The Journey Begins

I had been traveling for a fortnight now. I had left my old boring life in a quiet little town in the forest with what I could carry. A pack on my back with what few clothes I owned, a little coin pouch that contained all the coin I could scrap up over the past year, an old hunting bow, a quiver full of hand made stone arrows, a dented hand ax I used to cut firewood on my hip and old rusty knife in my boot. Come the start of spring when the snows melted away I had left home to see the world for myself instead of reading about it in books. I don't think I could have taken another season of the same old everyday life in the quit little village.

I smiled as I came to the top of the hill where the forest ended to give way to open fields of the plains. I finally reached the city which was sprawled out before me in the distance. I knew I had to have been getting close when I had reached the stone road a few hours back.

There where more buildings then I could have ever imagined which looked like a maze of streets and alleyways from where I stood. The town I came from had one road, if you could really call it that, and a single row of houses to either side. The city before was sometimes called the city of the crescent moon with a large lake to one side. The city was surrounded by a wall on all sides, including the lake. Large turrets scattered along the wall and gate houses at the entrance ways of the castle as roads ran outward in several directions. At the heart of the city stood the white stone castle which towered over most of the other buildings. I saw several ships anchored in the bay beyond with a multitude of different flags.

The city seemed to get larger as I walked the next half hour. Farmers where busy tending their small plots of land for the planting season. The small farm houses seemed to be built of timber that had been cut down to clear an area for farming and stones dug up from the fields. Though their was still enough trees to provide shade for the small homes and to the merchants in their carts traveling along the roads.

When I finally reached the walls they towered overhead. A bridge lead over a deep moat to the gate houses which where pushed back from the main wall. Guards watched from above on either side as people came and went.

The guards at the gate house stopped me and made me hand over my bow and arrow and my ax having me sign my name in a book. I was a little surprised since it wasn't really a weapon per say. My stone arrows would shatter against the suit of armor the guards wore and my old ax would probably just shatter if not get stuck if it did actually make a dent.

The gate house was slightly dark as I passed through and bigger then my house back home. As it gave way to light I was overwhelmed by the sites and sounds of the city. There where more people on one street then my entire village. The buildings where made of wood timber frames and white walls between. Many overhung on the second floor slightly allowing for more living space upstairs as well to create some shade from the midday sun. Vendors yelled at passerby's trying to get their attention. A nearby blacksmith pounded away at hot metal working it into shape. People moved about browsing the stalls. I saw clothing and fabrics dyed in a variety of colors. People from different races and cultures passed by me. Humans, elves, gnomes and a variety of others. Back home this would have been a bizarre site to behold but here it seemed to be common place. I was a little overwhelmed not being sure where to go first.

Special thanks to all of those who have read this story and my others as well as those who have hit the like button to show their support.

I added a new story that I will be adding to occasionally when I get writers block or stuck on what to do next and need a distraction to get the mind working. I will not be adding a lot right now but may commit more time to it later if there is interest in the story. It is sort of a fantasy comedy about a group of teenagers playing a D&D like game with the story inter cut between the real and fantasy world with most of the story taking place in the fantasy world.

"The Adventurer" ...and the quest they never asked to be a part of but is to join.