Location [Riverfall] The Land and Sea Gates

[Ayatah]

10th Spring, 515AV

They were both dog-tired, utterly exhausted. But both Ayatah and Kuame could appreciate the beauty of Riverfall, and the peacefulness that it seemed to exuberate. The former remembered the place faintly from the last time she was here, but that seemed long ago now that Aya did not quite believe that she was looking at the same Riverfall.

"Look how pretty is." She encouraged tiredly, placing a hand on top of the head of the small boy next to her. Aya managed to stifle a yawn and arouse her voice into something more lively, "I think we'll like it here."

Kuame was too busy yawning to really respond, but he did nod his head slowly. It had been his initial idea for the two of them move: a childish suggestion that he had said whilst Ayatah had taught him the names of the other cities. She had laughed it off at the time: but Kuame, we live here, in Zeltiva!. But the more Ayatah had thought about his suggestion, she had agreed with him. Zeltiva had served its purpose for them both. She had achieved a university degree from the city, adopted a child. Kuame had been born, abandoned and eventually found, all within the confines of the place. They both needed to leave.

"It's safe in Riverfall, as well." She promised the boy, who suffered terribly from night terrors, "and we'll be happy. That's a the main thing."

Ayatah waited for Kuame to smile - she had to see him smile, in order for her to know that he agreed with this whole idea. And when he did, she gave a final nod and led him into Riverfall.

[Kailey]

Spring 3, 515 AV Kailey moved up to the city gates, her eyes wide as she took in their expanse. They towered over her, much as the strange blue men who lingered about it, some at its base, some just strolling around elsewhere. She heard someone clear their throat, drawing her out of her reverie. "Welcome, traveler. Here is a scroll of welcome from the city. It contains a list of our laws, a map of the city, and some advertisements from local businesses that sponsor these scrolls to be made. You can feel free to come in if you agree to our laws and turn this scroll back in when you leave so we can reuse it," the strange blue man beside the entrance said, handing over the scroll. Kailey took the scroll and gave it a quick look. Moving her eyes across the letters on the page, as though she were reading it. (She still struggled to read, and didn't want the man to know that). She she nodded, and agreed to the rules. (She didn't fear she would break any, as she was small and unimposing). In any case, she wound up saying "thank you," to the guard, and strolling in unhindered, to begin her new life.

[Khida]

Spring 7, 515 AV

The wall looked... strange. Foreign. Alien. It loomed up against the sky, rigid and stern, a barricade that forced the wind to go around instead of through. It seemed even stranger than the landscape she had walked through to get here -- woodlands, tree farms with their trees all in neat rows, other fields filled with rambling vines. Compared to the wide open Sea and the arid south before it, Khida found this whole place somewhat unsettlingly closed-in.

It was definitely going to take some getting used to.

So were the locals. Khida had seen the tall blue men before, when they visited Endrykas from time to time, though she could not put a name to them -- but here there were many, and all of them as large and robust as the wall about their city. ...Though at the moment, the wall and its rigid permanence was definitely the more imposing sight.

Khida let her steps drag to a halt some distance away from the wall, regarding its height. It felt so very strange to stand before a structure that couldn't be folded up, broken down, and packed for transport. Almost on the edge of wrong. She wanted to fluff her feathers against its shadow, to preen and fidget and fuss, but the best her human form could do was comb her fingers through her hair... which didn't really have the same effect at all.

Her hesitance seemed to attract the attention of one of the guards, his oddly pale eyes studying her directly. His manner didn't seem menacing, it was just the considerable disparity in their sizes... and the fact that he was backed by that great stone edifice. Which honestly wasn't that different from the structures she had lived among as a child... so why was she still standing out here, anyway?

Giving herself a good shake, Khida proceeded forward.

The guard who had been watching her greeted her equably in Common, offering a scroll for the Kelvic to read. Reading. The little marks on the page struck her as being just as totally alien as the wall; known, yet belonging to another time, another place, and utterly wrong for her life now. Yet they were here, and they were necessary in their own way. Comprehension of the little marks came only slowly, trickling in one letter and one half-guessed word at a time. Laws, the guard had said. Laws about... behavior. Polite regard. Don't steal. Don't bother women and children. Something about... beauty in plants and food and smells. Something about... employment and weapons. And slaves.

Khida was pretty sure half of these laws didn't really apply to her. The other half, she didn't see as a problem; she had no intention of stealing or fighting or anything like that. The map on the other side, though -- that was useful, and the Kelvic set herself to puzzling it out as she continued on into the city.

Common | Pavi | someone else

[Naiya]

Spring Day 7, 515 AV

It was a long awaited sight that appeared, growing closer with each step forward.

The wall shot towards the sky, presenting a menacing face to the approaching travelers. It was frighteningly tall, Naiya had no desire for her feet to ever be so high off the ground. A strider was plenty tall, more than that just seemed unnecessary.

The sight was almost familiar, memories of similar trips to Riverfall with her uncle brought back as soft, blurred images of gates and men that were no smaller now that she was grown. Those visits had been a long time ago, however, and she couldn't count on the past to guide her here.

Her approach to the city was halted by an Akalak man. He, like the walls. loomed over her in a manner that wasn't quite threatening, but not entirely peaceful either. Perhaps wary was the word.

He offered her a scroll with unfamiliar symbols scrawled across it. It had the appearance of a list, lines spaced across the material in some sort of pattern. The meaning of them was completely lost on Naiya, she didn't even have a basic recognition of the symbols. She turned the scroll over, finding there an image of the city, a map. It was only slightly more useful than the list of things she couldn't read, but still only for a general layout of the city.

"Thank you." She said as she began her movement past him, following the others into the city.

[Merevaika]

Spring 7, 514
It towered over, the monstrosity so unfamiliar, yet welcoming. It cast memories of a better life, of family and friends. Blurred visions came to mind of her father leading their pavillion to this city, however foreign it was. The walls were so mighty and tough, Merevaika didn't believe that something lay past them. But she knew a great city did, one she had visited many times.

But never alone.

One of the sentries, a tall blue man as foreign as the walls but as familiar as the city inside, stepped forward, a feel of caution and welcoming around him. Merevaika greeted him in the way she knew how, a single Tukant word. He stared back with rigid thoughts, pulling a single scroll out of nowhere.

"Welcome, traveler. Here is a scroll of welcome from the city. It contains a list of our laws, a map of the city, and some advertisements from local businesses that sponsor these scrolls to be made. You can feel free to come in if you agree to our laws and turn this scroll back in when you leave so we can reuse it." He offered it to her, and she took it carefully. The marks, words on the paper were strange, as if movements and sounds had been forced to become a line on paper.

Perhaps if she had studied them a little more, Merevaika might have recognised them, might have been able to make out what some of the laws said. But she didn't care for them. Laws were laws, wherever you went. They were always the same, and Merevaika had never cared for them.

The other side was more useful, for it was a picture of the city. A map, to help guide her. The writing here was just as foreign, but a few words stuck out, readable by the Drykas woman. The map would be helpful, even if she couldn't read much. She could understand it enough to use.

"Thank you," she said simply, entering the great city of Riverfall.

[Kei]

2nd of Spring, 515 AV

Kei marveled at the sight of the giant entrance to the city.

He had been traveling for about a day since he escaped from slavery and was now planning on starting a new in this city. He had heard on the way from some travelers that it was called Riverfall. From what he had gathered, most races were welcomed here, so Kei would have no problems.

As he approached the gate, a large, blue man came to he and spoke in Tukant, a language that Kei, unfortunately, spoke very poorly. He picked up a few words, such as 'welcome' and 'laws', but not much else beyond that. Kei was handed a scroll with markings that, once again, Kei knew some of, but not all. He assumed from the few words he could read that they were laws of the city.

I should probably get someone to translate this.

Kei sighed inwardly before heading on into the city. He was planning on staying a bit. Hopefully, it would work out.

[Amoux]

12th of Spring, 515AV


Amoux gaped in disbelieving awe, head tilted back to studie the city before her, the likes of which she had never witnessed in her life. A cliff. She thought to herself, clinging to the side of the ship as the crew bustled about, pulling at rigging and whatever else she assumed sailors did to bring the ship to a halt. A literal cliff. With a city all but clinging to it's side! And people really live here. She cast her gaze about, eyes traveling down to drift over the shipyard and its fine cling of mist, the buzz of activity along the docks. The constant flashes of blue, green, violet skin was still incredibly foreign to her, and she had yet to lay eyes on a single Akalak that was less than a fine example of all things masculine.

By the time Amoux has been able to gather her gear and stumble off the ship, her stomach had begun to growl and her head ache, causing her to shift from one foot to another as she was greeted. "Yes, of course, thank you!" She chirped hurriedly, slipping past the large man as she as he had finished speaking, eager beyond words to find an inn and fill her belly.

[Ignotus Everto]

56th of Summer, 515AV

"So this is Riverfall... I think I'm beginning to understand what Evalin saw in the place." thought Ignotus as he bid his guide farewell and approached the immense gates. The grassland had been sweltering and a touch dangerous and the detour an immensely long one. The Nuit hoped the stop would be a fruitful one, if only to justify it to himself. He smiled graciously and thanked the Akalak greeter upon receiving the scroll. This was much more pleasant than Sunberth. There were laws, order, no madmen itching to stab him, and unlike Zeltiva, no one knew he was a Hypnotist.

[Artur]

Summer 14th 515 AV, 14th Bell

The walls were by far higher than Artur could even imagine when the city finally started to expand from its distance, the old codger that walked next to the horse couldn't refrain from a chuckle, as he watched the Kelvic's own face droop in awe while he guided his caravan along. Too long had his trip kept him out of contact with any form of society, and yet even so he didn't dare dream of ever going back into one so quickly either. "Impressive, isn't she?" He mused while Artur kept looking towards the top, he wondered just how high the walls actually did manage to rise. "Puts the walls of Syliras to shame that's for sure! Least we finally made it now, after all that hoofin' ye've been doin'." One of the mercenary's at the caravan's side scoffed, reminded of how the trip first started when they had Artur ride on the damned thing.

"I'm sorry about all this..." The Kelvic almost whimpered as he looked at the gates before them, he wondered just what exactly Gyatt had planned in sending him so far away.

"Nothin' that can't be changed now, besides I owed him a favor anyway. Gyatt worked hard to see you outta there, granted you had nothin' left that wasn't exactly easy either." He reminded the Kelvic as they trudged along, big brown eyes looked over his shoulder once more to those behind him. The caravan, the few mercenaries paid to escort it, and then the road that continued far out behind them. They had walked far from Ravok's shore, and thankfully Artur would soon find himself able to rest.

"Welcome, travelers." A large deep voice called out to them from the city gates, Artur's eyes fell upon a tall blue figure just as impressive as the gates. "Here is a scroll of welcome from the city. It contains a list of our laws, a map of the city, and some advertisements from local businesses that sponsor these scrolls to be made. You can feel free to come in if you agree to our laws and turn this scroll back in when you leave so we can reuse it." The giant said as he handed one to each of the traveling party, Artur couldn't help but shyly smile as he hid the fact he couldn't read.

"Thank you! We'll be sure to give 'em back. Come along Artur." The peddler chimed along as they continued to enter the gates, stretched before him far below the cliffs resided towers and structures unlike he'd ever seen, as the city of Riverfall at last started to show. "Relax m'boy, I'll fill you in on what these laws are. But you'll have t' make do your self when we part ways."

"T... Thank you sir." The Kelvic murmured with a sigh, he owed so much to both this man and the man that saved him. Twice. Could he really pull through with what they expected out of him? Did he really have the chance to make a living elsewhere, now that he finally had his own personal freedom back? The answers apparently lied here in Riverfall, and he would soon learn just what the city had in store.

[Branimir]

67th of Summer, 515 AV You can never trust in others to make your fate for you. The words of the long-dead Eypharian rang in Branimir's head as he dragged the two heavy crates that contained all that was his off the ship. Nobody would make his fate but himself, he'd sworn himself and sailed off to a place where there was nothing to hold him back. Granted, time and truth had laid out paths for him, but he would follow them at his leisure, his will, or not at all on those same merits. Standing on the firm quay, he set down the chests and bent his knee. Branimir's hand touched the ground and was assaulted by a confusing mixture of longing and relief. Of course, he chided himself. Generations of those wishing to leave and those glad to return... thousands of feet shaped this ground, each in their own way. But it was impossible to pick any of them from the din they all created. Still, it felt better than the ship whose main impression had been of salt. He'd have time to study this city and the history of every stone in it. But first, there were formalities to be taken care of. There always were. Inwardly, Branimir sighed as he rose and straightened his travelling garb. He would do what was needed so he was free to do what he needed.