Birthright: The Contested Seat

Kael

It had been four days of rough seas since leaving Voralis. The docks in Old Cestapor had teemed with busy merchants on the day Kael had set sail, so he was lucky to have brought his goods on board the night before.

Being a merchant captain was no easy task. He was responsible for trade, which ultimately led to the relations between Voralis and other nations.

His crew bustled around the ship, untying the ropes that held down his shipment of exotic Goran spices known to Old Cestapor.
The king of the Crimson Isles enjoyed the spices and had shipments coming through every few weeks.

Kael didn't mind the time at sea, he enjoyed the ocean and loved to travel.
Before he was a merchant captain he had been itching to get out of Old Cestapor. He worked for the dock master when he was young which gave him access to a number of people that would later help him captain his own vessel.
In exchange for helping them load their goods onto their ships, they gave him money to put towards his own ship, as well as advice on the tasking involved in being a merchant.

Kael was woken from his memories as his crew began to hale the sighting of land.
He handed the helm to one of his sailors and moved to the forward portion of the ship.
The land before him was bathed in Crimson.

The land was said to be cursed centuries ago, when the Torrish occupied the island.
Voralis had been trying to establish trade with Torren for years but the mysterious people kept to themselves. They never established relationships with other countries and closed their borders to most visitors who didn't have good reason to be there. They were a strange people from what the stories say and are not to be trifled with.

It is said that Torren was the home of many magical creatures as well. Of course Kael believed none of it. The mysteries of Torren's people and customs did quite a number on the imaginations of other nations. Though the Torrish never really had any success in befriending other nations, from what the stories say, they never seemed to be keen on establishing friendships in the first place.

After Ethios and Rentos pushed the Torrish from the Crimson Isles, it is said that the Torrish King had a giant wall constructed and imbued with magic so that no man may enter Torren without consent.
The wall took decades to build and is said to encircle the entire nation.

How much of that Kael believed, he could not say. It would take too long for any man to sail around Torren and would be a waste for only trying to see if the wall went all the way around. Not only that, but no one was brave enough to do so.

A few hours passed before the ship was finally docked on the island. The over abundance of Crimson was blinding and Kael could not help but feel dread emanating from the earth.
You can still feel the suffocating sadness of the invasion even so many centuries later.

"Ah! Kael my friend! It's been too long," came a familiar voice from the docks. Looking up from moving a box of Goran spice, he smiled as he spotted his old friend Zoric.

Zoric was a merchant of the Crimson Isles with whom Kael did most of his business. For the passed year, Zoric had been away on a trade route to Sarth. Not wanting to sail through Torrish waters, he took the long way North.
Kael set down the box and embraced his friend with a hearty laugh.

"How have you been? Well I trust," asked Kael giving Zoric an appraising look.

"I've been well. Sarth was more than enthusiastic about our offer, which made my journey worth it. I would not have been a very polite guest if they had refused. The journey was nearly half a year long"!

"Well I hope you plan on taking some time to relax after such an arduous trip," said Kael as he began walking with his friend.

Zoric waved his hand dismissively.
"Nonsense. I belong out there. You know as well as I that I get impatient when I'm on land for too long. Besides, my next trade mission will pay quite handsomely, enough to allow me to live comfortably for the remainder of my life".