Bloodfallen: Curse of The All Knowing

Arthur sat up from his bed with a full night of rest and practically jumped out to get ready for the day. Apparently it was the first of Granite again and the beginning of a new year, the 1149 year of the third era to be exact, but the thing that most excited Arthur was apparently all the snow would be melting as the temperatures would rise back to how it was when he first arrived in Antium.

Rushing over to his window he practically shoved it open to take a look outside. Like what he was told by both Calavia and Gaelin the snow had indeed melted somewhat, the snow banks were around half the size that they were the day before and most of the snow on the road looked to be gone. ‘Praise be the god that brings us spring.’ Arthur thought to himself as he closed the window and started getting ready for the day.

Quickly putting on his overcoat he stepped into the kitchen area to start making himself and his apprentice breakfast as it was a very important meal, the very first one in fact. Shortly after Gaelin sleepily walked into the room and sat at the table, he practically had to force himself to keep from falling asleep at the table.

“Didn't sleep very well last night?” Arthur asked even though he already knew the answer.

“Yeah, I had trouble sleeping last night. I couldn’t stop thinking of home and my family for that matter, I wonder how they’ve been doing without me.”

“Well why don’t you tell me about your home, it might help you feel better if you talk about it with someone.” Gaelin looked a little squeamish at that idea, but he eventually nodded and began talking about his home, the wood elf grove known as Sahil.

“My home is a wood elven grove which is like a human or dwarven city, it is known in our language as Sahil. The grove is down south near the border of the kingdom, and I don’t exactly get along with most of the people living there at the moment, my family included.”

Arthur nearly stopped what he was doing as he heard that, he couldn’t understand why someone wouldn’t be on good terms with their family. But instead of saying something he allowed Gaelin to continue.

“These disagreements as you could call them started when I was little, my older brothers Zaos and Rydel would always do mean things to me or someone else and whenever I would try and tell my parents about it they would just brush me off and tell me to stop whining about it. When I got older I would try and prove what they were doing but my parents would just get mad at me instead for ‘making things up’. The worst thing about it was that if something was even in the slightest my fault they would yell at me like I killed someone.”

At this point Gaelin began rubbing his temples in an attempt to calm himself down to little effectiveness. So Arthur decided to ask something just slightly off topic to get his mind off his clearly abusive parents. “Do you have any other siblings that didn’t bully you as a child and into adulthood?” Arthur was a little worried that he would just make things worse by asking, but thankfully Gaelin seemed to be relaxing as he thought of his other siblings.

“I have a sister named Dilya, she was always nice to be unlike my parents and brothers. “When I last saw her she was working with the herbalists, she always wanted to be one when she became an adult. By now she will probably be a full fledged herbalist, she can probably even make a few basic potions on her own like I can.” Unlike how he spoke of his parents and brothers Arthur could tell that he missed his sister, she might have been the only person in his life that was even remotely nice to him.

“Perhaps one day you will have an opportunity to go back and see her again, I am sure that she would be just as happy as you would be.” Arthur suggested, Gaelin nodded and smiled.

“Perhaps, though I would rather avoid my parents and my brothers. They would only be a headache to see again, though my brothers will have likely landed themselves in prison by now considering they aren’t children anymore and can actually be punished by the law properly now.” Arthur noticed a slight grin at that statement, Gaelin definitely did not care from his very much, in fact he likely wished downfall upon them.

Shortly after the conversation ended Arthur finished cooking their breakfast, they both got their own bowl of stew with meat and a few dried vegetables that Arthur had laying around in his cupboard. Quickly scarfing it down the two started going about their business, Arthur began creating more liquid talismans for Calavia and her clinic to use while Gaelin began brewing a few potions in the alchemy room.

By around noon Arthur was finished with the talismans and stepped into the alchemy room to begin creating the daily two pounds of spark powder that he would later sell to the guild. But just as he had everything set up and was about to start three loud knocks came from the front door, even from such a distance Arthur could feel the strength from the knocks indicating that it wasn’t Calavia at the door. She was strong, but that was in terms of her magic power, not physical power.

Cautiously walking towards the door keeping his hands at the ready to cast a spell Arthur slowly clacked the door open to see who it was on the other side, to his surprise it was someone he hadn't seen in quite some time. “Citro? What brings you to my humble home?” Arthur addressed his former ally who was dressed in more casual clothes than the steel plate armor he wore during the expedition of Dom Badaher.

“Good afternoon Arthur, may I come inside?”

“Sure thing.” Arthur said as he opened the door to allow Citro inside, while he was a little confused as to how he found his home he assured that he must have a very good reason for reaching out. “Can I get you something to drink, water perhaps?”

“Yes, some water would be nice.” Arthur walked over to his cupboard and bright out a cup and filled it with water from the moisture in the air before handing it to Citro. “Impressive, you have learned a lot since we last saw each other. That was around a year ago now isn’t it?”

“Closer to ten months, but yes, it has been close to a year since we have last spoken. So what can I do for you? I assume you didn’t come just to have a chat about Dom Badaher.”

“Fair enough. I am here on behalf of Lyra Vettonius, she wishes to extend an offer of temporary membership within her mercenary group in the event that a war between the Rathen Kingdom and the Yolan Empire is to break out. Since you had shown to be a quick learner she wanted to offer you an opportunity to take part in what she and the rest of the crew do without making anything permanent.”

‘War between the Kingdom and the Empire? This sounds very serious, I recall Cassia back in Dom Badaher talking about the last time that happened several years ago. She didn’t give much in terms of details, but she painted a gruesome picture of what the Empire was willing to do to a few small towns and villages that pose no tactical significance.’

“Why? Does she think there is a high probability that war will break out again soon?” Arthur sifted nervously, fighting bandits was one thing, they just wanted your valuables and many are willing to just take a few things and allow you to go on your way. The Empire on the other hand based on what he heard were nothing like that, they did terrible things not for money or territory, but to send a message. A message of fear and death.

“The Empire has been placing a good portion of its military and several mercenary units on the border close to the Niveis mountain range. The general consensus is that the empire is interested in the Niveis pass where the borders meet through to the opposite side of the mountain range. It would be economically beneficial if they could control the most effective way into the north as the only other option would be to travel by boat.”

“And since war is on the horizon just about every mercenary in the Kingdom is going to be hired and sent towards the front lines. Since Lyra is running her own mercenary group she wants to see if I am interested in joining up, even if it is only temporary.”

“Technically I am here to invite you to a test of sorts that will determine if you are skilled enough to join. If you do not pass then you will not receive the offer. All the relevant information is within this letter I have here for you.” Citro handed Arthur a letter he kept in his back pocket. The paper was of high quality and had an air of nobility attached to it.

“I should get going now, I have a few things I need to attend to but I hope to see you soon.” Citro quickly left through the front door leaving Arthur at the table alone. Slowly he opened the letter and found that it was written by Lyra herself.

I hope this letter finds you well Arthur, as I hope Citro has explained to you war is brewing on the border between the Kingdom and the Empire. The Niveis pass is a highly valuable economic location that at the moment is shared by both the kingdom and the empire. When war does break out just about all the mercenary groups within both the Kingdom and Empire will likely be mobilised to minimise the losses of official soldiers, my group will be one of those and I would like to offer you an opportunity to become a temporary member.

I will be holding a tryout so to speak in a week's time at my residence located within the northern district.

I hope to see you then.

Lyra Vettonius

On the bottom of the letter was an address that led somewhere in the northern district.

‘A tryout, to join a group of mercenaries, to fight in an upcoming war. Shit.’ Arthur stared at the letter as he tried to decide what he wanted to do. Joining would present a risk of dying, but it would give him an opportunity to meet with Lyra and her mercenaries again. Saying no on the other hand would definitely shut them out of his life, probably permanently.

“What was that all about?” Gaelin suddenly asked while exiting the alchemy room startling Arthur in the process. “It's just an offer I received from an old friend.” Arthur said, trying to brush the topic off, the last thing Gaelin needed was to hear about a war.

“Oh, do you plan on taking that offer?” Gaelin could tell that Arthur was hiding details, but instead of pushing for more he just asked a simpler question that was more likely to receive a truthful answer.

“To be honest I don’t know. It would definitely be very good in terms of money and for my career, but it definitely comes with some risks involved. I might ask Calavia what she thinks about it.” A little annoyed that he wanted Calavia’s opinion and now his own Gaelin walked back into the alchemy room hoping that he could take this off his mind.

Arthur on the other hand packed up all the talismans he made for Calavia’s clinic and set out towards it so he could speak with Calavia about the offer he received. This wasn’t something he could just decide like that, he needed someone else's opinion, someone who had experience in this line of work.

*******

Arriving at the clinic there was a small line of people waiting outside, none of which looked to be in any serious danger. Quickly Arthur squeezed by the small line and entered the building directly. The woman at the front desk looked up from the documents she was filling out and smiled, she quickly finished up with the man she was helping and then turned to Arthur. “Good afternoon Arthur, I assume you brought the talismans with you.” Arthur brought out the bundle of wooden talismans in rod shape out and placed them on the table before the woman. She quickly picked one up and examined it. “Very well done, I say you are improving every time you do this.” She placed the talisman back on the table and reached into her desk for the payment Arthur was promised in the form of five silver coins.

Quickly double checking that he had the correct amount Arthur pocketed the money before asking if Calavia was working today. “Calavia? Yes I recall she came in today, but it has been quite slow business. So she is probably tending to some of the longer term patients inside, just try not to keep her for too long, she had a job after all.”

Arthur gave a small nod and walked past the front desk and into the clinic where all the patients were. Quickly he found Calavia tending to a child who had a problem with his leg. “There you go, it should be all better now.” Calavia said to the boy no older than eight years old who up until now was clutching his leg in pain. “Thank you miss.”

“Your welcome, now I do need to advise you to avoid doing whatever it was that caused you to sprain your ankle in the future. Because you won't always have someone who will be able to help you fix it, ok?” “Ok.” The boy embarrassingly said and he got up from the chair he was sitting on and walked towards his mother who was just a few meters away.

When Calavia Turned to see who her next patient was she was surprised to see Arthur was standing there. “Oh, hey Arthur. What brings you here?”