Elysium

 

Chapter one - Hearthstead

 

    Before even gaining full consciousness and opening my eyes I can tell that it is early, there is no sound of movement, no sound of animals, and no faint heat from the morning sun. As my eyes crack open I'm greeted with confirmation that it is in fact very early. Reluctantly getting up and stretching my way into the kitchen area I sit at the table, lace my boots, put on my belt, grab my jacket… all a part of a routine I know so very well. The last thing I grab is my sword, I keep it between my table and the door outside, at least this one I do. It’s one of three blades I use, although this is by far my preferred weapon. I usually inspect my weapons at night before bed but seeing it I realized it slipped my mind the previous night. Taking a look I unsheath the blade and inspect it from the hilt to the tip. It looks clean, and sharp all the way around the edge, there is a slight mark, like a dent about a foot from the tip, “damn I might as well get it looked at” I mumbled, with a sigh I sheathed the blade and walked through the door leading outside. 

 

As soon as I walked outside I noticed the clear skies, not a cloud in sight, the sun just barely peeking over the horizon. But there was dew covering almost everything. There was also no-one in this part of town awake at this time of day so it made it kind of eerie. Living in the more rural part of town, about a 10 minute walk from the town's center it tends to be like that but it’s just far enough to not hear all the commotion. 

 

 Normally it’s not part of my routine to stop by the town's center this early but I always take my blade to get repaired right away if possible to prevent the damage getting worse. Turning from street to street towards the center of town, what I hear slowly turns from just the shuffle of my boots on the damp cobbled street to the blurred hustle and bustle of people at the town's center. Once I turned the corner leading to the first street in the town's center, I couldn't help but think the same thing I always think when I come here, crowded. It’s still very early but you would think it was mid-day based on how many people were already out and moving around. It's to be expected for one of the country's biggest trading towns and pretty much the center of trade for the entire eastern part of the country. 

 

Walking down the street it's like I'm on autopilot, I know where i'm going like the back of my hand, that said my eyes wander. You have to constantly be observant here, things like pickpockets and sleight of hand aren’t that common but they do happen. I like to keep an eye on the townspeople if possible even if it’s a subtle gesture or small talk while I go about my business so I can often tell when a change in their mood happens even if it's small. Before I knew it I found my way to a breakfast spot, just a stall that sells bread and cheese, simple but it gets the job done. This place is always here, the people are always changing, the stalls are always swapping, but this place is always here, it's consistent, reliable, and cheap…

 

“ Hey Blade, the usual?” 

 

Being talked to snapped me back into reality and out of autopilot, “sure thing Garb” I replied. “Don’t really see you around this early in the morning do we now.” he stated as he was cutting my portion of cheese and bread. “I’m headed towards the artisan quarter, but my stomach needed something to eat” I responded. “Ayye that you do, I appreciate your patronage, enjoy.” Garb said as he handed me a bundle of bread and cheese.

 

Sitting down on the bench next to Garbs stall I dug into my food, “nothing special but it gets the job done and it doesn't taste bad” I thought. The bread was baked just a couple hours ago in Garbs' house so it was still fresh, and the cheese had a nice bite to it. All in all it made for a good combination. I still wish he would call me by my actual name, Sebastian, since I have known him for years now, but it’s common for people in my line of work to get nicknames, and mine happens to be Blade.

 

 I finished up my food and asked Garb to make me another bundle. He bundled the bread and cheese up and I set some copper coins on the table as payment and headed out. The artisan quarter was just two streets over but it is a little different than the others, still a lot of people mind you but there are more buildings as opposed to stalls or tents, and definitely a lot of noise. The biggest difference is the smell, the food quarter smelled of fresh meat,bread,cheese,and fruit but the artisan quarter smelled of sweat, metal, and dirt. There's not many people to talk to unless you are a customer, everyone is hard at work or bargaining to try and get the best prices possible. As I walk down the street I hear bargaining at play, “come on man can you do any better than that?” the customer asked. “Prices of metals have gone up and my work is rated as some of the finest in the quarter! Take it or leave it!” the shop owner replied.

 

Walking closer to my destination I can already hear the beating of a hammer on metal, rhythmic in sound. “Sam?!” I called, and a quick “yea… gimme a minute” in response like always. Sam came through the door that led from his workshop, already dirty, hands filthy and face sweaty, streaks of dirt and oil on it, but that's to be expected of a blacksmith. They wear dirt and sweat as pride, showing how hard they work to master their craft. I tossed the bundle of bread and cheese to him, “ I know you haven't eaten breakfast yet so eat up”  I said to him as I took a seat on the bench he had in the room. “ I have been busier than normal the past few weeks I can barely keep up” He said as he sat down across from me and picked at the bread and cheese. Grabbing my sword and unsheathing it, I just looked at him and said “Sorry man” as I went to hand the blade to him.  “Again?!” Sam said looking at the ding on the blade “ This is the fifth time this month!”. “Yea I know…” I said back to him. “I hate giving him more things to do when his plate is already so full but he is the only blacksmith I trust with my gear” I thought to myself. He quickly stood up, set the bread and cheese down on the table and reached for my sword. “Welp no worries in your line of work this is common, I'll have it fixed up and sharpened in no time at all.” Sam said with confidence.

 

“Thanks man, by the way have you heard anything from other members of the guild about the goblin attacks recently?” 

 

Sam replied with a sigh “Yea they have become more active since summer began and the attacks on villages to the north have increased, that's not what you deal in though, you have mainly been working with the guild to protect against dangerous wildlife recently haven't you?” 

“Yes I do but if it's getting this bad out there I'm gonna end up having to lend a hand until the attacks die down.” Sam had kind of a nervous look on his face as he continued to eat the bread and cheese, “It's risky out there man I hear what they can do, just be careful.” I quickly replied to him, “I know, I will.” After about 10-15 minutes of chitchat and the casual bullshiting I stood up from the bench “I have to go do some paperwork for the guild, Is it ok if I come pick up the sword after that?” 

“Ofcourse, it will be ready by the time you get back!” Sam responded as he finished the last bite of bread and cheese and stood up himself. “Thanks bro” we fist bumped and he headed to the back of his shop and I headed towards the guild hall.

 

The last part of the city center is where the guild hall is, if you think of an arrow the guild area would be the middle with the other two quarters on the side. Despite there being an existing government, the guild is the real authority in the city. Any problem that occurs, big or small goes through the guild. Leading up to the guild hall the quarter is mainly filled with fellow adventurers but there is the occasional blacksmith, leatherworker, farmer, and other artisan. There are two types of requests that go through the guild, the first are requests that come from the guild/government itself, these can be any type of job from a bounty all the way to hiring crafters for various jobs and the second type of job comes from outside the guild, personal requests that are filed and put up at the guild that adventurers can choose from.

 

In the Government Quarter there are just two types of buildings, political buildings such as the town hall, guild hall,and smaller ones that to be honest don’t really have significant importance and there are also a couple inns and pubs located farthest away from the political buildings on the south side of the quarter.

 

Walking up the steps to the guild hall I noticed plenty of fellow adventurers, some of whom I teamed up with in the past, and some who I don’t really care for. When entering the guild hall, per usual it was just talks of jobs that needed to be done and filing paperwork after a job is completed, which is what I'm here to do. I walked up to the desk and the person who was there today happened to be the guild attendant. I usually talk to Alice. “Hey Alice” I said as she turned around startled. 

 

“Oh gosh Seb, you scared me and it’s odd to see you in town this time of the week.” 

 

“Yea my sword was dented during my last job and I gave it to Sam to repair, figured I might as well knock out two birds with one stone and file my report.”

 

“Oh I understand now, alright then let's get your report done, as I recall you were just helping escort some travelers from a town a couple kilometers to the west back to town right? What was the town called again?”

 

“It was Penkurth, about 15 kilometers west of here.”

 

“Any issues?”

 

“Nothing super major, a feral dog attacked my group on my way back, bit my sword and that's why I had to get it repaired. They usually don't attack humans, let alone groups. I also noticed there wasn’t that much small game around like there usually is this time of year, has anyone else mentioned anything?”

 

“Now that you mention it, there were a couple other adventurers who said they could barely catch food for themselves when out hunting earlier today.”

 

“That's strange, if you hear anything interesting please let me know.”

 

“Sure thing Seb… and about this weekend..”

 

Before Alice could finish her sentence an adventurer came running into the Guild Hall, “GOBLINS!...GOBLINS!...” It took him a second to catch his breath and he was drenched in sweat like he just ran for days.” “I was heading to do a job in Sarton just 8 kilometers north from here, the small rural town. And I saw goblins walking around the streets, no humans in sight. There were too many for me to handle, there had to be at least a dozen or so.”

 

With this the whole Guild Hall was focused on this silver ranked adventurer. Unfortunately there were only 3 other adventurers here, two bronze and one silver rank. Normally goblins are a silver ranks job but if there are enough to overrun a small town then that makes it required that there's a party of silver ranks or even gold ranks.

 

I turned towards Alice and asked “Are there any Gold ranked adventurers in town that you know of right now?”

 

“No, besides you, there are no adventurers higher than silver because they are all already out on jobs.”

 

“I guess what I said to Sam came true.. I’ll handle it Alice. I’ll just take it slower than normal since I’ll be by myself.”

 

“Seb! Even a platinum ranked adventurer will have trouble versus that many goblins!”

 

“There might be people still in the town hiding, or worse, they need help.”

 

“Just be careful..” Alice said but Seb was already gone.

 

I need to hurry every minute counts and i'm at least a few hours walk from here 

With that thought I was already running through the streets back towards Sams shop

 

    As I entered Sam's shop he was sliding my blade back into its sheath almost as if the gods themselves made the timing align. He could tell instantly I was in a hurry and he quickly reached out and held the blade in front of him.

 

“Did you notice anything else besides the ding Sam?”

 

“No, the blade looked as good as ever, and I sharpened it for you as well.”

 

“Thanks man, imma need it sharp, I have a rush job…Goblins.”

 

As I grabbed my sword from Sam he held on a little bit so as to not give my blade away.

“Be careful man things aren't looking right.”

 

I replied “Always, I'll swing by after I get back to give you the pay and get you a drink.”

 

With that I was out the door heading back towards my house on the outskirts of town.

 

    Since it was about 9am, people were getting up and moving around more. The streets aren’t empty and people are going about their day, doing yard work or just sitting enjoying the morning sun. People in my area are usually friendly but they pick up on things quickly and they noticed my pace was faster than normal, so no one stopped me to chat. I just needed to grab a few things and I could leave. My pack was already full from my previous job and I don’t change it that much so that was convenient. I really just needed to grab my weapons and a couple potions.

Without hesitation upon entering my house I grabbed my shortsword from my end table and quickly inspected it, “Looks good” I mumbled. With that I sheathed the blade and attached it to my belt, done. My bow is positioned above my door with my arrows in a quiver, I don’t use it that much, just situationally, and this is a situation it will come in handy. With a strong pull of the string I test it and it’s strong. I usually would take my third Sword too but it won't be much use fighting smaller opponents. Now with two swords, a backpack, and a bow and quiver equipped I just needed my potions, just two. Both just your standard health potions.

 

    With everything equipped I closed my door, locked it, and gave the key to my neighbor for safekeeping. It's customary to entrust your house keys with a trusted neighbor when going out adventuring, because there's a very real chance you don't make it back. With that I started my adventure, leaving Hearthstead is never easy, knowing I'm walking solo headfirst into a goblin over-run town, but it's what's expected of me and what's needed. Outside the North gates of Hearthstead I turned around for a last glance and then I was off, to the currently goblin infested town of Sarton.