Young Writers Society

Runes. An ancient magic composed of symbols and filled with power. They are said to be the remnants of the words used to create the universe.

Runes can be used in a variety of ways, preserved in rune journals, carved onto small stones, woven into clothing, or even printed on skin, and can be used to manipulate your surroundings. Runekeeping is an incredible power... and a dying art. Your people are few in number and have to make themselves scarce in non-magical communities. People mistrust the old magic and have not hesitated to act violently against it in the past. Still, you work to protect them against the powers they do not understand.

Strange rumors are surfacing about the northern mountain. It's a long journey, but a small band of Runekeepers are determined to take on the challenge. The safety of Intria is in your hands!

Gabriel hurried along the wet cobblestone path as the faint rain dampened his cloak. He carried with him a journal, not any journal, but a rune journal. The people in this village were extremely paranoid of his sort, so he had to be careful.

As he entered the only Inn the town, the warmth and jollity of the room lured him in, and the atmosphere was amiable as he went to sit at a table in the far corner, his eyes fixed on the door.

Raelyn stepped into the inn carefully. A gust of wind followed her inside as the door shut, and she held her cloak tightly around her. Gloves covered her arms and hid the numerous spidery runes imprinted there. All her body, save her face was covered in these runes. This was one of the most inconvenient forms of runekeeping to hide, but Raelyn wouldn’t have traded it for anything. It allowed her to feel a personal connection to the runes. They were a part of her and she felt she knew them better for that. Hopefully she knew them well enough for what was up ahead.

Terytha Orbona quietly trotted down the path. She carried a large satchel, where inside was wrapped a journal of runes. Her family did not know it existed. Nobody knew--except for herself.

A breeze buffeted her dark green cloak and she hurried to the inn. She would stay there for a while, and listen. She would have to keep moving if she, a runekeeper, would be safe. Terytha stepped inside the inn as quietly as she could.

In the ten minutes that Gabriel had been sitting in the inn, only two individuals out of the four to enter had peeked his interest. Although he couldn't have been sure due to the poor lighting in the inn and the brief moment he glimpsed it, but he was certain he had seen the patterns of one of the runes he had in his journal partially hidden on the neck of the one with the brownish cloak, while the one with the dark green cloak had the same look in her eyes as he had every time he came to a place full of non-runekeepers.

He had not encountered another runekeeper in the last five weeks, but in order for him to approach these two, he would have to bide his time lest his assumptions were incorrect, and he find himself at the end of a noose.

Raelyn found a quiet corner to sit and ordered a simple meal. She'd been traveling for a good part of the day with no time to stop for a proper meal. Once the food came, she ate ravenously. As she reached the end of it however, and her hunger no longer distracted her, Raelyn realized she felt uneasy. Her fingers drummed against the table rapidly and the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She eyed the rest of the Inn out of the corner of her eye. Nothing seemed too out of place or threatening.

Two of the people stood out, but they didn't look like they'd mean her harm. They didn't look like they were regulars to the Inn. One of them seemed to be studying her as much as she was studying him, but that could mean anything. If only there was an easy way to identify other runekeepers.

Terytha spoke to the innkeeper there. "May I order some bread and soup?"

The innkeeper nodded, and gestured for the money. Terytha paid him and moved to the corner nearest to the door where she could observe people going in and out and still have a quick escape.

She glanced at two people sitting in corners as well. Both were surreptitiously staring at her, and Terytha sensed something familiar. It wasn't like feeling of being near a friend or family member. It was something that coursed through her blood, but one she could not quite place.

Tired of this standoff of stares, Raelyn considered how to confirm the identity of these strangers. She thought about it for a while then pulled a small square of parchment from her bag. On it, she traced "Shar", the rune of light, with charcoal. The rune was simple enough that those unfamiliar with runes wouldn't identify it as one, but a runekeeper could instantly recognize it. When Raelyn was finished, she held it up as if checking it for smudges, though she was really giving the others a chance to see it.

Terytha leaned forward. Did she just see "Shar"? The person garbed in a brown cloak was holding a piece of parchment with the rune of light. Was she a runekeeper as well?

Terytha was too curious to restrain herself. She got up from the table and weaved her way to the woman's table. The woman's hair was a pretty strawberry blonde but her blue eyes were somewhat unusual. Terytha recognized her as one of her kind, a runekeeper.

"Is it Shar?" Terytha asked, gesturing to the parchment.

He knew it! The moment he saw the faint lines of the Shar rune, he knew his instincts were correct. Then, he was correct a second time when the green cloaked one stood and went to sit at the Shar-drawer's table.

However, this latter action drew the attention of some of the town's people the green cloak passed, and Gabriel knew it wouldn't be long before they started growing suspicious of the two women whispering in the corner.

Quickly thinking out a plan, he decided to use the charm rune Hariz on the tavern wench to get her to take a message to them to get them to come to his room upstairs discretely and quickly. He knew that this would be a decisive moment in his remaining in this village.

The woman with the dark green cloak and auburn hair approached her and Raelyn smiled. Her plan had worked. It had been a tiny bit risky, Raelyn realized in hindsight. She'd grown up in a relatively peaceful village, but in the days of old there had been bounty hunters that studied rune lore just so they could recognize runekeepers. She hadn't heard of one in years, but she knew little about this area.

When the woman spoke, Raelyn nodded swiftly. "So I take it you're a runekeeper as well?" She looked around as she spoke, the other possible runekeeper hadn't made any move to approach, but she'd seen the light of recognition in his eyes.

Terytha nodded back. "I'm Terytha. You're-"

"I'm Raelyn," the woman responded.

She glanced at the hooded man in the corner. He had to be a runekeeper as well, she thought.

"Look." Raelyn tipped her head slightly in the direction of the possible runekeeper. Terytha watched him and began to sense a hint of rune magic clouding him. He was definitely using a rune, but Terytha wasn't sure which rune.

Raelyn eyed the man for a second before turning away. Others in the inn were beginning to take note of the cloaked strangers, and though rune magic was nearly imperceptible if you didn't know what to look for, the non-magics were bound to see it if they stared too hard. It was important that the runekeepers had a chance to talk - it couldn't be coincidence that they all arrived here at a similar time - but it would have to be in private. Somewhere away from the growing stares.

"It's wise that he isn't joining us right now. I was so surprised to see you both that I let my guard down. We'll need to be more careful." Raelyn sat back and drank a final sip from her cup. "I doubt there's been many like us in this area for long time, but their distrust will be all the stronger for that."

Almost immediately after using the Hariz rune in the direction of the tavern wench, she came over to Gabriel's table and stood waiting for instructions.

"Would you be so kind and take this message to those two ladies in the corner over there?" The girl nodded and took the piece of paper that he had written his message on.

As she reached the table where the other runekeepers were sitting, Gabriel stood up, looked over at them once before going up to his room, hoping they would be smart enough to not draw attention to themselves.

Well, this was interesting. James had been working at the front desk, and watched as the three cloaked strangers entered the tavern in succession. He silently observed from his seat, allowing himself to be distracted by other incoming travelers looking to find a room at the inn. Theo Thespa, the inkeeper, left James to take care of the formal front door exchanges when he had to go take care of other matters - whatever management of an inn entailed (which usually just meant making sure everyone was doing what they were supposed to be doing, making sure customers were satisfied, and ensuring a presentable and safe place of business).

James had to admit however, that the three figures caught his curiosity. It seemed that others in the room gave them wary glances now and then (considering how often the three made eye contact) but for the most part paid them no mind. At first, James considered that perhaps they were planning a heist and were stationing themselves in their positions - or they were staking the place out. That was until he saw the rune that one of the women lifted up announcing her presence as a rune-keeper to the room. If James had been taking a sip of water at that moment, he most assuredly would have choked or spit it out. He noticed that few people noticed the rune itself, but took note of the other cloaked figure who strode quickly across the room, as if a hasty answer to the very risky beacon. He hoped he was right in his previous assessment of the room that no one else but him would recognize the markings.

He restrained any outward expressions of surprise, and, maintaining a generally bored expression, let his eyes lazily drift across the room and back to the front door. Today was not a particularly busy day. So to have three, seemingly unrelated (at first) travelers wander in at once was already an uncommon occurrence. So naturally, he began to wonder the intentions of their meeting here. Perhaps, this was all happenstance, or perhaps, this was an intentional (and poorly organized) meeting of desperate rune-keepers trying to unite for a common cause.

Thespa interrupted James's hurried thoughts as he stepped behind the desk with a tired look on his face, wiping his brow. "Another baby threw up in room 3B and Niecy and Gabriel are busy." He complained. That was the third time someone threw up in a room this week. There was a nasty flu going around.

James narrowed his eyes at the man. Thespa had a way of asking for favors as statements. "I'll go clean it up." He resigned, rolling his eyes at Thespa's poor communication, and leaving Thespa with a pleased grin.

Secretly however, James saw the task as an opportunity: an excuse to leave his station at the door so he could veer off to the room of the key he'd given to the cloaked man in the back. A rune keeper, for sure. He never found himself entrenched enough in the practice of rune keeping to ascribe that title to himself, of course, despite his extensive knowledge of it. (It wasn't humility, really. Mostly denial.)

But first, he had to quickly clean up baby puke.