aesmael

[editor's note: this is the final entry]

I thought being stabbed in the face would be the worst thing to happen to me today.

We set out on our journey to the Imperial City and were promptly accosted by bandits. I stepped up to protect the Princess and immediately got a face-full of steel for my troubles.

I should be glad I woke the next morning. It didn’t feel good at all, but it seems Princess Kamiko struck some kind of deal with the bandits while I was gone. I’m grateful for that, except it meant we did arrive and had to face the palace.

Following the demands of duty I escorted the Princess to the royal meeting room. The beauty and activity should have been breathtaking if I weren’t absorbed in the pain of my wounds. Uta got that surprisingly friendly, informal reception she seems to get whenever among officials who know her personally, and we were directed to the audience seating.

To sit in on a meeting of dragons was awesome, and shocking to see Uta suddenly in her true form after all these years of knowing her as a wolf, but the discussion itself was all very political and not at all comfortable for a fireworks merchant such as myself. However I did get the sense this had become a very harsh regime, and the people seemed to be chafing under the largely unopposed rule of the dragons of autumn and winter.

When the Princess jumped up to join the line of supplicants after the meeting I was unsurprised, but terrified, and followed after her. As our turn came she gave a great speech, making passionate plea for the well-being of those same people the dragons had been turning away, and even on behalf of the bandits who had attacked us and brought me to the edge of death.

I was afraid that for her boldness the Princess would be snatched up and devoured, or some worse fate, and the dragons seemed quite willing to do so until her deft words mollified them a little. If flight would have accomplished anything I might have snatched her up and ran.

Yet, having seen her dare so much, I put my foot forward and made a plea also, on behalf of the merchant who mistook me for someone of importance in Komae. I kept my word, though I felt sure I spoke my own doom to raise my voice where even Princess Kamiko, with her years of courtly training, was finding the paths treacherous.

To my relief the dragons eventually found the Princess’s words to their liking and agreed it was time to take more notice and care of the people in their charge. They even let us leave with our lives, though I’m sure at least one would have been happy not to.

With that I must put pen down and collapse. These wounds are far from fully healed.

Ryuutama GM, [25.02.18 13:45]

"— and of course thunder dragons round out the last of the weather dragons. Now, for the greater dragons..." says a mermaid laying on her back in a pool. A number of people sit on benches, listening - but quite a few others are laying in a large set of small, individual pools.

aesmael, [25.02.18 13:46]

If there is an empty pool, Lin Hai will settle herself into one to listen for a while - better than sitting in a slowly drying bathing suit.

Ryuutama GM, [25.02.18 13:46]

"There are four types of greater dragon, each reflecting one of the four seasons," the lecturer continues. "Midori-Ryuu, or Green Dragons, reflect our current season - Spring. They are associated with the three artifacts of knowledge: The Encyclopedia of Rules, the Sextant of Change, and the Torch of Learning."

Ryuutama GM, [25.02.18 13:47]

Much to your surprise, floating in a pool actually improves your ability to hear the lecture.

aesmael, [25.02.18 13:47]

[[ I am quite surprised, yes ]]

Ryuutama GM, [25.02.18 13:47]

"Midori Ryuu are prone to watch over those who seek learning and exploration. They value the virtues of storytelling, perserverence, and recordkeeping."

aesmael, [25.02.18 13:48]

[[ lemme know if you want me to ditch the listening at any point. otherwise Lin Hai is fascinated and a little intimidated to think of dragons as actual beings out in the world ]]

Ryuutama GM, [25.02.18 13:49]

"Obviously, as you all know, the royal Midori Ryuu has been travelling for many years, and thus not seen in court. Therefor, lesser Midori Ryuu fill in for her seat, acting as her proxies for each vote. But it also means that ignoring the Midori Ryuu's vote can be used as a tiebreaker. Thus, her influence is more ephemeral than the other royal dragons - a seeker of knowledge, a bringer of insight, instead of a player of politics."

Ryuutama GM, [25.02.18 13:51]

"Next up are the blue dragons, Ao-Ryuu. They are the patrons of theatre, love, and all other things tied to romance. They guard young lovers and old flames alike, and occasionally meddle to ensure that star-crossed lovers are indeed destined to meet."

aesmael, [25.02.18 13:51]

[[ ❤️ the lore tho ]]

Ryuutama GM, [25.02.18 13:52]

"Unlike other dragons, they have but two artifacts: the Crystal of Kindness, and the Ring of the Heart. In place of the third, an Ao-Ryuu can become itself a mascot, travelling alongside those it deems worthy and serving to bolster their resolve."

Ryuutama GM, [25.02.18 13:53]

"Coming then to Fall, we get the Crimson Dragons: The Kurenai-Ryuu. These are dragons of battle! Fierce beasts with great claws and scales ward off the strongest sword! They are the guardians of Ryuutama, protecting us from those who would dare dream of invading."

There's a bit of cheering at this.

Ryuutama GM, [25.02.18 13:54]

"Their artifacts are the Greatsword of the Hero, the Longspear of Challenge, and the fabled Immortal's Longbow. It is said of the last, that it's weilder cannot be slain - and indeed, death itself is often considered to be the domain of the Kurenai-Ryuu."

aesmael, [25.02.18 13:54]

[In reply to Ryuutama GM]

Lin Hai's eyes widen at that, and she looks around a little nervously.

Ryuutama GM, [25.02.18 13:56]

"Lastly is the Kuro-Ryuu: Black Dragons, keepers of winter. Though more alien than the others, do not let yourself forget that they too serve an important purpose. They are shrouded in darkness and mystery, but they are also the ones to consult when such maladies befall your village. They are detectives par excellence, and patrons of those who have been wronged."

Ryuutama GM, [25.02.18 13:57]

"Their artifacts are shrouded far more in mystery, but we know at least that they are a Chalice, a Dagger, and a Mirror - the Mirror is said to be the Mirror of Slaughter, a powerful magical item which grants power proportionate to the fear you can strike in to the hearts of your enemy. To what purpose this artifact was created, we can only speculate - certainly the Kuro-Ryuu are not talking."

Ryuutama GM, [25.02.18 13:58]

With that, she bows. "Thank you all for attending my lecture, and I hope you've enjoyed your day in the gardens!"

Ryuutama GM, [25.02.18 13:58]

"Oh, and don't forget! Next Wednesday will be a meeting of the three royal dragons, at the imperial palace!"

Ryuutama GM, [25.02.18 13:59]

(OMG I just had to improvise an entire lecture WHY did I let there be a lecture hall WHY XD)

aesmael, [25.02.18 13:59]

Lin Hai applauds again, nearly as extravagantly as for the magic show.

I may have to give up on being astounded. We have arrived at the city Komae, halfway to the Imperial Palace and I am feeling less and less that I understand this world. Uta, the wolf who halfway took the Princess in as her cub – everyone here is greeting her as “Your majesty”!!! I don’t know what to make of it, except everyone here seems to recognise her as a figure of great deference and honour.

It seems not to be a case of mistaken identity, either. No, Uta hasn’t started speaking to us, but she has body language and responds that way to the Princess’s questions. That’s a relief. I would hate to be executed because someone realised the wolf we travel with isn’t the same wolf as the wolf they thought she was.

So far we have been ushered into the city, guided to a ‘rustic’ inn which is as well-appointed as any I have stayed in, been let into Komae’s famed Mermaid Gardens at no charge, and been allowed to take our pick of bathing suits, again with no charge. It all feels too good to be true, but perhaps the Princess is accustomed to such treatment. I am not, even when I have looked out for her in the Imperial Palace – the other Imperial Palace, the one back home – before.

And I ought to note that I say the Mermaid Gardens are famed on the word of one Asai, proprietor of the Sakura Roots. He under whose roof we stay this night.

I don’t know what to make of these latest events. It all seemed straightforward enough. We woke, we had breakfast, we visited the markets. And then another of those strange nekogoblins tried to steal Princess Kamiko’s soap!

We caught him before he could get away, but the yaoguai was so insistent the Princess ended up giving him her soap anyway. Although that did give her the opportunity to purchase a new, cute bar of soap with a cat emblazoned upon it. I bought for myself a new cloak, with a fox image – it seems everything here has a cute animal image. That’s strange but comforting.

The theft was bizarre however, and made weirder by the townsfolk asking if we could restore order and get those nekogoblins to stop thieving from them every day. I’m not sure why they thought we could solve their problems. Maybe because we are new and we showed an interest, or everyone else has tried and failed. But Buchi had already got away with the soap and the Princess was feeling sick, so we set aside our pursuit for tomorrow.

This time we spotted Buchi well enough for the day’s theft, and we didn’t have any problem trailing him back to the camp where the rest of the nekogoblins live. I wasn’t sure what to do next. How do you convince people to stop stealing and conduct themselves right? When we caught Buchi the day before, and the Princess gave him her soap, he still ran off gloating that he stole it.

The Princess wanted to try some sort of ritual. Apparently she can do magic? Apparently magic exists? Maybe that is another property of this strange world… can I do magic? She never mentioned it before so, I don’t know. I suppose I must get used to it because- well.

I set myself up to guard while she performed her ritual. Just as well, as near the conclusion one of the sentries decided to stroll in our direction. I tried to create a distraction to keep em away and failed miserably. Fortunately in the fight that followed I acquitted myself much better and I dare say had my opponents fooled into thinking I was some sort of dashing folk hero.

Although I wonder how much they will recall of that, as right away the Princess’ ritual finished and the furry nekogoblins found themselves compelled to cuddle-pile her like the cat-folk they resemble. It was bizarre and unsettling to witness, as if she had suddenly dosed them all with catnip.

With the whole camp converging on the Princess this did give me an opportunity to get into the cave where we guessed the mysterious Matri lived who they were stealing for. But I was not expecting to get such a pounding headache from merely looking at the thing in there. It conjured visions and twisted words to speak, and offered me power.

I like to think I am no fool so I got out of there immediately. I grabbed the Princess out from under her large and purring pile and we started back for the town. Whatever that thing was, it is no ordinary stone and it seemed to me we must learn more about it before we could address whatever influence it has been having over the nekogoblins that they would steal for it.

The Princess is strong-willed, however, and she wanted to take it immediately, so we came back under the cover of darkness and I crept in and took it. As we walked back it spoke to us, bargaining, trying to tempt us with offers of power if we… I don’t think we asked what it wanted in return but it showed the destruction of my home and claimed it could make me strong enough to prevent such things from happening.

It is troubling. We slept unnaturally well that night and in the morning a few of our small belongings had vanished. I suppose that this is why the nekogoblins had been stealing every day, to feed it. We took it right away to the blacksmith hoping to destroy the stone in her forge but what she told us is troubling.

This Matri, this sinister stone is somehow a lump of condensed evil that has fallen from the heavens. The smith says it is unbelievably precious and could be forged into an object of great power if we took it to the imperial city. But it seems to have been growing from what should have been a tiny rock to something much more substantial by consuming nearby objects each night.

I do not trust it. I am concerned, but I find myself strangely reluctant to destroy even a being that is material evil.