Chapter 2: Rabboth Top

Rabboth Top

Two weeks earlier, the early spring in Rabboth Top was gracious to us; the fields were abundant with life. The work on the farm made every day go by so quickly. Tending to the livestock, picking the crops, and plowing the field took up the majority of my time. With the amount of rain we were receiving, things were as green as the Emeralds of Tamascas. The fields were lush with life and brought about the richness to Rabboth Top. Our family was so tied up that all of my time off was spent at night. Because of my freedom at night, my father would provide much wisdom and knowledge by telling tales.

Tonight was a rather interesting night for me. My father told the tale of the old Oruscian Empire, an empire that built its existence based on technologies lost to man. These lost technologies made it possible for man to harness the suns power. He said that whole cities relied on nothing but the sun and floated in the air like clouds made up of stone. The empire learned how to travel the stars, taking them beyond our planet, Ithium. These peoples might have stayed; however, the unknown universe was to tempting, they set the eyes on the curiosity that radiated from the skies. My father ended the tale uttering, “They sailed the stars with the sun just as we sail the sea with the wind.”

Being a former Frillist, one who studies stones, my father learned many things about ruins and ancient peoples. Stone is the major resource that is used In Rabboth Top for the making of underground caverns, which are important to the Rabboth Top because they help create a safe haven for Acid Mist. Acid Mist destroys everything living on the surface; however, it occurs rarely and without explanation. Some say that the mist is created by the gods to punish us for when we do not honor them. My father was once in charge of building these caverns until they were completed and placed underneath the Citadel of Rabboth Top. The Caverns are colossal havens were mirrors and glass penetrate through the surface and make life possible in case the mist occurs. Although life is possible in the caverns; theoretically, living in the caverns with artificial sunlight has not been tested for long periods of time. The mist has overcome Rabboth Top only once in my lifetime; It was when I was five and we had to go down to the cavern and live there for a week.

Before the sun became visible, my sister and I were outside of our house. We made sure that our bodies were already awake before the sun came up because my father would get violent with anyone who was not awake before him. As the sun rose, we were each working on a certain section of the farm. After working for several hours, I walked towards the barn to see what duties that my father had planned for me. “Come on son, we need to attend to the cattle before you start on the plow today,” Dale Flintwood exclaimed. My father was firm with us during the spring because of all the work that needed to be done. The sooner our work was done the safer our winter would be. My father’s main concern today was to bring some of our crops to the city. Storing at least 3 percent of our crops was mandated by the ordinances of Rabboth Top, it was to be collected at the end of the week. This law was mandated because of the mist effects on Rabboth Top. Many farmers do not like the ordinances because the caverns have all of the components necessary to sustain life. The Mist has been accounted for lasting up to months, weeks, and some say even years if you are real unlucky. Our neighbor, Toront, was a former sailor who had lived in Tamascas, a mining city east of our shores, and has never experienced acid mist. Lucky for him, some cities do not get acid mist because of there location above the clouds.

Tamascas is located on a massive mountain way above the skies, many fortune seekers spend there whole lives out there searching for an ancient ruin that is located inside the mountain. Toront’s time sailing taught him how to wield a sword. He is known as one of the town’s best swordsmen. Usually in the winter when boredom comes as easily as the sun in the morning, I would beg Toront to teach me the ways of the sword. My father despised my passion for adventure and swordsmanship, claiming it to be “a fool’s desire.” My father believed everything could be solved without violence. Rabboth Top does not have many accounts of violence or crime; we are a peaceful town located to the left of Palanon. Palanon is the port city that is connected to the archipelago Fleace.

Being a Friday, the day that our three percentages of crops should be stored, my father was hauling the supplies into the cart to take to town. I usually accompanied him into town; however, I was getting older now and the responsibility was left up to me. I was excited because it was the first time that I was allowed to go alone. My mother, Arial Flintwood, was always telling my father that I was strong and well enough to do the job. Little did my father know, I was becoming very able with the sword. Every evening after the work was finished at the farm, I would sneak over to Toront’s house and spar with him. My love for the sword was not a characteristic that Flintwoods were known for. As far back as I can remember anything that Flintwoods did was farm or build caverns. This genetic recurrence is what ailed my father when I would talk about possibly joining the army.

“come on now get going and watch yourself when you get to town, do not get yourself into any trouble or you will be cleaning the furnace with nothing but your bare hands,” Arial shouted as I was on the road to Rabboth Top’s town produce collector. The commute from our farm to the produce collector was about an hour walk or 30 minute jog. Because we had an abundant amount of produce, I had to ride our mule, Betsy, who carried all of the produce.

The wooden palisade and gate that was located outside of the town was about eight feet tall and was not a big eye catcher. The town of Rabboth Top was not so appealing for homeowners because there was little commerce there. Many people would live on the outskirts and come to the Citadel incase anything ever happened.

“Hello Hulken, where is your dad?” the guard at the gate said.

“I am here on my own now and there is no need for two people to do a one man job, sir.”

“Well I will tell you sure have grown boy, don’t get lost in town”

“thank you sir, I am sure I can handle just fine on my own”

The arrogant guards felt as if they were to only ones who had authority in Rabboth Top. I would just like to see for once what would happen if there was an actually attack, these guards would sure hold up if something ever happened.

While on the way to the collector I noticed something odd. There was a foreign man sitting at Ole Bailey’s Inn. I have never seen anyone like him before; he was wearing a red robe and a funny looking hat that made it almost impossible to see his face. He wore a black garment and boots of metal. He stood there as if waiting for something to happen. I began to wonder what he was doing in Rabboth Top. My father always told me it was good for one not to stare at anyone because it meant that one was weak so I kept on walking like I never saw him.

Not only did this stranger seem peculiar but the town’s guards today seemed to be more numerous than ever. The inner city wall was heavily manned. I thought to myself that maybe things seemed stranger because it was my first trip to town on my own. Because we were on a tight schedule from the harvest, I tried not to dwell on that man at Ole Baily’s Inn and the guards at the inner city wall. By the time I had reached the food collector, Betsy was exhausted and I did not want to over work her. I tied her reins on the tree next to the stone structure that was labeled FDC, food dealing collector. I was not the only one who had come to deposit their crops. Flanner, Wilner, and the Carnes’ were other farmers who were there as well. They were constantly mumbling about how they hated the mayor’s ordinance and that it was possible to just make crops from the underground cavern. Because there was a complex system of mirrors and windows, sunlight was available underground and plant life was possible to sustain. The new mayor of Rabboth Top made the Ordinance in case the mist came back; however, many farmers thought it was ridiculous and illogical to make them provide crops for the underground caverns. When I walked in the FDC I was the last in line of farmers so I turned around and walked backwards so I could keep an eye on Betsy. When it was my turn in line I told the food collector my name and gave him some papers to get stamped. After that some hooded men wearing green clothes stopped by my cart and collected the crops. When all of that was over I started my way home from the structure.

Instead of going the same way back to the front outside gate, I wanted to go to Hout’s Metal, a blacksmith shop that sold cheap metal. When I arrived, the other shops who sold more expensive metal were very busy, many men were getting metal for there plows and other daily tools. I was interested in buying some metal to make a sword. I had always wanted to have my own sword and I thought that it would be pretty simple to make one because my friend Lacky had a kettle at his father’s farm. I tied Betsy up for the second time and went in; it was the first time I ever ventured into a blacksmith shop. I was excited and scared that I would be noticed or that someone would recognize me. Being the small town that Rabboth Top is, everybody knows everybody. The owner of Hout’s Metal was not there and his wife was at the counter, she was as busy as an ant whose home was destroyed. She was working and organizing things and kept looking at me questioningly as if I was trying to cause trouble. “Hello there son, what type of metal do you need and how much,” the smith’s wife said.

“Well I don’t know how much but I want enough to fix my plow” I replied. I knew that I would attract attention if I asked about sword metal so I just went along with a white lie; knowing it would be better if no one knew why I really needed the metal. I told her the made up measurements of my fabricated plow. When she told me the price of 6 shillings I reached down into my purse and grabbed whatever was left from my savings and gave it to her. I had just enough money to pay her. When I received the cheap metal all sorts of wonders and ambitions began to engulf my thoughts. What a special sword I was going to make; I overheard that some ancient warriors of the Lith who used to reside in Rabboth Top were required to make their own swords at the age of 10 and they would claim it to be apart of their soul. Back 300 years ago a war ragged in Fleace; the warriors of Lith did not survive the war and people steadily forgot about them. Their history is said to have been kept hidden underground so that men could not discover their secret techniques for making swords. When I arrived back outside I put the metal underneath a piece of cloth and placed it in my cart. I began the journey back home. On the way out of the gate, I looked around trying to see if that man in the red cape was around. He was nowhere to be found. When I left the gate, I was thinking about what all I had to do when I got back to the farm and before the night. I remember I was supposed to feed Betsy and take care of the chickens before the day was over. When I arrived back home everything was back to normal and the excitement of going to town all alone was gone as I was down on my knees plucking some weeds that I forgot to pluck when I left. When the sun finally set I went into our wooden house and washed my hands in the bucket full of water around the fireplace. It was dinner time and my mother had cooked some potato soup.

At the dinner table I rounded up the plates and distributed them to the five of us. “Your father and your two sisters and I are all that are eating tonight” my mother insisted as I arranged the plates. She always said that even though my other two brothers have been out of the house since I was 14. Now that I am the only son in the house, I wanted to be as much help as I could because I knew that my father was getting older and could not work as much as when he was younger. I respected my father out of fear; he used to beat us whenever we broke the laws of the house. I also loved my father dearly, he was a man who had accumulated a lot of wisdom and knowledge over the years; he was my greatest moral mentor. When everyone seated themselves at the dinner table, my father said, “Everyone hold hands. Dear gods please watch over us and protect us, thank you for the food you have prepared us today, and blessed be your works oh gods, Ameion!” my father muttered, the same prayer that is always recited before a meal. After our thanks and praise of the gods we waited as my father served us our food; he served us based on how we worked today and made it proportional to the amount of work we did. After we were served, we did not speak until my father gave the okay to start the topic of the night. Usually the topic of the night was about the farm’s needs and what all needed to be done and what was already done. My father pointed his finger at Mary, my sister, and she began to explain what needed to be done as far as farm work. My father had devised a system were each child was in charge of their own section of the farm, this was so that we could get more work done. “Well, I still need to put up the fence in my section. The plowing on the eastern part of my section still needs to be done and the carrots that I picked today need to be cleaned” Mary explained. When everyone was done telling my father about the farm everybody started their own little conversation and nobody had to be formal. My father says that our meals are so formal because that’s the way his father had it and that it’s the way Flintwoods have dinner. “So Hulken, how was going to town all by yourself today son?” my father asked. “Well it was no different from when we went together except I think I saw the town in a different way.” I replied.

“Well, how so?”

“I don’t know, there were a lot of guards at the inner city wall, and I saw the strangest man today who wore a red cape and black garments. He had on metal boots and a hat that covered his whole face. He looked like he was from a different country or something except I never heard of people dressing like that”

“Huh, that is strange. I don’t know why Rabboth Top‘s guards were so numerous. The last time there was a war in Fleace it was some 300 years ago. Nothing ever happens here, we are surrounded by water and sailors have to do all the fighting. There have not been any pirates or sea battles since your grandpa’s day. This man you saw does seem strange as well; I heard that Palentha has been going through a drought so I wonder if he is an immigrant from there”

“Yea--that was going through my head as well; however, I don’t think that this man is here in Rabboth Top for farming dad, he just looked too strange.”

“Alright son, I’m convinced. The next time you go into town you will have to be accompanied by me. Things just seem strange and I do not want something to happen to you.”

“Well that’s not fair dad, I am 17 years old and in one more year I can join the army, I am the best at sword fighting and I just don’t want to be a farmer or a frilliest for the rest of my life.”

“There is no if and buts about it son, you will not go into town alone anymore until things settle down, by the way it sounds there could be something that swords cannot assail. I think they are preparing for something worst than acid mist. Now I know that you are capable son but just wait it out and everything will be fine.”

I refused to consider the possibility of waiting it out; however, I was not going to begin to disrespect my father’s wishes. I kept the metal I got in a secret spot underneath a piece of wood in my room. I was going to make a run to my friend’s house tomorrow night to make my sword.

When dinner was over I put up my plate and hit the sac. I knew tomorrow was going to be hard work. I had a list of things to do and no time to think about the trouble I could get into. I did not want my father to find out that I was going to make a sword or he would kill me. I just thought to myself that I could play along in the day time; however, at night I would run off and be myself. I always dreamed of seeing different things and trying out new foods, languages, technologies, and fighting styles. My love for the northern style of swordsmanship was first learned when Toront taught it to me. The northern style of sword fighting consists of speed and time. It does not use power or force to subdue the opponent. When the sun rose, I began my work…

“Hey there, these coins are sort of funny were did you say you are from,” the inn keeper said. “Well I am sorry if they look funny they are real silver, I am sorry to bother you, I am here because there is a drought in my country. I am trying to find some work. You have probably heard of Palentha before right, that is were I come from,” Viola replied. The Inn keeper at Ole Baily’s gave him a nod; however, he was still bedazzled at this man’s attire. The red cape and black attire did not seem to resemble the typical farmer; however, many people from Palentha had the same accent that Viola had and so the inn keeper just assumed that Viola was one of them. Viola walked outside from the inn’s bar. He walked around town until he found an empty corridor were no one could see him. When Viola arrived in the empty hallway, he looked behind him to make sure that he was not being followed. After 15 minutes of surveying the area, Viola lifted his right arm and uncovered his sleeve. Underneath his sleeve was an electronic watch. The people of Ithium do not have any knowledge of electricity, circuitry, or guns. What might appear to be a mechanical watch was actually a telecommunications device which operated on an intercontinental frequency. “I have arrived; I have not made contact with the boy. There is nothing here that would lead me to suspect that he is here. There might have been an error in the DNA test, there is nothing written about Rabboth Top in the records. Requesting mission transfer” Viola whispered into his arm. Five minutes after he sent his transmission a voice sounded out of Viola’s arm. “We have a no go K4, DNA test positive, stay around until further notice, over” the voice ended with Viola stomping his metal boots into the ground.

Elsewhere in Rabboth Top, the mayor and his council were all sitting in a circle stone table in Rabboth Top’s city hall. The concerns about the intentions of the mayor were constantly brought up when the council first spoke. “all of the farmers are getting wary for having to come all the way into town to deposit their crops, this is nonsense, why are you doing this?” one man exclaimed.

“well if I have been trying to tell you that other provinces in Talem have been getting acid mist all of the sudden and reports of the pirates of Gilfalter have been raiding small provinces like this one in Glasis.” the mayor retorted as if defending his seemingly logical analysis.

“Well those incidents have happened on the total opposite sides of Ithium. They have little to do with Rabboth Top” another council member said.

“Rest assured men, Rabboth Top’s security and welfare are our most important concerns, this matter shall not be discussed any longer.” the mayor proclaimed. When the meeting was adjourned the mayor, Tasil Launy, walked down the stairs and walked out his council members to their horses. When every member left, he went back into the Citadel and made for the Granary. The Granary was located underground, where the cavern ended. The pathway down into the Cavern was colossal. The amount of stone and light perpetuated from the cavern seemed to make Rabboth top more beautiful from underneath the soil. Going down into the granary would otherwise take a good 10 minutes to walk from the spiral stair case; however, Tasil was in a secret wooden elevator that took him deep underground in two minutes. When Tasil arrived in the massive structure, many caped men wearing green tunics were lifting the supplies and produce around. A man with an eye patch and a black cape was there. He seemed to be in charge of the hooded men. “I have done it Nosil, the town council seems convinced that we need to have more men armed and more food stored.” Tasil said. “Good job, your services will be rewarded greatly after we are done” Nosil said. The greedy mayor would have not so easily collaborated with this foreigner if he knew the harm Rabboth Top would undergo while under Nosil’s intentions.

After today’s dinner and work, I was astonished to find the energy to sneak out to Lacky’s house. Lacky lived a good 20 minutes away from my farm; however, he knew I was coming. The hardest part about the getaway was that it was already late at night and I could not see very well. While on the way to Lacky’s house, I heard voices up ahead. My anxiety became overwhelming and my calm rhetoric started to drastically dissipate. I stopped dead in my tracks and attuned my ear to listen ahead of me. “Hey go ahead back to town, tell Nosil that we found the second escaping chamber and that air cannot get to the cavern through this passage” the voice said coming from the darkness. “shhh, I caught a glimpse of something over there, he might have been overhearing us” another voice said. I started to make a run for it, knowing the terrain better than the men in dark. I got all the way to Lacky’s house and opened up the door; Lacky was calm and did not expect me to seem so ailed. I told him about the men who chased me and then he told his father. Lacky’s father woke everyone up and went outside with his torch and lit up the safety fire, incase there were any wolfs people had placed a huge bundle of sticks on the highest mound incase wolfs were attacking the livestock. When Lacky’s dad lit the fire, our visions increased drastically in the dark and we were able to see almost everything on his farm. Thinking that I had just cried wolf, Lacky’s parents told me to go home and that he would tell my father about what I had done. I was madder and angrier than an agitated bee. “I know what I heard out their sir, there were people chasing after me. I am not lying, I swear by the gods that someone or something was out there trying to get me because I was eavesdropping on their conversation,” I proclaimed. My honor was at risk, I did not want to disrespect Lacky’s father; however, I did not challenge his authority. I began to walk back to my house. I had told Lacky’s father that if I was lying then have Lacky accompany me to my house incase those men do come back. Lacky’s father agreed and said, “If anything happens, I am sure you can defend yourself with a stick, your soon to be sword should be not much similar than a fallen tree branch” Mr. Baner, Lacky’s father, joked. His sarcastic remarks about my desire to have a sword also enflamed me; however, I just replied “yes sir.” Going back to my house was so depressing because not only did I not make my sword, I was called a liar and my father would soon find out about my running away for the night. I was sort of wishing that I would find those men and have them attack us just so I could reclaim my honor. While in the darkness Lacky and I were talking. “What if I found an old manuscript from the warriors of Lith,” Lacky asked. I told him that things would never change if you found it because people here do not care about swords our adventures; they only care about crops and money. “you are probably right; however, I think it would be awesome if something happened here and maybe if we found something like that then Rabboth Top would get more interesting.” Lacky said. I agreed and walked steadily alongside him, not really trying to be silent. While along our way, something did not seem right because Lacky was not talking so much. When I had looked behind myself I realized that Lacky was already gone. I lifted up my torch and shouted, “Lacky, HEY! Lacky where did you go?” When I was starting to think of the worst, something jumped out of the brush in front of me and knocked me out cold…