The Record of Gilbreizhyem Torzhyebohn
Formatted for writingpromptch
We'll see if this is how it ends up staying in Fire Forged Key, but it was a good romp.
Type:Original Fiction/Prose
Length: 1,943
Prompt(s) Used: speed of darkness, surreal she
Genre/Fandom: Fantasy
Triggers/Warnings: Infanticide/cannibalism suggested
Sray settled into the window ledge in her room that looked out North over the plains towards the distant mountains. She pulled out the little book Danrick Mishor had given her and opened the cover before running her fingers across the first page. The texture of the paper mixed with construct was strange. It was so finely woven in with the fibers of the paper there was no visual sign of it, just the odd feel of the constructs' ability to block temperature shifts and a slight smoothing of the paper's natural texture.
The first page read The record of Gilbreizhyem Torzhyebohn beginning FA 1124 and ending FA 1130. Transcribed from the original documents by Danrick Mishor. She recognized the handwriting from her initial letter inviting her to Engama. It was neat, tight script that held the space clearly and was easy to read despite being small. She turned the page. The first entry was early in the spring, dated 15 Rissar 1124.
There had been whispers about it, but I thought it was all just mind exercises, you know? Minds pondering "what if" out of curiosity. I never would have believed they would try to force it to happen. I need to find out more. I don't want any hand in that, what they might be doing, but if I am to end it I need to know how far it goes.
He didn't outright say what was happening, almost like he was afraid to write it explicitly for fear of being found out. The entries were short through the rest of Rissar and into Semsar and Thelsar. He documented names and roles. Mostly Kamenan names, but there were a handful from Storilohn and a smattering from elsewhere in Alast, but it seemed to be a majority Kamenan project. Gilbreizhyem was careful and exact in his record keeping. He must have lived close to the craft school as he was still recording entries well into the summer months when the halls grew quiet for the lack of students and then explained the lengths they had to go through in the fall when students returned.
The next noteworthy entry was at the end of the year, 28th Remeseft 1124.
I finally got to see them. I have earned their trust enough to finally know where they are kept.
These girls and boys, because that is what they are, children, they are going through so much. I can't fathom what must have gone through Yeshayfid Zhyeldinvyu's head to come up with this disgusting idea. The Humans volunteered, what would possess them to do that I will never know, but the Klamon had no choice. They have had their innocence ripped away by people wishing to exploit them. And for what? So that Man can have more power than they already do. Apparently our own secret skill is not enough for some.
I had to make an excuse to leave the room. It made me physically sick to see what they had done to them. What they were doing to them.
This one girl, I can barely bring myself to write it, but if nothing survives of me except this record I want it to be known, this poor girl, so distressed by her ordeal, they said she ate her offspring. More than once. I think it was the only thing the poor girl could think to do to save her misbegotten child from whatever fate these people have planned for them. They were expecting another from her and had her under watch and muzzled to prevent a repeat.
Sray dropped the book, bent over, and covered her mouth. Her hands were shaking and she closed her eyes tight against the vision of what the words painted in her mind. Mishor said parts would be hard to read, but that was beyond anything she had expected. She knew what the experiments were trying to achieve. She knew what it involved, but she hadn't dwelled on what exactly the subjects of the experiments went through. The thought rested heavy on her mind that had she been born a hundred years prior, that could have been her.
With hesitation she reached down and picked the book back up, the pages shuddering against each other as her hands still shook slightly. A deep breath and she opened to the page again.
How do they not see this is wrong?
The speed at which darkness takes over the hearts of Man is astonishing.
I have to get them out of here, but I can not do it alone. I just don't know how I can find anyone among these people to help.
She read on as the light started to fade. They referred to the Klamon by numbers and despite his efforts, Gilbreizhyem couldn't find names for them. He wasn't given the chance to work directly with any of the Klamon alone, much to his frustration. He wanted to offer them hope, but didn't have the chance. He often reiterated how much danger he would be in if any of the people in charge knew he was planning their exposure. Sray lit a candle and read on.
10 Dafiden 1126
O God, forgive me. They have Keishan's daughter. I made oaths, but I can't not tell him. This is too deep, it runs too far, I suspect if I try to take it to the Council I will be silenced and then what would happen to them all?
Sray stared at the name. Keishan. It was a Getier name. She searched her memory, trying to remember where she had heard it before. It sounded familiar, and not just because it was Getier. Where else had she heard it? She frowned down at the book, but its author failed to provide more than a first name. He went on about how the girl had been missing for over a year, simply referring to her as Keishan's daughter. They must have had her somewhere else before being transferred there as he couldn't recall seeing her before and he would have noticed. Gilbreizhyem described her as pale, not the typical ruddy to brown Getier with black markings, but more blonde and brown instead of red and black. Sray paused again and stared at her own sepia-colored markings that wrapped around her fingers holding the book. It wasn't as rare as some colorations, but it ran stronger in some family lines, like her father's. What were the odds that Keishan and his daughter were related to her own Klamon ancestors?
1 Rissar 1127
Now the careful work begins to find enough allies among the Meim to make freeing them possible. I know I can't do it alone, they have them secured so tight it would take me days and we wouldn't have days. They would fight to the death to keep this secret. It can't stay secret, we can't be secret anymore.
He didn't name any who joined his cause, but he noted their growing numbers over the next year and a half. He was more direct about what was going on in his writing now. He recorded the numbers and names of the Klamon he could. Keishan's daughter was named Ruleth, there was a Brehtsoln named Kirrei, Zegdaen, Toltkraets, and all the other Klamon races were represented. There were twenty at this one location and he had suspicions there were others.
5 Semsar 1129
If I burn in hell for what I have done, I will endure it gladly. I broke my oaths and I would do it again. The secrecy of the Meim is not worth the lives they have destroyed.
I told Keishan. His rage burned hot as a furnace. He would have destroyed it all single-handedly in that moment, I am sure, constructs or no. There would have been nothing left but ash. I just hope I can keep him and the other Klamon from storming the front doors until this term ends.
We need the school as empty as possible.
16 Semsar 1129
The days are full of preparations. Keishan is doing his part, finding those whose children were missing and extracting promises for our protection afterwards. We will need it.
10th Theslar, 1129
We got them out, all of them. Yeshayfid Zhyeldinvyu paid for his crimes with his life. Would have preferred a trial, but he killed NAME trying to stop us and there was no holding Keishan and the others back after that. They weren't going to let us free them quietly, anyway.
You could see the fire for miles behind us. The glow lit the sky like Behl coming over the horizon. Keishan said he would protect me. I have to hide. I broke my oath, they won't let that stand. I can't go back after that. I won't go back.
14th Thelsar 1129
Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse. They bombed Holahth. Nearly a dozen of the victims and their families had returned to their homes there. No confirmation yet as to the number of casualties, but I suspect this was pushed to bury any trace of what the Brotherhood did.
We killed two to free dozens, they killed thousands to hide their misdeeds.
30th Thelsar 1129
It was even bigger than I thought. Close to a hundred Klamon and their hybrid offspring were dumped off the relay road between *school* and *school* along the Terilash river. I imagine they did it to avoid another school being raided.
There are no peace negotiations. I'm sure the Brotherhood is pushing the conflict to overshadow what they did to start it. It has spread to Storilohn and Envan. I'm sure Ela'yas and Gollan aren't far behind. The fabric of what society was is being torn apart.
Gilbreizhyem and his fellow Meim were given protection, as promised. Some chose to try their luck on their own, go into hiding, but Gilbreizhyem and others stayed with the Klamon and aided in their retaliations against the Meim and the Human nations that were obviously heavily under their influence.
The final entry
25 Seleft 1130
I see no end to it. There will be no peace between Man and Klamon so long as the Meim refuse to admit what they have done.
Keishan and Kallah are determined to raise every Meim-associated school to the ground. Kallah in particular is set to avenge Kirrei, who was killed in the bombing of Holahth. While some lose all intelligence in their rage, Kallah is dangerously cunning. Her mercy died with Kirrei and she has no pity for the suffering of Man for they had no pity for her and Kirrei.
The Meim would rather watch the rest of Humanity burn than give up their secrets. The Humans will not hear the Klamon and the Klamon, for the most part, are trying to extract themselves from the countries they helped build. They can't trust Humans anymore and I don't blame them. I wouldn't trust them either.
Sray closed the book and snubbed out the candle. She leaned her head into the frame and stared out the window. The stars slowly came into focus as her eyes adjusted. It all seemed so surreal, she was what they had tried to make. Her father's words echoed in her mind. All of that, years and lives and wars, all of that to produce a hybrid like her. Human and Klamon, able to manipulate Meim constructs and capable of controlling energy as the Klamon do. She wrapped her arms around herself and shuddered against the thoughts. She was what they tried to make.
We'll see if this is how it ends up staying in Fire Forged Key, but it was a good romp.
Type:Original Fiction/Prose
Length: 1,943
Prompt(s) Used: speed of darkness, surreal she
Genre/Fandom: Fantasy
Triggers/Warnings: Infanticide/cannibalism suggested
Sray settled into the window ledge in her room that looked out North over the plains towards the distant mountains. She pulled out the little book Danrick Mishor had given her and opened the cover before running her fingers across the first page. The texture of the paper mixed with construct was strange. It was so finely woven in with the fibers of the paper there was no visual sign of it, just the odd feel of the constructs' ability to block temperature shifts and a slight smoothing of the paper's natural texture.
The first page read The record of Gilbreizhyem Torzhyebohn beginning FA 1124 and ending FA 1130. Transcribed from the original documents by Danrick Mishor. She recognized the handwriting from her initial letter inviting her to Engama. It was neat, tight script that held the space clearly and was easy to read despite being small. She turned the page. The first entry was early in the spring, dated 15 Rissar 1124.
There had been whispers about it, but I thought it was all just mind exercises, you know? Minds pondering "what if" out of curiosity. I never would have believed they would try to force it to happen. I need to find out more. I don't want any hand in that, what they might be doing, but if I am to end it I need to know how far it goes.
He didn't outright say what was happening, almost like he was afraid to write it explicitly for fear of being found out. The entries were short through the rest of Rissar and into Semsar and Thelsar. He documented names and roles. Mostly Kamenan names, but there were a handful from Storilohn and a smattering from elsewhere in Alast, but it seemed to be a majority Kamenan project. Gilbreizhyem was careful and exact in his record keeping. He must have lived close to the craft school as he was still recording entries well into the summer months when the halls grew quiet for the lack of students and then explained the lengths they had to go through in the fall when students returned.
The next noteworthy entry was at the end of the year, 28th Remeseft 1124.
I finally got to see them. I have earned their trust enough to finally know where they are kept.
These girls and boys, because that is what they are, children, they are going through so much. I can't fathom what must have gone through Yeshayfid Zhyeldinvyu's head to come up with this disgusting idea. The Humans volunteered, what would possess them to do that I will never know, but the Klamon had no choice. They have had their innocence ripped away by people wishing to exploit them. And for what? So that Man can have more power than they already do. Apparently our own secret skill is not enough for some.
I had to make an excuse to leave the room. It made me physically sick to see what they had done to them. What they were doing to them.
This one girl, I can barely bring myself to write it, but if nothing survives of me except this record I want it to be known, this poor girl, so distressed by her ordeal, they said she ate her offspring. More than once. I think it was the only thing the poor girl could think to do to save her misbegotten child from whatever fate these people have planned for them. They were expecting another from her and had her under watch and muzzled to prevent a repeat.
Sray dropped the book, bent over, and covered her mouth. Her hands were shaking and she closed her eyes tight against the vision of what the words painted in her mind. Mishor said parts would be hard to read, but that was beyond anything she had expected. She knew what the experiments were trying to achieve. She knew what it involved, but she hadn't dwelled on what exactly the subjects of the experiments went through. The thought rested heavy on her mind that had she been born a hundred years prior, that could have been her.
With hesitation she reached down and picked the book back up, the pages shuddering against each other as her hands still shook slightly. A deep breath and she opened to the page again.
How do they not see this is wrong?
The speed at which darkness takes over the hearts of Man is astonishing.
I have to get them out of here, but I can not do it alone. I just don't know how I can find anyone among these people to help.
She read on as the light started to fade. They referred to the Klamon by numbers and despite his efforts, Gilbreizhyem couldn't find names for them. He wasn't given the chance to work directly with any of the Klamon alone, much to his frustration. He wanted to offer them hope, but didn't have the chance. He often reiterated how much danger he would be in if any of the people in charge knew he was planning their exposure. Sray lit a candle and read on.
10 Dafiden 1126
O God, forgive me. They have Keishan's daughter. I made oaths, but I can't not tell him. This is too deep, it runs too far, I suspect if I try to take it to the Council I will be silenced and then what would happen to them all?
Sray stared at the name. Keishan. It was a Getier name. She searched her memory, trying to remember where she had heard it before. It sounded familiar, and not just because it was Getier. Where else had she heard it? She frowned down at the book, but its author failed to provide more than a first name. He went on about how the girl had been missing for over a year, simply referring to her as Keishan's daughter. They must have had her somewhere else before being transferred there as he couldn't recall seeing her before and he would have noticed. Gilbreizhyem described her as pale, not the typical ruddy to brown Getier with black markings, but more blonde and brown instead of red and black. Sray paused again and stared at her own sepia-colored markings that wrapped around her fingers holding the book. It wasn't as rare as some colorations, but it ran stronger in some family lines, like her father's. What were the odds that Keishan and his daughter were related to her own Klamon ancestors?
1 Rissar 1127
Now the careful work begins to find enough allies among the Meim to make freeing them possible. I know I can't do it alone, they have them secured so tight it would take me days and we wouldn't have days. They would fight to the death to keep this secret. It can't stay secret, we can't be secret anymore.
He didn't name any who joined his cause, but he noted their growing numbers over the next year and a half. He was more direct about what was going on in his writing now. He recorded the numbers and names of the Klamon he could. Keishan's daughter was named Ruleth, there was a Brehtsoln named Kirrei, Zegdaen, Toltkraets, and all the other Klamon races were represented. There were twenty at this one location and he had suspicions there were others.
5 Semsar 1129
If I burn in hell for what I have done, I will endure it gladly. I broke my oaths and I would do it again. The secrecy of the Meim is not worth the lives they have destroyed.
I told Keishan. His rage burned hot as a furnace. He would have destroyed it all single-handedly in that moment, I am sure, constructs or no. There would have been nothing left but ash. I just hope I can keep him and the other Klamon from storming the front doors until this term ends.
We need the school as empty as possible.
16 Semsar 1129
The days are full of preparations. Keishan is doing his part, finding those whose children were missing and extracting promises for our protection afterwards. We will need it.
10th Theslar, 1129
We got them out, all of them. Yeshayfid Zhyeldinvyu paid for his crimes with his life. Would have preferred a trial, but he killed NAME trying to stop us and there was no holding Keishan and the others back after that. They weren't going to let us free them quietly, anyway.
You could see the fire for miles behind us. The glow lit the sky like Behl coming over the horizon. Keishan said he would protect me. I have to hide. I broke my oath, they won't let that stand. I can't go back after that. I won't go back.
14th Thelsar 1129
Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse. They bombed Holahth. Nearly a dozen of the victims and their families had returned to their homes there. No confirmation yet as to the number of casualties, but I suspect this was pushed to bury any trace of what the Brotherhood did.
We killed two to free dozens, they killed thousands to hide their misdeeds.
30th Thelsar 1129
It was even bigger than I thought. Close to a hundred Klamon and their hybrid offspring were dumped off the relay road between *school* and *school* along the Terilash river. I imagine they did it to avoid another school being raided.
There are no peace negotiations. I'm sure the Brotherhood is pushing the conflict to overshadow what they did to start it. It has spread to Storilohn and Envan. I'm sure Ela'yas and Gollan aren't far behind. The fabric of what society was is being torn apart.
Gilbreizhyem and his fellow Meim were given protection, as promised. Some chose to try their luck on their own, go into hiding, but Gilbreizhyem and others stayed with the Klamon and aided in their retaliations against the Meim and the Human nations that were obviously heavily under their influence.
The final entry
25 Seleft 1130
I see no end to it. There will be no peace between Man and Klamon so long as the Meim refuse to admit what they have done.
Keishan and Kallah are determined to raise every Meim-associated school to the ground. Kallah in particular is set to avenge Kirrei, who was killed in the bombing of Holahth. While some lose all intelligence in their rage, Kallah is dangerously cunning. Her mercy died with Kirrei and she has no pity for the suffering of Man for they had no pity for her and Kirrei.
The Meim would rather watch the rest of Humanity burn than give up their secrets. The Humans will not hear the Klamon and the Klamon, for the most part, are trying to extract themselves from the countries they helped build. They can't trust Humans anymore and I don't blame them. I wouldn't trust them either.
Sray closed the book and snubbed out the candle. She leaned her head into the frame and stared out the window. The stars slowly came into focus as her eyes adjusted. It all seemed so surreal, she was what they had tried to make. Her father's words echoed in her mind. All of that, years and lives and wars, all of that to produce a hybrid like her. Human and Klamon, able to manipulate Meim constructs and capable of controlling energy as the Klamon do. She wrapped her arms around herself and shuddered against the thoughts. She was what they tried to make.