Blankmap: Book I

14. Starfall

It had been two weeks since Solomon's lessons with Rip Rap had begun. Gruff as the old lighthouse keeper was, he couldn't help but smile at the young adventurer's earnest efforts at learning to read. Solomon displayed an astonishing aptitude for tackling the sentences in front of him. The Naweegan boy's forehead would bead with sweat as he hunched over the dusty pages of Rip Rap's leather folio, sounding out unfamiliar words. The patterns of the written language popped off the page for Solomon, and at his highest points he felt as though there was nothing easier in the world. He took it upon himself to study at every opportunity, and the crewmen of the Petrichor would look on interestedly as Solomon pored over the words at meal times. His mouth would move soundlessly as he worked through the thornier bits of language, an idiosyncrasy that was not lost on anyone but the boy himself.

On the fourteenth day, Rip Rap barged into Solomon's quarters with his usual bluster. In his arms, however, was a book that was much thicker than the one from which the pair had been working.

"Yer graduatin' today, boy," he growled, dropping the leather-bound tome onto the bed. "From our first book, anyway. Take a gander at yer new assignment." A great cloud of dust had been kicked up when the book dropped, and Solomon had to rub his eyes for a full minute before he could, in fact, take a gander.

When his eyes cleared, Solomon opened the brown cover to the first page. The paper was yellowed and fragile, and he lifted it lightly. It read:

A HISTORY OF THE PEOPLES OF VASHON AND SURROUNDING TERRITORIES

WITH REMARKS ON THE NOTABLE HOUSES OF THE FREELANDS

COMPILED BY TUSO HEROD, EIGHTY-FIRST CARETAKER OF CARTO

YEAR 586 OF THE INCORPORATION OF VASHONIAN PROVINCES

Underneath the inscription, handwritten in newer ink, read the following:

Annotated by M. Sundeu, Captain of the goodship Oiebisous, Year 611 I.V.P.

"Do you really think I can read this book?" Solomon asked. It was a heavy tome, and daunting to the boy who had only just begun reading full paragraphs.

"I do," grunted Rip Rap. "I mean fer yeh to, anyway. It's yer father's book, and it's the most important book fer any boy yer age to learn from. There's a lot o' history to be found in those pages, make no mistake. Yeh'd do well to get to studyin' it."

Rip Rap slid closer to Solomon on the bench. "I'll fill in when yeh get tripped up. But I want to hear what yeh can do with it all the same."

Solomon took a deep breath, and waded into the sea of words that made up the first chapter.

CHAPTER I: THE SETTLING OF VASHON

None can say with any certainty what courage lay in the hearts of the first men of Gotterdamm to strike out from their own green and mountainous country and seek new lands across the Magistral Sea. We can glean from the records of the time (though little of import has successfully been preserved) that the early Dammerung alit in several places before coming finally to rest on the Western shore of Vashon--their first port of entry being the Bay of Alba in what is now the province of Bastion.

Though the first settling parties were small, the migration across the Magistral Sea eventually comprised up to one-third of the population of Gotterdamm. Gotterdamm (whose rich and tumultuous political history will be relayed later in this volume) was in the midst of a rather ugly political struggle at the time of the exodus, and the majority of those who came to rest on Vashonian shores were those who opposed the rule of King Ozil I. Ozil (who will also be explored in depth in pages to come) was seen by many outside the Dammerung capital of Cheimulle (Dammerung being the adjective ascribed to all people and things of Gotterdamm origin) as a false king. Ozil's legendary rhetoric had not been enough to win over these subjects, nor had his penchant for mad violence been enough to deter them from fleeing his borders.