Chaus Echwink
Chaus Echwink was a Gattish academic responsible for assembling the First Echwink Expedition to Vardura. He was allegedly killed in a volcanic eruption while attempting to protect an archaeological dig. He is survived by his son, Walden Echwink.
Children
Related Plots
Chaus Echwink eagerly gazed out over the eastern horizon toward the glow of the coming dawn. Anticipation had frozen his heart in his throat ever since they set sail from Bragaki a tenday ago, but now the moment he had dreamed of since he was a child was finally here. A moment 500 years in the making.
He glanced around to take stock of the other witnesses gathered on Valen'taomi. Only a few scholars he had sailed with him from the Isles and a handful of the slow-moving hooded caretakers watched with him. He was struck with a moment of doubt; was this all there was? The greatest historical moment in their lifetimes was happening and no one cared but a few dotty scholars and a Gattish boy stricken with wanderlust?
He almost missed it in his brooding, but picked his eyes up soon enough to see the sun climb over the edge of the world like a giant asleep for centuries. The sudden brightness caused him to throw his hand in front of his eyes and block his immediate view. He heard a few others gasp and tried to force his strained eyes to focus, but he couldn't see anything coming over the horizon. The brightness faded and confirmed his fear: there were no ships cresting the waves, no fleet from a foreign land, no regatta of celebration and reconnection. Just sunlight and water. Like every morning for the last 500 years.
No, Chaus thought. Not like every morning. Not this one. He turned from the sunrise and stormed back to his modest quarters. In the spare stone room, Chaus sat down at the aged wooden desk and took out some parchment. He unsheathed his quill like a warrior before battle, wet the tip, and began to write: "Dear Father..."
