Open Second summer shipment

[Caele Smokesend]

Timestamp: 48th Summer 517

”There it is!” The Captain shouted as he walked towards the prow of the clipper.
“Lots of trees.” he said with a laugh and smile as he stopped next to Caele by the rail.

The tall, muscular man smiled in response as he looked out at the approaching shoreline. “It’s beautiful. Untouched.”

“That part is called the Maw.” Captain James continued pointing at the land to the right that was jutting out into the Suvan. “Over there is Treasure Point.” He pointed the other way further in towards the mainland. “And in between is the Solitude Isle. There is a lot of solitude to be found around here but that is the sole island.” James turned towards Caele and smiled his white shining smile.

“That’s the houses you mentioned?” the ex-slave asked nodding in the direction of the buildings that had been built over the water along the beach of the Maw.

“Yeah, that’s the Ranchos and further in you see the Bungalows. Randal built them all. With some help. As I told you before we left Riverfall, Randal will be enthusiastic to have a blacksmith setting up shop here.”

The Captain turned around to shout some orders for his crew to get ready to drop the anchor and lower the last sail. As there were no pier the ship needed to be unloaded by yawls and rowed to the shore.

“When you get ashore see if you can find Mathias or Randal and talk to them about where you can settle down. Best bet is to look by the Commons or the Mercantile. But I’m sure they are waiting for us at the beach. Veronica coming home is like a festival here. No one want to miss it.” He laughed and then went to help prepare for the landing.

Caele laughed too and once again turned to look out at the shores that now was on three sides of the ship where it was about to anchor next to the island. He could see people coming out on the beaches from the buildings and the jungle. They were waving at the people on the ship, so Caele waved back. Captain James had been true to his words when he had described this place on that bar in the docks of Riverfall. This was truly paradise.

The blacksmith walked over to the place on the deck where he had put his things. They were heavy, especially the anvil, which had been wrapped in a piece of strong leather that was bound at the ends to a thick wooden staff to be easier to carry. Two members of the crew offered their help to lift it and then lower it down to one of the ship’s boats. Caele himself took the large chest with tools and other stuff.

WordcountWords: 467
Running Total: 467 words

[Caele Smokesend]

As the smaller boat approached the sandy beach some of the crewmembers jumped into the water and helped pulling the boat closer to land. It was heavy with all the stuff, not only Caele’s things but everything else James had brought here for the people of Syka. Many of them were gathered on the shore welcoming the crew and the newcomers alike.

The blonde long-haired man rose from his seat at the back of the boat and then climbed out in the knee-high water as it was obvious it needed to be lighter to be pulled further. He went to the back of it and helped pushing. When it had reached a point where it was clear it couldn’t get any further Caele moved to the side of the boat to be able to start unloading it. The people on the beach came out and helped with the unloading as well, creating a chain where one person passed the loads onto the next until it reached safe and solid ground. Caele carried his own belongings except for the anvil and the crates of iron and coal that needed special handling.

Several of the settlement’s inhabitants greeted and welcomed the tall broad-shouldered man and Caele returned the pleasantries with a friendly but slightly reserved attitude.
A young woman, about his own age, with long brown hair wearing a short skirt and a tiny top approached him in jogging pace along the beach.
“Hey there, beautiful! Great muscles! We could definitely need someone like you here.” She said flirtatiously as she stopped next to Caele and looked around the beach. When she saw Captain James she yelled “Hey Dad!”.
The Captain turned towards her and started jogging towards her. They met in a big hug and father-daughter kiss.
“Good catch there!” She tossed her head in Caele’s direction when they had released each other. “What else do you have?” she giggled.

James gave the blacksmith a smiling look and shook his head as if saying he was sorry. “There’s a few things for you to bring up to the Mercantile. The rest you stay away from. This is Caele. He will be our smith here.”
Before he had the chance to say anything else he was distracted as he looked up and saw a middle-aged, good-looking man in nicely tailored shorts and shirt approaching from the treeline. The two men just smiled at each other and hugged as they met.

“As always it’s great to see you, James. You had a good run?” the man asked the Captain.

“Indeed. It was very good. I brought us a smith.” He turned to look at Caele again. “This is Caele, blacksmith from Kenash. And this is my old friend Mathias Okavis, co-founder of Syka with me and Randal.”

Caele took a step towards Mathias and they shook hands. “Welcome to Syka, Caele” Mathias said smiling warmly at the big man. “Your presence and your skills will be greatly appreciated here. I will ask someone to show you around. And we shall see where you can settle down with your things. Do you need housing or have you brought a tent or similar? A few of the bungalows and ranchos are still vacant if you want one.”

“Thank you very much Mr. Okavis…” Caele started.

“Please call me Mathias. No formalities here.” The older man interrupted.

Caele looked at the two men with slight confusion but then nodded. “Alright, Mathias. I’m really happy to have come here and I will do my best to settle in and help develop this place. Captain James told me a lot about it when we met in Riverfall and I’m thrilled to see it, and to actually stand here on the beach.
I have a tent so I will be fine for now as long as someone show me where I can set it up. I will also build a forge and set up my smithy so I can start with that work. If that’s ok with you of course?”

“Don’t worry. We will help you get settled. You will get some land to use as you see fit, within reason. But if James brought you here I know you are a reasonable man, Caele. Also, if you need funds to finance your smithy you can get a loan from us, up to 1500 mizas.”

Caele looked a bit stunned at Mathias and then turned to James who just smiled and nodded.
“Well thanks. Again. I’m overwhelmed. I’ll see what I need when I’m set up. I think I have enough to get started, but if things develop quickly I may take you up on that offer.”

“That’s awesome!” James said. “I need to go check some things but we’ll see each other later. And excuse me for my daughter Juli earlier.” The Captain smiled and then walked away to attend his business.

“I need to go as well.” Mathias said when James had left them. “But I’ll make sure someone comes and takes care of you showing you around. Once again you are very welcome to Syka and don’t be afraid to ask for help. Everyone helps everyone here.” Then he too walked away.

Caele was left alone for a moment. He looked around, first at the jungle starting some 60 to 80 yards from the shore with its wide array of colours and sounds. A bit further inland the green canopy of the trees reached several hundred yards up in the air. Then he turned to look along the beach where the inhabitants of this small settlement had built a dozen or so buildings. There were also long stretches of untouched white sand meeting the waves from the sea. Finally he looked out over the bay with its blue-green crystal-clear water. The former slave took a deep breath and inhaled the wonderful mix of fragrances while listening to the sounds from the sea meeting the sounds from the jungle.

This was his paradise. This was true freedom. Finally.

WordcountWords: 1001
Running Total: 1468 words

[Karin]

48th Summer 517
The second arrival of the Veronica

Of all the seasons she'd been in Syka now, it was the season of the Summer of Fire that Karin felt like she had finally settled in to the settlement. She was isolated, it was true, her abode was far enough away from the rest of the township that she often forgot that others mingled more frequently than she. But she had also somehow managed to meet more people, talk to more people, in the last season than when she lived in a proper city. In Alvadas she had been quiet and retiring, in Riverfall she had only spoken to those she worked with and her friend Jay. But here in Syka... Well. She was forced to interact with others, in ways she had never had to before.

It was why she was watching the arrival of the Veronica. She had to, not because it was her job or because she was obligated to. But because she desperately needed the social interaction. Besides, as the ship settled into the bay, she couldn't help but marvel and admire it once again. It was as pristine as it always was, with James keeping a good ship. In a way, she would jokingly think to herself that she hoped they received damage to the ship, just so that she could repair it. But that was a job for another time, and luck and Laviku willing, not at all for a long, long while.

Frantic movements ensued, and she walked closer, her white shirt billowing in the breeze. The ship's boat splashed to the shoreline, and she scrutinised its inhabitants. James, as usual, but others too. There was also something rather bulky that weighed down the entire boat. She walked closer still, approaching the crew as they alighted. She stayed away from the conversation that bandied back and forth between the men, and busied herself in helping to manhandle a wooden box of foodstuffs into the willing arms of a volunteer to carry to the Mercantile. Once she had finished, the Svefra looked around to see who else to help if there was such a person, and time stood still.

The area had quietened, for now. The ship's boat had a few more rounds to do, for sure. Karin knew that the passenger and what was presumably his kit weren't the only deliveries for the settlement. But in the relative peacefulness, she stopped to allow the stranger his moment of release. It was clearly writ on his face. She remembered the feeling too- of stepping onto the shore of a completely wild, completely beautiful landscape. It had been perfect to her. It was perfect for her, in so many ways. There was nothing she would do to interrupt his rapture, and so the woman stood quietly for a moment, until he exhaled.

Then she approached. He was tall and muscled, with blonde hair that lay thick on his head. She wondered, like she always did, if he was a Svefra. But a quick glance towards his eyes told her he was not. Whether she noticed it or not, she relaxed slightly, and spoke with a crack in her voice that suggested she hadn't spoken in a while. "It's beautiful, isn't it. Welcome to Syka, stranger." She forgot to introduce herself, but nodded towards his belongings. "I suppose it's foolish to ask if you know where you're going to live, or what you're going to do. Maybe you have plans. If you want someone to show you around, you could probably find better than me, but I can give it a go."

She coughed, nervously, aware of what seemed to her to be babbling on her part. "If you'd prefer I come back later, then yeah, I... I can go and leave you to it." She made to walk off, cursing silently to herself for interrupting the newcomer in his moment of bliss. How would you have liked it, Karin?

Word count: 655

[Caele Smokesend]

It felt like an eternity since he had left his birth city. When Caele’s mother had died there was nothing left to hold him there and with the freedom Jarben had granted him there were no restrictions or promises to keep either.
He had done his year for the master smith as promised and he had been treated well, but as soon as his mother was gone he had felt an urge to move. It was as much an urge for true freedom, where he had no obligations whatsoever.

He and Jarben had been debating freedom several times and the older man had consistently told Caele that there was no such thing as true freedom. There was always some kind of restrictions on one level or another, if not from others then from oneself. Caele disagreed, but already his first choice when he was going to leave Kenash had been made from his own restrictions. Should he go north towards Syliras or south towards Riverfall. After some simple research asking around among the sailors in the docks of Kenash, he heard that the winters could be rather rough and chilly in the north. Caele hated the chilly nights in Kenash at winter. If they were much worse in the north the choice was easy. It had to be south.

He had arrived in Riverfall towards the end of the spring. It was a wondrous city with the cliff and the splashing water from the river above. Caele had loved it at first sight and started planning to settle down. He visited a few smithys in the city and even started a try-out apprenticeship with one. Then he met James Chaliva and it took him a few hours in that bar to sell Syka to the young blacksmith.

Was it free choices that had brought him here to this beach he was standing on, or was it fate? Both Jarben and Caele’s mother had talked to him about Lhex, the god of fate. An old man making the world go round if the stories were true. Caele had no reason to disbelieve them and he respected the gods even if he had never felt drawn to anyone in particular. He was quite fond of the love story between Aquiras and Priskil though, the god and goddess of travel and hope respectively. His mother had worshipped them alongside Lhex and several of the slaves at Smokesend gave their prayers to Priskil with the hope to make their lives less strainful.

Caele wasn’t aware that he had closed his eyes for a moment while letting the other senses take in the surroundings of Syka. When he opened them a young and tall woman approached him. She had long blonde hair, almost shining like silver in the bright sunshine and her blue eyes were dark like the water of the deep sea. Caele’s mother had that colour, maybe a few nuances brighter but it was close enough for the dhani-blooded man to stand perplexed for a few seconds staring at them.

The girl spoke to him but he didn’t hear the first few sentances she said. It was only when she coughed and was about to turn and walk away from him that he got back in control of his senses. “No!...I mean yes!” Caele stumbled on the words. He wasn’t sure what she had asked but he was quite certain she had offered to help him in some way. “Did Mathias send you? I’m sorry, I’m just astonished about this place. Will you show me where I can put up my tent?” He tried to avoid staring at her eyes and act a bit more normal but his own eyes kept moving towards hers, so finally he just turned away from her and looked at everything else. “How long have you been here? James said this place has only been inhabited for a couple of seasons.” Then he remembered that he hadn’t introduced herself which she probably had done while he was focusing on her eyes. “My name is Caele, unless Mathias already told you.” He gave her a quick look and smiled.

WordcountWords: 690
Running Total: 2158 words

[Karin]

She ducked her head, and a lock of hair brushed down over her cheek to hide the grimace as she kicked herself over her stumbling, awkward introduction to the stranger to the settlement. Nevertheless, within a tick or two she brushed the flyaway hair away again and smiled, a thin line of a smile that still just about managed to reach the very eyes that found themselves so scrutinised. It was a genuine thing, but the Svefra was socially rusty, and so it was more puckered than it should have been ordinarily.

"I'm Karin. Mathias didn't tell me anything, nor did he send me." The young woman gestured out to the Veronica. "That was what drew me. It is usually... good to help unloading. Oh, and I have been here since, uhh..." How long had it been, after all? How many days and nights and seasons had she slept and ate and lived and dreamt on these beaches? It seemed little, but then she thought back, and time seemed to slip away like the tide of the Suvan. "Well, that would be mid-Winter."

Winter. What had happened since then? She had seen much, explored much, but even so... There was so very much that still lay out there that she hadn't dared to venture to. For one, the vast, hulking jungle was still somewhat of a mystery to her. There were the strange goings-on of the season and the season before, that made her think something else was going on in this little corner of Mizahar. After all, Alvadas has its god Ionu to cause mischief, and Riverfall had its magicians. What did Syka have that made it so volatile? Karin was temporarily sidelined by this tiny realisation. But the thought was left behind as quickly as she had discovered it, and she gazed out over the man's belongings.

They lay on the floor in an unarranged pattern, exuding an air of bulkiness and heaviness that seemed to fit the image of the muscled man that they belonged to. However... "Well, where would you like to set up your tent? There's plenty of space, as you can see. I don't suppose any of the Founders would mind where you go. Especially as you have a tent. That's portable, right? You could just move if they asked you." On a second thought, she chimed in, "I've never had any problem, out where I live." The Svefra pointed and shaded her eyes, directing Caele's attention out to the speck of her meagre abode in the distance. "I don't think anyone would steal your belongings. Do you want to walk through the settlement and see where you want to live?"

She hoped he would agree to her proposition. This was half because she didn't enjoy the prospect of lugging heavy equipment and luggage around on a hot, Summer's day, especially over the difficult terrain of the beach. But it was also because it was what she had done. It would have been foolish, she had thought, to simply pitch up in the very first place to set down. Besides, there was something about Caele that perhaps didn't so much strike a chord with her, but put her at ease. Despite his browny eyes, that she had taken glances at out of habit, he seemed very Svefra-like. Maybe it was down to his bare chest, a frequent sight amongst any Svefra man she had ever seen, or more likely down to his windswept, blonde hair. She automatically felt more comfortable with someone like that, even if his eyes betrayed the unlikeliness of that particular heritage.

So she waited not so patiently for his answer. No matter what he said, she would follow. But if he agreed with her proposition, the young woman would immediately begin to set off, hopping down and striding across the beach in the direction of the Mercantile and the most populated section of the settlement. It wouldn't do for the man to decide to pitch his tent near her after all, even if it was only a temporary thing. There was a good reason she chose to live further from the rest, and that was down to her own wishes for seclusion.

Word count: 702

[Caele Smokesend]

”Oh” Caele said looking a bit surprised when the blonde woman told him that Mathias hadn’t sent for her to help him. Then he smiled as she explained why she was here on this part of the beach. Just like most of the people living here it seemed to the newcomer. James had told him that it is quite an event here when he arrives with the Veronica. Since there was no pier, few other bigger ships would come here, the blacksmith guessed.

“Winter! That’s not long but if I understood Captain James right this place hasn’t been inhabited for very long either.” He paused for a few moments before continuing. “ How is winter here? A lot cooler than this?” He held out his arms to his sides as if feeling the hot air surrounding him. Kenash could be quite hot and humid in the summer but this was even more so. The ex-slave loved the feeling. Heat had always been his element either because he had spent so much time during upbringing in a smithy or just because he had always preferred the heat above the cold. Not that he had ever felt true coldness weatherwise. He had no real concept of snow and ice, even if he had heard the words mentioned and described a few times.

Caele noticed that Karin looked at his belongings that were gathered a bit haphazardly behind him and then asked him where he would like to set up his tent. He looked around again, following her directions when she pointed out where she had her living quarters. It was far away so the half-blooded man wasn’t sure what kind of quarters that was. “Do you have a tent as well or have you built something more permanent, Karin?” He asked. “I heard one of the Founders is a good carpenter who helps with construction work in return for favors.” He turned to look at some of the buildings that had already been erected close by.

He wasn’t sure where he wanted to set up his tent. He wasn’t used to this kind of freedom, so many choices without restrictions. Only his own common sense and sometimes he had doubts if it was good enough. He didn’t want to be too far away from where the main action was, whatever the main action here was. But then he thought about his work as a smith. It included quite a few elements that might be disturbing to neighbours, especially the banging of sledgehammer against metal. Then the heat from the forge, but he didn’t think that would be a major problem as long as he could keep it safe from spreading.

As the young woman suggested showing him around and looking for a place where he could set up his tent he nodded affirmative . “Sure. I guess no one will be able to carry these things very far anyway. I can’t.”
Karin immediately started walking in the direction of some of the more clustered buildings, if clusters even could be a thing at this secluded place. Caele looked around at his things one last time before joining his guide.
“Is there anyone owning a small cart or similar that would make transportation of heavy stuff easier? I mean I would pay to use it of course.” He asked as they walked next to each other.

WordcountWords: 562
Running Total: 4818 words