Anima et Forma

Episode 5: Choices

Stonemarrow Keep once offered the dwarves command of trade between the plainsmen of the east and the coastal peoples of the Caliacran Bay. Alexander himself nearly broke his army besieging the mountain-carved castle. In recent wars, it has acted as a deterrent for Western aggression against the Burgians. Duke Frederick III of Ottoburg, the last man to try and conquer the Red Hills, managed to seize Gold Hill and push his way further east than any of his predecessors. When he marched upon the sleepy little town of Shepshed, he never expected that his army of thirty thousand would be drawn into a six years siege that saw their resources and strength deteriorate through disease and desertion.

—Lord John Paul, "Siege Warfare and Military Strategy in the Age of Steel," 1304 A.D.

"I've roamed these roads for six centuries, friend. I know where I'm going," Padair said.

"I think your memory is fading," Augustus replied. He stood at the lip of a cliff, looking south, into a valley of rolling hills. They stretched out for miles, wrapped in grass and moss, littered with boulders and stone. Here and there a cedar's roots planted themselves amongst the rocky Red Hills. The hilltops stood above a thick morning fog–green islands in a sea of churning whites and grays. "We're too far north."

"My memory is just fine," Padair retorted. "In my head rests the stories of entire nations and countless tribes–the stories of kings and sorcerers–the stories of heroes and villains from corners of the world you've never even heard of. I remember every road, goat path, and deer trail between the Far Waters and the Eastern Seas. I may be getting slower with age, but I'm not getting stupider!"

His memories are precious to him. Augustus knelt. He searched the valley. "We should get back on the road and make for that canyon we passed."

"That canyon leads to an abandoned mine–gnoll territory. Trust me, friend, my way is safer."

"Your way is slower. I don't have six hundred years to get to where I'm going," Augustus said.

"You humans are always in a hurry. That's why you die so young." Padair nudged Augustus' leg with his hoof. "Bah-ha-hah!"

"The humor of satyrs is lost on me." Augustus stood and found a path leading back to the road.

"Hey, wait!" Padair skipped down the cliff alongside him.

A bank of fog stood upon the road, wrapping around the cliffside and the surrounding hills. Wrapped in his gray cloak, and a cloud of morning dew rising to meet the sky, Augustus felt hidden. He felt safe.

"No more shortcuts, Padair," Augustus said. "We should've been in Shepshed by now."

"O-o-oh! Be careful with that, friend! How many times do I have to say it? My name is only for emergencies! Why do you want to go there, anyway? Your cities are so crowded. And everyone is in such a hurry." Padair's hooves clapped against the cobbles of the road. "It's horrible!"

Augustus sighed. "I need supplies."

"I can find food," Padair said.

"I need more than berries and roots," Augustus said.

"You humans are so strange to me. You're made of meat, too. Why don't you eat yourself or one of your..." Padair gulped.

"One of my what?"

"Well... one of your friends!" The goat man crossed his arms.

"I don't like goat meat," Augustus said. "Though goat's milk tastes rather good."

"Bleh-eh-eh!" Padair gagged. "I only drank the milk of my mother. What was your mother like?"

"She was nice," Augustus lied. In truth, he never met either of his parents. He heard tales of his father–and saw him once–but his mother was a complete mystery.