#sails of the beryl sea

[scriptomancer]

Sails of the Beryl Sea - Campaign Diary 1

Ahoy! My friends and I have been playing our piratey, text-based D&D game for just over a month now, and it has been a lot of fun. I thought it would be fun to share the adventure in the form of campaign diaries. I'll be posting the actual adventure (with only a few minor edits for clarity/concision) and some behind-the-scenes thoughts I have as DM.

If you like this and would like to see more, gimme a follow/like/reblog! My asks and messages are open for anyone with questions about the game, about D&D or DMing in general. I love talking about D&D almost as much as playing the game, so don't be shy if you wanna chat. And keep your eyes peeled for the launch of the Scriptomancer patreon!

Next up is a quick overview of the game, with the actual adventure text under the cut.

Game Overview

I'm DMing, with two friends as player characters. Starting at level one, we have:

C is playing Osred, a human rogue. C has been playing with me for a few years now.

S is playing Finlay, a human warlock (Great Old One patron). S started playing earlier this year in another of my campaigns.

The adventure itself is a mix of published adventures and homebrew, all of it set in my world of Edora.

Some other specifics:

We play through text in a Discord server I run for just the three of us.

We use the Avrae bot for rolls in the adventure channel.

We use D&D Beyond for character sheets.

We don't play on any specific schedule - everyone just responds whenever they have a chance to do so. We try to ensure everyone gets a chance to think & respond any time their character could feasibly do something.

If anyone has any questions about the game setup, feel free to ask. This is a bit of an experiment to see what we think about a purely text-based game (and so far things are going well!)

DM Thoughts

Part 1 is below! This is roughly half of what I'm calling "The Prologue" for this silly game. Part 2 will finish up the Prologue posts, and I'll probably post that in a day or two.

As I was running this part of the campaign, things felt a bit haphazard. I needed to tie the character backstories together and move us towards the actual start of the adventure. Did I do much prep or planning for that? No!

My usual DM style is to prep and plan as much as possible, but sometimes you just don't have the time or energy for that. With this being a text game and an experiment, I've been doing things a little more loosey-goosey than normal. It kind of stressed me out a bit, but the players said they had fun with it - so I'm counting it as a win in the end. I think I benefit as a DM when I go out of my comfort zone a bit (in this case, trying to improv some story beats a bit more than I normally would.)

All that being said, I did have a lot of fun with it. As a DM I LOVE discovering what sorts of weirdo characters my players create, and these two did not disappoint. "Cthulhu prophet" and "craven pirate" were not what I expected in the slightest.

Things start to go off the rails (in a good way) in part 2, but this post was turning into a bit of a monster.

Onward to the stormy seas!

Once we finished creating characters and backstories, I let S start things off with his intro for Finlay.

S: In the prelight of dawn, the breeze rustled softly through the mainsail, and gentle creaking could be heard from the rigging as Finlay lowered himself to the deck. It had been another long night of restless dreaming, yet his mind was aflame. He had held his counsel long enough; it was time to tell the quartermaster.

Pasoos was overseeing the turnover of the watch. Perhaps a too-large man for a cramped life at sea, he was as formidable when grappling a cleat as a pirate. Pasoos watched implacably as Nit scampered up the rigging to take his place in the crow’s nest that Finlay had just vacated.

“Quar’master, Finlay off-duty and relieved by Nit.”

Pasoos nodded almost imperceptibly, indicating Finlay’s rank in both the crew and in Pasoos’ estimation. “Ah, um. Quar’master. Ther’ somethin’ more of my watch that need reportin’.”

Pasoos snorted irritably. “Somethin’ important enough post-watch, but not to call out during?”

Finlay stopped short, then pressed ahead. “Aye. Somethin’ butherin’ me, dream-like. Somethin’ fearsome.”

Pasoos was suddenly acutely attentive to Finlay. “Dreamlike, you say? Tell me—at what point during yer watch were dreams enterin’  mind?”

Finlay gaped for a moment, realizing the implications. However, he was resolved. “Curse it all, Pasoos, I’m tellin’ ye I’ve seen somethin’… somethin’ of the Deep!… foul and awesome both. Somethin’ what warrants notice of the Captain! I need to tell him… to tell him he has no idea what’s down there! We must change course to find out more!”

Pasoos considered Finlay cooly. “Yes. Agreed, this does merit the attention of the Captain.” At this, he gave a curt command to the powder monkey, who ran aft to the Captain’s cabin. Shortly thereafter, a hardened dwarf grumped up to the forecastle, casting a hard eye port and starboard in perpetual assessment of the seafaring readiness of crew and ship alike.

“Quartermaster. What issue have we that cannot be resolved in your capable hands?”

Pasoos gestured towards Finlay. “I believe Finlay can tell you everything you need to know about the situation.”

Finlay swelled with pride. It was about time his contribution was getting noticed! By now a small assemblage of other crewmen had congregated to see what was happening. Finlay explained, wild-eyed: “I tell ye, I’ve seen him! In dreams! The Great One of the Deeps stirs, and woe to those who don’t rush to his service! T’weren’t no matter when or where those dreams came, as they are an omen heeded by the wise! We need change course toward this place of my dreams! Please—“ and here he turned back to the captain, “Cap’n, surely you know we must go there!”

Whatever uncertainty the captain had nurtured upon first engaging with the Quartermaster was now resolved. He exchanged a brief look which carried the weight of a 20-pounder with Pasoos. “Yes… I’ll warrant you should show me where this place is, what merits such a course change.”

At this, the captain turned heel to his quarters, followed by Pasoos and Finlay. Once there, the captain spread out a map of the surrounding sea. “Where exactly is this place of dreams, then?”

Finlay immediately pointed to a small formation of rocks, which could have been mistaken for ink spatter to an eye untrained in reading seafaring maps. It would easily add a day to their voyage time. “Here cap’n! We must go here to learn more ‘bout this fearsome being. I’ve had dreams of… of…” His eyes glassed over as he attempted to consider what exactly it was that he had seen in his dreams. Something dreadful and awesome. Promises, hints, implications… He hit upon a word. “Riches! Yes, riches it was, beyond wildest comprehension!”

The captain nodded soberly. “The Starving Man’s Spit, the location of great riches? Of course. Would that I had seen it sooner myself.” His eyebrow twitched slightly as he spoke to Pasoos: “Set a course.”

-

The extra day’s travel was speeded by strong winds and clear skies. Finlay was rousted from his hammock at dusk; he was wanted topside.

When he arrived, he found the crew assembled and waiting for him. The Captain was there with Pasoos. The Starving Man’s Spit loomed of the starboard quarter. The Captain spoke like gravel:

 “I need no Mast proceedings to sort through this. Sleeping during watch. Spreading of malign rumors which would disquiet the crew. Slander of senior officers. In short, dereliction of duty and unfitness for sea. Whether you were dreaming or daydreaming on watch matters not to me.” He paused for effect as he surveyed the rest of the crew, then asserted: “A man who cannot execute his task is fit for execution.”

This elicited an uncanny silence from the crew. The captain turned back to Finlay: “Ye like to dream, is it? Ok then—no plank for you. The Starving Man’s Spit is known for turning men mad. And yer half there already as far as I can see. Ye can daydream yer last days there, before tossing yerself into the sea like so many Spitters before ye.”

Before he could respond, Finlay was hoisted into the air and summarily tossed overboard.

---

DM: Finlay, roll a d4 for me.

Finlay rolls a 4.

DM: Four weeks.

Time is a strange sense. Seconds tick by with reliable, unstoppable familiarity, but our experiences can warp our sense of how time passes by. Joys pass by with a blink, and fear can stretch a moment into crystal clarity. Suffering can seem to fill a lifetime, flooding our memories until they drown under pain and misery.

You remember a stretched moment of falling before you hit the cold waters of the Beryl Sea. Flailing, breaking the surface, opening your eyes to see the light of sunset glinting off of crossbow bolts aimed by your crewmates. The captain shouting to the rest of the crew, preaching the example you'd become, warning others. Waves crashing against the hull a few feet from you, and against the rock behind you.

These were the last moments that felt real. The jagged rock of the Starving Man's Spit was cold too, colder than the waters somehow, your shivering making it difficult to grasp onto the sharp stones. The captain's words at your back faded as the crew weighed anchor. Did you cry out? Was there a point? You'd asked for this, after all.

The Starving Man's Spit sits alone. No other land in sight, none for days. An unremarkable black rock jutting up from the heart of the Beryl Sea, a spike rising thirty feet above the surface as if a giant's broken spear had plunged into the depths. A good spot for wrecking a ship and not much else; only enough flat space for a single man to sit with waves lapping at his feet at high tide. At a glance it was as good a place as any, of the many such rocks throughout the Beryl Sea, to leave a man to die.

But not the Spit. It's anyone's guess to who first learned of the place's magic long ago. Perhaps an unlucky, inattentive sailor split their hull on the spike and found themselves clinging to the rock, despairing their fate and praying to the gods old and new for a quick release to the beyond. But not the Spit.

No man dies on the Spit from thirst or hunger. The aches still come. The pain, the searing sting of salt and sun, the stomach chewing itself to pieces and blood running thick as mud. But here, for whatever cruel purpose fate sees to enact, you cannot die to something as simple as starvation.

A blade will do the trick. Most throw themselves into the sea when the misery grows too great. But here, hope and tenacity just extend the suffering. No crueler fate- no harsher punishment- is  known throughout the ports of the Beryl Sea. And there has been no delirium to grant you a reprieve, as you watch the sun rise and set day after day.

It has been four weeks. Finlay, what has this time been like? Where are you at now?

S: The sun rose and set on Starving Man's Spit, scouring and soothing the rocks in regular cadence. But as Finlay's unslaked and unsated appetites wracked his body, his mind slowly became attuned to a different rhythm. Not that of the world he had always known, but that of otherness--something elseward which had a disquieting tempo unto itself. What was time but a convenient name for concepts beyond the grasp of the mortal mind? During the course of countless feverish dreams and dazed imaginings, Finlay caught glimpses of such concepts, carried on the ebb and flow of a heartbeat terrible and inescapable. Had it been hours, days, or weeks since he had first scraped himself onto these rocks? No matter--he now saw, if not in detail, at least in the grossest form, a truth breaking upon an unready world: The Great One of the Deeps stirs. The Awesome Terror, The Bleak Blackness, His Whole-iness: Urglaub. And Finlay? He is ready to serve.

DM: Look.

L̵o̴o̵k̷ ̸u̴p̸o̵n̵.̴me.

L̵̪͗o̶͛̀ơ̶̂k̷̟̅ ̵̿̔u̵̜͊p̸̄̑o̵̤͌n̴͛́ ̷̕͠t̸͇̉h̶̓̊e̵̟̓ ̵̓̕D̶̲͗r̶͎͌e̶̒̑a̴̒̀m̸̛̃ḯ̵̓n̶̈́͗g̵̒̈ ̷͓́D̸̲̍ë̸́͘e̸̿̂p̴͖͝.̴̲̚

---

DM: Finlay, you awake one day with your hunger gone, your thirst quenched, and sails on the horizon. Osred, take it away!

C: Osred had been at sea for most of his life. The work has been varied, with the only constant being that he served on a boat. He's smuggled, delivered honest shipments, pirated...you name it. After a while, it's all just work. But this time was...different. He responded to the normal call: Expedition in need of sailors. Not too many details - couldn't implicate yourself. Osred joined thinking it'd be either a pirate or smuggling gig. The crew of the Madness of the Grail were supplemented by a handful of mercenaries other that Osred. Osred remember a few of their faces, if not their names. "Four Fingers" Zell, "The Marked" Vesh. Every one of them worth salt had a nickname. A calling card if you will. But not Osred. Osred found that to make a name for yourself, you had to stand out. That's not him. He didn't want it to be him. If they know of your deeds, they ask you to do stuff, put yourself in harm's way. They also notice if you...help yourself...to more than your share of the plunder. No. Anonymity was good. It allowed him to betray "The Duchess" to the lawful, and well-paying, authorities. No one asks "Wasn't Osred part of that crew?"

The crew itself, though, they were different. This was different. Wymen earned the name "Frenzied." He seemed a little off before we cast off from shore, but it really amped up when we were out to sea. He schemes and plots with his crew, talking about the Deep One who will lead us to treasure. Loons the lot of them. But their coin spent well - and Osred made sure to get paid up front. At best, we'll sail around chasing fairy tales until he gives up, or his crew mutinies. At worst, they'll try to lead us to certain doom. But these mercenaries they hired are hardened criminals. They're just as like to take over the vessel than to end up on the bottom of the ocean due to one man's insanity.

And a fine ship this was. The hull was a well kept teak. The red sails bearing their emblem were well kept without fraying. The ship was on the small side, but it's not like we were looking to fight the Caladurian navy.  Nice boat like this could get by under the radar and flee quickly if it ran into a spot of trouble.

We'd been sailing for a few days when Captain Petrik yelled out from atop the crow's nest. He sees someone....he seems excited. Shouts of the Deep One ring out from the crew.

I look over to Zell. "What do you think they see?"

He looks distracted, worried somehow. "By the gods, we're near the Spit. Ol' Wyman has gone daft. This place is fucking cursed. We shouldn't be out this way."

DM: Finlay, you see a ship with red sails draw nearer to the Spit. What do you do?

S: In general I have a strong desire to establish communications with them. I would look for a large stone (~10ft diameter) and cast Light on it. The stone would appear as an iridescent blue. I would stand out in the open so that the ship can see me with as little difficulty as possible. And I would wait.

DM: "Look! Light upon the Spit!"

Sailors gasp and crowd the railings, a handful speaking prayers or curses or making little warding gestures. From above the captain calls out. "Ready a dinghy."

"Who's condemned, captain?" Vesh says, his tone joking but undercut with fear. "Is Zell finally getting what's coming to him?"

A few men laugh, but the laughter dies quick as the captain descends from the crow's nest. "We're not here to kill a man. We're here to save one."

"Light above," swore Zell, his face leeching pale as his eyes widen. "I see him now."

A man stands on the Starving Man's Spit. Gaunt, wearing tatters, leathered by his exposure. The crew grow silent.

"I'm going ashore. Mr. Vesh, command is yours until we return. Mr. Armstead, Mr. Zell, with me." The captain motions Osred towards the dinghy.

The dinghy is lowered as sailors share glances and mutters. This is a hardened crew but even they question this choice. No man ends up on the Spit without good cause. Who are they to question?

But no one challenges Captain Wymen the Frenzied. Something had changed on his face since spotting the man on the Spit. The frenzy had quieted, replaced by a still intensity you've never seen on the man. Without a word he hands a pair of oars to Osred and Zell, and you start to row.

Osred, what goes through your mind?

C: Osred still thinks the captain is a loon. But he goes along with it. He's watching Zell's movements carefully to see if he's going to make a move against Wymen at any point.

DM: Give me an Insight check!

C: 19+2.

DM rolls a secret Deception check for Zell, with a total of 19.

DM: You catch eyes with Zell. He looks away first, and you see it clearly: he's utterly terrified. He's hiding it well, but not well enough. He grips the oars tightly as the two of you begin to row.

You close the distance, the Dead Man's Spit growing larger with each row.

Finlay - who speaks first, you or the captain? What do you do?

S: Is it clear to me that it is the captain who is on the dingy? It could be anybody. I would be wary of getting a "roommate" and would be looking to turn someone else's being left here into an opportunity for me to escape.

I believe the dingy is here to drop off an outcast and I am looking at each person to see if I can figure out who is damned, and who is a decision maker.

DM: They stop about 10 feet from the rock, close enough for you to see the lack of sleep behind the eyes of the man at the front of the dinghy. Despite that exhaustion, he looks at you with intensity you haven't seen, but may have felt.

"Are you the man called Finlay?" he says.

S: Finlay's mind is racing, bordering on panic. Had something happened aboard his old ship?! Had they come to punish him more? What possibly could have caused his old captain to circle back on the chart?... Unless. Unless... he wasn't the captain anymore. Finlay's unease began to settle. Yes... yes! The crew had been with him all along; they had heard him, after all: his warning!! In these brief moments of awkward introduction, he began to see a different outcome: the had crew changed its mind and sent men back to rescue him! In a few blinks of the eye, Finlay went from frightened outcast to redeemed savior. He smiled inwardly. Urglaub provided.

"Hail! Yes, it is I--Finlay!"

DM: The man at the front smiles a mouth of crooked teeth. "Just as I dreamed. Our savior." The man turns towards the two others.

"Help him aboard," Wyman says to Osred and Zell.

S: Finlay finds it very interesting that the man at the front mentions dreams. But he's not interested in distracting anyone from his biggest goal right now, which is to get into the dinghy immediately.

He starts stepping towards the dingy, if somewhat shakily. He's malnourished.

C: Osred is reluctant, but he helps Finlay abroad.  Wymen knew his name, so he's really second guessing how crazy he thought this captain was. He doesn't even really care what Zell is doing. The man with the weird dreams and the man from the weird dreams are the bigger fish now.

DM: Finlay is helped onto the dinghy, and Wymen motions back toward the ship. The captain is silent, but keeps looking back at Finlay as you row back.

You ascend to the decks of red-sailed ship. Sailors step back as Finlay gets his feet on the deck, all taking in the sight of this strange man.

Wyman is the last to return to deck, and he turns to Finlay. "I am Captain Wymen Petrik, captain of the Madness of the Grail. We've come to rescue you. Welcome aboard."

"Crew, this is Finlay. Drop your assumptions against him. Doesn't matter what he did to get put on the Spit. What does matter is he's our golden goose." Wymen scans the assembled men and women, locking eyes for each one briefly. "So see to it you keep your doubts, your concerns, to yourself. Anyone who so much as splits a hair on his head will be hanged without question. We're off to port."

Wymen nods to the bosun and the helmswoman, who start calling commands, before the captain turns to Osred. "Take our friend belowdeck and see to it that he's fed. As much as the man can eat or drink, he can have. Then show him to his quarters on the bottom deck." He looks to Finlay and adds: "I'll be around a bit later to explain the situation to you, but rest assured you're in good hands on the Madness."

Finlay, give me a Perception check.

Finlay rolls a natural 20.

S: I look at Osred. What does he look like? I try to get a sense of whether he's happy here on this crew. I want to ask him about Captain Wymen but I'm not sure who I can trust here, so I stay silent for the time being.

C: Osred takes the captain's threat to hang him seriously. Osred is a slender man with a goatee. He wears his hat on a shaven head kept in a durag to keep the sun off. His skin is tanned like a worn leather from his sun exposure on the seas. His clothing us unassuming and he wears no adornments save a tattoo (tbd) on his left arm.

S: Is Osred talkative as he leads me into the ship?

DM: With your natural 20, Finlay sees the captain surreptitiously hand a key to Osred. The intent is clear that Osred is supposed to lock you in your room after you're fed.

S: I'm on guard after seeing this handoff. Because Osred seems to take his lot very seriously, I'm looking for any openings or opportunities to engage with him on a personal level. What is there to eat?

DM: You move belowdeck to the sailor's mess, a small section with a narrow table near the ship's kitchen. The cook, a human man named Jeben, seems to have been forewarned and has a pot of stew at the ready. There is even fresh bread, a rarity for anyone except the captain and his two officers.

Osred, you're also offered food by the cook. Otherwise you both are sat at the table, alone.

S: Finlay is ravenous. He want to buy time to think, but he's so hungry that he consumes his first bowl of stew quickly and without speaking. As he gets a second serving, he indicates the bread while looking at Osred.

"A far cry better than what I've had while serving on the Evening Mantle. There it was salted beef and a rasher of grog thrice daily. Does the Captain regularly treat his crew so well?"

C: Osred doubts that he is meant to eat the stew or bread...but if he gets called on it, he figures he can claim it would have looked weird if he didn't eat what Finlay was eating.

Osred does not like getting asked this question.

But he chooses not to lie. "Wymen seems to be a fair enough man, but typically the best meals are reserved for himself and his top officers." He pauses. "And special guests of course."

S: DM, can I tell Osred does not like my question?

DM: Osred, is it clear to Finlay? Otherwise you can give me opposing Insight/Deception rolls.

Osred decides he'd rather keep his discomfort hidden, so he rolls Deception with a total of 7. Finlay gets a Perception check of 6.

S: Finlay doesn't notice anything untoward about Osred's demeanor and considers the key-handoff he witnessed earlier. He looks pointedly at Osred and asks, "Am I a guest?"

C: I'm going to roll a d100 to see how I respond. Less than 50, and I will side with Wyman and more than 50, I will side with Finlay.

He rolls a 24 on the d100.

"That's what the Captain told me. Same as you."

(C notes: My reasoning is that Osred is siding with the "stronger" party. Osred can sense that what is going on with Finlay and Wyman is out of his league. So he is having trouble deciding who he should trust and show fealty too. I really thought it could go 50-50 either way.)

S: "Somehow the Captain knew my name. How did that come to pass?"

C: Osred sighs. "He said he heard it in a dream. I'll be honest. I thought Cap'n, was daft. He might still be. But he was right about you. I don't know what that means. And I don't suppose I will." He looks hard at Finlay. "I'd guess you probably know the answer better than me."

S: “There’s only one answer I know anymore…”

Finlay becomes somewhat distant, glassy-eyed, but then he returns to the moment, and Osred.

“It’s whether we’re all asking the questions that get us to that answer that interests me. I’m grateful to your Captain. I’m sure his… hospitality… is offered with only the best intentions.”

At this, Finlay rises and indicates that he’s prepared to follow Osred.

C: Osred isn't sure he's putting his eggs in the right basket but he commits. And says "Follow me then." He would try to be a half step ahead of Finlay. Enough for him to follow, but not far enough behind that Osred isn't aware what he's doing.

S: I just follow Osred. I'm not in the mind for funny business. After all, even being locked in a cabin is leagues better than being stranded on the Spit...

DM: Osred leads FInlay to his quarters. Finlay, it's a narrow room at the rear of the ship, about as wide as a closet and barely long enough for a hammock. Osred lets you in without a word, and you hear him lock the door behind you.

Osred then leaves to speak with the captain privately.

You go to the captain's cabin. Vesh, the first mate, greets you with a silent nod and lets you inside. Captain Petrik motions for you both to enter. Vesh closes the door behind you.

You hold out the key, but the captain waves it away. "Keep it. From this point, you are to guard Mr. Finlay. Keep him comfortable and fed, but don't let him out of that room. If he asks to speak with me, you call for me. If he says anything of note, write it down. See if you can get him to talk." He hands you a small notebook and a writing stick, then turns to the first mate. "Mr. Vesh, tell the helmsman to change course for Orlona."

"North, captain?" Vesh seems surprised. You're also surprised - you thought you were returning south, to Brackenholm.

Wyman Petrik nods. "The witch I spoke with in Brackenholm was clear. The spot we're hunting for is north, near the ice. We'll stock up in Orlona on rations and gear for the cold."

Vesh nods. "What should I tell the crew?"

"That we're changing plans. We've got a better lead now, thanks to Mr. Finlay. Sunken treasure, the kind that rich mages would like to get their hands on."

"Aye, captain."

"Then unless you have questions, that will be all. I need to read more of the witch's scroll."

You see on the captain's desk there is an old scroll, unfurled across most of the desk. At a glance you see strange writings.

C: Osred pushes through the discomfort of addressing the captain to say "Finlay seemed to know that he wasn't free to leave, but went with me willingly to the cabin. I don't know his angle, but he seems to know a bit."

DM: "He's no fool." The captain looks up at you as he sits at the desk.

C: "Aye. His time on the Spit hasn't seemed to addle him, neither." Osred would then nod and turn away. He's already been dismissed and the captain doesn't seem like he wants to chat.

DM: The door is closed behind you.

C: I would then go to my watch and resume my duties.

DM: Now that means sitting on a little stool in the hallway outside of Finlay's chamber. You can hear activity on the deck above as people perform other work, but you're largely alone for the next few hours.

C: I would be as serious as I had ever been performing this work. I might be alone and have idle hands, but I would not dare distract myself. Osred gets the feeling that Wyman would actually kill him if he was caught slacking.

Meanwhile, back at the cabin, Finlay accepts his predicament for now.

S: I test the doorknob. Just making sure I haven’t misunderstood the situation. Assuming it’s locked, I am going to sit at the door with my back leaning against it so that no one can enter without waking me, and I’ll let myself sleep.

DM: It's locked. You're soon asleep.

The next day comes. A noise sounds at your door, Finlay. Osred , you're delivering a meal.

C: Osred would rap a few more times getting progressively louder. He'd open the door with his key if that didn't work. He's nor overly concerned Finlay will try to overpower him.

S: When the door starts to open, I wake up with a start. I stand up to greet Osred. “Mornin’ Osred.”  I look the breakfast fare and unassumingly ask, “How many more days at sea before making port?”

C: Osred considers the question, setting the tray down.  Sighing, he says "We are sailing to Orlona and moving on North from there. Do you have any idea what's North of here? Captain had a vision that you would lead us to something there. I'd like to ask more if you'd permit me. But we'll start with that."

S: “I’m a Lazuli Coast sailor, having spent most of my life on the southeastern expanse of the Beryl Sea in service of various vessels homeported in Duskferry. You can imagine why I have not had as much experience in Caladurian ports—especially as far north as Orlona.”

C: Osred snorts. "You must forgive me for not imagining. A man gets stranded on the Spit. Endures his torment without offing himself. Gets himself saved by a dream the Cap'n has. I couldn't have imagined that and I'm more the fool for it. I can imagine a bit more these days."

He reflects, absent-mindedly stoking his goatee. "How'd you come to be left on the Spit." Quickly adding, "if you don't mind my askin'."

S: “I don’t mind ye askin’, long as you don’t mind bein’ told the truth. I was stranded and rescued at the Spit for the selfsame reason: dreams. At first, t’weren’t much to speak of. Nightmares like any.”

Finlay stops for a moment to chew his food.

“But over time, these dreams changed and became more real-like. Until, bidding my conscience, I told all to the Captain.” “I was tossed overboard like so much garbage after that. But t’weren’t no accident it was the Spit where I was stranded. It’s the place in my dreams where He sleeps… or at least, where he’d been sleeping before he started to wake.”

Osred makes a Deception check to hide his horror at Finlay's words. He rolls a 13, and Finlay doesn't notice.

S: I continue answering, oblivious to how my own words may sound to anyone else:

“Can’t you feel it?! He stirs! Urglaub, the Great One of the Deep… I confess what started as mere dreams feels like so much more now. Almost as if…”

My expression becomes conflicted and it’s apparent I’m working through something in my own mind. “As if something has changed.” I focus back on Osred. “Something has changed for me. I’m linked to him. To serve…”

C: Osred has sensed that this has become outside of his pay grade. "I think you should be speakin to the captain. I will get him." Osred then starts to move quickly to the door to close and lock behind him.

S: I ask if it wouldn’t be easier if I just come topside too. Fresh air would be a plus…

C: "No. I think the captain will want to speak to you privately and it will get the crew talking if you come up and go down with him." He looks almost pleadingly at Finlay that he will accept this.

S: I nod and sit on my bed, waiting.

C: Osred leaves and makes sures sure to lock the door behind him.

And then he goes to find the Captain to tell him that Finlay wants to talk and relay the strange words about a unknowable entity waking up near the Spit.

DM: You return to the top deck and the captain's quarters. Vesh answers the door at your knock. "What is it?"

C: "Finlay wants to speak with the Captain."

Osred would just stare after that. Vesh was there when Wyman told Osred to get the captain if Finlay asked.

DM: Vesh steps out and closes the door. "What'd he say? Give me your notes."

C: "I didn't write any blasted notes. He immediately when it to talk about an ancient creature slumbering under the SpIt that is now awake. The captain needs to be speakin' to him immediately! This business of dreams is not for our eyes and ears."

DM: Make a Persuasion check with disadvantage.

Osred rolls a 25 and a 10 on his check.

Vesh growls and steps threateningly close. "Listen well. It's not for you to decide what our business is. The captain needs the words, not your damn fears. Now write down what he said!" He pulls  the notebook from your pocket and forces it into your hands.

C: Osred writes down. "Finlay was thrown overboard for having dreams about an ancient creature asleep under the ocean. Finlay claims it was asleep near the Spit, but it is now awake. Finlay feels connected to the now awake creature."

And then he rips out the page and presses it into Vesh. "The captain also said to tell him when Finlay asked to speak with him. And I see you haven't done that yet."

Osred is afraid of Vesh. But he is more afraid of Finlay and Wyman.

DM: "Captain is," he says quietly as he looks over his shoulder, "indisposed. But bring me notes at the night watch call. I'll pass them on."

I ask C about Osred's passive Perception, which is a 12.

Vesh takes the notes without another word and opens the door. You get a brief glimpse of Wyman hunched over the desk, muttering to himself as he looks at the strange scroll. Then the door shuts.

C: Osred goes back to talk to Finlay. I'd open the door and say "The Cap'n won't be joining us for some time. He's busy poring over a scroll that he says will lead us to treasure, North of Orlona."

S: I’m starting to get my bearings and I’m coming to the conclusion that this doesn’t seem right. “What treasure could be greater than spreading word of the Great One?” I mutter.

I look up at Osred. “Do I owe a debt of service to this crew for my rescue? If so, I’d as soon know what it is so I can get to paying it off. I have important work to do back on the mainland.”

C: "Wyman plans to take you north of Orlona. The way he speaks of it, that will be your payment to him." He pauses. "Though you can tell me of the Great One. The one who recently awoke yes? I can jot your gospel down and disseminate it to the captain."

S: I shake my head and mutter: “Ever try to write down a dream?” I lean my head back against the bulkhead and close my eyes in resignation. “If Wyman has had dreams, then nothing you write on paper will be of use. I hope he finds time to talk today.”

C: "If you can say it, you can write it. And if you can't say it, how will you spread the word of the Great One?"

S: Finlay looks at Osred for a long moment, considering. How indeed can truths be shared with unwilling minds?

S rolls a d10 to decide how to proceed. He gets a 7.

S: “You leave that to me, Osred… unless, of course, you’re proposing an accord between us. Maybe you have some skill with the quill? Tell me… do you believe?”

C: Osred looks at him quizzically. "Do I believe what? You haven't shared anything about the Great One save it's existence. I believe in that, much as I believe a prophet was picked up by a captain with dreams."

S: “That’s a start. You can write that down and share it with your captain.”

C: Osred writes it down. "I already wrote this down to give to the Captain, but there is wisdom in having a comprehensive record with everything." Osred uses a tone that is sincere and assures Finlay he already believes enough to relay to the Captain - not in a "I already did that" kind of way.

S: “So you are the writing type after all? Do you always keep written records?”

C: "I always follow my Captain's orders, and that's what these were. We don't usually have guests such as your self so these are uncharted waters, in a sense."

S: “I see…” I’m not sure if I like this policy of writing things about me on paper, as it feels like appropriation of the story I need to tell before I’ve fully figured out exactly what the story is.

“Well at any rate I’d like some time topside for air if it can be arranged.”

C: "I can ask the Captain about it when he wakes up."

S: You chat for a time, as Osred hunts for information to pass along and Finlay grapples with what to share. After an hour, Osred steps out.

The rest of the day passes by. Whispers circulate among the crew about the man rescued from the Dead Man's Spit and the captain's secret studies.

End of pt. 1!

Part 1 is done! This is roughly half of what I'm calling "The Prologue" for this silly game. Part 2 will finish up the Prologue posts, and I'll probably post that in a day or two.

As I was running this part of the campaign, things felt a bit haphazard. I needed to tie the character backstories together and move us towards the actual start of the adventure. Did I do much prep or planning for that? No!

My usual DM style is to prep and plan as much as possible, but sometimes you just don't have the time or energy for that. With this being a text game and an experiment, I've been doing things a little more loosey-goosey than normal. It kind of stressed me out a bit, but the players said they had fun with it - so I'm counting it as a win in the end. I think I benefit as a DM when I go out of my comfort zone a bit (in this case, trying to improv some story beats a bit more than I normally would.)

All that being said, I did have a lot of fun with it. As a DM I LOVE discovering what sorts of weirdo characters my players create, and these two did not disappoint. "Cthulhu prophet" and "craven pirate" were not what I expected in the slightest.

Things start to go off the rails (in a good way) in part 2, but this post was turning into a bit of a monster.

Part 1 is done! This is roughly half of what I'm calling "The Prologue" for this silly game. Part 2 will finish up the Prologue posts, and I'll probably post that in a day or two.

As I was running this part of the campaign, things felt a bit haphazard. I needed to tie the character backstories together and move us towards the actual start of the adventure. Did I do much prep or planning for that? No!

My usual DM style is to prep and plan as much as possible, but sometimes you just don't have the time or energy for that. With this being a text game and an experiment, I've been doing things a little more loosey-goosey than normal. It kind of stressed me out a bit, but the players said they had fun with it - so I'm counting it as a win in the end. I think I benefit as a DM when I go out of my comfort zone a bit (in this case, trying to improv some story beats a bit more than I normally would.)

All that being said, I did have a lot of fun with it. As a DM I LOVE discovering what sorts of weirdo characters my players create, and these two did not disappoint. "Cthulhu prophet" and "craven pirate" were not what I expected in the slightest.

Things start to go off the rails (in a good way) in part 2, but this post was turning into a bit of a monster.

[pupsmailbox]

MARINE ID PACK

NAMES ⌇ aalto. adrian. adrina. aegir. aerwyna. akua. alda. aleksy. alon. amphitrite. andrienne. anemone. anenome. angler. aqua. aquaette. aquata. aquatique. ariel. arielle. ashera. aurelia. azolla. banks. barbeau. bay. beachette. beachie. beachy. beryl. blu. blue. bluette. bonnie. brooke. bubble. bubbles. calamari. calder. calypso. calyspo. captain. cari. caspian. cassius. cattail. cean. cecelia. celesea. cerulean. cerumae. ceto. clover. coastalle. coastelle. coral. coralette. coralie. coraline. cordelia. corel. corelle. coron. coronis. cove. cubit. current. cyx. dari. daria. darya. davy. delja. delmar. delphin. delphine. derya. destiny. doria. dorian. doris. dory. dylan. echo. elles. fern. fin. finley. finn. fish. fishe. fisher. fishette. fishy. flipper. float. foam. fwish. goldie. guppy. hurley. hyacinth. hydropha. ink. inky. isla. jack. jelli. jelly. jewel. kai. kaia. kairy. kelpie. kelsey. lagoona. lagoonette. lagoonne. lake. lana. levi. leviathan. lorelei. lotus. maelyn. malik. maren. marie. marin. marina. marine. marinette. marion. marissa. maritren. marlin. marne. marnie. marvin. mary. meena. mer. merissa. merlin. meryl. mira. mirabel. miriam. moby. molly. moray. morgan. moss. naiad. nancy. nauticalette. nauticalle. nelum. nemo. neptune. nessie. nina. nixie. nori. nova. nymph. nymphaea. ocean. oceanette. oceania. oceanne. oceanus. octo. oscar. oss. osseo. pacifica. patience. pearl. pearline. percy. pike. pine. pippy. pond. poseidon. puff. ray. reef. reefette. river. ronan. rosemary. sachiel. sailor. sandy. scylla. seaette. seamus. searya. seaseaette. seashelle. seaton. sebastian. selkie. serena. shark. sharky. shell. shelle. shelley. shelly. shorette. siren. sirena. sirenette. sirenne. skip. skipper. snapper. sporty. squid. star. summer. sushi. tail. tallulah. teal. tide. tidette. timin. titus. treasure. trout. twilight. undine. valdrian. vert. verulean. waterette. wave. wavette. wavy. willow. windsor. wisteria. world. wyvern.

PRONOUNS ⌇ :0/:0. ab/abyssal. algae/algae. an/anemone. ang/angelfish. aq/aqua. aqu/aqua. aqua/aqua. aqua/aquatic. aquatic/aquatic. bay/bay. be/beach. bea/beach. beach/beach. bite/bite. bleu/bleu. bloop/bloop. blu/blue. blub/blub. blue/blue. bo/boat. brea/breathe. breeze/breeze. brine/brine. bubble/bubble. ca/catch. cae/caer. carp/carpal. cat/cattail. cattail/cattail. chomp/chomp. clam/clam. claw/claw. cliff/cliff. coast/coast. cor/coral. coral/coral. cra/crab. crab/crab. cur/rent. dae/daem. de/deep. dee/deep. deep/deep. di/dive. dive/dive. dol/dolphine. drift/drift. drip/drop. drop/droplet. drow/drown. eel/eel. enj/emjoy. exci/excite. fi/fish. fin/fin. fish/fish. fish/fishe. fish/fishie. fish/fishy. flo/float. flo/flood. float/float. flow/flow. foam/foam. fwi/fwish. fy/fish. gill/gill. glass/glass. glub/glup. gre/green. gull/gull. hi/hide. hunt/hunt. hy/hydro. ink/ink. jaw/jaw. jel/jelly. jell/jellyfish. jelly/jelly. jelly/jellyfish. kelp/kelp. krill/krill. lagoon/lagoon. lake/lake. li/light. lob/lob. lost/lost. lu/lung. luu/luu. ma/marine. mako/mako. mar/marine. marine/marine. mer/maid. mer/mer. mer/mermaid. natu/nature. nautical/nautical. nep/neptune. oce/ocean. ocea/ocean. ocean/ocean. octo/octopu. oyster/oyster. peace/peaceful. pearl/pearl. pinch/pinch. puddle/puddle. ray/ray. re/reef. reef/reef. riv/river. river/river. sa/sand. sail/sail. salt/salt. sand/sand. scale/scale. scuttle/scuttle. se/sea. sea/sea. sea/seaweed. search/search. sh/ship. sha/shark. shark/shark. she/shell. shell/shell. shimmer/shimmer. shine/shine. shiney/shiney. shoal/shoal. shore/shore. shri/shrimp. sink/sink. skul/skel. soul/soul. splash/splash. spon/sponge. squ/squid. squid/squid. star/star. stare/stare. sting/sting. su/sun. sun/sun. sun/sunbathe. swi/swim. swim/swim. swish/swish. tail/tail. tear/tearself. ten/tentacle. ti/tide. tide/tide. tooth/tooth. tre/trench. treasure/treasure. tro/tropical. tropi/tropical. tuna/tuna. um/umbrella. urchin/urchin. void/void. wa/water. wa/wave. wash/wash. wat/water. water/water. water/wave. wave/wave. wet/wet. wha/whale. whale/whale. wy/wave. ☀ . ⛱ . 🌅 . 🌊 . 🌞 . 🌴 . 🍥 . 🎣 . 🏖 . 🐋 . 🐙 . 🐚 . 🐚.🦐 . 🐟 . 🐠 . 🐡 . 🐬 . 🐳 . 👙 . 💧 . 🚢 . 🛥 . 🦀 . 🦈 . 🦐 . 🦑 . 🦞 . 🧽 . 🧿 . 🩱 .

[berrypass-de-murdler]

2 - 6 The Tiny Island Murder Mystery

if there's anything I can do so that some of you can accept me let me know ok? i'm trying my best always

Fletch is in charge of Sable - she has a basic artwork but I'll save her design reveal for when her main is done. I love her and I can't wait to show her! <3

DON'T READ THE EPISODES WITHOUT READING THE BOOKS!!

Admiral Navy is sensitive to the idea of vomit, so he gets very woozy after Uncle Midnight’s accident. So much so, that he drives the boat into an island! Uncle Midnight flies off in an entertaining fashion.

SABLE: My rescuers? MY RESCUERS!

An adorable deep-sea hedgehog in tattered clothes rushes to them and hugs the human boy.

SABLE: Finally, I’ve waited my whole life for this! U. MIDNIGHT: Oh! Uh… [blush] LOGICO: Hold it, HOLD IT! This has happened to me before, and the most important thing is to make sure nobody is murdered. 

But the backup captain (whom Navy was stashing in a crate) is dead! 

LOGICO: That’s unsurprising for a number of reasons!

There is a clear attack wound, so it is confirmed a murder. But this person would have died a really gruesome death regardless, so the killer essentially put them out of their misery.

This little island is a scenic stereotype. A single palm tree, a single grave, and the giant-ass boat lodged into the side.

“RIP Beloved Butler Beryl. Buried in a private ceremony.”

LOGICO: …Was that…? NAVY: …What. LOGICO: THE BUTLER FROM THE LEGEND! NAVY: OH. Um… yes. LOGICO: And is that whose skull you’re holding? NAVY: What? No. This is just for something I’m practicing. ‘To be… or not…’ [sigh] I forgot the line again.

Sable is crouched under the tree.

SABLE: I can’t believe my rescuers got stuck. At least I won’t be alone… U. MIDNIGHT: Pssh, yeah, amiright? So uh… what… uh… whatcha been up to? [encroaches]

She looks at him with soft eyes. Delicately, she throws up into a can of rotten frog soup.

U. MIDNIGHT: WOW, okay. 

Irratino tries to call Logico to give him a clue, but there’s no cell signal on the island! He begins to panic… 

But the ultimate killer was Uncle Midnight!

U. MIDNIGHT: Aw, come on, man! I gotta keep the party going SOMEHOW!  LOGICO: Seriously? 

A ‘real’ boat comes to pick them up!

SABLE: My rescuers? MY RESCUERS! NAVY: Thank goodness. This story has a happy ending after all…

Logico, Sable, and Navy all get on the boat and sail off.

U. MIDNIGHT: Heheh, y’all know I can’t swim, right.  U. MIDNIGHT: … U. MIDNIGHT: Guys? U. MIDNIGHT: GUYS?!?! AW COME ON ARE YOU KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW? YOU’RE SERIOUSLY GONNA LEAVE ME ON THE DEAD ISLAND? YOU ACT LIKE I’M THE PROBLEM, THE CAPTAIN WAS THE ONE WHO KEPT THAT GUY IN A BOX! GUYS!! COME ON!!! HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLL-

They can’t hear him.

The end!

... i never meant to offend anyone, and i'm sorry...

The power of Goat Lord compels you!

See you next time murdlers!

[mahayanapilgrim]

FACING EVERYWHERE: THE TEACHING OF

THE MIRACLES OF AVALOKITESVARA

24.1 Then the bodhisattva mahäsattva Aksayamati rose from his seat, removed his upper robe from one shoulder, knelt on his right knee, and with his hands together in homage bowed toward the Bhagavan and asked the Bhagavan, "Bhagavan, why is the bodhisattva mahäsattva Avalokitesvara called Avalokitesvara?"

24.2 The Bhagavän said to the bodhisattva mahäsattva Aksayamati, "Noble one, if the hundred thousand quintillion beings in this world who are experiencing suffering were to hear the name of the bodhisattva mahasattva Avalokitesvara they would all become freed from that mass of suffering.

"Noble one, if those who possess the name of the bodhisattva mahāsattva Avalokitesvara were to fall into a great mass of flames, they would all, through the splendor of the bodhisattva mahäsattva Avalokitesvara, be freed from that burning great mass of flames.

24.3 "Noble one, if they call out to the bodhisattva mahāsattva Avalokitesvara when they are swept away by rivers, those rivers will bring them to shallow waters.

"Noble one, if a hundred thousand quintillion beings were to set out to sea in a ship, sailing to find cowries, gold, jewels, pearls, beryl, conch, crystal, emeralds, coral, white coral, red pearls, and so on, and if a tempest blew them to the island of the raksasis, and if among them one being would call on Avalokitesvara, they would all become freed from that island of the raksasis.

24.4 "Noble one, if someone being led to execution were to call on Avalokitesvara, the weapons of the executioners would break into pieces and be scattered around.

"Noble one, if this world realm of a thousand million worlds were to be filled with yaksas and raksasas, none of them would even be able to look angrily at someone who possesses the name of the bodhisattva mahāsattva Avalokitesvara.

~ The White Lotus of the Good Dharma

(Saddharmapundarika)

[weather-usa]

Hurricane Debby Strengthens to Category 1 Ahead of Florida Landfall; Southeast Braces for Potentially Historic Rainfall

Hurricane Debby has intensified to a Category 1 hurricane as it approaches Florida, with the Southeast preparing for potentially historic rainfall.

Climate and Average Weather Year Round in 18064 - Nazareth PA:

Hurricane Debby Strengthens to Category 1 Ahead of Florida Landfall

Hurricane Debby, the fourth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season and the second named hurricane, has intensified to a Category 1 storm, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Currently located about 100 miles west-northwest of Tampa, Florida, Debby boasts maximum sustained winds of 75 mph. The storm is expected to strengthen further before making landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region on Monday morning.

“Debby is then expected to move slowly across northern Florida and southern Georgia on Monday and Tuesday, and be near the Georgia coast by Tuesday night,” the hurricane center stated in its 11 p.m. advisory.

Hurricane Debby Dumps Heavy Rain as It Approaches Florida Landfall

Hurricane Debby, the fourth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season and the second named hurricane, has strengthened to a Category 1 storm, according to the National Hurricane Center. Located about 100 miles west-northwest of Tampa, Florida, Debby boasts maximum sustained winds of 75 mph and is expected to strengthen further before making landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region on Monday morning.

Rain and Flooding Threats: Debby began dumping rain on parts of Florida earlier Sunday as a tropical storm and is expected to unload potentially historic amounts of rainfall over the southeastern United States. Authorities in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina are urging residents to prepare for heavy rain and possible flooding as the storm moves through the Gulf. Cities like Savannah, Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina, could see a month’s worth of rain in a single day, potentially accumulating an entire summer’s worth over the duration of the storm.

School Closures and Rescue Operations: The storm's path has led to the cancellation of classes for hundreds of thousands of students, including those at the University of Florida and Georgia Southern University. Dangerous conditions off Florida’s coast had already begun Sunday, with the US Coast Guard in Tampa Bay rescuing two boaters after their vessel lost its sail amid 15- to 20-foot seas and 50-knot winds.

Early Start to Hurricane Season: Debby’s arrival marks an exceptionally early start to the hurricane season, following Hurricane Beryl, which became the earliest Category 5 Atlantic hurricane on record last month. Typically, the second Atlantic hurricane does not occur until August 26.

Weather Forecast For 55423-Richfield-MN:

https://www.behance.net/gallery/201158571/Weather-Forecast-For-55423-Richfield-MN

Forecast and Impact: Hurricane conditions are expected to arrive by Monday morning, with the outer bands of the storm system making their way onshore throughout Sunday. The storm is forecast to reach the Big Bend coast around midday Monday, then move slowly across northern Florida and southern Georgia through Tuesday. The main threats will be from flooding, including storm surges up to 10 feet and heavy rainfall. According to the hurricane center, freshwater flooding from rainfall has become the deadliest aspect of tropical systems in the last decade, a threat exacerbated by global warming from fossil fuel pollution.

Evacuation Orders and Emergency Declarations: The strengthening storm prompted county and state officials to issue a series of voluntary and mandatory evacuation orders, with hurricane watches and warnings posted across several parts of Florida, including near Tampa and the Big Bend region. A hurricane warning is in effect for the Florida Gulf coast from the Suwanee River to Yankeetown. Tropical storm and storm surge watches and warnings have also been issued for parts of Florida, coastal Georgia, and parts of South Carolina. Additionally, a tornado watch covering more than 13 million people, including the cities of Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Tampa, and Orlando, is in effect until Monday morning.

Government Response: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, and South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster have declared states of emergency ahead of the storm. Governor DeSantis announced the activation of the Florida National Guard to assist with humanitarian needs and search and rescue operations.

Governor DeSantis Urges Floridians to Prepare for Hurricane Debby's Impact

Governor Ron DeSantis called on residents to complete their preparations and brace for power outages, especially in areas like Tallahassee.

See more:

https://weatherusa.app/zip-code/weather-19930

https://weatherusa.app/zip-code/weather-19931

https://weatherusa.app/zip-code/weather-19933

https://weatherusa.app/zip-code/weather-19934

https://weatherusa.app/zip-code/weather-19936

“There’s going to be a lot of trees that are going to fall down. You’re going to have debris. You are going to have power interruption,” the governor said. “So just prepare for that.”

By Sunday night, more than 78,000 customers in Florida were already without power, according to PowerOutage.us.

DeSantis also warned residents to avoid floodwaters ahead of the storm’s potentially significant flooding impacts, particularly in North Central Florida.

“Please do not drive your vehicles through flooded streets. The number one way we have fatalities as a result of floods is people trying to drive through the floodwater,” he emphasized.

In Sarasota County, south of Tampa, the docks at Indian Mound Park were underwater by 2 p.m. ET Sunday, according to a post by the county government on X. Further south, near Fort Myers, Gulf waters began spilling onto coastal roadways, prompting some road closures after Debby’s outer bands dumped rain along the shoreline, Charlotte County emergency management officials reported.

President Joe Biden approved a disaster declaration for Florida on Sunday, authorizing federal resources to support disaster relief efforts, the White House announced.

[joeyrumlow]

YELLOW BLOSSOMS

Summary: A very shy Lindir is in love with you and gives you flowers before you embark upon a journey.

Words: 1266

Lindir x Reader

(Gif is not mine)

The sickle moon floated dreamily across the airy seas of night, bedizened with stars glinting like honeyed pearls. The valley of Imladris lay lapped in the silver mantle intricately woven by the thread of Isil's running silver. You stood enraptured in the seemingly unworldly gardens, inebriated by the beauty that blossomed over the entire valley. The melodies strung by the lissom fingers of the fair folk within the halls reached your ears and serenity was personified.

"I was sure to find you here Tireless Traveller of Imladris," a fair voice spoke behind you, softly rippling to compliment everything around. It did not startle you but filled you with exultation.

You turned to greet the soft spoken and timid Lindir with a gentle smile, your eyes reflecting the ivory shimmer of the moon. "Indeed my dear Lindir. This valley transcends the beauty of everything earthly that I have ever seen."

He returned your smile and came with diffident steps to stand beside you with his hands behind his back. He was shy you knew but he was particularly so around you and as much as you wanted him to be more open, you found his shyness extremely endearing. Wanting to ease his being, you pointed at the glittering cataracts on the opposite side of the valley and began talking about their unseemly magnificence. But he took no notice of his ethereal surroundings because his eyes only looked at you, glowing with quiescent adoration and quiet tenderness.

Failing to urge him into speaking some more, you changed the course of the conversation. "So what brings you here, away from your beloved harp?" you asked, running your fingers over the slumbering leaves that glistened under the falling dews of pale glimmer.

He abashedly lowered his head, following the movement of your fingers with his eyes and said in a bashful staccato, "Well I-I wanted to give you something before you take your leave on the morrow."

"I'm not sailing to the Undying Lands you know, I'll be back in a few days," you joked but perceiving his crestfallen countenance, you reined yourself in. Biting your tongue for always conjuring mischief at odd instances and hurting his feelings, you apologetically said, "I'm sorry for being so slow but it was really nice of you to think of me. And I truly appreciate it."

He did not say anything but you were relieved to see his face go back to its former bearing. As you looked on with penitent and curious eyes, he slowly drew something from behind his back. You gasped at the sight of the small cluster of flowers that he had produced which he held with great delicacy and mindfulness. They were wrought in the likeness of a star, with hues of smouldering gold and you wondered if such was the likeness of the forgotten radiance of Laurelin. Their golden meshes caught the argent streams of the waning moon and created with the mingled colours of silver and gold an iridescent tissue of brilliance.

"Why Lindir, they're beautiful," you breathed, thinking it an illusion that would fade away at the slightest touch.

Lindir beamed to hear your approbation and he stated quite proudly, "I had been to Lothlórien on an errand for my Lord Elrond when you were in the Woodland Realm and I came upon these marvels in a clearing not far from the river Nimrodel. I was entranced and I-" here his glance became apprehensive and his voice more subdued as he continued after a pause, "I thought you would want to see them as well. And so by leave of the Lady Galadriel I bore away some of the saplings with me and planted them on the sward behind my chambers."

"Is that why you have been guarding your chamber door like a dragon guards his plunder? You sent me away when I came to summon you the other day, telling me through closed doors you would not come and then appearing at the celebration moments later! You kept me standing outside as well when Lord Elrond sent me to assist you with the papers in your keeping, stating your rooms were dirty!" you quietly laughed as he stood before you with a sweet smile, silently acknowledging all the contrivances he had conjured to avoid the discovery.

You shook your head and took a step towards him, "But I must thank you for being so thoughtful. I am very glad to be able to see such extraordinary blossoms." You then added with a cheery smile and a bow, "And now I am ready to receive the honour you have been so kind enough to bestow upon me," finishing with a flourish and putting forth a hand.

He suddenly became very awkward and began twirling the bouquet in his hand, refusing to meet your gaze. You eyed him warily, confused as to why he withheld it from you. But not wanting to pester him and make him more uneasy, you spoke lightheartedly after a short laugh, "Don't trouble yourself, I can admire them much better from here. And you're right in keeping them with you; your hands are best suited to tend such wonders with special care."

"N-no," he hastily rejoined, as if afraid to have offended you with his actions and eager to make amends. "I-I was wondering if I could help you with wearing these as adornments," he softly said, eyes full of hope and not without a certain degree of shyness. "Only if you want to and would allow me that is," he added shortly after, apparently reprimanding himself for taking such liberties.

But you drove away the shadows from his mind by acquiescing with a nod and the smile that he prized above everything else and for which he could forsake the blessed realm of Valinor itself.

He put the flowers on your circlet one by one, taking great care to align them. You delighted at the satisfaction that graced his visage as he worked. He shyly admired you as he finished his flower crown, shimmering anew as opalescent beryl among the lines of your snowy circlet. But, he was not done. He carried his last flower and moved to your side. He held his breath as he gently took the strands above your left ear, carefully combing them with his fingers and delicately putting them behind your ear. He then placed the flower above your ear, securing it by clasping it under your circlet. Apparently he had thought it all out; he had retained the length of its stalk in case fortune would be favourable.

"So how do I look?" you asked with a grin and a pirouette.

"Beautiful." It was barely above a whisper but it chimed like a lute and strung your heart aflutter.

Then Lindir saw the hallowed stars of Varda shine with a brightness unmeasured and the entire valley swing with rapturous bliss as he felt the warmth of your lips on his cheek.

"Thank you," you said as you withdrew, lightly touching the flower of quiet adoration with your fingers.

He gave you a smile that even the Valar would be glad to behold and with a quick bow, left you under the bowers of the night.

You turned to face the waters that you had pointed out to him only a few moments ago with a grandiose sense of elation enveloping your entire being. Yes, you had finally come to a resolve. And you would act on it as soon as you returned. And then Lindir could rejoice without fleeing and hiding from your sight.

A/N: The flowers mentioned above are not elanor despite bearing a strong resemblance because I'm not quite sure about Tolkien's plants.

[aconissa]

do you have any adventure novel recommendations? especially but not exclusively of the seafaring/age of sail variety?

Hell yeah I do! Although fair warning, since I read lots of survival/exploration and horror, many (though not all) of these involve adventures going wrong:

Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin series, starting with Master and Commander (my favourite age of sail novels by far!)

Washington Black by Esi Edugyan (historical novel with a black protag)

The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff (set in Roman Britain)

A Land So Wild by Elyssa Warkentin (polar exploration, gay & perfect)

William Golding's Sea Trilogy, starting with Rites of Passage (age of sail journey to Australia)

C. S. Forester’s Hornblower series, starting with The Happy Return (or can be read in chronological order starting with Mr. Midshipman Hornblower, thus following the main character’s progress from midshipman to ship’s captain)

This Thing of Darkness by Harry Thompson (about the Beagle voyage)

The Birthday Boys by Beryl Bainbridge (about the Scott expedition)

Dark Matter and Thin Air by Michelle Paver (both involve ghosts; the first is set in the Arctic and the second is about mountaineering)

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant (sci-fi horror with mermaids and deep sea exploration - super fun and diverse!)

The Hunger by Alma Katsu (a horror retelling of the Donner-Reed Party)

The Terror by Dan Simmons (a horror retelling of the Franklin Expedition)

The Wolf in the Whale by Jordanna Max Brodsky (historical fantasy about Inuit and Viking characters)

The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle (the second Jurassic Park novel has the same title and I’d also recommend it - it’s more of an adventure story than it is in the movie, and it’s awesome!)

I know you said novels but there’s a lot of very compelling non-fiction books too which I’d highly recommend:

Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer (about the 1996 Everest disaster)

Last Hours on Everest by Graham Hoyland (about Mallory & Irving)

Boundless by Kathleen Winter (about her exploration of the Northwest Passage)

In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick (about the Whaleship Essex)

Monster of God by David Quammen (about large predators)

Dead Mountain by Donnie Eichar (about the Dyatlov Pass incident)

Batavia’s Graveyard by Mike Dash (about the Batavia mutiny)

[loveofyhwh]

November 29: Ezekiel 27–28; Revelation 22:6–21; Psalm 119:169–176; Proverbs 28:21–22

New Post has been published on https://loveofyhwh.com/november-29-ezekiel-27-28-revelation-226-21-psalm-119169-176-proverbs-2821-22/

November 29: Ezekiel 27–28; Revelation 22:6–21; Psalm 119:169–176; Proverbs 28:21–22

Old Testament:

Ezekiel 27–28

Ezekiel 27–28 (Listen)

A Lament for Tyre

27 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Now you, son of man, raise a lamentation over Tyre, 3 and say to Tyre, who dwells at the entrances to the sea, merchant of the peoples to many coastlands, thus says the Lord GOD:

  “O Tyre, you have said,     ‘I am perfect in beauty.’ 4   Your borders are in the heart of the seas;     your builders made perfect your beauty. 5   They made all your planks     of fir trees from Senir;   they took a cedar from Lebanon     to make a mast for you. 6   Of oaks of Bashan     they made your oars;   they made your deck of pines     from the coasts of Cyprus,     inlaid with ivory. 7   Of fine embroidered linen from Egypt     was your sail,     serving as your banner;   blue and purple from the coasts of Elishah     was your awning. 8   The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad     were your rowers;   your skilled men, O Tyre, were in you;     they were your pilots. 9   The elders of Gebal and her skilled men were in you,     caulking your seams;   all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in you     to barter for your wares.

10 “Persia and Lud and Put were in your army as your men of war. They hung the shield and helmet in you; they gave you splendor. 11 Men of Arvad and Helech were on your walls all around, and men of Gamad were in your towers. They hung their shields on your walls all around; they made perfect your beauty.

12 “Tarshish did business with you because of your great wealth of every kind; silver, iron, tin, and lead they exchanged for your wares. 13 Javan, Tubal, and Meshech traded with you; they exchanged human beings and vessels of bronze for your merchandise. 14 From Beth-togarmah they exchanged horses, war horses, and mules for your wares. 15 The men of DedanHebrew; Septuagint Rhodes‘>1 traded with you. Many coastlands were your own special markets; they brought you in payment ivory tusks and ebony. 16 Syria did business with you because of your abundant goods; they exchanged for your wares emeralds, purple, embroidered work, fine linen, coral, and ruby. 17 Judah and the land of Israel traded with you; they exchanged for your merchandise wheat of Minnith, meal,The meaning of the Hebrew word is unknown‘>2 honey, oil, and balm. 18 Damascus did business with you for your abundant goods, because of your great wealth of every kind; wine of Helbon and wool of Sahar 19 and casks of wineProbable reading; Hebrew wool of Sahar19and Dan and Javan‘>3 from Uzal they exchanged for your wares; wrought iron, cassia, and calamus were bartered for your merchandise. 20 Dedan traded with you in saddlecloths for riding. 21 Arabia and all the princes of Kedar were your favored dealers in lambs, rams, and goats; in these they did business with you. 22 The traders of Sheba and Raamah traded with you; they exchanged for your wares the best of all kinds of spices and all precious stones and gold. 23 Haran, Canneh, Eden, traders of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad traded with you. 24 In your market these traded with you in choice garments, in clothes of blue and embroidered work, and in carpets of colored material, bound with cords and made secure. 25 The ships of Tarshish traveled for you with your merchandise. So you were filled and heavily laden in the heart of the seas.

26   “Your rowers have brought you out     into the high seas.   The east wind has wrecked you     in the heart of the seas. 27   Your riches, your wares, your merchandise,     your mariners and your pilots,   your caulkers, your dealers in merchandise,     and all your men of war who are in you,   with all your crew     that is in your midst,   sink into the heart of the seas     on the day of your fall. 28   At the sound of the cry of your pilots     the countryside shakes, 29   and down from their ships     come all who handle the oar.   The mariners and all the pilots of the sea     stand on the land 30   and shout aloud over you     and cry out bitterly.   They cast dust on their heads     and wallow in ashes; 31   they make themselves bald for you     and put sackcloth on their waist,   and they weep over you in bitterness of soul,     with bitter mourning. 32   In their wailing they raise a lamentation for you     and lament over you:   ‘Who is like Tyre,     like one destroyed in the midst of the sea? 33   When your wares came from the seas,     you satisfied many peoples;   with your abundant wealth and merchandise     you enriched the kings of the earth. 34   Now you are wrecked by the seas,     in the depths of the waters;   your merchandise and all your crew in your midst     have sunk with you. 35   All the inhabitants of the coastlands     are appalled at you,   and the hair of their kings bristles with horror;     their faces are convulsed. 36   The merchants among the peoples hiss at you;     you have come to a dreadful end     and shall be no more forever.’”

Prophecy Against the Prince of Tyre

28 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord GOD:

  “Because your heart is proud,     and you have said, ‘I am a god,   I sit in the seat of the gods,     in the heart of the seas,’   yet you are but a man, and no god,     though you make your heart like the heart of a god— 3   you are indeed wiser than Daniel;     no secret is hidden from you; 4   by your wisdom and your understanding     you have made wealth for yourself,   and have gathered gold and silver     into your treasuries; 5   by your great wisdom in your trade     you have increased your wealth,     and your heart has become proud in your wealth— 6   therefore thus says the Lord GOD:   Because you make your heart     like the heart of a god, 7   therefore, behold, I will bring foreigners upon you,     the most ruthless of the nations;   and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom     and defile your splendor. 8   They shall thrust you down into the pit,     and you shall die the death of the slain     in the heart of the seas. 9   Will you still say, ‘I am a god,’     in the presence of those who kill you,   though you are but a man, and no god,     in the hands of those who slay you? 10   You shall die the death of the uncircumcised     by the hand of foreigners;     for I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD.”

A Lament over the King of Tyre

11 Moreover, the word of the LORD came to me: 12 “Son of man, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord GOD:

  “You were the signet of perfection,The meaning of the Hebrew phrase is uncertain‘>4     full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. 13   You were in Eden, the garden of God;     every precious stone was your covering,   sardius, topaz, and diamond,     beryl, onyx, and jasper,   sapphire,Or lapis lazuli‘>5 emerald, and carbuncle;     and crafted in gold were your settings     and your engravings.The meaning of the Hebrew phrase is uncertain‘>6   On the day that you were created     they were prepared. 14   You were an anointed guardian cherub.     I placed you;The meaning of the Hebrew phrase is uncertain‘>7 you were on the holy mountain of God;     in the midst of the stones of fire you walked. 15   You were blameless in your ways     from the day you were created,     till unrighteousness was found in you. 16   In the abundance of your trade     you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned;   so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God,     and I destroyed you,Or banished you‘>8 O guardian cherub,     from the midst of the stones of fire. 17   Your heart was proud because of your beauty;     you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor.   I cast you to the ground;     I exposed you before kings,     to feast their eyes on you. 18   By the multitude of your iniquities,     in the unrighteousness of your trade     you profaned your sanctuaries;   so I brought fire out from your midst;     it consumed you,   and I turned you to ashes on the earth     in the sight of all who saw you. 19   All who know you among the peoples     are appalled at you;   you have come to a dreadful end     and shall be no more forever.”

Prophecy Against Sidon

20 The word of the LORD came to me: 21 “Son of man, set your face toward Sidon, and prophesy against her 22 and say, Thus says the Lord GOD:

  “Behold, I am against you, O Sidon,     and I will manifest my glory in your midst.   And they shall know that I am the LORD     when I execute judgments in her     and manifest my holiness in her; 23   for I will send pestilence into her,     and blood into her streets;   and the slain shall fall in her midst,     by the sword that is against her on every side.   Then they will know that I am the LORD.

24 “And for the house of Israel there shall be no more a brier to prick or a thorn to hurt them among all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord GOD.

Israel Gathered in Security

25 “Thus says the Lord GOD: When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and manifest my holiness in them in the sight of the nations, then they shall dwell in their own land that I gave to my servant Jacob. 26 And they shall dwell securely in it, and they shall build houses and plant vineyards. They shall dwell securely, when I execute judgments upon all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the LORD their God.”

Footnotes

[1] 27:15 Hebrew; Septuagint Rhodes [2] 27:17 The meaning of the Hebrew word is unknown [3] 27:19 Probable reading; Hebrew wool of Sahar19and Dan and Javan [4] 28:12 The meaning of the Hebrew phrase is uncertain [5] 28:13 Or lapis lazuli [6] 28:13 The meaning of the Hebrew phrase is uncertain [7] 28:14 The meaning of the Hebrew phrase is uncertain [8] 28:16 Or banished you

(ESV)

New Testament:

Revelation 22:6–21

Revelation 22:6–21 (Listen)

Jesus Is Coming

6 And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.”

7 “And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”

8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me, 9 but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”

10 And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. 11 Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.”

12 “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

14 Blessed are those who wash their robes,Some manuscripts do his commandments‘>1 so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. 15 Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”

17 The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.

18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all.Some manuscripts all the saints‘>2 Amen.

Footnotes

[1] 22:14 Some manuscripts do his commandments [2] 22:21 Some manuscripts all the saints

(ESV)

Psalm:

Psalm 119:169–176

Psalm 119:169–176 (Listen)

Taw

169   Let my cry come before you, O LORD;     give me understanding according to your word! 170   Let my plea come before you;     deliver me according to your word. 171   My lips will pour forth praise,     for you teach me your statutes. 172   My tongue will sing of your word,     for all your commandments are right. 173   Let your hand be ready to help me,     for I have chosen your precepts. 174   I long for your salvation, O LORD,     and your law is my delight. 175   Let my soul live and praise you,     and let your rules help me. 176   I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant,     for I do not forget your commandments.

(ESV)

Proverb:

Proverbs 28:21–22

Proverbs 28:21–22 (Listen)

21   To show partiality is not good,     but for a piece of bread a man will do wrong. 22   A stingy manHebrew A man whose eye is evil‘>1 hastens after wealth     and does not know that poverty will come upon him.

Footnotes

[1] 28:22 Hebrew A man whose eye is evil

(ESV)

[narwhal-writings]

The Stone and the Sea [Working Title]

Alana Smit’s wounds are finally healed. It’s taken six months for the burns to heal and for her to gain some of her strength back. After reflecting on the events around the fiery rampage that destroyed her village and killed everyone she knew, Alana embarks on a journey, bringing only her determination and the sword her mother made for her. 

Her journey takes her far away from what was her home, leaving her country and going out to sea.

Caspian Seaver is the adopted son of a sailor on the boat Alana boards. His kind and cheerful attitude gets Alana to open up about the real reason she’s going to Theamor, a country not many choose to visit. After learning what happened, something stirs in his heart and mind, prompting him to offer to go with her on her mission. 

Together they make their way through the sea and reach Theamor. As the two of them conduct an investigation, they find out about the group that rampaged Alana’s village, but more than that, they uncover things about each other that neither ever expected.

Characters

Alana Smit - 20/21

Alana is the oldest child of the Smit family. Her mother, Beryl, was a blacksmith and her father, Stein, was a miner. When she was younger she would help her father haul his findings from the mines back home as well as watch her mother make items for customers. Alana and her baby brother Kivi got along great and would play together all the time.

Growing up, Alana was always fascinated by swords, especially the ones her mother would make. She taught herself how to use one and she was ecstatic when she was given her own.

Her home country is Zephia, which is known for it’s precious gems and metals, mining, blacksmiths, stonecarving, and other related products.

Caspian Seaver - 22

Caspian is the adopted son of the Seaver family. His parents are Brunien and Rilla. He has six adoptive siblings. In order they are; Darya (28), Laiken (28), Calder (26), Naiya (23), Caspian (22), Zhaleh (12), Brishon (10). 

He helps out his father on the small cargo ship they have. He loves the sea and everything to do with it and sailing.

The country he grew up in is Adrayria, known for their boat quality, fishing/fish products, woodworking, beautiful ocean views, and other related products.

[ajoraverse]

I kinda started on a thing that was supposed to be another take on @oathkeeper-of-tarth’s hot new pearl trend, but this is Mist and she doesn't really do the traditional active-type resistance most people would recognize. And really, this is just a fragment because I'm including a bit of geology on the end of the post because that's my thing.

Pearl didn't remember anything before forming for the first time in the sterile white expanse of a moonstone's showroom. She stood in front of the column where her gem had presumably been, with her back straight and one hand clasping the other in front of her. There were other columns with other pearls, but right now it seemed that she was the only one to form just then. Standing before her was a tall, bright green figure with black stripes in her hair that mirrored those stripes radiating from a central point in her gem, and next to that gem was a smaller white one who didn't bother to glance away from the tablet in front of her.

"I thought I specified that I wanted it *brighter*," the tall green gem grumbled. Pearl noticed that the gem on the back of the tall green gem's left hand matched the placement of her own. "Like me. And the skirt's all wrong."

The white gem's eyes fixed on her tablet, her voice bored and almost droning. "You can specify that to the pearl and any changes will remain after it regenerates its form. There's a terminal with a database of basic appearance modification samples in the back."

The green gem grunted and uncrossed her arms. A hand lashed forth to grab Pearl's chin and turn her face this way and that. It alarmed her, but she had no idea how to react and remained frozen. Then the hand moved to her shoulder and turned her so roughly that she almost lost her balance. That seemed to break the dour look on the taller gem's face and it turned into a much more unpleasant sort of smirk. "Eh, the color can stay, I suppose. Moonstone, I'll take it. Pearl, come. We need to change that ghastly skirt. I *know* I specified something with more leeway."

Pearl didn't know what was wrong with the skirt--it was ankle-length and opaque, and it swished nicely around her legs. But she followed her mistress to the terminal anyway, because it never approached her not to.

In time, Trapiche Emerald found the skirt she wanted on her pearl: nearly transparent and trailing in the back but cut to mid-thigh in the front. The second alteration was the opening up of the front of the leotard from hem to mid-sternum. Pearl shifted her form to reflect the changes. Then, before she knew it, she felt a sharp pain as something pierced her between the ribs and she had to release her form entirely.

When she returned to consciousness, she was in a new place. The sitting room was expansive, with luxurious couches and chairs. The viewscreen was enormous and set in one wall and against several walls were curio cabinets full of trinkets she couldn't possibly name. Centered in the wall opposite of the viewscreen was a portrait of a ship against a stylized backdrop of a nebula.

"The *Lonestar*," Trapiche Emerald said suddenly as she strode in from the hallway leading to other parts of her quarters. Her expression was dour again. "My pride and joy, and I don't even get to fly her."

Pearl didn't know what to say beyond a mild "I'm sorry, my Emerald."

Trapiche Emerald continued as if she hadn't even heard her. "I'm six emeralds divided by spokes of black tourmaline. I should have been shattered. But no, Blue Diamond thought I was a *perfect* exotic gem. I should be on that ship, but here I wait until she wants me trotted out for court again."

The lost sensation deepened. What could Pearl possibly say? And before she could think of anything, Trapiche Emerald strode to the biggest, plushest couch and slumped in the middle. Her voice was bored, and there was something underlying it that Pearl didn't like. "Entertain me, pearl. Dance."

Pearl stepped out onto the large, ornate blue-green rug in front of the couch and began. It was a simple dance with forms provided by her gem, but she did her best. Several minutes in, as she shifted her weight onto the tip of a single toe, something lashed out, wrapped around her ankle, and tugged it out from under her. She fell hard against the rug, and pain shot up where her elbow had hit the floor. Then, suddenly, there was a hoarse, ugly bark of laughter as she tried to get up. It felt worse than the physical pain of the fall. As much as she tried to keep her face placid, she couldn't quite stop the pricking of tears in her eyes.

Trapiche Emerald only laughed harder at the sight. Pearl stood as straight as she had when she first formed, and it didn't quite stop the horrible feeling inside her. "Wonderful! You'll work out after all."

--

An explanation because by any standard metric of gem purity and Homeworld's caste system, Trapiche Emerald shouldn't exist:

Typically beryls form in granitic pegmatites, but rarely they can also form in sedimentary rock. Trapiche emeralds have so far only been found in black shale, a sedimentary rock, and the black spokes are formed by what was probably shale being squished together by the growing emerald crystals. For further reading on real-world formation, go here.

This, of course, presents a problem with the automated process of Kindergartening and Homeworld’s rigid tunnel-vision approach to pretty much anything, all meaning that injecting emeralds in sedimentary matrices wouldn’t even be considered. Generally my take is that there’s a lot of prescriptivism among most Kindergarten-building peridots, and Peridot 2AA/e1!Peri’s ability to think beyond the standard recommended practices is a bit of an outlier and sort of a side-effect of her having to think creatively to get around her limitations. And, well, Trapiche Emerald wasn’t one of hers. 

So, my thoughts are that Trapiche Emerald was injected into granitic pegmatite with an excess of tourmaline material polluting the beryl mix (tourmaline also grows in granitic pegmatite). How this happened was ultimately irrelevant--a botch at the factory, the mix tank for a used injector not being cleaned out properly, whatever--but the end result was that you had two different gems forming in the matrix. Beryl is harder than tourmaline, but tourmaline is heavier and denser. The tourmaline material ended up gravitating towards and being wedged in the center as the beryl material crystallized around it and forced the tourmaline material to grow in sheets. Thus, Trapiche Emerald.

When she came out, she should have been shattered on the spot. Had the percentage of tourmaline materials been higher, she would have. Had her impurities been anything other than another gemstone, like shale, she would have. But she formed as much more emerald than tourmaline, with her sections perfectly symmetrical and all her other impurities minimal. Blue Diamond kept her as a novelty, which results in her being bedecked in more luxury than an average emerald and kept chained to court. There would never be another.  

And this, of course, leads to Trapiche Emerald being frustrated because she was meant to sail the sea of stars and she can’t, so she lashes out the only way she can.

[kksmusicjewelryuniverse]

Did you know that the Aquamarine is the March Birthstone and represents the 19th Anniversary!~Aquamarine, the birthstone for March, is one of the most popular members of the beryl family.~Aquamarine comes in shades of translucent blue. Intense dark blue and green-blues that closely resemble the color of the sea are considered the most valuable, but aquamarine also comes in pale and pastel blue.~Aquamarine’s soothing blues promote relaxation and peace of mind as you ride the waves of life. Legends say this gem was beloved by mermaids and would bring good luck and smooth sailing to ancient sailors. Aquamarine is also associated with courage, justness, and friendship.~While most of the world’s supply comes from Brazil, aquamarine is also mined in Africa, India, China, Russia and even here in the United States in California and Colorado.~ Aquamarine's name means “water of the sea” from the Latin words “aqua marina."~Aquamarine is a type I clarity stone with good stability and toughness. It rates 7.5 on the Mohs hardness scale, making it good for everyday jewelry.~Being the color of water, some have credited aquamarine with all the same nurturing properties and wear it to cure ailments, especially involving the throat, liver and stomach. Aquamarine has also been said to protect pregnant women and their babies from harm.The ring below is located at the Manchester KK's.

[my-name-is-kat-nis-blog]

Audition Monologue Choices for Silent Sky

Teach Me How to Cry By Patrictia Joudry MELINDA It’s cloudy. It’s going to rain. Do you like rain? I love it. I love it better than anything in the world. I like to be out in it. When it rains in the night, I get up and sit looking at it, and want to go out in the rain. (pause) Will you be going away? You will, won’t you? (No answer. She goes front and looks down) The cliff is steep. I look up at it sometimes when I’m walking home from school. If a person fell down that cliff, they’d be killed. Or if they were pushed. Stop talking to me. You talk and talk and I don’t understand. Go on then! As far away as you want! I don’t know why we came to this terrible place. I hate it here. There aren’t any flowers-nothing. There used to be music here. It was springtime, like now, only people used to come here. They were in love, and they listened to the music. A band played. They were sad. I seem to know it. I seem to hear the music. It makes me want to cry. No, I never cry. I’m cold-it’s getting cold. It’s like crying. Like the sky crying. What? My mother isn’t insane. That’s-a-terrible-thing to say. There isn’t anything the matter with her! She’s-she acts perfectly fine. She’s just young. (pleading) There’s nothing wrong with being young! My mother isn’t old! My mother is never tired! My mother looks after me. She’s always there-for me to go home to-and we talk. I can tell her about things-I can ask her things too! Anything! Anything at al! She helps me to understand. She knows about me- (slight pause) When you want to know something, you ask your mother. When you’re lonely, you go to your mother and she explains things and you’re not lonely anymore. When you don’t understand-when you’re frightened in the nightwhen you’re hurt-your mother makes things better. She puts her arms around you, and you can lean on her. You can lean on her. (she is looking front) No, I’m not crying. It’s the rain. They dry by themselves.

DIARY OF ANNE FRANK ANNE Look, Peter, the sky. (she looks up through the skylight) What a lovely, lovely day! Aren't the clouds beautiful? You know what I do when it seems as if I couldn't stand being cooped up for one more minute? I think myself out. I think myself on a walk in the park where I used to go with Pim. Where the jonquils and the crocus and the violets grow down the slopes. You know the most wonderful part about thinking yourself out? You can have it any way you like. You can have roses and violets and chrysanthemums all blooming at the same time? It's funny. I used to take it all for granted. And now I've gone crazy about everything to do with nature. Haven't you? (softly) I wish you had a religion, Peter. Oh, I don't mean you have to be Orthodox, or believe in heaven and hell and purgatory and things. I just mean some religion. It doesn't matter what. Just to believe in something! When I think of all that's out there. The trees. And flowers. And seagulls. When I think of the dearness of you, Peter. And the goodness of people we know. Mr. Kraler, Miep, Dirk, the vegetable man, all risking their lives for us everyday. When I think of these good things, I'm not afraid any more. I find myself, and God, and I... We're not the only people that've had to suffer. There've always been people that've had to. Sometimes one race, sometimes another, and yet...I know it's terrible, trying to have any faith when people are doing such horrible things, but you know what I sometimes think? I think the world may be going through a phase, the way I was with Mother. It'll pass, maybe not for hundreds of years, but some day I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are really good at heart. Peter, if you'd only look at it as part of a great pattern? That we're just a little minute in the life? (she breaks off) Listen to us, going at each other like a couple of stupid grownups! Look at the sky now. Isn't it lovely?

From Transit of Venus by Maureen Hunter Canada Playwrights Express CELESTE No. I don‟t do it, you see. I don‟t do any of it. I don‟t baste, I don‟t sew, I don‟t knit, I don‟t mend, I don‟t darn, I don‟t tat, I don‟t embroider and I do not do petti-point! I do, however, read. And because I can read, I can learn. Oh, I can‟t actually travel – you have the advantage of me there - but I can read about travel, I can dream about it, I can imagine what it‟s like. I‟ve been everywhere with you. You don‟t know it, but I have. I know every inch of sea you‟ve sailed, every island you‟ve set foot on. I know how the rains come sweeping across the mountains of Ile de France, and how the island itself lies curled in the sea like an oyster. I know about the doldrums and trade winds and tides. Tides! Tides are so mysterious. We‟ve known about them since the days of Alexander, yet there‟s so much we don‟t know. Why, for instance are there two high tides and two low tides every day in some places, and only one in others? Why the tides of Saint Malo rise almost ten meters and only a fraction of that on the islands you visited? They do; did you know that? I want to know why. I want to know everything there is to know before I die. This was your gift to me, you see? You pointed me at the sky and said, look! And when I looked, what did I see? Mirrors! Mirrors reflecting mirrors reflecting mirrors, on and on to infinity. So much to know, so much to learn, so much to wonder about. Once you begin to wonder, it‟s impossible, isn‟t it – inconceivable! – to abandon that sense of wonder for anything as straight-forward and mundane as a needle and a piece of thread.

A Talk In The Park CONFUSIONS By Alan Ayckbourn BERYL Thanks. Sorry, only the man over there won’t stop talking. I wanted to read this in peace. I couldn’t concentrate. He just kept going on and on about his collections or something. I normally don’t mind too much, only if you get a letter like this, you need all your concentration. You can’t have people talking in your ear – especially when you’re trying to decipher writing like this. He must have been stoned out of his mind when he wrote it. It wouldn’t be unusual. Look at it. He wants me to come back. Some hopes. To him. He’s sorry, he didn’t mean to do what he did, he won’t do it again I promise, etc., etc. I seem to have heard that before. It’s not the first time, I can tell you. And there’s no excuse for it, is there? Violence. I mean, what am I supposed to do? Keep going back to that? Every time he loses his temper he … I mean, there’s no excuse. A fracture, you know. It was nearly a compound fracture. That’s what they told me. (indicating her head) Right here. You can practically see it to this day. Two X-rays. I said to him when I got home, I said, “You bastard, you know what you did to my head?” He just stands there. The way he does. “Sorry,” he says, “I’m ever so sorry.” I told him, I said, “You’re a bastard, that’s what you are. A right, uncontrolled, violent, bad-tempered bastard.” You know what he said? He says, “You call me a bastard again and I’ll smash your stupid face in”

A RAISIN IN THE SUN, by Lorraine Hansberry This play focuses on the Youngers, an African-American family living on the South Side of Chicago in the 1950s. When the play begins, the family is about to receive an insurance check for $10,000 from their deceased father’s life insurance policy. Each member of the family has an idea as to what this money should be used for. Beneatha tries to convince her brother and mother to use the money for her medical school tuition. BENEATHA: When I was small… we used to take our sleds out in the wintertime and the only hills we had were the ice-covered stone steps of some houses down the street. And we used to fill them in with snow and make them smooth and slide down them all day… and it was very dangerous, you know… far too steep… and sure enough one day a kid named Rufus came down too fast and hit the sidewalk and we saw his face just split open right there in front of us… And I remember standing there looking at his bloody open face thinking that was the end of Rufus. But the ambulance came and they took him to the hospital and they fixed the broken bones and sewed it all up… and the next time I saw Rufus he just had a little line down the middle of his face…. I never got over that… What one person could do for another, fix him up – sew up the problem, make him all right again. That was the most marvelous thing in the world... I wanted to do that. I always thought it was the one concrete thing in the world a human being could do. Fix up the sick, you know – and make them whole again. This was truly being God… It used to be so important to me. It used to matter. I used to care. Yes – I think [I stopped]. Because it doesn’t seem deep enough, close enough to what ails mankind! It was a child’s way of seeing things – or an idealist’s. You are still where I left off. You with all of your talk and dreams about Africa! You still think you can patch up the world. Cure the Great Sore of Colonialism – (loftily, mocking it) with the Penicillin of Independence - ! Independence and then what? What about the crooks and thieves and just plain idiots who will come into power and steal and plunder the same as before – only now they will be black and do it in the name of the new independence – WHAT ABOUT THEM?

[gyanyognet-blog]

Rome To Tamilakam Trade Route Description. 12000 Years Ago

New Post has been published on https://gyanyog.net/rome-to-tamilakam-trade-route-description-12000-years-ago/

Rome To Tamilakam Trade Route Description. 12000 Years Ago

It is often assumed that Indian and Relations with Europe,especially with Italy, Greece began with the arrival of Alexander in India.

This is incorrect.

Trade relations between Greece and Vedic India are found during Vedic times, as evidenced in Vedas,Purans,Ranayana and Mahabharata.

Ionians were called as Yavanas.

Tamil Kings, Chera,Chola and Pandyas carried on trade relationship with Europe , the latest date being 87 BC.

This date has been arrived at by referring Western Sources Pliny , The Elder, Arrian and Strabo, Grrek Historians.

The point to be noted is that they declare that trade continued with Tamilakam during the Period of Augustus and not ‘it began from the time of Augustus’.

Fact that Tamilakam was described extensively in Greek literature,that Sanskrit and Tamil texts belonging to period earlier to 87 BC, more specifically by Silappadikaram.

Now Poompuhar which has been excavated in Tanil Nadu, which is referred to by ancient western writers, has been dated around 12000 years ago, , it is reasonable to propose that trade between Tamilakam / India and Rome/ West existed 12000 years ago, conservatively.

‘The trade route taken by ships from Rome to Tamilakam has been described in detail by the writers, such as Strabo and Pliny the Elder. Roman and Arab sailors were aware of the existence of the monsoon winds that blew across the Indian Ocean on a seasonal basis. A Roman captain named Hippalus first sailed a direct route from Rome to India, using the monsoon winds. His method was later improved upon by merchants who shortened the voyage by sailing due east from the port of Cana or Cape Guardafui, finding that by this way it was possible to go directly from Rome to Tamilakam. Strabo writes that every year, about the time of the summer solstice, a fleet of one hundred and twenty vessels sailed from Myos Hormos, a port of Egypt on the Red Sea, and headed toward India. With assistance from the monsoons, the voyage took forty days to reach the ports of Tamilakam or Ceylon. Pliny writes that if the monsoons were blowing regularly, it was a forty-day trip to Muziris[39] from Ocelis located at the entrance to the Red Sea from the south. He writes that the passengers preferred to embark at Bacare (Vaikkarai) in Pandya country, rather than Muziris, which was infested with pirates.

The ships returned from Tamilakam carrying rich cargo which was transported in camel trains from the Red Sea to the Nile, then up the river to Alexandria, finally reaching the capital of the Roman empire. Evidence of Tamil trading presence in Egypt is seen in the form of Tamil inscriptions on pottery in Red Sea ports. Imports and exports

Fine muslins and jewels, especially beryls (vaiduriyam) and pearls were exported from Tamilakam for personal adornment. Drugs, spices and condiments as well as crape ginger and other cosmetics fetched high prices. Even greater was the demand for pepper which, according to Pliny, sold at the price of 15 denarii (silver pieces) a pound. Sapphire, called kurundham in Tamil, and a variety of ruby were also exported. The other articles exported from Tamilakam were ivory, spikenard, betel, diamonds, amethysts and tortoiseshell. The Greek and Arabic names for rice (Oryza and urz), ginger(Gingibar and zanjabil) and cinnamon (Karpion and quarfa) are almost identical with their Tamil names, arisi, inchiver and karuva.[41] The imports were mostly luxury items such as glass, gold and wine. Horses were imported from Arabia.

Reference and citation.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_ancient_Tamil_country#Foreign_trade

53.805339 -1.539615

[meganwrote]

What would a pirate au be like?

a pirate au you say? funny enough thats practically the complete opposite of TVS so we’re going with that. 

1. Beryl is the runaway princess. If she doesn’t run she’ll be queen and her sister will be sentenced to something terrible - so Beryl risks it all and jumps ship to secure Jade’s spot on the throne. 

2. Crow meets Beryl in a market place, looking incredibly out of place among fishermen and merchants in all gilded dress and jewels. She cons him into “stealing” her away and he gets her on the ship.

3. Icarus inherited the ship from his father who was the most dangerous pirate to sail the seas. He has a vast empire of money that he gives to the less fortunate in the places he pillages. Icarus is the Robin Hood of pirates.

4. Elektra is the cook - unintentionally. She was an accidental prisoner who realized the pirates ate like shit and took it upon herself to feed them because “I’m not dying of scurvy just because your mother’s stopped feeding you.” 

5.  Nova joined the pirate life for the thrill and adventure of seeing a far away place. Saint was the officer her parent’s hired to get her back who somehow got roped into being a pirate. 

THANK YOU FRIEND

[bbwoulfc]

We Meet Again

Pirate Au with Ladybug!Adrien and ChatNoir!Marinette.

Haven’t seen anyone attempt a role switch pirate au, so I thought I’d have some fun and give it a try.

They say the foolish would never succeed in their goals. Never to make a difference in my life or the lives of others.  How wrong they were.  The foolishness in me is what made a difference in my life and the lives of others. I gave the people close to me a purpose, an outlet to the wonders of the world. A life of freedom.   A life of adventure.  A life of treasures and riches beyond one’s imagination and dreams.  Shame on those who say dreams are for fools.  If it weren’t for my foolishness and dreams, I would never experience my greatest adventure of my life, nor meet my beloved again.

                                                          *****

The night wanes on the small town of Port Royal.

For such a busy port and town, it was rather calm and serene for an evening.  Families safe beyond their stone and bricked homes, while others more troublesome and outgoing members of the town, gather at the largest pub located near the center of the inland.  All the rum and varies of alcohol should contain the drunkers for the time being.

As the guards of Port Royal walk around the streets of the town, enforcing the peace and laws of the governor and the king; a prisoner lays awake in the Port Royal jail.

The lonely prisoner stands in the cell as she listens to the calming waves of the ocean and march of the two guards pacing back and forth in front of the jail’s entrance.  She couldn’t complain too much.  The prison was cool in temperature due to the underground structure.

Pacing towards one of the prison cell’s barred window, she glances out as the moonlight casts amongst her shadow appearance.

She’s a young woman, no more than twenty.  Her short cut, blue tinted black hair glows in highlight, her sapphire eyes blazing with an internal blue flame from the heat of the moonlight.  The woman’s body cloaked in hematite black and smoke grey pirate attire, and a hint of beryl green formed in a cat paw print located on her black as night earrings.  The fire from the torches along the stone walls casting a red hue behind her as in blends with the blue of the moon, igniting the she-pirate in a glow of warm and cool colors.

For a free spirit that she be, no prison will obtain a pirate in the likes of her.  Port Royal are in for a rude awaking.

Like the warmth of bed sheet, the town becomes cloaked in a bed of silence.  The wind coming to a quick halt as all sound refrains except the movements of the two guards.

The she-pirate’s lip form into a smirk.  The calm before the storm.

Like a signal, a boom emits in the distance as the sound rockets through the once quiet town.  In seconds, an explosion makes contact with the town as an impact nearby vibrates through ground.  The once quiet atmosphere now filled with the sounds of bells chiming, alerting the guards of Port Royal of an attack from canon fire.

The sounds of rushing boots scattering along the town towards the harbor as more explosions make impact to the town.  The glows of red lighting like fireworks from the small prison cell window.

What was once excitement on her face now morphed into confusion and frustration as another boom from a canon is heard from the harbor.

“Those are not the sounds of my canons.  What the hell?”  She grunts through clench teeth as she tries to get a glimpse of the harbor and ocean.

“Halt!”

She could hear one of the prison guards shouting to an unknown intruder.  Turning her head slightly, she angles her head, attention towards the main door hidden around the corner and up the stairs.

Within the second of a breath, the sound of two gun shots echo from the outside of the prison door.  Who in the hell could this intruder be?

Hearing the bodies of the two guards slide against the stone cold walls, she heard the iron door creak open.  With the poorly lit prison as it already was, she could see the rays of the moonlight highlighting angelic beams in the location of the stairway from its location around the corner.  Even with the rays of the moonlight, the corner of the arc way to the main area of the cells remain cloaked in shadows.

Whoever it may be, she wouldn’t show fear.  She won’t show vulnerability.    

The sounds of heavy booted footsteps begin descending the iron stairs towards the prison cell where she’s held.  What surprises her most is how calm the footsteps radiate as they make their way down.

Reaching the bottom, a thickly cloaked and dressed figure stands and faces her from the shadowed cloaked arch way.  

Even in the shadows, she can make out the small highlights and silhouettes of another pirate.  The only appearance to show was the bright emerald orbs of his eyes, highlighted by the faint cast of the moon.

“My, my; they were right.  Their captain caged like an animal.  I don’t know about you, but I think those gents deserved death to cage such a beauty as yourself.  Wouldn’t you agree?” Came the figure’s thick voice.

Stepping forward, the pirate blends away from the shadows to show a young man with messed styled blond hair, and placed as the same age as her.  His attire assorted by the colors of melanite black and blood red.

As her gaze roamed the pirates attire, she saw a glimpse of the silver ring surrounding his right ring finger.  With a closer inspection, she could see the faint carving of a ladybug.

Of course.

With a smile, the blue haired pirate looks up at the blond pirate in front of her, sapphire eyes staring into emerald eyes. “Cardinalis.” She greeted.

“Panthera.” He greeted in return, a smile blooming on his face.

Moving forward, Cardinalis stops once he reaches the metal prison cell.

“How on earth did you get yourself in here, Panthera?”

A chuckle escapes through her lips as she paces the cell, only to stop back in front of her fellow pirate.  “It was supposed to be a distraction of sorts. My crew were to raid a certain treasury while I distracted some of the guards and lured them away.  Apparently the guards weren’t as stupid as they appeared. Making a good head way from the guards chasing me, I had the unfortunate luck of running into another group of guards. Figures.  Though I’m not sure where they could have gone.  Betrayal results in death.  As I’m sure will happen once I ever find them.”

“Oh, my lady.  I’ve heard many tales about you, but this is a first about the great Panthera.”

She rolls her eyes and shakes her head lightly. Exhaling a deep amount of air, Panthera looks back at Cardinalis.  “What are you doing here, my lord?  Never once have we meet in person until know.”

He looks at her with the most respect that a pirate can give a fellow pirate.

“Just because we haven’t met out in the open seas doesn’t mean I don’t know you…princess.  Marinette.”

Panthera’s body stiffens from the use of her civilian’s name.  It’s been a few years since she’s gone by that name.  How on earth does he know her name.  More so her status as a princess?”

“How do you know my name?”  Panthera looks Cardinalis dead in the eyes as she awaits his answer.

With a smile, eyes gleaming with a hint of mystery, Cardinalis provides what she seeks.

“I know you, rather well, princess.  You are the only daughter of the once feared pirate, Jaguaron.  One of the legends to tame the seas.  And as far as legends go, love took hold of the heart.  He fell for a princess and gave up the life of a pirate.  Erased the hidden past of life not welcomed by most and married to only become king alongside the now present queen.  A mighty kingdom of Cheng, now known has the Kingdom of Dupain-Cheng.  Then, a year later, they were blessed with a beautiful baby girl who bared a heart of bravery and kindness.  And always quenched for a thirst for adventure.”  Cardinalis gives Panthera a toothy grin as he stares at the princess.

“How in Davey Jones do you know so much about me?” There is no way anyone knew of her background.  There was no one, except for one.  But that was impossible.  

She wasn’t sure how or what to feel.

Reaching through the bars of the cell, Cardinalis grasp the necklace around her neck, fingers grazing over the detailed marks and curves of the intricate design.

Panthera lowers her head as she gazes at his lingering fingers, her own gaze glancing at the one belonging she cherished most.

Cardinalis was silent as he eyed the piece of jewelry as if it held everything he cared about most.

“Why are you hear, Cardinalis?  I know there’s a reason.”

Her words bring him back from his silent reminiscence that trailed through his eyes as he shifts his gaze back to her.

“I’ve search far for you, princess.  I came to rescue you and offer a proposition.”

She remained silent as she nodded her head to acknowledge him to continue.

“I’d like you to be my partner.  We can search for the sacred miraculouses before that tyrant, Hawk Moth can find them, and use them against our homes.”  He places his leathered glove against her cheek, “And we could be whole again.”

Panthera closes her eyes as she leans against the cool of the glove and the warmth of his touch.  She takes a deep breath as she opens her eyes and looks Cardinalis face to face.  There was no doubt who this young man was in front of her.  It’s been so long.  Who’d ever think fate was so kind.

“Never once had I thought I’d ever see my prince again.”

Another sound of multiple canon fire echoes though the chaos engulfing the town.

“So, what do you, Panthera?  Are you willing to partner with me and sail the seven seas together?”  A smirk taking over.

With confidence gleaming in her eyes, she smirks in return looking straight into his eyes.  “You got yourself a deal, my lord.  Now get me out of her.”

“Then you better stand back, ma cheri.” Cardinalis pulls out his pistol and aims it at the cell’s lock.

Moving to the end of the cell, Panthera waits and watches as Cardinalis pulls the trigger.  A few sparks ignite from the contact of the bullet, but the damage was done as he pulls the door open for his partner.

Stepping out of the prison cell, both smile each other and make their way towards the only entrance of the prison.  

Once reaching close to the top, Panthera halts. Cardinalis stopping behind her.

Turning around, she comes face to face to her new partner, the steps providing ease from the height different.

Moving her gaze to his lips, she leans forward, closing her eyes, and places her lips against his.  Feeling her lips on his, Cardinalis close his eyes and returns the kiss.

It wasn’t meant to be long as she pulls herself away, opening her eyes to look back at him.

“Thank you.”  Her voice soft and filled with admiration.  “Thank you for finding me, Adrien.”

“I’d search for you near and far.  No sea, ocean, or land can keep me from you.”

A loving smile takes form on her face.  “Then let’s get started and make up once we’re in the safety of your ship.  And begin preparations of becoming the king and queen of the seven seas.”

Excitement gleams and sparkle through Cardinalis’s eyes as he offers cat like smirk.  “Then lead the way, my lady.”      

[princesslucipher]

We live underwater. We live nightly- Below, swimming, Beyond your human law. It is we who grant what mercy be From our own wild bosoms, From our beryl overflowing, Of our briny goodness. Blood is but salt And water. It is you, Man bringing red, And your women Vexed incarnadine; That human element- The violence, dark vinegar By an age on dry land. But take this veil. In the rush, In the black wave, Sail on, Ye plaintiff, Mastless. Our ecstasies We gracious keep, In jubilant dancing, With our beloved Deep.

#grecoromana #originalpoetry #foundpoem #myths #sea #secrets #nereids #oceanlove #feminism #mermaids #evolution #iloveyou #hardtimesrequirefuriousdancing #odysseus