ROLEPLAY

Elvanae flung her gloves onto her desk and collapsed into her chair. Her apartment was a mess and her desk was covered with messages in preparation for the battle at Frahar Towers. She pushed them over the edge so they fell into a heap on the floor. Placing her head in her hands she closed her eyes.

The battle at Frahar Towers had exhausted her. As time had worn on, they had had to regroup after losing a great deal of ground. One of the outpost guards had approached her to informed her that they were being overwhelmed and wouldn’t last much longer. She had decided to withdraw them from the battle and called a halt to the defense.

Some had expressed their frustration, blaming one homin or another for not following orders. And others had congratulated one another on what they had achieved. Back at Yrkanis, the guards had engulfed her, exclaiming that next time they would surely be victorious and take over the Fyros lands. When one of the guards had patted her on the back she had raised an eyebrow at him coolly and shouted at them all to move out of her bloody way. She had stomped over to her apartment and locked the door behind her.

The silence inside was comforting. Silence was good.

She opened her eyes slowly and frowned. One of the parchments had fallen onto her lap...  one which she did not recall reading before. It appeared to be a message from one of Binarabi’s relatives. Surprisingly, it did not smell of rum. Elvanae placed the letter on her desk and proceeded to read the contents with interest.

Her jaw clenched. Rowwena’s words had conjured up memories of her father. Her father had been a true Matisian. A General of the Matis army. He had raised her to have one faith and one faith only, that of the land she had been born in. To respect and to defend the Forest. But she had been a restless teenager and befriended a homin called Pokeraitis who had been a Karavan follower. Her father had told her she was prohibited from communicating with Karavan followers but the more she got to know Pokeraitis, the more she had got to know his family, the Armageddons.

When Pokeraitis had introduced her to Jola she had felt like a little child before the grand guild leader. She had informed her father in writing that she had now joined the Armageddons and that she was old enough to make her own decisions. She had not heard from him until Jola had asked her to go on a hunt. After they had slain Slavekya and Quana had wondered off in the direction of Zora, Jola had told Elvanae that her father had been killed in an expedition in the Prime Roots and sadly could not be revived. Jola had handed Elvanae an envelope and ordered her to go back to Yrkanis and rest.

The envelope had been a letter from her father…

Nae mindalae Elvanae,

I know that I have not been the father that I wish I had been, nor the father you needed. Your mother’s death, she could not be saved… it left a deep wound in my heart that that I was not strong enough to overcome. Your mother....

When you receive this letter, I will have parted from this world. I know you will accomplish great things for I know you have a strong mind. Remember who you are and where you come from. Keep yourself safe from those who will try to infest your mind and soul and use your for their benefit.

Remember your strong heart and the faith of your forefathers.

Elvanae was brought back to reality when she heard a floorboard squeak behind her.

“Took you long enough.”

“Miaccia Stazzo had fixed the hole in the gate,” Virg said in irritation.

Elvanae rolled her eyes wondering what Virg had had to do this time to get into Yrkanis. Usually it was better she didn’t know…

He walked over to her and placed his hands on her shoulders, giving them a soft squeeze.

“You know I could sneak you into the Marauder camp if you wanted,” he grinned mischievously.

“I don’t doubt that for a second,” Elvanae replied, “anyways, its too dry and stuffy in Hidden Source and I would need a constant supply of refined kirosta secretion.”

“You already take all my dappers,” he murmured, “might as well sell myself for some kirosta secretion too.”

Elvanae turned around and raised her hand to smack him. “No I bloody don’t take all your dappers! But if you don’t stop sexy dancing for them I might not feel the need to confiscate it from you!” She exclaimed. “Besides which, everyone on Atys had seen your butt! How do you think that makes me feel, eh?” She crossed her arms.

“You are so cute when you get grumpy,” Virg teased.

He reached over Elvanae’s ear and produced a wisdom flower and gave her a wink. She squinted her eyes at him dangerously. “Are you trying to suggest I lack wisdom?” She said through gritted teeth.

“Oh... no... look at the time,” he said dramatically, peering out of the window, “well looks like we will have to continue this conversation tomorrow.” He gave her a peck on the cheek and winked at her again before jumping through the window and disappearing out of view.

Elvanae smiled, returning her attention to Rowwena’s letter.

She reached over to her ink jars and picked out the one with fresh redhot sap, she had often wondered why it was called redhot when it was green and cold.

Deles Silam Rowwena,

You letter was most interesting.

Yes, it is true that the Kami and the Karavan have played a major role in some historical conflicts over the outposts. I feel that many followers have strayed too far from the teachings of Jena and Ma-Duk. Some going so far as to distort these teaching in an attempt to justify their ruthless ambitions. I have even been told of how some Kami believe that their drills should be placed in all the outposts because they drill more gently compared to Karavan drills. It is unbelieveable what lies some Kami are being told to persuade one-another with fake excluses to wage war on the Karavan.

As regards to Frahar Towers, this was done in the name of defiance to these corrupt Kamis. I have just returned from there and bore witness to the magnitude of how the Kami leaders are exploiting innocent homins. Many of the homins looked like empty shells, casting their heals as if they feared that taking a moment’s rest would bring the wrath of the Kami leaders upon them. Indeed some of these healers had glazed eyes, like no one was really behind them. I even began to wonder if some of them were drugged. It was a frightening thing indeed and I wish that you had seen it for yourself. “Empty husks carrying out mindless tasks, oblivious to the bloodshed around them” is the most apt fitting description I can convey to you.

I have not expressed this to anyone, but I anticipate that Finders Farm outpost will be taken from us by the Fyros guild who declared. I will try to put on a brave face later on tonight to keep morale high but I will weep for the loss of our beloved outpost.

I have spent many a sleepless night trying to think of where we have all gone wrong and what we can all do to overcome the issues we are faced with. I do not think the answer to the recent events is to advocate a less Kami or less Karavan following but a deeper and truer Kami and Karavan following. I think that change of heart has to come from within these followers themselves.

Division between our lands will only create more opportunities for further conflict which bring more pain and suffering as homins fight to take over the outposts in their lands that are held by foreign guilds. I cannot see how this will be a way out of us.

I fear for us all if we cannot unite together.

Jena aiye!

Elvanae.