Separate adventures
After our friends split up in the last blog and all did their own thing, today we look first and foremost at Löwenzahn, who is still on the lookout for Bibiane’s horses and the rider herself. In the early afternoon, he has finally reached the first foothills of the Astral. He trudges leisurely up the gentle hills, which gradually turn into small mountains. As he enjoys the beautiful autumnal surroundings, he continues to keep a close eye out for a herd of horses that have retreated not far from Selbingen. But his first few hours are completely unsuccessful and dusk slowly sets in. As he can now only see a few metres away anyway, he ends his search for the day and sets up a small camp under a rocky outcrop. Under the shelter of the rock, he lights a campfire and gathers some more wood for carving. And so he lets the evening draw to a cosy close before his eyes finally drift shut.
Kel isn’t that far gone yet, even though his top performances of the last four hours have taken their toll on him. He kindly but firmly asks his date to give him some time to himself and bids her farewell. However, as his only other social contacts are currently in the Astral or ‘Odin’s Waters’, he doesn’t really know what to do. So after updating his diary, he gets dressed and decides to try out the local sauna. Not only does he like it in principle, but he is also convinced that his battered muscles could do with some relaxation.
Like Theo and Aldric, Juri welcomes Kel into his sauna with a cheerful grin. He has just made a fresh infusion and is about to go back into the sauna. He invites Kel to follow him, and so the two of them march into the small wooden house. The sauna is located behind a tiny anteroom, which appears to be a ticket office, changing room and relaxation room all in one. Kel carefully follows the broad man, who has difficulty squeezing through the narrow sauna door. Heat hits his face and he lets himself fall onto one of the wooden benches with a groan of pleasure. Juri and Kel sit next to each other in silence, enjoying the heat, until a completely sweaty Kel can take no more. He says goodbye to Yuri, but he no longer understands the world. Of course Kel has to enjoy several rounds in the sauna, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to relax properly. He should swim a short lap in the lake and then take a short rest in front of the building, then he could easily do a few more laps. As Kel doesn’t have any other friends at the moment anyway, he quickly agrees and spends the next few hours doing one round of the sauna after another with Juri.
Aldric and Theo are not that cosy. After all, they still have to think about how to get one over on Aki, and first they have to find Odin’s brother. But that turns out to be easier than they thought, as loud axe blows resound through the forest outside Odin’s mead factory. The two stroll through the forest and discover a small, almost goblin-like man beating a tree trunk with his axe like a berserker. Aldric cautiously asks whether they have just met Aki here. He looks up with a wild expression and Aki croaks out a ‘Yes, of course’ in an unrivalled, shrill and absolutely terrifying voice. But unfortunately, Aki’s voice is only the second worst thing about the little man. Like a waterfall, he begins to babble at our friends, paying absolutely no attention to whether his words might be of interest to any living creature.
Aki now makes it much easier for Theo and Aldric to come up with a variety of pranks, some of which are more along the lines of murder and manslaughter. However, they actually think it would be a much funnier prank if they could convince Aki to make up with Odin. Besides, if the two brothers actually do bury the hatchet, they’ll have a big bone to pick with both of them, and who knows when they might need a woodcutter/carpenter or a mead maker.
Aki is quickly convinced of this plan and marches quickly towards his brother’s house. While Aldric hurries after the little man, his little partner secretly disappears and sneaks back to Aki’s hut. He carefully opens the door of the woodcutter’s hut and is astonished when he enters. Countless small wooden figures stand on every open space in the hut, forming little still lifes. Without really having the training to interpret such things, Theo nevertheless concludes that poor Aki must have suffered a lot from his loneliness. But there is no more time for interpretation if his disappearance is to remain undiscovered.
Just as they are climbing the stairs to Odin’s front door, Theo rejoins Aldric, who looks at him questioningly. But there’s no time to talk about Theo’s discovery, and besides, Aki was already banging on the wooden door anyway. Odin calmly opens his door, sees Aki and blood immediately rushes to his head. ‘What’s he doing here?’ is his legitimate question. Aldric explains that it’s much nicer to bring a family back together than to deepen the rift. Theo jumps to Aldric’s side and explains to Odin how lonely Aki has been without his big brother. Aki looks round at Theo in surprise for a moment, but is then pulled into his big brother’s arms. Our two friends look at each other contentedly and explain that they’d better leave the brothers alone now. All they need to do is get the Met cart so that they can drive it to Yuri. Even though this has ruined the mood a little, Odin briefly explains where they can find the cart and turns his attention back to his brother.
With the cart and a really good feeling, Aldric and Theo head back to Selbingen and Juri. Once there, they are amazed to see a naked Juri and a naked Kel Tuh Las waving happily at them from the small bench in front of the sauna. But you won’t find out how this story continues and whether Löwenzahn can pick up Bibiane’s trail in the Astral until next time in Arkanthia Pen and Paper.
