Cataclysmic Skies
EPISODE 1: Leaving Home
Frith steps from the bench, where others who have finished their rites sit. he steps forward and onto the platform before the Council of Elders. they had discussed many things with him before. he had dreams that made no sense to him but the council knew. he waited for their Verdict.
one of the three eldest, sitting in front, speaks " You have passed the Rites. Now you are a Man. And thus you can learn the hidden truths we ave discovered."
the elder next to him finishes "You have yet to realize your true potential and strengths. We however cannot teach you."
"What should be done Elders?" Frith asks. he stands a little taller then most of the Elders. his hair is a Midnight blue short and spiked back. he had just finished his morning training before the council meeting. the clothing he wears is a white sleevless tunic, earthen trousers tucked into his leather knee high boots. a sash wraps his waist and part of his stomach. his build is fairly medium, hes not lanky but hes not muscular either.
"We have intentionally hidden your powers from you. there is a prophecy that was given to us on the night of the great Cataclysim. and it has been passed from Elder to elder. you who stand here is that prophecy. you posess the power, there exists the demihumans. the gods that merged with dying humans during the Cataclysim. most are dormant. but 2 are active. you posses the Soul of the Father. and another has that of the evilest of Gods. We know not his name. not many did. but he is roaming this torn world. the prophecy speaks of one that would shine the one containing the power of the Father. you have that, the Father was said to have the power over Magic and the mind. he could move things with thought and create magic and ehance it. you create Ice. it is not a known ability. there is water but you utilize the power to freeze the water and make devasting assaults with the Cold. this comes from the Fathers power over time. with his mind he could stop time briefly to change things and adjust magic in those he saw fit. we however cannot teach you control over this power. we know of known that can. but we do know that there exists certain exiles that posess knowledge we should not have forbid the people. so your task is to leave this place and seek your power. for you have a task of sending the Evil from this world." the elder says. he is obviously the eldest of them all and his good friend and teacher, Rolin. Frith nods his head and turns around. a single tear drops from his cheek and falls away. he might find her, his friend and companion, Alison.
Frith begins to leave, the others had left and the elders were dispersing. he exits the council chambers into the library. he stops a moment and walks over running his hands up and down the spines of the books he'd read. he can remember the book they found in the ruins on the technology from the old days. this island once being part of the great continent of the old days and broke away taking with it the massive library from the school of Wizards that inhabited it. the old Academy still stood partially in the the forest that started growing. his hand runs the spine of the book, Levi Crystals this was a book on the studies of the crystals that made ships fly in the old days. then his hand runs the Spine of the other book they had found in the library, VARG batteries and Propellar engines this one explained the expanded knowledge of the crystals being broken down and placed in a battery like device that power the crystals with 'Solar Sails' and then energized the Engines described in this Tome as well. there was also a book on ship construction as well.
Frith fades off into thought. Him and Alison sit at one of the tables in the library reading intently about everything. stacks of books everywhere on the table, from old arcane knowledge from the Old Days to steam technology and concepts to the now Varg and Levi crystals. There was a small Airship that crashed on the edge of the island, not very big and only had a crew of 10. it was classed by the books a Sloop. they had tinkered with it a couple times. but this time they were gonna fix it. it took several months of rebuilding a retro fitting but the finally got it rebuilt. they had decreased the size and had torn apart one of the engines to rebuild the other. and the Mast had been severely damaged along with sail so it didnt have the power to lift the larger body. but this one was perfect. they launched the ship, broke through the cloud cover that hid their island and met with some merchants unexpectedly. after a couple days they escaped back to the island the merchants following. fortunatly a agreement was made and the wealth of the island was able to profit them so a secret trade route was opened to these lucky men. Frith and alison however were not so lucky, they were punished and the Airship was destroyed the the command of the council
Rolin touches Frith on the elbow and he comes out of his train of thought. "reminising on the past again Frith?" the frail old man said taking a seat at the table next to them. he was old, but very wise and when needed strong with the power given by The Father. "still miss her dont you?" Rolin asks.
"Aye Elder, she was not only my friend but my only sister. Her parents were mine." Frith responds "its so lonly at Home now. these past 5 years have been hard without them." he adds. he finally after hesitation and thought asked the one question that was never asked, he bows his head suddenly depressed and says in a low tone "Why? Why did they get exiled?" he chokes out thinking of that day 5 years ago. when Alison and her parents were forced to leave on the Merchant Sloop that they had attracted a couple years before.
Rolin looks down at the table. "That is a question, the council forbid us to answer. we cannot break an oath set down." Rolin avoids the question "But i can tell you this. the Merchants graciously told me the point at which they left her and her parents. and graciously helped them find their way and gave them knowledge enough to get by. they merchants left them at a Port Town on an island decreed as the Isle of the Exiles. this place is full of those deemed 'Uncivilized' by he who calls himself the Grand Marshal, the Ruler of the new civilized world." rolin says in a low tone. "the Port that most likly to house them is Tortuga. but its a long trip to that island." he adds. "well dont let this old man hold you up. the Trusted ones should be arriving within the next couple days. you should get some rest and prepare for voyage." Rolin slowly stands walking out the door slowly and then he is gone from Frith's sight. frith stands following the old man out the door. he can see him setting out in front of the large Fire Pit where the towns people gossip of a evening. the fire was being stoked and fed to prepare for the rapidly coming night.
Frith walks to the northern edge of the small town. there were several towns in the area most of them were smaller but all were connected to this one.|| he Exits the town square and goes a little bit further to his home. the house is not much just a long log cabin with 2 rooms. he reaches out and pushes the simple wooden door open, he had left it ajar this morning.
Frith enters the house, not much but its his home. the large stone firepit with a stone chiminey keeps the main room warm, it still has glowing embers from the nights bunk is to his right and to his left the empty space where her bunk was. to the left opposite him was the simple table and four chairs. opposite the table is a book shelf containing their small handful of books they owned, leaving space for ones borrowed from the Council hall records. the door to the back room stands between the shelf and table on the opposit wall as frith is standing.
Frith walks over and heads into the back room latching the door behind him. to the left is the bed his "parents" slept. at its foot the bunk he moved from the front room. to his right is two chest of Drawers, each with 4 drawers. one had a few remaining items from his "parents and then he shared one with her, most of her items were gone as well. he pulls out a few things and shoves them in a Knapsack. next he turns and looks at the armor stand he had made and brought in here. on it was his armor recently aquired for "becoming a man" he slides on the leather breast plate and straps it on. pulls the bracers over his forearms and ties the strings snuggly. he grabs his sword and sheath of the wrack and straps it to his back. the bastard sword is very beautiful, crafted from fine steel. the long thin blade stretches out only shapened on one side. the handle is roughly 2 and a half of his hand. total length is around 5 1/2 ft. it reminds him of the Katanas some of the other Men have, except with a longer straight blade.
he leaves the house walking down the path, knapsack thrown over one should. he turns and stares at the home, memories floding his thoughts. Finally turning and walking away, a tear rolling down his cheek. he keeps going down the path passing by other homes, he goes through the town square and then heads the direction of the dock. the Dock was recently built due to the increased size of the Trusted Merchants ship. he comes to the clearing on the edge. ahead of him is the dock. a 2 mast ship is docked there. he guesses its about 100ft in length. Both masts appear to have square sails. one is unraveled he guesses to keep the VARG charged so they dont sink. the crew are unloading and loading cargo into and from the small warehouse they have near the dock.
he sees Rolin speaking with a man off to the side of the dock. he approaches and waits calmly not wanting to interupt the conversation. he can tell the conversation is of him and as i gets closer he can tell they are finalizing his passage to the next port.
"Aye i may be able to squeese the lad on board, may hap scrubbing decks." the captain says.
"i believe he would be usuful elsewhere. he is quite knowledgable with the systems on airships..." replies Rolin.
"Really now? Is that true boy?" asks the captain.
"Yes, i was the reason Your ship found this place. Allison and I had studied the knowledge from books and using some wreckage from a Schooner we built a small vessel and ended up being discovered by your ship." replies Frith.
"OI! was tha really you boy? its been a few years avn't it? i remember you and whats her name?" the captain says. "well in that case ill send ya down to tha engineer, hes a bit gone in the head but hes good at what he does. i picked him up two months ago in Totuga and he went with us to the mainland. hes been a major asset onboard we were early because he got our starboard engine running correctly, Alas on our way here the port engine went out and hes been overhauling it. thus our late arrival here. but anyways welcome aboard The Crusade, im your captain Johnathon Vorn." he finishes reaching out his hand in greeting and finalizing the bargain. Frith extends his hand to greet the man "My names Frith."
the next few hours went by briskly. the engineer shoo'd him off so he help finish the cargo loading and unloading. after that a short wait while the engineer brought the life back to the port Engine. it sputtered to life and they were underway full speed for tortuga. he stands at the stern of the ship looking a the quickly fading into a thick mist that shrouded the Island.