Chapter 1

Edric Squagger (he was given much grief from his friends about his last name) lived in Nebble Village, about as close to Lake Nebble as you can get. His father owned a mansion on a hill overlooking the, blue, glittering, scenic Lake Nebble. Edric liked it, and it certainly was beautiful but it was just a little too quiet and serene, if you know what I mean. Nebble Village was quaint and delightful, but Edric didn't want to live there as he preferred the city, with it's hustle and bustle, and he liked to imagine what people were thinking and where they were going to. Of course he'd been to Nebble City many times when his father wanted to buy something more expensive than you can get in Nebble Village, but Edric wanted to see Giberith's capitol, Tebenreth. At least in the country there was room for sword-fighting. In fact, it was while he was doing just that, practicing a very advanced technique, where you swing your sword from left to right (rich people didn't really need to learn sword fighting, so his father refused to give him lessons, being against violence anyway), that his father came into the courtyard and said "We're leaving for awhile. We're going to Uncle Gelrich's house in Mallage. He says there is a tour that will take us on Mount Nellam, and you know how much I've always wanted to do that. I believe you also wanted to see Mount Nellam, Edric, if I'm correct."

Edric also wanted to see the top of Mount Nellam, the highest mountain in Giberith. He liked being rich, it gave him oh-so-many opportunities. And his father wasn't an arrogant, abusive idiot, like some of his friends fathers were.

It seemed like Edric's life was perfect. A loving mother and father, and a little brother that only got on his nerves about once a year. His Uncle and Aunt were also nice and caring (but not too much, realizing that the hugging and cheek pinching bits were just unacceptable), sending him presents just about any day that might be vaguely special to him.

There were of course, things that troubled him though. Politics. Giberith was becoming a divided territory. Anything farther north than the Wall of Nilthar was North Giberith and the rest South Giberith. Tensions were rising and two men claimed to be king, one from the south and one from the north, the usual political problems of the Medieval Ages. The Wall of Nilthar was built to keep the Northerners out and Fort Quenta for the same reason. Now the Northern leader, "King" Vontara was amassing armies from his stronghold in Fortress Kilgar and "King" Mishibril from the South was doing the same thing from Intrim Castle. Soon it would be all out war. Edric thought well ahead of his time and wished everybody would have a say in who ruled, rich and poor alike, for the good of everybody. But, he mused, the human nature is of greed. But, since his family was well-to-do, maybe he would have some say and be able to sway people to his idea. Too many buts! Well, maybe he could try anyway. Also, the number of crimes in the larger cities was growing frighteningly, especially in the South. "Enough with the thinking!" Edric told himself. "I'd love to go", he cried, before his father started wondering what was on his mind.

"Great!" boomed his father jollily. I'll tell the servants to get the carriage ready and we'll leave within the hour." Edric was looking forward to the journey, riding in luxury carriages with his little brother.

Less than an hour later, as his father had promised, Mother, Father and both sons were riding in a luxurios carriage along the road to Mallage City, to meet Edric's father's brother. Mallage City was about 48 miles away, but the journey was safe as could be. There were no bandits or robbers of the like in the farmland between the Nebble area and Mallage City. Also, before leaving, the Squagger's made sure to take an armed escort of ten men! They were big, buff men, but they weren't gruff warriors like you normally read about. They were actually quite nice, letting Edric swing their swords around a bit (after a consulting Edric's parent's and a giving Edric a quick lesson on safety). The land was rather dull, with nothing much except for tall grass and dust. The sun beat on their carriage, but it was white (to show wealth) and most of the sun did not penetrate, though it was still rather warm. About a quarter of the way there, they stopped for lunch. They were almost in the middle of nowhere, but for the farmland a few miles to the East. All the farms were owned by a very rich man named Damentam. He was very cruel to his slaves, but, as Edric thought, it can't be helped. He's much richer than my father, and money meant everything in South Giberith. Edric wasn't sure about the North. Then again, thought Edric, maybe when I become a rich politician I can get Damentam out of business, and replace him with someone more sensitive. But, I'm just thinking more, and that won't get me anywhere. I need to act. So he ate lunch.

They started up again at about 2:00 and decided to go on for three more hours and then find a roadside inn. Edric watched the waving wheat, and the lettuce growing by the side of the road. He also saw some plants which looked like weeds but he suspected were flowers. It was summer, so flowers were done blooming. He sighed. There was a large garden at his house which was reasonably well kept, but was still wild enough that he had fun finding more places to explore. Was he homesick already? They had only been going for a few hours, for God sakes!

They went on for three more uneventful hours and finally stopped at an Inn a little bit past the farms. They got the best room, with expensive, goose-feather pillows, and mattresses that were on wood risers, which were hard to find here where the only rich person for miles was Damentam, besides them of course. Edric was treated to clam chowder straight from Port Egmand, which was hot and very creamy. Once he got in bed, Edric had trouble getting to sleep – not that he wasn't tired, he was just very excited about what was to come, and the bed was very uncomfortable. "I definitely need to get out in the world more," Edric thought. "My life has been much too cushiony and comfortable. When a real problem comes along, I'll be completely clueless and weep to get my comfy life back."

They had a leisurely start the next morning, getting up at around 8:30, having a breakfast of fresh scrambled eggs from the nearby chicken coop and something called "hot sauce" which used ingredients only found South of Giberith, in the Unknown Territory. The Unknown Territory wasn't terribly dangerous or even particularly unknown, it just wasn't part of Giberith. Many adventurers had gone into the Unknown Territory and maybe discovered a new plant or animal, and all came back to tell the tale except one man whom many thought was crazy who supposedly walked off a cliff and fell to the rocks near the Panoring Sea. But what was infinitely more interesting at the moment, was the hot sauce.

Edric supposed the name meant that it had been cooked and was hot. Only, when he put some in his mouth, hot had a new meaning. In seconds flat he was outside at the well, and despite the fact that he was not very strong he heaved the bucket up at near the speed of sound and began rushing water through his mouth as fast as possible. After a few minutes when the shock had gone away and the innkeeper was only emitting small chuckles every few seconds, Edric walked calmly back into the inn dining room and took an extremely small bite of scrambled egg with hot sauce on it. Meanwhile, Edric's little brother, who had recently been laughing pitilessly at his brother's attempts to put out the fire in his mouth, had just taken a bite of the hot sauce and was outside doing exactly the same thing Edric had done before.

Edric's mother, however, realizing her sons plight was deliberately rubbing it in hard. She took a small bite and said "Ooh, what a zesty, delicious sauce! We should truly have more of this in Giberith to keep us from being dull."

The innkeeper, now done laughing, said "Oh yes, ma-am. We've been trying to make a business out of it, you know, bottling it, but the only person sensible enough to realize it's potential so far has been you!"

"Hey, I like it too!" Edric's younger brother Gordon piped up.

"Oh, I would love a few bottles of this hot sauce! I can see my sons enjoy it just as much as I do," said Mrs. Squagger. And then to her husband, "Do try it, it's not all that bad. You just need to get used to the... the..."

"Spice is what we call it, ma-am," said the Innkeeper.

"Yes, spice," finished Mrs. Squagger.

Mr. Squagger, normally a rather outgoing person, said "Oh, no. You three can have all the bottles you buy. After seeing Edric and Gordon, I believe I'd better stay away from that dangerous looking substance."

"Well, alright. But I still think you'd like it. It's definitely your kind of thing," sighed Mrs. Squagger.

"No, thank you very much," said Mr. Squagger in a fake posh accent. "And I do believe we should be going now." And that was that.

That day was much the same as the day before it. The rode by the boring landscape, had a hearty lunch at noon, and kept on going. About an hour or so on after lunch, the terrain started getting a bit hilly.

"This must be the Southern edge of the Hills of Nellam!" Edric's father exclaimed. "They lead right up to the base of Mount Nellam. But were not going there quite yet. We'll be at Uncle Gelrich's house tonight, and tomorrow you can explore Mallage City. I'll give you some money, Edric and Gordon, so you can buy a trinket or something of the like." Gordon uttered a shriek of delight.

"Quiet," said Edric irritably.

"Yes," said his mother, "you'll worry the guards."

"And the day after that," his father continued, quite used to this kind of bickering, "we will climb to the very top of Mount Nellam. No carriages or comforts this time! I want us to do this on foot!"

Edric was relieved. He was worried that it was going to be boring, just riding in a carriage up the mountain. Plus he would have felt sorry for the horses. He was glad they were roughing it on their own. He was also looking forward to exploring the city, meeting all the interesting people. Oh, and buying anything he wanted. "Can't forget that!" he thought.