Notes on The Dark Souls of the Forest:
Chapter 3: A Visit to the Forest
Vasta brought with him five white wizards when he journeyed into the Ehathian forest onetime. What he wanted them to do was keep several spells going that can detect Fiends and other evil spirits. Four of them never got any indication of Fiends, they did affirm possible hauntings, but did not believe they were tied to Fiends. The other, however, said that he not only detected Dark magic, but he was given the indication that Fiends had stepped foot in the forest within his lifetime. Due to it only being one out of five, most people did not take the warning of Fiends seriously. Vasta, however, did. He said that the evidence for Fiends does not appear when they haven’t been present, but can be hidden when they were. The white wizard who identified the evidence was also the eldest and most powerful one present and Jothin, Johnter’s great-grandfather. So, Fiends might have been present even after the Divine Sisters were bestowed on the elven royalty. How would they go unnoticed? I thought that the Divine Sisters could detect Fiend activity and so there was always a warning as to when Fiends were on the lands no matter how distant. It looks like Vasta discusses this issue in the next chapter.
The 10th Day of the 10th Moon
The ambassadors were wearing their hooded cloaks even when dining this morning. Are they fearful of someone targeting them for being elves? I did not know that things were that bad between us and them; Akma says it is, however. Unfortunate, hopefully these ambassadors will be able to help. I think one is male and one is female. A female ambassador, how strange.
I sat down with Akma around midday and had a nice long chat. He grew up in the port city of Hasba, near the far northwest coast at the edge of our kingdom. He was the youngest of six children, all boys other than one sister who was the second oldest. Apparently she was married off to a foreigner in order to help better relations with another port city. Akma’s father was one of the Harbor Masters and so she held diplomatic value. Since he was not destined to follow in his father’s footsteps and most of his brothers were able to get apprenticeships before he could, he found himself spending a lot of time in the town’s library. With his time spent in the library and at the docks, Akma was able to learn three additional languages. He became an interpreter after stepping in when a dwarf was starting to cause his father issues due to a misunderstanding. He only knows common dwarven, but it was enough. He started off just being his father’s translator when needed, but ended up traveling with other ships when they might need a translator in a land he knew the language of. He only traveled to two different kingdoms, but one of them controlled the port that the dwarves used. I have asked Akma to start teaching me other languages and he said he would if we had time. It was on his way back from that kingdom when the Great Elven Plague happened. Almost all ships were rerouted to avoid the Isle Lands, as everyone feared it would spread endlessly. That is how Akma ended up here, in Dovan. His ship was rerouted to the nearer port and due to a few illnesses everyone was evacuating the city. Since his services were no longer in need, Akma traveled to the capitol, having never seen it. It was there that he met the former palace librarian and made the city his home. He has been here ever since. I never knew he had such an adventuresome life. I guess that explains how he has all these hidden books and knows so much. What else would you do when sitting on a boat for several moon turns?
I heard lessons were to start soon, but, in order to keep Franklin from finding me, I am not going to go. Besides, they bore me.
