5th Ymiden 716,
The Marketplace, Nashaki
14th Break
The Marketplace, Nashaki
14th Break
Yuli’anyh dabbed her sweaty brow on the sleeve of her loose blouse. It had become apparent that Ymiden was beginning to chase away the cooler season of Ashan. Though, at the birth of the new term, the young twin’s perspiring body was not the cause of the gradually increasing heat of the Hotlands. No, pay day had arrived! After paying the twin’s taxes to the city, they were in severe need of some essential equipment. So, Yuli’anyh had taken to the marketplace, despite a tiff with her twin earlier in the morn about the expenditure of their shared coin.
Beorn begrudged spending any of their savings that were needed for their planned trip. Yet, she yearned just as much as he to leave the sandy wasteland of Nashaki. Their dream to reach Athart and the assumed loving embrace of family, burned fiercely in both their hearts. It was the only thing really keeping them going.
However, for near 3 Arcs the twins had lived on the verge of squalor. Squatting in a cave a couple miles outside the city walls, living off the land and with the barest of necessities was a wearisome and tough life. Heck, Yuli’anyh didn’t even own a second pair of underwear! Logic had finally won Beorn over. They needed supplies.
Yuli’anyh simply wanted to get what they needed and leave, not being one to enjoy the thriving, crowded nature of the city, hence having spent a good couple of weeks away from society. It was Beorn who loved the diversity and opportunities for social engagement - the man practically lived in the local tavern for Immortal’s sake. Which was no doubt where he was right now, instead of actually working!
As the mid-Trial sun passed, it seemed everyone had taken to the narrow streets of Nashaki, with some urgent haste driving them to complete their business before a swift retreat back to their homes. With the stone walls of buildings closing in the paved boulevards, combined with the rumbling roar of vendors, merchants and city folk all pushing their produce in at her face, Yuli’anyh felt more than a little claustrophobic. Give her the vast open distances of the sandy dunes any Trial.
As she negotiated the thoroughfares of the desert city, bobbing in and out of tents and around stalls searching for a good bargain, Yuli’anyh began to notice people averting their gazes and hurrying away. Expected paranoia and Arcs having lived with her scars would have told the young twin that they were simply revolted by her disfigured face. She was used to such discrimination and had learned to shrug off people’s reactions.
However, as Yuli’anyh flitted her gaze from one small huddled group to another, to merchants whispering tales into the ears of their customers, the young twin began to feel as though something else was afoot. The air was tense, prickling. Mental alarm bells raised Yuli’anyh’s attentiveness towards everyone around her. They were edgy, nervous… afraid.
What could make an entire population this scared?