6. An Old Legend
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During his stay at Sky Harbor, Gargan spent most of his time in an old district of town, away from the guild and the Winters. It wasn’t that he disliked them, quite the opposite actually, but sometimes, he just wanted to be by himself, or emerged in the new culture he just discovered.

 

With a steaming cup of tea brewed from a flower called Prulmroses, and it has a strong, bitter tasted, yet very gentle and smooth aftertaste. A little one the strong side, Gargan must have said, but it is very refreshing, and is one of his favorite drink. It was very lucky that he have one last batch on hand, and was able to brew them with just his hydromancy. But if he wanted to enjoy more of this deliciously bitter drink, he have to find a way to gardens it seeds, which he also have on hand.

 

With such a strong and powerful taste, he always have it with some sweet, preferably some kind of baked goods, or cake. Explicitly so with a batch of hand baked cookies from a receptionist by the name of Ryland. It was a great delight, but it wasn’t enough to satisfied his desire for sweets. It was unfortunate that Nout’s bakery is still under construction, and Gargan was too polite to visit the dwarf’s home this early in the morning, even though they have explicitly told him to come.

 

Now that he is thinking about it, Gargan still doesn't know how he got the courage to even visit the Winsters. It was too far out of his character to do so….Maybe it was his suppressed excitement that he has, wanting to talk and learn about this magical place. Is magical even the right word to describe this place?

 

Before he could get too philosophical, Gargan opened an old, well preserved book to read from others instead. On the faded cover, Gargan could read the title. Or part of it…. ‘Al---g’e L-a’s Lo-t C-ty’. It was damaged, but not unreadable, and Garga could guess what the last two words are: Lost City. Those two magical keywords are what every explorer is after, and the birdman isn’t an exception.

 

Keywords: Lost, it is something that he isn't a stranger too. Lost cities, lost treasures, lost person….He has seen it all, and found most of them. One of his favorites finds was actually an entire lost treasure ship and her crew. ‘They are such an energetic bunch, huh?’ Gargan recalled it, as he turned the pages, reading more and more about such fable stories.

 

He just happened to stumble onto this little worn out book here the day before, as he explored the history district of Sky Harbor, an old but vibrant little place smashed bank in the middle of the magnificent city. An old bookkeeper was airing out his book, preventing humidity from eating away his book, when Gargan passed over.

 

As an experienced explorer, Gargan has a keen eye and shaped nose to sniff and spot anything that is over a certain age, and old books and leather have a certain smell to it. Something that Gargan is constantly looking for. The old lady was kind enough to let him have it at no charge, reasoning that if she could exchange it for something of his world. There wasn’t much on him, but Gargan has agreed to give her 3 of each piece of currency most common from his world.

 

So maybe in a way, he did pay for it, just not in the most useful currency? Well, they could always end up being some kind of collector items for the rich lords and ladies of the Archipelago, given how intricate some of designs were on the Elven Carves, or Dwarven Mints.

 

Anyway, as the yellowed page was turned, Gargan became more and more invested in this ruined city. Allegedly, this city was nothing but a myth, a folk tale of a Fallen Island, or as some also called it, Rogue Island, islands that somehow, unexplainably lost their magic and fell down to the ground, or became disconnected from the Archipelago, and floated away. This onesies of the latter.

 

The island was called Alirug’e Lla, and home to the city that shared its name, for the fact that most of the island's inhabitable land was settled, and the island itself was almost entirely enclosed by a wall meters tall, and enclosed most of the city.

 

Ancient tales, or as must as it was recorded in this book, describe the city as a fortress, one of the strongest, most dominated forces of the Archipelago hundreds of years ago. Their warrior was as strong as ten other men, their mages were as wise as kings’ advisers. Their swords were as valuable as gems and diamonds. Their history was as red as blood, and as violent as a raging fire.

 

“Ah….that sounds just like home….Well, maybe not the mages.” Gargan let out a sarcastic chuckle, and resumed his reading. 

 

However, due to an unknown reason, the city of Alirug’e Lla suddenly closed their border, isolated any outsiders inside their city….and that was all he could understand, The rest of the book was too damaged to hold onto its wisdom. It was soaking wet, and the half-assed job of drying it resulted in the ink becoming blurred and unreadable. And it was in that state for while a quite now, and even the old bookkeeper did not know who was responsible for it, as when it came under her care, it was just as damaged.

 

However, the last few pages could still be read, but not beyond half a dozen lines. It took Gargan half a day to finally piece everything together.

 

“Of [-----] the Oldest, his taunt was heard,

And by the [wrath] of [-----] the Great,

Striked down onto the [arrogant] king,

Stormed his impregnable castle,

And [taken back] what is her,

The Great [-----] has casted her [curse],

O the city of Alirug’e Lla,

You shall not be one of us

Not anymore!

NOT ANYMORE!

GONE! [FOREVER!]

 

With his great aptitude for languages and an old dictionary, Gargan translated the ode to Modern Common, and wrote it down in his notebook. There are certain words and phrases that he couldn’t be sure of, due to the missing or damaged ink strokes, but it was understandable enough.

 

The only thing Gargan couldn't decode is two names, whom he presumed was the King, and the Great, based on their titles. ‘What has happened? Who are they?’ There were so many questions this ode left him, yet it only ignited Gargan burning curiosity and passion.

 

But without a clue on ever to start, Gargan resigned to push this one back, and focus on what he could explore at the moment. Maybe there is a library somewhere in the Archipelago that has something about this fable island. After all, there are so many places to explore here, so he was in no hurry chasing after some children's tales.

 

“Interesting….Alirug’e Lla huh?” Gargan murmured, as he closed the book and organized his thoughts. “An island that was cursed, and floated away from the Archipelago….Punishment for greed and arrogance, wasn’t it? That certainly makes for a good precautionary tale.”

“But if this was just a tale, then it was too detailed for a short made up story. Too many things made sense, too many things connected.” Gargan wrote down on his note, “Their military history seems plausible enough to make them the dominant forces, and their council’s election encouraged power hungry individuals to take hold of power. Added that with a young and ambitious king….It wasn’t a reach for such a thing to develop ....

 

However, hypothetically, Alirug’e Lla did exist, and was condemned to such fates, did it fall victim to Worldshift too? Was it also transported here last week also, or was it transported here much earlier? Much later? Was it still floating? Or has it somehow fallen to the ground? There are many things left unanswered, and Gargan knows that he alone couldn’t discover it all.

 

For the rest of the morning, the birdman spends his time analyzing the book, mostly the readable part that described the pre-cursed cultured, history and traditions of Alirug’e Lla.

 

However, everything written here is just an old legend, one that almost everyone has forgotten. He couldn’t even confirm if the island ever existed, or just a product of fabrications. But, investigating rumors and chasing after legends was his job description, so he wouldn’t give up this easily.

 

When it was time for lunch, Gargan bid goodbye to the teahouse owner, and departed for a small, hole-in-the-wall eatery nearby. It was just a simple little place, a nice place for the neighborhood to hangout. Gargan always has a little quirk to sniff out places like this, just a nice, quiet and peaceful corner in the otherwise bustling cities.

 

His lunch was simple, as the owner was more than happy to host such an exotic diners, and gave him hefty discounts, and even brought out the shop special, all just for him. As shy and timid as Gargan was, having a meal with the locals was one of his favorite things to do in any new place he traveled to, mostly he didn't have to deal with small talk and filter conversation.

 

After that, he asked for a packed meal, and headed back to the Guild’s office to look for something to do, preferably something more thrilling than repairing roofs. While he has his fun and reason to help Daniels and Nout out, at heart, Gargan is still an adventurer, an explorer of the unknown.

 

It was just after lunch, so the office wasn’t as crowded as the morning, nor was it as busy as the afternoon. Beside him, Gargan could only see half a dozen others, noticeably a small fae folk who avoid him, and a group of old veteran drinking in the guild’s corner, playing some kind of card games. He knows to stay away from those if he wants his pouches to be just as heavy as it is now ten minutes later.

 

And, there was someone else that also caught his attention, the only receptionist presented, Chantilly the mouse demi-human. ‘W-WHAT! Why? WHERE IS EVERYONE ELSE !!!!’, he screamed in his head, as he made the longest roundabout route to the quest board, browsing them in a half panic, half hurried state. He clearly doesn’t want to be here any longer than he could.

 

“Oh, Mister Gargan! How are you doing?”Yet fate played such a cruel game.

 

“W-W-Won-derful! H-How are you, Ms. Chantilly?” He let out a panic screech, and swiftly responded, not taking his eyes off the quest board, his plums wetted with sweat.

 

“I’m doing fantastic! Today is such a great day, isn’t it?” They answered happily, not noticing Gargan's panic state. “Oh, Ryland’s cookie! How was it? I hope you like them. He spent quite some time baking them.”

 

“Th-They are de-devilish good. Can-Can you gi-give my compliment to him?”

 

“Most certainly! He will be sooooo happy to hear that!” Chantilly's tail happily sways back and forth behind the counter, as her ear twitches cutely. “Are you here for some quest, Mr. Gargan? I can help y-”

 

“N-No need for that! I Already Pick This One!” He rapidly fired, as he took the quest he was reading and turned his back to her, and toward the door and bolted out. “Thankyouforyouroffer!” He waved his hand up, and unfurred his wings and took to the sky the moment he could clear the area and dashed right out of Sky Harbor, right through the cloud.

 

This is quite an intro for the next big thing, ain't it? Any idea what's Alirug'e Lla is? Where is it? And what has happen to it? Can anyone gave this poor bird a hand in uncover it secret, and discovered the cursed island's location?

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