The tale of A cursed past

[rabcaz]

((Written for Halloween 2008))


Finally Ba'Naedan had gathered enough dappers in order to build his dream home.
It had been a long road to travel in order to see to it that everything was set
and in order. But it had been worth it, every bit of it as the first shovel of
sand was taken.
He had made a smaller fortune on a very successful trading
company where he, in exchange for a fair amount of dappers, offered to take
certain items ordered by Homins to places of their selection. Instead of them
having to locate him he sought them out in to complete the transfer. And
sometimes he just had to deliver them to the regional stable man for handout. It
was a small, but profitable, company, specially since he had taken it upon
himself to personally deliver the items. He soon rose to be a well known trader
and began to get more and more offers of employment then he could handle by
himself. So he had decided to hire a second hand, though as he had worked hard
for his position he made sure that the new employee first traveled with him for
quite some time so that all of his customers learned the new face, and
thereafter to recognize and trust his helper as they trusted him. It was during
this prosper he had decided that he wished for to build a house, one that he had
had in mind for quite some time, partially for it would suit a special lady, and
partially as it could set as a headquarters of his work. There is quite a bit of
preparations and work before a house can be risen on the grounds of Aeden, well
for everywhere on Atys rather – though some places were more difficult then
others – and therefor it had taken a little extra long. Tossing in the fact that
they had almost been overloaded with work lately added its share to the time.
But it had all been worth it indeed, the wait had been half the journey he
thought as he saw the materials unload from the thirsty Mektoubs, the hired
workers arriving just in time to start on the foundation.

Ba'Naedan looked up at the sun, it brought its warmth as usual and the sound of
the waves traveling in across the beach added to the calm and pleasure of the
lakelands. It was a fine day indeed to start building something for the future
he thought as he laid out the plan of the base. It would be an odd house for
being on Aeden, it would not be in the waters, nor would it have a cellar,
instead it would have an extra floor up. As Ba'Naedan looked at the plans
someone suddenly called his name, it was one of the workers.

“Sorry sir, but we found something odd over here when we started to dig. Would
you be so kind to have a look at it before we continue?” He was asked by the
young Homin.

Of course this was something interesting, it is a rare occasion that something
would be found in the sands of Aeden, there were mostly just sand there.
Ba'Naedan quickly put down the drawing of the house and followed the Homin to
where the south east corner of the house would be. Around a small hole most of
the workers stood and looked down at something in it. When he came closer he
could see that it was an odd wooden box with some strange carvings on it. After
some thought it was decided that the box would be lifted from the hole and then
further investigated as the work continues. This way the workers would not need
to worry about it, and just do what they did best; their job. Ba'Naedan covered
the box and put it on his packer before he left for his home. He was a good
friend with an old Zorai whom often came to visit Fairhaven, and he knew that he
was here for a few days to come, so he thought that he might ask the old wise
mystic Homin before he ventured into anything. Well home he gave the wooden box
a good lock, the lock on it was rusty beyond ages and would likely not open
except if it was exposed to explosives. Something that was not his area at all.
He just placed the box under the shelves and left to find his old friend, but
before he tried to memorize as much as he could of the carvings on the box. He
did not bring it with him, knowing when transporting valuable goods how the eyes
of thieves was drawn to the attention it would bring. It was for the best if he
just carried its looks in his mind until asked any other.

It took him a little while, but after some asking around he found the old Zoraï
in the bar of Windermeer, he was sitting alone at a table in the corner, as
usual, sipping on some Shooki Ale.

Ba'Naedan bought himself an ale, and a extra one for his old friend, rather a
tradition between them; the one that spotted the other first in the bar always
bought the next round as a greeting. And this time it bode well as the old man
lit up when he saw his friend, the little traveling Tryker Be'Naedan.

The discussions started off with the usual 'how have you been, what have you
been up to lately' phrases before it actually came to the core of the
conversation; the wooden box:

“Say, my old friend, what is your knowledge of old signs and carvings?”
Ba'Naedan asked the Zoraï man.

“Well, I have seen my fair share of Zoraï pictograms and parchments of the old,
I would say that it depends on what you are referring to my little friend?” Was
the reply.

“Well, as you know, today I was finally able to start the work of my house, my
dream. And almost instantly something came up, I mean I was expecting some
troubles and problems along the way, but so soon?”

“What was it my friend, what did you find?”

“Well, basically it is an old wooden box, filled with odd carvings and a really
old lock. I think that only a Homin sure of his skills with explosives would be
able to pry it open.”

“How does this wooden box look like?”

Ba'Naedan tried to describe the box the best he could, explaining the carvings.
Still it was not enough to convince the old mystic. So they decided that they
both should travel to Ba'Naedan's apartment to further investigate the box. Said
and done they finished their ales and then left the bar. Moments later they
appeared near the bridge in Fairhaven and purchased each a new pact from the
Karavan Teleporter and moved towards Ba'Naedan's apartment near Lorias Rise.
As they arrived a neighbor of Ba'Naedan confronted him:

“Do you have a guest in your apartment Ba'Naedan?” She asked him as they were to
enter.

“No, there is no one staying at my apartment at the moment no, why do you
wonder?” He asked her.

“Well, I heard some heart tearing screams from it just a moment ago, I thought
that something might have happened to you” She said with a worried voice. “But
as I was to knock on your door I saw you coming here, that is why I wonder if
you had anyone occupying your quarters.”

“Well, as you can see I am well and fit, thank you for your concern my friend. I
shall make sure immediately that there is no one in my apartment beside me and
my friend. Thank you for letting me know!” He said with haste as he hurried
inside his apartment, ready to fend off any intruder there might be in there.

But there was none inside, not a soul beside himself and his friend, the old
Zoraï Mystic. It was a bit odd, still they had a look around the apartment just
to make sure and when they finally settled down to look at the box Ba'Naedan
made a strange discovery. On top of the box lied a small bone, it seemed as it
had just been placed there recently, but by whom, and how? They looked at the
bone and made a sudden discovery; the bone was most likely from a Homin!

They were both baffled and a bit terrified by their discovery, but they were
soon interrupted by a knock on the door. Ba'Naedan opened it and was met by one
of his workers whom urged him to come to the building site because something had
happened. Seeing the scare in the eyes of the Homin Ba'Naedan gave a quick
farewell to his Zoraï friend, with the promise to keep him updated about the
matter (he were to stay a few days longer in Fairhaven until this matter was all
cleared out, this he promised Ba'Naedan.)

They rushed to the site to find the other workers in despair, and on guard.
Ba'Naedan was briefed by another Homin at the site:

“Well, Me and Finner was working on the foundation wood and suddenly I heard him
screaming out, but when I turned around he was just gone. As if he had never
been there. I looked around in case a Kitin had grabbed him or something; still
I could not find him anywhere.”

“Where did this happen” Ba'Naedan asked him.

The Homin pointed at the site, it was the south east corner. As he did Ba'Naedan
suddenly got to think of the wooden box that had been buried there. The box and
the bone. He turned paler in his face. Still he kept his calm, and convinced
himself that it was just a turn of fate, the bone could really also just be a
left over from dinner, or something like that. He quickly organized a search of
the area before he sent all the workers home for the day, it had been a strain
to all of them.
When he got home me made another terrifying discovery, on the wooden box was the
bone from before, but now it was joined by a second bone..
Ba'Naedan quickly covered the box with a blanket, took a drink of his strongest
Psyklopa Spirits and then went to bed, this day had just been too much for him.
And he was in no condition to handle all this now. He needed some rest.

The day after started off no better then the previous one had ended. When he
arrived at the site the workers were all stirred up as it seems as the one whom
had reported the missing Finner yesterday never came this morning, and when
asking his wife they learned that he had never come home the night before,
something that was very odd for being him. But she did say, and this seemed to
scare the workers the most, that she had heard an awful scream just outside the
door late at night, but there was no one outside. Suddenly Ba'Naedan come to
think that he had just rushed out of the apartment this morning, that he had not
bothered looking at the box, and now a cold strain traveled along his spine.
What if..

He quickly sent all the workers home for the day, they would be better off to
spend it looking for their friends, and he himself rushed home to his apartment.
There he made another discovery when lifting the blanket; three bones were lying
on top of it.

He was terrified, what was this box? How come that Homins disappeared and bones
suddenly started to appear on it? No matter how much he tried to ponder these
questions in his desperation he only came to the same conclusion; the box must
be destroyed. This evil doings could not continue any further.
As he wrapped the box in a blanket, and gently placed the bones in a smaller bag
he thought of burying it where they had found it, but he soon realized that it
would not do enough – if they had dug it up, someone else might do just the same
– so he decided to drop it into the deepest of waters in Aeden. He quickly
readied his mount and then set off through the lands of Tryker. He rushed his
poor mount almost to its limits, hoping that he would be in time so that no
other would have to lose their life and soon he arrived near the top of a high
cliff stretching out over a piece of water he knew that no Homin so far had
reached the bottom of. He quickly climbed up and then dropped the wooden box and
the little bag of bones into the waters and watched them disappear as they
slowly sank deeper and deeper into the depth. After staring at the water for the
last ten minutes he decided to travel back home and keep a good face, perhaps it
would soothe the mind of the others and things could get back to normal.

Well back at home he was met with more terrible news, it seemed as there was a
curfew now, as yet another Homin from the builder's squad was missing. No one
was to leave their home except during the day, and preferably in pairs each
keeping an eye on the other. Ba'Naedan was devastated, was it not enough to sink
the box into the depth? As he reached his apartment he did not know where to
turn, or where to go, but inside the apartment and just sit. He almost dropped
his jaw when he came inside the door; there in front of him stood the wooden
box, and on top of it was the small bag. Even though he did not know why, he
opened the little bag and poured its content on the box, there was four bones
falling from the bag..

Fire! Fire burns well enough to incinerate most of what it swallows Ba'Naedan
suddenly thought of. And there is but one land on Atys that holds the fury of
fire, and that was the lands of Fyros. Once more he wrapped up the box, placed
the four bones in the bag and used a pact to reach the town of Pyr. There he
quickly traveled out into the Desert on a rented mount until he found a crevice
known of its bursting flames and furious temper. Surely this place would be
enough to end this misery. After this was done Ba'Naedan decided to find the
local authorities of Fairhaven and then explain everything to the detail. He
lifted the box, with the little bag attached to its side, and prepared to toss
it down into the crevice towards its final destruction..

A scream suddenly filled the desert..

A month later, after things had settled down in Fairhaven it was decided to lift
the curfew and things could return to the normal routines. The construction of
Ba'Naedan's house could continue, just delayed a month. The workers was waiting
for Ba'Naedan to arrive, but he never did. Two days passed, the workers finished
what they could based on previous directions from Ba'Naedan and now they really
needed him to make some decisions and so three of the workers went to his
apartment to see if he still was there. They knocked gently on the door, and it
slowly slid open revealing the interior. But it was all empty,
still to make sure he was not there they went inside and looked around as they
called out his name several times. Still nothing, no reply or anything. As they
were to leave the apartment one of the workers spotted something and gathered
the others.

There under some shelves close to a wall was a wooden box with some strange
carvings on it, and on it there was a small bag lying. But that was not the most
odd part, what caught the attention of the workers was what was lying on the
bag..

On the little bag on the box was the remains of what seemed to be a Homin
skull...



This dear Homins is the tale of a cursed past.