Dubious Recruiters and Wanderlust

I'd walked south for a change of scenery and to visit some nostalgic places. The half sunken Nithron towers were still poking out of the swamps. The sarlids and the spiders swarmed around the base of Hildershall's mountain, just as they had in my greener days. But, in Hildershall itself, I saw something quite new.




There were two men in the city talking together. I watched as they began sneaking up behind a person working the city forge. I stood on the rooftops, not wanting to get caught up in what was to happen.



Together they cast spells on the crafter and launched him backwards into a wall. I looked up at the guard towers, but they remained silent. No lightning came down to smite the two men. Puzzling. Their victim was equally surprised it seemed. He stared at his assailants, and they simply stood there and smiled back at him. There was nothing left for him to do but try to get back to his work. As he approached the forge, the men once again hit him with spells, and this time he shot a fireball back at them. Immediately the guard towers awoke.

Blue blasts of energy forked down from the towers, frying the craftsman where he stood. The two men laughed and looted his body with a quickness. Then they saw me.

"Hoy, you there! I recognize you from around Sandbrook, Signus yeah?" The man was wearing very little, and only had the most basic magical staff, but his intelligent eyes seemed menacing. "Would you care to join us? We could always use another hand, we run a very lucrative business." His partner chuckled at that.

"What exactly do you do?" Once again, despite knowing it'd be best just to leave, I was too curious to let it alone.

Very bluntly, he gave me his pitch. "Well, my friends and I go around from village to village and uh, weed out the foolish ones. We like to provoke folks a bit and if we find a particularly thickheaded one, we find a loophole in the laws and get them to attack us, then reap the rewards. Very simple!" He must have seen the look on my face; he appealed to me. "Now come on, they deserve it for being so careless. Asides, we do it to everyone, not just the new recruits, hell we don't even stick to just humans. We're a very liberal clan!" He tried to give a winning smile.

Truthfully, I considered it. I'd left most of my friends behind, I couldn't really accomplish anything on my own, and I wasn't doing anything of worth. I had no direction. Maybe this clan is what I needed? I could limit myself to just raiding the Alfar or some scum down south even, if my conscience plagued me too much.



"I'll consider it" I told the man. "Let me go back to Sandbrook and settle some affairs first. I'll be in touch." The man nodded and walked off. I had no business left in Sandbrook but I needed some time to think, and I feared what these people would do if I refused them. They left out the front gates ahead of me and began to harass another traveler. I took the long way home while I thought about my future in Agon.




I got to Sandbrook and paused at my vault, not sure what to do next. I looked around. The bright light sparkling against the water looked inviting, so I grabbed my fishing rod and ran to the shore. I sat for a long while just relaxing in the sun, counting my catches.



Before long I found myself wishing for a boat, which reminded me of Piratejim, and the crew of our last vessel. My mood was ruined, so after I dragged my haul back to town, I set out again to wander.

I walked along the shores of the south sea until I came upon a lighthouse. It was an ancient building, but man made. It lacked the freakish height of the Nithron ruins. Perhaps it was built by the Chal d Eans before the Plague and Flood? The fire at its top still burned, but nobody manned the tower, no buildings surrounded it. Agon still held many mysteries.



I sat on the shore until the sun started setting, then began to move north. I walked with the lighthouse still on my mind, and as light faded entirely from the sky, I made up my mind. There was still too much to see in Agon to mope around familiar hunting grounds. I would travel again, as I hadn't done since first landing here. I was already walking north and decided to keep that course. I'd never been very far that way, since my brief run in with the Fire Dragon, and for fear of Ork patrols. But now, I was ready. With the stars in the sky and a new moon rising, I started again.