"C'mere, come all!"
It was the first human settlement I've visited since the Collapse. At least the first, that wasn't abandoned, and if anything, it was quite busy. And loud. Especially that bard in the middle of the market.
"Here, listen to my stories about the far eastern wonders!" He shouted nonstop. "You won't hear about the people of Saipole anywhere else. Come and buy me a drink and a meal, and I'll tell you everything to know. The legendary Sea People, beautiful princesses."
"What would a deserter from Appenon even know about the Far East?" One of the locals, a dark-skinned Lansumer asked. Or rather, grumbled. "Go away now, you are ruining my business."
"Well, I'm glad you asked." The guy perked up, conveniently ignoring the insulting parts. "It sure is a long story, I'd be happy to share with you along with some booze. Or I could shut up about it, and drink it alone."
"Away with you, beggar. If you ain't selling and buying, leave the marketplace already." The locals seemed to be quite upset with him. It was odd, considering they completely ignored us, Lesser Races, entering their city. Of course, we were smarter than riding in on the Nightmares.
After our first run-in with the humans, we left them outside the city limits, further north on the shore. I was sure, the abyssal mounts did not activate any kind of magical aura and did not make them hallucinate, but the fishermen ran all the same. And apparently, it wasn't because of us. Even now, I could see a few goblins, beastmen, and a hob strolling along on their marketplace as if that was the most natural thing.
Strangely, I haven't seen any orcs though. Landsum was the birthplace of their species, and they were nowhere to be seen. And from the humans, most of them were locals with dark, almost black skins. Apart from the one Appenon nomad, I couldn't see any variety.
"Don't make me call the guards on you. Leave before they throw you out." The local merchant was still arguing with the guy. Bastion could no longer listen to him, the young ogre's nature was to protect.
"Hey, good man. I'm interested in what you can say. I can share my meal with you in a more leisurely place." He offered, making the merchant grumble some more, but only until he saw the giant, nearly twice his size. He quickly ran back to his stall, and the bard seemed satisfied. He jumped up with a smile, reaching out his hand towards the ogre. He took it, trying his best not to crush it.
"Excellent choice, good sir. I'm Hakim the Bard, and let me tell you, you look just as magnificent as Alpha, they call the Demon Lord. Have you heard of him before?" The guy sure knew how to butter up someone whether a human or a beast. What he got wrong was that the Demon Lord was a hobgoblin, not an ogre. Though by the size alone it was hard to tell.
"I have, yes. Some intriguing stories." The ogre answered, introducing himself too. I was glad he didn't give us away right off the bat, but Fang already looked like someone having a heart attack. "I'm Bastion, I hope you don't mind if my friends listen to your stories too?"
"Oh no, the more the merrier. Especially if it's booze." He bowed towards us too, then looked at each of us to find a flattering comparison. "You good goblin sir, look like a seasoned pirate captain from the days before the Storm. Is that eyepatch made of an abyssal monster?"
I got to give it to him, he had his eyes for things. I took the hand he offered and shook it real good. I introduced myself as Dio, but the next thing he said shocked our beastmen companion.
"And you, good sire. Aren't you the husband of the world-famous beauty, Anna the Tailor? Because you almost look like Fang Silberwulf, the Champion!" He yelled as if it was part of his usual routine, but Fang's jaw dropped. He was always complaining about me giving away the small secrets, but he could not show more clearly how much he was shocked. Well, I was too. How the hell did this bard know? Or did he even realize, that he was right? "Ah, don't be so surprised, I have an excellent memory. If I ever heard or saw something, be it a page in a book, or a song I have heard, I will remember it forever. And you look like the hero, from the Chronicles of the Twelve Champions."
"Is there even such a book?" Bastion asked, playing clueless the most convincingly among all of us. "Dio, you never told me."
"First time I heard about it too, but now I'm curious," I noted. It was a good thing we were on the move, so the crowd thinned out a bit. "So where did you read that book, um, Hakim, right? And who wrote it?"
"So that's the story you wish to hear? Not about the fierce princess Aoi of the Sea People? I seduced her during my travels, but her father, the King of Saipole nearly beheaded me for it." The bard would barely even stop to breathe, and I had a strong suspicion that he had a talent for lying without thinking. But since we didn't react to anything, he just bowed his head, giving in. "Very well. If you want to know, I'll tell you about it next to some Lansumian ale. It's not the cheapest booze out there, but I can guarantee it's quality for you, good sirs."
"How about some rum we liberated from Baran, and you cut the crap before we leave you behind?" Fang was losing his patience. Hakim must have realized, he has no other chance to drink but to start talking.
"All right, that sounds just as nice." He nodded, accepting the flask the wolfman was dangling in front of him. "Long live the champions."
"So, where did you read that book?" I asked, once he took a good sip from our reserves. He did not complain about the taste.
"Right, it was south along the coast, beyond Aset city. The New Order has a base not that far from it, and there lives a revered warlock, a kobold called Exagus." The bard claimed theatrically and I could tell, he wasn't lying. There was indeed a small fortress near that city. That's exactly where we were heading, and the man he named served formerly under me in the Twelve Champions. He retired over a year ago, recommending Omerta in his stead.
I didn't know much about him being revered though. But he was just as ambitious as his successor, if not more.
"So this Exagus used to command the Twelve Champions. He retired, wrote a book about the exploits of this elite unit, and was granted fiefs by the Demon Lord himself." He continued, and those claims now raised quite a few eyebrows. Him? Leading the Champions? And becoming a landowner? "As I said, there is a gray-haired beastman in this book, and from the description, I imagined him to look just like you, good sir. And his story is a sad romantic one. He started adventuring after losing his wife, the famous Anna with her red fur."
"Yes, um, go on. Is there more to this story?" I asked, being the first to come to my senses. Bastion seemed stuck at the part where Exagus was his leader. and Fang reacted strongly when he heard about his wife.
"But of course. But it's a rather long, and sad one. Are you sure you want to hear it?" Hakim asked, staring down the bottom of the flask.
"No, actually, tell us about that Saipole princess instead," Fang asked, once he recovered from the shock. "I want to hear about something that ends positively, not some sort of drama."
"I can't blame you, good sir." The bard laughed, then started to scratch his head. "Um, forgive me though, I didn't catch your name before."
"He's just my servant. You know, from my pirate ship." I claimed, forcing a laughter. If he read a book written by Exagus, Bastion was probably not yet in it, and I'd be completely left out. But he was familiar with Fang's story, and we wanted to keep our cover. "He's just Wolf, okay? Let's go with that."
"Hah. Pirate ship. Classic." He laughed too, pulling the flask once more. "All right, did you know, the Land of the Sea is completely closed off now? Nobody can enter or leave, and the people there cultivate a strange new form of magic, that's unheard of in the rest of the world?"
"How do you know about that, if there is no entry, and nobody can leave?" Bastion asked. At least his curiosity seemed genuine.
"Well, pal, I'm glad you asked!" He yelled and started his fantastical story about adventure, romance, and probably a good amount of made-up bullcrap. But his presentation was enjoyable, apart from the few exaggerated parts, where he desperately tried to make himself look better. Because of course, he was the main character in his story.
He even had a lute with him and inserted a short song from time to time. His play was agreeable, but his voice was better in prose.
"So when the Collapse came, my nomadic people scattered the world. I decided to go east, instead of west." He often reiterated the main points of the story. He optimized its flow for drunkards who struggled to concentrate. "Aoi, the charming and deadly princess of the Sea People captured me. She is an exotic beauty, often wearing the blue colors of her royal house, but she is also a fierce warrior and a cunning mage. But her heart was pure."
"Was? What did you do to her, you trickster?" I asked half an hour in and was sufficiently intoxicated as well. Fang was drinking heavily, but Bastion was doomed to remain sober. I couldn't trust him with booze.
"Oh, my intentions were just as pure. I was their hostage, kept inside their dungeon, but they were humane enough to feed me, and teach me about their culture." Hakim explained in an obscure corner of the city, that we designated as our makeshift inn. "After I displayed what a good learner I could be and showed interest in not only the princess but their culture too, they had no objection against teaching me about their secret magic."
"That is obviously how it goes. They capture the travelers, then let them lay with their princesses, and tell them all their secrets." I hollered at the improbability of his story. He wasn't taking himself particularly seriously either. "So what happened next? What was their secret about?"
"It was a secret passed down to them by none other than the long-lived elves." He claimed, taking his lute. "Did you know, that the elves used a vastly different kind of magic that is known to men today? We use our imagination to cast spells, but the ancients used their songs to control the magicules. One accord, and the right note for example. This is all it takes to make you fall asleep..."