Post by EW Tulkas on Mar 27, 2015 16:01:02 GMT
Theseus was not aware of the late hour. Ever since he inherited the responsibilities of commanding the exile guild, he did not sleep much. It was about 3 hours before sunrise, but the question whether the old wizard was awake or not did not cross his mind.
He left his quarters and went down the stairs to the yard. A couple of patrolmen snapped into attention as they noticed him and he gave them a quick nod and continued towards the tower. The night winds at this time of year burned the flesh, so he quickened his pace.
A fifteen minutes walk brought him to the tower that stood on the eastern part of their city. He knocked on the door and waited. A very annoyed and stumpy looking creature opened the door, making no sound, saying no word. The creature just held up a candle and started climbing the stairs. Theseus closed the door and followed ‘another one of gin’s familiars’ he thought, ‘How long until he tires of it and sends it back to wherever the hell it came from?’
After climbing the spiraling stairs for a couple of minutes he entered the wizard’s room. Gin was engrossed in a book and did not seem to notice the paladin as he sat down at the table and placed some tattered old scrolls on it. ‘what can you tell me about these, gin?’
The wizard did not give any hint that he noticed the commander, but Theseus waited patiently. Gin’s eyes ran fast on the words in the book he was reading. He finished a page, closed it and then averted his attention to the scrolls.
“Ah these, yes, they’re commonly referred to as 'The Scrolls of the Damned'. Someone found them in the city of the dead near Harata some years ago. Not much is known about them since the language is dead, but small parts of it have been translated before. Most of it speaks of the unfortunate souls that were trapped in Necropolis. Some words I recognize. ‘Sa’ means ‘son of’. Other words are just ranks like general, servant, soldier and so on .”
The fallen paladin listened as gin went on to translate every word he knew. It all seemed of very little consequence, until something the wizard said raised his attention. ‘What was that?’ he interrupted the wizard. Gin seemed annoyed having to repeat himself “’Kemet’, it means ‘the black lands’”.
‘Kemet, the black land’ the paladin repeated. ‘I’ve heard of this before, when I was in Harata. These black lands are supposed to be beyond the great desert Barren, desolate, there isn’t anything there, so why are they mentioned in old scrolls in a dead city?’
Finally the wizard’s attention seemed to shift to the subject at hand. ‘I will see what I can find out. Give me a few hours.’
Theseus was fast asleep when Gin burst into his chambers. The fallen paladin was never fast at waking up. Gin however did not allow him a moment of reprieve and started talking straight away. ‘Almost a 1,000 years ago there was a tribe of very able smiths, not very far from our city. They traded with the towns for centuries.’ Theseus forced himself to listen as Gin continued. ‘It was the beginning of the first war between the people of the towns and the elves from the Underdark. It came to the attention of the General of Fer that the smiths traded weapons to the Elves. So as a punishment, they mounted an attack on their village, killing most of the men and exiling the rest. They did not find shelter at the Underdark, nor with the mountain dwarves. The land to the west was too dangerous so the fled to Harata. In those days however, the portal was very active and the three towns were in alliance with Harata, so the smiths were not accepted there either. They roamed the great desert and their traces disappeared in the black lands.
The commander sat up. ‘GUARD’ he yelled. A moment later there was a guard at the door standing in attention. ‘Call the master of spies’. The guard hurried off, while Gin was making himself comfortable. There was never any alcohol in the commander’s chamber, so he brought a bottle with him. He grabbed one glass from the table and sat down on one of the couches. He didn’t bother offering any to Theseus, he never participated. A few glasses later Arach showed at the door, shirtless and dirty, with some fresh open cut wounds on his chest. Theseus filled him in while the wizard offered him some wine. Arach drank from the bottle, much to Gin's disgust. ‘I want you to handle this personally. Take whoever you need with you, find these people. You have my full authority to establish any negotiations with them and to seal any alliance or deals you find worthy’.
Arach saluted, shot a nod to Gin and said ‘I’ll take two of the goblins with me, they’re funny.’
Gin closed to door behind him and muttered 'how can a bard be so crude'.
‘Where are we going?’ asked Sue, his tiny feet moving fast to keep up with Arach’s long strides. ‘To the great desert, so you won’t need that fur’.
‘POW’ jumped the other Goblin.
Five weeks later, Arach led five young men back into the exile city. As soon as they entered, the goblins ran off to their business without saying a word. Arach turned to the five ‘go grab something to eat and drink in the tavern, tell them it’s on me. Don’t worry, they’ll believe you, no one here would be stupid enough to use my name without my knowledge. I’ll speak to our commander meanwhile and he’ll call you.’ The five laughed loudly and went to the direction he pointed to. Arach did not bother to clean himself and went straight to Theseus’ chamber. It was time for dinner and the commander would probably eat alone in his quarters. He entered his room and saw the paladin eating a ham while studying a map. At the sight of the bard Theseus wiped his hands, rose and gave him a hug. He ordered the guard outside his door to bring more food and they both sat down. ‘So tell me, what happened?’
‘It was just like Gin said. We found the black lands, and let me tell you, they're is definitely worthy of the name. The ground is dark, almost nothing grows there. Even the wild beasts of the desert do not venture there because there’s just nothing there. We had supplies for 7 days, so we figured we’d walk 4 days into the heart of this land, and head back if we don’t find anything. Sure enough we couldn’t find any water or game along the way. For three days we walked and we almost decided to turn back when one of the goblins discovered some faint tracks. It was so fucking hard to see anything on that black ground. We followed the tracks for a couple of hours until we found their village. They had no guards because no one ever made it to their village. They panicked when they saw us, but soon calmed down. I sat with their elder and they told me their story about being exiled and, in turn, I explained about our purpose there'.
Theseus listened intently as Arach recalled everything.
'They would have nothing of us though. They’re old and scared and they enjoy their solitude and do not wish to break it. During dinner though, they told everyone about us and several of the young men got very curious. They are raised on this story, you see? About the towns that turned on them and exiled them, about better lands. Five of them came with me. They’re here now, at the tavern. Waiting to join our ranks.’
The paladin thought in silence for a few moments. ‘do they still make weapons? Have they kept their old trade?’
‘They have no one to trade with, and have no use for the weapons themselves.’ Answered the bard. ‘They’re hunters, and very skilled at that, but I did see rooms filled with perfectly preserved antiques and piles of books about the making of weapons. Many of them still study the books. They do not make a practice of it though.’
‘I see. Well, soon they will have us to trade with. We will bring what we can from there and let these people rebuild their trade here. In the meantime, let’s take a look at the boys who came with you’
About an hour later Arach entered Theseus’ chamber followed by five young men. He saluted and was saluted back. ‘Sir’ he said ‘allow me to introduce these young men’
The paladin’s eyes examined each of them as Arach said their names: Djin, Raoul, Erebus, Ecoban, Saito.
‘They are the sons of the black land, the Kemet’Sa’.
He left his quarters and went down the stairs to the yard. A couple of patrolmen snapped into attention as they noticed him and he gave them a quick nod and continued towards the tower. The night winds at this time of year burned the flesh, so he quickened his pace.
A fifteen minutes walk brought him to the tower that stood on the eastern part of their city. He knocked on the door and waited. A very annoyed and stumpy looking creature opened the door, making no sound, saying no word. The creature just held up a candle and started climbing the stairs. Theseus closed the door and followed ‘another one of gin’s familiars’ he thought, ‘How long until he tires of it and sends it back to wherever the hell it came from?’
After climbing the spiraling stairs for a couple of minutes he entered the wizard’s room. Gin was engrossed in a book and did not seem to notice the paladin as he sat down at the table and placed some tattered old scrolls on it. ‘what can you tell me about these, gin?’
The wizard did not give any hint that he noticed the commander, but Theseus waited patiently. Gin’s eyes ran fast on the words in the book he was reading. He finished a page, closed it and then averted his attention to the scrolls.
“Ah these, yes, they’re commonly referred to as 'The Scrolls of the Damned'. Someone found them in the city of the dead near Harata some years ago. Not much is known about them since the language is dead, but small parts of it have been translated before. Most of it speaks of the unfortunate souls that were trapped in Necropolis. Some words I recognize. ‘Sa’ means ‘son of’. Other words are just ranks like general, servant, soldier and so on .”
The fallen paladin listened as gin went on to translate every word he knew. It all seemed of very little consequence, until something the wizard said raised his attention. ‘What was that?’ he interrupted the wizard. Gin seemed annoyed having to repeat himself “’Kemet’, it means ‘the black lands’”.
‘Kemet, the black land’ the paladin repeated. ‘I’ve heard of this before, when I was in Harata. These black lands are supposed to be beyond the great desert Barren, desolate, there isn’t anything there, so why are they mentioned in old scrolls in a dead city?’
Finally the wizard’s attention seemed to shift to the subject at hand. ‘I will see what I can find out. Give me a few hours.’
Theseus was fast asleep when Gin burst into his chambers. The fallen paladin was never fast at waking up. Gin however did not allow him a moment of reprieve and started talking straight away. ‘Almost a 1,000 years ago there was a tribe of very able smiths, not very far from our city. They traded with the towns for centuries.’ Theseus forced himself to listen as Gin continued. ‘It was the beginning of the first war between the people of the towns and the elves from the Underdark. It came to the attention of the General of Fer that the smiths traded weapons to the Elves. So as a punishment, they mounted an attack on their village, killing most of the men and exiling the rest. They did not find shelter at the Underdark, nor with the mountain dwarves. The land to the west was too dangerous so the fled to Harata. In those days however, the portal was very active and the three towns were in alliance with Harata, so the smiths were not accepted there either. They roamed the great desert and their traces disappeared in the black lands.
The commander sat up. ‘GUARD’ he yelled. A moment later there was a guard at the door standing in attention. ‘Call the master of spies’. The guard hurried off, while Gin was making himself comfortable. There was never any alcohol in the commander’s chamber, so he brought a bottle with him. He grabbed one glass from the table and sat down on one of the couches. He didn’t bother offering any to Theseus, he never participated. A few glasses later Arach showed at the door, shirtless and dirty, with some fresh open cut wounds on his chest. Theseus filled him in while the wizard offered him some wine. Arach drank from the bottle, much to Gin's disgust. ‘I want you to handle this personally. Take whoever you need with you, find these people. You have my full authority to establish any negotiations with them and to seal any alliance or deals you find worthy’.
Arach saluted, shot a nod to Gin and said ‘I’ll take two of the goblins with me, they’re funny.’
Gin closed to door behind him and muttered 'how can a bard be so crude'.
‘Where are we going?’ asked Sue, his tiny feet moving fast to keep up with Arach’s long strides. ‘To the great desert, so you won’t need that fur’.
‘POW’ jumped the other Goblin.
Five weeks later, Arach led five young men back into the exile city. As soon as they entered, the goblins ran off to their business without saying a word. Arach turned to the five ‘go grab something to eat and drink in the tavern, tell them it’s on me. Don’t worry, they’ll believe you, no one here would be stupid enough to use my name without my knowledge. I’ll speak to our commander meanwhile and he’ll call you.’ The five laughed loudly and went to the direction he pointed to. Arach did not bother to clean himself and went straight to Theseus’ chamber. It was time for dinner and the commander would probably eat alone in his quarters. He entered his room and saw the paladin eating a ham while studying a map. At the sight of the bard Theseus wiped his hands, rose and gave him a hug. He ordered the guard outside his door to bring more food and they both sat down. ‘So tell me, what happened?’
‘It was just like Gin said. We found the black lands, and let me tell you, they're is definitely worthy of the name. The ground is dark, almost nothing grows there. Even the wild beasts of the desert do not venture there because there’s just nothing there. We had supplies for 7 days, so we figured we’d walk 4 days into the heart of this land, and head back if we don’t find anything. Sure enough we couldn’t find any water or game along the way. For three days we walked and we almost decided to turn back when one of the goblins discovered some faint tracks. It was so fucking hard to see anything on that black ground. We followed the tracks for a couple of hours until we found their village. They had no guards because no one ever made it to their village. They panicked when they saw us, but soon calmed down. I sat with their elder and they told me their story about being exiled and, in turn, I explained about our purpose there'.
Theseus listened intently as Arach recalled everything.
'They would have nothing of us though. They’re old and scared and they enjoy their solitude and do not wish to break it. During dinner though, they told everyone about us and several of the young men got very curious. They are raised on this story, you see? About the towns that turned on them and exiled them, about better lands. Five of them came with me. They’re here now, at the tavern. Waiting to join our ranks.’
The paladin thought in silence for a few moments. ‘do they still make weapons? Have they kept their old trade?’
‘They have no one to trade with, and have no use for the weapons themselves.’ Answered the bard. ‘They’re hunters, and very skilled at that, but I did see rooms filled with perfectly preserved antiques and piles of books about the making of weapons. Many of them still study the books. They do not make a practice of it though.’
‘I see. Well, soon they will have us to trade with. We will bring what we can from there and let these people rebuild their trade here. In the meantime, let’s take a look at the boys who came with you’
About an hour later Arach entered Theseus’ chamber followed by five young men. He saluted and was saluted back. ‘Sir’ he said ‘allow me to introduce these young men’
The paladin’s eyes examined each of them as Arach said their names: Djin, Raoul, Erebus, Ecoban, Saito.
‘They are the sons of the black land, the Kemet’Sa’.
