Stephen Zimmer - Crown of Vengeance

“Gallea rests along the western borders of those tribal lands. It is a large kingdom, and powerful. Avanor was once a province of that land, giving fealty to Gallea’s king, though the Unifier recognizes no sovereign. The Unifier holds His court in Avalos, the great capital city of Avanor, which lies on the western edge of Gallea.

“To the south and east, across ocean waters broken only by scattered islands, is Midragard. The people of Midragard are masters of the sea, and few can match their prowess in arms and war. They were fearsome raiders, whose terror spread far and wide. Even these lands felt the wrath of their plunderers at one time.

“It is good for all lands that strong kings began to rise among the Midragardans, and that a very good and powerful king’s influence is felt there now. He is a man of wisdom, who desires different ways for his people other than raid and plunder…

“Kiruva lies across the ocean to the east. A massive land. Many rivers… which cross through many great, grassy plains. An abundance of forested flatlands, too. It is a land whose rule I do not understand well, with many princes, and one that is recognized as a Grand Prince.

“Beyond the east of Kiruvar, across another sea, are the Shadowlands that I have spoken already to you of. There are many other lands and peoples in this wide world. Saljuka, Fahtma, the Coastal Kingdoms established in the First Holy War, the Empire of Theonia… all are in the Sun Lands to the far north. Lambar, Paleria… to the farthest west… It is even said that there are lands of great splendor and exotic ways located to the farthest east… homelands to an ancient and honorable race of men. And who knows what other lands might not yet be known of?”

For a moment, Gunther appeared to become lost in his thoughts. The mention of the far eastern lands had summoned up a mixture of emotions, the nature of which were shrouded within the mind of the woodsman. His mouth tightened, and he stared down into the cup in his hand, though Lee knew that the woodsman was not looking at the mead that remained within the drinking vessel.

When Gunther finally continued, it seemed almost as if he was talking aloud to himself. He slowly shook his head.

“At one time, I wanted to be one of the few to see those lands to the far east… I wanted to travel the Rising Sun Road. But I was held back, right on the cusp of doing so… Maybe I should have gone ahead and taken that road anyway, right from the beginning. Might have been a better path for me to take.”

The woodsman’s chest heaved with a long, slow intake of breath. “You see, to get to those far eastern lands, you would have to journey through Theonia. An empire forged of the natures of both east and west. I called Theonia home for some time, though that time is many years past. Theonia. A land I most want to return to… and a land I least want to find myself in. Creates quite a problem for me, if ever I wanted to try and go to the far east, does it not?”

A deep sadness clung to the slight, bittersweet grin that came to his face, and his voice had suddenly seemed laden with a heaviness of heart. He drew into himself further, for a few moments becoming much more distant.

Whatever the woodsman’s past contained, it was clear that Gunther still carried an open emotional wound in regards to Theonia, something that Lee quietly took to heart as he looked upon the man’s weighty, pained expression.

Gunther then looked over towards Lee, as he slowly came out of the momentary trance. His voice lightened a little. “What is done is done, but I still am fascinated with thoughts of the far east. It is hard not to be. I have heard it spoken that the lands in the far east are rich and bountiful lands… filled with a proud and wise people, with spectacular, huge cities teeming with all kinds of splendor. All manner of different and amazing creatures are said to live within those lands as well.”

Gunther paused as he continued to gaze upon Lee, as if making some sort of appraisal.

“From what few of those people that I have seen, it would seem that they are indeed akin to yourself… the hue of your skin, the angle of your eyes. I know little else of their mysterious realms, only what is said, and that is often several times removed from the few adventurers and merchants that have made the great journey on the Rising Sun Road.”

“All of it sounds fascinating,” Lee said, highly intrigued to hear of the open comparison to himself in regard to the eastern lands.

“And I have only told you of some of the lands that exist within Ave… There is the great island of the Northern Elves, the strange lands of Yanith, with its towering forests, the green bounty that is Gael, the lands to the north of Kiruva, where some titanic creatures dwell, and many, many other amazing places,” Gunther responded, with an air of reminiscence. “Ave is filled with strange and incredible sights, and a great many lands, whose call pulled me as a youth from my own homeland. Lots of absolutely enthralling places, many that I have seen, and many that I have not.”

“Lotsss offf placesss… verrry niccce… verrrry niccceee…” Ryan murmured with a dazed expression, a significant slurring to his speech.

The mead was now exhibiting a potent, highly visible effect. Ryan wavered back and forth, his eyes fluttering, before his head nodded down heavily with a noticeable thud on the trestle table. He just missed plopping his face into his largely emptied bowl of porridge, by just a few mere inches.

“I think he has had enough mead for now,” Lee quipped, unable to stop a grin from forming. The image of Ryan’s stupefied expression was emblazoned on his mind, pushing out some open laughter even though he was a little nervous as to how Gunther would react to the display.

“I believe that we are all in agreement… even him, as I do not think he will argue,” Gunther commented, looking at the youth with a glint of amusement in his eyes. “One must learn to hold their drink well!”

As if to emphasize the difference between the veteran and the youth, Gunther imbibed an extended swill of the mead, emptying his nearly full cup. Some traces of foam held onto his beard as he set the cup down. He casually reached over, grabbed the clay pitcher, and filled it up again.

“Anyone else?” Gunther queried, indicating the pitcher towards the other three remaining conscious guests.

For the first time that Lee had seen, a ray of pure, joyous mirth emerged through the smile that spread on Gunther’s face. The big woodsman rumbled with laughter and shook his head, regarding the facedown form of Ryan.

Erin and Lynn laughed heartily, though both indicated that they had taken enough mead for one night, as did Lee. The laughter finally subsided, though it had felt so pleasant, and had relieved a great amount of anxiety in seconds.

Lee smiled as he looked back to Gunther, his inquisitiveness again coming to the fore. “And you’ve traveled all over many of these lands? That is just amazing.”

“A vastness of oceans and lands,” Gunther remarked, before adding with a tint of sadness that Lee almost felt guilty for inadvertently evoking, “though I have seen quite enough of it all, and do not have any desire to explore it any further.”

The group finished their meal, sharing only a few idle bits of conversation before they finally begged leave of Gunther. The woodsman offered to help with Ryan, though Lee politely declined, as he felt that they had imposed quite enough on the man’s hospitality.

Lynn aided Lee as he worked to get their intoxicated friend to his feet, to help Ryan up the stairs so that he could lie down. Ryan groaned as he was jostled, but roused himself enough so that he was not an entirely dead weight.