Taol's Compendium of Nent

Chapter 8: Hibernus Village (Novus)

With us reaching the village, I paid for the driver with the funds that were provided to me by the Exploration Team, thanking us for bringing us all the way here from the mountain range back at Flos. With that out of the way, we shifted our attention towards the view that lied before us – it was but a quaint village which lived just close to the end of the tundra. The houses were mostly made of wood, and they were built at rather small sizes as well. I guess they didn’t want to overuse the limited amounts of wood around these parts.

Still, despite how low-profile this village looked; it did look like such a peaceful sight. It almost reminded me of my own village, actually. Knowing that it was best to stay here for a while so that we can get some information about what lied beyond this village, we decided to head out to the village inn, which had relatively cheap fees per night.

After a bit of discussion, we agreed to stay in this village for a week before leaving to the next part of our cold journey through Novus.

We settled into our room, putting our things aside and deciding to just…well, laze around and do basically nothing.

I think we were allowed this, considering how we were constantly on the move without much noticeable breaks for the past year.

Our agenda for the week was mostly exploring the tundra and making ourselves comfortable in the village – which wasn’t really all that troublesome. The tundra is not exactly a home for massive threats, and the nighttime view is absolutely stunning. Besides, it’s not like we’re being locked on some kind of time limit, so it was best to keep things slow and steady instead of having to rush things, which can put us through a great deal of stress.

Considering how we had just arrived at the village, we figured that it was best for us to familiarize ourselves to our new temporary home for the week – after spending an hour’s worth of rest in our room, we would leave the inn to go on a little bit of light sightseeing. There wasn’t much to see, sure, but we did take a fair bit of time keeping ourselves occupied for a multitude of reasons.

There was a craftsman’s shop that allowed anything to be made for a fair price, provided that you have brought your own materials. You can have some things bought in an instant, but they’re a bit on the pricier end, probably because effort had to be made on the seller’s end to provide stocks for the shop.

Either way, we gave one of the employees the wolf fur that we found from skinning those wolves that we hunted earlier, and when we asked if these could be fashioned into winter clothing which we could use, she had already said that we had provided her more than enough for the shop to work with – of course, it would take days for the clothing to be crafted, but at least it would come at a cheaper price, which I’ll take any day.

Once we provided the materials to them, we knew that we had no other reason to be here…at least for the time being. We will probably return here a day before we leave this village.

After we left, we decided to check out the local tavern – of course, according to my companion, she is a huge fan of drinking. Me? Not so much…but it wouldn’t hurt to check the place out and see what the atmosphere is like.

When we arrived at the pub, we might have arrived during more relaxed hours, because it wasn’t as wild or rowdy as I initially expected it to be – instead, it was rather calm and relaxing, actually. There were a fair number of people here, sure, some locals who lived within the village, some who came from different parts of Novus, and some from Flos, though the number of people who came from said continent was relatively low.

The soothing sound of a harp can be heard as a traveling minstrel could be seen playing his instrument while he sat on top of a soapbox – overall, the atmosphere was to die for. If this was what the air felt like when the tavern was calm, I can only imagine how the whole place must feel when it is packed with people.

This was a place that could definitely use some visiting at night.

Once we left the bar, we checked out the next place that was on our sights – it seemed to be some kind of ranch where sheep were being bred. Of course, we weren’t expecting the place to be…well, totally packed.

When we walked inside, we were suddenly and totally overwhelmed by the smell of sheep as we found almost every inch of this ranch completely filled with them. It was just nothing but ‘baas’ that can be heard all around this place…I’m surprised the owner of this ranch hasn’t gotten insane yet. There was a small store that sold anything that was made from the wool sheared from the sheep – in fact, they even sold lamb meat!

Judging by the sheer numbers of sheep being caged up in here, I can bet they do rake in a lot of money, especially from travelers…perhaps this place might be important in the coming days. But those thoughts had to come later, because I was certain that I was about to puke the longer I sniffed this horrid smell…

It was safe to assume that we quickly went out as fast as we went in.

There really was nothing else to this village after that…and honestly, we weren’t expecting much, either. It was just a quaint, little old village, and I think I’m perfectly okay with that. That being said, chances are we’ll find a lot more things to do and areas to visit once we reach Novus’s capital – I’ve heard stories about how it has a palace built entirely out of ice, now that would sound captivating!

But that would also mean that everything around it is covered in a violent cold…I guess being eye-catching is like a double-edged sword.

Of course, while there was little to do in the village, it should be worth mentioning that we’d be spending most of our time away from Hibernus anyway, with us scouring the tundra while I document whatever findings I can come across. As for Tirza, she just wanted her fair share of a hunting spree, which was something she could do completely unabated in a biome that was completely vast and open as this.

I will try to summarize our week in this village, because I personally believe it would be pointless to keep track of every last bit of detail on this journal. If I wanted to write about the trivial things that occurred during this quest, then I would be writing on a diary.

On the first day, we mostly adjusted ourselves to life on the village. Visited the buildings and so on, as mentioned earlier in the log.

On the second day, we spent most of our time in the tundra, with us leaving at dawn and returning at nightfall. There was very little to record, and this was purely because of the fact that there was little life thriving in these cold grounds, save for a few wild animals and perhaps harmless critters. Plant life was at a minimum too, save for that small forest that we sought out those wolves days ago. I assumed that was where the village got its source of wood – perhaps they have been actively taking care of it?

On the third day, we were able to get our winter clothing from the wolf pelts that we provided to the craftsman’s shop – I have to say, they certainly were pretty comfortable, and it felt like I was being surrounded by this relaxing warmth as soon as I put my fur jacket on…and it definitely made my bodysuit look great on me! I think the same can be said for my dark elf friend as well. She certainly looked more…um…pronounced.

On the fourth day, we headed back to the ranch, where we attempted to hold our stomachs as well as our breaths in order to make sure we never got even a single whiff of that disgusting sheep smell – we would get some wool gloves and socks as well as a hefty supply of lamb meat, which we will definitely need for the next few weeks once we leave the village.

On the fifth and final day, we decided to head to the tavern – we had to at least finish the week off with a bang before leaving the next day during dawn. This time, we went during peak hours, when everything was filled with hustle and bustle while the minstrel was playing a more energetic tune compared to the soft, dulcet notes that he was playing during its laxer hours. We got ourselves a table, and while Tirza went wild with the drinks, I merely restrained myself to some of the tavern’s food as well as some water – I remember tasting alcoholic drinks before back when I was way younger, and honestly, I still don’t know how people can drink that muck and say that it tastes great…even she tried to convince me to drink, but thankfully, I was able to stand firm…much to her dismay.

She was utterly sloshed pretty quickly after she had grown insanely drunk and groggy from all that drink – while we were leaving the pub, she was just constantly mumbling to herself, but as to what she was mumbling about, I wish I knew myself. It sounded near-unintelligible. I was able to set her down on the bed, and before I could set my sleeping bag down so that I could go to sleep on the floor as I have been always doing for the past four days…

…she would end up grabbing me and pulling me down to the bed, keeping me close to her as she dozed off in a matter of seconds. And goodness me, her grip was almost vicelike, with the dark elf not wanting to let go of me even despite my attempts to try and break myself free. With my hands tied, I ultimately just gave up and slept with her on that bed. It was an…awkward experience, but I tried to not pay much mind to it.

When the end of the week arrived the next day, Tirza was afflicted with a serious hangover that slightly hampered our plans to leave – by the time she managed to shake off the headache that overpowered her during dawn, we would finally make our move as we packed all of our things and supplies before checking out and leaving the inn. After talking with the village people a little on how far we currently were to the continent capital, we were on the move as we left the village.

This was going to be a journey that was about to last months…and this was because we were about to venture into one of the coldest spots in Novus. The Auris Circle.