Yamikora: Tales from the Capricorna prelude & Ch 1

The world of sky whale

In the beginning, there was only the Astral and Abyssal plane kept apart by an endless void. 

Within this void, a Star gave birth and the brilliant flash of exploding light formed the universe, filling it with billions and trillions of stars. 

From this burst of powerful magic, an ethereal whale was born. 

As it swam through this new region of space, the Astrals decided to colonise it's enormous back, creating oceans, landscapes, plants and animals, giving the universe it's first traces of life. 

The Abyssals saw this and decided that they had the right to put their mark on it's back by creating the cruelty and beauty of the seasons, giving the power of destruction to the oceans and the mountains, releasing creatures of the darkness in order to compete with the Astrals for resources. 

It was from this constant fight for the Material plane that the ethereal Whale used the magic that created it to give itself a physical body and step foot onto its own back and saw the chaos of too many hands playing with reality. It then used the last of its power to create the races that would give balance to the land and before the Astral and Abyssals could touch them it gave them free will over their own existence thus temporarily ceasing the war that was boiling upon it. 

Satisfied, it lay its body to rest before its soul returned to it's ethereal form to peacefully take the new world and guide it safely through the stars. 

Each race it created was nominated a guardian that would stand at the sacred site of the Whale's body to guard it from those wanting to use it's excess magic to tip the balance and throw the world into chaos. Every few centuries new guardians are chosen and put through many trials before being blessed with this sacred honour, some attaining god status and having religions around them in hope that a new guardian may be found from their number. 

 - From the last known surviving copy of  'The history of the Skywhale', Museum of Agrathia. 

12th of Lyeru, 1343. 

Something was brewing in the heart of ancient city of Alakornka, a civilisation mad for sacrifice in order to make the sunrise, crops grow, ask the gods for fertility… A Sacrifice every hour, blood spilling down the sides of the ancient temples roof as the Aarakorcraian death priest whom it's duty was to appease his ruler, Tenochtitlan VI, slaughtered hundreds of the empires captives who were stolen from their homes, wiping out almost every village on the isle. 

Unknown to the Priest at least a year before they started this ritual slaughter of life, three strangers from the continent who were already riding on a wave of mild destruction had come and had convinced Tenochtitlan that this was the only way to save his people, or they would become devoured by the dark ones. To show they weren't to be trifled with, they lay waste to the nearby city of Nahuatl turning it into a large smoldering tar pit where no life could survive. 

Thus the purge began. 

The other great and powerful Aarakorcraian city of Mezatakaya would also fall, driving many of the other sentient creatures back towards the continent to escape the mass indesciminate murder. 

Who knew that by 1346, Yamikora would be deep in conflict with the creatures from the Abyssal world and the rotting stench of the undead? 

21st of Zaragoza, 1344

A small and undesirable little airship known as the 'Capricorna' floats into the port of Baset, a towering citadel city on the Northern coastlines of Yamikora.  As it is flagged into a spare dock, the ship's captain is standing on the deck taking in the views. The man has striking blue hair that sticks out everywhere as if he had recently been struck by lightning, slightly pointed ears and brown stripes on his face, two on the left, and four on the right. From his left ear a thunderbolt earring hangs, in an attempt at drawing attention off his other unusual features. 

"Wow."  he breathes out in awe. "Now that's one mighty city!" 

He lays down the gangway and steps onto the elaborate dock, giving his hands a shake before inspecting the other airships he's moored beside. Deciding that there really isn’t anything worth pilfering, he headed off the docks and into the middle city of the citadel.  

No, he’s actually here for a purpose, though if he left with someone else’s money in his pockets he’d be even happier.

Wandering the streets, careful not to brush up against the crowds, he ducks into a slum bar with a magical signage of a Leviathan and locates a seat in a dark corner of the nightclub.

As the Leviathan behind to fill up with patrons,  he orders a round of Geth Ale and as four steins arrive so do the creatures he is waiting for.

Two cloaked figures eventually slide into the seats beside him and pull their mugs close to them. One eventually says, "Why aren't you in disguise, Meika?" 

The pirate opens his arms wide and grins, "I'm always in disguise. I just don't think you need to go so over the top." 

The figure who spoke removed their cowl and frowns, a human with goggles, vibrant red hair which hung around his face and eyes the colour of lush grass glare harshly at Meika. "Subtlety was never your strong suit was it?" 

"Nope, but neither is looking like a cultist yours, Ryan." 

There's a grunt from under the other hood. "I'll keep mine on if it's all the same, thanks. I don't think I need everyone in this place to stare." 

Meika lay back against his chair. "You need not worry yourself Zog. Look around us! There's every sentient creature on the plant in here! Look, even the Bar staff are from different nations." he indicates towards the nightclub's busy bar where sure enough a Goblin, a D'ni Dwarf and a Kenku are all serving patrons. 

"No Merfolk though. "

"Well you can't have everything. If you're going to be like that then where are the Centaurs and Minotaurs?" Meika leans forward, resting an arm on the table. "Baset isn't the most well planned out Citadel city. Most of us common folk never get to even see who lives above! Rumours are some kind of mystic order or something rules over the rich bastards up there…" 

"Oh no… I think I know why we're all here…" Ryan groaned, putting his head into his hands. "We're not going to try and pull another heist are we?" 

"Aw, but I thought you liked all our misadventures?" Meika looked afronted. "Besides, this one's a paid job." he slides a piece of parchment across the table. 

Zog was faster in snatching it up and as he read it he removed his own hood, revealing a creature with fins like ears and gills in its neck, a skin of a silvery blue and that looked roughly humanoid with pure white neck length hair. The dark tribal tattoos on his face made him look intimidating as he scowled.  "Crap on a cracker, when the hell did you join the king's service in Kerya? That's not like you!" 

"Look, you can only get arrested so many times before the thieves guilds in several towns want you swinging from a tree ok?" Meika rolled his eyes before taking back the parchment. "At least we've got some kind of protection now from them. It's not like the law was ever a threat to us anyway. 

" I swear I'm too old for this. " Zog mumbled. 

" Nah, you're still young! You're only what, 124 years old? That's nothing for you!" Meika laughs.

Ryan hesitated. "Wait...when did you get arrested?"

Meika leaned on the table. "Not long after our last heist went considerably pear shaped. Kirkwall's prison is a nightmare to escape from and frankly getting extradited to Kerya to apparently serve time to end up being offered an opportunity of redemption by the kingdoms Thane, you wonder how far your luck can be stretched."

Ryan swore in disbelief, shaking his head but still maintaining a smile. "You always seem to be pushing your luck. It's like you've got a never ending reservation of it." 

"Not quite as lucky as I'd like to be." Meika gave a sly nod which Zog was oblivious to, but Ryan scowled at knowing full well what pirate was getting at. 

Zog read through the parchment again. "The king wants you to steal an artifact?" 

"Yeah, I was genuinely surprised as well till I found out what it was." 

"Oh?" Zog lowered the parchment. "What is it?" 

"I was hoping you would eventually ask." 

Meika dug into his coat and pulled out another parchment, though this one looks suspiciously like an engineer's schematic. Sure enough, as he lay it down and pinned it open with their drinks and Ryan was quick to ask; "This… This is Dinjn Tecnomancy."

"Wait, so it's not D'ni?" Meika looked surprised. 

Ryan nodded without looking up. The artificer inside him was sure of it. "See these letters? That's the language of the Huon Valley. That, and it isn't powered by machinery. Dinjin Tecnomancy is very ancient, said to date back to every civilisation's creation. You also tell by how it's powered by one of the four elements, Earth in this case. They are usually powered by capturing elemental beings, rather than enhanced by the raw magic of the universe." 

Then something more pressing was beginning to nag in the back of his head. "How would the king of Kerya know about this and why would he trust you in returning it?" 

Meika shrugged. "I wouldn't have the foggiest… But I'll tell you what I do know-"  He reached downwards and with a little bit of a struggle and a few mild grunts of pain before dropping a hunk of copper steel on the table. 

Eyes open wide around the table and Meika then said, "He'll take my other one if I don't bring it back." 

Zog mumbled something in his native tongue while Ryan flat-out swore. "Fuck, what the hell did you do in Kirkwall to have the King in Kerya issue such a threat?" 

"Nothing. Kerya's current ruler is a nutter and would have done it as insurance that you'd not run off with it." Zog mumbled, voice low incase someone heard. "He's got eyes everywhere these days. Paranoid bastard." 

Meika dragged the unyielding hunk of metal off the table and spent an unsettling amount of time, trying to reconnect the prosthetic. Ryan felt pity and got down to help.

"This is going to be a liability you know…"

"No shit. What else was I supposed to do? It was this, or my life."

"Yeah and we wouldn't want that now, would we?"

Meika let out a low growl. "Don't start Ryan. You're the ones that ditched me in the first place! Besides, it's not like they give you any special privileges in a damn divy-waggon!" 

A pair of muffled boots silently stopped infont of the table and a voice dripping with sly amusement forced them to look upwards. "It didn't take you very long, though it would have been alot more polite to book a room in an inn." 

A long slender tail ending in a heart-shaped point, flicked out and brushed Ryan's cheek before a deepest purest bluey-purple hand helped him up off the floor. It belonged to a woman of Ikubra isle descent who wore alot of nondescript coloured clothing, two heavy crossbows and other gear to the trained eye that would label her as an assassin. Her hair is clipped short with her horns curled back, adorned with string beads and feathers and slightly filed to prevent them catching on clothing or anything else she might accidentally brush past.

"Was beginning to worry you wouldn't show!" Meika grinned before a knife flicked out and was placed under his jawline. He raised his hands in a sign of surrender.

"Were you really, Captain?" She mused, watching Meika squirm.

"Well, yeah Chookers. You owe me alot of Gold and frankly what heist wouldn't be complete without a stealthy killer?"

"Flattery gets you nowhere."

"Dang, as I was going to wipe the slate clean if you were able to give some assistance."

"Pfft FINE." She lowers the knife and looks at the others. "What are we being conned into this time?"

Zog, who had been finding the exchange amusing, filled her in on what they'd been told so far.

"However he hasn't quite told us the important details, like who has it and how do we steal it." Zog finished his explanation by giving the pirate a smug and distrustful look. "I have a deep suspicion we're in for something where blood is going to be spilt."

Meika looked insulted.  "Well if we're careful we won't have a single scratch."

"It isn't us I'm worried about."

"You're always very dramatic." Meika rolls his eyes before looking skywards. "If you are genuinely interested in it in any way, you sure got a terrible way of showing it."

"Alright, smart arse." Zog's eyes glowed with eldritch light. "So where do we find this...device?"

Meika kept staring upwards until they all looked at the open ceiling which stretched upwards almost endlessly as a shaft to let light in, but prevent undesirables from climbing to the top to the upper city trying to avoid the guards that blocked access to anyone without the correct papers. The steel sliders were open allowing patrons the rare view of the skies.

"The Templars have it." He said, without taking away his gaze. "The Silver Blades."

Chook and Zog exchanged a glance as they looked back towards the parchments on the table. They had encountered the Silver blades on more than one occasion in their lifespans.

"You sure you the king of Kerya isn't setting you up for certain death?" Zog asks out of macabre curiosity.

"He certainly is." Meika smiled slyly as he looked downward to return his old companions' gaze. "He wants me dead either way, but at least there's a chance I may survive this poor decision."

Ryan raised his mug. "Forever the optimist?"

Meika picked his drink up also to clink it against the Artificer's. "Till death."