Chapter 6: Semsì

"For many years, Elven-kind ruled from their cities and palaces, long after learning to control the very energy of the realm. The very first wizards, warlocks and druids learned their magic from Ashaya the first magic user and Bearer of the Tome. The Goddess still gives out their knowledge to those deemed worthy according to the Worshippers of the Tome." -Excerpt of Kieva's Mythological History

A bench in the park had been where a younger me had met the three other rejects of the society we had been raised in. In one way or another, we all had been told our place, and told it that we didn't care. Some of us had a more physical moment, like me telling my father, who tried his best to teach his trade but with an iron fist, that his whole empire was worthless, or Mire being kicked out after making her relationship with Va'tu public. Va'tu had no sort of bad reputation to be clear, he had always asked questions of people, which got him in trouble with some types, but overall he was a well regarded person. Mire had not told anyone the true reason why she had such a falling out with her mother and father but I suspect there is a bit of old fashioned high elven supremacy at play. 

Kurdu was a different story, no matter that he was from the same mountains as my people, the dwarf and his clan were primarily builders and craftsmen, with a select few being highly proficient in swordsmanship and heavy armor. 

"I'm telling you two," he glanced to Jiva, who stood near me with her arms crossed," three, if he doesn't show up to his own plan, I am likely to string 'em up by his britches when I find him." the dwarf said, his hand stroking the short beard hair that he had on his face. He was always keen on protecting the growth but when he was nervous he tended to run his fingers through the hairs. 

"He'll be here, Kurdu," I said, my mind wandering to other things as Kurdu and Mire spoke amongst each other. 

"You told them about me right?" Jiva spoke quietly, almost watching the horizon with one eye and me with another.

"Yes," I turned, "but seeing you in person might be something that they weren't really expecting."

She sighed and sat near me. Her warmth in the morning chill was welcome, though I had packed layers for the journey, and extra in my eeyendiei or my endless bag. The weather was warmer than usual for this time of year and had been throughout the year, messing with the natural rhythm and creating a series of famine and war across different parts of the continent.

"When do you think he will get here?" Jiva asked after a moment of silence.

"Just long enough for us to think that he was truly contemplating not coming. He'll say something along the lines that he was planning our trip, and maybe he is, but he will do his best to be fashionably late."

The journey would begin soon, and while the sun had yet to rise, I was already thinking about the routes we could go. I was certain we would leave the city of Rency and either head to the coast and find a boat that could take us across the Garu'ud Sea to central Ver-Anda or go east to the Turque Mountains, the start of the Defrak Rift Valley, a several hundred mile long area of land that has been separating for nearly a millennia.

Either way the journey would be dozens of miles to the first landmark of our expedition, no matter which option we took, and one was longer than the other by a significant amount. The options and possibilities were endless and I soon settled that Va'tu arriving and us actually leaving would solve our first step. 

Leaving the city.

As Jiva and I and Mire and Kurdu talked, the light padding feet of Va'tu finally approached, just as the sun peaked its way into the horizon, lighting the day for the first time.

"Is this a normal thing for you, Semsì?" Kurdu asked, motioning towards Jiva and I sitting on the bench, finally breaching the surface of a bubble that had been there since I introduced them when we got there.

"Aye. She is with me every night. I will have my own tent, my friend," I laughed, " do not worry."

Jiva rolled her eyes and smiled before extending her hand towards them.

"I know the magic is strange. I am Jiva of the He`tu`dine." she said. Kurdu took her hand with a large grin.

"Oi, she's real, Mire." taking her arm into his hands and confirming that she was solid before letting go and stepping back. "Sorry, uh, I'm Kurdu of the Durgac clan." He saluted, his left hand rising to his chest in what looked like a cup. The motion was familiar, something I knew represented my home, the mountains. He claimed the mountains more than I ever have as he was born and lived most of his adolescent life in those mountains, where as I had moved out as a young elf, not even yet twenty years to the city,

"DId you think she was a spirit or something, werta?" Mire asked, a smile breaking across her face. "Jiva, it is nice to meet you. I am Mirielye, but you can call me Mire. I keep these boys here in line. It's good to finally put a face to the person that Semsì has committed to." Mire finished.

"It's good to meet Sem's friend's after all these years." Jiva said. 

I gazed beyond this interaction, wishing that we could move on to another topic at least, but knowing that Mire would stick with it as long as she could. Finally I could see the last of our group trudging up the hill in the morning light. 

Just as the first of the sunlight peeked over the horizon and lit the day, Va'tu finally walked up to the bench in the park of Central Rency, which resided along the Siregal River.

"Oh, hello," he said, his eyes resting on Jiva, who sat between Mire and I. I could hear my heart pound as the rays of sunlight began to encroach on the real light of my life. It would only be moments now, before the magic subsided.

"Va'tu, I told you about Jiva before. Well this is Jiva." I blurted out, putting my hands out weakly and shaking them slightly for effect.

Jiva extended her hand and began to speak.

"It's good to meet you, Va'tu. Sem has told me so much about you." 

"You as well," he began, after shaking her hand and taking a step back. "Semsì this is the woman you told me about?" He grinned and laughed, throwing his head back. "Jiva, welcome."

"Thank you, Va'tu." She extended her hand to him and he took it rather lightly, before grasping her to confirm that she was solid.

"What kind of far away magic?" he wondered aloud, taking his other hand and touching her hand again.

"Wati, vu tiva le. Evatan fer sarsi le tanvot?" She said, which I understood. She had simply turned the question back on him. My visage is real. What magic would your people use?

Va'tu looked at her for a moment longer before turning to me.

"My friend, good rising. Are you ready for our journey? I have been planning all night and could hardly sleep." His smile told me he told the truth, and the bags under his eyes. I would have to make sure he got some rest later today then.

"Of course I am, Va'tu." I said, unable to take my eyes off the horizon, which with every second, the sun rose upon. The rune along my left wrist going up my forearm into my elbow began to glow and burn, causing me to look down and gasp.

"What is the name of Darsun?" Va'tu said, looking at me and Jiva, who was looking down at a slew of glowing runes, many of these different than the ones that she had shown me before. Some contorted on her skin, changing meaning in the sunlight to something completely different that what was under the moonlight.

"I will see you in a few hours, my sujta." I whispered to her before kissing her glowing visage as she disappeared.

"Of course." she smiled and before I could finish my breath, the sun had risen.

"Does this mean we are beginning?" Kurdu asked, breaking the silence finally.

"It does," I said, turning to them.

"Good," Va'tu clapped his hands together and stepped onto the table. 

"Oh no," Mire mumbled, her hands covering her face in embarrassment.

"My friends, I really must thank you all for this quest you are foretaking with me. I promise to always lead you to the best of my ability and to listen to the input of all of you equally. No step should be taken without consideration and careful thought right? Well I was thinking about our path." 

Va'tu took his pack off from his shoulders and knelt on the table, only moving over just enough to almost fit the map that he pulled for the pack. The realm of Ver-Anda was filled with dozens of polities, from the many independent cities states, to the Kingdom of Alina or the Clethorpe League, the world is truly a diverse place.

"I think we should travel too here," he pointed to a city on the northern coast of Siregal Valley at the mouth of the Mother River just under one hundred miles to the north east of Rency. 

"Okay, travel to Hyhryst, then what?" Mire began.

"Well catch a boat across the Garu'ud. The sea's are usually calm this time of year, at least." He said showing what he thought the route would look like across the inner sea of Ver-Anda. 

"Good enough. What for food?"

I raised my hand for this.

"I have brought a month's worth of rations for each of us here actually," showing my Eeyendiei, reaching in and pulling out a bag of dried meats and fruits. "I have enough for all of us, though we should still plan on trying to find as much food as possible."

"Wonderful. I brought some dried nuts and meat as well." Mire nodded before going on.

"I'm glad even Jiva carries a weapon when out," Mire said, looking at Kurdu and Va'tu before ending on me. 

"She would never leave the house without it," I said, speaking of the sword that Jiva was never caught without. It was a short bladed variety, something that was no doubt handy in the dense forests of her home. Most hardly would ever notice, but she was also rarely without her sling which she wrapped around her when she is not using it.

"Good. she may be of use yet unlike these two." She shot a glance back at Va'tu and Kurdu who were looking at the map before them, the conversion they were having much more interesting as evident from their giggling.

"They have their own useful properties, I'd say." smiling as I thought about all of their actual talents. Not only was Kurdu a crack shot with his bow and an excellent hunter, he was also a great cook, able to make the tastiest meals from his catches.

Va'tu, if he had any sort of ambition, could use his silver tongue to become the leader of the Siregal Council and the most powerful man in the valley. Sure it would take him time, but the man could talk a soldier into giving him his primary weapon. Mire was well educated like me, taking a majority of her classes at the School of Magic in the city of Alina before coming to the school here in Rency. Our educations were very different to say the least as well, though we both attended the same school, The Rency School of Higher Education. The classes I took were poised on making me a magnate of business or one of the ambitious nobles in the Republic fighting for control and glory. Obviously, I am not that person.

We left Rency just after the sun had risen in the sky, which turned the clouds away from the shades of orange and red into their normal white and gray. The winters of the Siregal Valley were generally chilly and dry, though sometimes rains from the sea to the north could spill over into the soil rich valley. The morning was cold and a chilly breeze came up off the hills to the southwest, stirring dirt on the horizon. The road to the north was empty this early in the day, save for the few farmers that lived on the outskirts of the city. The group of four walked along the road, which led to the small town which surrounded the old tower. Triond Tower was built many generations ago, by the original inhabitants of the Siregal Valley, the elves who settled had here from Alina.The tower had been pit stop along the Siregal River for centuries for traders, travelers, and adventurer's in the Valley. The town sprang up around it after several decades of makeshift buildings and fortifications which were built piece by piece since its formation.

Now the town had the very important duty of keeping the Triond Bridge intact, the only bridge on this side of the Siregal River until the capital to the south and Brionegrin to the northwest. Without the bridge at Trionde trade bound for Siregal would have to be redirected through the small roads of Rency.

The small roads north of Rency were lucky to even be paved, because the roads to the south were not, as they were mostly old game and hunting trails. The northern road took its path straight through Waeri Forest, the small forest north of Rency.

"Remember that story, Sem, about the ghost of the Waeri?" Va'tu laughed as we walked through the forest. He had a knack at finding inopportune times to speak on things because as he said that a deep wail came from the forest. The noise made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end and all four of us trained our eyes and ears on the direction it came from. 

"You all ate breakfast right? That wasn't your stomach growling, Semsì?" Kurdu laughed nervously, running a hand through his beard and reaching around to grab his bow. 

"No, that was not us," I said, my voice hoarse from shock still. 

"Probably a cat out in the forest," the dwarf said, his hand on his bow but now unhooking it from his pack.

"I think you can relax, Du," I said, patting the horse I sat upon to calm them as well. "And you too, Mond," The beast snorted, and tossed its head in response, something the man who sold her to me said was normal for her.

"Did that man sell you a broken horse, Sem?" Va'tu chuckled.

"No, she's perfect. Don't even try it." I shot back and Mond snorted, throwing her head in the direction of Va'tu. Va'tu frowned and looked back at me and my horse, a look of sour disappointment on his face. I burst into laughter after a moment and patted the horse on her side.

"I could get used to you, Mond," I laughed.

A day of travel on horse was faster than by foot luckily, and we could afford to at least rent horses until we got to Hahyrst. I had made enough in my time away from my family to live a comfortable life, even without the vast majority of my parents' namesake to carry me. Son of Watub was not going to get me much in Rency, especially since everyone who was anyone knew why I was disowned.

That was the reason why I could never really expect another Deep Elf to assist me on this journey by simply the use of my name alone. We Deep Elf were rather talkative folk, and rumor could spread to cousins and friends of cousins rather quickly.

"By any measure," Mirielye said, breaking the silence of our travel. "Triond Tower is within reach before nightfall, do you all think that making camp outside of the city for the night is more advisable and we continue through until we make camp on the other side? Or shall we stop by the tavern, and see what our neighbors in the Tower have been up to?"

"I vote for the inn, they have beds, and beer." Kurdu said flatly.

"Alright, well, I'm with Kurdu." I said, echoing the beer sentiment mostly.

"Well, you know that I like to sleep on the cold hard ground," Va'tu began, his voice rocky and gravely like the dirt he wanted to sleep on.

"He votes for the inn." Mire said, prodding her horse on. The two trotted out ahead.

"Gods I hate to see her go but I love to watch her leave." Va'tu said, under his breath. His eyes cast on the woman, and he prodded his own horse to join her.

"Gods, I'm glad they left." Kurdu laughed, taking out a pipe of half smoked majiva leaf and giving it to me to spark. 

I flicked my fingers and a small flame appeared between the pinched thumb and pointer. I put the pipe to my mouth and inhaled a few long drags on cloudy haze. I coughed in response and handed the pipe to Kurdu. 

"What do you think of this journey, friend," I said once my fit subsided, "truly?"

"I think that I can only find my true calling if I go find it at this point. What use is it to waste another moment?"

"I can relate to that." I said, as he passed the pipe back to me. I inhaled, blew a circle out of the smoke and took another drag. "You will find what your destiny holds, whether you intend or not?"

"I do not care much for destiny or fate, truthfully." he said, taking the pipe back after I took another drag. He sat with it a moment, watching the ember in the bowl burn the leaf.

He then took a long drag and snuffed out the flame. 

"My life is meant for one single purpose. To impact the people that I am able and to leave those who are not in my purview unharmed."

"You always seem to have the view that I want to have, before I know what it is." I looked over to him. His skin was of a color that was rather similar to mine, a deep brown, similar to the soil when wet, though mine was more of a pale obsidian. He stood only three foot eleven inches above the ground. What he lacked in height, he made up for in bravery and poetry.

The sun continued her trek across the blue sky with not a single cloud in sight, her view across her domain unparalleled only by her equals, the moons. My people told stories that we once venerated the moons which caused Vakti, the goddess of the sun to resent us for our purity. She then split all our people from the mountains and they migrated across Yornus to learn of their own gods.

Rather ironically, the high elves have a similar story in which the shepherd of the moons, Varuk-sin, cast the worshippers of Vakti into confusion and sent them across the planet. Either way, this was long before the elves split into their separate groups and further into dwarves, humans, etc.