He walked with no urgency, his mind once again drifting to the future and all the possibilities it held. His improved hearing picked up on snippets of conversations as he followed the many small paths that led, like streams joining a river, to the main road which would bring to the gates of the settlement. He ignored most of the conversations he heard. His hearing had improved and he was still practicing what needed to be tuned out. Passing a rare clearing, used as a meeting place occasionally, he heard another group moving down one of the larger paths in his direction. He moved a bit quicker to avoid this bunch. They were loud, and not mindful of the peace that the Wilderness brought.
He couldn’t help but overhear, “Did Demneh just pass by?” said a female voice.
Someone knew him apparently, though he couldn’t place a name or a face to the voice. It also occurred to him he needed to work on erasing his presence better, and that clearly, despite the noise, this group was paying attention, or at least the speaker was.
He stopped to listen for a moment, “Should we invite him?” a different voice asked.
Several new, more masculine voices chimed in.
“He is the son of the Endless Axe right?”
“He never talks. What would be the point? Like father, like son.”
“He has that damned beast with him. I have no interest in sharing my food with it. Have you seen it eat?
“Who gives a damn about that beast-fucker?
“He could be…
He moved further ahead, not bothering to listen more. It was possible someone might have defended him, these were clearly his peers, and those of the hamlets were a generally kind lot, but such remarks were par for the course considering his Class. It was also true he had always been so focused on his goals, he rarely socialized. His work cycles were always busy. He spent most of his life either out in the Wilds with Ina or in the settlement listening to a certain hungover Priest lecture him about returning books back to the Church when he was done with them. The lectures always came in earliest part of a cycle, as that particular Priest spent most of the later half of each work cycle drunk on cheap root-wine.
Despite trying to move on, his mind responded to each comment in turn.
His Da was called the Endless Axe? That probably suited him, he supposed.
In all honesty, it was true he didn’t talk much. Social gatherings were things to be avoided, as he never really had anything to say, and no one really asked him about his training, or what he had read recently, or even about Ina, especially after she had grown larger. Beasts were objects of fear for the folks of the hamlets, just as beasts were objects of profit for the people of the settlements.
She ate too much? At first he was instantly offended on behalf of Ina, but in reflecting, he had to admit she was sort of a glutton. He felt irritation over their bond.
He directed a thought to her, “We’ll put you on a diet soon girl. We can’t have the neighbors talking.”
He promptly heard a growl somewhere above him in trees.
He had heard ‘beaster-fucker’ before, and worse by now. Classed Tamers, well they.. They didn’t have a good reputation. He pushed these thoughts away for the moment.
He wondered how last sentence heard ended? Maybe it was something positive? In the end, he supposed it didn’t matter. It didn’t affect his Path or what he would do in the future, so he did his best to let it got. His thoughts returned to the great hunts he would accomplish in the future and the safety the settlement would provide his parents.
***
Enough trails converged and he found himself reaching the area around the settlement that was kept clear of the encroachment of trees. The Wilds had a way of reclaiming land quickly, making farming nearly impossible and cleared land worth a premium. The hamlets cleared when they could, but otherwise tried to blend their gardens into the vegetation that surrounded them. This kept their produce relatively safe, but was ultimately inefficient.
As he got closer, passing herds of cattle grazing in the empty land, the settlement walls began to grow larger. They towered over him, hundreds of spans over his head. Small figures could be seen occasionally on the walls, but no faces could be made out.
Approaching the door, he mentally prepared himself for dealing with the gate guards. There wasn’t much of a line to get into the settlement this cycle. As the night cycles grew closer, the lines would increase, and the cattle would be taken inside. The smell was unpleasant, but the cattle were a source of food and profit. Cattle raised in the Wilds were more robust and their meat had fortifying effects. ‘The Wilds gave as it took’, was a common phrase he heard often. Of course, what all of this actually meant was that cattle were more valuable than the people of the hamlets, but he tried to push that thought away.
“State your business.” said the bored looking guard who undoubtedly recognized him. The guard wore a basic set of light armor, which covered all the important bits and probably had some reinforcing spells, but wouldn’t protect him from most greater beasts. His class would be something mundane like Guardsmen, or Soldier. To have door-duty meant he didn’t have the connections or coin to have a better Class.
“I seek to consult the guild for work.” he said, formally and in the same tone he had said something similar a thousand times before. In the settlement if you spoke well, you got better treatment. He showed his badge, stating he was a Classed freelancer for the Guild. Not an official adventurer, but someone who did work for the guild from time to time. The guard looking down at the symbol representing his class, sneered a bit, but waved him through. As he headed further into the settlement his hearing was overwhelmed with fragments of conversations, the creaking of wood buildings, and sound of a smith cursing some mistake he had just made. He could hear some whispers behind him and a few snickers. The guard that checked him must have made a comment to his fellows.
He let the insults slide off the tough exterior of his mind, as he had done many times before. His future was bright for once, and he wouldn’t let anyone keep him from appreciating that fact.
***
After entering the settlement, while navigating boisterous crowds and crooked streets, he veered towards the Church, as he had since he was child. He had no real business with the bloated alcoholic exile who ran the place, nor was he particularly devoted to the Church of Humanity, but he still liked to check on things, almost out of habit. Perhaps there a new book had been added to the small public library the church kept for educating youths. He could ‘borrow’ it as he had many times before. The Priest, Caius, had given him a great gift. Caius had taught him to read.
Children of the hamlets usually attended lessons with Caius one work cycle out of every five, to learn a bit of theology, their letters, and some numbers. They learned to conduct themselves in the settlement as proper members of humanity. Generally, by the time they were adolescents they stopped their lesson because their parents needed their labor, or they simply lost interest and drifted off. Sometimes they got tired of the superior attitude and better treatment that children from the settlement received. Caius taught most children in the settlement. If they couldn’t afford tutors or to send their children away for education, Caius and the charity of the Church were their only option. Unlike the other children of the hamlets, he had stuck around, trying to get more information that would help him care for Ina. This had started his life-long love of reading.
Caius was not the greatest teacher, nor the most patient, or really even a good role model, but he tried, and he treated all the children with the same base level of contempt. One time, when he had naively thought he understood Caius, he had asked Caius if he drank because the Church had exiled him so far away. His thoughts were of sympathy of Caius. Perhaps Caius had committed some sort of tragic crime, or stood up against a corrupt church elder.
Caius had laughed in his face, splattering cheap root-wine everywhere, and, in between gasping breaths, told him “Boy, I was sent here… because I’m an unrepentant… drunk.. Haha! I am an embarrassment.” The Priest’s belly and jowls trembled as he spoke again. “Be sure to not follow in my footsteps, boy.” Caius’ laughter was loud. He never asked another personal question of Caius, fearing he would only think less of the old Priest.
The Church of Humanity rose tall inside the walls of the settlement, nearly as tall as the walls, and was probably the most ornate building in the settlement. As one walked closer one could see that the despite its exterior facade, the church was not being well maintained. Birds made homes in the statues at the top, and the paint was cracked around the base. Caius’s influence was apparent. He wasn’t the only clergy in attendance, but he was the only Classed Priest, and the most senior, and therefore undoubtedly drank a great deal of the donations the church received from locals.
In the courtyard of the church, he could see Caius’s large, rotund form, sitting on a stool that strained underneath him. Surrounding him were dozens of small children, some listening attentively, others lightly snoozing, while still others talked quietly. His current lecture seemed to center around the nature of Paths and Classes. His face flushed red, his nose bulbous and the color of liver, he spoke in quivering breaths.
“Your Path is what you choose! Your Path is your intent made manifest! It powers the spells and abilities of your Class!” Every statement was yelled, causing spit to splatter on the nearest children, who seemed to take it in stride. With time, everyone got used to Caius.
The Church doctrine had always felt like mostly mysticism to him. The nature of Paths was something you felt, rather than merely understood. You looked into yourself, found something you applied personal meaning to, and then crafted that meaning, with repetition, into personal power. Your Class, if you had one, was merely a shell, usually premade for you, to channel that power into. It gave you a set of spells and a means to continue to develop a Path. The Church told us that Paths were a gift from the Holy Divinity of Humanity, but beastfolk had Paths, as did other races, so he had always been somewhat skeptical of church doctrine. Classes could even be shared between races, which made sense to him, but was clearly not mentioned anywhere in the writings of the church
He moved away from the church, secure in knowledge that the old drunk hadn’t died yet, and moved toward the center of power in the settlement.
Toad Tales 