D.S. Newman
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Isekai Mansion Arc 2 Part 1-2
🕑 Added 2023-08-17 13:21:47 +0000 UTCA few hours later, I was walking across the rocky painted desert. It reminded me of the area in Southern California just north of the Mexican border. I had taken a road trip there before, but it was definitely different with the comforts of a vehicle. The sun was high in the sky, just a few hours past noon and I was beginning to regret not taking Higgins’ advice on bringing more with me. At least a canteen would have helped. It was going into summertime in my world and appeared to be the same here as well. But not to worry, up ahead, I could see a little oasis village! Couldn’t have been more than a couple hundred people who lived there but I’m sure they would spare me some water and set me straight on course to where I needed to be.
I strolled into town and the people looked at me in awe. It was evident I wasn’t from around here. The townsfolk were dressed as typical medieval peasants and had wooden houses. I decided to take advantage of their curiosity and introduced myself.
“Greetings villagers,” I declared, “I may look strange to you for I am a world walker!”
About fifteen minutes later…
“Burn him! Burn him!”
The villagers had apprehended me and bound me to a stake. They were preparing to set me on fire!
“He’s in league with the evil one!”
“Yes! Burn him! He is a follower of Davol!”
Davol? That must be the Devil of this world! Oh crap, I have severely given off the wrong impression.
As the torches got nearer a villager said to me, “I hope the flames of hades never let your thirst be quenched!”
Just as the hay beneath me was lit and I was starting to feel the heat, a group of about ten men broke through the crowd with distressed looks on their faces. The one leading the charge was a man in a dark green and white tunic and a brown cape. He shouted for them to release me.
“Wait! He is not a minion of Davol! He’s with us! Please, release him!”
Two other men from this group rushed over with buckets of water and extinguished the fire. The villagers gave little resistance to their interference. It would appear these men were respected in this tiny village. A few of the other men cut me down from the post and scurried me away to the guesthouse my saviors were staying at.
The Green tunic man introduced himself, “hello, my name is Frederick Brenner. My friends and I are a caravan of traveling merchants who frequently visit this village as well as others in the area to bring goods in from Vale.”
“Thanks for the help. I’m Eric Noble.”
Frederick and the men sitting nearest to him gave each other a glance.
He continued, “may I ask? Did I happen to hear you announce to the village when you arrived that you were a walker of worlds? Or world walker? Something like that?”
I was timid to answer considering the recent result of announcing that but I figured these guys helped me so it may be in my interest.
“That’s right. I am a visitor from another realm.”
“That explains it,” he said, “to be completely level with you. We are not merely merchants. We are actually members of a traveling thieves guild. We roam the region stealing from well to do people and selling to people who do without for bargain prices.”
“So, what does that have to do with rescuing me?
“Well. We keep no written record of our dealings, but word of mouth keeps some of our history alive. Some years ago, I recall hearing tales of someone within our guild who was also a walker of worlds. He went by the name…Noble.”
Alright! Maybe it wasn’t the same level of connection as meeting Benjamin and Thomas in Bristol, but at least there was a lead. It paid off to advertise myself here on day one. Even if it almost cost me!
“Noble,” I said, “was most likely my father. If not, then my Great Uncle Cornelius. Both of them were world walkers as well.”
The men at the table sat taken aback. A moment went by before anyone said anything.
Finally, Frederick asked, “I take it your father has not made you privy to our ways?”
“What do you mean?”
“There is a code language, known the world over by thieves. It is called Thieves Cant. To ordinary folk it just sounds like a series of taps, clicks, whistles, and snaps, with the occasional hand sign or verbal codeword interlaced. We’ve been ‘Canting’ to you since you said you were Noble’s son but you didn’t respond.”
My father had fairly extensive notes on this world, but he wrote nothing about Thieves Cant. He probably didn’t want to confuse me since it would be difficult to explain through written word.
“No, he never mentioned it. But understand, I never really knew my father. Only what he left me in his journal. But may I ask a favor? If it's not too much. I realize you've already done a lot for me.”
“Doesn’t hurt to ask.”
“May I travel with you for a while? Just a few days even. I’ll do what I can to pull my weight, but will you teach me Thieves Cant?”
Frederick smiled and replied, “No problem at all my friend. We’re heading to the
Grassland Plains tomorrow and can teach you the basics along the way. Advanced Thieves Cant takes time to learn. But the Basic can be learned over a few hours and there's even a code to indicate that you only know Basic.”
“Thank you, Frederick!”
“Don’t mention it. I’ll warn you though. In this region the code may only help you so much. It will work out here in the desert, the plains, and in Vale. But it’s not likely to do anything for you up in the Barbarian Lands or the Dwarf Kingdom west of the plains.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that. I’m not planning on going to either of those places anytime soon. There’s something else I wanted to ask you though?”
“Yes?”
“Who is Davol?”
Frederick's expression changed to one of despair and answered with a sigh, “Davol is an evil Lich Lord who took up residence in the desert some years ago. The various villages around here fear him to no end. He hails from a faraway place where he was previously banished. His fortress lies to the northwest of here, between the plains and the Barbarian Lands. Best to keep away from him.”
Hmm, now I was certain of it. Davol had to be the Devil of this world. I decided to keep that to myself for now. I didn’t want to take a chance, scaring Frederick and the others off from taking me with them and teaching me things.
* * *
The following day I set off with the Thieves Guild Caravan. We made our way west towards the grassland plains. The caravan moved slowly and easily for about two days, stopping frequently to trade their stolen goods with locals and other passing travelers. Frederick spent a good deal of time ensuring I knew the basics of Thieves Cant. I even got an opportunity to practice it in the wild when we came across another caravan that had a thief with them when I noticed Frederick and him communicating!
Once we left the desert and found ourselves in the grasslands, we passed through several small villages. None of them were much bigger than the place I was nearly killed at when I arrived. And I certainly learned my lesson about announcing myself as a world walker.
But on the third day, we arrived at a much larger town. Much larger. Braytown, population 17,000. Frederic told me it was the biggest town on this side of the Dwarf mountains but still west of Vale.
While some of the other thieves were getting supplies for us and trading goods in town, Frederick, myself, and a couple other thieves went to a large tavern. Frederick said this was a place where people from all over the region would come meet here in the grasslands to form adventuring parties and take jobs doing dangerous work for the locals. I thought this might be a great opportunity to find more info on the Devil of this world.
We went inside and grabbed a table. It was a very interesting sight to behold. The room was bustling with conversation from all sorts of adventurers. It was the most people I’d seen gathered in one building since I’d arrived here! Frederick ordered us some drinks and started to point some people out to me.
“Yeah, I recognize a number of folks here. That sea dog over there is Captain Tye, said to be master of the Typhlosion Wave, a strike so hard from his saber it can create a small tidal wave. Over there is Sir Candleton, a paladin of great nobility. That man at the bar wearing red is Wallace Granath, a fire mage.”
All of these people looked so awesome. It was the most fantastic thing I had seen since I started my adventure and that was saying a lot! Then I saw her. The most beautiful, stunning, out of this world, and the next, woman I had ever laid eyes on. Sitting at a table by herself off on the other side of the room was a scantily clad, buxom blonde, with piercing blue eyes who looked to be in her early thirties. She was buff too!! I mean really buff. Not like, freakishly buff, but more like, The Glamazon Beth Phoenix from WWE buff. “Who is that?!” I asked Frederick.
He replied, “Oh her. That’s Arduwan, the Barbarian Queen.”
“Barbarian Queen! What’s she doing out here? And shouldn’t she have an entourage or something?”
“Well, it’s kinda complicated. You see, technically, she’s Queen of the Barbarians. But there’s a problem.”
“A problem? What problem?” I asked.
“About four years ago, a Gorgon came into the valley of her tribe. It turned everyone there, including her father the king, into stone. Arduwan was away hunting at the time. But with the king gone, the other village Chieftains acknowledged Arduwan as the Barbarian Queen.
However, she, uhh, lost the Great Horn.”
“Great horn?”
“It’s a large horn that was cut off from the head of a Minotaur centuries ago by the first Barbarian King. It’s said that when someone sounds the horn, any barbarian in the area will rush to their aid and acknowledge them as ruler when the day is finished. Arduwan lost it and even though she’s technically Queen, they can no longer acknowledge her.”
“How did she lose it?”
“Well, lose it may not have been the right word. It was actually stolen. By a member of my guild.”
“But why?”
“That’s where things get complicated. Davol didn’t like the idea of hundreds, possibly thousands, of barbarians living in his backyard after he took up residence here. So, he hired someone from the guild to steal it from her. She’s been trying to get it back ever since.”
“The guild worked with Davol?!”
“Sshhh, keep it down. They didn’t work with him. They took a single well-paying job. There’s a difference. Davol’s supposed to have all kinds of loot locked up in there from the place he came from. It was a business decision.”
“Back to Arduwan,” I reverted, “why is she just sitting there by herself?”
“Because no one wants to party up with her and take on Davol. At first there were a few, but they either turned up dead or took off. Nowadays people are scared of two things around here; partnering up with Arduwan and Davol.”
“None of the barbarians have helped her? Surely there must be some sympathizers among her people that want her at the throne.”
“I’m sure there are but there’s a code among the barbarians that if the horn is stolen or lost, no other barbarian is permitted to help them get it back.”
I thought for a moment as I looked over at Arduwan, just sitting there, waiting for someone to team up with her. She looked so beautiful. But so sad as well. I decided I was going to go talk to her.
I got up from the table and Frederick asked, “What are you doing?!” “I’m going to go talk to Arduwan,” I said.
“Wait! Before you go, just realize something. Those former party members of hers. Not all of them died or ran away scared because of Davol. She must have a knack for things going wrong or something. She’s incredibly strong but for some reason people don’t like to hang around her for long.”
“I’ll take my chances,” I said, as I approached her table.
“Excuse me? Arduwan?”
“Yes,” she asked, delicately. She had a slightly husky voice. Still feminine but with a bit of depth to it.
“My name is Eric Noble, and I understand you have a dilemma. You see, I believe we have a common enemy. Long story short, I’d like to help you defeat Davol! I know all about the Great Horn and will make it a priority to get it back.”
“You do?” she said, joyously, “but what do you know of me? I’ve never seen you around here before?”
“That’s because I’m not from around here. I’m from far far away,” I decided to keep my origin concealed from her, at least for now.
“I see. You do wear strange clothes and speak differently from everyone else around here. Do you have any skills?”
“Yes, I’m proficient in sword fighting and with a bow. Well, I’m okay with a bow, but I’m learning. I need to get some weapons and I realize I probably need to obtain some armor too. I don’t have any money, but once I do, I’ll be ready to help you right away!”
She had a look of surprise on her face at my enthusiasm. Then she reached down into her brown rucksack on the floor beside her and pulled out a little drawstring bag. She tossed it on the table and asked, “Would this help?” Gold and silver coins rolled from out of the bag.
“Yes! Yes, it would. Tell ya what, hang on here for just a moment. I’m going to go talk to my friend and I’ll be back. We can get started on this quest immediately! Be right back.”
I left Arduwan’s table and returned to the thieves’ table. Before I could say a word, Frederick lifted his hand to shake mine and said, “I’m afraid this is where we part ways Eric?”
“But why? You can’t be that scared of traveling with Arduwan can you?”
“It’s not that. Listen, I’m not the one who stole the Great Horn from her. But I know who did. The code prevents me from endangering a fellow guild member and I wouldn’t want to be seen around Arduwan or friends may become suspicious that I outed the thief who did it. I believe in what you’re doing, but I’m afraid I just have to remove myself from the situation. Best of luck, Eric.”
I understood. We shook hands and the three of them left. When I returned to the table with Arduwan, I said, “Okay, let’s go get me some supplies!”
She had the biggest smile on her face. She stood up from the table and whoa…!!! I wasn’t expecting that. She was like six foot two! When I said she was attractive before, I was actually underestimating. She was like someone you’d find in my world who everyone swore was made of plastic, but they weren’t. All the right portions in all the right places. Her outfit left nothing to the imagination. Her hair laid down just to the tops of her shoulders. Besides her boots, and some arm tassel strands, she only wore a leather bikini top that displayed side boob, under boob, and all the way around boob! Her midriff was bare, to say the least, and she only had a narrow leather loincloth that draped over the front and the back. Finally, her sword sheath draped from a leather belt that rested neatly on her voluptuous hips.
When she got to her feet, she slapped me on the back and said, “happy to join ya, partner!” It nearly knocked the wind out of me. I fell forward against the table and stopped myself with my hands. She was like an ox!
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