Vyreth Qithuen--that's the name given to me by my new family. According to tales told to me by my new father (and captain of a fishing vessel), Vjoro, he'd discovered me floating in a makeshift raft some miles off the coast of Hanover's Run--an island along the SW shores of Erenon--during a routine fishing trip. There was no form of identification, nor any hint as to my past whatsoever, on my person me aside from strange tattoos covering my torso and a jeweled ring dangling from a chain around my neck. Out of kindness and admiration of the strange alignment of paths that had occurred on that fated day, Vjoro took me back to the village and adopted me as his own child. His wife, Vera, tended to my cold and malnourished form and their biological son, Voltek, kindly accepted me as his new younger brother. My new family was good to me and taught me how to hunt and fish, and my skills in these areas grew to a point where I won several local competitive events. Vera was the mother you read about in story books--kind and gentle, empathetic and sympathetic yet firm and disciplined.
Since coming of age, I continue to have dreams about my original parents... my beautiful mother and her long, blonde, curly hair standing next to my stalwart father. In my dreams, my father always wears the ring that I now carry around my neck, a symbol and reminder of my own inner-strength in the face of being shunned by most of the others in my village. I was an outcast regardless of how much I tried to fit in. The only person who was willing to see me for who I was was a girl named Varishna, the daughter of the town steward who soon forbade her to see me. But his rule didn't stop us. Our affections grew into love, and when I turned 16 she confessed that she wanted us to marry and run away together. I finally felt alive and my soul came alive.
Then, one day a strange man paid a visit to our village cloaked in black and riding a massive black steed. He was clearly searching for something or someone, come to find out that someone was me. The man came to my father's home in the night, and I spied on their conversation from a back room. I couldn't make out their conversation, but my father shot me a glance that told me to run. I hid in a closet until the strange man left, and when I emerged he told me that Voltek and I would be heading out to sea the following morning to fish. I was growing sick and tired of fish... The smell, the taste, it was everywhere.
We headed out to sea the following morning, as planned, but I knew something was amiss. As we made the return voyage home, we saw our village being razed in the twilight. After docking at the harbor, I ran back home only to find my mother laying murdered on the floor and the village in ruin. I frantically searched the burning homes for Varishna to no avail. One badly injured villager told me, in his dying breath, that the women had all been rounded up and taken away in a menacing and dilapidated ship. Our family dog, Vulkan, luckily made it through unscathed, tied to a post out back and barking out of sheer panic. Vulkan and I returned to my father's fishing boat, and with Voltek at the helm set sail for the Erenon coast to begin our search for the wicked hands behind the slaughter and for Varishna, my one true love.
Once we came ashore on the edge of the Fairn Forest, Voltek and I agreed to split up--he travelling East toward Trey La and myself North, to the town of Lehren. Hopefully, one of us would discover clues or at least bring us closure. We made a pact to return to the fishing boat in 3 months time to share our findings and decide what to do next.
No comments:
Post a Comment