Chapter 3 - Feline, Reptile, Avian (pages 13 - 25)

 Chapter 3 Feline, Reptile, Avian

An hour or two had passed since Graven had met with his childhood friend and more people were starting to filter in and out of the city of Aelkeep. This included people who were traveling to the city from all across Morhurst. On the outskirts of the town, past the woodlands of the Koguran and into the western plains, a caravan of cloth traders were slowly but surely approaching the city, hoping to drop off their goods before nightfall. The caravan did not consist of much, only two total wagons being pulled by Mountain Norqs that were not heavily guarded, unlike other caravans such as weapon or koriya caravans that sported many seasoned guards. Not many people in the southern reaches cared for the lavish silks and pliable skins of Northern Morhurst but to the east, on the Isle of Jhanhurst, they were worth their weight in desired minerals and gems. The reason for such a commanding price was due to the Isle's having no other way of procuring these strange and exotic pieces of leather and cloth except by boat. Business for these traders had always been lucrative. However, as of late, more and more pirates had been seen stalking the warmer southern coastal waters and some even braved the frigid waters that came dangerously close to Beast Land territory. Of course, other reasons such as the recent boom in Hagren Eel, Saw-Bearded Sharks and Horned Whales made it even more dangerous to travel in any type of vessel to and from the Isles but this also made for great opportunities for both traders and captains alike. Though they would embark from either of the coastal cities of Rosedell or Beachcliff, the traders would first have to get their shipments of cloths to and from Aelkeep safely.

Harka was one of the guards that offered to help the traveling caravan. He was contracted to work for the cloth merchants earlier that week at the recommendation of a high profile figure. It had been a long and arduous trek from the western trade city of Sobach so far but the promise of a nice sum of coin in Harka's hands upon safe delivery of the goods was well worth the annoyance that he had to endure. He had spent the last three days and two nights traveling with this group of cloth traders as the front guard and it was starting to wear thin on his nerves since Harka had been put on point ever since the beginning of the trip. Though when Harka patted a small pouch of koriya that jingled slightly, he thought to himself "One hundred koriya up front and three hundred more when I bring in everything accounted for." Harka smiled and looked ahead towards the plains "Ya know, I could get used to doing stuff like this. Little odd jobs here and there. Soon I'd have enough to travel where ever I'd please. Maybe being on point isn't so bad after all. Haven't seen anything worthwhile the entire trip." Harka's thoughts soon drifted back to the town of Sobach and his mind brought up images of a very lovely lagosera that he had a brush with. Harka smiled as he remembered her tan colored lips along with the freckles on her face. "Hmm. She was quite the looker to be honest with myself. I don't think she would be cut out to be the significant other to a thei...treas...Ahem adventurer. Yeah that works, an adventurer such as myself. I probably won't ever get the chance to see her again anyway. It was probably best that I left when I did. I don't really want to be tied down right now anyway." The caravans continued on the beaten path through the plains, slowly nearing closer to the forest were Aelkeep resided. A hard wind whipped around the caravans a sliced through the thick winter coats of the travelers and drivers. After the gust, some of the drivers began to complain about the biting chill in the wind and how it was bad for the textiles. Harka didn't really understand why the cloth would be ruined due to the cold but he did understand how the cold snaps could affect the leathers and pelts since he had previous experience as a leather worker. The wind picked up one more time from the north and came cutting down right upon Harka. Harka dropped his pace a bit and continued walking alongside one of the norqs, using it's woolly exterior to shield him from the biting cold, only to be snapped at by one of the drivers in the front caravan. "Hey! Why are you hiding behind the Norqs instead of being out in front keeping us safe from wolves and brigands? You've got what looks to be a nice fur coat Rahksha, we don't" said one of the humans. Harka had been used to that kind of insult ever since he had left his tribe to the east, so it was nothing for him to shake it off and carry along with what he was doing. "So my friend, Mr. or Mrs. Norq, how does it feel to be at the head of this little campaign? It must feel good knowing that you're in your own element right now, what with your thick and shaggy coat while the man whipping you with that riding crop is on the receiving end of random bursts of noxious fumes that could wake the dead? It must be nice having a bigger brain than them huh?" Harka smiled as he patted and scratched the Norq's head while it closed its eyes and leaned into him with a small amount of force.

Once the wind had died down, Harka picked up his pace and stepped out in front of the norqs and resumed his point. Before he had left Sobach, Harka had heard some rumors from a few of the travelers concerning the area they were traveling through. They had deemed this small area as a "cellar for rats," meaning a breeding ground for thieves and vagabonds of ill ilk. Though Harka was more than capable of handling a few thieves on his own, the rest of his travelers were ill equipped for such a fight and would more than likely relinquish their coffers of silks than their own skins which to Harka was completely understanding of. It was as simple as self preservation in his eyes. Give the beast what it wants and live another day. Through the slight haze of kicked up snow, Harka could see something off in the distance. It was at least a five to ten minute sprint from them so there was no need to alarm the caravans just yet in his mind. Upon closer inspection though, Harka concluded that they didn't seem like the shapes of animals to him and he could have been wrong about his assumptions. "There is something up the road" Harka said to the driver. "Animal or person?" the driver asked back. Harka looked again and he could now make out at least two shapes that seemed like they were bipedal and standing upright. "Unless wolves are walking upright nowadays, which I really hope they aren't, then I would say there are two people down the road. I can't tell what race they are or if they are friend or foe." Roughly three minutes had passed by since Harka or the driver had said anything to one another but the driver began to grow cautious with the silence that Harka was exhuming. "They look friendly?" Harka kept a stern vigil on the two shapes that were now definitely fitting the description of people. "One of them looks like a lizard man cloaked in furs, the other looks like heavily clothed with their face wrapped up in a shawl. I don't think they are friendly." "How can you tell?" asked the driver. Harka looked back at the driver and smiled "Because the lizard man has a rather large axe in their hand and from what I can see, they have a very big smile on their face."

The lizard man and the cloaked figure stood right in the path of the caravan, while the Lizard man brandished his gnarled war axe over his back, the cloaked figure kept their silent vigil, observing the surroundings and taking everything in with eyes that darted back and forth. When the caravan was roughly within thirty feet from them, the lizard man let out a hiss and shouted a command. "Alright you bunch of ssslick sskinned apes! I think you know the drill here. You sstep kindly away from your caravans and we won't be forced to use certain persuasions on you.” The lizard man dragged his axe along the ground in an intimidating fashion. “Ain't I right Bhagi?" The cloaked figure kept their eyes forward and spoke in a shrill tone. "Don't count them out just yet Verek. It seems as though they have a guard with them." Verek looked straight towards Harka and noticed that one of his hands was loosely gripped onto the hilt of a blade with a smile. "Hmph!" Verek hissed. "I don't think that it will be problem. I could take out thiss little kitten by myself." Bhagi looked at his scaly cohort and their eyes shifted. "Perhaps we shouldn't underestimate this Rahksha, Verek. It looks very much like a male. More than likely a deserter from his tribe or clan. They are they most dangerous of their kind in my opinion. There is no telling what that feline has seen and done to merit being a guard for this caravan." Harka started to waltz toward the two would be thieves and hollered back at the caravan. "Don't worry, you're not going to die here today my friends. I just need to sort a few things out." Harka continued to strut towards the two until he was about fifteen feet in front of them and then stopped. "Ya know, I don't really like being called a kitten, boot leather. Honestly I think that the both of you need to turn around and go back to whatever hole you crawled out from and save me the trouble of getting my blades dirty today. Blood is bad for the blade, especially in the winter months."

This did not set well with the rather simple mindedness of Verek as his mouth began to salivate with anger. "What did you just call me you wretch!?" Verek clutched his axe in both hands now, waiting for one more quick jab from Harka. "I said that maybe your momma shoulda buried you in a cooler patch of peat moss so maybe you'd have a better disposition about life, or was it warmer peat moss? I forget." Verek's eyes opened wide and his grip tightened around the hilt of the axe "I'll kill you, you filthy feline bastard!”

Verek went from a standing position to a dead sprint straight towards Harka with his axe to his side. Harka was well aware of his intentions and unsheathed his trusty blades and braced for the first strike. Verek came in swinging his axe like a wild animal, trying to do as much damage as he could in as little time as possible. Harka was able to dodge the first swing and then began to deflect the remaining blows with graceful parries that earned him the ire of Verek. "Coward! Quit dancing around and come fight me!" Verek yelled. He gripped his axe tightly and swung it as hard as he could at Harka. Harka managed to deflect the blow but it did knock him back and few feet as he slid in the thin layer of snow. Harka new that he was no match for the sheer power that this lizard possessed but there was one thing that Harka did have to his advantage, Dexterity. Harka grinned, "Is that all you got lizard? You look like you're wore out. Maybe I should let you take a breather. I know how this cold weather must get to you, being cold blooded and all." Those words sent Verek into an even deeper rage than before and he now attacked Harka without thinking of his own safety, leaving large gaps open from each swing to exploit. Harka kept deflecting the attacks left and right, waiting for that one good opportunity to strike a fatal blow. Within a few more swings, that opportunity revealed itself like a glowing beacon and Harka took it, with one slash to Verek's torso, another to his stomach then whirling around him like an acrobat to add one last slash to his back. Blood peppered the snow as Harka quickly recovered and flicked his blades clean. Verek fell down a knee clasping onto his wounds. Though they were not immediately life threatening, there was still a risk of loosing too much blood, even for someone of Verek's stature and nature. Harka made sure his bladed were clean and then sheathed his weapons. "You've been bested my friend. Perhaps you should have listened to your friend for a moment before you decided to attack me and my caravan." Harka had turned his back for only a moment before Verek had unsheathed a concealed knife and lunged towards Harka with a primal scream and death in his eyes. "You damned fool!" Harka's had quickly drawn his blades, parried the knife and sliced through the carotid artery with one of his blades in a single motion. A ribbon of blood flew through the air until it came crashing down onto the fine powdered snow like the lizard it came from. Verek's eyes grew heavy as he gasped for air in a gurgling tone, then within a few seconds, his eyes shut forever.

Harka did not have time to mourn for the fallen lizard man, he was more worried about the cloaked figure Bhagi, who was now within rushing distance of him. Bhagi lowered his head for a moment, then began to speak. "Such a damned fool. Though he was a mighty warrior, he was always rushing into things and never thought about the consequences of letting his temper get the best of him. I knew that would be his downfall someday. Rahksha, prepare yourself. Though I hold no ill will towards you, I still have a job to do and I have a reputation to uphold as well." Harka readied both of his blades and braced himself for whatever this figure could throw at him. Bhagi ducked down and rushed towards Harka with incredible speed, keeping his arms loose. He quickly reached into secret pockets and let fly six small orbs towards Harka. Though all of the orbs flow by, missing him completely, when they hit the ground near him they burst into a thick and soupy smoke that covered the area, making it difficult to see for Harka but he could still hear Bhagi who had leapt into the air and drew a strange concealed blade from his arm pocket. As Bhagi descended, his strange blade met Harka's khopesh with a loud but beautifully resounding clang and Bhagi withdrew from the fray and back into the clouds, moving his arms and wafting smoke to cover his trail. Harka kept his guard up as he waited patiently for a moment so the smoke would finally clear with the wind picking up strength. Bhagi also had the same idea as Harka but when he caught the first sight of Harka's eyes, he charged into the smoke with the same blade and let loose a flurry of zephyr like strikes on Harka. Though Harka himself was very nimble, his heavier blades did not allow him to match the speed of his opponents weapon at every strike and he suffered several light cuts to his arm and torso. Bhagi did not halt his onslaught as all Harka could do to not have his life taken from him was defend and the caravan drivers started to dread the current outlook of the fight. Harka swallowed his pain, taking one strike to trade for another deeper one to Bhagi and soon they began to trade blows back and forth, some of Harka's hitting their mark while some of Bhagi's hit theirs as well. Bhagi came in for another attack but this time Harka was prepared for the strike. Harka managed to parry Bhagi's blade arm with one blade as the other came careening towards Bhagi's hood. The blade tore through Bhagi's hood as he bent his head back, threw his blade behind him and with an unimaginable amount of acrobatic skill, back flipped towards his blade while letting loose a volley of strange throwing daggers towards Harka. He was able to parry a few of them with his khopesh but two managed to pierce his arm. The pain was sharp but quick fading as he pulled out the daggers which merely served as a distraction for Bhagi, who had already gathered up his blade and took a defensive stance. "You are quite the skilled duelist with a set of Khopesh. In truth I would say that we are very closely matched." The hood that covered his head was now torn back slightly and Harka could see the true face of his opponent. His eyes sparkled with a bright yellow hue while his face was covered in deep black feathers. Instead of a mouth, Bhagi sported a jet black beak. Harka's eyes widened as he couldn't believe his eyes from what he saw. A bird man, something he had never seen before or heard about. "Perhaps we will meet again on better terms. Maybe you will nurture enough skill so that we won't have to be enemies." Bhagi sheathed his blade, pulled his hood down over his face and unfurled two gorgeous black wings from concealed points on his heavy tunic. With the aid of small bursts of chilled wind, he left the bounds of the earth and flew off to the north as quick as he could until he was out of eyesight. Harka was still shocked at what he had seen but he quickly snapped out of his stupor enough to notice that the caravan travelers were cheering for and praising him. Harka felt a sense of pride swell inside him until his eyes focused on the lifeless Verek being covered by a slight snowfall. He decided to bury him with the travelers help and give him a proper sending. Once the burial was finished, they gathered and made a small stone shrine for him and then continued on their path towards the forest city of Aelkeep.

The caravan made its way through the dense Koguran forest that slowly thinned out to rather lush farmland with a city in the middle of it all. They had reached their destination of Aelkeep with Harka leading the way. They moved right by the farm plots and ranchers that were herding all manner of beasts. Harka quickly recognized one type of farmer. It was a Mineral Tortoise farmer and his son had been tending to a small herd of the ore encrusted and gentle to a degree beasts. "Ha ha, I bet he's going to have a fun time with that" Harka chuckled. Harka had encountered a tortoise farmer before and sometimes these beasts could become rather hostile if not properly trained. The caravan continued on its way straight up to the entrance of the town of which they were quickly stopped by a few guards standing by. Harka was the first one of the caravan to be questioned in a not so friendly tone. "Halt! What business do you and your caravan have in Aelkeep?" Harka did his best to be as cordial as he possibly could. "We are here on behalf of Merrath's Silks and Leathers, destined for the port of Beachcliff. Here is the writ of transit as our proof." Harka reached into his bag and pulled out a small parchment that gave the caravan permission to enter and resupply in Aelkeep for further transportation to its next destination. The guard looked over the writ of transit and his demeanor changed immediately. "Alright, everything looks pretty good here. Move along, don't wanna keep everyone else waiting."

Harka was just about to lead the caravan through the gates when an old beggar woman stopped by and tapped Harka on his side. "Excuse me young one but could you spare an old woman a moment of your time?" Harka didn't really know what to think of this old woman but he knew that he needed to get the caravan to its destination as soon as possible. "I am very sorry ma'am but I really need to finish my task at hand. I need to get these caravans-" One of the drivers looked towards Harka and shouted to him "Don't worry about us Harka, we know were we need to go from here." Harka looked back at him "Well what about the other half of my p-" A bag of rustling coin flew towards his face but was caught with Harkas reflexes instead. He opened up the bag and inspected the koriya to make sure that his pay was all there. "Thank you for your help Harka. The road from here on out is trivial at best so we won't need your services any further. You should go have a look around. You never know, you might do well here as a bodyguard for someone." The caravan slowly strolled off into the busy streets of Aelkeep until it could not be seen. Harka turned back around to the old woman with a smile on his face. "Well, I guess I could spare a bit of my time for you. How can I help you ma'am?" The old woman cackled for a moment "So polite, though I fear you did not learn that from your mother." Harka's disposition quickly changed at the mention of his mother. "What do you mean by that?" "Most Rahksha Males do not end up outside of their prides by free choice you know. Most runaway males do not have parents of their own, orphaned at a young age. That is not what I wanted to ask you though dear, so please do not take offense to it. What I want to ask is if you would grant me the privilege of reading your fortune for you?" Harka had never had his fortune read before. Most teachings of magic or anything of that nature were considered taboo to most Raksha clans. "A witch?" Harka asked. The old woman smiled. "Some may call me by that title but I prefer the term Soothsayer. I do my best not to get mixed up in hexing again, though it was fun but I digress from my original statement. I promise you it will be painless." Harka looked around him with an air of caution as he had just been attacked by a bird man not too long ago and once he felt safe, he thought that it couldn't hurt him to experience this at least once in his life. "Alright, I'll let you ma'am." The old woman smiled and cackled a bit. "Alright dear, now please hold out your paws." Harka did as he was told and she grasped his paws firmly. She closed her eyes and began muttering something that Harka could only recognize as babble but then the old woman's eyes opened, revealing white irises as she began to unfold the divine. "I see many different lands in your story. Ancient ruins that hold dark secrets, the oceans that house the beasts of old, the Desert Kingdom of Karraghan and a great trial. You will see many sights in your travels but that will not stop there. I see blade in the dead of night, a bigger role you will have in your play of life, more than you will ever imagine. I also see..treasure..but not material. It has faded from my sights child." Harka thought to himself about what he had just heard. He asked the beggar woman about it but her answer was just as vague. “Sometimes the fortunes do not explain themselves clearly. Though now you have the options. Follow it, or not.” Harka was still perplexed by this fortune but he still thanked the old woman for her time and offered her some money in exchange for her services but she politely refused saying "The first time is always free my dear. Now, go and have fun while you are here. The morning rush for sweet rolls over at Master Sanjin's Bakery should be starting soon. They always sell out within minutes he he he." Harka thanked her again and made his way into the bustling streets of Aelkeep as the old woman kept a watchful eye on him until he was out of sight.

Harka picked up his strut as he made his way through the crowded streets of Aelkeep. His senses of sight and sound had been overloaded with various new wonders while his nose soon felt the over bearing kick of all manner of delicacies being baked that he had never smelt of before. He walked around one of the corners of the trade district and noticed an even more diverse culture than he had witnessed in the small town before him. He noticed a stout dwarf laughing with an unsettling large ork over a pint of ale. Two of the races that Harka thought that would seemingly never converse with one another in a million years. Harka looked to his right and could see a lizard kin and a gnome who worked side by side in harmony on some kind of mechanical contraption, another of the two races that were known to have deep rooted hatred for one another. Most of the other races seemed to set their differences aside in this town, though some of them still held onto their old grudges. That was made very clear to Harka when he saw at least three fights break out between rival races during his stroll. A dwarf who had called an aristocratic elf a "Tree shagging, toadstool hopping fairy" and the other retorting with an "At least my mother wasn't a town harlot who smelled of cheap wine and dirt stained knees." The two then began to quarrel until one through the first punch. Harka then noticed another altercation and watched as an elfin man and human man beat each other senseless over the most ludicrous of things, complaining that one of them was the reason for the others troubles. He shook his head for a moment and was about to walk off when he overheard a loud voice over the fight. "The hell are you doin!? If you wanna go have a scrap, then take it somewhere else besides the front of my store!" A large, white haired, male Rahksha appeared through some rather beaten curtains that lead to his outside food stall. The two would be brawlers turned to face the feline with fury in their eyes but were quickly discouraged when they gazed at the white haired Rahksha and saw just how brawny he was. The two put away their own petty in-differences and dispersed from the stall without a word, each walking down their separate paths. Harka was very impressed with what had happened with the brawlers and how the male handled himself. Harka had yet to see another male of his kind outside of his clan which sparked his curiosity, so he decided it wouldn't hurt to go in and have a friendly chat with him. Even if it happened to be just small talk over a bowl of soup and egg noodles.

Harka could hear the sizzling of meat being cooked as he pushed aside the ragged curtains and made his was inside the small stall. He walked up to one of the bar stools next to the grill and sat down. He could see the owner cooking over an open fire and what appeared to be a specially made grill. All of his cooking utensils looked very crude to the naked eye but Harka recognized them quite quickly. They were the utensils for an an old style of cooking that the men of his village were adept at. The owner hadn't looked at Harka yet but he did hear him come in and with a friendly voice said "Welcome! What can I get for you? Warm soup? That swill the dwarves and humans drink that perks you up in the mornings? Scrambled Kuru eggs?” Harka looked over at what the male was making and his mouth started to overflow with saliva. It was a special type of meat that most other races did not care to much for due to an overly gamey taste in the meat accompanied with a strange combination of seasonings. Though to a Rahksha, this was almost comfort food to them. "I'll have an extra plate of what you're fixing if you don't mind." The owner chuckled for a moment. "I don't think you know what you're getting yourself into lad but if it's what you want then you're more than welcome to it as long as you finish it. No sense in wasting good food." He sprinkled the finishing touches on the smoking meat and sliced off a small helping onto a platter and turned around to see he was in company with another of his race. The owner smirked for a moment. "Now how did I know that no normal person in this town would want Yogun meat first thing in the morning?" The owner sliced off a bigger helping of the freshly cooked Yogun and put the plate in front of Harka. It wasn't long before they started to chat, since business for the owner was rather slow that morning and Harka was new face to the owner. Harka gave his name and after getting acquainted with one another they began to laugh over generic topics like the strange weather around the area and what may or may not have changed with life within the tribe. "Ha ha!" The large white male chuckled. "Why does that not surprise me at all. Nothing seems to have changed since I left the tribe long ago. Oh well, not much I can do about that now is there? I'm not gonna lie to ya Harka, I'm glad I left my tribe. Best decision I ever made for myself, albeit a bit selfish in some eyes but I didn't want to end up like the rest of those poor sods. Being slaves for the rest of your life and for what? No respect at all. I bet you're glad too right?" Harka nodded in agreement with him. "Yeah, I think it was for the better. I couldn't stand it anymore. Not with the way I was treated at least." The white male smiled "The name's Lharuu, always a pleasure to meet someone with similar ideals in this town." Lharuu grabbed a bottle of fine ale from under the bar counter, cracked it open and poured two tall glasses for each of them. "Here, to new acquaintances and to future generations without oppression." Harka agreed, then they toasted to the ideal and drank.