“How long do you think today’s harvest will last us?” Sophie asked the important question.
“If we plan for three whole meals per day for the ten of us,” Mary hummed as she tried to put together a mental meal plan and ingredient list. “It should last for a bit more than three months.”
“So if we bring in ten more people and give them similar food portions...”
“It goes down to one and a half month.”
“And if we bring in twenty people,” Amanda’s face darkened a bit. “It will drop below a month.”
“Exactly,” Letty nodded as she held a crate of tomatoes. “That’s why we have to replant as soon as possible. I’ll start collecting the seeds and roots after we return from today’s travel.”
“I could help you with the soil,” Mary offered. “I found a spell in one of the earth element related tomes back in East Fork that was specifically created to till the land.”
“And I could make you another two dozen or so nature elemental crystals to work with,” Regis added. “That should help you fertilize the land before planting the new crops.”
“We should also ask around for new types of crops and fruit tree seedlings while out there.” Valerie reminded her companions.
“We must also find a proper source of meat,” Quentin said as the group entered the village through the side gate. “I doubt that everyone will be fine with being a vegetarian.”
“I’m sure we will find farmers looking for a new home back at Hunor,” Fabien shared his opinion. “Preferably people with experience in animal husbandry.”
“Chickens and ducks are relatively easy to keep,” Sophie noted. “Feeding them wouldn’t be too much of a burden and their eggs would be welcome too.”
“Goats and sheep can be kept in a relatively free lifestyle since they mostly graze.” Fabien said.
“Goats can produce us milk.”
“So can cows.” Amanda retorted.
“And milk can be turned into a lot of things,” Osmond added. “But all of this depends on whether or not we can procure the starting animals.”
“I doubt it will be easy to buy those after the war,” Regis thought aloud as he put down the sacks of potatoes at the entrance of the small warehouse. “Not to mention that we’ll have to grow crops to feed them as well.”
“The hay produced from the grains we grow would be a good food source for them,” Letty reminded everyone. “Plus there are other fodder crops that we could plant.”
“I think we can all agree that we’ll need to get a lot of farm-related stuff,” Regis summarized. “Let’s just finish storing these so we can be on our way.”
“And I think we can also agree that we’ll only recruit up to twenty new people.” Quentin added with everyone agreeing to both statements.
The outlanders left the warehouse and headed back to the Landwaker Square to prepare for their outing. Regis went back to his room and emptied his knapsack from anything he wouldn’t need, bringing along a couple of elemental crystals and a pouch of coins just in case. By the time he got back outside, the group was already waiting for him in front of the gazebo.
“We really need to find someone who can make a roof for this,” Valerie noted. “It would be a waste to leave it like this.”
“It only needs a few thin wooden beams and the roof tiles,” Osmond said. “It should be easy to fix that, but we do have a couple of more important things to take care of first.”
“Who will go first?” Cruz asked the important question.
“You can go ahead if you want to.” Regis offered, Valerie’s group taking it in strides as they stepped onto the teleportation circle, disappearing in a flash of light.
“We should hurry up as well.” The dark elf remarked as they walked into the gazebo.
He reached up and touched the talisman beneath his shirt, focusing his will on Hunor. The runes of the gateway circle lit up, creating a flash of light around the group. They could feel the familiar sense of falling momentarily as the world shifted around them before the light faded. A momentary nausea took hold of the outlanders as they took in the sight of the familiar port town.
“Ah,” Sophie sighed. “I missed the smell of the sea.”
“At least we know we’re in the right place,” Amanda noted as she looked at the sun elf girl. “So, where to now?”
“Let me check in with the guild first.” Regis said as he walked over to the door of the spellcasters’ guild and knocked on it.
“Stop banging on the blasted door,” a deep and annoyed voice called out from the other side. “Who in the blazes... Regis?”
“I’m glad to see that you still recognise me Salvador.” The dark elf said with a smile, only to get the air forced out of his long by a bear hug.
“I can’t believe you just appeared out of nowhere all of a sudden. When those blasted dark elves of the exiled court began to act up, we heard the news about you barely managing to escape with your friends using the river boats.”
“Look who’s decided to visit us,” another familiar voice resounded from behind the mage as Galen appeared with a calm smile on his face. “When you didn’t show up a few days later as you promised, we feared the worst. It seems our worry was unnecessary.”
“It wasn’t,” the spell weaver shook his head as he looked back at his companions. “Mind if we come inside for a bit?”
“Of course,” Salvador waved them inside. “Come on in.”
“So what happened after you left? Did you manage to reach East Fork without any trouble?”
“It was quite the adventure,” Quentin stated. “It might take a little while to recall everything.”
The outlanders spent the next half hour telling the pair of spellcasters about the events that unfolded after they left the port town. When they finished their tale, Salvador let out a deep sigh.
“It looks like you youngsters found one trouble after another. That again, we weren’t much better off either.”
“That would be an understatement,” Galen added. “After you left, the elves of the court became a bit too greedy for their own good. They demanded land and trade rights, saying that their aid in protecting Hunor should have more than earned it. Then Chera found one of them trying to use charm magic to bend the Verhen’s will to their side.”
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“Everything went downhill from there. There were demons, assassins and a lot of people died.”
“Mostly dark elves. In the end, the exiled court left with their tails beneath their legs, running like a bunch of beaten dogs.”
“But not before killing Verhen’s son.”
“Good riddance,” Regis muttered. “That guy was an annoying prick.”
His words earned him a rueful look from his companions.
“What? The little shit tried to get me assassinated.”
“Wait what? “Salvador stuttered as he looked at the dark elf. “When?”
“The morning after we saved his sorry ass. I kind of vented my anger on him, calling him a coward in front of his father. The next thing I knew, I got stabbed in the back by a hooded figure that turned out to be one of his guards. Of course, the guy is dead, but it was self-defence.”
“Why didn’t you tell us about that earlier?” Quentin asked his friend with the others nodding in agreement.
“We had more important things to worry about than an arrogant noble brat and he didn’t send anyone else after that one incident. Anyway, we should get going.”
“Already?” Galen stood up from his seat surprised.
“We came here to check up on how things are going and to recruit people for our settlement.”
“Then you are at the right place,” Salvador nodded. “There are plenty of refugees waiting for a chance to leave Hunor. With the dark elf trouble and the death of the lord’s son, leaving the town became a lot harder than before.”
“Every caravan heading out is searched from top to bottom. We only received word about East Fork being cleared of the fallen two days ago as a rider arrived. Now people are trying their best to head over there, but it’s a long and arduous journey.”
“Did you come here to recruit ordinary people, or are you looking for something specific?” Salvador inquired.
“We’re looking for at least one skilled carpenter,” Amanda stated. “Along with a couple of farmers and general craft-related folks.”
“I see,” the spell caster nodded as he followed the group to the entrance door. “In that case, you should either try the market square or in front of the church.”
“Just raise your voice and declare what you’re looking for. If there are people out there matching your requirement they will be more than eager to offer their services to get their families out of here.”
“We can only take a few people with us for now,” Regis stated. “And one of those is an old potter I know. That is if he’s still around. Still, it was good to see you too and I hope we can meet again soon.”
“Take care of yourself lad.” The spell casters said as one before saying goodbye to the rest of the outlanders as well.
“To the market?” Quentin asked, earning a nod from everyone but Regis.
“You go ahead. I’ll go and see if Bray is still in Hunor.”
“Then we’ll meet at the market square.” The paladin said as the group split up.
The dark elf headed towards the familiar back alley where the hidden entrance of the sewers was located, earning quite a few curious gazes along the way. Some people even went as far as to stop the nearby guards, pointing towards the youth, but after getting a better look at him, the soldiers just shook their heads and left in peace. ‘I guess having some renown with the local guards has its uses.’ He mused after the third such event before reaching the alley.
Although it has been quite a while since he was here, he still easily found the small brick he had to push to activate the hidden door. At the bottom of the stairs, the familiar sight of the small makeshift camp and fireplace greeted him, along with something else that made his blood run cold. Bray sat there with his back against a wooden crate, completely motionless.
“Bray?” The dark elf called out to the old man but received no reaction whatsoever.
He walked closer tapping the shoulder of the elderly fellow, but still nothing.
“Bray!” He shook him with a fast increasing panic after seeing that the grey-haired man’s chest was still, his body stiff and somewhat cold.
A few moments later as he was ready to shed tears for the loss of a friend when Bray’s eyes opened up, confused as to why he was being held so tight by someone.
“Regis?” He called out to the youth with a sleepy voice, earning a shocked expression.
“You’re alive!” The spell weaver said with a relieved smile as he quickly helped up the old man.
“Why wouldn’t I be alive? I’m not that old yet, lad.”
“But you weren’t moving,” he stuttered. “You weren’t even breathing and your body was all cold and stiff and...”
“Oh that,” Bray sighed as he stretched his limbs. “That’s a skill I learned from a travelling ascetic monk many years ago. It allows me to enter into a deep, rejuvenating sleep at will.”
“So what; you’re telling me that you can hibernate as the bears do during the winter?”
“Yes,” the old man nodded enthusiastically. “It is indeed similar to the long winter sleep of the bears.”
“Damn it, Bray,” Regis cussed as he sat down on the wooden crate. “You scared the shit out of me. For a moment there I thought you were dead.”
“I’m sorry if I scared you lad,” the elderly potter apologized as he realized just how serious the young dark elf’s fright was. “But how come you are back? I thought you and your friends were going to travel for a long while.”
“Although we had our fair share of unexpected events, we reached our new home sooner than we expected. We came back to Hunor to recruit people for the abandoned settlement we took over. I came here to bring you with us.”
“You want to bring me away from here?”
“Of course I do,” the spell weaver nodded. “Have you already forgotten what I promised to you? Our settlement is quite out of the way and only those we’ll let in will live there, so you don’t have to worry about others coming to look for you. There are also plenty of empty houses, so you’ll be able to live in a proper place and I can even build an arcane pottery kiln for you.”
“Sounds like you have already planned out everything,” Bray chuckled as he watched the youth talk with a confident attitude. “If it really isn’t much of a bother for me to be there, then I would gladly go with you to this reclusive settlement of yours.”
“Alright,” Regis nodded as he looked around. “We should pack up whatever you want to bring along. I built a gateway portal at our village, so we can fast-travel there as soon as the others are done with the recruiting.”
“You built a gateway,” the elderly man muttered as he looked at the spell weaver with newfound amazement. “It seems you got quite far on the path of enchantments and magic during your journey.”
“Well I hate the brag,” Regis said with a huge grin as he pointed at the green runes on his bladestaff and armour. “But I’m already a novice infusion enchanter. And quite a good one at that, if my friends’ words are of any indication.
“How humble of you,” Bray laughed as he leaned closer to take a better look at the young dark elf and his equipment. “I must admit it though, you do look like a royal battle mage with all this enchanted equipment. I bet you received a lot of envious glares along the way.”
“I think it was more wary than envious,” the spell weaver sighed as he helped the old man pack up his meagre possessions. “You know, being a dark elf and all that.”
“Yes,” Bray nodded sadly as he patted Regis’ shoulder. “You must have heard about the events that happened after you left Hunor.”
“I did,” he admitted. “We always knew that the Argents were trouble, but no one listened to us. That nobleman was so happy to welcome the exiled court into town that he didn’t think of the possible consequences.”
“It doesn’t matter now,” the elderly man shook his head as he pulled on his worn knapsack. “What matters is that you and your friends have found what you were looking for and that you are safe. Oh, and do bring the crate along as well. I have managed to trade for quite a few things while you are away. They will be perfect for my new home.”
“I’m sure they will.” Regis said with a smile as the two looked at the old makeshift camp once more before leaving the hidden room of the sewers.