Omen: 14, 18

“That’s Eagle Wing?” Adam asked, staring at the huge town ahead. The walls were long and wide, wrapping around towards the hill, where they wrapped upwards to protect the layered city.

The Guards outside stood tall and proud, in their breast plate, stamped with the symbol of an eagle, and wore dusky tan cloaks around their shoulders. At their sides were short blades, and they wielded spears. Their helmets were patterned with wings across the side, which reminded him of the Order of Wings. These weren’t just Guards milling about, wishing they were doing something less boring, but true Guards, their heads held high.

“Halt!” the Guards shouted, raising their hands towards the strangers. Though a pair of them wore the knightly attire of an Oakguard and a Darkknight, the Guards still processed them as they normally would.

“Sir Merrick, Seventh Branch of the Oakguard!” Sir Merrick declared, before handing over the identification to confirm who they were and what they were doing. It hadn’t taken long for the Guards to confirm them, and soon they were allowed inside.

The moment Adam stepped inside, he needed to take a moment. The pathway was wide, extremely wide, there could be fifty people standing side by side with ease if they needed. The next tier began almost a half mile ahead, with its own set of walls and Guards, but the bustling people made it hard to see.

The floor was smooth, the buildings to the side made of smooth stone or wood, each of them small cubes. Everything was a light tan or a creamy colour, and most people wore muted clothing. Many people walked about with a small blade or axe at their side, and some carried staffs too.

Sir Harvey made his way to the inner wall, where a pair of Guards, near identical to the last, waited. They spoke with Sir Harvey as Adam noted the amount of Guards walking around. There were quite a few more than in Red oak, but then again, it seemed this town was much bigger too.

Eventually they were brought to a spacious estate, where Sir Harvey allowed them to settle.

“I will go and speak with Countess Eaglewing to make sure that there are no issues within our company,” he said, glancing to Adam.

Adam sighed. “Best of luck to you, Sir Harvey.”

Adam waited until inevitably he and Jurot were brought to an inn some ways away for them to recuperate within.

“I should have expected as much,” he said, before heading into the bath.

Eventually, he and Jurot made their way to the Adventurer’s Guild, though were stopped at the gates.

“Where are you going?” the Guard asked.

“The Adventurer’s Guild,” Adam said.

“How long will you be?”

“Uh. We’ll get there, spend about ten minutes there or so, then head back.”

“Come through this gate on the way back, or you will not be allowed through,” the Guard warned.

“If you say so.” Adam stepped past, wondering what that was all about.

The Adventurer’s Guild was near identical to the building in Red Oak, save it was made of smooth rock. When they stepped inside, they noted a few parties kicking it for the day, with a wall full of quests to one side, but more importantly, a reception ahead of them with an attractive young woman.

‘Seriously, is there a screening for pretty women in the Guilds or something?’ Adam revealed his tag. “I need some ink to inscribe a spell into my spellbook,” he whispered to the receptionist.

“How much?”

“About a hundred gold’s worth,” Adam said.

“There is a one gold fee,” she stated, but bowed her head.

Adam slipped a pair of gems from the Party Fund to pay for it, including the gold coin, and she provided him with a pouch filled with the item.

When they returned to the gate, the Guards stopped them. “Where had you gone?” the same Guard asked.

“The Advenuturer’s Guild?” Adam replied.

The Guard nodded, before allowing them through, and they made their way to the inn.

“What was that all about?” Adam asked.

“They confirm the comings and goings through the gates,” Jurot replied, simply. “It is their duty.”

“Oh… right, yeah, that makes sense. I thought they noticed I was a Half Elf.”

Adam spent the evening transcribing the spell Chaos Bolt into his spellbook. He had thought about the other spells from the scrolls, and though Bless was good, he needed a powerful ranged option, and like Flame Bolt, it required no material components.

Quest Complete: Embracing Chaos

XP: 370 -> 420

‘Is this meant to be some kind of joke?’ Adam asked.

[It is no joke.]

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

‘What’s this about, eh?’

[Something.]

‘So it’s going to be like that?’

[Yes.]

“Seriously…” Adam rubbed his forehead, shaking his head. What was he going to do with Bell?

Now that he had some time alone, he grabbed the pulsing gem from within his backpack and felt it. He kept his eye on the gem, staring deep into it.

Arcane Lore

D20 + 5 = 20 (15)

He could feel it pulse, but there was something else about the gem. Something pinged in the back of his mind. “Oh,” he whispered. “It’s alive?” Adam looked to his hand, then to the dried blood, and back to the pulsing gem.

“Should I feed it some blood?” he asked himself. ‘No, no, that’s a terrible idea.’

[If you wish.]

Hearing Bell made him think it was a bad idea, and perhaps that he shouldn’t do it.

However.

That wasn’t very chaotic.

“Hey, Jurot. You know that gem thing? It feels alive, and I think there’s something in it. Should I feed it some of my blood?”

Jurot stared at him long and hard from his bed. He had completely tuned out the world as he focused on cutting away into the wooden block, but when Adam had called his name, he had returned.

‘Do I need to babysit him?’ He continued to stare at Adam for a long while.

“Jurot?”

“It may be a bad idea,” he said. If Kitool was here, she would probably say it with more emphasis, but Jurot wasn’t sure about it.

“Yeah, but,” Adam began, narrowing his eyes slightly. “What if it isn’t a bad idea?”

Jurot stared at Adam.

Adam stared at Jurot.

Health: 52 -> 50

Adam nicked himself on his sword before dripping his blood onto the gem.

Adam stared at it, long and hard.

Perception Check

D20 + 3 = 18 (15)

“Nothing happened,” he said.

Jurot shrugged.

Seeing that Jurot wasn’t going to deny him his exploration, Adam continued to feed the gem.

Health: 50 -> 45

The blood dripped onto the gem, where it lay for some time.

Nothing happened.

“Well, that’s disappointing.”

Omen: 3, 5

“Is this your first time in this town?” Jurot asked Adam, as he and the other Iyrmen walked around town.

“Yeah,” Adam said, smiling, raising his brows.

Jurot nodded his head slowly, understanding the look. Adam had never mentioned Eagle Wing in his previous story.

“What about you?” Adam asked.

“I came once, when I was a boy,” Jurot said, nodding his head. His eyes glanced all around, as though remembering his past.

Adam blinked, noting a young boy being chased by an older man, with a fat, tubby stomach, which jiggled as he chased the boy, a frying pan in hand.

“You get back here you damn brat!” the man shouted. “I’ll kill you when I get my hands on you.” The man stopped, clutching his knee as he panted for air, where as the boy, who held a package in his chest, rushed away into the alley.

“What happened?” Adam asked, blinking at the man.

“My boy stole some bread to feed some streeters,” the fat man said, before noting the heavily armoured man. He glanced around, noting that there was a Guard nearby, and a few people keeping an eye on the man in puthral plate mail. However, he also noted the Iyrmen, who were strange folk, but good.

“A noble deed indeed,” Adam said.

“Noble my ass. He’ll get himself in trouble if he hangs around with the lot of those types.” He sighed and shook his head.

“Kids, huh?” Adam chuckled. “Just a bunch of trouble I say.”

“You’re telling me! I’ve got eight little bastards. Five boys, and three girls, thank the gods,” he said.

“Eight?” Adam asked. “By the gods, man. Why so many?”

“Well, they are cute when they’re young.” The baker chuckled.

Adam joined in the chuckle. “That’s too true.”

“Lucky for me, I only have three girls. Boys are easy, you know when they’re going to be trouble. Girls, they’re too crafty for my liking.” The man shook his head.

Adam threw a look to Jurot. “I can only agree. I know our little sister is going to be a nightmare when she grows up.”

The Baker sighed. “I’ll go and put some coppers for the bread, I think. It was nice meeting you, lad.”

Currency: 33GP -> 32GP

“Here,” Adam said, holding out a gold coin. “Since you seem like a good enough father,” he said, ignoring how he threatened his own son,” let me help you out, good man.”

"Oh,” the man said, glancing at the gold coin. He took it carefully. “Thank you kindly stranger. I’m Bobby, Baker. What's your name?"

"Adam, son of Fate."

"Adam, eh? Well, I hope that our paths cross again. I wish you the best of luck in your endeavours."

"You as well." Adam nodded as the Baker made his way back to his bakery.

“I remember when I was a boy,” Jurot said. “There was a young girl, a Baker’s daughter, who ran away in the same way.”

“You like paying attention to young Baker’s girls, don’t you?” Adam grinned wide.

Jurot did not respond, though the other two Iyrmen smiled.

“I came here when I was young too,” Kitool said. “It was the year after Jurot. I was able to see a spar between two Eagleknights.”

Jurot nodded. “They had sparred when I was within the town as well.”

“What’s something amazing about this town? Something that we should check out?”

“There are the statues of the Eagleknights,” Jurot offered. “They are within the third layer of the town, so we will be unable to see them.”

“How come?”

“They do not allow any person in, unless they live within the third layer or they have been invited by someone within the layer.”

“Is it where the Nobles live?”

“Yes.”

Adam nodded his head slowly. “Yeah, I gathered. Should we buy souvenirs for home?”

“We can. We can hand them over to the Adventurer’s Guild, who will send it to Red Oak for us.”

“Can they send it to the Iyr?”

“They can, but it is best to send it to Red Oak, so that we may bring it back personally to hand out to all the children.”

“Good point.” Adam rubbed his chin under his helmet. “Is there anything I should buy to hand to the children? Something which I can hand out to many children?”

“There are some merchants who sell cheap jewellery made of shells, stones, chips,” Jurot said.

“There are some merchants who sell small trinkets, little cups and such, made of clay, each no more than a silver piece.”

“Let’s go and drop some gold on some junk then,” Adam said, smiling. “They have a saying in my world. One man’s junk is another man’s treasure.”

“The cheapest and easiest thing to buy is strips of cloth.”

“Cloth?” Adam said. “Why cloth?”

“They can be used as jewellery, or tied to weapons or other toys, or used to sew together into something else,” Jaygak said. “Katool loves ribbons of cloth.”

“Then let’s get a little bit of everything and have the Guild send it to Red Oak?” Adam asked.

The Iyrmen nodded, and they spent the entire day shopping, buying all kinds of souvenirs for the children.

From afar, two Guards stared at the Iyrmen and the Half Elf in puthral, though they themselves were adorned in typical clothing, with a short blade at their side, and their badges hidden away in their pocket.

“He’s just… buying stuff?”

“Little trinkets, and bits of cloth,” the other Guard said.

“There’s no way he’s just… shopping, right?”

“Looks like it?”

“He’s an Elf,” the Guard grumbled, sipping his drink. “Probably going to put them together to make something terrible.”

“Yeah, but, aren’t those Iyrmen?”

“Yeah,” the other Guard replied, clicking his teeth with his tongue. “That shit don’t make any sense.”

“You’re telling me.”

“You think Canders is going to believe us?”

“I wouldn’t believe me,” the Guard said. “I don’t even believe it now. Elves and Iyrmen?”

“What’s the world coming to?”

“Countess is going to have us run laps for making shit up.”

The Guard shrugged his shoulders. “Well, we can’t make anything up, so we’re going to have to run those laps.”

The Guards sighed together, but continued their surveillance of the Half Elf, who was none the wiser.