transitions

[cellio]

June 12 (Thursday)

The three rat-kin who came back with Tobin are in complete awe of Cardior. It's easy to forget that they've never known anything but one rural town and some burrows, until they see an army and a huge city and a palace. They were obviously very excited, but they were speaking very quickly and I had no hope of understanding them. Tobin was trying to get them to slow down, without much success that I could see. I hope Tobin's proficiency with languages is shared by the others! In the meantime, he has taken them under his wing and is trying to get them settled. We thought about taking them to Oakhame for a bit, where things are less hectic, but I think we want as few disruptions in their lives as possible. There'll be time later.

Later. "Later" isn't so far away as it used to be. We've planned the coronation for the solstice, which is in two and a half weeks. The palace will be ready. Many of the dukes will be ready (I still have a few to speak with). Will we be ready? I am confident of our ability to lead this land; I'm less certain that my being emperess won't interfere with my relationships with Turok, Liandra, and Kyle. Already Kyle seems to be thinking of leaving, and Liandra will soon assume the mantle of Oakhame. Turok, of course, will stay and dedicate his life to Agondre. I couldn't do this without him. Hrolf, of course, will never leave me.

Liandra assures me that she will be happy leading Oakhame, and I believe her. (Could those sparkling eyes, shining with Agondre's light, conceal the truth?) Turok is fiercely dedicated to Agondre; I'm not worried about him. I just hope that Kyle will find happiness somehow.

(I saw Kyle with one of the Claw cloaks earlier today. Is it too much to hope that he's changed his mind about staying?)

I spoke with Nathan tonight. The flying city of Aulos is within sight! They managed to bring the ship back, and they will be home tomorrow. (They wisely decided not to attempt a night-time landing.) Turok asked me to take him there to meet Dorla tomorrow, which I will gladly do. We still have to get her to the mainland via the ship, so it will be a few more days before they are really together, but in the meantime they can visit.

June 13 (Friday)

Turok, Kyle, Liandra, and I (and Hrolf, of course!) went to Aulos today. Dorla seemed gloomy when we first saw her, but after she and Turok embraced she seemed a little less glum. She hated being on the ship; she said the men from Aulos seemed to be afraid of her. Nathan told me privately that they did what they could for her but she wanted to be alone. I hope that once she is back with Turok she will be better able to adjust.

Turok told me later that they have both been transformed in strange ways; while her transformation seems more traumatic, Turok is still getting used to being a half-dragon too. He said that she is uncertain but ready to face uncertainty together with him if he is. I'm glad.

Dorla told us a little more of what happened to her. She had been trying to bring down Kepta-Mor, she said, but she under-estimated him and he was able to dominate her and use her as a pawn to get to the resistance. That was bad enough, but then Kepta-Mor got his hands on the metagolem technology through his cat-man servant, and he lost no time in experimenting first on peasants and then on Dorla. She clammed up at this point and all of us except Turok slipped away.

Later, Turok told me that she has agreed to come to Cardior and see if the two of them have a future together. So we will ask Nathan to have his men fly the ship to the mainland, and from there we will bring Dorla to Cardior overland.

I've been looking forward to seeing this ship, and Nathan was positively beaming as he showed me around it and told me what they'd figured out about flying it. It's very clever! The crystals, of course, provide the basic flight mechanism, but I had wondered about steering. The builders of this ship did some very clever things with tapping into force currents!

Nathan was thrilled when I told him that the obvious place for this ship to reside, at least for now, is Aulos. He has greater need than anyone else to travel through the air, after all; this will allow his people to come and go more easily. I told him that it belongs to the empire and I may need it from time to time, but I could think of no better custodians than the people of Aulos. So he will fly the ship to the mainland for us to drop off Dorla and then fly it back. He will also begin training more of his men on its operation.

He seems fully engaged in the ship-care project, and I quietly asked him if this is interfering with his mayoral duties. He looked at me, grinned, and said that Aulos is a small, isolated city; what need have they of a full-time mayor? In fact, he said, he's the mayor because they drew his name in a lottery, and there will be another mayor soon. A lottery? What a peculiar way to choose a leader -- but I guess he's right that they haven't really needed a leader so much as a chief organizer.

Nathan seems to be interested in learning more about the rest of Agondre. I suggested that he join us in Cardior for a while when he is free of his obligations here. Who knows? Perhaps someday he'll play even more of a role.

Nathan thinks it will take one day to fly the ship to the mainland. I contacted Elys' (who is currently in Beliaberith) and she suggested he fly there and she will accompany Dorla to Cardior using magical steeds. So tomorrow the ship will sail and the day after Dorla should join us in Cardior.

I want to see this ship in flight, so while we have returned to Cardior tonight, tomorrow morning I'm going to teleport to Aulos and board the ship. I probably won't be able to stay onboard for the entire journey -- I have another duke to visit tomorrow afternoon and I'm not going to try to teleport to a moving target -- but I can at least get a few hours on the ship.

June 14 (Saturday)

That ship is fascinating, and it's a surprisingly smooth ride. (Dorla said that it wasn't smooth at first. Poor girl.)

Turok and I rode the ship for about half the day, and then we took our leave to go to Taelyn. We went first to Bertolf's chapel, and he accompanied us to see the duke. Apparently the tale of Bertolf's eyes has taken on a life of its own in Taelyn; many more people knew him than I would have expected.

The duke will cooperate, and has agreed to provide finely-crafted weapons for the Dragon's Claws. (Other than Turok, of course; he already has the ultimate dragon's weapon.)

We went to Oakhame from there and gave Seamus an update on the dukes and on preparations for coronation. Liandra said that they've been planning her coronation too -- for the day after tomorrow. I was shocked -- don't you need more time? No, she said, she was not kidding about this being a more subdued affair. Mairead looks happier already -- the impending end of her burden seems to agree with her.

June 15 (Sunday)

We stayed in Oakhame last night; for all that Liandra said this is not a big deal, there sure seemed to be a lot of activity and conversation. We got caught up in it too. Kyle was there, and he almost seemed to be beaming -- he's known Liandra for a lot longer than Turok and I have, after all.

We spoke with Elys' this morning and she said that she and Dorla were about ready to set out. I took Turok back to Cardior -- Kyle chose to stay in Oakhame -- and he began making preparations for her arrival. We'd already set aside some private suites in the palace for members of our party, so one next to Turok's will be for Dorla. Turok made sure that the furnishings are the most sturdily-built that we have.

Civilians have begun to return to the city, and while the tailor who is making the Claw cloaks is busy with that task right now, he was able to direct me to a colleague who could work on short notice. So by the end of today I had clothing suitable for attending Liandra's coronation, and Hrolf even has a tabard-like garment that is suitably ornate.

June 16 (Monday)

Liandra is now the ruler of Oakhame. The ceremony was awe-inspiring; while they aimed for "simple", any ceremony orchestrated by Seamus is going to have a flair for ritual. Everyone was here, and Liandra and Viggo stood together while Mairead placed a wreath of holly on her head and Seamus recited the lineage of Oakhame's rulers from ancient days until now. And then there was a party, with mead and music and food all flowing smoothly.

When I addressed Liandra as "your majesty" she shushed me and told me to stop it unless I want her doing the same to me all the time. Annoying as that would be when carried to excess, I suspect that we both have to be mindful of the public face of our actions. Liandra is my friend and sometimes drinking buddy, but the Queen of Oakhame is an honored statesman. And I guess it's fair that that apply to me too.

Queen Liandra told me publicly that she pledges her support to Agondre, and that Oakhame, in worshipping nature, worships aspects of Agondre too. My friend Liandra told me privately that she pledges a place to hide whenever I need it. I told her I expect to take her up on that.

Comments

[mrpeck.livejournal.com]

I very much enjoyed reading this. It makes me reminisce about the game and that world as well as the time our group spent together playing it. Thank you.

[ralphmelton.livejournal.com]

Mike put it very well, and I echo his words. I got shivers and tears at times, particularly about the bits with Turok and Dorla.
We did something really nifty together.

[cellio]

We certainly did. This was a very nifty and rich story, and I think we can all be proud of what we built together.

Larissa's diary, of course, focuses on Larissa. I would enjoy reading other characters' post-campaign stories if people have time to write them.

I still have a few more entries planned.

[mrpeck.livejournal.com]

I also enjoyed the little Kyle bits you added. It's just about the external impression of Kyle that I wanted to create.

I'd like to post something about Kyle but my mind is really spending a lot of time in other places.

[indigodove.livejournal.com]

That's understandable, to say the least :-)

[cellio]

Thanks. I'm glad I'm portraying Kyle as you intended.

I've been assuming that you wouldn't be writing any Kyle bits soon, yeah. Take care of real life first. :-)

[indigodove.livejournal.com]

Wow, Monica. That is beautiful! I really enjoyed reading it. You really have an eye (voice?) for the little details that make this come to life. It's those little things (like strong furniture for Dorla's room) that really make these fun to read.

One minor thing: I had thought of Liandra's title as being "Lady of Oakhame" as opposed to "queen." On the other hand, it's perfectly reasonable that Oakhame says "Lady" and the rest of the world translates that as "queen," as Oakhame's definition of "Lady" doesn't match the rest of the world's :-)

You did a great job of writing about it in a way that still lets me fill in details of my own later, too. Thanks! :-)

[cellio]

Little details: thanks! Especially as this is stuff we didn't so much play out as outline, I've got to make up something to make it seem real. So I just ask myself "what would Larissa do?" and write that.

Thanks for the title correction. We can assume that Larissa used the term she thought correct, Liandra politely didn't correct her in public, and the private correction will come later. :-)