The Not-Immortal Blacksmith Chapter 5 - Spy

Einar and I arrived at "my" new lands today. The place is awful. I informed Einar that it was his problem now. He begged me to help. I acquiesced.

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We cleaned out the rest of the bad seed today. The old monies people didn't like it, but too bad for them.

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Einar is making headway. Good for him. He is supposed to get married soon. There are bandits on the border with one of the neighbors. Wonder why they haven't taken care of it.

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Went and did some looking the last few weeks. Turns out Einar's wife to be is a "bad apple" as Tristan would say. When I told Einar about it, he was upset. We will be raiding the bandits camp soon.

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Raid went well. Caught the nobles red handed. The king's judge will be around to make the decision at some point.

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Well, the judge did as I expected. All of the bandits and all of the nobles were sentenced to death. Including the children. I may have to do something about that.

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Did something about it. The children's maid is kinda cute, and keeps making moon eyes at Einar. Hmmm...

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Einar is marrying the lady's maid. Good. Plan worked. The Goddesses head priest is set to do the deed. Idiot.

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Bjorn made it to the wedding! So did some unsavory individuals. I did good, no one was shot. Why did that idiot and her consort (the other idiot) show up with Bjorn? Apparently they met up on the road. All in all, I had a good day.

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I am leaving in a few weeks. It's almost been 3 years. Einar has a daughter, and I was surprised when I was asked to be the godfather. I accepted. Guess I'm stuck to this family now too. Maybe I should look up my own kin again? It has been a few years since I last saw any of them.

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A couple of "Chosen Ones" were skulking in the bushes today. When I surprised them, they let it slip that the king wanted me to visit, by hook or by crook. I decided not to hurt them too much, they are just doing their jobs.

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I snuck out last night. Surprised the kids in their secret camp. We leave for the king in the morning.

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King Gregory Yuri Bartholas isn't a complete idiot, as he lacks his mothers complete devotion to the goddess.

Apparently my looking into the neighbors did not go unnoticed. Greg wants me to go have a lookey loo at the neighboring kingdom of Deeplefallsia and see what I can find out. I know he isn't telling me everything. I am willing to bet that the goddess is up to something, again. Also, there are way too many adventurers wandering around the capital these days. Idiots

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I have taken the "Kings Highway"; a 1800 mile long, heavily traveled road, that runs from our capital of Garthax to the Deeplefallsia capital Flagondburn; and have stopped for a while to test the waters in the city Lostcairn. It is near enough to the border to get a lot of trade and information, without being to close.

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After 6 months of rumors, information, and bad ale, I have learned enough to continue my journey. The accents change a bit from what I am used to, but nothing significant. I'm off in the morning to continue my journey.

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I have stopped on the other side of the border. A nice business town named Curside. If I wasn't traveling on "Business" I would set up shop here for a while. I plan on staying for about 6 weeks in order to set up a business. "Naked Eagle Traveling Tinker and Smithing" will be my new cover. As I have never been in this country, I should be able to use my old name again.

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It has only taken 2 weeks for the bureaucracy to get back to me, and I now have my travel permits and business license. The demonic incursion of a while ago really hasn't abated much, and so trade and travel have become somewhat restricted. It is recommended to not venture from the roads without a party of 3 or more. I think I will be fine as long as I stick to the highway.

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The goddess approached me in the street, without all of her "Bells and Whistles", and politely asked me to meet with someone in a nearby cafe. I was in a good mood, so I agreed. The individual in question was Aslikale, the god of Chastity. Apparently I haven't been whoring enough as he asked if he could become my "Patron Deity". I didn't shoot either of them.

Honestly I was too shocked by their stupidity. "If the idiots ever left me alone, I might actually settle down and get married again." I told them. Well, actually, I have no intention of any such thing, but they don't need to know that.

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Papers in hand, tinkers wagon loaded, I have left Curside.

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And. Bandits.

Too bad, for them, they weren't fireproof.

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Delivering messages and reports to blind drop points is tedious and boring.

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I have been slowly traveling the highway for over a year now. I stop at each town for between two weeks and a month. The major towns average about 100 miles apart, with smaller villages, walled inns, or holdings every fifteen to twenty miles. The distance between stops really varies by the terrain the highway runs through. The people are mostly pleasant, especially to working travelers such as myself. I have been contracted a few times to carry letters to towns that are on my way. I wonder if a "Mail" system, such as Tristan talked about, would be a good idea...

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Three separate groups of bandits on the road today. One bandit claimed he was a "wanted man in 5 kingdoms". I replied that I didn't want him. They are all dead. The next travelers can pillage the corpses.

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I have spent the last three years traveling the kings road through Deeplefallsia. I'm going to attempt to travel into the demon controlled territory. I have been told it's very risky, but I've gotten bored of the same road, day in, day out.

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I have arrived at my starting point, the village of Bearnefalls. It is small, and supports a keep as well as walls. My wagon and I will start our journey tomorrow.

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Not more than 3 miles into the no-mans-land of the border, and I have run into a demon patrol. When they approached my wagon, I attempted to sell them some of my wares. When the leader and I locked eyes, he visibly twitched and ordered his men to "Leave this one alone. Warn the other patrols."

Their loss.

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I have only seen demon patrols at a distance, and when they notice me notice them, they disappear. Something isn't right around here.

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I found my first village, well I found my first road anyway. The remains of the village I found were very old and burned. I buried the few bodies that I found. Even the demon ones. Leaving bodies out to rot can cause disease. Don't people know that?

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I have decided to chase a patrol. I want answers, and haven't found any settlements that still have inhabitants.

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I have been following the same patrol for three days. They seem frightened. They are slowing down and getting sloppy. I should catch them tomorrow.

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I drove into there camp just after dawn. They scattered. I chased down the best equiped of them. It gave me some information before attacking me. It seemed desperate. I think the quality of demon troops is dropping. Tomorrow I will follow up on what it told me.

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The walled village of Bumush is small, just over 3000 people of all races. The guards are rail thin and iron hard. Finally some answers.

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I have sold a good amount of wares and weapons, collected a small amount of information, and have moved on. The road is the same one I found before, but in slightly better condition. No bandits, the demons don't like the competition. No demons either. I'm heading north.

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The demon patrols are still avoiding me. I should reach the walled town of Gilip in the morning.

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Gilip is surrounded by demon troops. I have decided to just drive my wagon to the gate and request entry.

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That was interesting. The demon hoard parted for me, making a nice little road. They even stopped assaulting the front gate. The townsfolk were hesitant at first, but did let me in. The demons seem to have stopped the assault for now.

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I have been in Gilip for 2 weeks now. The people are nice enough, and starting to relax a bit. The demons haven't tried an assault since I arrived. The Knight General in charge of the city has asked me to accompany him to a meeting with the demon who claims to "own" the area. I have accepted.

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The Demon Gexra, "lord of all he surveys", wasn't happy to see me. He may have looked a bit familiar? Anyway, a peace of sorts has been established. No more demon raids, low tax structure, no more "sacrifices", blah, blah, blah.

Looks like I will be traveling again soon. At a prompt from the Knight General, I did say something like "Would be a shame if I had to come back here." to Gexra, before the signing of the accord.

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One more dead drop and I think I'm done being a spy. It's been 3 years? I think I'm going to tour this country properly, and then head down the coast to the Elven lands.

TTFN