Stories from Eave: Rin's Tale 7 reworked, with stats for Sofia Hess

[I have changed the conversation between Rin and Sofia.  She gives a lot of information she would not give out like that.  It needs to unfold.  Like I said, I am not a professional writer as of yet!]

[Here it is along with stats for Sofia.]

“Help yourself,” Rin said as she waved a hand over the tray of food.  Sofia stretched out of the water.  She wasn’t musclebound but very well put together.  “You are Spartan related aren’t you?” Rin asked.  The Spartans were a genetically created race of man that was created by United Terra, the precursor to the Empire of Tulath.  In the hundred or so years that the war in the stars raged on, there have been a couple of defection to the Earth Directorate of the Spartans.  When they crashed on Eave however, they no longer had access to the technology that made the Spartans.  There were very few Spartans that have a hundred percent blood, especially in the North and they were called Spartan Blooded.  Anybody who had the genes but not the size and strength of a Spartan were called Spartan Related.  Rin thought that Sofia was one.

“You have a good eye.”  Sofia looked over her right arm at Rin as she was getting a steamed bun.  “That is what my mother told me,” Sofia said as she sat down and ate the bite sized bun.

“Of what family?  Hess’s aren’t one of the Spartan Blooded families.”

“No they aren’t," Sofia said with an unpleasant voice.  "My mother was a whore who lived in Undershadow, south of The Wall."

"Oh," Rin said uncomfortably.  "I am sorry.  I did not mean to burden you with unfond memories."

"It is but a memory, long past now but still it stings from time to time."  Sofia took a deep breath and smiled softly at Rin.  "Like yourself Lady Rin.  To be taken in and adopted by House danTaven after you were rescued from the airship crash.  You are very fortunate indeed."

Rin smiled but inside her mind was working at breakneck speed.  "Thank you.  I was indeed fortunate.  The previous Baron was a indeed a kind man."  Both women smiled at one another and Rin knew that she was a much more dangerous opponent than the Davic boy.

Sofia Hess

Concept: Hidden Section 4 Agent

Trouble: Enamoured with the North

Aspects: Sexy Vamp; Stronger Than I Look

Careful +2

Clever +1

Flashy +3

Forceful +2

Quick +0

Sneaky +1

• Because I am a femme fatal, once per game session I can charm and enamour a person who finds me attactive to gain a piece of information.
• Because I am Spartan Related, I gain a +2 to forcibly defend against a physical attack.
• [One additional stunt to be determined]

Sofia is an Empire Section Command agent.  She works for Section 4 and has been a deep cover agent for the last five years.  The story that she gave Rin is a total lie.

by fae-photography/deviantART

Stories from Eave: Rin's Tale 7

Itami diid not look at all pleased.  “I did not need you coming to the rescue like that!” she said angrily.  She was busy collecting her books, stowing them in her leather knapsack.  “We go through and have heated discussions about it all the time, something that I could have deflected away with some words that I would have spoken if I were given the chance too!”

Rin knew that Itami was right, but at the same time she was wrong.  “I am sorry Your Highness,” she said with a bow as the young girl stormed off.  Rin looked up and saw Sir Hanar mouth the words “I thought you were right,” as he left to follow the girl out.  “I will talk to her.”  So much for the nice homecoming.

*

Rin sighed as she walked along the path away from the Colleges.  Itami was still not having any of her that evening, so she decided to go to a local bathhouse that lay off campus.  The White Willow was one such onsen.  It has the painting of an Earth willow tree on the front and was one of the first that was built here as was incredibly old.  The painting has been redone many times in the centuries that it has been in place.  The stones were old and worn to a smooth sheen that she walked along.  There were many other onsens that catered to partying students, but not this one.  It was quiet and that is what Rin craved.

The smiling proprietor was Master Wan and if you believe the stories his family has run The Willow ever since the laid the first paving stone.  “Hello Lady Rin.  It is so nice to see you again.”

“Hello Master Wan.  Sorry I came late and I am sure you want to close, but can I convince you to stay open for an hour or so?”

“Of course my lady,” he said with a bow.  “For you, anything.”  The tensions seemed to melt away off of Rin as she sighed contently.  “Stay as long as you desire.  I will see if Mistress Wan can get you a little something to eat as well.”

After bathing, Rin stepped into the murky hot springs.  The water was a pale white due to a higher concentration of calcium and occasionally bubbled from beneath the water’s surface.  It was an outdoor hot springs, one that had the cover of its black, stoned walls.  She sighed as she leaned back and laid there with the towel folded over her eyes.  She did not know how long she was laying there and she did not care.  The hot waters where warming and comfortable.

“Ahh, Mistress Wan,” Rin said when heard the door open.  “You can put the food here,” she mentions blindly as she motioned to a flat rock beside her.

“I am not Mistress Wan,” she heard an even voice say to her.  Rin lifted off her towel and she saw a well-muscled form that still had all the curves of a beautiful woman.  She had to swallow hard as the wavy blonde hair of Sofia began to slowly edge her way into the pool.  There wasn’t a scar or blemish on her and that was something that Rin felt an instant disliking for.  Even the Princess has her fair share of scars from her years of fosterage.  “Fancy meeting you here, Lady Rin,” she said.  Rin cleared her throat, keeping all but her head underwater.  Sofia still sat straight up, carefully bundling up her long blonde hair into a bun at the top of her hair.  Her breasts slowly submerging under the hot, white water when she was done. 

Rin had to swallow hard.

“Yes it is,” Rin said as Sofia leaned back and spread her arms out wide to rest them long beside her.  “I would almost say you following me.”

Sofia smiled.  “Please.  This is just the quietest one off the campus that is within walking distance.  Just like you I assume.  Having to get away from the hustle and bustle of having to watch over the princess.  One could not blame you for taking a relaxing bath.”

Rin took off the towel at the top of her head and raised an eyebrow.  “Yes,” she simply said, “the other bathhouses are filled with students who do not know how to relax properly.”  Sofia just nodded staring intently at Rin.  Rin was seriously thinking about getting up and leaving when the sliding door opened again.  Rin jumped.  It was slight but she did and was sure that Sofia picked up on it.  She didn’t say anything but turned to Mistress Wan entering the small bath.

“Saved by the Mistress of the House,” Rin muttered under her breath.  She smiled up at the plump woman who brought her a tray filled with small dishes and a small hand blown bottle filled with a blue liquid is a bowl of ice.

“Something cold for the hot bath,” Mistress Wan smiled.  She has brought a bottle of winter wine.  A drink that was alcoholic as long as it was served ice cold.  It was an eladrin drink and was a most welcome surprise.  She poured two glasses as Rin noticed that Sofia has moved over to sit next to her.  Mistress Wan smiled and excused herself from the bath.  Sofia took her glass and marveled at the blue liquor.

“So is it true that if it warms up, the taste is spoiled?” she asked.

Rin cleared her throat.  “Yes.”

“How so?” Sofia asked as she sniffed her cup.

Rin lifted her right hand up and out of the pool and took the second small cup.  “Magic.”  She said the word as it were normal.  It was to her, but Sofia for a moment did not look convinced.  The moment passed but still nagged at Rin.

“To your health,” Sofia said.

“For now and forever,” Rin countered with the traditional Baronial toast.  The women both drank down there cups and it burned with a cold sensation all the way down to their cores. 

Sofia raised an eyebrow.  “My.  That is good,” she said as her breath came out in a chill fog that dissipated over the simmering waters. 

“Help yourself,” Rin said as she waved a hand over the tray of food.  Sofia stretched out of the water.  She wasn’t musclebound but very well put together.  “You are Spartan related aren’t you?” Rin asked.  Sofia looked over her right arm at Rin as she was getting a steamed bun.

“That is what my mother told me,” Sofia said as she sat down and ate the bite sized bun.

“Of what family?  Hess’s aren’t one of the Spartan Blooded families.”

“No they aren’t.  My mother was a whore,” she said angrily.  “Literally.  She was a prostitute who lived in Undershadow, south of The Wall.  So I do not know who my father is, or really who my mother was.  She would always berate me for being Spartan Related, not fully Spartan Blooded.  She felt that if she had a child who was Spartan Blooded that she would rise in position.  I was ten years old, already a couple of centimeters taller than she was when she tried to whore me out,” she said as she looked in the water.  “She said I looked of age thanks to my Spartan father.  That I should earn my keep.  I left that night and never looked back.”  She sighed and looked up at Rin.  “So that is my sad story,” she said as she turned to the winter wine and poured herself another glass.

Rin sat there and quietly stored her story in her mind.  “I am sorry,” she spoke.  “I did not mean to bring up unfond memories.”

Sofia looked up after she drank her second cup of wine.  She sighed again and let out her breath.  She calmed herself down and slowly her previous demeanor came back.  That sly and slinky vamp that made Rin uncomfortable.  But she wasn’t that uncomfortable now that she knew Sofia.  She would still need to watch her step however as Rin suspected that there was a lot more to Sophia than meets the eye.

Stories from Eave: Rin's Tale 6

[Please keep in mind this is a rough draft.  Any questions?  Happy to answer.]

Rin walked down to the Colleges of Danaan, quite possibly the largest institute of higher learning on the face of Eave.  Some twenty thousand odd students come here to learn everything from agriculture to zoology and everything in between.  The Colleges cover most of the upper levels of the cinder cone and up and over the edges as they drop into the sea.  Rin remembered her year here in fosterage and it was a good experience.  She almost wish she could have spent more time here.  She could have spent more time here, but Aylen had recruited her to the Order.

Children as young as twelve could come to the Colleges if they were truly gifted.  In North Realm, children are taught much faster than children normally were taught.  By the time they were around fourteen to fifteen, they had the equivalent of a high school education because they did not coddle their children and teach them the useless information that only gets retaught later.  The children are taught to their strengths, so no student ever got bored with the curriculum.  If a student was physically gifted, then the teachers would guide the student to be the very best they could be.  If they wanted a higher education, there were many ways a student could learn.  The legal age for children in North Realm was sixteen where they would be treated as adults.

Overhead the tarn drill team flew among the many airships that advertised beers, foodstuffs and onsens, dragging streamers behind them if they didn’t have a dedicated airship.  Most of the lava rocks have been moved and much dirt has been moved here from the surrounding lowlands has been transported up here to allow for a pleasant environment to work and study.  The political science building is a large building, built into the side of the mountain.  As with many of the first buildings built here, it was one that was built upon a hot spring to keep it warm when the cold air from the sea would come in.

“Rin.  It is good to see you back,” an old man greeted her and came up to give her a hug.  Kemmon was a spry old man in his sixties.  He wore a robe to keep the chill and bay and had long hair and beard and was gray streaked with black.

“It is good to see you Uncle Kem,” Rin said as she hugged him back.  That got a big smile out of him.  Kemmon’s one true love died years ago giving birth almost forty years ago.  He never remarried and the Barony would be passed to his sister Crema when he dies.  So he through everything to teaching and loved it when his students would call him uncle.

“I take it you are here to see Itami.  She is still inside talking to Rikkard and Sofia.  Do not worry, Hanar Chan is with her.”

“I do not worry about her,” she smiled and lied.  Rin always worried about her charge.  She hugged her uncle again and went to the end of the hall.  Several students were still leaving and you can see Sir Hanar Chan standing there about five meters away from Itami.

“Greetings,” the tall man said.  Well, taller than her at her hundred and sixty four centimeters anyway.  He stood at least twenty centimeters taller than her.  He was part of the Order of the Rose, an order of knighthood that protected the royal family of North Realm.  He was armed with a sword and pistol and wore his chainmail underneath his clothing.  His shield with the Royal Seal emblazoned up it, was strapped to his back.  His armor and shield were enchanted much like her own armor was and provided him with movement and protection.  Hanar was a master swordsman and a fair shot with his pistol but he was really a master when he used both at once with his shield.  Sword in one hand and pistol and shield on the other, made him a lethal combination.

Rin smiled up at him, watching the young Princess.  “They are speaking of different forms of governments,” the knight said with a scowl and narrow eyes.  “What the Baron said that back in the Age of Stars, there was a form of democracy that guided the people Earth Directorate.  I do not know if I like it or not.  They are arguing with Her Highness about how she should institute it when she takes over the Realm.”

“She is a smart girl, not easily swayed,” Rin said of Itami.  Hanar just looked over at her, not convinced and cleared his throat.  The conversation stopped and Itami turned around to hush Sir Hanar.  Her eyes widened when she saw Rin and she leapt out of her seat and rushed over to Rin.  “Rin!  I have counted the days.  How is your brother, the Baron?” she asked of Aylen.  The wedding was all anyone could talk about these days.

“He is well and sends his regards.  He awaits his turn in taking you on in fosterage,” she said.  “You will learn of the eladrin and walk in the woods to view its beauty.”

“I cannot wait!” she said as she wiped a smaller braid that hung on her left side back from her face.  She was a beautiful girl, pale of complexion and hair.  Her hair was snow white and long, having to keep it in long waterfall braid that hung down over her right shoulder.  Rin’s eyes flicked to Itami’s two companions.  She has seen them before.  Rikkard always having heated debates with the political law professors.  Some thought it a challenge and the teachers liked the discourse.  Others hated the opinionated young man.  Sofia however she did not know.  The blonde haired girl was a little too quiet to be hanging around the opinionated young man.

“Oh.  Rin, may I introduce my two classmates.  Rikkard Davic and Sofia Hess.  Rikkard, Sofia, this is the Lady Rin danTaven.”  Rikkard almost sneered but Sofia curtsied just a little bit.  Rin just plastered on her smile that she usually saved for the boring people she usually had to deal with.

“It is a pleasure to meet you both,” Rin said pleasantly.  “I know you Mr. Davic.  Your discourses in the political arena are well known.  I often hear Her Highness talk about them when we are at home.”

“Someone has to speak the truth,” he said puffing himself up. 

“Truth?” Rin asked.  “What truths would those be?”

“The truth that all people, all humans should be equal.  Have a voice in how we are to be ruled and if needs be, we have the right to enact change and throw down the corrupt old guard!”  Hanar started to move.  What Rikkard said was dangerously close to treason, but Rin stopped him by stepping forward to place herself before him and Itami.  Rikkard knew he had spoken too much but his pride was too great to cower before the tall knight.

“All people are not created equal,” Rin started.  “The Spartan Blooded people are stronger, faster in both body as well as mind.  His Excellency Kemmon danTaere is not noted for his soldiering skills, but his mind is ever sharp.  There is not a person alive I suspect, who knows more than he about governance.  You are in his class, so I suspect you know already.  People will rise to the top of their field, be it in the military, the sciences, magic or governance, especially governance.  We, the nobles, do you know why we do our fosterage?  So we do not lose touch with the people.  So we do remember the hardships as well as the good times.  Her Highness mucked the kaddam stables in the Barony of Leavestonne.  She worked in the stores of the Barony of Holdingford.  Stood watch on Harro’s Wall in the Barony of Crosstaal.  I know this because I did the same thing when I was her age.  She knows more about the common people than you… ever… will.”  Rin said as she took a step toward Rikkard and he fell back.  She wanted to shame him and Rin thought she did.  “So instead of complaining for change, you should get to know the people you think wants such change and see if they want to change.”

Rikkard was used to shouting down his opponents but Rin never gave him the chance.  He stood there quietly and turned all matter of shades of red.  He started to push his way past Rin but was stopped by Sir Hanar who stepped in front of him.  “You owe Her Highness an apology,” he said low and threateningly.

“You have my apologies, Your Highness.  I was out of line,” he practically whispered.  It was quiet, except for the hissing of the radiator.  Hanar did not move and Rikkard had to edge his way around him and left for the door.

Sofia just stood there staring at Rin with a quiet, unknowing grin on her face.  “That was quite a show Lady Rin,” she finally said.  “You’re dangerous,” she smiled.

“I have only spent a year here, so I am sure he knew much more than I,” Rin said sarcastically.  “I take it you do not need a lesson, do you Lady Hess?”

“It all depends,” Sofia continued to smile.  “Do you give private lessons?”  It took a second for Rin to figure out what she meant while she could hear Itami stifle a little giggle.  Before she could answer, Sofia continued.  “Please, do not think that Rikkard speaks for everyone.  Like all men, he is passionate, but like all men, he is passionate about one thing and does not see the larger picture.”

“And you do?” Rin asked of her as she was picking up her books.  Sofia just smiled as she was left.  Sir Hanar giving her a wide berth.  “I think you are the one who is dangerous,” Rin said softly at the door.

Stories from Eave: Rin's Tale 5

The tarn dived straight for the jagged rocks below and Rin screamed with pure delight.  This was not flying aboard an airship.  She could not feel the air upon her face or the powerful wings of a beating tarn between her legs.  Smoke opened her wings and caught a wind that lifted them upwards to the sky.  Higher and higher they went, until they were soaring higher than the vast aerodrome’s control tower.

“So, are you done showing off?” Joshan asked and Rin heard in the small radio in her hat.  He was not angry at her to say the very least.  She lifted off her saddle and looked for him.  “I am underneath you, twelve mark six,” he said and then glided his way until he was on his port side.  Their position was all based on the old Earth clocks.  It went from one to twelve staring straight ahead and one to twelve starting straight overhead.  Twelve mark six was straight ahead and below.

It was getting to be a clear day, the morning fog was already burning off the crisp autumn sun that hung heavy on the horizon above the Morning Sea.  They could see the Maarke to their starboard side.  Maarke was centered on three volcanos, but over the years the sea had striped the cones and left the throats of the volcanic magma.  The ocean has left many spires great and small, solid, igneous rocks.  It was a bustle of activity.  They could see the small ships in the protected harbor.  They could see buildings built vertically along the cliff face.  The Colleges of Danaan are located off the largest extinct volcano in the center, surrounding the great observatory and Baronial home.  The aerodrome was atop the northern peak.  They could see the road that snaked down through the mountains between the aerodrome and the main city.  The Maarke is not known for its fertile land and over ninety-percent of the food has to be shipped in from the outside. 

Besides the Colleges, the other thing that the Maarke was known for is its hot springs.  Called onsens, after the Japanese word for the hot spring.  The geothermal activity for the Barony was quite impressive and these resorts were known far and wide.  Stormtonne had only a handful compared to The Maarke.

They flew toward the Baronial home atop the center peak.  The third peak was a large military base that was built when the Empire of Tulath nearly took all of North Realm nearly two hundred years ago.  They could see tarns flying all over the city amid the small airships used for advertising as well as those used for police work.  The students of the Colleges are known for their prankish behavior.  Rin wished she could spend more time atop smoke but Joshan had pointed down to the rookery here.

“That was fantastic!” she said when they were on the ground.  She was unbuckling herself from the saddle and got down from the saddle.  Rin was still shaking with delight and a bit from the cold as Joshan smiled.

“I thought you would like it.  You have left before you could get certified last time.  I would have you join the Maarke guardsmen any time you wish,” he said.  “M’lady,” he quickly added with a grin.

He accompanied Rin though the small Baronial rookery to the observatory and to the other side of the extinct volcanic peak where the Baronial home was.  She looked up at the observatory and it was quite small.  The dish was only some fifty centimeters in diameter but was made with care in the years after they had crash landed on this planet.  Paul Taere, the predecessor of the danTaere family, never did find out where they were.  Neither has his descendants.  The old computer had stopped working centuries ago and the whole observatory was designated a historic monument.

They entered the Baronial home that lie above the main campus of the Colleges of Danaan.  It was a small, ramshackle affair that housed the Baron of Maarke and family.  The strength of the Barony came from its people and Kemmon danTaere left the day to day ruling to a Senate composed of all factions of The Maarke.  It was not that the Baron left them, as his word carried considerable weight and he reserved the right to veto any new law.  He always proposed caution and the police and the military still answered to him in any emergency.  Baron Kemmon’s first love was teaching and that is what he did.

They were met by Oswal Langenfel, the seneschal of House danTaere.  An older man who should be retired, he was accompanied by a younger man.  They were both dressed in gray, the color of the ocean as it beats upon the rocks.  “Well, I will have to get back to my guardsman.  I will leave Smoke at the rookery for you to use while you are here,” Joshan said.  Rin thanked him as he bowed and left.

“Hello Oswal,” she said as both of them bowed to her.  Oswal’s beard was kept short and trim, but was as gray as his tunic.  He didn’t have hair and kept his bald pate underneath a twill hat.

“Good morning to you as well, Lady danTaven,” he said dryly even though the humidity was quite high.  “May I introduce Amer Tran.  He is studying to take over for me when I retire.”  Oswal has been threatening to retire for many a years.  Rin curtsied slightly to the new seneschal in training.  He was in his late twenties and his eyes peered at her not miss anything.  Rin could tell he was trained by the way he stood and the way he carried himself.  He was ex-military, that much she could tell.  However he was a new, having just got the job in the two weeks she was gone.

“Good morning m’lady,” Amer said in a crisp baritone as he took her bag, unconcerned with the weight.  “Did you have a pleasant flight?”

“It was calm and uneventful,” she replied to Mr. Tran.  “Will I be staying in the same room as before?”

“Yes, the connecting room next to Her Highness.  I bet you did not have breakfast yet.  Shall I send it up to for you?”

She shook her head.  “No, I am going to the Colleges to meet the Princess.  She has political theory right now, right?”  Langenfel just nodded his head as Rin turned and went.

Stories from Eave: Rin's Tale 4

Maarke was built on the Morning Sea.  Once, a long time ago, great volcanos grew up on these shores for hundreds of miles in either direction, spewing forth lava that created much of the Barony.  It is a rocky Barony, interspersed with green that the forests and the humans have tried to reclaim.  Rin stepped onto the outer deck that ringed the great aerodrome and could see the sea in all of its rage and beauty.  It was breathtaking.  Even though she was several hundred feet below them, Rin could feel the spray of the sea’s mighty waves. 

She shivered in delight and looked up after she heard a shriek.  She looked up and could see a great, gray tarn being ridden by a Maarke guardsman.  Tarns, or dows as the eladrin called them, are named after a species of bird so great that they could be ridden, so written by an ancient Earth writer.  She looked down and could see the great rookery and headed to the elevator down.

She stepped off the elevator to two guardsman snapping to attention.  Rin wished that they wouldn’t do that, but had stopped a long time ago and just smiled at them.  The rookery was a great cave carved into the side of the mountain.  Nests where built on the outside, facing the sea, as the tarns were great sea birds that survived as they dived for the fishes that were quite abundant and quite large.  Everything on Eave was quite large.  Even the insects were at least twice as large as or larger than what was commonly on Earth.  All of that was ancient history.  Every human was an intruder here and even though Earth was taught in school, it was all history about where they came from, not where they were going.

“Rin!” she heard a familiar voice cry out.  She looked over and saw Joshan in his full riding harness.  It looked like a full-body climbing harness that a rider could wear on the four-winged tarns.  Joshan was in his uniform, a simple sea-gray jumpsuit that had the four wings, two great and two lesser, emblazoned on the back.  He bowed slightly, a hand over his heart, then straightened up to hug the young woman. 

“Do not tell me it is a fortnight already?” he said as he led her down the passageway.  “How goes the plans for the wedding?”  Joshan was talking about her brother’s wedding.  Aylen danTaven, the Baron Elham’s only child.  He was some fourteen years older and he seemed to be too busy for her.  He was eighteen after all and was busy learning the ways of an eladrin ranger.  When he came home however, he always spent time with Rin, but his time was not his own and he was soon off again, training or fighting or learning.  She always had a crush on Aylen, for he was tall, smart and brave.  It must have paid off however, for he was engaged to an eladrin, much to Rin’s dismay.  Beyissa Faleath, also known as Skysilver to the humans.  It was the first time in the nine-hundred years since humans have crash landed on Eave that such a union was recognized and blessed.  The Faleath family were cousins to the royal family of Hanali, an old and powerful family.  Infact it was a Sorica Faleath who taught the second human magic.  The danTaven family was the first in magic and was strong.  Even though Rin was adopted to the family, she proved to have the magical talent and had knowledge of how to cast.

Rin smiled.  “It goes well.  My brother Aylen is trying to be calm, but I can tell he is nervous about it all.  He is over thirty and is acting like it is his first date,” she laughed as Joshan opened a door that lead to the outside.  The chill morning air was bracing and she felt the spray once more.  “Do you mean yes?” she asked excitedly. 

He smiled.  “I think you are ready for your first solo flight.  We will just have to fit you with a harness.  I just thought you wanted to meet your tarn.”  For the year that she was fostered here to learn at The Colleges of Danaan, she rode the great tarns in tandem with an experience rider like Joshan.  He took Rin to the far nest where she was greeted by a dirty-white tarn that regarded her with a turn of its head.  Tarns have a straight beak like an Earth kingfisher and a small gular, the throat sack common to Earth birds such as the pelican.  Their feet had a unique adaptation.  They had five talons, four that face forward with one pointed backwards.  The four that pointed forward had the middle two open wide and was webbed for excellent maneuverability when swimming, as tarns were known to dive in the water for a dozen or more meters to go after the great fish that live off the coast.  Closed it acted as the power claws for perching on the great spires and rocky crags that were common along the coast of Maarke. 

Rin smiled.  It was Smoke, the tarn on which she learned how to fly.  “Hello, old bird,” she said as she nuzzled the neck.

“I will get her ready to fly.  You go into the barracks and get into your harness.”

Rin eagerly did just that.  She went into the barracks and took off her skirts and attached the harness around her body and legs.  She then took a fleece lined aviator hat and goggles and tied a scarf around her neck.  It got rather cold up to where the tarns flew.  When she got out, Joshan was tightening the last of the buckles and straps.  Rin gathered around the great tarn, checking the buckles and straps with great care.  It is not that she did not trust Joshan, she was doing what he had taught her.  She then went over to a large basket outside Smoke’s reach and heaved out a large fish that weighed some fifteen kilograms.  It was common practice to feed your tarn before flying to keep them from diving in the water in search of food.  Smoke gobbled the fish eagerly and Rin patted her hand along the sides of her neck.

“Ready?” Joshan asked as he went to the next cage over where his tarn was saddled.  Rin said yes as she jumped into the saddle and buckled the two straps in.  Smoke stretched her wings, two greater and two lesser and fell of the side of the cliff.

Stories from Eave: Rin's Tale 3

Rin quickly did her hair in a simple braid, her magic prosthetic did not lose any of the dexterity that it took to do the braid in its elaborate pattern.  She mainly did this this so her long hair did not get in the way of the rest of her dressing.  She dressed in simple clothes of black, white and green, the colors of House danTaven.  She wore tight leather pants under her skirts that could be shed really easily if she had to move more freely.  Besides the leather bodice, she wore a leather jerkin that hung to her hips.  All of her leather clothing seemed to be stiff and cumbersome, but was highly enchanted to be soft and supple.  It was also enchanted to turn an assassin’s blade or bullet, though she had not been unlucky enough to test that out.  The same mage who made her prosthetic hand made her clothing.  “Aunt” Ladeline made them for her and for the longest time that is how she knew the woman and her wife “aunt” Tava would do little sleight of hand tricks that would amuse the girl to no end.  It was later that she found out that they were people much greater than she thought.

Her clothing looked simple of the outside but was far from the unassuming garments that they appeared to be.  Rin had hidden on her body some forty daggers and knives of various shapes and functions.  All could be thrown however and to deadly accuracy.  Her aunt Tava noted she was a quick girl in both mind and body.  After a few times of observing her sleight of hand tricks, she could easily figure out how the trick was done.  So Tava did something else.  She taught the girl how to throw knives.  Her mother Emma only tsked this but did not stop it as long as she did not hurt herself or others.  Emma would rather have Rin study hard, but she became more and more active.  Emma just sighed and smiled.  Except for a few arguments that they had, Rin tried to do everything to make her adopted parents happy.  She buckled on her belt that had one her cherished possessions, a dagger that Elham gave her before he passed quite suddenly from a brain aneurism.  It was given to her on her sixteenth birthday and from that day it has never left her side.  She loved the old man, for he was like the father she which she had no memory.  The dagger was old and well serviced and while she had it, a piece of Elham would always remain alive to watch over her.  It was silly, Rin knew, but it kept most of her fears at bay.

Rin picked up her bag that contained many other throwing knives as well as her Armored Reactive Camouflage suit.  Her ARC suit was a piece of ancient tech that she had in her possession, one of only seven that remained in service to this days according to the Order of the Thorn.  The Order of the Thorn was North Realm’s spy organization of which she was a member.  Elham had just died when her bother Aylen had recruited her.  She was quick and smart but most importantly, she was a danTaven.  It was the purview of House danTaven, the steward of The Thorn to watch over the kingdom.  To be its eyes and ears and if needs be, the blade to slay the enemies of the kingdom.  Aylen became the new head of The Thorns after their father had died.  It was something that Elham was going to do, but never had the chance.  For the next two years, she had learned much in the performance of her duty.  Her aunt Tava was a teacher in the class and was one of the greatest agents they ever had.  Only two, people new she was in The Order of the Thorn, Aylen and Tava.  They have told her that The Order had been infiltrated, but by who and what they did not know.  In addition to her main duty as Princess Itami’s handmaiden (and secretly bodyguard) she was to be on the lookout for those suspicious enough to be a possible subversive [change]. 

She stepped out onto the main deck of the airship.  The Forest Mist was a small and fast courier ship that mainly carried correspondence from one city to another.  Captain Watson was a member of The Order of the Thorn and from time to time he was ordered to smuggle some cargo.  He was very good at what he did but not today.  Rin knew what he was, but he had no idea that they belonged to the same Order.  She smiled at him as she entered the command deck.  “Good morning,” she said bright and chipperly.

“Good morning to you too, m’lady,” he returned to her.  He may not have known she was part of the same Order, but she was the Baron’s sister and deserved such repect.  “We are coming in to the aerodrome now.”  The command deck was crewed by three people, in addition to the captain.  The pilot who stood at a great wheel, the navigator who sat at his charts and the communications officer who manned the radio.  “Did you sleep well?”

Rin smiled.  She did not sleep well aboard any airship as his question brought forward the redcap goblin.  “It was pleasant, Captain Watson,” she lied convincingly.  “I must thank you for the use of your cabin again.”  He bowed his head slightly.  He must know, she thought.  He was a member of the Order.  None the less, they exchanged pleasantries. 

The Forest Mist moored at Bay Three of the Maarke Aerodrome.  The Aerodromes made by North Realm are a marvel of construction.  They are usual vast, circular affairs that the airships landed in like they were wedges of a pie.  The center was a huge tower that was home to Maarke Air Traffic Control.  Overall, it was a huge building that could hold twenty-four ships on two levels.  She stepped off onto the gangway where she could smell the oil, and steam and ocean.

Stories from Eave: Rin's Tale 2

Rin stood naked in front of a tall, thin mirror, her green eyes not missing a thing as she gazed over her form.  The scars on the remains of her left hand where the magical prosthesis was attached.  The prosthesis looked beautiful and despite of its moving parts what smooth and flush with the skin of her arm as the prosthesis claimed half her forearm.  She covered the prosthetic with a glove.  It conjured dreams of the redcap who took the arm when she was a child and for the life of her she could not banish the vile creature from her thoughts and her dreams.  Her hand went to her forehead where a two inch scar lay above her right eyebrow.  It was another scar she got from the night of the crash.

But it wasn’t all bad.  When Rin awoke form the horror filled dreams, she found herself in a large comfortable bed, in the middle of large room.  She did not say anything, in fact she did not even move for hours.  Two hours later when the nurse came wearing a pin denoting she was a follower of the Eladrin goddess Ellathe, the nurse smiled.  She told Rin that she was alright.  It was then that Rin cried and she cried out loud, as much as her battered and bruised body could handle under the circumstances while the nurse just gently held her.

She later learned that Elham danTaven, the Baron of Stormtonne had come to her rescue.  The Barony’s Control Tower heard the airships radio message and Elham himself lead a rescue party to save the doomed flight.  In the weeks after she awoke in the hospital, it became evident that no one would claim the child.  There was no evidence of her existence that they could find.  So the Baron did the only thing if which he could think.  He adopted her.  Emma, his wife had always wanted a girl and she took Rin to heart and with open arms.

Stories from Eave: Rin's Tale

This is a series of short stories all based on my Eave world.  Mind you I am far from a professional but I try none the less.

Fire was everywhere as people screamed in pain.  The airship crashed in a woody thicket of the great forest that was still made up of the great trees.  Rin stumbled, bleeding from a cut on her forehead.  She would have cried but her mother told her to keep quiet.  “There are dangerous things in the forest,” she had told the four year old girl. 

Her mother had just finished strapping Rin into the crash seat of the cabin that they were in and had got up to run across the room that they were in when everything went a dark purple.  She saw a beam of violet energy slice up through the floor and catch her mother.  She didn’t even cry out as Rin looked on with horror and shock as her mother was there and then she wasn’t.  She would have cried out, but her mother told her to be quiet.

She has lost her left shoe in the wreckage as she climbed out, alone and afraid.   As she picked along her the trial of burning and charred debris, the weirdly colored fire casting deep purple shadows, giving the remains and otherworldly glow.  She could hear the screams turn to silence and she was afraid.  She could see a figure in the distance, standing before a purple flame.  “Mother?” she wordlessly said as it looked like her mother bathed in the purple light.  Rin tried not to cough as a breeze blew smoke in her direction.  When the smoke cleared she was surprised to see it.  A large goblin wearing a cap of blood red.  She did not cry out as it raised a bloody, jagged blade.  Rin fell back, stifling a small cry from escaping her lips as it brought down the blade where it severed her left hand and much of her forearm.

Rin awoke with a start, her hands flying up to guard her face.  She sat up in the bunk she was in and breathed hard.  She slowly brought up her left hand and closed her fist.  It was a magical prosthesis made up of a silver and copper cage closed up around a hand, made of darkwood.  It was beautiful as it seamlessly melded with her flesh.  The fist unclenched and she rest it in her lap and sighed.  She got up from her bunk and went to a small window on the opposite wall.  She opened the curtain and could see the sun rising against the horizon made up of a great forest, the ring around Eave slowly fading in the glowing light of the sun.

The intercom rang and Rin went to answer it.  “This is the call you wanted to wake you m’lady.  We are an hour from Maarke,” the captain of the airship told her.  She thanked the captain and returned to the window, the view slowly changing.  She sighed.  It was the same dream every time she flew…