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Hello everyone, this is Asclepius, with another of Mark’s fascinating tales from Vyrin.
I am also delighted to be ably assisted in this podcast by Solstar.
Background music “The Homestead”, by Smartsound

Mark’s Tales of the Unremarkable, Number 36
The Getaway

Day 274, post adventus

There’s a knock on the cottage door. Usually this would be unnerving, but I had been expecting it.

“Good to see you Devon.”

“You ready to go?”

“Always am. You see what this cottage looks like! The few things I want to keep I hide elsewhere.”

“My duties don’t allow me that sort of freedom anymore, I’m jealous.”

“Well freedom is a curious thing, there are good and bad types.”

“See this is why I wanted to bring you along. You know how to start the strangest conversations! Most of my fellow guards can barely mumble. But save it for the road. We’ve got a few days ride down to Righ Inis. We’ll take our time and get into all sorts of topics.”

“So I know you said you’ve got this cabin on the lake there, but I was thinking. How do you keep it safe since you hardly get a chance to get down there? How are you sure someone doesn’t move in or some beast doesn’t make it into a new lair, or even just tear it down.”

“Well back before I joined the guard, I’d look for adventure.”

“There’s that word again. Sometimes I think it’s used too much around here.”

“Anyway Mark, there was a young enchanter who was creating some dangerous items down in the swamp. I heard the rumors and took a few of my pals and went to stop him.”

“We traveled that bog up and down and couldn’t find his hideout. Never had so many mosquito bites in my life! The locals told us that yeah, people would come from different places and buy stuff and then go. We found the pattern of where they came and went and found the delivery guy so to speak. Well as we trailed the delivery guy, the enchanter appeared out of nowhere, placed his hands on the guy’s shoulders and walked him forward. They just disappeared.”

“Invisibility?”

“Not exactly. The delivery guy ran a pretty regular route. So we knew something was going on right at that exact spot. One time, when the enchanter appeared, my friend Astra rooted him. We were able to get him to tell us what was going on. He didn’t want to fight us, so he gave us stuff. He was rich. We made him promise to stop his little trade or next time we’d bring an army and tear down his tower.”

“Tower? Is that what was there?”

“Yeah his tower was there all along. He had created what he called a shield stone. It made anyone who looked at or approached the tower just not see it. If you try to walk toward it, you veer off around it without noticing or knowing why. Anyone he brought into the tower he had to walk forward and keep them from veering until they got past the effect.”

“Pretty handy to keep a little sanctuary for yourself down by a lake?”

“Yeah I made him switch its effect to me. My cabin won’t ever be touched, and I can always choose who I bring in.”

“I guess adventuring does have its rewards.”

“Well let’s get going, want to spend as much time on that lake as we can, fishing for dinner! Grab your pack. The horses are outside. The stable master didn’t mind loaning you a horse for some reason. Didn’t charge me!”

“Yeah, he’s a good fellow.”

“Ok, you can tell me about that on the way too.”

“Wait, I’m the one who likes to focus on other people.”

“Everyone needs a break now and then.”