__WaterFox__

"Ze hell is going on in Aaun?", Grimhildr remarked upon hearing this

"... In a fight!", Grimhildr exclaimed with a look of relief after reading the missive

Grimhildr smiles hearing that her dear friend's dream was coming closer to fruition

Clearly Daevos

Grimhildr decided to give Norland another visit

 

Proverbs, Poems, and Songs of Yong Ping

By Chen Grimhildr

 

The Li-ren were a peoples hailing from a peninsula known as Ai Zhou that was ruled by the tyrannical and corrupt Li dynasty. The move from Ai-zhou was a slow process with great families such as Li, Chen, and Tianrui sending over individual members to find places to settle. These initial endeavors lead to a home being found within The Sovereign State of Talon’s Grotto, later known as Talon’s port. The Li-ren would find troubles with political strife disrupting the landscape of Arcas and a great massacre even afflicting their peoples, but they would persist and go on to create Yong Ping.

 

The great state of Yong Ping existed for approximately 70 years and produced a great wealth of art whether it was Li-ren or Oyashiman in origin. In the year SA 76 a great tsunami entirely wiped out the settlement with very few survivors. In the modern era the Li-ren family, Chen, has established themselves in Balian while the Oyashiman survivors of Yong Ping went on to found their own city. The literary works of Yong Ping up till now have been passed around from one private collection to another, woefully hidden from the world. This book is only a selection of those works as more are being rediscovered and translated everyday. If one has  literarature or artifacts from Yong Ping then the author heavily encourages you to  contact them so the history may be preserved.

 

Proverbs

 

All proverbs below are traditional to the Li-ren peoples and are understood to be sourced from an oral tradition that extends much further back than written records. These proverbs were all sourced from documents created by Chen Yunya and are typically attributed to her.

 

不作不死.

 

(Bù zuò bù sǐ. 'Not do not die.')

 

If you don't do stupid things you won't end up in tragedy.

 

—

 

 塞翁失马，焉知非福。

 

(Sài Wēng shī mǎ, yān zhī fēi fú. 'Sai Weng [legendary old man's name] lost horse, how know not blessing'.)

 

Blessings come in disguise.

 

—

 

小洞不补，大洞吃苦。

 

(Xiǎodòng bù bǔ, dàdòng chī kǔ.'small hole not mend; big hole eat hardship')

 

If small holes aren't fixed, then big holes will bring hardship.

—

 

水满则溢。

 

(Shuǐmǎn zé yì. 'water full but overflows')

 

Water flows in only to flow out.

 

—

 

三尺，非一日之寒。

 

Bīngdòng sān chǐ, fēi yīrì zhī hán.

 

 "It takes more than one cold day for a river to freeze a meter deep."

 

—

 

 吃得苦中苦，方为人上人。 

 

Chī dé kǔzhōngkǔ, fāng wéi rénshàngrén.

 

Enduring deepening pain is how man ascends

 

Poems

 

Cherry Blossom completely falls before the steps under the moon

By Chen Yunya

 

Cherry Blossom completely falls before the steps under the moon,

 

on an ivory-decorated bed, worrying, she leans on an incense burner.

 

Distant like last year, today,

 

the regret is the same.

 

Her two knots of hair in disarray, clouds withering,

 

her tears wet her red vest.

 

Where does she feel the bitterness of yearning?

 

In a drunken dream behind the screen window.

 

 

---

 

Haikus of Arún Dharas Ebonheart 

 

Cast adrift in thought.

 

The realm in which they observe,

 

Deeming me malign.

 

“Eyes”

 

Year 45, SA.

 

 —

 

A child’s twilight-

 

His soul was drawn asunder.

 

The lacuna calls.

 

“The Void”

 

Year 45, SA.

 

— 

 

Unhallowed I am.

 

Yet my laments draw no ears.

 

A Daemon, they say.

 

“Lamentations”

 

Year 45, SA.

 

 —

 

Il adri’iyat,

 

Ael’ata asul hiuwe.

 

Ame'ito narne.

 

“Asul’athri”

 

Year 45, SA

—

 

A Nightingale perched,

 

Enshaded in umbral hues, 

 

Humming in delight

 

“The Nightingale”

 

Year 11, SA.

 

 —

 

In a world of dreams-

 

And in the world of waking.

 

Then at last, we stir

 

“Noumena”

 

Year 20, SA.

 

 —

 

Darkness Eternal

 

His countenance is mournful-

 

Vulmir was his name

 

“Vulmir”

 

Year 41, SA.

 

 —

 

Silent was the night

 

Palar fangs, and the embrace

 

Then he was no more

 

“The Creature”

 

 

---

 

One Final Shot

By Atsuki Waythe

 

-=~+~=-

 

In the night, 

an arrow flies.

It's target unknown

an unwanted surprise.

For whatever is struck,

shall face an  

 

agonizing demise.

 

 

 

The arrow drawn by hate 

and released by deceit,  

has hit its mark.

 

The body, falling at    

 

the archer's feet.

 

 

 

The blood spills out,

the tears, they roll.

The unspoken words

now beginning to  unfold.

 

The words brought solace,  

tears to the murderer's eyes,

now regretting their arrow, 

that had been released by lies.

 

Alas, not enough was said,

and now there was no time. 

 

The two now departed,

death closing the other's eyes.

 

 

 

Let this be a lesson to all those in wait,

 

for you do not know,

 

the mysterious path of fate.

 

Had the words been spoken sooner,

The two would not have been caught, 

within the webs of misunderstanding,   

that provoked one final shot.

 

 

Songs

 

The Ordinary Road

recorded by Chen Yunya

 

To those who wander on the road

 

Ready to go? (via via)

 

Those who’re fragile, those who’re proud

 

I used to be part of your crowd

 

You who are uncertain or bold

 

Where do you go? (via via)

 

Secretive and mysterious

 

Are you still listening to us?

 

 

 

I’ve walked across the mountains and seas,

 

and in crowds beyond all these

 

I thought I once had everything

 

but it faded in the breeze

 

I’ve been frustrated, hopeless, wondering where I should be

 

‘Til I realized the clue was in the ordinary

 

While you are still there wondering

 

Of coming things, via via

 

Will life get better or will things

 

Get worse; as time keeps on rolling

 

Will life improve or will life bring

 

Even more pain as we’re changing?

 

 

 

I have once ruined everything,

 

hoping that would set me free

 

Into the darkness I would then sink,

 

couldn’t stop me from falling

 

I copied everybody; lost my identity

 

Longing and despairing, just being ordinary

 

Time to go, we all know, even if you got more

 

 

 

You must go, walk this road, even if you are poor

 

Time to go, and it don’t matter even before

 

If this road, you must go on even if….

 

And so time flies past, just like that

 

 

 

Tomorrow’s here, imagine that

 

Breezes blowing; we’re still going

 

We’re listening now to your story

 

 

---

 

Song of River City

by Chen Yunya

 

年生死两茫茫，不思量，自难忘。

 

千里孤坟，无处话凄凉。

 

纵使相逢应不识，尘满面，鬓如霜。

 

夜来幽梦忽还乡，小轩窗，正梳妆。

 

相顾无言，惟有泪千行。

 

料得年年肠断处，明月夜，短松冈。

 

Ten years, dead and living dim and draw apart. 

 

I don't try to remember,

 

But forgetting is hard.

 

Lonely grave a thousand miles off,

 

Cold thoughts, where can I talk them out?

 

Even if we met, you wouldn't know me,

 

Dust on my face,

 

Hair like frost.

 

In a dream last night suddenly I was home.

 

By the window of the little room,

 

You were combing your hair and making up.

 

You turned and looked, not speaking,

 

only lines of tears coursing down.

 

Year after year will it break my heart?

 

The moonlit grave,

 

The stubby pines.

 

 

---

 

Roll San-Sui Roll

recorded by Chen Yunya

 

Twas late 23 at the old dragon wall

 

She was commissioned to haul the black tar

 

And built the San-Sui Ren there on the bar

 

Roll, San-Sui, Roll

 

For when the Pingers they closed the Red Sea

 

And call came on high from the powers that be

 

To build a royal monster right down on the key

 

Roll, San-Sui, Roll, me boys

 

Roll, San-Sui, Roll

 

Carpathia, Vengeance, Huajiao call

 

She was the tanker to out-size them all

 

From the banks of Yong Ping to the port of Varhelm

 

Roll, San-Sui, Roll

 

And fair beauties threw a bottle of tea

 

And watch as the goats set down in the Tyne

 

What lay ahead could no mortal divine

 

Roll, San-Sui, Roll, me boys

 

Roll, San-Sui, Roll

 

And it's one for the hot sun above

 

Two for the nation we love

 

And it's three for the fire that burns down below

 

Roll on San-Sui

 

Roll, San-Sui, Roll

 

And it's one for the hot sun above

 

Two for the nation we love

 

And it's three for the fire that burns down below 

 

Roll on San-Sui

 

Roll, San-Sui, Roll

 

So come all ya good workmen, beware the command

 

That comes down on high from the desk of a man

 

Who's never held Jian or torch in his hands

 

Roll, San-Sui, Roll

 

 

 

For atop a wild breaker, the cracks in her frame

 

Spilled her black guts all across the wild plain

 

And she limped away through an ocean of flame

 

 

 

Roll, San-Sui, roll, me boys

 

Roll, San-Sui, Roll

 

And it's one for the hot sun above

 

Two for the nation we love

 

And it's three for the fire that burns down below

 

Roll on San-Sui

 

Roll, San-Sui, Roll

MC Name:

         __WaterFox__

 

Character's Name:

         Grimhildr Falkenrath

 

Character's Age:

         28

 

What feat(s) will you be learning?

         alchemy

 

Teacher's MC Name:

         Lmcfc

 

Teacher's RP Name:

         Callista Kervallen

 

Do you agree to keep Story updated on the status of your feat app?:

         yep

 

Have you applied for this feat on this character before, and had it denied? If so, link the app:

         nope

 

Are you aware that if this feat is shelved, it will be unavailable to use?

         yep

 

The First Townhall of Portoregne

 

 

 

With recent appointments and upcoming elections a town hall has been called to let the voices of Portoregne’s citizens be heard. This meeting will not be for debate and such will be actively discouraged, but for concerns and wishes to be heard. The meeting will be held in the government building, which is left when facing the gates from within the city and the meeting room will be to the right.

 

 

OOC portion:

 

The event will take place at the government building on Friday at 5 pm est

 

Grimhildr has a great deal respect for Oksana after hearing she beat an armed and armored man on a horse with nothing but alcohol and a cane

Grimhildr smiled at the notice before continuing with her translations of Li-ren works

Grimhildr, a sapphic poet who also happens to know how to swing a sword, chokes on her drink

Grimhildr stared at her father's sword. The weapon was perhaps two centuries old, two centuries of being passed from Falkenrath to Falkenrath. A large part of her knew the line was always going to end with her, it was why she so foolishly chased glory as youth. She hardly believed any of the things she was taught then. She hardly cared to be around her fellow Waldenians. She wondered if she should even carry the name. She had no such doubts with the Chen though despite their obvious differences.

@Fireheart

"T'ey should add a provision for all ze civilians t'eir bandits have harmed", Grimhildr grumbled

Grimhildr, the seafood lover she is, inhales deeply with a frenzied look in her eye

"Yet t'ese Adrians left an unarmed civilian paralyzed", Grimhildr bitterly spoke while reading the missive

The mayor of a completely uninvolved city endorses

"Damn, didn't get ze duzt in time", Grimhildr lamented

Grimhildr grinned excitedly until she remembered that she would have to wear something appropriate

A certain sapphic poet screams in working that day

Letters were delivered to the various shop owners and merchants of Balian.

 

“Assuming this letter was correctly delivered, you are one of the business owners enriching the city of Portoregne. Being a business owner myself and the newly appointed Syndic of Portoregne I think it would do well for us all to meet at the Hungry Hippo to have an informal discussion about economics within the city. It will be my goal to use your input to direct economic policy and hopefully create further draws to our city.”

 

-Grimhildr Falkenrath - Chen

 

 

Grimhildr chokes on her morning tea

Grimhildr, a smith in Balian, for some reason takes interest

 

[!] Shortly after the citrus harvest a series of haikus could be seen pinned to the notice board in Balian

 

The Fruit Gathering

 

 

 

The sun warmly shines

Upon children picking fruit

What dreams do they hold?

 

A fleeting summer

With tastes of quickly learned things

The lessons will last

 

Grand trees bend and sway

While the elder imparts truth

Young ears hate to hear

 

Poetry of Lessons and Moments

By Grimhildr Falkenrath

 

 

Haiku I

I awake at home

Not from sun, rooster, or fear

But my lover’s breath

 

 

 

Haiku II

Around the fire

I notice it is the same

This war is about?

 

 

 

The Sound of Death

 

As a child my mother said

Listen to the dead

I knew naught that horrible sound

But how could I with youthful joy abound?

 

Even gazing upon the fires

Of the funeral pyre

All I heard was cheer and laughter

I would not know till long after

 

Now I know Death’s sound

After song and joy was drowned

She was so horrendously right

It was like they were stolen in the night

 

That silence

 

It whispers in my ear during the night

It continues to haunt even in light

Creeping down hallways

It follows me always

 

That terrible silence

 

 

 

Starving

 

Realness is a taste I know nought yet want

I hunger for it desperately. I feel like wolf.

Even capturing and tearing into my prey

I still search for that thing at the center

Cracking open bones I find nothing

I hunt, I kill, I search again till I find something

Something I know naught the sight or smell of

Just it’s beating glory flitting in my mind

At times I hope to find another beast like me

One with teeth sharper and eyes far more keen

Maybe if they dug into me they would find that thing

Rip it out and show me their prize as I lay dying

Perhaps then I’ll be satisfied

 

 

Sonnet I

 

Wandering a dull, lonesome wilderness

Thinking myself strong I ignored the toll

The waste stretched on, it was truly endless

Bleak darkness was closing in on my soul

 

Despite waning will, my feet had no mind

Stoically they marched through that dreadful waste

Despite my curses and groans of despair

Happily for them I would be shown grace

 

Twas a visage surely like the heavens

Caressing my cheek like a coastal breeze

In that warm embrace I learned the lessons

Finally I would hear all my kin’s pleas

 

My salvation could not be had alone

My sword, my hatred should fall to the stone

 

 

 

The Flower, My Flower

 

Do you blame a flower for it’s wilting?

Do you berate each petal for falling

Or sigh in anguish as the stem fails

 

How could I then fault you so? 

With each gray hair or wrinkle

My flower you always will be

yet a flower you are surely not

 

No, you do not wilt like a flower

Your petals do not abandon you

You do not flop over in defeat

 

Do mortal givings not mean a win?

With each gray hair or wrinkle

Another year you are with me

So do not fear the fate of flowers

 

 

 

Haiku III

 

On the hunt for beans

We searched amongst the tall trees

Mother seemed amused

 

 

How I Love

 

The sun surely smiles as it rises

Caressing the earth so tenderly

Looking over each crag and river

With an awe that makes life stir

Such is how I look at you

 

The sea surely aches for the moon

With how she stirs under it's gaze

Drawing the moon closer each night

Their dance will toss even a battleship

Such is how I yearn for you

 

The trees surely love small creatures

Watch how they hold weary birds

Or let their oaken flesh be torn open

So small creatures always have shelter

Such is how I love you

 

 

 

The Hyacinth

 

Fragrant hyacinth, how are you lonely?

Travelers walk by, merchants ride on

 It seems they only stop with lust in eye

And hands seeking to rip you from home

Hands that will drop you after a short ways

 

Lovely hyacinth, can I sit just beside you?

I love your sweet smell and vibrant petals

If you only ask I will leave you as you are

Or stay around, no matter the rain or heat

I would even build a home with only my hands

 

Darling hyacinth, my love is earnest

I want only that which makes you smile

It matters not if it would cause me pain

My heart will be like the nourishing rains

And my hands always a gentle breeze

 

 

Reality

 

Wandering through inky blackness

You lose awareness of your own form

It is only the biting winds and wounds

That remind you of your existence

 

Walking further the pain is numbed

Sight, feeling, and hearing go too

You are a ghost on a hidden path

That soon will be lost to you

 

A nothing traveling amidst nothing

The world itself seems to be lost

A thing that seemed never to be real

A nothing, just nothing. 

 

A dim light then offends forgotten eyes

You look up to see the mariner’s friends

Twinkling in the sky in immortal shapes

They whisper tales of dead ancestors

 

The blood of bloods long past thrum

The dead scream wisdom to your soul

Your heart beats with the fire of creation

You, as you care to know you, is birthed

 

Though bone may crack and empires fall

It changes not the realness of grand reality

Fear not inevitable death, walk strongly

You know well what and who you love

 

 

 

Ballad of Purtoregne

 

Colored brick and vibrant trees

Smell of spices drifting on the breeze

Travelers talk in foreign tongues

While mermaids watch the young ones

 

Travel deeper my dear, come with me

These streets have so much more, you’ll see

Pierogi or fresh mezcla, perhaps even a drink

Travel down to the docks and you will surely agree

 

It’s the crown of the sea

 

No more perfect a home can be found

Can't you see our dreams written on stone?

So let's throw our worries off and stay

Surely no better a future can be had

We can rise to watch the glimmering waters

And rest to find company in the taverns

For you, all the silks and spice the market provides

While I drink the vineyards' fine wine

Constantly surrounded by kind faces

No loneliness could ever be found

We will want for nothing at all, My love

Our destiny is surely here, in the city that is 

 

The crown of the sea

 

Colored brick and vibrant trees

Smell of spices drifting on the breeze

Travelers talk in foreign tongues

While mermaids watch the young ones

 

Travel deeper my dear, come with me

These streets have so much more, you’ll see

Pierogi or fresh mezcla, perhaps even a drink

Travel down to the docks and you will surely agree

 

It's the crown of the sea

 

 

Haiku IV

 

Seafood smells drifting

King and hunter eat alike

I see your smile