It's always a delight to run into a friend in the Corners of Khorvaire.
As I stepped off the rail platform in Vedykar, I was surprised to immediately spot a familiar face. Sitting on a bench, watching the trains, and making notes in his Lightning Rod Society notebook was none other than Sylas d'Sivis, co-host of the Echoes Broad Castings and House Sivis' Heir of Siberys.
When he spotted me back, we laughed and shouted at each other as we approached each other on the walkway. I invited him to join me for lunch. As we sat down, I asked him if it was his first time in Vedykar.
“Oh no. It's not my first time here. Although it has been a very very long time since I have been to Vedykar." He paused for a moment and appeared to think back. "With the War...my 'Mark...the Echoes...it feels like another lifetime ago." Sylas took a small drink from his glass and stared out at the city. "When I was a boy, I would do a lot of traveling with my grandfather, Sylann Syrralan d'Sivis. Now there was a right proper gnome, just an unquenchable thirst for knowledge in all it's forms. It wasn't enough to know about an artifact in a museum, or about a book of ancient languages. He had to see the artifact, had to read the book, feel the leather of the spine in his hands." Sylas chuckled. "He always used to say that the smell of the book could tell you a story the words on the page couldn't...So he would travel any chance he got, and he loved the lighting rails." He chuckled again and shifted the glass in his hand before taking another drink. "So my parents would send me with him...best education is a hands on education, they'd say...which may have been wrong on their part." He motioned to himself with another chuckle, indicating that his parents may have made a mistake. "But it does mean that when Sylann came to this city, I got to come too. I was so excited. It was my first time staying in Karrnath. I was obsessed with Tales From The Nightwood...the old...ummm...it was a series of horror novels. So when we got to Vedykar my grandfather took me on a trip to see the Nightwood. It was dark and mysterious and to my young mind, I had faced off certain danger and death just by being there." He let out another deep chuckle. "In hindsight, I am sure we were just in a nice park near the edge...but it felt real." He stared back down at his glass and his smile began to fade slightly. He took another long drink and forced the smile back up.
"It was supposed to be for a few weeks but we stayed for 10 months...it...uh...wasn't a work trip. He was spending time up at the Jorasco enclave...but there are some things, even magic can't fix..." The smile fell again for a moment as a tear built in the corner of his eyes and then blurted out another laugh. "I took a branch from the woods and I carved it as best I could into a..." He laughed deeply and wiped the tear from his eye. "...a...this terrible little dagger. I was convinced it was special, that the woods had given it to me to protect me from the beasts of the world." He took another drink and looked at the tankard. "Before we left my grandfather and I had an amazing meal at an inn that is long since gone, but they had this amazing mushroom stew. That night I snuck my first bit of ale..." He held up his cup and smirked. "...and Nightwood Pale made me the man I am today!"
We walked along the concourse, talking about nothing and everything and then parted ways. Him back to Sharn and me off on the road again.
That was My Lunch With Sylas in the Corners of Khorvaire.
Genbo Santor d'Sivis.
