Wren Birk
Wren Birk
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
Wren is less “fit” than just “skinny”. She is short, for a Hal.
Facial Features
She has red markings that she paints onto her face under her eyes every morning as a ritual.
Apparel & Accessories
I'm too tired to save this to Imgur
https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/657007458287353917/664316180504510487/image0.png?width=378&height=454
https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/657007458287353917/664316180504510490/image1.png?width=303&height=454
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Wren grew up in the kingdom of Begolia.
Gender Identity
Female
Sexuality
Wren’s into dudes. Specifically, experienced philosophical dudes.
Education
Currently a student of The Institute of Hydroarcanic Power. Formerly a student of a wizard in Begolia named Lian.
Employment
Does hustling count as employment?
Accomplishments & Achievements
Once she stole a book for her sister. She’s still pretty proud of that. She also preformed “Shape Water” and perfectly right on her first try. Really proud of that one too. Though she admits that may have had something to do with Achen.
Failures & Embarrassments
Most of her life.
Mental Trauma
Ouf. Let’s get into that one later.
Intellectual Characteristics
Wren wasn’t born into the academic lifestyle, but through enough practice has found a personality in it. She loves reading, hates tests, and has a very curious mind.
Morality & Philosophy
Wren really has no convictions she cares about. In fact if you tell her about yours she’ll probably agree with yours.
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
Wren is motivated to see her mentor again. But she also wants to see the world.
Savvies & Ineptitudes
Try as she might, she’s a pretty terrible liar.
Likes & Dislikes
Wren likes being outside. She likes feeling sun on her face and wind in her hair, the sound of birds, her mentor, reading, professor achen, learning new things, and cats. A little luxury is a bit nice too.
Wren dislikes staying in one place too long, closed doors, small spaces, being lied to, being alone, her mentor, and dresses made out of scratchy fabric.
Wren dislikes staying in one place too long, closed doors, small spaces, being lied to, being alone, her mentor, and dresses made out of scratchy fabric.
Virtues & Personality perks
Well I’d like to think she’s pretty darn sweet, and kind.
Vices & Personality flaws
Maybe just a tad but naïve for her own good.
Personality Quirks
She hates closed doors, Wren had Eleanora take the door off her room.
Hygiene
Enjoys a good bath now and again.
Social
Family Ties
Wren has an older sister, but is unsure of where she is.
Social Aptitude
Eah.
Mannerisms
Wren is poised and her movements are precise.
Hobbies & Pets
Azreal, who is best cat
Speech
In contrast to her precise movements, she had a bad case of foot-in-mouth disease.
Relationships
A young woman setting off into the world on her own for the very first time.
Current Location
Northal
Spouses
Siblings
Children
Current Residence
Northal
Gender
Female
Eyes
Brown
Hair
Dark Brown
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Pale
Height
5"4
Weight
120
A Necromancer Ponders Death
I’m going to die.
I mean, we’re all going to die.
You’re not going to die. You are paper and ink. But I am going to die, and not in the 'everybody is going to die' way.
I'm going to die this week.
I mean, did I always know I was going to die? Sure. I always figured it would happen one day. I know it’s avoidable, but I didn’t really go into necromancy thinking about my life. I was thinking about others- well that's not true at all. I was thinking about saving my own hide, but afterward I thought about t̶h̶e̶m̶ ... myself. But I mean, that's not bad right? Isn't that what humanity is? Self-preservation.
I know that the body and conscious are different. Lian said that your soul can be a difference place than your physical body. And I know in my heart that that's true. But .. I don't know, I guess I’ve become attached to this one?
I mean, I guess if I thought about it makes sense that his body isn’t his original body, but I never thought about it before I guess. Its not his body that makes him him. So I guess if that's true for him it's true for me too. And if I'm not my body then I'm my thoughts and my decisions, and my personality. Still though- I’d like to keep this one for as long as possible. But I guess as long as I .. stay who I am, whoever that is and whatever that means, I guess that’s fine?
Lian is here.
Lian is here.
I wish I had a funnier, more clever way to say that, but that’s all I can wrap my head around right now. He’s here. He’s at my house. He’s in my bedroom! Right this second right now.
There’s a time when just thinking about that sentence would have sent me to stupid giggy pieces. Right now all I can think of is. I don’t know what I think.
Well apparently I’m still 16 years old because I can’t stop thinking about the fact that he’s in my bedroom. I’m not there mind you- I’m in my old room, I obviously gave him the nice room- but still. Here’s there. Here’s here! And he needs my help!
Our help. He needs our help. We went to tell Jhin about Secrix. The mission. And we walked in and there he was. Sudden, sullen, and ... somehow, seemingly already annoyed with me. Hey- just like the old days!
He said that he needs our help in Riverville, with the Lexicon. So we’re going to Riverville tomorrow! I know, I’m surprised they agreed too. But we’re going tomorrow.
He said he wanted to see my lab!! Except when I showed it to him he didn’t even seem that interested in it. Or the library, though he sat there for six hours straight without getting up once. Or that I live on my own island, even when there was a fucking dragon turtle at our front door- you know what? It’s fine. So he’s not impressed with everything even though when you look at the list there, and you could add to it, boy could you add to it!, it looks pretty damn impressive from a former student. So he’s not impressed with any of that stuff? That’s fine. He shouldn’t be,
He shouldn’t be. He’s a crazy powerful wizard! He’s seen a lot. What do I have? A neat house on a weird island. At least I had a nice place and a nice room to offer him.
And here I am, downstairs in my old bed. Because I am
-wren.
Formidable Friends
I was part of something big. Really big. The fewer details I write down the better, but know I’m dying inside not being able to tell them. What we did changed history! They’ll write about it in books for centuries to come! And it will be a mystery- to everyone but us.
I should maybe feel elated, but I mostly feel tired. We’re back on Kane’s ship now, and I’m wishing for the first time since I’ve met him that he captained a slower vessel. I don’t even mind the smell or the tiny fucking rooms anymore, if it just meant I could rest for a while I’d stay here for a fortnight.
Our mission was fairly successful really, Melyre proved to know her shit. Not that I ever doubted what she did before- but now that I’ve seen her do it- well, she’s scarier than Celrin, let’s put it that way.
Oh hey, speaking of scary- remember that time I slit that guy’s throat on that ship outside the Heart of the Valley? And Ele said I was being scary? Even with an army of undead behind me I couldn’t hold a candle to that girl. The way she finished that man .. well it’s not the way he expected to finish that evening I know that.
I love her. She’s great. She’s just also terrifying sometimes. L̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶m̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶
I can hear gulls already. I guess we’re almost to Northal. Every time I come back I don’t think it’s possible to want to get back more, but here we are. There’s nothing more I could want in the world other than my big comfortable bed and a quiet cup of tea right about now.
-w.
Blindly Toward Riverville
DAY 1 AT SEA
I'm on a ship manned by a crew of Soulreaved. I can easily count this as the most awesome thing I've ever done. L̶i̶a̶n̶ ̶w̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶s̶o̶ I should feel excited. Right? I'm trying to be curious, and talk with everyone and ask detailed and intrusive questions about their deaths but I can't focus. Mind's in Northal.
A̶c̶h̶e̶n̶ ̶h̶e̶
I̶ ̶h̶e̶l̶p̶e̶d̶ ̶h̶i̶m̶ ̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶a̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶b̶l̶e̶m̶
Th̶e̶r̶e̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶a̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶b̶l̶e̶m̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶I̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶u̶n̶i̶q̶u̶e̶l̶y̶ ̶q̶u̶a̶l̶i̶f̶i̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶o̶
Wren...what in the Shadowfell is wrong with you? How do you detect insane people with control issues so efficiently? And why do you go running toward them blindly with hearts in your eyes? Little frozen hearts. The first thing- THE FIRST THING-n that you heard about him. That was the first thing. And you went flew right toward him, l̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶a̶ ̶b̶i̶r̶d̶ "Oh hi, nice school. I think I'll join. Will you be my mentor?" Really Wren.
And for the love of all the gods, living AND dead, why do you keep digging your own grave? He knows now! Celrin's gone now and Eleonora, who will never tell a soul, is the only one here who would have ever known if you had just kept your fucking mouth shut! But he asked you and you panicked and .. you helped. You helped him.
We're headed to Lorox now. Kane said if I helped with the raid he'd take me to Riverville next. He's sure quickly learning a whole lot more about me than I'd like. I guess this time I'm not blindly running though. I'm blindly sailing. Does that count as improvement?
_____
DAY 2 AT SEA...WELL I GUESS IT'S A RIVER NOW
Raiding is harder than I was lead to believe. I commanded people (not by magic, just by yelling at them mostly) so that was s̶u̶r̶p̶r̶i̶s̶i̶n̶g̶ fun. In the books they'd call what we did 'winning' but it didn't feel like winning. I'd say 'we succeeded in our goal.'
_____
DAY 3 WHO KNOWS WHERE THE FUCK WE SAILED TO
Just came from a town that was not a town. Filled with people who clearly were not (living) people. And spoke to a woman who clearly was not a woman.
His precise words were, "I'm leaving this capital towards an alleged 'quaint spot' named Riverville, and will continue to pursue the lead there." I'll admit maybe I lost a day or two obsessing over the choice of words there. 'quaint spot'. But...I get it now. It wasn't a town. It wasn't a village. It wasn't anything. It was...a cover. For the Lexicon?
There are functional things, rungs of society that need to apply to be qualified as a town (Gods, I sound like Eleanora). At least one public building is one of them surely. The Mayor's house wasn't even a public building, not really. And he was the only one who...well, whatever is going on he's clearly behind it. He said Rhea's name. He said her name like it was mine. And every time I tried to preform a spell people just appeared out of nowhere. I mean, they literally ran us out of town basically when I tried to cast it surreptitiously. But I saw it, as we were slipping away from the docks, I don't believe I've ever seen so much necromancy magic in once place anywhere in my life.
That's why he stayed so long I'm sure.. and I was still too late. He stayed two months. The goat woman said that. This journal is beginning to look like the intelligible scrawling of a madwoman. Justice. The goat woman's name is Justice.
Re-reading his syntax I just realized he never actually asked me to go to Riverville. He asked me to research that spell tha magically appeared in my book one night (still don't know how he did that) and to treat his special little project with importance. And you know what? I did both. I'm done.
As far as I'm concerned, I've completed all assignments. Well and alone, and in the face of adversity. I've graduated. And I'm going home.
-w.
Gideon's Last Stand
I haven't written in this one one for a while, but I suppose telling the events of the day into my current research notebook (Vol. 34) wouldn't be apropos of today's events -even as entertaining as Vol. 34 is!
Still, I suppose fighting an invading armada is more exciting than testing spells on rodents and rabbits over and over. Hence the un-retirement of "The Adventure Journal". I certainly know willing my undead thrall to end a man's life on my whim was exciting. Again, love my research, love my lab- but even figuring out the last piece of an equation I've been working on for half a year can't compare to the flick of a wrist, the fall of a general. The end of an Armada.
Once we won and the ship started to fall Melyre shoved me onto the back of her hippogriff. I watched from the sky as the giant airship landed alongside the shores of Northal, forever changing it's history (also most likely its shoreline). To what end, who knows? Maybe Jhin. But the day's events most certainly ended with the end of The Capris Armada.
Action Items: Ask Kane why he kept his lycanthrope form from me. I didn't know Soulreaved could do that, must find out more. Talk to Jhin, if we lost people in the attacks on the city they could still be of use to Northal (if my manipulations in Vol 30. are correct and given just a little more time to perfect them). Don't go into your lab tomorrow Wren. Help Eleonora clean up her shop and the house, this attack must have been hard for her. Your rats can wait, they're not going anywhere.
-W.
Celrin died.
Celrin died. I watched her head fly from her body as it went limp. When I started studying the forces of life and death I thought that would make it less frightening. Death. Makes sense right? If you can control the energies that manipulate life what’s there to be afraid of?
I know there’s something after, I know it doesn’t just end. But Celrin just ended. Swing. Snap. Dead.
And everything she ever fought for, everything she felt, it was gone. Everything she knew is gone.
Eleonora, now she's the only one that knows.
M̶a̶r̶. Don't do it Wren, don't defile your journal. That Man came and took her body before I could try anything with it. He took her soul. I guess she's not gone really, though she probably wishes she was.
Maybe that means we’ll never see him again. Need to find that silver lining right?
We killed Kel. We didn’t actually. This lizard guy did. Long story.
I piloted the airship back to Divasé. They sent us back to Lessou. Jhin was there. It was (unsurprisingly) weird.
I finally met a real l̶i̶f̶e̶ Soulreaved. He's just a skull (do skeletons still use gender? I don't recall that being mentioned in any book) Says he's a captain , his ship docked is somewhere Northal. I bet people there are simultaneously incredibly irritated and scared shitless. And why is that image so funny?
Oh, our alliance was successful. And the Queen gave us a tremendous amount of gold as a reward. But who cares?
Celrin's dead.
-w.
Post-Script: Eleonora's mother is dead now too. I couldn't do anything about that either.
Paintings and Airships
Turns out the animals wasn’t what I should have been worried about. Turns out Celrin’s past isn’t just coming for her, it came for all of us. And I spent most of last night attempting not to die. Eleonora spent most of the night trying to save my life. S̶o̶ ̶y̶a̶y̶ ̶s̶h̶e̶ ̶d̶o̶e̶s̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶h̶a̶t̶e̶ ̶m̶e̶!̶
Celrin did manage to kill and/or capture everyone who was after her. She's swift in the dark- though I'm guessing Nora could have told me that. I could tell she was upset about missing an opportunity to draw it out but at least she .. finished the job when we asked her too so we could get to Divasé in a timely manner.
Eleonora and I were able to meet with Commander Jean. He looked like he hadn’t slept in a year, though I suppose it was understandable by the look of his city. I really do hope we can help them. Those.. bird people aren’t people. They're a menace. He told us of one of their ship we can help defend, so we’re headed north again. Is this the farthest north I’ve ever been? I think so! (Hey, you have to get excited about something when life gets this dreary right?)
Oh! What with the almost dying I almost forgot my.. I guess it was a dream? Does it count as a fever dream if you don’t have a fever you just spent half the night almost dying? Anyway, I dreamt about that night with Rhea where she taught me how to paint my face, after that thing with the bugs. And when I woke up remembering her face I didn’t feel..guilty. And that was even the night her face got torn up. So, Maybe there is a thing to this adventuring thing. Maybe making new experiences gives you context for the old ones? Or maybe they just make you feel less. I wonder what I’d feel if I could remember Mom’s face.
____
Turns out that it’s kind of hard to defend a ship at sea from ships in the air when you’re a tiny person on land with limited arcane “capabilities”. We…did what we could before running back into the woods. (This is everyone by the way- I wasn’t the only one who was useless from that far away) though it wasn’t long before they followed us.
Know what I am good at? Siphoning consciousness from people who I think would benefit from being undead. Long story short, I̶ We have an airship now. It took a couple hours, but I figured how to fly it. Because of course I did.
-w.
A Good Bookstore
You know how in stories bookstores are always creepy old places run by a mysterious tiny old lady and the lady ends up seeing into the heroine’s soul and leading her to exactly what she was looking for since the first chapter? It was kinda like that..I mean, give it a second draft through and editor and that’s basically what happened when we found the book store in Trious. Basically.
We forgot to bring any sort of paperwork with us when we came to Trious. I’d like to think that’s a thing I’d usually take care of for the group but I think it’s fair to say I’ve been preoccupied. Anyway Eleonora went back for it, so naturally I set off to find a bookstore.
And what I found isn't even a textbook, it's a storybook. But it had all the same ingredients of the spell that I’ve been trying to figure out- it was about this boy who’s home was destroyed and he becomes a necromancer for retribution. But to get his revenge he needed to come back as a clone of himself to circumvent death.
..and Lian said there was nothing to be learned from stories.
So now I just need to figure out how it’s a solution to what he so helpfully and encouragingly referred to as my “incapability”.
When Eleonora got back we met with Minister Bernard, who got us a meeting with the prince, who one day may let us get a meeting with the queen (Gotta love red s̶t̶r̶i̶n̶g̶ tape right?) . That is, IF we prove to him that we’re “capable” of assisting with the Capris Armada- then our offer of an alliance will be considered. I don’t know what everybody’s deal is with “capability” and “incapability” all the sudden! And I don’t understand why we all can’t just do the best we can learn a little trust here and there, but...Northward I suppose.
Anyway, Trious is nice. Melyre isn’t. But I think I'm just used to it now. And in addition I get to sleep in the woods tonight, right beside whatever animals happen to inhabit these woods. So.....life is certainly going the direction I want.
-w.
Distorted Reflections
Well, my first prophesy came true. Noppa left. But I don’t think he left hating me, and that’s something. He also used a truth spell on me. Bastard. He’ll be missed.
Not one to waste a spare room apparently Jhin seemed to find us a replacement before he even knew we needed one. He invited the "person" who was just hired to assassinate him to live with us. Because why not right? That’s a totally normal thing to do. Without asking.
Speaking of rooms, Eleonora made a bunch of new fancy ones. She promptly let me know I’m not welcome in them unless under her explicit permission. We’re leaving for Lessou soon anyway. Jhin’s asked us to look into handling a conflict for them in the north. Before he left I tried to ask him about his shadow.
He was, as usual, enigmatic and creepy.
So, we're off again. Let’s hope this one doesn’t end with a dead child.
-w.
You vs. Fate
When you're not happy with the choices you've made, is it better to blame fate or yourself? Because if you blame yourself you can at least mentally berate and torment yourself for it. And that, after a while, will make you feel better. If nobody else is there to punish you for something you know you shouldn't have done you can just make your own penance and that's that. Takes a while, but at least you can let the guilty part of your brain rest. But if you blame fate you can just be sad about it and mope your way through. When you're just upset about how your destiny was paved out you don't have to deal with all the guilt and the anger. You can just eventually forget it, since it wasn’t your fault.
I'll never forget his crying though. Or how the shadow spoke to me. "You are not in control" Isn’t that the whole concept of fate? That no matter what you do, you're always subject to your fate? Of course I'm not in control, "fate" is...or whatever. What makes you know so much about it Shadow Man? And why does that kid need to die? And who needs to be broken? ̶W̶a̶s̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶t̶a̶l̶k̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶a̶b̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶m̶e̶?̶ Why do you even exist!? How are you part of Jhin!? Why were you there!? WHAT DID YOU MEAN!?
He’s not going to a better life, I knew that. I made myself think he was, before. I made myself think I could change Celrin’s mind if I needed too. Does that make me a good manipulator, by manipulating myself? Or does that just make me weak? ̶C̶e̶l̶r̶i̶n̶ ̶k̶n̶e̶w̶ ̶a̶l̶l̶ ̶a̶l̶o̶n̶g̶.
If fate is in control than I can make all the bad decisions I want, because none of them matter anyway right? I can hurt friends and destroy lives and be selfish all I want because “fate wants it that way” right? And all the bad things I've already done are just intertwined together by a thread that I have no control over, so why worry about it right? ̶J̶u̶s̶t̶ ̶l̶e̶t̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶p̶u̶l̶l̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶a̶l̶o̶n̶g̶ ̶u̶n̶t̶i̶l̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶l̶e̶a̶d̶s̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶o̶f̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶e̶d̶g̶e̶.̶ ̶
There’s a pit in my stomach as deep as the one in the heart of the valley. My heart feels like it’ll never have room for love because shame is all encompassing. I feel like there’s something wrong with me. Something isn’t right. ̶T̶h̶e̶ ̶S̶h̶a̶d̶o̶w̶ ̶k̶n̶o̶w̶s̶ ̶i̶t̶
I do know a few things. I know that I'll never be able to look Meta in the eyes again. I know that Noppa will want nothing to do with me. I know that I've ruined any chance I had with the only friend I've had in my entire life. And if there is a thread, I think mine is broken.
-w.
With the Help of Good People
I ended up meeting Eleonora on the way to the castle, and she said she could help me translate. It's obvious that we haven't been on the same page lately, but I'm very glad that at the end of the day she's still my friend. She's just, she's just a good person. We ran into Meta, almost literally, while leaving the castle. She seems preoccupied, but offered to take us to Jhin's study for our research. We got there and Jhin was dead asleep on the middle of the desk w̶e̶l̶l̶,̶ ̶d̶e̶a̶d̶ ̶w̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶a̶ ̶b̶a̶d̶ ̶c̶h̶o̶i̶c̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶w̶o̶r̶d̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶r̶e̶ ̶ ̶I̶ ̶s̶u̶p̶p̶o̶s̶e̶. Meta just backed out of the room though, and, of course...the book we need is right on top of his desk. Why was he recently reading it?-Doesn't matter, I need it. Ele and I magehanded it right out from under him and it was kind of funny because she has obviously never had to sneak a book from someone like that. I can't even count how many times...anyway, got it. And she helped me translate the Eriosian text.
Necros, not a God of the Dead but a God who is dead: And there was this drawing of an old brittle skull covered in..I think it was dirt, and this maggot crawling out of it. "While Necros isn’t a god that exists now, whoever they were was god of disease, pestilence, death" . The physical corpse of Necros contains untold necromancer knowledge. Said corpse ends up inherently destroying the land around it, coming in the form of a plague.
So hey- I have *something* Even if it is pretty morbid, what did I expect, the god of flowers?
Jhin woke up when the others came in. We told him about our adventure. He.. well he mostly seemed sleepy to be honest. He told us Meta has to go home, but he's fairly certain her family is dead. At the end of the day though I couldn't think of anything to say to her to stop her so...well I don't know, but she's a very also a very good person and I don't feel good about it.
-w.
___
Post-Script: Ele stopped for a long time on a page in that book about the Eriosian God of Chaos. Just....just remember that Wren.
A Deadly Dragon
K. Soo.. didn't get to ask her about the Lexicon. I was too busy dying from the DRAGON that she sicked on us. That's right, her black grown-ass dragon. And I can't even really do the only cool thing after that happens and say 'I fought a dragon' because I didn't even fight it! Really, basically Noppa did. I just ran to Eleonora to do that life transfer spell because she went down and then before I know it, the fucking thing took me down with one wing, and kept me down with a foot.
We tried to talk to her! I.. Well I don't think it was horrible. It was fine. Eleonora isn't the most passionate speaker, but she's precise, and truthful (well, we had to be) and we all spoke on our areas of expertise regarding Northal. She seemed rather bored of it all, and eerily...well frankly, she's scary. We were in a giant room that just turned into the forest around Northal. SPECIFICALLY, it was the one around Northal. That we all know! I can't even fathom how a spell like that works let alone how to preform something like that, like it's just happening in the back of your mind with so little effort.
So it's been a day now and I'm trying to figure out why I'm so mad at her. I dunno, maybe I'm embarrassed.. maybe? Just a little. She obviously didn't respect us so maybe I should of just pretended, and talked to her like an equal..She couldn't have lost much more respect for me if I did that anyway. I mean, it wouldn't have been pretending because we are both wizards right? She's just a world-rewound one. And I.. I made a frozen red heart on my very first time with the Shape Water spell. That was pretty impressive. I should have just asked her my questions and if she didn't answer she didn't answer, it's not like she'd do something worse than make us fight her dragon.
Well, we impressed her enough in the end I guess, she quickly Cadgegaped us back to Northal, a much welcome sight in my eyes. What's not welcome is that we're back a month later than we should be. knew time felt weird on that island! Nobody else seemed to care, but I guess none of them have a spell to research that they're already behind on.
Eleonora and I went home immediately to check on her store and mope in bed, respectively. I was cross referencing our library with Lian's note when she came in. Too awkward to leave immediately so she stayed and we had another awkward conversation. Yo̶u̶ ̶g̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶h̶a̶l̶f̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶l̶i̶f̶e̶ ̶d̶u̶r̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶d̶r̶a̶g̶o̶n̶ ̶f̶i̶g̶h̶t̶ ̶W̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶m̶o̶r̶e̶ ̶c̶a̶n̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶d̶o̶!̶?̶ ̶Yeah sure Wren, just do what you always do, keep pretending there's nothing wrong. We're going to town together tomorrow, guess what we'll find? I'm betting one more awkward conversation.
I miss her.
Speaking of awkward conversations, I saw Achen at the Institute. He was weird, as usual, but even weirder than normal. Why is everyone being weird? (Maybe I'm being weird and I'm not realizing it) I only slightly got his attention when I mentioned meeting The Wizard of the Lake. After that he just said 'talk to you another time' and ran away. Yeah, vying for attention from an older male father-figure, been there, done that, no thanks.
I did find a little about a, well, maybe cult-like religion around a God in the Eriosian Pantheon but I couldn't tell is he was a God of Death or a Dead God...or what the difference is. But the word Nekros was there. It was all written in Eriosian. I'll probably need Eleonora's help with it because.. of course. I wonder if she'll come back to The Institute with me. I wonder if I can avoid Achen while she's here because she's much too perceptive- or wait, maybe she can tell me what's going on with him. . Also confirmed that diamond used as catalyst of some sort in spellwork; to bring a soul back to a corpse, or keep a soul present as something else goes on with the body.
So, at least I have something to start with...when I check next in a few minutes.
-w.
A Begolian Necktie
I didn't know he was Begolian when I slit his throat. Well, I guess I kind of did. But I really didn't care. If he was from Northal would I have cared? Should I have cared?
Wait, let me back up. We're on a boat right now. Reminder Wren: Boats are terrible, they;re the worst. Never get on one again. They're cramped, and small, and smell like fish, and they're really dark. The only way I'm even able to close my eyes at night and feel ok is because I'm sharing a room with Ele. N̶o̶t̶ ̶s̶u̶r̶e̶ ̶i̶f̶ ̶s̶h̶e̶ ̶f̶e̶e̶l̶s̶ ̶c̶o̶m̶f̶o̶r̶t̶a̶b̶l̶e̶ ̶s̶h̶a̶r̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶a̶ ̶r̶o̶o̶m̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶m̶e̶ ̶a̶n̶y̶m̶o̶r̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶o̶u̶g̶h̶.̶ ̶
So we're sailing, well- the crew is sailing. I'm attempting to avoid Ele's passive-aggressive glances that she think she's hiding and trying to read but I'm not sure how long one can expect me to stare at the same page of notes and try to figure out an incredibly specific spell when all I know are the ingredients. Anyway- we're sailing and this massive ship fires at us! Celrin & Ele went to talk to them but I guess weren't as silvertounged as they'd hoped. Because they kept firing at us. Noppa jumped into action right away, he was incredible. Rainer was firing left and right, and I literally had nothing I could do. They were so far away, and I don't know how to command a ship. I don't know how Noppa knew how to do it but it was t̶e̶r̶r̶i̶f̶y̶i̶n̶g̶ infuriating. I was able to do nothing to help. At all.
So with all of their bravery we eventually were able to board their boat and leave. Only before we left .. I slit a man's throat. I put him to sleep first but then, well, at the time I said it was because I thought we were killing everybody but now I think I just wanted to prove I could be useful. Normally I think to much before I do anything, but this time I didn't think at all. I just acted. I̶ ̶w̶o̶n̶d̶e̶r̶ ̶w̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶L̶i̶a̶n̶ ̶w̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶n̶k̶ ̶a̶b̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶ By the way everyone else reacted I think it had the opposite effect I was going for though. Well, Celrin was fine with it, I'm agreeing with her more and more these days.
______
Noppa sure wouldn't shut about it the rest of the ride here though. It almost made me care less about the man. Still wish he wasn't Begolian though. It's unsettling how little I care honestly. But we finally got to the heart a little while ago. it's incredibly beautiful here, like they say. Stunning really. Lots of rules though, and the thing is- you're not even able to break them. It just doesn't work. I just said a teeny tiny lie and it just didn't come out. Rhea would hate it here. I'm not sure how I feel yet. I'm just excited to meet the wizard! Tomorrow. Hopefully! I'm going to ask her about the Lexicon, fingers crossed!
-w.
The Desperate Leech
Sorry I haven’t written in a while. I.. Well haven’t wanted to. But I guess Lian was right, it’s good for your brain, helps you remember, makes you better, blah blah blah. So.. when we were waiting for our contact, after everybody else got into this fight I went to help .. kinda. But I started getting one of those really bad headaches (thought those were over), and then.. then I was kidnapped. Which, firstly, the word in itself just makes me feel so stupid. The whole thing makes me feel so stupid. Why me?
Oh yeah- he told me why me. He told me that I wasn’t as strong as the others, that I was desperate. That I was a leech. He knew about Rhea and Lian and said that somebody is always protecting me because I don’t have any power.
And I couldn’t argue with any of it.
I wasn't even the reason he did it. I was just bait. He really wanted Celrin (who is royalty by the way- it's never who you'd expect it to be), said she was his project. And that I was “interesting” but “probably already someone else’s project” . Maybe he meant Jhin? What do you think he meant?
Everybody came to rescue me though, which, I wasn't sure they'd do. Ele even almost lost her arm! She could have died. I even told Celrin to just leave, it doesn't matter. But they fought for me instead, or her. Us, I guess. They fought Ele's sister, who seemed to be a hired thug for this guy. M̶a̶r̶i̶u̶s̶.̶ Never mind. I don't want his name to taint this journal. I did think my leg was going to fall off at one point. She just, tore into it. Ele saved it though. .. Then it looked like she was almost going to kill her own sister for doing it. But we're all alive, somehow. They all saved my life. Actually, I got myself out I suppose, but I wouldn't have been able to without them. But we had to leave really quickly after the building caught fire. T̶h̶a̶n̶k̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶G̶o̶d̶s̶ ̶I̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶c̶a̶g̶e̶ ̶b̶y̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶n̶. When they were helping me out I watched him, just standing there. I'm hopeful the fire got him, but not stupid enough to believe it. And when we got outside there were guards everywhere. But this smoke...thing went off and gave us enough cover to run. .. So I did what Rhea always told me- I ran.
Me & Rainer ran at least, the others stayed. I knew Noppa would, and I knew he'd be able to talk himself out of it. I knew Celrin would be fine. But I really thought Ele would run too. I really did. I guess that's where we differ though, because she stayed. And I think I'm going to have to live with the consequences of that action for a while
Rainer said we should hide back out back in the Under-City...and once we got here he promptly told me this was all my fault.
And I couldn't argue with that either.
We're going to go the castle tomorrow to....I don't know. I know trying to break them out would be stupid but .. I don't know, we have to do something. I wish somebody would just tell me what to do. I don't know what to do.
-w.
Tensions and Travel
Fortudo is beautiful. The people, not so much. Right there at the Cadgegap they took Rhea's potions. I mean, I've been carrying them around for a while now, I guess they were mine at this point. I wasn't planning to sell them or anything- but, she made them you know? Remember when we spent ALL DAY trying to get river water to be the color we wanted and we laughed for like hours fighting about what colors looked magical? That was a really fun day. And now they're in some pushy middle management security guard's closet. I guess it got me closer to Rive- to meeting with the Wizard of the Lake.
My unease continued when the moment we entered town we were told that the kingdom that we're currently standing in( with the Kingdoms of Decartis, Ebbon, Ruuslia, and Salia .. because of course) are now is officially in conflict with the kingdoms of Begolia, Ferox, and Trinum. Color me uncomfortable. Celrin hardly seemed surprised and not near enough as worried as she should be, in my opinion.
Luckily we were told our contact is in the a place called The Under-City. Which is nice, because, you know.. if you're worried about being seen as a spy, an enemy of the state, or a traitor I feel like a place called The Under-City will probably have denizens that would be more...forgiving of such things. Not that I am any of those things. But you know, best to lay low. So that's what we're doing now. Laying low, which is nice to be honest. I haven't had much time to .. do homework.
So we're waiting now in a tavern. I know I've already gone through my notes but I must be missing something about that spell he's talking about. Luckily I have all this time to lay low now! Yep. I'm good at laying low, at reading and being quiet and unnoticed. I know how to mind my own business. I'm good at it. Need time for my own business. Laying low... just.... laying low.
Hey, that man has crazy armor! I've never seen anything like that before. He's probably our contact. I should go talk to him.
-w.
The "Incapable Assistant"
Incapable.
INCAPABLE!
Incapable: Adjective A. unable to do or achieve (something) B. unable to behave rationally or manage one's affairs; incompetent.
I've achieved a lot thank you very much! I helped kill the Wretch, AND a demon now. I have a house AND a cat that I take care of. Ive been doing well in classes at the Institute AND Achen said I'm his best student. I've been fully able to do everything he's taught me, so what if it takes time. So.. suck my success Lian. I'm fully capable. What an asshole.
Asshole.
Ass. ..
Assistant. Lian's assistant! Assistant! It was written to "Lian's Assistant" He didn't even write my name! Well, not really.
But he did tell me where he's going next, and I guess that's improvement.. right? "Progress takes time" and all that. Apparently too much time though, he was expecting me earlier. Oh yeah- he was expecting me to go there! Which I didn't even know, but somehow I'm still late. Which I guess at least means he won't be mad that I'm following him. Is that progress? But wouldn't have this all been easier and more efficient if he actually told me what we were working on? I didn't even know there was something I should be doing. I thought I was supposed to be figuring life out or whatever now that I had one again. A̶n̶d̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶,̶ ̶s̶t̶u̶p̶i̶d̶ ̶W̶r̶e̶n̶ ̶s̶p̶e̶n̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶n̶e̶w̶ ̶l̶i̶f̶e̶ ̶l̶o̶o̶k̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶h̶i̶m̶.̶ ̶
"Gotten a handle on yourself" What does that even mean!? I WAS BUSY! I was doing things. I was busy doing important things that his friend, THE KING, told me to do! So I guess we're still working. News to me! I mean, it does sound exciting though.. The Nekros Lexicon. I've never even heard of that, but I know it's important. Maybe we'll learn things that have been lost to time and only the two of us will know them! And I guess he's actually trusting me with something important this time. Progress.
So I guess now I'm researching the spell that..I don't even know what it does. But I'll find out! I'm hoping Fortudo will have more information. Because if I meet him in Riverville before I figure it out, ugg. I don't even want to deal with thinking about that. Oh, and I have to convince the party to go on a field trip to Riverville now. Which isn't that far from Fortudo. They seemed okay going here though so fingers crossed. Oh wait..D̶o̶ ̶I̶ ̶e̶v̶e̶n̶ ̶w̶a̶n̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶m̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶m̶e̶e̶t̶ ̶L̶i̶a̶n̶?̶ ̶N̶o̶.̶
Incapable.
Assistant.
Asshole.
Oh, I also traveled to Secrix, used a Cadgegap, pissed off a transmutation wizard, learned Northal actually kind of sucks, and killed a demon. Well, maybe Nopa killed the demon, but I provided a vital distraction.
-w.
Post-Script: Wren, You better study every single minute of every single day until you see him again so he can see how good you are now. "Exceed his expectations" I'll show some him some fucking expectations. He's set that bar so low I'm going to fly over it next time I see him. Watch me.
Invaders and Invitations
Did you know there are bird people!?!? Well, I guess you didn’t. You’re me. I didn’t! Do you know how often I read? Yes you do, stop asking your journal stupid questions Wren. I thought I knew everybody in the Esterland Valley but these things literally swooped in and tried to kill us. We holed up in the basement, I tried to talk to them but their weren’t interested... no one ever wants to talk to me. .. Wanted to know our leader, obviously invaders. They had these spears, cut right through my shoulder, a few times. Reminder- learn more battle magic
I passed out at one point and woke up upstairs. I’m choosing to not think about why.
I spent all next day at the library in the institute learning about them.
Also- IM GOING TO SECRIX! Kinda. We went to tell King Jhin about the attack and he pulled his favor card if you will. He gave us a choice if what we could help with. And I tried, journal I tried SO HARD to get everybody to choose Secrix. If I knew a spell that would have convinced them I would have done it. I get to go to Secrix! AND take my friends! AND have another reason to go so if he asks why I’m there I can be like, “oh! I didn’t even know you were here! I’m very important now you now.” What else am I going to say? No clue. Plans were never my forté.
So we’re headed down south but they said we could “swing by” Secrix first. It’s a ways out of the way- but they said they’d do it! And I think they’re doing it for me? Which is.. nuts. I think they’re actually starting to like me! Well, I always kinda figured Ele did; but it is really hard to tell with her sometimes.
Speaking of, I’m a little worried about Ele, she’s seeing things again. She said during the fight there were scars on my face. You know what, she could just be stupid. Blood was pouring out of neck after all. Wouldn’t be surprised if a talon got in my hair or something. But after the golden apple thing I’m feeling a bit protective. Worried. I hope she’s okay. Wren you finally found a best friend and she’s insane weird, go figure.
-w.
Feline Farsightedness
08/08/1195
Well, Ele's okay. She just woke up. Only now I can't sleep, so I came to the study. The guilt has eased a bit though- she doesn't seem to blame me too much. Azrael did help me come up with an idea for tomorrow in the meantime though. I'm nervous- which is stupid. You're just going to class Wren, which you do every day! Stop being stupid. I can see through Azrael's eyes- have I mentioned that yet? I don't know what I ever did without him! He makes s̶n̶o̶p̶i̶n̶g̶ everything so much easier.
08/09/1195
Okay- so I went to The Institute with Celrin (so she could get her mechanical arm back) and we both returned, missions accomplished! I sat in class when I sent Azrael to Achen to give him my g̶i̶f̶t̶ thank you note. And obviously my wonderful little furball did a great job! Which also essentially means that I can be in two places at once! .. I wonder if I could send him to Secrix while I stay here and go to class? Maybe I should ask Achen if it would work that far before I try it. I just.... I really don't want to leave yet, but I know the more time that passes are slimming my chances of finding him there and for the love of the valley Wren WHY ARE YOU STILL AGONIZING OVER THIS? Just stay. Everything is fine. Everything is great! You have friends, you have a home, you have a good mentor and a cat! Shut your brain up for once and leave something a mystery.
Eleanora's mom was here when we got back. She's a grade-A bitch if I've ever met one (and I have). I was able to listen to their entire conversation (such a good kitty cat) but the only thing that's worth mentioning is how weird it is that Ele still needs her approval, even though her mother is incredibly condescending, doesn't give her a modicum of respect OR even seem to have her best interest at heart . .. wait. . .
Well anyway, it seems like everything is finally settling down here. We haven't had really anything jarring happen since the siege and Jhin's... Q&A. Thankfully and gratefully, it's getting quiet here.
-w.
Post-Script: Ele named her store. "The Elegant Spark". Obviously, she did not ask my input.
A Tale of Two Professors
I had a dream that I was back in the study. He was there. He was mad. I was... disappointing. Nothing new. The new part was when I woke up the spell that we were working on was in my spell book. Written down, just like I was writing it in the dream. And I can’t even begin to think about what that entails so I won’t. Further research needed. I woke up feeling.. ineffectual.
In contrast though I’ve been writing that essay Achen suggested and I’m feeling pretty good about it. Professor Ickis said it’s good anyway, so that’s something! That's why it’s been a while since I’ve written, very busy. Good busy. I'm really enjoying The Institute, all my classes really. Studying around other people just feels different you know? Collegiate, if that word exists. And lately after I get home and we eat Ele and I have been spending most of the night in the study reading... while she gives dirty looks to Azreal. .. I see those Ele. Passive-aggression aside though, it's been really fun to have a study partner, as it were. .. even if magic comes so fucking easy for her.
And Achen teaching me how to make Azreal has been life changing. He's my best buddy- like I've always wanted! He's always with me, he cuddles with me, he loves me, he makes me laugh, he's the best. Azreal, not Achen. A̶l̶t̶h̶o̶u̶g̶h̶
Anyway, except for that one thing everything's been really good. I don't know, should I rip that page out? Should I try and find him to ask him about it? At the very least he'd have the answer. Even still, when I do see him again I don't think I'll be like that anymore. I've learned so much lately. I'm more confident, I've killed monsters, I'm better now.
Right?
-w.
Grandiose Gifts
Celrin, Rainer and Nora got back this week. Honestly it's kind of nice to have the house full again. And there's more of Celrin, she has an arm now. Well, another one. It's fascinating really, I don't know how she got it though. And oddly enough adding something to her shoulder seemed to take weight off the chip that was on it. So that's a bonus. Plus they got back in time for Ele's grand opening! Well, maybe I shouldn't use 'grand' But I helped!
I was hanging around a̶n̶n̶o̶y̶i̶n̶g̶ helping the girl with weird hair that she hired and I had this great idea. See, she was so excited (when I say excited I mean excited in an "Eleanora way" which is a lot.. quieter than when I get excited about something) to open the store and thenno one was here and then her sister came in which really seemed to freak her out so I figured what makes Ele happier than money! I should be a paying customer!
So I ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶ ̶p̶l̶a̶y̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ remembered the crystal that I took from the cave the first time Achen and I went in there together and asked her to make a .. thingie out of it for him. To thank him for.. stuff. I honestly didn't care what she did with it so long as it looked nice, but what she make looks fantastic. It cost me $200 gold which I think is a lot of money so hopefully he likes it. Not sure how to get it to him though without exacerbating those nasty rumors. Who would believe those, honestly? .. Anyway,
Maybe I can give it back to Ele to give to- no. Maybe Celr-? Nope.
Well, maybe one of the boys can help me.
-w.
Post-Script: Okay, feeling a little bad about asking Ele to do all that work. When we were eating dinner she went a little crazy and started talking about this invisible apple then she fell face down into a plate of food. Azrael is in there watching her now but maybe I should put a hold on the custom gift area for now. Which is upsetting, because the next one would have been for her anyway.
Earning Forgiveness
Out of the frying pan and into the fire. Is that the phrase? It's applicable here. Almost immediately after we escaped Baron Oelrich, by the skin of our teeth, we went immediately into the forest to go find this...Wretch. To be fair, we didn't have a choice. We all had this super creepy dream about him and he said enough that made me want to be the one to kill him. "Slaughtered" is just a terrible word you know? That's a new emotion. I think I liked it.
So we ventured into the creepiest forest I've ever seen. It was like an evil forest that's in stories. There were these statues in very...disconcerting positions. We had to solve their riddles and speak to them which, honestly I was terrible at! I really thought I'd be able to impress my new friends- you know, with my brain and stuff, but I guess 'problem solving' isn't an area I've dabbled in too much. I did help them fight though, and was fairly good at it- when we finally did meet the Wretch, Jan, leader of the Bloaters. He did get a good strike in me though, and I'm still recovering. And I'll tell you, he was a scary motherfucker.
Even scarier was this .. lady. I know it sounds weird because she looked mostly normal, but there was something about her that made me very uneasy. She lives in this house behind the grove we found Jan at. Kept talking about "her children". Eleanora and I finally talked Celrin into leaving her be, she just...was very unsettling. Oh! Maybe because she's a witch! Witches always live in dark evil forests in stories.
w.
Oops.
Oh boy. Oh boy oh boy oh boy.
Oops.
So I may have gotten in a little trouble.
Okay, from the beginning: I came home (that sounds weird 'home') and Eleonora was in the study so we spoke for a while. She told me she only recently found out she can preform magic, and that nobody knows except us. I'm not jealous. Not jealous at all that I've had to dedicate my entire life to something I simultaneously love and despise and it just pops into existence for her easy as pie. Not jealous at all that I've spent days upon years studying, preformed dozens of draining tests, and quite literally had to devote my life to the study of the arcane. Nope, not jealous at all.
I told her we can go tell her mom via my message spell (which she can't do, so, +1 for studying) that she's safe so we go to her mother's house. Nice home. She’s not in it. But eventually we bumped into Ranier, who told us Celrin was arrested by one of the barons. Of course. We decide to break her out. Why? Because I’m an idiot.
So somebody got us to the island, Ranier popped off to find Celrin and Eleonora and I tried to create a diversion. I did get to use that Disguise Self I learned last year, and that was fun at first. Reminded me of the stuff I used to do with Rhea. I was Eleonora’s mom this time. It worked at first, for the guards anyway. The Baron knew right away I think. Here’s the clincher, we saw Celrin breaking out on her own while we were being led up to the Baron. Fucking figures right? So we’re caught, my disguise drops, and have to fight our way out. Luckily Sleep came in handy so I didn’t have to kill anyone (+2 for studying). We all made it out, but the guards did see my face. All of our faces….if this ruins my chance to study at the Institute I swear to the Gods…wait, why do I still care about that? The library, yeah. Cool library. That’s it.
w.
Enter Academia
10/19/1194
Wren, remember when Lian told you not to make stupid rash decisions? You should have listened.
I spent a few days scouting out the Institute here, The Institute of Hydroarcanic Power, um, and then I joined it.
It seems innocent enough, they have interesting contraptions, a HUGE library, and I can come and go whenever I please so...step up in academia!
The professor I had been stalk- I mean, informed on, was really nice..and an amazing teacher really. He taught me this thing with water and I made a red frozen heart on the very first try, which has never happened before. Color me impressive, I know they were impressed. Especially him, delighted really. Professor Acken is his name. And he certainly stood out from the rest of them, in a good way though. Not a creeper way. He even gave me a couple spells. I guess people named Dickk who live in sewers aren’t to be trusted. Stupid Wren, really, in retrospect that was just stupid. You should probably stop blindly trusting people.
I got in (obviously) and with a home and an place to learn I feel more a part of this community than I ever did in Begolia so.. I’m not in the habit of jumping head first into situations I'm not well-versed on but..oh wait, I kind of am. Well let's hope this one turns out better.
w.
First Night in Northal
Jhin and Meta introduced me to a group of...people (mostly people) so we could help them with a problem, a gang called the Bloaters. They seem...well, Eleonora seems nice. It was a little fun, though I'm not as good at lying as I used to be. I'll need to work on that. Mostly I just hid behind a crate for a a few hours (which brought back a lot of memories really) and watched the others fight. They're good though, should maybe stick around until I figure out what else to do.
w.
An Endless Rule.
15/19/1194
I've always thought that knowledge is a good thing. But the thing, is yesterday I had less of it, and I think I
was a lot happier.
The party ended abruptly after the host decided to overthrow King Jhin by storming his castle.
I should say though, smart distraction. We rushed to the castle because...because Jhin's our friend I guess. Well, Meta is anyway. Jhin's going to require some extra thought here now.
Once we got in, found Meta and stole some books (yay!) we found Oelrich holding Jhin hostage in the throne room. He...didn't look too worried about it. I created a distraction with that smoke bomb thing. Just in case you're holding your breath I'll let you know that we won. It was crazy. There was smoke all over the place, we couldn't see anything, Ranier kicked some guy off a balcony, Eleanora made this...bolt thing fly out of her hands, I stopped Oelrich before she could escape!
Here's the thing though- One of her people did shoot him, once. And he was completely fine. We watched .. something .. stitch him up, right there and then. It was a, a dark shadow thing. Like that one that we've seen in our house that we also found out has been spying on us for him which, honestly, I figured was happening anyway. Nobody just gives somebody a ke-well, anything really, without expecting something in return. We're just not like that. Then he asked us what we think should be done to punish Oelrich. I've never been a decision-maker in my life or anything, but isn't that a decision for a king? Not a bunch of kids he banded together to do crime?
But there wasn't a shred of the man that welcomed me into his castle and gladly let me use his library. He was much more... detached. Cold? I'm guessing that the group only agreed with me because we were all put on edge by Jhin's sudden change in disposition. Also him pulling an arrow out of his own neck. Long story short (too late) she's still living and still has her position within Northal.
Then, what would usually be my dream come true, he told us we could ask him anything and that he would answer it. The thing is, his answers..uncomfortable isn't the right word. Grievous? Vexing? Yes, I think it's vexing. His answers were vexing.
What else would I ask? I asked him to tell me everything he knew about Lian and he was...semi-forthright. He's currently in the Kingdom of Secrix looking for a phylactery filled with unknown necromantic magic. So that I can believe at least. He also said that Lian asked Jhin if I could be of use to him. Wouldn't it have been nice if he told me?
And apparently the "help" I, and the others, can give Jhin is .. taking over the Easterland Valley.
Yeah.
So there's that.
[REDACTED].
Lian [REDACTED].
So that's his name. After 8 years I finally know his name.
And somebody else had to give it to me.
-w.
An Incredulous Party
We delivered the body of Jan to Jhin at the castle. In exchange for the body of his enemy we were invited to a party. Northal's a weird place. Conveniently (or unconventionally, I'm really not sure which) the party is at Baron Oelrich's estate. The one I just wrote about breaking into and out of. Yeah, that one.
So I spent the next four days switching back and forth from being stupidly excited to go to a party and being terrified it's all a setup. Jhin wouldn't do that to us. But who knows what Oelrich told him. Come to think of it he's not here is he? I did get a new dress though! I went shopping with Eleanora and it 's black (duh) and made of silk and this kind of see-through material I don't know the name of and it has long sleeves and it's really pretty. It's really nice, I love it. We also bought those cool lights they make at the Institute for our house. When I was over there I probably should have went and gotten my schedule but the dresses were too exciting! I forgot.
I met Eleanora's mom downstairs! The real one. She was ... not like Eleanora. She may have it out for me now too. So, just making enemies left and right in Northal I am!
I also bumped into Professor Achen, who seemed surprised to see me. He was talking to a very excited lady student who seemed pretty perturbed that I interrupted, which honestly, happens like every time I see him. He did tell me I was allowed to go to the library if I wanted, so of course I did.
So, I'm in the library now, killing time. Because of course at a party I ended up reading a book. I'm going to say that's Lian's fault. But I got a glance at the library last time I was here and it was so cool! I mean I've never been here before. Stick to your rhetoric Wren, you know that. Baron Volbrecht, Professor Ickes and another student are here too doing who knows what. Oh, also Wren- go get your syllabus and schedule- like immediately after the party. Stupid distracting dresses. There's defiantly subterfuge going on though, like with everyone. This doesn't seem like a very honest place and I can't tell, well, anything really. I guess that's nothing new. And I was reading about where I think Lian went and-
Wait
What was that noise?
w.
Keeps and Creeps
1/19/1194
Well I guess I am sticking around them seeing as I live with these people now. At least I know how to fortify my room from Celrin, unusual lady. I mean, it's no comparison to Niccolò's manor but it's..well it's kinda better honestly. It's warm and quaint. Oh! And there's this tower and you can go up to the roof and see everything for miles! I stayed up there for a while just….reveling I guess. Eleonora decided to make a study- I knew I liked her.
On a...more ominous note...I think I've been marked with magic. I woke up with this, I mean, I can't explain it other than just a red blotch on my cheek. Upon inspection it was divination magic....with a hint of necromancy. I'm not sure how to process this yet so I'm choosing not to for the time being. Whatever it is it's not good.
Jhin & Meta came by to check up on us and Jhin told me a frustratingly little about where Lian went. He said they’ve been friends for a decade so, he must know more but he just told me he’s looking for a book somewhere in the South Eastern end of the valley. Which is.. a place to start I guess. Though now I have a direction I also have the desire to stick around here, which is surprising.
I also heard a rumor there’s a professor at the institute sleeping with students and I have to look into that obviously so I can’t go now. Yeah, I’m too busy now but I’ll get there. Maybe someone at the Institute would know what that book is that he’s looking for. Though I’m not too keen on letting them (or anybody really) I’m a necromancer. Lian said I would be looked down upon for it, though it’s not like I had a choice in that. Anyway- I’m going to check out the institute tomorrow. What I’ll do when I meet Professor McFeely I’m not too sure yet. But I have to do something.
w.
