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The Guilded Cage, Ch 13

What Came Before

Dorias had never been the kind of Yak to lack enjoyment over a warm fire on a cool night, but after spending weeks on the road during the dark hours of late spring, he gained a newfound appreciation of them. Smacking the lips of his broad muzzle to clear the foam from a fresh tankard of ale from his whiskers, the Beastkin scholar flipped through the copious notes he'd taken during his adventures outside St Almar.

Having spent roughly five decades in a library, Dorias had never thought that he might one day be tracing the steps of the heroes of old, or that he would set foot in the ancient sites of power, and yet a lot had changed in a fortnight. Comparing his notes to one of the many aged tomes he carried, the scholar continued his study of mapping out the locations important within the Old Kingdoms against modern day landmarks.

It had taken some doing, but, despite the Elves' insistence of legend he was finally starting to discover just how little of the records of the 'before times' was myth, and how much of it was actually grounded in reality. What he'd learned could easily have filled volumes once he'd manage to find the time to put it to paper. Considering his newfound appointment, he reasoned, the ability to scribe an entire book was a very real possibility.

Taking another sip of ale, Dorias gazed around the relatively empty public house. He'd visited a few of the nicer establishments along with his old mentor and caretaker but The Silver Chalice put them all to shame. Located on the main street leading from the nicest part of St Almar's Residential District the City Center, the upscale restauraunt and bar was the finest of any the city had to offer and, despite him being a Beastkin, nobody said a word-- about him being there, or about him reading. Truly, he realized, having an influential patron changed things within the city quite a bit.

Dorias' adventures with the Naysayers had been an eye-opening experience. Not just traveling beyond the walls of St Almar, but seeing what wonders lay beyond. The Yak had heard of the farlmands, but it was his first time actually being there. He had been under the impression that no city other than St Almar existed, but traveling to Dunmar had opened his eyes to more of the world. The experience of both living, breathing communities had changed his perception on so many levels, but what really had sparked his interest were the ruins, sites of power, and, most importantly, the brief visit the Naysayers had made to an out-of-the-way roadside inn.

The Kingdom Tower Ruins and the Fallen Library had been the group's primary goal for the journey, and resulted in a number of discoveries that interested not just Dorias, but the party's knowledgeable dungeon delver, a young Wolf who was surprisingly grizzled considering his youth. It was the Yak's first experience in a proper adventure, and those experiences were second only to the layover they had at the small, fortress-like inn a half day's journey north of the Farmlands known as The Wayside Shrine.

Dorias had never before seen so many kinds of iconography of various religions displayed so openly. The common room proudly had a place for the holy symbol of Amiel, but it was no more prominent than any of the others-- Dorias was unable to identify some, but he counted out all of those he knew and was lauded rather than reviled by those gathered around him. Holus was an obvious one, as was Norr, but there were more esoteric faiths such as Waha the Trickster, Janus of the Iron Tower or Donar of the Dawn.

Almost as surprising as the the inclusion of the last deity, a god of the Sun Priests of the Aarakokra, was the actual presence of one such bird folk, a svelte, dainty, white feathered female of the species. Her name was Leslie, and she seemed to be just as interested to see Dorias as he was to see her-- mostly because of his sash, which she had been able to identify from across the room. Despite their age differences, they became fast friends, and ended up talking well into the early hours of the morning.

Like Dorias, Leslie was something of a collector of stories and seeker of wisdom. Unlike him, however, she was gregarious, outgoing, and sought knowledge for the sake of creating story and song. Even as the sun began to rise, and the old Yak realized he wasn't able to go without sleep as long as he had in his youth, she convinced him to stay up just a little longer so he could join her in a morning prayer in greeting to the sun. If for no other reason than to enjoy her company a little longer, he agreed, joking to himself that, were he thirty years younger, he might have approached things differently.

He'd managed perhaps an hour and a half of sleep before being awakened by the Naysayers; eager to continue their journey, they had every intention of leaving early. Unwilling and unable to keep up with them, Dorias took his leave, releasing them from their obligation to see him safely back to St Almar. He had a healthy appreciation for the wilds, and knew that he would be in grave danger traveling alone, but the sheer number of people traveling through the Wayside Shrine uplifted his spirits, and reinforced his impression that it was far easier to live beyond the walls of St Almar than the Elves would have their populace believe.

Even though they knew of the powers of his sash, the Naysayers were reluctant to leave him alone. Fang pointed out that the sash wouldn't protect his belongings from brigands while Emanuel doubted the ability for its magic to function if he was eaten by wild animals. Cina reminded everyone that they were supposed to see Dorias through the ruins, and they had done just that. In the end, however, Clarke the Wolf, newest of their group, managed to plead Dorias' case better than the Yak. Emanuel translated for the lupine Beastkin, who stated simply "Everyone must make their own path. He knows the risks ahead, but his road is for him to choose."

Dorias was more than willing to go back to bed at that point, but he remained with the Naysayers long enough to exchange a few handshakes (and a hug from Birt). Once they left, however, he made good on letting his body get caught up on sleep. He stayed at the Wayside Shrine for another day and a half, engaging anyone who would speak to him in discussion, talking about anything and everything they knew in the world beyond St Almar. The vast majority of travelers were not from St Almar, which wasn't much of a surprise considering how the general populace never traveled beyond its walls. What was surprising, however, was when he met an Elf... and that her accent was similar to his own.

He name was Teuivae'Roum, and she was far more tanned than any Elf he'd ever seen, as well as nearly a full half-foot shorter. Leslie, who had been getting ready to leave, took the opportunity to educate Dorias on the Wood Elf people-- one of the casualties of the Elven purification of the Old Kingdoms. Although they used to be as prolific as any of the races on the continent they, like the Aarakokra, were all but destroyed. Dorias was aghast; he knew well how destructive the ire of Elves could be, but to turn that fury against their own people?

It was then that Teuivae came to them, greeting Leslie in what Dorias believed was the bird woman's native language and then, to confuse him even further, she greeted Dorias in Ritti as if it were a language as native to her as her own tongue. Dorias was off to a stuttering start, having to restart his own return reply twice before he could manage to get any words out. His dialogue with her continued to be even more enlightening, and confusing. The most bewildering thing he discovered was that she was an open, unapologetic follower of Loghul. Despite the Yak's usually excellent judge of character, nothing about his interaction with her fit with his expectation of what a Cultist should have been. She was pleasant, friendly, and as far as he could tell, kind.

The return trip to the Farmland had him completely consumed in his own thoughts, attempting to parse what he had leaned and rationalize what he'd experienced. St Almar, which had once felt like it was the entirety of his world, suddenly felt so much smaller. He had documented countless pages of notes related to the Old Kingdoms and had a decent working map of the sites of importance in relation to locations in the modern world. Dorias had discovered that there were far more peoples and far more faiths than those in St Almar knew, and more cities which lived very differently.

Despite all of that, there were enough reasons for Dorias to return that he felt no need to stray. At the same time, he was confident that he would again find a reason to continue his exploration... perhaps the next time the Naysayers left, or maybe just a caravan to the Farmlands; his return trip from there with one went remarkably well. All those thoughts and more continued rolling around inside his head while he sipped at his ale, and his tankard was very nearly empty by the time his patron arrived.

Without a word, his patron gestured for him to be seated. Nothing needed to be said; Dorias knew why they were both there. Smiling, the Yak offered up several sheets of paper. "The experience was amazing... beyond amazing, in fact. There was so much to learn!"

His patron raised a single finger to silence him; Dorias knew enough about the Temple of Norr to realize that it wasn't a request, and definitely when it came from the highest ranking member. His patron took several minutes to review the notes before sliding them back to him, noting calmly "You are a testament to your profession, Mr. Freeman. I am pleased to see that your notes are quite comprehensive."

Praise from the Nilo family was rare, especially for a Beastkin. Smiling, Dorias thanked Waha that he had been so lucky as to find a patron capable of providing him such favor. Pulling out a second set of papers, he handed them over. "And, just as you said, there were numerous references to Dragons... this was everything I was able to record."

His patron's eyes gleamed with interest.