Chapter 9: Chapter 7 – Wrapping Up the Day

 

Keiran dismissed the notification, he was about to go search for the spear he had thrown when a shout reached his ear. “Traveler, state your purpose!” Confused, Keiran turned around and noted that the mercenaries had their weapon pointed at him. “Answer! before I run you through.” stated Herschel, still a fair distance away from Keiran though not out of reach of the hunter. “Last I checked, I am still the head of this village. Xavier, tell your men to stand down.” Tali said firmly. “Are you daft woman, he could be from another bandit group trying to take advantage of the chaos here.” Herschel replied red with anger at Tali for interfering. 

Xavier for his part would usually be content with ruffling Tali’s feathers but Herschel’s resolve had wavered when protecting him. He could not allow that to go unnoticed. This was a good chance to hold that over the party while humiliating Tali’s for being unable to even keep a small mercenary party in check. He smiled gleefully as he played his cards. “So now you have the resolve to fight? Are you sure you don’t want to run away like before? And you Tali, if I hadn’t been here, Saddlestone would have become a bandit den. I hope you remember that next time.” he announced. Herschel and his party flushed at that. “Enough! Xavier, your contribution to the village’s safety has been noted. You will get your due. Now take your men and head back, we need to dispose of the bodies before they start attracting any other uninvited guests” she stated firmly while looking at Keiran and beckoning him over. Favor extracted, Xavier and his men started to make way toward the merchant’s estate. “Traveler! Come meet me tomorrow at noon, if you can.” he shouted without even glazing at Keiran. With the commotion over, the villagers who were previously hiding, started pouring out. Tali spoke to some of her aides who quickly started to organize a cleanup as Keiran started to head towards Tali. 

Nihata made an appearance by Keiran’s side at this point. Tali’s eyebrow peaked upwards before becoming round like saucers. “Nihata, what happened to you? Your dress…” Tali said quickly. Suddenly conscious of her attire, Nihata’s face flushed as her hands checked to make sure her patch job held together. “I was caught by Caron and his men while foraging for a few herbs. They were about to…” her words stopped and her eyes hesitated. Tali simply hugged her, “It’s okay my child! You are safe now. That’s all that matters.” she tried to console her. They stood there in embrace for a few seconds. “There, there.” Tali said as she pulled away. “I need you to hold up for a few more minutes, do you think you can bear with that?” Tali asked here. Nihata nodded, the adrenaline had run its course and now all she wanted to do was be alone in the safety of her cottage. 

“Thank you Nihata. You fought alongside this man, do you know him?” she asked softly. Nihata paused for a few moments before answering, “This is Keiran. He is a distant relative from my father’s side. He chanced upon me when Caron’s men captured me. It’s because of his courage we survived today. He took down Caron.” she stated verbatimly. Keiran did his best not to act surprised as Tali gazed between two of them. “You never mentioned you were expecting a visitor before Nihata?” she questioned with a hint of suspicion. “Truthfully, neither did I. His last letter stated he was 20 days out.” she replied. An awkward silence hung in the air before Tali relented. “Very well, where are the other bodies?” she asked. “Three at Wimby’s barn and one near Colt’s shed.” Tali whispered to one of Tali’s aides and gave him a key. He quickly flagged one of the villagers helping with cleanup to ask them to take a group to fetch the other bodies and quickly went into Tali’s residence. 

“How long do you intend to stay here Keiran?” Tali asked. Keiran looked at Nihata for support, hoping she would jump in. Noting she was looking away, he quickly understood, he was on his own for this. “A few days, I am looking to start over. Wherever I can find it.” he said. “There is certainly plenty of work around here.” she retorted back on his vague answer. “Headwoman” Nihata interjected. “C-can we discuss this more tomorrow? I would like to retire for the night after today’s ordeal and I am sure Keiran is tired as well.” “O-Ofcourse. You are right.”  Tali answered, a bit disappointed she couldn’t extract more information. “I do have one request,” Nihata continued. “Could you host Keiran at your place? I-I don’t think I will be a good host right.” Tali paused at that. “He will need to pass the alignment check, but if I do this, your services rendered tonight on behalf of Saddlestone will be considered paid. Is that acceptable?” Tali stated. “Yes. I accept.” Nihata replied. She turned to face Keiran, “Come by my home tomorrow morning. We have much to catch up on.” she said before leaving Tali and Keiran. 

Tali’s aide had returned, and he presented Tali with a flat square disk, about 5 centimeters (~2 inches) thick. The flat surface was a bit larger than the palm of his hand. “Put your plan on the alignment stone.” Tali asked. Keiran suddenly realized he was completely surrounded by the villagers, all of whom paused and looked on at him. A sense of tension filled the air. Did Nihata set me up? he thought. He put his hand on the surface of the device. A green light flashed and the tension in the air dispersed just as quickly as it had arrived. “Looks like you keep your neck traveler,” said Tali with all emotion gone from before. “My aide will set you up in one of the guest rooms. Swing by the mortician’s at noon tomorrow along with Nihata to collect your bounty tags and loot.” she said while dismissing him with a wave of her hand. 

The headwoman’s house, no estate, was certainly not extravagant, but it would easily compete with a modern day upper middle class mansion. He was shown to a bathroom of some sort to clean up all the blood and grime that decorated his equipment. The aides took the armor and clothes for cleaning and replaced them with a simple nightshirt made of a soft fabric that ran all the way to his knees. After that, he was escorted to the guest room. It was moderately decorated with a few paintings and furnishings. A crude wooden bed frame and a rather uncomfortable mattress, likely made of husk of some kind. A chair sat in one of the corners while a chest was placed at the foot of the bed. The aide handed him a few rush light candles for light and left. Exhaustion hit Keiran immediately once he was alone in the room. Today has been a long day, he thought ruefully. He needed a plan for tomorrow and whatever came next. He checked what new skills he could purchase before dozing off.

Available Tier 1 Peasant Skills Peasant Way of Life Cost: 1 SPP A peasant alive is a peasant who understands the invisible rules of his station. A peasant sees, hears, and understands nothing. At least, if they know what’s good for them. Gain 1 rank in one ability of your choice when activated. Expend additional skill points for more abilities. Limitations: World: Knowledge, Perception, Diplomacy, when skill is activated. Hearty Peasant Cost: 1 SPP Death follows a peasant at each step of life. Only those with a strong heart live to see the next morrow. You are reading story The World Of Avesta at novel35.com Gain 1 point in damage reduction of your choice when activated. Expend additional skill points for more choices. Limitations: Fire, Cold, Disease, Poison Simple Weapons Training (Prerequisite achieved) Cost: 1 SPP A peasant that can’t fight is a dead man walking. Sail the winds of destiny and test yourself against the world. Penalty for wielding a single simple weapon is removed when skill is activated. Expend additional skill points unlock more simple weapons. Limitations: Daggers, Shortbow, Spear, Shortsword Reduced Sustenance Cost: 1 SPP A peasant’s life is hard. They must be able to overcome regular crop failures. On activation, a peasant will be able to survive for 5% less sustenance for one week without any penalties. Expend additional skill points to reduce daily intake requirements further. Limitations: Max sustenance reduction 50% for one week. Village Hero (Prerequisite achieved) Cost: 1 SPP There are few peasants that rise above their station and challenge the world’s order. There are even fewer that are successful. Penalty for wielding any weapon is removed when skill is activated. Expend additional skill points unlock additional weapon classifications.

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