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[Bor]

Season of Fall, Day 68 514 AV

It seemed like a normal morning in the slave market. The slavers were yelling to their slaves, giving a whip or two to those who were too slow. Few Ebonstryfe patrols were walking around the market, monitoring the order. Unfortunately monitoring it would soon become very hard.

A sudden scream ran through the market. A female slave was pointing something that looked straigth from a fairy tale. Over 8 feet tall monster, covered in fur, was walking in the market. It seemed to follow few other slaves, its intentions unknown. Maybe it had captured these poor humans. Maybe it was going to eat them. The thoughts made the slaves talk warily to each other, some even calling for Ebonstryfe for help.

All talking was soon cut by a shout: ''No need to worry! This thing is under control and will cause no harm to you!'' Everyone was looking around, trying to figure out where the shout had come. Sudden lash of a whip turned everybody's attention behind the monster. A small, plump man with moustache was carrying a whip and seemed to order the slaves and the monster to rise to a podium.

At that point a patrol of Ebonstryfe had passed through crowd to find out what was going on. When they noticed the behemoth they drew their swords. The small man jumped between the soldier and the behemoth, yelling angrily to the soldiers. They started arguing about whether or not the fur giant was indeed a slave or a monster to be slain.

The argument ended when the small man showed to the leader of the patrol that the monster indeed could talk, had the slave's mark in its hand and couldn't do any harm while in chains. He even placed his head between the monsters hands to show that it couldn't crush his head while chained. The patrol left, but they weren't satisfied. They would go tell to their about the monstrosity in the market.

As the day went on the rumor about a furry giant spotted in the slave market spread like plague. People started to gather around the podium where the giant stood, seeming to ignore people's screams and pointing. The small slaver got angry and envious looks from the other slavers. He was stealing all the attention with his freak of nature.

[Bor]

Bor was walking behind the other slaves, his gaze focused to ground. A scream made him stop and rise his head. A woman was pointing at him, she seemed frightened by the sight of him. He felt the whip striking his back and the slaver shouting. He kept on moving with the other slaves, rising to the podium with them. Other slaves stayed as far as possible from him, making him stood out even more than he already did.

While standing in the podium Bor noticed a group of men dressed in black armor approach him. They drew their swords, but his master jumped between him and the men. They were going to start arguing about him, he knew. Almost everybody saw him as a monster, nothing more.

''Hey, show these idiots you can actually talk.'' the small man shouted at him. ''I'm Bor. I'm a slave'' Bor said with haste. Not doing as told usually ended up with whip slashes. His master then showed the new mark on his hand. Half of a black sun seemed small in his massive hand, but it still ached when he moved his hand. Bor had been hit in the head with wooden pole when he had resisted the marking.

His master suddenly hopped between his hands and told the soldier that Bor couldn't crush his head even if he wanted to. This was true, the chains allowed him to lift large boxes, but they never let him to close his hands together. The soldiers seemed to be somewhat satisfied as they left.

As the day went on Bor noticed that the crowd was growing rapidly around him. People were pointing at him and everytime his gaze met with someone they screamed. Some boys were throwing pebbles at him and yelling: ''Monster! Monster!'' Bor simply lowered his gaze and sighed.

[Valerius Nitrozian]

Valerius had decided to visit the slave market to see whether there were any interesting new slaves on sale. All the work at House Nitrozian was becominh too much for the slaves his family had, they needed help. Unfortunately his shopping plans were soon cut short as a fearful scream could be heard. Valerius hesitated for a moment, but then he decided to run in the direction of the scream to see what was going on. His family was heavily invested in the slave trade, if there was trouble, his grandfather, the head of House Nitrozian, would probably want to know.

He saw at once what had scared the woman so. In the middle of the market stood a huge, hairy monstrosity that looked as if it had been the result of magical experiments. „By Rhysol!“ he whispered, to no one in particular. „What is that?“ He had never seen the likes of it before. He doubted that the monster was really under control. The whip the slaver used probably did little more than tickle and annoy it. He wondered how long it would be until it started to attack and try to take a bite out of somebody.

While the people around him were still pointing and screaming like a bunch of idiots that had escaped from an insane asylum, Valerius watched the scene in front of him calmly, from a safe distance. As the slaver claimed that the monster could talk, Valerius shook his head. He didn’t believe that. The thing looked like it possessed little more intelligence than a regular animal.

But speak it did. The words weren’t anything special – it just stated that its name was Bor and that it was a slave – but they were enough for Valerius‘ eyes to widen and come a little closer so that he could see it better, despite the danger involved. As he did so, he noticed that a few boys were throwing pebbles at the monster and shook his head. Here was a creature out of Nysel’s worst nightmare, and they couldn’t come up with anything better than annoying it? Didn’t they see its potential?

„Stop“, he told the boys. „The monster looks like it could shatter the chains anytime, and if it does, it will go for those that annoy it first, and you don’t want to die, do you?“ In truth he cared little about the boys, he just wanted to get them out of the way so that he could find out more about the monster. He turned to the slaver and asked, „Tell me, what kind of creature is Bor? Where did you capture it?“

[Bor]

The slaver turned as he heard someone speak to him. He saw a young, tall, handsome man. He was dressed in expensive looking clothes. This man could give him lot of money if he played his cards well the slaver thought.

''Interested in the ape? It is a Jamoura, you'll find them deep in the jungles of Taldera I've heard. This one I found in Sunberth, working in the mines. I saw him carrying ten boulders half of its size at the same time!'' The last part was false of course, but overstating the slave's possibilities was a common tactic in the slave market.

''It can also talk, read and write, there is no trick, I swear on my mothers head.'' He left out the part that Bor wasn't the fastest to read or write. ''And you don't need to worry about your safety, unless you of course try to steal it from me. It is very obedient and if it doesn't obey a quick slash with the whip will make him move'' The slaver was about to add that his whip was a special whip that made the beast obey, but he decided against it. Telling too many lies was as good as telling no lies at all.

[Valerius Nitrozian]

„A Jamoura?“ Valerius repeated as he heard the slaver’s reply. „I think I’ve heard that term before.“ He could remember one of his teachers at school mention the races of Mizahar briefly, but he had learned little more than their names. The main focus of his education had always been on Ravok and the surrounding areas, and the things that could be found there and not on such exotic and barbaric places at Taldera.

„Did you really?“ Valerius asked as the slaver told him how much the creature could supposedly carry. His doubt was unmistakeable. He had grown up in a family of slavers, he knew their tricks. Maybe the monster was strong and intelligent, but it was just as likely that they had painted its fur to make it look healthy an fed it drugs to keep it on its feet a while longer.

„In that case you wouldn’t mind a little demonstration, I suppose? I am quite sure that the other people here would like to find out how strong this … Jamoura … really is as well.“ He glanced at those around him who still seemed to be mainly afraid before he turned back to the slaver and the creature he was trying to sell. The Jamoura did look impressive.

„And where is your mother’s head right now?“ Valerius wanted to know as he heard the slaver’s vow. „I hope it’s not rotting in a grave somewhere. You could have taught the Jamoura to say its name, like a parrot.“ With that he abruptly adressed Bor himself, „Say something, Jamoura, something that proves your intelligence.“

[Bor]

Slaver's face flinched a little. Had the man seen right through his lies? He needed to prove himself or he might lose the man's interest. ''My mother's head sits safely on her shoulders.'' slaver said quickly. ''You heard the man'' he turned to Bor. ''Show him that you can actually talk'' He was looking at Bor impatiently. He let out a small sigh of relief when the beast responded. ''It speaks as you heard. Now, you wanted a show eh? Bor! Lift ehh....'' the slaver was looking around for something heavy.

He then saw six slaves carrying a heavy looking box. ''You there! Drop that box!'' he shouted and walked to the box. It seemed to be filled with large pots. ''Bor! Get here and lift this box!'' he shouted. The owner of the slaves that were carrying the box came shouting angrily, but went quiet as soon as he saw the furry giant approaching. ''This box is filled with iron bars!'' the slaver started his announcing like he was a ringmaster. ''It needed SIX men to lift it up, but watch as this beast lifts it up like it is nothing!''

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Bor watched as his master was talking with another man. They were talking about him, he knew it. Maybe the man was going to be his new master. The man then talked to him. Something to prove that he was intelligent? Bor thought about it and then decided to tell about his history ''I've lived over 180 years. Of those years, 150 I've worked as a slave. I've worked in the fields, in the mines and as a guard'' he said with low tone. His master then suddenly told him to to follow him and lift a box. He walked to the box and and lifted it The crow awed as he lift it up. He hold it until his master told him to drop it and follow him back to the man.

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''You've seen it talk, you've seen it lift a box filled with iron bars'' the slaver said with victorious tone ''Is there still something you doubt? If not, then perhaps we could start talking about the price? You are interested in buying the beast right? Because if you have wasted my time, I might just ask it to teach you a lesson'' he continued

[Valerius Nitrozian]

The beast, Valerius observed, seemed to be capable of some form of rudimentary communication after all. It seemed as if it had spent most of its life working in the fields, in the mines and as a guard. He didn’t need a slave that worked in the mines or in the fields – House Nitrozian owned neither mines nor fields – but a guard could be useful, especially after the failed assassination attempt on his grandfather. He looked the slave up and down, wondering how thick his skin was and how many men were necessary to kill it. Would a sword be able to seriously hurt it or merely itch a little?

„How old can Bor’s kind get?“ he wanted to know from the slaver. „180 years seem to be a lot already. How can I be sure that Bor is not the equivalent a senile old man and will die in a couple of seasons?“ As he waited for the slaver’s answer, he saw a couple of slaves approach, carrying a box.

As the slaver ordered the beast to lift the box, he arched an eyebrow. The box seemed to be very heavy. Bor was big, but still … would he be able to lift it? As he did so seemingly effortlessly, Valerius was just as amazed as the crowd around him, but he decided not to show it, acting indifferent instead, as if that demonstration of strength he had just witnessed hadn’t been anything special.

„I might be interested“, he replied. „But be careful with your threats. If you use the creature to teach me a lesson as you’ve worded it you will be dragged to the Ebonstryfe’s dungeons faster than you can think. You are talking to Valerius of House Nitrozian. I can make things very unpleasant for you.“

„Now then, Bor is big and strong. I haven’t watched him read and write yet, but I’ll take your word. Such a large creature is almost certainly going to destroy things around my house though. He looks clumsy, he isn’t very pleasant to look at, and feeding him will cost a fortune. I doubt there are a lot of other potential buyers in this city. Keep that in mind when you tell me what you want for him.“

[Bor]

''I've heard they are immortal, but I don't believe it. They age tenth of what humans do, so this one would be almost nineteen years old in human years, so it still has many years to live'' the slaver said proudly. What he heard the man said next made him take a nervous gulp.

''Oh! I-I didn't know I was talking to a member of the Nitrozian family! My deepest apologizes good sir!'' he said with sudden change in his tone. It seemed that in the end he had played his cards horribly wrong. The man had turned out to be smarter than he had looked and a member of the Nitrozian family to make the things even worse. But maybe there was something he could save from this mess.

''Tell you what. Give me 750 gold mizas and the ape is yours'' the slaver said after thinking a while. Atleast he would make some profit from the ape he thought to himself.

[Valerius Nitrozian]

"No creatures are immortal apart from those strange Nuit", Valerius replied. He also doubted that Jamoura aged at a tenth of the speed that a human aged with, but on the other hand the beast itself had claimed that it was 180 years old. Maybe Jamoura aged a little slower than humans then.

He didn’t say anything as the slaver apologized for his previous rudeness, but only inclined his head a fraction, barely noticeably. As he heard how much the man demanded, he shook his head."You know as well as I do that the beast is never worth 750 gold mizas. He is of average intelligence at best. He may be strong, but as I’ve stated before, he looks clumsy."

"Training him will be hard work. You should be happy if you got 300 gold mizas for such a bothersome slave. But I’m a nice man …" Here he briefly paused and made a face, as if he found the word “nice” itself unpleasant. "… and not entirely unreasonable. I will give you 400 gold mizas."

[Bor]

''400 gold mizas?! That is absurd good sir. I know the beast might not look very intelligent, but it is a Jamoura after all. You'll probably never see another one in your lifetime.'' the slaver said. But the man was right. The beast ate a lot more than an average slave and it had already made a deep cut in the slaver's savings. It also took more room, almost as much as three slaves. Still 400 mizas was too low for him to let go of the beast.

''Give me 600 mizas and you shall own the beast. I even throw in my whip as a sign of good will'' the slaver said. He could buy new one and a another slave with the money.