Karaan woke up with a hangover. Sarah laughed as he put his hand to his forehead keeping his eyes shut to keep the sun out. He asked "What time is it?" Sarah giggled saying "It's about an hour till noon." Karaan let out a loud moan of anguish slightly opening his eyes. He saw Sarah standing in front of him pocking fun at his condition. As he slowly sat up he noticed that she still didn't have pants on. His head hurting too much for him to care, he simply remarked "Where are your pants?" Sarah started to giggle until she realized what he said. She looked down to realize that in her half drunken stooper she took her pants off and forgot about it. She slapped Karaan saying "Well don't look!" Karaan wanted to laugh, but the pain kept him from doing so. Instead he let out a loud Ahhh. As Sarah dived down on the other side of the bed she yelled out "That's what you get for taking advantage of a poor little girl!" Karaan chuckled saying "I watched you sever the heads of several men. You are as far from a helpless little girl as you could possibly be." Sarah not knowing how to reply simply and blurted out "Perv." Karaan replied "You're the one walking around without any pants on." Sarah became infuriated and through her shoe at him. It hit him with enough force to knock him back on the couch. He yelled "Ahhhhhhh" as he agonized in pain. He had learned his lesson and didn't say anything else until his headache had subsided. He got up and got dressed and drank some water. Sarah asked what he wanted to do. He replied "We'll we've been wasting enough time lately so we'll finish up in this town and head on out today. The next town is three and a half days out so it'll take about four days to reach including today." Sarah obviously didn't like it but agreed with him. Karaan asked Sarah to pick up the food for their journey. Sarah asked "Will you pay me for picking up the food?" Karaan replied "I can, that is if you want to buy and cook your own food." Sarah lightly laughed and said "Well I guess I'll volunteer then." Karaan handed her two silver pieces and a short list saying "If you can find this then I'd like it, especially the r'ecumb powder." Sarah asked "What's that?" Karaan replied "It's an emergency precaution. It's a red powder with a very hot dirty taste. I wouldn't recommend eating it. You burn it and it acts as a repellent for many creatures, especially dragons. I wouldn't recommend burning it either." Sarah asked "Why?" Karaan said "It has a very strong smell that will burn your nostrils and lungs and make it hard to breath, you won't be able to smell for about three days, but it's better than being eaten by a dragon. It's very rare that you have to use it. But I have had to once, we were carrying a load of it to sell and a young minor dragon wanted to play with us. We ended up having to burn it to keep it away. It I couldn't smell anything for almost a week then, we panicked and burned far too much. Since then nothing has ever smelled the same or as strong. But it was definitely worth my life." Sarah replied "Ok, I'll look for it but I hope we don't have to use it." Karaan replied "Yeah same here." Sarah asked "So what about the green powder from earlier?" Karaan replied "Oh, r'ecumb powder is much more effective, the other stuff just ackts as a cent blocker it wont scare a hungry dragon away just keep an uninterested one uninterested. Dragons like most predators like the smell of blood so that works to block it. R'ecomb powder actually wards them away. They agreed to meet at the eastern edge of town about noon and went their separate ways. Karaan went to the town alchemist and the bank to deposit most of his earnings. Sarah went to the various stalls and bought food for the journey. She found a very nice dress that she liked and tried to bargain for it but only ended up raising the price by ten copper pieces somehow. She gave up and walked off. Karaan was waiting for her. She came up to him with several bags full of food and apologized for not being able to find the powder. He chuckled saying "That's fine I found some at the alchemist's store. They packed the food into the cart and started off. As they entered the trees once more Sarah said to Karaan "I think I might be getting use to this weather." Karaan smiled saying "That's good and all but the weather is about to take a huge change." Sarah slightly panicked asked "What?" Karaan chuckled, soon we'll be leaving the forested region of the north and heading to the plains, after that we'll go into the desert. It's going to get very dry very fast. It won't feel quite as hot though. But I'll warn you it gets pretty chilly at night." Sarah looked as if she were going to try. She thought that he might be joking at first but she had learned better by now. She sighed and walked on. The day seemed pretty short she asked Karaan why that was. He replied "Well probably because we've only been walking like this for half the day when we usually walk for the full day." She said "Yeah." And continued to find fire wood. She joined Karaan sleeping without a cover that night. She awoke to a pikkik, a small rodent with a thick fluffy tail and small ears. Trying to steal their food. She shooed it off and woke Karaan up. It was just before sunrise, so it was a perfect time to start breakfast. They finished and got a bit of an early start on the day. They walked for a good while until they came across a small stream. It had a small bridge built over it but Karaan stopped and let his hoarse drink. He got some water for himself and stared at the fish. Sarah was relieved to have a break from walking. It wasn't long thought that they started on the trail again. They could see and opening pretty far away Karaan explained that that was the plains region that he was talking about. Sarah sighed as they continued walking. They reached the end of the forest a few hours before dark and Karaan suggested making camp at the edge. It was just as he said, it wasn't nearly as hot but it was much dryer. He suggested gathering fire wood saying "We'll be here for a few more days and there aren't many trees in this region so we should get enough fire wood at least to last us to the next town. There we can probably buy more. Sarah agreed saying that she could use a break. They gathered plenty of wood, enough to fill up most of the free space left in the carriage. Watching the fish in the stream made Karaan crave fish so they had fish for supper that night. They slept fairly well. There was a strange bird chirping that kept Sarah up for a while but she eventually got to sleep. They walked the next day through the fields. Sarah was relieved to be out of the forest. But she wasn't use to how dry the air was. It was dryer than anything shed experienced so far. She had to drink water pretty often to stay hydrated. She said to Karaan "I don't think that I've ever drank this much water in a single day in my life." He chuckled saying "Well you better get used to this, it's just going to get worst from here, and we'll be in it for quite a while too." She sighed saying "Well we better have plenty of water guess." Karaan chuckled and they continued on. Sarah was happy when the night fell. It wasn't as hot or dry. Or so she thought. She awoke in the middle of the night freezing. The moons were out, she could see fairly well with the light. She saw Karaan under a thick blanket and remembered teasing him about such a large blanket before he went to sleep. She looked through the cart for the better part of half an hour to find one to use for herself. She awoke that morning still freezing. It was much warmer but it was still cold. She curled up in her blanket next to the fire, Karaan was already up and already had breakfast on. It was a stew and some roles. She was joyous to have some warm stew in the cold air. Before long it started to get warm again, by the time they set out she no longer needed the blanket. She was surprised at how fast the temperature changed. They walked for quite a while. Before they knew it, it was getting late again. They started a fire and ate some supper. They went to sleep again. Sarah was amazed at the beauty of the stars it completely took her mind off of everything else. Sarah awoke the next day after sleeping in for quite a while, feeling better than she had since the magic hotels. They ate breakfast and started on again. It was all becoming so routine that she no longer paid it any mind she just walked. She would observe the nature around her, she and Karaan would talk occasionally, but she was starting to act much more like Karaan just walking without paying it any mind. She hardly even noticed when she was tired. As they walked she asked Karaan "So how much farther to the next village?" To which he replied "If we keep walking we should reach it just a little after dark." She said "Ok that's good. Just as he said it wasn't in sight by nightfall but a few hours after nightfall they could see the lights in the distance. They reached it before mid-night. Once they arrived they found a small inn and rented a room. Even though the inn was small it was very expensive, two full silver pieces for a room. It wasn't a large town and even the inn was quite small so Sarah couldn't imagine why the price was so high, yet Karaan just accepted it and without negotiating paid the amount and walked to the room after putting the horse into the stable. Sarah asked "Why is rent here so high?" as she got ready to sleep. Karaan told her "Here they have a large market for brox. Brox meat, bones, hide, well everything sells very high so this town is no stranger to money. They are a hunting village for brox and thus even because they are small they are still quite wealthy so everything is quite expensive here. Though it's the perfect place to sell wares, especially certain weapons. But I'm ready for bed, it's been a long day. Oh by the way the horse and carriage stay for free but hotels in this region often charge by the guest so I'll be charging you one silver for your stay here tonight and another for tomorrow. Sorry but you won't be making much profit in this town." Sarah sighed. "Well why don't I just get my own room then?" she said as she laid down Karaan closing his eyes replied "Even though they charge by the guest they cut the price down by about 20 copper per guest per night so that's up to you but both of us will have to pay 40 copper more." She sighed again and rolled over only saying "Well fine then, good night." Sarah awoke a little later than usual. She found a note on the desk in the room, it read "I have business in this town that needs my attention so you won't see me very much today." Sarah sighed and walked out the door. Before she walked out of the inn she asked the old innkeeper where the nearest pub was in the town. He replied in a raspy voice "Well this town only has one, it's quite small. Go straight out the door and take the first right it will be on the left of that street, it's not very large but it'll do ya." She sighed again and started for the pub. Meanwhile Karaan was selling his wares. He spent most of the day selling them. He sold all but two rugs, a small one and a medium size one. After most of the shops had closed he walked to the town alchemist and the bank and then got back to the inn just before dark. Surprisingly he arrived before Sarah and went on to sleep. Sarah walked in a few hours later very bored. She only found one person to gamble and he only earned her a single silver piece. She didn't even get drunk. She didn't want to sleep yet but the entire town was closed and Karaan was asleep so she had nothing else to do so she lay in bed and went to sleep. Karaan woke Sarah up early the next morning. He said "We'll get our supplies then head out. We're going to be on the road for a few months so were going to need plenty of supplies that will last a while." Sarah didn't believe him she started to laugh "and how many towns will we stop at?" Karaan said in a serious tone "There aren't any towns in the middle of the desert." Sarah looked as if she were going to cry. Karaan said "C'mon we have a lot of supplies to buy. Have you ever had jerky?" Sarah asked "What's that?" Karaan replied "It's dried meat. It's quite expensive and tough. But it tastes all right. It's very salted." Sarah smirked "Do I have to? It sounds nasty." Karaan replied "Well its not that bad and it's the only thing that will last that long in the desert short of taking live animals along with us. And that would be a much larger hassle. We already have to take a lot of water. We'll get that at the next stop." Sarah let out a sigh of relief "So there is another town." Karaan replied "No just a quick stop to pick up extra supplies before setting out into the desert." Sarah said "Well at least we get one more stop I guess..." Sarah asked "So where do we get this jerky?" Karaan replied "In a specialized store that sells it. Towns around here usually have some stores that sell in in high quantities for hunters and merchants like us." Sarah asked "Do you know where the store is?" Karaan said "Not really but it's a small town so it shouldn't be hard to find." Karaan walked out the door followed by Sarah and continued down the hallway. He asked the innkeeper where they could find the jerky store, he replied telling them to make a right after leaving the inn and it would be on the right about halfway through the town. They followed his directions and it wasn't long until they found it. Sarah followed Karaan into the store, as soon as she entered she noticed the bitter smell. It was something she hadn't smelled before, that of aged but not rotting meat. It was excruciatingly strong. She could hardly stand it. Karaan didn't seem to even notice it. He walked to the counter and said to the man behind the counter "We need enough for two and a half months." He replied "Any preferences?" Karaan said "Yeah, I want a mix but I want it cheap. You can include a few brox sticks however." The man smiled and replied "That'll be 5 silver. Bring'er around and I'll get ya loaded." Karaan handed him the money saying "We'll help." Sarah was surprised by the price and again that Karaan didn't try to talk him down, meaning that it was a good price. The man reached down and grabbed five sticks and handed them to him and said "Thanks I'll be in the back." Karaan walked out, Sarah gladly followed him holding her hand over her nose. He put the jerky on the back of the cart and took the horse and cart to the back of the shop. Sarah asked "Are we really going to live off of this for more than two months?" He replied "Well unless you find a way to live off of dirt we don't have much of a choice." Sarah sighed and followed him to the back of the store. The man was waiting in a very hot room filled with large bags of jerky. He said "Each bag will do one person about a month or so, so you bought five bags." Karaan said "Alright let's get them loaded." The man grabbed two bags Karaan told Sarah to take two and Karaan took one himself. As they packed it to the cart Sarah asked "Why do I have to pack two?" Karaan answered "Because you're stronger than me." Sarah lightly giggled saying "Shouldn't it be the other way around?" Karaan replied "I'm weird, I know a lot of women much stronger than me." Sarah giggled as she through the bags into the back of the carriage. The man thanked Karaan for his business and Karaan thanked him for the jerky and walked off. They reached the edge of town soon after and started out on the road. Sarah turned to Karaan saying "You didn't have anything in the back of your cart except two rugs. Are they really worth crossing the desert over?" Karaan replied "No, but I have other business in the royal city of the Gro'vic kingdom." Sarah didn't bother to ask more she just walked along with Karaan. As they walked Karaan went to the back of the carriage and grabbed one stick of brox jerky. Each one was a long thin strip about a foot long and an inch wide. He broke it in half and handed half to Sarah. She looked at him in slight disgust. He said "Try it." She responded "Like this? Raw?" He chuckled and took a bite of his half saying "Yeah, that's the way you're supposed to eat it." She looked at it in utter disgust. She had never eaten anything raw before and this just smelled bad. And who knows how old it is. She felt like she was eating a still breathing animal just thinking about it. She finally built up enough courage just as Karaan ate the last bit of his half. She tried to take a bite but it was extremely tough. Almost like eating wood. This made it even worst. She tore off a piece, it took so much force that she accidentally punched herself in the gut after the meat finally ripped. She spit it out by accident but some of the taste was left in her mouth. It had a strange taste but not enough of the taste had lingered for her to decide whether or not she liked it. She walked and caught her breath and waited for the pain in her stomach to subside before trying to take another bite. Karaan chuckled saying "Don't just rip it like that, don't try to force it. Use your front teeth and cut it, that's what there for anyway. Or at least that would be my best guess." She took his advice sliding her teeth back and forth over it but that was getting her nowhere. He chuckled saying "No, no. Slide it back and forth not the other way around. Don't give in to it let it give in to you. When you try to cut something with a knife you apply force with the knife not the other way around. Use your teeth like a knife and slide the jerky over them not the other way around." She tried to take his advice but it took her a while to figure it out. She was so distracted by it that she didn't even notice the taste. That is until she finally got the piece cut. She began chewing on it and it was very tough and hurt her jaw. But on top of that it tasted quite disgusting. It was absolutely dreadful. It tasted kind of like a salted rotting melon. She spit it out right away. Karaan chuckled "Oh it isn't that bad is it?" She screamed "Ewww. How can you stand that!?" He only chuckled more. Well I actually like it. More for me I guess." He took what she was holding and finished it. With a tear in her eye she looked at him saying "Please tell me this is all just a rotten joke, we aren't going to have to live off of this for two months. Please..." He laughed "No don't worry I only got a couple of brox sticks, and its not all the same. The difference between jerkies is the same as the difference between meats. Brox is a very tough and bitter meat. Go back and try another if you're hungry. Try not to lose any though, they weren't exactly cheap as you know." She heard what she said but she ignored it. She wasn't about to try another piece, not after the bad experience that she had with that one. Karaan finished off the other half, enjoying every bite. Almost as if he were rubbing it in her face. Or so she saw it. They didn't talk much for the rest of the day. Not until it was time for dinner at least. Karaan walked to the back and cut open one of the bags it was filled with Shaw jerky. He handed Sarah a piece and took one for himself She refused to eat it until he said "Eat it. You need to keep your strength up, besides even if you don't like it the sooner you get use to the taste the sooner you won't have to deal with it any more. You don't have a choice in the matter. You still owe me two and a half gold pieces and you aren't allowed to starve yourself to death until you pay me back the full amount." Sarah didn't like it but she gritted her teeth and took a bite. It was just as he had said. It wasn't nearly as tough or as bitter, It was actually quite sweet with just the right amount of bitterness. It wasn't something she liked, in fact she hated it. But this was a taste that she could actually put up with. And perhaps if it was so different there may by some chance be another kind that she would like. Karaan watched her eat it and said "I'd rather not open more bags than I have to not until we reach our stop at least. So if you can hold off on the Shaw jerky at least until then. They you can open all of the bags until you find one that you like." Sarah didn't really say anything but she smiled and gave him a content look. They continued over the next few days and ended up coming to a very large building just at it got late. It sat at the upper right side of a four way crossing in the path. There wasn't anybody outside but there were several empty market stalls along the road. It was very strange however it was just the single building, there weren't any shops or houses, nothing just the huge building and several small market stalls. Karaan traveled around to the back and there sat a very large man in some old dented armor with a large two handed sword setting next to him. He appeared to be asleep. He was setting on a simple wooden chair with his eyes to the ground. Behind him was a large gate and a huge barn. It appeared as if it could hold the horses for an entire town. Karaan walked up to the man and held out ten copper pieces. Asif he were awake the entire time the man reached out and took the copper pieces then slowly stood up. He placed them in a small bag and walked to the gate, he opened the gate and walked through. Without either of them saying anything Karaan just followed him. He led Karaan to an empty stall more than large enough for his horse and carriage both. As they walked back Karaan said to the man "I'll be staying two or three days I'll pay the rest when I head out." The man took out a slip of paper with a strange stamp on it and took out a small paintbrush and wrote the number 33 on it then handed it to Karaan. Karaan walked with Sarah back to the front of the building. It was now dark. Sarah asked Karaan "What is this place?" Karaan replied "This is the crossings inn. It's a huge inn. Its placed here because this is one of the busiest paths in the northern region. They may build a town around it eventually, but for now it's just an inn. Well to say that wouldn't be exact this building is like a small town all in one building. There is an alchemist, a blacksmith, a pub, a restaurant, a pretty fancy one at that. And much more all inside of this one building." Sarah didn't know what to say she was in awe. After a minute she asked "If it's so popular then why doesn't a town already exist around it?" Karaan replied "Well it's not that popular of a location for villagers. The soil is crap, for lack of a better term very little will grow here. And the hunting isn't great either. The only thing that keeps it running as is, is a constant run of merchants back and forth bringing food and other supplies. The only reason its here really is the fresh water stream. It was actually built right on top of it. It runs through the hotel keeping the humidity and temperature fairly decent inside. Before the hotel was here supposedly travelers like myself would come here just for the stream they tried to set up a town here several times but the soil just wouldn't hold out and the animals were so over hunted that they eventually just started avoiding this place entirely. But one of the inn owners came up with a good idea to buy supplies from the merchants. Supposedly after the town died off he remained but his inn wasn't big enough so he took over a larger one near the stream. That still wasn't big enough so he hired a group of people to help him take apart the other buildings and he built this. After that people started moving in permanently and starting businesses of their own and it grew from there. But it's still not suitable for a town because they're so dependent on the merchants for supplies, and the supplies for the same reason are so expensive. But because of this very fact it's perfect the way that it is because as the merchants increase so do their supplies and as they decrease the supplies go with them and because so few people live here year round they never have more or less than they need." Sarah replied "Oh I get it so if it were a normal town then when there were fewer merchants coming through then there wouldn't be enough food to support the whole town. But because they come and go they always have just what they need." Karaan smiled saying yeah exactly!" They walked into the inn and a man stood behind the counter he asked "Two for one night?" Karaan replied "No two for two nights, maybe more." The man replied "Would you like to hold a room?" Karaan asked "Is it refundable?" The man said "Yes." Karaan replied "Ok good, then I'd like to pay for three nights." The man wrote a receipt and signed it with his name and the date then wrote the same information down in a large book. The receipt had the same stamp as the card that the guard handed him. Karaan handed the card to the innkeeper and said "I would also like to get a full over on my cart. And water to cross the desert for two loaded into my cart. After the full over of course." The man replied "Yes that will be fine." He wrote in his book a little more then wrote on the receipt more then said "Ok, that will be ten silver pieces. You will of course be refunded any unused amount or any number of days that you check out early. Karaan handed him the ten pieces then he handed Karaan the receipt the receipt had the room number on it. As they walked to the room Karaan said to Sarah "It would be one silver per night whether or not you were here so here." He handed her a silver piece. "Gambling is good here, but you'll need to wait till tomorrow no one is up here past dark other than a few staff, because almost everyone are merchants there isn't anyone that is willing to stay up late. If they are then they are in their rooms because there's nothing to do." Sarah thanked Karaan and followed him to the room. As usual Sarah got the bed and Karaan took the couch. As they laid down Sarah asked Karaan "Why are we staying three days?" He replied "It takes a while to repair the carriage and it takes a little longer to load the water into the carriage. It depends on how much work they have to do but it will probably take a day or two at the very least." Sarah said "Oh, but why are you even getting your carriage repaired? Is something wrong with it? I mean it was fine coming up here wasn't it?" Karaan replied "Yeah, well I'm not actually getting it repaired I'm getting a full over. That basically means that they will replace all of the wheels and any cracked, broken, or damaged pieces. They'll also tighten any loose piece and make sure that it's in tip top shape. They charged me five silver for that which is about the price of a new cart but that's just a precautionary amount. I'll probably get three of four silver back." Sarah asked "But why would you go through all of that?" Karaan replied "Well we're going to be on the road for two months in the desert. The desert doesn't really have any clear road it's some of the roughest terrain in the world, second only to the southern mountain path. Well there's a few short paths that are very tough but they don't take more than a day to cross. A very small issue normally like a broken board could potentially end in death in the middle of the desert. And that's a minor issue just think of what would happen with a broken wheel. The tiniest thing wrong with a wheel could cause it to break. Normally in the worst case scenario you could detach your horse go to the nearest town and get a replacement and have someone help you. But in the middle of the desert it could take up to a month to two weeks to reach the nearest town going at full speed without a cart to carry. And by that time you would be dead from dehydration without water. Not to mention your horse would die from exhaustion alone running at full speed half that long. Basically I'm taking every precaution to guarantee we get there safely. Don't worry though a cart is pretty tough I've had the tires replaced on it one time in three years so it should be fine. I could probably get by with a half over, meaning that they would just replace any major issues. But I don't want to take any chances at all." Sarah said "Well at least you know what you're doing. I trust you." They both went to sleep. Sarah woke up and found Karaan still sleeping. She slept very well. Karaan woke up as Sarah was crawling out of bed. He got up as well. He asked "What do you plan to do today?" She replied "I'm not sure, I guess I'll explore. What about you?" He replied "Well I think I'll take a day off. There isn't really much to do and I haven't had a day off in quite a while. Sarah lightly laughed "Yeah you're a real stickler when it comes to work. I didn't think that you knew the meaning of a day off." Karaan chuckled saying "Well time is money. But I suppose taking a day here and there can't be too bad." Sarah laughed a little louder "Yeah, you'll work yourself to death otherwise." They both got dressed and walked out. Karaan said "They have a pool on the bottom floor its fed with a constant flow of clean water from the stream so its always nice. I'd try it out." Sarah said "Yeah that sounds fun, I haven't been in a pool since I was a young child... Wait that's not the same water we'll be drinking is it?" Karaan laughed a little "Yeah but don't worry they take the water out before it gets to the pool or anything else. It's actually pretty neat they have a whole complex system that they use. The water that they give us is some of the cleanest water that money can buy. It's actually not uncommon for the extraordinarily rich to actually pay someone to deliver some to them. I had a job like that once. Because of that any water that you have left over is easy to sell when you reach the next town past the desert." Sarah laughed and walked out the door. Karaan followed her shortly. They walked down the stairs to the first floor and went their separate ways. Sarah explored around a little and found herself in a small shop. Where she bought a strange juice. She asked the woman behind the counter where the pool was. She directed her and Sarah decided to check it out. Meanwhile Karaan went to the alchemist and placed an order for two months. The alchemist told his that he was low on supplies but that he would do what he could. He said that he was waiting for a delivery of supplies but that it should arrive in the next few days and asked Karaan when he needed it. Karaan replied saying "We'll I can't leave without it so as soon as you can get it. I can wait three days but more than that would be inconvenient." The man smiled saying "I should have it by then. If you would like you can come tomorrow and see if I have the supplies. It'll take be about a day to finish it all after I get the supplies." Karaan said "We'll I don't have much of a choice so do what you can I guess." The man replied "Thank you." Karaan said "Yeah... and walked off saying to himself "Well if it takes too long then I guess that just means a longer vacation for me, haha." He walked outside to the small stalls and looked around. As he looked he saw one that was selling rugs. Just then he remembered the rugs in the back of the cart. He ran to the back and there was another night back there. This one was a woman she had much newer armor, it was much thinner. She used a sword and shield. Karaan said "I came in last night I'm in stall 33. I left my ticket in my room do you mind if I get two rugs from my cart?" The woman replied "Sorry without your card I can't let you threw." Karaan replied "I thought so, well it was worth a try. Thanks for your time. I'll come back with the ticket tomorrow or something." She replied "sounds good." He walked off and back into the inn it was about noon now, he walked to the pool to see if Sarah was there. She wasn't so he walked off by this time he was excruciatingly bored. He was use to always having something to do but now he didn't. He had forgotten to eat breakfast and was starting to get very hungry so he decided to get something to eat. He walked to the restaurant situated in the back of the inn. He sat down and ordered a good meal. It included Shaw steak, some roles, some mashed root vegetables and a special sauce made in the restaurant. It coasted him 12 copper pieces total. He sat there just nibbling on the food taking his time for two hours and left. He then went to the pub to find Sarah. Surprisingly she wasn't there so he ordered a drink and went back to the room. He got the ticket and went back to the stable. The female knight asked him "I thought you said tomorrow?" Karaan answered "Yeah. Well I got bored and had nothing better to do..." She opened the gate and walked with him to stall number 33, but all that was there was his horse. She asked him "Did you ask for repairs?" Karaan said "Yes." To which she replied "Then it's probably in the blacksmiths shop. I can't really take you there I have to stay out here and watch the other horses but you can go on back. Just walk along the back of the inn its on the other side. Just show him your ticket and there shouldn't be a problem. I'll be watching you so don't get any funny ideas ok?" Karaan replied "Thanks and no problem I wouldn't risk it anyway." She laughed and walked off, Karaan followed her until they were at the back of the inn and then went the opposite way. He walked to the blacksmiths stand and he was there with Karaans cart flipped upside down. Karaan walked up to him, not too close though and waited until he had finished what he was doing then spoke up. "Hey I'm here about some stuff that was in my cart!" There were several carts there so the blacksmith asked "Which one?" Karaan replied "number 33." The blacksmith said "Oh that's this one here, you know you had a shot stabilizer, it's good that you brought it in when you did! You would've been in a world of trouble had that come off." Karaan looked surprised. The stabilizer has several functions. Its main is just how it sounds, it stabilizes the long wooden rod that connects the two wheels on either side together. It keeps the rod from bending when the cart is turning, bumping, on a slope, or even just moving normally. Without the stabilizer the wheels can easily wobble around taking damage themselves and the rod itself can very easily break. Leaving the cart essentially without two wheels. The stabilizer is probably the hardest part of the cart to repair as it requires the removal of the entire bottom of the cart just to replace one of them. Karaan said "I wasn't really aware that those cold get bad." The man replied "Well they can't really break or it's very difficult to break them I should say. But they basically take the shock from the wheels and redistribute it to the bottom of the cart. So while they don't really break they can wiggle loose over time. You should get them checked at least once every year or two at the most and you should get them refitted once every three years just in case. Otherwise it could just plop out. Don't worry though that was the first thing that I noticed so I got it taken care of right away. You should notice your cart moving a bit smoother after today. I'm still not halfway done but I got the biggest part taken care of. I'm guessing you haven't even had basic maintenance in quite a while have you?" Karaan replied "Is it that obvious?" The man said "Well I'll put it this way, don't expect a lot of return. I mean your cart isn't in half bad shape. It's definitely not the worst I've seen. It was made very well. But no matter how well it was put together it wont last unless you keep it maintained. I'd at least afford basic maintenance a half over or even a partial whenever you get your stabilizers refitted." Karaan replied "Well I'll keep that in mind... thanks." The man said "Well good, what did you come by for anyways? Surely it wasn't just to check on little ol me was it?" Karaan remembered saying "Oh yea. I had some stuff in the back of my cart can you tell me where it was at?" The man asked to see his ticket and pointed him to his stuff after he showed him. Karaan took the rugs and headed back to the front of the inn. There he found the stand with the rugs again and bargained for his two rugs. They normally would have sold for 72 copper pieces but he negotiated a silver piece for both of them. He was proud of himself. He walked around for a while just looking around then went back to his room and spent the rest of the night. Sarah walked in to find him sleeping she was tired so she went to bed as well. Karaan woke up the next morning and woke Sarah up. He invited her to breakfast. She asked "Will I have to pay for my portion?" He chuckled saying "Nah I'll get it if you promise not to go crazy." She laughed and accepted his offer saying "Can we take a bath first though, I mean it's probably gonna be a while so I'd like to while I still can." Karaan replied "Yeah, actually its one of the best baths that you'll receive." Sarah thanked him and they both got a change of clothes and walked downstairs to the bath. They went into separate male and female baths and cleaned up. Just as Karaan had said it was a very nice bath. The water was much cleaner than usual, however it was somewhat colder than usual. After bathing they went to the restaurant and wasted a few hours eating. They talked a bit and before they left Sarah invited Karaan to the pool. He accepted and so they went to the pool next. They wasted a few hours at the pool and then got out. Karaan was worried that he'd be bored again, he asked Sarah what she was going to do next. She replied "I'll probably go to the pub and play some cards. Try to earn a few pieces." He wasn't really interested in playing cards so he decided to stay and relax a little longer. As he was relaxing another merchant joined him. They both talked for quite a while. They talked about the usual, various methods used to buy and sell cheaper, some stories of past conquests, in the world of the merchants meaning deals going extraordinarily rare. As with all stories there was a little exaggeration on both behalves. They kept this up for quite a while before Karaan realized how late it had gotten. He said "Sorry I have to go!" The man replied "No problem, good luck my friend." Karaan thanked him and ran off to the alchemists he walked in just before closing and asked the alchemist in a somewhat winded voice "So did your shipment come in yet?" The man with a disappointed look on his face replied "No. Sorry. I hope to get it tomorrow however. I do have enough for a few days if you'd like it." Karaan said "Yeah I'll take it. I can't blame you, it's not your fault that it hasn't been delivered yet." Karaan paid the man who charged him only two copper pieces less than half what it normally would coast. The man wasn't loosing anything with the deal but wasn't gaining anything either. Karaan passed a young man as he walked out he looked like a mage. He held a staff and wore a robe very common to mages. His was bright blue obviously made of rare material. This was a pretty successful mage by the way that he looked. About a minute after Karaan walked out of the shop the mage ran up to him saying "Hey the shop keep wants to talk to you about something." Karaan walked back with him. He used the opportunity to introduce himself. A successful mage is a wonderful connection, especially one so young. Karaan walked back and asked the alchemist what he wanted. He replied by laughing then said to Karaan "Well as it turns out that supplier that I was waiting on just arrived. In fact he's standing right next to you. Haha. If you'd like I can have your order completed by tomorrow night. Sorry that it will take so long. Will that be fine?" Karaan replied "Yeah that's great." He walked out with a smile on his face and asked the mage what he was doing. The mage replied saying that he didn't have much to do that night his job was done so the rest of the night was free. Karaan offered to treat him to some dinner. The accepted saying "It's been a long day and I am pretty hungry, but it seems my delivery was a bit inconvenient for you so why don't you let me treat you?" Karaan accepted and they went to the restaurant. They both ate and talked for quite a while. They told stories and laughed quite a bit. He told Karaan that he was heading up north. Karaan asked why and he replied saying "We'll I'm chasing a dragon. I heard rumors that a dragons made its nest near a town to the north of here and dragons are, I guess what you would call an interest of mine. I've spent the last few years with my master studying pet dragons, it was obviously dangerous but it caught my interest. My dream has been to study wild dragons however. It may sound like a fool's errand but it's something that I want to do. Anyway I was hoping to get up north to the dragon before a slayer is contracted to kill it." Karaan replied "Well its whatever you like, your obviously good at what you, but if I may ask, what is it that you do? I mean you cant just study dragons can you? I didn't think that you could be paid for that." He laughed "Oh yes, actually you can make quite a bit of gold doing that some of these owners will pay quite a bit to anyone who can so much as calm its temper momentarily. But your right that's not what I do. I'm not a true magician actually. I'm a magic scholar, we go about learning everything that we can about magic. Whether its spells, seals, alchemy, or magical creatures. I excel with the alchemic arts. But I'm not bad at actual magic either. I'm what you would call a jack of many trades but a master of none. I can do a lot when it comes to magic but I can't cast particularly strong spells or mix miracle cures or anything like that. And its as you said I'm not bad. Actually not to brag but my master called me a natural. He wasn't one to take on students but when he saw how quickly I could learn something new he was so impressed that he had to accept me as a student." Karaan laughed saying "That is amazing!" They continued to talk for a while. Then when they were both done eating they got up and walked out. Before going their separate ways Karaan asked him "So where are you heading now?" Letholdus replied "Well I guess I'll head to the pub, my body guard is quite the gambler. She's pretty good at it too." Karaan surprised chuckled saying "I think it'd be interesting if she went against mine." Letholdus replied "Yours? is yours a gambler as well?" Karaan replied "Yeah she's never lost, except once she got to drunk to think. She's pretty young but she's quite the expert at both gambling and swordplay." Letholdus laughed saying "That sounds very interesting! But I think mine has her beat, she has a few dozen years on yours." Karaan replied "An elf?" Letholdus said "Yeah." Karaan laughed saying "How about we make our own little bet then. Noting too high, a silver piece perhaps. We'll bet on who is the better gambler. Of course that's only if they decided to play each other. If they didn't then well call it off." Letholdus replied "Yeah that sound fun. I can afford a silver piece." In their excitement they ran to the bar. As they walked in they heard a girl scream "AHHHAHAHA!!!" They turned to see Sarah setting at a table surrounded by a bunch of very disappointed men. Karaan said "That's her!" they ran over she turned around saying "Hey you'll never guess I've won almost a full gold piece today! HAHAHA!!!!" She was obviously quite drunk. Karaan asked Letholdus "Yours isn't here?" He replied "No I don't.... There she is!" pointing at the bar. She heard him and turned around. She got up holding a half empty beer glass in her hand and began toward Letholdus and Karaan. She was about seven and a half feet tall pretty average for an elf, with long straight red hair. It was more of a dark blood orange color than the normal red. She had large pointed ears and a very slender body. As she walked up she asked in a somewhat deep scratchy voice "Is this a friend of yours?" She spoke with a slight elvish accent combining some of the words, but it was barely noticeable. Before he could answer Karaan with a curious look on his face asked "Zevesda, is that you?" She turned and asked "Yeah, but who are you?" She stared at him for a few seconds and before he could answer she picked him up and hugged him "Karaan!" Setting him back down she continued "It's been some time, how've you been? Oh you were so small last I saw you how long has it been?" Letholdus looking kind of confused asked "You two know each other?" Karaan replied to him "Yeah, she use to be our body guard as well. But that was when I was young and still with my mentor." She jumped in adding "Yeah they're actually the reason that I'm a guard now, I use to be just a hunter but they helped me realize that I could make a lot more with much less effort being a guard." Letholdus replied well I guess I'm pretty lucky then." Karaan looked at Zevesda saying "Yeah it's been about six or seven years now. I've been pretty good actually." She replied "That long? And look how much you've grown! You humans always surprise me." Letholdus grabbed a seat and ordered a drink and listened them talk for a while. Sarah having run off everyone in the pub willing to gamble with her sat with them and listened as well. Zevesda asked Karaan "So you two know each other?" referring to Sarah he replied "Yeah, she's my guard. She may look young but she's got some skill." She giggled saying "Yeah I believe it, I nearly lost all of my coin to her earlier haha." Surprised he asked "Really?" She said "Yeah we played five games I won twice but she beat me three times." Sarah butted in, in her half drunken excited voice "Yeah she was pretty good. More fun than I've had in a long time." Zevesda laughed saying "Yeah but you just wait until next time little girl!" Talking to Karaan she continued "She hit me for a good 20 silver. I finally quit with just four and a half left after all of my drinks." Letholdus blurted out "Wow I can't believe you actually lost." Reaching into his coin bag he pulled out a silver piece and reached it across the table to Karaan saying jokingly "Are you sure you two didn't set me up? Haha." Zevesda asked "What's going on here?" Karaan chuckled saying "No, and we had a little bet of our own." Zevesda asked "Well how long are you two gonna be here?" Karaan replied "We'll we have to wait on the alchemist to fill an order so we'll be here for another day." She then turned to Letholdus and in a somewhat excited voice asked "Can we stay one more day, please, please!" in a calm somewhat happy yet somewhat disappointed voice he replied "We'll I don't have much of a choice, I can't just leave here without my guard. Besides it might be good to take a little break. And I can get to know this interesting fellow a little better." She hugged him saying "Thanks!" and turned back around talking to Karaan. It was getting late so they didn't talk for a lot longer but they agreed to meet back up in the restaurant for breakfast about sunrise and talk the next day some more. Sarah and Letholdus said that they would come too because they were both interested in the relationship between Karaan and Zevesda. Karaan. They all went back to their room and went to sleep Karaan and Sarah slept pretty well. Sarah had a bit of a hangover the next morning but she still got up. And went. Karaan met Zevesda who had arrived first with Letholdus. They talked for most of the day telling stories of what happened in the time since they were separated. Karaan didn't mention anything about Agatha. He saw that as a cold day in his life and he didn't want to talk about the woman that he saw as a mother. Zevesda had only met her once in the three years that she served as Karaan and Albafs guard so she didn't think to ask about her. They continued to talk for the rest of the day. About midday they went to the alchemist and confirmed Karaans order, it coasted him three silver pieces for the full order to be prepared to carry through the desert. Afterward they went to the pub and talked even more. After a while Zevesda eventually asked "So where are you heading now?" and Karaan responded with "Well I've finally saved up enough and I'm to see Edward." Zevesda instantly knew why and seeing his ingredients list so did Letholdus. Zevesda surprised replied "Really? That's great!" Letholdus butted in "Wait you're going to see him? That must mean that you're stinking rich! Oh man I'm so jealous! I would love to just meet the man! He's my hero!" Karaan laughed and jokingly said "Well want to come along?" He thought about it seriously for a minute and said "Do you mean that?" Karaan laughed loud saying "Heck yeah! The more the merrier! And I'd get to hang out with Zevesda a while longer! As long as you cover your own expenses that is." Letholdus got really excited for a minute then looked disappointed saying "Wait, I don't have enough money to afford her for that trip, and all the food and supplies that it would require and I don't have near enough to see Edward. I mean I'd happily take a detour to meet him but that's far too expensive. I mean I could recover some of it once we reached the other side but not nearly enough." Karaan replied "We'll you can go in with me, I mean as long as he isn't consulting you I don't see the problem with it. And we could split the supplies, Zevesda is a mighty fine hunter so we shouldn't have to worry about food that just leaves water." Letholdus continued on with that saying "Were both good with plants so that'll help as well. But I still can't afford to pay her for that." They both thought for a minute and Zevesda interrupted saying "Well if Karaan is willing to lend me all of his extra carriage space then I'll just pay myself for the trip." Letholdus looked at Karaan very excitedly and Karaan replied "Well that sounds fair. But under one condition." Zevesda asked "What?" He replied to Letholdus "You're a mage, so you're quite skilled in magic, you said that earlier. Well I'd like you to give Sarah here some free lessons. We'll say that I'm renting you the space in my cart in return for the lessons and you're giving it to Zevesda as payment." He replied instantly "Yeah definitely! But why would you want me to give her lessons? I mean it's not really earning you anything is it?" Karaan replied "Well she is my guard so it would be getting me a better guard for one thing. I mean that's enough for me." Letholdus said "Ok but I don't know how much I can teach her in that amount of time it's not very much. I can't guarantee shell learn anything at all." Karaan replied "Well that's fine I just need her to learn how to activate a seal." Letholdus replied "Well still... learning magic is very difficult and I've never taught it before so I don't know if that will be enough time to even learn that. I mean it took me that much time and not to brag but I'm a bit of a special case... If you will come back with us along the mountain path then I'd have plenty of time to teach her at least that much." Karaan replied excitedly "Yeah that's great. That was my plan initially anyway." Excited they both reached out and shook hands as if to signify the begging of a contract and lifelong friendship. Karaan said "I'll have to find a way to sell most of the jerky that I bought before we leave but that shouldn't be too difficult considering where we are." Just then a large middle aged man in a plain white shirt with short black hair and a finely trimmed beard and mustache walked up and asked "Did you say you were selling jerky?" Karaan said "Yeah you interested?" He replied "For the right price I am. Our shipments running later than usual and were running low on supplies so if you're willing to negotiate a reasonable price then I'll buy ya out." Karaan replied "Well we've got five bags, but I'll sell you three." The man without a moment's hesitation replied "Great I'll give you five silver!" Karaan said "Deal." And they shook hands. The man asked Karaan to wait saying that he'd be right back with the money. After he left Sarah spoke up saying to Letholdus "You said that you have to be rich to see this Edward guy. Whys that?" Karaan replied saying "He's one of the five and one of the best alchemists in the world. He charges a ridiculous amount just for a consultation with you. For him to actually treat you he charges you a full platinum piece (approximately $1,000,000USD equivalent)." Sarah looked as if she were going to feint, she grew pale and slowly nervously said "I mean... I knew that you had money... but... but... that's more than my father ever had at any one time or Adler... or anyone that I ever knew... and I mean... wow..." Karaan blushed lightly and waited for Sarah to catch her breath then she asked "Why... why would you ever... I mean you of all people, someone that's so stingy with money... Why would you ever pay so much to go see him? I mean... Just why?" Zevesda and Letholdus both looked at Karaan. Zevesda silently said the same thing that Letholdus said aloud. They asked "You never told her?" Karaan replied to Sarah "Well I was born with a rare bone condition. I have very weak bones. I mean their fine now, but unlike normal people whose bones get thicker and stronger as you age and work out and stuff. Mine don't. They get weaker actually. I'm taking a medicine for them now. That's why I always stop by the alchemists before we leave a town. When I was very young my mentor Albaf hired a very skilled alchemist to examine me and create a treatment. He said that there was no way for him to cure it merely to slow it down with this medicine. But he also said that it's very likely that Edward could cure it for me. So ever since then I've been saving up to see him and have him treat me. I don't have the full amount but I have enough credit with the bank to take out a loan for the remaining amount, the sooner the better I'd rather pay interest and see him a year or two in advance and get it taken care of once and for all." Sarah didn't know what to say with a tear in her eye she asked "Why didn't you tell me? And they knew so why couldn't I?" He chuckled saying "Well it's simple, you never asked. That's the first thing that Zevesda asked me when we met her and as for Letholdus." Letholdus spoke up "I'm a very skilled alchemist I met Karaan at the alchemists yesterday and I knew what was wrong with him the moment I saw the ingredient list. So he never really told me anything." Sarah trying not to cry said "I always wandered but I guess I just thought it was your business, or more that it was nothing. Not really worth talking about... I mean I can't believe... Is that why you always ask me to help you when you need to handle anything heavy?" Karaan replied "Yeah. I mean I have the physical strength but if I were to fall with something like that on top of me or strain myself to hard it could easily put me out of business for good. Or maybe even kill me... The biggest risk though is it breaking a bone, unlike any normal person who could heal from a broken bone over time if treated properly mine are like teeth it doesn't matter how well you treat them once its broken its broken there's no going back... Even with magic." Sarah still trying not to cry didn't know what to say. It took everything she had just to hold in her feelings. Not that she really knew how to feel either. By this time the man had come back with the five silver pieces and Karaan showed him his ticket and asked if he needed him to walk with him. He replied "No it'll be fine, I work here so were permitted to come and go in the stable as we please and take anything we wish... Obviously we can't steal but if someone refuses to pay a debt then we can take it from their belongings if we see fit. Karaan replied "Ok well I trust you." Afterward he was quick to change the subject and they began talking about other things. Before much longer it had gotten late and they all went back to their rooms Karaan paid for another night and they did as well. Karaan also asked the innkeeper to add two more months for two more people to the water supply. Letholdus paid for the extra water. As they paid Sarah asked "Well why don't we all just share a room that'll be cheaper wont it?" Karaan replied "No not really. They charge you one silver per room or 50 copper per person, whichever is less. While it might be cheaper for three people rather than getting two rooms it wouldn't for four. And besides I think they both probably want their own rooms." Sarah said "Oh." And Zevesda spoke up "Yeah but if you want to get your own room then I can keep Karaan company. I'm sure we'd have lots of fun... We probably wouldn't get much sleep though. But that's fine with me. hehe." Sarah didn't know how to respond to that, so she didn't. Karaan just laughed. They all went to their rooms and went to sleep. Sarah in Karaans bed and Karaan on the chair as usual.
YOU ARE READING
A Tale of Fortunes Cross
FantasyThis is the story of Karaan a young magic-less merchant, in a world filled with magic and magical creatures. It was party inspired by "Spice and Wolf" But is by no means a "fan-fic". Karaans adventures takes him throughout a wonderful, enormous cont...
