Nureyev First Comes to Tharuden

As I rounded the breakwater the waves in the inner sea died down.  It was easier to see the docks now and the port town of Amanhoten rising up on the hillside behind it.  It felt good to swim. Cool water coursing over my naked flesh.  I suppose part of me thought it a little odd.  There were not a lot of opportunites for swimming in the deeper jungles of Venn.  Oh sure, there were plenty of rivers but between the snakes and the alligators and other things most people did not talk about not many of the tribes ever voluntarily learned to swim.  Then again, when I had finally walked out of the North end of the jungle and come to the shore of the inner sea it had seemed the most natural thing in the world to dive in and begin a slow easy crawl west.  There is no point at being suprised any more when I act differently than those around me.  It is why I have wandered.  I never question the draw that pulls me north and east.

Sometimes I wonder if there ever even was a place that I came from or if I suddenly woke up one day already on my journey approaching my destination.  The tribes that I come across are always polite and friendly in a distant way.  They give me food, let me sleep the night and then wish me well on my way the next day.  The wishing me on my way part always seems to be the most authentic although I cannot complain.  I am given the seat of an honoured warrior at the dinner most times.  I asked the witch doctor of the Umgumbi tribe about it and he said my way was being prepared for me.  When I asked him by whom he merely laughed and said my journey itself was so big it made its own path.

Swimming is very calming.  The rythmic pulse of the sea and my limbs as they move through it forms a steady background.  As I pass some of the fishing and trade boats in the harbour I get a few odd looks.  I am not sure if is the fact that I a good foot taller than most of the people I see or the fact that my skin is as black as night.  More likely it is the fact that I do not see many other swimmers in the harbor.  I come to a gentle sloping ramp leading up to a flattened man-made area next to all of the ships.  Everything around here is constructed.  Some buildings are huge towering mountains of stone with great columns in front like the one facing the main docks.  Most are small huts of wattle and daub or basic adobe construction huddled around their giant brethern like small children hiding from the wind beneath their parents cape.  I am accosted by a small man with a variety of adornments who has the air of someone used to being listened to.  He carries a totem which he brandishes at me but I see that it is devoid of power.  It would be convenient if I could speak any of the languages which he is chattering at me in but that will have to come with time.  I have no answers for him today so I merely stare and smile.  His chattering subsides and he appears a little nervous.  He summons some obvious warriors from a nearby station.  I do not want to prove anything here.  I notice that my naked dripping form is rather noticible in this crowd of smaller energetic people.  I should find the end of my journey soon.  I smile wider and open my hands to the soldiers showing no weapons, at the same time I bring present a tendancy for everyone to trust and be freindly and a feeling for the call which draws me on.  This seems to do the trick as the warriors consult among themselves and then move to accompany me towards the center of the town.  I walk forward encompassing them in my body language.  The obvious acknowledgement of one warrior to another puts them at ease and we adopt familiar roles though no words have been spoken.

My guides make the journey to the town center quick and uneventful and finally I am presented with the object of my calling.  A tremendous ziggurat like building larger than any other man made construction I have seen in the past months.  For some reason the phrases the past few months and all of my life seem interchangeable, how interesting.  There are warriors at the door to this building as well but they are different.  They are linked to the building and things within it and have a number of active will lines around them.  I walk up to them and bow and then wait.  The buildings warriors confer a little with those from the docks and then a subtle pulse travels across one of the lines into the building. In a few moments a taller man emerges from inside the building with long and flowing colorful robes.  His skin is darker by far than any of the others around though still not as dark as mine.  He greets me in the Aritembi dialect of the northern Venn.  I smile and return the greeting with well wishes.  He asks me my purpose here.  I say, "I have been following a calling over many days journey.  Down the wide river I have come in a boat, through the Jungles of the central north and all along the coast of the inner sea.  Every moment of my journey I have felt the pull of this building which we now stand before.  I have come to learn and to teach.  Will you welcome me in?".  He just smiled and said, "Old Manahotep has said that you would be coming.  He has said that we should give you a room and all that you need to learn your way around.  Once that has done the rest will just follow.  He is usually that vague but he is also usually correct.  Come in, let me show you around.  My name is Dujembec."