"What about the gods?" Hyunti asked.
He was young and full of questions. Vegor had indulged him for a while but was growing tired of it. He looked down at his engraved staff as they walked. The images on the staff were of a teacher walking with his student to the Tree of Time. Not dissimilar to his current situation, though he didn't wish to be seen as Hyunti's or anyone's teacher.
"The gods are just beings like us. Just with more power. We do not owe them anything, just as they do not owe us anything. If people worship it is to gain status, or power, or to feel better in themself," the old woodsman replied.
"You speak like you know much of this," piped in Aegan. His armoured boots crunched the dried leaves on their path with musical precision as he marched. "The gods are mysterious. As are the origins of mortals. Who are you to say what the gods are."
Zethura was silent, though Vegor knew she too would have an opinion, she was not one to share them often. Instead she hid deeper in her cloak as she walked. The strange symbols on her garb seeming to shift slightly as Vegor watched. Wizard robes for sure though he did not know their origin beyond that.
"What do you think of it then Hyunti?" Vegor asked, trying to avoid the role of mentor as much as he could.
"I know enough from listening to you that I know very little of anything. If I'm to learn I need to see more of the world," the young tracker replied.
"Good enough," Aegan said. "Such a journey will only add to all our educations I think."
The four of them had travelled far already. The road west to the valley of four rivers was not travelled by the meek. It was a lawless land. Brigands, wild animals and worse infested the area like plague rats. Already they had called upon Aegan's martial might to slay a mountain wolf and Zethura's magic to deceive and avoid a band of goblin raiders. Vegor was usually at home in the wilds of nature but this was not a place he could feel comfortable.
It was not quite a forest, more a scrubland, but still it was hard to see further than a few dozen paces. There had been a great trade road here once but not it was so overgrown it would be missed if not expressly sought out. Every so often a near intact paving stone would be seen, an artifact to an age when the Valley of Four Rivers was the most prosperous kingdom in the known world. These days nobody from the Eastern Kingdoms even knew if people still lived in the valley. Which made the news they had received a week ago all the more surprising.
A letter had come to the town. Vegor had been out hunting when Hyunti had found him, saying that heroes were being summoned by the Arch Mage. It was like something out of a fairy tale. The Arch Mage of the Valley. But there was the seal, the magical ink, and the messenger, a construct made of clay that broke down into dust hours after their journey had ended.
The letter announced that heroes were required by the Arch Mage and that they would be rewarded with a fortune in gold and magic. Vegor hadn't intended on answering the call, but many in the town talked him into it. He had long served the town of Kirin as a hunter, a woodsman and a healer. He knew how to travel wild roads and where to find food and water in strange lands. He was an obvious choice to go, or so they said.
Aegan was younger the Vegor but still experienced. He had served as a watcher and was well known to be the best swordsman in the county. He was quick to volunteer.
Zethura had been born in the town but in strange circumstances. Her mother was a traveler. A renowned mystic who told farmers their fortunes and would appear every few years. When Zethura was born her mother did not survive and the other travelers would not take her. So Zethura was raised by the town, as were other orphans. But Vegor knew that she was her mother's daughter despite the tragedy. Zethura had left the town years ago and returned hours before the letter arrived. She never spoke, only stood with Aegan after he volunteered himself.
Hyunti was the last. He was a promising boy, nearly a man, and Vegor was not surprised when he volunteered although many in the town objected. The Arch Mage had asked for heroes. Would Hyunti live up to their standards. Hyunti was a hunter and tracker and Vegor had trained him in part but it was the boy's skill with a bow that was most notable. It was that skill, along with his endless enthusiasm that convinced the town to accept him.
And so the party was formed.
Vegor was not certain yet what they would find in the Valley of Four Rivers but he was intent on finding out why he was summoned. As indeed were his companions.
