Category:Sylvan Shenanigans: Difference between revisions

Summary

Chapter 1

• 01-10-2025 - Tiwlip makes herself known to other sylvans.
• 01-25-2025 - The Ma'Henrith Cavern Exhibition Tour opens in Ta'Illistim.
• 01-26-2025 - The Ma'Henrith Cavern Exhibition is abruptly closed.
• 01-31-2025 - A statement from the Museum and Library is issued
• 03-08-2025 - Sylvankind are invited to visit the camp of the Sylvisterai in the Wild
• 03-09-2025 - The Last Days of Yuriqen, a collection of annotated letters, is shared with the Aies Library

Cast of Characters

Official Vignettes

• Ma'Henrith Cavern Exhibition - Closed
• Ma'Henrith Cavern Joint Statement - 31-January-2025
• Ma'Henrith Cavern Artifact Update - 22-March-2025

Character Vignettes

Logs

Additional Information/Communications

A place to track NPC's receipt of player mail and such to assist with storyline communication.

2025-3-9: Fe'hala and Ai'han to Tiwlip

Along with this letter, they sent a basket with food.

In the Sylvankind language, it reads:

Kindred-Beyond-The-Barricade,

In the What Was, our kin-and-kind once clutched hands and sought comfort in the shadow of each other as we traversed a golden torment.  In the Now, that grasping of hands has broken apart, to where we no longer remember the feel of fingertips lending strength to one another.  It disheartens me to find a wall of briars where once there might have been open boughs.  Had it been you invited to the Tha'enaketh, you would have been received with Rites of Hospitality.  We would have you welcomed with sustenance, with song, and with gifts freely given.

To honor the ways of our kinband, we send you the first of three gifts from the wild places we roam.  Our first offering is one feast and flavor; a cyser sweetened with early mulberries, sausages of both stag and boar flavored with forest herbs, and whortleberries perfumed with winter violets.   May our gifts of salt and honey be the first of many such exchanges between our kinships, and remind you of times when friendship was more easily found. 

What is kinship if not the sharing of what we have, and the offering of hospitality without need of asking?  A lone wolf may fiercely guard its den, but when the rivers freeze and the hunt grows lean, it is the pack that keeps the hunger at bay. 

These are our words, now bound to ink,
Fehala and Aihan of the Tha'enaketh

~ Oathbound to Root, Bough and Gale ~
  ~ Watchers of the Four Winds ~

2025-3-12: Fe'hala and Ai'han to Tiwlip

Along with this letter, they sent an epistle (poem) and an iceblossom.

In the Sylvankind language, it reads:

~ * ~ A Forest Marriage ~ * ~ 

The wind awakens.
 The trees stir.
Whispers sing in their boughs.
 A song with no beginning.
A song with no end.

 They each know our name.
Written in modwir sap.
 Carried in leaf-fall.
Etched in maoral roots.
 Hidden in veils of aspen.

 They shade where we linger.
Pity for the pride-soaked lessons,
 Forged upon a golden anvil.
Sorrow and truth, both wyrm-taught,
 That the land is not for dominion.
It is an oath to be honored.

 We are led by pelicans, not by kings.
Our past is caged, not by stone.
 Nor by ink-bound laws.
Only by a silvered veil,
 Only by the hymn of the wilds.

 In it, we hear the leaves tremble.
We sense the doe watching.
 We feel when the winds change,
And the path calls us onwards again.

We go where the horizon bends in welcome.
Where the sky stretches unbroken. 
 Where the green whispers back,
Not in submission, but in love. 

 One day our journey will end.
When our breath stops,
 We will not be stone.
We will not be ruin.
 The trees will remember us.
Their boughs will carry our song.
 Our memories cast within amber hearts.

 They each know our name.
To flora, fauna, Doe, and all,
 We are sylvisterai.
As we have been.
 As we always will be.

 ~ * ~
Words should not be forever silenced by ink.
These one merely rest, waiting for your voice to wake them.

-Fe'hala of the Tha'enaketh                            -Ai'han of the Tha'enaketh 

In the Sylvankind language, it reads:

Kindred-Beyond,
To honor the ways of our kinband, we send you the second of three gifts from the wild places we travel.  Our second offering is one of verse and remembrance in a poem piece we offered to your sentry, now captured by parchment-and-quill.

 What is the purpose of kinship without our stories and melodies, twining Is, Was, and Will Be into fable and verse?  It is our wish that this piece finds a home among you, and serves as a reminder of our deep roots.  May this gift be the first of many such exchanges between our kinships. 

These are our words, now bound to ink,
Fe'hala and Ai'han of the Tha'enaketh

2025-3-16: Nilandia to Tiwlip

Along with this letter, Nilandia sent a wrist-cuff.

To Tiwlip, Postulant Novitiate of the Council Sylvisterai of the Wild, Greetings.

First, allow me to convey my gratitude for meeting with us and showing us the entrance to your encampment. To do so must have been a considerable risk to you and the rest of the settlement, and I thank you for placing your trust in all of us. 

I would also like to express my gratitude for the information you have shared with us of yourself, your community, and the closing of Yuriqen. As you might imagine, many were unaware of anything that you shared with us. To learn of your community and the existence of a formal Council outside of Yuriqen came as quite a shock to many, as they had believed the Council proper remained within the city.

I have spoken with many friends and acquaintances about the existence of the Council Sylvisterai of the Wild. All had expected that there was no overarching Council and that each of their settlements or bands were left to govern themselves. All who had been raised within a Sylvan community had known only the government or hierarchy that they themselves had founded.

However, your story is one that is rather familiar to me. Like your community, mine was founded by refugees from Yuriqen. We suffered from the attacks following the sealing of the city, and it has left scars upon us ever since.

My community, like yours, harbors a number of Hierophants. They chose to join us to guide us as the Mother would wish. The hierophantic talent continued to appear among our community, giving us an unbroken line of Hierophants from Yuriqen. I will admit to being quite curious to see if our practices remain the same despite being separated for so long.

Where we differ, however, is that we did not keep ourselves so hidden that others of our people were unaware of our existence. Instead, once the attacks ceased, we made ourselves available to any wandering band or community who wished to join us. We sought to become a beacon for any who longed for a place to call home. I have sent word to my Patron to hear her thoughts, as I am unaware if my home community knows of yours. I highly suspect she will be most interested to hear more of you, though. She and I both honor the Teacher and avidly study history like you do. Perhaps, if things go well, we might be able to collaborate at some point.

If nothing else, I do plan on attending the procession and ceremony of remembrance as a representative of my community. I hope that we may begin to come together as we once had and work together for our people's welfare. I'm very interested in seeing the shrines to the Teacher that you mentioned, as well as meeting the other members of the Council. I will try not to ask too many questions, but I make no promises!

I have enclosed a small gift for you as a token of my sentiments. The alpine violets you may already be familiar with as signifying a desire for candid words, as I hope we might be able to converse freely, openly, and honestly. The trillium, along with being one of my favorite flowers, has a meaning ascribed to it in a small frontier town to the west called Wehnimer's Landing. There, they use it to mean "hope despite pain." Though we as a people have suffered much through the centuries, I have hope that we may find a better future in the coming days. May the Mother's blessings shelter you all your days,

~Nilandia Liserna

2025-01-31: Nilandia to Laevynia

This arrived before the posting of the museum/library response to the situation.

In the Elven language, it reads:

To Laevynia Savitel Illistim, curator of Museum Alerreth, greetings.

My name is Nilandia Liserna, and I am a Sylvan of the Kytawa D'ahranal. I am also an academic, historian, and one who honors the Lady of Wisdom in addition to the Mother of my people. During the time I have resided within the Shining City, I have come to respect the people of Ta'Illistim as gracious hosts. We share many of the same values, pursuing wisdom and knowledge to gain understanding of the world and its people. I have come to cherish the acquaintances, friends, and colleagues I have met within the city as we assist in each other's research.

I was quite saddened that I was unable to attend the opening of the exhibit of Sylvan artifacts in the Museum Alerreth this past Feastday. I had heard of the exhibit, but was unable to visit the museum until more recently, only to find that it had been closed. Others of my people who were present at the event informed me of what had taken place, and of the nature of the artifacts on display. As you might imagine, the Sylvans I spoke with were quite upset at what they had seen.

If I may, I would like to offer my assistance in attempting to resolve the situation. I am a Sylvan, so I can speak to the importance and meaning the artifacts have to my people. At the same time, I am a scholar who can appreciate the importance of providing insight into Sylvan culture for those not of my people.

I shall be staying near the Shining City for the near future. Should have need of anything, do let me know.

~Nilandia Liserna