Haseri
Emperor
OK, so this crazy guy handed me this wad of paper. Boy was he far gone. I had just finished telling people at this slaviary what I'm about to write down before we moved tomorrow, and this guy came up to me, shouting incoherently. He told me to write my story down. So I am. I'd rather not sleep.
I can't remember what my former life was. No one really remembers much from before this thing is put on you. I've checked.
I was sent to Sahtradadav after this thing was put on me. I think I may have been one of the lucky ones. I was the High Priest's* personal slave. Joy. I was to stay by his side at all times, to cater to his every whim. The Toata have sex. Possibly one of the most disgusting things ever. The High Priest is, by law, allowed to have sex with any female. And the High Priest I was serving** had sex every morning and night.
He died of some disease** after a couple of months, I think. I was told I was to be taken to the Uldh Koudav in the city of Rakol, to serve under him. OK, I thought. All that would happen is a long trip in one of those slave carts. We left for Rakol the next morning. It's not like I had any personal possesions. Heck, I never saw another human being during my time as slave until I was brought through the city, and saw slaves building a new structure.
I was forced into the cart, despite my compliance. We set off on the long road. It wasn't as full as the one that brought me to the city was. This one had more varied ages. Nearly all of them had a dead, dejected look on their face. I was allowed to poke my head out of the canvas. We saw the city light up the horizon against the bleak landscape.
I'm guessing it was about two days before we stopped. The passengers no too depressed poked their heads out of the canvas. We were told to get out of the cart. Some we had to drag out. We were brought round to the front the cart. I tried not get in the way of the breath of the creatures that pulled it. The Toatan guards escorting us were talking amongst themselves. They obviously didn't want to attack the creature.
Oops, I didn't mention the creature. This large thing was blocking the road through the marshes. I can't really descibe it. No really. I doubt there is any creature outside that looks like this. If there is, I haven't seen it.***
Our escort finally came to a decision. They pulled us all out of the way, unhitched the beasts and hit them until they ran towards the creature. As they ran, the creature's ears twitched. In a flash, it struck. Both beasts were dead in a blink. The creature skewered them on its claws, carrying them off into a forest out in the marsh. The one Toatan who could speak our language told some of us to get back in the cart. The others then pulled the cart. These were the ones who looked the most far gone. I was lucky. I got the cart.
We made a stop in a small slavairy. The leader of the escort told me to give a message to the Toata in charge of their messenger birds. I snuck a read. It said, as best as I could translate: 'We will be late. Vard attack.'
We set out again the next day. We rode for iles. When of the pullers fell, they were put into the cart, and we were supposed to call when they had regained consiousness. It was a slow, agonizing walk.
We were walking through what the Toata call a 'sunken forest'. That is, a forest that has become flooded in marsh water. The road was pretty wide here, apparently a major route between two towns. It still looked like a pile of mud to me. Then the screaming began. Wait, before that something had hit us that had caused us to jolt. One of those creatures had attacked us. I have no idea how somethig so big could have ambushed us like that.
The escort attacked back with their fire torches. This scared it off. But before they did that, the beast had destroyed our cart and had killed all those who were pulling it. All that was left was half of our escort, and about twelve of us humans.
We walked. We walked until the escort decided it was time to stop. They needed to rest, the first time I ever encountered them doing so. We were resting at a place the Toata call a 'vovik'. Even though I couldn't see, they were smiling. I could tell.
It was a couple of hours before the translator, who by some way of a miracle survived, said, in way in which he was thinking over each word (I have tried to recreate their accents, although not very well): "Ve hav' bin talkin about u lot. Ve tink u chould all do tat ting u humens like to do. U kno..." He made an action that is Toatan hand gesture to have sex. Let's just say it involves most of the fingers.
Despite our prostests, one of the escorts said some words. We did it. I did it with this pretty little thing.
This happened again over several days. We walked. We stopped. We did it. We walked again. We stopped a slavairy. I lost count of how many times this happened.
So we arrived at this slavairy. I can see Rakol across the lake. It's getting late, and for the first time in days I feel tired. When I wak eup, our ship will be here, and I'll start a new life in Rakol. Sleep now...
*Toatan hierarchy:
High Priest/Kavdadov: The Guy at the top.
Uldh Kakhak: Leader of a large rural area
Uldh Koudav: Leader of a large city and its immediate surrounding area
Kakhak: Leader of a small rural area, under a Uldh Kakhak
Koudav: Leader of an urban district, under a Uldh Koudav
Priest/Klaokd: The spiritual person most Toata see in their lives. They are the midwives(fathers?), the 'person' 'people' go to in times of need. In the belief system, the Klaokd who was you midfather and gave you your sac would also guide you, spiritually, no matter their own currant stae of existence to Sahtra's real domain. It was bad luck for your midfather to die before your puberty.
** According to this account, it appears this is High Priest Kanav Davrul, a well known nymphmaniac. According to doctors who studied his mummified remains, he had "just about every STD concievable. We assume he had some sort of Three Stooges Syndrome going on."
***Picture of the Vard, the Krakaov and the Naivd will be here tomorrow. I hope.
I can't remember what my former life was. No one really remembers much from before this thing is put on you. I've checked.
I was sent to Sahtradadav after this thing was put on me. I think I may have been one of the lucky ones. I was the High Priest's* personal slave. Joy. I was to stay by his side at all times, to cater to his every whim. The Toata have sex. Possibly one of the most disgusting things ever. The High Priest is, by law, allowed to have sex with any female. And the High Priest I was serving** had sex every morning and night.
He died of some disease** after a couple of months, I think. I was told I was to be taken to the Uldh Koudav in the city of Rakol, to serve under him. OK, I thought. All that would happen is a long trip in one of those slave carts. We left for Rakol the next morning. It's not like I had any personal possesions. Heck, I never saw another human being during my time as slave until I was brought through the city, and saw slaves building a new structure.
I was forced into the cart, despite my compliance. We set off on the long road. It wasn't as full as the one that brought me to the city was. This one had more varied ages. Nearly all of them had a dead, dejected look on their face. I was allowed to poke my head out of the canvas. We saw the city light up the horizon against the bleak landscape.
I'm guessing it was about two days before we stopped. The passengers no too depressed poked their heads out of the canvas. We were told to get out of the cart. Some we had to drag out. We were brought round to the front the cart. I tried not get in the way of the breath of the creatures that pulled it. The Toatan guards escorting us were talking amongst themselves. They obviously didn't want to attack the creature.
Oops, I didn't mention the creature. This large thing was blocking the road through the marshes. I can't really descibe it. No really. I doubt there is any creature outside that looks like this. If there is, I haven't seen it.***
Our escort finally came to a decision. They pulled us all out of the way, unhitched the beasts and hit them until they ran towards the creature. As they ran, the creature's ears twitched. In a flash, it struck. Both beasts were dead in a blink. The creature skewered them on its claws, carrying them off into a forest out in the marsh. The one Toatan who could speak our language told some of us to get back in the cart. The others then pulled the cart. These were the ones who looked the most far gone. I was lucky. I got the cart.
We made a stop in a small slavairy. The leader of the escort told me to give a message to the Toata in charge of their messenger birds. I snuck a read. It said, as best as I could translate: 'We will be late. Vard attack.'
We set out again the next day. We rode for iles. When of the pullers fell, they were put into the cart, and we were supposed to call when they had regained consiousness. It was a slow, agonizing walk.
We were walking through what the Toata call a 'sunken forest'. That is, a forest that has become flooded in marsh water. The road was pretty wide here, apparently a major route between two towns. It still looked like a pile of mud to me. Then the screaming began. Wait, before that something had hit us that had caused us to jolt. One of those creatures had attacked us. I have no idea how somethig so big could have ambushed us like that.
The escort attacked back with their fire torches. This scared it off. But before they did that, the beast had destroyed our cart and had killed all those who were pulling it. All that was left was half of our escort, and about twelve of us humans.
We walked. We walked until the escort decided it was time to stop. They needed to rest, the first time I ever encountered them doing so. We were resting at a place the Toata call a 'vovik'. Even though I couldn't see, they were smiling. I could tell.
It was a couple of hours before the translator, who by some way of a miracle survived, said, in way in which he was thinking over each word (I have tried to recreate their accents, although not very well): "Ve hav' bin talkin about u lot. Ve tink u chould all do tat ting u humens like to do. U kno..." He made an action that is Toatan hand gesture to have sex. Let's just say it involves most of the fingers.
Despite our prostests, one of the escorts said some words. We did it. I did it with this pretty little thing.
This happened again over several days. We walked. We stopped. We did it. We walked again. We stopped a slavairy. I lost count of how many times this happened.
So we arrived at this slavairy. I can see Rakol across the lake. It's getting late, and for the first time in days I feel tired. When I wak eup, our ship will be here, and I'll start a new life in Rakol. Sleep now...
*Toatan hierarchy:
High Priest/Kavdadov: The Guy at the top.
Uldh Kakhak: Leader of a large rural area
Uldh Koudav: Leader of a large city and its immediate surrounding area
Kakhak: Leader of a small rural area, under a Uldh Kakhak
Koudav: Leader of an urban district, under a Uldh Koudav
Priest/Klaokd: The spiritual person most Toata see in their lives. They are the midwives(fathers?), the 'person' 'people' go to in times of need. In the belief system, the Klaokd who was you midfather and gave you your sac would also guide you, spiritually, no matter their own currant stae of existence to Sahtra's real domain. It was bad luck for your midfather to die before your puberty.
** According to this account, it appears this is High Priest Kanav Davrul, a well known nymphmaniac. According to doctors who studied his mummified remains, he had "just about every STD concievable. We assume he had some sort of Three Stooges Syndrome going on."
***Picture of the Vard, the Krakaov and the Naivd will be here tomorrow. I hope.