Chapter 12 A relaxing day in Dhumpus

You don't meet any undead creatures on your way to Dhumpus and the journey feels almost relaxing. The most dangerous locations on your way have already been cleared and the most life threatening thing that can happen to you from now on is someone trying to rob you. You have barely enough money to afford a stay at an inn and won't be able to buy any food for yourself.

You shake your head at the thought of you, a member of Analand's royal court, starving because you are too poor to afford food. The royal court doesn't have a fixed salary and you have only accumulated a menial fortune, which you didn't bring with you.

You continue walking for a while and you see the sun has begun to set. It is becoming much darker, but you notice a light in the distance. You rejoice at your fortune. The couple of hours you wasted on going through the the Giant's mountain and in New Lia-Ki wasn't that big of a deal. You arrived at a town on time and you even have a few hours before it is time to call it a night.

You walk into the town of Dhumpus and you are treated by an amazing sight. The entire village has gathered in one location and they seems to be celebrating something. You can see multiple people wearing traditional black and white dresses with a couple of monks dressed in yellow robes.

"What kind of festival is this?" You wonder to yourself what the occasion was and decide to ask one of the residents on information. You walk up to one of the men dressed in black clothes and ask him "Excuse me, sir. I just arrived in this village and saw the commotion here. May I ask what the occasion is?"

The man looks at you with a bright smile and says "My cousin is getting married today and we are going to celebrate! His father owns the tavern here and he invited half of Dhumpus to attend the wedding and even has a huge buffet ready inside! Come, anyone who wishes to join is welcome, but I suggest bringing a gift for the newly weds. It is quite rude to attend a wedding and not even bring a gift."

You understand the situation and nod your head. Weddings are big occasions and the thought of this being a wedding crossed your mind, because of the clothing, but this one seemed a little to extravagant for a wedding, so you originally dismissed the thought. "It is quite weird to such a huge wedding event, but it is quite nice. I can go in and get a few this to eat, but I can't go in empty handed. What kind of gift should I give to the newly weds?"

You look inside your bag and notice you have collected quite a few unusual items during your travel. The first thing that comes to mind is the green rocket, but you need it to complete your mission. After looking through your stuff a bit more, you find the wind up music box you found in the Elven village.

The music box has become a bit broken. It doesn't play the special soothing took that helps relieve fatigue anymore and you have no practical use for it. Might as well give it up for a bit of food. The music it produces is still quite nice to listen to, so it is a good gift.

You go to the tavern the celebration is being held at and you see an old man standing near the door. You try to go in and you present the wind up music box to the old man and say "I wish to congratulate the bride and groom. This is a special music box that plays a wonderful tune when activated. I hope they enjoy my gift."

The old man looks at it with an approving gaze and let's you into the tavern, but motions you to leave your sword and spear behind. You don't like the idea of being unarmed in a foreign setting, but it is a wedding and you are going to be a guest, so you hand your sword and spear over to the old man and enter the tavern.

The tavern is full of glamorous looking decorations and it is quite pleasant to look at. You sit down with the other guests and enjoy the ceremony along with them. The food served at the wedding was quite great and you have eaten enough to fill yourself for the day. Your stamina is now 10/15.

The people at the wedding were quite pleasant and you enjoyed talking to them. One young adult sitting next to you asked "Did you really fight a Cyclops?" You look at the young adult and say "I am not a liar. I have fought much more than just a cyclops. I have fought an undead sorcerer, multiple undead creatures and a goblin herd of 15 of them and come out alive."

The young men and women around you listened attentively to your tales of adventures and you became the prime entertainer in the wedding. The people loved hearing your stories and you didn't let them down.

Time passed fast quickly and you have already spent an hour telling stories and having fun. You decide to leave the wedding early and go check out the marketplace of Dhumpus. If you don't hurry, it might close, as it is getting quite late. Maybe you will find some kind of useful item.

You walk out of the tavern, after saying goodbye to the people you were chatting with, pick up your weapons and go to the marketplace. The marketplace of Dhumpus isn't that big. It has only a few people there and you notice there is a bank on your way towards the marketplace.

You look at the bank and remember the gold ore you picked up from the goblin mines. Gold ore is worth quite a bit in gold coins. You can go to the bank and turn the gold ore into coin, or you can keep the gold ore for yourself.

You decide to turn the gold ore into coin and the bank gave you 15 gold coins in exchange for the ore. Now you have 20 gold coins in total and can buy a lot more in the market than before.

Your sword is damaged and your leather armor isn't that well of as well. You have fought a lot these last 3 days and have been on the brink of death more than once. Some protective equipment will come in quite handy. Food is also a priority. The only good you have are 2 blimberry juice bottles, which won't help out much in quenching your hunger.

After looking around the market place, you find only a few stall with some interesting items and decide to check them out. One stall is selling special provisions made from meat, bread and some smoked food. You are running out of food and decide to buy some. The salesman offers a deal of 1 provision for 3 coins.

You decide to see if your coin can be spent in another place first and then come back to buy some food. You check out the next stall and find it has a sword, a cloth skullcap and a few pieces of jewelry. You look for anything that might come in handy for you and inspect the sword.

"May I wield the sword for a moment? I wish to take a look at its sharpness and weight." The salesman agrees and you inspect his sword. It is quite a strong sword indeed. It has 8 power and its weight is also well balanced. Your sword is quite damaged, so you wouldn't mind a change in your equipment. "How much for the sword?" The salesman looks at you and says "it's 14 gold coins."

You stare at the salesman. Who would have thought the sword is so expensive. You wanted to buy the skullcap as well, as it is used in casting mental type spells. Mental type spells are quite powerful and you know of 2 such spells, TEL and LAW. one of which can read others minds and the other can control animals. You decide to ask for the skullcap first and then buy the sword. "How much for this skullcap?"

The salesman looks at it with a bored expression and says "4 gold coins for it. The jewelry here is mostly 5 gold coins per ring and pendant and 6 gold coins for necklaces." You check your backpack and notice the emeralds you have in there and rejoice.

The man is a jewelry maker, so he might buy them for you. You show them to the man and he says with a slight snobbish tone. "Sure, I will buy them both for 15 gold coins!" You almost yell at the man for his scumminess. These emeralds are quite valuable and can probably sell for 20 or 21 gold coins in a city like Khare. This man can can use these two emeralds to make really expensive rings and sell them for a minimum gain of 40 gold coins and is offering such a low price for them.

"Sir, these two emeralds are worth no less than 20 gold coins. Don't you think you are undervaluing them a bit too much?" The salesman shrugs and says "If you don't want to sell them then don't sell them." You look at the dishonorable merchant with hatred in your eyes "To think merchants are as scummy as the rumors make them out to be! Throwing out honor and fairness for a small profit of 5 gold coins."

You don't have a lot of money, but you are a good fighter and can make due without a stronger sword. What you need right now is food and more magical artifacts. You decide to buy the skullcap for 4 gold coins and ask the man "Do you have any work for me? I am quite strong physically and can help out in manual labor for some gold."

The salesman thinks a bit and says "Coincidentally, yes. A friend of mine needs to dig a new pit to make a latrine, but he is too weak physically. He is offering a pay of 3 gold coins for anyone who can help him do it. You look like you are strong, so you might come in handy. Also, you buying the sword or no?" You shake your head and take a look at the jewelry.

You are looking for a brass ring, as it can be used as a conductor for the ZIP spell, a very advanced and useful spell. Sadly, you don't find any brass rings, but you do notice a ring casing. You ask the salesman if he is selling it "Sure, give me 2 gold coins and you can have it."

You take the ring casing and pay him 2 gold coins. You have bought a pearl from a salesman in Cantopani and your masters friend has mentioned a spell that requires a pearl ring as a conductor. If you learn that spell in the future, you will have the special ring necessary to cast it.

All the other stalls in the marketplace have some fruits and vegetables for sale. You walk up to a stall and surprise fills your gaze. The female is selling drinks, fruit drinks to be exact. You look at them and recognize one as a blimberry potion. "How did a simple girl with no knowledge of potion making create a blimberry potion? well, doesn't matter. A blimberry potion is quite powerful and I might be able to buy it from her."

You walk up to her and ask "How much does this miss charge for the juice?" The woman looks at you and says "The cherry, Apple and orange ones are 1 gold for 2 bottles and the blimberry is 1 gold per bottles." You nod at her hand hand over 2 gold coins. You buy the blimberry potion and 2 cherry juice bottles.

The saleswoman takes your money and you head to a food stall and buy 2 provisions worth of food for 6 gold coins. With your shopping finished, you follow the rotten salesman you had the displeasure of making your acquaintance to the man who needs your help. The salesman points towards a house and you knock on its door.

A man opens the door for you. He looks to be in his later 40s and has a weak looking body. You estimate his physical power is around 5 and his stamina limit is 8 from how he looks. The old man looks at your towering build and asks "Hello, how may I help dear sir."

Your towering build seems to have frightened the old man. You realize this and try to ease the man with a little bit of humor "Sorry if I scared you. I heard you need help digging a pit and thought I could help out." The old man looks at you with a relieved expression "I appreciate your help. I need you to dig a 3 meter deep and 1 meter in diameter hole over there in the backyard. Once you are done, I will pay you the 3 gold coins I promised."

You nod your head and go to the backyard to complete the job. The old man gave you a shovel, but it would still take a while. You look up into the stars in hope of finding a spell to help you and you rejoice from your lucky brake. The constellation BIG has aligned and you physically couldn't have asked for a better spell than this one.

You quickly cast it upon yourself and your size triples. You finish digging the hole within half an hour with your gigantic hands. You call for the old man and he looks at you and can't believe you finished in half an hour.

The old man gave you the promised 3 gold coins after checking your work and invited you to stay as side benefit. You don't want to bother the old man and say "Thank you for the invitation, but I don't want to bother you." The old man said "Don't worry. Originally I was already underpaying you for the job and would like to make that up to you by inviting you in. You can stay at our house and you can leave in the morning." You thank the old man and go to bed in their guest room after chatting with him and his wife for a little while and enjoying socializing.

The night quickly passes while you sleep and you wake up in the morning feeling more relaxed than you have ever been. "It is good to take a break once in a while from fighting life or death battles. My body feels quite good." Your body has adapted to the polluted air a bit more and your maximum stamina has increased by 1. You have 16/16 stamina. Your guardian constellation is willing to help you.

You don't want to bother the old couple and leave first thing in the morning. The old man has already woken up before you and waves at you from his farm as you leave. You smile awkwardly and continue on your way. You have restocked your food and are ready to continue on your way.

You have gained 3 magical artifacts, 4 gold coins, 2 provisions, a blimberry potion, 2 bottles of cherry juice and have learned a lot of new information from the villagers you met at the wedding.

The next town over is a place called Ursatanti. Ursatanti is one of the smallest towns, but its soil is rich in minerals and can grow a lot of grapes, which is the main economy of Ursatanti. They are one of Shamutanti hills biggest wine suppliers. Maybe you can get some wine for your journey from them.

A.T. This chapter is to show the Analander's human side rather than his sorcerer or warrior side. He is a people person and doesn't just go around killing everything he can to make a profit.