326. Another One

326. Another One

Mana: 18 -> 14

Enchanting Check

D20 + 7 = 8 (1)

Omen: 18, 18 -> 18

18 + 7 = 25

Adam plucked a Thread of Fate.

A screech pierced the air. The flames licked at the dark armour, causing the young man, the heir, to fall. A blade cut into one of the three heads, that of a ruby magpie, and the warrior clad in his dark, well worn armour, couldn’t help but feel a sense of deja vu.

It was another one.

A chimera, formed with three heads. A rage wolf, a red wyvern, and a ruby magpie.

His thoughts had been so preoccupied on the link between this chimera and the last one he had found, that he hadn’t noticed his heir was writhing on the ground beside him. The chimera screeched, and lunged down towards the young warrior, as the older man, with a helmet fashioned in the shape of a sparrow’s head, tore into it with his blade.

Unfortunately for him, the chimera had managed to tear off the young heir’s arm.

Thus Fate was forever changed.

Mana: 14 -> 6

Enchanting Check

D20 + 7 = 17 (10)

Omen: 18 -> 0

18 + 7 = 25

Adam plucked a Thread of Fate.

She wore dark armour, well worn from years of use. Her helmet was fashioned in the shape of a siskin’s head. Her own heir, a young woman, tried to nurse Sparrow’s heir.

“Another one?”

Sparrow nodded his head. In the moment he was distracted, his heir was gravely wounded. Though there was another who could take his place, his heart was still heavy.

“We should retreat,” Siskin said to her companion.

“We should continue,” Sparrow said. “We need to get to the bottom of this or else we’ll never catch them.”

“He needs to be tended to.”

Sparrow looked to the young man, who he had groomed for almost two decades to take his place. “Fine.”

The true culprit remained, not a day away from their grasp, unbeknownst to them.

Thus Fate was forever changed.

Intelligence Save

D20 + 5 = 23 (18)

Adam fought away the mental torture of the magic which tried to invade his mind. He felt as though he had almost failed, to protect his mind from the onslaught.

‘I really should take it easy,’ Adam thought, rubbing his forehead, massaging the ache away.

Omen: 7, 8

As much as Adam wanted to teach Churot, he could feel the ache from the day before pulsing within his mind.

Adam sipped the soup which had been made for him, offering some of his bread to Lanarot as he always had. Sonarot had made the bread smaller today, as Lanarot was eating far too much bread recently, but she still wanted her daughter to eat her favourite food.

“Do you want to play with papa today?” Adam asked, jiggling Lanarot’s cheeks. “Yes, I want to play with papa,” he said, in a high pitched voice. “Okay, okay, since you want to play with me.” He kissed her cheek.

“Cousin Adam,” Turot called. “Later tonight, can we play Warriors and Wanderers?”

“Some WaW, eh?” Adam said. “Sure, why not? Jurot’s back, and Aunt’s here, so we should be able to get the entire gang together.”

Turot smiled. “Okay.” He and the other children spent time with Citool, who had begun to teach them recently. Taygak would usually disappear around noon, and would return a mess, covered in clay. Fiind updated novels at novelhall.com

Nirot and the other teens usually left around that time too, and would return back in the evening after a long day of work.

Adam wondered why they poked so much fun at him when they also worked so hard, but recalled that they spent quite some time not working too. ‘I guess they take breaks properly...’

Lanarot began to whimper, before she started to shake as she cried. “Mama!” Lanarot called. “Mama!”

Adam raised his brows. He was fairly certain she had said mama before, but not like this. The girl continued to whimper and cry, but Adam rocked her. “I’ll take you to mama, just wait, okay?” He carried her to her mother.

“Are you hungry, my little Lana?” Sonarot asked.

“Mama,” Lanarot sniffled.

“How come the Iyr doesn’t claim it then?”

“The Iyr claims a javelin’s throw beyond the river, and nothing more,” Jurot said. “It is not our way to claim more land than we require.” There was more to it, but Jurot did not know what it was.

“Hmm.” Adam rubbed his chin. “Fair enough. Are there a lot of Tribesfolk about?”

“Yes. There are more in North Aldland, due to the nature of the land there.”

“What is the nature of the land there?”

“Central Aldland is a large, expansive land, full of fields,” Jurot said. “They claim the borders of all the nearby hills, then beyond, towards the east of the Iyr. Their reach is to West Fort, Jaghi, East Port, and South Port.”

“Right?” Adam asked, wondering what that had to do with it. Jurot usually spoke bluntly, so he allowed Jurot to continue.

“Central Aldland’s terrain protects its capital from all sides, save the west, and the road network within Central Aldland is through mostly flat terrain, allowing them to make roads which span from just past the Iyr’s borders, to West Fort, to Jaghi, and even to East Port.”

“Right...” Adam was slowly beginning to follow along with what Jurot was saying.

“Their fields allow them to feed millions of people within their own region, and millions of people outside their own region,” Jurot informed. “Central Aldland could feed the entirety of Aldland, the Iyr, and even parts of Aswadia.”

Adam whistled. “Damn. Let me guess, North Aldland doesn’t have any of that?”

Jurot nodded. “North Aldland does not have such productive land, and it does not have an official road beyond a certain point. It is mostly hilly, and many of its towns are built against the mountain side. Their population is least of all the territories, and it’s land are almost as large. The east side of their lands is often claimed by the Noska, warrior peoples from across the sea.”

Adam noted that Jurot made a face when mentioning the Noska. It was the face one made when drinking delicious hot chocolate, that of utter satisfaction. ‘They must be good to fight,’ Adam thought.

“North Aldland’s peoples sharpen their steel on the bones of Noskan people, and the deadly creatures which plague the land. Their weather is harsh, and they cannot project much power beyond their walls, though their people are hardy and great. They do not respect anyone who isn’t a proven warrior.”

“North Aldland sounds so cool.” It made sense that they couldn’t project much power outside of their own towns if the terrain didn’t allow them to.

“They are very cool,” Jurot agreed. “North Aldland is a long land, split culturally from Northern North Aldland, and Southern North Aldland, but you cannot mention the difference.”

“Why not?”

“It is only for them to mention. It is an internal fight, one not for outsiders. They may fight amongst one another, but they shall not do so in front of outsiders.”

“Oh, it’s one of those,” Adam said, nodding his head in understanding.

Jurot nodded too.

“Are you mentioning North Aldland because it would be a good place to place my stronghold?”

“The Iyr is the best place.”

“Could I do that?”

“I do not know.”

“I’ll figure it out.” Adam sighed. “If I can’t make it in the Iyr, where would be the second best place?”

Jurot wasn’t sure to answer that. Near the Iyr. Away from the King’s direct influence. It couldn’t be in the south either, due to the lingering animosity against Elves, even if he was only half an Elf.

“Near Jaghi.”

“That far away?” Adam asked. Jaghi was almost two weeks away by foot, and even longer off the road.

“Yes.”

“Aw man,” Adam groaned. “I’ll speak with the Chief about it later. The more I talk about this, the less and less likely it becomes. Maybe I should focus on the inns. Get a smith, an alchemist, an enchanter, a Scribe Mage. Of course, we need to have pizza too.”

“Forming a series of inns along the pathways between towns and cities would make much gold.”

“I’ll think about it.” Adam sighed. “I should get a map of the land so I know where all the towns and cities are. That way I can figure out the best place for my stronghold and my inns. It would also be useful in case I make too many enemies.”

Jurot nodded, going back to handling his wood.

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My heart is always healed when I write these cute scenes.