Ricard's Story

((Written by Nevan and Zenia))
Elder Fermiah's village was a peaceful area of the valley. Well... All of the valley was 'peaceful', per say, but Fermiah's little town and the surrounding farmlands were the bit of heaven people thought of when someone mentioned their isolated paradise. It also happened to be closest to the main pass through the mountains, meaning that Fermiah's Village was not only the first stop of those who entered the valley, but the elderly Fermiah himself was also the unofficial spokesman of all those who lived there.

He was weary of travellers. For the first time in generations, the passes had thawed and opened up and men could actually make the week-long journey with a chance of survival - but their ways, though similar to his own, had evolved differently. They valued gold and honour in battle, while his people valued the crops they harvest and loving their family.

His eldest child, Ricard, was different. Ricard was a vibrant young man who welcomed any who dared the passes with open arms. He offered them food and even bought some of them rooms to stay in the local Inns. He enjoyed their stories of the outside world, and was quick to make friends with any who would let him.

It was morning, summer was in full bloom and the birds sang over the sea of pink and blue flowers down across the meadow and into the woodlands. At the edge of the village, Ricard stood, his eyes on the distant trees. Would any come today?

Illasera smiled as she looked out her window at the town that spread out below her as pretty as a painting. She loved this town, it was where she grew up after all, well practically everyone here grew up here. She knew her brother Ricard was out helping the travelers, something she had never seen before, and since Illasera was never one to just stay inside she decided to join him. She quickly put her hair in a ponytail, slid her boots on and walked on out, much to her nannys’ dismay after all se was a lady she should be as…adventurous as she was.

Illasera though quickly escaped the firm scolding as she slipped out the door and ran to the edge of the town giving Ricard a surprise hug from behind. “Heya!” she cried out, “How can I help you?” she asked eagerly, she always wanted to help people. “And don’t say nothing, ‘cause I know that is a lie.” She told him as she stood next to him.

"Well for once, Illasera, I speak the truth. I don't need your help because there's nothing you can help with, really. No-one's come down from the mountain pass yet today, as far as I know, and most of the other travellers have all moved on. It's been a quiet few weeks, actually. There's no point in letting the sun go to waste though, so I'm happy to keep a look out for strangers."

He sat himself back against a stone wall, grinning with satisfaction. It was an oustanting day in terms of weather. "So you, little sister, can go on and play. If I need you, I'll call."

Illasera pouted a bit, “Really and after I escaped from nanny…” she remarked with a sigh, “I was hoping for some fun! And meeting new people.” She said with a sigh. “Okay, you keep watch and if anyone comes tell me right away!” she proclaimed to her.

“Hey I am not that much younger than you, but yeah I will go and explore. Who knows? Maybe for once something exciting will happen, fun and exciting.” She awesome seemed to beg for that as she walked on off with a soft smile.

--

(Written by Nevan only)

That fall should have killed him, yet he was still alive. The grass, the flowers, the soft earth... They had cushioned his fall after he fell, against all of the logic he could apply to it. The ground had never been so kind before - it would have broken his bones, or ended his life, but this time he had nothing more than a slightly dazed head and a scratch across his cheek that trickled blood down to his clothes.

Kaden sighed and thought to himself, "perhaps this is truly paradise?"

Soon he stood, the sun rising in the sky as the hour approached late morning. He shook his head clear of dizziness, then continued on; step after step after step. There had to be a settlement nearby, all he had to do was find it.

Richter Lazarus kept his horse going at a steady pace, as he had been for several days. At this point it was routine; go to town, look for work, move on. But this time was different; he had heard about the mountain pass that had thawed, and about the village on the other side. With luck there would be some work there, whether someone needed a job done or someone wanted protection as they moved through the pass.

"Hell," he thought to himself, "maybe there will even be some adventure."

Eventually, he saw a small village coming up. Relieved, he slowly approached, looking for an inn, so he could tie his horse up, grab a drink, and hit the hay.

Adion stood at the entrance to the Valley, looking down at Elder Fermiah's village. This place looked so different from his home, an arid wasteland where only necromancers go. Adion was now thankful that he had gotten "tested" to see if he couldn't actually do necromancy. Needless to say, it came up that Adion could not perform necromancy, but he was put into dept because the tests don't come cheap. The bindings of the contract to pay off the dept were simple, go to the Valley and catalog the plants and their properties.

So, Adion traveled down to the village that he saw. By the time he had reached the village, it was mid day. When Adion reached the trail's entrance into the small village, he spotted a man who just emanated cheerfulness and friendliness.

"Hello! I am Adion Volf. I have come to the Valley to learn and catalog the local plants." Adion said in a formal tone.

Adion must have looked like some kind of beggar or thief, with his sleeveless black canvas shirt and deer hide shorts. Adion was also certain that he had one of the smallest packs that would have successfully made it through the mountains. Either way, Adion needed to deal with the current situation.

Ricard's cheerful mouth began to gleam. "Outsiders! Outsiders are here!" He yelled, the suddenness and the excitement in his tone causing an old woman nearby to gasp in fright. It was fine, there was nothing to be frightened of! Ricard rushed towards Adion Volf, almost desperate to shake the man's hand. "It's good to meet you, Adion! We've been anxiously awaited travelers for days now!

"Plants, you say? Our alchemist can help you there, I think. You should see her, she lives by the well on the western outskirts of the village. She keeps a book of plants, but even she has never been able to record all of them.

He turned around, quickly jogging over to a child. "Tensin, go and tell Larsy at the Inn to get a room ready, then run to find my sister and my father. Have a coin for the effort and buy yourself a sweetroll."

The child quickly took his pay and ran to do his duties, allowing Ricard time to walk back Adion, though the sight of someone else he must have missed stopped him before he could say anything else. "You! You there! Are you a traveler too?! Of course you are, I don't recognize you and everyone knows everyone in these parts!" He shouted towards Richter Lazarus atop his horse. "Are you his companion? You must be! You must come, the villagers are always keen to hear about the outside world!"

"Tensin!" He shouted, the child stopping before he left hearing range. "Make it two rooms!"

-

Kaden stopped, the soft grass beneath his bare feet tickling between his toes. That was a woman, but she was clearly like no woman he had ever seen before... And that beast behind her? Was that a cat? He had heard tales of such huge cats worlds away but never would he have expected to find one in this valley!

She was speaking to him.. What were those words? He didn't recognize them; he wasn't sure what if he was supposed to. "Hello?" He mimicked. Well, he knew what THAT meant. He slowly slid his foot backwards across the summer-shot ground and narrowed his eyes a little. What was she planning to do? Was she hostile? Should he stick around? He couldn't help but notice how she continued to make her way towards him, passing his comfort threshold well before she could get close enough to reach out and shake his hand.

Then suddenly, he was gone - down the slope towards the stream on the legs of a world-class sprinter. He was young, he was slim, and that gave him both speed and stamina. He easily hopped over the running water, then set off up a flower-covered ascent. Over it lay Fermiah's Village, though he had no idea until he came face-to-face with it.

When the man showed so much joy to see Adion, it nearly made him crap himself. Never in the world has anyone been so joyous to see the corrupted man that Adion was. No, outside this valley, the corrupted were hated and all of them believed to be necromancers. Adion was both worried and humbled by the man.

The man had not yet even told Adion his name, but did shake Adion's hand. The people of the Valley, or at least the residents of this village, seemed to be very accepting of outsiders. Adion saw this as both a strength and a downfall.

Wait... did the man mention an alchemist. The words 'plants' and 'alchemist' shook Adion out of his thinking trance. The well on the western outskirts, which is where Adion needed to go next then. However, he did not want to ruin the other man's day by putting his mission over the kindness that Adion had not expected.

"Umm, no that man is not a companion of mine. I traveled alone." Adion said in response to Ricard's statement that the new guy on the field was Adion's traveling companion.

"Thank you very much. However, I did not get your name." Adion said after Ricard had told the boy to set up 2 rooms in the inn.

Richter was surprised with all the enthusiasm, he had never been greeted with such excitement. He pulled back on the reins and stopped his horse, climbing down.

"No, we are not companions, I have never made acquaintance with him. Could you do me a favor and direct me to an inn, and a safe place to keep my horse?"

He held out his hand,

"My name is Richter, by the way. Richter Lazarus."

Heiwa walked to the valley, a cloak on his back and his hood covering his face, something red was flying near him that he quickly caught. “How many times have I told you to keep with me and stay still?” he whispered to the flying orb who soon seemed to glow faintly before shrinking down and hiding as a bead on one of his bracelets. “So this is the town…” he whispered as he tried to blend in with the other travelers. He was from outside the valley that much was clear, he meant no harm of course just one wandering soul curious of what was in here, after all hardly anyone got to be able to come here. He tried to sneak by with a throng of others, a red feather slipping from his cloak.


Illsera was busy exploring as soon she saw the travelers start coming hearing her brother as she eagerly ran on over picking her skirt up as she did so and looked at the one holding out a hand? "Richter? Hey that is close to my brothers name!" she commented with a grin, it was obvious she was the carefree type of girl. A few leaves in her hair showed she had probably been climbing a tree near by or some such activity as she was fond of doing. "Oh I am Illsera!" she introduced herself with a warm smile. "His younger sister and welcome to our village! I hope you like it here."

Richter smiled a bit, he did have a small weakpoint for younger children; they reminded him of the younger cousins he was raised with.

"Illasera? Now that's close to my cousin's name. Thanks for the welcome."

He looked back up at Ricard,

"Well then, if you could direct me to an inn and stable I would be most grateful."

Now a little girl showed up, just as enthusiastic, if not more, than the man. The man on the horse asked for a stable after saying something to the girl. Adion thought he might as well introduce himself.

"Names' Adion Volf. I can tell you that this is the most joyous welcome that any of my kind have had in, oh, centuries, I'd like to say." Adion said with a smile. The tone he had chosen to use was a slight happy tone. He was curious if they would pick up on the fact that he was corrupted. Maybe they didn't have corrupted in the Valley.

Kaden found himself leaning over the wall and breathing heavily in order to catch his breath. He looked back, wondering if the woman had followed him, but it appeared she and her pet monster had chosen to stay away. Well, that was good, at least. "I'm fine," he replied to Cináed, "I just saw something back there... Like a cat, but huge, and it had a woman with it. A woman with dark skin.."

His heartbeat slowing, he stood up straight and pulled his coat tighter around himself, before binding it shut with a leather cord that had come loose during his flight. "Where is this place?" He asked, looking up to the other boy dressed in armour. "It's safe, right?"

He seemed to be on the outskirts of some sort of farming village, which was all well and good, but other people seemed to be elsewhere and he had no idea how they would take to stranger-

"No! I refuse! You will not force your ways on these people!" An elderly man in a brown robe of animal fur said as he walked alongside a second man, this one wearing loose leather fittings, a bandana around his mouth and a sword at his hip. This second man also had a scar over one of his eyes that made him unpleasant to look at.

"Old man, we are offering you much. There is no injustice and will be no injustice done if you simply sign the document and allow us free reign."

"I read the document and you will not have my signature by will; nor will you force it. I can understand the shrewdness hidden between lines and behind complex phrasing. The edicts of you strangers will not put these people under an obvious attempt at enslavement. Those mines were closed for a reason, long ago, and I will not permit their riches to be exploited by you outsiders."

"My leader will not be happy about this, Elder Fermiah. All he asks for is the mine and a few workers to do the mining, think of your position. The men I work with are not businessmen or soldiers, they are ruthless killers who did not make the mountain pass journey to be turned down!"

"And I am old and stubborn and care only about my children, this village and how many crops we will harvest for the winter. I say a final time: you will not have those mines. Turn away and go home, for everyone's sake."

"We will return, Elder. Hopefully with more satisfying terms."

The stranger passed the two boys chatting by the wall and left the village without another word.

-

"Of course!" Ricard said, nodding to both Adion and Richter. "The Inn is this way, near the center of the village. Me and my sister will take you there, it's not far and we can offer a meal in return for stories of beyond the mountains."

Ricard turned, and began leading them down a cobblestone road and past houses with wives hanging out laundry or tending to the garden behind wooden fences, and children playing in the streets. The inn was quite large, with tables set out front where several workers sat drinking and laughing.

"Here we are," Ricard said, pointing to the sign that read "The Fat Boar". "There's a stable behind the inn for you to use, Mr. Richter, and for Adion, the road down to the left leads to the herbalist's alchemy store. Just look for the sign with the mortar and pestle on it and you'll know you've arrived. Anyway, if that's everything, I think I'll go inside and get myself an ale. I'm not supposed to drink, strictly, but my father's not here and Illasera knows that if she tells him I'll dunk a bucket of water on her bed again, hahaha."

Illasera frowned thinking they thought she was a child, “I am only two years younger…” she pouted with a sigh. “I am just…childlike.” She explained hearing people harassing her dad in the distant. “Be right-“ she started to say as Ricard left with the others. She sighed as she walked to her dad only catching a brief bit of the conversation. As the men left, she stuck her tongue at them before turning to her dad. “Are you okay?” she asked in concern. “What did they want?” she asked him with a tilt of her head.

Heiwa started walking when the shout of the leader of the town distracted him. He blinked as he decided to head towards it, seeing the other few people heading there as well. He may as well introduce himself to the elder anyway he was intending on staying here for a bit anyway.

Adion looked at all the people around him. As they passed, many offered smiles to Adion. This was something new to him, as he had only been cursed at and had things thrown at him in an unpleasant manner. To see people who were happy or neutral about him, who didn't hate him for the corruption that ran through his veins, it was new.

Adion then heard Ricard tell him how to get to the alchemy shop. "Thank you, Ricard." Adion said with a slight bow as he left to go to the alchemist's shop.

After about 2 minutes of walking, Adion reached the store with the mortar and pestle on the sign. He opened the door to the shop, being overtaken by the scent of the varying plants and potions. It reminded him of the cave that he called home for about a month, back on the other side of the mountains. The inside of the shop looked like most alchemy labs, plants in jars covering the walls with a small alchemy station in the corner.

"Hello! May I speak to the alchemist here?" Adion asked, holding his gauntlets in a ready position, just in case.

The enthusiasm the siblings showed pleased Richter; usually he just slipped in and out of towns, such a joyous greeting was a welcome change, and then he heard Ricard offer a meal in return for stories. Usually he didn't get the chance to tell people stories.

"Well, that's quite generous of you, and I could definitely go for an ale myself. I'd be happy to meet you inside after I put," he pats his horse "this guy in for the night."

With that, he started walking the big Clydesdale around the side of the inn. He put the horse in the stables and walked back around to the inn, heading up to the innkeeper and buying a room for the night. Richter went upstairs to his room, and came back down in casual clothes and didn't appear to be carrying weapons, it was quite a change from the heavy armor he was sporting earlier. He bought an ale and scanned the room for Ricard, sitting across from him once he was found.

"So," he said, trying to strike up conversation, "you live in this village, yes?"

"Goodbye!" Ricard said, cheerfully sending off Adion before turning back to the other while his sister ran ran away to see their father. He had heard shouting too, but decided it wasn't worth the trouble investigating if his father was already dealing with it. His sister was clearly more exciteable than him, but he didn't believe she would be in any trouble so let her be.
"And of course, Richter. It's alwasy good to speak to people from foreign lands. From what I know our cultures aren't too dissimilar but the little differences are always interesting to hear about. I plan to go out there myself one day, so I need to stock up on information! Anyway, I'll see you inside. I'll get some ales in and get a large table so we can seat people."

He made his way into the tavern at that point, the smell of pipe-smoke and ale filling his nostrils. He was quick to get some ales in from the girl at the bar and set them down on a large table with chairs all around. He took a seat, sipping his drink and occasionally petting the Tavern owner's old dog when it went around to the patrons looking for attention.
Once Richter joined him at the table again, he nodded. "Yeah, I'm from this village. Have been all my life, though I know the whole Valley just as well. I've heard travellers calling it a hidden paradise, which I guess is quite flattering, hahaha."

"How about you? What or where is home for you?"
-

"Uhh, yes, I'm a traveller, I suppose. I've been travelling for years," Kaden said, rubbing the back of his head as he answered the other boy as he shook his hand. "Though I don't think I could tell you where I've been. I've never really been able to get a hold of a map, so I've sort of just.. Walked in whatever direction I felt like, you know?"
As Cináed sheathed his sword, Kaden sat back against the fence and looked over to where he could see an old man having some sort of conversation, though they were too far at that time for him to make anything out. "Fight? Well, I can - kind of. I'd rather not fight unless I had to, but I guess I'm quite fast and can throw a punch or two. I don't have any weapons though, so most times I tend to just sneak around outlaws or run. And what did you want help practicing with-?"
He had stopped at the end of his question to watch the stranger leave the village, and was somewhat surprised when Cináed suggested they go to see the Elder. "I guess I can stay for a while but... The Elder? Uhh sure, why not."
"You two!" The Elder called, waving Cináed and Kaden towards him. "Don't stick around there at the end of the village, there's no saying if that man will come back or if he'll bring friends with him! You should go home, or to the tavern, or anywhere inside and around people. I'll feel better off that way and besides," he paused to sniff the air, "rain's coming. I can smell it. You don't want to be gettin' soaked to the bones."
As Kaden waited to follow Cináed's lead, Fermiah sighed at the sudden appearance of his daughter Illasera.
"Yes, Illasera, everything's fine. Where's your brother? Is he at the tavern again? He knows I don't want him drinking, he isn't quite of age! Here, do your father a favour and run to the tavern and tell him to get home, then come back with him."

-
Inside the Alchemy store, a middle-aged woman with greying brown hair stepped in from a back room and leaned over the counter, where her necklace hung don over a corset made for a woman twenty years younger.
"What can I do for you?" She asked, straight to business. She wasn't the creepy, wrinkly old witch Adion probably expected, but she certainly looked like the cat-lady title wasn't too many years ahead of her.
"You want potions? Ingrediants? I've got them all right here."
((I don't think I missed anyone, did I? O_O Also, feel free to NPC people if you'd like, as long as you don't kind of overwrite what other people have done, y'know? :) ))

Richter looked down and took a sip of his drink, thinking about the home he hasn't seen in years.

"I grew up on a farm in a small kingdom very, very far from here. Journey to the west until you reach the ocean, then, cross the ocean. Once you reach land, keep travelling west, cross through a desert and some mountains, then go over the plains, and you've reached my home."

He let out a slight chuckle.

"I guess you could say it's a bit far from here."

"Definitely not! I won't have you picking fights with those criminals. We will do everything we can to ensure a continued peace and avoid a confrontation. So if they come back, do not be challenging them. You might have skill but I imagine their experience will quickly make up for that."

With Elder Fermiah's lecture over, the Elder sighed and considered sending word to other settlements. They had never had need of a standing force of warriors before but this time... Ugh.

Meanwhile, Kaden simply followed Cináed's lead. "Sorry... I'm not really sure if I'd be any good with a sword. There are masters out beyond the valley though, maybe you should seek one out? And I'm Kaden, though I wouldn't mind if you kept calling me traveler. I like how it sounds mysterious... Like 'Lone Wolf' or something."

He soon reached the Elder and Illasera, nodding to them both. "Greetings. I hope it's okay for me to be here... I just got lost and stumbled on this place."

-

Ricard blinked, then took a huge gulp of his ale as though it would help him process that information. "That sounds..." He began, beginning to check his fingers and space them apart as though doing measurements. "Is the world really that big? I've never seen deserts or oceans before, though as you can see we do know what mountains look like. So.. What's it like there? How different is it?"

He looked out of the window for a moment, as though trying to imagine a different scenery on the other side of the glass.

-

"You look ill," the woman told Adion, licking her thumb and then flicking through the pages of some kind of lodger on her counter. "I can give you a potion for that, or you can take the cheaper option and buy the herbs only and mix the potion yourself. I don't recommend that, though, there's all sorts that can go wrong. You give someone too much medicine and they'll quickly froth at the mouth."

"So... You're here to catalog the local flauna. Why should I give you a head start, hm? You planning to pay for it? Bah, nevermind, it's not like there's any great secret in there. The book's over on the shelf, the one with a pink flower on the cover."

Richter is slightly amused at Ricard's attempt to process the information, although he can understand his confusion; if he was in his place he would be flabbergasted as well.

"Hehe, oh boy, the world is so much bigger than just that. And it's very different, although at the same time very similar. I've sat at countless tables at countless inns drinking countless ales in small villages not too dissimilar from your own. On the other hand, I've walked through busy market streets crowded with people in cities bigger than you could imagine. As for my home...flat fields and tall grass that stretches to the horizon."

Reminiscing about home made Richter nostalgic albeit a tad gloomy. He gulped down some more of his ale.

"Well-well, that is interesting," the woman replied to Adion, her fingers flicking the page of her lodger and quickly scrawling a note down with a quill. "Though that creates a paradox, does it not? Enough medicine can poison a man, and a small enough dose of poison can heal one. I know of strange men in lands far away using Snake venom before entering battle. It is said to increase their alertness, energy and strength and dulls pain when used in the correct dose, yet could easily kill them if even a drop more is added to the mix."

"Of course, it is not for me to test these things. It might be in your best interest if YOU do so, however. One must know himself, after all. So, have you done here? I have things to attend to, so I would prefer it if you left if you have no other business."

-

"I have heard of cities," Ricard answered, "but I can not imagine them. They sound hectic and dangerous yet at the same time, so wonderfully magnificent. I would like to visit one, perhaps even build one of my own some day. The closest we have to a city lies at the far end of the valley by the lake, but even that houses no more than a thousand people. This village houses no more than a hundred and half, but the proximity to the mountain passes makes us one of the most important and my father is well respected throughout.

"So you can imagine why such things seem... Well... Almost impossible to us." He was grinning, never doubting the man for a moment."

Gulping down another huge gulp of ale, Ricard sighed and lay his head down upon the table.

-

"Uhh, thanks," Kaden began, "but I want to take a look around before deciding anything. There are some things I want to check out, too, though I'm not sure what I'm actually looking for yet. There are merchants here, right? I could use a travelling cloak and maybe a knife."

He looked around, his eyes stopping on a large tree that gave shadow to several gardens beneath it. As he thought about climbing said tree in order to get a better view of the surroundings, habit dictated he place the thumbnail of his left hand lightly between his teeth. It only took him a few seconds to decide, at which point he turned and nodded to Cináed.

"I'll catch up with you later, probably at the Inn. Thank you for being so welcoming."

He said nothing else; good conversation not being a particular skill of his. Climbing, on the other hand, was a skill he did have, so he took to the tree and began to fluidly scale up to the higher branches where he could see most of the village from above the smoking chimneys. After several minutes of mental mapping, he moved on.

Illasera smiled as she heard the others, “Well as dad said, welcome to the town!” she said, “Check on brother? Finnneee.” She said with a sigh, “I think I know where he is. So I will be right back.” She told her dada as she ran off down the road, passing by a few familiar faces as she did. She soon reached the tavern as she opened the door. Illasera spied her brother as she walked on over to him. “Heya, dad wanted me to keep an eye on you or check on you. Same thing right?” she asked with a grin.


Heiwa watched the interaction between the elder and the others soon walking up to the blond boy, “Excuse me, you probably don’t know but there is no harm in asking I suppose, do you know where a blacksmith is?” he inquired him with a slight tilt of his head, the bead on his bracelet seemed to float a bit before he brushed it down.

Richter grinned a little bit and leaned in. He was enjoying sharing about the outside world.

"Hectic and dangerous sounds about accurate...but they are truly a sight to behold. Would you believe me if I told you I've been to a city that housed one million people?"

He sat back in his chair as Ricard put his head down, and drank some more ale. He glanced up at Illasera when she entered, hoping Ricard hadn't gotten himself in some trouble.