NOVEL NEXT The World of Melodia: The Wild Elves of Clan Ayan, Part I
From the writings of Nhaka Mezalune for the Akashic Records…
Recorded in her Acacia Chronicle, fifteen years before the present day…
Have you heard of the Wild Elves?
I suppose not! Or maybe, you have! I don’t know, since it’s not like I can read your mind, convenient and potentially amusing as that might be.
Anyway, not much is known about the Wild Elves. They’re not really a part of Arcadia, you see! They’re a moving village, a disparate smattering of neighbours and families that live within yet beyond Elicia’s Law, wandering the lands of my fellow Archons with the wagons of their trading caravans and their herds of goats and sheep close by. Always outside the walls, never to enter the world that is ours. They do this to honour the traditions of old, and they say it’s to live in memory of her, the Goddess who once lived.
Yes, yes indeed! Before Arcadia, the elves of old worshipped Sophia, Goddess of Life and Light. Her most pious adherents, the sorcerers and their followers who practiced the life magics of old, they were once our allies against Abaddon and his forces in the days of the Corruption. And they left us when dear old Elicia chose her path, when she became a Daemonlord amongst us Hellbourne. The adherents of Sophia don’t like the Hellbourne very much, you see, and Elicia’s choice and means to end the Corruption didn’t sit too well with them. And so they left, their families forming the four Clans that now roam Melodia – Ayan, Deol, Lal, and Jha.
Since then, the old magics have left them. Why? I wish I knew. Like their predecessors who drew their magic from the primal forces of the earth like the goblin and human shamans of old, the four Clans don’t keep written records, you see. And of what I’ve found, what remains of their traditions and knowledge are held and passed from one generation to the next through song and poetry. Which, unfortunately, seems to prioritise grace and style over factual accuracy! Also doesn’t help that they tend to keep to themselves outside of trading, an unspoken and unwritten line separating them from the denizens of Elicia’s world.
But it’s just as well, maybe. The humans, even the city elves who live within Arcadia, don’t exactly like them too much. If it weren’t for the curiosities and goods they bring with them from all over Melodia, be it from the deserts of the Dread Expanse or the Isle of Eden, I don’t think they’d be welcome anywhere. The people of Arcadia don’t trust others who don’t live under the same Law, and there’s also that whole can of worms about the elves and the wars of the past. With that, and so much more, there are always misunderstandings. Always, so many of them!
But that’s where I come in, you see! On principle they hate the Hellbourne with a passion, be it the fiery Malphas or the adorable Beholder. Or at least, they didn’t know enough about me to think otherwise! You know, because of the past. But, there was another one of those misunderstandings happening when the caravan of Clan Ayan stopped by the Holy See of Arcadia, where some of theirs had altercations with the citizens of the Lower City. Something about thievery and nastiness with humans, I think? Doesn’t matter. What matters, is that I saw an opportunity, and I took it!
Ingratiated myself with them, I surely did! Pulling a few favours with dear little Iris is an easy matter, of course! Well, it actually wasn’t, because she’s an ethical prude even by the standards of my fellow Archons. But, I had somehow managed to convince her to have the Lightsworn Guard drop the whole issue altogether, and to release everyone involved. That, and a token of my esteem that would grant them safe passage through all the lands held by Arcadia with or without me, sweetened the deal!
I suppose then, you might be asking yourself, why did I do all that? Why, to have the chance to tag along with Clan Ayan’s caravan as it travels south towards the Dread Expanse to stop at Oasis, the City of Dreams! Where just before the deserts begin, a wedding between the members of Clan Ayan and Clan Jha shall commence upon a snowy clearing deep in the heart of the Frostshade Cradle, a place that’s far beyond the walls of Arcadia.
Yes indeed, a wedding! The groom joins the bride’s caravan and adopts her Clan’s name in place of their own. Each Clan of Wild Elves, you see, is made up of various families, with each family specialising in a set of skills that they pass on to their children. Their paths in life are mostly predetermined, and that’s how each Clan carries on as a community from one generation to the next, with everyone expected and arranged to marry someone of the opposite gender from another Clan’s caravan who shares a similar profession. It’s how the four Clans have continued to persist upon Melodia, and it’s all arranged and done in some rotating cycle by the elders who convene to decide upon it every decade. To avoid ‘complications’ in birth, as they had put it most succinctly when I asked them.
Therefore, what better way to properly document a wandering tribe than to live alongside them as they go about their day, and to behold such a momentous occasion? To see it all for myself, far and wide!
Indeed, and the elders agreed to my presence! That’s very important, you see, because the eldest are the de-facto leaders of their caravans. As it is, keeping with the tenets of Sophia to care for one’s kith and kin, and to honour their elders and ancestors above all. And perhaps, I still can’t help but consider that these elders wouldn’t have agreed with my company even if I had done the exact same thing for them two centuries ago. Truly, if I may, strict adherence has eroded over the generations in favour of practical concerns!
Oh, well! It is what it is. And it doesn’t matter, really! Because I want to record them as they are in this day and age within my Chronicle! I had therefore come into this with the bright idea to simply sit back and observe Clan Ayan with my best smile, to watch on and take notes along the way. You know, as an Eye of Elicia would!
The elders of Clan Ayan introduced me to everyone else, where I was met with a rather warm reception despite being a Hellbourne (they neglected to mention this during the introduction, though most of them had their suspicions). Maybe it’s because of my adorable personality and my eldritch charisma, but it was probably mostly in part due to what I had done for the Clan back at the Holy See of Arcadia. You know how it is, a little gesture going a long way!
Yes, indeed! It was a great start for myself, and I ended up deviating a little from my original plan to merely observe. Looking back on it, I’ll say that it’s a lot more fun being in the thick of it, be it camping under the starry sky before a roaring campfire and a bowl of hearty stew, or setting up shop and trading wares with the villages and towns of Iris’s dominion! A whole lot of fun, I’ll say!
It’s from this and more, that I write my observations in this entry of my Chronicle for the Akashic Records. That the Wild Elves of Clan Ayan live communally as neighbours, and seem to have no concept of private property. Which, I’m sure, would probably drive the civil servants of the Ancient Cathedral or the Black Citadel insane. And that somehow, they don’t seem to fear the bitter cold of Melodia, for they all wear tunics and frilly gowns made of wool and cotton that are light like a morning breeze.
For that last point, I really have no idea how they manage that one. Honestly! Compared to them, the fur-trimmed cloaks that I wear whenever I’m out and about probably have more layers than all their clothes combined! And maybe it’s because they don’t have enough to go around, and yet they go about their day so comfortably in the cold! Almost like they were born in it, and moulded deeper into it. Blessed by what remains of Sophia within the land itself, maybe.
Even so, despite my own personal shortcomings in the cold, being in such close proximity with such beautiful dresses made me want one for myself! They’re really pretty, after all, a popular sell amongst the humans and elves from what I’ve noticed because of their translucent colours. And this longing of mine, thankfully enough, was noticed by the caravan’s resident weaver, Kashi Ayan. With her husband, Ekaksh Ayan, they began working on gown of my own while the air got warmer and warmer with the sands of the Dread Expanse getting closer with every passing day on the road. You see, it’s their daughter, Akasha Ayan, who’s getting married at the Frostshade Cradle. By those same masterful hands, my own gown was being made in the style of the wedding dress that was already prepared to be Akasha’s on the big day itself!
Of course, I helped as well. You know, as any Archon should! Actually, I only got to choose the colour – a pretty and light shade of pink, but I’ll also mention that this is also the most important part of this delicate process! Since, you know, it’s made just for me!
Eventually, my gown was almost done! By then, the caravan had already set up camp for a few days within the heart of the Frostshade Cradle. As night fell like it always did, we were still awaiting Clan Jha’s arrival, for the elders tell me that it’s tradition to have the bride’s family arrive first and foremost. While dinner was being prepared by the others alongside the preparations for the wedding and the banquet to follow, I sat up by my usual spot at the weaver’s wagon, to chat with Kashi and Ekaksh like I always do while they worked on my pink gown under the starry night.
That particular evening, however, I was early to our meeting! I watched as they came out of their wagon, and sat pretty upon my little stool as they came up to me at our usual corner. Akasha was nowhere to be seen, interestingly enough. Just as she had been for the past few nights ever since we got here, only to reappear at the break of dawn for breakfast like nothing’s happened.
“The Archon will bring sense to you,” Kashi declared, her eyes rather sternly upon her husband as she pointed a finger at me. “She’ll tell you that you’re wrong to dishonour the very traditions she seeks to observe.”
“Sense has nothing to do with any of this,” Ekaksh stated most gently in reply, shaking his head as he spoke. “Akasha should have the right to know. She's come of age, and deserves the truth.”
“But if she leaves because of it, what will become of our family? She’s all we have, and we can’t…”
“The fact that you don’t want to tell Akasha, is proof that we must.”
“That doesn’t even make sense!”
I looked between them both. Aside from that finger being pointed at me for a fleeting moment, it was almost as if I wasn’t there. At least for a while, until they both turned to look at me most expectantly.
“Archon, you said that you’re from the Holy See of Arcadia,” Kashi said. “Where wisdom and knowledge are prized above all else.”
Indeed, I did say that! Though, I didn’t utter anything of that nature for that second bit. But as they continued looking at me with that expectant expression, I simply nodded in agreement.
“We’re at an impasse, and your words will break it,” Kashi continued, as both she and Ekaksh sat down by my side. “You’ll decide what we should not do.”
“Or what we should do,” Ekaksh added. “For Akasha’s sake.”
“Is it about the wedding?” I asked.
“Yes… but also no.”
I looked at Kashi with all my eyes and eyestalks. She looked at me sadly.
“You see, Archon,” Ekaksh said quietly. “Akasha… she isn’t of our Clan. She doesn’t bear the mark of any of the other Clans, either. Our caravan passes through this forest once every two years, and it was fifteen years ago that we found her here. Her parents were nowhere to be seen, and she was freezing in that blanket they had left her in. We took her in as our own.”
“The elders know about this and they agreed not to tell, because ignorance is bliss,” Kashi added, her voice just as low and quiet as her husband’s. “What’s the point, anyway? She’s as much a child of our Clan as the others. And she’ll be just that and more when she marries Lavi Jha.”
Both Ekaksh and Kashi looked at me, expecting an answer. I wasn’t sure what to say, and so I stared up into the starry sky with my eyes and eyestalks, my nostrils taking in the scent of freshly cooked stew as I gazed into the heavens above to give myself an air of wisdom while I collected my thoughts.
“You’ll tell her the truth!” I said after a while when the gaze of all my eyes returned to them both. “And she’ll decide what to make of it.”
“What? Are you sure?”
I turned to address Kashi. After what she had heard, she looked at me like she had suspicions about the quality of my mind.
“I don’t believe it’s our birth that defines us,” I said, looking at Kashi as I spoke my words slowly and surely. “When I was young, I didn’t know how to talk or walk on two legs, or even speak the mortal languages. It’s Elicia who raised me to be who I am, and she was only human back then. If you’ve raised Akasha with love and care, I believe something like this won’t even matter at all in the slightest!”
“But…” Kashi said in reply, tears in her eyes as she looked first at me, and then at Ekaksh. “How will we tell her? And what if… what if she leaves us because…”
“A friend of mine would tell you to listen to your soul’s cry!” I said as I thought of Zaxas Nyzak, the Lord of Blades. “To speak from your heart, and she’ll feel it too! I trust you’ve been good to her?”
“Of course!” Ekaksh exclaimed as I watched him comfort his wife. “We wouldn’t have it any other way.”
With a smile, I pointed towards a path leading the frozen woods beyond the caravan’s campsite. From what I had seen prior, it led to another smaller but really nice clearing on the path of the half-frozen stream running through the Frostshade Cradle. A great spot for a picnic, probably.
“Akasha went in there, didn’t she?” I asked, my words less of a question than it was a statement. “I won’t speak of this at all, but I’ll go get her so that you can.”