entry is shakily written with many stops and trailing ink lines.)
I... I made a mistake. I was blinded by greed and by arrogance. I believed that there was nothing that could stop the strength of Mon... and with Mesi using it, there was few obstacles that couldn't be overcome. Because of this, because of this, because of me, I almost got a friend killed... I figured after the whale, Mesi could take on anything, and I wanted to test and see if she got a similar feeling if she killed an animal while using the Mon that she did with the whale. We went out and hunted for a while and she said she didn't feel anything, and so I suggested that we may need something stronger... I had never fought a bear before and assumed it would be no matter for someone like Mesi... This viewpoint would quickly change as we began fighting the creature. This bear was brutal, it barreled through our arrows and attacked Mesi head on. Even when pierced by her spear, the beast kept attacking relentlessly. Through a sustained fight, Mesi unleashed some sort of power from the Mon, imbuing her with the power to finish off the beast. After making sure she still could walked, we began making our way back into the city, hours away... She collapsed on the way... I used the Mon to get her back to town as quickly as I could... Thankfully she still lives. I was careless and almost got Mesi killed. It has been a while since I have I felt as much guilt and shame at my own actions. I should be more careful, not just for myself anymore, but for my comrades as well. After a bit of rest from our... eventful night, Captain Sitara began making a bit of a name for herself in Vargarstaad by showing up some Skenden men in a duel or two. Despite some of her more eccentric tendencies, Captain Sitara is certainly a skilled fighter and leader... I suppose that is something to be thankful for. We set off for the areas where attacks had been the most frequent, with two Skenden ships The Storm Wolf and the Breakwave. Mesi and I had gotten quite used to the Ballistas and were confident in our ability to land shots on the beast when we meet it.
After a short stop and rest, we set out to the danger zone and found this monster of a whale. As of now, people have taken to calling it the Wight Whale, a fitting name, seeing as it had exposed bone and a hardened head with which it cracked ships that were not prepared. Prepared as we were for this monstrosity, no one could be faulted for at least being unnerved by the creature, its bony skull and black eyes evoked an image of death itself! After taking some swipes at the two Skenden ships, the Wight Whale turned its attention to us and moved for an attack. Thanks to Akash and a bit of clever maneuvering, we managed to not be hit by this incoming ram and were instead right next to this creature. I managed to send a ballista bolt right down the monster's throat! Captain Sitara, needing to sate her impossibly large appetite for danger and thrills... JUMPED ONTO THE WHALE! She ran across it's back with rope and sword in hand, managing to slash the beast. This strategy would soon become more fashionable once the Skenden got closer to the beast. After a bit of fighting, I decided to grab the Mon, and have someone use its power to help kill the beast. It took a little while but I found the Mon hidden away... Where's the trust? Anyway, I returned outside to see two of the Skenden Captains on the Wight Whale to discover that our dear Captain, in all her divine wisdom, jumped into the water, and was eaten. I can't believe I didn't give up just then and there, but either I knew that I could use this later or I wasn't going to let a whale beat us, but I gave Mesi the Mon, and told her to give that damn whale a reason to open its mouth. To Mesi's credit... she did! Mesi ran up the whale, jumping in the air and plunging her spear into the beast's head, killing it. The Wight Whale was slain, and the Captain, protected by some divine providence it seems, climbed out of the beast's mouth. We celebrated and are now heading to Vargarstaad, with the Wight Whale in tow! Finally made it to Vargarstaad! We did a bit of exploring the city, and I am impressed. It is designed for efficiency and made to be practical in case of emergencies. Very well defended. Akash made a new contact and we proceeded to visit the funeral of the ship that was lost at sea to the whale. We drank. A lot. Akash and I more than everyone else. I still managed to out do him, but not by much.
In the next few days I made a recovery from the night of drinking. I came to the ship and one morning a strange Dascean man and woman were getting the grand tour. Thankfully Kanuki didn't try and kill them after he was provoked. It looks like we will be heading out to hunt this damn Leviathan. Much to my personal dismay, I might add. I did manage to get a harness made for the Mon, so we can use it without needing to hold it. Well, I suppose I should get more practice with the Ballista. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
May 2018
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