theheavenlypost

[theheavenlypost]

Rain at Maekawa in Sagami Province (Soshu Maekawa no ame), from the series “Selection of Views of the Tokaido (Tokaido fukei senshu)”, Kawase Hasui, 1932, Art Institute of Chicago: Asian Art

Gift of Oliver Statler Size: 39 x 26.5 cm (15 5/16 x 10 7/16 in.) Medium: Color woodblock print; oban

https://www.artic.edu/artworks/87391/

[theheavenlypost]

day four

Dear Ceci,

a mysterious, mischievous white hen

decided to escape from her pen:

a trail of green goo

became a tasty chicken stew––

now at midnight she glows again and again

^ the reason why Carnis, Hoyle, Slink and I went to Appleberry Farm to help Farmer Travis. So mysteeeerious.

It wasn’t difficult to follow Stella into the forest, nor to follow the green goopy splotches to the mouth of a cave––but goodness, why do all of these adventures end up in caves?? Why can’t monsters’ lairs be, like, slightly more comfortable and well-decorated?? Honestly, its like they don’t even try to be civilized. Maybe they just need someone to help pave the way…

Anyway, I nearly DIED because there was a very creepy and scary bug in that cave & none of my friends seem to be much good at healing people & even though I’ve gotten better at magic, I’ll admit some of my spells still need some practice. I have to say though, Elise and Dina, Farmer Travis’ daughters, were very impressed with my special tricks––you know, the good old turning water into wine, err, pumpkin spice lattes.

Two more excellent discoveries of the day that I must note: (1) a magic cat and (2) a magical fruit (if you are thinking of that silly rhyme, please get your head out of the gutter. This is serious business). Hoyle has a magic cat who I definitely and 100% find very adorable. I’ve never heard of magic cats before…have you heard of magic cats?? His name is Webster.  Also, have you ever heard of gemberries?? You MUST beg your father to tell the kitchens to get ahold of this SCRUMPTIOUS fruit that ACTUALLY SPARKLES. When you hold it up to the light, the fruit shimmers, and then you bring it up to your mouth, take a bite, and the golden, citrusy juice melts just perfectly into your mouth...pure magic.

I wish you could be with me on this adventure. I wish you could be seeing, smelling, hearing, touching, tasting all these new and incredible experiences by my side. Don’t get me wrong, I am very grateful for my new friends––everyone is special in their own way, we make each other strong. We’re not the same, we’re different, but in a good way. Together is where we belong…at least, that’s the dream that I hope will come true, at the end of all this.

Send my love to Winthrop.

xxx

Angel

P.S. It happened again, but nothing to worry about. All is under control. It’s fine, it’s fine. Everything is fine!!!! 

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Total LOTR references: 9

Character list: Angel (Half-Elf/Half-Drow Bard 2), Carnis (Goliath Barbarian 2) Hoyle (Human Cleric 1, Wizard 1), Slink (Halfling Rogue 2)

Songs quoted: ‘We’re All in This Together’ from High-School Musical, ‘Something There’ from Beauty and the Beast

[theheavenlypost]

day three

CECI!!!

You will NEVER GUESS what I got today––and in the most random of places!!  Remember that Limited Edition Theophilus Everbald poster that I’ve been DYING to add to my collection??! I've found and, uh, appropriated it from the wall of a very stranger cave my friends and I were exploring today... AND GET THIS they had absolutely no clue who the Kindred Spirits are!!? Where were they even raised, a sty? 

Yes, yes, I should probably explain to you why and how we ended up in a cave. We were hired by priestess of the temple of the Everlight to help her find some travelers who’d gotten lost on the cliffs overlooking Lake Loma.

Sure, it’s the definitely the stuff of adventure. The dank, dark caves with walls that glow green, the maiden captured by goblins and a mysterious SLK...Sure, I myself have done stuff adventurers do, at least how they are described in novels and epics. I’ve healed my friends and snuck through the shadows and climbed down cliffs (okay, fair, I’m not the best at that part...definitely regret opting out of the weightlifting class with our fighters!!). But...adventure in real life doesn’t always match up with what is on the page of a book. 

Ceci––I’m scared. Both of what I’m mixed up in and of what all this might bring out in, well, in me. I thought it would be easy to find these travelers: my friends are so strong!! Instead of finding them safe, or wounded, or even their bodies, we found them butchered, just chopped arms and legs kept in crates of ice. A horrible fate. We found Elizabeth, at least, and though she isn’t injured too badly I’m not sure she is quite alright. 

Will these travelers go to heaven? Were they good people? How are people’s lives judged after they die and proceed to the afterlife?

...

Can you still be a good person if you do wrong things with good intentions? 

xxx

Angel

P.S. Tomorrow we are going to find some glowing chickens!!!

P.P.S. I need new flavours for my medicines, because my friends get hurt A LOT and apparently cherry, grape, and mint just doesn’t cover it...ideas??

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Total LOTR references: 4

[theheavenlypost]

day one

my dear, dear, beautiful Ceci,

you’ll be happy to know (of course, you won’t hear me per se, only read these diary pages when I’ve returned to you, though let me imagine its so for now, so I can bear it) that I’m not dead, nor lost, nor am I (surprisingly) alone. 

I’ve met my companions in a town called Willowdale. I know, its rather far, but please dont worry about me as my new friends have proven themselves to be more than capable!! Carnis, in particular, claims to be only the second best axe wielder in his clan but from the way he smashed that table in the bar this morning I doubt that very much!! anyway I am getting ahead of myself...

this morning, a few rude men very rudely interrupted my breakfast at the Goblin’s Brew (mediocre food but 10/10 would recommend that you visit...the bartender may be a minx but he is a HOT minx) and began picking on another customer. they said some very not nice things and so of course we all jumped in and gave those ruffians a piece of our mind. by we, I mean the four of us: carnis, slink, hoyle, and myself. 

Ceci, you would love my new friends!! though I hardly know them, I’m sure we all will become very close soon, especially once we finish this new job we’ve picked up! Carnis is HUGE (do you remember those seven feet tall statues in the outer courtyard?? he is BIGGER)––the rest of us are measly sticks by comparison. Slink, a halfling, seems very resourceful but I don’t yet know what to make of him. with Hoyle, though, I foresee us becoming fast friends despite him being far older than I; he loves to read and can do magic too!! 

i know you are worrying about me, about that, but I’m being careful. the people here seem much more open than back home. tonight, I met a lovely women named Lydia who was cursed by a witch to have blue hair!! her husband Lars is an incredible cook. sadly, Carnis was unable to taste his amazing vegetable stew having passed out in his bowl moments before (note to self: do not drink dwarven ale through a straw!) so Hoyle spoon fed him while I wiped his face...all that to say, and with the new job as well, I’m hopeful, more hopeful than I’ve felt for a long time. 

I hope you would have been proud of me today. It felt so good to use, for the first time, what little I’ve learned. I look forward to doing the same thing tomorrow when we find these travelers who’ve gotten lost along the bluffs. all the poems, songs, stories I’ve read for so many years...already the line between fiction and reality begins to blur... 

writing now as I’ve been forced to stop practicing––apparently a recent father of quadruplets (quadruplets!) would rather sleep in silence than to my beautiful french horn playing??

I love you very much and miss home terribly of course. 

xxx

Angel

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Total LOTR references: 3

“In my mess kit, do I have a reusable straw?”

“It is happening, so it must be normal.”

“I’m not a rope––I’m a-frayed knot.”