A Tale of Fortunes Cross

Ch. 23: A Long Road

They finally reached the end of the dwarven mountains. As they passed between the last large hills, they noticed a large bird passing over. With its absolutely enormous wingspan and its rare coloration it was very obvious that it was a Vox. Normally such a majestic sight would be a thing of wander. However, such a sense of amazement should be saved for times when a giant carnivorous bird isn't diving right toward you. Everyone was in a panic trying to decide what to do, they pulled out their weapons but they all knew that if this thing tried to pick them up and carry them off the only one who could get away would be Radluc, and he still wasn't able to fly or even glide well. As the bird quickly approached the only one still calm was Agast who reached into the pouch to his side and pulled out a pulled out one of the pokkies that he had bought in town. It was amazingly well preserved. He tossed it onto the ground several feet in front of them, followed by another, taking his time he had thrown three before the vox landed. It saw the pokkies and changed its direction for them. It landed with a swoosh, flapping its wings going from a sheer dive to hovering over the ground in an instant. It roused up dirt and even uprooted several plants from the sheer force of the draft created by its flapping wings. It sounded like the strong winds in a thunder storm. It slowly landed. While it was obviously large, to Agast it was still young, it was only 10 feet in height, about a foot taller than Archer. It leaned down and with its long neck almost three feet long it reached down and began picking up the pokkies as Agast threw the other two toward it. It gobbled them up one after the other, then Agast walked over to it and patted it on the head. He said "This here is Suisy. She's pretty nice usually, but she will attack if she's hungry, we usually recommend travelers carry atleast five of these pokkies with them to fill her up if needed. Their cooked and prepared in a way that they don't rot away, they aren't too good when prepared like that, but they'll last, and she seems to like them even more. She's just a baby now but we're hoping we can get rid of her mean streak before she gets older." Sarah with surprise shouted out "She's just a baby?" Agast chuckled, "Yeah she's only half grown right now, vox get twice this size." Karaan said "Well thanks for the help!" Agast laughed and said "No problem, but this is where I leave ya, I hope I see ya again, fee free to call me out next time you're in town, we'll talk business. But till them be safe, oh yeah, and Susie here aint even close to the dangers down here. The space between towns are a lot further down here and the grass hides a lot of predators, don't let your guard down or you'll regret it. Vox aren't the most dangerous things living in these parts just the most famous dangerous thing. Be careful. Well I said my peace I'll be off." Karaan thanked him again and after everyone said their goodbyes they started for the next town, they bought a map in the previous town, the grass grew wildly over the roads in the south so it was sometimes hard to tell what was road and what wasn't. They needed a map to help them stay on track. There were large metal poles in the ground to help travelers find the next town, but after that they would be on their own. Or so Agast had told them. They walked for several days, and they were all relieved to get to the next town, the weather was terrible, it was windy, the wind blew dust into the air and it was dry. It wasn't hot, nor was it cold, in fact some might say the temperature was just right, but the air was so dry that it felt like you they were breathing in dust. They probably did on many occasions. The air wasn't as dry as it was in the mountains but the dust and wind, along with the temperature difference made it seem so much more. They reached the town and the first thing they did was to find the local pub. They downed a few and ordered a meal, they didn't usually order food from pubs because the food is always simple and never tastes good, better food can be bought for less. However, on this occasion none of them really cared. They all dreaded the fact that they would have to put up with this for nearly another year, they wished for the temperature to drop. They even debated whether or not to just turn around, pick up Agast, and head back home the hard way. The only one who wasn't surprised was Devin, even so it was obvious that he didn't like the weather. They slept that night in inn and the next day was a typical day. They awoke early, shopped around for supplies and bought what they needed. It was a typical day, and at the end of the day they found themselves in the pub, once again dreading the weather. In the pub their was a one eyed dwarf playing a strange game, he had a pair of golden dice. After watching him for a little while Karaan walked up to him and asked what his game was. He said "It's called chance, it's all about how lucky you are." Karaan asked "How's it work?" He replied "It's a gambling game, I have two dice, each one has ten numbers on it, the first has the numbers one through ten, the second has the numbers 0 to 90 in increments of ten. There are a hundred possible combinations, you pick a number between one and one hundred then we divide one hundred by the number you picked. round up if the number is under fifty and round down if it's over fifty. That number is the bet multiplier. Then you place a bet and we roll the dice, if the dice lands on any number lower than your number then you win. You win the amount you bet times the bet multiplier. So if you bet 1 silver and your number was 50 then you would get two silver back. If you bet 1 silver and your number was 75 then you would get 1 silver and 33 copper back, if your number was 25 then you would get four silver back. But if the dice lands on your number then you win twice the normal amount, so if you pick 1 and it lands on 1 then you would win 2 gold. Minimum bet is ten copper, if you bet anything under a silver piece then you can't win more than you bet back with a bet on any number over 90, unless it lands on your number then you'll win a minimum of 1 copper piece in addition to your bet, we don't deal in stoans." Karaan asked "How do you make money off of that? It's not in your favor." The dwarf replied "Why don't you play a little and I might feel inclined to tell ya after I take all your money. Karaan laughed and said "I'll bet a gold piece on one. The dwarf backed off a few steps, saying "Now boy, that's a serious bet, you got the money to make that bet?" Karaan laughed saying "I got enough to make it all day." The dwarf frowned as he watched Karaan calmly pull a gold piece out of his seemingly glowing bag of coins, and rolled the dice. The first die landed on 4 and the second on 70. The dwarf grinned saying "Pay up." Karaan chuckled saying "That's fine, I have plenty more where that came from. The dwarf grinned saying "Nah I've taken enough of your money. I'll tell ya how it works." Karaan grinned and in a sarcastic voice replied "Awwe, but I'm sure I can win..." The dwarf said "Yeah, I am too, that's why I'm not risking it. You're right the game wouldn't seem to be in my favor, but then again people usually don't put much thought into it, and usually don't have a hundred or two gold pieces laying around to bet with. What happens is the high betters usually bet high, and the low betters bet low. The little fish (low betters) will make safe bets and will win quite a bit, but a bunch of little fish eating it up will attract a big boy. This high better will make a confident bet on a low number, and loose it. On top of that you keep feeding these little fish they'll get fat too, and start taking more and more risk, then I'll gobble them up to. I usually end up winning more that I lose because once someone wins ten times in a row betting low they start betting more and betting higher, it's slow but they end up losing what they won plus a little, but the real money comes from the big fish (high betters) they attract who will make wild bets like a gold piece on one, and lose it all in one go. Of course I know that if a smart or just plain lucky big fish came up they could easily walk away a winner and even drive me dry, it's happened a few times, but I still make more than I loose in the end." Karaan laughed "And they call me a con artist!" The dwarf stuck out his hand intending to shake with Karaan as he replied "Yeah, I can see that in your eyes. So who ya be stranger?" Karaan shook his hand and he said "The name is Karaan, I'm down south taking a bit of a vacation." The dwarf paused for a minute and asked "The Karaan?" Karaan replied "Well, I've met a few people with my name, but none as well-known as myself." The dwarf broke out in hysterical laughter "You really are a fucking con artist, oh man you are my hero! Ripping off the entirety of the northern territories, you single handedly created a monopoly on brox armor in the north!" Karaan replied "Correction, it wasn't single handedly, while I am the decision maker, I definitely couldn't have done it without help." The dwarf laughed and said "Well let me know if I can ever help ya out with anything." Karaan replied "You just did." The dwarf smiled then a confused look swallowed his face, he looked at Karaan and without him saying anything Karaan knew what he was thinking. Karaan continued "Well I can learn a lot from exchanges like this, for example how you were using a system that's would seem to work against you in you're favor. Before I met you I had no clue that you could use statistical probabilities in this manner. So I can revise my business plan now to work more in my favor. If I reduce prices for richer customers that use my services often then I can may make a smaller profit now but I may be able to con them into spending even more money in the future to turn a small loss into an even bigger profit." The dwarf let out a whale of a laugh "Hahaha, for you to be able to take a little con game like this and turn it into a new business strategy on the spot right after learning about it... You must be the genius they pin you for. I thought they were all just making up stories but it seems not." Karaan asked "What do you mean, who's talking about me?' The dwarf replied "Well other than everyone, everywhere... Most of the dwarves in the mountains pin you as the pinnacle of achievement. They call you a fucking genius for your business strategies. I always thought it was just hearsay about some random lug who got lucky, but it seems I was wrong." Karaan chucked "No you were right. It was a very lucky circumstance that allowed me to start my business, without that I would never be in this position." The dwarf grinned saying "Shut it, you are a fucking genius, I can see it now. You may have gotten lucky then, but that only sped you up a bit. Look at you even now you're simultaneously ripping knowledge from me and making a new contact in the south. On top of that I'm happy that you're ripping me off, I've never met anyone like you. Now that I know what you're really made of I can't deny how intricate even this little meeting here is. So at-least allow me to come out a little on top..." He held up the gold coin that Karaan had given him and turned his head around shouting to the bartender, "Unlimited drink on me! This man and his whole crew. The finest stuff in the house!" Zevesda finishing up her glass a little red in the face shouted out "Wooo! You heard the man!" She slammed her glass down. Sarah looked somewhat disappointed that Zevesda beat her to the punch but picked up her glass and began guzzling it down. Devin smiled silently and slowly pushed his glass that had been empty for a little while forward, a gesture to the bartender to refill it. Archer setting at a table across from Marnie could only push his hand to his forehead (face-palm) at the gesture made by Zevesda. The dwarf grabbed Karaan and pulled him closer giving him a hug with one hand. Karaan felt somewhat awkward, but that feeling was drowned out by his embarrassment from being manhandled so easily by a man who barely reached over his waist. (In reality the tip of the dwarfs head reached over Karaans chin, about average for a dwarf, but Karaan thought of him as being barely taller than his waist.) Letholdus sat down at the table with Archer and Marnie with a glass that he just had filled, it was his second glass of the night. Archer was barely halfway through his first but his face was already turning red, even so he kept his composure very well. Marnie got up saying "Me too!" Karaan grabbed her shoulder "No you're a little young to get drunk, set back down." Marnie pouted "I've gotten wasted before. It won't hurt nothing." Letholdus with on hand on her shoulder gently pushed her back into her seat, she pouted as soon as she sat down. "You're hard enough on your own, we're not dealing with you drunk off yours hoovers. Especially me. You'll make do with your juice till you can hold it a little better. In most countries bar tenders wont serve alcohol to children, not necessarily for moral reasons, but because they have a tendency to get wild and destroy things. Letholdus was referring to an event that happened a few days after leaving the town in the dwarven mountains. Marnie had snuck into Zevesdas stash while on the road and after only a few sips Karaan had to put her to sleep, and even then it took almost a full day to fix the wheel that she broke on the cart. Radluc and Agast were a huge help, but if it weren't for Archer they would still be on the road. After Letholdus took a couple of drinks Archer looking at Karaan talking still talking to the dwarf asked Letholdus "So why does he always do that?" During his time with Karaan and the others Archer had gotten fairly good at speaking the human tongue, only making occasional mistakes with some of the more complex intricacies of human speech. Letholdus replied with a smile "That's Karaan for you, that's what makes him so special, and so smart. Even without his magic, he's one of a kind. He's like a mage in that he's always seeking knowledge and connections. What he does isn't necessarily unique in that sense. But what he does with the knowledge is what sets him apart. Even knowledge that most people would blow off as being useless, he can come up with a thousand methods to use it in ways some could never imagine. For example, once he was shopping for clothes, and he met a vender selling clothes that smelled of apples. The smell was sweet and a little bitter, but very good. It drew him in immediately. He asked the vender why he had done that. The vender told him that it was an accident, he had been fooled by the sales pitch of a travelling merchant who just so happened to be transporting apples. The smell form the apples rubbed off on the clothes and after he sold the apples he sold the clothes to that vender. The vender paid three times the price on the clothes because of the sales pitch, it wasn't just the smell but other factors as well. Most people would chuck that off as a funny story and use it as an excuse to make a new connection. While he did use it to make a new connection, as soon as he got back he shouted to Polli (Pronounced Pawl-ee). He deals with the finances in the Brox Shop, he buys all of the third party equipment and material needed to make the various wares and tools sold by Brox Shop. He shouted "Polli, we're gonna start buying apple juice by the barrel immediately, get it in as soon as you can, two barrels! Polli had learned by that time not to question him, if you question Karaans decisions he'd go through with them anyway and then rub it in your face when he was right. Polli ordered the apple juice which was expensive as shit. Each barrel was worth almost half it's weight in gold. But with the connections Karaan had made he got it for half the price. Still a-lot though. Some people thought he was gonna throw us a party, myself included. But he had something else on his mind. The day that the juice was delivered he made an announcement. Everyone in the company would take a day off and polish all of the brox armor with the apple juice. While it wasn't really a terrible idea in itself, I mean apple juice makes a perfect polishing agent for brox hide. The acid wouldn't work on most hide, but brox hide is different the acid actually improves the quality of the polish. And we had heard that it was a pretty common act on the other side of the desert where apples were plentiful. But apple juice was very expensive near us, and on top of that we could get another polish much easier, and much cheaper. And just going around our vendors to get a new product was suicide in our business, none of them would sell to us again. Everyone thought that he was crazy, that he had finally blown the coop. But he had a vision, after telling his story and his plan no one could deny that it sounded like a good idea, even if it was completely irrational and quite frankly idiotic. He had made a reputation for himself, he was not a gambler. He didn't take risks. But this was a risk and no one could deny that. Well except for him. everyone gave up and did what he said, of course we drank what was left of the apple juice. Most of us did it to prevent him from getting any more "great ideas". Boy were we wrong. You see we couldn't raise the price just because we chose to use a more expensive polish that didn't do anything different. And Karaan never intended to raise the price. But on as soon as we opened, the first day we saw a difference. Back then we weren't some huge organization, we were in one town and we had absorbed every other armor shop in the town, metallurgy included, except for one. He was the best in the business, and while we had expanded to another town he was not effected at all. And he refused to sell to us. It was actually kind of cruel. but not long after we started using the apples almost all of his customers started to come to us. Not because the quality of the product was better, it wasn't, in fact it wasn't as good. But because you see when you make brox leather the process leaves a terrible stench that is hard to get used to. Most people will just because brox armor is so effective. The polish does help a tad, but it can't cover up that stench, apples cant either. But what you notice it that over time, if you use the apple juice every day, after some time the apple smell mixes with the natural smell and turns it into a pleasant musk smell. It's not to everyone's tastes, in fact quite a few people dislike it. However, it's much easier to get use to and to overall deal with than the normal smell. On top of that a lot of people eventually come to like the smell as they continue to wear their armor. That opened the doors to the entire market west of the desert. All of our competitors were absorbed in no time at all. But it didn't stop there, with the huge quantities of apple juice being imported solely to us Karaan started up a side business selling it as a third party. Because we could ship huge quantities it was no longer only available to the rich, but to those with middle wealth as well. Expanding the profit even more. It still didn't stop there, he used the apple juice to arrange a meeting with the king. He used that meeting to offer selling quantities of product at reduced rates to him for his solders and guards. Since this was such a great deal we could do it at our leisure. So when we had a backlog we could sell it easily, we wouldn't make as much off of each item, but it kept us busy and we were constantly making money no matter how slow it was. Karaan still wasn't done with the apples though, he used his connections with the apple traders to absorb several armor shops on the other side of the desert. These were shops that were going out of business. So bought them fairly cheap on the agreement that the previous staff would keep their jobs. By this time he had made quite the name for himself the Brox Shop had become the name brand item that everybody that was anybody had to have. His quality was among the best and price among the least. He sent over his best leather maker, which again everyone thought was a mistake and some even voiced their opinions on this matter, but he ignored them and once again it was a good decision. The man he sent not only made items but taught the previous owners how to make it properly and preformed a quality check to make sure that everything was up to par. You see to the east of the desert there is the richest country in the world, so these people wouldn't give a second thought to a second rate product. They only accepted the best, Karaan knew this and sent them the best. With this his victory was assured. It wasn't long that he began to run a virtual monopoly on all of the brox armor in the world. But he would be a fool to stop there, no he continued. He used his spread and formed an innumerable number of connections. He wrapped his web across half of the northern. His influence spread from the royal city of Kon to the canyon separating the north from the south, and he continues to grow it even now. His influence was truly recognized when he threatened Goro king of Resold. The king wanted to make his company a part of the royal army. This meant job security, but took away the possibility of expansion and put him under the kings command. As he was then he was even above the king because of his vast wealth and connections. If he wanted he might have even been able to found his own country, but when the topic was brought up once he replied saying that it would limit the growth of his company too much. The king wasn't being talked out of his position no matter what Karaan did. So Karaan straight up threatened him. He said something along the lines of "If you continue I will have to take side with your enemy's and protest you and your knights. Normally a threat like this would end in death, but every guard in the palace wore Karaans armor, and solders in the army competed for a position that would be rewarded with a set of his armor. If he went against the king and even more so offered his full support to one of his enemy's, not only would some of the kings own troops abandon him but he wouldn't be able to compete with a military that was fully armed in some of the best armor that money could buy. He recognized Karaans power and as an apology awarded him with the title of Page. Karaan being higher than any noble in the kingdom formed a close relationship with the king and used the king to form even more connections. By the time he's ready to retire I doubt there will be a more powerful person in the world. That is if he keeps down this path. But his magic will just become another tool to spread his name and influence..." After a short pause Letholdus continued "But I've gotten off topic haven't I? This man always amazes me. You asked why he always does this, he meets people, complete strangers in almost every place we go to. It's because he's dedicated. He's constantly seeking more knowledge to improve himself and seeking connections to spread his name. He finds value in every connection regardless how large or small it may be. Knowing him he's probably trying to figure out a way to take a group of dwarves back to the north with us to up the quality of products and give us a virtual monopoly on dwarven craft." Archer looked at him nearly dumbfounded. He had heard of his influence and stories from the shop that made it obvious how large it was, but the sheer power that Letholdus explained... Even to an elf who didn't understand a lot about human culture he knew that anyone more powerful than a king was someone to be both feared and respected. At that moment he found a new respect for Karaan. On the other hand Marnie, who thought it was all just a joke until now finally connected all of the dots and couldn't help but to stair dumbfounded at this story. Hearing the dwarf shout out "The Karaan!" and "Drinks on me!" Things that dwarves like him, especially those that lived south of the mountains should never say. The dots connected one after the other and found herself half-conscious from the power of this blow. The brother that she had known for most of her life was quite possibly the single most powerful person in the world, someone who could even challenge the five with his influence alone as a sword. And once more this same person was standing only feet away from her. After several minutes staring blankly she grabbed Letholdus glass and before he could do anything she already had it guzzled down. Letholdus shouted at her "Hey! What was that for?" She shouted back "Well you wouldn't let me have any!" Zevesda laughed aloud hearing this, and even Devin let out a soft barely audible chuckle as he motioned for a refill. Marnie and Letholdus began to argue. After saying their goodbyes they left the pub. It was getting dark. Marnie ran up and hugged Karaans waist. She asked in a cute little sister voice "Will you marry me?" Karaan chuckled and patted her on the head. Sarah walked up beside him, stumbling as she walked and grabbed his arm saying "Carry me!" with a pout. Karaan replied sarcastically "Now you know I can't do that..." Sarah pouted even more and said "Well hold me up" Karaan chuckled and said "Sure." Zevesda taking their example ran up to Archer and jumped on his back shouting "Carry me!" He tried to push her off for a minute, but she held tight. He almost puked from the smell of her breath, so he turned his head, covered his nose, and tried to ignore that she was there. Letholdus and Devin walked next to each-other Letholdus said "You know I'm kind of jealous" Devin replied "Yeah I know what you mean..." As they slept that night Sarah slept curled up to Karaan on one side with Marnie on the other side. He had gotten use to Sarah doing this whenever she gets drunk. Marnie on the other hand, Karaan had no idea why she was doing it, perhaps just to mimic Sarah. All but Karaan and Archer woke up with a hang-over. Archer wandered over to Karaans room to see if anyone was awake. Karaan decided to let everyone else rest so he slowly wandered out of the room, careful not to step on Marnie who somehow ended up on the floor. Karaan walked down the hall with Archer who had slept in another room with Zevesda. They walked to the kitchen in the inn and ordered breakfast. They talked as they ate. Archer seemed a little upset so Karaan asked him what was wrong. With a frown on his face he exclaimed "She tries so hard." Karaan asked what he meant, he had a good idea of the meaning behind those words. They wrought up memories of his days with Albaf, and the time they separated from Zevesda. "She loves another, but it's a forbidden love. She wants to have a family someday, but she has to force herself to sleep in the same room as me. It's an act for the others, and herself. If she had children what kind of life would they live? In a world where humans hate elves, and elves hate humans, and their children are no better than animals to keep as a pet. You knew..." He fell silent as the image of Veena appeared in his mind. A half elf, but she was lucky enough to look like a human, most aren't so lucky. A tear came to both of their eyes. Karaan asked whipping away his tear "And you?" Archer forced a smile across his face "I'm the worst. It's because of me she's afraid. And I understand why. If I were in her shoes then I would be the same. But what I've been through... I love you, and Sarah, Zevesda, Letholdus, Radluc. All of you are family." Karaan smiled genuinely "I wouldn't have it any other way." They took the first bites of the food that was just brought to their table. Karaan said "I think I'll have a talk to the king about his policies when we get back, I'll see what I can do. I fell in love with a half elf once upon a time, perhaps I can use that as leverage." Archer surprised exclaimed loudly "You would do that?!" His surprise came from the fact that mentioning that Veena was a half elf wouldn't only destroy her reputation but his own, it would be an embarrassment to his entire company and would deal a major blow to him. If it wasn't for his company's sheer size and reach it would be impossible to recover. But that's only the start. Asking the king to change his policies and give them rights could potentially turn the entire country against him, if it went the wrong way he could end up losing everything. Elves were just hated that much. People saw maroons as opportunities, but few people took the chance to get to know them, they used them. And those who acted friendly with them in public were generally looked down upon. Karaan being one of the few exceptions because of his position. Karaan wasn't one to take risks, but it didn't matter how you say it, this was a crazy risk. And Karaan didn't even try to hide that fact behind a mask of confidence, the fear at the thought of the possibilities was obvious on his face. Slowly he lifted his head and in a somewhat hesitant, nervous voice he replied "Yeah, it's not just for Zevesda, I love her as a sister. But it's for Veena as well. If the only thing I do to honor the death of the woman I loved... The woman who gave everything to a complete stranger like me... was to keep her name a secret so that she wouldn't be embarrassed... Well that would be an embarrassment to me as a man. No that wouldn't be an embarrassment, but a disgrace to me as a living creature. If I don't give my life to the person who sacrificed hers for me... Well then I don't deserve this life that I have." Archer looked down at his food. His tongue was numb. He didn't know what to say. Tears began slowly creeping down his face. Karaan smiled, but he couldn't hide the tears in his eyes either. Archer finally spoke "My life already belongs to you, but now my heart does too." Those were simple but powerful words. And they were interrupted by a loud shout "Bring on the booze!" Zevesda sat down on an empty seat at the same table. Looking at two red faces she exclaimed "And I thought I got drunk last night... Dang you two still look drunk!" Archer was the first to attempt to laugh the weight off his shoulders. It wasn't long before everyone else joined them as-well. As Marnie walked in holding Sarah's hand, who was whipping the sleepy from her eyes with her other hand. Karaan spoke up "It looks like everyone's finally here, lets head out!" Sarah yawned, Marnie let go of her hand and ran toward Karaan, Letholdus and Zevesda who had gotten there sooner and sat down with Karaan stood up and they walked toward the door. Davin was already outside "bonding" with Radluc. Well he was trying to but when they walked up they found him passed out on in a pile of horse shit, looking like a house had just fallen on him. Radluc was curled up sleeping next to the cart. Karaan woke Radluc up as Marnie emptied a bucket of water over Devin's head. They set out. They hooked Radluc to the cart as Devin washed off in cold water from the town well. They set out for the next town after making sure everything was ready. The trip to the next town took more than a week. They followed a path that had been pointed out to them and they found several cabins along the way. These cabins were a few days apart. For the most part they weren't kept up, and being made of grasses that grow in this region weren't very pretty to look at. But They were told that the cabins were free to use as they see fit, as long as they keep it clean and repair any damages that they can. They were told that these small cabins were made by other travelers to help protect against predators in the middle of danger zones. With Radluc with them they were very afraid of predators, but even so having a cabin to stay in even if it was made from grass was nice and no one turned down the offer. There was the occasional post stuck out of the ground to help you find your way. But these were few and far between. It was expensive to post these up. They were mainly meant to tell travelers when they had wandered off the path. You would pass two or three a day and if you didn't see one by the end of the day you knew that you would need to turn back. Or so they were told. There were smaller signs posted on the roads when there was a sharp turn or specific things that needed to be watched for. Because there weren't any definite landmarks it was hard to stay on the same path, and unlike the desert where you could find the occasional landmark, a peculiar weed, or a specific rock on the ground to keep yourself from getting turned around. You couldn't see the ground here so staying on a straight path was difficult to say the least. They had gotten many tips however, they weren't extremely helpful. Luckily Devin had been trained for similar situations and he could navigate these plains fairly well. They reached the next town and it was the usual, they left after resupplying and started out again. They were crossing the border, but everything was fine because they hadn't heard of any conflicts between these two kingdoms yet. They continued to the next town and followed the same process resupplying and heading out. This time they were heading to another royal city, the second one they would visit to the south of the dwarven mountains. After some time they reached it. The last royal city was much larger. Crops grown to the south of the dwarven mountains aren't very nutritious, thus the population of towns grow very slowly. Furthermore, the lack of truly dangerous predators in the south, means that populations can be much more spread out. So it's common to see farms much further away from towns, and even small outcrop settlements where several families' will live far away from towns and run their farms. Recently people began raising several farm animals such as shii and kororori, they preform very well, omnivorous shii will eat pests and scare away predators that would harm the kororori, it's a perfect farming strategy. However young of both species are very delicate and it can be hard to keep predators away from them. Both have a very large number of offspring so even with predation they can produce enough offspring to at least replenish their number. In the north this act was very popular, however establishing a farm can take quite a while, and predators in the south aren't born with a natural weariness or fear of shii. So this method isn't nearly as effective. Shii often end up dying when they attack predators. Using more shii than normal could offset this number fairly well, however shii are very expensive so most farmers have to raise the young themselves in much smaller pins until they can be released back into the herds. This can't be done with kororori however, because they require such a large grazing area. The royal city was the same as a normal city people gawking at Radluc and looking for supplies. The next few towns were the same. The towns were so far apart that it would take a week to two to travel between even the closest towns. However luckily for them if something went wrong and they needed supplies they could stop at one of the farm houses that dotted the side of the road. About two months into the south they were passing into the border of the next kingdom and everything was fairly normal. However, they were all awoken by Radluc growling loudly. They got up immediately, they knew what this meant. They stood behind him as he appeared ready to pounce. None of them could see anything, but in this region it wasn't hard for a predator to hide in the grass, and they had heard of all of the ambush predators that lived in the south. There were a lot of them. Unfortunately for them... After a minute Devin through a small knife into the ground only a few feet away from them. It stuck in exactly how you would expect it to, except it stuck into what appeared to be a mound that wasn't there before. It had grass growing out of it so it couldn't be... Blood started to drip out of the mound where the knife had hit, it didn't move at all, that's how skilled it was as an ambush predator. After closer observation it could be determined that the grass growing out of its back were actually large hairs that mimicked the grass in the surrounding region almost perfectly in height thickness and color. The only difference was that the tip was pointed, that was true for the normal grass in the area as well, however you should have some stalks that are different heights and widths and some should have small flowers or groups of seeds near the top, these were all almost perfectly uniform. Following this trail of uniform grass they could tell that it was at the very least 30 feet long. However, they all knew that it was probably even longer than that. From that information however they could safely guess what it was. It was the single most dangerous predatory species to the south of the dwarvin mountains. Its name was janken snake. Unbeknownst to them it was also quite large for its species, it wasn't abnormally large, but it was on the large end for its species. Though it was famous down here Karaan had only heard of the name before. It was a large snake that could grow over 60 feet in length. It usually grows between 40 and 50 feet in length. Their jaws can reach five feet in length. They can grow over three feet in height while lying flat on the ground. Their height and width is usually about 1/20th of their total length. They are light brown in color and have large light brown hairs that grow out of their backs almost perfectly mocking the grass in the surrounding area. They are slow moving ambush predators. They can strike extremely fast but other than that are very slow. They have sharp teeth. They are not poisonous, they are constrictors when young, but grow out of that as they become large enough to easily swallow any prey whole. They are quite rare, but have no fear whatsoever and will attempt to eat anything. They will often wait in a specific location for days in wait for prey to pass by. Sometimes they will attempt to sneak up on prey while it sleeps, if spotted they will not move until its prey is within striking distance. This makes them easy to kill with long distance weapons. However, their sheer size calls for numerous people to strike in order to kill them. There is no escape from an adult that has bitten into its prey, it's bite is strong enough to crush it's prey to death. Many people in the south told Karaan to avoid these if possible. It is easy to run away from them, however they will often track prey. Many people proclaimed that an adult may even be able to take Radluc on. The bones of this animal were sold as building material, the meat was considered a delicacy, and the skin used to make everything from clothing to furniture for the rich. But no one cared about that right now... What they cared about was how they were going to take on such an enormous creature... The rave wolves to the north would only be a challenge for it because they hunted in packs. Radluc being another creature with no natural predators and no fear took a step forward. Seeing this it wasn't only Karaan who wanted to grab him and run, from what they had been told it was easy to outrun these animals. But they could all tell by looking at Radluc that, that wasn't going to fly. They were stunned and didn't know what to do. Just then Radluc pounced, the large janken met him with its mouth wide open. As it wrapped its long tongue, longer than a man, around his neck and began to pull him in. He scratched the inside of its mouth, hitting one of its teeth and knocking it out of place. The janken knew this wasn't any ordinary opponent it let him go and slithered backward several feet keeping its eyes pointed straight at him the entire time, everyone was mesmerized by this... did this mean Radluc was winning? He pounced again, but this time the snake dodged mina and pounced. Biting his side it quickly wrapped its body around him like a constrictor. Everyone knew it, this was it. The end of Radluc. Just then Sarah yelled out "Karaan!" Karaan looked at her and after seeing her face instantly knew what she was thinking. He snapped out of his confusion and began to cast his magic. But before he could his spell was interrupted by the large janken loosening its grip on Radluc... What was going on? It obviously had him beat just a second ago, why was it letting go? as everyone stared confused it became obvious when they watched the janken attempt to retreat slowly with a path of blood following it. Radluc had somehow gashed open its stomach. But he wasn't letting it get away now. Karaan cast his spell, Radluc had already won, but he wanted to get it over with as soon as possible. As if expecting the spell Radluc paused only long enough for Karaan to cast it then pounced as soon as it was active. With a single bite it bit through the head and skull of the janken crushing its face under his jaw and killing it. Devin spoke up "I think these things are supposed to be a delicacy." Everyone knew what he was saying, and their mouth began to water at the thought. The food down here wasn't that great. It was hard to find a decent mean, even if it didn't taste too great something that is considered a delicacy was definitely welcome. They quickly began preparing it. Devin hunted down some large grasses to use as timber and gave it to Sarah to carry back. Zevesda and Archer skinned and cleaned the janken. Marnie and Karaan praised Radluc feeding him some pieces of meat that Zevesda and Archer threw his way, there was so much they could never eat it all, and while they could preserve quite a bit of meat by tapping into Letholdus's salt supply, which would be easily replenished in the next town, there was still far too much, so they could afford to waist as much as they wanted. The animal contained surprisingly little meat, but there was still far too much for them to preserve, they decided to take the hide, they could fold it up and use it to further preserve the food, not to mention it would make some nice coats and things that they could easily sell if they decided to, and while it wasn't nearly as valuable as a dragon the villagers would be greatly appreciative if they told them the location of the janken, whose bones made a valuable building material in a place where wood was scarce. They could probably sell the information, but it would be a petty sum compared to the amount each one carried in one coin bag, so they would much prefer the appreciation of the town members. Since earning so much money all of them learned a very valuable lesson, the gratitude of people can often be worth much more than money. While Karaan was a simple merchant he knew it was valuable however he would choose money every time, it wasn't until he stopped needing money that he learned the true value of gratitude. In fact something he would never forget, he was put in a trading situation with town that he had sold the information on the dragon to. If he had earned their gratitude by even accepting a low price on the dragon, which would still be more than enough to have bought the shop, then he could have entered into a trading deal that would earn him an enormous amount of money, possibly even consuming the entire town as part of his company. The brox shop would be able to easily buy, sell, and even make dragon armor as much as they wanted. It could have taken their business to a whole new level. But he learned that lesson too late, and that deal was never made. That event made him wander how many opportunities he had passed up while a simple merchant that could have turned into a major profit. But if he had known about it he may have never met Sarah, or Letholdus, or... Veena. So it was fine with him. As you grow you learn, that's all that's important the fact that he does learn from his mistakes. They cooked up the snake, it was almost morning so they stayed up and ate until the sun came out. The snake was actually delicious. It wasn't as good as some of the food they had in the north but for the most part it easily beat normal food. After preparing to head out they started for the next town once more. When they reached the next town it was a fairly normal day, they told the town officials who agreed to send out a search party, they would also send out a hunting expedition, they said that one janken in the area is bad enough and they didn't want to rish others showing up. Trade was exceptionally important down here, many towns would focus on producing certain resources, and they would help each other to survive. Most weren't self-sufficient, they could survive without help for some time, but even so trade was considered extremely important, they asked Karaan if they could hire him and his dragon but Karaan refused saying "Honestly, we aren't hunters of any kind, it was lucky that he got away that time, but next time he might not be so lucky. I hope you understand if I refuse, we don't normally do this, but this time it was out of our control." The town head shook his hand saying that he understood and that the information it's self was very valuable, more than Karaan had anticipated. The fact that Karaan was simply giving it away was amazing, he had never met a merchant who would do that. In-fact he doubted Karaans words at first blowing it off as some prank or scheme until Karaan showed him the hide and leftover meat, and even then he didn't truly believe him but he was still overjoyed about the information. They shook hands and the town head and he offered to cover the charge of their stay in the finest inn in the town. It was a coastal city that specialized in fishing so the town was a bit larger than normal and had many merchants come through, however even so they only had one inn, it was a large one though. But it was meant as a joke. Karaan got the joke though and laughed a little. The town head did keep his promise and in fact they stayed in the nicest room in the inn, they also had a meal provided to them. Devin exclaimed "There goes the plan." Karaan asked what he meant, and he replied with a question "Didn't we do this to get his gratitude, so that he would return the favor sometime. Well he's putting us up so well, so that he won't owe us a favor. You should've known that it wasn't so easy." Karaan chuckled, Letholdus, Zevesda, even Sarah understood why. Karaan replied "Well you're half right." He looked at Karaan with a confused face. Karaan asked "What's the most important part of business with someone you've never met?" Devin answered confidently "The first impression, it doesn't matter what career you're in. If you're an assassin you want to appear stealthy, a merchant wants to appear poor but in good circumstance, a secretary wants to appear organized. No matter what you're doing you want to appear a certain way." Karaan answered "Ding, ding, ding!" He gave Devin a little time to think, when Devin didn't speak he asked "So what's the purpose of giving him information if I didn't want a favor in return?" Devin thought for a minute and replied, kind of questioning himself "So you were doing it to make a good first impression?" Karaan smiled and said "Yes." To which Devin remarked "But it's unlikely we will be doing business with him again, so what's the point?" Karaan replied "It is, however we don't need money, and we need a favor from someone who lives so far away even less. Sure it might be possible to trade the favor and make it something worthwhile to us, but if we ever do meet him again then a good first impression will be invaluable." Devin thought for a minute and replied "Well you're the boss." They packed up and left. They would be walking long the shoreline to the next town. This region was well known for its rare and unique seashells. They all hoped to find a couple of them. The trip to the next town took about two weeks. They had passed some small animals they had never seen before near the water. One was long and shelled it looked like someone fused a fish with an insect with magic and gave it claws. Some animals seemed familiar while others were just plain weird. There was one, it looked more like a plant than a fish. Letholdus called it a jelly fish and said that the strange roots coming from its dome like head were poisonous. Everyone trusted him when he said that it was poisonous, but they began to question if he was sane when he called it an animal rather than a plant. Zevesda did find one shell by accident. Or more precisely she cut her foot on it. The shell was buried in the sand fairly deep and when she stepped down her foot sank in the sand, and reversely a spike on top of the shell plunged into her foot. She was so angry she nearly threw it against a rock. That is until she realized that the strange red streaks covering it wasn't her blood but a part of the shell. After cleaning it, it revealed many red, green, and yellow streaks. This was one of the very rare shells that they had been hoping to find. She still debated whether or not she wanted to smash it. They reached the next town without much of a problem, except for Zevesdas newly bandaged foot. This town was fairly normal. It was a costal town so most people lived near the sea and there weren't a lot of farmers in this town. There were many boats, large and small that sailed out to catch fish. Some of them going far and others staying near. There were even tails of giant fish living in the sea even larger than many ships. And even more surprising the animals that feed on these fish. These tails kept many fisherman close to shore. The number of fishermen that often went missing didn't hurt how believable the tales were either.