“Tom, my boy, we have arrived in Girroc.” Still groggy like I got little sleep even though I slept for over eleven hours I got up grabbed my gear and headed outside.
The first thing I noticed was the smell. It smelled like campfire and Mud with a hint of fish. Looking around all I see is docks with boats of all sizes and types everywhere spilling into the river like a blockade. Across the river and to the south I see The Great Forest. In the north there’s large mountain peaks in the distance. Walking around the ship to the west I see Girroc. Everything on land is made of stone and masterfully done. I can tell we were on the southern side because the massive thick stone wall curved northward.
Lax walked up next to me. “Tom, we should speak with the magistrate first then get you something other than a tunic to wear if we are to battle.” “I have no money Lax.” “Not to worry my boy..yet.” Lax smiled. It took about thirty more minutes for our boat to fully dock with all the congestion on and off the water. Girroc was clearly over populated at the moment.
“Hey Lax, have you been here often?” “A few times but the last time was around thirty years ago. Anyway the magistrate is right over there.” He pointed just off the dock to the north at some stone buildings. It seemed like Lax didn’t want to talk about his last visit here.
We had to go through a trade hub of sorts that mostly sold fish to get to our destination. We arrived at the large stone building and headed in. It smelled musty and I could tell it was all about functionality. There were no paintings or decorations. It was like a courthouse, police station, and war room crammed together efficiently. When I was imagining the magistrate I was thinking either a tough cowboy or an old judge with a giant white wig. I didn’t expect the old as dirt dwarf with thin white hair on his head and a giant white beard. “Lax, is that really you?” The dwarf said in a weak yet deep voice. “It is I, Mughardin .” The dwarf announced himself proudly. “It has been a while old friend. It is great to see you. This is Tom. One of the party members who aided in slaying The Wanderer.” “Actual qualified help at last!” He bellowed.“Hello Mughardin sir. I only helped support the hero Kritin.” “And Kritin is not with you?” “No sir.” I replied. The dwarf seemed saddened by the news, “A shame. He’s very powerful but if you helped kill the wanderer you are better than most of the fighters here.” Lax spoke up, “What is the plan, old friend?”
We headed toward a table with a map of the region on it. “Short version, a boat decoy while we invade through the mountains here.” His shaky finger traced the pass from Girroc to Nardun. “They are mostly settled on the western side of the river. The elves from Frint are already on their way to clear the eastern side and hold it until our side is dealt with.” His finger went from Frintilandituril to the eastern side of the river by the pass. “We think there is only one dragon but it is an Elder red dragon. Why it is here, we have no idea.”
I looked over to Lax. “I guess my idea is out?” “Tom my boy, we have to help those in need.” Mughardin cleared his throat, “The Trade Union will pay you well for each wyvern you kill and whoever slays the dragon gets double its material weight worth as a reward as well as a small percent of its hoard.” “Can you tell us the values?” I asked, confused by the wording. “Of course. One gold per wyvern and the dragon is tricky because the hoard of an Elder dragon itself can be worth a few thousand gold.” “When do we leave for the pass?” “Well some greedy souls have already left. The bulk of our forces will head out at first light tomorrow morning. It was nice to meet you Tom and great to see you Lax but I have a busy day to get back to. Good day.”
We headed out and Lax led the way to the center of town. “Even though Dwarves do not age as quickly as you humans, I often forget how fast time goes.” Lax said quietly and I had no reply to that so we just walked in silence.
We arrived at the center of town. It was laid out in a circular fashion with wooden stalls towards the center and more permanent stalls and buildings also in a ring around them. It was very crowded and there were shops everywhere. Some were small stalls, others were large stone buildings.
“So what are we looking for?” I asked. “Weapons and armor for you.” “My halberd and longsword aren’t good?” “We can ask a weapon maker there.” He replied while pointing to a smithy connected to a stone building.
The hundreds if not thousands of people around were mostly Dwarves and elves but there were a few humans. There were also a few races I had never seen before, even in earth’s fantasy stuff. One was feathered with wings curled up in a way that reminded me of a bat. Another I saw had dark blue cheeks which was all that was shown.
Lax pointed to a sign above the smithy that I couldn’t read but it had two swords crossing on top of a shield. There was also a display window that showed weapons of many types and colors. Green, blue, red, black, and white. Some looked normal like bronze or brass, iron, steel, and chrome. We headed inside. Weapons of all sorts everywhere neatly organized.
“How can I help you?” A dwarf female asked. She was perhaps four and a half feet tall with a sturdy muscular frame, long bright red hair and no beard. “My good friend here was curious as to the quality of his weapons. He does not want to face wyverns with garbage.” She nodded, “I’ll take a quick look.” “Thank you. It’s just my halberd and sword.” I say as I hand them over. “Hmm not great but not poor either. The Murichi smiths don’t have the gift but do alright. Honestly a quick sharpen and these will do fine but they will dull quickly against wyverns. What about the knife and your rapier?” “My rapier is fine, thank you.” I contemplated on showing an expert a weapon not native to this world but decided it would also tell me how good they are so I handed my Bowie knife over. “How…It is nearly perfect. What’s this engraving mean?” She pointed at the branding of the makers of the Bowie. “It’s a maker from my homeland.” “Are other metals hard to come by?” “Yes, I also think that steel is in abundance.” “That makes sense why you would perfect such a low metal. Thank you for showing me. I can sharpen your weapons for a silver since you showed me such a nice knife.” Lax slid a silver over and said “We will be next door at the armorer then return” “Very good. see you then” We headed next door.
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“Thanks Lax for all you have done.” “Your unique company has been a joy to be with Tom.” Just like the weapons the armor was of various colors. “What do you need?” A middle aged bald man asked. “Hey. Yeah I had a question then need some armor.” He just nodded. “Will this shield stop acid and dragon-fire?” I hand over my green carapace type shield. He looked it over for a few seconds. “Acid yes. Dragon-fire for a few seconds.” he handed it back to me. “Thanks now I’d like to get some armor, something lighter.” thinking how my bones seem really strong. My real worry is blood loss or vital organs. “Mail is your best bet then. What’s the budget?” I looked to Lax and he said “Five gold.” The man walked over to some lighter blue mail armor and held it up. “This is six gold” “Add the helmet and we have a deal, good sir.” “The helmet is two gold.” “Seven for both then?” “Deal.”
The helmet was a basic cone helmet with a nose guard that was also all lighter blue. The mail armor seemed like it would reach around my mid thigh. “Is seven gold a lot?” “Don’t worry about it Tom. We will kill plenty of wyverns and live to tell tales of it.” He smiled. We retrieved my weapons then went nearby to a clothier and got padded clothes for under my mail and a new set of casual clothes for a gold.
“My Boy, we just need a place to sleep for the night. We will try the inn’s but they are most likely all full up.” And they all were. Someone told us that the Church of goddess Althea would offer a cot. “We will go back to the boat tonight Tom.” And we did so.
On the way My curiosity got to me and I knew Lax had tons of knowledge so why not ask? “Lax, can you tell me about the goddess Althea and the other gods?” “Sure thing my boy.” He thought for a moment “Under Magar The Almighty there are eight gods and goddesses including the goddess of hope, fertility, and joy, Althea. Under these eight gods who some call major gods there are twenty four others. An example is Harken, one of the twenty four is the God of Hope. I follow Xander the God of Protection, Law, and Peace. Most humans and elves follow these two. The other five have many followers from certain places and races.” “Doesn’t that equal seven?” I blurted out. “Patience young one, I was getting there. The last one was said to have been so evil that all the other gods got together and killed the God of death, famine, and turmoil.”
“Any other gods I should know by name?” “The Dwarves often worship Orlone the God of earth, toughness, and growth. There is also Krador, God of air, honor, and war. He is worshiped by orcs and many military people. Samara the Goddess of fire, sun, and wrath is worshiped mostly to the south east of here in the great desert region. Another is Brennen, God of water, moon, and time. Lastly there is Leandra, Goddess of blood, misery, and cunning who many bad creatures worship.”
“And Magar rules over the eight?” “It is said Magar rules over the eight and the eight each rule over three.” Thinking back to what Magar said to me when I first arrived, I had to ask. “Who is Zeke then?” “Zeke the God of turmoil?” “Yeah, I guess so.” “How do you know of him and no others?” Figuring a half truth was the smartest answer even though I trusted Lax I said. “Zeke was a name I heard right before I was brought to the great forest. It was mostly his doing.” “Another piece of the puzzle of how you are you. How wonderful.” Lax smiled. It was quiet the rest of the way to the boat.
The captains quarters were empty which makes sense since it was early afternoon on a docked boat so I decided to practice some magic. I imagined a globe of light the size of a grain of sand in my palm. “Light.” It worked but hardly gave off any light. It helped my understanding that my brain or imagination could limit a spell both positively and negatively. After a few dozen casts Lax interrupted my concentration. “Is that really helping you?” “I have no idea.” I chuckled a bit but kept going. After a few hundred casts Lax announced he was getting us dinner and left just as a clearly drunk Pem walked in.
“Tom the big bad spider slayer.” She said very sarcastically. “Did you hear the story?” “Just that you were there and Kritin killed The Wanderer.” “Want to hear the full story?” “Who would say no?” I told her the full real story about the spider injuring itself and Kritin finishing it off while we dealt with the smaller ones.
“You are the most truthful human I have ever met” “How do you know?” “It is my magic ability. I can tell when someone is lying or even exaggerating.” “Can you teach me some spells?” She put her head down. “I cannot use magic because I have a magic ability and it is never not active.” She sounded completely sober now. “Always seeing the truth…seeing people lie to those they love so easily is painful but knowing when a trader is trying to take advantage is helpful.” “Thanks for sharing Pem.” She gave a sad smile clearly deep in her memories as the door opened.
“Tom I know you are tired of fish but that is all they had. My dear niece, you look nice this evening.” She cheered up quickly. “Thanks uncle for noticing.” She gave me a look. She was wearing a nice light green summer dress with a floral design instead of her hard leather armor. Lax handed me my fish soup and bread.
“My dear, what are your plans?” “Well Leah is selling Lady Harmony to the trade union for the dragon assault. I think she just wants to go home and start a family now.” “Will you be joining her?” “Definitely not. We had our fun but I would like to travel now like my favorite uncle.” “Your only uncle.” They both laughed at the cliche joke. It was nice to see a happy family or at least part of one. “So uncle I was wondering if I could well, I hope I….” “Not happening my beautiful Pemilandituril.” “Really uncle? I am going tomorrow either with you or another party.” I jumped in now seeing what she wanted “Wait to the pass to fight the wyverns?” “Yes Tom. I was trained in archery and subterfuge by the head trainers at the royal palace so do not worry about me.” “The royal palace?” “Yes.” She looked over to Lax “Uncle have you told him anything?” “Not much in that sense.”
Pem cleared her throat. “Tom my boy I am Prince Laxilandituril. Third in line to the throne of Frintilandituril where my sister the Empress rules” She said while doing a funny yet not terrible Lax impersonation. Lax sighed, “Third or three hundredth. It does not matter. To my credit I did say my family was rich and very well known.” I bet this news would be shocking to someone from Magarnia but to me I didn’t feel the same weight. Though thinking of Lax as a prince made sense but felt weird.
“So Prince Lax what now lord?” I said mockingly and bowed. “Please Tom, do not let my title change our relationship.” He replied in an equally mocking tone then continued seriously. “Pem it would be an honor to fight alongside my niece. Your bow against the wyvern will be very helpful. After dinner and a few minutes of small conversation I began to drift asleep.