On the Road Interview!

With his 8 ft height the stonechief is a troll almost twice my size. As far as I could observe, his peers respect him and he seems to have a big appetite for alcohol. After traveling on top of the carriages for half the day (the crew would call it "Riding the Stones",apparently every newbie has to do it) the chief called for me to sit down next to him. That's where this interview took place.

N - Nothol (me) S - the Stonechief

Throughout the whole interview the stonechief speaks with a growling voice in a slow but civilized way.

N: Thank you for participating in this interview.

S: Whatever, kid.

N: You are my first participant actually.

S: Your first one? Are you excited?

N: A little bit to be honest.

S laughs.

S: Ok, so that is adorable. You may proceed.

N: May I ask you a question?

S: Sure.

N: How does a troll such as yourself come to lead a caravan of stonemenders? I always thought your kin was highly territorial.

S: To be honest, it is the thrill of adventure that I could never quite banish from my old bones. My wife's dead, my children matched and I have become redundant at my home. If I stayed at home my children would have had to share their cave with me. One day a stonemender-recruiter passed our valley. Us and the stronemenders share a very good relationship, I'll have you know. So I decided to join them. See a bit of the world in my final days.

N: That's surprisingly wholesome. But isn't it dangerous to travel at your age?

S laughs: Our medicine man Olmah always says '87 years is the goal. Everything further is bonus time.' I might be far older than that but I think the same principle applies. All that's left at my age is dying, so why not stuff some adventure before it.

I raise my left fist towards the sky.

N: Yeah, screw waiting for death.

S chuckles and thrust his fist in the air.

S: Screw waiting for death.

A few minutes pass until the Interview resumes.

N: So I heared these woods house bandits. Aren't we taking quite a risk travelling these woods without an escort?

Another chuckle.

S: It takes a special kind of recklessness to attack a caravan of strong men especially if they are accompanied by a troll.

N: Are trolls that strong?

S nods.

S: Even in my old age I could break a human spine like a twig. Fear not, I have no intention of causing any of my men harm.

N: I'm one of your men?

S: You are traveling with us are you not?

I nod.

S: So you are one of my men.

Addendum 1:

After my interview with the chief I talked with some other people. The rest of the caravan are human men. Most of them are muscle heads but they seem to have a heart of gold, considering the way they are treating me. They share their stories and their food with me and I am truly thankful for it.

There is Gaemon, an old western man, who is expecting his first child.

Keo, a stonesmith that loves beer. His sister is suffering from the 'Sieche'.

Olmah, the doctor of the stonemenders. He has a very long white beard. I think he might be a wizard in disguise.

Ealric loves horses and wants to get a stonesmith. That's a high rank within the stonemender-guild. When he told me Gaemon laughed and said that he should grow some chest hair first. The two then proceeded to tussle each other until the chief pulled them apart.

All in all my first day on the road was so-so. It's a boring journey till we reach the city but filled with interesting people. I'm planning to get an interview with all of them later.

Addendum 2:

Little explanation for those of you that, like me, never heard of the "Sieche". I have talked to Olmah Sing a traveling doctor, that accompanies the stonenmenders caravan.

Quoting him it's an"...infectious disease that targets the soul of a host instead of the body. Once infected the total decay of the patient can only be stopped by ingesting 'divinity'. Although new cases always appear in the vicinity of those who are already infected, experiments have ruled out bodily fluids, air, eye contact and soul linking as means of transmission."

The most notable symptoms of the 'Sieche' seem to be hallucinations, growing apathy and a creeping necrosis (apparently the death of body parts while still being alive) that can be delayed up to ten years.

An infection always ends in expiration of the patient most commonly through suicide.