“There is no such thing as building an empire, every empire was built on the apocalypse of another. You think your people are immune to the seductions of corruption and the needs of the now? Every fallen nation is a testament and a lesson of how to build the next one, when you're done trying to erase the past I’d like to get one with making a better world.” Salindor Lichtbringer, The Elantran Genocide, 1826

1509.03.39 S’vesstar, Saister

The party stood in silence as Oakarn and Ulima, the town’s local high priestess, Her darker skin lightened with blue green flame emanating from candles. Her white and black robes loosely adorning her body, flecks of red-brown fluid from the body of Tamika. Her normally generous amount of jewellery is unsurprisingly vacant.

“It's vital to the procedure Ival,” Kelly said in a bitter sweet tone, they’d spent a fortune in crushed gems in the city to see it happen but having their friend alive was more important. Oakarn made sure the ritual preparations were perfect, Nico had woken up early that morning to witness the casting of the spell.

“Now don’t be too alarmed Nico,” Oakarn changed bowls of fluid for empty ones. “The woman will jerk a bit but will mostly remain near death’s door. So we’ll need to cure what killed her before we try to wake her up.”

“I see,” Nico said as they’d drained the body and replaced the fluids via small glass needles that Oakarn had in storage.

“I need blood from all of you,” Ulima had needles hovering over candles and syringes on a table. Ulima then took some dried material and burned it in a vacant candle. “Come come, I don’t bite… Besides, that would contaminate the sample.”

Nico feeling driven by the invisible hand of Ulima’s authority now volunteered first, though the group seemed taken aback from the act except Oakarn. They relatively silently then lined up one by one to be poked and prodded by the priestess. Ulima then using blueish white magical energy she seemed to glean which of the compatriots here matched. She then poured the sample she deemed closest into a nearby empty bowl and began casting.

“By your Holy light my Goddess may I fill my bowl with this blood!” Ulima raised the bowl above her head and it began to have purple glowing runes magically being carved into its wooden face. The priestess then started to fill up two dozen syringes with the blood that filled that bowl.

“Alright, now I know what to do for this step”Oakarn then joined Ulima as the two began to inject blood into areas in the chest and abdomen then inside the skull with only a few for the limbs.

“That is a catalyst,” Oakarn whispered and pointed to the black iron bell that Ulima now held over Tamika's body. Nico knew catalysts to be a medium made of metal or wood that enhances or completes certain spells. Some magicks are too complex and overwhelming that you need a catalyst to actually utilize them properly, resurrection being more than likely one of these specific magicks.

“Here today we beseech the gods to call forth the soul Tamika from the great abyss,” Ulima spoke but there was power to her words. Something heavy with magic had begun to fill the air and suddenly the perfect ritual circles of gemstone dust had begun to burn with a bright rainbow of colour. The once dull colours of the lightless gems filled the room and made the now very visible smoke that had then begun to fill the very space that Tamika now lay, her black hair and olive skin. The woman’s garb being that of traditional Soeceanese dress of northern attire. Heavy squarish features of padding and cloth with modest furs, and now her body was being carried with the smoke, and the coalescence of colours and magic. The smoke now turned into tendrils as they infiltrated Tamika’s body and breathed back life into her body as her heart started again.

“I knew she’d come back” Kelly choked back tears, they’d just been briefed beforehand how there was always a chance the soul wouldn’t want to come back. Even the most experienced of clerics can’t always bring back those that don’t want to be brought back.

“It seems strange that someone can go from dead and not existing to breathing and living again,” Nico stated as he studied the wonderment before him, sometimes the power the clerics and priests wielded was immense. Ulima stood channelling her god’s power as she rang a large black bell sound reverberated into the poor corpse of the woman as she started to violently jerk forward. The dead woman’s skin finally comes back from its formerly gaunt and decayed state to a living breathing body. Tamika screamed, she'd never felt this exhausted and tired in her entire life. Her arm ached, her the rest of her entire body ached even more. Her body cracked with a new violent sound as her wounds were finishing being closed, little pale worms started to pour from whatever holes they could. Nico shuddered thinking about if any would be left inside the woman as she became engulfed in the remaining shadows that poured through her body. Tamika then spat out fly before falling to the ground on her hands and knees and curled into a mass of muscle and bone dry heaving whatever they could as futile as the effort was. Nico could no longer contain himself as he ran to leave the room, losing his early breakfast of potato stew.

“Gods,” She barely managed to get out, Kelly, Ivallina, Rotkar, and Jatar then came to their feet.

“Tamika!” Kelly spoke as she quickly walked over to see her friend and comrade.

“Thank the gods you managed to do that,” Rotkar gasped, it seemed as if he’d been holding his breath this entire time. “I have to hand it to you Oakarn, you know your rituals.”

“Spend half a century doing something you’d think I'd pick up a thing of two!” Oakarn responded through his formerly clenched fists meant he too was nervous about this casting. “Helps to have the right priestess in your corner.”

Often the materials go to waste either a ritual wasn’t done properly, or the god wasn’t greeted with enough sacrifice; however, worst yet is when all that is sent through one to tell another they won’t be coming back.

“Tell me I didn’t die!” Tamika grunted as she got up.”Because it sure fucking feels like I did.”

“Drink this,” Oakarn interrupted the merriment for now. “There is still some residual poison in your system, we couldn’t quite get out so you’ll need to drink this to pass the remaining toxins.”

“Oh that's awful,” Tamika coughed as she drank. “Why does it take like urine?”

“Don’t ask questions we don’t want the answer to dear,” Ulima answered.

“You are going to need to sleep in town for the next few days then we can go and save some folks,” Oakarn sighed, seemingly happy with the work he’d done for himself.

“That was truly amazing,” Nico said, but his body could no longer contain what little he had left of whatever there was in his stomach, keeping the leavings in the bush nearby.

“We all put ourselves through a lot for something that could’ve failed spectacularly,” Kelly reminded everyone “Now let's go enjoy some time before we do it all over again.”

The smile on Kelly’s face was mildly concerning though moreover on the tone she took. It was like this was normal for people in the trade, almost like a ton of people die fighting monsters and such. Even pirates, highwaymen and bandits can kill a man if you aren’t careful, adventuring is always a dangerous business so many folks must just stay dead and forgotten. Nico pulled back from his dark thoughts to appreciate an apparent rare moment for the dead to come back to life. Ulima passes Nico a grey handkerchief . It also made Nico deeply sad for some reason though he had no idea why.

“So who is the strange young guy crying over on the side there,” Tamika hesitantly said, unsure of the apparent newcomer though, the old priestess was also estranged that way.

“I am sorry,”

“It's normal to witness things close to the aether and have extreme emotional side effects.” Oakarn said. “Pulling souls back from the abyss is serious work and it takes time and energy for everyone involved.”

“So the sad feeling? It's a reflection of the plane we pulled her from?”

“We are unsure theoretically with the magic of the plane up to this point, that could be what’s going on.” Ulima gracefully chose her words. “One could interpret the close association with emotions and the aether as what one sees in the outer planes of magic. It’s like having a near death experience to reverse the damage done to the body to return it from death.”

“What Ulima is trying to say is that the Aether is such a sensitive place that either interpretation is true and will work for the kinds of magic we deal with.” Oakarn explained.

“I could hear you chumps talk life and death all day but I plan on drinking until I forget I just died,” Tamika coughing up ickor as she got up, slowly shuffling to her feet and allowing her friends to walk her to the inn.

“We’ll meet you guys there,” Nico promised as he helped them out the door.

“Oakarn I don’t understand what he saw,” Kelly stared at the older wizard with eyebrows quirked. “I see a miracle.”

“As do I,” Nico sniffled and cleared his nose then cleaned the last of his tears.

“It also took the small sacrifices of a few good people to make this happen.” Oakarn spoke with an air of finality. “Let’s just celebrate what good we brought back into the world.”

“If it's alright with you I need to go home and take a nap,” Nico said in an exhausted voice. The others looked at the pale boy and after being given a minor physical from Ulima, he then went home and day dreamed of spending the day in bed drinking tea and eating day-old stew.

“Welcome home my son,” Ada gently spoke. Nearby the fire kept the small hut warm, it could be better described as a two room hut where Nico kept a few bookshelves and made himself a room in a room. Nico was reading the new book he had acquired the night before learning about the various theoretical planes. Ada had just spent the day with farmer Tark helping him around his farm, she had cooked for the few other hands Tark could afford on top of the field of flax they had for the town to weave clothes out of. Ada’s hands were rough from callus and working the land with the other hands in the latter part of the day. She counted two silver and a couple dozen coppers for her efforts today and days previous.

“Has Oakarn spoken to you yet?” Nico asked.

“Yes, he has.” Ada stayed reserved as she spoke “I adore Oakarn but he can’t possibly think it's best to have you travelling right now.”

“I don’t know,” Nico thought about the dead men in the forest again, and pushed the thoughts down in case they surfaced to his face then said again. “I think making an honest living doing adventuring might set us up for many fortunes mum.”

“What?” Ada’s voice had an edge of warning to it, she sat there stunned at the apparent stupidity exiting her son’s mouth.

“Well think about it,” Nico spoke fast for he knew how this conversation was going to turn out. “Working as an adventurer could easily make more money coming out of the schooling that I would otherwise get to be put into the arcane military anyways.”

“I’d rather you here learning magic from Oakarn anyways,” Ada’s words were trying their best not to threaten the poor boy with death before he died somewhere else far and unreachable.

“Oakarn has to leave with these adventurers to some place to help them with some research about this book,” Nico pointed to the book, his words falling on deaf ears.

“I don’t care, you’ll be thousands of miles away with no way to contact you.” Ada knew she was arguing fruitlessly against the young boy's passions but she wasn’t letting him go without a fight after all.

“I’ll write everyday!” Nico promised, it wasn’t an empty one either, he’d known he’d miss her but he also knew that this was the only opportunity he got to make a name for himself. He could become a court mage with such an education, and as a second year apprentice under the certification for Oakarn he could potentially take advanced magical courses. Ada could see the excitement in the young boy's voice, anxiety that she also couldn’t shake with her own fears going so far.

“Mum we could live like nobility,” Nico’s voice was shaky, he knew that living in this village had been hard. Nico knew that Ada helped local farmers with the harvest every year but more and more farmers have been unable to pay in coin. The two would get fresh produce and bread, sometimes even a little chicken or beef now and again. Rent has and always was an issue for the single mother and her son, it's exactly this passion that Nico inherited from his long passed father.

“People die out in the wider world Nico,” Ada silenced Nico now. “Your father had the same kind of talk.”

“I won’t be adventuring mum,” Nico shook his head. “I could be a court wizard and we could live in a castle instead of out on the road.”

Ada shook her head.

“The extent of your father’s adventuring amounted to sailoring the Southern part of the Endless Ocean.”

“Imagine such treasures,” Ada mock quoted the man she knew in heart was passed. Her chest hurt after six years of not having his bullshit around. “The best case scenario for him was piracy, he knew it and I knew it…”

“The answer is no,” Ada finished.

“I don’t think I was asking,” Nico continued, knowing he was treading dangerously he knew he had one last argument. “And this is something I want to do, I genuinely want to learn magic and this is the best course of action to do so.”

Nico grimaced waiting for the inevitable reason as to why he couldn’t go, this time they never came. The only thing he answered Nico back as he opened his eyes once more was his mother facing him now. Ada was holding back angry tears, she wanted her son to be wrong, she wanted to be able to keep him here and keep him safe. Instead the two embraced each other as mother and son, Nico talked a little more about his trip and who planned caravanning him where he needed to go. Ada was now helping Nico pack, making sure he had extra papers, ink, quills, food and clothes.

“And one last thing,” Ada left for a few moments, and just as swiftly returned with a bundle in hand.

“What’s this?” Nico looked quizzically at the package, Ada simply motioned for the boy to open the package. As Nico opened it, carefully unwrapping the cloth while the metal softly clinked together, the well polished scabbard that carried a long dagger.

“This was your father’s,” Ada said grimly, still wiping her face from her tears.

“Oh wow,” Nico winced, he hadn’t thought about that man for a long time.

“He wanted to give us a better life as well, Nico,” Ada spoke softly now, “He told us that we could live like kings when he left to go make his fortune.”

“He wanted an easy way out,” Nico argued, “you can’t always be as ‘lucky’ as the next guy in finding a rare item and cashing in on it’s worth.”

“Well your father saw it as six years away and helping people in need,” Ada cut back.

“You don’t need to get yourself killed in doing so,” Nico pressured.

“He did what he thought was right,” Ada said, finally restoring silence to the room. A few more precious moments of stunned silence finally broke.

“I think I understand then,” Nico stated coldy, “it was easier for him to justify leaving if he thought he was helping more people.”

“H-” Ada started before being shut down.

“I get it Nico,” Ada shook with anger, “I also still love him in spite of his apparent disappearance.”

“He wasn’t my dad when he needed to be,” Nico said from the heart, “he wasn’t there when I got hurt, when I got lost or when I nearly got kicked in the face by a horse.”

Ada laughed a little now, then Nico continued.

“You were there mum,” Nico finished. “You, Barton, Tark, Oakarn, Sally and everyone else in this dumb town.”

It was hard for the young boy to see now through all the tears he himself was shedding now. Ada couldn’t hold it together much longer as the two sobbed and held each other, there was still a few more days left and Nico wasn’t sure if he or his mother were going to be able to keep it together. Several hours of packing, crying, talking, advising and finally more arguing, Nico and Ada finally left the house to go to the Inn. Her son wasn’t going to be travelling with strangers, plus if she didn’t trust them she’d at least be able to convince Oakarn to pull the plug on this whole operation. Outside they stood the town’s Inn, the pale green wooden shingles in desperate need of repair. Rain in Atalor was frequent but only came in light drizzles, storms were rare but they happened from time to time. A sign read, O’Maelen’s Eatery and Inn , and underneath the sign hung another that read 5 rooms left. It had looked as though there was a hastily scratched out six a little to the left of the perfectly painted if a little small five. Inside the inn was much more cozy and welcoming in the daytime than at night, its massive roof joists holding the structure firm. Inside the inn it being the local watering hole seemed immune to the stresses of ageing, people met for lunch, packed to get ready to leave were a few merchants. Barton and Sally were among them with their goods in a caravan outside drawn by a pair of horses, they’d sold what they could here but often villages like Atalar were more centres to pick up various goods to sell in the city. A nearby river and lake system also helped provide the nearby forest with ample game to hunt and fish for those willing to brave a few hours walk south instead of north.

Atalar was of classical Argenian design using the foothills and short jaunt of fast running water to run a nearby mill and later down the river for about a half mile was a saw mill that was also powered by the running water. In between the two properties ran a bridge that connected this small village to the trade roads that ran through the mountains where the squabbling high elven kingdoms lay beyond. The rights of non-elves and worse “half-breeds” as the High King of the Elves of Elantra likened anyone of mixed race. Though the Empire was also heavily influenced by the elves they held no such beliefs. Atalar was a border village where the mountains cut across the territory claimed by the nearby provinces, a territory with the provincial capital farther to the east where a city surrounded by a massive fort where the Empire recruited and trained the majority of its military forces. South of Atalar is where some raiders sponsored by a local elven lord west of the mountains were stealing people and merchants to sell to elven nobility as servants and labour. They hid in the forests beyond where the river cut back after the lake had another major river running through the ran, two streams running down from other mountains from the range curve around what many call the Enulova Valley. Many little hamlets dot the basin with no real unified local government other than the massive fortcity of Anvil’s Crest. MIlitary patrols often came into conflict with the various raiders and slavers in the area, not to mention the various small crossings the cut into the mountains to the west. The elves hid many outposts in the mountains to ‘process’ slaves, many times those found with mixed blood are culled, hung or whatever else terrible.

Ada, Barton, Sally and Nico then saw the table combining the various fortune-seekers and Oakarn.

“Friends!” Kelly called out, though somewhat crowded the four had no real trouble getting to the massive table. The structure could seat more than a few dozen people.

“Kelly?” Ada said, suddenly feeling familiarity in recognizing her but only her. Ada the looked to Oakarn.

“Have you known the entire time,” Ada demanded, Oakarn shrugged sheepishly, Nico couldn’t look her in the eyes but luckily she wasn’t looking as him.

“I wanted it to be a surprise,” Kelly insisted, “And this is Rotkar, Ivalinna, and Jatar.”

“We are heading out in a few days to take this young lad to the Autocracy,” Oakarn referred to Nico, though in that moment it felt like utter betrayal.

“Oh now!” Ada played along, she was more relieved to see the woman that had rescued her from what could’ve been her terrible present. Kelly and Oakarn, with some help they had saved Ada when she was a child from slavers. Hands had grabbed both Nico’s shoulders, Kelly then snatched Nico and got him finally seated. The remainder of them started to follow suit, Oakarn had stood up for a time then returned. Drinks of ale and water were brought around, peoples orders for food were placed. Though the establishment had limited choices for food it was often always made really well courtesy of the couple that kept the Inn running and as maintained as a massive inn could be. The trade through the mountains used to be much better in the Enulova region, which is why most of these small villages sprang up in the first place. Places where they could act as small supply depots for the merchants in the territory, now the area has limited trade with some of the kingdoms to the south east keeping the area alive but no longer thriving.

“So our plan over the course of the next few days is simple,” Kelly outlined, she was setting up a small map in the middle of the table, surprising everyone to the table’s size that there was still enough room for food.

“We hit the road south a bit,” Kelly continued, marking the parchment lightly with charcoal. “This where Oakarn, Jatar and I will be striking the sl-”

“Wait a minute,” Ada interrupted, “You're taking my son close to a slaver camp?”

“Well we need to free those people and steal their coin-” Kelly started.

“Now the answer really is no,” Ada spoke, her words cutting across the table and in spite of the warm spring air, the room felt very cold that instant. Kelly stared deadly back.

“This isn’t about your son,” Kelly shot back “This is about all those who can go have free children, it's about paying it forward.”

“My son doesn’t have to go anywhere near this place in order for you to do this,” Ada argued, the cold room now quite heated.

“Well I’d like to be able to outrun the slavers after we bust everyone out,” Kelly reasoned, her words though convincing still meant that her son was too close to the action.

“I’ll have Tamika and Ivalinna there protecting him,” Kelly added as she saw Ada’s concern starting to melt somewhat.

“If there is even a chance you’ll be captured you make sure my boy gets away,” As Ada spoke her voice promised retribution. “I’d rather my baby be dead than have to go through what I went through.”

Awkwardly seeing the tension die down at the table the barmaid quickly dished out the bread, stew and roast chicken. The smells of rosemary, velvet root and cooked meat hung in the air making the empty stomachs around the table gurgle and ache. Though silence had overtaken the table and people were eating you could still feel tension in the air hung around them. Ada shook her head now.

“While this is delicious,” Ada remained focused “I am gonna have to come with this group and find a way back after.”

“That sounds like a great idea,” Oakarn spoke up finally, he’d spent some time patting his light grey beard which he’d trimmed recently for travel. Argenian people often have this tradition of trimming the facial fair or one’s head hair in order to measure the amount of time travelling across a given area. The tradition itself stemmed from the ancient nomadic peoples that used to inhabit the continent.

“That means we’ll have so much to catch up on!” Kelly excitedly yelled. “Like how you became a damn fox.”

“Oh stop it,” Ada blushed, though the last time she met Kelly was so long ago.

“We’ll have the next day or so to talk about it,” the Elven woman winked, though it’s been more than thirty some years since the two had known each other. While Ada had aged as humans tend to do, the only thing different about Kelly was that her hair was much shorter and she had a new energy about her.

“Sounds like a plan,” Ada already felt tired about this trip but be damned if she was going to let her only son go without her. She would head back at the next crossing and hope the caravan guards were as competent as the adventurers she was about to travel with. Although Ada had known Kelly and Oakarn, the other’s in Kelly’s party were no longer familiar, instead replaced with Rotkar, Jatar, and Ivalinna. She remembered others though their names escaped her.

“I remember there being other’s in your company Kelly,” Ada observed.

“Ah yes we would’ve had that dwarven fellow what was his name,” Kelly thought out loud. “Desmond and his assistant Geullar!”

“Ah yes Desmond,” Oakarn wondered. “Did he end up retiring the way he wanted?”

“Kinda,” Kelly grimaced. “He was eaten alive by ghouls about five years ago.”

“Oh no!” Ada’s hands covered her face in shock “Why?”

“Well we were treasure hunting in some long forgotten city,” Kelly begins. “We’d just gotten this ancient relic that was supposedly some transdimensional amulet but the thing was clearly nonfunctional. Anyways, we get this amulet, we are about to be on our way out of the ancient city’s sewer system and we then hear this screeching sound! These fuckers had apparently been following us when we first entered the city because I’d never seen so many ghouls in one place at a time. I lost him while we were running out and we waited three days on the outskirts but there was no sign of him and I wasn’t risking anymore of my people to try to retrieve a corpse.”

“Must’ve been after I’d left,” Oakarn grimly mentions.

“No hard feelings Oak,” Kelly motions to Oakarn with a spoon full of stew. “You wouldn't have seen them either, those sneaky fucks were using the cities various tunnels and vents to get around.”

“Air vents?” Nico asked.

“Yeah the people of the ancient world must’ve been some really advanced people because we’d used several translated maps we found to get around the city and there was all kinds of stuff those peoples had.” Kelly informed. “They had healing centers, flying machines, all kinds of stuff that we don’t have now.”

“Why would one need to vent air?” Nico wondered.

“From what I could make sense of it, it was to move some kind of heated air around though I have now idea how they were heated.” Kelly shrugged, “but they literally had stores that conditioned air so I have no idea.”

“Maybe as things get better the more people want cleaner air,” Jatar shrugged, “Cleaner air was something they also talked a lot about.”

“Yeah Desmond was very interested in the artefact thinking he and the technocratic council of dwarves could recreate such an advanced city,” Kelly sighed, she missed that eccentric dwarf. “Geullar couldn’t quite fill Desmond’s role, not that smart and had some serious anxiety issues in the worst possible moments.”

“Aye that lad was pure academic,” Oakarn said breathily, he’d just washed down some of the stew and chicken with some warm rich ale. The scents of pine and honey filled the old wizard’s nostrils, notes of oak and barley finished the drink leaving Oakarn refreshed.

“He wouldn’t survive the best the woods could offer,” Rotkar nodded.

“No he couldn’t but that boy could throw some mean spells in a pinch,” Kelly conceded. “He did save my life more than once, and he was a real member of the company it too bad he did what he did.”

“What did Geullar do,” Nico inquired.

“He sold all of the mercenary company’s assets and booked off with the cash to live a life of luxury,” Kelly grinned evilly. “He will pay for what he did in blood.”

“What happened to Valkra?” Ada spoke again this time about a hopefully less controversial member of the former party.

“She went to teach at the Arcane University in the Autocracy,” Kelly sighed then shook her head. “She couldn’t quite adventure after what she’d witnessed, she watched Desmond get eaten and she wasn’t really in the game for a long time so...”

“She came back for a 6 month stint to help us with a job,” Kelly added but there was pain in her eyes. “She almost didn’t make it back from that one so I gave her a bonus and said if I saw her adventuring again I’d kill her myself.”

“What was that job?” Oakarn raised an eyebrow as he asked.

“Well,” Kelly emphasised the word slowly. “We were supposed to kill this dragon in the Echo Gate Mountains in Northern Soecea. The dragon’s name was Tyranox, Burier of Truth, they called him such because of the immense amount he and his dragon cults had stolen and destroyed the old world relics of the ancient era. We are talking things only the most ancient of elves would remember or whatever is left of the dragon kings in the east.”

“So you killed an old dragon king?” Nico felt a bit safer now.

“Not quite,” Kelly replied, “We trapped the dragon king in one of his treasure chambers, stole what we needed and barely made it out alive.”

“Is adventuring just a bunch of stealing?” Nico queried.

“Only from those who don’t deserve the money,” Jatar answered. “Those that have power and abuse it deserve what comes to them.”

“Personally I think aggravating tyrants is fun,” Kelly shrugged, “Nothing gets my blood boiling like big jerks lording over people. Then there is this bit about outright killing folks that have mixed blood!”

“I don’t understand why that matters,” Nico said while he shook his head. “What difference does having mixed blood have?”

“The elves of Elantra don’t believe that other people should be able to mix their heritage with those that die sooner.” Oakarn grimmly responded. “Even the northern and eastern elves can’t legally bear the children of Elantran elves.”

“It's disgusting to think that there are those that think this way.” Ada stated, her words adding to the melancholy the table was falling under.

“Fear changes people,” Tamika spoke, it seemed to startle the table. No one had heard her come down the stairs.

“Tamika you’re feeling better!” Ivalinna shouted with excitement, embracing her friend.

“The cleric did a good job finishing my healing,” Tamika responded.

“So this is Tamika,” Ada now questioned, Kelly nodded in response.

“I am Tamika,” Tamika motioned her head down slightly acknowledging everyone in the room. “I am a Warden of Iron. Those chosen amongst my monastery to spread goodwill and peace to the world by any means necessary.”

Tamika came from Shogunate of Ran, which had a sizable population of a kind of knight class, as well as several different warrior monasteries which found enlightenment fighting with their fists and various unorthodox pieces of equipment. Her monastery was that of the Iron Wardens; although, known by adventurers around their neck of the woods that help with bandits, monsters and various other evils in their region. Tamika was very far from home, but so were most of the other’s in her party so she didn’t feel too far away. The young apprentice felt anxious around someone who was so clearly dead before, he then thought back to the ravens that tore into those two bodies the night before and shuddered.

“Sorry about how you had to meet me,” Tamika grimaced. The Iron Wardens were guardians of the forces of good; therefore, regardless of how far away she was from home, wrongs must be righted.

“Our people believe the body is a vessel for the soul.” Tamika started to explain. “It truly is miraculous magic to be able to keep good people in the world.”

“No it’s not what I witnessed there.” Nico confessed. “Sally and I had found two bodies that’d riddled with arrows earlier yesterday before you found us. Strangely, a large group of ravens attacked the bodies on the way back to town so whoever it was, wanted to make sure those people stayed dead.”

“You didn’t tell me about that?” Ada’s voice was curt and clearly annoyed. “My own son is keeping secrets from me.”

“It also means that Atalar isn’t safe from slavers anymore.” Oakarn grimly cut in.

“That's true and the first I’m hearing of it is Oakarn.” Kelly clearly also upset learning of this information. “Why didn’t you say anything?!”

“Look!” Oakarn slammed his hands onto the table. “I’m getting old and in all of the excitement I forgot.”

“How much do you know about what's been going on in this village?” Kelly interrogated. “Or have you stayed squirrelled up in that house of yours for too long.”

“Nico and Rider know those woods fairly well.” Oakarn argues back. “This is the first time in a very long time this town has been under threat and the enemy still doesn’t know we know. They just think a couple of kids found bodies and couldn’t recover them.”

“We still don’t know who they were.” Ada mentioned. “No one around town has gone missing recently?”

“There were a pair of men talking to Farmer Inan yesterday morning,” Nico spoke as he thought. “Could it be the same men?”

“Sounds like we will have to talk to farmer Inan then.” Oakarn confirmed. Kelly and her crew nodded in affirmation. The group finished their breakfasts and started to go about planning what they were going to do with their days. Oakarn and Kelly agreed to see about investigating what had happened at Inan’s farm. Jatar needed his equipment repaired and cleaned. With the small amount of downtime they had Nico and Sally helped Barton finish packing the caravan before the father and daughter left to go on their trip. Tamika made time to train and Ivalinna spent that time drinking and making small talk with Rotkar.

“So I’ll be heading to the university early,” Nico had said, though it felt as if he was admitting to something wrong. They both hadn’t expected Nico to be leaving so early and Sally still felt uncomfortable that he was leaving so soon. Barton being around was also listening to the conversation that popped around the corner.

“Yeah we heard you had found some adventurers and that they needed Oakarn,” Sally spoke sorrowfully. “So I wasn’t sure what was happening but it seemed that you’d be leaving for a time.”

“You’re leaving us Nico?” Barton asked, though there was clearly pain in his voice.

“Yeah I guess Oakarn can get me into the university early but it’ll still be a full 4 years til I become a court wizard,” Nico nodded “Then we can live a life of luxury.”

Tears had filled their eyes, truly they knew it might be a couple years before they might meet again. Sally felt a dreadful pang in her chest, she wasn’t sure what it meant, though she knew she’d badly miss Nico. As would Barton and the many other folk of Atalar in the years to come.