Our first view of the Fairelands – both our goal and the true start of our journey – came as our vessel approached the Isle of Shadows. It was perhaps not an auspicious start to our pilgrimage: the masts of sunken ships lay scattered amongst the rocky teeth that broke the surface of the waters leading to the inner bay; but our Captain assured us that the route to anchor was known to him, and as the clouds parted, our spirits lifted at the sight of the great vessel floating among them, held aloft by the form of a great dragon – Fairechylde!
Of course tales of this great flying ship had reached our homelands – where many considered it little more than a myth – but to see it now and after so long at sea, renewed our spirits, and we gathered on the deck as our ship slowly drifted into the bay, its anchors breaking the surface of the waters. Boats were lowered, and we were carried ashore aboard them, the entire crew eager to climb the ladders and steps that passed up through the raised hull that formed the moorings for Fairechylde, eager to avail themselves of the sky-ship’s welcome.
As much as we felt the same wish, and to seek the great caverns rumoured to be here, our path lay in a different direction. A guide awaited us on the the shores of the bay, ready to guide us onwards, across the high wooden bridge to where a stone path lay across the broken lands to where the high walls of our first destination lay, wreathed in afternoon mist.
Passing over the bridge, we paused to look back at the bay and our ship, the Fairchylde floating above, before the road dipped into the vale beyond, carrying us past a tiny town formed from the trunks and stumps of trees. Whilst lights were starting to shine from little windows, we saw no sign of who lived within these strange small houses – the inhabitants perhaps driven indoors by the sound of our clumping feet and the hoof-falls of our mounts – and I was filled with a desire to wander down along the stone paths that ran from trunk to trunk, but with the lowering Sun approaching the horizon, our guide insisted we moved onwards.
And so at length we came to those high walls. Imposing from a distance, suggestive of great strength, I expected them to be watched over by armoured guards, our way forward challenged. But as we drew close, it was clear the walls had long since become broken, gates long ago gone, and so we passed unhindered into the realm of Siren’s Lore.
Once a great and powerful city, Siren’s Lore stood through the ages as a beacon of beauty and power, a haven to all who came to her gates. A place close to the seas, the gods of which were revered by the city’s people. Then it had been a place of great commerce, where sea and land met harmony.
But that was before the Fall, its reason lost in time, but it left the city broken, towers and buildings crumbling, the streets vanishing beneath the waves. And yet the citizens survived, and whilst the glory of the city’s former build was forever lost, so was a new Siren’s Lore born; a place where the Protectress still stands watch over the city’s remains and the the merchants, patrons and visitors who walk the wooden paths that have been lain to replaced the once sunlit streets that ran straight and true.
For Siren’s Lore, both lost and found, is once again a place of commerce, and we passed by many shops offering all manner of goods. It is also a place rich in mystery, and magical ruined beauty, all enhanced, I left as we passed along the wooden paths as the Sun reached the horizon and cast long shadows across the overgrown ruins of what might once of been a great palace or fortress.
And so it was that we came to the end of our first day within the lands of the Faire, strangers to these realms, yet welcomed, ushered to a place of refreshment and rest, where we could renew ourselves with a peaceful night’s sleep unbroken by the roll and creak of an ocean bound vessel. And as I settled upon my pallet in readiness for sleep, my mouth still tingling at the exotic taste of the foods we had been offered, I wondered what strange places we might find as we continued our journey on the morrow.
Isle of Shadows designed by Aelva & Emme Eales and sponsored by Seanchai Library.
Siren’s Lore designed by Syn Beresford and sponsored by Petrichor and Elysion. Featuring stores by: Ars Hokori, Belle Epoque, Celeste, Dragon Magick Wares, En Pointe, Harshlands, Living the FantaSea, LuluB!, Poet’s Heart & Mermaid Treasure Boutique, Poseidon, [QE] Designs, Romin Creations, RVi Design,[][]Trap[][], Valkyr RP, Voodoo, and Witchcraft.
Total raised on Day 1: L$1,829,351 (US $7,317).
SLurls and Related Links
Regions are rated Moderate.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 