The house of the old man was located at the outskirts of the border region. It was small and cramped. Various knickknacks occupied the rows of a shelf. It was the largest piece of furniture in the room. The fireplace, the bed, the table, all of them were dwarfed by that shelf. Knotted roots, rusted swords, a massive collection of copper and iron coins in a sealed jar, a carefully cleaned sheathe, a broken Leaf Finder, and many other items were in the man’s possession. The wooden walls of the house and the sheets of his bed and pillows had in common a patched look of repeated, improvised repairs having been made.
The young people who accompanied them quickly took their usual places around the room. One sat down at the table, placing an elbow on it. Another, the shy one, took his place on a chest. The woman sat down in a pile of hay-filled sacks. The third young man plopped down next to her. The owner of the house took the bed.
“I guess we haven’t introduced ourselves yet,” he said. “The two lovebirds are Elma and Alurn.” The pair grumbled something. “The quiet one is my nephew Cain.” Barely, he waved. “This here is Tempi.” The man at the table waved. “And I am Herm. We’re the local eccentrics, you could say.”
“You’re the local eccentric,” Tempi threw in immediately. “Compared to you, we’re all normal.”
“You can insult each other another day,” the woman interrupted. “Did you use the High Gift earlier? You went invisible and then you were next to us!”
“I didn’t go invisible, I just slipped away from y’all’s senses.” Reysha gradually ramped up the Stealth. All five non-adventurers in the room strained their eyes, barely managing to keep eyes on the tiger girl. She fully deactivated it and rolled her shoulders.
“Scary…” Cain mumbled, “…you could sneak from house to house and rob everyone blind…”
“Probably,” Reysha chirped. “Also, High Gift? Weird name for magic.” She looked around for some place to sit, but all surfaces that qualified were already occupied.
That was until Apexus lowered himself to the ground. Cross-legged, the tall humanoid’s lap had enough room for one redhead and one kobold to share. Aclysia preferred to stand, scratching the back of her darling’s head. The others in the room quickly combined 1 and 1. The relationship status of the party was the last thing they cared about.
“So… is it true…? Our world is a Leaf hanging on a gargantuan tree?” the old man asked.
The question perplexed the party. Even though they had realized that this Leaf had been without contact for many years, it had not occurred to them that such a basic fact of the nature of the universe could be forgotten. “Y-yes,” Aclysia cleared her throat and responded with more certainty. “Yes… you could always travel to the Stem to confirm for yourself.”
The five exchanged glances. “We’re not… we like the stories,” Alurn explained, “but we’re not fighters. To take the serpent to the Isle of Savages is too risky for us.”
“I would try, but not alone,” Herm stated, causing the four youths to shift uncomfortably.
“Wise,” Apexus stated. “Pack tactics are the most successful. The spider gets devoured by the ants – the elk by the wolves. A hundred drops of acid melt through any exoskeleton.”
“But the Stem exists,” Herm rubbed his chin. “Does it hang over the ruins of the eyes of the serpent, as the legends tell.”
“Yeah and ya could get a boat and sail there in like 5 days,” Reysha told him.
“A boat… Aggrars do not get to own boats.” Herm shook his head. “I’d have to flee east and dodge the Maya’s Felmers the entire time.”
“Aggrar? Maya? Felmers?” Korith tilted her head. “Uhm, sorry, I don’t really understand any of that?”
“Do they not have the castes where you’re from?” The fair skinned man asked, surprised. “What wonders lay beyond, I truly must kno-“
“We require structure in this,” Apexus interrupted. “Let’s pass this back and forth. We shall ask you a question and you ask us after we have received our answer. Is this acceptable?”
“Yes.” Herm hesitated for a moment, considering if he could afford to be cheeky with the people he had invited into his house. “If I may treat that as me having given my answer?”
“Yes, which turns it right back around!” Korith declared. She tapped her thighs, excited for even this little game. “So our second question, what castes are you talking about?”
“Our home, the nation of Mayana is governed by the principle of the seven castes.” Tempi gestured with the arm he had on the table. “At the bottom, you have us, the Aggrars. At the top you have the Maya and directly below him soldiers, the Felmers, who ensure the stability of the realm.”
“You are born into those positions?” Apexus asked, when he received a nod he fell silent. It sounded unworkably rigid for a human system. “Are you ants?” The question confused everyone in the room and Apexus shook his head. “I apologize. It is your turn to ask a question.”
“How did you come here?” Herm asked immediately.
“We walked.”
Aclysia cleared her throat and took over. “Each Leaf on the Omniverse, the great tree, is attached via a Stem that leads to the Branches. The typical way to travel from one Leaf to another is to walk the Branches. It rarely takes more than a few days to come across another world. If you ever wish to travel the Branches, you must pack food for the trip.”
Herm nodded and waved his arm, urging the group to ask their next question. “Do you have a map?” Apexus asked.
“Cain,” the boss of the eccentrical group ordered his nephew with a single word. The young man jumped off the chest and almost collided with the party in the process. There was barely enough room for someone to turn around.
After opening the chest, itself also filled up with many knickknacks, Cain rummaged around for a little bit, until he pulled out a scroll. Carefully he handed it over to Apexus, who unrolled it. Together with the entire party, they looked at a coloured representation of the Leaf.
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“Serpentine indeed,” Reysha mumbled. “Did I ever tell you that you’re smart, Aclysia?”
“It is your most frequent compliment.”
“Nah, my most frequent compliment definitely is telling you that your ass is fantastic.”
Aclysia turned red. ‘Can she ever stop doing that in front of strangers?!’ Exasperated, she sighed. “We missed a Dungeon.”
“Yeah, that would’ve been nice.”
“Dungeon? What do you mean by that?” Herm asked.
“The orange diamond marks on this map, they are structures that the gods left on this world to serve as the grindstones for adventurers like us. They supply us with difficulty to overcome, to grow our abilities.”
“To one day become gods? If I may ask the follow-up question.”
“I see this aspect has survived the prolonged isolation. Yes, the most successful and virtuous adventurers may one day ascend to the rank of divine.” Aclysia studied the map. There was much to be asked about what was depicted on it.
Apexus had a more urgent question. “Why is no one visiting this Leaf?”
“I… would have liked to ask you that,” Herm responded. “You’re the first people that I have met that have come from beyond Harbaemayim. You may be the first in a generation. I do not know what keeps people away.”
“What does Mayana produce?” Aclysia asked. “What are your people known for?”
“Food,” Cain responded immediately. “Uhm… yeah…”
“Food,” Elma repeated. “The entire reason why the pirates keep coming to our shores.”
Just another off-handed comment that caused questions in the minds of the party. “Food is typically difficult or not commercially viable to transport between Leaves… and it appears that your Leaf has its dungeons scattered around difficult locations. Their level range only fits a beginner Leaf and there is another nearby, with many teachers and easier to reach dungeons... it may be that you were forsaken by travellers because there is nothing here…. Oh, please forgive that poor choice of words.”
“No. It is a very apt choice of words,” Herm said. “Would you be willing to escort me, or us, away from this Leaf?”
The three women in the party looked to Apexus, who closed his eyes and meditated on the question. It was a crime for Aggrars to leave their station, that much he had put together. He barely knew these people. They had every reason to try and escape. Would it be right to help them? “Maybe.” Apexus opened his eyes. “Not at this time. Not with how little we know.”
“I understand… well, it was worth a shot.” Herm rolled his shoulders. “Your next question?”
There were so many parts that Apexus needed to know about. “What are the Walled Ports?”
“Enormous cities crafted entirely from stone, where wise masters protect the ships that drive back the pirates and assure the trade can continue to flow between Mayana and Elaya.” Herm stopped for a moment. “I’ve never been there, that’s what I hear anyway. Can you teach…” he hesitated and looked around, fearing someone might hear, “C-can you teach us the High Gift- magic?”
“We could teach you basics, but we will not stay long enough to do so.” Apexus had already formulated this answer, having anticipated the need for it after the previous question. “When it comes to adventurers, we have merely left the realm of beginners. We have goals of our own. We cannot afford to stop and teach all those that desire it.”
“Uhm, also it sounds like the High Gift is reserved for the upper castes?” Korith threw in. “We wouldn’t want to… get unfriendly with your government…”
“Aren’t you supposed to be heroes?” Elma mumbled.
Reysha’s gaze travelled over to the woman. When she realized she was being stared at, Elma shrunk deeper into the pile of hay sacks. She grabbed the sleeve of the young man by her side for support. “People become adventurers for their own reasons. I did it for power, this small bundle of squish did it for money, Apexus did it because he had little other choice and Aclysia just follows him around.” Reysha rolled her neck and let her eyes wander. The intimidated woman immediately breathed easier. “If there was any chance we’d be the kind of heroes you’re looking for, we lost it along the way.”
“That doesn’t mean we should not try, Reysha,” Aclysia chimed in.
“We will not make a decision knowing as little as we do,” Apexus reiterated. “My next question. You have problems with pirates?”
“We are located near the coast and far from the garrison. When they’re short on food, they come here and take what they want.” Herm shrugged. “It’s just another form of tax, really. Except… it depends on what crews come along and what else they want besides food.”
“One of them abducted my mother years ago,” Cain mumbled.
“Does the… Maya? Does he not protect you?” Korith asked.
“If his patrol ships happen to be in the area, he will,” Herm responded with a shrug. “At other times, his relatives take locals as servants. Like Alurn’s brothers.”
“My brothers at least get to live in luxury at the Maya’s court, not… whatever pirates do…”
Herm gave a sorry glance to the young man. “Have you heard from them?”
“I will.”
“Does that answer your question sufficiently, Apexus?” Herm returned his attention to the humanoid chimera instead. After a quick nod, the next question came flying the party’s way.
It was a steady back and forth. Apexus soon realized that they were giving more than they were receiving. This group knew little even about their own world. None of them had left the country and only Herm had ever managed to convince the local Orassa (the local land owner in the caste system) to take him along on trips as a servant. Consequently, most of what they knew was hearsay, several steps removed from the original source.
The party did not mind, even let the people in the house riddle them with questions when they themselves ran out of them. To give those that had only ever heard of the true expanse of the world a glimpse into the wider universe was a privilege. Eventually, Aclysia asked for a piece of parchment and replicated the map onto it as best she could. It would at least give them a rough idea of where they were going.
Apexus looked around the house again. The caste system struck him as odd, with its many rules and limitations. Regardless, it did not seem like Herm was living a terrible life. He had his own house, was well-fed, and possessed a large variety of personal treasures. The yearning for something more was in every aspect of the cramped building.
“If you had to give all that you have up to begin a life as an adventurer – would you?” Apexus asked.
Herm hesitated. “I’m too old now to start anything like that,” he said slowly, regret swinging in his voice. “But maybe you could help these younglings? Give them a choice?”
Apexus looked at the four young people one after another. Cain looked away. Alurn squeezed Elma’s hand. Only Tempi met his gaze directly. “You will find that being free is full of risk. Keep that in mind, when you make your choices. The goblins are cautious. If you move in a large enough group, they won’t attack you even if you’re unarmed.”
“As long as you stick together,” Reysha added, while she rose from Apexus’ lap. All of them began to move. “Don’t go for a piss on your own.”
“W-what will you do now?” Elma asked.
Apexus stopped and gave that question a second consideration. “We go east,” he responded, only when he was absolutely certain. “See your country for our own eyes. Then further east, to the Walled Port of Pernero. We will clear the dungeon there. Then, probably further east. To make decisions that far into the future is difficult.”
“If we return here, we shall attempt another visit,” Aclysia pre-empted the follow-up question. “Certainly, we can consider guiding you off the Leaf at that point, right, darling?”
“We will consider. I make no promises,” Apexus stated.
And still that was more hope than these young ones had ever felt.