[RP] Visiting Bravia, the husband and such

[Dwayberry]

	Day 41: January 11, 1656 My sickness passed late in the morning. I went out to pick more strawberries. It was snowing very hard and I overheard some talk about an upcoming blizzard. I went anyway, as the cold fresh air made me feel better and one can never bring too many strawberries on a trip. There was a sign, half covered in snow, near the orchard saying 'bad weather conditions, enter at own risk'. I had expected the locals in a land this far north would be tougher, but I was pretty much the only one at the orchard! It allowed me to fill several boxes with deep-frozen strawberries. The blizzard got increasingly worse so I slipped a few times. Fortunately I landed in soft, deep snow and that led me to discover even more untouched strawberry bushes! I haven't had such a good harvest in quite a long time. Aldwyn is snacking on strawberries and watching as I write and draw. Nocturne has been teaching him some letters, but he can't quite read yet, fortunately, or I'd have to demand more privacy. The location of the amazing town of Trenona:

[Dwayberry]

	Day 42: January 12, 1656 We travelled south from Trenona, deeper inland again. It snowed increasingly harder, making it difficult to find the path through the woods and mountains. Mountain paths can be very treacherous anyway in such weather conditions. Before you know it, you might fall in some snow-covered crack. We progressed slowly to be careful. We passed a gold mine, but I didn't want to spend the night there. The only logical way to do that would be by entering the mine. I don't even want to be found dead inside a mine shaft, let alone alive. Sadly we didn't make it to another town before we had to stop and rest. Poor Aldwyn was feeling cold because the snow is too deep for him to walk, so he had to sit on the sled. It must have been close to midnight before we finished building a shelter good enough to last through the night. I'm curious how much we'll be snowed in tomorrow. Fortunately, it's warm inside when when we stick close together.

[Dwayberry]

	Day 43: January 13, 1656 We woke up to a clear sky and deep snow surrounding the shelter this morning. I tried to relocate the path while Nocturne packed out things. To my dismay, when I found a clearing allowing me to look downhill, I recognised the town of Fullerium in the distance! We must have taken a wrong direction last night. Once we figured out what went wrong, we returned to the gold mine and took the road leading south-west from there. No way do I want to return to Fullerium and there must be more towns in New Fulleria we haven't visited yet. Despite the deep snow, the relatively calm weather today allowed us to progress quickly. We now find ourselves near the border between New Fulleria and Valleria. So travelling through Valleria is another way to visit New Fulleria, other than going by boat from Bravia. After discussing, we decided to not travel further south yet and so we'll go back to find the town of Claroon tomorrow. Some passing peasants claim it's quite worth visiting. Besides, it won't be bad to go through Trenona again. I have a slight feeling that something is up. I thought my stamina might have decreased in the past year or so, but after travelling for over a month, I should not still feel this tired by the end of the day. That, and my stomach occasionally rejecting food that seems to bother no-one else, reminds me of something that happened to me twice before. I cannot count on moon-time, as that has been extremely irregular ever since my duelling accident. I didn't think it could possibly happen again, although Nocturne did tell me my body started healing. Perhaps it is caused by the travelling after all, or I'm getting old... Either way, I won't bring it up before I can be more sure. Nocturne is different from Roger, but I have seen more men turn into overly protective nervous wrecks after their women shared the news.

[Dwayberry]

	Day 44: January 14, 1656 We arrived back in Trenona today. This must be my favourite town in all New Fulleria! I was actually excited about the bad weather, hoping I would have the orchard to myself again. However, when I arrived at the orchard, I found it was too frozen, even for someone as determined as me. The layer of snow covering the strawberry bushes must have partly melted and frozen over again during the night. The ice was so thick and hard I would have needed a pickaxe to get through, and it would be insanely hard to harvest strawberries with a pickaxe without damaging the bushes and the fruits. I gave up on the orchard today, with pain in my heart. I'll go hunting tonight. I might still have an advantage in this weather as there are few people outside. Zyrk and yvyrm are harder to spot in these conditions, but they tend they stick together in groups to stay warm, so if you find one, you find many.

[Dwayberry]

	Day 45: January 15, 1656 I headed out shortly after midnight, started off near the orchard and then went further inland into the woody hills. It was still snowing heavily and I am not too familiar with this land yet, so didn't want to head out too far. As long as it's snowing this hard, it's impossible to find your own footprints in the snow in order to head back where you came from. I ventured deeper into the forest as the trees provided a bit of shelter. The wind caused the trees to creak and moan, a sound I can vaguely recall from childhood. Unfortunately, I don't remember at what point the creaking sounds are loud enough to promise thick branches coming down, but I saw signs of yvyrm activity soon enough. Scratch marks on trees, traces of fecal slime, the typical trademarks of a large yvyrm nest. I didn't bother much with trying to stay quiet as nature wasn't exactly quiet either. I quickly approached primitive leaves-and-branches shelter and swung my axe right into it. I was met with even more screeching and hissing than I expected! The shelter came apart as the yvyrm fled. One lay motionless; my axe must have gone straight through its spine. I began to chase the others. They split into smaller groups and I followed a group of three, one of them being bigger and fatter than the others. I missed a step as they rounded a large tree and slid down a steep hill. I failed to hold on to anything and eventually swung my axe randomly until it lodged itself in a cluster of smaller trees. I managed to hold on and climb up to those trees, and must have rested there in the snow for close to an hour, feeling exhausted and suffering from a hard, painful stomach. I got up when the pain subsided and carefully made my way uphill. I left the dead yvyrm where I killed it and went straight back to the inn. I slept until noon, when Aldwyn became too restless and nudged my head until I woke up. My muscles are a bit sore now, but otherwise it seems I survived that unfateful hunting trip well.

[Dwayberry]

	Day 46: January 16, 1656 I originally wanted to stay another day in Trenona as the weather has improved, but the locals told us Claroon is an orchard town as well, so we'll travel today and then I hope to pick some strawberries there. Claroon is located to the north-east of Trenona. As with all other New Fullerian towns, it is a coastal town with a small harbour. Perhaps it is due to the calmer weather today, but there is quite some activity in this town, even though we arrived close to sunset. We will stay here today and tomorrow, then head out to sea again to find another land. We strolled through the town centre and visited the market before nightfall. This town is apparently quite famous for a brass music instrument called the 'claroon', cleverly named after the town of origin. Or the town was named after the instrument, or both the town and instrument were named after a person who first used this instrument in this area to warn others about an avalanche. Claire Moon or Clark Boon or something. The people at the local inn - named 'The Blaring Claroon Inn' seem to disagree on this. I asked if some claroon music would be played this evening as I was in the mood for dancing with my Nocturne, but I was met with laughter and some mockery, hmm...

[Dwayberry]

	Day 47: January 17, 1656 Now that the weather is still calm, the Claroon orchard is so crowded that it would be more worthwhile for me to buy a good load of strawberries on the market, rather than attempt to pick a nice amount myself. Aldwyn didn't want to join me to the market, so after a bit of consideration I agreed he could stay in the orchard for a few hours to pick strawberries as much as he wants. I know he is young, but the people here seem nice and trustworthy enough. Or perhaps they sense what Nocturne and I might do to them, should any harm come to my child. I bought supplies for our upcoming sea travel and scanned the harbour. I didn't sense anything out of the ordinary. A well accessible harbour, average fishing grounds. No large sea creatures or dangerous currents anywhere near. We should be able to head out quick and smoothly tomorrow. I took Aldwyn back to the inn for dinner. I'm thinking about going hunting in a few hours. That amateurish hunting result in Trenona doesn't sit well with me. This town appears to attract nice creatures - perhaps they enjoy claroon music? The nicely patched up town walls clearly suggests there must be zyrk in the vicinity. I think I will go for these with my bare hands. The hunt was an absolute disaster. I spotted several zyrk in the distance and was approaching them quietly, when all of a sudden the air was filled with terribly loud hooting noises! Soon after, a group of slobbering, barking dogs almost knocked me over as they ran for the zyrk. Needless to say the zyrk were startled and fled immediately. The group of dogs were followed by two men on horses. One of them made the hooting noises with an instrument that looked like the one depicted on the sign of The Blaring Claroon Inn. So that is what claroons are used for... I have never seen such a ridiculous hunting strategy in my life! I returned to the inn, not bothering any further with finding zyrk or yvyrm with that much noise around.

[Dwayberry]

	Day 48: January 18, 1656 We left Claroon early in the morning, as we heard from local tradespeople that the viceroyalty of Muria is quite some distance away. The weather is still calm, but the grey sky in the distance suggest it might not stay that way. We sailed north-west all through the morning and are now heading west. The wind has picked up. Aldwyn is excited about how fast we're going. I know I should warn him to not get over-excited because I worry there might be a storm coming, but I'm glad for his excitement as I thought he might grow bored quickly. The cold wind and the waves appear to make my Aldwyn feel very allert and awake. Strangely enough it makes me feel sleepy right now. I better lay down for a while so I can later assist Nocturne with sailing through the night. Besides, it's getting harder to hold the notebook steady to write with this wind. I woke up to a disturbing dream. I saw a woman, with black hair and a fair skin like me, though her eyes were of a different, warmer colour. She was standing on a cliff looking out over the sea, and sang softly: "I am a young woman, my story is sad, Though once I was happy, then I met this lad I courted this young man by night and by day, Oh but now he has left me, and sailed far away. Oh, if I were a blackbird, could whistle and sing, I'd follow the vessel my true love sails in, And there in the mast, I would there built my nest, And I'd flutter my wings over his strong chest."** Then, she closed her eyes, embraced herself, and leaned forward, too far. I heard another voice, a more familiar, demanding one. "He could never love her fully, for he loved me more." Wind blew in my ears, uncomfortably loud, and the voice became difficult to understand. "He knew what I am capable of." Then I saw monstrous waves, a fishing boat, people screaming. The wind blowing in my ears and the crashing of the waves became too loud for me to understand the voice. A gigantic wave spilled over the fishing boat, turning it over. And then I woke up to find everything strangely quiet and calm. Too calm. As soon as Aldwyn is asleep, I will tell Nocturne we probably better change course. I don't want to scare the child with speculations about heavy storms.

**based on the song If I was a blackbird by Silly Wizard.