Harmstead

Part 1: Drake Leon

Chapter 1 - The Idea

Drake Leon woke up on a brisk morning in his small log cabin. Drake was a 23 year old man who has lived his life alone since his father died when he was 14 and his mother when he was 17. He lived in a small log cabin in a region commonly known as The Northlands. It was very rare to see people living in The Northlands. Drake himself had not seen anyone in a little over a year. Drake is where the story begins. Drake is the man who started what can be know as a great powerful nation or as a empire that ruled with an iron fist. You can decide that for yourself. This is the story of Harmstead.
Drake got out of bed and looked around; it was empty like always. He walked over and leaned over his fireplace and lit it ablaze. He sat for a moment taking in the warmth and then stood up and walked over to the door. He threw on his wool jacket and boots and stepped outside into the snow. Drake wasn't really a snow kind of person. He hated the cold and often dreamt of moving to somewhere warmer.
He walked over to a small shed about 20 feet from his cabin and opened it up. He walked in and there were several frozen animal carcasses. He sat down on a bench and pulled over a cow leg and used a large knife to cut off some meat. After examining it to make sure it was free of insects he stood up walked out and closed the door behind him.
Once inside his cabin again he placed the meat over the fire to let it cook. He sat watching the wood burn and the ashes crumble to the bottom of the fireplace. He had been alone for too long. He missed human interaction.  Just then when staring at the fire, an idea began to form in his mind.
Drake knew of a town many miles from his cabin. A town called Ravensburg. Ravensburg was the capital of The Northlands and had many people, shops, homes and other things. The thing that stood out most to Drake, were the ships. Massive ships and Airships that if you have the money will take you anywhere you would like to go.
A plan started to form in Drake's mind. He would go to Ravensburg to sell some of his belongings to pay for a ticket and take a ship to somewhere warmer to live. So Drake stood up and looked around the cabin. His only problem, he didn't have anything of value. He started searching around through his things, some pots and pans, a pickaxe, a hunting bow. Not much to sell. 
He almost lost hope in his short lived idea until he remembered his parents' things under his bed. He bent down and pulled some wood crates out then slowly lifted the top. The first box was mostly clothing, jackets and hats from his father. The second crate was his mother's dresses and other clothing. He moved onto the third and final crate and lifted the top open. In the bottom he found a few things. A small wooden jewelry box. Some leather gloves. And a short dagger with a leather sheath
He picked up the dagger and pulled it out of the sheath, it was very sharp, he set it on the floor. Drake wasn't someone of violence. Then he grabbed the gloves and slipped them on, they were warm and soft. Finally he grabbed the jewelry box, inside he found some rings and a pearl necklace.
"This should be enough to get the ticket!" He yelled in happiness before he remembered no one could hear him.
Drake put the things into a bag and set them by the door. He had a few things he had to do before he could just leave his cabin and he needed to prepare for the journey there. He opened the door back up and walked out to the shed. He opened the door and grabbed some hunks of meat and put them into a large sack. He stepped out and closed the door and looked up at the sky, it was about mid-day and he planned to leave tomorrow morning. He had only a few hours to prepare.
He went back into his cabin and started gathering other things he would need for his trip. Several canteens for water. Flint and steel for fires. Thick fur blankets for sleeping in the cold. Bow and arrows for hunting and defending himself. Extra pair of boots for the snow.
After packing up his things he went outside. It was the afternoon now. He walked over to his horse stable. There, his horse Lucy was standing eating some hay. He went into the side room of the stable and checked to make sure his saddle and side bags were still there and in good condition. Then he grabbed some extra wood and a hammer and nails.
Drake walked over to the side of the cabin at the window. He looked at the old place, memories of his parents coming back to him. Saddened for a moment but then picked up the wood and placed it against the window and boarded it closed. He did this to every window before going back inside. Drake wanted to be able to return here if things didn't work out.
After all the windows were closed and he had packed his bag. Drake seemed to be ready to go. He walked over to the fire that was now beginning to go out and put some more on wood on it. Then sat down on his bed and looked around. He had gone through and taken down the things he had hanging on his walls. They were now all in boxes and stacked in the corner. He was going to miss this place, he had grown up here and had all of his first memories here. He could look around and see where he used to play with toys, and where he would sleep as a child. He could imagine his mother making him food and his father teaching him how to shoot a bow.
Drake had learned everything from his parents. All he ever knew was what they taught him. There was a pinch of guilt in his stomach for leaving. After all his parents built here he thought to himself... am i ready to leave this place?  With that thought he lay down and drifted off to sleep.
Drake awoke early the next morning feeling a mix of excitement and nervousness for the journey ahead. He got out of bed, and got some food from the shed and put it on the fire and waited for it to cook.
While he waited he started to grab his last things, he packed up his bed and shoved the blankets into his bag and grabbed other small things. He then put on his fur coat and his snow boots. Then putting on his big travelling backpack. Finally he strapped the dagger to his waist in case of any predators.
By the time his food was done cooking over the fire he was packed and ready to go. He sat on his bed and munched on some goat leg and stale bread before putting out the fire and stepping outside into the cold morning air. He turned and nailed the front door closed like the windows. Then walked over to the stable
Lucy was there and happily eating, Drake walked over and pet her soft head. Then stopped over by the side room and took out the saddle and put it onto Lucy. He checked all the straps make sure the saddle was on correct and then untied the rope holding her in the stable hopped onto her back.
He gave her a slight nudge from his foot and she walked out of the stable and rode her over to the meat shed. He climbed off and opened the door to the shed.
"No point in letting all this go to waste," he said to himself
He started to grab meat from the shed and carry it out and lay it in the snow for the animals to eat. One by one he laid out all the meat he had saved for himself to eat over the winter. Then he closed the shed door and got some more wood and nailed closed the door to the meat shed too. He had sealed everything so that no animals or other people would be able to get in.
Then he got onto Lucy and rode a little way up the hills leading away from his cabin. He stopped and looked back. Looking back on those memories one last time. Was he ready to leave this place? Yes. With that he turned and rode in the direction of Ravensburg.

Chapter 2 - Journey

Drake rode his his horse several miles before it began to get dark and he decided to settle for the night. He rode Lucy over to a small hillside area and tied her to a tree. Then he pulled off his big backpack and pulled out his hatchet and started chopping up some wood. Once he got a fire going he tied two ropes up between trees and then attached them to a blanket, making a hamok.

After Drake got his sleeping arrangements set up he pulled out some of his stored meat and laid it over the fire. He had made it about a fourth of the way to Ravensburg today. From his past estimation he would be there in about 3 more days.
Lucy needed feeding, he walked over to her and pulled some straw out of his backpack and began hand feeding the food to her.
"Yeah, there you go" he said with a smile as Lucy as she neighed.
It was getting pretty dark now, his fire was the only source of light in the area. There was some visibility from the moon but it was mostly dark.
Drake's food was about done being cooked so he walked over and pulled it away from the fire. Cooked mutton, his favorite. He sat down onto his hammock and began to eat his mutton. Lucy still looked hungry so he threw her some more straw. He sat and ate his food, it began to get colder with the sun gone. He pulled a few more blankets and furs around himself to keep warm.
Drake laid down onto the hammock and pulled out the last of the blankets. As he chew the last bite of his food he stared at the coals of his now dwindling fire thinking about his life ahead. He planned to build a small home on some plains near a town to buy and sell goods. And to have a farm to grow crops. With these happy thoughts he drifted off to sleep.
* * *
Drake awoke suddenly the next morning to Lucy neighing. She was hungry again. He leaned up and rubbed his eyes. The fire was completely out by now and he was chilled. He threw some new logs onto his makeshift fire pit and lit them up again. Warming his hands with the heat of flame.

He leaned down and pulled out some bread and a canteen of water, took a few bites of it and drank some water. Then he threw Lucy some more wheat. Then Drake began to pack up his things. He put all the blankets back into his backpack and untied his hammock and folded it and put them back into it as well.

After that Drake stood and stomped out the fire and put his bags onto Lucy. Then he untied her and climbed up onto the saddle.
"Let's go girly" he sad to her and nudged her with the heel of his boot. She started forward and they were back on there way.
The rides weren't very interesting, lots of trees and snow and rocks just passing by as he rode onward. Drake would occasionally see other wildlife and