Some may already have gotten the hint, but with this post I officially confirm that the Minwu family will be returning.
The journey:
------------------------------
Jie:
The journey:
![[+]](/images/collapse_collapsed.png "[+]")
Spoiler
Despite good intentions in their hearts, the journey hasn't been too fruitfull and kind for the family. To Lyrxi, this journey was about helping both friends back at home and one that had already departed. To Jie, this journey felt like a field trip, with the positive and honorable intention of helping friends back in Ravenna.
The trip was taxing at the start due to the limited supply in food that they were able to take with the ongoing famine. Winter, even outside Ravenna, did not make it any easier for them to gether food and they did not have as frequent opportunities to fish as they tried to keep moving to the next village. Once the finally reached their first stop, they were able to trade a bit for more food supplies for their travels.
They made a few stops by what few towns that were along the way to the destination for the delivery Lyrxi had to make. Arua and the twins had left the journey at some point when they had finally found Xemnes again in one of the first towns they visited after leaving Ravenna, having sadly been delayed but not in trouble.
The farewell was hard on poor Jie as he'd lose two of his best friends for the rest of the journey. Though for them and his favorite aunt, he kept up a smile and a positive attitude. The promise to visit them someday would be one that at the very least Jie would intend to keep, though knowing his parents it was hardly a possibility that they wouldn't.
What civilization they found along the way were unfortunately mostly smaller villages or towns that didn't have much excess supplies to spare for Ravenna, nor the people to allow a trade route to be opened and traders or caravans to be safely escorted to the troubled city. Other villages didn't have the kindest of settlers or leadership, either swift to deny help or understanding while some tried to use the situation with offers and implication of exploitation, something Lyrxi for one did not appreciate too much either.
Jie however, found it hard to realize and understand why people weren't... well... nice. The idea of people not wanting to help, let alone shun the request to begin with or try and suggest bad things for his friends in return for help were building up to be a rough awakening of the happy and cheerful times he imagined and played out so many days back at home.
After a while, they reached the area described be Lady Sidian's map, where they had to depend on its guidance to reach their destination.
They had to resort to finding the landmarks the map pointed out for them, which would lead them to the small secluded village where Lady Sidian's brother would reside. The trail was unfortunately more than an animal trail along the forest, though luckily they were found by one of the hunters of the village before they got lost. The hunter finally led them on a straight path to the village.
While treated neutrally at first, the revelation of who exactly Lyrxi was as mentioned by previous letters and the importance of the delivery he had for the brother, lightened the mood quite a bit.
The village was more of a mixture of Mesalians and Xitians who worked together and helped each other out. The people had varying jobs and skills, diverse enough to have the village be self-sustaining without much reliance on anywhere outside their safely hidden boundaries when it came to surviving.
Jie had been a bit more mopey and less enthusiastic since his realization of how bad things were and how bad some people were on top of it. This only made the meeting with the Xitians in the village all the more needed for the youngster as it helped to easily divert his attention to happily playing and chatting away in Xitian language to the younger villagers, a luxury nor consolation he could resort on during the travels.
The family spent a brief time at the village, before they had to continue their trip again, as Ravenna was still in trouble. Sadly enough this village would have been too far to sent supplies, help or make a trade route with Ravenna. They were at least offered some help for their own journey, to lessen the burden and make it easier for them to last with better supplies for the return trip.
Before they could properly leave the village though, they heard rumors from sailors and travelers of issues that had arisen at a certain old city, in regards to something happening to the crew of one of the few vessels that had frequented its docks and as a result now also had abandoned the city entirely. Despite the lack of details or clarity, due to the inaccuracies of it being told in the form of varied rumors, it was still alarming news for the family as they knew well enough that this only had made the situation for Ravenna worse.
Lady Sidian's brother had ensured that they would have plenty of supplies to let them continue their journey and eventually reach Ravenna safely again.
Jie was slightly reluctant to leave some of his newly made friends behind already, but even his young mind realized that his other friends back at home were most likely still waiting as well, giving him enough resolve to bear with the goodbyes.
Thanks to directions they had gotten in the village, they managed to reach a port town to speed up their return trip. At this port, they caught word of a town that was connected relatively 'close' to Ravenna by sea that had suddenly increased considerably in population. With the time that had passed and the trouble Ravenna was in from the start, it was a strong sign... but not confirmed. Though they hardly had traveled far in the forbidden lands as the towns they visited were roughly between Ravenna and the town where Lady Sidian's brother resided, the town was the next destination they'd stop by before they would be returning to Ravenna.
The family would be in for a (pleasant?) surprise on their arrival.
The trip was taxing at the start due to the limited supply in food that they were able to take with the ongoing famine. Winter, even outside Ravenna, did not make it any easier for them to gether food and they did not have as frequent opportunities to fish as they tried to keep moving to the next village. Once the finally reached their first stop, they were able to trade a bit for more food supplies for their travels.
They made a few stops by what few towns that were along the way to the destination for the delivery Lyrxi had to make. Arua and the twins had left the journey at some point when they had finally found Xemnes again in one of the first towns they visited after leaving Ravenna, having sadly been delayed but not in trouble.
The farewell was hard on poor Jie as he'd lose two of his best friends for the rest of the journey. Though for them and his favorite aunt, he kept up a smile and a positive attitude. The promise to visit them someday would be one that at the very least Jie would intend to keep, though knowing his parents it was hardly a possibility that they wouldn't.
What civilization they found along the way were unfortunately mostly smaller villages or towns that didn't have much excess supplies to spare for Ravenna, nor the people to allow a trade route to be opened and traders or caravans to be safely escorted to the troubled city. Other villages didn't have the kindest of settlers or leadership, either swift to deny help or understanding while some tried to use the situation with offers and implication of exploitation, something Lyrxi for one did not appreciate too much either.
Jie however, found it hard to realize and understand why people weren't... well... nice. The idea of people not wanting to help, let alone shun the request to begin with or try and suggest bad things for his friends in return for help were building up to be a rough awakening of the happy and cheerful times he imagined and played out so many days back at home.
After a while, they reached the area described be Lady Sidian's map, where they had to depend on its guidance to reach their destination.
They had to resort to finding the landmarks the map pointed out for them, which would lead them to the small secluded village where Lady Sidian's brother would reside. The trail was unfortunately more than an animal trail along the forest, though luckily they were found by one of the hunters of the village before they got lost. The hunter finally led them on a straight path to the village.
While treated neutrally at first, the revelation of who exactly Lyrxi was as mentioned by previous letters and the importance of the delivery he had for the brother, lightened the mood quite a bit.
The village was more of a mixture of Mesalians and Xitians who worked together and helped each other out. The people had varying jobs and skills, diverse enough to have the village be self-sustaining without much reliance on anywhere outside their safely hidden boundaries when it came to surviving.
Jie had been a bit more mopey and less enthusiastic since his realization of how bad things were and how bad some people were on top of it. This only made the meeting with the Xitians in the village all the more needed for the youngster as it helped to easily divert his attention to happily playing and chatting away in Xitian language to the younger villagers, a luxury nor consolation he could resort on during the travels.
The family spent a brief time at the village, before they had to continue their trip again, as Ravenna was still in trouble. Sadly enough this village would have been too far to sent supplies, help or make a trade route with Ravenna. They were at least offered some help for their own journey, to lessen the burden and make it easier for them to last with better supplies for the return trip.
Before they could properly leave the village though, they heard rumors from sailors and travelers of issues that had arisen at a certain old city, in regards to something happening to the crew of one of the few vessels that had frequented its docks and as a result now also had abandoned the city entirely. Despite the lack of details or clarity, due to the inaccuracies of it being told in the form of varied rumors, it was still alarming news for the family as they knew well enough that this only had made the situation for Ravenna worse.
Lady Sidian's brother had ensured that they would have plenty of supplies to let them continue their journey and eventually reach Ravenna safely again.
Jie was slightly reluctant to leave some of his newly made friends behind already, but even his young mind realized that his other friends back at home were most likely still waiting as well, giving him enough resolve to bear with the goodbyes.
Thanks to directions they had gotten in the village, they managed to reach a port town to speed up their return trip. At this port, they caught word of a town that was connected relatively 'close' to Ravenna by sea that had suddenly increased considerably in population. With the time that had passed and the trouble Ravenna was in from the start, it was a strong sign... but not confirmed. Though they hardly had traveled far in the forbidden lands as the towns they visited were roughly between Ravenna and the town where Lady Sidian's brother resided, the town was the next destination they'd stop by before they would be returning to Ravenna.
The family would be in for a (pleasant?) surprise on their arrival.
Jie:
Details:
Name: Jie Minwu-Jeweler
Gender: Male
Race: Mesalian
Age: 9
Birthday: 23rd
Appearance
Eye Color:
Mantis Green
Hair Color:
Black
Hair Style:
Middle-length and kept loose.
Body Type:
Child-like, has been getting stronger from near daily training, even if he is still young, and most likely outmatches in strength and speed when compared to normal children of his age.
Changes to Description after the journey:
The long journey has been tough, but still has slightly honed his little body as a result, keeping him fit for a child and as a result his endurance has been strengthened a bit more than before.
Traits:
Positive:
-Cheerful and bright.
-Eager student.
-Loves making friends.
-Doesn't shy away from people.
-Optimistic but has gained some realization in that not everything is happiness and hugs, even with people.
Neutral:
-Very energetic and curious.
-Tends to bond or cling to a small extent to people he likes.
-Eagerly shows off gained or trained skills, such as other languages.
Negative:
-Has no experience, let alone interest, in combat involving weaponry. Sticks to his training, just like his father.
-His hugging and sometimes overly friendly personalty deter or annoy some people.
-Takes after his father in being unable to commit or focus equally on everyone in a group conversation.
Effects from the journey:
Personality:
Poor little Jie got more than a few rough wake-up calls of the dealing and situation in the outside world, especially so during visits to less than inviting towns or the people in charge. Jie gained more clarity in the value of trust and how not everyone is a good person, or is capable of being nor becoming one. The experience also invoked his helpful side a bit more than before, ironically tempering or at least lessening his overly cheerful and hugging mannerisms into having a bit more thought behind them now.
Jie is still a young tyke though, so some of his childish tendencies will still have persevered and will most likely remain till he is a bit more grown up.
Skill-related:
He still kept up his training, maintaining his strong little body in the progress while changes for watching his father cook were a bit less prevalent due to the journey. He made sure to use a lot of his Xitian speech when meeting with the village where Lady Sidian's brother resided and he did so with glee.
Items/Equipment at the end of the journey:
Jie:
-His own pouch~
-An Ender Pearl as keepsake.
-'Bandages', used for modest protection while training.
Name: Jie Minwu-Jeweler
Gender: Male
Race: Mesalian
Age: 9
Birthday: 23rd
Appearance
Eye Color:
Mantis Green
Hair Color:
Black
Hair Style:
Middle-length and kept loose.
Body Type:
Child-like, has been getting stronger from near daily training, even if he is still young, and most likely outmatches in strength and speed when compared to normal children of his age.
Changes to Description after the journey:
The long journey has been tough, but still has slightly honed his little body as a result, keeping him fit for a child and as a result his endurance has been strengthened a bit more than before.
Traits:
Positive:
-Cheerful and bright.
-Eager student.
-Loves making friends.
-Doesn't shy away from people.
-Optimistic but has gained some realization in that not everything is happiness and hugs, even with people.
Neutral:
-Very energetic and curious.
-Tends to bond or cling to a small extent to people he likes.
-Eagerly shows off gained or trained skills, such as other languages.
Negative:
-Has no experience, let alone interest, in combat involving weaponry. Sticks to his training, just like his father.
-His hugging and sometimes overly friendly personalty deter or annoy some people.
-Takes after his father in being unable to commit or focus equally on everyone in a group conversation.
Effects from the journey:
Personality:
Poor little Jie got more than a few rough wake-up calls of the dealing and situation in the outside world, especially so during visits to less than inviting towns or the people in charge. Jie gained more clarity in the value of trust and how not everyone is a good person, or is capable of being nor becoming one. The experience also invoked his helpful side a bit more than before, ironically tempering or at least lessening his overly cheerful and hugging mannerisms into having a bit more thought behind them now.
Jie is still a young tyke though, so some of his childish tendencies will still have persevered and will most likely remain till he is a bit more grown up.
Skill-related:
He still kept up his training, maintaining his strong little body in the progress while changes for watching his father cook were a bit less prevalent due to the journey. He made sure to use a lot of his Xitian speech when meeting with the village where Lady Sidian's brother resided and he did so with glee.
Items/Equipment at the end of the journey:
Jie:
-His own pouch~
-An Ender Pearl as keepsake.
-'Bandages', used for modest protection while training.