< Mera Prelude 4 | Campaign Logs | Skyla Prelude 1 >
JACKAL PRELUDE
Fox , your older brother, is working next to you in the rice fields -- standing ankle deep in the water, doing the various tasks that need to be done. He has always been somewhat more focused on his tasks...
Fox "Hey, slacker. Quit day-dreaming."
Fox gives you a grin.
Fox ::The sun is on its way down for the evening, the light growing long, but there was still plenty of time to work and so it was working that you were doing...::
Jackal "Hm? Oh, sorry." Grins back and looks up at the sun for a moment before getting back to work.
Fox "You spend too much time dreaming."
Fox "You need to keep focused."
Fox remains respectful of his little brother while reminding you of this.
Jackal continues to work on his section eyes down on his work. "Yes brother, sorry brother."
Fox ::The small village of Tulapi, a half hour from your families farm, was - in your mind - a fairly exciting place! It had a small tavern, a fair ground for various purposes, a tanner, a butcher, a cobbler, a smithy, and the market where your mother had sent you to pick up some Salt and a bit of medicine for your young sister.::
Jackal glances around looking for the apothecary where they always got their medicine, they keep moving the stands around here...
Meira , a beautiful black haired Southern woman, somewhat distrusted by the locals due to her swarthy skin and thick accent -- she must be plotting something, or trying to steal away someone's husband -- gave the little Jackal a smile, as she spotted him looking her way. The only one in the town with much knowledge of drugs and medicine, she usually set up a small place to set and sell her meager wares in the shade under the
Meira was, today, under the stoop of the Tanner.
Jackal rushes over, avoiding the "traffic" along the way. "Hello Meira! I'm here for some medicine."
Meira "Aaah," she notes, softly. "How is your sister? Is she responding at all?"
Meira ::She was definately recovering, yes.::
Jackal "Yes she's recovering. That last bit definitely helped." He nods at her.
Meira gathers some of her materials, and quickly mixes up a few herbs as she discusses things with you...
Meira "Ah I see; that is good to hear. Hopefully she will be better soon."
Meira "And how are you doing, then, little Jackal?"
Jackal "Alright I guess. Kind of boring back at the farm. Nothing like around here."
Meira nods softly, picking up the small piece of paper she was adding the herbs to, using it as a funnel to place them in a tiny vial.
Meira adds a drop of some liquid to the vial, causing it to bubble a bit.
Meira then adds a stopper, and glances at the vial closely...
Meira "Ah, I assure you, young Jackal, it is quite boring here as well."
Meira "Though there comes a time in ones life when one appreciates boring."
Meira grins a bit, and hands the vial to you.
Jackal "I guess...sometimes it just feels like nothing happens out here." Takes the vial carefuly, examining the liquid.
Meira ::It looks just like the medicine your sister had been taking so far.::
Fox ::You and your brother often worked very hard on the farm; you really didn't have a lot of choice. Ever since your Father had died, you were the only ones your mother had to rely upon -- especially with your sister so young and weak.::
Fox ::So, the two of you did most of the important tasks in the household that your mom couldn't see to. The farmwork, of course. You'd usually needed help during the harvest, but could manage the fields yourself most of the time -- though often Mother had talked about hiring someone to help.::
Fox ::Your mother handled most of the household stuff when she could, but now and again there was a task that needed to be done...::
Fox thus, walks a bit ahead of you, a small hand axe hanging on his belt. The two of you were going out to get some firewood, a constant task, that usually involved you carrying most of the wood back.
Jackal "So do you think Mother's going to hire someone to help?"
Fox "Possibly; dad left us a lot of money and we did fairly well at harvest last time."
Fox "It'd be nice wouldn't it?"
Fox ::Dad was always a quiet, contemplative person. You didn't hugely know him very well -- he was very much a secretive man. You'd been as surprised as anyone when it turned out that he'd left your mother and you a small fortune in Jade.::
Jackal "Yeah it would. You could get someone else to haul wood around." Smirks and then goes quiet for a moment.
Fox "Heh; you can use the axe this time if you'd rather, smartass."
Jackal "Hey, I didn't say I wanted to do the heavy lifting!" Smiles and follows. "Sparrow seems much better."
Fox just nods, at that, and gets to work -- talking to you intermittently about various things...
Jai sits at a table with Jackal, along with a few of his other friends from town, all of them sharing a bit of air and gossiping about things going on about town and their hopes & dreams...
Jai ::You and your brother would usually, once a week after the work was done, come into town to have a little fun. Fox was somewhere, having an evening with that girl of his...::
Jai "My pa says that the fighting up in Budan Mar is getting worse," he notes, idly -- adding to the groups discussions of war and blood and death and heroism.
Jackal "What? Worse? I thought that it was done with over there..."
Jai ::Tiki, another of your little friends:: "It was, almost, but Jokan managed to wriggle out of the trap the Lords' had set for him. He's turning out to be quite the Warlord."
Jai "I wouldn't be surprised if Budan Mar is his by next year."
Jai ::Brilliant Crane, another young friend, just nods...:: "Maybe, maybe not. Warlords come up all the time; but I saw a whole stream of refugees heading south the other morning. So things must be getting bad."
Jackal "How did he manage that?"
Jai ::Tiki:: "I think I've heard about five different versions?? That he had some kind of First Age weapon, or there was one of the Fair Ones with him. He was probably just /that good/ though."
Jai ::You'd all been eating supper, your mother trying to feed Sparrow and Fox just relaxing with his feet up on the dining table after finishing off his food. That's when there was a knock on the door, and your mother asked you to go get it...::
Jackal "And anyway they say he got out of the trap and can leap mountains..." Heads for the door.
Jai ::You open the door, to find a small family of three -- an old woman, a young man maybe 14, and a young girl maybe 12 -- in ragged clothes, covered in road dusts...::
Old`Woman "Please, young sir. We are refugees from the port of Dalmin. We need shelter for the night, are were hoping to..."
Old`Woman ::Before you can say anything, your mother is already up -- Sparrow held close -- telling them that they didn't want any trouble, that they weren't welcome here, that they should be on their way. Light directions were given to get them on their way, and then the three were gone...::
Old`Woman ::But, you couldn't help but think... Dalmin wasn't in the Kingdom of Budan Mar. It was further South, a mostly free village that served as a small trading port...::
Jackal heads back to the dinner table. "There's something going on in Dalmin..."
Your`Mother "And it ain't none of our concern. You finish your dinner, Jackal."
Your`Mother ::But, of course, it WAS your concern. The next few weeks were filled with a slowly building panic. First, Dalmin. The, the small free town of Yellowood. The Warlord Joktan stopped there for a bit, before continuing down the Trade Road that leads past fertile farmland for miles around and the villages of Ridgefall and Cent.::
Your`Mother ::You'd seen the smoke billowing in the horizon the last few days, seen it getting closer. You knew he was coming, your brother knew he was coming, your mother knew he was coming...::
Fox "Mother, we /can't stay here/. You've heard the rumors; Joktan sows the lands with blood! We've got to flee!"
Fox ::Mother:: "I'm not leaving my home! It's all I have left!"
Jackal "Mother we have to go! We can come back later! It won't be safe for you or Sparrow!"
Fox ::Mother:: "No! We have to stay and protect our land or there won't be anything left!"
Fox "If we stay there won't be anything left of /us/ either!"
Fox ::Mother:: "Sparrow is far too weak to handle travel!"
Jackal "But who knows what they'll do to her if they catch her here!"
Fox "We don't have a choice."
Fox "Jackal...start packing up what we can take with us."
Fox ::Mother:: "Don't you dare!"
Fox "Do it."
Fox sighs, and just gives mother a hard stare...
Jackal "But Fox!" Glances at Mother and Fox.
Fox glances back at Jackal.
Fox "GO! Get what we can carry!"
Fox then just glances back at mother, as if daring her to say something. He's assumed command...
Jackal frowns for a moment and then bolts upstairs.
Fox ::Mother:: "...I'll get the things that Sparrow will need..."
Fox ::Your farm was fairly far out from the town, but you still weren't alone. You could see the other streams of refugees, sinking out into the distance. Back the way you'd came, after a few days, you saw fresh smoke rising...::
Fox ::Sparrow was just getting sicker and sicker; you'd eventually run out of medicine and she was getting worse...::
Fox and you were heading up to a homestead, to beg aid, some food, warm water, anything...
Fox ((this is a little longer than a few days, note. You saw the smoke then, but this is after you'd continued on after that. Maybe a week later...))
Jackal "She's getting worse." Face twisted into a rictus of worry.
Fox just nods, and finally comes up to the door...knocking. He doesn't say much, though...
Fox ::It takes a few minutes, but eventually, a large tall 'farmer' seeming man comes to the door...::
Fox doesn't seem to be capable of saying anything, at that moment, for some reason...
Jackal "Excuse me sir, we're refugees and we're in desperate need of aid. Our sister Sparrow is very sick and.." Frowns at Fox and then looks back at the farmer. "and anything you could spare, anything at all...some bread some warm water.."
Jackal "She needs something and she's getting worse."
Fox ::Farmer doesn't look very impressed:: "We don't want any of your trouble. You just be on your way."
Fox seems to break a bit at that, and looks up at him.
Fox "She'll die,"
Fox ::Farmer just frowns, as if he didn't want to hear that -- but he none the less starts to close the door.::
Jackal "She's going to die if you don't help us! Anything! Just SOMETHING!"
Fox ::Slam...::
Fox just stands there in front of the door a bit...
Fox ::You hear the bar going down..::
Jackal "Damn it!" Slams and kicks at the door.
Fox lets you wail on the door, screaming and hollaring for a bit, as he just stands there...then, eventually, he pulls you away.
Fox ::A few days later, in the rain...::
Fox ::Your mother is crying.::
Fox ::Fox...well, Fox is mostly just standing there. He hasn't quite seemed the same, since your night at that farmhouse. You'd almost thought they'd done something to him, but you didn't really think so -- there was something else.::
Mother lays the wrapped bundle lightly in the hole you'd dug, still crying...
Mother says a soft prayer...
Jackal quietly cries choking out a prayer.
Mother leans down to kiss the small bundle...
Mother "Good bye, sweet sparrow..."
Jackal "F-fox..." He stutters out as he stares at his brother.
Mother just glances down at the grave, his face somewhat blank, his eyes vaguely devoid...
Fox just glances down at the grave, his face somewhat blank, his eyes vaguely devoid...
Fox just...shakes his head..
Fox "This... this shouldn't have happened..."
Fox just stares...
Fox ::It took the three of you almost three weeks to eventually reach the river. You'd managed to get on a small trade ship, which was hauling a handful of refugees all the way to Nexus. It'd only cost Fox a little of the silver that he'd been able to carry with him, and he paid it as silently and mutely as he did anything.::
Fox ::The journey was a long one, a silent one. Then, one morning, you awoke to find yourself surrounded by buildings both grand and simple -- the sound and smell of people all around you...::
Fox ::It took you a few days to find a place; Fox...was only barely useful. He could manage a little, but you ended up doing a good bit of the legwork. You had enough money to last a while...but you weren't exactly sure what you were supposed to be doing...::
Fox ::Mother eventually managed to get a small part-time job as a servant in a well-to-do merchants home. Fox...seemed to be spending more and more time just doing nothing. Hanging around the small place you'd found...::
Jackal "Fox, come on. We need to go look for work."
Fox "Leave me alone, Jackal."
Fox just sits in the back, in the shadows, kind of blank-eyed...
Jackal frowns and moves towards him. "I know this is hard but we can't just lay down and...well we can't just stop! Mom is working and we should do our part too."
Fox stands up, kind of glaring at you.
Fox "And what in the Hells am I supposed to do?"
Fox "I'm a farmer, Jackal!"
Jackal "Then farm! They're looking for workers..."
Fox "Why the hell bother? What difference does it make!"
Fox "EVERYTHING is gone, Jackal. Everything..."
Fox "And there was nothing we could do about it."
Fox paces a bit...angrily.
Jackal "What could we do?! Jokan's army was coming! We're farmers."
Fox "There wasn't anything we could do, you idiot!"
Fox pushes at you, mad as hell. You fall to the ground, landing hard on your ass...
Fox just glances over at where you fell...
Jackal frowns and gets up. "You aren't the only one who's angry! You think I wanted to come here?! But we didn't have a choice about it and we don't have a choice now. We have to work."
Fox just looks away...
Fox 'I'm... I'm going to go take a walk."
Fox opens the door, and heads out.
Fox ::Hopefully he'll calm the hell down!::
Jackal exhales and paces for a moment before heading out and looking for work.
Fox ::That was the last time you saw your brother for a very very long time...::
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