A conversation on the way to Dalimond
The sun peeked up over the horizon, rising high up in the mountains to gaze down at the strait. The first rays tickled the snowy capped mountains to a golden pink, then slowly transformed them to pure gold. The ocean too was bathed in golden light, though the water created a shimmering effect that danced and whirled merrily across the eye. A few early adventurers gazed out to the east and smiled at the beauty, marveling at this magnificent gift of the Gods. All but one. Travara looked out to the east as well, but her blank eyes saw nothing of the glory of the suns coming. She had camped out here, near the bridge that linked Lesser Aradoth and the mainland, in order to get away from everything that clouded her mind. Out here, she had nothing to think of save the breeze, the plants, and the occasional pack of wolves that warily kept their distance. ?Ahhh, so empty, so quiet,? she sighed in her deep, throaty voice. ?I finally have the chance to dream.? Slowly the sun continued its ascent, bathing the land and sea in light and warmth. Travara?s dark purple skin soaked up every ray, every bit of heat, and this did bring a smile to her face. For one who saw the world mainly through sensation, the feel of sun on her skin had the same effect of seeing a beautiful work of art. After a few moments of basking, she stood up and gathered her few belongings. ?The pleasssure of the day to you,? cried a gravelly voice from nearby. Travara tensed slightly as footsteps began to draw near. ??Tisss not often that Dark Elvesss come to our home.? ?Mind your business, Sslik,? Travara grated, hefting her pack and securing it. ?Just pass me by, and do not cloud your feeble mind with the pursuit of reasoning my purposes.? ?Asss you sssay,? the Sslik replied, stopping nearby. ?Though, one curiosssity you may anssswer, if ?tisss not too much?? ?What is it?? ?Wither do you hail from, and wither do you go?? the Sslik said, a bit of a smile creeping into its voice. ?Perhapsss we may have the sssame dessstination.? ?Hmph,? Travara snorted, turning to face the reptile and exerting her spirit powers. In her mind she ?saw? the shape of a large creature, a fighter of some kind, with a large sword at its side and a shield on its arm. ?Dalimond and Dalimond. Now, go on your way.? ?Praissse Kass,? the Sslik said, stepping closer. ?Dalimond isss my destination asss well. Perhapsss you can direct me to my dessstination when we get there.? ?Look, didn?t I tell you to go your way?? Travara said angrily. ?I don?t want any traveling partners, and even if I did I wouldn?t take a Sslik with me.? To her mind, the Sslik seemed to drop its head, and its large frame sagged a bit. She noticed a frill of some kind, and a multitude of feathers sprouting from the creatures head. It turned toward the bridge and began to walk away. ?Yesss, asss the Dark Elf sssaysss, I will obey,? it mumbled softly. ?May Kass be with you alwaysss.? ?Good,? she snapped, sitting down to let it get a head start. She let her spirit powers go, lapsing from the swirl of purple and grey winds to pure black again. Several minutes went by, then she stood and crossed the bridge. ?The Dark elf isss sssure ssshe will be fine?? came the gravelly voice again as soon as she crossed the bridge. ?I would be mossst assshamed and unworthy if I ssshould let harm come to her.? ?Gah!? Travara snarled, turning to face the voice, and opening her eyes wide, revealing the milky white orbs. ?You are shameful and unworthy just for being a Sslik. Now leave me alone!? ?You are not happy that I am Sslik?? it replied. Shuffling feet were heard, then the voice once again, disappointed. ?Why do you not like Sslik?? ?A lizard gave me this,? Travara said, pointing to her eyes. ?During a slave uprising at my father?s plantation.? ?But I did not,? came the reply. ?And if you were a ssslave, would you not do the sssame to the young of your massster?? ?That doesn?t matter,? Travara replied. ?Now, quit pestering me. Why won?t you leave me alone.? ?The Elder told me that if I truly wisshed to become a Paladin, I would have to essscort someone to the Paladin trainer,? it replied. ?Sssomeone who needed it. And, sssince I saw your eyesss, I thought?? ?Yeah, well you thought wrong,? Travara muttered, then shrugged. ?If it means that you?ll shut up, then you can follow me to Dalimond and claim you escorted me. Just keep up.? ?I thank you, Dark Elf,? the Sslik said with a grin, falling in step just behind her. ?It?s not Dark Elf,? she said. ?If you have to speak to me, call me Travara.? ?Yessss, Travara,? the Sslik replied. ?I am called Sslacis.? ?Well, Sslacis, you gonna shut up anytime soon?? Travara muttered. ?I apologize,? Sslacis said, bowing his head and closing his mouth. The day passed in silence for the pair of travelers, and by midday both were hungry. Without a word, Travara found a shady place to sit and pulled some bread out of her backpack. Sslacis stood nearby, looking at the surrounding countryside. ?Will you sit down?? Travara said after a few moments. ?You?re making me nervous.? ?But you do not wisssh my company, and I did not want to intrude,? the reptile replied, setting his shield down and crouching nearby. ?Are all Sslik this polite?? Travara said with something resembling a chuckle. ?The few I have met either wanted to kill me or were extremely rude.? ?We Sslik are polite to othersss of the Empire,? Sslacis replied. ?Our Eldersss teach usss to ssshow ressspect and deference, as befitsss our ssstatusss.? ?You?re not all slaves,? Travara countered. ?Hell, most of you aren?t. I mean, I may not like your kind, but I do know that Sslik are pretty handy in combat.? ?We are not ssslavesss, no,? the Sslik said quietly. He looked over at Travara for a long moment, then shrugged. ?But we are a sssubjugated people. The Sslik that you sssee today are not who we once were. We may be better off, but we are different.? ?Go on,? Travara said, a curious look on her face. ?How were you different?? ?I thought you hated Sslik,? Sslacis said, a smile creeping onto his face again. ?And now you want to hear sssome of our hissstory?? ?Yeah, well,? the Dark Elf muttered lamely. ?Just, start at the beginning, ok?? ?Very well, I will do as you sssay,? Sslacis said with a huge grin. ?Mossst of what I am about to tell you is legend, passsed down through the mouth, and had to be pried out of the Eldersss. But I will tell you what I know. ?Many thousandsss of yearsss ago, there were many racesss of beings already in thisss world. The dragonsss, the humansss, the elvesss, the dwarvesss. It was the Age of the Warrior Kingsss, and humansss were at the height of their power. It wasss at thisss time that Kass chossse to releassse her children, ssso that they might be hardened and prosssper.? ?Kass?? Travara interrupted. ?I?ve heard that name before.? ?Kass is the Goddesss of the Sslik,? Sslacis replied. ?Granted, we do not have gendersss asss you mammalsss do, but transsslated it isss Goddess. Ssshe isss the mother of the Sslik, who laid the firssst clutch of eggsss in the Sslanisss Basssin. In the beginning we were few, but Kass blesssed usss with the ability to procreate by ourssselvesss. One Sslik could ressstore the entire race, and quite rapidly if need be. Sssuch is the beauty of Her desssign.? ?Yeah, but then they?d all end up looking the same, right?? Travara asked, forgetting about the bread in her hand. ?I mean, if that last Sslik was blue, all Sslik after that would be blue too, right?? ?No, that is not how it worksss,? Sslacis grinned. ?You sssee, when an egg isss laid, it is identical to every other egg laid at that time. However, many thingsss will influence the appearance and capabilitiesss of the Sslik inssside. Where the egg isss kept, how warm or cold it isss, what isss kept with the egg, and even who touchesss it will have an effect on the young.? ?For example?? ?Well?An egg that isss kept in a nest of sssand will have thicker ssscalesss than othersss, and if near the ocean it will have more ssstamina,? Sslacis said, thinking hard. ?Ssseagrasss in the nessst encouragesss but doesssn?t guarantee agility, and warm rocksss tend to make the ssskin favor tan and brown. Ssso, a tribe that livesss by the ocean will tend to turn out agile warriorsss. It?sss not foolproof, and we do not know every posssibility, but there are sssome thingsss that will caussse changesss.? ?So, what makes them talk weird?? Travara asked, leaning back into the tree. ?Head ssshape,? Sslacis said without hesitation. ?Sssome, like myssself, have ssshorter, broader headsss than mossst Sslik. Thisss causssesss usss to ssstress out ?sss? sssoundsss. Sssome have found a way to ssspeak normally, but that isss hard. And a few Sslik have long headsss. They cannot even pronounce ?sss?. It comesss out asss a ?z? sssound, which I can make jussst fine. And a couple eldersss, who lived in the jungle before they were sssubjugated, are barely underssstandable at all. But the majority of Sslik only have ssslight ssspeech impedimentsss. ?Anywaysss,? Sslacis said, shaking his head. ?We Sslik were perfectly sssuited to living on Lesser Aradoth, which isss why Kass put usss there. We adapted well, and our young quickly adapted to the different landssscapesss from Her gift of our eggsss. According to legend, there were 8 eggsss laid by Kass, in 8 regionsss of Lesser Aradoth. ?Two were on the eassstern coassst, near where I found you at the bridge. The Sslik that hatched from the eggsss were fierce warriorsss, virtually unbeatable in hand to hand combat. Their namesss were Ssbilj and Ssdar. Transsslated, that meansss ?The Will? and ?The Blood. ?Another two were in the sssouthern part of the continent, northwessst of Sslanis. Thessse Sslik were cunning buildersss and powerful preissstsss. Urkaamfahsss wasss the color of pure gold, while Urdimfahsss wasss pure sssilver. No Sslik have ever had their coloration again, asss Kass placed their eggsss in a pool of liquid metal. Together they began to clear the land around Sslanis and ssstarted making a home for themssselvesss. ?A fifth egg wasss placed in the sssand near Kion, and from it hatched Kallilac, ?Ssspirit Claw. Of the Sslik, it wasss he who firssst delved into the ssskill of a Ssspiritissst and Bloodmage, and it wasss he who ssspoke to the Sssarisss firssst. Hisss ssscalesss were jet black, and asss ssshiny asss the sssun on the ocean. The Sssarisss feared him at firssst, but he wasss wissse and sssoon learned to communicate with them. Thisss isss why the SSSarisss did not forget usss when our need wasss greatessst. ?Sslacis, ?The Great Claw? hatched from hisss egg already matured and ssstrong. Hisss hide wasss mottled blue and black, and hisss musssclesss far exceeded any other Sslik, rivaling even Half giantsss for pure ssstrength and bulk. A few feet from where he had hatched lay a weapon, perhapsss dissscarded by a mammal explorer. SSSeizing the blade, Sslacis began learning to ussse it immediately. He gave hisss life to Kass, and became her firssst Paladin.? ?I notice that you share the same name,? Travara said, smiling a little bit. ?Perhaps your parents think you are this legendary figure reborn.? ?No, I took hisss name for the clawsss that I bear,? Sslacis said, looking down at the long, scythelike claw on the innermost toe of each foot. ?Besssidesss we Sslik do not believe in the rebirth of our ancessstorsss. Once gone, they are alwaysss gone.? ?Oh, sorry,? Travara murmured. After a moment of silence, she chuckled. ?Well, keep going. This is kind of interesting.? ?Yesss, asss you sssay, it isss interesssting,? Sslacis grinned, then took a moment to regather his thoughts. ?The ssseventh egg hatched the sssmallessst of them all, a tiny one with milky white ssscalesss. He hatched inssside the Kion Volcano, and absssorbed the raw power there. Jissdar, ?Flameblood? he wasss called, and wasss the mightiessst mage the Sslik have ever known. They sssay that he ate gemsss, drank lava and hunted golemsss while he matured. ?And finally, Ensakirru, ?Ssstorm.? A druid of great might with yellow and green ssscalesss that commanded the weather and the plantsss of the jungle he wasss born in with more ssskill than any elf or sssatyr. He ssstrode through the junglesss between Sslanis and Kion, devouring Gruok and Ssspidersss and treesss, anything he sssaw wasss hisss. ?Eventually, all of the eight laid eggsss of their own and raisssed familiesss and tribesss, lived a full life, then died. We Sslik have never been numerousss, even though we could be. A Sslik will never lay more eggsss than are capable of being sssupported, balanced in nature. And ssso sssoon there were 6 tribesss of Sslik wandering around. By Kass?s desssign, all ssspoke the sssame language, and all knew there were more Sslik out there. ?What were the tribes?? Travara asked quietly.? ?Razor Ssscale, Thunder Cressst, SSShadow Talon, Lightning Eye, Missst Feather and Iron Fang. Of courssse, thossse are transsslationsss, but I don?t think you would underssstand the Sslik namesss.? Sslacis replied. ?An example would be Wildimfahsssarlac. Iron Fang.? ?Yes, please keep them in common,? Travara said, shaking her head. ?Very well,? Sslacis chuckled. ?Well, thisss Sslik paradissse wasss ssshort lived. The human kingdomsss decided to ssstop usssing a ferry to trade with the Sssarisss, and ssso they built a bridge to Lesser Aradoth, in the sssame place that today?sss ssstandsss. It wasssn?t long before Razor Ssscale ssscoutsss found it and began to watch it. One night, they ran up, ssslew the toll guardsss and hurried acrosss. It isss a very long bridge, and the Sslik had not known there wasss more land that they could live on. Mossst of the Razor Ssscale tribe moved across to the mainland that night and began sssetting up sssmall villagesss wherever they could. ?Of courssse, it wasss not long before the toll guardsss were found dead. During the invessstigation, human ssscoutsss followed the ssstrange footssstepsss towardsss Dalimond, where they found crude sssheltersss erected and Sslik huntersss ssslaying deer and gruok in their lord?sss private foressstsss. Sslik blood flowed that evening, and the remnantsss of the Razor SSScale fled back acrosss the bridge and into the junglesss. ?Human kingsss sssoon heard the newsss of the Sslik, and thought of them asss sssimple animalsss to be hunted and enssslaved. SSSoon, whole armiesss were moving towardsss Lesser Aradoth, and the Razor SSScale moved into the junglesss that they had previousssly ssstayed out of, preferring the beachesss and coassstal plainsss. It wasss there that they firssst met the Iron Fangsss, the dessscendantsss of Sslacis. With thessse ssstrong new friendsss, the Razor Ssscale decided that they would do two thingsss. ?Firssst, they would burn the bridge and prevent another one from being built. SSSecond, they would sssend out ssscoutsss to find any other Sslik tribesss, and try to unite them together againssst the mammal invadersss. And ssso they moved forward again, thinking that with the warriorsss of the Iron Fangsss, they ssstood a chance. But they didn?t count on the fact that they would be outnumbered at leassst 100 to 1. The counterattack turned into a ssslaughter. Broken and beaten once more, the two decimated Sslik tribesss fled deeper into the junglesss, to fight a hit and run war until other Sslik could be brought into the conflict. ?It wasss all in vain though, and after yearsss of on and off fighting, the SSSarisss were the onesss to ssstep in and ssstop the bloodssshed. They brokered firssst a truce between the human kingdomsss and the Sslik tribesss, then forged the Treaty of Kion. The Sslik would pay a regular tribute every year for ten yearsss, would retreat to the sssouthern half of the island, and would never bear armsss outssside of their territory again. Part of the yearly tribute would be ssslavesss of Sslik, to work farmsss or ssserve asss sssoldiersss. In exchange, the humansss would deconssstruct the bridge and withdraw their armiesss from Lesser Aradoth. Both sssidesss agreed, though the Sslik were not happy with the conditionsss. And ssso, the human kingdomsss went back to fighting with each other, and the Sslik were left in relative peace. ?So that?s where Sslik slaves came from,? Travara said, rubbing her chin. ?Strange to think that they were the descendants of those sent into slavery from the treaty. Well, obviously the Sslik survived all that.? ?Yesss, they did,? Sslacis nodded, standing up and adopting the stance of a story teller that?s well warmed up. ?The firssst thing the tribal eldersss did wasss decide to build a ssstronghold for the Sslik, in cassse the mammalsss went back on their word. It wasss to be a ssstockpile of food and resssourcesss, sssurrounded by ssstrong wallsss and asss far from the mammalsss asss possible. And ssso Sslanis, ?The Mighty City,? wasss founded. It took yearsss to build, but sssoon wasss a ssshining example of Sslik ssstrength and will. ?Meanwhile, all of the tribesss began to repopulate, Kass?s gift once more filling in our numbersss and making usss ssstrong once more. And thisss time, we were determined to come out on top. Sslik artisssansss sssoon were trading goodsss, armor, food and weaponsss to the mammalsss, with the Sssarisss asss middlemen. SSSlavesss were sssoon converted into sssoldiersss, and Sslik regimentsss sssoon were the elite ssshock troopsss of human armiesss. The Sslanis militia sssoon turned into a full fledged army, organized and disssciplined, but with the advantage of ssspecially bred warriorsss filled with anger and fury. ?Well, time went on, and eventually the Empire came into being. It united all of the racesss together, sssometimesss peacefully, sssometimesss not. The only race that it didn?t control were the Sslik, due mainly to the decentralized tribesss and their fierce independence. The Empire tried to force the Sslik into giving up by putting economic pressure on them, but sssince the Sslik only exported goodsss, that did nothing to them. And ssso, ssstarting about a hundred yearsss ago, the Empire began the conquessst of the Sslik. ?I?ve read about that in history books,? Travara said. ?Though, they said that the Sslik attacked first.? ?Well, technically we did,? Sslacis shrugged. ?However, if a hossst of enemy sssoldiersss landed boatsss on your ssshoresss without announcing they were coming, what would you do? Unfortunately, hissstory repeated itssself, albeit much ssslower. Over the courssse of twenty or ssso yearsss, each tribe wasss conquered, asss wasss Sslanis. Only the Iron Fangsss ssstayed free, and only becaussse they ssstayed nomadic. Well, that ended the day an Imperial army found them and attacked in the night, at the Lakesss of Cryssstal Tearsss. Not a sssingle Iron Fang sssurvived, and that wasss it for the Sslik. We are jussst a sssingle generation removed from our freedom from the Empire, and yet my generation isss loyal to it.? ?Why,? Travara asked, somewhat surprised. ?After all that, I?d expect constant revolts and attacks.? ?The Withered Aegisss, of courssse,? the reptile replied. ?Mossst of usss have grown into maturity fighting the undead alongssside mammalsss and dragonsss, and ssso we sssee them asss alliesss now. But, asss long asss we are able to ssspeak we will tell thessse talesss to our young, and we will never forget.? ?Wow,? Travara said as she stood up and shouldered her pack again. ?That?s quite a history. I had no idea. I guess I don?t really blame the slaves quite as much for what they did now.? ?Ssso, you do not hate Sslik anymore?? Sslacis asked hopefully. ?Well,? Travara muttered slowly. ?Guess not. We should get going if we want to find a place to spend the night. Maybe you can tell me some more about your race.? ?Of courssse, I would be happy to,? Sslacis said with a smile. He picked up his shield and started off to the east, grinning happily.
