Lore of Masonry- King Nickel's Lament

With the siege of our home, and the scourging of the Mason kingdom, I fear that knowledge of our history might be lost. And you, my little angel, may never know where we came from. So I will write down the tales I know, and collect them here so you, and any other Melders that survive, will not lose our identity. So that you can remember what it was that made us proud among the people.

I don't know how our special traits will carry through the next generations, or whether you'll understand the amazing feats of our ancestors. But perhaps you will still gain insight into us, and into yourself as you learn these stories.

-Ibaine, 4th child of King Smyte & High Educator of Masonry City

Long, long ago in the Melder hills, there was an elder by the name of Nikel. Fair-minded and long lived, he commanded much respect from the other clan chiefs. But over time he grew very complacent and disinterested, finding his only solace and joy in strumming the metal strains of metal in the hils and making them sing. Nikel married a beautiful woman from one of the great clans named Mica. She was rich and beautiful, and it is said her voice sang like the sweet metals of the earth, enchanting everyone around her. He was enchanted by her beautiful singing and charm, marrying her without any reservations. Over the years he treasured her, keeping her in the finest manner possible and parading her about, as men often do with their lovely wives. She was the only thing he took pride in, the only thing he truly cherished.

She liked to wander to the river on boring days, plucking flowers, melding them until they shimmered with silver and gold and singing beautifully to catch the attention of anyone around.

One day, a young man was passing by and noticed the lovely woman among the foliage, and introduced himself. Irid was son of the Silverhill clan, and was equal to her in beauty. They enjoyed each others company so much that they vowed to meet again, and did so frequently. Whenever Mica grew bored, she would go to the copse by the river and call to him across the currents until he came. They continued in this way for many months, with Nikel none the wiser. They probably would have spent years like this, if not for the annual Meeting On The Commons.

The Melder clans all came together that spring, to celebrate surviving another year and allow the elders to bestow approval on the Youngest. It just so happened that the young man in question was a Youngest, a last son of Silverhill.

Nikel escorted Mica as he went down the line of Youngests being presented. Mica, being older and experienced at hiding her thoughts, tried not to pay Irid any notice. Irid, on the other hand, was quite distressed to see her on the arm of the Eldest (and being shunned by his lover). So distressed was this youngest that he took no care in guarding his thoughts, sending them bouncing around the Common to be received by everyone.

Nikel became furious, heart-broken by the evidence of betrayal. But he could not tell where the thought had come from (being unfamiliar with the mind that sent it) and so, with no other recourse, turned his fury on the wife who had humiliated and broken him. Irid jumped forward, intent on protecting the woman he loved, and called his clansmen to defend her so they could escape in the chaos.

Nikel's complacency was broken though. He demanded the two offenders be brought back for reprisals. But when the Silverhills refused, Nikel declared himself Eldest Of Us and ruler of the clans, rallying the other elders and declaring war on the Silverhills.

The war lasted almost a decade, tearing apart the Melder hills and clans until the trees were uprooted from the earth and the mines ran with more than just gold and silver.

In the last days, Nikel had become reclusive and depressed. Robbed of his greatest treasure, he cared little for the disaster that had befallen his country. One day he simply wandered out of his camp of war and never returned.

Without its raging leader, the war faded out, and there was a period of strife before Platin of the Goldenhill clan became Eldest of Us and united the clans once again, this time in peace. But no one ever learned what happened to Nickel.

Some thought Irid and his clansmen killed him, happening upon the addled king as he stumbled through the woods. Others thought perhaps he suffered from Meld-poisoning and it finally took it's toll. Or perhaps he simply hid himself away in a cavern to play the metal veins until he finally passed. No one truly knows.

This was all long, long ago. But on misty mornings in early spring, if you happen to be in the western hills, and you happen to be listening carefully, you just might hear the ghotsly echo of a song; The lonesome lament of King Nickel, echoing forever from the mines and metal veins of the hills.

[World lore from Return to Masonry]

The Sun Seeker- Pt 3

Jes crossed the street toward a brightly colored complex, with a long, heavy awning that depicting people gathered around a boiling stewpot. The enclave was one of hundreds across the planets, the only stable property the Children of Lore held onto. An old fashioned bell jingled overhead, and Jes felt tension leave her body as a familiar face bustled over.

“Jesphyra!” the round woman jiggled her way over with ourstretched arms, a smile cutting across her wide, dark face.

“Hello Sehkma.” Jes accepted the hug, the smells of saffron and chai somehow adding to the affect of being crushed with affection.

“Where have you been, child? I've had so many turns and tellings without you.”

Sehkma held Jes' face between her hands and stared deep into her eyes. “You look thin. Where have you been Telling your tales; a famine?”

Jesphyr smiled despite herself. “Well, I tried to get on a pirate ship, but they weren't interested.”

Sehkma tutted. “cheeky child.” She patted Jes' face affectionately, then paused again, more serious. “The shadows haven't gone yet, I see. You look like someone on the run from fate.”

Jes straightened, gently disentangling herself. She hadn't seen the Solari in weeks, but Sehkma's words hit a little too close to home.

“I've missed you too,” She said bemusedly, then looked around. “Where is everyone? It's not supposed to be this quiet around here.”

“Oh, there are a few out in the street right now.” Sehkma took her bag and they moved deeper into the enclave. The insides where draped with tapestries and carpets, all depicting a different tale. Large pillows and cushions made up most of the furniture. If not for the greeting counter along the back wall of the entry room, it would have looked more like a tent than a house. They pushed through a curtained door to a central courtyard. Lush bushes circled the paved area, and two thin trees curled elegantly around each other in the center as they stretched for the sun above.

“Of course, most of us are on the way to the Festival of Solem,” Sehkma continued as she shuffled toward the dormitories. “Have you gone to one yet? I know Cicera always refused to go, but it would be good for you.”

“When was the last time you went?” Jes asked, trying to distract her. Cicera had rarely explained her aversion to the Capital, and Jes didn't feel the need to break that trend. Especially with the Solari asking questions.

Sehkma smiled thoughtfully. “Oh, too many seasons past. Rashid took us for our fiftieth annuum.” she clutched at the necklace she wore; a medallion with a red jewel in the center, an old fashioned commitment stone. “but he doesn't travel as well anymore. And someone must tend to the enclaves. Who else would watch out for skinny young keepers?” she poked Jes in the ribs.

Sehkma led her into a dormitory, setting the bag on the closest bed. “You can have this one to yourself. As I say, most everyone is headed for Trium. I don't expect anyone beyond you and Hashem.”

Jesphyr glanced up at that. “is Uncle Hash here?” she grinned.

“And where else would I be?” a rumbly voice answered from the doorway. A barrel chested man leaned his head in, hazel eyes twinkling. “Sehkma would grow old without me here to pester her.”

“You make me old, with your begging for food.” The older lady swatted at him, but made room so he could smother Jes in another hug.

“She complains, but you know she needs someone to take care of,” He said with a wink at Jes. “You've been gone a long time, Sundrop.”

“Yeah, Sehkma scolded me already,” Jes responded with a twist of her lips. “It's good to see you, Hash.”

He patted her shoulder before turning back to Sehkma. “Speaking of food, are we Telling tonight, or having a quiet supper?” He rubbed his belly with a pitiful look. “It's been so long since breakfast...”

“Ohhh, you...” Sehkma threw up her hands, looking to Jes for pity. “You see what I put up with? Between him and Rashid, I have no peace. We will have a Telling tonight. What do you say, Jesphyra? Shall we sing the old songs?”

“Songs were always yours for Telling, Aunty.”

“Fah, but you used to help me! Cicera was always for the spoken Lore, but you loved to dance with me. We shall do it again. Tonight, as Solem turns to sleep.” She bustled off, leaving Hash and Jes shrugging at each other in commiseration.

“She won't take no for an answer, I suppose.” Jes said with a shrug, not truly concerned. She grabbed her bag and started unpacking.

“She usually doesn't...” Hash stared at the floor a moment. “Jes...” He studied her a moment. “A Solari has been asking about you; About your mother mostly, but also you.”

Jes stopped to look at him. “He came here?”

He shook his head. “Caught up with me on Dagen, about a month ago. And Haret told me that someone was seeking Cicera at the Festival of Solem last year.” He paused as what she said fully sank in. “He? You know of him.”

Jes huffed a sigh and sat on the edge of the bed. “There was a Solari on Periset, when I was there Telling.” Jes gave him a sheepish look. “He heard me tell Cicera's Lament.”

Hash's eyes darkened with shared sadness, and he took a moment to clear his throat. “I didn't know you'd started telling that one.”

“Well I shouldn't have.” She scrubbed a hand through her hair. “He drank it up, and then pestered me for information on Cicera's child. I managed to tell him enough to make him go away, without telling him who exactly I was,” She laughed without humor. It was hard to feel clever about that. “But I keep expecting him to hunt me down again.”

“He didn't suspect?” Hash was surprised.

Jes shrugged. “He asked what her child's name was, And I told him. He never asked what my name was, or how I knew Cicera.”

“Hmm. I'm surprised he didn't-” Hash glanced at her carefully. “Well, Solari aren't like most folk.”

“That's what Cicera always said.” She frowned at him. “What makes them so different, Hash?”

“Well,” he rotated his shoulders, not quite a shrug. “You've not been to the Grand archives on Trium. In the older accounts, about the first Children of Solem, it talks about how Great Solem had gifted the people with “hearing hearts, seeing minds and moving souls.” That's why we have the three Solari houses; The Listeners, The Watchers and the Hands.”

“Sounds like a kitschy way to found your government and make it seem cool.”

“Well, yes,” Hash conceded, “but its more than just artistic pros. There is something... odd about them. They know things.”

Jesphyr snorted. “Seriously Hash? We know things.”

“No, we remember things. They...” The shadow clouded his eyes again. “He knew I was... close with your mother.”

Jes shifted uncomfortably. “So?”

“He couldn't have known that. Shadows child, you barely knew that. Cicera made sure of that, and you lived with her.”

“I knew more than you thought I did.” She rubbed a hand across her forehead. Her mother had been very discreet, but Jes had seen enough. It was something they never discussed or acknowledged.

“Yes, I, um, caught that.” Hash cleared his throat, his cheeks pink as he forged ahead. “Look, just be careful around them. Cicera didn't share herself with many people. So if this Solari has found things out, he's putting in a lot of effort.”

“Hashem!” Sehkma's threw her voice across the courtyard. “Come work for your supper! I need the big telling pot and the banner needs set outside.”

Hash glanced over his shoulder and gave her a wave, but turned back to Jes with serious eyes. “You'll be careful?”

“I'm always careful, Hash.” She gave him a tired half-grin, but he didn't look reassured.

Sehkma hollered at him again though, so he nodded acceptance and left.

Jes flopped back on the narrow bunk, listening to them bicker distantly.

The Sun Seeker- Pt 2

Jes ducked between groups of people, winding her way deeper into the market throng even as it dwindled away with the daylight. The market ran alongside the port, which meant the shops would remain open indefinitely, but the crowds of families would soon be snug at home, and only those with business would be out in the small hours.

She turned out onto the boardwalk of the port, relief lighting her eyes as the bow of a ship became visible.

It was a small ship, with sleek lines. The sails were tucked away, and even the mast was folded down, looking like a sharp fin atop the long cabin that enclosed its single deck. She trudged up the gangplank, her pot of soup heavy in her hands as she fiddled with the key panel. The hatch slid open and she shuffled in to dump her load onto the small table.

Home.

She made a point of locking the hatch before flopping onto the bunk, cradling her head in her hands.

Guard your thoughts with them, Jes. Cicera had told her repeatedly. They're... They're not like most folk. You need to guard your thoughts.

She must have done so, better than she thought, because the Solari hadn't seemed to put two and two together; rushing off as soon as she gave him his answer. She would have laughed at him, if she didn't expect him to come right back, possibly a little peeved at not being told the whole truth.

She dragged her head up to stare at her Telling Pot. She didn't usually tell her mother's story. There was no reason she should have today. She shouldn't have. But as she'd steeped the broth and looked at the etchings on the pot of little people loving, laughing, living... She had needed Cicera to be real again. Alive again.

She reached across and unwrapped the Solari's offering; Ginger. He must have wanted the information badly. This was hard to come by. Her lip curled, and she was sorely tempted to chuck it out the door. But it was a fair trade. He had offered the priceless, and she had given the same. Damn him.

Why? Why now? What could the Solari possibly want, that they would hunt her down? Or was it her mother they wanted?

She glanced about her home as a pang settled somewhere between her heart and her throat. Her mother had been true to her word, and had never returned to the Capital, at least in all the time Jes could recall, and she recalled a lot. It was the curse of the Lorekeepers, remembering everything, always. And in all the time she had been with her mother, the Solari had never bothered them.

There was no reason for the Solari to track them down. They had nothing to do with her anymore. Frankly, they'd never had anything to do with her.

She looked out at the deepening gloom, through the thick windows in the cockpit. He would be back. If he knew enough about Cicera to track her this far, he wouldn't take long to realize the child he was looking for had just sent him on a goose chase. And for all the questions spinning in her mind, she wasn't interested in learning what he wanted.

With a sense of urgency she didn't fully want to analyze, she stowed her things, and ran through the start up sequence for her ship. She wasn't being a coward. She wasn't. She just didn't want to be bothered, especially by some smarmy, holier-than-thou Solari.

The night master of the dock was half asleep already when she called over for instructions to disembark.

Taking the helm, Jesphyr steered her ship away from the docking clamps and into the air, preparing thrusters to expel her sailboat through the atmosphere and as far from this planet as possible.

Sirius rushed out onto the the boardwalk just in time to see a solar sailboat arc away into the deepening sky, it's thrusters firing and pushing it out into the stars.

“Damn it.” He shoved his hood back, plopping his hands on his hips to consider the dwindling thruster trail with frustration. She'd ducked him. He'd asked her point blank, and she'd managed to answer without answering. And he hadn't caught it, his conscience kicked at him.

Bite-sized truths, my ass. He scratched his jaw. He'd spent weeks tracking down whispers of someone who knew someone who had heard a tale from somewhere, and the object of his research had been right there. And he was back at square one again.

Well, not entirely square one. He had a name now. Jesphyr. He could work with that.

The child's name was Jesphyr. He'd get her back for that; she, with the deep, charcoal rimmed eyes, and the proud eyebrows, and the haunted shadows riding behind her smirk. He'd definitely make her pay.

She owed him a ginger root, damn it.