[University Library] A History Between the Lines

[Chaelnomyl]

Continued from here

While the clerk at the desk was gone, Chaelnomyl glanced back at Dranquay. Her brother had been so silent she was almost mildly surprised to see him there…. If of course she had not known more about her brother and his intent to follow her endeavors. At least they shared some form of commonality. Dranquay’s entire life though, seemed to be based around solving this mystery while Chael’s was more a drive of wanting to know in order to complete the puzzle. The history of the Akvatari seemed to be like a jumbled up, hundreds and hundreds piece puzzle all sitting haphazardly in a box or possibly scattered around the table, tossed onto the floor and one of them might have been chewed on by the local canine. In simpler terms – all the pieces were likely there, but finding them all seemed to be the true conundrum.

A few moments later, the man returned with a librarian named Miss Zwida, who started down the corridor towards the door. Chaelnomyl followed after a moment’s brief pause and a half glance to her brother, but did not wait for him to come along before turning back to Miss Zwida. No smile was on the Akvatari’s face, though the tone of her voice gave a distant cry to the pleasantry she found in having someone to guide them around.

”That I am – rather, we are, I suppose.” Chaelnomyl eventually replied, ”I am called Chaelnomyl, and this is my brother, Dranquay, Miss Zwida. I appreciate your willingness to assist us.”

As they continued to flutter along, the female Akvatari got to the question that had been posed – ”Well, I am unsure as to what information you may possess in your library. I am particularly interested in as early of a history after the Valterrian as is possible, though I doubt much exists on it. I have heard brief tales of accounts that are not considered valid, though they may still be worth a read. I am seeking the roots and origins of our race…” – Was that a small coy smile playing on her lips? No, surely not. A quick narrow of her eyes, perhaps, but an expression? No, definitely nothing of the sort. ”I suppose one might venture that it is the best kept secret from its own people… I have decided to see what can be done about breaking through that secrecy, and thus, am chiefly seeking somewhere in which such a task could be started.”

The saddest part about the entire thing was that even their own race could not teach its children their history - no one remembered. Maybe no one had wanted to remember. They were widely regarded as simply existing but that was just not good enough for Chael's active mind.... she always wanted to know more, despite how it might depress her. Ignorance was bliss and knowledge was expontentially related to how utterly depressing the world could be... but it was better to know and to resign one's self to painting the pitiful state of things than to be blissfully unaware of the truth. A truth she eventually hoped to find. This library? That was only a beginning to a journey Chaelnomyl was fully aware would take her an immense amount of time. But, like she had decided that night with the strange creature, Akuasyun, perhaps it was time to stop waiting for their creator to talk to them and start actively making moves to shout back. Not that the Akvatari shouted, but in comparison to their silence for the past five hundred years... even the smallest pin drop would likely be seen as something monumental in the grand scheme of things. It didn't matter. All she wanted to do was to finally know the truth, even if it infinitely depressed her and tore her brother's life-purpose completely apart.

[Dranquay]

So introduced, Dranquay bowed his head with a slight smile that hinted almost at amused recognition given the Akvatari had been here before and he suspected Miss Zwida had at least heard of his occasional visitations even if they had never met in person… Akvatari were not that common after all, let alone magic-practitioning Akvatari who visited the library with the frequency he had.

None the less he allowed his sister to finish before spoiling her interest, placing two fingertips on her shoulder to forestall her once she had done so, green eyes looking past to the librarian as he spoke with his low, thoughtful tone.

“If it is not too much trouble my sister should probably start with the Codex of Xalz, for all it’s…controversy.” His expression on it was difficult to decipher but there was scepticism somewhere in it, although if that was at the controversy or at the Codex itself was left untainted. “If you had additional time I also have recently common across a Pre-Velterrian book from the area of my people that I have been having some trouble with, if you are interested I would be glad to have your assistance with it whilst my sister looks over the Codex? I myself have reviewed it before.”

He turned to Chael at this point, his expression not…apologetic, not really, just more sorry…but then here interest had been much more recent than his own.

“I did not say because I want your opinion without my prejudices.” He explained simply to her as he waited for the librarians response, one hand still clasped over his leather satchel as the other slipped from his sister’s shoulder down to his side. It would be interesting to stay alongside Chael as she read the Codex though since he had not reviewed it in many, many years…and perhaps the librarian’s interpretation of The Diary of Valisar might shed some light on the parts he was having difficulty with.

[Liminal]

Miss Zwida looked from Chael to Dranquay, sensing that there was some kind of dynamic at play that she didn't fully understand. Nonetheless, she nodded. "I'll retrieve the Codex, and I'll be happy to look at your text while the lady reads. If you'll have a seat at this table, I'll be back in a moment."

True to her word, in five minutes or so, Miss Zwida returned. She was carrying a book, originally leather-bound, that had clearly seen better days. She set it on the table in front of Chaelnomyl.

"The...controversy to which your friend referred," she said, "concerns the authenticity of the document. The author styles himself Coldai Xalz, and claims to be a survivor of the Valterrian. The document states that it was composed in 29 or 30 AV. However, there is no other historical mention of Coldai Xalz, and for that matter, no mention of the Codex itself until a library inventory in 386 AV. Due to discrepancies between the work and other histories, as well as the style of binding and the writing, the scholarly consensus holds that the Codex is almost certainly a forgery, and probably no earlier than the mid-2nd century AV. It's not a universally-held consensus, but it's a strong one."

She waved a finger at the book. "As you can see, it's damaged. It's missing pages at the beginning -- it's impossible to say how many -- and what appears to be three sheets in the middle. It was in this condition at the original inventory, so there's no record of what might have been on the other pages." Unless Chael had any more questions, Miss Zwida would then leave the woman to her reading. Turning to Dranquay, she asked, "What sort of document is it that you would like me to review?"

*****

The pages would turn with surprising ease beneath Chael's fingers. The volume was slim, and the writer had left wide margins.

...harbor in Mizahar. But this was a regular part of my travels. Simply because I was a man of Suva did not prevent me from traveling widely. Though the Suvans and the Alaheans were both loathe to admit it, they needed traders, and so the embargo was never truly enforced on either side. The guards required some bribing, but it was quite reasonable, as their superiors would frown heavily on informal tariffs sufficient to truly impact the flow of commerce.

However, moving across the mountains, even in the best weather, was beginning to require more logistical expertise than I wished to employ. And so, in the fifth year before the disaster, shortly after my fortieth birthday, I sold all of my wagons, caravans, and supplies, and used the proceeds to purchase a seagoing vessel.

There was no point in purchasing it from anyone other than the Zeltivans. Years and decades of having the Royal Navy of Alahea headquartered in their city had made them the unsurpassed masters of the craft of boatbuilding. I waited six months in the city, reading books by Caurter or Marie Sendlant, and counting the days until my vessel would be finished. News of the ongoing war filtered in, but the Navy censored information heavily, and it was difficult to tell what was true, though we had the sense that the Alahean Empire was straining.

Near the beginning of winter, just before the watchtower changed, the ship was finished. It held a crew of twenty, and the cargo hold was as spacious as possible in a boat of that description. I recruited sailors and set off fifteen days later. Because the weather had turned unpleasant, we sailed not northward toward the mines and the industrial centers, but southward, hoping for fairer seas. Hence, our first trip brought us, as our first port of call, to Sinala.

I think of Sinala often now, three and a half decades later as I lay here, a dying man in a world I often cannot recognize. It seems, in my memory, not to have been of this world at all. The spires, the towers, the great and wondrous ampitheatres, all carved of white marble and adorned with coral! It was on the western coast of an island called Aqwittah, which had the most moderate temperatures in the entirety of Mizahar. Never cold, never hot, but always a paradisiacal perfection. Perhaps that is why it is gone now. The gods no longer grant us perfection.

We were greeted warmly by the Aalsi. They had lived on the island for centuries, developing their society to its highest pinnacle. They wore shimmering robes of white, against which the long hair favored by both men and women stood out strikingly. Unique among the races I ever knew, they were winged, with a pair of such appendages springing from their backs. Also, they were renowned as the finest pearl-divers and spear-fishers, due to their affinity for the water. It was indeed as if the sea itself and the infinite sky had both stood watch over their cradle.

I would return there again, four more times before the destruction began. Each time, I would stroll by the wharf, and, if I saw any of the Aalsi willing to speak, I would entreat them to tell me of their stories, their land and culture. Often, someone would speak, and I would listen enraptured as the hours slipped away into the evening.

They had, it should be noted, the greatest skill in arts, in crafts, in metallurgy and literature. We traded there not only because of their goodness, but because their work was greatly in demand and fetched high prices in Lisnar or in Suva. I once exchanged a gold figurine of Cheva for a country estate, simply because the woman had such a desire for something of Sinala. This was, however, far to the north, and Lidanette had, I must confess, some fondness for me that may have prompted her to pay me more than the proper value. Although the markets in Suvan, excluding those hampered by the Myrian influence, often were willing to...

It was here that the lacuna occurred. Although the stubs of the pages were visible, all of the writing was gone. It picked up again on the other side, and Chael might notice that the handwriting was growing gradually more shaky.

...during the night. At first sun, he began singing, joined by his wife. Their voices reached to the heavens, so sweet and poignant that all who heard it wept, unable to take themselves away from it. And, so it happened, the singing reached the ears of Nikali herself, who was so charmed , so enthralled, that she returned Volitrix to her parents, ending the curse.

I asked the man if the story told by the frieze was a folktale or an embellished fiction, to which he replied with a most emphatic negative. These events, he insisted, had actually happened, and a few of the older Aalsi could remember when Volitrix and Nikali returned to the Plaza of Tears, which was renamed the Plaza of Reunion thereafter. And the song...the song...

He sang the beginning, low and sad, and as he started, I found myself helpless to interrupt or remark on it. The sound was so pure, so terrifying in its power, that I could not but listen, and listen on. I am no god, but resisting its entreaties would have been beyond my power. Laugh if you will, but I was there.

There for the last time, as it happened. We set sail the next day, planning to return to Lisnar to complete the exchange. Two days in, however, the sky turned the most dreadful black. It was then crossed with fire, and then more fire. And the sound...none of us could say what the sound might have been, but it cried of death, destruction, the end of everything. The waves rose, and we feared for ourselves, but the force of the unnatural storm seemed to be directed at the land.

I cannot tell how long. A day, two days, a year? Time had no meaning during the cataclysm. When it finally ended, we tried to continue northward. The entire coastline seemed to have shifted; our maps were worse than useless, and none of us recognized any landmarks. By simply following the shoreline, we managed to reach Zeltiva, only to find it utterly flattened, save and except for portions of the Eastern City. We abandoned the ship and tried to return home, but I doubt any of us ever found such a place. Alton and I hiked west, spending a full three seasons on foot, only to find that a vast, salty lake stood where our city had once been. It was then, and only then that I wept.

Trade still occurred, even among the broken. Alton and I eventually sailed again, and in the tenth year after the disaster, we returned to Aqwittah. But of Sinala there was no trace, and the vegetation on the island had disappeared, leaving only sand and dull rock behind. We sailed entirely around, looking for the Aalsi, but we saw nothing except the occasional seagull and a pack of seals, off in the distance.

I could write more, had I the time, but my time is gone, and Lhex is waiting. Farewell.

Coldai Xalz

[Chaelnomyl]

Taking a seat was always an odd endeavor, but nevertheless accomplished by the Akvatari after a bit of manipulation of her tail and her elbows coming to rest on the table itself. When Zwida returned with the Codex and began to explain the question of authenticity, Chaelnomyl listened intently and wondered if perhaps it hadn’t shown up because its writer left it in a location in which it was hard to find. Its disappearance and reappearance alone was likely not enough, and neither was the lack of historical mention – maybe he was just a random guy, who kept a journal.

However, Miss Zwida had mentioned a discrpency between the Codex and other histories. That was something to be inquired about. Before the kindly woman turned away to speak with Dranquay, Chael nodded and inquired, ”Miss Zwida, what specific histories hold discrepancies with the Codex’s account? Is there anything specific that holds to being true within it, such as locations and names?”

When the question had been adequately answered, Chael would note them down in her journal – it was normally used for sketching and illustrations, but this was more important, since it was impossible to take the Codex out of that library with her. Regardless of validity, the woman etched down the following notes, making additional scribbles in the margins of her writing whenever something that Miss Zwida had indicated still correlated, or the things that did not respectively:

”Coldai Xalz was a Suvan. He was 45 years old when the Valterrian occurred, and when the journal was written, it appears he was around 75 years of age. A trader by choice, Xalz appears to have foregone mountainous journeys for the ease of the sea, having purchased a vessel from the Zeltivans approximately five years prior to the Valterrian. - He read books by Caurter or Marie Sendlant – who are they? Near the end of Winter, 5 years before the Valterrian, Xalz set sail to the southern regions and came upon a place called Sinala. It had spires, towers, wondrous ampitheatres all carved out of white marble and decorated with coral. Sinala rested on the western coast of an island named Aqwittah. Xalz claims Aqwittah was perfection in temperatures of weather. He also says it is the home of the “Aalsi”, a highly developed group of people that wore white shimmering robes and had long hair for both men and women. He also claims they were winged and had an affinity for water. Ironically, Xalz alludes that the Sea and the Sky themselves stood watch over their cradle… and we claim to be children of such a union. According to Xalz, the Aalsi were renowned artists of crafts, metallurgy and literature. Their art fetched high prices in Lisnar and Suva. He claims to have exchanged a gold figurine of “Cheva” (what is Cheva?) for an entire estate. The woman who made the exchange seems to have been named Lidanette. The estate was somewhere far to the north."

At the frayed pages, Chael touched them lightly and frowned at their missing information. The shaking handwriting was probably because the man had been aging. After all, even the best painter’s hand loses its steadiness when age takes its toll. Her notes continued as the writing picked up again.

”Xalz seems to have been recounting a tale upon a frieze… of song from the Aalsi when the journal continues. He speaks of a man and his wife singing with the sweetest voices that everyone wept and was unable to stop listening. Apparently this even charmed Nikali herself (– I believe she is a goddess?) who returned a woman named Volitrix to her parents, which ended a curse (What curse was this?) Nikali appears to have perhaps stolen Volitrix from her parents at the “Plaza of Tears” (later renamed “Plaza of Reunion” when the child was returned) and returned her upon the singing of the song, which the man who was present with Xalz (?) seemed to know. Coldai implies that it was enchanting, and impossible to resist. Xalz accounts for the Valterrian and says that he was out to sea when it happened. It seems that he claims to have been saved because he was at sea, and that fire crossed fire, a storm raging and directed at the land. He does not know how much time passed and after it was over, claims the land itself had shifted. His crew reached Zeltiva, only to find it almost destroyed (except for the “Eastern City”) He claims that he and Alton hiked west for three seasons, only to find a lake where their city had been. (Suva’s capital city perhaps?) Xalz also claims that Sinala and the Aalsi were gone from Aqwittah when they returned and the vegetation had all but disappeared, leaving only sand and rock behind."

Chaelnomyl paused; attempting to take in everything she had read and looked back over her notes before jotting down some things to investigate.

I seem to recall passing a city named Lisnar on my way out of Abura when I initially left home. Is it another Valterrian survivor like Zeltiva, or has the location shifted since the cataclysm? Is there any other mention of Aqwittah in any literature? The story of Volitirix and Nikali – how would one go about trying to figure out how much of a folktale that might have been? Could Coldai have died at sea off the coast of Akvatar? Surely someone would have found something by now, though… Who or what is Cheva?

Tucking her writing utensils away again, the female Akvatari sat in quiet contemplation, watching to see what her brother’s mysterious book might have revealed, and waiting patiently to discuss any of the valid parts that she might have had questions on with the two other occupants of the table. Even if it was a forgery… wasn’t there always a little truth behind every lie?

[Dranquay]

The Codex of Xalz. Tantalising hints of the history of their people. To Dranquay it was like the ghost of a memory, ragged at the edges and potentially entirely inaccurate but none the less somehow heart quickening to re-read even after all this time.

He did not read it though until he had passed, with gentle reverence, The Diary of Valisar across out of his satchel, putting the book down on another nearby table and explaining it a little to the librarian.

“I acquired this from a travelling merchant who had received it as part-payment for goods.” The Akvatari said simply. “He thought little of it, thus the fact I was able to obtain it given it’s age… the little I have been able to read indicates many references to the arcane and some reference to the old names of Sinala and Aqwittah but the phrasing is complex and at times rambling, so it is difficult to draw inferences outside of those words that have meaning now as then…my reading is unfortunately not as good as I thought it was so your views would be appreciated.” A melancholy smile touched his lips as he prepared to float back over to his sister. “It may be nothing but I considered the references to the islands worth the price and such texts are always of interest, even if not in relation to my people.”

That said and introduction given the Akvatari buzzed back over to hold the back of his sister’s chair and peer over her shoulder at the Codex as she made her notes. He had made his own several times and was impressed to find similar questions; although he had not considered the works of Caurter or Marie Sendlant as relevant as the story of Voltrix and the mystery of the identity of the Gods involved.

“It is an enigma, isn’t it not sister?” Dranquay inquired softly. Despite the inconsistencies the Akvatari held on to the possibility that they could be explained away by the differing location of physical places Post-Velterrian and potentially uncertainity when the author was writing as to where he actually was…but there was also a more interesting question – to Dranquay’s mind – that being why put so much detail into a forgery – if indeed it was that – and to what end?

For a small part of him refused to believe it was just an elaborate joke on such an obscure people as the Akvatari, surely there were better things to forge?

“So many hints to explore – few of which I have managed to tease out. I hold to the hope that there is at least some truth to be gathered.”

[Liminal]

The librarian nodded to Chaelnomyl. "The best and most complete source for our knowledge of Alahea in the century before the Valterrian is the Factual Register of the Empire, a work in six volumes compiled by James Damerilat, Secretary-Executor to the Crown, and completed in 8 BV. It is an exhaustive, almost excessively detailed list of population numbers, troop strength, and defensive fortifications for every settlement of more than fifty people in all of Alahea. A copy of the work was owned by Michael Falconer, a noble of Zeltiva whose home was in the portion of the city not destroyed in the cataclysm. He donated it to the University before his death, and so we are in possession of a complete, pristine copy.

"Every Alahean settlement known from other sources, or discovered by historians and archaeologists of the modern era, no matter how obscure, is listed in Damerilat's work. But he mentions Akvatar, or Aqwittah, only in the section labeled "Navigational Hazards," and lists no settlements on it at all, dismissing it as "uninhabited." For Coldai Xalz to claim that Akvatar was home to a thriving, massive city and a whole race of people places him in direct conflict with a source whose accuracy has been proven at every turn. Additionally, the ship Xalz claims to be operating is remarkably small for a Zeltivan vessel of the era; no merchant ship in the surviving Shipyard Logs holds fewer than thirty crewmembers. There are other, smaller discrepancies, as well as issues with the physical document itself, but these are the major ones."

She tilted her head slightly. "As for consistencies, Xalz's description of Zeltiva during the war matches well what other documents say about the situation. He also describes the Valterrian in a way that accords with the other available accounts, and his accounting, though vague, of the eastern seabord post-cataclysm is essentially accurate. Akvatar, or Aqwittah, is mentioned in other sources, though as I mentioned, the nature of the island itself doesn't agree. A few of the other names of people occur in other records."

Leaving Chaelnomyl to the document, Miss Zwida looked intently at Dranquay, and then took the book from him. "Indeed." She turned the first leaf carefully.

After some minutes had passed, she motioned for Dranquay to return. "It's in an odd dialect," she said, "which is why I imagine there was some difficulty in reading it. It's Alahean, southern, probably written by someone in Eyktol who learned the common tongue as a second language, which would explain the strange quirks in the orthography. I'd tentatively place it as second century BV, based on the vocabulary and usage. It's definitely genuine though."

"At any rate, here's a rough translation of the first portion of the work. I haven't smoothed out the syntax or the strange usages, so it reads essentially as it does in the original."

"I am writing this for the purpose of recording my inner journeyings and proper workings into the matter of Leeching. No others have seen the places or the pieces of others that I have, and so I write to dis-enable the forgetting of the techniques. The Djed, the pure Djed, that one takes from another through the medium of arcane exchange is the means by which the mage can develop the skill and mechanism of exceeding.

There are theories, some of which I have taken from the souls of others, that indicate that this process of exchanging to develop one's own inner perfection, is the means by which the gods have self-created themselves. I make no statements regarding the veracity of these ideas, except to say that there are no theoretical objections concerning them.

This is a diary. It is a true diary of transmutation, a record of the manner in which a person has become more than himself through the lessening of the lesser beings. The purification of the pure, the refining of the soul through removing the dross of the Djed and exchanging it for sweetness.

*

I have perfected this process, but one can trace its historical development as limned in texts both... This sentence is unclear; it could mean "from ancient to the most modern, hidden only from the slothful," or "from the ancient times to those hidden from the modern masses because of their sloth."

There are stories we know as myths testifying to the reality of the exchangification process. That of the human Tarinnia, who perfected her techniques until she was a master of all possible arts, while her village compatriots were no longer anything more than brute animals. Or that of the legendary inhabitants of Aqvittaa, whose city of Sinala they built using only the knowledge taken from the minds of those they had purchased for that purpose.

At any eventuality, the first step toward the achievement is to outline, point by point, the exact nature of the divinity one wishes to become inside themselves. Everything must be written, to guard against the accidental forgetting that may come through the corrupt execution of the exchange process. The enemy of the leecher is the imprecision in himself that he is in the very process of excising."

"That's the end of the first section. There appear to be five more, although the fifth is quite short."

Now, she returned to Chaelnomyl's side. "Is there anything else I can help you with, ma'am?" she asked pleasantly.

[Chaelnomyl]

As the Librarian answered her questions, Chael made note that Akvatar, or Aqwittah, was in an area that was considered hazardous to navigate and had no settlements or was listed as uninhabited. Perhaps then, there was truth to some of Aqwittah from Xalz’s work, if only because there was nothing to hold contrary because no one had been silly enough to try and get into the hazardous area and explore for more than a few days at a time. But, Chaelnomyl was not familiar with the geography of the pre-Valterrian world. Had the Island moved, and would it be something that could have affected any ruins or remnants?

Nodding and thanking the woman, she waited quietly while the Librarian pored over Dranquay’s document, failing to comment much on his own statements until she remembered that he had said something of Sinala and Aqwittah in his own book. Miss Zwida confirmed that it was indeed a real before-Valterrian document… and the girl’s interests were once again peaked.

Fluttering over to take a look at the document when Mizz Zwida allowed Dranquay to read her handiwork, Chael peered over her brother’s shoulder and took in what the document had to offer. Leeching, Djed, magic… While all interesting, none of it was the object of her curiosity. And then her eyes read one peculiar line towards the end, just as she had begun to give up that Dranquay hadn’t simply misread a few words when looking at it on his own.

”Or that of the legendary inhabitants of Aqvittaa, whose city of Sinala they built using only the knowledge taken from the minds of those they had purchased for that purpose.”

There was a slightly chilling thought. The Aalsi purchasing people and using this magic the author spoke of to build cities. But he had mentioned Sinala, and the librarian had mentioned Ekytol. Chaelnomyl wasn’t a geography buff but that wasn’t where they were right now, and since the legitimacy of Dranquay’s book had been affirmed by the scholar… she couldn’t help but wonder intently as she fluttered back to her seat.

At length, Chaelnomyl responded to her question, ”I do have one other request Miss, would you be able to show me any comparison of pre-valterrian and post-valterrian maps of the known world? I am curious as to how it has changed, particularly with reference to this island that keeps coming up.”

If the Valterrian accounts were correct, then perhaps the wrath of the Gods had split the world so harshly that pieces of the land actually had sunk into the sea. Perhaps present-day Akvatar was not exactly where Aqwittah had been… And that was why no one had found it. If they could somehow figure out between the two maps the location off the coast, perhaps a bit of diving and exploring would give them more answers…

Once the Librarian had moved on, presumably, to retrieve any maps she would be able to show the Akvatari, Chaelnomyl glanced at Dranquay and mentioned, ”Do you think that, since the author of your book mentions ”Aqvittaa”, which sounds like Aqwittah to me… and Sinala that Xalz’s account might be slightly more valid? Miss Zwida had said that his accounts were wrong of its existence, and yet… your presumed mage-author seems to imply that they were in fact real… If not in the same beauty and light Xalz presented them.”

After a slight pause, she decided to inform her brother of what she was thinking. Without the excitement that any normal person might have had about the idea that a starting place for a great search was coming together, the female Akvatari continued, ”If we can determine the location of the old-world Aqwittah, I think… I think we should see for ourselves whether or not it still exists and is merely at depths no human’s lungs will allow them to reach.”

It was a long shot, but they didn’t have any other good leads, unless Dranquay had something under his fin that he had neglected to share, as of yet.

[Liminal]

Miss Zwida nodded. "I'll be back in one moment."

Before long, she had indeed returned, bearing two scrolls. She spread one out on the table in front of Chaelnomyl.

"This map is best map of the current coastline, including that of Akvatar. It's based on the charts of Kenabelle Wright, augmented by those of Timothy de Octans in the places that Wright didn't map."

After allowing whatever time the Akvatari needed, she unfurled the other scroll. "This one is more tentative, but it's our best guess as to the pre-Valterrian shape of Mizahar, based on Damerilat and some Suvan sources."

The librarian waited to see if there were any more questions or whether the Akvatari wished to study the charts longer before gathering the materials and returning them to their places in the library.

[Chaelnomyl]

Chaelnomyl looked over the two maps side by side for a long time, noting coastline changes. She placed her finger on the island of Akvatar and then looked at the other, pre-Valterrian map. Brow furrowing, the Akvatari’s lips thinned as she traced her finger down the coastline and found no island of Akvatar to match the one on the currently known world.

”Interesting.” Chael commented, and then put her left finger on the island off the coast of present-day Ekytol. Looking up at the librarian for a second, the Akvatari pondered the situation: It appeared that Akvatar was fractured, much like most of the post-Valterrian world, from a central sort of land mass, with the exception of the odd large island at the bottom that Chaelnomyl figured was Sinala. Ekytol now seemed to largely be in the place where that bigger island was after the Valterrian, but there was also a small island called Rockward Island. Xalz had said that when he returned after the Lord of Fire had rearranged their world, all that remained were rock and sand. She wasn’t too familiar with the southern regions, but she figured that something named “rock” whatever would of course contain a lot of rocks. She also was not completely sure, but she thought that Ekytol was a very sandy place.

Perhaps they had been looking in the wrong areas this whole time.

”What is the significance of this island?” Chaelnomyl asked at length, pointing to the post-Valterrian map’s miniature island off of Ekytol’s coast, labeled Rockward Island. The Akvatari was pretty sure this is where she would be headed off next.

Allowing the Librarian to gather her materials and return them to the proper places, Chaelnomyl waited for her to return, fluttered into the air again and inclined her head in the best sort of respect she could and thanked her. ”I am most appreciative of your help, Miss Zwida. Should I discover anything in my journey to find our origins, you can be sure that Zeltiva’s library will be the first to receive the script of it.” It was the least she could do, after all.

If there were to be no more exchanges, Chaelnomyl indicated for her brother to join her – unless he wanted to stay, whichever the fellow Akvatari preferred – and made her way out, considering what would need to be done to head towards the south, through Ekytol, and down to the edge of its coast. If there was anything to be found, it would hopefully be there. And even if that wasn’t the answer, Chael silently hoped there would be another clue at that location.

She was chasing a history that had somehow evaded all evidence of existence in the current world. It was a long shot, but it was as Akuaysun had said: “Could it be that your people have been looking at the map for so long that they have forgotten they already walk a road?” And he was right. Perhaps they had been looking and searching for so long that they completely lost track of where they were and more importantly, where they had come from. The road was lost in light of the map. All directions led to nowhere.

It was time that changed.

[Liminal]

Miss Zwida looked down at the map. "Rockward Island? There's little of significance about it, as far as I know. It's barren of natural resources, and poorly vegetated -- really, it's just rocks and sand. I've never seen it personally, but sources say it looks a lot like the west side of Akvatar, or other, smaller islands in that vicinity.

"It's essentially uninhabited; since it has no springs, no one stops there. The normal trade route up to the Suvan Sea, the one de Octans pioneered on his first voyage to the Faleyk, goes through that strait between the island and the mainland. It's shorter, but you have to make sure you've gauged the weather correctly, because the wind coming through there in a storm is enough to destroy the strongest vessel. It's possible to go around the south side, which is what Wright's expedition did, coming from the west, but it's longer and the waves are higher, so if you run into a storm -- as she did -- it's difficult to manage through without losing cargo, crew, or both.

"De Octans named the island and made the first charts of the coast. But it's not a place with any history or importance attached to it other than what I've mentioned, at least not that I'm aware of."

As Chaelnomyl took her leave, Miss Zwida smiled softly. "You are most welcome, and may the gods speed you on your journey." She then began rolling up the maps to return them to their place in the stacks.