The increasingly loud sounds of conflict woke me up, hidden in mothers tunic I had obviously missed the best part. Some guards had started an argument with Samuel, sadly I only could hear some broken bits and pieces “not human”,”impure” and some more insults I rather not remember.
Samuel was fuming as she ordered us to head for a nearby field that had already been harvested. I had never heard that woman angry but now her voice was seething with barely controlled rage.”Everyone! We of impure blood are obviously not wanted here. Build up camp on the nearby field, we will leave tomorrow after everyone had enough rest. If one of these city mongrels still wants to trade, bleed them dry!” There was a slight murmur spreading through the members of the caravan, obviously very few were happy about the change of plan. While some only lamented the missed profits, others loudly cursed “the elitist humans” mocking the fact that normal humans with their diluted blood had the gall to spout such discrimination.
Unlike normal, the wagons in the camp were placed in a defensive formation this time. Those capable of shifting the earth further fortified our makeshift camp, the tension hanging in the air was nearly solid enough to touch.
My family made due with the unexpected situation by fulfilling mothers promise to the two adventurers that had glued themselves to our heels. Dotra and Aisi had worked tirelessly for the opportunity to get themselves one set of full body equipment made by my father. Always polite and quick to act they had proven a great help.
Setting up the workbench was quite a hassle on the uneven ground until Gale lost patience an fused a few square meters into a solid and smooth slab of compressed earth. I joined father in preparing the raw material, playing assistant during his craft felt refreshing to me.
The joy in fathers eyes was contagious and I knew what that meant, he prepared to go all out and pour his entire passion into these two sets. Mother handed us a piece of paper stock full of numbers, I was surprised how she had gotten that precise measurements from our two adventurers.
“She would have had to strip both bare to get such good numbers”, when this unbidden though passed through me, the slight smirk and the blushed faces of Aisi and Dorta suddenly made sense. Vigorously shaking my head managed to banish the foul images my imagination had produced, the sudden movement on his shoulder made father look at me questioningly but I stayed silent and he resumed his work.
Large pieces of hide were slowly cut to precise shapes, large plates and small bands alike.
I did my best to supply father with the energy he so vigorously spent in the state we had come to call “craftsman's trance”. His massive paws worked tirelessly, substituting energy where his large form could not reach two sets began to take shape.
His choice left me quite surprised, the two adventurers must have made a VERY good impression on him. An outer robust and reinforced layer followed by a woven middle sheet followed by a comfortable inner layer. He only left a small gap in the inner layer to allow the last step in the production of our unique crafting method.
A thick jelly-like substance made by a secret recipe from monster-bones was the last ingredient. After infusing the middle layer with this alchemical cocktail from mothers hands he sealed the inner layer. It took us til late in the day until both sets were finished.
Then it was finally time for the enchants, Gale collected me from fathers shoulder who was already cleaning and tending to his tools.
Her master had given Gale free reign this time, the combined lessons from both of us had propelled her into planes of enchanting and runic work most people could only dream of.
To amplify the huge load of magic the middle layer was specially designed to hold multiple layers of runes making the nearly finished sets highly compatible to enchants.
POV Dotra
Today had been one of the greatest humiliations we had ever faced. Even the time I had fallen into a mud-puddle as a child had not been as bad, forced to run through my home village caked in mud laughed at by all the village children.
The matriarch had simply dragged us into their wagon, without a chance to resist she had taken measurements everywhere. It did not take long before we were allowed to slip back into our clothes but we still felt violated, her small smirk did not make it better at all. Thus we blushed like little girls that were told they are pretty and fled as fast as we could.
If not for her writing down every last measurement we would have been convinced to have been molested by that crafty woman. After regaining our bearings we joined some other members of the caravan that watched Ignalis work. The huge wolf-man was working with such a speed and precision that many could only look flabbergasted.
I was only worried that he would spend too much energy in his trance like state but my worry was extinguished as I saw the small beast on his shoulder. My ability to sense energy was by far not enough to see through each of those monsters working in a duo.
But the energy passing from beast to master was a different matter, I slightly went pale as each second a few people worth of energy were infused into the wolf-man, just what in the name of the gods were they crafting over there? What kind of gear would need enough energy to level a small village?
I got a weird look from Aisi but I refrained to comment anything about what happened on that workbench, his mediocre sensing skills were not enough to grasp what was happening.
Even with his inhuman speed the master took a large portion of the day to craft the two sets. We could only watch fascinated as techniques we had never heard about were used to craft our dream.
Argalea seemed to be in charge of enchanting this time, if we had been unhappy to not get her master we did not show it. She gently took the beast from her fathers shoulders and placed it on her own. With great care she placed the set on a large blanket of furs.
Opening the small bag by her side that she seemed to carry everywhere she went recently, the two crystals we had seen her with in that night floated outside.
I was still asking myself what use these things might have as they came active, my senses were nearly grilled as immense undulations of energy emanated from the formations contained in those things. Even Aisi's less than stellar ability made him avert his gaze.
Nearly blinded we heard a voice in our head that we had never encountered in the pack.
Obviously female but full of power it only said just a few words”Dotra left, Aisi right, place your hands on the chest-piece!” The power contained in the few words were enough to send us stumbling towards the blanket. As instructed we placed our hands on our assigned sets.
A complete set of body armor(show details) has been bound to your soul a set bonus has been activated(show details)
Set: The great PilgrimageGrade: AncientStatus: soulbound do
Bound to a soul it can never be fully destroyed only once its bonded partner perishes will it follow its master and return to nothing.
Combined bonus-
+1000 all stats
+30% all stats
+40% healing caused
regenerates 5%max life per minute
Immunity to most diseases and toxins
200% weather resistance
slight temperature adaption
air filtration
increased danger sense
auto-clean
regeneration(consumes raw leather)
active:
The items placed on the blanket began to dissolve into speck of light which infused themselves into our body, it only took us a moment until we deeply bowed in front of the wolf-man. Every of our expectations had been surpassed by a large margin!
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We got a few questioning gazes from the pack as we both drew a small knife and slit our hands. With blood dripping to the earth we intoned the ancient pledge.
“By our blood we swear! To never willingly harm Selanis,Ignalis,Erelain,Argalea or their bound beasts and familiars! We pledge for now and forever to honor a promise of friendship, to guard their secrets, we swear this unto our very life!” The dense atmosphere that had gathered slowly dissipated as the very world stood witness upon our pledge. Selanis was the first to address us “That would not have been necessary but in the name of my pack I thank you for this pledge. As alpha of this pack I name you friend! May the hunt always be in your favor!” Aisi and me had decided onto this step during the week of travel, the pledge was not only protection for them but also for ourselves. Every mage would feel the faint pressure of the pledge if he ever asked us a question that may be a betrayal of the promise. We knew of many adventurers that would not hesitate to murder to acquire items like these, the aura would keep most on distance that may cause us harm.
The caravan held a toast in our name as we were forced to report to the local guild soon.
Many of the fellow guards consumed their liquor wishing us luck. That evening the merry caravan and us parted ways. Shouldering our backpacks we headed off towards the gates of the city. It felt very nice to shut the unfriendly guards up using our adventurer badges.
As we passed the iron gates the fattest man we had ever seen came running from the opposite direction. He did not even look at us as he sped down the path as fast as his bouncing form allowed. Moments later an entire regiment of guards and servants came running down the same road. Words like”Master!”,”Wait!” echoed out of the horde, everything else was completely droned out by the sheer volume of noise created by clanging metal-gear.
But that was not our business, we were certain that those puny guards posed no danger to the caravan. As long as our friends were there they would need to bring out far bigger weapons to even look threatening at all. Thus we made our way towards the guild building, in hope this town actually had some decent assignments.
POV Belvadir councilor to the regent of Wyn
The day had been so good, my chef had prepared a very tasty meal as one of my personal servants brought me a message that immediately turned my mood sour. The guards my lord had brought as he was appointed regent of Wyn had once again caused trouble and my own hunger had intensified that incident even more.
The servant had been waiting with his message a few hours already before I was notified of his presence. The message was quite simple “Belvadir get your fat ass out here or we remove this filthy nests from our route!” I would have had anyone that showed disrespect towards me hanged but the single letter “S” and the red seal placed next to it were the reason for me to run personally out of the city gates like a lowly servant fearing the whip.
My servants and guards loudly following me as I made my way towards the field the caravan had chosen to use as camp. Even before I got close I saw the dreaded woman standing on one of the low earth ramps they had erected to shield their wagons. Before I even had the chance to say anything Samuel cut me off with a tone cold as ice.
“Eight hours! Unable to properly train your own guards is one thing, but humiliating me is another thing! Forget the deal, the meager profits from this shit-hole are not worth it! Convince a different caravan to come to this far out place of filth. This was the last time MY caravan had been here!”
She did not even give me the chance to respond before she turned around. This was bad, really bad! I had to inform the regent immediately!
My servants and guards only looked stupidly at me as I sprinted back the way I had come, what would these ingrates even know just who they had sent back from the gates!
I was fully out of breath as I barged into the private chambers of my lords room. A naked girl gave off a cliche * kyaaa* as she hid her naked form under a fancy blanket. The annoyance and anger was rock solid on Socluan Emon's face as the full authority he held as regent of Wyn crashed down over me.
“Belvadir, I hope for your neck that it is IMPORTANT.” The threat in his voice barely even concealed, the regent of Wyn rose from his bed. My own irritation made me stick my neck a bit more out than usual. “Well my lord you could call it IMPORTANT. The guards on the main-gate have refused a caravan entry to the city.” He only raised an eyebrow “And where is the problem? One pitiful caravan more or less does not impact us in any way!”
My voice had become seething with sweetness “Oh my lord, your men only managed to make the renown Samuel remove your city from her trading route. The daughter of THAT man, our ONLY source of dwarven minerals which missing will shut down the entire metal-works of the city.”
It seemed the situation slowly began to sink into his intoxicated skull. Panic began to take hold in the corner of his eyes “Pay her double! We cannot lose our metal-works under any circumstances the king needs these metals!”
“You seem to still not understand the situation my lord, she REFUSED the trade. She canceled the deal and has renounced her claim on her caravan trading rights to the city!
Her right hand even gave it to me in written from! They leave with daybreak which is not even eight hours from now.”
“Are you sure we cannot convince her to leave the minerals here?” “The chances are very low my lord, I already tried to bribe the right hand which by the way failed spectacular. My servant got a concussion from the pouch of money hitting his head. Yes my lord I am sure the chances are VERY bad.” Emon turned his back towards me looking out of the windows obviously deep in thought. A grin began to spread over his face that gave me goosebumps.
“Then my dear Belvadir we will take it by force! Prepare the soldiers we will get what is ours!”
I could not believe what I had just heard,”My lord, reconsider if we do this the repercussions will be even greater than to lose our metal-works! If THAT man even suspects that we have harmed his daughter this city is done for! Not even the king can do anything if you incur HIS wrath.”
“Then there simply cannot be any trace found. Kill them all, take everything burn any evidence! This is an order, don't make me send the soldiers myself.” With my lords commands running circles in my head I returned to my office. No matter how I turned it, we would lose in this situation and only one last solution would at least allow me to keep my head. I sent one of my servants to relay the order of mobilization to the soldiers as my hands traced the outline of the small metal box I had been entrusted with.
It took a few moments to build the courage to open the box and grab the black crystal within.
My sweaty hands had barely touched its smooth surface as an imposing voice droned through my head. “Why have you contacted us?” with a moment of hesitation I responded.
“Notify the chairman my lord has gone mad and ordered the execution of his daughters caravan.”
I did not get a response and placed the black crystal back into the box. The dice had been cast I could only wait.
Minutes later a commotion broke out, the alarm bells of the city began ringing. A servant charged into my room.”Master horrible news! The regent has been murdered! The captain of the guard has ordered a complete city lock-down! He has tasked me with escorting you to him!”
With shaky legs I followed the servant, “My lord you had no idea just what you have offended! Now you have paid the price.” I did not voice out those thoughts as I followed down the stone halls that had become darker than I remembered but it may have been just my imagination.
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New chapter, enjoy ;)