Riyana
Operations
Administrator
Professional
Governor
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Event Coordinator
UNLEASHED
Campaign Patron
It is to my great regret that I have withdrawn from the Vesper election.
I am, as ever, committed to Vesper, but a disturbing discovery this morning has forced me to re-prioritize. I went to cast my vote this morning and everything seemed normal:
From there I went down the road to check the auction house... and found this:
A sign had been stuck to the auction house door... with a cutlass of all things! I'm sure I needn't say who my primary suspect is. The sign read:
"This city is mine... and I have your daughter. I'll be in touch."
Reading these words, it was as if the ice cold fingers of death itself clenched my heart. My three children mean the world to me. I lost their father, Victor (for whom our son Victor II is named), many years ago, and I couldn't bear the thought of ever losing one of our children.
As I have two daughters and the note was not specific, I was uncertain which one was under threat. I did know where to immediately find one, though. I traveled to the Empath Abbey in Yew, where my eldest daughter Elaine, uncertain of the path her life should take, has been meditating with the monks there.
I found her not in the Abbey itself, but in the Ye Olde Winery, which the monks maintain. I hugged her and she seemed confused and a bit embarrassed, but humored me anyway. Save for the occasional threat of orcs, she told me that all had been quiet in Yew of late.
I asked her about her younger sister Willow.
I told Elaine to be careful and let me know immediately if she heard from her sister then hurried to my son Victor II's home, conveniently not far from the Abbey. (He appeared to be taking his gubernatorial win-by-default to his head, as he was lounging in a replica of Lord British's throne.) I asked him if he'd seen or heard from Willow.
Sometimes I think the girls and I may have spoiled little Victor II, the baby of the trio, just a bit. But I digress...
Moonglow was indeed a reasonable place to look for Willow. Though I'd raised all three of them in our old cabin in the woods between Vesper and Cove, they'd chosen their own affiliations as adults. Victor II stayed near home, pledging allegiance to the city of Minoc. Elaine had felt that the capital city of Britain was the appropriate place for her loyalty, being both the seat of all Britannian government and but a short boat ride from our home near Cove. Willow, however, had traveled across the world to the city of Moonglow to study magic and fallen in love with the city.
Before I went to Moonglow, though, I had to check at home. Willow shares the second floor of our Zento home with my wayward young ward Riyana, and she can often be found there studying... or keeping a watchful eye on her roommate.
But there was no sign of her, nor any sign of a struggle. Nothing but Willow's usual haphazard piles of books and arcanery.
So I proceeded to Moonglow. The bank is always the obvious place to start, so I checked there:
But no one was there but a few bankers and city employees.
On the way to the Lycaeum I checked near the telescope and even spoke with a citizen in the small house next to it, but there was no sign of Willow having been there:
So I headed on to the Lycaeum. Willow had studied there in the past and often visited, and had even lectured a time or two! But there was no sign of her in the libraries:
The classroom was empty:
And the dreary student barracks beneath the Lycaeum were deserted:
But coming out of the barracks through the subterranean study area, I peeked around a bookshelf and to my great surprise I found:
Blood! A splatter of blood across the books on one of the shelves. It wasn't fresh, but it wasn't terribly old either... no more than a few hours would be my guess. I very carefully took one of the bloodstained volumes from the shelf for closer inspection.
It was, interestingly, a copy of Corgul's Handbook On The Undead. Concerned that the culprits would come back to clean up the scene, I carefully wrapped it in some bandages I had handy so that I could take it back to Vesper for further investigation.
In the meantime, as neither I nor my two other children have had any contact with Willow and I've been unable to locate her, I can only assume that the note on the auction house door was genuine. Someone has taken my daughter! And if this blood is, as I suspect, hers... there's no telling what they've done to her!
What little clues I have lead me to suspect the involvement of current Vesper Governor (and suspected pirate) Holly Bloodhand-- the note said "This city is mine", was attached with a cutlass (Bloodhand's favorite weapon), and the book I found is a Corgul book (and Bloodhand often claims Corgul to be her uncle). However I have no solid proof at this time.
Therefore, I have withdrawn my candidacy for the position of Vesper governor. I can only hope that my withdrawal will prompt the responsible parties to release my daughter, or, if Bloodhand is indeed responsible, that she wins the election and will therefore have no further reason to keep Willow imprisoned or bring her further harm.
Rather than campaigning I shall search for my daughter. If you see or hear anything that might help me find her please let me know immediately.
I am, as ever, committed to Vesper, but a disturbing discovery this morning has forced me to re-prioritize. I went to cast my vote this morning and everything seemed normal:

From there I went down the road to check the auction house... and found this:

A sign had been stuck to the auction house door... with a cutlass of all things! I'm sure I needn't say who my primary suspect is. The sign read:

"This city is mine... and I have your daughter. I'll be in touch."
Reading these words, it was as if the ice cold fingers of death itself clenched my heart. My three children mean the world to me. I lost their father, Victor (for whom our son Victor II is named), many years ago, and I couldn't bear the thought of ever losing one of our children.
As I have two daughters and the note was not specific, I was uncertain which one was under threat. I did know where to immediately find one, though. I traveled to the Empath Abbey in Yew, where my eldest daughter Elaine, uncertain of the path her life should take, has been meditating with the monks there.
I found her not in the Abbey itself, but in the Ye Olde Winery, which the monks maintain. I hugged her and she seemed confused and a bit embarrassed, but humored me anyway. Save for the occasional threat of orcs, she told me that all had been quiet in Yew of late.
I asked her about her younger sister Willow.

I told Elaine to be careful and let me know immediately if she heard from her sister then hurried to my son Victor II's home, conveniently not far from the Abbey. (He appeared to be taking his gubernatorial win-by-default to his head, as he was lounging in a replica of Lord British's throne.) I asked him if he'd seen or heard from Willow.

Sometimes I think the girls and I may have spoiled little Victor II, the baby of the trio, just a bit. But I digress...
Moonglow was indeed a reasonable place to look for Willow. Though I'd raised all three of them in our old cabin in the woods between Vesper and Cove, they'd chosen their own affiliations as adults. Victor II stayed near home, pledging allegiance to the city of Minoc. Elaine had felt that the capital city of Britain was the appropriate place for her loyalty, being both the seat of all Britannian government and but a short boat ride from our home near Cove. Willow, however, had traveled across the world to the city of Moonglow to study magic and fallen in love with the city.
Before I went to Moonglow, though, I had to check at home. Willow shares the second floor of our Zento home with my wayward young ward Riyana, and she can often be found there studying... or keeping a watchful eye on her roommate.
But there was no sign of her, nor any sign of a struggle. Nothing but Willow's usual haphazard piles of books and arcanery.

So I proceeded to Moonglow. The bank is always the obvious place to start, so I checked there:

But no one was there but a few bankers and city employees.
On the way to the Lycaeum I checked near the telescope and even spoke with a citizen in the small house next to it, but there was no sign of Willow having been there:

So I headed on to the Lycaeum. Willow had studied there in the past and often visited, and had even lectured a time or two! But there was no sign of her in the libraries:


The classroom was empty:

And the dreary student barracks beneath the Lycaeum were deserted:

But coming out of the barracks through the subterranean study area, I peeked around a bookshelf and to my great surprise I found:

Blood! A splatter of blood across the books on one of the shelves. It wasn't fresh, but it wasn't terribly old either... no more than a few hours would be my guess. I very carefully took one of the bloodstained volumes from the shelf for closer inspection.

It was, interestingly, a copy of Corgul's Handbook On The Undead. Concerned that the culprits would come back to clean up the scene, I carefully wrapped it in some bandages I had handy so that I could take it back to Vesper for further investigation.
In the meantime, as neither I nor my two other children have had any contact with Willow and I've been unable to locate her, I can only assume that the note on the auction house door was genuine. Someone has taken my daughter! And if this blood is, as I suspect, hers... there's no telling what they've done to her!
What little clues I have lead me to suspect the involvement of current Vesper Governor (and suspected pirate) Holly Bloodhand-- the note said "This city is mine", was attached with a cutlass (Bloodhand's favorite weapon), and the book I found is a Corgul book (and Bloodhand often claims Corgul to be her uncle). However I have no solid proof at this time.
Therefore, I have withdrawn my candidacy for the position of Vesper governor. I can only hope that my withdrawal will prompt the responsible parties to release my daughter, or, if Bloodhand is indeed responsible, that she wins the election and will therefore have no further reason to keep Willow imprisoned or bring her further harm.
Rather than campaigning I shall search for my daughter. If you see or hear anything that might help me find her please let me know immediately.

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