Time to Leave

[suib0m]

Time to Leave
Part 1: Magic

Rosilio:

“I love the stars.”
Valeriana stared up at the night sky. Stretched out on her back and using the soft grass as a comforting mattress, she watched the streaks of falling stars blink in and out of existence. She was softly rubbing the tender flesh that surrounded the rawness from a burn received trying to harvest amber from the ground.

“Maybe, some day, Jena will return to us and take you for a ride among them.”
Suibom was also looking to the sky, but it was more out of distraction than to watch the evening display. Valeriana could tell something was on his mind, but chose not to pursue it, content with counting the stars.

“Val, this island has grown too small for me. I need to leave.” He said, sounding as if he were somewhere in the distance.

“I've heard it before.” Val said with a smile, still counting falling stars.

“I know you have, Val. But this time it is actually happening. My things are packed and I just need to complete some errands before I go. I will be leaving in a couple of days.” Slowly, a cloud seemed to cover Suibom's mood, “The whispers grow day by day that a war is on the horizon. I must join our kin in Yrkanis and help with the rebuilding. I plan to join a mighty guild and continue my training. If war does come to us, I will be ready.”

“Continue your training? You plan to be a mighty farmer?” Valeriana snorted softly with a giggle.

Suibom stood up, apparently missing the joke. He looked down at Valeriana and closed his eyes, arms out slightly away from his sides with the palms up, as if he were opening himself to her. Valeriana looked at him from the ground, waiting for something but unsure of what. She watched as his breath became deeper and more rhythmic. Her eyes grew wide as he began to lift into the air. She scrambled up from her bed of grass and watched Suibom, jaw slack with amazement; watched his hands begin to form a glow as he drew them to his chest and curled into a fetal position three feet off the ground, hovering stationary. A bright light began to form from somewhere within his chest, warmth and energy emanating strongly from it.

Suddenly Suibom flared open, releasing the healing energy in a bolt. Valeriana jumped back and caught her breath as the bolt consumed her, the healing energy spiral up through her body. It filled her with an ecstatic glow. And in that instant, the glow was gone. Valeriana looked down at her arm, knowing what she would find but not believing it. The pain and tenderness were gone, as was any trace that her arm had been hurt. She looked back up to Suibom, who was smiling broadly.

“You're a healer!?!” She gasped, the shock quite apparent in her voice.

“Not primarily,” He said, sitting back down on the grass, “but I know enough to heal light wounds. I know you have many questions, but they will have to wait. We need to get some sleep, I have a lot to do tomorrow and there are a few people I want you to meet before I leave.”

With that, Suibom began to walk back to the small encampment they called home.

Valeriana watched him walk away for a moment, then shouted after him “And all this time I thought you were just playin hooky at the kipee ponds!” She layed back down on the grass and resumed watching the stars, deep in contemplation. “Stinkin boys.” she said while stifling a yawn. Too many thoughts were racing through her mind and it made her realize how sleepy she really was. Valeriana stood back up and began to walk after Suibom, back to the camp, back to her bed.

Deep in thought.

[hans1976]

When I feel lost on Atys, I think about the refugee islands. It is good to hear the homins there have faith in the future.

[suib0m]

Time to Leave
Part 2: Dreams

Rosilio:

Valeriana lay in bed, sleeping but not asleep. The night was torn apart by endless bouts of tossing and turning. Images danced across her brain in a cinematic of chaos. Slowly, the images began to congeal into a more solid form. Tangible, but only just.

[indent]
A hazy, heavy mist-covered field
A man in the distance
Walkin towards me.. us?
I know this man, he is my father
he is wavin goodbye.. smilin, sad eyes

Fire burns away the mist
Screams, tearin at my ears
Screams of pain from one direction
Screams of hate from the other
The fire burns away the screams
Burns away everythin...

Revealin a face, lookin at me, smilin...
Her eyes do not smile
I know this woman, she is Jena
Surrounded by machines,
She reaches a hand out to me
I extend my own hand to her
It is enveloped
By metal and machine, consumin me
I close my eyes
I am devoured...

My eyes open again, I see another
A small creature, playful and simple lookin
It's eyes, dangerously mischievous
This creature is Ma-Duk. How do I know this?
It reaches a hand out to me
I extend my own hand back
It is enveloped
By plant and energy, consumin me
I close my eyes
I am devoured...

My eyes open again, there is a third
A male being watches over Jena and Ma-Duk
He holds Atys in his palms
This man is Elias. How do I know this?

Suddenly a shriek that splits my brain,
A cry for blood; loud, strong and multiplyin
I turn to look and see a livin ocean
Swarms of creatures, giant and spidery, everywhere
In death's carapace, the swarm consumes all
Behind the swarm is a fourth being,
Watchin
Laughin
Without mercy
Fear strikes my heart like a lance of ice
Fear consumes me
Fear devours me...


Valeriana shot from her pillow, sitting up; back rigid and body drenched in sweat. "Only a dream", she quavered, trying to convince herself. The last images seared her mind's eye. She knew those creatures from many childhood stories. Slowly, she lowered her head back to her pillow and tried to fall back to sleep.

“Only a dream”, she whispered to herself.

[/indent]

[suib0m]

Time to Leave
Part 3: The Journey

Rosilio:


The scent of morning hung thick in the air, pleasantly filling Valeriana's nose as a hand gently nudged her shoulder. Not wanting to wake yet, she kept her eyes closed and enjoyed the song of the birds and the warm sun which peaked through the window and streaked across her back. The hand nudged her shouder again, this time followed by a voice, breaking through the clouds in her mind, "Wake up little sis. There are some people I need you to meet today."

Valeriana cracked open the lids of an eye and peered around with blurred vision. She saw her pillow, her bed, her room. Things seemed intact and as they should be, but she had a burdening feeling that something had been forgotten. She closed her eyes and breathed in deep, trying to clear the fog webs of her mind. Suddenly, a brief flash of memory flared in her mind's eye. Her breath caught, as if a hand reached into her chest and tightened it's grip on her lungs. A glimpse of the dream shattered her peace. Through the haze of a dense memory fog, she remembered machines and metal encased bodies. She remembered a woman's face. Everything else was lost to the haze.

"Are you alright, Val?" Suibom said as he noticed her body tense.

Val sat up in her bed. She reached back in her mind trying to remember more of the dream that seemed so frighteningly real earlier that night but found nothing more than the gray fog. "I... I had a dream. A woman, a goddess... Jena. Homins... enslaved?... by machines, by metal. I can't remember the dream. It's more of a feelin at this point than a memory. I believe the goddess may be returnin to us, though."

"I would not doubt it." Suibom said as he sat on the bed next to Valeriana. He was looking out the window at the dense forest that extended beyond. Thoughts of the rumors and hearsay that had been whispered throughout the camps recently raced in his mind. Whispers of war, whispers of broken treaties, whispers of Matis destiny. There were more quiet whispers as well, whispers of an old guild that has long been forsaken. Suibom didn't know what to make of it all, though he did know to trust Valeriana's dreams. He also knew he had to get to Yrkanis to seek the truth behind several mysteries.

"For now, though,” he said as he stood up and began to walk to the door, "we have a long journey ahead of us. Wash and put on some traveling gear, we will be making our way to Borea."

“Borea,” Valeriana thougth to herself. She never traveled outside of Rosilio and did not have much in the way of traveling clothes. She led a mostly meek existence, farming and harvesting basic materials which she used to craft the basic necessities needed for the camp, as was the existence of most of the permanent members of the encampment. Her father, Petrov Azini, was one of the initial builders of the camps, created to help refugees integrate back into Matis life.

Her father... There was something about her father in the dream. She reached for it, but grasped little more than wisps of the fog around her mind's eye. She stood up and walked to the small wash basin on a table near the window, shaking her head to release the memory, not wanting to think about it any further. Her father died when she was only two and she didn't really have any memories of him. It didn't make sense to her to be dreaming of him now, but the fog lay heavy on her head. It was the type of dream that frightened her; the type of dream that she had more and more frequently as she grew older. These dreams were more than dreams, they were glimpses of reality. They were Glimpses of events that happened in the past, present and future. She shook her head again and this time splashed water on her face. “No time to be thinking these thoughts now,” she said to herself, quietly. The journey to Borea would not be an easy one.

* * *

Valeriana emerged from the small hut dressed in ragtag clothes that were more suited to farming than traveling through the forest. She expected Suibom to be dressed in a similar manner and was not at all prepared for what she found. He was outside finishing his travel preparations, but rather than wearing the basic clothes of a farmer, he was dressed in a suit of light armor as finely crafted as any she had ever seen.

"Where in the roots did you get that??" She said incredulously.

"It's pretty isn't it?" He said, moving his arms and torso about, settling the armor in. "One of the folks you'll meet today, Sinkelinke, made this suit. By Jena, she's talented! The other, Sophy, is equally as skilled."

"The Sophy?" Valeriana sounded surprised.

"You know her?" Suibom asked curiously.

"I've never met her, but I have heard her name. Sounds like she has quite the ability to turn boys into puppy dogs."

Suibom rolled his head back in laughter at the statement. "Indeed she does. I think you'll love her," he said with a broad smile.

The smile faded, though, as his jovial mood turned somber. He threw a travel pack over his shoulders and attached sword and dagger to his waist. "We must be leaving now," he said. "We need to make it to Borea before nightfall."

Valeriana understood why his mood went somber, and why he was equipped in such a way. The path between refugee camps was never completely safe, but one could generally travel the distance alone. Recently, however, something was stirring up the ragus and gingo into a constantly frenzied state. The same tension that seemed to be affecting everything. The dogs had become extremely aggressive and were ever-present in the forest. At night, there was no hiding from them, nowhere safe from their claws and fangs.

Slowly, the pair made their way thorough the forest. As Valeriana watched Suibom, she began to wonder how she had missed the shift in who her older brother had become. For some time now he had often been absent from the encampment. She had not given it too much thought as he continued to finish his duties and boys often seemed to become preoccupied with various shiny objects. But watching him now, as he guided her through the forest, pointing out the tracks of various animals and what activities they had been engaged in, and showing her the behavior patterns of the visible creatures, she realized that he had been spending his time growing up and training. He was preparing to follow a higher calling that he was not fully aware of yet. She had seen pieces of this in dreams, she now realized.

They continued through the forest on the way to Borea, Suibom showing Valeriana how to visualize where gingo and ragus were hiding based on the herding and clusters of the bodoc and capryni. She was amazed to see how accurately he could predict where the predators lay in wait. As the day began to wear away, they could see the tower of Borea looming in the distance.

“We're almost there!” Suibom shouted to Valeriana as he raced ahead to look over a ridge and stared down at the small village happily. He turned back to urge his sister on and noticed that she had fallen behind. Fear struck him when he saw that a ragus had caught sight of her and was preparing to pounce.

“Val! Run!” Suibom shouted.

Valeriana looked confused for a moment, then heard the unmistakable growls and bounding claws from behind, approaching swiftly. She screamed as she started to run as fast as she could force her weary legs to carry her, praying they would not trip on the underbrush. To be attacked by a ragus, unprepared as she was, was to die, rent limb from limb. Suibom, too far away to reach Valeriana before the ragus did, fumbled for a pair of ornate gloves from his backpack. Quickly, he put the gloves on as he watched the bare fangs of the dog get closer and closer to his sister. He placed his hands slightly apart from each other and began to concentrate. A small green ball of energy began to grow and crackle between his fingertips, letting off a bright yellow-green light. The energy-ball grew. The fangs got closer to skin. Suibom flung the energy-ball forward, releasing it's kinetic force in an acidic bolt that streaked at the beast as it jumped at Valeriana's legs, trying to bring her down. The bolt struck it's mark true, a large cloud of noxious acid bursting around the dog and knocking it off it's course. Valeriana continued to run, but was no longer pursued. Slightly dazed by the cloud, the ragus found a new target. Quickly it began another chase, bearing down on Suibom. He brought his hands together again. Valeriana watched as the ball began to grow. Suibom let loose another bolt which tore through the ragus' face. The dog slumped to the ground, lifeless.

Suibom and Valeriana stood there, breathing heavily, shaking with fear. “I didn't know if I could get to you in time,” he said, his voice calmer than he thought it would be. “I though I was going to lose you.”

Valeriana couldn't say anything. They stood for a while longer, until the shock wore off, then continued to Borea. Quietly they made their way into the village as night took over the sky.

[glipe]

Cool stories! More! More!

[suib0m]

Wow, I posted the original stories a long time ago.. Back when the starter islands were separated by race. I had to leave for a while, but now I'm back and want to start the story again. Unfortunately, there will be some time discrepancies due to the time I left (many many years have passed on Atys, but since I was gone I cannot count them against Sui and Val's age). Anyway, I will try and keep the story as true as I can, but please forgive the time fiddling.

Peace,
- Sui

[suib0m]

Glimpses of the Past
Part 1: Memories of Rumors and Stories

Suibom sat at the base of the Towerbridge spire, resting on one of the rolling hills that sprawled outwards from the jutting rock formation. The cool spring early morning air occasionally brushed his face and the tips of his ears, causing a slight flush to his pale Matis skin. He hardly noticed the chill that surrounded him though, or the fading stars above him or the changing colors of the sky as the new day began. His hands were working nimbly with the jeweler's tools and materials as he worked to perfect his craft, but his mind was growing increasingly distracted with the fog of memory as he thought about the strange events that had enveloped his life over the last handful of years.

Sui had left his sister, Valeriana, and his refugee camp home all those years ago to come to the mainland and carve out a life in Yrkanis as a productive member of a prominent guild, preparing for the world changing events that were heavily rumored to come. The kitin were reported to have become very active in the world again. There were many stories of the growing conflicts between the religions of Atys and their devout followers. In the refugee camps, as new blood was trained up and prepared for life on the mainland, it was told that the tenuous peace agreements between the political structures of the different races were quickly degrading.

War was descending. Guilds were scrambling to control outposts to best support their alliances and beliefs. The goo was spreading and infecting the world. Jena was returning to us and Ma-Duk loomed, hidden in the jungle and amassing Kami armies. The presence of the Dragon felt palpable in the air. The day of judgment was near.

At least, those were the stories that Sui came to the mainland with. The reality that met him when he arrived, however, was quite different.

Sui's mind fogged again and he looked around, not sure where he was. In his hands was another degraded necklace he just finished crafting. He was usually frustrated when his time honed skills were met with failures, but he was grudgingly used to it when pushing his skills to the edge of his abilities. Right now, though, the failure was caused by distraction. He was remembering something, what was it?

At some point in the past, since arriving on the mainland, he made -- in hindsight -- some very bad decisions. He can't remember what happened exactly, but it left his mind like a sieve. He is usually lucid these days, but every so often his thoughts will just randomly wisp away. His memories are much worse; like trying to hold onto water. They come to him when they want and all he can do is pay attention to the daydreams and try to recover the holes in his past. This usually leaves him unresponsive to outside stimulus with a vacant stare on his face. He transforms into a deaf, dumb, and mute living statue. Sometimes this happens in the middle of interacting with other homins. Obviously his social life has been destroyed by this affliction, and his chances of being a prominent member of a strong guild destroyed.

Guilds... Sui's memory stream opens up again and mental visions of his arrival on the mainland continue; his hands still work the jeweling tools and materials. Soon after arriving in the Matis capital, Yrkanis, Sui sought out others who were willing to continue to train him in the skills he began to learn in the refugee camps. While honing his skills and abilities he started to investigate guilds, trying to find one he could apply his skills for and take pride in being a part of. He soon found what he was looking for and joined the ranks of the Dragonblades. It was an excellent time for him. Sui was learning many skills quickly and the guild was very active in preparations for the purported future events.

But time marched on and signs of war never manifested more than rumors. Jena was no closer than she had ever been and Ma-Duk still only communicated through it's devout spiritual guides. But the threat of war still persisted through the rumors and statements from political leaders. It hung over every homin like a suffocating wet blanket. The sense of anxiety was thick in the air. Guilds continued their bloody clashes in attempts to control the outposts and territorial battles in the Prime Roots were common.

Then he started hearing rumors from new arrivals to the mainland that the refugee camps had been raided by kitin. The camps had been utterly destroyed and very few homins had been able to escape. The kitin had razed the land with their devastating efficiency. Waves of homin bodies were left strewn across the land in their wake. No one had information about his sister, Val.

A small snap quietly shattered the peaceful morning air. Sui shook himself out of his reverie and looked down at his work. The seed and amber he used to craft the necklaces had shattered into small fragments and the jeweling hammer had snapped in two. A bead of sweat trickled down Sui's brow.

To be continued...

[suib0m]

Glimpses of the Past
Part 2: A Great Man, A Father, A Ghost
Sui stared at the complete failure he held in his hands. He had made a simple, but disastrous, mistake that resulted in the loss of the fragile jeweling tool and materials. A neophyte mistake he had learned to avoid long ago.

Back in the refugee camps, Sui had befriended a woman who had taught him how to avoid the mistake. Her tutelage had helped him to get to a new level in his crafting abilities. She taught him intricate facets to many of the skills he learned in the camps. Sophy had become a pillar to Suibom's life back then. She taught him much about life that he hadn't understood before he met her. She taught him about the mainland and the need for homins to be prepared for their journey. Unfortunately, like his sister Val, Sophy was lost to the kitin invasions on the refugee camps.

Sui pulled out a new jeweler tool and began to work on more materials. The amber glinted in the freshly risen sun, sending small reflections in all directions. The slightly acrid smell of fresh seed permeated the air from all the work. Sui was moving automatically, only slightly more than half conscious of what he was doing. He was training his finer motor skills to burn the intricate, but repetitive, work into muscle memory.

Over time Sui found fewer and fewer refugees that had come to the mainland from his home camps. He began to hear of kitin invasions on refugee camps of other races as well. Each story was more withering than the last. The destruction of the camps was complete, there was nothing left in those areas.

No one had any information about Val or Sophy. Eventually, there were no more stories of the camps at all. Sui had to give up hope. He had fought kitin with the Dragonblades. He knew the destruction they could cause. He knew the singularity of their focus on the eradication of homins. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to encounter waves of the beasts swarming at him.

The thought brought another memory forward. A dream that his sister had told him about shortly before his departure to the mainland. She told him that she had dreamt of Jena and Ma-Duk, both consuming hominity in their own way. She also dreamt of a man called Elias. She dreamt of her father as well. But her dream ended with the kitin. They had swarmed the planet and destroyed everything in their path. No homin trace was left.

Val's dreams were often difficult to decipher properly, but they were never wrong – at least, as far as Sui had ever encountered. The kitin raid on the camps, that one was obvious now. Jena and Ma-Duk, Sui had thought that part of the dream was about the coming war he continued to hear rumors about, persisting in the constant static of undertoned conversations that echoed off every surface it seemed; the day of judgment. But he began to think that war would not materialize any time soon, if at all. Jena and Ma-Duk represented something else, it was not something he could understand yet. Elias, Sui was not sure who that was or what he had to do with the rest of the dream. And then there was her father.

Val's father, Petr Antioni, adopted Sui when he was very young and before Valeriana had been born. The story that Sui had come to learn was that Antioni was an honored Matis warrior that helped to forge the Matis refugee camps. He helped to train refugees so that they would better be able to protect themselves when they reintegrated into life on the newly reachable mainlands. He was the leader of a group of Matis that raided a tribe of vicious renegades that had set up a sprawling camp near the refugee territory.

A refugee scout determined that the renegades were slave traders. They had been abducting refugees from the camps. Most were from Rosilio. Most were young and female. The renegades were preparing to take them to another land and sell them off, or worse. When the news got back to Antioni's group, the rage flowed through the Matis like hot blood in their veins. They might as well have been a pack of wild gingos tearing at a jugular vein. The Matis warriors raided the renegade encampment with a blazing ferocity that took the renegades off guard. They destroyed the renegades swiftly, allowing no mercy for the slave traders. Aside from a handful that escaped, they were all killed in battle or executed.

While doing a final sweep of the area, searching for any renegades that might still need to be dealt with – muscles tensed and blade searching for flesh to cleave – Antioni heard a small, soft sound behind the opening flap of one of the tents. He shifted the flap over with the blade of his sword, ready to bury it into whatever lay beyond. He was greeted by a small baby in the midst of the tribe tents, tucked gently into a basket and covered with soft blankets. He was mostly quiet and taking in what was occurring around him. The rage flowed away from Antioni like a demon released. His legs wavered and he fell to his knees before the babe. He took the small homin in his arms and looked around at the carnage his group had inflicted on the tribe. He never meant for his skills to end the lives of so many homins in such a simple, quick tailspin of rage and hate; even homins as wicked as these lost souls. Antioni claimed the baby as his own, a sliver of redemption for his personal sin. He rescued Sui from the tribe and adopted him.

When Val was still sucking on the teat of her wet nurse, Antioni followed a calling to the mainland to serve for his king, Yrkanis. He left his children in the care of their tutor and nanny. Then, on one very sad day early in his life, Suibom learned that his adoptive father had been killed in battle. He was told that it was a glorious battle and Antioni was a hero.

As Sui grew up, he naturally began to ask questions about Antioni. As his sister grew from a baby he would tell her fabulous stories of their father and he wanted those stories to be true. However, the leaders of Rosilio, the people that Sui had thought were friends of his father, only quieted him when he asked about Antioni's journey to the mainland and his heroic battle. They systematically ignored his queries. They worked to eradicate Antioni's memory. Eventually the name of Antioni had disappeared from the camps. Their father had become a figment of the mind. The memory lived strong in the two children, though.

Sui reached absentmindedly into his sack to gather more amber and seeds for another necklace, but his fingers only found the walls of the sack. He was out of materials for the jewelry. The realization crept into his mind enough to forced the weave of memories to unravel like a flower opening to the sun. The first layer to unravel was the memory of childhood and their father. Then Val's dream peeled back. Finally Sui was left on the Streets of Yrkanis, the memories of his time with the Dragonblades and coming to terms with the loss of his sister and friend.

On that day, long ago, Sui decided he would discover what happened to their father. He would find the truth for Valeriana, so that she could rest in peace knowing that her father was a great man to the end.

On this day, enshrouded in daydream memories, Sui broke away enough to decide he needed to gather more materials for his creations. He gathered up his bag, switched his jeweler tool for a harvesting pick. He stood up and stretched, the memories still floating in the back of his mind. He stretched and soaked in the warmth of the morning sun.

Mornings like this were a blessing and a curse. It helped him to piece together his life, but it absorbed him fully. And when the stream of memories stopped bombarding his mind's eye, they would inevitably shrink back into the shadows. It was like trying to hold onto water.

To be continued...

[suib0m]

Glimpses of the Past
Part 3: Let the Past be Passed
Suibom deeply breaths in the spring morning air, tasting the sweet aroma of the forest plants that are returning from a dark winter. There is still a slight tinge of coolness to the air, but the sun is warm on his back. He stands before an area of land he knows will yield an amber vein for harvesting, if he can find it.

Divining an active vein of material from the surface of Atys is a skill that enhances over time and use. The nuances of prospecting the land for a source, and then concentrating and drawing energy from the source itself, divining its exact location, is a process that he still analyzes constantly to try and find more efficient, and more yielding, methods. Even though he has been harvesting since he was very young, trying to keep his sister and himself fed and clothed, he often finds new characteristics to how the process works in different environments. Some materials can only be found when the weather and time are aligned just right.

He closes his eyes, cups his hands together and begins to concentrate on the amber vein. He visualizes holding the amber source, connecting with the materials on a mystic level. He moves his hands around the visualized materials making the connection stronger and more corporeal with each movement. Then the image begins to shift. His mind begins to replay more memories like a recording of history skillfully brushed onto the canvas of his closed eyelids. The memories of his time with the Order of the Dragonblades continue. Central to the mental painting is the illustration of a woman; one of the strongest women he has ever met – strength of character, strength of will, strength of conviction. A Matis woman named Jelathnia.

The new mental images begin to break his divined connection with the amber source. The memory portrait of Jelathnia comes into clearer focus, superimposed onto the failing visualization of the amber material which is now crumbling out of his hands. He opens his eyes and casts his hand out; extending his will, and what remains of his visualized connection to the material source, out onto the land. The action that should have revealed half a dozen direct sources to the amber vein only brings forth two. The memory of a smiling Jelathnia remains, brushed into the peripheral edges of his vision.

He grips his pick firmly and kneels down beside the nearest source. The tool rises above his head and the sharp point is forced down powerfully, tearing into the surface. Beautiful fragments of Pha amber soon begin to expose themselves, but Sui is locked into his headspace again and barely notices. With little conscious thought he gathers the fragments and continues to drive the pick into the ground.

Shortly after joining the Dragonblades, he began to forge a friendship with Jelathnia, a High Officer of the guild. Like Sophy, she helped him to see things about the world that he was oblivious to before. She opened his eyes to the energy patterns of Atys. She showed him that everything was linked by an ethereal flow. With her guidance, he learned that, under certain circumstances of weather, time, and location, he could pull exquisite materials from beneath the skin of Atys. They were excellent specimens of the materials he had been finding before, but, previous to her direction, he had only been able to coax common fragments from the ground.

Jelathnia also taught him many other secrets; techniques of combat, of magic, and of crafting. He cherished his time with her and the other Dragonblades. He learned something from each that he came to know. Even with these new friendships, though, he felt a growing sense that he did not belong there. The feeling held over him like a cloudy sky slowly growing into a tumultuous storm. It wasn't that the Dragonblades didn't welcome him or that they treated him differently; the feeling had nothing to do with the Dragonblades and they were an amazing family. Back then he didn't understand why he felt the way he did, he just knew that the feeling was getting stronger on a daily basis. Over time he had less and less interactions with the guild, though he tried to keep his friendship with Jelathnia alive.

Suibom realized recently, after much analyzing of what he could remember of his actions back then, that the reason behind his departure had several germinating roots. The loss of the remaining members of his family tore at him even though he tried to suppress the feelings – his friendship with Jelathnia helped, her presence kept the feeling of total loss at bay... mostly. He felt a growing urgency to find information about his father, who had been all but eradicated from memory by the leaders of his home village. He had come to the mainland with a sense that he was on a mission larger than life and that feeling was quickly trampled under the anxieties of the populace. There was an oppressive, but vastly hollow sense that something significant was supposed to happen. It permeated the air. What was it? War? Pestilence? The return of the Dragon? Jena's wrath raining down from the sky while Ma-Duk fiercely challenged her from the jungles? Something, anything...

But nothing happened. Nothing changed. Nothing more than continued rumors that subtly worked the populace into a tightly wound ball of subconscious apprehension, ready to snap and splay out, like a whip, dangerously in all directions. Guilds constantly fought over outposts – even for outposts that held no tactical advantage for them. Skirmishes and battles raged between homins in the Prime Roots. Where did these rumors come from? What was the precipitate of the waves of agitation and deception that flowed among the people?

The question bothered Sui, but he didn't have time to think much about it back then. The time that he was away from the Dragonblades was spent hunting down information about his father. At first he thought it would be a simple matter, he traveled to south Yrkanis where the city officials did the majority of their business. He started with the Yrkanis guild registry. Varo Antodera, the Guild Clerk, was busy with paperwork and dealing with other homins. He took a moment to address Sui, but there was apparently no record of his father. Saniero Giurelli, the Yrkanis Guild Magistrate, somehow looked down upon him even though Giurelli was a shorter homin. Sui soon realized that this self-absorbed homin would have nothing to do with anyone who did not lead a guild – a typical aristocratic government official.

He began to approach other city officials trying to find information. Liccio Chialdo, the City Welcomer, did not recognize the name of his father, Petr Antioni, nor did the description match anyone he could remember. Chialdo was able to point him to several other officials that might be able to help, though.

Sui quickly found a pattern to the people he talked to. The officials of lower status didn't have any information about his father. High ranked officials were too self-important and self-absorbed to look at someone of his social standing, let alone discuss some missing homin that didn't seem to have ever existed.

He started to talk with other city fixtures as well, vending homins who have been in the marketplaces forever. Some of which who's side job, he had discovered, was to take mental note of everything that happened around them so they can maybe make a profit off of the information in the future. He had visited the armor and weapon dealers in both north and south Yrkanis, as well as some of the suppliers and trainers. Nothing. No sign of his father at all.

One evening, after being constantly rebuffed by those he sought help from, he walked aimlessly through Yrkanis, feeling dejected and defeated. Thunderclouds gathered overhead and lightning started to illuminate the darkening city, warping the faces of each homin he passed. Rain began to fall heavily into his face. A feeling of unease descended upon him as though it was carried by the storm. It was a claustrophobic feeling. He felt like the shadows had eyes and the eyes were watching him, multiplying and getting closer, shifting in the strobing flashes of lightning. He had to get off the street, had to get somewhere that he could relax and calm his nerves. The hair on the back of his neck rose defiantly against the cascades of water that were now flowing from his head, sending a shiver throughout his body. He was almost as far south as you could get in Yrkanis, approaching the seedier parts of the business district. There was a building nearby that he knew would get him out of the rain and bring some warmth to his flesh.

He lumbered through the door, the weight of depression on his shoulders now heavier than the water that saturated his clothes – heavy enough to push away the paranoia that started to infiltrate his mind. He scanned the inside of the tavern quickly to get his bearings. He had never entered this building before and wasn't sure what to expect. There were few other homins occupying the building that night and he was relieved to see that none of them payed him any notice when he entered. He found a spot where the bar countertop connected to the wall, away from other homins and obscured by shadows. He didn't feel like sharing his space with anyone that night. He sat on the barstool and held his head in his hands trying to clear his mind.

“Ey, lad. Can I get you something to warm your bones?” The bartender was standing before him, wiping off a mug. Sui looked up, he hadn't noticed the man walk over. He was nondescript and plainly dressed. The kind of person that could stand in the middle of a crowd and not be noticed by anyone. By the look in his eyes, though, Sui knew that this man had no problems commanding attention when he wanted it.

“I... I just want to sit here for a while, thanks.” Sui said, sheepishly. It was not a habit of his to venture into taverns and he usually passed when offered alcohol. He didn't quite know what else to do here.

“Aye, 's fine with me.” The bartender looked at the mug, making sure it was clean.

“Maybe you can help me,” Sui began to venture, but the bartender stepped closer and cut him off.

“Boy, I know who you are and what you're wanting to ask me.” He said, looking Sui in the eye. There was a look on his face that Sui couldn't quite decipher. “Someone making the kind of commotion you've made in the last few weeks doesn't go unnoticed. Let me give you a little advice, lad. Sometimes, when a someone goes making a big ruckus and starts to get noticed by the wrong sorts, that someone sometimes disappears... permanently if you're catching my drift.” At that moment Sui realized that the look on the bartender's face was conveying that an individual's life had very little meaning in some circumstances.

Then the bartender broke into massive smile and said, incongruously cheerfully, “Not that that has anything to do with you, lad. Just a bit of free advice is all.” Chuckling to himself, the bartender started pouring liquid into the mug. Sui just sat there, completely nonplussed.

The bartender plopped the mug down in front of him, somehow managing to keep the sloshing liquid inside from splashing all over the countertop. “This one is on the house, lad. It will help calm your nerves.

“I don't know nothing of the person you are seeking. I've never heard the name or seen the face you've described to so many others. Nor, in my time working this city, have I heard reference of such a person. I'm sorry.”

Sui listed to the bartender and watched the mug in front of him, as if it were some alien object he wasn't sure what to do with. Everything seemed to be covered in a surreal mist.

“Well, drink up boy. I'll be highly offended if you let some of my best go to waste.”

Sui took a swig of the liquid, not sure what to expect. It was very strong but had a subtle, sweet undercurrent of honey. That first taste caused him to shiver reflexively, but the aftertaste captured him. He thought, on any other night the heady taste of this drink might turn him off, but tonight it fit and he embraced the flavor. Sui took another swig and let the liquid ease down his throat, savoring it as it rolled off his tongue.

“There you go, lad. You'll be feeling better in no time. Let me tell you a story while you finish that mug up, and I'll pour another, a gift from me to you.” Sui nodded and took another swig. “Sometimes,” The bartender started, “Folks come to this city and decide they want to disappear. They want to be erased from history for whatever reason – sometimes this, sometimes that. Sometimes they are trying to hide from someone or something, and sometimes they just want a fresh start on a life they feel they shipwrecked. Whatever their reasons are, with enough dappers in their pocket they can make it happen.”

The bartender placed another mug down in front of him. He looked down at the mug in his hands and realized, to his surprise, that it was completely empty. He exchanged the two mugs and continued drinking. The bartender continued his story.

“The thing is, you see, these people don't want to be found. They've left their old life behind and they don't want any memory of it. They just want to move on and be left alone.

“Not that I'm saying anything particular about your situation, mind you. I really couldn't tell you the difference between yourself and that guy down there, for instance.” He said, pointing out in a general direction. Sui followed a line from the bartender's pointing finger out into the building, but didn't see anyone specific at the end of the line. He thought he saw himself in the reflection of an ornamental shield though, it looked back at him and smiled. He began to notice that the liquid he was drinking was making him feel strange, but good. A smile formed on his own face when he saw the reflection for no other reason that it felt good to smile. The bartender was making quite a bit of sense.

“I'm just saying that,” The bartender continued “like those people, you should also move on, lad. Life is too short to be chasing ghosts. You need to make the most of the now. Live life now for the future, boy. Let the past be passed.”

He finished the mug he was working on and ordered another. The bartender was completely right. Sui has been such a fool, wasting so much time. I mean, look around, life was wonderful! Sui would have to ponder this more, over another couple of mugs.

“Live life now!” He said quietly to the mug, grinning stupidly. “Live for the future!”

And then he passed out.

Live life now. Live for the future. The words rung out in Sui's head, reverberating past the memories and into the present. There was something about those words. Something... He realized it was suddenly becoming difficult to breathe.

When learning to harvest, there is one rule that is hammered into every homin's head over and over... The surface of Atys is very reactive and the friction and kinetic power of digging into the ground creates an instability that, if left unattended, usually results in one of three outcomes. The first outcome is expected; the source will be dissipate into nothing, destroyed by its own pressure. Outcomes two and three can end the life of a careless digger. Either the kinetic energy is dangerously stored, multiplied by feeding on itself and then dangerously released in a violent explosion, or it is reflected off itself and the particles of the ground until it begins to release a noxious, deadly gas. The rule is: “Never let your mind wander”.

His mind had not only been wandering, it had taken a small vacation into the memories that kept bombarding him. It now dawned on him that he was standing in the middle of a gas cloud that was beginning to eat away at his flesh as well as his lungs. All he could do was run, run until he collapsed.

After a few moments of writhing in agony, he regained enough composure to invoke a quick incantation that drew energy from around him and infused it into himself, healing the wounds that were inflicted by the gas cloud. He sat down, unnerved by the stupid mistake and knowing that he could not start digging again without risking his life, he let the memories take over once again. He knew that what was being unlocked in his head at this moment was crucial to the origin of his mind being as fractured as it now was. He needed to remember this.

To be continued...

[suib0m]

Well, rereading things I see that I changed the name of their father. If any of you caught that, I'm sorry. I hadn't realized I'd named him way back when. His name will remain Petr Antioni (as it now is). Also, the timeframe of Sui's memories float around the time of Episode 2 era, if anyone's interested.

I hope my contribution adds something to the world. I eventually want to explore the lore more with upcoming stories after this arc ends, which is a history of Sui that I've wanted to write for a long time. Next up is what happened to Val and the refugee camps (eventually I'll get to it).

Peace,
- Sui