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Memen Aelar Chathi Nailo Pashar

Memen Aelar Chathi Nailo Pashar (a.k.a. Memen)

Born on an island where no one was allowed in or out, Memen is extremely sheltered from most of the world. She knows very little about other races and cultures, and has the bare minimum intelligence when it comes to street smarts (she doesn't even understand money, because her island uses a fair trade system). Extremely trusting, Memen is very gullible. She is great at reading people, but she often doesn't take the time to, because she assumes everyone is as up front and on the level as she is.   Despite being sheltered from the world, she was certainly not sheltered from hardship. Her family situation is... complicated, and she was put through many rigorous trials on her island. It's made her extremely adept at survival, and she finds it very easy to make friends with the animals around her.   Shortly after leaving her island, she was caught in a storm and ended up in Castow with absolutely no idea where she was or what to do. The strange nature of her skin, as well as her complete naïveté with all things money, got her into trouble very quickly, and she would have likely been thrown in prison had it not been for the generosity of a kind-hearted goliath. Tunaka Katho (her official new best friend) gave her food, a place to sleep, and even the clothes off his back (the shirt she wears is the one he gave her, dyed and with the sleeves cut off). From that moment on, she followed Tunaka everywhere.   For the six months he was on shore leave, Memen was at his side. After a few interesting experiences, and two incidents in which Tunaka saved Memen's life (literally) the two bonded pretty closely, even going as far as to share their secrets which each other.   Memen considers Tuna to be her new family. She will go anywhere he goes and will do everything she can to keep the promises she made to him. In return, he gave her a place to call home: his ship, the Dawn Chaser.   After serving some time on the Dawn Chaser and learning as much as she could from Captain Moonlight, Memen and her new friends (Dio, Kressara, and Harley) have been given their own vessel to command. With several Dawn Chaser members joining them (Tunaka included, of course) they have found a good rhythm as a crew and are becoming more and more adept at roaming the seas. Memen only hopes that she can keep up with the fast learning curve so as not to hold her crew back.

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

Athletic and muscular, but very short.

Body Features

Vitiligo skin with tan and dark blue patches.

Facial Features

One green eye and one gold eye (that she tends to hide behind her hair because it frightens people).

Identifying Characteristics

Her skin makes her easy to pick her out in a crowd.

Physical quirks

Will shape-shift without prompt or warning, which can be jarring for those who aren't used to it.

Special abilities

Can turn into "beasties" and is learning to harness the powers of nature.

Apparel & Accessories

Lots of beads and shells. She makes necklaces and bracelets from things she finds in the wild.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

She's very much an open book, but while nothing in her life is a secret, there are certain things she won't talk about unprompted. So far no one has asked...

Gender Identity

Female

Education

Home-schooled and self-taught, mostly.

Employment

Navigator on the Dawn Bringer.

Accomplishments & Achievements

Most of the magic she knows she taught herself or was taught by her mother. The fact that she has come so far despite no formal education is very much a point of pride for her.

Intellectual Characteristics

Survival smart, but not so much book or street smart.

Morality & Philosophy

Tries to do good in the world, and is always open to talk instead of fight. As her mama says "if we all started with empathy and compassion, the world would be a much different place".

Taboos

She doesn't have much patience for people who insult or attack her friends. It's one of the few things that would make her strike without a discussion first.

Personality Characteristics

Motivation

Her main focus is her friends. Whatever she must do to make them happy or keep them safe, she will do without thought or hesitation.

Savvies & Ineptitudes

Great at survival, medicine, beading, languages, and nature magic. Terrible at most everything else.

Likes & Dislikes

Is absolutely terrified of cages.

Virtues & Personality perks

Is understanding to a fault.

Vices & Personality flaws

Very loud and talkative, which can be hard to understand because her common is not always great. Also not good at knowing when to be silent.

Personality Quirks

Bit of a temper when her friends are being threatened.

Hygiene

Keeps herself clean, but she has no problem with getting dirty.

Social

Contacts & Relations

Tunaka Katho, her bestest best friend! Dio Hartbrand, her friend and new Captain of their ship. Harley Hartford, friend and new First Mate of their ship. Kressara, friend and new Sailing Master of their ship.

Family Ties

Her mama is her best friend, her biggest hero, and the person she loves most in the world.    Tunaka is a close second.

Religious Views

None. She believes more in nature than in powerful beings.

Social Aptitude

Very social, but terrible at recognizing boundaries and social cues.

Mannerisms

Loud, talkative, and annoying, but always happy and positive.

Hobbies & Pets

Beading and practicing her magic. Every animal she meets becomes a pet/best friend (unless of course they try to kill her).

Speech

A little strange, and not always easy to understand, but common is her fourth language, so cut her a break. (Does not use contractions as she never really learned them in common.)

Wealth & Financial state

None. She broke as F***.

Happy, energetic, and always able to find the positives!

View Character Profile
Alignment
Neutral Good
Honorary & Occupational Titles
Chathi, or "chaki" if you want to be rude about it.
Age
A very young 26
Date of Birth
Sometime in the fall
Birthplace
Ionade Lonnath (Heaven's Island)
Children
Current Residence
The Dawn Bringer
Gender
Female
Eyes
Green and Gold
Hair
Red and White
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Tanned and Dark Blue
Height
5 ft
Quotes & Catchphrases
"BRING IT ON!" and "OH MINE GOSH!"
Known Languages
Druidic, Elvish, Primordial, Common, Undercommon

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If You Can't Take the Heat...

Mama... I miss you so much.   You remember how every time I would get in trouble with the teachers at school or the other children, you would hug me and tell me it would all be okay? I wish you could hug me now... I think I may have made a mistake the others will not forgive.   I cannot blame them... there are only so many mistakes a person can make before they are pushed away, I think.   So.   It was the morning after our wonderful dinner, and Dio wanted to explore the city so he could see the extent of the Purifier influence before leaving for this island where his brother might be. We walked around and saw much of the city, and there were so many people in lines everywhere! Dio said this was unusual, so we stopped to ask what was happening; apparently the Purifiers are in control of the supplies to the city now, and people have been told to stock up in case they cut off supplies. Why would you ever want to starve your people? What are these Purifiers thinking? I think it is obvious, mama, but many people in Newood do not seem happy to have these invaders here, and I cannot blame them.   We continue to explore and head into the “old city”, which has it’s own wall around it. This was what Newood used to be and they have built around it in the years to come, I think is what Dio said. In the middle of this old city, there was a temple that Dio wanted to see. I have never been inside a temple before, mama, and it was... very confusing. There were not very many people there at all--for some reason I always pictured temples being full with people--and there was a table at the front that people put coins on. An offering, Dio called it. He seemed sad at how little there was, so I copied what he did and placed 10 gold on the table (I do not know if that is a lot or a little, gold still confuses me). Then Dio went to pray, and I followed so as not to do something wrong or inappropriate. But mama, I realized I do not know how to pray. I know the word and it’s definition, but I have never done it myself, so I do not know if I did it right. It was really a lot of what I did when I was first trying to meditate; quieting the mind and trying not to get distracted. It was a new experience, at the very least, and Dio seemed to feel a little bit better afterward.   On our way out of the temple, Dio had seen enough for the day, but I wanted to see more of the city! So I asked if we could go look for some beads, and Dio agreed! Oh mine gosh, mama, the store in the marketplace had SO MANY BEADS! Glass beads, too, which are so much rarer for me to have since I only can make mine from stones! Oh mine gosh, I could not choose one to buy, so I bought one of every color and type! And the store owner was so kind, he gave me some string to put them on!   I was feeling so good, mama! This was what I had hoped exploring a city would be like! All the buildings, and the people, and the markets, it was all so wonderful! But in my excitement, I may forgotten where I was and made a very big mistake...   You see, this purifier was passing by and shoved a woman over in the streets, and then he did not even stop to apologize or make sure she was okay! So, feeling so good after my beads adventure, I thought a way to spread my joy was to stop this bully.   It seemed like a good idea at the time...   I did not do anything to him, mama. I only talked. But as you know, this would not be the first time my talking has gotten me into the trouble.   I told him he was being rude, and he should apologize to the woman, but he got all offended and said he did not need to apologize and all these things. And then he tried to punch me right in the face. Do not worry, mama, I got out of the way no problem, but I suddenly realized that what I was doing... I was angering a Purifier. Someone who could cause great trouble for Dio and his family... what was I thinking!? If these people take others away for believing in beings they do not like, I am certain they also take people away for fighting them in the streets! And I did not want to be the cause of Dio’s family getting into trouble or being arrested or something (and Tunaka was at their home, and what if he got caught up in it too)!   So, I tried to stop it. They attacked me a few times with their swords, but I gave them some gold, and told them I was not allowed to cause trouble (which is what Dio had said before we left to explore), so I would not fight them or bother them anymore. It worked, they were starting to leave...   But then Harley stepped in. He did not like that they attack me, and he told them to make it right, but just as before, they said no and began to attack again.   I do not quite understand what happened next.   Suddenly Kressara is in a rage and attacking, and Dio is telling me to stop trouble (or I think that is what he says) and Harley is bringing up his tentacles to fight, and everyone in the square is watching us. I tried to stop it all again, but then Dio shouts at me--I mean very much shouts--and orders me to turn into a bear. I never want to disobey an order from my Capitan, but I very much did not want to hurt these soldiers either; hurting them would only put Dio’s family in danger! It would put Tunaka in danger!   I do not remember the next few moments, because a Purifier got a good hit on me, and I went down hard. Several times. It was not good, mama. Not good at all. Lucky for me, Dio was there to heal me, but I could tell he was not happy to be doing it because he would rather be fighting.   Then more Purifiers began to show up. It was not a fight we would win, I did not think. Dio finally shouted for us to retreat, but we were not going to get out of there on foot. At least, I was not. I was very hurt, mama. So I tried a new spell! I tried the polymorph on Kressara, and it worked! I was able to turn her into a giant eagle so she could carry Dio out of there! That left Harley and me still surrounded by Purifers. So... I breathed deep, and I begged my magics to please work for me this time, and I jumped and tried once again to turn into a flying beastie.   Mama... It worked! I did it! After so much time, I finally did it! And it could not have worked at a better time! Now that we could fly, we were able to get out of there without much trouble, and we made it to the forest across the river where it would be much harder for them to follow us, let alone find us.   But there was no time to celebrate my new magics. The minute we landed, Dio and Harley were very much mad at me. They had wanted me to fight back and attack, and when I tried to explain why I did not, Dio only became angrier. He said he wanted to make a point to the people of Newood, to show that standing up to the Purifiers is possible, and that they can be beaten. I honestly had not thought about the others watching us at all, or what they would think of what we did, so I very much feel bad for not realizing what Dio was trying to do.   But... I still do not think I was wrong. For once, I think it is Dio who does not understand. He does not know how bad the Purifiers can be. How dangerous. They are not only strong, but they are clever, and they are willing to do whatever it takes to get what they want. We are not willing to do that. We will not hurt others to take them down. So, like Tunaka says, we have to be smarter.   I truly believe that if we had stayed to fight, we would be dead... or worse. I believe we were making the same mistakes we did with the sahouagen, and I want very much to not make those mistake again.   I do not want anyone else to die.   I tried to explain all this to Dio, but I do not think he believes I know the Purifiers as well as he does.   Oh mama... I did not mean to cause so much trouble. I did not mean to hurt or anger my friends (Kressara is the only one who did not seem angry with me, but she is very quiet, so she may just not have been speaking her anger).   We are staying in the forest for now, because we do not know if it would be safe to stay in the city.   All because of some beads, mama.   I am sorry... I do not feel like looking at the positives right now. I cannot be mad because my friends have every right to be upset with me. And I know it will not last forever, they are far too kind for that. But this is just another item in the long list of things Memen has messed up. I cannot help but worry that it will be too much very soon.   I will give them time to be angry. Things will be okay when we figure out what to do next. I am certain of it.   Goodnight, mama. I wish more than anything that I could hear your voice tonight. I miss you so very much. So very very much.   -Memen

Over the River and Through the Woods

Mama! Things have gotten so much better! SO MUCH IS HAPPENING and I am so excited for all of it!! Ohminegosh ohminegosh! Where did I last leave off? OH! Right! After the Sahouagen attack!   Ok ok ok ok ok   After the battle, we sailed back to the Onclave to see if they could help Capitan Laughingsteel, but sadly, they do not deal with that kind of magic (or so they say). They were very kind and gave him a proper burial, but his poor crew is now leaderless. I think some of them might be going to other ships, but I am not sure.   After telling them as much information as we could about the sahouagen base, the Onclave mounted an attack (since now they had an idea of the layout and all that). They were very successful, and some of the things they found... mama... it was not good. They would use people as slaves until they died of exhaustion! And they pitted people against each other in a fighting ring, and if you lost, you were not given a way to breathe under water (because their base was underwater) and you drowned!   I will never ever understand why they were so cruel. It seemed... senseless, you know?   The attack destroyed the sahouagen base, AND it brought most of our captured crew home to us! So our infiltration mission had been very helpful in the end. I think Capitan Laughingsteel would have been happy to know that...   While the attack was happening, we were safe at the Onclave base, and I decided to do a little digging. They said their whole mission was to discover things and learn as much as they could about the secrets of the world, so I have been very worried that they knew about the island. I spent quite a few hours in their library trying to find anything about our home, and thankfully I did not find anything! Not a single word about our island or any of it’s secrets! That is wonderful news, is it not mama!?   At this point, we were preparing to leave and discover our next adventure, when Capitan Dio suddenly received a message from home! It said that there was new information about his missing brother, Milo (I did not even know his brother was missing) and that he needed to return home immediately! So of course that is was we did!   But before we left, Dio thought it was best to break our ties with the Onclave. I was not so sure about it (I wanted to keep tabs on them in case they ever tried to find out things about the island) but Dio’s reasons made sense, and everyone else agreed to it as well, so I followed their lead. It was an odd ceremony, mama. There was a bright light--a very bright light--and everything went dark for a long moment, and then suddenly we could see again, but Katrain told us to leave and then turned away and did not speak to us again. And when we got to the ship, all the other Onclave members had left for their homes and closed the doors, or gone below deck on their ships.   It was a shunning, mama. They were very much kicking us out. I recognized it right away because it was not very different from the way--   Nevermind. What’s done is done.   Anyway, we left the Onclave for the open sea and headed straight back to Castow! It took a few weeks and I used the time to practice my flying beasties, but I am having such a hard time with them mama. It is like gills all over again!   When we finally reached land, we told the ship to wait for us in the harbor, but Tunaka said he would come with us--he knows the area very well, and he makes a wonderful guide. I was so very happy he decided to come!   It was a 4 day journey up to Newood--Dio’s home--and on the way we passed through so many cities! MAMA! You would not believe how LARGE they are! There was one city we passed through (it has the same name as the continent, which was very confusing for me) that was so large with SO MANY people, I actually was speechless! Me! With nothing to say! Crazy!   (Once again, we passed through cities and could not explore. One of these days I will be allowed to really explore a city... one of these days.)   Finally we reached Newood and Dio took us to his home. Mama... Dio’s house... I have never seen a single home so enormous! It was big enough to house 10 families at home! At least! It looked like a small city all on it’s own! I cannot believe Dio really grew up here!   We met two of his younger brothers in the front, and I think I frightened one of them by turning into a bear, but they asked me to! They wanted me to show my beasties! The other one was very excited and I took him for a ride as we walked inside the house.   Mama... it was even bigger on the inside! I do not know how that is possible! And there were statues of Dio’s father everywhere (apparently he likes to carve statues of himself). There was also a family portrait of Dio, his parents, and all of his 12 siblings together. They are a beautiful family, mama, I am so very excited at the chance to meet them all!   Dio’s mama greeted us next! Oh mine gosh, she is so very beautiful and sweet--not as beautiful and sweet and you mama, of course, but no one ever could be. She told us more about the clue they had received from Milo; it was some sort of book? Honestly, I did not hear a lot of what was said, I was still staring at the enormous home and enjoying the company of Dio’s younger brother. But I did hear something about an island, so I think we may be sailing again very soon.   That night, they had a great big feast for the entire family (a few members were missing, but it was still a very large gathering)! It was very much like home, mama, they had all this food and everyone was smiling and laughing and telling stories. Well, I was telling most of the stories... I was telling them all about how Dio rose though the ranks to become Capitan of our ship, and all the amazing things he has accompalished since! I do not know about the others, but I know his younger brother was very much impressed!   Also, I had coffee for the first time! Remember, you would never let me have coffee, but I finally got to try it and it reminded me very much of alcohol because suddenly I had so much energy to do all the things!   Later on in the night the younger siblings had to go to bed, so Dio’s older siblings took us to another room to talk. Dio’s older sister Spanky--who I have been dying to meet ever since Dio said her name because it just sounded like the most wonderful name so I knew it had to belong to a wonderful person--told us something that was very troubling... apparently the Purifiers have began to take over Newood.   You remember, I told you about the Purifiers before. They are the ones who kill people or take them away simply for believing in deities. They are not very nice people...   Poor Dio was, of course, very upset by this. I think he wants to stay and help get rid of the purifiers, but I do not know how we would do that. Then again, Dio is very smart, so I am sure he can come up with a plan. If he wishes to stay and fight, I am of course going to stay with him and help!   But that is trouble for another time. For tonight, we have had fun, and food, and laughter, and I am so very grateful Dio was willing to let us meet his family! I hope we can spend more time together tomorrow, I bet I can impress his younger siblings with my insect beasties!   I will write again soon, mama. Always remember that I love you so so much and I miss you every day and every night!   -Memen

The Great Escape

I could not sleep! Mama, I have to finish the story. It was just... it was such a hard day and talking to you always makes hard days better, so I will write this and pretend you are here and maybe then I will be able to sleep better.   Okay. So.   We were running for our lives out of this tower, all of us super tired and out of spells and everything. We are going as fast as we can, but mama, I am holding everyone back! I never EVER thought I would be the slow one in the water, but without my beasties, I cannot keep up with the others. Fortunately, Dio is able to move quite quickly, so he helps me until we get up the stairs and out of the water.   The minute we make dry land, we run and run and run, all the way to the entrance where we meet up with the freed prisoners. With Sahouagen hot on our tails, I cast water walk on those that cannot swim well, and we rush towards the ship.   But the ship is SO far away, mama! We run and run and run again, but the sahouagen jump into the water and start to catch up. Kressara keeps trying to fight them off, Laughingsteel too, and they are both getting very hurt and I am almost out of spells to help them.   So I made a decision, mama: if I cannot heal my friends, I will protect them by giving the sahouagen something to fight. Do not worry, I do not stop running, but I move much slower because I decide to cast Moonbeam and attack these guys as I go.   I know I know I know! You would have wanted me to run and stay safe, but mama, I had to do something! I had been so useless this entire mission, I had to do SOMETHING.   And you know, it worked! I slowed the sahouagen down quite a bit and killed a few of them which gave the others room to escape. But then Roger and one of his crewman stayed to fight too, and Kressara and Dio came back to help me, and suddenly all of my friends were in danger again. It was so scary, mama... I could hear Harley shouting at us to run for the ship (he was quite far ahead) but I could not leave until I knew the others were safe.   Then I got hit pretty hard, mama. I think I passed out for a minute because I was suddenly lying on the water with Dio standing over me casting a healing spell (that is the second time he has saved my life). And by the time I got back up, Capitan Roger had gone down.   Here is where I made mistake number four, mama. The worst one of them all. I had enough in me for one more little healing spell. All I had to do was run to Roger and I would have saved him. But when the moment came... I got too scared. Because I knew that if I tried to move anywhere, I would not have Dio or Kressara to protect me, and I would probably go down. So I... I did not move. I stayed where I was. And then Roger died.   I could have saved him, mama. I could have! I should have! But I... I let my fear get me... and now he is gone.   We have not given up hope just yet. The Onclave is very powerful, we are going to go back and hope that they can save him somehow. But I do not think I will ever be able to forgive myself for this one mama... it was a very difficult day.   Oh mama, I wish you here. I wish you could hug me and tell me that everything is going to be alright. I wish I was stronger so I could have done more.   I should have done more.   I am sorry. Today's letter is not very happy. But like you always say, mama: tomorrow can only get better.   I love you mama.   -Memen

Running in the Deep

Ok! I am back, Mama!   Where did I leave off... oh yes!   We decided to continue down the tower and try to find the other prisoners. The ones we already freed we told to wait by the entrance so we could all leave together on the way out.   The next part of the tower was in water, so it was much harder for me to get around, but we wonder and wonder (this place is like a maze, mama!) until I find a door that is unlocked. I peek in and see the strangest thing! I still do not understand it:   There were some sahouagen priestesses chanting at an alter made of shark teeth and eyes, and they had something trapped in burlap sacks beside them (for sacrifice, I think) AND... there was a GIANT TWO-HEADED SHARK just swimming in circles above them!!! I think they were praying to it or something, but when they stopped it ate two of them, so I do not know! Everything that happened next happened so quickly, I did not get a chance to do much. Suddenly the priestesses attacked us, and then we attacked the shark, and then Harley said he wanted to try talking to the shark (I do not know why, but I definitely would have preferred to talk instead of fight it), but Kressara was raging so she could not stop fighting so she killed the shark... it was a lot.   With the shark and priestesses now dead, we search the room for a way down or any secret openings or something, and I find out that the sacks were filled with little baby sahouagen! THEY WERE GOING TO SACRIFICE THEIR BABIES!!!! Mama... what are these things!? Have you ever heard of a creature sacrificing it's own baby before!? Ugh! So many questions and no answers to any of them!!   Anyway, we leave the babies and continue on, but we keep running into more and more sahouagen--they are unending!--and we are running out of ways to fight them. There are just too many! And Kressara was really hurt, and I was almost out of spells, and Capitan Roger almost died, so Dio decides it is time for us to leave.   I did not want to go, mama. We still have crew down there, leaving means they could be killed! But orders are orders... and I did not want to leave my friends to fight their way out alone.   Though maybe it would have been better if I had stayed. I caused so much trouble on this next part, mama.   But I think I will write about that tomorrow. I am very VERY tired after the day we had, so I will get some sleep now, I think. I promise I will finish the story tomorrow!   -Memen

Sound Cue: Mission Impossible Theme

Oh Mama... I wish you were here. I could really use a good hug right now.   You remember how I said we were on our way to save Capitan Rodger’s ship (which has some of our crew on board)? Well we found the sahuagin island where they were taken, but things... things did not go very well for us.   Now remember, you know I am okay because I am writing to you, so do not worry as you read this. But mama... it was rough.   When we first found the island, we kept the ship at a distance so they would not spot us and raise an alarm or something. The others stayed behind while I turned into an ocatopus and swam closer to get a good look. I found out their patrols and where the doors to get in were located, but I did not see any sneaky ways to get in. I went back and reported to Capitan Dio, and he and Rodger decided it would be best to go in through the door on the shore (since these are water creatures and probably spend less time on land). Before we left though, they all agreed to let me rest so I could recover my beastie form.   That was our first mistake, mama.   I did not see any of this, but the others tell me that a group of seven sahuagin found our ship and attacked. Kressara and Rodger got beat up a bit, but they were all able to take care of the trespassers without letting any escape to give away our position. Unfortunately, Dio now thought we could wait no longer, so I was not able to get my beastie back. And honestly, as worried as I was about that, I was more concerned that they did not call me when they were fighting. To come up on deck and find some of them injured was very frightening! I used a lot of magic to heal them as best I could because I felt so bad for having not helped at all.   That was my second mistake. So was not waiting to get my beastie back. I definitely needed it later on.   We moved the ship to a different position so it could hopefully remain unspotted, and we all swam towards the entrance I told them about.   (Also, mama, can you believe that I am the slowest swimmer out of all of us on the mission? After all those years of pretending to be an ocatapus, I am not nearly as good a swimmer as I should be, I think. I mean mine gosh! I cannot believe it was me who was holding us up! If I could have turned into a beastie it would have been no problem, but because I could not, Dio had to help me swim to keep up! Mine gosh... I think I will need to practice swimming now.)   When we got to the door, it was not locked, but it was blocked. The only way we could think of to get in without using too much magics or being too loud was to just push it open really hard! So Rodger and Kressara did, and they broke the blockade no problem! But on the other side were some sahuagin waiting for us. It did not take us long to get past them, but then there was a gate in our way. So I used my super strong muscles to lift the grate (with some help from Rodger) and we made it into the lair!   Now comes mistake number three, mama.   I have been practicing my spells and learned a few new ones, which I prepared to help us on our mission. I used pass without a trace to keep us stealthy, and then locate creature to find our friends. But I did not realize I could only focus on one at a time, so we lost all our stealthy and had to fight more and more sahuagin. And, to make it worse, the way the lair was set up made my locate spell very unuseful. I was focusing on our weapons master (Klip) and I could feel that he was down below the ground, but that did not help us find how to get to him. This place was like a maze, and around every corner were dangerous fish people wanting to kill us.   That was twice I was not useful on this mission, mama. I was determined not to make it three times.   Fortunately, I am used to sneaking around on the island, so I was able to dart around the area and look for trouble. Dio made it even better by turning me invisible! Had I not been so worried about my friends, I would have very much enjoyed this spell, mama, it was a lot of fun getting to run around knowing people could not see you at all!   It took a little while, but I was finally able to find a few members of our crew: Gorgrom, our pilot, and Chesha, our carpenter, as well as a member of Rodger’s crew and some other people that were all chained together and being forced to work. So I ran back to Capitan Dio as fast as I could and we decided that I would go in and turn into a bear--as a distraction, you see--and the others were follow after me and take out the magic users first.   That part of the plan went pretty well, actually. It did not take us long to win this battle, but the problem was... we were all a little worse for wear. I was almost out of spells and had no more beasties to turn into, Capitan Dio was almost out of spells too, I think, and Kressara was looking very hurt. And you know what, mama? We still were only on the top floor of this very tall lair! It could be floors and floors of more sahuagin before we found the rest of our crew!   This is the part where I started to be very frightened. If my friends got hurt, I was running out of ways to help them, and if we continued through this tower, I was certain it would not end well. But if we turned around and left, we might never be able to get the rest of our crew back!   It is times like these that I am very grateful I am not in charge. I cannot imagine having to make that choice...   But do not worry, mama, Dio is super super smart. He had a plan, for sure.   We decided to--   Oh! I forgot to do my star charting, mama! I will have to finish writing later! (I know I did not need to say that, I could have just continued writing after I was finished and no one would know. But I like to do it this way... it makes me feel more like I am really talking to you, you know?)   I will be back soon!   -Memen

Deep Sea Chase

Dear Mama,   At this point, I am certain it is not surprising to you, but we had another CRAZY day!   It started off pretty normal, we were exploring the island and getting to know the area a little more: Dio and Harley went to the library to see what they could learn there, and Kress and I went to go talk to some plants. I do not know how the research went, because we did not have time to discuss it (you will see why in a minute), but Kress and I had a great time! I talked to the only plants I could find in the area, and they were not really doing well, mama! No one ever waters them, or gives them sunlight, or anything to help them grow big and strong! Why have plants if you are not going to take care of them!? And they were so tired and hungry, they did not have any information for me. But I made a deal, that if I bring them some water every time I visit, they will keep an ear out for any cool information (I know it is not likely they will tell me anything crazy important, but honestly mama, it was just nice to talk to plants again. We have been on a boat for so long, I have not been able to do it for some time). Then, just as we were about to go catch up with the others, Capitan Laughingsteel came storming by and into the building!   Now mama, you know how I used to sneak into classes at the school by turning into bugs and sitting in the window? Well, I did it again! Only this time, I followed Laughingsteel into a room with Katrain! And they were shouting back and forth, and I did not hear much, but Roger was very upset. And suddenly he was leaving, so I jumped onto his shoulder and hid there as a spider! Then when he got outside, I just jumped off and became Memen again! It was super cool! I was so stealthy, I was like a super ninja from your stories!!!   But there was no time to celebrate my fun because Roger was on his way to Dio and Harley. He tells us that his ship--the one that holds some of our crew--has been taken by some Sahuagin (you know, those fish creatures we have been attacked by before)!! Of course Dio says we have to go after them--they have our crew!--so we rush off to get the ship prepared to leave!   Since it is Roger’s ship that has been taken, he comes with us on the rescue mission, and brings some of his crew along (including Hildegard and Joseph), so we are definitely ready for a fight! Which is good, because apparently the Onclave has tried to attack the sahuagin base before and they weren’t strong enough to get far. These fish guys are pretty powerful, mama, so we think it will be best to try and get our crew back stealthily.   The journey takes two days, so on the way I decide to practice my flying beasties--it is the wings, mama, they are very very difficult to get to right. I think that if I jump from somewhere up high (like the crows nest) maybe it will give me enough of a boost to get my wings going. So far it has not worked, but I am getting better each time, I think! I will get there mama, do not you worry!   So that is where we are headed. We are going to find the crew, for sure this time!   Of course I will write you to let you know what happens!   I love you mama!   -Memen   WAIT WAIT! Mama! OH MINE GOSH!   After I finished writing this, I went to right to sleep, but I was woken up in the middle of the night by someone screaming! I went up to the deck of the ship, and there were two of our night crew face to face with some SAHUAGIN! It was crazy!! How did they even know we were coming!?   We beat them back, but two of them escaped, and we could not let them go back to the island and warn that we were on our way! So Harley and I took off after them (each in different directions). When I got back to the ship, Harley had gotten his seemingly without trouble (that guy just gets more powerful every time we fight), but mine took a minute. I had to follow him in the dark as a giant ocatopus (because you know, they move pretty quickly). I think the alcohol was still affecting me, because it took a while for me to spot this guy in the water, but when I finally did, I grabbed him and squished him before he could run away again (I actually meant to keep him alive and bring him back to the ship to talk, but I was afraid I would accidentally let him go, so I did not).   It was crazy, mama! Maybe I should try sleeping during the day instead. We seem to get attacked a lot at night.   Anyway... I am going to try and sleep again. I am still very very tired.   Goodnight mama!

But First Another Drink!

Dear Mama,   Well… yesterday was an interesting day.   Now that we are on the Onclave Island, they decided to let us go meet their “Protectorate” people—they are the people who made the Onclave in the first place or something. We are taken down into this natural cave to see something called the “Beacon”; it is a large and bright sphere that sort of… um… draws you to it? I am not sure how or why, or even how to explain the feeling, but it was very strange, mama.   Anyway, so we go to this cave and we see this beacon and we are told to stand there and wait for the Protectorate to come and when they meet us we cannot talk at all! At all, mama! You know how hard it is for me to say nothing, so it was not an easy task! Especially after seeing what they looked like! Mama, they came in wearing these suits of armour that were beautiful, and they had helmets on in the shape of animals! One wore a lion helmet and was named Ronor, one wore a hawk helmet and was named Fehran, the one with the bear was named Elote, the one with the wolf was called Itolla, and there was even an ocatopus called Narath! Strange names, strange armour, strange beacon… everything about these people is strange, mama. I cannot explain it, but I am not sure we should be here. I am not sure we should trust them. I know I know, we should not judge people just because they are different, but this is not that I do not think. They just… I do not know how to say it… they just seem not right somehow.   I do not know, mama. I do not know what to do. They are not being bad to us or rude or trying to hurt us or anything. They seem pretty nice now that we are part of their group, but maybe that is what is bothering me about them. We did not choose to be part of their group, it was forced upon us, you know? I guess I feel that any society that has to force people into being part of them through violence is not… right? That is not the word, but I cannot find the word in common right now.   Anyway, for now we decide we are going to trust them (but I am keeping my eyes open, just in case). Katrain—the one who introduced us to the Protectorate and answered all of our questions—told us that the other ship with the rest of our crew should be coming in soon, so we are going to wait here for them so we can get our crew back. There is also a library and a research center that Dio is very excited to look at, but they were closed by the time we finished with introductions, so we will visit today I think. Katrain also said there were rooms available for all of us to sleep in should we want, but everyone decided we would rather stay on our ship.   However, since the rest of the crew was relaxing and enjoying a drink, Dio, Kressara, Harley and I all decided to check out the local tavern! I have only been to a few taverns in my travels, so I was very excited to see another one! AND! MAMA! Oh mine gosh… ok, so you know how you would never let me have the drinks the adults had at festivals? Well Tuna never let me drink them either when we visited taverns. BUT! Since I am an officer on a ship now, and I have been through quite a few crazy fights and stuff, I thought it would be okay to try the alcohol now!   Oh man… mama… I had no idea alcohol could do such crazy things to you. I started talking even more than I normally do, only the others tell me I was not speaking common—but I swore I was mama!—so they could not understand me! And then I lost my balance and fell over and suddenly I was a bear! Right in the middle of the tavern! I did not even mean to do it! How crazy it that, mama!? And then when we got back to the ship, Tuna was trying to put me to bed and I DID IT AGAIN! Oh mine gosh… it was so strange!   AND AND AND! Then this morning I woke up with a reaaaally big headache. Lucky for me I have my herbs to make it go away, but still… what a strange drink that can do all these crazy things to you! I had fun, mama, really, but I am not sure I will be drinking the alcohols for a while. I do not know how Kressara does it so often… she must have the stomach of a rhino or something!   That was all yesterday. It was nice to have a day of semi-rest after so much craziness, you know? I really enjoyed getting to be with my friends without the worry of a monster or something around.   OH OH! MAMA! I ALMOST FORGOT!!! When we were in the tavern, I saw a drow! He was the first drow I have seen since leaving home! I tried to go talk to him, but the alcohol made me feel strange and then Kressara said it wasn’t a good idea so I did not. But if I see him today I will definitely talk to him! I think… maybe. No I definitely will!   It could be him, mama. You never know!   Whatever happens, I will write you again tonight. I miss you, mama! I hope you are well.   Love,   Your Memen

The IceDragon Cometh

MAMA! OH MINE GOSH! IT WAS CRAZY! THERE WERE DRAGONS, THERE WAS ICE, THERE WERE BABIES, AND I NEARLY DROWNED, OH MINE GOSH!   Ok ok ok ok ok, here is what happened.   I was downstairs in the storage talking to our pirate friends about what to do about Rowan, when all of a sudden I hear Kressara shout from the top of the ship! I go running up as fast as I can and come face to face with some sort of dragon! It was blue, with shiny scales, and wings that looked like a manta ray. It looked pretty scary, mama, until I saw the other two little ones with it—it was just a mama or a papa dragon trying to find food for it’s babies! So of course, I try to talk to it and tell it that we do not want to fight, we can give them food if that is what they need, and then they can be safely on their way. But they must not have understood me. Because—now mama, do not freak out, I am okay now—the next thing I know, it is hitting me with a blast of ice from it’s mouth!   I will not lie to you, mama, it hurt a lot. But only for a second, because everything went dark very quickly. The next thing I know, I am waking up in the water, with Dio beside me keeping me afloat. Apparently, the ice blast knocked me out so hard I got pushed off the boat and thrown into the ocean!! I almost drown, mama! If it had not been for Dio, I would not be here writing to you.   BUT DO NOT WORRY! I am okay now, I promise! Nothing a few hours of sleep cannot cure.   From what I was told, it sounds like Dio saw me go overboard and just jumped into the ocean right after me! Can you believe that, mama!? Dragon or no dragon, cold ocean or no cold ocean, he just jumped right in and saved my life!! I definitely would have drown if he did not get to me when he did.   And he was all worried that he is not a good Capitan. Who else would jump into an ocean to save a crewmate from a dragon!? He is such a good person, mama, I really owe him big this time. I will have to think of a way to repay him for this. Maybe I can make him something? Or help him with his forge? I do not know, but I will think of something.   Back to the dragon! Dio does his super Capitan thing and saves my life, and then I turn into a giant spider and climb us up the ship to get back in the fight. It was really quite a site mama, with Dio on my back as we hopped back onto the deck, he looked like a hero out of one of your books! I am sure our crew were very impressed. By that time, though, the dragon was already very hurt. Dio only had to shoot at it once and it went down hard. I was happy the crew was safe, but honestly mama, it was sad to see it die. I know it was only there to feed it’s babies. If only I had been able to find a way to speak with it, we would not have had to kill it…   But I shout to the rest of the crew to let the babies go, because I know that once their parent is dead, they will not want to stick around. Sure enough, the babies fly off as soon as they get the chance. I really hope they are okay. The poor things were just hungry…   Since the dragon is now dead on our ship, I decide waste not want not, and harvest some scales and some teeth, because Dio said he could use them for something. The rest of the dragon Kressara and I push into the ocean, and I druid crafted some flowers to float above where it lay, as a little token for it to rest in peace.   It was such a crazy fight, mama. I think I need to learn to speak dragon so that does not happen again.   Once the fighting was over, I heal some of the crew and then go down to see Tunaka and the pirates to make sure they are okay. And you know, Tunaka looks at me all worried and stuff because I look a little banged up—really I am okay—and it was so sweet that he was worried about me! I gave him a big hug so he knows I am okay and then I have to get back to navigating the ship.   It is a busy life being a sailor sometimes, mama. So much to do in a day!   With how fast we were going, it was not much longer until we finally make it to the Onclave islands. Mama, have you ever heard of the Onclave? It is a very strange organization from what I have seen. For one thing, as we were nearing the island, we suddenly felt this strange… pull. Like we instinctively knew where to go. It was very weird. Apparently, it is something you get when you become part of the club, but I am still confused how it is we got to be part of them in the first place.   Kressara steers us into a cavern on one of the islands, and we see ships everywhere! So many ships! Some bigger than us, some smaller, ships everywhere you look! When we dock, Rodger says he will take us to their leader so we can have some of our questions answered. I was hoping for a chance to speak with Joseph one more time, but maybe I can do that later.   Anyway, Rodger leads us to this big beautiful building, where two people in white robes greet us at the door. We move past them into a chamber with marble floors and a big still pool in the middle. It was very beautiful, mama. Very… what is the word… elegant. It is there that we meet an old human woman named Katrain Duststone, who is dressed in the same robes as the other people. She is the administrator for the Onclave. She takes us into a room to talk so we can finally get some answers.   It is a long conversation, mama. Dio and Harley asked a lot of questions. I am still not sure I understand their mission, or what they are, it was a lot of information at once. They say they want to learn as much as they can about history, and about undiscovered things in the world. Normally that is something that would not worry me—nothing wrong with wanting to learn, you know?—but I remember what you taught me about knowledge being power, and how power can do crazy things to people. So I am… cautious.   Dio and Harley seem very excited by all this, especially Dio since he is very much wanting to learn about the histories of Falonde and their deities and stuff. Kressara, as usual, seems not bothered by any of this. So I think it may only be me who is worried. Which is strange, because you know me, I am normally very trusting of people.   I think it may have been something Katrain said that made me suddenly worry. She said they were always looking for things undiscovered. Things that are new and hold interesting secrets. And mama… that is home. Our island is one giant secret full of interesting treasures. I think I am afraid that these people will try to get information from me or something.   I do not know… But I will try to keep my worries to a minimum. It is not right to mistrust others because of my own fears, I know.   So that is where we are right now, mama. We are on the Onclave island, and we are about to go meet these “Protectorate” people, who are the people who created and control the Onclave. Maybe I will get more of a sense of whether or not we can trust this group from them.   I know it was all a little scary today, but do not worry mama! I promise, I am okay. I may not be home with you, but I am starting to realize how good the people around me are. They have all been kind and generous and forgiving, and you know, not one of them has ever asked me about my skin or looked at me strange because of it. They are just really good people. Really. Between Tunaka and Dio and Kressara and Harley, I am very well taken care of. So you have nothing to worry about, your little Memen has made some very good friends. The best of friends!!   I love you mama! I will write soon!   Love,   Your Memen

Part of the Ship, Part of the Crew

Dear Mama,   I am… not entirely certain what is going on at the moment. I will try to explain, but I apologize if it makes no sense, I am still trying to piece it together myself.   Remember how I told you we were able to take our ship back from the pirates? Well right after, the fake Capitan (Rodger Laughingsteel) said that he had to speak with Capitan Dio because there were important things he needed to know about the Onclave, and he could only say them in front of a Capitan.   Mama, poor Dio has really been through a lot lately. He is only a new Capitan and he has already had to make some really hard choices for our ship and our crew. And now with half of our crew still missing and these pirates still aboard… I think it is really taking its toll on him. He did not want to talk to Rodger at all, he just walked away to his room. So I followed him to try and make him feel better, but I am not sure how much I helped. I know Memen hugs are magical for you, mama, but they do not seem to have the same effect on other people. I just hope Dio knows we do not blame him for the bad things that have happened. He is really a good Capitan, mama. I will try to help him see that.   He did calm down after a bit and agreed to talk with Rodger, so we all gathered in Dio’s room where Rodger told us that somehow—I am not understanding how—we are now part of this Onclave. Apparently, when we surrendered during their first attack, that made us part of their club? There are a lot of rules that we are meant to follow, and a lot of mysteries that the other crew will not tell us about, but still they insist we are part of their group.   It makes no sense to me, mama, but Rodger seemed very serious about it all. He said that not listening to him and obeying the rules would cause a lot of trouble for us in the future, and unfortunately I believe him.   BUT! The good thing about all this is that he said we will not be harmed when we get to their island, so this is at least one less thing too worry about. It means we may be able to just pick up our crew and leave without any trouble. So we are currently on our way to their island to (hopefully) do just that.   As we are sailing, I go down to our storage room which we are using as a brig (that is a sailing term for jail, mama) where we are keeping the pirates for now. I was thinking—like you always tell me—that when I cannot find the answers inward, it is time to look outward and not be afraid to ask for help. So I decided to ask the pirate people if they might know how it is that this Rowan guy keeps disappearing. He has really been on my mind a lot, mama, because he was last seen on the other ship with the rest of our crew, and I am afraid he may disappear with them or something.   So I asked the pirates (especially the mage) if they knew any way someone could be disappearing like that. The mage—her name is Hildegard—said she did not know the specific magic Rowan might be using, but it sounds like he is extremely practiced at it. Like he’s been doing it for years. And I think I agree with her. He must be pretty powerful.   Do you remember how I told you last time that one of the pirates was being particularly rude to me? Well, his name I found out is Joseph, and he said something that sort of… frightened me (not on purpose, mama, I think he and I will be friends one day). He said that he thought Rowan might be killing people like this just because he likes killing. No other reason behind it, just that he likes it. I have never heard of such a thing. I mean, in the stories you would tell me, even the bad guys had reason to kill, you know? Like to get powerful, or to get rich, or to win their lover, or that sort of thing. Their reasons may not have been good, but there was always a reason. I never ever would have thought there were people out there in the world that kill just because they like it… it is frightening to think about. I know there is evil in the world, I know there are bad things and bad people, but someone taking life just for fun is too much.   I really hope I never run into someone like that.   Anyway, we are still on the journey to this island, and I am spending most of my time with Tuna. Whenever I am scared, being around Tuna makes me feel better. Though a hug from you, mama, would go a reaaaaally long way too!   I miss you so much, mama! I hope you are safe and healthy and happy!   Love,   Your Memen   P.S- I forgot to say, there were dolphins swimming up to the ship one day, and one of them squirted me in the face and jumped out of the water right in front of me! It was magical, mama! I wanted to talk with them so badly, but I had not looked at that spell yet, so I could not. THEY WERE SO CUTE! Next time, maybe I will just turn into one and swim with them beside the ship!

The Dawn Bringer Strikes Back

MAMA! OH MINE GOSH!   It was crazy! So crazy mama! I still cannot believe we were able to do it! Oh mine gosh!! There is so much to tell!   Ok ok ok ok! I start at the beginning.   The pirates (they call themselves “they Onclave”) are on our ship and they are taking us to some island far away. They will not tell us where, or why, or what we are to do when we get there, AND they are not being very nice, mama. This one guy especially did not like me. He was very rough and rude and just not nice at all! I do not like these people very much…   A day after we started sailing towards this mysterious island, we stop to connect with the other ship. All of a sudden, Rodger is getting all up in a huff and storms over to our ship and takes Dio down to the Capitan’s quarters! I was so scared he was going to kill Dio, I almost turned into a beetle to follow them (Tuna told me it was a bad idea because I might get someone else hurt by disappearing). When Dio returned (safe and sound, thank goodness) he said that someone on the pirate ship was killed and—ready yourself for this one mama—THE EARL IS MISSING! CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT!?!? I WAS RIGHT ALL ALONG!! I SHOULD HAVE TRUSTED MY INSTICTS AND I SHOULD HAVE BIT HIM HARDER BEFORE! I CANNOT BELIEVE I LET HIM GO!!! AAAAAH!   Obviously we knew that Earl must have been Rowan in disguise, and he must have been the one to kill the person on the pirate ship, but Capitan Rodger did not believe our story! He did not believe that Earl was able to make himself look like someone else or that we could not find him or any of our story! He thought that Capitan Dio ordered the Earl to kill that crewman in order to take over the other ship or something. But, since our crew all said the same thing about Rowan, Rodger decided to give us one day to prove our story AND find Rowan. If we did not find him in that time, Rodger was going to kill one of our crewmates!   So we rush off to try and find Ragnar—Rowan—whoever he is! I went back to the medical room to try and figure out once and for all what happened there, and you know… I did. The pirate guy who had not been nice to me had to follow me to make sure I did not try to escape, and he said that the scratch in the wall that we could not figure out, was probably from a button or something scraping against it. And since it was right by the window… I believe the real Dane Ragnar was killed by Rowan and thrown out the window. Then Rowan somehow took his shape and pretended to be him!   I knew it, mama… I knew it all along that he was lying and he smelled like Rowan and… and I still let him go. I should not have let him go.   Anyway… even after learning all of this, we were not able to find him. I even turned into a wolf again and I sniffed all around the pirate ship and our ship and found nothing. I do not know how he is disappearing like this mama. Of course I know of magics that change the way you look or make you look like other people, but this must be crazy powerful if he is even able to change his scent.   We were very worried, mama, because we could not find Rowan with any of our tricks and magics before, so we knew we could not find him now. That is when Harley stepped in—mama, he was such a good talker! He somehow managed to convince Rodger not to kill our crew for not finding Rowan! He was like a magician with his words! I was super impressed.   Instead of killing us, Capitan Rodger gave us less rations for the day. It did not bother me because, you know me, I do not eat much. But I was really worried about Tuna because he is a big guy so he needs a lot of food, you know? I tried to give him some of my bread, but he said no, of course. But I convinced him that tomorrow he would take my bread no questions asked, because otherwise I would worry!   (I tell you a secret mama… Tuna cannot say no to me when I show him my big puppy eyes! I do not do it a lot, because I do not like making Tuna do things he does not want to do, but sometimes he forgets to take care of himself, so that is when I use it.)   Ok mama, here is where it all turns around!   We come upon this crazy big storm with wind rushing and rain pouring down (it was a little nostalgic of home, to be honest) and guess what!? I actually help navigate us through it! I think it was because I know so much about storms and nature and all that from watching the elders at home, so I could tell which way to go to get the least wind and avoid the crazy waves and all those things mama. It was so exciting! I have never felt like I did something so well! But after we got out of the storm, we were separated from the other ship (we think they maybe did not fair the storm as well as us). So… Capitan Rodger needed me to navigate for him! Which meant I got to learn where their super secret island was!   So now I know where we are going, the other ship is gone (but still heading toward the island, Rodger said) which means no back up for the pirates… are you thinking what I am, mama? I am thinking all we need is someway to distract these pirates and we can take our ship back!   And wouldn’t you know, mama… you were right, all we had to do was be patient. Because the very next day, we were attacked by these crazy jelly fish with SNAKES FOR TENTACLES! They were very big and powerful, but me and my friends were able to take them down without too much trouble.   The pirates though…well, they did not do quite as well.   This was our chance, mama. And we took it!   We helped them kill the last jellyfish, and then we attacked! Kressara went in swinging with her big sword, Dio blew two of them off of the ship, Harley came in behind and blew the other two off, and I took care of the mage with my lighting. We were so fast, they never saw it coming!   WE DID IT! WE TOOK BACK THE SHIP!   But now we had to figure out what to do next. Some of our crew were still on the pirate boat that is headed back to their island, and we cannot abandon them.   Dio decides we will keep the pirates alive, but as our prisoners. He says we will trade our crew for the pirates, and then we will leave and (hopefully) never see them again!   So that is the plan, mama! We have the pirates tied up now (I had to turn into an ocatopus to get them from the water) and we are on our way to their secret island to find our crew!   I told you it would be okay. My friends always figure something out. They are pretty awesome, mama.     Love you and miss you so much, mama! I hope you are happy and healthy.   -Memen

Out-Gunned Out-Manned

Dear Mama,   What I have to tell you is very frightening, but I need you to promise not to worry or freak out or anything, because I am sure we will find a way out of it. Somehow…   Remember how I said that there was this ship coming towards us and readying to attack? Well, they did. They attacked and they attacked hard! They swarmed our ship and charged at our crew without mercy. They were so powerful mama… but you know, I think we could have taken them if it were not for their magics.   As we were fighting, I turned into a polar bear (just like yours mama, I finally figured out how to do it!) and was doing what polar bears do best, when suddenly this magic guy from the other ship casted a spell on me! Suddenly Harley and I were attached by some magical chain, and anytime he got hurt, so did I. Not so big a deal, you know, with my super strong polar bear body. BUT! It also went the other way: when I got hurt, Harley did too! And he did not have a big polar bear body to absorb the hits with. And I could not heal him because I still do not know how to cast spells when I am a beastie.   But you know, I think we were still doing okay. Our crew was fighting back and we were keeping them at bay, until—now remember, do not freak out, I promise I am okay—they sent a GIANT FIREBALL at us! Oh mine gosh, it was so big and so powerful! That was when things really started going bad… we were all really hurt and their people just kept coming, AND they had another mage with them to throw magics at us… it was not looking good at all.   That is when their Capitan stepped onto our ship. He said his name was Rodger LaughinSteel, and he promised not to kill us if we surrendered right away. So Capitan Dio, being as smart as he is, did just that. He ordered us all to surrender. I do not know if it was the right thing to do or if we could have won the battle, but I trust Dio with my life, and I am certain he knew what he was doing.   After we surrendered, some of our crew had to go onto the other ship, and some of their crew came onto ours. Now they have taken over our quarters and are ordering us around all the time. I do not like it, mama, but it definitely could be worse, you know?   That is where we are right now. We all have to sleep on the deck of the ship with guards walking around us all the time (I am sitting beside Tuna and his body hides me a bit, so I do not think anyone will notice me writing).   Mama… if I am to tell you the truth, I am very scared right now. I do not know where these people are taking us or why they wanted our ship, but I do not have a good feeling about any of it. And I am afraid that I will lose my friends… especially Dio, Capitan Rodger has been keeping him separate from us because he is our Capitan and it makes me very very worried. But thinking of you and remembering what you told me about there being a solution to every problem makes me feel a bit better.   I miss you so much mama. I promise, we will find a way out of this. I do not know how, but I trust my friends and you should too. Please do not worry, okay mama?   Love,   Your Memen

Prophecies, 'Pologies, and Pirates

MAMA! YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE WHAT HAS HAPPENED!   Ok ok ok ok ok! So we were getting the ship back on track after that whole Rowan problem, and I was up on the deck doing my job (navigating, you know) when all of a sudden this black smokey cloak appeared behind me! He was warning me about the area we were sailing into, I think. He had this really creepy voice and he said “Dangers lurk in these waters beyond your mortal understanding” and then… HE DISAPPEARED! RIGHT BEFORE MY EYES! It was crazy!!   I ran down and woke up Capitan Dio (and Harley, by accident) and told him about it, but he decided we should keep sailing the way we were because it could mean we will discover something new or exciting (and Harley was hoping we might find treasure).   Now, since I had woken Dio up already, I took the opportunity to tell him how sorry I was for all the mistakes I have made lately. I have caused so much trouble, mama, I would not have blamed him for kicking me off the ship. But he did not! He was very kind, mama, and very forgiving. I think he is also worried he is messing up as Capitan—which I do not understand because he has been very good at making decisions and keeping us safe and all of those things Capitans do—so I am going to do my absolute best to make things easier for him. Mainly by not messing up any more. Or at least less… I hope.   ANYWAY! So we continued sailing and the next morning we find an island in the distance, and the closer we sail to it, the tougher it gets to navigate. There are rocks and reefs and all kinds of things that are dangerous, so we have to sail much slower. Thank goodness I had help, or I do not think we would have made it through.   Once we got very close, another ship appeared! And mama, the people on that ship were very much NOT friendly. At all! They are getting ready to attack us, so I try to knock them over with a tidal wave, but my wave is not quite as powerful as yours mama… I did not even tip the ship over. But I did knock a few people overboard, so that helped, I think!   They are still coming towards us and they are readying all of their weapons and things, mama! Now all we can do is wait as we get ready to be boarded by these… these… PIRATES!

Hide and Seek

Mama,   Do you remember how I told you we found that guy (Rowan) floating in a boat who was all starving and said his boat had been destroyed in a storm? Well, we let him stay on the boat and rest and feel better—because we were trying to do as you taught me mama, be good to strangers whenever you can—but he sat in his room and did nothing but eat our food and drink our water and annoy the rest of our crew. And then he said he was still not feeling well, so we sent him to see our doctor, and that is where EVERYTHING went wrong.   The doctor is suddenly running onto the deck telling us Rowan punched him out and disappeared! Crazy, right!? So we run downstairs to try and find him (I turn into a wolf, naturally) and we track him from his room to the doctor’s, but that is it! No scent anywhere else, mama! The only other place I find his scent is on the doctor.   Okay… so… here is where I make a mistake mama. A really big one.   Because, you know, the doctor (his name is Earl, or Dane or something?) he is the only one who has Rowan’s scent, he was the last one to see him, AND the scent disappears in his room. And I know that it possible for people to change the way they look for a really long time—people on our island do it all the time—so I thought maybe the doctor was actually Rowan in disguise! So… to try and frighten him into showing himself… I bited him, mama. I KNOW I KNOW, I should not have done it, but it seemed like the best idea at the time! And when we asked him about Rowan, he was lying about something (though I could not tell what at the time) so it was all very suspicious!   Capitan Dio said he trusted my instincts, so he started a search of the area, while I stayed with the doctor to talk to him some more. And while we talked, he finally admitted that he was holding something back (which I will not say because he was really embarrassed about it and REALLY did not want people to know, so I will keep it to myself) but it had nothing to do with Rowan or our search!   I felt really bad, mama. Even worse when I tried to heal his wound and he pulled away because he was afraid of me... it was like being home again. I did not like it. At all.   But anyway, we caught up with Dio and the others and continued to look for Rowan on the ship. We searched high and low and all around and we found nothing! No sign of him anywhere at all! I could not even find his scent anywhere anymore. We gathered all of the crew together and told them we were still looking for him, and offered a reward if anyone found him, but so far no luck. Dio thinks he may have left to go back to a ship and tell them all about us and what we have and how many crew we are so they can attack us, so we are all making sure we keep a good look out. Especially at night.     I am very worried, mama. This is the second time I have caused trouble in two days… I think Capitan Dio may have to throw me overboard.   I miss you mama. I miss you so so much.   -Memen

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Hag

Mama… oh mine gosh, what a day.   Ok. So. We go down to the underwater city, and it was SO BIG! There were all these buildings and roads and stuff, and they all looked old and rotting away. Dio and Harley said that it did not look like the city was built underwater, but somehow sank there! How is that even possible, mama!? Not even our elders would be strong enough to do that, right?   Anyway, so we are looking through and we find some treasures and stuff, when all of a sudden, there is something moving in the water. It was snakes, mama! Underwater snakes! They attacked us, and we fought back, and it was not a big deal until one of them bit me and suddenly everything went dark. And mama, when I woke up… I was still an ocatopus! How!? Every other time I have ever gone unconscious as a beastie, I have woken up as Memen, but not this time! How is that possible!? It was really scary mama, I have no idea what happened, but I will be very careful of sea snake bites from now on.   Oh, but do not worry! I am totally fine now! And mama, guess what? When I woke up, Harley and Dio and Kressara were all there around me, making sure I was okay! They did not leave or continue exploring without me, they waited till I woke up to make sure I was not hurt.   They waited, mama. They worried. About me. Can you believe that? I mean I know YOU can, cause you are my mama, but you know what I mean. They are very good people.   Ok ok ok, so we continue to explore—no more sea snakes—until we find the city center with the most important looking buildings. And in the center of the center (I just like saying that) there was a statue with the words “Bri Dune Celebration of Heritage Day” on it. Do you know what this “Bri Dune” is? Have you ever heard it before, mama? None of us had. But OH! Kressara found a sword in the statue that had a golden hilt and a magical aura around it! It looks really good with her armour, mama, she looks so intimidating.   After searching around a bit, I drop form and become Memen again so I can look around for any magics in the area, and I spot one inside the biggest building.   Now mama… here is where it gets bad. I mean, we are all ok and everything, so do not freak out! But I definitely made a big mistake…   You see, I followed the magic to this… arena looking room inside the building, but when I found the source of the magic, I did not think to look at what kind of magic it was till later. Inside was a group of 3 sea elf sisters named Amatine, Arowill, and Molthean, who said that the platinum and things that we found were theirs. So of course I say we should give it back, you know, it is the right thing to do! But just as Dio stepped up to give them the treasures, I suddenly realized what kind of magic it was… it was illusion magics mama. They were not sea elves… they were sea hags!! And they attacked us!   If only I had noticed sooner!   They were very vicious, mama! They used their magics to frighten Kressara, and put Harley to sleep, and hurt Dio… it was bad. Very bad. Fortunately, my friends are very powerful people, so we managed to beat the hags, but it was a close one mama. Too close. And it was my fault. Again.   Anyway, so we get the treasures and we head back to the surface—I finally learned how to use the water walk spell you showed me, so we did that to get back—and then we divide up the treasure between us and the crew. When everything was done, I spent the rest of the evening telling Tuna about what happened. He is an excellent listener, mama.   What a crazy adventure that one was. And I know I messed up and people got hurt and everything, and I promise I will try not to do that again, but… you know… they waited, mama. They waited for me.   It was a good day.   -Memen.

Under the Sea! Under the Sea!

Dear Mama,   Well, the Dawn Chaser has gone, our ship has been built, and our crew has been hired. No turning back now. We are officially crewmen to our new ship: the Dawn Bringer (it is in reference to the Dawn Chaser, we are going out to find them the dawn, you see). We set sail in the same direction as Capitan Moonlight, so lucky for me there has not been much need of navigation yet. I only had to do it once so far, and I did not run us into any rocks, so that is a very good start!   Dio is taking to leadership like a fish to water: he is decisive and smart, and really seems to know what he is doing. I am very impressed. Not surprised, because we all knew he would be a good Capitan, but still impressed. Harley and him make a great team, both being very good at deciding what to do next and where to go. Kressara (I think I have been spelling her name wrong before) has been busy with the sails—that is what she does, Sailing Master, not in charge of weapons like I thought—so it is really only been me who has not had much to do. Not that I am complaining! In fact, I am very grateful. The less they have to rely on me for navigating, the better!   But do not worry, I have not been doing nothing! I have been practicing my spells, and my water beasties, and I even swim under the ship every day to make sure we are not being followed by any big and scary creatures.   OH! And just yesterday we came across a man in a boat. He said his ship was destroyed by a big storm that came sweeping through! We had gone through a storm too, but it was all natural as far as I could tell, so I do not think it was like what he described. We think the other storm was magic based, like the one that guy Old Man Storm made to draw us to his island. And the Dawn Chaser was headed right for it! For all we know, they could be hit with the storm and destroyed too! So of course, we had to follow.   And only a little while after, mama… you will never guess what we found! AN UNDERWATER CITY!!! Just like the ones in the stories you tell me! Can you believe it!?   So of COURSE we have to go explore! That is what we are going to do now, so I should go. I get to be a giant ocotapus again! It is my favorite beastie!   I will tell you all about what we find, mama! Promise!   -Memen

Bartering for Boats at Berger

Dear Mama,   I… I do not even know where to start. So much has happened in so short a time. I… I do not know… I think I am still trying to process it all. It is a lot.   Okay.   So we found the Capitan’s father, yes? And I was so excited to hear where he had been and why he left and the whole story! But when we brought him back to the ship, he and the Capitan stepped into her room and closed the door and we didn’t get to hear ANYTHING! Can you believe that!? I mean, I guess it was probably some very personal stuff and all that, so I guess I understand, but I WANT TO KNOW! I was even going to turn into a little beetle so I could crawl into the room and listen, but Tuna stopped me; he said I should let her have a moment with her father. He was right, I know, I should not listen in, but I am still SO CURIOUS!   Anyway, after a few days, the Capitan and her father (his name is Rowan, by the way) bring us into her room and he thanks us for our help and everything, and we tell him all about the spiders and the zombies and the giant tentacles and all that, and THEN he tells about his magical box! Apparently it holds all of his research about the possible location of these things called “the Mortal Swords”, which are actually not swords but people (which is very confusing) who were special to some gods or something? I will admit, there were a lot of words and things being talked about that I did not know, so I was a little confused, but basically these sword people are very important to people who know these god beings, and finding them would be a very big deal. But it is super dangerous too, because there are people out there who do not want these sword people to be found.   Mama, you know we do not have “gods” on the island (in fact, I am not sure they actually exist) but even in a place with such strict rules as our home, I do not think anyone would ever stop someone from believing if they wanted to, right? I mean, that would just be silly and rude for no reason. But apparently there are people out there who do just that; they do not like people worshipping or even knowing about these higher beings. They are called “the Order of the Purifying Flame” and if they find out you are a believer, they attack you or lock you up or even kill you! How crazy is that, mama!? Why would anyone want to kill because of a difference in opinion!? That just sounds so silly, right? And cruel! But that is why we cannot tell anyone about Capitan Moonlight’s father or his research, because if anyone finds out, he could be in a lot of danger! Promise not to tell anyone, ok mama?   Oh! And also, I found out that Dio is a believer of one of these higher beings! He believes in this person called “Mist Splitter” who is apparently someone from Newood (I think, I got a little confused). He and Harley both knew a lot about The Order and the sword people and stuff because it is common knowledge where they come from. Dio and his family especially because they are, as Dio said, “devout followers”. I am not sure I understand, but it seemed pretty important to him. OH! BUT MAMA! You have to keep that a secret too! Because if those Order people find out Dio is a believer, he could be in danger too! I mean we would definitely protect him, so I am sure he would be fine, but just in case!   That was the most exciting part of our journey so far. But mama… the next part was not so good.   When we reached the next port (Berger, the same place we were last time) the Capitan’s father took us to a friend of his and said he was collecting a favor or something? And then all of a sudden, his friend is asking us about ships: styles and crew and size and everything! Rowan said it was his thank you to us for helping with his box and all that.   He bought us a ship, mama.   And all of my friends were so excited. They started picking designs, and how many rooms, and how many crew we needed, and even who would do what on the ship! Before I knew it, Dio became the Capitan, Harley was the first mate, Chressara was the weapons person (I think is what it was) and I was made navigator!   I did not even have a chance to say anything! One minute we were on the Dawn Chaser, and the next, we had a ship of our own and were creating our own crew! It was so much at one time to understand that I do not think I talked for a whole two days. I just stared and thought and tried to think of something to say. I have never not had words to say, mama. Never. But I had none for this.   Now mama, I know what you are going to say: “change is how the world unfolds your future” and it is all a part of nature and everything, but mama, I was really starting to like the crew of the Dawn Chaser. They were my friends… they taught me about the ships and the sailing, and they were there with us through all the tough battle times, and they even came to rescue us when we were kidnapped. I… I do not wish to leave them. I really look up to Capitan Moonlight: she is so calm, and cool, and smart, and a great leader, and I was hoping to learn how to be like her. But now we are leaving… we are leaving the Capitan behind and Paige and Gregor and Katrain and… and I do not want to go.   Tuna made it a little better. I talked to him about it and he said he would come with me to the new ship to look out for me and keep teaching me sailing things and all that. Thank goodness, because if he was not coming, I do not think I would either. He is super smart with ships and sailing and everything, so if he is there I will feel much better.   He is such a great guy, mama, you would love him. I wish you could meet him.   But even with Tuna there, I still am not sure I am okay with this. And not just because I will miss the Dawn Chaser, but because I do not think we are ready for this. We have not been sailing very long, and now suddenly we are in charge of a whole ship and crew all ourselves. If anything goes wrong, if anyone gets sick or gets hurt or dies, it will be all our fault. And they made me navigator! Mama, I have only just begun to learn how to navigate with Katrain and suddenly I am on my own and have to learn it all by myself and what if I mess up and strand us somewhere and we all starve to death because I got us lost!?   Oh mama... I am… I am very very scared. I am so scared, I did not even go explore the city while we were here because I wanted to spend as much time as I could with the crew of the Dawn Chaser! I really do not know if this is a good idea. But I cannot say anything because everyone else seems really excited, and we already have a crew and everything. I really hope the others know what they are doing, because I definitely do not. Harley is good at improvising, I think, so he will fine. And Dio is very smart, so being Capitan will not be hard for him. And Chressara is super strong so she probably never gets scared, so she will be okay. I am sure they will all be great on the ship.   I really hope I do not let them down. I wish you were here, mama…   -Memen

Obligatory Star Wars Quote

OH MINE GOSH! MAMA! IT WAS CRAZY!!   Ok ok ok ok ok! So! We were fighting the fish people and the people from the boat, and they were attacking the ship and trying to sink it! Then Galeo, the guy who tried to get us to pay him to protect the ship, he shows up and starts attacking too, and mama… HE WAS A SHARK! Like he had a shark head and shark teeth and everything, but he walked like a person! It would have been so cool if he wasn’t trying to kill us! But you know what is even crazier? I caught him in my moonbeam and he changed into a regular human! He was a shape-shifter mama!   Anyway, anyway! Oh mine gosh, I an so excited, I want to skip to the end to tell you the big news, but I should not! I will keep going!   Ok ok ok, so, we fight these guys on the ship and it takes a little bit, but after I turn Galeo human, Dio does like, this cool spell thing and completely takes Galeo out! It was amazing! I have never seen Dio fight like that (I think he was still sore at how this guy treated him last time they talked). And after Galeo went down, everyone else started to run away!   The only one left on our ship was a human named Big Heddy. She tells us that Geleo was the leader of their group, and he made them do these awful things to ships passing by so they could stock up on food and things like that. She was definitely not sad about him being gone. I like her, mama, I get a good feeling from her. SO! We offer to drop her off on the island if she would like to stay there, and she is so impressed that we do not wish to hurt her, that she shows us their secret hideout on the island! It was very much hidden and difficult to get to, but apparently there is lots of treasure in there, and a couple of her comrades, and some prisoners that Galeo had them keep tied up!!! Can you believe that!? He has people locked away like birds in a cage!   The minute we dock in their secret cave, everyone splits up. Some go to find the treasure, I think Dio was talking to Heddy and her friends, and of course I rush off to find the prisoners! Because, you know, they could be hurt or bleeding to death or something!   I do not know what the others found, mama, but I can promise you it was not as good as what I found.   SO! I find the prisoners, I cut them loose from the ropes that tied them, and before we go get them some food and water (they were all okay other a bit of dehydration and hunger) I asked if anyone has heard the name Moonlight before.   And guess what mama… ONE OF THE GUYS WAS NAMED MOONLIGHT!! AND HE HAS A DAUGHTER!!!!!!   It was Moonlight’s father! IT WAS HER FATHER! WE HAD FOUND HIM! I mean, it could have been someone with the same name who also had a daughter and had recently gone missing in a nearby area, so just in case I rushed him to the Capitan so she could see him!   IT WAS HIM! IT WAS! WE FOUNDED HER FATHER!   OH MINE GOSH OH MINE GOSH OH MINE GOSH!!!!!!!   But then the Capitan slapped him and shouted at him for abandoning her and her mother! I could not believe it! I am SO SO SO excited to hear what happened and how he came to be here and to see them reunited at long last!!!   Oh mine gosh, mama, it was just the greatest day ever! I am so happy for the Capitan! SO SO SO HAPPY!   Miss you and love you lots, mama! Do not worry, I will tell you all the details the minute I hear them!   -Memen

Defying Galeo

Dear Mama,   While the ship is being repaired, I have been practicing my magics, and guess what… I finally have mastered how to turn into water creatures!! You know how my problem has always been the gills, well I FINALLY figured it out! I am so excited, I am going to turn into an ocatopus probably every day!   After the ship is ready to set sail (still a little beaten up, but not too bad) we start heading to where Rosco’s ship “The Whispering Serpant” (or the wandering serpant, or something? I dunno, I was WALKING ON WATER because I can do that now, mama, it is so cool) last was seen, but when we get there… no ship. So we head to the nearest islands to keep looking. Around the first little island, nothing. Around the second island, nothing. Around the third island, nothing.   I was starting to get worried, mama. What if we come this close and then the Capitan’s father is gone?   On our way to the fourth island, a rowboat comes towards us and a guy called Galeo Cuvier comes on board. He seems a little rude to me, but not threatening, so we listen as he tells us about the fish people who attack unsuspecting boats in the area. They are called the “Sahouagen” and they are the same type of fish people that attacked our ship before. Galeo offers to help guide our ship and protect us (for a fee, of course, because apparently everything out here costs something) but we say ‘no thank you’ because we are well protected as it is. He does not seem to like that very much.   Dio took some leadership and spoke to Galeo alone, I think offering him some money to go away, or for information or something? I do not know exactically what happened, all I know is suddenly Dio is throwing a thunder wave in Galeo’s face and telling him to leave our ship! It was crazy! I have never seen Dio act like that before, I think this guy must have really annoyed him or something. Whatever it was, if Dio doesn’t trust him, I do not trust him!   The Capitan thinks that Galeo may cause trouble for us now, so she has us stay up to keep watch over night. And of course, you know me, I cannot let this opportunity go to waste! So I start trying to get to know my friends!   First I ask our newest member, Chressara, about her family and her childhood and her parents and all that, and I found out she is an orphan! She lived in an orphanage (which she said was as bad as it is in the stories) and has been on her own since she was 14! Mama, you know how much I love you, and I cannot possibly think what life would be like if I had not had you with me to help me through things, and give me advice, and teach me magics and languages, and tell me stories, and give me hugs, and share meals me with me, and say goodnight and good morning to me every day, and everything wonderful that you do! So hearing that Chres never had that in her life at all… it made me very sad for her. But you know, she does not seem sad about it! She is super super strong and very kind, even without any parents to help raise her. I think she is probably one of the bravest people I know, mama. To face the world with a smile after being alone for so long… I do not think I could have done it.   Talking about all this really makes me miss you so so much.   Ok, but no more sad! We talked all night, so there is a lot for me to tell you! Oh, and—OH! Mama! You will not believe this! I found out that not only does Dio come from a rich family with both parents alive and well, but he also has ELEVEN SIBALINGS! ELEVEN! Can you imagine it!? I mean, I always thought a family was very very big when it had five children in it, but twelve!? Mine gosh… his parents must be very good with kids to have raised so many! Dio also said that he had tried his hand at being a wizard at one point, but did not really enjoy it, so he became what he is now (an “art fisher” I think he said? It was a long word, I do not know if I am saying it correctly). He is good with machines, but I still do not know what those are, so… I just know he is very very smart. In any case, it was good to hear that he is out exploring and doing what he likes, though I admit, I am not sure I understand why anyone would want to adventure so far away from their family for so long.   Next was Harley! I learned that he has three sibalings, he is also from a rich family, and they live on a coastal town called Arlen. But apparently, his family is not very nice. He says they are… cold? I am not sure I understand what he means, but Dio said he understood, so I wonder if his family is cold too? Maybe it is chilly where they are from? I do not know. But again, I do not understand wanting to be away from family like they do, so clearly I am missing something. Maybe I will ask again another time.   And do not worry, I told them all about you and how amazing you are! I tell them all the time! I say that you are the most wonderful and kindest and smartest and best human being who has ever existed! I did not tell them about the rest of the family though. I was not sure if I should, and they did not ask, so I think I will keep it to myself for now.   I was hoping to ask more about them, but our group bonding was interrupted by a small boat appearing nearby with 5 passengers. They looked like they were readying to attack us, but we tried to talk to them anyway. And then… they attacked us. I mean mine gosh, what is it with people and attacking random strangers!?   Uh oh. It looks like there are more Sahouagen now too. I think this may be more serious than it looked at first.   Sorry mama, I will have to finish this later.   -Memen.

It's a Spee--A Spy--A Spuh--AN ARACHNID!

Ok. So.   This guy Rosco on the llama is from a ship that had accepted a job to find another ship called “the Emperor of the Waves” and guess what… that is the ship Capitan Moonlight’s father served on! AND AND AND! Rosco accepted the job from a man with the last name Moonlight! MAMA! WE MAY HAVE FOUND HIM! Oh mine gosh, it is so exciting! Anyway, Rosco came here to find the ship and his ship was attacked or something (I will be honest mama, I was not paying much attention because I was so excited that we might be finding the Capitan’s father soon), so he is stuck here on the island with no way to get to the ship (it was all the way across a river, or on the other side of the island or something? Again… not paying attention when I should have). He says if we can help him, he will take us to where the ship is!   So! Harley, Dio, and myself all volunteer to go help Rosco while the rest of the crew stays to repair the ship. The Capitan also sends someone else with us since we are short one in our group (I miss Vel already). Her name is Chressara, and mama… she is beautiful! And SO STRONG! Oh mine gosh, she has muscles for daaaaays! I am so excited to get to know her! Ok, ok, so we take a rowboat and we follow Rosco’s directions and we find the ship. It looks a little worse for wear, definitely not… how do you say… “sea worthy”, but still standing enough for us to climb aboard. The minute we get on the ship we see a bunch of spider webs all over the place, so naturally, I turn into a spider to explore! I think I freaked Dio and Rosco out a little bit. In fact, I do not think anyone really liked my spider. Ramas was right, most people just do not like spiders at all.   Anyway! I sneaked into the first room and there were webs EVERYWHERE! The whole place, completely covered! And thanks to my spider senses, I found a strange creature on the ceiling above me, and a GIANT SPIDER BESIDE IT! Giant mama! As big as the wolf spider we can turn into! It did not seem to mind me coming inside (I was really good at acting spider-like, really I was) and I was able to find some maps on a table and bring them out to Dio and the others. But of course we could not explore the ship as we needed to with just me running around as a spider, so we had to fight! It took a little while, but we killed the spider and the other strange creature and we went downstairs and… MORE SPIDERS! So many spiders, mama. So many. The last time I saw this many spiders was when it was arachnid week at school and everyone was practicing turning into them. Crazy!   Again, I was able to sneak in and out without being noticed, so I warned everyone and we took down the spiders before they could attack us! Everyone then split up to explore the ship (because there were a lot of rooms, you know, and we didn’t want to take too long in case there were more creepy crawlies around) and mama, I really need to learn to watch where I step, because the first one I took into the room, I fell through the floor! Right down to the bottom of the ship! Luckily there was some water to break my fall.   But that was not the only thing down there, mama. I saw some creatures in the water. I tried to talk to them, to tell them we were just exploring and we were not there to hurt anyone, but they just jumped up and attacked me!! And mama… these things were really really strong. I turned into a bear to try and fight them off and they did something that made me freeze! I could not move at all!   Do not worry, mama, I am okay now. My friends are super strong and they all came running to my rescue when they heard me shout for help (just like you did that time when I nearly drowned trying to talk to that ocatopus). Rosco even came to help and healed me when one of the creatures hurt me pretty bad. We fought these… these… zombie creatures I think they were, and finally managed to take them down!   After catching our breath, we explored the bottom of the ship and we found a giant box on the other end. It was very heavy, and very awkward to carry (Chressara and me both had to do it) but we managed. This box is the thing that Rosco was sent to find. Apparently it has something valuable in it (or the box itself is valuable… I know, I should have paid attention. Next time), so we start to lug it towards the ladder, when all of a sudden a GIANT TENTACTLE rises from the water and starts shaking the boat and making it fill with water!!!!   We start running for the ladder, as fast as we can with this heavy box! We make it up the ladder and into the next room, where Dio and Harley found—you’ll never guess—that’s right, MORE SPIDERS! So. Many. Spiders.   The other three fought them off as Chres and I carried the box, and when we reached the main deck again, we saw someone trying to steal our ship! It was so rude, mama! Who does that!?   So now we are fighting small spiders, and big spiders, AND this guy who can cast crazy spells! And then Harley got hurt really bad and went down. And then so did Dio! I was doing my best to heal them, mama, but it was so crazy! There were too many of them! Thank goodness Rosco can heal too, or we would have been in big trouble (he was really quite good in the fight, mama, I was very impressed).   Finally all the spiders are down, but everyone is hurt really bad and everyone is tired and running out of magics, and we still have this guy trying to steal out boat and throwing spells at us! Then Chres does something really cool, she makes our rowboat float (haha, rowboat float, that is another fun one). I did not even know she knew magics, but it was a perfectly timed move! I was so impressed.   Now this guy trying to steal the boat cannot go anywhere, so he either has to talk to us or fight.   Ok, so here is the thing mama. You know me, I am normally all for dipalomacy. I would much rather talk than fight. So when Dio tried to talk to the man to get some information, normally I would stop attacking and do the same. BUT. Harley was standing right next to this guy, and he was really really hurt, like so badly that a strong breeze might have knocked him out, and I was all out of healing magics. So was Rosco. So if this guy turned and attacked Harley (like he had been doing), he would be dead and there would be nothing we could do about it!   So I attacked. I did not wait. I attacked the guy and I took him down and I have no regrets about it! I mean, maybe a little regret because when we told the Capitan she seemed disappointed that we did not bring anyone back for questioning, but I was protecting my friends and I believe it was worth it!   After all that craziness, we get in our boat and leave the ship just in time before the tentacle creature practically devours it! I still have no idea what that thing was, but it was big and scary and not very nice. I hope it never attacks our ship the way it did the Emperor of the Waves.   When we get back to the Capitan, we show her what we found, and oh man, her eyes light up the minute she sees the box! Guess what mama… IT WAS HER FATHER’S! Apparently it was like his special treasure box or something, and it has a special password to open it. But more importantly, if the box is here, her father was here, which means we MUST be getting closer!   It has been a crazy few days, mama! So so crazy! I am glad the Capitan is letting us rest. Though I also cannot wait to get going on the ship again! We are so close to reuniting Capitan Moonlight and her father, I can feel it!   -Memen

No Probllama

Well mama, it is decision time.   This was one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make in my entire life, but… I decided to stay with the Dawn Chaser. I know my magics can do a lot of good on the Flying Oak, and I know the right thing to do is always to help people in need, and I really really wanted to stay because I could not help Maron when he was sick, but I CAN help these people, but…   I have made many promises to the Dawn Chaser. I promised Dio I would get him home to his family (alive, or dead, but definitely alive), I promised the Capitan to help find her father, and I promised Tuna—well you know what I promised Tuna. He saved my life, I cannot just leave him like that. And I try to always be a person of my word: I do not make promises if I do not think I can keep them. But these I can keep. So I will.   My stomach was nauseous all day.   The only thing that makes me feel okay about this choice is that Vel is going to stay with the Flying Oak. She is very good at healing and she will be able to keep them safe until they can find help in a port somewhere. I am going to miss her SO SO MUCH, but I also made sure to thank her, because if she was not staying, I think I might have.   Before we go, Vel and I make sure to heal Sholana and I give her all of the money I have from working on the Dawn Chaser (it was a bunch of silver pieces, I do not know exactically how much, money is still weird to me, mama) to hopefully help with hiring more healers. And I also give Vel a little bead charm that I made for her to remember us by.   I am really not good at goodbyes, mama. I will change the subject.   We set sail! It is all smooth and easy going for a few days, which is nice (it has been stressful lately) and I get the chance to learn more about navigating the stars.   Then—OH MINE GOSH!—mama! It came out of nowhere! On our fourth night of sailing, suddenly these creatures riding sharks—they were riding sharks, mama! I thought they might be druids, but they were definitely not—come out of the water and start attacking the ship! We beat them back as fast as we can, but then this GIANT one jumps onto the ship! He was as big as me as big brown bear! We fight and we fight and we beat him, but the poor Dawn Chaser was really not looking good (I think they were really trying to sink us, mama, can you believe that?) so we head for the nearest island to make repairs as best we can.   And you will never guess, mama… someone was waiting for us on the island! I KNOW! Crazy, right? This person said their name was Rosco (he is a very short little man) and he was riding a llama! A llama, mama!   Hehe. Llama mama. That is a fun thing to say in common.   I will tell you all about what happened after some rest, I promise!   -Memen

Say No to This

Mama… today was not a good day. I almost do not want to talk about it because it was so bad. Maybe you can help me find the positives today.   Remember the really sick crewmen I told you about last time? Mama… I could not save them. Just before morning, one of them shot up in bed and started shouting “He’s coming! From below!” and then he threw up a bunch of acid and fell over dead. Not long after that, the other one shouted “He sees me, his eyes are staring at me, watching!” and he too coughed up acid and died. I did everything I could to try and save them, but the acid burned through too much of their insides… there was nothing I could do.   The acid they coughed up started burning through the ship, but I stopped it by freezing water over the hole it was creating. And after examining the bodies, I found out this disease is not something that is natural, but also not something that is man-made. Not very helpful, I know. Believe me, I know.   Oh mine gosh, and when I went up to the main deck, I found out Sholana had the sickness now as well! She is such a good person, mama, I do not want her to be ill.   We talk to both Capitans and ask if they know of any underwater creatures who can curse people with disease, or any myths like that (like the story of the fog you used to tell me) but they do not. It is dead end after dead end.   But then Harley comes up with an idea! Remember how I told you that he washed up on shore a while ago, with no memory of how he got there and some crazy tentacle powers and a little ocatopus friend? Well he thinks he may be able to use his powers (somehow, I am not entirely sure how) to see if there is any kind of creature causing all this. So while Vel is healing more of the crew, Dio and I watch over as Harley does his spell (it took him a while and he seemed a little freaked out about it, so Dio and I were there for support). And oh mine gosh, mama, you’ll never guess what he saw!   There was a creature below the ship! A very big, very powerful creature (according to Harley), and it WAS causing the sickness! We still do not know why, but we did discover how: I used my magics to check the ship for diseases and found out the water was all… um, what is the word… con-tam-ee-nay-ted (mine gosh, common can be very hard sometimes). Using that spell you taught me, I make the water all pure again, so it will no longer get people sick, but we are unable to convince the creature below to leave, so I do not know how long my magics will last. We tell both Capitans about it, and Finos said that he is going to take his crew to the nearest port and find some healers and hope the creature leaves them alone. And then, after our Capitan had left, he offered to me and Vel to stay on his ship with him and help heal his crew!   Oh mama… you have no idea how badly I want to stay and help. But also… I do not think I can leave the Dawn Chaser! It is my home… and I actually have friends there. Good friends. I have Dio and Harley and Vel and Tuna—oh mine gosh, I don’t think I could ever leave Tuna like that!   Mama, I wish you were here to help. You always have the best advice. I do not know what I am going to do…   -Memen  

Their Own Sick, the Scent Thick

Dear Mama,   After a few days at Bergar, and with all that crazy survey business behind us, we finally set sail to search for Capitan Moonlight’s father! I have to admit, I am VERY excited! Can you imagine what will happen if we actually find him!? And if we can find her father, maybe we can also find—OH! I almost forgot! I learned what kind of ship it is that we are sailing in! I know you like learning new words as much as I do, so here it is: it is called a “Caravel”. …I do not actually know what that means, but that is what our ship is.   Anyway! As we travelled, I decided to try night watches because I wanted to learn how to navigate by the stars. The travellers back home always talked about how they used the stars to find the island, so I wanted to give it a try! The navigator of our ship is an older human named Katrain, and she has been teaching me every night! It is very exciting!   As we were getting farther out to sea, we came across another ship called “The Flying Oak” and it had a green flag with a black skull on it. The Capitan said that flag meant disease, so the people on that ship were probably sick. But as you know, I am really good at healing magics, so I asked the Capitan if we could stop and help and she agreed (as long as we did not take too long, you know, ‘cause she wants to go find her father, which is fair).   The Capitan of the other ship, Finos, introduced us to his first mate, Sholana, who told us the whole story: the sickness in the crew started with one person and spread to many over a week or so. They start by getting green and blue spots all over, and then they were confused, and tired, and eventually they had trouble breathing and started coughing up blood— DON’T FREAK OUT! I know, it sounds WAY WAY too familiar, but it is okay! The spots looked much much different than mine, and the symptoms were similar but NOT exactically like what happened to Maron. So it was not me.   We quickly discovered that a simple cure wounds was not enough, so we had to use the lesser restoration spell you taught me. That one seemed to do the trick! But before we started healing, Dio, Vel, Harley, and myself all searched the ship for anything that could have caused the sickness in the first place. Because if we could not find how it started, people could just get sick again, you know! We did not find much. The ship had been at sea for 6 months, with no interactions with anyone else, but the disease only started about a week ago, so we cannot figure out how the sickness happened so suddenly.   Sholana then shows us to the two sickest crew members; oh mama, it was awful! These poor people were in so much pain! And I found out that they had some sort of acid inside them! Acid, mama! I do not know how to heal acid inside a person!   At this point, Vel and I have healed everyone that we can (she is also really good at the healing magics, thank goodness), so we figure it is time to rest so we can heal more people the next day. I am staying here on the Flying Oak because I did not want to leave the two crew members. Thinking about it now, the Capitan might not have liked that I did not ask her if I could stay, but I guess it is too late now. Harley stayed with me, just in case anything happened, and Vel and Dio went back to the Dawn Chaser to tell the Capitan about it all.   I am really worried, mama. I do not know if I can help these people. But I do not want to watch them die. It is all too familiar…   I miss Maron.   But I am very tired now (there has been a lot of magic use today), so I am going to sleep. I hope I will have better news for you tomorrow.   -Memen  

Survey Says... NAIVE!

Oh mama, something really crazy happened this time.   Ok, now before I say it, I need you to promise not to freak out, okay? It was very scary but we are all okay now, so there is no need to worry!   So.   We arrived at a place called “Bergar” so that we could make repairs and restock (etc), and mama… oh mine gosh. I have never EVER seen a city so big! There were SO MANY people, and so many things to see, and I was SO EXCITED to explore! Because, you know, I have never been to a big city before, and I wanted to see if it was like the stories the travellers told us about. Tuna said I should not go alone because it could be dangerous (and because he knows how I can get distracted and lost very easily), but Dio needed to send a letter to his parents and Harley and Vel wanted to tag along also, so we went into the city together!   We did not get very far when this hafling woman named Seraphia asked us if would mind taking a survey. I did not know what that was, but she seemed like a nice enough person, so I did not see a problem in stopping to help out.   Boy was I wrong, mama.   She took us to a quiet part of the docks and suddenly we were surrounded by people and they told us we belonged to them now! They were going to take us away to work on their ship! We tried to explain that we already had a ship and we already had a crew and a Capitan, and so we were not looking to join another ship, but they would not listen!   So I tried one of the spells you taught me, mama. I tried to hold Seraphia so maybe she would listen, but it did not work! She attacked and her friends attacked and suddenly it was like fighting the gobelins again! Only these people were much more powerful, mama. I tried not to hurt them too much at first, because you know, it is not right to kill just because someone is being rude. But then Harley fell. He was bleeding and looked like he was really hurt. And then Vel did too! I got so scared mama, I thought they were going to die!   So it was no more mr. nice guy! I turned into a bear and I killed three of them! But more of them started coming, and Dio was badly hurt, and Vel and Harley were still down, and I could not protect all of them and heal them at the same time, so… I surrendered. I made Seraphia promise that she would not hurt my friends any more, and let me heal them so they did not die, and in return they could take us to their ship.   They locked us up, mama. In the bottom of their ship they put us in shackles and locked us away like we were nothing more than pieces of storage.   I do not like being locked up, mama I was so scared. The shackles were really tight, and Vel and Harley were still really hurt, and Dio didn’t have any ideas to get us out. But before I could start panicking, I remembered that you always said there is a solution to every problem, sometimes you just need to be patient and wait for it. And you were right! Because I realized that if we waited long enough, I could get my magics back enough to change into an animal and bust us out of there!   But I did not have to! Just as I was starting to feel strong enough to transform, I heard someone calling my name down the hallway. IT WAS TUNAKA! He and some of our crew had come to rescue us! I have no idea how they found us, mama, but it made my heart jump for joy to hear Tuna calling for me! He followed my voice and broke into the room and helped us escape, along with three other crewmates that I am sorry to say I do not know very well (I do not even know what race one of them is, I had never seen one before, even in your books).   I quickly healed Vel and Harley and we broke out and ran away as fast as we could until we got to the Dawn Chaser! It was scary and exciting all at the same time!   After everything that happened, no one really wanted to go exploring the city anymore, but I was too curious not to! I still had never been to one! But, you know, I did not want to cause any more trouble than I already had, so I stuck pretty close to the ship. I went to a marketplace by the docks and bought some fruit for the crew, and some beads for myself. After all this, I still really haven’t seen a big city, but I am sure there will be other opportunities   You know what the best part about all of this was, mama? The crew came for us. Tuna and Mr. Green and Klip and Grackle (I learned all their names when I thanked them for saving us) came to rescue us. They could have left us behind, you know, but they did not. Capitan Moonlight did not want to leave us behind. Can you believe that, mama? I really really miss home, but you know… it is a nice feeling having people actually want you around.   I miss you so so so so so so much mama! I promise I will try to be safer in the future!   -Memen

Cloudy with a Chance of Pooka

Dear Mama,   OK! OK! So this is what happened! Pooka (the monkey I told you about who can speak common and is super cute) led us to where the temple lay deep in the woods of the island. I really really enjoyed the journey because the plants and the bugs and things reminded me of home. Not as pretty, but you know, still nice!   When we found the temple, I thought all we would have to do is put the silver thing back and be on our way, but NOT SO! Inside waiting for us were 5 CLOUD CREATURES who attacked us! They looked a bit like the air elementals that some of the people on our island turn into, but not as powerful at all. And they were not very nice, mama. I tried to tell them we were there to give the idol back, but they would not listen and they just kept attacking us!   But not to worry! Like I said they were not super powerful, and my friends are really good at fighting, so we made it past them pretty quickly… only to find ANOTHER, BIGGER ONE DEEPER IN THE TEMPLE! OH MINE GOSH! It was so big! I did not know if we could beat it! Then all of a sudden, Dio is super smart and just walks forward and puts the idol in it’s spot, and the creature just disappears! It was really really crazy, mama!   Now that we know we can safely leave the island, the Capitan is eager to get going because she wants to follow the maps we found to see if we can find her Father! So we head back to the ship—OH! But before we left, Pooka gave us this shell that we can use to call him if we ever need to, and then HE TURNED INTO SAND AND DISAPPEARED!!!   I am seeing such strange and wonderful things out here, mama. I wish you could see them too.   -Memen

Zombies and Monkeys and Storms, OH MY!

Dear Mama,   After our battle with the gobelins, our ship was a little beaten up, so we had to take time to repair as we sailed. Everyone did their part, but I am sorry to say I was not very helpful. Not that I did not try! I just, you know, my magics are much better at healing people rather than ships.   As we were working, I got to talking with Dio, Vel, and Harley, the other three newbies. Dio was very shaken up after the fighting because it is not something he has done before and he was afraid he was going to die and never make it back home. How sad is that!? Can you imagine him dying and then never getting to see his family again!? I could not stand for it! So of course, I promised him that I would protect him and keep him safe, and IF anything should happen to him, I will get him back home to his family. BUT NOTHING WILL HAPPEN! Because I am super strong and I can turn into many beasties that can protect him (also I do not know where this place called “Newood” is, so I would have troubles bringing him home if he was gone).   I do not like talking about that anymore. I will move on!   The next thing we know we are caught up in a terrible storm! It looked like the ones the elders on the island can conjure up out of nowhere! It was so powerful, it pulled up towards the nearby island, and as we got closer, we found the ship the Capitan had been looking for: the Fortunate Son. It was very much in ruins and the crew was completely missing, but the Capitan wanted to check it out anyway. She took us four, and no sooner had we stepped on the ship than we were attacked by zombies! Yes mama… zombies! I KNOW, CRAZY RIGHT!? They had ink black eyes and lightning flaring from their bodies! Have you ever heard of such a thing!? But it is okay mama, because we beated them very quickly (my new friends are crazy powerful) and we found out that these zombies were what was left of the crew!   I felt very bad for having to kill them, but I think because they were attacking my friends and they were zombies (so they were technically already dead) it was okay.   And OH MINE GOSH! As we were searching the ship, we found a monkey who could talk! I mean, I know all monkeys can talk, but this one spoke in common so everyone could understand! He said he was name was Pooka, he lived on the island, and he was SO CUTE! Oh mine gosh! OH! OH! And he told us this story about an entity called “Old Man Storm” who had a temple on the island that was missing an idol. And guess what!? The idol was the silver thing we found on the gobelin ship! Crazy, right!? So of course we had to return it! But before we did, we had to finish searching the ship, and in the lower levels—oh mine gosh, mamma, this is the best part!—we found maps that were made by… you’ll never guess… THE CAPITAN’S MISSING FATHER! OH MINE GOSH! It was crazy! The Capitan even teared up just a little bit at seeing that her Father might be alive—Oh! But I was not supposed to tell you that! Pretend I did not write that!   So now we are resting before going off to the temple to return the idol and hope this “Old Man Storm” will let us off the island.   I promise, I will tell you what happens tomorrow!   Love you mama!   -Memen

Guns and Ships

Dear Mama,   OH MINE GOSH! You’ll never believe the day I had!   Ok ok, so! First Tuna brings me to the ship (only don’t tell anyone I call him Tuna, he’s the Quarter Master of the ship, so he prefers to be called by his full name “Tunaka”) and the minute I step on board I got to meet the other new crew members! First there was Dio Hartbrand; a tiefling with beautiful red skin and wonderful clothing, who says he is very good at “machines”. I do not know exactitcally what that means, but it sound very very important! Next there was Velenara; she says she is a Sea Elf! I did not even know there were such things in the world! A sea elf! She is beautiful and tall and just a little bit quiet, but she seems to be very good at being on a ship. Finally there was Harley Hartford (I really enjoy saying his name). He is a human who says he had been found washed up on shore by this ship and is now going to be part of the crew. I do not know exactically what it is that he does, but I do know he is not very good at cards.   SO! On our first day we met the cabin boy—who is actually a girl so the title greatly confused me—named Paige, and she showed us around the ship and took us to Gerald who told us our jobs for the day: Dio and I learned to tie knots (which I was very good at, if I do say so myself, and Dio was… well he was very good at undoing them)! Then we all got to bunk together in our room. I have never EVER had roommates before, so it was very exciting to have other people around at night!   Anyways, the next day we continued with learning what to do on the ship, particularly in the event of a emergency. And then at the end of the day, Vel and I got to be on night watch! It was very exciting! Nothing really happened, but we got to be out watching the water at night, with the moons up in the sky and the stars shining so bright… oh, it was wonderful. Just like home!   Oh but OH! OH MINE GOSH! Then right after Vel and I went to bed (which was just as the sun came out, which was weird, because I am not used to sleeping when the sun is out) a bell started to ring on the ship! I had no idea what it meant, but I woke up Vel, and we ran up to the main deck, and you’ll never guess what we saw!! GOBELINS!!! There was an entire ship full of gobelins that was on their way to attack our ship! So we all sprang into action! Dio went down to help with the “canons” (Tuna said they were some sort of “gun” but I do not know what either of those things are, but I did not ask about it now because it was not the time) while Harley, Vel, and I got ready on the deck!   And BAM! Suddenly we are in a battle! Gobelins are coming from every direction, and the crew is fighting them off left and right! Harley made some sort of tentacle appear out of nowhere to fight with us (so cool) and Vel was swinging her sword around and taking down gobelins with almost every swing! I tried to use my magics against them, but I was not doing too well, so instead I turned into a giant hyena and shouted at them “BRRRRING IT ON!” And they did, they really brought it. They made me turn back. But then Dio somehow gave us health, and I turned into a giant grizzly bear and I TORE OUT THE THROAT OF THE LEADER! GRRRRRRR! I was so vicious, really I was! It was so exciting!   We beated the gobelins in only a few minutes, that is how good we did! Then the Capitan took us onto their ship and we found some sort of silver trinket. I do not know what it was, but the Capitan took it to put in her office or something. And Vel and I were finally allowed to go back to bed and get some sleep.   But OH WOW! What a great and amazing first day on the ship! If this is how exciting it always is, then I cannot wait for what else we may find!   I love you and miss you very much, mama! I will talk to you soon!   -Memen   P.S- I know you will probably never read these journal entries, but you were right mama, writing to you makes it feel like you are here! And who knows, maybe one day I can find a way to send these to you!
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Character
World
Falonde
Category
Current Characters
Author
Memen
Publication Date
22 Apr, 2020
Creation Date
8 Feb, 2020
Last Update Date
8 Feb, 2020
Visibility
Public
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