Puffs of foggy breath escaped Akira’s mouth as he scanned the surrounding sand dunes on the beach and the nearby woods in the early dawn light.
The morning light hitting the fresh new snow that had come down over the night glittered as if it were a gem.
“Is everyone that’s going here?” asked Wulfric as he looked at the few Grand elders and their guards that had decided to follow him to the city first before making any decisions on what to do.
“Wait, we’re coming as well,” said Tormoid as he and the clans that supported him arrived.
“Oh? I thought that you already decided where you were going? Why come with us to the city?” asked Wulfric.
“We need to gather information on this continent just like you, and the whole Earth tribe still needs to replenish its supplies before we can leave.”
“We will also be joining you,” said Dùghall who arrived along with his supporters.
“Let’s go then, the quicker we get this done the faster we can decide on what to do,” said Wulfric.
“It’s a good thing I packed my thick fur-lined coats, along with the ugly sweaters that Glola made me,” said Delgar as he waded through the snow that was up to his waist.
“The weather here is not all that bad and it’s quite beautiful. How are you holding up with the cold?” asked Akira.
“I’m not like you werewolves with your warm blood and fur. But I am no stranger to the cold as the mountains have some mighty cold winters,” said Delgar.
The trip to the port city only took an hour and a half to reach.
“Who are you? Why have you come to Froit?” asked a human city guard on top of the snow-covered walls.
Several more guards started to gather on the top of the walls all of them bundled up in thick leather fur armor to keep warm while on patrol.
“We are travelers looking to replenish our supplies. We would also like to gain information on the surrounding land and current events,” said Wulfric.
The guards looked over Wulfric and the several other Grand elders and their guards, everyone was not transformed and so they looked just like humans.
“Is that camp that popped up last night yours?” asked the guard pointing towards the sand dunes.
“Yes, we have no intention of encroaching on your land and will leave as soon as we have resupplied and gained the information we need,” said Grand elder Dùghall.
“Very well. As long as you have no plans to commit crimes in our city you are permitted to enter. We don’t care if you were some powerful lord from wherever you came from. You must listen to whatever a guard says since in this land our word is law.”
“We understand we have no intention of causing you problems,” said Wulfric.
“The prices right now are the winter prices so things are more expensive. So don’t get your hopes up on buying things for cheap prices,” said another Guard.
The cold wooden gates to the city were slowly pushed open creating a clean path for the werewolves as the fresh snow was pushed aside by the large doors.
Akira entered the city and found the road inside the city was a mixture of frozen mud and fresh slush from footsteps horses and carts.
The houses and buildings surrounding the streets were various sized stone buildings with big thatched roofs.
The streets were already busy with morning traffic of people going to and fro as well as carts and animals moving to wherever it was they had to go. In short, it was a lively medium-sized city.
“Where should we go?” asked Grand elder Àaron.
“Let’s split up and take care of whatever we need to do,” said Tormoid as he turned and started to walk down one of the unknown side streets.
The group split into three as Dùghall took his people with him down another street.
“Mr. Grand elder, I have a suggestion, if you will listen to it,” said Delgar.
“What is Mr. Dwarf?” asked Wulfric.
“Ahem, we need information, right? Well… why don’t we go find a tavern. We can warm up there with a good drink and see if anyone has any information,” said Delgar trying to make a good case for getting a drink at such an early hour in the morning.
“Hmm… since our gold is limited I guess we can check it out and see if there is anyone there willing to talk to us for free. Will they even take gold from another country?” asked Wulfric.
“Gold is gold, it shouldn’t matter much,” said Delgar the expert in metals.
“Carl, why don’t you and the others go and find the supplies we need, while I go with Akira and Delgar to search for information,” said Wulfric.
“Hold it if you are going to go to the tavern I’m coming as well, Àaron will take care of finding whatever we need,” said Carl.
***
The ‘Snow owl’ was one of the only small taverns that was open for businesses all day and not just during the evening.
The light inside the tavern was low as the windows were covered with wooden shutters to help keep the cold out and keep the warmth from the roaring fire inside.
There were no green magic fire lamps hanging from the walls or the ceiling, the only light was from the hearty fire burning in a large pit in the middle of the room which acted as a heat source and a light for the tavern.
The tavern was currently empty except for Akira, Delgar, and the two grand elders.
“Well this was a failure, looks like no one is coming here,” said Carl.
“We still have time, and we already ordered some food and drinks,” said Delgar.
Bam! The door to the tavern slammed open letting in the cold gray morning light along with a cold gust of wind which carried a few fresh snowflakes.
“Close the damn door! Burkin, how many times do I have to tell you not to slam the door open and close it quickly so you don’t cause customers to get angry!” shouted the tavern owner as he was roasting some meat over the large pit fire.
Bam! The door was slammed shut just as hard as it was opened.
“Come on Jas, you know I am the only one that comes here so early in the morning…What? Who are they?” asked a short and stout dwarf with a well-groomed three-pronged braided beard.
“Despite what you think I run a business, these happen to be customers,” said Jas using the fire poker to stir the fire before putting another lump of something black onto the burning coals.
“Oh? You actually have customers at this hour? You didn’t kidnap them did you?”
Jas took a piece of the black fuel and threw it at Burkin missing the dwarf as he nimbly ducked.
“Hey no need to throw that horse crap at me! It was a joke! I may not look like it but I like to keep clean. I took a shower last month and I don’t need to take one for another month. So I rather not get hit by your dung,” said Burkin as he walked over to the table Akira and the others were sitting at.
“I’m Burkin, nice to meet you! What brings ya to this small dump?” asked Burkin as the back of his head was hit with one of the dried horse dung chips.
“We’re looking for information about this land, the clans, monsters and anything else that would be helpful,” said Delgar.
“Oh?! A fellow kinsman? What clan do you come from? The Icehammer? or the Frozen-steel?” asked Burkin.
“Umm…I am from the Ashenforge clan,” said Delgar.
“Ashenforge? Who? …wait isn’t that the clan that the Grandmaster smith Darmond came from?”
“Yes, he was my father…”
“Your father! You must be a great blacksmith yourself!”
“Yeah, well…”
“This means you are from the old continent! I have so many questions for you about the clans!”
“If you would like I am sure Delgar would love to answer your questions as long as you help us out by answering our own,” said Akira.
“Well…my throat is a bit parched sooo…maybe if you bought me a drink or two to help loosen up the words…” said Burkin.
“Stop acting like a miser, you have enough money to pay for your own drink,” said Jas.
“Ah, well it was worth a try,” said Burkin as he pulled a wooden chair from another table to the booth that the others were sitting at.
“If you don’t mind I’d like to ask my questions first,” said Burkin as he sipped his warm wine that had been just handed out to everyone at the table.
“That is fine with me,” said Wulfric.
***
“…and that is why we have come to this continent,” said Delgar looking at the tavern owner with suspicion.
“Don’t worry about him, he is a harmless nobody. The humans here are not like the ones back on the old continent,” said Burkin.
“If you say so,” said Delgar.
“This is indeed troubling news if the demigods have come again. Although they have not come to this continent in large numbers before there is always a chance of it happening. My clan the Stonecrushers left the main continent when the first demigods showed up. I was not even born then so I have never seen a demigod. But I have heard many stories from the elders,” said Burkin.
“How old are you?” asked Akira.
“Me? I’m quite young. I am only 90 years old,” said Burkin.
Akira choked on his warmed wine as it had gone down the wrong pipe from the unexpected words.
“So the information we asked for, do you know anything?” asked Delgar as he roughly thumped Akira on the back to try and help him stop coughing.
“Hmm, yes…let me reorder my thoughts. There are no other demon races that I am aware of that live near my clan. There are only other dwarven clans as we tend to live in the cold mountains to mine and craft things for a living. I am aware that there are several large werewolf clans in the east and west. There are several other smaller clans of demon races that escaped during the first and second great war scattered all over some are nomads that do not live in one spot,” said Burkin taking a big gulp from his wooden mug.
“As for the human cities, there are only two. This city which is the most northern of any human or demon city, and the Jerora trading post that is farther south.
The trade post is where many human adventures and thrill seekers go to make a profit. It is also a place for major trade between the demon races and humans. You have to be careful of not only the harsh weather but also the monsters on this continent. These things are no joke, but since you’re with werewolves I guess you will have no problems with that.”
“You never mentioned what brought you to this city,” said Delgar.
“Simple, I’m working on negotiating a large trade between my clan and the humans,” said Burkin.
“Didn’t you say that the place for doing that was in the trade city?” asked Akira.
“If it were a minor thing then I might think about it but this is too big. Plus the people there are just middlemen and will try to gouge you for as much as they can. It is better to come straight here and personally set up a trade deal with them.”
“So are the two main werewolf cities on the east and west coast?” asked Wulfric.
“I wouldn’t really call it a coast as most of the year it is all frozen. But yes last I heard that was where they lived, this information is about five or ten years old since I haven’t seen or talked to anyone from their clans for some time. If you want I am sure that I can find someone that will take you to them.”
“No, we rather find our own place first and settle in before talking to them. I am not sure how well they would receive us,” said Wulfric.
“Agreed, this is for the best,” said Carl.
“Well if that is the case then far to the south past the Jerora trade post, the land is open for anyone, There is so much land down there just waiting for someone but it is a harsh land that will kill all who underestimate the dangers. It is the only place that is not claimed by any other major clan that I am aware of. If you want I can take you to Jerora after I finish my negotiations with the governor of this city in a few days.”
“I suppose It can’t hurt to wait a few days if you can guide us to the trading post,” said Wulfric.
“We have to leave now as I am sure the other people we came with are waiting for us,” said Carl.
“Where and when can we contact you when you are finished with your business?” asked Wulfric.
“No need to worry I will find you guys, you are staying near the coast right?”
“Correct, we will wait for you there,” said Wulfric as he stood up and downed the last of his warmed wine.
They exited the tavern and joined the grand elders who were impatiently waiting at the gate.
“Took you long enough!” grumbled Tormoid.
“Did you get everything you were looking for?” asked Wulfric.
“Only the supplies at an outrageous price. There was no one willing to talk to us about anything unless we paid them even more gold,” said Dùghall.
“Were you late because you couldn’t find anything as well?” asked Tormoid.
“Actually we were in a discussion with someone and learned a lot from them. We gathered all the information we needed so I will explain everything when we return,” said Wulfric.
***
“Has everyone come to a decision?” asked Dùghall as he looked at each of the Grand elders.
“We have!”
“I still think it would be best if we stick together and create our own settlement, before talking to the other clans. We do not know if they will accept us with open arms or if they will view us as a threat,” said Wulfric.
“Agreed,” said Grand elder Carl.
“Stop talking nonsense. We are all of the Earth tribe. Why would they do something like that? You said to yourself that there are already two cities, one on each coast. There is no need to go through the hardships of creating our own when we can join them,” said Tormoid.
“Listen. We should be uniting together. The visions of Grand elder Dùghall warned of annihilation and the traits that Akira is showing along with the past history….”
“I don’t want to hear any more of your nonsense about your grandson being the great hero the tribe needs to save us from the boogie man. In case you haven’t noticed, the demigods are nowhere to be found and the humans on this continent are already outnumbered by the demon races. We have made our decisions and there is nothing you can say to sway it,” said Tormoid as he stood up and stormed out of the tent along with his supporters.
“Tormoid is right, we may not agree on everything but there is some wisdom in meeting up with the other clans that have already settled down here,” said Dùghall before leaving with his own supporters.
