Craig hadn't originally intended for this life. Even after he arrived in Kupa City, he never expected to become some underworld criminal. Back in the day, when he started stealing out of desperation, he never expected to garner the reputation that he ended up having.
It really was out of desperation. Even when Clyde got a paying jobs in a shops, it wasn't nearly enough. They always barely had enough to eat. They spent cold nights sleeping on dirty side streets or hiding in animal pens. Originally they tried to sleep in Clyde's shop, but he was ultimately fired for it, taking him weeks to find a new merchant to take him. In turn, Craig would slide a bit of bread or a couple bunches of fruit from the market. He continued this even when Clyde was working again, to put a little money aside so that they would one day no longer be homeless. The less money they required to spend on food, the more money they had to put aside. Yet even still, he only ever stole what they needed.
Things only changed when Clyde fell very ill. At first Craig thought his hypochondriac friend was overreacting like usual, but it had become clear that he was only getting worse and worse. He desperately needed a doctor and medication, but even the meager amount they had set aside to spend on such treatments wouldn't be nearly enough.
It pained him that the wealthy in the town square would shamelessly flaunt their expensive clothes and fine jewels while turning up their nose on starving, dying children on the street. Just one of the pearls on just one of their necklaces, just one gemstone from their large, intricate brooches, any of it would be enough to help Clyde and then some. Because of that, he didn't feel any remorse the first time he subtly cut a beaded bracelet from a woman's wrist in a crowded alley. He feared what the pawn shop owner would say when he presented it, perhaps accusing him of stealing it, but he soon found out that the pawn shop owner couldn't care less where anything came from.
The wealthy didn't need nor deserve their luxuries, while in turn theft brought Clyde and him perhaps not a life of luxuries themselves, but a life that was comfortable enough. Theft brought them a roof over their head and food to eat. Things that Clyde's "legitimate" job wouldn't be able to provide. It also helped them feel as if they were sticking their noses to the nobles.
He never expected back then that all of this would lead him to stealing the most powerful object in existence from the only kingdom he hated more than Kupa.
It was going to be a long journey. The trek to the High Elf Kingdom was much further than that of the one Clyde and him trekked from Sundorham all those years ago. Of course, back then they got terribly lost and wandered longer than it would have taken if they had proper navigation. This time, Craig had a proper map and compass to guide him. He had emergency contact systems. Proper supplies. The hardships he faced then were essentially rectified.
Still, it wasn't going to be easy. He knew that much.
The first part was easy enough, at least. He simply had to follow the main road that connected the city and the major villages of Kupa. After about a couple days or so, he would have to head north from the very end of the road. From there, to say the journey would become more dangerous would be an extreme understatement. He would be entering the Lost Forest, Barbarian territory, meaning he would have to tread lightly in hopes of not being seen. If he manages to make it out of their forests without being struck down by a dozen arrows, or for that matter any of the beasts or fauna, he would cross through a smaller civilized human kingdom the base of the mountain. It would be a break at least, as it was known for being hospitable enough. Extremely isolated, but still friendly. The steep, frigid mountains themselves would be a whole other story entirely. Not to mention, the mountains acted like a natural border between human and elf territories, meaning he would likely have to dodge other, more nomadic wood elves. Worst case scenario, he might even have to dodge Drow elves.
All of this before convincing the High Elves to let him into their Kingdom and get close enough to steal the stick. Convincing them to not just kill him on the spot could be a real challenge. He wasn't sure exactly how to tackle this issue, so he decided to focus more of his attention on getting there for the time being. Sure, his training at Kupa presented him with how they wanted him to be-that he was a human olive branch to try and reconcile the two kingdoms' differences. Knowing the two kingdoms' relationship, he somehow doubted that would actually work. He sighed. At least he had a long time to think about it.
The initial leg of his journey would be incredibly boring to most people, but he found himself quite enjoying it. He liked walking for long periods of time. It always helped him clear his head and release any pent up energy or anger. It was a lot easier in Sundorham, where it was less crowded with people, allowing him to get lost in himself without worrying about bumping into others or getting hit by a carriage. Though of course back then he had to worry about accidentally wandering too far and leaving the village proper-something that could have gotten him in serious legal trouble back then if he got caught by a knight on patrol.
Now, on the other hand, he had a long winding road that seemingly went on forever all to himself. He could go hours without passing another person. Part of it reminded him of the desperate feeling he felt with Clyde all those years ago when they once traveled on the same road, hoping to find sanctuary. He tried his best to not dwell on it.
Late in the afternoon, he came across a village. Golden Glen was known for being one of the more affluent places in Kupa, conveniently because it was mere hours from the city. He received some currency of various lands he was expected to travel through, of course including Kupa's own currency he could spend there. He figured it wouldn't hurt to pay to stay there for the night, even if it would be on the pricier side.
As soon as he entered the village he found himself pissed off. It was a peasant village so to speak, but the people there were not serfs. They were also farmers, but they had their own land and could work on it however they wished. They couldn't move away without permission, but they were able to easily get permits to leave and go on holiday, unlike serfs who were tied to the land from birth to death.
It was also objectively much nicer to look at. The houses were more in line with those from the city, not the flimsy thatch houses that he had been forced to live in and repair frequently. Animals had their own separate barns and stables, not kept within the same small houses as their caretakers. They wouldn't have to deal with a farm animal licking their ear in the middle of the night.
Still, he entered the village with his mouth shut, doing his best to ignore his thoughts as he presented his permit to the knights guarding the village, allowing him to enter. He didn't care enough to look at the village, but instead wandered straight to the inn. It was already getting dark, and knew it was a bustling place, so he wasn't entirely sure if they'd even have room. Honestly, at this point it wouldn't be the worst notion in the world to sleep outside the village in a field or something. Still, he was going to be spending a lot of time sleeping outdoors, so he decided to take a shot anyway.
When he entered the large three story building, it was far more "bustling" than he expected. In the pub, there was loud music playing and people dancing jovally all around. Men and women danced in a line, the women's colorful skirts drifting about. A good number of them appeared to be tavern girls themselves, doing some sort "fanservice" he figured. He looked around and saw in the corner some men playing some instruments, tapping their feet enthusiastically. It was certainly very much unlike the inn in Sundorham or the taverns he frequented in Kupa City. He felt like a fish out of water.
As tried to examine the overwhelming setting, he nearly got run over by a black haired tavern girl carrying two large steins in each hand, though he quickly dodged. She apologized, a bi overly so in an exaggerated cutesy voice, but Craig in return awkwardly nodded. He was never really good at that sort of human interaction.
"We're busy today, but there's a spare seat at the bar," the black haired girl told him as she was about to continue delivering her drinks to the waiting customers, "Someone will be right with you to help you, okay?" She winked and continued on, while all he could respond with was his awkward nod again. He shrugged it off headed to the spare seat with his head low, dodging dancing couples on the way.
"How can I help you, hon?" another girl from behind the bar grinned overly friendly at him. She had red hair. His heart skipped a beat as she immediately reminded him of Red, even if it was more of an orange shade compared to Red's bright...well, red. He looked at her for a few more seconds, hinging on an awkward amount, and let out a breath. Her facial structure and demeanor was also nothing like Red.
The tavern girls here also wore skirts that were only to above their knees and with low cut necklines in the front to show a lot more cleavage than Red's dress did. It didn't bother him, not because he was into that, because he wasn't. Truth be told, he was really interested in women in general. He figured it probably worked on other people to get them tips and being a hustler himself he couldn't blame them.
"Actually, I wanted to see if you still had any spare rooms or beds for the night," Craig answered as loud as he could over the music and chatter. The girl gave him a grin and stare that went straight to his spine.
"Well, as you see we're awfully crowded tonight," she tilted back her head and gave him a wink, "But you know, my room has some extra space."
"Not interested," he responded bluntly. The girl's expression dropped for a second, but then as if by practice and experience, immediately went back to her previous eternally flirty customer service expression.
"I'll see what I can do," she smiled, "We might have space in our shared rooms. In the meantime, can I get you something?"
"Just a beer," he shrugged. She quickly poured him a stein from the bar and handed it over to him, before wandering off to the crowd.
He didn't mean to be cold to the girl, but he really didn't have the patience to play along. He wondered if he gave her the wrong impression by staring at her that awkward length of time, but then realized he didn't really care. He was widely considered quite attractive, or so he was told, causing him to get advances from girls all the time. Despite this, not a single one of the girls who threw themselves on him ever appealed to him. Early on, Clyde hounded him for turning down girls that Clyde himself viewed as gorgeous. He also hounded him even more for turning down wealthy girls Clyde figured they could get profit from. Craig figured that would be incredibly annoying, and not worth the effort. He'd rather just steal the old fashioned way.
He figured he just didn't have any sort of attraction to women. It was whatever. He put his elbows on the bar and took a drink of his beer, zoning out the loud music and chatter surrounding him while he waited for her to return.
"Well," she said as she went back over the bar to face him, "We don't have any private rooms or beds, but you're in luck. Someone's wife just dragged a patron home, so we have an extra space in our shared beds. Should I give it to you?"
"Sure," he shrugged, wiping the beer on his mouth with his sleeve. It was decently pricey, but it was the Wizard's money anyway. Beats sleeping outside, he figured.
It turned out he figured wrong. He was squeezed in between two sweaty, drunk men on a bed that was less comfortable than his one back in Kupa City. There were loud snores from this overly crowded room and sounds of women moaning loudly and overdramatically through the walls. There was chatter from those drunk trying to find their way to their sleeping spot, followed by other patrons telling them to shut up. The person to the left of him elbowed him in his sleep so hard he figured his ribs might have a bruise in the morning. He considered himself grateful that he got any sleep at all.
He left just at sunrise. He would have left earlier, but he wanted to wait until the village had awakened for him to get a decent breakfast and some last minute supplies that the Wizard and company didn't provide. Little things, like extra cloth and sewing materials to mend his clothes if they seriously tore, some extra fishing line, a few bits of food that wouldn't spoil or take up too much space. Normally he would just steal these things but, once again, the Wizard's money. He couldn't guarantee that he would find another village like Golden Glen that would be this welcoming to someone like him for the rest of his travels, so he figured he should take advantage of that before his journey truly begins.
He was surprised that the feeling of leaving Golden Glen behind was almost as impactful as leaving the gates of Kupa City, even if he had never been to this village before. There were a few poor villages akin to Sundorham that he could theoretically go through in Kupa if he was desperate, but this really was where he would be on his own the rest of the way.
Kupa being the size it was, he was able to continue on down the road as he was a couple more days. There were rarely bandits in Kupa that he would have to worry about. The Wizard was an oppressive dick, but one thing he was good at was keeping the roadways connecting the parts of the country safe. Only a few asshole knights that would ask him about his paperwork bothered him. They probably would have been like bandits, demanding compensation to allow him to pass, but once he showed that he was on official business from the Grand Wizard himself, they immediately gave it up and let him pass with a bow and no further questions.
It reminded him of his journey with Clyde all those years ago. Now he was supplied and knew exactly where he was going, making this trek through Kupa much easier. Still, he could still hear Clyde's sniffles and complaints as he looked at the flat plains of the kingdom as he trekked on.
He decided to go out of his way to visit a village off the road on what would be his last day in Kupa. It was a considerable detour and one he could get little out of strategically, but a gut instinct told him he would regret not taking it.
It was a small serf village. One that he had also obviously never been to nor heard spoken much about, but it was there on his map. Apparently it was very small, even smaller than Sundorham had been, but he figured the layout and way of life would be more or less the same.
He could never go back to Sundorham. Even to visit the ruins, it was completely off his current journey's path. He wasn't sure if he really would want to see what remained either. Would there still be the charr of the village in the ground? Would there still be evidence of buildings once standing there? Would there be arrows still littering the ground? He doubted the Wizard would want the effort spent cleaning it up.
Or would it have all eroded away all on its own? Could it be that grass grew over what had burned? Would it be as if nothing had ever been there at all, as if all the lives lived and lost never existed in the first place?
His chest was tight, and he felt as though he couldn't breathe. He grasped his chest and sat on the ground for a minute, trying to take in deep breaths and calm his shaking hands as he attempted to take a drink of water. He hated when this happened.
When he managed to calm, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath again. No, he couldn't see Sundorham again. He was never going to be able to say goodbye or get the closure he wanted. Still, he figured this could be the next best thing.
He had always figured that Sundorham was the lowest of the low. There was an atrocious standard of living and the people there were treated as less than dirt. The fact that the entire village was wiped off the map was barely a mild inconvenience to Kupa City. However, as he made his trek to this other serf village, he realized that he figured wrong.
As he had known before, it was in fact smaller than Sundorham by a decent amount. There were only a handful of buildings, all of which were similar thatch houses to that of Sundorham, but looked to be in far worse condition and all near falling apart.
Part of him wondered if this was just a culture shock, as he had grown accustomed to the better conditions of city life. He realized that although that fact didn't help his shock, it couldn't be. In Sundorham, everyone kept themselves as clean as possible after work, wiping all the mud and dirt from them. Sure, dirty by many standards, but attempts were still made. Here, everyone was caked in mud. Clyde's slightly more colorful clothing stood out, but the amount of dirt and grime that covered these people's clothes, he couldn't tell if the fabric was originally brown to begin with. Even the animals roaming around were muddy.
In Sundorham, there was grass with quite pretty wildflowers growing most of the year that Tricia loved to pick and put in her hair and clothes. Sure, not as grand and beautiful as ones from the royal garden, but pretty nonetheless. Tricia would make flower crowns with them and put them in their mother's hair. Once she even put one on Craig as he slept in the field. He awoke to Clyde laughing, promptly leading him to angrily chase after his sister. Here, there was none of that. No grass, no flowers, only mud. Even the fields of farmland surrounding seemed mostly dead and muddy.
Every inch of this village felt covered in mud. It was as if mud was the most defining point of it. Not to mention, it smelled.
"What're you doin' here?" a very thin villager asked. It was a blunt and direct question that wasn't exactly hospitable, but it wasn't explicitly rude or accusatory either. She also had a distinct accent that he had rarely heard before. The other villagers came out, and stared at him inquisitively.
"Um, well," he stammered, thrown off by the reality of this village, "I'm traveling on behalf of Kupa City, and was hoping you had an inn or something I could stay in for the night before I go about my way."
"There's no inn here," she told him in the same off tone. He should have guessed as much. None of the buildings here looked anything other than residential. He also doubted many people would go out of their way to visit such an off the beaten path village such as this. Perhaps on very rare occasions merchants might come through, but by the small amount of things he was carrying, it was clear he wasn't one.
"Well, is there any place I can stay for the night?" he asked, looking around at the other wide eyed villagers, "I have money-"
"What good is yer city money here?" a man interjected. He sounded far more accusatory.
Of course. He was a clean, well dressed young man traveling freely through Kupa unannounced. This was a village that had no visitors to the extent they hadn't even an inn. Craig had never trusted outsiders when he lived in Sundorham and always hated those with wealth, so he didn't blame them for not trusting him. It was especially a mistake for him to say he was traveling on behalf of the City, a place they would almost definitely despise as much as he did.
"Listen," he started. He knew he shouldn't say what he wanted to say. It would be incredibly risky, and he didn't know if the people here were desperate enough to sell him out. Still, his heart told him to take the risk.
"We're listenin'," the woman continued as he paused.
Craig took a deep breath, "I know you have no reason to trust me, but I came here because I want to help you. Yes, I'm traveling on behalf of the City, on behalf of the Wizard, but I promise you that I despise them as much as you do, if not more."
"What could you know about what we go through? What could anyone from the city know about what we've been through?" another woman spoke up. She was much younger, but still somehow haggard.
"I'm not originally from the city," Craig looked her straight in the eye, "I'm a survivor from Sundorham."
"That ain't possible! We all know it was totally destroyed, it's part of why the knights took more and more from us to make up the difference. No one from there got away, and if you did you'd be forced to work the fields here, not goin' around on official business."
"My best friend and I were at the edge of the village when it happened," Craig closed his eyes as the visions of it all came back, "We saw the arrows from the other side of the horizon, and ran away as quickly as we could. My mom was going to go find my little sister and come with us, but she...didn't. All we could do was run and run and run, not knowing if we'd starve to death trying to find another living person. We were able to eventually find the city and created fake identities for ourselves and were able to start over. I am incredibly lucky, but understand that I still know the harsh realities of Zaron more than anyone."
"Where's the proof? Sounds like some sorta trick," the man accused.
"Why would he lie?" a young girl, probably his daughter, asked. She was approximately the age Tricia had been, "He could get in awful trouble for lyin'. He's puttin' a lot of trust in us, I think." Her mother hushed her.
"You're not wrong to not trust me," Craig admitted, "But I'm telling you because I know what it's like to be fucked over by those assholes. Even getting into the city and the two of us trying to build a life together we were still fucked over. My best friend was banished by the Wizard for next to nothing and the only reason I'm on this journey is that I'm doing this to save his life. I don't know if I can succeed, but if I do I'll have saved him and will do something that will bring change to Zaron. I couldn't do anything about my own village but...but if I am able to succeed, I will do everything in my power to help all the other serfs, starting with here."
Craig wasn't even that aware of what he was saying as it came out of his mouth. His plan had always been to help Clyde. He hadn't planned on doing anything about helping the serfs, and he wasn't even entirely sure that he would have the say or power to do so. Still, standing in this village, looking at these people who had it worse than he ever did, the astounding resolve overcame him.
This would also mean he had far more riding on this. That was sure a pain.
"If yer lyin' to us," the first woman said, "That'd hafta be one of the cruelest things anyone could ever do. But…" she paused, "If yer tellin' the truth...We welcome you." Craig felt the corners of his mouth twitch into a small smile.
"So, um...I can stay the night?" he clarified.
"You can stay with my son," she gestured to the outspoken man from before with the little girl, "Their own son….passed last winter, so they got the space." Craig expected the man to protest, but he nodded towards his mother. He quickly came to understand that she was the unquestioned figurehead of this village. The little girl jumped for joy, running to grab Craig's hand.
They had pottage for dinner in their thatch house, which was incredibly nostalgic. His mom's pottage was better, but it still reminded him of her in a way that him feel a lump in his throat. He also knew that in a village like this, food rationings were run thin, so he was grateful they offered in the first place to feed him as well.
The little girl hounded him with a ton of questions. She was incredibly dirty, but beneath all of that she really was no different than any little girl anywhere. Beneath the grease and mud, he could tell she had corn yellow hair and deep dimples when she smiled her crooked tooth grin.
"What's the city like?" her sky blue eyes glowed, "Have you met the princess? Is she really as purty as they say? Is it true she has a billion dresses she wears around her garden?"
"Hush child, yer gonna drive him crazy," her father scolded.
"It's fine," he told him. "The city is very different from that of villages like ours. It's true, it's full of pretty princesses and beautiful gardens. Buildings are taller and better built, but not everyone can afford to live in them. There are people there just as poor and hungry as us."
The girl's eyes were glossy as it was made impeccably clear she absolutely did not care about Craig's issues with class status in the Kingdom of Kupa Keep. He paused and thought for a moment.
"But yeah...Princess Kenny is, um...really pretty. I met her once. She had, uh...a beautiful, grand bedroom full of...um, all sorts of nice...princessy things I'm sure you'd love. I don't know about a billion dresses but she had a nice purple one when I saw her."
The girl's eyes absolutely glowed. She jumped up and ran to the other side of their small house, probably to use that as fodder for her imagination. Of course, he was leaving out the part where Princess Kenny was a cursed corpse when he met her, and of course he had always thought that these fantasies were harmful to Tricia back in the day, that she should have just accepted that she was never going to be able to live that life.
But as he saw the dirty, thin little girl with greasy hair and crooked teeth spin around in her rags, pretending to be the princess, something in him changed.
He left the village early the next morning. He left behind some of his extra cloth and food he had with him in attempts to compensate them for their kindness. The little girl came to hug him tightly as he said his goodbyes, and while he was never one for hugs, he found himself lightly patting her shoulder.
It took him awhile to make it back to the main road, but retracing his steps made it quicker than the time it took to get there. Nonetheless, due to his little detour, he was slightly behind the estimated schedule. He was told to make contact once he reached the edge of the kingdom, so he knew he should hurry it up as he was being waited for. Until then, he had kept contact devices safely turned off. He wandered down the road to the same repetitive flat prairie scenery, starting to wonder if the kingdom was ever going to end.
As soon as he grew impatient, however, he noticed a change upon the horizon. He kept his pace as to not tire himself, but gradually saw it grow and grow until eventually he could see what it was. Sure enough, it was the Lost Forest-the wide, dense, and quite dangerous forest that acted as a natural barrier to mark the end of the Kingdom of Kupa Keep.
Normally, it was considered suicide for a civilized human to try to trek across the Lost Forest alone. Knights stood at the end of the road to prevent people from even attempting it. To be fair, there was very little reason to go, to the north was only the small mountain kingdom on the other side. From there, if one was able to navigate the steep mountains, was only elven territory. When people did go, it was often for diplomatic purposes with a battalion of knights to protect them. As the Marsh family showed, even that level of protection often proved fruitless.
Still, it wasn't exactly like Craig had any other choice. He would have died anyway, but at least now he had a chance. Or something like that. It wasn't like he was afraid of death and he knew he was far more likely to survive than the average person. Still,he knew going through it would be quite a pain in the ass, so he wasn't exactly looking forward to it. He sighed as he finally approached the battalion of bored knights at the end of the road.
"Are you Feldspar?" one asked in an uninterested tone for him.
"I am," he said, reaching for his exit permit in one of his satchels.
The guard snatched it from him and looked at it uninterestedly. He sighed and handed it back. "You're free to go."
"Okay," he responded as he took it back from him. He didn't really blame the knights for their lack of interest. Being posted all the way out here to see other living beings come by perhaps once every few weeks must be an annoying job. The knights moved from their guarding stance to let him pass.
Craig paused for a moment as he began to walk past them. He couldn't help but turn around and look behind him, back on the ugly, plain, boring fields of nothing that made up most of Kupa. He hated it and everything it represented. But still…
"Are you going or not?" another knight interrupted his thoughts in an irritated manner.
"I'm going, I'm going," Craig frowned, turning his head back around, "Jeez, you guys don't have to be such assholes. It's not like you people at this shitty post don't have all day."
With that, he turned back around, and went through the small, sorta-pathway where the road ended and forest began. There was no road, but it was traveled enough that there were some sorts of trails and pathways for him to take at least. Sure, traveling them made him a bigger target, but he figured it was best to not get totally lost, which was supposedly extremely easy. It was called the Lost Forest for a reason, he figured.
Still, he sighed and tried to get his bearings. This was where the journey really began after all.
He had now entered Barbarian Territory.