#Inovaire Chronicles

[rtheott]

Inovaire Chronicles: Smoke Rises Yet Again...

Disclaimer: I am tired as I edited this so blah. Also, I do plan on making this into a comic some time. This is a rough draft of the first story. Let me know how I could improve!

      Ms. Desiree dons her press hat on her head, grabs her coat, and leaves the abandoned building that she converted into her own newspaper manufacturing area and ventures into the city to hopefully find her daily scoop. The best place to look for news is the Harbour, so she heads that direction. The city around her grows dirtier and slum-like as she nears the docks. Desiree lived in the Harbour section of the island city known as Inovaire. Inovaire has three sections of cities, separated by class. These sections are known as the Harbour, the dirtiest and most crime ridden section; the Factory, the most commercial and crowded section; and the Plaza, the ritziest section where the most exclusive and powerful families live. The Harbour was where Desiree felt most comfortable in, due to her upbringing. She lived in the Harbour section until the age of 20 when she had finally scraped up enough money to purchase a printing press and an unused building in the Factory. Though, that took years to build up as her mother and her had to work hard in order to even be able to afford a full meal. She hopes that offering well paying jobs only to people from the Harbour would help them be able to avoid most if not all the hardships that she had experienced. Desiree nears the ocean where the city opens up revealing docks that constantly bring in goods, food, and visitors. These docks that border the entire island are why this section of the city is called the Harbour. After a bit of walking on the docks, her train of thought is disrupted as she smells a mix of smoke, smoldering wood, and melted bronze. Her eyes land on smoke that slowly billows out from the now almost fully incinerated Yuress Warehouse before they land on several soot-covered people sitting on a nearby dock. The Yuress Warehouses are where most of the city's imports of building supplies come from. This is what caused the Yuress family to reach such a high status and become one of the select families who have the most power in Inovaire. She approaches the dock, preparing to interview the workers as she readies her trusty notebook and pencil. As she reaches the group of workers, she hears one of them, a bear, talking. The bear’s voice has a deep baritone dripping with a thick accent that accompanies his stocky frame and large belly.

“-tried tuh stop da fire, but it spread too fast tuh completely stop it. ‘S almost like dey knew where tuh throw dose fire bombs for it tuh get outta control.” The bear was telling the other workers. Desiree jots down in her notebook the word arson. She waits for the bear to finish his retelling and asks him if he would be okay with an interview. He nods at her and they both leave the group of other workers. “So, mister…” She starts, hinting for him to tell her his name. “Shirjay Ritley, but jus call me Shirjay.” He answers. 

“So, Shirjay. You mentioned that someone threw fire bombs. Did you manage to see who threw it?” She asks. “Well, uhm… All dat I wuz able tuh see was a gas mask. It coulda been dat gang… uhhh. What were dey called again?” He asks. “The Firebrands.” Desiree quickly answers, writing down the name in her notebook and underlining it with one loud scratch of her pencil. “Thank you for your time Shirjay. I’ll make sure to have this in the paper as soon as I can. Try not tell anyone else about any more information. We don't want to spread any misinformation.” She tells Shirjay as she starts walking away. “Alright, miss…” The bear hesitates, “Wait! I nevah caught ya name!” He shouts. “Desiree!” She shouts back with a smile. “See ya ‘round, miss Desree!” He says with a wave as she disappears into the city. After a while of walking, she reaches the station and goes inside. She walks over to the desk of one of her workers, Veiryl Keeley, who had also been Desiree’s closest friend since childhood. Veiryl had a thin, yet sturdy physique and she could talk her way out of any situation. Desiree tore off the page about the fire from her notebook, making sure that she still had the page with the mention of the Firebrands in her possession. “V, start writing the paper for me please. Give it to Rayland and Pierre once you finish writing it, so they can print the papers. Tell them to hand all the papers to Barneby, once they have been printed. Barneby will know what to do.” She lists off to Veiryl. “A hello would be nice, D.” Veiryl said in her soft spoken voice. “Sorry V.” Desiree sincerely apologized as she practically ran to her own desk, conducting a search for pocket change so she could get lunch while she was out. Veiryl laughs before speaking, “You know I was just messing with you.” Desiree breathes a sigh of relief as she could never tell when Veiryl was joking or not. “But really, where are you going so quickly?” Veiryl asked. “I have a lead to follow.” Desiree answers as she successfully finds some money. Desiree runs to the front door again. “Alright, I’ll be back sometime after noon. So, I’ll see you all then!” She announces to the room just seconds before she closes the door behind her, leaving the station as fast as she had arrived. Desiree starts walking to a particular bar that she believes to be a common spot for some Firebrands before she stops dead in her tracks. She turns around, worrying that Veiryl might be mad at her. Desiree opens the door to the news station and pokes her head in. “Sorry again V!” She says from the door. “It’s alright D, now go! You are wasting daylight.” Veiryl assures her.

Desiree nods and leaves the station once more. The only thing on her mind now is to find out if her hunch about this bar is correct.