The next morning Bjorn felt light, at some point in the night Alaric had made his way into the room, but Bjorn hadn't woken up. Looking around from where he lay it looked like Alaric wasn't wasn't alone in the bed, with a rueful smile Bjorn got up and made his way out of the room as quietly as he could. Out in the common room there were many people sleeping in the pleasantly warm space. More than usual.
Smiling to himself he made his way out and into the cold morning air. He was out earlier than anyone else. The town seemed dead as most people were sleeping off their celebrations from the night before. Not really knowing what else to do Bjorn took off on a walk. The fresh snow and snowshoes masked any sound of his passing. Allowing him to slip out of town like a ghost.
An hour and a half later he made his way back into town, by then there were signs of life in a few of the houses. Small curls of smoke rose from chimneys that weren't there when Bjorn awoke. One thing that Bjorn missed more than anything else was central heating. You either had to provide some way to heat the house, if that was through body heat or a fire, it didn't matter, or you had to freeze.
His conversations yesterday and the kindness he was shone lit a fire inside him. Meira was right of course, he no longer was living his life just for himself, he was now living it for his friends. As such the way he had been acting and feeling didn't help anyone. And so he resolved to do better. Not knowing exactly how to do that he would at least try. Starting with his attitude. For the better part of his life Bjorn tried to be happy and easy going, trying to make other people's lives easier and with just a little bit more mirth. Somewhere along the lines since coming to the Eld he had slowly started to lose that. To the point where he was depressed and tried to pass that depression onto those around him, intentionally or not.
Steeling his nerves he started heading towards their most recent construction project. It was a young family's home where the entire front half of the building had burnt down during the bandit raid. They had cleared away most of the burnt wood and were working on making a new support beam to hold one of the walls upright. Bjorn, instead of waiting for someone to come just picked up the draw knife and set to debarking the next section of wood that they would be using during the construction process.
That first hour of work when no one else was working tested Bjorns new found resolve. The job was intensive enough to cause him to draw up a sweat at occasions, but not intense enough to maintain that level of exertion and so because of that he would alternate between being warm, and cooling down and getting chilled. During those times where he was the only one working and cold he would catch himself thinking negatively about the village. He would stop himself and redirect his thought process trying to change the way he viewed his situation. He wasn’t forced to do this, he was doing this on his own, no one was forcing him to work.
After the suns were truly in the sky did someone wander out and join Bjorn on the log, it was one of the old grizzled men who were teaching Bjorn how to work his wood. “Didn’t expect anyone to be out here.” He said in a voice that was a mix between a growl and a grunt. Looking at the log his eyes narrowed. “This log had its bark on it still last night, how long have you been out here?”
“A few hours.”
“Well I’ll be, you are stupid. It was a cold one this morning. Why would you ever decide to come out here and work? On your own for that matter.”
Bjorn set down the draw knife he was using to debark the almost finished top half of the tree, before turning towards the man. “I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to be useful, this house isn’t going to build itself.” Bjorn said in a tone leaving little room for disagreement.
“Fair enough, no harm was meant. These old bones don’t work like they used to. I appreciate a man willing to pull his own weight. Here help me rotate this log and I’ll help you.”
Soon both men were working on the log. This man was one of the more reclusive men around town and had been cold to everyone of the newcomers, that included Bjorn. Soon both men were methodically working towards the center for opposite sides of the tree, stripping the bark off one pull at a time. They worked in silence, but this was the first time that the man had decided to help Bjorn. Come to think of it, this was the first time Bjorn had seen the old man work at all, usually he just delegated the work out and stood there making fun of the way people were working.
Even though nothing was said between the two men, some part of Bjorn felt that he had accepted Bjorn, even just a little. The grudging respect of someone willing to work even when no one else would, must have had something to do with that. The help the old man gave didn’t last long before one of the women helped with the construction process. As soon as she showed up he walked over to her and handed the draw knife to the slack jawed woman. “Here, this isn’t going to pull itself. I want to get this log processed before mid-day, and it is getting close to it.” before taking his usual spot at the edge of the processing site.
By the time they finished stripping the bark others had come over to join in. Soon they were well on their way to having the log turned into planks. With their combined efforts they had that section of log turned mostly into planks by mid-day with plenty of time to spare. The rest of the wood would be used to replace the support structure in the wall holding the roof up.
Throughout the day they all worked 5 of the villagers in total, 6 including Bjorn. By the end of the day they were able to switch the burnt support beam out for the new one. It might have just been his imagination but it seemed like the people he was working with were friendlier than they have been. Taking it as a good sign he decided to do the same thing as today.
Over the next few days he fell into a routine, showing up to work sooner than anyone else, trying to be happier, and stopping himself whenever he caught himself with a negative thought. With his sustenance belt it was easier to do so. This entire time he probably could have done so, but instead of getting up and being productive, he would lay in bed until Alaric got up, sometimes even staying in bed long after Alaric got up.
He had little energy before the new years celebration, by all means he should have, he had plenty of stamina, had plenty to eat, and got plenty of sleep. But this was Bjorn's first experience with depression. It sucked the energy and will out of him.
Now instead of laying around Bjorn just did. He didn't wait for someone to say something, or put off whatever he saw that needed to be done. Instead when someone needed to move a log he would just go do it. Whenever he wanted to train with his bow he would do it. Whenever he wanted to just go lay down he would force himself to run. Something amazing happened. As time progressed he would get the urge to laze around, but he wouldn't indulge it. Soon that feeling of wanting to be lazy went away and he wanted to be helpful. When he would have been tired with no energy, now he was almost as energetic as Alaric.
As time went on, by three weeks after the new years he was back to who he was before getting enslaved. By 2 months he was better, more productive, and more assertive than he had ever been in both, or if you looked at it, in all three lives.
It wasn't just his work ethic and energy that was affected, it was also his relationship with the town he resided in. They started to include him in conversations, they would seek him out, they even started to come up with inside jokes.
Bjorn couldn't see it. He didn't understand what was happening to him. But this time spent helping out around Lief's crossing was helping him heal. At the time of their freedom he was almost a broken man. Olvog’s actions and his ability had more of an effect on Bjorn than he realized. Right after they got free he seemed fine, but at the same time he hadn't realized how warped his perception of the world he lived in had become. As such he was starting to regain a sense of purpose in life and a sense of humor.
It was near spring when something changed in their routine. It was mid-day working on a house on the far side of the bridge that one of the women he was working with said a single word. “Spot?” That word was somewhere between a statement and a question.
Looking up at her Bjorn followed her gaze which landed on a large shaggy looking dog. It easily came up to Bjorn's waist while it was on all fours, the dog was at least 100 lbs. And covered in a thick shaggy coat of fur. It was a motley mix of white, black and brown. It stood on the edge of town with its tongue lolling out of its mouth.
“Come here Spot.” Called the lady as the dog dropped down with its tail wagging fiercely. It burst into a sprint barreling into the woman. The two went down in a puddle of women and dog, as the dog plowed into her. Excitedly licking the woman she giggled as she tried to push Spot off of her.
Walking over to the two Bjorn looked down at the dog. “Why is he called Spot? There aren't really any spots in his fur.”
Barely managing to extricate herself from the excited dog, “Spot was found in the woods one day by Laine when he was a child. Being 5 or 6 at the time he had named Spot, Spot, because he was young and that was what he picked. By the time they both made it back to town she was answering to the name Spot.”
Kneeling down Bjorn presented his palm facing upwards towards the excitable dog. “Come here girl, let me pet you.”
The dog looked at Bjorn wearily and slunk behind the woman, putting an entire body between her and Bjorn. The woman looked at Spot and shooed her away. “Go on go, he is harmless, he won't hurt you.”
Slowly spot walked out from behind the woman and started to take tentative steps towards Bjorn. Making no move Bjorn waited for Spot to come to him, so he just kept his hand outstretched. Spot cautiously walked within a few feet of Bjorn and started to sniff at his hand. When Bjorn slowly started to move his hand to pet the dogs head she pulled back.
“Alright, that's a no.” Standing upright, Spot retreated again. “What happened to her? She wasn't here last time we were here, and we have lived here the better part of 5 months, why haven't we seen her?”
“A little over 8 months ago she saw a deer while out and about and took off after the deer. We haven't seen her this entire time, I am honestly surprised to see her. We all thought she was dead. I got to go tell people.” She turned to go.
“Wait.” Bjorn's word stopped her in her tracks as she turned back towards Bjorn, a question on her face but not voiced. “You said Laine found her when he was 5 or 6, Laine is close to 50 now. Are you telling me this dog is over 40 years old?”
She thought for a minute before nodding. “That is exactly what I am saying, she is at least 40.” Before turning and heading off to find someone with Spot in tow behind her.
Shaking his head, Bjorn went back to work. If they say the dog was over 40 years old he would just have to believe them. Even though it seems impossible from the perspective of earth animals, who was to say that would hold true for animals in a magical world.
The days passed just the same as they started to become, they would work, train, eat, then sleep with nothing really breaking that rhythm. During that time Spot had started to trust and even like Bjorn, although originally suspicious, the dog warmed up to him fast. Bjorn didn't play fair though, he had employed a trick as old as time and bribed Spot's trust with food.
On the third day after Spot returned something broke the rhythm that had befallen their lives. It was another full moon. At the start of the night it started to be exactly what they had come to expect when a full moon happened. The town had posted guards outside of the doors to Bjorn’s, Alaric's, Tayla's, and Meira's door to make sure none of the young werewolves tried to break in. From there the entire town stripped naked to try and save their clothes. The transformation was where things took a turn.
The guys were in their room and the two girls in their respective rooms. Spot had joined the guys. When the now familiar crunching and popping sounds that signified werewolves transforming started to sound throughout town more familiar sounds accompanied the cacophony, only from within their room.
Both men Watched in horror as Spot's body started to transform as well. Her back canine legs with the double knees straightened out forming a more human knee. Her front legs with their double elbows turned into a single elbow and lengthened until they reached her waist. Her long snout started to transform leaving behind smooth elven features. All of the fur on her body retracted into her skin leaving behind fine hair covering the rest of her, and long mixed color hair, the same color combination as her fur coat, that came almost to her waist. Standing upright her body shortened and her legs lengthened until she was in the shape and body proportions of a human. Her ears hand a long soft taper to points at the end, identifying her as an elf. She was around 5’9” in height putting her just a little shorter than Bjorn. Spot now looked like a mid-aged elf.
She stood to her full height looking around. Alaric stood there in shock at the sight of a dog turning into an elf. Bjorn on the other hand had the good sense to grab a blanket off of his bed and hold it out for the elf.
She took it from him, wrapping herself up in the blanket giving a little shiver. “I always forget how cold it can be without my fur.” She said as she took a seat on the bed. Her voice was light and soft, almost like it was carried on the wind.
Alaric started stammering. “Bu bu but, you a a are an elf. How?”
“I see that I broke Alaric. Yes I am an elf, actually I am what is known as a wereelf. Yes that is exactly what it sounds like. I am a dog most of the time but during the full moon I transform into an elf. As to how that is an interesting question, I don’t fully know. When I was just a pup and Laine brought me back to the village I was just a dog. I was like that for a few years, a dog all the time. I always got really excited when the full moon happened because when they turned into werewolves they became like me.” She paused. “Can you hand me some water? I am parched.”
Bjorn handed her the water skin that was hanging by his bed. Spot took it and took a long drink from it. Handing it back over to Bjorn she continued. “Ah, that’s better. Where was I? Oh yeah! How I became a wereelf. I would get excited and play with the town, but mostly Laine. One time when it was a full moon we were playing around like we normally do, and I think he didn’t realize what he was doing and bit down on me a bit too hard, wounding me rather badly. This was all before we lived in Lief’s crossing. Anyways, after the full moon I was still wounded but thankfully they were able to save my life. I was hurt for a long while, months, or so I am told. But when I fully recovered the next full moon I changed into an elf.”
“We have a lot of ideas as to why I turned into a wereelf, but nothing for sure. It is not normal for animals that are wounded by werewolves to turn into werepeople, but thankfully I did. What I do know though is that it has given me an abnormally long life. Most of my kind die at the 12 to 16 year mark, not me. I am 43 and still going strong.”
By the time Spot finished speaking Alaric had come out of the shock of Spot turning into an elf a little bit. “Hey Bjorn, that ability of yours gives you a bit of a description of whatever you identify right? Why not use it on Spot?”
“That's a great idea.” Bjorn agreed. Turning back towards Spot she had a concerned expression on her face. Before she could object though Bjorn used his Identify ability.
Name: Spot
Race: Wereelf
Age: 43
Level: 12
A wereelf is a rare variant of the werewolf races. When werewolves change, sometimes very very rarely their bite can impart some of their non-animalistic genes into whatever they bite. Turing the other creature into a were-whatever the base race was. It is important to note that it doesn’t have to be imparted to another animal. There have been cases where Wereelves actually are humans that turn into elves during the full moon. Wereelves gain any stat bonuses that elves have over their base races in addition to their normal stats.
“Huh, that's odd.” Bjorn said as he read the character sheet for Spot. “Turns out there can be anything. If an orc was a werewolf and bit me I could become either a werewolf or a wereorc. Turning into an orc during the full moon.”
“Really?” Asked Alaric. “That sounds totally made up to me.”
Spot nodded in agreement.
“I promise you, that is what WAILA told me.”
“Walaia?” Asked Alaric. “What is that? There were way too many vowels in that for it to be a real word.”
“You know what it is. It is my identify Ability. It is called W.A.I.L.A. or WAILA. It stands for what am I looking at?”
“What kind of name is that? Should my indomitable will Ability actually be called CIMMAA? Or can’t influence my mind about anything? What kind of dumb ass naming scheme is that?”
Bjorn gave Alaric a look of consternation. “How would I know, I wasn’t the one who came up with the name for this Ability. I just get the benefits of it.”
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“I agree with Alaric, it is a dumb name.” Spot said.
Bjorn then turned his look onto Spot, his face said you too? “Wait hold that thought, Spot your name is Spot. Why haven’t you changed it? I honestly find it weird thinking of you in your elf form as Spot.”
Spot got an offended look on her face. “Well that was quite rude. What is wrong with my name? I actually am quite fond of my name. It’s better than Bjorn. Why should I change my name for your sensibilities? On top of that, it would just get confusing if my name just upped and changed.”
This time it was Bjorn who got the offended look on his face. “What is wrong with Bjorn? It’s not my favorite but it better than it could have been. Besides I didn’t get a choice in my name. Some dick of a god like being decided what to make me and gave me this name. My name before coming to the Eld was Christopher.”
“Stop being a little bitch. You will thank me later… Pussy.” Charon’s voice boomed in Bjorn’s head. Making him instinctively droop his head and cover his ears.
Alaric looked at his friend with worry, as he hadn’t heard the voice. Spot was sitting there doing the dog thing when confused and tilted her head. “Are you alright?” Asked Alaric moving closer to Bjorn.
“Yeah, I am fine. I just had a disembodied voice shout into my ear.” He looked at the two and their expressions hadn’t changed. If anything they both looked more worried. “Anyways.” he said trying to get them back on track, the silence between the three just grew as two were trying to figure out if the 3rd one needed help or not.
Finally Alaric decided to comment in a flat voice. “Your weird man.” Then the two just stared at each other for a few seconds. “Anyways back on topic, ish. So you said ‘some dick of a god like being decided what to make you.’ What did you mean by that?”
Bjorn then told the two of them how he came to be in the Eld, and how the being that called itself Charon decided to not give him a choice the second time around. He went into detail explaining his creation process and his brief life as an orc before burning to death.
Both Spot and Alaric were good listeners never interrupting, gasping and oooing at the right parts, Alaric even got a few laughs in.
“You know.” Alaric started. “I have heard tales of a being like what you described, I think they called it the curator. Of course there are fanatics out there that warship it.” There was a pause as Alaric took in a deep breath. “Your story clears up a few things for me. As in why you were so helpless when I first met you. It also makes your general incompetence more understandable.”
“Thanks.” Bjorn said in a clearly sarcastic tone.
Without missing a beat. “You're welcome.” Alaric said as he just kept speaking totally oblivious to the sarcasm. “It also explains your lack of knowledge. I half way thought you were just a fool, but I guess I was wrong.”
“Are you quite done?” Bjorn exploded. Out of the corner of his eye, he could barely see Spot containing a smile. Her obvious effort to contain it made Bjorn look at her. Which caused her to steel her expression. When he looked back at Alaric, he had the most self satisfied, and devious smile on his face.
“It’s good to have you back.” Alaric said, as he stood to head out the door. Alaric paused right as he passed Bjorn and patted him twice on the shoulder before walking out of the room. A few minutes later he came back with a glass filled with water. After draining it he gave a satisfied smack of his lips. “Well as much fun as this has been, It is late and I am tired. I am going to go to sleep. Spot, as much as I appreciate a good naked elf lady in my bed I am going to have to ask you to move.”
Spot stood with her cheeks and tips of her ears turning a brilliant red. “Sorry, I am sure you both want some sleep, I will go sleep out in the living room. Unfortunately I will probably be back to my normal dog form when you wake up. We will talk again when the next full moon happens.” She turned and walked out of the door.
Once Bjorn was done getting ready for bed when he went to lay down he noticed a lack of a blanket. “Son of a bitch.”
The next morning everything had returned to normal, all of the town folks were back to their humanoid shapes, and Spot was back to her normal dog appearance. Bjorn, Alaric, Meira, and Tayla made their way out into the common area to break their fast, each getting a portion of a biscuit with thin slices of cooked deer meat soaking into the bread.
“So” Tayla started. “Unless my ears deceive me, last night I heard a girl's voice coming out of the boy’s room. Do you guys have something you’d like to share?” A wolfish grin spread across her face as she looked at the other three expectantly.
Tayla’s words made Meira’s brows furrow. “I don’t know anything about a woman, I was in my own bed last night sleeping. Unless my guess is wrong it would have had to be you in there. Due to the fact that we are the only non werewolves in town.” As she spoke Meira started to look over the other three suspiciously.
“That’s because there was a woman in our bedroom last night.” Alaric said confidently, not seeing the potential danger of the two women’s ire. As he was saying that Spot slowly made her way around the group tail wagging as she tried to steal food off of their plates. “It was Spot here.” He grabbed a piece of deer meat that fell out of his biscuit while he ate it, and fed it to Spot, who wolfed it down.
Meira and Tayla exchanged a look before Meira spoke up. “You are trying to tell me that Spot is able to speak in perfect common.” She gave Alaric a flat look challenging him to refute her.
“Ay, that is exactly what I am telling you. As it turns out she is a wereelf.”
“A what?”
“A wereelf, she is a dog by day and elf by full moon. It really is as simple as it sounds.” Alaric said the last bit with a large goofy smile on his lips.
“That sounds made up.” commented Tayla. “It sounds like something you are saying to try and keep yourself out of trouble. I don’t buy it.”
“No, I swear she is a wereelf. Bjorn’s ability even told us that is what she was, that is were we got the name for it. I didn’t believe it at first, but if I hadn’t seen her transform in front of my own eyes I would still be skeptical.” The two girls just looked at him with unbelieving eyes. “Fine, don’t believe me. Just take Spot with you into your room the next time there is a full moon and you will see.”
The next full moon they did just that, Tayla and Meira decided to share a room that night and they took Spot into their room with them.
The morning after the two girls came out of their room looking sheepish. They sat down and started to eat both with their heads down and Alaric’s gaze kept switching between the two. The silence lasted the entire breakfast with no one speaking. When the girls finished eating they sat there for a second.
“I’m sorry we didn’t believe you.” Tayla was the first one to break the silence. “You have to admit though, a dog that turns into an elf during a full moon does sound like something that isn’t real.”
“Uh huh.” Said Alaric as he looked at Meira.
“I’m sorry I didn’t believe you, and that I brushed you off every time you tried to convince me this last week and a half.”
The look of smug satisfaction that got plastered on Alaric’s face was quite the sight in and of itself. He looked like a cat that got the cream. “I’m sorry, I didn’t quite hear what you said, can you say it again?”
That got a dirty look from both women. “You don’t have to be so smug about it.” Remarked Meira. “Whatever, moving on. I have been thinking that winter is almost over. What do we want to do when spring comes?”
“What do you mean?” Asked Bjorn.
“Well once winter is over we can move on, we can go do something, go explore. Or we can stay here and become more of a permanent part of town. I for one am open to whatever.”
Her words took Bjorn by surprise; he hadn't considered moving on, they had settled in and become a part of this society. The thought of up and leaving after putting down roots hadn’t even crossed his mind.
“This topic has been weighing on my mind for a while now.” Tayla said. “I like it here, but we will never truly be a part of this village as long as we don’t become werewolves. It is hard enough as it is, trying to maintain our own independence. I mean they confine us to our rooms every full moon, even if it is for our own safety we don’t have the freedom to roam around on those nights. That small lack of freedom has weighed heavily on my mind for the last few months.”
“Ay, I agree with you. I for one don’t want to become a werewolf, I don’t know about the rest of you.” Alaric paused briefly as everyone nodded in agreement. “I have faith that no one here would ever intentionally turn us into werewolves, but it is only a matter of time before something happens and one of us accidentally gets bit. That is all it takes, one bite and we become werewolves. I think once the snow melts we should look to move on.”
They all looked at Bjorn, as he hadn’t contributed anything to this conversation. “I was content to stay here and help out, it has been nice to have a sense of belonging, of helping everyone here. But with that being said, I also agree with everything that has been said. I don’t like being confined to our rooms, I don’t want to become a werewolf. But I also don’t really want to give up what we have built here. There is still so much left to do. With that being said though, back on earth there is a saying that home is where the heart is. And for me my home is with all of you. So if we decide to move on I will join.”
Meira sat there chewing on her lip while Bjorn talked. “So, so far we have two votes for moving on, one that sounds like an abstain. I also agree that we should move on. I don’t know where we want to go next, but I think we have overstayed our welcome here. I do agree with Bjorn though, there is still a lot that needs to be done here, and I think it would be rough for us to leave right away. I say we stay until the crops have been planted for the year and then we make our way onwards.”
All around the group everyone was in agreement with Meira’s suggestion. “Alright that is settled then, after we finish with spring planting we will pack up and hit the road.” She was quiet for a few seconds like she was mulling over what to say next. “I also think that we shouldn’t tell everyone here until we plan to leave. It would just stress everyone here and give them ample time for them to try to convince us to stay.” Again everyone was in agreement.
The next month blurred by as they were secretly getting ready to leave, but also trying to help out as much as they could before they left. By the time the snow had fully melted and it was time for spring planting a few in town had an idea of what was happening, but they didn’t make a big deal out of it.
They had gotten most of the town repaired by the time for planting. As more and more houses were being built more and more people moved out of the house that was built for the friends. With each completed construction project their house was getting emptier and emptier, to the point where Alaric’s room was freed up and they only had one section of hanging blankets to give someone their own private space.
This new free space gave them more ability to work on the interior of the building. When the suns went down they would work on putting in nice wooden floors, and then polishing it. Making their way through the house they started with the bedrooms and then worked their way to the kitchen/larder that was built.
With Bjorn having his own space again he started to practice his alchemy once again. Before he had the space he could do so, but instead he hadn’t been working on it. It was more out of respect for Alaric, the brewing process for potions didn’t always produce the most pleasant smell. When they were building Bjorn’s room they put in 4 different windows, all at different heights just to allow airflow to hopefully remove any offensive smells. Which made them have to take a trip into Vanta to purchase glass. Unsurprisingly no one in Lief’s Crossing had neither the know-how nor the ability to craft glass. Once they got the panes back they had to custom make frames for the windows to sit in.
Once the time came everyone took two weeks off from whatever they were doing to prepare the fields. They had to loosen up the soil, and then remove any large rocks. Once that was done they had to walk down the rows of the newly tilled field and place the seeds of whatever they were going to plant. After that they had to cover said seeds with soil. During the entire process they had to pull and remove any plant in the patch of ground that they didn’t want to do. The entire process seemed simple but it was labor intensive and monotonous.
As for what they planted, they planted a mix between wheat, cabbage, carrots, and corn where the plants that Bjorn knew. There were 11 different plants that they planted that he didn’t know before coming to the Eld. Almost everything they planted they promised had some sort of edible value. The one thing that they planted that didn’t have any nutritional value was a plant that they grew just for the plant fiber. It was a mix between flax and cotton. In town they had a spinning wheel that the carpenters had made, and apparently the stocks of the plant could be harvested and then dried. Once dried they would smash it up with a grindstone turning it into long thin strands of plant material. From there it could be woven into a thin thread or a thicker string. They then used it to make most of their fabrics.
Once everything was officially finished when it came to planting their crops for the year they made their final preparations. The following day they told everyone they could find that they had an announcement that night, and that everyone should gather for dinner.
At dinner Bjorn was the one who they decided should be the one to break the news. At first he was one of the least accepted of the group, now, he was the one who everyone liked. Alaric, Meira, and Tayla all had their own little clicks. Of course everyone liked them to some extent, but they had their small groups that they fit into the best. Bjorn didn’t have a small group, he was one who fit into each group.
Standing in front of everyone they looked at him with expectant eyes. “I know this might come as a shock to some of you, and to others it was kind of expected.” He paused to take in a breath. “But we all have decided it was our time to move on.” A low susurrus went rolling through the crowd as many started to talk to the people around them. “As much as we would like to stay, and that we appreciate you all taking us in and letting us stay here for the winter. Also for helping us build a home in your town, I think we all knew that our staying here was always a temporary situation. The wider world calls to us, and we must answer the call.”
Once Bjorn had finished speaking Aiko called out. “When do you plan on leaving?”
“We plan on leaving at first light tomorrow morning.”
This proclamation was met by an even louder buzz. “Why so soon?” A voice called out.
“We thought it best to not sully our time here with the bittersweet tones the knowledge of our imminent departure would bring. As such we decided to keep it to ourselves, until tonight.”
Aiko stood and walked over to where Bjorn was standing. As she walked to nodded over to where two of the men were seated, once they saw her nod they stood and walked away. She made it to where Bjorn stood, and took him into an embrace. “We were glad to have you, and of course you are welcome back whenever you want. I do request that you keep our secret, well a secret. I don’t doubt that you will, it is still just good to reiterate.” All 4 nodded in agreement. “Very well, if we can’t convince you to stay, at the very least we can take tonight and celebrate.”
Once she finished talking the two men came back into the clearing carrying a large barrel. Quickly a table had been brought out and the keg was sat on it, they pulled a cork out and put a tap in its place. From there they laid it on its side and started to fill cups and tankards with drink and pass them out to the gathered people.
Once everyone had their cups filled with a rich dark red liquid Aiko was the one who raised her glass, with everyone following suit. She didn’t waste time with flowery words, or over complicating it. “To our saviors, who without many of us would be dead or in slavery.” This was met with a loud cheer as everyone filled the dark with their voices. They drank deeply from their cups. A sweet cider flavor filled their mouths as they drank the liquid.
From there the organization broke as everyone wanted to drink, toast, and thank their friends who were about to depart. The night quickly passed in a blur of faces, jokes, tears, and well wishes. As everyone wanted to get something in before the end of the night. Around half way through someone brought out a stringed instrument that looked surprisingly like an acoustic guitar, but sounded nothing like it. Someone else brought out a set of pipes and music began to fill the night air.
Soon everyone was well into their cups, Alaric doubly so. When Kallie made her way finally up to Tayla, giving her a fierce hug. When she pulled away tears filled her eyes. “Can I come with you?”
A sad look crossed Tayla’s face. “I am sorry munchkin, I would like to say you could come with us, but I don’t think what we will be doing will be the safest. Besides, they need you here. You are the best hunter in these woods, and they need your help to keep them alive.” Tayla begrudgingly nodded her agreement. “Now don’t forget what I taught you, it will come in handy I promise.”
A tear-filled grin crossed Kallie’s face as she nodded and pulled away leaving Tayla. Taking her place Aiko walked up to where Bjorn stood. “I know you said first light, but by the look of things it might be later in the day when you leave.” She looked pointedly at Alaric who was well and truly drunk by this point.
“I think you are right.” Bjorn replied, slurring his words ever so slightly, as he wasn’t too far behind Alaric.
“Come find me in the morning before you leave, I have something for all of you. Something I think you will like, and want to take with you.”
“We will, I promise.” Bjorn said. With his agreement she left to take part in the merriment that was taking place all around them.
From there the celebration lasted long through the night. The next morning it was a little slow of a start. Even though they initially wanted to get on the road at first light it wasn't until the afternoon before they were all ready to go.
Keeping his word from the night before they found Aiko nursing a cup of tea and rubbing her head. As they filed into her house she perked up a bit. “Ah good morning, as I promised I have something for you guys, it isn't much but it should help.” She took a small bag from her waist and set it on the table it hit it with a satisfying clink of metal hitting metal.
Taking the bag Bjorn opened it and found a few gold and several silvers inside. Closing it back up he set it down. “I appreciate it but you guys need the money more than we do.”
“The hell they do.” Said Alaric as he reached out, snatching the coin purse and quickly squirreling it away.
“I am inclined to agree with Alaric.” Aiko started. “You have done more than we can ever repay for us. It is the least we can do. On top of that you are always welcome here, and you will always have your home.”
Meria looked at the rest of the group and then spoke up. “We actually have been thinking about that, if you guys want. Anytime you have visitors you can rent out the space for them, giving you another small source of income, and that way the house doesn't sit empty all the time.”
Aiko raised an eyebrow at that. “Are you sure?” when everyone nodded she continued. “Very well, we will do just that. But if you are ever back in this area you are always welcome to stay here. Where will you go?”
“We were thinking of heading east from here.” Tayla said.
“Into the forest? That is awfully brave, but I have faith in you.” she paused for a second. “Well we have kept you long enough, I wish you luck out there. And again, thank you for everything you have done.”
After a final round of goodbyes they left Aiko's house, by then a good number of the town had gathered around to wish them off. After more tears were shed the friend group took their leave heading east back into the Summergate forest. One final look back they saw everyone at the edge of town waving them goodbye as the trees started to block their view of the place they called home for half a year.
(If you do not care about advancement you may skip to the next part)
You have advanced your skill level in construction, reaching skill level 13. Buildings you build will have 26% increased durability.
You have reached the milestone going from a beginner to a novice in the skill: Construction. You have gained a perk: Your knowledge of construction makes you more likely to see the weak points in a building.
You have advanced your skill level in woodcutting, reaching skill level 3. You will do 7.5% more damage to trees and wooden objects.
Congratulations you have advanced in the skill: Cooking, you are now skill level 8. Your attempts to make an edible meal have increased by 8%.
Congratulations you have advanced in the skill: Alchemy, you are now skill level 16. Potions you make will be 16% increased effect and 32% increased duration of effect.
You have advanced your skill level in hand to hand. reaching skill level 9. Blows you land with bare fists and legs now deal 18% extra damage.
You have advanced your skill level in swordsmanship, reaching skill level 7. Your attacks with swords now deal 21% more damage over base value.
You have advanced your skill level in carpentry. reaching skill level 9. Durability of wooden items you build will be increased by 22.5%.
You have advanced your skill level in small blades, reaching skill level 4. Your attacks with daggers and knives now deal 8% more damage over base value. Additionally critical strikes done with your small blades will deal 4% more damage.