Session 12
Visiting Donovan
The party began their trek towards Donovan's apartment, on the other side of the city. As early evening descended upon the city, people were out and about in full force, from people returning home from work to groups of young adults setting out on a night of partying. Directly in the middle of the city was the business district which the party must pass through to get to where Donovan resided. The layout consisted of an incredibly wide historical main street which reached from the main entrance all the way to the palace gates, surrounded on both sides by many buildings. It was dotted with countless flowers and trees, all radiating a sweet aroma. A strong evening breeze dashed through the street, scattering colorful petals into the air. A few children walking side by side with their families reached out and attempted to catch them, but the petals eluded their grasps, soaring higher and higher into the air and becoming one with the birds gliding above the city.
In the middle of the massive street were numerous performers and peddlers advertising their wares to passerby. Musicians, street artists, dancers, living statues, gymnasts, magicians, singers, and even a few animal tamers vied for the attention of the thousands of people that passed through daily. The most complex of these performances were also what the country was best known for: It's elegant and refined textile industry. In certain key locations, which eager advertisers often paid thousands for, were stalls where massive looms were set up. Groups of up to a dozen people rushed in and around the looms, preparing the thread, feeding it through, and meticuously pushing the shuttle in and out. Every person had a place in the process, just as every bit of paint applied to a work of art contributed to its overall beauty. The products of these weavers were stunning: One particular station the party passed by was in the midst of weaving together an ethereal landscape, the fabric so detailed and glistening that the river within looked like real water reflecting the sun. On the stand nearby were products of this particular weaving group: Clothes and tapestries and small embroidered crafts that a gaggle of upper-class people were ogling over, shouting their offering prices and demands to the person manning the stand.
The noisiness finally died down once the party reached the other side of the street. Though still quite crowded from the rapidly approaching festival, things were decidedly less busy. Twenty minutes passed by, until finally the party was staring up at the building where Donovan's apartment was.
When the party walks to Donovan's apartment, they notice that it has relatively few decorations compared to the others. As they walk up to the door, they hear two voices: Donovan and Joanna.
Upon entering Donovan's apartment, the various hanging vines that grow along the living room surge forward and start wrapping around the party. Donovan frantically starts shooing them away, apologizing.
The party notices the hanging vines that were present last time are even more numerous, spreading from the living room to the hallway and presumably the room in there to the kitchen. The vines have noticeably tied themselves into intricate, decorative knots.
Joanna and Donovan appear to have been talking and eating dinner together (Rice noodles with ground pork and pickled vegetables, grilled fish). Joanna was asking Donovan his plans for the Kite Flying Festival, and invites him to hang out with her and his other coworkers. He sounds hesitant, as he mostly planned to stay in during the festival and work on his research. Joanna sounds disappointed, asking if he'll at least be able to spend time with his family, but Donovan assures her he'll be okay.
Joanna excitedly invites the party to eat with them. Either way, the party is left on their own for a bit as Joanna and Donovan talk quietly amongst themselves. Joanna then stops to ask the party about their adventures searching for the River Dragon's Pearl--either way, she tells the party she'll arrange for each of them to receive 100 gold for their troubles, not as much for successfully retrieving the pearl, but some for undertaking the ordeal. She then bids everyone goodbye, leaving the party together with Donovan.
Donovan says to the party that the spirit medium told him to expect the party to show up and is curious as to what they have to say.
Upon being asked what help he could possibly need, he thinks it over for a minute, then asks the party if they could buy things for him. He gives them a list: The party notices it seems to be less specialized equipment and more household items: Food and pantry, cleaning supplies, toiletries, and interestingly, distilled water.
- Bread
- Water
- Distilled Water
- Egg noodles
- Rice noodles
- Chicken thighs
- Pork loin
- Soy sauce
- Rice wine
- Fish sauce
- Chili powder
- Ginger
- Star anise
- Bok choy
- Broccoli
On the way back to their inn, the party catches sight of many civilians hanging decorations outside their buildings. It's mostly standard Lingguo adornments: Decorative knots, tapestries, and even a few nets mimicking the webs spun by spiders. In addition, however, are kites. The kites, like the rest of the decorations, are refined works of art, depicting various deities of Qiandao myth, animals like butterflies and fish, or various cultural and religious symbols. Though the city was already quite colorful due to the flowering trees and bushes, these ornaments provided additional eyecandy to everyone that walked the streets of the capital.
As the party returns to their inn, they notice a familiar half-elf at the entrance: Iskra, the waitress at the Yumalyan restuarant they frequented in Shuixiu. She turns around and greets the party: Ljubica sent her here to scope things out, and see if they can procure a spot at the capital to stay at. She asks the party if they know any good spots to spend time at the capital.
You tap into the Weave that both encircles and entangles itself with the material world. Instantly, you feel a tugging sensation at your soul, similar to the one experienced back at the River of Life.
The world slowly becomes mute and and still. Suddenly, faint glowing threads of magic stretch before you. They criss-cross over each other, connecting from one object to the next. Some even appear to go through objects--You see several appear out of the ground, before wrapping around a nearby tree, then traveling upward into the sky.
At your fingertips is a particular bundle of strings. Do you touch them?
All of the sudden, the world is plunged into a dizzying blackness. Then, a humanoid figure with long, endlessly trailing red hair gazes at you. Their face is in shadow, but you manage to see their lips turn upward slightly in a smirk.
The world returns to normal. Magic shoots out from your body, and you feel your focus hum as it works to process the magic.
The Next Day
When the party comes downstairs, they notice a large group of Leferinese students in the first floor of the inn. They appear to be trying to get several rooms for themselves, but are struggling to understand how to enter their rooms. The process is two steps: On each door hangs a rope tied into a decorative knot: To enter, the person must undo the knot on the door. Once they enter, the knot will magically reform. After that issue is resolved, the party walks outside, and immediately sees a passing group of Leferinese tourists, led be a tour guide. The tour guide is excitedly informing them of their next destination: The Western Qiandao Temple in the city. The tour guide reminds the tourists that they must remove their shoes upon entering the temple grounds and to please respect the temple and its inhabitants. Several tourists are too busy burying their noses in their maps too notice. The group eventually walks past a temple: This one is older and more historical, with many of the nobles visiting this one. They see an elven woman with brown hair tied up in a bun cleaning up inside the main room, where countless statues depicting various animals and figures sit atop a shrine, accompanied by groups of burning incense, decorative knots, and tapestries hanging on the walls. Many people are gathered around, praying, preparing incense of their own, or if they are tourists, looking around in wonder. A couple reach out to touch the kites plastered around the outside and hanging from the roof, before being yelled at by the tour guide to keep their hands off.The elven woman has peach skin, with brown hair tied up in a bun cleaning up inside the main room, She has long, floor-length, cross-color robes with a printed square on the front depicting images of birds flying amongst clouds, and a sturdy, metallic necklace with tassels tied to it. When she looks up at you, you notice one of her eyes is completely black, as if looking up at a cloudy night sky.
The elf woman walks up to the party and asks if they need anything. As they talk, the elf woman's father walks out and glances at the party. Upon scrutinizing them and their spirit energy, he immediately grabs Fanna and asks if they are Lauran incarnate.
Without a sound, another elven-looking figure appears in the room. His movements are refined and controlled, appearing to not actually walk into the room, but gliding through it. He has similar robes and jewelry compared to the woman, but with an added, poncho-like layer draped across his shoulders, decorated with clouds and animals, both common and mythical, in a way much more detailed than the woman's. When he approaches, the room becomes softer--His very presence changing the mood itself, and adding a unique, coveted element that seemed to complete everything around him. Like the woman, he has elven features, but with much more pallid skin and dirty blond hair, also tied up in a bun. Both his eyes have the same startling darkness as the woman's single eye had. This is a High Elf.
When he speaks, you all feel a shiver in your bodies as his voice reaches your minds.
Many years ago, lived a kindly emperor and his wife. The emperor was well-liked among the general population: He worked to alleviate poverty, invested greatly in the arts, and was kind to all. One day, invaders arrived in the city, and demanded the wife's hand in marriage in exchange for peace. The emperor was distraught, and was prepared to go to war over his wife. Instead, his wife reassured him and told him to let them take her away, saying she had a plan: She and her private entourage would willingly go with their enemies, but pack a special kite with them. When their enemies least expected it, her and her attendants would assassinate the chief when he was most vulnerable. When the task was done, she would send up her kite, signalling to the emperor his turn to attack their enemies and drive them away whilst they were without a leader. The emperor obeyed, though still despaired at having to go without his wife. Every day and night he would go without her, he ordered the guards to fly a kite above the palace at all times. The emperor's people soon took a liking to this trend, and began flying kites of their own in support of their emperor and his wife. As the days passed, the sky began to be filled with more and more elaborate kites. One night, the guards on watch finally saw the wife's kite in the distance. They immediately woke the emperor, who rallied his soldiers to head towards the kite's direction immediately. When they got there, however, they were met with devastating news: Their enemies had discovered the wife's plan, and slaughtered her and her compatriots, before seizing her kite and luring the emperor out with it. Though the emperor's army was able to fight off the invaders, the emperor was so overcome with grief for his wife, that he let himself perish in battle, so he could join his wife in death. The people mourned their deaths, and collected both of their kites, deciding to fly them together one night to honor their memories. To their surprise, when they did so, the spirits of the emperor and empress appeared before them, smiling and holding hands. From then on, the people decided to dedicate a time of the year to flying kites in honor of their beloved leaders. This gradually evolved into the kite flying festival of today.
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