Strondheim, The Kingdom of Ederath- Mid-spring 15 years AR

Jon sat on the stone step of his manor with his back against one of two stone pillars that formed the base of three arches that lined the front of his porch. The building wasn’t finished but the stone walls of the ground floor had been completed earlier that day. He looked down the hill at the budding village. While his house was planned to be finished within a few days, the main wait had switched from the slow production of concrete to the cutting of planks for floorboards. Because of that most of the workforce had spent the day digging foundations for other homes.

“Whatcha workin’ on?” a voice came from the side.

Jon looked over, stretching his neck and back in the process. Andrew had just walked out from the side of the unfinished house. Jon didn’t answer and held up his project. Despite how useful his newest vision could be, he wasn’t making black powder. His project was just another crossbow, or rather he was mass-producing parts to make twenty of them. He had been carving the last trigger wheel. With the bows already finished, he only had the trigger, stock, and bowstrings left to do. The last, already strung and drying.

“Plannin’ on makin’ a militia?”

“Something like that,” Jon said as he flexed and stretched his fingers, they’d grown tight from constantly gripping his tools. It was more that he didn’t have anything better to do and an armory with crossbows could only be a good thing. Whether it was for hunting or defense they were easier to use than a bow in many ways or at least required less training. He also couldn’t help but think of Terra and wanted to make sure that if a threat of that magnitude ever came to Strondheim the people would at least be able to put up a solid defense. He doubted they could hold back werewolves but they'd die fighting.

Andrew sat down next to him but didn’t say a word. Jon knew there was nothing wrong. In fact, it was peaceful and quiet in Strondheim. A good thing but it was a strange feeling to Jon after nearly a year of traveling and fighting. They watched as fires were lit near the campsite and Jon could just make out Tira jumping into the lake. He watched her swim until a loud disturbance coming from near the caravans caught his attention. Jon smiled as he spotted Aethred running away from a yelling Erin and Willow before jumping into the lake to escape their wrath.

“He’s going to regret that,” Jon said with a chuckle. Tira may have had no problem swimming but the water was still a little cold. His prediction came true when Aethred surfaced with a shriek that was loud enough for Jon to hear and quickly came to shore, the women who had pursued him laughing at his stupidity. “How was Hani?”

“Sunada were still trying to get her da to move here. I think she got them thinkin’ bout it... They asked a lot of questions bout the village this time,” Andrew explained and got up to grab a few sections of planks, scraps from putting a floor over the cellar. Jon shrugged when Andrew gave him a questioning look before his friend took a few planks and started cutting a grove onto one edge. Jon smiled internally at Andrew. He knew it wasn’t a question of if Andrew could make something, he was just making sure Jon wasn’t using them.

The two kept working in silence for a while on the warm spring afternoon. Jon wasn’t sure what Andrew was making at first but got an inkling when he put the now notched planks together and started placing planks across the ones he’d already prepared. Andrew then stood and propped the new small door-like set of planks on the step and held his arm to it while he stood a few inches lower on the ground.

Jon nodded, now the new project became apparent, a shield… Andrew scored the wood near his hand and his forearm after adjusting his height to get it just right and threw in a few rounded marks as well. One on the top right corner and another right of where his elbow would sit. He sat back down and started removing the excess wood from the rough shield he was making.

“For a spear?” Jon asked, looking at his friend's work.

“Yep, I saw some folk carrying a shield like this when I went to Bastia the first time. Prince Erik said it were like the shields that old empire used to use… well kinda. Ya know, like the one Leo has, ” Andrew said as he kept working. “Figure we got spears but not shields, ya know?”

Jon thought about it for a moment and made a note to have more shields made, at least for the men and women that had trained with Erin. It wasn’t a mental note for once, he quickly jotted it down on a piece of parchment along with everything else he thought they needed. The list was growing but it was still manageable and half of it included projects to build the village... construction of granaries, basic roads, docks, and an armory for example. He did scribble shields towards the top of the list though, making it a priority before tucking the list away

As Jon finished his first stock, a few others decided to join them and bring them an evening meal. Jon accepted a bowl of stew and a hunk of bread and hard cheese with a nod. He started eating but quickly noticed that the others weren’t eating or leaving, they were looking at him. He looked up at Erin, Willow, and Tira.

“Jon, you’re leaving tomorrow,” Willow said like it wasn’t a question of if he wanted to, she was ordering him. Jon looked at her as she crossed her arms over her chest. Erin and Tira did as well, Tira sticking out her tongue while she did.

“Huh? I am?” Jon wasn’t sure what the three women were getting at.

“I know you’re focused… I get it but go out and go fishin’ or huntin’... or visit Hani or… or go see the coast or the Inari wreckage,” Willow explained, “You can’t just sit around here all day working on the village... or making weapons and draw plans when you're not building a house. You do that and it’ll hit ya hard one day, you’re the Thane but you need to blow off steam as much as anyone else.”

Tira waggled her eyebrows at him but Jon knew what Willow was getting at. He’d thought the same but it felt weird to do anything but projects recently. It was mainly because he felt like he should be doing something if he sat down for too long. It wasn't a new development, even at Willow’s Point, he spent his free time making fang and bone daggers or crossbows. The same was true in Strondheim, except for playing the occasional tune on his fiddle and sitting around the fire after dark when it was too dark to work on much.

“We really don’t need weapons that much, anyways. We DO need to get a glassworks started…” Erin said, gesturing to the incomplete window set into the stone archway along the western wing of the house. Jon smiled at her. He knew how excited she was to have a home again.

“Nope! That’s still workin'!” Willow shot down the idea as Jon pulled out his list and pointed to the glassworks that was near the top of the list… Right under new fishing poles, nets, the dock, and boats. They could make do with shutters for a while but they couldn’t go without food and there was a lake full of it right next to them. It was also right above assembling the distilleries. He had three of them prepared in different cities they spent a day or two in. That way a single artisan knew what he was making. The two industries would ensure that even without a valuable natural resource they still had something to bring coin into the village.

“Huff… alright,” Jon said after Willow continued to stare at him with a look that said she was willing to continue arguing. She was really taking her role as a Drengr seriously, not that he could say she was misusing it. He could appreciate her trying to look out for him.

“So where we goin’?” Andrew asked looking up from his third shield, the process much less intricate than the crossbow. “Ya should see the ship down there, smashed up on the rocks. Never seen a ship that big before.”

“Andrew… You’ve never seen a fuckin’ ship before. None of us have. Well, except Willow,” Aethred piped in from behind the three stern looking women, who had dropped their staredown.

Andrew didn’t seem to take offense to his remarks though and just nodded with a grin, “Which means I ain’t ever seen one that big before!”

Aethred thought about Andrew’s comeback but grinned and rolled his eyes. Jon ignored the two but quickly decided that he could do that… Besides getting out it would also let him see more of his lands and he still needed to see the coast that was deemed too inhospitable for ships to safely navigate close to shore. After a moment of thought more, he agreed, “We can see the shore and the ship. Think any of the Inari would be willing to come with? Or Garrick?”

“Why do you want them?” Erin asked but quickly caught on, her stare down regaining traction on her face. Jon grinned and looked away in faux innocence. He reasoned that the ones that spent the most time in Strondheim were former sailors, they knew the sea a lot better than any of his own people. The orc was basically the same for the land. It meant that it would be more than just a relaxing stroll but him surveying his lands. He knew it wasn't what they wanted but he returned the stare.

“That’s fine, would be foolish if ya didn’t learn a few things but short of finding a gods damned gold deposit, ya ask a few questions and enjoy yourself.” Willow looked at him but soon smiled and sat down, ending the intervention. She pulled out a waterskin and after passing it to Jon he realized it was actually a wineskin. He wasn’t a fan of wine but drank anyways.

After eating he got back to the task at hand, deciding to finish the actual trigger before moving on to another stock. There were a few extra bowstrings in their supplies that he could use to get the crossbow functional until the others were ready to go.

“Ahem…”

Jon rolled his eyes and looked over at Willow, “You said hunting, what am I supposed to do? Chase a deer through the forest with my axe?”

“What’s wrong with that? I do it all the time?” Tira said but the look on her face said that she was serious but not offended.

“Well, it’s a bit more awkward for me to go down on all fours. Less than a year till I try it!” Jon said with a grin but quickly dropped it when Erin’s face contorted in disgust and Aethred snorted, “No! Running on… I cant’ shift- Nevermind you know what I meant!”

“We do but you still coulda worded that a bit fucking better,” Aethred said while trying to keep himself from laughing.

Jon just stared at him as Aethred failed and started snickering and gradually increased to full-blown laughter that the others joined in on. Jon’s cheeks felt warm with embarrassment but he soon felt a soft set of lips touch his cheek. He turned to see a pair of Jade eyes looking at him and felt a tongue flick out, the tip only hitting the middle of his upper lip. She continued looking at him and waggled her eyebrows again before licking his cheek. Not a sweet, seductive lick but a drown the side of his face in spit kind of lick.

Agh!” Jon said and wiped it off before looking at her slowly back away with a smile on her lips and rocking her hips back and forth as she sauntered backwards.

“You gonna get me back?” She asked and turned to run away laughing when Jon got up to chase after her. He knew his chances of catching her was basically zero unless she let him but he knew she would eventually. She shifted and dropped to all fours before sprinting towards the lake. Jon watched her kick up dust and grass as she turned, low to the ground and leaning hard to the side to keep her momentum from pulling her over. She made it to the water's edge and leapt into the cool water while yelling back to him, “I warm you later!”

Jon chased after her but couldn’t help but think of his experience in the river. He told himself it wasn’t as cold as it was and after a bit of hesitation he pulled his tunic off toran as fast as he could, jumping off the short escarpment that made up that point of the shoreline. He hit the water and immediately regretted his decision as soon as the water enveloped him. He cursed himself for being an idiot but he remembered why he’d done it when a pair of thin but strong arms wrapped around his waist from behind and the soft pair of lips kissed the middle of his back before surfacing. Kissing a line up his spine that gave him chills of a different kind.

Jon spent the evening in a change of clothes by a fire while he finished the crossbow. True to her word, Tira sat behind him with her arms wrapped around him and her legs running alongside his. When he was done he set the crossbow to the side and grabbed her by the thighs and leaned back, tipping her over. It was his way to get her back but despite the fact he was bigger than her, she didn’t care. He ended up laying there using her as a mattress with a built-in pillow. He decided he’d get her back in the morning as he started to yawn and they soon went to bed.

“You sure you don’t want to come with?” Jon asked Erin as they ate breakfast.

“No. You go do your thing, I’ll explore when the house is done,” She responded finishing her bowl of porridge aside and picking up her glaive.

It looked like it was just going to be Jon, Tira, Andrew, Garrick, and two Inari going. Erin was focused on the house and Aethred said he didn’t want to get sick watching Jon and Tira all day. Willow however thought about it but in the end, decided to stay to keep an eye on camp to let Erin focus on the construction site.

“Ye lot duin… er, ye lot ready? if ye want tae git tae that ship afore midday, we cannae shite time away,” Garrick said walking up to the fire with a hide sack over his back, his wife, Sadie, walking next to him. Jon wondered if she was going with them but noticed she wasn’t carrying a pack of her own and wasn’t even armed. Hel, Garrick was barely armed with only his bow and a bone dagger on his hip.. but that was about how Andrew armed himself when he went out.

“Yup! Let’s go!” Tira said cheerfully, wearing her normal outfit while her axes hung from her belt.

“Only one problem,” Jon said as he hung his head at the issue as it walked up. Even if it was just a walk in the woods it was still a walk in the woods, one that had large beasts and monsters. Because of that Jon was going fully armored except for his helmet, which was already hanging from the small pack he was bringing. He would try to enjoy himself but he wasn’t going to be unprepared. The two Inari walking up were prepared but only as far as they could equip themselves. It wasn’t much.

One was carrying a crude short bow that paled in comparison to either one that Garrick or Andrew carried. The other was armed with a dagger and a stone-tipped spear. Neither of them were armored, which made sense, they were former sailors and armor would only get in their way or even pull them under if they went overboard. The others seemed to note the issue and Andrew started explaining the best he could when they noticed. Jon was already getting up to correct it, “I’ve got it.”

Two minutes later, after some bowing, they were on their way. The Inari walked behind with Erin’s falcata and the other with one of the militia member's spears. He wasn't sure if they knew how to use them but they were better than nothing.

They made their way southwest towards the Drengr mound, which Jon was surprised was named by Willow and not Aethred. From there, they found a crossing in the form of a large tree that had fallen over the narrow river. Andrew and his hunters had already run a rope across to hold onto and pilled rocks on both ends in makeshift stairs. Jon sighed and pulled out his list and added ‘bridges?’ towards the bottom before putting it away.

The Inari were less observant than on previous days or at least weren't studying the others in the group. Their focus was mainly on their surroundings. Jon noticed it as he took his crossbow off his back and loaded a bolt, which of course made them even more vigilant. He’d only just now remembered to load it but didn’t even attempt to correct their behavior. It couldn't hurt.

“What’s out here? Animals I mean?” Jon asked the two experienced hunters in the group.

“’ Sides the normal things, squirrels, deer, and such…” Andrew said but stopped to think. When he noticed Jon stopping to look at him he started again, “Just tryin’ ta remember their names… The big half moose, half cow thing with the horn on its nose and two sets of antlers?”

“Horned bovaks,” Garrick supplied the name, “Nae that aggressive bit they're huge... Good eatin' though… Terrobirds…”

“That the ones that were over by the shore when we went out last? Big birds with small wings, taller than a man?” Andrew asked and Garrick nodded, “Stay clear of 'em, saw ‘em tear a deer to shreds with them beaks.”

“Sin' we're on dangerous ones, keep edgy fur sirens,” Garrick thought of the next living nightmare, “Nae sure if thay come this far sooth. They're lik' half-naked wummin mixed wi' fish. Thay ne'er come ashore bit thay use magic in thair voices tae lure ye intae th' sea. Wance thay git ye in th' wa’er, that's thair domain, they'll drag ye doon 'n' drown ye afore eating ye.”

“They look like women?” Andrew asked.

“Bonny ones,” Garrick said and shot Andrew a grin but continued in a half-serious tone, "dinna fash yirsel, ah... Dinna worry... far as a`body kin tell, they're nae folk.”

That was a relief. Jon wasn’t sure if he wanted to deal with sentient people living just offshore. Waterborn monsters were already far from his area of expertise. He wasn’t even sure how they’d deal with sirens if they came across them.

The group continued through the forest, talking about the local wildlife. They discussed the most dangerous ones and the useful ones to hunt. Which amounted to which had the best pelts, made the best leather, or were simply delicious with pan-fried onions.

The only ones they saw that Jon was unfamiliar with were a large bulbous rodent-like creature with a shell like an armadillo. Garrick called it a Glaikit bugger but Jon was pretty sure that wasn’t its actual name. The other was a group of dog-sized griffins called stalker griffins. Garrick explained they lived somewhere in the south and flew to the mountains in the north every spring to have their young. They apparently weren’t very good for eating but he said some tribes and clans in the north used them as flying hunting dogs. A fact that caught Andrew’s attention.

After a few more hours of travel, Jon finally laid his eyes on the sea. He could easily see the problem with the coast. Besides the land rising to a cliff to the north, the shoreline was indeed filled with barnacle and seaweed covered rock outcroppings. A few extended high above the waves while others barely made their presence known even at low tide and Jon had no idea how many laid below the surface. The only good news was they only extended around two hundred paces away from the shore. That didn’t mean he had any idea on how to clear out enough of them to make a proper harbor.

While he internally debated if he could make black powder work underwater, Tira's eyes opened wide. She’d seen the eastern ocean when they hunted to coastal werewolves in the Dain and just like before, Jon watched her drop her gear on the shore and run into the waves, ending in a dive.

"Bit cald fer that... Yer lassie is a ba- li’l crazy," Garrick said with a laugh before giving Jon a wink, "not judging, thay ur th' best ones."

Jon and Andrew laughed as she popped up with her eyes wide open but she dived back down. The Inari walked to the edge of the water and crouched to let the waves run over their hands. They shook out the water and started talking in their language. Jon just assumed it was people that lived on the sea inspecting what they knew best.

A minute later Jon started worrying about Tira because she hadn’t surfaced yet but before he jumped in the water, she came back up and made her way to shore. When she got close, Jon realized she was only wearing her underwear, while her leather skirt was pressed to her chest with one arm. Once ashore, she dumped a pile of rocks next to the Inari, who were adverting their gazes, and jumped back into the water, skirt in hand.

“What in the gods' names?” Andrew asked as they watched her swim out and drop below the water again, briefly sending her butt above the waves as she twisted her body to point downward.

When she was gone a sudden outburst from the Inari caught Jon’s attention. They were quickly picking up the rocks and hauling them further away from the water. Jon walked up and looked at them but wasn’t sure what they were, they were grayish tan and all roughly the same shape. Jon watched as one of the Inari took out a small knife and dug it into the side of the rock and with a twist, broke it open. It was only then that Jon realized it was a type of sea creature.

“Nae sure whit type bit they're clams.”

Jon accepted the name for them but cringed slightly as one of the Inari scooped out a part of the clam and tossed it on the rocky shore before scooping out what was left and eating it raw. The second Inari waited and watched the first's ears. As soon as they raised in a smile, he too pulled out a knife and cracked open a clam. They offered a piece of the meat to Jon but he held up his hands and gave a slight bow to refuse politely.

They stood after eating a few and moved to the shore when they spotted Tira surface again. They pointed down the beach a ways and spoke rapidly. When Tira came ashore again, one of them hesitated but quickly grabbed her before she could go back in the water.

“Huh?”

“I think they know what those things are,” Jon said and pointed at the cleaned out shells. Tira looked down at them and sniffed at one of the Inari.

“They ate it!” Tira seemed as surprised as Jon had been, “I thought they strange… they really food?”

Jon could only shrug as he dug into his pack and pulled out a change of clothing that he’d packed for Tira. His girl being who she was, he both expected it and wasn't surprised when she changed right in front of them. She did turn toward the sea while she changed her breastband and did put on the dry skirt before changing her underwear. At least it didn’t cause a scene, everyone but Jon simply looked away politely while she was drying herself and changing.

Once she was done the Inari picked up the other clams and waved for them to follow. They started jogging south leading them down the shoreline. Jon wasn’t sure what they were doing and the rest must have felt the same based on the curious expressions.

The shore went from rocky to a mixture of smaller rocks and patches of sand. Once in the sandy part, they wandered around and then pointed to a small hole in the sand. One fetched a couple of pieces of driftwood while the other located another hole. Within a minute they both dug down and pulled out another two of the rock-like sealife. Tira grinned and her eyes darted across the sand before finding another.

“So, they’re… umm edible? Not sure we should eat them unless they're cooked,” Jon said as Tira went without driftwood and dug into the wet sand with her hand, pulling out another clam a moment later. Andrew dug out a jute sack from his bag and Tira and the Inari happily dropped all they’d collected so far.

“I mean, they did eat ‘em. I weren’t sure what they were before.”

“They're a'right eating, tastes better cooked in some goats butter wi' wild herbs.” Garrick said and located another spot before he started digging with another chunk of wood, “Only hud thaim th' one time though.”

Jon shrugged and started helping as well. Soon the bag was full and after a bit of miming-based insistence, they filled a second bag as well. The Inari popped a few open to eat as they worked. It grossed Jon out but they seemed to treat them as a delicacy… he’d try them when they were cooked… maybe.

After the second bag, they continued down the beach to where Garrick and Andrew had spotted the Inari wreck. The Inari would occasionally pry a rare clam that was attached to one of the rocks along the shoreline or other bits of seafood. They grabbed a few crabs that scuttled along the beach but when they tried to grab a star shaped creature Garrick slapped it out of their hands.

“Thar poison.” He explained to Andrew, who mimed it to the Inari. After they checked with Garrick who informed them of any that was poison or he didn’t know.

“What this?” Tira said behind Jon. “It beautiful!”

Jon turned around to find her holding a split open clam in one hand and a silvery rock that was near perfectly round in the other. Jon’s eyes went wide, he’d seen one of them before. It was set into a silver necklace he’d seen in the market of Saena. He wasn’t sure what it was called but he knew it was as valuable as a gemstone.

“That's a pearl! good luck tae fin' on’. Kin sell that fur likely a silver tae a peddler.”

Tira beamed at the pearl in her hand. As did Andrew and the Inari, who seemed to recognize it from the start. Jon was more focused on her face as she tossed it up and caught it, putting it into a pouch a moment later.

“Gertrude and Erin’ll be happy,” Andrew said looking at the bags the Inari both carried, each with around a hundred clams.

Jon looked over at him to give him a grin and a nod. Erin was concerned about the house first and making trade goods second. As for Gertrude, she was a merchant, enough said. Jon wasn’t sure how many pearls they could find but a silver was still a silver and it meant that some of his people could travel to the shore to gather both food and earn coin. Preferably on a riverboat to avoid the wildlife but that was already on the list…

Jon sighed and pulled his list back out and wrote ‘pearls? Necklaces? Rings?’ across the back of the page along with his ideas on what kind of glass products to make and different liquors to try to distill. He wasn’t a fan of wine but Willow suggested he might try it distilled and he assume a distilled dry mead would be amazing, it was already far stronger than ale or a sweet mead.

“Shud we continue on? th' ship be just ahead,” Garrick pointed and Jon could see a large mass upon the rocks down the coast. He judged it at fifty paces from the shoreline. Even in the distance, it seemed massive.

“Sunada said they lost their masts and sails to a storm,” Andrew walked along, looking out at the ship, “They drifted along the water but the only thing that saved ‘em were a storm. Pushed them into the rocks… Thinkin’ there were more to it, that she don’t wanna talk about, do know they were low on food and drink.”

Andrew seemed a little saddened by it as Jon imagined what people were like when they got desperate for food. Andrew walked up and patted one of the Inari on the shoulder. The foreign man looked up at him with his ears down and out but nodded familiarly before his gaze went back to his old ship.

Jon studied it as he got closer. At first, he wondered if they’d be able to repair it but he dropped that idea as more of the ship could be ascertained.

“Look bad… like that when they came or after they went to Hani?” Tira asked. Jon thought it had to be the latter simply because, according to Sunada, no one had died trying to get ashore.

When he heard of the details of the shipwreck from Andrew, he imagined a ship being stuck in the rocks. Maybe a few holes in the hull but largely intact. He saw now that he was wrong, the force of the storm, the continued pounding of waves, and the push and pull of the tides had drug the hull through the rocks like cheese across a grate.

The thick wooden hull had large gashes torn out of it and the ship leaned heavily on its right side with a large chunk of the bow smashed in. Jon looked out to sea and spotted a stone column in the water. Its top looked like it had sharper edges that hadn’t been worn smooth by the waves, they must have impacted it with enough force to crack the rock, sending the top of it into the sea and crushing the front of the ship.

“Andrew. Do the Inari know what welcome means? Like they’re welcome to stay as long as they need?” Jon asked as the two Inari rounded on him after hearing the name of their kind. Andrew looked at him for a moment and Jon nodded.

“Pretty sure…” Andrew said and waved to get one of their attention. He mimed a set of planned gestures that Jon didn’t know, some form of sign language Andrew and Sunada had developed, “Inari welcome Strondheim… no… Inari welcome Ederath.”

Jon nodded approvingly, they didn’t have to move to Strondheim but he’d make sure they were accepted and allowed to live in peace in his lands even if they decided to stay in Hani. He already doubted with the way Prince Erik treated Sunada that they’d have any issue being accepted in Ederath. Whether temporary or not, they’d have a home.

The Inari took the news well and one bowed in their custom while the other placed a hand on Andrew’s shoulder and nodded, a gesture of Jon’s people.

“'n' aboot mah folk?” Garrick asked bluntly but looked sheepish when Jon’s gaze fell on him. Jon had forgotten about the decision with the orcs.

“You stay… I like orcs,” Tira said confidently.

Jon wrapped an arm around her and nodded at Garrick, “Pick a plot and we’ll add you to the list for a home.”