Iskaulit mingle

[lord_wizard]

Who: Anyone!
Broadcast: No
Action: Iskaulit
When: Feb. Drift Week (and beyond?)

[The fleet, more or less patched up after their battle, has once again left civilization behind for empty space. Maybe it's a good time to distract yourself and get away from the endless repairs and nothingness, though there might still be cleaning up that needs to be done here too.

Whether you're grabbing a broom or grabbing a drink, this is a fleetwide mingle for the Iskaulit.]

Comments

[cloakand_danger]

Makes sense. I'm not much of a gardener myself, but...well, I've got reason to learn lately, I suppose.

[He toys with the leaves of a nearby plant.] Besides...I spent a lot of my life as a traveler, in one way or another. It's hard to get used to not being able to go outside or down to the surface and find nature waiting.

[lord_wizard]

Mmmm. I have taken it for granted, in the past. I was never very far from a stroll in a garden, if it suited me, and this is certainly a far cry from any of those. Not that I undertook any serious study of them before. Botany is a frivolous interest for a gentleman, after all...[The last is said with obvious sarcasm, and he accents with a twirl of his pencil]

[cloakand_danger]

Hmph, and I had no place learning to read at all. Not that it stopped me once I got the chance.

[He shakes his head.] But I suppose it's different if you have an image worth maintaining, rather than one that's only good for struggling against.

[lord_wizard]

I think for me the two have been one in the same. [Indeed, adhering to his role had always been important, but one that had in some ways been forced upon him] Happily, there are no such burdens here.

[He tilts his head, however, and tucks his pen and paper away as the conversation continues] You weren't allowed to learn to read?

[This is entirely new information]

[cloakand_danger]

It wasn't illegal or anything - there just wasn't anyone to teach me. I never knew my father, barely remember my mother, and honestly I doubt anyone ever taught her either.

[He shrugs, continuing in a tone that's awfully matter-of-fact considering the content of the story.] ...She died when I was young, and from there I fended for myself until I was tall enough to lie about my age and join the army. That was the first point that I had the resources to start trying to learn.

[lord_wizard]

[It's a bit strange to have this kind of disclosure. Even more that at least the beginning of the story hits rather close to home.]

How young were you?

[cloakand_danger]

[Either he's over it because of how long it's been, or it's not an unusual story where he comes from. Hard to tell which, really.]

I was... [He tilts his head - it's been a long time since he's tried to remember that far back.] Can't have been more than ten to start with. I don't know exactly how old I was when I joined the army, probably thirteen or fourteen - I'd lost track by that point. Recruits could join up as young as sixteen with permission from a parent, or someone who could be bribed to say they were. ...It seemed like the easiest way out.

[lord_wizard]

[Felix doesn't bring himself to ask 'the way out of what?' because he has a good enough idea. Joining the army seems at least a far more palatable option for an orphan than some of the alternatives. Still...]

Was the demand for soldiers so high they needed children to bolster their ranks?

[cloakand_danger]

[Yuan closes his eyes.] The Kharlan War lasted a thousand years - at least, that's what the history books will tell you.

[He opens them again, looks at Felix.] The fighting wasn't constant throughout that time; there were lulls, decades in which the countries rebuilt and re-armed themselves. I was born in such a time. ...But there was no peace treaty, no true end to the war, in a thousand years. So yes, they needed all the soldiers they could get, preparing for the fighting to resume.

[lord_wizard]

[Felix grimaced, slightly, at stared down at his fingers for a moment]

I cannot say that it surprises me, that war and conflict are constants no matter the planet. Though...a thousand years is a very long time for a war.

[cloakand_danger]

It is, especially considering it was between kingdoms of humans. I don't think the ruling classes of either nation really wanted it to end.

[He smiles thinly.] At least, it took gaining the support of the Summon Spirits - beings that were once worshipped as gods of magic in ancient times - to let my friends and I convince them to sign a peace treaty.

[lord_wizard]

Humans can be exceptionally stupid, take it from an expert.

[He returns with a somewhat grim smile]

How does one gain the support of gods?