Driving for what seems like several hours, Mira wondered what night time weather was like if this was the daytime weather. Unlike the heavy snow that berated them when they left town, this new weather phenomenon threatened to turn her into a frozen icicle. Along with high force winds, Mira was being blasted by fist size balls of slurry, each one sticking to the next causing her to have to wipe away at her sides every couple of minutes. She had taken the chance to huddle next to a calm and still half asleep Master Luke using him as a makeshift wall from all the projectiles coming from the left side.

“Are you not cold?” Mira asked through chattering teeth.

“I’m fine,” he said. “Is your poncho not working?”

“Not working?”

“Did you turn on the runes?”

“What runes?” Mira said in a panic.

“I am so sorry,” Luke said. “I must have forgotten to tell you. I seriously thought you were fine since you didn’t say anything sooner.” Grabbing at the edge of her poncho, he lifted the front flap. Putting his hands on the interior portion, Mira could see a set of different runes start to glow. “There we go.”

Like night and day, Mira’s body felt like it had been dipped inside a warm bath. The balls of ice now feeling like drops of rain on a warm summer’s day. “Why didn’t we use this at the start of the trip?” Mira asked, scooting her body away from Master Luke.

“It has a limited amount of power,” Luke said, letting out a yawn. “They only last for a couple of hours, and I usually reserve them for this leg of the trip. Do you want me to drive so you can warm up.”

“No, I’m fine,” Mira said, feeling somewhat angry. Shaking her head, Mira blamed herself a bit at not speaking up sooner.

“Alright, but if you need anything or want to switch, don't be shy and let me know,” Luke said, leaning back against the wooden seat and closing his eyes once more.

“I will,” Mira said, giving him a faint smile. After several more hours, Mira pulled into a small town, this one consisting of only six buildings that Mira could see. Pushing at Master Luke, he jolted awake, his eyes blinking several times as he gazed at the log cabins.

“We’re here already?” He said, looking over to Mira.

“Where is here?”

“This is the village of Ghotum, the last settlement of the north.”

“Why would anyone want to live out here?”

“Some of them enjoy this type of lifestyle, while most are hunters and trappers. There are many animals only found in this region and the pelt, meat, and alchemy ingredients from such animals fetch substantial sums of gold.” Pointing Mira to one of the log cabins, she carefully marched the horses into a large stable set behind the inn. Grabbing their supplies, the two made their way inside the warm building.

Walking up to a small wooden counter, Luke tapped at the table with his knuckles. “Anyone home?”

“I’m coming,” a low growling voice from a backroom said. A large man, almost a head over Luke, made his way to the front counter. He had a large thich gray beard that covered a majority of his face. Mira considered if that man was even human. “Back so soon?”

“It’s already been a year,” Luke said.

“Really? I guess time goes by when everything is covered in white,” the man let out with a burst of rumbling laughter. “Same room?”

“You bet,” Luke said, placing a stack of golden coins on the table.

Pulling the stacks of coins into a small sack, the man returned to the back room while gesturing to Luke, “You know where the food is if you get hungry.”

Giving a nod to Mira, Luke walked down a long hallway filled with a set of four doors. Taking the first door to his right, he gently pushed it open as he motioned for Mira to remove her shoes. The room, unlike the first inn they stayed at, was bare of any furniture, but what the room lacked in bed frames and cabinets it made up with plenty of furs that littered the floor. Placing her wet shoes against the exterior walls next to Master Lukes, she gently walked into the room and felt her toes digging into the warm pelts.

“Where are the beds?”

“Wood here is very sparse, it’s usually reserved for building materials or firewood,” Luke said, placing his pack to one corner of the room, and pulled out more furs from a stack set in another corner.

Copying his movement, Mira did the same, wondering what they were going to do with so many furs. “What are we going to do with all these?”

“Anything you want. I’m making a bed,” Luke said, already rolling one of the furs up as a makeshift pillow. “Get an early rest, we have a hike tomorrow.”

“Hike? To where?”

“To a small valley outside of town. That’s where I’m meeting my friends.”

“Are you not hungry?” Mira asked.

“Not particularly, I’m also saving room for tomorrow’s meal, but if you’re hungry there is a good amount of food set next to the hearth in the dining room.”

“Alright, I’m going to go eat then.” With a nod, Luke grabbed another fur and draped it over his body. Walking back out to the hall, Mira thought about requiping her shoes, but decided it was better to just go barefoot. Getting to the fire, she could see a box full of different dried meat along with an enclosed pitcher. Grabbing a mug sitting on one of the tables, she poured herself a drink of some dark warm liquid. Grabbing a chunk of the dried meat, she slowly whittled away at it as she gazed out into the dark freezing abyss.

Waking up the next day, Mira felt amazingly refreshed. The soreness from yesterday’s trip entirely gone as she jumped out of bed. “Oh good, you’re awake,” Luke said as he dug through his pack. Happy about finding what he was looking for, he donned his poncho. Scrambling to do the same, Mira prepping her bags.

“Don’t worry about that,” Luke said. “Well be back in a bit.”

With a nod, the two left the Inn and slowly trekked outside of town. The ‘small valley’ as Luke described it was anything but small or a valley. To Mira, this was a full-blown hike up an extremely steep mountain. Contemplating why anyone would choose to meet up in such an inconvenient place, she was greeted by the sight of a figure wearing a similar-looking poncho.

“Luke is that you?” the figure yelled, rushing down the mountain.

“Yeah,” he shouted back, his pace quickening.

As the man approached Mira could see that he had light brown skin, along with an odd looking hairstyle. His hair was long and flowed down to the back of his shoulder, what made it stand out was the weird wave pattern it made as the hair was folded into a weird almost snake like pattern.

“Dude, how’s it been?”

“Good,” Luke replied, giving the man a hug.

“Is this your daughter?” the man said, walking over to Mira.

“It’s only been a year, how the hell am I going to have a daughter. This is Mira, my shopkeep.”

“Good to meet you, Mira,” the man said, holding out a hand. “My name is Trevon, but everyone calls me Trey.”

Like clicking cogs, Mira’s mind ferociously whirled as she glared at the cloth-covered item on his back. “A-are you Lightning Lance Trey?”

“I am,” Trey said with a smile.

“I’ve heard so many tales about you,” she let out, looking over to Master Luke, then back at Trey, then back to Master Luke.

“It’s good to know some people appreciate my work,” Trey said, giving Mira a pat on the back. “Let’s go, or we’ll be late, the others are waiting for us.”

With a nod, the three paced themself up the mountain. Nearing the halfway point, Mira could see a group of three other people huddled around a small pile of stacked rocks. One of the figures imminently broke off and darted towards Luke like an angry bird.

“Oh. My. Gosh, look at this cutie,” the blond haired girl said, grabbing Mira by the waist and lifting her up. “Luke you never told me you had a daughter.”

“Babe, that's not his daughter,” Trey let out, giving Luke an exaggerated shrug.

“Oh...” the woman said, gently placing Mira down. “Nice to meet you, my name is Alecia.”

“Hi, I’m Mira, I’m a shopkeep at Master Luke’s store.”

“Is he treating you well?” she asked as she placed her hands over Mira’s wrist checking to see if she was showing any signs of abuse. “If he’s treating you badly you let me know, and I...”

“No, no,” Mira interjected. “Master Luke is wonderful. He treats me like family and has even given me a place to stay.”

“Alright,” Alecia said, giving Mira a firm nod.

“May I ask a question?” Mira let out, looking at Alecia.

“Sure, ask away.”

“Are you Alecia, the Death Slayer.”

“Uhhh, don’t call me that” Alecia said, her fingers grabbing at the bridge of her nose. “What happened to Angelic Alecia, or Alecia the Savior. Why the hell did that one have to stick? You get people to follow good hygiene and start using soap, and now everyone thinks I can kill death.”

“Oh great Death Slayer, I am humbled by your presence,” another man said as he walked up to the group.

“Shut it Mahjed. What are they calling you these days? The wielder of sticks?”

“No, I am the great Metal Bender,” Mahjed said, putting on a pose for Mira.

“Yeah, whatever. I swear one of these days your balloon thing is going to crash down in flames.”

“It's a zeppelin, and there's no way it can catch on fire, it’s magically powered. If you recall, I have a master’s degree in this type of thing.

“Yeah, whatever, I was in rotation,” Alecia said. “One more year and I would have gotten my doctorates.”

“Guys, do you have to do this now?” another woman said approaching the group.

“Sorry, Luiz.” Alecia and Mahjed said in unison.

“Let’s go, the sun is about to come up.”

Mira, who was still shocked by the presence of so many legendary adventures, was given a slight nudge as Master Luke placed his hands over her shoulder. Walking up to the pile of rocks, the group stayed silent for a few minutes as the sun slowly crested the horizon. With a faint clap of his hands, Luke produced a small stone and placed it over the stack of rocks.

“Is that a D20?” Trey asked, looking at the fine details of the numbers.

“Yeah, chiseled it myself.”

“Thanks, Luke, he would have loved it,” Luiz said, placing her hands over his.

With a smile and a nod, the group broke away each person laying their hands over the stone.

“Master Luke,” Mira started to say.

“That was Luiz’s brother,” Luke said, already knowing what Mira was going to ask. Not wanting to pry any deeper, Mira took the answer with a faint nod of her head.

“Let’s go. If we stay up here any longer we're going to freeze to death,” Alecia said, her teeth already chattering from the cold.

“Okay,” Luiz said as she restacked one of the stones.

Pacing back to the Inn, the group all huddled inside the warm comfortable room. Like clockwork, each person grabbed a set of furs set about the room, and placed them down in a circular pattern. Luke, who was the first to enter, darted towards his pack set in the corner of the room and pulled out a beaten up, once white, binder and placed it at the edge of the circle. Pulling out several sheets of paper, he handed them out as each person looked nostalgically at the set of scrawling numbers.

“Hey,” Trey said, looking over to Luke. “Is Mira joining?”

“Duh,” Alecia let out. “She has to join us.”

“If that’s the case, why don't we start a new campaign. I've been wanting to try something different for a while.”

“Yeah, I don't mind,” Luke said. “I’ve written up a bunch of new modules that I think would be great for a set of new adventures.”

“Ohhh, if that's the case, I have something awesome to show you,” Mahjed let out, pulling out his own pack. Reaching in his pack, he produced a bundle of cloth that he layed out onto the floor. Slowly unrolling the cloth, Mira was amazed by the dozens of meticulously colore little figures. “Here, I even made some for you.” Digging in his pack once more, he produced another cloth bundle, this one a bit larger, and handed it over to Luke.

Feeling a bit excited, Luke quickly unfurled the cloth and was greeted by a jumble of mostly earth colored sets of monster figures. “Holy crap, these are awesome,” Luke shouted, placing each one on his flat binder.

For all the time Mira has been with Master Luke, this was the first time she has ever seen him so happy. She wondered what the significance of the oddly shaped figurines was about to get him in such an excited mood.

Grabbing one of the parchments that sat in the middle of the circle, Alecia admired how well Luke was able to match printer technology using screen printing as this character sheet matched identically to her old one. Huddling next to Mira, she placed the sheet over her lap. “Any idea what you want to play?”

“Play?” Mira echoed.

“Hell yeah,” Alecia yelled. “I dont have to be the stupid healer anymore.”

Luiz, who was still unpacking her overly large sack in one corner of the room, carefully made her way towards the middle of the circle, her hands encumbered by multiple different smaller bags. Mira, seeing that Luiz could use some help, immediately jumped to her feet and grabbed some of the bags. “Thanks Mira,” Luiz said, dumping the bags at the edge of the circle. Rushing back to her large sack, she pulled out four jugs along with several colored vials. Handing two of the jugs to Mira, she asked Trey to grab some empty bowls and tankers from the inn’s kitchen. Grabbing one of the bowls, she dumped the contents of one of the bags, several bowls now filled with different colored chips.

“No way.” Trey shouted as he grabbed one of the white chips. “How in the world did you get ranch flavor?”

“Lots of trial and error,” Luiz said, grabbing several tankers and empting the content of the jug in each one. Mira glared down at the clear bubbling liquid in the mug that was handed to her, and wondered if this was some type of potion. Luiz produced one of the vials that she had carried over and tossed one over to Trey.

“What’s this?”

“Orange soda,” Luiz said with a knowing smirk.

“Seriously?” Trey said, popping the top of the vial.

“Just a tablespoon is enough,” Luiz instructed. “I also have the flavor for lemon lime, strawberry, grape, and oddly enough ginger ale. What do you want to try Mira?”

Unsure what to make of any of this, she pointed to the oddly colored one Trey was enjoying. Grabbing the vial from Trey, Luiz poured a small amount of the thick liquid into her cup and slowly stirred it with a wooden spoon. Staring down at the strange colored liquid, Mira took a tiny sip of the bubbly concoction. Quickly sticking out her tongue, she was bombarded by a weird almost spicy sensation that quickly dissipated. A wave of succulent flavor followed causing Mira to go in for another sip.

“Woah,” Alecia said, putting her hand on the cup. “You're going to choke if you drink it that fast.”

“Yeah, you got to savor the taste,” Trey said, grabbing the bowls of chips and placing it in front of her. “Here try this.”

Hesitant as to which one she should choose, she went for the bright red one. Taking a bite into the oddly shaped, oddly textured piece of food, she was blasted by the sound of the heavy crunching as each bite caused the food to crackle into several smaller bits. An ocean of flavored rolled across her tongue as she could make out an odd taste of cheese. “This kinda reminds me of a burrito,” Mira said, taking another sip of her drink.

“You know what a burrito is?” Mahjed asked.

“Yeah, they sell them all over town. I’m not sure where they came from, but they are so good.”

With a slight chuckle, Mahjed pointed a finger at Luiz. “That’s where all the crazy food has been coming from.”

“Really?” Mira said, turning back to the girl, who only a few minutes ago she thought was uninteresting compared to the other legends in the room, but now revered almost as highly as Master Luke.

Wondering how time had gone by so fast, Mira stared outside the small window of the room as the sun was about to rise, its light cresting over the valley of the small town. Feeling the glare of the group upon her, she hesitantly grabbed one of the oddly shaped rocks near the middle of the circle and tossed it across the room, hopping that the number she needed would appear.