16th of Fall, 494 AV
"Tell me about Zeltiva. I've been telling you all about Ravok these last few day." Rael chewed his lip nervously. The older boy still seemed a bit intimidating, being quite a bit older than him. Still, he had been told to be friendly.
"Zeltiva's… different? It's really cold in winter, really really cold. We'd sometimes call the wind "The Bonesnapper", because.. it so cold it can.. snap.. bone?" He trailed off, realizing he never really understood why it was called that. "Um, there's not a lot of food sometimes. There's a lot of fish, but that's it. And kelp. But kelp is gross, especially when it's in beer." Aren stared at him, and Rael quickly revised his statement, realizing how stupid it must sound to the Ravokian. "I mean, I've never tried it, but even the smell is ugh. And I don't know if there's actually kelp in there, or it it's just the name."
He was talking nonsense, but Aren didn't seem to mind. "Go on. I'm just curious. I've never been outside of Ravok." For a moment, his voice sounded slightly wistful.
"There's the Old Quarter, which my mother said was there before the Valterrian." He smiled a little then, proud he could say the word without stuttering. "Most of it is the University. They teach a lot of stuff, but only for older people." Aren nodded in understanding.
"So it's like the Institute of Higher Learning here. Have I shown you their building?" Rael shook his head. "Come on then. It's in the middle of the city."
As they walked, Aren alternated between pointing out landmarks and asking more about Zeltiva. Rael was telling him about the Svefra when his companion suddenly shushed him, and stood up straighter, staring across the road. Confused, Rael followed his gaze, and gasped softly. Striding down the road was a black armored man. He was tall, handsome, and confident. With his cloak fluttering behind him, and his helmet under his arm, the man made an imposing sight.
The man turned to glance at them, and Rael saw that one eye was entirely white. Beside him, Aren straightened up even more, if that was even possible. Around them, people were glancing at the man, smiling at him, nodding respectfully. When he was gone, Rael turned, confused.
"What was that? Who was that man? Why was everyone looking at him like that?" Aren grinned widely, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder.
"That, my friend, was a paladin. One of the higher ranking members of the Ebonstryfe." His eyes widened. He had heard about the Ebonstryfe, but hadn't expected… he wasn't sure what he had expected. "You can tell from the eyes. You saw it, right? The paladins have one white eye, and the leaders have both of them white. They say it's a gift, from Rhysol."
Rael glanced back, but the paladin was out of sight. "Well, we certainly don't have anything like that in Zeltiva." His friend chuckled softly.
"Well, you're staying here. You'll be seeing them a lot." For some reason, that made him smile.
"I hope so."