The fruit of our labor always seem so far away. From time to time I think for myself how wonderful it
would have been to go through life in a way that is oblivious to the bigger picture. What is the value of
aiding our life on this has-been of a planet. Can a single instance of our life change its trajectory this
ever-lastingly and this detrimentally?
How many days have passed as I saw time and time again the ugly side of humanity?
Monopolize your position, grasp every advantage you can get over others; if that isn’t enough just
throw them under the carriage, demean to make yourself feel better. Kill, torture and kill.
What is our purpose in this forsaken land but to be a disease? An unwanted disease slowly polluting our
land in a creeping pace. Do I truly want to continue witnessing it from my throne? What if-
<
I know, Kalifas.
As I let my gaze wander over the village I had aimed to visit these thoughts simultaneously bubble up
and disappear from my mind.
< answer back then. Do you still see that meaning when looking at them from afar?>> Even though we are able to read each other’s thoughts you still went out of the way to verbally communicate them to me. Is that not the epitome of meaninglessness? < of what we call humanity. >> I let my gaze wander once more and point my finger to a red blanket covering a doorway. Is there a meaning of disguising the estrus with liquid derived from Eros? People can still clearly tell the difference by their way of smelling. In other words it is a meaningless action. < seeing increased revenue and income? Not only that but the noble demographic seen inside of these brothels has heavily increased? Do they not know of this obvious difference between blood and color?>> I change my pointing finger to the back of Jarabesa-Village. There are many clotheslines hung up, which are decorated with the prostitutes’ working-attire. <<200 years ago I have talked with a friendly owner of such an establishment. They told me that brothels had adapted the practice of washing and hanging their laundry outside of the customer’s view. Some brothels even go as far as to buy expensive curtains to hide their clothes! At that time my first thought was just an unbelieving sneer! But once again, I talked with that very same person 15 years later. And he told me about numbers! He filled me in about the long-term revenues created by such a simple change! I was shocked out of my socks!>> I take a moment to fight against the sudden dizziness from moving my head around this dynamically at once. Kalifas, would you be so kind? Immediately a seat is presented for me to retreat on before I grasp the strength to continue my sentence. < humans to assume we can understand each and every aspect of our selves. There is just too much humanity for a single life to comprehend.>>, I say as my eyes follow the fog in the air high above me. < I believe in having found a fundamental hint to the question about human nature.>> The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Once more my gaze locks eyes with the kneeling Kalifas and speak my words of belief. < humanity, my friend! And that is why I will never regret my decisions, Kalifas!>> Thank you for playing the enemy, my deepest friend… <> I amuse at their pleasant reaction to receiving praise as I look down onto the bloodied ground that had made my doubts arise once again. < < Never the less, I will always strive to change our meaning so that such actions may one day stop appearing. I pledge this to myself in the name of my honor… < Just do the usual. I do not care too much. < I wonder who I should meet first? Maybe the boy, since he seems to be on a prowl? .-. It is a quiet day, birds are chirping, insects are whirring and the wind is blowing along their trails as the group of two as they make their way over the last hill standing between them and their target: Jarabesa-Village. *Sniff**Sniff* The strange happenings start a bit before actually seeing this village. Haja smells a dangerous smell in the air and suddenly starts becoming active on top of the carriage. < His demeanor changes as the boy stiffens and shifts from side to side. His immediate reaction to the strange sensation is him notifying his master about these findings. < Come to think of it, Hamish also seemed to...>> < An uneasy Haja went up to Raylon’s side and tucked away on his clothing. The fact, that Sir Raylon showed off an unusually calm expression to his claims confused the boy before he slowly started calming down. It seemed he had realized that this was something that his master had already anticipated. < < colors for no reason, you see.>> The boy did not quite understand so he kept lecturing him about this specific place. < carpets to the sheets of the village beds are colored in a fiery-scarlet while the city walls are covered with cloths of gold and magenta. Even the workers clothes show patterns and embroidery of pink on them. Impressive, is it not?>> _________ The color Red: Humanity has succeeded in creating most dyes to recreate the natural colors of the world. Some colors to watch out for are the colors of blue, red and yellow. Royal-Blue: My only known production method is the juice of a specific type of sea-slug in combination with a ginger-bushes’ fruits hackled together and dried over dozens of days. Royal-Blue specifically is very expensive, though you can get pretty close to the color with specific materials. Sulfuric-Yellow: If you let cotton balls soak in water and then throw them into specific fields, that are naturally filled with toxic gas, you can extract a murky yellow, which is very hard to replicate. This color pallet however is not that well liked by the nobles and is very rarely utilized. Some wild beasts’ gallbladders are able to produce Sulfuric-Yellow, though they are mostly rare. Scarlet-Red: People Hide the specific production method for this type of color. It is exclusively used for high-nobility and extremely expensive to come by. If you ever see this type of color in a shady place, you should try to avoid that place if at all possible. _________ One of the learning cards, which his grandfather has gifted him before his passing passed through the mind of Haja. At the same time he had to rush back to the front to keep the horses from veering off course. Around then the small business of two passed one last hill and Haja got his first glimpse of the village of red colors. Master Raylon’s words were holding up to be true as Haja gazed over the intricately structured village in front of him: A large arc of scarlet colored wood hung right at its entrance and streaks of golden embroidery were spanned to its sides like a giant snake laying down on a giant’s back. The giant in question represented a pair of large walls, seemingly made out of wood or a very smooth type of stone. Jarabesa’s walls however were not simply massive structures of defense but rather aesthetically pleasing artistry: Starting from below and working their way upwards were many paintings of flower petals growing ever so large as they combined into large bouquets and once again into a snake made out of flowers. Haja noticed the walls’ beauty fairly quickly due to his fine eyesight though normal people from afar could have mistaken the artistry with a majestic red sea-lizard. Yes, almost every flower drawn onto the cold material had been repainted with a different shade of red making the entire thing look majestic and dignifying. On first sight Haja’s jaw proverbially dropped underneath the carriage making him almost fall down due to surprise. First impressions having already been wiped from his memory Haja got off the carriage and ran up to the walls wanting to inspect them more closely, the child’s inherent curiosity resurfacing once again. < Raylon had just enough time to shout that before grabbing ahold the reins, that Haja had thrown backwards while sprinting off the carriage, passing by a young man, two elderly looking people and an especially old one on the way. *Sigh* < All Raylon could do was heave a sigh of sadness as he once again questioned how he should deal with this young disciple of his. < The Old merchant lifted his head at the dark and slightly raspy voice coming from the sidelines and saw one of the people that Haja had passed on his way to Jarabesa. It was an old man with cracked skin and wheat-like white hair, that had receded to show a large Grey-ish forehead. This person was wearing a simple, loose robe of a brown first layer and green as his second layer making him look somewhat Old-fashioned, even for the Old Merchant himself. The short part of his legs, that was sticking out from underneath those was bare and withered with some basic muscles still visible. Without shoes one would have thought his feet should look the like but aside from a few warts here and there they seemed surprisingly healthy. A pair of steady Grey eyes was looking at Raylon as he was sizing this person up. There was a sense of familiarity in them making the veteran and highly intelligent merchant mentally browse through a catalogue of connections he had made for his business for a matching person. <>, he started saying before barely stopping himself and remembering the old one’s face at last. He got up immediately from the carriage, straightened himself and did a formal old-school greeting, that one used to do to superiors in his day and age. < have, Sir.>>, he spoke with a slight chuckle. The elder person’s face seemed relaxed but still in thought before his eyes widened the tiniest bit and he spoke as if having a revelation. < if I am not mistaken you were there at Rabakda during one of my ganders over there and… and...>> The elderly human seemed to try and remember Sir Raylon’s and his own first meeting but ultimately failed and apologized in a defeated tone. < Could you do me a favor and refresh my memories?>> Both of them turned silent for a moment before bursting into hearty laughter and in the end they decided to set up a small encampment on the side of the road to catch up on each other in a long and fruitful discussion.