He paced around the room, "Lucas wouldn't have done such a thing."
"Sir," Adelia spoke quickly, "he follows the words of your father, not you. He has threatened Doppel and me before. Even Hunter was threatened by him on several occasions." She knelt before Volodar as she swore this to him.
Volodar gave no response as he looked around the room. "This tower isn't safe. I do not know when the noble's men will come, but they will be more organized than a few bandits."
"Sir, we could run away from here."
Sighing, Volodar responded, "I wish it was that simple. If they do not succeed in killing me, they will gather nearby nobles with their gilded tongues and simply attack more. I need to be stronger if I wish to take all of them on alone."
Adelia couldn't argue with that logic as stories were often told about events like this. A witch sets up in a location and bend animals to her will, only to be crushed by the surrounding civilizations out of fear.
"If I may," Doppel added, "I can disguise myself in your image and stay back when they attack. This will allow for them to think that you've died, while you and Adelia can escape somewhere far from here."
Volodar, furious to the idea, "No. No, that wouldn't work at all. I'd rather be a fugitive than have my prized creations die for nothing." Inspiration seemed to strike Volodar within that instant as he looked towards Doppel. "I will make them believe that I died through transmogrification of a body. It will take me several hours, but I will have a believable enough corpse that would be sleeping during the attack. It will have set orders on what to do during that time."
That idea sparked Volodar's task of making this body double. He completed the creation of the creature as he took account of its mannerisms. It wasn't exceptionally well made as it seemed to awkwardly shift around in its movements. "Well," Volodar said, "If it was Lucas, he would know that it wasn't me. Most people who don't know me though could be fooled briefly."
Adelia looked at the creation and knew instinctively that it wasn't Volodar. "My lord," Adelia asked, "are we leaving tonight?"
"Yes, we will head out under the cloak of night as Hunter and his beasts guide us. The rest of my skeleton army will defend this location and place up a good fight." Volodar looked displeased with his words as he grabbed his remaining materials.
Doppel spoke, "I do not wish to tell you how to feel, lord. However, you can reanimate more of them if you live. That's what matters to us more than anything."
Volodar nodded as the three of them left the tower. They grabbed supplies that were gotten from the weeks of fencing their goods in different shops and the money that was acquired. "I have given myself the ability to see through the eyes of that puppet. We will see what happens with those who fly the banners of the boar." The group made their way through the forest until they united with Hunter.
"Listen," Volodar said, "we will head together towards Strosa. Adelia and I will go undercover into the town and grab what we need. Both of you will wait in the surrounding woods for our reappearance. Doppel, you'll need to transform to hide better once we get there."
Doppel bowed his head in acknowledgement as they travelled to Strosa. It took several days before they hit their destination. It was quite the remarkable sight. Strosa's walls could be seen in the distance as they stretched sixty feet into the sky. Blue banners dangled on either side of the large gate that led into the grand city.
Adelia and Volodar made their trek together towards the entrance as many people were moving wagons and supplies around the settlement.
Volodar looked towards the top of the walls, seemingly captivated by the beauty of the structure. "It is quite the feat of engineering."
The walls that surround this settlement loomed over all who entered. The towers were equally as impressive as they rose more than a hundred and forty feet into the sky.
His companion had no words as she stared with eyes of wonder towards the exterior. It didn't take long before they found themselves in the line, shuffling towards the guards who spoke to the oncoming traffic.
At this point, Adelia noted the attire that they wore was different from most of the others. Volodar's clothing was peculiar and higher quality than most people and she was in a uniform that was commonly associated with a servant of a noble.
She got close to Volodar's face as she whispered, "We need a background that we can tell them."
Volodar nods, "Any ideas?"
Adelia was all smiles as she explained, "You're a travelling wizard who is trying to find a court to work at. I, on the other hand, am your apprentice. I am Elli and you can be Fulton?"
"That works for me."
The guard beckons the two of them and states, "Never seen the two of you around here. What's your business?"
Adelia spoke, "We wish to see the adventurer's guild and to see the wares of the town."
He looked curiously towards Volodar before asking, "Either of you have an adventurer's guild license?"
"No," Adelia replied, "we don't have one yet."
"Okay, well, get some form of identification. You can't run around to every town without one. What's your profession?"
"I am the apprentice of Fulton," she nodded towards Volodar.
"I am her master," Volodar added. The guard looked in confusion and grabbed something from a cart behind him.
"I will check your stores of mana to make sure that both of you are spellcasters. That will be good enough for identification today." He waved this glass as he placed it to his eyes and stared at Adelia. "You look to have mana. I can see it around you." Turning around to face Volodar, his face tensed at the sight. "Who exactly are you again?"
Volodar spoke blandly, "I am Fulton, a mage looking for a court to serve."
"That would definitely explain it," the guard wiped sweat from his head. "That is one of the more potent wells of mana I've seen in a while. It's quite disciplined from the looks of things."
Volodar was interested in what the guard meant by it, but was caught in the moment by all of the happenings around him.
The guard stated one last time, "Go on in and make sure that y'all get your identifiers."
The city itself was bursting with life. Streets were cobbled and dirty with people in constant contact with one another. Stalls and vendors were shouting sales towards people as they made their way through.
Adelia made sure to stick close to Volodar as she pointed towards a wooden sign. It was in the shape of a sword that hung in front of the shop. "It looks to be a blacksmith, my lord." Adelia pressed onwards with Volodar and entered the shop.
All of the walls were lined with steel weaponry of different qualities. Some barrels were filled with blades that had their hilts sticking straight out of them. Shields, armors, and armaments were along shelves and propped onto mannequins within the shop.
A dirty dwarf behind the counter wiped an axe and looked towards the strange duo. "You two don't look like you need weapons."
Adelia cleared her throat, "Actually, we are looking for some weapons and armor today."
The dwarf was gray with age and spoke with a scratchy voice, "The barrels are cheap works made by some of the journeymen and apprentices. If you're looking for quality, look at the walls for some of my own work."
Volodar walked over to the walls and admired the intricate details that was placed onto the weaponry. He grabbed one of the swords that were by the wall. It was too heavy for him to wield it correctly as he fumbled about with it. "I don't know about this," Volodar said, "I think I might be better off with something lighter."
"How about this," Adelia asked. She held a dagger in her hand.
Volodar examined the dagger and looked towards the shop keep, "Got any daggers that are better than this?"
The dwarf placed down his axe and stared towards Volodar, "Aye. I do, reckon you got the money for it as well." He grabbed a few daggers from behind the counter and laid them on top. "These are some of the finest I have. This one is from my homeland as well." He directed towards a dagger with a curved blade at the end.
Volodar's curiosity was peaked, "A dwarven dagger, that is very interesting. I'll purchase that one then. I'll also take the leather armor that's over there and a set that's suited for her."
The dwarf's face twisted into a smile as he spoke, "That's good. Good choices and a keen eye. That'll run you about eighty gold pieces."
Adelia instinctively winced at the price as Volodar agreed to it. He paid her no mind as he reached down and placed coins onto the counter. For Adelia, that amount of wealth is enough give someone a decent life should they live modestly for the rest of their lives. Volodar simply needed to learn the value of currency better.
The dwarf was surprised to see Volodar procure that kind of money, "Any plans for the big city? The name's Desmond, I'm from clan Bloodcoat. I'm willing to point you where you need."
Volodar accepted, "I'm looking for the adventurer's guild, in fact. My apprentice and I are going to become licensed." The more that Volodar thought about the adventurer's guild, the more he saw the utility in such an organization.
It would be the perfect place to lay undercover until the situation with nobles blew over. He could also practice his blood magic and offensive spells in a way that he couldn't when working alone.
"Welp," Desmond said, "I got a brother whose got a few friends he picked up along the way. He's an adventurer, like the type you're trying to become. His name is Gaulk. You can show him that dagger and tell him that you're looking for a group. He'll accept the two of you. They need more people anyhow." He paused as he looked towards Adelia, "Careful though, he's a bit of a drunk."
"Thank you," Adelia responded, "we'll look for him after we sign up."
They continued their winding path as Adelia asked for help from strangers. Slowly, but surely, the path to the adventurer's guild became clear and they made their way inside.
"Adventurer's guild," Adelia paused, "this looks more like a large tavern to me."
Volodar found the counter as a young, blonde woman looked at him. "Can I help you, sir?"
"Oh," Volodar continued, "my apprentice and I are looking to become adventurers. We'll need identification for the town as well."
The woman looked over Adelia and Volodar as she led them through the process. Forging identification cards with the help of an institution such as the adventurer's guild made the process much easier.
It's a simple system where people accept quests and complete them for monetary gain. There were no restrictions on which quests someone could take either. The fault would lay solely on the individuals who accepted the quests on whether they lived or perished.
It was a brutal method of weeding out those who weren't fit to join the guild, but seemed to give an air of gravitas when selecting your quests. People had to be serious in their judgment on how difficult a quest could be.
Volodar took this information in stride as he thought about how he was counselled through most of his decisions in his life. It doesn't make him any stronger by never exploring the ideas on his own. This bothered him as he made his way to the board with his new identification.
The adventurer's guild believed that Volodar was a blood mage. It wasn't illegal to use blood magic, but most people would simply avoid using it as some blood rituals harm the individual who casts it as well. Adelia found resources that could help her cast life magic within the city. The clerics of Strosa were willing to teach her the basics of restoration, a good faith gesture to spread support magics through the world.
Volodar jested towards Adelia, "I throw away my blood so you can restore it, we will be quite the team." Adelia smiled as another figure caught her eye.
"Over there," she pointed, "isn't that a dwarf as well?"
Volodar took note of the dwarf and confirmed her suspicions. There were two other people who sat at the table as well. Most peculiar, was the fact that a crocodile lay curled up around one of their legs. Volodar approached slowly and raised his hand to the dwarf, "Gaulk?"
This dwarf's face wasn't as dirty as the blacksmith. His beard was spattered in alcohol as he lifted his cup once more and drank deeply. The dwarf wore a piece of chainmail and glanced into his direction.
"Yep, that's me. You need something? Most people who know my name need something."
He took the dwarven dagger from his sheath. "Your brother sent me, he said that you would be looking for help in the future?"
Gaulk examined the newcomers, "Desmond sent more people, Drake. Look at that, I hope you all last longer than the last people."
Drake looked to be a man that wore heavy metal armor as he was almost entirely covered in full plate. His helmet lay on the table next to him as he stood to introduce himself. "Drake Bridgewater, I'm the cleric of this group. You already know Gaulk, he's our front liner. That over there with the crocodile is my cousin, Nokken."
Nokken barely responded as he nodded his head. "Don't mind him," Drake mentioned, "he enjoys the company of his animals more than us. He's getting better at communicating though." Gaulk laughed heartily at that as his belligerence grew.
Gaulk almost spit his drink out due to his laughter, "He's getting better!"
Volodar felt it was natural to tell them what he could provide as well. "I am Fulton, a blood mage and this is Adel- "
"Elli," Adelia laughed it off, "my master can be forgetful at times. I am a mage who has some knowledge in flame and life attributes. I hope that we can all get along."
Gaulk seemed to welcome them immediately as he pointed towards chairs that they could sit at. It wasn't long before food was ordered, and they laid out plans for their next trip. There was a portal that was located within a cave not far from Strosa to the west. Those who went into the portal and came out claimed that there were horrible creatures from within.
However, there were also sightings of a fortress on the other side of the portal at some distance away. Each kill that is confirmed within the portal was worth a gold coin in bounty. This was set by the queen of Strosa, Alvina.
"So how many adventurers will be going into that portal," Volodar asked.
Drake glanced at the bounty, "Plenty, it's close enough to Strosa and it has a good bounty per kill. It will see some good action and should be relatively safe as well."
"Get your beasts ready, Nokken." Drake stated, "We'll be leaving first thing in the morning."
Adelia and Volodar left to find an inn as the moonlight shined down onto Strosa. The road that they were on gave a smell of cheap perfume as ladies of the night would entice others to spend money. One of these women walked towards Volodar as she went to grab a hold his arm.
The woman's sultry voice crept over Volodar, "Darling, you look like you need a good time."
"Well," Volodar said, "I was told to broaden my horizons in the realms of emotion by Lucas. Would you make me feel joy?"
"I would make you feel ecst-" She was cut off abruptly by Adelia.
"He's fine," Adelia wrapped herself around his arm and led him away, "you don't want what she's offering. Trust me on that, my lord."
Volodar was confused as she led him away and into an inn. The female innkeeper looked at her and smiled as Adelia was still wrapped around Volodar's arm. "One room or two," she winked.
"One is fine," Adelia said quickly as she placed coins onto the counter.
"Have fun," the innkeeper joked.
Volodar prepared for sleep as he laid on the bed. Adelia looked around the room as she was flushed and sat down on the bed. Her intention was to get him away from that woman and to find an inn. Adelia asked sheepishly, "It's fine if we sleep in the same bed tonight, right?"
"I don't mind it," he replied, "it's getting colder anyhow."