Dravincia Page 5

  The forest had seemed rather beautiful when he was out in it, but he had noticed that the closer he got to the edge, the sicklier the trees had started to look. What in the world could have happened to this land to make it look this bad? It looked like the land had just given up and laid down to wait and die. Nothing seemed to grow anywhere for some reason.

  With a resigned sigh, Arthur decided he could do nothing but move forward. He took off in the direction of what he assumed was a town. As Arthur got closer, he noticed there was plowed land for planting around the village, but it didn’t appear to be growing much of anything. Most of the fields lay empty. As he got even closer, he also noticed that the town was a semi-small affair with what appeared to be eighteen houses of varying design and repair and one modest-sized building that he assumed was an inn based on the posts out front to tie animals too. That building also had a stable next to it, so it seemed to be the most logical conclusion.

  Arthur didn’t see anywhere that looked like it was a shop, so he decided to visit the inn. He knew it wasn’t uncommon for an inn to act as a merchant shop for essential goods in small towns. As he approached the inn, he noticed a few people milling around some of the houses. Most of them were wearing clothes that looked rather threadbare, and they also appeared somewhat malnourished. A few looked like they hadn’t had a bath in months. Arthur had even forced himself to wash off in the chilly stream before he left his small glade. The smell he had started to accumulate was driving him crazy. Learning to live with some dirt and grime had been rather annoying to him the first few days after he arrived. You sure did take daily hot showers for granted until you didn’t have them anymore.

  Many of the villagers gave him cursory looks and quickly continued on their way. None of them even had the courtesy to say hello or give him a nod in greeting. This was turning into a rather dismal state of affairs.

  He walked into the inn and noticed that there wasn’t a single customer in the building. It was close to the middle of the day, so Arthur had thought there might at least be a couple of people here enjoying some lunch. The man behind the bar let his gaze lazily sweep toward Arthur as he entered. The man had seen better days. He was almost as threadbare looking as some of the people Arthur had noticed outside. The bar itself was at least relatively clean. The most concerning problem here was the man looked far too malnourished. It was hard to trust a cook who was that skinny. The bigger and more joyous looking guys and gals tended to cook the best food. You could tell because they ate it abundantly to get their figure. Arthur wasn’t sure he would trust this sad-looking man to make a dish for his dog if he had one.

  Arthur walked up to the man at the counter, and the man eyed him suspiciously. He looked over Arthur’s shoulder at the bag he was carrying and got an odd look to his face.

  “Greetings,” Arthur said.

  “Hello? What brings you to Alem’s Crossing?” The innkeeper replied.

  “I was looking for somewhere in the town I could sell some of my goods. I have some furs and excess meat I would be willing to part with.” Arthur said with a smile.

  “What do you mean, excess meat? I don’t believe such a thing exists anymore,” The innkeeper said in a deadpan tone.

  Something was seriously off here, and he couldn’t imagine what it could be. Arthur wasn’t familiar enough with absolutely anything in this world to even begin to guess at the woes of these people. He needed some information on the current state of affairs, but he had to be careful doing it.

  “I am from a place much farther away on the other side of the forest southwest of here, so I am not sure what you are referring to,” Arthur told him cautiously.

  The innkeeper gave him a long look before sighing.

  “I didn’t think anyone could even pass through the Forest of Nodara safely, but I guess it could be possible. Let’s say I believe you, just to simplify things, there isn’t much I can do to help you, unfortunately. I am sure you noticed the sad state of affairs outside when you entered the village?” He asked.

  “I did notice the place looked a little worse for wear. What has happened here to make things so bad?” Arthur asked in return.

  “You must truly be from the other side of that large forest if you do not know. The local lord has essentially crushed everyone here and in the lord’s domain in general. He just keeps taking more from us until we can barely survive. This is why I said I couldn’t help you. I honestly don’t have any coin to provide you with.” He stated matter of factually. “The only reason we haven’t all starved to death is that we live in the farthest corner of the lord’s domain and he doesn’t send his enforcer’s out this way very often, but when he does they strip everything. There is nothing we can do to stop them even if we wanted to.”

  “Well if you have no coin do you have any items you would part with for trade? I would hate to see good meat go to waste.” Arthur smiled.

  “As I said, they took everything. I would tell you to continue to another city along the road, but I have a feeling things would be just as bad there if not worse. The closer you get to the lord’s seat of power, the worse things are bound to be. You have to travel through his entire territory just to get to another place. We are walled in by almost impassable mountains on all sides except the forest you came through. Many who try and navigate through there either end up wandering right back out to here or never return.”

  “I have an idea then, based on what you have told me I have no desire to trek through the countryside just to get caught in worse places so what if I trade you the meat and some of the furs I have for rooms and food? I know you don’t have much to offer, but if I am going to stick around here for a bit, this place would be great for me to stay at.” Arthur said happily.

  “Well, I suppose I could agree to that. There shouldn’t be any problem from any of the lord’s men for some time since they were here recently so it should be relatively quiet for you.”

  “That won’t do,” Arthur responded. “I am a bit of an adventurer and am looking for some tasks to help improve my skills. Do you or anyone nearby know of anything around here that needs to be dealt with? An infestation of creatures somewhere? An odd location that needs investigating? I don’t expect big rewards or anything just looking for ways to increase my power a bit.”

  The innkeeper gave Arthur an odd look. “You don’t look like a member of the Adventurer’s Guild but who am I to question. I didn’t think they allowed anyone your low of level myself, but we rarely ever see one of their types around here. The lord runs them out quickly if he finds them in his lands.”

  “I am not a member of the Adventurer’s Guild,” Arthur responded quickly. He didn’t want him mistaking his ignorance for a false claim on something. That was a quick way to get himself into trouble.

  “I am working on my skills though, and may one day entertain the idea of joining them,” Arthur explained.

  “I do know there are a few people around town who could use some good, honest help but don’t expect a big reward for any of it. They are as destitute as or worse than I am. You could try Dalia down the road. She lives three houses down on the right. She has been looking for someone to help clear out a problem.” He told Arthur.

  “Thank you for the advice.” Arthur pulled out five of the smaller hides he had cured and laid them on the counter. He then pulled out five of the larger muscles he had taken off of the boar who had caused him so much trouble and laid them on the counter. While the innkeeper looked pleased when he saw the furs, Arthur was almost sure the man would burst into tears when he saw the meat he laid on the table. It was apparent the people hadn’t eaten much.

  “If things are truly so bad, why does no one try and hunt any of the forests near here?” Arthur asked.

  “Oh, we have had plenty who tried but, as I told you before, they either wander right back out of the forest or do not return. We also have nothing to our names. There are only a couple of villagers here capable of using a bow, in the first place, and they sold thei
r bows since they couldn’t find anything in the forest. We have one ranger who does her best to help keep the village from falling apart, but she is wary of traveling too far by herself with the disappearances. The enforcers came through and took almost every bit of our planting stock, leaving us with almost nothing to plant. I fear the village won’t survive much longer. Each time these enforcers show up they take more than last time and I am not sure the village can survive after this round.” He stated dejectedly.

  “Well, would these furs and this meat be acceptable for, say a fortnight? I could provide more meat every few days as well for dinner.” Arthur asked.

  Daniel looked Arthur over, nodded at him, and extended his hand. Arthur took it, and he gave a firm handshake. Immediately after the handshake, he saw a notification pop up.

  Congratulations, you have learned Barter for a 100 experience bonus. Money runs the world.

  You have gained 1300 experience in Barter for this transaction.

  Congratulations, you have progressed to Level 2 in Barter. All trading agreements will favor you with 1% more value to your goods. Rub those coins together.

  Congratulations, you have progressed to Level 3 in Barter. All trading agreements will favor you with 2% more value to your goods. My precious.

  Arthur realized he must have had good favor on his side of that bargain to get enough experience for it to jump straight to level 3.

  “I think I will take some of my items to my room and then go check with Dalia, as you suggested,” Arthur told the innkeeper.

  The innkeeper nodded, reached under his counter, and removed a key that he handed to Arthur.

  “Here is the key to your room. The doors and windows are sturdy, and the lock is in good repair so anything you wish to leave behind should be safe. You can have the door at the end of the hall.” He told Arthur.

  “I appreciate it,” Arthur said as he grabbed the key and moved up the stairs. The room that the innkeeper had referenced was spacious enough for his needs. It was roughly the size of an average-sized motel room back on Earth. This room only had a small bed with a lumpy looking mattress, but it appeared to be clean. There was a small chest at the foot of the bed for storing personal items

  He placed the remaining skins and about half of the salted meat he had acquired into the chest. That was enough weight to make him feel a little better walking around. He wouldn’t put all of his food in there in case he ended up on a quest that would take him from the town. He closed the chest and locked it. He tossed the key into his bag, hoping he didn’t end up losing it amongst his other possessions. Shouldering the bag, he walked back out of the room and locked the door behind him.

  Arthur took off down the stairs and headed outside. The innkeeper was nowhere to be seen, but that didn’t concern him. No need for the man to be out here with no other customers. From the sound of it, he hadn’t had many customers in a while. Once on the packed dirt road, he started toward Dalia’s house. Half of the buildings here looked like they were on the verge of collapsing. The occasional patchwork of stray boards could be seen nailed at odd angles. It was rather obvious the repairs were made by someone that didn’t have much if any, skill in construction.

  He made it to Dalia’s house and walked up to the door. He had raised his hand to knock on the door when it flew open wildly, and a somewhat frizzy-haired woman stepped forward. She was a small thing that stood around five and a half feet tall with fiery red hair. She had a light patchwork of freckles on her cheeks, but that didn’t detract from her good looks, even if she was a little dirty.

  She brought her hands to her hips and glared at Arthur.

  “What do you want?” she asked in a less than friendly tone.

  “I came from the inn and was told by the innkeeper you may need the assistance of someone interested in a bit of adventuring,” Arthur said. She began to answer him, but he wanted to head off part of this conversation before it started. “Do not worry, I understand at least some of the hardship here and am not expecting much of a reward or money in return. I merely wish to help while I am here in town.”

  She looked at him with her mouth open and slowly closed it. She stared at him for a few moments and then opened her mouth again to start speaking.

  “Well, if you put it that way I guess I cannot refuse, can I? There is something I need, but that is a completely different matter.” She said to him with a shy smile and a wink. “That is not related to what you came here about though. I could use your help with a small issue. In the forest directly south of the town there is a ruined manor house. The house itself is roughly a mile into the forest. The manor was once a holding in my family before ill-fortune struck us generations ago. Some items in the house could help improve my status in the world if I had access to them. If you were willing to retrieve them for me, I would be ever so grateful, and I am sure we could come to terms with an appropriate reward.”

  She put a little extra emphasis on appropriate reward, so he had a general idea of what she proposed might be part of that reward. After looking at her and talking to her, he didn’t disagree with the notion.

  “That seems somewhat easy enough, but what is the catch?” Arthur asked.

  “Well, the forest itself can be rather dangerous, and I do not have the skills to protect myself. The main problem is the manor is supposedly overrun with some type of creatures, but I know not what.” She replied.

  Arthur knew that the vague response probably meant there was something relatively nasty waiting there for this quest. He also saw a small notification icon flashing in the top right of his vision. He checked it to find a message waiting.

  You have been offered the quest:

  Patents of Nobility I

  Requirements: Level 5

  Rewards: 1000 experience, 1 silver coin, unknown rewards also possible.

  Description: Dalia has asked you to infiltrate her family’s decrepit manor and recover items that could help prove her status among the gentry.

  That much experience was nothing to turn your nose up at. Arthur considered the request and decided that the threat should be negligible since it was only level 5. It might also be useful to be on her side in case she was able to raise her status. It was becoming rather apparent that Arthur was probably going to be stuck at this small town for a while, at least until he got a little stronger. If she turned out to be some form of nobility, as the quest title suggested, this could be a great opportunity.

  “I would be happy to assist you with this,” Arthur replied with a smile which earned him a smile in return from her. “I guess I will head out now to take care of this matter for you. I have everything I should need already with me, and there should be plenty of daylight left to make the trip.”

  Arthur turned to head toward the door when he felt a firm swat on his right ass cheek. He looked over his shoulder to see a coy smile plastered on her face and with one more wink, she turned and slowly walked further back into the house, swaying her hips a bit the whole way. Arthur sighed and had to smile to himself. She was a rather feisty one, and he did like women who knew exactly what they wanted and were not afraid to go for it.

  Arthur walked back onto the dirt road, and as soon as he passed the edge of the house, he turned due south. Since there were no other directions, he assumed there would be some kind of trail he would stumble upon after he reached the forest. With no further details on the location, this was all he had to go by. There were a couple of small farm plots in this direction, but nothing that would hamper his travel. As with the other fields, he saw when entering the town, there wasn’t much planted in these fields. They looked more like small personal gardens than and actual farm plot. Arthur idly wondered how that would be sustainable to this lord’s domain without the excess crops he would require in tribute. This should eventually cause the entire kingdom to collapse.

  There were also no walls of any kind around the city so other than skirting a couple of farming plots it was a rather easy walk to make it back to the fores
t. This forest wrapped around the southern side of the town itself and continued even farther west in the direction he had formerly come from. The edge of the forest in this direction was only about a mile away, so the trip was rather leisurely.

  Arthur noticed the same sad and sickly look of some of the trees near the edge of the forest, but once he pushed in a few hundred yards, everything started perking up again. While walking, he did notice there wasn’t much noise in the forest, and it was rather quiet. He hadn’t truly paid much attention to his trek toward the city, but now that he thought back on it he didn’t recall hearing much of anything roaming around within a couple of miles of the forest edge. This had that same eerily quiet feeling as well. There wasn’t even so much as a simple bird call anywhere near.

  Arthur was eager to get to this old manor house to investigate but was a little wary of what he might find there. It was pretty obvious Arthur was going to have a fight on his hands. After about three-quarters of a mile, he spotted a clearing ahead of him. Arthur slowed his pace to approach it cautiously. If he was going to a quest zone with potentially dangerous creatures, he was not going to rush in headfirst regardless of the quest level.

  Arthur slowly crept forward and tried to keep concealed from the clearing itself as much as possible. He reached the edge of the tree line before entering the opening and froze. He slowly surveyed the area. The large manor was easily spotted, being a two-story affair almost directly in the center of the clearing. It looked like it used to be either a yellow or white color on the outside. It was difficult to tell if it was supposed to be white but turned to yellow from the elements over the years or if it started yellow and faded a bit.