Kallaria The Masked One

Day 13   The week lasted so long that I genuinely thought it would never end.   As I continued my trek through the woods, trying to find a place I could be safe, I came across a wounded fox. A hunter's trap had caught her by the leg. It took some time to calm her, but a few melodic words soon allowed me to communicate with her. At first, I believed it was simply me managing to comfort her, but I also felt more in tune with her movements. Even her small simple sounds meant something, and I could actually understand her. It would have been more moving if the arrow had not flown past my head.   A scooped the fox up in my arms and bolted without looking back. I understand that it is a living, but that does not mean that I have to let every innocent animal in the forest be taken. There are many more vicious creatures that can be used for food.   The fox helped me find a path through the forest to a small cavern I could hide in, but obviously, I needed to get out of sight of this hunter first.   I tried all that I had managed to teach myself to throw him, or her, off my trail, but nothing seemed to work.   I know it was foolish of me to risk my life like this, but... I suppose I simply wanted to know that someone who felt helpless could manage to get free and live once again.   Stupid, I know.   As I continued my escape from the hunter, I came up with a few ideas. Honestly, things I never even knew I could know.   It was like, my mind was awakening to all these new ideas.   First, I had the fox lead me to the closest river. There I scooped up some mud but did not stop. I covered my face in the mud, tucked my hair into my shirt, and returned to the trees. It did not take very long to find what I needed next, a small spot with plenty of leaves. I collapsed under a fallen tree and sang quietly a song I learned recently which can do a variety of small things. Usually nothing too special, but in the case of covering up tracks, it worked nicely.   The hunter came soon. I almost did not hear him, but when he appeared, he actually looked confused. I remained still and instructed the fox to do the same.   I do not know what came over me next, but when the hunter's back was turned, a began singing to him, a song, pleading him to leave the fox and me alone.   When he looked at me, I thought we were dead for sure, but he simply smiled, waved and left us be.   I used some magic I had tested out not long ago to heal the fox's injuries while we waited in the cave. I also came up with an idea. The hunter saw me, but because I had hidden my face in all the mud, he would not be able to truly recall who I am.   To that end, I have begun crafting a mask to wear while I am traveling.

Day 6   I managed to impress the innkeeper enough with my music that he allowed me to stay at a discount for a couple of days while I acquired all that I needed. Unfortunately, even with the discount, what little money I had is now gone. That is fine though as I have all that I need to stay in the woods. It also has become more difficult to get around the town after the posters went up.   He's offering 500 gold for my return at the moment. He's even just handing out silver to anyone who might have information. Playing at the inn allowed too many people to see me, but it was all I could do to keep myself fed. Luckily, I am out of the city, so staying out of sight is no longer an issue. The problem now is the fact that I have never really cooked for myself. My only saving grace has been the apothecary owner who taught me a great deal about edible plants. She even gave me some notes of her own from when she was first studying these things. Nothing as useful as an alchemy guide or anything, but I have been studying it to gain a better understanding of the plants that are useful to me, it even has some notes on creatures I need to avoid.   I also managed to take a bath for the first time since I left. I have never gone so long without cleansing my body. I feel so much better now.   Another thing that happened. I read about some interesting things while in town. Most of them I thought were nothing but tales of fantasy, but I thought to try something this morning while practicing my flute playing (I figure if I am to be a traveling player, I should keep up my practice). I concentrated on creating a small dancing mouse, and to my surprise, it appeared. I have tried it several times since, and have discovered I am able to repeat it.   Honestly, that may have been the first time I smiled since everything happened.   That's probably the main reason I decided to write today's entry. I have not wanted to write much on the chance my journal is found.   Perhaps I shall only record in times like this, when I have a moment to myself and there is much to be told.   Maybe once I find my parents, they should like to read of my experiences.

Day 1   I don't know what to do anymore.   Before, my path was laid out clearly. I would marry someone from a neighboring land, hopefully someone I loved, but at least someone I could be happy to be around. Together we would look over the land we were granted, and eventually take over the duties of our parents. It would be a peaceful life. I would continue to visit the villages and working with the people there to help out with any problem they might have.   I don't know what to do now.   I haven't got much money, only what little I was able to carry with me when I checked the carriage before running.   I knew I should never have trusted Felix, but I also had no idea what I needed to do. Helping to figure out farming patterns is different from an entire village having a god swing a sword through it.   Vox told me that sometimes you could offer to play music and an establishment owner would be willing to offer either discounted or even possibly free food and a place to sleep, so I think I'm going to try that.   The problem is of course the fact that most people know my face. Certainly there is a lot of chaos right now, but if Felix has people looking for me, it might be dangerous for me to show my face right now.   I don't have much equipment right now, so I'm going to have to risk going into a town though. I guess I'll just keep my head down, pay up front, and then just stay in my room until I can think of something else.   Wish me luck...     Day 2   I told the innkeeper my name was Kallaria. He chuckled when he heard it and commented that his mother used to tell him the story of the Lost Prince. He asked if I had ever heard that story, which of course I had. Kallaria is the name of the peasant girl who found the prince and helped him find his way back to the stars. I told him my mother told me that story many times as well. I'm pretty sure he didn't recognize me, which I was glad for, but that does make me wonder just how rough I must truly look right now. I want to take a bath, but honestly I think it will help me get by for a bit while I figure out a better way to hide my appearance.   I need to go ahead and go to get some supplies. My father took me to the woods to camp a couple of times, but we still had whatever we wanted when we did that. Hopefully I can figure it out if I have what I need.

Before the convergence, smaller area in Eagportia was lorded over by the Aldain family. For the most part, they were left to see over their land as they saw fit, and those who lived their were happy for the most part with how the family ran things. Certainly there were minor complaints, but the family always visited the townspeople to work to solve these problems together. At the end of the day, no one had any real complaints about the family.   Lord Jaylo Aldain and Lady Eileen Aldain had only one child by the name of Candine. They did their best to teach her to be just as thoughtful as they were since she would one day marry and become the lady of the land. They hired the best tutors for her of course, but they also had her join them on their trips to work with the villagers in the towns on their land too. They wanted her to learn from everywhere. They even encouraged it when she befriended one of the guards and began to learn how to play the lute from him.   For the most part life was good for them and their land, and she was learning so well that they even felt comfortable leaving to meet for council, leaving her in charge, with an advisor of course. She had never been fond of the advisor, a man named Felix Kalb, but she also knew he was mainly there if she wasn't sure what to do. There had been talks of strange things happening, so despite what she wanted, she asked her favorite member of the guard to join her parents.   The catastrophe of the convergence caused turmoil the likes she was completely unprepared for in her land. Felix took over many of the emergency relief efforts while she became increasingly unsure about what to do. On top of all that, she lost contact with her parents. She was nearly seventeen at the time, but the strain of such devastation and the uncertainty of her parents' fate proved to be too much for the young girl. It was left to Felix to try to rebuild.   He wound up raising the land tax, saying it was to help the relief efforts, but in secret it was mainly to build his own coffers. He forced people to leave their homes and move to other towns in the territory, claiming it was for the best as they needed to combine efforts. In reality he was secretly building up a group of mercenaries and needed places to keep them until he was ready.   Though depressed, Candine continued to venture into the towns to help as much as she thought she could, but not knowing all of Felix's plans caused her to one day stumble upon one of the abandoned villages that now held the mercenary group. She was quickly captured and Felix came to see her. Since there was no use hiding the plan now, he informed her of his plan to wed her and take over the land officially. He knew her love for the people would prevent her from saying no. He would rather keep as many of the peasants as possible, but he was willing to lose any who tried to stand against him.   He locked her up to consider the offer. During the night, she managed to use some tricks she had learned to cause the guards' defenses to go down, and in that moment she ran. She considered returning to her home and considered exposing Felix for all the lies and his plan, but considered what he had said he was willing to do.   As much as it broke her heart, she felt the best thing she could do for her people was just to leave. It would not be the most peaceful transition, and they may even hate her for it, but she felt that was the best way to keep them safe. Perhaps one day she would return.