Entry Six - Catchup
Wow. Looking at this, I can hardly believe I've not written since Wyrmshoals.
A lot has happened since then. The party helped me deal with my problems there – no sign of Sicarius, unfortunately, but that can wait.
After Wyrmshoals, we made our way to Bournerock – it was a very strange place. Far too dusty, and dry. I was missing the sea breeze before we even stepped in the gates. Along the way Arslan got into a heated argument with an ostrich. Dinner was good that night, and it got me the quill I'm witing with. Thanks Arslan! At Bournerock, we managed to repair the damage caused by Aliana's life choices, do a great deal of research in the library (I proved my travelling machine will work!), met and learned about the single most important creature in Arslan's life, along with his dad and sister and met Henderson, a scholar interested in the Wild Gods.
Henderson was extremely curious, almost creepily so. He immediately took an interest in Ulrika, given her direct experience with the Wild Gods back at that obelisk. He was also astonished to learn that we'd already met Luddeus (Yagmir's actual name, probably) and Sveln the Lucky. He told us he was planning an expedition to Kal'Zagur, to investigate Arkharis.
That went poorly. We wound up making our way North, which was thoroughly unpleasant. Both Aliana and I are built for tropical waters, not frozen wastelands, and we were bundled up so much we looked more like blobs of fur than Aqueln. I'm glad to be back in warmer climes now. We stopped in a town near Kal'Zagur to do some research, where we were assaulted by the Cult of Arkharis. Drae's stalker showed up again there – he was somewhat terrified by the fact that she was sane at the time. Still, we drove them off, and saved the town, so once more our general struggles to not die make us heroes. In this town we met up with Bellend. Sorry, I mean Beylen. Beylen Undercroft.
From there, were entered Kal'Zagur. We encountered some resistance, but not as much as I expected – that should have been a warning sign. A few Cultists, and some Wendigo. Eventually, we saw Arkharis upon his throne, with his spear in his skeletal, dead, hand. Bellend turned on us, claiming the Touch of Necrosis for his own ends, aiming to surpass previous attempts at necromancy, and become more than Shade. Now, I'm still only a learner when it comes to magic, but it seems to me that of all the branches of magic to try to push further than ever before, Necromancy would be quite literally the worst. I bet that there are over a thousand ways this could go wrong for him, and only one of them is us.
In Kal'zagur, we learned that Drae's stalker, Arhanir Rivenroot, was causing problem's near Ulrika's hometown, so we headed there without delay. We succesfully saved Ulrika's father from Cultists (though he definitely did his part – it was fascinating to fight next to a Shapeshifter), and proceeded to bring Arhanir's madness (and by extension Drae's) to an end. The fool actually turned himself into a Lich. That never ends well.
Seriously, I've been travelling taverns for over ten years now and I've never heard a story about a Lich ending well for the Lich.
After defeating Arhanir though, things took a bit more of a tragic turn. To stop Bellend, we'll need to gather the support of as many Wild Gods as possible; preferably all of them. We decided to split into three groups – Selendria, Henderson, and Spanky would travel to Brightlake to do research, Ulrika, Arslan, and Drae would go to the Sidherwood to seek a Wild God there, while Aliana, Artie, and myself go to the Shattered Isles in search of another Wild God – probably Renem, Goddess of Exploration..
I hate to part ways with them, but it's for the best. They're all perfectly capable, and now that Drae is sane again, I think they'll be able to take care of one another perfectly fine without the rest of us there. Doesn't mean I won't be worried. At least Selendria and Henderson have Spanky to take care of them. Though, while travelling with Aliana I'm beginning to realise what it'd be like to be a parent. Gods help me.
Jokes aside though, things took a turn for the worse. We passed through Artie's home village on our way to the coast. His brother died a long time ago, and his parents never told him. They wanted to protect him, but in doing so, they did the worst thing I can imagine. When Haluk died, I felt like my world had been torn apart. I can still barely bear to think about the days with him, sometimes. When I saw Artie hunched over his brother's grave, all I could see was Haluk's face. I can't believe Artie had to go through that. He always talked about how wonderful his brother was. He seems to be coping with the loss, but I'm really worried about him. When I lost my brother I lost myself in my grief. I just hope Artie's a stronger person than I am.
Following that revelation though, we continued to make our way to the coast, eventually arriving in a small seaside town. It always makes me feel better being near the ocean, and Artie seemed to cheer up somewhat as well. We did a little exploring, and found a note about an expedition to the Shattered Isles – we thought we'd struck gold – but we'd done better. We made our way to the docks, and there encountered the Wild God Renem. She wants to go to the Shattered Isles to reclaim her lost ship, and has enlisted our aid in doing so.
It seems perfect – we help and befriend a Wild God in exchange for her help against Bellend.
She's a fascinating character. Extremely flippant and casual, but I've noticed a more cautious side to her as well. She seemed way out of her depth when Aliana wanted to strike a deal with Yagmir, for example. Of all the Wild Gods we could be travelling with, she seems ideal; much more 'mortal' than some.
Regardless, we managed to secure passage abord 'The Onion Fairy', the ship on which we're currently sailing – and where we were joined by none other than Captain Minyet! Good to see that old cat again.
Of course, ocean voyages are quite dangerous. Earlier today we encountered pirates, using Captain Minyet's old ship as a flagship. Battle ensued, and with great effort, we managed to best the pirates. It was depressing seeing Minyet's old crew as foes – I remember Drae especially got along great with some of them. I'm not looking forward to having to tell her what happened. Aliana and I swam down to the sinking ship to recover some treasure; that was the first time in ten years that I breathed the way an Aqueln is born to do – it felt wonderful being underwater again.
For now, we're approaching the Shattered Isles. Fingers crossed, we should have this whole situation with Renem sorted before the month is out.
















