Rabban approached me. "Where can I exchange gold coins or jewelry for local money?" he asked, his voice gruff.
"I can exchange it for you."
He nodded and handed over ten gold coins. The coins felt heavy in my hand. I took out the scales I had bought in China and weighed them carefully...
2024-06-30 16:02:41 +0000 UTC View PostName: John Rue
Age: 20
Familiar: Rue Level 8
Display Class: Healer Level 11
Healer Spells:
Heal Muscle - 22
Diagnose - 10
Stop Bleeding - 3
Heal Bone - 9
Control Bl...
2024-06-29 16:30:43 +0000 UTC View PostAfter what felt like an eternity of driving, the visibility finally improved. I sighed in relief and asked Mahya to take over the wheel. Pulling over on the side of the road, we switched places, and I could finally focus on the blinking dot.
You have learned the ski...
2024-06-29 16:07:08 +0000 UTC View Post
Mahya and I decided to "milk" Vegas, but we did it differently this time. An internet search revealed that the smallest country in the world after the Vatican and Monaco is Nauru in Micronesia, known for its phosphate mining operations. With only about 10,000 inhabitants, the chance of anyone dis...
2024-06-28 00:02:09 +0000 UTC View Post
Wind, rage through the dunes,
Swirl the sands in wilder tunes
Fire, burn bright and high,
Paint your passion 'cross the sky
Water, surge and flow free,
Carry whispers to the sea
Earth, tremble and quake,
Ancient slumber now awake
Elements, heed my song
Join y...
Call of the Sand Storm, heed my call
Stir the sands, rise and fall
Desert dunes, begin to sway
Let the storm have its way
Oh mana, ancient and free
Listen to this bard's plea
Gather now, with mystic might
Bring the sandstorm to life tonight
Grains of go...
After yet another failed attempt to connect to the earth, I had to concede defeat and search for another solution. With a heavy sigh, I sat in the middle of the yard for over half an hour, racking my brain for new ideas. Finally, a spark of inspiration struck me, and I knew what to do. However, I...
2024-06-27 13:57:34 +0000 UTC View PostI never thought I'd be excited about getting shot at, but here I was, grinning like an idiot as I hefted the small paintball gun in my hands. The Nevada desert stretched out around us, a sea of sand and scrub brush with the glittering oasis of Las Vegas shimmering in the distance. The weapon felt...
2024-06-26 17:13:41 +0000 UTC View PostOn our second evening back in Vegas, Mahya made a grave tactical error: She sat with Rue to watch the movie Max. Rue discovered that the dog's role was to guard and patrol. From that moment on, he decided he was our watchdog and walked around the house's perimeter, sniffing the air and b...
2024-06-26 10:20:52 +0000 UTC View PostWhen we returned to Vegas, I didn't want to book a hotel suite, so I found a private bungalow on the south end of Las Vegas through Airbnb.
Over dinner, a question lingered in my mind, refusing to be ignored. I turned to Sonak, my curiosity evident in my eyes despite the tension between us....
2024-06-25 11:55:34 +0000 UTC View PostAfter I finished engraving the first mask, I called Al over.
"Please spray some potions on me; I want to check that the mask works."
To be safe, I sat down on the couch. Al took out a small vial and splashed some potions on me. I was perfectly fine, but Rue, sitting on the couch watch...
2024-06-24 12:47:10 +0000 UTC View Post
After the soldiers left and Mahya and I stopped laughing, Sonak went to his room and disappeared until the next day when Al came back. I thought he felt embarrassed and didn't want to show his face. Mahya opened all the windows, and I cast Clean on the room again and again until we got rid of all...
2024-06-23 13:55:15 +0000 UTC View PostThe next day, I did another search online, looking for a place where they could have transferred the Traveler. Area 51 stood out from the start, but it was such a cliché that I couldn't believe they'd move him there. I kept looking and found more bases in Nevada, but they were much further away,...
2024-06-22 18:52:39 +0000 UTC View PostAfter Sonak stormed out, I turned to the others and commented with a raised eyebrow, "Even for a redhead, that was excessive."
Al's brow furrowed in confusion as he tilted his head slightly. "What is the correlation between his hair color and his actions?" he asked, looking genuinely puzzle...
2024-06-22 12:57:37 +0000 UTC View PostWhen I woke up, my throat felt raw and scratchy, as if someone had rubbed it raw. I experienced a piercing pang in my throat with every cough, and swallowing became rough and uncomfortable. It didn't feel like the onset of illness, but a persistent irritation that lingered despite my efforts to s...
2024-06-21 19:59:18 +0000 UTC View PostWe landed very close to Sloan but outside the settlement limits. It was so small that I didn’t even know if we could call it a settlement; it was tiny. Luckily, it was predawn, and everybody was asleep. After deflating and folding the balloon in the basket, Mahya could store it without witnesse...
2024-06-21 10:08:32 +0000 UTC View PostIn the morning, Mahya and I first sat at the computer to find a place where we could take off in the balloon. Quickly, we discovered we were optimists.
Our first challenge was finding a suitable take-off location. The dense urban environment of SF and specific aviation restrictions made it ...
2024-06-20 08:36:37 +0000 UTC View PostAuthors Note
Maybe I just started publishing a story recently, but I have been writing all my life. from short and children's stories for fun, to articles for my blog.
This chapter was the hardest one for me to write in all my history. From writing the lyrics and figu...
2024-06-19 10:22:52 +0000 UTC View Post
Through the misty morning, I set my sail,
On a path unknown, where dreams prevail.
The ocean's whisper, a call so deep,
In its gentle embrace, my heart finds peace.
Chorus:
Waves of wanderlust, they carry me,
To distant shores, where I'm meant to be.
With every sto...
On the first day of sailing from Hawaii, we had perfect conditions: smooth sea, good wind in the right direction, but not too strong, and excellent visibility. Al took the helm, so I sat on the back deck, took out my guitar, and began composing the songs I had written in the poetry workshop. I wa...
2024-06-18 21:47:44 +0000 UTC View Post
From Shanghai's bustling quay, we embark on the northern sway,
Where the compass needle twirls, our sails unfurl to play.
Past the isles of Japan, where cherry blossoms lay,
A whispering sea breeze carries us, on the Pacific's grand ballet.
The isles of Japan fade, a memory profoun...
2024-06-18 11:41:43 +0000 UTC View Post
In the vast blue expanse where the sky meets the sea,
Lies a trail of islands, ancient and free.
From the shores of Nippon to the atolls so grand,
A seafarer's passage through time's shifting sand.
Marianas' guardians of the deep ocean floor,
Ca...
After two pleasant days of sailing in perfect wind conditions, we sailed into Kewalo Basin Harbor, between downtown Honolulu and Waikiki. After a brief consultation, we decided to book a hotel instead of sleeping on the boat. We all needed solid ground beneath our feet, especially Rue.
We b...
2024-06-17 15:10:11 +0000 UTC View Post
Surrounded by sea and sky,
Sun above, trade winds high,
In this vastness, here am I,
Amidst the waves, alone, I lie.
Once, this place was home to me,
Now, a visitor, roaming free,
Exploring lands, yet roots won't see,
Wandering wide, my destiny.
The ocean was much nicer and cooperative during the next two days of the voyage. I finally met the trade winds the articles on the internet promised me, but they were gentle enough that they didn't make big waves. I had a problem with the waves, but I'm sure Rue thanked the Guiding Spirits daily ...
2024-06-16 21:18:34 +0000 UTC View Post
