Adventurers, Cecil has been writing letters for you about his journey into the Epic Phoenix realms. We have transferred them into our realm to share with you. Here is the first one!
Intrepid Adventurers,
Hail and Hello!
It has taken me a little while to find the trick of it, but I’m finally able to send messages into your realm. I have the most excellent news to share!
Thanks to your help I’ve been able to open the Lunar Portal. It required the use of some very precise instruments and a rare Lunar Gem for resonance. These were all provided by your generous support. I am now inside the Lunar Realm and writing to you from our encampment here.
The Moon Phoenix, Phoebe, is here with me and serving as my trusty guide into this realm.
I should start by telling you how we met!
In my last letter, I explained that Phoebe found me when I was sleeping on the mountaintop under a full moon. But I didn’t get to explain why!
Phoebe was looking for evidence of the nightmares invading the phoenix hatchery. The nightmares have been encroaching on all the phoenix realms and disrupting their habitats. Phoebe is hoping to convince the Phoenix King to rally the Phoenix Lords to join forces against the nightmare threat. Proof that the hatchlings were under siege would help her cause – and ours.
I had hoped to appeal to the protective nature of the phoenixes, but having a royal decree would help with recruitment immensely!
Fortunately, I had documented all the nightmare sightings in our realm. So we just needed to travel to see the Phoenix King in the Lunar Realm to begin our quest.
It was difficult to research the Lunar Realm before my journey. The legends are quite fanciful and often contradictory. Some say it is a world without air to breathe. Others say the entire realm is made of cheese! Thankfully Phoebe was able to dispel those particular myths.
Still, even after hearing Phoebe recount stories of her home, the landscape is quite unexpected. It is always night in the Lunar Realm. The only light comes from a brilliant aurora that stretches across the sky.
The soil is grey where you can see it and jagged grey mountains loom on the horizon. At the highest peak is the Phoenix King’s castle. Most of the land below is covered by fields of mushrooms in many varieties. The mushrooms are eaten by countless flocks of Lunar sheep.
(I say countless, for when I tried to count them all I quickly found myself asleep under a mushroom! Phoebe warned me that I mustn’t do that unless we’re about to stop for the night.)
The Lunar Realm is home to many Phoenixes: the Ghost Phoenix, the Magma Phoenix, and the Galaxy Phoenix. Phoebe explained that they serve in the Phoenix Court advising the king. She is quite knowledgeable about these things and quite an asset to my journey!
As far as the Phoenix King, he seems to be a mysterious figure not referenced in any of my tomes. I suspect he does not leave his realm often and has possibly never been sighted.
Phoebe suggested we bring my research to each member of the Phoenix Court before approaching the king, so that’s what we are going to do.
The first we hope to encounter is Glitter, the Galaxy Phoenix. I expect we will get along splendidly, for Glitter’s nest is in the mountains at the top of a giant library! It is there that Glitter and their predecessors recorded the stories of the stars.
I am powerfully curious to see these phoenix records firsthand. Are they recorded in books? Magic scrolls? Or perhaps another method I have yet to imagine. It’s all so thrilling!
I’m almost too excited to sleep but I’ve walked very far today and my bed roll is calling. Your rations and supplies have been a great comfort to me in these strange environs. In big and small ways I find myself endlessly grateful for your support as I carry out this quest.
