Winners just above. On with the story
57 – Conversations
You decide you will study the book of old stories, legends and myths. You were witness to a lot of strange events these last two months, not to mention the metal artifact you are still carrying on your person. You need to learn, though you do not know how much the book in question can help you. You still need to rest a bit, but you decide you will dedicate about half of your time each day studying. That still leaves you enough time to pursue other things
The first day you decide to check up on Kalz, and look for Irene in case she's in town. You cannot deny your attraction for her, you would really like to pass some more time with her. You head for the barracks first, to see if Kalz is around, and you find him training with some other soldiers. He notices you, and stops practicing.
"So Kyoss, I have been told that your injury is not serious. That's good, many have paid a lot more for their first combat. What are you going to do now?"
You explain to him that you're going to rest for a few days, and that it will be weeks before you can practice the sword again.
"Well, once you can move again come back here. I'll get you some people to train with, even if I'm not around. To be honest, I hope we will work together again, you are a smart lad. Keep working, and you will go far."
You thank him for his offer and his compliments, and then ask if he knows anything about Irene. To that, he laughs hard.
"Ooh so you're interested. Not that I blame you, but you set your sight quite high! That's an exceptional woman indeed. If I were not married.... But whatever, to be honest I doubt she'd be interested in me. Anyway, no, she's still away I hear. Hey, don't make that face. I think you need to grow up a bit before you stand a chance friend. Come on, cheer up. Tell you what, I think she knew the old man of the bookstore, you might want to ask him about her."
You thank Kalz and leave. This makes it official, tomorrow you're going to the bookstore. You also have to ask Thomas quite a bit of questions .
The next day you head to the bookstore, and Thomas greets you warmly
"Oh Kyoss, you're back. I suppose you came with the caravan? Tell me, anything interesting going on? I hear there were fights with enemies that also used poisonous centipedes. And did you see the strange darkness? Frightening, yet such an interesting phenomenon."
Figures, some soldier must have talked. Then again it would be hard to keep the enemies and the centipedes completely hidden. You decide to start with an abridged version of your report. You leave out your metal artifact, the whole revolt/assassination at Strok and the lightnings that killed off the enemies. He listens intently, asking you many questions. He obviously finds this all quite interesting.
"How fascinating, if it were not such a big problem. Enemies are never a good thing, seems like the prelude to a war. I wonder if Lord Medah was sent here because of that, he IS a great general after all. Well, at least we will be as prepared as possible. I will check into my books to see if there's anything about giant centipedes... Unfortunately, there's nothing about strange, wide area darkness. And those shadows! But my books have nothing about that..."
You ask him if there's any other book he can give you about strange things, myths, legends. But he shakes his head "I do have some other books, but they're not in our language. They either are from distant lands, or they are quite old, using an ancient version of our language. You would not understand them unfortunately"
You decide to change subject, and ask about Irene. He's hesitant at first, but you insist, eventually admitting that you... fancy her. He smiles to that, and agrees to tell you about her.
"Well, she's an exceptional woman, that's for sure. She does come here from time to time. She's smart, cultured. I hear she's also extremely good at fighting and talking to people. She came here to Bitak two years ago, part of Lord Medah's retinue despite her young age. She's some sort of special agent for him, doing highly important work for him. Oh, and from what I saw and heard, I think she's single, so good luck!"
But as he talks to you, you somehow thinks that he knows more, that he's not telling you everything. You wonder if you should press the issue.
Then, you decide to ask about Avarlos, and about magic as well. It's quite easy, after all from what Lord Medah told you the two topics are linked. He ponders a bit, and then slowly talks to you.
"Well, yes, Avarlos. A mighty kingdom that once ruled the northern half of our continent. It is said that the kingdom fell once the capital was destroyed. Legends say that the city fell in a single night, though I find it unlikely. I know for sure that the ruins of the city are off-limits, and that those who go in there do not usually come back alive. If true, most likely the place is still dangerous. I know that even the king's army avoids entering that place."
"Avarlos was a kingdom who also used magic to great effect, and magic was a lot more common back then. Someone also speculates that if the city did indeed fall in one night, magic might have played a part in that, though really there's no proof. But well, with the fall of Avarlos much knowledge about magic was lost, and magic quickly became very rare in the entire northern part of the continent. It's possible that magic is still relatively common in the southern nations, but I doubt it. After all they were very ignorant back then about magic...."
You decide to insist a bit and ask more about magic users nowadays, and about magic in general. He hesitates a bit, then he answers you.
"Very well, but please understand. All I'm going to say from now on is just speculations, or incomplete information. Please remember it may just be plain wrong. They are scraps of information I found in my life, and theories I put together or heard from colleagues."
"Magic from what I know is a supernatural mean to pursue an end. I don't know how it works, but I do know that apart from normal magic users there are also a few very pious people who can use it. They say it comes from their god, but I do not know if it's true. At any rate, while these people can sometimes do what they call "miracles", I have heard that magic generally requires great intelligence and willpower. But it may just be wrong information."
"Regarding modern magic users, they are very few and far between. I do not even know if there are any in Eskal, apart from those few pious individuals. I am rather confident that a few exist in Werag, but they are very hard to meet. Karum's higher classes instead are rather opposed to anything supernatural at all. They're very zealous with their religion, and consider anything supernatural to be blasphemous. I really can't think of anything else right now..."
(Karum is the nation west of Eskal)
Thomas doesn't have anything else to tell you it seems, but maybe you should ask?
Will you insist that he tells you more of Irene?
- Yes, ask directly
- Yes, but try to fast-talk him into it
- No, you do not want to push him
- Other. Make a proposal and number it
Should you tell him about the "magic thunderstorm" that killed the enemies back then?
A) Yes, make it seem something you remembered, see how he reacts
B) Yes, ask him directly what he thinks of it
C) No, it's none of his business
What about the metal artifact and the flames?
a) Show him the artifact and ask what he thinks but tell him nothing of what happened
b) Tell him everything, ask for his counsel
c) Ask about metal artifact in general, don't let him know you have one
d) Don't tell him anything, better keep it secret
e) Other, make a proposal