The Message and The Messenger
I am Karim, son of Khalil and Mahala. My father used to tame wild horses when he was young. He learned it from his father and his father learned it from his father, my great grandfather.
I, too, know how to tame these wild and beautiful creatures. I, too, learned it from my father.
My parents live in the southeast part of this kingdom. They live in a city called Gallet. It has wonderful weather and you can see a lot of greeneries unlike here. When I became 15-year-old my father told me that it is time for me to live my own life, to go and thrive in adventures. In order to see the world, I should have left my hometown first.
As I was good with horses, my friends recommended that I become a part of the post-service called Chapaar. These Chapaar men work in every corner of the kingdom and they even have an international system with other post services outside this kingdom. So, I applied for a job request and the manager saw some potential within me and I got hired.
I asked my manager to send me to a far away and a rather safe village or city to work there and learn the ropes first, and here I am right now. I came to this village a month ago. It is too close to the Great desert of Narahan, and it was rather safe, but recently a horde of goblins appeared out of nowhere. Today guild master of Adventurer guild asked for me and he gave me a very important job as he called it. There is this letter that I just received from the guild master, who gave it to me to deliver it to the knight fort of Malah. this is my first serious job after I got here.
Usually, In large cities and large guilds, they use some great magician to transfer important messages that need to be sent fast. In medium and small-sized cities and guilds, because they don't have that much capital to hire a great mage, they use birds and animal couriers and for postal boxes and small packages they use our services.
We in Chapaar have a well-thought system to be able to become the fastest and the most trusted package delivery organization. We even cover most of this kingdom's villages. We have our own special stations, in which we can change our tired horses with a new, vigorous and healthy one. We can rest for some time and then move on again.
For me to deliver this important message, I just need one day. Although it takes 3 days for average travelers. There is a station in the middle of the way and I can get to Malah faster than anyone else.
Fort city of Malah is located at the east of this village. That city as it is obvious in the name is a big military fort. Its position was in the center of this kingdom. But after the great desert appeared it is now one of the western forts.
The great desert appeared suddenly. On a sunny day like today. There was once a great kingdom of Ashur, and they had those ones of a kind wild horses that my father always told me about. He always said that our ancestors were Ashurians who used to tame those wild horses.
He told me that We were a very prosperous family. We were so good in our job that my great great grandfather chooses to go to other kingdoms to experience some adventures and to become a man worthy of the name of his father.
He traveled to this kingdom of Arize and here he fell in love with my great great grandmother. He chose to continue the family tradition here. My father said it was when my grandfather was born that the great desert appeared. It appeared suddenly and out of nowhere. No one knows why, but everybody knows what happened after.
It was the greatest calamity that happened in the last century. A kingdom disappeared totally and some parts of other kingdoms disappeared with it, too. there came this great desert instead of those part that vanished. people think that it was a calamity from gods to punish Ashurians as they desired a power which was beyond their realm.
The people who survived went toward their own countries. But not many survived. this village is one of those far-reach villages that still exist after the calamity. The edge of the desert is visible when you go out of the west entrance of the village.
When I got the letter, I immediately went out. It took exactly one day for me. I was there by midnight.
The fort city of Malah, it is a very big fort which is made of stones. There are some guards on top of the fort, rotating their shifts every few hours. They are not that many as we usually don't have anyone attacking us from the west. there is just an empty desert.
I pass the guards at the west entrance and go straight to the fort management center. It is a place where the city lord stays, but now he should be in his own mansion. Although the guild master told me that there is always a knight or someone else present at the times that the city lord is absent. They are there lest something unexpected happens.
I rush through the streets and see the entrance of the management office. I get down from my horse and walk up to the two guards who are staying put. The guard on the right seems to be sleeping, but the left one punches him on the shoulders to wake him up.
"uh, what …? Hey you damn, you call yourself my colleague…. How many times did I tell you to never wake me up on the shifts we have together huh?" the sleepy guard shouts at the other one. He then notices me.
I go forward, the guard on the left is laughing.
"Hey, you? What do you want at this time of night? Who are you?" yells the sleepy guard who just became sober.
" I am Karim, a messenger from the village of Gantz. I have a very important message from the guild master of the Adventurer guild of Gantz. I have to deliver it to the city lord right now! It is very urgent!" I said in a calm voice.
The right guard raises his eyebrows and says "city lord isn't here right now but there is a knight in his stead. I guess you should give the letter to him." He then pushes the door open and walks inside.
"hey come after me." The guard says
I follow him inside. There is this big hall, he then turns to left and tells me to wait behind a door. He knocks three times and gets in himself.
After a few seconds, he calls me in too. I go inside and there is this man in very clean and simple clothes who is sitting behind a desk with some papers in front of. He looks to be in his thirties and he is looking at me right now.
As I saw him, I forgot what I wanted to say. The guard seems annoyed as he yells at me.
"hey didn't you just say that you got a message from a guild master or are you here for sightseeing. Hurry up and …" But as he wants to go on the man in clean clothes who has beautiful eyes and blond hairs stands up and says:
"now, calm down Artur, he should be tired to ride here nonstop" he then faces me and says "so what is this message that you got for the city lord?"
I remember the letter and take it out of my bag.
"here, this is the message that the guild master of Gantz wanted me to deliver with utmost haste."
He takes the letter from me and looks at the seal of the guild master. His face then becomes solemn as he looks back at me again and then tells the knight "Artur, go provide him a bed and take care of his horse too." He then tells me "I will give this letter to the city lord tomorrow first thing in the morning. So, go and rest, but you have to stay until we give a response to this letter."
"Oh, okay. Thank you, Mr. Knight,"
As I thank him, he then again returns to his desk and continues to do his paperwork. The guard opens the door and guides me out.
In the hallway, he is walking in front of me and he starts to talk.
"Hey, was it your first time seeing a knight?"
"No, but he seemed a bit different." I said
"yeah he is. He is Sir Gallant. He is a brave and smart knight." The guard continued " he is one of the best knights I have ever seen. He is kind and a man of honor"
Something is sure wrong with this guard. Aren't all knights men of honor? I thought to myself but I couldn't find an answer to it so I asked him "hey, aren't all knights men of honor?"
"yeah, right!" he said with a smirk
"Hey, hey what you say doesn't make sense man. Don't they all swear to protect this kingdom by their honor? So, aren't all of them, men of honor?" I asked him again as he didn't answer me honestly.
He stopped and turned to me. He looked straight into my eyes and asked: "how old are you, kid?"
"I am sixteen, a grown man. I am an adult." I said full of pride and confidence.
When the guard heard my answer, he started to laugh. He laughed so hard that I guess he could have woken the whole knight force in this fort. After a while, he calmed down and started to walk again toward the room that I was given to stay.
"Hey, answer my question man? Why did you laugh?" I asked him
" forget it boy, you are still too young." He said indifferently as he was walking.
"Hey, I am an adult, not a boy. What the hell are you talking about?" I said furiously
He stopped before a door and opened it. He then said "right, right. Get in this is your room for tonight. Don't worry about your horse. I will take it to a nice stable."
I got inside and he left without another word. Whatever he should have been one of those lazy people who talk bullshit all the time. He called me a boy. The great me. I am the fastest. He called me a boy. Woah. He should be stupid or something. Whatever. I better sleep now. Tomorrow is another big day.
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In a room lighten by some candles. There is this man holding a letter to himself. He is looking at it in deep thoughts. He seems he is trying to remember something.
"Gantz, it sounds so familiar. Where did I hear it?" he is murmuring under his lips.
"Gantz, Gantz, Gantz…Gantz, RIGHT I GOT IT" he shouted as he jumped from his sit.
"it is the village of Sam. Huh that bas**rd." he seems happy with what he remembered and he stands up and turns the lights off but one candle which he is still holding in his hand. He leaves the letter on the desk with another paper on to of it which is written URGENT from Gantz.
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the situation in the village of Gantz is getting worse. Now they can't let people go out from the west entrance.
Everyone is worried. The guild has issued several quests to put down goblins. Offering ten bronze coin for each left ear of goblins. Unfortunately, this village only has one B ranked party and they can't cope with the horde of goblins. Others are C ranked or lower. As far as the system goes. A Crank party of three can take down 15 goblins or 5 hobgoblins.
two things that have kept the causalities low are that old Doctor of this village and low numbers of goblins that each group has faced, but the numbers won't end. They are getting more and more. Every time a party goes out to the west, they encounter more goblins than before. It seems like someone is playing a game with them.