The not-immortal Blacksmith

The “High Sea”

9th of Kusha, the month of Harvest.

2290 Years since the New gods came.

Traveling on the water never grows old for me. The rocking of the waves. The wind in my face. The vast expanse of water around me. I love it. Having been born and raised in a landlocked town, I find it kinda funny that I love the water so much. The water. And fishing.

Speaking of fishing, the fishing today has been surprisingly good. Plenty of fish for supper, and a lot to sell when we make port. Who knew that this ship could catch fish on its own? Truly amazing.

I did feel something weird around noon, though. No one else seemed to have felt it. A kind of sense of foreboding, like something that wasn’t supposed to be there, was. It was only there for a fraction of a second, but it was unnerving to me.

10th of Kusha,

We made port on Rorevilia, at the capital city of Pondge. There was a large delegation awaiting us. We did the flag unveiling ceremony right there. There were a few dissenters in the crowd, and I agreed with most of what they had to say. It was kind of fun to see their resolve crumble, even if they had some points that were worth considering.

Pondge is a large city of some forty thousand souls with a lot of culture going on. Apparently before the mainlanders came over, there was a small population of people already here. Surprisingly, the mainlanders were integrated into the population instead of the mainlanders conquering the land. The temple of that stupid gnome has quite a large museum that stretches back to the early days of “conquest”.

Turns out the early settlers (the mainlanders) were religious refugees from the city of Trarebreak, the capital of Crowgria province. About 1500 years ago there was a religious purge, and the refugees fled by whatever boat they could beg, borrow, or steal. They traveled the seventy some miles from the mainland to the island, and settled in a small fishing village on the western shore. Supposedly, the gnome guided their way, and gave them safe passage (according to them, I think the sea god just decided to let them go as they had the intestinal fortitude to try and cross during one of his storms) to the shore. Only one rowboat was sunk on the voyage. From there it was history.

I really enjoyed the museum, even if I did try and start an argument with the gnome’s statue and was mostly ignored. I saw the statues mouth move a few times, and its eyes roll! And I wasn’t even drunk yet.

You look at the nautical maps and see islands, and think, “Meh, their just islands”. Then, when you see them, or you set foot on them, you realize just how big they actually are. It’s amazing. According to the “official” records that are kept here, (in the temple, of course) the island is 3200 square miles [1]. It’s truly amazing.

*-*-*

Southern plains of Cambroles;

The Western Continent.

Hesh, Molly, and Sam looked across the gently rolling plains of southern Cambroles, admiring the beauty. Sam broke the silence, “I bet this is what the great plains looked like before the settlers and urban sprawl took over. I mean, look at the giant “buffalo” herd over there!” He pointed to a herd of probably a thousand brown furred beasts that stood something over six feet at the shoulder. A herd that was slowly approaching them as it grazed on the rich knee-high grass.

Molly stared at the beasts for a few seconds. “And look at the large horns jutting from their foreheads. A long one in the center, and a shorter one on each side. All pointing forwards.”

Hesh piped in, “And they are slowly heading in our direction.”

-

Several hours of travel later the three had found a copse of trees, and set up on its edge for the night. The pair of tents were set up, and supper was cooking over a small fire hole that Hesh had dug in the ground.

“Do you think the buffalo will knock over our tents tonight?” Molly asked the other two.

“Maybe?” Hesh replied, stirring the pot of stew that had been simmering for almost an hour. “Maybe they will go around?”

“Mosh herd animals go around large obstacles like trees and buildings.” Sam said. “Unless they have been panicked by something like a predator. If that happens, then everything goes out the window.”

Molly stared at Sam, “When did you learn anything like that?”

Sam smiled, “The same place I learned to ride a horse, and to rope cattle. At my uncle’s ranch in Texas.”

“Oh, that uncle.” Hesh said from the fire. “I liked him.”

Molly frowned, “The only time I got to meet him was at his funeral.” A tear ran down her cheek, “What happened to the ranch?”

“His ex-wife and her new husband ran it into the ground, sold off the cattle, and then sold the land to a developer.” Sam said in a flat tone. “The family will never forgive her. Or that asshat of a husband.”

Hesh frowned, “Well, on that happy note, food is done. And there’s some Bannock left from breakfast.”

The trio spent the rest of the evening eating, and thinking sad thought to themselves.

When morning came, they were awakened by the sound of large creatures surrounding the tents. Hesh stuck their head out of the tent shared with Sam, “Looks like the Wildabeef have surrounded us.”

“Wildabeef?” Molly yelled from the other tent. “That’s what we’re calling them now?”

“Well, they aren’t cattle, and they aren’t buffalo, so Wildabeef sounds good to me.” Hesh yelled back.

“I wonder if I could ride one?” Sam muttered before stepping from the tent. The nearest Wildabeef snorted at him, but otherwise did nothing but go back to eating.

In plain sight of the beast, Sam slowly approached it. Upon finally reaching arm’s length, he painstakingly reached out his open hand towards the beast’s nose, and held it there to be sniffed, and the exceedingly large creature obliged. Sam held his breath. The creature snorted, then went back to eating the grass just outside Molly’s tent.

[1] Slightly smaller than the US territory of Puerto Rico. The other provinces that Maxwell controls are also roughly the same size.