Diaries of the First Voyage

The Private Journals of Imalda e'Yisonn et'Olienn

These months have, perhaps, been the most harrowing experience of our collective existence... But through faith we have prevailed- and this great land... Tolara... Is our reward.

— Imalda e'Yisonn, after arriving on the Tolaran mainland in 5710

The Diaries of the First Voyage is a small collection of 7 surviving journals that were written by Imalda e'Yisonn, and authored while serving as Chief Cleric during the maiden voyage of The Golden Duchess in 5709; now widely considered the Mother of Tolara, she was originally one of the most renowned Clerics of the Cloister of Anheara at the time of her appointment to the ship.

Contents

Starting in Amir 5709 when she received her appointment as The Golden Duchess' accompanying Cleric, the Diaries of the First Voyage predominantly detail the life of Imalda while at sea. After the wreck of the Duchess in Oboran 5709, however, it chronicles the first months of the survivors' lives on Gwyn Tira'Kie (in what would later become Tolara) only sporadically- eventually ending with the discovery of Imalda's Bounty in Dariven, shortly before the new year.

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Diaries of the First Voyage

8 Amir 5709

A letter came today. A new ship has been chartered for its maiden voyage, and they have requested a Cleric from within the Cloister. The Golden Duchess is to leave in less than a month's time, and to be gone a full year.
Priestess Aubrie has decided that I shall be the one to accompany them... But oh! I do not want to- and I would throw a fit could I do as much; I yearn to kick about like a kinderling- all loathsome and angry wailing. For surely my skills would be so much more useful here. And yet I Illegible Illegible have a choice... What the High Priestess orders, I am oathbound to obey. And where the High Priestess decides I go, is where I am oathbound to travel.

26 Amir 5709

We leave port in just a few days, and I sit here writing from a sailor's Hostel. It is dirty, and filthy, and smells of fish, Illegible half sentence; I know that I fought it viciously against such an appointment at first... As much is true as the sun rises each day- and yet I cannot explain it... But despite such reservations, I feel as if Anheara herself is telling me to go. And I know it in my bones just as surely that this voyage will be an important one.

28 Amir 5709

Away the anchor has come, and we are off Illegible. But an hour ago the land of Olienn- and that pungent Hostel- faded from our view, and now there is nothing left but salt and water and sky in all directions; I admit that I am nervous and terrified of what awaits us within this endless expanse of blue... I have never Illegible so far from home before- let alone gone without the sight and feel of land. Anheara's hand rests itself upon my shoulder, though, and I know that we will be well.

Archival Notes: Missing Pages

30 Moras 5709

We've been set to sea little more than a month, now. All the while, day and night, I am wracked with an atrocious nausea... Many of the men have laughed at me, for apparently it is unbecoming for a Cleric of my renown to suffer so from such a typical seafarer's sickness. Ichael, the First Mate, reassures me that this is normal, however, and tells me stories of how some of the very crew members who mock me once suffered from it themselves the first time they set to sea. It brings me a guilty comfort, I must admit, to know such secrets.

Archival Notes: Missing Book

14 Javir 5709

I have gone a while without writing- though I've wanted to dearly. But life aboard a ship is more complex than I anticipated; who knew that sea life was so busy. It seems every second there must be something to be done, or the crew and ship falters.
Despite the chaos of life Illegible Illegible Illegible, though, I have finally found myself settled amongst the crew and into a quiet routine- and the nausea has eased as Ichael said it would, and the crew no longer torments me for it. It seems I have become less a novelty among them finally.
That having been said, sailing around the northernmost tip of Rusatar has been a task of its own. The seas here are cruel and wicked... Just the other day we were set upon by a gale, even! A terrible thing; loud and windy- with waves so large I feared the ship would roll over on its belly like a Virta begging for a rub. I admit I screamed- and had the crew not been so engaged in their tasks, I'm sure they would have laughed at me once more for making a scene of it.
But just as quickly as it sprung upon us, the sorcerers and wizards (Air and Water Genasi, the lot of them) had spun the storm around on itself and cleared us a safer path through its anger. Illegible sentence. Illegible sentence. Illegible sentence. Illegible sentence. Illegible sentence; who would have imagined such people would be so useful on a ship.

Archival Notes: Missing Book

5 Sarnathi 5709

Pirates! Of all the blasted horrors that could befall one at sea, it had to be Pirates!
Illegible sentence. Illegible. They tried taking us at night between lantern stokes (Anheara's wrath on the Captain for not using the Sunstone like any rational being knows they should!)- Illegible half sentence... They boarded us silently, defiling our deck with their thieving filth.
Illegible sentence. The crew sent a good many of them to the brine- but not before poor Ichael and Kasandra were taken. Many others were injured, too- including the loss all but one of our Arcanum. The only survivor is a young Air Genasi woman named Ji-Su; a terrible, mousy little thing with hair that looks like limp silk.
It seems it's common knowledge enough among pirates to disable the Arcanum first, apparently- or so Captain Hanley has said. But the loss of life is tragic; I have helped whomever I can. My own strength is low, however, and I must recuperate myself now.

7 Sarnathi 5709

I have begun to think that this poor vessel is cursed; as if being set upon by Pirates naught but two days earlier was not enough of a stroke of poor luck, we've been besieged by Illegible Illegible after monstrous storm all hours since! A slight calm has settled now, however... But it worries me.
Captain Hanley has been at the front of the Duchess (the bow, I'm told to call it) with our Astronomer and Navigator- Urbanus and Dionne, I believe are their names- for well over a cycle now, speaking amongst one another in hushed voices. The crew talks of being without direction; we're lost, they say... Oh, Anheara... Why! Illegible sentence.

Archival Notes: Missing Pages

2 Oboran 5709

Illegible sentence. Illegible sentence! There are no words to describe what has befallen us. Not in Avic, nor y'Solaria- nor Illegible, or Getornav... Not in any language that I know.
Oh, Anheara... Anheara... Anve'ira... Anve'halaris mira... I beg you... Mercy, naveil, darunich. Illegible sentence.

10 Oboran 5709

The Duchess has shipwrecked- though we've no idea where. But it is so far unlike our homeland that even the creatures of this land are unrecognizable to most. And it is so deathly cold, here... A cold that seeps into the very soul and bones of a person, and cannot be removed from them, even with fire; this place is Illegible, and unforgiving, and not at all familiar to us. I fear that it will surely be our end.
Many of us have fallen ill, and several have died... I have tried to save whomever I can Illegible Illegible Illegible, but they pass away silently in the night- whether from the cold, or from hunger... And we are so very hungry; Jorganna was so mad with hunger before she passed away two nights ago that she had resorted to eating the bark straight from the trees. The survivors forage whatever they can during the day, but it is so difficult to know what is safe here- and there is so little of it, anyways.
Illegible sentence. I will pray, until then; Illegible sentence.

Archival Notes: Missing Book

16 Nedalia 5709

Illegible sentence.
Mercy, Anheara... Oh please... Please... Mercy upon us; guide the Duchess once more to safer harbors as she limps, crippled across the sea once more. Let those who are remaining be safe and healthy in your embrace- and guide the souls of the lost to the Ethereal; do not let them wander within the Liminal, forgotten and forsaken by your grace.

Archival Notes: Missing Pages

26 Dariven 5709

Illegible sentence. Illegible sentence. Illegible sentence. Illegible sentence... I pray that I find something soon, or we may not survive this crisis; Illegible sentence... Illegible sentence. Illegible sentence. And then what will we do?

Archival Notes: Missing Pages

28 Dariven 5709

I have finally found it! Sequestered among the marshes and the trees, I have finally found edibles! Oh blessed Anheara has rewarded me for remaining faithful; this is surely what we need to survive- and just yesterday our dear Whetu reported that the ice is beginning to melt on the southern side of the island (though still no one has had any luck trapping anything larger than a small bird). Praise Anheara, that this cold is finally lifting. We may survive this Abyssal nightmare after all! Illegible sentence.

Archival Notes: Missing Pages

Close

Type
Journal, Personal
Medium
Paper
Format
Books, in 7 volums
Date of Authorship
5709 - 5710
Authors
Imalda e'Yisonn et'Olienn

Format & Condition

Featuring several small books of high quality parchment bound in fine leather, the name of the ship is stamped on their covers. Due to this, Archivists believe the journals had originally been custom made for Imalda after being appointed to the Golden Duchess, and were specifically intended for her use while aboard the ship. Despite likely having been ornate when acquired, however, many of the surviving journals are damaged beyond repair after being exposed to poor conditions throughout her journey- and afterwards; several books appear to be missing from the series altogether- as well as several pages from within the remaining journals. Ink on many others has run, or rubbed off over the course of the years. What little is left paints an incomplete, and at times incoherent record of the events of the Duchess' voyage and wreck.

Sociocultural Significance

Though not considered one of the Holy Texts of Imalda e'Yisonn after her sanctification, the series of journals retains special significance among Tolarans. First, as the only written record of the continent's discovery, and the hardships the first settlers faced- and second, as a look into the personal life and thoughts of the Mother of Tolara herself.
Because of this significance, the documents are kept within the Administrative Library at the Temple of a Thousand Faces, as part of their Archival collection. It is common for the series to be removed from the library and read aloud to dedicants during Semain e'Imalda Fenenia- a festival dedicated in Imalda's honor, and formally recognized as an official holiday on 1 Jenethi 5760. The events detailed in the journals have also been adapted into several plays (both spoken and non), which are often performed during the same celebrations.

This Article Was Originally Written For the Documents of Discovery Competition As "Diaries of the First Voyage"