Found Objects

Here is the notebook that Khora has been writing since she started working at the hospital in the second week after the Feast of Timoine. When she writes more, I’ll add it to that page (but notify of it here).

Both Raisse and Moyri are so pregnant that the adventure has to come to their door…

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This was very hard for Aidan to write. The first draft had at least as many struck-out words as Khora’s letter, but he copied this one, wearing out his pen altogether. It’s a good thing goose-quills are cheaper than Iss-Peranian brushes!

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Or rather, she dictates to Aidan, because she’s overstretched herself and that wreaks havoc with her coordination.

That her mother is called Dushtan, like the king’s Síthi doctor, makes one think that there’s Síthi blood in Khora’s ancestry; either that or it’s one of those names that span half a world.

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She’s writing to her friend’s father, who is a Síthi doctor turned fisherman after emigrating to Valdyas. The style is the best court Síthi she can manage. I’ve left all her spelling of names intact, as it’s caused by the nature of the Síthi script. ‘Maylle’ probably spells her own name ‘Maile’ (and, being a native of Ryshas, pronounces it [‘ma:le:], no diphthong there at all. It’s a very common name in all Valdyas, and the pronunciation varies in every region: someone from Essle would pronounce it rather like US, not UK, ‘Molly’). The kh in ‘Kheti’ may simply be a matter of a few hundred years of language change, ‘Keti’ being the modern form.

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(Note: Moyri’s posts are written by Boudewijn)

It was very good to see Moyri again— and I-the-GM wasn’t the only one who thought that. She’s very pregnant, though only six months gone; but she’s tiny and it’s twins. What makes her so easily tired and short of breath is likely to be an atrial septal defect, a “hole in the heart”.

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Again, it’s the other Raisse, grand master in charge of the Guild of Anshen in Turenay. She needs a runner, and she’s married to one, but he’s far away.

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Raisse’s last entry in this series. She is staying on for another arc, so we won’t have to miss her; Athal is back to NPC, and off to Aumen Síth about a year from now.

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Being in love makes him poetic!

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It’s clear that Keti is used to much more flowery language than Ebru lets her write: she translates stock phrases literally.

‘Turenay’ happens to mean ‘bath-town’, called after the medicinal springs and bath-houses; ‘ver-’ means ‘dawn, morning’, ‘Solay’ (the Valdyan name of Aumen Síth) means ‘gold-town’.

The commander of the Order of the Sworn probably spells his name ‘Morin’ himself, but ‘Maurin’ is the way he’s likely to have pronounced it when he introduced himself, as he’s a native of Ryshas.

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This was waiting for Athal on his return to Valdis. Fortunately, it seems to be the worst thing that happened in his absence.

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It felt very strange to be back in Valdyas, even though Sarabal is full of Síthi. It didn’t help that we were in Turenay rather earlier (in real time) than I’d expected and I had to take over almost unprepared.

Note: I don’t have much in the way of notes of this part; some of the facts may be inaccurate. If you were there and know better, don’t hesitate to tell me!

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Athal’s last entry —well, the first part of it, because it’s another long one and I know that at least three people are waiting to read it— because we’re back in Valdyas and I’ve taken over the campaign again. I’m unlikely to stop posting roleplaying writeups, my own and others’, but this story arc is finished.

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Note: this is the other Raisse, the one in Turenay who is the queen’s sort-of-godmother.

Raisse started out angry (and I typed the whole thing with angry keystrokes) but the writing made her mood change, I think very true to character.

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(or: what’s up with all those letters?)

We, that is my other half and I, are running a one-on-one side campaign following the adventures of Khora, to supplement the campaign with Athal and Raisse.

The first writeup of this branch happened to be Khora’s first letter, and it sort of grew from that. Now suddenly everybody and their dog is writing letters and not even we ourselves can keep track of who all those people are and who is related to whom, especially as the stock of names in Valdyas is small so every other person seems to be called Raisse or Jeran.

Note that King Athal has disbanded the House Eraday; everyone formerly of that house who is loyal to him does not have the house-name any more but is still counted noble. Athal has more or less promised to come back from Iss-Peran with another name for the house, but frankly he can’t think of anything.

I don’t pretend to be exhaustive, but only try to give a reference guide. Also, this is not a catalogue of people appearing in the actual campaign writeups; perhaps I’ll do that later.

On a sidenote: once again I wonder whether to start a separate blog for roleplaying writeups, but the last time I mentioned that I got a (small) deluge of (mostly non-roleplaying) readers urging me to keep everything here, so I’ll stop contemplating it now.

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