A Kiflo Tale

Prologue

James trudged through the thick snow, unaware that the salvation of those walls, would also be the sealing of his fate. His hollowed, light axe, one of the only metal he deemed necessary to carry, knocked against the thickly covered thigh of his leg. It seemed to knock at the gnawing hunger in his stomach, he hadn't eaten since dawn.

Standing fifteen heads high, a thick, metal gate barred James' entry. A flame appeared above, nearly smothered by the darkened sky and snowy mist, thought it survived in what James thought he could make out as battlements; everything was too smothered in the blizzard to truly discern the material of the wall, thought if it was brick or stone, James had guessed stone. The place was originally built by the elves who preferred nature, even though the inhabitants were currently human.

"Who goes?" A guard shouted from the wall, his accent was brusque, a little western.

Still occupied? Impressive.

"Kiflo!" James replied, and as quickly as the amber glow had appeared, it disappeared. For a second, James wondered if the man had ignored his one-line grant into the settlement. Out here in the north, Elvern villages were both impressive and enormous, their key identification, however, was how they built walls two village houses high. An impressive feat to keep out the whipping wind in these barren lands, furthermore the inhabitants were indefinitely easier to rule over, as the threat of kicking them out was always a guarantee for obedience.

Then the gate opened. Slowly, the dense barrier seemed near unmovable, even from the gate's hinges, it only came somewhat ajar. A different guard appeared, "Move it, man!"

As James approached, and felt the scrutinization as the man inspected him, he called to someone inside, "Oi, this one's a human." A more clipped, western accent indicated this man was a higher citizen of Oria than the first. All the way out here, that was quite an achievement, he was quite a ways from home. Nearly as far as James.

The Kiflo felt desperately frozen, and his growling stomach a husk. However, curious in spite of himself, found himself asking, "Are there others?" Referring to the statement the guard made, and to whether or not others had answered the call here.

"Aye, some elves Kiflo came before you, still haven't dealt with the... problem." The guard grabbed James' arm, whispering into his ear. He nearly resisted from the ale-stained breath alone. "And between you 'n me, fellow pureman, they 'ave to be spys for the Larks," He said the name with disgust, "I'd watch out for 'em. Oh!" the guard looked, wild eyes to the sky, "It's near time, those bloody monsters will be lurking soon, best get to the Bartrendïr's home."

It was hard for James to understand what the guard was saying through his thick accent, but he wordlessly nodded, knowingly. Not letting himself speak too much. Orians didn't like elves- this Lark family especially-, but they also didn't like Southerners. Even if James was a Southern Orian. 

The man patted James on the back, letting him go further in. He walked on, without question, not really sure where he was meant to go. James also knew that these particular humans assumed others knew where things were, since they kept things as similar as possible in every single settlement, even when it's captured from Elves with their wild, stone structures.

James being a Kiflo wanted to maintain the illusion that he was somehow omniscient, something of a stereotype that Northerners of both humans and elves seemed to believe. Who knows when he'd have to deal with that guard again. 

From the last place he'd been, occupied by elves, the Elvern Baron's would be the large building all the way to the right. So here, James guessed that these humans probably took it over, and introduced their hallmark 'Royal Path' to guide people to it, placing their own Royal Lord in the Elvern Baron's place. It helped to know that wherever the Lord's place was, it would have a monastery with a large spire that acted as a guide. It didn't help, that the blizzardly mist obscured his vision completely.