Iuzok on Ustijnihs - A Flood of Truth

Sentinel Island - Haven

There was something familiar in this meeting with the old woman. Like reinforcements finally arriving on the battlefield at just the right moment, Gonyaul'vaux realized it felt very similar to the many times he was disciplined before one of his elders and had to give an account for his pleasantly norm-deviating choices and actions. He could see the sage-like wisdom in the old woman's face, each wrinkle chiseled with the tools of time, feelings and experience. She reminded him oddly of home and that was a comforting thought despite his uncomfortable time in their care.

No doubt she could see he was meticulously scanning her features and reading into any minute facial adjustments as if they were vital clues for understanding all the things which she wasn't openly communicating. The eyes of the old woman made Gonyaul imagine that she was masterfully navigating between the past, present and future. He respected his elders and extended the same curtsey to these strangers.

Even if he didn't derive any impactful meaning, his inquisitive staring would at least make him all the wiser of the degrees of her symmetrical and asymmetrical attributes. Her daughter, the champion, was no exception. She too was measured up and down. His innocent expression remained consistent as he organized his observations and drew connections that may prove useful. He came out of this state of scholarly intense focus when the old woman posed a rather loaded question to him.

"Tell me of the Inquisition. What are they planning in the stone city? Tell us everything that has transpired since you arrived at these shores."

Gonyaul let her request play in his mind several times. He pictured in his imagination a trained animal that went out into the expanse of his memory to try and locate the bits of information she required and make sense of what was brought back. Did they know who they were talking too? Of course they did. In fact, out of everyone he had met since leaving Kru'll, these two seemed to know the most about him. In that case, he could assume that they would be aware that it was not acceptable to lie in the Vauxian culture; they were peddlers of hope and truth. In addition, they must be prepared for a long story as would be the custom of a people.

Furthermore, the Vaux believed strongly against resentment, deceit and arrogance. They believed that such mindsets were byproducts of trying to warp, bend, decorate or ignore the truth. Gonyaul subscribed to the teaching of his childhood, that truth manifested itself in the word. The word was truth, whether it was spoken, or lived out in what one did in public or lived out so that whatever one did in private could also be honestly put on display.

Gonyaul nodded and his hands slowly rose up to dance along with each Vauxian word that poured from his honest lips. He spared them no details, literally providing them an unrestricted flow of events clearly from his perspective. His friends would have been astonished, if they were the sand flies on the wall, at how detailed and precise his account was. To them Gonyaul's whimsy, naivety and high degree of openness, usually made him come across as a humble unformed simpleton; hiding the fact that he was actually quite brilliant and had been paying very close attention to things all along. Sometimes even giving more attention to details of things which others may completely overlook as being too small or commonplace to be concerned with.

The timeline of his storytelling started from the moment he stepped off the ship and his acclimation to the new continent, his new job as a farmer, and his life before getting integrated into greater things at play. He gave detailed accounts of each one of his friends along each development phase of the story, speaking with great fondness of them; very poetic in fact. He also shared his grief for the growing list of friends which were lost along the way; both friend and foe alike. The following were but a brief synopsis of his long winded account:

He shared how he got wrapped up into the entire Slivikhi events simply by deciding to converse with a red head. And how that chain of events led to him to being targeted for assassination, meeting his first ever arbiter, an investigation, new acquaintances, that eventually ended with him aiding in putting a stop to a ritual and a human sacrifice.

He talked about the shenanigans and comforts of the Greyriver Estate, his farming ventures and Lion Seed orchard, and the battle with bees before they left for the unknown.

Next came their travel to Aquilo and his encounter with a very large predatory cat, the Natal Day celebration, the emergence of a budding romance, nearly getting killed by a bandit attack, nearly getting killed by a monstrous cave ape and finalized by their findings and rescue in the dark recess of the earth; both the curiously fantastic and the terrifying. Then fleeing back to Aquilo and nearly getting killed by an onslaught attack on the settlement.

From Aquilo he shared how they separated, and he followed the arbiter on route back to Ostiarium. He shared his first interaction with a Odsier bonecaster that could manipulate the earth itself. How he let the man live and let him leave. How that journey was halted at the last second and he was cast away by the arbiter. Only to run into the Odsier and be accepted into their traveling tribe for a time. A time where he nearly got married to a young woman named Tiponi, who he definitely could see himself settling down with if events hadn't forced a different outcome. He shared how he was cast out from the Odsier tribe, reunited with the arbiter ... who was now an outlaw ... and tried to warn the tribe and throw the Inquisition off the Odsier's trail.

Gonyaul paused briefly and continued with the story of Voah and he's exile and survival. They’re joining a traveling caravan, Desdem, how Voah met the Pillar Vastad, and the different stages in the harsh desert. Then a new chapter as they finally found their way to the shining city of the desert and they tried to start a new life. Well he tried, but it was sabotaged by an orchestration of other people and events that became unavoidable. Thus, the attempt on their lives from the brotherhood came next, the confrontation with an ice witch, the near death experience, the red head from earlier becoming the new ruler, and the group trying to sneak out of the city undetected.

Gonyaul told them all these things at great length and shared his thoughts and feelings all along the way. All the way up until the very moment of them all sitting in a hut and he sharing this information.

"I hope that was helpful." He concluded his sharing. "As for the inquisition. I fear they want to make the world in their image and are willing to go to any lengths to do so. There are many in the stone city that want only to make better of their lives and leave a legacy that aims to alleviate the suffering the world constantly provides. However, there are also those that use fear, power and misinformation to control the masses into compliance, much like a tyrant would a slave. In my travels I find the same things inside the stone city as I find elsewhere, both decent and indecent people." His tone was not fond of the inquisition. And the way he said that last sentence seemed almost like a question directed back at them. Were they decent or indecent people?