Myriad: The Ways Chapter 1

1 Shen

Walking towards the outlying houses of the tahn the Shen thought of the full circle he’d made through these lands. “Humph, it’s taken me long enough to return to this place!” he thought. He saw that the village had grown, more of the trees had been cut down on the outskirts of the tahn, and he could see several foundations being put in towards the north of the tahn. The land had that hazy yellow look which always came at the end of summer, grasses turning to seed, leaves changing from a dark luscious green to light orange and then dark brown. As he got nearer he saw a young man repairing a roof. He saw that the tahn was becoming more prosperous; many houses no longer had the wooden shingles or thatch that had always been most commonly used; now it was easy to see the proliferating slate tiled rooftops. The man lifted his head, shading his eyes from the midday sun. Suddenly he turned toward the centre of the tahn calling, “Shen ay! Shen ay!” “The bard comes, yes the bard comes!” Shen said under his breath. “Not as quick as before, mind, but I get there.” A smile passed quickly across his lips. He hid it just as quickly. A Shen should always arrive with sombre dignity, his old masters had taught him, not smiling away like the crafty old buggers that most of them were. He lifted his gaze at a distant noise. “Shit!” The children of the tahn were pouring out of the gate nearest to the trail he was on. All children in Nea et’ha, the elf lands, knew that the first to arrive at his side would receive a gift from some strange land. A sweet, a painting of some foreign scene, or if especially lucky, a toy from some far off place that no other child in these parts would have. When the rambunctious rabble reached him the first one to touch his sleeve immediately gave him the traditional greeting. “Ben ay, Shen. Ben ay!” he said. Well come, bard. Well come!



The gift came out of nowhere, and so quickly that the boy jumped. Taking it he bowed his head in thankful respect and ran toward the village at full speed. The other children hurriedly bowed their heads in the bards’ direction and ran off in pursuit of the boy, eager to see what he had been given. Their squeals of delight fading as they were lost to sight behind the houses. The Shen continued on alone now, mentally reciting the tale for tonight’s Telling. Making his way to the inn, hoping that the owners were still the same ones, he looked around taking in the changes to village since his last visit. From the path on the other side of the square he could see very little change to the inn at first glance. However, as he slowly crossed the open space he started to see the differences. No longer was the frontage of wood painted to look like stone, now it displayed the sharp proud edges of real stone. “Humph! Very prosperous times I see.” Its’ design exactly the same as before but as he came close he realised that it was also bigger, from what he could see, a full ten feet were given to each floor. There would no longer be the low ceilings with the constant risk of caving your head in against a low hanging beam. He sighed, that was the only way he had slept peacefully on some nights. He chuckled to himself and stepped up to the door. At this time of day there would normally be no need for anyone to knock at the door, but the forms must be followed when Shen ask for a room and a good meal at the price of a tale or two. “Shen een, Shen een!” the bard has arrived, he called after opening the door. He waited in the doorway for the customary reply. “Vini Shen, vini!” As he passed through the doorway he looked around him. The décor, the ornaments and even the position of the paintings remained unchanged everything was as it was. Then he looked at the dimensions of the entranceway, the height of the ceiling and the width of the passageway and the differences became apparent. The architects and craftsmen who had done the work of copying the old inn had performed their task admirably the workmanship was immaculate. It was, to all intents and purposes, the same inn. But it still had that… the edges were just too perfect, corners just too square and floorboards just too identical. He walked on, deeper into this strangely familiar place. As he passed into the main hall he looked to the bar and was heartened to see that the innkeeper had not changed. “Nima, old friend!” He called. The woman looked up from the ledger that she had been writing in with a scowl that changed to a smile on seeing his face. “Ken… Shen!” she replied quickly changing to use his title. “Pa! Don’t be goin’ all formal on me woman. We’ve known each other too long for that!” He scolded. “Ay we have, but you worked long and hard for that title and faced great prejudice, so if your friends can’t call you by it who can!” She replied with a smile. “By the gods man, you were the first human to be granted that title in nearly a thousand years, never has there been another!” “Yes…” he said thoughtfully. “Something botherin’ you?” “Well, I was just thinkin’ that it’s become a bit desert like in these parts.” He said, watching her intently. “Desert like? We have more rainfall here than…” she paused, fixing him with a playful glare. “Oh you old tease, I’ll get your bloody drink then shall I?” He laughed raucously. “I had you for a moment there!” he said and then winked at the scowl that she sent his way while she poured his beer. “You’ll be wantin’ your usual room as well I suppose?” “If it’s still there!” He said. “Oh everything’s in the same place my friend, just a bit bigger.” “Aye I’d noticed that prosperous times had come your way!” He gave her an inquisitive look.



She laughed, and with a smile explained, “A good few years back a Nea came, strange he was, said he wanted to buy the whole inn.” A puzzled look came over her face and she began to play with the tiny silver tankard that she always wore on a chain around neck. “I told him no,” she continued “I said what would I do for a living if I hadn’t got the inn? He just laughed and apologised for not explaining himself properly.” The fingers of her left hand toyed with the tankard more vigorously now. “Don’t know what it was, but the fella made me feel all muzzy headed.” She shook her head. “Weren’t evil like, them Wards that Alahni put around this tahn would have burnt him to a crisp if he were, but he sure were strange!” She seemed lost in her thoughts for a moment then sighed and went on. “He ordered a bottle of our best wine; you know the stuff from Telahn Shi that the Shi Shu (earth mages) makes, costs a weeks’ wage that! Anyway, he said that he didn’t want to buy the inn to run it, he wanted to buy the building itself and take it away piece by piece and that he would build me another one identical to the one before but stone built and bigger!” She shook her head, as if she couldn’t quite believe the idiocy of such a proposal. “He said that it weren’t my business or my land that he wanted, just the inn itself.” She came around from behind the bar, after pouring herself a cup of wine, and gestured for him to join her at a table by the hearth. She went on, saying, “I said to him how was I to know if he’d take my inn and then never be seen again.” She huffed, “Even that didn’t bother him! He just said that first thing in the mornin’ I’d have my proof of his good word.” She looked him in the eyes and smiled. “The next morning all the materials for my new inn were sat in the yard out back, and every skilled craftsman from this tahn and those nearby came to tell me that they’d been paid in full for the work that would need to be done.” 1 Shen “By the bulls’ balls, he was serious! Gods woman you couldn’t argue with the man any more after that!” “I didn’t!” She said emphatically. Her face turned serious. “But I tell you, not one person he spoke to could tell you what he looked like and me neither!” “Make for a good Telling that would!” He said. He finished his drink and rose to his feet. “Now I must rest for while or I’ll be no use to anybody this evening.” “Well, there’s your key my friend, you know where it is.” As he turned she caught him in a hug and said, “It’s good to see you, you’ve been missed ‘round here!” She released him and bustled away as if embarrassed by this open show of affection. The bard thought that maybe he had seen a tear in her eye. “Pah! The fancies of an old mind. That woman wouldn't be blubberin’ for something as daft as this.” He walked out of the main drinking hall and started to climb the stairs. As he neared the top Nima called up to him, “There’s venison tonight, I’ll wake you for dinner.” “My favourite, thank you!” Reaching the top he turned down a hallway to the right. “Third door on the left,” He said to himself quietly. “And…” He opened the door and entered the room. Not a thing had changed; the pictures on the wall, the small chest at the side of the bed and even the stove in the corner that kept off the chill on winter nights. Laying his pack on the bed he began to undress. Carefully he folded his travelling robes and stored them in the bedside chest. Then he took his Telling robe from the pack, unfolded it and hung it over the Robesman that stood in the corner of the room. He pulled back the covers of the bed. Once in, he lay back relaxed, farted and promptly fell asleep with contented smile on his face. That night, when darkness had fallen, the people of the tahn crammed in to the tavern. The central fireplace roared, the flames lapping at its’ stone chimney, black with soot from innumerable uses.

The Nea bustled around, each trying to find the best place to stand so as to

hear the old Shen well. The bard was already seated at the hearth in a richly carved dark wood chair, his face calm. As the people slowly quietened, his eyes moved from one face to the other. He stared intently at each one, deliberately building tension in the room. He lifted the tankard to his lips, hiding the wry smile that flashed there. The old tricks are most definitely the best ones, he thought. All eyes were on him as he started his story. “I speak of days in times long gone, I sing of The Ways and what went wrong.” He chanted with quiet solemnity, his clear Shen trained voice carrying to the farthest reaches of the room. “I tell of when our people were proud, a pride that led us to wear a shroud. I shout to the heavens of our loss and shame, so that this should never come to pass… again.” As he went quiet the silence was palpable. The oldest amongst the Nea of this village had lived through the times he was speaking of. Most of them had their heads bowed in silent introspection, the old memories coming forward, reminding them of those distant days. The Shen was contemplating the flames in the huge circular hearth. As he began again, a sigh passed through the room and the tahn settled down to hear the Telling of their people’s past. “North west of the Elahn Mountains and north of Em’ha Imi, or Small River, lay Imi Tahn.” A gasp of astonishment escaped the lips of the younger Nea who had not heard the tale. “He’s talkin’ bout our tahn.” A cheer rose at that. They whispered to each other. The Shen continued, telling the story as he would in any other tahn or telahn.