Closed A picture is worth a thousand words (Gale)

[Tallis]

18th Day of Summer, 513 AV The Fish Market Tallis and Calen had been in the library studying, as was their usual routine in the past few days. They were studying to improve their skills, and more importantly, they were making plans to travel. Calen wanted to visit Syliras, Tallis wanted to head to Nyka and then Ravok afterwards. They even wanted to try and find the mysterious roaming city of Endrykas. They spent days in the library, tracing routes, considering dangers, making plans upon plans. It was almost fortunate that Calen had injured himself. They realized now that leaving at the start of Summer would have ended disastrously. They had time now to prepare, and it was a good thing that they did. It was heavy and boring work, but reading about each city only fueled Tallis’ wanderlust and made him want to read more and more. If only the books had better pictures. It was nice to try and imagine things, but to see a vivid image instead of lines of text would be a blessing. Informing Calen that he was hungry and was heading out for lunch, Tallis assured him that he would be back within a bell or two. Calen had waved him off, immersed in his own studies and Tallis had made his way to the Fish Market, ready to get himself some lunch. The docks were busy, not as busy as previous years, but still busy enough to liven up the docks. Making his way past several vendors, he approached the single stall with smoke billowing out of it. The smell of grilled Horned Sand-fish made his mouth water even after all these years. Purchasing a stick of the grilled delicacy, Tallis decided to walk along the docks and enjoy his meal with a stroll. He had spent far too long cooped up in the library and stretching his legs felt good. He took his time, stopping at several stalls to examine their wares. As he passed under the shadow of a tree, he was intrigued by several of the drawings he saw. One of these drawings seemed somehow familiar to him. It looked like a flooded city, so deep in water that the roads couldn’t even be seen. Yet somehow the buildings looked pristine. On closer inspection, the doors and windows of the houses were built above the water. They weren’t flooded streets, they were canals! This was a drawing of Ravok, the city on the lake! He had read about it at the library! Tallis marveled at the drawing. It was like everything he had read, come to life. Approaching the artist, Tallis’ questions poured forth: “This is Ravok, isn’t it? Have you been there? Do you have any more drawings?” The artist was a man with dirty-blonde hair and dark blue eyes. He didn’t look like the adventuring type, in fact, he looked rather “soft”. Could he possibly have visited Ravok, or had he drawn it from a description like the ones in the books Tallis had read? He vowed to find out.

[Gale Austin McCenry]

Yet another slow day. A slow, lonely day where people were too busy to stop and smell the roses as they went about their daily lives. Gale never knew why- No, that's a lie. He knew why, but in a way, he was never able to fully understand why it was a legitimate reason to ignore the little things that passed by. Ignoring the small things in life was similar to ignoring smaller paragraphs in a book. After a while, nothing seems to make any sense and you are stuck in your confusion. Perhaps some people are just not observant enough to notice the details of the world. Would be such a pity. The artist wouldn't know what to do with his life if he didn't pay attention to detail. Details were everything to an artist. Perhaps he would be a sailor or a fisherman. Perhaps he wouldn't be here at all.

With his head back against the tree bark, the blue eyes skimmed the crowd lazily. His prized sketchbook closed and on his lap. Charcoal in his bag. Gale bit the inside of his cheek absently. Gnawing uncontrollably in anticipation of someone bothering to glance his way. The moment didn't come before the taste of iron trickled over his tongue. It caught his attention enough to briefly swipe a finger in his mouth and pull it out to examine the damage. As suspected, a small trail of crimson was left on the tip of his finger.

"Dammit." The widower muttered under his breath. That was definitely a habit he needed to break. Rubbing his thumb and forefinger together until the residue vanished, Gale sighed and leaned forward, placing his arms on his knees.

His tongue was still playing with loose strands of flesh in his mouth when a young man came up and bombarded the murderer with three questions, all referring to the picture of Ravok he had drawn. Blinking for several ticks from the shock of sudden interest in his work, the pessimist finally stated,"Yes, no, and depends on the type of picture you are looking for." Standing up so that he may see eye to eye with the stranger, he grabbed the edge of the picture and held it out to Tallis. "Would you like to see it?" His tone was quizzical for Gale wasn't entirely sure if he was interested in the picture or simply the fact that it was of Ravok. But if it was the picture itself then maybe he should start drawing more cities, especially if others took as much interest in it as this young man did.