OOC: Tags to
@Aloesque !
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Ketra, city of the damned-
Or at least it felt that way for Dehzrehn Draven, a Connlaothian of noble birth forced south due to the many conflicts of the war. He knew it was because he was an embarrassment and that the rumors (which were mostly true), reflected badly on his father and it was much easier to sweep his son's stories under the rug by forcing him to travel south 'for business'.
Never mind he was still healing, the sword wound itchy across his chest. Or the fact he should be heading back out onto the battle field....
But there was too many skeptics and superstitions...
'He was using magic!'
'I saw it! Or else I'd be dead!'
The irony that he'd never truly used his powers in battle to save his own hide but relinquished that secret the moment one of his companions in arms was about to be crushed by a falling parapet... He was a fool. But should he have left the man to simply be crushed? Perhaps. He had a mere second to react and according to his father and the captain who lead the men Dez had served...
It was the wrong one.
Now they had to wave off the accusations with ones of their own- that it was
impossible for this non mage man to have
possibly used magics.
But now here he was, stepping off a boat and heading into land.
Towards
Ketra. It was a lively trade city, one of the largest in the south (except, the Essyrnis would argue that their city was vastly superior and larger still.) Dehzrehn wouldn't know. He had never been so far south.
He was actually surprised to see so many Essyrnians here as he took in the sight of the bustle of people before him. It was nothing like home, like the Connlaothian ports, with their pale skinned men hefting cargoes on heavy mules and animals. Here, the people were more... colorful, the place fanning open like some sort of exotic tree. And it wasn't as if he had never been here before...
Except he had not. At least not during any rational part of his life. He was about two years old when his family had traveled here. His older brothers even barely recalled their time down there-
Except his eldest, Zahn. Zahn had been to Ketra many times.
He frowned at the remembrance of his brother. He didn't even give him a well wish goodbye. If anything, he felt as if he shouldn't turn his back on him as he was carted off towards an Allarrian port city where he'd board the
Tiffany's Waves- an enormous and slightly famous trade ship that was constantly running the coast. It was one of his father's and had recently dropped of it's goods for trade. And although the boat was not scheduled to set sale for another two weeks...
Money talked, and it only took two days before Tiffany's Waves was back at sea.
The first few days he was a little green behind the gills, not having been on a ship in a few years made him lose that hardiness his father tried to press. But when you send your sons off to war instead of continuing the family trade...
Well, he supposed his father was happy enough (even though he was embarrassed by him) that at least now one of his sons was at least beginning to conduct the trades on his own. Dehzrehn was no fool, but he was no real tradesmen. He knew the bare bones that his family had taught him, sure, but that was the trade tactics of a Connlaothian, and he himself had never been the forefront, let alone of foreign aspirations. He supposed his father was desperate enough that it didn't matter. He just hoped the Adelans, with their well known fiery personality, would not be so hot tempered with trade.
Despite the war, the ship carried many goods and furs, ones the Adelans found as exotic and would pay a premium for, especially considering most men who had a trade were recruited for war, and less and less Connlothians were making the treks down south.
So in one regards, he already knew it would be very profitable. Even his father said he couldn't mess this up. Plus, there was always the need for more supplies to fuel the war.
Southward he continued to go, with mostly good sailing. It was almost too convenient. Usually there's at least a storm or two, or some rain. There was only one time they had to deal with some bad fog for a rain they had missed. But he was told, (and felt it too) that fog could be far more treacherous than a roaring sea.
Transcience was a port city they'd land on for just the night, taking into land a few scheduled trades. Although the night before they made dock (which would have been quite early in the morning), the young man was having a hard time sleeping and found himself on the deck of the ship taking a stroll. Clouds were rolling in overhead, and a cool breeze swept sweetly across the entire ship and cooled off Dehzrehn's brow. It was a warm night, perhaps unusually so, so he enjoyed the wind.
He was leaning against the port side, simply watching the waves in hops to lull his restless mind when something unusual caught his attention in the moonlight. Was that a woman swimming out in the sea?
But another shipmate drew his attention away and when he turned back around to see if she was still there...
He saw nothing but waves. He must have been tired. So he retreated to his bunk.
Next morning business conducted as usual. They went into port, the shipmaster was at his side to help him in the exchange and they would be on their way. Heading back to ship, something, or rather
someone caught his eyes. Down on the shore there was a woman coming out of the water. He thought back to the woman he saw in the sea. No, it couldn't have been her. He had been seeing things. But he couldn't take his eyes off of her when he noticed something peculiar.
She had very similar eyes to him. Even from his distance he noted it. In fact, they even had similar hair. Strange. But duty called him elsewhere and soon the young Lord Draven and his crew were docking in Cerenis.
This time the stay was much longer, a couple of weeks and then they'd be on their way south again. Cerenis was a lot more enjoyable than the smaller sea side town of Transcience, and the first few days he was rather uneasy around so many who openly used magic...
That by the end of his stay, he was feeling much more at ease, as a stranger here but...
Also simply as a person. The people of Cerenis seemed a lot more welcome than those in Connlaoth. The war made it twice as bad, perhaps even worse than that, so it was nice to stay in taverns and visit the locals and get to laugh.
But even as he enjoyed himself here, he felt a sense of guilt. Here he was, actually enjoying his journey when back at home...
War tore the place apart.
It was just as he was thinking about his home that someone across the way caught his attention.
No.. it couldn't have been.
Was it that golden eyed woman from Transcience? That town had been so unusually small for a port that... The odds were stacked against such a thing.
But as it was before, he was pulled along to other ventures and continued his journey south. He stopped at a few more port cities before finally making his way towards his last port- and then the journey landward towards Ketra- capital of the Adelan Nation.
And peculiar as it may seem....
Each Serenian town he passed.... He swore he saw the same dark haired, golden eyed young woman. Was it a sign? He couldn't have known. He wasn't superstitious...
Although... he supposed he could be.
The Adelan port city was so grand, but far less glamorous as the famous northern city Cerenis, whose colorful natives made Dehzrehn feel much at home. Here, everyone appeared gruff and had their nose first into their business- the bustle hard work against the bright sunny sky. The buildings were much more different, a lot more squat and made of stone, and the people with far darker a complexion than those from the north.
He found himself studying them along his journey, packing up wagon's full of goods and preparing both him and his men for the journey inland. And just as it had been earlier, the travels were smooth.
That was, just until the day before he was due to arrive in Ketra.
It was late at night, the fire low and only a few men left on watch. Their party wasn't grand, but it was a substantial size of men- most of which were there to simply protect the cargo, an investment worth much. But this path was said the roughest the further south it dipped, and most of the men kept their eyes open and on their backs until the trail began northward and they felt themselves more at ease.
Perhaps that was their first mistake. The second being they hadn't realized they weren't north enough.
When the men sprang from the bushes, Dehzrehn had been in a dead sleep, having just turned in from his own night watch so he could be rested enough for the journey that morn. But an arrow to the leg was not the most comfortable thing to be feeling, and was not the wake up call he expected as he cried out and grasped onto his wound.
An.. an arrow? Another shot clean past his head, enough he could feel the wind from it sting across his cheek before sinking into the low trees behind him.
"We're under attack!!"
Chaos. With the fire nearly snuffed out and the moon over head drenched in a rolling thunder of clouds, there was no way to no specifically how many men had ambushed them or how many had already fallen. Dez scrambled to his pack, ignoring the pain jolting up his leg from the arrow before pulling out his sword and trying to assess just what was going on. His eyes were adjusting to the dark and he caught a glimpse of feathers and body paint...
Were these men from the southern tribes?
Did it matter? They were seeking them dead! Dez barely dodged another arrow, unwittingly batting it away with his sword before he parried an on coming attack from a rather sharp spear, who was taken out moments later by one of the Connloathian men. Dez nodded his brief thanks before turning back into the fight. It was only then he noted they were being surrounded, men calling on horse back and racing around in circles.
He caught the sight of their bows and moved to grab his own from his pack. He didn't have time to think. His mind flashing back to his brief time in the war. To those times long ago when he and his brothers could laugh and take turns competing to see who was the best in archery....
Zahn and Dez would always be in the lead- and for the past few years...
A tie.
Zahn, Dez would tell himself, let him.
But then within minutes Dehzrehn had downed three men and was knocking another arrow to ready to down a fourth when from no where another spearmen returned and before he knew it, the spear was cutting across his chest.
The pain felt like a burst, clawing open clothe and skin alike. Dehzrehn dropped, taken off guard as he dropped his arrow and cupped his gushing wound. A dark figure moved overhead, like a shadow and Dez jerked his bow up with barely enough time to guard the attack that could have ended him.
But then other men were upon him, getting his back and driving off the attackers until they were left alone, their hearts racing, the sky threatening, and the ground smelling of fresh blood.