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Endoryn:

A Worldly Traveler

By: Spiral

Edited by: Spencer

Chapter 1

Jason Tilman was a man of average height and weight with dark short hair. Someone passing by him would consider him a rather pleasant man on the eyes. Pale skin, dark eyes, and sharp features marked him as from the eastern region of Heslparth. He wore a rather colorful traveling outfit fit for the lowlands from where he hailed. To Jason's side was a well made arming sword in a fancily engraved scabbard, a buckler to his other.

A tall thin man dressed in gold trimmed burgundy robes walked closely behind. On the right side of his chest, the robe bore a symbol of the Helsparth Magus Academy. He was walking with a long wooden stick, made out of a dark-reddish colored wood. The color on the robes indicated that he has a degree and license in transmutation. One might call William middle aged, though, age on a wizard can be difficult to discern. It would take a few years of knowing the man to see if he aged or not. His fair blue eyes and trimmed goatee did command an air of calm confidence and a wealth of knowledge; at least on matters and all things thusly related.

Behind William walked Kinsley Jackram. He was dressed in a long skirt of cured and boiled leather scales, with pleats hidden behind them for maximum mobility. His chest bound in the same hard leather, to his back he had a short bow, and his side a quiver. The man's sharp green eyes were the kind to pierce into another's. Long brown hair, tied into braids and hung to his mid-back.

They were carefully moving through the old tunnels. The walls were well laid bricks of a brown color. Along the walls were occasional sconces most empty, every tenth one filled with an ever glowing rod that gave off a soft yellow light much like a torch would. At the end of the hall was a chamber illuminated by more glowing rods. Visible from the hall was an empty stone pedestal and there were likely more in the room.

With a sudden burst of eagerness, Jason moved up into the room to look around. His eyes scanned the mostly empty display room to where an axe floated a few inches over a pedestal. The pedestal was on a rather intricate stone dais inlayed with Helsparth inscription.In the eyes of justice, all are equal.

Kinsley chuckled a little as he read the inscription and said, "All indeed. I've read history where even a High Lord has to answer to a court of Judges and a superior. Of course this means that the lord. Err... High Lord Barnum actually. This was about three hundred years go now. Anyways, he had to answer directly to Lord Helsparth for his accusations."

Jason looked over his shoulder at the wizard and said, "It's astonishing how often you feel it necessary to rattle out history. I think next time you see a word like 'clock,' you'll end up giving me a lecture on their invention." He stepped forward and onto the dais to fetch the axe.

"You should have let me check for traps first Jason. Though, I guess now you've proven it wasn't necessary," Kinsley said chuckling at his foolish friend. "So what? After taking it we flee to Vertist and sell it to one of the elite? I assume then they'll flaunt Baron's Axe and demand a handsome ransom from Lord Helsparth to get it back," he contemplated aloud.

The axe itself wasn't too much to look at; though, there was a faint red glow ominously pulsating from it. It was a rather simply battle axe, a thin crescent blade on one side, a long stud on the opposite.

"So that's Baron's Axe eh? I guess I can see why the Justiciars1use that specific design for their weapons. What is most interesting is ho...:" William was cut off.

"Save it," Jason said as he reached for the axe, lifting it gently before holding it aloft. "Wow it feels well... light actually, and very much like an axe. Though holding a piece of history certainly makes me feel strange," he said with a smile. Jason then held it up and over his head to look at it in a different light. He blinked as he saw it lift from his hand, with some speed then end up floating in the air behind him.

A voice sounded, female and pleasant if a bit teasing, "It isn't anything like I expected. I mean I read that it was able to tear large swaths of ground open when swung the right way but... it's just an axe to me."

The form of a female appeared between the other two and Jason. She was dressed in a rather functional leather outfit, thick and hard leather covering a lot of vital areas and soft thin leather where it allows her to move. It wasn't the best armor but it would work. Long dark gloves adorned her hands and forearms. Most intriguing though was the bone face the female appeared to have. A muzzled face with a partially opened mouth dark on the inside. Spiky horns and long pointed bone ears adorned the sides and top of the mask. Though the eyes were another story. Black sclera, no iris, and a white diamond shaped pupil fixed on the two standing near the dais.

William observed the female and his thoughts began to fumble through his wealth of knowledge trying to place what the hell he was looking at. He tilted his head, and leaned some too trying to figure it out. "If I had to wager... that's the skull of a Sinji Fiend. Though generally those have scales. Well scales and a general tendency to try to make cutlets out of most sapiens they come across," he said.

"It's a mask," Kinsley said without taking his eyes off the female. His hand already having grabbed an arrow, his other readying the bow incase it needed to be used.

Jason was standing there with his mouth open, still a little in awe at what he had just seen. "Hey now, that's ours give it back," he said leaping at her in a blind rage.

The lady was there, then she wasn't. After a split second she was on top of the pedestal where the axe had been, giggling a little in a playful kind of way. No malice intended but, it certainly came off as condescending.

"Come on now! It doesn't belong to you or I. Not to mention I don't think the Vertist Senate or the High Lords of Helsparth would appreciate a potential war caused by some ambitious boys with stupid ideas," she said.

Jason looked back at William and made a gesture for him to help out with this female. He didn't know what to make of the lady. The mask was certainly disconcerting, her speaking made it clearly a mask. The eyes bothered him though, and the black claws coming out of the gloves did too. What a strange creature he was seeing. She acted kind of fay, at least with the playful attitude about things. The odd teleporting was another thing that made him think of fay.

William caught the gesture but, really didn't know what it meant. It must be another way of Jason trying to act more competent than he, or any of the three, really were. There was an odd feeling about him now, a kind of tightness he couldn't explain. "Um Jason," he said quietly.

Jason kept his eyes on the female not looking back at his companions as of yet.

The lady laughed some and pulled a long white wooden staff from seemingly thin air. At the top of the staff was a rather fancy ring of translucent pink metal, split at the top making it appear as two pointed crescents. "If fighting for it is your intention, then I suggest you pull your weapons. Though I don't think your friend will be helping," she said in a playful tone. In a quick motion the axe disappeared and she stood with the staff in both hands. Her stance with it was pretty good, and she looked as if balance would not be an issue even on the pedestal. Though her overall demeanor was very fox like, impish and taunting.

Jason turned around to see both of his companions not moving at all. The look of shock and fright on William, and the silent indignation of Kinsley. He grimaced when a tall scaled figure appeared behind them.

The scaled figure was tall indeed. About six foot nine inches, a long muzzle, azure and cyan scales down the lizard's back and on the outside of their arms. The lizard's belly and inside scales were a white color. Of course like most lizardfolk, he only wore a satchel and carried nothing; not that there was much to see.

"Emina can we get going? We've been here for two days now. And see, the dais and pedestal were not trapped. We could have been out of here a long time ago if you had just let me grab it with telekinesis," the lizard said in a voice that seemed both male and female.

Jason turned back around drawing his sword suddenly only to feel a sudden band of pain across his stomach, making him double over in pain. "D-damn it," he let out weakly.

"Don't take your eyes off your opponent. Gods you boys have a lot to learn. It's lucky for you I set six traps off on the way here. I don't think you'd have survived them," she said.

Jason looked up defiantly but was unable to move much. Though, the insult of being bested like this was also too much for him to want to add more to it by sounding stupid.

"Come on Teshera let's go," she said patting the lizard's arm with her hand.

The pair left the other group in the old bunker, stepping out into the sunlight of the day about ten minutes later. It was a cool autumn day with mostly clear skies and a breeze that was just enough to make the air refreshing. With just yellowing trees it was a typical year for the Steppes region of Helsparth.

Emina looked to Teshera and said, "Well I got the axe at least. I wonder how it ended up in an old Naja bunker though. Rather recently too, placed without much to protect it. Any unthinking adventurer would have grabbed it and likely run off with to seeking fortune and fame."

"More like infamy. I don't think the large scale equivalent of sticking a bare hand in a beehive and shaking it, would net too much praise among the Helsparthi," Teshera said in that still impossible to distinguish voice.

Emina just nodded and headed off on the road. "Nevermind that. We were asked to bring it to the High Lord of the Steppes Region and we will. Those three... really are quite stupid. They were in a dining room with the maps out and everything discussing their plot and course. Then took three days, three, to finally set out. I hope I was never that foolish," she said.

That last statement made Teshera hold some laughter in. "You are still far worse than those three could ever be. Since I've met you I don't think I've had a night of sleep without passing anxiety that someone might come and try to kill us," Teshera said patting her on the shoulder.

Emina looked at Tesh, her eyes seemingly sparkling through the mask. "And you're still with me? Teshera that's why I love you. Let's get back to Oridon now. I don't think your holding spell will be on them much longer. And I'd rather not have to hurt them any further."

Teshera just nodded and tagged along. Those clawed feet made a lot of noise when spells weren't masking them. Despite the ground being soft they still made a click sound any time they came into contact with a patch of hard dirt.

Travel was easy in Helsparth. The roads were well patrolled, cleaned and even paved in major traffic areas. With some of the new travel networks created by the Magus in Vertist and Helsparth, the roads were mostly left to merchants carrying large loads of goods or anything too dangerous to push through a Leinic field. This didn't mean they weren't busy though, since most things that still travel on the roads fell into those criteria.

Emina walked along now, bored and twirling her staff about. "We really should apply for Helsparth Travel tokens," she said to Teshera.

"Mmm... I'd rather not," Teshera responded.

"But It'd let me see the cities so much easier," she said in a pleading tone.

"And it'll go right to a Lord's pocket where they can scheme up more ways to enforce their ideals on Vertist," Tesh said in a hissing tone.

Emina stopped and looked at Tesh for a moment, irritating flashing on her eyes for a moment. "I thought you said you didn't care about borders and politics Tesh," jested.

Teshera looked at her with a flat expression. "I said varanasi tend to not care. Just because I'm varanasi does not mean I do not care. My scale-brother's business was shut down by some rather crafty Helsparth high-borns a decade or so back. I'd rather not fund the nation that encourages such things," Tesh explained.

"There are more blue scaled varanasi? That's some fun news! I cannot wait until our roads take us to Vertist then," she mused completely missing or caring about the politics.

Teshera just blinked, her antics could be bothersome and times and this was no point to let it be a bother.

"It sounds like there is a lot more fun to be had there too. Not so stringent about laws, order and justice. Not that those are bad things," she said.

"Mmm There are other problems in Vertist. I'd say some of them are substantially worse. Imagine that kind of person where if you step on their foot claw wrong. They send assassins after you. Then you end up half dead hanging from a tree, wishing they had fully finished their initial work. Those are not uncommon in Vertist. This holds most true in Herat," Tesh explained.

"Herat! That's where we'll go first then! Well, after we get this axe back to High Lord Salami or whatever his name was," she quipped.

"Solomon... High Lord Solomon. Please don't call him High Lord Salami. I do not want to end up in a Helsparthi prison for any reason. Defamation of character or something," Tesh muttered.

"Solomon? Right. Baritolan name. Would explain his dark skin. I think I said that before," she said tapping a claw to her bone mask.

"Indeed," Tesh said thinking of_when_ she had said that last. In a bar, where soldiers always fighting the Baritolans off on the western border drank. On top of that with the implication that their leader, to whom they are fiercely loyal, be related to or from Baritola. Well at least violence is illegal in Helsparth.

Teshera looked at Emina then paused for a second, the look made Tesh think she had mind reading abilities.

"They only yelled at us Tesh. I guess drunk soldiers are a bit touchier than they should be," she said.

"Or maybe they are touchy that Baritolan warriors have a tendency to bury sleeping outposts in sand and string up any escapees on the border for their comrades to see. Usually in any fashion that might demoralize the soldiers. Considering how hard it is to demoralize a Helsparthi Regiment. It's pretty severe how the posts look. Things must be really serene in the Blight," Tesh said calmly.

"Ohh dear I didn't know that. And yes the Blight is pretty serene. Aside from Blight Layer eight, we're one of two sapient species. Blight Layers seven and six is where we dwell mostly though. lethal to all but Blightlings and rubigo fay. I have only seen a rubigo fay once though. What a fluffy man he was," she said as her mind began to wander through her homeland again.

"Mmm You rarely talk about the Blight. I'd like to know more sometime," Tesh prodded to see if more information could be coaxed out.

"You really are an inquisitive male," she said smirking at him. "Unfortunately there just isn't much to tell. It's cold, filled with big trees and mushrooms. The forest glows a soft red where there are clusters of mushrooms."

"Yeah yeah, you've said that before. It'd be fun to see how Lein fields can be spun there. If it'd be any different at all that is," he said.

"I still have no idea what Leinic fields are," she said hoping he'd not go on about them again.

He got the hint and sighed. It was hard being with Emina sometimes, fay always had a tendency to be flighty. This held true even with psuedofay like blightlings are. Despite his study on blightlings and all the information the School of Arcane Arts had to offer on them. He had found a lot of it was largely false. They wove the bones, sinew and skin of their foes into weapons, true. They do so unprovoked, decidedly false. Life was not valued, false. Relationships with outside species are taboo, false. In fact that last one he was proof of but, not the reason he found it was false. It turned out rubigo fay court and bond with blightlings from time to time. The thought made him shudder. No species on all of Endoryn could be less predictable than a rubigo fay. On top of that there are very few things that could contend with one.

He remembered reading about an expedition into the Blight where all sorts of Inhibitors and Artificers had spun protective spells to prevent themselves from being killed by the Blight's effects to study it. None of them by any means were weak Magus. A quick prideful thought passed through Tesh's mind. _None of them were natural spinners of Lein either._They and their guard were all nearly taken apart by a single one described as a child. The surviving Magus described it as simply playing with them. It apparently put forth absolutely no effort in rending their Leinic fields from them, or their limbs for that matter.

"You look sick Tesh. Do you need to see a healer?" she asked curiously.

He snapped from his thoughts. "No. Err... just remembering some things I read," he said calmly.

Emina shrugged then and continued on down the road with her mate.

Oridon was a huge city, the kind of city all sorts of foreign tales warn people of. Though generally these tales were not written by anyone whom has been there so it does not do it much justice. It filled the river valley it is nestled in almost entirely. Many of the buildings were built of white alabaster bricks with red terracotta roofs. The buildings were styled with dark colored cross struts made from Helsparth Oak. The city wall existed well within the city limits, a clear sign that it had grown far beyond its original size. Being the High Lord's seat for the Steppes region, it was also extremely busy.

Lord Solomon sighed a little as he looked out over the city skyline from his office. Something had gone amiss lately. Well something very important indeed. "So, tell me again, why I have to explain to Lord Helsparth that Baron's Axe went missing from our exhibit from our museum?"

The man behind the desk looked up from his paperwork and looked at his boss through his glasses. "Because it did go missing from Oridon's museum exhibit," he said flatly without much expression to his voice, a simple stating of fact.

He punched the desk in frustration then threw his hands up in defeat. "I hope that bounty I put out for it gets picked up. I don't think I want to be explaining to an angry man with enough political and magical power to annihilate my existence from both the physical realm and records, why my guards couldn't do their damned job," Solomon

exclaimed.

"Perhaps next time we should use Justiciars to guard national relics, rather than saving some money and using the city watch," the secretary suggested.

This too, struck a nerve with Solomon. Faulting his Secretary for speaking the truth though was just not right. He sighed in defeat as his mind began to word out how to explain to Lord Helsparth that he had lost Baron's Axe. 'I'm sorry Lord Helsparth the XII I've lost the symbol of our nation's formation. I can still keep my job right?' No... that didn't sit well. Though it would be the most honest train of thought on his mind. Perhaps something more eloquent

His Secretary looked through his auto-updating ledger. A rather new and recent magical invention that allowed data to be put on a master pad and send it out to all the slave pads. After a moment of thumbing through useless quotes for things they didn't need he said, "Ahh... Well I have some good news High Lord Solomon. Two foreigners have come to claim one of your bounties."

Solomon's heart skipped about two beats, and his mental train rolled off the tracks and into a ravine. Wishful thinking sometimes paid off, though generally it leaves the thinker baffled and stupefied for a moment. "What? Really?! Foreigners... that makes a bounty prize easier to come up with. Ready me up two travel obols, leave the registry blank," he said looking to find his derby hat and cane so he could look proper for these foreigners.

The waiting room had a nice parquet floor with a dark mahogany and light walnut wood. The furniture was antique and likely very heavy due to being made from oak. With the advent of permanent standing Leinic fields, the old gas lamps had been replaced with pleasant and safely glowing magical lights.

Reflecting for a moment Teshera found he didn't like how orderly Helsparth streets were. Something about a lack of trash, sectioned off areas for kiosks, working storm drains, and no occasional corpse of a Blood or Shadow claw to step over was just alien. "This city is too clean," he muttered just loud enough for Emina to hear.

"Quite a bit cleaner than the Veiled City. I'd say a bit uninteresting though. I guess it seems like a nice idea to have a flowing efficient city but, when you experience it. Well it feels wrong," she commented. Emina began poking around the room, fiddling with anything she could put her fingers on. After a moment of poking through drawers. "Ohh neat," she said.

The sight of the ring on Emina's finger made Teshera pause for a moment and think. "Well if it was magical with an effect you'd certainly know it y now," he said holding his tongue on the reckless behavior of putting unknown magical rings on.

"Mm... If it was designed to poison someone it wouldn't affect me at all. Otherwise I don't really notice anything. I wonder what FH II stands for though," she said.

For a few moments Teshera let FH II sink into his head some. Like a rock thrown by a sling he was hit by it. "Axe and sword behind the letters," he inquired.

"Yeah... how did you know that," she said holding her hand up now to look at it, deciding if a ring of some sort would even look good on her.

"Put it back where you found it... Now," he said firmly.

This was absolutely off putting to Emina, infact it was only the second time he had been adamant about anything. She took the ring off and dropped it back into the drawer. "Okay okay... Don't get so touchy, I was just surprised it fit is all," she said.

"Yeah you already have a tendency to forget you're wearing things like that. And I'd rather not have Justiciars chasing after us looking for that damned ring," he said.

"A decent piece from my personal collection. Though not one of a kind. Frederick had several dozen of them made since he was a bit absent minded with his things. I'm certain most wealthy families in Helsparth likely have one of his signet rings," a man with a dry patient voice said.

Emina looked up to the bronze skinned male who was taller than her but, shorter than Teshera. "It's amazing a Baritolan can even find Helsparth Heirlooms. Hello! I'm Emina," she said with happiness in her voice.

Teshera led his head fall into his hands and let out an irritated hiss and spent a second to recompose himself and stood up, eye twitching a little at Emina's mistake. "Teshera Aquaclaw, Emina is my wife," he said offering a hand.

"Mmm... Lord Solomon, not an uncommon error. Though I can't figure out why you seem so off put Tesera Aquaclaw. My assistant told me you had fulfilled the bounty I put out for the return of an Axe," he asked with a more than hopeful smile

With nod Emina produced the axe from thin air. In a zone where magic couldn't be used by anyone not registered. "Here you are," she flourished.

Instead of grabbing it with his bare hands, Solomon fetched a glove to retrieve the axe from the Fay. Only an insane person would grab the weapon bare handed. Some of the tests done with the magical properties of the axe ended in rather interesting mental conditions on unworthy wielders.

"More then happy to help out Lord Solomon. I am afraid I don't know much about Baron Helsparth. Except that he isn't the founder of the current Helsparth nation," Emina said.

Panic dripped away from Teshera as Lord Solomon didn't seem offended by Emina's mistake. "I can explain that later Emina. It's a very long story and involves a lot of parties. It certainly didn't happen quickly," he said.

Solomon tried to gauge these two for a moment. The fay in the bone mask was likely a Blightling. He had gone to the university and knew a bit about the world. With how she stood and positioned her feet, not untrained by any means. The lizard was a magus, though not like himself. His accent was from the Mist, not from Vertist. Neither of them seemed to have ill intent written on them. "Interesting pairing for a marriage. What brings a Blightling and a citizen of the Mist together like yourselfs," he said.

"Chance, and Emina saving my life, and helping me graduate from the university," he said.

"I guess that counts as saving your life twice. I hear Lizards often die failing their final exams in the university," Solomon replied. "Often enough. Though if they die they didn't deserve a second chance anyways," Teshera stated in a matter of fact kind of way.

"I'm actually a blightling from the Blight," she said lifting her mask for a moment.

Solomon paused for two reason. One, the stereotype of lizards not caring about killing their students, and a blightling being present. "Ohh my... you're fay and a blightling Blightling... You have to be one of the first to leave the Blight," he blighted out in a stutter.

"Eyes should have given that away," slipped from Teshera's mouth. He immediately grabbed his muzzle and attempted to look smaller, quite the feat for a nearly seven foot lizard.

Emina looked at Teshera for a moment and giggled. "Film eye lenses Teshera. 'The eyes of William,' not an uncommon style for some adolescents to wear such things. I can imagine it's more popular here for rebellious youths to wear eyes associated with the deity of chaos," she said.

Solomon shrugged, "Well I did think it was cosmetic but, don't feel obliged to take off your masks for High Lords in Helsparth Miss Aquaclaw. I wish to reward you with Travel Obols and registered thaumic signatures. You'll be able to use magic," he said mostly looking at Teshera, "As you wish now. I don't think that'll help you too much Miss Aquaclaw though, this will allow you to visit anywhere in Helsparth as you wish. Many traders from Vertist pay a great deal for these services. Returning the Axe of Baron is more than enough to deserve it though. Unfortunately I do not have a lot of time left here. Please if you do visit Oridon again, you must schedule an appointment to have a meal with me. I'd love to hear about your travels," he said in a slightly hurried voice.

"Sure," Emina said.

"I'm not sure we'll ha-," Teshera was cut off by Emina and let out a sigh.

Lord Solomon nodded and handed them their obols, both glowing for a moment once it ended up in their hands. "Do enjoy your stay in Helsparth," he said dryly. He then turned to make a direct and swift line to the museum.

She looked at the obol curiously, "Neat, I guess we don't have to apply for one now," she said with a grin. She was now realising that all of Helsparth was open to her.

Teshera looked at the obol as dreadful thoughts of prison cells, guards chasing them, and other potentially horrible things, flashed through his mind. "This should get us to the southern border a lot faster Emina. We should save several weeks if," he paused looking at suddenly sad looking eyes through the bone mask.

Emina looked up at him with a hurt expression, mostly hidden by the mask. To see the world nothing should be excluded. Helsparth had been the highest on her list since she set out to see what the world beyond the Blight was like. The idea of order and public welfare working so well made her really want to see the country for herself. With that, Teshera wanted to usher her out of the country already? Now that just wasn't fair!

Tesh stared at her for a moment more, his emotional state deteriorating quickly. "Fine, let's at least get a good room and rest here for the night," he said putting his big clawed hand on her shoulder and patting her. "Just behave... Unlike the Veiled City, the nation of Helsparth does not have a sense of humor when it comes to the law. Alright," he said in a supportive tone.

Emina nodded, "Well, I'll do my best. Wait... I'm your wife not your kid," she said knuckling him in the gut. "Stop being so tall," she scolded him.

Tesh laughed and rubbed the spot she knuckled and began to head out, dragging his tail over her shoulder, neck and cheek. Adopting a feminine walk for a moment, and swaying his hips he said, "You're such a needy women sometimes." He made an exaggerated gesture of biting his index finger nail while looking at her before stepping onto the street.

1Unrelenting, morally grey officers of the law. They care only for upholding and enforcing the law, and are trained to do so with extreme prejudice.