Timeline
29 122 Venna 22th Jerrid's arrival at Othala (tavern)
29 128 Gwion 02th Jerrid's arrival at Monsegor
(a
curious letter)
29 152 Rayda 02th Jerrid visits McBlein (a
small visit)
29 153 Rayda 03th Jerrid pledges allegiance to the House of McGreggor
(the chest)
The hunt
The Zarkan House library on Kilia 4, had gathered quite a collection throughout the centuries. It had old Othalan and Kilias’ hardships, and history there. It was by no means as grand as Gavins'. The Earl had much more extent oulder histories. Histories that didn’t make the journey to the isolated world. Maybe Gavin knew this, as he had allowed Jerrid access to nearly all the documents. Yet… There were some in the extended section that was off limits. Jerrid adhered to this… But even if he was curious or had malice intent, the private collections could not be accessed by anyone, other than Gavin himself.
Jerrid also did enjoy his days out in the countryside. Riding away the early mornings or late afternoon hours. The rare and few times during the week he took to saddle and have the wind rush trough his hair was quite a tension reliever. He kept the fire within him in good check. He was balanced… There was one day when he had the opportunity to hunt with Wallace. This was the day passed (yesterday) and he had enjoyed it very much. They had gone on an elphanipe hunt…
He and Wallace had prepared their bows and fletched their arrows the night before. Two hours before Dawn, they rode out into the lower forest and then trekked on foot for nearly an hour. They had picked a prime spot… It was by a babbling brook, amongst the mighty oaks. It was an ancient old forest. With strong rooted trees and large canopies.
As the Dawn staggered forward a small ruck of males were making their way towards them. The wind was at the hunter’s faces. Both men were also well camouflaged amongst the trees. Jerrid could hear the elphanipe hearts beat and their breathing. They were 200 yards away from their positions and closing cautiously. Neither man could visually see any of them yet… They could be felt and heard. Jerrid also felt Wallace a distance away and could tell he was on high alert also.
It seemed almost instantaneous when both arrows hit two bucks at the same time! Both creatures momentarily jumped when struck… then crashed in unionson on to the forest floor…… Two hearts were stopped immediately. The rest of the ruck scrambled in three different directions, as they were not sure where the attacks had come from.
Jerrid had gotten to the kills first, as apparently he ran over to the downed prey. Wallace came walking over with a large grin on his face. Looking at both dead elphanipes on the forest floor he gave a boisterous laugh. “Well done… I’d thought I heard two go down, but didn’t hear, but my arrow fly… I wasn’t sure if you had let one out also.” laughed Wallace.
“Eye… I thought the same”, replied a laughing Jerrid. They both looked at each other as they unsheathed their carvers and kept chuckling to themselves. Yes… they both had released their arrows and hit their marks at the same times… What a tale this would make…
They dressed their kill and carried them out to their aihws. They were going to feast on the sweat tender meat this nite… and next. Now at the end of this second nights roasted feast, Jerrid informed Wallace if he would trek on over to The Tavern of the Seducted Soul the following morning. He had to pay a visit to a man he had made a previous arrangement with. Wallace knew what it was about, but joked Jerrid about making an excuse to skip his fencing lessons…
A small visit
Monsegor, Rayda 01th
Fresh and pure she lay - night's youngest daugther. A rosy glow still tinted the sky and the first daring sunrays crept down to the lowlands of queribus to chase the mist off their green pillow as the two men returned from their morning meditation atop a steep slope.
"To renew and strengthen thy connection to heaven and earth" ,Jerrid's amazed look had almost made him laugh. Apparently his scholler had expected something more.. impressing.. as he had taken him along for the very first time.
'Some advanced form of sword training.. most likely..' ,yes this was what he would have suspected Wallace to do at the beginning of the day, '..or another kind of strenuous exercises.' Yet against Jerrid's anticipation Wallace did neither.
Palms towards the sky, fingertips pointing towards one another the hands in front of his navel Jerrid looked like carriing a shallow dish. An invisible one that is. He breathed in. It still was not easy. A dozen times Wallace had been standing right beside.. inspecting whether his breath ended within his lungs or wandered deeper.. to the indicated point three fingerbreadth below his navel - never had he thought he would have to practise breathing... yet it came worse.
How in the blazes could it be so difficult to move slowly ? Jerrid had caught up tremendously when it came to the fencing yet these kind of exercises really were hard for the Zarkan. The movements had to be slow and fluent - this much he had understood and he had really done his best to imitate Wallace' moves flawlessly... yet still his master had not been content. "Effortless Jerrid - thou hast to let go of the tension."
So he had tried.. yet sooner or later he had caught himself tensed up with concentration. Let go. Relax. To the Kilian it had been so much harder than to exert and more than once he wondered whether he would ever succeed. Again and again Wallace had demonstrated the fluent, circular moves... again and again Jerrid had joined in.. yet still his muscles had been tensed.. still he had been working with strength. It had been somewhat frustating that Wallace had still not been satisfied. "Look at the sky.." ,the Othalan had finally said, "..like drifting clouds.. this is how it should feel."
And indeed, only a short time later Jerrid had felt it. There was no need to work with strength - once he let go it happened all naturally.. like drifting clouds. Wallace had acknowledged the development with a smile. Some people probably had not even noticed a change.. yet it was a difference like day and night.
Today again it had been difficult to let go.. too excited was he for the trip he would take to contact McBlein whom he had engaged earlier on.. yet in spite.. or mayhaps exactly because of his nervousness his master had insited upon the morning execises. 'In times he can really be annoying' ,Jerrid had thought on their way to the plateau. An amused grin had been the answer. It seemed the simultaneously fired arrows had only been the external sign of an initiating unison of larger scale...
"Fare thee well my lord" ,finally yet before the sun had
evaporated the last mists from the lowland's pastures Jerrid had
mounted his steed and was on his way and for still a good while
Wallace' thoughtful glance followed the young man's ride. Jerrid
would return. Wallace would not know how he knew, yet this this
was not the last he had seen of the amazing visitor.. his apprentice..
and this somehow was a pleasant feeling.
***
A noble rides to The Tavern of the Seducted Soul. He is greeted immediately as a sight of a stallion, indicates stature. The servant is one the rider does not recognize. As the steed draws near and the hand comes to greet him, the young noble leans down to ask for a familiar face.
“Would thee be so kind as to tell me, the where-abouts of
a Sade McBlein? Asked the rider. “Eye my lord, he is at his
home. It is north of The Tavern road a bit. Once the stone bridge
is passed, it is the first road to the left, his home be the second
ye come by, my lord.” The servant answered.
“I thank thee. Would thee be so kind again, and give reason
why he be not here?” further inquired the young noble. “Eye
my lord. His wife has given birth to his first born.” Answered
the servant. “First born?” focused Jerrid. “Eye
my lord… his first born son.”
Jerrid smiled happily and straightened up on his steed. He was
happy for Sade. Yes… his first born. This was better than
Jerrid had hoped for…
The trotting of an eiwha on stone could be heard for quite some
way up the road. A man had crossed the bridge and was now entering
this quiet village. The people here gave him friendly greetings.
It was their way. Sade McBlein was at home in his cottage. Tis was
a well-built one, like the many others here. Since his was the second
one you’d come upon as you entered the village, the vantagepoint
allowed you a clear view of all that visited. A noble young man
on a steed…one he recognized. A smile came upon Sades’
face.
As the visitor stopped in front of his home and dismounted, Sade had just come out of his doorway. He recognized Jerrid right away and had a big proud smile on his face. “I see that thee are a proud man today, Sade McBlein.” Said Jerrid, with a smile also.
“Eye yes, Sir Jerrid, that I be.” In his excitement, he continued, “… tis had me first… and tis a boy, Sir.” Not hiding his joy. “I’m happy for thee. He shall make thee very proud, Sade. I’m sure of it.’ The young Noble replied.
Yes, Sade knew this man, and had befriended him months before, when he had stayed at the tavern. There was something about this Sir Jerrid that Sade had liked from the start. It was his manners and respect for the local commoner that made him so liked. Eye, this Jerrid never talked above you, he would talk to you. He had expected this gentleman to return. It was a little arrangement that they had agreed to, back then.
“Oh… forgive my manners, at times like this, Sir Jerrid”,
gesturing a welcome into his house. “Please come in, I’ll
get thee some ale for thy thirst.” He led the young lord into
his humble cottage and offered his hospitality. Yes, his wife had
given birth the other day and he was still very exited. His first
born son… what hopes, what dreams, Sade had for him...
After Sade had proudly showed off his newborn son, he realized the
matter of why Jerrid was here in the first place. “Eye my
lord. I’ve picked up your chest of belongings, as you instructed.
The chest is in the storage room. With this, he led Jerrid to the
place he spoke of.
Jerrid eyed the chest and could tell it had not been opened (not that it could be by anyone else anyway). “Yes… I’ve been a little lost without it”, explained Jerrid. “My lord…’, he was now calling Jerrid (instead of ‘sir”) as he took better notice of the clothes this young man was wearing.
“… I’ll make arrangements to have it brought to your place of stay by carriage, if you like.”, offered Sade. “Yes, that can be arranged”, then he turned to look at his host face to face. “Sade, can ye consider being in my services? I have need of a good man. One I can trust to attend to my small affairs.” Jerrid continued, “‘Tis will be well worth your time. And there will be plenty of time for thee to spend with thy family when I’m staying with the McGreggors” After some considerable thought. And with the McGreggor name thrown into the consideration, Sade… happily agreed.
“Good… a servant for now.”, thought Jerrid. But soon… he would present him with more serious ambitions…