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Ding! You have discovered a new location 'Village of Tears'!
A village was laid out before the eyes of the party. There were people roaming around trading items with one another, laughing cheerfully, and some were even wrestling with each other. The unusual thing about this place was the sky and the blue light it gave off. It was not the sun or sky located outside of the mountain region before they entered into the valley, because this sun was more similar to a blue supergiant star. The only difference was that it was not nearly as hot or else this entire place would be nothing but ashes.
The village was surrounded by a beautiful forest that stretched into the distance for as far as the eye could see. The ground was not paved with any sort of roads and was just a simple mixture of dirt and patches of grass here and there. This village was much warmer than the cold temperature of the 'Valley of Death'.
One of the children in the village who was a little girl was playing with some sort of ball made out of leather and stuffed with some soft type of material. As she was kicking the ball it slowly rolled over towards Halls stopping just before his feet. Just as the little girl was going to run over and chase after it, she noticed a group of strangers that did not belong in their village. Frightened by them, she quickly ran away leaving her ball behind. The little girl darted into one of the village buildings located in the center area.
"She was probably terrified by your intimidating face! Now if we run into trouble, you'll only have yourself to blame" Scarlet said with her arms folded.
Halls scratched the side of his cheek while looking helpless. Terrified by his intimidating face? Since when was his face intimidating?
"Be on guard, we may receive an unfriendly welcome" Izroth watched as the little girl entered into one of the buildings inside of the village. It was the biggest building in the entire village so it must be an important location.
"Isolated and remote places like this aren't used to outsiders. Add on to that a name like 'Village of Tears'... It doesn't sound like a place of paradise..." Luna said giving her opinion of the situation.
Not long after the little girl went into the building, a middle-aged man hurried out. He was around 2 meters tall with a well-built body, tanned skin, black hair, light green eyes, and strange tattoos all over his body. On his back was a spear releasing a savage killing intent as though it had been soaked in the blood of various enemies.
The man spoke a few words to a group who were wrestling one another and they all stopped and turned to look in the direction of the crevice that led into the 'Valley of Death'. People had actually come from the other side?! They knew how dangerous that place was because it was a place of exile. If one of their villagers committed an unforgivable crime, they would be sent to the 'Valley of Death' as punishment and not a single one has managed to return alive.
They all straightened themselves up releasing a battle-hardened aura to show that if needed they were ready to fight at any time. The man who appeared to be the leader of the group began to walk towards Izroth and his party. Trailing right behind him were six other men who were all part of the group that was wrestling not too long ago. They all stopped around 5 meters away from the assembly of strangers. The leader of the group scrutinized the intruders from head to toe. "I am the head warrior of this village, Hajitin. State your purpose for coming here" Hajitin was on guard and ready to respond if they tried to force their way in or bring trouble.
Izroth also took the time out to observe the people before him namely, the man named Hajitin.
NPC Name: Head Warrior Hajitin (Elite)
NPC Level: 17
"We are on a journey to find the Seer that lives in the center of the mountain regions. Do you know where they are?" Izroth got straight to the point not bothering to hide anything. The bracelet had guided them to this place which meant that it was at the very least related to the quest for finding the Seer.
The moment the villagers heard that these strangers were searching for the Seer, they immediately took a hostile stance. Hajitin's face darkened as he spoke, "What business do you have with she who possesses the eyes of truth?" it looks like the villagers did indeed have some knowledge about the Seer. Maybe they even knew her current location!
"We mean you no harm. We were sent by someone who knows the Seer personally" Luna tried to soothe things over before they spiraled out of control. If they were attacked by this group of NPC's all at once they may be able to somehow manage or escape. But, it was unclear if there were more warriors in this village or not. On the off chance there was it would not be wise to agitate them for fear of being overrun with numbers alone.
"Leave! She who possesses the eyes of truth does not meet with just anyone. You must be chosen and you all lack the qualifications" Hajitin spoke in a firm tone. There were many villagers who dreamed of being able to personally visit the Seer and could not do so. How would a group of unknown outsiders possibly be able to do so?
Izroth's eyes turned cold as he stared at Hajitin. When was the last time someone told him that he lacked the qualifications to do anything? "Then what must we do in order to gain the proper qualifications...?" Izroth's hand rested on the hilt of his 'Nameless Blade'.
The current atmosphere was tense with neither of the two sides backing down from one another.
"Enough!" a voice echoed from far away. An elderly man that needed to use a cane to walk, stepped out from within the village building that Hajitin left appeared out of earlier.
"Great Elder!" all the village members immediately showed their respects giving a bow. Even Hajitin gave a slight bow to the old man as he began to approach them.
"Great Elder, these people are here to cause trouble for she who possesses the eyes of truth. We cannot allow them to remain in our village, it may bring us a disaster" Hajitin said in a serious voice.
"Disaster? Fool, do you not realize the power of the great possessor when it is right in front of your eyes?!" the Great Elder appeared to be upset at Hajitin at his way of handling things.
Hajitin was confused as to why the Great Elder spoke to him in such a manner. In fact, it was very rare to see such a kind man upset so Hajitin felt as though he did something wrong without realizing it.
"You" the Great Elder pointed to Izroth, "Where did you find that Bracelet?" he was pointing to the band of light surrounding Izroth's wrist. Most would not be able to notice that it was from the 'Strange Bracelet' in his inventory, but this old man seemed to capable of sensing it without an issue.
"We came across it after defeating one of the creatures inside of the valley and it brought us here. We've traveled far to visit the Seer and hope that you can tell us where she currently is" Izroth responded to the Great Elder getting right to the matter at hand.
The Great Elder looked as though he were in deep thought. "Hmm..." he began to turn around and walk back towards the direction of the building he exited from. "Follow me. If that bracelet has guided you to this place then it is not without purpose".
Hajitin was shocked, the Great Elder was letting complete strangers into their village! But he could not verbally express his disagreement as the Great Elder held a much higher status than him. The only person that would be able to change his mind was the village chief, however, he was currently away from the village.
"Should we follow him?" Halls said looking over at Izroth. Luna and Scarlet also glanced over at Izroth as well. Since it was his quest and he has shown leadership abilities, everyone started to naturally leave the important decision to him.
Izroth nodded his head, "We'll follow him. He knows about this bracelet and the one they call 'she who possesses the eyes of truth' is most likely the Seer Tererestiaa that we're searching for" Izroth stepped forward following after the Great Elder into the building placed at the center of the village. Halls, Luna, and Scarlet trailed behind him entering in as well.
Hajitin waved his hand as the group of warriors dispersed and went back to doing their own thing. Hajitin decided to head over and return to the building as well. It was his job as the head warrior to protect it and just in case anything went wrong he should be nearby to respond. Once he entered inside he took a seat behind the Great Elder while constantly observing Izroth and his group.
The inside of the building resembled that of a hut, but it was quite spacious in comparison to an actual hut. The walls were made from some type of wood wrapped in the hide of various animals or beast. The floor had beast fur placed all over it like carpet and that is what everyone was currently sitting on.
After giving everyone a moment to get situated the Great Elder finally opened his mouth and spoke. "I do indeed know the location of she who possesses the eyes of truth... Or the Seer as you call her" the Great Elder reached next to him and pulled out a bead about the size of a marble. It was violet in color and gave off no aura whatsoever as though it were just a regular bead.
Izroth and the party examined the bead looking for something special about it, but none of them were able to perceive anything that seemed out of place.
"This is a 'Sacred Bead' given to us by the great Seer. She once told us there would come a day when someone came searching for her. When that day comes, we are supposed to give this bead to them. I do not know its usage or purpose, but if it was given by the great Seer then it must be important" the Great Elder held out the bead towards Izroth.
When Izroth was about to reach for it the bead slowly levitated in midair and started naturally drifting in his direction. Though it wasn't actually moving towards him but rather the band of light on his wrist. When the bead came in contact with the band of light it illuminated the entire building in a soft violet hue.
Everyone was startled by the events taking place, no one knew what was going on!
The violet hue began to gather at the center of the room forming a small vortex of powerful energy. When they saw what was taking place, everyone instantly put up their guard except for the Great Elder and Hajitin. The two of them gave a deep bow as an image began to form from within the vortex.
Izroth noticed the behavior of the two and came up with a guess at what or who the image was forming in the middle of that swirling vortex of energy.
A few seconds later the face of a woman wearing blindfolds took shape within the vortex of energy. She looked pure as though she were completely untainted by the world. However, if one observed closely they would notice a look of helplessness on her face as if she were resigned to her fate.
"She who possesses the eyes of truth!" the Great Elder and Hajitin spoke at the same time in a respectful tone of voice while bowing deeply.
It was the face of the Seer Tererestiaa!