The crowd floated in no preordained direction; nameless faces tossed about in a turbulent and ever-changing sea. Today, Onion took a measure of comfort from the anonymity but remained at high alert, knowing that the jaguar always took one in the herd of painted rams.
Caravans and their wagons coalesced on the edge of the shanty town and that is where Gregor and Onion made their way. Groups of wéhkàu, great creamy white and brown, leathery bovines with ivory tusks jutting out from their jaws waited patiently by the ceder wrought carts the Soa peoples used to travel from their highland homes to the city periphery to trade. Native to the central plains, the wéhkàu were the only beasts of Eirdred province that could survive in either the lowlands of the coast or the high plateaus in the west while dragging along a family and their cart. They did not thrive in the Soan highlands, but thanks to their use in travel the Soa were rarely seen without them.
The wéhkàu dragged flat beds of hard woven straw on top of the four wheeled wagons lay exposed as their owners loaded up goods and children for the return ride, but thick sheets of wool adorned with long bell chimes awaited to be hoisted upon the square cart frames.
Onion had never seen the high desert dwelling Eirdren folk before, and had she lived in Eirdred City for 10 years she still might not have met one. Gregor, on the other hand, who had made the trip to Heilth and back several times in recent years, often had the opportunity to learn more about the peoples of the lands he traversed. That the peoples of the western part of the province were called Eirdren, citizens under the Red, held not the slightest significance to the thick bodied, leather-faced Soa. Their coarse, black wool hair, worn long and free, flat noses and black, epicanthic folded eyes held little in common Eirdren kindred. Their customs and tongue held even less in common.
Those who followed the paths of the migrating Soa, merchants and travelers headed to Heilth via the way-point Eora Swou, or Runner's Cross, at the crossroads of Soa territory, at the edge of the Chau'chàr desert. Most traveled in their own parties, avoiding the few Soa caravans that left the their homes to sell to lowlanders. They made their own preparations.
Eirdren merchants haggled with small time mercenaries and former GuardHands, trying to secure their products to the next town as cheaply as possible. Lone travelers and small families in turn haggled with the merchants, or if they were very desperate, with the Soa themselves, trying to seek the benefit of protected passage without the price tag of hired muscle.
Gregor and Onion passed a man, pleading with a gem dealer to afford a slot for his sick son and himself with an Eirdren caravan. The man's eyes told Onion that there wasn't much money to spare, and his cause was dire, but the dealer's visage was rock solid. There was no mercy in her eyes.
But not every interaction was doomed to failure. Another man was engaged in negotiations with a flax merchant not far off. The golden face of the old Scholar Emperor Maglen, known as The Merchant, exchanged hands and both men reached for the left shoulder of the other, signaling that a deal had been struck.
Onion was guided further out to the Soa caravans. Here, Eirdren were not to be seen save a few; the destitute and ill who needed to travel but would not be taken in by their countrymen. They passed a couple of Soa wagons, bustling with activity. Gregor had learned a few words in the tongue Sóa'ràu but the tonal language baffled him past light conversation. He doled out greetings to some of the older women who sat, piecing together baskets of flax and wool while they waited. At the sight of the blond man singing their tongue, they flashed a smile rarely shown to outsiders. They responded in kind, shín'shìr, peace and blessings, not once closing their lips on a word. For this reason, Gregor later told Onion, throughout the empire the Soa are known as the people of the open mouth.
"You will travel among these people," Gregor began, "When you leave at nightfall, you will no longer be Vren, you will be Gael, the leper, and you will be traveling with your brother, Leon to seek healing at the University on High.
Be careful. They will not mourn you if you fall behind. They will find no pleasure should trouble befall you, or should you be mugged or raped. But nor will they make much concern. You and Cedric are to stick as closely to them as they will allow, since that is the only way to ward off those who would do you harm."
"Széetù hau" nodded the huge, gruff Soa, as he caught the coin satchel Gregor tossed to him. The man whose wild black beard covered nearly all of his thick torso, offered a wide grin of stout yellow teeth to Onion, who could only begin to wonder where the winds were going to carry her spider next.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Chapter 5 - Part VI
Nonetheless, Onion felt her heart constrict momentarily as he folds of her linen skirts were examined by prodding hands. That those hands took liberties with the exploration of her body barely registered in her mind. Not many Nü traveled the inner parts of the continent. It would not take much for one of the GuardHands to have heard the recent news...
And before she could take those thoughts to their natural conclusions, Onion was shoved along forward. She glanced back in time to see Gregor also routinely and personally violated, but the shaggy blonde man seemed to pay no heed. They had made it outside of the city with little incident. That was all that mattered.
On the other side of the massive sandstone walls was another world entirely. In a matter of the 25 feet that were the thickness of the fortifications, cosmopolitan life had died out entirely, though the handiwork of humans was not lacking. In the distance, ancient and temperate plainslands rolled out from the coastal oak wood forests located to the north and south of the city. In the vicinity most of the plainslands had been converted to kingdoms of millet, maize and hemp monocultures. Further north Onion could make out the Rein Peaks as a hazy purple backdrop, whereas further west the vague hints of the Ghetan Buttes could be seen.
At the entrance of Eirdred City, however, amassed a conglomeration of canvas covered wagons, tents of various shapes and sizes, and a few outcroppings of lodges and taverns that served at the shanty town's lone permanent structures; the sole needs of a town of transients and day laborers.
The odors of fresh, wet clay could be experienced fro the nearby clay pits that dotted the riverbed. Not far off the sounds of steel against rock emanating from the sandstone quarries orchestrated the ambiance of the day.
The town had no name, and could barely be considered a settlement. It served to support the men and women working daily in the native industries of soil, rock and clay, but over time the outpost had also become a meeting place for the myriad of peoples traveling to and from the city. Onion recalled a mere week ago when she and her party of kinsmen first collected the nervous and twitching Cedric in that nameless tavern, face drowning in a mug of cheap mead.
Today's atmosphere was a little different. Families and merchants gathered traveling companions and goods, preparing to make journeys north, south or west. Others arrived from the west, road weary and occasionally bearing the cute, bruises and emotional scars of the highway.
And before she could take those thoughts to their natural conclusions, Onion was shoved along forward. She glanced back in time to see Gregor also routinely and personally violated, but the shaggy blonde man seemed to pay no heed. They had made it outside of the city with little incident. That was all that mattered.
On the other side of the massive sandstone walls was another world entirely. In a matter of the 25 feet that were the thickness of the fortifications, cosmopolitan life had died out entirely, though the handiwork of humans was not lacking. In the distance, ancient and temperate plainslands rolled out from the coastal oak wood forests located to the north and south of the city. In the vicinity most of the plainslands had been converted to kingdoms of millet, maize and hemp monocultures. Further north Onion could make out the Rein Peaks as a hazy purple backdrop, whereas further west the vague hints of the Ghetan Buttes could be seen.
At the entrance of Eirdred City, however, amassed a conglomeration of canvas covered wagons, tents of various shapes and sizes, and a few outcroppings of lodges and taverns that served at the shanty town's lone permanent structures; the sole needs of a town of transients and day laborers.
The odors of fresh, wet clay could be experienced fro the nearby clay pits that dotted the riverbed. Not far off the sounds of steel against rock emanating from the sandstone quarries orchestrated the ambiance of the day.
The town had no name, and could barely be considered a settlement. It served to support the men and women working daily in the native industries of soil, rock and clay, but over time the outpost had also become a meeting place for the myriad of peoples traveling to and from the city. Onion recalled a mere week ago when she and her party of kinsmen first collected the nervous and twitching Cedric in that nameless tavern, face drowning in a mug of cheap mead.
Today's atmosphere was a little different. Families and merchants gathered traveling companions and goods, preparing to make journeys north, south or west. Others arrived from the west, road weary and occasionally bearing the cute, bruises and emotional scars of the highway.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Chapter 5 - Part V
The Lithenese poem fell on her Nüish ears without comprehension, but it did distract her from the sight before her as she followed the humming blonde man down the packed streets.
The two left the crowd and followed the tan sand and pulverized red clay River Road which led out of Center City to the east. As the number of people thinned out, Onion could better view her surroundings. To the left, the River Eir flowed, constricted by levies and sandstone masonry. The travelers and the river were sandwiched on either side by the towering sandstone and oak supported walls that encompassed the northern and southern districts and exiting highways.
While antiquated clay and wood walls separating each individual district had fallen into disrepair ages ago, the fortification surrounding the city of Eirdred were still prepared for the most sudden of threats. They were maintained diligently, even though the ancestors of the city learned that they could not hold against powers like those of Heilth. The walls nonetheless provided shelter from lesser attacks and if nothing else, were one of the few remaining symbols of unity against the increasingly crushing homogeneity of the Empire.
Seemless sandstone slabs held in place by thick wooden frames and topped with layers of red shale boulders scraped the sky fifty feet above Onion, and from there the City Enforcers or district police could track any move with lethal consequence. The River Road and Coastal Highway paths to Center City had never been sealed to the outside world, yet who would be foolish enough to bring an army through the gauntlet Eirdred offered? Even Heilth had dared not assault the city from the roads and was forced to use a combination of sabotage and naval might to establish their presence.
As they navigated the bustling roadway, Gregor explained to Onion in hushed tones the significance of these walls and their failings. This had brought to an end the rule of the Chosen, the coastal empire spanning halfway through Sandor to the south and encompassing all of coastal Lithen, as carved out by the First of Rel, Taecho Archne. "The Eirdren will tell you that Heilth broke over two hundred years of peace, but that is simply because Eirdren are not Lithenese." he grimaced.
At the exodus of the city stood two Guardhands and two City enforcers. To Onion's great relief, none of the faces appeared to be familiar, but she and Gregor remained alert as the cooperative Heilthian and Eirdred forces questioned Gregor and searched for contraband. Their suspicions were unwarranted. Those who manned the gates outside of the city of Eirdred more often than not, were those at the zenith of their service - the very young and the very old. While certainly not feeble, such a mundane task was useful only in training the inexperienced or maintaining the employment status of those who soon sought to retire by having them keep an eye out for fermented hougrixi reed juice, imported from the Outer Crest, or a powdered depressant known as gegleth moss.
The two left the crowd and followed the tan sand and pulverized red clay River Road which led out of Center City to the east. As the number of people thinned out, Onion could better view her surroundings. To the left, the River Eir flowed, constricted by levies and sandstone masonry. The travelers and the river were sandwiched on either side by the towering sandstone and oak supported walls that encompassed the northern and southern districts and exiting highways.
While antiquated clay and wood walls separating each individual district had fallen into disrepair ages ago, the fortification surrounding the city of Eirdred were still prepared for the most sudden of threats. They were maintained diligently, even though the ancestors of the city learned that they could not hold against powers like those of Heilth. The walls nonetheless provided shelter from lesser attacks and if nothing else, were one of the few remaining symbols of unity against the increasingly crushing homogeneity of the Empire.
Seemless sandstone slabs held in place by thick wooden frames and topped with layers of red shale boulders scraped the sky fifty feet above Onion, and from there the City Enforcers or district police could track any move with lethal consequence. The River Road and Coastal Highway paths to Center City had never been sealed to the outside world, yet who would be foolish enough to bring an army through the gauntlet Eirdred offered? Even Heilth had dared not assault the city from the roads and was forced to use a combination of sabotage and naval might to establish their presence.
As they navigated the bustling roadway, Gregor explained to Onion in hushed tones the significance of these walls and their failings. This had brought to an end the rule of the Chosen, the coastal empire spanning halfway through Sandor to the south and encompassing all of coastal Lithen, as carved out by the First of Rel, Taecho Archne. "The Eirdren will tell you that Heilth broke over two hundred years of peace, but that is simply because Eirdren are not Lithenese." he grimaced.
At the exodus of the city stood two Guardhands and two City enforcers. To Onion's great relief, none of the faces appeared to be familiar, but she and Gregor remained alert as the cooperative Heilthian and Eirdred forces questioned Gregor and searched for contraband. Their suspicions were unwarranted. Those who manned the gates outside of the city of Eirdred more often than not, were those at the zenith of their service - the very young and the very old. While certainly not feeble, such a mundane task was useful only in training the inexperienced or maintaining the employment status of those who soon sought to retire by having them keep an eye out for fermented hougrixi reed juice, imported from the Outer Crest, or a powdered depressant known as gegleth moss.
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