Mana: 18 -> 14Enting CheckD20 + 7 = 8 (1)Omen: 18, 18 -> 1818 + 7 = 25

  Adam plucked a Thread of Fate.

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

  It was another one.

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

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

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

  Thus Fate was forever ged.

  Mana: 14 -> 6Enting CheckD20 + 7 = 17 (10)Omen: 18 -> 018 + 7 = 25

  Adam plucked a Thread of Fate.

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

  “Another one?”

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

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

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

  “He o be teo.”

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

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

  Thus Fate was forever ged.

  Intelligence SaveD20 + 5 = 23 (18)

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

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

  Omen: 7, 8

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

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

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

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

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

  Turot smiled. “Okay.” He and the other childreime with Citool, who had begun to teach them retly. Taygak would usually disappear around noon, and would return a mess, covered in bsp;

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

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

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

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

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

  “Mama,” Lanarot sniffled.

  “That’s the first time, right?” Adam said. “She sometimes said mamama, and stuff, but…”

  Sonarot smiled and kissed her daughter’s forehead. “How smart you’ve bee, my Lana.”

  “Mama.” Lanarot grabbed at her mothers chest before trying to su her chest through her clothes.

  Adam quickly left, humming quietly to himself. “Jurot,” Adam called.

  “I heard,” Jurot said, whittling away at a block of wood. “Our sister is intelligent.”

  “She gets that from me,” Adam said.

  Jurot remained silent as he tio whittle away his block of wood.

  Adam dropped down beside him and sighed. “You know, I’ve been thinking.”

  “She does not get it from you,” Jurot said. “She does not think.”

  Adam wasn’t sure how to reply to that. “I’m trying to have a serious versation and you’re joking?”

  Jurot blew away the dust, before pg down the block of wood, before crossing his arms. “What is it?”

  “Remember that thing?” Adam asked. “The tentacle thing.”

  “Yes.”

  “I was thinking about it retly. I was thinking about what I should do. Once I make enough money, I’ll make a stronghold somewhere, and create my own little unit.”

  “An Order?”

  “No,” Adam said. “Orders are uhe rule of the King, right?”

  “Orders in this nd work that way, but there are Orders which exist which work indepely. There are some in the distaern nds who work indepely.”

  “Yeah, but, I don’t want to make one so far away,” Adam said. “Couldn’t I make an Order in the Iyrman’s nds?”

  “I am uain.” Jurot wasn’t sure if that would be possible. It would be a decision for the Great Elders, the Chief and Elder Forest and Elder Gold specifically, or so he assumed. ‘If it was south of the Iyr?’ Jurot thought.

  “Either way, a stronghold and a way to make moo create a strong unit of Fighters, Guardians, maybe Scribe Mages?” Adam mused. “We’ll need a diverse team to deal with it.”

  “What if it does not e to be?”

  “If it doesn’t e to be, then at least I’ve made the lives of people better with our little band of warriors,” Adam joked.

  “Do you wish to make a small elite group, or a rger group of warriors?” Jurot asked.

  “I don’t know. Probably a small elite group whiand a rger group of warriors?” Adam shrugged his shoulders. “Though, I guess you’re right. I should start small and then expand.”

  “You are teag Churot well,” Jurot said, thinking about what Adam may be feeling. “There is no Scribe Mage who shares his knowledge as freely as you, though you are no Scribe Mage.”

  “You gathered that much?” Adam joked.

  Jurot nodded. “Take things day by day, Adam, as you have. You have me, Jaygak, and Kitool. There are others who follow you too, Nobby and Brittany, as well as the others who have joined our party. I do not believe they will leave soon, siravelling with you will naturally cause us to grow stronger.”

  “You guys have been training Nobby and Brittany, so I feel a little guilty,” Adam admitted.

  “You trained him while we were gone, and Brittany joio explore the world, not to be traihis is a blessing for her.”

  “Right, right,” Adam said, sighing. Jurot and the others were already powerful due to their bag, and they would have bee strong without him. Nobby was being trained by Jurot, and Brittany by Jonn and Kitool. He had yet to truly teayone, as even Churot was someone who would have done well without him due to his intelligence, and being born in the Iyr.

  ‘Though, I guess he didn’t have a Scribe Mage.’ Adam wondered why there were no Scribe Mages when they had spellbooks already.

  “Is there a pce I could be close to the Iyr and out of the reach of Aldnd?” Adam mused.

  “No. South Aldnd cims the territory directly south of the Iyr, though there is no Aldishman who lives within the region, only various Tribesfolk.”

  “Why don’t they have anything there if they cim it?” Adam asked.

  “It is a dangerous nd.”

  “How e the Iyr doesn’t cim it then?”

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

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

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

  “What is the nature of the nd there?”

  “tral Aldnd is a rge, expansive nd, full of fields,” Jurot said. “They cim the borders of all the nearby hills, then beyond, towards the east of the Iyr. Their reach is to West Fort, Jaghi, East Port, and South Port.”

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

  “tral Aldnd’s terrain protects its capital from all sides, save the west, and the road work withiral Aldnd is through mostly ft terrain, allowing them to make roads which span from just past the Iyr’s borders, to West Fort, to Jaghi, and even to East Port.”

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

  “Their fields allow them to feed millions of people within their ion, and millions of people outside their ion,” Jurot informed. “tral Aldnd could feed the ey of Aldnd, the Iyr, and even parts of Aswadia.”

  Adam whistled. “Dam me guess, North Aldnd doesn’t have any of that?”

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

  Adam hat Jurot made a face wheioning the Noska. It was the faade when drinking delicious hot chocote, that of utter satisfa. ‘They must be good to fight,’ Adam thought.

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

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

  “They are very cool,” Jurot agreed. “North Aldnd is a long nd, split culturally from Northern North Aldnd, and Southern North Aldnd, but you ention the difference.”

  “Why not?”

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

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

  Jurot oo.

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

  “The Iyr is the best pce.”

  “Could I do that?”

  “I do not know.”

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

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

  “Near Jaghi.”

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

  “Yes.”

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

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

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

  Jurot nodded, going back to handling his wood.

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