Location: Near and in Ashen
This is the land of wonders that the omens predicted I must visit! I did not think it possible, may Osiris forgive my lack of faith, but how was I to know that such wonders could lie beyond the borders of our monastery?
Hopefully my prior scroll containing the initial description of this land and the course of my travels has arrived safely, but I have received no response. Because of this, I shall forebear sending future messages and keep them on my person until such time as my quest has been completed successfully. I dare not risk this precious knowledge becoming lost or falling into the wrong hands.
It has taken me two tendays of travel and adventures, but at last I have arrived at a larger settlement than the small hamlets and traveling caravans that were my only encounters prior to today. I have practiced some with the strange weapon that I was given for healing the gypsy matron this morning. My skill with the elegant (if noisy) weapon improves. How it functions still eludes me. It is a magic like no other I have seen or heard of.
The town that I entered today is called Ashen. It is clearly a trading hub of sorts. But if the wonders of the magical weapons that are so common amazed me, they were but a sample of the fantastic marvels I have seen in the town of Ashen!
My first sight was not of the city itself, but of a massive flying ship that went roaring overhead, trailing thick clouds of black smoke – tinged with a phosphorescent blue! I’m afraid that I stood there, watching this craft soar through the air, until it left my sight. Men were crawling around on board, looking like so many sailors, except for their lofty ocean. The thrumming sound of the flying ship merged into a background hum of noise that continued to grow as I followed the trail that I had been assured would take me to a city.
The sound grew into a noise unlike anything else I was familiar with, other than the flying ship I had seen a moment before. It sounded like the ship, but surely there could not be so many of such constructs to produce such a noise? The volume of the sound indicated the presence of scores of them and I knew this must be folly.
I emerged from the hillside woods to see the town Ashen itself. And then I saw that I was wrong in my assumption.
Strange carts and flying vehicles were everywhere! Most of them were emitting fearful clanking sounds and spewing streamers of smoke into the air. Huge towers acted as docks or piers for the flying ships and these towers were scattered throughout the town’s precincts. Carts as large as dragons moved with no draft animals along well ordered roads. A proliferation of pipes, chains, and toothed wheels made these contraptions look like a confusion of moving parts. They do not look very safe to me.
Then I realized with amazement that many of the huge objects I saw floating in the sky were not ships, but flying chunks of rock with ornate buildings and palaces built on top of them. Some even had towers that pointed down toward the ground. As I watched a flying carpet landed on the roof of one of these fabulous airborne homes.
None of the inhabitants paid any of these things even a second glance. Can such wonders be so common here? If so, then I may indeed gain the knowledge my sect elders have sent me here to discover!
The settlement surrounds a jutting upthrust of stone that is carved and decorated with strange runes. I asked the first person I met about this geological oddity and was told to find a tour guide. So? The rock must be some kind of tourist attraction or historical landmark. No sooner than I entered one of the many marketplaces, did I spy a poster – glued to an obelisk:
So? I sought out Sheik Kazim by inquiring among the shopkeepers in the marketplace and was rewarded with directions to his tent. I kissed my holy symbol for good fortune and entered the tent indicated.
Sheik Kazim was very respectful and friendly. He is obviously wealthy if one may judge from the richness of his attire, the jewelry on his fingers and the artwork that decorated his home. Upon greeting me he asked me as to my profession.
“I am a wanderer who seeks knowledge in order to assist in the holy cause of my brothers that I left behind,” I answered.
Sheik Kazim patted his expansive belly with a sudden two-handed slap and sighed with contentment. “Ah! I knew that you were not here to seek gentle employment or take a tour! Come! Surely instead of sight-seeing a man of your desires will wish to seek out knowledge through travel and new experiences, yes? You have seen my posters, yes?”
I nodded my agreement.
“Good. It is settled. Return to my tent in two hours and I will see about arranging for you such an experience. And instead of paying my tour guides to have a stale adventure, I will pay you for a fresh new one! Is this not a more sound arrangement?”
“Indeed, Sheik Kazim.”
“It is fine. Now! I have much to do in order to prepare for our mid-day meal and soon Antoro will arrive to be my guest. We shall meet again in two hours. Go with the sand, Mal’Izyad.”
I thanked him again and left to explore the town while I waited for the meeting to begin. I can only assume that the “Mal” he called me has some friendly meaning. It must be in a language other than the one my magical talisman allowed me to learn when I left home. Of course, that magical gift would only teach me a single tongue, so this is no surprise.
While exploring the town I saw many other wonders of strange magic and odd construction. I spoke with a merchant who sells useful magic items that he called “clockwork”. Apparently all of the complex tools and devices that the Northern Vincha people use are called by this outlandish name. I have seen clocks before, and this work only bears a passing resemblance. I do not think that anyone in the world has such craftsmanship and inventiveness as the Vincha people put into their works.
I also found a weapons merchant who sold nothing but magic weapons of the sort that I was gifted by the gypsy band. The merchant was actually a bit disdainful of my weapon, calling it, “a sad excuse for a T-hand cannon. Very beat up and poorly taken care of.”
“T-Hand Cannon?” I asked. “Is that what it is called?”
The fellow looked at me a bit askance at this query. “Tizzomavium-Hand Cannon. But I see your point, my friend! Yes, I agree – it is almost unrecognizable as a proper firearm. Take a look at this fine T-Cannon instead! Brand new from the weapon-smiths of Vernazza! You will not find better quality! Or perhaps I can interest you in this Charge Cannon?”
The selection of weapons was confusing in its variety. I fear I have much to learn before I can claim to understand this new form of warfare.
After listening to the merchant’s descriptions of several pieces I learned that the blue crystal that seems to be a part of every weapon is called Tizzomavium. The must be the secret to how these magical weapons work.
I bought some more of the ammunition for my weapon (T-bullets, they are called, despite the fact that the small cylindrical metal slugs with a flash of blue crystal on one end look nothing like sling stones). The merchant seemed annoyed at my meager purchase after all the time he spent up-selling me. Some things are not so different from home. Ha!
Chapter 2 >
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