Salutations my amazing and far-away family.
It is I: your wondering adventuring child. I write to you with yet another adventure tale. Of course, I must let you know who joined me on my unique and slightly terrifying adventure. I will have to say it is so nice to go on adventures with people I am good friends with. Such friends would be… yep you guessed it, Reyis: my good and long term friend, Langren: whom I love going on adventures with because boost me up, Icarus: my storyteller friend and now my drinking buddy and last but certainly not least my newest friend from a previous adventure Moe’uhane (Moe). You know the guy who breathes fire. My team is so cool.
I know what the journey was supposed to be but I can only really describe it as the following: Trolls should not fly on carpets, water has an attitude, and there is more than one way to take a bath.
So to begin with “trolls should not fly on carpets”. You see Moe is a T’skraung of many talents and one of these talents is to create a flying carpet to help transport us to our destination. Don’t get me wrong I think this is a great idea if, and only if, you are not afraid of heights. Guess what? You got it. I have not gotten over this fear yet, but I am willing to do this because when will I ever get the chance to ride a carpet over such a beautiful land.
Second: water has an attitude. When we reached our first destination of Kampung Gajah we meet up with a wonderful and overenthusiastic boat person who was telling tales about her adventure in such an epic fashion that could give Icarus competition. After hearing her stories on how she bravely ventured up the river to this location we decided that it would be in our best interest to hope on board her ship and travel down steam (or is it upstream??) to our destination. I thought that this would be very useful to maybe cut our journey down, save us walking for such a long time and it would be a gentler ride than the carpets. Well, two out of three is not bad. The third would be that rivers have an attitude like Auntie Putthat-away on one of her drinking binges. In the beginning, all is calm and enjoyable when the ale is flowing but closer to the end of the night when you over halfway through the ale thing become insufferable. Well, Auntie has nothing on the rapids. Let's just say I will not complain about walking anymore. Finally, the river opened into a lake of great wonder.
As we travelled further, we came across this city. No, not a city but I can best describe it as a kingdom built and floating on reeds with gigantic towers. It was so beautiful. When we entered the kingdom, I was escorted to the bathhouses because I was told that there is a different way to bath not just with soap and water. They have 9 different bathhouses. Some of them I will write about later others well… I will make sure I send a different letter for the adults-only if you know what I mean. These baths were so soothing and calming. I think I found inner peace at some point.
Of course, peace has a price right. Not too long after, I am informed that there was a request to investigate why the “King of the River” is causing so many issues. By the way, the King of the River is a massive, huge crocodile. This thing was swallowing T’skraung whole. That is how big he is. Now we are told that he does not usually cause issues. Something has been bugging him. Again, onto another boat and off we go. We travel a little and come to the idea that we should go on land and maybe see if we can track anything. As we disembark on the shore we are attacked. The battle is really not that important. What is important is, I was insulted by being called a pet and then we kicked their butt. They had this whistle that they kept blowing and we could hear drums in the distance. So we follow the drums to find the “King” destroying a village. I must again state that this guy is massive, huge, gigantic, extraordinary big for his britches and mean. Oh, so mean but you would you be to if you had these acid dripping frog things on your back eating into your skin. We decided that those things had to go. Now you would think that it would be best to keep your distance from this thing. Well, what kind of story would that be? You guessed it, my dear storyteller friend Icarus, who is so brave, jumped on the monster to try and disengage the frog things. Not the smartest but it will be a great story to tell. We killed the frogs and distracted the “King” to leave the area. We also got rid of the drums. We think that a combo of all three caused him to go crazy.
After that, I went back and had to bath off the “SPIT” from the frogs off my clothes. Then we headed home. I wonder what adventures I will go on next. I hope it is with my dear friends again.
Missing you always,
Azurea
AAR: [5M] Tonguetwister (2020-07-02 2330 GMT)
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LadyDragoon
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Re: AAR: [5M] Tonguetwister (2020-07-02 2330 GMT)
My most recent travels were in the name of Love. Perhaps Astendar's hand was in this, I'm not sure. No matter, though. Icarus Wolf-Swift the Air Sailor had found himself enraptured by a young T'Skrang woman, and, in an effort to earn her favor, he decided to follow her to Lake Ban. It seems we have a mutual friendship with Azurea, as she chose to go with him on his quest, as did Moe-uhane and I.
Moe-uhane's presence gave us a rather... unique method of travel. Flying carpets.
I do not know what half mad Illusionist in ages past thought, "Hey, I should figure out how to make carpets fly!", but the experience is different from any other I have ever had. At first the sudden rush of air and the rapidly retreating ground gave me a thrill like I was falling from a cliff, but after I adjusted, the smooth ride and speed proved to be exhilarating (note to self: next time, wear furs).
Even with the shortened trip and quickened pace our magical ride afforded us, it still took about 4 days before we reached Kampung Gajah. Our arrival appeared to coincide with some sort of revelry below, but due to it's unusual nature, we found that we had become the center of attention. The T'Skrang of this village gathered closely around to witness our landing, and the mayor came out to greet us (and also to find out what the devil we were up to, I think).
Once Icarus made clear what his goals were to the man, he offered to show us what the reason behind all the revelry was, indicating that it would match our goals nicely, so off to the docks we went.
Arriving at the docks, we found that a strange looking ship was docked there and the person in charge was at the center of the excitement. (I have to say, I call it a ship, but it looked to me more like a sawmill set to float in the river, owing to the large mill wheel that interrupted it's otherwise sleek lines.) This person, who I later learned was the captain of the ship, was spinning a tale of danger and heroism, starring herself as the main attraction and featuring some feat of sailing (while entertaining to listen to, the details quickly began to escape me). After a quick introduction (these T'Skrang are quick about everything I have learned), we were able to sit and talk with this Captain Wesithral, learning that she had just completed negotiating for Kampung Gajah to become part of her home's trade empire rather than its previous allegiance to Throal. (Honestly, she seemed almost as proud of that as she was of simply sailing up the river. Ok, sailing up the river was actually impressive, as you will see shortly).
Since she was heading back down the Coil to Lake Ban, we negotiated for passage on her ship, and she agreed, on the condition that we act as her crew for a term to be decided by her, not to exceed a single month. We accepted (although I was a bit dubious about the terms), and set off on the Chatterbox (her boat's Name). At this point I must say that the T'Skrang of these rivers are even crazier than the stories I had heard. The mill wheel on the boat was a kind of magical oar that was powered by True Fire. The speed that the boat ended up making was faster even than a galloping horse, and it could maintain that speed constantly as long as it was fed. Despite the terror-inducing lurch as we set off, the crew handled the boat with amazing skill, relegating the most menial tasks, such as scrubbing the floors (which they insisted I call the 'deck'), to those of us with no experience in sailing.
The trip down the Coil was swift, and we soon reached a place they called the Adipose Rapids, which had only ever been traversed once, and that once was by the Chatterbox as she sailed up the river to Kampung Gajah. Sailing down, with the current pushing us along, I began to get an idea of why the captain had been so proud of her trip upstream. The river narrowed here, causing the water to begin rushing at a breakneck speed which caused it to foam. This made handling the boat difficult, but I don't think that alone would ever cause this crew to even hesitate. It was the sudden turns of the river, and the jagged, boat killing rocks concealed under the surface that truly showed the skills of this intrepid crew. While I and my companions were holding on for dear life, they threaded their way through this waterway, eventually coming out the other side on a river as smooth as glass, which we continued on for another day or so to reach the V'Strimon city.
The floating city was spectacular in design, using True Air and Water as primary building materials to construct their towers as well as the magnificent dome which protects the city. We explored the city as much as we could with the short time we were there, and I saw that the people of this place were taking in refugees from Vorst, a nearby kaer that had been penetrated by Horrors.
There was a lot of talking by the T'Skrang, but eventually we were pointed to a task which our skills were needed for. Apparently a monstrous beast called the River King had become enraged and was at risk of causing damage to the settlements downriver, so of course Captain Wesithral immediately volunteered her crew (including us) to help calm it.
It only took a short time traveling before we reached the area where we were headed and the boat slowed to a reasonable pace for us to search for clues. We eventually sighted some suspicious movement along the shore and asked the captain to send us ashore to investigate. In the forest, we found a group of skulking T'Skrang that immediately went on the attack. We put them down fairly quickly, although one did manage to escape. There was a prisoner, so we tied her up and delivered her to the Chatterbox.
While we were searching, we continually heard drums in the distance. When we found a whistle that emitted a loud screeching sound, a glimmer of what might have been upsetting the River King began to become clear. Unfortunately, the prisoner could not be made to talk, so we were still only guessing what was going on. Finally we decided to keep going slowly along the river toward the sound of the drums, and eventually began to see groups of people fleeing in the other direction. That was when we managed to get ourselves ashore again, while the captain began organizing a rescue effort for the folks who weren't fortunate enough to be escaping in a boat.
We rushed a little ways farther up and found our quarry. The beast was magnificent, and under different circumstances I think I would have been willing to simply sit and watch for hours. but alas, the beast's actions were putting people in danger, so we had to act quickly. The River king was flailing and crushing many T'Skrang under its weight while also devouring those that were unlucky enough to be near its gaping maw, indicating the extremes of distress it was in. The cause of that distress was evident enough. A pair of saurals (amphibious reptilian creatures that secrete an acidic liquid from the skin and mouth) were perched atop its back, burning it with their acid even as they were trying to tear into its flesh.
Moving quickly, Icarus at once jumped on top of the River King's head to engage with the first of the saurals with Azurea's support from a distance. Meanwhile, Reyis began weaving a spell to calm the River King. I realized that my spells would not put a quick enough end to the saurals, so I focused instead on my new mastery of the elements to summon a gust of air to blow them off its back, which successfully dislodged one of them and left eh other off balance, making it easy prey for my more physical companions. We finally managed to remove the second one from the River King's hide (which also required their deaths, something I regret), and Reyis continued to calm the great beast while Icarus drew its ire to reduce the damage it caused. Before I was able to re-attune a matrix and help Reyis, though, the River King cooled his rage enough that he was willing to follow the Windling into the river and out of our sight.
We returned to the Floating City and reported our success, with Captain Wesithral leading the way. I think she was worried that we might actually steal some of her thunder, for she ended our indenture right away rather than having us serve the full term we had agreed to.
Moe-uhane's presence gave us a rather... unique method of travel. Flying carpets.
I do not know what half mad Illusionist in ages past thought, "Hey, I should figure out how to make carpets fly!", but the experience is different from any other I have ever had. At first the sudden rush of air and the rapidly retreating ground gave me a thrill like I was falling from a cliff, but after I adjusted, the smooth ride and speed proved to be exhilarating (note to self: next time, wear furs).
Even with the shortened trip and quickened pace our magical ride afforded us, it still took about 4 days before we reached Kampung Gajah. Our arrival appeared to coincide with some sort of revelry below, but due to it's unusual nature, we found that we had become the center of attention. The T'Skrang of this village gathered closely around to witness our landing, and the mayor came out to greet us (and also to find out what the devil we were up to, I think).
Once Icarus made clear what his goals were to the man, he offered to show us what the reason behind all the revelry was, indicating that it would match our goals nicely, so off to the docks we went.
Arriving at the docks, we found that a strange looking ship was docked there and the person in charge was at the center of the excitement. (I have to say, I call it a ship, but it looked to me more like a sawmill set to float in the river, owing to the large mill wheel that interrupted it's otherwise sleek lines.) This person, who I later learned was the captain of the ship, was spinning a tale of danger and heroism, starring herself as the main attraction and featuring some feat of sailing (while entertaining to listen to, the details quickly began to escape me). After a quick introduction (these T'Skrang are quick about everything I have learned), we were able to sit and talk with this Captain Wesithral, learning that she had just completed negotiating for Kampung Gajah to become part of her home's trade empire rather than its previous allegiance to Throal. (Honestly, she seemed almost as proud of that as she was of simply sailing up the river. Ok, sailing up the river was actually impressive, as you will see shortly).
Since she was heading back down the Coil to Lake Ban, we negotiated for passage on her ship, and she agreed, on the condition that we act as her crew for a term to be decided by her, not to exceed a single month. We accepted (although I was a bit dubious about the terms), and set off on the Chatterbox (her boat's Name). At this point I must say that the T'Skrang of these rivers are even crazier than the stories I had heard. The mill wheel on the boat was a kind of magical oar that was powered by True Fire. The speed that the boat ended up making was faster even than a galloping horse, and it could maintain that speed constantly as long as it was fed. Despite the terror-inducing lurch as we set off, the crew handled the boat with amazing skill, relegating the most menial tasks, such as scrubbing the floors (which they insisted I call the 'deck'), to those of us with no experience in sailing.
The trip down the Coil was swift, and we soon reached a place they called the Adipose Rapids, which had only ever been traversed once, and that once was by the Chatterbox as she sailed up the river to Kampung Gajah. Sailing down, with the current pushing us along, I began to get an idea of why the captain had been so proud of her trip upstream. The river narrowed here, causing the water to begin rushing at a breakneck speed which caused it to foam. This made handling the boat difficult, but I don't think that alone would ever cause this crew to even hesitate. It was the sudden turns of the river, and the jagged, boat killing rocks concealed under the surface that truly showed the skills of this intrepid crew. While I and my companions were holding on for dear life, they threaded their way through this waterway, eventually coming out the other side on a river as smooth as glass, which we continued on for another day or so to reach the V'Strimon city.
The floating city was spectacular in design, using True Air and Water as primary building materials to construct their towers as well as the magnificent dome which protects the city. We explored the city as much as we could with the short time we were there, and I saw that the people of this place were taking in refugees from Vorst, a nearby kaer that had been penetrated by Horrors.
There was a lot of talking by the T'Skrang, but eventually we were pointed to a task which our skills were needed for. Apparently a monstrous beast called the River King had become enraged and was at risk of causing damage to the settlements downriver, so of course Captain Wesithral immediately volunteered her crew (including us) to help calm it.
It only took a short time traveling before we reached the area where we were headed and the boat slowed to a reasonable pace for us to search for clues. We eventually sighted some suspicious movement along the shore and asked the captain to send us ashore to investigate. In the forest, we found a group of skulking T'Skrang that immediately went on the attack. We put them down fairly quickly, although one did manage to escape. There was a prisoner, so we tied her up and delivered her to the Chatterbox.
While we were searching, we continually heard drums in the distance. When we found a whistle that emitted a loud screeching sound, a glimmer of what might have been upsetting the River King began to become clear. Unfortunately, the prisoner could not be made to talk, so we were still only guessing what was going on. Finally we decided to keep going slowly along the river toward the sound of the drums, and eventually began to see groups of people fleeing in the other direction. That was when we managed to get ourselves ashore again, while the captain began organizing a rescue effort for the folks who weren't fortunate enough to be escaping in a boat.
We rushed a little ways farther up and found our quarry. The beast was magnificent, and under different circumstances I think I would have been willing to simply sit and watch for hours. but alas, the beast's actions were putting people in danger, so we had to act quickly. The River king was flailing and crushing many T'Skrang under its weight while also devouring those that were unlucky enough to be near its gaping maw, indicating the extremes of distress it was in. The cause of that distress was evident enough. A pair of saurals (amphibious reptilian creatures that secrete an acidic liquid from the skin and mouth) were perched atop its back, burning it with their acid even as they were trying to tear into its flesh.
Moving quickly, Icarus at once jumped on top of the River King's head to engage with the first of the saurals with Azurea's support from a distance. Meanwhile, Reyis began weaving a spell to calm the River King. I realized that my spells would not put a quick enough end to the saurals, so I focused instead on my new mastery of the elements to summon a gust of air to blow them off its back, which successfully dislodged one of them and left eh other off balance, making it easy prey for my more physical companions. We finally managed to remove the second one from the River King's hide (which also required their deaths, something I regret), and Reyis continued to calm the great beast while Icarus drew its ire to reduce the damage it caused. Before I was able to re-attune a matrix and help Reyis, though, the River King cooled his rage enough that he was willing to follow the Windling into the river and out of our sight.
We returned to the Floating City and reported our success, with Captain Wesithral leading the way. I think she was worried that we might actually steal some of her thunder, for she ended our indenture right away rather than having us serve the full term we had agreed to.