Urhu spent a few moments sailing through the air, getting a feel of how the recently created vessel worked and looking around to see if anything had changed, it had not, it was still the same formless endless ocean and she was wishing something would happen. She would get her wish soon.
First, however, she took flight with her boat upward, searching for the celestial siblings she wanted to spy on, she was having trouble finding them, ironically, her siblings would make sure she found them when a sudden light flashed across the entire world, including into Urhu’s eyes.
It would take a few moments for the confusion and blindness to go away, but that did not stop a navigator such as Urhu from continuing her path forward, and soon she would be at a safe distance above Heliopolis, the small ship taking a dark colour to hide it, making it hard to spot unless a deity decided to focus on its general area at random. It seemed like they had built some sort of light generating device, and confirming her fears, they left towards what she could deduce was Asceal's spheres, in direct opposition to this Furnace.
She decided to keep spying on the first furnace, until, and she had to double check this, some sort of giant boulder left The Great Dark towards Heliopolis. Here she was being subtle while her sister just decided to throw bloody mountains at others. If she did not know the context she would have disliked what Melantha had done, but it was true Asceal was trying to banish all of her influence from this world, what was left to the goddess? Once the balance has been restored though, and Urhu would make sure it was, the wanderer would not be so supportive of weaponized mountain throwing with the purpose of extinguishing all light from the world.
She moved away from the area of Heliopolis wanting to leave the whole giant rock business behind, it seemed, however, that was not meant to be, as she would see a massive boulder falling down and crashing against Galbar, causing a huge explosion. What was it with these upper realm gods and throwing stones around? The goddess wondered. Nevertheless, too curious to not want to inspect the newly formed islands, Urhu left her spying quest for a moment and ordered Nyeothay Tag to go back into the realm of Galbar. In moments she was down to the sea level.
"Bah, too fast. I could barely enjoy the atmosphere entry." she complained, before looking around. The island was too young to be interesting, even if had a peculiar shape, the steaming sands still hot from the impact had yet to sculpted by age into striking landscapes.
What was interesting, however, was the ball of metal at the very centre of the archipelago, Urhu had no idea of what it was made of, but she wanted some. Without the tools to extract it, she had to will her boat to dive down into the water and search for any residues on the sea floor. There were some, and she would fill a bag with powder and chunks made from that weird metal.
Inspection done and samples collected, the wanderer ordered her ship to fly once more, it was time to inspect Asceal's sphere and see if she would find another furnace. Once again, finding the sphere was easy because it was shining bright against the dark of the cosmic skies.
Urhu had to give it to Asceal, she knew how to make a pretty place, not her personal style, but she could not deny there was a natural beauty to the shine and glimmer of a crystal. The discrete and gentle light, in particular, was much more enjoyable than the invasive sun. It almost made her wish she would find no furnace but spotted one she did, and it was worse than she imagined, the whole place was set to magnify this furnace, it would be worse than Aelius's Heliopolis.
With no gods in sight, she docked Nyeothay Tag and jumped down into the sphere, walking around its sparkling palaces towards the central area, approaching the Furnace.
"What the hell is this?" the goddess pondered, looking at the weird device. She was not good with this sort of thing, and she wondered what approach she should take. Smashing it felt too brutal and, in ruthless terms, would just make Asceal more determined to build a third furnace. She needed to do something that would dissuade Asceal from trying to banish all darkness, even if that meant making her a bit hopeless.
The wanderer analysed the tools she had at her disposal, it was tricky because right now she did not even have clothes, and as great as her boat had been, she did not see how it could help (Stealing the furnace was a possibility but where would she store it? On her boat? It was too extravagant looking, it would contrast poorly with her rustic interior decoration.)
"Ah! The powdery thing I found, that could work. I guess..." she guessed, before quickly running to her ship to retrieve the bag. In her mind, it made sense, she could recognize Orvus's essence in the metal and from what she understood that essence was all about weakening things. By sneakily placing some of that powder and mineral chunks on the nooks and crannies of the furnace it would apply some of that essence to the light itself, and, obviously, that would lead to the light dimming out but still being there. Since the furnace was not destroyed but instead defective, Asceal would not have the will to go all out and make a third furnace and just roll with what she got.
Of course, Urhu did not know what the furnace was or how it really worked, she also had no idea what were the proprieties of the metal she was coating into the furnace, but her conclusion was logical, what else could possibly happen?
With a job well done, she ran away from the scene and quickly left back to Galbar at the wheel of her ship.
No might or freepoints used.
Urhu spies on the godly due as they turn on the sun. Sees mountain being thrown at Heliopolis, gets out. Can’t scape mountain throwing, sees meteor crashing into Galbar. Gets some mystery orvus metal on the new island. Goes to Asceal’s sphere now, finds second furnace, is like “called it” Coats some ‘orvus metal’ on the furnace, thinking it will just dim the light of the furnace.
It was just absurd, no finesse, no sense of respect, no care for the natural order of things and if their creation would cause any problem, rob others of anything. She could smell the arrogance and egomania from where she was standing, to Urhu it was clear those two probably did not even consider the possibility of them being wrong about anything, of something not of their liking also deserving to exist.
The wanderer stopped and crossed her arms, brooding. Perhaps she was being too hasty, they had not truly disclosed the entirety of their idea, but judging the tone of their words, their expression when they talked, she knew what they would do, they would banish darkness. Creating light would not be enough, she knew, they would try to make light inescapable, they probably already considered the darkness goddess an adversary.
"What a bother." she just could not allow that. There were a time and a place for things, there was a time for light, and a time for darkness, robbing mortals of the latter was cruel... and boring, which was what truly bothered Urhu.
It seemed there was no choice, she would need to look after this and take down any idiot plan she found before it was too late. The question was how, the first thing, she assumed, would be to move out of the noisy room so she would be allowed to hear her own thoughts. Looking around, she found the crystal and hopped onto it, immediately flying towards the blue sphere that was Galbar.
The crystal was very fast, but not fast enough, especially when one did not have control over its direction. The view was... bland, no starlight, no cosmic objects, but the soft glow of the barrier was pretty against the blue of Galbar. She could feel the passage through the many celestial spheres as she was very attuned to boundaries, but she would need no special sense to notice the entrance into the planet, it was like hitting a body of water at high speeds. It was at that time she decided she had enough, standing up on the flying crystal and jumping down, trying to outrun it.
It was much better to be diving down at your pace than to be stuck riding a crystal, the wind felt great against one's face and there was a sense of thrill. She looked at her arm and noticed the ichor stain caused by Seihdhara's hug, she still totally wanted a bath but did not want to fully erase the event. Touching over her right arm, she made spot turn into a mark on her skin, just in time for her to dive into the water and wash all else away.
The crash against water was strong, and it felt great, even if the ocean was still simple, plain and dimly lit, the feeling of water against one's body was irreplaceable, it was too bad her immortal godly body did not allow her to truly experience the elements to their fullest.
Another thing crashed into the water, the crystal, and Urhu smirked, if it was a sentient thing she would have teased it about how late it was. The floating was fun, but she had to hurry, as the one-way ticket to her home sphere did not seem to care about waiting for her. Swimming after it, the goddess went deeper and deeper into the ocean. At one point, she broke some boundary and trespassed into a sphere, not hers though. The lack of light down there was so oppressive even she was becoming somewhat anxious, swimming in what appeared to be an endless void, it was thankful she had the crystal to follow.
The crystal entered a cave and she followed, racing after it through the underwater maze, others might have been lost there, but the goddess was attuned to directions and passages, she knew where to go, and that she was going upward, leaving the sea sphere behind.
Soon, she surfaced in what seemed to be an endless cave, now this was her home. The crystal lost all of its power upon arrival, and she was forced to swim with it under her arm as she went for the nearest shore.
"Bah, finally home." she said as she stretched, finally leaving the sea behind. Noticing her hair had come loose after such a long trip, she braided it again. Then she looked around, seeing all that empty land, and bit her lips. "Okay, enough of home, let me find something to do."
It immediately struck her that it would be good to have some method of travel. Running, floating and swimming was fun, but sometimes she needed to be fast. Looking down at the crystal she pondered and then smiled, picking it up, charging it with all of her power, and throwing it on away from the shore, into the ocean.
Strong light and loud noises filled the sphere as a large vessel rose from the waters, a ship, made of some unknown substance but clearly imitating wood, on its deck there was a long house-like structure, and on the roof of the said structure, there were many animal statues: a couple of Cervidae near the bow and canines on the back, with birds of prey appearing all around.
Raising her hand, the goddess ordered the boat to be smaller, and so it did, becoming a small flat-bottomed boat, shapeshifting as it lost size, but never losing the motifs, now a large Cervidae head decorated the bow, canines flanked it and a hawk rested atop a pillar.
The goddess stepped into the shore, walking over water, and jumped into the barque. Naming a vessel was always necessary for good luck, and she went with something basic, "Nyeothay Tag". The next task was to find a door to enter the inner rooms of the vessel. If anyone were it her at the moment she found the hatch and went down it, they would be confused as they would find themselves in a corridor far larger than the current ship, as the inside of the boat did not become any smaller despite the change outside.
The rooms of the boat were all furnished, with impressively modest choices for an all-powerful goddess but in no way minimalist, if anything, it was quite 'cosy'. Urhu took a piece of paper and a vial of ink and started writing down some notes and charts over the trip she took, her very first map, of many that were to come. With that task done, she went back up and prepared the ship to move.
No sails no oars, the ship moved by itself, starting to gain speed on the water at first, but as the bird of prey opened its wings, the ship took flight. To Urhu's surprise, there was a ceiling to her sphere, and no cave connecting it to Galbar, this would need to be amended. She took a deep breath and then blew the wind out as a thick mist, in seconds, it was a large cloud looming over the sphere's ocean.
Nyeothay Tag once again landed on water and started sailing into the clouds. Soon, there was nothing but the mist around them, but with such a fast ship, it did not take long before it had left the clouds, however, what was above it was not the ceiling of The Purlieu's sphere boundaries, but the soft glow of The Barrier. Having reached Galbar again, Urhu willed the boat to take flight again, it was time to check on what the divine sticks-in-the-mud were doing.
Urhu keeps judging Asceal and assuming they are mega dorks. Decides she will fuck up whatever they are doing, but obviously doesn’t announce it. Takes a crystal to her sphere, decides to jump down into Galbar herself, gets a tattoo. After a short freedive, she reaches the Purlieu, makes boat (5 might). Boat can’t leave, makes misty gateway (3 FP, discount)
The 0th post is too obscure for important announcements.
Here is what is in it.
It is currently Turn 1, and every god has 5MP and 20FP to spend. This is the Age of Creation--the very dawn of this world, the time in which the Spheres are to be crafted and Galbar shaped and readied for life.
This Age, FP can be used for the following things: The creation of Spheres, The creation of ecosystems, on Galbar or in Spheres, The sculpting or creation of landscapes and geographical features The creation of one Gateway (only the first for any given god can be bought with FP; all following ones will require MP)
As a reminder, it has been decided that during this Age FP cannot be spent to purchase abilities or create artifacts. That will require MP. Also worth mentioning is that the creation of sapient mortals and/or extraordinary beings are NOT on the FP catalogue for this turn; the following Ages to come will shift focus towards mortals and monsters. For now, the focus is on laying the groundworks with basic ecosystems like forests and relatively simple wildlife.
Urhu ponders a bit, sees the people around her and then approaches Seihdhara.
Name in mind and with the sensory overload of birth fading away, Urhu turned her attention to the run. For a moment, they all had come to know each other, a sort of bonding moment. ’I guess they are family now?’ she pondered ’Never thought I would be kin to a parrot.” but there she was.
Not all thoughts were funny, many of her ‘siblings’ seemed disturbed, some vile, and the way the god of death had left after the souls with such an eager hurry was unsettling. It was perhaps the ones who thought of themselves as good that worried her most, the likes of Asceal seemed eager to judge others by the size of their shadow without realizing it was their blinding light that created them.
From there onward Urhu would pay special attention to her and the gods that flocked around her, like moths to a flame. It did not escape her that other deities looked at that direct with far less caution, some, in particular, seemed way too focused on Aelius. Urhu figured out why, but really did not see why, she never got the allure of these larger than life sorts.
Flames, screams, torrents, did not distract her, but what did was the absurd events around the weird humanoid deity called Chopstick Eyes. She couldn’t help but smirk as she chopped away at one deity, seemed like the title of Choppy was worthy of her. The smile on her face was quickly erased however when the Architect reacted to one of the deities rebelling.
The actions itself were justifiable in a weird sense, she could see herself doing something similar if a lesser being was throwing rocks at her, but actions did not exist in a vacuum, and all previous context of this Architect was pissing her off. A respectable god should have a consistent method and should not copout from justifying his actions, else its all random violence, tyranny. It was a good reminder for her that now she was a goddess, and that she should strive to be a fair one.
She tried to also not overthink her distaste for the Architect, she was a goddess and that meant her realm was that blue marble of a world bellow, not the intrigue or needs of her siblings, nor the role of this overlord. Furthermore, she remembered some words, she did not remember from who or in what context.
-Besides, there are few secrets that can be kept from the Gods.-
So, for now, it was worthless to antagonize this one-eyed creature, until she could figure out what the ‘few’ were. ”Tu emu soh oh yeokeahea ha ey” was her last thought on the matter, then with a sigh, she moved away from the wall she had been leaning on.
”Thought you were a goner for a moment there.” she said, walking towards Seihdhara, who was a comfortable distance from the people she wished to eavesdrop. ”But glad you are fine, rare to see anything like you in this sea of sticks-in-the-mud and sycophants.” she extended a hand to help her ‘sister’ up from the ground.
The arctic blizzard blew again her bare skin, it almost made her feel something, almost. She had reached the end of the world, but she could not outrun her thoughts. She had hated many before, blamed them for all that was wrong, blamed them for leaving her, for betraying her, she hated them for not realizing just how much she cared about them. But then she was truly lone, and with loneliness came freedom, and as a free person, she had done mistakes, and there was no one left to blame but herself.
She tried to correct it, she truly had, there were people out there who looked up to her, who saw in her salvation. They were foolish, foolish like her, who had once also looked up to a saviour. And it was ironic, for being in his position, she could understand his actions, that made her pity him, forgive him, but also hate him, and hate herself, for being like him. For failing others, for running away.
A sudden polar wind blew away the ribbon that kept her hair from flowing freely. That was the last thing she owned, only her body was left. Her cursed mortal made immortal body that had made her see everything she had ever cared about crumbling to dust.
At one point there was no reason to continue, the ‘end of the world was ending’ and too many steps forward and she might end somewhere again. So she just laid against the polar ice, looking up at the aurora. It was just like the night that had started this purgatory. So she looked up at it, reminiscing until there was nothing left to remember, endless polar days ending in instants, then it all crumbled, and the lights gave in to the darkness of the abyssal cold sea. It was peace.
But all things had to end, even if by a new beginning.
The first thing she noticed, what would be her first memory as herself, was certainly a confusing sight. There had to be better sensory inputs to expose newborns than the swirl and churn of an endless flow of memories and thoughts. It seemed the summoner agreed, for soon all but a few were gone, and she could actually hear her own thoughts.
First things first, she scouted her surrounding, sensing the summoner, the souls, the walls. Looking into souls told a lot, but some of them had taken shape, shapes which told just a bit, just enough, just what was allowed to be told. Without noticing, she received the energies of the room and formed a shape of her own, growing into a tall woman, loose brown hair flowing over her back.
”Whoa."
She stretched, getting used to the whole "being" business. Immediately, she started braiding her hair, pondering over her role as she did, a goddess of passages, a wanderer... A weird role for a pantheon, but she could not think of herself as anything else. Soon she realized she needed a name, she could remember a few, they felt familiar but belonged to people who she no longer was. It was not a problem, explorers like herself were accustomed to picking names on the spot.
@ZAVAZggg I think it really depends. A Portfolio should be more specific while Clusters should be more widespread, what would be a Cluster in which Innovation could fall into? To me, it feels more like a cluster material.
Also, in your profile you kinda mentioned not liking rules and regulations, which has a bit of a history of being one of the most regulated aspects of Divinus, considering players kinda want to experience eras such as the stone age or the bronze age and in the last one, Mk2, we had a bit of an issue with a player advancing a civilization way too fast.
Though the areas related to crafting and technology are indeed very free, there are not many whose purpose is to advance civilization, versus three gods who want to inhibit it for the sake of the wildlands. Kho has already talked about CSs, and you can also skim over a bit of Mk2to get a feel.
I would also suggest, if you are interested in joining, to already start making a draft of a CS for when some GM shows up, so its easier for them to judge what sort of idea you are going for.
Just letting you know interested in making a god character. Still need to read a few things in the thread, though.
Edit: Alright, quick question: is anyone making a dwarf-themed god?
If not I would like to claim the Portfolio "Honour."
Well, it depends. Smithing, Metals, Brewing, Fortitude are all aspects already kinda claimed by a god or another, some I think you could talk over with the players but it's not guaranteed. There is, however, no one dealing with Crafting, Mining, or Technology in general. Nobody expressed a desire to make dwarves so far. As for Honour, I think its related to the god Aelius, but I might be wrong.
@Double Capybara Because this will become a simple "good guys" vs "bad guys" conflict. It is "Do you want the universe to operate normally" or "Do you want to mess with it for selfish reasons"
It feels like it will be a captain planet conflict, "Do you want to dump toxic waste in the ocean, or do you not want to do that."
Hmm, I am putting trust that Cyclone wouldn't leave it in such a one-sided situation, but upon reading your posts and a few things said, I guess I will ask what is his plan overall. In all honesty, considering my plans for Urhu and her personality, she will be out against Kath big time. I assumed this was an option, though in discord there was this entry,
"It oculd lead to a Thanos situation where more souls are needed, so some gods see the solution as being to eradicate a significant fraction of life so as to free up souls ...or it could lead to trying to ask the Architect for more souls OR it could lead to trying to free the souls trapped in the undead Sphere see how many possibilities there are?"
Which really covers only pro-Kathy options.
I feel like this might be a bit much, one of the things that got Sartravius accepted was going with "source of all flames" instead of "source of all heat", which I take establishes some limits of just how influential a sphere can be, and if truly everyone needs to dance along with Kath or risk the death of everything, eh, that is a bit more serious than the latter case.
I feel like the finite soul thing simply contrives conflict in what I believe is an uninteresting way. The demon god and undeath god no longer become enemies or allies based on ideological grounds, but we will need to fight them because they are hogging a finite resource.
I have my issues with the soul problem, but fighting over resources is logical, if not expected, in Divinus, and more interesting than simple good guys, bad guys fight. I don't see how it is different from the other fights that might rise because of portfolios, followers, influence over kingdoms, etcetera.
-Mavadzugji finishes his work in the abbey, making a series of works about all the distant lands in Galbar and also introducing some foreigner thought, especially maths. -Llapur Dyetzu hears about the escalation of the border conflicts with the clans that have fled the dusklands. He has a talk with his friend Tavitse about Mavadzugji’s Tsefo group and also a bit about his bastard child, Fernya. -Before leaving to the dusklands, Trisana leads Mavadzugji to a village of duskland settlers, thankfully they are isolated enough to not be involved in the tensions, so they are welcoming to him. A local dusklander wishing to see her ancestral homeland, Kadja Regjurnyarha joins him in his journey north. -On the path, Mavadzugji is attacked by a dusklander who has been set to find him, he is saved by Kallum Vascogne, who convinces him to take a detour to avoid being involved in more attacks due to the tensions. Kallum happens to be Mavadzugji’s cousin, since they both are descendants of the Kivico royal family. -Kallum and Mavadzugji talk a lot, contrasting their ideas of unified realms vs autonomy, but the priest quickly notices Kallum controls his words too much and is trying to influence him. -Mavadzugji is smuggled into the Dusklands along with bronze weaponry (which is forbidden by Harbor Kingdoms, especially Kivico)
Next post is the final Tsoti post, but not the last of Mesathalassa and the Dzanya.
=== Stats
Mavadzugji
12 initial prestige
+10 from the post
-2 Advanced Maths (for an ancient society) -2 World Atlas
18 might remaining
Vascogne
I don’t remember, but +10 from this post
TSOTI 6 (63 PR)
The 63rd year since the realta was drawing to a close. In the southern hemisphere, this was the height of summer, though in the tropical areas this was known as the wet season, and in Northern Mesathalassa in particular, a region known for the constant downpour of rain, this meant most days were at best overcast. Mavadzugji enjoyed that, it reminded him of home.
Though he had seldom time to focus on the beautiful mantle of grey covering the landscape, he had finally started to understand a few more foreign texts and a whole new world of information had opened itself to him. He had forsaken direct translations, which were impossible with the time he had, to work on writing down what he had learned about these places.
Though it was a tricky business. Most of Galbar was still illiterate, knowledge of distant places travelled in the tongue of merchants, and sometimes those words were not true. Siplũlasag, for example, a land he was certain existed somewhere west of the Deepwoods, it was commonly described in south Firewind sources, but then he noticed the translation of it when studying the tribes north of the Firewind, land of the bone-like towers, which was a good description of Yorum. And the more he thought about Siplũlasag, the more he noticed how much of it was just Yorum warped by countless horizons of travel.
Nevertheless, he found himself doing good work, the best he could with what he had. People after him would write as well, and if any mistake escaped him, they would certainly be shot down by future generations. If the Dusklanders were to have any future generation, that is.
“Hahar wa Dziveh” was his first finished work, covering the people of the ‘sunlands’, though the term referred to anything beyond the Dusklands, it was mostly used to refer to west and north Mesathalassa, so the priest went with that.
Naturally, “Kokin wa Llahinveh” was next, talking about the “hain lands” and its tribes. Of course, Mavadzugji now knew Hain existed far beyond that area, but there was just no word he knew to describe such a land.
“Har wa Hiriketzur” and “Har wa Rutotzur” seemed to be the next step. It was rare for anyone to use “har”, people, as an isolated word, but it was true that along the shores of the Silver Sea (White Sea) and the Golden Sea (Fractal and Shimmering Seas) many sorts of peoples existed.
Albeit not as detailed as the former two works, the two coastal books made up for that with content completely foreign to most Dusklanders, it was common to hear about the Harbor Kingdoms and the Hain Tribes through trade and rumours, but, lands such as Vetros, The Great Ring, Axotal and Loralom were things of legend, talked about rarely, vague images not unlike the lands of gods in the heavens above and the earth below. Now, however, they had something new, loose second-hand descriptions with a heavy bias and some misunderstanding.
Zebras become ferocious tiger-like horses, Axotal is just on the shore of Xerxes. Yet, it is the image of Alefpria that would be the most memorable of these writings. It all starts with the god emperor, son of gods, of course, it was a common hobby of kings of petty kingdoms to declare themselves sons of heroes and gods, but Alefpria was described with such glory by travellers from east and west that one was led to believe it, furthermore, it did align with Dusklander myth, the heavenly daughter and the earthly brother… it would mean Lifprasil was indeed the son of gods, but, it also brought an unfortunate implication, Momumepo was Elysium, meaning the Elysian sect would be correct and Tsefo was foolish in their resistance against the southern religion.
But the details did not end there, and what came next left the priest wordless, even if it was the light that would save Tsefo as a philosophy. “Alefpria is always grey” “Hidden under the clouds, Alefpria looks overcast” “The clouds of Alefpria were said to be a gift from a goddess to hide the city of jealous looks.” each of the sentences was written in a different language, by people of the desert, of the tundra, of the savanna, yet all agreed on this. Then the emperor, “alabaster skin”, “golden eyes that look as if they shine”, “silver hair”.
The priest felt for a moment he had been mad, but those were the words used to describe him. Who else in the world had those features? What other region was overcast? The description of the dusklands in the tongue of foreigners was not flattering, they were not said to be beautiful, “those who live in the mires of Ner Hunu always have a sickish grey tone, no matter the colour of their skin.” “The lands of Koch Hiv are bountiful but inhabited by tribes of primitive peoples.” “It is said the Havupis north of Misatala are people with hair the colour of the fur of a rat or a seal and empty eyes of bizarre colours.”
However, he knew what words his own people described themselves, it was just too much of a coincidence. However, to jump into conclusions and just assume that all sunlanders are sons of the sister while his people are sons of the brother seemed foolish. For one, the aesthetic similarity seemed oddly misplaced when the only humans lived half a world away and no attempt of communication was ever made. Furthermore, it did not escape the priest that the descriptions of the imperial capital could get… somewhat grotesque at times. It would be one thing if it were the description of rival lands but often wonder and elegance seemed to walk hands in hands with the repugnant and dreadful, the lack of humans was also suspicious. Furthermore, it did not connect properly with the dusklander views on divinity, especially when the dusk came into place, who was the goddess which brought the clouds over Alefpria? Which of the tales of how the dusklands became dark was true? How does it connect with the tall black stone world mountains that bordered the dusklands? What if the city had been built thousands of years ago but slowly overtaken by weird crawling creatures?
With little time for further thought but still not having the heart to cut off Alefpria, Har wa Rutotzur ends with a simple description of Alefpria, written as neutral as someone who is seriously pondering over the possibility of his people being some lost part of an ancient empire overtaken by weird creatures could write it. The implications he considered were not mentioned, though he knew his people who come to the same conclusion as him, and then one day, when back home and with his compatriots, he would try to understand what Helleperiha meant for the Dzanya.
Finishing the Veh Ramu (land study) books was “Huchuveh joh Har kufih.” Weird (distant) Lands and its peoples. This one talked about the most distant lands, where earth met heaven, where the Tsatahar (winged people / angels) lived, as well as all sorts of bizarre Rogjehar (strange people) lived, such as the hulking creatures that inhabited Hogjerunveh, whole kingdoms deep beneath the land that had dug so deep they had somehow reached the stars, and the passage of Tsarano Nonyir with its phosphorescent rivers… a colourful forest that seemed weird like the oddlands in description, its proximity to glorious Alefpria worried him, but the descriptions of the swamps were centuries old, so he worried not.
Of course, talking about the lands was not limited to talking about its people and its sights, foreigners held a lot of knowledge foreign to the Dusklanders. The art of using numbers was one of them, the Hainlands on East Mesathalassa, the desert cities, and many sailors knew how to use numbers in weird yet logical ways. It impressed Mavadzugji, it was no wonder some sort of Hain under the spell of a mysterious god had built the abbey, so writing a “Todza Ramu” (number study) was a logical next step. It was a shame he did not have the time to visit the Hains and the deserts… and Alefpria, but, what was important was to share knowledge with his people and advance the Tsefo, and as Batsami had told him, first they must catch the people’s attention then they can bring about the change necessary for the people to prosper even in the times of adversity that were to come.
Even then, there was always more, he wanted to write about crafting techniques, about architecture, about the wonders of other civilizations, yet, time to go drew near, he was a priest and had a duty to study, but at the same time, he had political duties, and the Dusklands could no longer wait. Slowly he went from well-rounded studies with a clear focus to raw consumption of knowledge, too fearful any word he missed would be something important that his people would not know.
“Hey, priest.” It was Trisana. “You are about to leave right? Didn’t you want to visit one of the nearby villages?”
”Ah?... Oh! Yes. I would love to. I have been a bit lost lately.”
“Lately… hah. I think you were born a bit lost, friend.” she laughed. “But it is no problem. Mom and Dad won’t accompany you when you go home, right?”
”Yes, it will be one of Karcelli’s friends that will escort me.” “Yup, and between here and the town where you will meet this friend, there is a village I think you’d like to visit. So, how about I take you on a little detour? We can leave a day earlier than the combined and spend it on this village.”
Llapur Dyetzu extended his hand up, stretching, and then sighing. Mansion or home, Dzanya houses always had good ventilation in its halls, keeping the centre fresh, yet the rooms could become quite hot. Though that was the last of Llapur worries’ as he entered the room.
“Tavitze. Report.”
His good friend was as nervous as him. “Seems like we had a few of ours captured, nobody important. The traitors from the south become increasingly more daring. They are trying to find their own border passages… or to take ours.”
“They won’t get past Mutaraka’s troops, we have the number advantage and better equipment. They may have Sunlanders, but bows and arrows don’t help in that valley or in a cave.”
“I don’t know, they are not only using obsidian but also a lot of bronze recently.”
“I thought we had strikers along the trade route?”
“Oh, not from the Harbor Kingdoms, from the Hahin.”
“Really? That weird, I guess those skirmishes we heard about made some of the tribes desperate enough, but still, how can they even use those weapons? They are made for human hands.”
“Short-blades mostly, which is why it is not a serious advantage. We would do good to sour their relationship before the Hahin decide to make weapons tailored for humans.”
“No. We cannot strike at two sides, it would overstretch our banners. I do not trust having our men so far from our control and it is hard to keep everyone in check. Any defector could spell disaster.”
“I see.” Tavitze sighed, sitting near the window so the air blew against him. It was an infernal day and the heat changed one’s mind, it was hard to think. “Are we done for? Seems like the traitors have the upper hand.”
“They do not. Why do we call them traitors?”
“Because they left without warning the other clans?”
“Do you seriously believe that? That we would not do the same if we knew what they did back then?”
“We already don’t do that. We have the opportunities if we really wanted to just flee.”
“I mean back then, sixty cycles ago, not now. Everything changed now.”
“Oh come on. You don’t actually believe in this whole anti-clan crap that has been growing here. First your brother, and now you.”
“Do not put words in my mouth. Listen, we need to look at this objectively, this whole sentiment is not born from hate towards the clans, but of a realization, the dusklands are ending, Tavitze, and we might end with it.” the warrior walked closer to the window. “We lived in isolation for countless generations, all we knew were the great clans, but now most great clans are gone and we know of the foreigner armies. Tihtzin was a genial commander, but what could he do against the might of the Harbor Kingdoms? Nothing. The moment he was against them, he was done for. We can barely ensure our safety against some small tribe of Dusklanders on the border of our land, we, the largest coalition of clans that ever existed.”
Tavitze slowly shrank as Llapur talked, wanting to object, but not seeing a counterproposal in sight.
“If nothing changes, or if the traitor wins, we will be destroyed. No clan will remain, and all of the dusklanders will be forced to bow to foreigner kings.” Llapur continued “But this Dzanya talk, it unites the clans, it gives the people who have been clanless since the fall of Tsefo Valley to the Oddlands a banner to stay behind, it makes people such as the lords who fled south traitors in need of atonement or punishment, in traditional clan society they would not be bad, they were just smart, other clans are just slow, but we know that is not the case, want it or not, everything has already changed. You know that, after all, you keep your first daughter is such a terrible situation just because she is half-sunlander.”
Tavitze’s eye shot up, and soon the man was up, grabbing Llapur’s intricate silk coat.““You need to stop saying whatever comes to your mind, Llapur. This is none of your business. Don't you think I haven't seen you talking to her."
"Me? No. She sneaks around, impressively skilful for someone who is a servant. Loves to hear Batsami talk about the world, especially the soldiers. If we could train her, she might have some worth."
"So one moment you are boasting about Dzanya and our value, on the next you are judging me for not wanting a bastard foreigner as my successor."
"And this is what you do not understand. I am not like my brother, I am not blinded by the thoughts of Dzanya and Tsefo. I merely acknowledge it, and see for what it is worth, a good tool for recruiting soldiers, something that makes enemy clans less likely to bring in foreigners much more powerful than ourselves. You and all the other folks old of mind just do not see that I am no revolutionary, my objective is to keep myself and my family in power, and by extension other clans as well, it is how my family survived the chaos when thousands of thousands had to flee Tsefo Valley. There are things in the priest's philosophy that annoy me, and I deal with them one at a time, it is all about taking the good and leaving the useless, the same way we eat the fruit but leave the seed behind. But really, you can hardly be blamed, there is a reason why I am the most prestigious clan leader." he laughed and gave Tavitze a short punch on the shoulder.
"Do you really think you can tame it all, Llapur? I do not think you can. Just like you thought it was a good idea to force me to bring the girl, but you can't keep her in control."
"If Fernya annoyed me, she wouldn't be here anymore. There are ways to control things without forcing others to bow, and in truth, the real leaders don't need to yell that they are command every five steps they take. Now let's go. We have to escort Batsami back to her hometown. A good time to get acquainted with all the Tsefo fellas. Oh, and to hear about our shipment of bronze weaponry."
"You really are crazy to send so much silver and gems to some random sunlander in rags who says he can smuggle past the Kivicois."
"A hunter who only plays safe doesn't even go as far as walking into the forest. At worst, I will have lost some cluttery. At best, I will have the best equipment for the best-trained army of the dusklands."
North Mesathalassa was a land of hills, ravines, and broken fields. If Mavadzugji had once been accused of not focusing enough of his time as a priest on the praising of gods, he had surely paid that debt back with the number of prayers he had made under his breath as they crossed the gaps between mist covered crags through bridges of simple and old rope. The mist itself was not a problem to the priest, as a dusklander, his vision was good when facing darkness or fog, but everything else was just terrifying. Trisana, however, walked with ease and without worry, even if she could barely see her own feet while standing.
“Don’t worry priest, we are almost there! No more bridges after this one.”
There was still a whole lot of jungle, however, many rocks, and rain, a lot of rain, dry season for north mesathalassa meant rain season, and rain season meant storm season.
But no incidents happened, and soon, they spotted the little village they were moving for.
Entering, and it felt pretty much like a typical sunlander village of the type you find in the north. Walls of wood and clay, roofs of tree leaves bound by nets. Everything had to be built deep within the forest, else the strong winds of the plains would tear apart any home to shreds. This was perhaps, one the factors that made north mesathalassa so sparsely popular in comparison to the harbour kingdoms.
‘The round homes of Dzanya probably could survive the storms’ Mavadzugji thought, before he blinked. There was a round house in front of him and not one in the style of the large stone fortress he had seen in the ruins, but one of a distinct dusklander style. If this had given him a hint, the next step would deliver the whole idea, as he had seen white hair in the village, and not only the white hair of an elder, but the silvery, sometimes even iridescent, hair of a dusklander.
“Ah, damn, seems like we arrived at the time of a ritual. Let’s wait. I will go catch a friend of mine, you can stay here. Try to not get into trouble, just say you are with Tris should anything happen.”
So there stood a priest, awkward and pensive, thankfully not misleading himself with thoughts of some ancient dusklander society, he knew the age of buildings and could guess how old they were by the wear on the wood and clay. 50 cycles at most.
“Homelander?” a person sudden asked by his side, eyeing him with great curiosity. “I do not know you…” she was speaking the common language of the dusklands but with a heavy accent he could and some oddities. “But your clothes do not look like of local tribes.”
”Oh? Ah yes” he smiled. ”I am from the dusklands, I have travelled south to visit the abbey.”
“Amazing! I have never met any from home!” the man seemed legitimately impressed by that, and his exclamations brought the attention of others around him.
“Say, how are things in the home? Has it all been taken over by the Pantalei?”
”Pantalei? You must mean the oddlands. No. Their progress has slowed, but it continues.”
“Shame.” he pondered. “Do the clans fight? What is the strongest clan?”
”The clans have formed a coalition to avoid fighting. Not all clans adhere to it, but the strongest do, and attacking one means war with all.”
“Amazing! Grandfather said that was only happening if the chickens could swim faster than a fish. Good to hear that was not the case.”
A woman approached. “Say, priest, could you help us later? We have temples for the sunlander gods, but a lot of us, descendants of the settlers, would like a proper dusklander temple.”
”Wait, settlers?”
“Yes? Oh, you do not know. Our ancestors are from a tribe that fled the dusklands as soon as the problem with the Pantalei started.”
”I see. And, well, I could give you some guidance, but I am only staying for one day. What is the difficulty with setting up a proper temple.”
“Well… See, our tribe broke down long ago, and we had already lost many in the travels. We ended up without much in the way of remembering the rites.”
”My, that is terrible. Say, in what language do you write in this village?”
“Write?”
“I think he means those merchant things. But we don’t do that here, only travellers and the people of the abbey do.”
”For real? Hmm, this is not good, there are so many complex needs a temple needs. But well, its worth a try.”
For the next hour, Mavadzugji would tell the locals about the basics of dusklander culture. It was impressive to him something like that could just be forgotten, but he held no contempt for the locals, they lived in a harsh situation, away from home, among sunlanders. To him, it was impressive they did not just adopt the sunlander culture and still had an interest in the dusklander rites and gods. Furthermore… it was nice for him to have people actually interested in what he had to say about the dusklands.
And then… Tris came back.
“My my, seems like someone is popular, hehe” the woman laughed. “I am sorry though, I will need to borrow Mavadzugji here, we need to talk with the elder.”
”I guess I figured out why you brought me here.” “Yes! You figured it right. I thought this would be of your interest. Dad should have done this, but he is always distracted by something else.” she grabbed Mavadzugji’s wrist and carried him away from the crowd, neverminding she was shorter than the man.
Soon, they were approaching the hut of the elder, it was a sunlander styled building, but it was decorated in silk, probably brought over by the settlers from the dusklands.
“So, this is the priest… taller than I expected, but still, a boy.”
The woman was a sunlander with white hair of the sort one gets by being old, by her side, what he could assume to be her granddaughter, who was giggling while whispering words to Trisana, had white hair of the dusklander sort.
“Seems like you have already become quite popular with the locals. As you have seen, we have many descendants of people from your land in our village. It is good that you helped them to reconnect with their ancestry a bit, even though I am sure that in the fifty years since they left, much has changed.”
”It has…”
The elder rose her hand to quiet him, she was still talking. “Trisana explained much about you, and I have heard rumours as well, son of Tihtzin, eh? Now that was a controversial person. We have two to three Tabata refugees in our village.”
”Oh? May I speak with them later? I… never knew my dad very well, he was a distant man.”
“Later, surely. I have caught them wondering loudly if the baby Tihtzin had to carry back home had survived. They probably will be happy to see it has and has grown into a trouble maker much like his dad.”
”Trouble? I never… Also… I am unlike my dad, I am not a soldier, people kinda…”
“Expect you to be like your ancestor, I know this well, child. My father is half of the reason why Karcelli, Trisana’s mother, decided to bring about the end of the shamans.”
”What!?” he was confused, he didn’t even know why this was surprising, but a person to make Karcelli like that had to be quite evil. “Yes, see, he was part of a group of people that had been driven back by the immigrants fleeing the flooding.”
The priest nodded, so there had been people before the tribes that formed the Harbor Kingdoms came about, the idea of a hain inhabit Mesathalassa was misguided.
“... And his plan was to muster the spirits of the earth to sink the harbours kingdoms, pure revenge, but also a way to save his people. Say, boy, what do you think about this?”
”Me? Uhh, I think… It’s evil. I mean, there were other approaches to it…
“Were there?”
”Yes? He could help his people settle, use his powers to increase prosperity…”
“But that would still lead to combat with the Harbors, they wouldn’t want rivals, would they?”
”No, but… It's different? Being declared war upon is one thing, using mystical powers to sink cities is cowardly. It’s all vengeance and that must not be good to the soul”
“Hmm… You might be too young to think about such things, but yes, I do agree, it was a vile act.”
“Of course you do grandma, you married the dusklander who helped take him down.”
The elder looked over to her granddaughter and rolled her eyes. “That is correct, though he didn’t really have the looks himself, dark hair, unlike yours, and dark skin, like yours. He kept his dusklander nature a secret, but then opened up later, which is why he brought his tribe over here.” she sighed. “He would have liked to have met you.”
“This brings us to the most important topic,” she said, “I would like you to take my granddaughter to the Dusklands with you,” she told. “Much like Trisana, she has an interest in gods and in the mystical but wants to know more about her own ancestral heritage. I think it would be good for her to spend some years in the Dusklands, especially since in just a few more years… it might all be gone.”
The priest gasped at that. “I…. Well, yes, it would be good, she could help all the locals, teach them how to make a temple. Perhaps she could learn how to write in the language I devised for the Dzanya language.”
The girl looked confused. “Dzanya?”
”Oh, its a term that changed a lot since you have left, kinda became… uh, the catch-all phrase for the dusklands.”
“Grandma... “
The elder nodded.
“Uhm, and what about Dzanyavehar”
The priest looked flabbergasted. ”Where did you hear that word? I thought… I was the only one who knew it.”
“Grandpa cared a lot about this word.”
”So did my father. But it's a hard word to pin down. I guess at its core, its related to people’s land.” he pondered.
“But isn’t that what saying Dzanyaveh already implied.”
”Hmm, sort, its a question of emphasis. Just do me a favour, and do not say such a word when we walk back home, it would… cause trouble.”
The elder looked at him with serious eyes. “It already has, keep your eyes open on the way home.”
The journey had resumed, now with Kadja Regjurnyarha, the granddaughter of the elder. She had taken a dusklander like surname but followed the naming traditions of the sunlands. Thankfully for Mavadzugji, the path forward was much more straightforward, or so it had been.
”So, is the friend of your mom who will help me get to the dusklands a shaman?”
Trisana shook her head emphatically. “No, not even close. He is a hunter, a prime hunter of the hunting guild in Susah. But still just a hunter, his skills are mundane, not much different from mine, and entirely different from shamans who could command animals, nature spirits, among many other things.”
”Oh, I see. Shame they are no longer around. But what happened? The elder said her father was half of the problem?”
“Yes, there was also this woman, mom doesn’t even say her name.”
“Yeah, grandma doesn’t either.”
“But she delved into some, weird arts, taking animal forms…. Also started to dwell among twisted creatures, something of the sort, then she started to spread her wicked ideals among the locals, it didn’t go well.” she shrugs. “Used to think this was just stuff dad told to scare me away, but when I met Kadja here, I guess this was a second source to these talks, though nobody speaks clearly about who it was and what she did, it was bad enough to bring about the end of the shamans.”
”I see… Well, it seems you want to revive it, however?”
“In a sense.” Trisana nodded. “But its hard, nobody wants to speak, so much is lost.”
”Well, it had to be created once, no? And if it was created once, it can be created once again. However, Tris, maybe you should not worry so much about doing exactly what people like your mother could do? You have a set of skills, I don’t think you should be frustrated by the lack of these skills.”
“Hmm…” Trisana pondered. “Maybe you are right, priest. But there is no need to worry, I am young, and there is much to do.”
“Yeah. Trisana here is already pretty much on par with any elite hunter of the guild, I can only imagine she might do some crazy stuff when she grows older.”
“Heh, you overstimate me. Anyway. We are reaching the village, and that will be my stopping point, would love to go to the grey swamps, be among the mosquitoes and the people who speak a language I barely understand, but eh, I will have to pass.”
”Your loss, Tris.” Mavadzugji laughed.
“Well then, take good care of Kadja, remember she is a foreigner there, even if she has the look, all this talk of heritage doesn’t last much in actual practice. And you, Kadja, make sure you come back, I would miss one of my few friends. You too, priest, if things get too heated up in the dreamlands, know the abbey is here, so is Kadja’s village, seems like you got quite popular there~”
”Wait, you aren’t accompanying us into the village? How will we know who we have to meet?”
“Why, because you do not need to search for that which has already found you!”
This made the Dzanya duo to freeze and slowly look back, behind them was a man wearing a long green cape and moss tinted leather, his hair was dark, tinted to be that dark, and his face was covered in face paint. “Good afternoon. It seems I am to accompany you?”
“Yup! That is the duo. And stay alert, might not look like it, but the boy here is quite the talk. We have caught some whispers, and if he is found, you might need to deal with it.”
“So I take your detour instead of coming to here directly was an ill-advised act, was it not, Trisana?” the hunter said in a neutral tone, perhaps it was that that made it sound to menacing.
”Hey, do not blame her, it was my idea to go there because to me it was something important.”
“Well, it was my idea, but it is true it was something important for Mavadzugji. His long term wellness is important as well, you know. And I am sure you can navigate these lands with ease.”
With a short stare at the priest, the hunter just shook his head. “Well, nevertheless, you are right, it should not be trouble to us.”
With the last goodbyes, the hunter and the two dusklanders left, and as they did, Trisana’s smile dimmed a bit.
After a few moments, she turned around and stepped away from the village, wanting to go home as soon as she could, and not only for the sake of avoiding being out in the stormy land. However, before she could, her feet hit a box, a seal of some sort of winged animal on it.
“Damn, that was fast,” she told, looking around her, not finding a single track to follow. “Sneaky bastards.”
She opened the box and took out parchments, all in the kodekzian language. It detailed a whole lot about the ancient shamans, and also went on and on about this legendary figure, Susa of the Ranes. It smelled like grape, if it was an aroma or stench, it was yet to be defined. Trisana hoped it would not be a source of regret.
“Is it hard to travel with two strangers?” asked a curious Kadja, Mavadzugji was the one person she could talk with since the hunter was the quiet sort.
”Oh… Not really? Or is it… I mean, I have done this a lot lately, it is not like I knew Karcelli and Danolyo, right? In the end, I think I travelled more with strangers than with familiar faces.”
“Mmm! Weird. But it is good to know you are not uncomfortable.” she told, naturally, both their eyes drifted to the braving hunter in front of them, a very quiet young man, who despite just being not much older than them acted as if he was a distant elder. Sometimes he would walk too close to bushes and it would be as if he had vanished in front of them.
”You know, come to think of it, I did not know the hunters from Susah were so organized.”
“Oh they are not, it is just mom that organized a small group to act as body guards. I mean… I guess they are a bit organized since they are the main source of communication between villages, but its nothing absurd, of the sort you would see amongst the Harbor Towns.”
”The village you come from gains a lot from trade with the harbours, right?”
“Oh, not as much as you’d think. The fact we make silk is useful for them, but I would say the Hain are a more stable trade partner.”
”The Hahin? No way!”
“Yep! I mean, it is tricky trade, but it works. They hate the process of weaving fibers, especially the sort you get from a cocoon, but smooth, clean silk, is the sort of thing they like. So they are pretty open to a trade of these finished products. On the other side, they are much less squeamish about cleaning animals and tanning hide. So this is kind of what we do, we trade raw hides and finished textiles for leather and metals. It's a small trade, but a war between Hain fortresses causes much less disruption than the massive fighting of Harbor Kingdoms.”
”What, does that mean there is war in the harbours again?”
“Oh, when there isn’t war over them? Ever since Runza died the south has been a mess, and in the north, Kivico keeps pushing for dominion but failing, while fields that were once fertile are now becoming arid wastelands. Tris’ mom says its something to do with the spirits of nature. I once met a trader who said you find more and more villages just entirely deserted, and that the towns, who once grew at a fast pace, have all stagnated.”
”Shame, if Runza had survived, I am sure she would have united the lands.”
“Oh do not be silly, she would have stopped Imga from breaking, but she didn’t have the means to move north into Kivico.”
”You think?”
“I… well, I assume. I talk a lot with your dad’s friends, one of them is a sunlander, and he says a lot about strategy and the sorts, he says Runza would never beat Kivico!.”
”Hmm, I think he is biased by the many fights he had against Kivico.”
“Nah, I don’t think so, all rulers of Kivico are legendary, you know? Jehan, Hasvish, Milhel, and that is not even counting Sheru!”
This made the priest stop for a moment, distracted. ”But Runza fought Kivico, in the battle of Tri-Harbor, armies led by Sheru herself, and they lost.” “Did they? I didn’t know that. But didn’t Runza die in that battle?”
”Of lung sickness.”
“Whaaat? No way! That is so pathetic…”
”I’d say Runza is anything but pathetic, but she was still a human, and no matter if they are a villager or a conqueror, they are mortal.”
“Still lame. But I guess I should be glad, if she was really that great, she would eventually try to move past the mountains into North Mesathalassa. Hell, Harbor Kingdoms used to try that, but there just isn’t much up here to be worth fighting for, they’d need to be really out of space to make the push… and I guess that makes it good for us from the village that they are instead killing themselves over nothing.”
The hunter sighed. “You two, talk too much.”
“Hey hey, hunter man! Give us your cool opinion, do you think a Harbor Kingdom could make it to Susah?”
“No.”
“Ahh… Why?”
“We’d shoot them.”
“Heh, and you think you can break a fully armoured army?”
“Yes, armour not great up here, too hot, too wet, swords also lose their cut. Armies from the people by the ocean are slow, we’d raid them non-stop, eventually, they break in spirit, and a soldier with a broken spirit is no different than a soldier with a broken body.”
“Damn… that is pretty cool. Later you need to talk me more about what you can do! I learned a lot from Tris, but I imagine a fully grown man like you who is an actual hunter could tell me much more.”
“You talk too much. You are startling the prey.”
”Huh? You are hunting? Don’t we have food?” “Not anymore. The merchant swindled me, he said the meat was good and the oil would keep it safe, but it was of bad quality… don’t know how it went past my eyes, I have never made a mistake like this before.”
“Huh, that explains my stomach was aching,” Kadja said, trying to ease the mood.
”Oh… oh no… a true situation… guess… we will have to drop the greasy meat for one day and instead get some fresh food from the nearby village! Shame!”
“I don’t want to go to villages with you two.”
”But we are getting hungry and the meat we have is rotten.”
“We would have caught prey if it was not for you two talking so loudly all day and night.”
”Still, that is the situation at hand!”
“You know what, fine, your life, your choice, I will have to babysit you in there but ultimately, if something happens and I fail to protect you, it will not be me who will be meeting the death gods.”
The priest gulped, but Kadja laughed. “Its just a village in the middle of nowhere, there isn’t even any dusklander settlement nearby.”
”She makes a good point. Furthermore, we just need a few supplies. I could stay outside… maybe?”
“Let’s not separate.” the hunter added, and the duo nodded, moving into the village.
For their suprise, it was a lively place, made of sixteen or so houses, all clay. It was big enough to have a common area for travellers to move into.
“No hunter guild… Seems like we will have to barter.” the man added.
“Want some of silk? I have a bit…”
“Nah, I have obsidian and rare shells, also a horn of a fierce beast, we just need to find someone who might be interested in that. “
While the trio talked, the priest looked around his surroundings, apparently, there was a whole lot of talk about him being a murder target, if the reactions of the people around him meant anything. Seems like from the start Karcelli and Denolyo knew it was the case, why else would they avoid the main route. It made sense, surely as his writings arrive, the talks of the Tsefo became heated… He prayed that all would be fine when he arrived home.
There was a sudden movement near them, then everything moved too fast for him to realize what had happened. In front of him, he saw a man with a stone club, the club inches from his head, holding the club in place was a spear. From behind him, the hunter immediately turned and tackled the man attacking Mavadzugji.
A commotion had started, but it ended quickly, the hunter was quick with his movements, kicking the man down and holding him there.
“I would recommend settling down, friend. Or it will be a painful death. Hunters like to see the life vanishing from their prey’s eyes. You know?” the spearman told, winking. He was probably the only person relaxed within the whole village.
“You know him!?” The hunter told.
“Not much more than what is obvious. A little dog serving some stupid chef.”
“To the hells with you all.” the assailant said. “This is no sunlander’s business you rotten mercenaries!”
“Why did you attack?” the hunter questioned, shaking the man.
“Why? Why do you think? Mutaraka’s snake. You think we don’t see through you?”
”What lies? What do you know of me?” Mavadzugji stepped forward.
“I know you are working for Mutaraka! He plans to take all of our lands. He wants revenge, especially on his old master. That commoner, that peripheral, he never got over it, did he?”
”I do not partake in clan politics, I worry about the people of the Dusklands.”
“Lies! Your whole group, what has it done but prepare the people to war against us?”
”We keep the history of the dusklands and its people. All of its peoples, including you, brother. And we want to make a better world together.”
“My family has worshiped Momumepo for generations. She gave us a vision, and we left, it is not my fault if others weren’t as blessed…”
”I am not against the worship of Momumepo, and in all honesty, I didn’t even know about early dzanya settlers down here. But there is something you… firstlanders must understand… I do not hate you. This woman by my side is not unlike you. The difference is that she waits to hear my words before deciding to start violence.” he looked down upon the man. ”And about the heavenly sister, I am sorry, but I will never support worshipping her above any other god. She might be matron of the sunlanders, but we are not sunlanders, and she is an unfit god of those who dwell in the dusk… why else would she give visions to some but not all? Why else she would order us to leave our homeland instead of stopping its infection?”
”If that was truly what happened, but it does not matter. I do not care if you believe in me or not, I do not care if you think I only seek to help Mutaraka or not. If you want to just obey your clan elder and hate me because he told you to do so, that is fine. But you must at least question yourself, why did you try to assassinate me?”
“I have already said it, you make people unsure, you prepare the land for war.”
”The latter statement is untrue, I do not want to hurt anyone, dusklander brothers or sunlanders. Did you hear me from the village I visited? You think I would talk to those people if I desire to hurt them? Furthermore, maybe people should be unsure, we live in uncertain times, that is for sure, and questioning is necessary.”
The hunter held the man down for some more time. “Were you sent here?”
“We heard of the Tsefo Priest and moved to cover the towns and warn other clans. We knew you would show up one day or another in one of these villages,” he said… his expression mixed between anger and confusion.
The hunter frowned. “This is not good. Not even the wildlands will be safe, and we can’t clean this village of suspects…” he whispered.
“I could! I am good at reading people.” the spearman said with a smile.
”We are not killing anyone, not this man, not any ‘suspect’.
Three people looked up at him. “This is a terrible idea.” the hunter told him.
”I think maybe… this could be the start of something.”
The spearman shook his head. “It won’t be.”
”We cannot be sure. You never know...”
“I do, and let me tell you this… it won’t.” it was as if his eyes gleamed, but it was probably just a nearby torch casting irregular light.
“Wait…” Kadja said. “Who are you?” it seemed just now the question had downed on all others. The hunter immediately left the man and moved towards him.
“Come to think of it, you do know a bit too much, what are you trying to do? Who are you?” the man said, advancing with a knife in hands.
“I am family! My friends I know it is a tense day but please, let’s not turn weapons against some poor innocent man who just wanted to visit his cousin!”
“Is this man your cousin?”
”I have never seen anyone like this before! My father had no brothers, what madness are you speaking?”
“Calm down everyone. Look, let me just do this.” he jumped a bit to the side, hiding from the curious eyes of the village, and rose his blouse, revealing some sort of birthmark on his upper arm. It was… just a spot, nothing that felt like the setup for what he had done, but Mavadzugji gasped. “Mother-side, Mavy.”
The hunter who was more than eager to get rid of the spear-wielding weirdo immediately read the priest’s reaction. “Oh come on, I was tasked with bringing one, now I bring three!?”
“Thinking ahead is good, my poaching friend, but you are thinking too far, I have food, if that is what you three needed, let’s move away from this crowd, too many eyes for me to keep track off.”
In a nearby hill, a new camp was set up, this time without a flame, they were still alert, if not paranoid, after the attack.
“So, you, spearman, start with the basics.”
The man nodded. “Basics, hmm, your plan of taking these two through the tunnels was always terrible.” He smiled, and the hunter massaged his temples.
“Aren’t you a jokester?”
“I am Kallum Vascogne. The current head of the Vascogne family. My mother was one of the three princesses of Kivico, so was Mavadzugji’s.”
“Waaaiiittt, what?” Kadja said, shooting her eyes to the priest, who sighed.
”So… I guess she told you?”
“Never met her, but I knew my aunt’s style, when I heard she had a son it was easy to pick out the males who could have been intimate to her. You were an educated guess. Good thing these birthmarks are a pretty dominant trait among the descendants of the royal house. No wonder we don’t have as many bastards as other houses, hehe.”
“Now this is the backstory, I want the context, why did you come to us?” the hunter had no patience anymore, he was too busy thinking over his travel plan.
“Ah, but isn’t it obvious? Didn’t that vile man explain as much? There has been too much talk about this poor little priest around. From what I gathered, started with some border clan that has had historical hate for Mutaraka, and has since spread all the way down here, emotionally binding Mavadzugji to all the raids they have suffered under dusklanders and, of course, a bit of religious zeal, as it has been said this priest wants to erase Elysium from their pantheon when in truth he just wants to say she might be evil or at least uncaring. I heard those rumours, and started to try to find him and help out, after all, he is family.”
“Good story, but you smell weird, familiar weird, have we met before?”
“Oh I am a trader, didn’t I tell? Didn’t you hear my family’s name? Isn’t it easy to guess? I would not be impressed if we crossed paths, and I guess I am the only winemaker around, a quite unique aroma.”
“Yes you are, which adds to my suspicion, wouldn’t your harbour kings prefer you to help them to supply their land instead of doing suboptimal trade with the north?”
“The Vascogne bow to no king… well, we bow to many, but, its all cordiality, we don’t actually work for anyone in particular, just our own wealth.” he smiled. “And you’d be impressed if you saw the sort of deals we can squeeze out places others think are worthless.”
The hunter started pondering for an answer but Kallum was already on the last step of his plan. “Which brings me to my proposal. Let me take Mavadzugji and make a detour, I have a route that smuggles bronze into the dusklands, it will be a much safer walk home than anything in the tribe filled north. Especially if they start to employ rival hunters.”
“What? I am not allowed to turn back and just leave the priest to someone else.”
“You could take the girl, she is not a wanted priest, after all. Way cuter too!”
”Wait, when did I agree to this?”
“Well, wouldn’t you want to travel with some never met before family member? Especially one that is a rich merchant and has a whole lot of writings you might like?” he smiled. “Furthermore, I can break these paths much faster than the hunter over here. And without having to worry about stalkers, we can just use horses.”
There was an awkward silence. “Okay, look.” Kallum started. “Let’s keep moving north a bit more, when we reach the best spot to cross into West Mesathalassa, you make your decision. If you decide to go with the hunter, at least let me also accompany you, so we have more hands to deal with any possible attack on your life.”
The priest gulped, the memory of the club right over his face coming back to his head. Kallum smiled, to others it felt reassuring or playful, but to Mavadzugji, it felt weird, as if despite the fact he stared directly at him, his eyes felt distant.
Somehow, the proposed split did happen, Kallum was just great at playing people’s expectations and needs. Mavadzugji’s fear, the hunter’s worries, these were things he could use. Furthermore, it was clear quite soon he was indeed the priest’s cousin, and to seal the deal, he did a little spar with the hunter, and somehow, despite his body looking untrained, he outwitted the man with ease and grace.
Mavadzugji was excited at first, it was something he always dreamed about, someone close to his mother, perhaps, someone who could tell him more about the harbours… but… As if mocking him, the Vascogne man just kept going on and on about the most trivial of things, about meaningless court drama, he didn’t even know much about the current leaders! The first meaningful conversation came one morning, as they rode their horses through the arid lands near the passage from North to West Mesathalassa.
“That is Tabata.”
”Huh… it's smaller than I thought it was.” he looked down. ”Weird, to visit a place I already have been in, but not remember it.”
“You know what is weird?” Kallum forced a smirk. “Going to some place for the first time and remembering it.” the priest laughed, not noticing it wasn’t exactly a joke.
“Want to visit it, Mavy?”
”Uh, no, we are in a rush and our supplies are fine.”
“Wait, for real?” he showed an expression Mavadzugji had not seen the man make, surprise, and immediately looked off into the horizon while pondering over what he heard. “This… was unexpected. I was sure you would be interested in it, perhaps scout out its walls so you can repeat your dad’s act, eh?” he laughed.
”You assume too much! I have no interest in war.”
Kallum nodded, his mood had changed, now he seemed… interested. Before he always had a hint of bored. “But… well, you do know, that once the clans have to flee south, wars will happen?”
”Didn’t we change course because of the many settlements of dusklanders who seem to already exist? Aren’t they proof we just settle peacefully?”
“Yeah, uh, but they are also proof chieftains wouldn’t be too interested in having opposition to their power. Now, in the north, people don’t care much, you are human or hain, but in the west, things aren’t so clear. Each village has their identity, then the harbor kingdoms have their overbearing cultures, then there is the Eveman and the Imga…”
”Well, if they attack a dusklander settlement, then we might defend ourselves.” he shrugged.
“But what if dusklanders attack them?”
”I want to keep the culture and weave together the loose threads of Dzanya, but, I can tell them to stop, much like I tell the firstlanders to not hunt me, but they might be stupid and not hear me.” he looked at Tabata and its ancient walls over the dusty rocks, thinking back at his father’s takeover. ”They probably would die anyway.”
“And what if they are not? Look at those walls, see how they have layers? Each layer is a failed holder of that fortress. What if they win?”
”Again, it is not my worry.”
“I think it is.” he tried to keep eye contact even if Mavadzugji looked away. “What do you plan to do once you are down in the south?”
”Have finished my writings so the culture can be kept even as we flee, perhaps help Kadja’s village finish that temple…”
“Ah…” he nodded, having already deduced the rest. “So you plan on settling in that village and forming a little theocracy maybe? Like the abbey?”
Mavadzugji’s eyes widened… then he slowly nodded.
“Well, that is a possible path, I can see it, you finish your writings, then move south along with the others, then the other clans would follow your ideas and stay distinct but still exist as they did in the north…. No, with some sort of urban-centred government? Like an early harbour kingdom, or any of the small ones… Hmm... “
”There, isn’t that nice?”
“It presumes a lot of peace and goodwill, it presumes no other coalition of clans like Mutaraka’s won't exist. It presumes no clan leader wants to go on a campaign to unite the tribes, which, mind you, will be natural once you help them to see themselves as one group separated by clans. It presumes the north will stay the same. It presumes no Harbor Kingdom will fall to a dusklander band of refugees… and you say I have too many assumptions.”
He looked at the priest and assessed his reactions, especially, his worry. Kallum smiled. “Though I won’t deny, it could happen, or it couldn’t. From my viewpoint, I think you will at least get to have your little temple in the south… maybe a big temple. Heh, with that trade route going so close nearby, you could get your new society in quite a strategical place. Mixing natural influence with the political influence you are making, you could do a lot. And I mean… a lot. Can you imagine that? Imagine if the man to unite all of the Dzanya was not a warlord but a priest? Tsefo is already guiding the people’s culture, guiding the people is just a question of a small powerplay.”
”That would be a theocracy similar to the one in Mirny, correct?”
“Well, minus the slaves… I hope?”
”Do not even joke about such things, I would never accept it anywhere near a temple. But, onto what you say, I am afraid it is not what I imagine. A centralized religious system like that of Mirny is fit for Harbor Kingdoms and sunlanders, but the temples in the duksland won their independence from the clans, one of the earliest events in our known history are the shamans and holy man stopping the depredation of holy sites by declaring it to be a free zone.”
“Well, I guess there is this angle, that is why the temple doesn’t apply gender distinctions within its members right? You basically become an entirely different sort of person, free from the binding ropes of earthly intrigues.”
”Well… yes, there is a religious reason though, but I do think there is some relation to the functional need… And it worked, that is, until Elysian thought entered the dusklander mind, that religion makes it easy to get tied up with politics, to give favouritism to the rich.”
“I think you misplace your focus, even if you took off the Elysiun, you would still have the fertile grounds where such ideas bloomed, nobles and chieftains want preference.”
”It's a vicious cycle, Kallum, and dealing with one side enables me to deal with the other.”
The merchant looked to his side and pondered, before nodding. “Well, anyway, since we won’t visit Tabata, we might as well try to move deeper into the land before our horses get too tired, could save us some time.”
In enough time, they would reach the rocky shores of the White Sea, or how Mavadzugji called it, Hiriketzur, the silver sea. It was a perfect match to the descriptions he had heard, while the old seas had gentle shores with proper fauna and flora to match, the young silver sea, created by the deluge, was as if the earth had been cut, and the whole coastline was filled with cliffs, dying forests unfit for the coast, and even some roads leading into the sea.
”If I remember the maps right, we are near Puperute?”
“Oh, that village has been gone for a while, razed in the war and never recovered. No, this is just some minor fisherman village.”
The priest blinked, making a second take, the village he was seeing was large… way larger than anything he had seen in his life.
”Minor…?”
“Well, it is influential, but not enough to compete with the harbors, who dwarf it.”
”Dwarf it!?”
Kallum laughed. “Reality shock? The cities are big.”
”I imagined… but that is really big!” he said. ”I mean, Danolyo’s journey’s diary says the harbors aren’t even that big…”
“Oh, compared to the world, that is true. Mesathalassa seems to be a bit behind, I… I mean, my father, has visited a few villages north of the Dusklands, and wow, are they big. He entered this city called Thau, and it was enourmous and wasn’t even the biggest in the region. They had tall temples that made the royal palace of Kivico look like a hut. Hell, their previous king was married to an angel, and the current one is able to perform miracles.”
”Heh, no offence, but it sounds like your father might have exaggerated his tale.”
“I wish he had. But I fear the word out there is big, some scary things out there, you think you can deduce it all from reading, but in practice, it is different. Have its advantages, we are spiky enough to keep the pirates off but not big enough to make them really interested in dying on our shores, but what if someone decided, hey, it’s worth to topple those cute villages, what happens? The deer riders rode up to half the continent and they weren’t even that much of a powerhouse.”
By this point in time, days into the journey, Mavadzugji had already got the idea that the Vascogne merchant was not one to say things without an objective. He was a charming and amicable person, who would rarely say ‘the wrong thing’, and that was perhaps what alerted the priest the most, everything was too direct and it was clear he wanted to hold certain information while sharing others. He did not tell anything about the Harbor Kingdom’s daily life or how the politics worked in practice but seemed to always have an opinion against Mavadzugji’s autocephalous approach to the priesthood.
”I do not think I am in a spot to opine on this. My world has already grown a lot in the period of a year, all that I knew has been shaken up, I will need some time to let these thoughts settle to even consider understanding what you are trying to say.”
Kallum looked down onto him and then rolled his eyes. “Yes, sorry, you are only human after all, but just keep this situation in mind.” he then dismounted and helped Mavadzugji out of his horse. “Get ready for a long boat trip, okay? You dusklanders are accustomed to riverboats, but the ocean is a different beast.”
It seemed the trick of Kallum’s smuggling was simple, instead of using a normal trade barque, he created a boat that looked like it was meant for fishing, partner that with a diurnal journey instead of a sneaky nocturnal trip and you have a crime in plain sight, without the patrolling Harbor Kingdoms ever suspecting the fishing boat was bringing metal up north.
He expected them to stop near Grehvew, but they continued, and this worried Mavadzugji, the oceans near the frontier were said to be wild and dangerous, full of sharp rocks and strong waves, and indeed, they were, but somehow Kallum was able to sail it without a single worry, it was as if he had memorized every single stone pillar and sandbank, it was just absurd.
Next on the trip was a sight he did not expect, as he never had seen it mentioned anywhere, but sharp colourful shapes rose from the ocean, creating a long barrier like strip all the way into the horizon. It was also of his not that they were already in the duskland, as the sky had dimmed, though the transition seemed to be less noticeable this far west compared to the eastern location where he did his first crossing.
Again, with extreme care, Kallum was able to cross through the corals, which Mavadzugji assumed to just be weird rocks, the lack of any other ship whatever made it clear to the priest that what the Vascogne merchant could do was something unique, that no other harbour sailor was able to replicate.
“And here we are.” he stopped his ship in a sandbank in one of the coral islands. Makeshift housing existed here and it was easy to see why, in the centre of the island, nested by rocks and coral, was a natural pool of fresh water. It seemed no one else lived in the island at the moment, but there was space for more than one person in the house nested in a small cave. “Drink and eat as much as you want, we will be too close to the Pantalei once we go up, and if you eat tainted food, you can kiss goodbye to your future.”
”Aren’t the Tsadzami tribes still inhabiting the river?”
“Oh they are, so are the Papurabibi near it, pretty place, but it's too expensive and it takes too long to barter for anything, let’s just soldier through and we will be back in your homeland in no time, okay?”
The priest nodded, and then morning broke, taking with it the high tides, they left, crossing the maze of coral and sand with ease, and finally reaching the gravel shores of the Dusklands. It seemed the whole Djoratsonya river was tainted by the oddlands, but the delta tribes, the Tsadzami, still kept their large towns intact, according to Kallum the magic on the water was still not strong enough to avoid being filtered by the mangrove and waterfalls.
The dealt was left behind as they started to go up the mountains, it was similar to the passage from North Mesathalssa to West Mesathalassa, a path full of valleys, plateaus and large waterfalls, but it was also much gentler and could be crossed directly while the southern passage was a long snaking route, the Cogne was also much larger than the Djoratsonya and was accompanied by smaller rivers while the dusklander river was the only one. Across the path, Mavadzugji was shocked to see how close the colourful oddlands, Pantalei, were. Across the large Djoratsonya, he could the north completely taken over by it, sometimes he would go up a tree and see that it went as far as the horizon. The scariest moment was when it started to appear not north of them, across the river, but in front of them, right before they took a boat south in one of the tributaries of the river that once connected all of the dusklands.
With the boat they took, they entered the Mikahagje, the lake plains, his homeland, though they could not reach Mohavumika by boat. The villages here were had a feeling of dread, and it was easy to see why, the oddlands were advancing south, and once they take over a river, everything goes to hell fast. It was absurd to think half of the lake plains would be gone in a decade or so.
“Well, this is the best spot to stop our boat, we will need to cross some swampland from here to reach the river, but then we will be in Kutonyahar and from there its a short boat trip to deliver the bronze and you.” Kallum laughed.
”This is an odd path, if we kept navigating south there would be way less land to cross.” the priest said.
“Yes, but those lands are harder to cross. You will be impressed, but we will reach the village before Kadja and that weird hunter, despite taking the longer path.”
For a moment Mavadzugji thought about asking Kallum how he knew the lands better than a local like him, but that did not matter, seeing all he had seen, and finally being so close to home again, he felt anxious, but also ready to take it head on, to do all that needed to be done, to take Tsefo and make it into the light of guidance for all the Dzanya.
Lord Zee
Ashh
Frettzo
Vec
