Lunaire Chronicles - Nivaesi

by jimjamboree

Summary:

Retired chronicler-bard hears of a peaceful, thriving drow kingdom far to the east, beyond the Sea of Fallen Stars, and travels there to study it.

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His magic globe spun and danced, the image within flashing from upside-down castles to bustling marketplaces under the glow of luminescent mushrooms and faerie fire. In those visions, drow went about their lives as normal as any day on the surface. I saw a glimpse of a hearty stew served from a diatryma-drawn cart, and another of a young drow apprentice laughing with a dwarven smith as they wiped soot and grime from their faces. Such warm little mundane happenings that one would find anywhere, and yet a phenomena to my eyes.

It was a place that cultivated music in Astarin’s heart and inspired him to sing. A home.

Notes:

This is mostly done as a side-thing to help me worldbuild a drow kingdom and culture for my future bigger projects ; w ;

I grew up watching silly old xianxia shows with bad CGI, VFX and overly dramatic stories. Part of me wants really badly to explore a xianxia-inspired twist on drow while also keeping the subterranean, spiders, sunless world themes among other things. The Underdark levels of Baldur's Gate 3 were really pretty too, and it made me wonder: what if there is a haven in the Underdark that's mostly safe (at least within the haven's territory)? And also I just really want an excuse to constantly write and draw flowing, silken hanfu for drow characters.

Maybe a standard disclaimer: unsurprisingly I'm a big fan of the Legend of Drizzt series. I'm still in the process of reading The Way of the Drow trilogy, and reeling from some revelations in Relentless, so maybe some of these things I'm playing with here isn't very new, but I just want to have a bit of fun myself.

Please enjoy nonetheless and if you have any thoughts, I'd love to hear them ; w ;

Chapter 1: Foreword

My sincerest greetings to you. 

I am Lunaire, retired adventurer and—at the time of penning this message—chronicler. 

That is to say, I travel the realms and record what I can of stories, be it people, places or tales uttered by those people or places. Perhaps one might still consider me an adventurer of sorts as well, though my prize is knowledge above the thrills of the journey itself.

While much of the Sword Coast, and indeed our fair realm of Faerûn, has been documented satisfactorily, I seek more. We know a great deal about Waterdeep and Baldur’s Gate, such grand cities with intrigue and drama aplenty, where tales spill out of every cobblestone and every breath of their denizens. I’m certain many of my colleagues will no doubt continue to write about them for many years to come. 

However, I wish to commit to memory, as ink takes to a page, the stories one might not ever hear in their lifetime.

Who has ever heard of the small, seaside town of Port Greene? Who has ever seen a forest that moves itself over the land under the silver light of Selûne? These are inconsequential tales, perhaps. They do not shake our world, they do not draw the attention of our gods and their proxy struggles against each other, and they do not concern themselves with the convoluted machinations of powerful individuals spread across millennia of scheming.

These are chronicles of fleeting things. I would like you to remember them with me, if I may be so bold as to request such a weighty duty from a stranger. I must assume that you are somewhat willing to share this—well, certainly not a burden, but it can scarcely be considered a gift either—if you have made it thus far into my inane rambling.

Should you wish to partake in these chronicles and perhaps even place them in the back of your mind where other sleeping memories lie, I appreciate your attention and hope that my recollections will be enough to feed your curiosity.

We have never met, dear stranger, but may we forever be driven by the same passion and thirst for knowledge.

 

- Lunaire