Journey of the Messenger Cycle 2 Part 1a

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Ijah

Corthy was a bustling trade town, four days northeast of the necromancer’s lands, a bit over an eight-day south of the Republic of Caffern. Technically it was part of Loggara’s FreeHold, a prosperous place at the base of Mount Dinshivy. There were Maldorn folk, freeholders and dwarves of the Ngra-drgl Clan, in roughly equal numbers. Vast quantities of goods passed through the place, both raw materials and finished products. Below the town in Cratton Valley the river Tonlossi ran north to the Republic’s capital on Lake Saveraun, well engineered roads lead up into the mountains to the east while to the west, within the ancient stone, the dwarves had built a vast network of canals. The Corthy Terminus was the most northern part of the canal system which provided a fast and secure route to the various towns within the northern part of Maldorn.

Ijah was glad to be on the move again, away from Igma and the woman’s ego. Roddarra claimed that once they were within Maldorn, they would be able to reach West Port within two eight-days via fast coach, or less than an eight-day if they paid for passage on an airship. She had even promised that Maldorn would be warmer once they came down out of the mountains.

The Maldorn Mountain Range was impressive in this area. Mount Dinshivy was apparently the tallest in the local region, which is why the dwarves had chosen it for their stronghold. From Dinshivy to the eastern coast were the younger mountains and from a point fifty yat or so southwest, the older mountains arched southward towards the East Sister River. The two ranges ran nearly the entire length of Maldon’s northern and western borders.

Thankfully Roddarra spoke Maldorn well and had been teaching Ijah and Berri some of the basics of the language since they had been back on the road. Ijah, who had been exposed to it during her first few months on the continent, thought she was regaining a good understanding of the language while Berri floundered. The girl, though gifted in some ways, certainly struggled with languages. Even her native tongue was a challenge for her, especially anything to do with the written word.

Presently Berri was leading the horses, she was very distracted by all the bustle going on around them and tried to take in everything she was seeing. To be fair, the mountainside was impressive, the edifice of the mountain fortress was a series of complex roads, ramps, balconies and stout towers rising high above the rest of the town. The lower facade around the great doors that lead into the Corthy Terminus was a series of fake columns bracketing large windows, all ornately carved with scenes of men and women engaged in various labours.

The rest of the town’s architecture was much less impressive, even the most spectacular human constructions paled in comparison to what the dwarves had wrought. There was a wide variety of architectural influences, freeholds and Elquin buildings of various periods could be found. The newer buildings were mostly Maldorn, with red brick and brown stone buildings of three to five stories. Structures similar to what Ijah had seen at various places from her travels through the south-central regions of the continent.

Berri looked over to Ijah, raising her voice to be heard, she asked, “Are we really going into that?” She pointed to the vast doors leading into the mountain.

Ijah gave her a nod and Roddarra called over, “Yes. Keep the animals to the right side of the entry.”

Berri moved over to the right as they passed under the arched doorway into the terminus. If anything, it was noisier within than it had been outside. The activities under the mountain were similar to those outside; people coming and going, merchants of all sorts moving their cargo through while others haggled or shouted the quality of their wares. Berri stopped moving, immediately causing a congestion as she looked around, trying to take in the vastness of the terminus.

Ijah saw three locks towards the back of the finished cavern, each at a slightly higher level, there were a handful of barges queuing up for the lower two. Ramps, walkways and stairs were everywhere around the edges of the terminus. A massive amount of goods were laid out in a grid pattern in the central area, starting a few paces past the door. There were alcoves where other goods had been tucked away and a number of stone kiosks were ahead of them to the right side of the cavern. The mechanical aptitude of the dwarves was clearly on display with noisy contraptions, including lifts and cranes, not to mention the workings of the locks.

Roddarra pressed forward while a number of people shouted at Berri to keep moving. They made their way to the first kiosk where Roddarra made inquiries regarding their passage through the mountain. After a moment she turned back to them and said, “We’re going to have to talk to the money changer first, then get our tickets, afterwards we’ll need to pack up our gear in the crates provided. I’d suggest keeping your valuables with you. Then the crates and horses will be loaded onto the barge, we’ll board shortly before departure.”

They moved slowly from one kiosk to another. They exchanged most of the copper they had on them, as the metal was disproportionately valued by the Maldorn, as well as some silver to be able to pay for their passage. Roddarra made sure to get more marks than they needed for their tickets, after all, they were going to need money as they travelled through Maldorn, she believed they would get a better exchange value here than within Maldorn. The crates and horses were taken away from them and they received a receipt and their tickets. Finally they moved up to the waiting area where a diverse group of people had gathered ahead of the scheduled departure.

Berri huffed, “I hope the horses are going to be alright.”

“I’m sure they will be fine.” Roddarra assured her. “Now that you don’t have to worry about them you can relax a bit, enjoy the experience.”

Berri gave her a skeptical look then shrugged, “It’s too noisy and crowded in here to enjoy the experience. These Maldaronians sure don’t do anything on a small scale, eh?”

“Maldorn. These Maldorn.” Roddarra corrected.

“That doesn’t make sense. Maldorian, Maldornia, Malderon…”

“No, just Maldorn. Since the present Queen took power, it has just been Maldorn.”

“Maldorine?”

Ijah ignored the exchange and looked around. There were over a dozen people waiting, not counting the three of them. Most were andalee of one sort or another, over half of them appeared to be from the republic, or at least they were dressed in those fashions. Three of the others stood out from the rest, Maldorn, two men in black leathers and a woman in manacles. Ijah noticed that the woman had been beaten and she certainly did not like the look of the men. There was also a well dressed couple standing off to the side, she assumed they were merchants. Those two seemed to be enjoying observing the other passengers, dropping quiet comments to each other, smiling at their own wit.

Ijah was relieved that Osran had decided not to continue travelling with them. While she had begrudgingly come to respect the half-orc, especially her toughness and combat prowess, she would have drawn a lot of unwanted attention. It also meant that she would not have to explain her presence to the other Kereshi in West Port. Her people were not very accepting of the other races, both goblins and orc were considered vermin, unclean and undesirable. She was also fairly sure half-bloods were not welcome in Maldorn as she could not remember having seen any when she had first been to West Port.

She hoped Osran would find her bargeman and have lots of babies, she would do much better at the Treppon homestead than most other places. Ijah thought it interesting how the freeholds folk had adapted to the half-bloods, slowly accepting their presence. Still there were a lot of people who were intolerant of them and she suspected that they would always be on the outside of any society they tried to integrate into. Her own people would never accept them as equals.

She also wondered why the Kereshi had not made any plans for dealing with the other races. Not even the ancients, though it was not very likely she would ever personally meet an elf or one of the ellodran, but some of her people would have encounters with them. Maybe the ancients would view the Kereshi in a similar fashion as her people viewed the orc and goblins. She tried to imagine what it would be like to constantly be casually dismissed and belittled. Ijah was aware that she was increasingly questioning the Great Plan, that was something she would have to be careful about when in West Port.

“What do you think, Ijah?” Berri asked.

“Excuse me?”

Berri gave her an impatient look, “We were wondering if Maldorn folk were of the andalee?”

“I believe so, at least mostly. What is now Maldorn was either originally part of Elquin or the freeholds.”

“Then why do they have their own language?”

Roddarra added, “Don’t forget the Empire of the Sun. Much of what is now western Maldorn and most of Herlington’s Hold were once part of that old empire.”

Ijah looked at the two of them, “I don’t know, ladies. I’m not much for history and I certainly don’t understand the origins of the andalee. Perhaps you can consult an academic when we get to West Port.”

Roddarra gave her a sly smile, while Berri took half a moment to digest what Ijah had just said. She asked, “Is that something you can do? Consult an academic? Do they charge for that sort of thing? I heard it was very expensive to go to one of those fancy schools.”

“Berri.”

“Yes, Ijah?”

“Perhaps we should meditate on the subject for a while.”

“Sure. I can do that.” She frowned but kept quiet.

A few others joined the boarding cue. A trio of young, fashionable Maldorn women, talking and laughing. Ijah noticed Berri looking them over with curiosity. She also saw one of the black clad men, she thought they might be bounty hunters, eyeing the new arrivals with an interest of a different sort. Then an older man from the freeholds, judging by his garb, joined them. He carried an instrument of some sort in a finely crafted wooden case, he appeared tired and he walked with a limp, favouring his right leg.

Moments later a woman in the uniform of the Corthy Terminus approached them, “Hello, can you all gather around, please.” She spoke three different languages, projecting her voice strongly to be heard over the racket of the terminus. The passengers obliged, gathering around her in a semicircle as she continued, “Everyone here should be bound for Black Tower Valley, departing from lock two. Anyone not going to Black Tower Valley? No. Good. Please follow me to your barge, have your tickets and cargo chits in hand.”

The passengers followed, the trio of young women rushing to the front of the line, the two with the prisoner falling in at the rear. The attendant lead them up to the second lock from where they would set out on their journey under the mountain.

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