--Somnifolium
Saturday, November 30, 2013
Friday, January 18, 2013
Meurig
The Tradeheights is no ordinary place. The miles coastline,
most of it a sheer drop to the rocky, crashing sea below, was home to a string
of towns and villages which had grown like weeds along the coast when Meurig Sheerwind
was growing up. Friendly trade began just a few years before he was born into
this world, trade to a place to the south that he hadd heard countless tales
of: Firalia. Trade with Firalia changed the pace of life on the Tradeheights,
and even deeper into this continent that the Firalians called Lyor (Meurig only
called it home, however). Thousands moved here, and it became a town where most
of the residents only dreamed of a little bit of gold in their paws.
It was this atmosphere that he grew up in and became
adapted to. No one race dominated Tradeheights, there were owlcats like Meurig,
creatures of the deep woods like the red squirrel tribesmen and the ferrets,
strange lizards from Firalia, all types of griffins, dogbats, exotic
sandy-coated foxes… All here for one purpose: to earn gold, silver and jewels
in the trade of goods. Some were less reputable than others, but issues more
serious than drunken brawls were almost unheard of.
The cliffs were steep , but trade was possible thanks to
small boats that ran from the cliffs to the ships, and the hand-pulled boxes that carried goods and creatures
up to the clifftops. Meurig’s family ran a tavern in the town of Valyx
providing him with a view of the creatures that passed through, from sailors
and traders to mages and crafters. By the time Meurig reached his 17th
year, he thought he’d seen it all. But he was wrong.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
The start of Kai's expedition...
The morning chill made Kaiser
reluctant to leave his bed, but with Ina’s son and Irek in mind, he eventually
crawled out. Kai crept carefully past the sleeping bodies of his siblings and
snuck past his parents room. He told them he would be out with Irek today
helping him out, but his parents had inquired much more beyond that so he
didn’t feel the need to worry them with details. He grabbed a shirt, his belt,
some breakfast, and as an afterthought he grabbed the knife that usually sat in
a drawer by the door. He could see the eastern horizon just starting to lighten
with a pink glow. Kai hastened his pace into a bouncy lope as he left his
crowded house behind and descended into the sleeping village.
In front of the shop he saw smoke
rising from the chimney and a light
inside. He entered softly, the place was lit up from the fireplace and Ina had
hot berry tea and biscuits for them. Irek was sitting by the fireplace with
Boer (a fellow farmer) and Ria, Irek’s daughter and apprentice.
Boer, Ria & Irek |
“And not a second too late, my lad!”
Boer greeted him cheerily as Kai accepted the tea and biscuit from Ina.
Irek and Ria nodded at him and he
smiled back before munching on the food.
“Ina was just telling us exactly
what her boy was doing on this trip!” Boer announced.
Ina nodded and sat down with her own
cup of tea, “Yes, he was going to Ourning and Estel villages to buy some items
we needed to restock, but he never returned. He should’ve been back four days
ago!”
Boer nodded, “You know, he probably
just got stuck chasing after a girl or something, but I’ll go cause I can see
how worried y’are.”
With warm bellies the four of them
departed, leaving Ina wringing her paws in her skirt as the sun just barely
crested the horizon.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
A trip to the village...
It was late summer in the Moonflats,
just turning into autumn. Golden hues were beginning to stand out, and the heat
of the sun became a warm glow, competing for space in the sky with the gray
clouds. Kaiser was on his way to the
village to visit the little store. His mother and sisters had given him a list
of things they wanted, filled his pocket with copper pieces, and sent him off.
Kai didn’t mind though, he could visit his friends in the village and hear the
news from other villages, which was always interesting. With a little wooden
cart behind him, Kai loped into the village at a moderate pace, enjoying the
wind in his antlers and the stone beneath his paws.
The village was nestled between 2
hills where a stream ran through. There were houses, most of which also doubled
as shops, for those who lived in the village were usually crafters of some
sort. Some were bakers, others made tools, baskets, clothing, etc. It was a
modest sized village, big enough to allow Kai’s family to focus exclusively on
farming while getting everything else they needed from the village. Kai went past
the home of the Grasspaw’s, the Yellowtree’s, the Brontiers, and many others
before reaching the heart of the village, where the general store was. He left his little cart outside, dusted off
his paws, straightened his back and entered the little shop.
Inside was quiet, nothing unusual
for Velvelin. He looked around for Ina the shopkeeper but the little jackalope
was nowhere to be seen. He picked down the aisles, grabbing this and that. He
eventually meandered towards the back of the shop where he heard harsh whispers
from a small office room.
“Are you sure he just didn’t get
caught in some bad weather?” A males voice was saying.
“Yes, I’m sure. Tren is never this
late, and isn’t afraid of bad weather. I’d heard rumors before I sent him off
but I didn’t pay them any mind…” This voice sounded like Ina’s, a frail old
jackalope.
“Rumors?”
“Yes, about trouble in Jurness. I didn’t
pay them any mind though, you know how traders do like to embellish their
tales. But now…”
“Ina, you mustn’t be afraid. I can
take a few good jackalopes with me tomorrow and head out there to search for
him, if you’d like…”
“Oh Irek, would you? I’m worried
sick, I can barely work and I feel it in my bones that something awful is going
on.” Ina sounded close to tears by this point. Kaiser was completely caught up
in his eavesdropping by now and was surprised to hear that she was talking to
Irek. Irek was Velvelins unofficial leader, everyone turned to him when
problems arose in the village. He was a full-grown jackalope, dusky gray pelt
and huge antlers. He’d seen more than thirty winters and had traveled all the
Moonflats in his youth as a trader, but eventually settled back down in
Velvelin as a blacksmith.
Kai’s arms had begun to ache from
holding so many things and he decided he needed to pay. He coughed and knocked
on the frame of the doorway. Teary-eyed Ina looked up, “Kai, my dear, I didn’t
hear you come in!”
“Hello Ina, and Irek. How do you
do?” Kai put on a charming smile.
Irek nodded and Ina stood, “I’m
fine, although, I don’t know if you overheard… but Tren hasn’t come back from
Ourning and Estel villages, and he was due back a week ago with new goods.”
“I’m very sorry to hear that,
Ma’am.” Kai bowed his head and held out his arm to help her walk to the front
desk where she kept her coin-case and notes. “Did I hear something about a
search?” Kai glanced at Irek.
Irek stood from his seat and
followed them, “Yes. I’m going to head out tomorrow. I don’t suppose your
family could spare you for a few days?”
Kai had to suppress an overeager
twitch of his tail as he nodded, “Of course, we shouldn’t be harvesting for
another week, I think. I’d love to come help!” Although Kai loved his life on
the farm, it was a rare treat to travel around and an even rarer treat to spend
time in the company of Irek.
Irek nodded, his great antlers
swinging slowly. Ina sniffled and thanked them as Kai paid and left.
“Before sunrise, Kaiser!” Irek
shouted after him as Kai sped back up towards the house with the now-full cart.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Kaiser of the Moonflats: An Introduction
He never wanted to be a hero, or a
warrior, nor did he ever think that he would ever wield a sword. Kaiser Silverpoint
would have been content to live the life his parents had, and their parents
before them. They were farmers, gatherers, and occasionally, traders. He lived
in the Moonflats, a land of meadows, gentle hills, flat prairie and sparse
forest. Quiet streams wound their way lazily through in some areas, and swamps
lived in some of the lowest places. This was the homeland of the jackalopes. They
grew vegetables, grains, and some hardy fruit, they picked berries and nuts, made
goods; baskets, cloth, carts, pottery. Their lives were busy, but peaceful.
The Moonflats was dotted with
villages which were connected by generations-old paths. Kai (as he was called
by everyone) lived in Velvelin, towards the center of the Moonflats. There, he
resided in his family’s ancient house with his parents and siblings, nieces,
nephews, uncles, aunts. They all shared in that life, a growing prosperous
people with a love of life and food and craft. That world was soon gone, in
place of a frightening life of war and fighting. Kai hung up his farm tools in
favor of a sword. He never wanted this.
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