10 Ur 30, Visitor Registration, North Gate of Shevezz

Y'kàndrà took a breath, straightened his back and strode towards the entrance of Shevezz in a way that looked like he knew what he was doing. Or, at least, he hoped that was how he appeared.

They're going to ask for my name, he thought, “Y'kàndrà” marks me not only as foreign, but also from far away. I need a simpler form.

Even his family name, "Nùor", translated as North or northern from Foyiitùn into the Common Tongue. Shevezz by contrast, nestled against Sablesand Dunes, situated as far South as any other established settlement in the Erdàn Savànii, or the Known Lands. It was one thing being a visitor, but showing himself as from such a great distance away could mark him as too different from the others in the City, which would make trust harder to earn. The apple-trader was correct - he needed to swiftly ensure he was not a stranger. Somehow the idea of facing whatever evils lurked in Zykyrn Pilkarrz seemed less than being scrutinised by the clerks whose jobs it was to ensure they knew who was coming into the city and why.

"Fear is a strange thing," he muttered, "and I don't even have any reason to fear their questions."

It's fine, I'm just another vagrant trying to get work, walking the streets and libraries and...living in a tree outside the city, he thought, keeping those issues inside his mind.

He made his way down the path where egg-shaped decorative sculptures were placed a mathematically-equal distance from each other on either side.

Does the shape hold any significance for the Shevezzi, or is it just simple, elegant décor? he pondered, making a mental note to find the answer later.

While the wonderful fruit the trader had gifted him had refreshed him, he still felt dazed from the chaotic days prior to his arrival and as he passed through the gate, he saw with wonder the renowned walls, pristine pathways, studiously-dressed citizens and felt his senses assaulted by myriad unknowns. He also thought he heard music playing, from somewhere to the West where their docks were situated. The mage leaned against the wall and rubbed his eyes, which already felt dry to him, not being accustomed to such a warm climate.

...or I stopped blinking some time ago, with all these new sights in front of me.

While studying of foreign places had been, naturally, encouraged back home, students were only permitted extended leave to visit those directly relating their subject matter, except during Weeks of Pause between blocks of teaching. Y'kàndrà had visited many locations, most of which had been since becoming a lecturer and mentor, but in recent years he had fallen into a comfortable routine and left the wandering to his curious mind and scientific and Elemental endeavours rather than exploring through trekking.

I believe I will enjoy it here, just once I have my bearings, he thought, blinking multiple times in quick succession to moisten his eyes once more, and once I've concocted some eye drops. There's Fyr alignment, then there's being dried to the texture of a dead leaf.

"Name!" a voice suddenly and sharply cut through his reverie.

Y'kàndrà blinked and turned around, startled.

"M-my apologies," he stammered, "this is my first visit, so I was distracted."

"No problem," the smartly-robed registration clerk smiled, re-tightening her unruly, black hair for the umpteenth time of the morning, "and I'm sorry for shouting, I had asked, gently, three times already."

Y'kàndrà rubbed his eyes and returned the smile with what little energy he could offer.

"You did the right thing then,” he nodded, “Kanda-Nor."

"Capital K and written as it sounds?" the girl asked, replacing her stub of chalk for a new stick,  and using a damp rag to clean her polished slate, "and you may wish to register with the medics to check your vision after this," she added, "as you are nearly rubbing your eyes out."

"Noted," Y'kàndrà responded, acknowledging with regret that he would need the expertise of others before he was able to make his own remedies, "as for my name, yes, except for a hyphen in between. By the by, your use of slate is intriguing."

The clerk chuckled, her teeth seeming to shine in the morning sunlight.

"You notice that rather than the small ink-pouch attached to my quill? My, you are an interesting sort. But, to answer your question, after wasting papyrus and aunink through incorrectly writing visitors' names for years, the Council swapped them for chalk and slate, despite their archaic natures. Both are easier and cheaper to obtain. This way, I know for sure that your name is written as you intended it to be, before committing it to ink."

'As you intended it to be', Y’kàndrà mused, not 'correctly'. Clearly aliases are not unknown, nor unexpected, even here.

The clerk passed the slate to him to verify, and he stared at his new identity.

Yes, he decided, it will serve me well.

Y'kàndrà nodded and returned it to the clerk, who transferred the details to papyrus record sheets.

"Right, I just need to know where you intend to stay and the purpose for your visit. Or rather, your main reason, before the wonders of Shevezz distract you again.”

The weary mage blushed, embarrassed that needed stating, and doubly conscious he had let his awkwardness show.

"Indeed. Well, I'm new to the area but I was hoping to browse your library for research. If I can borrow slate and chalk, I can write things down, commit them to memory, then return both. That way, I should not be a burden to the Queendom."

The clerk, accustomed to single-phrase answers, scrawled as quickly as she could, berating herself for her untidy writing.

"We are not so financially strict as to prevent an enquiring mind from learning, Kanda-Nor," the clerk smiled, "papyrus, or strictly-speaking, Marine Papyrus, for temporary notes is readily available. Paper you will have to purchase. The same is true of ink. Being one so drawn to a knowledge centre, I am sure you will find a way to write no matter your circumstances."

"Marine Papyrus?" Y'kàndrà asked, puzzled.

"You'd best have that chat with someone in the city, just in case our discussion holds up another visitor. But it's free, so I thought it best I share that with you."

"I am grateful, thank you."

"And where do you intend to stay?" she reiterated, filling her quill's attached reservoir during the pause in their conversation.

"I had not forgotten, but the pen does not ink itself," he gently reassured her.

"Not yet," she replied in more of a matter-of-fact manner than amusement, "though having the bubble of ink has made writing much less of a chore, even taking the occasional spillage into account."

Various research groups within Shevezz City held a view that, until proven otherwise, ‘knowledge made everything possible’, not that such a statement was ever published or overtly advocated. Should something be proven to be not possible, rather than consign it to the papyrus mincer, the unproven idea simply needed more time, more research or both. Very little was deemed absolutely impossible.

"I like that attitude," Y’kàndrà smirked, "also, I will be staying out of the City. Do you need specifics if I'm not inside the walls?"

The clerk's pen briefly hovered over the box marked 'accommodations' before she wrote, 'daily visitor' along with a brief description of his appearance.

"No," she slowly responded, "that's unusual, but I'm sure it won't be a problem."

Y’kàndrà recalled his earlier conversation with the merchant and saw her dilemma. They could not verify he meant no harm if they could not see him.

"If you need to, say, 'observe' me, then my path starts at the small copse North-East of the gate. I will be staying down there."

He knows something of our principles then, the clerk thought with relief, before realising where Kanda-Nor's supposed accommodation was situated.

"You are staying…in the trees?" she asked with obvious confusion.

Y'kàndrà thought he saw a touch of concern mixed in her feelings too.

"Until I find somewhere else, yes. In a tree, to be precise," he clarified, more for his own amusement than thoroughness, "the third branch up is surprisingly supportive. I did say I was new to the area."

Apparently unmoved by his attempts to make light of his predicament, Y'kàndrà decided the entrance clerks were more sensitive than he had given them credit for before his arrival.

'Observe from the walls for his own safety, both his passage to, and from the gates,' the clerk wrote cautiously, 'may need assistance for a basic room in the short term,' she added out of his view, before looking back up at him.

"I would advise you to seek real accommodation closer to the city, if not within it, sooner rather than later," she firmly stated, "the wilds are not welcoming, especially after dark.”

Oh, the things you’re not saying about Pilkarrz, Y’kàndrà mused, and that's not covering rumours of the nearby caves either.

While it was true he had not seen the region with his eyes before, he had studied other cultures back home, though he did not doubt much of their materials were "in need of correction". He was also fully aware that aspects he had learned as fact could be disproved during his visit and was wise enough to know there would be plenty of people and places to discover for the first time.  The clerk scribbled a number on her form, melted some wax and added her seal, before handing back a smaller piece of papyrus to him with the corresponding number, along with a small badge which he pinned to a corner of his robe's collar.

"There you go, keep this pass with you at all times, or in the very least, wear that badge, please. Those pins were needed as a backup after a visiting swarm of Elelupii accidentally left their passes in various books, tomes or mixed in with research papyrus documents one year. So, we figured for people like yourself, two passes were better than none. Anyway, even a visitor may find some element of work within the walls, especially if they intend to use their wages in Shevezz. You need not seek it, either. Look for opportunities to use your skills and someone will notice."

"Thank you," Y'kàndrà acknowledged, "before I go deeper into the city, could you explain the significance of the motif on the outer wall? It looks like a focus on science and weapons at the same time."

The clerk nodded.

"Indeed it is. Shevezz is known to be a place for enquiring minds, philosophical and scientific discussion and collaboration with facilities and materials for experimentation - if you have the appropriate authorisation, that is. Yet the world is not always friendly and so a few Matriarchs ago, a new focus on military defence was initiated, intertwined with new scientific theories, metal discoveries and prototype alchemic concoctions and the like. Ever since that point, we see military strength - or more accurately military intelligence - as a key part of the Shevezzi way. We don't make a fuss about our soldiers, many of whom also have other roles inside the city, but they can be - and are trained to be - on call at any minute. Do not be alarmed if a sudden drill is initiated. While we do not know what the next threat is, or where it might come from, our discoveries may only be retained with force of arms. Science feeds into defence, which repays that debt in protecting our environment of discovery."

Y'kàndrà nodded, attempting not to appear as overwhelmed as he felt.

So, yes, a focus on science and weapons at the same time, he thought, amused.

"Any other advice?” he asked.

The clerk gave a concerned glance to the open gate behind him and furrowed her brow.

“Be…sparing with your use of water. No freshwater delivery arrived yesterday, and this morning’s is already overdue. The Aevyormii are not usually tardy. We cannot yet drink ocean water without ill effects. Anyway, be careful.”

The Aevyormii? Y'kàndrà thought, startled, a city this size relies on them for water? Oh no.

"I understand and will do as you say,” he replied with equal concern, hoping her distracted gaze covered for his surprise, "I could carry a little back from the stream near to where I am staying if it helps?"

The clerk looked back at him and nodded gravely.

"Even providing for yourself a little would help. If you can aid another citizen or visitor, then all the better. Counting our stocks, along with the likely sales that apple trader can make, I believe we have supplies for at least two days, so do not trouble yourself for today. I only hope those apples' trees still have a good water supply, they're close to a lifeline, despite their high price. Anyhow, take a measure of the City’s upper level - by which I mean the ground level - and visit the libraries."  

"Thanks again, I will."

Bowing slightly he turned and, after tucking his pass inside his robe, walked into the dark-stoned city of Shevezz. As he did, his mind was racing, considering the battle at An'béz'él. Senzàn-Fai's forces had chosen the location because of its rich sources of fresh water, which was a logical plan for the establishment of a safe camp and initial township. But this sprawling city-state, positioned against a desert with only the dry mountains nearby, needed that selfsame water, and Senzàn had unwittingly all but stopped that supply in one move. To his current knowledge, the only water the Queendom had control over was salty - and filled with whichever minerals gave it the azure shades that made it famous.

If the Aevyormii had an agreement with Shevezz and that was not upheld, the Queendom would be in their rights to investigate the reasons. How King Senzàn-Fai would respond to such questions, Y'kàndrà could only guess.

If either side is not careful enough, weapons could be drawn. Shevezz needs water while dying of thirst, not war, he thought.

He came to a cross-section of walkways, one signposted "Hex-Alc" and the other "Grand Council, Bibliotek and Archive." He had arrived at Shevezz needing to research the places known for the presence of the Element of Fire, Water and Light but knew he would need to alter his proverbial course. Y'kàndrà scratched his head and turned down the path towards the library and Archive.

I won’t be able to hide my magecraft for long, he thought ruefully, but maybe to help me reach the familiar, I need to first research the unfamiliar.

His home-town, originally bordering much of the so-called Frozen North, was home to a nigh endless supply of Ice Mages, those who had learned to combine Ousii - the Element of Waters, and Aevyen - the Element of Air. Being attuned to, and knowledgeable in, Fyr - the Element of Flame, had set him apart and at odds with his peers, despite an obvious need for unnatural fire when the natural kind was harder to kindle.

But if Shevezz needs water, or something like it, then I must help them, he decided, and I can further my own goal. I will also ensure it is genuinely be a secondary benefit. I've had enough of people using others for their own ends.

Y'kàndrà had not planned to draw any attention to himself for a long time, but if the water did run dry, the Shevezzii would need all the help they could get. Clearing Zykyrn Pilkarrz was still important, vital even, but preventing another catastrophe from Qal’ath's invasion of The Nectar Glen suddenly became the mage’s top priority.

“Out of the fire and into the dust storm,” he muttered.

But he realised that where there are dust storms there is wind. With that knowledge, Y'kàndrà had a stronger starting point to begin his research than he had originally hoped. He just had to get to work.