Previous Quest Log

Gifts of the Heart

Throughout Moren Ezen, the Day of Devotion is a revered tradition, celebrated every year in the frigid heart of winter—a time when the gelid winds gusting down from the icy mountain peaks are said to carry with them the warmest of promises. 

On this day, courtiers and lovers alike partake in the ritualistic exchange known as the Gift of the Heart. These gifts—be they precious stones, ceremonial charms, hard-won trophies or deeds of daring—are a most cherished offering of profoundly personal significance, representing the giver’s deepest emotions and desires. To offer the Gift of the Heart is to bare one's soul to another, pledging a bond that will endure all, transcending even the sands of time as they inevitably shift and fall away.

As the streets of towns and cities fill with songs of love, flirtatious laughter, eager suitors, and heartsick couples, a question lingers: Where does your character find themselves amidst the celebrations? Do they share the occasion with their beloved? Are they planning to offer their own Gift of the Heart, or perhaps, are they the recipient? For those who find themselves alone on this Day of Devotion, do they revel in the freedom of their solitude, unburdened by the expectations of others, or do they feel as an empty vessel, adrift in a sea of longing? Do they seek another lonely soul with whom to spend the day? Or do they avoid the concourse altogether?

Childhood Memories

Whether they’re still in their prime or if they’ve reached the venerated title of Elder; whether their childhood was just years ago and often thought of or decades previous and half forgotten; a rider’s formative years were no doubt paramount to who they are today. The family, guardians, or mentors who guided them along their path, for good or bad, intentionally or not, will always be a big influence on their lives. Even the ponies they learnt to ride on, the first they taught under saddle, the first they bred and watched grow, the first one they bonded with and trusted to carry them through a dangerous situation, all remain in the way they now treat their current herd. 

Does your rider remember a part of their childhood especially fondly? Is there a memory they can’t let go of even many years later? Do they miss that time of their life, or are they glad to leave it behind them? What were they like back then, what did they dream of becoming, and how does it differ to their current lifestyle? 

A Light in the Sky

With seemingly little rhyme or reason and with little warning, all across the land, from Kestrana to even such far-off places as Guardians Watch, there have been reports of a mysterious blight of red paper lanterns. 

It started slow, a lantern placed on a stoop in Mastay, a single streak of red caught in the branches of a tree outside of Haspar. They were easy enough to ignore at first, but soon enough, it would seem that everyone had a tale of encountering one of the mysterious lanterns.

Some took it as a bad omen, while others whispered it was a sign from the Guardians of something about to begin. Others still found the entire situation to be rather irritating. The only thing that anyone could agree upon was the mysterious appearance of the things. They almost seemed to have minds of their own, showing up here and there as if simply plucked from the ether.  Any attempts to locate or catch whoever or whatever was the cause of the plague of lanterns came back fruitless. This did little more than feed all of the theories that surrounded the things. 

Even more mysteriously, each lantern was emblazoned with a call, beckoning people to Eclein on the longest day of summer, when the shadows seem to stretch endlessly into the horizon for there would be a grand celebration for all to witness. 

How does your character respond to the sudden appearance of the lanterns? Do they praise them as a sign from the Guardians, or are they simply annoyed to have seen them day after day? Do they decide to travel to Eclein, or do they dismiss the entire thing as some sort of farce? 

It Must Be Something In The Water

Myths and legends of merpeople, founded in a time many thousands of years preceding the Old World, have weathered the cataclysm with swimming success and continued to thrive in wondrous tales of fiction in the New World. And while most don’t consider the fabled merpeople—often depicted as having the head and torso of a lovely maiden and the tail of a fish—to be anything more than a fantasy, the return of magic has provoked some… uncertainties.

There are those now declaring to have seen these creatures, for they appeared quite suddenly in the upper rivers, lakes and canals of Aeslend and Ehiasall. These aren’t the deranged tellings of any town crackpot who wandered down to the water's edge and happening to glimpse a large catfish fleeing into the reeds either, oh no—these are reputable, steady-minded fisherfolk with many years experience wading and boating the continental waterways from Swanfall to High Harbour, and Eclein to Yeshi. The creatures stay covert beneath the water’s surface, shy and quietly calm, near impossible to get a good look at. But they move with much grace, and their fluked or paddled tails and long, smooth bodies are distinct - what else could they be but merfolk?!

Some allege the merpeople to be every bit as fantastically beautiful as the legends claim, while others affirm with some disgust that they are hideous; with bulbous grey torsos and whiskers on their faces. “Beautiful?! What folly! Those sailors must have lost their damn minds to loneliness!”

Whatever the case may be, as the tellings spread people are becoming increasingly suspicious. And while many afraid of magic dare not venture too close to any waters suspected to be inhabited by merpeople, there are also those who seek their own validation; is there indeed merpeople dwelling beneath the waves, or something else entirely?

How does your character respond to these tales of fancy? Do they believe in such legends, or are they doubtful? Do they set out to discover these creatures for themselves, or perhaps they’ve encountered something similar during a previous adventure? 

Terracotta Treasures

It has been tradition for many a generation in Ehiasall that at autumn’s end, before the winter snows arrive and the mammoth migration begins, terracotta pots containing provisions; provender, first aid and other essentials for a weary traveler are placed, hidden along the paths to Tseten Thaye, that they might be found to guide one lost and provide to those in need during their long, arduous journey to and from the hunting grounds.

At winter’s end, once the hunters and scouts have gone and the mammoths have begun their crossing back to the White Steppes, the pots are sought out and collected by those who left them, their leftover contents repurposed, and to be refilled for the next winter.

This tradition has been adopted all across Moren Ezen and adapted as a child’s game, that on the first day of spring small, colourfully decorated terracotta pots are hidden about villages, townships and city squares filled with sugary sweets and small toys for the local children to find and enjoy.

Depict your rider in relation to these traditions. Is it something they partake in, or do they just so happen upon a pot during their travels? Perhaps they've found one in a time of urgency.

2021

Ancient Discoveries

April Fools

The Start of Something New

2020

FACING THE CONSEQUENCES

FEND FOR YOURSELF

SPRING WINDS