Journeywoman's Journeys, A Fantasy Age of Exploration Worldbuilding Quest (Updated Daily)

A/N said:

trying something new

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"...The Council Of A Hundred Dead"

"What."

"Mmh, right," Tarn turns to look both ways down the road before turning towards the entrance to Great Grandmother Gretel's shrine, "I keep forgetting how sheltered your upbringing was."

"I can kill-"

"You think you can kill a man with the swiftness of a steppe stalker." Tarn looks away for a moment, "You keep saying that." he waves a hand dismissively as Anne bristles.

"Anyway, Council of 100 Dead. Spiritbinders call one hundred souls of citizens back from the dead and are the oversight for the five member Council of the Living. And the living are elected by citizens."

Anne turns that idea around in her head, "Oh. I can't imagine the Selesians are happy about that."

Tarn shrugs, "That's why the Shrine to the Silent Mother is outside city limits. Gerra got tired of black shepherds trying to send their rulers back to the loving arms of their Tranquil Lady. It's also why they can't call back anyone that's been dead longer than ten years."

"Unless they're a Sainted Ancestor?"

Tarn shrugs again, "Sainted Ancestors are a different thing."

Anne hurries to keep up with Tarn, darting around oncoming pedestrians who have instinctively parted for the large centauric man "Well, how is that?" Anne's brow furrows and her ears flatten slightly in confusion, "Wouldn't they also be dead? How do they stay on Meht for for ten thousand years?"

"I'm not a priest girl. Don't you bloo-, uh Imharites think that you go to your Goddess on a river of blood when you die?"

"Well. Part of the covenant with the Lady of Rivers is that she gathers us to her on the waters of life when we die, so that we can be reborn again and rewarded based on how faithfully we've kept to our pact." Anne sticks out the tip of her tongue a little, lost in thought, "There's no river of blood. Unless. Well. I guess the River of Life must be a river of blood. But that's not really-"

Tarn interrupts, "Well girl, I'm just a merchant. I don't really need to think about that. If you wanted to ponder the meaning of death, you should have stayed in Khot and taken a comparative afterlives course."

"Oh! The Matriarch gave me a primer on each of-"

Tarn pulls Anne to a stop and gestures towards a long line, "Can't go right in."

"What, why?" Anne asks, looking at the shrine up ahead. The shrine seems to be made of stone and wood, the foundation and support columns made out of dark grey slabs of rock, and the walls made of red wood harvested from the local cedars interspersed by arcs long windows covered in glass windows.

The foundational rocks that made up the outer wall of the shrine were fitted together so that Anne doubted even a knife blade could fit between them, and those stones were painted with what Anne assumed were scenes from the life of Great Grandmother Gretel herself.

The building itself was a tall structure with a single large central hall that led back towards the spire that Gretel herself was placed atop. Two wings ran off the far end of the great hall, and Anne assumed that from a birds' eye view the building took on a sort of Y shape.

Anne is confused because, while she can see that the doors on the main entrance are wide open, admitting a steady trickle of people who walk up and down the broad stone steps, Tarn is steering her towards a line of people that appear to be headed into a side entrance to the northern wing of the shrine.

"As I said, everyone that does business in Gerra makes sure to pay their respects. It would be bad luck if they decided to skip out on grandma. So the shrine has a special entranceway for us so we don't muck up their nice floors and steal their golden bones."

Tarn makes sure that Anne has stepped into the end of the line and then steps away.

"Hey!" Anne looks around.

"Listen girl, we'd going to be here a while, and I have to go talk to someone,"

"You're just going to leave me?" Anne says, at first shocked, and then peps up, increasingly excited, "I'll make sure that Gretel gets her cut!"

"Girl, I'm just trusting you to wait in a line, you'll be fine. If I'm not back before you've been inside the shrine, wait for me at the steps," Tarn gestures towards the entrance to the Shrine, then turns back to Anne and wags a finger at her, "Make sure she gets that coin."

As Tarn turns to leave, Anne feels quite proud of herself for being trusted to be on her own, a pride that quickly subsumes the small feeling of unease that briefly settled into her stomach. Whatever. She'd be fine.


When Anne approaches the end of the line, her attention is drawn to someone making a commotion, naturally her curiosity takes over and she approaches to see what the issue is. The commotion is being made by…

[ ] A young Orisatl man in black robes

Clearly a member of the Selesian Temple, he is currently in a near screaming match with several of the shrine's guardians. Maybe Anne can do something to help?

This sidequest involves a look into the worship and theology of Seles, goddess of Death.

[ ] An older Aramvolk woman with a book

Making loudly vocal her immense dissatisfaction with the shrine's guardians, she's clearly upset by something that the guardians have said. Maybe Anne can see if she needs some help?

This sidequest involves a look into how necromancy of the ghost summoning kind works

[ ] A middle aged Kal Ymi man

He is clearly being deliberately ignored by the shrine's guardians despite trying repeatedly to get the attention of the shrine's guardians and failing. Maybe Anne should see what she can do?

This sidequest involves a look into how channelers operate and Kal Ymi cosmology.

[ ] Don't get involved

This is none of Anne's business, she's just a visitor to this city with someone to meet and places to be.

Turning down a sidequest will give Anne more free time in the city once Tarn's errands are run.

I want to try out what's basically a, uh, side quest opportunity, this will have some opportunity costs, but will give you a chance to look into other aspects of the world and be rewarded for it.

If you want to create a write in, it will be 50 words and should provide a description of a character, as well as a brief live about what their plot involves.

A/N said:

Can't think of a vote today, and I need to get this out tonight, so I'm just not going to ask for a vote.

This is one of those updates where I'm like "oh, if I was writing this out for a book or something I would write it out, then come back a week later with an improved version, that's ACTUALLY GOOD, but oh well, daily updates"

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For someone raised in a tradition that revolved around the perfection of ritual, Anne finds the interaction with Gretel's shrine to be shockingly businesslike.

"Name?" asks a bored looking Aramvolk man wearing rumpled blue robes and a silver necklace and sitting on a wooden chair with his feet up on the low table between him and the long line of supplicants.

"Anne-Seht of Clan Cohacos"

"Alright Anne-Seht. What're you here for?"

"I'm here on behalf of Tarn Sey Shar's caravan."

"Mechant business, eh?" he says, raising an eyebrow, "Where ya headed?"

"It's an expedition to the Singing Dunes."

"Ohhh, that's an exciting answer." he leans forward in his chair and holds out a hand, "Alright, let's see the cash."

Anne awkwardly hands over the electrum coin. Whatever she was expecting, this wasn't it.

The man holds the coin between his thumb and forefinger and examines in the light streaming in from a nearby window, "Classic," he comments and turns to face a box of coins on the far side of him, away from the public.

With a small flourish he flicks the coin into the air with his thumb, grey eyes carefully watching the coin as it falls atop the pile, then waves at Anne, "Looks like grandma approves, you've got an opportunity coming up that you should take. Get outta here kid." he looks at the man behind Anne in line and waves him forward, "Next"

Anne frowns, he can't have been much older than her! She's not a kid!

Before she can work up the words to complain, the man is stepping up next to her and she's all but forced into another room.

Looking around, Anne realises that this must be the exit from the shrine, as there's an open door a dozen arcs away being watched over by a pair of bored men in the shrine's colours and swords. Otherwise the room seems to be a waiting area with several other people sitting on benches and another pair of doors that probably led deeper into the shrine.

"That's simply NOT good enough!"

Anne looks around for the source of the voice and, turning all the way around, realises that she'd passed by the voice's owner when she'd been shuffled out of the line and into this room.

"Madam Orator Nayam, please, there's nothing we can do." says a harried looking shrine tender, his hands up placatingly.

The voice's owner is an older Aramvolk woman. She's tall, which as an Aramvolk she towers over Anne, being easily two arcs tall and with black hair drawn into a braid that hands down her back. She's dressed in brilliant light blue robes and wearing a black poncho with a white sash, and tucked into the sash is a large leatherbound volume.

"I'll go ask grandma" the shrine tender says, before retreating behind one of the closed wooden doors.

"Oh, for- DO NOT. Do that." says the woman as she makes a rude gesture at the door.

Anne weighs her curiosity against her instructions to wait at the main steps, and like usual, curiosity wins.

Anne approaches the woman, "Ma'am. Is something wrong?" she says, bobbing her head differentially.

"Madam Orator" says the woman reflexively, "And no," she says, turning towards Anne, "I don't have a problem, but THESE idiots will."

"I don't suppose that I could do anything to help?"

"No, well. No. Well…" the woman lapses into a speculative silence, and tilts her head to the side, her eyes evaluating Anne like a piece of farm equipment, "What did you say your name is young woman?"

"Anne-Seht of Clan Cohacos ma'am."

"I'm Madam Orator Nayam, and I do NOT have time for this." she points at Anne, "You clearly know how to fight. Do you know how to NOT kill anyone?"

"Uh," Anne takes a moment to think. She knows how to wrestle and how to fight unarmed. She's had plenty of friendly tussles and never seriously hurt anyone. That probably counts, "Yes" she says before the moment of shocked silence becomes awkward.

"I'll give you a shiny coin if you help me out here." Nayan says, already sinkling to her knees, "I'm going to get to work," She pulls out her book and looks Anne directly in the eyes, "And if anyone tries to stop me or get in my way..." Nayam pulls out a piece of chalk from a hidden pocket.

"Yes?"

"I want you to hit them as hard as you can until they stop trying."

Anne blinks, "What."

"It'll be fine, I'm an Orator AND I'm rich, you'll be okay." she starts drawing on the stone tiles set across the floor, "I'm just going to little light necromancy."

"Wait, how do I know that you're not-"

"Doing something evil?" Nayam says as she begins drawing a circle around where she's kneeling, "You don't, but I'm going to be doing this anyway, and it would be very embarrassing for everyone involved if someone fucked up MY circles."

Anne's mouth opens and closes several times as she tries to think of something, anything, to say in response.

Nayam then looks back up at her, cracking a wide and delighted grin, "No. But, really. No one's going to try to stop me. I just really don't want someone accidentally disturbing my circles because I'll end up having to start over." she takes a moment to adjust her posture forwards, "I know this is an unorthodox spot for necromancy, but we're still in the shrine. So," she shrugs and looks up at the door the man she'd been arguing had vanished behind, and raises her voice, "I'm just doing it HERE to make a point." the older woman produces a set of small gilded bones from somewhere, "So I JUST need an extra set of hands for a bit," she holds the bones towards Anne, "can you hold these?"

Anne's curious to see where this goes and reaches out to gingerly grab the bones

"The first thing about NECROMANCY is that it operates on different principles than osteomancy." begins Nayam in a conversational tone as she chalks out an outline of a circle on the floor.

Anne nods, her attention already split between the bones in her hands and the circle being drawn. It is almost too much to pay attention to, though she is able to tell that the bones are… finger bones? That have been gilded with silver and gold etchings.

"All reputable 'mancers, of both kinds, will SWEAR up and down that necromancy is the sorcery of the soul and osteomancy the sorcery of the body." Nayam continues before pulling out a dark metal flask from behind her sash and unstops the lid to begin splashing small amounts of the liquid around the circle, "Philosophers and theologians have a lot of loud OPINIONS about how true that is…" Nayam finishes splashing the dark liquid around and stands up.

With a single long step she exits the circle and then quickly raises the flask to her lips and takes a single big swig of what Anne had assumed was a magical reagent.

"Uh," Anne says as she directs a merchant out of the path of Nayam's circles.

The older woman swishes the liquid around her cheeks and then spits out the liquid into the middle of the circle, "And the first think you need to learn about Orators", she puts the flask away, "is that we don't give a fuck about all that."

"Wheew." the Aramvolk woman puts the flask away and fans herself, "Tastes like magic, but it'll fuck you up if you swollow more than a little." she gives Anne a conspiratorial grin, "Now if I WAS still your age…" she winks.

"That's a concentrated suspension of reagents." She opens her book and begins flipping through pages, "You need a catalyst to get it functional "she says while loosely gesturing at Anne, "You need to expose it to something alive."

"Oh. Okay!" Anne says brightly, "You have to do that."

"Nope." Nayam says, waving at one of the shrine guardians who is giving her a dirty look, "Most necromancers use a fresh branch, or the edgy ones use a drop of blood, "I just don't have the time for that shit right now."

"Do I need to do something with the bones?" Anne says, holding them up.

"Oh no dear." Nayam waves her away, "I need to ask a quick question, spirits have a bad habit of anchoring to any relics you're holding onto." Nayam shakes her head, "Just hold onto those for a little longer. This wont take long, but this circle's going to FUCKING catch fire because it's so slapdash."

Nayam turns away from Anne and takes another long stride over to the wooden door that the man she'd been arguing with had disappeared behind and begins hammering on it, "HEY, BEODRAN. YOU DUMB FUCKER! I'M ABOUT TO RUIN YOUR WHOLE CAREER!"

Anne quickly steps between the circle and a rapidly gathering crowd of onlookers mainly drawn from merchants come to pay their respects to Great Grandmother Gretel.

The older woman raises her hands in the air, "I'm Madam Orator Nayam, and I need you to be quiet while I conduct a ritual. I need you all to be quiet and act as witnesses for this civic questioning."

She gives Anne a quick, encouraging wave as Anne stands with her arms wide to keep the crowd back before stepping closer to the circle and lighting it on fire, "I am Madam Orator Nayam Angidottir, under the authority delegated to me by the Council of the Living, I am pledged to the service of Gerrans, both living and dead. I call…

[ ] "...Citizen Ahem Ayansen to speak on matters of inheritance."

This option will end up giving us an opportunity to expand on the worldbuilding about Gerra

[ ] "...Citizen Ran Sen Kiu to speak on matters of security."

This option will lead us to define who the rivals of the Goldenwash Federation are

[ ] "...Citizen Becca the Coincounter to speak on matters of trade."

This option will lead us into some more worldbuilding about the Qwassilth cities and geography.

Little thing, the general course of this "sidequest" is set, but why not use that opportunity to get a few more things established? (If you want to write in an option that'd be 25 words)

[A/N, if I ever have the opportunity, I'll certainly going rewrite this whole section, I'm already thinking of some better ways I could have addressed this, but on the other hand I'm having fun with Madam Orator Nayam, loose cannon GHOST LAWYER who is unconventional, but she gets results, dammit. V]