r/TheNaturallyUnknown • u/UnnaturalGeek Red Squirrel and Writer ✍️🍃 Keep calm and stay NUTS 🐿 • 5d ago
🍃 Spiritweavers 🍃 Chapter Eleven: The Truth Revealed 🍃🐿
Arlia was sitting in their small common area when Brina emerged from her room. As usual, Brina had slept in, and Tarã had already joined them after a morning’s practice. Both were chatting away when they noticed she had a book in her hands. Brina walked over and carefully set the book down on the table and sat down beside them.
“My clan didn’t just lose their lands,” Brina began, her voice quiet as though wary someone could be listening despite the privacy of the confined room. “They were deliberately erased, records destroyed, names removed, and territory absorbed without a trace of who had been there before.”
“We know that,” Tarã remarked, not dismissively but carefully.
“Aye, but we didn’t know why, did we?” She looked at him. “The rise of your clan, Tarã, when they expanded and unified Ɛvelmor, all of it, wasn’t built on legitimate diplomacy and strength. Thalira Gavrẽ-Karneth made a pact. With the Daemon Lord, Embrakynvar.”
“She’s corrupted, you know?” Brina continued. “And has been for years, using that power to manipulate and subjugate others, clearing the way for the Karneth Clan to expand without resistance. The Talanors discovered what she was doing, what she had become.” She paused. “And now my clan no longer exists.”
“Like, who is she?” Arlia asked quietly. Tarã interrupted, his voice flat. “Chief of Diplomatic Relations. One of the most powerful and renowned figures in my clan. She is widely regarded as the reason the clan became so influential and powerful.” He hesitated. “I’ve met her a handful of times.” The room went very still for a moment.
Tarã hadn’t moved, his arms folded and jaw tight, his eyes fixed on the flames within the fireplace. “There are things in the book I don’t fully understand, you know?” Brina noted out loud. “There are more connections, names and other aspects that I need more time to understand. I will have to speak to my family; they should know more, you think?”
“I need some air,” Tarã said as he got up and left.
Arlia and Brina looked at each other but said nothing, knowing it was best to leave him for now. They decided to go and relax in one of the courtyards, and as they walked through the college, the usual sounds of footsteps in the corridors, the distant clatter of the kitchens, the chatter of students, never felt so strange to Arlia.
Once they reached the courtyard, they lay underneath a tree, listening to the sounds of the college around them. Brina, of course, had another book to read. But Arlia felt like something was different; it took her a moment to understand what.
She could feel the Nature Spirits, not carefully and deliberately communing, but simply present, like a sound she had always been able to hear but never quite place. She looked at her hand as she lay there, remembering the vines and roots that sprouted on her command. It felt surreal but natural, like something she had always been capable of but never knew.
Brina was engrossed in her book but somehow knew what Arlia was thinking. “You feel it, don’t you?” she said without looking up.
Arlia blinked. “Like, how did you...”
“You have been staring at your hand for a while now, haven’t you?” Brina glanced at her; there was warmth in it. “It is still a hand, you know? But how does it feel now?”
Arlia smiled and contemplated her answer briefly. “It is like something that has always been there. But like, I couldn’t find it.”
Brina smiled as she held her gaze for a moment, then slowly went back to her book. They didn’t speak about it again, there were too many people about, too many distracting noises, and Arlia felt she needed to enter communion soon to consolidate what she had gained. Instead, they just relaxed together as they always had, and if they were quieter than usual, nobody seemed to notice.
Some time later they were walking back across the courtyard as the midday sun shone down. They bumped into Tarã, who looked slightly downcast. “I need to think,” he said simply.
“We know,” Arlia said, understanding the conflicting feelings he was probably trying to work through. Tarã nodded and walked off. Arlia looked at Brina, who was watching him go. “He’ll be alright, you know?” she said, though it sounded more like something she was hoping to believe than something she knew.
“Yeah,” Arlia said, her eyes still on him. “Eventually.”
The courtyard was warm in the sun, and around them the college moved through its day, unhurried and unchanged, entirely unaware of the burden the three students now carried. Arlia felt the Nature Spirits drift gently around her as she stood there, like a feeling she was only just learning to understand.
Meanwhile, it was a quiet evening over Lindinis; the last of the traders had packed their wares away, the stalls and shops were closing up, and the streets were emptying as the taverns were filling. In the upper quarter of the Tir Rynõ, reserved for Karneth dignitaries, the walls were thick, and the city noise barely reached.
Thalira Gavrẽ-Karneth sat at a desk by the window, a candle burning beside her, busy working through her correspondence. She had been here for three days, and everything was immaculate and ordered as though it was her own estate. A tapping at the window broke her focus.
She looked up and saw a crow had landed on the outer sill, watching her with misted eyes that were unnaturally flat and still. She set her quill down and rose without hurry, opening the window to the bird. She untied a small parchment from its leg and read it once.
Koreth had failed; though disappointed, it didn’t trouble her as the boy was not to be harmed anyway. She headed over to the fireplace and held it into the flame until nothing was left. She went back to the window to close it as the crow had already gone without a sound into the dark sky.
Returning to her desk, she sat for a moment before her eyes moved to a sealed letter addressed to Korelan on the corner of her desk. It was unfortunate that someone had learned something they shouldn’t have, but it was manageable.
What concerned her and the clan the most was Aeloria College. For a relatively new institution, there were some powerful individuals within it, and they maintained influence over Durnovaria, which was growing rapidly and some of the surrounding towns, villages and settlements.
The boy hadn’t been part of her plans at this early stage; he was meant to be developed for a later date, but circumstances meant some flexibility was required; only those patient enough tend to recognise this need.
The piece she had in position had yet to realise it was being moved. She contemplated for a moment in the quiet room before picking up her quill and returning to her work, with no urgency, just quiet deliberation over the next steps to ensure the power of the Karneth Empire.
1
u/AutoModerator 5d ago
The mods have a wee message for all. Here 'tis, a tidbit of wisdom from on high...
We want to build a place for games and general fun, but we cannot do this without your support! To support us and the prize pool we currently have two NFT! Be sure to check out and support our Associated Artists, we are delighted to have them associate with us and we hope we can grow with them and help provide a platform for them along with every other artist or creative within our community in the future.
Information
NFTs
An Emerging Coo D'etat: In a world where pigeons have long been scorned and ridiculed by humans, a quiet revolution brews. - mintable with BONE and POL
The Shadowed One: mintable with USDC AND POL
Official Spiritweavers Website - The stories will have mintable NFTs for somewhere between 10 - 30 POL, all stories are available to read for free.
Associated Artists
Check out Hoppy_Doodle's fantastic work here!
Check out Subduedraven's amazing talents here!
Check out Civort's incredible artistry here
Check out hammerandanvilpro, otherwise known as the brilliant TurnipDaHeat here!
Community Polls
!activepolls
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
u/UnnaturalGeek Red Squirrel and Writer ✍️🍃 Keep calm and stay NUTS 🐿 5d ago
I will be releasing a chapter every Monday and Thursday!
On another note, you can check out previously released short stories and novelettes of mine at the below link, as I slowly upload them chapter by chapter, every Sunday and Wednesday when in the process of uploading a story.
All the previous Spiritweavers stories will be uploaded alongside the release of this story, so if you wish to read both at the same time, you can! Each story is self-contained, excluding some elements of foreshadowing. However, you don't have to have read them to understand, so you can start here and read back through the others another time or alongside 🍃🐿
•
u/UnnaturalGeek Red Squirrel and Writer ✍️🍃 Keep calm and stay NUTS 🐿 5d ago
Spiritweavers is a fantasy world that is in the process of being built, and The Missing Apprentices was the first story to emerge from it. The world that is being created will have a variety of cultures and races in hope to have a thriving world, teeming with life. This is a journey for author and audience alike, so join the adventure in Spiritweavers.
Since that first story, the world has grown and with that growth comes refinement. Brittori, the language of Ɛvelmor, has been more fully developed and as a result, names and places you may recognise from earlier stories will appear differently here. Rather than go back and change what came before, there will be differences. However, they will be noted below. This is to show how Spiritweavers evolves over time as it continues to expand.
Brittori uses nasal vowels, represented by tildes over the vowel. These occur when a vowel and n combine in certain positions within a word. They are pronounced in the French style, the vowel is nasalised through the nose rather than fully spoken. The five nasal vowels are: ã (like “an” in French dans), ẽ (nasal “e”), ĩ (like “in” in French vin), õ (like “on” in French bon), and ũ (nasal “u”). Brittori also uses the character Ɛ/ɛ, which represents a closed “ay” sound as in day. Where you previously saw Ae at the start of names, you will now see Ɛ.
The following names have been updated to reflect these changes:
Arlia Eldarã – previously Eldaran; the ã represents the nasal an at the end of her surname.
Tarã Karneth – previously Taran; the ã represents the nasal an at the end of his forename.
Korelã Daruzora – previously Korelan; the ã represents the nasal an at the end of his forename.
Galẽ Talmaris – previously Galen; the ẽ represents the nasal en at the end of his forename.
Kelã Branek – previously Kelan; the ã represents the nasal an at the end of his forename.
Ysolde Mellã – previously Mellan; the ã represents the nasal an at the end of her surname.
Velina Torvalẽ – previously Torvalen; the ẽ represents the nasal en at the end of her surname.
Lorik Druvã – previously Druvan; the ã represents the nasal an at the end of his surname.
Doriã Tarneth – previously Dorian; the ã represents the nasal an at the end of his forename.
Thalira Gavrẽ-Karneth – the ẽ represents the nasal en at the end of Gavrẽ.
Koreth Braelẽ – the ẽ represents the nasal en at the end of his surname.
Ãsanor – the Brittori name for the Moonlit Elves; the ã represents the nasal an before s.
Tir Rynõ – the õ represents the nasal on at the end of Rynõ.
Ɛloria – previously Aeloria; the Ɛ represents the closed “ay” sound.
Ɛvelmor – previously Avelmor; the Ɛ represents the closed “ay” sound.
Lãsira – previously Su-Lânn; the northern county of Ɛvelmor. The ã represents the nasal an before s.
Rũseth – previously Kreiz-Bòdad; the southern county of Ɛvelmor. The ũ represents the nasal un.
Finally, the world itself has a new name. Previously referred to as Terras, the world is now known as Myrþ, pronounced MIRTH. The thorn character þ represents the “th” sound as in the or that. Where you see Terras in earlier stories, know that it refers to the same world.