Coming back from the wilderness, i found gideon and belfry at a table in the town square still trying to solve mathis' riddle. I tried to contribute as much as possible but certain seeming inconsistencies stumped us all. After a while Belfry excused herself for a moment, but gideon and i were still present when count ko and several other nobles and guardsmen escorted his majesty, king lycergis of dragonreach, through valbrough and toward the tavern, which was still closed as the kitchen staff completed the final preparations for the dragonfall feast.

Gideon took a knee though lycergis was still several stânjens away, and after a moment's hesitation so did i. Though i don't truly see the full benefits of ranked nobility and a monarchy, it is the political state of the land i am trying to call home and i will offer what respect i can muster until a reason arises that takes that respect away. Once the king and his entourage had passed by our location, and belfry had returned, the three of us approached the tavern but still stood a distance away, back behind the main cluster of people waiting to enter, next to some members of moonless nights.

Saro came toward us in a beautiful gown and we all gave her honest compliments. She admitted to being nervous of how to speak if she was asked to as a noble, so based on some of the speeches i've heard in my travels i offered to coach her through some basic toasts, and we rehearsed some very generic lines for a short speech. Her gratitude was evident and she seemed to calm down a considerable amount. Eventually mathis brought king lycergis and count ko and the bodyguard over to meet and speak with gideon and belfry, and i still stayed behind in the «shadows», though when aunt cyn also slowly approached us i circled around the group and took up a position behind her.

Finally the tavern doors opened and the herald announced the commencement of the feast, with the king entering first, then a delegation from the neighboring land of kalinthas, followed by the nobles, knights, other distinguished visitors to the kingdom, aunt cyn (despite her objection) as a former noble (and me by proxy as the only guild guardian currently on duty), and then, as gideon put it, «the rest of us rabble». All of us were asked to give up our weapons and lay them in a temporary armory set up just inside the tavern, to forestall any untoward violence during the feast. Everyone remained at the back end of the tavern for quite a while, standing and socialising, as members of the pride and other servers such as pyke offered us hors d'oeuvres, until after a while the herald asked us to begin taking our seats, and ushered his majesty and the nobles and ambassadors up to the front table.

As we took our seats naomi seemed to notice my discomfort, and asked after it. I explained that, though my clan often ate meals together, it was for familial bonding rather than for celebrating anything in particular. I had never been to a «feast» like this. She encouraged me to relax, express my feelings, and take part in the joviality as much as possible, because in a way this was celebrating the way that the adventuring community had become like a family. As she told me this, the servers came out and we were given wine before anything else, and the king spoke of remembering the old victory against bleak, honouring those who fought, remembering those who died, and we toasted. Count ko and sir mathis also spoke briefly but elegantly, and commander lukas finished the toasts with a more down-to-earth, «to dragonreach! empty your cups!»

Then we were served fresh garden salads with a variety of dressings, breads, potatoes, vegetable pies, onions and peppers. I actually cannot stress just how delicious these dishes were. I was given some strange looks by jane and arai at one point because i was using one of the dressings, a peppered garlic vinaigrette, on not only my salad but also the bread and potatoes. I was too embarrassed to explain that a very similar vinaigrette had been a rare delicacy in my childhood that i used to slather on everything, but not so embarrassed that i didn't keep eating it that way.

Finally the head chefs carried out a massive sow which had spent the day roasting in the huge broiler we all had seen behind the tavern. It, and the chefs, were met with resounding applause. While the master chef had the honour of cutting the pig and serving it to the nobles, the pride served the rest of us with not only sections of the sow but also roasted chicken. To top off the evening, we were treated to a variety of delightful not-too-sweet desserts, among them fruit-topped cheese custard pies and an exotic dessert called tiramisu, which i was too alarmed by the sound of to try but was met with great appreciation by many of the other guests.

Somewhere in the midst of our desserts one of the waitstaff came out of the kitchen and stood at our end of the tavern (arai and i were at the end of one of the long side tables) as though waiting to address the king. I did not realise anything was amiss until other adventurers starting jumping up out of their seats and rushing back to the temporary armory to retrieve their weapons. When i looked around and then up at the waitstaff member, i confess i was petrified upon realising that it (he?) was a mindflare.

But the creature made no move to attack and insisted that he was here to try and offer peace, a treaty, a truce. King lycergis summoned his sword and energy visibly crackled throughout the tavern, then at the king's direction count ko and sir mathis made their way to the «front» and had a somewhat more muted conversation, a negotiations of sorts. I remained in place and didn't hear most of what was said, but it appeared the mindflare, a representative of the illithid, was promising no more attacks in exchange for something.

Sir mathis seemed to have the authority to accept the agreement and he and lord lukas and a few others escorted the illithid out (but not before the illithid asked, and i am not certain whether he was joking, whether any of us needed more refreshments or additional desserts). I believe their ultimate intention was to see where the illithid returned to. After they left the building i finally unfroze long enough to grab my swords and took up a temporary position just outside the tavern, until sir mathis returned to tell us the creature had rifted away, and aunt cyn came out to ask us all on behalf of king lycergis to come back in and resume the celebrations.

Since there had actually been no combat or injury or loss of life - and the nobles and warriors of the realm had given all the pride and our other local waitstaff enslavement antidotes in case the illithid had enslaved them and not merely fooled them with his illusion of normal humanoid appearance - it was actually not too difficult to get everyone back into a celebrating mood. Sir mathis asked for those who would be participating in the bardic competition as well as any submissions for the crafting competition. I had been toying with the idea of offering my voice to the bardic competition but was still a little surprised at myself for standing and volunteering to go first. I do not believe anyone in dragonreach, except perhaps ardos an extremely long time ago, has ever heard me sing.

I prefaced my song with a general bow at king lycergis and the nobles, and then explained, «i actually came to these lands six piszots ago specifically because i heard of the bravery of the adventurers, the nobles, and the knights in facing bleak. As many of you know, my people the selunari are given to wanderlust, and among my clan, the deorsa, this is a lullaby our children often hear, which reminds us that our travels and new experiences are never really over as long as life goes on. We never forget those who have gone before us, or who have fallen in combat, while we journey on.»⁽¹⁾

to all the travellers,

pilgrims longing for a home,

from one who walks with you

on this journey called life's road - 

it is a long and winding road; 

from one who's seen the view

and dreamt of staying on the mountains high

and one who's cried like you

and wanted sometimes just to lay down and die,

i offer this - we must remember this: 

we are not home yet

we are not home yet

keep on looking ahead

let your heart not forget

we are not home yet

not home yet 

so close your eyes with me

and hear the family saying "welcome home"

and let us find our strength

and all our promises to carry on

then let us journey on and let us not forget: 

we are not home yet

we are not home yet

keep on looking ahead

let your heart not forget

we are not home yet 

we are not home yet

keep on looking ahead

let your heart not forget

we are not home yet --

not home yet.⁽¹⁾

I was actually honoured and touched to see that many of the nobles looked very pensive and thoughtful during the performance. I honestly did not know how it would be received but the entire assemblage applauded when i was done. 

The moonless nights performed «the mostly true tale of bleak», which i understand has become a tradition the last few years since the dragonfall festival was installed by lycergis. They, and i, were the only entries into the bardic competition, so instead of awarding a winner, his majesty simply asked us all to approach the front table and honoured every one of us with a patronage of coins and gems. Likewise, blue was the only person who had brought something to be submitted for the crafting competition (saro had as well but after seeing blue's drawing of lycergis and the dragon, done with coloured ash sticks, she deemed her own submission «too crappy» to contend and withdrew), and was suitably rewarded.

Shortly thereafter, aunt cyn signalled me over to her seat near the front of the tavern and personally introduced me to king lycergis, which surprised me a bit, until i realised she was doing so in my capacity as a guardian of the earth healers' guild. The king was a patron of the healing house and wanted to see how it was faring, so aunt cyn, jotai, and myself led the king (followed at a distance by his bodyguard) across the town square toward the yurt, where aunt cyn had already re-lit the candles for the evening.

The preparations that aunt cyn and i had made were well-received. The pennants of the earth guild, of dragonreach, of county koroshi, the night riders, the emerald flame, the pride, the iranis, and of forgotten hope hung around the entire yurt. And although apparently aunt cyn had had occasion to enter and use the resurrection circle that afternoon while i had been away meditating, it remained organised and well-decorated and comfortable. She believes (sensibly) that a person who must be resurrected should be returned to mortal coil in comfortable surroundings, which includes a number of robes since most people don't have their bodies reform with clothes on.

King lycergis was quite pleased to see the earth guild was doing well and was still so warm and inviting, and commented in particular to aunt cyn while i was near enough to hear that «it reminds me of time spent here in my youth.» Having won the praise of the king for aunt cyn and her healers, the five of us returned cautiously through the dark back to the hall of heroes where his majesty could be situated comfortably at his head table again and watch the remaining festivities.

As for myself, aunt cyn knew that i would be checking on some of my veterinary clients in onothera the following day, so she was not surprised when i said i would have to make the walk back to the capital myself immediately. As always she simply adjured me to remain safe, and I promised I would and left her with a hug. The biggest benefit of having so little in the way of material possessions is that I could simply return to the healing house, pack up my bedding and my single taming bag, and head down the main road out of valbrough in the quiet of the forest night.

---

(1) The song I presented for the Dragonfall Bardic Festival is a modification of the 1997 song "Not Home Yet" by Steven Curtis Chapman. In Alliance LARP there is no religion and no mention of religions, so I modified some lyrics and omitted others. The original song can be heard on YouTube here.

✨ Not Home Yet (Part 1 of 2)

The caravan arrived in valbrough exceedingly late, probably well into the 55th ghurry, but even then after i took my leave of the caravan with gratitude i could not find aunt cyn at the healing house. Typically this means she is entertaining or being entertained at the hall of heroes, so after making sure my šerogada was properly covering my wounds i made my way across the city to the tavern. The moonless nights happened to be in energetic discussion outside of the tavern and when they recognised me they seemed delighted that i had returned safely - since, like most of the adventurers, they had not seen me since before the vornae attack (and in the case of a new selunari member named asher, had never met me before) - but saro, ever the quick one, could see that something was wrong with me. I waved it off, and the arrival of robert distracted the gang from asking more questions. 

Peeking inside the tavern i did not immediately see aunt cyn or any of her elaborate gowns, so i stepped back aside and asked the permission of arai, who was lounging at the corner of the building, if i could meditate in the shade of the trees near him and the tavern. He said it would not disturb him, and i took a seat on the ground a few stânjens off the side of the tavern and began meditating. While i could still "read" the all-fauna connexion, or at least hear it, i still have not regained the arcane charming that i had not that long ago. Nor did i expect to regain it quickly; i intended to repeat the slow following of my path from the beginning as i had done the first time, in the hopes of finding and this time keeping the talent.

After quite a while i watched a wolf pass through an outer part of the town, somewhat absent-mindedly, and observed it until it went behind another building out of my line of sight. Arai asked quietly if i had seen it, and i also quietly confirmed it, then he drew me attention in the other direction where a similarly behaving bear was approaching. I confess to my shame i could not bring myself to attack it when it came near and got somewhat hostile, and arai had to dispose of it. I did, however, deal with the wolf when it was attracted by the din and came back around the side of the tavern. A number of these animals, and snakes as well, were crawling throughout the wilderness and strangely venturing into the town. I went into the tavern as a courtesy to let everyone assembled there know, though we were all safe within since none of the creatures could open the doors, and since we realised that was the case i decided i might as well stay inside.

The throng merrily gathered inside the hall of heroes this evening were decidedly unconcerned about the wild animals aside, focused as they were on various parchments and oddments. On closer examination they appeared to be copies of puzzles and riddles, and there was an abundant number of them. I wasn't sure what occasioned this unofficial contest of the mind, so as i looked around i spotted mathis, whom i've come to rely on as a very knowledgeable man. In answer to my question he said it was simply a part of the dragonfall festival, and almost in the same breath he realised that this was the first year i'd been in dragonreach for the festival, and took a few minutes to explain to me about how nobles and knights would all offer riddles to everyone who came to the festival, and by solving these riddles or participating in other games or contests, visitors to valbrough could earn «chits» that could then be spent on special goods or favours donated on behalf of the dragonfall festival.

Trying to enter into the spirit of the event, i welcomed a new adventurer, kantor, and agreed to his request to try and help him reason out one of the riddles - mathis' own invention, in fact. Not only was it a riddle, but the words of the riddle had been encoded in an alphabetical cipher of some kind with absolutely no hint towards its translation. Kailisa joined us and also tried to help us out, after mathis mentioned to all three of us that we could all jointly turn in what we believed to be the solution and all of us would earn chits. 

While we worked on the riddle, the celestine elf that had been in the hall of heroes since i had arrived came over and told us about the vault labyrinth being held as one of the dragonfall events - an old abandoned treasure vault comprised of multiple rooms with random doorways, puzzles, various guardian creatures, and magic traps, which the celestine guild was offering as an adventurers' challenge. It sounded interesting but i wasn't sure if i was ready to commit to joining a team yet.

Every time the tavern door opened i glanced up, both making sure it was not a suddenly intelligent animal (or something worse like an elemental) and also seeing if it was aunt cyn. When she finally did arrive at almost the 58th ghurry, she was probably quite surprised at the great relief with which i greeted her, though she was also delighted to see me safely. Unfortunately i had to pull her aside to a private table and both tell and show her that «safe» was not entirely accurate. I had the foresight to wear a patch  (haphazard and ugly) of plaster over the scarred eyeball itself, but the scars that surrounded it on the left side of my face were clearly visible. Catching sight of the matching wounds on my arm, aunt cyn asked if she could heal me, and i had to explain the truth of what i had done to myself: i had suffered such a crisis of faith when the gift of the whisperers failed me, that i allowed the infection which had set in and raised the scars to touch my spirit as well. 

By my own failure of self my spirit itself was also scarred and my eye was permanently disfigured. Even a restore limb would not suffice because i was effectively «punishing» myself for my own failure. Aunt cyn could not really understand this, though she tried, but at least she comprehended that i was at a very low point and sought some much-needed familiarity. When i mentioned that my old tent had been left behind in the wylds after the night of the vornae attack, she immediately told me to use the patients' cot in the healing house while i was here for the festival. She also, quite randomly but also perfectly normal for anyone who knows her, pulled out a proper cloth eyepatch decorated with numerous gemstones which she said had come from a different selunari caravan. What had prompted her to keep it with her, and have it on her at that exact moment, i will never know, but i accepted it gratefully.

It was fortunate that we had enough time to have this private conversation, for aunt cyn (despite insisting she is not a lady or a noble any longer) is held in high esteem in the community and is often sought out by residents and newcomers alike. So it was that as we were finishing this conversation, we were asked by a dryad and a biata if they might join us, for they were new to the area and had been pointed in aunt cyn's direction. Warmly we welcomed them both (while i quickly raised my šerogada again so as not to alarm them) - the dryad was a maple barkskin named nya treesap, and the biata was called sy quickclaw. This was a moment of minor excitement for me, because in spite of all of my travels, the one race i had not yet encountered was the biata. He seemed a very agreeable fellow, though i could instantly see why other races consider the biata to be very proud.

After a brief conversation between aunt cyn, nya, sy, and myself, saro came over and asked aunt cyn if she might borrow me for several minutes, to which aunt cyn said of course. Saro was having an official meeting of the moonless nights now that nearly everyone had arrived for the dragonfall festival, including mere initiates such as myself. Two questions she had specifically for me were where i had been, and why i hadn't been involved in gang-specific activities as of late. I explained how i had escaped the vornae attack and had been temporarily housed in onothera for the last several nundines, and reminded her that i had always said my duties to the earth guild would have to come first. However, if anything came up while i was in town and off-duty, she did not need to hesitate asking for me to accompany or assist them. This seemed to mollify her, and had the added bonus of being truthful. 

13 made a point to ask me if the biata (sy) had touched me or done anything to me, to which i replied no, not that i was aware of. He then asked if the biata had mentioned the freyguard, to which i also answered no. In answer to my look of confusion, he and several other members of the moonless nights explained that the freyguard, which worked with red-eyed biata (or perhaps vice versa, i was a little confused on the details), had previously enslaved many kin and was the reason most kin were distrustful of the biata in general. The moonless nights also asked about why i was wearing my «scarrf» up instead of taking it down around my neck as i usually did once inside the tavern, and i explained in brief about the bear attack two nundines, though with less detail than i had with aunt cyn. At saro's request i did take my šerogada down, and the gang in general told me it really wasn't that bad and i shouldn't be ashamed about my battle scars.

Conversation then turned to saro herself, when i mentioned that i had heard rumours about her being elevated to a duchess, and she confirmed them. She informed me (and others that had not previously heard) that she now oversaw a duchy which she had named the crimson port, in a mist continent to the north called eloria.

With the moonless nights dismissed and my attention returned to the dragonfall festivities, i tried in vain to rejoin kantor and kai in solving mathis' riddle, but i was getting nowhere fast. So instead to distract myself, and enter a different sort of event, i signed up for a team entering the celestine's vault with nya, sy, ceridwyn, jotai, a deerkin named jane, and a kin named blue - who turned out to be a bunnykin, but due my bad eyesight and her habit of frequently hiding from unfamiliar people and things i thought at first she was a dogkin. Almost immediately after we formed our team (which we all allowed the numerous dryads to name «the saplings»), the celestine sensed that the vault was ready for the next contending team and invited us into the celestial circle, from whence we were rifted into the entry room of the vault itself.

In each room of the vault any available doors (north, south, east, and west) were magically closed and locked until the creatures within were defeated, the puzzle within solved, or the trap within triggered (or disabled). At that point certain doors would open, not necessarily predictable ones; i believe it was ceridwen who suggested that we simply always go left until we could no longer, and retrace our steps to proceed. Altogether i believe our group managed to get five rooms into the labyrinth before we were «killed» by a second group of the strange vague darkling creatures. However, the celestine had told us beforehand that his guild had enchanted the vault to rift us out and cast a life spell on us before we had to resurrect if we had been dead within the vault for at least a minute. Thus we all came out of the experience no worse for wear, and with at least a little treasure from a few of the puzzles we had solved.

Around the time that we rifted back into the hall of heroes, another of the barons of the kingdom of dragonsreach entered the tavern to officiate a drinking contest, and i declined to enter as i do not partake of spirits. However, since aunt cyn and nya had both been convinced to contend, and mathis was going to as well, i intended to watch... until i realised that even while actively walking the length of the tavern i was also actively falling asleep. I dutifully informed aunt cyn of the change in plans and wished her luck before heading out to the healing house to go to bed, with her reminder to «be safe» following me out the tavern door. by that late hour of the night even the wild animals from earlier had apparently gone to bed; i reached the guild hall uncontested and settled myself and my meager belongings onto the patients' cot easily, drifting into sleep with very little effort.

In the morning i was faintly woken by the sounds of aunt cyn, apparently fetching a few items from the guild store before heading back to her inn room. I waited until she left before i removed my blanket and put my shirt back on, took several minutes to wake up fully and get around, and then headed for the tavern myself. There only banradi and mathis were around - besides the kitchen staff, who were working frantically in preparation of the evening's feast. i understood most of the pride was assisting, and in fact i caught an occasional glimpse of collette, primarily in charge of the organisation of the feast, dashing back and forth between the dishroom and the ovens. Eventually aunt cyn and jotai joined us at the tavern, and the five of us had a bit of a discussion about an elemental war - i was unaware of - which banradi and mathis were quite sure was responsible for the fluctuations in magics and skills on the prime plane, including the interruption of my whisperers transform.

After a while more of the adventuring community and the laymen of valbrough began to filter in as their days began. In spite of the feast preparations the tavernkeepers had provided a wonderful breakfast of hotcakes, bacon, and beaten eggs. While appreciatively stuffing my face 13 came over to my table with a contract and asked if i might assist. In the spirit of my offer last night to the moonless nights i said of course, though he still kindly provided details to me - we were trying to pursue a red-eyed biata and some men with black sword tattoos on their faces, which i inferred had something to do with the freyguard that his people and many other kin clans had suffered under.

Later, when breakfast was complete and many of us were socialising outside of the tavern, 13 let everyone know he was about to activate the contract magic and we all rifted out, though even with the warning arai and i were slightly delayed for some reason -- probably the interference of the damnable elemental war yet again. In the forest clearing where we ended up, we did not find the biata, but we did find one of the black sword men in a circle of power, surrounded by a number of blank-faced personages. The tattooed man told us at first not to approach him, and then ordered a mind-controlled prisoner to kill herself when we ignored him and kept approaching. This was the signal for us to truly rush him instead of merely walking calmly, and we ended up fighting several of the prisoners themselves before mathis(?) was able to get through and knock out the man in question. At his signal, 13 then quickly ripped the contract up and the contract magic rifted us back to valbrough; however, the man's prone body was not rifted with us. Mathis mournfully reflected that his name had not been on the contract.

Another brief period of chatting and catching up with old friends transpired, but nothing of significant importance i feel the need to write down. So barring further events, after a ghurry or two i chose to go into the woods around valbrough again - possibly to find the remains of my tent if it has not been snatched up or torn apart after all this time, but much more importantly, to do my normal afternoon meditations and continue trying to re-trace the all-fauna.