Village Token part2

Gathering everyone was difficult, but in the end we had all gathered in aunt and uncle's house. Shanri had come with her mother, Blini had come with both her parents, Kini had brought her father, and Li-li had brought her older brother, Isok. Of course Caleb was there as well. Pleasantries and greetings were exchanged

I put the village token on the table. A hush fell across the room as everyone looked on in awe or with a newfound purpose. I cleared my throat. "I would like your opinions on what I should do with this."

Isok grunted. "A new town would need a forge, I'd be willing to do that if you can't find anyone else."

Li-li smacked Isok. "Stop just thinking of your stupid forge. This isn't about that."

Isok's determined expression hadn't changed a bit, almost as if it had been forged that way. "Nails, basic tools. If you need it I'll find some way to forge it."

I smiled. "Thank you, that means a lot to me Isok, if I do use the token I'll be depending on you to keep your word." He nodded, his expression still hadn't changed, but there was... almost an air of happiness?

"If you use the token?" Blini's father asked. "You don't plan to?"

"I can't build a village alone. It's all well and good to found one, and I'm sure that many refugees from the sacked cities would love a new home. But I can't build them that alone." I stared at me hands. "Perhaps the only thing I know how to do exceptionally well is to speak like a noble."

"I've never built anything, never had to clean my clothes until a few days ago, never had to cook my own meals. I looked at all of them. The only thing I've found myself to have a natural talent for is combat, or maybe my brother was a good teacher."

"Your not alone Elizabeth." Josiah put a hand on my shoulder. "Kathy and I are with you, every step of the way."

"Building a whole village huh?" Kini's father looked off into the distance. "It will be good to put some distance between myself and that fat overgrown lizard."

Most of the adults in the room had far-away looks in their eyes, while the rest of us looked on with confused looks, except Isok, his expression still hadn't changed.

"Well, do you have any ideas for where you want this new village to be?" Shanri's mother asked quietly.

"I was considering near my family's manor, but I want to look around a bit before I pick where." I responded.

"In that case," Blini's father cleared his throat. "I used to hunt near there, I'll go with you."

"If that's the case you wouldn't mind if I joined as well? I want to find some herbs." Shanri asked.

"Sure, we can leave in the morning," I said with a small smile. "We'll look around for five days before we return."

"Isn't that dangerous? With all the bandits and raiders roaming the countryside?" Li-li asked.

"It is, unfortunately rather dangerous." I conceded. "But with it being extremely unlikely any of us posses a basic cartography skill set, I have to see the potential sites myself."

"Are you familiar with bows or knives?" Josiah asked.

I nodded to the halberd leaning against the wall. "No, however I do know how to use a halberd rather well," I smiled ruefully. "My brother taught me that well at least."

A few who hadn't noticed the halberd looked at it now, it was plain and ordinary, just an oak haft with the typical iron head of a halberd. But it was something of a rare sight to these villagers. Knives, bows, and the occasional short sword or crude spear were their weapons of choice.

So we agreed to meet near the edge of the town tomorrow morning to set out. Everyone filtered out of the house. So I brought up a problem to Josiah.

"Uncle, I need some clothes, do you have any spare shirts?" I asked.

Kathy came over. "Do you not like the dresses dear?"

"No, nothing like that." I hurriedly explained that my old shirt was in tatters and I didn't wish to ruin the dresses while trekking through the wilderness, or much less be forced to fight in one.

"Here." Uncle had felt around under the bed and pulled out a small coin purse. "Twenty denars should suffice, see Yelda, she's Li-li's mother. She's the only tailor we have here."

I proceed to get directions to their residence, as I hadn't been around long enough yet to discover that on my own. But with that critical information in hand, and the small coin purse I set off. Once there I was able to truly greet Li-li and Yelda.

Their home doubled as their shop, and an extra room had been added to it, making it longer than most people's homes. This room contained the tools of their trade, a loom, spinning wheel, needles. anything a basic tailors could need, it was here.

"Is there something you need?" Yelda asked as I entered the small shop. She was so completely focused upon the loom it was hard to believe she had even noticed me enter.

"I've ruined my previous shirt and need a new one, a pair pf trousers wouldn't go amiss." I replied.

After she finished she helped me to what I needed, and I left, thirteen denars less in my coin purse.

So it would be, in the morning Kini's father would introduce himself as Kel with a forgetful expression upon his face. So it was that at the edge of the village, Shanri, Kel, and I hefted packs on our shoulders and set out before the first rays of the sun could light the sky. A few had come to see us off, and they did so with a solemn atmosphere as the frost from the night had yet to melt away.

Of course, we hoped we would not have need of any weapons, but I was far from letting my halberd from my reach yet, and Kel claimed to be decent with the large dagger tucked into his waist and moderately skillful with the bow slung over his shoulder. Shanri however professed not skill with a weapon of any kind, but carried a knife, so it could at least serve as a hindrance to a potential foe.