Soltan

Part I
It was high time Yulos Dugeim had left the safe yet limiting confines of the monastery, and that’s exactly what they did. A couple of months after Ortwen set off, Yulos embarked on a journey of their own with nothing but a wagon full of things that were both useful and not as useful. They’d even brought Ortwen’s old apiary — a small, but sustainable little container filled to the brim with bees and honey. Having encountered a large, mysterious egg in the middle of the woods — the fresh massive corpse of some strange, primordial bird not too far from the nest — Yulos had made it their mission to care for it in lieu of its mother.

Rocs, they called them. They’d heard stories of how gargantuan birds of prey would snatch even the mightiest of elephants off the ground, lifting them high up into the mountains in which they roosted. But what was one doing here, so far away from said mountains? What could have even killed such a tremendous creature? It must’ve been a chimera or possibly even a dragon — they couldn’t imagine anything else being up to the task.

All this speculation was irrelevant though, and Yulos knew that. All they knew was that this egg was without a caretaker, and they wouldn’t stand idly by if there was something they could do about it. They knew well-enough that eggs fared better under certain conditions, and fortunately, Yulos knew exactly which conditions an egg of this caliber would need. They wasted no time rolling the egg over towards a nearby cave.

But what to do now?

The cave was warm, but not warm enough. It was safe and uninhabited, at least, but Yules would have to accompany the egg for a ridiculous length of time — time they’d rather spend gaining distance from the monastery. This was their adventure, after all, and a short trip around the neighbouring forests hardly qualified.

Gotta speed this up somehow.

And then it clicked.

Yulos would have to incubate it the same way they’d incubated chicken eggs during their time in the order. Mother hens would often sit on the eggs, warming them up with nothing more than their feathers and their body heat. There’s no way I’m sitting on an egg, they thought. Not one that big at least.

The thought came to them in an instant.

Yulos wanted to create a giant blanket to try and keep the egg warm — a little something to trap the heat and protect the egg all the same. It was a ridiculous idea. Juvenile, almost; but Yulos thought it sounded funny, maybe even cute, and that was reason enough for them to give it a shot. Following their eureka moment, they tucked the egg away safe and sound inside the cave before making their way back to the corpse of the mega-bird.

It doesn’t appear to have died of natural causes, given its curled-up position — a telltale sign it had succumbed to poison. The feathers were safe to pluck, at least, but the problem lied in the fact that each feather was over a foot long and they were all firmly attached to the beast.

It was nasty work, but Yulos saw no alternative.

They advanced towards the lifeless body of the creature, studying it all the while — an empty sack in hand, ready to be filled with feathers. There was a satisfying crunch to the leaves as Yulos walked, sunlight peeking through the branches up above. They’d always appreciated the calming ambience of the forests of Methwood, but to be here alone now, miles away from the monastery, was a completely different feeling. They were lonely — of that, there was no doubt. But they didn’t mind. Yulos paid their respects to the felled creature before kneeling, wrapping their hands around one of the loose jutting feathers and pulling it away gently.

There wasn’t much resistance, much to their surprise. Yulos was by no means a master of ki, but they knew how to harness and subtly manipulate the energy within themselves and in others. By tapping into the ki of this now-deceased creature, the feathers came off with relative ease, sliding away from the flesh and coming out without needing to struggle.

Still, it’s possible that the poison had weakened the beast’s flesh, but that’s not what Yulos told themself.

The feathers were light despite their size, and sturdy too. It wouldn’t be too difficult to work with a material like this. By the time Yulos became over-encumbered with roc feathers, they’d only plucked away less than a quarter of one of the beast’s wings. Slinging the sack over their shoulder, they waddled their way back to the cave — minding their steps as they struggled to maintain their balance. With a heavy thud, Yulos dropped the sack of feathers down by the egg and took a seat on one of the nearby rocks. They twiddled their thumbs, thinking of a way to weave them all together before settling on using up one of their old traveling cloaks as a base of sorts. Oh well, they thought. It’s not like I used it anyway.

Stitching and weaving wasn’t Yulos’ area of expertise, but they’d learned enough from the monks to repair garments. This… wasn’t the same, but they’d have to make do. Fortunately, time was on their side, and it didn’t take too long for them to find their rhythm. “If only Ortwen could see me now”, they mumbled to themselves, stitching as they watched over the egg. “He’d wanna see this.”

The egg was terrible at conversation, unfortunately. Yulos found themself without a partner to bounce off of this time, but this was bound to happen eventually. After all, it was their choice to leave the monastery. It wasn’t the first life-changing event thrust into their hands and it certainly wasn’t going to be the last, but it was a choice they’d made on their own. It was too early for them to regret it.

At least, that’s what Yulos told themself.

Part II
“Now what should I call you? How does… Eggy sound?”

If the egg were capable of speech, it would have expressed disgust and contempt for the name. Sadly, an egg is just an egg. It sat there inanimately.

“No? How about a proper name, like Eggy McEggface?”

The egg was making progress, but not at the pace Yulos had hoped for. Alas, it was still incapable of speech and as a result, it was unable to voice its concerns; not that it was able to be concerned about anything to begin with. Yulos envied it as it sat in its corner, draped with a roc-feather cloak that kept it warm, insulated, and safe. It looked comfortable. Very comfortable, in fact. Must be nice being an egg, they thought. Not the busiest lifestyle, but good enough.

There was no denying that Yulos wanted to get on with their journey, but if the egg were left here unprotected it would surely wind up becoming someone’s dinner. Besides, the egg was as big as they were. It wouldn’t have fit on their wagon, and they weren’t too keen on tossing out some of their belongings just to make way for this strange and sudden tagalong. They’d been raised to stay out of trouble — to mind their own business and keep to themself. But Yulos couldn’t just stand there and let their first major encounter with the outside world get dictated by what they learned from the monastery. No way. This time, Yulos wanted to be different. This time, Yulos had the courage to stand their ground.

“We’ll think of something for you eventually, just you wait.”

“How about Thunder?”

Every bone in Yulos’ body was telling them to hide.

The voice of a stranger emanated from further inside the cave, and Yulos instinctively disguised themself and the egg with a quick Minor Illusion spell. They’d projected the image of a sizable rock large enough to cover both themself and the egg — a trick that would’ve fooled even the most perceptive of creatures; the eyes were something outsiders had come to trust and rely on, but foresters knew better.

“Woah, hey! It’s alright, I’ve no business with you. I don’t mean you any harm. Honest.”

What?

Were they not fooled? How? As far as Yulos knew, their disguise was perfect, and judging by the sheer distance of the source of the sound, there was simply no way they were seen. Their heart began to race.

“I’m not not dangerous! In fact, I think I can help you with that roc egg of yours.”

He knows his creatures, at least!

“If it means anything, I’m a ranger. These forests are mine to protect.”

That was a little reassuring… but stranger danger’s still a thing, man!

“Have you heard of the Enclave? The Emerald Enclave? I’m with them, so you’ve nothing to fear from me— listen, I don’t know how you stumbled into this cave, but now that you’re here, I might as well introduce myself.”

The Emerald Enclave was familiar to Yulos. He’d heard that some of the more senior monks had dealings with them in the past, but it’s not like the order and the enclave had ever gone out of their way to interact with one another. What are they doing this far into our forest?

Oh, they realized.

I’m the intruder.

“I’m Norzen. Local forester and an apothecary in training. Judging by your digs, you’re a monk from the Order of the Six Tinayn? Or maybe you’re a former monk, I don’t know. Either way, you’re far from home.”

With a wave of their hand, they dispelled the illusion and revealed themselves to the ranger. Yulos sighed, walking over to the egg before pointing a thumb towards themselves.

“Yulos.” They smiled with a nod. “You seem alright by my books, Norzen.”

“Nice to meet ya, Yulos. That egg’s gonna hatch any second now but you’re gonna need some food to stuff it with. We’ve got feed for all sorts of critters further back — do you trust me to carry the egg?”

Any second now— how does he know that?

It didn’t matter now. Yulos could tell he wasn’t dangerous. He’d seen evil firsthand, and this wasn’t it. Without saying anything, Yulos gestured for the ranger to come forth and carry the egg while they bundled up the roc-feather blanket to make the whole thing easier to pick up. Norzen crouched low and gently lifted the egg all while taking care not to damage the feathered blanket, holding it from the bottom with both arms as he walked further up ahead, occasionally looking back at Yulos.

“Don’t worry about your stuff,” said Norzen. “Scavengers don’t really come down here and I doubt the other rangers’ll mind. Let’s get a move on, I can feel it starting to shake!”

''Why am I going with him? Isn’t this supposed to be my adventure?''

But deep down Yulos knew that they’d regret it if they simply left now. It was exciting enough that they’d stumbled into a roc — a dead one, but a roc nonetheless — but now they’d get the opportunity to watch one hatch? With the Emerald Enclave too! And if Norzen was serious about having more animal feed in their hideout, then…

Yulos nodded, following suit as they ran to match Norzen’s pace. The caves were significantly deeper than Yulos had anticipated, and much to their surprise, they’d soon realized that much of the cave had been hidden away by an incredibly subtle illusion spell. So subtle that Yulos themself had failed to notice it despite how glaringly obvious it became upon further inspection. By magically bending the light inside the cave, it effectively created the image that it simply stopped after a certain point — a dead end. But if one were to keep walking despite the apparent and abrupt rock wall, they’d soon discover that they could actually walk right through it; the rocks folding inwards as the optical illusion revealed itself.

They couldn’t help but whistle in admiration. Yulos sniffed the air, noticing the scent of various animals in the distance. They couldn’t pinpoint what types, exactly, but each creature had a telltale smell. Mammals were pungent and musky, whereas piscines were rather damp and malodorous. There were other creatures they could smell further within — scents that weren’t familiar to them yet. Yulos could barely contain their excitement as the two made their way further inside.

Perhaps this was their adventure after all.