Diary of Skolla Shawni

Written by Skolla Shawni and published in A.Y. 5751, the Diary is a rather chilling first-hand account of his life and adventures with a young woman he calls only "Zeph"(real name: Zephanie Gahliardi) whom he grew up with and later went on a lengthy adventure. The diary then covers the later parts of his life as he struggled to deal with the events he witnessed, and how he eventually resigned himself to a life of poverty in order to understand the depth of what happened to him, and who-and what-the girl he knew as Zeph really was.

Contents

Preface

Let me begin by saying that I am not sorry about my later life. I wish, sometimes, that I had not made the mistakes I made in my wreckless youth, but I am not sorry for the turns of fortune and fate that my life has taken since then. I do not write this to better my lot or for mere profit; I have spent a lifetime coming to understand the events I am to relate to you, and I wish only to see this information circulated so that, cruel and unrewarding as my life has been, I can pass from it knowing that my understanding endures. Though I may yet draw breath for many years, consider this transcript my last will and testament.

The Early Years

I was born and raised in Zathra, and will always remember my childhood as the happiest times in my life. There were rough spots, ups and downs, to be sure; what is life but an endless series of peeks and valleys? I was loved by parents and had many friends, and idled away my time on the pursuits of youth. The pleasures of the young; of life and love and anger and jealousy and a thousand other emotions that felt so strong in those aeons past. I recall feeling alive, but I know now that I never truly lived.

Zeph was a sweet girl. I can't say where or how I met her, she was just there. A normal part of life. A neighborhood kid like any other. We'd run and play and swim and laugh; in our younger years I thought her no different from any other youth. She was of average height, perhaps tall for a girl, with long and flowing blond hair and a vibrant, living smile. Her eyes were the strangest shade of gray; and that, one, singular feature stood out to me in our youth.

We had our time together. On our abouts our formative years there was a spark. Youth, especially early teens, always call it love, they sigh and swoon and claim to have a deep connection, as if 'liking the same music' were somehow the cornerstone of a lasting relationship. We'd grown close and ours was, to me at the time, very deep, though I never felt the same from her. I am uncomfortable even now, both because of the personal nature of our relationship and of what I know of her know, in divulging too much of what went on between us, but I will admit to a level of intimacy that, to my young heart, was the highest too which two people could aspire.

I said, I know that Zeph was not faithful, there were mitigating factors, and our friendship survived. There were around twelve of us in all, very close-knitt, friendship can survive anything. It was important, it turned out. I know, now, that I would not be alive today-such as my live is-if it were not for the bond I carried with those people.

The Journey Begins

Let me diverge for a moment to tell you a bit more about Zeph. She was a very intense child, and not the way one normally characterizes overly-dramatic youth. She was strong-willed and possessed a fortitude of spirit unmatched in anyone I have as yet seen. I have now lived these past thirty-two years in Arindell, walking the streets alongside Slayer Dragons, and for what I have seen, none of them has the sheer will I saw in Zeph.

I remember, once, when we were perhaps twelve. We visited a museum on the outskirts of Zathra, which sat on the edge of the Nara. While the other students milled about, admiring scultpures and being kids, she stood, along the river, facing up stream and staring into the distant mountains. As I stood behind her(admiring her, for I had these feelings of romance), I heard her speak.

"I want to walk those roads again..." was all she said, and to no one. She had not seen me standing behind her. She'd often been prone to flights of fancy, of course, so at the time I dismissed it.

Now, Zeph had spoken of 'our grand adventure' off and on all throughout our childhood. In our early teen years, while we held each other in what I was then certain was deep and affectionate love, she'd whisper to me quietly about the adventure we were going to have. I promised to follow her to the ends of the earth and back, because I was young and stupid, but she was completely and fully serious.

Our city sat at the mouth of the Nara River, spread across the delta where the waters meet the sea. The coast along this region of the [{Greater Continent]] is pretty well populated, and Zathra is a major port city, yet just a scant few hundred miles inland not a single soul dwells. A few hundred miles past that, and there is but an empty wasteland where no grass grows.

Yet further still it is known there lies and ancient, ruined city. The once mighty capitol of the feared and hated Marcon Alliance. It was this city that Zeph believed well and truly that we would one day visit together.

Writing in this present year, it has been some five millennia since any mortal being walked the paved roads of that city. No expedition has been launched, not even Finious Aberton, who by himself journeyed as far as Centered, had glimpsed it's aeons-dead coastline(though I know from my research that, had he not died, Fineious would likely have gone. Death, I think, was a preferable choice). So you can understand my misgivings, but I still pledged to follow her-and I meant it. Even after our love dwindled to friendship, I meant it.

Still, not a single one of us thought Zeph was serious until she bought the boat.

That day I remember. She had a surprise, she begged us all to meet her at the waterfront. She was excited, she was thrilled she was maybe fifteen. I remember the day, not the date. The boat itself was a simple affair, twenty-two feet long and made of lightweight sheets of aluminum. A skiff, you could practically hold it out of the water with one hand. We didn't believe her when she told us it would take us all the way to Lake Bentika. We were right, of course, but that did not stop us from trying.

I know now where she learned it, but at the time I had no idea where Zeph learned to handle a boat. We'd never sailed and she'd never discussed it, but here, now, she knew how to operate the water-craft like she'd sailed one like it her entire life--and more. We spent the summer taking turns, learning to operate it, and exploring the islands and tidal marshes of the delta.

Zeph had begun to prepare in earnest, teaching us skills and honing our equipment. We started to camp more frequently, using the boat to go out without adults. Instead of bringing along stoves, Zeph made us learn how to light fires, and to build our own stoves that could be ran on things we found in the wilderness. She taught us to forage, to fish, and at the time it all seemed like grandiose fun.

Still, I don't think any of us truly believed that we would be going on Zeph's grand adventure. As seriously as she took it, it was all just... a dream, to the rest of us. It wasn't until we had finished our primary schooling that Zeph asked us out right who was going and who was not. She had been planning. For years, perhaps even since early childhood, she'd been saving money, soliciting donations, and amassing a very considerable sum to pay for the expedition. And now she presented the plan to us: she had enough in her coffers to modify the boat we had and to purchase two more, plus all of the supplies and gear the twelve of us would need for the eighteen-month excursion.

This was her plan: using the flat-bottomed boats, we'd make our way up river. There were no real maps of the area, but by her estimates, the jounrey would be five thousand miles. She said it would take us just under eleven months, and five to return home(aided by the current). That would leave us a full two months to explore the city and to bring back as much treasure as our little skiffs could carry.

I won't lie to you and claim that the notion of treasure didn't have anything to do with my decision. It was quite a large part of it, in fact. I'd heard the stories of the ruined city many times, no one ever mentioned treasure, but Zeph hadn't been wrong yet. I knew how much she enjoyed history, perhaps she'd found something no one else had. Still, of the twelve of us, only nine agreed to follow Zeph that day. Of the course of our preperations, two more left. That made eight, total, including Zeph, in two boats.

We spent the entire next year, day in, day out, preparing for the journey. We modified our boats, adding a cabin large enough to sleep four people. We added masts and learned how to tack up stream. We took apart the outboard motors and reasembled them, made modifactions and learned every aspect of the equipment. We practiced every conceivable skill, and when Zeph decided we were ready, we set out."