1st of Winter, 520 A.V.
Syka was almost a straight shot Northeast from Taloba. But like all things in the Jungle Wilds, there was no straight pathway, no road, and certainly no easily navigated stream. Parties moving between the two cities had to go overland to the sea and sail up the coast or cut a virgin path through the forest that took seasons of hard travel. The jungle wasn't forgiving, and truthfully growing wings out of the blue and flying would be a far superior way to bridge the gap between the two settlements.
When Jei had left those years ago, he had meant to only report in and return. But life was never as easy as one suspected and things came up, time passed, issues were dealt with, and suddenly instead of a couple of seasons, years had swirled past as the world turned beneath their feet.
When a trip northeast had finally been planned and initiated, none of those making the trip knew what awaited them on the other side. It could have been a vast empty settlement that had thrived for only a brief time and not even worth a brief note in the history of Falyndar. It could have been a booming metropolis with streets laid out in neat rows and more businesses than people needed filled with luxury goods.
Instead, it was a happy medium. There were a few more docks out into the sea now than the single large one strong enough and in deep enough water to tie up Syka's own Veronica. There were a few more structures, more geared towards communal living than individual survival. The settlement looked rich in manpower and yet still conservative in the fact that they hadn't stolen too much of the jungle but instead lived within it.
There was even touches of Gods here and there in the form of a beautiful monument to Kihala and a sacred bronzed statue of a parrot to the demigod of birds. The settlement indeed wasn't the same place Jei had left, but it wasn't unrecognizable either. There was, however, an unmistakable aura of power about it. Something here had garnered the attention of the Gods. It was a familiar feeling to someone from Taloba whom Myri lived among. It wasn't her feeling - the steadfast strength and prowess everyone got from rubbing elbows and walking among her shadow. But there was a sense of creativity here and a wonder that lingered on the tip of one's tongue because there were secrets and forgotten lore that littered the jungle here that even the folks of Taloba remembered.
The new had been built on the old, and the old had been something the oldest stories of the time before the rending spoke of with extreme caution. There were things here that were not of Mizahar, but were from elsewhere. There were dangerous things here, forbidden magics, and a structure... a structure only hinted at, that served as a gate between worlds.
It was one of the reasons Taloba was interested in Syka. They practiced mindfulness because they never wanted a situation where a city emerged beneath their very noses housing their oldest enemies like Zinrah was. They wanted to make sure the Dhani hadn't gotten a foothold here either. Recon and Intel were important. The Myrian had learned this the hard way, this plus a healthy sense of curiosity had kept their civilization alive.
And so it was the Jei and his party approached Syka, found a place to tie up at the dock, and found The Syka Common's well-populated by a group of people dyeing leather partially using the communal kitchens and partially using the Commons lead by one of the Founders who had wanted to get the stinky business out of the way. The Rangers, as it were, all were dying new leathers to blend into the jungles with and treating long oilskin slickers with the oil that needed to be permeated into the oilskin to render it waterproof for those traveling the jungle. Dye Day in Syka was one of the stinkiest things known to man, thus it was that it was done all at once, in very large batches, and cured quickly so the impact to everyone's olfactory organs would be a minimum.
.
Syka was almost a straight shot Northeast from Taloba. But like all things in the Jungle Wilds, there was no straight pathway, no road, and certainly no easily navigated stream. Parties moving between the two cities had to go overland to the sea and sail up the coast or cut a virgin path through the forest that took seasons of hard travel. The jungle wasn't forgiving, and truthfully growing wings out of the blue and flying would be a far superior way to bridge the gap between the two settlements.
When Jei had left those years ago, he had meant to only report in and return. But life was never as easy as one suspected and things came up, time passed, issues were dealt with, and suddenly instead of a couple of seasons, years had swirled past as the world turned beneath their feet.
When a trip northeast had finally been planned and initiated, none of those making the trip knew what awaited them on the other side. It could have been a vast empty settlement that had thrived for only a brief time and not even worth a brief note in the history of Falyndar. It could have been a booming metropolis with streets laid out in neat rows and more businesses than people needed filled with luxury goods.
Instead, it was a happy medium. There were a few more docks out into the sea now than the single large one strong enough and in deep enough water to tie up Syka's own Veronica. There were a few more structures, more geared towards communal living than individual survival. The settlement looked rich in manpower and yet still conservative in the fact that they hadn't stolen too much of the jungle but instead lived within it.
There was even touches of Gods here and there in the form of a beautiful monument to Kihala and a sacred bronzed statue of a parrot to the demigod of birds. The settlement indeed wasn't the same place Jei had left, but it wasn't unrecognizable either. There was, however, an unmistakable aura of power about it. Something here had garnered the attention of the Gods. It was a familiar feeling to someone from Taloba whom Myri lived among. It wasn't her feeling - the steadfast strength and prowess everyone got from rubbing elbows and walking among her shadow. But there was a sense of creativity here and a wonder that lingered on the tip of one's tongue because there were secrets and forgotten lore that littered the jungle here that even the folks of Taloba remembered.
The new had been built on the old, and the old had been something the oldest stories of the time before the rending spoke of with extreme caution. There were things here that were not of Mizahar, but were from elsewhere. There were dangerous things here, forbidden magics, and a structure... a structure only hinted at, that served as a gate between worlds.
It was one of the reasons Taloba was interested in Syka. They practiced mindfulness because they never wanted a situation where a city emerged beneath their very noses housing their oldest enemies like Zinrah was. They wanted to make sure the Dhani hadn't gotten a foothold here either. Recon and Intel were important. The Myrian had learned this the hard way, this plus a healthy sense of curiosity had kept their civilization alive.
And so it was the Jei and his party approached Syka, found a place to tie up at the dock, and found The Syka Common's well-populated by a group of people dyeing leather partially using the communal kitchens and partially using the Commons lead by one of the Founders who had wanted to get the stinky business out of the way. The Rangers, as it were, all were dying new leathers to blend into the jungles with and treating long oilskin slickers with the oil that needed to be permeated into the oilskin to render it waterproof for those traveling the jungle. Dye Day in Syka was one of the stinkiest things known to man, thus it was that it was done all at once, in very large batches, and cured quickly so the impact to everyone's olfactory organs would be a minimum.
.
