Dark clouds churned on the horizon, it wasn’t a question of ‘if’ it would hit the Coast, but rather ‘when’. Alnur stared at the encroaching storm from atop his horse, he knew how difficult it was to traverse the highlands on a clear day, the thought of trekking through the narrow passages in a downpour was concerning to say the least.
Something glinted in the sky above; Alnur didn’t need to look to know what it was, but he still found his eyes drawn to the speck of gold that hung unnaturally in the heavens. The home of the gods, Caelum Prime, danced across the vastness above. As the only remaining space worthy vessel that humanity could claim to have, it was the natural choice for the gods to select it as their holy temple.
The sound of approaching footsteps drew Alnur’s attention back to the matter at hand. He was currently in one of ten hunting parties that were making their way towards the coral highlands that bordered the Coast. They were nearing the point where they would have to dismount their horses and continue on foot.
“Ah! What a fine day to go fight carnivorous crustaceans.” The sudden voice came from the last person Alnur would have expected to join in on the day's hunt. Vauhn the Wrymblood grinned from ear to ear as he rode his horse beside Alnur.
“Yes, all going well we should have quite the harvest with all the extra hands.” Alnur said. He wasn’t sure what to make of the man, though Tayla had informed him of the odd flirting he had tried with Fel.
The strange man held his hand towards himself in an overly dramatic fashion. “That I am blessed with the chance to join you on such a hunt is truly a gift I shall not soon forget.” The man leaned in closer as a devilish grin crossed his face. “Great move by the way, convincing all us diplomats to help you with your festival. The way you recited the All Mother’s edict about every able bodied resident of the Coast lending a hand, turning their faith into a tool for your means; I mean it, that was some top shelf stuff.”
Gods, could the man talk in a less aggravating way.
“It wasn’t some master plan. We really did need the help, especially with how much time we lost yesterday and today. Though I am curious why you chose to come along for the hunt? I did warn everyone that it was dangerous.”
“Hm, well it was either this or I spend the whole day picking potatoes. This seemed more interesting.” Vauhn said with a shrug. “How bad could hunting some crabs really be?”
“I feel the need to remind you that these crabs are the size of wagons.”
Vauhn paused as he pursed his lips. “Fair. I’ll still take wagon-sized crabs over dirt under my fingernails.”
Alnur laughed despite himself. Few of the representatives had opted to join in on the hunt, instead wishing to work the fields. It would be easier to watch and keep track of the outsiders in the fields, but the same edict Alnur had used to rope the diplomats into lending a hand made sure that any and all were welcome to the glory of the hunt.
After warning the guests about the danger he had assumed that none would join; he had been quite wrong.
Aside from Vauhn, there were another ten that had taken the offer, including a certain Stormpriest that Alnur had noticed sharing looks with his sister. A fact he was trying very hard to ignore at the moment.
The Seru merchant had all but demanded to join so she could discover the secret behind the Coast’s main export. A type of crab meat that wasn’t found anywhere else. Alnur wished he could see her face when she saw for herself where the delicacy came from.
A few others claimed to have had experience hunting and thought it would be ‘fun’.
Alnur let his curiosity get the better of him as he turned to Vauhn. “I’ve heard that your kind is gifted in the arcane arts?”
Vauhn waved a hand in dismissal. “Some are, though that number seems to be dwindling with each generation. Something to do with the gifts being diluted over time. Pretty soon the Sins of the Flotilla will be the only ones with the power left.”
As much as Alnur disliked the man’s attitude, he couldn’t help but want to know more about his people and their culture. The Cabal were on the other side of the Empire, he would never have the chance to visit himself, so he wished to hear all about the far off lands. “Are you blessed with the gift then?”
A pompous chuckle was the man’s response. “Aye, I was lucky enough to be born with one of the gifts. There are three main blood lines for us Wrymbloods, each with a special connection to the Source Arcani. You have those that can amplify the currents of arcane magics in their vicinity. Those that can nullify them of course. Last but not least you have those like myself, the rarest of all. Do you have much knowledge of arcane spells?”
Alnur thought back to Abigail's lessons, as the court Magos she was the foremost expert on the arcane in the kingdom, he struggled trying to remember the basics, perhaps he should have paid more attention in hindsight. “Well, there are those that have the innate power to draw upon their own magical energy to cast. Uh, there are those that study complex formulas, they draw out magic from ley lines right? Of course I know of divine miracles, through chants you ask one of the Celestial gods to grant you a fragment of their power, if they hear you, you are granted the power to cause a miracle. I guess I know very little actually.”
To his surprise Vauhn simply nodded. “You have the right of it, there are tons of variations to those basics, and a fourth school of magic that we can forget about for the time being. But yes, to make a long complicated story short. When you cast any spell, regardless of its source. There is a moment you touch the primordial Source Arcani, and in that instant, you finalize the shape of the spell, its characteristics; size, target, distance traveled and end result for example. I can see I’m losing you, we’re almost there. When you cast a spell, you can see what it will look like, we Spellwrights can at that moment, change the fundamental shape of the spell.” The Wyrmblood spoke passionately, his hands moving with every sentence.
“Not to sound like a fool, but you lost me.” Alnur felt his face flush with embarrassment.
Vauhn slapped his knee. “Hah! I am terrible at explaining magic, I do better over a drink I swear. Perhaps I can just show you.”
Before Alnur could fully process what he had just said Vauhn held his palm up. A series of blue and red sparks appeared in the air above his open palm. A moment later a ball of water appeared, drawn from the air itself until it was the size of an apple. Alnur stared slack jawed, say what he could about the man, he had used magic without an incantation like it was the most natural thing, a truly shocking feat compared to the magic Alnur had seen growing up.
Pointing to the ball, Vauhn said. “This is a simple cantrip, it collects the moisture in the air. A staple for any young mage.” He flicked his wrist and the ball lobbed towards a rock, splashing on impact.
“Amazing!” Alnur spoke with childlike wonder.
“Now I’ll cast it once more using my gift.” Once more the blue and red sparks appeared, once more liquid formed above Vauhn’s palm into a perfect sphere.
Peering closely, Alnur could not see any noticeable difference, perhaps the color was a shade off, but he could be imagining it.
Vauhn smirked, he once again flicked his wrist throwing the ball of liquid at the rock. Only this time, when it splashed, the rock bubbled and frothed, the liquid eroding the rocks surface as it melted everything it touched. A scant moment later the reaction was over and a series of holes were burned into the rock face.
“What in the Nightfather was that!” Alnur said.
The smirk on Vauhn’s face seemed to lose some of its sleazy undertone, changing to one of honest enjoyment. “I cast the exact same spell, but I used my gift to change the end result from a ball of water, to a ball of acid. Normally such a spell would require a much longer casting, but because I could simply tweak a lower grade spell to my needs it saves time and arcane energy. You can see how useful such a gift can be when used well.” He beamed with pride.
“I can see why your kind has some of the most feared mages. Casting the same spell but having the result change each time would be a nightmare on the battlefield.” The more Alnur thought about it the more glad he was that Vauhn wasn’t his enemy. “Thank you for the enlightening lesson.”
“Nonsense, I love to jump at any chance to show off. Now, my turn for a question. Why do you Twins serve the Court?” The man was shockingly calm for asking something that rode the line of heresy.
Alnur turned to the man slowly. “I was just thinking a bit better of you, and you call my faith into question like it’s nothing.”
“I’m not trying to be rude your highness, I just don’t like to dance around subjects. Twin’s are seen as the lowest of the Empire's many subjects, I was just curious why you folks have spent centuries under the boot of the celestials? I heard something about an act of treason or some grand heresy, nobody is ever really clear on the why.”
Scowling, Alnur shot back. “You can say you mean no offense, but that doesn’t excuse being an ass. Yes, we are seen as sinners in the eyes of the court. As for the why, the exact details have been lost or expunged from the history books, what we do know is that our ancestors played a part in the deaths of the All Mothers beloved children.” Just saying that caused a knot of guilt and regret to form in Alnur’s gut.
“I’m confused.” Vauhn pursed his lips while squinting his eyes. “Wasn’t the All Mother responsible for making the Tideborn, Storm priests, and the Twins? Were there more kids she popped out in secret?”
“How are you a diplomat? Yes, to answer your question, we three races are her children in the fact that she took the existing blueprints of the Lifeweaver and used her divine power to breathe life into us. But she had actual children as well, two of them. These demigods were the first of their kind, made as leaders of the Tideborn and Storm priests. Until, we played our part in their deaths.” Something inside him raged at having to recall the great downfall of his people. The shame was suffocating.
Vauhn nodded. “Okay, but as far as I understand it, isn’t death to the celestials a minor setback. Don’t they just reincarnate, the whole eternal souls thing?”
For someone who claimed ignorance in the field, Alnur couldn’t help but note that the silver tongued bastard knew just enough to be annoying. “Normally yes, but not this time. The gods were horrified, somehow they had been given a true death, the likes of which were not seen since the war of heavens. And so, for whatever part we played in the tragedy, my people were punished. Banished to the edge of the Empire, tasked to toil away generation after generation; never again could we partake of the All Mother’s bounty of the sea, never again can we know the touch of ocean water upon our skin, and three quarters of the food we grow is given to the Empire as our tithe.”
This caused Vauhn to bark a laugh. “A cruel joke indeed.” He pointed towards the rough bleached coral that covered the land. “They gave you soil that will kill your crops, and forbid you from fish? Sounds like a rigged game to me.”
“It is our duty.”
“You never answered my original question. Why serve when this is your treatment?”
Alnur sighed. It wasn’t an unreasonable line of thinking from an outsider's perspective. “Because, we hold nothing but love for the All Mother. Despite her anger and fury, she still loves us, even after we took her beloved children. We may not be as fervent as our cousins, but our faith is no less important to us. We just show it through our actions.”
Vauhn looked deep in thought for a moment. “Huh, fair enough.” He paused for a moment, leaving Alnur to think perhaps the conversation had run its course, but just as soon as he had gotten his hopes up, the man blurted out of nowhere, “For being at the edge of society, you folks sure do have a lot of old world technology.” He said, staring just above Alnur’s eyes with a stonelike expression.
Taken aback at the abrupt change in subject and wanting to avoid the uncomfortable topic, Alnur responded quickly. “I’m not sure what you mean, after the exodus and the age of regression we were lucky some of the artifacts stored in the Keel survived intact.” He didn’t like the look in Vauhn’s eye, there was a coldness that made Alnur avert eye contact.
“That makes sense, explains why your sister Tayla is lugging around a weapon that belongs in a museum. Though last I checked we were fighting crabs, not tanks.” Vauhn said with a smirk, the cold look giving way to his usual smarm.
“What’s a tank?” Alnur said, perplexed.
Vauhn waved a dismissive hand. “Oh, just some old world term. Basically a big armored wagon covered in guns. Pay me no mind.”
Alnur had had little chance to study the old world in earnest, he had always wanted to learn more but there was precious little information available between the approved history texts and the Keel’s data servers. The Cabal had the benefit of descending from those that had actually walked on the old world's surface. “It’s a shame, I’ve always wanted the chance to learn more about the birthplace of our people, maybe find out why we left. If the situation wasn’t so hectic I would have loved the chance to pick your brain on the subject during your stay.”
“Well, we still have a bit of time till we reach the highlands, yes? I could answer a few of your burning questions in the meantime.” Vauhn’s tone shifted, swelling with pride at the prospect of getting to run his mouth more. “What would you like to know?”
Stammering for a moment, Alnur tried to think of what to ask. He had so many questions, where to start? “What was the homeworld like?”
“A good first question indeed, with a very long winded and complicated answer that we don’t have time for. Let’s go with the cliffnotes version shall we? We Cabal had the benefit that when our ancestors made planetfall, they had been in stasis throughout the long flight from the old world. Memories intact, they had the opportunity to record much of the old world's inner workings from first hand accounts. Well, as much as they could recall, it's amazing how many details people forget when asked to recount the most basic facts of their day to day life. Still, none of that helped us avoid the age of calamity and regression.” Vauhn for the first time had a look of genuine sorrow on his face, his tone dropping slightly, “The homeworld was truly a sight to behold. Tens of billions of citizens living in enormous cities, some of which spanned entire continents, the whole of the world was so interconnected that it was more like a living breathing organism, trillions of machines working in unison to ensure that the ancients had any and every need met.”
The sheer wonder of it all left Alnur filled with a deep sense of regret in his gut, compared to the meager lives they lived now it sounded like a paradise where no one would ever have to go hungry again. “How-how did such a utopia come to be destroyed?”
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“That part is the most unclear.” Vauhn said. “The survivors aboard our ship were just working class folk. They had no idea the world was in such dire straits until one day they were told they had been randomly selected to leave. Given no chance to pack or prepare, out of the blue they were told that if they didn’t leave right now, they would all die. Nobody knows for certain why, some claim they overmined the planet and it was collapsing in on itself, others claimed the moons were crashing into the world. The cult of Vex would tell you that it was our addiction to the arcane that led us to ruin and we were met with divine retribution.” He shrugged. “Regardless of the reason, they truly felt our only hope for survival was to take to the stars and chase the impossible dream of finding a new suitable world to call home. And so began the long journey.”
Alnur nodded at that. “It’s a shame we lost so much during the exodus.”
With a sigh, Vauhn looked up. “Our ancestors were geniuses, they used their vast knowledge to try and prepare for every possibility that could befall us on our lengthy trip. They hand picked the best and brightest to spearhead the massive undertaking, those who had the knowledge and skills to lay the groundwork to rebuild on whatever planet we found that could support us. But they couldn’t prepare us for everything.” The loss in his voice was overwhelming.
He took a deep breath before continuing, “When our ancestors awoke from the journey, they were met with misery and misfortune on a scale unimaginable. The Cabal and its many houses hailed from a single ship, The Shepherd of Eternal Light. Before fleeing they had been told that they would awake on a new world, that the vanguard ships would ensure the basic infrastructure was in place to support them. Instead, we awoke to find nothing, the vanguard ships had been lost or destroyed in transit, and with them were lost the great machines designed to support us in rebuilding. We were met with an empty world with no knowledge of how to feed ourselves from the land, how to craft shelter to keep us safe from the cold, we were lost and afraid.”
All of the emotion drained from Vauhn’s face. “And then, your gods appeared to save us, they had already colonized a portion of this world by the time our ship arrived. They proceeded to demand we serve, to build cities in their names, to feed and provide for their blessed children while our own starved.” There was a growing bitterness in his voice. “When we refused, they showed us their divine judgment, we were made to serve by force, our meager supplies were taken as tithes. Anyone found to have information or skills they needed were taken away, dragged from their families to hells knows where. Our numbers thinned dramatically in those early years, many starved, many more simply disappeared, never to be seen again. This continued for quite some time. Until the day of awakening, when everything changed.” The way he said that final part made it clear he would say no more on the subject.
It was quite the story to take in all at once, Alnur’s mind was reeling from the implications. The long journey, the age of regression, the day of awakening and the following war were all shrouded in layers of mystery and misinformation. Trying to determine the difference between fiction and fact was all but impossible. There were so many questions he wanted to ask, the version of events he was taught through the Court's approved history books was vastly different. Could Vauhn’s version be trusted? Generations of stories and legends being passed down had a tendency to twist and inflate.
No, chances are the truth lay somewhere in the middle, the exact nature and events were lost to all but the gods themselves, and he doubted they would ever mention a version that could call their divinity into question.
Vauhn blinked a few times before his trademark smirk reappeared. “Whoops, lost myself for a moment there. What were we talking about?” He chuckled as if nothing was amiss.
“Uh, well. I think you’ve entertained my thirst for knowledge enough for one day, you have my thanks.” Alnur spoke with a bit of uncertainty, Vauhn was odd, but it was like he had been possessed for a moment there. Best to not continue prodding the man on such sensitive subjects for the time being. Perhaps he could ride in silence for the rest of the way.
“That makes it my turn for a question then.” Vauhn said, staring at Alnur out of the corner of his eye.
Raising a hand in surprise, Alnur fired back. “Now wait a moment, since when was that the nature of this conversation?” He didn’t like where this was going.
Vauhn turned to face Alnur, mock concern plastered on his face. “But your highness, I thought this was a golden opportunity to share our knowledge and grow a lasting bond between our peoples?”
Alnur knew the man was trying to get a rise out of him, better to simply play along and be done with it. “Bah! How can you be so aggravating? Forget the gift of the arcane, the gods have surely seen fit to bless you with the power to annoy and harass! Ask your question!” He shook his head, this bastard was oddly effective at getting his way. Something about the way he spoke and acted made it hard to refuse him.
“Excellent! You’re starting to get me!” He let out a loud laugh that drew a few eyes from those riding ahead. “What should I ask? Hmm, I know.” His voice dropped to a whisper so no one else would overhear.
Alnur’s eyes went wide as he listened to the question, his mind simply refusing to fully comprehend the words he had heard.
He didn’t respond, he simply rode on like he hadn’t heard anything.
Seconds dragged on awkwardly, Vauhn eventually spoke once more. “I take it I’ve touched a subject you would rather not discuss. Say no more.” His voice dripped with superiority, a nagging tone that caused Alnur to grind his teeth.
The fury was indeed rising inside Alnur, threatening to overcome his senses. His knuckles turned white from gripping his horse's reins. He was fighting with every ounce of his willpower to not lose control. He couldn’t even open the link lest he distract himself, and in doing so be consumed. He tried to think of Lillian’s face, something to ground him. All that came was a smeared collection of hues. Blood trickled from where he bit his lip, tears welling from his unblinking eyes. The dam was about to burst when suddenly a hand was placed on the back of his head. With it came the sensation of ice water running down his spine, he gasped at the shock, the coolness spreading throughout his body quenching the fire that had been threatening to consume him, in an instant the Fury was snuffed out, his body felt cold, the only heat remaining around his head.
The hand pulled away.
Alnur turned to see Vauhn riding beside him closely, a strange look on his face. His eyes lacked the luster they had up until now, staring forward unblinking. When we spoke his voice was raspy and quiet, like he was struggling to speak. “How much longer can you hold them back? Sooner or later you will find yourself a prisoner to another's will; and there are few fates worse than that young man.” Without another word he let his horse slow slightly, falling behind until he was back to his original placement in the hunting party.
Taking a deep breath, Alnur felt calm, for the first time since the Fury had awoken he felt at peace. Why had Vauhn goaded him like that, only to quell the inferno. How had Vauhn known about his burden? Alnur decided this wasn’t the time to ask such questions, for now he simply wanted to enjoy the ride while his thoughts were truly his own, he knew the Fury would return, but for the first time in so long, he was just Alnur.
God’s he had missed it.
The peace didn’t last for long, by the time they made it to the coral highlands Alnur could once again feel the usual call of the fury, not enough to overtake him, just a dull burning at the back of his mind.
The coral highlands were at the outer limits of the nation. The vast network of thousands of interconnected valleys and trenches made up the highlands, each surface teeming with multi coloured coral and fauna. The walls of the valleys reached up a hundred feet into the air before curling inwards slightly. The stone-like substance that made up the valley walls had a bluish hue, every inch of its surface was broken up by hexagonal holes of varying sizes, the whole sight seemed eerily unnatural.
From above the highlands would look like a nearly perfect ring of blue stone encircling the coast, thousands of tiny cracks spread over its surface. Beyond the wall of stone was the great wraith lake, the source of all freshwater for the Coast. It was thanks to the lake and its many smaller streams that the Twin’s could grow as much food as they did.
Few outsiders got a chance to take in the breathtaking sight as the main road was a winding convoluted path that wrapped around the lake’s edge before cutting through the thinnest part of the highlands.
The fauna swayed in a weightless dance as if pushed and pulled by unseen currents, the sight gave the impression of being at the bottom of the ocean. Out of the corner of one's eye were the many small fish that darted through the air, how they swam in the air, or why for the matter were questions that had no definitive answers. When the All Mother had raised the whole of the Coast from the seabed the land seemed to twist and contort from the upheaval of energy. Changing the creatures and plants that had called it home forever.
Alnur loved the highlands, it was breathtaking every time he saw it, he looked at the guests accompanying his hunting party and was pleased to see all of them had slack jawed expressions as they took in the majesty of it all. Even the stalwart Ono raised their helmets to get a proper look at the reefs and their inhabitants.
One of the scouts, Gregory, was walking towards Alnur. “My king, we have arrived at our designated hunting area. Would you like us to begin setting up the base camp?” The scouts were tasked with patrolling the borders, on extremely rare occasions they were tasked at preventing bandits or the like from sneaking into the Coast. Most of the time they simply explored the highlands and kept an eye on the Krak’un population, in the unlikely case that any of them were growing old enough to be a possible threat.
Alnur jumped down from his horse. “Yes, this looks like an ideal place to set up camp. Please see to it.” Gregory nodded sharply, turning to give orders to the others. Alnur glanced around till he came upon Zo.
Dressed in the hunting garb of a first born, she was an intimidating sight to behold. Despite being only a couple inches taller than Alnur, her broad muscular frame gave her the impression of a towering wall. Her armor was made up from Krak’un plating and hard treated leather to protect oneself while in close combat. She also happened to be their relay for this hunt.
As Alnur approached he could see she was talking aloud to herself, no doubt lost in conversation with her brother.
“Yes, yes. For the last time, yes! Dolm for the love of the night yes I packed enough water! Will you stop!” Zo said, so engrossed in her talk with her brother she hadn’t noticed Alnur standing beside her waiting to politely interrupt, he cleared his throat, causing Zo the jolt. “Now look, the king is going to think we’re fools!” She said while looking down. “I am truly sorry, my king. You know how my brother gets when he’s worked up. How can I be of service?”
Laughing, Alnur waved his hand. “That’s alright, no need to apologize. Dolm does have a habit of thinking of the worst case scenario doesn’t he? I was wondering if the other hunting parties have gotten into position yet.”
Zo’s eyes fluttered for a moment, her vision was connecting to her brothers, who had his hands in the cloisters suspension fluid back in the hall of whispers; as did the other nine relays with him. The process allowed the link to span across multiple sets of Twins. One by one she was seeing the other hunting groups through the eyes of the other relays as if she was standing with them. Her eyes stopped fluttering. “All is well my king, the last of the parties are coming to their base camp as we speak.” Zo said.
“Excellent, thank you for your hard work Zo, and don’t worry Dolm.” Alnur said, looking into Zo’s eyes knowing that Dolm was watching. “I promise your sister will return safe and sound. You have my word!” He turned away, making his way through the camp towards the guests.
He spoke to them as he walked up. “We have arrived at the site of our base camp, here we will hitch our horses and prepare to enter the valleys. Please feel free to rest for a few minutes, we will be leaving as soon as our Huntmaster arrives. Be sure to leave any non essential supplies here, don’t let this particular valley mislead you. Most of the chasms and trenches are barely wide enough for a person to squeeze through.” Thankfully of the nobles that had volunteered to come hunting, none made a fuss about having to trek on foot.
As if on cue there came a rhythmic scraping sound of hoofs on stone from deeper in the valley. The Ono seemed to stiffen as they sniffed the air, reaching for their swords out of habit. Alnur didn’t want a repeat of last night's dinner, reaching a hand up to calm them.
“That would be the Huntmaster.” He said.
Ophelia sniffed the air again, her face grimacing in response. “What in the hells are they? Another Hybrid? Just how many monsters do you have in your employ, your highness?” The other guests looked shocked at this, all except Vauhn.
“We have a firm stance on the matter, in keeping with Imperial law, any found guilty of such an unholy union that results in a hybrid birth are sent to the Court for penitence in the hopes the gods can see fit to forgive them. But, we are not barbarians.” Alnur’s voice grew firm and bitter. “While other nations would see fit to either put such children to death simply for the crime of being born, or to cast them out as exiles to die in the wilds; we treat them with every bit of compassion we can.”
His eyes turned downwards for a moment. “Even if it just means letting them die with dignity.” He could still see the hate and scorn on the faces of the nobles, hybrids were seen as afronts to the very gods themselves, the Cabal didn’t treat them much better. They either killed the child, or sold them off as living weapons if they reached adolescence.
The Ono gave a withering look as they slowly removed their hands from their sword hilts. Alnur turned to see the Huntmaster entering the camp. The outsiders gasped in shock. Understandably so.
The Huntmaster was a thin figure, wrapped head to toe in wraps and cloth that covered every inch of their body. They rode atop a volburn, a massive horse-like creature that glided across the ground on six legs, each of which was bone white coral from the knee down. The beast's body was scaled and bulbous, its blue skin pulled taut over its muscular frame. A thin whip-like tail swayed back and forth, but the most striking thing was its head. A narrow shape that ended in a point where its mouth should have been, two long ribbons of fibre grew from the sides of its head and floated ethereally in the windless breeze. Interlocking growths along its chest and neck hinted at the horrors it hid behind its allure.
Volburn were mysterious creatures, native to the highlands and shockingly intelligent to the point of superstition. They refused to be domesticated, yet would allow some lucky few the privilege of their company as though on a whim. Some even thought they might be a sort of fae creature that had made their home in the Coast.
Besides the striking volburn, the Huntmaster was accompanied by a pair of sea dogs and ravens. The sea dogs were a type of eel-hound that was native to the area. As the name implied they had the sleek body of a hound, with the tail and head of an eel.
The ravens sat on either shoulder of the Huntmaster, one white, the other black. Each one keeping a close eye on the pair of Ono.
Alnur heard a couple of the guests uttering prayers at the sight of the Huntmaster, he admitted that even he found the sight unnerving at times, that quickly disappeared as soon as one of the ravens piped up. “Little Alnie! Oh gods did you grow again? You’ve gotten so big, come here and let me have a good look at you!” The black raven spoke in a clear high pitched voice that oozed with maternal energy. Alnur quickly made his way to the Huntmaster, he had long since gotten over the embarrassing manner in which his aunt spoke.
As he approached the sea dogs yapped in excitement as they shook back and forth, drooling as they sat and smiled. Showing row upon row of razor sharp fangs. Alnur made eye contact with the volburn who gave the slightest of nods. He took a deep breath as he prepared himself for what was to come, the Huntmaster’s body bent in half, wrapping undulating arms that writhed with constant spasms of motion, with a heave they picked Alnur up off the ground and held him close. There wasn’t the warmth one would expect from such an embrace, not physically speaking anyways. Emotionally however, he felt nothing but the overwhelming love from his aunt.
He patted their ‘shoulder’ signifying the time for hugs was over. Once again being placed back on the ground. The pair of seadogs were rubbing their heads against his legs, he was all too happy to give them the affection he knew they sought. “It is good to see you’re all doing well. I’m sorry I haven’t had the chance to come and visit.”
The white raven spoke. Its voice was harsh and rugged. “A king does not apologize so easily, how many times must I remind you child?”
“I will try and be sure to take that to heart uncle.” He reached out his hand towards them, the clothed shape reached out a ‘hand’ and they shook in greeting. Alnur broke free from the seadogs, walking the Huntmaster towards the assembled nobles. “It is my pleasure to introduce you to our honored guests from the celestial court, and from the great sects of the cabal.”
Both ravens spoke in unison. “Greetings, we are truly proud to be given this opportunity to meet you all and to act as your guide on this day's hunt.”
Alnur could see the assembled guests were in complete shock at the sight of the Huntmaster. He felt it best to try and soothe their concerns and calm their nerves. “This is the Huntmaster! You will not find another soul in the whole of the Coast that knows the highlands as well as they do, we are lucky indeed to have them as our guide today.”
Vauhn was practically dancing from excitement. “The birds talk for you! Wait, are you the birds!? I have so many questions and I demand answers!”
The white raven spoke. “We will have time for such questions later, we need to leave as soon as you are ready. We are already running late and there are many beasts in need of slaying.” The raven puffed out its chest as it spoke.
The black raven chimed in warmly. “Oh and do bring some warm clothing just in case dearies, it can be quite cold in the trenches!”
The guests turned to continue their preparations, they were still obviously unsettled, but thankfully kept any more questions or complaints to themselves. Alnur saw the Ono pair pull out carefully wrapped clay bowls, the care they took with them indicated they were treasured. He watched as they produced several vials of different reagents and liquids, mixing them into the bowls. They were offering prayers to something that Alnur couldn’t quite make out. As they finished their chants they drank the contents of their respective bowls. It was interesting seeing their ritual, he wondered what purpose it served.
He heard the flapping of wings as his uncle perched on his shoulder. The white raven spoke quietly, its eyes staying fixed on the Ono as they cleaned and put away their bowls. “Before a proper hunt, Ono will mix their own special concoction of animal byproducts and blood. They offer a prayer to the animal's spirits and thank them for the strength they will borrow for the hunt.” Leave it to his uncle to read Alnur’s mind. Though the way he was staring it probably wasn’t hard to figure out what he had been wondering.
“Interesting, how do you know about their ritual uncle?” Alnur said.
His answer came in the form of a beak hitting him in the top of his head. “You won’t pry our past from me so easily boy.” The white raven returned to his usual perch without another word. Alnur had known the Huntmaster his whole life, they had been an old friend of his grandmother apparently. They had taught Alnur everything he knew about hunting and fighting from an early age. His father being a second born meant he was quite inept with a sword, instead favoring rifles or bows. In that whole time he had known the Huntmaster he had learned scant little about them, hells, he didn’t even know which races they were a mix of. Still, it didn’t matter much, they were his family even if they didn’t share any blood.
As the group finished their preparations, a scout ran up to the Huntmaster and gave a report. The ravens nodded as they raised their voices. “We have found the first of our prey, ready yourselves.” They said as one.
The black raven continued. “Let’s all be careful now!”
“If you have any final farewells you may wish to write them down.” The white raven said.
“We’ll be sure to see them delivered to your next of kin.” The black raven gave a caw, as they laughed.
In unison they stared at the pale faces of the nobles. “For today, we hunt monsters.”
