session 2.4, or, The Visit

dear mum and dad,

i am writing this even though i just saw you both but something Very Cool happened and I wanted to tell you about it! we were Flying Away from Riverrun, you are WELCOME for us saving the Day by the way (has Dad already decided that it was actually All Thanks To Him, TYPICAL DAD) when we saw this Cloud! and on it was a Huge Castle!!!! and you will never GUESS what was in the Giant Castle mum!!!!! A GIANT he is very Tall and Gentle and Kind and he has a lot of very interesting things to say that I can’t say i Understand too well!  but he knows a Lot about the Whole World and we are all very Excited about where his Guidance will Take Us. 

anyway all that aside: it was really good to See you all! shame about all the Demons but we Sorted Them Out didn’t we!!!! they’ll think twice before they come back to Riverrun!!!! especially now Dad has that firey Sword (how did he get it to burn so Bright?) and i Promise in the meantime that me and my Friends are going to Fix all the Problems and Save the Day! these are dark times I think Mum but I have Faith that we will restore Kord to his rightful place and Everything Else will Follow! 

i know this is a shorter letter than Usual but my hand Hurts from all the Demon Fighting that I did! i will tell you more all about the Cloud Giant soon!!!!

Kord keep you ALL safe until we meet Again!!!!! love love love SYRA

the true book entry 1

dear mum and dad,

if you are reading this i am Dead. i know that is very Sad and I am Sorry! I hope I died well. i have decided to write all this, in this specific Book, that will come to you if I Die (I think this is Right? i talked to the Ship about it. Long Story!) because I want to tell you both what happens to me! it is Family Tradition like Dad has always said!!! if I am Killed I want you to know what happened. i want you to know the truth of what happened, and not just what i Write in my Letters to you and the Family. sorry, Mum and Dad, but I have decided not to Tell you everything in my Letters any more. I don’t want you to Worry about me - not the usual kind of Worry about being Eaten by a Dragon or Killed in a Tavern Brawl, those come with the territory like we have always said!!! but I think another kind of worry, about who i Am. there are things about the stories that I am telling to you that I don’t think I Like any more. it is getting harder and Harder to Write, knowing that you will Read my letters, and Think Things about me. so this is complicated! if you are reading This, then you are learning that my Letters have been Lies, and also that I am Dead. this is double bad news and I am very Sorry, if you are getting it. Plan A is not to die.

i am still working on plan A actually!!! mum and dad you know that Planning is not my strong suit. but here it is: when I came Home and there were all of the Devils? i did not feel Good about that. That Sucked. i was glad that i could Help and that I taught young Lejir the Spell to create Food (he is very good at Magics by the way, tell him that if he Works Hard one day he might be as Strong as the Wizard I travel with!) but Mum and Dad this is the problem: it is my Fault that those devils are out there. when I looked at their Writings i could Read them (and you both know i am not good at reading!!!!) they are Like Me. 

the sword I gave to Dad, we took from some young Adventurers who were trying to Attack a Castle. it is a long story Mum and Dad they were doing their Best to be Good and we Killed them, I have to be honest here or what is the Point. the sword? it Hated me. it screamed when I Wielded it. it screamed because it is a Good sword. but I still made it Fight for me, because I needed to, I think? the World was falling apart. a lot of people Died. i don’t think Chult is there any more. that is My Fault. that is the fault of People like Me. and i cannot even Remember properly!!! what was I thinking mum and dad? NOT MUCH is what!!!!! mum and dad the people I am travelling with are Brave and Strong. dr Nyx is now a Litch like she always Wanted and she is so strong! i have seen her beat so many Enemies! and Damacos, you should see his Magics, they are so powerful!!! i am not as Strong as either of them, which is why I wanted to Travel with them, to maybe Learn, and to bear witness to their Strength in Battle, like Kord would want! along the way we defeated many Enemies but I have always Trusted in Kord, who does not give Strength in Battle to those who do not Deserve it. each and every person must fight, every day, in order to be the best and strongest they can be! then when they fight for power, or influence, or to be Queen or Emperor, the one with the Strongest Heart will always Win! that always made sense to me. that was why I wanted to be a Paladin even though the Village Folk made fun of my Horns and my Skin and my Strange Eyes. because battle, and struggle, and fighting, it puts the World in Order!  

mum and dad: both of my friends Died. they were defeated in battle Fair and Square, and they died. and mum and dad: i was Afraid. and I didn’t want them to be gone. so I brought them Back. and now the world is Like This. i don’t want to tell either of them because I Love them very Dearly but I am worried that maybe they belong dead.

(see this is the kind of thing I couldn’t write if i knew you would Read it while I was Alive! i don’t want you to Ever have to read any of this until I have Fixed it. so hopefully I will not die, Ha HA.)  mum and dad: i have heard so many Stories, on this journey. and not all of them have been about getting stronger, and defeating Enemies! some of them have been about defeating: Yourself. that is the story I want to tell in this Book. that is the story I want to tell to the World. and I am not very good at making things up, so it will have to be a story that is true. 

but if I cannot do all That, it will be Plan B: I will Die, and you will know the Truth then, and know that I am Sorry, but you will see that at least I was Trying, and i died in the Struggle to be Better, and that Kord (and you all) will be Happy with that, and maybe not Proud of me exactly but at least Okay about me. and that is Something.

also there is the other She one more there is still someone I can’t write about. i will try to be brave. i love you with all my guts!  SYRA

session 2.3, or, the Day of Deciding

dear mum & dad,

LISTEN: sorry i have not Written for a while. there has been a Lot Going On! mum you know I was never the Brightest Spark. but I have done a lot of Thinking. and i have learned a Lot. and I think i have figured out what to Do! 

mum you have probably noticed there is a Big Snake Eye where the sun was. that is Okay! her name is Dendar and she is Fine! she eats Nightmares and all she wants is to be in the Sky and to eat Nightmares, I guess! (Damacos knows her better than I do.) but because she is In the Sky now, I guess a lot of Other Things happened. and Some of them aren’t very good. I feel Bad about that, because I am part of Why they happened. but I didn’t Know! all I have Ever Done is the Right thing, according to my Heart, like you and dad Taught me. but mum there is a Lot going on. 

mum did you know about Planes? I know about them now! they are these big flat disc type things, but huge, and there are Lots. on one of them there is All of Us. on another one is All The Gods. on One of them (which is Inside ours, somehow? my Friend told me about it but i don’t think I Understood exactly) there are lots of Monsters. this one is called The Under Dark. i have Met some of the things from there and they are Not Good! I think The Under Dark is where Uncle went??? You know the Stories he is not Allowed to Tell when the Little Ones are around???

i know that when you are feeling Lost you should have Faith. but mum you have probably Noticed that Kord is not Around any more. i think that he is Stuck on his Plane. which i dont know what it is Called and my “Friend” says he can Make a Portal there but i don’t think he Can. but Kord? he is Stuck. but all his believers are Here. and he can’t Get to us. and if a God does not have Believers he Dies. i didn’t know that could happen. i wish that i had Known that that could happen. there are lots of things i have Not known. and there are still probably lots more! i am Not scared of Anything you know but there are So many things. so Much can go wrong. I am very Strong now mum and I am not Scared but maybe I am Thinking About Things More.  

mum there are only ten gods left. six of them are brothers I think, and one is a God of Madness and I think my “friend’s” Brother, and one is Dendar (The Night Serpent) (who ate the Sun) and one is just a Bad Guy, and one [parchment damaged] not enough Gods! we Need to have them All. or at least: more than that. or at least: we need to have Kord, mum, we need to have him because he has always been there and it is my fault he is gone and i will fight i will fight every god to bring him back!!!! i will fight the Devourer and the Night Serpent and the Mad God and even her!!!! even her!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

mum they always Said i was ungodly because of my Horns and because i don’t Look like a regular Person so much, i know you always Stopped them and i know about the Fights that my Brothers got into over it but mum: maybe they were Right? 

all this is to say: i am Coming Back. we are on a Boat now, a Strange Flying one that looks like a Snake (there are a lot of snakes!!!!) but mum I don’t know if I can Visit until I have done something very Important. my friend Doctor Nyx (i told you about her Last time!!! GOOD NEWS: she is a LITCH like she wanted to be!) and my friend Damacos (I think he is my Friend anyway he is very Quiet lately) and my “friend” Bupido (mum do not Ask) and also a new friend called “Ecks”, we are all going to go and Find some places where the old Gods are Imprinted on the world. and then don’t you Worry! we’ll sort it All Out! 

i hope the Farm is okay. if the crops are not Growing with the sun being Ate, i have a sword I can Bring to you that might Help? it definitely doesn’t want to help Me with my Fighting so it may as well help you!!!! 

i just Re Read this letter and it is a Mess! what am I even talking about!!! don’t Worry about me mum i Promise i am okay. my friends are Strong and Smart, and i am having so many adventures!!! and like dad always Says: it will be such a Story one day!!!!!

love you love you love you, til we meet again!!!! SYRA

session 2.1, or: the day After the Sun got Eaten

Dear mum & dad,

well you would not BELIEVE the time I have HAD!!

we are in Chult which is an Island, there is lots of Jungle here which I dont know which of Aunties Jungle Stories happen Here because you know what I am like with names (bad at remembering them!) but listen: there are Dinosaurs here! I have met Lots and fought Lots. One was a Tee Rex, which was Definitely as big as that tiny dragon dad fought!!! (dont tell him I said that) (I know he is not reading this and is making You read it To him so you will do all the Voices) anyway the Tee Rex, it was Undead! All its skin was Hanging from its bones and it was in a lake and I called upon Kord the way we Practised and my Sword glowed and the Beast did not like that one Bit.

Mum I want to tell you: you were Right! I should have written things Down! Every day I thought it would be Okay, that I would for definitely and sure Remember what had happened, because it was all so exciting and Real: but the days are blurring Together in memory!

wait I forgot to say: I Am Not Dead, Kord Be Praised! But it was a close thing a few times! More than a Few if I am honest. You always Said to balance Valour with Care but mum it is Hard when there are so many Things to Fight! But I am safe Still, which means I must be doing Something right! Tell Dad I have been Practising all his favourite healing Spells and they have been Sorely Needed once or twice that is for Sure!!!

mum I have met some Brave Companions in my Travels just like you said!!! there is Doctor Nyx, she is an Elfe (I think?) and her Hair and Clothes change based on the Seasons I think! She is also a Powerful Spellcaster who can burn through Armour and Flesh alike with a Splash of Acid! She does not Sleep but she keeps us safe at Night with a “Wizarde Hutte”!!!! her Goal is to become a LITCH and I am going to Help her! a Litch is a kind of Very strong wizard who Does not Die. That is funny because she actually DID die (LONG STORY!!!!!) but I made sure she didn’t Stay dead (EVEN LONGER STORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) maybe if she cannot Become a Litch she can just stay with ME because I will make Sure she does not Die just the same as a “Fill Actery” would do.

There is Also Damacos!!! he is (TELL AUNTIE) a Tiefling just like Me!!! he doesnt Say much and is very Aloof but he is Powerful and Brave! One day there was a Sword amid these Vines and he went right in there to Get it, even though the Vines tore and Dragged at his Skin until he nearly Died (I saved him!!!! Tell Dad I am the Healer of the Group!!!! He will laugh his Leg right off again!!!!!!) anyway damacos Also died but I brought him Back with a Wish and now he is sort of the King of the Snake People we are staying with??? but also Maybe they are going to Kill Him. It is hard to Tell with Snake People mum!

I am writing this prety quick, its hard to know where to start the telling with how many adventures we have Had! Maybe with the DRAGON that we met??? or the POWREFULL NIGHT HAGS we Befriended (I think)??? or even… the SERPENT that ATE the SUN??

(is the sun Eaten where you are? Probably! Listen: I Am working on it. There are Lots of Mush Rooms here that grow Well in no light that we can Eat if the Crops fail to Grow. Tell Dad at least he will not be able to Complain about the skin on his Nose getting Burned.)

mum also I have a question: you know when you Fight, and the Blood is up, and every Thought is Clear and Sharp and Simple? And the Joy of it glows Hot in the Mind and the Muscle? And you always told me: That Is Kord, he is With you! Has it ever happened to you that it Stops?

That he is Not there? He is Away somewhere, or far, or Gone, and you did not Realize at first that you could always Reach him, until the time comes that you Try and he is Gone And what did you Do? About that? And did it Help?

Ok I have to go my Snake Friend wants to spar, he is probably trying to Kill me for Real I think but thats okay he probably wont Manage it! I will write more Soon! Love you love you love you, Kord keep you til we meet Again!

SYRA