Beyond Chaos – A DiceRPG

[1212] – Y06.112 – The Father II

“This is insanity, John,” Esther finally snapped at him. “You can’t be believing him and that foolishness he says!”

“Priests of Death are not known to lie.”

“Priests of Death are not known to lie,” Esther mocked, her face turning beet red. “He’s a Priest of the Iyr’s Lord of Death, and he killed good men for the sake of goblins, demons, and foul creatures of the night!”

“Aye, ah don’t know about this,” Samuel said, flushing slightly as his eyes fell to the side towards Esther, before quickly darting downwards.

Amos scraped the whetstone along the edge of his blade, completing a single scrape from each side, waiting a long moment before rubbing the edge of his blade with a cloth, applying the oil. “It’s too late now.”

“I was too full of good food and good drink to mention it last night!”

“Food and drink paid for by the Priest,” John noted, causing Esther to snarl at him, ready to grab at his sleeve, only for Samuel to cautiously approach as he spluttered out for her to calm down.

‘Is this the place?’ Adam thought, noting the collection of buildings, and the pathway leading towards the back garden, where he could smell the heavy musk of goats and their accompanying filth, though they were quickly swept to the side. The wooden buildings were divided smaller and smaller to increase the number which could live within more privately, and coincidentally, allowing more money to be funnelled to those who owned the buildings, bleeding more from those who sweat and toiled to live and for their amusement.

As Adam stepped into the garden, escorted by a young teen who had waited for a handsome half fae wearing the obsidian symbol of the Iyr’s Lord of Death, who also wore a tattoo upon his forehead that was different to those who may be accompanying him, who were more than likely Iyrmen. Amos had prepared, just in case, but he understood from meeting them yesterday how futile it had been, and though the half elf appeared without the Priest and the terrifying old man, the young woman and man were both greater than any of them still.

Adam spotted the group all gathering together hurriedly, the teen having forgotten to shout, since Adam had distracted her by tipping her a gold coin! Adam smiled, waiting for them all to quickly gather, from the elderly, to the men and women, to the children, even the three toddlers who stood beside their father.

“Seriously, this guy, showing off his adorable kids to me so proudly,” Adam said, throwing a look to Jurot, who slowly bowed his head, though far more casually than they expected. “You have some guts, huh?”

“I am proud with how we have raised them so far.”

“This guy! He’s really good with his words! How suspicious that you know how to say all the perfect things to pique my interest.” Adam tutted at him, but as his eyes fell to the triplets, each staring up at the newcomers in awe, his heart stirred. ‘Can I put it in his contract to let me spoil them? Would that be weird? Of course, but come on! Isn’t that why I made all this money? To spoil the children of the business?’

Jurot cleared his throat, interrupting the half elf’s cringe thoughts.

“Right, right,” Adam said, noting their gazes darting from the side towards him. As Adam’s eyes fell to the side, he realised why there was a tenseness in the air. “Tork, would you mind circling around the building?”

“I do mind a little, but-,” Tork began, before his brother half punched him in the side, glaring at him.

‘We’re meant to act professionally!’ Mork glared.

‘If we were meant to act professionally, he wouldn’t have brought both of us,’ Tork replied with his eyes.

The others glanced aside to a pair of their own companions, who ignored their gazes, and as Tork, one of two figures in full plate, stepped away, suddenly the air began to lighten.

“Sorry about that, I forgot how scary Tork looked in his full plate,” the half elf said, smiling, though his smile quickly dropped. Then his eyes fell to Mork’s side, and he quickly regained his composure.

Even to these commoners, who could not read any books, could still read Adam’s face as though it was the easiest book in the world. Suddenly, they were filled with the sense of ease and troubledness that came from the same source, and of course that source was Adam, who was the river of all worries.

“However, Tork was a great example of someone who came to us recently, showed his loyalty, and was duly rewarded,” the half elf said. “He’s a horc from North Aldland, forgive me for not recalling where, I’m terrible at geography, recalling names, and if it wasn’t for the fact that we had a companion called Jonn, I’d have half forgotten your name. The only thing I’m good at remembering is how adorable my children are, how beautiful my wife is, and how stu-,”

Jurot cleared his throat to help Adam from being cringe.

‘I can’t believe I was smart enough to tell him to stop me by clearing his throat,’ Adam thought. “Anyway, as you can see, I don’t care if you’re a horc, a devilkin, a drakken, and if you recall my friend, the handsome Priest from last night, and of course the terrifying old man beside him, Aswadian, I’m not someone who judges a person from the colour of their skin, eyes, if their ears are round or leaf shaped, or even if they have horns or tentacles coming out of their heads, okay, I do judge you a little if you have-,”

“Ehm.”

Adam cleared his throat after his brother, flashing a small smile. “That is to say, that… I am here to offer anyone that works hard, and though I hold a slight preference towards Iyrmen, for obvious reasons, I won’t discriminate. This I promise as a Brother of Death.”

The moment Adam swore upon his title, suddenly the air filled with a greater seriousness, and even Esther, who had been full of suspicion, was suddenly upon high alert.

“I see that there are quite a few elderly people here, and as I mentioned, I am also interested in making sure your parents, your grandparents, and perhaps a few others, are well taken care of in the business. If they are able to work, I expect them to work, lightly of course, and if they are sick, well, as long as you promise to work for quite some years, it’s a small issue to care for them. I am a Brother of Death, but-,” Adam spotted just how each of them reacted to his title in that moment, the half elf flushing lightly, but quickly smiling, causing an even greater anxiety to flow through them, before the half elf finally burst out in laughter.

Kitool sighed slightly, and slammed her staff into the ground, and though the ground was made of softened dirt, her strike hit with such a precision, the noise filled the air and silenced even the animals, which stood up at attention, staring at the group.

‘You scared the crap out of me!’ Adam thought, his heart pounding in his chest, and the younger children began to blubber and bluster.

Brittany scanned the faces of the commoners, and for a moment, all she could see were the faces of the villagers, and upon some of their faces, her own. She eyed up the triplets for a moment, their father calming them down by hushing them quietly, ruffling their hair gently, and after ignoring them for a few moments, they calmed down completely, their tears still upon their faces.

“What I wanted to say was that we have a Ray of Life’s Rose who works within our business, and so you don’t have to worry, for we will show such respects.”

John clenched his throat tight, doing his best not to give off his surprise, though the others had betrayed their thoughts.

A Ray of Life’s Rose?

“If you’re going to be shocked by that, then this is going to go real easy,” Adam said, chuckling towards them. “Anyway, like I said, we’ll take good care of them. I suppose I’ll speak of the benefits first, just so you know what we’re offering, or… well, I have been talking a little too much already, so let me finish off what I was saying about Tork?”

Jurot glanced aside towards his brother, who had written down a quick summary and guide to what he wanted to say, and yet almost instantly had veered off course.

“Tork joined us last year, I think. That’s right, isn’t it? So much happened, I can’t exactly remember…”

“Yes, Executive,” Mork replied, though held no hard feelings, because that had happened.

“Yeah, but even so, we’ve adorned him in full plate, and wields a magical blade, gifted to him by the business. Well, it’s not exactly gifted to him exactly, we’re renting it out, for free, and after a few years, and hopefully once this Reaver business is dealt with in the next decade or so, he can keep it. Why did he receive such weapons? That’s not the question you should be asking. Pretty much all of our guards have received such fortunes, some quicker than others, and some are still waiting since they don’t use swords, and we’ve mostly made swords for the guards, but soon they’ll receive their magical weapons. Why did they all receive such weapons?” Adam looked towards John, raising his brows.

“They worked hard and were loyal,” John replied.

“Essentially, yes. Tork, Mork, and Jane, someone we didn’t bring along, each stared death in the face, and were ready to die beside me. Brother Dunes had forced his way to do such a thing last year when we came across the Orders, and King Merryweather, who my brother here clashed with so I could take my vengeance,” Adam said, giving great praise to his brother, but also battering them with such fear and anxiety, the others wondered if Adam truly wanted to hire them at all.

“Executive, please stop speaking like a noble,” Mork said.

Adam’s breath hitched in his throat, and for a moment, they could all see it. Adam was obviously hurt by the words, and Mork was glad he was a Brother and there were so many witnesses around.

I hope you enjoy this chapter of Adam being an idiot, but look! There are so many new children to spoil. Speaking of monstrous stats...