Editing Soukos (section)

==Concerning the Wandering Elves:==

The men of Soukos, following their initial meetings welcome the strange elves into Rinolsol for, trade, discussion and many other things. The first encounter with the elven fleet would come from a member of the Gladius Sailor Guard patrolling the coasts of the republic in his hippocampus chariot. The mists of the coast left him unprepared for suddenly seeing a great fleet of foreign ships and nearly sent the fish-tailed horses running the chariot a-fleeing out of fear. The rider did not allow them to flee, for his duty was to establish communication with a foreign fleet should one appear and the elves aboard hastily assured him of their good will after seeing the state of his horses. After their purpose was conveyed, the rider brought them to the nearest city-state harbor of Athiens with mild apprehension; for it was the Sartyrians who had once led a failed raid upon his home of Cornithus long ago. These scruples were ignored for the moment and the elven fleet made harbor and their chosen ambassadors were sent to make clear their purpose in these waters. The sweet voices of the elves pleased the senators whom they were brought to much, and the elves managed to reason to them that unlike previous engagements, they came as friends. Since that time, the coasts of Soukos have been opened for the elves to travel as they wish. Yet as is the nature of the land, the individual city-states possess their own sets of beliefs on these new visitors and choose to note a specific aspect of the elven character over others. These individual interpretations of the visitors are generally held with greater value by the citizens of these grand cities than the statements of the greater government, for the loyalty of a Soukan is foremost to his own home. I will now list some of these beliefs below:

As mentioned earlier, Cornithus remains the city-state harboring the most ill will towards the elves. This is because of the aforementioned massive Sartyrian raid that was repelled at the cost of practically all of the old city aside from the most important buildings (saved through prior magical warding placed on them of course) being burnt down. The past grievances caused by this ancient sack have not been forgotten by the populace, and as such they continue to see elves as naught but malicious and cruel creatures. While required to allow these foreign ships in their harbor, it is not a task undertaken with great joy and is undertaken much slower than usual.

The people of Athiens on the other hand care very little for past issues with the elves and generally are most concerned with the economic benefits gained through trade with the elves. The homelands of the Sartyrians and Nicsenoreans are both down south (at least, one was down south in the case of the Sartyrians before Ignis moved over to the Autian coast) and as such possess many exotic and valuable resources due to the magical nature of those far-flung lands. Ivory and the ever valuable whale oil that practically all nations rely on nowadays comes in droves from these parts, given the abundance of giant whales and walruses living near Nicsenor. This is not even mentioning the magical devices from these parts, which while rarer than what comes from other nations like Alkor and Soukos itself exceed the creations of those nations in both craftmanship and power. Only a fool would shirk these benefits and refuse to open trade.

I will now speak of the city-state of Delphus. The City of Seers as some call it had foretold the arrival of a mysterious people earlier that day, though their oracles were unable to divine much more until these visitors were seen in the flesh. After the elven emissaries were brought before the Soukan senate, the senators representing Delphus quickly sent a report via messenger sphinx back home which spoke of the otherworldly grace of these new visitors. Grace enough to soothe the minds of the notoriously argumentative senate and have them hear the words of the ambassadors. With their interest piqued, an invitation was extended to these elves welcoming all who were willing to visit the great temple of Apolion and speak with the high oracle himself about matters unspecified to the scribe who wrote the message. Later that week, a party of elves were seen entering the city and entered the temple. What occurred inside is unknown to most, but the elves had left as honored guests. Shortly after this event, a trade had sprung up between the visiting elves. This trade would not be one of physical items however, it was a trade of magic. For the people of Delphus were fascinated by the magic of the elves, of which the aforementioned meeting was meant to gauge and had offered to send some of their own mages to learn from the elves in exchange for sharing some of their own secrets and insights into the arcane arts.


It is known that Naftio does have somewhat of a vested interest in these events as many elven items have gone up for sale in its markets and guildhouses.