Klempey [EN]

Chapter 1: The city of runes

Klempey was divided into numerous sectors, thus maximizing the efficiency of all activity.

Among them was the livestock sector, which was located on the outside of the great wall that protected the city, though few remembered what the city was protected from.

Made up of farmers and ranchers alike, they used the power of the land and the runes to provide sustenance for the entirety of the immense city.

It was also the quietest sector, made up of vast green meadows and farmland. You could walk for hours without finding any other company than the sun, the wind and the clouds. This is what made it the perfect place for a person who was afraid of being found, someone who preferred to live in the shadows.

The perfect place for Kia.

Despite her young age, Kia had been able to live on her own for months. Living in a small, ramshackle hut that she found and refurbished with various junk she found lying around or stole from the nearest town.

She had never been seen by anyone, this was not only due to the characteristics of the area where she was, Kia was able to disappear.

Just as the invisibility rune could grant a momentary invisibility to the bearer, Kia was able to use this power without the need of a rune, she was able to use the power of the underground in her own being.

As well as a blessing, this ability was also a curse, the fear of being used by others or the fear of rejection blocked Kia from leaving her burrow. Coupled with the fact that she also had no memory of who she was or her past other than her own name, she was not ready to introduce herself to the outside world.

"I've brought candy!" announced Kia as she entered her hut.

From one of the drawers of the old cabinet that decorated the room appeared a small linen. Linens were small creatures, similar in build to rabbits, but with ears similar to the antennae of a moth.

The linen jumped out of the drawer in welcome to Kia, and especially to the candy she brought with her.

"Hey! Half for me the other for you, I had to fetch them on my own," Kia quickly lifted the basket out of the linen's collision path. The linen slammed his face into the ground, when he realized what had happened he sulked as well and turned his back on her as a gesture of disapproval. Kia laughed and brought a pastry over to him, The linen tried to keep his composure, but the smell could with him, he turned away and clutched the pastry as if it was his last meal.

"I saw a woman with a weird cloth on her head today, I think she was from the commercial sector, usually the man with the scar comes in, what could have happened to him?"

The linen nodded vaguely as he finished licking his whiskers.

"Well, I didn't like him, he was very unfriendly to others, he gave them less and less shiny badges, but in his jacket pockets he always had a lot."

Kia used to talk to the linen, since she did not dare to make contact with any other person. She was a simple spectator of a strange world in which she woke up without knowing anything.
At that moment screams began to be heard, Kia turned invisible and went in search of the source. Stunned at such an uproar, she ended up back in the village, herdsmen and farmers were bringing torches and pitchforks, they were shouting angrily at the new trade representative.

"We can't lower the production prices any further!"
"We are barely able to feed our children anymore!"

Kia had never seen a conflict of this magnitude, just some bar fight or family brawl. Yet this scene was familiar to her, the shouting and anger seemed to bring bitter feelings, feelings she didn't want or know how to deal with. Before she knew it she was paralyzed in the middle of a riot, and from nerves, she became visible without realizing it.