[excerpt from Ëlinyr's journal, presented exactly as written]
- I am human now. HUMAN. And gods, now that it’s sunk in, I feel as if a great weight has been lifted from me… I feel jubilant, ecstatic, all sorts of feelings, and so very, very intensely - is this what it’s like, being human?
- I almost think that I am legitimately happy, for the first time since I was a little girl - it’s been so very long since I last felt truly happy that I’ve forgotten what it felt like, and even then… oh gods, the FEELINGS.
- what would Father say to me, though, knowing I’ve done this? I hope he’d be happy for me, and would want me to be happy above all else, and oh goodness, I am happy, honestly happy, how did I live for so long without feeling like this? without feeling?
- I’d heard rumors about the Night Market, that you could buy almost anything there, but until a few days ago I’d never been, so I truly had no idea
- one of the Hiwani that recently joined the guild, Kazz, also changed his race - he became… agh, I can’t remember, but it’s the same race as those depicted in the statues at the elemental shrines in the desert - anyhow, he underwent extreme torture to pay the cost
- OH, I nearly forgot. We finally tracked down the dwarf, Marta, who’s been involved in the Hiwani and Gnoll abductions - apparently she even put a hit out on Gossamer because of how we took down Dobarra’s (did I spell that correctly? unsure, and whatever, she’s gone now) warehouse and slave-selling operation. Why on earth would someone want to assassinate Gossamer? I find him highly entertaining, and enjoy adventuring with him - and I don’t think warehouse destruction is a killable offense
- Anyhow, the Jin Shi have Marta now, and as I’ve written previously in my notes, we have the name of her boss and the location of her books, so she won’t be a problem any longer
- It’s a shame she’s such a vile person, I find her sass very… attractive
- aaaaaaagh I’m a human
- oh yes, there was also a boat trip as part of our most recent adventures, we went to try and find the crew of a missing merchant ship and trade some goods with some nearby mermaids while we were at it - apparently a large aquatic Hiwani named… Blackfin? I really need to get better at remembering names, anyhow, he destroyed the merchant ship by, if I remember right, punching a hole in it. (I could be entirely misremembering it, however, the past few days have been a little… muddled, memory-wise)
- I seem to have acquired an assistant - Moira, one of the students I rescued from that ill-planned student expedition to the ruins in the desert, expressed that she wished to work as my assistant - and since she proved to be, well, an enthusiastic adventurer who shows some promise, I suppose I’ll keep her
- I really should tell Mother I’m human sometime soon
- Oh gods, though, what if she tries to take Mukhif back? He’s been having such a rough time of things lately, with that blackout during the infiltration of the Corsair fort, and then that whole thing involving the coin that’s tied to The Twins and recovering memories of his daughter
- well, if she tries to take him, then I simply won’t let her. plus, I’m sure Obeah would assist in any efforts against my mother to keep Mukhif safe, after all, they are “second-besties”, whatever that means
- I do hope my newfound humanity inconveniences her, as she’s inconvenienced me so many times over the years with her constant attempts to marry me off to sun elf nobility - who’s going to want me NOW, Mother? probably no-one, boo hoo for you
[end of written entry]
Friday, July 13, 2018
Wednesday, April 11, 2018
Letter from Scholar Ëlinyr to Scholar Koios, both of the Royal Academy (post-game 48)
Koios,
First, please tell Kateryn that her "grand idea" of encouraging me to join the Adventurer's Guild has most recently ended up with me exploring the sewers, which is an experience I could surely have done without - and said experience ruined one of my favorite dresses. Since this whole "adventuring" idea was hers in the first place, tell her she owes me a new dress. Preferably a red one.
Also, I think my mother is plotting unpleasant things. She sent me a... gift. A Rewoven, named Mukhif, who is to do whatever I say. (If you aren't already aware, Rewoven are those who have committed some sort of grave misdeed and, in order to atone for their misdeed, enter into slavery with no memory of their past or what horrible things they may have done. I believe the Night Market is involved in this somehow. In order to pay his debt and receive atonement for whatever misdeed he has done, he must serve another until whatever forces that be deem his penance complete.) Essentially, he is a slave, but I just cannot stomach the idea of owning another person. Of course, Mother would never stop to think on whether or not her daughter, whose entire existence is devoted to distancing herself from Sun Elf culture and the Lotus Court as much as possible, would even want a slave - she probably thinks she did me quite a favor. I am incredibly suspicious of her next move now. She's mentioned a noble friend of hers that is looking for a wife, and I'll be damned if I end up forced into a marriage with Lord Whats-his-elf thanks to my mother. I trust her motives even less than I trust those of Obeah (a fellow member of the Guild who I'd best describe as a scoundrel), who keeps trying to talk Mukhif into doing... inappropriate things. I sincerely hope Mother hasn't planned anything... unpleasant.
I will say, though, Mukhif has been incredibly helpful. I find myself knocked out less often when we encounter miscreants and monsters while out adventuring, and he even provided me with a cushion to sit upon when we ended up on an ocean trip to rescue some lost sailors. The ocean, I've determined, is not a place I feel comfortable - the wetness, the constant shifting of the boat, and the smells all are unpleasant, and when we sailed out of sight of land, I was filled with such anxiety. I do not want to go on a boat, ever again. No matter how many times Obeah keeps talking about the grand sailing library of one of the water peoples whose name I've since forgotten. I love books and knowledge, but not that much.
Complaints aside, adventuring has been good for me. I have seen many sights I don't think I'd have seen ordinarily, and have actually managed to make a friend in the Adventurer's Guild! She's a newcomer to the guild, a fire aetherite named Moyasu with a fondness for books and studying alchemy. I'm curious to see if there are areas where our research overlaps - it would be quite interesting to see how magic and alchemy interact.
I also have some distressing news to share. It appears that someone is capturing Hiwani and selling them as slaves - but not by normal means. The Adventurers' Guild encountered animals recently who are able to perform basic tasks and assist their owners, by use of a command gem. The animal has a gem embedded in their forehead, and the owner of said animal has a gem of their own, with which to issue commands to the animals. As you may have determined by now, these animals are actually enslaved Hiwani, whose appearance has been changed so they more closely resemble a specific animal, and given that they are trapped in animal form, they cannot speak to tell anyone that they are not what they seem. Should you see any animals with gems in their foreheads, please bring them to the Adventurers' Guild - Mukhif can remove the gems and free the trapped Hiwani, like he did very recently. I am glad he didn't outright kill the animal, as it was attacking a male dwarf and the owners of the animal didn't seem to care about its welfare - the chaptermaster of our branch of the guild said that he didn't care what was done with the animal, and Obeah had plans to retrieve the gem from its forehead, likely by any means necessary, to help fund the purchase of a boat.
Aside from the terrifying discovery involving the Hiwani and the trip to the sewers, and that damned boat trip, things have been well these past few weeks. I've taken advantage of things being somewhat quiet to focus on my studies of magic - I've learned how to summon fire and earth force bolts, in addition to air and water, which means I should be in good shape to take on most any elemental creature. I just need to get better at hand-to-hand combat, as I am still miserable at that. (Thank goodness for Mukhif being present and keeping me relatively healed up in my recent adventures.)
I am hoping this letter finds you well, and that sometime soon I shall see you at the Academy - I haven't been able to spend all that much time at the Academy as of late, as I have been traveling with the Adventurers' Guild, but I am currently in the city and will try to visit you before we leave for the desert outpost.
Sincerely,
Ëlinyr
First, please tell Kateryn that her "grand idea" of encouraging me to join the Adventurer's Guild has most recently ended up with me exploring the sewers, which is an experience I could surely have done without - and said experience ruined one of my favorite dresses. Since this whole "adventuring" idea was hers in the first place, tell her she owes me a new dress. Preferably a red one.
Also, I think my mother is plotting unpleasant things. She sent me a... gift. A Rewoven, named Mukhif, who is to do whatever I say. (If you aren't already aware, Rewoven are those who have committed some sort of grave misdeed and, in order to atone for their misdeed, enter into slavery with no memory of their past or what horrible things they may have done. I believe the Night Market is involved in this somehow. In order to pay his debt and receive atonement for whatever misdeed he has done, he must serve another until whatever forces that be deem his penance complete.) Essentially, he is a slave, but I just cannot stomach the idea of owning another person. Of course, Mother would never stop to think on whether or not her daughter, whose entire existence is devoted to distancing herself from Sun Elf culture and the Lotus Court as much as possible, would even want a slave - she probably thinks she did me quite a favor. I am incredibly suspicious of her next move now. She's mentioned a noble friend of hers that is looking for a wife, and I'll be damned if I end up forced into a marriage with Lord Whats-his-elf thanks to my mother. I trust her motives even less than I trust those of Obeah (a fellow member of the Guild who I'd best describe as a scoundrel), who keeps trying to talk Mukhif into doing... inappropriate things. I sincerely hope Mother hasn't planned anything... unpleasant.
I will say, though, Mukhif has been incredibly helpful. I find myself knocked out less often when we encounter miscreants and monsters while out adventuring, and he even provided me with a cushion to sit upon when we ended up on an ocean trip to rescue some lost sailors. The ocean, I've determined, is not a place I feel comfortable - the wetness, the constant shifting of the boat, and the smells all are unpleasant, and when we sailed out of sight of land, I was filled with such anxiety. I do not want to go on a boat, ever again. No matter how many times Obeah keeps talking about the grand sailing library of one of the water peoples whose name I've since forgotten. I love books and knowledge, but not that much.
Complaints aside, adventuring has been good for me. I have seen many sights I don't think I'd have seen ordinarily, and have actually managed to make a friend in the Adventurer's Guild! She's a newcomer to the guild, a fire aetherite named Moyasu with a fondness for books and studying alchemy. I'm curious to see if there are areas where our research overlaps - it would be quite interesting to see how magic and alchemy interact.
I also have some distressing news to share. It appears that someone is capturing Hiwani and selling them as slaves - but not by normal means. The Adventurers' Guild encountered animals recently who are able to perform basic tasks and assist their owners, by use of a command gem. The animal has a gem embedded in their forehead, and the owner of said animal has a gem of their own, with which to issue commands to the animals. As you may have determined by now, these animals are actually enslaved Hiwani, whose appearance has been changed so they more closely resemble a specific animal, and given that they are trapped in animal form, they cannot speak to tell anyone that they are not what they seem. Should you see any animals with gems in their foreheads, please bring them to the Adventurers' Guild - Mukhif can remove the gems and free the trapped Hiwani, like he did very recently. I am glad he didn't outright kill the animal, as it was attacking a male dwarf and the owners of the animal didn't seem to care about its welfare - the chaptermaster of our branch of the guild said that he didn't care what was done with the animal, and Obeah had plans to retrieve the gem from its forehead, likely by any means necessary, to help fund the purchase of a boat.
Aside from the terrifying discovery involving the Hiwani and the trip to the sewers, and that damned boat trip, things have been well these past few weeks. I've taken advantage of things being somewhat quiet to focus on my studies of magic - I've learned how to summon fire and earth force bolts, in addition to air and water, which means I should be in good shape to take on most any elemental creature. I just need to get better at hand-to-hand combat, as I am still miserable at that. (Thank goodness for Mukhif being present and keeping me relatively healed up in my recent adventures.)
I am hoping this letter finds you well, and that sometime soon I shall see you at the Academy - I haven't been able to spend all that much time at the Academy as of late, as I have been traveling with the Adventurers' Guild, but I am currently in the city and will try to visit you before we leave for the desert outpost.
Sincerely,
Ëlinyr
Monday, July 24, 2017
Chronicle: Game 43.5
I have been encouraged by friends to get out and explore the world beyond the four walls of The Royal Academy’s library, as I apparently spend far too much time perusing books, so I finally listened to them - mostly to stop their incessant pestering. I made the decision to go out on a mission with members of the Adventurers’ Guild - as I have heard many stories of their experiences, I thought they would be best to work with for what would be my first adventure, and apparently my first stealth mission. I shall tell more of that later.
But yes. My first adventure. And, well… it was indeed an adventure.
The band of adventurers, a small group consisting of four - a necromancer, a rogue, a scout, and myself - were given the task to determine what the corsairs were doing in the Lady’s Forest. (I will admit to some trepidation when faced with the task, as my mother would often tell me stories of the strange creatures that lived in the forest, in an attempt to dissuade me from exploring its depths.) It was indicated that there was some suspicious activity occurring in the forest, and our group set out to investigate and learn as much as possible about what was going on. For the most part, the necromancer (named Evixa) and I spent most of the expedition working together, as we were the only magic casters there. (She seems rather preoccupied with turning people into zombies, including herself. Curious.)
We were not very far into the forest when we apparently disturbed some moas from their home. I ended up killing one of them, albeit unintentionally. I may have been a little too eager to test out my evocation skills on a live target. After all, there aren’t many who actually volunteer to be test subjects for destructive magic. But I digress. We were also, at some point, attacked by creatures that looked like earth elemental wolves of some sort, which attacked with wicked spikes coming out of their backs. I’m quite glad I wasn’t hit with any of those spikes, they did not look pleasant. In fact, we ended up encountering a number of strange creatures in the Lady’s Forest, including something that resembled a pair of bright magenta tigers, some sort of blue, slimy lizard-type creature, a giant orange centipede, and a pair of creatures that resembled slender horses with a single curved horn coming from their head. These latter creatures were most interesting, as it appears that their horns have healing powers - they healed scarred tree bark with a touch. They also smelled quite pleasant, like honey. Upon my arrival back at the Academy, I did some research and found out that those creatures were forest kirin. I think, out of all the creatures we encountered, these were the most fascinating. I shall have to do more research on them…
Strange creatures aside, we did indeed encounter orcs - a handful of scouts, and one massive orc who wielded an anchor for a weapon. He was fierce, and while fighting him I realized I am in dire need of swordsmanship training. That anchor HURT when it made contact with my leg - despite quick healing from Evixa, I’m still rather tender there. Somehow, however, our tiny band defeated him, and the necromancer tried to get information from him. We weren’t able to learn much - just that there were a number of orcs in the woods, and that they did indeed have a leader.
After more traveling through the forest, we came upon a blockade wall at the edge of the forest, extending into the Silver Sea - and the scout and rogue decided that the best course of action would be for them to swim around to the other side of the blockade and attempt to set the wall on fire from within. Their plan wasn’t quite as effective as initially planned, and Evixa and I managed to blast a hole in the blockade from the front and joined the rest of our party as they fought the orc scouts guarding the blockade. We were able to defeat them, and continued on our way.
Eventually we made it to where the corsairs were camped out. They’d built a rather sturdy wall around their compound, and breaking through said wall or scaling it without assistance were not options. After discussing the remaining possibilities (involving attempting to unlock a back entrance that may or may not be guarded), the rogue decided he would sneak in, with the scout staying nearby for backup in case a distraction was needed, while Evixa and I stayed near the back wall and waited for the rogue to toss us down a rope to assist in scaling the wall.
This is where I learned that I am not nearly as good at climbing as I hoped. I made it three quarters of the way up the wall, lost my footing and my grip on the rope, and slid most of the way down before I caught myself, managed to get a better grip, and finally made my way up the wall. (This is why I tend to stay in the library. I don’t end up falling nearly to my doom there.)
Once we scaled the wall, apparently our mission had turned into a stealth mission - had I known this ahead of time, I wouldn’t have dressed in my red dress. I’m a scholar, not an adventurer. Eventually we made our way up close to the main encampment of the corsairs. And given my bright attire I was easily spotted, so I ended up making myself the best distraction that I could and dashed as fast as I could across the camp, drawing the attention of the orcs guarding the camp so the others could attack them. This led to a fierce battle against the orcs at the encampment - we ended up being chased into the forest, our tiny group fighting fiercely, and eventually we felled the last of the orcs. The rogue searched the camp for anything of importance, and found a chest in the largest of the tents in their encampment.
With the orcs defeated, and the chest acquired, we made our way out of the forest. And of course as we were close to exiting the forest, there were more moas. We tried to scare them off. We failed. More moas died. The silly birds brought it upon themselves.
Once out of the forest and back under the wide open sky again, we examined the contents of the chest - there was a fair bit of goods and coin inside, and two very curious letters. Both letters seemed of an amorous nature, one wrinkled and obviously well-read, waxing poetic about how much they cared for the recipient and how they couldn’t wait to be reunited with them, the second more somber in tone, looking less physically worn, and wishing the fight between their peoples would end. Most curious of all: the letters were signed with a seal belonging to the Lotus Court. I sincerely wish I had thought to take the letters with us, but after the long trek through the forest and the rough battle with the orcs, I was a little worse for wear and not quite thinking as quickly as I normally do. I do wonder who wrote those letters, and to whom (I’m assuming an
orc camped out in the Lady’s Forest, but who?), and what they really mean.
I asked around, and the rogue’s name is Flint, and the scout is named Erax. I only properly introduced myself to Evixa. Ah well, I am sure to see them again, and I’m quite sure they’ll remember this clumsy scholar-mage sun elf. After all, I was rather… obvious. Stealth missions are clearly not my forte, it seems. I plan to take some time to recover from this most recent mission (my body and my pride took a fair hit during this recent adventure) amongst my beloved books before venturing out again.
But yes. My first adventure. And, well… it was indeed an adventure.
The band of adventurers, a small group consisting of four - a necromancer, a rogue, a scout, and myself - were given the task to determine what the corsairs were doing in the Lady’s Forest. (I will admit to some trepidation when faced with the task, as my mother would often tell me stories of the strange creatures that lived in the forest, in an attempt to dissuade me from exploring its depths.) It was indicated that there was some suspicious activity occurring in the forest, and our group set out to investigate and learn as much as possible about what was going on. For the most part, the necromancer (named Evixa) and I spent most of the expedition working together, as we were the only magic casters there. (She seems rather preoccupied with turning people into zombies, including herself. Curious.)
We were not very far into the forest when we apparently disturbed some moas from their home. I ended up killing one of them, albeit unintentionally. I may have been a little too eager to test out my evocation skills on a live target. After all, there aren’t many who actually volunteer to be test subjects for destructive magic. But I digress. We were also, at some point, attacked by creatures that looked like earth elemental wolves of some sort, which attacked with wicked spikes coming out of their backs. I’m quite glad I wasn’t hit with any of those spikes, they did not look pleasant. In fact, we ended up encountering a number of strange creatures in the Lady’s Forest, including something that resembled a pair of bright magenta tigers, some sort of blue, slimy lizard-type creature, a giant orange centipede, and a pair of creatures that resembled slender horses with a single curved horn coming from their head. These latter creatures were most interesting, as it appears that their horns have healing powers - they healed scarred tree bark with a touch. They also smelled quite pleasant, like honey. Upon my arrival back at the Academy, I did some research and found out that those creatures were forest kirin. I think, out of all the creatures we encountered, these were the most fascinating. I shall have to do more research on them…
Strange creatures aside, we did indeed encounter orcs - a handful of scouts, and one massive orc who wielded an anchor for a weapon. He was fierce, and while fighting him I realized I am in dire need of swordsmanship training. That anchor HURT when it made contact with my leg - despite quick healing from Evixa, I’m still rather tender there. Somehow, however, our tiny band defeated him, and the necromancer tried to get information from him. We weren’t able to learn much - just that there were a number of orcs in the woods, and that they did indeed have a leader.
After more traveling through the forest, we came upon a blockade wall at the edge of the forest, extending into the Silver Sea - and the scout and rogue decided that the best course of action would be for them to swim around to the other side of the blockade and attempt to set the wall on fire from within. Their plan wasn’t quite as effective as initially planned, and Evixa and I managed to blast a hole in the blockade from the front and joined the rest of our party as they fought the orc scouts guarding the blockade. We were able to defeat them, and continued on our way.
Eventually we made it to where the corsairs were camped out. They’d built a rather sturdy wall around their compound, and breaking through said wall or scaling it without assistance were not options. After discussing the remaining possibilities (involving attempting to unlock a back entrance that may or may not be guarded), the rogue decided he would sneak in, with the scout staying nearby for backup in case a distraction was needed, while Evixa and I stayed near the back wall and waited for the rogue to toss us down a rope to assist in scaling the wall.
This is where I learned that I am not nearly as good at climbing as I hoped. I made it three quarters of the way up the wall, lost my footing and my grip on the rope, and slid most of the way down before I caught myself, managed to get a better grip, and finally made my way up the wall. (This is why I tend to stay in the library. I don’t end up falling nearly to my doom there.)
Once we scaled the wall, apparently our mission had turned into a stealth mission - had I known this ahead of time, I wouldn’t have dressed in my red dress. I’m a scholar, not an adventurer. Eventually we made our way up close to the main encampment of the corsairs. And given my bright attire I was easily spotted, so I ended up making myself the best distraction that I could and dashed as fast as I could across the camp, drawing the attention of the orcs guarding the camp so the others could attack them. This led to a fierce battle against the orcs at the encampment - we ended up being chased into the forest, our tiny group fighting fiercely, and eventually we felled the last of the orcs. The rogue searched the camp for anything of importance, and found a chest in the largest of the tents in their encampment.
With the orcs defeated, and the chest acquired, we made our way out of the forest. And of course as we were close to exiting the forest, there were more moas. We tried to scare them off. We failed. More moas died. The silly birds brought it upon themselves.
Once out of the forest and back under the wide open sky again, we examined the contents of the chest - there was a fair bit of goods and coin inside, and two very curious letters. Both letters seemed of an amorous nature, one wrinkled and obviously well-read, waxing poetic about how much they cared for the recipient and how they couldn’t wait to be reunited with them, the second more somber in tone, looking less physically worn, and wishing the fight between their peoples would end. Most curious of all: the letters were signed with a seal belonging to the Lotus Court. I sincerely wish I had thought to take the letters with us, but after the long trek through the forest and the rough battle with the orcs, I was a little worse for wear and not quite thinking as quickly as I normally do. I do wonder who wrote those letters, and to whom (I’m assuming an
orc camped out in the Lady’s Forest, but who?), and what they really mean.
I asked around, and the rogue’s name is Flint, and the scout is named Erax. I only properly introduced myself to Evixa. Ah well, I am sure to see them again, and I’m quite sure they’ll remember this clumsy scholar-mage sun elf. After all, I was rather… obvious. Stealth missions are clearly not my forte, it seems. I plan to take some time to recover from this most recent mission (my body and my pride took a fair hit during this recent adventure) amongst my beloved books before venturing out again.
The chronicles
This is a place for me (Beth) to post chronicles written by Ëlinyr, the sun-elf evoker I play in Kishar. Not only will this include official chronicles I've written for the game, but also entries from Ëlinyr's point of view that will help share information about her backstory. It'll help me have an easy place to find all this, and help others learn more about this weird nerdy sun elf who's joined up with the Adventurers' Guild.
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