Loid spent the night in Nura's enormous house that night, more like a mansion, it turned out that that enormous building Loid saw on the way into Norton was entirely Nura's. Loid didn't even remember entering the building as he had spent the whole night in the tavern with Nura. Eating, drinking and being generally merry with the town's folk. One conversation stuck out quite well; Loid vaguely remembered having a prolonged conversation with the town's smith. From what Loid could remember, the smith was very interested in Loid's rusty old dagger he had kept with him all this time and that he should drop by at some point for him to have a proper look. The night he spent in Nura's mansion was also quite strange. He was perplexed as to why she was the only one to live in such a colossal building. Where were her parents? In fact, the other person Loid saw when he entered the building was the singular housekeeper, a delightful older lady whose singular purpose was to care for the building and to help drunk visitors that Nura drags back apparently.
When Loid woke up he found himself in a large bedroom, the first thing he noticed was the immensity of the sunlight beaming through the gap in the curtains. This alone reminded Loid of the night before and forced a quiet grunt out of him. It was however morning so Loid decided to get out of the bed he found himself in and head out, maybe he could navigate it's huge building and find Nura, or maybe he would just head out of the house and explore the town. It did not take long for Loid to grab his stuff and enter the hall. He didn't want to overstay his welcome, staying in somebody else's extremely high-class house and all. Down the hall he noticed all of the ancient looking paintings and pictures that adorned the wall, one was of a young girl in a white robe holding a blade that looked similar to Amora. Loid didn't think much of the paintings. What he did think much of was the large oak door at the very bottom of the hallway. It was clearly old and had large thick iron hinges, it looked extremely heavy duty for a random door in an aging building. Then he noticed the ornate iron door handle with a large keyhole just under it. Loid didn't know the way out of the building, he thought this may have been a back door, or at least something that potentially led out of the mansion. With this in mind he reached for the handle.
"I wouldn't touch that if I were you." said Nura with an air of mischief to her words.
Loid pulled his hand away abruptly and turned to see Nura leaning on one of the cabinets in the hallway. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be nosey or go somewhere I wasn't meant to, I just wanted some fresh air," Loid said guiltily not knowing if he was intruding on something.
Nura smiled "No it's fine, it's just that handle is enchanted so that if anyone other than me touches it, it will burn your hand clean off."
Loid very quickly pulled away from the door and replied, "Strange thing to have in a house, someone could get hurt."
"Better than somebody getting in that room," Nura replied, "That is the armoury my father left me, it has some extremely dangerous weapons stored inside."
"You have an armoury?" Loid enquired.
"Indeed, I do," Nura answered promptly, "follow me and I'll show you the way out, it's quite easy to get lost in here if you don't know where you're going"
Loid followed Nura through the seemingly endless maze of endless hallways till they got to the lobby of this oversized building, well Loid would call it a lobby. It was a huge room with two large staircases spiralling down on either side segregating the two floors, from the bottom you could see both floors all held up with intricately decorated marble pillars. Nura however, being that of high class, only saw this as a well decorated porch. Loid didn't realize the extent of Nura's wealth and didn't really think about it when he entered the night before. Loid remembered before he met Nura on his travels that he would try to stay away from those with wealth as they tended to not be the nicest people in Potentia although he had no reason to be suspicious of Nura he decided to continue airing on the side of caution until he knew her better. As they finally gotten to the end of the huge lobby Loid was yet again reminded by Nura's questionable choice in housing when he saw the colossal wooden double doors that led into the centre of Norton, he gave in and finally decided to pry a little into Nura's quite obviously interesting and convoluted back story. "So, um, I may be prying a little bit, but why is it you have such a huge mansion all to yourself."
Nura had just begun to open the large doors and was taken a bit of guard by the question, "I suppose I might as well tell you a little about myself being that we will be traveling for a while…"
Loid had completely forgotten that he agreed to follow this random woman into the wild blue yonder searching for who knows what, he decided to put that oddity on the shelf for the time being and he let Nura continue.
"This mansion as you call it, isn't all mine, it is actually my father's. He spends all his time with the town's militia, so he is never home. That's why I have a big ass armoury in the centre of my house. He collected a lot of weapons and dangerous artifacts in his time and has hoarded and hidden them away, probably for the best there's even a Wonder of Man stored in there." she stopped suddenly and wore a face of silent sadness.
"You have another Wonder of Man stashed away in that armoury?" Loid asked inquisitively.
"Yeah I do," Nura replied quietly, "but that particular Wonder of Man is a nasty, horrid thing that should never see the light of day again."
"Oh, that's a shame, I'd love to see it and maybe even one day wield a Wonder of Man like you do." Loid was very interested in the Wonders of Man after Nura suggested the idea that they may be the reason he started this journey in the first place.
"Sure. Fine. Maybe we can find something on our travels but not that one, never that one… Besides it takes much more than wanting a Wonder of Man to wield one, when I first used Amora it nearly killed me. The Wonders of Man act just like people and you can't just control people." Nura explained while closing the large wooden doors and signalling Loid to follow her towards Norton's main street.
"I didn't realize there was so much to it." Loid said trying to pull as much information from Nura as possible.
"Indeed, you quite literally need to make an agreement with it, like a partnership or a contract. That's where my theory that they are alive comes from, or at least that is how I can use Amora. I do not control it, we work together." Nura exclaimed.
They had reached the main street by this point and even though it was early the street was already busy, bustling with all sorts of people, soldiers and guards that were shopping for provisions for their patrols around the town. There were also the local farmers preparing to tend to the fields and just normal folk doing some morning shopping. Loid thought it an extraordinary sight that Norton acted like a kind and condensed community that worked together for the common good of everyone. Most towns of similar scale in Potentia acted more like anarchist slums where the poor were exploited to better the rich. Loid supposed this was one of the benefits of being so close to the outskirts of Potentia.
"You said you wanted to visit Gerold last night, didn't you? Is that our first stop?" asked Nura, paying more attention to the fresh baked goods in one of the store fronts.
"Who?" Loid replied confused, it wasn't like he knew the people of Norton on a name-to-name basis.
"Gerold, our town Smith, the guy you spoke to last night in the tavern." Nura confirmed.
"Oh yeah, he was really interested in my rusted old short sword for some reason, I never got his name." Loid didn't know whether to feel guilty for not recognizing the man by name.
"Sorry," Nura apologized, "I forgot you're not local, you said you were from the far west didn't you?"
"Lovely part of Potentia, very rural, not many folks out there at all." Loid said reassuringly, thinking he was the one who should apologize.
"The joke being that it is a lovely part of Potentia because there none around to cause trouble," Nura responded with an air of amusement in her voice.
"Exactly," Loid continued "None to cause trouble, none to become obsessed with power, no snobs from the capital that are all smug and probably hide some twisted secret. I kind of miss it, but this place is nice from what I've seen."
"Norton is one of the rare communities that is quite segregated from other populated areas of Potentia, and we are self-sufficient enough to not really on much trade, that's what usually brings the trouble from the capital." Nura explained while directing Loid to what he thought was the smith shop.
"It really is a shame that this country is so messed up," Loid exclaimed, "It sure would be nice if everywhere was more like this."
They walked up to a quaint little corner shop towards the end of the main street. It was a moderate sized building with a curving sloped roof made of dark grey shale tiles. The building was just as old as the other buildings in Norton except this one seemed to be more maintained than the other buildings. Maybe Gerold the smith had some masonry skills as well. The front of the building was adorned with a large window and inside just seemed like a normal home. The only thing that gave it away was an old beat-up anvil sitting outside and a sign with a large hammer on it. With Nura leading the way they walked downwards down a cracked and beat up stone staircase that led downwards to a large door with an old-fashioned door knocker forged from a horseshoe. Loid though it was strange that when he was walking towards the building that the tall stone chimney towering above the building did not have any smoke coming out of it, typically the first thing a Smith would do in the morning is start the forge. While distracted with this thought, Nura used the horseshoe knocker and smacked the door a few times. No response. After a few seconds she gave the door another loud knock and waited.
"Is he not home?" Loid asked, wondering why Nura was bashing the door so violently.
"Oh, he's home alright, he just goes a bit overboard when he goes drinking at the tavern. Poor man is most likely waking up with one hell of a headache," Nura explained and after another short wait Gerold finally got to the door and opened it. The man looked awful; it was like he was dragged through a field of cactus.
"Late start again Gerold?" Nura asked with a mischievous grin on her face.
"Urgg," he grunted, "How can I help you young folks this morning?"
Loid stepped up from behind Nura and pulled out his disgruntled short sword, "You said you wanted to access my sword last night."
The man looked confused for a long moment, and he looked like he was thinking really hard for what Loid thought was a relatively simple request.
"You really need to cut down on that ale," proclaimed Nura looking at this large man as if he should know better.
"I know but what would be the fun in that," He smiled and let the two in. The stairs continued down into a large smiting area, the forge on the far side of the room located under the chimney, it hadn't been lit yet, which explained why there was no smoke coming from the tall chimney. As a result, it left the large room quite cold. In the middle of the room was a small pool of oil, most likely used to quench weapons and tools that had been freshly forged to harden them. On the left wall a quaint table and chairs which Gerold directed Nura and Loid to sit down. And on the right wall next to the forge was a large metal anvil. The room was oddly organized as well, all of the smiting tools pleased neatly on the wall and everything else was put neatly in its place.
"Get yourself comfortable, I'll go start the forge for some heat and make some tea, I think we could all use it after last night," Gerold walked over to the forge and placed some timber and coal in the large opening that made the front of the forge then using some straw and a fire starter he lit a small fire and chucked it in the opening and shut forge. You could see the faint glow and coals started burning in the forge. He then climbed the stairs on the other side of the room and entered the kitchen. Loid and Nura took the time to get comfortable on the table to the side of the room and waited for Gerold to come back.
Loid decided to take the time to retrieve some more information from Nura, "So this big journey we are going to go on, do you know exactly where we are heading."
"Not exactly no, I know it is north and I know the sort of thing we are looking for." she explained.
"Pray tell, you have convinced me to come with you after all, what are we looking for?" Loid asked with an interested look.
"As I said in the tavern, I intend to find where the wonders of man were first made. From my research I found some potential locations of some settlements that the Ancients left behind. From what I've gathered we would be looking for an expansive underground settlement or maybe a city left behind by the ancients who made the Wonders." Nura took the time to let that sink in for a moment. Then continued "I don't know why, or how but if we're going to find any information as to why Amora is calling to us, we need to go where it all started and work our way from there."
She then said with a hint of sadness to her voice, "If I'm being honest, I have no idea what Amora wants from us. I've only ever spoken to her once, when I first picked her up. I was around ten years old, and I made a contract with her in exchange for her power, she never told me the terms of the contract or spoke a single word to me again in the 10 years since. The best I can do is meditate with her like my mother once did and all I get from it is faint visions. It's really not a lot to go on." Nura sighed.
Before Loid could respond in any meaningful way Gerold came barrelling down the stairs with three large mugs of piping hot tea on a plate, it also looked like he sorted himself out a little since he left and looked a lot better for it. He grabbed a seat next to the couple and dropped Loid and Nura's mugs of tea in front of them with the hand you would expect from a hard-working blacksmith. Nura grasped the mug and blew on it gently before taking a sip. Loid was a little bit more hesitant, being out in the country for so long the mug of tea seemed a lot warmer than it actually was, either way he gave in and took a sip as well. It was a surprisingly delicious brew, rich in flavour and had an odd sweetness to it. Perks of having locally sourced herbs and leaf Loid presumed while enjoying a larger sip, the incredible flavour made the heat tolerable, and Loid ended up quite enjoying it.
"So… this sword, pull it out and let me have a good look at it." Loid pulled the sword out from the bag and placed it carefully on the table in front of Gerold. Loid had forgotten how destroyed the thing was, all cracked and damaged but Loid always had it on him. For as long as he could remember he was always attached to it. In Fact, he couldn't remember a time where he didn't have it on him. Of all of the things to bring with you on a long journey, it didn't even make a very good weapon or deterrent. He had originally intended for it to be used as an intimidation tactic if he ever got in trouble, but he now realized that it would never have intimidated anyone in its condition. Either way he felt oddly attached to it. Gerold picked up the weapon and studied it closely. After a close optical inspection of the blade Gerold took the sword to a different table on the same wall. It was what could be best described as an inspection table, maybe quality control for the projects he had going for customers in the town. The table had a magnifying glass looking contraption cobbled together and clamped onto the table, it was simple yet effective and looked to be a tool made by Gerold himself.
"What do you think he's doing over there?" Loid asked Nura in an almost whisper as to not disturb Gerold. He hoped she would have more information, but she looked as perplexed as Loid did.
Nura took a couple more sips from her tea, which was now temperate enough to drink normally and replied, "I don't really know, but Gerold is unique in his identification skills, he may even be able to tell you about some information on the weapons provenance."
After another short wait, giving Loid and Nura some time to enjoy their tea Gerold came back to the table and sat down. "It's a very interesting weapon as I thought from the brief exposure I had from it in the tavern. Tell me Loid to your knowledge, do you know where the other half of the blade is?"
"The other half?" asked Loid.
"I take it you don't know, interesting. The blade on this sword has been broken in half, it is as you say, incomplete. It also emits a particularly strange energy, it's very faint but I've never seen anything like it before, definitely something that could easily be missed. The most interesting thing about it is its age." Gerold explained while carefully placing the blade back on the table.
Curious, Loid asked about it, "How old is it then, also strange energy?"
"I would say around nine-hundred or so, it's old, it would put it around the same time the ancients, the people who made the Wonders of Man, disappeared from the face of Potentia. Its energy doesn't resemble anything of that time though. The only weapons from that time that hold any energy like this are the Wonders of Man. The thing is, if you had a Wonder you would know it, weapons like that bind to your soul and create a partnership like Amora with Nura. It's very strange, maybe you can find someone else who can tell you some more, but that's all I've got," Gerold finished his explanation with a large gulp from his tea.
"I didn't think it was that special?" exclaimed Loid.
"I'm sorry to say but it isn't really, more of a museum piece. It may have been something once but no more, anything special about it was lost when it was broken in half." Gerold confirmed.
"Now if you're talking about something special…" Gerold looked with a hint of envy at Nura, "You could let me have a poke at that sword there, Amora you call it, it would make a fine addition to my collection.
Nura snarled at this, "If I've told you once I've told you a million times Amora is for my hands only."
Gerold smiled and took another large gulp of tea, "I know, it's just truly amazing how you a ten-year-old girl could wield a Wonder of Man."
"Well, I suppose we better be off," Nura exclaimed while drinking the remaining last few sips of her tea. Loid heard this and rushed to finish his as well. "Thank You for the tea."
"One last thing before you go, I heard you say you were heading north to find the origins of the Wonders of Man." he said calmly.
"Yes we are," said Nura, a little irritated that Gerold had been listening in on her conversation with Loid.
"I hear things from people you know, the people who have travelled there. None of them have come back the same, they say strange things. Things about nightmares and horrors. Be careful."
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Nura and Loid travelled back to the main street, it was much busier now that it was a bit later in the day, plenty of townsfolk enjoying their day and living their life. It was strange but after only a day Loid felt as if he were sort of settled in Norton, it was the first time he had ever felt like he was in and communicating with a proper community of people. Most people were very much in it for themselves, one upping and fighting over small disputes and problems. In Fact, most people acted like barbarians, or at least that's how Loid saw it. The people in Norto