Memoirs of a Travelling Tolderian Salesman #7

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. 

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17th December 26345

The Kaluminian merchant, Theobald, turned out to be my lifesaver. Having washed up on Kaluminia with only a handful of my goods left to sell I feared not only was my journey over but I wouldn't be able to afford passage home to Lemanto. Whatever decision I made I knew working for Theobald was the only way to escape my predicament. It didn't take a salesman like me long to earn enough to go home but when Theobald proposed arranging a vessel to bear me back to Lemanto I was quick to refuse. Instead I decided to continue my work for him until I not only had enough to resume my journey for many months but I wanted some new stock as well. As a result I spent seven long years in Kaluminia. Had I not been treated so well by Theobald, the experience would have been too much but in the end those years seemed to whistle by like the ocean winds.

As I pen these words I have long since left Kaluminia, taking a ship heading due east with the north coast of Valadomiar always in sight. Rather than land on Elenchera's largest continent the ship made its way down the east coast of Valadomiar before turning further east towards the island of Ephetona. Fierce mountains line much of the coastline in Ephetona and make it a seemingly formidable place for invaders to land their ships. Not that Ephetona hasn't suffered invasions and conquests, you understand. This isolated island bears the scars of a turbulent period of Elenchera's history, one we tolderes know only too well.

Going back through history Ephetona was first settled by one of the six gods of Arlvayamond – Zoltan. The ruler of the dwarves for the first six Shards, Zoltan saw potential not in the land of Ephetona but in the underground. He built a vast network of mines beneath the earth known as Anvil and these myriad tunnels and passages were the perfect place to lure invaders who dared step foot on Ephetona. In fact landing on Ephetona used to be a straightforward task. Zoltan built one city – Propriety – on the surface where garrisons were stationed to watch over the island but save a few isolated villages that was all that stood on the surface of the land. Zoltan's death at the end of the Sixth Shard was a cruel blow to the dwarves but they fought on and remained prosperous.

The Cavaller Wars (16875-19473) fought between the dwarves on Ephetona and the elves on Glamador over the tiny archipelago – The Cavaller Islands – was a source of woe for both lands. By the Twelfth Shard the dwarves on Ephetona were weak and exhausted having lost the Cavaller Wars and when an Almitikan force from Valadomiar landed on the island they were ill-equipped to repel it. Consequently the dwarves were removed from power over Ephetona and they have suffered centuries of slavery ever since. We tolderes shared in the same fate as the dwarves. We were rounded up and sent to the colonies to build new settlements and be sent into battle against insurgents rather than have the colonists risk their numbers. Our history is so shameful and being here in Ephetona only confounds that.

The island capital, once Propriety, is now named Shasundera while the land once unblemished is filled with towns and villages. A council – Solidarity – rules the republic and ironically the settlers in this land rebelled against their homeland in Almitiko to break free of their influence. They take away the freedom of the dwarves through violence only to turn on each other for the same liberty. I can't criticise too heavily, of course. The tolderes are far from innocent in the pages of Elenchera's history but we have never made slaves of those we defeated in battle, not even our fiercest rivals – the elamorgias from Junetor.

The streets of Shasundera are awash with trade and activity and I find it easy to do business here though the shame I carry is palpable. I content myself with just a day's worth of trade in Shasundera before deciding to seek out the more remote towns and villages. Perhaps I'll make for the mountains and see if it's possible to head beneath the earth and bear witness to the fallen kingdom of Anvil. I imagine the rusted weapons and helms still lying deep in the crevasses or the long since dried blood that stained the rocks. Dwarves are said to still mine the underground just as their ancestors did. The only difference now is they yield the fine minerals from the rock with chains around their ankles and hands.

Being here in Ephetona suddenly makes me question my desire to eventually go to West Elenchera. With this island bearing the hallmarks of the colonial boom that began in the Twelfth Shard how will I fare out in the west where the colonies are still very new and slavery is more prevalent even than here. Despite my long absence from Lemanto I don't feel I have done enough to warrant a return there yet. When I do go back I want to have seen as much of this world as I can. I must face the colonies in the west at some point. There is no avoiding it. Just not yet, I'm now ready to face what's over there now. I need more time. Time to understand how we can do this to each other.

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