After we had abandoned any plans on seriously going after the centaurs, we stumbled on the first village near the ancient road. There had been a centaur camp, which we had carefully avoided and ignored, not wanting to stir that pot, but seeing the village late in the afternoon, we decided to check if there was an inn so we wouldn’t sleep outside once again. At this point, all of us were completely used to sleeping outside, so it was mostly a psychological feeling of comfort that we were seeking, not so much a physical need.

The village was quite small, from Lenore’s fly-over I was guessing maybe ten family-units and from the architectural style, I was reasonably certain that it wasn’t a centaur-village. Once Lenore had made her overflight, she landed on my shoulder, letting me carry her, instead of quickly returning to her Hallow. The time she spent inside it had greatly lessened over the last few days as the temperature had quickly gone up, to the point that I had rolled up my warm cloak and placed it in my bag. It was simply too warm for my constitution, making me a little worried how I would feel once we got further south and the season switched from spring to summer.

We were walking up to the wall surrounding the village, heading towards the open gates and I was internally assessing just how difficult it would be to attack such a village. It felt a little sobering that I was reasonably certain any one of us would be able to wipe such a small village off the map. At the same time, it made me wonder just why people didn’t actively raised their level, instead hiding behind walls and in towns, content to remain in the same place for all their life. But as quick as that thought came, it was replaced by the realisation that people like Sigmir, Adra and Rai were the absolute minority, people who had the mental fortitude to not only look death in the eye and tell it, better luck next time but also the drive to do so again and again. Additionally, I was reasonably certain that a large part of that minority simply died off or was wounded badly enough to give up. It fit with what Drega had told me back in Kolyug, a few weeks ago.

Quickly, after we walked through the gate, we were hailed by a curiously looking man. I was a little unsure just what race he was, the only thing I was sure of was that he was some sort of beast-kin. He had a quite humanoid facial structure, without any strong resemblance to the animal he was sharing his lineage with, the only reason I was certain of his beast-kin nature were the two round, brown-furred ears that peeked out on the top of his heads. At least until I got a better look and realised that he had a bushy, almost brush-like tail growing from his lower back. Without that tail and if he had been twice his size, I would have guessed that he was a bear-kin but he was barely taller than me and quite slender, making that rather unlikely.

“Greetings, Travellers.” he called out, as he walked out of the shed he had been working in. “What brings you to Koswanow?” he asked, smiling.

“Greetings, we are just travelling, heading west.” Adra responded, giving him a friendly smile. I had to give the guy credit, even now that he undoubtedly saw us all and was faced with Sigmir’s size and obvious, physical strength, his smile never faltered.

“We are looking for a place to spend the night, maybe exchange a few things. We’ve been on the road for quite a while and a roof for the night would be greatly appreciated.” Adra continued,

“Ah, yes, I think we can get to some sort of understanding.” he looked us over for a second, before looking out of the gate again, “Only the four of you? And will your animals need some special accomodation?” he asked, looking at Ylva and Lenore. for the first time, I thought to see a bit of nervousness in him.

Finally, I was unable to contain my curiosity and used a bit of darkness-magic to conceal a use of Observe. Part of that was to make sure we didn’t walk into some sort of trap, if he was more powerful than I expected.

There was no resistance to my skill-usage and, no matter how hard I looked, he hadn’t reacted at all, making me relatively confident that he hadn’t noticed. At the same time, a small blue window told me that we were dealing with a Sablekin and that he was level 23. As I had no idea about the general behaviour of his race that didn’t help me but the low level soothed a great deal of anxiety, even if I would remain vigilant, just in case.

“No, they share their accommodations with their partners. There won’t be a problem, I can promise you that.” Adra assured him, to which he just nodded. “But is there an inn or something similar in this hamlet?” she asked as she looked around without seeing anything hinting that there might be one.

“I’m afraid not, but I’m sure that we can find a spot near a fire for you and a share of dinner.” he assured us. “Why don’t you come with me, I can introduce you to our elder, he can introduce you to the other villagers.” he continued, gesturing for Adra to follow him.

“Oh, and I forgot to introduce myself, I’m sorry about that. You can call me Klef.” he told Adra, who in turn introduced herself and the rest of our party, even mentioning that I was a Traveller. When Klef flinched at that information, as if he had just been struck, I got curious.

“I don’t plan to do anything untowards to this village, or its people.” I tried to assure him, not sure what experiences they had with other Travellers but I could easily imagine that someone had treated Mundus like a game.

“That is…” he paused for a moment, obviously not quite sure how to take my statement, before shaking his head and starting anew.

“A few weeks ago, there were a few centaur-travellers, the centaurs are normally quite polite but those two were just arrogant.” he told us, speaking softly as if a centaur would jump out if he spoke against them.

“Anyway, I shouldn’t talk about them.” he shook his head again and speeding up his steps. I wasn’t quite sure if he meant the Travellers or the centaurs in general and before I could make up my mind to ask, he was knocking on one of the doors. He waited for a moment after knocking before getting called to enter and pulling open the door, gesturing for us to enter.

The house reminded me of the houses we had seen in Adernas, sturdy structures built from wood and stone, solid enough to withstand the punishment nature could throw at them, while keeping the inhabitants safe.

A merrily burning fire in the hearth gave warmth and some light, adding to the light coming through the windows making the room comfortable for most beings. For me, it was sweltering how, making me want to shuk most of my armour.

On a rocking-chair, near the hearth, an obviously old sablekin was sitting, looking us over with surprisingly sharp eyes. When I felt the intrusive and uncomfortable effect of the observe-skill, I returned the favour, even as I squirmed from it.

The old man obviously felt the effect, yet his smile never faltered as he looked us over. My skill-usage told me that he, too, was a sablekin and had reached level 57, making him quite strong, at least compared to some others we had met on our journey. Compared to our party, he wasn’t a threat, something I felt rather comforting.

“Greetings, Travellers. You can call me Stelur.” he pushed himself up and came padding towards us.

Adra, once again acting as our spokesperson, introduced us and told him that we were looking for a place to spend the night and maybe some food.

“Yes, I think we can find a spot, as long as you don’t mind sleeping on the floor. It will be warmer than outside, and certainly dry.” the old man said, before looking pensive for a moment. “I even have an idea what you could do in return for us.” he continued.

“Oh? And what would that be?” Adra asked in return.

“A few weeks ago, a wolverine that has its range nearby crossed the first divide. Now, it started to seriously decimate the game in the area, simply due to the amount it hunts and eats. From the looks of it, I think you all should be able to deal with it, what do you think?” he explained and a quest-window opened.

Quest Alert!Stop the gluttonous WolverineQuest Difficulty Easy Hunt down the First Divide Wolverine near Koswanow. Quest Reward Experience Quest Reward Food and Lodging in Koswanow