Shadow Kingdom

by N. A. Oberheide

  Naurus started formulating a plan to get out there and see what the truth really was. He knew he would have to complete his fleet training before he could get a few days to himself for this trek. He figured it would be an all-day march to a small village he could see named Kaladore, which he would have to stay in for a night. Once there, he wanted to make a short trek to the nearby trailhead that was on the map and see if the border guard post was still there. He secretly hoped it was wide open, but he had to try as nobody seemed to share his wanderlust. Naurus grabbed a parchment and quill to sketch out this journey as best he could with his own map of how to get there. As he sketched out his crude map, he noticed a familiar sickly-sweet smell suddenly fill his nostrils. He looked up to find Ektor standing next to him, a wisp of smoke rolling out of his carved bone pipe.

  "Would you like to partake in my pipe? I finally got some good Muka herbs now that the blockade runners managed to make it through." Ektor said as he handed the pipe over. Naurus accepted the offer, but was a bit confused now.

  "What blockade are you talking about?" He asked.

  "Oh, I thought you had heard. Well…word has it that privateers and corsairs are trying to sabotage our shipping lanes, going so far as attacking our ships. They have thrown up blockades around trading outposts like the one this blend came from. It's troubling times and rumor has it of an impending war if this doesn't resolve itself. I'm afraid the shadow of the old empire is coming back to haunt us, as the enemies we made then have only become stronger and bolder as we have been weakening..." Ektor trailed off as Naurus took a drag on the pipe. The bold, earthy smoke caught him off guard, triggering a small coughing fit.

  "Wow, this is strong stuff!" He caught his breath, "But I'll be out on the seas soon enough most likely, and I'll believe all that when I see it, Ektor." He said. Ektor looked intently at the unfinished map sketch.

  "And you're a budding cartographer, are you?" Ektor mused.

  "Well uh no, not really. I'm just making a copy for fun since I can't take your atlas with me!" Naurus replied, taking another puff on the pipe.

  "Hmm...I sense a troubled but adventurous spirit within you, Naurus. You were always so curious about the world around you, and it seems it's come full circle. I am far too old to travel up to the mountains, let alone make it over them. The farther you get from the city, the more dangerous it gets from what I hear. It's not nearly as safe as it was when I was a little whelp. Times have changed, but I pray you don’t run into trouble. The Shadow Wastes are not a place anyone but grave robbers and bandits ever cross into, and few ever seem to come back. I can't stop you from going, and I won't tell your parents either. This is your journey to take, and you must face the consequences too." Ektor lectured as Naurus passed the pipe back.

  "Thank you Ektor, this isn't something to take lightly I know. But I just don’t believe everything I was taught growing up. Something just doesn’t feel right." He said, going back to his sketching.

  "You know what they say about how curiosity killed the cat." Ektor said with a little laugh as he walked away to leave Naurus in peace.

  The sketch was soon finished as the Muka made him feel a nice heady buzz that helped him concentrate. His legs felt a little wobbly as he got up to return the atlas, just now realizing how much different this herb was than the local Emperor's Wort that was usually smoked around here. He dropped off the atlas at the main desk, where Ektor looked up.

  "I saw that you took special note of Kaladore, you must be planning to spend a night there. That town has a very old inn, the name eludes me but it's not the kind of place you want to let your guard down. It used to be a popular hunting lodge but my friend in the area has said it's drawn a different crowd these days. I would just stay in your room all night and leave as soon as you can. Camping outside of town would be even more foolish!" He offered as a parting shot.

  "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." Naurus said as he walked out the door.

  He made his way back to The Flux Crux where his blade awaited him, all fixed up and good as new. A silver piece poorer, he pored over the variety of bows, axes, swords, daggers crossbows, shields and armor that lined the walls. One day, he wanted to have his own house with all sorts of weapons and armor on display, like his own little museum. That day was little more than a fantasy right now, but he could dream. He walked back outside, the sun was brightly shining now, and a warm breeze whisked through the streets. He looked up and noticed a smoky plume hovering overhead, blowing along with the breeze. He moved into the nearby plaza to get a better vantage point and caught site of where this smoke was coming from. Off in the distance, two smokestacks rose above the rest of the buildings, belching smoke. He figured that must be the foundry his father mentioned was being built, the first of its kind given how much the smokestacks stood out and towered over the surrounding city. He would have to make his way a few miles north into the central district of the city: The Golden Mile. It was a bustling area full of artisans, merchants, alchemists, shipwrights, guildhalls, and various other middle-class professions that centered on this area.

  Naurus made his way to the main drag that would take him north, the Adamantine Highway. Named as such because legend had it the cobblestones were infused with raw adamantium ore from the first veins that were found in The Unscaled Slopes and were said to be able to last the lifetime of the kingdom. It was a very busy thoroughfare, full of pedestrians on the sidewalk with horses and carts full of goods and food going both ways on the north-south road. It was a trek of a couple of miles, by the end of which the dormant volcano of Dragons Peak loomed above the northernmost part of the mountain range to the east. Naurus made his way down some side streets, the smokestacks making an easy point of reference to find. The streets opened up into a promenade of various workshops and guilds with the foundry towering over them. A large brick building several stories high, it was hard to miss. Carts full of raw ores were going in and coming out empty through the large double sliding barn doors that took up the front of the building.

  He walked around to be able to see in the doors and was greeted by a sight that he had never seen before. Workers were throwing coal and ores into the blast furnaces, producing the black sooty smoke he saw back in the Lowlands. Large pots of smelted metals were poured into molds of ingots and elongated bars. Naurus had seen smithy's do this on a much smaller scale before, painstakingly casting metals by hand in their workshops. This was a much larger scale operation, and it was obvious this was the way of the future if this much product could be pumped out that much faster. He watched the whole process intently from a distance, fascinated by the sheer scale of the operation. The day was wasting away, and he was getting hungry, so he decided to make the trek back south to his home in the Lowlands. He couldn’t help but to notice how much older and more downtrodden the shops and houses became as he got closer to home, but such was life in the kingdom and he had become used to it but never was content with this stratification.

  Naurus finally made it back home as the sun was setting and a cool night breeze started coming in. He walked in to find his mother stewing dinner in the pot and his father sitting at the table, enjoying a rather extravagant bottle of spirits. The silver bottle was filigreed with gold inlays, it looked to be some sort of exotic import.

  "Well look what the cat dragged in..." His father quipped, slightly slurring his words.

  "Dad, you remember that foundry you told me about? I went to it today, it’s huge! I've never seen such a thing, it would take every smithy in town to equal that things output for the day!" Naurus replied.

  "Hm... yes, it is quite something isn't it? The winds of change are upon us boy, this is the start of something much larger than us. A new order is rising as the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. I wish it would just go back to the way things were…" His father said with some sadness. Naurus thought to change the topic.

  "Well Dad, that’s a fancy drink you got there! Treating yourself to something special? You've earned it!" Naurus c
hipperly replied.

  "Yes...I earned it alright..." As he took another swig.

  "Well Ma, what's for dinner? Smells good!" Naurus turned his attention to the cooking.

  "Oh, honey nothing special just fish and leek stew with some yeast rolls. Take a seat now, we need to eat before your father sets off for this next show." His mother replied.

  After the bowls were filled and everyone was seated, his father opted to take another swig and pass the bottle to Naurus. "Go on son, take a quaff and get some hair on your chest! This is better that the local swill!" He proclaimed. Naurus took a small drink, which sent fire and fury down his gullet. It took everything in his power to not throw it back up as his eyes watered up and he started coughing.

  "Har har, that’s my boy!" His father erupted in laughter and his mother joined in too. Naurus finally caught his breath.

  "Where in the name of the old gods did you ever get that poison?" He asked, just getting the feeling in his mouth back

  "Well son, let's just say it was a gift to me, from a faraway land!" His father proudly proclaimed.

  Soon dinner was over, and his father got himself together as best as he could in his inebriated state. He threw on his black hooded cloak overtop the stitched and padded leather bodysuit as that was the only thing that gave him any protection from the occasional tumble as he always said. His father ambled out the door and into the night, probably only returning in the wee hours of the morning as usual.

  "Ma, is it me does dad seem to drink more than usual these days? I don’t remember him drinking like this when I was younger." Naurus asked with a bit of concern.

  "Well honey," she started, "your father is getting old these days. Things with his body are just achy and painful when they didn’t use to be. His job as an acrobat is not a breeze for someone his age. He used to be just as young and spry as you dear."

  "But mom, what about the alchemists and apothecaries? Wouldn’t they be able to help more? I don’t want dad to hurt himself even worse, he gets all slow sounding and starts walking all askew after drinking that stuff." Naurus replied.

  "No... those just don't work for your father. He has tried them and it was all a bunch of hocus overpriced tinctures and potions with foul effects. Don’t worry about your father, he will be fine as he always is. You need to get a good night's sleep tonight, you have a big day tomorrow." She said.

  Indeed, tomorrow marked the beginning of the next and final phase of basic training before first stations were assigned. Naurus got ready for bed, and crawled in. His thoughts started racing though. The nerves about what he saw on the dock with Talfin, the warnings Ektor gave him, and his plan to venture past the mountains all weighed on him. Mrroww-thump! Mokhey made his presence known as he slammed onto the bed and assumed his usual position nestled up against Naurus's side. This helped calm his mind as he drifted off to sleep.

  The muster bell woke him up the next day, and he hopped out to get ready for what would be another four weeks of training.

  He scrambled to get dressed and report down to the drilling grounds. Roll call was taken, and he noticed Morra took an extra second to wink at him as his name was called. This week of training was hand to hand combat, focusing on the six basic strikes and three basic kicks. This was built upon by the following week of training: swordsmanship. The twelve angles of attack were taught with both sword and dagger, along with blocks and parries. Naurus was awed by Morra's demonstrations of these techniques, her sword flowing almost as if it was made of fluid. It was little more than a flourishing blur when she got up to speed, and she made sure there was no mistake that she was a master swordsman. Her spins and pirouettes were just the icing on the cake of what she said the whole crew would be able to master with enough practice.

  Naurus was afraid of letting her down but was determined to get as smooth as she was. He had bigger issues to worry about though, as the next week was arguably one of the most important: cannoneer training. The crew was split as such that each cannon on a ship was assigned a gunnery of two cannoneers, working and training in tandem to understand the exact orders of fire and reloading. Order one was 'Make Ready', wherein the breech was unscrewed and the shot and charge were loaded. Order two was "Take Aim" where the gunnery positioned the gun all the way forward into the firing port, adjusting the elevation screws if necessary. "Fire" was the self-explanatory third order, the pull cord on the back of the cannon was attached to a spring-loaded hammer which slammed a long thin spike into the powder charge, hitting a primer cap deep in the charge which subsequently set it all off, firing the cannon. 'Clean and Ready' was the fourth and final command, only issued after the first firing. One of the gunners would swab the barrel out with a dampened bristle brush on a long wooden shaft to clear out any sparks that may prematurely set off the next charge in the barrel. The cadets were also instructed in the purpose and use of solid shot, ball and chain shot, and grapeshot. The use of hand grenades, essentially being hollow fist size cannon balls full of explosive powder and lit by friction-cap fuses were also taught to the cadets. When volley fire wasn’t desirable or possible, the 'Fire at Will' command was issued.

  These orders were largely used for the rifle and pistol training as well, taking up the following week. The rifle used a bolt action, needle fired mechanism whereas the pistols were still muzzle loaded smoothbores but still fired with thumb cocked hammer mechanism. The fourth command was ignored here, as rifles and pistols didn’t leave large enough embers in their chambers to worry about. Premature cartridge detonation was exceedingly rare anyway, as alchemists had slowly perfected the gunpowder formula to be increasingly stable and clean burning.

  The fourth and final week of training involved archery and crossbows. Most cadets had already used these growing up while hunting, but a few hadn't so everyone had to be on the same page in case ammunition for the firearms ran out or guns jammed up as they tended to do so after extended engagements. Only after all this, was basic training finally concluded. Naurus was assigned to begin his first tour of duty on the frigate HRF Skywind. All cadets at this point were now considered fully enlisted sailors of the rank Sailor First Class. They were given a week’s leave before the first official tour of duty began. Naurus knew this would be his only chance to set out east and get to The Unscaled Slopes and hopefully beyond. Money would be a little tight, but he could ration it out. The cadets were paid five gold, five silver, and ten copper pieces at the end of training, not exactly enough to live lavishly but it would do for now. The first order of business was picking up some provisions at The Wayward Traveler general goods store. Inside, Naurus was greeted by a middle age man who lit up at the sight of a new customer.

  “Welcome my friend! My name is Barsteg. Everything is for sale, I would even sell my sister if I could!” he said, wheezing out a laugh at his own joke.

  “Uh, that’s great. Could I just get a water bladder and a half pound of pemmican?” Naurus asked, trying to avoid provoking another awkward joke.

  “Sure thing, here you go. That’ll be three silver pieces.”

  Naurus placed his coins down and made his way out. He hoped this would be enough provisions, but he wasn’t too worried since he could probably find somewhere to restock along the way. He made his way over to Talfin’s house which was basically a second story flat that was rented from the landlord below. He lived by himself on a meager housing assistance program funded by the state, as he was abandoned at birth and was raised in an orphanage until he was old enough to enlist and apply for income-based housing. Naurus knocked on his door, and soon enough Talfin answered, ushering him inside.

  “You look a lil’ worried, Naury. What brings ye here? I have a feelin’ issa bit more than jus’ to say hi!” Talfin inquired.

  “Well yeah…you see I’m going to travel to the lands out east, past the mountains. At least that’s what I want to try to do.”

  Talfin gasped as his eyes grew wide. “Ye can’t do that! That’s no place fer the likes of ye. Ya get yourself kil
led, or even worse get body snatched and eaten alive by them cannibals out there!” He exclaimed.

  “No Talfin, I think that’s all nonsense. There’s something out there they don’t want us to see. I want to know what is really there. Do you never think to know why they tell us all these horrible things are there and just pretend like that land is some off-limits wasteland? It’s bollocks, I don’t buy it!” He replied.

  “Naury, at leas’ lemme go with ya then. The more all merrier, right? I gotcher back, yer like a brother to me.” Talfin pleaded.

  “I’m sorry friend, but this is something I’d rather go it alone at. I couldn’t possibly live with myself if something happened to you because of my stupidity. But worry not, I’m simply going to the edge of the mountains and back. I shall not venture into the lands beyond once I actually get a good look at them from a distance. Who knows, maybe there’s really a city made of golden roads and adamantine walls on the other side, full of princess’s awaiting their princes like us!” He joked and they both shared a hearty laugh.

  “Talfy, I’m going to tell my ‘rents that I’m going out hunting for a few days. If you happen to bump into them just say that too, will you?” He asked, Talfin nodding in approval.

  With that squared away, he bid farewell to his friend and set off back to his house, readying up all the excuses he needed in his head to keep his parents off his tail for the few days this trip would take. Naurus walked in to an empty house, which was a bit unusual for the afternoon but all for the better as it let him hide his provisions and pack up his backpack without any questions. He decided to whittle away some time going over an old bestiary that was gifted to him as a child by his parents. Of all the magnificent creatures and beings in it, he couldn’t find any mention of any of them specifically being found on the other side of the mountains. Of all the fauna particular to The Unscaled Slopes, he hoped to see the rocs. These were said to be gigantic eagles, easily able to snatch up a full-grown man and carry him off. Naurus had never seen one but hoped he could catch a glimpse of them without being snatched, but he suspected they might just be made up tales to scare children like many monsters seemed to be.