Kishnagar was created as a treaty city, made up of races from all of the various countries on Ardu. Even though they had started out as different races from every nation on the planet. They considered themselves to be Kishnagari, one and all. After sixteen hundred years the treaty city had become just a city. And the people that had started out as a bunch of different races had become just one, Kishnagari.
Devshi was young to be a full priest. Most didn't even think of entering a temple as a novice until they are at least sixteen years old. But Devshi had done so at only ten almost eleven years old. Now at the age of seventeen Devshi had just finished her novice-hood. She was going to take her first vows and become a priest of Parvai, the goddess of courage, fertility and beauty. Each race had a different aspect of the various deities that they worshiped. All of them were considered to be part of whatever god that the temple was dedicated to.
Devshi was a Kishnagari of Oranang decent so she was only about three feet tall. Although some Oranang got up to four feet tall, most of them were closer to three feet in height. Her dark blond hair was bound back in a braid. She was dressed in trews and a loose shirt over which were the robes of her order. Of all of her family only Devshi had chosen to become a priest of any god. It wasn't uncommon for people in some of the larger families to designate a family member to at least consider joining one of the temple. Lately however the various temples made an effort to only accept those with a genuine vocation to take vows beyond the novice. But if someone wanted to find out if the temple was right for them they were more than welcome to work in the temple as a lay person before taking the first of the novice vows.
For as long as her family had lived here in Kishnagar they had been worshipers of her lady Parvi. the Her mother had often joked that maybe they should have picked another goddess to worship considering the size of her family. Her mother had always said that with a secret smile towards the family shrine. It was common among the residents of Kishnagar to be lay workers at the temples they worshiped at. Her mother had done so for many years. In fact she had done so until she'd started having kids. Maybe that was why her mother would smile at the home shrine when she said things like that.
All of her life Devshi had lived in the grand city of Alkadharam and she loved it. The only things Devshi loved more than her city was her family and her goddess. And there were times that her family wasn't on the list, usually when one of her brothers was being a pain. Devshi loved the bustle of the market places. All of the colors that were everywhere, from the walls, to the people. Every part of Alkadharam was full of sound and color no matter what the hour of day or night. Devshi figured that Alkadharam was the most lively city on Ardu. Not to mention the best and most vibrant one. She had long ago decided that hers was the the best city bar none. After all, she'd heard more than one visitor to Alkadharam saying that they'd never seen a city like it. Devshi wasn't completely sure why some of them seemed to be using less than complimentary tones when they said it. But she chalked that up to their accents or some such. How could anyone not love a city that never sleeps.
This morning however Devshi was not looking at the wonders of the city around her. Normally she would browse the wares of the various vendors that she walked past. Devshi was fond of finding little trinkets that might please one or more of her friends and family but not today. Today her mind was too full of the nightmare she'd had last night. It was true that anyone could and would have nightmares in their lives but this one had been particularly disturbing. Devshi was still uneasy from it even though she usually was fine once she woke up from a bad dream. Not this time however, this time she was still haunted by the disturbing images that she had dreamed.
It was hard to tell if it was the actual images that were bothering her so much. Or the fact that she had somehow known that there was even more behind the dreams that she couldn't remember. There was only one way to figure that out though. She would have to talk to the high priest of the temple of Parvi. With any luck she would be able to figure out why this particular dream bothered her so much. And then once she knew the why maybe she would be able to do something about it. At least Devshi hoped so. If not maybe her superior would know who she would need to speak to. This dream was so upsetting that she would speak to anyone to make it go away.
In due time Devshi was standing in front of the high priest of Parvai. The current high priest was a woman whose face was now lined with age. All of the clergy in Kishnagar were called priest no matter what their sex was. This was was a kindly soul and much loved by everyone, priest and celebrant alike. As far as everyone knew, Parvai's high priest had never said a mean word to anyone. Not even when they had done some pretty awful things. Devshi was pretty certain that the high priest would smile at someone who was there to kill her and as a result that person wouldn't be able to carry through with the threat.
Devshi was seated at the high priests feet and began telling her about the horrible dream she'd had. Devshi described the horrible monsters that she had seen. The meat eating horses with fangs and flaming eyes. The terrible floating eyeballs that seemed to kill in so many ways all living beings. Beings that looked like horrible combinations of spiders and Alfr. There were so many nightmarish creature that it was impossible to describe them all. some looked like mutations of actual people that Devshi knew lived on Ardu. Wasn't she from Kishnagar? The country that was made up of all of Ardu's people so there could be peace? The rest seemed to be a hodge-podge of bits and pieces of things that had never existed. Most frighting of all were the giant reptiles that flew and talked like people.
That was when Devshi heard the most unforgettable thing in her life. She heard the eternally gentle and peaceful high priest of Parvai let out a string of cuss words that made Devshi's face burn. She wasn't even sure what some of the words she heard spurt from the gentle female mouth meant. The fact that the high priest was swearing was almost more mind blowing than the dream that Devshi had shared with her superior. Even more unbelievable was how her superior had reacted to what the face of Ardu had looked at the end of her dream. The desolation had been total and unending. All Devshi wanted was to be told that her nightmare had only been a dream. The way the high priest reacted disabused her of that idea. Apparently there were things that were worse than the monsters were and Devshi was pretty sure she didn't want to know what they were.
What the disturbed high priest said next was even worse. For her superior had given her even worse news. for her beloved teacher had asked her if she was willing to forego the rest of her training and become a priest immediately. Devshi was confused by the seeming change in topic but had said yes. This would make her the youngest priest in the history of the temple. Devshi was proud of this but still more than a bit confused. The next thing that Devshi was asked to do was even more confusing. Her superior want Devshi to help a young man to travel to Adikha Yunavarsiti and to help him in any way she could.
The temple of Parvai, like most temples in Alkadharam, had often gotten requests from the adventurers guild for priests to go on journeys with the various parties. Generally these requests were ignored but this time it would be fulfilled. Devshi was to go to the adventurers guild and help someone named Bisha on his quest. The high priest hoped that somewhere on the journey the answer to how this disaster was going to happen would come clear. Devshi was certainly hoping this was true. She had never wanted to leave her beloved city but it looked like she had no choice now.
Mishaps
At the high priests command, Devshi went to the adventurers guild that same day. The next morning the group was ready to go. They were escorting a young Ashfani named Bisha to the Adikha Yunavarasiti for further education. At the last minute they had been joined by a Michocano with a tattooed face named Ten Rabbit. It had taken all of the persuasiveness of both herself and Nahla the Oristani shaman that was in general command of the group for him to get a mount. Much to the consternation of the whole party Ten Rabbit kept insisting that he didn't need a mount. He was going to walk the whole way. Apparently only the old, injured and sick ever used anything like a mount in Michocan. And they generally used something more like a cart pulled by something that looked like a mutant Temee. At the end it was only the Oristani saying that they would leave without him that finally convinced Ten Rabbit to ride one. To help her new companion out Devshi went to a family friend that sold mounts and arranged for a gentle mount. Because clearly Ten Rabbit didn't know either how to ride or how to judge a good mount. Fortunately for all involved the guild bought the mount since none of them had been paid yet.
Halfway through the first days riding it became evident that the party was going to have to stop for the day when they had lunch. Poor Ten Rabbit had never ridden before and not only was he slowing the group down since they practically had to lead his mount. But he had terrible saddle sore due to the riding he had done on this first morning out. Devshi figured that she would need to make him a salve to help with his sores. Sure they had horse lineament but Devshi knew that she could do better than that. She was a trained healer after all and they were having a long stop today. So Devshi was going to take advantage of the long stop and make Ten Rabbit the best salve she could. Which was very good indeed if she said so herself.
Every morning since the party had left Alkadharam Devshi and the rest of the group had watched both Nahla and Irene practicing alone with their weapons while waiting for breakfast to cook. They had decided to take longer with breakfast so that Ten Rabbit could get his legs stretched out before another day of ridding. Well more like half day what with the long stops they were taking and stopping early for dinner. Slowly they were getting Ten rabbit more used to riding.
Nahla had told her on their first morning after leaving that it was normal for her people to workout every morning, especially the Shaman. According to Nahla staying in physical shape was part of being able to speak to the spirits of Ardu. And Irene as a fighter considered it her duty to stay in good fighting form when there was no battle. After about a week of solo practice Irene the Zwergin fighter asked Nahla if she could workout with her. Apparently it was easier for fighters to stay in top form if they had a partner. Nahla agreed and they started to sparring every morning. Devshi just hoped that there would be no more injuries. Dealing with Ten Rabbits tush was all the damage that Devshi wanted to have to treat.
The two of them were both very good with their chosen weapons and it was hard for either of them to score a touch. In fact they were so good that every morning while breakfast cooked the two of them would garner an audience. On this particular morning a few days after they started sparing together Irene actually scored a good solid hit on Nahla's leg near the hip. The hit should have caused Nahla to be pushed to one side. But instead of fighting the force of the blow Nahla instead turned the force of the blow into a spin. When the spin was well started Nahla suddenly kicked out with the leg that had been hit and turned the spin into a solid kick into Irene's face.
The blow to Irene's face caused her to go flying backwards over the campfire, thankfully, where she landed face down on Bisha's lap. Before Irene had landed Nahla was exclaiming in horror and rushed to her fallen companion. Bisha was blushing so much that Devshi was fairly certain that it went all the way to the tips of his horns. Not that she could tell with the turban he always wore although he called it something different. Irene had landed face down in his lap and he was definitely afraid of touching her. Not because he was afraid of women or anything like that but because he didn't want to hurt her further. The blush however was clearly because he was unused to women, especially those who were face down in his lap. Devshi was just as quick to reach Irene as the rest of the party. Everyone got there just as Irene rolled off Bisha's lap and sat up to look around.
Devshi looked down at Irene's bloody face. Her eyes were going to be black as a ferrets mask and her nose was clearly broken. At first Devshi looked at Nahla, her expression clearly asking if Nahla could do anything herself. Devshi knew that while some Shaman could heal not all of them had that skill which is why many Oristani groups had healers as well as Shaman, at the shake of Nahla's head Devshi went to work.
First she made sure that the black eyes and broken nose were the only injuries. As soon as she knew that they were she asked Nahla to please go get her medicine pouch where she kept all of her herbs and supplies for healing. While Nahla was fetching her bag Devshi once again addressed the Zwergin before her. Setting Irene's nose was going to hurt more than a bit but the pain would be fast and then it would heal just fine. Much to her surprise when she told the fighter this, Irene laughed and promptly informed her that she had broken more than her nose during training and that she would be just fine.
The Trail
The next night when they all stopped for dinner Nahla offered to cook the meal as a way to apologize for injuring Irene. She offered to make a traditional Oristani meal and hoped that everyone enjoyed it. Briefly Devshi was worried that the meal would be to spicy so Devshi quietly informed Nahla that she should go lightly on the ghost flower since the rest of the party was unused to the spice. Nahla quickly agreed and informed her that she would. Devshi hoped that the rest of the party would be able to handle the food but had no doubts that she would. After all she had been eating Oristani food for most of her life as they also lived in Kishnagar and had brought their traditional foods and spices with them.
To help the cooking along Bisha offered to make the fire for that nights dinner. He put a pinch of obsidian powder in his right palm. then he added a couple of other powders, mixed them together and then clasped his hands together and brought them to his mouth to whisper his spell over them. Next he spread the powders over the fire with his left hand while making a majical gesture with his right. that caused a long lasting spark to start the fire with. from that point on Bisha was tasked with starting the fire at their camp every night.
What Devshi hadn't known was that the Oristani in Kishnagar had long since figured out that no other group could generally eat the foods they did with comfort and had long ago drastically reduced or completely removed the amount of ghost flower in the foods that were sold or shared with the rest of the Kishnagari people that resided along side of them. So even she had some problems with the level of spice in the foods that were served that night for dinner. In fact only herself and the Zwergin Irene were able to eat more than the first bite and even for them it was a bit much. So the Ashfan hound that traveled with Nahla ate very well that night and poor Ten Rabbit and Bisha decided that water was just fine for them as they really weren't all that hungry thank you very much.
From that day forward it was decided that Nahla would do no more cooking. Nahla was a bit disgruntled by this but figured it was probably for the best. After all she could always spice her food the way she liked after her portion was given to her. Devshi was sure that Nahla had reduced the amount of ghost flower and other spices in the one meal that she had cooked but no one else had been raised on cooking that tried to start a fire in their gut. So Nahla did other camp chores and left the cooking to the rest of them.
It was almost time to stop for the mid day meal when Nahla pulled out the map that the adventurers guild had given them. Not even Devshi was conversant with the way to get to Adikha Yunavarasiti so a map of Kishnagar was definitely needed. So far on the journey Nahla had avoided actually going into any of the larger towns on the way. But the trip was taking much longer than originally planned for. Mostly because Ten Rabbit couldn't yet ride for more than half a day. After a week of travel he could now ride his mount in the morning. It was clear that even with a stop for the mid day meal he couldn't ride for much more than halfway to the last meal of the day. As a result the distance that a normal group could make was greatly reduced for them.
The day before the group had stopped about a half days journey from Kurali. A large town not far from Manga where they would take a boat ride across the Labi sea to the city of Thelum. From there the group would go overland to the Adikha Yunavarasiti using the compass instead of following a road. The part of the trip that was without a road was the main reason for having a well armed group. The Yunavarasiti had zero interest of having just anybody show up at their gate. They were involved in very important work and didn't want to be bothered by tourists or any other people who only want ed to look around.
The first thing that Nahla did when they reached Kurali was to ask Devshi to take Ten Rabbit to the communal bath to soak out the stiffness from his learning to ride. Nahla had earlier confided in Devshi that she was glad to have the Kishnagari along, if only for her skills in healing the groups injuries. The group was to meet back up in the inn they were staying the night in. Devshi knew that the rest of the party was going to resupply since the journey was taking much longer than they had originally expected, because Ten Rabbit was having to stop earlier and earlier due to his saddle sores. So Devshi wasn't going to be there to bargain the way a good Kishnagari would. Devshi only hoped that Nahla and the rest were better at bargaining than she had so far seen. If not they were going to get royally over charged as well as loose any respect that her fellow countrymen had so given the group.
Later that day they all met up in the inn's common room. It had been a long day for everyone but a productive one. Nahla had been able to get all of the supplies that they needed and to Devshi's way of thinking had actually bargained well. Maybe not as well as she would have but not bad enough to be embarrassing. Nahla on the other hand had been surprised at Devshi's uncertainty over her ability to haggle. And on reflection Devshi realized that Nahla had a point, the Oristani survived because of their ability to haggle and barter. Just because the Kishnagari considered haggling to be as much a sport as any game and just because no one else did so. Didn't mean that other races didn't haggle almost as well as the Kishnagari did. At least Nahla didn't try to bring her Temee into the inns with her anymore.
Devshi was talking to Nahla, telling the tall Oristani that, no the patrons of the inn wouldn't be insulted by her adding ghost flower to every dish she ate. As long as she only added the spice to her own dish of course. Nahla and Devshi shared a laugh. Clearly both of them were remembering how hard it was for any other the other group member to eat the food that to Nahla was completely bland and dull. Devshi was happy that she was getting along with the direct and plan spoken Oristani. Even if she knew that the correct term for Nahla was Kagasori not Oristani for Nahla was half Oristani not full. Only those who were of mixed Oristani blood ever left the tents of their people. She also knew that there was no shame in being Kagasori to Nahla's people. Being a spear bringer, Devshi never could remember the correct term for it, was how the Oristani tribes learned about the world around them. Nonetheless Devshi also knew that the term Kagasori was rarely ever used by anyone off the plains so she wouldn't use it either.
Faux Pas
After everyone had ordered and they were all waiting for their meal to appear, Devshi asked if anyone had any questions about Kishnagar. She had expected to answer many different types of questions. And at first she got many of the kinds of questions that she had expected from the non residents of her country. Devshi had been more than a bit annoyed when both Nahla, whom she had expected the question from, and Irene both asked why the cities smelled so much. Apparently the Zwergin cities were so clean that none of the aromas associated with cities didn't exist in Zwergin cities or towns. And as far as Devshi knew the Oristani didn't even have cities. Devshi was deeply involved in trying to answer that one without getting annoyed at the Oristani and Zwergin party members. What could she say that wasn't insulting to either one.
That was when Ten Rabbit popped up with his one and only question so far. "When I came up from Michocan, I was told that I would have to take a detour in order to avoid Gizba. Aren't Kishnagar and Gizba the same country?"
Unfortunately for everyone in the group, Ten Rabbit's question was asked in a lull in the sounds of the inn. In fact the room was almost completely silent except for Ten Rabbits voice that had been raised to be heard over noise that was for this one moment gone. To say that the reaction was negative was along the same lines as saying that the ground was hard or that water was wet. The whole room exploded with sound again. All of it aimed at poor Ten Rabbit who at first didn't notice the rooms response, but quickly figured out that he had said something wrong when a large fist slammed into the table next to him. The owner of the huge fist started to grab Ten Rabbits shoulder but Ten Rabbit rolled out from under the huge hand before it could connect.
Nahla and Irene were just as quick to get out of the way of the starting fight. Clearly neither of them wanted to get involved if they could help it. Bisha for his part immediately jumped in, trying to stop the brewing brawl before it could start. Unfortunately for Bisha it was already to late for that. Devshi tried to stop Bisha and convince the upset crowd all at the same time. But that was clearly not going to work, the fight was already on. It now looked like one or more people in the group was going to get pounded. Not even the greatest fighter of all could over come the odds that were shaping up thanks to Ten Rabbit's innocent question.
Devshi stepped back to ask Irene to go and get their mounts ready for a quick departure before going back to stand next to Bisha. She really hoped that she could head off this fight, but if she couldn't at least their mounts would be ready to go when they were. Devshi just hoped that the group wouldn't also be charged with any damages to the inn's common room in addition to loosing the money that they had already paid for their room and food. Even though Devshi had arranged for them to make a hasty exit, she still hoped to diffuse the situation. Because Devshi really hated people to be angry with her.
The next thing that Devshi knew one of the brawlers suddenly went flying across the common room. She turned around to see another of the less than sober fighters get his arm broken before he was also casually tossed across the room, following his friend through the air. Devshi was more than a little surprised. As far as she had known Nahla had been staying out of the fight. Then she saw what had caused Nahla to abandon her neutral pose. Another of the patrons who had taken offense at Ten Rabbit's question took aim at Bisha. Nahla had apparently decided that Bisha was not to be touched in violence. Just as quickly as it had started Nahla had definitely finished the argument. Now was definitely the time to go. Devshi grabbed Nahla and Bisha by the arms and suggested that very thing. It wasn't going to do any of them any good to end up in trouble for brawling. This was one of those times that discretion is the better part of wisdom.
Once they had fled far enough that Devshi figured no one was going to follow them, she called a halt. They hadn't even gotten to their meal at the inn they'd left far behind them. Devshi knew that she was hungry and was fairly certain the the rest of them were as well. After all a couple of mouthfuls and a swallow or two of drink wasn't enough to fill them up for the night. Not to mention that it wasn't considered to be a good idea to ride at night in these parts. Not because of any specific danger but because when horse couldn't see they got nervous and jumpy. Not to mention that the party really couldn't afford to have one of the mount pull up lame because of a rock or root that the poor thing couldn't see. Of course Nahla and Irene's mount didn't have that problem because those two could see just fine at night. Maybe not anywhere near as well as they could during the day but definitely well enough to avoid laming themselves in the dark.
Once the group was settled for the night Devshi tried to explain what had happened back at the inn. Why the fight had started and why they had left so abruptly. It was a long story and Devshi had thought that everyone knew the story. Clearly that was not the case because if everyone had know they would still be back at the inn in warm beds. Not sitting around a campfire in the wilderness. Devshi had been looking forward to having a bath after dinner. No way that's was going to happen now. Oh well, Devshi thought to herself, at least we were able to take everything with us and we'd gotten our supplies before we went to the inn.
That was when Devshi told the group how the rift between Kishnagar and Gizba had come about. A little over five centuries ago Gizba didn't exist. At that time a new leader had been raised up to lead the country of Kishnagar. This person had not been a good leader. In fact they had been a truly terrible leader. One that was more interested in personal gain and helping his cronies. In those days slavery was still practiced in a few lands. Mainly just the elfin lands but Kishnagar was one of the lands that still allowed it. Mainly because of the treaty that had originally created Kishnagar as the treaty city. Pretty much every other land had abolished slavery by then but like she said it still existed in Kishnagar and a few other places. Well the leaders at that time were all terribly corrupt and started taking people who disagreed with them into slavery.
This had fermented a whole lot of discontent and eventually started a civil war in Kishnagar. A bloody war that left no family untouched. The damage to the land was terrible and scars can been seen to this day. Even worse was the number of lives lost. There wasn't a single family that hadn't lost numerous people to the bloody civil war. So many people died that there was no way to bury them individually. They couldn't bury them at all. There were so many dead that all they could do was cremate the remains. For some of us that was no problem but for others it was a stain on the families because their deceased relatives could not get into heaven without a body. The holy people did their best but there wasn't always a way to know what rites to perform or a way to perform them all. It was only in the past couple of decades that the population has finally returned to what it was before the war.
Eventually the people of Kishnagar drove the corrupt leaders and their followers into their base of power, an area that we now call Gizba. The freedom fighters wanted to completely destroy those treacherous people and remove them completely from memory but a wise old guru that had long studied the teachings of the gods told them to hold their hand. He said that one day we would need the descendants of these people to stave off an even greater danger. He told the leaders of the army to offer the evil ones mercy as long as they never came back to Kishnagar again. After much debate the leaders agreed with the old guru and did as he suggested.
And thus Gizba was created. A land where slavery still exists and is ruled by the despotic descendant of the former leaders of Kishnagar. The memory of those dark days is still imprinted on our hearts and souls. That is why you should never say that a Kishnagri and a Gizban are the same. We are not slavers and killers. We live under the rule of law that applies to the great and the small equally. Gizba lives under the rule of what the leaders says goes. In the end the only reason that Gizba exists is because a old guru argued for peace. For many Kishnagari those leaders made the wrong decision. Those in religious orders believed that the guru was right, but for a great number of Kishnagari the wrong choice was made.
