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Exhausted, Merigon lay down on the bed he made out a few leaves he found in the forest. He hoped the leaves of the cherry tree, under which his bed was located, would stop most of the rain.

Closing his eyes, he let the events of the past two days pass again in his head.

He had arrived the previous day in the town of Trolls Bane, bringing nothing with him except a handful of copper coins and a few seeds. Gathering a few fruits and in the forest, which he sold to a lady who surely was of noble birth, he had acquired a fishing rod and a cow!

He could still hardly grasp what happened, a fortune lost within a few minutes.

The night before he was out fishing, happy over the large amount of fish he caught, and he was sure he had met the requirements to start a new life. When dawn broke, he acquired a few seeds of grain and immediately planted them like his father had taught him. A few hours later, as the seeds had grown into full plants, he harvested them with his old and damaged sickle. As he harvested all of the grain, he assembled the ears on a single spot and treated them with a flail for a few hours until the husk had been seperated from the grain.

He was happy this morning, still believing in a new beginning.

Planting the grain he had acquired, he soon had the field covered with grain seedlings. He wished he knew more about farming, just like his father. Maybe, he wouldn't have needed as much seeds if he did.

Opening his eyes again, he longed into his trousers and noticed the smell of cow on his clothing. The smell hurt his soul like a dagger in his heart. Pulling a small amount of grain out of his trousers, he clenched his hand around the seeds, fearing to loose them. He pulled the fist closer to his face, as if he was guarding his life. He knew he could start anew again, he had confidence. He remembered his father saying that confidence was the only thing simple people like them had, and he knew it was true. His memories drifted to the events of the day again...

The second harvest took much longer then the first, as it was much bigger. This time, he wanted to ground the grain into flour, as it would sell, he was sure of that. He tied the ears to his cow and headed back to Trolls Bane. A few conversations later, he learned of the location of the millstone and headed towards it. After he had beaten the first bundle of ears into grain, he grounded the grain and put the flour on his cape, which he had lain on the ground. He was satisfied with his work, the grain was quite easy to ground with the help of the millstone.

He was deeply involved with his work, so deep that he didn't notice the orc sneaking up to his cow.

Now that he was thinking about it, he should look over his shoulder more often, he hoped that he would remember to do so.

The orc snorted at the cow in some unknown language and he finally noticed the orc. Oh, his father had warned him of the likes of the orc, brutish and a danger to any honest farmer! The orc drew his daggers and approached him, and he decided to run. He wondered if fighting would have changed anything. Screaming for help and the guards, he reached the town gate, where a courageous smelter faced the orc, who was in the process of stealing his cow, his most treasured possession! Trying to save his cow, the smelter had even tried to splash the liquid iron in his hands at the orc, though he had failed. The brute creature had wounded the smelter, and he, foolish and egoistic, didn't even try to aim him!

He opened his eyes again, feeling guilty. He hoped the smelter had survived the encounter. Closing his eyes, he continued to think about the events that occured since afternoon.

The orc had escaped him, he had lost him east of Trolls Bane. A dwarf, whom he encountered on the chase offered him his help, and led him to a friend of his, whom he introduced as a skilled fighter. The fighter told him to get back to Trolls Bane with him, where he would gather his weapons and pursue the orc. As they were done, they headed to Varshikar. Oh, what a fool had he been to suggest the orc was heading towards Varshikar, he hoped that he would try to get rid of the cow there.

Inhaling deeply, he clenched his fist around the seeds even harder. If only he had followed the orc and regained his possessions. At least he was back in Trolls Bane, and alive. He would get back to his work tomorrow, he was confident of that. His fathers words came back into his mind as sleep embraced him....

Practically stumbling into the stranger, Fianna quickly apologizes. "I don't know what is the matter with me lately." Laughing at her own clumsiness and disregarding the faint smell of cow coming from his clothes, she reaches out a hand to shake his. "My name is Fianna ... Heneghan." She adds her last name almost as an afterthought, rubbing a hand over her weary eyes.

Listening quietly to Merigon's tale of recent hardships, Fianna's hand frequently finds its way to her forehead, rubbing gently to ease the near constant ache in her head. "Sure let's have a look inside." She steps into the empty market and throws open her depot, the contents practically bursting out onto the floor, and offers him a few meagre things. "Sure we farmers have to stick together."

He mutters to himself as he leaves and Fianna can just pick out the frustrated tone and a few words about a cow. Her curiosity getting the better of her, she follows to the stables, gearing herself for an argument, though as she arrives at the stables, she finds the argument has started without her.

Pleased, he sat down on a stone and carefully examined the field, which was covered with onion seedlings. He felt better now, his fate had done a sudden turnaround. The sun was still high on the firmament, and dusk was still a few hours away.

All had started with him meeting a kind woman, Fianna, who had given him enough money to start again after the orc had stolen all his belongings. Furthermore, she even had given him a handful of onion seeds.

Watching the onions in front of him grow, he felt mystified by the wonder of nature. The few onion seed from Fianna had allowed him to grow more and more plants through careful harvesting, some of which he kept for sale, others which he used to plant more onions. Fianna's words still rang in his ears, reminding him of keeping half of the harvest for planting anew. It seemed to him that onions were quite in demand, for several persons had been more then glad to buy his onions from him. His thoughts drifted to his first travels around Gorbiath.

After he learned about Varshikar, the desert city, he had decided to travel there and try his luck selling vegetables and fruits, as he expected that they would not grow in such a climate. Before he headed to Varshikar, he had acquired an axe for thirty coppers, a price he now could afford due to his sale of onions. Out in the wilderness, he had started to collect wood, though he felt too weak to try himself on the bigger trees.

A sound in the hedge next to him drew him out of his daydream. Half expecting an orc, he longed for the sickle on his belt. He knew he would not stand any chance against an orc, but this time he would try to defend himself before running away. He looked around, and saw a rabbit. Relieved, he inhaled deeply and looked back at the field and his new cow. He felt that he should give it a name somewhen, when he had more time to think.

He was proud that the cow was laden with bags, one filled with vegetables, another one with herbs and the last one contained several tools he required for farming. His sickle and flail being tied to the cow's back, he went over to it and put the sacks and the tools on the ground. He wouldn't need to transport them in the next few hours anyway and could give the cow some rest. Going back to the stone, he thought about his travel to Varshikar again.

The way to Varshikar was long and hard, he had even seen a few wild dogs in the woods. Carefully he had avoided them and continued to follow the signposts pointing to Varshikar.

Varshikar had been totally different from what he expected, it was a nice and blooming town, except the arrogance of the populace he encountered. A few of them had been nice, though some obviously had some feeling of superiority. His father had warned him of the likes of them, mages, who could destroy a whole town with a single word. He distrusted them from the second he met the two who were practicing spells in the wilderness. Power corrupts, he was convinced of the truth of that saying. A mage could be going out of his way to be helpful, the only thing restraining him from abusing his power were other, more powerful mages. Though he felt somewhat attracted by the thought of achieving all his aims through words, he decided to stay away from magic, as it would only corrupt him.

After straying around in Varshikar, he found a field where he immediately started to plant onions. A mistake, as he later found out. A stranger approached him that in Varshikar he would need a trader's license in order to plant, and that he should see a certain Gryphius for that. He notified the stranger that he would contact this person the next time he visited Varshikar, and made a mental note for himself to do so once he returned to that place. Gathering the onions and seeds, he loaded his things on his cow and headed back for Troll's Bane.

Now, sitting on the rock next to the field again, he thought about his life. He was sure that if he had stayed in Varshikar and would have attempted to become a mage, he would have been corrupted by the power. He felt human, realizing his flaws. He longed into the purse which hung from his neck and pulled the contents out. Eagerly, he counted the various coins. Nine silver coins and around fifty coppers. His eyes widened as he realized he had already acquired a small fortune. Looking around, he realized what he needed to do. Walking over to a nearby tree, he dug a small hole with his hands and buried the silver coins in it. At least the money would be safe there for now, safer then with him.

Looking into the sky, he became aware of the light fading. He would need to find a place to sleep. After he considered all options, he came to the conclusion that it would be best if he headed back to Troll's Bane and paid for a bed. The next day, he would attempt to sell his goods. His father would have been proud of him.