Geo just finished helping an older farmer out by plowing his field with his earth magic. It’s something he started doing a few days ago since it was mid spring and the time to seed has come. Geo didn’t understand what type of seed had to be sown in spring but since the various farmers offered to pay him, he didn’t care. Anyways he left the farmers house after some tee and with a few pieces of iron in his pocked. When he realized that there were more people on the street than usual. Even more then came to the marked place twice a week. He wasn’t quite sure if the caravan was here, so he asked the fisherman’s wife as soon as he saw her.
“Sarah, is this the caravan you were talking about?”
“Yes, it is you should go to Erwin’s today evening! That is where Eric and the caravan leader will most likely be gone. So, it is a good chance to introduce yourself to him. But that is later today. Until then would you be so kind and help me out there is a lot that I want to buy from the caravan while they are here, and it will be too heavy to carry for me alone.”
So, Geo helped the fisherman’s wife to do the shopping until it was time for him to go to Erwin’s tavern.
Erwin’s tavern isn’t barely more than a midsized room with a few tables near Erwin’s farmhouse. So, when he entered the first thing Geo noticed when he entered the tavern was that it was loud and unusual full. The previous times when Geo was here there were five to ten patrons in here on marked days maybe 15. But today the place was filled with people. There were some that were clearly not from the town. It’s obvious to differentiate them since they wore clothes that were while comfy to walk in a lot sturdier then the casual clothes that the villages wear. Eric and a slightly gray haired muscular man sat next to each other both with mostly empty kegs. Eric was probably already a bit tipsy or at least energetic since was talking quite loudly and with some unusual hectic movements.
“And then he fell into the water. Buhahha”
Eric busted out laughing while the man chuckled. When Eric stopped laughing he saw Geo and signaled him to come over.
“Anyways there is someone I want you to meet. This is Geoffrey. He was stranded here about two months ago. And he is kind of homesick. So, he wanted to talk to you.”
“Alright young man, tell me why did you want to meet me!”
“Yes. Like Eric just told you, I was stranded here two months ago and I’m not sure in which direction my homeland is. As it turns out no one here has a map that reaches that far into the sea. So, I wanted to ask you to take me to Sailport so that I can look for a map and a way home from there.”
The until now cherry caravan leader immediately lost his cheery attitude. He sighed as he said:
“Listen Eric and Geoffrey! I can’t just take people with me on the caravan whenever and wherever I want. Even just adding one person can have a serious impact on the logistic. Especially when we are close to our maximum capacity as we are right now.”
“Listen Sieg it’s just one man that we are asking you to take with you. How much of a hassle can that be? Just take him along and show him the way what is the big deal?”
“Well firstly there is the problem of carrying capacity. Just taking food and equipment for one person means that we have to reorganize and ration what and where everyone else carries his stuff. And even just buying that stuff isn’t cheap. That is a big part of the reason why we charge so much just to take people with us. You see that group of three over there? The girl and those two guys paid 23 ars each. And that is just for one and a half months that they travel with us. And even then, are they expected to help out whenever they can.”
Geo made the calculations in his head. One ar was ten cops. And most people use less than five copper pieces a day. This means that for six weeks with the caravan you have to pay enough money to live seven to eight weeks of. Those aren’t numbers that Geo could afford right now. In fact, over the last three weeks of helping out he was only able to collect three cops in total. Knowing that it was nearly impossible under the current circumstances to join the caravan he tries to bargain.
“Listen, Mr. Sieg I have nowhere to go and I have no idea in which direction home even is. I have military training. I know some very basic things about economy and I know some magic. Isn’t there anything that I could do to persuade you to help me out here?”
Eric added:
“Everyone in this village would like to help him. And you’d do us a great favor if you took him with you.”
Still obviously annoyed but persuaded Sieg declared:
“If it weren’t for the reports of pirates further north I wouldn’t even consider this but f’’k it. I need to improve security anyways since the merchants that I have with me are getting paranoid and loud about it. Tomorrow one hour before noon I will be at the market place. Find me then. I will see if your magic is really all that great.”
Sieg stood up.
“I’m not in the mood to continue drinking anymore. I am going to bed. See yeah next time Eric.”
As Sieg left Geo asked Eric.
“Well this went terribly. I don’t think that he is very happy about this. What do you think Eric?”
Eric took a sip form his drink. After that he answered:
“It went as well as it could. Sieg just doesn’t like it to think about work in his spare time after all. Whenever we sit together he complaints for hours about how the merchants are too impatient or how he has to rearrange the order of the caravan just because a donkey of some guy died or whatever. The main reason he didn’t snap at you for brining work up was probably out of respect for me. So, don’t take it too harsh… Well anyways, without Sieg I am not mood to continue drinking. Might as well see leave as well. See yeah later.”
Eric stood up, went to the Barkeeper, paid his tab and left the tavern. Leaving Geo alone for the evening.
It didn’t take long to find the caravan leader the next day. But it took a while for Geo to get his attention since was in a heated discussion with two chubby men in expensive looking clothing.
“Why do you keep insisting on me making space in my wagon for more food for others? It’s my wagon and I decide what gets in it and I say that only my stuff should be in there.”
“Listen Dick it will be two weeks before we can resupply in another town. We all have to make space so that more stuff can be transported. So please”
Stolen story; please report.
“NO! When I joined this caravan, the deal was that everyone only takes with what they own. So why should I”
Sieg interrupted the merchant who interrupted him by looking at Geo and exclaiming.
“Ahh you came back. Good I wanted to see what you capable of before I hired you.”
The merchant started to become angry again.
“Hey stay focused! We were discussing here something important.”
The gray-haired leader handwaved this remark away by saying.
“You all always say that the security for your goods isn’t good enough with all the pirates and bandits running around. So, I invited this young man to an interview. Since I am sure that you all would feel safer if another blackhand would escort us. He was just about to demonstrate to me what types of magic he is capable of. I know that all of you are very busy men otherwise I would invite you all to join me in this examination. So, if you all were so kind. I take my leave to help secure your goods. Have a good day.”
Sieg walked over to Geo leaving a group of dumbfounded and angry merchants back. Then he put his arm over Geo’s shoulder and whispered to him while walking out of the village:
“Thanks for coming. I have these discussions all day long. And you are a great excuse to take a break for a while. All while making these asses think that I am doing this for them.”
They reached the field that Geo has been using as a training spot in the last few weeks, when Sieg asked Geo.
“So, Geoffrey now that we are alone would you mind explaining what your tattoos do and then please give me a demonstration on your skills. I need that to get an idea of what I am getting here.”
Geo thought of what to say.
“Well I don’t have any tattoos. Why is that important?”
Sieg interrupted him confused.
“What do you mean no tattoos? I don’t know a lot about blackhands or magic. But I’ve been on the road long enough to know that they are necessary to make magic. Are you lying to me? Listen I won’t take you with me if you don’t tell me the truth, I will leave you here kid!”
Geo tried to persuade him:
“Well where I am from we don’t have tattoos. We… well... Wait I’ll show you.”
Geo stamped on the ground, when a fist sized rock flung itself out of the ground and into his hand. Sieg looked at this and then asked:
“Is that all? You can attract rocks? Don’t get me wrong. It is the first time I’ve seen this but if I were to hire you as a guard the merchants would not be too impressed.”
Instead of answering with words Geo showed him what he can do by doing a flurry of punches and movements which each did something else. Some lifted rocks out of the ground others shot rocks at those rocks or moved the ground in other ways.
After thinking it through Sieg started asking Geo some more questions related to his magic.
“So how much earth can you move at once?”
“About as much as four cows weight. Although my teachers all warned me to never move that much at once, since it tiers me out really fast.”
“Please elaborate!”
“The example that my father used to give goes a little like this. Imagine that you try to lift rocks by hand. If you lift a big boulder you can’t carry it for long. But if you carry little rocks you can carry them all day long. But this isn’t the only reason why I mostly shoot fist sized projectiles. Since a good hit is enough to kill a man.”
“And you can move the earth freely?”
“I can shape it and compress it as much as I want. As long I can feel it and doe corresponding move. But since depending on the area the earth feels different. Like loose earth feels weird. As if I tried to compress water, that slips through my fingers. Therefore, I like to play around with the ground before using it.”
“Alright. I wanted to see what your magic can do, and I have seen it. Also, since you can actually do magic without tattoos I can believe that you are from really far away. And aren’t just using it as a lazy excuse to get a free ride. I guess we should discuss the terms of employment. But let’s do that later for now I guess we are done. As much of a pain as it is now I have to go back to those merchants that you saw earlier.”
The gray-haired man turned around and signaled S to come with him.
“Come I’ll introduce you to some of the more important people that you have to know for the next few weeks.”
So Sieg and Geo went back to the village. And Geo was introduced to various members of the caravan. But only a few really stood out to him. The only ones he remembered were firstly the slightly overweight angry merchant from before, mostly since Geo tried to hold back a snicker after hearing that his name was Dick and secondly the trio that he saw yesterday in the tavern. As it turned out one of the men was a priest on a pilgrimage the girl was his apprentice who travelled with him and the other guy was their bodyguard, and even then, the main reason that he remembered them was that the bodyguard had a hip-high wolf like dog with him called Biss.
That evening when the fisherman’s family were eating the fisherman asked Geo:
“So how did it go? Can you go with them? Or will you stay here and maybe try your luck again next time the caravan comes through here?”
Geo put his spoon into his soup and started to explain what happened.
“I am in. I was able to convince the man to let me join the caravan. The journey will take one month. And while my official title will be guard, most of the time I will have to help the caravan members out in every way that I can. Also, I must stand guard for 4 nights each week for four hours straight. While most of my hypothetical payment goes into funding my place on the caravan I will still one ar every four days that we are on the road. Also, they will take care of food and housing along the way.”
“And when will you leave?”
“The caravan leaves in two days but I will move in with them tomorrow. I am sorry that this is all happening so fast, but I have no choice then to go. This is my last evening here. Tomorrow is a long day for me.”
Geo sighed and added on:
“I will miss you. From now on I can’t go back. I will try to stay in contact. Thank you for everything.”
Before anyone in the family could say anything, Geo went back into his chamber and went into a restless sleep.”
The next day Geo packed his few things. Most of which were gifts from the various villagers that rescued him like some casual wear or an old but still useable hunting knife. But a few things were salvaged from the rescue boat that Geo drifted in. Most of these items were junk that the salty see made unusable. Although they were his only souvenirs of home and his time on the boat Geo knew he couldn’t hold on to them since he will be travelling a lot in the coming time. So, he sorted out what he could use and what he had to leave behind. A book made unreadable by the seawater, a fishing knife that couldn’t be sharpened anymore and a pair of salt crusted leather shoes had to left behind but Geo also found some things that could be useful on his journey. The most useful one was an all-weather vest that the fisherman’s wife was able to free of salt. After storing most of these things away in a salvaged bag, he noticed that there was a thumb sized coin lying on the pile of clothes. When inspecting the coin, the first thing he noticed was the bronze bird with a silver belly engraved on it. Geo knew what immediately what it was. It was the emblem of the house of brown eagle the noble house that governs over Geo’s hometown and of Porttown, the town from where he boarded the ship. It is a rare item that is only awarded to people who hold high official positions in the territory. Geo wasn’t quite sure how it gotten here. But he had a hunch. After some short thinking he took the coin and left the house.
He swiftly made his way to Eric the carpenter to make a quick request. And a short while later he went back with the coin. The only difference is that in the coin there is now a small hole just next to the eagle’s wing. And after some searching with the fisherman’s wife help he also got his hands on some string. And by combining the two items he made himself a necklace.
It was just bevor sundown when the fisherman made an early return.
“Listen Geo! We all like you and understand that you want to return home. But if you for whatever reason are unable don’t forget you can return here. I am sure we can find a place for you to stay. Then again in case we wont see you again I wanted to give you this.”
The fisherman then took something out of his bag.
“Here this is a special pair of pants. They are made to be a lot sturdier then normal clothes and were made for travel. It was from a friend of mine who came from far away before settling here. I was able to convince him to sell them to me. And don’t ask how much they were. Just take them.”
He handed Geo the pants and Geo inspected them. Most of the pants were made of a sturdy green material but from the joint areas downward they were made of even sturdier but somehow still flexible brown leather. It doesn’t seem like the pants were made of different materials and the green and brown parts seem to flow into each other. This confused Geo, but he was to thankful for this final gift to ask how it’s made.
Geo then gave the fisherman one final hug and thanked him for everything. Then Geo went to the tent where he met the caravan leader and went to rest for the last time in the unnamed village.
