Doing a lot of world building right now, so that was the cause of the delay, my apologies. Decided in the end to let you guys choose which type was more important to know, current or ancient history. That way I only have to struggle with one section right now and can leave the rest for later. Also just a little heads up, unless something major changes, you can expect Vaik to start learning magic in a part or two, but I needed to get some story background stuff out of the way first. Keep with me

.

Previous Part: Part 12

Introduction: Prelude

.

--Vaik's Story - Part Thirteen--

.

It did not seem wise to go out into the city yet. I had seen the suspicion of the gate guard and had no wish to end up in jail. I decided to look around the house a bit until I was settled enough to rest.

The first floor was easy. It seemed that the entire lower floor was nothing but the cots. There were a few occupied, although only one other seemed to have someone who was visibly sick. The third held an old woman who seemed asleep and the fourth had a man with an obvious wrap on his leg to show why he sat there. He nodded at me as I looked his way, but didn't try to strike up a conversation as I walked past.

I did find a storeroom off the left wall, and it was crammed with untold amounts of healing supplies. There was more types of herbs then I had ever seen before and curious implements which I didn't care to guess at their use. Finding nothing of great interest I climbed the stairs on the other wall to the next floor.

A straight hallway greeted me with curtained rooms on either side. Only one curtain was pulled aside and a quick peek inside showed a simple room with a bed and table. It suddenly hit me how tired I was, but I decided to come back later after I finished exploring. There is one last room at the end of the hall, with an actual wooden door, but it's closed and I decide not to open anything closed quite yet, not wanting to be seen as rude.

There is one more stairway as the final room on the right-hand side of the hallway and it was the first truly fascinating thing I found in the building. It was not straight like most stairs, but curved. There was a center post that the stairs went around and I marveled at the skill it would take to make without more visible supports. I climbed up and found a trapdoor at the top. It was locked, but the key was hanging from a slender cord.

I hesitated, but in the end I went ahead and unlocked the hatch, pushing it open with a grunt. It slammed to the floor and I jumped at the loud sound, but nobody reacted and after a moment I got my heart to calm down.

I emerged onto a walled roof. The building was not three stories high as I had thought, but only two, with the last walls surrounding was could only be a garden. Earth boxes lined the walls and neat rows of herbs took up every inch of floor space.

I spent some time up there trying to identify the herbs on some whim, but I was largely unsuccessful. Herbs were womenfolk's lore, and I only knew the few that were useful out in the fields for working with shëdons. In the end I decided that while it was all very green and sweet-smelling, it was not interesting. I went back the the second floor, making sure to lock the hatch behind me. As I turned into the hallway I saw that the wooden door was now opened. The room beyond was large by my standards. Room enough for the bed on one side and a decent sized table on the other. The far wall had a desk pushed against it, piled high with scrolls and even a few bound books.

An old man was seated there, dressed not in robes, but fine cloth with a belted sleeveless tunic of tooled leather. His white hair was long, cut at the shoulder like many men of means. His back was to me as he scribbled with a quill. At the sound of my footsteps he looked over his shoulders at me. A curious piece of metal and glass was over his eyes and I wondered at the purpose.

“Ah lad, you must be Vaik. Come in, come in.” He said in a cheerful voice as he took the metal piece off his face and set it on the table.

I came to the doorway and tried not to look around too obviously. Now that I was past the doorway I saw that the floor was littered with more scrolls and I felt my breath catch. The scrolls were made of woven plant reeds. Only the priest at the temple in my hometown had actual reed paper scrolls. It had to be imported, which my father had said meant it came from a far away land and was expensive. Did this man realize the wealth scattered on his floor?

“Come in lad! I do not bite.” He said as I still hesitated on the threshold. “Vanessa was just telling me of you.”

I entered the room and stood before him, not sure of what he wanted. He grinned at my obvious discomfort.

“The name is Wallace lad.” He said, shaking my hand. “I'm the official cartographer of this place. I also dabble in local history and message writing when the need arises.”

“I'm afraid I don't understand sir.” I said. “What's a cart...o-”

“Cartographer.” He finished for me. “I make maps lad. Maps are the lifeblood of caravans and your literal life out in the desert.”

I felt like the village fool. “What is a map?” I had to ask.

He looked shocked. “You cannot be...but you are! You have never seen a map before?”

I shook my head. With vitality at odds with his age he lept to his feet and grabbed a scroll from the stack on the desk, sending the others tumbling to the floor. Ignoring them he moved to the table where he cleared a space and unrolled the scroll. Taking rocks he weighed the corners down and beckoned me closer.

“Come see lad. You'll understand quick enough.” He instructed.

I looked down at the scroll. It was a mess of wavy lines and tiny pictures. Symbols were scattered in groups with no apparent sense, since I could not read them.

“Do you see?” The old man asked me.

All I could see was a waste of good reed paper. “What is it?” I asked.

He frowned reprovingly. “It's the world lad.” His eyes flicked towards the ceiling in an apologetic manner. “Well as much of the world as fits onto our tiny continent.”

I signed deeply. “I don't mean to be rude sir, but how is this the world? It's just marks on paper.”

He laughed. “Ah, you look but do not see. Here look.” He pointed to a group of symbols that looked like a bunch of houses. “This is where we are lad. The town of Amzrou.” He traced a finger along a wavy line to another larger group of house symbols. He tapped the largest. “This is where I am to understand where you are going. The Terra Ulln.”

I felt a sudden understanding. “These are directions!” I exclaimed.

“Yes...yes that is a odd, yet true way of looking at it.” He said after a moment's thought. “But this is not merely directions to one place, but directions to any place from any place.”

I felt my mouth open in wonder. I thought of the trackers I knew who had spent their whole lives in the wilderness and only knew as much land as it took a man to walk in a week. “Truly anyplace? How did you ever learn to travel it all? Is that why you are so old?” I blurted out without speaking, then blushed.

He laughed again. “I may be old, but not that old lad.” He gestured to the map. “This is the beauty of a map. I have added my own notes to it, but this map has been in the making for untold generations. Every cartographer adds his knowledge until we have whole lands on paper.”

“Whole lands?” I looked at the map thoughtfully. Just how far had I been cast by Euless? “Do you think you have my land here?”

He lit a candle and brought it close. “Here, see if you can find it.”

I looked at the utter mess of symbols and lines. “I wouldn't know where to start.” I admitted.

He played with a lock of hair as he mulled over the problem. Then his eyes lit up. “Would you perhaps know the symbol of your land?”

“Symbol of my land?”

“Yes.” He continued. “For example this is the symbol of a desert bird known as a sand snipe. It represents the lands of the Kolitch. Our warriors paint the symbol on their shields.”

“Oh you mean the symbol of the king?” I replied. “Well we didn't have much to do with the king's soldiers back at home. They only came by once every few years for taxes. But I do recall they had a symbol embroidered on their cloaks.”

“That should be it.” Wallace nodded. “See if you can find it. Here it'll be above and to the right of any town or city symbol and you mentioned a king, which we do not have in the desert. So your land should be near the sea where they deal which such things.”

He pointed to the left side of the map where a good portion was mainly blank with a repeating line that pointed in the middle. I supposed that was the 'sea' and wondered what that was. I carefully looked from symbol to symbol, but didn't find what I was looking for.

“I don't see it here.” I said at last.

He frowned and grabbed another map off his desk. In moments he had it also spread on the table. “Try this one.” He offered.

I once again looked over the new map, marveling at how much stuff there seemed to be to the world, but once again I did not see my symbol. I shook my head. “It's not here either.”

His eyebrows shot up. “Are you from around here lad?”

“I..um...recently traveled a great distance.” I carefully replied. “I'm not sure how far.”

“Hmm...do you by any chance know the name of the city where your king resided?” He asked.

“Yes. It was Havenguard.” I said promptly.

Wallace broke down into a sudden spasm of coughing and I feared for his health. When I tried to pat him on the back he waved me off. “I am okay lad. You merely surprised me with your answer. Hold on a moment.”

He went back to the desk and drew a key out of his tunic. He unlocked a drawer and brought out a bag tightly bound shut. He set it on the table and undid the fastenings. Sprigs of some musky herb fell out and he reverently removed a scroll that was yellowed with deep age. He carefully unrolled it and gestured me closer.

“Come look here. This is the known map of the world.” He told me.

I looked at the map. It was completely different from the others. Instead of a mess of lines and symbols there were large shapes drawn off of each other. I didn't see the marks of towns, but the symbols of the places were all there. Some had a single line scratched through them and a new one inked in next to them. I wondered why although something caught my eye before I could ask.

“There!” I said excitedly as I pointed at a spot near the bottom left.

Wallace drew in a hissing breath. “As I thought. Lad that's across the Morin Sea. If the storms don't sink you the sea monsters will.” His eyes turned towards me in disbelief. “What are you doing all the way here?”

“Is that far?” I asked, unsettled by the intensity of his look.

“This is your country.” He said, pointing to the little shape. Once again he drew a finger over the map to middle-right, where he placed it on another shape. “This is where we are now.”

“But my country looks so much smaller!” I protested, thinking of how large it had seemed to me. “The king ruled the land from the Pel mountains to the Joursin river!”

“It is a big world Vaik. That will give you some perspective as to how large. When using the symbols to show a place, your entire country only takes up that much space on the map when compared to other places.”

“Cor...” I breathed, truly amazed.

“How did you get all the way over here?” He asked.

I knew he would eventually ask and had come up with a decent answer. “It was a failed spell. I was cast all the way to the desert. Fern found me and I am stuck here for now.”

“So you also know magic?” He asked.

I shook my head. “No, although I am going to learn.” I felt a bit of an embellished lie was needed. “The court wizard back home wasn't too good. He was supposed to send me home, and he sent me here.”

The man's eyes widened. “Still, such a powerful man to send you so far. A gift you survived. Elunis truly guides your footsteps.”

“I've heard Fern say that name, who is it?”

The old man blinked. “Why she is the goddess of healing, one of the five creators of our world.”

“Oh gods.” I shrugged. “We had a temple at home, but I rarely saw it. Father always said that if the gods wanted to talk to him they could visit him in the fields where real men tended to work.”

“My lad!” He chuckled. “How can you discount the very beings responsible for the world we walk among! Without Elunis' aid we would not even exist!”

“Really?” I was not particularly religious, but I loved a good story. “I never heard of her before.

He nodded. “Here among the tribes She is the second most important god after the great Stiefnu, who is Father to all things.”

“How many tribes are there and how big is this desert?” I asked.

He sat back down at his desk and put the curious metal piece back on his face. “As I introduced myself I am also a minor historian. You are indeed a stranger in our land. If you like I can tell you the basic history of our land.”

I nodded. “I would like that. It would help me fit in better.”

He chuckled. “You would have to understand our gods as much as our history for that. Here in the desert where the very day may kill you fosters a certain sense of deep religious gratitude.”

“Then tell me about them also!”

Wallace laughed at me. “Goodness lad I don't have time to tell you of both! We would be here far past supper.” He leaned forward. “I'll tell you what, you choose which is more important to you right now and I'll tell you more in the days to come. I can tell you of the creation of the world, or if you like the founding of the tribes. Both are good tales worth telling.”

.

The Voices Start to Whisper...

A) Listen to the Creation of the World...

Listen to the Founding of the Tribes...

Updated 4 April 2012 (19:54)

B, Very interesting....

I will vote tomorrow... sorry but it's long and I need to have some free time and take my time on it..

Great, love it!

B!

Well, I love a good creation story. A

Posted by GarinWell, I love a good creation story. A

Me too!

A!

Me three! A

Great story!!

Haha, thanks! But a vote is more useful to me then praise. Vote!

| \ | _ / | \ |_ /

Updated 6 April 2012 (21:16)

So long as it's not the Din Farore, Nayru story I have to sit through every time I play OoT I'm all for the creation of worlds. so A... but so help me Scrazzy if this man turns into a tree and starts ranting about three golden goddesses...

Posted by Etherlord's Axe| | _ /| |_ /

O_O hahAAhahahaaaa... no way......

Posted by IoannaO_O hahAAhahahaaaa... no way......

What does it mean?

I think he's playing that his axe 'cut' a "B" into the forum board, which is defacement of elvish property and probably prosecutable under most laws...

Posted by Szczepan the RedI think he's playing that his axe 'cut' a "B" into the forum board, which is defacement of elvish property and probably prosecutable under most laws...

I have nothing to do with this.

Posted by SermarkusWhat does it mean?

It means That Etherlord's axe has its own will and created an account to Rivendell!!!

Updated 7 April 2012 (10:50)

Posted by IoannaIt means That Etherlord's axe has its own will and created an account to Rivendell!!!

It probably used some lumberjack for this.

A