Re: The Approaching Storm
Introduction: Origin of the Storms
So far, no replies, no comments, no complaints, no questions, no nothing. That's fine with me, especially considering the somewhat short amount of time since my last post. This chapter discusses the origins of both "Stormcloud," Kartaikian's nickname and "Stormrider," Kartaikian's horse.
Chapter I: Stormcloud and Stormrider
Kartaikian arose with the Sun. As the dawn stretched its rosy fingers over the horizon, Kartaikian opened his eyes to a new day. As he lay against the wall, though, he still felt weary, and closed his eyes again momentarily. Before he knew it, he'd fallen asleep once again...
Suddenly, a sharp poke to the ribs woke him up. Standing over him was a tired-looking guard, armored with iron platemail, and armed with an iron glaive. It was with the butt of said polearm that he'd been poked with.
"What're you doing out here? You a beggar? A bum?" the guard asked.
Kartaikian rose to his feet, answering "No, more of a vagrant, a vagabond."
"Well," the guard said, looking him over, "we welcome all. So, welcome, vagrant, to the town of Nylahre." The guard led Kartaikian to the front gate, where another guard stood, armed with a poleaxe. "May I ask your name?" the first guard asked.
Kartaikian looked at the guards, and then up at the sky. The Sun was just rising, giving a pink color to the skies, all except for the storm clouds, still as drab and gray as before. He'd left behind his town, his life. Kartaikian thought to himself for a moment before answering.
"You can call me Stormcloud, for I am a dark shadow drifting about with no purpose," he said. With that, he walked past the guards and entered the town known as Nylahre.
Nylahre was a busy town, even at such an early time in the morning. Here he would stay a short while, learn the news, buy equipment, and see about getting a horse. He would listen to the local myths and learn about the local geography. Maybe he'd even buy a map.
People were everywhere, which made Kartaikian slightly uncomfortable. He knew what people were capable of, and he didn't trust anyone. He kept his gloved hand near his sword. His first stop was at the town marketplace. He bought some dried meat, and a few other food items. After a bit of searching he found a fletcher. From the fletcher, Kartaikian bought some arrows, gray-feathered. Next he found a herbalist, from which he bought a few medicinal herbs. Always handy.
Kartaikian had plenty of money, clearly. The last place he stopped was at a stable. He spoke to the stabler, in hopes of buying a horse.
"Sir, might you have any horses I may buy?" Kartaikian asked. The stabler had been brushing a rather fine black horse, and turned to look at him. He set aside the brush, putting it on a bench, and spoke.
"I have very few horses actually for sale. Most of the steeds I have I'm just lodging for other people." He turned back to the black horse. "This particular one is my own. Here follow me, I'll show you the ones I'm selling." He walked through the stable to the back, expecting Kartaikian to follow, as he did. The stabler directed Kartaikian's attention to a smallish white horse, a tall and thin brown horse, and a slightly overfed black horse, speckled with white. None of them would work. They didn't look up to the job.
The stabler clearly saw Kartaikian's discontentment, and tried to convince him that they weren't so bad. "This brown one here may seem slight, but he's really spirited. Always follows direction. And the white one can travel for hours at a time..." Something had caught Kartaikian's eye though. In the back, kneeling on the ground and looking rather bored, was a large, strong looking, tall, gray horse.
"What about that gray one, there?" Kartaikian asked.
The stabler looked at the horse, and then at Kartaikian before answering. "You sure are a colorful person, aren't you? That horse isn't exactly for sale." He whistled quietly, and the gray horse stood up, walking up to the door. The stabler petted the horse while he continued to speak. "This is one of my own. He's...a special case, for sure. He shows such great potential, but I just can't seem to get him to do anything. Truth is, he just won't let me ride him. I'm sure you'd much rather have a better horse, one you can ride."
There was just something about this horse, though, that Kartaikian liked. Besides the fact that it was gray. "Does he have a name?" Kartaikian asked.
"Yes, in fact. He's named Stormrider. Didn't name him myself, actually, but I suppose it does seem fitting. An all gray horse...only one I've ever had. I guess if you really wanted it, I could sell it. He's really no use to me."
"Can I just try him out a moment? Oh, and I'll need to buy a saddle and stuff." Kartaikian pointed to some of the saddles and other horse items up against the wall. The stabler grabbed a saddle that looked like it was made particularly for the gray horse, as it fitted perfectly. It was made of black leather, and Kartaikian noticed it was larger than most of the other saddles and had room for a lot of saddlebags to be attached.
Kartaikian was surprised at how large the horse actually was. It was tall and strong, larger than the other three horses, but not the biggest horse that Kartaikian had seen. It looked like it was made for long runs. The stabler got it all set up, saddle and everything, and then handed the reins to Kartaikian. "You know how to ride, right?"
"Indeed I do," Kartaikian answered. He mounted the horse, and guided it to walk out of the stable. At first it didn't do anything, but eventually it began to walk towards the exit. When it got there, it bent over to eat the grass. Kartaikian kicked it, to get it to walk again, but it just turned around a bit and ate more grass.
"See, I'm telling you, that horse is the laziest I've seen. Doesn't want to do anything, except eat, though I'll tell you he looks like he was made to run," the stabler said.
Kartaikian wasn't done yet, though. He bent over to whisper in the horse's ear, urging it to move. He prodded it with his heels again, and guided it to move with the reins. Finally, it began to walk, around in a circle, before stopping. "He doesn't seem to have the motivation," Kartaikain said. "I'm sure if I train it long enough, I can get him to listen." Somewhat to the stabler's surprise, Kartaikian agreed to buy the horse, along with all the stuff that went with it, including the empty saddlebags.
"That'll cost you a lot of money, mind you," the stabler said. Kartaikian withdrew a large bag of coins, counting them out as the stabler called them. "Well, he's all yours now, do with him what you will," the stabler said after receiving his pay. "Have fun with him..."
After a bit of prodding and whispering, Kartaikian was able to guide the horse away from the stables. Interestingly enough, when they were out of sight of the stabler, the horse seemed to get a bit happier, and listened a bit better.
Kartaikian went back to the marketplace, and began to fill some of the saddlebags with necessary items. When he was done shopping, he went to the local inn. The horse stayed in the inn's small stable outside, while Kartaikian rented a cheap small room. The Sun was just beginning to set, but Kartaikian was tired.
Notes: Lost In Pronunciation?
The name of the town is "Nylahre" which, frankly, is hard to pronounce. So, to help you out, I'll tell you how to pronounce it. It's pronounced [ni-layr]. Hopefully that helps. Also, Kartaikian is pronounced [kar-tai-kee-in].
Or something like that...