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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Arcturion" data-source="post: 3743895" data-attributes="member: 54632">1.2 Hommes Optare“I was thinking of heading west, actually, past the Maw and into the Ambossmeer. I oft hear of many a great opportunity to make one’s fortune in the Free Holds of Inmerron. A lovely people, the Inmerish, though they drive a hard bargain as any of the Obsidian Islanders,” Rentiki answered blithely, waving the blade of his knife in the air before him as he spoke.Inmerish. Eltera knew that they were a hardy and fiercely independent folk in the western lands. Though she had a rather incomplete picture, she did learn that the Dracians had once tried to subjugate the people there long ago to some varying degrees of success, but their hold on the realms beyond the Vale was always tentative at best. This fact continued to be a sore point between the two human cultures even to this day, though trade and the mutual language of coin are often enough to overcome such barriers. Tanius was half-Inmerish himself. His other half, she had come to find out however, was something else quite different.The Captain stabbed at a piece of roasted flesh with the dagger’s steel tip and brought it to his mouth. Chewing thoughtfully before swallowing, Rentiki continued on with his usual enthusiasm. “Perhaps we’ll sail down south of the Corindas toward Wystara. I’ve never been there myself and it’s high time I changed that. Once I’ve had my fill there, who knows?” He shrugged at this last part. “Before I leave this world I want to at least say that Rentiki of Daosha, Captain of the Argus, successfully circumnavigated the entire continent of Paylen!“Ah, Daosha,” the large man sighed with the memory. “It’s been too long since I last walked upon her shores and warmed my toes in the sand. A beautiful place, it is as vast and varied as all of Paylen, if not bigger. Imagine,if you will, a landscape of every climate and environ you can dream of, my dear Cat. Blistering desert, savannahs that rival the seas in their expanse, lush tropical jungles, and snowy mountains as tall as any the world has to offer. They call it the Shadow Continent, since it remains largely unexplored and unmapped. But in my own language, Daosha means, land come full circle. We are born there, and we eventually die there as well, no matter where the four winds may take us in life.“And the people come in so many shapes and sizes you’d swear you were transported into another world. From giants that tower over any of Drace’s famed spires, to diminutive tribal pygmies that make the smallfolk here seem as giants themselves! There is war and strife in Daosha, yes, for what land can claim to be untouched by such ravages? But there is also great beauty to be had; ah, diamonds and gemstones that put the Thorazuin’s baubles to shame by comparison, and such spices and plants and all manner of exotic beasts too!” Rentiki began to rattle off each animal in turn, starting with the luxurious pelts he had displayed upon the cabin walls. He asked Eltera of her own homeland, and sat enraptured at every word that passed from her lips.“I actually won the Argus in a game of bones, if you can believe it!” the Captain guffawed after stripping the last bit of flesh from his capon near the end of their meal. He waved the scraps away and absently thanked Terwase as the wizened old man took the plates, shuffling out of the room silent as ever. “The previous owner, an Akunduin spice trader – which is just a polite label for drug lord, by the by – was none too happy with the outcome, needless to say. Sent his entire army of eunuch warriors after me, he did! Barely escaped by the skin of my teeth! I’d say that was close to twenty years ago, give or take a year or two. My, how does the time fly!“As to the Nornir,” Rentiki began after a long pause, his voice uncharacteristically hushed and almost reverent in its awe as he leaned forward in his chair. “There are whispers that they are immortal witches, sisters blessed with eternal youth and favored by all the gods, great and small. Others say they sprang full grown from the ice and fires of Haeslund, the land spawning the progeny of Titans when their blood rained down and soaked the earth during the Harrowing. Whichever tale is to be believed, you’d best remember one thing about the Sisters Norn. They are canny, unnatural creatures of the old ways, demanding their due tribute through bloody sacrifice and slaughter. Mortal men tremble in fear at the mere mention of their name and yet seek them out nonetheless, each willing to sell his very soul in exchange for the promise of conquest and the supposed throne that comes with it.“An uneven trade, I’d wager. King of All the North; bah, as if such a thing exists! A man cannot eat titles, after all, however lofty they may be. In any case, the Nornir use and discard men as pawns in a game of thrones, their lives all but forfeit to pay the price for a chance at eternal glory. Madness, it is. All the more foolish the Hrundir be to trust in such devilry, but how does one rationalize anything barbarians are want to do? Every few generations the Nornir appear to champion the cause of this Jarl chieftain or that, sowing the seeds of war. I know little else about them aside from the names they choose to go by. The fair one with the honeyed locks is called Skuld, I believe. The bright silver sister dubs herself Verdandi. The raven-haired witch is their elder, methinks. Urd, mortal men have so named her. Tis best to watch out for that one in particular. She dines on the souls of the damned, or so I hear.”It was then that Terwase returned, the ancient medicine man carrying with him a brass tray laden with ceramic bowls of colorful fruit, sweet breads, and fragrant cheeses.“I’m afraid I don’t know too much about the capital’s goings-on at the moment seeing how we just made port within the last day,” Rentiki said as he bit into a green apple, wiping the juice from one corner of his mouth with the back of a meaty hand. “Any current news of the B’astyians’ movements is beyond my ken, as I try my best to steer clear of any Imperial entanglements. Though I oft heard whispers of a massive fleet gathering at the mouth of the Auridar, but this was weeks ago. Such an armada bodes ill for us all, if the rumors be true. And I must admit, the arrival of the northmen upon these very shores without so much as a drop of blood being spilt came as a shock even to me. Not once in my many years did I ever expect to see the Hrundir welcomed as emissaries rather than driven back as marauders. I do have contacts of, shall we say, questionable moral fiber within the city whose shoulders I could tap, though such information oft comes at a steep price. Tis just good business, you see.” The Captain grinned at Eltera meaningfully as his eyes drank in every curve of her form.Shifting uncomfortably in her seat under the man’s gaze, Eltera swiftly changed the subject. At the question concerning her hands, Terwase produced both of his from the voluminous sleeves of his rough homespun clothing and gesticulated with several complex motions. The dark aelf watched each silent movement of his thin fingers carefully and thought it wasn’t so different from the sign language that her own people used in the lightless depths beneath the surface world. Still, even her mysterious gift at understanding the speech of other races proved to be of little help in deciphering the code that passed between the ship’s surgeon and Captain Rentiki, the latter whom seemed to comprehend the unspoken words perfectly.“Terwase says he’s seen such wounds only once before in his considerable lifetime,” the Daoshan mariner declared gravely, translating the mute shaman’s hand talk even as he continued to make them. “Those hurts be a powerful curse, and one not easily broken. The blade that did the deed sang with all the hate and sorrow of the one you had wronged, or so old Terwase claims. Only by laying this revenant’s shade to rest may the curse be lifted. There be no other way short of a miracle or a wishful prayer, a boon granted by a god or one that can approach unequivocally to the powerful magic of a deity.”Rentiki allowed a moment of silence to pass before he would speak up again, the only sounds being the crackling of the hearth fire and the soft rattle of Orpheus’s skeleton blending with the gentle rush of the waves outside the window. “Cat, speak truthfully. What did you see when you looked upon the Nornir? I saw your own expression clear as day, I did, saw the blood drain from your face as if all the joy of the world were devoured along with you. T’was foolish for trying to catch a glimpse of their true nature for it can only invite ruin.”</blockquote>

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