If I pretend that it hasn’t actually been seven months since my last update, would you pretend with me?

I have issues with self-discipline and focusing on tasks that should be important to me, like this blog. I would love nothing more than to be able to update this weekly, but between my inability to keep to a schedule, work, various Dungeons and Dragons games, and of course the pandemic, it’s becoming increasingly obvious that my dream to make this update more often is folly. Nonetheless, I’m back with another letter and please excuse the pun in the title. It’s a running joke at the table.

Temples?

This letter introduces the Temple of Pure Ice, based on some modules somewhere that my DM wouldn’t let me look up. This temple and the others that will follow make up an important portion of these first few letters and sessions. Potentially, the one we haven’t been to yet is going to be incredibly important at the end of the campaign, but I won’t talk any spoilers just yet.

Each temple follows a basic repeating pattern. Firstly, it’s themed around a specific element, in this case Ice obviously. There’s always a figure of authority, the Maiden of Ice, who is a anthropomorphic identity for that element. Still have yet to determine if they’ve any significance outside the temples. Each temple also has a boon, a magical essence we can acquire for one person upon sealing the element, as well as a specific magical item. In this letter, that’s what the Scepter of Pure Ice is. Nash, being the Ice Wizard that he is, takes all this in with stride.

~~~

Heron – Tai Lin, Monk and Nash’s betrothed.
Phoenix – Nash Yosoku, Wizard
Sparrowhawk – Seiichi Aimoto, Kensai
Falcon – Toshiro Kibun, Fighter
Owl – Hayami Riyu, Ranger
Osprey – Jhin Toshiro, Rogue

~~~

Heron

I almost died. Sort of. The rest of the crew kept me alive, kept each other alive. I’m only going to say this once, but it turns out a group is a damn fine way to make progress. Maybe they’re growing on me. Maybe they’ll turn on me. I’m keeping them at an arm’s length for now, but there’s some trust. It’s a new concept I’m trying out.

We left Jade City and traveled northeast to Kaepo, Falcon’s home in Pegasus lands. It was a small, but fine enough place and it turns out that Falcon runs a tight ship, but I’m concerned about the way he treats his subordinates. Don’t get me wrong, he treats them much in the same way that others in his position would and that’s the problem. But, it’s as you keep telling me, it doesn’t fall on me to change this aspect of the world, just individuals. 

We split up in Kaepo, half of us going to speak with the Elders of the city and the other half going to a local Wu Jen temple of Ryu. We both inquired about the Temple of Pure Ice, gathering information. With varying degrees of success, we set off further north towards the mountain range, with knowledge and equipment in hand. 

The Wu Jen Master I spoke with gave me a ring that would get me into the Temple of Pure Ice, as well as others apparently. I put it on and it stuck to my hand, but it enhances the power of my spells occasionally. Very useful. He also warned me of a foul corruption that made Ice magic unstable and said we could summon the Maiden of Ice to purify it if we could gather all the pieces to the Scepter of Pure Ice. 

Approaching the temple, we saw bootprints that changed into clawed feet headed towards a crack in the giant ice wall that marked the entrance to the temple. We also saw clawed foot prints that changed into boot prints leaving from the crack. I question the power of the man or creature that could have forced their way into the temple, corrupted it, and then left once more. I won’t admit it to anyone else, but this creature frightens me.

The temple itself was mostly unfinished. It leaves me with so many questions. Who built it and why did they never finish it? Were they interrupted or killed? Called away for some higher purpose? If I ever finish my current mission, I want to study these temples. The Wu Jen Master I spoke with told me the ring would open other temples, so there must be others dedicated to different elements. If so, they’ll need protecting as well.

You should have seen the things in this temple, Heron. They were magnificent to behold. Artificial constructs of metal and ice, animated by elemental shards. We were able to salvage some that I think might prove useful in the future. Some were humanoid in shape, while others were shaped like something out of the scrolls that described creatures long dead. 

I have to admit that I was pretty useless in this temple. As a wizard who specializes in Ice, my spells didn’t affect the Ice Elementals or the constructs of ice that we fought. Top it off, even if they did, my spells didn’t always work with the corruption of ice magic. My new companions fought bravely and I did my best to aid them, but I was dead weight. It wasn’t a total loss, however. I learned a lot about their abilities and I learned to give them the tiniest bit of trust. 

I’m not sure how well placed my trust in Osprey is, though. He found some potions, really valuable and useful potions, that he tried to keep for himself. Thankfully, Owl noticed what he was doing and called him out on it. Sometimes even I forget that we’ve known each other too little for actual trust. This is still a game, part of the Jade City tournament. Genbu only knows what will happen when we find the would-be assassin and turn their head over to the Emperor. 

We might even part ways. I wouldn’t be opposed to it, but I’m not immediately for it either and that’s progress.

After gathering together the pieces of the Scepter of Pure Ice, we returned to the main room and called forth the Maiden of Ice. A massive orb of Pure Ice came down into the room and the Maiden ripped her way into this plane with a scythe of ice. I’ve never experienced such bone numbing cold in all my time as a practitioner of the frozen arts. 

I asked her to cleanse the temple and she obliged, the act visibly weakening her. I take this to mean that the rot was deep and powerful and once more, I found myself afraid of the power that could do this. I asked of her what she knew about the creature that did this and she did not know. She granted me a boon for my efforts and left. 

As she left, a single silver feather floated down towards Falcon, one that matched another feather on his blade. He took it and attached it, it seemed to make sense to him, but I know not what it did. We left the temple and headed towards Kaepo once more and that’s where I’ll end this. 

I hope all is well there and that you’re safe. Be careful. My heart would be frozen still without you and if anything happened to you, then not even Suzaku’s flame could unfreeze it.

With love,

Phoenix 

~~~

Well, that’s all for this post, folks. I’ll eventually stop apologizing for being so late with these, but today is not that day. Honestly, the inspiration for this came out of a job posting that I saw which asked for my blog site as part of the application. Immediately I thought to myself, “Shit! I should be updating more.” So here I am updating before I finish the application. If you’re reading this, Roll20 HR team… Uh, hi I guess!

As always, if you haven’t already, enter your email address below to sign up for notifications when I post the next entry in ten months.

A thousand apologies for how long it’s been since the last post. The holidays were much busier than I anticipated, but since my last update I’ve finished my final classes. I won’t feel I’ve officially graduated until I have my diploma in hand, but I don’t have any homework anymore and that’s progress!

Festival?

In the letter, there is some talk of the festival we are attending, so I wanted to shed a little light on that for you, even if it’s not the most important thing. The festival was in honor of the Emperor and for those who entered and passed through the series of rounds to finish in the top five, they would be granted one request. Nash looked to use his request to enter into the Jade Bailiffs, the Emperor’s personal enforcers who fulfill a variety of roles. He was hoping to use this to one day gain access to places he wouldn’t normally.

Heron – Tai Lin, Monk and Nash’s betrothed.
Phoenix – Nash Yosoku, Wizard
Sparrowhawk – Seiichi Aimoto, Kensai
Falcon – Toshiro Kibun, Fighter
Owl – Hayami Riyu, Ranger
Osprey – Jhin Toshiro, Rogue

~~~

Heron

Jade City really brought us together. Before the festival started, I stumbled upon a ritual murder in a basement of a shop. I alerted the guards, but it was too late to save anyone as the body was already missing. When we gathered again for the festival, we were warned by a note delivered through a street urchin that I followed the day before, that a certain someone was in danger. I’m sorry, I can’t elaborate more than that. The festival started without a hitch and of the five of us, four made it through to the second round. I can tell you’re smiling, but I’ll have you know I made it through.

That’s when shit went south. There was an attempt on the Emperor’s life and the festival changed. We were all charged with finding the person responsible and bringing back their head. Even those who had been eliminated in the first round were eligible. We regrouped outside the gates when I spotted the street urchin from earlier, staring at us. We stopped and questioned him, before splitting off to investigate two further shops. One was a bust, but we found a hidden door that linked up to a tunnel that led into the palace in the other. This was the same shop where I found the murder scene. I told the boy to stay in the basement and wait for us and we ventured into the tunnel.

First we came across a blood ritual where a man had been killed and used to raise…something awful. We followed the tunnel onward and after a few encounters with some yokai, came upon a puzzle room. I must admit that I was sort of an asshole in this room. You know how I like to be the smartest person at any given time. The thought of someone else having the answer to a puzzle is just not possible in my mind. Well, Falcon had the answer and I wouldn’t listen. I’ll have to apologize at some point. We eventually found ourselves in a large open room with a chest in the center. Osprey opened the chest and found the keys to getting through the door on the other side.

When we opened the door into the next hallway, a gruesome sight awaited us. It was the creature that had been raised from the poor man’s blood sacrifice at the beginning of this tunnel. Only, he had some sort of connection to Osprey. I think it used to be his brother. Poor guy. We chased after it, but it disappeared into a blood portal. I wanted to follow after it so badly, but restrained myself.

Something was thrown through from the other side. A small silver ball the size of my fist, covered in runes, and when it hit the ground there was an explosion of ice and snow as a blizzard filled the tiny space and the blood portal closed. Sparrowhawk and Owl both speak Kami, the language that the runes were carved in, and we had our next clue. The other side of the portal is the Temple of Ice.

That’s where we’re headed now.

When we made it back through the tunnel and into the basement of the shop, we were met with the murdered body of the street urchin. He was just a child, Heron. If I had let him leave, he might still be alive. This one’s on me. We returned with the dead man’s head to the Jade Bailiffs and explained what we had found. They tasked us with heading to the Temple of Ice and taking down this creature. In doing so, we’ll save the Emperor’s life and I can leverage that to get myself onto the Jade Bailiffs. It’ll put me one step closer to my goal.

And one step closer to you.

We’ll be nearby, but I don’t think I’ll get the chance to stop by the monastery. Give my best to everyone.

With love,

Phoenix

~~~

Hope you enjoyed this long overdue post! I also hope your holiday season was, and continues to be, enjoyable. Happy New Year everyone!

Also, don’t forget to follow my blog by entering your email below so you can stay up to date!

Welcome back!

This week, we’re finally going to get into the meat of the story and the first letter. This week’s letter concerns what is called a session zero. It’s a term used for the first session of a new campaign where party members and the DM can get a feel for each other, go over any specific rules that might be different from the book, and test out characters before it’s too late to change them. Our session zero was also partially because we were short one player who had conflicting plans.

Context

Some new context for you this week, I am going to introduce the characters to you. In many of these first few letters, Nash uses pseudonyms to protect the identities of everyone involved just in case his letter is intercepted. At this point, he’s fairly paranoid after spending a couple years hunting blood mages. Anyhow, here’s a list of the party and the pseudonyms given to them. I’ll try and have this posted before every letter for reference.

Heron – Tai Lin, Monk and Nash’s betrothed.
Phoenix – Nash Yosoku, Wizard
Sparrowhawk – Seiichi Aimoto, Kensai
Falcon – Toshiro Kibun, Fighter
Owl – Hayami Riyu, Ranger
Osprey – Jhin Toshiro, Rogue

~~~

Heron,

I’ve found myself tonight in Seodong, a small village just east of Jade City. I thought it would be a good place to rest for the night before continuing on my journey. It seems that even here, this close to the capital, blood mages dare raise their foul magic against others. Thankfully, I met some people here, both old and new. For everyone’s protection, I’ll omit names.

One of them, I’ll call him Osprey, I’ve met before. I hunted him in a city a few months back, thinking him to be a maho, a blood mage. He ended up turning the tables on me and cornered me. When I saw his shifty behavior and his guarded self, I thought I was looking at a maho, but he was just a rogue.

The other, Sparrowhawk, hails from Chickadee territory where our monastery is located. I met him early on after leaving you two years ago, in one of the nearby towns. It’s possible you’ve met him too and you just don’t know it. He’s quiet, but he seems nice enough. Fi certainly likes him.

We were all eating together, an uneasy dinner party in part due to my natural suspicions, when the owner of the inn we stayed at approached us. He told us how the town had been getting nightly visits by a rogue group of shinobi. So far, the town had been mostly powerless to stop them, but they’d taken something this time that couldn’t be ignored.

His daughter.

He asked us to find her and return her safely to town. We agreed and when we pressed for more information, he directed us to the mayor of the town. Speaking with her after dinner, she knew a general direction that the shinobi took off in every night. We also learned that her husband was quite sick and that they were leaving to go to the Jade City to search for a healer.

I asked if I could take a look at him. I am a wizard and healing isn’t really my specialty, but Genbu has granted me some small measure of healing capability. I managed to discover within her husband a magical sickness and using what Genbu gifted me, I managed to purge him of it. His wife, by way of thanks, gave me a hat with magical properties.

We left before night came, hoping to catch them before they left whatever hole they were hiding in. Sparrowhawk was particularly useful in this regard, having extensive knowledge of the land after traveling so much of it. It took us about an hour, but we found the cave that they called home.

Our initial push through the cave put us into combat with several bakemono, a kind of evil dwarf. We found a locked door at the end of the cave and managed to get through, only to be confronted by the shinobi who kidnapped the inn owner’s daughter and a couple maho. After a short, but fierce battle we took down the lead maho and I swiped a Staff of Blood Magic from him.

The shinobi switched sides during the fight and helped us fight off the remaining maho. It turned out that one of the shinobi and the daughter were in love and they were going to run off together, but we convinced her to at least say goodbye to her father so he wasn’t worried about her. We searched the rest of the cave and took what was useful to us and returned to the village what was not.

Tomorrow, we’ll travel together to get to the Jade City and join the tournament. Wish me luck.

Phoenix

~~~

Fun fact, we missed out on a lot of gold in this session, because we didn’t check the well that was in the maho hideout we found. Hope you enjoyed the first official letter and as always, if you have any questions, let me know. I’ll be happy to answer them.

Hello again all!

I figured for this post, I’d give you all a little more background on the world so as to avoid any confusion later when, in character, I talk about things the reader should know. Firstly, as indicated in a prior post, this is an asian-inspired world from an unofficial Dungeons and Dragons source material called Heroes of the Orient. This source material was pulled from the store by the author, Marc Altfuldisch, back in April. As I have no intention of rehashing any conversations that happened back in April surrounding the content of this source book, I’ll let you read why Marc decided to pull it. He posted the announcement on his twitter:

Hi folks,

Below is a statement from me regarding some issues raised about some of my DMsGuild titles. I understand it's long overdue.

CW: Prejudice. pic.twitter.com/daRtIqDP6Y

— Marc A. (@dnd5eoss) April 23, 2020

Moving on, the world of our campaign is divided into several clans, all named after various animals. The lands are ruled over by the Jade Emperor who, according to the source material, “has absolute authority within the Jade Empire in regards to administrative, judicial, religious, and military might”. Though the book admits that the clans have a certain amount of their own autonomy. Much of the military power in the world are forces controlled by the clans themselves, after all. Each clan has their own customs and traditions, which result in both friendly and deadly rivalry. As I think it’s easier that I dump context on you as it’s needed rather than all at once, I’m going to introduce you to one clan today in this post; the Phoenix Clan.

The Phoenix Clan

The Phoenix clan is one of the seven Great Clans and described in the book as the wisest of the clans. Magic is widely practiced in Phoenix territory and they are also very religious. They take great pride in their shugenja, highly skilled wielders of magic. The forests of the Phoenix clans are especially dangerous without a Phoenix guide due to the prolonged use of magic in the area turning them into a have for fey and other dangerous creatures. In particular the forest to the east, known as the Viper Woods, is rumored to be home to maho-tsukais (blood magic users).

Religion

On the subject of religion, I won’t dive into everything the Orient believes in just now, but I have to introduce the Shijin. The Shijin are five powerful creatures, each with their own representation in the world. The two we’re going to talk about today are Genbu and Suzaku.

Genbu is the largest of the Shijin, as the whole of the Orient rests upon his back. He is known as the The Black Turtle, Great Guardian of the East, Aspect of Water, Lord of Winter, The Great Healer, and Father of Faith. If you look back up at the map above, you’ll see a large section to the East known as the Shadowlands. The Shadowlands are a corruption of taint upon the world, threatening to expand over the entirety of the Orient. It is said that if the Shadowlands cannot be contained, that Genbu will have no choice but to dive deep under the water, ending all life in the Orient, in order to contain the spread.

Suzaku is a large phoenix and known as The First Phoenix, Great Guardian of the North, Aspect of Fire, Lady of Summer, Giver of Life, and Mother of Knowledge.

What the Party knew…

This week, I’m going to share with you the backstory I gave to the party. What they didn’t know reading this is that the whole thing was fake. My character, introduced to the Party as Nash Yosoku, was using a fake persona to hide his true identity; an identity I will reveal to you all in time. So this backstory is what Nash presented to the world. Enjoy!

~~~

Talent. Intelligence. Will. These are all things a promising young wizard needs to succeed in the deeply religious clan that is Clan Phoenix. Nash spent most of his life as a poor lowborn child with parents who had…issues. Well, to be fair, he never actually knew his father as the man rode in on a caravan one night, met and impregnated his mother, and rode out the next morning. His father, named Jia, was a bard and a member of the Weasel Clan. His mother was called Bian and was, simply put, a prostitute. Even in a city such as Sozo, prostitution was still a fact of daily life, perhaps even more so in a city so obsessed with religious principle.

Nash was born several months later and lived his entire life in the brothel where his mother worked. It’s not like he was the only one, having bastard children was commonplace in this line of work and Nash had several other children who had become his friends. Being a bastard, Nash didn’t even bother taking his mother’s last name and from the time he could walk, they had him working.

It was around the age of ten when the frustration of washing sheets mounted to an all time high. Nash would always remember this one, singular moment as the first time he cast a spell. He shouted to the sky in frustration and slammed his hands down on the sheets before him. Trying to calm his emotions, he looked down at the piled sheets at his feet. Whereas before they had been a pile of crumpled, filthy sheets with all manner of filth on them, they were now exceedingly clean and neatly folded. It took him a couple weeks to replicate the spell to consistent effect, but soon he could add Prestidigitation as the first spell he ever learned. 

For the first time in his life, he didn’t feel like just another street urchin. He had potential and his drive and passion to be better than any before him rivaled only the sun in intensity. One night, a shugenja paid the brothel a visit, having heard tales of the young boy who could perform magic, albeit minor magic. Nash showed him all that he’d been able to teach himself with Prestidigitation. After he was done, the man knelt down and placed a hand on each of his temples. He closed his eyes and hummed a low melody. Nodding to himself after a little while, he stood up and walked out without saying a word.

Two weeks later, Nash sat in a library, surrounded by books and being taught by the finest wizards and sorcerers that Sozo had to offer. He routinely visited his mother and showed her all the magic he learned, but at some point she began to resent his gifts. Envious that he had a way out of his pit, while she was still trapped in hers, she told him to leave and never come back. So he did.

He was thirteen when the most horrific event of his life happened. He was scavenging on the outer edges of the Phoenix woodlands for spell components when he heard a voice calling him. He looked up and saw the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, standing stark naked in a small pool of water. That should have been his first clue that what he was seeing was an illusion, because the water was too clear, too blue. Secondly, it was winter and the water was not frozen, nor did the woman give any indication that she was cold. 

Despite knowing better, he found himself entering the woodlands, deeper and deeper. It seemed as if no matter how far he walked, the woman never really got closer. Until suddenly she vanished and he found himself deep in the unfamiliar woodlands. A cry came out from his right and a man, brandishing a large knife attacked him, casting a spell as he used the blade to cut deep into his own arm. 

The spell would have hit him for sure if it had not been for the phoenix. Swooping in, the bird grabbed Nash by his back, claws digging deep and causing him immense pain. The phoenix took off, flying as hard as she could and although Nash was very small, the bird just wasn’t strong enough. However, she started to call wildly and a group of passersby were attracted by the sound and ran over to find no maho-tsukai. In their eyes, Nash was being attacked by a phoenix, an extension of Suzaku herself. 

He was brought back to Sozo for medical attention, but the claw marks from the phoenix were large and nasty. They healed improperly and Nash would forever have four grisley scars diagonally from shoulder to hip on his back. Rumors grew and spread about the promising young wizard who had been attacked by a phoenix. Although he explained what happened, that the phoenix was only protecting him from the maho-tsukai, it didn’t take long for people to start believing that the maho-tsukai was him. In their minds, the phoenix was protecting him from himself, by trying to kill him. They’d seen it before, promising spellcasters lured to the maho for the power it wielded. About the time they started questioning whether they should finish the phoenix’s job, is when he decided it was time to leave Sozo and Clan Phoenix for good. 

He left Sozo late at night, passing by along the furthest edges of the woodlands that ruined his life. He heard a call, the screeching sounds of a phoenix, and something that could only be described as desperation in that call. The phoenix, a lesser phoenix he could see now, landed beside him and bowed her head low. He didn’t know how he knew exactly, but this phoenix knew what had transpired and somehow was offering her service to him as penance. Since then Fiona, or Fi for short, has been a loyal familiar to him. 

He traveled for weeks, barely surviving, when he came across a temple dedicated to Genbu, the Black Turtle. The priests inside welcomed him warmly. They fed him and clothed him and when they learned of his wizarding aspiration, offered to let him stay and learn from them. They themselves were all Wu Jen Wizards of Water mastery and followers of Genbu. 

They taught him about faith and power. They taught him about the forces of nature and how it was to be protected at all costs through constant daily suffrage. They taught him about how the Shadowlands and its Taint was an abomination. He learned about the unnatural blood magic practiced by the maho and how it must be stopped, something they didn’t need to tell him twice.

He took a vow to never own more than he could carry on his person and Genbu rewarded him for that vow. Eventually, he set off on his own to learn more about the world, to protect nature and others, and to seek out corruption wherever he found it. So now he travels through the Orient, righting wrongs and correcting the natural order of things with Fi by his side. Some have begun to whisper of The Phoenix, a man who shows up and fixes problems, before disappearing again. No matter where he goes, when he leaves he marks the town to let them know he had been there. A black turtle outline with flaming phoenix wings to mark the duality of his mind. Knowledge and Faith, these are the things he exemplifies to others in hopes of inspiring a better tomorrow.

~~~

That’s all for this week, everyone! Don’t forget that you can subscribe to my blog to be emailed when I post new updates! Just fill out the extremely short form below and leave me comments with any questions, comments, or insults you have.

Hello all,

I just want to first thank anyone who has liked or followed me on my Facebook page, subscribed to this blog, or just generally did their best to encourage me over the past few years. I’ve wanted to be a writer probably my whole life, since I picked up and read my first Harry Potter book. That feeling never went away, it only intensified with each of the hundreds of books I’ve read since then. Having said that, I’ve done very little to make that a reality, so writing this and sharing it is the first horrifying step on this journey… if you’re not counting the tens of thousands of dollars I owe for my pending diploma.

In February of 2016 I enrolled online at Southern New Hampshire University to pursue a degree in Creative Writing and English. In the past four and a half years, I’ve added a minor in Communications to that and I’m now firmly into my final term. My graduation is a mere weeks away and all I have to do is get through two 400-level classes, all of the worst holidays to work in retail for, and an increasingly worsening pandemic.

What could go wrong?

My goal for this blog mostly is to keep writing. I don’t write near as often as I should and my reading has slipped a bit as well. In Californication, the main character and author Hank Moody once said, “Being a writer blows. Writing is like having homework every day for the rest of your life.” So, this is me assigning myself homework. The main thing you’ll see here, at least for the foreseeable future, is content relating to my Dungeons and Dragons campaign run by the most amazing Dungeon Master I’ve ever had, Ken Hullenbaugh. Each session or so, my character writes a letter in game to send back to his betrothed to keep her updated on what he’s doing and so she knows that he’s alive. I have the first few letters actually written, but I plan to post them to the blog as part of my writing exercises.

What is Dungeons and Dragons?

Dungeons and Dragons is a tabletop role playing game, or TTRPG, that’s been around for a few decades. Players create characters and play in a game run by a DM. Their characters stats and skill determine what they’re good at and dice rolls determine how well they do it. Our campaign specifically is using an unofficial campaign guide called the Heroes of the Orient, which is an oriental themed world. It’s worth noting that the campaign was removed from dmsguild.com so I can’t link you to it, but it’s not something I created and I make no such claims.

So, I hope that I might be able to keep you entertained while I complete my degree and better my writing craft.

Allons-y!