Sunset at Sunberth (Closed: Zand/Kale)

[Kale Sordonis]

Timestamp: Spring 15th, of 512 A.V.

A stiff breeze rolled in from the sea, carrying with it the salty spray left over from crashing waves. The salt was a pleasant smell to the man standing at the edge of the water. It was a lot better than the stench coming from Sunberth. On top of being a hub for the scum and villainy in this region, the smells it produced were sometimes downright repulsive. It made concentrating on one’s work a difficult task. The tasks this man needed to focus on could very easily backfire on him, too. Pouring molten iron was dangerous for someone who was absent-minded. Letting his head lean back, the man let a soft sigh escape his lips. “Kale, what a life you have created for yourself.”

Lapping at his feet, the water from the sea was both calming and annoying. The longer he stayed at the edge of the sea, the more the water called to him, to relax, to stay. Stay he could not, however. There was too much work to be done, and the sea simply would not stop him. Not today. Not ever. Albeit Kale enjoyed the sound of the waves, the trip from his tent had not been made to stand out here and gawk at the waves, it had been made to collect sand to make more molds for his crafting. Every time he used a sand mold, it became useless. The shaping was ruined when the iron was removed. Not to mention that the slag mixed into the sand ruined any further attempt to use that particular batch again. Imperfections would be created, and he simply would not have that. Logically, that meant he required a lot of sand. So every now and again, he would pack up his precious belongings and hike to the seashore to collect more of the grainy stuff.

Taking his backpack off of his shoulders, the young man pulled from it his blanket. He laid it out on the ground, and then began to pile handfuls of sand on it. Every now and again he would have to pick small rocks from it, or a twig, but the sand here was fine and soft. After filling the space available on the blanket, Kale sat back on the sand and sighed. He needed a day to relax, but he simply wouldn't allow himself the pleasure. Rest and relaxation was for the weak. Trying to stand up again, the man couldn't seem to find the will to make his legs move. In fact, his body seemed to disobey him entirely, and he soon found himself laying flat on his back, enjoying the breeze. In his head there was complete chaos. He was screaming at himself to get up, but ever so slowly the voice grew quieter and quieter. Soon there was silence. Calm washed over Kale like the waves washed over the sand at his feet. Inner peace, although it was unwelcome, had been obtained.

It felt like hours had passed. The light was coming from a different direction now, and when the young man opened his eyes again, there was a figure off in the distance making its way towards him. Instantaneously his mind went into overdrive. Faster than he thought was possible, Kale was on his feet, scrambling to gather up his possessions. The corners of the blanket were pulled shut, and the backpack had been thrown back onto his back. Just as he was about to leave however, a sudden realization hit him. He was too weak to move the sand-blanket. So much sand had been loaded into it that he simply didn't have the strength to move the blasted thing. Try as he might, it wouldn't budge. Great, Kale thought to himself, now whoever this is will try to shake me down for my belongings, and I will lose my clock to some ruffian.

Why oh why had he never learned combat?

[Zandelia]

Zandelia was outside the battered walls of the city of Sunberth for the third time in as many days now, roaming the grasslands and enjoying the cool salty breezes that whipped up from the sea’s edges and flowed across the mostly flat landscape. She enjoyed the way that it disturbed naught but the bladed grass beneath her feet, its refreshingly tangy aroma. It spoke of hearty health and freedom, of a journey that could only be made for the better. She had often thought of crossing the sea, cresting the waves upon some vessel with the unknown in front of her and her troubles behind her once and for all. It was a fanciful delusion, she knew, but it did little harm to indulge in its pleasurable aura from time to time. She knew, more than most she assumed, just how one’s troubles always followed closely behind – if not on top of you.

No, my troubles will not fade. Some of them I will carry forever, others will only cease to be when certain figures lay at my feet. Until then, I can only dream a fool’s dream she thought as her practiced eye scoured the surroundings.

She was not on a personal errand this day after all, but a practical visit that could spell either advantage or disappointment. With the building work within the walls of Sunberth reaching record rates there was a pressing need for raw materials. It was all too expensive to purchase them from merchants, their prices now driven up by the gold bleeding concepts of supply and demand. No, the Crimson Edge had been quick to note it was more profitable to find natural resources to mine, cut and snatch – they were overwhelmingly free after all, just so long as you were quick and strong enough to obtain them. In that they were possessed of an advantage over other groups taking part in the redevelopment programs. The Crimson Edge was small, mobile and quick to change avenues of enterprise if needs be, adaptive and sleek in comparison to the larger organizations who preferred to pay merchants as it held less effort.

“Besides the fact they can merely browbeat them into cheaper prices anyway” she muttered to herself as she walked towards yet another collection of trees, not quite a forest but near enough to be a possible source of fresh lumber, and lumber was what they sorely needed to gain.

As she entered its shaded region she felt a smile cross her lips, her keen investigative skills already seeming to pay off for her new family. She had done much to further their credit balance, bringing in details of exactly where they could gain what they needed, and all it would take was effort and time. Time was a luxury they had little maneuver to fritter away, but the effort was all encompassing to be sure. No, as she weaved her way through the trees to find that it was at least 15 bark-covered constructs thick from edge to the rough approximation she gave to it center, she knew it to be a valuable find. She now needed only to say the word to Mok and he would take their prospects for entry to where she stood now and fell as many as they could do in a day. He had done as much once before already and it had allowed their coffers to stretch that much farther.

“Purse watching, I never thought I would be doing that any time soon, and on such a grand scale. Things are looking up indeed” she told herself as she left the small wooded region behind and began to make her way back to the city proper. She had looked into three possibilities this day but the last had been the most beneficial and so she knew they would star with that first, then move on to weaker targets.

First to the land gets claim to the land she reiterated the philosophy of many an entrepreneur as she crested a hill and saw, much to her surprise, a young man filling a large section of cloth with what looked like sand.

It was a very strange sight to behold and one which gave her pause to investigate. She crouched down upon the ground and held her gaze to him with some intrigue. From her current distance she could see no real details but could guess from his figure that he was perhaps a half-decade younger than she. His lithe form spelled one whom was strong and stable, however his warrior’s physique was not matched by any armor or weaponry that she could observe. It could, of course, have been hidden from her view but something about the way he moved told her he was not a fighter by nature. Still she watched, his task done and sand collected, as he lay down upon the ground as if there were not a care in the world and….went to sleep?

“What the bloody petch is he up to?” she muttered to herself suspiciously, her fingers tracing upon her chin as she considered her options.

It took her a small while, her gaze searching the immediate ar3ea around him for any signs of danger first. She found none and concluded it was unlikely to be any form of trap, though the intelligencer did not rule out the possibility in her mind – no matter how unlikely it seemed from the outside. After a while, his form still motionless, her curiosity got the better of her and she began to make her way down towards him, taking her time and still surveying the surroundings, ready to run if needs be. It was as she neared him that he awoke and, in a panic it seemed, began tugging at the blanket and trying to get away.

“Whoa, calm down man! I only came over to see what the hell was going on. It’s not every day you see someone gathering sand and sleeping at the sea’s edge after all” she spoke up, her voice elevated to reach him.

She made her way closer, her arms clearly to her side so as to try and manipulate his feelings into staying his ideas of flight, at least until she had gained something useful about his activities – everything had a price after all.