Homesteading in a fantasy world

Falyr was sitting in his office trying to take the measure of the man sitting across the table. They had not spoken a single word to each other after they had left Bert. Falyr didn’t know how to go about this. The man across from him was someone he had never had to deal with.

Normally whenever he needed to make deals with someone, he had a lot more information about that person. It would seem that he had gotten used to his company providing him with information.

It took some time before Falyr made a move. He just needed to think of this person in front of him as an unknown monster and start out by probing. “It’s getting colder, and it will get a lot more in the following months. I hope that you are prepared for the winter that’s ahead of us?”

Rich took a beat before answering the question. “I don’t mind the cold, but yes it will be a long winter. I hope you're not planning on bringing too many people here otherwise you might stretch this food supply that fell into your hands.”

Interesting, barely through the first probing attack and already I am left quite bloodied. The dismissal of winter and turning it around on myself to see if we can handle it and then mentioning that he was the one that got us this food. Not to mention the subtle jab, to not waste his generosity.

Perhaps I’m thinking too much into it. “Most of us are already here but we will bring more. We made sure that there is enough food for everyone and we could even send some back if needed.” Rich smiled at that and spoke. “Good to see the food not be wasted then.”

Well, that confirmed it, he's tangled with more than root vegetables and monsters in the past. He has definitely played this game before, but it seems he is not playing for keeps, more so because it is expected. He must have come into contact with politics. This will be a greater boon than he realizes.

As Falyr's thoughts were churning, Rich made a move of his own. “I do have some extra food that I could sell. We have more than we could use ourselves. Perhaps this might help you through the long winter ahead. I am certain we can come to some sort of a deal.”

'Doesn't even leave me time to think. I guess he doesn't want me to learn too quickly. He knows that I want something from him and is probing himself. It is weird working with so little information, but I forgot he's working with the same limitations as I am.'

'But if I’m correct and he does not enjoy the game, perhaps a more direct approach is required.' “Oh, I am certain that we can come to some sort of a deal. Food's worth a lot and it will be worth even more later on, but I am not part of the merchant side of this company. So, I suggest you wait. What I want is access to the dungeon to train our young.”

Rich smiled as they were finally down to brass tacks and Falyr let out a breath of air. 'It seems that was the correct choice! Being direct would be a quite welcomed change of pace for both of us.' “I would be quite happy to let you use the dungeon but of course, I would want some things in return.”

“My requirements are not high. When you go into the dungeon you will take my apprentices with you and train them as you clear it. I am guessing you will train your troops a few times here in the village as well, so include them for that as well.” Richard said in quite a happy tone.

That gave Falyr pause, and it seemed that Rich would let him have the time to think his offer through. 'Training his apprentices. I’m presuming they have a combat class of some sort. Weird for a bunch of farmers but I’m guessing their class is not a normal one.'

'He is correct about me wanting to train my team a bit before going inside the dungeon, but it seemed he is after something else as well.' “How often would you give us access? Having three more people will mean that we will have fewer spots for our members.” The answer came quickly. “Once a week.”

That was a lot better deal than Falyr expected. “We can work with that but that would depend on what else you want.” Rich thought for a moment before speaking. “I also want training for myself, combat-oriented and, if possible, more information about the adventuring class. More specifically about paving your own path, and not simply following a path laid down by someone else."

This made Falyr pause for a bit. 'So, he truly doesn’t want to play the game, that is actually refreshing. And making his own path, that should be quite interesting as well. Providing a bit more training in general is not a burden for us. Our trainers will have a lot of downtime especially when winter truly sets in and more so in this small village.

“This would work, and I can offer the training to your apprentices and yourself until we run the dungeon. I would want to run it on a Friday would that be good for you.”

Rich had to take a moment he had not used the day names in a long time and was quite used to just doing everything and not paying attention to what day it was. “Yes, that would work. Would you like some information about the dungeon?” The reply came quickly. “Yes, that would be preferable.”

Rich didn’t skimp on the details and shared everything he knew. It took quite a while for them to finish talking but they both stood up a lot more comfortable with each other. Eventually Falyr expressed his wish for them both headed out and make their way towards the inn to continue the discussion in a less formal environment.

As the negotiation were going on, the three outsiders to the village were making their way around. After completing the, admittedly short tour, they headed straight to the only open storefront to buy some pastries from the bakery.

When the villagers learned that the newcomers were willing to pay and actually had coins with them, it caused a stir. Quite a lot more storefronts opened up hoping they could sell their wares. Rich gave his apprentices a lot of money and said not to be stingy with it, but also to not to just buy junk.

So, with his advice in mind, they all went on a small shopping spree. Their biggest purchases were made at the end, in the smithy shop. They all bought a proper combat dagger which they expected to serve them well in the dungeon once things got up close and personal.

The straightforwardness of their teacher seemed to have rubbed off on them because when they finished paying the smith, they yelled out so all could hear that they were not going to buy anything else.

At first, everyone was quite surprised, but they quickly thanked the trio and closed everything up again. They lingered in the smithy and asked if they could watch the smith while he continues his work. Used to this request from his time in the bigger city, he let the three people watch while he worked.

What the smith didn’t expect was for them to discuss his techniques and compare them to their own. Their voices were quiet enough, but one of his traits helped him out and he was quite intrigued by the discussion among the three young people.

It seemed they had experience smithing and when asked, they told him they had made arrowheads and nails. The smith gently smiled at that and thought back to his younger days. Then he quickly took 3 iron rods and put them into the coals so he could heat them up. “Come here and show me. I want to see how you make the arrowheads.”

He was happy when they all accepted, and he was quite pleasantly surprised with their ability to make arrowheads. They must have a skill level that was quite high. He wondered why they all had the skill. But before he could ask them, one of the boys had messed up his current piece but before he could tell him that he needed to restart he was surprised by the next action the boy made.

The boy used an ability and controlled it precisely to fix his mistake. But it seemed that the surprise didn't end with that. “It's quite a lot harder to work on this anvil. It sort of looks like a big stump! Our teacher’s anvil or even our small anvils are a lot better for this type of work.”

The three continued to discuss about their teacher's anvil which seemed to have a few more features that piqued the smith's ininterest. So, he asked them more about it and the shape they described was something that he had never thought about.

Making the anvil a lot better at certain tasks. He had never thought about that, as he just used the same anvil his father used. But now that he looked at it again, it really did look like a stump. Thanks to his experience he quickly absorbed the knowledge the three were sharing and figured out how much more useful different shapes of anvils can be.

He was so deep in thought that he did not realize there was no one else around. He didn’t mind letting the trio go and went back to thinking. Seeing the smith's earnest curiosity and probing questions, the apprentices quickly left hoping that they hadn't made a mistake. They silently reassured each other and quickly made their way to the last place that they hadn't visited, the inn.

There they waited for quite a long time and as Rich instructed them they didn't drink too much and spent the time talking with other people and getting to know them better. Eventually, the doors opened up and Rich walked in. He noticed them instantly and waved to them and, after a few parting words with Falyr, headed towards them.