#Lore24 – Entry #126 – Muckenmyre Month #5 – Grimbridge

From the journal of Takara, Slave Inquisitor of the Stellae Illustris.

Restless as I was, I felt little of my fatigue by the time Satella and the mayor awoke that morning, and though I’m certain it was exquisite, I cannot recall having smelled or tasted breakfast that morning.  My thoughts were on the far shores of the Empire in which I had grown up and would continue to be there for some time.  Still, I bathed myself and donned the light dress and leggings Satella had for me, gray in color, with darker boots good for the swampy area we were in.  I still felt naked as I looked over myself in the small mirror, self-consciously feeling at my wrists and throat for the metal that lay rotting atop the nightstand. 

I should have tried to clean them already, even if they were broken.  Why hadn’t I?  Why did I let them linger so?  I resolved myself to correct the failure as soon as I could, and punish myself properly for such an infraction at the first opportunity.

Though the window in my small room had been open frequently, stepping out of the mayor’s home sent a refreshing rush through me.  The town was perhaps everything I had expected, and something else entirely.  The people who already moved about in the early morning regarded us in a warm manner, greeting Mayor Pleasence with casual friendliness, though it didn’t take long for me to learn that they were not quite so welcoming to Satella, and tended to have a bit of wariness about her that I didn’t initially understand.  There were plenty of curious looks and friendly greetings for me, the locals having known of my arrival and saying how much better I looked than when I had come to the town.  I was…uncertain how to respond to the townsfolk honestly.  I certainly wasn’t used to such warm receptions; would that change once they found out about my past?  Surely, they could not abide a slave trainer and torturer in their midst?

As I would learn once the mayor had started his tour properly, the town of Grimbridge had been constructed upon and around an ancient, sunken bridge of absolutely massive size.  A single span of the bridge was still visible, stretching from the sea by the docks in a northerly direction, leading deeper into the Muckenmyre swamps; the ancient marble still appeared in a brilliant, almost unearthly white in the sunlight and must have been nearly a thousand feet in length, perhaps half that in width, and was packed with stone and wood buildings atop it, mostly the town’s businesses and wealthier residents, built several floors high, and some were evening hanging over its edges, above the lazy end of the Crocodile Run River that meandered from the deeper swamps to the northeast. 

On either end of the span were the remnants of the ancient bridge supports, where more of the town had been built, named the Upper and Lower Landings, comprising some of the homes, like the mayor’s, as well as some of the businesses that required more space or dealt with less pleasant odors.  The Upper Landing marked the entrance to the town from the north, and had a surrounding palisade built around much of its length, the gates of the town overwatched by a series of short watchtowers along its length.  Beyond lay the Grimbridge Way, a raised roadway through the swamps that continued for several days to the north, following what had once been the path of the ancient bridge, and eventually came out into the forests surrounding the city of Ryanathyr, once elvish, but now sporting a multicultural population.

We continued along through the docks, which were built built large to accommodate heavier merchant vessels which preferred to spend less time on the sea and move goods northward via the Way but were mostly reserved for the fleet of fishing boats that called the Grimbridge port home.  It was here that I finally learned of my saviors, a merchant ship by the name of Amokura, captained by a human named Maza Tokala.  They had not spent much time in port, long enough to offload me and take on a few extra supplies, and then set off along the coast to the northwest for another destination.  At least I had a name, should I encounter them again that I may offer my thanks and find some way to repay them for saving my life, whatever may become of it.

After this, we crossed the Span, allowing me to see the various shops and services the town offered, as well as some of the wealthier homes, a few of which seemed quite out of place with the rest of the town’s more simplistic structures.  A curious thought occurred to me as we strolled along the Span…with no master, what could I do to provide for myself in this new land?  Surely, I could not expect someone to provide for me as slaves had been in the Empire; nearly everyone of age in the town had a job or responsibility of some sort.  I knew there was no need for someone with my skillset here, so what could I hope to offer in return for my care besides simple labor?  I am not certain what exactly sparked these thoughts, but I certainly could not ignore them.

Following the walkthrough of the Span, we came out onto the Upper Landing.  The general market was here, handy for the locals who lived outside of town and farmed on the patches of land that weren’t too far gone into the mire.  There was a much smaller group of docks here, where the curious flat-bottomed boats used by the locals were moored while they traded their goods; apparently the swamps were mostly not that deep, but filled with plenty of dangers, and I noted no few weapons on belts and stowed upon the boats.  The Crocodile Run River had been named for a very good reason, I would learn.  Having taken less than an hour, the mayor excused himself, said that he had town business to attend to, and would check in on me once he returned home that evening.  I thanked him of course, bowing out of habit, which seemed to get him a little on edge, but he brushed it off quickly as he left Satella and I in the market, bidding me to continue exploring and getting to know the townsfolk.

It was a rather surreal experience, my first trip into Grimbridge.  I saw no other kerryns in town, so I had plenty of eyes upon me, as I suppose the locals were not used to seeing us.  I suppose I could interchange my race with ‘slaves’ as well; everyone was there because they had reason to be there, not simply because that had been their assigned duties given to them by their masters.  I think Satella recognized the look that had come upon me in the moments that followed the mayor’s departure that morning, for she put a hand upon my shoulder and squeezed reassuringly. 

I was lost.  For the first time in my life, I had no duties to attend, no slaves to train or punish, no threats to my Emperor to root out…no one holding my leash.  I didn’t even have my collar.

I had no earthly idea what I could possibly do, where I could possibly go, at that moment. 

It was the first time I had felt truly without purpose in my life.