[RuneQuest] 4. Brylaneth's Journey Continues: The Third Wind

In Harvest Week of the year I became a woman, our clan met a terrible challenge. That year was not a good one. The harvest was poor. There were fewer children born to our clan. The Deer Folk were more active in their fight against the Lunar Empire. Things didn't look promising for our lands or our tribe. There were rumors that Kallyr Starbrow was going to rise up and lead another rebellion. Some people were glad to hear that and some were angry with her because her last rebellion failed and many of her followers were killed. Wurk supports her. His mother had died a great warrior in the last rebellion.

A Deer Folk band, the Third Wind, came to visit the Vale that week. Gordangar greeted them as friends. They were led by Gorvara Redcloak, a Vingan warrior. We weren't supposed to listen to their talk, or even pay any attention to them, but Jaryan overheard them and called us over to hear what we could. Gorvara told Gordangar that they were going to seek out a temple in the mountains that had been a temple of the Empire of the Wyrm's Friends in the Second Age. It seemed like they wanted to find something the Starbrow could use. This place they sought was called the Eye That Opens and Closes, or maybe that was the name of the thing they were looking for. 

Gordangar gave them permission to cross the Vale and some supplies to take with them. Later Collan told us that he recognized Gorvara Redcloak's second, Koralmath Shieldbreaker. He also wondered if Gorvara could be the Starbrow herself, in disguise. Then Collan's mother caught us listening and we were sent away. 

On Clay day of Movement week in Earth season we held the rites. It was my first time to walk the fields with my mothers and sisters, singing the laments of Esrola. In the Riddle I listened to Morganeth sing mournfully in Earthtongue of Esrola's abduction by Angdartha.

That night we stayed inside our homes with the children while the men went out into the fields and sang their own songs, and it was the first time for Collan and Jaryan and Wurk to go with them. In the morning we burned the straw effigy of Esrola that was soaked with the blood of our sacrifices. I made sacrifice of my own, giving some of my magic power to honor the goddess.

On Fire day more visitors came. We didn't want them, but we couldn't turn them away. A Lunar envoy brought many soldiers and slaves to Black Stag Vale. It was a woman from Tarsh, I don't remember her name. Again we weren't supposed to be there, but we hid in the kitchen of the Hall and listened as she told Gordangar that we owed the Lunars more tribute of cattle than we had given. It was custom that our clan didn't tell them how many people we truly had, but someone told them. She wanted more than two hundred cattle to make the tribute! We would starve if we gave up that many cattle. 

Then she said that if Gordangar would tell her where to find the Third Wind the clan would only have to give a hundred cattle instead. I realized then that if Gordangar accepted that bargain and betrayed Gorvara and her people, he would have to host the envoy until the Third Wind was taken. I also knew that if we tried to fight we would probably end up like the Sambari slaves the envoy had brought with her to intimidate us. The Lunars crushed the Sambari clan and they were a clan no more. King Harl in Boldhome wouldn't oppose the Lunar oppressors.

Keladon Blue-Eye the Eurmali trickster came in then and found us but he didn't tell us to leave. He whispered to us that we could go and warn the Third Wind and buy time for the Ring to make a plan. I knew that if we were caught by the Lunar scouts they could deny knowing anything about what we did. 

After the envoy left we asked the Ring if they could give us anything to help us in that task. They showed me some things that looked like jujubes and asked me which color I chose. I chose green because it made me think of Ernalda. I was shown how to spin this thing above my head like a top, and then it would let me float up or down like the seed pods that blow in the wind in Spring. To Collan they gave a broken arrow that could find other arrows like itself, fletched as the Third Wind's arrows were fletched. Wurk was given a sword and scabbard that belong to the clan, the sword could let him jump farther than a man can jump if he said the name of our clan to it in a certain way. Jaryan they gave a black stone like the green one I had, but his could find chaos.

We were given a map to where the Third Wind had last been camped. We had to cross over a stream by jumping. Wurk used his sword. I made the jump but had to fight not to fall in. We climbed up into the mountains until we were inside a cloud. It was cold and hard to see in there and everything felt damp. We came to a sheer cliff, and while we looked up at it we realized that there was a cave opening, carved with entwined dragonewts and marked with the dragonewt rune. Even though we were trying to find the Third Wind we wanted to climb up there in case they had already found the temple. 

While we wer trying to see how we could climb, a javelin flew out of the cloud and hit Jaryan's shield. Then another javelin hit him in the belly and he fell down and blood spread around him on the ground. Collan took out his bow and fired on our enemies, and Wurk used his sword to jump closer to them. I hit one in the arm with a sling bullet. An arrow flew past Jaryan. Wurk cut off one man's arm. I hit another man and disabled his arm. One of them hit Collan in the leg. They had an archer hiding among some trees and Wurk jumped over to him and cut his leg open so even in the cloudy mist I could see the bone. Two of the wounded enemies called for ransom. Then one of them knocked Wurk's sword out of his hand and Wurk was wounded in the gut. But Collan slew the last one who was still fighting with an arrow. We didn't want to deal with prisoners or use our magic to heal them. Their arrows were Sambari. We killed them and healed ourselves. 

[Pathfinder] Kingmaker Redux, part 32: Isle of Terror

 

From the journal of Lythande Syldorei

Arodus 4712

We returned home from Pitax to find that there had been another surplus crop this harvest, which put us in a very favorable situation. There was plenty of food for the feast to celebrate when Zander was wed to Ramakka. Before the wedding, Zander and his clanmates and his brother Benn went out to find the reported dragon that had been preying on local livestock and deal with it. Reislin says it was not truly a dragon but a forest drake, though to the farmers who lost animals to it the difference is an insignificant one. The dragon or drake had no hoard of treasures, but the hunting party brought back its head and some of its hide, and they found the remains of one of my kin who had the misfortune to encounter the beast.

Zander and Ramakka's wedding was held on a beautiful morning beginning just after dawn, so the blossom-filled meadow was lit by the glorious sunrise. Maraleaf officiated over the formal portion of the ceremony, binding their wrists with a thong and having them both grasp a spear as they promised to protect each other as they would protect their tribe. Once they had completed this portion of the ceremony they slaughtered a pair of goats to be prepared for the feast that took place later. This too was a symbolic act reflecting on their relationship to each other and to their tribe. I can't help but wonder how Ramakka feels about being separated from her family to remain in Lorewynd with Zander, or if she will go with them when they depart for Lake Silverstep. Such a thing would not be strange among my people, but I don't know how other folk deal with such arrangements.

The feasting afterward went on for three days. It was pleasant to see that the people of Lorewynd came out to join in and even brought food to share. Chahana had invited Arravis de Vray to come as her guest and she spent some time with him. I also noticed that Maria was spending time with Davvees, a soldier from Mivon she had met on the journey to Pitax.

Arravis de Vray

Thinking of such arrangement brings to mind some information we learned from the Swordlord of Mivon before we parted from him. It has only been a very few years since the entire bloodline of Choral the Conqueror vanished abruptly, leaving the Swordlords to deal with leadership of the nation. The dealings between the various Swordlords are tense according to the Swordlord of Mivon, and it is possible the lords of Mivon may return to Brevoy to attempt to wrest control for themselves or ally themselves with whoever takes that position. What would become of Mivon then? Wold it become a part of Brevoy, or will Brevoy break apart into separate kingdoms centered around the cities of Restov and New Stetven? Our Neotellus was supported by Restov - must we side with them? Should we set ourselves with Mivon? Or should we remain independent? And while the Swordlords are at odds with one another we cannot expect aid from Restov.

On a more favorable note, we have heard from Varnhold that the Varnlings have returned from a contract that kept them away for a lengthy period by their reckoning. I wonder who looks after the settlement there while the mercenary company is absent. To our knowledge Varnhold is not the center of a growing nation as Lorewynd is. It was only meant to be a base of operations for the mercenaries. 

While we were all discussing this information, it also occurred to us that during the boasting contest at the Rushlight Festival the representative of Pitax boasted that she had overcome all the wizards who had gone into the Hooktongue Slough region. We don't know if there was any truth to her tale, but if she was not speaking untruth then what has become of the wizards and their magical floating coach? 

With Zander happily married to Ramakka, we took him away for a time to travel to the lizardfolk village to treat with them as we had planned. While we can't persuade them to fully ally themselves with us or become our subjects, we have at least agreed that we will not claim their village and they in turn will not slay any farmers or loggers.

Lizardfolk village

After our visit with the lizardfolk we hired a boat to take us to the island in Lake Candlemere to investigate the ruined tower that stands there. We had heart stories of mysterious lights seen on the island, as well as groaning and wailing coming from there. The island itself is mostly rocky and rough, though there are some areas that might be able to support a farm. As soon as we arrived we felt an aura of malevolence emanating from the place, and all of us had a sensation of being watched.

We made our way to the tower ruin despite our discomfort. There is little left of it. Most of the tower has collapsed, leaving only a broken cylinder of the exterior wall. The stairs leading up and down had fallen away. A few stumps of a pillared colonnade led toward one of the entrances. The tower was clearly very old. Reislin says it may be as old as the Age of Destiny. 

As soon as we got closer to this ruin we all felt that there was something truly wrong about it, and both Maria and Zander became shaken by the evil force that surrounded it. Though I could feel it it had no effect on me, praise the Dawnflower. The walls bore faintly carved symbols that I recognized as the Aklo language though I couldn't read them. Zander said they were blasphemous prayers to an ancient god called Yog-Sothoth. Chahana hailed whatever entity was giving us the impression of being watched, but received no response. 

We went into the remnant of the central chamber and found it quite disturbing, though it was empty of anything but rubble and another pillar. The walls seemed somehow the wrong shape. It was a round tower yet we could all see corners, the shadows were too dark, the structure seemed both closer and farther away than it should be. But our attention was quickly distracted from this strangeness when Maria noticed something in the center of the chamber and approached it, though none of the rest of us could see anything but Maria speaking to empty air. Maria exclaimed, "It's coming," and prepared to fight, moving out of the chamber to its entrance. Suddenly a blue light filled the area around her as a bolt of lightning struck her. 

Chahana ran beneath the glowing blue orb that floated above Maria, and the orb sent a bolt of electricity at her. Then it vanished from sight. Another bolt of lightning shot out at Zander. Maria granted herself the ability to see invisible creatures and began shouting out directions to the rest of us. The creature seemed to be most attracted to her and to Zander, as they had been most affected by the malevolent aura of the ruin. Reislin told us the creature was a will-o-wisp and that it was drawn to fear. It didn't like me, but neither did my spear seem to like it, as after it became invisible I could not seem to find it with my blade.

It was Maria, the only one of us who could see it, who struck it down. It remained invisible when it died, but when it fell I heard a wet sound like a melon falling on the ground, and I could see a splotch of its ichor. 

But we were not free of danger with the death of that wisp. Lights appeared in the distance all around the tower ruin. Attracted by the fear that the ruin had engendered in some of us, more wisps were coming to feed. Reislin began to cast a spell. I advised my comrades that I can make invisible things visible, but that it would only be truly useful if we could get several of the wisps quite close to me, as I am only blessed with this ability to use once each day. 

In the end we fought eight of the things, aided by Reislin's spell that negated their ability to become invisible within the confines of the ruin. Sadly my ability to strike them with my spear was not improved by being able to see them. They are small, and small flying things are not easy to fight. 

Outside the tower, Reislin's ability to detect the magical auras of objects located an old curved dagger, which proved to be cursed. It is an evil thing that I hope can be destroyed, like the tower itself. We may one day build a watchtower on the island, but that won't be possible until Reislin reaches a level of power to allow her to remove its malevolent aura, and I wonder if perhaps we should remove the rubble from the flight of stairs leading down. We don't know what may lie beneath the tower's remains.

The Tiger Lords will set off soon for Lake Silverstep and we may accompany them, as we've never been so far east within the borders of the land we were granted charter to. We may also arrange for a visit to Varnhold so we can assess the state of the town and have direct communication with Marcus Varn. 

 

Next: part 33, The Talon Tower

[Pathfinder] Kingmaker Redux, part 31: It's Becoming a Nation

 

From the journal of Lythande Syldorei

Wealday, 27th Saraneth

What a relief it is to be back in Lorewynd. It was interesting and even pleasurable to visit Mivon and Pitax, but this place has become my home and I feel I am needed more here.

It was quite late in the evening when the joust finished, as the tourney had not begun until midnight. But the next morning we still rose earlier and packed up our pavilion to depart. We traveled back across Pitax to Mivon in the company of the Swordlord of Mivon just as we had arrived. In Sirain we paused briefly to purchase some wine and cider to take back, and Chahana bought some crates of peaches.

In Mivon we rested a night, and during our dinner with our host Swordlord Selline told us of unrest in Brevoy and mentioned to us that if the Swordlords were able to regain control from the king-regent he might return to Restov. It seems he seeks out support if this even comes to pass. We were challenged to give a reply that was not too definitive, as we want to remain friendly with Mivon but we aren't certain we want to support a potential conflict that could involve Brevoy.

Swordlord Raston Selline of Mivon

Arravis suggested we ask for someone to host us so we could stay and rest more than a night, and we were hosted by a noble whose name I've already forgotten. I don't blame Zander for his dislike of the affairs of nobility, though I fear my role in the governance of Neotellus will require me to do better at recalling the names and titles of nobles.

Mivon

We stayed two nights in Mivon, then went on to visit Jovvox again, after which our escorts parted from us and returned to Mivon. 

Jovvox

Three days after we left Jovvox behind we saw the familar walls of Lorewynd ahead. We were tired by that point from all the activity and travel. In many ways it was more tiring than going out to battle ogres or explore long-ruined structures. 

We had been away for a full month. Before we left, in the month of Desnus, we had heard news of someone selling addictive drugs in Leveton, but we had been unable to find out who was bringing them into the town before we left and had to leave that situation in the capable hands of Mayor Svetlana and Kesten Garess while we were away.

Kesten Garess

While we were gone two more roads had been constructed in Neotellus, a granary was built in Tatzlford, and three more farms were established. Reislin says that our economy is doing well. There was even a surplus of crops. 

Zander and Ramakka announced their plans to wed on the 25th of Arodus. 

Zander Aldori

Ramakka

Reislin has acquired an assistant named Hobarth, a young local man who is more interested in books and lore than in farming.

Hobarth 

I didn't even mention that Chahana has also acquired a squire named Petra.

Petra

In the month of Erastus, we gave Jubilost Narthropple more resources so his company can explore areas that would have been difficult for them previously, and he has gone to explore areas to the south so that we may claim territory between Lorewynd and Jovvox. We have made plans to establish an embassy in Mivon and claiming more lands to the south will give us better trade access, so long as Mivon doesn't lay claim to those areas.

Jubilost Narthropple

We decided to build a gaol in Leveton to replace the pits Oleg had when we first came there. 

The Tiger Lords are planning a hunt as part of the pre-wedding events for Zander's marriage to Ramakka. They intend to hunt for the green dragon that rumor says is hunting livestock. 

Arodus 4712

The economy of Neotellus continues to prosper. I am pleased that a cleric of the Guiding Light has come to Leveton to minister to the people there. In Lorewynd we have established a bank to manage the funds of the people, and an orphanage to care for any children who have the misfortune to lose their parents. I am glad to report that the source of the drug scourge in Leveton has been identified and dealt with so the people there will no longer suffer its ill effects.

Next: part 32, Isle of Terror

[RuneQuest] Brylaneth's Journey Continues: Trouble in the Vale

 

The year that I reached womanhood, many strange things happened. In Stasis week of Fire Season, after the boy Andrinn first disappeared, I woke from sleep in the Red Crow's cave to find him standing on my chest in the form of a shadowcat. I knew the cat was him because the cat's shadow on the cave wall was a red raven.

The Red Crow wanted me to help me with a ritual that he urgently needed to perform. I got out the rattle and drum and began to use them as he'd taught me. He danced a spiral like an air rune in the center of the cave, faster and faster and faster until he was spinning like a child's wooden top. Then a thunderbolt came from the floor to the ceiling with a sound like a tree trunk cracking in the woods. Instead of going away like lightning this bolt became a column of black shadow about the size of a thick spear shaft. 

The Red Crow began to murmur words that I couldn't quite understand but I knew it was a summoning. First a girl whose body I could see through like water came at his call. There was a buzzing in my ears as if I'd been listening to people shouting and singing loudly for a long time. The Red Crow put an offering of herbs at the base of the shadow pole and it disappeared before I could see what kind of herbs. 

Then a second figure arrived, this time a female troll. I remembered how our people had once been friendly with the trolls long ago. The Red Crow gave the troll woman a chicken after he cut off its head and I knew that the chicken was given so the spirit would consume it and not him. The Red Crow seemed agitated. I thought he said a name but I couldn't hear over the buzzing in my ears. Then the Red Crow made a formal farewell to the troll woman spirit and she disappeared. 

He slumped on the floor exhausted and became human again. I slowed the drumbeat gradually to slow his heartbeat. And then I woke up in my family's house in my own bed, not knowing if I still dreamed or if the summoning of the spirits had been just a dream. Perhaps both things were true.

Andrinn wasn't the only child who disappeared that time. Another of the boys that Wurk had been teaching about cattle herding had also gone missing, the boy Keogar son of Tarn. I didn't hear much of this with my duties to the Red Crow, but later I was told that people in the village were starting to blame Wurk because all of the children he'd been with were the ones who disappeared. Then Ashart son of Beroth disappeared too. Beroth didn't hold that against Wurk, he just wanted his son back.

Wurk and Collan and Jaryan had all been searching the area where they'd seen a vision of Andrinn, but they hadn't found anything. Savan the priest and Morganeth both asked the spirits and gods to tell them what happened to the boys, but they didn't learn the same things. Savan said the boys no longer took breath from the King of the Air, and Morganeth said their bones hadn't returned to the earth. Jaryan thought maybe that meant they were in water. 

Wurk was angry when he found out that people were making him scapegoat for the disappearances. Jaryan was angry too. He wanted to fight anyone who looked sidewise at Wurk. 

Jorganeth Bladesong heard what Savan and Morganeth said about the missing boys and believed that they were ghosts. He called his thanes to him to go and fight the ghosts. Morganeth told Wurk and the other young men that they should be sure to let everyone know if they had any more visions of the missing. Gordangar approved that, which helped to cool down some of the anger between Wurk and other people.

On Clayday of that week Wurk and the others decided to go and searched the other side of the valley since they hadn't found anything where they'd been searching. They found some sabercat tracks. That night when the feast of Sartar began they went back and told others about the cats.

At the feast I danced and sang with others. While I was resting between dances, Keogar appeared to me, but it wasn't really Keogar. Black fire burned in his eyes and he looked gaunt and pale. Where he put his hand on my arm it left a bruise in the shape of his hand. He told me to come that night to the place I had last seen Andrinn and to bring no men.

I ran to the Red Crow's cave behind the waterfall to tell him, but his fire was cold and some of his things were gone. I ran back to the feast and found Morganeth to tell her. She healed the bruise on my arm. She could not go because she was blind, but when I told her I didn't know what to do she said she would help find others to go with me, including her daughter Bothildr who had become an initiate of Humakt, Minara the priestess of Chalana Arroy, and Natalina who was an initiate of Ernalda. I still didn't know what to do but at least I wouldn't have to do it alone.

Together the four of us went up a ravine from River Bend. The apparition of Keogar appeared again, then turned into a floating ball of light that led us to a cliff. There was a cave opening in the cliff about three times the height of a man and the ball of light went into it. I used a spell to make a makeshift torch of a dead tree limb. Then I heard noise from the woods and realized it was Wurk. I didn't want them to see us so I climbed up after the will-o-wisp, then I looped a rope over a tree root so the others could climb up after me. Then I entered the cave.

On the left side was a pile of bones with a human skull on top. In the center stood what I first thought was a chaos beast. It looked like a hairless bear, with the skull of a mountain sheep for a head and wings growing out of its shoulderblades. I took out my sling and hurled a stone at it as Natalina came at it with her axe and Minara cast a spell on it. The men came up after us and entered the cave. 

At that point I realized the chaos beast was just some hide and a skull put together to look frightening. I set them on fire with my torch. The pile of bones on the left side rose up and started using another bone as a club, then a second bone pile also rose up from an alcove on the right. I saw a woman crawling on the ceiling of the cave like a spider and she had the face of Drugalla Apple-Cheeks, wife to Borkar the Issaries merchant! The boy Ashart was hanging upside down by his feet from the top of the cave. There was a bowl of blood below him.

Wurk started trying to cut down Ashart while Jaryan went after Drugalla and Collan and Natalina fought with the walking skeletons. When Wurk got Ashart free he used the Stag's Leap to go back to the village. Drugalla moved aside a cover in the floor and dropped into a hole. Jaryan went after her. The skeletons eventually fell down and stopped moving after the others hit them enough. The bones had teeth marks on them. I think Drugalla was drinking the blood of her captives and eating their flesh.

I didn't see Jaryan again until later, when he came back to the feasting with Drugalla's beheaded body in a bag. She had a tunnel to escape. Minara had cast a slow spell on her but she still nearly outran him. He climbed out on another cliffside after her and finally threw her off a ledge. When Wurk first told everone that it was Drugalla who took the missing boys, of course Borkar didn't believe it and was angry. Wurk wanted to learn from the Issaries merchant. I didn't know what would become of that. 

[Pathfinder] Kingmaker Redux, part 30: Winners and Losers

After we had celebrated Chahana's win at the Aiming at the Target challenge, she invited Arravis de Vray to join her for lunch and then set off on their own. Reislin returned to our pavilion to continue preparing for the boasting contest on the following day, and Zander and Ramakka went off together to enjoy all of the entertainments the tourney had to offer. I spent some time roaming about hoping to find someone who had a mount other than a horse, in the hope of gaining some insight into how to train Goldwing for riding. But sadly riding animals other than horses are uncommon in Pitax. I did hear that someone would be offering rides on a unicorn later on, but unicorns are too much like horses.

At dusk there was a footrace scheduled, which would involve running all around the festival grounds and avoiding or overcoming some obstacles. Runners obstructing one another was to be allowed. Maria, Zander, and I decided to enter. It was a hard run and I was quite out of breath by the end - and had to avoid being pushed aside by Maria - but I managed to outrun her and all of the other participants, including Zander. Although he didn't win, Zander finished the race as though he hadn't been running at all. He wasn't out of breath or perspiring at all. Perhaps I should take up running as a way to increase my stamina.

The next day we saw on the board at the royal pavilion that the entertainments on offer would include axe-throwing, dinosaur rides, and a 'knight's trials' in which participants could don heavy armor and negotiate an obstacle course. But the big competition of the day was the boasting contest that Reislin had entered. 

We made a visit to where the dinosaur rides were being held, but we found that the dinosaur, which came from the menagerie, was about the size of a pony and was only being used to give rides to children. 

All of us gathered in the coliseum to support her as she waited in the staging pavilion with the other contestants. I don't believe she slept at all, so diligently was she working to prepare her five-minute performance.

The competitors drew lots to decide what order they would appear, and Reislin drew the last spot of the six participants. Several of the others were clearly skilled in performance like my family. The first person to perform was Annameade Belevarah, the representative of Pitax. After her came Memon Esponde of Daggermark, Mialolessa of Tymon, who was an elven woman; Ceala Ravenbrow of Mivon, who had accompanied us on our way to Pitax; and fifth was a dwarf named Ankus Depengode who came from Gralton. Mialolessa and Ankus both lost the audience somewhat at the end of their boasts. 

Then Reislin took the stage. As magic was not prohibited, she fortified her performance with her spells. She first sent a ball of flame hurtling into the sky overhead to awe the spectators. Then she grew to twice her normal size, and filled the coliseum with images to illustrate the story she told of the adventures we had enjoyed together since first arriving in the Stolen Lands. She showed us fighting the Stag Lord, encountering the mysterious flying fey lord, meeting Falchos and Tiressia, battling the grimstalker and the Green Lady in the abandoned elven tower, combating the trolls, and finally defeating the demon with Maraleaf. As the contest was meant to showcase boasting, Reislin made us all appear far more handsome and heroic than we are in reality, which made my ears go warm when I saw it. But it impressed the audience and they cheered and applauded enthusiastically.

When the judges rendered their decision, they announced that Reislin had won the contest. It had been a very close decision, but she had defeated the local favorite Annameade by one point.

After we had congratulated Reislin for her success, we all decided to go and participate in the axe-throwing and knight's trial events so that we could simply enjoy ourselves and Reislin could relax. The vendors who were offering the opportunity to throw axes were dressed in furs as people from the north. They gave us all instruction on how best to make succesful throws. Zander was especially good at this, hitting the target post solidly with each throw. Chahana and I performed reasonably well, but Maria is so comfortable with her sword that she found it difficult to wield another weapon. After my initial modest success with a smaller axe I was allowed to try with a larger one. We each had three chances, and after using my first two throws to get accustommed to the weight of the larger axe, my third throw was a satisfactory one. Chahana also tried throwing with a larger axe, though not as large as the one I used, and she did very well.

After this Reislin wanted to investigate the unicorn ride. None of us had ever seen a living unicorn, only the slain one we had found. This ride was taking place near a wooded area, where the people offering the experience had marked out a path by attaching ribbons and bells to the trees. As we arrived they were bringing a young girl back at the end of her ride. The animal she rode was extraordinarily beautiful and glowed very faintly. It wore no bridle or saddle, only a pad. When the child was lifted down from the creature's back, she spoke to it for a moment and it touched her on each shoulder with the slender horn extending from its brow. 

Reislin seemed amused by all of this. She cast her message spell, and when the people attending the unicorn began to tell Chahana about how the unicorn was lord of the forest and had come out to seek people of virtue, Reislin remarked to us via the spell that if we believed that story she would like to sell us some swampland. I didn't quite understand what she meant at that moment. Chahana decided to take a ride, which was quite easy for her as she is very skilled at riding her horse Nadu. After she returned and we left that area, Reislin told us it wasn't a genuine unicorn but a very handsome horse enhanced by magic, and the people with the horse were using other magic to make it appear that the false unicorn could speak. I was unhappy that these people would lie to children, but my friends all appeared to feel that it was a harmless subterfuge.

We next went to try our skill at the knight's trial. Maria chose not to participate when she saw that the armor they would give us was rather battered and ill-fitting. She wasn't willing to wear any armor other than her own. Reislin agreed to make an attempt herself in the interest of learning what wearing armor is like. She even suggested a wager: the winner could choose where we would take our midday meal.

The armor they gave us included jousting helms, which made vision a bit of a challenge. The first trial was to climb over a low barrier, which I had difficulty with at first due to my restricted sight. Reislin could not get over it at all and fell. Then they presented us with wooden practice swords and a target to strike, and I lost track of the target and hit one of the poor men instead, much to my shame. Riding a barrel proved to be much less difficult for me, and the final trial of walking over a false floor where we had to step on only the sections that were painted blue proved less difficult once I had got used to looking out through the helm's narrow slit. Reislin struggled with everything, even falling off the stool they set her on when it was time to remove the armor. But she took it all in good humor.

We had learned that the following day there was to be a "Feast of Kings" held in the royal pavilion, and we approached Master Arpaia to arrange for our attendance. Afterward as we were walking through the festival grounds some of my companions heard someone shouting for people to "Make way for the king of Neotellus," though at that moment I had paused to listen to a musician playing the flute and I failed to hear this. Chahana was also distracted and missed the exchange that followed. Maria and Reislin told us of it later. 

A jester appeared towing a pig on a rope. This pig wore a makeshift crown and a tabard that Maria felt was clearly inteded to imitate our banner but in a rude and insulting manner. The pig was meant to be the "king." Maria became quite irate with this and attempted to punish the jester by branding him with our sigil, her magic failed and Zander tried to stop her. Reislin spoke with the jester and attempted to distract the crowd that gathered so they would pay less attention to the jester's insults, which seemed to succeed as many people lost interest and wandered away. Zander and Chahana both felt the jester should have been ignored, but Maria could not let it go, and Reislin finished by removing the tabard from the pig. Reislin was concerned because she had seen no other jesters making similar insulting remarks about the other nations whose representatives were present. I prefer to think that perhaps the attempt to insult us was only because we were doing so well in the tournament.

In the evening we attended the feast and had good food and pleasant conversation, though as a minor nation we were made to sit at the farthest end of the pavilion. Zander chose not to join us. He has a strong dislike for any event that members of nobility will be present for.

On the sixth day of the festival it seemed as though the grounds had shrunk because we had crossed them so many times and come to be so familiar with how they were arranged. Events seemed to begin later on that day as well, perhaps because everyone was growing tired. There was a great deal of drinking going on. Reislin made another boat to float down the stream. Zander considered joining the joust with Chahana, but in the end decided against it as he is not trained in the use of metal armor and has taken an oath not to wear it.

Soon enough the appointed time for the joust arrived. We settled in the coliseum once more to cheer on Chahana. There were many competitors, but most were too drunk to stay on their horses and were swiftly eliminated. This left Chahana and five competitors who appeared to be capable of challenging her. She faced one the Wardens of Pitax first and unhorsed him. Then Sir Colston of Gralton was defeated by Damonjot of Tymon, and Khristel of Mivon eliminated Chantel of Daggermark. Chahana unhorsed Sir Colston first, followed by Damonjot removing Khristel from the contest. Chahana then faced Damonjot, and sadly he was able to unhorse her. With Damonjot the last contender, he faced Villamor Koth, the Pitax champion of the previous year's joust, and Damonjot won. 

Though Chahana did not win the joust, her good showing and her win at the archery contest combined to create a tie between the number of wins for Neotellus and those achieved by the representatives of Tymon. A last round of jousting was held to determine the winner of the tournament, and Chahana took the win for us by unseating Damonjot. The Ministers of Pitax came out to give us our trophy: the cyclops statue. It is not a very attractive statue, but we will display it with pride.

Next: part 31, It's Becoming a Nation