[Tazrae] Of Inns and Exploration

by **Bandin Everdance** on May 30th, 2021, 11:03 pm

Bandin noticed the slight bit of hesitation, before she dropped her guard, just a bit, to share her story. He seemed just pulled back enough to allow her the social room to share what she may, but interested and accepting enough to encourage her to do so if she so wished.

The young man, beneath all the wanderlust and flirty bluster, was a nurturer at heart and that might've peaked out just a little bit. It was a quality some might call feminine, but it would shine through for anyone to see in glimpses if they were around him long enough. He accepted people for what they were, he didn't judge, he just was and extended the same, simple decency to others.

The story was beautiful in its quant happiness and their was a kind of peace to it. Memories of Zeltivan nights came back to Bandin at her description. The city of scholars was much warmer than Riverfall, though less so than Syka. The small, thin strip of beach that ran along Mathew's Bay could be freezing in the winter, even despite the rest of the region not sharing in that, but it was relatively nice during the Summer.

He tucked away the little bit of knowledge regarding crab burrows into the back of his mind; that could be useful.

"That sounds beautiful and like a little bit of a fright there at first. One one thing I was looking forward to about Syka was the shoreline. I love the water and the beach," he explained.

"James mentioned a tenday gathering and that sounds like it's something I'm not going to want to miss," he added with a smile. "I was hoping you people would know how to relax and have a good time, but I'm not really thinking that'll be a problem. It'd be hard not to feel inclined to relax in a place like the beaches."

"I'll help you," he offered when she mentioned putting out torches. "I can't think of a better way to spend my first evening here."

"Oof," he made a self-accusing noise when she corrected him on not tying off the ribbons.

He sucked his teeth and looked apologetic. "That should've been obvious, huh?"

He sighed. "Good thing I've got you here for now. We haven't even gone that deep, but I'm starting to realize just why everyone I've talked to here has warned me against just trudging in headfirst on my own."

The frogs, the thorns, everything. It was all so much.

He laughed darkly. "I don't think I would've come back. It's like everything wants to kill you."

The noises, the howls and cricking of all sorts of jungle-things, it was beautiful, though, in its own right. "I don't know, though. It's sort of nice; almost wish I could be a part of all this. More than I am now. The jungle I mean."

Dodging the various half-eaten, jungle fruits that the monkeys discarded was a task in of itself and Bandin didn't have to inquire as to why Taz redirected around the wild beasts. He gave his tie offs an extra pull and looked hesitantly up at the monkeys as they went on their way. He didn't trust them; they were kind of cute though.

"Believe me when I say I'm not the kind to try and run about during the night," Bandin confessed when the topic came up. "I've always loved the moon and the stars, but I've been around enough to know the dark isn't our slice of the world."

"First time I was outside Sunberth taught me that and then some," he mentioned. "I was barely sixteen. I was traveling with a nice girl, a bard actually, and man could she sing. A few other tag-alongs too and some merchants."

His face got a little darker. The memory still got his hairs up.

"Or, at least, what we thought were just merchants. Most of them were, just regular humans banding together for the safety of numbers. Syliras might not be Falyndar, but it's dangerous enough on its own," Bandin started the tale in earnest.

"Everything was going just fine. Samantha, the bard I mentioned, sung us off to sleep by the campfire," he said. "Others were up and about, so I didn't really worry about falling asleep. The merchants, the ones other than the two we were sitting with and had been most friendly with, were supposed to stand guard."

He tied off another ribbon and continued to do his best to keep his striding calm and loose.

"Well, turns out they weren't so friendly," Bandin admitted. "I've seen monsters after that, but never before and never since have I been so unnerved by them. Well, mostly. That one's close."

He realized he hadn't explained very well just why he was so unnerved or what exactly had happened. "They were these things called wailers, the merchants who weren't so friendly I mean; I don't know if you know what they are, I certainly didn't at the time--Samantha had to explain all that to me afterwards. Apparently they don't stick together very often, but these two had recently mated; learned that unpleasant fact by talking to one of them."

"Still regret being dumb enough to do that," he added.

"The worst part about them is that they can look just like us and act like us too. Like I said: I had only spent a few days with them and I thought we were friends," Bandin said that last part with a sense of unease. "But those things? There wasn't anything human in them; couldn't have friends if it was down to that or dying."

"They apparently don't like bards," he added. "Samantha almost... didn't make it when I wasn't looking. We barely made it out of that one, either of us; I didn't sleep the whole way to Zeltiva after that and I didn't trust a new face for a long time, not until I was well-settled into civilization again," he admitted.

He looked around, realizing that they were very much alone and in the wilderness. Monster stories might not have been the best choice.

"I'm sorry," he said and laughed to lighten the mood. "Not trying to scare you at all, just trying to say that I'm not totally clueless. I've been around a little bit, but I'm not dumb enough to think that doesn't mean I shouldn't learn from the locals."

The conversation drifted on to the mentioning of always looking backwards. Bandin took it in stride and started to do so. Sure enough, the way going back looked a lot different than it had going through. Odd how that worked, he thought.

Bandin's mouth fell open a little bit at Bree's interruption. It stayed that way, in a look of enchanted shock for a few moments. "She can talk?"

He looked over to where the sound had come from. "You can talk?"

by **Tazrae** on May 31st, 2021, 12:00 am

Taz walked along, growing more and more comfortable in Bandin’s company. When he stopped wearing all the masks he was so quickly used to changing out at a moment’s notice, he was a decent fellow and good company. He kept up his end of the conversations, and wasn’t prone to long broody silences as far as Tazrae could tell. She hadn’t expected him to be so comfortable, but the jungle had that affect on people she supposed. They stopped worrying about how others perceived them and worried more about their own skin in Falyndar’s embrace.

“If you look at a map, this part of the jungle looks like a giant wolf’s mouth opening up and snapping at the sea. So the locals call it The Maw.” She explained softly, then nodded at Bandin’s mention of the Tenday Gatherings. “I like the tendays. I love the music there. Everyone here sings, most play an instrument, and when the gathering Svefra dock and hit the tenday we often hear new music or get news too. It’s a lot of fun.” She added, smiling as she glanced up at the sky and then seemed to tilt her head to listen to something off in the brush.

“Bree is in stealth mode, but I can still hear her. It irritates her when I can track her thrashing through the brush.” Taz added, gesturing off somewhat behind them and to the right. “Between my hearing and her sense of smell, its enough to warn us if any big cats are around. That’s the biggest thing to worry about around here… that and bull elephants and ashta when they are in the rut. The males get pretty aggressive and if the females have young, it can be a bit of a disaster.” She said offering that tidbit as well. Taz was trying to add to Bandin’s jungle knowledge slowly, not overwhelming him with too much information at once.

“Thank you. I always like help in the evening. It helps things go smoother, especially when the Inn is full.” In fact, that was one of her father’s rules on being a good hostess. If the guests wanted to help with things, let them. It made them feel more at home if they learned where everything was and felt free to use the things like beach torches and outdoor games to their leisure.

“Hey, I’m telling you a lot of stuff on this hike. Not everything is obvious… but you are doing very well.” She added, encouraging him.

“When you are new, it does feel like everything wants to kill you. But once you get used to it and even gain a bit of understanding about the whole of the jungle, then you start to feel like you are a part of it. That feeling is a turning point. The jungle feels safer to me now than say visiting a strange city’s market. The Wilds are to an extend predictable in their unpredictability where people are based on their moods and personality which can change quite a bit from person to person. I’d face the jungle any day over the inherent cruelty in some people.” She added, glancing at him. She didn’t want to insinuate he was like that in any way, but people in general could be.

Taz reassured him about the darkness. “The beach is perfectly safe at night. That’s doubly true along the settlement. We often swim in the dark and a lot of people like to hunt lobster then. It’s truly beautiful. There are a few dangers, but mostly they are more afraid of us than we are of them… seasnakes, sharks, that kind of thing. Sharks used to really scare me, but I’ve never been outright attacked by one. We aren’t their preferred food.” She added, looking wistful.

Taz listened intently to his story about being outside Sunberth and the bard and her group that Bandin was with. Her blue eyes tracked his gaze and watched him intently as he spoke, taking in the story as it came. when he asked her if she knew what a wailer was, the girl shook her head no. He didn’t tell the story from start to finish with every detail included… not like a bard would. He told it in a series of starts and stops of emotions, as if he were remembering bits and pieces of it as he spoke. It was an interesting and not altogether unpleasant way to tell a tale since it left a lot of blanks for someone like Tazrae who had a vivid imagination to fill in.

Her eyes grew wide at his clarifications on the Wailers and Taz shook her head in disbelief. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe the story, but that such things truly existed in the world.

“Why don’t they like bards? You mean the marked of Rhaus, right?” She asked, curiosity and concern coloring her features.

She nodded at his brief apology and shrugged slightly, not casting aside what he said, but what he was feeling. “You don’t seem clueless, Bandin. You are just used to the other side of the world. I understand. Believe me. You seem well traveled and someone who has had a lot of life experience. I am just the opposite.” She added, not really elaborating. Taz doubted the guy would be impressed if she explained just how sheltered she’d been growing up in Riverfall, and how Syka was her first experience outside off that incredible stifled childhood.

They moved on, Taz thinking they were close, and Bree discounting her view. At Bandin’s exclamation, Taz nodded. “Annoying, isn’t it?” She said. The Ixam slipped out of the jungle then, joining them on the path in her odd trotting gait. She was fully as large as a horse with an elegantly curved neck, a long tail, and scales that were a deep patterned green. Her spine had a vivid blue diamond patterning down it, not unlike a snake, which matched the crest that trailed down her back. Two horns crowned her head on either side, shimmering a deep bronze-copper in the dappled shade of the jungle.

Bree nudged Taz’s backpack, grabbing it in her sharp teeth affectionately and tried to tug the woman off her feet. Taz took a gentle swipe at her and told her to stop showing off. A deep purple tongue licked out, catching the woman’s hat and the Ixam had the canvas thing in her teeth a heartbeat later. She bobbed it up and down, holding it just out of Tazrae’s reach until the Innkeeper stopped, looked sincerely up at her and apologized. “No, you aren’t annoying.” She added, even as the Ixam handed her hat back to her. Taz stuffed it on her head and turned to look at Bandin.

“Bandin, this is Bree. Bree, this is Bandin. Yes, she can talk. I don’t think all of her kind can, but evidently, the ones that can are fairly smart. I usually ride her into the jungle because she can get over things and climb stone walls and cliffs like they are nothing. Ixam are pretty handy for … exploring.” She said, reaching out to scratch the eye ridge over her mounts beautiful left orb in affection. Bree trilled and settled down, taking up the rear of the little party.

“Nice to meet you.” The Jungle Ixam replied politely, turning to study the Innkeeper even as Taz felt her feet resume their hike all of their own accord. The purple tongue put in another appearance as the Ixam snagged something off a nearby branch as they passed by. Her jaws worked and there was an enormous crunch as the lizard made short work of a giant jungle snail’s shell. Bree tended to graze as she went, needing the food much more than a normal more sensible equine would.

“I have him completely fooled.” She said to the lizard following them and then turned to smile at Bandin. “Truth is, I don’t know much about other places. Riverfall was the only home I ever had with my father. And he kept me close, always worried about the Akalak and obsessed with status there and the sort. He told me stories of women compelled into service so I rarely left the house when I was older. So, I haven’t traveled a lot and Syka is really the only other place I’ve been.” She added, not really spelling out that she knew next to nothing about the world other than this crazy corner of it.

“Things here are different than I thought they would be too. The Jungle is a big part of that, but the other part is that all the restraints on society seem to relax here. I would never go out alone at home. Here, I do that a lot. And we don’t really… “ This next one was harder to explain. “… feel uncomfortable in our skin. I used to wear a bikini around everywhere and feel so exposed. Now I just feel silly in anything at all on the beach or at the pool. I couldn’t talk to a man without clothing on. I was painfully shy. Now, unless there’s a scandalized visitor around, I don’t even notice if people are dressed or not.” She grinned. “It’s a good feeling… that comfort.” Taz added.

“Me too.” Bree started saying, sarcastically. “When those Ashta come around parading all their finery, I feel so unclothed without my saddle or harness. I wish someone would take those creatures down a peg or two and teach them they aren’t the biggest creatures around.” The lizard grumbled, dipping her head and nibbling at an itchy patch of skin that was shedding on her shoulder. Taz noted the motion and knew she’d have to oil the lizard’s patchy skin again tonight. She could do it while they were watching the crabs battle it out.

The thought made her smile.

“Back to lessons…” She intoned, serious this time.

“I’ve already shared another with you … never touch any vegetation with your bare hands. This is super important so I’ll repeat it. Wear gloves, use a stick, staff, or your machete. Anything really besides your hands. It will prevent bites, stings, accidental cuts… all of the above. There’s nothing worse than waiting for something buried deep in your skin to fester out.” She added. “Remember though, snakes can bite straight through gloves. So be careful and use gloves as a backup to a main protection like your staff.” She added, tapping her chin as she walked.

There were more rules… so many more. Tazrae thought a moment. “There is a universal sign among people out here. If something’s dangerous on a trail, fix it. If you can’t, then stretch a rope or a vine across a trail at chest height on either side of the danger. It will warn others something bad is up ahead. Conversely, if you run across one of those barriers at chest level, before you duck under it, be extra vigilant because it wasn’t just left there for no reason.” She added, scratching at the lizard’s head which was traveling at Taz’ side now, even though the lizard had fallen behind.

Bandin was out in the lead, which wasn’t a bad thing, since there actually was a trail here, only it was faint and overgrown.

“Hrm… Vegetation. If you get caught up in it, don’t panic. Keep your head. Try backing out of the entanglement, rather than pushing through it. Go slow, measure your steps, and pull out a bowie knie to begin to gently free yourself. If you are entangled, some of the vegetation eats flesh that way, and some of it just grows that densely. Don’t fight it. Don’t try to swing a machete. Just gently cut your way free.” She said, glancing at how dense the vegetation had become and how the sun seemed more filtered here.

But it wasn’t the vegetation that was causing the sudden gloom. They had arrived. All three of them pulled up when the trail suddenly spanned out giving them a view of the utterly ruined building standing multiple stories tall with a full basement before them. They seemed to walk into the main floor which was missing an entire wall having lost it to the jungle. When fully inside, they turned in a half circle to take in the view. “We call it Reclaimed Knowledge,” Tazrae said. “It’s something of a joke. No one knows what it was originally called.” She added.

The building was half jungle half ruined city with the lines between utterly blurred.

Reclaimed Knowledge :

by **Bandin Everdance** on May 31st, 2021, 1:09 am

"I love singing," Bandin told her at the mention of it. "I'm not the best, not trained at all, but I know a few forge songs. Picked up a few shanties in Zeltiva too. Some of the Svefra might appreciate those, a few are pretty authentic."

"I'm having trouble hearing her the further we go," Bandin admitted; the Ixam seemed to blend more and more with the sounds of the jungle, the further that they went. "Those are some ears you've got."

"I saw the elephants a bit at the Veronica's unloading. That was a sight," he said. "I've never even imagined an animal like that. Just wow. I wouldn't want to be swinging a pointy stick at one--especially not if it's raving mad."

He smiled at her gratitude regarding helping with the inn.

"No worries at all," he said. "Rule number one of being a good guest is to help the host. A lot of people pay someone for something and then think they're off free to be rude about the exchange. Not my way."

"I think I'm the opposite," he said in relation to the jungle. "I've never felt right outside of civilization. I like people, I feel better when there's a crowd to mingle with. Being all alone, well, I crave it but only in spurts. I need people to feel at ease, even just one more than myself."

"And I got that feeling about the beach. It felt built up enough to be safe, though now that I know all this is waiting just outside the bounds, I might rethink all that just a little bit," he said.

He added an apologetic smile. "Not that I'm saying you're wrong, just that I've learned things like to lurk around people and there's a lot out here to lurk in."

"Aye," he said in response to the question about bards; he tried to temper his tone a little, as it seemed he'd spoked the girl a bit; odd as that was, she didn't seem the easy to scare type. "I'll have to try and remember what words she used... Samantha said that bards deal with ordered sound."

He paused, trying to pick his words carefully. "Wailers are disordered noise taking shape, at least from what I was told. When I cut one open it was like its blood wasn't really blood. Sorta like how it wasn't really what it was making itself out to be. It's body hissed when cut like sound or air, or something that wasn't really either, was escaping. It felt wrong. In the cold of night it felt outright horrifying really."

"I don't have to tell you to stay away from them," Bandin said. "But if something ever comes at you with a kind of shriek that can knock a full-grown man off his feet. Well, I don't think it'll happen, but you'll know what you're dealing with then. They go for the throat, literally. I think that's how they feed."

Bandin laughed at the Ixam's antics in response to being called annoying; anywhere else a talking animal would've seemed mad, but here it almost fit. "Didn't like that, eh?"

"You too," he said in reply to the beast. "Surprised me. I've never seen a talking... well, anything other than a person really."

"You don't always have to go that far to see things," Bandin admitted to Taz as the conversation flowed to her lack of traveling. "People are the same everywhere, even when they're not. Everywhere has different feelings and ways about them, but they're all people's ways and you settle into them. You become a bit of a different person in every place you visit, a new take on you filtered through the air of wherever you're living."

The smith smiled along at the Ixam's decrying of the elephants.

"They sound stuck up, but, hey, not like they can talk, eh?" he offered in solidarity.

He looked to Taz and raised an eyebrow as a thought came over him. "Right?"

He continued with the tying of markers, even after they'd made their way back onto a small trail. He hadn't been told to stop, so he figured it'd be a good move not to; he also figured they'd be useful in finding just where they'd entered on the trail from.

The library came into view almost suddenly. Suddenly enough, anyway, for Bandin to have trouble parsing just what he was seeing at first.

"Yeah," he paused in awe. "This is what I was hoping to see."

"Reclaimed knowledge," he repeated. "Like the jungle... and the people, us, coming back into the old place. That's smart."

He approached a shelf, not disregarding Taz altogether, but not being able to help himself.

He ran his hand over a ruined tapestry. "Some of this... it's so old, but--"

He paused and trailed the same fingers over a bookshelf. "These books look fine--most of them, anyway."

He couldn't read a few of the titles, even after trying to smudge them clear with his fingers.

The man was drawn to no one book in particular, but drew a book-titled Nymkarta: Djed and Blood off its shelf. He didn't even know what 'Nymkarta' meant.

Bandin really didn't want to be rude, but he found himself reading the introduction, noting that the book didn't really look handwritten at all, so perfect was the text:

"The bloodlines of the Alahean Empire have long been reported to stretch back to divinity. The assumed demi-goddess queen Avakalshi, part mythical figure and part historically recorded monarch, has all but solidified this claim of heavens-sent authority in the minds of the pro-Suvan elites. Yet, even ignoring the shaky foundation created when myth is used as a touchstone of historical fact, how far should a civilized society be willing to accept the claim of what is at best heavily diluted divine blood as a stand in for a dismissal of crimes both political and tangible?

This is the Suvan take, my dear readers. Yet, we all know too well how such claims would come across in any one of our own mage-touched courts. Still, is that a thing to be praised: such close-mindedness regarding historical truths? Perhaps there is some merit in what our counterparts in the West make for claims? We should at least attempt to view both our and their historical records in tandem to try and create a fair showing of history, should we not?

I've traveled extensively and called upon my contacts both far and wide in an attempt to do just that. In these troubled times of stalemate and growing cold war this was not always easy, yet unearthing the truth of history almost never is. And, if we do indeed claim to be descended from great Eyris' touch, we as a nation of scholars must always endeavor for the sake of knowledge.

This tome is my endeavor to speak on one of the greatest dynasties to ever exist within Mizahar. This is a story of golden ages and fallen grace, of war and peace, politics and tactics, of djed and blood."

Bandin had absolutely not even a half-idea on what he was reading, but it drew him in nonetheless.

"Do we even know how old these are?" he asked her; he looked up from the book with a sort of overwhelmed, knowledge drunk gaze.

He looked around. "How don't they rot? And... can we borrow them or just read them?"

He felt something else was going on here. The idea of trying to steal away tomes did not seem altogether smart. Not from a place that seemed to have an almost mystical ability to preserve them.

by **Tazrae** on May 31st, 2021, 3:02 am

Tazrae held up her hands. “Right. Ashta don't talk… as far as I know.” She added, then smiled as the trio walked into Reclaimed Knowledge. Bree scooted ahead, books boring her, and found a nice warm sunny spot on the stone floor that was perfect for an Ixam to bake and recharge her body heat. She sprawled like a gangly teenager and rested her sleek scaled head on her crossed forearms, half-lidding her amethyst eyes in pleasure. The Innkeeper walked to her, stroked the Ixam’s neck affectionately, and turned to watch Bandin’s reaction.

Everything he said made sense. It was the reaction she had the first time she’d seen the ancient library. She watched him reverently walk across the stacks, running his fingers up and down spines gingerly. He plucked one off the shelf and Taz smiled as he flipped it open and began to read. Time stood still for the man as he immediately lost himself in the text. Taz had no idea what a Nymkarta was, but she could see it was indeed interesting to him.

“They are old. The Librarian might know.” Taz said, gesturing to the far side of the room. A transparent woman sat at a massive desk covered with leaf litter and debris, pretending not to be scrutinizing the trio. Her long-dead features were solemn as she seemingly frowned over his questions. “But she isn’t always communicative, nor does she like being questioned much. “Her name is Talia Zakala” Tazrae gestured. There was a plaque upon the desk that listed the name and the title ‘Head Librarian’.

She quietly watched Bandin’s reaction. Taz had no idea what it would be. But she’d spoken with a calm reasonable voice, hoping Bandin would take the initiative to copy her attitude about it all. “There is a little girl that roams Syka, Bandin. You can see right through her too. She has a kitten that’s the same way. If you ask her what her name is, she’ll tell you it's Veronica Chaliva.” Taz all but whispered, hoping that Bandin would make the connection between the little girl and the ship James had so lovingly named after his lost youngest daughter.

Meanwhile, the librarian reached for a nearby stack of books, pulled off the top one, opened it, and seemed to frown at something inside the tomb. Talia reached up and pulled something from behind her ear where it was tucked. The slim instrument seemed to glow a moment as she tapped it to the text and then tucked it behind her ear. “Imagine…. Eating while reading this fine history. If I had a miza for every time I had to correct careless reader’s damage….” She muttered, placing the book on a pile on the other side of her before selecting another.

Taz cleared her throat, glanced nervously at Bandin, and then seemed to check a charm on her charm bracelet. The charm was glowing.

“I think you can read them only. No one has tried to take one with them yet. I think all of us are afraid of what would happen to them if we moved them beyond the boundaries of the library.” She said softly, a very strong tremble in her voice. The librarian wasn’t always present, but when she was, Tazrae was very unnerved.

“I’ve found recipes in here, things I’d thought to use for the Inn. But the ingredients aren’t familiar and the units of measure are not the same as the ones we currently use.” Taz said gently, but loud enough for the other man to hear.

The librarian immediately frowned, glanced Tazrae’s way, and sent her an icy glare. The Innkeeper put on her most apologetic face and lowered her voice.

“It’s old, Bandin. Very old. I haven’t had much time to explore it, but every time I pick a book and do a bit of reading, its full of things I don’t understand. The technical tombs use a lot of words I’ve never heard of and the stories are full of locations and titles that make no sense. I think they are about the Alahean and Suvan Empire… places that existed before the Valterrian. But no one can be sure.” She added, looking thoughtfully around.

by **Bandin Everdance** on May 31st, 2021, 5:01 am

Bandin's eyes caught sight of the librarian, only so far as when Taz brought her up. He was altogether shocked that he could see through her; still her features were so perfectly there. It was almost like she was still a part of this world, could maybe even appear so if she tried, but simply chose not to put up the façade.

A bit of his awe drew back, a bit more of a different kind replaced it. The book felt somewhat colder in his hand.

He took in Taz's words slowly, not making any sudden moves. His lips did turn downwards at the mention of Veronica. He'd talked to James about losing his daughter, but Bandin had never known she was so young and to think that she'd be a ghost. It was too much to think of a small baby of a child like that, a little girl taken before her time was bad enough, but one stuck between this world and the next? Did James know? If he didn't, how could anyone tell him? Bandin already knew that he never, ever could.

Bandin put a hand on Taz's arm. He gave her a friendly, reassuring smile. It was genuine and meant to calm her. "Just reading is more than enough."

He kept the corner of his eye trained to Talia. "This is amazing. It's pretty clear she has something to do with all this, or maybe she's just a part of whatever all this is."

He pulled back his hand and held the book at about waist level. "I wouldn't want to risk these books. I just barely cracked this one and I already have that feeling of knowing there's so much that I don't know. Just a random book out of hundreds."

He spun his gaze. "We all don't understand so much. I used to talk about it with an old Isur smith back in Syliras. He'd say that we'd lost everything, but that we were building our way back to it on the backs of our ancestors, that eventually our own children would climb higher than we'd ever imagine--maybe even higher than our ancestors used to sit."

He paused. "But this? I don't even know what we've lost; I don't think any of us do. Maybe we could figure that out."

"I might not understand even a word in what I just read, but if there's other tomes in here that'll help make the connections," he said. "I'm not even sure what I could get out of that. Maybe just knowing more would be enough."

He looked back down to the book and smiled. "I haven't been this excited about something in a long time."

"But," he glanced back to the librarian and then placed a hand back on Taz's arm briefly. "I can tell you're a bit uneasy and I don't want that for you. We can come back some other time."

He placed the tome back on the shelf and crossed his arms and stroked his chin. "I wonder if she'd be mad about copies?"

He put his arm down and returned to Taz's side. "I won't try that while you're here though. No reason to drag you into my antics. I don't even have any paper on me right now, anyway."

"It's about two hours back, right? We could look around some more if you're still for it, but crab watching sounds good too," he added with a smile. "I'm just glad you showed me this place."

"Even if getting back here on my own might be a bit of a struggle," he added. "Ah, well, I'll figure it out."

Despite his trying to calm his companion, he still kept a very close eye on the librarian. He didn't like how scared she seemed to make Taz.

by **Tazrae** on May 31st, 2021, 8:49 pm

For the most part, Taz took her cues from Bree. The Ixam had good instincts and she’d never been nervous or unhappy in the library. And as a result, Taz had never felt truly in danger here. She always kept her guard up, but that was what one did in the wilds. So long as Bree was relaxed, Taz was certain there was nothing to worry about… other than perhaps speaking too loudly in front of the librarian.

When a hand came down on her arm, she glanced down, then up at Bandin. Her blue eyes met his gaze and took in his smile. She nodded. “We can stay as long as you like.” She replied, hoping he understood that meant as long as he wanted within the confines that they would be home to the settlement before dark. The jungle had rules, after all.

Taz nodded at his words. The place was amazing. That’s why she’d opted to show it to him first. He seemed hungry for certain things; certain knowledges. Reclaimed Knowledge was one of those places that would feed that hunger.

Bandin started thinking aloud and Taz nodded at his words. He thought along the same lines she did, inherently. So much was lost. But then again, so much had been saved too. She didn’t interrupt his musings until he took a breath reiterating his excitement by voicing it aloud.

“I used to think how crazy I was being to pack up all my belongings in a small chest and set sail for Syka with a stranger just because he knew my father. I had nothing when I came here. I wasn’t much of anything either. Nothing with nothing. It was fitting. And yet it puts things into perspective when you think that these people were incredibly advanced. Yet, they lost it all in an instant. A man staked a woman against a set of city gates for being impure on her wedding night. And little did he know the woman’s lover was a God that was fully capable of destroying the world when he learned his love was dead. I cannot imagine what everyone suffered for the actions of a singular selfish man and another creature incredibly powerful but driven mad in grief.” She said softly, shaking her head. “Somewhere, I bet someone has the story written… but I doubt it can be found in this library. I think this place fell in the chaos of the Valterrian, where it was too busy being destroyed to take in another story about its own destruction.” The Innkeeper said softly, the cadence of her whisper was that of a storyteller and not of a woman that took people in for a living.

“I will bring you another day, early, so we can spend the whole time combing through the tombs. The librarian doesn’t seem to mind so long as we put them back. And I don’t think she’d mind you copying a few either. The more studious one’s behavior here, the more she seems to approve.” She added, a twinkle in her eye as if she had a memory or could imagine of something else happening here that wasn’t related to books.

“No, I’m not uneasy. I just didn’t want you to try and take a book. She’s minding her manners at the moment, but she can get… frightening, when she’s mad.” Tazrae whispered back at him, keeping her voice decidedly in a library sanctioned low level.

Taz gestured at Bree, keeping her motion deliberate and unobtrusive. “Watch her. See how relaxed she is? There’s no danger here.” The Innkeeper said, pointing out her litmus test to Bandin. “And we can walk around a bit too if you’d like. But I think so far all I’ve found is a few walls, like a larger structure was here. I would suspect it was a place of study and research, though there might be something underground I haven’t found yet. The library is really the only thing left standing that’s not crumbled to ruin. I believe… “ She hesitated, not wanting to spook him this time… but serious nonetheless. “I believe it was protected by powerful magics that have been slowly decaying over time… which is why the vegetation is creeping in finally. Three walls and part of a ceiling… whatever leveled this place passed over this structure. I don’t believe in coincidences, so it must have been something else that saved it from the rest of Pavena’s fate.” Taz replied, looking thoughtful.

“If we go… do you want to follow your trail back or shall we cut another?” She asked thoughtfully, having no preference either way. Normally she’d just slip on Bree’s back and let the Ixam loose to head home via the trail they’d already cut. She’d be back in such a short time that way. But she was enjoying the present company and there was no way Bree could carry two. Bandin wasn’t a fat man, but Bree was slender and graceful, still growing in her youth. When she was older, she’d manage two riders or multiple heavy packs. But Taz was cautious with her friend until she grew to her full size.

“There’s nothing really out here save for the Mounds and they aren’t much to see unless there’s ground fog. I can take you back by the Isuas plantation or we can head west and south towards the commons so I can show you where the banana groves are. If you’ve never eaten a banana, you are in for a treat.” She added, leaving the decision up to Bandin which way they went if they were indeed going to leave at all.

by **Tazrae** on January 18th, 2022, 2:32 am

Grading

Tazrae –

Hostessing +5, Teaching +5, Cooking +2, Endurance +2, Socialization +3

Bandin Everdance: Appearance and Mannerism, Bandin: Smith, Syka Location: Reclaimed Knowledge, Teaching: Teaching Wilderness Survival In The Jungle

Bandolin Everdance – If you return, I’ll be glad to give you grades.

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