After traveling for several days and nights, Devlin found himself on the outskirts of Astron, trying his best to look invisible as he observed. It was buzzing with the activity of every day life coupled with the flood of newcomers. The merchants that took up permanent residence - as well as the traveling ones that were able to elbow their way in - looked satisfied with their dealings as every weary and confused traveler came forth. Devlin could tell no one was truly paying attention to their purchases - the cost was far too high, and the quality was far too low. It would be best to wait until after the crowd died down before he made purchases. "You there," a man called to him from across the square. He was neatly but modestly dressed and looked intimidating. "You are called to the castle. Come at once." Having no other recourse - and taking it as a sign - Devlin marches on.
Edwin had lingered to the side while the kings' men had presented their decree. His father, the leader of the loose association of traders they joined, called him to go check on the commotion, but Edwin frowned. The message was vague at best. It would cause panic, which would mean rioting and pillaging, or a great increase in consumption. He couldn't decide which was worse - the fact that the traders were low on traveling gear - which was customary, considering the age of tentative peace - or the rioting. He saw the other men and women int he crowd receiving scrolls. A vast quantity....rather elaborate for a simple message. Might be magic, but still an unnecessary display of grandeur. Thoughts were streaming through his head. Each scroll had an eerie....sparkle, almost...to it. It was hard to describe, but he knew it was not a normal scroll. He was so curious as to what the scroll was, and whether or not it could be sold for profit (if it were a personal invitation, there would be some person who would want it), and what it said that he hardly realized he himself had picked up a scroll. He frowned. It was charmed. Even if he wanted to buy it from one of the people he doubt the charm would let him. It seemed more complex to him than the simple tracking charm some traders would use to track untrustworthy agents, but he couldn't put his finger on how. By the time he returned to the caravan a line had already at his father's rug. Before he was noticed he quickly hid the scroll in one of the small discrete bags he kept on his belt.
"There you are boy, come help me tend to these find people," his father said, beaming at the profits to be gained. The people were wild eyed, and the questions that flew around - and the answers combined with them - made no sense. By the end of the day he as well as the other traveling traders and shopkeepers of Stoire were cleared out of all travel related gear, which included tools, leather, furs, wool, dried goods, simple spices, bows, errors, daggers, and wood for framing, and his father and him were even able to convince a pair of wild eyed youths to buy gold and ruby amulets to bring them protection, more than a month's pay in produce, several dozen needles, and all the fabric and twine they had on hand. Edwin looks excitedly at his father, who looks weary but pleased.
"Father we must go to Astron," Edwin said urgently. His father groaned and rolled his eyes.
"We don't have the supplies or the coin to afford such things. Astron will be saturated - we don't stand a chance," his father said tiredly, before snapping to a realization. "Why, you don't pick up one of those blasted scrolls, did you?" Edwin resisted the urge to speak or grab the satchel. "Ah I didn't think you would. Good boy your mother raised - I knew you wouldn't be foolish enough to touch one of those things."
"So, we will go to Astron then?" Edwin asked. His father hesitated, but before he could disagree Edwin blurted out, "look, we can pass through Fort Stoire, then cross the river and edge along the Bittergreen Forest, trading coin for the furs and meat the trappers caught, and anything else they may have. We'll go up through Rallos, Fort Last Watch hit Astron, and be off to Kuarte to catch the stragglers. We have to redouble back down to the fort but the payoff will be worth it - it is a supplier that no one else will think to tap, and we're close enough we have first rights." His father was silent for a very long time, but finally agreed. Edwin received his cut from his father - the same amount he would normally make in two months, to his amazement - and left him for sleep.
When the company hit Astron, Edwin's buying power had doubled despite purchasing a heavy bag of Saffron. He brought up his purchase to buyers but was never able to strike a deal, and so he held onto it for later use. He occasionally traded tobacco for information, especially as his interest in the scroll grew. They had indeed reached the far corners of the kingdom to deliver it to everyone, but there wasn't so much as a whisper as to why. The rumors that he or his sources heard were so far over the top he chose not to pay them any heed. He thought briefly about tricking buyers into purchasing "enchanted" amulets, but knew it could wind him in jail for a very long time, and so took his chances. Edwin listened to the traveling merchants as they started to fall asleep. When the snoring and breathing became rhythmic, he quietly got up and sneaked off. He was at the castle gates in no time. Something told him that this could be a big score. "Your invitation, sir?" A guard said to him as he approached. Not sure what else he could mean, Edwin pulled out the scroll. The guard took it, found a way to open it (to Edwin's surprise, as he had tried numerous times to break the seal), and then rolled it back up. "The court will call upon you in the morning. Please follow me to your temporary quarters."
"A court? Sir, I have not done anything illegal," Edwin politely tried to persuade the guard as he led him through the marble hallways, "surely we can be reasonable about this?" He got no response. Edwin was about to lose hope when his guard opened the living quarters to reveal an elegantly decorated, although small, room with a bed, a side table and chair, and fireplace.
Johan VanDerSchmut traveled in secret as a 'pet' of a young boy making the trip from Gate's Edge to Astron. At first Johan had tried to give the boy knowledge in exchange for the free ride, but the boy's parents had start to think he was possessed for knowing the things he did, and so the frog halted this to make sure his escort stayed alive long enough for him to make it to the capital. Once they had arrived, Johan ran off, intrigued by the vast number of scrolls they all had. He knew of course their intent, but had no desire to tell anyone of it. Instead, he hopped into the bag of a traveling merchant destined to enter the castle, and waited for entry.
Athenos looked at the tied scroll in his hand for a moment, piecing together what just happened. A citizen of Kriste? He was no such thing. In fact, he found it mildly insulting how mortals classified him with such ideological barriers. Still, he smirked, it may make for something interesting. It wouldn't make the Miline trading company happy, but it can't be helped. For a humble salary and living arrangements, he traveled all over, protecting caravans or persons of interest from thugs or bandits.Not that it was an interesting occupation. He'd only been in combat a handful of times, and all but two have been minor skirmishes. Usually the sight of a few guards is more than enough to ward off any looking to make a profit. The best way to avoid getting robbed is to make the risk too high, they told him. They were right, of course. It was thanks to his efforts that faster travel through more dangerous areas of the country could be profitable.
"I'm leaving," he told the company leader, who opened his mouth and shut it like a guppy. Athenos rolled his eyes. "I've been called, the scroll is obviously some how enchanted, and we're all the way out in Fralle. It will take me several days to get to Astron, if I'm lucky," and even that he knew was being optimistic, given his normal speed all alone. And he still had to buy supplies before he left. He left the company leader half in shock as he walked away with a crushing grip on his scroll. Being on the port made him lucky enough to have a large amount of choices of shops to buy from, but they all seemed to have issues keeping up with demand. He anxiously waited, wondering how hard it could possibly be to run a store. By the time the sun had set, he had found himself with a new skinning knife, a long bow with plenty of arrows, his sword repaired and ready for combat, and two weeks of dry rations. Although it was night time, he set off for the capital city.
He rarely stopped except for the occasional drop in on a pub before continuing his march. There was something nice about the solo life, but he found that the like of conflict was going to become unbearable if he had to deal with it for much longer. By the time he was in Astron he had no other intention than to go to the palace, figure out why he was summoned, and to do as was asked. When he got there, the guard took his scroll, tapped it quickly with his finger to make it unwrap, and blinked at it, then at him, and then back at it. "Yes?" Athenos asked.
"Go on ahead, sir. I will guide you to your quarters until the court is ready to call on you." The guard was talking very fast now and was trembling. Athenos was annoyed that he didn't know what was on the scroll but relieved that it put fear into the recipient.
Rozen, native of Fralle but current citizen of Kuarte, squealed with delight after the king's men handed him an invitation. "It's like a super secret party that everyone's invited to!" He said, squealing again. No one else seemed as excited as he was, but why did it matter? They just didn't understand the gravity of being invited to a super incredibly important party! "I wonder what I should wear..." he thought to himself. He had several trunks of clothes waiting for him in his current living situation, but none of them seemed to fit the bill. The idea of leaving the clothes behind was a tragedy - who would want to be friends with someone hopelessly out of fashion? H e would have to find someone to carry his clothes, yes, an escort to help him get to Astron.
The road was miserable. The strapping young lad he had asked to help him barely talked for the sake of chatter and complained constantly about anything that crossed his mind...the heavy load of the trunks, the rain....no, actually, it was mostly the heavy loads. The whole thing made Rozen miserable, who only wanted to help the lad get out to Astron safely. Sometimes the easiest forms of kindness are not appreciated. After trying for nearly forty eight hours to get the boy to say something, Rozen gave up on him, stopping to talk to any other person that cross their way, completely unaware of their desire to continue with their journey.
they reached the steps a little later than they aught to. "Your invitation, please?" The guard asked. Rozen handed the scroll to him, beaming. He tried to start a conversation about the weather, but he was curtly interrupted. "Alright, come with me. I'll show you to your temporary living quarters." Rozen followed him up the stairs a bit of the way before the guard stopped. "Uh, your trunks sir?" The guard asked awkwardly, pointing to the abandoned trunks. Rozen felt a tinge of pain. Did the lad not want to be friends? Rozen skipped down the steps, blushing profusely beneath his mask, and pulled the trunks up the stairs behind him. The boy had been right, these were heavy.
Dan D. Lyons was busy working in his lab in Astron when the scroll came. He was busy running around a lab filled with various decanters of liquid, bubbling solutions and the rare piece of metal lying here and there. A messenger from the king cleared his throat upon arrival. "Oh good man come in, come in!" Dan said, taking the man brusquely by the hand and setting him down on an upturned cauldron. The man told him - more like yelled over the explosions, as Dan placed another piece of metal into a liquid that reacted to it - and held out the scroll for Dan. Dan stared at it, and paced around the guard carefully, scratching his chin the whole time. "A tracking charm, if I do say so?" Dan says, not looking for any response at all, "but it's been tampered with, or modified."
"Sir, you are required to report at the castle immediately -" the guard said carefully. Dan takes the scroll from him, and walks over to the row of beakers with solutions at a rolling bubble. "You can't do that, sir, I wouldn't recommend it!" The guard called out after him, "why don't you come with me? We have a carriage awaiting outside."
"I wonder what would happen if -" Dan fumbled around for his tongs and plops it precariously into a pink solution. The solution explodes, spitting out the scroll nearly untouched, but leaving Dan's hair fried and matted in black soot. He squealed in delight. "I don't know a damn thing more about this contraption but did you see that? It sparked! In blue!"
"Uh, yes, quite," the guard said, dusting himself off. "Sir, if you will come with me I will escort you to your carriage."
"Carriage?" Dan asks in a dazed manner. "Whatever for?" But even as he's thinking this, he's already following the guard down the staircase and into a carriage pulled by a horse out front.
Iam Onrefni smirked. These fools, even the traveling merchants, were focusing only on the short game. They only cared about momentary wealth. But that was how it was out on the edge of the Darkfall Forest. Temporary survival and monetary game. But when the king's beckon is in play....well, there is much more to be gained there. He would of course answer the call. No questions asked on that. He looked around at the citizens that surrounded him. None seemed worthy of being a traveling partner, but he felt certain that if the need should arise he would be able to find someone in quick order. In the meantime, he would head to the capital city.
Finally there, several days later, he realized that the bulk of the commotion came from people like him. Some with the same intent as he, some for other forms of personal game, and a very few actually interested in helping the kingdom. He walked up the steps of the castle until he was stopped by a guard. "Your invitation please, sir."
"Of course," I am said with a broad smile and flourish of movements. The guard smiled.
"This seems in order. Follow me, we will keep you in your temporary quarters until the court is ready for you."
-~-~-~-~-~-~
The next morning, the guard calls for you and you are lead into a room with six other people in it, most looking antisocial. "The court will be with you momentarily," the guard says as he shuts the door behind you. The room is a solid tile and the light was coming in through a large window on the east wall, showing the rising sun. There are seven simply built wooden chairs facing three large sturdy chairs that sit on an elevated platform. Although it is clear that you cannot leave the room, you are free to walk around.
Map
A/N
Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Apr 21 2012, 5:18 pm by Fire_Kame.