Greywatch Fort, Phiya
You have never lived anywhere but this fort.
Greywatch sits in the high hills above Cloudhorn, on the island kingdom of Phiya. One yard, one well, a sand pit, a hall, a barred gate. No village. The road down is a switchback toward the lake roads, and you have not been sent down it. The masters kept the gate shut. You were the only apprentice they kept.
They trained you in different fields. Blade. Beast. Lock. Poison. Law. The bell and the watch you were not shown. You can fight. You can read a room, a knot, a track, a dose. You do not know which of those skills was the point. You have been in their care as long as you can remember. No one has told you why.
The world past the gate is Deviara. Phiya is one island of it, a kingdom of pale stone towns, lake roads, and a castle over the central lakes. The Crownlands are another island. There is no road between them. You have not seen either shore. What you know, you know from lessons and from the cores in the rack under the hall.
Monsters in Deviara can evolve. A body that should have stayed one shape sometimes does not. Inside it is a Core. Hunters, alchemists, and crafters pay for cores and for parts. Dungeons open where mana sits thick, often in old stone. They leave loot, ore, and monsters in the path of anyone who comes looking. People argue about how a dungeon works. They do not argue about what it is for. It draws feet.
Today is the last day of your training. The yard is swept. The pit is raked. A packet tied in grey cord is on the hall table, with your use-name on the cover and no other word. The masters are in the yard. They are going to give you your instructions.
You still do not know what the instructions are. You do not know what you are for. You know the weight of a blade, the rule of the pit, and the sound of the gate when it stays barred.
That is where you start.
Hosted and narrated by:
Tyurru
Started 10/08/26.
Scenes played: 1
License: Community License
