"Our path has led us through Usodestis..." Flax speaks, pausing to drink, and carefully observes the listener's every move. As ever is the host lightning-fast to respond.
"Ah yes, the crossroads of our folk! It changed a lot since I had served... Oh, have you seen the uprising?"
Now it's clear where is your leader off to with this. Your eyes leap between the two men, and both ears stand vigil. Only briefly you loosen the senses, seeing everyone's busy downing the mead, you try some as well.
"Not as such, but all could see from miles away it was a matter of time." Flax answers. "When was that supposed to take place?"
"Ye it's good isn't it?" grins Gisla, at you tasting the liquor however. But the keen fellow loses not one bit track of the topic, and faces the warrior fast. "That I remember not, but it couldn't have been very long ago..."
"About five days back?" the maid suggests, and your host nods considering.
"Aye, that could be so. Mind you, very odd was the manner by which the news came, that magicians brought the word of a revolt on, and it's the last we heard of the town, they say! There's been rumors of middlemen seeking refuge here, but such I do not believe - we, right besides the road, did not take notice of anything. Nor did the villages past the border, they know just about as much we do."
"About five days, you say?" Flax mumbles, his chin as deep in his hand as he's in thought. "It was a week since we've been there..."
"But the streets were calm back when." you step in. Even though your guide might've lured some information with success, you don't put trust sufficient in him. A thin line he treads, and you'd prefer to put your fate in your own hands. "It had been anticipated, but should it have happened, as you say, we missed it."
"I don't suppose it has to concern you much, then, after all, you're mostly foreigners..." the elder nods. "But everyone here is on the tip of their toes. Between you and me, I think his majesty will attempt to seize the city, once it's weakened..."
"We'll have to wait to see" hums Flax, and now that you have taken the reins, seems to have taken more time to think alone. "I am just curious, if it was the sorcerers relaying the message, why would that be the last news you'd hear? Either something else is going on, or the miller's ox drank their last scrying pool, which, I think we know what's the more likely possibility..."
"Heavy it lingers on our mind. But, enough of it, more interesting is, what lies beyond! And that you can enlighten me upon. What fights, for instance, had you got into, that caused you such damage?"
A gesture you pass at Flax, as you intend to take it from here. Not much time you had to prepare the tale, still, to entertain your host is a job you surely should handle.
"Before we reached the town, a giant beast crossed our way." you begin. "A creature most strange, akin to a slender bear, with the maw of a wolf, great and terrible."
Perhaps a start too fantastic, but Gisla remains intrigued. More than so, his sight pierceth like that of a youth, meeting his match, approaching his destiny. The woman is not paying too much attention, hard to say whether she hears a lot of it, or is busy around the house at the moment.
"They say truly remarkable animals roam the northern wastes, where no other dares dwell..." the elder utters, pondering now the description given. "I've heard of a fish that, you shan't believe, has its eyes on the same side! And the horrors of the night they always remember malformed. We always marched the roads in battalions of dozens, but yours life of a wanderer must be cruel..."
"We triumphed ultimately, but the wilderness stays dangerous indeed."
The gnarly man stares blankly, yet excited all the same, immersed in the fables spoken. A moment it takes before he talks again, but quite apparently you are doing well, he's enjoying it.
"Speaking of creatures fanciful, your shrouds caught mine interest..." he speaks, his eyes meeting yours. "I was thinking some pilgrim brotherhood you must be..."
"You maintain a quick wit, sir." you smile. "But such a bond it is not, we just try to redeem the mishaps encountered along our way."
"I see, but it wouldn't surprise me! Much of those do we see as of late, and not just monks! Commoners come to visit our shrines, and then further down the path they go. No wonder, many a temple prophesizes dire future as of late. Eh, if I were younger, I'd embark as well, only, with an ax in hand, like you... Good times they were..."
"It's curious to me that occured to you, given... I am not human."
"Stranger things I've seen... If you by any chance go by the new worship quarters in Todoti, you may see all kinds of devotees! I can't imagine what's further south..."
"We might, the town is our next stop." Sas joins in, but you don't think he is to seize the mantle, as with the vagrant they've begun to dine.
"Of course it is! Hardly anyone passing avoids it."
"Indeed, good it is to have a break every so often..." mutters Flax, still contemplating the intelligence gathered. He does twist his eyes towards you this instance, sending a content glance of encouragement.
"I can imagine." Gisla nods, twitching his hand in your general direction, to acknowledge the visible injuries. "I'd like to behold the old place again, but I barely get on my boat these days... Anyways... Say, these hunting grounds down the river, thay stand frozen year-round, that must be quite interesting?"
Time passes by, and better for you, as to keep the host satisfied a critical comparison of different pinecones you've came across would suffice, but the immersion in lands distant you cannot blame him for. Flax has remained quiet, and so did the other two companions, just meeting the eye occasionally with the locals. As the sun lowers, the door screeches and thumping emerges from the back.
"No, they don't come off." you finish the thought. "Hard to shatter by all means! A man's pride they are for all his days. Only apostates are rid of them and the stumps we curse."
"So you can't fashion annual homemade knivehandles?"
"Sounds like something Esem would come up with..." chuckles Sas, but once again, that's about what he daid the entire time.
"That'd have quite unsettling implications, too..." you mumble, when the incoming enters the room, and you turn back at him.
A well set up man it is, donning furs and linen, a sickle hanging by the side. His eyes squint weary but his stance is fierce, the golden braids you wouldn't need to see the resemblance to the stead's master. Besides him, a child stands, a maiden stuffed with garbs, like a rolled up carpet.
"There's the other Gisla, friends, my heir!" your host announces. "Sit down, son, we got ourselves company."
"Blast thine eyes, he really did take in stray soldiers again..." the chap grumbles, but a smile shines on his face. "Don't excite him too much, or he'll giggle the night away..."
"You knew?"
"Aye, I did. Spoke with Nedun just a while back. The garrison wonders, whether you lot have fled the Middle Kingdom..."
"Crossed it they have! But didn't see the revolution."
"Pity for the lads, they're always up for a good chat... You gave them the mead?"
After receiving a nod of assurance, he lays himself onto a seat tranquil. His arrival did cut the conversation short, but no matter, you've said about what you needed to.
"Well, I think I'll leave you some room now." the elder says and gets up, on his way to the shed. "Thanks for your time!"
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Topic: Dwarf Fortress -Drawings- : Tales of the Deer Wizard (Read 169843 times)