SunRider

[19] Lands of Wonder and Awe

—Circa 1,055 E.E. (Economic Era-The 17th Era): The city of HighFurl shakes for three days. A strange sound can be heard below the ground and ancient words whisper out from under the rocks. Upon the fourth day, the earth beneath the city collapses and the land is swallowed up. Thousands of holes appear all over the terrain. Two-hundred years afterwards, courageous humanoids seeking to mine for treasures settle in the terraformed land and rename it Kar.—

Now that Goblin could speak, Finn was finally able to have a decent conversation with his friend. The only subject not discussed was Nozgull, as every time the name was mentioned, Goblin went quiet. As for his life, the boy wove a tale much different than Finn had expected.

     Goblin had come from a vast group of traveling gypsies. His people numbered in the thousands and traveled the plains of Lenova, living from the land, performing for money, and trading foreign goods. Goblin described his people like moving cities: swarming across plains, setting up oceans of tents overnight, and within days, leaving on whim.

     Goblin, like the rest of the gypsies, was raised by their entire people. He'd only met his parents once, seeing them briefly at a tribal gathering. They'd shared a few words and moved on. Goblin was alright with it. The whole tribe were his parents—equal teachers.

     His people often spread out into smaller groups, separating to various citadels so as to not compete for commerce. After a few weeks of trade, they'd all reunite. Being under the age of 16, Goblin hadn't been allowed to sell, but instead had been forced to stay behind in the plains with the other children and learn the various arts of the gypsies. Unlike many of the other boys, Goblin was terrible at sleight-of-hand and thievery. Instead, he became a passionate cook, learning to make meals from the simplest ingredients.

     "So how did you go from a life of travel to landing at the mining outpost?" Finn asked in curiosity, jealous of his friend. The boy had done so much traveling.

     Goblin's face saddened at the question and for the first time in over a day, he went quiet. With a sigh, Goblin opened up. "It's-a-hard-story-to-tell." he began.

     Finn listened as Goblin explained one day being placed in a small tribe calling themselves the Whey-Weavers, a group specialized in selling seeds and plants. Loving food, he'd been happy with where he'd been assigned. Goblin told Finn of campfire nights under blanketing stars and sitting on vast plains, listening to talk of incredible trades and foreign animals.

     The Whey-Weaver tribe arrived at their final city and the adults went forward to trade while the children and elderly stayed in the fields and set up tents. Two days passed and the adults didn't return. It was unusual, Goblin described, for the adults only traded in the day and came back to camp at night. The gypsies didn't have the money to rent rooms at an inn. But as the hours passed, no one came back.

     Goblin's eyes glazed over. "We-waited-and-waited. Three-days-later-a-group-of-many-men-approached-our-camp. I-could-see-that-they-wore-our-clothes-but-were-not-our-people. It-was-then-that-the-elders-told-the-children-to-run. Unknown-to-us-the-town-we'd-entered-had-been-ravaged-by-a-large-group-of-bandits-the-week-before. The-adults-had-all-been-killed-and-had-all-they-possessed-stolen-from-them. Learning-that-we-were-out-upon-the-plains-the-bandits-came-for-us."

     Finn clenched his hands.

     Goblin went on to describe his flight across the plains with his fellow children. Behind them, the elders were slaughtered. Trailing in their wake and grabbing at their heels, the bandits followed. One by one, the children were caught, until at last only Goblin and two others remained, uncaptured by hiding in badger dens. But thirst and starvation drew them out and Goblin was seized by the evil men. The group of Whey-Weavers were no more.