~~Petra Telaris~~
The Golden Crown, Westreach Old Town
After speaking to Farron, the recruiter was approached by Arauvir, who was quick to ask the man a question. "I understand that you are simply a messenger for those who run the Order. However, I would hope you would know something more beyond our recruitment. If what you say is true, why has the Order allowed the rumor that it was abolished to be perpetuated for so long if there are indeed dangers still lurking? What exactly has the Order been doing all this time?"
At his words, Petra turned to look at Oren, curious to see what he would give as a response. Arauvir’s question had been something that Petra had given some thought about too, especially after everything Oren seemed to imply about them not being dead, as everyone seemed to believe. If they had never truly been abolished, why did everyone believe they were? Petra had heard some rumours in the past, in small towns or holdings, but why was it that tales of the Order had never progressed into the larger towns? Was it really just a very elaborate lie that nobles had been feeding them?
Before he had a chance to give an answer, Axel cut in. “Agreed. Surely these events are evidence At'tallah has not forgotten us, the Order must be of some significance to her goals.”
The mention of the ancient elven goddess seemed to catch Oren off guard, but Petra didn’t put too much thought into his reaction, he was, after all, a human, and likely followed the myth of the Creator rather than the elven gods.
“As I said before, the leaders of our kingdoms have not helped matters when it comes to rumours about whether we continue to function.” Oren began. He spoke with a neutral tone, but there was an underlying sharp bite to his words. “In truth, demons have never truly died out, and I doubt they ever will. However, sometime after the last major demon horde was defeated, everyone began to believe that demons had been vanquished forever. If you know anything about the Order at all, then you’ll know we were formed solely to deal with the growing numbers of demons that cropped up many centuries ago. With rumours that the demons had been defeated for good, I believe people began to question if we were even needed anymore. After all, with no demons to defeat, what use were we anymore?”
Oren paused for a moment and a sad look passed over his face. There was a beat of silence before he continued once more. “As you can imagine, our popularity has dwindled over time, and few people even know we still function. Demon attacks are rare these days, and hordes even more so, I guess without that incentive nobody saw the point in offering to join.” A bitter laugh passed his lips. “As for your question on what we’ve been doing for all this time, the answer is simple - doing what we always do, killing some demons.”
Following his little explanation, the young man, who Petra believed was called Lucas, asked why they specifically had been chosen, expressing his scepticism that they would have been chosen at random.
Oren gave a light shrug. “Like I said, the Emperor claimed conscription rites for all of you, no matter who you are or what you did, we have to take you regardless. It was odd to get a request to come here though. We’ve offered the rites to prisoners in the past, mostly those holed up in small village dungeons, but I’ve never had the opportunity to come here. Too many guards and too many rules. If I had come here on my own free will they probably would’ve hauled my ass in here before I could get any of you out.”
After answering his questions, there was little else to do but wait for the cart to arrive. Petra took the time to finally have a long drink of water from the canteen. She had only just set it back down when one of the guards from earlier - who had gone to stand outside since removing everyone’s cuffs - popped his head back in to inform them the cart had finally arrived.
***
Vehlen, Verthall
The journey out of the prison had not been particularly comfortable, to say the least. Although the cart was large enough to fit them all on, there was not much room between them due to crates full of their personal items taking up a considerable amount of room. Whilst some of the others might have felt cramped, Petra felt positively squashed. The journey from the prison to the small village of Vehlen was relatively quiet. After taking the main route out of Westreach, Oren directed them down a number of smaller, back roads. Whilst this meant they saw few others on the roads, the bumpy, unfinished roads made the journey even more uncomfortable.
They had been on the move for hours, when finally, just as the sun was beginning to set, they finally saw civilisation. The small village of Vehlen was a farming community for the most part, as evidenced by the expansive fields of crop they had. The village itself was rather small, with only a few small shops and homes. The largest building in the village appeared to be the local inn, which was where Oren finally stopped the cart.
Stepping down, he started moving for the entrance. “Grab the crate with your name and head inside.” He instructed.
Thankfully Petra’s crate was near the top, so after quickly grabbing hers, she hurried inside and into the warmth. Oren lingered outside whilst everyone gathered their crates, most likely to ensure no one would make a break for it.
The inside of the inn was quite homely, with a large open hearth on one side of the room, and a bar counter on the other end, which opened out to a kitchen in the back. Along with a number of smaller tables dotted around the room, there were two long tables in the centre of the room. Although there were only a handful of patrons already in the inn, it did not stop them all from turning to look at who had just entered. And if the eclectic mix of races hadn’t been curious or off-putting enough, then the prison garb they all still wore was bound to garner a few raised brows.
Moving over to the counter, Oren talked with a grey-haired woman who had come out from the kitchen to see what the noise was. Judging by the way they talked to each other, they had clearly met before and were clearly very amorous with each other at that. After talking for a moment, the grey-haired woman waved them forward.
“Welcome to the White Rose Inn!” She greeted them in a booming voice which seemed ill-fitting for a woman of such small stature. “My name is Lynnie. Take a seat and I’ll bring you some food out. Don’t worry about payment, Oren already paid for your meals in advance.”
Oren then lead them over to one of the tables in the corner, away from the prying eyes of the other patrons. Within a few minutes, Lynnie came over to them, bringing two jugs of water with her on her first visit, and then bringing bowls of vegetable broth with her on her second journey. Petra had hoped for something a bit more filling, perhaps something with a little meat, but there was no denying that the broth smelt divine, and would easily be the best thing she had eaten in months.
Before she left, Oren stopped her once more. “Do you have any rooms available?”
The woman took a quick glance at the group, before nodding. “We have two on the third floor, but you’ll have to share.”
Petra made a small shrug to show she didn’t mind, but quietly hoped she wouldn’t get put in a room with Hugo. He had been relatively subdued on the journey here but now looked like he was itching to say something again.
“Right then,” Lynnie pointed at Axel, Henry, Fallon, Arauvir and Petra, “you three can take the second room on the right, the rest of you take the room on the left. There are two washrooms on that floor too, so if you need a quick clean or a long bath, feel free to do so.”
With a small nod, Lynnie then took her leave, hurrying behind the counter where she went back to serving. A moment later, Oren rose from his seat and dropped a small sack of gold on the table in front of them. “There are fifteen gold pieces there, so if you want some more food afterwards, or some cheap alcohol, go and order some. I can’t give you any more gold, but if you have any on your belongings, feel free to use that too. If you need me I’ll be talking to Lynnie.” Oren then proceeded to take his leave and walked over to the bar counter, where he was to remain to talk to Lynnie for most of the night.
After Oren left, Petra worked on devouring the broth they had been bought, which as expected was delicious. Well, maybe it wasn’t that good, but anything other than the leftovers and out of date gruel they had been given at Westreach was a vast improvement. Once she had finished her broth, she also rose from her seat.
“I’m going to have a bath and then I think I might enjoy a nice long rest in a comfy bed.” She told them with a small laugh. “Try not to cause any trouble.” Whilst her last sentence was directed at the whole group, she winked at Hugo, who grumbled something under his breath.
