Journal of Tristan Winterbloom

First of Winds Season, the 1,240th year of the Second Age.

The past few Seasons have been amazing. Busy, but amazing. First and foremost, I need to…gah, what's the best way to write this? I'll just write it. I'm in love with infatuated with Felicity. My thoughts about her feelings were correct, and despite my lack of knowledge in the court of romance and the language of love, I read the signs correctly. I had to write it down before anything else.

I'll write more about it when we get there. For now, let's start from the beginning. I had arrived at the Citadel of Essence on the island-continent of Yustat. The most prestigious school for essence-weavers across the whole of the Mortal Realm. It turns out, the whole island is the Citadel's properly and grounds. I delivered Shandra as I promised, had Admiral Yokain recruit several essence weavers for the trade fleet, and met with Bertram.

The meeting went about as well as I could have hoped for. There was sorrow, anger, but ultimately Bertram accepted what happened to Father. He called me brother for the first time. Not half-brother…but brother. We talked for a while, and I also met his wife – Rory. A Drakonid woman whose family is part of an order of dragon hunters from the Elemental Realm of Water. The two are seemingly perfect for each other, and I couldn't be happier for them (especially with a child on the way).

After our meeting, Felicity and I had a discussion and confirmed our intent and desire to stay at the Citadel of Essence and enroll as students. It would keep the trade fleet safe, as the assassins would be hunting me, not them, and it ensured I could spend more time with Bertram. We said our goodbyes to the ship, crew, and Obadai who was going to travel with them back toward his homeland.

Enrolling was easy enough, and I was able to leverage my rule over the Fey Realm to do an independent study program. I could audit classes if I chose to but had more access to the archives, and a dedicated staff advisor named Eloise – a Demonkin woman who had been an instructor at the Citadel for four-hundred years. We struck an accord where the Citadel's students could access the Fey Realm once a Season, under heavy supervision by the Realm's residents. I made quite an impact.

Plus, the Citadel was completely safe from those who sought to harm students, which I am now one of. Safe from the assassins as long as I was on Citadel grounds or in the Fey Realm. This will be important to note later.

And once we had our room…I made my move on Felicity. She expressed her affection for me, and I for her, and we made love. It was quite an enjoyable experience, but I'm just happy that I read her intentions correctly and did not ruin our friendship over perceived romantic connection that did not actually exist. I'm fully committed to her, and she to me. The night was…one of the best nights of my life.

I visited an inter-Realm marketplace hosted on Citadel grounds and purchased a whole bunch of trade goods that I then returned to the Fey Realm to plant. We now have all types of trade goods including metals from all types of Realms that are completely foreign and rare.

But I needed new gear and equipment. There were options in the inter-Realm market, but I learned that a part of the Fey Realm under a sub-seal, called The Undermount, held the Gnomes – renowned craftsmen and miners who would fit the bill of what I was looking to have made. Unsealing the Undermount, I learned that an Incursion had taken place and boiled over into war from a over-populated Realm. The Gnomes fought hard, and held the line, but with my dragonslayer spells I was able to drive the Kobold invaders back and The Matriarch (Realm Protector) sealed the rift, ending the threat.

Returning to the Queen's Wood, I saw to the Gnomes settling back in and reviving their temporarily deceased compatriots. Then, they set to work crafting armor and weapons for me. I headed back to the Citadel to acquire spell books to add to a new artificed item called an Omnitome; a text that could hold countless other writings. I also met the Archivist, a strange species named Betty who seemed very interested in my development as an essence-weaver. She even gave some insight as to what happens when someone dies – the Realm Protector of the place they died takes custody of the 'soul' or consciousness if you prefer that term.

Heading back to the Fey Realm, I attended my first Fey Court meeting and acquired grandfather's old gear, because I had my first field trip! I went with Bertram, Rory, Eloise, and a bunch of students to the Elemental Realm of Lightning. I fought, drank the blood of, and used Drain Dragon on one of the beasts native to that domain. Plus, I got to give a short lesson on dragon butchering.

Heading back to the Citadel, I met up with Bertram and Rory, and the four of us (Felicity was almost always constantly beside me) had a lovely meal and some conversation. Then, it was time to practice. I made use of one of the Citadel's study rooms to 'cram' as they called it. Practicing and memorizing a whole bunch of new spells I now have access to. Then, it was back to the Fey Realm to get my new gear and artifice all of it. The Gnomes did excellent work. Top notch, really. After another Fey Court meeting, I chose to unseal the Springthaw Meadows.

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The Unicorns were freed, and after a brief, tense encounter, joined the rest of the Realm once more. I turned Onyx and Midnight into unicorns (the only black ones in the herd, and they are expecting a foal). Then it was back to the Citadel to go with Bertram and Rory to the Wild Realm. A place where you can go 'into the wild' which is sort of like teleportation to a desired person, place, or thing. We hunted down a mind dragon and a water dragon, and I gained the spell types and resistances appropriate to them.

But then we were ambushed. The assassins (I mentioned they would come back up) found us and attacked. We held them off and escaped, riding back to the rift that led to the inter-Realm market on Citadel grounds. I went back to the Fey Realm immediately to recover.

Safe from pursuit, Thallia (Prime Nymph) told me that I needed to preserve the bloodline in the event of my death. She had an…inventive workaround, and thus my…seed is stored inside a vessel in The Matriarch's care. It can only be opened after 100 years of my absence from the Fey Realm, or if my death is confirmed. And then they can use that with a woman of Elven Heritage to make sure the Winterbloom bloodline persists. I'll admit, the idea was a bit off-putting, but it is much preferable to the alternative (fathering a child that I do not want right now, and having them raised while I'm absent).

After that, I went through the Trial of the Sap. A ritual that saw me immersed inside the sap pool at the center of the Queen's Wood. It hurt, and changed me. I'm in the peak possible physical condition my body could achieve, and it is a permanent change. Plus, apparently, my dragonslayer bloodline was fully expressed as well, so now I have a few small, silver-ish scales on parts of my body. It's a neat accentuation to my physique. After practicing a bit, I went to a special event. The death of a Heavenly Realm dragon.

Betty, the Archivist at the Citadel, had learned of and told me about a heaven dragon that was reaching the end of its natural lifespan, and had arranged for me to mercy-kill the creature and end its suffering. Plus, I was able to consume a massive essence crucible, as well as drink the blood, and got rejuvenation as a spell type. Finally, I can heal myself in a pinch without relying on elixirs (thought I still carry around plenty of those). I also met with the Realm Protector of that place and made a deal to do a "partial Graft" of the Heavenly Realm. His Realm would get the ability to grow Aegisium (a rare metal from their Realm), and in exchange the Fey Realm residents would have a higher likelihood of being able to use rejuvenation as a spell type. Plus, this opened up room for further deals in the future.

Afterwards, I went back to the Fey Realm and attended a Court meeting where we established various…departments within the hierarchy. A diplomatic corps, people in charge of the visitors to the Fey Realm during the week it would be open, and more. But we were missing a strong, defensive force – something we would remedy in due time.

I opened the Fourth Vault, and then when I went to meditate I discovered that Zeltana's soul is still within the Fey Realm. It is part of the Realm, not in The Matriarch's care, as she infused herself into it in order to save it from the Plague Realm in eras past. She took to training me inside my inner world, and as long as I am connected to the Fey Realm by both-direction spinning my crucible, I am able to connect to her.

Under her guidance, I went to unseal the Fallthorn Forest. That's where I discovered that the Spriggan, forest shepherds, tree tenders, and warriors, had been diseased by the Plague Realm so long ago. They were all corrupted, and I fought them with my defensive force of fairy dragons and unicorns – with Felicity providing air support using transmutation to make lava fall from above. I finished the encounter, and then set to work re-making the species.

Zeltana walked me through the process, and I was able to draw on my passion for painting in designing them. Funny, that a skill developed because it was "proper" for a noble to be capable of a type of art would end up helping me down the line. I designed the Spriggan and breathed life into them.

Then, the species awoke. I brought them to life by breathing the essence of the Realm into them and bound them to the Fallthorn Forest. Once they awoke, we conversed briefly, and they elected a leader to join the Fey Court. We had our warriors and defensive force. And, all of the primary seals have been dealt with. Only sub-seals remain. But those will have to wait a bit longer.

We had a celebration, and Obadai of all people had used realmwalking to visit. We conversed, caught up, and he told me about what he'd learned of the assassins – they were called the Venomous Rose, and originated in the Demon Realm. Felicity put her "evil genius" cap on and theorized that the Realm Protector of that place – a Demon Lord named Duberceix, who also has the title of "Demon King" thanks to his status as Protector – was likely responsible for the organization's activities. A means to take out and replace rulers that held their right to rule by virtue of their bloodline. An insidious plan that would allow for a de-facto takeover of The Mortal Realm without actually making an Incursion and going to war.

Obadai had some other propositions regarding his empire, which I declined. Too risky to get involved in politics, and frankly I think it will be quite messy. After a few more farewells, I set to preparing for a journey to the Demon Realm. Felicity mastered a Third Order transmutation spell to literally change my body to that of a Demonkin (better than Disguise Form on its own, though I can use that on top of the transmutation to keep myself even more hidden). We prepared, I trained, and the Fey Realm opened up to The Citadel for its week long market and guided-field-trip. The Headmaster brought a ton of dragon blood to trade, and I drank a lot.

Finally, we finished preparations, and we left with some of the crowd to blend in. Me, Felicity, and Eloise. It's time to go to the Demon Realm. I will be traveling under another alias while there - Marius Lestrange. Thankfully, I am fluent in Demon's Tongue, and since the kingdom of Bhant based their society off of their Demonkin ancestors, I should be able to fit in easily enough. I'll need to get established in the capital with Eloise, and then I can start to make a name for myself. Get the attention of Demon Lords, feel out which ones are aligned against their Realm Protector who seek his downfall…and then strike.

Here we go. It's time to finally get revenge- no, not just revenge…vengeance.

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