Once again, the century turns, and Caelia makes yet another pilgrimage to the ruins of her ancient home to walk among its ghosts, and to curse the tomb of its Destroyer. But this time the tomb is empty, robbed of its corpse along with the sword she...
"You are not yet awake, but you can learn how by helping others to do so. As you see them awaken, you will learn what Renascence means." --from The Book of Kaia
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PHOTO CREDIT: AUTHOR
PLACE: ISLAND NATION OF ASREK - SEWERS BENEATH THE CITY OF HOM'A
DATE:HIEROS 12TH
Awakening from hypnos at the end of deep winter was painful if you were one of the vermi that served the rich and powerful on the island realm of Asrek. The term was not an endearing one; the meaning in asrene, roughly translated, was maggots. After two months in hibernation, you were hungry no matter who you were or how well you ate beforehand. But if you were one of the vermi, you never had enough to eat, so you woke up near starvation. Over the centuries, the elite of Asrek had reduced the servants' winter prep rations down to a brutal minimum. In their minds, it was simply a matter of reducing costs and increasing profits.
Ushil stood in their tiny room made of dirt, dressed head to toe in heavy furs and hat, struggling to get fully awake. His abdomen and head were in pain, his body ached, and he felt thinner than usual after hypnos. He remembered giving up some of his own rations so that his wife and daughter would survive the dark winter in better condition, especially since each new winter seemed to be longer than the last.
Hearing a noise, he looked back at mother and daughter still buried deep within a large pile of furs. His wife, Tuir, was beginning to stir, but Elina, who would turn ten soon, was still asleep, and he realized there were no words in his mind that could describe how he felt about them.
The place where they slept was nothing more than a shallow niche hollowed by hand out of a dirt wall in a small, artificial cave - itself a tiny space dimly lit by a single small lumina. He had dug their 'home' himself just off a large sewer complex beneath the city of H'oma, near several other rooms occupied by extended family. All his people were forced to winter underground just to survive. And not just here, but below all the cities of Asrek, they huddled in vast labyrinths of such rooms, surrounded by the frozen excrement of the more privileged.
Ushil shuffled through a stack of rickety shelves against one wall that held small amphorae with some dried fruits, vegetables, and nuts sealed inside. Those were still good, but as hungry as he was, he would wait for his family to go first. He saw much of the wrapped breads had been eaten by thrix, but that was by intent. They were small, hairy creatures that would literally gnaw on anything, including people, if something wasn't left out to distract them. The bread had done its job.
