Aaron Jamison
The last thing I remember doing was talking to Ashen, and then my body just slowly calmed down and gave out…
Anyway, how long was I asleep? I looked around my surroundings and it was pretty sunny outside. Everyone in the carriage was awake, in fact, the carriage itself had stopped. I forced myself up.
“How are you four feeling now?” I asked, ignoring my desire just to lie back down and sleep.
“Fine, honey. We all seriously needed that sleep. How long were we out for?” Asked my wife as she sat closer to me, leaning on my shoulder. I shook my head, unable to answer her.
“You slept the rest of the evening and then through the entire night,” Ashen said, and we looked a little surprised. I couldn’t see him, but he was certainly nearby.
“Well, I haven’t slept this well in two weeks!” Said Justac, looking energized.
“Me too!” chimed Lillia, and then she proceeded to raise her baby sister’s hand.
“She agrees with us,” added Claire. I nodded, smiling at them.
“I’m truly glad the four of you feel better now,” I added.
“Where are we?” Asked Justac.
“At the Kingdom of Skeltos.” Answered Ashen, once again. The five of us saw him this time as he rounded the carriage and opened the back for us.
“It’s a safe area. As such, we will be taking a short break here to get freshened up a bit and resupply before we make our collective way to Dains. Thankfully, Skeltos is-”
“A major trading center in the Southern Region! It is under the protection of a domain, so attacking it would be akin to attacking a domain itself! It is indeed a safe haven for all travelers.” Finished my wife, and Ashen nodded, smiling.
“Well said. That is precisely why we need to utilize this opportunity. You never know what might happen on the road.” He finished, and we nodded, fully understanding what he meant.
The five of us certainly do not want a repeat of that horrific incident.
I got up first and helped my wife down, while Ashen helped the children. He picked up his own child, who I still couldn’t get a good look at thanks to the basket he was in, but I didn’t really try to pry any further.
“What does he mean by collective way to Dains?” Asked my wife, now that Ashen and the children had already started moving ahead.
“It’s a long story, but apparently we are going to the same destination as Master Ashen, so he offered to take us along with him. It’s always better to travel in a bigger group.” I said, and she nodded.
“That’s his name. Okay, I see now. But I still want details, so we will talk later when we have rested more.” She finished and I nodded as we caught up with them.
“Now, any guesses as to why this kingdom is called Skeltos? Don’t be deluded into thinking that such a weird-sounding name is some sort of ancient word.” Said Ashen, and they shook their heads.
“It actually stems from quite an ironic story. The founder of this kingdom, King Martos, is best remembered for being a genius strategist despite being deathly terrified of blood and bad luck. One day, his newly formed kingdom was challenged for the first time and it was his first ever battle, so in an effort to show off his wisdom and strength without engaging in combat first, he calls forth a meeting with his generals. They each proposed an idea, to threaten the other kingdom, make an example of some of its people, kidnap their nobles, and so on, but he rejected them all. The real reason was that he would faint at the sight of blood, but he didn’t want his own men to know that, so he suggested that they hang random skeletons everywhere outside of the kingdom walls to showcase their terrifying prowess. The generals loved the idea so much that they actually decided to go and unearth the graves themselves, but once he heard that, he corrected himself since he was afraid that the undead spirits would curse him with bad luck. His men, perplexed by his actions, decided to think it over once more. Naturally, he rejected all of their ideas again. When they asked why he did that, he lied once again. Later on, they found out the truth, so they hung the king's skeleton to show the enemy that they were not afraid of anything. Surprisingly, the plan worked.” He finished, and the children looked confused until the punch line of the story hit them, and then they started laughing.
“Is that true?” Asked Justac, and Ashen shrugged.
“That’s what the kingdom itself said, so you can’t really challenge them.” He said, and they laughed again.
“Indeed, I heard that story myself.” Said my wife as she handed me Cecil, and then caught up to Lillia and quickly fixed her hair.
“You are very knowledgeable, Mrs. Jamison.” Said Ashen and I nodded.
“Claire is fine, Master Ashen. We were thinking of expanding here since this is no doubt one of the greatest kingdoms in the Southern Region and it is close to our own home,” She replied, and he nodded.
“Stricks would also have been a wonderful option,” I added, but Ashen shook his head this time.
“You should be grateful you didn’t set up headquarters there. I came from there before I met you. The entire kingdom was in an uproar as 20,000 men and women fought within its closed walls, and the normal citizens were trapped inside. It was a scene straight out of hell.” He said and Claire covered her mouth. The children looked surprised.
“What happened?” I asked.
“I don’t know. A large-scale battle occurred between the army of that kingdom and 10,000 men from the Adventurers Guild on the night that I arrived. Thankfully, I managed to sneak out and ‘procure’ a good carriage.”
“That’s unbelievable… Once news of this spreads across the Southern Region, kingdoms will be lining up to take over that area! It has both strategic and economic value given the presence of that structure!” She said, and I nodded.
That legendary structure, the Labyrinth of Knowledge, would be valuable to anyone on this continent. It is said that it could quite literally give someone the power to create a kingdom from scratch!
“It won’t get leaked. Since the kingdom truly was closed, then the winners can easily manipulate the story to their favor.” He said and we couldn’t really argue with his reasoning.
“Enough of that. Now, let’s get in line to enter this kingdom. We don’t need the carriage anymore. In fact, it might be better if we just ditched it here.” Added Ashen, and we all nodded.
“What’s his name?” Asked Lillia, as she got closer to Master Ashen’s basket. We all followed behind him as he stepped into the second line of three lines. The first seemed to be for official citizens who were returning or for the nobles of this kingdom, the second was for adventurers, and the third was for merchants since they had their big carriages with them. Thankfully, Master Ashen is an adventurer so they won’t have any issues with him entering. We get to tag along as ‘family’ I guess.
“Tristan.” He replied, and she got even closer.
“It’s hard to see him!” She said, and Justac got closer and nodded.
“That’s the point of a good basket. If it can block the sun out for the child, then it should also be able to block out the eyes of onlookers.” He said, and they just nodded, accepting his explanation.
“How old is he?” Asked my wife.
“A few days old.”
“Cecil, here, is nearly three months old.” She added, and he smiled at her and nodded.
“That sounds wonderful.” He replied before it was our turn to finally enter and get inspected.
We had nothing on us, save for Master Ashen’s supplies, so we got through without any issues thanks to his ID.
We were then guided by an employee from the Adventurers Guild branch in Skeltos to a coach for Adventurers. It was surprisingly lavish, but they said that this was insufficient for someone like Master Ashen, and then they sincerely apologized but he brushed it off and gratefully hopped on after helping us.
Thankfully, we were the only ones in the coach, and the ride to the Guild branch and lodgings there would take about half an hour thanks to the size of this kingdom, so we had time to plan out our next steps.
“Okay, first of all, I will be in charge until we reach Dains. Any issues?” Asked Ashen, and we shook our heads.
“Okay, then. Here is the plan. Once we reach the two rooms we got, we shall freshen up quickly, then meet in my room, since it is still pretty early in the day, and then I will give you as many coins as I can for you to buy clothing fit for travel and comfort, necessities for yourself, and some good food. Don’t get conned, and nothing is wrong with haggling if you have to. We will split into two groups, you as a family, and Tristan and I as a family, and then we will go our separate ways to do the aforementioned shopping. We will regroup at my room at exactly 7, then we will briefly go over the route. Additionally, you may do as you wish after you fulfill your tasks. We will spend the night here since you need proper rest as well. Now, as for my part of the plan moving forward, I will find a group heading to Dains. If by chance, one happens to be here, then we will join them, and if not, then we will continue on our own. No merchants or caravans. Any comments or concerns?” He said, and we shook our heads once again.
“Good. You can relax now and enjoy the sights.” He said, pointing to the windows. We all followed the direction of his finger and saw people dancing, and hanging up what looked like skeletons wearing crowns.
Oh, after the legend!
They had face painting, fireworks, food, and nearly everything on display! A festival was about to occur!
“Is there going to be a festival?” Asked Lillia.
“I believe so, from the looks of things.” Answered Claire.
“Well, it’s certainly a pity we couldn’t have come here at a more favorable time, but Dains will soon be hosting its Winter Solstice festival. You always enjoy that one!” I said, and the children nodded, getting all excited. I believe they remember the last few since Justac is currently 10 and Lillia is 9.
“That sounds interesting. What is it about?” Asked Master Ashen.
“It’s to honor the day Dain’s was founded. It is a kingdom of constant snow, and so the only remarkable thing in the seasonal calendar is pretty much the Winter Solstice. Festivals are held in every inch of the kingdom, and the people compete annually to impress the King and Queen with their plays, food, gifts, entertainment, and decorations. It is always a fun and joyous time for everyone in Dains.” Said my wife, and I nodded in agreement.
“That does indeed sound lovely.” He said, and then he looked out of the window.
“I guess those are supposed to represent King Martos.” Said Lillia, pointing at the skeletons being hung up everywhere. We all nodded since it was pretty hard to get that mixed up with anything else.
“We have arrived.” Said the man from the Adventurer’s Guild. He opened the doors for us and helped us get down. The building was certainly magnificent, but it lacked the solemn dignity of the Adventurers Guild branch in Stricks, or maybe that was because of the presence of the Labyrinth there.
But that doesn’t matter, since it was impressive nonetheless. We were led to our respective rooms, and then we each finally took this chance to just lay down, and get cleaned quickly. They had a few basic clothes present for our usage after we requested them, and so we used them. It didn’t take long for us to finish and leave our room.
We then gathered in Master Ashen’s room, which looked exactly the same as our own. Two big beds, a comfy armrest, a big closet, many beast-skin carpets, and a balcony since we were both on the 4th floor.
Master Ashen then appeared. He clearly cleaned himself up and wore similar clothing to mine, but more his size. His child was also out and about this time, laying back down on the carpet.
He was the first thing we all noticed. His crimson hair and eyes, intelligent eyes that felt like they could see through you, and his excitement or maybe it was happiness that seemed to exude from every part of him. He felt completely unnatural, or foreign to me, a man who had traveled quite a lot! It was also a huge contrast to the rather aloof and rough-seeming Master Ashen, yet it felt like the two of them complemented each other quite well in that sense.
My family seemed to be in the same state of surprise as me before Master Ashen quickly called us back to reality.
“Are you just going to stare all day or what?” He said, and we collectively apologized awkwardly.
He motioned for us to sit down on the ground or beds, waving our apology aside. He got up and sat down next to the child, who seemed to be attempting to fight the air or maybe climb it.
“Take this.” Said Master Ashen, as he handed us a map and a small, heavy-looking bag.
I took the map, and my wife took the little bag. It was extremely detailed and obviously made not too long.
“That is the most recent map of Skeltos. The Adventurer guild gave me two when I requested it. Use it to navigate through this large city, and be wary of the places you enter. That is all, since you are merchants yourself, I need not advise you on how to best use your money.” He said, and we nodded. My wife was silent as she opened the bag slowly.
Her usually composed face looked a little forced as if she was going through some sort of internal battle.
“We can’t possibly take this! It is far too much money!” She said as she handed me the bag, and I looked. After a single glance, I was a little shaken, to say the least…
“If I had to guess, would it be around 50 gold coins?” I asked, and he smiled.
“I guess experience is a pretty handy thing after all. You are indeed correct. It is exactly 50 gold coins.” Said Ashen. I hurriedly closed the bag and handed it back to him, but he shook his head.
“Don’t worry about paying me back. As long as you keep me company on the road, then you can consider us even.” He said as he stood up.
“Now, let us be on our way. Daylight is burning and we haven’t a moment to waste if we want to stick to our plan.” He added, cutting off any further protests as he picked his stuff up.
I nodded as I got up, and my wife sighed then said, “Thank you, truly.” She got up and bowed, but he just waved it off as he did to our apologies.
We then entered two carriages awaiting us at the foot of the building and went our separate ways as he had his own shopping to do.
“Our first destination will be the ‘Graveyard of Clothing’.” Said my wife, as she critically eyed the map.
“I guess they are sticking true to their founding story.” Said Justac, and I nodded, smiling.
“Look! They are still hanging skeletons!” Said Lillia, all excited. We looked and saw even more than that.
“The people are also dressing up as skeletons now!” Said Justac.
“I guess they really get into it as Dains does.” Said my wife, and I simply nodded. I had far too much on my mind to enjoy this festival, but I tried not to let it show.
“Anyhow, let’s get off here. We can walk through the rest of the streets on our own. But I shall request that the driver come back here at 5.” I said, and the children practically jumped out of the carriage.
I handed Cecil to my wife and helped them get off.
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