The mirror person... that is amazing.

Page 8 and 9

The writing is more relaxed, Sylvari script without the extra effort put in to make it look formal.

It's strange. Just before arriving here I'd have given anything to no longer be called. To have a reflection again. To return to some sense of normality in my life. But now that my name isn't being called, I feel even more uncertain than ever. Especially in this place.

A place where we cast no shadows, a place where you can fall into the sky and land in a bed of flowers larger than trees, or take a turn and find yourself in the middle of an underwater savana and still be able to breathe. There's no sense of direction to be found here. One place blends with the next without reason or transition. There are no steps or paths to retrace to find where we were.

This is a place where shadows are spirits that fly into the sky as balls of black, battling balls of light until the sky is painted black as a starless night, before the bubbles of white take their positions as stars, or descend to the ground and make plants glow. Then the white returns to the sky some time later. Sometimes the black doesn't win. There's no guarantee what happens.

I wonder why we haven't been noticed. Or are we so faint in our presence that we are as insects are to us, beyond their threshold of notice?

It rains with or without clouds. Thunder is accompanied by splashes of light and colour instead of lightning. In a few select arcane tomes I had read of the positing that there are worlds comprised of a single element. Could this be a world comprised of chaos?

Doesn't matter much. Finding a way back seems more and more impossible. Much less finding one in time. We will run out of food soon. Turns out survival training does not help survive a wilderness you were not trained to be in.

But what manner of training would even help you survive this place?

Flora that looks familiar is almost assuredly not. Fauna may look familiar at a glance but are often creatures of a loose form. What may look like a bird one moment may unfurl butterfly wings and fly in a burst of shadows. A stag may look normal until you realize that it has a face like a human. And in all of them, you can see in their eyes an intellect far beyond those of common fauna. 

Martin once suggested hunting, but I had to point out the truth - even if I could slay one of these creatures, would it even be edible? We just don't know, and I would sooner avoid drawing attention to us here. In this place where we are as insects to beings I cannot fathom despite my knowledge of nature. At least, of the nature back home. We'd best not see ourselves get stepped underfoot.

This stuff is just   !!!

Page 10

The script is in Sylvan with an informal hand, almost with distracted mind with some strokes longer than others, and a few spilled dots of ink.

This place... I could have sworn I heard my name just before we came here
How is it possible for a place I've never been before feel like home?
And yet, this place, a wide open field of flowers with a shining silver cathedral suspended over a misty lake in the distance...
No matter how many times I look at it, it's so familiar, somehow, and I can't make any sense out of this feeling
Keeping a hold of this feeling anyway... I might as well... it's like a sense of belonging, finally finding some, vague sliver of certainty in this chaos of a world

Yet, even as I express having this feeling to him, Martin says he doesn't feel the same way
Of course, I shouldn't expect him to, and we've still our lack of food to worry about
Until we find a proper path back, maybe we'll be able to better understand 'here' by not roaming around so much...

Worried about what to do from here... it's impossible not to be
I've wracked my mind around these domains for as long as we've been traversing them
No pattern to be found, no entrances or exits, just places and unseen paths between
Domains of creatures, realms, so wild and chaotic, it feels like some kind of a dream
But I doubt we've ever seen any of these places in any of our dreams in Audalis
Even though I certainly can't remember every dream I've had, and neither can Martin
Like a puzzle with the pieces thrown out in a storm, how am I supposed to make sense of this?
Looking ever on, and on, searching for a way back that we can't see

Page 11

The script is very untidy Sylvari, as written by a shaking hand. At points it's nearly illegible.

Dear gods. I can never go back. Martin's dead. They keep calling me Windbell.

I need to pull myself together. I need to

If I could stop having my quill stolen while I'm writing that would be a good start. Fireblossom keeps trying to get my attention, by any means necessary. Snowbell has decided my head is comfortable to sit on and is amusing herself with trying to read what I'm writing. Lightbloom is watching me intently, I think with a worried expression, keeps suggesting I eat more. The way he's talking you'd think I was starved, but we only just ran out of food.

Why do I know their names? How can I understand them? How can they understand me?

I just, I can't.

Waterpetal arrived with a message. Someone they call Theanya(?) wants to see me. By their reactions, it's someone very important.

Dear gods, what is happening?

Page 12, 13 and 14

There are no quill markings on the page at all, only ink, generally neatly formed into Sylvari script, but there are clear splatters where emotion overrode the concentration to make formal text.

I can't believe this works. Decades without being able to cast a spell, but now, here, I write with neither tool nor ink. No wonder the sprites were so amused by my writing earlier. It's archaic to where it is completely foreign and unknown to them.

... Where do I even start trying to wrap my head around what has happened? I guess the beginning of when things went bad. We had tried to spread out our food intake as much as we could, make it last. Then we arrived here, in A'nia Starflower's domain.

Windbell's home.

The sprites came to us. They seemed... very enthusiastic about seeing me. Martin, not so much, and he began to suspect me for leading us here. I could not blame him. We stopped here at my suggestion, and he couldn't understand the sprites even if I could, nor could he understand the words I directed at the sprites. He had every reason to be suspicious, and his hunger only added to his temper. I was only able to prevent complete hostilities by telling the sprites and Martin that he was my guest here, and explained he was hungry.

The sprites were confused at the problem, and told me to make some food, like it were the easiest thing to do, and were equally baffled at my confusion on how to do it. They seemed very concerned for me, worried about my health - and what they presumed to be memory loss. Concerned for Windbell anyway - they would not call me by any other name.

Somehow I managed to do it, and a bush sprouted bearing blooms of pastries I had been craving since departing the Sylvari kingdoms. Many of the sprites shared in the food, finding it delightfully foreign to them. I had one piece, and Martin had another. It was exactly as I remembered it, if not better, with a strange sense of nourishment that I cannot recall the like of.

With that done, I asked the sprites about returning him to Sylvari. They replied that was a more complicated matter, but a gate was actually possible right now, and once again gave me an expectant look. I tried, but nothing happened, and Lightbloom shook his head noting how frail I looked to them. Fireblossom opened a gate before our eyes, a sphere like a water droplet folding in on itself and bursting into a luminescant column that opened to somewhere in the Sylvari forest.

Far beyond done with this place, Martin went through with no hesitation. I was just about to follow him when I saw him double over on the other side in pain not four paces from the gate. I saw him collapse, twisting in agony as Fireblossom closed the gate. Seeing that happen to him, I just knew that the same thing would happen to me. I was panicked after that, and at some point Waterpetal had left to tell the A'nia about what had happened. I met with her in this building floating above the lake of mist, something between a castle and a cathedral, beautiful, but eerie. The front doors opened to a large central chamber, with a raised platform like a ballroom stage, columns and stairs to either side leading to places that aren't visible from the outside.

The A'nia... I've no idea how to translate the title. It's loosely somewhere between ruler, dreamer, and... mother?

Like the others, she called me Windbell as well, but where the sprites are creatures no larger than a Cidal, she was taller than me. She seemed serene, floating in place with beautiful wings providing contrast to the stained glass behind her. She welcomeed me back to her domain, her flower field, and expressed her hope that the other sprites, my siblings, were not overbearing with me. With gentle smile she suggested I take some time to myself to rest and recover, directing me to take one of the stairs. I thanked her as I expected I should, and she smiled as I ascended the stairs. I found this bedroom waiting for me. Everything is the right size for me, despite no one else here seeming to be my size.

It looks a bit like my old bedroom. I try not to think about that.

If I think too much, I think that, somehow, it felt as though her smile wasn't entirely gentle. There seemed a hint of cold to it. Maybe it just my nerves meeting such an important being here in a realm... a realm that doesn't seem to have rules, but has rulers nonetheless. And if I think too much...

I think... I think she knows what happened to Windbell.

I'm trying not to think about it.

I decided to youtube some faerie music to have on in the background while I read through this one. It was a good choice.

Charming and eerie as ever, Reralae 

I tend to use this track for fairy music if I want to let my mind wander and imagine fae realms we cannot comprehend

Here's some tentative details I'm thinking of in regards to the fae, now that I've done as much as I already have within the Journal

• The "fae realm" is not quite the right name to call that place - it is a blend of all of the realms of the various A'nia, each with a domain that they preside over
• As noted, "A'nia" has no direct synonym, but loosely speaking corresponds to 'queen', 'dreamer' and even 'mother' in equal measure - this relates to how important the A'nia is to their domain. The domain is their dream, so to speak, a place they design and a place whose inhabitants are born by their thoughts and emotions
• It should be noted that the key difference between a deity and an A'nia is that the A'nia cannot grant spells, nor can they indirectly influence places outside of their dreams, they gain nothing by worship, nor can they give anything to their worshippers from afar, and their dreams collectively make up the fae realm; they don't have their own true outer planes
• Each domain can be vastly different from the next - you can have an A'nia of winter, an A'nia of summer, and really any other kind of possibility. This is a Wyld realm, where nothing can be taken for granted because no one dream dominates their reality
• If I figure out more of their language, their world would have the name that translated to something like 'the realm of dreams'
• This world is where the majority of the magic of Audalis has left to, resulting in a place with an excess of magic - feats otherwise impossible in Audalis are not impossible in the dreams, pending the imagination of the A'nia whose domain the feat is attempted in
• The A'nia are not entirely disconnected from Audalis - the fairy rings are their way of investigating Audalis, sending lesser fae forth to learn of the world beyond their dreams, and perhaps to see if they might return to walk that land once more, or to learn how they might do so
• The A'nia that guards the islands varies, but all are content with dreaming of water rather than land; the mist of that particular location indicates where the boundary between Audalis and their realm is weak
• The fae creatures in the monster manual don't necessarily belong to a single A'nia - just as creativity is shared among works, these creatures are more common because they are in more dreams, known to the A'nia for their greater resilience to Audalis
• Fae creatures in general cannot survive in Audalis for a prolonged period of time; they are magical creatures entering a world devoid of the magic in the environment, and they will deplete their magical essence by persisting
  
  • Certain fae creatures may work around that limitation by creating particular arrangements suitable for their longevity, usually on the 'other side' of highly reflective surfaces, such as high quality gems, lakes or mirrors, and by leeching life or magical energy of other beings
  • Whether a fae creature leaves a body or not in Audalis is best handled on the case by case; I'd rather not stifle the needs of any particular GM's story where fae are concerned
• Similarly, an Audalian that consumes food (not necessarily water, but that's almost a splitting hairs level of detail) of the dreams gets imbued with magical essence, which turns foul and rotten if they leave the dreams and return to Audalis, typically resulting in death

I'm drawing heavily on inspiration where the fae are as beautiful as they can be terrible, benevolent or malevolent by their whim... these thoughts and ideas are subject to change before I write up a proper draft to put forward for the Audalis entries but this is what I have started with

Page 15

This page is written in Sylvan, with an extra curl for fancier looking script.

Young sprites really can be quite distracting, always seeking to make fun with whatever they come across
Or are they even young? Do they have a concept of age? It's so easy to think of them as children, but they could be older than I am
Under the star sprites at night they will rest for a bit, giving in to the tiredness that comes with their boundless-seeming energy, at least until Fireblossom and Lightbloom start competing over a lightshow

A'nia Starflower mostly watches, like a mother content at seeing their children at play, providing the canvas upon which we stand, occasionally treating other sprites and other A'nia
Recalling, perhaps at times, Antaron and the land beyond their own, a land they simultaneously would like to return to, a land they have given up to the peoples of Antaron... is it a land they would like to reclaim?
Even though it hasn't been long, my feelings for Antaron, especially the forests... are they beginning to fade?

Scares me a bit
After all, home should be where I came from, where I want to go, where I want to return
Fever dream as that is now - like any other sprite, I wouldn't survive long if I went back
Even saying all that, it's a strange feeling. I don't think I should feel as though this is more of a home than where I was

Page 16

This page is written in Sylvari, multiple lines having starts and stops with clear hesitation on part of the writer.

Are my dreams... really my own? I keep meeting Windbell in them. I've never met her as a wind sprite, so how do I know what she looks like and recognize her?

It was awkward at first, neither of us really ready to talk to each other. Just idly noticing each other in the dream and keeping our metaphorical distance. Then one night she asked me to play with her, and I found out why I had the name Windbell. Together, we wove wind as one might weave a cloth, though that is a very loose description of what we did. I haven't the right words to describe it. Instead of forming a fabric, it formed music.

The next day, I tried the same motions on a whim, and it worked. The sprites heard and were overjoyed. They were so very happy to listen to my music again. Snowbell in particular was worried I had forgotten, and it wasn't something another sprite could teach me. Even A'nia Starflower seemed joyful that evening. I think that was the first genuinely warm smile she gave me.

I have mixed feelings about it.

Together, we make up a group of performers: Snowbell and I lead the song in duet, a dance of ice and wind - Firebloom and Lightblossom dazzle with displays of fire and light - Waterpetal sets the stage, and enhances the part of every other sprite with rainbow and sparkle

They've been without Windbell for a long time.

When I met Windbell again in dream, I shared with her the memory of how happy A'nia Starflower and the sprites were. She was surprised to learn I had picked up what we did the previous night, and was glad for it, perhaps even relieved.

We shared our apologies. In the end, it seems we both took the other's life, even if she was the mirror sprite.

I don't know what's going on exactly with our connection, if it's even real, or how it happened. Yet, it feels as though... it's growing stronger. As it does, I feel better. Though it's... not without its complications.

... Getting used to the size of a sprite will take some time.

As always!

I'm truly enjoying the read and the way you've been building this part of Audalis!

Fantastic work!

Page 17

The page is littered with diagrams. Perhaps magical, perhaps musical. Perhaps both.

In the margin, hidden in a corner is written When did I stop being Sylvari? 

Page 18

This page has a painting of a white haired, dragonfly winged humanoid doubled over in laughter at another barely visible one enveloped by a large snowball.

Page 19

This page has a painting of a blue haired sprite with a hand outstreched, and multiple droplets of water floating around them, glittering like stars.

Page 20

This page has a painting of a pale, almost transparent figure walking upon a carpet of snow through a flowery field.

Page 21

This page is covered with geometric looking diagrams similar to page 17.

There may have been writing on this page, but it has since been covered.

Page 22

The script is Sylvari, but it is not written in ink. The letters are a vibrant grass green, a substance that defies identification.

Why do I keep this drab book around? It's so plain and boring. Doesn't look like something of mine.
Even the others can't help but laugh. It's like, the one thing I keep carrying around that doesn't belong.

Ah, much better.
Really, A'nia Starflower spoils us. I only asked if she might help me figure out how to make this book less bland, and she takes it in hand and suddenly - bloom!
End result, one beatiful tome of memories for a pretty (I like to think so anyway) wind sprite.

Off we go to A'nia Songstorm's domain. I want to learn more songs, learn to play the bells better. I'm actually a bit nervous.
Never would have imagined meeting A'nia Songstorm again. I can remember Snowbell annoying the storm pixies a long time ago. It was really quite fun.
... Ever feel like you've forgotten something?

Hope you don't get tired of me loving your work so much!

Love this again, Reralae

Love reading these!

I've totally started seeing these pages!

Always excited for the next installment!

Page 23-28

Each of these pages shows a different painting, many of them with annotations written in Sylvan, using the same grass green as before.

One is a portrait of a being that seems vaguely humanoid, clouds obscuring their form like clothing. Bands of black help define the humanoid shape, almost providing an outline to them. All the lines lead from their limbs to their back and then into spiralling wings with dots in seemingly random places - wings of written song.

A'nia Songstorm

Another is a landscape - jagged cliffs overlapping one another into the distance, many with cascading waterfalls, fed by the rain coming from above. On each cliff are stones with holes in them. Music notes have been placed beside each of these stones.

A'nia Songstorm's domain, a boundless orchestra of whistling stones accompanied by the percussion of the rain falling from the dark clouds that support her castle in the sky.

There's a painting of a star-filled sky, broken by a burst of fire shaped in a ring, one side coloured blue and the other side coloured normally, a red haired sprite with hands outstretched on the left, and a white haired sprite with body tilted to one side on the right.

Fireblossom and Lightbloom practising their art in A'nia Duskwing's domain, a domain always dark as night, broken by stars near and far. Looks pretty, but no wind here, so it's a bit uncomfortable for me.

There's a group painting that folds out of the book, five sprites sitting together on a stone rooftop and watching bursts of colour in a night sky. Two with stiff, white hair, one with wings like snowflakes, the other with crystal wings. One with curvy blue hair, with wings like the rainbow on a bubble. One with wild red hair, and black, sooty wings. And the one in the middle of them all, short green hair framing their face, wings like a butterfly's but translucent and white.

We've no name for our group. We don't really need one.

There's another page that unfolds into a large full body image of a woman in a black gown that sparkles like a starry sky. She has large, butterfly-shaped wings that seem to be formed out of glittering flower petals. Her face is framed by long silver hair woven into braids that keep the hair out of her face. Her eyes seem as like galaxies, and her lips are curved into a warm smile.

A'nia Starflower

A note in the margin reads I'm running out of pages. Wonder if I can use the backs of the first pages?

Page 29

This page is a mess of colours. Red, black, green. Some of it ink, some of it not. The Sylvari script is halting and broken, as if the author was not a native speaker of the language.

Why did I write that I died? I obviously didn't die. And the world outside a'niorna is a dead world we can't survive in. At least not without making extensions of a'niorna into that place, behind closed reflections, little pockets of magic that can sustain us. And what's the deal with the name on the front? Mirithiel? Weird way to spell Windbell. And ink? Why would I use something so bland as that?

I write that but I do remember something. A scream. I... did write... I'd never forget it.

No.

It's not me.

I'm not dead!

This book came from outside, right? Well it can go back there. I don't want it. I don't need it. I can get another one. A better one. One that actually has big enough pages to paint the pictures I want to keep. Pictures of my family, my A'nia, our domain and those we visit.

But this book is not mine to throw away, nor ask Fireblossom to burn. I'll return it to A'nia Starflower. She can decide where to put it, or get rid of it.

Page 30

The words written here are black as the night sky, and stars can be seen in the blackness, as though each letter were a window to some distant place, looking out into space. It is not a language of any kind seen on Antaron. There are two notes placed in the book, however. One being a rough translation provided by a cleric of Jusarin. The second being an assertion by that same cleric that their translation cannot be incorrect.

I dream a dream of a world
We dream of knowing the world
That world we left behind
Do you remember the dream we shared?

Crossroads
Our lost children
Your lost children

I found my child again
You will not take my Windbell

Beautiful beautiful end to the Lost's Journals.