Storytime: The Heart of Leilani Part 1

Most everyone here knows that The Realm of Kaerwyn is not just a webcomic, it's actually a Role Playing site that is open to anyone that wants to give it a go. (Seriously it's free, no strings, we do it as a hobby).  Because I am an artist, there are a lot of visuals to this tale.  If you are at all interested in the RP you can find info here https://kaerwyn.com/ and https://kaerwyn.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page

Note, that while we play the same characters as the comic in the RP, they are really completely different characters as their backstories and everything had to be altered to work for the comic. So don't consider anything from the comic as canon in the RP or vise versa.  So what I'm about to tell you, and show you, is from a plot we recently ran on the Kaerwyn RP.  (A plot is basically a story that we write as a group of involved players.)

Very recently we ran a plot that resulted in Niixa completely losing her memories, like complete brain wipe.  Just as Endymion was about to give her up for dead, Lorelei reminded some of her friends about an ancient Raekartan artifact she once tried to find, known as the Heart of Leilani.   It supposedly had the power to turn back time.  Lorelei, selfishly, tried to find it when she was younger as a means to turn back her curse and allow her to die finally. She gave up on it when it became "Too much bullshit" for something she wasn't even sure existed.

But Lorelei told Renard and Neek (Niixa's father, who is a regular character on Kaerwyn) about this artifact and they convince her to try to go after it again, for a more noble reason: to save Niixa's life.

Lorelei went digging through her old notes, how she managed to find them is a mystery considering everything she's been through, and everything Kaerwyn has been through (including the town being destroyed twice).

Lorelei is none too shy about commentary in her notes.

All they really knew is that they had to find six clocktowers in six of the oldest cities in the continent of Eros.  Lorelei tracked them down to these towns because they exist on leylines. They're also the oldest towns. So she feels like there's power here directing people to stay in these areas, and thus, they always remain. 

And with a hand drawn map of Western Eros, they left Kaerwyn on an adventure offworld, to the world of Raekarta - the homeworld of Lorelei and Endymion.

Amazingly Lorelei's handwriting matches mine.

They started at the easiest one to reach in Aneda, Albion.  The clocktower was located in a library. The hardest part of this mission was dragging the nerdy Neek away from said library, especially since he was looking up information regarding the Heart of Leilani.  The clock faces east-southeastish.  Unfortunately, they've turned the base of the clock tower into a gift shop and offer tours.  They'll have to sneak around to find any hints of what to do!

A guard blocks their way from entering the clocktower itself, but that's not a problem for a rogue,  a soldier, and a scholar.  Lorelei convinces Neek to keep the guard distracted, which he does by asking annoying tourist questions that the guard stammers trying to answer.  Renard keeps watch for Lorelei and she sneaks inside.  Neek learns that the cornerstone of the clocktower was originally from the remains of the empowered buildings of the Ancients after the Great War.  Renard and Lorelei find it, and rescue the guard from Neek's ever-pressing questioning.  Renard convinces Lorelei to poke it, and when she does, they get a piece of a riddle in glowing text among the smooth gray stone.

"That certainly bodes well." - Lorelei

"Do Not Go On!"  The Tale So Warns, "This Path Knows Only Sorrow."  They all sorta stare at this note in shock and confusion, having no idea what it means, or what the squiggly lines are about. But there's one thing for sure, no fucking rock is gonna tell Lorelei what to do.  They write it down and continue on their journey.

The next stop for them is in the south of Albion, to the large city of Lludein or is it Llundein? Out of everything Lorelei has been accused of, accurate spelling is not it. Either way it's a big damn city in Eros, on all of Raekarta, actually.  For miles and miles and miles, as far as they can see: city.  The streets are crowded, some are filthy, and it's full of all kinds of people - humans and Kaetif.

Lorelei leaves the alley and starts walking towards the palace. "So Llundein is the home o' th' royal family. And their clock is part o' their palace. This place is well guarded. They have a history of anti-monarchy rebels who want to overthrow th' kingdom for a more democratic government or some shit. They've tried to burn down the clock tower many times."

"Well, at least we don't want to overthrow the monarchy, so we have that going for us," says Renard helpfully.

The road to the palace is very large, open, and well maintained. The streets are cobblestone, and the path is lined with trees.  It's actually quite lovely.  The large open yards of the palace seem to be used by regular townspeople as they have picnics, or are studying, or just relaxing.  The palace itself has the royal guard all around it.

The Trio are trying to figure out how to get to the clocktower. If all they have to do is poke the cornerstone, then this should be easy. Should be. But the royal guard is all around, and they do not want tourists, or anyone really, getting that close to the palace.

Lorelei puts on her thinking cap, "Well. Here's what I'm thinkin'.  These guards are worried 'bout rebels. But they also have to deal with annoying tourists, right? And I bet they just shoo off annoying tourists. What if Neek pretends t'be a historian from Theropos who gets a little too close?"

You know a plan is not a good one when Lorelei starts it with "Here's what I'm thinkin'."

They can see the clock tower as they continue on towards the palace. It's built into the palace, but the exterior of the clock is still mostly standing on its own. The face of the clock tower points slightly north of east. They might also notice that the hands are not moving, it is broken.

Lorelei and Neek make a run for the clock's base.  Lorelei instructs Neek to look 'interested'.  Neek tries. His soul dies a little inside, but he tries. Wide-eyed and 'interested.'

As the guards approach and Neek does his best to bullshit them, Lorelei becomes impatient and pokes the cornerstone. Neek, Renard, the guards all stare. They quickly write down the note and the squiggles and run like hell.  The guards seem really annoyed but also have to check out the clocktower to make sure those weird tourists didn't mess it up somehow.

"Although," They Preach, "The Hunter's Trap Is Lined With Streaks of Gold."

As the group studies it, they reach one remarkable conclusion. They have no idea what this means.

And that is the end of Part 1.  I'll try to post Part 2 soon if people liked it.  Note, this is not paywalled, so you can share it with people if you'd like.