by Lani "Gwen" Jones
We arrived a smidgle late to the questing party on account of the fact that I can’t seem to locate my gear in any reasonable timeframe, even when Aeston very kindly organizes and labels it for me (what a good brother I have). However, once we arrived, we were met by our Rhiassan friends, as well as Avendar, Ranger with a trio of new adventurers, Muursha, Thoril, and my old friend Kahlenar. At the outset, we were besieged by pirates who were searching the woods for treasure in the form of valuable sigils that contained scripts that seemed very interesting to say the least. I spend a lot of my time making sure Aeston stays out of trouble, and it occasionally ensures I miss a little bit of the WHY I’m doing something, but I've learned in my old age that when you see a pirate swinging at you with his sword, you probably should do something about that (with the exception of Kahelnar, of course). So we hunted for buried treasure, defeated a seemingly endless band of pirates, stole more treasure, and used the aforementioned sigils to unlock the current which would lead us toward the disturbance that was disrupting the river of Kawa no Oza.
We intended to traverse the river together, but the current had other plans for us. It was clear that the forces disturbing the natural order were fierce, as there were many rocks and shallows to contend with along the way. Luckily, Aeston’s pike served our two-person craft well as a force to propel us onward, and we developed the patented Rhiassan “butts up” maneuver to save our dierrers. Along our journey, we were met with more rouge pirates who we attempted to defeat, but were largely unsuccessful due to our oversight on bringing a shield to defend against their merciless cannons. Despite our initial struggles, we successfully landed on an isle that was home to a water spirit who sincerely wanted to aid our party in ridding the rivers in which she inhabited from the pirates and larger forces of evil that were disrupting the harmony of the once scenic and peaceful area. However, it’s hard to trust those whom you do not already know, and she felt that she needed to understand and connect with our party before she offered her aid to us all. Surprisingly she seemed to already know Aeston, which (as I learned later) was because he was honored as a "Keiro-rei" at Feast of Teng Hua for his attunement to the element of water during his days of being a Kathrani. She asked us to share our unique bonds to each other, through our kinship with Aeston. We were able to connect each individual in the party together in a meaningful way through Aeston, ultimately ending with Thoril who was gifted an orb that would guide us to the source of the corruption. What stands out to me most during this interaction was that the water spirit shared a piece of wisdom with us all, that the end of a chain is no less significant than the beginning. I’ll bear this advice in mind in the future when I’m helping to create such chains.
After a short lecture directed at Thoril, we departed, and journeyed once more down the pirate infested waters. However, our initial work may have benefitted us, as we had smoother travels (specifically fewer rocks meeting bums). Upon docking, we found much needed sustenance, followed by Thoril being led by the orb (in all manner of walking, spinning, skipping, and tree-hugging) to a treasure that clearly the pirates sought. They challenged us to a duel of pirate volleyball to control the treasure and the lands. After a few unsuccessful volleys, the adventurers of the Realms were able to soundly defeat the pirates, embarrassing them so much at their own game they were forced to flee out of shame. After their defeat, the water spirit reemerged to share with us a blessing for our efforts on her behalf. She indicated that while we had successfully chased off the invaders for a short time, that a larger evil was still looming and that we would again be called to aid the river and the lands of Teng Hua to protect the harmony of nature that they hold so dear. I for one cannot wait for the opportunity to rise to the challenge as it was a pleasure and gift to be able to aid our allies in their time of need.
Overall I walked away happy with our success, excited about future adventures in these lands, and a lot redder than when I arrived (even for a Rhiassan!)
We intended to traverse the river together, but the current had other plans for us. It was clear that the forces disturbing the natural order were fierce, as there were many rocks and shallows to contend with along the way. Luckily, Aeston’s pike served our two-person craft well as a force to propel us onward, and we developed the patented Rhiassan “butts up” maneuver to save our dierrers. Along our journey, we were met with more rouge pirates who we attempted to defeat, but were largely unsuccessful due to our oversight on bringing a shield to defend against their merciless cannons. Despite our initial struggles, we successfully landed on an isle that was home to a water spirit who sincerely wanted to aid our party in ridding the rivers in which she inhabited from the pirates and larger forces of evil that were disrupting the harmony of the once scenic and peaceful area. However, it’s hard to trust those whom you do not already know, and she felt that she needed to understand and connect with our party before she offered her aid to us all. Surprisingly she seemed to already know Aeston, which (as I learned later) was because he was honored as a "Keiro-rei" at Feast of Teng Hua for his attunement to the element of water during his days of being a Kathrani. She asked us to share our unique bonds to each other, through our kinship with Aeston. We were able to connect each individual in the party together in a meaningful way through Aeston, ultimately ending with Thoril who was gifted an orb that would guide us to the source of the corruption. What stands out to me most during this interaction was that the water spirit shared a piece of wisdom with us all, that the end of a chain is no less significant than the beginning. I’ll bear this advice in mind in the future when I’m helping to create such chains.
After a short lecture directed at Thoril, we departed, and journeyed once more down the pirate infested waters. However, our initial work may have benefitted us, as we had smoother travels (specifically fewer rocks meeting bums). Upon docking, we found much needed sustenance, followed by Thoril being led by the orb (in all manner of walking, spinning, skipping, and tree-hugging) to a treasure that clearly the pirates sought. They challenged us to a duel of pirate volleyball to control the treasure and the lands. After a few unsuccessful volleys, the adventurers of the Realms were able to soundly defeat the pirates, embarrassing them so much at their own game they were forced to flee out of shame. After their defeat, the water spirit reemerged to share with us a blessing for our efforts on her behalf. She indicated that while we had successfully chased off the invaders for a short time, that a larger evil was still looming and that we would again be called to aid the river and the lands of Teng Hua to protect the harmony of nature that they hold so dear. I for one cannot wait for the opportunity to rise to the challenge as it was a pleasure and gift to be able to aid our allies in their time of need.
Overall I walked away happy with our success, excited about future adventures in these lands, and a lot redder than when I arrived (even for a Rhiassan!)