Kay's Journal
From Atlantic Roleplay Wiki
Title: Kay's Journal
Author: Kay Velve'Niar
---a weathered book, 300 years old and preserved well, there are some dried water spots on various pages, and it is a little bit musty---
I do not know where to start my tale.. should I begin it with my emergence from the underdark? Or shall I begin it at the beginning, as many humans are wont to do? Since I no longer reside with my brethren, I shall do it the way I have done things for the last 200 years, the human way.
I was a commoner in the underground city of Streea Niar. The name of the town comes from the river that runs through our huge cavern. It is known to be highly deadly. I can think of noone who has ever either sipped from it or swum{correct human dialect?} that has survived the night afterward.
I have always had a gift with talking to the beasts of the underground regions. From a young age, they discovereed my talent, and decided to put me to immediate use, training our riding lizards, and feeding the spiders that we worshipped.
As I grew older, towards my 200th year, I began to be unsatisifed with my life. I was angry that fate had played such a cruel joke on me, making me profitable for others, but not for myself. I tried to raise a new breed of lizard, with a tougher skin, so it could fight with it's rider in battle, but I was discovered and given a severe punishment. I was forced to feed the driders in a nearby enclosure. Rather deadly duty, yet I believe I was too profitable for them to risk losing, so they removed this task from me.
I settled into a quiet, obedient, subservient position, as all drow males do, for the next 80 years. And one day, they wanted to try to bring a new type of animal into the undergrounds, for us to ride and cultivate. I was to go with them, being the only one capable of communicating with animals. It was a long journey to the surface world, it took us 4 weeks, and we lost 2 drow to hook terrors.
At last, we reached the surface, and shielded our eyes from the fierce fire of the sun. What a horrible world to live in, I thought. How do the creatures survive here in this light, I wondered. We used some magical items to shield our eyes from the orb's rays, and set out upon the strange land.
The animal we were looking for I had never seen before, only one of us had, in fact. His name was Belkin. He led us to where he had seen them on a prior raid. When we arrived, it was just as he had said. There were a dozen or so of the animals, milling about eating the green vegetation in the ground.
I took note of what they ate, mentally. I would be the one caring for them underground. I couldn't help but stare in wonder at their colors.. bright reds and oranges and yellows, like fire! One of them chanced to see us.. and began to approach. Of course, that was better than we hoped for, or so we thought. if they all approached us, we wouldn't have to chase them down. The animal moved closer, and I could see it more clearly. It was a bit like a cross between what humans call a horse and a dragon. I did not know then that it was called a kirin, that knowledge would have saved most of us...
The animal approaching us was strangely determined in its gait. We were approving of it's confidence, thinking it to be an excellent war animal. But it began to chant as it came closer still. To me, this was a wonder.. what animal had I ever previously seen that could chant? But the foul fire that consumed one of our team soon alerted us of the creature's intentions. It began to fight, as well. While it proceeded to bash our party, It all the while hurled vile spells at us. Now, when I say us, mind you realize that I am no warrior, and I was not included in the fray.
I stayed to the sidelines, taking notes about the creature and watching the battle. When this creature had killed all of our warriors, save for myself, it came to me... sniffing. it seemed curious, yet unafraid. it was then I felt its presence in my mind, feeling to the corners of my brain with its thoughts. It scoured me, searching for something, I knew not what at that time. But it did not attack me. I figured I was lucky, and decided not to tempt fate. I backed off, to the cave we had emerged from.
Over the course of the next few weeks, I stayed there, studying the kirins. I found my eyes were growing used to some of the light, though it still hurt a bit. I had become attached to that first kirin, and I felt we had bonded.
I made my decision to never go back underground in those days of discovery. I decided to forge ahead with my life.