The First Wizard

II - The Iron Scholar

The sun shone brightly, and the soft breeze of the wind followed the wizard as he continued his trek home through the fertile plains of the Sigi Towns. The last two days of travel had been relatively calm due to the seclusion of the self-sufficient towns who did not need to bother themselves with outside affairs.

It was comforting for the wizard to travel in his homeland again, and he noticed how safe it all was thanks to the divine protection of Sigurd, the god of knowledge, who made sure no monsters or abominations attacked the major settlements. In fact, Thalon hadn't even needed to unfurl his sleeping bag. Instead, he had chosen to sleep at the Sigurdian churches in the towns that he passed through with other monks and pilgrims on their way to the Loreseed Monastery. The last leg of his journey was coming to an end when the wizard saw a familiar structure beginning to take form: the spire of the Loreseed Monastery. Thalon hurried along, excusing his way through the pilgrims he accompanied, running toward home. His eyes filled with tears as he finally returned to the home he had dreamed of in his past years of torment at the gods' mercy. The road began to wind down, and the plain began to sink as Thalon stopped at the edge of the entrance to the crater. He opened his arms as he looked to the holy hole beneath him and yelled to the domain below.

"I'm home!"

The Loreseed Monastery, the first monastery of the world sat at the bottom of Sigurd's Crater, a great three-layered pit that broke the uniform terrain of the Sigi Plains. The pit was connected to the outside world by a road of stone made from the harvested quarry of the crater. The many buildings and the monastery itself were also made of stone. The road descended and ended at the entrance to the monastery at the very bottom of the hole. In the other two layers, small dirt roads connected various buildings and dwellings. The very top layer was extremely populated, holding a surprising number of buildings and people. Known as the Toll Layer, it was the level for merchants hoping to sell their wares to travelers and pilgrims and for monk administrators, who coordinated the handful of hired guards that manned the modest wall.

The second layer, protected by a great stone gate, was known as the Lay Layer. It was almost entirely made up of personal houses and dwellings and was reserved for the permanent, non-monastic inhabitants of the pit.

Lastly, at the very bottom was the Loreseed Monastery itself, a rectangular work of brown and gray brick. The tower that housed the Loreseed library started from the center of the crater and climbed upwards until it was barely visible from the surface. Surrounding the library in the crater were fields that fed the monks and serfs of the pit. Some of these fields were at the very bottom, while others were layered between the Lay Layer and the Monastery. At the very western edge of the pit was Sigurd's Tears, an underground spring that quenched the thirst of its denizens.

The wizard broke off from another approaching pilgrim group behind him, and descended through a great stone and wood portcullis, the "Gate of Curiosity". There was a festive air all throughout the Toll Layer. Colorful flags dangled from the parapets of the various buildings and music from traveling street performers filled the air. The breeze carried the scents of the various foods from all cultures of Vaelia being sold to all manner of pilgrims and travelers from the distant corners of the known world. From local free humans in peasant clothing, to those dressed in the rich and wealthy fabrics of the Lenian Empire, the deer-like faun minar of the Federation, and the goat-like faun taurans of the Confederacy. Even a few kin from farther away could be seen walking about in the Toll Layer, like the squid-like gurel, or the mushroom-born jeru of the Free Republic.

Although he was home, Thalon felt nothing as he walked the cobbled stone roads and looked up at mixed grey and brown merchant houses connected by strings of decorative flags. He had only been in the Toll once. His life was further below in the monastery proper.