Estimated reading time: 20 minutes

Session played at: 2021-08-31

Published at: 2021-09-18

For the setting I'll go with my homebrew world centered around the city of Ozhara. The city itself is located on a hilly area, surrounded by a riverfork and a gargantuan ravine. Ozhara is one of the most important centers of the Azhir Empire, they supply the empire with blood ink harvested from fish that is local to the region. Blood ink plays an important part in both cultural and magical practices.

I didn't have a strong opinion on this at the beginning. Do I want my character to physically exists in the world during the Journey or just creep around as a ghost?
After a few seconds of constant indecision, I chose a corporeal form, dressed as an Ozharan noble. Since I was unsure where the Journey would take me, being a member of nobility was a plus, since only nobility and a few other chosen can enter the Ruby District. It is the city's inner circle with the Tower in the middle and the walls around it.
This lead me to my first world-building tangent…

Now that we know how proper rich people dress, let's see who exactly this Traveller of mine is going to be. My first obvious thought was to go with Amazhi izh'Nayin. He is a well renowned author who already wrote his first volume about the city, titled Guide to Ozhara. This Journey could serve as material for the second volume. But then I asked Mythic, the Oracle spoke, truth was heard and it was crystal clear that the person going on this Journey is not Amazhi.

After rolling some dice, a young female gnome emerged. Her name is RimitNo family names yet.
I am not ready to go down the rabbit hole
of worldbuilding gnome family names 😅. She lives in Šorn, a mostly dwarf inhabited city a couple of days to the east. She is currently on a trip, visiting her relatives. Rimit considers herself a budding journalist, historian, writer and poet, so I decided to give her a connection to Amazhi. They know each other, most likely have already met too and she considers Amazhi her frenemy. It is mostly due to the rivalry she feels towards him, originating from her well-concealed impostor syndrome.

Confession time: I rolled a 6, but at the end I stopped the Journey at 2 waypoints. 😅

Travel
The journey starts from the Commons district of Ozhara. It is bustling as always, since most guilds and shops are located here. Artists and entertainers perform on the streets and market squares. The trip to the Statue would take quite a while through the rocky hills by foot, so Rimit decides to rent some sort of an animal companion for the day that can double as a mount. She doesn't want anything flashy, so she settles with a donkey for the Travel. Apparently, the trader she got it from drove a real hard bargainI failed the narrative wealth roll. The donkey nearly cost as much as an older, cheaper horse would have.

Today is a nice sunny day, but as Rimit sets her gaze upon the horizon towards the direction of Šorn, she sees a menacing sand storm approaching. Slowly, but nevertheless steadily. I better make haste to avoid that storm - she thinks to herself.

The travel was uneventful for the most part, Parsnip took the terrain pretty well. Apart from some dried weeds and bushes sprinkled along the rocky path and the vast amounts of golden brown grassfields covering the rolling hills, there wasn't much more to look at. Not that it wasn't beautiful and serene on its own way. As they veered off the rocky path, the tickling of long grass blades gently reminded her not to get lost in her thoughts for too long.

Arrival
As she approaches the statue, she realizes just how grand this monument really is. Towering above her, seemingly capable of piercing the firmament and able to scrape the ring in the sky. The statue depicts an Azhir soldier holding a tall rectangular shield in front of him and a sword high up, in a triumphant fashion. She climbs the stairs to make it onto the foundation of the statue that could easily rival the floorspace of a lavish mansion. The armor, helmet and shield is painted with the very ink this area is so famous for.

Hmmm, people say that in the old days, way back, when Ozhara was founded, this place used to be an important military encampment for the Empire. A watch tower located where the river splits into two, this area was perfect for defense and to oversee any unauthorized incoming ships before they could reach the city. However… - she pauses mid-thought - this whole place was leveled by a huge earthquake.

That very same earthquake also caused the ravine to expand further, resulting in the drainage of the northern river branch. This monumental statue was built after the Aqueducts were finally constructed. Located not far from here, the Aqueducts artificially bridge the gap and restore water flow to the branch and to Ozhara. It is indeed a marvel of engineering to successfully raise such a structure.

Exploration ~ 3 aspects

It is common knowledge, - she spins up another thread of thought - the tower that stood here was just as tall, if not taller, than the statue now. It was the first line of defense for the city.

There are stories of a large fireCandle being lit every nightCity at night at the top of the tower, acting as a beaconLightbulb. It is yet unknown how, but records mention of a system that could detect shipsSpy victory passing the waters and when triggered, it released a spray of alcohol mixed with blood ink into the fire. This caused the fire to burst out like a volcano with deep red flames. The fiery tentacles lashing out into the sunless sky alerted the whole encampment in no time. I find it strange that blood ink is not used for thisSomething unexpected nowadays. - she wonders.

It is needless to say, all hope was lostFalse hope for the infiltrators to proceed further unnoticed. Most likely, they met their ancestorsAcceptance ☠️ after drowning in the river rapidsFear.

Speaking of demise and drowning…I find it curiosOut of the norm that the earthquake caused the tower to crumble and fallMan flying, drowning person 🌊☠️ right into the river, causing great casualties. The Empire employed the best architects, Gnome engineers and Dwarwen master masonsGnome/Dwarf miner. I might be overseeing something for I am no expert on these areas, but shouldn't the Empire have been able to ensureCarelessness that the tower withstands the forces of nature? Very peculiar…Somewhat seems like it was in someone's interest to be rid of the tower. Could it have been sabotaged??

HushHaste thoughts, hush! 😰 - Rimit realizes it is not the best idea to conjure up conspiration theoriesInstability concerning the almighty Azhir Empire - This isn't getting me anywhere, only into trouble. Thank the gods no-one is reading my thoughts right now. 😓

The wind slowly starts to pick up. The air is foreboding the coming storm. Rimit decides to make her way back to the city. As she takes a final look back at the statue from the distance, she spots a flock of swallows seeking shelter behind the unmoving figure's shield.

Ahh, how clever. The shield. Literally protectingSomething unexpected them from the weather and predators.
Though I wonder where they nest exactly?
Are there holes behind the shield or secret passages maybe?
Were it not for this weather, I would have missed the sight of these birds. 🐦😌

Wish you were here

Travel
Rimit hops back onto Parsnip's back and heads towards the same way as they came. She notices her steed acting weird as they get to the rockier parts. He puts his hoof on the stone, stares at it and steps back. Tries the other hoof…same result. Looks like he dislikes climbing rocky terrain uphill.

As they make their way, they soon catch up with the southern branch of the river. Rimit realizes just how much wilder the river current gets as it advances closer to the ravine, before it all falls down into nothingness. Surely, one of the best natural defences a city could beg for. A huge ravine on one side and two crazy rapids taking you right into THAT VERY SAME huge ravine!

Arrival
They follow along the river flow (from a safe distance) when suddenly a huge school of fish erupts from the foams of the rapids. Some of them as large as pigs. Despite their sizes, they all effortlessly make huge leaps out of the water. Their scales glisten as they make contact with the sunrays. It doesn't take long for Rimit to recognize these creatures, Ozhara's signature animals and natural resources, the bloodfish.

Exploration ~ 1 aspect

As far as I know, these fishes can be found practically anywhere, however this region is one of the few special places that they deliberately seek out once they laid their eggs. As for egg laying, they simply do not care where they leave their offsprings: deep seas? shallows? marshlands?Swamp monster… it doesn't matter to them. After spawning, they set out to one of those destinations to which somehow they are attracted to. The Ozharan ravine being one of those.

They gather into huge groupsAbundance and go on their final migration without taking the slightest break to rest. It has been recorded on many occasions that they actually turn to cannibalismRuthless, take bites off of each other, feed on the weaker onesOppose Competition to sustain themselves.

…But for what?Strong emotion
Beware, nihilistic breakdown ahead 🤯 😄
To break free of their shacklesHandcuffs that bind them to the water and make a final jump into the dark abyssConsumption by divine forces? Is this why they continuously jump out of the water too? To prepare for the grand display at the end?
Maybe I'm giving these fishes way too much credit. Trying to make them make sense. Most likely they just follow some primitive instincts without ever having a proper thought about it.

Funny though. Unbeknownst to them, the huge man-made fishnets are at the ready. Hanging in the depths of the waterfalls, waiting for themSuspicious person
hugging an unsuspecting person to jump willingly. They make it all this far to freely offer their bloods to Ozhara and the Azhir Empire. To be used as raw material for the creation of an alluring red ink. And once they are fully drained, they finish off on someone's plate in slices.

Wish you were here

Going home

Out of the 2, it was the statue and especially the scene with the flock of swallows. I loved the idea of nature taking back its territory and birds making use of the protection and height advantage of an artificial, man-made structure.

I had to cut back on the number of Waypoints, because I wanted to finish the session in one sittingThat nasty storm tho. The Aqueducts would have been an obvious Waypoint to visit, for they are in the vicinity of the statue.

As far as Rimit is concerned, I'm pretty sure she'd like to explore the Great Ravine some day. It is rumored to have huge caverns in its side and hidden entrances from Ozhara's Undercity too. Though they are hard to find, unless you know the right people. Anyways…she is bad at making deals and is already half broke after renting Parsnip for a day. I'm not yet sure where she would get the funding for a whole adventuring party, since she might need the protection there.
After all, all sorts of creatures lurk behind the stalagmites in the shadows. 👻👻👻 #SPOOPY

I like that Journey provides you with structure that guides you through the entirety of the game. Sometimes I feel that without proper 'planning', you are left on your own during a world-building session. The possibilities are endless, yet you are left wondering 'what exactly should I really do?'.

Journey is really lightweight, you can get started with it pretty easily, just read the relevant sections when you get there. What I might do in the future tho is write up a 1 page summary/flowchart, so I can jump into it even faster since I'm already familiar with the 'rules' of the game.

I liked the fairly open-ended nature of 'Arrivals'. I felt that I could freestyle world-build whatever I felt like and once I had my fun with it, I could return back to the more structured 'Aspects' part of the Journey.

I was especially happy that I could incorporate my own trusty toolkit of oracles/idea generation tools and they worked perfectly in tandem with the 'Aspects' prompts from the book. I found that Journey is pretty easy to tweak and adjust to my liking.

Looking forward to future sessions, even if these APs take an eternity to write up. 😄

Session played at: 2021-08-31

Published at: 2021-09-18