《The Tale of a Traveler Named Kawi》 Chapter 1- The Beginning There is something to be said about the daughter of a family wealthy landowners that places her faith not in the gods of the hearth or the field, but in the gods of the road, the ship, the sea. Who seeks not bureaucracy but travel. There is something more to be said about the daughter who ignores her family¡¯s warnings and wishes and learns the forbidden art of Magic. The art that, despite running through the family¡¯s blood, took the life of many of those who walked down the path. The same art that had to be kept a secret from the rest of the world. Only other Magicians could know. Magicians were strange people. They hated going forward. Progress of any sort. They wanted to go back, back towards their view of their ideal reality. The reason for this lies in something I cannot remember at this time, but it has something to do with the fact that magic is limited by the ever rationalizing ¡®rules of humanity¡¯ and ever decreasing levels of anima in this world. They say that all magic comes and only works on the local belief system, and that a Magician must carry their original belief system with them at all times for their magic to work the way it should. They also said there was an ''unexplainable'' property of the world that was decreasing the more rational man gets and the more he ''asserts his dominance over the Throne''. So, when I was a little girl and said ¡®I wanna explore the world!¡¯ they spoke low of my interest. But I kept this interest throughout my life. One day, I went to a library while my servants were elsewhere shopping for food. Out of sheer curiosity, I asked to go with them, and my mother agreed. I found something strange. A stack of paper¡­bound by scaly leather¡­ lined up to others like it. I asked the librarian what it was. He said it was a book. "Think of it as a scroll, but much more efficient." He says, explaining carefully. "Paper from the south made those books. Leather from bill lizards to the east bound them. And ink from the northern squids wrote the words they contain. They are the finest texts one can imagine." "How much do they cost?" I wanted to buy one. I had a decent allowance. In my purse I had five platinum coins. "Each one costs enough to feed an entire peasant family for ten years," said the librarian. I bought and read as much as I wanted. Most of them were adventure books. Books that detailed far off places and the people that went to them. I wanted to go to those places. Walk in their steps. Eventually, at my 14th birthday, 2 years after my first menstruation, I became a woman. People tried to attain my hand in marriage- but my standards were far too high and my suitors far too low to match them. My parents were surprisingly understanding. I would die alone¡­if I didn¡¯t find a good husband. If. One day, I decided to pack my things in a plain wooden box big enough that I needed two hands to hold it comfortably- all of my books, food, water, bandages, herbs, and a whole lot more. This would be too big to fit in any reasonably sized box; but the box was an artifact, a magical item that was a pocket universe of its own. A neat little thing I got on my 8th birthday. All of that work eventually gave me an appetite- one I would decide to satiate. As is my people¡¯s custom, I prepare a meal of mashed potatoes with a side of bill lizard steak. I use a stick of butter with the mashed potatoes. Butter costed a pretty penny. No animal gives milk other than humans and pigs. After all is said and done (and eaten), I rest on the porch outside. My house, like many others, is made out of wood. Trees are common here, growing by the billions. Even if we had deforested our entire land we would have still more trees to come. I feel the wood creak under me as I shift my weight, laying down. My stomach is still full of food, and so needs time to digest. I can''t go now. But I can think about where to go. The island of the Myeranis? Perhaps the Twin Dragon Empire? Or even that mysterious island? I should start slow. Easy. The twin dragon empire is the other settled empire, a land tamed by man and not wild. It has formed a mere 20 years ago, after the last dynasty united the land for the first time. Supposedly, the last dynasty had a cruel leader, which is why the people overthrew him. From what I hear, it has a population of 43 million. That is a little bit more than the empire I live in- which only has 30 million people. There are two problems- the language and the customs. The first isn''t really a problem, I can speak any language, but the second¡­ From what I remember, the men are considered superior to the women there not in law but in social customs. They do not shake hands, they bow. They do use chairs like us but don''t use forks, instead using strange sticks. It''ll be hard to adapt, so I''ll just visit the biggest cities and temples and not say much. I will eat, drink and pray but not do anything else. I¡¯ll ask the bare minimum of questions to get around. They¡¯ll know I¡¯m a foreigner. Those of the Twin Dragons have paler skin compared to people here. They might liken my skin to mud, or the bark of a tree. After that, the Myerani Island. It''s next to the Twin Dragon Empire- and yet they don''t know anything about it. It should be fun to explore. After that, the mysterious island nobody knows about that''s off to the west. Many people have tried to sail to it, only to get lost. I have one thing over them- magic, the art of alchemy. I hear footsteps. I look up from my rest to see my pet- a massive feathered lizard with a beak and long legs to run fast with. His feathers are brightly colored- red and blue and every other color of the rainbow- in a mesmerizing pattern. He walks over to me and begins to nuzzle me. Aww. Cutie. I pet him- his name is Jada. I¡¯ve raised him for 6 years. He¡¯s been trained from birth to accept my orders and demands- including riding him. Feazards- his specific type being ¡®runners¡¯- have been bred for thousands of years to accept a human rider. Feazards come in many types. There are the horned faces, the tyrant lizards, the shark tooth lizards, the spine lizards, the long necked lizards, the armored lizards¡­the list goes on. Not all are even tameable. Man long ago drove the ones they didn¡¯t like away, and molded the ones he liked for his purposes. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. I get on him, carrying my box. I can probably ride him all the way to the southern port. We''re pretty far inland. It''ll take a few weeks¡­normally. I pull out a piece of iron. Then, I take a deep breath, and begin to mold the anima around me with my mind. Molding anima is dangerous. Too much can flow into you and kill you. If you have a poor anima capacity this risk grows more and more. Thankfully, I have a high capacity and a fine sense of touch. It feels like my entire body is tingling- that''s usual. It''s normal. Now that the anima that I need is under my control, I need to make a precise image in my head. An anima template. Since I want to turn this element into something useful, how about I infuse it with Jada? Iron is a strengthening element- so if I strengthen his bones and muscles, he''ll go faster and last longer. I begin to initialize the incantation of my spell. I mutter a few words in a language too old for many people to understand. I begin to think of what I want to do- which is simple. So it doesn''t take that long. The anima is spent, the spell casts, and the feazard possesses a body of iron. This will be a temporary spell- lasting a day at the most. And that''s more than enough time for me. "Giddyup!" I say as I command the feazard to gallop towards my destination.
I come across a herd of long necks. They are each gigantic in size- bigger than a house- but few in number. No matter how big the animal is, it can be hunted by a human. Spears and arrows are the most deadly weapons to ever exist for an animal. No fang, no claw, nor club can replicate their power. The long necks regard me with fear. Their primitive minds know that I am human, so they begin to scoot away. I don¡¯t pursue them. I just go around them.
I meet the bustling port city face to face. Unlike the houses I see so often, the houses here are made out of limestone bricks. I see people walking their raptors everywhere. The paved streets are full of people. My enchantment doesn''t change the appearance of my runner, so I walk Jada to the port. Many ships are being outfitted and ready to sail. I ask a question to one of the men there. "Where does that ship," I say, pointing, "go?" "To the Twin Dragon Empire to trade." He answers. "How much to rent out a room? I want to go there." "For you, my lady¡­3 coins." I gave him his due. Soon, I got on the ship. The men ignored me- most likely because I dressed modestly and blandly. I avoided attention like the tyrant feazard avoids the attention of flies. Traveling on a ship was new to me, but I could handle it. Jada- chirping and squawking- was having a bit more trouble, but I was there to reassure him. With me, he was safe.
After five days, the boat stopped at the Twin Dragon dock. We dropped off at the port and began walking around. The buildings here were made out of wood- and had curved roofs layered with shingles. I could see paper lanterns, yet unlit, everywhere. Other than the strange house design, everything was normal. People talked, walked, and traded. It seems there are certain universals across culture. How far would I have to go until I bump into something not so universal? Something I haven¡¯t heard of? The only way to figure out is to keep traveling. Pondering about culture is good and all, but the biggest thing on I- and Jada¡¯s, by the looks of him-¡¯s mind, is food. Delicious food. I ate nothing but hardtack and jerky. And he ate nothing but seaweed or occasionally seagrass. Both of us need to eat. I try to follow my nose but I smell nothing but perfume, smoke, and shit. Thankfully there wasn''t a lot of shit, the paved streets were clean and the wooden buildings cleaner. Eventually, Jada squawked, pointing to something. He took off and I followed him- all the way to a building that smells like¡­meat, vegetables and grain? I have to investigate further. I opened the door and was immediately greeted with an immensely clean interior. Tables, chairs, everything was polished. A man walked up to me. "Hey. Order?" He was surprisingly straightforward. He handed me a menu. I flipped through it and pointed to something random. "Chow¡­mein?" The man nods and heads through a door. We take a seat- no one else is here- and wait. ¡­why do they allow animals in? Whatever. We wait for ten minutes, then two steaming bowls come. They''re filled with the brim with¡­noodles covered in space with green onions and celery, as well as bean sprouts. It also has a healthy serving of some sort of white meat. Jada eats meat sometimes. We both take a bite. This tastes¡­.DELICIOUS! Absolutely outstanding. The spices are varied and well browned, creating a wonderful flavor that sticks in your mouth. The noodles have a good mouthful. The vegetables add good texture and flavor, and the meat is wonderfully gamey. We finish our bowls in no time. Then I pull out a few coins and put them on the table. They''re converted to the local currency with magic beforehand, so all is fine. I and Jada leave, bellies full. Soon after, we bump into a confused man. "Uh. Dark skin lady." Kinda blunt but okay. "Yes?" I ask. "You just ate at a restaurant that failed a health inspection¡­" "Oh sorry! I don''t know what that means!" "Well, its clean but,- you might have eaten something a little¡­pesty." He leaves, and I''m not any more confused. What could he mean by pesty Oh Wait
After I void the contents of my stomach into the ocean, I vow never to eat at a restaurant here again. So does Jada, by his facial expression. I get up, wipe my face, and leave. If I can''t eat, I will pray.
It took me an hour to find a temple- a massive wooden structure- right in the middle of the port city. I ask one of the people in the line at the entrance which god it was dedicated to. "The Sky God, of course." The woman answers. "Yesterday, there was a thunderstorm and a few buildings were burned to the ground. People died or became homeless. We think that the sky god became angry." I see. They''re hard polytheists. I''m not here to preach. Just to listen. "What do you offer to the Sky God?" "Gold." She answers simply. "The amount depends on how much you can bring. I can only bring this much." She pulled out a single gold coin. "Understood." I had a gold cube as big as the iron cube I used on Jada. Speaking of Jada, he seems to be interested in the unshaven and ungroomed monk over there, who throws a piece of tofu for him to satiate his hunger. After a long wait, I make my way to the interior of the temple. A tall statue, made entirely of gold, of a bearded man in robes. The statue was surrounded by offerings. I place the cube at the statue''s feet and leave. Business as usual outside- wait. Where''s Jada? He was near the temple¡­where is he? I call out his name as I walk, then run across the city. I look everywhere. Streets. In buildings. On roofs. In canals. I find him nowhere. If I lose Jada¡­ I don''t know what I will do. . . . After searching for an hour, all I have is sweat and an aching heart. Nowhere can I find Jada. I can''t scry for him. My magic won''t work here and I haven''t made an Artifact in advance. This can''t be¡­I lost Jada. "What the?" Says a man from far off. I run in his direction and see Jada trying to court a female. He is very colorful, and the female is not. It would be a shoo in- if for not one small issue. Someone''s riding that runner. A tall man wearing green robes with a pink flower pattern. I run between him and Jada. "So sorry! I haven''t neutered him yet." I nervously laugh. He must be a general trying to pray to the Sky God. "It''s fine. He''s an animal." Says the general. "Be on your way." I step out of his way. Whew! That could have ended a lot worse. Jada gives me a disappointed look. "Sorry buddy. Maybe you''ll find another one." I try to reassure him.
We spend three days in the Twin Dragon River Empire, subsisting on water and tofu in a hotel before deciding to pack our things and leave for Myerani Island. There''s one small issue. The closest port is in the middle of a war zone. Apparently, the empire is expanding its lands to alleviate the possible threat of barbarians. Thankfully I can just avoid the army. The real issue is getting a boat¡­ I have a plan. I go out to the woods in the middle of the night. Deep in the forest away from all other people. Here, my belief dominates. But even then, my magic is weaker, because I am alone in having it. It takes me much struggle to work my magic on the trees. Not only is a tree more complex, being a living thing, but my specialty lies in reinforcement and metal, not creation and wood. Through hard effort, I make a boat. A light boat just about big enough to fit me and Jada. At dawn, we take off, sailing to the south. It takes us a few weeks to get to our destination. Chapter 2 -The Myeranis The first sight of land I was greeted with was a dense forest interrupted only by a beach. This land was cold- colder than my home. Thankfully I packed thick fur clothing. After landing on the coast, we walk around. The very first thing I notice is that the anima is much denser here. To the point where I can see a few thin strands floating through the air. What is this strange place? It looks like an entirely different world. The grass, the trees- everything looks so¡­fantastical. Like from a fairy tale. The enchanted forest makes it hard to navigate, especially for Jada. At least there''s not many animals. Soon, we walk into a clearing and we were about to rest- until we saw something far too dangerous. A lone adult male ceratopsian- a three horn. Three horns were herbivores, yes. But they were deadly all the same. With a bad temper and a charge that could flatten a house, it would be suicidal to go anywhere near it. We stayed as far away from it as we could, hugging the trees tightly. We circled around the feazard until we came behind it. Then we took off. It didn''t chase us. Whew. We kept walking until we met another clearing. This time, it was occupied by leather tents. People were in them- and they soon came out. I raise my hands. "No harm intended! I only want to look for your leader!" I coughed. The thick anima was beginning to take a slight toll on me. I don¡¯t think I can stay here for long, unfortunately. I¡¯d better make it quick. Two men gave each other a look. ¡°Leader is to the south. Be warned- he likes exotic women.¡± Well, if he¡¯s handsome, I wouldn¡¯t mind. I bow and take my leave, riding on Jada. I remember something about the men having horns and hooves for some reason. Ridiculous. It¡¯s just a trick of the mind.
We eventually have to cross a river. The river is thick, and meandering- but I can¡¯t help notice something off about it. It smells normal. It looks normal. But there is this something about it, a certain je nais se quois that deeply discomforts me. Enough to not try to wade through it. Instead, I pick up a rock and throw it. The rock splashes, making ripples through the river- but other than that, nothing happens. Then the river begins to bubble and churn. I could hear a deep groaning that shook my bones to the core. It¡¯s not safe to be here! I have to run! I gallop off on Jada as fast as I can. He runs and runs until he can no more, where he stops to rest. Then, I turn back. Whhhaaatttt theeeee FUCCCK!!! The river was lifted- no, it lifted itself from the riverbed like a gigantic snake, coiling up and¡­hissing? The river serpent was hundreds of kilometers long, far larger than any animal I have seen before. Or any animal in this world. I¡¯m at a loss for what to do. Cast a spell? How? What spell could I cast that could do anything to this beast? It could lunge at any moment! ¡°Jada! Jada, get up!¡± I shake him, but he can¡¯t move. He¡¯s exhausted. Every drop of energy has been driven out of him. Fuck, I did this. There¡¯s nothing I can do now other than await my death- as the river dives down. . . Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. . I¡¯m in the sky. Flying? DId it send me flying? That can¡¯t be. It would have smashed me down- into the ground and crushed my body. I can hear what seems like a thousand waterfalls falling at once. I look down and discover I¡¯m¡­on something. Something scaly. And rough. Like some sort of flying animal. ¡°Oh, I got you and your pet in time!¡± says an unfamiliar male voice. I turn around to see a man. He has long black hair and a clean shaven face. He¡¯s cute. Very cute. He¡¯s wearing a flower print robe like that general in the Twin Dragon Empire. ¡°Hey. Name¡¯s Yeurai. Nice to meet ya. You¡¯re in a lot of trouble, yeah?¡± He points down to the river-snake. It lurges up from the channel it bored into the soil and rock and begins to look- not with eyes- towards us. Thankfully, we¡¯re flying away. ¡°That river¡¯s well known for being evil. Ah, you¡¯re a foreigner, so you didn¡¯t know, that¡¯s fine. You¡¯re here now, at least.¡± ¡°...What am I riding on?¡± That¡¯s the first question that comes to mind. ¡°You¡¯re riding on my pet dragon.¡± ¡°Dra-wha?¡± Dragons aren''t real. They existed only in fairy tales, and even those say the last dragons hide in underground caves, a mere shadow of how they were at their height. But the man seems to be telling the truth, and the scales I feel are definitely not of a feazard¡¯s. ¡°Dragon. Say hi to him. His name¡¯s Tree-eater. He eats trees.¡± The dragon turns its head back, revealing a scaly head with a tough beak. From the looks of it, it¡¯s far bigger than any flying lizard I¡¯ve ever seen- the head is bigger than my entire body. ¡°Oh¡­hi.¡± I say nervously. I don¡¯t know how to react to such a thing. So, it¡¯s best not to think about it. Think about something else. ¡°Where are you going to take us?¡± I say, referring to not only I, but Jada. ¡°To my castle. Where else?¡± ¡°Cast¡­le?¡± ¡°Ahh, you¡¯ll see.¡± He chuckles.
We land at a strange¡­castle that looks more like¡­a massive dirt mound than anything I¡¯ve ever seen before. It was surrounded by a palisade, which itself was surrounded by a pit filled with wooden spikes. It was manned by many armed soldiers- who wore naught but cloth tunic with a few iron plates here and there. The atmosphere here was¡­primitive. Very primitive. I was dropped in front of the central mound¡¯s entrance. The dragon stepped to the side. ¡°Let¡¯s stay a night here.¡± Yeurai said. ¡°Eat some dinner, have some fun- if you catch my drift.¡± ¡°Oh, hahaha. If we get married after.¡± I respond. I¡¯m still shaken up by what just happened, so I¡¯d rather let some time develop before I have sexual intercourse. ¡°Of course, of course!¡± Then, he led me to the interior of the building, leaving Jada outside- safely, he reassured me. The interior of the building was dark and damp, just as primitive as everything else had been. But that does not make it bad.
For dinner, we had a bowl of brown rice and dry aged bill-zard roast. It was delicious. The servants were- small¡­floating¡­people? With wings? I eventually took a nap on the bed- where he slept with me. He didn¡¯t try anything funny on me, so I didn¡¯t care, not really.
Months passed. We came to know each other deeply. Jada found a runner like him and the two had produced offspring. Jada became friends with Tree-Eater. And like him, I found my partner in Yeurai. I learned many things. The Myerani island is split into countless kingdoms constantly warring with each other. He was ¡®lucky¡¯ enough to settle near the evil river nobody wanted, that produced a floodplain full of wild monsters. I was too scared to visit it myself, but he wasn¡¯t. He met his dragon at the age of 12, and was friends with him ever since.
Years passed. We produced children. Jada was growing old, and could die at any time. I spent time with him to the very last day. When he died, I couldn¡¯t do much but cry. But I eventually strengthened up and managed to move past it. I built a grave for him that I and my and his children visit every year. I grew fat. Saggy. But my mind never dulled. One day, I learned of the caste system. A primitive caste system, like everything else in this country. I saw it not through explanation, but in action. A man was sweeping the streets when he crossed the shadow of a well dressed man. The well dressed man shot a nasty glare at him- before leaving him be. It was later explained to me by my husband that the man was of a ¡®untouchable¡¯ caste, while the higher man was of a higher caste. Untouchables are forbidden from touching the shadow of higher caste. How strange. One day, my husband and I talked about magic. I told him how my magic works, and he was intrigued. In turn, he told me about how his magic works. To him, the entire world is controlled by one god named simply God- who has countless masks that manifest as the traditional deities. God entrusted humans to control every single aspect of nature- which was taken to be alive. Now, the spirits in other parts of the world are inactive when not attacking us humans, but the spirits here are friendly. I also believe that the entire world is God, in a sense. But I¡¯m not here for theological debates. I asked him to explain why this land is so¡­fantastical, for lack of a better term. He explained it in a way that I can¡¯t really forget. ¡°You see, the world works in cycles. That¡¯s something you already know. There¡¯s the Age of Myth, the Age of Heroes, and the upcoming Age of Science.¡± ¡°Sci-what?¡± I don¡¯t know what this ¡®science¡¯ is. ¡°It¡¯s an age where all heroes and magic disappear. Of course, no age lasts forever. Not even this one.¡± he explained. ¡°My father explained this to me. The Age of Myth is where gods walk amongst man. When the Age of Myth fades out, the spirits go to Fantasia and leave this world. The Age of Heroes is still supernatural, with heroes and artifacts- but gods never manifest and supernatural beings are extremely rare.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± One day, at the age of forty, I decided to adventure. To go out once more into the wild and come out with nothing but information- I don¡¯t care for treasure. I told Yeurai this. ¡°Sure. I¡¯ll accompany you for safety.¡± I¡¯d prefer to go alone- but the world is dangerous for an old woman like me. And so I set sail to the final island, the Dragon Island. To Be Continued