Legend of Ransera

Had Dakkur arrived just a little earlier in the season he would have had an easier time gaining entry to the city. "Why? Did something happen?" Well yes actually, plenty. He was given the rundown of the recent events of Glade in Zaichaer, and was told it was to his good fortune he avoided most of the inquisition. This was also the reason why Dakkur had to remember for his duration of his stay to not use his 'special' abilities unless absolutely necessary or he was sure enough there would be no witnesses. That said there was no surprise his hostess knew a little of what he could do already, after all, she knew the family well but had she known the Doelish better, surely she would have known "you don't have to worry, we Doelish know how to keep mum." Or maybe not given the reason for his flight from Zeraphesh. His hostess then went through the terms of their arrangement for his stay in Zaichaer. She would shelter him and get him acclimated to the city but it was not like she was going to protect and take care of him. Dakkur was an adult from the well to do Doelish so he should be able to take care of himself. However she could promise Dakkur would be comfortable and have an enjoyable stay.

The lady certainly was not lacking except a few marbles if she put it that way but, she was still someone his mother and the rest of his family trusted him to hide out with and he certainly learned why after all the pomp and pageantry was over. They went over the details- Dakkur now being her sister's son, 'her nephew', from abroad to learn how to live independently with his aunt. For Dakkur it sounded like it had a lot of holes since he knew everything about well, himself. "Why would I tell them I'm from abroad? Wouldn't that mean I'm the first in the list if someone were to come looking from Zeraphesh? And why a nephew through my mother? That's convoluted!" or is it? No one else would know the holes and to them coming from abroad means not having to falsify any preexisting ties in the city; being related through his mother meant they could work with the mystery of her maiden name or, the name Dakkur would be using while he was in Zeraphesh. The only solid bit from her initial suggestion it seems, was the part about him being independent. Everything else had but tiny little bits of truth in them which for reasons explained to him, even lies become that much more believable with some truth in it.

As for her suggestion for "a new name...? I don't know... Dark?" Dark really? Being so similar to his actual name was probably the reason why it came to him so easily. "How about Crad then?" Now that was sillier as it only took a few seconds to realize Crad was Dark, backwards, but "That's an honest mistake really. Its Crad not Krad. Krad would be silly coming from the southlands," maybe. Dakk- Crad did not know many people from down south to actually know but that was how the jokes of southerners went among his friends. The conversation was pushed to another subject before just his name became too intense but for Dakkur it sounded like a punishment. It did not make sense that "I'm going to have to hide out in here for a week?" Maybe even more? Well the journey from Zeraphesh was really, really tiring and he needed a break especially after the split from the caravan to make his own way- a big delay! Oh there was a reason for this, apparently. Departing from the usual time it would take from Zeraphesh and Zaichaer as much as possible would make it really difficult for any would be pursuers to narrow down the window of his entry into the city.

Which also came to the issue of how much changes there was going to be to increase his own safety, oh, not changes on his Zaichaer's hostess' side but changes on himself. "What? What would I need to change?" He had already changed the place he lived, how he was going to have to live, obviously his job because there were not many archaeology dig jobs in Zaichaer compared to Zeraphesh as far as he knew and... his stuff. He no longer had his stuff as everything was left behind in his escape. The big old problem here, the elephant in the room, the moratallen in the their presence; attributing to his mixed heritage there were not many big red giants in Karnor let alone Zaichaer that anyone knowing what they were looking for could easily find him. "So what do you suggest then?" It was not like Dakku- Crad could (as if knowing what Dakkur was thinking he spotted a stern look directed his way but Dakkur was getting more attached to the idea that it would definitely be Crad) overnight turn himself into a lanky, boring, dark haired, human. Oh wait he could? Oh but not right now? Why even tell him?

The suggestions however sounded more easy to realize but a little extreme as "the idea is to draw away from me being a giant red moratallen so if people are talking about me they wouldn't say that big red moratallen over there?" although he could see the practicality in them. But it was so unbelievable as he went down that list and voiced his concerns. "A tattoo? Over here? Over here? Or over here? Or all of them?" He heard tattoos were painful which was why he had avoided getting any eventhough some of the boys wanted to get tattoos based on some markings they found in an old dig site not to mention according to his hostess, it would become the easiest way for people to recognize him in Zaichaer if he fucks up in the city and then people from Zeraphesh recognizing him would not be his biggest of concerns; tattoos were how criminals were recognized a lot. "Why did you suggest it then...?" Just to be thorough and to see how impulsive Dakkur was did not sound like too good a reason to him although it seemed like his hostess is enjoying it too much.

As the suggestion which followed was just as extreme if not even more. "Let me get this straight. You want me to willingly scar myself somewhere it can easily be seen? What is the difference between the scars and the tattoos?" Oh there were a lot of differences actually. Dakkur had not been in Zaichaer for long so he would not be aware of it but tattoos were more easily found in the east side of the city where the ne'er do wells of Zaichaer could be found in and as a non human with tattoos, he would very likely be halted a lot by the authorities if he was found in the West End even if he was living here legitimately because his presence would be that suspicious and unsettling. Meanwhile the West End had a lot of people from or still with the military so the scars would be quite common, hell, some of the folk here even had their scars out proudly as some sort of badge of honor they have gotten while serving the city! Which speaking of, another very common characteristic among these military types was the the fact that beyond scars, some were even missing limbs in service of the land that canes and such were a common sight around these parts. Dakk- Crad should consider that too. Then he could not only easily blend into the West End but he could also be known as the armless or legless moratallen instead of the big, red moratallen.

But no Dakkur was not about to maim himself. How could she even suggest such a thing? "Why don't I just carry around the cane and fake my injury?" if a cane was all it took to suggest he was some sort of veteran from the service. It was ridiculous everything she was suggesting for him to do now that he wondered why his parents' have decided to send him over to his mother's friend.

It could be that she knew what she was doing as she even pointed out the reasons why he could not just carry a cane around with him was because even if he practiced long enough or conditioned himself to walk around like he had some sort of malady, it would only take a small lapse for someone to discover Dakkur was not the invalid he claimed himself to be and have people looking into his background or worse, some members of the military investigating him about his stolen valor and maybe deciding to remedy the service he lacked by forcibly drafting him. Also with enough time to think even Dakkur would have realized that these very unacceptable suggestions were only leading up to one he could kind of accept as an alternative. "Let me get this straight What you're saying is I can just dye my hair and paint my skin to blend in?" Then instead of being known as that big, red moratallen he would be known as that moratallen just like any other in Zaichaer. "You could have led with that" since it was the most reasonable thing he would have to adopt to live in Zaichaer in peace.

But for two things. He would have to buy a lot of dye and a lot of paint to use every other day which would cost him quite a bit as well as the time it would take him to constantly maintain his new appearance and no, his hostess was not going to help him with either. Crad was supposed to be independent and she had better things to do with her time which speaking of, sometime in the season she would also have to introduce him to the magic community of Zaichaer. Not that it sounded like a bad idea but was there any reason why? He asked of course because it sounded like it had no benefit to him living in Zaichaer at least not until she reminded him of what his family, what he could do. He was going to need a job and that would probably be the best way for him to make the aven to maintain his very cumbersome lifestyle. That and it would be good for him to be able to get the support of the magical community here so the authorities would not find it too easy to get at him, especially if he followed the rules.

Oh right, the entire insanity of the inquisitions in Zaichaer. Dakkur almost forgot about that even if he was only just told about it earlier.

But all things to be left for another day as he wanted to follow the final and the best suggestion he heard all day. To rest. All decisions could be made by Dakkur in the future especially when it came to the name- Dakkur was never going to be called Crad unless he was prepared to go out into the streets because his hostess would never accept a nephew with such a name, what would society think? So rest, enjoy the West End a little bit. It was not like Dakkur was under house arrest, as long as he wore enough to hide his more recognizable features when he went out as... "Card, how about Card? I think it sounds better than Crad." but that too was not acceptable. Well back to the drawing board.