Fate - First Reply A part of that world

[Andromeda]

Despite the disgust Andromeda held for the Kivren part of her, even her human heart took thrill in the way she could move through the water. Perhaps it was being raised as a pirates daughter but the love of the sea was the only thing that both halves of her truly loved, and loved without fear of it hurting them or them it. It wasn't just the feeling of power that came with her Kivren form - the increased speed and strength that allowed her to travel for miles - no, it was the beauty under the waves that this form allowed her see. The stories she had heard of her kind painted them to be monsters whose only concern was food, but whilst the hunger was there it was not the overwhelming thing even in this form. Her favourite past time was exploring the beauty of the sea floor. From the coral reefs where her colours allowed her to blend in, to the shipwrecks and hidden underwater caves.

Today she had followed the Cortosi Coast around to the warmer waters of the West and the series of little coves around the mouth of the Baal-Asha river. She had explored here a few years ago but there were too many to give her full attention to them. There was one cove she had in mind in particular. It was a beautiful little beach right next to a roaring waterfall, but on the other side of the falls was an abandoned building of some kind. It could have been a lookout but it looked too grand for that, perhaps it was a rich nobles house a long time ago. Beautiful wildflowers grew beneath it and she had spied several ways up to the tower that would involve scrambling up the rocky face. She hadn't seen a way from the beach itself but then she hadn't been looking that closely.

Andromeda knew she was nearly there from the change in the seabed; more tropical fish swam here and the wildlife was more suited to the protected cove than the harsh cold waters of the deep sea. She trailed a hand and some coral and smiled as fish swam along her sides, using the current her tail created to hitch an easier ride. With a stronger push of her tail she angled upwards and slowly poked her head above the waves. From the chest up she would look like a normal human, but you could never be too careful with who prowled the coasts. It didn't seem the place many would come. Casually she made her way to the rocks where she pulled herself out, the white and orange tail disappearing in a painful spasm to be replaced by legs. Hissing through her teeth she tugged on her soaking wet shirt and tattered knee high breeches before standing shakily and examining the climb before her.

 

[Sand Hawk]

It took a long time to reach the Cortosi Coast. The Sand Hawk and his followers had initially sailed through the channels of water that flowed through Bhatharik, down through the Allirian Strait, around the Spear Peninsula, and even through the archipelago of Cerak At'Thul. Now that they had arrived here it seemed unlikely they'd find anything to satisfy the god of the very earth beneath them's curiosity.

A pilgrimage served as a good excuse to get out and see the world. Arethil had always fascinated the one whom the Tayir revered as the lord of sand and ground. Unfortunately, many of his fellow pantheon were content to stay in Qin and in order to protect the flock they had told Tayir that straying too far from their home village was hazardous for their health. Thus, they were only permitted to travel when in the companionship of one of the Nine Invocations.

For this trip the Sand Hawk merely brought two of the Tayir. A betrothed couple named Zahir and Verzin. Zahir was the sailor of the two, he had yellowed feathers and a bright crested red crown. Verzin was his partner, she was an excellent fisher and was supplying the food along the way. Her feathers were a muted green which was a rarity among the Tayir.

Their skiff navigated the choppy waters of the Cortosi until the venerable Sand Hawk opened his beak to beckon towards Zahir. "There, take us nearer," he commanded while pointing up at the unusual structure. Surely there would be some trinket inside that would prove marvelous enough to justify such a time consuming pilgrimage.

"Exactly as you predicted, our holy journey seems to be paying off," chirped Zahir back.

Verzin chimed in too, "you had said we'd find a sanctum of your glory, is that it?"

Reserved and humble the invocation of the ground itself merely nodded and confirmed. It wasn't until a few moments later that they noticed the humanfolk at the base of the rocks. What was a humanfolk doing here?

"Is it a defiler of your sanctum?" questioned Zahir and Verzin in unison.

"I'm not entirely certain," their god responded, "let us find out."

 

[Andromeda]

It always felt good to use her limbs after a swim because it reminded her that she wasn't fully Kivren. Plus, swimmers cramp was no joke. Most of the walk way was just a very steep slope - she guessed in years past it had once been a properly kept path down to a sort of docking area but large rocks lay in the way now that she squeezed her way around of pulled herself up and over. Andromeda spent most of the journey theorising on what had happened here. Some sort of natural disaster? Or had it been abandoned before that?

By the time she reached the top she was sweating and her shirt was plastered to her not just with sea water anymore. God she was getting unfit on her feet. Setting her hands on her hips she panted and enjoyed the view over the cove. The roar of the waterfall nearby was deafening but it matched the thrum of her blood and the call of the ocean which was a constant beat whenever she was on land. It was as she was looking out the scene that she spotted a boat she hadn't seen on her way up. Her head tilted to the side. Who on earth would be coming here? It wasn't on any charted maps for she had checked before she had set off.

Andromeda glanced at the crumbling building then back down the slope. Well. Maybe she would wait a bit. Scrambling on to a cut down pillar by the door she sat there cross legged as she began to comb through her hair and idly hum a tune.

 

[Sand Hawk]

Tayir were poor climbers. Excellent when sailing or on long hikes but climbing? Just abysmal. As a result, the Sand Hawk had to slow his pace. Proceeding cautiously up the steep path, climbing over rocks and creaks in the hillside with a deliberate step. Once they ascended to the apex of the walk Zahir and Verzin were completely out of breath.

They clutched at their chests, heaving excess oxygen into their smaller lungs. As the Tayir were a full 2-3 feet shorter than most other races they tended to have lousy endurance. And weak, hollow, bones. It was partially why they weren't permitted to leave Qin without an escort.

As the trio marched along to the rumble of the waterfall they approached the equally exhausted humanfolk. With as much dignity as he could fake the Sand Hawk spoke, "Hello, we were curious as to what this structure is used for by your people."

Without skipping a beat Vezin was quick to jump in, demanding, "you are in the presence of the Invocation of the Firmament. The ground you walk upon provided by his holiness, the food you consume grown from his fertile ground, and the quakes of Arethil displaying his anger. Why do you trespass on this holy site?"

It was difficult to be annoyed at his followers. They knew little of the outside world. Though, to be fair, the Sand Hawk's knowledge was quite limited as well. It had been several hundred, perhaps a few thousand, years living in Qin. Still, he understood that it was likely that they'd appear to be zealots to outsiders.

"Please forgive the outburst, my people can be a bit overeager."

 

[Andromeda]

The Siren raised her peach coloured eyes when she noticed the curious beings cresting the hill at last. She had been beginning to wonder whether it was worth waiting around all this time. However, upon seeing who had come she was glad she had waited: she had never seen such folk before. As they approached she stared at them in open curiosity, but that turned to amused annoyance at the outburst. Trespassing? Really? Did they see the state of the building they stood in the shadow of? Nobody had 'trespassed' here for years. Slowly she stopped combing her long white hair and instead slid from her perch to put her hands on her hips.

"I ain't trespassin' nowhere. This place has been abandoned for years," Andromeda focused her frown on Vezin but broke the contact when another spoke, she assumed the ringleader. "I don't know what it was used for, I saw it when I was passing and thought I would take a look," a shrug of her shoulders. "I thought," another angry look at Vezin before turning her attention back to the leader, "when I saw your ship I would wait 'n' see if you folks knew anything."

 

[Sand Hawk]

“Watch your tone! You are the presence of a god! We cannot allo-,” a raised hand from the Sand Hawk silenced Zahir mid-sentence.

The supposed god of all things earthen took a step forward and point his solid white eyes at the strange woman’s peach tinted ones. His beak parted, “this may be a site of importance to our religion. You are free to accompany us in exploring if you wish. Perhaps you’ll even come to be a believer.”

At the sound of that revelation both of his Tayir followers held their beaks agape. Feathers fluttered as the shook in astonishment. It was surprising to them that such a divine being would be so generous to a non-Tayir. It was probable that this was a parable for them to learn from.

“These two here are Zahir and Vezin,” he proclaimed with his arms gesturing outwards. Then with a smile he added, “I am the Sand Hawk, Invocation of the Firmament, part of the holy body of Qin, and very pleased to meet you. What is your name, young one?”

 

[Andromeda]

Andromeda was sorely tempted to find out if her powers of persuasion worked on the annoying... annoying... what were they? And just like that, curiosity saved their hides from her meticulous testing.

She was interested to hear about what they believed this place to be and she half turned to look up at its crumbling walls as if willing herself to imagine what it was like in its prime as such a site. She could see how the peaceful surrounding area could lend itself to a religion, though she doubted it would be one that she would come to devote herself to like this... Sand Hawk suggested. No God had ever really appealed to her, human made or Kivren made. She decided to keep such a thought to herself as it seemed to have shut the annoying one - called Vezin apparently - up.

"Andromeda," the singer's lips twisted into a crooked smile and she then hooked one thumb over her shoulder. "Shall we then? I ain't eve' heard of the Holy Body of Qin before."

 

[Sand Hawk]

Vezin and Zahir both appeared eager to share the words of scripture with a non-believer. Humans were rare within Qin and many Tayir did not interact with the strange featherless race. After they exchanged a concerned look with one another it was Vezin who decided that she'd be the one to proselytize to the creature that had gone their entire life not knowing the truth of this world.

"The Holy Body of Qin consists of the Nine Invocations who created all that is righteous and good within this world," she began, "the miracles that the Sand Hawk will display for you as well as whatever sacred artifacts reside within the holy site before us will certainly convince you of their infallibility."

The Tayir were extraordinarily devoted. It helped that they could actually communicate and received guidance from their gods. It also helped that they weren't particularly talented mages. Thus, the immense magical talents of their living gods helped to cement the belief that these were, in fact, actual gods.

And since the Tayir weren't permitted to leave Qin without supervision their exposure to the magic of other races was extremely limited.

"It is nice to meet you Andromeda. Yes, let us proceed without delay," the Sand Hawk insisted before walking along the grass covered pathways towards the ancient structure. If they found nothing of interest here he wondered how he could twist the story. Perhaps he could argue that the structure itself was of great religious significance and that the memories of such a place would ensure good fortune to his two followers.

 

[Andromeda]

"Riiiiiiiight...." Andromeda didn't look nor sound convinced on their description of the creation of this all good and great stuff. She assumed that the miracles they spoke of would translate into the magic she had seen other mages perform, like she could perform. But she was curious and open-minded enough to be proven wrong. Even if she didn't believe it though she felt a little bad that she was standing in the presence of someone they considered to be a great being, still wet, and looking like she had, well, literally rolled out of the seabed floor. She attempted to smooth the creases out of her shirt as they followed the Sand Hawk inside.

Spoiler: First room

Even though it was crumbling down the inside of the building was beautiful, probably even more so because it was run down. In the cracks flowers had begun to push through and small birds had made their homes in the holes in the roof. Despite all this, the eyes were drawn instantly to the stained glass they had been unable to see from the outside, hidden as it was by the overgrowing vines. Even without the full light coming through it was a beautiful piece of art that depicted an odd story Andromeda couldn't quite make out. Empty torch holders lay covered in cobwebs along the walls, and a carpet thick with dust lay from their feet to the end of the room where it opened out onto the view of the cove. In the other direction there were stairs leading up a half level and one that curved and disappeared into the rafters to the other floors.

Carefully she picked up a book that was left open on a nearby table and dusted it off curiously.

 

[Sand Hawk]

Most fortuitous. This shrine was elaborate and decorated with a glorious arrangement of stained glass. It tried to paint some sort of historical story. Seemed unrelated to the Tayir or the creation myths their living gods fed them. Maybe he could come up with something convincing. Something involving disbelief or doubt, that always played well. Then the Sand Hawk realized that he wouldn’t need to come up with an explanation, his followers would certainly fill in the blanks for him. Millennia of weaving tales sometimes caused the mind to dull.

“My Lord, this sanctum is wondrous, what divine works did you perform here?” questioned Zahir.

The Sand Hawk paced behind Andromeda, examining every crack in the stonework, every lovely flower growing from the craggy stone. “In due time my child,” the invocation of the sand said.

It was as the humanfolk, such unusual beings, picked up the dusty tomb that the eternal being revered as a god felt a wave of panic. Not at being revealed as a fake, no, it was how his followers would react that scared him.

Vezin fluffed her green feathers into a large plume as her eyes widened, “it is not permitted that the uncleansed should touch holy scriptures!” She charged towards Andromeda as she cried out, aiming to unhand the delicate tome.

 

[Andromeda]

Andromeda was keeping a close tab on this Sand Hawk, something about him didn't fit. It didn't fit because she got the same vibes off of him that she got off of pirates; scammers. Now, she didn't know a whole lot about religion but she was definitely sure that if this had been a place of sanctum for their kind and miracles had been performed here, this leader of theirs would look a lot less lost and a lot more wise and old. Or something. Anything. She was only half paying attention to the book because of that but it was proving to be interesting as it recorded the stars and moon. Perhaps this used to be a scholarly place dedicated to astronomy. She was reading a passage on the impact the skies had on the ocean when she caught the shrill voice of Vezin.

"What the fu-" The Siren only had a few seconds to slam the book shut and simply hold it above her own head, sticking her other hand out as if to merely stop the creature from coming near her by pushing her back by the head. "It isn't a holy scripture, it's a book on astrology, calm your ... feathers. If anything this is more relevant to my people than yours." A scowl.

 

[Sand Hawk]

Vezin jumped up and down, attempting and failing to reach the book that was out of her grasp. Her winged slits, which non-Tayir would associate with fingers, simply brushing Andromeda’s wrists.

“Vezin. Cease.”

Sand Hawk’s words were stern but did not seem as if the viridian woman was being scolded. “The invocations extend their generosity to all. I’m sure the Invocation of Illumination inspired the writers of this astrological re-telling.”

The female Tayir backed away slowly from the humanfolk, eyes still looking at her with distrust. “Forgive me Sand Hawk. I did not wish to allow defilement in this sacred place,” Vezin replied.

“The humanfolk cannot defile this place,” his words were sincere, “what wisdom does the star chart pass along?” Perhaps this text recorded the cycles of the moon. Or charted the various constellations. Either way, if it were accurate it would prove useful for “prophecy” once the trio returned to Qin.

 

[Andromeda]

Andromeda kept glaring at the other female as she backed away and slowly lowered the book again to her chest rather protectively. It took a few moments before she finally tore her eyes away from Vezin to the Sand Hawk, moving the book to look at it again. As she flicked the pages open she turned it to the passage she had been interested in before being assaulted and swung it round so they could all look at it.

"It's showing how the moon controls the waters, see?" She pointed to the different sizes of the moon and how each one seemed to correlate to different types of waves. "It helps people who sail to decide when to do their trips and pick calmer times of the month to travel more treacherous waters." It would also help Andromeda when she was swimming through them, but they didn't need to know that as of yet. She briefly wondered if the Siren gifts would even work on them, she had never tried her gifts against feathers before.

 

[Sand Hawk]

“Of course,” spoke Zahir, “the invocations of illumination and the deep work in tandem to set the tides and current.”

Vezin felt the need to add, “we Tayir are excellent sailors, we simply need to consult the Nine Invocations to know when it is best to sail.”

The Sand Hawk nodded. Not really agreeing but it could’ve been construed that way. Gulf’s Gull was a talented hydromancer who was able to tame rough waters in a storm. The Sun Eagle and Night Owl could fake illumination from the moon if necessary I’m the sea adjacent to Qin. Though it wasn’t always perfect and certainly didn’t extend this far.

There was a part of the Sand Hawk that hoped one day the Tayir could extend outside of the small fishing settlement. Roam all of Arethil, multiply, become a prominent species. But he knew the other members of his pantheon disagreed. All save the Invocation of Futulity, though where she had run off to was anyone’s guess.

Still, the Sand Hawk could tell by how this humanfolk held the text that it had value to her. She wasn’t going to just relinquish it to them.

“Perhaps we could make a copy of the text. It would be interesting to have.”

 

[Andromeda]

Andromeda slowly began to relax when she was certain she wasn't about to be attacked again and then shrugged a little to the suggestion the Sand Hawk made. She wouldn't be able to take a book with her anyhow through the waves.

"You can take it as I have no way to take it back with me, I swam. I just don't like people snatching things out of my hands, it's very rude. I would have thought you would have wanted to behave better as an embassy of your people," Ann knew she was being harsh but she couldn't abide zealot's. She held the book out towards the creature before pushing herself off the desk she was leaning against to have a further hunt around the area. "It looks like this was some sort of Scholar Institute," she was musing out loud as she picked up other instrument used for star gazing and set it down, then sauntered over to the large telescope pointing out of the window. She leaned down to take a look through then stood up again.

 

[Sand Hawk]

Swam? That was curious. The Sand Hawk wasn't an expert on human anatomy but he was pretty certain the talons on the end of their legs were stubby and unfit for swimming. Did they perhaps have a propulsion system he was unaware of? Interesting.

"Thank you very much for the kind gift. Zahir, please carry the tome," the Sand Hawk issued. It was clear that this humanfolk did not care for Vezin. Best to keep those two apart if possible. "Let me apologize for Vezin, she means well but her exposure with humanfolk is limited. She is not as familiar with what your kind deem to be polite."

Zahir was quick to retrieve the book from Andromeda who still had a bit of the sea's salt water dripping from her clothes. As the woman moved ahead of the trio the Invocation of the Firmament gestured at Vezin who began to head up the stairs to investigate further.

When the humanfolk turned after looking through the telescope the Sand Hawk questioned, "see anything interesting?"

 

[Andromeda]

"In daylight no but it has been left in the position of a few interesting constellations. I wonder what they were looking for," Andromeda cast her eyes over the other star maps on the table. They were definitely looking for something. Markings were dotted across the skies in dead zones where they were no star clusters. Odd. Perhaps they were looking for something to name after themselves. A slight shrug at her own thoughts and then she glanced up at the next half a level. She had half noted the females departure but she didn't exactly mind them going off.

"Do you mind me askin' why you're really here? Seems a bit odd I ain't ever heard of your kind if you're such good seafarers," Andromeda folded her arms over her chest as she looked between the two males left.

 

[Sand Hawk]

Interesting constellations? He wondered what sort of constellations the humanfolk considered interesting. All of the Tayir constellations were variations of birds or eggs. Being such a simple shape, there were many egg constellations.

Zahir spoke up, "we're on a pilgrimage for a wondrous artifact."

The Sand Hawk nodded and gestured for Zahir to join Vezin. His followers meant well but it was hard for them to seem like anything but devout worshippers of a religious cult. Which was, essentially, what they were.

Once Zahir was further away the Sand Hawk stepped closer to Andromeda. He eyed her up, this was an interesting humanfolk. She swam here? She was just exploring? Curiosity was something that the Sand Hawk valued but it was so very rare among their followers. It was something he wanted to correct, though his peers believed curious thoughts led to doubt.

"How did you swim here? Humanfolk legs cannot swim very far."

With a tilt of his head he decided to give a partial answer to her question as well, "Zahir speaks truth. This is a pilgrimage of sorts. You share your secrets and perhaps you will learn some of mine."

 

[Andromeda]

Andromeda raised an eyebrow about the mention of an artefact - what kind of object would these people think was wondrous? She was about to follow up on the question when the Sand Hawk dismissed him and he disappeared upstairs with the female. The siren tracked the movements quietly before turning her attention to the leader, clearly he wanted to ask her questions he didn't want his followers to hear the answers to. Interesting.

"Who said I was human?" Andromeda said it in a lazy say as she leaned her weight back against the desk and folded her arms over her chest. It meant they were eye level. "You made the assumption, I merely gave my name." She fingered the telescope which was next to the desk she was sat on, watching her the way the light caught the silver once her digits removed the dust. "I wonder what type of secrets of yours would be worth me knowing?"

 

[Sand Hawk]

Sand Hawk beheld the humanfolk raise her eyebrow. Then he noticed as she watched his follower depart up the staircase. Humanfolk faces were funny looking, they made odd gestures that the Sand Hawk wasn't used to reading. He assumed the notion of an artifact intrigued her. During the travels he had taken part in he had learned that humanfolk, and dwarvenfolk in particular, were quite greedy.

Then the Andromeda mentioned she was not humanfolk at all. Odd. She looked like humanfolk. She sounded like humanfolk. Was she lying? Pulling a trick? Then she questioned if he even had secrets to share! What a disappointing statement.

"I am very old not-humanfolk. I know many things. Maybe you do not wish to know those things. It is no matter to me," he replied. His shoulder raised, head tilted, and he stared his bright white eyes directly into hers, "if you are not-humanfolk then what sort of thing are you?"

 

[Andromeda]

How old was very old? Why the sudden exploration of other lands? Why had she never even heard of his kind before? So many questions, but she had a good poker face and she didn't want him to know she was itching for the answers. She examined her nails instead as if they intrigued her, mulling over whether or not to tell him. Did he even know what a Kivren was?

"I'm mixed," Andromeda said after a long while. Her voice was hesitant though as if it didn't want to give up the secret even if she was making the decision to tell him. "I'm part human, part Kivren - or Siren some call us. So, I can swim quite well. Why haven't I heard of your people before? If they are seafarers I should have heard tale of them by now."

 

[Sand Hawk]

Ah! So she was a mutt. That would explain it then. He had never met a kivren before though various scrolls and books chronicled some stories of the merfolk.

“Our people are isolationist, it’s rare for them to leave our village,” he explained. Uncertain as to how much to give up. “Few travel up towards our settlement, afraid of the orcs to the south I believe. We live on the coasts so fishing and sailing has become essential.”

The Sand Hawk twisted his gaze to ensure his followers were out of earshot, then faced back towards the halfmer-halfhuman, “it is my belief, and my brothers disagree, that there is value in my followers being exposed to the outside world. Understanding that there is life beyond our home. This is blasphemous among our kind, but, it is what I believe.”

He knew the halfling wouldn’t care. But he also figured that was a gentler way to explain than to notify her that she’d never heard of the Tayir because it was a grave sin to leave Qin.

 

[Andromeda]

Andromeda's shoulders relaxed a little when he didn't have any follow up questions to what she was. Usually this was the part people ran away screaming or tried to kill her straight away. Instead she was able to listen to the new information about his kind, She made a mental note to try and find this civilisation on the map, perhaps she would stumble on it when she explored the parts of it with no markings on.

"Why do you think there's such value in the outside world? It's pretty messed up," a grimace. She was thinking of the wars and the horror that people inflicted on one another. "People ain't nice out here, you might be best off in your bubble."

 

[Sand Hawk]

The halfmer’s queries seemed valid. She wasn’t aware that the Tayir were forbidden from leaving. That the Invocation of Futility had abandoned Qin. Turns out being the god of death and thus blamed for your loved ones departing causes severe depression. And most of all the mixedone didn’t get to see how much isolation stifled creativity.

Sand Hawk would lead with that. “Yes, well, there are many hardships everywhere. Some of my followers will likely die if they ever departed permanently.” His face furrowed as he contemplated. It was a challenge to explain to outsiders. “Standing still is a barrier to progress. The Tayir revere me as a god but what will happen if I die? They won’t be prepared, they won’t know how Arethil spins.”

He looked quite serious now as he said, “that’s why that book has value. That’s why these pilgrimage’s have value. To ween them off their dependance.”

The rest of the invocations would disagree, of course. But he reckoned that the living gods suffered from the same stationary life style. They had forgotten how to procreate, they were a species slowly dying that relied on the Tayir for servitude.

 

[Andromeda]

Andromeda considered what he was saying and nodded very slightly. It made sense that they wanted to give that knowledge over to their people in case something happened, or if a war came it would at least prepare them a little for what might come. But it did seem a bit fruitless if all of his people were as crazy as the two he journeyed with. Would they even want to know something that went against their fundamental beliefs? Some people preferred to live with blinkers on.

"It is an admirable mission you're tryna undertake," she said after what might have seemed like a while. "Not sure if you will find much here that would educate on the ways of dealin' with politics and stuff though. You could do with inviting outsiders in, or doin' some sorta field trip with groups at a time maybe."