35th day of the run
The amber dunes have revered me and had shown me little to no rivalry in my stride. today I woke up from a dart hitting but a step beside me, the men shouting words at a language I have heard but a handful of times spoken by
Mistress.
The men thought I'm feral, that's why I started to talk to them in
A'shiraf'sirizeen, one of them understood a few words and told me they are mushroom harvesters and that was all he knew to say, he had shown me that I had obliviously slept leaning on large mushroom that seemed like a mound of sand.
He had shown me on a map what area we were in, next to a border of clan named Yokunhein, I've never heard of such clan, but it must be righteous if it dominates over such large grounds.
After sunrise they have set camp and started dusting the large mounds of dust in large fine webs with borders they call "sieve".
42th Day of the run
I've left the mushroom harvesters to their trading, took one of the barrels of the stand next to theirs and followed the signage to the main road, but then I thought, that the roads are meant to lead traders, and most traders are not mushroom traders but slave traders so I shouldn't go on the main roads.
In my run I found a statue of a weird symbol of
three fists clenching each other, two fighters laid under the shade of the statue, I closed in and saw one of them was bleeding, I asked the other one in
Common, as the mushroom harvesters called it, what was that place, he told me that it was one of the of the hills that are dedicated to his god and he had protected it from a vandaliser.
I lifted him onto my back, tying his back on the barrel, he thanked me and asked that I will take him with me until he will be able to get back on his feet because he doesn't want to die, I told him that I can consider it, but only if he will tell me more about that god.
85th day of the run
Mubariz was his name; He had taught me stances to hold a sword and how to attack with cunning.
He was gored to death by a
large goat thing, that had followed us through the valley, hunting us throughout the days and nights, we weren't save, it was stupid of us to believe that going through the valleys between the multiple hills will gain us enough ground far from it, how naive, Guess I'll never get to know more about that statue.
92th day in the run
The last few days I ran, trying to escape the goat, Yesterday I got so tired so I curled into the barrel and fell asleep, hoping that the goat wont find me, I woke today as a traveller picked up the barrel up his carriage, he bluntly hit the iron hoop and closed me inside the barrel, it felt wired to see life through the cork opening.
92th day in the run, and so much time in the barrel
Some days after the traveller had picked me, he started moving the barrels and opening a few of them to feed Beggers he found along the way, he told them he found a barrel with a unique
Burkaslanan, Ive heard of this burkaslanan thing in the court, and never seen one myself, it must be quite luxurious if he is bragging about it.
The travellers had started hitting chains rythimaccly with metals and then he started shouting:
Seven prayers, Seven blessings, Seven thoughts, Seven wishings, Seven Hopes, Seven Wills, Seven prayers; lightning lord Strebetris, let your lightning scorch the paths for your followers, Strebetris gather your clouds so your storms wash our sorrows away, oh Strebetris let the thunder crack the hurdles in our ways
He then started going around something, I felt the wheels of the carriage leaning to one side, he then opened a cask and drank it all, then another one, and when he got to the third, he saw my eye peeking through the cork less opening, he screamed and took one of the metal rods he used to hit his chains and used it as a crowbar to bend the metal hoop, he asked for forgiveness as he thought I was burkaslanan, I asked him what was it, and he told me he will tell after he sees I'm well, he put his hand on my neck, and I was sure he is going to put a collar on me, instead he told me look up, and so I did, what I saw was a huge structure held up by many chains.
Day 130ish of the run
The good-hearted prayer shouter had left me with a few coins to pay for a barrel maker in the port to fix the blunted hoop, he also taught me a lot about using the chains, he also told me there is a blessing in me of the depths, and that I should keep the barrel just in case. I did not understand much of what he said as we parted ways.
The barrel maker was amazed that the barrel was in such good conditions even though it has been attacked by a goat, fell of a cliff, been floating in a pond, ransacked by slave traders and then carried by a paladin to the city with me in it.
The barrel maker told me it will take a few days so I shouldn't wait there the whole day, I told him that the barrel I called the Goatsmacker is the closest thing I have to where I once was, he told me not to worry and that he is cleaning it will and enhancing it so it will be sturdier than ever.
After the port city and into the mountains
I took the barrel maker advice and did go on the road, also I did buy a cape so I won't get unwanted attention. A few days on the main road had let me into a tunnel through the underground, knowing that lava in the underground will most likely burn my barrel, I decided to go through the mountains that are above the underground passage, through the passage a soldier of sorts tried to stop me from going through it, I've used the tricks Mubariz have thought me so I ran towards the soldier on his horse and tripped them both and kept running.
I've woke up from the unmistaken noises of the goat, I got up and kept on going down the mountain to the other side of it, while going down I saw white mountains that had reminded me of the
Whitepeaks where the
Mistress had went few times to visit her coleagues.
And so again, I kept on running.
From the mountains to rivers
I Now understood what the prayer shouter had told me, I tried crossing the river of frozen waters and started to sink, and so, I got back to the river ledge, walked to a place where the stream was less harsh, got into barrel and hoped that the barrel and me will get to the other side not totally broken and bruised from the stream, it worked. and so, I kept on going forward, and then in my path there was another river, so I tried the trick once more, this time the stream was much worse, and I flowed in the barrel through the river for some days till we had arrived at the other ledge.
The best thing was, I didn't even know that I got to where I thought of going to, at the start of it.
And if i see that goat again, I will tear it limb to limb and eat it, as it ate Mubariz.
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