Hours later, the clomnps of the horses slowed down as the duo reached the main house of the Mond’doss estate. Jaero watched as Korvan looked around, pausing at every tree and bush and even some grasses. “Huh, I’m glad…” Jaero thought, having a small warm feeling in his chest as he looked forward, to the house.
“How a linage of military medical doctors and heath types come from the trunk of sheep ranchers, I’ll never understand” Jaero thought, “Though I am sure the regional lord finds it a great boon for his armies during the war years.” Jaero continued, looking at the home that was as large as his own home, more taken of than his. “Their artistic taste is even on par with Riversil’s governor’s” he thought, continuing the internal monologue.
“I thought you said we would be camping tonight, they look like they have enough room in that home!” Korvan said, not quite whining but almost there.Jaero just laughed, “most of those rooms are already occupied with their family, while it is a beautiful home and it is large…there are just so many Mond’dosses to house” The mage explained to Korvan, leaning his head over in the direction of the kid while keeping his face forwards.
“That has to be some poor joke, why would they need us then, if they are such a big family?” Korvan responded, pleadingly. Jaero smirked, looking to the kid as he spoke while he led Pahsot towards the house, “It seems even having 16 pairs of hands doesn't always get all the need work done. Though I think most are applying their studies in medicine to see what's going on. Something about an illness from a bite.”
“Mutton is plentiful, I don't see how a few sheep dying off will be a problem if their herds are so big that they need 16 ranchers” Korvan grumbled. “Well maybe I misled, some of those ‘16 ranchers’ are kids, and not like…you.” Jaero said, “Not stressed into acting like a decade and a half older than you actually are.” Jaero thought, feeling another spike of pride on how, comparatively, well Korvan had handled himself. “Not thrown into the whetstone all day until their bodies fail?” “not exactly what I was gonna say but something along those lines.” Jaero said with a totally straight face. “The other thing is that I don’t think naysaying their methods is a good idea. Since their mutton is abnormally delicious.” Jaero continued.
Jaero looked away from Korvan, feeling the person he was almost always got greeted by when he managed to visit the Mond’dosses. “Looks like Thomik knows we are here.” The mage said, looking at the closed honey-yellow door, “Finding the right ingredients to stain that door just right.” Jaero thought to himself, just then a lean man walked into the doorway, the door making a soft booming noise as the lean man waved. The dawn light made it a bit difficult to see the man was waving, and even more to see any sort of details on the man other than a shadow-outline. Jaero waved back to the man in greeting as the man walked towards the arriving pair.
“Wait, there can't be that many of them, I have talked to them when we have gone to the market before!”Korvan whispered as he waved to the shadowy outline on the path towards the Mond’doss home. “You have met some of them on our market trips. They barely have enough people to man a cart three days a week and keep up the responsibilities here on their steading.” The mage explained, looking back to the kid while he did so. His eyes turned right back to the road towards the shadowy figure that gained details and color as it jogged the last couple paces. Jaero lowered his head in a quick nod and greeted the man, “Hello Stamas” the mage said.
The lanky man stopped jogging and started walking again, still towards the mage and kid. “Hey hey Sir Jaero, glad to see you, even if you are a bit late,” The lanky man said. “I know you did not just accuse me of being tardy sonny” Jaero said, almost serious with just enough jovialness for the other man to know he hadn’t upset him. “Bah, everyone knows you arrive a day early for any trip longer than two days.” The other man said, “Speaking of your trip, I'm guessing you are planning on putting even more sigils around here and maybe the hamlet on this trip?” The mage just laughed “Come now! They were well worth it when everything started to get burnt down, weren't they?” The mage asked back, while thinking. “As if sigils could have done that.” He thought to himself, careful for the disagreement not to leak into his voice.
The slender man shrugged, “That’s a good point, my eldest sister would have liked to have known about them however.” the man said more seriously. “She’s still on about that to this day? I have tried to placate her many times about it” Jaero huffed, rolling his eyes while he tapped Pastoh’s flank which got her moving along towards the house again. The lanky man on foot shrugged once again, looking exasperated. “He was probably told to remind me,” Jaero thought. Catching Korvan in his vision, Jaero found that the other rider was looking at him and Stamas. As if they were not making half a bit of sense.
“I can’t complain too much, although that technically implicates you in a Grand Vandalism charge. In fact, weren't you charged with one?” Stamas asked, looking at the mage as he walked along with the mare. Jaero looked back to him, focusing back onto the conversation as he grunted in the affirmative
“The Baron filed one, both the judge and the jury dropped it using the Good Samaritan law.” the mage said, continuing his explanation. “ It took a couple months and didn’t help that I was without a home for the Duke’s enforcers to find me.” “Just like your sigils? Swear to the gods of your choosing they are so sneaky” Stamas said. Jaero looked away, thinking to himself “That’s because they didn’t exist. I had to delve..” “Wait, why did the Duke’s peoples get involved? Wasn’t he in mid-rebellon? Anyone of the Enforcer class should have been off patrolling?” Stamas asked. “I never got an answer to that,” Jaero said, shrugging.
“Anyways, I don’t think that you were ruled as not guilty will stop my sister from complaining” Stams said, his eyes roaming the ground as he studied the sly shadows, hiding random roots and rocks. Jaero watched Stamas’s antics continue all the way to the horse pen, next to the large house. Stamas unlatched the gate, rising his arm to invite Jaero and Korvan to ride the horses into the pen.
After a couple glances of the area, Jaero found the mounting rock standing in a halfway spot between the Mond’doss’s house’s back door, the gate that Stamas opened, and the actual stable for the horses to take shelter in. “An odd spot to put this” Korvan commented as he unmounted Tri’Teacle, who wandered off to find little niblets of grass. Jaero nodded his head, looking over to Stamas in a questioning manner.
Stamas just shrugged, “It was placed there long ago, dunno why or who did put it there. No one cares enough to move the near-ton rock though,” Stamas replied, leading the mage and kid to the back door of the Mond’doss home. A chaotic mix of squeals and yells with background tones of stomping feet came from the house.
“Sounds like the chores couldn’t keep the noise and storm busy,” the mage said, with a look behind him towards the fields. “Yeah just for the youngin’s though,” Stamas said, opening the door. Which let the noise from the rambunctious kids free to the open air.
“Who would still be out there?” Korvan asked, looking between the two. The mage shrugged and Stamas responded while looking out towards the field from the doorway. “Old Mound,” Stamas said, moving out of the door way to let the other two in. The simple answer made Korvan’s face pucker in confusion. The mage leaned over and tapped Korvan’s shoulder, nodding inside when the kid looked at him. “Just who is Old Mound?” Korvan asked in what he thought was a whispered tone.
Squeals of “Uncle Stamas! Uncle Stamas!” shortly break off any answer that Jaero could come up with to Korvan’s question. Then the source of the screamed unconventional welcome ran into the mudroom* that the side door led into. It was a pudgy red haired kid, his eyes being a whiskey red with rich cheeks and lips to accompany the hair and eyes.
The red haired wore a great gleaming grin as he tossed himself head first at Stamas’s legs. Stamas stopped the headbutt deftly. Which seemed to just cause the now giggling red haired kid to climb the lanky man’s body with surprising deftness and strength, stopping on Stamas’s back, holding onto him in the universal rider piggy-back hold. The mage caught eye contact with the rambunctious red haired child, who just giggled and splat a raspberry at him. “Arn’t you going to even ask for the piggy back ride? Instead of just forcing one?” Stamas asked the kid on his back, a tone mixed with playfulness and exasperatedness reaching Jaero’s ears .
“Nope! Lets go Stammy!” the kid responded, with a giggle. The red haired kid then leaned into his uncle, urging him to start moving. The mage just shook his head at the kid’s shenanigans. “I’m so glad Korvan didn’t try to pull something like that. Not sure how much of that my knees would be able to handle,” Jaero thought to himself. “Hold on Jinh, I have to help our guests get some food from the cellar,” Stamas explained, with patience that would be on par with a saint, at least in Jaero’s opinion.
The red haired kid, Jinh, looked over Stamas’s shoulder eyeing Jaero, in a more critical manner than what the old man would have expected from the kid. The kid’s eyes went from the woolen ash grey and muddy brown shirt which was fitting loosely on the old man to the equally baggy pants which were also an ash grey with some spots looking closer to charcoal grey. Then Jinh studied the steel and leather work boots that Jaero had on. Jinh then nodded his head with a smile being put back onto his face, introducing himself. “Hello I am Jinh Mond’doss!” the kid said, on the volume boundary between talking loudly and yelling.
The mage took a step towards the kid gently taking the kid’s hand to shake it just firmly enough not to harm the hand of the kid. “Hello Jinh, I am Sir Jaero” the mage said, shaking the hand one last time and letting go as he introduced himself. “Nice to meet you!” the kid responded with one of the biggest grins Jaero had seen in his long life. Jinh looked down, looking a little embarrassed, “Hey there Korv, sorry I didn't notice you. We don't typically get many new people here.” Jinh said, then the red haired Jinh scrunched his face up. “Why are you here? I have only seen you in the market plazas? I didn’t think you would be able to help us with anything…”
Korvan shrugged, “This old man has taught me a thing or two that I am sure will come in handy with the fences your family is setting up. Plus he’s kinda dragging me along with him.” Korvan said, shoving a casual thumb towards Jaero. Jinh looked towards his ‘steed’ with a puzzled look still on his face. “But we arn’t building any fences..?” The red haired kid asked. A hopeful tone underlying the question, with wide eyes and a twitch of an eyebrow adding to the whole act.
“Tomorrow.” Stamas said, keeping his response as short as possible with a small wince in anticipation. “Yeah I wouldn’t want such a loud kid complaining in my ear literally either.” Jaero thought to himself. The kid took a deep inhale, slowly letting out a long suffering “daaaaaang it.” that was surprising well with in what one would consider as an indoor voice range. The mage and Stamas shared a look with each other, both having an eyebrow raised. Then Stamas chuckled while he faced down a hallway, looking back to Korvan and Jaero.
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“Right! Right! This way!” he said, leaning his head to the left through a doorway. When Jaero took the same turn, he watched two brown haired kids run past him and then Korvan. “You are Seeker now!” said the second brown hair child, quickly taking a sharp turn. A loud bang from the door rang out shortly after.
Once the house quieted down after the two brown haired kids, the red haired one looked back to Korvan, having a bummed look about him. “Do you know how long it takes to set a new fence!?” Jinh asked, going on “It takes forever and it’s sooo tiring!” the kid continued, definitely whining at the end of his rant. The mage looked back towards Korvan as he heard suppressed giggles come from him.
“IT’S NOT FUNNY!” The red haired kid yelled, making Stamas flinch away from his nephew. “Right right, I'm sorry Jinh. I shouldn't be laughing” Korvan said, trying to salve the hurt on the red haired kid’s face caused by his own words. Jinh just made a displeased pouting noise while Stamas opened a door with a set of stairs leading down. “Our pantry is down this way” Stamas said, firmly placing his hand onto the sturdy rail installed along the said stairs.
The stairs on the other hand creaked and bowed under each foot, even Korvan’s comparatively light weight. “Is every single one of them…?” Jaero thought to himself as he put his foot down on yet another stair. He then heard a distinct cracking of the wood rather than a simple creak. “This some mixed cow fertilizer. Please, gods, I have yet not finished all of the things I need to do.” He went on to to think, practically yelling the prayer in his mind.
Jaero then focused onto Korvan, who was actually bargaining to the gods out loud rather than in his head. Then another stair made a bone-chilling noise underneath Jaero’s foot. Jaero’s hands grabbed the hand rails firmly as a reflex. “Uhh maybe it would be best if you step closer to either side of the stair closer to the walls.” Stamas said, somewhat in an embarrassed tone. “I assume no one comes down these often?” Jaero said in a light tone as he took the other man’s advice, while thinking to himself.“The are stilllll creakingggg.” “Yeah, no we use these weekly.” Stamas answered. “Ah…” Jaero said simply, suppressing the urge to grab the muddy dust particles to reinforce the ‘stairs’ into something less rickety.
Only one more stair made a hair raising ruckus underneath Jaero before his feet landed onto the floor of the cellar. His senses automatically reporting in to tell him that the unfinished floor had lots of traces of raw clay in the compacted dirt, which was firmly pounded into almost a rocky texture. What Jaero saw was that the floor was surprisingly level for the materials used.
Jaero took in a breath, noticing that he could also sense that there were a score of shelves dedicated to just preserved food. Jaero then watched Stamas walk out of the small circle of dim light that spread out from the staircase. Then there were a bunch of small protesting clicks and clanks, with small sparks flying about. In the brief light the sparks gave off along with the other sense Jaero could use through the earth, had formed the image of Stamas crouching over some sort of dail as he rapidly turned it. Then a hollow wheezing sound of a bellow started making a slow beat as Stamas leaned his foot onto sort of pedal
The sparks of the dail finally stayed alive when they landed into a shallow bowl of oil. The flame quickly grew and traveled up a metal beam of sorts, with a top of mirrors above the beam. With a squint of the eyes, Jaero could see a wide groove in the beam before the mirrors could show him nothing but the light of the flame.
The light now showering an area of the cellar. Jaero looked about as he could see most of what he felt through the grounds below his feet. Thick blonde and brown wooden shelves put together with nails and joinery* with the aid of metal brackets*. On top of some of the incredibly sturdily built racks of the shelves were variously sized jars and fairly uniformed sacks. Though the sacks did seem to be separated by groups of differing patterns.
To his side, Jaero heard Korvan let out a not-so-silent “wooah” as he looked around him in the new light. Stamas looked over as he smiled, “I know right? This project was the brainchild of my father. He is so proud of what his then-little project has become.” Stams said, almost gushing himself as he waved one arm towards a particular section of the cellar. On the closest shelf facing towards the group of food was a sign nailed onto it. On the sign were the words “meats and some” carved into it with a faint white paint covering the hollows of the letters. “This could feed an army!” Korvan said in wonder, which prompted Jinh to scoff. “It does! Us Mond’dosses are a large family and huuuuungry!” The redhead said with almost a glee in the last word.
Something about how Jinh said that, to his credit innocently, ticked some reflex in Jaero, causes his eyes to flicker over all of the walls. With split attention it took a bit longer but he found what was bugging him in the back of his mind. There was a hollow spot, behind what looked like a sturdily built cobblestone wall. With his his arcane sense he could registar both the stones and the dirt along with the dried timbers holding up of the home above the cellar
Jaero’s normal eyes noticed a pathway that went towards the hollowed spot behind the fake wall. With his non-mortal sense, Jaero noticed that there was also concrete poured in a path towards the hollowed out point. There was a patch of the pathway that was lit by the reflected flames. With his eyes, now actually able to see the cement path in the packed dirt, he followed both his sight and the sense that was tuned to the earthen things. On the other side of this intriguing, in Jaero's ever-so-humble opinion, pathway was a set of barn doors. Exactly opposite to the hollow spot, and on the other side of the rows of shelves in relation to the stairs coming down into the cellar from where the group of four entered.
With a bounty filled of questions big and small in regards of the hollow spot, Jaero decided a light probing for answers might be in order. “The Mond’dosses arn’t ones for dark conspiracies, but…that’s how such malevolent ones tend to hide.” Jaero thought to himself meaninglessly. Jaero lifted his head, finding the trio had kept of walking without him really noticing their absence. “That's dangerous, can't be losing track of others like that. Just because I have retired from being a soldier doesn’t mean I should dip into senility ” he thought to himself, with a tone hasher than what he would use on most people.
After a quick walk over, Jaero was right next to Stamas, looking at the same shelf as the other man. “The carts get some solid concrete and our poor feet don’t?” Jaero asked in a teasing tone. Stamas laughed as he lifted out a sack from one of his deep pockets. He began filling the said sack with raitons for, what Jaero estimated, three days. “The cellar is the treasured project of my father, yeah? Well the carts were a hefty investment from my sister. Got them from a travelling merchant. She insisted that they got the best of treatment, something about how they are the last of their kind. So they get an actual road for them to roll on rather than the soil so she doesnt have a fit about some busted spoke every other week. They are about as well taken care of as a child of this house or maybe a prized horse. Even to this day” Stamas went on, his eyes spacing out as his hands performed their own gymnastics, making a simple hitch tie that would bear up to most natural stresses.
“Ahh…” Jaero said, still processing the flood of words Stamas unleashed unto him. Something clicked in Jaero’s mind when he took his second exhale after his subpar response. Jaero’s eyes flickered over to where the paved concrete ended right against the wall. His eyes then wondered about as he took in another reading from his unmundane connection with the earth about him. With the second reading, he couldn't get a clearer picture than last time. But telltales of what it was in all probability.
Jaero, wanting to know more about the spot, deceived to wonder about, which looked less suspicious, in his own eyes, with the fact Korvan was also already wondering about, taking a look at the shelves and other quite simple stuff in all honesty. After a small meander, Jaero ended up to some shelf that held a fortune’s worth of nails in carryable buckets, but his attention was on the sensations he was getting from the fake wall. With it closer he could feel that his simple guess of it being a hidden doorway was confirmed. Specifically one that opened inside into the other room on the opposite side. “I can’t see much more than that, now. This will be an annoying itch” Jaero thought to himself grumpily. Not wanting to look like an ass to any Mond’doss
“Here you are,” Stamas said with a mild grunt as he lifted one of the sacks he filled from the floor, “this should be good enough for your guy’s camping trip. For the next couple days at least.” Stamas finished saying, lifting it up further for Korvan to take. Who gave out a similar grunt to Stamas’s, but gave an odd and genuine smile to the older man.
“Are they going to be camping? Why?” Jinh asked, leaning to one side while he did so. Stamas looked up slightly towards his nephew on his back, “Well Jaero and your mom talked and agreed that there aren't really any real beds. So with that and Jaero’s eagerness to get things like this done as soon as possible means that he wants to go camping. Unless you want give up your comfy bed?” Stamas said. Jinh thought about it and shook his head no while looking a little bit embarrassed to do so.
Korvan then grumbled something underneath his breath. Which made Jinh let out a soft “sorry”, which made Korvan look up to him with a confused look. “Oh I’m not upset with you, just irritated with this..” Korvan said, shoving his thumb at Jaero, who was lifting up two other sacks of food. Jaero just raised an eyebrow at Korvan.
Stamas checked the two before he motioned them back towards the stairs, then started making his own way there. Jaero nodded and patted Korvan’s shoulder as he made his way towards the stairs. With Korvan looking up at him, Jaero mouthed the words “come on”. Korvan nodded, hurrying to catch up to Stamas and then passed by him. Jaero watched from the rear as Korvan and Jinh started talking to each other, which was honestly closer to yelling with the largish distance between each other.
The two continued to talk as Jaero, Stamas and Korvan walked up the stairs, even more careful than they were on their way down. At the top, Stamas kneeled down, looking up and over to his nephew.Jinh just huffed at the blatant yet unspoken request. “Jinh, you are getting bigger now fella. I can’t hold you up even on my back as long as I used to.Not even the same length as we did a few months ago.” Stamas said, trying to explain to the kid without upsetting Jinh too much.
Jareo shifted some of the weight of the sacks as he watched Jinh unload himself from Stamas’s back with a grumpy huff. The kid then pouted and made a stomp here and there as he walked away from the trio, merging into the busy chaos of the Mond’doss household. Stamas then led the two back to the door in which they came in from.
The trio stepped out, walking towards the pen enclosure that held Korvan’s and Jaero’s horses. Jaero looked over to Stamas, with a question on his mind. “So where exactly would we be starting the fence?” Jaero asked with a tilt of the head. Stamas looked back, a rose eyebrow accompanying his shocked face, then it turned into a “Ah right” face. “Let me show you, it will be easier on us both that way. I’ll also go grab Tiller while you two prep getting back onto your own horses” Stamas said, carefully dropping the sacks right on the ground then dashing off to a barn a couple hundred yards away, yet still in the same pen.
After a long whistling summons from Jaero for their horses, Korvan looked up to Jaero. “I think I am going to find camping outside lot less exciting than i already do. With how much we do it for training already…” the kid grumpily said. Jaero just nodded his head as he responded. “Yeah , as Stamas mentioned earlier, I really want to get this done as fast as possible AND that household is currently packed with both main branches there” Jaero said. “When one of them leaves later in the week, you can have a sleepover if you want. How is that idea for you?” Jaero continued on.
“I want to sleep there tonight though,” Korvan said, still unsatisfied. “I hear you. Sadly, for you, I am the adult here and I would like to get this done ASAP because I have things to tend to on our ranch, like the berries and feeding Horse.” Jaero said, shoving down a twinge of impatience. He took another look at Korvan. Who just looked away with an upset grimace on his face. “I probably shouldn’t have said it like that” Jaero thought to himself regretfully. Jaero took in a slow breath and let out just as slowly, “Here, If you help me with the fence for this week then I’ll let you have the next week off to be around the Mond’dosses. BUT you actually have to help with what I ask. Deal?” Jaero asked of the kid.
Korvan was still brainstorming about the deal that Jaero proposed while Stamas made his way back on his own horse. Jaero’s mare turned her head in the direction that Stamas was coming from. Korvan looked back up to Jaero still pouting, “It’s not gonna be fun, is it?” Korvan complained, Jaero shook his head. “It won’t if don’t make it fun. But I will definitely be asking alot of you, which make it easy.” Jaero replied honestly. “Do you have something else besides the horses and household chores to get done? You seem to really wanna get home like… right now” Korvan asked.
“Oh, he’s onto me,” Jaero thought silently. “He’s getting sharper as the days go on. Sadly, I need to still rush his growth. Especially that ability he unknowingly used. That ability would be a powerful saving grace if he learns on how to use it on demand. Rather than a sleep-filled rage, and I can't let the ability go dormant after today…” Jaero thought to himself
“You said that you wanted to be stronger, right? I certainly want you to become stronger, for me to get you there we gotta do hard stuff like this. Gotta do things like waking up before the sun rises, to get all of the things needed of you done as soon as possible. To learn all of the things you can in fighting you think you would even guess you might need.” Jaero said, in a mild tangent. Korvan thought about it for a while and then shook his head. “That makes sense, kinda. I still don’t want to.” Korvan said with a shrug.
Jaero laughed, “Yeah that’s one of the harder parts of the whole doing ‘what you are supposed to do.’” Jaero said, taking a breath and going on, “You are gonna do it anyways, and complain while you do so. Aren’t you?” Jaero half stated. Korvan groaned, but nodded. “Good! We can get you stronger of will, then! It’ll come in handy when getting groups together,” Jaero said, trying to encourage the kid. Who just rolled his eyes.
Stamas looked between the two, silently watching the discussion until it lulled to an end. “Let’s start heading to the camping spot for you two” he said while starting his horse to get a move on.