Path to Wheatstone 2

I feel that everything is too quiet because our encounter with the necromancer and his minions happened yesterday. But until now, nobody was tracking us. Or, at least, nobody that we noticed, of course.

Regardless of my intense call for a red flag, nothing noteworthy happened on our journey until the road. We kept walking beside the lake's shore all the time. This place inspired calmness. Our left (south) was the forest, as it was close to the lake, the trees were sparsely distributed, and they were small compared to the ones far from the lake. On the right side (north), the lake had such smooth waves, and these waters were empty. I believe that I would see fishing boats here, as I could barely see the other margin, so I wonder whether there are fish.

The road followed the lake to the north and dove into the forest to the south. There was a sign here that was written while pointing south: "Noman's Forest", and to the north: "Lake Terquo".

I repeated these names to my companions, and Jel and Matila shook their heads negatively. I guess these were the names that the human kingdom that managed this land named. However, the "Noman" seemed like a translation, while the lake was named after somebody called Terquo. I memorized these landmarks as a reference that I did not have names for the villages and towns close by.

"Are there issues with forest goblins going into villages?" I asked Jel.

This question was done a little late, I know. However, better ask it now than we were in front of the gates.

"I don't know. But they are going to think that we are your slaves." 

"Slavery is not abolished here?"

"Abolish? What is that word?"

"Slavery is not allowed. There are punishments for those who own slaves." I explained.

"There aren't. Several members of our tribe had been captured to work as slaves in human fields."

"Oh, I see." With each new piece of information I get from this land, I get more and more sad. Cultivating land with slaves was, besides its evilness, terribly inefficient. These gods must be insane if they believe that one person could overturn this system.

"Well, we have been traveling for about an hour. We are going to enter the forest, following the road now until Wheatstone." The girls didn't say anything, and I was trying to give them some space to think about everything. Seeing the terrible fate of their loved ones must have a giant impact on their minds. Especially for the little one.

We resumed our journey, and we still had some leftovers of mushrooms from the breakfast, which became our lunch. Now, we have to keep going on for six hours.

---

After two more hours of walking, there was a caravan coming from the Wheatstone direction. I was unsure of how to deal with it, and I sincerely hope that nothing happens. When they got close to us, we could count three wagons, two carriages for people, one of them pretty large, and about 15 armed men and two of the mounting horses.

One of the horse riders came to us, apparently, to greet us, as he had his sword sheathed. "Hi traveler, how are you?"

"We are fine. And you?" I replied, and I noticed that his question only cared about me. Even though I answered him, stating how we were.

"We are good. You are going to Wheatstone, sir?" he asked politely. I think that my clothes and two slaves indicated some noble grade, but I was unguarded.

"Yes, we are going there." I replied while on guard. His caravan has halted at some distance from us.

After the full stop of the caravan, from the largest carriage, a man, wearing fine clothes similar to what one would expect of a noble, came to us and said, "Gerus, what is the matter?"

The rider seemed a bit flustered, as he was not expecting him there: "Father, I already said to you. Stay in the carriage."

"They are good people. He is probably a merchant, and they are forest goblins," the father said. Gerus, which is his son apparently, was confused. I believe it was the first time that he had heard about forest goblins.

"I apologize for my son. But we are suffering continuous attacks from savage goblins, not forest ones. Usually, we are ambushed, so meeting and speaking with them on the road is quite an occurrence." The man gave a hearty laugh at the end of his sentence.

I needed to be on guard. He just declared that goblins have been attacking him and that they were waiting for an ambush.

"Actually, I am not a merchant. I am a cleric. And they are my followers." I pointed to the girls when I said followers. Both men exchanged confused looks.

Then the one called Gerus said, "Cleric, like a priest? Goblin followers, are you a priest of some goblin deity?"

His father was silent, and I think that meeting a cleric with two goblins was even more bizarre than being ambushed by them. "No, I am a priest of Hermes, Athena, and Asclepius."

Now, the son looked at his father, waiting for something. He didn't know what to say. Then, his father continued in his stead, "It has been some time since I heard those names. And a priest of multiple gods, how odd."

Maybe, I should refrain from saying the names of Athena or Asclepius, to avoid unnecessary suspicion. While I was thinking that, I felt a pain in my chest. I guess that deliberately hiding my affiliation was some kind of hubris.

"Are you okay, priest?" My facial expression was honest and revealed the pain that I felt during that small, unfaithful thought.

"Yes, I am. Just a minor stomachache."

"So, you would not deny me a small blessing for good business." the old man said. Gerus was aghast, I think that he was worried that we might be some kind of raiders' decoy.

"No, of course not. May I approach your wagons?" I noticed his intentions. He was probing us. He lacked the means to ascertain whether I was or was not lying. So he asked for a blessing to evaluate that, although I don't know how he would identify the legitimacy of my blessing.

"Naturally!" The man was beaming. He guided me and gestured for the goblins to follow me. He was crafty. If things went south, we would be encircled. I hope that I am not making the wrong call here.

I got close to the biggest wagon and started to chant a blessing to Hermes, providing good fortune in his trades and safe travels.

Gerus was holding his hand over the sword's sheathe. The girls noticed that something was wrong, and Matila was close to Jel and the latter was embracing the former to comfort her.

The classical emerald light came upon all three wagons, and the guards that were following us got alarmed. Gerus started to unsheathe his sword.

However, the old man made a gentle, big smile and said, "Oh, thank you, Priest of Hermes. I beg your pardon for our behavior. But there are many strange things these days. Meeting a cleric of commerce and two goblins was very unexpected."

At least, my gut feeling that he was a good person was not wrong. With this big caravan, why attack some travelers? Just for the pleasure of killing? Midgard could be a mess, but it was not some terror-filled land.

"Moreover, you, sir, are a cleric of an old god, Hermes. That is an even more bizarre situation." His voice now lost its joyful tone and became grave.

He continued with a somber voice, "Even more odd is hearing the names of the forgotten pantheons, Asclepius and Athena."

He was not wrong. One of the difficulties of this mission was to enhance the development of this world, considering the providence of forgotten gods. Currently, the divine beings do not have much influence over here, and the current Midgard population is more used to arcane intervention to solve their problems.

"I received oracles from them. I was assigned to a mission in Wheatstone." I need to provide some solid arguments because weak and clumsy points could endanger us again. Furthermore, I can be impersonating the cleric of a forgotten god, at least, this is what I believe he was thinking of me.

"I see. Cleric from Hermes Church, I am grateful for your blessing. I believe that keeping discussing such delicate matters on the road is unbecoming to yourself. I would like to invite you all to my house. When you reach Wheatstone, say that you are an invitee from Baron Lucas Mystral."

This fellow is a baron, and his son is a guard of his? It is unusual, but I am not here to judge anybody. So, I said, "I am grateful for your hospitality, Baron Mystral. My name is Rufus Costa. I would love to continue our conversation, but I see that you are in a hurry, so I wish for safe travels and good businesses."

All the guards and the goblins were flustered, as they didn't understand what exactly happened. One minute ago, the baron was probing me, and now he is inviting the cleric party to his home. I need to make a correction because his son, Gerus, did not seem surprised. He was already comfortably riding his horse. 

And before he could reply to my farewell, I added, "Baron Mystral, I must warn you. We have fought undead within the forest, so I recommend keeping your guard up."

The mention of the undead left everyone in the caravan that heard that restless. I guess that their presence, as well as that of the necromancer, was a grave matter.

"In this case, sir cleric, I would like that my son, Gerus, accompany you until your safe arrival at Wheatstone." Baron Mystral added after thinking for a few seconds.

"Father!" Gerus protested. The baron made an angry face at his reply.

"I appreciate your offer. We are close to Wheatstone. I believe that it's not necessary." 

Baron Mystral interrupted me and said, "Sorry, it is not that I believe that you are incapable. You said that you met the undead before, so I believe that you won. I would like for you to protect my son so he can safely arrive back in the Wheatstone and warn the village militia."