Session 0: Landfall
General Summary
NO LONGER CANON
As Eleanor Primrose opens her eyes, she sees beneath her a dark gravely shoreline, littered with planks of wood and bits of canvas. The looks, the sights, and the smells are all entirely new to her, and she knows that this is not home as she knows it. Standing up, she finds that the equipment that you brought on board with her is still tied up to her waist from when the ship went under, but the rope that held it all together is all but useless at this point.
With her head pounding, the night before starts coming back to them. There was the storm, shouting... lots of wind and rain, and the sopping clothing caked with sand tells her she has been here for less than an hour.
Eleanor lets out a groan, before stretching backwards and cracking her back.
"Oh wow that was almost the worst night of rest I've had in a while." She looks around her to gather her location.
Eleanor is a humanoid, just shy of 6ft tall by an inch or two, dressed in slightly ragged armor, now looking even ragged. The first most distinguishing feature one might notice is her pale white skin and hair, her eyes a sort of magenta-pink, but otherwise is human looking. She, as one might guess from the way she brushed off whatever the fuck we just washed ashore from, is fit to say the least.
She doesn't see much on the shoreline, a bit of a cliff going inwards towards land, but it starts sloping down towards the water towards the south, in fact In the distance, towards the south on the shoreline, you can see a mast and the bow of a ship barely poking up around a rock face cliff. The wind comes from the south, and the smell of the sea permeates everything.
"Ooh, that's.. a terrible way to park.." she lets out a bit of a laugh at herself and then her mind registers something, there's probably survivors here. She cups her hands around her mouth and shouts loudly "HELLO???" towards the shortline.
Ragia Raflesia awakens to the sound of someone calling out on the shoreline. She too has all of her equipment, tied off around herself to prevent it from washing away in the rough storm of the night before. Upon awakening, it looks that Eleanor is to the north, up the shoreline.
Ragia groan and try to shake off the sand stuck in her clothes as shes getting up. the small golden kobold barely visible under the clothes used to reduce the sun's glare. looking like a pile of rags, two wings poking out as she stretches and look around
"hey nice to see you made it too, have you seen the others ?" she says to Eleanor.
Eleanor lets out an excited gasp and speedwalks overs to Ragia, kneeling over to get a proper look, "Ohmygosh you're so darling!" she tilts her head, "Wait have we met?- NOWAIT hold that thought, there's others to find!... right?"
"I mean, we were on the same boat, and I'm pretty sure none of us can sail so there has to have been at least a sailor with us"
"HAH, all on the same boat, I get it!" she pats Ragia on the back a just a bit roughly, "Well lets find em' then!"
Ragia gets thrown into the sand, too frail to resist the large girl's pat.
While Ragia gets back up again, she shakes the sand from her clothing and looks around for the rest of the crew. Eleanor hasn't waited, and has started trotting south towards the wreckage while loudly calling out "Hello!" over and over. Ragia catches up to Eleanor and the two of them reaching the wreck together.
The two of them reach the wreck of the Handmaiden, the ship the both of you paid for passage on. The ship was broken to near unrecognizability if it were not for the nameplate that ended up directly next to the massive hole portside, and the familiar figurehead of a naked woman holding up two tankards in triumph. Inside of the ship, you can see that it is an absolute mess, with barrels and tables and chairs thrown about everywhere. Interestingly, a few barrels have chairs perfectly upright next to them, forming several sets of sittable tables. Towards the front of the handmaiden, several planks and a long table have thrashed about, trapping two barrels behind them, both of which are slowly leaking what looks to be ale and wine. Before the barrels is a freshly dead corpse, one of a sailor, clutching onto a cloth in one hand, and a metal tankard in another. It looks like he died peacefully, in his sleep.
Ragia looks upon the sailor, downtrodden. oh... oh no... this is bad... what are going to say to the sailor's family? do we even have the right thing to put put him to rest in peace? and how are we going to get home without a ship ?"
Eleanor is just pushing apart debris around the ship looking for folks, her accent is very remnicient of deeper Grott but with a slight hick twang.
Ayame Shiori is traveling through the woods along a path towards the beach, when she starts to hear someone calling out in a strange accent, unfamiliar to her, but definitively human. It is shouting "Hello!" over and over again.
She checks her belongings and looks around before she approaches the beach. Ayame stands at just over 5 feet tall, with pale skin and dark black hair, accompanied by a lighter reddish blonde tail and ears, as if one of the two is dyed. Her kimono covers most of her body, with long flowing sleeves and a long dress that reaches just above the ground she is wearing traditional Kuraudosukurēpā styled sandals and holding a long pipe that is lightly smoking from its tip. Ayames long hair being held back by a red ribbon. before calling back "Hello?! I'm over here! "
Ragia starts perking back up at the sound of someone else's voice, looking outside of the wreck for its source.
Eleanor turns around as soon as she hears Ayame and waves, "Oh!.. A local?" she asks, looking Ayame's freshly dry outfit up and down.
Ayame looks at the two shipwreck survivors and gives a cautious smile. "Welcome to Kuraudosukurēpā!"
Eleanor pauses for a moment and squints. "That's a very fancy name, is there a shorter version?"
Ayame raises her pipe to her lips, and inhales gently while Eleanor awaits her response.
"Ah..." she says, blowing out some smoke in the process "No Not really, I suppose Kuraudo would work...you will get some strange looks though"
"Kuraudo it is!" Eleanor excitedly spouts, clasping her hands together, she stops and then nods.
"well nice to meet you," says Ragia. "We're currently looking for survivors, seems like our ship got a meeting with a mighty storm"
Ayame smiles "it is a pleasure to meet you too" She says, as she sniffs at the air "I am fairly certain that you two are the only ones who survived, I can't smell any others"
"Oh right the boat!" says Eleanor. "Sorry miss, we're busy looking for survivors, do you-" she pauses again... "Oh."
Ragia sighs. "aw darn. you wouldn't know of any priest nearby that could help us give the dead a gentle rest would you ?"
turns around and goes digging through the boat some as though done with this conversation, "I wonder if there's any fishin rods, I'd love some fish right now!"
"Actually I'm the local shrine maiden, while im not a priest I do have a little bit of knowledge about these kinds of things, I could help..." Ayame trails off as she watches Eleanor start looting the dead.
Ragia also looks back on the looter. "i feel obligated to precise that i'm not affiliated with her in any way, we only met yesterday while getting on the boat"
Eleanor comes back out holding a metal fish, hitting it on the side of the boat to confirm her suspicions, "Big ol' ship and not a single fish or rod. She looks to Ayame, "Hey you're from here right? Where can I get some food?" her eyes slip down to Ragia, "Uh, where can we get some food I mean. You look pretty put together so I assume close by?"
Ragia mumbles "she could have waited until they were buried at least.."
She looks back up at the kitsune "I may not have the strength to help move the bodies, but if there's anything I could help with, let me know"
Ayame smiles and nods her head before looking to Eleanor "Yes, my home town is two hours back the way I came"
Eleanor doesn't question a fox person and nods, "You're awfully far from home for a.." she looks Ayame up and down, "person."
"Well either way I'm not questioning finding a nice place to rest at, just point me the way and I'll be out of your hairs"
Ragia just shakes her head at the lack of respect shown to the deceased sailors.
Ayame shakes her head "It is fine, I'm heading the same way, we can walk together" I say, gesturing for the two to follow her, before turning around and making her way up the path.
Ragia, recognizing Ayame as part, if not a full fey, stays on their guard but keep to their word. They have no reason to doubt or suspect Ayame's willingness to help. "what about the sailors? we can't just leave them like that!" She says pointing to the ship. But as she looks to where the body was previously, the body has vanished, not even leaving trace of the cup or cloth.
Eleanor is just following up right next to Ayame, humming to herself, before turning to Ragia, "Sailors? Oh of course, I mean they're dead sweetie." She turns around, walking backwards to keep up with Ayame, "Did you wanna bury them?"
Ayame looks behind Ragia to the shipwreck "Hmm? what sailors" she asks.
Ragia scowls and stay a couple steps back as she follows their guide,, carefully trying to hide thier wings under rags to keep a trump card in case things went south. She thought she was being clever, however the wings were obnoxiously large compared to her, and it just poked out the back without issue.
Eleanor looks a bit sad at Ragia's scowl, sighing as she turns back around, "Maybe there's a church in town and we can get them there to come and give them a proper rest thingy." She looks to Ayame, "There.. is a church there right?"
Ah...well it is a rather small town, My shrine is the closest thing to what you would call a church. Here in Kuraudosukurēpā most worship the spirits and gods of nature"
Eleanor tilts her head, "Oh YOUR shrine? Wait can you do that thingy the little one here wants?"
"Eh?" says Ayame. "Their are no other bodies"
"Oh I see. Then no issue then!"
Ayame nods and changes the subject. "Where do you two hail from?"
Eleanor shrugs. "All over I think."
"Around" says Ragia. "I'm part of the family's couriers, so I've been around. I've studied at the dark lady's school for a couple of years if that counts."
Ayame perks up a bit at this "I have always wanted to visit far off places like the two of you, I haven't ventured very far from my shrine"
"Uh, why not?" says Eleanor
"Yeah, I guess an shrine maiden is kind of bound to her shrine. so what have you been up to in your little village ?" Says Ragia.
Ayame nods her head to the kobold. "Exactly, I have responsibilities as a shrine maiden that keeps me from leaving for long. I mostly just give out the occasional blessing, host ceremonies and things like that. Although, I think that might change soon."
"Like having a job but more restricting it sounds, you must enjoy it then?" Says the albino maiden.
Ayame shrugs "I was born to it, and it has its perks, its alright, and important"
Ragia pipes up, "how would it change? do you have an apprentice that can replace you ?"
Ayame shakes her head "The townspeople will take care of my shrine while I am gone, I've just never really had a reason to leave before"
"A reason to leave?"Pipes up Eleanor. "Like are you going out and travelling the world or something?"
"Ah....do you two intend to stick around the village?" says the shrine maiden.
Eleanor shrugs, and gives off a half hearted "don't know."
Ayame responds after a gentle puff of her pipe. "Yes... I think I will be."
After some time, the conversation turns to general small talk. The forest seems to open up in front of the group to show a small town, groupings of houses and small shops made of dark timber inset by off-white walls. A dock with small fishing boats coming and going. A main packed dirt road going down the center of the town, with smaller paths going off to the sides to various houses and smaller streets. At the end of the main road is a small path that seems to wind its way farther into the forest.
"My shrine is at the end of that winding path" says Ayame.
"Cozy!" Eleanor says as she looks around, squinting, "Any places we can stay the night and get some food?"
Ragia pipes up. "Yeah, an inn or something would be nice, we have some funds to pay with"
"Yes their is a bunkhouse just down the main road, or you could stay with me at the shrine" says Ayame.
Eleanor tilts her head, "wait stay at a shrine? Is there... like, food and extra beds and stuff? Not going to lie, I'm pretty cold, the ocean sucks for that."
"that sound good too," says Ragia. "We'll get more time to tell you about each of our previous voyages that way"
Ayame giggles and nods "Yes, I think you have the wrong idea about my shrine. I live their full time. And it has extra accommodations for guests"
Eleanor rubs her head, "Aw, I suppose I have the wrong idea about shrines in general then. Sure!"
Ayame gestures for them to follow, walking about 20 minutes up the path before they reach the shrine, a set of three wooden buildings in a "U" shape around a courtyard. Paper Lanterns lighting the courtyard. The building in the back middle of the U being the most ornate, the entrance flanked by stone statues of two foxes sitting on their hind legs. The building itself is surrounded on all sides by forest.
As the party approaches the shrine, a lone woman sweeping the doorstep. She is older than the party, but only in her 40s. As she sees the party approach, she smiles warmly and bows to Ayame. "Welcome home. Did you find your answers?" she says while looking to her two companions.
Ragia looks about the compound with interest. "A very cozy shrine you got there."
Ayame smiles and gives her a slight bow back, the bow not quite as deep as hers "Ah...Yes I believe I have"
Eleanor waves to the older woman, "Nice to meet you!"
The older woman gives a slight bow to Eleanor, finishing her sweeping before looking to ayami. "Outsiders however? Curious."
The older woman chuckles and looks to Ragia. "Every temple is one to Kararrura, as he is the one within all. But no, this is the Shiori Shrine."
Ayame nods her head. "Shipwrecked it seems, from far off lands."
Its about mid-day at this point, and there are a few shrine maidens setting up musical instruments and a table. It looks like it is time for food.
"the way you told us about this place I had pictured it a lot less staffed" says Ragia.
The older woman nods, and motions for the party to enter.
Eleanor lets out a giggle, "Place can be as staffed as it wants as long as we get a meal to eat." she follows in upon the woman's gesturing.
Ayame nods, following in after "That probably doesn't mean much to them teacher, they are from far far away"
Ragia starts to relax as they get away from the harsh light of the outside sun. "It's true that i don't know, but I am nonetheless curious, and wouldn't mind being enlightened about it"
"Shiori is a powerful fox spirit" Ayame says, swishing her fox tail "He is my father."
"Oh, well my great granny was a dragon, which is as revered as a spirit by our folks, so we kind of have the same story" says the golden skinned kobold.
Eleanor blinks. "Your dad is a powerful spirit?"
"And Ayame here is next in line to try and take his place should he choose to be reborn." Says the older woman, patting Ayame on the head. "Oh but she will be a great replacement if he does so in our lifetime."
Ayame blushes a little bit and smiles at the praise "A-Ah thank you!" Her tail just barely swishing.
Ragia smirks just slightly at the swishing tail as the older woman goes to one of the women preparing food, telling them that she needs three legs for Ayame and her guests.
In short order, the party are given warm clothing, and their old clothes are set to dry in the breeze. Food is prepared, which includes a leg of lamb seasoned liberally with spices for each of the party, alongside rice, some curiously familiar ale and a copper coin.
Eleanor looks down to the copper coin "I don't know if I'm being paid to eat this delicious looking food or being asked to eat this.." She looks up to Ayame, gesturing to the coin.
Ayame giggles a bit "Please don't eat it, it is tradition to thank the host at the end of a meal, so when you finish just put the coin into the offering tray"
A small fire is lit, and the three party members are given a table to themselves, alongside ten other women.
Eleanor smiles, "That's very polite! And here I was going to ask what I might've owed for this."
"It is not within our place to enforce the beliefs of the Shiori people upon outsiders, but we hope you can appreciate our customs, and share them with others." says the older woman.
Piping up from her meal, Ragia speaks "Can I give the offering from my own purse, or would that be seen as rude ?"
"That is up to you." the older woman says, slurping her noodles up.
With that, the party dines on their luncheon, a light music being played for them. This seems fairly calm for a ritualistic luncheon, and very fancy for one as well, even by normal standards for Ayame.
As each of the three finish their lamb, the older woman goes to them with a tin tray, placing the bones upon the tray itself until she collects all three.
Eleanor is the first to finish her meal and follows a shrine maiden to place her coin. From those who have finished, mostly from a lesser portion than the party, have taken their coins to the very back center of the U shaped structure, to a small minimalistic relief carving of a fox set into stone, with a bronze plate before it. There are several pieces of coin here, as well as the fourth missing leg from the lamb, and a lamb skull.
Unsure of what exactly to do, Eleanor looks to Ayame, "Just over here then?"
Ayame nods, getting up with her and putting the coin onto the plate. "Mhm."
Ragia, spending most of her time studying the coin while she eats also places the coin into the plate.
The older woman, now that the three are done eating, and the last of those gathered are just finishing and starting to clean up, motions for the party to sit in their seats again as she stands between them and the fire.
As the party begins to sit, she starts to speak. "The Shiori people are a proud and old village, with long standing traditions of divination. With these three bones, I commit them to the fire, so that we may learn of what the future holds for you." she says holding up the three leg bones that the party ate, and toss all three of them into the fire at once, quickly disappearing from view.
The fire burns brightly for a few moments as the woman turns back to them. "This practice is called bone breaking. we burn the bones in a hot, small fire until they become black. Measure where and how they land, then crack them open to predict the future. It is an old, and honored tradition, though, some may prefer to ask the source." she motions to Ayame with a smile before giving her a bow.
The fire only burns for another few minutes before starting to die out. The older woman looks into the fire. "Interesting..." she says, blowing away some still hot ash.
"There are three bones, but two are leaning on top of a log, barely apart from each other just enough to support the third, laying directly on top of them. There is actually enough space on the bottom for a fourth." she says taking the bones out of the fire, and placing them upon the ground before them, showing what the pattern looked like.
"Also strangely enough, they landed in the same pattern as the shrine, but the opening pointed towards the shrine instead of away from it."
She pulls a small hammer and a cloth from her robes, setting the cloth atop of the bones before smacking each bone once, than removing the cloth.
She holds up one bone, it having recived several cracks throughout its entire surface, and nearly splitting in two. "The road ahead will be hard, and filled with dangers. You must find a way to keep yourselves alive."
She picks up a second bone, the one in the middle, and it did not get a single mark, but instead dented slightly from the hammer impact. "You will be strong, perhaps strong enough to accomplish the goals you set out for, if you remain careful."
As she picks up the third one however, it turns to ash. She blinks, confused by this predicament. "The rest of your future is... Unclear at best. Perhaps you even have a future outside of this world. Or, you have a future cloaked in destruction... Either way, you should not stay here for long..."
She points to the open space that was between the first and fourth bone. "The bones desired a pattern, and though it pointed to the shrine, the bones were perfectly arranged to support another. There is another that will join you on your journey, perhaps ensuring the best possible outcome. Perhaps leading to an inevitable fate. Choose your friends carefully for they could bring you to destruction."
Ayame smiles and nods her head "Thank you teacher" before looking at the other two "See, I told you I would be going soon~"
"I.. think that was impressive though I admittedly know nothing about future telling." Eleanor crosses her arms, "I've already been doin the whole keeping myself alive thing among dangers, so it sounds like.." she looks to Ayame and Ragia, "I suppose you two are joining in that" she rubs her head, thinking, "and another person.."
The older lady pipes up, brushing the bones back into the fire. "Well either way, we don't have a decent enough ship to make it across The Dragon Straight, so you will need to make your way to Gug-Oeja to find a decent ship. It is not a short journey, so for now, you should rest here for the night, and set out tomorrow."
Ragia nods at the proposition of staying the night
"that sound lovely, a good night's rest will do us wonders"
"Wait you guys are all trying to get back? Where you goin?" says Eleanor.
"well I'm still under orders from the family, it's not like I can just walk away and leave them in a bind." says the kobold.
The older woman sighs. "Kuraudosukurepa is an isolationist state. All outsiders are supposed to report to Gug-Oeja to find others of their kind, to allow for cultures of the country to keep their heritage, and prevent themsleves from being poisoned."
Ayame nods in acknowledgement. "We are quite protective of our culture here."
Eleanor rubs her chin, "Oh. I see.. Where abouts is Gug Oeja again?..."
The older woman sighs. "It will take you four days to get to the river towards the east, where you can charter a barge to take you the rest of the way. Or you can make a raft, but its mostly forest that you have to go through, and its not... safe."
"Fogurogu is called the 'Foggy woods' to outsiders for a reason."
Ragia puffs out her chest slightly. "I can take care of myself, and I'm sure I can protect your priestess too"
Ayame nods "I um... I'm not really accustomed to roughing it like that...I would much prefer to take a barge"
"Oh," says Ragia. "Yeah the barge seems fine, it just sounded like the road to the barge itself would be dangerous too"
The older lady chuckles. "Only if you stay on the roads, and know when to hide if soldiers come round."
Eleanor lets out an excited chuckle, "Did someone say roughing it?! Boy let me tell you Ellie here is your gal, I've been roughing it for.. as long as I can remember!.. oh, Barge works too."
Ragia perks up "Soldiers huh ? So I'm guessing us being here is not a good thing ?"
"Lets just say..." the old woman thinks for a moment. "You would prefer present company over soldiers."
Eleanor hums, "Hide from soldiers, rough it, and barge, sounds simple enough."
Ragia nods. "Understandable, speaking of pleasant company, yours is very nice, but I feel the bruises form the shipwreck starting to creep up on me. would it be okay to be shown where I can set up to sleep?"
The older woman chuckles and nods. "Of course, we can get each of you a cot to sleep in. Do you prefer separate or shared rooms?"
Eleanor shrugs, "No preference."
Ayame thinks, "Separate I think."
Ragia smiles. "I don't mind either way, we kobolds are quite promiscuous in our mines."
The older woman slowly nods. "A room for the kobold and bright one than."
Eleanor hums, "I suppose I am pretty pale skinned, never been called bright though. It's a pretty way to describe it, so thanks!"
The older woman smiles, heading off to get a room prepped for the two newcomers for the night, a special bag being made up for Ayame for her near travels.
Rewards Granted
Ayami: A reason to leave home. A traders pass to get into Gug-oeja.
Ragia and Eleanor:A new friend, and a bone breaking.
Notes
Poviott 12/625 Bone Breaking of Ayame Shiori, Ragia Raflesia, and Eleanor Primrose.
"There are three bones, but two are leaning on top of a log, barely apart from each other just enough to support the third, laying directly on top of them. There is actually enough space on the bottom for a fourth." she says taking the bones out of the fire, and placing them upon the ground before them, showing what the pattern looked like."Also strangely enough, they landed in the same pattern as the shrine, but the opening pointed towards the shrine instead of away from it."
She pulls a small hammer and a cloth from her robes, setting the cloth atop of the bones before smacking each bone once, than removing the cloth.
She holds up one bone, it having recived several cracks throughout its entire surface, and nearly splitting in two. "The road ahead will be hard, and filled with dangers. You must find a way to keep yourselves alive."
She picks up a second bone, the one in the middle, and it did not get a single mark, but instead dented slightly from the hammer impact. "You will be strong, perhaps strong enough to accomplish the goals you set out for, if you remain careful."
As she picks up the third one however, it turns to ash. She blinks, confused by this predicament. "The rest of your future is... Unclear at best. Perhaps you even have a future outside of this world. Or, you have a future cloaked in destruction... Either way, you should not stay here for long..."
She points to the open space that was between the first and fourth bone. "The bones desired a pattern, and though it pointed to the shrine, the bones were perfectly arranged to support another. There is another that will join you on your journey, perhaps ensuring the best possible outcome. Perhaps leading to an inevitable fate. Choose your friends carefully for they could bring you to destruction."
