Chapter One: The Arrival

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Haralock, a grand shelter for those brave enough to journey through the mystical gateways, anyone who has been shunned by the overruling Kingdom of Zorelle, or lost travelers, looking to stay the night somewhere that isn't an abandoned cave or a bloodthirsty village.

The structure's outer walls shook lightly, as its large wooden gates opened inward to allow a carriage to enter.
The carriage seemed rickety and old, the body was made of old dark oak planks, with bits of rusty silver here and there, supposedly keeping it from falling apart. Its horse was mutated, almost half the size of the carriage it pulled, with a coat of midnight and terrifying beady grey eyes. Its mane was put in a messy braid by its handler, dragging across the dirt road as the horse slowly pulled its load. If one thought the horse was scary, they shouldn't lay an eye on the driver. It had the appearance like that of what some imagine as a wispy spirit, a body made of some kind of smoke-like substance, with round white orbs in place of its eyes, and no mouth. Dressed in oddly well-kept rags, and large black boots, splotched with mud.

The carriage slowly came to a stop in the road. The driver hopped down from his seat and opened the carriage door, allowing the passengers to step out.

A few passersby stuck around to see who they'd most likely be living with now.

An elderly man looks outside when the doors of his carriage are opened, the carriage that assisted him to begin a whole new phase in his life. Ever since he started looking for Merlin the Great Wizard, he had travelled far and even further away than he imagined.
He nodded to the driver gratefully and stood up with his head down, the carriage was to small for his large body to stand in. He closed his eyes and breathed in the fresh air. One foot went outside of the carriage and he opened his eyes to see where he would let it land.

Then he stood on the hardened earth and he felt eyes looking at him. He changed his posure and stood up straight. He looked at the small crowd in front of him and made a small bow to them as a means of respect. "Hello, it seems nice to be here," Dain spoke to them.

The whole carriage shifted as a great weight within began to move. Boards creaked as they bent under the large metal boots which rattled with numerous plates and came down with a powerful thud with each step their owner took. From the darkness of the carriages interior those outside it could see two sickly yellow lights peering out back at them. The whole carriage tilted as it's well armored passenger reached the entrance for all to see.

There stood a tall warrior clad in armor worn well with the ages. The plates were astoundingly thick and multiple parts looked like they had pieces of other armor sets pulled off and crudely nailed onto them. Chips and nicks covered the exterior of the armor, having weathered numerous battles with only a fairly basic measure of care given to their upkeep. Parts clearly had rusted away only to have additional pieces of armor strapped and/or nailed on. The great helm concealed all but their eyes, sickly yellow spheres of winding light which seemed to lay impossibly deep within the helm's darkness.

Clenched in their dominant hand and rested across their shoulders was a sizable boat anchor of ancient make. From it's size it appeared to be an anchor from a fairly large ship. One wouldn't find an anchor like this on your average fishing vessel or river ferry. It's head was just barely able to fit out the entrance of the wagon, it's wielder needing to bring it down and turn it at an angle so it could clear the opening without snagging the sides.

Having stepped down from the carriage into the town proper, their boots sinking a bit into the dirt from their sheer weight, they looked out at the gathered civilians in a brief silent still. Truly an ominous figure indeed.

"Heelloo Eeveerryybodyy" The mirthful being beneath the suit greeted the town, waving happily to them with their free hand. The voice was very definitely a woman's, one with plenty of cheer to spare. Despite her pleasant demeanor however her words did drag on at spots and rang with a certain hollowness. It was like the voice was an echo coming from deep within, plenty audible and with minimal repetition but that uncanny emptiness was still there.

She stepped forward towards the small crowd and looked about, taking in the sight of this new place as she wondered just what she was going to do now that she'd arrived.

As the small crowd gazed in awe at the new arrivals, they failed to notice the last.

A small, dwarf-like being hopped out of the carriage door, jumping up a few feet in the air before landing safely behind the ancient warrior and elderly wizard. They tried to peak around the others legs, but decided it would be better to just get somewhere higher. They leaped into the air again, only to now land on the warriors shoulders.

One of the townsfolk came up to the unlikely trio, and greeted them "Hello there, and welcome to Haralock! We've been expecting you two-" They just now noticed the oddly petite cyclops "... Three. It's a pleasure to meet you all. May I ask for your names?"

"Hello there," Dain answered. "My name is Dain Johnson, and friends can call me DJ".
He looked around at the townfolks and then saw a small person standing on the shoulders of someone that seemed to be the warrior type.

"Can you tell me some more about this place? I came here in hiding and in search of Great Wizard Merlin. I have worked for kings, for queens, for lords.. and all in hope I would find a connection to find him. I have something I desire to give the Great One."

"Certainly!" They replied cheerfully.

"Now, before I start," They took out a small, but thick and heavy book from a bag on their side "Is there anything in particular you care to know more about? Perhaps something of that Merlin you spoke of? I'm sure we may have something on that." They said, flipping through the book's pages.

"It's not just.. 'that Merlin', "Dain laughed hysterically, "He is THE Merlin, a legend..."
Dain chuckled. "Yes, please.. try and find Merlin in your book. I am curious what is in your book. It looks amazing to be honest."

Dain watched how the booked was opened and it's paged got turned with careful touch.

"Why, thank you. I actually made this myself, and wrote everything in it, and edited everything, and.. I've spent a lot of time on this." They laughed awkwardly. "Anyway," They continued to turn more and more pages.

"Merlin... Merlin..." They muttered. "..Ah! Merlin, here we go, right here." They turned their book towards you. In bold, grand writing in the top left corner of the page read the name 'Merlin the Great', with a small, semi-poorly done visual sketch of the elder wizard beneath it. The rest of the page was filled up with information of his arrival, where he had stayed, what he did, ect.

Though it couldn't be seen she smiled brightly at the fellow asking her name. She hadn't even noticed the weight of another person having hopped up upon her shoulder. She was just caught up in how happy she was to see so many new faces, many of whom she might not have to kill like the other ones. It was really quite exciting to even consider.

"My name's Gangraaenaa. It's soo nice to meeet everyybodyy!"

As though it took no effort she hefted the large anchor up off her shoulders and lazily drove it into the soil beside her greave. With her other hand she reached out to shake hands with the fellow that addressed her, not aware of how the shifting of her arm would affect the balance of the person she wasn't aware was on her pauldron at that time.

"I'm lookinng forwaard to seeing the cityyy annd making new frieenndss!"

They turned to face the large armored figure, smiling brightly as they took their hand.

"What an interesting name you have there! A beautiful one, indeed, if I may say." They complimented. "I'm sure you three are going to love it here!" They stated, their smile growing with every word.

They look up to meet the gaze of the person who was now on Gangraena's head. "And who might you be, my petite pal?"

"My name's Nora!" The cyclops replied in a soft, but energetic tone, smiling down at them.

While Dain read all information he could find about Merlin in the odd looking book, he still catched some glimpses of what had happened around him. He saw a huge female with a small being on her shoulders as they talked to the small crowd. Sometimes he nodded his head as he liked what he read the pages about Merlin the Wizard.

Then he closed the book. "Thank you for letting me read this, I am not sure wether he is around now. The last few sentences seem to be a little vaguely written?" he asked. "Also... where are we able to rest after our long trip? he asked gratefully.
He looked Gangraaenaa and Nora, "Are you in for some food too?"

"Oh, thank you!" She responded to the villagers compliments warmly, metaphorically speaking. They were all being so nice that she was sure everything was going to turn out great. She looked over to see the robed fellow speak about something she hadn't clued into yet.

"Hello there!" She waved to the bearded fellow. She canted her head to the side quizzically as she heard out his inquiries.

"Sure!" She answered back, straightening her head back up as she readied to follow along. She had no real direction to move in herself at the moment so his proposal sounded just grand.

"They were? I had no clue. I'm very sorry, I'll be sure to go back and re-write those." They apologized to Dain, a tad embarrassed. "The last I heard of him, he was preparing to journey out to the far lands in search of some magical stone or... something..."

"As for a place to stay, I would suggest Duskler's Inn, it's just down the street. Make a right on Pav. Lane, and it should be right next to the stables. Just look for the banners." They directed.

Nora's eye darted towards Dain, "Food?" They questioned as their stomach let out a growl like that of a starved dragon.