The ship had finally returned to Forad. Anarion looked exhausted from the change in his sleep schedule, getting off the boat first thing in the morning meant he would have to persevere through the day until night time to get back on track. Standing in front of the Tavern they visited last year Falcon asked "Where are we going." Bwoire replied "A small town called Holsten on the Southern border. "

"I've never been so close to Rotal" exclaimed Ithilious. Bwoire smirked. "We will bee stationed there officially for the year. It comes under attack from the Oren somewhat infrequently. Average humans don't stand much of a chance. So each year a different Swordsman protects the village from Oren." Amma gave Bwoire an odd look "I thought we were training for two years."

Bwoire smiled "You'll be learning Elestran this year. I planned this out before I got to the academy. I can protect Holsten and teach the four of you." Tycondris smiled "Do you mind if I continue tagging along? I have no family, I might be able to find work in Holsten." Before Bwoire could speak Anarion put his hand on Tycondris' shoulder. "Do you even have to ask? I'm sure you've killed an Oren or two, might make a decent town guard."

Tycondris laughed. “You’re right kid. I’ve killed a few dozen Oren. That might suit my skills.” Bwoire smiled “Let’s get going. It’s a seven-day march from here. We are running a bit late, so I would like to make it there in five.” Anarion sighed. “So much for sleep.” Tycondris gave Anarion an odd smile. “If you had not been avoiding everyone you wouldn’t be in this predicament.” Anarion glared at Tycondris “That’s because you and Bwoire were pissing me off.”

The rest had already started moving. “I’m sure you would enjoy a different kind of sleepless night,” said Tycondris with a rather sinister smile on his face. Anarion punched him in the gut. “Would you drop it already!” he yelled. Leaving Tycondris in a slump on the ground Anarion ran to catch up with the group, Tycondris catching up soon after.

The trip was exhausting, marching until midnight only to begin again at four in the morning. After four days they finally made it. In the distance, they could see Holsten. Nestled in between a mountain and Ocean was a sleepy town. The buildings all had the same brown roofing tiles. There was smoke billowing out of several houses, especially a larger building.

Outside of the town were fields for planting crops, the farmers working hard. There was a large barn with a farmhouse. There were chickens, cows, and pigs.

As they entered town there were two male guards. They looked rather unimpressive. One had blonde hair, the other red. They were both clad in leather armor with a sword and shield held in each hand. “Halt!” said the blonde guard. “Which one of you is Bwoire?’ Bwoire came to the front of the group.

“That would be me.” The blonde guard sighed “You are late. Kilgorn left three days ago.” Bwoire laughed “Sorry about that. Can I get your names?” The red hair guard spoke. “I am Alwin.” The blonde guard said, “I am Bernon.” The group introduced themselves. Tycondris asking “Do you have any additional jobs here as a guard? I have over twenty five years as a bronze arena combatant.

Alwin looked at Tycondris with an expression of joy. “While you look a little old. I doubt our boss won’t pass up someone with your combat experience.” Alwin pointed to a smoke plume at the edge of town facing the mountains. “Go find Fritz, he’s the head of the guard here.” Tycondris immediately left to go speak with the head of the guard.

“What about these four. What business do they have in Holsten?” asked Bernon. Bwoire smiled “They are my subordinates. I’m sure you can find housing for them?” Bernon sighed. “I was not told about them. We do not have any extra housing for them. There are two options, they can stay with the townsfolk or stay at the Tavern.”

All four of them glared at Bwoire. “Well, it’s not like you are going to spend that money on much here aside from everyday needs. Your salary is quite big, I imagine you could spend a lifetime at the Tavern before running into financial issues.” All at once everyone brought out their coin satchels and began counting.

Amma asked, “How much does it cost to spend a night at the Tavern?” Bernon replied “About four coppers.” Bwoire said out loud “One hundred coppers to a silver, one hundred silver to a gold coin.” All at once, they realized how much they had. In the prior counting, Anarion had one hundred gold, one hundred silver, and one hundred copper. He had double before he gave half to Tycondris, who was now quite wealthy having a year of Anarion’s salary.

Amma, Ithilious, and Falcon had not even spent one percent of this salary. “Don’t spend it all in one place!” yelled Ithilious. “You made it sound like we could spend all of this in one place! We couldn’t possibly do that if we paid for the entire town’s drinks every single night this year! Why didn’t you tell us about how currency works before?”

Bwoire laughed. “What, didn’t they teach you in the academy?” All at once, they yelled “No!” Bwoire continued laughing “How can adults not know how currency works? That’s hilarious!” Ithilious yelled “We were at the academy most of our life. We never even had money until last year!”

Amma asked. “So how much do the other ranks make?” Bwoire smiled. “You are being paid as third-class Swordsmen even though you are not officially Swordsmen yet. However, you need to eat and have a roof over your head. So when you leave you are paid for two years of service, as that is how long it takes to complete your training outside of the academy.”

Bwoire continued “Second class earn four hundred gold a year. First-class earn eight hundred. Third class Captains earn fifteen hundred. Second class Captains earn three thousand, first-class Captains earn six thousand.” All four jaws collectively dropped. “What rank are you?” asked Falcon.

Bwoire raised a single finger. “I’m a first-class Captain.” At once all four began to drool. “Swordsmen are paid by the Kingdom. Terath is extremely wealthy as a whole since we are the major trade hub of the world. Even those damned High Gir are trading partners.

Anarion remembered the High Gir he fought in the arena. Bernon coughed. “Are you just going to stay here? Or are you going to enter Holsten?” Bwoire laughed. “Oh right, we got a bit carried away. I’ll show you all around.” Passing through the gate there was a Blacksmith to the left. An old man was hammering away.

All of the houses were constructed from brick. There were fifty homesteads. In the center of town, there was a marketplace, where people sold produce. Finally, they arrived at the Tavern. Bwoire opened the door. A middle-aged bar wench greeted them at the door. “Welcome to the Drunken Fish!” she exclaimed.

She had blonde hair, blue eyes. Her outfit showed quite a bit of cleavage which Ithilious loved. There were two other bar wenches, both appeared to be in their late teens or early twenties. Oddly enough sitting at a counter was a little blonde girl. She had to be eight years old. “Thank you Hilda! It’s good to be back!” Hilda was the middle-aged woman. “Bwoire! I did not recognize you at first. I have not seen you in over twenty years!”

Bwoire pointed to the two women. “Are those your daughters?” Hilda exclaimed “Yes they are, meet Giselle and Johanna! They are twins, I had them two years after you left!” Giselle and Johanna both had blonde hair. They both had their mothers figure as well.” Bwoire laughed “They are your spitting image! I am guessing they are nineteen?

Hilda laughed “Perceptive as always!” Giselle asked. “Mom, how do you know this man. He is a Wood Gir?” Looking at Giselle, Hilda said “He was stationed here before you were born. We used to make the beast with two backs.”

At once, Amma, Anarion, Falcon, Giselle, Hilda, and Ithilious all yelled “What!” Bwoire laughed. “Those were good times, I assume you are married now, children and all.” Before Hilda could speak a massive man came lumbering down the stairs. He had long Auburn hair and a long beard. He had to be at least six foot eight. “If you want her back you can have her.” said the man with a stupid grin on his face.

Hilda laughed. “Sorry, you are stuck with me.” The man stood next to Hilda. “Well you can’t blame me for trying, I am Arnold, nice to meet you all.” Bwoire shook his hand. “These are my subordinates. Amma, Anarion, Falcon, and Ithilious.” Hilda asked “I assume by your visit that you are stationed here. Will your subordinate need lodging.”

Bwoire said “In fact, they will need lodging. How much for a year?” Hilda smiled “I’ll give you a good rate. Thirteen Silver each.” All four of them handed Hilda thirteen silver. “This is only for lodgings, you’ll need to pay for food. If you want to pay in advance I’ll give you a deal, twenty silver each.” They handed Hilda twenty silver each.

“I can also give you a fee for drink if you like. I’m not sure how much your subordinates drink. I’ll say twenty-five silver.” They handed Hilda twenty-five silver each. “That’s about all I can think of, I’ll show you to your rooms.” Hilda escorted the four to a set of bedrooms on the third floor. There were eight rooms in total and a bathroom at the end of the hall on that floor. Ithilious had a room closest to the stairs. Falcon had the room next to him, Amma was next to Falcon and Anarion was next to Amma.

Anarion’s room was small, a single bed with a window. There was a dresser and a laundry hamper at the corner of the room. The floor was wood, however, the wall was brick like the rest of the building. While waiting in his room the little blonde girl came in with fresh bed sheets. “Here you go, Mister. Please put them in the hamper at the end of the week. I’ll also wash your clothes if you like.” Anarion said “Thanks kid, well I only have one set of clothes. What’s your name?” The little girl replied. “I am Ilya, if you give me ten copper I can have a few sets of clothes made.”

Anarion smiled. He handed Ilya ten copper. Ilya smiled “If you will follow me I will bring you to the tailor to be measured.” Anarion nodded. “As much of a pain as it is, we should probably have clothes made for the rest of my comrades.” Ilya nodded “I’ll wait for you outside.”

Almost as soon as Anarion stepped outside Ilya came with the rest. “Follow me,” she said in a small but delicate voice. Ilya escorted them towards the edge of town near the gate. She stepped inside a building. “Miss Karlie, I have some customers here.” An old woman carefully walked out of the other room. She looked to be seventy.”

“Thank you dear,” she said as Ilya handed her the copper. “They need uniforms made.” Karlie carefully measured all four of them. “I’ll have the first set done by tomorrow. You can come by at the end of the week for the rest.”

Ilya escorted them back to the Tavern. Tycondris was sitting down having a drink. “Come have a drink with me kid,” said Tycondris. Anarion sighed. “Might as well.” he sat down next to Tycondris. Falcon and Ithilious returned to their rooms, but Amma sat down across from both of them “I’ll have a drink as well.”

Tycondris laughed “Good, drinking alone with this grumpy bastard would be depressing.” Anarion punched Tycondris in the arm. “Sobriety is looking great sitting next to you asshole!” Amma raised her hands “Now, let’s try to get along.” Tycondris laughed “We are just egging each other on.” Anarion glared at Tycondris “Says you.”

Giselle appeared behind Amma with three pints of ale. “Would you like to eat? I can have something prepared.” Tycondris said “Sure thing! I’m starving!” Amma replied. “Some bread would be great.” Anarion grumpily replied “I’ll eat” Giselle blushed slightly, she appeared to be somewhat attracted to Anarion.

“Sure, I’ll see what I can prepare,” she said scurrying off. “So, did they hire you?” asked Anarion. Tycondris smiled “Of course. I’ll be on the early morning shift. The pay isn’t half bad, twenty-five silver a week.” Amma smiled “Steady work. You got onto your feet pretty fast.” Tycondris laughed, he put his arm around Anarion “I have this guy to thank for that.”

Anarion slightly embarrassed pushed Tycondris away. “Don’t make me regret it, you old bastard.” Amma and Tycondris laughed. Anarion slammed his drink down. Giselle returned with more Ale and eventually, a homemade stew that smelled so good even Amma had some. It was made out of beef, carrots, and potatoes.

A few hours later. All three of them were quite intoxicated with several pint-sized beer steins littering the table. Anarion slumped out of his seat and returned to his bedroom, he passed out as soon as he hit the bed.