Plot Log | "Normal Day" | Ministry Staff on Notura (apb Landon)

Posted on Tue Jan 14th, 2014 @ 9:58pm by Captain Landon Neyes

1,408 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: In the Dark
Location: City of Notura

=/\= Noturan Colony, Minister’s Causeway =/\=

The cold winters of Notura were seemingly everlasting, with an icy chill which swept from one hemisphere to another. Each day brought unsurprisingly colder temperatures, with the nights dropping below tolerable levels. Families slept in a single, tightly insulated room to preserve the precious warmth. The mossy stone structures of their modest city offered the best protection available, yet it still felt lacking on the coldest of nights.

Minister Da’Orlen made his way with reserved pace across the causeway inside the main quad. The ministry officials were grandly afforded a keep of their own to conduct their business, and the structure was split into four sections for the organized motion of their small government. It wasn’t a tiresome walk from one quad to the other, but on cold days in the depths of winter he crossed the garden with a little more haste in each step. His ornate fur coat kept him warm, but his hands and feet began to lose their feelings after only a few moments in the chill. His breath etched a billowing fog into to frigid air.

It took only a few minutes to enter the town-keep, the primary of the four buildings, and it was much larger than the residential quarter from where he had just come. The stone hall was at least twice as elevated on the interior, and large stone-brick columns supported the wooden beams along the roof. Their architecture was simple and effective, with sturdy roofs to support the weight of many years of ice and snow. A massive fireplace in the hall’s entrance burned at the center of the room, and comfortable chairs lined it in a circle. Officials moved about the hall going about their business, and Orlen looked for his young assistant amongst the hustle and bustle.

It took a moment, but the young man’s auburn hair was unmistakable in the sea of grey and white. He was the youngest to work in the building, and quite possible the sharpest. Orlen managed to keep him on his toes, though.

As Orlen approached the desk where Taro worked, he could make out a tireless effort of maps and scrolls. It looked like he’d spent far more time on the project than Orlen had expected, but he was not surprised in the least. Taro was an excellent assistant, and took pride in accomplishing tasks with quality and haste. It was a virtue Orlen hoped would not fade with the passage of time.

“En’Taro, had I not known better I would have thought you’d stayed up all night working on the maps of the region. You did go to sleep, yes?”

Looking startled for a second, but little more, Taro looked up at his elder with a sheepish grin. “No of course not, Minister. I make have fallen asleep on the desk once or twice. I presume I managed at least an hour this time.” The young man’s tired eyes bore the burden of exhaustion, as Orlen had witnessed in him far too often. Being a minister’s assistant was difficult work, and Taro was the best at the craft than any other in the Keep. Orlen was proud to have him under his tutelage, but needed to remind him of his basic needs as a man and youth.

“Go to your chambers and rest until I summon you, child. You are nearly 20 cycles old. I am your age again twice over and you still manage to look a haggard I cannot compare to on my worst day,” Orlen teased, “sleep and recover. These maps look fine enough for now. I will review them and receive your report when you are sharp again.”

Taro hesitated, not wanting to leave his work unfinished. “But Minister, I…”

Orlen’s voice took on a fatherly tone, both as a Minister of the Keep and the young man’s mentor, “You seem to think I request this task of you, child.

“Go. Sleep.”

Taro grinned and nodded his head, standing down from his defense. It could not be argued he was exhausted. “Yes, Minister Da’Orlen. Please let me know the moment you need me.”

“I will do at that, En’Taro.” They used their formal names as the two nodded their leave from each other. The Minister reached for the mostly completed maps as Taro retreated to the cleric’s quarters. His grey eyes looked past his bushy eyebrows of a similar color, onto the scrolls before him.

The maps were exceptional in their quality, as Orlen would have expected nothing less from his young compatriot. Taro’s handicraft of evident in the fine details and careful etchings laid into the parchment. These scrolls would serve the city well once they were complete, until the next cycle when would need to be drawn up once again to maintain their accuracy. Border patrols would use them to complete their routes and travelers coming and going from the distant lumber mills and quarries would find them just as useful. Only one thing stood out from the details of maps.

On the far edge of the known territory, an incomplete blur appeared to occupy the space upon some abandoned mines. Orlen had not given the area any thought, as he had no reason to. The Esurient threat had long since gone dormant, and many people believed they had moved on to warmer areas of the continent. It was a comforting thought to believe the Esurient were gone from the list of the Noturan city’s troubles. They had neither heard of hide nor hair from the technologically inclined abominations in nearly 30 cycles.

The Esurient had posed a great threat when they had first separated from the Noturan city many years ago, choosing to enlist the aid of more advanced technologies. The embrace of this ideology went against all their teachings, and were cast from society as outcasts. Of course, the Esurient wanted nothing less than to exist apart from their so-called ‘backwards’ brothers and sisters, as much of society shunned the use of technology. It posed a threat to their well-being as a culture, technological wonders such as replicators and star-drives simply invited distasteful vices to flourish and seed deep into their virtues.

Technology only brought Noturans despair and depravity. It was deemed unclean many centuries ago, and their vast array of colonies in the system collapsed in on themselves, supposedly do to infighting over the very technology which allowed such an empire to exist in the first place. All the people of their civilization had been taught this simple truth since childhood, and nearly all accepted it. A few haggard souls every generation would venture out however, in search of the “Esurient”. No one would hear from them again, and while it was a sad tragedy to lose valued members of their society to such childish whims, those who chose to leave were presumed consumed by the wilds as soon as they stepped beyond the city gates.

Orlen called out for one of the patrol assistants in the main hall, showing them the map. “Has this patrol reported in recently? It appears my aid had left out this section of the map he’s scribing.”

The woman nodded and flipped through a log-book hastily, searching for the check-in from the patrol of the mines. “No, Minister. It does not appear they have yet logged back. They were due in last night. I would assume the weather has kept them from keeping time. No need to worry, as it does happen often.” She smiled as went back to her duties.

Orlen smiled in response and retrieved his map. Looking it over once again, he couldn’t quite shake the feeling of unease at the lack of information. The mines were always one of the first places to report back, having been abandoned many years ago. They were close enough to the city to have a road through the wilds, yet far enough away to take a mining party several days to cart out their equipment. A patrol could swiftly cross the distance in a single day, though.

The old man shook off the concern as paranoia, and continued about his duties. He had a city to run, after all.

=/\= END LOG =/\=

Minister Da’Orlen
Primary Minister of the City of Notura

Ministry Assistant En’Taro
Assistant to the Primary Minister

NPCs (apb Landon)

 

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