Omen: 14, 20

‘You have got to be kidding me,’ Adam thought, squinting his eyes up at the ceiling.

“Are you feeling unlucky?” Sonarot whispered, seeing the sour look on Adam’s face.

“No,” Adam whispered in return. “I am very lucky today.”

Sonarot stared at the Half Elf, whose eyes were glued to the ceiling.

Adam played with the children in the morning as part of his exercise, before heading to the river to bathe.

“Why do you look so upset?” Dunes asked, noting Adam’s mood.

“I almost created a perfect magical weapon,” Adam said. “Yesterday I awoke feeling quite lucky, but today I had the perfect luck, and the weapon I made could have been the best I’ve made to date.”

“Better than Lightsear?” Jurot asked.

“Yes,” Adam replied.

Dunes and Jonn threw each other a glance. They knew when Adam joked, and it appeared that he wasn’t joking at the moment.

“Truly?” Dunes asked.

“Yes.”

“What a terrifying thought.”

“Is it?” Adam asked. “It would save our lives.”

“Isn’t it a gift for your friend?”

“Oh, right.” Adam chuckled. “It is. It would have been the best gift ever if I had just waited one more day.”

“How do you know that it would have been so great?” Jonn asked.

“I had the greatest luck today,” Adam replied. “It’s hard to explain, but just know that instead of sixty points, I managed to create something using fifty eight points.”

“That is quite exact,” Dunes said.

Adam smiled.

Citool was the one to cook breakfast that day, which consisted of fish and vegetables which had been grilled. Sonarot was feeding her daughter some mashed fruit nearby.

“Is this what you expected when you left your village?” Adam asked.

“No,” Brittany admitted. “I thought we’d go out hunting bears and wolves, and we’ll be going from town to town.”

“Are you disappointed?”

Brittany said up straighter. “No, definitely not.” She glanced around the Iyrmen, who were in their own conversations as they ate. “I am very fortunate to be allowed to come into the Iyr. I never would have imagined I’d be able to walk past those gates.”

“You are quite lucky to have met me,” Adam said, nodding his head. “It was Fate.”

Brittany threw an awkward look at Adam, wondering if he was trying to make a move on her.

Adam was smiling to himself, eating his food happily. “Have you met Brandon’s descendants yet?”

“Not yet. I feel as though it would be rude to ask so soon.” Dunes sipped some wine.

“Rude? It was the main reason why you wanted to come to the Iyr. Since you’ve been helping out, I’m sure the Iyrmen would be willing to allow you to meet them. Is anyone more eager than you to hear their stories?”

Dunes couldn’t help but admit Adam had a point.

“If you wish to meet with them, I will take you,” Jurot said. “Since you are a member of my party, you are no stranger.”

“I would thank you kindly if you could allow me to meet them,” Dunes said, bowing his head. “I never would have imagined I would be here to meet Great Brandon’s descendants.”

“Did you imagine yourself arriving in the Iyr?” Adam asked.

“In the far future,” Dunes said. “It was a pilgrimage I wanted to make.”

“Aren’t you lucky too?” Adam chuckled.

“Yes,” Dunes said. “I am.”

Sonarot noted how Adam was always eager to speak with the group. Normally they would make small talk about one thing or another, but she also remembered how hesitant Adam was to allow them to adventure without him.

Her eyes fell to Jurot, who hadn’t spent much time away from Adam since they had met. She was glad they were brothers, and she believed they viewed each other as such, especially due to Lanarot, but she couldn’t help but wonder if their relationship to one another would form a crutch for either of them.

‘What am I thinking?’ she thought. ‘Am I going to interfere in their lives?’

Once breakfast was finished, Adam lifted up his sister and hugged her tight. “Good morning my precious little Lana. Did you sleep well?”

She began to babble and squeal, her hands grabbing across his collar as she tugged against his clothing.

After playing with his little sister, he let her down to allow her to crawl around, before stretching his body. Jaygak and Kitool were playing with their pups, sometimes letting Lanarot touch them, but otherwise raising them by themselves.

The group spent an hour together before they finally left for their work, and Adam wondered what he should enchant, and why he should enchant.

“Must you enchant today?” Sonarot asked.

“I have to,” Adam said. “With this much luck it would be a shame to waste it.”

Sonarot nodded her head, allowing him to leave as he pleased. Once he had left, she sent word to the group to meet her during lunch.

“Hello there,” Adam said, waving towards Elder Zijin, who was currently at the warehouse to sort out the items and to double check the inventory.

“What trouble do you bring to me today?” Zijin asked.

“Trouble? Moi?” Adam shook his head. “I’m offended you would even suggest such a thing.”

Zijin raised his brows.

“Anyway,” Adam said, clearing his throat. “I’m here to ask for a weapon that I can enchant. I plan on selling it to the Iyr so I thought it would be nice if I could have the Iyr provide the weapon.”

Zijin nodded his head. “There is a greatsword which hasn’t been in use for some time. It would be best if you enchanted that.”

“Are you saying that because your family’s weapon is a greatsword?” Adam asked.

“I am offended you would even suggest such a thing,” Zijin said, smirking at Adam. “It is of decent make. We have a surplus of greatswords at the moment, so it has not been used in some time because of that.”

“Alright, I’ll take it off your hands and enchant it,” Adam said, nodding his head.

The handle was quite long, but Adam felt confident as he held the blade tightly in hand. It was quite a basic design, though the metal was blue, and there was a wavy pattern on the blade.

“You Iyrmen sure know how to make beautiful weapon,” Adam said.

“It is the least we could do for our enemies as we grant them death,” Zijin said.

‘Damn, these guys are hardcore.’

Adam went to the shrine to start his enchanting, spending hours as he set within the blade an enchantment, though not any particular enchantment.

“You must all leave in the morning to Red Oak,” she said, looking at the rest of Fate’s Golden. “You should complete a few requests and return before Nightval.”

“Yes, mother,” Jurot said.

Kitool and Jaygak also nodded, though the others glanced between one another.

“You cannot tell Adam.”

“He is our leader,” Dunes said. “It is expected of us to tell him if we are leaving.”

“I understand,” Sonarot said. “However, it is for the best. He cannot know.” She reached up to brush Jurot’s cheek. “Just a few simple requests. You cannot die.”

Jurot felt his mother’s hand on his cheek, and he nodded his head. “Yes, mother.”

“You must also leave, Jonn, Brittany. You must all be able to forge your own path as you please, and Adam his own without you.”

“If Kitool leaves, then I should leave with her,” Brittany said.

Jonn had no reason to leave, since he was the one who wanted to remain to see what Adam was like. However, he wasn’t stupid enough to decline the words of his host, especially considering it seemed this was important to her.

“You must return alive, or he may never lose that fear which is set deep within his heart,” the woman said.

The group glanced between another. They understood Adam was their leader, but this woman was also someone very close to him. She outranked him, didn’t she?

Lanarot clapped her hands together and giggled wildly, reaching up for her mother’s collar, gripping it tight.

They wondered if Lanarot also outranked their leader.

Mana: 10 -> 8

Enchanting Check

D20 + 7 = 19 (12)

Omen: 14, 20 -> 14

20 + 7 = 27

Many miles away, a young man, adorned in chain mail, a spear in hand, marched up the top of a hill to look across the fields. He smiled, eyes full of hope, before he noted the large creature ahead, the body of a feline, with the head and wings of a bird. He quickly dropped down, rolling into a bush, his heart pounding hard in his chest as he waited.

“What a great start,” Adam said, wiping his brow as he sat down across the fire, dinner already having been served.

“Which weapon are you enchanting?” Sonarot asked.

“A greatsword,” Adam said.

“Not an axe?” Jurot asked.

“Elder Zijin offered it.”

“Of course he did,” Jaygak said.

“He said it was because there were too many greatswords in the Iyr, or something.” Adam shrugged his shoulders.

“I’m sure that’s what he said,” Jaygak said, smirking slightly.

Elder Zijin bit into the leg of a boar and narrowed his eyes, feeling something tingle in the back of his head. ‘Adam or Jaygak?’

“What is wrong?” another Iyrman asked.

“I think Adam and Jaygak are getting into trouble,” he said.

“Adam?” one of the girls from nearby asked. “He gave us the Dragon scales?”

“Yes,” Zijin said.

“He is nice,” the child said, with the other children nodding their heads.

Zijin made a note to inform Elder Teacher about Adam’s effects on the children.

“It must be sister Jaygak,” the child said, confidently.