IC 3113 BC
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IC 3113 BC
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Sian
Evening, August 31, 3113 BC; Unnamed Town, somewhere on the shores of the Theran SeaSian allows herself to be returned to a standing position and catches her breath as Vindariel walks away. Shaking her head she allows herself a fleeting thought of what if……………..
Turning, she glances over to where her girls are entertaining the rest of the camp and walks that way, breathing deeply of the night air. She smiles as she considers that, unless this Ryl interferes, Sian has the entire triptych in her possession. Her Master will be pleased when he wakens from his slumbers. Sian spares a moment to give a prayer for the souls of the companions that she had briefly met on Thera and then lost. She considers what little she knows, or assumes would likely be a better way to word, about the ninekillers. She has heard that most of them perished in the last of the fighting, making Vindariel one of the last of his kind. Sian nods her head; she can identify with that as she is one of the few of her kind on this planet.
She looks over to the small fire that Ryl and Ariales have set for themselves and almost walks over there. Instead, she turns in the direction of the larger fire, where Brianne is overseeing the three young prostitutes. She has taken to her role as guardian with ease and has demonstrated some ability in that area. To be sure, she is skilled with her weapon and her bravery cannot be disputed, but Sian knows that it takes much more than that to fill the role of Valoi. Well, the future will tell.
Sian walks over to take a seat at the fire, politely refusing the offer of wine from one of the others gathered there. Looking up into the sky, Sian wonders what the morning will bring, wondering if Ryl or Ariales will demand the triptych and wondering how she would respond to such a demand.
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Sian
Morning, September 1, 3113 BC; Unnamed Town, somewhere on the shores of the Theran SeaThe three prostitutes are kept busy for a good portion of the night before Sian closes the brothel down so her girls can get some rest. All three are tired, but excited at the money they have earned. Lenore, in particular, is disappointed to hear that the handsome Vindariel is leaving on his own in the morning and it is apparent that the young woman is attracted to the man. Eventually, the camp goes still as the men and women fall off to sleep. Guards are appointed to take turns watching over everything.
In the morning, Ryl calls a quick conference at breakfast and Sian is asked her plans. She tells Ryl and Ariales that she intends to depart as soon after breakfast as possible, heading north along the coast. She offers to take anyone with her that wants to leave but is told that the majority of the skyjammer survivors will be remaining here for a couple of days to recover and to allow sufficient provisions to be purchased. Beyond determining that Sian has the entire triptych, no mention is made of it. After the short meeting, Sian gathers her girls and animals and makes ready to depart the small village. She pauses a last time to see if Ryl or Ariales have changed their minds about accompanying her.
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Sian
Mid-Afternoon, September 1, 3113 BC; somewhere on the shores of the Theran SeaSian looks around from where she is shaded from the sun by a cloth stretched from one of the camels. The small travelling brothel makes good time, even though the sale of one of their riding beasts has forced them to go at a walking pace. Jene and Lenore are resting in the same shade while Allison is breastfeeding the infant. Sian chuckles as she recalls the very short conversation she had had with the young prostitute about leaving the child with someone in the village. The look Allison had given her had made killed the discussion before it even really began. It seems that the child will be staying with them.
The clang of metal against metal pulls Sian’s attention to where Karla and Brianne are sparring. The young woman seems to have taken quite well to the role of guardian and had asked for additional training. The former arena gladiator is skilled, but still has a difficult time landing any blows against the older, more experienced Valoi. They had sparred during the morning rest break and are at it again, now. The heat of the day keeps the training to a minimum, though, and soon the two warriors are sitting in the shade and drinking water. Karla takes the time to critique Brianne and the two are soon lost in a conversation of fighting styles.
Sian nods at the pair then focuses her attention back out to the track they are following to the next town up the coast. She hopes to buy another riding animal there, so that the group may ride rather than walk. She expects that the journey will take them a few months to complete, but is not saddened or discouraged by that thought. Her Master is resting now and she is pretty much on her own as to time. She has been tasked with recovering as much of the past as she can and documenting it for the future and any writings and artifacts she finds will be collected and taken to one of the fortresses hidden in various locations around the globe. Too, the Fifth Age looks to be very much different from the Fourth. Magic is disappearing and she has already noticed some specific changes to herself and she needs to study exactly what she will be during this new age.
Sighing a bit, she looks at the people near her and smiles. The prostitutes and the guards, even the small child, seem to have become a sort of small family unit and it feels right, somehow. Yes, that is the feeling.
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Sian
Evening, September 3, 3113 BC; Shevat, somewhere on the shores of the Theran SeaSian and her brothel approach Shevat, a largish town on the coast, in the early evening. The trek from the previous town had taken all of three days, but had not been grueling. The second night out, they had met a small southbound caravan and shared a fire and meal. Some of the men in the caravan were more than happy to see the brothel and the girls were kept busy for several hours. The caravaneers brought news as well as money. The great island and city of Thera has been destroyed by earthquakes and tidal waves, with the vast majority of the island sinking beneath the water and the loss of life nearly total. With the collapse of Thera, much of the coast of the Theran Sea was in flux as people rushed to fill the void left by the sudden absence of any sort of authority. Pirates, some of them rumored to be the remnants of the Theran Navy, roamed the seas and local land governments struggled to establish control over the cities and towns on the coastline. Sian was advised to give Shevat a wide berth if possible, as the town was sinking into lawlessness.
Sian and Karla lie on a large hillock overlooking the small town. The status of the brothel’s water and food supplies makes it necessary to at least try to get some additional supplies here, but Sian has decided to not enter the town until daylight. From her vantage point, she can see several of what seem to war vessels in the small harbor, backlit by the burning of some buildings near the waterfront. Sian can hear the wailing of people in distress and makes a decision. She looks at Karla and smiles. “Please return to the others. I will make a quick survey of the town.”
Karla looks at her mistress and nods, disappearing into the night.
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Sian
Evening, September 3, 3113 BC; Shevat, somewhere on the shores of the Theran SeaSian waits a bit longer then slips off the small rise and heads towards the village. Her sensitive nose and ears pick up the distressing sounds of violence and the smell of blood freshly spilt even before she comes across the first hard evidence in the form of three bodies laying on the ground just outside the town. The man, along with the woman with a child in her arms, had been cut down by bladed weapons, almost certainly as they fled what was happening to their home. Sian passes along a narrow alley between buildings and emerges onto a small square and a bit of hell. It would appear that a number of the men of the town had been brought here to be killed. A quick glance over some of the bodies reveals that the dead were either among the old or the very young, causing Sian to snarl in frustration at such a waste of lives.
Looking about, she can see the flickers of light from nearby fires, although they are from beyond this small square. Cautiously, she glides in the direction of the flames, staying as close to the shadows as possible. She makes her way down another alley to where it opens on the main square of the port itself. The torches and burning buildings make her night vision unnecessary and she gazes at the tableau before her. There are four Theran Navy warships and two large cargo galleys at anchor in the harbor and she can see the wreckage of several fishing vessels and a fifth warship that once was likely the pride of the governor here. A number of armed men in the garb of Theran sailors and marines are guarding two long lines of the town’s residents that seem to snake back along the the streets of the town. Small boats are ferrying the new slaves out to the galleys. The lack of anyone above the age of perhaps thirty or below the age of ten leads Sian to believe that the slavers have decided to limit their haul to only those that can work hard in the mines or as sex slaves, probably meaning that those that do not fit into those categories have been slain already.
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