Allyria's Journal

[Allyria Allenmorde]

Floras 1, 200ATD

Father beat me pretty badly a few days ago. He forbade me from following my passion. All I want is to know. I just want to know what happened to the world, why the country around the colony is the way it is. Sure, there's the buffer of the Duchies between us and the Provinces. But we still hear the stories of the crime, and the poverty. People are starving, yet there is all this land. No one's putting it to good use. So I ask questions, and for that I get some bruises. If I fought back it would have been worse. He might have broken something.

I think I'll leave this place. Just pack up and go. Korasus holds nothing for me anymore. The life of an administrator does not appeal to me. I want to be a historian. That's what my dreams keep pointing me towards. I keep seeing these places and these books in my dreams. I must find them, I want to know what they are and what they contain.

I've learned all I can here. Crafting, magic. I'm a good scholar, and I think I can handle myself. Sleeping under the stars for a while won't be so bad.

[Allyria Allenmorde]

Floras 3, 200ATD

Remember when I thought sleeping under the stars would be fun?

I've never been so wrong before. I'm having a bit of an existential crisis from it. So this is my way of coping. The first night wasn't too bad at first. I laid down in the grass next to the road as the sun started to go down. The weather was nice all day, and I didn't think it'd get that cold. It got cold quick, my teeth were chattering by the time it was completely dark out. I wasn't comfortable either. Everywhere I lay there was a rock in the grass. Laying on it felt like I was laying on the most jagged of mountains. When I finally found it with my hands, it was no bigger than a pebble.

I threw that rock so fucking far. At least I pretended I did. I'm a bad liar. Can't even lie to my own journal.

So I threw the rock and went back to attempting to sleep.

Except it was noisy as all get out. Every bug and creature that walks the night was making noise. I hate crickets. They're the worst. Constantly with their chipper chirp chirp. You try to catch one but no, they go silent and it's like you're swimming in oil again. Can't see two feet in front of you and you can't hear the little bug either.

The stars sure are pretty though, and there are a lot of them. They didn't help me sleep any better.

I woke up soaked. I thought it had rained in the night but dismissed that. The numerous times my dreams or the cold or discomfort or the fucking crickets woke me everything was as dry as it was before. Morning dew came to mind and I realized there was definitely a need for shelter. That and fire to keep me warm at night.

Figuring out fire was easier than the shelter. Still haven't figured out shelter. But fire! You can take a rough, grey rock, called flint, and slash a dinner knife against it and it'll make sparks. Get some dry grass, and sticks together and you got yourself the beginnings of a camp fire.

Proudest I've been of myself in a long time.

Time to get back on the road. Daylight's burning and I've got too many miles between me and my destination. Which I haven't figured out yet.

[Allyria Allenmorde]

On Fabre,

I first met Fabre on the road from my home at the first crossroads I came upon. It was nearly seventy miles from Korasus, north. The crossroads went off in three directions. North, southwest, and southeast. To the southeast, was our destination, where ever that may be. To the southwest was Korasus, and to the north was the road to Fordeth. That crossroads was my last chance to turn back. I'd have only been gone a week or so when I got home had I actually started marching my idiot ass back south.

Stubborness got the better of me perhaps. Or maybe it is the better of me. Time will tell.

Fabre seemed aloof at first, but she warmed up to me in no time I guess. Our paths were crossing and it seemed fated for us to travel in the same direction. My race would forbid me to go to Fordeth, the path from which she came, and was gracious enough to warn me about. Her race would forbid her from going to Korasus, which after I told her the same about my home town our destinations aligned.

She didn't know how to make a camp, but that's something I'll teach her in time if our travels allow. It may become necessary in the coming days. I don't know how many inns there are in the meantime.

Fabre's very well endowed, to the point where I feel like a passing breeze next to her.

Perhaps we will be able to grow in our skills as craftsmen together. I'm sure we could learn something from each other.

[Allyria Allenmorde]

Floras 5, 200 ATD

I didn't write in the journal last night because I've met a new person. I suppose the prior entry would explain that. Having written that one before this one. But I also need to log today's events too. Traveling with Fabre wasn't so bad. It could have been much worse, like trying to have a civilized meal with my brothers and sisters. An impossible task. They're very immature and it's difficult to get them on a topic that isn't stupid. They might as well be comparing cock sizes I swear.

Fabre isn't like that as far as I can tell. Her conversations with me center around colors and aesthetic things. Stuff that I know nothing about. I suppose that is certainly a topic that someone that claims to be a jeweler would know. The color of precious metals and gems would be part of the function of jewelry. This is a craft that I would like to acquire, it would make my artificing much simpler.

Applying a magical bond to something so simple as Iron is stupid. Iron makes a poor conductor of magic. The simple structure of the element is particularly leaky. Usually enchantments on iron last a very short period of time. I've never succeeded in enchanting anything myself, but I know the theory. You have to bind a power to something.

Fabre is very much like a spell. She sings and talks and seems to never run out of energy during the day. I suppose I could take a lesson or two from her boundless energy.

I would also like to practice my craft again soon, but I may not be so lucky. The road is long and arduous. We haven't run into any one else lately. But I believe that is because of the sparse human population. There are probably more Drokagr than there are Humans or Skaldi combined. And my race is a very small one compared to the Elkagr in theory.

In theory. I've yet to confirm any of this information. I've yet to meet a skaldi. I've yet to meet an Elkagr. And the only human I've met is Fabre. I should ask her about her people. I know nothing about them for sure really.

Books can lie because they're written by people.

[Allyria Allenmorde]

Floras 6, 200ATD

Every morning I wake up and my back hurts. Or something new hurts. Like my shoulder, or my arm. One day my chest hurt a little bit. I think all the time I've spent sleeping on the ground is finally getting to me. I've been away from home for six days. And I'm not particularly a seasoned camper. These are things I can learn more of though. A better way to pad myself as a I sleep, and better shelter.

What I could really use is some canvas or some leather to make a tent. I'd make a solid square and use three sticks to hold the whole thing up. Then I'd pin down the corners with a few stakes to keep it to the ground in case the wind attempts to blow it away.

I'd also like to make a bag for the interesting plants I find on the road. I'm sure some of them I could use to make some potions and such. Simple water would indeed be useful as a base for some of these concoctions. But I'd like to begin experimenting as soon as I get new materials and equipment.

I miss my laboratory and study. I think that's my one regret, not packing more of that.

[Allyria Allenmorde]

Floras 7, 200ATD

We've come across a crossroads. I was initially nervous, thinking this was the one that Fabre would depart from me. However it came to be that she did not leave my company. I was happy about that, I still am happy about that. Having a companion has made starving a lot easier. It's easier to starve together. I guess that's why so many of my kin stay underground in the city of our homeland. Just to starve together. What I could really use is some water. It's been a couple days since I've happened upon more than a little pond to sip from.

Usually said pond produces dire results of which I will not speak. Let's just say that eventually I pay and suffer for partaking in the water to stave of dying of thirst. I don't think it does much good to continue to drink from those retched sources. If I could just find a wild dragonfruit tree or something near the road we'd be set for a few days. Those things are packed with juice and nutrients. I'm surprised I haven't seen any orchards of them out here in the Duchies. You'd think they'd be an obvious source of stable food.

The road south leads towards a place called Hillsfar. I've heard mention of a burned out castle there, and I'd like to see it someday. But it is not my destination.

Things would be so much easier with a horse. I'd be able to cover three times the distance I can with just my two legs in a day, and water would be easier to find from a higher vantage point.

I'm probably going to die out here.

We'll be heading west in the morning. For now it's just a fire and the stars and my regrets.

All I can think about is a juicy piece of dragonfruit...

[Allyria Allenmorde]

Floras 8, 200ATD

Today has been weird. Several times I've caught Fabre staring right at me with her big blue eyes. Then immediately after me catching her she acts like she's staring at something far past me, as if she's looking through me. It is so frustrating and confusing. What is her game? I still can't shake the feeling that she put a bug or something on me as a prank. If I wake up and there's a bug on me, I'll just scream.

It does get really boring out here on the road though. I've seen some interesting plants, but other than that. There was no wildlife today, other than Fabre.

The sky threatened to rain for a while, and I had hoped it did. I have no luck in that regard though. I can not make it rain no matter what I do. No amount of willpower can bring down fresh water to alleviate the disaster that is my digestion. We're still probably going to die without fresh water soon. I've been feeling weaker, and I've still been hurting every morning.

However, there were some things that I've pondered on and will make note of here.

A better structure for a fire, instead of lumping it all together in a chaotic mess of tinder and logs would be to build a scaling structure of flammability. The simplest of these is what I call the starter cone. Putting the dry grass at the bottom of the structure, with the twigs and other bits of easily combustible materials a solid base of heat is formed. Then around that base a structure of short limbs and twigs should be erected, no larger than a third of a meter in length, and a few centimeters thick. Stocky branches, but nothing too tough. Once all of that has caught and burned into coals and flames adding logs would be the next step for sustained heat.

We will have to try this when we make camp tonight. I may bring up why she keeps looking at me. I am not good at confrontation, but it is becoming a great annoyance.

[Allyria Allenmorde]

The following entry is in Drokagr

---

I had a very confusion vision just moments ago. Trying to unravel it will be time consuming. I will need to make multiple forays into my own memory. I feel like I saw more than I remember. The rushing feeling that I went through was insane. I felt like eons were passing right before my eyes, I just wasn't fast enough to put it in a place in my mind where I could easily recall it. I will have to sit and work my mind over on this. Reliving that vision will be difficult.

I think Fabre is getting worried about me. More than nervous. I don't know how she'd react to my visions. I'm almost sure that they're true events that are happening or have happened but I'm not sure where to place this new one. The dreams have never been this vivid before. They've always been hazy, looking at some object in some place. Like a rock in the middle of a field, and hearing the voices of people but never seeing them. Like my perspective was misaligned.

The one with white hair, most certainly a creator of some kind. He had said that they make every blade of grass, and every drop of water. Even raising every mountain. Metaphor of some kind? But why did it sound like the effort was so draining if not true? The landscape was barren enough for it to be true. Perhaps it is not even our world, but a different world. The grove they played in could be our world though.

They were all creators of some kind. Some kind of race of creators. Magicians, or sorcerers apparently. A family of them. There were the two brothers, the father, and the other one. Perhaps a cousin or something. Vamerothan, and Amarahail were brothers. The blue one was their father. Of that I'm sure of, but his name I do not remember. Crahn was someone else, but the same race of creatures, yet different. Perhaps a different family.

What the hell is the Night Stone? Should we be looking for that? I'm not even sure where we started and where we ended in the dream. I say we because I followed them. Or more specifically I followed Vamerothan. This is a mystery that I must resolve. I feel like this family and this stone are important. These events, I must dwell on them more to unravel the next part of the 'story'. It's not some fiction, I know I don't see fiction in these dreams. At least in the waking ones.

This happened.

---

Divining more information from prior vision.
-failed

[Allyria Allenmorde]

This trip has taught me some things about traveling, and how under prepared I am. Just for my own sake, here's a list of things I needed like yesterday. If I could buy or make it as soon as possible, that would be good.

A horse or something
-I'm getting really tired of getting no where on my own two legs. That's what beasts of burden are for.

Weather related clothing.
-I imagine if I took this trip a couple of weeks ago I'd have frozen to death by now. Similarly, in the summer and dry seasons wearing all of this is going to suck. I'll need something more like Fabre's clothing or I'll die of heatstroke or something.

A tent
-This would be so useful for sleeping at night. I've been rained on once, and it wasn't fun. I got no sleep that night at all. We can't have that anymore.

A weapon
-I'm going to get killed without one of these. I'll probably still get killed with one of these, but I'll be able to hopefully take one of the bastards with me.

A Backpack
-I need a backpack to carry all this other crap I'm going to need.

Jeez... I'm so unprepared for all of this. I'm going to get killed out here. That or starve. Or maybe freeze. On an unrelated note, I'm a bit pissed off that Fabre's been using me as a pillow. I'll get over it. Just another reason to get a tent. OH!

Sleeping pack.
-So Fabre can stop using me as a pillow.

[Allyria Allenmorde]

Alchemical Entry: Lavender (Lavandula)

I've found some lavandula on my travels. These are my observations about the plant.

Lavandula is a small bush like plant that features thin whispy leaves that are a pleasant light green. The usable part in alchemical reactions is the stem with the purple flowers. The smell is quite pleasant as well, and it seems to be an overall positive herb. When ground up it creates a fine base for mixing potions. Combined with other herbs or alchemical ingredients I believe it can be used to transport whatever properties those ingredients have from the solution to the consumer's body. More specifically I think if it is distilled properly with the correct oils it could be used as a lovely fragrance without the need for additional materials.

My list of experiments involving lavandula are as follows:
-Fragrance (Distill with oil, pressurize for delivery)
-Chemical base (Grind, mix, purify/distill/boil, pressurize for delivery)

---

Attempting to discover properties. Herbalism I.

Simple +30
Herbalism I: +5
Knowledge: 15

Threshold: 50

-Success!

[Allyria Allenmorde]

Alchemical Entry: Poisonberry

I've come across some poisonberry in my travels. Here are my findings:

Poisonberry is exactly what it sounds like. A poisonous berry. Small, round, and probably tasty, the poisonberry is an attractive color in this region. Here in the eastern half of the Havenaild it's a precious blue. Like you'd paint a baby's room. This variety could cause a number of ailments as far as I'm aware. I'm very sure whatever kind of toxin is inside is deadly. I saw an idiot squirrel eat one earlier.

It was dead within thirty minutes about ten yard away. I'd like to test the poisonberry but I can not think of a humane way to do so. Perhaps distilling an antidote first and then proceeding to the testing phase? I'd need more berries to do either. Concentrating a poison strong enough to act quickly to kill another person or some kind of monster would require a great deal of them. As would extracting the antidote. I'll need to go back and dig up the whole plant. See which part of it is producing a serum of some kind.

Experiment goals
-Discover antidote (go back and dig up one of these plants and look for the counter measure.)
-Concentrate poison for testing. (Acquire a willing subject, or an unwilling enemy.)

---

Simple +30
Herbalism I: +5
Knowledge: 15

Threshold: 50

- Success!

[Allyria Allenmorde]

Alchemical Entry: Catpad

I've also found some catpad on my journey. At the same time I found poisonberry.

But I'm a terrible scientist and I still don't know what it does. It's a plant of some kind, a flower with five petals arranged in a strange as hell pattern sitting on top a flat leaf which was in a pond of muck. Probably left over from the rainy season.

Seriously. I've done everything to this plant and I can't figure it out. I've chopped it, ground it, sniffed it, tasted it, stared at it for hours, touched it, put it in water, dried it out. I've failed utterly and I'm out of materials to keep trying.

I'll revisit this subject later. Maybe when I'm a better scientist.

I hate this plant.

---

Simple +30
Herbalism I: +5
Knowledge: 15

Threshold: 50

- Failure

[Allyria Allenmorde]

Alchemical Entry: Reeds

So reeds are pretty common. I've decided to analyze these ubiquitous plants.

I've chopped them up. I've tasted them, licked them really. Inhaled the fumes let off from burning them and submerged them in water. I've also ground them up and mixed with water.

The best results are when you do just that. grind them up into a sort of pulp and then mix with water. The changes are almost like what I imagine is the beginning of constructing paper. Reeds are relatively simple after all. I'm not sure what I expected but I am pleasantly surprised by the fact that they have a potential.

I'll have to experiment with them more. Mainly by trying to craft paper with them.

---

Simple +30
Herbalism I: +5
Knowledge: 15

Threshold: 50

- Success!

Reeds - Base:Paper

[Allyria Allenmorde]

Junipos 23rd, 200ATD

I received a letter from mother today. She congratulated me on my success in purchasing a property within Morith and setting up a trading company. She told me that my younger siblings were doing well but they were wondering what I was doing and where I was. Then she chided me for not leaving a note behind and just running away. They all thought I had been kidnapped for a time, then they thought I was dead. I was so selfish for doing what I did. But I have grown so much stronger through my experiences. I've killed monsters even. Something I thought I was incapable of doing.

So much has happened between my last entry and this one. I have traveled far. Participated in a tournament. Forged weapons and built a life for myself. But there is so much more I need to do.

Scarlet may become a problem if my family decides to visit me here.