Description
This human is coated head to toe in three things: Mud, fierce red and black
warpaint, and cords of ropy muscle wrapped around thick, strong limbs. A
wave of chestnut hair is tamed partially by the mud coating her. Around her
mouth and eyes are tribal markings in the shape of a bear's face over her
own, visible beneath the mud and cracked dirt coating her. Despite her
unusual height and fierce appearance, the bear's mouth will often part in a
smile, revealing white, straight teeth in a broad and genuine smile of joy.
Role
Letter Home
Added Sat Dec 30 19:45:27 2023 at level 37:
Hey Fam!
It's me, Raveghna! Have you forgotten all about me already? Haha, no, I know
this letter was late but I've been having such an exciting time here
adventuring. Who knew that once I left the Paradise Compound out in the wilds
near South Darein, but never the embrace of our Eternal Mortal Father and
Divine Prophet Father Jim obviously, I would meet so many new people with such
interesting interests and exciting personalities! They've been great! While I
was perfectly happy living physically with the Family and my old man, I've
made so many friends and formed so many new teams! Rangers! Heralds! Nature!
Adventurers! Knockouts! So many moving, diverse groups welcoming each other!
I've learned more about Maijanii and I feel that the symbols and runes used by
our family, and which decorate this six three tall drink of cool water, might
be of use in sussing out if she's possessed by her sister or not. Imagine!
Putting two souls in one body! How exciting would that be?! I'll be consulting
the marvelous Joihe to find out more about this, hopefully!
Find the enclosed 100 gold that I'm sending in as my monthly tithe to the
Church. I pray to Father that there will be enough and enough time to get the
walls repaired before the mutie kobols and cannibal tribes manage to get
through and we have to flee to the caves again. (A small, unhappy face is
drawn here.)
Love ya!
Ravy
P.S.: You probably already saw it but I've also sent home a bunch of honey for
the old man. I know he's a fiend for it but try not to let him eat it all up
at once again! The healer said he shouldn't!
Letter Home 137
Added Wed Apr 3 18:48:35 2024 at level 51:
[This stationary is decorated with exciting swirls, cute cats, stars, and
encouraging messages including "Hang in there, baby!", and "You're a star!"]
Heyyyyyyy home!
You'll be happy to know that, as required by our faith, I have mercilessly and
constantly attacked Dagdan and its merchants for casting out Father Jim and
sending him into the wilds. I've also been roughing up that guard commander
who the scripture said was rude to him on his way to where he would build the
Paradise Compound. Speaking of, please put my tithe in the donation box.
As you already know from my last letter, Dhuuston has become a demigod that is
going to one day be killed when Father Jim, the Divine Father and Mortal
Prophet, ascends to the heavens and devours both the sun all the other divine
beings. [a small sad face has been drawn here] I'm going to miss him! He and
Winny made a cute couple.
But on a brighter note, I've continued making the best of friends while
outside of the Compound. People I'm really going to miss on that day which, as
mentioned, the sun will be eaten. But in the meantime I've become even better
at cooking and have found what might be my true passion besides serving the
Father: Hunting bullettes!
Haven't made contact with Joihe yet, but I've met some of her Cadre fellows
and they seem alright! I don't think they're the heretics that the Father
warns us about so I'll probably keep palling around with them and see where
that takes me. (Hopefully not to eternal perdition! [a smiling, optimistic
face has been drawn here])
Anyway, I'm glad that yall were able to get back into the Compound after what
happened with the wasps and the uneasy alliance they formed with those mutie
alligators. Sorry about the Old Man breaking into our larder and drinking all
the beer and passing out in front of the door. You know how he is!
All my love (save for that which is reserved for and required by the Father)
Ravy!
P.S. What's this about a wedding?! I'm going to have a SEVENTEETH mom?! I'm so
excited!!! [wedding bells, doves, a bloody axe, and a spray of entrails
decorate this passage]
The Old Man's Side of the Story
Added Wed Jul 31 19:18:50 2024 at level 51:
The shadowy, massive figure of Raveghna's old man separated itself from the
lime tree out behind the Inn, moving silently throughout the place, studying
every bit of the garden, stage, and revelry behind the Inn. He had been
invited to this place by what had once been the strange, fearless girl he had
found alone in the forest barrens surrounding the Paradise Compound, one of
the deadliest places he had found during his extensive travels of Thera. The
Compound itself would have not existed without him aiding the man who had led
Raveghna's ancestors to the place, showing them the ways to survive in the
hostile environment and build the home full of new, delicious foods, drinks,
and experiences that he was encouraged to partake in as a trusted outsider and
beloved, if unruly, ally. Raveghna was the first member of the Compound who
had ventured outside of its relatively safe bounds and both he and Father Jim
had realized it would be impossible to keep her contained in the place due to
her adventurous streak. The old man had decided to equip her with the
knowledge and wisdoms that he had gained during his travels to prevent her
untimely demise at the hands of savage beasts and other dangers before she
could even begin venturing out on her own.
During the mentorship, he had realized that the most obvious place for the
young girl, now older, would be the Inn of the Eternal Star due to her fierce
amicability and desire to gather friends around her. This first occurred to
him while watching her wrestle and attempt to drag dire wolves, crocodiles,
and other beasts into place at the elaborate, pretend tea parties and
festivals she would host impromptu in the barrens. There were probably safer
events she could host that wouldn't require him to swoop in and rip the
angered monsters to pieces. Probably. Either way, nudging her in that
direction had seemed to work. As she had risen within the Inn and regaled him
with tales of exciting adventure, he was deeply interested in what
civilization nurtured within the wild charge of his and decided to watch from
behind the Inn as he slowly progressed towards the sunset of his life. Also,
Raveghna had begun leaving plenty of delicious treats behind the Inn for him
and the flocks of creatures Winya brought home. Despite his wisdom, he failed
to notice that the treats were perfectly aligned with the diet plan the
healers at the Compound had instituted for him after they had accidentally
overindulged him.
The old man, still moving unnoticed even while strolling through his memories,
approached the Lyceum to investigate the strange building as well. He paused
as he locked eyes with Maellina at the front desk. The two acknowledged each
other as fellow apex predators, stone still while waiting for the other to
take action. Maellina clearly was an enormous threat, unwilling to let TWO
messy individuals come and go as they pleased and she obviously was going to
stand her ground.
The Old Man Cont.
Added Wed Jul 31 19:19:16 2024 at level 51:
The old man snorted, not at all INTIMIDATED by the bespectacled woman, he had
just decided to move on to something more interesting. Besides, it probably
wasn't even that interesting in there and he had never really liked reading so
it was perfectly natural he avoid it and Maellina who he was NOT afraid of.
[Letter From Home 637]
Added Wed Jul 31 19:22:05 2024 at level 51:
[The stationary this letter was written on is clearly printed for Raveghna as
it's decorated with pictures of cute bears, phrases including "We miss you
bear-y much", and updates from Family members written in the margins.]
My beloved Daughter,
How pleased I am to have your letters read to me by your Mothers about how you
have risen to leadership and forged strong bonds with outsiders. Though they
may be damned to eternal perdition come the Day of Reckoning, I all too well
still remember the joys of cultivating new friendships from previous strangers
and discovering how you may help each other grow.
It has been a boon to have you out in civilization, though you are missed
here, due to your ability to comfort me during my agony as I wrestle with my
divinity. It reminds me of the mortal aspect of myself and grounds me with
fond recollections of why I built our home and who I built it for. I built it
for you, Daughter, for your Mothers, your Brothers, your Sisters, for myself,
for all of us. As the nursery rhyme goes, "We do not begrudge the sinful and
wicked, though to hell they have bought their ticket, the fleeting joys and
passion of the mortal are to be enjoyed while alive, it reminds us of why we
live towards the Totality of the Teeth, which only the faithful shall survive.
Fear, child, fear that you may one day live outside of Father's grace and be
one whom the fire wasps and furious devils shall chase. Before they all
devoured by Father Jim, eating all before Him."
I feel I am blessed even more than normal to hear that you have decided to
make your goal hosting more events at your Inn and bring as many new Heralds
into your fold as you can to help even more with reminding me of the joys of
mortality and the gifts mortals can bring even to the divine. It comes as no
surprise to me that you have excelled as its leader thanks to the teachings
our Mothers and old man provided. Also, you were always great at public
speaking. I feel you will always desire to hunt, but as you have matured, I
have been glad to see you focus less on external joys of hunting and internal
fulfillment of building your own Family outside of the Compound. While I'll be
unable to feel on that day, while I am still mortal I feel I would almost
regret having to devour them and your legacy (but not you, faithful) as well.
You are truly beloved by us all. Don't forget to pay your tithe. The dire
beavers have begun eating away at our steel fences and the hill folk have
become even more frothingly rabid than normal. We may have to flee to the
caves soon but I will guide us through this turmoil, the same as I do every
summer.
Yours,
Divine Father and Mortal Prophet Jim
P.S.: Who is this Maellina that sends us angry letters about you tracking dirt
into The Lyceum and not putting books back where they belong? How is she
having them delivered to us?
Guilt
Added Mon Sep 30 20:24:08 2024 at level 51:
Raveghna charged through the dark forest, relying on her years spent in them
to navigate through the dark sea of trees and brush yet even the accomplished
ranger, veteran of her guild, drew breaths in harsh, jagged gasps, each one
sending knives through her side with each pump of her arms. She had been
running for hours it seemed, the bear turned into the rabbit as she ran for
her life from the snapping and shuffling sounds of her pursuer.
It was not her normal retreat from battle, something calculated and patient as
she drew back to recover and whittle down her quarry but a blind, stumbling
charge through the night, falling down gulleys and tripping over stones, each
time agonizingly pushing herself back to her feet to gain even a little more
distance from the creatures which hissed and dragged themselves along the
path, the sound of low, wet gurgling baying from behind her.
She was alone in the dark woods, not in the way that she sought solitude
during her travels, but alone in the way that was warned against through
tales, stories, songs, and warnings to the children of the Paradise Compound.
Being alone in the wilds was a Very Bad Thing. Without the family to help you,
you were certain to meet your demise from the monsters with big, white teeth
and glowing eyes that relentlessly stalked the edges of the Compound, waiting
for foolhardy little boys and girls to swallow up whole.
Without the Old Man, or Father, or Mothers, or the Heralds, Raveghna's only
choice was to continue her plunge forward, unguided, only away, away from the
harsh choking cries barked from behind her, the sobs from behind graveworn,
black lips which dislodged worms and dirt in their moaning attempt to be
heard, jarring with the gurgling and croaking sounds which seemed, through
each harsh pant and gasp of her lungs, closer and nearly behind her.
She fled into the brightening darkness, seeing between the trees the rooms of
the Inn occupied by the familiar faces of strangers who turned in greeting,
delighted to see her again. A half-drow painter paused mid-stroke, seated on a
set piece Stage of Fools lit with warm light visible in flashes through the
trees. A drow weaver smiled comfortingly at her from the Cozy Corner,
wall-less, and within the dry riverbed which Raveghna blundered through. Small
crowds of Heralds that had never existed all turned at her passing, giving
amicable winks and familiar nods, the warm recognition of the strangers
disorienting her as much as the dark. They were familiar as her Heralds, but
she knew that she didn't know them.
The choked, sobbing gurgling grew ever closer from behind her, the lights of
the Inn dimming in its wake. She knew she wasn't going to be fast enough. She
tried to call a warning to the Heralds but sprayed out thick, clotted blood
which formed a foam around her mouth that she desperately scraped at, gagging
on it and her feet grew heavier and her pace slower.
Guilt, Part 2
Added Mon Sep 30 20:24:54 2024 at level 51:
She fell, for the last time, twisting around to see the pursuers: A group of
small corpses, their diminutive size the only indicator that they were
children. These ones, who dragged themselves and crawled along the ground,
choked sobs mixing with the sounds of bones snapping as their necks, limbs,
and bodies moved in unnatural, jerky movements devoid of any semblance of
coordination, were going to have the final laugh on the one who had watched as
they fell, poisoned to death in her very own Inn as she helplessly watched.
She could smell the scent of rotten mushrooms, rotten fruit, the smells of
decay and rot as they grabbed onto her, the bony fingertips clawing at her
mouth to open it and force down the food which had killed them. Food served to
them without protest by the leader of the Eternal Star-
The High Herald bolted upright from her sleeping place in the garden behind
the Inn, her breathing as ragged and desperate as it had been in her dream,
warpaint diluted with cold sweat coating her entire body. She pressed the
heels of her hands against her eyes, calming herself as she did every time she
had that dream, and rose, heading west towards home. Surrounding herself with
real monsters seemed to help keep the dreams away for a time. Just for a time.