Adventure is for the Brave

A trio of adventurers head off into the woods.

The call came out on the 21st of Kiani, in the year 648 after the Coming of Estarra: I am looking for an adventurer. Come find me at the Triple Junction Inn. And indeed, adventurers arrived to find none other than Tapif the Furrikin, an adolescent of mildly mysterious origin, seeking to go on an…

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Of squirrels

Squirrels sit upon cages in a forest, some are free.

In the thick of winter of 645 CE, the Kiakodan Nature Reserve was burglarised by unknown forces. Reported publicly by Gatekeeper Quillion Jones, the break-in resulted in the squirrel nursery, which was watched over by Tommut Whitlock, being utterly destroyed and the baby squirrels kidnapped. First on the scene was Exeryte Stormcrow of Glomdoring, who…

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A Very Frosty Education

Snowmen on skates on an icy pond

Earlier this year, in Urlachmar, Father Ratanele of Saint Gathlyn’s Orphanage undertook the long journey to visit New Celest. He had made an appointment with Ayehenue, the Civic Engineer, who greeted him warmly by the Pool of Stars. The weary Father explained he felt compelled to travel so far to seek help from the kindred…

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A Brilliant Revolution, Part I

There are many ways to describe this city, many epithets to label it and countless adjectives to apply to it and its people. A common one that is heard from any soul who has walked the streets for any length of time, whether they love or hate it, is that it is a contradiction; endless…

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Adventures in Botany and Apiculture

Two jars of honey

Though it was Juliary already, the middle of autumn, Hulleh Honeytongue decided it is better to start late than never. She had a garden to fill with fragrant blooms and she would not be deterred. The fact that she did not know the actual names of the flowers she was seeking was somewhat of an…

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World Forum Explores Taurian History

On the final day of the year 620 CE, the Mistress of the Forum announced that there would be a guest lecturer in residence for the coming year. The lecture concerned the history of the taurian people, their spiritual groups known as nerebo, and the complex variations found in other taurian groups both past and…

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On the Road

A wirework heart of many metals

It was the middle of autumn when Voarag Dragnet set off on a trip that would transform her life. Up till that point, she spent most of her days mining in any crevice she came upon, refining her finds, and then travelling village to village selling her wares. But recent developments encouraged her to try…

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The Curious Case of Specimen XSPS79, Part II

Pale grey smoke against a black background

It would not be even a month later that an inconspicuous letter was left at the Emperor’s Lament Post Office. It revealed the location of the ship Magnagorans so sought and a warning: that a plethora of agents within the Gnafia did not care for interference, no matter from whom, and to take care to…

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The Curious Case of Specimen XSPS79, Part I

Laboratory flasks filled with white liquid

It is uncertain whether it was the sight or the smell that the man remarked upon first, for the mark of stress near his eyes and nose both competed with the sheer wonder the man beheld: a behemoth of a beast, flopped upon the street as though from nowhere, overnight. Such was the tale that…

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It’s the Journey That Matters

A variety of spices and grains offered at a stall

On a calm wintry night, Tilibe stopped by the Toronada Bridge to water her horses. She had a long way ahead of her still, travelling to Rockholm the peddle her wares, so a short break was well advised. She did not expect this to go so poorly, however. Something growled in the night, her horses…

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A Charged Convergence

Lightning splits purple, stormy skies.

On the 25th of Juliary, 614 years after the Coming of Estarra, members of Hallifax were called upon by Researcher An’ouri Oolin of the Diamond Research Project to learn of a new research development conducted within the laboratories. Researcher An’ouri Oolin briefly spoke to the members of the previous study of a specimen, delivered many…

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A Gift for the Blessed

In mid-Juliary of 613 CE, Elytho Serole made a breakthrough. Running from the Lodestar Athenaeum past the Pool of Stars, it was their hope to reach Light’s Glory, the guildhall of New Celest’s Magisterium of the Holy Father. Yet, they had not realised the great distance between the two parts of the city. Skirting past…

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Sunflowers

A large yellow sunflower against a rich blue sky

In Roarkian, 612 CE, pilgrims at their resting camp on the side of Avechna’s Peak gathered together to start a garden, wishing to beautify their camping site. Together, they had felt a need to alleviate the horrors and traumas of the past decades, where innumerable pilgrims and other travellers perished to the violence of recent…

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The Shards of Li-varili

A shooting star against the night sky.

In the glow after the splintering of the Goddess Li-varili, many groups of Her shards, called the livari, rested lost and confused in the Basin of Life. They had fallen out of the Divine Havens to break free of Li-varili’s prison. And yet, in doing so, they had also exiled themselves forever from the Divine…

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The Judgment of Li-varili

Crisp dunes of white sand and nothingness above

Whether by design or coincidence, Li-varili’s observation crystal opened Herself to the mortals gathered, and they to Her in kind. By huddling close as though before Her altar, mortals could whisper to Her their private thoughts and feelings, just as Hers roiled within for them to feel in kind. Some swore that Her coven stood…

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Testimonies Given, Judgments Prepared

A conch lies within the woods.

The conch shell upon Avechna’s Peak echoed for many months with the words that mortals spoke in testimony. One by one they came, recounting memories, stories, hopes and regrets. Some cursed the name of the Goddess Li-varili, relaying the losses they and Lusternia at large had so suffered in past years: the storms and rage…

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The Conch Shell and the Gods’ Decree

An ancient oak tree, its branches almost stretching to the ground

In the middle of Dvarsh, the heavens opened without warning to the voices of the Gods. The time had come, They announced, to determine the Elder Goddess Li-varili’s fate once and for all. Remembering well Her time when She first walked the Basin of Life masked, hidden from Their perceptions, They recognized that the mortals…

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A Revelation, A Maze, A Ritual: The Return of the Silver Goddess

Mist rising over the woods.

“Nehvi na’reaim yaeklas…” Caught in a flurry of snow, Serenwilde’s festivities drew to an end as a new year and moon both turned. Alongside Nehvi, a carefree elfen lady recently returned to the commune, the shelterfolk gathered to observe Fair Galaphyrae conduct a wintry Sower rite and listen to poetry recited by Spirit-Touched Keyne, drawing…

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Gaudiguch Gossip Special Edition – Corruption and Kouseki in Gaudiguch

The Great Pyramid of Gaudiguch

It was any other day in Gaudiguch when the unexpected happened – the Freedom Council authorised mass destruction within the City of Freedom. Interviewing eyewitnesses, the explosion happened far beneath the city after a riot was started over the city’s shortage of kouseki powder. While kouseki powder is not generally in high demand beyond the…

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From the Gaudiguch Gossip – An Advertisement on Page Three

A sarkipose, a fleshy creature from the Vortex

Do you enjoy mucus, flesh, and ancient Illuminati experiments? Do your children ceaselessly bother you for a pet of some sort? Do you have an overabundance of coin, time, and energy to rear and raise new life? Well, you are in luck. The newly formed Vortex Preservation Society has made available a brand new invention…

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