Emmen Feng Backstory

General Setting Info:

Region - Arethusa
Continent - Xaefora
Travelled from Aewrush (separate continent) to Xaefora in search of… something.
Aewrush and Xaefora only known habitable continents

History of Aewrush:
- Continent became gradually overpopulated, higher ups decided we needed to venture out
(200 years ago)
- Set sail and found Xaefora, landing at Arethusa.
- Found signs of pre-existing civilisation, but no people.
- Now a regular ferry from Aewrush to Xaefora, carrying more settlers, who land in
Bayleighza (capital of Arethusa)
- Settlers unsuccessful in other continents

Bayleighza:
- On a river
- City divided into districts, which get less populated the further from the river you get
- At the centre of everything is a BIG ASS cherry blossom tree. Blossom never falls, just
changes colour with the seasons.

What I know:
- I’ve been around Bayleighza for a couple of years since migrating.
- Making my money guiding new people off the boats and providing excorts etc.
- A lot of the halfling population of bayleighza left. Don’t know where they went, but it
was in the general direction of East.
- Migrants from Aewrush got off the boat where they thought there would be people,
but there was no one there. Just ruins a similar size to Bayleighza.
- No documentation about the ruined city found, been called Moonblight by the
settlers.
- Hexpool: Remains of a tower and a functioning lighthouse on a peninsula to the east
of Bayleighza – not much going on in the town otherwise.
o Lots of Dwarves in the town here.
o In charge of running the lighthouse
o Named after the whirlpool at the bottom of the cliff – not a big deal, but
there are rumours that the whirlpool would occasionally get larger, which
was considered a bad omen by some.
- Peakridge Farm: The largest farm/windmill in the region is Northwest of Bayleighza
o Best paying and most secure jobs are on this farm, but jobs very hard to get
here
o Owned by one of the original settler families of Arethusa, and jobs are often
handed down generationally.
Emmen Feng boarded the boat to Arethusa alone and afraid, but not unwilling. The death of
both of his parents the year beforehand meant that he had nothing left to be in Aewrush
for, and Xaefora and Arethusa offered a new start. He kept to himself on the boat, not trying
to make friends, not trying anything other than not to be sick. This was by far the longest
journey he’d ever taken on a boat, and the only one on open water.
Emmen was glad to feel dry land under his feet again, weeks later. The voyage had been a
gruelling one, and not everyone on his boat made it from one shore to the other. He’d never
forget the grey faces of the dead thrown overboard, fading slowly into the empty blue jaws
of the vast, untameable ocean. Nor would he forget the screams of the children, left
suddenly and violently alone on a boat full of strangers, headed for a place that, as far as
they knew, didn’t exist.
It took a year for Emmen to fully recover his health after the voyage, the limited food and
physically demanding lifestyle having taken its toll on his constitution. In this year, he
returned to what he knew best: wilderness. Able to sustain himself with little effort, Emmen
recovered well, and came back stronger than before the voyage. He ventured from his little
homestead into Bayleighza and the terror of civilisation, with little intention other than to
see what would happen. Quickly, Emmen realised he couldn’t achieve much in Bayleighza
without a little coin in his pocket. Luckily, he found a multitude of people willing to pay him
for a multitude of things. Thanks to his heritage and appearance, Emmen found himself
somewhat frequently embroiled in unpleasant situations with unpleasant people. The
fourth of fifth time he came away with blood on his knuckles and shirt, he decided this line
of work was not for him. Though he was now furnished with enough gold to set himself up
in a tavern for a few days, and appeal to some more discerning clientele. Emmen had
something that a lot of the new denizens of Bayleighza did not – he knew the wilder places
of the world, and how to navigate them. Thus, the second year of Emmen’s new life in
Arethusa was defined largely by the eclectic variety of people he escorted and guided
through the woods, hills, and grasslands around Bayleighza.
Early on in his career as a wilderness guide, Emmen met a bombastic, caring, powerful
Dwarf named Sen, who almost certainly did not need Emmen’s protection. By the end of
their trip, Emmen suspected Sen just wanted the company, as the old Dwarf did not shut up
the entire time for more than a minute or two. In particular, Sen would talk for hours upon
hours about his greatest hobby, beekeeping.
Sen hired Emmen many more times over the course of the year, and they developed a
friendship of sorts over this time together. Eventually, Emmen set up his own beehive under
Sen’s careful instruction, and Emmen quickly found himself with a great respect and care for
the bees he fostered.