89th of Fall, 514
Early Morning
Fall was drawing to a close. The crispness that clung to the early morning air serving as the preamble to winter. In his hand Aoren carried the quarterstaff that had accompanied him throughout the years. He still recalled the day he first acquired the staff. It was a memory filled with many bumps, bruises and hours of laughter. The surface of the wood had been made smooth from the countless hours spent practicing with it. There were notches in the wood where it had been met with the sharp edge of a blade. The time had come to retire his trusted quarterstaff to little more than a sturdy walking stick. The practical part of his mind told him that it would be better to simply use the staff as kindling but Aoren couldn’t bring himself to part with it. Too many memories were etched into the surface of the wood. Even if it never saw another skirmish Aoren intended to keep it around if only to help him maintain his balance.
Aoren walked the paths of Lapis Park. Compared to the rest of the carefully maintained areas of the city, Lapis Park was a sliver of wilderness amid the grandeur of a disciplined civilization. The curious balance between wild and beautiful was made all the more poignant to Aoren given the nature of the Akalak race itself. A hardened race of warriors they were also very attentive to other aspects of life. With pride in just about everything they did, it came as no surprise to Aoren that they would find a way to mesh that which was untamed with that which was structured and orderly.
“What do you think is waiting for us at the end of this road, eh?” Aoren looked down at his side where padded Isikai. The large black canine seemed completely absorbed in sniffing about as much as he could. The wall of new scents tinged with the bitter frigidness of the oncoming winter was no doubt maddeningly curious to the dog. Isikai perked up briefly as Aoren spoke to him. The dog licked his nose quirking his head at Aoren for a moment before going back to his contented sniffing of the landscape. The Drykas man shook his head.
“Thank you, Isikai. That was very insightful.” Aoren gently tap the dog on the side with the butt of his quarterstaff. The dog paid him no mind. He was about to see if he could find a way to distract the canine when suddenly Isikai perked up. The dog hunched over for a moment growling as he looked in the direction of a particularly tall section of grass. Emitting a low growl followed by a bark Isikai darted off in the direction of the grass in a dead sprint.
“Hey! Isikai!” But the dog was intent on finding whatever it was that had captured his attention. Running a hand over his face Aoren shook his head. Something had gotten into Isikai lately. Truthfully though, Aoren couldn’t really blame him. They had spent a great deal of time confined to a ship over the course of their journey from Zeltiva. Isikai was probably just very, very excited to be back on land still. Taking a firm hold of his staff Aoren bounced up and down on the balls of his feet before taking off after the dog. He didn’t go at it at a sprint like Isikai but he picked up his running to a fast paced jog. Isikai was trained enough not to run too far away from him. Aoren kept his breathing even going in through the nose and out of his mouth at a measured rate.
As he came to the tall section of grass he brought himself to a stop just as Isikai darted inside. Pushing aside some of the grass with his staff Aoren began to wade into it. The grass came up to roughly Aoren’s mid-chest making it difficult to track Isikai.
“Isikai! Come back here, boy!” Aoren’s only response was a very loud bark. Brushing aside more grass, most of it wilting and quite obviously dead or dying as winter had begun to settle in, Aoren made his way further off the main path of the wild park.
Early Morning
Fall was drawing to a close. The crispness that clung to the early morning air serving as the preamble to winter. In his hand Aoren carried the quarterstaff that had accompanied him throughout the years. He still recalled the day he first acquired the staff. It was a memory filled with many bumps, bruises and hours of laughter. The surface of the wood had been made smooth from the countless hours spent practicing with it. There were notches in the wood where it had been met with the sharp edge of a blade. The time had come to retire his trusted quarterstaff to little more than a sturdy walking stick. The practical part of his mind told him that it would be better to simply use the staff as kindling but Aoren couldn’t bring himself to part with it. Too many memories were etched into the surface of the wood. Even if it never saw another skirmish Aoren intended to keep it around if only to help him maintain his balance.
Aoren walked the paths of Lapis Park. Compared to the rest of the carefully maintained areas of the city, Lapis Park was a sliver of wilderness amid the grandeur of a disciplined civilization. The curious balance between wild and beautiful was made all the more poignant to Aoren given the nature of the Akalak race itself. A hardened race of warriors they were also very attentive to other aspects of life. With pride in just about everything they did, it came as no surprise to Aoren that they would find a way to mesh that which was untamed with that which was structured and orderly.
“What do you think is waiting for us at the end of this road, eh?” Aoren looked down at his side where padded Isikai. The large black canine seemed completely absorbed in sniffing about as much as he could. The wall of new scents tinged with the bitter frigidness of the oncoming winter was no doubt maddeningly curious to the dog. Isikai perked up briefly as Aoren spoke to him. The dog licked his nose quirking his head at Aoren for a moment before going back to his contented sniffing of the landscape. The Drykas man shook his head.
“Thank you, Isikai. That was very insightful.” Aoren gently tap the dog on the side with the butt of his quarterstaff. The dog paid him no mind. He was about to see if he could find a way to distract the canine when suddenly Isikai perked up. The dog hunched over for a moment growling as he looked in the direction of a particularly tall section of grass. Emitting a low growl followed by a bark Isikai darted off in the direction of the grass in a dead sprint.
“Hey! Isikai!” But the dog was intent on finding whatever it was that had captured his attention. Running a hand over his face Aoren shook his head. Something had gotten into Isikai lately. Truthfully though, Aoren couldn’t really blame him. They had spent a great deal of time confined to a ship over the course of their journey from Zeltiva. Isikai was probably just very, very excited to be back on land still. Taking a firm hold of his staff Aoren bounced up and down on the balls of his feet before taking off after the dog. He didn’t go at it at a sprint like Isikai but he picked up his running to a fast paced jog. Isikai was trained enough not to run too far away from him. Aoren kept his breathing even going in through the nose and out of his mouth at a measured rate.
As he came to the tall section of grass he brought himself to a stop just as Isikai darted inside. Pushing aside some of the grass with his staff Aoren began to wade into it. The grass came up to roughly Aoren’s mid-chest making it difficult to track Isikai.
“Isikai! Come back here, boy!” Aoren’s only response was a very loud bark. Brushing aside more grass, most of it wilting and quite obviously dead or dying as winter had begun to settle in, Aoren made his way further off the main path of the wild park.