The plateau was bigger on the Shroud Hallow side than it was on the Westfield side, and Greynard wasn’t situated in the middle of the valley. Therefore, the trip out to Nulrik’s property took quite awhile. It was mid-morning when we rolled into Greynard, and around midday when we left to view the property. With the slow pace of the oxen, we had plenty of time to talk because the trip took a couple of hours.
And Nulrik was a talker. He introduced his grandson, who was named after him. We were traveling with a pair of Nulriks. The grandson’s family wasn’t very creative when they came up with their naming scheme to tell the two apart. He was called Young Nulrik. I guess that made the original Old Nulrik, but nobody addressed him that way. The son in law, who was a tanner, was named Urul. Young Nulrik had obviously inherited his grandfather’s garrulousness, and not his father’s stoic reserve. I kept waiting for conversational pauses to interject the questions that I had, but those were few and far between. They joked, talked about the weather, and gossiped about other people in the village. If only Lapina could have been involved in the conversation. Then, our time would have passed with three people trying to talk over each other.
Finally, in frustration, I started chatting with Urul.
“So, you are a tanner?” I asked.
“I am,” he responded. I guess his motto was never use three words when two would do. Getting him to open up was going to be a chore.
“How’s business?” I tried again.
“Good.”
“What sort of hides do you tan?” I said, hoping the third time was a charm.
“All kinds. Horses, oxen, deer, elk, eland.”
I hadn’t seen anything that looked like an eland from my world. I wondered if that was what the woolly antelope things that people herded in this area were called, at least as translated through the gift of tongues.
“Is Greynard populated only by orcs?” I responded, trying to get to the meat of my inquiry.
Young Nulrik must have, quite miraculously, overheard my question, because he answered it, beginning to monologue.
“Oh, no sir. There are all sorts of different races that live in and around Greynard. We are quite cosmopolitan. There are several human families. Some live in town and some farm, ranch or herd. There are a couple of elves who live in the hills and come down to trade from time to time. Our blacksmith is a dwarf and she does wonderful work! There is a small goblin village up in the hills as well, and they are good neighbors. They come to town to trade for supplies fairly often. A few years ago, there was an old halfling man who was a cobbler, but he died when I was young. He’s the only one that I have ever seen. He was happy all the time, even when he was dying. I’ve never known a happier person. He told the best jokes and used to make everyone laugh all the time. I think I can remember some of them. There was the one about the old farmer who let his plow horse sleep in his house. Let me remember how that one started . . .”
“Thanks, Nulrik,” I interrupted, wondering where he had learned the word cosmopolitan. “Maybe another time. If I end up buying your grandfather’s property, I just wanted to know what I was getting myself into from a community standpoint. Sometimes, being the only humans around can make things a little uncomfortable.”
“Where did you get all of these slaves?” he asked, his thoughts jumping tracks. “You must be really rich. I have never seen one person with so many slaves in my life.”
“I bought them in an auction back in Westfield,” I replied. “My father was a fairly prosperous goldsmith but I had no talent for the business so I sold it when he passed. I am a man who likes to work with his hands out in elements and thought I might want try a little farming or ranching. I’m not married and have no family left, so to make a go of it, I thought I would need some extra hands. I may have gone a little overboard in my bidding, though. Providing for this many people can be a challenge.” Wow, I had just spun out a nice set of lies. I would have to remember them because I am sure the orcs would.
“Oh, don’t you worry,” Nulrik the senior interjected. “My land is good land. There’s plenty of water with a good well and a nice spring-fed pond. You up far enough towards the hills that flooding isn’t much of an issue. The dirt is good, very fertile. There is good grazing as well. There’s a sturdy house and barn. If you purchase it, you will have plenty of work to keep everyone busy.”
“Well, if that doesn’t work, I know that companies in Shroud Hallow are always hiring,” I replied.
“Dirty work, that,” Old Nulrik replied. “We have lost many a youngster to those dreams of glory. They wander off to Shroud Hallow and half of them are never heard from again, dead in some watery grave I expect.”
The hills were looming larger as we talked. Finally, after cresting a slight rise, a ramshackle farm came into view. There was a small house that would be better termed a cabin, a decrepit looking barn with at least one obvious hole in the roof, and a split rail corral. Scrubby brush and weeds had sprouted around the compound, clearly having grown for several seasons. Off to the side, I saw the decaying remains of what might once have been a chicken coop, now fully collapsed.
“We’re here!” Young Nulrik exclaimed.
Turning to Old Nulrik, I asked the question that was burning in my mind.
“How many years has it been since you moved to town?”
“Four, or was it five?” he replied, looking at his family members for confirmation.
“And has any maintenance been done on the property after you left?”
“A little in the first year, but after that it didn’t seem worth the bother since it takes so long to get out here.”
Holding back my urge to sigh as we pulled into the abandoned farmstead, I surveyed the place. It would take so much work to make it livable and prosperous, and the first few months would be hard living. I could see potential, though. It checked many of the boxes on my wish list. It was somewhat isolated, not too close to the main road. There was quite a bit of land, and although we wouldn’t be self sufficient for the first year, after that we could make a good run at it. It was also fairly cheap, leaving me with enough money to make it a much nicer place. Looking around at my companions, I could see more than a few looks of dismay on their faces. I may have oversold them on my dream a little.
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Nulrik pointed out the general boundaries of the property, which extended high up onto an adjoining hill. As he had previously mentioned, there was a nice small pond full of fairly clear water. I wandered through the buildings. The house itself was two rooms. One was obviously a bedroom, while the other served most of the other functions of the house, a combined kitchen, dining room and living area. A ladder led to a small sleeping loft above the main room. That must be where the children had slept. Out back, there was a two-seater outhouse, also in rough shape. There was no divider between the two seating area. Their philosophy must have been that the family who sits together stays together, or something like that.
The barn was in worse shape, requiring quite a bit of repair before it would become usable. A variety of small animals – rats, rabbits, skunks, possums, maybe a raccoon or two, had obviously used it as a nesting site. I could see things scurrying across the floor when we opened the door, and the stench was significant. Actually, after inspecting it I decided repair was not possible. It would have to be replaced.
Nulrik the elder led me on my tour of the property. He unsuccessfully tried to hide a look of consternation at the condition of it. After all, he had spent his life here, made his living here. He had raised his family here. Trying to square his memories of what was once a well-kept farmstead with what he was seeing now must have been hard, like he had betrayed his own legacy.
After touring the buildings, I went stomping around the property. I took Mariam along as an adviser, as she probably had the most experience with evaluating the suitability of land for farming and ranching. She told me the property looked good for its intended purpose. That was a plus among many minuses. Of course, since it hadn’t been worked in half a decade, there was a lot of clearing to do before we could plow and plant.
The sun was getting low in the sky by the time I had finished my inspection.
“What do you think?” Nulrik asked with a hint or nervousness.
“The land was just as you described it. The buildings, not so much.”
“Yes, I may have put off important maintenance a little too long,” he admitted.
“I remain interested, but I can’t pay five hundred gold for this,” I said, sweeping my hands out toward the house and the barn.
“After we got here, I realized my asking price might be a tad optimistic,” he replied.
“A little more than a tad,” I responded.
“How about we settle for 400 gold,” he said. “The land is still good and fertile.”
“With about five years of brush to clear.”
“Your slaves look strong,” he replied. “It won’t take them any time at all.”
“Here’s what I am thinking. The house may be serviceable as a workshop of some sort. We are going to have to build new living quarters, tear down and replace the barn, rebuild chicken coops and dig a new outhouse. Anyone who took over the property would do the same. It doesn’t look like we have enough neighbors close enough for a barn raising party. What I am looking at here is months of hard work, once I buy the tools necessary to get that work done. Everything has a cost. I assume that Greynard has a sawmill of some sort?”
“Hell, we have two of them,” Young Nulrik piped in.
“So, there is the cost of all that lumber. I don’t know what land sells for around here, but I doubt it is more than twenty an acre. Charitably, the house is worth maybe twenty five or thirty. You have maybe fifteen acres here. I’ll give you three hundred twenty five gold for the property.”
Nulrik’s face lit up like he had won the lottery. I really needed to get a solid handle on what things cost around here.
“You have a deal,” he said, reaching out his hand to shake mine. After we clasped hands, I got into my pack and pulled out another two gems worth about a hundred gold each and twenty five gold coins.
“Will this settle us up?” I asked.
“I’ll have the deed transferred with the town in the morning,” he replied with a nod. I spelled my name for him.
“Wait here while I give some instruction to the slaves, then I will drive you back to town.”
I walked over to where my people were milling around, weathering a few bewildered glances. Making sure we were out of earshot of the orcs, I addressed them.
“I know this isn’t a perfect start, but I believe that we can make this place a comfortable home. It will require us all to work hard, myself included. The bad news is that this place is a mess. I think there is room enough for all of us to sleep in the house for the time being, but we will be building a new house and barn and whatever else we need. We will be clearing fields and planting crops. I intend to acquire a herd. When we are done, after a lot of struggle, we will have a place to call our own. One that we can be proud of. And this will get us off the road, sooner rather than later. I know travel was wearing on many of you. You know what’s wrong with the property but here’s what’s right. The price. We have plenty of coin in reserve to build this property up in a way that makes sense for us.”
I turned to Werner. “Werner, I know you aren’t an architect,” I said. “You are the closest thing we have, though. Will you be able to draw us up some plans for the improvements we need?”
“Certainly,” he said. “You don’t need to question my competence.”
“Once the new house is completed, we are going to turn the old one into a workshop. I need you all to brainstorm, to make a list of everything we need to thrive here. Let’s get my wagon unloaded, and Bowen, Aleyda and I will get these orcs back to the village. We will probably have to stay there overnight. When I return, it will be with tools, lumber and nails. This will be one of many trips into town we will have to make, and I will be certain to include all of you. The barn is useless, so let’s store what we can in the house. No fighting about who gets to sleep where. The women can have the bedroom, since there are fewer of them, and we men will take the main room and the loft. I need to emphasize that this is all temporary. Make certain that the corral is secure enough to hold the oxen. Tonight, I want someone awake and on watch at all times. Depending on how things go, that might not be necessary forever but we will have to see.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Patrick replied.
“By the way, Patrick is in charge until I get back. Alright, let’s get that wagon unloaded and you can get yourself fed and rested.”
Unloading the wagon took little time with so many pairs of willing hands. Young Nulrik and Urul even pitched in, obviously not wanting to make it back to town too late. Then, with an empty wagon except for a couple of weapons I kept secured under a tarp, we loaded up and headed back to the village.
The trip was slow and uneventful. After bidding the orcs a good evening, we found rooms at one of the two local inns. It was called Tranquil Meadows. We skipped the common room, paying extra to have food brought up to our room. We did all stay in one room. Aleyda had spent enough time campaigning with soldiers of both sexes that she was adamant that she didn’t need her own. We intended to rise early the next day to get our initial shopping done and make it back to the farm as soon as possible.
I hoped that I had not just made one of the bigger mistakes of my life, because that was what I was gambling with.