The not-immortal Blacksmith

Our three “Heroes”

The Eastern Continent.

18th of Amsiel.

2290 Years since the New gods came.

Sam, Molly, and Hesh walked, and walked, and walked. The road was slowly growing wider, and the sides were dotted with farms. Some of the farms were bustling, with people of all sorts waving to them as they passed. But more often than not, the farms were barren, buildings in disrepair, and the people on them looking angry or defeated. Some of the farms were so far gone that all that could be seen from the road was the skeletons of broken and rotted buildings.

The three kept walking and eventually Hesh spoke up, “We need supplies. Food, water, camping stuff.”

Sam looked at them, “And where will we buy that stuff? And with what money?”

“We could trade…nothing for it.” A dejected Molly said.

“We can trade labor.” Hesh replied, then pointed to the next farm. A farm that seemed to be prospering. “All we need to do is walk up to them and offer work in trade for food and equipment.”

Sam nodded in agreement. “It’s just farm work. How hard could it be?”

-

An afternoon of backbreaking labor of picking rocks, hauling and splitting wood, and chasing escaped goats later, the three adventurers sat at a large table with the other farm hands. Eventually they followed the senior farm hand to the barn to sleep for the night. As they lay down for the night, the head man spoke up, “While we all really do appreciate your help today, and I do mean that, we would have taken weeks to get those boulders out of the new field, if you stick around too long, we will lose our jobs. So please, leave tomorrow.” Then the man turned and left.

The three sat and stared at each other for a bit, then Molly spoke, “I don’t want to steal someone’s job.”

Sam and Hesh looked long and hard at each other. “Neither do I.” Hesh finally said.

Sam, looking between the two, added his two cents to the discussion, “We could leave in the morning, then stop by farms on our way and offer a ‘boulder/tree/heavy item’ removal service?”

Molly brightened, “Finally, Sam has a good idea!” And with that they settled down for the night.

-

19th of Amsiel,

Just passed sun up, and scarcely a mile down the road, the three were waived to the side of the road by a farmer. “Are you the tree adventurers that cleared that boulder from McBunger’s field?”

Hesh raised an eyebrow, “Yes. That would be us.”

“I’ve got a pair of spare blankets and a home cooked meal I can trade you for moving a smaller one.” The farmer replied.

The trio looked at each other, and nodded. They needed the blankets, and a home cooked breakfast sounded amazing. Hesh smiled at the farmer, “Breakfast first, and we will have that rock moved before lunch.”

The farmer nodded, and a short while later they were eating with his large family. Eggs, ham, bacon, bread, jelly, hashbrowns from some sort of not-potato tuber, and other types of food. The trio thanked the family for the food, and headed to the field and the boulder.

“Yup. That’s a rock.” Sam said, looking at the large granite protuberance. “Probably a ton or so.”

“How do we want to do this?” Molly asked. “We could pummel it to gravel.”

“I don’t want to move gravel.” Hesh stated flatly. “Even with a cart, it would take too long to move the pile.”

Sam stepped up to the rock, “Alright, pull it out of the ground it is.” He grabbed the rock and lifted. The rock made the dirt shudder, then Sam’s foot started sinking into the soil. “I think this thing may be bigger underground.”

“Molly? Please go up to the house and ask for a pair of shovels.” Hesh asked. “Sam, let’s try to wiggle the thing free while she’s gone.”

Molly smiled as she jogged to the farmhouse. Upon arriving, she knocked on the door and waited.

“How goes the boulder miss?” The farmer aske once he opened the door.

“It looks like it may be bigger under the ground than we all thought it was.” Molly sighed. “Could we get a pair of shovels?”

The farmer nodded, “Yup, I was afraid of that. Follow me to the shed, we will get you some shovels.”

-

An hour of wobbling and digging later, a twenty-foot spike of rock was laying in the farmers field, and the trio were panting. “That…that was big.” Sam looked down the hole they had pulled the rock from. “Hey! There’s water down here!”

The farmer, who had been staring in shock for the last half hour or so, jumped from the ground, “Water? Where?”

Sam pointed down the hole. “It’s seeping in from the sides and bottom.”

-

“Who knew that wells were so uncommon around here?” Hesh asked the air, as the group walked down the road, staring at the new pot he carried in one hand, and the shovel in his other one.

“Not me.” Molly replied, the new pack on her shoulders filled to the brim with dried foods and blankets.

Sam smiled to the sky, “Too bad we lost all our paintball gear in the fire. We could have just blown that stone to atoms.”

Mood destroyed, Hesh and Molly’s heads drooped. “Thanks for reminding us.”

*-*-*

Many, many miles away, an old man and a child searched the burned path of the fire that had taken their village and families from them. They finally came upon a camp. A camp covered in soot, but with everything in it intact. Three strange crossbows, a waterproof crinkling fabric tarp, a spool of indestructible line, and a set of three packs. They looked at the ‘magical’ treasures with awe, then started to gather them up.

*-*-*

Maxwell

Wildreach, Sorina Province, Kingdom of Garthia.

20th of Amsiel.

2290 Years since the New gods came.

The last several days have been a wonder. Mayble has given me many things to repair. I’m proud of her for raising to the occasion. She does seem stressed for some reason. I’m sure it will sort itself out.

I still haven’t seen that blasted cat. That is a blessing. The tree out front is still weird, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. I swear it’s talking to one of the children… You know, It reminds me of the potted tree that came to the wedding. I wonder if it is somehow related? Probably not. The cat probably just peed on it one too many times.

…I need to check in on Grendle, tell him to meet us here. I wonder how his money-making scheme is do---

In the midst of writing, Maxwell’s stone started to buzz. He slid his finger across the polished face of the stone. “What?”

“Um, boss?” Grendle Repute, said. “I seem to be in some trouble. Could you, um, possibly help?”

Max slumped in his chair, “Tell me what happened.”