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 Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2015 2:49 pm
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︽︽ EVENT SOLO ︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽
_________MONSTERS?
Quote: With the recently discovered Yaeli, the land of Tendaji has been abuzz with talk and gossip about their new neighbors. They're odd, they're strange and skittish, their eyes glow - but that can't possibly be true most say - the word on the street is that they're starting to leave their island. Those that had met the Yaeli know that it's an odd thing to hear. They were terrified of the outsiders, why would they leave their safe villages... Rumors are filling the toxic island where the Alkidikes extremists were banished along with the Matron. Rumors of monsters clawing their way out of the earth with oil black skin and glowing evil eyes that are even weirder than the strange monsters that landed upon their shores just one year ago. The Yaeli say that their gaze can steal the soul of any person dumb enough to get too close and they're vicious beings trying to take their children. These rumors have reached the main land as well, mostly through the few Yaeli that have decided they would rather face the scary but similar earthling races than to have to find out what the terrifying monsters want with them and their land. Is there any truth to these rumors or are the Yaelians seeing things?
_________Loaction: Oba
“Well, dang, I know I don’t want to be meeting any Yaeli. Black skin? Glowing eyes? And they live underground? No decent earthling lives underground. No, no, there’s something wrong about that folk, and I sure don’t want to be the poor sucker figuring out what it is.”
“For Nessat’s sake, Tomoki!” Eilin threw her arms up in the air, exasperated. “Are you even listening?”
“What are you going on about now, woman? Yeah I’m listening. And we’re talking about how there’s strange folk in Yaeli, aren’t we?”
Eilin shook her head in exaggerated frustration. “You poor baby. You’re getting confused now. The Yaeli aren’t the monsters. There are Yaeli in Yael, and there are monsters in Yael, and they aren’t the same thing. Nuna the merchant told me all about it. She says the Yaeli are just as scared of the monsters as anyone; more, even, on account of them being their own homeland and all. Some of them are even starting to pay for passage on the few ships that travel there. So it’s not the Yaeli you’re supposed to worry about, meathead. They’re just earthlings like everyone else.”
The band was gathered around a fire -- they were halfway to a new town and had camped out in the middle of the oban desert. Abovehead a hundred thousand stars twinkled, but none of them cared to gaze upward. There was strange news spreading through Tendaji, and everyone was eager to join the discussion… no matter how much or how little they knew.
“I dunno.” Oni drawled. “I heard the Yaeli are pretty weird themselves.”
“They have glowing eyes too! It’s true!” Lea exclaimed. “I met my cousin before we left, and that’s what he said. He said their eyes are black and they glow.”
“Now that’s rubbish.” Tomoki frowned, quick to recover from his temporary chastisement. “You can’t have something that’s black and glowing. That makes no sense at all. Black things just don’t glow! They’re probably… yellow, like the people from Zena. Yeah. Evil, yellow eyes.”
Vodyanoi laughed openly, unconcerned by all this. “Tomoki, you have yellow eyes! And so do the rest of us! Except Takaia, of course. Yellow eyes don’t make someone evil, unless you think we are?”
The news really didn’t bother him much. His friends had grown up in Matori, amongst fellow water earthlings. The only time they saw strangers was when Obans came in to grab slaves and take what property they had; so it was inevitable that they had a rather guarded view of new and unusual peoples. But Vodyanoi did not quite feel the same way. It seemed to him that every culture had something beautiful about it, and that as musicians, really, they shouldn’t worry so much about the other parts. Soldiers and nobles could fight over land and politics all they wanted, but music was just music.
“Anyway,” He said, hoping to change the tone of the conversation to match his own line of thinking. “I wonder what kind of music they play?”
“Ooooh.” Lea clapped her hands to her mouth. “I bet it’s spoooooky! Like chanting! Maybe they summon the monsters by chanting!”
“Is nobody listening?” Eilin clapped a hand against her forehead. “They’re not summoning the monsters! The poor people are terrified of them. You know, the armies had no right to do what they did, sending the Alkidike extremists to that island. All those people want is to be left alone. And of all people to come settle their land, Alkidikes! Armed to the teeth and hateful of every decent earthling! Why, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were no monsters, and that the Yaeli are so scared they’re seeing things. Anyway, no one’s been able to properly describe these ‘monsters’ yet, so maybe there’s something to that.”
“Well it’s not up to them whether they get left alone or not.” Tomoki shook his head. “They’re there, and that’s a fact. They’re part of this world same as anyone. Maybe they’re scared now, but just you wait. Give them time and they’ll be all over the place!”
“I just hope they don’t take their monsters with them.” Lea shuddered.
The conversation trailed off after that. They had spent a long time speculating, and now it just seemed like a null point to go any further without new information. And if the rumours (and Tomoki) were right, perhaps it wouldn’t be too long before they got some. If the Yaeli were really arriving on their shores, some things would certainly get cleared up -- at least the matter of what color their eyes were, and whether they glowed or not. And maybe Vodyanoi could find a musician amongst them, or at least someone who knew enough about music to tell him about it.
As for the monsters? Hah, let the warriors deal with those. Although maybe he ought to get himself a weapon… or a familiar to chase off the sinister beasts.
[words : 833]
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Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2016 7:43 am
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︽︽ EVENT SOLO ︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽
_________REMEMBERING THE PAST
Quote: It has been seven long years since the Great Oban Invasion. It almost feels like a dream, considering all of the changes that have occurred in Tendaji since the great war. A new King sits on the Oban throne, and he has opened the boundaries of Oba and Matori. Many already are taking advantage of the open boarders to travel and explore. The world was expanding and changing all things to the massive war of the great nations. Since the war, Tendaji took a stand against the extremist Alkidikes and won. They came together to show a new alliance that many could never dream of. Everything was settling, and now that there finally was peace everyone has begun to to take a moment and remember all that has come and gone. How have the major wars and changes impacted your character these past few years? Are they bitter for their failures or happy about their success? Do they see a peaceful future to come or are they concerned about those who may be still holding grudges?
_________Location: Oba
He had known about the monument for some time since their arrival in the town of Belpol. He had seen it on the first night, even, but he had avoided it. He couldn’t exactly explain why, but it seemed sort of… wrong, at first, to go look it. It was a monument of the Oban war. Belpol, being closer to the border with Jauhar than the settlements further south, must have seen a great deal of military action then, and that no doubt rested prominently in its citizens’ memory.
But it was an Oban monument. For Oban soldiers. It felt a little as if it were a monument for his enemies, his slavers, and so Vodyanoi avoided it. It wasn’t for his people.
But he couldn’t stop thinking about it. It was a tall, flat-faced rock with writing engraved on it. He wondered what it said. He wondered who exactly it had been dedicated to. Did it support the Oban efforts to conquer the rest of Tendaji? Or was it placed there by the new king, on memory of a conflict that was ultimately resolved with peace? The monument kept hovering at the edges of his thoughts, even as he played his drum in the evenings, even as he sat around with the troupe and ate and drank and laughed.
On their last day in Belpol, he gave in to the strange fascination and went to see the thing.
He went after everyone else had fallen asleep -- deep in the night, by bright moonlight. The weather was cool -- almost chilly. He wore a shawl that he had borrowed from one of the others, and it waved behind him in the wind as he walked. As usual, each step sounded out with a little rattling chime, but it seemed that there was no one here to see or hear him. It was a sombre sort of place; not one of the busy intersections that had something going on at very hour of the day or night. Here everyone was sleeping or staying hidden, and only the monument itself stood tall to greet him.
Some desert-flowers had been left at the base of the stone. In the wake of the battle against the alkidikes, it seemed as if people were going back to remembering the old War more so than ever. War memorials had that quality to them, he supposed. One War became a proxy for every other. One dead soldier turned into every single soldier who had ever died. Perhaps that was why he was so fascinated by it, too. He hadn’t ever been on the frontlines of either conflict, but he knew enough to say with a certainty that war was not a pleasant thing. And yet, it was a shared experience, of sorts. Something everyone all over Tendaji would have heard of (except perhaps in Yael, he mused, where there lived the strange people with glowing eyes).
He had gotten to thinking that perhaps it was a shame that the troupe did not perform any songs or stories inspired by the war. When he’d been younger, this seemed like a welcome relief from all the doom and gloom. Why not focus on the good things in life -- parties, festivals, fishing, food, heroic myths and all that. But now he wondered if it was cowardly of them to avoid such a crucial subject.
He stood at the base of the monument and read the words by moonlight.
IN HONOUR OF ALL THOSE WHO DIED
THOSE WHO DIED FOR THEIR HOMELAND
AND THOSE WHO DIED NOT KNOWING WHAT THEIR HOMELAND COULD BECOME.
Vodyanoi circled it in contemplation. It was inscribed, on the other side, with the names of local soldiers who had not returned. Those who died not knowing what their homeland could become.
Could. How was he supposed to interpret that? On the one hand, one could read that as a lamentation for the fact that Oba had not expanded into neighbouring territories, not become the great empire that perhaps the old King would have wished to see. On the other hand, it could also be referring to the theoretical peace that had returned to the land -- people living in some harmony, with bumps and discontents of course but with more unity than before. Those who had died certainly hadn’t had the chance to see either.
Vodyanoi let out a long sigh, and walked back to the front. Here, he left by way of offering a small flower that he himself had picked.
[ words : 753 ]
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Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2016 7:54 am
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︽︽ CLASS QUEST ︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽︽
_________THE NEXT STEP
_________Location: Oba
Summary: The leaders of Vodyanoi's troupe grant him permission to travel out on his own, tasking him with scouting out Tendaji so that the rest of the performers might feel comfortable venturing outside their comfort zone later on. This was something he expected -- but what he didn't expect was their promise to hand over leadership of the troupe to him upon his return. Now, Vodyanoi will have to travel out across Tendaji with the knowledge that the future of his troupe depends on what he learns... and what he can do with that knowledge.
“Come and talk to us in the evening.” Yuna had come by earlier, setting her hand down on his shoulder. Her skin was soft and wrinkled. Vodyanoi looked up to meet her gaze and nodded -- he had a feeling he knew what this was about, but it was no use rushing the old matriarchs.
So… he waited for the evening. For a while now, he had been discussing the possibility of striking out on his own, away from the troupe. He loved the troupe -- they had given him something priceless. He would gladly have continued to travel the world with them and perform under their banner. But therein lay the issue; the rest of the troupe had little interest in travelling any further. They had come to the northern reaches of Oba, and now they wanted to go home.
He couldn’t blame them, of course. Lots of them had family back in Matori… or even lovers they had met along the way that they were keen to visit again. But Vodyanoi did not have these types of roots. Through music and dance he had found his identity as a Matorian, and that meant the world to him. However, he didn’t feel a need to live by the water and eat fish to continue being a part of that. He had been a Matorian even when was a young slave in Oba, and he would be a Matorian still if he ventured out to the mountains of Zena.
He had every intention to do just that.
He’d thought about it a lot, and deep down he knew that he had to. There must be so much more to music than what he had heard in Oba and Matori. And at the same time, there were so many people out there who had never heard his troupe perform. Why not go out and bridge that gap?
Come sundown, he saw Oriole and Yuna sitting alone by a small fire. Small trees sheltered them from the hot desert breeze… they were close enough to the Jauhar border now to see the landscape changing.
Vodyanoi sat down across from them, his ornaments jingling as always. Delis, his ever-playful zanteer, had followed him out and curled up by the flames.
“For a water critter, he sure does like a good bonfire.” Yuna chuckled, reaching down to stroke the creature’s flank. “You too are an adventurous pair.”
“That is why we have asked you to come talk to us.” Oriole spoke up. She had a curious twinkle in her eye. “We have come as far north as we plan to. In a few days, we will turn back south and return to Matori.”
That was the news Vodyanoi had been expecting. He nodded and leaned forward a little, waiting for their next few words.
“We know that you wanted to travel further out.” Yuna smiled.
Oriole continued. “We talked to some of the older players, and while some think the idea is interesting, few want to strike out without knowing where it is we’re going. They worry that earthlings in places as far as Tale and Zena won’t like our type of music. Worse, they worry that some earthlings won’t like us at all. It wasn’t so long ago that there was a battle in Sauti, you know? All these kids want to do is play and be happy, not worry about that sort of thing.”
Vodyanoi looked down at the fire and chewed on his lip. “I only ask to go myself. And please don’t take it badly -- it’s not because I’m angry at the troupe, or unhappy with what we do. It’s just that… well, I can’t see myself wandering between Oba and Matori forever. There’s more out there! And we’ve seen earthlings of all stripes listen to our performances. They like it! I don’t blame the others for being nervous, but.. I’m not asking you all to come with me. Not right away, at least.”
Yuna and Oriole both nodded.
“Therein lies our decision.” Oriole started.
“We’ll let you go.” Yuna continued. Vodyanoi looked up, his back straightening. Delis, seeing his owner snap to attention, looked up as well.
“It will be your job to travel to all the different nations -- Yael too, if you so wish -- and research the people there. If we are to go out and travel there one day, we need to know more. Find out which of their towns there are good to perform in, and which areas are dangerous. See what kind of music their people like, and what they have no patience for. What kind of stories speak to them? What sort of legends do they have? All these things that we know so well about Oba and Matori, we want to understand about the other lands as well. If we know all this, I have no doubts that the troupe will follow willingly.”
“I’ll do that.” Vodyanoi exclaimed. “I mean, I’d love to do that. That’s just… that’s perfect. I promise, I’ll come back with everything you need to know to feel sure about going. I’ll go everywhere, and I’ll make records of everything I learn. You can count on that. If I can convince the troupe to follow my footsteps later… that would be spectacular. You know I can play a half-decent solo, but… this caravan will always be my family. These are the people I want to perform alongside.”
The two elder Matorians smiled. They were quiet a while, and Vodyanoi wondered it that was all they had to say. But then Oriole spoke again.
“That leads us to the next matter.”
“That being, who they will follow out into the world.”
“Well, you of course!” Vodyanoi looked up, somewhat alarmed. “You aren’t handing the troupe over to someone else, are you?”
He thought about some of the other experienced musicians in the group, and found himself hesitating when he considered them as leaders. They were great artists, of course, but they didn’t have Yuna and Oriole’s talent for organizing and keeping everyone together. They argued, teased and competed against each other -- all in jest, but only because their leaders’ were skilled at keeping it that way.
“We are.” Oriole nodded.
“To whom?” He spread out his hands.
“To you.”
Vodyanoi rocked back on the sand, the words hitting him like a gust of wind.
“Conditional, of course, on your return.” Yuna laughed at his reaction. “It will take you a while to do what it is you’re setting out to do. And we are going ever-older. But if you return as you promise, you will have the knowledge and the purpose to carry the troupe forward. These are all talented musicians… and many are more talented than you, as you must admit. You’re not the oldest or the most experienced. But you’re the one with the vision. Without you, I fear the troupe will become nothing but another coin-collecting sideshow. With your guidance, they could be a lot more.”
Vodyanoi tried to speak, but words did not come.
Yuna reached out to pat his arm.
“You’ll have a while to think about it still. Go. You have some days to get ready. Then we will go south, and you can venture out where you might, and when you return we will take the next step.”
[ words : 1227 ]
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