Terra, Frontier Village in the Kingdom of Stilyra- Early Autumn 11 years AR

The solstice came and went while Jon and his friends kept busy, in total they made quite the haul making fishing poles but eventually had to turn people away as they ran out of thread and couldn’t get more. Some of the fishermen still asked for one anyways while intending to buy the braided line later.

The lake was a far more popular destination for people throughout the summer, Jon even saw a few fishing poles and reels that didn’t bear his makers mark. It annoyed him but the same had happened with the wheeled string toy and the crossbow, one of the merchants had told him that they’d seen both as far away as Saena. Jon didn’t know where that was but the explanation of where the old Imperial highway met the Varna river didn’t help. Apparently, it was very far away in the middle of Stilyra whereas Terra was near the southeastern corner.

A slip of the tongue from Andrew brought Aethred into the fold on those that knew about the visions, leading Piers and Lora to know as well. A meeting had been called with both families under the guise of inviting them to dinner. The situation was explained and Piers agreed with his mother that it should remain secret. Aethred managed to work in a deal that Jon would basically have the others learn how to make something from him and they’d take the credit of the invention or idea while he’d take a large part of the profits if they sold it. That way anything important to them or the village could come to light and spread the guilt to more than just Jon. They could even say the root of the matter was in their lessons in bow craft turned tinkering sessions.

Mrs. Lora was more hesitant to agree to everything and thought Jon should tell the Magistrate or even travel to the Temple in Ebrus or lesser one in Everton to confer with a priestess. After all visions like that could only be a gift from the gods. She had momentarily forgotten who she was talking about and looked embarrassed when it was pointed out that Jon worshipped the northern pantheon.

His presence alone wouldn’t be tolerated in the Temple unless he intended to be officially converted from his heathen ways. He wouldn’t even be able to fake it as he didn’t know the strictly enforced scripture and doctrine. He would quickly be called out as a blasphemer and if it came out he followed the Northern Pantheon while sneaking into a Southern Temple, it’d likely be worse. F

For different reasons going to speak with a Sage, which could be male or female, was out of the question as they’d have to travel for weeks just to find one. They generally weren’t allowed to wander the south meaning a trip to Ederath.

In the end, nothing happened and they had dinner, the only change was an excited Aethred who pestered Jon to come up with something he could make and triggered a couple more visions. That was put to a stop with a smack to the back of his head after the third one.

It was already bad enough with just walking around the village now that Jon knew how to trigger them, he’d learned everything from the lost art of glass making to the completely unknown concept of distillation. It was annoying trying to not think about if he could make something when he saw it. The long passed Ed Vogel had watched too many documentaries and been down the wiki and internet video rabbit hole one too many times.

By the end of summer and the start of Autumn, they’d decided to build a small furnace behind Aethred’s house to test out concrete and glass making but was passed off as a crude kiln for pottery. Their neighbors were curious as to what they were doing but after Piers told them they were trying to find a craft to occupy Aethred’s time, the neighbors praised the idea and offered to help if just to keep the boy from causing trouble.

“So you really think it’ll be hard as stone?” Andrew said as they walked to Aethred’s house to check on their first experiment with concrete. It was early morning and the few people up were already headed to the fields outside the village to start the harvest. There was no one around them to hear.

“It should,” Jon said. He honestly didn’t know but knew at the same time. It was a strange feeling questioning his own thoughts constantly but his visions hadn’t led him astray yet.

“If it does, do you think Aethred will follow the plan?” Erin had asked, the plan being that Aethred would claim the invention himself. It was something that could plausibly be done by accident. The only strange part being the idea that Aethred had decided to heat up a rock for no apparent reason, strange but not that strange.

They’d actually made two, one being a concrete brick plopped down on a rock while the second was just a pile of mud they’d had Aethred play with. The idea being they could inform people of the accidental discovery was made with Aethred’s pile of mud while the brick was attempting to recreate it and accidentally discovering its binding properties.

“Yep,” Andrew answered, he’d brought cheese, “If it’ll earn him sometin', he’ll do it.”

“What do you think they’ll make with it? Ma said that the bigger cities have walls made with something similar but no one remembers how to make it anymore, do you think it’s the same thing?” Erin continued knowing the same as Jon that Andrew was right. Aethred was a bad liar if called out on the spot but give him a moment to prepare and he could act it out convincingly. A trait he’d gained from constantly trying to talk his way out of trouble.

“I dunno, not my problem,” Jon said, “It’s Aethred’s discovery.”

With that, they walked into the backyard to see Aethred getting spanked by his father. The three froze as Piers stopped before wandering into his house, which was just like Jon’s now. The kids started laughing quietly at their friend's misfortune, he’d do the same to them.

“What’d you do?” Andrew asked ignoring the scowl on Aethred’s face. Aethred just pointed but his scowl turned into a mischievous grin. Jon followed his finger and spotted the pile of concrete was now a rock… shaped like a 1-foot tall penis… Andrew’s snort set them off again as the laughter was much louder now.

“Think that’s funny?” Piers said as he walked out with a hatchet, the kids backed up but he went and hit the sculpture with the flat end a few times to break it into multiple large chunks. It took a bit to properly break it apart so it wouldn’t be recognized anymore.

“It worked...” said a wide-eyed Andrew, the fact it took Piers multiple hits to break it wasn’t lost on any of them. Piers was a woodsman, he knew how to swing a hatchet with force. Piers apparently was still concerned with the lewd garden ornament he’d had sitting out all night without his knowledge, “Boy, you make something like that again and I’ll be using this on you,” he held up his hatchet, “Now apologize to Erin! A young lass shouldn’t be seeing that.”

“Huf, I’m sorry Erin,” Aethred said with an eye roll. There was no doubt he wasn’t actually sorry but that was fair as Jon doubted Erin was actually offended. She hung out with three boys in the woods for fun, it wasn’t like she’d never seen them take a pee and this wasn’t the first sculpture Aethred had made. Until a hatchet got involved, it was the most permanent.

Piers set the hatchet down and moved to check on the concrete brick sitting on an equal-sized rock. It too had a bit of artwork on it but this time it was just Aethred’s name. Jon watched as Piers gave it a few test knocks and then grabbed it, lifting the rock it was attached to at the same time.

“Well, I’ll be…” Piers said setting it down again and looking at it. Jon wasn’t sure if Piers believed him before that moment or not. Even Jon was a little shocked at the outcome when he too tried to poke his finger into it. Erin walked up behind him carrying a bucket with both hands and with Jon’s help poured it over the rock, they gave it a moment and poked it again, then tried to smear it around. Nothing happened, it kept the exact same shape.

Piers had to leave for work after that, winter would be coming soon and the village needed plenty of firewood. The kids had been given express instructions to NOT touch the furnace. Which of course meant that they did as soon as he was out of sight.

They pulled out the only other thing they made with concrete it looked like a concrete cup but it was actually a crucible. They filled it with ground limestone, sand, and a material he’d made called potash that he’d made at home. The process was lengthy but not hard. Jon had made several batches of it much to his mother's displeasure as it involved soaking ashes in boiled rainwater and then draining just the water after it sat for a night in the bucket. Finally boiling off all the water in his mother’s largest pot.

They poured the ingredients into the crucible and set it in the furnace.

While they waited they moved on to a second project they’d already planned ahead, a cooking fire with two pots on top. One had large amounts of lard in it. The other more potash was added to water, both were heated up and then mixed. They stirred it up and added a bit of honey and lavender. The total of the two projects burned through a lot of Jon’s free coin, he still had plenty of silver from the crossbow but Jon had a secret stash to buy things without his mother’s knowledge.

“So what the fuck is this again?” Aethred asked as they poured the now thickened mixture into a mold they’d made from spare planks of wood, mostly just scraps they found around the village, parts of old barrels and broken crates, leftovers from the joiners after they made a stool, things like that.

“It’s honey lavender soap… you use it to wash yourself. It makes you cleaner than just water,” Jon said, “the honey and lavender gives it a nice smell.”

“ooh, that sounds nice,” Erin said, “So when it dries we can use it?”

“Ah, no… when it hardens we need to let it sit for about a month. If we use it too soon it’ll burn like itching nettles.,” Jon told her and watched her deflate a little.

With the soap set aside, they made preparations for their attempt at glass making. They knew it could be dangerous so they were careful and each had a step in the process. When they were ready they took a long, thin ceramic pipe, reinforced with wood. Jon dipped it in the molten material that was in the crucible and got a large glob of it. He carefully pulled it out and started working it by blowing and rolling it on a smooth stone.

With Erin's help, Aethred stuck a glob of glass on the bottom allowing Andrew to score the glass around the pipe, and with a drop of cool water, it cracked cleanly off. They shaped it a bit more and carefully placed a clear, extremely hot glass bottle in the kiln part of the furnace to slowly cool. After that, there wasn’t enough molten material left to try for another bottle. So instead they made some glass beads by pouring the glass around thin strands of rolled clay.

Time passed on and they closed up the furnace to let it smolder and cleaned up their work.

Not wanting to get caught carrying a tray full of soap through the village they placed the soap in the lean-to till it hardened. After eating something they went to play. The morning was fun but it was nearly work in a way. Hours of tag and hide and seek filled the afternoon before they went back to Aethred’s. They got there to find the Magistrate and Leofrith there with Piers.

“Ah, so here’s the young man that made this,” Ellis said tipping the concrete and stone with his foot to show Aethred’s name on the top, “couldn’t melt a rock but still managed to make liquid stone?”

It was the best lie anyone could think of and with Aethred’s penchant for intentionally not doing what he was supposed to, him wasting time trying to melt a rock instead of learning potting was more than plausible. It was honestly possible that if he’d actually been tasked to try his hand at making ceramic pots that he could have stumbled on the discovery without Jon’s vision.

The magistrate stayed for a short while and left with Leo in tow carrying a small container full of white powder. Piers noticed the relieved looks on the four faces when he’d finally left. Following the tell that was easy for anyone to read Piers opened the kiln of the furnace, inside was the lumpy glass bottle that tipped slightly to the side. He turned and glared at them all but didn’t say a word.

**********

Ellis walked back to the manor with Leo following a step behind. He’d received the word that the heathen boy had made a new invention pretty quickly. After the first few inventions, he’d ordered the village guard to report to him of any rumors of new items from the boy or his friends. As it was, he was surprised to speak with the woodsman only to find out it was the young troublemaker that had come up with something new and not the heathen boy.

‘Only a little fool like that would try to melt a rock,’ Ellis thought and shook his head, ‘a lucky fool but a fool.’

He’d originally wondered if the boy was stealing credit from his friend but after hearing the story on how it came about he couldn’t find a fault in it. Mr. Piers even reluctantly showed him the remains of the now destroyed sculpture, that sold it to Ellis that it was indeed the work of one of the most troublesome boys in the village. The young man had only just turned 13 and had been caught again and again doing things he wasn’t supposed to, sculpting something vulgar was well within the boy's character. Ellis wouldn’t order a child flogged but that didn’t mean that Aethred hadn’t gotten very familiar with mucking stables and collecting manure from pastures. He honestly hoped the boy would straighten out before he was legally an adult, for his and his parents' sake.

“Father, do you really think mud made from this will turn to stone?” Leo asked as they walked into the manor, he hadn’t said a word the entire time, just had stood back and observed. Ellis couldn't help but think it was a desirable trait, to observe and learn.

“I’m not sure…” Ellis said after a thought, “Cities like Everlight and Novaria have structures with stone bound from a material that was said to do the same. It’s possible that that little ba- troublemaker just stumbled on something lost since the fall of the Utinum Empire.” Ellis could only think of how great Terra could grow if he managed the new development properly. Having knowledge from centuries ago, the ability to make sturdy stone walls and buildings. No, making monuments! Even his wife would be excited when she heard the news and he could already hear her one day requesting the construction of a Temple that rivaled those of far greater lands. Well, that was if it actually worked.

He instructed Leo to pour water in it as it stood and mix it up, when his son seemed to struggle mixing the thick muddy material he had one of the men at arms leave their post to do it. They’d followed Piers lead in how much water was added to the brick they’d made and let it sit.

The following morning the ceramic pot was broken open to find a gray stone that fit the interior of the former pot exactly. You’d have to be a master of sculpting stone to get anywhere near the same effect. If it hadn’t been for the harvest he’d had tasked some laborers with gathering the materials to make more on the spot… A lot more.

Winter was on its way and much of the village was without work at that time of year, so long as it wasn’t overly cold he could easily pay people to spend a few days in the cold quarrying limestone. With Terra in southern Stilyra, it rarely got unbearable and at most, they may only get a light dusting of snow. He’d of course have to go back and see the process himself before he could plan more. He envisioned the first structures he’d build, among them a tall stone wall that stretched around the village encompassing its current area and then some. Though with all that work it would make sense to build it far larger than the village, give it room to grow within the walls.

“Leofrith, inform the men we ride for the crossroads and Everton tomorrow,” Ellis said, he’d have to find any books or information he could find without letting out his new secret. The longer it took for other houses to find out about the discovery the better, he didn’t want the countess in Everton or Duke in Ebrus interfering with the development of his land. When news eventually reached them he’d gladly sell them the process but he'd prefer the wall was built first, “I’ll inform your mother later. Also, you know of the boy, what would make a proper but discrete reward?”

He watched as Leofrith waited, and waited, “Well?”

“I apologize father but there’s nothing that outright comes to mind. There’s plenty I’m sure he would like but nothing I can think of that he’d be discrete about,” Leofrith said seemingly annoyed that he couldn’t think of anything, Ellis was in the same situation, “Perhaps give the reward to his mother or father on his behalf? Also, you could defer it till he’s older.”

“It may be for the best, now go on and ensure you're packed for a couple days,” Ellis said but Leofrith remained unmoved.

“Mother will have to stay here, should we perhaps ready a wagon and bring Jaesmin along? She could visit the lesser temp-” Leo asked but his reasoning was interrupted by his father.

“I’ll speak with your mother about it,” Ellis said, “Don’t mention to your sister the thought of bringing her along."

Leo nodded and left. Ellis watched him go and sighed. He knew the real reason why his son wanted to bring his sister... He would attempt to do so but going to Everton for a few days was different than going to the lake with Leofrith to fish. He'd have to convince his wife.

Ellis went to the small shrine that had a room to itself. His wife and young daughter were often there. As he walked in he approached the shrine and knelt before the various effigies made from various materials that depicted the gods. After a moment he rose and turned to his daughter, with a simple jerk of his thumb he directed her to leave but gave her a smile. She of course did without a word.

“She must finish her study my darling, she has yet to recite the 18th verse verbatim and has started to forget the earlier verses of the scriptures,” Eva said giving Ellis a migraine at the thought, the verses were long and there were over 60 of them. He doubted even priestesses could recall every verse of scriptures word for word. Possibly a high priestess but even then, “She’ll have to spend time relearning and reviewing her previous work less she regress further. Now, what do you need my dear husband?”

“I received some news about a new discovery…” Ellis started to explain and watched her eyebrows knit closer and closer together only to suddenly relax after he mentioned it was in fact not the heathen boy who’d rediscovered the ancient process. He told her of his plan to travel to purchase books on the great cities of the isles and the Utinum empire. He wished to be sure they had the know-how to actually build anything before tasking paid workers on collecting the materials. Just because they had the material didn’t mean they knew how to build a solid stone wall. She was of course ecstatic at the idea and as predicted brought up the construction of a proper temple. “Leofrith and I will leave with one of the men at dawn, one of us needs to stay here but I thought to bring Jaesmin to visit the temple in Everto-”

“Absolutely not! As beneficial as a trip to the temple would be and meet with young acolytes and a priestess if one’s available, she simply cannot neglect her studies at the moment,” Eva said, “I know what you are going to say but my answer is still no. If she is to be a priestess, she needs to dedicate herself now. It’s no different than Leofrith learning to rule and fight for his destiny.” Ellis nearly sighed aloud. Technically he ruled not his wife but as the commoners would say, a happy wife is a happy life. That being said he still worried about his daughter's well-being anytime she was left with only his dear wife for a day or more. Seeing his look she sighed.

“You’re too soft on them Ellis. You’ve read the letters from the Duke asking for men and supplies for the legion, the war does not go well. Leofrith must learn to lead and fight but our daughter cannot… Besides the fact we’re not like those northern barbarians, imagine being so deviant as to allow and even encourage women to fight wars… besides that she’s far too timid,” The fact that she was largely the reason for Jaesmin’s submissive behavior was completely lost on him. Ellis knew his stubborn wife would not relent so simply nodded.

“Only thought to ask you, my dear. Perhaps by spring you can travel with her to the temple yourself,” he said, a pilgrimage with her mother wasn’t exactly a break from the intensive memorization and study of the doctrine but at least Jaesmin could see something other than Terra.

“Perhaps.”

**********

Jorvik, Capital of Kingdom of Ederath- Early Autumn 11 years AR

Ser Erik walked into an empty great hall with Lady Kyanna at his side. They only had to wait a moment before steps could be heard coming from the side hall and a moment later two men entered, an Elvanni around 30 and a young man who appeared to be in his 20s, Erik knew the appearances of both could be deceiving. The younger looking man approached quickly and held Ser Erik in a traditional embrace.

“It’s good to see you, Erik,” the Young Prince said with a smile, “And you of course Kyanna, you look lovely today.” Kyanna raised a single eyebrow at the prince, Erik knew that Lief wasn’t being overly familiar and doubted Kyanna thought the same. She just wasn’t used to the familiarity.

“Prince Erik, it is a pleasure to see you back at court,” Chamberlain Elmon said with a short bow of the head, “and you as well Lady Kyanna, you grace us with your presence.”

“It’s good to see you, Elmon. You as well, little brother,” Erik said with a smile, “I was hoping to report our trip to father as soon as he was available.” The second part was intended for Elmon than the Young Prince.

“He’ll be along shortly, he’s attending to your sister,” the Chamberlain said with a tone that told Erik all he needed to know. If Erik was known for his calm demeanor and combat skills, Lief for his sociability and sense for administration, then the youngest member of their household was known for being an insatiable brat. He’d joked with Lief growing up that she’d fit in better in the court of his future father-in-law than the great hall of Jorvik. If that were the truth she’d be easier to deal with, he wasn't sure if even the Archon of the Elvan would be able to deal with her.

“May I ask what it is now?” Lady Kyanna asked.

“She’s heard of some new toymaker from the south and is having a tantrum until father invites him to court,” Lief said with a chuckle and pulled out a wheeled string-toy and started playing with it, “And she’s upset that she misplaced her favorite toy from said toymaker. It's the strangest thing. You see it has two wheels and a string… If you see it anywhere please let her know.” Lief laughed lightly but Erik and Kyanna just stared at the toy. Lief dropped his laugh and added, “I’ll give it back to her, it’s just a bit of fun.”

“It’s not that, well yeah it is… Seriously Lief, please don’t torment her. I'm here far more often than Wolfhiem while you can make it quickly to your hall in Vanheim... But we actually met-” Erik was interrupted as his father and both mothers entered the hall. The royal procession walked and took their places by the throne. Erik and Kyanna approached and each offered an Ederathan salute.

“My dearest child, it’s good to have you home,” Queen Katla said and ignored the traditions to give him a hug and kiss on his cheek. His second mother, Queen Lyrei did the same before turning and doing the same to Kyanna to her dismay and Erik’s amusement.

“You know darling, one day soon you’ll be a member of this family as well,” Lyrei said, “I know the feeling is unfamiliar but you’ll grow to love it as I did… then again I’m not a daughter of the Archon.” She added with a smile at her soon to be daughter in law, well relatively soon Erik thought.

The crown prince of Ederath was marrying the third Lady of the Elvan was quite the deal in the north. The Elvanni system of government used different names but all understood it, the title Archon was no different than the title of King and Lady was a princess. A true royal wedding for the history books.

The problem was, while it was easy enough for his father to arrange the betrothal with the Archon, arranging a wedding that two royal courts would be attending was a full nightmare. Everything from the location, day, time, food, drink, decorations, and more was a debate between the courts of the two powerful nations. He figured they’d get the details worked out within the next couple of years. It wouldn't matter in the grand scheme of things, even if his parents thought he had waited too long to wed and currently wished it was over so he could marry another for grandchildren.

“I’m sure I will my Queen,” Kyanna said in a dry voice. It frustrated Erik to no end and he thought she did that only to annoy him. She was always serious but a couple of years traveling together allowed her to open up to him, he admitted he liked the part of her that she refused to show to anyone else. He knew it wasn’t quite love, maybe one day but he didn’t blame her. The arrangement was just as sudden and just as awkward for her.

“Father, mothers… I wish to report on our hunt in the Dain,” Erik said in order to rescue his fiance.

“Of course, of course, go on,” King Herold said and moved to sit, his wives following suit.

“We didn’t find any sign of them in the forest.”

“We discovered some troubling evidence.”

Erik and Kyanna spoke at the same time and looked at each other after realizing they gave conflicting answers. Erik saw annoyance in Kyanna’s beautiful features. To some, it was hard to notice with how she controlled her expression but he had learned to pick up on it. They may have been forced into the engagement and it was lacking love but not intimacy, there probably wasn't another person that could read her as he could.

“Well it can’t be both,” his father said after the two stared each other down for a few seconds. He pointed to Kyanna first.

“There was not a single sign that positively indicated the presence of a single one much less a group,” Kyanna abruptly stated, short and to the point. The King's finger switched over Erik.

“She’s correct but there is evidence of something seriously wrong in the forest. Mass migrations of animals from different habitats; sometimes single species while others in herds with varied species. Including prey traveling alongside the very predators that they feared the most. Apex predators from deep within the wood leaving their territories and venturing into populated lands. Even monsters fleeing the center of that forest. They all had one thing in common, none migrating inward, all tracks led outward. We even had to save children from shadowcats on the edge of the plains, only a few miles from their village. The cats had put the village between them and the Dain. One was in its adolescence.” Erik finished, his final point stressing the severity, a shadowcat willing to abandon its territory was already concerning but to do so with its young...

“I see, so it can be both… casualties?”

“Three Elvanni rangers, two knights, and one squire killed, a group of wendigo. Two more squires fell to pitfall spiders. One ranger injured seriously… acid took his leg,” Erik said, “They all died worthy and with honor. Everyone took minor wounds but healed well.” He suppressed a shiver thinking of the two that fell to the spiders, they were fighting against a large pack of drifters, wandering reptile creatures. The squires charged across open ground not even noticing the signs of the spider den. Pitfall spiders dug down usually around 50 feet but sometimes as deep as 150, they’d instinctively drag jagged rocks to the hole and drop them in ensuring death if you fell. The real danger was they were monsters that could create illusions complete with vegetation. It looked like solid ground to the unfamiliar and they’d only learn their mistake as they stepped through the seemingly solid ground in front of them, falling to their deaths. His shiver was more because he absolutely hated spiders, didn’t matter if it was a single tiny barn spider or the dozens of wolf-sized spiders that hid in the side tunnels of the trap and swarmed out the moment their illusion was broken.

“A shame…” the king said but it was in line with their estimates they’d figured before they marched south. Erik couldn’t help but think that they should have stayed… There was something in there but they had been ordered to survey the outer edge of the forest, he feared they just didn’t go deep enough.