Building from Ashes

[Jasmine]

((closed. All mention and/or minor bunnings of Zerith is approved by his owner via MSN))

King Eric Matrino and his sister, Lady Jasmine, gazed somberly on the wreckage of what had once been their nation’s first line of defense. What had once been a powerful catapult was now a pile of ashen timbers. Behind them stood another mass of ashes. This had been the small hut used by the soldiers who were on catapult duty. Neither spoke for several long minutes as a wind from across the vast sea toyed with Jasmine’s long hair and tugged at their clothes.

“We need better weapons.”

“Hmm?” asked the king, startled by his sister’s sudden words.

Jasmine glanced at her brother then repeated herself, “I said that we need better weapons. These catapults may have been good 100 years ago, but we need newer weapons with better range and more power.”

Sighing softly to herself, the young woman looked across the wide, flat area, and across the channel to the opposite side of the Cliff Gates. The same disaster that had struck this catapult and hut, had struck there as well. Neither side had been able to defend itself. The enemy had been able to attack from a distance at which these ancient, though well-kept, weapons could not reach. By the time the enemy ships came in range, the catapults were blazing bonfires.

Lady Jasmine turned her gaze inland. Stretching out 150' below them lay a wide bay. Its calm, blue waters reflected the sky above almost perfectly, with scarcely a ripple. If she moved closer to the edge, toward the channel, she would be able to hear the waves crashing against the huge rocks and ledges that formed the edge of the Cliff Gates. The channel itself was unfathomably deep, but it was also treacherously narrow. As such, there were currents cutting around those rocks and ledges that could be deadly to an unwary captain and crew.

From the top of the cliff, she could see the many small fishing villages that dotted the coast. Most prominently though, she could see Hamasha. Even here, she could see the damage to the port city. Most of the wall had been destroyed along with the harbor and most of the navy. There were perhaps half a dozen seaworthy vessels left to the Morian Navy. Before the appearance of the mystery army, there had been an armada.

Many people that had lived in Hamasha were now homeless. Others had lost their livelihoods with the destruction of their businesses. All of them looked to their king and his sister to save them from their troubles. Unfortunately, neither king nor lady knew exactly where to begin or how. Certainly they knew what needed to be done, but they did not know how they were to accomplish the rebuilding of a fleet of ships and a harbor. Never mind the walls, homes and businesses that had been destroyed along with everything else. Jasmine believed that one of their top priorities should be the clifftop defenses and the main wall. Eric was not so certain, but he was willing to listen to advice.

Having watched his sister for a few moments, the king moved to stand beside her. “You are right, we do need better weapons. We need a lot of things right now. The problem is, we can’t necessarily afford it. We would probably need to hire laborers from the mainland to have the manpower to do everything that needs doing. You did well when you rewrote those tax laws before descending from the throne, but the treasury has not quite recovered from all the refunds you granted. Though his tactics were cruel, Montego did increase the Royal Treasury by leaps and bounds.”

Jasmine’s eyes narrowed at the mention of the former traitor. The man had been evil incarnate and she carried a scar to prove it. “I would rather have Moriah be scrabbling for every last dime, than to see it thrive on the blood of the poor. That man was evil, cruel, and heartless. The world is a better place without him.”

Eric fell silent then, not wishing to incur his sister’s wrath. He had not been there for the fight between Jasmine and Lord Montego, but he had heard plenty of stories. Jasmine would speak nothing more of it than that it happened, she got hurt, and she won. She refused to talk about it to anyone. Sometimes, her silence made Eric wonder just what Montego had done or said before he died.

“So, where’s Zerith?”

It was Jasmine’s turn to be startled. Zerith was her warder, her protector. He had also fought alongside her to turn back the enemy armies that had attacked Moriah, despite the fact that his own father had lead the first attacks. “I think he said he was going to look into organizing some kind of food chain or something, so that those without homes could still eat at least instead of scrounging through the garbage. I am glad to have him, he’s made things a lot easier in some respects.”

Below them, a large vessel sailed majestically through the exact center of the Cliff Gates. Its arrival was part of why Jasmine had wanted to come up to the top of the Gates today. Unknown to Eric, she had sent for engineers to help in the rebuilding of Moriah. One had answered her and was supposed to be on the ship that was making its way across the bay.

“Enough about that though. Come, we have a guest to meet. I’ve arranged for an engineer to come to aid us in rebuilding our defenses. He should be on that ship crossing the bay right now.”

Not waiting for an answer, Jasmine turned on her heel and began walking briskly down the dirt path. As she went, she held up the hem of her dress so as not to tear it on the rocks. At the end of the footpath, stood a regal carriage drawn by two pure white horses. Jasmine climbed in and was soon joined by the king. In short order, the carriage was on its way down the narrow road that wound down the side of the cliff and to Hamasha.

Once there, Jasmine directed that they be taken to the docks. On arrival, she looked about for the engineer. She had been told his name was Rajani Aishwara. She’d told him in her letter that he should report to the king and that she would be waiting at the dock. Now, she was hoping that he would see them waiting.

“So who is this engineer anyway, Jas?”

Jasmine glanced at her brother, then resumed her watch for Rajani. “His name is Rajani Aishwara. He has a ship called the Peregrine and founded the Peregrine Group. He is reputed to be a skilled engineer and is just what he is. I think I see his ship now.

[Rajani Aishwara]

Sorry for the wait.

Rajani’s eyes were closed but the sun bore down with such luminosity that it pierced his eyelids. What he saw was a lit up sheet of skin over each eye, but it was relaxing nonetheless. It would have been unbearably hot, but the Peregrine was nearing land, and the sea breeze was being thrown back at them from the terrestrial mass.The smell of lime and vanilla invaded his nostrils to the point that he could almost taste it on the back of his tongue. Both the citrus fruit and the crème were settled on his bare belly but he was too lazy at the moment to even make the effort.

“Mmmm. Pax Avalonis.” Mohana moaned from beside Rajani.

The rest of the crew quickly objected to the attempt to name this day, a rare day when there was no work to be done. Nothing needed to be fixed. All drills had been rehearsed and perfected, and Mohana and her kitchen crew had prepared enough food for the next week. The ship was now running on six people, who didn’t have to make much of an effort at all. In fact, Tiberia Natalya was maneuvering the ship with her bare feet as she sat in a lounge chair sipping on a white wine.

“How about Pax Corona?”

“No! Pax Scara Brae.”

“Ladies and gentlemen if we insist on naming this rare time of peace and prosperity on our vessel after a region, it shall be the region of its Captain or no region at all.” Rajani said with a lazy tone as if he had just risen from a long slumber.

“I second that.” Mohana said as she lifted her hand up only to have it flop back down to the bed cushion she had dragged out to the deck. “Our captain has experienced an all too rare fit of wisdom and I have no choice but to support it.”

The crew once again had to object. Rajani and Mohana were the two only members of the Peregrine to come from the island of Avalon. The two were otherwise at odds, but would take up arms as brother and sister at the mere mention of their home island.

“Pax Peregrine.”

“Too cliché.”

“Pax Aishwara.”

“Hell no!”

“How about we name these times individually after the subject of the upcoming task.” Tiberia said as her platinum blond hair swayed in the wind. She was looking at the island of Moria as she spoke. “This time it would be… Pax Casa de Sora.”

“Indeed it would be, Helmswoman.” The captain said as he turned over to open his eyes. He knew better than to open his eyes as he faced the sun. Rajani stood and draped his bare torso with a white sleeveless vest. They would be on shore in no time.

[Jasmine]

As king and lady watched the ship come in, Jasmine very nearly held her breath in anticipation. The makeshift harbor creaked with the waves and the many things traversing over its boards. Fortunately, Moriah was on good terms with most of the nearby nations. For several days now, food and building materials had been arriving steadily. It was not yet enough to completely ease the nation’s hardships, but it was finally starting to help.

Damage to the port city of Hamasha had been very great indeed. The wall that had been the city’s chief protection was mostly rubble. Powerful catapults located on the invading army’s ships had decimated the 50' thick wall. Along with the wall went many shops and homes that were close to the wall. All but six of Moriah’s ships had been sunk, though none of them had crewmembers aboard at the time of attack. Those six had still sustained quite a bit of damage, but were at least still floating. Crews of repairmen were working on them tirelessly to get them back to their prior status as warships.

While they waited for the Peregrine to dock, Jasmine and Eric talked quietly among themselves. Most of the people around them bowed or bobbed curtsies as they passed, but did not stop to bother the king or his sister with their troubles. They knew that both were already doing everything they could to mend the nation. Finally, Jasmine saw the Morian dockworkers make the Peregrine fast to a dock. Leaning forward a bit, she peered intently at the grand ship.

“That’s his ship there. He should be over here any minute. I wonder how his journey went?”

Musing to herself, Lady Jasmine waited anxiously for Rajani to make the short trip from ship to where her brother and she were standing.

[Rajani Aishwara]

“Captain!” the watch shouted as he looked on land with his scope from his high canopy, “We got debris. The Peregrine won’t make it to dock!”

Surely enough, a graveyard of decimated ships formed a coral reef of wooden frames and white rapids. He ordered the ship to anchor and like a well oiled Alerarian steam engine the deck became operational. The masts drew up and an assembly line of men and women passed the giant metal hunk along until it plunged into the ocean. It wasn’t long until the bird’s wings were no longer spread and she was perched before the field of hazards before Moria.

“Jumpship line!” Rajani shouted as he took his sheathed blade from the hammock he once lay in. The crew now scrambled to line up along the edge of the ship.

That command was a queue for those who sought to see land with the captain. Those who were chosen could assist Rajani on his missions to receive a part of the commission, if there was one. Any one of them could go on shore at any time so long as the ship was occupied by at least half its crew. The young captain never picked the same crewmember twice in a row, and made sure everyone was selected once before one person was selected twice. Mohana untied the ship’s ropes as Rajani paced back and forth along the line. She always went to shore. Not only was it her obligation to go ashore and stock up on food for the crew of seventy, it was her pleasure. Discovering new cuisine from far away lands was her personal adventure.

“Medic Elseen?” Rajani said with a look of amused surprise on his face. “Will your son be able to keep the crew healthy on your shore leave?”

“He is just as proficient, if not more so than I, sir.” His voice was deep and it resonated in the air. Everyone’s bones vibrated as if they were gongs being struck during the finale of an overture. “In addition to helping those injured in the attack it would be a valuable opportunity for research.” He lifted his feathered pen and his leather journal in one hand, and his bag of medical supplies in the other.

Rajani walked towards a tall elf of healthy flush skin and russet hair, uncommon for an Elf. He didn’t come from Raiaera, but an island nation of forgettable name from somewhere in the Great Divide. Culturally this island of elves wasn’t as magically inclined as the Raiaerans, but they more than made up for that significant advancements in medicine and surgery. Their claim to fame was that a good surgeon from this island could pluck an Alerarian bullet out of a Raiaeran faster than it could be serenaded out. Elseen Channess used that claim liberally, and that never sat well with High or Dark Elves.

Elseen and his son joined the crew as medics, but his primary purpose was research. He was working on a theory regarding th behavioral traits of the different intelligent species of Althanas. His theory so far stated that certain behavior was inherent and consistent with one’s species. For example, all Elves had a sense of pride about themselves that other species considered high brow, and Dark Elves were prone to betrayal in one way or another. Rajani disagreed with this assertion, but allowed Elseen to do his research and take his notes. He would then ask Elseen to see the notes and pick them apart as if he were the surgeon.

Rajani’s own theory was that behavior was completely based on one’s environment, but more specifically one’s culture, and culture was based on history. As the two would debate Elseen’s frustration could be seen even through his apathetic façade, which he was given by the Elven culture. However he continued to show Rajani his notes despite his right to privacy. Rajani liked to think the medic enjoyed the arguments and they were ample preparation for future intellectual adversaries.

“I will look forward to your notes with enthusiasm, medic, should you see me fit to lay eyes on them.” Rajani said with a smile and a nodd. Elseen nodded back and proceeded to assist Mohana. The three of them dropped in the longboat and rowed into shore.

The maritime mausoleum between the Peregrine and the dock was spacious enough for the jump ship they were in, but too dangerous for even his narrow bodied clipper class vessel. Rajani could imagine the wooden spears of wooden marine appendages cutting the ship’s side like hot metal. Soaked sails wreaked of hot metal as they rocked with the pulse of the cascading water.

Rajani and his entourage climbed on the deck, and they approached with smiles. As usual Rajani spoke first. “Good day. I am Captain Rajani Aishwara here to make improvements and repairs for your country.”

[Jasmine]

((OOC: A thousand apologies for the lateness of this and its shortness. Hopefully, now that the holidays are over I’ll have more time for posting.))


Jasmine smiled widely, spreading her skirts gracefully as she gave a small curtsy to Rajani.

“Good afternoon indeed, Captain Aishwara. I am Lady Jasmine Matrino, this is my brother, King Eric Matrino. I hope your journey was pleasant.”

At the introduction, Eric nodded his head politely. He had asked Jasmine to take care of the introductions as he was still not entirely sure of himself when it came to greeting special guest foreigners. Thus, the monarch said nothing for the time being.

“This, however, is not the place for discussing the matters at hand. We have a carriage waiting if you would follow? Those that came ashore with you are free to explore the city as they wish. If any of them need to come with you, there is room for one more in the carriage.”

As they spoke, the townsfolk around them could not help but pause to stare at the foreigner. The news that this person was here to help had quickly spread as those nearest to the conversation passed the information along. Some of those passers-by looked with sincere gratitude on their faces, aware that they could use all the help they could get. Others were wary, unsure of foreign ships in their bay again. As far as they were concerned the announcement that the people aboard the ship in the bay were helpers could be nothing more than a farce to get in closer where more damage could be dealt.

Jasmine lead the way to the waiting carriage and climbed in. Eric climbed in after her and took a seat beside her, leaving the opposite side for Rajani and anyone he chose to accompany him. The townsfolk separated to leave a wide path for the king and those with him, even those who did not trust the newcomer.