The first full day in Silvergate was a sensory storm. I woke to the sounds of a city already awake and bustling, the clatter of a dozen different lives spilling in from the street below my window. I pulled on my plain tunic and the Shrouding Cloak, a part of me since I was a boy, and stepped out into the streets. I spent the entire day simply walking, observing, and trying to understand.
I wandered through districts I didn't know how to name.
The merchant's quarter was a riot of color and sound, with fabrics and goods from a hundred different lands. I saw people of all shapes and sizes, their faces etched with joy, worry, and purpose. I saw guards in polished armor, their presence a stark contrast to the lively chaos, and I learned to give them a wide berth. I saw children playing with sticks and hoops, their laughter a sound so pure it felt alien to my Gloomwood ears.
I watched a blacksmith at his forge, the rhythm of his hammer on steel a powerful, primal beat. The heat from his shop washed over me, and I felt a brief echo of Elias's words about Ignis. I saw a group of scholars in a quiet, dusty corner of the city, their faces buried in scrolls, their world as silent as my own had once been.
My mind reeled. Everything I had been taught was a fragment, a small piece of a much larger, more intricate puzzle. I had learned to read the whispers of the Umbra and the songs of the Aether, but I had no knowledge of this world, a world where the power wasn't just in the ancient forests and the deep shadows, but in the hands of merchants, kings, and common people. I was a ghost in a place full of life, and I felt profoundly ignorant.
As dusk settled over the city, I found my way back to the Roaring Lion inn, exhausted both in body and mind. The warmth of the hearth was a welcome embrace, and the scent of food made my stomach rumble. I took my usual seat in the corner, a place that felt safe and familiar, and waited for Bram.
He came over with a steaming bowl of thick stew and a tankard of cold water. "Back again, Kael?" he asked with his usual booming laugh, placing the meal in front of me. "You were out early. Saw you from the window this morning, lad."
I nodded, my eyes already on the stew. "I was just... exploring."
He leaned against the table, a thoughtful look on his face. "So, where are you from, Kael? Your cloak is unlike any I've seen, and your eyes… there's a wildness to them. I'd wager you didn't come from Silvergate. Tell me."
My grandfather had always taught me to be cautious with strangers, but there was a genuine curiosity in Bram's voice that was hard to resist. "I came from the Gloomwood," I said, my voice quiet. "Far on the corner of the empire."
Bram's eyebrows shot up. "The Gloomwood? That's… a long, long way. A lifetime away for most folk." He looked at me with a new sense of respect. "So why does a lone traveler come from the corner of the empire to a bustling city like this?"
"I just… want to explore the world," I said, the words feeling true as I said them.
He grinned. "A worthy goal. But let me ask you this, young adventurer," he said, leaning in. "Do you even know which empire this is? Or what continent you're on?"
My heart sank. My mind went blank, a chasm of ignorance yawning before me. Elias had taught me to read the wind, to track a stag through a moonless night, to use the Aether to mask my presence. But names of empires? Continents? He had kept me from all of it. I had been so focused on the how of the world, I never learned the what.
I shook my head, embarrassed. "No," I admitted, my voice barely a whisper. "I don't know."
Bram laughed, a good-natured rumble that filled the small corner. "Don't fret, lad! It's an honest enough answer. Most people don't even know what's in their own city, let alone the world. Alright, I'll explain it all to you. But you have to pay me something for it, hehehee." He winked, then pulled up a stool to sit across from me.
I watched, fascinated, as he began to draw on the table with his flour-dusted finger. "This, my boy, is the world. Or at least, the known part of it. There are two great continents, split by a vast, churning ocean. The first, and where we are now, is Eldoria."
He drew a large shape. "It's the largest and oldest of the two continents. The people here have learned to specialize in certain skills. Lumen, water, Ignis, and spirit."
I stared at the name, my mind connecting it to Elias's teachings on elemental energies. This was real. These weren't just abstract concepts; they were the foundations of entire civilizations.
"Eldoria has two major empires," Bram continued, drawing two smaller shapes within the larger one. "First, the Lumen Empire. It's the most expansive, and it's ruled by Emperor Jonald Vor Solar. His family is the noble House of Solar, and their capital is a magnificent city called Aethelgard. A place of pure light and knowledge, they say."
He tapped the second shape. "Then you have the Aeron Empire. These folk are specialized in earth and Ignis. Their ruler is Emperor Borin Stonefist, but he's more commonly known as 'the First King.' Their capital is Stonehearth, a fortress carved from the mountains themselves, and their royal family is the Stonefist family."
My mind whirled. Emperor. King. House of Solar. Stonefist. These were not the names of shadows or spirits. They were names of people and families, of power and politics. The small, secluded world I had known was a tiny corner of a grand, sweeping tapestry.
"And then," he said, drawing another, smaller shape far away from the first, "there's the other continent, called Veridia. It's a land of different peoples, with different ways.
It has two empires of its own: the Ashfall Empire and the Marean Empire."
He looked at me, a serious expression replacing his usual jovial one. "There you have it, Kael. The world. A grand, beautiful, and dangerous place. And you are here in the very heart of it, in Silvergate."
I felt my mouth go dry. The stew in front of me suddenly lost its taste, and the gentle warmth of the inn felt too small, too contained. The world wasn't just a collection of trees and rivers. It was a complex web of empires, kings, and power. Elias had been protecting me not just from the monsters of the Void, but from the complex dangers of civilization. I unconsciously reached for the pendant around my neck, the single link to the world I had left behind, and knew that my journey was far more complicated than I had ever imagined.