When The Moons And Mirrors Rise

Chapter 33

Tezynnaro was hot, and open spaces appeared bleak. Stella ruled cruelly here, sending down searing, burning light. The leaves on the tall, grey-trunked trees hung vertically, swaying instead of bobbing upon breezes. Even in what little decent shade there was to be found, the air cracked with heat and moisture clung to your skin. Down near the water was bearable, where the breeze was cooled by the waves, but after we'd helped unload the Grey Noddy we ventured further into Skysalt.. Captain Peter directed us to the pavilioned amphitheatre at the end of the main road coming off the docks. The amphitheatre was a couple of steps set into the ground, and served the same purpose as the square in Orsilnon. There was a large group in the centre, chattering and laden with packs.

"Tanarook, arms wide. Mirika, hands spread, eyes open?" said a man walking towards us, holding his arms out as if to welcome us. My friends shared confused looks. The man shook his head, grinning to himself, then spoke again.
"Welcome. What are you looking for?" That made more sense.
"We're on a quest," began Ris, before realising she didn't know enough about Tezynnaro to know what she was looking for here. "We need all the Enchanted to gather at the TenthTide Shores. Who should I talk to so they can spread the message?"
"Ah, Junalur with Corinew. Mirika, eyes wide, Eulypus and Noliban." The man said to himself, using the Tezynnari way of speaking to help him make sense of us. "Skysalt Tanarook of a caransi. Karidil lives in the house with the red door down at the water."
"Is that the person we should talk to?" Lulu asked. The man nodded, then held up a hand and shouted something in Tezynnari at his group.
"I'll come. Molliberra on the Moonstone River in the Withered. Follow!" He smiled, moving to the front and leading us back down to the docks to find the house with the red door.

He knocked on the door, which was soon opened by Karidil, whose dark hair was almost entirely grey
"Tanarook, arms wide. Mirika, hands spread, eyes open?" Karidil said, and the man explained what we wanted. "Corinew in a canaben. Corinew running towards Junalur! You are freeing the Cursed and Enchanted?"
"Yes," Ris nodded, feeling nervous and uncertain in this place she knew hardly anything about.
"I will tell the Enchanted as they come through. What about the Cursed?"
"They should gather in Rithesanlyr, east of Bunibehr I think," answered Ris, remembering what Symmetry had said. Karidil nodded thoughtfully, before looking back at us.
"Well; Mirika, eyes bright -- you have done what you came for, you have told me and I will tell the Enchanted. Is this all? What about the gnomes?"
"We need to talk to them too. How do we get there?" Kestrel said.
"Jirrel, face painted with Tekynorree colours -- you'll have to join a tribe temporarily. They will be able to take you to Ka-Sill Karst." Karidil and the other man talked for a moment. It seemed he was leaving with his tribe today, but wasn't heading in the right direction, although another tribe was planning to leave tomorrow and head towards the southern tip of the Withered Canyon before going to trade with the gnomes.

"Eulypus and Noliban. Itze, painting with Tekynorree colours?" the man asked, gesturing to us. The tribe leader considered us, eyebrows furrowed.
"Why?"
"We need to go to Ka-Sill Karst," answered Lulu.
"Ah. Yes, Itze painting Jirrell with Tekynorree colours -- you can join my tribe for the journey. What's your plan for after that; are you leaving by boat from there?"
"Most likely," Ris said.
"Ok. My tribe is leaving tomorrow afternoon, come to the canaben before then," said the tribe leader, before saying goodbye to the other man (the canaben was the amphitheatre). "Hmm, you'll need a place to sleep tonight... Come with me, I'll take you to the kelding we're living in." On the way, we introduced ourselves properly. The tribe leader's name was Mallekarri of the Jaquilu tribe

The kelding was a building with maybe fourty rooms, as well as a common room and a large kitchen. Mellakarri told us that when tribes came to a caransi they would live in a kelding until they moved on, and there were only three tribes who lived permanently at a caransi. We picked a couple of rooms, and settled in while Mallekarri went to get some food. After we'd eaten, he told us the usual routine for a journey. Since it was summer, the days became hot very quickly and by late morning it wasn't worth doing much in the middle of the day -- winter was alright though. During summer the tribes were generally nocturnal, during winter they were generally diurnal, and in autumn and spring -- depending on the tribe -- they were either crepuscular, diurnal, or nocturnal. Skysalt was the exception: it was the only place people came to trade with the Tezynnarons, so anyone living in Skysalt who wanted to trade with the sailors and merchants that came ended up being largely cathemeral. Tomorrow, Jaquilu would begin easing into being crepuscular and then nocturnal -- and us with them. With this in mind, Lulu had a nap and the rest of us chilled. I pulled out the pieces of paper with all our notes on the wyvern-stars. I remembered that Badger had told us there was a person in Etrunbor who knew the quest had started and might have some useful information. We'd completely forgotten about it. I mentioned it to Ris, and her magic answered that they'd found us -- Fang was that person, and had told us about the gnomes. He'd given us the name of a gnome to find and talk to.

I didn't feel like exploring around Skysalt overnight, so I went dormant. Towards dawn, I unattached myself again so I could find Argenti. Leyin was up, so we went together. The moon, just about half empty, was resting on the canaben roof. A couple of stars were still visible, between the fleeting clouds."It's so pretty," I signed, and Leyin nodded."The number of moon risings is running out though. There used to be years' worth of time left.""Yeah, but we've got the rest of the year. We're going to Ka-Sill Karst to talk to the gnomes, and then we'll go back to Rithesanlyr. Ris is going to help Lucarih'thën, and she'll ask him to fix the fates, and everything will be ok." I patted her head and gave her a hug. We kept walking, wandering down to the docks and along the water until we found a beach made of fine grains of sand. The tideline was inscribed with seaweed and driftwood. I crouched down to pick up shells and bits of sea glass, before joining Leyin in the sea spume and gentle, lapping waves. She'd rolled up her pants and was splashing in the shallows."This is such a good way to start the day," I said."Playing in the water between sunrise and breakfast," she smiled. "This is the Cerulean Sea, and the seafolk call it the Green-Reef Sea. I haven't seen a reef before though.""Me either," I replied, reaching down to pick up a shell the waves offered to me. "Speaking of the seafolk, we're going to be travelling with Jaquilu and I doubt they know seasign." Leyin made a face, sighing."The gnomes can use it, at least." We stayed a little while longer, before heading back with our sea-treasures -- including a polished shell and larger bit of sea glass for Ink.