Personal journal entry - F. Firewalker
15th Ranger Group aka âthe Blood Ravensâ
29 days since enlistment
The Farstrider Square has been my home for four weeks now, and the Ravens have quickly become my family. Training is getting harder all the time, yet somehow it feels right, like itâs always been in my blood. I write these words from a hill in Eversong, during a week of Campcraft practise; for many, itâs the first night in the woods and their nerves and inexperience shows. Among the initiates at least.
Together with four others, I earned my Bloods this weekend and it feels great. It feels earned. Iâm now on equal foot with the sarcastic scruffy Spoon, my dearest rival Rivermist, and all the other Blooded Ravens â and pleased to say that Deâmorae, Drywinter, Sunwhisper and Whitemoon all passed their trials and made the cut as well.
It looks like Lion, Eventwist, Goldilocks and a few others were held back, though.
Iâm making a habit of checking in with everyone when I get the chance, not just to make friends but also to see how well theyâre adjusting to this life. Itâs still a bit early days but I can gladly count many of the Rangers and initiates among my friends. I am respected for my habits and appreciated for my skills.
Then came the deployment orders.
My first mission with this team, it turned out eventful, but also very short thanks to the magical and sky-based transport provided for us.
The airship that took us to our objective was not only for us to use; we shared the quarters with several other sinâdorei units, each of them utilised in a certain role according to their respective strengths.
Our role was to be the bait.
The plan was that weâd draw out the enemy by causing a fuss at their gates, then fall back with speed and pepper the guards with arrows and (surprisingly) grenades. Our more melee combat-oriented allies would then teleport into the middle of their base and take them by surprise. If the enemy would follow us, thatâd be advantageous because thereâd be lower numbers inside, and if theyâd remain on their post, weâd still get some free shots at them to roughen them up.
Nobody had anticipated that the guards would be faster than us.
The captain had placed myself and four others into a forward group, to be doing the taunting; meanwhile Spoon was given command of the rest of the team, on overwatch in an alcove high above the field. As the captainâs group started falling back by twos, the guard came after us immediately â and kept up! It smashed repeatedly at those closest to it along the way and turned out to be incredibly tough. Resistant to even the most well-aimed grenades thrown by Spoonâs support team.
Then, two more guards showed up from the gate and returned fire to our overwatch.
Our teamwork crumbled.
A clear sign of inexperience â some of us have done this sort of thing many times before, others hardly held a bow in their life, but nobody has been in the field long enough together to develop the smooth cooperation that comes with time and much repetition.
At one point the captain took a hit (I didnât see how it happened) and I made a runner to fetch her to safety, while I had Drywinter and Brightvein covering me. One of the ranged enemy came around a corner and got me before Iâd made it ten feet in, however. It crushed my foot.
So Brightvein ended up retrieving the captain while Drywinter supported me on our way back to the evac point. What happened on the overwatch I donât know, but Spoonâs team was able to join us and we were magically transported onto the shipâs deck in the blink of an eye.
Into the middle of a battle.
Somehow our enemy had made its way onto our airship; we were ushered down into the safety of the hold to start medical treatment, while above and around us we heard the shouts and explosions that would eventually win us the fight, and the mission.
I was pleased to see the captain capable of natural mending, which she extended to me as well, and Spoon did the rest with the aid of the Light. Spoon is not only a mender, also a medic, so now that weâre back home I will have my medical knowledge assessed by him in a series of tests. Iâm looking forward to learning from him and working together as his âminionâ as he playfully put it.
We have not been on any other deployments since.
Iâve spoken to a few people around town about various services and trainings.
For one, a couple of blood knights like to lurk from the sidelines during our training sessions, remarking on our technique and skill, in typical blood knight fashion. So I approached one later at night and requested to be taught by them if they think they can do it better. He backed down and admitted that Farstrider doctrines are not actually his speciality, and referred me to a lieutenant called Fairstrider, with whom I briefly spoke.
Furthermore, Iâve seen a magister about the bansheeâs taint that NarmĂ« and I suspected might linger on me. We were right. He applied an indicator salve on the place of the kiss, which turned into a shadowy mark overnight; itâs on my cheek, but thankfully it greatly resembles a normal bruise.
The bansheeâs kiss doesnât seem to have actually harmed me.
Still, we believe it may have left me vulnerable to the likes of her.
When I next speak to the elven lordâs spirit, I will ask him about it. The spirit seems more eager to answer questions about me than about himself anyway, and so far he has appeared to be honest and well-intended in his guidance of me, so Iâm inclined to trust his judgement on these matters of the spirit.
I went to look for him over the weekend too, before I left to spectate Brightsong at the monk tournament. Since I was in the woods anyway to pluck young nettles, I called out to him.
The spirit didnât answer.
But at least last week he finally showed himself to me.
Iâve no name for him, but he is a tall and regal elf, clad in armour of white and silver and midnight blue, with a narrow face. I consider him a guide, a helper of sorts. And I am finally heeding his gentle warning to stay away from the tear.
At the tear between the realms, I met three more interesting people: one a mysterious lady who I donât trust and who gave me her amulet; the second, a vengeful and twisted spectre of some kind who claims I betrayed him to make a deal; and thirdly, a powerful force that I am said to have struck the deal with.
Each of them makes me feel like a pawn in some dark, dangerous game that stretches beyond life.
Iâm not going back there any time soon, at least not alone â but I plan to explore the abandoned village in which the elven lord awoke me before.
In other news, weâre on Christmas break like many other guilds, although weâve been attending Winter Veil parties left and right, and on the other days we gather for social RP at the Farstrider Square like always!
