Solo Race to Greatness

[Julius Starr]

10th Day of Winter, 513 AV 15th Bell, Springwater Square Syna was out in full this afternoon, yet Julius' breath still frosted in the air as he expelled it out. He wondered if this was the compromise to allow Morwen to visit the city each year. He imagined the two goddesses sitting down at some table, negotiating terms for each Winter season. Each goddess would be far apart when they began; Morwen would request to bury the mountain under her snow, so whenever she visited it would feel like her home in Avanthal, and Syna would request that no cold touch her people. Negotiations would last a minute, a season; Julius was never sure when it came to the gods. Today was one of those examples of a season long negotiation as Julius wandered Springwater Square. The entire season had been a marathon of rain and snow, courtesy of Morwen herself. Syna had provided no relief to the misery, hidden behind the precipitation that never seemed to cease. She finally made some ground in the haggling, though, and fine made her appearance to her people. Morwen still has the upper-hand, though, Julius thought glumly as he pulled his cloak closer around his body. This brief escape, though, had bolstered the city's morale, this new-found confidence sending them out to the streets in large. Julius himself had grown weary of the monotonous schedule his life had become due to the weather, thus he joined the masses in their search for rejuvenation. The entertainers of the city, sensing the mood of the citizens, had arrived in mass as well, hoping to provide this relief. In his short time walking the square, Julius had already seen two buskers, one juggler, and a man who used own his skill in rhetoric and word-play to send the crowd into fits of laughter. With all of them, Julius watched and listened in silent appreciation, but made no move to drop his coins in their bowls and hats, most of which were already bulging with the generosity of other Lhavitians. The crowd was large, yet navigable, with lanes that opened and closed depending on the movement of the people. The vicinity around the namesake fountain, for example, was sparsely crowded compared to the outskirts of the square where the entertainers had placed themselves. It made sense to Julius as he made his way over to the ever-flowing water; to a foreigner, this monument was a sight to see. For a born and bred Lhavitian, though, the fountain was just another part of their beautiful existence. Plus, no one really wanted to be around the water, not after the weather they had been facing since the change of season. Oh, a few people found the fountain a nice place to spend their afternoon. A young couple sat on the stone rim of the monument, hands intertwined and bodies pressed together. Elsewhere, a hawker stood alongside a man robed in a bright blue robe, discussing the day while watching the fountain intently; Julius took the latter man as one of the mages assigned to the upkeep of the fountain. On the far end, an elderly woman dropped a few coins into the pool, sinking to the bottom as she lifted her prayers or wishes simultaneously upward. These people all had a reason for their presence around the fountain, be it love, duty, or faith; Julius really didn’t have a reason for his own arrival, though, unless boredom was acceptable alongside those others. Julius was still looking at the fountain when he felt a body crash into his back. Suddenly, the stone ground was coming up fast. Julius put his hands out before him to catch himself, which sent a jolt of pain through them was he landed. Thankfully, they held his weight, so the scrapes were on his palms, not on his face. He looked up just in time to see a second figure racing after the first, who was far ahead. Even from here, he could see that the man had hit him was wearing sandals. Was he a thief being chased by a victim? Or was he just some crazy man who annoyed the wrong Lhavitian? He certainly had to be crazy to wear sandals in winter, but . . . By this point, the first person had reached the fountain; he was there to greet the second man when he arrived with an open palm and a throaty laugh, coupled with a few curses from the loser. Of course, this did nothing to help Julius in his confusion, so he looked around. Behind him stood a small group of men, muttering in low voices and glancing in his direction. More like past his direction, at the men behind him, though one of them seemed to be staring him down. They would know what was going on. Thus Julius rose, albeit slowly, and moved towards these men to find the answers to this strange occurrence.