Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
[5E] The Age of Worms - Solid Snake's Campaign
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Alexander Bryant1" data-source="post: 7837067" data-attributes="member: 6916184"><p><strong>Journal of Etona 29</strong></p><p></p><p>I wake, drifting down, in Rey’s arms. I smile at her.</p><p></p><p>“Hello,” I say.</p><p></p><p>“Thank the, your, goddess!” she replies. “You’re back.”</p><p></p><p>“Where did I go?”</p><p></p><p>“That is good question. I was going to fence a yard and carve a bowl for what of you remained behind.”</p><p></p><p>We touch down and she falls silent.</p><p></p><p>We are under the canopy of the nightmare forest. Black, slimy, quivering things: these are no one’s definition of <em>tree</em>. They crowd us in, covered in sticky, ebon sap, if that is what it is. It feels as if they are bending over to examine us, inching towards us step-by-step somehow, not exactly with menace but a sort of desperate hunger. They are frozen banshees wailing in silence.</p><p></p><p>I don’t have any recollection of getting here, but it cannot be important now: I see what these monstrous creatures of bark are doing to my companions. One by one they are succumbing to centuries of despair heaped on them in seconds.</p><p></p><p>Incongruously, Her full face shines on the scene. She stands at <em>mirren, quenae sehan</em>, full moon at midnight, and I sense She is here in some manner.</p><p></p><p>She wants this suffering to end.</p><p></p><p>My Lady of The Root You Trip Over Because She Shadowed It Just So is wrathful, petulant, and scheming. But She is also ever a goddess of love, and She never intends punishment to be forever. In the end She craves, as I do, a good story with a happy ending. Even in the face of – or perhaps because of – rebellion against Her edicts. Yes, She is cold white radiance, but She is our guiding light as well.</p><p></p><p>I know what to do.</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>There is a single tree here that stands out from all the other sad ones. It is larger than the others by far, and it creaks with misery. This is the dryad, Meleeta. Her hopelessness is infecting everyone except the <em>naen’amo Emersanine,</em> Verdre and me, the Children of the Mirror. I see it in their motions, hear it in their voices.</p><p></p><p>Meleeta stands in brackish water that, Jodan discovers when he splashes into it for some reason, is infested with schools of tiny, sharp-toothed fish. He runs out out of the deadly water but then turns around again, enchantment plain in his eyes. Verdre catches this despondence and summons something barely visible, an air being of some kind, perhaps an elemental? Can she do this now? It is astonishing to me to watch my aunt grow into an arch-druid.</p><p></p><p>The elemental keeps Jodan down so that he does not wade through the carnivorous brine to a sentient tree of pain.</p><p></p><p>I look for Treig and Rey. My dragon protector has walked right up to the dryad’s trunk and splayed herself on it! The tree has opened a maw and is just … swallowing her up. This must be what Jodan reacted to. I race to her but I cannot pull her free. Verdre doesn’t see this: she is on the far side with Treig and Citiana who is waking up and looking around.</p><p></p><p>We must end all this.</p><p></p><p>I press my own hands to the bark.</p><p></p><p>“I am here to free you, Meleena. I am here to end this curse.”</p><p></p><p>Immediately branches groan and limbs shift. A woody face emerges among the boughs.</p><p></p><p>“Are you a daughter of the moon?” it says.</p><p></p><p>“I am. And I have brought Citiana.”</p><p></p><p>“Bring her to me.”</p><p></p><p>“Treig, over here. Treig? Treig!”</p><p></p><p>He had fought off the spell of this place longer than the others but was rapidly succumbing now. My cries spur him to action: he guides the priestess across the water to stand next to me. Then he just stops. The calm, faintly amused soul that is our Gray Fox leaves his eyes which become as dull glass.</p><p></p><p>How am I to do this? I feel charged with potential but have not skill nor wit to start much less complete this unknown ritual. Everyone is waiting. And She is watching.</p><p></p><p>She has led me here to end their suffering. I can only say the words I hope are true.</p><p></p><p>“Meleena and Citiana,” I call out. “In Sehanine’s name I free you both from your punishment.”</p><p></p><p>It catches me in the small of the back, a feeling like lightning and ice. It is fast, numbing my body in an instant save for my fingertips which feel like fire. I see everything truly now, and I know my eyes have gone silver again. I see the dryad and the elf as they were, young and longing for one another; I see the glade as a beautiful, peaceful place, night birds chirping under clear skies and Her full face. I see what should be.</p><p></p><p>The tree twists and the lovely dryad emerges standing in front of her lover who now stands tall before her. They are grasping one another’s hands. Citiana looks at me, and I think I know what she is asking.</p><p></p><p>“Yes,” I answer. “She lived a long life, your daughter, untouched by your past deed.”</p><p></p><p>She returns her gaze to Meleena, and they begin to age, centuries in seconds. But they are not alarmed; they are at peace, resigned. They eventually fall together, content, and lean until they are but dust in the cool night breeze.</p><p></p><p>A movement against the moon: the Nightmare is coming, but then it is not. It dissolves and rains, too, as dust on the scene.</p><p></p><p>Her Lunar Majesty’s face flares: I feel more than see it in the sky. And now another is here, a silver woman, translucent, walking among us. I am not on my knees, weeping or blind or any other of the states I would be were I standing before the Goddess, so it is not She. Verdre mouths, “The daughter,” and yes, I see the resemblance.</p><p></p><p>The woman moves to where her mother dissolved. We are the ghosts in this scene, ancient statues in a park, none of us moving, none of us even daring to breathe.</p><p></p><p>She scoops up a handful of her ash and smears it across her eyes and cheeks, then she blows the remainder across the glade. It lands on all of us, and where it touches the others I see the glowing traces of where she smoothed the soot across her own face. I imagine I bear the same mark.</p><p></p><p>As the ash scatters, her very body unravels to join it, and she is gone.</p><p></p><p>The ooze draws back into what remains of the tree trunk and hardens there.</p><p></p><p>Dawn.</p><p></p><p>I do not know what else awaits me in the world, but if I have lived for this moment – to bring Sehanine’s forgiveness to these two storied lovers – then it is enough.</p><p></p><p>Rey and Jodan and Treig have all risen to their feet, their old selves back. I begin a song, an old human ballad that I was taught by some Roma I used to know.</p><p></p><p><em>Time from me passes on, and I'm growing old,</em></p><p><em>A lifetime nearly gone. I cannot unfold</em></p><p><em>Nights dark and cold.</em></p><p><em>But warm is your hand in mine,</em></p><p><em>Feeble with ageless time,</em></p><p><em>The light of love still shine,</em></p><p><em>After All These Years…</em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Alexander Bryant1, post: 7837067, member: 6916184"] [B]Journal of Etona 29[/B] I wake, drifting down, in Rey’s arms. I smile at her. “Hello,” I say. “Thank the, your, goddess!” she replies. “You’re back.” “Where did I go?” “That is good question. I was going to fence a yard and carve a bowl for what of you remained behind.” We touch down and she falls silent. We are under the canopy of the nightmare forest. Black, slimy, quivering things: these are no one’s definition of [I]tree[/I]. They crowd us in, covered in sticky, ebon sap, if that is what it is. It feels as if they are bending over to examine us, inching towards us step-by-step somehow, not exactly with menace but a sort of desperate hunger. They are frozen banshees wailing in silence. I don’t have any recollection of getting here, but it cannot be important now: I see what these monstrous creatures of bark are doing to my companions. One by one they are succumbing to centuries of despair heaped on them in seconds. Incongruously, Her full face shines on the scene. She stands at [I]mirren, quenae sehan[/I], full moon at midnight, and I sense She is here in some manner. She wants this suffering to end. My Lady of The Root You Trip Over Because She Shadowed It Just So is wrathful, petulant, and scheming. But She is also ever a goddess of love, and She never intends punishment to be forever. In the end She craves, as I do, a good story with a happy ending. Even in the face of – or perhaps because of – rebellion against Her edicts. Yes, She is cold white radiance, but She is our guiding light as well. I know what to do. *** There is a single tree here that stands out from all the other sad ones. It is larger than the others by far, and it creaks with misery. This is the dryad, Meleeta. Her hopelessness is infecting everyone except the [I]naen’amo Emersanine,[/I] Verdre and me, the Children of the Mirror. I see it in their motions, hear it in their voices. Meleeta stands in brackish water that, Jodan discovers when he splashes into it for some reason, is infested with schools of tiny, sharp-toothed fish. He runs out out of the deadly water but then turns around again, enchantment plain in his eyes. Verdre catches this despondence and summons something barely visible, an air being of some kind, perhaps an elemental? Can she do this now? It is astonishing to me to watch my aunt grow into an arch-druid. The elemental keeps Jodan down so that he does not wade through the carnivorous brine to a sentient tree of pain. I look for Treig and Rey. My dragon protector has walked right up to the dryad’s trunk and splayed herself on it! The tree has opened a maw and is just … swallowing her up. This must be what Jodan reacted to. I race to her but I cannot pull her free. Verdre doesn’t see this: she is on the far side with Treig and Citiana who is waking up and looking around. We must end all this. I press my own hands to the bark. “I am here to free you, Meleena. I am here to end this curse.” Immediately branches groan and limbs shift. A woody face emerges among the boughs. “Are you a daughter of the moon?” it says. “I am. And I have brought Citiana.” “Bring her to me.” “Treig, over here. Treig? Treig!” He had fought off the spell of this place longer than the others but was rapidly succumbing now. My cries spur him to action: he guides the priestess across the water to stand next to me. Then he just stops. The calm, faintly amused soul that is our Gray Fox leaves his eyes which become as dull glass. How am I to do this? I feel charged with potential but have not skill nor wit to start much less complete this unknown ritual. Everyone is waiting. And She is watching. She has led me here to end their suffering. I can only say the words I hope are true. “Meleena and Citiana,” I call out. “In Sehanine’s name I free you both from your punishment.” It catches me in the small of the back, a feeling like lightning and ice. It is fast, numbing my body in an instant save for my fingertips which feel like fire. I see everything truly now, and I know my eyes have gone silver again. I see the dryad and the elf as they were, young and longing for one another; I see the glade as a beautiful, peaceful place, night birds chirping under clear skies and Her full face. I see what should be. The tree twists and the lovely dryad emerges standing in front of her lover who now stands tall before her. They are grasping one another’s hands. Citiana looks at me, and I think I know what she is asking. “Yes,” I answer. “She lived a long life, your daughter, untouched by your past deed.” She returns her gaze to Meleena, and they begin to age, centuries in seconds. But they are not alarmed; they are at peace, resigned. They eventually fall together, content, and lean until they are but dust in the cool night breeze. A movement against the moon: the Nightmare is coming, but then it is not. It dissolves and rains, too, as dust on the scene. Her Lunar Majesty’s face flares: I feel more than see it in the sky. And now another is here, a silver woman, translucent, walking among us. I am not on my knees, weeping or blind or any other of the states I would be were I standing before the Goddess, so it is not She. Verdre mouths, “The daughter,” and yes, I see the resemblance. The woman moves to where her mother dissolved. We are the ghosts in this scene, ancient statues in a park, none of us moving, none of us even daring to breathe. She scoops up a handful of her ash and smears it across her eyes and cheeks, then she blows the remainder across the glade. It lands on all of us, and where it touches the others I see the glowing traces of where she smoothed the soot across her own face. I imagine I bear the same mark. As the ash scatters, her very body unravels to join it, and she is gone. The ooze draws back into what remains of the tree trunk and hardens there. Dawn. I do not know what else awaits me in the world, but if I have lived for this moment – to bring Sehanine’s forgiveness to these two storied lovers – then it is enough. Rey and Jodan and Treig have all risen to their feet, their old selves back. I begin a song, an old human ballad that I was taught by some Roma I used to know. [I]Time from me passes on, and I'm growing old, A lifetime nearly gone. I cannot unfold Nights dark and cold. But warm is your hand in mine, Feeble with ageless time, The light of love still shine, After All These Years…[/I] [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
[5E] The Age of Worms - Solid Snake's Campaign
Top