88. The Fifth

88. The Fifth

“Good morning to you fine folks,” the dark skinned man said with the slightest of accents. He was well built, though it was covered under his chain mail, and had dark hair and green eyes. At his side was a sword, and beside his leg was a round shield. “I have heard that you were looking for a Priest. Morn Dunes, but you can call me Dunes.

“We are,” Adam said, shaking his hand. “Adam, son of Fate.”

“Jurot, son of Surot.”

“Kitool, daughter of Zorool.”

“Jaygak, daughter of Lavgak.”

Dunes took Jaygak’s hand, kissing the back of it, before whispering something in something which sounded like fire crackling.

Jaygak tilted her head, her lips forming a smile, saying something back in Vilspeech. She wasn’t surprised that he knew Vilspeech, as some Aswadians would know it, but she hadn’t expected such favour.

“You don’t seem to be from around here,” Adam said. He had seen some darker skinned men in the soldiers of the Aswadians back when they were at the forest, but this was the first dark skinned man he had seen in Aldland.

“No. I am Aswadian, which I understand might be a problem for some people.” He glanced around to see the Iyrmen, before glancing to the helmeted Adam.

“How do you feel about elves?” Adam asked, smiling from behind his helmet.

“I haven’t heard anything good about them,” Dunes admitted. “My friend, Thordan Lighthammer, told me they’re a bunch of bastards.”

“What about half elves?”

“I suppose they’re half bastards?”

“You’re not wrong,” Adam said, taking off his helmet.

Dunes laughed. “I didn’t expect that.”

“I’m sure. Which god do you follow, Dunes?”

“The most divine Goddess of War, Lady Arya, of course.”

“You don’t say,” Adam said. “One of my favourite gods, after Baktu, Lord Sozain as you might know him.” Adam had realised he should probably show some courtesy to the gods, for now.

“You follow the good Lady as well?” Dunes asked, surprised. He hadn’t heard of an elf which worshipped one of their gods.

“Something like that,” Adam said, flashing a knowing smile. “We have an interesting relationship. I noticed that you had a sword by your side, not exactly the most Priestly of weapons.”

“The good Lady’s preferred weapon,” Dunes said. “Thordan and I fought about it often.”

“A dwarven friend, huh?” Adam said, shaking his head. “I’ve never heard of someone befriending a dwarf so quickly.”

“Saving his life several times sped up the process, admittedly.”

Adam smiled. “That’s what I like to hear. Do you have anything against elves?”

“Not personally.”

“Good. Then we’ll do a few quests together to see if we’re compatible. I’m the leader of Fate’s Golden, our party, and we have established a rule about how we split the loot, but since you’re new and not officially a part of our party, you don’t have to follow it. I use magic and blade, like yourself, and Jurot uses his rage. Kitool is a...”

“Monk,” Kitool said.

Dunes nodded his head. “We have many Monks in our kingdom as well.”

“Jaygak is a Fighter too, though she’s much better equipped at dealing with fire than me,” Adam said, smiling.

“I am a Priest of Lady Arya. I finished my rites not long ago, and I’ve been in a handful of battles, but I’m no Iyrmen.” Dunes looked to the Iyrmen. “I haven’t met many Iyrmen, there were a few nearby, and they would often come by to spar with us.”

“You’re from Black Mountain?” Jaygak asked.

Dunes nodded.

“You could tell where he was from just from that?” Adam asked, glancing to Jaygak.

“If he’s a Priest of Wahtu and Iyrmen often spar with them, it was obvious,” she said. “He’s from Black Mountain, which holds the oldest temple of Wahtu.”

Dunes nodded. “That’s the one. Well, I’m from a small village near it, but yes, that is where I trained. Though don’t let the Easterners tell you that they have the oldest temple. Yes, their temple is older, but ours is the oldest temple which was made with the express intent of being Lady Arya’s temple.”

“Right,” Adam said, shaking his head.

“We have heard much of the Iyr within our temple. We grew up hearing the tales of the Iyr, especially the Second Blackwater Crisis.”

‘What a popular story,’ Adam thought.

“The Champion of War?” Jurot said, smiling slightly.

“The very same,” Dunes said.

“I think you mentioned him before,” Adam said, glancing to Jurot. “Was he the slime? No, no that was Lemon, wasn’t it?”

“Melon,” Jurot corrected.

“Whose Brandon the Bold then?”

“You don’t know about Brandon the Bold?” Dunes asked, his eyebrows shooting up in surprise. “He’s the most famous Champion of Lady Arya!”

“He was very strong,” Jurot said, nodding his head. “During the Second Blackwater Crisis, fifty years after the First Blackwater Crisis, there were three wars which erupted at the same time.”

“The War of Second Frost, the War of the South, the War of the Embers,” Jaygak said.

“The War of Second Frost was against the giants, who had come again to North Fort for vengeance.”

Dunes sighed, nodding his head. ‘I can’t believe I didn’t connect that the two were the same. They must have mentioned that Randon was Great Brandon’s descendant. Was I late for the announcement? Was I too drunk?’

“What should we do?” Adam asked.

“Slay,” Jurot said.

“Hunt,” Kitool said.

“Fight,” Jaygak said.

Adam looked to Dunes.

Dunes raised his brows. “I’m a Priest of war, so...”

“What should we do?” Adam asked, looking over the wall. “Goblin hunting?” Adam noted one of the quests. ‘Goblins? Are they monsters in this world?’

“Goblin hunting is difficult,” Jurot said.

“Another bear? Some boars?”

“What about forest wolves?” Jaygak asked. “Their fur is a popular gift in the Iyr.”

“Didn’t we say we should sell everything so we can make money?” Adam asked.

“Forest wolf fur is very popular,” Kitool said. “Especially with children.”

‘So, you have found my weakness,’ Adam thought. “Alright, let’s do that then.”

“I hope there is an Elder Wolf,” Jurot said, smiling.

“I hope not,” Jaygak said. “One of us almost died to a brown bear, remember?”

Jurot’s smile faded. “Sorry.”

“Then let’s fight some wolves. If there are any Elder Wolves, we’ll deal with them, alright Jurot?” Adam said, patting his back.

“I have some Tricks,” Dunes said. “Though I prefer being in the thick of things.”

“Sure, but it’ll be difficult for everyone if you go down. I know it’s going to be boring being in the back and safe, but I’d appreciate it if you healed.”

“I understand.”

“If things get dangerous, stay beside Kitool and Jaygak. The porters will be nearby too.”

“Porters?”

Adam nodded. “We have a trio of porters on our payroll. They’ve been extremely useful to us so far, and one of them is going to be trained by us one day.”

Dunes nodded. “How will the pay be split?”

“After the guild’s cut, everyone pays into the Party Fund with two tenths of their pay, and then everyone gets their split. Since I’m the leader, I’ll pay the porters from my own funds.”

“Party Fund?”

“It’ll be used to pay for things we all benefit from, including spell components. The Iyrmen pay their own tax back home, and it’s a hefty tax, so it’ll be difficult unless we have a shared Party Fund.”

He nodded. “I’ll put my coin into the Party Fund too. If there’s three Iyrmen about, I don’t think it’s a scam.”

Adam smiled.

They went through their routine of buying bread. Nobby was there in the morning, but Adam paid him a gold coin and had him return to stay with his father for the day, ignoring his protests.

Once the jam buns were bought, Adam using his own money to pay for it, they made their way out. “Let’s earn a bunch of coin today!” he exclaimed, laughing as they walked out into the forest.

Jurot and Kitool led the party, following the tracks. Dunes kept an eye out, though also kept back with Jaygak, speaking in the tongue of the devilkin.

“Something’s wrong,” Jurot said, donning his shield and grabbing his axe.

“I feel it too.” Kitool gripped her staff tighter, glancing around the area.

“The forest is different today,” Jurot whispered.

They had been travelling for a little over three hours, taking a break every so often. Adam donned his shield too, grabbing his die. Dunes had followed their lead, and so had Jaygak.

“What should we do?” Dunes asked.

“Jurot?” Adam asked. “What do you think? I don’t mind if we return. The quest isn’t exactly...”

Wisdom Save

D20 + 3 = 4 (1)

Adam’s body filled with a deep cold, and he stood up straighter. His brow filled with sweat.

The ground rumbled, and trees shook.

Leaping from the tree line appeared two large bears, with broad shoulders, and thick fur. They were brown, like a brown bear, but atop their heads were a large bud, as green as any herb he had seen.

“Mother’s tits!” Remy exclaimed.

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