Chapter 1: Chance Made Manifest

Author’s note: In addition to occasional diacritical marks, this story will make use of the German ezsett letter ß. It makes a ‘sharp S’ sound. Thank you for your consideration, and please enjoy the story.

 

Corina Günther was moving through dense forest, keeping watch for any malicious actors behind or around her. With her convoy raided, she had escaped in the chaos of the bandits fighting the other members of the convoy. She stopped in the forest when she saw someone appear from between the trees. Brandishing a knife, she said “Stop! Identify yourself!”

Corina stiffened, preparing for potential combat. With her brown hair in an unkempt state and pants torn near their ends, she did not look the part of a merchant convoy leader. The someone from the trees, now visible enough to identify as a woman, responded regardless.

 “You can put down the knife, I’m not going to kill you. You can call me Eulen,” she said.

Eulen, bow in hand and in hunting dress, was not proving to be a threat for the moment. Corina’s trust in her had not been earned yet, her knife remained up. If Corina’s appearance was one of “unexpected combat”, Eulen’s would be its’ “expected” counterpart. She put her bow in a holster on her back, and walked towards Corina.

“May I have the courtesy of your name, miss…?” she asked.

“Corina,”

Corina, having determined Eulen was not a threat, put her knife down. Eulen looked on to the apparent lost traveler with a pitying stare. “What brings you out here, seemingly unprepared for the deep forest?” she asked.

“My caravan was raided,” Corina responded.

Her tired eyes and battered clothes and body were proof of such an event. Eulen pieced together the rough outline of what must have gone down earlier. “The raiding group, were they a group of decently armed bandits, 6 men strong?”

“Yes… why?”

Corina was suspicious. Here was an unknown hunter, in the middle of a large forest, far from any habitation, who managed a correct guess of the composition of raiding banditry. Such information could only mean one of two things.

“I saw them pass by earlier. I was going to try to track them down, but it seems it’s a bit of a moot point now,” Eulen said. “...I’m sorry.”

With the better of the two options confirmed, Corina let out an exhausted sigh. “There wasn’t much you were going to do with just your bow, Eulen. I’m not going to blame you for things you could not change.”

Having run through basic introductions, Eulen found a downed tree trunk at this point, and sat down. Both women, satisfied with the other’s stories and desired no further prying into the details, settled down for the moment.

“...Well, I certainly cannot change the past. And… you look exhausted, Corina.” said Eulen.

Corina took a seat next to Eulen. Her eyes now showed the wear of the past few hours. The rest of her appearance always had - one would expect some level of craftsmanship in a merchant’s attire, even if built for travel. The craftsmanship her clothes bore destroyed, either by weapon or the forest itself, left a ragged semblance of the original design.

“Well, there’s not much point in worrying about it here, is there? It’s still a day’s travel by carriage at least to the next town, and I don’t have much supplies.” Corina added.

Eulen looked at Corina. “Well, I can’t refute any of that. But I will disagree with being a day’s travel from safety, though.”

“Nonsense,” scoffed Corina.

A sensible response to such an outlandish claim. The nearest town, Regenbühel, was a days’ travel out by carriage. On foot, this figure would extend to two or three. However, outside of Corina’s knowledge, Eulen was not a person who sensibile claims would apply to. Eulen stood up, and looked at Corina.

“...Understandable, from your view. Let me reintroduce myself. I am Eulenspiegel, Deity of Chaos and Change.”

Corina looked up at the self-proclaimed deity. A merchant must be prepared for surprises, but this was hard for Corina still.

"...Eulenspiegel, huh? And here I thought the deities were not to return for a hundred years yet,” she said.

Eulenspiegel frowned. “I don’t fault you for such a conclusion, but a few of us did not sign that agreement, including yours truly.”

“I did wonder about that, and I suppose my questions are answered. I don’t suppose you can prove you are not someone posturing as Eulenspiegel?” countered Corina.

Eulenspiegel put forth her hand to Corina. “I can. Though, I would recommend you stand up for this. I wouldn’t want you getting more dirtied than you already have in transit,”

Corina gave a brief thought of the proposal, and took Eulenspiegel’s hand with her right. With her left, she put it on her knife’s handle, in case of any untoward actions. Corina in the past read about the stories of the deities' powers: While the majority featured poor definitions, perhaps at times incorrect; they all agreed on at least one central point: Deities could appear where they wanted to at will, and sometimes be nowhere at all. For a deity to have access to a safe spot would be a simple conclusion to make, provided the baseline assumptions were true.

“And here we go,” Eulenspiegel proclaimed,

Without warning, the scenery changed in an instant. Gone was the dense forest, and instead sat a cottage, perched on a grassy rise. Beyond the grassy rise was a cliff, dropping off into an ocean lit by a morning sun.

“Welcome to my home, Corina,”

Corina looked out to the unfamiliar scenery. Eulenspiegel’s deity status confirmed beyond doubt at this point, she motioned for Corina to enter the cottage before them. 

“Please come in. It makes for a better venue for discussion than the middle of the forest, wouldn’t you agree?”

Corina stood for a moment, spellbound by the sudden change in scenery. After the immediate surprise, she followed Eulenspiegel. “Indeed, it does,”

With Eulenspiegel leading the way, the two entered the lone building. Corina while walking to the cottage looked around the area, and did not recognize where it was. It was a spectacular morning view, in spite of the fact it was the afternoon moments prior.

“Do you know where we are, by the way?” asked Corina.

“We’re in my personal domain; every deity has one,” Eulenspiegel said.

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“Heh,” chuckled Corina, “safe indeed. I guess we all need a place to call home.”

Entering the cottage, there was a well-furnished living room to Corina’s right and a kitchen to her left. Corina moved into the living room while Eulenspiegel asked:

“Come to think of it, I hardly know a thing about you. You mentioned you were in a convoy, and that’s all I know. Do you suppose I’ve earned enough trust to hear more?”

Corina sat down in one of two chairs while Eulenspiegel entered the kitchen. “Well, you’re earned the authority at least,” Corina responded. “Let me begin:”

“To formally introduce myself, my name is Corina Günther. I am---”

“Günther? Like, Günther Trading Company?” called Eulenspiegel.

She stuck her head through the door frame to ask her question, interrupting whatever she was doing in her kitchen.

“Yes, that’s correct. My father is officially 2nd-in-command, behind his father - my grandfather. Anyway, the caravan was trying to move some goods - farming and hunting tools, actually - to Regenbühel. Though, unfortunately it’s not going to make it,” Corina explained.

Eulenspiegel returned with a pair of drinks. “Do you want a drink? I have some clean water,”

“Um, sure, thank you.”

Eulenspiegel sat down in another chair in the room. “Well, unfortunately no one’s going to know about that for another day yet, and I’m not going to try to bypass that. But I do want to ask… I heard that Edmund Günther did not father a daughter, but adopted one… is that you?”

Corina looked away. “...yes.”

“Oh, today is my lucky day!” cried Eulenspiegel. “I have wanted to meet you for a while, and- sorry, I’m getting a bit extra here. I’ve wanted to meet you, to confirm a personal theory of mine. Might I ask… were you born of Prince Harold Dietrich, heir to the throne of the Verlassen Kingdom?”

Corina gave a stare at Eulenspiegel. “...Why do you know that?”

“I’m going to answer how, first. I happened to remember them talking about their newborn daughter, only a few years later to suddenly act as if she didn’t exist when Dietrich came in line for the throne. Shortly after, a friend of mine in Günther Trading Company tells me about the precious adopted daughter of the company family, and how she was supposedly a royal castoff. The timing seemed too fortuitous to not suspect it. As for why…”

Eulenspiegel paused to take a breath and a sip of her drink. “I don’t like Dietrich. I’m, uh, sorry if that upsets you, but-”

“No, I don’t like him either.” Corina responded.

Eulenspiegel stopped to put her drink down. She closed her eyes for a moment, giving Corina a “a-ha!” moment vibe. “Eulenspiegel, you look like a scheming woman right now,” said Corina.

Eulenspiegel opened her eyes. “I can’t get past a merchant, can I? Right you are. May I ask, what kind of stories have you heard about me?”

Corina looked up in thought. “I can’t say I’ve heard a lot, but I’ve read a thing or two. You’re a bit of a trickster, aren’t you?”

Eulenspiegel moved to pick her drink back up. “Well, that’s one way of putting it. If I had to say it… I act to change things I deem no longer fit by adding chaos to them.”

“...yes, that seems to make sense. Now, let me guess: You need me for something?” replied Corina.

Eulenspiegel finished her sip of drink and stood up. “Quite right. Though, don’t worry, it’s not your trading company that I’m annoyed with. Follow me, please,”

Eulenspiegel walked to the other doorway to the living room, which led to a bedroom. She motioned for Corina to follow her. The bedroom felt unusual for being normal, given its use case of being for a literal deity. Plain furniture, and no fancy bed frame. Eulenspiegel sat down and had Corina sit next to her.

“What did you want me to--” started Corina.

With a sudden motion, Corina got pushed by Eulenspiegel onto her lap laying sideways. “Firstly, I want you to rest. Certainly still just got out of a caravan raid, no? Secondly… I’m annoyed with the Verlassen Kingdom itself.”

Corina turned her head to face upwards towards Eulenspiegel. “...what, you want me to help overthrow a kingdom?”

Eulenspiegel smiled. “More or less, yeah.”

Corina chuckled at the absurdity of the situation. “What is this, fate?”

“I think fate only exists in the past, when the events of the world are fixed in place. In the future, it’s merely a myth, something people speak of as being real - regardless of the truth of the matter.” Eulenspiegel said.

“And in the present?”

Eulenspiegel smiled down at Corina. “It’s chance made manifest,” Eulenspiegel said.

Corina laughed. “Quite right. Oh… now the events of the day are catching up to me. I’m… yeah, I’m tired.”

“Take your time. No one’s expecting you for a day yet. Tomorrow, we’ll figure out our next steps…”

Eulenspiegel looked down at the now-asleep Corina.

“But at this moment, you are nothing more than a friend. Sweet dreams, Corina.”

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