The long-awaited (especially by me) first installment of the Amaghelo storyline. Amaghelo is my custom magic set and a world that has found itself in peace that seems to last. Culture and arts thrive here, in a world where magic infused crystals fall from the sky.
Qartag was the biggest port city in Mageb, though technically it still belonged to the kingdom of Elba. Originally, the land was taken by the Elba and heavily contested but since the treaties the two territories gladly share a sort of joint custody. The two cultures have intertwined in the trade city. Mageby citizens who cannot conveniently traverse the mountainous territory and the following desert that divides the two lands come to Qartag. Elba citizens travel by boat to partake in the city’s tourism and to marvel and purchase fine Mageb crafts.
This was the blurb Itri would ramble at planeswalkers he met. He adored explaining at length the facets of Amaghelo. Unfortunately, fate rarely seemed to cross his path with others of his kind. Qartag was his hometown and where his mother still lived.
Mardik had to gather supplies with his expedition crew so Itri took some time to visit his mom.
“Itri!” She cooed as he entered her kitchen. She wiped her hands on a towel and hugged him.“I saw a roc perched over in the mountain where I met your father this morning.” She walked back over to the steam pot gesturing excitedly as she talked. “I knew that was the Goddess telling me something. I told Izzu to get that Elba cinnamon from the market. I’m making your favorite dessert.”
“And people say the Goddess works in mysterious ways,” Itri quipped. He set aside his travel cloak and staff.
“Dear, do you really wear that when you travel? A vest is not a bottom layer,” His mother scolded playfully. “That’s your father’s style always showing off his muscles. That’s how he tricked me into marrying him.” She joked.
“Say what you want about Aradus, mom, but he had amazing taste in women.” He kissed her cheek.
“Aradus!?” A raspy voice said from outside. A gorgon slithered into the kitchen. Her head wrapped in a heavily decorated black veil. “I would spit if the man were worth the saliva.” Her demeanor instantly lit up. “Itri!” She hoisted him in her arms and into the air.
“Auntie Izzu!” He barely managed to cough. “How was the market?”
Placing him back on the floor she scoffed, “Don’t get me started. Elba rat of a man tried to haggle me up.” She let out another defiant scoff. “Like there are gorgons out there who would loosen their purse. I swear if it weren’t for you two I’d say legs made a person an idiot.” She too removed her heavier travel cloak and the face coverings of her headwrap. Her jewelry clanged as she passed Hennu the spoils from her market trip.
“Thank you Izzu. Now that you mention it,” Hennu chuckled, “every idiot I’ve met had legs.”
The gorgon beamed, “Y’see?”
The three of them put the finishing touches on Itri’s welcome meal.
Mardik made it to Hennu’s house as the sun was setting. His purse significantly lighter but his caravan full and waiting for him outside of town. This shopping trip hadn’t taken long but he almost set off without Itri and had returned to Qartag to fetch him. His walk had been filled with crossing off items on his list and devising a plan to keep Hennu from preparing a meal to celebrate seeing him again. True she was an amazing cook but he had places to be and stars to research.
“Mardik!? Is that you?” Hennu called, hanging out from her window. “Come in I’ll fix you something.”
Her head disappeared back into the building before he could protest. A calculated move. Mardik sighed and entered the building. Itri was stretched out on the floor laughing at something. Mardik almost jumped out of his skin when a gorgon came from the next room, she had to duck to navigate the doorframes.
“Izzu this is Mardik.” Hennu introduced, “Mardik this is Izzu.”
“Ah, the expedition boy.”
“Relax. She’s-” Itri paused, “Well not harmless but Auntie Izzu won’t hurt you. She just doesn’t like Elbites. Says they all tense up when they see a giant snake woman.” Itri laughed, “Yeah just like you’re doing now.”
They all laughed.
“Yes well,” Mardik tried to fake comfortable, “we really need to get on the road. Night is the best time to find fallen stars and track shooting ones.” If there was anything Mardik knew about people, they hated it when he talked about research. “Not only does the darkness reveal their glow but some theorize that at night they actually resonate at different and more detectable frequencies.”
With a loud grown Itri got to his feet and grabbed his things. Hennu left quickly and returned. He hugged Izzu then his mother. She passed him some leftovers and a small pouch. He opened it and looked in. An amulet fashioned in an eye shape with a glistening diamond at the center.
“To keep my traveler safe.” She whispered. They hugged and both badly fought back tears.
The road from Qartag was long and simple, perhaps the only flatland in Mageb. The sun was gone and Itri was surrounded by strangers and Mardik. He was always traveling, which meant leaving a lot of places but this was the only one that was hard. This time in particular stung. He guessed that was from leaving in a group with a set destination. Usually he’d grab a whiff of magic and follow it at full forcemage speed. Walking this slow was already getting to him.
“I know why I believe you but how did you convince all these guys to go on this journey?” Itri asked as he pulled up to Mardik’s horse.
“Believe it or not, while you were away I become a respected scholar and world authority on fallen stars.”
“I guess there are merits to sitting still.”
“Yes but not enough.” Mardik gestured to the caravan. “Hence the expedition. You seem tense already so I have to ask if you can keep up.”
Awkwardness flowed in Itri’s veins. He kept a lot of secrets but his face never showed them. “Please. I’m tense because of how slow we’re going. I’ve left Qartag a ton of times and I’m usually to Shawafa by now.” Itri flirted with revealing his secret powers like this. His tone made it sound like an exaggeration. But it was true, forcemagic made him impossibly quick but wasn’t something he wanted to reveal. Mardik was his friend but keeping things secret was easier than outing himself as different. Secrets are much easier than turbulence. He assured himself.
“We aren’t a nervous bride asking for a palm reading. We don’t need to go to Shawafa. Even if the rest of us could move at impossible speeds.” Mardik’s grumpy response meant he didn’t take Itri’s boast literally. “We’re cutting across to Malakal and then east on the edge of the city after we meet up with the fuyin to take us through the mountains.”
“You wanna go by Malakal? The gorgon capitol? After you freaked out when you saw Auntie Izzu?”
“I did not freak out. Reading a measurement and seeing it tower over you in person are very different things.” Mardik coughed at the rest of the team and they lagged behind. He didn’t want his reputation to these people bismurched. “Besides I didn’t know your mother lived with a gorgon. I know they’re at Malakal. No surprise, no ‘freak out.’“ He mocked Itri’s tone.
“Yeah after the-” Itri searched his mind for the least antagonizing word, “After the troubles she met Izzu and they became fast friends. Mageby folks don’t like to live alone especially in Qartag so they live together. Pretty simple. Gorgons are people, just way more naturally equipped at killing other people than most.”
“I just didn’t want to get accidentally turned to stone.”
“Izzu can’t even do that, she’s not a ‘royal’ gorgon. The veil is purely a gesture of good faith. Bare snake eyes scare people so they cover up in public. Excluding all the cruel stuff she said about your home territory she’s really polite.” Itri shrugged.
Awkward silence, Itri’s mortal nemesis, owned the night for a time. Rather than face his idle mind he spoke. “So the living stars?”
“Is that the end of your sentence?”
“Basically.”
“Crystalkin. I coined the term. Three incidents were reported in the Adrart mountain range that divides Major and Minor Mageb. Fuyin gossip but there were consistencies and half-proofs.”
“I don’t talk to a lot of people but aren’t those things flimsy excuses to fund an expedition.”
“That’s what I thought. Until I saw one myself. Ugarit’s repository had a break in. Technically a breakout. A broach tore down a door, tackled a guard, and scuttled into the sea.“
“A broach!?” Itri caught is loud laugh. “That’s hilarious as long as the guard is okay.”
“He’s fine. And well yeah it kinda was. All the scholarly anzu squacking and panicking. It was the first recording of a processed star coming to life. The Fuyin incidents were fresh landed. Said they crawled out of their craters and wandered off before they could be made into baubles.”
“Are they sick of being jewelry?”
Mardik laughed “I hope not. Diamonds are a timeless look.”
“So the broach was violent. What about the fresh crystalkin? Any fuyin casualties?”
“One was attacked. A crystalkin with arm blades cut a collector bad on the arm. But they only seem to attack if someone stands in their way. No one has been able to pursue so we don’t even know where they go.”
No one can move like me. Itri thought. “Maybe we’ll catch one.”
“That’s the plan, my friend.”
