The Ashes of Allmau: The Orfolk of Allmau

Chapter 3

Across the deadlands towards the rising sun the continent crumbled into coastline. The elements had fashioned fangs and molar-like mesas out of cliffs. On that fine, near perfect line between the rising sun and the ending earth was one prominent landmark. To the orfolk it was a ward of danger which they never approached. To the humans on the other side, it was the tower of Higard. A grand structure sitting upon one crumbling mesa, watching over the Seven Sounds and guarding the canyon passages to Allmau.

Along one of these narrow passages, her father had left long ago. He had gone to find the source of the Great Fire, or to rediscover the mythical orfolk, or maybe proffer peace with the enemies of the old empire. In truth she didn't really know his motives, nor his face for that matter. Never-the-less she maintained a vigil, waiting for his promised return.

"Ahna?" sat on the slopes of the green common under the same sun that watched Kydd and the kilopede moments before. Life in the Sounds was far more sedate, she could only imagine what adventures her father was having topside.

A large puffy hand-me-down dress swept aside the long green grass. A tight bonnet framed her round face, forcing forwards and explosion of chocolate-coloured ringlets. All in all, she had the innocence and attitude of a decorated doll, that had swallowed a bee.

The common was a quiet place facing the crumbling cliffs, which rose up behind an ominous forest of twisted butcher brambles. Much of her time was spent here, surveying the passages for any sign of him, sitting, waiting, and watching with only a small straw doll to talk to.

"Ahna?" was the was youngest of three. Next in line was Euol, her brother, and then the oldest of the three was her sister: Syble, who was apparently looking for her...

She heaved a great sigh and placed the straw doll into her breast pocket, taking care to ensure it could peek out. She wiped clear her clothes and rose into view.

"I'm here, I'm here," said Ahna, straightening her bonnet, "Calm down."

"Oh, there you are. Either the grass is getting taller or you're getting smaller."

Syble was a stout, curved girl, filling into her young adult figure. She had some height against Ahna, but she'd not lost her round face that pinched at the chin allowing for a blissful smile, a trait of their mother. Her clothes were an odd patchwork that testified to her routine, an expression of art and necessity where she had exercised her talents in tailoring, only to be interrupted by her siblings. Rivers of dark hair hung over them, held back in vain by a scaffold of hairpins.

She held out her hand and glanced up at the cliffs, "Any sign today?"

Ahna kicked through grass snares with a pair of heavy boots, "Nothing new." She marched by.

The pair made their way through the green dales to the township of Concordance. The most southernly point of the Seven Sounds was little more than a dozen or so cubiform sandstone homesteads, carved into grassed-over sand dunes around a still tidal inlet. Above this humble hamlet was the Melody Mill. An iconic landmark, that's turning blames sweetened the air with a quiet song.

Sunshine painted this world with a vivid pallet. Lime green grasses freckled with seasonal wildflowers blanketed rolling hillsides beneath an azure sky, backed by the yellow-red cliffs of Allmau. Along with the colour of the natural world, the town itself was a vibrant place. Born of the old empire, there was a great mixing of people throughout the Seven Sounds. This was evident in the haphazard decorations and carvings that adorned the sandstone facades in front of each half-buried house. This lifestyle, its hardships and jubilations, had forged a tight community from around the world.

One of the homes furthest back was that of Oz and Tizeal. A typical home for Concordance, built into the dunes with a scattering of fishing paraphernalia outside, around one large tent that served as a home for the children. A tall wall shielded a small vegetable patch and the main entrance which opened into a home carved into the dune itself, both spartan and sandy.