I’m not gonna find anal-sex partners… uhm, allies, in the middle of nowhere. Let’s check out the Eastern road!

The Roymar woods bordered a more rural part of the realm of Ohemers. The risk of coming upon Royal Guard, or anyone able to discern your magical aura, was lower here than it would be as you went further east, and the closer you got to a city like Hajelzore.

You veered south. Of course, a closeted hope also stirred in you. So much of your life you had spent as a recluse with Segora; part of you wanted to meet people, maybe find travelling companions? Maybe a ravishing girl—and who knows, maybe get a chance to fuck her ass? How would you grow your power if you let fear keep you away from potential allies?

A bit before noon, you emerged from the woodlands and turned eastward, towards Hajelzore. As one might have expected, the remote dirt road wasn’t exactly a social hub. You walked, enjoying the even ground, but didn’t come across any living soul; you walked until the pale, cloud-covered shadow of the sun dipped behind the dense foliage of the Roymar woods surrounding you.

At the end of the first day of your adventure, you set out camp at the edge of the wood, under a big sycamore. You felt free, excited, tired, and lonely. You nibbled at some duck jerky Segora had packed for you and studied your map until exhaustion took you.

It was almost midday on your second day of walking when you saw your first sign of human life. As the road cleared the woods, you spotted a barn and a rudimentary house standing at the edge of a corn field. You passed by and peered in to try and see people, wondering for the hundredth time what it’d be like to live a simple life, instead of being an undercover warlock marked for ****. You caught sight of a young boy carrying a bucket of water to the barn, where a sturdy woman helped him unload it into a basin. This little vignette into a farmer’s life stirred your imagination as you kept walking through the cloudy morning, into an afternoon that saw the sun pierce through.

As evening fell, you arrived to yet another farmstead, down a slow decrease on the side of the road. You considered whether you should stop and ask for lodging for the night, when screams erupted from the house, chilling the night air.

Crash! came the shatter of glass.

Under the cover of dusk, a slick, dark figure vaulted out a second-floor window, landed in a roll and sprinted across the field, faster than any human could. More screams followed, and three more figures, whom you pegged as the inhabitants of the house, barged out the front door.

“Stop! Come back, you!” roared a burly man.

He started after the first figure, but no way in hell would he catch up. He seemed to notice you, up on the road, and flailed his arm wildly, screaming:

“Help! Stop him!”