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Sunday, April 16, 2023

Episode 3: The Great Divide

 After running through the night, the companions come to an abandoned house. Weary and exhausted, they stop for the night. Po calls out Kensaya for being reckless and continuing to take on Allaya even after they'd retrieved the Blue Jewel. Kensaya snipes back, saying that perhaps if Po believed in himself more they could have taken her down as a group.

Po also tries to ameliorate Mayu's troubles, but Mayu's despondency couldn't be cleared by the young Dai Li member. Taqqiq converses with Chona, trying to learn more about her reasons for running from the daofei, learning that her master (an anthropologist/archaeologist) was studying various spirit sites and was killed by daofei looking for his notes.

Mayu has a dream that seems ominous, given his supposed and yet unknown destiny.

After resting, the group begins to set out. They are met by Enji, a wandering monk of the Earth Kingdom (a non-bender carrying a metal staff). He mentions he is simply on a pilgrimage to holy places in the Kingdom. The group asks him about the White Raven Shrine, and he mentions he has heard of it but doesn't know specifically where it is. He knows the White Raven spirit that once nested there was a guardian of the memories of the inhabitants of the area, however, and is interested in it. He offers to go with them, though, if that is their destination.

The group travels northward to the Great Divide, the massive canyon splitting the Earth Kingdom. Somewhere on the northern edge of the canyon, by the sea, is said to be the White Raven Shrine. Po helps earthbend stairs to aid the group's descent, although their passing is imperfectly erased. 

Mayu attempts to lead the group through the twisting passages of the canyons, but doesn't do so efficiently. Kensaya and Taqqiq manage to study the water-erosion strata and passages that perhaps lead more northward, and aid Mayu's pioneering, and the group leaves markers to remember their way.

As night passes, the group builds camp and earthbends to the cliff-face. Taqqiq and Chona continue bonding over their pasts from which they've turned away and their paths forward, and Kensaya turns a deaf ear to Chona trying to understand his role in this group.

In the morning, Kensaya mentions he brought eggs into the canyon for cooking, which immediately alerts the ravenous canyon crawlers who hunt within the Great Divide. The group picks up and runs from the crawlers, getting lost again. Mayu and Po begin to place markers and get the group back on track again.

Eventually, the companions come to a door in the rock face. "The Birds of Paradise dwell within" is carved in script on the arch-stones around the solid-rock door. Po earthbends the door, and the arch-stones turn and change so that script reads, "The Blue Eyes sees the Path."

Using the Blue Jewel, the group sees the illuminated path through the mountain tunnel, which eventually ends at a precipice, looking over some hundred feet of water toward a tall rocky spire, where a temple enclave can be seen. Taqqiq recalls a memory of his master training him -- Rahi, an earthbender, who helped Taqqiq shape his waterbending with the structured, walled philosophy of an earthbender. 

Taqqiq forges a small flotilla of ice, which carries the group forward. Chona falls off, but is saved by Taqqiq encasing her in frozen water and carrying her along.

The companions arrive at the other side, climbing stone steps past small air-nomad houses and gates toward the large shrine at the pinnacle. At the main gate the group is met by a young waterbender, who welcomes them to the White Raven Shrine.

Tuesday, April 4, 2023

Episode 2: Fanning the Flames

After exiting the East Zaiyu Cave with Chona, the companions encounter Allaya and firebenders of the Punctured Boar bandit gang. Kensaya relives the memory of Allaya's attack on his own gang, the Mischief Dragons, where she was looking for a Blue Jewel that the Dragons stole. She killed the Mischief Dragons' leader and Kensaya's mentor, Bushin, in the process, before Kensaya escaped with the Blue Jewel.

 Now, Allaya wants Kensaya to turn over the Jewel. After failed attempts to mask their escape from Taqqiq and Kensaya, Allaya shakes down Kensaya and takes the Jewel. The group flees back into the cavern with Chona's help.

Traveling beneath the river and exiting on the western banks in the forested hills, the companions and Chona discuss their options. Chona knows the approximate location of a spirit-shrine where this Blue Jewel is used in ritual with the White Raven spirit. She fled after her own master was killed after sharing this information with her. Chona says the White Raven Shrine is located to the north, where the great divide meets the southern shore of the inner sea there. The daofei after her now have the Blue Jewel for the shrine, but still need its location.

The companions decide that, now armed with the knowledge of the shrine, that they could try to get the Jewel back from Allaya and flee so that the daofei have none of the clues.

The gang moves northward and Mayu manages to find an abandoned encampment, now long derelict, where the group decides to set up their ambush. As twilight approaches, Allaya and a small contingent of her firebenders approach. But they were also joined by Wu Xan, the earthbending daofei who escaped the other day!

The group then splits into action: Kensaya, with Chona's help, egg on Allaya, while Mayu distracts her firebenders. Po waits to ensnare Allaya so that they can take the Blue Jewel from her. Taqqiq, seeing Wu Xan, goes off to intercept him on the other side of the encampment.

The groups exchange blows, with Po managing to trap Allaya's feet in earth, while Chona and Kensaya manage to find and take the Jewel. Kensaya, driven by his anger, continues to try and take on his nemesis, but soon the groups realize they're outmatched. They begin to retreat.Taqqiq, looking to keep Wu Xan on point, continues the fight recklessly, until Allaya mentions to Wu Xan that the companions now have the Jewel and girl.

Learning that Wu Xan and Allaya are working together, Taqqiq realizes he's outmatched and joins his comrades, fleeing into the nighttime forest.