Closed First Steps in a New World

[Delvin Brynmor]

Delvin stepped off the ship on unsteady legs, carrying with him the first bag of luggage. If it had been hard packing his belongings onto the ship in the first place, unpacking them after the nauseating voyage was a great deal worse. The rocking of the ship seemed to persist even after his feet were on dry land, despite there being no signs of any earthquake. Blistering heat and glaring sunlight welcomed him to his new home, doing their part in making his unpacking go tiringly.

After a series of return trips to the vessel, he finally let the last bag drop to the ground with a loud, metallic clang. He winced at the sound, hoping none of his tools were damaged by his carelessly rough handling of them. Father would not have let that go by without a comment, that was for sure. A blacksmith’s tools are his livelihood, and while they were sturdy, he scolded himself for letting exhaustion get the better of him so soon. A brief check of the bag’s contents revealed that there was no lasting damage, to which he let out a sigh of relief.

Standing by his freshly-unloaded bags of supplies, hands on his lower back as he puffed out his chest for a good long stretch, he collected his thoughts. The rocking sensation had ceased, leaving only a dull buzzing in his legs to remind him that he had been aboard an ocean vessel not a bell before. The ocean breeze and newness of it all had been exciting at first, but once the seasickness had kicked in, there was not much left to enjoy. The city boy was glad to once again be standing on firm ground, and the nausea was now merely an unpleasant memory.

Feeling like himself again, his gaze swept out along the coastline of Syka. Vast stretches of beach spread out from horizon to horizon, white sand dazzlingly bright in the sunlight as waves crashed upon the shore. Marveling at the jewel green tones springing up along the entire coast, he was stunned by the massive variety of trees, bushes, vines, and other plants he had never seen before. To Delvin, it was a mystical land of exotic beauty and untold mysteries – and, he was sure, plenty of danger as well.

Sheltered within those boughs and undergrowth, anything could be out there waiting for an easy meal. He knew all too well how easy it was to be exploring one moment and gone the next. If he failed to keep his guard up out there for even a moment, if it just so happened to be the wrong one, nature would show no mercy.

In this land where everything was unfamiliar and each experience was a new one, to survive meant to adapt. It would be his first order of business to find out as much as he could about whatever he could, sticking to the beaches and jungle edge until he knew what to expect within. For now, that meant finding out where he would be settling down and becoming familiar with the way of things in Syka. He glanced around, pondering where and how to start.

[Entropy]

The day was sunny and there was no cloud in the sky. Mathias Okavis wasn't a young man, but he still had a spring in his step especially when it came to fishing in the tropical sun. Normally, he would be drinking and fishing close to the Tidepool bar, but he wanted to try a different fishing hole today. Mixing life up was always good for the soul especially at his age, so even a location away from his favorite fishing spot was a adventure for the white haired man. As he got to the dock, he could feel the sea breeze blowing off the ocean, and the loose white linen shirt and baggy white linen pants moved freely over his chest and legs in the moderate breeze. Smelling the scent of brine on the air, the leader of Syka walked onto the wooden boards of main dock and ventured to the end of dock where a docked ship was unloading passengers and goods.

Walking up Syka's main dock with a fishing pole in one hand and bait and fishing gear in the other hand, Mathias walked to the end of the dock and found a empty spot of the dock away from the sailors, passengers, and cargo. The old man pull out a fishing twine and large fishing weight about the size of his thumb. He tied the line onto the metal eyed drilled into the stone weight. Holding onto the end of the fishing twine, he dropped the weight into the water. Letting the fishing line slowly descend into the water, he stopped feeding the line till the slack fishing was floating on the surface. He picked it up till there was no slack in the line. Holding the line in place, he started to bring up the line in foot increments and started to count with each foot that he brought back to the surface. When he finished his count, it came to twenty feet. Sitting cross legged on the dock, Mathias pulled out his hunting knife from the scabbard on his belt and cut the wet line at twenty feet. The old man looked around and saw a young man who seemed wide eyed at his new surrounding.

Looking at the lad, Mathias noticed that he had his whole life in bags at his feet, so the white haired man waved the young man over to him and said with a smile, “Welcome to Syka, young man. You pick the perfect day to arrive in settlement. The breeze coming off the ocean is quite cool compared to sweltering heat of the jungle. Is there anything that I can help you with? Do you know someone in the settlement?” The old man pulled his eyes away from the young man as he started to tie the fishing line onto his fishing pole, gave the young man another glance, and said with a smile, “My name is Mathias Okavis, and I am one of the founders and so called leader of Syka.” Patting the open spot on the dock next to him with his hand, the founder said with a smile, “You look like you had a long voyage take a seat and relax...”

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[Delvin Brynmor]

Caught up in his gawking, Delvin didn’t notice immediately when Mathias came out to the docks. He started for a moment at the man’s greeting but relaxed quickly when he saw who was addressing him. The man came across as a kindly individual, and the way he smiled seemed genuine and inviting. Fishing gear at the ready, he looked relaxed like he was enjoying himself, welcoming him kindly to his lands without the harsh judgement he had expected.

The founder’s invitation to take a seat by him took the boy by surprise a second time. After all, this man was one of the leaders of Syka. The straightforward casual nature of the gesture brought a smile to his face, and some of his nervousness abated. After another second or two of hesitation, he carefully sat down next to Mathias on the docks, lowering himself onto the wood with caution. It felt strange, sitting like this with the ocean just beneath him, the only thing between him and it being the planks of the dock. Despite his initial misgivings, it felt rather refreshing once he realized the dock was sturdy and he was unlikely to fall off. The sea breeze was rather nice today, though he had no way of telling if it was a nice breeze compared to usual or not.

“Thank you, sir. It’s an honor to meet you, I didn’t expect to encounter a founder so soon upon my arrival. My name is Delvin Brynmor, I came to this settlement from Syliras. And no, unfortunately I don’t know anyone here – at least not yet anyway,” he smiled sheepishly, a bit embarrassed to divulge his admittedly idealistic plans, but once he started his voice grew stronger and more energetic, “I’m a blacksmith, or, well, actually an apprentice blacksmith. I thought to come here and expand my horizons, find a place where my craft can be of some use to people, maybe carve out a place to call my own and improve in. I would very much like to assist the settlement if you will have me.” He stared intently at Mathias, failing to contain his edge of excitement at the prospect of being accepted and starting his new future. He had endless other questions bubbling under the surface, which he restrained with great effort. He had practiced his little speech on the voyage, but at this point he was not sure if he had even said any of it right or if it had come out as intelligible or not. Communication was perhaps not his strong suit, but he hoped that his intentions made it through to Mathias.