To be asked about your homeland, is to see quite a maze of memories before you. Elea found it hard to focus. Where to start?
Start with the basics.
“Suppose a lake. And the suppose someone decided to build a city on it. Foundation of wood, but as strong as stone. The buildings as grim as they’re beautiful. The tall stonework, of passageways and windows much taller than here, seemingly trapped in the web of canals, traversed by many a boat. Add to that the clatter of populace and its slaves, something Ravok has a lot of. We know no poverty, but we do know strife. And intrigue.
All this made possible thanks to the Voice. The Voice is in charge, though it is for certain a distant entity to us. It founded the city under the patronage of our deity, Rhysol. Rhysol is a deity of chaos, treason and deceit. Apparently, he decided that chaos won’t thrive without a proper dosage of order and prosperity, though: All inhabitants of Ravok who bow to Rhysol are under his aegis. Loyalty means freedom from hunger, chaos, war and despair. We have it good, all things considered."
As Elea was warming up on her description of the city, she felt her toung to be more and more loose. A quiet sense of pride combined with an insistent train of memory made her more and more talkative. Perhaps Elea was something of a storyteller herself.
"If you heard the name of Rhysol before, you might see him as someone… evil. Don’t say that out loud in Ravok, though. The general populace is too attached to him to tolerate an ill talk against Rhysol, and our… law enforcement is less receptive towards it still. The Voice and Rhysol may be ruthless to the outsiders, but they still protect and provide for us. They’re essentially parents – and they are treated accordingly.
You’ve heard us, because I may have ended up here to broaden horizons and eventually study.. but.. I still feel quite like one of Ravok. I may have never been devout, but I always understood where does devotion come from, and what do I owe to who.
As for one’s common day there… it depends who you are. Most of our inhabitants are of humanity and more of our free inhabitants still are human. We have… too little visitors of non-human kind that aren’t slaves to really trust non-humans. We, as in.. most of the populace. The slaves go about the slave business, most of which would be personal service, shopping and labor, from what I saw. Core of the populace has more than possibility to lead a cozy life, however. Intrigue, crime, strife, did not came to me more often than in other places, unless I come to it. Thus, my life wasn’t one of danger, no more than needed. My mother is a philterer and I followed her footsteps. My father is… - “still wary about telling people his profession at will, Elea chose to keep it vague “ – in security profession. They provided for my education and I helped them at home… until I decided to emigrate here.
I certainly feel confident in explaining anything else you might question about Ravok. I lived there my whole short life, after all. Studied there, too. So, you ask me and I’ll see what I can answer.
