The Islands of Houses
Day 1:
The first day of our project to raise an island out of the sea was full of excitement and anticipation. Most of the people I was working with seemed to be new, since I didn’t recognize them, I mostly kept to myself. From what I heard, the Queen and her advisors had spent weeks planning, gathering resources, and coordinating various efforts to pull this off. As we stood at the edge of the ocean, we could feel the energy pulsing through us, the magic building and swelling within our bodies, the leylines in our bodies shaking and heating up.
We began to chant, our voices joining together in a powerful song that rose up and out, carrying our intention with it. In hindsight, the chanting wasn’t necessary, but it fit the mood and someone just started, it basically became a little song near the end. The water in front of us began to churn and roil, and we could feel the land beneath the waves start to shift and move. We continued to chant, our focus never wavering, as the island slowly rose up out of the water, taking shape before our very eyes. This very sight is repeated multiple times on different sections of the coastline as well as deep in the seas, to bring forth new land, from what I heard. The Houses of Shatriel and Uritel being the main focus of this event, but each island is for each House, from what the plans suggest. Though it looks like we have brought up a couple more than planned. Supposed to help acquire space for each House to do more experiments on advancement of magic, though I have heard this was a test more than anything else.
But even as we celebrated our success, of making new land, something that hasn’t occurred in forever, we knew that the real work had only just begun. We still needed to secure the island, to make it habitable, to protect it from the dangers that lurked in the sea. We knew it wouldn't be easy, but we were determined to see it through.
Day 15:
Fifteen days in, and we are making slow but steady progress. We've managed to secure the various islands, setting up powerful magical wards that will keep any unwanted visitors at bay. There were a number of fish debris from the sudden upbringing of this land, which is a shame, they all looked so pretty. We've also started to build structures, using our magic to shape the land and create dwellings that will be able to withstand the harsh conditions of the sea, as well as the magic from within.
But we've also encountered some setbacks. The tidal waves caused by the displacement of water when we raised the island have caused some damage to our early structures on the mainland, and we've had to spend a lot of time repairing and reinforcing them. We’ve even had to go out of our way to redirect huge swaths of water to mostly uninhabited regions to not cause tsunamis in other areas. We've also come under attack from sea creatures, fierce beasts that seem intent on destroying our hard work. It has only been beneficial that most can’t stay on land for long, and we have been keeping them away well enough. It is hard to describe what they are, since they mostly come at night it seems. But we've managed to fend them off, using our various magic to repel them and keep them at bay, the only sad part being we can never obtain a corpse in well enough condition to actually look at. We don’t know how they get past the wards, something to think about for sure.
Day 30:
Thirty days in, and we're starting to feel the weight of the project bearing down on us. It's been a long, grueling month, full of hard work and little rest. It has been nonstop work. Get up at 6am every day, and bed by 10pm, or else we would have very little energy to do as much as we are doing. Much of the more advanced materials and the like has to be shipped in, the thing is we just finished the official docks to actually handle larger ships yesterday. But we can see the progress we're making, and that keeps us going, as well as the high pay and the free housing on the islands which include whichever House we are a part of.
We've managed to build a small community on each of the islands, with little groups of temporary housing and the like. We've been fortunate that members of the House of Uritel can purify the seawater for us to consume, less fortunate that we’ve had to make do with basically fish and various fruits and vegetables that are shipped over. But the attacks from sea creatures continue, and they seem to be getting more aggressive and numerous lately, some have even gotten caught off guard it seems and been injured. The only positive is that the Octonary taught us plenty of self shielding spells for this instance, so injuries are only light.
We've also started to feel the strain on our bodies and minds, the constant use of magic taking a toll. But we know we can't stop now, not when we're so close to our goal, if we stop now, it’ll just be a stain on our House’s names.
Day 60:
Sixty days in, and we're exhausted. The attacks from sea creatures have become nearly constant, and we've had to spend all our time defending ourselves and repairing damage. To the buildings. We’ve even had a few actual deaths. The first time it happened it shook the members of that House, I am just happy it wasn’t where I was. From what I heard, it was mostly quick, because the head was gone. Our progress has slowed to a crawl, and morale seems to be at the most bottom of bottoms.
But then, something amazing happened. The Queen came to visit us. Most people don’t get to see the Queen in person, but we got to see her up close, she even let us shake her hand. We were really worried, though, because the attacks have been near constant, and we couldn’t let anything happen to the Queen. The thing is, she didn’t seem concerned in the slightest. She just continued to smile the most luminescent smile we have ever seen and talk with all of us. There weren't any attacks for the week she was there. It was only after she left that I found out that she had some of the strongest members of the House of Uritel go down into the seas to start destroying many of the sea monsters, just to help us. We’ve already planned a statue on the central island where she first set foot. All hail Queen Ast III.
Day 91:
We woke up this morning to a storm raging on the horizon. I've never seen anything like it. The winds are howling, and the waves are cresting high, threatening to swallow us whole. We quickly made our way to the center island, where we've set up a makeshift shelter to wait out any large storms. It's a good thing we've already built a protective barrier around the islands, the central in particular having the strongest, or else we might be in real trouble. We're huddled together, waiting for the storm to pass. It's going to be a long day.
Day 98:
The storm finally subsided, it was getting bad near the end, we were getting stir-crazy having to be next to each other in proximity for so long. The issue is the island's buildings, they sustained much damage from the storms. The waves were so high that they crashed against the barrier and caused a breach on some islands, the ones hit the worst were the islands for the Houses of Weok and Nyra. They were the islands hit first and took the main part of the storm. We spent the whole day repairing it and reinforcing it, but we know that it's only a matter of time before something like this happens again. As well as the fact there is still so much more to be done. We need to come up with a better solution, and fast.
Day 105:
We've made some progress in figuring out how to prevent another breach. We've decided to add more layers to the barrier, and we're going to start experimenting with different materials to see what works best. We've also set up an early warning system that will alert us if there are any incoming storms, or really any dangers. In theory, we could just knock the storms away, but if we did that all the time, it could cause mayhem with weather movements, plus, the House of Nyra would get annoyed, the lot of them prefer to go with the flow. Anyways though, we're feeling a little more optimistic, but there's still a lot of work to do.
Day 112:
We had our first attack today. A group of random pirates came and tried to raid us. I didn’t know they still existed in these parts, the only thing was they had a somewhat more advanced ship. It didn’t mean much when the ocean opened up and then swallowed the ship whole. We should really thank the House of Shatriel vrajimag, they really saved us a bunch of time. We couldn’t be sure of how they were armed, but it doesn’t matter now. Furthermore, we've set up more defensive measures since then, so that we don’t constantly have to split open the ocean nonstop, that led to a bunch of fun waves, and I believe an angry sea fish god got angry at us. We have only vaguely heard its name before, that being the Sadhrmayr? Not really sure
Day 119:
We're almost there. The islands are almost habitable, well, more so. We've built houses, farms, even cruddy ones with barely any fertility, and even a small marketplace on each one, as well as a special specific place on each island for exclusive magic usage. That last one took the longest, just setting up wards everywhere, so it doesn’t leak out. We're still working on making the islands completely self-sustaining, but we're close. It's hard to believe that just a few months ago, these islands didn't even exist and were just on the bottom of the sea floor. If this is just the first step, I wonder what else we can do. What does one do if they know that one could become powerful enough to make new land? I only hope nothing catastrophic occurs in the future. But still, considering all that, we've come so far, and I'm proud of what we've accomplished. I can't wait to see what the future holds.
Day 140:
The past few weeks have been tough, but we are finally seeing some actual progress. The soil has been enriched, and the first crops have been planted, no small part because of the countless nights of the House of Uritel trying to fix the land. The vegetation is starting to grow, and I can feel a sense of actual accomplishment stirring in my heart, it is weird. The once barren land is now showing signs of life, and I cannot help but feel proud of what we have accomplished so far. Sometime last week was a special day. We woke up to the sound of seagulls chirping and the sight of a beautiful sunrise over the horizon. It was a reminder that there is still beauty in the world, even in the midst of chaos and destruction, that have been wrought into this world. The tidal waves that once threatened to engulf us are now a distant memory, and the islands we created have become our sanctuary. I may just ask to stay in this place.
Day 150:
The people who have chosen to live on the islands are slowly adapting to their new way of life. They only came a week ago, after the government searched around for people willing to come to these places. They have come from all walks of life, some richer than others, of course that isn’t much of a distinction here. It has been humbling to watch them actually work together, building a new community from scratch, with new traditions and the like. I can only imagine what the first year celebration will be like. We have faced many challenges, and we made it pass with the Choslish spirit, and the will of the Eight Goddesses.
Day 170:
The islands are now fully independent from the constant interference of vrajimag, with an economy that is still technically nonexistent, but there steps in the right direction. Plus there are always now small boats along the coast grabbing fish, I know plenty of vrajimag from the House of Shatriel are still staying to help. The once barren land is now liveable, and with time may actually be fertile for more than potatoes, but it is still providing for the needs of the people who call it home. It is hard to believe that just a few months ago, this place was nothing but a barren wasteland, and before that just an open ocean. We have accomplished what many thought was only possible through divine intervention, but here we are, and I cannot help but feel a sense of pride and accomplishment.
Day 180:
Today marks the end of my time here. I have been called back to the mainland to be stationed near the North. We have succeeded in creating a new home for these people, and we have truly left our place here. As I look out over the islands we created, I am filled with a sense of gratitude and wonder, and longing. I know these islands will hold a special place, especially the one I was designated on. I’ll, probably, come back later in life. We have created something truly special, and I know that it will continue to thrive for generations to come.
