Omen: 1, 7

“So how have you been?” Adam asked, drinking his soup.

“I’ve been well,” Strom admitted, sipping from his clay bottle. He was far thinner than before, and his hands shook at all times. The once sturdy Strom was no longer here, now he was but a dying old man.

“Did you finish up your business?”

“I did, though I didn’t manage to beat him as much as I would have liked,” Strom complained. “I suppose it couldn’t be helped. I should have expected as much considering I fought without my Spark and during the first month of duskval.”

“At least you beat him a little.” Adam wasn’t sure how to deal with the awkward air. Strom’s impending death felt all the more real seeing him like this. There were only a few months left, if Strom’s prediction was to be believed.

“Yes.” Strom smiled. “Now that rat bastard needs a new Champion.”

“A Champion?” Adam asked.

Strom nodded, taking another sip of his drink.

“Wait, what?” Adam sat up straighter, narrowing his eyes. “Who?”

“The Lord of Order.” Strom smiled.

“What?”

“Yes?”

“The Lord of Order?”

“Yes.”

‘What?’ Adam stared at the old man. ‘The Champion of Order?’

Strom smiled.

“You killed the Champion of Order?” Adam asked, trying to confirm what he was hearing.

“No, I was almost killed by him.” Strom sighed again.

“Then who killed him?” Adam asked, confused.

“Stokmar.”

‘Stokmar? The Lord of Earth?’ “Why?”

“He was annoying me, that’s why!” the Dwarven woman said, stomping her way towards the pair, before dropping down between them.

Adam remained silent for a long moment. “You’re Lord Stokmar?”

Stokmar brought her cask of ale to her lips, drinking it for a long moment. “Don’t you recognise my brilliance?”

“I just thought you were a Dwarf,” Adam admitted.

“You thought I was a Dwarf?” Stokmar asked. “Do I look like a Dwarf to you?”

“Yeah.”

Stokmar gave the Half Elf a look, before shaking her head. ‘Treehuggers.’

“It’s a pleasure to see you again, Lord Stokmar.” Adam smiled as politely as he could. The last time they had met, Stokmar hadn’t liked him very much.

“I’m sure it is.”

Adam glanced between Strom and Stokmar. ‘What is my life right now?’ “Do you guys know who that old guy is? Asa?”

“No,” Strom replied, though the name seemed familiar.

“Yes,” Stokmar stated.

“You do?” Strom asked.

Stokmar nodded, drinking from her cask of ale again.

“Who is it?” Adam asked, politely.

“What are you offering?” Stokmar narrowed her eyes.

“What can I offer to you, oh great Lord Stokmar? You have everything one could possibly wish to possess, from grace to beauty!”

Charisma Check

D20 + 3 = 10 (7)

Stokmar winced at his words, and held out a bottle of wine threateningly. “Be gone at once, boy!”

“As you wish,” Adam said, quickly hopping to his feet. He wanted to talk with Strom more, but it was awkward with the Lord of Earth here. ‘Wasn’t Stokmar a guy?’

Adam and his companions remained within the Front Iyr for a week, as was the rule for those who returned. The group had found that the Iyr had expanded further, and there were more Iyrmen around the area, but it was still missing children.

“You saved the Goblin children?” the bronze scaled man asked, eating snacks provided by the Iyr.

“Yes,” Adam replied. “I mean, I couldn’t let them die.”

“Why did you save Goblins?” the black scaled woman asked, holding a book in one hand as she half skimmed it.

“They were babies,” Adam replied, shrugging his shoulders. “What else was I supposed to do?”

The black scaled woman, who had introduced herself as Wingburg, laughed. “Why did you even get involved? Even if you were a normal Half Elf, you still shouldn’t have gotten involved with the Goblins. The Priest of War was right.”

The bronze scaled man, who had introduced himself as Burgwing, nodded his head. “That’s right.” He smirked towards his companions. “That’s the Aswadian in him.”

Wingburg laughed with him, though Adam didn’t understand the joke.

Adam glanced between the pair. He had gathered they were Dragons when they had sniffed him out, having figured out he was an outsider to this world. ‘So every Dragon I meet will probably know I’m not from this world?’ Adam sighed at the thought.

The Dragons quickly stopped laughing as the Dwarven woman appeared, sitting down opposite them, beside Adam.

“What is this business about you saving Goblins?” Stokmar asked.

“We found a bunch of Goblins on the way back. They seemed to be starving, and had been eating one another. Apparently, they were two different groups, but you’ll need to ask Jurot about that. One of my party members wanted to kill the babies, but they decided against it.” Adam didn’t want to offend Dunes, so had decided to explain it as Dunes realising he was doing something wrong. He knew that Dunes was ready to kill the Goblins, however.

“Why did you save them?” Stokmar asked, as though she hadn’t heard the reason before.

“They’re babies.”

“So you’ll save every baby you find?”

“If they need saving, sure.”

“So you’ll save every baby without parents?” Stokmar tilted her head, sipping her drink.

“You might not know this, Lord Stokmar, but I can make quite a bit of money if I need to. I’m someone with enough…” Adam paused. “I can make enough money to look after a large number of children if I need to.”

Stokmar wondered what else he was going to say, but she left that be. “Why Goblins? They’re seen as pests, vermin.”

“I’m sure to Elves, Humans and Orcs are seen as pests too, but I think we’re all the same,” Adam said. “From Goblins to Elves, I don’t really see them any differently when it comes to that sort of thing.”

Stokmar remained in thought for a long while, before she stood up and left, leaving behind a cask of ale for them. She hadn’t expected such a response, and especially not from the lips of a man with leafblood.

The pair of Dragons relaxed once Stokmar had left. “Are you close with Lord Stokmar?” Wingburg asked.

“Not particularly. When Lord Stokmar first appeared in the world, we met. She didn’t like me then, and she doesn’t like me now. You know, I’m pretty close with Strom, I mean, in a way, but his friends seem to not like me. One of them tried to kill me, and I’m sure the other wouldn’t mind killing me either.”

Burgwing smiled. “Doesn’t that mean you’re lucky?”

Adam narrowed his eyes at Burgwing, the bronze scaled man chuckling. “How?”

“You have the attention of three Lords.”

“Lords? Are they like the Lord of Order and Lord of Chaos?” Adam asked.

“No, no,” Burgwing replied, shaking his head. “The Lord of Order and Lord of Chaos are both Deities.”

“They are not allowed upon this realm,” Wingburg said.

“There are the Lords of the Elements,” Burgwing continued. “They are those who possess great abilities with their respective elements. However, it is an informal title, one which commands respect, but does not bestow upon them many abilities.”

“Or so they say,” Wingburg added with a doubtful tone.

“So I’ve got the Lord of Order who hates me, and then two more Lords who don’t like me?” Adam sighed. “It’s a good thing Lord Stokmar killed the Champion of Order.”

“Why does the Lord of Order hate you?” Wingburg asked, but upon noticing Burgwing’s look, she quickly realised the reason. “Right.”

“Why did you guys choose those names?” Adam asked.

“What do you mean?” Burgwing flashed a charming smile towards Adam.

“I know that your real names aren’t Wingburg and Burgwing.” Adam raised his brows at them expectantly. “I don’t want to know your names, I’m sure you have your reasons as to why you don’t want to tell me, probably in relation to my safety, but I was curious about why you picked a twinned name to share.”

“We are old friends,” Wingburg said. “I am a Burg, and he is a Wing.”

“Oh. Is that like Talia?”

“You know of the Talias?”

“Yeah, a little.”

“Why don’t you tell us more of your tale?” Burgwing asked, trying to coax more from Adam.

“I think you know more than enough, considering you haven’t told me anything about yourselves,” Adam retorted back to them.

“Adam,” called Lykan, who bowed his head, motioning for Adam to follow.

The pair travelled quite some ways away, passing through various tunnels, before they arrived at a small area, where two dire wolves lay. Adam tilted his head, his eyes scanning across them, before realising they were still.

“They passed away giving birth to their pups,” Lykan said.

Adam swallowed, Jaygak and Kitool flashing within his mind. “Oh.”

“We have stopped them from decaying, but we wish to know what you wish to do with them.”

Adam frowned, staring at the dead bodies for a long moment. “Why me?”

“I thought it would be best for you to know,” Lykan replied, simply.

“How quickly did you stop them from decaying?” Adam asked.

“Almost immediately.”

“Within a minute?”

“Yes.”

“Okay,” Adam said. “I’ll revive them tomorrow.”

Lykan remained silent. ‘What did he just say?’

“Do Kitool and Jaygak know?”

“They will be informed soon.”

Adam wondered why Lykan had come to him first. “Where’s Sky?”

“He is nearby.”

“I’ll put him in timeout.”

“Timeout?”

“He is going to sit down in one place until I revive the pair, and he…” Adam decided against starving the Awakened Wolf. “I’ll bring him his food and tell him off.”

Lykan wondered why he was so relieved in his heart. ‘Is this why I told him first?’

“Elder Lykan?”

“Yes?”

“About the Goblin children…”

“We will take care of them as Guests within the Iyr,” Lykan assured.

“Will they be okay?”

“We will raise them within the Iyr until we can find them suitable homes with their own kin.”

Adam sighed. “Can’t they stay here?”

“They can,” Lykan replied. “They will be small children of the Iyr.”

Adam narrowed his eyes. “What does that mean?”

“They will not have the full rights afforded to Iyrmen, but they will grow up within the Iyr. They will be fed, and may be trained lightly. They will not be able to step foot out of the Iyr, but they will enjoy themselves within.”

“Sort of like a prison, then?” Adam said. “I mean, not in a bad way. More like nobles in exile?”

“Yes.”

“You’d really look after them?”

“They are children who have stepped foot in the Iyr,” Lykan said. “It is our duty.”

“Don’t some of the Iyrmen complain?”

“Complain about what?”

“You know, that you’re spending resources on strangers rather than your own.” Adam cleared his throat.

“There are no Iyrmen who would complain about their duty. It is not our way.”

Adam slowly nodded his head, smiling slightly. “The Iyr puts other places to shame.”

“It is our way.”

“There are some countries who would drown the children before ever thinking about looking after them.”

Lykan bowed his head, understanding the fact of life. “Yes.”

Adam looked to the dead dire wolves. No, perhaps it was because the Iyr was insane, like him. Adam bowed his head. “Thank you, Elder Lykan.”

“It is our pleasure, Adam.”