Maelstrom Saga: Scion of the Moon

The walk back to town was much more enjoyable than the walk to the temple. Tun's prayer session had elevated his mood and no amount of despotic scenery would deflate him now. Not even the urnyards they had to pay their respects to along the way.

The conversations once again turned to their travels. Tun let Mel do the talking, and she described their adventures in full. Her descriptions of Foss's high terraces and hanging gardens were better than any he could ever expound, as were her recounting of his antics in Emery.

"Where is Emery?" Vosa asked when the subject was breached.

"It's on the far west side of the mountain range where the Riplay river empties out into Emer Lake. It's a trading village that provides goods from Riplay to the smaller towns and villages out in the western plains. Like Roosk." Mel had explained. "There's a small shrine to Ontan there, but it was a complete disappointment."

Tun remembered the run down temple to the earth god fondly. It had been situated on the waters edge, and the tides of Emer lake had worn away it's foundation. It was half collapsed and sunken into the water and mud.

"As a change of subject, where are you two going after leaving our fair town?"

"Riplay. But we'll relax here until it warms up a smidgen."

"What about Kilt? Are you just skipping the evergreen town?" Was that Kilt's nickname? That sounded very appealing.

"There aren't any shrines or temples devoted to the Trivium in Kilt. So yes, we're skipping it."

"When I go to Riplay for my initiation ritual, can we pass through Kilt?" Vosa asked Muta.

"It shouldn't be a problem. The Kilt river empties into the Riplay bay. We'll take a boat ride."

"Why don't you two just come with us?" Mel suggested, ignoring Tun's panicked gestures telling her to stop. "We're going through most of the main towns and cities. There's so much she could learn along the way that will benefit her as a nun."

"Oooh. Can I? I've never been outside of the Fissure before."

"Absolutely not. Your education in history is much more important right now. And I'd need to ask permission."

Tun suspected that Mel had breached a sore topic.

"But Sister Muta, wouldn't her knowledge of history, not to mention geography, improve greatly from joining our pilgrimage?" Mel rationalized. "We are after all visiting every shrine to the Trivium. Surely the priests and nuns in them would take no issue personally telling her their towns' history."

If a better argument had ever been made, Tun hadn't heard it.

"Well, I, yes but that's besides the point." Muta sputtered. "It's dangerous outside of the fissure."

"Muta." Kalen interrupted. "You know as well as I do that violent crime is nearly non-existent in the Scij territory. And besides, a group of five travelers is unlikely to be accosted by any riffraff."

Five?

"You wish to come with us too, ?" Mel asked, catching on to his implication before Tun could.

"Yes. You see, I'm close to retiring and once my work is done at the memorial ceremony I will be free to do whatever I wish for a time. I don't think my coworkers will fault me for joining you."

Thank goodness. Tun didn't think he would have survived four months traveling alone with four women; One was stressful enough at times.

"Plus I think Tun would be rather bored with all female company." He was sharp.

"There is never a boring moment around me. But I do appreciate your concern." Tun said.

Everyone returned their attention to Muta, who was quite flustered at this point.

"I will consider it, but I need permission from the local priest to leave my post. I won't have an answer until after the memorial ceremony."

Her answer was enough to satisfy them all, and they continued on towards town. Tun's mood improved further at the prospect of traveling with the new company. But soon enough his thoughts turned towards luncheon.

"My goodness! Vosa, was that your stomach?" Kalen said to the young girl.

"W-what?" Vosa sputtered out. Tun added 'flustered' to his mental list of expressions Vosa was capable of.

"He's teasing you dear." Muta interjected. "I must say, I'm hungry too. Where or what shall we eat when we return?"

"Fish. I want some fish." Tun ordered without hesitation.

"Fish it is. A good catfish fillet sounds really good to me right about now. And I know just the place to get some"

And with those words Kalen picked up the pace, leading them to whichever shop would sell them their meal. The catfish was delicious in Quil.

The next few days were some of the more peaceful of their travels. For their third day in Quil, Tun and Mel went to the library to meet up with Vosa. They took their time along the way, enjoying the going-ons of the early morning marketplace. The intricate patterns of Quil's banners became more beautiful every day, and the people more friendly. Tun noticed several water fountains scattered along their route, each with two leather armored individuals guarding them. He thought it a strange sight but decided not to question it.

They spotted the albino girl sitting patiently on a bench near the arched library doorway. She noticed their approach amongst the other visitors to the halls of learning and got up to greet them.

"Good morning Tun. Good morning Mel. Is it not more beautiful up close?"

Tun assumed she was referring to the library, and it was indeed magnificent. It was three stories high with a rounded rectangular shape and was constructed entirely out of dark walnut with large stones and mortar holding it all together. Its smoothed edges were passive and inviting.

"It's beautiful. But it's unusually busy for a public library." Tun remarked as a group of young girls passed by them. One of them gave him an appraising look, and it took all of Tun's self-control not to return it.

"Really? It's always this busy here."

The people of Quil were clearly a well read folk.

"Shall we go inside?"

"Hm? Yes, of course. Lead the way."

Tun followed Vosa through the front doors, made of the same dark wood as the rest of the building, and marveled at the library's interior. It wasn't the most vast collection of books Tun had ever seen, but it was the prettiest. The first floor was filled to the brim with brightly colored cushions and chairs of every sort, very few of which were vacant. The second and Third floors, which were more aptly described as indoor balconies, housed row upon row of bookcases that could be clearly seen from below.

Tun couldn't help feeling the artistic energy put into architecture would be better spent on other things. He didn't know what those other things were, but the human labor invested into constructing such as extravagant library was surely misspent.

"If you'd kindly excuse me I'm going to go find some of Alzure's writings. You two go on without me." Mel excused herself.

"What? Wait!" Vosa called after her. Tun stopped her.

"She likes to read that stuff alone. It's a weird hobby of hers."

"Read what? Who is Alzure?"

"Alzure wrote horror stories about necromancy, dark sorcery, and a lot of other scary stuff. Completely fictional, and usually in poetic form. It's Mel's passion." Tun explained. "I don't approve of it, but I let her have her candy. She disapproves of my passions but lets' me have my candy too." It felt strange explaining the concept of 'giving each-other space' to the younger girl.

"What is your candy?"

Tun smiled. At least she understood the concept of a metaphor. "Ruins, both ancient and urban."

Vosa looked at him strangely. His explanation must not have been descriptive enough.

"I like seeing abandoned buildings and temples, exploring long forgotten ruins, and sleeping in forsaken homes doomed to be consumed by nature." Tun confided in her. "Mel is always complaining that a place must be haunted whenever we spend the night in one. I say those horror stories are getting to her head."

Vosa nodded in understanding. "So, things like the buildings destroyed in the rock slide?"

A bystander gave them an inquisitive look. The recent rock-slide must have been a sore topic around these parts.

"No, I don't like places of death, like urnyards or sites of tragedy. I'm much more interested in things like that imperial bridge, and the aqueduct you mentioned."

"Oh, well we can go see the aqueduct now if you'd like."

That's right! Tun had forgotten all about the ancient water system serving as the library's foundation.

"Lead the way, just let me tell Mel where we're going."

"I'll be waiting here when you get back."

Tun walked through the rows of cushions and chairs as quickly as he could without disturbing the readers, and made his way towards the stairs. He didn't bother subduing his footsteps, and ignored the glares and hisses he received for his transgression.

They really should blame the genius of an architect who designed metal stairs.

Tun browsed through the isles by genre, searching for either the horror or poetry sections. He passed by romance and mystery and turned into historical fiction and fantasy. He spotted Mel's short brown hair in an isle to his right and rounded it to speak to her.

She was standing in a section devoted to folktales and held in her hands a book titled 'Children's Stories from the Crown.'

"Mel, darling."

She whipped her head around to address him.

"Vosa is going to show me the aqua duct, so when you finish browsing come outside and look for us."

"Okay dear. Enjoy your urban exploration."

Tun sighed. "It's not urban exploration if it's an archaeological sight. In this case it's called archaeological exploration."

She nodded dismissively. "Yes, of course Tun. You go enjoy yourself."

She tended to be dismissive whenever she became enthralled in a book, whether by Alzure or another author entirely. Tun left her there with her latest obsession and rejoined Vosa in the lounge.

Just as she had promised, Vosa was waiting where he left her. Hands folded in front of her in an oddly proper manner.

She grabbed him gently by the elbow and led him through a side door and outside.

They were standing atop a staircase, one made of the same white marble as the bridge crossing the lake, which was now in clear view. The staircase was much more eroded than the bridge.

"Watch where you step, it can be slippery." Vosa warned.

Tun realized that just from looking at the rounded edges of the steps, but appreciated the warning. He imagined himself slipping and sliding down the stair only to fall of the cliff into the water below. He didn't want to be known as 'that foreigner who needed to be fished out of the lake.' The stairs led straight down the cliff face into the hollowed out area Tun had seen from the bridge. The ceiling and library above were supported by strong pillars who's floral carvings could just barely be made out.

Children were playing in the pockets of running water, naked and gay, with their parents supervising them from afar. Vosa led him to a stone outcropping that served as seats for the adults. The flat worn out stone was oddly comfortable to sit on.

They spent a few minutes enjoying the peaceful ambiance, watching the children splash around and effectively bathe in the eroded troughs that served as their bath tubs. Tun felt sorry for the preteens and infants, in a few short years they would mature and would no longer be allowed to run around nude in public. Tun sometimes missed that unbridled freedom, plus swimming with clothes on was terribly uncomfortable.

A thought occurred to him. "Where does the water come in from?"

Vosa pointed to the back wall. "There are holes over there that leak running water. Nobody knows where they lead."

Tun stood up and walked to the wall. Vosa followed him. Their elders wriggled into all manner of uncomfortable positions to let the two pass between them and the ivory pillars. They arrived at the back wall without much incident.

Tun examined the wall. "Where are these holes you mentioned?" He asked when he couldn't find them.

"Right here, you have to feel for them." Vosa said as she pressed her palm against the flat surface. Tun mimicked her and discovered the surface was moist. Water was indeed running down it, but from where? He squinted at the surface and finally found them. Vosa's tendency to understate things had misled him.

The holes in the wall were barely more than pin pricks, but they littered the whole wall, creating a steady stream of water that slowly leaked down the wall and onto the ground where it flowed through the hollow passage and down the hill into the lake. He rubbed the wall and felt hundreds of the holes scrape his palm like a whetstone. A person wishing to bathe here could rub their entire body against the wall and remove every ounce of dead skin. They would look ridiculous doing so, but they could do it.

"Does all of the water in the lake come from here?"

"Yes. We use it for drinking water throughout the city. There are two other aqueducts, one near the temple we visited yesterday and the other on the far east side of the fissure, but those are used to water crops."

"Oh, well we should go see them sometime. Let's go see the east one tomorrow."

"Okay. Would Mel like to come too?"

He should probably ask her first, but. "Probably. She might still be too engrossed in her latest books by then though." He would find a way to convince her.

"Is there a path around the lake?" Tun asked the second the question popped into his head.

"No. Why would there be?"

"For getting water. How else would everyone get enough to drink?"

Vosa gave him the same confused look she always gave him when he unwittingly asked a stupid question.

"The aqueduct connects to a pipeline that spreads all across the city in a web and feeds water to fountains scattered all over the place. Water movers draw water for everyone at the fountains."

That made sense. Tun recalled seeing the water fountain guarded by a pair of uniformed men. So that's what they were there for.

"Okay. Sounds simple enough. I still want to walk down to the waters edge though. Come on."

Tun lead Vosa through the crowd of parents back towards the stairway, but continued on to the edge of the terrace which extended further by another ten meters. A set of metal railings sat at the very edge of the patio preventing anyone from falling over.

Now that he could see down into the lake he realized its true nature.

"It's a rock quarry." He said in surprise.

And indeed it was, because below the waters surface was a maze of sharp edges and sheer drops created by quarriers removing megaton blocks of granite and transporting them to wherever they needed to go.

"It's a what?" Vosa said in non-condescending confusion.

"The lake. It's a rock quarry for marble. All of the materials used to construct the bridge, the road leading to the temple, and the temples itself were dug up here. It only later became a lake."

Vosa looked down into the lake and around at the sheer cliffs of white stone surrounding it. "You're right. Nobody has ever pointed that out to me."

Tun relaxed on the railing and peered down the twenty meter drop at the water below, and the carved out lake-bed. Very few earth movers had good enough control of their seidr to cut such fine edges, and those that did would have a difficult time cutting such large swaths of stone. Perhaps the diggers had employed water or air movers to cut them out.

"Hey. What are you two doing?"

Tun turned around. Mel was descending down the staircase to join them and held a small stack of books in her arms.

"I was enjoying the beautiful scenery. Turns out the lake used to be a rock quarry."

"Yeah, I know."She said blankly.

Tun gave her a look as if to ask 'How in the world did you know that?'.

"I looked over the side of the bridge when we crossed it yesterday and thought to myself, 'Oh, it's a rock quarry. Neat.' Also I got this for you." She said, handing him one of the books she was carrying.

"A Study of Scillian Ruins, by Talbert Yin." Tun read the title out loud.

"You're so interested in archaeology that I thought you would like it."

Archaeology? Is that what she thought his interest was? Tun thought to correct her but couldn't bring himself to devalue her gift.

"Thank you darling. Let's go back inside, it'll be much more comfortable sitting in the lobby."

A librarian chewed them out the second they stepped foot in the lobby. Books were not to be taken out onto the patio where they could get wet. Only after assuring him that they wouldn't do it again did he allowed them to take their seats. They spent the rest of the day there, reading quietly.

Tun did his best to focus on Talbet Yin's recounting of his archaeological exploits, and his theories concerning the sites near Plumet and around the great Scurtan Lake. The author focused less on functional structure, like homes ad bridges which were common among Scillian ruins, and more on religious or esoteric structures. The book spoke at length about theories concerning the functions of the standing obelisks scattered along the Scij mountain range that he called 'stamens', and their solitary brother in the Scij planes that he called Pistil. Most natives referred to them as the pillars of creation, why did he have to go and rename them?

He wasn't that interested in the subject however and spent most of the day browsing through the pages looking at Yin's illustrations of the ruined city near Plumet, imagining exploring them on their way to Scij. It was easy to visualize with Yin's amazing paintings, but he couldn't concentrate on his fantasies with Vosa staring at him and Mel. When he asked her why she was doing this she simply said she thought they were interesting. He decided not to press the issue any further.

The girl was weird, he decided then and there to simply accept this fact.

They invited Vosa to visit them at their inn the next day, she arrived shortly after dawn, thoroughly ruining their plans to sleep in. They quickly prepared for the days journey and joined her in the dining room.

Mel had agreed to go with them to the eastern reservoir. It was less than thrilling. The structure consisted of a white wall embedded into the black cliff nearly a mile away from the outermost buildings in Quil. It was identical to the one in the terrace below the library with the same pinholes produces the same steady stream of water, filling a channel notched along the entire border of the fissure. It was nice to look at, but didn't hold any mystique

It was a beautiful day though and the three of them made the best of their predicament by having a picnic in the first warm day of the spring. As the day wore on Tun notice that the water level in the channel had risen nearly a meter since the morning. He pointed this out to Vosa and Mel.

"Yes. The last of the snow outside the fissure is melting and will fill the channels and lake beside the library." Vosa explained. "those channels will provide us with plenty of water until summer, when we start to get the rain."

Their pleasant day came to an end and the trio trekked back to town, going their separate ways just as the sun began to set, but not before making plans to visit the northern aqueduct the next day.

Vosa woke them up the next day as well, making Tun sorely regret giving her their room number at the Gend in. They went downstairs and asked for their food. Vosa had eaten before coming to visit them and sat patiently while they ate their hosh and potatoes.

They once again washed up at the water trough and headed north through the city and to the lunar temple. They passed over the marble bridge, cut through the hosh fields, stopped at the urnyard to give their respects, and arrived at Veya's temple before noon.

Tun insisted that they sat down for a quick rest before finishing the trip, and the girls agreed to do so. He wasn't tired, he just wanted to see the sun reflect off of the damascene statue again.

"I'm guessing the aqueduct is up that stream." Mel said, pointing to the ornamental bridge on the east side of the clearing. Water streamed in under the bridgette and into the pond, which emptied out through the ornamental bridge on the west side of the clearing. Tun hadn't noticed this the other day, but just past both bridges were openings that stretched on for many meters.

"Yes. That's right. We might have to get our feet wet though."

"Not a problem. I'm a water mover and can dry us off the moment we get out." Mel reassured her.

"You are!?" Vosa said loudly, startling Tun out of his latest stupor. "Are you water mover too, Tun?"

He struggled to find his tongue after the shock of hearing the normally silent girl yell, but regained his composer and answered.

"I'm an earth mover, but yes I can move water too, but not air."

Vosa's excitement gave way to honest confusion again. "Wait, I thought seidr mages could only use one element, are you saying you can use two?"

Tun hated explaining this misunderstanding, but had already sworn a vow to be patient with the colorless girl.

"A person can only use one 'NATURE'. Movement is one of the five natures, and movers can move anything physical, earth water and air." Tun explained. "Movers tend to focus on just one of these skills though, since it's difficult to master moving all three. I am greatly skilled at moving earth, mediocre at moving water, and talent-less at moving air."

Vosa nodded, an expression of understanding gracing her face. "So you can just, move things. Anything. That makes sense."

The sun was beginning to rise over the semi-dome and was threatening to light the lunar statue.

"So the five natures are movement, heat, lightning, life and..." Vosa listed off in her head. "Wait, what's the fifth?"

Tun turned to Mel and gave her 'his other look'. She took the hint and offered Vosa her own explanation of the elements.

"There are five types of Seidr mages. Movers, who can move earth water and air. Casters, who can create heat and light, usually in the form of fire. Summoners, who have the unbearably awesome ability to shoot lightning out of their fingertips, some can also move metal and manipulate the other natures too, don't ask me why, I don't know." Tun gave her another look warning her not to get too off topic. "Then comes Makers, who can manipulate living things, plants, flesh, bone. They tend to be healers and farmers. The fifth and final nature a seidr mage can use is Void, which is... weird." Mel trailed off, now giving him a pleading look, asking him to take up the topic.

"A void 'Drawer'" Tun specified "can control emptiness. Darkness, cold, and stillness'." Tun explained. "And according to superstition they can control death and disease itself, but that's just irrational fear. It's the rarest nature behind lightning summoning and isn't very well understood." Did Muta really not teach her this stuff?

"I take it you don't know what your nature is." Mel commented

Vosa shook her head. "I don't have a seidr nature."

"Everyone has a seidr nature, because every living thing has seidr." Mel replied. "You really should get yourself tested, you might be surprised with what the gods gave you."

"Yeah. Maybe you'll be a mover with a proficiency for air. You could complete our little team." Tun joked.

"What team?" A male voice called from behind them.

Tun looked over his shoulder to see Kalen crossing the clearing with a young black haired boy with him. The two were walking towards them.

"Nothing." Tun yelled back. "I was joking with Vosa about her Seidr nature. I said I hoped she would be an air mover since neither Mel nor I can move air." Tun explained.

"I can move air." Kalen said, now close enough to speak with an indoor voice. "And water." He continued, taking a few more steps towards them. "And earth." He bragged, now standing next to them.

Tun smiled at the older mans boast, but saw Vosa frowning.

"Is that possible?"

Tun nodded. "Yes. A mover is capable of moving all three but very few people put in the time and effort into mastering them. People who do are called omni-movers."

Vosa nodded again. "Are you truly an omni-mover ?"

"Yes I am. I've had decades of free time to practice all three types."

"Prove it." Tun challenged.

Kale smiled back at him. "Well, Ebun and I are going to the aqueduct to practice for the ceremony. I'll happily give you a demonstration there."

Tun resisted the urge to ask 'practice what' and stood up to follow, Mel and Vosa at his heel. Kalen lead them up the stream, trying his hardest to walk on its rocky edge. Tun and Mel stomped boldly through the water so that their boots and leggings were soaked up to the knee.

The stream opened up to another clearing, this time consisting of a pond with small boulders littering it's surface, forming something resembling a walkway leading to the cliff wall. Tun spotted the telltale white of the aqueduct embedded into the face of the cliff.

Kalen climbed up onto one of the flat boulders followed closely by Ebon and Tun in turn. They turned around to help Mel and Vosa up as well.

"You did a great job laying the boulders out for walking on." Tun noted. The broken walkway the earth movers had formed led to a bank of pebbles next to the cliff. The aqueduct was right next to it.

"Mel, could you please dry us off?" Tun asked. Mel made to do so but was stopped by a gesture from Kalen.

"Please, allow me." He waved his hands in the general direction of their feet and the water in their leggings was instantly wrung out onto the stone below.

"Wow. You got all five of us at once. I would only be able get one at a time." Mel admired.

"Well I've had many more years to master the arts than you."

How very modest of him.

"Master Kalen, shall we begin?" The Ebon fellow interrupted.

"Oh, yes of course. Go set up."

Ebon made to leave towards the cliff wall. Tun thought to stop him but Kalen signaled for him not to, shaking his head.

"You wanted me to demonstrate my air moving skills as well, right Tun?"

Tun nodded, Vosa squeaked a strong 'yes'.

Kalen took a deep breath before raising his hands to his chest. He exhaled heavily and pushed his hands outwards at the water. A strong breeze made ripples on the water's surface, and ruffled any loose clothing or hair of the onlookers. The wind stopped as suddenly as it started and Kalen took a few deep breaths to recover.

"That's the most I can manage. I normally use air to make very fine cuts in stone." Kalen explained.

"It's still amazing that you can use all three. Even if you can't do any large scale projects." Mel admired.

"Oh that's only because I'm old. I used to be able to move mountains. Now I mostly cut stone and meld objects together. Fortunately my recovery rate is still quite fast. I never tire from seidr use."

"Can you teach me to move air?" Vosa pleaded, moving abnormally close to the older man.

"Oh, um, are you a mover?" He asked offhandedly.

"I don't know. But I still want to move air." Vosa said ignorantly.

Tun tried not to laugh at the girl. "Vosa. You really should wait until after you find out what your nature is before attempting to move anything." Tun admonished lightly. "In the meantime why not teach me to move air? Its' the only thing I can't seem to move."

"You can move earth AND water? At your age?" Kalen asked skeptically.

Tun sighed. He knew words were cheaper than actions so he opted to prove his ability, just as Kalen had. He mimicked the older man's earlier movements and faced the water, and reached out with both arms. He held them there for a few minutes, waiting for his arms to feel heavy as they normally did when channeling Nor. When he lost all sensation in his fingers he reached deep into his stomach for the telltale sensation of weightlessness that one feels when channeling Vol. When he finally grabbed hold of the baser elements he fused them together into seidr and forced the energy through his arms, and when He lifted them a bulge formed on the waters' surface, rising with his hands.

One meter.

Two meters.

Three meters.

He was now holding a nine meter tall pillar of water, but was fast loosing his grip. He let it drop, creating a wave that tore through the creak. It reached up to Tun's hip, nearly sweeping him away. Tun was the tallest person there so the others got it worse. He closed his eyes and pursed his lips in embarrassment as he waited for the crashing of water and screams to die down.

"You didn't have to make it so big, you showoff." Kalen said angrily from behind him. Tun opened his eyes and saw the old man moved the water off of himself.

"Actually, yes he did." Mel retorted.

Kalen turned to her, and looked ready to reply when the sound of splashing made them all turn around.

The wave had thrown Vosa off the walkway and into the water. She was trying to climb back up onto the stone block they were on, sputtering all the while.

Tun helped her up. "I'm really sorry Vosa. You're not hurt are you?"

Vosa shook her head. She didn't look hurt, wet and gloomy, but not hurt.

"Here." Kalen said, and with another sweep of his hands he wiped the water off all three of them, then turned to address Tun.

"What did she mean when she said he had to make it that big?"

Most people in Roosk knew full well about his 'condition', so he only recently had to start explaining it to people. He always felt so stupid when he did so.

"This might sound strange, and it is, but I can only move things in large quantities, and I can't control it very well." Tun explained. "I have very poor seidr control, and can't move anything smaller than a boulder without hurting somebody, usually myself. So I stick to large endeavors. People told me I was born with an unusually high mount of seidr."

Kalen shook his head. "I hope it wasn't a doctor who told you that, because there's no verifiable means of measuring seidr, we barely have tools capable of detecting it. There's no evidence that any person is born with more seidr than any other person."

He was correct from a scientific point of view, but science is ever changing. Soon enough the physicists and chemists in Scij may turn out a seidr measuring device and prove the old line of thought correct.

"Well that's the best reason anyone has ever come up with for why my abilities work that way."

Kalen glared at him. It was an intimidating look, but somewhat playful in nature, especially on the face that was usually so kind and humorous.

"Really? As opposed to being told you lack skill and discipline and need to practice more?"

"Hey! I've been practicing, and I've been getting much better. I'm surprised I was able to keep it that small."

Kalen sighed and waved his hand dismissively. "It doesn't matter, it happened, it's over and nobody got hurt." He stood up and took deep breath. "Now I know your limitations and we're better off for it. You can only make big waves."

He paused suddenly, his expression turning stony. Then, slowly, as if a mischievous thought had occurred to him, a kilometer wide grin stretched across his face.

"But how big of a wave can you make?"

Tun grinned back at him. "Let's find out."

"LET'S NOT!" A voice called to them from the streams bank.

Ebon, who had been setting out a series of brushes and instruments on the pebbled ground, had caught the worst of Tun's miniature tsunami and was scrounging around for his materials that had been washed away.

"Oh my goodness." Kalen exclaimed through stifled laughter as he ran to the young man's aid.

Tun and Mel fought back their own laughter while they watched the elderly man help Ebon dry off, before going to help them. Several minutes and twice as many apologies later they had recovered all of his brushes, papers, and metal rods. Then came the inevitable question.

"What is all of this for?" Vosa asked once they finished.

"Ebon is a calligrapher. He will be brushing in the names of the deceased and I will be going over his brush strokes, carving them permanently into the rock face. Today we're just practicing."

Seemed simple enough. One must keep their skills sharp and that only comes from refining it every day until it becomes second nature.

"Wait, what are the rods for?" Mel pointed out.

"I'll be going over the carved names with metal, melding it into the carving. Here I'll show you."

Kalen picked up one of the metal rods and took a few steps towards the cliff face until he was standing right in front of it, the others came close to watch. He pressed the tip of the rod against the smooth granite, and drew it down like a piece of chalk. The metal tip melted like hot wax and clung to the cliff face like silver paint. A few brush strokes later and Kalen's signature shone on the cliff face in bright metal letters.

"Wow. That is really neat. I've never seen a melder fuse metal to rock before." Tun admired, reaching out to touch it before pulling his fingers back. "Wait is it okay to touch?"

"Oh yeah, it's not hot or anything." Kalen explained.

Tun reached out again and touched the surface. The smooth metal was as cool to the touch as the smooth granite around and between the letters. He felt truly envious of Kalen's skill. Tun knew he would never be able to become a melder, but it didn't hurt to dream.