Exhale on Elio

by Moon Ray Yesterday at 11:43 am

Dear Amelia,

There is an old saying, that the walls of Kingstown Castle are supported by rumor and gossip. I believe it to be unlikely, in any sense of the phrase, but the wind is certainly prevalent during games' season. And this season, as the saying goes, the King has never been more firmly walled away.

I rarely go to Crown's Market, unless I have to. It is the largest and most central marketplace in the city, and so it is, by custom, overflowing with people. The throngs are made of unwashed adventurers, lost donkeys, touring giants, and salt-soaked refugees, all laced with pickpockets. During events, like the arena games, the crowds are even worse as people pour in to participate or witness.

But I had a need to meet with a friend of mine, who specializes in swords. (A guest at the B&B was newly arrived to Elio and wished to participate in the arena games. I rather liked the boy, and he required a weapon, so I went to see if I could convince a friend of a favor.) I was surprised to find that my friend's shop on the square was empty. Not only was he absent, but his shelves had been picked clean.

My first thought, naturally, was that he had sold his shop and left. People do, when the urge strikes them on Elio. They find a quest, or cross the wrong person and go on the lamb. But my friend had always seemed the stable, homebody sort. I inquired at the packed magic shop shop next door was directed to a bar -serving a few customers at the absurdly early hour.

"Snookie!" my friend raised a glass to me when I approached him. "Have a glass with me. Finest wine in the house!"

"What are we celebrating?" I asked. It did seem he had entered a festive state. I directed the bar tender to bring me a glass, not wanting to be left out.

"Early retirement!" he hooted. I told him I had seen his store, and he explained that there had been a run on swords, throughout the city. I had heard a little of increased weapons sales, though it was not generally a part of my own business. At the time I had believed it was merely a seasonal occurrence, part of the package with the upcoming arena games. My friend had other information.

Fort Giantkiller -which is located a fair journey north and east of Kingstown- had fallen and its inhabitants -soldiers and civilians alike- were slain to the man. It was a tragedy, and a blow to the kingdom's forest-side border. When I learned of it, I heard myself whispering a prayer before I was conscious of it. I didn't know anybody so far north, but it chills the blood to think of a stable, old fort like Giantkiller just ...fall.

Teams were sent to bury the dead and reclaim the fort, naturally. But they found neither.

The dead were vanished: in their place were inky, featureless beings. Sometimes they would seem to have as much mass as a man, capable of striking a soldier down with one hit to the jaw. And sometimes they seemed to be as present as a shadow on the floor -impossible to hold or hurt.

The shadows ambushed as soon as they arrived. The teams scattered and ran; most of them vanished and have not been heard from. (I suppose as many were lost to the surrounding forest as the attack. There is a reason I don't travel towards the forest.)

This all happened several months ago, though. I had not heard a whisper of it. News from beyond Kingstown can travel in some circles and never touch me. Unless my guests speak of it, I hear very little of the wider Elio. (The B&B keeps me well occupied and I don't look for trouble very often anymore.)

Other instances had been reported of the shadow men. Those who are most susceptible (travelers on the road, and people living on the outskirts) have been attacked. Few people escape, and the ones who don't escape vanish.

Even the land is effected by this monster. Some buildings, like Fort Giantkiller, disappear; or they appear as decayed skeletal mockeries of buildings which had stood the day before. Shadows linger in those places, even at the height of noon.

There are other rumors as well, but one has to be skeptical of news so entirely subject to exaggeration. In any case, people are taking the threat seriously. The King has been silent on the subject. He even went as far as to have a geas laid on his soldiers. None of the kingdom's armed forces can even acknowledge the shadow men's existence. Predictably, this has only encouraged the rumors, as the average denizen of Elio has all the inner calm and emotional self control of a three year old on a sugar rush. The swords, my friend predicted, are only the beginning.

If you can, my dear Amelia, I recommend outfitting yourself with combative magic. A sword is relatively more reliable, and magic is certainly a foreign concept to those of us from Home, but I can not imagine trying to fight off a shadow man with anything as mundane as a sword. Where ever you are, keep yourself safe.

Fly swiftly, with all my affection,
-Neta
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Neta Snook tossed a thin mattress over the hanging bar, beside the line of drying sheets and pillow cases. She stood on the side of the building, just around the corner from the back patio. The trees were cleared back to give the sun access to the laundry, and it was already beating down in fiercely bright rays.

The blue skies and gentle shift of breeze called to her. Unconsciously, she touched the brown gloves tucked in the back pocket of her breeches -as if saying, "Not just yet. Wait for a tad still."

After a moment of fresh air, twittering songbirds, and city traffic, she pulled herself back indoors; it was far too early in the day to skip off. With breakfast just ended, she had a few hours before anyone was likely to stop in for food. There was plenty of time to tackle the chores waiting on her To Do list.

Because the swinging sign out front required a hammer and a nail, it got first priority. In no time at all she climbed the steepled doorway of her quaint English cottage-style B&B. Perched on the crossbeam, she got to work hammering the loose end of the sign straight. And if she took a little longer than necessary, setting the level and watching the people passing in the street, well, she would blame the weather.