“The Great Matriarch is a diety of the mortal, where the others offer absolution in death we offer lessons in life. Where they offer the bliss of unknowing following we give the harsh lesson of life. The lesson of parenthood, of nurturing and harsh measures. Devotion cannot be simply offered, it must be grasped with the strength of a drowning man to a boat. We must accept it fully within our heart, it cannot be tested for. It cannot be faked, for only by the goddess herself or in death will we know. Tremble at the unknown, fear the dark, but never forget those around you. Remember the tenets, remember to care for others. Remember that to live, you must know death. To feel joy you must have experienced sorrow, to love you must know how to hate. Life is never simple, but we never tried to trick you so. The divines are not infallible, but never are you as a parent. Sometimes we stumble, but remember to always get up. Remember” Last words of Saint Odagen of the Silidari Church

Hearing an alert come into my conscious I feel that a few of my crafted mouse bone skeletons and spectres have returned. Not what I wanted to use as they are rather small to travel quickly in a forest but they would not be spotted so easily. Nothing of note so far in their travels, they will go ahead of me to the nearest town. Any threats should be discovered early.

Moving my fingers I see the newest item to be added to my regalia, a large signet ring. Made of silver and gold with a large sapphire set into it. On it is a powerful concealment and binding that would be impossible for anyone other than the maker to remove. A bit of an experiment taking it off and storing it in a pouch shows that it returns to my hand after about 5-10 minutes. I feel as if I can cast magic more fluidly and more varied with this on, a powerful catalyst artifact for any mage. The effects are mostly focused on elemental magic from my tries but all magic in general gains some more ease in casting. A good utility object for helping me start my work, especially if I must conceal my more potent abilities. In addition hidden deep within appears to be an archive of knowledge on the Agros de Mortis along with a grimoire like function to record knowledge. A secondary utility function appears to be the allowance of storing a small amount of items if they are enchanted with sufficient magic. A deeper look into the ring will be appropriate at another time.

Gathering the bags I can see that the horses are eager for some better exercise. Finishing strapping everything together I depart. Departing at dawn I observe the surroundings as they pass. These are game trails I am passing on, not very quick but the isolation certainly was of use. There is a road for trade wagons further on, it should only take a few hours. Watching as flashes of green and brown flow like a mosaic I feel calm. I allow the pungent smell of wood and detritus to pass through my nose. The undergrowth is rather thick in places as I maneuver the horses around while paying attention to the direction of the sun. After an hour of riding I step down to walk the horses for a time. While navigating a series of rises I find myself on the road at last. Estimating where I am from my map I begin to travel further along.

A few hours in I decide to halt for the midday meal, letting the horses forage I recall my familiars. Changing them into a dark stone I attach them to the wooden pendants I carved to hold them on my belt. I certainly have quite the significant amount of jewelry upon my body, nothing valuable from an gander but still great in quantity. Most of it is practical of course but for the layman that is not something they will think. Perhaps I should amend that matter...

However my musings were interrupted by one of my scouts finding something of interest, it appears that we have several fellow travelers ahead. Having one of my scouts observe closer I discover that I was only partly right, there are a few bandits are ahead with only the most rudimentary of weapons which were mostly hunter’s bows and hunting knifes. I don’t even need my actual servants to handle this even if my guard spectres are chafing for action, time for a bit of exercise if they wish for it. Moving along on foot with my staff I eventually meet said bandits, one is upfront while the other 3 surround me in what they believe to be stealth. However I do not feel much bloodlust, from the one in front I feel as if he is nervous. Not behavior for true highwayman, my senses feel the same for the rest. I school my posture and face to not be hostile, they certainly are not seeming to be violently hostile. The man on the road steps up and addresses me in an attempted affable tone.

“Excuse me fellow traveler but I need a bit of aid, perhaps a little food and other alms for a poor fellow. I lost many of my supplies to bad luck and need some more to get to Trosafen”

“I would if I could but I myself am low on supplies and can spare only a bit, the rest of my wares are things that cannot be eaten unless you are in the need for a tincture against bad stomach pain”

“Ahh a doctor, no I only need a bit of food enough to get me to one of the villages before Trosafen, I can appeal to them for anything else I need, it is only a small amount please. Just a meal or two” His eyes light up but he does not seem to be greedy.

“Of course a small bag of food can be spared, here let me get it off my horse”

Hmm it appears like they won’t try for more, hearing that I am a doctor perhaps made them wary since offing a doctor gets the wrong attention not to mention that trying to sell my wares unless they want to go to the large market town is pointless. If they tried to masquerade as your common peasant then someone is going to notice on the off chance that they are a bandit for a bounty, if not then the local guard will take in this obvious vagabond anyway to get credit when no one will miss them.

They still do not make a move as I rummage in my pack while keeping my senses on them, it is obvious this is not a group of hardened criminals. Probably a few destitute hunters trying to survive, still this should inform me of the current situation. Not bad enough for too many bandit gangs to arise but still not enough for people to survive easily. A single bag of peas, some hardtack and a bunch of berries later and I start asking about things ahead. The fool does not realize that I know he was not actually a just arrived traveler and starts telling me of local affairs. His buddies meanwhile have backed off and are being more productive on lookout for anything else. It appears that the town ahead is on rougher times, trade is not as prevalent as before and the harvest has felt a few hard times. Not enough for people to get desperate but belts are being buckled a bit tighter than before, some questions on local rates for goods along with the entry restrictions and that is enough information for now.

I smile compassionately and inform the of a few wild game back down the path for him and his friends to go hunt and he has the remorse to look a bit shamed before bidding me farewell as I continue my trek. No need to expressly kill this lot since I won’t get much food from them and if they had any valuables then why would they be doing this. The energy they would have is simply not worth it, if I truly wanted to store up necromantic energy or mass large amounts of death mana from them then 4 peasants is simply not worth the waste of time it would be to do so in the field. A proper lab where I can carefully drain them then perhaps but now, no it would be worthless and I need to get to the fields quickly before others come. As the goddess said she is not the only one who will take notice of what is occurring there and being first gives a powerful advantage. It might not be possible to do so if I want to prepare, the situation will be clearer later. I can make my reveal to the world after actually having at least a small army, should find a better source as well since wasting time with only four low quality meatbags is not enough.

Watching as they wandered off I know that while there were indeed a few rabbits around, the remnants of the dire wolves that were not with the pack I killed are on the prowl. What will happen from such a maneuver will be up to fate. Dire wolf pelts and organs are a relatively expensive item, dangerous for the normal hunter but not unsurmountable. If they manage to take it down cleanly then they stand to gain, if not then they were not strong enough. I find it also amusing that they so easily gave up their story, well that is not my concern as they are not hostile anymore. Continuing my journey it is only a few hours to the nearest village. From there I can be at the town only another few hours in. The good news is that there will be a trade market day when I arrive. The amount of people will help ensure I am not suspicious.

The money I receive will be used to cover my expenses for the trip. I do not feel that I will be able to be an apothecary for too long but it will be enough to test how well I act. For now things are slow but they will escalate quickly. What are the factions that can be courted, those that can be swayed, those that must be removed. Catspaws, informants, stooges, assassins, all sorts. They must be molded like cold clay, before the fires can truly forge them. How many will pass, well that is for a little later. First I need to find them, then I can filter the good from the bad. Thumping my leg I bid my horse to continue on. My familiars continue to circle around out of sight, out of mind. Now I hope there are no more interruptions.