POV Anna
We had a great day at the Ordeal today, I was both terrified and excited at the idea of going in there since I heard stories from some independent merchants a little over a month ago. My father and the rest of my family didn't believe any of these stories, there was also a strange structure appearing in the middle of a field in a forest that had been visited for years without ever appearing anything special except for occasional monsters using Aether appearing. overnight.
It's completely natural not to believe a story like that, as merchants are known for exaggerating stories a bit in order to get better prices on their products, an art that, if I can be honest, my father and I have mastered.
But over time, more and more stories appeared, with enough frequency and consistency to make even my father send some mercenaries and personnel to that structure to verify their veracity.
And who knew, they were all true, when my father saw the items that could be obtained he literally danced in his studio for a whole hour and got ready to start a commercial venture in the village closest to the construction, which the villagers called (with a lot of meaning now that I've experienced what it's like there myself) of Ordeal, a place of danger and opportunity that can make you stand out or never leave.
Unfortunately, my father, because he trusted in following the safe and rational plan, ended up losing the opportunity to gain exclusive control of the Ordeal items. But fortunately my father's position, his business sense and natural charisma are a combination as potent as fire and oil.
Result, even though he did not have exclusive resale rights, he managed to reach an extremely beneficial agreement for him and our family, being able to elevate him to the position of president of the Pásaro Dourado guild that he has been part of since he was 20 years old.
Unfortunately, as the name suggests, the Ordeal is a place of opportunity and loss, and three weeks ago we all saw one of the worst losses, a force of 200 knights (all low level, mixed with many mercenaries) with 2 wizards (also of low level) were sent by the Lord of the region to "investigate the risks to his subjects" after hearing enough rumors from various merchants, even though my father and our entire family tried to keep the existence of the trial a secret as much as possible even from other guild members to cement our position in the village.
The result of the expedition was an unbelievably crushing defeat for the expedition of almost 500 sent (counting as non-combatants) only 77 returned and without the captain, the two magicians, the extremely injured vice-captain and several with varying levels of injuries that even with the potions made with materials from the Ordeal itself, it still wasn't enough to fully cure everyone.
After that, my father began to rethink whether it was really worth taking the risk with the Ordeal, seeing objectively the damage was not as extreme as it seems, only newbies, mercenaries and some low-level knights were lost, the national military capacity itself was not changed.
What changed was the notion that humans were the only species that knew how to use advanced tactics in combat.
Other races such as forest dwellers, dwarves, druainis, etc. also have tactics but they all have specific tendencies, almost instinctively following several studies from different orders of wizards.
For example, forest dwellers have more preference for ambush tactics and long-range combat, of course they are also deadly in close combat, but it is basically impossible for a forest dweller to go wrong with a bow in hand while with a sword they They seem to show a certain reluctance to use them even though they do so with brutal efficiency according to the rumors I've heard.
Humans on the other hand can use any type of tactic without worrying about having any type of reluctance even if not with the same efficiency, unfortunately including more... morally unappreciated tactics.
This was the general notion recognized and accepted by all, that is until the failed expedition, where the demons- I mean, where the goblins demonstrated both the ability in guerrilla tactics like humans and forest dwellers, and charging attacks by their "cavalry" that did not lose to centaurs, in addition to strong infantry and rearguard formations protecting the leaders who cast spells equivalent to 4th or even 5th degree wizards.
With this as a basis, many wondered if it would not be better to seal the Ordeal and pretend that nothing had even happened, some even saying that they should relocate the nearby inhabitants to other places while others, more radical, said that they should be eliminated because they were possibly contaminated in some way. stain or curse that the Ordeal would have.
Of course, all of this was pure nonsense and pretext that several merchants who would have no chance of profiting from the Ordeal said, also in an attempt to undermine the economic power that the peddlers in the region were gaining as well as smaller merchants and obviously my father.
My father was not a fool and knew that there would be many envious people targeting his position and fortune, but he was also known for preferring to invest in different possibilities at a reasonable cost, which the Ordeal began to show was not beyond the fact that they began to appear. new opportunities with the possible war that some nobles were planning to start against the Marshal, the same Marshal responsible for the region where the ordeal was, coincidence?
Merchants do not believe in coincidence, much less when it involves the already established nobility and a rising military star.
With all this on the table I decided that I would see for myself what Ordeal was like and the state of the village adjacent to it, even with detailed reports from several reliable sources you can always trust what you see even more.
Unsurprisingly, my father and the rest of the family were against it, but using all the persuasion skills I've honed since I was born I managed to convince them to let me go with several conditions, bringing a bodyguard, a competent guide, always having an item of teleportation (something extremely expensive even for nobles), and I had to promise that if I had to choose between the people with whom I would be there and save myself I should do the second without looking back.
With these conditions met, I began to prepare to go to the ordeal with three bodyguards who were also great friends of mine, Cali, Max and Mav, Cali was always expected as she joined the temple with the sponsorship of my father to be trained and later become my assistant, maid, bodyguard and whatever else was necessary.
Max and Mav were twin sons of one of my father's partners and friends, but not a merchant or peddler, but a restaurant chef, not the most famous but certainly the best, my father offered to sponsor his business when they were young but he refused, saying that he just wanted enough to be able to live and raise his children and that he wanted to be able to make dishes for good people, not for those who had money to throw away.
A mentality that their children inherited, of being humble but otherwise they are totally independent, even more so because they don't want to inherit the restaurant and like all young people they dream of joining knightly orders, with the slight difference that they both really had talent or enough to enter orders.
My father decided that instead of becoming a sponsor of the restaurant he decided to become a silent investor in the restaurant and actively sponsor two future knights and I became friends with them.
Knowing the ability of the three, my father approved, my sister was only missing the guide and luckily one of the first explorers of the Ordeal was right in our city, as well as being one of the survivors of the disastrous campaign who came to his master to help him in his recovery, a young hunter's apprentice named Connor.