Chapter 11
Jay had assumed they were heading for Chos'n. As they set up camp for the first night Jay realized that was not going to be the case. “I thought we were heading..” he began.
“Changed my mind. Besides, I ever say we were going back to Chos'n?” Dag asked.
“No.. you don't say a lot sometimes.” Jay chuckled.
They didn't speak after that for the rest of the night. Jay took first watch.
The next morning they woke up, did what was fast becoming their morning routine of waking, drinking coffee, then on to business. The business of the day was walking.
“All this walking is tiring. Can we stop somewhere?” Jay asked.
Dag visibly calmed himself down before stopping and motioning Jay to halt and take a momentary seat. “Listen. You are a Traveler and you're going to end up blabbing about it eventually to someone. You're just a talkative guy and that's your way.” Dag paused while he scanned the surrounding area, his head on a swivel.
Dag took a knee next to Jay, “Only a handful of clergy know you're a Traveler and they're not looking for you. They don't want a prophet messing around with things and they certainly haven't shared your Traveler status with anyone. The priests feel like they've finally got everything just the way they want it and then you come along. Some of the others, the lower clergy, definitely wanted to find you though, you made too much of an entrance. You look like a new man now and they won't recognize ya but those hand markings are a problem. Those will stand out in Chos'n. They won't stand out where we're going.”
“Sorry.” Jay muttered with a half grin.
“Ya, you're real sorry. I'm taking you out of Chos'n and dropping you off at K'tharkle. You can get yourself set up as a new Guild recruit. There's a large Adventurer's Guild there that you can stay at. You'll blend in a lot easier there than at Chos'n.” Dag finished.
“How far..” Jay tried to ask.
“About a week. We've got some walking to do and it won't be entirely safe. Don't just walk, look. If I stop don't wait for me to say something, you stop too. Keep aware of me and your surroundings. If I drop to the ground you definitely want to drop to the ground. Keep an eye out and try not to walk in to every damn branch you see.” Dag finished.
Jay nodded, sighing. He had really been looking forward to getting to a town, although perhaps a religious town wasn't the best fit for him.
The walk to K'tharkle was fairly simple but in no way easy. Jay slowly began to understand how to walk through underbrush without crashing about and figured out how to use his walking stick to ease his passage. About two days in Dag dropped to the ground and Jay followed, hugging the ground while moving up slowly next to Dag.
Jay didn't speak but looked at Dag who just shook his head. Jay soon heard heavy footsteps that passed them by but Dag still made them wait a few minutes before getting up and continuing on. Jay noticed heavy three toed foot prints in the dirt as they walked past. Dag didn't offer to identify what it was and Jay didn't ask, staying quiet as they moved along.
Towards the end of the week Jay was exhausted and moving on reflex alone, his attention wandering. Dag noticed and called a halt. “One more day.” he said quietly, leading them off to a small clearing underneath a copse of trees. Jay was getting fed up with the constant walking.
“We'll camp here for the night. Tomorrow we reach K'tharkle so get your head on straight.” Dag said. “Now about your notifications.”
Jay looked excited, which was quickly extinguished by Dag's next comment.
“Wait until you get set up with a room. Sit down and really take some time to go through them. Don't make it a thing you do while doing other things – it should be the one thing you're focused on. You don't want to make the wrong selection because you weren't paying enough attention. That is something that actually happens and once you make a Choice it can't be changed. Imagine living the rest of your days knowing you passed on a powerful ability that could have changed your life because you weren't paying attention.” Dag said, not smiling.
“And I can hear you thinking it. Class Choices aren't always offered again. If you don't pick a specific option that option may never be made available to you again. Treat every selection as if it were your only opportunity to ever get those abilities.” Dag grunted lightly while pulling some things out of his bag.
“No matter when you check your notifications though you're going to want to pay attention to your Class Choices. You are never going to be a killer. You need to make it so that if a group doesn't take you it costs them money. Your role will be making a group better and you'll do well in a group. Don't try to go solo, you'll end up getting yourself killed before you even recognize there's a problem.” Dag said while laying out his bedroll, fussing about with it until it lay straight.
“You're going to be tempted Jay,” he said while taking his boots off. “You're going to be offered something that looks combat related and you're going to want to take it. Don't do it. You are not a combat guy. Stick with group enhancing abilities when it comes to Class Choices. Lean in to your strengths instead of trying to be a jack of all trades.” Dag finally tucked himself in to his bedroll and without another word just stopped speaking, a light snore soon filling the quiet air.
It wasn't a discussion but instead a passing on of hard earned wisdom and Jay recognized it as such, nodding in thanks. Dag went quiet after that and didn't speak or snore again that night. Jay took first watch and the night passed smoothly.
The next day as they approached the walls of K'tharkle Jay's eyes grew large and he almost forgot about how tired he was. K'tharkle wasn't a town, it was a city. Guards patrolled the walls which was dotted with what looked like archer posts and the entrance was manned by a guard unit that checked people as they came and went.
They pulled up short as Dag handed Jay a piece of paper folded and sealed shut with wax. “I made this last night for you. Give this to the clerk at the Adventurer's Guild and they'll get you sorted as a fresh applicant. I'm not going with you. It'd also be best if you kept our time together between you and I. You're just another person working their way up the Guild. Don't mention me, even if directly asked.”
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Jay started to argue but stopped himself. He didn't really know Dag but surely he had things to do, people to see, places to be. He had already spent a considerable amount of time with Jay and it'd be a bit unfair to expect him to continue to do so. Could you blame him not wanting to be any more mixed up in Jay's mess? “Thank you. For everything. I don't know why you're so helpful but I appreciate it.” Jay held out his hand.
Dag took the offered hand, shaking it. “You're welcome. Just remember it should anyone else ever need your help. The Guild helps. Its what we do. If you ever finding yourself not helping ask yourself, am I the bad guy? Now go, you've actually got somewhere to be. You need to get registered by noon so don't get lost in the city. Ask the entry guard how to get there, you won't find it otherwise.” Dag finished, stepping back from Jay.
Jay looked off at the giant walls. As he turned back to speak to Dag he saw that he was alone. Dag had already left, disappearing when Jay had been distracted.
Jay didn't stand around but set off towards the city, eventually joining the throng of people approaching the guards at the gate.
“Name and purpose of your visit.” stated a guard loudly as Jay stepped up. The guard was six feet tall and wearing full armor, metal. Plate armor maybe, Jay thought to himself. Jay was definitely not a 'combat guy,' and couldn't tell what kind of armor it was exactly.
“Jay. Join the Adventurer's Guild.” Jay said simply, not offering anything extra. The guard peered at Jay taking in his appearance, mostly the fact that he was unarmed.
“PASS.” yelled the guard and Jay was pushed through the open gate. It seemed they were mostly looking to tax merchants and didn't care too much about solitary travelers. Jay entered the city and stopped, blocking the gate as he looked around at how amazing it all looked. Three story stone and brick buildings dominated the landscape as far as the eye could see. It was clean, with no sign of trash or debris and Jay guessed there was something magical going on.
“MOVE ALONG!” shouted a guard at Jay, who stumbled out of the way, bumping in to another man who glared.
“Sorry!” Jay said, his face red with embarrassment.
“KEEP THE GATE CLEAR!” shouted another guard while glaring at Jay.
Jay wandered the city for a bit, looking in one or two of the shops. The first was tiny bags. The whole thing. Tiny leather bags, each held shut with a leather drawstring. They cost multiple gold each and looked used but in good condition. The sales room looked expensive and was brightly lit. Jay looked at a price tag before he realized he didn't understand how money worked in this world. Jay obviously understood the exchanging of money for goods and or services, but the money, that was what baffled him. There were bronze, silver, gold coins mentioned, but not how much of one equaled another and Jay couldn't puzzle it out on his own without asking someone.
Jay decided to move on and ended up in another store, this one with soaps. These all cost silver pieces and smelled amazing. Jay did not, but wished he did, after a week wandering through the wilderness. That was when Jay remembered he had somewhere to be. He left the store in a hurry, he had no idea what time it was or how to even check in this world.
Checking with a passing guard Jay quickly got directions to the Adventurer's Guild which the guard insisted, with a bit of attitude, that everyone calls it just The Guild. Jay took a wrong turn and had to ask another different guard who gave much simpler directions, giving Jay the impression that the first guard had been messing with him, giving him bad directions. “Jerk.” Jay thought.
Finally he found The Guild and took a spot in line. After a few minutes Jay arrived at the front desk which was staffed by three people, two women, and one.. elf? Elves must be a thing here Jay thought.
The elf had long pointy ears, long silver hair, but normal everything else, save for the eyes, which were green. The elf asked Jay some questions but wouldn't take the sealed letter. Instead Jay was ushered upstairs and left in a waiting room with a new group of people.
After a brief wait Jay was led in to a room for an interview. The interview wasn't just for show and they asked about Jay's class, his background – of which he had none on this planet, and some other basic questions. Was Jay a member of an adventuring party – no. Was Jay a tank, damage dealer, or healer – that was supposed to be a multiple choice question but Jay had to answer no, which the interviewer had to write in while crossing out the multiple choice options. Was Jay able to pay for his membership currently – no. The young man doing the interview was about to show Jay to the exit with a no thank you when Jay remembered his letter.
Jay gave the young man his letter who changed his attitude when he saw the seal. It was a coded seal. The letter's author could not be determined simply by looking at the seal. It would have to be decoded by someone higher up than the man conducting the interview. Jay was asked to please be patient while the interviewer left with the letter. The please was a precautionary measure, just in case Jay ended up being politically connected.
In the mean time Jay had been brought a tray of cheeses and meats to eat while he sat alone in the room. Jay was unsure of why he was suddenly being fed, having no understanding of the Guild's inner workings. The interviewer however had understood, and his sudden change in demeanor had not gone entirely unnoticed.
It took a while, and Jay guessed that it was passing through multiple hands before it would be opened. It would have surprised Jay to know that the letter traveled to one office, which confirmed the seal as valid but then passed the letter on but without the seal. Multiple steps were required to authenticate the seal, and each step was designed to preserve the seal owner's privacy. The letter simply said “I choose to sponsor this man.”
It wasn't the contents that was important in this case – it was the seal. The seal showed who wrote it, and if you knew who wrote it you knew how powerful the author's influence was. Keeping that information secret ensured that applicants were not linked to their sponsors, forcing the applicant to fail or succeed on their own merits. Should an applicant allude to or disclose their sponsor they would be removed from the program. This was a rule that was enforced, and sponsored applicants were made aware of it.
That had originally been the intention however due to an oversight in the way the system was set up one could, if one chose, infer a lot just by knowing how many offices a coded seal passed through. The seal Jay handed over passed through a lot of them. This all happened behind closed doors that the interviewer never even saw, but the workers in the code office knew that someone with pull had just sponsored an applicant.
The interviewer eventually returned knowing only two things. Coded seals rarely took so long to go through, and Jay was a sponsored candidate. Both let him know that Jay might be important, or linked to someone with authority or pull. Although it should not have had any effect on how he treated Jay that simply wasn't the case, and he returned to the room Jay was eating in with an attentive professional attitude.
“You are not to discuss your sponsor with anyone. Your letter has been authenticated and your paperwork has been approved Jay. You have been assigned to the current class which is still in intake phase. Your tuition has been covered as well as room and board for the first month.” the man said, handing Jay a large manila envelope stuffed with papers. “Everything you need is in that envelope. Please wait here and I'll have someone come and escort you to your room. Class starts two days after tomorrow at 8am. Breakfast is served at 7.” the interviewer said, leaving once again.
Jay took the envelope and stuffed it in to his backpack, which he found full of rocks along with a few belongings. “Damn you Dag,” he said laughing. Dag must have stuffed some additional rocks in to his pack somehow.
The interviewer returned with a young man that looked like he was in his early 20's. He looked incredibly excited and happily escorted Jay to the dormitory buildings. Jay took out his envelope and fished out a magical keycard. B4 it said. “I know where that is,” his escort, who had introduced himself as Aiden, offered. “The letters are the floor, the number is your unit.” he said while climbing stairs. They shook hands and Jay thanked him for his help before going in his room, closing the door, and collapsing on the bed, falling asleep for a nap before he knew it.