The Expanse

A large, rolling plains dotted with patches of forest dominates the northern region of Myirida. Here, many farmers live in danger of the coming army, but they must live here, for it is the best land for crops. Therefore, farmers are well regarded in this society.

Valus was sitting under a tree, about a mile from the outskirts of town. He was reading an ancient elven text, one of the many his father used to own. They all vanished along with him, though, and Valus had the only one left.

Valus sighed, and closed the book. "What am I doing out here?"

He still had the sack of gold, though it was about halfway empty. He had spent a lot of it on food and other supplies. Valus had set up a camp to rest. He wasn't the most efficient traveller, and got tired often.

"Maybe I should practice my magic." Valus pondered. He entered the ten to grab his Oaken Pole, but while he was, he heard some rustling in the trees.

"...Hello?" Valus asked, wary. He looked around. "Who's there?"

Just at that moment, 3 figures emerged from the trees. Valus was encircled. He grasped his pole, ready for his first fight. As the creatures moved closer, Valus gripped the pole tighter. The three creatures were goblins. One was holding a stick with a rock tied to it, which Valus figured was probably a blunt weapon.

Valus whipped his pole horizontally, creating a jet of wind that was flung at the goblin in front of him. The goblin was knocked to the ground.

"Nnaarrr!" it screamed. Valus dropped his pole and unsheathed his two daggers. "Ignis!" Valus screamed, and the daggers were aflame. Flame whips extended from each, and he whipped the goblin on the floor. It recoiled, then died.

Valus turned around to face the two goblins, but they were nowhere to be found. His head darted to all sides, but he saw hide nor tail of them. He figured they retreated, so Valus returned to his tent. As he bent down to continue reading the Elven text, he realized it was missing.

"No! The goblins!" Valus hastily began packing his stuff to give chase.

Matt was walking along side some plots of farmland about a mile away from the city walls. He was walking along when he saw a goblin corpse littering the road.

"Hmm." said Matt, stepping over the body. He noticed a tent off to the side, which seemed to have something moving around frantically in it. He had a lot of ground to cover to get to the ruins, but getting there before dark wouldn't be any use so he figured he had some time to spare.

"Hey, everything all right in there?" called Matt, from the road to the tent.

Valus heard a voice as he was throwing his stuff into his bag. "Uhh..."

He scrambled out of the tent and started looking for his Oaken Pole he dropped during the fight.

"Well, you see, I was fighting some Goblins who ambushed me, and..."

Valus' jaw practically dropped. "You're The Gambler!" Valus knew abotu The Gambler as well as any other citizen of Valor. Valus conjured a gust of wind, and rode it a few feet back. He picked up his pole, gripped it tight, and got in a ready position.

I may be young, but I must have a chance...Do I attack him?

He thought some more, having a quick self-chat.

Think of the gold I can get if I bring back his head! But, he is a potential travelling partner...

"I'll take my chances." Valus muttered, then shot a fireball at The Gambler.

Matt shrugged as he side-stepped the fire ball. It wasn't a rare occurrence for a person to try and claim the bounty on his head. After hearing of his exploits and freeing all of those slaves the King of Valor decided to draft Matt into the army. He politely refused and was sentenced to death for treason or some nonsense, it just ended with his face on wanted posters all over the city. This all worked out in the end, in that the people in the rich half didn't need the money, and he saved enough of the people in the poor half to gain the respect of not being turned in, which meant he was pretty much left alone. Except by idiots like the one who just chucked a fireball at his head.

"Whoa! Let's not get hasty here." said Matt, maintaining a cool demeanor. "I get it, I do kinda resemble 'The Gambler'. But think about it, I'm younger than you. How could I possibly be this so called 'Hero of The People' who has been freeing slaves for over a hundred years? I'd have to be ancient!"

Matt kept a smile going through his entire performance. This little bit had about an 80% success rate with bounty hunters, since without a display of magic it's hard to imagine a 17 year old being the same legendary figure that had become the savior of some many people.

Valus stared, still in his fighting stance. How could he have casually side-stepped a hurtling fireball coming from a practiced mage? As he moved closer, Valus could see he was very young, maybe only 17 or 18. After a deafening silence, Valus spoke.

“You say you’re not The Gambler. You bear a striking resemblance, though it may merely be the moonlight…”

Valus gripped his pole, but then lowered it, making his decision.

“I apologize. My haste got the better of me, and I mistook you for an enemy. As for my situation…” Valus paused. “I was attacked by Goblins moments ago. I was able to drive them off without getting injured, of course, but two escaped with an ancient elven text from my father’s library. I believe…” Valus examined the ground. “I believe they made off that way.” Valus pointed, to the East.

"Well then, what are we standing around here for?" asked Matt, turning towards the East. "Let's go after them and get you elf thing back."

Matt had decided that helping out this random person would mean that his feeding time would have to be moved. This was alright with him, as he had been fooling himself to think that he could make it to the ruins in one day, and he did enjoy hitting Goblins.

I'll just try to get there by tomorrow. thought Matt, musing over the idea of letting the mage he just encountered do most of the hard work.

Valus started to follow the Goblins' tracks. He was glad he wasn't alone, but he had suspicions about this stranger.

"My name is Valus, by the way. Valus Avellans." He stated as he walked. "I used to live in the outskirts of Valor, until a few days ago."

After an hour or so of travelling, the sky began to redden as the sun rose.

Is this what adventuring feels like? The rush of not knowing where to go, what to do...it's incredible.

Earlier on, the goblin tracks began to fade. Valus made naught of it, as the Goblins couldn't have made it too far. But now, the tracks were almost invisible. Valus began to worry.

"Hey, do you have any idea what to do next?" Valus turned towards his travelling partner, whom he just realized never said his name, or where he came from.

Matt blindly followed Valus as he tracked the Goblin's footprints. The night slowly slipped away as they were in pursuit and a sliver of orange lining the horizon was enough to know that day was about to break.

Matt happened to be enjoying the contrast of the black sky mixing with the orange when his companion's question interrupted him.

"Hmm? ... oh right, goblins..." said Matt, shaking off his daze. "Well, knowing them, they probably took your stuff purely because it was shiny and are giving it to their chief as a token of respect. That or they thought it was food and ate it."

"Only one of those scenarios has the option of getting your possession back," continued Matt, turning to the woods on the side of the trail. "so our only real choice is to go into the woods and keep hitting Goblins until we hit one sitting on top of a pile of treasure."