Foreword:
This story is based on my experience playing Arcane Odyssey. Obviously not entirely 100% accurate to the in-game story and lore, but perhaps a fun story, regardless. There may be adjustments made for the sake of storytelling.
This is Chapter 1 of the Astral Odyssey series.
Chapter 2 - Ronin
Chapter 3 - Anomaly
Chapter 4 - Gratitude
Content Warnings: Blood, Violence, Death, mentions of Torture
Bronze Sea - Redwake - Red Fin Inn
“First things first- I’m not entirely certain where I should begin, or why I’m even writing this. But let me just preface this by saying that I’ve found myself thrust into a situation I have little knowledge or understanding of. I feel like I’ve just woken up from the longest, deepest nap of my entire life.”
“Everything seems dream-like, surreal, hazy and distant, and yet very, very painfully clear at times. The events of A few hours ago yesterday, apparently, have proven to me that I’m not just some ordinary person, at least not as far as I can tell.”
“Why, exactly, am I writing this down? I’m not entirely certain- whether this is to remind me of what I was doing, or simply because I need a way to articulate and record my feelings. Or possibly, I’m afraid that I may lose my way memory again. Barring that, perhaps someday I’ll be somebody of note, and these notes will remind me of all that I’ve been through, assuming something terrible doesn’t happen to me.”
“To begin, my name is Matt Starsoul. I am a young man, roughly eighteen or nineteen years of age. Evidently, I am some sort of magic user- a man called Morden, someone who was is evidently my friend -told me as such. I have no memory of him, or of his our mutual friend Tucker, and the horrors that we’d escaped. Evidently, some group had taken us prisoner at some prior point in time, experimenting on us, making us do horrible things to one another, and the others… This was where when I learned that I was a wizard.”
“Tucker Morden suggested to me that I take one of the rowboats on the island and row for a place nearby called Redwake. Said something about rejoining civilization potentially helping with my memory loss. I suppose, in a way, he may have been right, if only because I remembered things.”
“But it wasn’t something related to my past- or was it? At this point I’m still reeling from what I’ve discovered that I’m capable of.”
“Just thinking writing about it is making me jittery. The adrenaline, the emotions and focus… Earlier, when I talked wrote about what happened, how life seems dream-like, except for moments of painful clarity?”
“I had just arrived in Redwake, after I rowed my boat away from that stormy island. Even having returned to the dock, where the bloodstains from my arrival had been scrubbed away by some of the townsfolk, it’s still stormy on that island.”
“As for my arrival in Redwake, I had arrived, still soaked from the rainstorm, and I pulled my rowboat up to the pier. There was a woman hiding under the ramp up to the dock- she seemed terrified.”
“Her name was Estrid. Evidently, while the rest of the Redwake Warriors were out, a group of bandits known as the Jaw Pirates had come into town and were ransacking the place. I don’t know what came over me- a sensation of indignance? Rage? Injustice? Something came over me. I asked if she had any weapons, and she pointed me to a chest on the edge of the dock.”
“Inside was an old, one-handed sword. Picking it up, I felt like I knew what I was doing, even though I wasn’t sure if I’d ever wielded such a weapon before.”
“In hindsight, what I did was incredibly dumb foolish. And yet…”
“Standing there, my clothes ragged and soaked, I did not look a thing like any sort of warrior or champion. But at the same time, I wasn’t going to let them get away with what they were doing. My innate sense of right justice did not want to allow it.”
“One of the Jaw Pirates turned to regard me. He scoffed at my appearance, wondering if I was really going to stand against him.”
“The next thing I knew, I had run him through, watched the life flicker and fade from his eyes, and tossed him aside, my new sword stained crimson.”
“I have no idea where I learned to fight- in my prior life, perhaps? What was I, before I came here? I do not know, for certain, but all I remember was cutting down the Jaw Pirates left and right. I was a force of nature, some sort of energy surging within me. I focused this energy, pulled it from myself and pushed it out…”
“And it emerged as a bolt of blue colored light, striking the last pirate with enough force to send them sprawling across the deck. They fell down, and didn’t get up.”
“The sound of cheering in the background seemed distant, hazy, almost as if I was hearing it from underwater.”
“The next thing I knew, I woke up in a bed in an unfamiliar place. It took me a moment to get my bearings, but I came to with two notes and a plate of food. After I had routed the last of the Jaw Pirates, and the determination was made that it was safe to come out, the citizens of Redwake came out and cheered- I had saved them. But I had no memory of saving them, as my body, weakened from hunger and lack of sleep and likely the whole ordeal that I’d been through prior decided that now was a good time to turn off.”
“Estrid got the shipwright, Elgfrothi, to help me into the inn. Evidently, she was the proprietor proprietress. The tailor, Geirlaug, provided me with a spare set of clothes, and Estrid brought me some fruit. What I thought was a restful few hours of sleep proved to be almost an entire day’s worth of rest.”
“The one wound that I took, a graze to my upper arm, was bandaged. I foolishly decided to take off the bandage only to discover that my wound was almost completely healed already.”
“I’ve spent a day getting my bearings in Redwake. Estrid told me to go see Chief Alfarin, who was out with the Redwake Warriors when the pirates attacked. He thanked me personally for intervening on behalf of the people of Redwake. He told me of something that has been troubling him and his people as of late- the waters around The Jaws, a shallow sea of towering, teeth-like mountains where Redwake is built, has become strange as of late.”
“The fish are dying, ships are degrading at an unprecedented rate, and they’re concerned that the entire region will become uninhabitable.”
“They’ve also told me where the remainder of the Jaw Pirates are hiding out- just to the north of here is an island where they’ve built their encampment.”
“It looks to me as though I’ve got some work to do. I may not remember who I am, yet, but I’ve already learned more about myself, regardless.”
-Matt Starsoul
