Bogbean

BogBean

Bogbean is a lost and naïve soul, with little ties to the world around her (to her knowledge). after being orphaned twice, she sets out to experience the world and find her place within it. shortly into her journey, outside forces intervene and set her on an unknown path.

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

Short stack, large pointed ears

Body Features

Heavier than she looks. Could eat her own weight in one sitting if allowed.

Facial Features

You cant miss her strange eyes, yellow slitted pupils in black sclera

Identifying Characteristics

Large ears. Firey yellow and black eyes.

Physical quirks

Heavier and much stronger than she looks. from a young age, her form would become more animalistic when she became agitated or excited. she saw the fear it caused for others, and thankfully had Hebe to patiently mentor her and teach her to control her body.

Special abilities

Lycanthropy, rage

Apparel & Accessories

she wears small, tight fitting clothing that moves with her when she needs to maneuver quickly and easily. overtop she has a light cloak with fringed edge. her legs are usually bandaged since shes always getting cut by tall grass as she scampers through the brush. the boots she currently wears were a gift from a new friend, no longer having to wear mismatched stolen shoes.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Growing up in the wilderness, knowing more loss than gain, BogBean doesn't quite understand what it is to belong among others. She knows how to move on and survive, and little else. More broadly, she has no idea who or what she is. She has met no one else like her, and can only assume she is an abominable mutt of some sort.

Gender Identity

thing

Education

Trained alongside Hebe, the Tabaxi fisherwoman in: strength, herbalism, and leatherworking. Hunzah, the Tabaxi clan leader taught her several special fighting moves.

Employment

"erm-ploy-meent? what?"

Accomplishments & Achievements

once won 2 eating contests in the same day at a harvest festival, got herself banned from all subsequent food-related contests in Moonbright.

Failures & Embarrassments

friends in Moonbright never lasted long, Bogbean would play too rough. she feels expecially sad over one incident, where the details are fuzzy but emotions were heightened. she barred her fangs at a Tabaxi child and drew blood. no serious injury, but enough that no one played with her much afterwards. she carries the guilt with her, afraid it'll happen again to someone she cares about.

Mental Trauma

isolated for most of her life. Unknown drive/meaning.  most people are shit, except the few special ones. maybe that in itself is a reason. this is why she

Morality & Philosophy

To each their own. People aren't who they are without cause.

Taboos

Removing the autonomy/ self-determination of others.

Personality Characteristics

Motivation

Hebe's dead.. now what? i want to do her proud -- by finding my strength, collecting the plants, and meeting the aminals.   She is curious to meet others like her.   After encountering a Tabaxi leader named Hunzah, she realizes she could discover more about her mentor's past.

Savvies & Ineptitudes

Knows little of the wide world around her. Resourceful with natural materials-- leather, herbs. Impulse control issues.

Likes & Dislikes

Likes the outdoors, solitude, animals. Dislikes humes, extreme heights, authority.

Virtues & Personality perks

Empathetic, loyal

Vices & Personality flaws

Thinks with her stomach, naïve

Social

Contacts & Relations

Bricky - friend Miguel - aquaintance/food Luna - friend Drexla - friend Tobias - friend V- sus   Hunzah - aquaintance, knew Hebe

Religious Views

one is all and all is one

Wealth & Financial state

Looted shinies from brigands and the like.

A bestial void-born goblin girl, setting out to temper her strengths and find her place in the world after being orphaned again.

View Character Profile
Alignment
Neutral
Honorary & Occupational Titles
Ankle Biter
Age
9 y.o.
Birthplace
outskirts of MoonBright swamp village
Children
Gender
Fem
Eyes
Yellow / Black Sclera
Hair
Cornsilk
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Green
Height
3 ft.
Weight
45 lbs.
Quotes & Catchphrases
"hungy"
Known Languages
Goblin, Giant, Common

Two in der bush, none in da hand
1st + 2nd of Listoa

Der furst of Listoa, i rolled off da couch n did a big stretche. It was a long day yesturday, but somehow ma body feels diff’rent than just tired. when i tried runnin my hands’n my hair, i noticed ma fingurs had grown skin between ‘em, liek i remember seeing on many eelfolks around town. My feets have it too! Breathing also feels moar weird than usual. I use da pocket mirror from Lady Kwee’s makeup bag ta take a look – WHA?! I rub ma neck, where narrow flaps liek fish gills have formed on der sides. Its just liek Hebe used’ta warn me.. my body could go through moar changes as i experience and grow, so i havta be pwepared ta learn n control dem quickly. After a couple’a grounding breafhs, i join da others n give a proper good mornin and we plan our day. Luna is already werkin on a new disguise, making herself look liek a pwetty man wifh scruffy face hairs. She even shares a smoke wifh Tobias ta make her voice sound gravely! Once their costumes are ready, her n Mr.V head out ta visit da shops. Tobias sets up an area on da floor ta meditate, while Drexla modifies ATOM n Bwicky helps me sew up a hooded shawl from Miguel’s old skins. Im so grateful he stays ta help when he could do anythin else now dat hes all free, but dis projekt ended up bein moar difficult than expected so hims help was invaluable! i now have a well-made kobold hood (despite it not bein compweeetely dried yet). im so proud of our werk i immediatewy put it on n show off ta Drexla wifh a jump n a twirl~!   It took us all day ta werk on our projects, not unexpected. But strangely, Tobias was in trance da whooole time also. No matter who tried ta shake ‘im he wouldnt wake, so we waited n waited. It was evening when he finally woke. he’d been trying ta speak wifh Twilight Mutter fer a while but only today got ta see her, so das good. She was sad about Miguel’s death, but not ev’ryone dreams good dreams. When Varanus n Luna got back, V had given Luna a toy bird n gave Drexla a locket dat can listen in on pepol as gifts. Who knew V was such a giver? Naturally Drexla took it apart ta understand n admire its insides, only ta find a second listening device! Cant be too careful, Luna gives her lil bird fer inspection too. Lo n behold, anodder spying gadget! Dis shopkeep is definitely not our friend. Luna was also gifted a ring from Golkir, through tears she ‘splains how he’s been her beloved Taz dis whole time. (no wonder he was so powerful to regrow body parts at will, what der heck! Das a helluva secwet ta keep..) I hope she dont blame herself liek she did when she found out Hebe was still alive while she hermited.. Golkir kept dis secret on purpose til now, hims reasons hims own. V also shared a note passed ta him from da tavern keep, a buncha blank papers wifh a riddle on da first page. Drexla recignizes da werding as Sylthra’s, so we go check out Zendra Village. We wanna have one team go up top n da other go under da wouter, n while da group goes back n forth about who can go where or if we’ll need magicks ta breathe i pipe up dat i wont need a spell fer breathing. Dis makes dividing teams real easy, fer Drexla can be sealed in ATOM n Luna only needs ta use a smaller magick fer her ta breath underwouter. All set, let's go~!   We split off in intervals, so it dont look liek we’re knowin each other. As i furst step onto da beach, a pit forms in my belly – i sure hope instinct kicks in. Luna holds onto ATOM, n as i dive after ‘em i can feel ma gills open up, closing my chest inside n allowing da wouter ta flow through. (Hahah! Doze gators better watch out if i ever go back home!) Amazed n relieved, i regain focus n follow close behind Luna n Drexla as we take in da sight of a whole underwouter city. Woaw, its even bigger than up top, n much busier wifh eelfolk comings n goings. Off in da distance, we see da border of Dreadmoore was extended all da way down wifh large nets. So no use tryina sneak in dat way. Suddenly, Drexla an idea dat if Sylthra wrote on Eelfolk papers it might reveal wifh wouter. I watched nervously as she submerged da notes, but happily dey didnt disintegwate! Instead, da pages filled top ta bottom with werds of Sarraka’s guards’ patrol schedule n directions to a secret smugglin tunnel! Eager ta share dis wifh her Captain, she gathers an extra vial of seawouter n we set off ta reunite da Travelers. Its harder ta sneak through town since da revolt n V got seen, but we manage. Along da way, we do notice moar people dressed in heavy cloaks, hiding their faces. It dont sit right.. After sharing our findings wifh der bois, i catch da shmell of fire burning on da wind.those who’ve been to da emporium before exclaim we gotta run – they’re after Sylthra! When we arrive, thick smokes are billowing outa da cave entrance as dragonborn run out. Kobolds run back n forth gathering any loot dey can. dey got what little was left, fer on inspection it looks liek da pirates who set da fire also trashed da place. (shame I never even got ta see it as V n Drexla n Tobias had described, a wonder of colorful beads n bits n baubles.. sigh.) Tobias werks on putting da fires out, as Drexla pulls on a shelf ta reveal a whole hidden room roaring wifh fire! Tobias directs hims magick there, smotherin da flames n showing it was a safe room wifh beds fer hiding pepol.. No bodies were found, thankfully. Varanus had stood guard outside, but came ta tell us Sarraka had witerwully signed her werk outside.. We’ll be sure ta make her choke on all dat pwide at da end of dis. Resolving ta seek her out, er at least her pwisoners, we set out ta find da secret tunnel.   We leave da cove, making our way around da mountains takes us a few hours but we eventually come across a well. We recognize it as tabaxi style cwaftsmanship, n when Drexla flies down she discovers a tunnel going under da mountain – yes, we dis is it! We all clamor down da well, wifh V n Drexla walkin ahead ta scout fer traps. Luna takes dis time ta do a new spell on Sarsoon, one dat lets her see where he’s at through her pwanetary orb.. But as her orb conjures da scene, we’re horrified at da sight. A dark cell, bathed in red.. n da badly beaten bodies of both Sarsoon n Sylthra are visible.. Shackled to da walls n baldy bruised. Luna then tries ta message Golkir ta inform him, but after getting little response she decides ta scry on him as well.. we see hes been taken to da same prison as da others, hims head beiung wepeatedly forced under wouder til da brink of drowning. Dis Sarraka is scawy ruthless, it must make her so happy ta twist deez knives in our sides.. Just when i still myself, thinkin we’ll all be ok as long as we all stay togevver liek always, Bwicky whispers aside ta me. He asks fer a favor,, he wants me ta end him if Mathias takes over again. I dont want dis, but i guess i understands. but i feel somethin must’a prompted dis, so i press. Dr.Smiley sent him a message as we entered da tunnel, congratulating Bricky’s fweedom n says he has a gift fer da occasion. As bad as it could be, i cant help but be curious. What nightmare does dis bastard have planned? A trap? Another order carved on a random thingy? I cant let dat creep take ma frien again.. Bwicky must’a seen me distant in thought tho n gave my hand a light squeeze. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m sowwy too..” as i recall all da times befoar when it crossed my mind ta hurt him in faver of others.. Or fer fear of da one pullin da strings. I cant tell if i intend ta keep dis pwomise er not..   I solemn quiet, we keep pace wifh V n Drexla as dey investigate n disarm tings, while navigating da forks in our path. We get to a rough spot where Drexla needs Luna ta assist in uncovering magick glyphs, but its not much longer til we reach a wide area surrounded by tall walls on all sides. Above we can see guards making rounds, n down below is a large box wifh somethin rumblin inside not far in front of us. Da patrol takes notice of us, so we gotta get ta fightin! V is stricken wifh confusion by a mage as da rest of us rushed forward ta brace fer what’s next, but luckily Bwicky is quickly able ta snap V out of it. I vengefuwly summon my jaws wifh a snarl, frustrated dat ev’ryone is so high up n outta reach. i see Tobicat summon hims bubble, but is held still by dat mage while a large fire beast formed between us, Luna, n V. i desperately thinks maybe dis thing in da box would be grateful ta be let out n could help us! Its not til after i rip open part of its crate when a tentacled eye worms pops out and i ‘member what dat oracle reader once said about boxes.. i realize dis was a big mistake and dis massive ting must be Mathias’ gift fer Bwicky. i just set it loose! Fuck! da eye at da end of dis tentacle flashes wifh pitch black emnergy, letting out a most powerful blast dat i just nearly duck my head out der way. Da boulders behind me turned ta ashes! Da beast begins ta rise, its main eye casting a strange light dat seems ta zap all magicks in its scope. Tobias n Luna are struggling much cuz of dis, as it focuses its gaze. Bwicky has it da worst, as hims eyes cloud n he drops lifelessly into da wouter! Good thing he dont breathe i guess. But dis is so sooo SOOO bad!! I leap onto da monster, gnashing at its eye stalks n tryin ta sever somethin off, er at least distract it from ma freunde. Luckily Drexla n V are also non-magicks liek me, but im ‘fraid our best might not be enuff. Da fire beast seemed ta drown itself in der shallow wouter below, so we dont havta worry about dat anymoar but we havta focus on killing dis eyeball monster, FAST. i summon ary-tarwe, n slash into dis thing while digging my teefhs into a tentacle stalk. Im able ta give it a few deep gouges befoar a blast from another eye knocks me out n i fall softly to da ground (Hebe’s robe! Its liek shes watching out fer me). V is able ta divurt its gaze, teasing it by going underwouter but it dont stay interested fer long. Da monster continues ta float higher, while also taking hold of Tobias wifh its mind. Another eye zaps Bricky, compelling him ta block Luna’s next spell. She barely has chance ta yell at ‘him when da creature’s gaze turns Bricky off again. Drexla makes a smokescreen fer da rest of us ta take refuge, but der downside is we cant see nothin.. Dats when we hear Drexla scream as da monster swallowed Tobias whole! NO!! NO NO NO dis shouldnt be happening!! Luna n i dart outta da smoke screen. In her fury, she changed shape and grew large bat-liek wings wifh wich she swiftwy flew up n ahead’a me. I scamper up da stone wall, hearing her assault da beast wifh her staff, cracking its armor apart. Once onto da platform n at Luna’s side, da monster lunges ta bite me and i catch a gwimpse of Tobias’ mangled body inside its bloody maw! hot tears fill my eyes as rage swells inside’a me as i try not ta lose all hope.. We cant do dis without Tobicat, but is he beyond saving now? Just then, a loud shot rings out from V’s gun blowing a hole in da monster’s head! its brains now exposed gives us da chance we need! i take hold of da corner of its nasty jagged mouth n tug it towards Luna who, wifh a feroshus strengfh, spears da thing right through its big ol’ eye!!   After pulling Tobicat’s limp body from dis creature’s lifeless jaws, unable ta tell which blood is ots or hims. Da sounds of wouter below echo as we all stifle our sobs, til Drexla rushes in ta apply her new modification. She places her mechamical glove on hims chest, n wifh a spark Tobias jolts back up! stablized, but in excruciating pains.. Hims cries are hard ta hear, but Luna is quick ta follow up wifh her magicks n soon he’s soothed and even standing again. We pool what healing potions we have left, n i give all my last ones. But it doesnt change our friend just fuckim died just now.. I cant shake it so quickly. at Drexla’s request, im happy ta help harvest what we can from da monster. All da parts were so big, only Bricky’s bag could fit dem. (ill make it up ta you somehow, frien~ heheh thanks you!) Two pirates from befoar were able to run away, so we’re sure dey’ve told Sarraka of our presence by now. No time ta rest, no matter how desperately we need it..   We continue down da tunnel, it becomes narrow n singular. Drexla n Luna spot a minefield of glyphs we must cross, n Drexla clevurly uses some flour from Tobias’ supplies ta map out a safe path. Even wifh a guideline Bwicky n i find it difficult ta follow n we end up steppin on a couple. Luna stepped on a real bad one – her foots began ta turn ta stone! saved only by Bricky’s ability ta dismiss da magicks. Phew.. aftur somethin dat scary we all made sure ta be exxxxxxtra careful n walked da rest of der way wifh no problems. Finally, we come across a ladder n a wooden hatch at da top. Drexla n V disarm da wire trap on it, n we enter what looks liek a supply room. Loud alarms can be heard blaring outside, n all da scalekin pirates seem ta be runnin out der building. We think they’re feeling somethin inside, but whatevur it is we still need ta find Sarraka’s office! Drexla finds a new favorite weapon, but it looks way less fancy than her usual tastes. I wumber whats so speshul ‘bout it~   Aftur finding da stairs, we enter a fancy room wifh nothin of note in any cabinets er drawrs but a huge barred door at da far end. V, Luna n Drexla must hide as da doors rattle n open, n Bwicky Tobias n me brace ta meet our foes. Two big tall minotaurs emerge, plus a castur n some kinda armored fighter. Cuz we didnt have time ta rest, dis fight is tougher than it coulda been. It gets scary again when bofh Luna n Tobias ‘re struck down, but Drexla is able ta bring dem safety. We push thru, da fight becomin moar manageabe once da mage is rid of. V had a rough time, but finally finishes off da fighter alongside Luna n Drexla, while Bricky n i made good teamwerk against der minotaurs. We held nothin back, as Bricky overcharged hims form n i summoned ary-tarwe. In da short breath after battle, we dusted ourselves off n did what we could fer Tobicat n auntie Luna. its not much at all, fer we used almost all da potions da bring Tobias back up just moments befoar.. How much moar of dis can we take? V made sure ta take what he could off da armored guy, just a smol bag. It seemed normal at furst, but V is able ta put all sortsa things in it, including all da stuff Bwicky was carrying fer us! He stashes it, n we make our way through der heavy doors. I can shmell da strong scent of blood, new n old, and da air gets thicker as we pass deeper into der dungeon. A whole place, made of many little rooms all caked in red made only fer torturing pepol.. Vile. Chains n shackles hang from da walls, cages, n body parts ev’rywhere. Varanus finds Mr.Sarsoon’s body, taking care ta scoop him into da new magic bag so he can pay respeks later.. Good on ‘im. I had a bad feeling when we first left him here alone, so it feels all da worse ta see hims end up dis way. Drexla helps me track Sylthra, only ta find a trail leading out of a pool of her dark blue blood.. Gosh das so much blood, how will we get ta her in time?? Drexla scans der room, finding a tunnel through a hidden door. But as soon as we enter, i stop at da smell of – snhrrfff- ‘splosives! Please get outta dhere Drexlaa!! A loud boom resounds, n da tunnel collapses all around us as we run back downstairs – HURRY! da already hurt Tobias shouldered falling rocks n rafters ta proteck us (i cnat believe dat my friend is so noble, it makes me proud ta know him~) Was burying us here Sarraka’s plan da whole time?! She almost had us, we hadta dip n dodge debris da whole way out but we manage ta make it in time. da shmoke n chaos pwovide good cover, n we quickly snuck outta Dreadmoore ta dhen make our way back to our hidden room at der tavern.   Da room is intensely quiet fer a time, besides der alarm bells still ringing out in da background. it sure feels liek we failed today. Bwicky had requested some warm wouter fer bathin on our way in, n dat really seemed ta help ev’ryone welax after what all happened. Luna divides da room fer gurls n bois washin by hanging up cloaks n blankets. while shes doin all dat i make myself ready, tossin my clothes next to ma packbag~ im confuse why some seem ta look wait fer me, but i've no problems goin first i guess. By da time we’ve washed da day off us best we could, da alarms had stopped n da roarin gabble of da bar returned ta normal. Just as last nite, Bwicky uses da chance n makes hims way downstairs. Dis time, he gen’rously returns wifh a round of ales fer da whole group – thanks you, freund~ even Tobicat takes part, tho i never seen him drink deez stuff befoar. We raise our glasses – fer da ones we lost, da ones still apart from us, ta staying alive, n fer revenge. -clink-   Da group discusses what we could do ta hit dem back soon as possible, but of course V n Drexla have already been schemin together. She promptwy took off, wifh a plan ta drop bombs on other important buildings in Dreadmoore, but soon we hear a scuffle over da talky-coins meaning trouble must’a found her. V ran outside, but what could we do when shes all da way in past da wall?? Thankfully she manages ta escape, but when she returns ta us she is shuddering about some crazy flyin wyvern monsters wifh painful stingers! Dreadmoore keeps getting moar n moar dangerous-er by da minute, but we need ta get Sylthra n Golkir back alive n kill all da pirates already.. befoar its too late!!

its good ta finally meet you, mein freund
20th of Ouros

Unliek most places we’ve been, da cove gets much louder as der night goes on. Moar people are about as da meeting time approaches, drexla can see dems through her owl. We plan n pwepare in der meantime – bwicky asks mr.v fer a bundle o’ bombs (i wonder what he plans fer such a thing?), n i give mr.v a net made of stranglethorn hoping it’ll come in handy. I wanted ta try fer another blue ivy spore, but i was careless n lucky it didnt have me sleepin through tonight’s goins on. Though lookin back, i wouldnt’a missed much. Most of us set out ta scope da area near da docks, while v waited n watched over tobicat as he meditated. Drexla found a spot up in a tree, n da rest of us waited behind da treeline. Luna was da momma, n Bricky my brother i guess as we tried ta act liek a sick family casually lookin fer medicinal herbs. some tabaxi passed us on da way, n i think dey saw my bands (Uhh, i cant tell if dey think good or bad of it yet. oops!). Its finally time, but instead of da pirate pwincess its only a dingy here ta take our freunde to a diff’rent location. Sheesh, well dey have no choice really.. We watch dem go, feeling a lil better havin seen drexla follow after ‘em. Bricky suggests we check on da Undabarian ship Drexla had mentioned befoar in her scouting, but we decide if we arent confident we could beat him, we prob’ly wanna stay far away fer now. Lucky mr.v also got struck by lightning a couple times, so we were able ta follow dem best we could. We definitely dont feel safe going into dreadmoore after dem, so we fake a lil campsite outside da wall. 3 whole hours of pretendin to fish wifh a stick n string while Luna tended a smol fire was grueling! Thankfully we saw our friends finally exit dreadmoore, n eventually all met back at der safeshack which Bricky had codenamed “dune.” we do our best ta cozy-up fer another night in der shack, n have a nice long sleep.   We wake late in der afternoon of da 20th of ouros, to news from tobias. He found sarsoons dream, but instead of sarsoon he found Liratha there. She made some ominous comment about golkir, so we plan ta find him today. I ask v fer a trace of hims scent, somethin strong i can start searchin wifh n he pwovides a letter (i bet there’s secrets in it, knowin deez two~). I take off, letting da shmell lead me n not regarding much else. I stop in da main alley center, da scent is faint n ive lost any sense of direction on it. I turn back, seeing Luna catching up ta me wifh Bricky not far behind, when i shot rings out. Da crowd around us seem weirdly undiscurbed as multiple shots fire through da same spot in Luna’s shoulder. Bricky acts fast, shielding her as we all run ta barricade in a nearby hut. Drexla relays our situation ta V n Tobias, n soon dey arrive ta help us. We’re able ta get Luna back awake, between tobias’ healing n a couple potions. but after removing a bullet we realize it’s been carved n addressed… ..ta Drexla? V declares dis must be Reven, da sharpshooter guy who is jealous of da big gun she made. But hes got da wrong girl! We ideally wanna end dis here n now. Drexla n V prep da gun ta take aim at dis Reven who is only a glint in da distance from here. Tobias helps me kick a panel off da opposite wall of dis shack so we can escape while our favorte pirate duo does deir thing, making way onto da roof fer better vantage. As we run, da flurry of bullets continues but waow tobias is able ta deflect dem without issue. We hear two final shots from V’s gun, n assume dats dat but we play it safe n dont stop running til we’re back at “dune.” there we decide on a plan ta make fake fliers ta stoke rebellion in Cinder’s name ta distribute later. We still need ta find golkir tho, n im willing ta go alone fer ev’ryone else’s safety. But of course das not acceptable to Bwicky.   Golkir’s scent led us towards da coastline to a rickety ol’ dock, where da wouter smells of fresh blood, n bricky goes ‘round n pulls a pair of severed wings plus a hefty tail up from under da dock?? I thought da worst, so i thought it right ta bury Golkir’s pieces past da treeline. That’s when i catch a fresh whiff of him on da breeze, n golkir himself complete wifh wings n tail flies down from a tall tree! hes all irritated, askin why we fucked wifh da trap he set. But scoffs n tries ta change da subject when all Bricky n i can do is gawk at hims renewed form. Could dis mean dat miguel couldve regrown hims tail all along? or was golkir just hiding how powerful he is? Whatever it was, he didnt want us talkin about it, even ta mr.v. Ok, ok, we get ittt! After a pwivate conversation wifh v, golkir flew off into da night n Bricky n me started back to der safehouse. I broke da silence wifh questions, liek if hims systems require a master fer function. Hims tone was bristled, but im glad da answer was “no.” I thinks about it fer a bit, as up til now i thought moar werds would mean moar specific. But dis time i try fer da least werds possible.. “my friend, would you please be your own master” Bricky stops abwuptly. I look up ta see hims eye is only white now, no green. befoar i can read him at all he rips away hims hand from mine n dashes in da opposite direction. Fuck! Bad thoughts flood my mind. what if i made a mistake n hes running to Mathias’ ship? i might havta hurt my frien.. Or if i did get it right, i wanted a proper goodbye! Did i even deserve one? I grit my teefh n dart after ‘im. One good sign, he veered into da forest instead’a toward da coastline. After losing sight of him through a patch of thick brush, i come out da other side only ta see him now running at me! Da hulking yet fast appwoaching form is unnervin’ fer a moment, til he scoops me up n spins me ‘round. We dit it?? He says we did!! dat i figured out how ta remove da designations! It feels too good ta be true, but it must be fer dis is da happiest i ever ever seen Bricky – hims smile is beaming, n hims eye now a constant clear white. I can finally relax, n i give him da biggest hug, burying my misty eyes in hims jacket. (i finally did somethin good!) Ev’ryone deserves ta be deir own person, sure. i always thought dat. But ta see what freedom aktually does ta pepol, to my frien whos known so little of it in hims life.. It warms my heart. But dis means i hafta be prepared too. Bricky could decide ta leave me, n us.. If im a real friend, i havta be ok wifh dat. our freunde all clamor as dhey heard our commotion over da coins n came lookin fer us. we fill dem in on ev’rythin as we make our way back ta dune. Bricky apologizes fer attacking Tobias da other night, n shares all da other things he wished he could but wasnt allowed. Mainly, how i oughta give dat demon stone i been holding ta someone liek tobias. Bricky was made ta tell Mathias i had it, n he really wants it back so we gotta be very careful. When i passed da rock ta tobias tho, da curse in hims chest flared fer a moment. Hopefully he’ll be safe, i dunno if something liek dat can be hidden in da dreamscape.. Bwicky says he’ll do hims best not ta relay dis infermation again, but dat gets us all wonderin how we can make sure he wont have to. Drexla is real good at ‘puters n explains how Bricky’s mind probably werks da same. It could be possible fer me ta ask Bricky ta dewete hims command phrase altogether.. I need ta make sure wifh Bwicky, maybe have a few moar Inarian lessons.. But still, i cant shake dis bad feeling. liek who knows, there could be moar werds dat reset or add keywerds n we could be giving up our only way ta free him from bad commands.   While we were out talkin n hunting Golkir befoar, Drexla met again wifh Sylthra da eelfolk lady who reads cards. She was requested ta go, but dis last time she was threatened by da guard not ta come back. V apparently has a history wifh her, saved her a long time ago or somethin. He n Tobicat decide ta pay her a visit now, in hopes dat she would help us wifh our goals. Its not very long at all til we hear feedbacks through da coin, loud yellin n scuffles – oh no, dey got found!! Alarms start up all ‘round town, n we all decide ta meet at der Tavern where Drexla secured us da speshul hidden room in da back. We hunker down, da only sounds being da blaring alarms n excited chatter outside. Tobias n V finally make it to da room, indicated by a smol light above da door, n Luna lets dem inside. Taking advantage of der chaos, Drexla flies up high above n disperses all da fake posters she made earlier today. Soon, we hear a ‘splosion n da sounds of excitement are drowned by doze of anger n rebellion – da kobolds fell fer it! I doubt anyone is talkin ‘bout mr.v anymoar hahah~ While we wait fer da commotion ta die down, V n Tobias updated their disguises. V is now orange, n Tobias is da color of leaves in autumn. Drexla resolved ta go wifh dem as dey try visiting Sylthra again. Once da sirens stop n we can hear da bar fill back up, dey feel its safe ta head out. Da rest of us keep cozy in da room, pwioritizing Luna’s safety, but gather ‘round da coin ta listen in on da meeting. So lucky dis room comes wifh a basket of snacks, too! Once at da emporium, Drexla says dey got moar guards than last time she was here last. When dhey ask fer a reading, guards tell ‘em its strict one person at a time. But Tobias is so smort n quick ta say its a “couples reading”, which Luna ‘splains is when people “like like” eachovher. Alllll of us in da hidden room cant help but giggle at dis, n lean in close ta make sure we hear if they’re believed.. AAAHHH da guard had some questions, BUT he bought it! “No funny business” he says, as we stifle our laughter so we can keep listening hehe~ in da end, our friends figured dis conbersaiton was being listened to n asked fer Sylthra ta bless their (shared?) bed at der tavern in hopes fer a moar private talk. I wumbdered aloud if i could help distract her guard wifh a drinking challenge, n Bricky left towards da bar. He came right back wifh vier mugs of ale fer practice, hah! funny, since i dont thinks ale affects Bwicky at all? But just as fun ta make competition wifh him. I was so ready ta face dis guard! But it wasnt meant ta be, fer first thing in der damn mornin we hear loud knocking on da spare room booked fer Tobias n V’s meeting. We panic once we notice ev’ryone had ‘parently passed out all in dis room.. Including Mr. V n Tobicat! Uuhhh I thought dis was exactly why dhey got dat other room? Whatever, da point is dey needed ta act extra lovey if dey wanted ta make it make sense ta dis guard. V seemed ta have trouble, so Tobias took da lead n while we could only hear muffled thuds through da walls, whatever he did werked! Dey entered da room while da guard stood outside, n Sylthra had some device ta make a terrible ringing noise so even we couldn't listen through da coins. Afterwords, Sylthra sends her guard fer a drink ta buy her time ta visit da hidden room. She expected ta see Tobias n V, but dhey thought itd be less suspicious at da bar. She seemed just as happy ta meet da rest of us tho, glad V had moar dhan just a couple’a people ta take on Silvertounge’s crew. We’re happy she’s willing ta help too, considering how closely she’s being watched already.   Later dat night, V has Tobias connect their dreams together ta keep it safe from Liratha. She told Tobias dat she’s been tryin ta find V's dream evur since she found her own way into der dreamscape. As we begin ta tuck in fer da night, amidst da comforting sounds of Luna writing in her notebook n Drexla tinkering late, Bricky taps my shoulder. I gather my blanket over me n turn ta face him. He’s sittin at da end of der couch where i planned ta sleep on da other end. Whats wrong, i wumbder? Well, he asks if i wants him around still.. huh? My hert breaks a tiny bit when he said dis. N here i thought he wouldnt wanna be around me, now dat hes not forced ta be.. Wifhout ansering i cast off my blanket n stand on da cusion in fronna him, holding out my hand fer him ta shake. He takes it. “Nice ta meet you, ma name’s Bogbean. Can we be friends?” A small smile grows on him. “Du ebenfalls, I am Bricky. Und i dont see why not.” We shake on it.

werds of power
16th - 19th of Ouros

Dis mornin is so quiet compared ta yesterday’s, ‘cept fer my friends discussing somethin nearby. ev’ryone is huddled over some pieces of paper, so tightly i havta shimmy through Mr. V’s legs ta get their attention! Fer good reasons tho, ‘parently dis papers hold da recipe fer Bwicky’s blut! Seems easy enuff, but we need Ede ta feel better befoar we can get “void icker.” we also dunno how many batches we will need ta get Bricky all better. Watever, dis still feewls liek a big step. Bricky also looked shocked (n maybe a lil scared?) dat Mr.V knew someone who was able ta get deez papers in da first place. They look ripped right outta someone’s notebook. Da rest of our mornin is spent plannin n craftin’. We gotta keep hidden when we get ta Zendra Cove, n ‘specially Dreadmoore, so i finally thinks of a way ta repurpose my leather boots. I made Bricky a hood wifh lil cat ears on top! (Now he’s basically a brown tabaxi wifh spots~ if ya squint.) Drexla says she can also put together a kit wifh many things ta help us all disguise ourselves when da time comes so i give her some makeups i took from Lady Kree’s place in hopes itll help wifh her projekt.   We are asked ta visit da medical tent, where we find Hunzah near da back n away from others. Another comrade recentwy lost, covered by a sheet in da bed beside her. Her eyes look so far away, n all i can thinks ta do is take her hand n pwomise da pepol responsible will pay. Hunzah is twembling.. she makes a troubled sigh, n recounts how dishonorably da enemies fought. As she spoke, all i could look at were da bites taken outta her arms n shoulders.. But once conbersation died down, i noticed da clicks n tinks i kept hearin in der background also quieted. Dats when Drexla presents a new leg she made fer Hunzah, (woaw! Dis fast?) so dis means she wont stop being a warrior! Im glad we can leave on a welatively happy note. Elder Farrah comes ta discuss our plan fer travel, n we decide ta ride plains cats til we’re a day away from da city n walk from dhere. We wanna beat our enemies back dhere before dhey can regroup n tell about us, so we gotta be quick but also quiet. Tobicat returns after hims meditation dis mornin n tells us of a cousin (not da horse, a diff’rent one) who will also help us in da city.   As soon as deez plans are agreed on, we set out. Luna n me take lead on our plains cats, who are super friendly ta us. Before we leave, i say an extra thanks ta Dwexla, n give her da withering poisons i made. I thinks she can put dem ta good use. Its not much, but it means so much ta me dat Hunzah wont havta give up who she is cuz of some stupid koblods. Drexla takes hold on Mr. V’s shoulder, who goes wifh Luna on Fluffy da plains cat. Bwicky is wifh me on Fuzzy, n Tobias rides Torvas. We’re not far behind our marks, as we soon come upon an abandoned campsite, wifh still warm foods next to da ash of a fire. (i say foods, but it was aktually victims.. Fergive me! I’ll never speak of dis.) We continue on til dark, when da glow of a fire can be seen by da owl scout. Its dem alright! Dey have a whole wagon full of tabaxi prisoners. As we appwoach, i can shmell Miguel but cant see him yet. Bwicky n i sneak ‘round da side, as Drexla peeks into da nearest tent, n Tobias, Luna, n V go ta free da prisoners. Bwicky n i manage ta stay hidden, tho hes so big i havta pull him down ta make sure he keeps under da grassline wifh me. Our friends arent so lucky, fer da prisoners are so happy ta see dem it makes too much noise, n da kobolds start after ‘em! Bricky holds my shoulder, silently sayin we should stay unseen fer now. I trust our friends ta hold their own, i just always wanna help if i can. We watch from da brush as Luna blinds those who come near dem, n Drexla ‘splodes da entire tent she was in! Yea! A couple’a kobolds come near us huddled in da grass, so i come outta hiding ta hit ‘em. I miss one, n he hits a damn button on hims vest ta ‘splode himself at me. Da blast knocks me back, n covers Bricky n me n da whole area in a nasty goop! In a way dis was good, fer looking up at da sky i can now see a strange form, a janky contraption flying above us – Miguel! He’s got mechanical wings now, n once he comes low enuff fer da fire ta reveal hims face, he cries ma name wifh vengeance n lets down an ember dat catches all da goop ablaze. Da flames rush to engulf us, but not before Bricky wraps us bofh in hims water cloak! (danke!!) once on ma feet again, i see Drexla has Miguel snared in her metal net, n used Atom ta crush him into da ground wifh a loud shattering of da cobbled wings. Miguel desperately calls fer all remaining enemies ta aim fer me, my deafh bein hims last strongest wish.. but dere’s not many left n we’re able ta kill ‘em all off while Drexla holds Miguel in shackles.   In da quiet after battle, Miguel’s cries screech out loud as evur as we all gather ‘round. He says he didnt mean to do all dis, n while dere is some truth there its not gonna be enuff. We ask ‘im how he got all da many cuts over hims arms, n he says da “big boss” says itll make him strong. Dis makes me so mad, n i snap -- if my eating yer tail didnt make you super strong, why would any cuts do it? I demands he tells us who dis liar boss is! Bricky taps ma shoulder, sayin maybe we cant trust what he says even if he did talk. So i agree, itd be good fer Bricky ta reach directly in Miguel’s mind. Once Bricky’s done, he immediatewy turns ta V wifh red eyes, thinkin V neglected ta mention dis boss guy but V assures us he didnt know dey would replace Blige so fast. Dis guy is called Cinder, a mean n charred up kobold who used ta work fer Blige but now leads da group called “powder monkeys.” Miguel sobs, n Bricky confirms dat its true Cinder burned him over n over wifh a hot knife ta force him ta tell about us Travelers. Da whole group is arguing now, n ev’ryone is making some sense.. But at da end of da day, Miguel probably wont evur stop coming fer me n will say whatever he needs ta stay alive til da next time. What i did doesnt make it ok dat he executed an entire tabaxi settlement either, he definitely had many choices ta make along dis path.. In der midst of all da competing voices, Drexla, wifh Atom still activated, took Miguel by da throat n crushed him. Its so sudden, da silence is deafening fer a moment. Hims head is handed over to der freed tabaxi prisoners, as proof if pwomise fulfilled. Hims body lay at our feet, n soon da arguments started anew. Lotsa “shoulda” n “coulda” stuff, but by dis point i feel deez weeds are so tangled.. im just glad its over. He’s outta hims misery, at da very least. I speak up, hoping no one will mind if i do what i can ta honor Miguel’s corpse wifh some utility. I take time ta carefully carve what i can, wifh plans ta make a wearable scale suit. Drexla has a similar mind about it, n also takes some scales n fire glands fer her use. I cant say how da others might feel about dis, but im glad im not da only one wanting ta make da most of things.   Its another couple’a day's travel through da jungle til we reach Zendra Cove. i had no luck foraging, so i set about taking inventowy of my pack. Bwicky was nearby, fiddlin wifh Miguel’s old flute. a long silence caught my attention, n i looked ‘round but Bricky was nowhere? I see a tall shadow marching out of our campsite, so i chase after ‘im. Bricky’s eyes’re flashing all colors, n no matter what i say he dont stop! Hey! I decide ta just pick him up n carry him back ta camp cuz i need help. Even in my arms hims legs dont stop tryin ta walk. Once im close enuff i yell fer our friends ta come see. Tobicat tries slappin him, liek dat time it werked in Shadow Grove, but dis time Bricky swiped back! He breaks free from my grapple, n v joins me in wrestlin fer da flute. Luna’s hair wont werk on him, Bricky just absorbes her majicks. We finally dog-pile Bricky, n Drexla is able ta take da flute from him. No changes yet, n i try slappin Bricky maself just ta see whatll happen. I havta try, since i would want someone ta hit me in dis situation. Fer a moment it looks liek Bricky is gonna hit me back, liek he did wifh Tobias. Hims eye looks red at me fer da first time, but wifh a smol explosion it blinks back ta green n he drops hims sword befoar he could raise it. I wring my hands, as Drexla reads off part of an inscwiption she found on da flute. She hands it ta me, hoping i can read der last part – oh, i see Bricky’s favorite werd here! altogether it says “would you please, ma frien, come find me.” Soon as i say it aloud, Bricky responds n follows only me now. I look to ma friends in awe, we did it! Well, not yet. I use da phrase ta tell Bwicky ta go back ta normal, n he does. He dont seem ta remembur anythin while in dat state, so we fill him in. i apologize, n test da phrase again n ask him ta spin~ wow! Luna wonders if we could use da phrase ta stop Mathias’ meddlin wifh him.. Hm. its a good idea, but when i try ta command him “dont listen to dat nasty Mathias evur again!” my werds get all jumbly n i realize i really need moar lessons. Three silver blinks, i wonder what dat means.. Hopefully it means it werked~ Dis night i ask Bricky ta teach me moar Inarian. After tonight, i feel a renewed pressure ta learn it well. It must be true, Mathias is close.. I think of Ede. i also make a point ta apologize ta Bricky. Even fer silly things, it mustnt feel nice havin no control of yerself. He says its nothing compared to da terrible things others made him do, but that dont make me feel much better. After da night’s lesson, i try again ta tell Bricky ta “be freeeee” but i only got a confused look, n three silver blinks again. Maybe dis means my werds wont stick. Too broad? Ah, ill figure it out.. I hope, fer my friend’s sake.   In da mornin, we prepare ta enter Zendra Cove. v n drexla help ev’ryone make temporary disguises while v fills us in on da conversation him n tobicat had wifh golkir in da dreamscape. Hes ok fer now, n had infurmation. Dere is a rumor dat Sarraka is da pirate whos holding sarsoon somewheres n she might have her own agenda apart from her captain. Hm. wifh dat, da group goes over da plans again: blend in, dont cause commotion, n listen fer infurmation. First, we split up into two groups. V, Drexla, n Tobias are gonna look fer Golkir’s contacts while Luna, Bricky, n me look fer a safe place in “reject alley” ta meet up again later. Many new n overlapping smells in dis place, ev’rythin here has a salty must to it. I lingered too long, fer i loose Luna n Bricky fer a bit. As i track my way back to ‘em, pepol on da street keep askin fer moneys but i do da pirate-y thing n tell ‘em ta fuck off~ (yeah, im doin a good job!) I find my way back ta my group, they’ve found an empty shack ta use as a homebase. Just as Luna begins ta brainstorm ideas ta spruce up da space, a dark shadow looms over me from behind. A few large dragonborn take a step into da doorway, demandin some kinda moneys just fer bein here. Dey refuse ta let it go, so i bare my teefhs at ‘em n dey run away pissin demselves heheh! We dont have long befoar dey come back, so we find another smol shack further back near da mountainside n hunker down there instead. Drexla rings Luna’s attention on da talky-coins sayin there’s a brigade gatherin ta hunt a “rabid dog” n she figured dat had somethin ta do wifh me. Soon we hear heavy boots goin door ta door, so Bricky holds our door shut while i scramble ta find a hiding place in dis empty hut. Luckily, dhey move on quickly n Bricky creates a blue lily outside ta mark our place. now we just wait fer da rest of our freunde ta get back.   When we see Tobias, Drexla, n Mr. V again, dhey tell us what all they did at da tavern n at da blacksmith’s, n at da eelfolk lady’s emporium. V also reveals an invite he got from da white dragonborn pirate lady. She was in golkir’s dream somehow? Das concerning. We all figure its some sortsa trap, but we’re too curious ta pass dis up. She wants ta meet at midnight tonite, so fer now we wait n make our plans.

attack on da festival of sun n shadow
15th of Ouros

im so proud ta be sham-la-tam today. in just four days' time since our freins completed da last trial, making da desert safe again, der tabaxi have already estabwished a settlement near da border of sand n grass. today, da 14th of ouros, us travelers were taken ta see seamstresses fer new clothes. most of our stuff was torn or threadbare thin frum deez past months of training, n now our new gurments will refwect our successes! i of course wear da robes of my mentor, as a constant reminder of her as well as my new obwigations. sowwy bricky, but i also replace ma boots fer wraps. seeing da tabaxi so in tune wifh deir environment got me thinkin if it’s their ability ta feel da earth under deir feets. i want to practice dis, see if it helps me any. but my old boots are well-made, n i know bricky would appreciate if dey was repurposed. so, rolled n stuffed in ma bag they go. fer my last outward change, i wanted ta shave da sides of ma head. it took me all my life ta grow dis hair long as it is, n i wumber.. now dat i’ve left moonbright, i’ve done many tings n changed a whole lot. who will i be when i grow it long again?   dis night, we all meet fer dinner n admire how everyone looks! waow! at dis time we’re also informed of da “festival of sun n shadows” taking place tomorrow, a celebration of tabaxi unity n ceremony where we will receive our bands. we all look forward to da festivities, feeling accomplished fer all our hard werk. til then, we had a night to ourselves. luna took some time ta help me harvest ma first blue ivy spore! in my excitement, luna hasta remind me ta put it away carefullyy. hehe good call~ bricky had an interesting request, asking if we could see if da strange tentacle is compatible wifh hims body liek da yeti eye was. i said tobias could barbeque it, but it belonged to ma frien so id support what he decides. so i end up helping tobias sew da ting onto bricky, but soon have ta reverse our werk – dis ting quickly becomes fiery hot, smoking n melting into bricky’s flesh! tobias cleaves it off of him, but finds hims holy fires dont harm it at all. instead, tobicat feels weaker as he keeps attacking wifh no effect. luna is taken by a memory, revealing dat dis is a vestige of da lava creature dat killed n cursed hims grandfather. drexla does a scan n confirms a curse has taken hold, showing as flaming claw-like scars on tobicat’s chest. befoar panic has time ta set in, ta my surprise bricky steps forward ta try n remove da curse. i guess if he can take a fear or memory he could also take a curse? we gotta try. drexla helps brace tobias as bricky gets ta werk. after a tense moment of silence, drexla says da mark has faded some. but bricky remains frozen fer a bit longer, n when he comes to he says he received somethin meant fer luna. he takes a moment to impart dis to her, a memory of her old adventuring party in zendra cove. back when pyruuhl started all dis trouble n da oceans were alive n boiling (gods, what a horror ta have seen).. bricky said luna looked nothing liek herself in dis vision, but not even luna has an answer fer dis. as we get ready ta bed fer da night, bricky wants ta try imparting part of da vision to me. curious, i take hims hand. n after a moment.. woah, i see hebe! she is young, n moar agile dhan i knew her ta be. i hold on to dis image of her by keeping my eyes closed, even after bricky removes hims hand. she really was alive fer so long.. its crazy ta see how light she was, then ta see how heavy da weight of such a life became. when i open my eyes, i see my frunde all around me. they mustve seen im still not fully comfortable in her robes, fer dey give me lotsa nice werds about how dey suit me well n hebe woulda been proud ta see me liek dis. i shake off da mist in ma eyes n stand tall, thanking dem. i couldnta got here without ‘em.   in da morgen of da 15th, i wake ta chatter n laughter outside. ah! a basket of fruits n breads n meats is at da foot of my cot! i scarf down a couple’a apples, n sling it over ma shoulder n set off ta find my friens. outside, da whole settlement is transformed wifh festival decorations! pepols frum all waystations have gathered here n now, as music plays n young’ns run n play through da packed sandy streets. i find bwicky n ede first, dhey gimme their baskets so it dont go ta waste (i gots 2 hangin on one arm, no sweat!). we approach da rest of our group, lured by da sounds of luna chastizin mr.v, but what fer? i stuff der contents of one basket in my pack fer later, n finish my breakfass while takin in da chatter. golkir left during da night on hims own!? luna cant believe v allowed dis, but v is confident in hims decision ta stay. ta compromise, all us travelers agree ta depart fer pirate killin as soon as tonight’s ceremony is done. we’ll find golkir n sarsoon, n make a master plan!   as we all make our way towards da center of town fer celebrations, we’re met by an elder i hadnt met befoar. drexla, v, n bricky know him from their last trial, introducing him to da rest of us as “elder zathar.” he tells us of all da things we can expect at dis festival: a new marketplace, games of strength at sun dune alley, n a memorial area fer meditation wifh da sands. sadly, some previous elders were taken by da dream demon befoar we killed ‘im, so zathar also tells us of der new elders’ names: jarassah of sapphire springs, n catharie of golden horizons. v is ready ta split off n visit da memorial site, but i’ve been tuggin at bricky’s coat since da first mention of strength tests. bricky says yes we can go, but wants ta try somethin first. he puts hims hands on ma shoulders n i receive da same vision of hebe from yesterday, only much clearer. i can even hear her voice! same stern n commanding intensity, without the harsh gravel of age i remembur. waow, shes so fast! like lightning i see her zipping around the rooftops of zendra cove wifh her friends in der heat of battle. im holding my hands tight to my chest when i open my eyes. bricky is unsure what to make of my tears at first, but a smile quickly overtakes my face n i tackle him wifh a big hug~ (tank you much, my friend. somehow i’ve been blessed ta deepen my knowing of hebe even after her death, n i couldntve done any of it wifhout you or luna.)   da mist in my eyes is stubborn, but wifh even moar pep in my step i lead us towards sun dune alley. da first stage we come across is full of dancers wifh spinny ribbons, one’a which dances ‘round da edge looking fer volunteers from der crowd. (oh! i know da perfect person!) i push bricky forward n wave fer elder catharie attention, n ohmagosh she picks him!! i giggle wifh satisfaction as bricky smiles at me wifh a playful glare. we watch as him n catharie battle it out wifh art n music. not being much of a dancer, bricky performs a song fer ev’ryone! da lyrics describe hims struggles, but da rhythm has ev’ryone clapping to der beat n rooting fer ma friend! in da end, da elder compliments hims unique sound n bestows her favor to him. i cheer wifh drexla, tobicat, n luna from der sidelines, “i knew you could do it!” as we walk to da fighting pit, bricky fashions some flowers. others receive mourning lilies, but mine is diff’rent - petals arranged liek a star, n slightly fuzzy. bricky says dhey grow where he’s from.. its funny ta me how much dhey resemble da flowers i was named after. i proudly put it in my hair as i step into da ring of der fighting pit where a big loud man is goading fer moar challengers. i liek dis guy, fer ev’rytime i punch he laughs harder! i can tell no one’s hurt him today til i showed up heheh. i manage ta push elder jarassah outta da ring, n we enjoy a hearty laugh about it befoar he also bestows me a favor - a large wrestling belt wifh a gold centerpiece! no one else wantsta challenge me fer it, so i take my leave n skip off back to ma freunde. tobias, drexla, n v participate in an archery contest, dhen ev’ryone ‘cept luna plays da sand climb game. ede doesnt do so well wifh it, bowing out early. da race is very close, wifh v n drexla making shenanigans ta get ahead. tobicat tries distracting me wifh snackz, but i had a big breakfass! outta my way! ultimately, drexla uses her grappling hook ta zip her towards da finishing flag, dizzying herself in da process. v might’a leaped to der finish if bricky hadn’t tackled ‘im, but drexla n me tie fer first place, wifh tobias close behind! we split da winnings, n i receive an ointment of fire resistance~   after tiring ourselves wifh activities, luna n i decide ta see about an herbalist at der market row. we manage ta find someone, n are able ta buy seeds as luna was smort to suggest as i can grow some in ma travel garden. da herbalist, seline, insisted on a free card reading so we bofh agreed. we each pulled two cards, one fer da past n one fer da future. luna’s cards showed past loss n future challenges. mine showed somethin holding me back, n a future in a box.. da tent is real tense already, dhen seline is shocked ta pull a card shes never seen befoar. (how, dis is yer deck right??) seline rushes us out, seeming moar disturbed than we are at dis reading. i tell luna dis is nothin new fer us, right? not to worry! but still, our festive air is tainted wifh unease now..   i havta warn someone of dat reading tho, i definitely dont wanna be sealed in no box again.. who better but brickyfrien? he protects me anyways, so maybe i can help. i scurry toward bricky, weaving through a few pairs’a legs ta find him. i ask ta be held so i can look’im in der eyes, n he obliges. try my best ta ‘splain in hims language, hoping it will stick my werds in hims “have-to” brain. (im sowwy frein, but if i can make it listen to me over dr.smiley i havta try..) but i dont do it gut at all, n even ede is lookin at me funny. ugh, im discourage about it, but i ‘splain ev’rythin in common fer all da group ta know. we look around at all da boxes lying in stacks round da settlement, but wifh vendors n supplies ev’rywhere nothin seems outta place. we promise ta keep a lookout, n make our way all together to da main stage fer da feast n ceremony. edler zathar gives a nice speech declaring all da tabaxi tribes are united as one again, in part thanks to us travelers. we are welcomed officially as fellow sham-la-tam, part of der tabaxi family, n receive our earned bands! i quietly admire dem as we’re ushered to a table set fer feastin~ i’m barely through my second helping when i hear a familiar, grating voice - who der fuck invited miguel?? whatever, im happy he plays shows still i guess. i clap fer him, hoping ta hear a happy song fer once. he’s carried to da center stage on a wooden float by red kobolds, none’a which have tails anymoar. he deals gifts to da elders n capt’n v, n shouts fer da “real show” ta begin – dats when explosions went off all over town, destroying much of ev’rythin n knocking luna down! all our happiness, now chaos as ev’rythin is on fire. i look ‘round fer miguel, but da smoke is thick n hard ta navigate. v is quick ta act n jumps ta deactivate moar ‘splosives under da stage while tobias n drexla help luna up. i continue my search, my nose useless n burned wifh ash, dodging da fiery debris best i can. finally, i catch a glimpse of miguel taking cargo on a couple’a plains cats way out into da desert. i shout dis hoping drexla can hear me – she’s da only one who could track dem now! i let out a gasp of relief as i see her owl flying not far after dem, n turn back into da slowly waning haze of smoke. thankfully dis land has wouter again, so da fires were put out quickly. i was sad to encounter enemy tabaxis among da kobolds, bombs strapped to demselves to do as much destroyin as possible. i dunno if itdve changed anythin, but i wish da tribes just told ‘em da truth from der start.. as we overcame dem n all things settled down, i reunited wifh ma friens again. all ‘cept ede, who according to da elders was seen chasing after miguel fer she saw da cargo he was carryin were kidnapped children! we have ta go quickly! v showed us hims “gift,” da severed hand of what looked liek sarsoon. at da bottom was a map, matching da direction drexla’s owl was headed and of ede’s trail of spilt black blood.. we were gone too long fer sarsoon, we cant wait we havta leave now fer ede n catch doze basterds! befoar we can make our way ta grab our bags n find mounts, a rush of pepol pass us carrying someone on a stretcher – hunzah! no! she’s missing a leg, n bleeding all over from many bites taken from her arms n shoulders. its shameful, but im frozen in rage as tobias n luna tend to her wounds.. only four of her eleben person party has made it back alive. i vow dat none of our enemies will survive dis day, n den some. once tobias can stablize hunzah, we are given three plains cats n all depart into da vast desert.   we come upon a short cliff, where below we can see a mess of kobolds standing ‘round small groupings of crates n boxes. one dragonborn among dem too. a sev'ral children were placed on top’a pillars of rock. cap'n V points Blige out ta us, da expwozions expert n member of hims rival pirate crew. drexla tracked ede to a hiding spot in der bushes below n checked on her. its a relief ta know she is ok fer now, n headed back to camp ta wait fer us. drexla flits over, n we wait fer her move befoar we head down da clifface. hah! she picks up a box n drops it on some kobold heads hehee! inside is a young’n, left behind where Drexla took a box -- so lets be sure ta get da others! making our way to der fight was tough, fer sneaky kobolds were hiding under da sand ready to ‘eplode us as we passed. let's go! i do my best ta slash ma way through da other side of da field. i can see luna n v have their hands full on dis side, but da kobolds threaten ta harm da lil ones! i cleaved through a group’a three crusty kobolds ta stopp’em crushing a kid wifh a whole verficken pillar! da many expwozions are takin' a toll on me, but no choice fer now i just gotta keep goin. drexla shouts ta remind me of dat ointment we won, n i hurriedly fumble it outta my bag n apply it to ma face n arms. just den, blige jumped out from under da sand nearby n threw a bomb at me! befoar i could react, Bwicky is in fronna me n takes dis huge 'splosion in da back (no! if i was only moar prepared, he wouldnt havta do dis.. im so so so sorry frien) i thank him, but quickly havta leap around him n slash another kobold runnin toward us. da least i could do fer savin me liek dat, is keep him safe enuff ta fix him up. taking a quick look around, luna is attacking a belt-device -- prob'ly another speshul bomb from blige. v is being targeted by dis very fast Blige guy, who keeps callin fer moar ko-bombs ta show up. tobias is down fer a moment, but v makes der effort ta help him up even while hes on fire! (i hope i live ta tell you, yer down to 50% lies, v.) at dis time, dat dragonborn started ta make a huge fireball in hims hands?! none of my freunde look very good, i dont think we could’a survived it. things felt dire, n all we could do was watch until a strange force came from nearby which banished da whole fireball in a snap! what – bricky, when could you do a thing liek dat?! amazing!! we’re able ta press on, focusing on killin da last kobolds. two of’em rush me ‘splode, knocking me down til luna can reach me. when i come to, i see bricky is overcharged n holding an off-balance pillar best he can, but da child on top is in great damger. i get my bearings, n jump up ta grab da child befoar carefully leaping back down. da only ones left are trapped in crates still, too far fer us ta reach befoar da pillar falls onto dem. drexla was atop da rock, seemingly outta options til she used da angle of da falling pillar ta roll ATOM into da crates below– waow! dis means we managed ta get all da lil ones back alive! luna was thankfully able ta zap dat device off’a her. last one standing is blige, dat real fast one gunning fer v. but that dont last fer long -- v used blige’s own tactic against him, hiding under da sand n attacking from behind! hah! he stabbed him good, n told him ta fuck off cuz we’re gonna win~! in the post-battle quiet, v rummages through blige’s pockets. drexla, tobias, n luna gather der children n heal any smol wounds. bricky n i sense ede not far off, n we carry her back after finding her in a sleep-liek state. again i try ta speak ta bricky in inarian, but i fuck it up a second time! i tell him thank you fer takin hits fer me back there, it just hurts ta see hims back n arm all singed n smoldering from der blasts.. (i just hope hes choosing fer himself in those moments. if not, how could i not blame maself?) ill do my best to fix you up best i can, frien.   we set da young’ns on da plains cats n walk back to der shifting sands. its a long, quiet walk. as da waystation comes into view, its comferting ta see tabaxi already rebuilding. there are some cheers fer our return, but also cries as not all da lil ones had parents waiting fer them. da elders declare we will have da tabaxi’s help when we fight der pirates, as we are family now n dere are losses to avenge (i think of hunzah, n all her lost warriors..) tonight, tents are few so we decide ta all bed together. no one else says it aloud, but i fer one feel much safer so closely surrounded by all my family tonight. v n drexla sneak off ta do whatever, as is their way. i hear bricky n ede speaking, but try as i might i just cant understand. v n drexla return as da rest of us discuss what ta do wifh ede, or what our options are if we wanted ta heal her n bricky befoar fighting moar pirates. we dont have much ideas, til v speaks up about “knowin a guy” – pfft, what “guy?” ‘parently he could get hims hands on real undabarian papers about dat promethium stuff? (wow, he would do dat fer bricky? is he just worried ‘bout not defeating der pirates or what.) bricky also seems shocked at da possibility, but accepts da offer. v steps outside fer a moment, n struts back in sayin we’ll have somethin in da mornin. (so fast?? what’s his deal?!)   as we finally bed down fer da night, i find it hard ta sleep wifh da thought of news in da mornin. i can’t imagine how my sleepless frien must feel 'bout it. in trying ta concentrate on da noises of outside – winds blowing over grass n sand, chirping of critters – i noticed dat ive become used to da low hum n constant whirring sounds of bricky’s insides (louder in comparison to ede). it has its own rhythm, clankier now in hims disrepair. my breafhs fall in sync wifh it, n each cycle begins ta feel liek im sinking deeper n deeper into da warm earth below. sleep finally finds me.

Til Next Time, Shadow Grove
10th of Ouros

we’re not far frum camp, soon ta reunite wifh freunde. bricky shares hims experience in der dreamscape, how he took da form of hims maker. all our friends were in pieces, n i was kept asleep in a tank.. bricky seemed ‘bout as horrified at dis as any of us, at dis twisted ‘terpretation of hims motto. but apart frum da horror, he also learned sum imformation ‘bout hims shadow. he goes by “5” n wants bricky ta find hims brother “9.” drexla offers der ring she found a while back as a clue, but no one recognizes its emblem. i also share my dream, how it started so happily i wanted ta believe it at first. like any other day, i attended hebe as we fished fer da village. then everythin turned bloody, n hebe pleaded wifh me why i did as she asked, as if das not how it really happened. miguel was also there, ta tell me moar about what a selfish scourge i am.. so i felt like i hadta ask my friends if its all true, am i really just a monster wifh taste fer flesh? tobias says monsters don’t tink about bein bad, they just do it. i remember hims werds whenever i smell how someone must taste. knowin is half of it, n doin is another.   wifh a deep breafh ta shake off our nightmares, da group goes ta meet again wifh elder farrah who has not stopped her ritual prayers. she greets us, but is sad when we tell of nariah’s betrayal. in disbelief she tells us how pure nariah’s dreams were, n even after tobias shares da memory of our encounter elder farrah believes nariah’s corruption could be reversed. i just cant understand how she could ever trust someone liek dat again. at least we can reassure her dat der strange deaths in shadow grove should stop now. on our way out, tobias asks if farrah would liek him ta heal her blindness. ta hims surprise, she laughs! she assures him she is quite happy dis way, as she is da one who traded her eyes fer a diff’rent kind of sight. she believes she can help moar people dis way.   outside her tent we’re met wifh grateful villagers, but da mood remains heavy n dere is no feast of celebration tonight. is ok, i guess fer most pepol funerals arent very appetizing.. (i’m not most pepol tho, so ima ask tobicat fer extra portions tonight~) instead of feastin, drexla asks where we can find experts in da village, n we are told of a musician, an herbalist, n a shady salesman. mr.v n drexla leave ta track down dis sneaky dealer, known as kai-el. bricky tags along with me n luna as we visit elara da herbalist, n after we follow him to see lyra da musician. since we leave in der mornin, lyra offers ta teach bricky alls she can tonight. luna n i set up nearby ta distill n brew wifh what we bought at elara’s hut. at some point we head back ta camp, but bricky don’t come back til after we wake der next day. he says lyra was so happy ta receive a student, she wanted ta make da most of hims lesson n stayed up all night wifh him! she sent him off wifh a book of bardic lessons to boot!   sham-la-tam departs fer da shifting sands waystation. it takes us 5 days’ time ta reach der sandline, during which we all got some crafting done. i attempted ta werk wifh da new ivy i found, but it’s tricky. luckily it didnt put me ta sleep dis time, but i wasnt able ta harvest any spores either. i’ll have ta ask fer luna’s help, or fer advice frum another herbalist, but i’ll keep practicing! on our arrival, we look out at da expanse of sand. we’re told dis used ta be a lush place, one dat provided fish fer da tabaxi tribe. but dat was a long time ago, when hebe was in her prime.. now it remains as a last stop fer those in training, a homage to da battlemaidens dat came befoar. since da land is comsidered holy, only da trial-takers are allowed ta travel further. as drexla, v, n bricky prepare, i give my potion of agility ta v just in case. befoar dey leave bricky takes me aside, seeming troubled by what he wantsta tell me. i say he dont havta worry, i wanna hear it no matter how hard it might be. so he comes out wifh it, revealing dat hims special eye belongs to one of doze litch lords.. da bad doctor who made him. dats why hims dream was how it was. i exhale, knowing my response will disappoint him, n tell how dis news dont surprise me. it aktually makes sense wifh how dat eye has made special blinks n colors at key points of our travels.. now it makes me feel liek hims eye could be making signals to dis litch. bricky cant answer dis fer me, all i can tell is i was right about disappointing him. i give him da biggest hug i can, hoping im wrong in my theory n wishing him luck in dis final trial.

third trail: death to da dream demon!
4th of ouros

Its da 19th of Ember, n after another harsh morning training wifh Hunzah we make our way to a tree just outside of town. Luna guides us down a secret spiral staircase of roots deep down into da earfh, where she shows da rest of us her old house! Der walls were all decorated wifh relics, some seeming to have become part of da living walls of da enormous hollow tree. In da common area was da magick pool, where Luna hoped we would receive some benefit from. Luna guides me to Hebe’s old room, and Tobias to Tarjan’s, hims great grampa. Hebe’s room is covered in trophies, from all da diff’rent creatures she’d encountered in their adventures. Some are taxidermy pieces, but most seem ta be life drawings. My Hebe was so stromg, but not ev’rythin deserved her whole might. She truly lived der ideals she imparted ta me. As i walked around trying ta survey each torn journal page covering der wände, i hear my friends out in da hallway. Curiously, i join them n see ev’ryone is gathered around a collection of statues. I recognize some, liek der lion-folk must be Tobicat’s ancestor. Hebe is wearing der same cloak i now have, tho it looks much more refined n decorated on her. Luna describes da others: Taz, the Kobold. An unnamed dragonborn figure is placed behind him. Next is an eelfolk, Aquila. Then a kenku, der fist of da mountain nd lady kree’s ancestor. Lastly there is a figure resembling Luna herself, tho looks just a little diff’rent. Prob’ly cuz she was younger, right? But Drexla asks an interesting question: is Luna sure her memories are all her own? Luna affirms they are, but they weigh on her too. She is sad to have outlived all her friends n not remember it til now. Its bittersweet, but she even allowed us ta add our names to da others’ on der main archway of their home! Luna has found a silver lining, n made a new little family in us Travellers. i couldnt be moar grateful.   Now fer da other reason we came. Da pool below in der center of da tree produces a glow from deep down. V decides ta tie a rope ta himself n swim down, since Bricky simply dunking me in didn’t seem ta give any effect. Da rope soon pulled taut, but when we pulled hims back up he reported no effects eifher. Bricky pats ma sopping head in consolation, nd hims flesh starts bubbling n burning! I make sure ta step far away from der group as i shake maself dry. Dis wouter couldnt be da same “holy wouter” da hellscarred had, could it? Bricky is maybe just allergic ta lotsa things. Luna thinks dat maybe da pool must charge fer a while after bein used, since da samples she took last tiem did react to us. I told her dont feel bad, we will definitely return here again~! We linger around da pool fer a while after, as Luna shares moar memories of her old companions. Tobias stares intently into da pool, n Luna puts a hand on hims shoulder, reassuring him dat da Tarjan she knew would never betray der tribes. I wumbder who couldve twisted history so much.. Luna is wracked wifh a memory, a hazy one where she cant remember what her n Tarjan were running from when he died nd she buried her planetaruim. Bricky hesitantly offers ta look fer da missing piece in her mind, n she allows dis. Da moment passes slowly, as Bricky places a hand on her n we all wait wifh quiet intensity. Who knows what goes on in a mind liek Luna’s, someone whos been alive fer so long but wifh little memory of it. After a while, Luna seems ta be reliving something terrible, crying out “no, no!” until Bricky’s hand snaps away. She catches her breath, n promptly asks Bricky ta stay out of her head fer a while. Da memory he uncovered fer her wasn’t da intended one, but instead she remembered how Taz nd Aquila died.. A lava creature named Pyruhl was attacking zendra cove, n they gave their lives fer Luna despite her pleading. We comfort her as she processes da experience, then gather our things as we prepare fer travel to da next waystation.   Its a few days of traveling through da “whispering woods”, where we are told not ta venture into da forest or listen ta der windy voices. As da forest gets denser n darker, glowing plants n mosses are plentiful. da green n purple mosses don’t taste liek much, but they’re so pretty~! Its da 4th of Ouros when we arrive to a cavernous area of da forest, a glade known as da Shadowed Grove waystation. As we move through, we feel weary eyes on us n recall dat in da past couple days many in Sham la Tam mentioned a supposed curse on dis place.. We are approached by a figure robed in purple – Nariah, da elder’s assistant. She seems rushed, as she asks us trial-takers ta come wifh her immediately. Tobias, Bricky, n me step forward, following her to a secluded place where moon phases are carved into da trees. A sense of comfort falls on us as we approach a circular area, where elder farrah has ritualistically layered ropes about da circle. She methodically places white “mourning lillies” at da roots of each carved tree, as a plea fer protection. Da carving of a full moon phase is glowing brightly. As she approaches, we see Elder Farrah is a fluffier tabaxi, wifh milky, unmoving eyes. Tho she is blind, she seems ta see right through us all. She remarks dat its a shame bricky doesnt dream, n we can only wonder what dat could mean fer our mission as farrah doesn’t elaborate. Nariah questions why we are here ta help dem, why now? We are confused why she seems ta be asking so aggressively, but Elder Farrah just dismisses her so we can talk privately. Nariah begrudgingly leaves us. When she is confident nariah is gone, farrah tells us dat its not only children who have disappeared, but old folks have also been either taken or killed in their beds. She has not stopped dis ritual fer some time now, asking fer protection from da god of night. Tobicat asks if he can have a mourning lilly, n she obliges him befoar we head out to da home where da last incident happened. On our way out, we spot nariah trying to eavesdrop ‘round da corner.. Hm. fer an aid to da village elder, she doesnt seem very respectful or trustworthy. She guides us to da home of da last elderly person dat was murdered. I dont notice anythin weird on da way over, nd inside it doesnt even look liek any struggle happened. Da body lies on da bed, wifh a shroud overtop. Blood seeps through da cloth, tobias investigates n notices bite marks at der wrists. Bricky remarks how weird it is fer someone ta die liek dis while keeping a smile on their face. I sniff all over da room til i catch a whiff of necrotic emnergy, n chase it outta da hut. “Follow me, guys!” Da trail leads me to anovver dwelling, where i see a familiar yellow-eyed creature through da window. A peepers?! I rush in, but we’re too late.. Da creature has disappeared through a wall, n da air is moist wifh fresh blood. Tobias rushes over, n i help him stablize da child as best i can while bricky calls out fer help. Nariah soon finds us n takes da child somewhere safe. I pick up da scent again, following it to a gathering of elderly tabaxi tending a cauldron of stew. Jeez, dis stew smells so good its distracting me! “Shut dat lid!”, i tell ‘em. But it makes no diff’rence, i see now dat der smell penetrates dis entire area. Bricky starts chatting wifh da old guys, who give him a bowl of stew ta sample. I think of da last tiem i was given a strange soup, n my skin prickles.. Da old guys seem real happy, not despite all da death but almost because of it. Dey say their loved ones have come to dem, welcoming them ta die n be together again. We decide ta move along, as dey wish us “good deaths”.. Ugh creepy. Bricky takes da lead, saying he can see someone in da distance. Tobias n me look at eachother n shrug. Bricky is walking too fast tho, n once we catch up ta him he’s in a strange smiling trance. Tobias smacks him back ta reality, n he swears he was back on da farm wifh da little boy he once knew. Tobias notices a red light from behind da treeline, n we decide ta look fer da source. Along da way, we find a trio of tabaxi who’ve hanged demselves up in da trees.. They’re still holding hands. I cut dem down, n tobias says a prayer fer dem. As we continue following da red glow, we come upon a small clearing. A central tree wifh a large red gash in it, surrounded by dead trees. Red lillies grow from da ground where da light touches. I pick one, n out of da stem seems ta drip blood.. Dis is da place. Tobicat investigates da crack in da tree, saying it resembles da energy of da evil storm from da dream world. it must be a portal, n i trust tobias so we all hold hands, brace ourselves, n jump in.   Almost immediately, im ripped apart from my freunde by da turbulent storm, n i cant smell dem at all anymoar! All fades ta black. Suddenly im.. In moonbright? As if i was daydreaming, i hear hebe snap fer my attention. We must hurry if we’re ta catch enuff fish fer da village today. Maybe its fake, but why not play in a happy dream? I pick up her supply box n run ahead, but something isnt right. I turn ta see a sickly Hebe, hobbling towards me as she drops da last bowl i ever mixed fer her.. She cries, that i did dis ta her?! No! I played that day over n over in dat moment. I had begged her ta change her mind, but i did exactly as she asked! I step away, my feet making a strange, nasty squelch against da docks. I look down, horrified at bricky’s bloody disembodied head at my feet. my hands coated in black. How did dis happen?! A sea of guts lies at my feet. Would i really be capable of dis? “Is it ever enuff?!”, Miguel screams, chucking hims tail at me.. “All you do it TAKE!!” my tummy writhes, as if ev’ryone is trying ta escape outta me. I double over n start ta scream, hot tears pour from my eyes. Then, familiar long, greasy black shoes enter my vision, nd a cane guiding my chin up so i can see Mathias offering me a bowl of stew. I knock it back in hims fuckin face. If im gonna eat ev’ryone i might as well eat him, huh! Even if it’ll kill me!! But as i lunge for hims neck da world is all black again, fading back ta bloodshed in Moonbright. Hebe is befoar me. She begins ta stagger, but i rush ta catch her befoar she falls. She still asks me why, but now i can only say im sorry.. That’s when da blood vanished, n da cheerful village scene returned briefly befoar darnkess came fer me again.   I dunno how much tiem had passed, but i woke up in what smells liek a wooden box (oh fuck, not again). But also smelled a lotta dirt. I could hear footsteps, so i tried ta get their attention by banging on da box. Soon i was dug up by Tobias! nd alongside mine was another grave where Bricky was in! Gods, im so relieved ta see them bofh alive!! They tell me they encountered new enemies, ghouls rather than peepers. Looking at our new surroundings, we’re surrounded by a dark forest wifh only a gloomy castle in da near distance. We make our way to da fortress, following a faint path. Its raining pretty hard in dis place, but none of us are getting wet? We also come across some floating orbs of diff’rent colors – yellow, green, blue, n red. Bricky seems ta be affected by their light. I managed ta catch a yellow one, n he puts hims hands on it. A smile overtakes hims face, n hes locked in another sort of trance. Its too sturdy ta break, so i let it float away n we make sure ta avoid any moar orbs fer da rest of our walk. When we arrive at da castle, we find tobias’ dream mutter outside lookin sad nd soaked in da rain. When tobias calls for her n she notices us, she is shocked. Dis is an ancient place, called da “corridor of dreams,” nd we shouldnt have been able ta come here. Da orbs are all da dream mutter’s favorite dreams she’s collected over time, n da castle was made ta contain outside da goddess’s control. Tobias asks her how a portal couldve been made at da tree, n da only answer is someone else in da waking world is helping.. Ugh, a traitor!   First thing we notice as we move past da creaky old castle door, is moar emo-orbs are floating inside. We make our way deeper into dis dungeonous castle til i hear a shifting of lil feets. I peek around, noticing a couple peeper creatures tryin ta sneak up behind us! I try ta whisper a heads up ta my friends, but da peepers hasten nd we must fight! We’re wearing them down, when another monster appears. its maybe a wraith, liek Bricky mentioned seeing earlier. It tries ta hypnotize Bricky into fighting us, but Tobi wont let ‘im! Hah! It runs, through an iron gate. But no matter, tobicat summons a magick weapon next to it, so we can stabs it from bofh sides of da gate! In da quiet moment after we kill dis one, i sense movement n look above us.. Into a sea of yellow peeper eyes (ooh ffuuckk) “RUN!!” Hundreds of mr.peepers descend n chase after us, as we all run through da nearest open corridor. One got close enuff ta nab tobias’ leg – but soon as he lagged behind an inch, Bricky n i each grabbed hold of him enuff ta keep moving ahead! Behind us, flashes of light from Tobias’ magicks bofh held peepers at bay as we looked fer somewhere ta escape. Finally, a pair of large double doors come into view n we take refuge inside. Da heavy doors are enuff ta hold wa massive wave of peepers, but ill never forget da sound it made. All dose peepers, now just black blood seeping in underneath dhe doorframe.   In dis new room, its large n cavernous. Above us is a big fancy chair, n someone sitting in it. Her tail flitting back n forth, Nariah stands n approaches. Next ta her, Bricky says it looks liek da one he sent fer help back in da Shadowed Grove. Dat figure then transforms, revealing da death dream demon Nariah has been helping all dis time.. Ugh i wish she would come down from dat ledge already! Im able ta swipe her wifh my sythe real quick, befoar da death demon floats over da chasm ta engage us. Nariah summons two bug monsters who go after Bricky befoar runnin off n making herself invisible. Wifh all our might, my freunde n i fight fer da grove. Its not easy. If not fer tobias’ healing circle, i dunno if i’d’ve lasted half dis long. Bricky is enwebbed by a bug monster, but manages ta transmute so much emnergy he makes his own sorta rage. Hims form is now overcharged n overgrown wifh muscle, buzzing wifh electricity. Da dream death demon ascends back n onto a ledge, n casts a nasty lookin spell at me. Its cold n smells liek wet dust, but i manage ta shake it off. Tobias makes sure im ok, worried cuz he says if dat spell had killed me even magick wouldnt bring me back.. Dat thought inspires a renewed rage wifhin me, i run n leap over da chasm after da demon. I hack n slash at him, til through its wispy essence i can see its shiny core n plunge golden cross into it. It shatters, its energy throwing me back onto da ground. Tobias finishes da last monster off, as Bricky throws a giant’s tooth at nariah. It doesnt smash her liek we hoped, but she is very pissed off at all dis. She blames bricky as da undreaming wrinkle in her plan, n portals herself away. (blame yerself, you stupid traitor!!) As we pick ourselves up n dust ourselves off, Bricky allows hims excess energy ta dissipate n he looks mostly back ta normal now. All through da castle, we can hear da echoing sounds of doors locking. Tobias ushers us through a portal back home, n we manage ta stay together dis time. on da other side, we see da tree we came through heals over. Life seems ta return ta dis part of da forest, as even da red lilies are white again. I breathe a sigh of relief, n pray da pepol of da Shadowed Grove can finally feel safe in their beds. But on our walk back, i ‘member i plucked dat red lilly befoar we left. I quietly place it in my traveling garden, n skip ahead of Bricky n Tobias “i bet i can beat you there~!”

first trial: oasis restored!
12th of Ember

guuuuut morninggg~! we are soon ta be at sapphire springs. after a whole week of very demanding trainin wifh hunzah, im grateful bwicky offers ta sit me on hims shoulders fer da last stretch of travel. (he dont feel honger, does he not feel tired either?). we reach da end of grassland, where da forest feels warm n inviting (not creepy liek last tiem, but im still on da lookout fer glowing fey-shrooms.) just liek befoar, we woulda never found dis place wifhout da tabaxi’s guidance. perfectly hidden in an outcrop of tall trees is a small village built around an.. (wat did luna calls it again?? ah yes!) an oasis! but fer now its just a huge pit, wifh only a little water left at da bottom.. well, me n my freunde hope to fix dat. we take a moment ta notice how dis village is built moar permanently, n all da pepol seem to be real young or real old. unliek da nomadic warriors we’ve been traveling wifh. soon an older woman approaches - long blueish-grey fur, dark blue eyes, assisted by a huge staff. nalani, da current guardian of sapphire springs welcomes us solemnly. fer hundreds of years da tabaxi could rely on oasis liek dis one ta survive da droughts, but she fears dis could actually be da end fer her tribe.. its sad ta see all da hope gone from someone so wise in her years. all we can do now is pledge her our best efferts come morgen.   after helping unload from travels n make da evening meal, my fellow travelers can finally take a sit by da fire. we are in da middle of laughing off our exhaustion by trading stories of our grueling training, when two tabaxi rush past carrying a bloody mess of an instructor on a stretcher! (dis guy is zerstört, just painful ta look at..) tobias is quick ta offer hims medical care. as he gets ta werk, we notice ede has also returned. her training ended early, since she all but murdered her teacher.. da group tries ta ‘splain dat not everyone heals liek her n bricky can, n you cant always take werds so literally. drexla says it best, dat dere is a diff’rence in combat and training. so even if shes stronger she can still benefit from learning other techniques. ede is insistent she only did as she was told, how she still limited her powers ta just a quarter of her might.. wow im maybe a little scared of her now. i feel.. threatened. i see some of myself in her, but she comes from somethin altogether diff’rent. shes trying her best ta understand, but her swollen pulp of a teacher shows just what happens when someone so powerful misunderstands how ta use it. in moonbright, whenever i got too rowdy or lost control, i would snap back surrounded by scared n terrible faces.. she cant understand dat lonely kind of shame, maybe she dont have dat part of her anymoar.   ultimately luna insists bricky is da one ta train ede from now on, as he may be da only one who could survive it. ede’s eyes light up when brickyfruen agrees ta spar right then, da sliver gleam grows wifh her eager grin. she hits bricky real hard, dhen somehow she vanishes! even her scent fades from where she stood, so shes not just inbisisble. bricky seems ta get serious - hims eye glows red as we draws da liquid sword. once she reappears, ede is slashed by da blade n cries out. no reaction from bricky. strangely, all a sudden ede isnt da scared girl anymoar. her eyes are red, n she makes blades come outta her arms! she is unnervingly calm n deliberate as she rushes bricky, but returns ta herself as soon as she makes contact. she seems ta get it now, tanks ta bricky, n she tells how sad she is fer going too much (still only her partial strengfh.. sheesh.) of course all my friends wumder where der verfickt she went to if she werent inbisible, n she calls it “da veil”.. bwicky seems real familiar n helps ‘splain it as a place of “power” pioneered by a mister wollenstain. he kept her in dat painful place fer a long tiem, til she was used to it. (ugh another evil doctor i wansta murk..) i thinks we’re all curious about dis place, but im da only one who ignored bricky’s warnings (hehe). i take ede’s hand n in one step we are in a wasteland. i can still see our frens, tho dey appear liek smokey black forms here. i hold onto ede’s hand fer dear life, but when i look ahead its not just her face looking back ta me.. deez must be all da “others” in her head she spoke of, da ones who help her fight.. i look down at my own hand, n see drei – mine, a gnarly claw, n a soft pretty hand. just liek dat dream.. while it felt liek ferever in da veil, fer ev’ryone else it was an instant. i dunno if i would ever go back, it was so cold n felt liek my mind, my skin.. ev’ryting. ev’rytin in me felt liek it wanted ta tear apart in all directions. bricky’s worried face softens only a little on our return, hims pat on my head is heavier. but i survived! n now i just wanna warm up by da fire n craft wifh my freunde. dis was jarring fer sure, but i cant be discracted from tomorrow’s trial. dont have a lot, but im able ta brew some crystal coral fer luna so she can be sturdier fer a while.   der mornin of our first trial. no time ta waste. luna, tobias, n me are led by hunzah to a hidden underground entrance. already my nose tickles wifh a sharp, dry stench coming from da hatch. luna n tobi also get bad feelings, n luna hands me a healing potion as hunzah gives us our objektives. in addition ta restoring da wouter: luna must find items of da fallen venterers fer deir families, tobias must trust only hims magick fer healing, n i hasta prove my valor by slaying da damn tings responsible. we make our way down da stairs, n into da tight, winding corridors of dis place. we quickly learn ta take notice of da markings made by doze dat came befoar at da end of each turn, telling of da dangers ahead. luna is remembering bits n pieces of da maze as we move forward, as well as mapping our current route. i rummage through my bag, n find one of lady kree’s creme color sticks ta help mark each turn and important intersections. as we continue deeper, a heavy pressure surrounds us n a raspy voice echos to us ta “GET OUT”. we pay no mind to it. we stumble upon a room, lit by torches n we find da bodies of three tabaxi scouts on da ground. tobias notices movement n approaches, hoping one could still be alive. nope, a buncha nasty lil rats ‘splode outta da body!! frick! tobias n luna throw tons of fire at ‘em, while i furiously bite da heads offa as many i can. (too gooey rotten nasty ta eat, ptooey!) once da room is cleared, we continue “north” ta find a vast area taken over by fae-shrooms. while it was so beautiful – dripping wouter collecting in small pools, n so many types of glowing flora – our group already knows it only signals danger. my friens discuss our safest route, but da idea of wading through all dis is too scawwy.. then i ‘member, a while back in arknoka i found a rare shimmery bark n brewed it fer extra sneakiness. i rummage through my bag fer it, n present it ta luna n tobias. ive been saving dis fer a long time, i tell ‘em, but dis is it. i shake summa da shimmering inky froth onto my hands, n pass it ‘round ta share. we rub da stuff into our auras, coating us in shadow. i dunno ‘bout da others, but i still held by breafh at ev’ry corner.. but finally we reach regular halls again. woah, dat potion let us avoid all da shrooms! (or worse, fer all we know!) (thank you hebe, where would we be without you) staying north, we begin ta hear someone (!!!) talking. stayin hidden but peeking ‘round da corner, we can tell its a hume lady dressed in grey robes n shawl talkin in sylvan ‘bout how “dey’ll never find it.. ..da mistress needs us..” n dat someone else will be here soon! we gotsta find it before dat happens! luna sees dis lady walk away into da wall, so after waiting a bit she checks fer if its a spell, but da wall itself is illusory so we can follow her right through! once on da other side, i notice a cottage door behind me after hearing a sound at da back of my head. im so confused, so i ask my friend fer help of course. but i guess dat was a mistake cuz once tobias turns around, da door takes on another form n starts pulling him in! tobi is transfixed. i hafta pull hims tail ta keep him away but he only snaps out of it when luna gives him a smack. da door (which has a fuckin tounge and teefhs?!) gives up on eating us n backs off. most wall markings dis deep in da maze showed danger in all directions, but finally we came upon a new symbol: wouter! da problem is from dat point on, is all magickal darkness. tobias tries ta banish it away, but no luck. i can smell da wouter, it must be sooo close! we make a plan ta hold hands wifh eachother as we walk, while also keeping our other hand touching da right-side wall at all times. we reached a couple intersections along da way, always keeping someone anchored to da wall while we fanned out, so we could feel fer moar corridors n keep track of our position. i tink its safe ta say we were all deathly afwaid of getting lost in dis labyrinth, especially after luna’s story of being trapped fer months.. cant be too careful.   despite da darkness, by skimming da side wall wifh our free hands we found another illusory gap in da tunnel! we made our way through, into a cavern of glowing runes n stones wifh an altar in da center. a huge lumbering creature wifh its back to us stood befoar da altar.. luna is quickest ta react, shooting da thing wifh lightning bolts befoar it can notice us. as dat thing finds its bearing n makes its way ta face us, tobi blesses us n lends casseopia ta help me as we all brace fer battle. we will redeem dis wouter fer da tabaxi!! we steadily damage da first witch, even while getting poisoned by her hordes of slimy rats. a zweite witch appears as her sistur cries fer help (yea youd better cry!), n targets luna who holds it off wifh her electrified staff. knowing others might keep showing up, we grit our teefs n attack wifh ev’rytihin we got. “awy-tarwy!!” i cry, summoning da grand cross n giving da first witch a mighty slice. at dis point she actually looks scared of me! (dis big ol’ magick thing, scared of a lil bogbean? heheheheh it feels gut.) she runs from me, towards her sistur fer help. but grand cross wont let her heal at all, despite her desperately guzzling her poisons. so i chase after her through all da swarming rats n deliver a final slice through her chest, n watch her top half slide offa her torso! all her rats bubble n melt away along wifh her. just in tiem, as da second witch has stunned luna, tobias n me rush ta her aid. liek in fort irrigan, tobias again seems ignited by da need ta save luna n vanquishes da last witch wifh a swift blow. wifh her last breath, she threatens “our mistress will get you!” befoar fizzling away. wifh dat, da darkness is lifted n we have a moment of deafening silence ta catch our breafhs. i make sure ta rummage through da goop left behind by da witchs, n am rewarded wifh two beating hearts of arcane essence! looking around, luna finds a whole pile of tabaxi bands ta bring back ta deir families. so much loss.. dat ends today. as we approach da center n tobias extends hims hand, asking hims twilight mother ta cleanse dis place, da altar n surrounding runes all begin ta glow. wouter ‘splodes out into da room from deep below! an aura from da altar surrounds n protects us all as da powerful current washes all da witches’ magick crap away. peaceful blue lights appear ta guide us safely outta da cavernous tunnels, where we find hunzah n her regiment waiting. after giving our report of all dat happened, we return ta sapphire springs to da sounds of flowing wouter n cheers of celebration. nalani is first ta welcome us back, apologizing fer being without hope yesterday. she hands us a smol chest as a gift, n tobi opens it ta reveal a cloak from da ocean! it was a bestament from da tabaxi-eelfolk alliance, letting da wearer breathe onderwouter n take less damage from fire. it woulda fit mr.v’s style, but luna was right ta point out how itd help bricky a lot too so he’s gonna wear it fer now. now dat our first trail is over, n all of us fulfilled our personal assignments, its time ta feast! most of da tabaxi rightfully gorge demselfs on wouter, but da smells of roasting foods also begin ta fill da air. tobias, luna, n me all make our way through da crowd of pepol, ta reunite wifh da rest of our friens. bwicky looks relieved ta see us, n hurries hims pace ta scoop me up fer a hug (i was always gonna come back, silly!). he tries ta clean da dirts n rat guts from my face but im too excitedly tryin ta tell him of our great underground adventure! after da three of us washed da muck off (thank gods we dont gotta ration wouter anymoar), we all gathered by da campfire wifh a share of da feast. finally, we have a chance ta share da events of today as well as our spoils. as we all traded materials n helped eachother craft, i cant help but be overcome wifh love fer my new fam’ly. fer good or bad, we all stuck wifh eachother long enuff ta get stronger n do real good fer deez pepol. im so proud of us! befoar tings get too rowdy, nalani sends a messenger wifh bottles containing da results of v, drexla, n bricky’s extra training today. as dey drink, v is rejuvenated, n drexla is invigorated wifh an ability ta use fer da next trial. bwicky on da other hand didnt pick da right one n goes blind in hims one organic eye, ohs nos! tobi tries n fails ta fix it, but i assure bwicky we can find a new eye in no tiem!   da celebrations last well into da night, n even wifh everyone drinking tons da oasis remains full! i get whoever i can ta dance, but respeck when some would rather just watch or rest. i dont ‘member fallin asleep, but i woke up laying over a log outside (hardest ive slept in a long time!) im impressed ta see da tabaxis working so efficiently da morgen after such a party. dey have many wagons already loaded up wifh wouter n supplies, ready ta travel to surrounding settlements. sham-la-tam is soon ready as well, our next stop being da golden horizon waystation, a place of commerce n a hub fer armor makers. fer brekkfass our group discusses da next trail n decide luna, v, n drexla will find da ruins first, den we’ll go after mr. peepers. as we join hunzah n ready fer departure, we notice a crowd of grateful tribesmen behind us ready ta see us off. children approach ta give each of us travelers a lil box containing gifts of shinies n craft materials. (dey already gave so much, i pwomise ill put dis ta good use!) as we journey on, we take advantage of downtime n shared materials ta focus on crafting. drexla uses da hag’s hearts i found ta make an ax-itar fer bricky plus ammo n new gadgets. luna, tobicat, n me brew a buncha potions. luna n drexla are finally able ta pry matthias’ device from tobi’s arm. i help bricky werk on a breastplate, n a surprise fer ede, all while he continues ta teach me hims language. im finally making breakthroughs, n i can follow simple conbersations now! as fer ede’s surprise, a while back i asked her favorite color. she didnt quite understand at first, which was my whole point. after talkin through it, she plucked a flower she really lieked n gave it to me. bricky had a great idea ta make her a new outfit, somethin ta reflect her personality moar. luckily doze pretty yellow flowers she lieks were bountiful in deez lands, n i collected a whole lot – enuff ta make a potent leather dye. bricky n me later presented her wifh a beautiful armored yellow dress, n i never saw such joy on her face! i was surprised ta see her body adapt ta da dress, almost morphing it as part of her now. as she happily twirled around, she took my hands n i gladly twirled wifh her~ bricky looked just as happy at first, but hims smile seemed ta fade. what could be on hims mind..?

second trial: relic returned!
18th of Ember

been travelin fer another week just about, n we’re almost to da next waystation already – golden horizons. musta been when we made a turn onto da last stretch of path, cuz luna received another memory! she was wifh hebe, setting out ta defend zendra cove from reports of monsters way back when. sounds liek da same things are happenin still, datsa long time.. we can see da settlement in da distance now, sitting atop a wide hill in das meer of grassland. as we’re walkin in or alongside da cart, we have a lil snack (pocket jerkyyy!) n try plannin ahead. brickyfruend asks v ta get him a replacement eye during hims trials, in return fer borrowing da eelfolk cloak. v tries ta show me all da diff’rent potions n powders he keeps in hims jacket, but he got all weird about it when bricky asks what we’re talkin about. i try ta snag one when he’s not lookin but v is too fast! hm, well drexla vouches dat da stuff is good, so maybe next tiem..   luna n drexla get to talkin about luna’s alchemy training, n if she’s seen any fae. luna dont remember much from before 50 years ago, so drexla pulls out her reason fer askin – da flower in a jar. she feeds it some dirt n it really seems ta liek dat.. it grows new roots n da colors are so strong its almost glowing! no one in da group is happy about dis, so drexla wraps it in a cloth fer now. bricky sees her lookin thoughtful still, n offers ta help. he says maybe he could find dat magic shes been lookin fer, if she allows him ta peek into her mind. she says yes, flutters over to hims shoulder n dey close eyes fer a bit.. i watch dem, small reactions in deir faces but nothin alarming. drexla starts quietly crying, n soon after wakes up asking what happened (woah, so no one is conscious of dis process but bwicky). dere is a memory of drexla dat bricky shares, n is new to drexla herself. dere was bubbles, bright light, n a voice declaring “it was a success”.. bricky mutters dat he n drexla must have moar in common than we thought.   we’ve officially arrived at golden horizons, making our way through da open markets to da central plaza. da city is busy, lots of bartering n pepol of all ages coming n goin. moar men in dis place, dey seem ta make n sell lotsa armor n weapons here. as we move through, its nice ta see da signs of water been returned. dere are active wells at vier points of da hill, n new plants sprouting all around da old trees n revived grasses. once at da center, we take a moment ta settle n notice pepol are all lookin at us.. to our surprise, many of dem bow. we understand its fer da wouter, but still feels strange. i bow back. a robed n heavily scarred figure approaches, introducing themself as nalith, da loremaster of dis waystation. (she looks soooo cooool.. shes definitely seen plenty of history firsthand.) she gets right to it, n takes da trialtakers ta discuss dier task ahead. in der meantime, tobias had noticed a dome-type structure on da edge of town, built very diff’rently than da rest of da settlement, so we wanna go check it out. its an armor n weapons shop, manned by a silvery lionfolk who greets tobias heartily n tells us hes called jorun ironfang. dey carry demselves away in conbersation, while bricky n me browse hims stuff. (very plain things, nothin we need. but whatevers on da ground must be free, so i grab all da stray nails i can n shove ‘em in ma pockets!)   da rest of our friends briefly meet up wifh us at jorun’s befoar setting out fer their mission. tobias, bricky, n me report fer our training. it was lotsa werd puzzles, but lastly i hadta play a strategy game against tobicat. somehow, i won! bricky said he never played dis game befoar either, but im sure either of us woulda lost if bricky had played instead.   we had some tiem to ourselves after our training was finished, tho i dunno if dat means i should worry fer our fruende under da city.. i wonder what kinda eye v might find fer bricky underground, or what tobicat will have jorun make if drexla finds good materials when dhey get back. i realized i had been chewing on a wooden piece from da game set, n carefully snuck it back in da box. i dont think anyone noticed.. maybe ede hehe but she wont tell on me. at sunset, da land is washed with warm oranges n greens, n our friends finally return to camp looking worn out n beat. we can see da glowing solar relic carried in luna’s arms, so they was successful! but first thing she does, is take tobias by da shoulders real seriously. she declares she is reswearing an oath to protect him, da “heir”, fer hims great grandfodder. tobias of course acknowledges her wifh thanks but really wants ta get started on healing ev’ryone. attention shifts to varanus who gots a steamy pile of fur from a freshly skinned frostfire yeti (IM JEALOUS I WANT ITTT). but hes got somethin folded inside too! its an eyeball, kept slimy n warm ‘specially fer brickyfruend. tobias helps him install da new eye, since its a little too big ta just pop in, but it werks and is even better than da old one~! it makes him a little less “normal” looking, even wifh hims upgrades. i sure never seen a person wifh a half red, half blue eye befoar, but it looks so cool!   once ev’ryone has stopped bleeding at least, we make our way to da decorated tent at da height of da hill ta return da stone relic. luna leads da way, allowing drexla to run tests to identify it as a source of healing energy, but refuses to let bricky even touch it. i try to pipe up: “‘member last tiem? bwicky touched da demon stone n hims eyes made a special color blink n maybe it was a log entry or even a message or what if - -” but no one could hear me in da commotion of bricky’s attempts ta swipe at it n luna effortlessly keeping it out of range. ah well, same outcome hehe. i touch da demon stone in ma bag, just cuz. upon return to da altar, da stone goats above n begins ta glow. we can feel a protective presence wash over da entire city, n nalith turns to us wifh a beaming smile of relief. they did it!! she gifts luna a sunstone, n declares tonight a time of celebration. at dis tiem da results of our training are also revealed. i got da power of iron skin fer da next challenge (eisen innen, just liek bricky says!), n all of us were rewarded wifh rare materials! tobias received a punishment fer hims loss, but didnt seemed bothered at all. we are quick to divide our spoils n collaborate: tobias trades drexla, so he can make a breastplate n she can make a katana. v trades me hims frostfire pelt fer my adamantine, so i can make luna a reinforced leather bodice, n v can have drexla make him some gauntlets. one moar thing befoar heading to da party (i can already shmell da meats cookin!), luna takes me aside n pulls a light blue kaftan from her bag. she explains how its a magic item, n will grant me special abilities. befoar i say i couldnt possibly deserve dis special of a ting, she says it belonged to hebe.. its what she woar when dey were young n adventuring together. i bring it to my face n breath in a familiar scent.. it really was hers. luna smiles, n encourages me ta put it on. its sooo big at first, but suddenly it fits just right! i let out a little giggle, though tears are welling in my eyes n luna just scoops me up fer a hug. ill repay her kindness n efforts to retrieve dis, i swear. all us travelers now proceed to da festivities, where music, food, n smiles surround us. luna tells us of how underground dey found da old home where she, hebe, n tarjan used ta all live together. wow! and she wants ta take anyone who wants ta see back down to it, cuz dere’s also a magick pool of wouter near da sanctuary also. i wanna go so bad!! i wanna carve ma name somewhere. luna laughs, promising we can go tomorrow. now i wanna jump n dance, burn off some energy so i can has second supper. i leave luna ta feast n rest, n run off ta rejoin da celebration~

glimpses of da past, a mentor i never truly knew
7th of Ember

we travel a few moar days before we are close to da tabaxiz, which is so much better wifhout all dhose glowy mushrooms around. everyone’s luck seems ta be turning up, cuz all of us is able ta find some useful tings along our travels. i found a few things, one of which is new to me: a bogglecap! i could make oil wifh it, or it might be useful ta make someone blind fer a while, hah! but when i went ta log dis new fungus in da manual, i noticed a tear in da very back part of da binding curling up. i found a strange papier craftily laid between.. its signed by hebe. i sit right where i am in da forest ta read it, n read it again. she first says she will always watch over me. i pray das true. it would make her so happy ta see diz womderful group i stumbled into. she tells of a lost taur, who was her adventuring partner n mentor. they taught her to fight wifh saturn, n later gave it to her. n dis letter is her record, officially passing it ta me.da power made her live longer dhan any tabaxi befoar, she says. no reason ta think it wouldnt be da same fer me.. but who knows how long a thing liek me is “supposed” to live; probly no one of my kind has died a natural death in a long time. hebe closes her letter wifh love, und a surprise. a name i recognize.. luna??! (how common is dis name???)   i let out a sharp exhale. holding da note tenderly to my chest, da closest thing to a hug i can give hebe’s ghost. she was my real momma, n im glad she thought so too.   all is still n warm fer a moment in da tall grass, til im brought back to da present by da chatter of my freunde gathering back at camp, telling of dheir spoils. when i return, im greeted by bricky who shows me a new trick he learned! hims eye flashes gold n he can make coins n jerky n moar out of just nothing! of course its never really nothin.. i feel guilty fer asking a second helping of jerky (but i still do.. its ok cuz i shared with ede!).   drexla hopes luna could distill somethin from da fae flowers she found ta give her a magick. she shares how empty and lonely it feels ta be wifhout magick of her own, asking luna if she ever felt dat way. before she can answer, luna is struck wifh a vision! we are quick ta brace her, as is our new normal, n keep her safe while we wait fer her to process. tobias takes me real quick into da dreamscape ta tell hunzah we are close, n she welcomes us. she tells us we are already under observation n must pass a trial befoar we are allowed into sham-la-tam. luna later confirms dis, as she encountered a wolf who took her magick from her before she was taken in and trained by da tabaxi. (bricky asks her a funny question: how she knows its her memories shes seeing? luna reveals her reflection isn’t always her current one..) luna n drexla turn out to have a loss of magick in common, tho drexla doesnt ‘member if hers was stolen from her or it was just never hers ta start. she also doesn’t have a lot of memories from befoar waking in dis world. dhere must be hope tho, if luna’s magicks are back now! luna receives another vision: memories of her time with da tabaxiz, brutal training without magick. i feel real bad to ask, but i dont think it can wait.. so i ask if she remembers any freunde from dat time, n show her hebe’s letter wifh her name at da bottom. da whole group uproars at da insinuashon, but again luna’s eyes glow n she is elsewhere for a moment. she was hebe’s peer, who helped train her alongside tobias’ great-granddad when da rest of da clan gave up on her limp arm. (wow, Luna is da closest thing to an auntie ill prob'ly have)   da group discusses how dis power is passed on since lady kree never described a sword or anythin fer pipp, it must be somethin else. hebe’s letter mentioned a word she would call upon in battle.. im scared to say it at first. i stutter before finding the conviction, n hold saturn up high as i call out “ary-tarwë!” luna is transfixed, eyes glowing once more as we watch saturn’s blade transform and lengthen, partially made of the night sky. a new constellation appears way above us – da grand cross. luna remembers how she thought hebe died, protecting them from da dangerous glowing mushrooms. da power of her will to protec her friends manifested dis magickal sword. i dismiss da grand cross blade, n give da group a chance to try wifh no success. its only me who was trusted wifh dis power.. hebe, i’ll do my best ta make sure your choice was da right one. so much has happened, all in one night, so ev’ryone is eager to get some slep. some of us have much to think about.   da morgen greets us wifh heat, n my clothes are already sticking to me. we set out ta prove ourselves fer da tabaxi. we find a path to follow, n drexla scouts ahead. she spots masses of shadow moving through da grasses, n as we continue to make our way luna is first to notice wolves in our path. she shouts in terror, alerting us to da threats but refusing ta keep moving. poor luna, deez verdammt shadow-wolves took so much from her.. she is always so confident n assuring of da rest of us, i wont forgive da wolfs fer dis. bricky holds her first to avert her eyes, but dhen takes a purple energy from luna somehow making her less scared.. she seems relieved, so i dont tink twice n rush forward, hopefully to keep our enemies as far from luna as possible. another wolf approached from da rechts, as i attack da first two wifh hefty slashes sometimes i manage ta get ‘em bofh in one shot! da third wolf let out a loud, eerie howl dhat stuns luna n v wifh fear. tobias tried his best to heal us, but something was stopping his magicks from werking. we pressed on, drexla helped obscure the field with shmoke screen n protect cousin horse from being targeted. i am knocked down, trying to hold off da two wӧlfe on either side of me but faltering on one. i am quick to get back up n take a bite out of one, needing to regain any energy i can at dhis point. bricky raises one of da dead wӧlfe, a blackness overtakes its eyes n it begins ta fight as our ally. its not much longer befoar we have da whole pack subdued, n killed. almost instantly, tabaxi emerge from da grass ta commend us fer passing da test n gather up da spoils. we are then guided to da mobile village of sham-la-tam. (bwicky is excited fer hims new pet, so at first i let him set me on its back ta ride it to camp.. but its soft flesh was like trying ta sit on an old rotten log! no no nevermind!!)   da tabaxiz are incredibly stealthy, dheir whole camp was hidden dis whole time. it seems liek dheir tents are made to be set up n taken down at a moment’s notice. we are greeted by an elder, “serene,” who welcomes us as now a part of sham-la-tam which is a pepol not a place. she asks about da lights dhey saw da night befoar, n i know shes talkin ‘bout ary-tarwë so i show her real quick (it looks so cool even in daytime! aaahh!). serene is shocked, recognizing da weapon she tells us of da most revered battle maiden, legendary hebe! (whaaat??!?) we all have trouble reconciling dis legend n luna’s experiences. dis musta been humdreds of years ago, so da story had lotsa time ta change but it doesnt hurt any less fer hebe’s story ta be cherry-picked. serene was happy ta listen ta luna tho, tellin us how much of dheir oral history was lost over time so luna could possibly help restore some of it.   tobias shifts focus ta dheir drought, n hims promise ta make wawter. bricky offers to examine him first, since hims spells werent working during our earlier encounter. turns out, tobicat had dhoze mushrooms inside sucking up all his magicks! we could see ‘em, but bricky was able ta remove dem, leaving him wifh a crystal mushroom essence in return. drexla asks to have it, but bricky instead stows in away in a pocket. now tobias is free ta make lotsa wawter, n moar wifh luna’s help. da tabaxi are efficient, quickly distributing it to everyone. some are loaded with backpacks n take off to deliver ta nearby “waystayshons” as dhey call ‘em. its explained ta me dhat da eelfolk in zendra cove are limiting da tabaxiz access to wowter, how cruel! fer why would dhey feel da need ta do dis?   hunzah finally returns wifh her scouting party, n we are presented an opportunity ta train wifh dem if we keep traveling. lucky everyone said yes, im so excited! its going ta be difficult, but worfh it in da end. we will be able ta return n defeat v’s pirate freunde wifh confidence! hunzah encourages us ta meet wifh da elder farah, a historian in a circular hut at da center of da village, ta make her stories of hebe more complete n accurate. its so nice ta be accepted here, liek we are all on equal footing n dhey take our claims seriously. not da harshness luna n me expected. in hunzah’s werds: “ev’ryone has strengfh, even if its not physikal” (tho hebe’s history was not all dere, it seems her values had taken root.) passerby even nod ta brickyfreun n children are only curious about him, not judging or fearful. my heart is warm, as we all deserve dis respite but especially him. but i started thinkin.. moonbright wasnt liek dis. i ask tobias if he knew why, n he tells me a story from his momma: myrin pepols stay home or else dhey lose what “makes dem.” hm.. i wumder how all doze tabaxiz got a whole boat-ride away from home..   luna endures another vision, n asks if me or mr.v ever touched a sort of magickal substance? not me, but v tells of a time hims legs werent so good. but he was swimming in deep wowter once n made contact wifh a glowing liquid dat made ‘em better. luna asks cuz hebe also touched a magick stuff dat gave her strengfh n allowed her use of bofh arms! still, my n luna’s reason fer glowing is still unknown. since dis last vision, luna says she can also see auras more easily, n bwicky’s makes her sad.. it looks liek magick needles stabbed all over. bwicky decides its time ta share hims official desigmation wifh da group: “corpsefist.” and ede’s is “veil assassin.” he failed hims trials fer dis desigmation, but doesnt change how he was designed fer violence. our friends are all quick ta encourage bricky (dis is why i love dhem so!) so he can find hims own reasons ta live. he should focus on what he wants, n we will focus on finding a way ta free hims from matthias’ protokols. bricky seems happy wifh our werds but still resigned, telling me again dere is power in emnarian. (one day, ill get ‘em right.. its a pwomise.)   befoar bed, we all gather ‘round farah fer a story. besides tobias, hunzah took hims elsewhere fer talks. da central hut is cozy, decoration embroidered n painted into ta canvas itself. many stories are depicted on da walls here, but tonight farah tells of a battle maiden. the only “grand” battle maiden of da tabaxiz who sacrificed ev’rything to save da world. she points ta me, dat im her successor. i dunno even what ta say, but ev’ryone is looking at me. ev’ryone is.. counting on me. i thinks i understand hunzah moar now.. our first encounter in arknoka she was shocked at my story. but now i see, besides hebe being impossibly old, she also gave all dis up.. n never went back. why?

change of plans
17th Belis

fer da week we travel to zendra cove, dhe piwate crew keeps ta demselves. dhey werk on fixin their boat best dhey can. i help throw buckets of wauter outta dhe big hole in da side, then i thought splashing some at a crewman would make us all laugh! we could all use one. but i was toldta kick rocks instead.. feh! whatever, it was boring to be quiet n thinkful to myself anyways. when it got quiet, i would ‘member my dream..   de odher nacht, i had one of da most realest feeling dreams ever. i was back home, in moonbright. i could see hebe outside her hut, stewing up somethin fwagrant in da cauldron she never washed, but i cant even take one step forwerd befoar im whisked away. now im at a fork in de strasse.. one looks liek any ol dimmin girl, but her hair looks liek mine.. she smiles n walks away wiffout a werd. dhe other side is a wild n mangled thing, a creature wif no control. on its hands and at its feet are whats left of my friends.. but somehow bofh paths smell liek death. just then, another path appears and i hear many many voices chanting, growing louder. they say “survive… survive…” over n over as da blinding light at dhe end of da third path takes shape. a being wifh sharp claws holding a sword approaches. its too much, too too much! i dunno what to do! i want to call out but cant breathe, im pounding my chest trying to open it n finally, somethin happens! my froat feels weird, n im suddenly able to take an extra big breath, and a huge “wwrrrooaaaarrrrr!” comes outta me! when i open my teary eyes again, im back at de hut. i meet hebe’s gaze and she nods to me. no words, which was often her way. alls i wanna do is run to her, bury my face in her apron..but i know when i step, da dream will end.. n so it does. smells liek da early early morning, so i wait it out in my hammock til my friends wake. i can hear bricky’s energy hum in dhe hammock below me, but even if he dont sleep i wont worry him wif dis now. sure it was a scary dream, but hebe’s acknowledgement must mean it’ll all be ok. (they’ll all be ok..)   now, a whole week has passed. still no sign of mr. bloodyhooks, which dont bother me but im still curious. wifh da boat so messed up, youd think he’d wanna help fix it, unless he’s cutting hims losses. ah, well. so liek evry morgen, today i run up on deck ta see if our view of da sea has changed, n it has! anovver darker blue sea is right up against da lighter blue sea we’re currently on, liek dhey cant mix! (are all seas liek dis?, i wumder). soon the shmells of tobias’ cookin flood da whole boat, drawing us all togevver. (‘cept fer drexla and mr v who were testing shiny new device.) ede n me wonder what we think zendra cove will look liek, or what kinda pepol live dere or if its all pirates. its hard to imagine without much to compare wifh, but thats what makes talkin to ede nice. she’s kinda liek me someways.   as i finish bwicky’s share of brekkfass (sorry ede i didnt think ta ask if you wanted some til after i eated it all..), my eyes wander around deck. luna is staring out ta sea …but in a moment her body changes, stiffens. that only seems ta happens when da visions take her, so i waste no time in rushing over ta spot her n make sure she dont fall if da boat shifts. but as soon as i grab onto her, im also glowing?? all over too, not just my eyes liek luna is. it dont hurt, so i stay to protec luna but i holler fer bricky n tobias to help. dhey bofh experiment and do a lil touch but neither of dem glow. thankfully soon luna is back and tells us of her new memory: she had been to zendra cove before, with her papa who was worried about somethin at da time but wouldnt tell luna about it. i wumder if we’ll find out when we get dhere.. how long ago was dhis again?     not long after, we come upon de cove. its liek a huge sorta-circle carving inland, wifh buildings on land as well as along da wauter. luna said most of da city is underwater actually. but somethin she didnt mention was all da buildings made out of many diff’rent shipwrecks n junk. all da pirates on da boat start shuffling around hurredly, putting all sortsa stuff into barrels fer whatever reason, while da travelers have a big discussion about what ta do next. we musta looked weird sitting right out front fer as long as we did, so befoar we could agree on a plan – pow, bam! da boat is being shot at, and da force of whatever hit us lurches us all off our footing, but unlucky luna falls overboard n drops into de sea! in da same instant v calls out to us and dives after her. waiting while still being shot at wifh cannons feels liek time is froze. it takes too long fer an experienced swimmer liek v ta come back, so bricky hands me a rope tied to himself n dives in after dem bofh.. at least we know bricky can’t drown, so i have faith in my freunde n dig one set of claws deeper into da boat’s railing n wrap da rope around my ovver hand one moar times. drexla takes atom down too, n soon im relieved to feel a tug at da rope! tobias n me pull them all up in a barrel drexla magicked them all into, n we finally got our bearings enuff fer v ta steer us to shore. deres barely half a boat left at dis point, but on our way ta shore we notice a group of pepols walking in our direction.. (dey’re probly wifh da guys dat shot at us n wanna fight..)   while we hurry ta unload torvas n da wagon from da ship, bricky tells me a lil secret (hehehehe v also glows! glow-crew~ only hims legs, he says. somehow ta do wifh luna just liek me.) so we’re all ready ta go, pushing da wagon through sand into da forest while da pirates cant decide if dhey wanna stay wifh da boat or not. dhey trust da nice eelfolk dockhand who says its no worries ta leave it while dhey start on repairs, but once we’re all passed da treeline n observe da goons who were following us befoar. dhey eye da ship, n soon begin to raid it but not finding much. da biggest of dem shoves da nice dockhand into da wouter, n even kills one of his scouts when dey had no new infermation.   after making our way moar further into da forest, sarsoon covering our trail behind us, we decide ta keep going towards de tabaxi village while sarsoon stays here ta babysit de cart n bomb barrels. at one point we cross paths wifh a tabaxi n lenonin traveling to de cove fer da pwomise of better resources. tobias was de only one dhey noticed, so da rest of us listened from da shadows. one-a dem had scars all over deir body, n told how dhey’ve nowhere else after being deemed too weak fer da tabaxis.. hm. i sure hope im good enuff. as we continue on, looking back we can see dat same group at da city gate telling da guards about who dey met.   dhis forest is real quiet.. pretty dark, too. some of us notice more n more bright yellah mushrooms along da path. my first thought is ta eat one, ta log it and da effects in ma book but luna cautions me. some of us don’t seem ta notice da mushrooms at all, liek golkir who takes luna fer a dance while i was in da middle of talkin ta her! no one can get through ta him til capt’n v slapped da music outta hims head. we now find we’ve been led deeper into de forest, where da magick mushrooms are ever bigger dhan befoar. when we thought we’d all lose it, drexla shoots holes in da canopy of trees wifh v’s new “gun” thingy and da sunlight burns all da mushies away from us!   we’re able ta travel safely fer several hours, only seeing a mushroom ev’ry once in a while. somehow it feels liek its watching us. i do my best ta be helpful fer luna, n we navigate da group toward a grassy meadow. luna’s eyes are glowing again. she says she can see bubbles of magicks all around here, but when she tries ta get closer its liek da grass zapps her of energy. i pull her back out of da toxic grass n somehow her energy is back and im glowing again. so luna has an idear. she calls v over, takes bofa our hands (v’s leggies are glowing blue!), n togevver we walk into da tall grass. its amazing, as we make our way further to de source of da bubbles da windswept grass becomes a vortex of sparkles n glow of all colors. in da center is a glyph, its cracked which is where all da bubbles are comin from. i can only watch in awe as luna reaches out, manifesting a key of purple, blue, and green in her hand. she drops it into da ground and da glyph fades away, and da forest’s ominous energy wifh it. i swear, i can hear da same echo as in my dream.. "survive.. survive.."   once we’re back outta de grass, – oh no, bricky! what der heck happened?! he’s in a buncha pieces, and only half put back togevver sittin at da base of a tree, so i make sure ta help him out while we tell all about what happened in da magick grass. apparently no one else saw da magick liek we did, and werent even allowed ta follow us in (das why bricky was all busted, poor guy lost a fight wifh grass). drexla shares how a voice spoke ta her earlier, n it was probably a faerie since she also got sent a message written in flowers right outta de ground. but since luna banished da glyph, drexla says da fae energies are gone from dis forest. maybe we made it harder fer drexla ta contact da fae, but i dunno maybe das a good thing..

V's verdict and a surprise invitation
13th of Belis

da first days after battle, Bricky n me wanna help rebuild so Fort Irrigan stays sicher n togevver (‘specially after all da shit we went through ta save it, hah). all the while, my efficient frien Bricky is also trying ta learn me his ‘mnarian language. but in all da languages i know, i never heard what de verficken a “grammar” is. still, i thinks im doin an otay job. sometimes, i miss watching Hebe’s experienced hands werk day in, day out. but I feels her memory as i werk alongside all da townspepol n listen to Bricky’s techmical explanashons. my heart is warm (n brow sweaty) as we steadily get deez walls built back up!   finally dis afternoon is der trial fer our pirate frends. we had da mornin to eat brekfass n prepare, since we’re all ‘ssociated wif mr.v n must also attend. Drexla returns to de inn, feels liek i havent seen her in so longg! shes been real busy wif her latest projeck, a robet named Atom. she activates it, shows us how she uses liek a suit of armor (wAOH! and he had hims own will? how?? amazing) Drexla says her son takes after her papa, which is so bery sweet but some liek Luna finds it kinda creepy. maybe he’ll grow on her in tiem~ right befoar being summoned by a whole squad o’ guards, Luna got on Ede fer talkin about murdar which to be fair isnt real smart right now.. Bwicky was prickled, thinkin Luna maybe wasnt respekful of Ede’s personhood. (pepol can still be blabbermoufs..) wif all dis in mind we decide to leave her at da inn, wif instruction ta shush til we get back. our path thru da inn was lined wif guards. some cursed Captain V as we passed, others wished Tobias luck n safety fer all hims help healin n feedin those in need. dere is a growing crowd outside, as we wait fer commander Brightshield to begin. she’s got the shiniest, heaviest lookin armor i ever seen, wif lotsa winding tree symbols. (my chair is so groß i hafta kneel ta see anythin past da table) but even Brightshield isnt as sparkling as all da offerings left fer dat guy V killed. everyone must miss him, ‘specially when compared to Drexla’s old boss whoz seat is bare. us Twavellers choose Tobias to speak fer us, since he’s the most responsible. questioning goes as well as we could ‘spect – V deals non-ansers n Drexla proudly states her reasons fer what she did. Luna righteouswy stands up n pleads fer da rest of us not receive punishment, but the decision seems ta been made. Brightshield n Highbloom talk in private fer a while, n return ta declare us all exiled from Fort Irrigan. murmurs from da crowd stand out to me, lotsa pepol say even tho we defended dem maybe we brought danger wif us in da furst place.. not to mention da murders of important pepols. we were even warned that dis COG organization will seek deir own vengeance fer Drexla’s boss. (those are the same guys who cuts up my kin, right? great..)   outside we are met wif Ede n Torvas, wif da wagon n all our stuff from da inn tossed inside. its not all bad – some of the dispersin townsfolk wave us off, wishing us luck. Tobias receives a gift from Highbloom, a book! we have some tiem befoar sundown, so most of us plan one last shop-n-forage trip. but befoar we can set out, a loud ‘xplosion is heard from Capt’n V’s ship! Tobias doesn’t let der fuer blaze fer long, casts water on it. but a whole half of da materials v was hauling got ruined. (i jumped on da chance ta help Golkir dig thru da mess n toss da charred junk!) the crew’s demeanor changes as V passes around a note delivered to hims moments befoar, from the guy who did dis. V sighs, n ‘splains da situation after a push from Golkir: some Captn Silvertongue seeks revenge on V for poisoning him, inviting hims crew to fight da 200-strong Wyvern’s Guard atta place called Zendra Cove. dis guy killed all da families of V’s crew, which is why dey poisoned him in da first place n thought he was dead up til now. (guess we’ll help make sure he’s dead dis tiem? we’re goin on da boat after all, tho we’re in no shape ta go straight into anovver fight. 200 ‘xperienced pirates is a lottttt diff’rent than a horde of dummy chimera.. but there will hopefully be better spoils to grab off ‘em after~ heheh)   we do our last-chance gatherin n shoppin, n hear a distant scream from Bloodhook (he wasnt there fer the ‘xplosion, we’re soooo lucky we’re not there ta deal wif dat tantrum!) Luna points us to der alchemist’s shop, n Brickyfreun is so nice as to pay fer my magik ink! in return i helps him craft a sturdy saddle for Tobias n Torvas after we get back n i help hoist da wagon back onto the ship wif drexla’s guidance. is not long befoar da boat starts creaking against da waves, making its way outta port. der crew is still feelin serious, mostly silent n focused on shipwerk. the sonne is high enuff fer us ta see a smol crowd gathered n waving, even as we get further from the docks. a few archers even set off some colored pops of light up into da sunset sky, lookin so pretty reflected over da water. it really isnt all bad.. i shove my hat in my bag n shake my hair outta its braid, letting da sea breeze flow thru it.   we’ve made a good ways down da coastline, n Tobias’ feast is finally done!!! he was werking on it a while, during which Bloodhook made a fancy tea party. Drexla’s cup was as big as she was.. n she used it to her ‘vantage by takin a baff! (in fronna everyone hah! im sorta jealous, i already miss hot bafhs T_T) talks over dimner turn into a plan ta find V’s old girlfren through hims dreams. Luna n i stay behind cuz dis tiem Tobicat takes Drexla n V. Luna n me make a face at eachovver,, not knowin how ta feel as we realize our whole actual bodies was goin into der dreamscape dis whole tiem. i thought we jus fell asleep liek normal! da group return shortly n tell us of deir success, but as Tobicat spills moar details Luna is incensed n tearing into V fer abandoning dis lady. in a way der sound of my freunde bickering is starting ta feel comforting (but dis topic is new n diff’rent.. im hearing lotsa new terms liek “celibate,” “pull-out,” n “take another”.. i wumder what it could all mean. what da hells did V do to dis poor girl??)   later dat night, (after begging fer a last shnack from Tobicat,) i make my way below deck. i crawl into a hammock, n tell my goodnights to everyone. im relieved not to be trapped at da Fort anymoar, belly full, n among friends, but fer some reason.. i dont slep well at all dis night.

Scheiß! Battle of Fort Irrigan!
3rd of Belis

in der morning, i hear da familiar knock of brekkfast. I follow close behind bwicky who answers da door, n just as i hoped, he hands me a couple warm bread rolls from off da food cart. i scurry back ta where Ede is sitting n we eat together, listening as Tobias ‘splains how he found Mr. V at hims hometown in da dreamscape. turns out V admitted to killing dat hume commander, Stormblade. we dont has much time to discuss before Drexla gets a message on her beepy doodad about a whole army of chimera heading fer fort irrigan! only a few miles away (will dis happen to every town we go to now?? i could never ever visit home if das it..) V shows up outside our window just long enuff fer an argument when we get another knock at da door – louder and meaner than da first one. Tobicat promptly shoves V back out da winder, agreeing to regroup later. da guards reealllyyy want inside, but we make ‘em wait as long as we can so V can get away. they barely listened when we said we were all still nekked! sheesh.   deez guards are all humes, dressed just liek da ones we saw arresting Mr. V yesterday. they toss our room around lookin fer him, finding nothin. They then walk us to some council meeting. on da way there we feel da ground tremor, n see whole buildings flying in the air! all da Dimin buildings are being carried off by drones.. do they already know about da army? do they not have enuff hope to fight fer their home? Highbloom is first to arrive after us, n hurries into da chamber where we are all sat to meet wif da council members (all but da dead one). as we wait, i just sit quietly on my hands.. everyone is talking, with urgency n worry about what to do. What could i hope to comtribute, i dont know how to plan shit! i never been in a city dis big, seen so many pepol. ..not since Arknoka. i tune back into my surroundings when a scarred, pale woman wif short spikey hair shoves through da door, carrying da corpse of a chimera over her brawny shoulder. dis is da one whos most in charge here, Commander General Brightshield. da whole band of soldiers on patrol wif her sacrificed their lives so she can be here wif us right now.. there is a determination in her emerald eyes that reassures me. All doze troops believed in her, and she believes we can win this.   Brightshield scoffed, unsurprised to hear of da selfish Dimin’s escape. Drexla leaves ta see about whos left n convince dem ta help. she returns shortly after, having been promoted ta Dimin Commander (wow wow! impressive!) her n Luna take dis opportunity ta inform da Commander General of Dr. Matthias’ role in causing all dis mess. they urge Brightshield to send him away, so he cant easily interfere. he is summoned to the meeting hall (i hope she listens, n just kills him! i’ll help!). i dont even smell hims yet, when i can feel Ede stiffen next to me. then she runs off! Bricky runs after her, and i after him. All da pepol are panicking, but i manage to weave through the bodies and we manage to find Ede at the end of a short alleyway. shes crying.. when we approach her, Bricky kneels down to comfort her. she expressed her fear of Matthias, of his plans.. i can only hold her hand in solidarity. her n Bwicky share a unique existence, after all. he tries to comfert her best he can, sharing how he also felt dis way. “we all hate ourselves in the beginning”... just then, we saw Dr. Matthias pass the alley – followed by Luna n Tobias. Bricky n i agreed to take Ede to da harbor in hopes we can put her on a boat out of harm’s way. its hard not to feel anxious while everyone in da street is panicking, but we press on. Ede starts freakin out again, so we quickly run n hide underneath a dock. sure enuff, Matthias's chonky bootfalls approach overhead. Bwicky holds Ede close, almost liek to hide or shield her. i hope she can feel safe with us now.. i smile n rest a hand on her shoulder, as i sign fer her to be quiet wif us. Luna again follows not far behind Matthias. i can sorta make out what shes sayin.. ooh! sounds liek shes kicking him outta town! ya take dat Dr. Creep! but..uh.. from under the beams of the dock tho, i confess accidentally seen up her skirts.. “you shoundnt look,” says Bricky, putting his big ol hand in fronta my eyes. (gah ‘course he noticed, now my face feels so hot!) i let out a giggle, having stolen such a look. Bricky seems to soften, a grin creeping onto his face as he rolls his eyes.   once Matthias was gone, we left our hiding spot and met witf the rest of da group at the dock. V’s ship had finally reached Fort Irrigan, so we was able to put Ede on board wif the pirates we know rather than some random stranger. Drexla used her new techmology to load da puddyhole shoppe n a couple other buildings onto da boat, too. from there we made our way towards the front gate, which Brightshield assigned us to defend. using all of our available time, Luna helped me make healing potions, n i gave one to Drexla so everyone in da group had at least one. Bricky even gives me a treat~ a last minute Emnarian lesson, something i been asking fer a while– bad words! im gonna need em tonight, das fer sure. thanks you Bwicky, lets kick da sheiße outta deez chimera!   i feel so much better about da battle than i did dis morning. my friens make da best plans! tobias had the idea fer biiiiig trenches to be dug a ways out from da city, n Luna was given 10 casks of alchemic fire to play wif. Drexla also cast magicks on da ballistas, so they fire on their own! having a plan, n working wif da Commander-General, it's way more than we had in Arknoka. still, we were better off keeping some fear wif us. befoar we prepared to take our positions atop da outer wall, Bricky huddled us all together. da group needs a name he thinks, whether da people use it ta cheer us or remember us. (hmmm..) all of us have a moment, n agree we’re just helpful travelers at our cores, so das how we’ll be known: The Travelers of Extrayus.   from my place on the wall, i can see far into da night. yet theres no landscape, only a seemingly endless horde of chimera. Drexla cues her drones to drop da first wave of fire, blowing up da outermost towers n transforming da trenches into a blazing river. Luna creates a wall of light to impede any chimera dat manage to climb outta da fires, remaking it at da base of da gate as dey advance so no one can climb da walls. hundreds were just incinerated before our eyes, now we just gotta hold da line. Bricky urges us all to get down behind da stone parapets, but im too entranced by da sight of massive fires n da swarm passing through them. i learnt my lesson real quick after im hit by da first volley of arrows bweeeheheh. while dodging endless arrows, our group throws everything we has against da horde. casters are castin, n me n Mr. V throw our retractable weapons. V is drawn to da left side wall, having detected enemies trying ta climb up. i make my way to da opposite wall, in case a similar attempt is made. i kept myself useful over dere by taking turns shooting da ballista, trying to help V get ridda the drei kenku-mera that’d managed to make it atop da wall. when we thought it couldnt get worse, three moar creatures erupted from inside da courtyard! they’re extra monstrous lookin too, n while da green flying one goes straight fer Bricky da other zwei quickly flank me on boff sides! aah! one is a blue fleshy spider thingie, n the other is liek a red electric worm wif muscles. da blue guy shoots a typa web dat ensnares me fer what feels liek ages as da sounds of battle continue beyond my sight. i can hear booms from moar tower explosions, plus one inside da gates. now a fierce orange light bathes over everything, (im sure bwicky is fricking der fick out right now.. i need to get up). i try my best to wrestle free, wif no luck. tho i am glad dis happened to me no ones else. my anger n frustration help me fight off da stupid numbing poisons in dis web, so im able ta keep gnashing at da red one at each opportunity. soon da blue one tries ta make its way inside down da wall, but i wont make it easy! i find a strong grip and hold onto da stone fer all i got, but its not enuff ta keep it from going after da others. it has so many arms, its able ta shoot another web, dis time hitting Luna! fick!! after finally breaking free of da web stuffs, i turn ta see everyone else swiftly rushing ta Luna’s rescue. Tobicat even leaps from da wall ta spear it clean thru! dis means Bricky n me are free ta finish off da red one. once V tastefully finishes da webby one by cuttin its head off, da world is strangely silent fer a moment save fer da still blazing flames around us. as we catch our breaths, scanning fer moar enemies, cheers can be heard slowly building from da other quarters of da fort. da Commander-General rides through da courtyard, officially declaring victory!! most of our friends meet up to talk wif her. Bricky steps around da goopy pile dat usedta be da red guy, n gives me a big hug (one-a da best things after killin, is getting a good hug! hehe). he says he's sorry he couldnt be there when i got webbed, but i giggle cuz I’M sorry i couldnt handle myself n go help him! hes da one wif all deez arrows stickin outta hims back! “awh don’t worry Bwickyfrien, its otay! we got ‘em. now let’s fix you up”   befoar making our way down to da others, i turn ta watch Brightshield’s party ride off from atop da wall, chasing down da few retreating chimera. i see a transformed landscape of fire n ash, littered wif enemy bodies. dat coulda been dis whole city... ..but we stopped it from happening! my friens, i mean – Da Travelers! we saved Fort Irrigan!!  

new friend, same foe
21st of Lipiae

The horrible noises stopped. the chair descends, and the dome decompresses n rises above. Usually i shmell Bricky befoar i can see him, but im not picking up on anything yet.. As the shmoke clears, a tall silhouette approaches – Bricky!! Once hes close enuff n greets the group, i grab his leg fer a hug, n feel a (not-so-cold) hand on my head in return. He seems way less ..dead. No smell, no cold, n his stitches look less severe so hims skin is lots smoother. all da same color too! Through his still torn-up coat i can see the metal plates on hims arm are also gone. woah dis machine does so much! I can only wonder how much moar it has changed in my frien. Our attention shifts when we hear the mechamical noise of da chair recessing into the floor n being replaced by a stone table. On it was a buncha papers. very detailed, numbered drawings of all of us (Bricky 0, Bogbean 1, Tobias 2, Drexla 3, Luna n V 6). We can only assume it’s a ranking of how much Dr Smiley lieks us.. For what reason we has no idea. Fer now we hope all the stupid tests are done n we can just leave. Bricky calls out loud to ask if we could, n surprisingly the room begins to rise and a door opens before us. We proceed carefully, and bricky is able to switch on a light in the next area. he seems very familiar wif dis technology, n is happy to explain how it werks. It was nice at first – a buncha fireflies captured in a bulb, dancing and lighting the room up bright green. But then, a puff of some sorta gas filled da bulbs, making the bugs line up in a very unsettling way. i dunno, i started to feel kinda sad fer them. We find ourselves in an industrial typa chamber, lined with rows of thick glass tubes with metal grates fer floors. Most were empty besides one wif mr. thornswick from the bar n what looks liek a lil girl hume. Drexla and Bricky start messin wif a control panel, pushin lots of buttons n dials ta try n release deez people. After a while tho, Bricky threw up hims hands in frustration, tellin us we should just smash the glass instead. Dis was the first time i saw Bricky so frussrated, and expressive! it was sorta funny really. We managed to get them pepol free… …just as the room became flooded with red light and a countdown appeared – we havta get outta here! We found another door, and Bricky very easily opened it wif a touch of hims hand. (seems hes been granted great permissions by Dr. Mathias, hm.) Da group rushes through and down a mineshaft tunnel as da chamber fills wif fire behind us. Drexla fires at the door (i think?) but hits the roof, causing a cave in! But theyre way in front, and Bricky n me are too slow. n even tho poor bricky threw me as far as he could, we was both consumed by the rock n dust. I was able to stay close to da side wall n keep a smol area around my head sorta clear of rubble. I squinted open my eyes n it was dark, and i couldnt barely sense anything around me through what smelled liek dense clay earth.. so I just concentrated on breathing, and before i could think a plan to dig us out i began to hear a crackly hum reverberate through da rock.. In waves, the sound got stronger n clearer until there was no moar earth around me at all. I removed my arms from around my face, and was relieved to see it was bricky. His eyes were glowing gold, and dimmed as the energy around him calmed. “sicher und zusammen, sicher und zusammen…” i hear him mumble to himself. He picks me back up n i can feel a static fuzz on my skin n hair fer a moment.   We travel down the mineshaft until eventually it ends, leading us out under the night sky just a short ways outside Fort Irrigan. Tobias tries to help the old man, but hims aura is all the way red now.. He ends up breathing his last n shriveling up into a pile of black sludge. Pretty greusome, i dunno if we wanna tell hims poor wife about dis tho.. most of the group agrees. so Drexla burns dat cursed form away, n Tobicat gives him a nice lil death prayer. As we all begin our walk back towards da city, Bricky n Luna are asking lotsa questions to the lil girl. She seems confused, liek she dont know who she is or how long she was in that place for. When we got to the front gate, da hellscared were on duty and forced a holy water test on anyone who wanted to enter. Drexla and Mr. V went inside no problem, not waiting around fer long. Then it was the girl’s turn, and she yelped in pain (shes just liek bricky! allergic!) her reaction riles up the guards, but things calm down when we decide to camp outside the fort tonight. We set up a simple camp, n once settled we turned our attention back to the strange hume girl. Luna looks her over, and finds her wounds already healed as well as a couple ports on her back – just liek Bricky. It was hard to read Bricky’s feelings during these conversation, but he dont seem happy to know someone else liek him. Maybe because she is so young? The atmosphere is heavy when Bricky takes her lil hands, and has to ‘splain how she is dead now, and not whoever she used to be. Bricky reassures her that he knows how she must feel, and says we should help give her a name. (it feels real lonely not knowing yer name, but i know how wumderful it is to receive one. What a speshul moment!) they picked Ede, short fer “Edelwaiß,” which Bricky says is a typa flower! (i need one fer my book now!) after dimner we leave Ede be and we all get some rest. To our surprise, she actually seems to sleep unlike Brickyfrien. befoar sleep i make sure to ask Luna about da book i took. she looks horrified (sorryy i knoww) but she takes it, n dusts off the cover. she says the author is dat Grindlethorp Thistlespine we met; he travels wif mr tony! we discuss da possibilities, but i wanna talk to him again to get his real story now.   In da middle of da night, i feel a jostle. I quickly move ta grab ary-tarwë, but its just bricky hoping we can have a talk. I yawn n nod in agreement, rubbing my sleepy eyes as we make our way to the far side of camp so we dont disturb the others. Hes very straightforwerd, n talks about how now everyone knows the process fer how hims prometheum is made. Hes powered by pepol, i know.. All the ones our whole group including Bricky wants to protec from Dr Mathias’ nasty plans. But thats just fer now! Drexla and Luna are way smort, so maybe soon we wont havta do this ever again. I want to think we can fix it, but fer now i have no words for what living off of death might be liek. Next i was surprised. I was asked to look after Ede, after if “somethin ever happens” bullshit.. Does he anticipate a thing soon?? (no no, not another one) I agree to hims request.. Its an honor from my friend. n i wish da girl no harm, but.. i will make sure nothin happen. Last is an inarian lesson. This time, a phrase: “eisen innen.” he ‘splains its importance in Undabar culture, n how i could maybe use it if we were to travel there. Its a motto, meaning “iron within” liek to show loyalty to da Realm. I repeat it a few times with him, then bring out my notebook so he can write it fer me. While he does, i reach into my bag n touch da cover of dat book i got from the Smiley place. pepol out there really do wanna kill thingies liek me. Bricky told the group about how dey use our parts a long tiem ago, but what tony said and now this book, and noww bricky preparing me fer deez possibilities.. Ugh. sometimes i miss my tree in Moonbright..   In da mornin, I thank bricky fer all hims help by making a holster fer his new liquid sword. n to make it speshul I thought pluto’s mark fits him best, so i carved it into the front panel. Ede is last to wake, and Bricky remarks that she doesnt even seem to be faking it. Wow she seems so lifeliek, even moar than bricky’s upgrade somehow. We make our way to da gate again, passing through easily dis time since it was humes’ turn on watch. We stop by a clothes store so Bricky can get a new coat, n Ede can have somethin normal-er than da lab stuff she had. We hadnt walked far from da shop when Tobicat noticed a flash in the distance, towards da docks. I take a long sniff in that direction, n pick out captain v. i let it leads us to a crowd of people, but no sign of Drexla or V besides da familiar shmell of burn. So we continue around da city, seeing what wares everyone gots. Bricky notices me starin at a food stall, n pulls out somethin even better – pocket bacon!! Bricky is so generous wif hims snacks, i could never repay. Our walk leads us passed da garrison, where we see a commotion of guards. They have Mr. V! They’re tryina take him away, but Bricky is quick ta get in da middle n demand whats goin on. They say v killed their commander, but v insists he didnt.. Then suddenly, smoke bombs go off! I saw drexla was here, but dis smoke smells different.. Not at all liek her pretty glitter bombs. When it all clears, drexla n v are boff gone. Did dey run away together?? Whats da truth?!   Da guards take V’s stuff away, n da rest of us group make our way towards a room fer tonight. Luna is very firm on getting da suite again, so we does (breeakfaastt!). We all want to bathe, but we find out Ede dont know how, so Luna n I are happy to help~ when we’re all rinsed i ask Luna if she could braid my hair, since i been gettin sticks n junk innit. She agrees to, and wwowww her plaits are so neat, i love it! Im pullin my vest on when Drexla returns through da window, n i hurry to gather wif the rest to hear her story of what happened. I thinks i believe her. Tobicat turns in early. Bricky has the idea fer us to make a bandolier fer v, which is real nice since those guards stole all hims stuff but.. Da whole time making it, i couldnt help but thinkin.. Is he a bad guy after all?

trials by fire, n then some
20th of Lipiae

In da morning, there is moar food courtesy of Luna n da fancy room we got. Shortly after breakfass, Bricky hands me the thing he was workin on while we all slept – a sheath fer my sickle! (Another gift, aaahh why spoil a thing like me? It must be nice ta have so much time ta get things done,,, but Bricky also deserves a real rest. Whatever form dat means fer him.) i excitedly promise him ill take real good care of it, and he points out a werd he engraved into da side of it: “mädrescher” or “harvester.” As Drexla heads to werk, da rest of us head to da market ta restock alls we need. Luna did me a huge help n talked to da shopkeeper for me. I thinks people charge pretty people less dhan weird ones, so while i thought of all da stuff i wanted i just called ‘em out ta her. As we all had our chance ta shop, da group notices a commotion gathering n a pillar of shmoke rising across town. We rush ta check it out or hopefully help in some way, n when we arrive we see our frien Drexla has crash landed one-a dem drones from outside da city. (wow she gets paid ta do dis? Best job ever). Tobias helps assist da few shocked n injured bystanders, but udderwise Drexla seems ta have it all under control as she flashes a shiny badge n directs pepol quickly.   Tobias gets permission ta set up his food cart fer business, so Luna Bricky n me follow along. V n Golkir followed wif Drexla. Im sittin on Brickyfrien’s shoulder when all a sudden there’s a lurch in his gait. Im surprised n ask what could be wrong, but Bricky is calm n knowing. He splains how he knew he would need a recharge soon.. n Dr. Matthias was da only one who could provide dat. I look at him – at his coat where inside he keeps da map Smiles gave him. I reach out ta Luna n splain. She is hopeful that maybe she can find another way, but prodding and poking Bricky in da park doesn’t learn us anything.. Even after reuniting with da rest of our group, most of us agree he has ta go see tha Doctor n should probably not go alone. Mr. V doesnt seem ta care, yet still comes along. We set out towards Mathias’ place, n head through da real fancy side of town. One house stands out among da rest: harsh design elements made with dark metals, with pipes sprouting from all over, flowing wif glowing yellow liquids. (Its real pretty in a way, but i dont liek it in da same way i learned not ta eat bright colored frogs.) We make our way past da huge long line n into a different entrance where Bricky speaks to a woman dressed in all white wif white hair too n a permanent smile. Bricky warns those of us who speak sylvan dat tha guards are crafted as he is, n dis is our last chance ta let him carry this out hisself. “sicher und zusammen” ‘member? We are lead to a big room full of dusty books n garish paintings of dat no-good-nasty-man. While we wait, i rummage through some books n flip through da pages. There are so many many drawings of lil green dimin, all different shapes n sorts, but all younger than bogbean.. N all were cut open. Guts, eyes, brains, everything had drawings and notes alongside.. (deep breath. no time ta read into it now, ill stash it while no one is lookin..) Dr. Mathias finally arrives and he teases us fer all accompanying our friend. I shmell somethin sweet building in da room, n befoar i can mention it, one by one our group is falling asleep! Im scared to tears as i drop limp, but Bricky catches my fall. I cant bear ta think dat dis same gentle Bricky could be ordered ta witness my dissection, or whatever fucked up shit hes got planned today..   I awake wif a gasp, immediately checking all over fer fresh sutures. (Thank gods, not today!) i see it’s only Bricky n me in dis room, plus a strange corpse lying in da corner. Bricky made double sure it was dead, n found a couple items on it. One was a potion bottle dat functioned as a sword (finally, Bricky has moar than a hammer fer a weapon~) and da other was a chest of living plants! New plants to keep, and log in da journal yayy. Thanks, corpsey~ An image projects onto da wall, making us ta watch da other group while they solved a puzzle room. At one point Bricky sacrificed hims right arm ta help them along – crushed it in one of Dr. Smiley’s twisted contraptions. But still a smile on hims face, n through it he says “Ze others would do ze same for us”.. I wumder if hes right. I forget he dont feel regular pain but still, now he’s lost even moar promefium n i worry. whats waiting fer us behind the only door in the room? Each room only leads to anovver, but we figure if we can find the end of one row of rooms, we could then find da center. Each door we pass through brings an ominous rumbling, a test, n moar doors. One was a buncha levers used to restart a timer, but we just had to trust n wait fer it ta run out (i held ma breath da last couple seconds aaahg). Another room was pitch black, thickest darkness i ever seen! Thankfully, if dere was somethin inside we managed ta avoid it by walking along da walls. I felt most scared fer Bwicky in da fire room, an on toppa dat i ficked up disarming a trap n got us blasted wif a flamethrower- shit! I took da brunt of da flames, bein in front as i was. (Is only fair.. I put us in dis situation. A few burns dont matter when i know my freen in probably terrified fer hims life.. I will do what it takes fer us all ta make it outta here.) Bricky musta felt da same, as da next room was a giant sponge and i was pulled into it. At first i held onto Bricky’s arm, but da force was boutta rip it off so i let go. I sunk deeper n lost comsciousness, but he musta saved me n found another door as i woke up beside him. I made sure to check dat hims arm was otay n still attached, but it was not long befoar we was swarmed by little demon creatures. Not knowing how many moar rooms we hadda endure, we avoided fighting dem n made a run fer da next room. Wait, dis room finally only has one door..   As we enter da final room, we see da big metal chair in da middle wif so many wires n pipes n tubes connecting to it. I look up at Bricky. He dont eat, but da way he looks at dis chair is one a starving animol gives – he needs it. No matter how scary it looks, we will proceed. Dr. Mathias mustntve been satisfied wif our puzzles, as a hydra monster made of bones n blood is conjured into da room wif us. Its just liek da one we fought at Arknoka! It likes ta grab wif its tendrils, so i move forward as Bwicky moves back so we can protects him. A shute opens off to da side – its Drexla n Captain V! I dunno what we woulda done wifout their help! Drexla’s shmoke bomb put da monster at disavdantage as all drei of dem pelted it from a range. I did my best to keep biting chunks out of it as it held me, until it decided to throw me aside n focus on da others. Mr. V is down, n things are looking bad! I ‘member da chest Bricky gave me had healing spores inside, so i grab a handful n throw it towards my friends. We last just long enough to defeat da creature. Luna and Tobias are allowed ta join us now, so da whole group is back together to witness dis process we werked so hard for. (Tobicat has a new thingamajig on hims arm.. Must be Dr. Smiley’s doing, definitely Undabawian.) Bricky is practically dead weight as i pull hims body towards da chair. He has scorch marks, bruises, dents n cuts all over.. as weak as he was, he still sent his last bits of energy to help me in battle.. He trusted me to get him here. We manage to situate him in da big chair, n as we step away he is lifted up an a dome is lowered overtop to complete da machine. As it turns on n builds power, da awful sounds of pained humanoid wailing grows. A chorus of wails n screams become indiscernible from any one voice, n as da tubes begin to channel black promefium into Bricky its liek da screams are gargled n swirling wifin da liquid itself.. Da rest of us are transfixed, helpless but to watch this process happen. Dis is what we wanted, it was our only choice…

money moves
19th of lipiae

turns out i jus needed ta sleep it off, n i felt lots better in da morning~ i was woken up by da sweet smells of breakfass, a reward fer fighting so bravely no doubt! da spread came in a fancy box, wif a note. bricky is da only one who can read dat language, so he opens it. i already shmash a couple helpings before he tells us dis is all a gift from mathias.. rrrggh i stew on how i hate hims guts …while we finish breakfas.. of course da group are interested in what da letter says, but also for if bricky tells us himself. he wantsta say moar, but he can only stutter some general details. i jump fer it, but bwicky is way too tall. drexla helps, swiping da papers from bricky wif her grappley hook. once reeled in, she tries her best ta copy it all in her notes. tobias steps in front of bricky, n i hold down one of hims legs ta give drexla all da time she needed. it was really fun teamwerk, i just hope bricky doesn’t mind. we helped him give us a whole map of fort irrigan, which is awesomeeee. but no one else reads inarian, so we dunno quite what da note says (besides what bricky told us, something about learnin lessons n contrats). drexla is quick ta zip off ta her new job. tobicat n luna decide dhey wanna visit da church, but not before a back n forth about an updated buddy system fer bricky – one person besides bogbean hasta be wif him. i tink about where i wanna go today.. i am paranoy about money. in da city everything costs shiny coins, not liek in da swamp where you trade goods or favors. i hear mr v(ARANUS hueheheh) talkin wif golkir about two bullitens dat offer moneys, n i sign me n bricky up fer a share. golkir grumbles privately wif mr v while bricky n i follow dhem towards da dark iron n stone part of da barracks. bricky said it wasnt a good idea ta go inside yesterday, but mr v assures us its otay.. -splash!- we are all greeted wif a sprinkle of water at da threshold. from on bricky’s shoulders i notice da water steams offa him, and (oh shid) parta hims face is melted! deez people must be attacking us, n now dhey’re all yelling: “hes one of dhem!” “undabarian scum!” v quickly maneuvers himself in front of us, cutting off one of da soldier’s hands (wow dis really is serious). i unsheathed saturn, aiming down ready ta jump offa bricky’s shoulders while v blocked any moar holy water from burning him. but liek as soon as it started, it all stopped. da commander lady marched in demanding explanation, n v somehow talked himself out of any fault (but? dere’s so much blood on da floor??). commander highbloom explains how dhey believe bricky’s kind is some “unholy, profaned combination of undead n machine.” everyone seemed so scared of him, hands on weapons n eyes fixed wide.. maybe others are scary-liek but no, not brickyfriend! (cept... when his body oozes black. or when hims eye floats outta hims head.. or when he steals essence from pepol… ah stahp! nevermind.) we opted ta go outside wif golkir while v got da info we needed from da commander. when v returns, seeing bricky in pain he supports him while we walk away. bwicky’s eye made blue at dis helpful gesture. by dis time drexla is off werk, n joins us shortly before we run into luna n tobias at a cross street. we catch dem up, bricky is allergic ta holy water as well as fire now. while da others visit a nearby rock store, i lead bwicky into a smaller side street where i can patch hims face up in private. i didnt see how bad before, but up close i can see all kindsa metal under bricky’s melted patches. sorry but i hadta poke my fingies in dere. but anyway, if pepol already look at him scary-liek dey definitely wont like dis.. lucky i took da opportunity ta skin dat hume before heheh~ i measure n trim da hide ta fit before carefully stitching all da patches in place. (hmm how will i source moar leather is gonna be impotant soon..) afterwards, da whole group follows tobias n luna ta someplace called “da senile maple” where da outside was carved ta look liek a silly tree face (creepy moar liek). my friends talk wif da barkeep about helping her sick husband, n she leads us upstairs ta deir room. i dont pay many attention, but i gather dat dis guy has moar demon aura dhan we’ve seen before. all cuz “good dr. mathias” gave him lots of nasty potions ta drink for medicine. it makes him not eat or bathe, n even rejects tobicat’s magik healing. (dat must mean something real real bad..) n cuz everyone tinks mathias is just sooo cool, its hard ta convince mrs. thornswick ta stop letting her husband drink da potions. but in da end she said she’d try. next, about a block away is a place called birch fruit stand. dhey were da last shop ta get robbed by da “masque” guy mr v n us need ta catch fer coin. mr v learned from highbloom dat dis thief strikes two nights at a time, so we gotta think where hes gonna hit next. we all approach da fruit stand, n i point out da one v needs ta talk to. she was real hard ta see bent down behind da counter past da smol crowd of pepol, so i helped~ da owner shows us where masque came up through floor boards, even tho underneath is hard packed dirt. (has pipp run away n turned ta life of crime?! dat is kinda cool.. but my friend wouldnt be dumb enough ta get caught!) we visit da neighboring shops, asking ta help protec dem from da burglar. i use dis opportunity ta buy some buckles n metal chunks fer future projects at da obsidian seeker leather shop . da shopkeepers were netherfelians liek at da iron barracks. dey wanted ta charge me moar just cuz i was wif bricky, cuz someone named “embargo” dont liek his kind or somethin. well i guess moar just means i can show off my maths skills, so i start ta count my moneys (ein, two, dree..). oh– hey! tobicat dealt wif da shopkeep before i finish. gee, i can keep my shinys aaaand da goodies heheheh~ da other shop was a smol building, made fer dimin, called puddyhole yarn. dey weren’t worried about deir store at all, n laughed at da idea of a thief getting in through metal. when i seen how drexla had all deir attention tryin ta sell her some wire, i took da opportunity ta carve my initial into dat cold metal dey’re so proud of. (witness meeeeee (later, when im long gone heheh)) each shop ensured we would have emergency access. da obsidian seeker left da door unlocked n an employee on duty, n da puddyhole left a robot in charge ta unlock da door if need be. in da few hours before dark, luna tried ta borrow grindlethorp’s tools again only ta find his group has left town already. but he left a package for her – her own mini lab! what a useful gift. tobias went inquiring fer new armor, but its a lotta money. when we all meet back fer da stakeout, we split up: drexla n mr.v at da leather shop, bricky n me at da yarn store, n luna n tobias outside in da middle. the outside group is actin natural, making conbersation. i hear a whirring sound coming from da puddyhole, n i peek through da dimin sized window – ugh its just da poopy robot making its rounds, no thief yet. a while passes n we notice dat drexla n her captain have been inside da obsidian seeker without any signal or communication wif us, liek dis whole time. maybe we should check on dem.. luna n tobias are closer, n we can hear a growing commotion as bricky n me make our way. we see a masked kenku run past, on da other side of da street. we cut through ta head him off, bracing fer a long chase, when hims whole body suddenly goes limp. we reach our mark n i can hear him.. snoring? definitely tobias’ handiwerk. so fast, n much less clean up dhan how i woulda done it. tobias restrained da kenku, carrying him by da feets as we all made our merry way ta turn him in. he woked up n haggled wif fer his freedom da whole way, but no one listened. once we arrived back at da barracks, bricky n i made sure ta stay outside n let everyone else handle da tradestuffs. upon return, mr v tries ta divvy out da moneys liek a pirate would. luna hasta remind him most of us aren't his crew, n its divided equally. luna had a good idea ta celebrate n all pitch in fer da nicest room at da inn tonight! we get ta take another bath n everything~! we still have time ta relax befoar bed, so i put on da thief’s mask (drexla asked highbloom if we could keep it), n i chase cassiopeia n jenks around our suite wif it. its not long til im asked ta “chill da fuck out,” so it sounds liek bedtime soon~

Fort Irrigan, moar questions dhan answers
18th of Lipiae

in da mornin we was treated ta lotsa fruits and grains fer breakfast, curtesy of da kenkus. it was not so filling, but dey had plenty n it was yummy. luna came outta her room last, we was kinda worried about her so was glad ta hear she wanted ta show us her new magick lantern. it was a crazy thing like i never seen before – it was able ta grow, da shimmering blue light enveloped us, n luna explained what looked like a star map, with one constellation glowing ‘specially bright. im happy luna could share dat wif us, i hope it helps her feel less alone in doze big emotions. from dere drexla rejoined us n we all met wif lady kree again ta discuss our next shtep. its decided dat we should go ta da hume settlement in da fergotten lands: fort irragin. dere will hopefully be a “lab-oro-tory” fer luna, n more information or help against da knoll threat. da kenku gabe us permission ta use deir short cut through an underground river (fuckim cool) and mr. v’s boat will havta meet us dere a week after (drexla is sending da message wif her robo-owl, gods speed!) we say goodbye ta miss pipp before leaving on da jade run. she can’t get luna’s tries at encouragement, cuz we learned her power isn’t trained for it is just passed down. dat means her gramma hasta die, and den she has all da powers, plus responsibility, plus dead gramma. her life is already laid out fer her, and dat sucks.   da jade run led us on a stone platform down a waterfall, which sounds so dangerous but we worked real good as a team ta keep balance n kicked dat river’s ass! soon as we got ta dry land, we made a smol camp where tobias teaches us how ta make a stealthy fire in a tranch. luna and tobicat kept watch n told us they seen spazzy groups of knolls traveling in da night.. dere is a week of travel still before we reach da fort, n while da knolls are often seen or heard at night we are lucky not ta draw deir interest. dis land is so barren dat most of our group has trouble gathering any materials, its just dirt and thin dead trees eberywhere. an occasional tumbleweed.. i sees why da myrin would ferget dis place. after what bwicky taught me was a five (5) days of walkin, fort irragin was finally in view. as we appwoach from da hillcrest, we can see the land around da fort is super different from da rest. many metal poles are staked into da ground, and emit a green glow at da tops (i compare da shade ta bricky’s green eye). where da poles are, on either side of a single wood n metal road into da fort, is farmland tended by mechanical doodahs. drexla flits around ta peek at deez robo-farmers as well as da poles, and tells us dey boff have buttons dat need a sort of key ta use. luna and v say passing closer under da lights gives dem a good feeling, like dey got a real good sleep or sometin. da rest of us just look at eachuver and shrug?   as we arrive at da door, ders already a few carts in line and pepol are sayin its gonna take til tomorrow ta get in! deyr bein extra careful ta check everyone fer knoll infection, and den some. tobias shares food with da cart in front of us n makes friends with grundle, a yellow lionen who tells us what he knows about da intake process. der will be another door after dis one, and it wont be opened til everyone is cleared and da main gate is secured again. when soldiers approach us, they ask who we all is, and why we’re here. most of us tell truths, like mr. v said he’s gonna sell stuff (lucky dey didnt ask him what, hah!). i thinks itd be easier ta agree when dey asks if bricky’s my papa, but once day heard hims accent we both had ta step in a different line.. (im sweating so baddd. does bwicky even sweat??)   drexla is found when da cart is searched, but she is playing possum in disguise ta look completely mechamnical so da soldier assumes shes my doll. i want her outta deir grubby humey hands fast so i take her, i just hope my careful-as-possible was careful enuff >_<” everyone else is granted entry, but before attention is back ta bricky n me, i shmell putrid knoll ass all around us! time ta fight, n deez humes better appreciate us fer dis. da knolls, which da humes called “chimera,” were surrounded da whole courtyard area and was climbin da side walls. bwicky and i held off da ones near da door, and drexla flew up da outer wall while tobias was quick ta set up his healing bubble in da doorway for all da pepol ta pass through. i got real mad da knolls were making us hafta wait even longer to get in dis city, and grew my jaws out. cuz if they could take a bite of me i gotta return da favor. i ended up using my sickle a lot moar since drexla made it retracktable, and bricky literally melted one of dem in front of my face!! so cool and grossss hehehee. we ran towards da door so we can helps secure da inside, n da soldiers gabe bricky no problems wooo~ because of him n everyone’s quick actions, we was able ta murk all doze chimera wifout dem killin anyone! ‘cept one got away – drexla said she had grappled a big guy offa da wall, and when he got back up ta see we killed da rest he decided ta run.. well da outer door was shut now, n da chatter is quieting down, but knowing dey can climb walls still dont make me feel too good. we regroup, and besides me using all ma energy we see dat bricky gots (one,, two,,) two arrows in hisself! tobias musta been so tired too after da battle, but he still immediately offers ta heal bwicky n me. tobicat is da only one i know who puts others before himself liek dis, but i couldnt keep fighting liek i have wifout him. he also lost hims spear in battle, it just poofed away when he struck da chimera.. (if it was me i would cryyyy) a hume approaches, looking very official wif (..two..tree..) 3 emblems on hims chest. he is shocked ta see tobias do magicks, liek i guess its not very common for myrin ta be capable so at first everyone believes it was all luna’s work. da fancy man tells tobicat his name is commander garrett, n ta visit da garrison commander seráphia highbloom if we wanna help some moar.   from dere we are admitted ta da city proper, where we see very diffren typsa buildings all togevver. we all head towards a board in da market clearing where pepols post deir problems. i wanna look for mr. peepers and ask bricky ta hold me up high so i can see moar, but no signs of doze yellow eyes yet.. and now all da humes are staring at us…. ugh if dey gonna galk i shoulda asks fer some shinies. drexla uses her goggles on da crowd, and she says quite a few humes have a demon red aura in dem.. so maybe peepers are here after all.   da group takes a few bulletins from da board n we decide ta first visit a momma whos lil boy wont sleep. it says he has nightmares, and me luna and tobias ‘specially wanna redeem ourselves from what happened ta ella.. on our way ta dis persons “house” we pass da laughing rogue inn, and a blacksmith. i start noticin dat most places inside fort irrigan have distinct boundaries. da smells are thicker in places, and i dunno.. feels liek i dunno any of deez stupid humey rules, so i will be extra careful. when we arrive, bwicky and i volunteer ta stay wif da cart on da street n evryone else goes inside. i know she asks for a sleep potion, but i dont tinks mr v’s drugs are what she’s talkin about.. soon mr. v is sent out ta trade me places, so its otay right.. i step over da door frame, n take a deep breaf. dis one was pretty easy ta find, i could still shmell a trace of lady kree’s perfumes on my friens and followed it ta de right room. but as soon as i found dem, tobias poofs da kid asleep and da mom is pisssssed! why tho?? quickest job everrr. da next minute, shes kicking us out. no moneys either! tobicat has us take da cart just up da street, and ‘splains how dis is actually good still and he can take us ta his dream from in here. luna and i nod, n brace for da trip. in da dreamscape we save da boi named rowan from three shadow giants in da form of his mom, one of dem wif familiar yellow eyes. tobias has ta help drag us against da wind force of deir angry screams ta even reach rowan, n den all our energy is taken just ta shield him while tobias concentrates on taking us away into his safe dream. feeling da winds calm n seeing da red sky fade ta soft purple was such a relief. rowan was able ta stay and have a nice sleep fer da first time in a long time, and tobias gabe him a symbol of his twilight mommy ta protec him before we went back in da waking world. so no moneys, which im still sad about, but it feels good ta help make rowan safe. now we wanna make our way ta de barracks, where tobias told dat he would help out wif healing some soldiers. on da way, we pass by an open area where a man seems ta be giving away supplies. we kinda peer over, just ta see what deyre offerin. free is good right? dis man is loudly declaring dis stuff is aid from “da iron realm of undabar” and it quickly draws a crowd. we see a lot of da potions are red, and drexla is keen ta put her goggles on. she watches a regular hume drink one of deez “healing tonics” n right den a demon aura embodies dem!! dis man,, he has a very toofy grin. v surprisingly volunteers da information dat he has done business wif dis man before.. its mathias. mr. smiley. i grit my teefs, and bricky’s shoulders tense. as the supply dwindles, a few of our party manage ta get hold of some red vials so dey can study how it werks. but before mathias leaves, he looks over, n tips his hat toward bricky n me. bricky is shaking,, my blood is boiling. it takes ebryting i has ta bite my tongue n stay put. instead of “making a scene” i pat bricky’s other shoulder, but i know it dont help..   again we try ta make it ta de garrison barracks, but we run into some familiar faces – mr. hamptony, grindlethorp, n kabana. dey persuade da group ta follow dem into a place called da minotaur n da star, where da smells were very loose n mixed up. da main shmell was something luna explains is “alky-hol.” myrins dont really use it, but humes like how it makes dem feel weird. it seems like fun, so i take mr. hamptony’s lead n drink. combersation inevitably turns ta bwicky, and tony starts talkin something about 7 lord and lady litches dat rule undabar, and how mr. smiley is actually known in da hume continent as a hero by lotsa pepol (uuggghhhh). da litches only care about “results” so dont have any rules, making fer some fucked up goings on.. ders a quiet moment where tony n bricky exchange some inarian words, a private understanding.. tony den draws bricky a map, showing where castle eisenstadt is relative ta da rest of da continent. hahah pretty cool dey have a swamp real close ta der too. i end up feeling “fuzzy” liek luna said, and now i understand its not real fur hahah its moar like under yer skin. mr tony kinda stumbles as he gets up and leans on hims friends as dey walk back ta deir inn, letting us know its “da bull n da bandit” so we can find dem again laters. real helpful pepol fer some reason.   we finally reach da barracks, which are split in thurds between da tree ruling bodies of da fort. da group splits up: luna and tobias wanna find commander highbloom n heal some soldiers, v n drexla wanna help da c.o.g. organization, and i stand watch over da cart wif bricky. he says he doesn’t feel safe going in dere at all right now, n im inclined ta agree wif him..   ta pass da time, we play some cat’s cradle and have a heated bout of patty cakes. a while passes, den a sudden chill in da air. mathias approaches bricky n me, flanked by cronies. bofa us are stiff as boards, n im sweatin again. mathias commends us for getting dis far by coming to fort irragin, and his casual way just disgusts me. i let him know wif a low growl, n he responds by commanding bricky ta muzzle me wif his hands. whatever, i wasnt even tryin ta do anything wif all deez pepols around.. but dis cocky fucker. its not enuff we suffer his voice. he steps forward, looming over n reaching out ta pat bricky’s shoulder! i really dont liek dat, and im also a cocky fucker.. so i jump up ta take his hand fer myself.   as soon as i clamped my jaws down inta his arm, his open flesh smelt foul n stung my gums. mr. smiley just laughed at me, n said i deserved a “lil treat”. hims firm hand takes place under my jaw n squeezes my mouf open, forcing all his nasty black blood down my throat! its liek a sulfurous sludge, n it burns n twsits all my insides up. when im dropped ta de ground i can barely take a breath before lurching over ta choke out all his rancid piss-blood.. n when i think it couldnt be worse, i watch da blood writhe and burrow its way down into da earf.   mr. smiley musta left cuz bwicky soon carefully scooped me up.. what must he be thinkin right now? i feel sad he sees me so weak. i cant avenge myself, much less my frien right now.. mathias is so strong.   i rest my eyes as bricky finds da rest of our friens, n we decide ta go wif luna ta see tony again. she was given permission ta study a dead chimera, so she needs ta see grindlethorp first. tony takes one look at my exhausted, sallow face n thinks i kept drankin da fuzzy drinks. we tell hims what really happened, but den he asks some questions about me. got nuffin ta hide, so i tell him all about my shape shifting, making fire, seein magicks, n da lil bit i know about my momma. he takes notes, n thinks on it for a moment. “so you really don’t know what you are? well..” i learn how a bogbean is actually a dimmin (like drexla?!) but a speshul kind dat mutates and adapts. mr. tony said da c.o.g. organization we’ve seen around da fort cuts dem up for study, and dont let dem live to be adults. so cuz im da weirdest and da oldest, regular pepols never recognized me. that could change as we travel, so i has a lot ta think about ta keep me safe. feels weird, knowing a whole instatushun wants me dead fer no reason.. just cuz im green huh.   we thank tony fer hims help, n meet back up wif da group after v acquires a room fer da night. as drained as i ams, da distant giggling n chittering of chimera outside da walls is enuff ta unsettle me.. im sorry bricky hasta listen all night, but im glad he stays wif me while i slep.

big impotant stuff at da kenku tempol

travel became sortsa quiet after passing da murdercart wreckage, maybe sos we can listen if we wills be next.. drexla espeshally seems off-put by sumthin, she been spending lotsa alone time in her tent. maybe shes just workin hard on sum speshul contrapshun? bricky makes conbersation wif me n da captain. mr.v as usual dont say much, so i tease about his secret name instead. v says he has lotsa reasons ta keep his name a secwet. i dunno, sounds compicated. as bwicky and i move ta talks ta tobias and luna, he whispers, “can you keep a secret?” and i giggle, “...mayyybeeee >:3c” and wow wow he tells me cap’n v’s name!! hehehehehheee i wuv knowin tings im not s’posed ta!   when we gotsta da front next ta luna, she is so nice ta ask me if i honger.. but just hearing dat word musta activated my tummy. all a sudden my belly was mad grumbling. luna says “miguel food!” (him what?) so i go ta hims bunk (no ones stopping me, did dey really change da no-eat rules??) i find miguel sleeping, and try ta wake hims up but my hands just go through?? even all his stuff is not real, and i made sure ta try touching eberytinggg. weird. i want ta tell da others about dis, but im already so confused, and soon i can only tinks about how much my tummy hurts..   (sniff,, sniiffff,, fuck dat smells good. waht is dat? shniiifffffff,, ah who cares?! gotta finds it, gotta eat dat shmell! right now right now!!) —-----------------------------------------------------------------------------   man whatever dat was, it was filling.. i vaguely ‘member eating, and now wakin up over bricky’s shoulder feelin like a whole sac o potatoes.. dey already saw miguel was gone, but decided its better ta leave him be and keep movin toward yook-teeha village. ya cuz dis way he doesnt get ta boss bwicky around and das good. but he was always free ta leave, so why he make dat illusion for us? hims up ta sometin else fer sure..   as we trabel further, i start to shmell meat cookin. but da closer we gets, da meat is overpowered by other rancid, mangey typa shmells.. (just like dat fucked up wagon we found!) luna sees where dey are by da shmoke in da sky, and sends her kittyfriend ta scout ahead. its definitey da dawgs lady keknu said about! dey’ve made a camp in sum old ruins here, blood in puddles everywhere (super gross, and wasteful too.) we knows itll make da kenkus happy ta kill em, so we plans ta attack! da plan goes just otay. liek we tried ta sneak up on dems first, but barely touching a wall made it collapse ((oops)) its ok cuz we still killed em good. i ran ahead and only got bit a few times. afterword, luna asked me ta carve off some ears and a head ta show lady kree (im so happy she asks me, its so fun). but da weird part was deez dawgs had differen eyes from eachuver,, and under da scraggly fur was feathers and junk?? i step back so woona and tobicat can test why deyr liek dat.. an turns out dey was all transformed into deez creatures without magiks. luna fears dey are all used ta be people from arknoka..   tankfully i had time after all da killin ta fix bwicky’s backwords arm, as he also got an arrow wound from a dawg just now. i made sure we was away from da ruins while woona cleansed dem wif fire (fire is super scary for my frien. close yer eyes, bricky!)   after we all situate back on da wagon, mr.v notices lil stone figures of ms kree dancing hims in da right direcshun.. and all a sudden we has a super smooth road ta walk on! i never seen anything liek dis, but da road leads us down ta what looks liek a cave but its… a big rock of lady kree’s face??! so da face cave swallows us, and we find ourselves in an underground city of rock n dirt. we still seems ta be moving too – da whole dome is! (dis lady’s earf powers are crazy big.. i hopes shes a frien and not a emeny.)   lady kree appears, greets mr. v, and takes da egg we found. leaves us wif her grandbirdy pipp whos gonna guide us ta da tempol where we can talks all private. pipp was same size as me, and only a year younger. as we passed other young kenku, dey was yellin teases and callin her “squeak”. i guess even if yous gonna be da chief someday, being alone makes you a target.. i wonders if we can help pipp somehow, liek convince lady kree ta chill out on over protecting her? i dont tink beating up her bullies will do much. back home, fighting back just made dem moar right abouts me.. so deres gotsta be another way. pipp is so sheltered, cousin was da first horse she ever saw! bogbean feels so worldly now dat she isnt da only one doin tings da first time hehehh. maybe we see pipp again, but we are soon at da voiceless tempol. she stays wif cousin and da cart as we go on and enter..   da tempol is beautiful, it resembles a fighting arena wif two massive statues inside – a kenku lady and a leonin man shaking hands wif eachuver. dere is also a stone tree in da middles of dem. i notice dat luna is very still, locked on the statues. i tug on her robe wif no response, den i look up and see only da whites of her eyes.. shes getting another memory back! she says she knew da statue peoples, liek personally for reals knew dem - how dis be?   before all da big impotant questions i know woona and tobias has for miss lady kree, i wanted to ask about da demon rock. i was gonna leave bricky outs of it, but da rest of da group was very forthright about his role wif da demon circle and arknoka.. ah well. i takes da rock outta my bag ta show her, and already sumting is weird – she cant move it liek she can all da other earf around us. dis means da rock is from a whole other place, but we dunno where.. i tinks bwicky knows, but like most tings he isnt allowed ta say ta us. da insubordinashun of da evil rock is very offputting to kree, sos i puts it away fer now.   lady kree den tells about da knoll dawgs, how many dere are near and how dey been comin and goin in waves. da eelfolk have also been attacked, sos we should maybe help dem too. but its bigger den dat, as she turns ta tobias and tells da story of da statues (her and tobias’ great grandpawents) lady rook, fist of da mountain (fuckin metal name), and tra’jan shadowmane, who fought and created da first pact ta unite da miryns a wayyyy long time ago. she says tobias gotsta unite all da tribes again, and she pledges hers as da first.   lunas memories take hold of her again – one moment shes frozen and da next shes catching her breaf. she tells us how she was dere when fist of da mountain died?! she believes da shadowmanes were betrayed, and someones else was da real bad guy. and now somehows she knows dere is someting speshul in da tree. so lady kree uses her power ta pull forf……a lightnin stone, liek da one in arknoka! after kree, tobicat, and v touches it, it keeps deirr mark on it. i also tries ta touch it, but i guess im too diffren from da myrin so it dont want my print on it. das otay.. (is why nothin happened when da knoll bites me, just da miryn) anovver ting came out wif da rock – a spherical lanturn wif shiny spinny trappings around it. woona takes it in her hands, and again receives a mem’ry. dis one makes her cwy,,   is a strange atmosphere when we leave da tempol fer da night and wander ta da rooms lady kree awanged fer us (everyone ‘cept cap’n v, who maybe has a speshul room somewheres else?). deres a lot ta tinks about, but we also is hekka tired from traveling and dis is da nicest room i ever been to~ i follows bricky ta his room, i finds da shmelly tings in da baffroom, and take all da fancy paints before leaving ta pocket da ones from my baffroom too heheheh. mr v is still just kindsa hangin out, so i asks him why he gotsta be so secretive? he might has moar friens if he let peoples help him. (i werked out da maffs, hes liek 80% lies right now). and i didnt tink he was gonna….but mr v told me hims name! i will be sure ta adjust hims diagwam ta 75% lies. its nice ta leave off on a positive note before bedtimes.   in da mornin, we all gather fer breakfast and notice dat a room fer mr. v had appeared overnight.. (but da name on it are “pirate prince” bahahahaha.) and woah bricky shmells da best he ever has (its liek an extra layer of chemical perfume over da dead stuff, but it do help). its been a long time since i could gets all da dirt and twigs from my hair too, it feels amazinggg.   we all seem ta be lookin our best right now, as we wait ta see what dis day has in stoar fer us.

on the boat again..
1st of Blis

as we leave da harbor, da ocean gets bigger.. big as when i first saw it after breaking outta dhis same boat. feels weird ta be back, but i also has moar friens now ta help if i do finds trouble, so is otay. speaking of.. so dhat guy drexla skewered in da watur was a fellow cwewmate liek we thought, as we could hear bofa dhem plus da first mate golkir all yellin at eachuver. bwicky said dhat must mean dhey gonna handle it, so he stayed playing patty cakes wifh me (damn why he’s so good at dhis game). but…da yellin turned inta screamin,, n i just hadta see whut made dhat dude so angy for maself. well, once i sees around da corner its drexla.. aboutta get eated?! didnt no one tell ‘em dhat crew is off limits?? even i knows dhat. in da end cap’n v swung in ta diffuse da situation, but left no one at da wheel so getting back on course took some sickly sudden maneuvers. (not da cool-sick, liek sea-sick).   after tings calm down, da group settles in differen areas of da ship since we gots 2 whole weeks before we get ta da next land we wanna be at. luna and tobias spent a lotta time in da cart togevver pwacticing magicks or someting. bwicky trades some of his shiny tings wifh drexla, and dhen makes cousin horse a cute new saddle bag in his signature thicc-thredd style. drexla is so nice ta use some of her new shiny orbies ta make my weapons better! saturn is now able ta hurt non-living tings, and now i has a bracelet dhat can bring my scythe back when i gotta throw it. she musta seen how frustrating it was fer me when i couldnt slash at mr.peepers, but now we is prepared heheh. when i got to show bricky my new features, he said dhey was cool but his eyes looked moar worried dhan excited.. i used my travel time ta tan da 3 hides i got, and sheesh i barely had enuff piss to soak em.. next time i might havta ask my new friens ta pitch in, since i wanna use dhis leather to helps dhem as we travel togevver. i also brewed some potions, and dhey look even better and moar sparkly dhan da one i made fer miguel in arnknoka woo!   after crafting, i still had time ta be bored so i found maself thinking about dhat angy red eelfolk dude. he’s a crewmate who goes by “blood hook”, which makes lots of sense when you sees him. it was so funny how he cares about dhis boat like his baby, so my new goal is ta tag my name wifout him knowin hehehehehehee. first attempt: fail. drexla found me before i could eben touch my claw to da wood, booo. dhey did have a team meeting earlier dhat day, so i knows drexla is just being a good crew membur. (will be all da moar satisfying when i can get my mark past all o’ dem hahahaa.)   all da fun was interrupted by,, ginormous flying orca whales??! do all ocean aminals fly on magick water?! dhats fuckim scary, …but …maybe magick aminals taste different dhan normal ones? i channel dhat fear and curiosity into my mouf, thinking i can eat my way through dis fight. i jumped at the first whale i sees, but overestimate my jump and end up on tops of it,, and its skin is too swippery even ta bite into. da whale dhen rises even higher into da air above da boat, bucks me off its back and face-first onto the deck. ((fucking ouch)) im not down for long, as i soon felt familiar cold hands put me back on my feet. i can barely get my bearings before dhose same hands shove me away from da vast shadow of da whale who is also falling.. and at da last second i sees bricky’s green eye glinting before he is completely crushed outta view. i dunno if my eyes can glow like bwicky’s, but after dhat all i felt liek was RED. deez whales are PISSIN ME OFFS and KILLIN MA FWENDS what da FICK! luna was da only one able ta wield her angers tho, and was able ta hold da last whale for drexla ta finish off. da job wasnt ober tho, since bwicky was still stuck under da first whale carcass. tobicat and me did our best to lift da body, but we couldnt sustain such a load fer long. luna and drexla was able to pull bricky out (and separately, his arm..) but luna couldn’t clear it in time and her legs got smashed! dhis is not da best day fer us.. and poor Luna was already havin a bad vacashun.   tobicat helped luna splint her leggys all nice so we expect her ta heal real good and fast, thank gods. i did my best ta reattach bwicky’s arm, but it was hard ta tell how it went while his body was still so mangled.. so fer now tobias and i take luna and bwicky downstairs ta da bunks ta keeps dhem safe. after he had some times to rest and wakes up, we sees hims arm,,, is backwurd!s!f?f!ffffuckk i fucked uuupppp! i wants to fix it fer hims, but he doesnt seem to mind? he resumes as normal, eben thanking me fer stopping his black sludgey liquids from leaking out da backwurds arm. i dont deserve no presents for such shoddy werk, but he gibs me one of da weird glow globes he made (a yellow one). bricky says he doesnt need lincoln anymores, so i assumes dhis is da voice dhat was living in his head after he fought Lincoln fer stealing da cart? i wonder how he makes dhat, and how in da world is a bogbean suppose ta use dhis.. maybe i eat it? Ill think on it, but fer now i keep it in my bag wifh da rest o’ my stuffs.   since bwicky and luna were started to feel better, i went back up to da deck. i can handles goind down dhere fer what i gotta do, but i pwefer staying out in da open (da rooms of da ship sometimes feel like big boxes). bwicky followed me up, just in time ta join in da combersation about how ta get da 2 dead whales offa da boat. bwicky asks us ta secure da horse and hold onto someting, and tobias has no time ta talk hims into a different plan as bricky takes one of his glowy thingies and puts it in da dead whale. fer a second, i can see one of bricky’s eyes turn off while one of da whale’s eyes turns on before it rolls itself offa da boat – da counterbalance hurls tobicat, cousin horse, and cap’n V into da sea! V is a super good swimmer so he was able to maneuver da ropes needed ta secure and rescue dhems pretty quick. its kinda cool ta see hims zoom around da ship, ‘specially since da better he does da worse his luck gets somehow. i never saw more lightning strikes in my life, and now i sees dhem almost ebry day!   after a time, we finally sees land! Mr. V says da mountains is close and bery suddenly finds us a place ta stop da boat (or maybe da spot found hims hahah~) next we hadsta take da cart and horse off da boat, a problem dwexla already thought of! she built a hidden rope syshtem into da boat sos da cart can be easily lifted frum now on. i was busy chasing a floating meat bun, ‘til i realized how it was part of dwexla’s cart-pulley game! winnerrrr! after i won anovver meat bun putting da horse off da boat, i offered ta cawwy luna down wifh me. she couldnt bear ta keep ‘er eyes open, but we was bofh relieved i got ‘er down safely hehee.   now dhat we hads eberyting we needed, da group set out toward da kenku billage. not long into our trek dhere is rustling coming frum da cart.. and we find fumckin miguel inside, scarfing down all da food!! he proudly tells us he ate a weeks wurfa breakfast, and just as da desire ta kill ‘im for it cwossed my mind he scitters onta bricky’s shoulders ffffffffhhh,,, maybe anovver time. dheres gotta be a way.. bwicky distracts my murder-thoughts when he poofs miguel’s magick chair away, and da thump sound he made on da ground was too funny. dhat was my chance to steal his spot!   da trail through da forest was long and each turn bent around a large boulder. we didnt have ta travel very far ‘til we found a busted wagon in our path. da area was greusome and bloody, but all da bones was picked clean? bricky leaves me at da cart ta go investigate da weckage. he comes back wifh a tuft of fur dhat smells like a rotten death.. once i shmell it i realize its everywhere in dhis forest. da wagon had da entire middle section torn through, so dhis creatures gotta be big. drexla also inshpected da fur, and through her goggles saw demonic emnergy coming from it. is da were-dawg da kenku told tobicat about also a demon like in arnknoka?? it doesnt make all the sense yet, so we gotsta keep goin and make due. some of da group scavenge da wagon, bricky gots some spare parts for da cart and drexla found an egg as big as her! she was quick ta tell me it was off limits to eat, so ill be content ta be curious about when itll hatch. luna is already in bed fer her poor feets, so shes gonna keep da egg warm in da cart while we travel. only one moar week ‘til we reach da kenku place now! bwiky always lets me win when miguel wants ta fight fer da seat on his shoulder, so i tink its gonna be a fun trip hehe

alone together
11th of Lipia

in our race to get outta da city, most everyone piles into the tobicart besides miguel and v’s snake friend who climb on top, and bwicky ‘n’ me who sits up front to drive. bricky steers us right through the forest, the fastest way out of arnknoka. tobicat was smort and gave bricky special purple eyes so he could drive better in the dark, and it was real pretty. i wished i coulda helped in some way, but with everyting dat just happen i just feel,, numb. all i can does is stare back at the smouldering red miasma overtaking arnknoka. all dohs peoples, plus tobicat’s heritage gots all fucked up.. but why from dr smiley? i dont know why he makes bricky do the bad things, or why they targeted the myrin peoples at all. how does he know mr peepers either?? i wanna kill ‘im so bad, and maybe then brickyfriend wont look so pained all the times.. (hopefully tobicat doesn’t notice da claw marks from me gripping my seat so hard..) this big world is just so scary so far, and complicated. i wish i could lean more heavily on my brickyfriend, but i also can’t help but think of “m” now when i sees him and i thinks bricky can tell. that part makes me even sadder.   the further we gets into de forest, our view of the city is overtaken by da canopy of trees. the last ting i sees is the big yellow peeper eye slowly closing as de sun rose in da sky, and finally some of da tension in my body can release. im snapped back to the moment by a hefty “thump” sound at the back of the cart, which we soon learned was lincoln (if no one liked him then why did we waste all his meat??! forever sad)   de mood hangs heavy, but after we ride for a while we eventually stop to make camp and rest. it feels safe enough. our group finally had some time to discuss what just happen, and of course everyone had questions fer bricky. we are putting together the reasons for his eye colors, and who receives each desigmation. so far da only one wifout a color is cap’n v, which is funny simce he is da one who was gonna make monies offa dis.. hm. tho i gotta say i am getting jealous dat i hafta share the green color wif miguel. bwicky also ‘splains a lil about his power to steal from people (maybe like mr. shad said he was stolen froms??) im sure its useful but it seems like even bricky feels a little icky about it.   i was soo sad when im too tired to help bricky hunt and gather, but he was so nice to tuck me in and pat me before he left. while i sleeps i keep my bag with the evil rock inside close to me, boff so i can keeps it outta the ground and also keep bricky safe from it.. in de night, some tabaxi survivors come by our camp while making their way home to da mountains. i couldnt keep my eyes open for too long, but i could see luna and tobias sacrificing their rest to help thems.   once everyone was rested and getting awake, bricky also made his way back from hunting. i knew it was gonna happen sooner or later,, but bricky asked me to see tha stone. luna and i agwee dat he could touch it, but i still gotta hold it. when he put his hand to the rock, his eye made a new color! it flashed silver three times, dhen went back to normal. did he receive something from the stone? or sent something through it? the stone itself must also be important, but we can’t tell how yet. we used the rest of our time to craft and process some supplies, and dhen had to decide where to go from here.. im happy we all still want to travel togevver, and my frien is also my best lead to finding dhat fucking doctor (who i now has even more reason to mutilate dhan ever). in da end our group decides to go back to the docks at kal-marha so we can take v’s boat towards the kenku village where supposedly dhere’s a dog monster. (if dhis is anovver demon i swear to fuckim gods…)   speaking of demons, when miguel finally wokes up he is all of a sudden mad that we took hims away from his stage in da city. we try to ‘splain how his manager is the bad guy and lied to everyone, but he refuses to listen. after all dhat hellfire ‘n’ shit we all went through while he slept, it was pissin me off. before i knew it, i outbursted at hims and he got real sad again.. i said no one likes him, but it was wrong to speak for anyone but myself. i gabe him my precious snack as a peace offering, knowing it wouldnt be enuff. i dont thinks even my death would make miguel feel better at this point..     thankfully our journey to kal-marha was quiet and uneventful, so the group got to spend extra time gathering for supplies. some of us did better dhan others, like tobias and bricky. tobias got so many meats! i tinks we all felt more secure in our travels knowing we weren’t gonna starves. i like dhat our cook is also big good at hunting. and bricky found many glowy things, which drexla seemed interested in so they must have some neat uses. since i finally had leather pieces, bricky had a very cute idea to make a wearable satchel for jenks, luna’s best kittyfriend. it wasn’t the prettiest, but i tinks with bricky’s help i been getting better at making new leather patterns like dhat. i should see if anyone else could use a leather tings too.   once we get to the docks at kal-marha, it is noticably somber. nobody knows much about de festival tragedy besides the fact dhat relatively few survived. v takes over, with drexla in tow, to situate the boat stuffs. we all got to sit and watch them haggle with other weirdo captains over borrowing dheir gangplanks, which woulda been easier to carry if dhey asked for my help.. shit, anyone’s help. but ay, its not my fault they dont asks hehee. (note, v was struck by lightning twice in this one afternoon.. i was right to stay away from dat guy still. but i feel so so bad for drexla, who was in his pocket for the second strike,,) once the gangplanks are set up, and tobias coaxes his poor horsey onto the boat, it comes time to push the cart. i am so hyped for this! either it works and we’re big strong accomplishers, or it fails and itll be real funny. i can’t wait to find out which itll be. i kick off my special boots so my claws don’t tear through them, and i begins to push alongside luna and bricky while tobicat is in front pulling and steering. we do well but halfway up the steep incline stalls us. dhe planks are creaking under de weight of dhe wagon, and my claws are all i has for traction while we all hold this massive weight. all a sudden, bricky starts ta sing a peppy lil song – about me? about bogbean?? i only ever heard my name in sing-song when dhe moonbright childrens would snicker and taunt me.. but this song wasn’t mean like theirs. his song made me feel a whole other wave of strengff i didnt know i hads, and with one last heave we were able to get the cart onto the boat! we win!! tho probably didnt feel like a win for luna and bricky when the counterweight made them flew into da ocean.. (bricky smells even weirder when hes soggy)   now dhat all our stuff was here, we could set sail. as we left the harbor, i couldnt help noticing how v’s relationship with his crew isn’t what id expect. his buddies aren’t very friendly, even to him, and it seems like they care a lot about fulfilling a specific goal – a list of names?   now it’s another two weeks to yooktia, the kenku village. drexla has wasted little time getting to know the ship, and immediately started modifying their weapon. we was sitting around watching her play with it, when she struck something dhat looks a lot like one of her new crewmates.. (if this one dies i can’t bare for them to waste the meats again. i call dibs!)

everything's comin' up demons
10th of Nariza

tracking brickyfriend was unsuccessful, and only gabe us moar questions.. the red markings gabe me danger tingles, and it seems like they do the same for luna since she said she dealt with a demon thingy befores and got curzed. soon as we got backta camps tobicat and luna and me made the plan to go see ella in da dreamscape, but all we saw was how big mr.peepers grew to be (man dat guy must eat a lot of vegebles..) and we learned how much he hates to see hiself in a mirror. i womt forget how luna sacrificed her long hair to save us outta there, it was getting big scary and tobias ‘n’ me just couldnt move anymores.. to think i was almost a peeper too eughhh makes me sick.   later at night, we was all back at da cart workin’ on projeks. drexla made v’s knife cooler, and i mades a pro-level healing potion on my first try! it made so many bubbles and smoke and thats how ya know its good. not long after, we was approached…..by bricky and miguel????   miguel seems ta be doing real good, said hes famous for playing the music like he showed me on the boat and has fancy clothes now. only bad thing is he still mad about my snack on him that one time.. its a real good thing i had the best healing potion evar to gib him! it made him veryy peaceful. i couldnt know what to make of bwicky’s presence, expecially after what we found in the tent earlier. drexla was moar to the point, asking if her drawing of the demon circle we saw looked familiar. but brickyfriend knew even less than we dids, and i see so much pains in him when we ask the many questions.. i know da part of him i dont trust isnt him’s choice, but that doesnt make things any easier. by the time miguel woke up, bricky explained how he was forced to guard miguel. getting too far from him made bricky sick, and me getting too close to miguel made bricky’s eyes change colors at me for the first times. i wondered what woulda happened if me and miguel fighted, but after his healing nap we made a truce for now – he even fed me and gabe bwicky the days off for our big fight! i was the fullest i been in maybe forever, and i slept super good.   umfortunately, i slept too good.. i was late for my meeting with hunzah! (fuck!). once i realized, i rushed off – in the wrong direction hahah.. so by the time i found her, she seemed pretty irritated by my tardiness. but tankfully she still wanted to talk. she had me tell her about hebe – how we lived and how she taught me to be a person. hunzah still seemed put off by how she left dis world, but i will always revere her choice to die. then subject changed to saturn. hebe trained me sure, but she never let me see anything from her past life. ‘parently, saturn is historkly significant to the tabaxis – a symbol of an impotant alliance with their tribe. its so important that hunzah said im not worvy to wield it, and dat my sloppy style only disrespeks the blade.. before i could stew in the feelings that brought, hunzah lunged at me and we fought. she was tough and calculated, all da while taunting and testing me. i struggled, but thankfully i did sumting right and she saw it worth her time to train me.   i gots backta camp to meet the group before our next battle, and no one was keen on fighting eachuver.. we simply made our way into the arena. it is announced to the crowd by the big gold chief luxydoon that our gwoup is accused of murder crimes, and now required to fight the deth. a vewy last minute and hypocwitical rule change, dhat many of us were quick to challenge. while the argument continued, bricky noticed the chief 's smile.. said it was the sames as -his- smile. how can it be -hims- smile on someone else..? no time to think on it -- next thing we know, bricky plants the stone from his pokket into the arena by -his- command.. the stone completes a huge demon circle carved into the arena and a red glow illuminates the entire village as smoke covers the sky above.   biiiig mr. peepers appeared to descend from night sky, and shit. goes. down.. the fight begins and our gwoup managed to all find eachuver, and it honestly felt good to fight all togever again ('specially after gettin beat by a smoller mr. peepers with just tree of us). as we took down the blood hydra, once i noticed the evil stone not far from me i knew i hadda try. if dhis stupid rock could start all dhis then maybe itll stop it too..? i braced for its heft and as i pulled up on dhe stone, it burned my hands real good. but as soon as it was outta the ground, it was cool to the touch like any normal rocks. as the ominous red glow from dhe ground began to fade and i am about to stash the rock in my bag, i see bwicky’s outstretched hand. i grab it, but not before wondering if he was aktually reaching for the rock back.. dhat thought rotted in my head and turned to guilt when he scooped me up and ran us away from the demons and towards the tobicat cart. on the way i hadda shout to Luna where the inbisible mr peeper was. i was scared for my friends to be hurt, but there was no need cuz Luna lit 'im up quick wit a bonfire, and i was relieved to hear its screams. as the gwoup caught up wit us, we hadda stop goldfuck from stealing the cart. no time for group consensus on killing him or not, so we just took him along to decide later. (i vote yuss)   apart from that, i dunno our next what or where..

safe and together

i was more nervous than i thought for our next match, but i thinks that helped us hunker down and power through. Tobias seemed just as wowwied bout bricky as me, so we stayed as close to eachuver as possible. eventually we did gets boxed in by the GIANT minotaws, but by that time we were finally bringing one down (thank gods). even tho she wasnt wif us in this fight, i don think we coulda done it wifout Luna. i dunno why but she seems to look out for my best interest and before the match she gabe me a goop that makes my Saturn poisonous! big guys arent so strong when they feel sick heheh. it was a whole big teamwoek fersure. even i gots knocked out after poor Tobicat was smashed, and then i had to be told the story of how Bricky won the match for us in the end! so proud of him, and kitty for helping keep him safe til the end. i try not to feel bad about getting got, but i thinks i hafta learn to be smort and not just strong. and my eyes can't keep bein too big for my tummy. lesson 1: big guys shoulders look yummy but its better to go for their feets. the meat's still ok too.   after the fights, all of us are recovering. we learn that the next match will be against eachuver, and no one seems to know how to feel about it. and there's no real way to scheme out of it either. so we resolve to walk back to the cart. i was holding Bwicky's hand, but the crowd was so thick i still gots seperated. i cant even barely see up at the sky through all these peoples! i did end up finding someone familiar, but it wasn't who i expected. ShadowBricky was there! (so casual). he didn't see me, but i approached him. i tugged on where it looked like Bricky's coat to get his attention. i can't even know how to describe how a shadow feels, and he didn't have no smell. he seemed irritated at the sight of me and wasn't being helpful, so i told him "fine! ill go find my better Bricky all by myself!" i sniff the air and catch Bwicky's rancid smell (its barely mixed with smell-good herbs so i know it can't be any other rando cadaver) and head in that direction. yet ShadowBricky still follows me?? hmph whatever. soon i am met by a floating eye -- Bwicky was looking for me too?! awh yayyy~   i am able to follow his fancy eye back to the group, making sure to grab ShadowBricky's hand so he's not left behind in the crowd (shadow bodies are ice cold? hm). once we are all together, we try to mediate this problem with Bricky and his shadow. to our surprise, both Cap'n' V and Tobias can talk magic to him with their hands. they translate for him and he says he's not part of Bricky at all, and how he's mad at Bricky for taking everything he had and trapping him.. this don't sound like the Bricky i know. (but i did notice in our fight that Bricky's attack seems to bring something back to him from his targets, is it a similar ability?) even though Shadow despise Bricky, he still needs him to not die. Shadow says they needs to find a doctor with a big smile (me too?!) to fix them. so they be different people but still connected somehow.. after we explain to Shadow how Bricky dies so easy without them being together, they make temporary truce and join again. i pipe up and tell the group it might be the same smiley man who drugged me to sleep for the boat ride and i need to find him too. i didn't know he was a doctor, and i didn't expect that Bricky could know him because i thought Mr. V was the one. Luna revealed she was suspicious and really pressed Bricky to get him to say more about the one who smiles. Luna backed off when Bricky stressed that he "can't" hurt me, like even if he wanted to -- his eye only makes green when looking at me.   at this point i thinks the conversation will be over and we are ok again, but Bricky still looks with pain in his eyes. he wants to make things more right, and confessed that he was the one who put me in the box.. no no no that doesn't sound like my Brickyfriend at all.. i don't want to be mad at him, my first ever friend. i can't be, cuz its apparent he is not always in control of himself. he did talk before about how he was made at a place where people are mean and order others around.. maybe the smiling man is doing this to Bricky, just like he did bad things to Shadow and me. i want to help, and i think we can help eachuver, but things are not the same anymores. so after some of the group winds down with card games and we all eat dimner, i asked Luna to sleep closer to us tonight.     in the mornin, i wake to big group combersations. what a way to starts the day -- talking about faeries taking drugs made from faerie wings (Drexla seemed unphased), Tobias's guilt and family ruin, and Luna's horrific visions. after unloading all of that, we all decide we need to gather materials since today is our only free time before our next match. V and Drexla used this time to visit the Kenku leader again cuz i guess her and V are close. Tobias was so nice and gave me the pelt from his hunt, and i gave him the ingredients i found as thanks (i hope i get to eat what he makes from them too hehe). when he starts making breakfast, his golden friend comes around to eat with us. he is gloating about selling the slave hume, and all i can do is glare flatly. Bricky dislikes this even more than me, and his eyes flash red at Goldclaw. i notice the cut on his hand matches what Drexla said about her escape from bounty hunters, and Luna musta noticed too as she confronted him about it with the gold fur she found on Drexla. tho in the end we couldn't do much and he left in a huff. just another reason to avoid that shady guy..   not long after this, Drexla zooms back to camp alone and looking scuffed up. her and V were attacked by humes and V needs our help! of course we all run as Drexla leads the way. turns out Drexla is so strong and killed all three humes herself and V just needed to be dug out from under a fallen rooftop, where i also found a stupid metal thing that hurt when i was digging. after V was uncovered, i saw Brickyfriend making use of one of the corpses, since his leg is still hurt. i was inspired by such a smort idea, and i took the thicckest hume of the bunch and skinned for hide. i even gots some meat from it~ now ill have 4 hides to process! so productive hehe. once we are all regrouped, we set back for camp. i am having a whole conversation to Bricky, so proud of the materials we gots (even Drexla has new metal pieces now wooo) but then i notice its only me talking. i look back only to see no Bricky, just the stuff he was carrying left on the ground.. why whyy it makes no sense to leave now. and without a word.. that's not like Bricky at all!   like he always says: "sicker un suckamen".. but now we are not together. and i don't feel safe..  

friendly nightmares & bittersweet memories
8th of Nariza

first things i did after the scary robe people left our cart areas was to go tell Drexla. the poster they had looked silly, but too much like her to be a coincidence. umfortunately, i was right and Drexla explained dat they were after her cuz she made a machine that worked too good. while the zap collar she made did sounds horrifying, an off button is obiously something the guy shoulda asked for in the project plan -- silly billy.   once i understood that we gotta help Drexla stay safe from those peoples, focus went back to Bwicky who was still recovering from our battle. Drexla and Mr. V were trying to examine hims condition by the campfire, when he suddenly gets up and runs away! i didnt think i just ran right after him, trying not to lose sight through the festival crowd. he only stops when we get outside the town and into the comfort of darkness. i had a feeling, and asked him what he was running away from. he told me he ran from the fire, cuz thats the one thing that hurts Brickies. i feel so bad remembering that i showed off my fire-hands right near him, but i promised to help keep him away from fire all the times now!   i didn't know if Brickyfriend would still wanna walk with me anymore since i had fire-hands.. but yay yayy he said i could come with him still! he said we were following his gut feelings, which i always endorse. they led us back into the festival a different way than we came, which brought so many new smells. i could also smell that Miguel was around, but not very close. then i smelled something familiar -- a group of Tabaxi cats like from the swamp! they seemed veryy different than the swamps cats tho. the first ones we met were some cubs who dropped their ball, and Bricky nicely threw it back to them but then someone sliced the back of his leg! one of the kids named Ella fesses up and says she knows the "Mr.Peepers" (sus) who did it cuz hes her friend. i asked her to fix him then cuz its her fault! she brings Hunzah, their group leader but im getting more and more scared as black ooze keeps leaking out of my friend. when her charm did nothing, and she didnt even know Bwicky was been dead already (duh!), UGh i had enough and i ran back to our friends with leaky Bricky over my shoulder.   it was a bumpy ride (sowwyyyy). it wasn't helped that i finally saw the shadow-Bricky some of the others were talkin about, and he tried to hit me! i thought he would chase us but we lost him after that.. back at camp Tobias helped to stop Bricky dying. (while watching Tobycat, i realized that i have some of the same medical stuffs so i coulda helped hahah.. oops. im sure i will 'member it next time). once Bricky is stable again, he takes off his coat to show us the state of his body, and the different metal pieces on it. he says his castle-home had a place where they would "get new" and replace all the black ooze, so that stuffs must be as important as blood to him..   when we settled down we noticed that there were other guests at the cart. one of them smelled like a hume, just not the one i need. he did not seem to be shocked seeing a Bogbean for the first time, and offhandedly said he knows what kinda thing i am! he sees them enough that its normal?! i begged him to tell me but instead he told me to ask somethin called a Gwimdletorp. so i gotta look for that now. but it was already late, so that group left and we tried our best to sleep after catching each other up about our day.       in the morning, we all agree that we gotta do something about Mr.Peepers. Bricky remembers the way back to the Tabaxi camp, and leads the way. i start looking for Ella, but every kid i pick up isn't her. i see a pitch-black figure peeking from behind a building, and call to my friends if they see it too and to come with me to chase it. they come with me but even tho its standing right in front of us, they can't see anything. it lunges at me, but i brace and block it with Saturn. i then take a swipe at the thing, but my blade goes right through it like a smoke?! whaat?! Drexla tracks where it went next, and we follow it through a window but what i see is not the same lil guy but a huge monster drenched in blood. Bogbean can't even think of fighting that thing, and my boots are fixed to the ground. all i can does is point at it so Drexla can shoot a magic fire in the right place. the fire lets everyone see its scary shadow, and we even heard a nasty laugh as it disappeared to somewheres else.   in the next room is a dead Tabaxi lady, but her heart is missing. Bricky recognizes her pattern is the sames as one of the cubs that Ella plays with, so we realize that when Ella talked about Mr. Peepers "taking care of" her bullies it must mean something gruesome like dis. no one wants to be blamed for a crime done by an invisible thing, but we decide we gotta tell someone and the most understanding would be Hunzah since these is her peoples being hurt.   once we arrive to their main building, we find that its an armory with tons of sick-ass swords and weapons on the walls. Hansa is towards the back where she's operating a large grinding wheel. Tobias is brave and tries to explain the situations to her, but she doesn't seem happy with his speech. we urge her to believe us, and i present her my beloved Saturn as proof that this invisible thing fights big. energy shifts a little as Hunzah seems familiar with my sword. i explain that i knew Hebe and when she died i took it upon myself to adventure with it. Hunzah couldn't seem to believe that Hebe would've lived or died like that, and she was so troubled that she had us leave. im glad she decided to believe and help us with Mr. Peepers and Ella, but im afraid i made her sad or said a wrong thing. she obiously knew Hebe before i did, but i don't agree that dying at your own choice is more "cowardly" than wasting away in old age.. i hope i have a chance to tell her that Hebe did good, and also maybe learn more about who Hebe was in her other lives. i knew she was a fighter, but she never told me why she stopped.   on our way out of the armory, Bricky was still holding me after the scary happenings in the murder-house. i don't know what i'd do without his comfort, as i continued to see the creature's eyes looking at me from all directions of corners and shadows. i want to kill it so bad but its so scary too..   we stopped by the Luxydone caravan with Tobias to see about giving the guys we beat up yesterday some sweets to really rub in the victory, but they weren't there and wise Tobias decided against it in the end. from there we went to the tourney arena for the second round where team V, Luna, and Drexla were up next. there were some rough moments, like Luna being taken out and V accidentally hitting Drexla through the smokescreen, but in the end they pulled through with a win!   as our team gets ready to enter the ring, we see our opponents are big ol' minotaurs! i can't say im not excited, but im also worries about Bricky. he was on the edge of death after just a cut yesterday, which isn't like him. he said sumthin about his gut feeling, how it feels wrong in his body without his shadow in there. i have to stay focus so we can survive our next round and then track down shadow-bricky!!

taking part(s)

team "watch the cart" did a real good job while Cat and Captain Scales were gone. all de foods were safe, even from me. instead of eating we got to talking and were learnin more about eachuver. my fren Bricky told us his plan to make new boots, so of course I gave him the leather scraps i had cuz i think my fren deserves the best shoes. he so big, i bet i could fit my whole self in a shoe like dat. Drexla was so nice and helped made him a tools kit so he can craft proper.   we also talked bout some not fun things, like how Luna's place she was from is not ok anymore. then they asked where i was from, and i toldem how i was from wolf-mom at first until she went to do a hunt but never came back. the night air seemed to get colder as i see my frien looks extra sad when i say my story, and he confess he hada kill a big wolf one time and he really didn't want it to be my momma. i don't feel so bad because i had a cat-mom too. she was more of a real momma anyway and i woulda turned out wayy different if i didn't know her. anyways, when Captain V and Mr. Cat came back to the cart they said somethin about a big dog that needs beating up in another town. i thought that sounded like so much fun so i said i could fight it as long as i got some foods to keep me going and strong, i definitely got the best part of that deal heheh.   the nex morning, our group decided to split in half and make teams for the festibal tourney cuz the winner gets to make a wish. first team was me, Bwicky, and Tobias (da cat). so the other team was Luna, Drexla, and Mr. V. we all took some time to pwepare for the fights. Luna gave me a potion to use earlier, and with her help i also brewed a withering poison just in case. Bricky used his time to make the boots he wanted, but i was surprised when he made Bogbean-sized ones! i never suspected, but my fwen noticed my shoes are different (so far when i find a better shoe i just been swapping it out). i never expected, cuz dont deserve such nice things. such time and energy spent on me. i will help pay them back by fighting good!   our fight was against 3 big luxydoons (big and lil bit scary). one of them knew Tobias and was talking real mean at him so i went in front and bit his neckmeats. that stopped him from talking. in my rage, i eated the hand off another enemy, but i didn't see til after that it was his only hand so i feel a little bad. i didn't even plan to do that, but maybe this hasta do with the "self-control" Hebe used to talk about.. the rest of the match was good except Bricky and me got on opposite ends of the field and i couldnt help him from getting knocked out. im glad we won but its more important to me to know that Bricky will be ok.   the other team also won their match yayy! i didn't see nothin, cuz there was a lotta smoke but it's ok cuz they won and only V got hurt. after that we got to regroup and Tobias helped Bricky to wake up finally, and when that happened he made a "zap" sound.. bigger than the ones i sometimes hear when we walk together. he seems ok, but ima stay close to protec him. something already didn't feel back to normal still, and then it got worse -- peoples in dark robes came through and i sensed only bad things from them. they had posters with silly drawings of Drexla on them, but i lied when they asked and said i dunno who that is. they feel very scary, and more keep coming so i thinks we should be ready to take the group and run if we gotta.

first milestone, arrival at the sacred clearing

After lotsa walking along the river, the cart finally made a big stop. It was cozy until some angry red Miguels came and attacked! Some was a good fighter and almost killed the boy cat and the captain – hahah wouldnt that be funny! But then a crazy one was by my frien and i felt like, strong, but different. I haven’t ever fought for someones else before. I had enough strength to make my tail, and tho my brain was fuzzy, my one focus was getting between the bad guy and Bricky. I got that red guy real good and chopped his whole head in half heehee. ‘Cept the metalest kill hasta go to Luna, i saw her make a whole red guy look like candle wax soup. It was pretty to look at but also scary how easy that was for a nice lady to do.   Another week of travel through the forest tunnel til we get to the festival place. It gave me time to find some new plants! One of them i actually saw before, and i have to make sure im extra careful with it so no one gets hurt. I wasn’t allowed to touch it that time, but bogbean is 8 now and so much responsible.   Then we finally got into the festival city. There were soooo many aminal kinds that seemed to know each other. All smiles, unless you’re a leonen (new word! so smart) or Luna, then they looked mean. like the opposite of a friend.   I got to see the whole place from Bricky’s tall shoulder – i felt like a bird being so high up! The people at stalls stocked with thingies were really mean to you if they found out you weren’t gonna give them a shiny. So we rejoined the cart to visit the lightning rock. The rock was gigantamus, and covered in white prints from every single aminal ever, with one in the middle scratched out. I ‘member seeing the same style of prints all over the swamp village. But they had always been there, way before me was there. I wonder what they are, what they mean.   While me, Bricky, and Miguel tried to find our matching handprints (not lucky) we saw the Captain break the cat rules and he really touched the rock! It did somethin to him, but no one knows what. And i can’t tell how he left his handprint with no paint?? Anyways we all left before captain scaly got us all in trouble.   We ended up meeting a friend of our black cat, but i don’t understand why they would be friends. One is nice and feeds me, and the other one is loud and puts chains on people for shinies. Not that i like humes, but no one deserves to exist that way. I wonder why we have to pay for food but the mean gold cat doesn’t.   I can tell itd mean a lot to my friend to see that enslaved hume freed, and i woulda gladly given my shiny pieces if i had enough. I think he sees his reflection in that guy, because when Luna asked tons of questions to him earlier, he said only sad things. Like he was from a place where everyone is told what to do and they couldnt even think of doing anything else. It sounds a lot like slavery but i guess they had a nicer sounding word for it.   For being from such a hard place, im surprised my Bricky friend is as nice as he is. Ever since i sewed his head back on, he has stayed close to me and even gives me extra bread! He just pulls it out of NOWHERE like a magic. I think doing nice things for people helps make you their friend, and then you just keep trading nice things forever to show how much the last thing meant to you. At least, i hope it can be like that. and maybe other people traveling with us could be like that too.   Later on, our leonen and the captain left to some meeting so i stayed with everyone else to watch the food cart. Can’t let anything happen to someting so important (seee, im so responsible and mature wow!) i dunno what Drexla went to do, but when she came back she had a victorious look on her face and was covered in a strange slime. It didn’t smell any good so i didnt want to try to lick it.   Now that we’re settling down, i don’t like the idea of sleeping with so many hundreds of strangers around us. I cant tell if Bricky rests the same like everyone else, but him and Luna being here makes me feel like i can have a real sleep even around all these people because theyre strong in their own ways, and big.   But, having made a new friend sometimes makes me forget that we are being delivered somewhere. The night air sours as i remember those nasty words – “you’ll do nicely for my plan.” fuck that guy. And fuck the captain, he knows more than he says. Ughhh dont think about that now! I pick at the grass until i can think about other things.   Looking up at the stars, i can tell by the patterns that my name day is coming soon, as Hebe taught me. The wind smells about right, too. My last thoughts before doing a sleep are of the swamp, and how “home” feels more about people than about places.

met some people and they didn't drug or kidnap me! a new record

luckyyyy finally found some food! i found a scaley guy in a box like the one i was in, and even tho he said he saw the grinning man.. idk i was just too hungy. that guy only plays sad music now, but the good thing is i can finally think straight on a full belly. im pretty sure the blue scaley boat guy knows the man too, but i have a better chance of finding and tearing that hume up if i just go along with this "delivery".   OHyeah annnd i found another guy in a box. at first it was just a head, and he smelled dead -- uhm, i guess he still does.. -- but he talked to me! i stitched him back to his body and then he got real big. good thing tho, because he protected me a lot! first nice person ive met since leaving home, or more like the second one in all my 8 years. anyways, we're fwends now. i get the sense that hes like me and doesnt have nowhere to go, so for now maybe we'll go nowhere together.   the other peoples in our caraban are sorta nice, but i dont have a full read on any of them yet. there was a big cat, kinda like the MoonBright women but darker and bigger. i think shes a boy cat. they let me and my frien Bricky slep outside their cart, yayyehheheh.   there was also a pretty lady who likes me a lot, which isn't bad but im not used to the attention. she told me her name is Luna, and she says she knows what a bogbean really is, so that has my interest.   i didnt get a very good look at the other person, because she's even smaller than me! she's very shiny, and she sounds like she knows a whole lot of many things. she looks at Luna the same way Luna looks at me sometimes.   ok well, lets hope im not letting the boat guy deliver me to a bad thing. we have 2 weeks of nothin to do besides look for plants and play in the sand, so ill bide my time.
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Character
World
Extrayus
campaigns
Extrayus Campaign
Category
The Protagonists / PCs in Extrayus Campaign
Author
entlynk
Publication Date
19 Dec, 2022
Creation Date
19 Dec, 2022
Last Update Date
7 Mar, 2023
Visibility
Public
Views
75
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