The Promenade of Scara Brae.

The day had been positively dull and depressing. Sprawling grey clouds and a turbulent wind that danced wildly with the ocean continued to endlessly buffet the worn cobblestone rampart. The aging weather beaten rampart battlements from which Sage stood against offered an unrivalled look over the entirety of the Town and the Docks. Though being this close to the ocean wind was mercilessly whipping through his long hair to the point that he had long since raised the hood of his cloak to cease the elements constant assault.

To Sage Ainsworth, being back here was, somewhat nostalgic and unnerving at the same time. If he was going to be honest with himself, he could say that his first visit to the Promenade had been the catalyst that had kickstarted his obsession with learning magic. It was not an easy memory for him to dwell on, and even harder to admit that it had shaken him to his core. His desire to learn magic had been an initially selfish one, he had wanted power to be able to defend himself, to never feel helpless ever again.

But times had changed, not only for him, but for Scara Brae too. Sage idly went to place his arm on the stone battlement but quickly retreated as the slightest touch caused it and some of the wall still standing to tumble heavily onto the rocks below. He cautiously took a few steps away from the new gaping hole to stand a little more closer inland. He did not fear the ocean, or the fall, but he certainly disliked the idea that the ground could fall from under his feet in a nasty little surprise.

Scara Brae was not what it once was. The Meteors reach had been far and wide, more so than he had estimated and the promenade had taken a very heavy blow. There wasn’t much still standing, the buildings that had been made of wood had been splintered and cloven in two had been mostly swept away by the gradually receding tide. The stone buildings had fared only a little better against the initial tidal wave that had swallowed most of the town.

Sage had nothing to fear from the criminal elements that had once festered the Promenade, for they had either fled in the direction of Stonevale or had been swallowed by the sea. By rights it should have been a ghost town, the ruins of a recent civilisation. Instead there were still ships making berth as the Stone structures still stood, and were still serviceable to load and unload cargo and travellers.
It was nothing like it had been before, but it was not yet abandoned.

Sadly, there was nothing of use remaining in town, most of the bars and taverns were either toppled over or were just GONE. Even the bookstore that Sage had first visited the last time he had came was now nothing more than a derelict wreck. There had been nothing to salvage, as anything that was still useful had been looted long ago or was long ruined by the ocean.

The only place that had survived, was ironically the bar and inn called the “Peaceful Promenade” How that place had still survived he had no idea but suspected that it had to have been a magic enchantment, a preservation spell that had been woven in to its very structure.

He would have to take a closer look before he left. The ship that was scheduled to take him back to Corone was not due to leave for another four hours or so. Boredom had soon set in with the boy so he had decided to go take a look around and see what he could find. As it turned out, he had found nothing, and everyone he had seen was more than content to pretend as though they had never noticed him which led him to his current location overlooking the devastation.

‘It probably won’t remain like this’ He thought with an odd sense of sadness.

Sure, the infrastructure was still serviceable to the sailors needs right now, but there was no telling how deep the damage was at this point in time. And given time Scara Brea, much like the crumbling wall beside him, would all just be swept back into the sea.

He wasn’t too sure why he felt sad about that, for the lives lost maybe, but he did not doubt things could not be rebuilt, and if not here then further down the coast certainly. Sage pulled his hood tighter, and was quietly content to continue watching the incoming ships slowly approach the docks despite the choppy waters.

A crow disturbed his thoughts as it landed on the stone wall and cawed at him in irritation to which the boy scoffed, but relented and reached over to gently stroke the bird beneath its beak. He however could not hold back a smile as the bird closed its eyes in bliss.

“What a silly magic construct” He jokingly abolished the bird but it paid no heed to his words “Your supposed to be my eyes in the sky, and yet you want to be coddled. I certainly never designed you with that in mind, or a personality for that matter either”

The bird didn’t even both to protest as it unashamedly leaned further into its creators enticing fingers.

“I suppose I should be thankful for my own shoddy spell design then” The young mage snarked.