The Chronicles of Dosei: Chapter 1
Act I
-Reisui-
The sounds of a hammer hitting against a anvil echoed about the main road that cut through from the north end to the south end of the village. The hammer belonged to Gorgamesh The Orc, he was working on what would seem like a curved blade. The weapon was infact a custom order made by a customer. It was smoldering hot as he hammered away. The heat from the forge was so hot that he had to remove a lot of his own clothing except for his shorts and apron. They were of the blacksmith sort though with black shorts and boots with a dark red apron and a iron mask with slits just big enough for him to see what he was doing. After five hits with his hammer he lifted the blade up with his tongs and looked at it. He turned it over and placed it back on the anvil and hammered away again. The shop itself was closed and if a customer wanted to take a look at his wares would have to either wait until he was done or interrupt him. The blade itself would not be completed for a long while though. He hadn't even begun on crafting a hilt for it yet.
He suddenly stopped for just a second and set his hammer down and moved to a table where he placed the tongs down. He lifted up the iron mask with his left hand and with his right he lifted up a bottle of mead and bit down on the cork until it popped out and spat it down. He then took a long drink from it and placed it down. With his brown leather gloves he wiped his mouth brought down the iron visage and grabbed the tongs and went back to work. He stuck the blade within the forge again and pulled down on a pulley until smoke rose up from the chimney as the flames were breathed back into life again. He did this for awhile and then brought the blade back out and began hammering away again.
A guard walked by and stopped climbing up the steps and watched leaning against the post. "Fancy blade your making there, whose it for?" He asked and Gorgamesh looked over to him and back at the blade as he recalled. "Some stranger from one of the big cities,... Don't know which one though. His servant is staying at the inn at the moment. Pretty little thing she is, shame she has to service a man that can't even manage to leave his home just to place a order." He said and the guard laughed.
"Almost as if he doesn't want to be burdened with us commoners eh?" The guard answered and Gorgamesh smirked. He then gestured to the bottle offering the guard a drink.
"Nah, I am on duty, the Jarl would be mighty angry with me if I got drunk during my watch. Maybe when we are both on break I can treat you to that fine wine that the two Bloodmoon sisters make at the inn." He said boasting about the wine. Gorgamesh liked the wine himself, but he knew that the guard went there for other reasons then the wine. The sisters attracted many customers and it surely wasn't just for their wine. Their dance and their voices were almost inviting to anyone and not just men but by women too. Gorgamesh nodded and then looked to the blade at the guards side.
"Hows' that been work'n for ya?" He asked and the guard looked to the sword and tapped the side of the scabbard and then looked back up at the orc.
"Oh I haven't had much time to put it to good use yet, thankfully. I hear the others have had put their swords to work though against a raid on some bandit camp to the east. The blades worked numbers against their foes. Starting to wish I had been their to test out my own." He answered and the orc smiled.
"Well, ye never know when a bit of fighting will sprout up so ye will get your chance to use it don't worry." He reassurede and the guard nodded. The man rose back up and bowed his head and left the orc to his work.
The guard took a left from the blacksmith's shop and head over to the lumber mill. When he got there he saw several of the residents at work and he just observed. Unlike at the forge it was much cooler over here with it being close to the river. He had blow warm air into his gloves as he saw the people go about their duties. One was at a chopping block, she was a fair looking woman with blonde hair and dark eyes. Just like most she wore warm clothing as she swung the axe down. Strength was pretty common this far north even when it came to women. Which annoyed him when he gets told about some man sending a girl to do his errands for him. That was the life of city folk though. Anyone of their women here could easily best the city's strongest man. He then glanced over towards the large saw which cut the much bigger logs in two. There were two people working it. One to pull the log into place, while the other pulled the lever. The two were brothers from what he could remember. Well they claimed to be brothers ,but they looked nothing alike. Perhaps one was a bastard son or something. Either way the two worked rather hard at the mill providing the village with good wood for their fires and spare supplies if ever the walls or buildings needed repaired. With the way the weather is getting he was surprised they hadn't needed to fix a cave in already.
The guard was suddenly surprised by something brushing past him. When he looked down he saw a chicken running past him and a young boy chasing after it. He smiled and shook his head. "Your pop's is going to keep on getting mad at you if you keeping letting that chicken get loose on you again and again." He called out. The boy stopped and looked behind him and scratched the back of his head and then went back to chasing the chicken.
The village was rather lively as there was always something to do. There was even a few crops being harvested. Mostly potatoes though seeing as the season for the other vegetables had already past and been harvested. There were even yak's being milked and fed as well as chickens and goats. There were only but a few dogs though. They didn't last long here for they often sometimes wondered out of the village and they would fall prey to several predators or die from the cold.
-The Jarl's Longhouse-
The Jarl of Reisui sat at the end of the dinning table his wife sitting to his right and his housecarl sitting to his left. His steward was also present and stuffing his face. Jarl sat back as chewed the beef from the well cooked diner and looked to his wife before swallowing. Once he felt he was ready to speak he did so. " Has there been anymore sittings? From those wild orcs or even from any goblinkin?" He asked. She sighed and shook her head.
"From our scouts and even from the local's it seems like we have either driven most of them out or their are hiding more cleverly." She said. The Jarl looked forward and seemed to stare into the large hearth before them.
"It took much shorter time to rid the orcs from this land then it did the goblins,... I don't like it. They are up to something and can feel it in my gut. It's getting deeper into winter though so we can't keep sending our scouts out to keep investigating. We might end up having to wait until spring." He said. He then looked back to her and placed a hand on hers.
"What you think Arielle?" He asked and she shrugged.
"Perhaps next week once the two sisters return from their monthly trip we can ask them if they noticed anything out of the norm,... other then that dear, I do not know what to think. I don't like the quietness either ,but then again it is winter time. Perhaps they just don't want to risk the frostbite and moved south to warmer climates." She said rather optimistically. The problem they have been having though were a few bandits causing trouble. They had just cleaned out one make shift camp ,but it seemed no matter how many times they did another would pop up some where else. If it wasn't one thing it was another. She leaned forward to the housecarl and whistled to get his attention.
"Your a fighter, what do you think?" She asked and the housecarl was silent for awhile as if lost in thought. She let him gather his thoughts on the matter expecting him to come to some conclusion.
"I would like to say we wiped them all out just like the goblins, but that would be rather optimistic. Orcs are very adaptable, more so then most of the races that populate our country. I doubt the cold would chase them off so quickly, they are also more stubborn then goblins so I doubt they would cower from us. They would die to the last orc if they had to, I think our smith can vouch for that. I am with the Jarl, something is wrong and I wish I knew. Perhaps one of the sisters can be sent out alone for reconnaissance or both. I think our scouting parties are much too big and noisy. They could move more quietly and might find something our men couldn't" He said. The Jarl nodded and decided that was what they would do.
"It is settled, after they come back from their little journey up the mountain they can do a bit of scouting for us, it's not like they haven't done so in the pass." He said. They soon went back to eating after the conclusion as to what they were going to do was said.
-The Karasu-
Vivian Bloodmoon was using a wet cloth to wipe down the bar counters awaiting for a customer to request something. She took note of a young girl sitting at one of the booths. The young girl was a bit bored it seemed. She had ordered a room for the next couple nights waiting on some sword from the smith. She sighed and leaned against the counter staring at the poor woman. She was half tempted to go over there and tell the young lady she should quit her current way of living and work here at the inn. Side from the constant squawking from their feathery friends it wasn't that bad of a job and they could always use another person. What made it real tempting was the fact that they were about to go out on their monthly trip up the mountain to the north east. They could use someone to watch the tavern for them while they were gone. She sighed and went back to her work every so often looking up at the young woman.
Cassandra who was sweeping kept noticing her older sister glancing up at their inn's new resident. She took a look over and sighed. Poor thing, it must be very troubling to work for such a greedy man and spoiled to the point he sends a servant girl to go can get a sword. What was the man going to do with it after it was forged anyways? Someone who is not strong enough or brave enough to come down here himself was not fit for a sword. She decided to indulge her sister and set the broom aside and gestured to Vivian. the tavern was clean enough. She moved to sit at the booth and leaned forward causing the young woman to lean back in surprise.
"Name's Cassandra, or Cass for short, look I know you were sent here for some stupid sword. What if I offered you a better job?" She asked. The young woman relaxed a little and shrugged. "You see, me and my sister Viv here, will be needing someone to watch the place for us while we are gone. How would you like it if we offered you a job here? You would get a free room and food? " She offered and the young lass started looking about the room and even began to fidget.
Vivian pushed herself onto the table resting sitting atop it. She placed a hand on the young lady's shoulder. "Hey, it's your decision. We won't force you, we just heard your little story and figured that your current master likely sends you to do these kind of things a lot." She said. "We figured you could always work for us and at least live happier. You would get paid out of the cut that gets brought in and you would get your own room and of course the food. " She said. The young woman looked to Vivian and then to Cassandra and leaned in a little.
"You mean I would get paid in gold? Silver?" She asked and Vivian smiled looking to Cassandra and then back to her.
"You name it kid, we often split the profits fifty fifty, but we could split it three ways if you were to work here for us." She answered, confirming what it would mean to the girl. The lady sat back and looked about the tavern and shrugged.
"What if my master comes looking for me when I don't bring back his sword?" She asked. Vivian looked to her sister, not thinking of that situation and then stared up at the ceiling. "Okay we will let the Jarl know and you can stay at the longhouse until we get back. We are good friends with Erich and Arielle they will protect you against him." She answered and then the young lass leaned back into the table and offered her hand to them. They smiled and took up her hand shaking it.
"Go ahead and pick yourself out a room, unless you like the one you were given with the small amount of coin he gave you. " Cassandra said. Both of the sisters were happy to be there for the young lady and once the woman had ran off to do what she said she leaned back. She felt good that they might have made a young woman's life much better then it had been. She then looked to her sister. "Is everything ready for our trip up the mountain?" She asked. Vivian looked to her and turned to face her sister and closed in and gave her a little kiss. "You bet, everything is ready... it might be a little different then the last time with it being colder and all ,but everything should be normal." She said. Cassandra touched her fingers to her lips and then let them fall to hit the table.
"That's good,... we will leave in the morning tomorrow. I want to make sure this ones stay is made permanent before we leave." Vivian nodded and stepped away from her sister and began to dance as she did.
-The Wizards Shop-
The old man sat in a stool in the corner of his shop. He was in the process of taking a nap with his trusty familiar watching the shop for him. The large owl moved its head from left to right as it scanned the shop for anything that needed to take noticing. The shop wasn't all that cluttered. There were jars full of all kinds of alchemical ingredients like Deathbell or Nightshade. There was also several other ingredients as well for medicines. On the shelves however, were books. Some were even spell books that the sorcerer no longer needed. Sorcerer's were not like Wizard's who needed to carry a tome everywhere they went. Sorcerer's could cast any spell they learned without the need of the tome. Therefore, once the spell is learned the book itself became useless and in this case, rather then throw it away. He was going to sell it. There were scrolls as well, for quick spell use. The scrolls could even be used by someone who is not capable of using magic by normal means. Nizhar, shifted his position and once more drifted into slumber.
There wasn't much to his shop unless you were a alchemist or a learner of the arts of magic. Other then that you would not be really that interested in the shop. He did not even get that much business ,although some claim that that was because of the location. If he had picked a city he would have more business but he didn't like the city. It was too noisy.
-Veoznaz's Goods and Trinkets-
The Satyr moved about his shop with a broom. His hooved feet hitting against the wooden floor. He had a fur coat on to cover his chest and arms as he swept. He stopped for a second to look around his shop at the many things he had gathered from his little adventures. He gave a quick nod and continued to sweep the floor. He hoped that when spring came he would have more customers. Everything was slow here in the village during the winter time. Not many people traveled during this season sense it got really cold out here. Not like in the cities where it was so warm from all the people that you could still make a living. "I need to move my shop into the city,... seems like a waste to be here" He said mostly to himself. He began to think maybe when spring came around he would check out the cities for any shops that went out. He then thought of the lake and sighed.
He came here because of the lake in general, he was always fond of it and he couldn't just leave it. Besides it's not like he has to pay rent or anything. It's his shop and it will stay as his shop.
Reisui:
Eirika and Haldir approached the village from the east. They stopped and studied the little settlement. Eirika leaned in and then leaned back whistling. "The village looks like one of those paintings you would see of the winter,... I suppose we can stop here for the night, right?" She asked as she turned to her brother. His stare fixated on the tiny village. He tore his gaze away and looked to his younger sister. He made a slight smile and nodded.
"That's the plan,... I think we will stay here for awhile and get the lay of the land so to speak" He answered. She nodded and looked back to the winter village and with her brother proceeded to enter the village. Their insignia being spotted right away by the guards.
They gulped and looked to each other and then back forward. When the order comes to pay you a visit, it can't be good. They both hoped nothing bad will come of their home. The two elves moved their way past the other houses and eventually past the longhouse and to the tavern. They entered that tavern to come across what they did not expect. Not so much the Centaur, but two drow. He narrowed his eyes and then looked to his sister who just shrugged. He looked back towards them and tried to read them. They were not evil, but still it was uncommon for drow to be on the surface. He decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and led his sister to a table and pulled out a chair for her. Once she sat down he pushed her in and then joined her. The Centaur was obviously being served first, so they would have to wait.
Haldir scanned the tavern for any more occupants and he took note of the unusually pale elf sitting alone in a booth. He kept his eyes on her for awhile and nodded in her direction. He then turned to face his younger sister and pulled back his hood, revealing his long blond hair and the fire from the hearth reflecting ever more on his blue eyes. Eirika's hair was a red color, very much like the Jarl's wife. She had to remove the sheaths of the swords at her sides and her hand crossbows and place them beside her. They were making her seating rather uncomfortable.
