Flink Cinder Backstory
Chapter I — The Simiah and the Sacred Roads
“The road remembers every foot that honors it.”
Chapter Navigation
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Field Detail Timeline Before the Vanishing Location Lower Simiah Districts Key Themes Movement · Duty · Memory Important NPCs Sarun Varam · Narevi Varam · Elder Kesh
Lore Record
Long before the gods vanished, the Simiah were known throughout the old world as couriers, climbers, and keepers of sacred routes. While other peoples built kingdoms through armies or wealth, the Simiah built their reputation through movement. They carried words where others could not travel. They crossed mountains, cliffside roads, hanging bridges, and dangerous pilgrimage paths with unmatched agility and endurance.
Among many ancient faiths, movement itself was considered sacred.
One of the oldest and most widespread Simiah traditions tells that their people were first shaped by Hanuman, the divine wanderer and bridge-leaper, who carried strength not through domination but through devotion, endurance, and impossible journeys. In old temple carvings and oral traditions, Hanuman was often depicted not as a distant god seated upon a throne, but as a traveler in motion — crossing oceans, scaling mountains, and carrying sacred words across impossible distances.
Because of this, many Simiah believed that movement itself was an act of worship.
A message faithfully delivered carried spiritual meaning. A dangerous journey completed was seen as devotion made physical. Simiah couriers were entrusted with temple correspondence, relic transport, pilgrimage records, offerings, and sealed messages between distant shrines. Their memory for routes became legendary, and entire family lineages preserved roads and travel traditions through oral teachings passed between generations.
Many Simiah communities were built vertically rather than outward. Elevated walkways, hanging hammocks, rooftop courtyards, and suspended storage reflected a people more comfortable above the ground than upon it. Children learned balance before literacy. Climbing was as natural as walking.
When the great city of Vedrheim expanded into a center of trade, pilgrimage, and divine politics, many Simiah families settled within its lower hillside districts. The city’s terraces, aqueducts, shrines, and crowded rooftops suited them well. Over time, Simiah became deeply woven into parts of the city’s infrastructure and messenger systems.
Flink’s family belonged to one of the old courier lineages.
For generations they carried sealed temple documents and offerings between shrines throughout Vedrheim and beyond. Their reputation rested on reliability, discretion, and endurance. To fail a delivery was not merely incompetence—it was dishonor.
Though the family honored the old traditions, they were not wealthy. They lived in the lower districts among workers, laborers, and tradespeople who depended upon movement through the city to survive. Their home reflected older Simiah customs: elevated sleeping spaces, hanging storage, rope fixtures, narrow ceiling walkways, and open balconies overlooking the streets below.
Among the Simiah, there was an old saying:
“The road remembers every foot that honors it.”
Flink heard those words often growing up.
References
People: Sarun Varam · Narevi Varam · Elder Kesh
Connected Lore: Simiah · Hanuman · Vedrheim