Earl Adder sat at a desk within his room. It wasn't the plain room from before, but a large meeting room with a beautiful circular table, surrounded by chairs. There were several plants and banners, as well as sculptures of various forms lining the walls of the room. More powerful beings we be able to sense the dormant aura hiding within those statues. Rubbing the bridge of his nose, he clicked his tongue as he looked at the people surrounding the table. There were a few familiar faces here, one of which seemed to cause the others a sense of wariness. He sat alone at the opposite end of the table as the rest sat side by side.
Yaren slept soundly in the luxurious bedding provided by the Earl. Looking at the sleeping gnoll Asena gave his hand a small rub with her snout before sitting down in the middle of the room. Her entire body was suddenly enveloped in darkness, splitting apart before returning in scattered pieces to the shadows.
"It's unfortunate timing, but who are we to stop you?" Earl Adder said as he focused his gaze at the man standing at the opposite end of the table.
Silence filled the room as the rest waited for the mans reply.
" I will leave two people. That's all I will spare you." The mans face flashed a rare look of sincerity as he made eye contact with Chief Koly.
"Chief of Yinnsk Village.. I am grateful for your hospitality. Should fate permit it, I will return this favor." His gaze returned to the Earl as a smile that seemed friendly, but caused a shiver down the spines of the others spread across his face. The Earl especially felt the entirety of his being screaming extreme caution upon receiving the mans gaze. "I hope that our deal remains Earl Adder. I hold no animosity towards you or the Kuldrid Empire.."
Before anyone could answer a pure black wolf leaped from the mans shadow, another bundle of shadows splitting from the wolf to reveal Asena. Petting the heads of both, he retrieved a letter from the mouth of Asena. After reading the letter, the man let out a sigh as he looked at the Earl once more.
"Divinia is going to change. If my father is acting already, war can only be so far. This warning is my last grace for you humans." The mans tone had undergone a drastic change as he gave his final words. A sinister weight bared down on Earl Adder as he digested the words of the man. In the split second that the rest of the rooms occupants were either looking elsewhere or at eachother, the man at the end of the table vanished into the darkness.
Looking at Chief Koly, Earl Adder patted the old Gnolls shoulder gratefully.
"Old friend, you don't know the origin of the entity which you have apparently befriended. Just know that I am eternally thankful for you doing so."
Chief Koly looked confused as he scratched his chin with his long nails.
"Fragnir isn't such a bad guy.. He might not speak very much, but he's the most capable man I've ever met."
Earl Adder could only reply with laughter, thinking to himself if only they knew just how capable he was. He soon found himself deeply worried about Fragnirs last words, he didn't know much about it personally, but those who have touched the threshold of the Fourth Evolution and higher would naturally have a little bit of knowledge about the most powerful rulers in Divinia. Fragnirs father, King Aim, Demon Lord of Dubnos, had a reputation that made others quiver at the thought of themselves being that mans target.
"Everitt, I don't know as much as you do, but I don't think you have to treat Fragnir as an enemy so much. I am no fool, I can sense a very dark, very potent power within him. However ominous and foreboding he may seem he has only ever showed myself and the villagers utmost respect."
Earl Adder gazed deeply at his friend as he simply nodded with a sigh. There was no way he could reveal the truth to the Chief, but he had a feeling it wouldn't be too long before he found out for himself.
Yaren woke the next morning to a series of birds singing sweet melodies to one another as the rays from the morning sun streaked through the windows bathing the room a warm light orange. Asena was stretched out on the foot of the bed with her large paws dangling off the side. Yaren smiled as he was getting used to having her around. He didn't know why but it felt right to have her by his side. Giving her a morning pat he pulled himself up as he noticed a letter with a pitch black seal sitting on the nightstand next to the bed. Opening it up recognized the handwriting as Fragnirs from the previous letter he had recieved.
"Your trip will be dangerous. Be prepared.
Asena will take you to a couple of people while you remain in the city.'
"At least tell me who I'm supposed to meet or what I'm supposed to do when I find them." Yaren grumbled, his eyebrows drawn together in annoyance. "Every fucking task has to some crazy trial with this guy." With a huff he urged Asena to get up so he could get some coffee and prepare himself for whatever Fragnir had in store for him.
Yaren looked over his equipment before he pulled himself aboard Asena, holding his plain axe he got from his first spar with Skrid he frowned as he noticed the chips in the head of the axe, as well as large cracks in the handle. The Earl had gifted him 100 platinum coins to shop around and enjoy his stay. He felt slightly bad at the thought of him receiving so much money. This stipend was supposed to be for his entire duration of his healing process, but he was going to head back to Yinnsk with Asena in 3 days. Shrugging it off and choosing to make the most of it he decided he would look for a new axe to compliment his Char Iron Axe and maybe a set of armour.
The guards greet Yaren as he stepped foot outside the gate, a short distance from the gate a raggedy old man sitting against the wall of a building pointed his finger as he exclaimed at the sight of Yaren and Asena.
"O-oohhh! Monsters! Bahahahahaha!!"
Yaren shook his head as Asena passed the man, To preoccupied by the man he failed to notice the vicious snarl she gave towards the beggar. Yaren noticed that Asenas hackles were standing, wondering what she disliked about the lecherous old man so much he gently patted her side as they continued down the street. It wasn't until they entered the market that she seemed to calm down once more.
The entrance of the market itself was bustling with all sorts of people. There were tons of stalls, most of them surrounded by people, with a couple of them having a small platform with somebody shouting numbers and pointing at the crowd. This was his first time in such a densely populated situation since he had awoken in Yinnsk. While he wasn't quite overwhelmed it was surely nerve-racking to say the least. He slowly perused each stall looking for something that caught his eye when he saw a little kiosk towards the end of the market. Approaching, he saw a young woman sitting on a stool with a bored expression as she mindlessly flipped through what looked to be some sort of catalog. Behind her was a small gnome, maybe 2 feet tall examining an assortment of items on the table with an outlandish looking magnifying glass. He had a large bushy, grey beard and wore garments made out of a variety of different hides and skins. He had a very large newspaper boy like hat with a solid metal rim that had a strange green tinge to it. He was constantly making "oohs" and "ahhs" to himself, murmuring to himself constantly as he occasionally paused to write something in a notepad.
Seeing Yaren waltz up to the stall upon Asena, her eyes raised in both intrest and caution as she sized up the strange beast in front of her. Paying her no heed Yaren carefully looked at the weapons she had displayed. While he browsed their wares the young women leaned back and whispered something to the gnome, causing him to pause for a second before he glanced at Yaren. He tilted his head slightly to the side before returning to his work, waving a hand as he brushed off the woman.
After a few minutes Yaren saw a large display case filled with a handful of weapons laying within. With one look he could tell that they were exquisitely crafted, as he got closer to the case the young woman leaped from the stool as she slowly watched him from behind.
Yaren turned towards the woman, The quality of and craftsmanship of the weapons had him entirely engrossed in his thoughts, becoming slightly startled as he realized how close the woman had gotten, causing a light yelp to come from her as she threw her hands up to cover her mouth. Asena seemed to snicker at the two as Yaren cleared his throat awkwardly.
"That War Axe within the case, may I inspect it?"
Almost seeming surprised by how clearly the beast in front of her was able to speak she stammered a few times before she was able to find her voice.
"T-that's.. uhmm those items are.. well they're really expensive.."
Yaren rolled his eyes as he clicked his tongue.
"That's not what I asked. I can tell they are extraordinary, I'm aware they wouldn't be cheap."
The girl shuffled her feet nervously as looked back and forth from the ground to Yaren.
"Just show the boy the weapon Asie. He means no harm. Besides, if we can sell some of them we'll be able to buy a shop." The Gnome had set his work aside at some point during the two youngsters interaction. Approaching the two he stuck his tiny hand up towards Yaren as he gave a toothy grin.
"Names Kumcha Banderbilt, you're one scary looking Gnoll riding that wolf of your there young fella."
The jovial attitude, mixed with the higher pitched tone of Kumchas voice was extremely amusing to Yaren. Smirking while laughing inwardly he had to lower his body somewhat to reach the mans hand, as Asena was taller than the gnome herself whilst standing.
"Yaren. Thank you for the time."
Smiling at Yarens response, he made his way over to the display case. The man hopped up, A section of a ladder standing firmly in the ground appearing with each hop slowly raising the man until he tall enough to unlock the case and retrieve the weapon.
Yaren could help but snicker at the sight in front of him, after all it was probably the most comical thing he had seen since the start of his new adventure. Kumcha was hardly displeased in the slightest at seeing Yaren slightly laugh. Although he knew it was at his expense he enjoyed the smiles he got from his little trick. He handed the Axe to Yaren, a proud expression on his face as he saw the look in the young gnolls eyes as he examined the remarkable worksmanship.