Pathway to Destiny
In the Past…
On the transport to Ota, Rasfar learned many things. The Stajaki he so loved to drink was shipped in from another continent named, Tehrat. It was only country whose ships were strong enough to sail the oceans. The ships directly belonged to the king of Tehrat, King Kilji. They would stop near an island just off the coast near Ota, in a town called Kisart.
Kisart wasn’t a known location to the rest of the world. This was the first time Rasfar had ever heard of it, or the island off the shore. It wasn’t a coastal town, it was further inland hidden among the trees.
The blonde traveling companion continued to educate Rasfar even after they reached Ota. Telling him how the people of Kisart built lightweight boats they could carry on their shoulders out to the sea. They had no need for a port. The boats met the ships from Tehrat in the open sea not far from the coast. Cargo was lowered into the water and kept afloat by something they made in Tehrat. The strange wooden floats attached to all sides of the wood platform, and would hold no more weight than what they put on it. If a person tried to board the platform, the floating devices would fill up with water, then the person and everything else would fall into the sea. They used hooks and rope to pull the platform back to short where it was unloaded. The cargo was stored in warehouses hidden in the dense trees behind the town, and sold at a high price to vendors willing to pay it.
In the past few years though there had been a crack down by Peit and his soldiers. International trade and travel are forbidden, Heldinbur was to be isolated from any outside influences. When any deviance of the law was found it was dealt with swiftly and permanently. Entire families of smugglers were known to be sent to slave farms. In Heldinbur committing a crime against the country means you are no longer a citizen of that country. Noncitizens of Heldinbur are all slaves of the King. They are branded with a mark on their foreheads and hands so you may know them as slaves. It also makes them easier to identify if they escape. However escaping as a slave means instant death when caught.
They boarded a private pleasure boat of a wealthy friend of the blonde man, and made their way to Kisart. Upon arrival, they had to jump from the ship and swim to shore. The blonde man who traveled with him never once revealed his name.
When they reached the village of Kisart, Rasfar noticed something about all the people in the town. They all had been branded on the forehead and hands.