POV Dotra

The transit from Igas to Wyn was planned to take roughly a week, Aisi and me had been able to convince Samuel to request us both for an escort mission. Thus we became temporary guards to the caravan tasked with protecting its people and goods.

We were also able to establish contact with the honored Master-craftsman but to our great surprise his wife was the one leading their family. As humans we were not very familiar how beast-man packs and especially matriarchy really works. It had been quite a challenge to convince his wife to give us a chance but we were intent of proving ourselves.

Her first task was to acquire the higher quality skins of the animals and beast that were drawn to every caravan. Normally the hunters and guards would just kill the beasts and leave everything but their core behind but that changed as the rumor went viral that the beast-man would pay a few coins to acquire even core-less carcasses, provided the thing had not been mangled too badly.

Enticed by some fast coins many guards would sell those carcasses to the family. It took us three days to build enough familiarity with them for Selanis to switch us into a different position. We would control the arriving carcasses and bleed them dry in preparation for the youngest female of their pack Erelain to skin the beast. She did not mind us watching her craft so we spent quite a while to observe her mastery in skinning.

Her knowledge of skinning even rarer beasts and uncommon types of hide left us deeply impressed by the young woman. She would flawlessly finish her tasks in record time, only her skinning methods were quite unorthodox for us.

She did not use any tools, infusing her energy into a talon she would perfectly separate the hide from the flesh. Selanis and the small female called Argalea would then put the finished skins into a barrel full with some kind of herbal tonic. But they did not waste the remaining parts, the Matriarch obviously very versed in alchemy and herbs carefully reduced the remaining carcass to small pellets which she would meticulously store in gourds.

There was just one thing that felt off to me, the pack felt irritated and if I was not wrong quite worried. They overplayed it by drowning themselves in their work but some smiles and laughter felt forced. We did our best to assist them but they refused to talk about the reasons for their mood, the master Ignalis told us to not dig any further in a very serious tone.

One evening we were allowed to join them on their camp-fire, intoxicated by strong spirits the master told us a tiny bit of their origin. We had been totally wrong, while looking like a variant of beast-man they were actually a completely different race called wolf-man in our tongue. They did not go into many details regarding their origins but Selanis told us that their people were on the decline and that they may be the only ones of them on this island.

The night before reaching Wyn we were tasked with guard duty as a few noises alerted us to someone sneaking through the darkness. To our surprise the unknown trespasser was in fact Argalea, her clothing looked messily and her fur out of order. Whatever she wanted we did not even notify her, freely allowing her to pass. Watching her disappear into the forest we could only leave her be.

Whatever had spooked the female that badly had even made her miss our own presence.

Later in the night we were alerted by four intense flashes of light in the distance a strong magical disturbance brought us to increased alert. Not even half an hour later Argalea reappeared, the familiar silver beast deeply snoring around her neck but what astonished me were two crystals trailing behind her back. My was unable to see through the nature of the two crystals, had we not seen the radiant smile on her face we would have stopped her. But seeing the downcast Argalea suddenly regain her happiness prevented us from waking our fellow guards.

As the sun rose in the morning we reported to Selanis for our daily assignment as we were overwhelmed by the radiating joy. Whatever had caused the bad mood must have been resolved. I could not refrain to wonder if the small silver beast was related to the swing of mood.

Speaking of the beast it first mustered us with barely hidden danger emanating from it but stopped as Selanis picked it up to vigorously pet it. The small thing lost all tension relishing in the matriarchs gentle caress. Had I not know of the immense power this “pet” contained I too would not have been able to resist and tried petting it.

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After the petting session a huge kettle made of a very dark iron appeared on the cart, Aisi and me were left dumbfounded, did they possess some kind of storage ability?

We had only left for a short moment to secure our belonging and the large kettle had appeared from nowhere.

Ignalis secured the large pot to the wagon with a few chains and ropes while Argalea condensed enough water to fill half the kettle. Obviously they intended to brew something even as the whole caravan prepared to set off towards Wyn.

Large bundles of herbs were then added to the cold water, Selanis added a few pellets from one of the gourds. Only then did I notice the slab of stone they had secured the kettle on, did they intend to make fire on the way? My unspoken question on how they wanted to house the fire on the cart without risking the spread of fire got stuck in my throat as the small beast was placed underneath.

Immediately intense head radiated outwards and my senses honed by regular use of Mana told me of the high concentration of energy contained in the kettle. The dark metal came alive as entire formations of runes lit up in response to the energy.

Erelain was the next to take action, hauling one of the prepared barrels over they carefully transferred the skins into the bubbling kettle. Carefully I activated my on the large thing.

Item:Runic CauldronGrade:MysticStatus:Infused with energy, filled with herbal tonicDurability:2600/XOnce a normal household kettle a grand-master of runic enchantments has worked countless formations into its very metal. This Cauldron would make many alchemists sell their very souls to use a single time

Heat dissipation -90%

Energy dissipation -95%

Bonus to infusion 30%

Reduce failure rate by 75%

Increase in potency of herbs 25%

I could barely prevent myself from going slack-jawed, each time this family did something they thoroughly destroyed my view on the world. Was everyone THAT powerful where they came from or was this pack just special? My mind reeled contemplating both options, they were definitely not someone even nobles could offend under any circumstance.

The last of the skins and pelts had finished soaking in the ket...cauldron I corrected myself as the city wall of Wyn came into sight. The small hill we had just passed over gave us a perfect vantage point of the entire area. Wyn had been erected onto the skeleton of a far older city which made the archaic remnants of its old form show up here and there.

Lush fields surrounded the imposing city-wall making the dark rock stand out even more.

The walls had obviously been part of the older city which made repairs and added structures stick put like sore spots on its majesty. Whoever had erected the city first obviously held far higher understanding on his craft making even expert craftsman look like incompetent children.

Even from afar the tireless ringing of smiting hammers and the endless smoke from chimneys told of the city's bond towards metalworking. The caravan passed many slaves working in the fields as we approached the main gate, I could not prevent to feel disgusted at the underfed humanoids tending the plants.

I had seen many places with bad slavery situations but those slaves looked severely malnourished and their collars were massive. Even larger beast-kin only worked slumped over. Following an unbidden urge my hand went towards my neck as my imagination tormented me with a vision how the burden placed by one of those rings would feel.

Slowly the caravan came to a stop, Samuel began talking with the guards, but unlike before this time the guards did not look pleased at all.

Author here, Chapter dump finished, i would greatly appreciate any kind of feedback, i will read it once my eyes decide to work again. Stupid sleep why can't we live without you?!

MfG: Dr_Dac

Edit:Removed stupid smiley