Tag: Fiction

  • Prelude to a discovery

    Prelude to a discovery

    The recent empowerment of cantrips sparked the greatest interest in the Font of Two Paths out in Western Kin. This place is holy, clearly something unnatural creates the Everflow. Each day a new group shows up in worship, or to search the lands for a clue as to why this Awakening occurred.

    A generation ago Telse was just a merchant town that connected upcountry villages to the great port city-states of Mira and Qin. Now it is overwhelmed with newbs. They are taxing the ability of the town to feed everyone. The villages in the area cannot provide enough. Food is now being brought into the area by barge.

    Formerly a pastoral town and region Telse is the new frontier. Cultures are mixing in ways that are unexpected. Due to Telse’s history as a faith retreat and shipping region the language is commonly known, but new tongues enter the town constantly. Outside the walls, which enclose the Font, there are districts of the Five Kingdoms, as well as the guilds, clans, tribes, faiths and ways. They have their normal conflicts and worries, but in much closer proximity.

    The town guard and militia are overwhelmed. When dustups between the ghettos flare to a great enough level they are ignored. Violence, robbery, assassination, forced conversion, slave trading and other evils disgust the people whose families called Telse home for generations.

    Mayor Kellamon (Halfling) is losing control. His guard is needed to have some semblance of peace.

    He formulates an idea. Find the greatest scholar in all of Kin. Find the Lorebook. Use its immense power to set things back to normal. Rid the outsiders from Telse. The last Mayor tried creating a rumor that the Lorebook was in Aszel, held by the Emperor. Adventurers ran off to Aszel to take the Book. They were slaughtered or enslaved. Aszel stepped up its involvement in Telse-ian affairs and Kellamon because mayor by freeing a significant number of slaves. Prior to that he was a shepherd with three dogs and even earlier he had a dark past.

    Mayor Kellamon gathered a group of about twenty at the base of the Everflow Falls. He stands on a dias that preachers typically use. At his side are Captain Piyu, Corporal Allison, Elder Sealm and Bishop of Quar Ollium. Nils is in the rear with a doubtful scowl on his face.

    His amplified voice booms over the selectees and the other crowds.
    “Thank you for coming. Telse is changing. It is not the simple place of pleasure and pilgrims, but now boom town. After the various wars and quests of the Awakening, Telse doubled in size. I am trying to get a handle on things here, and am getting help. Bishop Ollium is working with other faiths about shared access to the Font of Two Paths, this should go a long way to soothing the needs of the religious. Piyu and Allison are continuing their efforts to train the guard and militia, as well as leading an effort to build a new wall. The towers are helping provide early warnings about those that would raid our lands.

    “These, here before us are on a different mission. They are to search for the Lorebook. If our small village is to become a city, we must know the cause. Maybe then Telse can use the knowledge to build something great together, rather than have outsiders define our future.

    “Piyu and I talked with all, and have grouped them together. They are not criminals beings sent on a fools errand as Mayor Benson sent those souls to Aszel.  Some will stay behind to reinforce others that near success.

    “You, you, those two, that one, her and her see Elder Sealm when we are done.”
    A fight breaks out between two of that group. A sergeant of the guard and his squad pull apart a Halfling and Goliath about to go at it. They are taken to the overcrowded town jail.

    With a broad gesture, “those to my right see the Bishop. Those to my left will talk to Allison. Piyu will join you after he  jails the idiots. Thank you for volunteering.”

    Kellamon walks away followed by his three herd dogs. Nils starts climbing the Cliffs of the Everflow.

    Sealm’s advice for the group is simple. Do not assume the myths are lies. Go West, away from troubled times, because what scholar would seek violence while trying to learn? He hands Aamar a smooth stone and indicates the group should leave on the western trail to the Cliffs of Gallinor and Dakhan Thaeeb.

    Samul, Shonie, Saffron, Behn and Aamar lack direction, but not hopes. They have their own reasons for participating in this foolish errand. Heading through the boom town and its multitude of neighborhoods with their menagerie they do not get odd looks, except for Samul due to the rare iguana and Aamar’s bear cub.

    The mostly Halfling group does not have a pack mastiff, so they purchase a mule to carry supplies on their journey. They head to the western gate. They look to the hills of the Western Wildes not knowing what their future is.

  • Chasing Piyu

    Chasing Piyu

    Finding this one was going to be trouble. The rough lands towards Telse along the Bell’an Range is a good place to hide. Getting into the unclaimed hills is a way to avoid the Crinth-Aszel war and, probably more importantly, a way to find evade capture. Some rush to the front, where the number of Aszel soldiers and their dogs make hiding harder. But, those that rush to the front also stand a chance of finding their tribe.

    Piyu took the other route towards sharp crags, forests, brambles, and streams. The goliath’s massive frames make hiding hard, in the Range and Upper Telse there is hope.

    Kellamon does not care for Piyu’s hope. He doesn’t care for his ability to hide. This hunt already cost him Latarza. It wasn’t even violence, just a horrendous accident away from any help. A stupidly rushed river crossing so as to not lose the scent. Lat had the lead, a little slip and Bastos’ littermate is gone.

    Pain had ripped through Kell. A companion of several years torn from his little pack. Losing the food, other traveling goods and time meant little. Latarza is gone. He was a damn fine dog. He’s gone.

    That was two days ago.

    Now Bastos cannot find the scent. There’s a narrow path, and it is likely that Piyu followed it. An abandoned homestead sits off to the west. Recent rains weigh down tall grasses, they may be some kind of grain gone wild.

    A shadow passes over Kellamon as he’s bent to the ground inspecting trail sign. He glances to the sky and sees a massive eagle. It is circling. Bastos is several dozen feet away, and could be the center of that circle. Kell gave the whistle for come. Losing a second dog just trying to catch an escapee would be foolish.

    The wingspan and that grand beast could cover a cloud. As it drifts off away, Kell wonders about the kind of place he’s in where a bird that large would be free. Kell, also thanked As that Piyu’s bond is just a heron. Piyu wouldn’t run out of food, but there’s nothing to scare Kell and Bastos. Impracticality would be Piyu’s downfall.

    Dark clouds roll overhead, chasing the giant eagle to the mountains. The storm would be massive. Since the escaping goliath’s trail had stopped here recently, the abandoned shed could be shelter again. He’d lose little time to this soon-to-rage storm. Piyu could try to keep running, but these rains would slow him, the winds would threaten his bird.

    Another night with no fire, but at least he’d be warm with Bastos curled next to him. Dinner is nuts, tack bread and some dried roots paired with a bit of fresh water. It was the best night of the chase, even if both he and Bastos were lonely.

    Maybe tomorrow he’d catch Piyu or that damn bird. One would lead to the other. Maybe tomorrow he could start a journey home and grieve properly. For now, he could sleep. Tomorrow he’d recapture the massive goliath.