Some music for your pleasure.
I figured to give you all a little update. In an attempt to try and find an anvil (to steal) for Bloodtemple, as the human civilization was not trading any despite having bronze equipment they are able to trade with the residents of the jungle hive spire each caravan arrival and no official contact with any Dwarven civilization; Epxa Toothtrusses decided to take it upon himself to venture out to find one.
Now a bit of background on Epxa Toothtrusses, a beast person who emerged from the jungles surrounding Bloodtemples to join them.
(Please do excuse the crude depiction, didn't want to exude a huge amount of time on this picture.)
Little is known of Epxa's past, as he seldom talks about his time in the wild. Many theories exist on where he came from... perhaps there is secret tribes of elusive Jaguar men out in the rainforests, or maybe his parents were jaguars and by some twisted, cruel fate of the gods he grew into the form of a man. He doesn't seem to entertain any particular story and almost seems amused at keeping people in the dark about his past regarding that. What is known about Epxa is that he's an adept hunter and prowler, and a modestly skilled bone carver- liking to carve the bones of his catches in his spare times, shaving away flake after flake of bone with a humble knife whittling it into various crafts and objects, some of which he wears or barters to the town stockpile.
He is also a famed killer of beasts in that regard, having killed a cave dragon by himself by throwing nothing but simple darts and rocks at it, and biting its throat and suffocating it when it was in its last, bloody throes. Immensely muscular some denizens of Bloodtemple firmly believe that Epxa has the blood of the gods flowing through him, but again, he keeps rather humble in his accounts- any sense of ego instead being delved into his appearance.
Epxa does have a stoic side about him, which has made his integration into the settlement of Bloodtemples rather fluid and cordial- the civilization of Bloodtemple valuing stoicism and keeping a stern head in tough situations. And this stoic side has led him to undertaking a difficult journey:
Contacting the far dwarven forts of the northwest in the hopes of obtaining one of their masterfully crafted anvils.
He journeyed with a female swordsman by the name of Thempsa, an energetic, and fiery woman who wanted something to prove her mettle.
But their luck wasn't the greatest in the dwarven strongholds, as the dwarves carefully guarded their anvils, none being available for sale, nor being feasible to steal. Trading for pitiful amounts of goods, mostly some silver weapons and the like for flesh and skins gathered from various creatures Epxa had killed. (the dwarves being very protective over their metals, mining being a difficult and prospective endeavor) Thempsa and Epxa headed home after resting a week in a Dwarf hillocks.
During his travels for the sake of security and not incurring the wrath of the dwarfs Epxa had gone under the alias Somug, who was according to the backstory Epxa gave the alias was a merchant from a nearby goblin civilization. Thinking on it, it may have been why the dwarves may have been reluctant to trade their precious anvils.
While the goblins of the world were mostly peaceful with most everyone, disturbing reports of demonic worship reached the ears of settlements, and just this year the goblins had launched raids against their elven neighbours in mountain bones within the tin jungle, as well as other locations.
Setting off, the duo hiked their way across the lands, south down from the northeast mountains of the world and across rivers and streams...
And through numerous deserts. The journey was indeed a long and arduous one. The splendor of the world, in all its wild and untamed glory was very evident to the two travellers...
Sometimes in their journeys they came across the denizens of this wild world... lairs of creatures. And they merited exploration, for they may terrorize caravans and pilgrims to Bloodtemple in the future.
Fear and tension was rife when exploring these places... you never knew what you were going to find at the bottom of them. Infamous night trolls that prowled in the night, brutally murdering the few brave travelers of the world and grinding them into paste, or worse- finding concubines of their victims? Powerful beasts and titans ready to sunder those who dare enter their realm!?
Or sometimes just random dingos.
Sometimes LOTS of dingos.
Indeed, the journey across the world was that of a perilous and unpredictable nature. So much of the world was still an untapped and unexplored wilderness, civilizations just mewling out of their cradles into a vast and unforgiving world. Even the denizens of the wild, the fabled and mysterious elf folk seemed to have issues.
Passing through their lands, Epxa had hoped to greet traders to pick up more supplies and possibly more goods for Bloodtemple... the elves of Mountainbones and other distant forests were a strange lot. While initial trading with them seemed to go just fine, any time the priests stopped communing and resumed communing with the gods, the elves mysteriously would refute to trade with Bloodtemple. People wondered why, but the race of the elves was a rather unknown one, and their cultures and customs were fairly alien.
But what was known is that they likely looked upon the tall and imposing spire- an architectural marvel, one to bring the denizens of Bloodtemple closer to the gods, as an affront against nature. The killing of so many trees, of which the elves revered with fanatical devotion. Trade still continued off and on but there was indeed a bitterness.
(And on a completely honest note anytime I would retire my fort I would return to find it with former Elven caravans just loitering, hostile but not doing anything in my fortress area. I never offended the elves but it just seems weird... might be the side affect of my city being a giant wooden hive spire I guess and having innumerable wooden products. We don't sell the elves the said wood though. Also yes, I don't just meme kill all the elves on sight; and this is coming from the guy who voiced Urist in the Ravandil series by Karl the Deranged
)
Traveling through it was eery and unsettling. Epxa's ears twitched at the silence, even the birds were silent, and Thempsa clutched her bronze shortsword tightly...
Entering the marketplace, itself covered by a grown wicker warehouse to protect it from the elements, was found to be completely empty and devoid of life. A marketplace, a sacred and invigorating place of trade normally bustling like a beehive and here- barren of activity! Surely the elves knew that not trading with outsiders was a denial of their inner nature itself? The absconding of our thrumming common pulse, interactions with outsiders and sharing of goods and stories? Not a soul in sight. Nor valuable goods... it almost seemed ransacked. A disturbing and uncomfortable prospect.
Investigating it Epxa found small remainders of what may have happened... evidence of warfare. A few footprints coming into the marketplace with many more trying to flee it. Someone, a group had tried to come in here and it was apparent by the now very faded tracks and very old scent of blood entering Epxa's feline nostrils that violence had occurred here. Goblins, likely had scoured this place.
The last stretch of the journey home took the two through the disturbing dead lands of the pungent hills. Nothing new grew there, a forest of death with wormy tendrils rupturing through the ground like disgusting worms and the forest itself fairly barren of life. The two passed through these lands quickly, as haunting stories had been told around campfires of this awful place... speeding through it, they trekked past the southeastern mountains of the world and into the jungle domain of Bloodtemple.
They were finally home... and with much news of the world to share with their kin.
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Topic: The Mint Continents- The chronicle of a realm's growth and history. (Read 1379 times)