Day One - Shell
The sun came out to play today, so I thought a little beach trip was in order — cold weather coming so soon, and all. Saw some kids playing around with the shells all over, tying them together, fashioning all kinds of silly little weapons to play-fight with, but they said something about them that got my ears perked up!
"I've got the Deeptide Shell-Sword! Bow down to your god of the sea!"
Huh. I didn't even know the god of the sea had a sword! Keeping this in mind for when I take my next swim.
Day Two - Moss
Bit of a rainy day, but the trees offered some fantastic shelter. I love exploring the forest on days like these!
I remember hearing, a little while back, some folks talking about a sword they found on an expedition through this very forest! The whole thing was made of moss!
Feeling the soft stuff beneath my feet as I walk through the forest, though, it seems like a pretty awful material for a sword.
Day Three - Automaton
Almost took a tumble into a dungeon today — would NOT have liked that at all! Didn't have food packed, left my weapons at home... I just wanted those herbs on the ledge!
Caught a glimpse of the cracked doorway while I scrambled to save my footing, and it looked exactly like a dungeon I saw on someone's quest log at the guildhall! They came back from that quest SUPER beat up!
Apparently some old civilization thought it was grand old idea to make a bunch of mechanical knights and hand them all swords. I could take a guess why we don't hear from them anymore.
Day Four - Scale
Pretty hung up on thinking about those sword-wielding automatons! Those weapons must be massive!
So not like the ones I played with as a kit, the tiny action figure swords that I kept losing all the time...
A lot like how that museum lost their entire collection of pixie blades! Wonder what happened to those?
Day Five - Bell
Spending lots of time in town today, taking a little break from the outings! The courtyards outside Ringtale are so charming.
Hearing that schoolbell makes me wish I could go back to being a little schoolkid, sometimes. We used to get in so much trouble stealing our combat instructor's swords!
What a great time that was. Except when we took his favorite one. I guess that one got pretty nasty.
Day Six - Fossil
Just as I was prepping to skip town again, I crossed paths with some very excited archaeologists!
I almost kept on walking at first, because I already knew about the digsite they were talking about, but what's this? A new finding??? I was locked in immediately.
Turns out that giant sword they dug up forever ago was attached to some mighty big bones...
Day Seven - Clock
I spent a long while thinking about that fossil find, and apparently I was wearing that on my face when I happened upon a wizard who read into my very soul.
Did you know that there are swords out there that let you cast time magic?
And, apparently, wizards that want to use them to ressurrect ancient, giant bones? Wait... was that a necromancer? I'll have to think about that later.
Day Eight - Canine
The golden dogfolk make such excellent companions, but their attention spans are just nonexistent!
Ask them to repeat what they just said, and they don't even remember what it was! So now, while they talk about their next meal, or the flowers they saw the other day, or the friends they met up with a few hours ago, I'm still wondering what they meant by "the Sword of Reunification..."
Feels like an awfully big word for these lovable doofuses. I swear, they're secretly geniuses or something.
Day Nine - Feline
Just had to go home and visit the family again after that little outing!
"By Kitrin's sword!" Grammeow has such colorful vocabulary for when she sees I'm back home for a surprise visit!
Thanks for the reminder to check out that stained glass window at the chapel, Gram!
Day Ten - Rodent
It's the perfect season for some apple picking! I tried to stop by the nearest orchard, but I forgot the Sorrel orchard was actually a flower field.
Oh well! Still got plenty of yummy treats there! But those apple-flowers weren't nearly as juicy as what I heard the workers talking about!
They say Rhodri's father was an adventurer in his prime, and his oldest party trick was using a legendary sword to cut apples from the tallest trees! No word on how the tiny guy did it, or where the sword ended up...
Day Eleven - Reliquary
Just like I thought. Those Reliquary League nerds don't want to answer all of my excellent and scholarly questions about swords.
Surely they can spare a morsel of information about some of them? The moss sword, at least? I'm sure that one's not dangerous at all!
They should learn to close their doors though. At least some soundproofing, because now I'm on the hunt for the Glassblade of the Mountain... whatever that means. You think I can go ask them about that?
Day Twelve - Concealed
All right, fine. I admit it. I did some stealthing and sleuthing around the League's library. They keep some fabulous records in there!
Nothing about that sword from yesterday, but PLENTY about this new one they're looking for! Seems like this one is a real hot item for these guys. They've got entire teams out looking for this Sword of Lights... plenty of conflicting records on what exactly it does, though.
The League of Rascals really ought to recruit me after this little info-heist I pulled!
Day Thirteen - Bloom
It's autumntime now, but I swear I'm still pulling flower petals out of my pouches from the Festival of Blooms. It's like glitter! In fact, some of them ARE glittery! That wizard needs to stop experimenting so much.
I'm not exactly sure what it's made of, though, that it washes off the hands so well. Some folks say it's some kind of metal, but a really fancy kind.
The kind wizards sometimes maybe make swords out of... the kind I think that wizard has in his tower. I should visit!
Day Fourteen - Rot
Back to the forests again, but there's a smell in the air I just couldn't ignore.
Wish I did, though.
Some adventurer took down a beast they just didn't have the means to harvest. What a waste!
If you're going on hunts that you don't have the skill for, at least buy a Carver's Sword from the quest hub before you go...
Day Fifteen - Lace
Remind me not to pick fights with that one League of lace and frills... the name escapes me, a lot like the beatdown I narrowly avoided.
I never thought I'd see pommels and hilts so cutesy and pretty. My bad for calling them "decorative."
They were SO quick to offer up the chance to demonstrate that they are not, in fact, decorative. Bounced out of there so fast, but they might see me again. With less disrespect.
Day Sixteen - Carved
That encounter yesterday actually motivated me to go jump in and do some combat practice for the first time in... I'll say months, and that's generous.
When it comes to decorative swords, though, the combat academy has plenty to peep! And yes, they are actually decorative this time.
Couldn't help but notice that there is one display that's empty half the time. Is someone using it? Every time I try to point that it's gone, the fancy carved sword is always back before the other person turns to look...
Day Seventeen - Gem
That's it. I've made the decision: I'm on the case of the disappearing sword.
It's a good thing that the Reliquary League seems to have given up on the idea of keeping me out of their libraries. I have a feeling they knew I was there the whole time, but I think I'm sneaky enough that they didn't know for a while.
Now, how would someone swipe a sword without anyone knowing it was gone? The Sword of Illusions? As if no one would notice that gem-encrusted relic from a mile away!
Day Eighteen - Beetle
Nearly threw a book off the table today when I felt something jab at my elbow! Looked down, what did I see? Beetle.
Where did it come from? Don't these rhinoceros beetles live in, like, the tropics? Probably someone's lost pet.
The horns on these things can be pretty gnarly — I think I heard once that pixies sometimes sharpen them to use as swords! Small but mighty!
Day Nineteen - Membrane
I think I've had this all wrong! I got so sucked into the idea of illusions that it finally hit me... what if they're hiding in plain sight?
The thought came to me while I was looking at an entry about the Solias Wingblade. It's crafted from the membranes of a rare creature from the deep forest dungeons that can camouflage with just about any terrain.
What if our caper is doing exactly that, and sneaking that sword right out from under our noses! The research must go on!
Day Twenty - Vapor
I was a very brave cat today — a little too brave, if you ask me. What's that about curiosity and cats, again?
The deep forest dungeons have some threats that the travelers logs don't really cover all too well. I guess I did read a bit about these, and the etched platinum swords they recommended for taking them on, but I thought that was just for optimization!
Changed my mind real quick when their vapor melted right through my steel sword. Guess we're going home!
Day Twenty One - Ring
Had to pay a pretty penny to get my sword replaced. I'll be grumpy about it forever, even if it is sort of my fault it got ruined.
I had lots of fun distracting myself perusing the marketplace while waiting on the blacksmith. Plenty of shiny things on display! All of the magic stuff is still too rich for my blood, but no one said I can't have a look.
One of the shops had this incredible tapestry on the wall, with a figure woven into it.. a warrior, I think? She had this crazy sword with rings dangling from the end of the pommel. I asked about them and the shopkeeper just gave me a wink and tapped on a nearby box. Didn't have time to figure out what that meant.
Day Twenty Two - Swan
New sword, new me! I'm going back down there if it's the last thing I do, but something else has me hooked for the time being.
I stumbled upon a ceremony being held at one of the local chapels. On that altar was a most beautiful sword... Couldn't make out the name, but they called it "Someone's Swan Song." It seemed familiar, but gah..
Had to keep moving. Let's stay focused, here!
Day Twenty Three - Owl
Brilliant idea, Minnow! If I'm looking for a sneaky culprit, who better to ask than masters of stealth themselves?
I looked for some strygi who really knew their stuff. Actual rogues and sneaky folk who could really give me some pointers, and boy did they have plenty to share!
They even have their own collection of swords, they said! I thought they were kidding, until they pulled an old rusted thing from a nearby chest. Looked awful, but maybe it was just a Sword of Rusting? Joking. But maybe...
Day Twenty Four - Venom
If I learned anything from those strygi rogues, it's this: never underestimate the power of some specialized venoms!
They told me about a heist pulled generations ago where a poison cloud was used to knock out a whole room, so thieves could run off with the then-Queen's most beloved ceremonial sword! They still haven't found it to this day, and no one figured out who did it!
I don't think that's what they're doing here... but it was a good piece of lore!
Day Twenty Five - Bubble
Judging by the fact that we haven't seen anyone passing out at the training hall, I'd say knock-out poisons aren't what we're looking for here.
What if they're hiding in plain sight? Maybe they've got this little bubble of protection around them that makes them hard to spot, unless you know exactly what you're looking for.
That right there is the hard part. How do you figure out what you're looking for when it's something you can't even see?
Day Twenty Six - Harpy
Things have me pretty stumped right now. I'm retreating to my old comfort reads from when I was just a little kit in the den.
I'm always coming back to the tales of old, of magical and mystical folks who may have walked this world before us... or maybe, they still do? All the times I've looked, I haven't found them yet.
When I get stuck like this, I think of the tale of Rania, as she raised her radiant sword to the storming skies to clear the path ahead. That's the sort of guidance I need right now.
Day Twenty Seven - Spring
The entries from this point grow more sporadic.
I love the springtime! Iverra really comes to life this time of year in a way you don't see in a lot of other places. It's really made my hunger for answers come to life in a new way!
I've gone back to Ringtale for a little visit — they say alums are always welcome back, so why not pop by their little library for some inspiration?
I had my nose fully buried in a book when one of their youngest students dropped a little sketch on my desk! I'm still scratching my head at how they were able to so faithfully depict one of the world's most complicated sword designs at such a young age. The kid's got talent!
Day Twenty Eight - Summer
A handful of months later.
One season of adventure heads into another, and I'm reminded how bad I am at keeping up with journaling when I'm in the thick of it!
I've made some fun discoveries that I'm pursuing extra hard at the Reliquary League's headquarters! They still don't seem to mind me mooching off of their lore — as long as I'm not walking away with their books, right?
There's something fishy about the ruins in the east. I just get this feeling that we've barely scratched their surface. By we, I mean the League. But now... I'm making myself part of that we. Teamwork!
This is a BEAUTIFUL layout and I cannot get over the font choice for each entry <33
eeee thank you!! I'm having so much fun with this article already, highly recommend doing silly little journal entry worldbuilding ^-^
Craft a bright new world, in Ayun Sovos!