The Mountain of the Immortals - Part 1

Evelyn saw the lights in the distance. Their playful shimmer against the grey mountain backdrop promised a warm meal, a comfortable bed and a roof over her head at least for one night. A welcome change from wandering endlessly through barren fields. 

She consulted her map, making sure she was on the right track. Kantor, it read. This was the final town before reaching Mount Shekan*. That blasted pile of rocks had taunted her for days as she journeyed eastward. Its snowy peaks seemed to move closer each day, and yet she was just as far away from it as when she had left Zharan**. She was already starting to regret her willingness to come to Yunar*** in the first place.

Alas, duty called. She was here to do the good work of The Seekers****. There was knowledge to be collected and as a senior Seeker, she had been assigned this particular task. The job of a Seeker wasn’t always pleasant.

Spurred on by the sight of the small town in the distance, Evelyn ploughed on. Though the town didn’t seem like much, its flickering lights meant worldly comforts. Comforts she could do with right now. As an experienced Seeker, she had travelled the world for quite some years. And yet she was no adventurer. She was a scholar at heart. The only discomfort she was willing to put up with for any length of time was reading faded scrolls in a dimly lit library. 

She was now getting close enough that she could make out silhouettes of people on the streets. The thought of clean linen and a hearty meal brightened up her mood. At least tonight she’ll be under a roof and she won’t have to tolerate the mountain’s taunts. 

There was nothing noteworthy about Kantor. Evelyn had passed a dozen such towns during her travel through the Yunari Empire. The wooden houses, no more than two floors high, were designed to be functional, not pretty. The only buildings that carried any type of decoration in Yunari towns were the administrative buildings and the inns (or liquor houses as the Yunari called them). Though a few people were walking along the dusty road, Evelyn decided not to ask them for directions. Yunari towns were symmetrical, usually hexagonal or octagonal, with the main roads converging in the centre. Her best bet was to keep walking until she reached the main square.

Evelyn kept to herself as she walked. Despite her best efforts to seem inconspicuous, her light skin and amber hair betrayed her. The locals couldn’t hide their curiosity for this pale stranger breaking their small-town monotony. As she walked, she would intercept the occasional curious stare. Some of the passers-by gave her a second look as they walked away, to make sure their eyes were not deceiving them. Others would stand dumbfounded as they noticed her for the first time. She had no intention of encouraging them by slowing down or stopping. For one thing, her feet were close to giving in, so she was afraid that if she stopped, she wouldn’t be able to continue. For another, she wanted to avoid awkward conversations at all costs. 

The Yunari were a curious people, Evelyn had come to learn. Most of the population had blue skin and raven-black hair. The blue was part of their lineage. Their ancestors were directly related to the elementals from the aerial plane. Blue was a sign of nobility around here. The bluer the skin, the closer you were to the 5 ancestral clans. From what Evelyn could gather, this was at the core of their societal hierarchy – the basis of their political system. Only the noble “pureblood” Yunari could wield real power. Currently, it was the Bayun family in charge, with Empress Meylei on the throne. 

As far as the Yunari were concerned, if Evelyn had been born here, she would have been among the lowest caste in society with her pale skin. As an outlander, she was promoted to a minor curiosity.

Evelyn had of course read about them and their society before she left Sanctum. And even though she’d been in Yunar for nearly a month now, she was still amazed at how closed off these people were. The Yunari Empire was more than happy to live separately from everyone else in Vastinia. Its people were proud of it, in fact. They regarded themselves as the centre of civilization and everything from the outside was deemed distasteful, at best. The most they had done in nearly 2000 years of history was to open a couple of trade routes with the Dominion of Azmirad to the west. 

And yet here she was - an oddly dressed pale stranger, trying to study their most sacred monument - Mount Shekan. She was beginning to think that someone from Sanctum was playing the biggest practical joke on her. Making her come halfway across the world to a village in the middle of nowhere on her way to a mountain. The most elaborate hike in history. 

Such is the nature of scholarly work, Evelyn would tell herself in moments of despair. You don’t always get the assignment you want. Sometimes, you have to stand firm and endure before you can move forward. 

She was quickly snapped back into the present by the first droplets of rain falling on her face. The quiet drumming of raindrops on the nearby rooftops brought a smile to her face. For the first time in ten days, she wasn’t going to face the elements out in the open. 

She made her way to the inn right at the heart of Kantor. Among the uniform buildings around it, the liquor house was hard to miss. Stacks of sorghum wine barrels were piled up on either side of its entrance. Purple signs adorned each barrel, signifying their contents. Yunari loved their sorghum wine. Either that, or they just drank it anyway as nothing else grew around these parts. 

She stepped through the entrance, trying to cause as little disturbance as possible. A task she failed at miserably. As soon as the door shut behind her, nearly everyone fixed their eyes on her. Everyone, but the innkeeper behind the counter. The grizzled man was lazily going about his work. 

There wasn’t any hostility in people’s eyes, of course. Despite their reputation, Yunari were actually quite hospitable. They were simply curious. Unnervingly curious, but good-willed all the same.  Evelyn took a moment to steady herself. She was determined not to let the stares get to her.

Still, why do they have to look at me all the time, Evelyn thought. In all her life, she had never received nearly as much attention as she had since she came to Yunar. Back home, she was completely unremarkable. Here, she was unmistakably foreign, which instantly made her interesting. It was in moments such as this when she missed Sanctum most. 

Sometimes, you have to stand firm and endure before you can move forward, she repeated in her mind and kept walking. She held her head high and stepped with confidence and authority towards the simple wooden counter at the far end of the room. 

“Half a measure of sorghum wine and whatever you have cooking today, please.” She dropped three silver pieces on the counter as she placed her order. 

She wasn’t fluent in Yunar, of course. A month wasn’t nearly enough time to pick up the complexities of their melodic language. Thankfully, she wouldn’t need to learn it anyway. She had magic on her side. A simple language spell was enough to unlock the local vernacular. Just one of the many advantages of being a wizard.

The bored bartender lifted his eyes from the cup he was polishing, just enough to notice the silver on the table. 

“One silver piece would do it, miss. This here ain’t Zharan,” he said as he lifted his head far enough to see Evelyn’s face. For a moment, his expression changed from bored to surprised, but he quickly recovered with a toothy smile. Evelyn noticed his expression, of course. She was getting used to it by now — the standard “hey, you’re not from around here” smile. 

“Throw in a room for tonight as well then,” she said nonchalantly. “Ideally something that doesn’t have a view of the mountain.” 

“Sure thing. I have a room available. I’ll get to work on your dinner then?” 

“Please do. I’ll be over there,” she said, pointing to a table in the corner. 

The innkeeper nodded as he pushed himself away from the counter and headed to the kitchen in the back. 

Evelyn made her way across the room to her chosen table, taking in her surroundings as she did. The ground floor of this establishment was nothing special, as one would expect. Old lanterns hanging off the walls provided weak purple-red light. Candles adorned the occupied tables, their dancing flames trying to make up for what the purple lanterns lacked. 

Pipe smoke weighed in the air. Evelyn couldn’t get used to the sticky sweet smell of the leaf they smoked in Yunar. Usually, she did her best to ignore it, but there was no getting away from it here it seemed. The stink had seeped into the walls themselves. She hoped that she would soon grow accustomed to it and not have it bother her as much. But quickly concluded that wasn’t going to happen. 

Other than the plumes of smoke and the dim purple light, there wasn’t much to see around here. It was a simple small-town inn, with wooden chairs, tables, and regular visitors. 

Of course, the locals might have agreed with that conclusion a few minutes ago before Evelyn walked in. But now, they were all strangely enthused by her presence. She couldn’t help feeling that she was quickly turning into tonight’s entertainment. 

Alright, I’ll play along, she thought. 

As she walked towards her seat, she forced herself to look each person in the eyes. “Good evening,” she said “How do you do,” she smiled. Each nod she gave was met with silence. Some, more curious, met her stare with wide grins. Others, more timid, quickly looked away. 

It would take some work to get under their skin, she thought as she sat on a simple wooden chair. And yet, that’s precisely what I need to do. 

Before long, the innkeeper appeared with a small jug of wine in one hand and a steaming bowl of something in the other. He whistled merrily as he shuffled towards her table. He had only halved the distance to her when she picked up the aroma of the food. It was a welcome distraction from the sickening leaf smoke around her. 

“Dinner, miss,” the man said as he carefully placed the bowl before her. It looked like a simple vegetable stew, but the fragrant steam made Evelyn’s mouth water. She could hardly pick out the spices individually, but the combination was sublime. For all their idiosyncrasies, the Yunari knew how to cook, she had found out. One thing, at least, that made this trip bearable.

“Thank you, it looks delicious,” she said, the man’s chest puffed up as she did. 

“My name is Evelyn, by the way.” 

“Ka’chen,” the man said, bringing his hands together at the chest and bowing slightly. 

Evelyn mirrored his gesture – a sign of respect among Yunari. In the white candlelight, she could now make out the colour of his skin. While it was still blue, it was a lot lighter than what she had seen previously in Zharan. This man, like most of the others in the room, was of lower status – a sign she was moving towards the Empire’s periphery. 

“Tell me, Ka’chen, what is everybody drinking tonight?” 

“Same as every other night,” he chuckled. “Fresh sorghum wine is all we got.” 

“Alright. Keep it coming all evening,” she said, placing a gold piece on the table. The crisp sound of the coin hitting wood made some of the patrons look over. 

“Yes,” Evelyn spoke louder now so everyone could hear, “Drinks are on me tonight!” 

A few sporadic cheers filled the room. Hands banged on tables, bowls and spoons clattered together, laughs and murmurs broke out. Evelyn smiled. A drink was universal no matter where you were in Vastinia. Give tired men a drink or two and they’ll be your friend. 

The following two hours went as expected. Wine went around the tables, good cheer was shared and people gradually softened to the stranger that had walked into their lives tonight. At first, they spoke of nothing in particular. Evelyn asked about the spices in Ka’chen’s recipe – a well-kept secret, she found out. Someone asked her about the food back home and she went on to share a brief history of Sanctum. She spoke a tad too much, perhaps, but her audience was captivated nonetheless.

“What brings you to these parts,” an older man finally asked Evelyn. It was always the elderly who had the courage for important questions, she noted.

“I’m on my way to Mount Shekan.” 

The room went quiet in an instant. A different type of silence than before. An awkward silence, heavy with tension. Of course, it was to be expected. Mount Shekan meant a lot to any Yunari, of low or noble birth. Strange outlanders talking about it would always be a cause for trepidation, she imagined.  

“The Mountain, you say,” the man, Siyan was his name, stroked his chin thoughtfully. “And what would an outlander do up there? You’re not here on a pilgrimage, surely.” 

“No, that I am not, Siyan. I’m a magic documentarian. I’m here to study the magic of the mountain.” 

“Ah, you seek immortality,” the man smiled, almost mockingly. “Who doesn’t want to live forever after all, eh?” He turned to the crowd, his infectious smile made a few others chuckle. 

“No, not immortality. There’s no such thing,” Evely said matter-of-factly. The laughter was cut short by that statement. 

“No such thing? What do you mean? Of course there is!” 

“I mean no offence,” Evelyn put her hands up defensively. “I study magic, you see. And I have seen a lot of it over the years. What you call immortality is surely nothing more than some necromantic effect that is not entirely known to us yet. Some life transfusion.”

“What is this provocation!? You can’t reduce our ancestors’ power to some simple explanation you would put in one of your books. This is no simple magic trick!”

“Alright, let’s agree we have a different definition for it,” Evelyn tried to back out of the corner she’d put herself in. Tread lightly, you want these people on your side.

“You choose to call it immortality,” she continued, “And I think there is more to it than that. That is why I’m here. I work for an organisation called ‘The Seekers of Knowledge’. We travel the world collecting information and documenting phenomena such as this. Some of our members are necromancers themselves. They would be fascinated with what I can find on top of that mountain.” 

“You want to climb to the roof of the world?” Siyan could barely hide his disbelief. “My dear, you are not Yunar. There is no passage for you to the top. Not even we can go up there,” he pointed to the lighter skin of his arm. “It is forbidden. Only the old clans are welcome.” 

“Yes, yes… So I’ve been told before. But this is nothing more than mere speculation. Every Seeker of Sanctum has been through much, much worse than a steep climb.” 

“You have no respect for our ways,” the man said with arms thrown up in the air. “It is a bad sign. You must not climb.” 

“I have to. And I shall.” 

“This is not right,” Siyan shook his head. “You will not make it. The immortals would not allow it. The most you can hope for is a passage to Thalor. From there, it is forbidden to go up.” 

Evelyn chose to ignore that last bit. “What is Thalor? Is it another outpost?” 

“It is a temple,” Siyan said reluctantly. 

“And how do I get up there? Can any of you help me?” 

Siyan leaned back in his chair, obviously done with this conversation. Most other patrons looked down at their cups. Silence swelled through the room once more. They seemed hesitant, but maybe she could sway at least one of them. 

“All I ask for is a guide to the temple. Ten gold pieces for a day’s work.” Ten gold pieces were more than anyone in here could hope to make in a year. This better work, she thought.

“I can take you,” a scrawny boy, no more than eighteen years old made his way through the crowd. “Though I would need to see the coins first.” 

“Of course,” Evelin nodded in his direction. “And what is your name,” she asked as she rummaged through her satchel for the gold.

“Songhai.” 

“Well, Songhai, I have your coins right here. One now,” she tossed a gold piece towards him and he plucked it effortlessly mid-air, “And nine when we reach Thalor. Deal?” 

“Deal,” the boy nodded with enthusiasm as he played with the coin in his hand. 

“Alright. Meet me in the square tomorrow morning at the sixth bell. Bring everything you need for the trip. And don’t be late. We have a lot of ground to cover.”

Footnotes:

*Mount Shekan - “The Mountain of the Immortals”, also known as “The Roof of the World” is the highest point in the Yunari Empire. Yunari naturalists and mages agree that the top of the mountain is a border between the Material Plane and the Air Plane - a place of great power. Legend has it that 5 immortals live atop the mountain. These are the ancestors of the 5 noble Yunari clans - Bayun, Likha, Hanfen, She’en, and Tankha. 

**Zharan - the capital of the Yunari Empire.

***The Yunari Empire.

****The Seekers of Knowledge - a mage guild from the island of Samctum. Their only aim is to pursue knowledge for knowledge’s sake.