Chapter 1 Rio
The New Beginning
This world I live in is not my own, and I doubt it ever will be. But still,
I am here, and there is no way to change that. However if more know my
story, there still may be a small light of hope. . . . . .
My past seemed like a waste and I was glad that I had left. I didn't think
I could leave Isis, but somehow I did. I started anew just like I had when
I moved to Povent. I had stayed in Povent for about a year, a lot less than
I had stayed in Sanduk. I had grown lazy with my battle skills. I wasn't
worthy of the tattoos that marked me as a 10th Markh challenger. I yearned
for battle, even if it meant that I would have to kill again. I would use
my skills to fight evil and find treasure. Treasure hunters were well known
around the continent, and I wanted to impress Isis. I headed east to the
town of Aeris.
The ride wasn't as brutal as the ride to Povent, but it still took a while.
A few days on the road, and I finally made it. The town was in a desert, so
my horse was slowed, and we used up water rapidly. I got to the town only
to realize that it was like this as far as you could see. I sighed, and
entered through the front gates.
The town wasn't large, but it wasn't small either. There was a battle
stadium in the center of town, and pretty much the whole town was around
it. I could see a tower in the distance, but it looked out of place. I left
my horse in one of the stables, and walked over to one of the shopping
stands hoping to buy some fruit.
"Hello," I said to the man running the stand. "Do you have any fruits for
sale?"
"Stinkin' Elf," The show keeper grumbled. "Can barely stomach any meat. I
can't believe you people are still around. Yeah, I got some. Hold on just a
second."
I waited for the man to return, slightly angered by his comment. The man
returned, and I paid three silver coins for it. "Thanks," I said, and
walked away.
I walked towards the arena, hoping to make some money on bets. I noticed
that there was a big fight about to start. There were four combatants. An
elven girl with purple hair that wielded twin scimitars. A dwarf with an
axe and heavy armor. A young human boy with throwing daggers. And a huge
ogre with a club. The ogre would most likely win, but I didn't care.
I walked up to a man that was gambling with his friends, and said: " Twenty
gold on the girl."
"All right," The man said. I could tell by his robes that he was a mage.
"I'll bet that the dwarf wins. Better odds for you. If neither of us is
right no money exchanged."
"Good," I said," And no fake coins."
I walked around to find a good place to watch. I found a spot right behind
one of the spike pits. I saw a few boys raise a flag on the side of the
arena, and the combatants walked into separate corners. The boys started
waving the flag, and the combatants started fighting. The girl calmly
walked towards the dwarf. This right here would be the decision of whether
or not I would win the bet. As soon as she got about five feet away from
him, she jumped at him. The Dwarf appeared ready for this and was quick to
respond. He thrust the spearhead on the top of his axe towards the girl.
She didn't seem to try and dodge it, let alone even take notice of it. I
thought this was the end, but I was wrong. The girl skillfully leaned to
the side at the last second, placed her hand firmly on the shaft of the axe
as it flew by her. Quickly placing her other hand on the axe also, she
spun, with her feet facing the dwarf, and kicked hard in the face. The
dwarf's axe fell to the ground, and his hands reached for face.
"Fucking elf," The dwarf could be heard yelling. The girl snuck around the
back of the dwarf, and quickly cut up the dwarf's spine. She could have
killed the dwarf at anytime, but it appeared that she was having a bit of
fun while she was at it. After a few more painful swipes, she dug the tip
of one of her scimitars into the back of the dwarf's neck. The dwarf's body
slowly slipped off the scimitar, and fell face first into the sand floor of
the arena.
The girl whirled around, and saw the ogre advancing. The boy was coming at
her from the other side, but was still some distance away. The boy hurled a
dagger at her. Either the boy was rather dumb, or he meant that throw to be
a distraction. As the elf girl dodged the dagger, I expected the boy to
have already thrown another own. But it appeared that my first conclusion
about the boy was the right one: He was a bit on the lesser side of
intelligence when it came to battle. After a few seconds, however, the boy
decided to throw another one, which the girl also dodged easily. The dagger
whipped past the girl's shoulder, right into the ogre, which stood behind
her, ready to bash her with its club.
"Smart girl," I thought to myself, but I talked too soon. The ogre pulled
the dagger out of its chest, and stabbed down at the girl. Unaware of the
dagger that the ogre now held, she spun around to behead the ogre. The
beheading went as planned, but not before the ogre managed to wedge the
dagger deep in her side. She pulled out the dagger, and threw it to the
ground. The boy was out of throwing daggers, so he was weaponless. He
promptly turned and ran away. The horrible truth suddenly appeared to dawn
on the girl, as she noticed that the boy was running towards the dwarf's
body, and his axe. She quickly bolted after him. She lunged at him, and
sliced the back of his foot. Lucky for her, the boy wasn't wearing any
boots, and she sliced the tendon in the back of the leg, crippling the boy.
The boy had nothing left to do except wait to die. The girl walked over to
the boy, who was now frantically crawling away, placed her foot upon his
chest, and sliced the boy's throat. She wiped her scimitars on the boy's
tattered clothes, sheathed them, and slowly walked towards the exit.
I walked over there to meet her, eager to meet her. I noticed that she was
walking with a bit of a limp, but she made it out of the stadium alright,
and collected her money.
"Hey," I said to her, and tossed her a dry rag to wipe the blood from the
wound. "Nice fight."
"Thanks," she said, and wiped the sweat off her face, then the wound on her
side. "You're not from around here, are you?"
"Why do you say that?" I asked, startled.
"I'm one of the biggest thieves in the town. No one cares what I do. Even
if I saved the town they would just say 'oh there goes that thief, probably
made a deal with them to just back off. Probably one of my pieces of
jewelry'." Then she looked up and saw a confused look on my face. "Sorry,
I'm just babbling on. Thanks for helping, what's your name?"
"Rionasthanuial Annonsul. I'm from Sanduk in the west. You can call me
Rio."
"My name's Molinasthalas Lamio. I'm from the port town of Ioga. I was
finally caught stealing, so the threw me out. You can call me Moli if you
want."
"Do you need any help with the dagger wound?" I asked.
"No thanks. I've got a guild up near the mountains if you ever want to drop
by, but I better get going now. Good bye." She said, and dashed off before
I could say anything more.
"Oh well," I thought, "Better find that blasted mage."
I walked back towards the stadium. Most of the crowd was gone, but the mage
was still standing there waiting for me.
"Well," The mage said, "I guess you won this one. My name's Kyorn," as he
handed me the bag of gold, and pulled back his hood.
"I'm Rio." I said, thinking of more to say. "Uh, why don't I buy you a mug
of ale in the tavern."
"Sure," Kyorn said, "I don't drink that much, but a mug of ale never hurt
anyone, now did it?"
"I guess not," I said, and grabbed the bag of gold out of his hand. "Come
on, we better hurry up before it gets dark. I don't think that I'd want to
be out here at night."
"Good idea." Kyorn said.
We walked along the outside of the road, not wanting to attract any
attention. After a few minutes of walking, we arrived at the Snake & Goose
Tavern. The tavern was a busy place, and because of the amount of people
and the temperature outside, it was very warm inside: almost too warm for
comfort. We sat down at a table near a window so we would be cooled by the
wind blowing through.
"Sir," I said calling the bartender. When he came to our table, I said:
"Could we have two mugs of ale?"
"Ale?" The bartender asked, "Why do you want something as weak as ale. You
should try the Dwarven Ragnarok. Best liquor we got here."
"Dwarven Ragnarok?" I asked. "Never heard of it."
"What?" The bartender asked. "You ain't never heard o' Dwarven Ragnarok? In
that case, I'll buy you both a mug of it. Don't worry, it's on the house."
"Well," I said to Kyorn, "That went well."
"I'm not too sure. I've heard that Dwarven Ragnarok has a bit of a kick to
it. Well, maybe not a bit. Not many people can even stomach it." Kyorn
said, hiding a chuckle. You'll be the laughing stock of the tavern if you
can't."
"Don't worry," I said, almost resenting the statement that I had just said.
"Whatever," Kyorn said. "Well, before we get wasted, I have something that
I want to talk to you about. A bit of an adventure that me and my friends
are planning."
"An adventure?" I asked, forgetting everyone and everything else in the
room. This was the sole reason why I left Povent. "Where? When?"
"Slow down." Kyorn said. "Don't think I'm going to let you join just
because you're interested." then he lowered his voice even lower to make
sure no one would hear. It didn't matter because no one was actually paying
attention to us. "My friends and I are going to sneak outside the town
tonight, and go into the dungeon of elements. We're going to try and get
the golden disks. They grant the bearer one wish."
"The dungeon of elements? Sounds exciting. Well, I don't mean that I want
to go get myself killed, but I just can't suppress the feeling."
"Well, are you a skilled warrior in either strength or magic?" Kyorn asked.
I laughed. "You see these tattoos?"
"Yes, what about them." Kyorn asked, confused.
"They show people that I am, or was, a 10th Markh challenger. The highest
you can be in the militia that I was part of. Of course, I haven't been
fighting that much lately, so I probably won't be as good as I was a few
years ago."
"All the same. You're probably as good if not better then my men. You can
come. As for a weapon, you could probably go get one with the gold you got
from me. Plus, there's a reward for clearing the dungeon. The person who
survives receives one wish." Kyorn suggested.
"That's good." I said. "I'll probably go get it right after we leave."
"Good," Kyorn said. "Well, look here. Our drinks have arrived."
And so they had. The waitress brought over two large, foaming mugs of
Dwarven Ragnarok.
"Here you go," She said, handing us the mugs.
"Thanks," I said, and she left.
"So what is this stuff made of?" I asked.
"Special dwarf mushrooms. Harvested underground in the Dwarven mines."
Kyorn answered.
"Wow." I said. "How do they grow down there?"
"It's a fungus. It can grow basically anywhere. I guess you don't know much
about plants." Kyorn answered. "Now go ahead and take a big whiff of it."
"I was raised in a desert, Not many plants out there," I said, and lifted
the glass to my nose. I inhaled, and felt the smell of the liquor burn
through my system.
"Damn," I said. "That's some strong stuff."
"Hah," Kyorn laughed. "You haven't even drank any yet."
We laughed together, I finished the Ragnarok, and (with a bit of a stumble)
we walked out of the tavern, and towards the weapon smith.
No one else was walking the streets at this time of night, but street lamps
guided our path.
"Well, this is where I turn off," Kyorn said. "Meet me at the tavern at
high silver."
"Fine with me," I said, and Kyorn departed. I continued straight, following
the directions Kyorn gave me. I passed the stadium, noticing how small it
was now that all of the crowds were gone. I continued on a few more streets
until I saw a shield bearing a sword and hammer hanging from a signpost
near the street. This was the symbol of the weapon smith, or so Kyorn told
me.
I walked inside, and saw a man still awake behind the counter.
"I'll be closing up soon, so hurry up." The man said. I guessed he gets
pretty bored just sitting behind the counter all day.
"How much is that sword over there," I asked excitedly, and pointed to the
wall left of me. It looked so much like the one that Aramil had given me.
"More than any money you got. If I could sell that thing, I could retire
and have enough money for my kids to be wealthy. It's would cost you a good
twenty-thousand gold."
"Twenty-thousand?" I said amazed, "You could retire on that. What's so
special about it."
"No too sure myself. My buddy found it in some ruined town not too long
ago. Sold it to me for a good forty gold. Then some mage walked in, and
said that it was magical. I'm just glad nobody bought it before he came."
I was shocked. "Where was this ruined town?"
"Some desert a long way west of here. There was another ruined town near
it, but it looked like somebody was trying to build something there, so his
group o' adventurers left it alone."
"Aei and Sanduk," I whispered.
"Eh? What'd you say," The man asked me.
"Nothing," I said, while trying to rid myself of the memory. It was my
sword. Aramil made it special for me. But I never knew that he could make
magic weapons. I didn't even know that he cared for magic at all. "What
about that other one over there," I asked.
"Seventeen," The shopkeeper said sternly.
"That seems a bit much," I said, but noticed the shopkeepers face. "But I
guess I'll take it."
The shopkeeper got up from his stool, and walked over to the wall where it
was hanging. He unhooked it from the wall, and handed it to me. I took it,
and dropped the seventeen gold into his hand.
"Do you have any money bags?" I asked. Moneybags are woven pouches that you
usually use to gold in. It also makes paying for things much easier.
"Yeah, I can give you ten for two gold."
"Fine with me," I said, and dropped the two gold on the counter he was
sitting behind. He reached under the counter and pulled out a few bags. He
handed them to me. "Thanks."
"No problem," He said. "Hey, I like you. You seem like a good man. Are you
gonna' be staying around these parts for a while?"
"Can't really say." I answered. "I'm an adventurer, so if there's anything
interesting around here, I'll be here."
"Alright," The man said. "Good night."
"Good night," I said, and walked out of the store. I looked up into the sky
and saw the silver moon almost at its peak in the sky. I had to meet Kyorn
soon.
I made my way back to the tavern. It was even later than before, but the
silver moon was still high in the sky, and it illuminated everything. The
tavern was still roaring with laughter and talk. No one even noticed the
group of people meeting around back.
"Welcome Rio," Kyorn said as I approached. There were four more people
behind him. One was rummaging around in another's pack.
"Hello," I said. "Is this all?"
"What, you think this isn't enough?" Kyorn asked.
"I don't know, I thought there would be more. Oh well, never mind. I'll be
happy as long as that little thief doesn't go through my pack. Who is
everybody?"
"Alright, well, rule number one: Don't ever call Fin a thief to his face.
Where he comes from, everyone is like that. It's just what he's used to.
Alright, that in the dark blue cloak is my mage partner. He's a half-elf,
and wasn't welcome at home. Some say he was banished from his home, but I
think he left because he was in search of magic. The tall one ove-."
"Sorry to interrupt, but what is a mage partner?" I asked.
"Don't feel like sewer rat. I didn't know what was either until I met him.
You see, each mage has their own type of magic, and the gods of magic gave
it to him, or her. I guess the gods sometimes slip up, and give the same
type of magic to two different people. If those people ever meet, they can
combine their magic, but at a terrible price. Yes, their magic will be
stronger together, but individually, they will be pretty weak. Well, where
was I, oh yes, the tall one over there is another half-elf. His name is
Rashas. He's a ranger. He can do all sorts of funny stuff in the desert.
Hide in plain sight, create whirlwinds, and even create some mirages. We
pretty much rely on him for food when we're not home. The other one is
Beorn; a human warrior. He wears all kinds of armor, and big weapons, and
huge shields. I can barely tolerate him, but he's the fighting force in the
group, so I can't ask him just to leave. And then there's Fin," Kyorn
sighs, "He's the best pick pocket I ever met. He's an elf, but he's small
even by our standards. Stands only 4'9"."
"That's tiny. Well, we better get going before they start to notice us," I
said.
"Yeah," Fin said, stepping next to Kyorn, "He's got a point." Then Fin
turned towards me, and thrust his hand forth, "Nice to meet you Rio, I'm
Fin."
I took his hand and shook it. "Nice to meet you."
"Let's get going." The human said.
Kyorn gathered everybody together, and introduced them to me.
"Everybody, this is Rio." Kyorn said plainly. "He's going to come with us
down to the dungeon. He says that he's a good warrior, only out of
practice."
"Out of practice?" Beorn, the human, said. "Bah. He probably is going to
desert us because he's too afraid. Hah. I bet you both a bag of twenty gold
that he doesn't make it out alive."
Enraged by the comment, I stood a little closer to Kyorn and whispered into
his ear: "Let me take this guy out now. He'll probably only be a nuisance
later."
"I know you don't like him, and neither do I, but lets not kill each
other," Kyorn whispered back, "At least not yet anyway."
"Fine," I said, and stepped back coolly. Then to Beorn: "I hope you're
still around to pay off your bet."
"Alright, lets get going," Kyorn said, and pushed Beorn and I apart. Then
Beorn, Fin, and the rest of us followed after Kyorn.
"You know what I think?" Fin asked me as we were walking. "I think that
Beorn would betray us way before you would. You seem like such a nice
person. It's hard to believe you're a warrior."
"Well," I said, "War can do bad things to people. I lost my father, my
friends, and everyone else in the raid of Sanduk. It's hard to believe that
an army can just appear like that in so much force, and then disappear just
as fast."
"I didn't know you came from Sanduk. I've heard the stories about the
Temple of Challenge, the Tower of Wisdom, and all of the other great places
there." Fin responded.
"The Temple of Challenge. I remember the first time I stepped into there.
The greatest challengers and the greatest clerics from the Tower of Wisdom
were there, all seated in a circle. I passed their tests, and after that, I
spent more time in the Temple of Challenge than I did even at home."
"I wish I could have been there," Fin said with a sigh. "It must have been
such a nice place. I wonder if Kyorn would ever want to go. I'm sure Beorn
wouldn't. He doesn't like elves at all. Hey, have you ever thought about
the names Kyorn and Beorn. That's funny that they rhyme. I can't believe
that they even know each other. I wish I would meet someone whose name
rhymes with mine. Hey Rio, have you ever met someone with-."
"Fin, silence!" Kyorn said in a loud whisper. "Can't we ever go anywhere
without you rambling on?"
"Well, if you wouldn't interrupt me, I might finish quicker." Fin stated
angrily.
"'Might'," Kyorn said to his mage partner, Reebus, and they both laughed.
"Well, anyway," Fin continued. "Have you ever met anyone with a name that
rhymes with yours?"
"I might have," I answered, "But I never really thought about it."
"Well, that doesn't really matter, we wouldn't have any time to discuss it.
We're already here."
The New Beginning
This world I live in is not my own, and I doubt it ever will be. But still,
I am here, and there is no way to change that. However if more know my
story, there still may be a small light of hope. . . . . .
My past seemed like a waste and I was glad that I had left. I didn't think
I could leave Isis, but somehow I did. I started anew just like I had when
I moved to Povent. I had stayed in Povent for about a year, a lot less than
I had stayed in Sanduk. I had grown lazy with my battle skills. I wasn't
worthy of the tattoos that marked me as a 10th Markh challenger. I yearned
for battle, even if it meant that I would have to kill again. I would use
my skills to fight evil and find treasure. Treasure hunters were well known
around the continent, and I wanted to impress Isis. I headed east to the
town of Aeris.
The ride wasn't as brutal as the ride to Povent, but it still took a while.
A few days on the road, and I finally made it. The town was in a desert, so
my horse was slowed, and we used up water rapidly. I got to the town only
to realize that it was like this as far as you could see. I sighed, and
entered through the front gates.
The town wasn't large, but it wasn't small either. There was a battle
stadium in the center of town, and pretty much the whole town was around
it. I could see a tower in the distance, but it looked out of place. I left
my horse in one of the stables, and walked over to one of the shopping
stands hoping to buy some fruit.
"Hello," I said to the man running the stand. "Do you have any fruits for
sale?"
"Stinkin' Elf," The show keeper grumbled. "Can barely stomach any meat. I
can't believe you people are still around. Yeah, I got some. Hold on just a
second."
I waited for the man to return, slightly angered by his comment. The man
returned, and I paid three silver coins for it. "Thanks," I said, and
walked away.
I walked towards the arena, hoping to make some money on bets. I noticed
that there was a big fight about to start. There were four combatants. An
elven girl with purple hair that wielded twin scimitars. A dwarf with an
axe and heavy armor. A young human boy with throwing daggers. And a huge
ogre with a club. The ogre would most likely win, but I didn't care.
I walked up to a man that was gambling with his friends, and said: " Twenty
gold on the girl."
"All right," The man said. I could tell by his robes that he was a mage.
"I'll bet that the dwarf wins. Better odds for you. If neither of us is
right no money exchanged."
"Good," I said," And no fake coins."
I walked around to find a good place to watch. I found a spot right behind
one of the spike pits. I saw a few boys raise a flag on the side of the
arena, and the combatants walked into separate corners. The boys started
waving the flag, and the combatants started fighting. The girl calmly
walked towards the dwarf. This right here would be the decision of whether
or not I would win the bet. As soon as she got about five feet away from
him, she jumped at him. The Dwarf appeared ready for this and was quick to
respond. He thrust the spearhead on the top of his axe towards the girl.
She didn't seem to try and dodge it, let alone even take notice of it. I
thought this was the end, but I was wrong. The girl skillfully leaned to
the side at the last second, placed her hand firmly on the shaft of the axe
as it flew by her. Quickly placing her other hand on the axe also, she
spun, with her feet facing the dwarf, and kicked hard in the face. The
dwarf's axe fell to the ground, and his hands reached for face.
"Fucking elf," The dwarf could be heard yelling. The girl snuck around the
back of the dwarf, and quickly cut up the dwarf's spine. She could have
killed the dwarf at anytime, but it appeared that she was having a bit of
fun while she was at it. After a few more painful swipes, she dug the tip
of one of her scimitars into the back of the dwarf's neck. The dwarf's body
slowly slipped off the scimitar, and fell face first into the sand floor of
the arena.
The girl whirled around, and saw the ogre advancing. The boy was coming at
her from the other side, but was still some distance away. The boy hurled a
dagger at her. Either the boy was rather dumb, or he meant that throw to be
a distraction. As the elf girl dodged the dagger, I expected the boy to
have already thrown another own. But it appeared that my first conclusion
about the boy was the right one: He was a bit on the lesser side of
intelligence when it came to battle. After a few seconds, however, the boy
decided to throw another one, which the girl also dodged easily. The dagger
whipped past the girl's shoulder, right into the ogre, which stood behind
her, ready to bash her with its club.
"Smart girl," I thought to myself, but I talked too soon. The ogre pulled
the dagger out of its chest, and stabbed down at the girl. Unaware of the
dagger that the ogre now held, she spun around to behead the ogre. The
beheading went as planned, but not before the ogre managed to wedge the
dagger deep in her side. She pulled out the dagger, and threw it to the
ground. The boy was out of throwing daggers, so he was weaponless. He
promptly turned and ran away. The horrible truth suddenly appeared to dawn
on the girl, as she noticed that the boy was running towards the dwarf's
body, and his axe. She quickly bolted after him. She lunged at him, and
sliced the back of his foot. Lucky for her, the boy wasn't wearing any
boots, and she sliced the tendon in the back of the leg, crippling the boy.
The boy had nothing left to do except wait to die. The girl walked over to
the boy, who was now frantically crawling away, placed her foot upon his
chest, and sliced the boy's throat. She wiped her scimitars on the boy's
tattered clothes, sheathed them, and slowly walked towards the exit.
I walked over there to meet her, eager to meet her. I noticed that she was
walking with a bit of a limp, but she made it out of the stadium alright,
and collected her money.
"Hey," I said to her, and tossed her a dry rag to wipe the blood from the
wound. "Nice fight."
"Thanks," she said, and wiped the sweat off her face, then the wound on her
side. "You're not from around here, are you?"
"Why do you say that?" I asked, startled.
"I'm one of the biggest thieves in the town. No one cares what I do. Even
if I saved the town they would just say 'oh there goes that thief, probably
made a deal with them to just back off. Probably one of my pieces of
jewelry'." Then she looked up and saw a confused look on my face. "Sorry,
I'm just babbling on. Thanks for helping, what's your name?"
"Rionasthanuial Annonsul. I'm from Sanduk in the west. You can call me
Rio."
"My name's Molinasthalas Lamio. I'm from the port town of Ioga. I was
finally caught stealing, so the threw me out. You can call me Moli if you
want."
"Do you need any help with the dagger wound?" I asked.
"No thanks. I've got a guild up near the mountains if you ever want to drop
by, but I better get going now. Good bye." She said, and dashed off before
I could say anything more.
"Oh well," I thought, "Better find that blasted mage."
I walked back towards the stadium. Most of the crowd was gone, but the mage
was still standing there waiting for me.
"Well," The mage said, "I guess you won this one. My name's Kyorn," as he
handed me the bag of gold, and pulled back his hood.
"I'm Rio." I said, thinking of more to say. "Uh, why don't I buy you a mug
of ale in the tavern."
"Sure," Kyorn said, "I don't drink that much, but a mug of ale never hurt
anyone, now did it?"
"I guess not," I said, and grabbed the bag of gold out of his hand. "Come
on, we better hurry up before it gets dark. I don't think that I'd want to
be out here at night."
"Good idea." Kyorn said.
We walked along the outside of the road, not wanting to attract any
attention. After a few minutes of walking, we arrived at the Snake & Goose
Tavern. The tavern was a busy place, and because of the amount of people
and the temperature outside, it was very warm inside: almost too warm for
comfort. We sat down at a table near a window so we would be cooled by the
wind blowing through.
"Sir," I said calling the bartender. When he came to our table, I said:
"Could we have two mugs of ale?"
"Ale?" The bartender asked, "Why do you want something as weak as ale. You
should try the Dwarven Ragnarok. Best liquor we got here."
"Dwarven Ragnarok?" I asked. "Never heard of it."
"What?" The bartender asked. "You ain't never heard o' Dwarven Ragnarok? In
that case, I'll buy you both a mug of it. Don't worry, it's on the house."
"Well," I said to Kyorn, "That went well."
"I'm not too sure. I've heard that Dwarven Ragnarok has a bit of a kick to
it. Well, maybe not a bit. Not many people can even stomach it." Kyorn
said, hiding a chuckle. You'll be the laughing stock of the tavern if you
can't."
"Don't worry," I said, almost resenting the statement that I had just said.
"Whatever," Kyorn said. "Well, before we get wasted, I have something that
I want to talk to you about. A bit of an adventure that me and my friends
are planning."
"An adventure?" I asked, forgetting everyone and everything else in the
room. This was the sole reason why I left Povent. "Where? When?"
"Slow down." Kyorn said. "Don't think I'm going to let you join just
because you're interested." then he lowered his voice even lower to make
sure no one would hear. It didn't matter because no one was actually paying
attention to us. "My friends and I are going to sneak outside the town
tonight, and go into the dungeon of elements. We're going to try and get
the golden disks. They grant the bearer one wish."
"The dungeon of elements? Sounds exciting. Well, I don't mean that I want
to go get myself killed, but I just can't suppress the feeling."
"Well, are you a skilled warrior in either strength or magic?" Kyorn asked.
I laughed. "You see these tattoos?"
"Yes, what about them." Kyorn asked, confused.
"They show people that I am, or was, a 10th Markh challenger. The highest
you can be in the militia that I was part of. Of course, I haven't been
fighting that much lately, so I probably won't be as good as I was a few
years ago."
"All the same. You're probably as good if not better then my men. You can
come. As for a weapon, you could probably go get one with the gold you got
from me. Plus, there's a reward for clearing the dungeon. The person who
survives receives one wish." Kyorn suggested.
"That's good." I said. "I'll probably go get it right after we leave."
"Good," Kyorn said. "Well, look here. Our drinks have arrived."
And so they had. The waitress brought over two large, foaming mugs of
Dwarven Ragnarok.
"Here you go," She said, handing us the mugs.
"Thanks," I said, and she left.
"So what is this stuff made of?" I asked.
"Special dwarf mushrooms. Harvested underground in the Dwarven mines."
Kyorn answered.
"Wow." I said. "How do they grow down there?"
"It's a fungus. It can grow basically anywhere. I guess you don't know much
about plants." Kyorn answered. "Now go ahead and take a big whiff of it."
"I was raised in a desert, Not many plants out there," I said, and lifted
the glass to my nose. I inhaled, and felt the smell of the liquor burn
through my system.
"Damn," I said. "That's some strong stuff."
"Hah," Kyorn laughed. "You haven't even drank any yet."
We laughed together, I finished the Ragnarok, and (with a bit of a stumble)
we walked out of the tavern, and towards the weapon smith.
No one else was walking the streets at this time of night, but street lamps
guided our path.
"Well, this is where I turn off," Kyorn said. "Meet me at the tavern at
high silver."
"Fine with me," I said, and Kyorn departed. I continued straight, following
the directions Kyorn gave me. I passed the stadium, noticing how small it
was now that all of the crowds were gone. I continued on a few more streets
until I saw a shield bearing a sword and hammer hanging from a signpost
near the street. This was the symbol of the weapon smith, or so Kyorn told
me.
I walked inside, and saw a man still awake behind the counter.
"I'll be closing up soon, so hurry up." The man said. I guessed he gets
pretty bored just sitting behind the counter all day.
"How much is that sword over there," I asked excitedly, and pointed to the
wall left of me. It looked so much like the one that Aramil had given me.
"More than any money you got. If I could sell that thing, I could retire
and have enough money for my kids to be wealthy. It's would cost you a good
twenty-thousand gold."
"Twenty-thousand?" I said amazed, "You could retire on that. What's so
special about it."
"No too sure myself. My buddy found it in some ruined town not too long
ago. Sold it to me for a good forty gold. Then some mage walked in, and
said that it was magical. I'm just glad nobody bought it before he came."
I was shocked. "Where was this ruined town?"
"Some desert a long way west of here. There was another ruined town near
it, but it looked like somebody was trying to build something there, so his
group o' adventurers left it alone."
"Aei and Sanduk," I whispered.
"Eh? What'd you say," The man asked me.
"Nothing," I said, while trying to rid myself of the memory. It was my
sword. Aramil made it special for me. But I never knew that he could make
magic weapons. I didn't even know that he cared for magic at all. "What
about that other one over there," I asked.
"Seventeen," The shopkeeper said sternly.
"That seems a bit much," I said, but noticed the shopkeepers face. "But I
guess I'll take it."
The shopkeeper got up from his stool, and walked over to the wall where it
was hanging. He unhooked it from the wall, and handed it to me. I took it,
and dropped the seventeen gold into his hand.
"Do you have any money bags?" I asked. Moneybags are woven pouches that you
usually use to gold in. It also makes paying for things much easier.
"Yeah, I can give you ten for two gold."
"Fine with me," I said, and dropped the two gold on the counter he was
sitting behind. He reached under the counter and pulled out a few bags. He
handed them to me. "Thanks."
"No problem," He said. "Hey, I like you. You seem like a good man. Are you
gonna' be staying around these parts for a while?"
"Can't really say." I answered. "I'm an adventurer, so if there's anything
interesting around here, I'll be here."
"Alright," The man said. "Good night."
"Good night," I said, and walked out of the store. I looked up into the sky
and saw the silver moon almost at its peak in the sky. I had to meet Kyorn
soon.
I made my way back to the tavern. It was even later than before, but the
silver moon was still high in the sky, and it illuminated everything. The
tavern was still roaring with laughter and talk. No one even noticed the
group of people meeting around back.
"Welcome Rio," Kyorn said as I approached. There were four more people
behind him. One was rummaging around in another's pack.
"Hello," I said. "Is this all?"
"What, you think this isn't enough?" Kyorn asked.
"I don't know, I thought there would be more. Oh well, never mind. I'll be
happy as long as that little thief doesn't go through my pack. Who is
everybody?"
"Alright, well, rule number one: Don't ever call Fin a thief to his face.
Where he comes from, everyone is like that. It's just what he's used to.
Alright, that in the dark blue cloak is my mage partner. He's a half-elf,
and wasn't welcome at home. Some say he was banished from his home, but I
think he left because he was in search of magic. The tall one ove-."
"Sorry to interrupt, but what is a mage partner?" I asked.
"Don't feel like sewer rat. I didn't know what was either until I met him.
You see, each mage has their own type of magic, and the gods of magic gave
it to him, or her. I guess the gods sometimes slip up, and give the same
type of magic to two different people. If those people ever meet, they can
combine their magic, but at a terrible price. Yes, their magic will be
stronger together, but individually, they will be pretty weak. Well, where
was I, oh yes, the tall one over there is another half-elf. His name is
Rashas. He's a ranger. He can do all sorts of funny stuff in the desert.
Hide in plain sight, create whirlwinds, and even create some mirages. We
pretty much rely on him for food when we're not home. The other one is
Beorn; a human warrior. He wears all kinds of armor, and big weapons, and
huge shields. I can barely tolerate him, but he's the fighting force in the
group, so I can't ask him just to leave. And then there's Fin," Kyorn
sighs, "He's the best pick pocket I ever met. He's an elf, but he's small
even by our standards. Stands only 4'9"."
"That's tiny. Well, we better get going before they start to notice us," I
said.
"Yeah," Fin said, stepping next to Kyorn, "He's got a point." Then Fin
turned towards me, and thrust his hand forth, "Nice to meet you Rio, I'm
Fin."
I took his hand and shook it. "Nice to meet you."
"Let's get going." The human said.
Kyorn gathered everybody together, and introduced them to me.
"Everybody, this is Rio." Kyorn said plainly. "He's going to come with us
down to the dungeon. He says that he's a good warrior, only out of
practice."
"Out of practice?" Beorn, the human, said. "Bah. He probably is going to
desert us because he's too afraid. Hah. I bet you both a bag of twenty gold
that he doesn't make it out alive."
Enraged by the comment, I stood a little closer to Kyorn and whispered into
his ear: "Let me take this guy out now. He'll probably only be a nuisance
later."
"I know you don't like him, and neither do I, but lets not kill each
other," Kyorn whispered back, "At least not yet anyway."
"Fine," I said, and stepped back coolly. Then to Beorn: "I hope you're
still around to pay off your bet."
"Alright, lets get going," Kyorn said, and pushed Beorn and I apart. Then
Beorn, Fin, and the rest of us followed after Kyorn.
"You know what I think?" Fin asked me as we were walking. "I think that
Beorn would betray us way before you would. You seem like such a nice
person. It's hard to believe you're a warrior."
"Well," I said, "War can do bad things to people. I lost my father, my
friends, and everyone else in the raid of Sanduk. It's hard to believe that
an army can just appear like that in so much force, and then disappear just
as fast."
"I didn't know you came from Sanduk. I've heard the stories about the
Temple of Challenge, the Tower of Wisdom, and all of the other great places
there." Fin responded.
"The Temple of Challenge. I remember the first time I stepped into there.
The greatest challengers and the greatest clerics from the Tower of Wisdom
were there, all seated in a circle. I passed their tests, and after that, I
spent more time in the Temple of Challenge than I did even at home."
"I wish I could have been there," Fin said with a sigh. "It must have been
such a nice place. I wonder if Kyorn would ever want to go. I'm sure Beorn
wouldn't. He doesn't like elves at all. Hey, have you ever thought about
the names Kyorn and Beorn. That's funny that they rhyme. I can't believe
that they even know each other. I wish I would meet someone whose name
rhymes with mine. Hey Rio, have you ever met someone with-."
"Fin, silence!" Kyorn said in a loud whisper. "Can't we ever go anywhere
without you rambling on?"
"Well, if you wouldn't interrupt me, I might finish quicker." Fin stated
angrily.
"'Might'," Kyorn said to his mage partner, Reebus, and they both laughed.
"Well, anyway," Fin continued. "Have you ever met anyone with a name that
rhymes with yours?"
"I might have," I answered, "But I never really thought about it."
"Well, that doesn't really matter, we wouldn't have any time to discuss it.
We're already here."