|
Background Story
Written by Phil
I was born in the remains of the city of
???????, which lies near the farthest point of the Eastern fork of the Great River. I�ve
heard that it was once a place of safety, a bulwark against the Wyld towards the east. But
that was a long time ago, before the Old Realm destroyed itself. The city I knew was a
brawling cesspit of desperate people; any of the old wonders or priceless knowledge of the
ancients would have been destroyed or stolen long before I was born.
Following the Great Contagion, and the wars for Creation that followed, some refugees began
to trickle in to repopulate the remains of ???????, sheltering in the cracked stone remains.
Even then though, there was no clear authority present. But the people chose a council to
administer them. The bastard child of the Old Realm sent a score of Dragon-Blooded to exert
its authority, and to comb the ruins for any items of power and wonder that may remain. In
order to accomplish this, they disempowered and divided the council, so that it and the
people would not interfere in their increasingly frustrated efforts. Their mission was not
as fruitful as they had hoped �Ethe region was too poor to give much tribute, and many of
the antiquities could not be found or accounted for. But they took what they could, some
departing with their prizes, others remaining to enforce the rule of their distant Empress
with the council at their feet.
Then distant events and the past joined together to assail us. Half of the Dragon-Blessed
returned to the centre of the Empire, when news reached us that the Empress had vanished.
And from the tunnels beneath our dwellings, where the old city had been built over and
forgotten, monstrosities arose. The Fair Folk who had conquered our city long ago had left
some of their servants behind, and it was they who vanquished the Dragon-Blooded that
remained, and befuddled the councillors that they began to turn against each other, each
with their own dream of them at the head of our city, and their rivals screaming in their
dungeons. None of them survived long in the ensuring bloodbath, but they had set our city
on its present course. From that day forth, our city was divided into warring factions,
each seeking to annihilate all others and dominate the city.
Our city was too far away and too difficult to control for all of the major powers, so they
chose to ignore us. And so the chaos remained until I left.
Family
One of my earliest memories, I think I was about 6 winters old, is of getting out of bed at
night when my younger brother ?Kid Brother? began tossing and turning in a nightmare. I
left the room I shared with my three siblings and went down stairs to the room where I knew
my Mother and Father were. I could hear them breathing, and another noise that I could not
identify. I carefully put my head around the corner and saw my father standing, with his
back to me, over my mother who was curled up on the floor like ?Kid Brother? when he was
hurt. The noise was my Mother sobbing through her damaged face. The bright scarlet blood,
and it�s horrid sickly smell, was splashed up my Fathers clenched hands and spots and pools
and rivers on the floor and in darkened, caked masses and rivers under the strands of
Mothers pale hair that lay across her face as she tried to hide it and ...
It was then that my older sister Meirian drew me back from the portal. My older brother
?Big Brother? was next to her, and ?Kid Brother? was at the top of the stairs in the portal
to our room, looking wide awake and frightened. I didn�t know what expressions my elder
brother and sister had, but I know now that Meirian appeared saddened, while ?Big Brother?
appeared steadfast. Meirian picked me up and took me quietly back to our room, while ?Big
Brother? waited at the bottom of the stairs, making sure we were safely inside before he
came up. We all fell into a nervous sleep.
Father left a year after that
Mother
My mother Ethlinn. Her hair was interspersed with grey and white streaks, as if her worries
and toils were slowly washing the colour from her body. I think Meirian once told me that
her hair was all dark once, but it had become paler as she got older. I remember she was a
gentle woman; too gentle, in some ways, for the time and place. She was a herbalist, and
grew and traded herbs for use in medicines.
She become ill and died a few months after Father left. The toll that each day and night
extracted finally became too much for her, I guess. It was in my eighth winter, and I
remember being shown her body �Eshe looked so peaceful, almost content on the bier; and her
hair was stark white.
Father
I do not enjoy remembering my Father. Each time I look back I find more faults, and
grievances against him. He went by the name of Mandrigan.. He thought so much of himself
that he did not have any thoughts left for anyone else. He lied, cheated, swindled, bullied
and stole from everyone, even his own family, nor would he accept any compromise or
hindrance to his plans from anyone. He made advances upon other women when he was married
to my mother, and even upon my sister once she had come of age. Doubtless he would have
done the same to me when I was older. He abandoned us shortly before Mother became ill, and
I believe he has sided with one of the factions in ????????.
Fathers only gift to my mother, and the world in general, was her four children, the eldest
was my sister Meirian, the next eldest was my brother ?Big Brother?, then myself and finally
my younger brother, ?Kid Brother?.
Sister
My sister Meirian (ME-ri-anne) was very like my mother. At an age of 19 winters, she took
over caring for us from when Mother became sick, until she disappeared one day. She was
very much her mothers child, though I think she was more tempered towards the daily problems
of living in ????????.. She had the same rich, dark brown hair that she claims Mother
possessed in her youth, and the same devotion and love towards her siblings that Mother
possessed all her life. Like Mother, she performed the complex balancing act of caring for
our family in spite of the incessant problems of ????????.. She was better at it than
Mother, but I guess she was not burdened with my Father as Mother was. My sister was a
talented healer, and taught me some of her craft.
Older Brother
My elder brother ?Big Brother? was born with a warriors body and a noble heart. He was a
natural fighter and learnt his formidable combat skills quickly; he had barely left
childhood when he beat an older man, twice his size. If Meirian took upon herself Mother�s
duties when she died, ?Big Brother? took upon himself the duties Father should have
observed. He ensured that our little family was not preyed upon by the many predators,
human and otherwise, that stalked the ruined streets of ????????.. I think, of all my
siblings, I had the most in common with him; and I always admired him, and strived to
emulate him.. We shared many of our features, including our red hair and hazel
eyes.
We also shared many of the same responses and instincts in the face of danger. One memory
that I will always have of him is was one day when two men burst into the rooms we had
claimed for our own. Meirian was in the main room, preparing scavenged clothing and
textiles to trade for food, and I was playing with ?Kid Brother? in the room we all used for
a bedroom. The men grabbed Meirian and began to threaten her, while I persuaded ?Kid
Brother? to hide. The men had just thrown Meirian onto the floor, where she lay gasping for
breath around the bruises around her throat, when I charged into the room. The men looked
at me, plainly astonished a small child of ten winters would dare to do such a thing, but
they snapped out of it when I managed to jump up and break the nose on one of the men. He
immediately smacked me out of the air and onto the floor, where he began finish me off by
stamping his large feet, while his companion turned his leering attention towards my sister.
Just then, ?Big Brother? came running in. Before either of the men could turn to face him,
one was already dead from the force of my brother�s hands and feet at several places down
his spine. The other man drew his weapon, but it was little defence against the furious
whirlwind of my brothers strikes and kicks. When it was over, he came over and picked me up
of the ground, bound my wounds and took me to bed. I remember he smiled just before I
passed out. When I had recovered, he began to teach me, and I learned as fast as a child
could of his techniques.
My brother, along with his friends, was a mercenary. They bartered their services between
the factions that fought, and maintained some stability for their families by virtue of
their fighting skill and retribution upon any who harmed them. Sadly, gradually all of his
friends succumbed to the daily dangers of ?????????. Finally, only he was left �Ean elite
veteran at only 22 winters of age. The one day, perhaps inevitably, he too vanished in the
ruins, and was not heard from again.
Meirian tried to find him, brokering the skills she had learned and favours that she had
received in her 24 winters of life. She was cautious and wise in her dealings, but she
simply vanished a few months after ?Big Brother?. ?Kid Brother? and I returned home one
afternoon to find her gone, and that was all that we knew.
Younger Brother
While I admired and emulated my elder brother, I adored and doted upon my younger brother,
?Kid Brother?, who was 2 winters younger than I. He was always very small, smaller than me
even. He had gorgeous dark hair, and serious dark eyes, and a beautiful, impish smile that
could�ve even warmed the cold hearts of the Fair Folk. He was never strong, either in body
or temperament, and would not have lasted very long without the rest of us to look after
him. However, he was a natural performer, and could master anyone else by with just a few
words that would leave them rolling about on the floor. He also had a rare talent for
music, which he tried to awaken in me. Not with the degree of success either of us hoped
for, but I could accompany his virtuoso performance when we sang for our supper, or to try
and glean information about our siblings after they had disappeared.
Lookshy
Eventually, some of the many evil people dwelling in ???????? deduced or learned that me and
?Kid Brother? were on our own. Despite my attempts to trick them, fight them off and delay
them so that my brother could escape, they took me, and ?Kid Brother? as he bravely yet
foolishly ran to my aid. We were both young and hale, I at 13 winters, ?Kid Brother? at 11.
and so when they captured us they decided that the best fate for us was to be sold as slaves
in faraway markets, to toil until we died.
We were brought downriver by boat from ?????????, and taken some way along. Eventually we
came ashore a small way ahead of a toll gate. We were taken out of the barge, and we forced
to march the rest of the distance to Lookshy with a Guild caravan.
On our journey, our indoctrination began. We were taught fear and obedience, our place in
the grand hierarchy and the few reasons our pointless existence was tolerated, and our worth
as mere commodities �Enot as people. Myself and the other girls and women
were...checked...to see if we were virgin, and thus worthy of being submitted to the vile
attentions of men in the bowers of a concubine, or the gutters of the city streets. Some of
the women who had failed this and other tests were given as rewards to the male slaves who
had degenerated quickly into their new status whist on our journey. I conspired to swap
places with one of the women destined for this fate, so that we could both avoid fates we
did not feel we could not endure. I still feel sorry for her; she was so afraid for her
fate that awaited her otherwise, unless she was counted among those wretches.
There was a similar test among some of the boys �Eand ?Kid Brother? was deemed worthy by one
of the overseers. I managed to rescue him from this fate by inciting a riot upon the barge.
I promised the only thing I had to some of the male slaves if they would attack the overseer
�Ea promise I did not intend to keep, though none of the men survived to call the debt due
after the overseer had died. In the confusion and general melee, I managed to coax my
brother out, and spirit him away to a place amongst other slaves, where he was forgotten.
One of the overseers guessed that I was one of the first to join the fighting. As a
warning, I was punished in front of everyone upon the barge in such a way that I, and
undoubtedly they, will remember for the rest of our brief, hard lives. I spent the rest of
my journey assuring my brother that it was not his fault, but I do not know if he will ever
believe me.
Not all of the other prisoners that we with us on the barge and the caravan survived the
journey. I imagine their bodies still lie at the bottom of the river, or at the sides of a
road, where they were left for the carrion.
At Lookshy I was finally separated from ?Kid Brother? at the auction block, even though we
both tried our best to be in the same consignment, through deception and whatever other
small means that were available to us. It was the grimmest note that ended the hardest year
of my life. At 14 winters, I was alone.
Bought
I was part of a small consignment of labourer women. We were purchased by House ?Pick the
Damn House Simon? of the Realm, and sent across the Sea to the North. I remember the nausea
of each day that we all spent in our cells with little room to move, and only a small
fraction of our already meagre rations that the swell allowed us to keep down our throats.
It was here that I first met Sascha, whom I still firmly believe had no right not to be sick
every day.
We were unloaded at the port of Jasmine, and taken inland to a mine owned by House ?Pick the
Damn House Simon?. We were to help expand and maintain the mining camp that was there,
while the miners, a mix of slaves, peasants and professionals, dug out the gold and jade
from the seams below the mountains. The other women and I looked out for each other
�Emaking sure that we did not work if we were sick or injured, and assisting with tasks that
we all found onerous. Some women, such as Sascha, had strange problems with the harder,
dirtier work, and others had honest and justified doubts about the attentions of our snide
leering colleagues. Doubts which some women, such as Sascha, possessed in quantities far
too small to be able to cope with the harsh realities of our place in the world. I made
something of myself by being able to discourage the miners from presuming too far from our
ministrations �Eor the momentary attentions of women like Sascha.. The foreman usually
agreed that my treatment was appropriate for someone with such foul and unproductive
tendencies, and did not punish or execute me for it.
It was the close of my 15th winter. I was not happy, but life seemed to now be a stable
routine, and far better than it had been in a long time. Sadly, it was not to last.
The Mine
In spite of the number of caravans we sent out packed full of the valuable gold ore, the
mine was not as profitable as House Mnemon wished. The officials drove the foreman and his
men harder �Emany of the men remarked that the tunnels were becoming too deep, and worried
about the dangers of cave-ins and floods. Soon, the rumours that they shared over their
shortened meals turned to strange sights and sounds that they had experienced underground,
and the feeling that they were not alone �Ethat something other than the humans and the rats
was alive and moving about. Things began to come to a head when a man disappeared, and the
rest of the men began to refused to enter the lower levels of the mine. In spite of the
efforts of the officials and their guards, the situation further degenerated when they
refused to enter it at all for fear of the things they had witnessed, as well as the unknown
fate of the missing, who by now numbered three. Word from the caravans also reached us that
some of their number had been killed by bandits in the mountains.
However House Mnemon and its petty officials had a solution to their problem: they had
recruited a contingent of mercenaries to assist the officials in returning the mine to
operation by both providing the mine with security and placing duress upon its workers. The
workers returned to the mine, and for a while the operation returned to normal, although the
bandit raids upon the caravans were becoming more brazen and numerous. By this time my 16th
winter had come and gone. Occasionally some of the mercenaries and a few of the officials
would inspect the passages, and declare that nothing was wrong. Sadly, the rumours began
anew after one of the workers, a boy named ?Boyfriend? who, like my brothers, appeared to
have overcome the legacy of his sex, disappeared. The tensions began anew after simmering
for a few months as more men went missing. Finally, one of the working parties, and a pair
of the mercenaries and one of the officials who had been with it failed to return. A larger
expedition was sent down to find them, but was forced back after a series of cave-ins at the
lower levels.
Now, even the officials and the mercenaries refused to enter the mine. House Mnemon decided
that the mine was exhausted, and that further digging was pointless. In order to maintain
their claim on the region, they offered the mercenaries the remaining slaves and some of the
surrounding lands as part of the payment for their services. Some of them accepted,
including my current owner, Fang.
Fang
Fang is a veteran mercenary, who was among those hired to guard the mines that I worked on.
When the work was finished, his years caught up to him. Although wise from his years in
conflict, he could no longer continue with the exertions that his regiment demanded of him.
Instead of the pitiful pay he would have received for such an unprofitable job, he chose to
accept this opportunity and gain some nearby farmland. The only provision upon him and the
other mercenaries who accepted the offer that they maintained their watch upon the mine.
As part of the deal, he also gained the ownership of me. He has trained many young recruits
throughout his life, some of whom, he assures me, are still alive and fairly intact today.
Be that as it may, he brooks no questioning his orders. But he does reward effort and
achievement, and does not inflict cruelty on a whim �Ethere is always a reason for
punishment, and it is proportional to the error.
He has told me that he once had a wife, who, convinced he had been killed in a long
campaign, remarried. From his wife he has two children, a daughter and a son. I understand
he has not seen them since the fateful day he returned home to find his wife with another
man, but occasionally sends messages and money back to them. The memory of these events
causes him some pain, and I have always assumed that the loss of his family and the
treachery of his wife has hurt him deeply.
I am not sure why I was given to Fang, perhaps the Dynasts thought that they could ensure he
kept his side of the bargain if he had a woman and consequent children on the land. If they
believed that, then they were mistaken; Fang has made no advances upon me, nor does he seem
to have any desire to. Not all of his comrades have felt the same way towards their slave
women.
After establishing his farm and sowing the seeds for our first harvest, Fang and I settled
in as I counted my 17th winter. In the chill of our hut, however, Fang�s declining
constitution caused him to acquire a cough. When winter was over, and the spring began to
warm, his cough remained. Neither of us sleeps very much now �Ehe is awake, coughing, and I
lie awake worrying.
Perhaps he just needs the full sun of summer.
I hope.
Sascha
I am still friends, of sorts, with a slave woman named Sascha (saz-CHA). She and I worked
together at the mines. She originally hails from the South, of all places, �Ea fact borne
out by her alien figure and features, honey coloured skin and black eyes. She knows her
position all too well �Eshe was born into slavery. She is an extremely talented gossip and
flirt. Our relationship is close; we both enjoy the others company, but she can be
exasperating sometimes. She is far too flightly and only ever interested in discussing men,
especially the one upon whom her mercurial attentions are focused at the moment. We each
have ways of benefiting the other, and do our best to look out for one another.. She has
found my fighting abilities and experience useful in dealing with some ex-lovers who had not
taken the hint, and in return, she keeps me informed about goings on and can sometimes
arrange other benefits for me through her network of �friends�E She is owned by the
Governor of our area.
Aesa
I have made friends with the local Healer, an old woman named Aesa. I learned some
techniques from my sister, and, as such, I am of more use to her than the other village
girls. Through my assistance to her, I have gained some acknowledgment not usually
available to a slave from the other villagers, especially the women. However, while she is
willing to help me where she can, she and the others will always remember that I am a slave.
Unlike the others though, her attitude seems to be softening over time, so perhaps I just
need to do more work for her. These days she thinks nothing of getting something from the
village women for me, in return for my help and company.
I do not know very much about her past as she often does not choose to discuss it. However,
from conversations with her and gossiping with the other village women, I have learned that,
like me, she has suffered much abuse at the hands of men. She had a husband and three
children once, but they all died in a plague many years ago. While I know she must grieve
for her children, I think she is glad her husband has gone. From her brief reminiscences, I
think he may have been very similar to Father.
I also know many of the village women in Tarwin�s Reach, and almost all of the slaves that
worked with me at the mine (The women as acquaintances, the men...Well, I know their names,
and they know mine.). Some of the latter work for the Dynast officials, others work in the
farms around Tarwin�s Reach, either for the pensioned mercenaries or the farmers. I have
met a few of the monks at the Immaculate Monastery, mainly when Fang took me out to attend
the services there. I did not think he was a religious man, but since all of the other
mercenaries also attend these services, I think perhaps it is something they learned in
their regiment.
I admire a few of the monks, especially a woman named Kigero. She is strong, knowledgable,
and fast.
Recently, a blacksmith named Handur moved back to the village after living on the Blessed
Isle for many years. Many of the villagers are suspicious of him, and Aesa doesn�t like
him, but... I don�t know. I�ve had to speak with him when Fang sends me to the village to
obtain or repair metal implements. He frightens me ... a lot, but he doesn�t seem to want
to harm me �Ehe kind of reminds of ?Big Brother?. I don�t know why.
Appearance
Dianhlidh is a small woman of average build. Her skin is pale, and does not tan easily.
She has quite a number of small (barely visible) scars, inflicted by knives, whips and other
injuries during both her rough upbringing and enslavement. She has wide hazel eyes and
straight auburn hair. As a slave, she cuts her hair short by grabbing it into a bundle with
one hand, and sawing through the strands with a knife. She also, surreptitiously rubs
charcoal into it to disguise the colour to more of a intermediate brown. Both of these
measures where learned as a method of avoiding unwelcome attentions of the men she comes
into contact with.
Unusually for a slave, Dianh has a fairly erect posture, but she has acquired other defence
mechanisms; she has difficultly with direct eye contact, and strongly dislikes being touched
�Eshe prefers to talk to people outside of a normal conversation distance.
Dianh wears simple slave clothing, consisting mainly of some under-wraps, a rough linen
smock fitted on by string and ribbon, sandals and woollen pants with a rope belt. She
prefers to wear pants (for the freedom of movement), but will wear a skirt if required to
blend in with others (she wore a skirt at the mine to identify with the other female slaves
there). For cold weather, she also has a woollen top, a woollen cloak and woollen
stockings.
Attitudes
The Realm
Dianh has a contemptuous attitude towards the Realm, having seen first-hand the consequences
of its current direction.
Men and Males
Dianh has acquired a prejudice against men. This stems from her own horrific experiences
during her enslavement, as well as the actions and personality of her father. She can
overcome these feelings given time and patience; she loved both her brothers, and got along
well with Fang. It is part of her problem with Sascha; she doesn�t understand what the
other women sees in men that is so great. It is also partly why she trusts Aesa. Dianhlidh
is, obviously, a virgin, a status maintained by her overseers when she was a slave. She was
not sold in as a prostitute partly because she does react violently in such situations, and
partly due to the swapping she undertook and the mistakes of her overseers. If she ever
manages to get close to anyone, she will have some real hang-ups to overcome.
Religion
Dianhlidh mouths the words at the sermons of the monks, but she doesn�t worship the
elemental dragons. She is not inclined towards religion, partly due to her hardships but
mostly by natural inclination. She occasionally remembers to observe vaguely remembered
prayers to the All-Mother and some minor gods taught to her in her childhood.
|
