Badlands – Orianna Èirigh – 28.09.2022
Oct 3, 2022 17:30:48 GMT
Velania Kalugina and Andy D like this
Post by Orianna Èirigh on Oct 3, 2022 17:30:48 GMT
OBSERVATIONS & EXCERPTS from the JOURNAL of SECOND ASSISTANT ARCHIVIST ORIANNA ÈIRIGH of ASHKHA
I have made sure the egg is safe, secure, will get plenty of sunlight and is warm. I hope it will be warm. If only Gerhard was able to stay! He always seems to get called away by the Staircase whenever I’m going out. He seems a bit tired these days but maybe it’s because of the change of season. Perhaps I will take a break from my excursions for a tenday. It will allow both of us to rest, spend time together, and figure out how we are going to live with a crystal dragon wyrmling!
Father would be so ecstatic…
The only familiar face to me this time around was Prowler. Raine and Corrila seemed to know each other, getting on thick as thieves once the latter was sober. Why do folk who adhere to the moniker ‘adventurer’ always seem to drink to excess? They do not seem to have a fun time with the after effects. Perhaps it is a Daring custom I have yet to appreciate.
The final member of our party, Itzal, along with Prowler seemed to have made the best impression upon our employer, Elluin Farbearo. To be honest, I was really only there so I could go to Kundar in the hopes that I’d get wind of any new undead activity relating to the Temple of Tiamat or Bahamut, but we were not to be there very long.
But I get ahead of myself!
Corrila was the one who sussed out what Elluin was not telling us. But first a little context: Elluin’s shipments from Kundar to Daring Heights have been targeted several times over the past few months by various bandit groups. He wanted us to ensure — with our lives if he could sway it — that his goods reach the Dawnlands city. We tried to ask what it was he was transporting but he wouldn’t budge.
But then Corrila said something to the effect of, “The cargo these bandits are looking for is going with us this time, isn’t it?” I know it is not kind to laugh at one’s elders but the look on Elluin’s face reminded me of all the times Nim would figure out the play our teachers would try to do on us to make us learn the lesson, only to switch it back on them! They are pretty similar, now that I think about it…
It’s one thing to know you’re going to be ambushed. It is another entirely to experience it.
I looked to the stars on the two nights before they got us to try to divine what signs might occur so we could not be taken unawares. Unfortunately, though I knew it was coming, though I saw it coming, I was no less ready for the sandstorm that would try to sweep us away.
I was blinded from the beginning. I had to rely on an inner compass to know which way was north and to not attack my allies. Raine had been with me at the front of the caravan, telling me poetic stories of fantastical lands and far off places. It was exhilarating to talk with her! And her viol! It seemed to contain galaxies within it. The way it and she shone when she played, the few times the others were not bothered by the presence of her music, was truly a sight to behold. I could feel her music inspire me to keep trying to protect the caravan when the elemental tried to buffet me with more sand.
And then she fell. Her music stopped and though there was a roaring wind all around us with unrelenting sands trying to get deeper into my eyes, I knew it.
And then a new voice came in, helping me get to her…
Their name is Arem. They had a pallid nature with bright yellow eyes. Itzal jokingly said, “Love the aesthetic, but I’m worried about you in direct sunlight,” and I couldn’t help but wonder could they be something undead too?
When they claimed to be magically bound to an item we were transporting there was instant doubt amongst us. But I could not deny the truth in their face, or their words. I said we should let them have that which belongs with them. The item in question is a gauntlet with a sigil caved into it, like so:
Of course, it was at this point that it was brought up that we would not be paid by Elluin but by then I had lost interest in coin. I was more curious to know why Arem wanted to know what Prowler and I had experienced on the road from Port Ffirst to Daring Heights, and what had happened in Kundar at a club called Borealis. Prowler mentioned having an itch after encountering a strange lightning elemental woman there. Arem offered to help alleviate the itch for him. I didn’t stick around in the Gilded Mirror for much longer after that.
Besides, I am tired and have an egg to take care of…
Dreams of howling winds, choking dust, and dry empty deserts. I thought it was- home… but it didn’t feel right. I think I know what Prowler meant though when he mentioned an itch. It’s like a tingling sensation, certainly a restlessness, like there is sand churning just under my skin…
I have made sure the egg is safe, secure, will get plenty of sunlight and is warm. I hope it will be warm. If only Gerhard was able to stay! He always seems to get called away by the Staircase whenever I’m going out. He seems a bit tired these days but maybe it’s because of the change of season. Perhaps I will take a break from my excursions for a tenday. It will allow both of us to rest, spend time together, and figure out how we are going to live with a crystal dragon wyrmling!
Father would be so ecstatic…
The only familiar face to me this time around was Prowler. Raine and Corrila seemed to know each other, getting on thick as thieves once the latter was sober. Why do folk who adhere to the moniker ‘adventurer’ always seem to drink to excess? They do not seem to have a fun time with the after effects. Perhaps it is a Daring custom I have yet to appreciate.
The final member of our party, Itzal, along with Prowler seemed to have made the best impression upon our employer, Elluin Farbearo. To be honest, I was really only there so I could go to Kundar in the hopes that I’d get wind of any new undead activity relating to the Temple of Tiamat or Bahamut, but we were not to be there very long.
But I get ahead of myself!
Corrila was the one who sussed out what Elluin was not telling us. But first a little context: Elluin’s shipments from Kundar to Daring Heights have been targeted several times over the past few months by various bandit groups. He wanted us to ensure — with our lives if he could sway it — that his goods reach the Dawnlands city. We tried to ask what it was he was transporting but he wouldn’t budge.
But then Corrila said something to the effect of, “The cargo these bandits are looking for is going with us this time, isn’t it?” I know it is not kind to laugh at one’s elders but the look on Elluin’s face reminded me of all the times Nim would figure out the play our teachers would try to do on us to make us learn the lesson, only to switch it back on them! They are pretty similar, now that I think about it…
It’s one thing to know you’re going to be ambushed. It is another entirely to experience it.
I looked to the stars on the two nights before they got us to try to divine what signs might occur so we could not be taken unawares. Unfortunately, though I knew it was coming, though I saw it coming, I was no less ready for the sandstorm that would try to sweep us away.
I was blinded from the beginning. I had to rely on an inner compass to know which way was north and to not attack my allies. Raine had been with me at the front of the caravan, telling me poetic stories of fantastical lands and far off places. It was exhilarating to talk with her! And her viol! It seemed to contain galaxies within it. The way it and she shone when she played, the few times the others were not bothered by the presence of her music, was truly a sight to behold. I could feel her music inspire me to keep trying to protect the caravan when the elemental tried to buffet me with more sand.
And then she fell. Her music stopped and though there was a roaring wind all around us with unrelenting sands trying to get deeper into my eyes, I knew it.
And then a new voice came in, helping me get to her…
Their name is Arem. They had a pallid nature with bright yellow eyes. Itzal jokingly said, “Love the aesthetic, but I’m worried about you in direct sunlight,” and I couldn’t help but wonder could they be something undead too?
When they claimed to be magically bound to an item we were transporting there was instant doubt amongst us. But I could not deny the truth in their face, or their words. I said we should let them have that which belongs with them. The item in question is a gauntlet with a sigil caved into it, like so:
Of course, it was at this point that it was brought up that we would not be paid by Elluin but by then I had lost interest in coin. I was more curious to know why Arem wanted to know what Prowler and I had experienced on the road from Port Ffirst to Daring Heights, and what had happened in Kundar at a club called Borealis. Prowler mentioned having an itch after encountering a strange lightning elemental woman there. Arem offered to help alleviate the itch for him. I didn’t stick around in the Gilded Mirror for much longer after that.
Besides, I am tired and have an egg to take care of…
Dreams of howling winds, choking dust, and dry empty deserts. I thought it was- home… but it didn’t feel right. I think I know what Prowler meant though when he mentioned an itch. It’s like a tingling sensation, certainly a restlessness, like there is sand churning just under my skin…
