Meanwhile, back at the camp, Zenio had finally woken up and felt much better. He was feeling perky and active, and his fever had dropped noticeably. He took his bag and went out of the tent for the first time without any book or pen in hand. The camp was full of life and everyone was busy in their own activities, therefore he would not have interrupted any worker so as not to disturb, instead observing everything from afar. He then noticed a group of Dze children playing at the edge of the clearing, not far from the outermost tent of the camp, and decided to go and interact with them; there were four Dze juveniles in all, two males and two females. The children had been struck by the foreigner's presence, but were soon much intrigued rather than intimidated. Zenio sat down on the a rock in front of them and started pulling something out of his backpack. The four then gathered around the human and waited smiling, jokingly pushing each other to get a better view. The Khijovian displayed a bizarre but opulent votive statuette from Recondia to the children, who snatched at the lavish exotic artifact in amazement and fought for it. Zenio laughed slightly amused by the scene and suddenly felt a strong feeling of nostalgic belonging, as if he saw the image of him as a child reflected in the glittering eyes of those little ones.
Zenio's childhood was nothing but turbulent and dramatic, for his family was afflicted by numerous wretched misfortunes. He was from the small Garganthian city of Pronia, famous for the battle in which the forces of Zenon the Great defeated those of the House of Arenia. Other than that, the town was not well known and was one of the least developed of the whole Garganthia, with high thresholds of poverty and illiteracy. Belonging to the humble class of craftsmen, he was the only surviving son of a family originally of eight. He had two older brothers, but they died shortly after his birth in a aethermotive crash as they were migrating to Kleitore in search of job opportunities. At the age of only three, his mother died of the typhus and his younger sibling died right in her womb. To help their father, the older sisters had turned to prostitution in nearby Axiomia, and when Zenio turned thirteen, the eldest sister committed patricide following a brutal quarrel with their father. Eventually the sister was arrested and convicted, and little Zenio moved to the sisters in Axiomia to work in a men's brothel, living his entire adolescence amidst bordellos and taverns of the lowest order.
However, despite his traumatic life condition, the young Zenio was in any case perpetually driven by an irrepressible hunger for knowledge. During his free time, in fact, the boy tended to explore the city of Axiomia unbeknown to his sisters and discover the wonders that were hidden. He also passionately cultivated a multitude of hobbies, in particular writing and amateur navigation. In fact, Zenio delighted in impersonating sailors and often went to the port of Axiomia to observe the ships and nautical crews at work, sometimes circumnavigating the island of Axiomia with his humble canoe. This innate curiosity of his would eventually lead him, thanks to fate, to meet a very eccentric-looking character in a tavern surrounded by greatly interested bystanders. Zenio decided to make his way among the people insinuating himself to see better: that tall man was an intrepid explorer who was proudly displaying exotic objects found during his travels in distant lands, and who, once his exposition was over, noticed the extremely intrigued Zenio staring at him.
???: "Hey, little boy! You like them, don't you?"
Zenio nodded shyly and blushed.
???: "What's your name, huh?"
"Z-Zenio, sir…"
The sailor explorer stretched out his arm for a handshake:
"It's nice to meet you, Zenio. I am Scatevrio."
-
Zenio then began to play amused with the four Dze children with the statuette in hand, laughing together and chasing each other. Suddenly, a mighty and high-sounding voice from behind called his attention: it was Old Mist, who stood nearby with a pleasant expression.
