Memoirs of a Travelling Tolderian Salesman #5

Special guest: Laura K. Watts, author... Film Review #77: Infestation

Memoirs of a Travelling Tolderian Salesman #5

I've been exploring the world of Elenchera for more than a decade now. Over time I've been privileged to learn of some amazing events:- gods at war, voyages of discovery, near extinction of ancient races, the elevation of magic as the necessity of all, slaves breaking free of their shackles and inventions that changed the world forever. Chronicles of Elenchera are hard to come by with the legendary historian Hawkswood having written the most prized accounts of the Elencheran timelines. In my endless search I did manage to find one book that I have found most useful in sharing something of this very different world.

"Memoirs of a Travelling Tolderian Salesman" was written by a unique individual known as Norman Verne. Who is Norman and where does he come from you might ask. Well, Norman is/was a toldere from the island of Lemanto. Tolderes? You must have heard of them. They're canine headed men, a jovial bunch that love buying and selling, you could say the Del Boy of their world though a little more successful. In 26338 of the Fifteenth Shard Norman Verne became the first travelling tolderian salesman when he boarded a ship and left Lemanto behind, not returning for 79 years. In that time he is said to have travelled throughout Elenchera, visiting familiar lands in the east and the fledgling colonies in the west. I intend to use this blog to share extracts of Norman's journey. This book only covers the early years of his journey but if I happen upon any later instalments you'll be the first to know. Take my hand and let us delve into the world of Elenchera together.

[image error]

7th June 26338

First diary entry for a long time. My journey has taken an ill turn following my departure from Odrica. I took a ship bound for the north of Valadomiar and paid no heed to the small size of the chartered vessel. Only when we approached the north coast of Elenchera's largest continent did the crew show their true colours. Without warning I was rounded up with the dozen or so other passengers and we were thrown overboard, our fates at the mercy of the unrelenting ocean waves. They stole everything of value from us and anything deemed useless was jettisoned with the same lack of care as the rest of us were.

As the ship turned and left us out in the open sea I found many of my belongings still afloat, mostly the tunics and garments so I gathered what I could and clung to a discarded trunk that somehow defied the surrounding water desperate to enter its confines. My fellow discarded passengers cared much less for their goods than I did. They were focussed purely on survival and began swimming south towards the coast of Valadomiar. My perspective was very different. I needed to salvage what goods I could as they were my ticket to survival on this journey. All the money I had made so far, as well as my emergency funds, were now in the hands of calculating pirates. More fool me for believing the bulk of the pirates operated in the western colonies.

While my fellow passengers were able to bridge the currents and make their way to Valadomiar, I drifted too far away from them in my efforts to salvage all my goods. Consequently, I found myself being carried farther out to sea and had to call on all my reserves of strength to hang onto the creaking chest as it bobbed up and down in the open water. I became convinced I was going to die out here, a sorry end to what had been a brief journey so far. How my fellow tolderes back home would laugh and roll their eyes at the thought of poor Norman Verne in his ocean grave. I wanted the strength to prove them all wrong, to make an impact on this journey and prove that this was a path of discovery and enlightenment as well as of commerce.

I opened my eyes and realised I must have found enough peace to sleep away my troubles. I was surprised to find I wasn't wet and the discarded trunk, the only thing that has kept me afloat, was nowhere to be seen. All of that was superseded by the lack of the ocean around me. I was in the warm embrace of a bed with a candle burning brightly on a table nearby. Watching the flickering flame I felt weary once more but willed myself to rise and find out where I was and how I had got here. I placed one foot on the floor and then the other but when I stood I immediately collapsed, my legs unwilling to bear the burden of my weight. As I breathed in the air I found my lungs ached and felt cold inside. My collapse must have made quite a sound for no sooner had I hit the floorboards than a door swung open behind me and a large man with long blonde hair and a drooping moustache rushed to my aid, lifting me back into bed and covering my body once more.

He appeared like any other human I had seen save his eyes. They were green and sparkled like emeralds. Seeing that striking gaze answered the question of where I had washed up. Instead of drifting south to Valadomiar, I had gone north and reached the coast of Kaluminia. Purveyors of magic, the Kaluminians have a rich and proud history and all their people are said to house incredible power within their veins, the glow in their eyes being the insignia that they are vessels of magic. Realising where I was, I suddenly become fearful, afraid that the Kaluminians may use their magic powers on me.

The kindly Kaluminian brings me soup and tells me he found me on the beach just south of his village. As luck would have it he is not a magician but a merchant named Theobald and he informed me that my salvaged goods had all been brought ashore and were drying by his fireplace. That's as far as my luck held. Theobald told me I was ill due to the cold and exposure of being at sea and would need some time to rest and recuperate. I tried to tell him of my journey and how it was imperative I was back on the road very soon but he wouldn't hear another word of it. His refusal took me aback at first but it was only my mind that was eager to be back out there selling and trading, my body had wilted out in the ocean and pleaded for convalescence. I had no choice but to obey.

I manage only half of the soup Theobald has prepared before surrendering once more to sleep. My situation isn't a good one. I have no money thanks to the pirates I met in Odrica and only a handful of goods to my name including the accursed yellow tunic that just won't leave me behind. When I'm recovered I will have to speak with Theobald and see if I can work for him for a while. It's not a request I will make with any enthusiasm but, being penniless as I am, this Kaluminian merchant may be the only hope I have left. I probably should return to Lemanto at this juncture but I can't face the shame of quitting now. I'll speak to Theobald but tomorrow, I need to rest now, too much has happened for me to think clearly.