Splinterlands Lore A Drine Fisherman and a Naga

Never knew much of my father except that he cussed, drank often, and died in a pirate battle near the Dark Water.

My mother, a barmaid did not know much about my father, as it was a short and quick romance. He was gone long before I was born and was most likely dumped into a watery grave with little ceremony, as is the custom of the people.

Death is all around here and we Umans get hardened to it. “A good day” as the saying goes “Is not dying”.

I am from Drine and my name is Aeron. You haven’t heard of Drine? It is the largest island in the archipelago, in the Western part of the water splinter, ΛZMΛRE. The Mur guardian is to the North of Drine and Mokar’s pool to the South East.

My fate was to be born non-magical. There are many Mer-kissed, magical folk, in my area that can breathe underwater and on the land as well as do a number of other fantastic tricks. As for me, I am a simple fisherman and hunter with no magical abilities.

I grew up in Drine and have traveled to a few of the other Islands that are in the island chain but only the close neighbors. These islands are as dangerous as they are beautiful and even a seasoned Uman can become another creatures meal quickly in unknown territory.

One day I was walking along the beach looking out over toward Mokar’s Pool. I was looking for items of use washed up in the sand. Mokar’s Pool is a reverse whirlpool, and sometimes treasures from water are sucked up from the depths and spit out by the giant reversing vortex. On occasion, one can find a piece of metal that can be crafted into something. Sometimes a piece of an old board from a pirate ship can be found, carved and sold for a profit. I often think of finding something that may have belonged to my father, though this has never happened.

My friends tell stories of finding whole coin chests and legends say that entire ships with huge bounties of goods aboard will surface, allowing the Umen to become rich in one fell swoop. I am not Mer-kissed or lucky for that matter so mostly I find junk. It is useful if you know how to craft it, but it is still junk.

I was gazing out over the waters and saw something I hadn’t seen before.
When a fisherman gazes at the waters for most of his young life he learns what is common and what is rare. The was a bright flash of blue-green much brighter than the water and it was coming toward me.

I saw one of the mer-folk approaching, it was a young Naga female around my age. She had a devil may care crooked grin on her face. Her hair looked Raven black at first but later I learned it was a very dark blue color. She wore it long and over her shoulders. Her emerald green eyes twinkled in amusement and she playfully said in the common tongue:

“Hey you land lubbing sludge, you CLOD you are blocking my view of the beach and have been for some time now!”.

I stood there aghast at her demeanor. She wasn’t afraid in the least and was a little abrasive in her boldness. She appeared to be standing waist deep in the water but that was deceptive. Below the water, her tail thrashed about to keep her upright while above the water she appeared as if any other girl standing in the shallows. Well, she did not appear to be just “Any girl”.

She was barely clad, had a confidence and dangerous side the village girls did not possess. Strapped to 1 forearm was a Naga dagger. Higher on the same arm below her shoulder was strapped a 2nd dagger. A fine chain with a third more beautiful and lengthy dagger hung around her neck and between her breasts. The three daggers, I could tell at a glance were all Naga made and were very fine. Her breasts that the dagger hung down between were even more exquisite.

She yelled again “I come here sometimes Greenwood”, a slang that the Umans were called “and I like a clear view of the beach so run along”. Then with a smirk, she disappeared below the waters.

That night I thought about the time it took to craft those weapons that she wore. All 3 knives would have required some time and a great amount of effort. The weapons had to be bent to the wielder’s/creator’s will and formed with magic. 1 dagger alone would be more valuable than several of the Uman huts in the village with all the possessions inside.

The blades were blue-green in color and a shone in a bright iridescence that I have never seen before. The knives I thought much about but honestly, the thoughts of weapons were only to get my mind off the rest of the woman. I tried to think about unicorns, about goblins about stinky flesh golems (yuck) but my thoughts kept returning to the beautiful Naga that yelled at me that day. I had discovered my treasure from the sea and that treasure to me ended up being worth more than a dozen lost pirate ships.

In my mind, a plan began to come together. My fishing spot would be that same spot on that same beach until the young Naga was provoked enough to visit me again.

Day after day I tried and no sight of my mysterious Naga friend. She wasn’t my friend yet, but I am a young man and a young man is good at hoping.
On the third day, she appeared again and we began to talk.

Her name in the Naga tongue was gravelly and harsh on the ears. She spoke common well enough and when she translated her name it was much softer and pleasant. Her name was Saphonelle but I called her Saph for short.

She would stop by and talk of places she had seen in her travels to far off lands. “Once I saw a SMASH LIZARD when I was quite young,” she said describing a T-rex perfectly. She mimicked the little arms and flapped about as if she could not reach anything, which made us both laugh hard.

She would often say insulting things followed by a flirty smile. She would say “For a Sludge, you aren’t too bad” or there were times that Saph would come up with a new insult like “Clod face, clodhopper”.

One day just one I tried to correct her on something that she had said. I thought my Aeron way was better so I began with “Saph what you need to do is…” Before I could blink her dagger was pressed against my throat and the other pushed hard into my ribs. She said “I will gut you like a fish Lubber! You may be the master of baiting but I don’t need advice from the likes of you”. After that, she kissed me on the cheek and I understood the lesson.

Saph wanted, needed nobody telling her how to run things. She was in control of her life and that was the way it was going to be. The kiss was supposed to soften the knives against me from a few moments before. The message was “be nice and follow the rules or be prepared to carry parts of yourself home in a fish bag”. She was as unpredictable as she was beautiful.

As the days past by I noticed she was restless with her attention more towards the sea and she would often leave abruptly to hunt then return to talk.

One day she asked if I would swim with her in the waters and hunt.

Oh, how I wished for that 1 day I could be Prince Valnamor who can hold his breath for 43 minutes. Oh, how I yearned to swim/hunt in the waters with Saph.

I knew no one in my village with strong enough magic to allow me to breathe underwater.
An epiphany entered my mind. The rumors said that Naga could sprout legs and walk on dry land. I asked Saph if she could come on land and hunt with me as there was much wild game to be stalked, killed and eaten. Her eyes the color of precious Beryl gleamed greenly at the prospect. The idea of a hunt with me especially excited her.

She went deep under the water, then bursting forth her tail glistening in the sun was replaced by two strong woman legs as Saph completed the rotation landing upright on the beach. The ΛZMΛRE judges would have scored 10, 10, 10 had there been any there to witness the feat.

Standing before me was a woman in appearance with 2 of the most elegant female legs I have ever seen. She walked a short distance with well toned agile strides and turning, Saph recognized my approval. I had lost all interest in a hunt. I had lost my words.

She smiled in that Devilish way that I find so attractive and she said: “Are you gonna stand around all day Gawking like a sea turtle or are we going on a hunt?”.

I saw a different side of Saph during the hunt. I had a difficult time keeping up for one. She was a Fiend and would chase down a rabbit or other small with her nimble sprinter legs catching the creature using sometimes a knife in each hand as the poor creature met its demise. She was not modest at either and I saw plenty of her skin as she ran through the forest. The hunt had put us both in an excited mood. Me from the show I had received and her from the carnage of the event. I offered her Rabbit but she declined to say she preferred something aquatic for dinner. I took the rabbits home to boil and she returned to her watery home, wherever that was.

We parted ways but I did not sleep that night thinking about that day. I didn’t know it at the time, but my dear Saph did not sleep either that night.

One day Saph said she had something for me and she said: “wait here until I return”. I waited. Time passed. She was gone quite some time but returned with a small bag full of pirate coins. Those coins were worth many months of fisherman’s wages. Once again I wondered if one of the pirate coins had belonged to my father.

As the days went by I noticed that Saph’s lower half was getting more and more purple-blue in color. It was the kind of thing that happened slowly at first but I finally realized she was even more impressive that when I first met her. She was curvier as well and even easier to stare at. One day when she was especially brilliantly colored she broke out with a romantic poem about a Naga and a fisherman. This confused me and I asked her about it.

She said that she was in a state of shimmer and could not help either the color or the prose. It was something that naturally happened to Mer-folk when they were enamored with another.

I had looked at other girls from the village and had held hands on one occasion but never before had a girl, woman or creature shown any interest in me. I too had been infatuated by Saph since the first day she had emerged from the vast waters and approached me.

We played in the water that day enjoying our time together. As day turned into dusk we stood in the water and kissed. I was no expert on kissing but Saph had a tongue, unlike any Uman woman. Her tongue was split into two sections and one section coiled around my tongue playfully while the other half explored my neck and face. Her tail wrapped around me in the water and held me tightly against her. I was a young man and had never been in this situation before.

Saph and I made love in the tide pool that evening. She shook so hard and coiled around me so tightly at the end I thought she would surely drag me under the water and drown me. Fortunately, she did not.

Afterward, we lay on the beach my legs in the water and her tail still wrapped around my legs. We spoke little and tried hard to catch our breath as we panted up at the sky.

That has been some time ago and I have not seen her again. I have not spent the coins she gave me and keep them as a memory of those days when we played and hunted along the beach. My hope is that one day I will see her again. One day I may learn more about her people’s customs. One day I may see again, that Devil May Care smile.

Until that day I fish and try not to die.

Aeron fisherman of Brine

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