Anyway, I figured a good way to handle this post would be to talk more about the characters and a little more about the premise of the story. Admittedly it's still on its first stage so things are up to change but I think I have the overall idea in mind. I mean, it's a really simple story in the end.
As I'm going to start writing from Kašimir, I have a little more of him thought out concerning his past and stuff. Jamal introduction is hopefully coming tomorrow!
Synopsis
Jamal is a man born with a skin condition, his skin a mixture of light and dark. As such, people have always found Jamal to be an ill omen, causing him eventually distancing himself from most people. Even so, the mapmaker remains as kind and friendly, dreaming of one day seeing the world he always draws on his maps. He is directly working under the ruler of the city, but people’s prejudice against him prevent him getting the recognition he would actually deserve - and without this recognition, he is forever doomed to live in the city where everyone seems to be vary of him.
One wants to go, one wants to say. An accidental encounter between the two men starts turning into curious arranged meetings that will permanently change their lives. What will happen when rumors about someone wanting to capture Kašimir start spreading? And what happens after the month is over and Kašimir must continue his travel again?
Kašimir
Despite the fact he is an adult, Kašimir’s gestures and expressions often have something youthful in them, and his feelings of excitement, interest and curiosity especially tend to have almost childlike genuineness in them. He can be somewhat impulsive too, but he is very much capable of rational thinking and he is certainly a well-read man.
Kašimir's past
Kašimir was born into a small village of Balkeash during the coldest month of the year. The weather was particularly cold that year and people were suffering, struggling to get their share of basic living necessities. However, soon after Kašimir was born some lost merchants ended up in the village, and as a thanks for letting them stay in, they sold their wares in lower price, ultimately saving the village for the winter. Right after this it was concluded Kašimir had to be no other than a kaš ni-an - as his differently coloured eyes had suggested since he was born.
Ever since he was a child, Kašimir had to start preparing for his life of travel. In order not to get too attached to his family, he spent only his first year with his birth family and then started living with different people of the village. He did still recognize his true family and spent time with them, but this made him getting used to being apart from his family.
Kašimir spent his childhood studying. Not only did he have to study things like culture, languages and sciences, he also had to learn how to sing, dance and entertain, as well as to learn proper etiquette of a kaš ni-an. This made him very busy,often not able to spend much time with children of his own age during his free time. Most of his social contact with other children were during his different lessons and especially his dancing lessons, as it was the village’s specialty: mixing martial arts and dance was their pride, and Kašimir learned his own magic and self defense through dancing, making his magic using style quite unique.
When he turned 9, Kašimir had to start visiting other nearby villages in order to learn how to travel properly. However, as he was still young and had to still continue his studies, some of the local villagers traveled together with him and taught him while travelling. Other villages were also more than willing to share their own knowledge to the young kaš ni-an.
His life continued on. Training was often hard, but typical for kaš ni-ans, the boy refused to give up or even complain. Craving for friends his age, he also learned ways to combine fun and studies, and would sometimes even make arrangement suggestions for his teachers so he could balance out being a child and being a kaš ni-an. This used to amuse his teachers and they often obliged.
When he turned 13 it was his time to leave the village. He learned to summon his spiritual companions, three dholes, and he was sent out in the world. For the first two years he traveled with two outsiders to the village: a demon woman named Lia and a young troubadour called Keith. They were highly trusted by the village and as they were trustworthy and knowledgeable travelers on their own right, the boy was trusted to them.
Once Kašimir turned 15 he started travelling alone. Before this he had always had someone with him, and although he had learned not to miss his family and friends from his home village, he felt lonely. There was nobody he could ever talk to, nobody to turn on to and nobody to encourage him or tell him things would be alright when he was feeling bad. His dhole companions became his most treasured friends and he would often talk to them and sleep cuddled up next to them.
Eventually he learned to deal with his lifestyle and his loneliness. He started enjoying the luxuries he received when arriving to new places and used every opportunity he could just get to talk to as many people as possible. He would often invite people even to his private chambers regardless of their social standing: in fact, he often preferred talking alone with servants. Kašimir would also engage in every party he just could and his sex life became more active too as he turned into an adult. As he grew up, he would often turn to people specifically assigned to be his right hand in each city, and these people would happily help the young man out.
As Kašimir grew up thinking of himself as a public property of sort, he didn’t find it embarrassing to ask his helpers about more private matters as well. Especially in his adolescence he lacked a certain kind of shame with what he talked about and what he let people to do to him. Things changed when he was almost assaulted during his travel and saved just briefly, and the scary experience taught him to understand himself as a person with boundaries just like anyone.