Over the next several days of travel, as Bup and the rest of the caravan adjusted to the presence of the Bup-sized Artaxes, the lush emerald grassland slowly transitioned to open lowland forest. The river they had been following slowed and widened as it was joined by other tributaries. The trees were tall and gnarled with straight pneumatic roots that spread out from high above the waterline like so many bundled stilts. The [lowephants] slowed slightly under the canopy's shade and needed to take periodic short breaks whenever they found a patch of unfiltered sunlight. Grazing for the sheep became a little sparser too, and Drust began giving them the stalks of dried grasses they had gathered before fully leaving the prairie behind.
A week after The Talk, Falton still hadn't quite gained his magic. He expressed his disappointment by sulking and glaring jealously at Bup's scintillating animal companion, though the adults assured him he wouldn't need to wait for much longer.
On the 8th day after The Talk, another road joined theirs. Within a few hours, a large merchants' caravan approached the group from behind, more people and wares together than many of the travelers had ever seen in one place. Their wagons were drawn by creatures faster than the [lowephants]: blue-striped cats with enormous saber-like teeth, many-pronged crystalline stags in jingling harnesses, birds that seemed made of folded steel that strode on powerful legs ending in sharp curved claws. The claws of that last kind looked suspiciously similar to the one Falton had found. Each wagon was brightly painted to attract the eye, and it was all the adults could do to prevent the three youngest from getting lost in the bustle.
The three [guards], however, knew some of the merchants by name, including an eccentric alchemist named Piltho. Kilpa managed to haggle a good price to replace the [health vapor] they had used during the wolf encounter, and inquired on Hayzen and Igmi's behalf about a trustworthy jeweler or lapidary who might be looking for a young apprentice. Piltho couldn't vouch for anyone traveling with the caravan, but could possibly connect them to someone he trusted in the city when they arrived in the capital, Etoleem, a few days later.
After a only a couple of hours, the long line of merchants passed the smaller caravan, leaving a suddenly surprising quiet in their wake. Slowly the sounds of the forest began to sing over the quietly babbling river again. As the group was discussing how much farther to travel for the day, they spied their first Zharian leaguestone. With relieved smiles all around, this confirmed that it would only be a couple days until they reached the city and could petition the new [King] to make good on his offer.
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Zharim, the first of his name, had not set out to become a [king]. Before his own blessing of the ancient's ceremony as a human child, he had discovered tarnished silver chunks inset with glittering purple stones in an old ruin near the sea. He was badly wounded by monsters, but the wily, wiry child managed to escape with his shiny prize. It was these chunks that he used for the ancient's blessing ceremony. They had given him, among other things, the special attribute of [rightful heir] and the [Earth, forge] fundament.
Instead of crafting objects though, he used the fundament to reforge the kingdom in the sea-side wilds near the ruin. His childhood sweetheart, Tri, bore him a son before the kingdom was even established. Despite Zharim's overtures, Tri, the child of a gnome and the promiscuous elves, didn't have a cultural template for marriage, and argued that Zharim would be better suited finding a [queen] for himself if he insisted on marrying at all. He sadly relented, but raised the child, Ezharim, as his heir. Unfortunately—as they would only discover later—the magic of the world wouldn't see the child that way.
The borders of the small [kingdom] of Zhareem stretched for 50 leagues along the continent's straight southern coastline, roughly forming a half-moon into the continent. The border stretched northwest across the mangrove estuaries and a large swath of the lowland forest on the eastern half. On the west, it nestled comfortably into the foothills of a mountain range that protected its western border. Around the time that Zharim I established the roughly 9000 square league [kingdom], only two known low-level dungeons existed within that entire area. Within just a couple of months, several more low-level dungeons appeared, overflowing with various basic resources like livestock, fertile land, and iron. Within the year, however, a couple of monster-filled dungeons began to spawn, and Zharim I knew that he would soon require a growing population to manage Zhareem properly.
And so, when the [kingdom] of Zhareem was yet young, and his son was only four, Zharim I sent out a proclamation on the vernal equinox to all the closest towns and nations that he would give of his land and resources to help resettle any who wanted to come. With the promise of unexplored new dungeons and protected ocean-side land, Zhareem's population grew quickly.
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One a year after Zharim I's invitation, the capital city, Etoleem, boasted 2,000 residents. Most of this original cohort had combat professions like [guard], [soldier], and [warrior], but some enterprising farmers, craftspeople, and laborers had also arrived to make their livings by feeding and supplying the growing [kingdom]. Precisely a year and a half after that initial proclamation, on the autumnal equinox, Lissa's family finally arrived in the bustling forest city of Etoleem.
Until the last few hours of their trek, the road had stayed by the increasingly slow, wide swamp the river had become. The boughs of the trees stretched shaggily about them in the thick, buzzing air. Soon though, a fork appeared, with the main road turn away from the water to west, and the road that continued alongside the swamp looking more like an overgrown sheep's trail than a highway. The whole party, Artaxes included, breathed a bit easier as the new path led them onto higher, firmer ground. The trees grew taller and wider apart as they traveled, offering more dappled sunlight and space enough for a light breeze to play under the canopy. Some species of tree even seemed to glow with green-gold light, much like the [lowephants] had before fully releasing their [sunlight] spell. Another hour, and they began spying small houses high up in the taller trees, glowing with interior lights and decorated in brightly colored streamers. Another hour more, and they saw individual travelers on the road, likely nearby residents walking to and from the market in the city. At this point, the houses in the trees were often connected by rope bridges, or railings made from careful cultivation of narrow branches at waist-height above thicker ones used for pathways. Occasionally, the group even caught sight of residents dashing along these paths with little apparent fear of falling.
Not all of those they met on the road were [human] or even [humanoid], but Drust, the only one of the family members known to have interacted with other species before, admonished the children not to stare rudely, and the [guards] assured them that there would be no danger from the other [aware beings] in the city. Being a somewhat warmer climate from the countryside they had come from, the fashions were different as well, with unfamiliar materials and more exposed skin. Tecka observed them carefully, knowing that she would need to familiarize herself with the styles before she could ply her trade as a [tailor] successfully.
Finally, after six weeks of travel, the tired family called a halt at the true border of Etoleem. Great living staircases wound about the trunks of ancient trees that had likely been living here since the first [kingdom] here fell. Surely, some of them were [aware], Lissa thought as she looked up and up and out at the city. From where they stood, the tallest adults could just see white clouds through an opening in the forest's canopy perhaps half a league ahead. Kilpa, the narrow female [guard], asked them to wait a moment while she fetched a few others from the guardhouse. She raced up a stairwell that started at the base of the tree right next to the lead wagon. It took her to a well-camouflaged building directly overhead that wound about the tree.
Igmi spoke up while they were waiting, "If it's all the same to the rest of you, I'll be happy to do the talking when we go to our audience with his highness." She tried to keep her expression natural, but an anxious tension lingered in the corners of her eyes and atop her brow.
Tecka, who had known her sister her entire life, caught the woman's stress, but chose not to ask right at that moment. They were all tired, and she would have ample opportunity to ask about it later. So, she shrugged, her only strong opinion was one about her sister's well-being.
Hayzen acquiesced immediately, giving a relieved nod to his wife.
Drust, however, offered, "Are you sure you wouldn't prefer for me to do it, Igmi? My father had been a [diplomat] after all..." He trailed off, scratching the back of his head at the painful recollection.
The tightness in the corners of Igmi's eyes made it into her clipped response, "No!" She cleared her throat and shook her head, finishing her response more smoothly, "No, that's alright. Moving here was mostly my idea anyhow; I'd like to see it through."
"If you feel that strongly about it, lass, don't let me stop you," Drust replied, sensing that maybe Igmi's insistence had a deeper source.
Just then, Kilpa and a few others descended from the guardhouse, sliding along thick ropes that hung from various doorways overhead. They each landed with practiced grace on the soft dirt road.
She made quick introductions, and said, "These gentlemen will be happy to guard your sheep and belongings while I escort you the rest of the way." She turned to the great eagle currently perched on [lowephant]'s tusk. "Artaxes, you will be allowed to accompany us if you agree to ride on an adult's arm or walk. If you fly within the palace, I cannot guarantee your safety. You may also remain here, or you may explore the city provided you place this on your ankle."
In her extended hand, she held a simple leather band in bright orange that had been hastily stamped with 'Artaxes Albehson.' It clashed loudly with the emerald greens in his plumage. It bore no magic of any kind; it was merely a mundane, high visibility marker to indicate that the large bird belonged with a resident and was not a danger to the city. The proud eagle looked at it disdainfully, whistled a shrill cry, and extended one clawed leg while squeezing his eyes tightly shut and turning away as if he couldn't bare to watch. He peeked, however, as she buckled the clasp and trimmed the end the of the leather so it would lie mostly flat.
"Very good. The [king] will want to meet all the new residents, so the children should accompany us as well," Kilpa said, and waited until all eight were gathered. "Alright, follow me. This way."