Chapter Twenty-Nine: T'kara

127 13 1
                                    

Chapter Twenty-Nine: T'Kara.

“And here we are!”

Vajik grinned gruesomely as he stepped off of the path and swept his arm out, as if presenting the view that spread out before them. They seemed to be looking down onto what had once been a perfectly flat plain, as if the mountains had been melted down and pounded flat, then covered in grass.

But now every inch of the plain, sweeping right up to the ocean in the distance, was a patchwork of fields. Standing, like a gigantic, walled-in complex stack of blocks, lay T'kara. Even from the distance Tauren could see the massive red-stone walls towering high over the farmland, and the dozens of massive sailing ships lying at anchor in the harbor.

“Wow.” He muttered under his breath. He hadn't ever seen a real city like this before, so organized, built out of such heavy, forbidding stone.

Detrick grinned, stepping up beside him. “I'm amazed you can see it from up here, it's usually pretty misty down there. But pretty impressive, isn't it?”

Tauren nodded silently, his eyes wandering up the walls of the towering keep.

Vajik sighed, pulling his pack further up his shoulder for the thousandth time in the past day. “You should have seen it two or three thousand years ago -before they rebuilt it. It used to be a lot bigger.”

Laenya frowned, an odd look on her face -as if she almost recognized the view. “Why did they rebuild it?”

Vajik glanced back at her. “Lets get going, I'll explain.” Quickly he again took the lead and they continued on down the path cut in the moutainside, careful not to trip lest they face the long tumbling fall to the plains.

After a few seconds Vajik continued speaking. “T'kara's a pretty old city. Older than most people think. I'm pretty sure that it was built as an outpost to keep an eye on these mountain passes, but that was before my time.”

Detrick frowned. “The Arrels always said that they built it about four and half thousand years ago as a defence outpost for any ships escaping from the Watergate.”

Vajik shook his head, catching himself with his staff as he stumbled slightly. “No. T'kara is much older than that. When I was here last me and my contingent were just passing through the mountains heading for Moru. We, er, didn't stop by the city -or town as it was then- but I got a good look at it. Lower walls. Sandstone mostly. Lots of gardens. Very pretty city.”

“Anyway. About fifty years after that another attack went through the area. That time the city didn't do so well. It was burnt down about four or five times before it was finally abandoned.”

Detrick nodded. “Yeah. Only the dungeons weren't rebuilt. The dungeons and the underground library.”

Vajik nodded. “Yes. Anyway, after our people left the area some humans returned, and started farming the area. It was only once the general district became very profitable food-wise that the Arrels had the castle re-built. It's all clockwork and patterns in there now. Hard stone and fortifications. Very well built though.”

Laenya frowned, carefully placing her feet on the smooth path. “So when we get there we'll just be able to walk right in and get into the library?”

Vajik shrugged, the question having been sent at him. “I have no idea how the city works now -or how it ever worked.”

Detrick stepped up to the question though. “Well, actually, there are two libraries in the city these days. The public library can be accessed at any time by anyone, no permissions needed. But if we're looking for old records and such then we'll have to get into the keep's underground library.”

The Soul Forge.Where stories live. Discover now