A Matter of Faith

You emerge from the dense woods by the afternoon of the following day. The forest thins, and the sky widens above you. As you reach a low rise near the edge of the treeline, you spot a curious figure sitting comfortably on a fallen tree trunk. His hair is a mane of thick waves, unmistakably dyed blonde. His purplish-crimson robe likewise was designed to capture as much attention to his person, so easy to spot over the greens of the forest.

There is a picnic cloth spread on the log beside him, and he is nibbling on a wedge of cheese, but what he sees you stepping out of the shadows of the trees, he blinks in surprise. He quickly stands up and brushes the crumbs from his robe, and gives you a theatrical bow:
"Good Afternoon! Vayek, at your service," he flaps the hem of his robe. "Magician, alchemist, and purveyor of magical delights. And who, might I ask, are you?"

William Winter. These are my associates. We’re journeying back to town, after having rescued these two from evil witches.

Vayek’s face lights up the moment he realizes William and his associates are adventurers.

"Splendid! Absolutely splendid!" He steps lightly over the log, brushing the last of the crumbs from his robe, and gestures at the backpack at his side. "Fate has smiled on you today, my friends. Might I interest you in a charm of protection? It can ward off harm, even curses. Or perhaps you’re the dramatic sort? I recently acquired a horn that can bring down entire buildings with a single blast. Just don't use it indoors. Bad for the furniture" he grins widely at you "Or if you desire anything else, anything at all, just say so! I've made it my business to procure rare ingredients from the far corners of the world most people wouldn’t dare visit. With some time, and coin, they can be fashioned into just about anything!"

Will hears a voice in his head. He recognizes who it belongs to, though this time the man doesn't appear in front of him
"You should really start introducing yourself as 'Halav'. You are going to need to gather an army to bring down the beastmen, and people are far more likely to follow 'Halav' the lawgiver than a 'Will'"

Miyana scoffs. "A horn that can bring down buildings? Nonsense!"

"It most certainly can, young lady, I assure you. And I would have given you a demonstration too, if I wasn't concerned about causing so much collateral damage to this beautiful forest!"

Im not sure you have anything we need, Vayek. How much for the horn?

Stefan gently tugs on Will's elbow, his voice barely above a whisper "Only guild members can trade in magical items. He doesn't look like a guild member to me..."

"He's a charlatan. Let's be on our way."

Boudica looks at the man skeptically and asks, "If you r wares are truly as great as you say, why do you hawk them off a tree stump in the woods? Accompany us into to town; I am sure you will ind many more customers there than out here. Who knows, if you have established yourself, perhaps even we shall become customers."

"I am not a charlatan!" Vayek looks genuinely offended. "The Guild—they’re the charlatans! Permits for this, licenses for that. You can’t sell a magical spoon these days without swearing fealty to their tyrannical board" He huffs "We used to trade freely, you know. A man with talent and good instincts could make an honest living. Now? Everything’s illegal unless you’re part of the ‘right’ organization." He makes air quotes with a sneer.

"But fine. Forget trinkets. What about components, hm? Rare ingredients. That trade isn’t banned. Yet."

He looks at Miyana, having noticed the bow she is carrying

"How about living wood? I know where to find it… a bow made from that would truly be wonderous"

"And how much would you charge for that information?" Miyana asks plainly.

Vayek raises a hand and wags his finger at her: "Oh no, no, no. That information is not for sale"

He seems too pleased with himself
"But... I can procure a piece of living wood for you. Say, five thousand gold. Payable on delivery, of course. I’m not unreasonable."

I feel like your prices are bit out of our range. Come friends, we need to be moving.

"Agreed..." Anton said to Will!'s suggestion of leaving, "...oh and Vayek, just so you are aware, the Guild are not charlatans, they may be a bureaucratic nightmare for thieves, grave robbers, and snake oil salesmen, but that's to protect the people from those who are ignorant to the dangers of magic."

"Of course, of course. Protecting the people, how noble. Always lovely when benevolent institutions decide what’s best for everyone" He sweeps another exaggerated bow

"Well then, safe travels, brave adventurers. May neither of us ever has need for a true miracle, registered or not" He gives Miyana a wink, then returns to inspect the remains of his lunch.

Nice fellow. Seemed a bit bitter though, Will quips half heartedly, as our brave adventurers continue along their merry way.
We should think about naming our adventuring company, friends. Any thoughts?

"Blind Luck," Miyana says, only half jokingly.

"Are these… all homes?" Moryana looks wide-eyed at the handful of farmsteads "So many people live here?" She turns to watch the oxen pulling plows, and her face twists with concern "What are they doing to those poor animals???"

Boudica smiles and walks beside Moryana, saying, "Ah, yes, they are homes. Farms, in fact. There are many more in the village itself. You have much to learn, but we can help."

When she raises a concern about the oxen, Boudica puts a gentle hand on her arm and says, "It is ok, my dear, they are not being harmed, at least not a far as I can see. They are domesticated animals, born and bred for pulling the plow. As long as the farmers act appropriately, the oxen are unconcerned by the yoke on their shoulders. They pull the plows and, in exchange, the farmers feed and house them for life. Do you not know what a domesticated animal is? These are not animals int he wild; they live only because someone raised them."

"But why do they make these...'oxen' pull these...these...things?" Moryana has never seen the open skies. Or an Ox. Or a plow. She doesn't know what 'farming' is, or several of the words Boudica just used. She is literally 'a babe' from the woods, and only now does she begin to understand how completely out of her depth she is. So out of depth, she doesn't even realize she has no way to earn her keep once you reach the city (a city!!!), or how easily she could be taken advantage of by someone unscrupulous.

What do you do?

"It's a partnership Moryana, the oxen would be hunted by predators in the wild, here they are protected and in exchange for that protection, food, shelter, clean water, they provide a service to the farmers. That is how a community works, all people working together for the safety and security of others" Anton hoped his words didn't come of condescending, but how do you teach the basics of community to a fully grown woman without coming off a bit condescending.

Will hails the curious boy. Young man, do you know Humphrey? Fetch him, or one of the guards, please. Tell him we’ve returned, with Stefan.

Miyana takes Boudica aside. "You realize that we can't just abandon her. Do we have a plan for this child? How will she make her way?"

Aside, to Miyana, Boudica says, "I thought perhaps Humphrey and Stefan could take her in. But I will be sure to find someone capable and kind to care for and educate her."

To Moryana, she says, "Well, the oxen are far stronger than a human, and it pulls a heavy wedge of metal to carve a trench in the soil. Then the farmer sows seeds in the earth and covers it up. In several months those fields will be filled with plants offering a bounty of food for the whole village. It is one of the primary ways we feed so many people. There are too many to survive on foraging and hunting alone. it's called farming, and its invention long ago is what allowed people to come together in larger numbers like this town. Do you understand?"

Boudica has been told more than once that she would have made a good teacher, had she not felt the call to adventure.

"Humphrey? He's the old Thyatian Wizard that lives in Threshold, isn't he?" the young boy answers Will, raising his voice above the honks of his geese "I could never get there and back here before sunset, and tata will smack my behinds if I'm late for dinner again" he didn't even stop to think who would take care of his flock while he was away. Presumably, that would be Will. "Sorry, mister"

Moryana wasn’t dim-witted—she simply hadn’t been taught the things others took for granted. Her eyes lit up as Boudica explained farming to her.

"Oh" her eyes lit up "It’s like the little tomato plant I used to take care of"
She made the connection to gardening easily, though the sheer scale of ‘farming’ left her awestruck. The golden fields seemed to stretch on without end. So much food, raised by so many people, working together. It was marvellous—almost magical in its own right.

And there was so much more to see. There were so many other people walking the main road to Threshold. Merchants guiding mules with goods. Families in wooden carts. It was more human activity than ever witnessed in her entire life. She stopped in her tracks when the city of Threshold came into view, and once again when you reached the open air market outside the city’s gates.

"What is that? And that???" there were so many herbs and fruits she didn’t recognize, though she didn’t like the cage of squawking chickens one of the men was carrying. It reminded her too much of her mother’s experiments. "And these houses" she whispered after you finally managed to pry her away from the stalls, "How did they manage to stack stone so high without it falling??" Her grip tightened around Boudica’s arm as you walked the streets toward Humphery’s house. Her questions came faster and faster, though it was easy to notice she was becoming more and more agitated, especially when strangers brushed too close to her taste. Or when the group of young men stared at her as they walked by "do I have something on my face?"

"Why are the people given to arms?" Miyana asks the guardsman.

Will stands silently stalwart. He positions himself between Stefan and the pitchforked townsfolk.

Miyana scowls. Murder was a foul crime, to be sure, but to convict a man without fair trial was worse, in her mind.

Let’s take Cypress Lane like the guard says. We could look into this later, but first we need get Stefan safely home. And, maybe Humphrey can help us…with other matters too.
Moryana, what do you intend to do, now that you’re free from what had imprisoned you?