Somewhere in the Highlands was a modest village, farmers mostly who looked after the lands around the village and some hunters, it was a peaceful little village. However, because of its location it was an easy target for bandit clans and raiders looking for supplies and food. The locals had known for years that they could at any time be the target of an attack and they had been lucky thus that that had not happened.

But that looming threat never did leave their minds, so when they had heard of a new God who had risen up and was offering a service to those who requested it. A service to train people to defend themselves and help fortify their homes to be easier to defend. Over the last month they had been sending people in groups down to the God's Fort to be taught how to fight, basic sword fighting and hand to hand to skills.

They now all had had some kind of training, and for the most part felt confident that they could defend themselves from an attack. Today was likely the final day, everyone was back home and the God himself had come to the village to help finalize things. His people were putting the finishing touches on a new main building that had solid walls and doors so that anyone who would, or could not fight could take shelter in in the event of an attack.

The smiled as he watched the work be done, Lokir stood in plain clothing with everyone else, but the way people were around him showed that he was someone important. He didn't like it, hardly, he didn't like the praise and anything else that went along with being a God. He did like helping people like these villagers, however, and that was enough to stop him from complaining to anyone about his new position in the world.

”My Lord, are you sure you cannot leave some soldiers here to protect us?” One of the leaders of the village asked.

Lokir sighed and shook his head. ”I'm sorry, but we are not a standing army, everyone you saw training at the Fort were like you, training to protect themselves. My command staff is comparably small, just myself, my training staff and support staff.” Lokir explained, again, although he was patient and wasn't upset by having to explain this point again. The leader sighed and nodding in understanding and took his leave.

Loir watched him and then looked back to the village again.

The transfer into this new land had been a rough one for the diowolf. He knew nothing of where he was, or why had been brought here.  His old life had been coming to an end, but at the last moment he had been saved.  Everything else was gone.  There was much he felt had been taken from him, but with the transfer he could not remember who or what had been taken from his memory.  Kiba wanted more and needed more if he was going to survive the sinking feeling that constantly pulled at him.  The diowolf inhaled deeply as he stood overlooking the valleys that lay before him while atop one of the peaks of a large hill.  Something needed to happen for him to feel as if he were truly back to life.  Green rolling hills stretched into the distance, at the sight felt as if it were sparking a memory in him.  He could not quite put his finger on what felt familiar, but it was enough to give him a feeling of content.  

Hand reached up to scratch the short stubble upon his face.  With the help of Kale there had been an order put back into what he could of his new life.  Knowing that he had a friend in such a strange place helped give peace as well.  Without realizing it his hand touched the giant sword that was sheathed on his back.  A gift from an 'old' friend that would allow him to stay safe.  It was quite astonishing that he had been able to retain his combat skills, even if his mind had not kept anything else.  Muscle memory was a wonderful thing. What the diowolf did not like was the lack of armor protecting his form. Until there was a job he could come up with, Kiba was stuck with his black tunic and leather pants.  Not having funds was another oddity that was going to need a solution soon.  He had the ability to hunt for his food, but there were many other necessities in the world that required some sort of coin to survive.  

Taking in a deep breath he began to walk down the hill in the direction of a village his Reztreal caught sight of earlier.  If he could sell out his skills for the time being, it would give him the chance to help others while filling his coin purse.  It was a pleasant enough day to make a short journey to the village, but what was out of the ordinary was the way the buildings had been fortified. Modest villages did not have structures like the ones that now were constructed.  Kiba let out a soft chuckle with a lift of his brow in curiosity.  There was something very interesting going on in this town.  "This could be more fun than I originally thought," he said with another laugh.  Who was funding this venture?

Upon entering the town he could see the gathering of the villagers.  As his gaze scanned over the crowd his Reztreal flared when looking at one of the people that stood in the relative center.  Kiba flinched as he squinted to refocus his sight.  The only time his Reztreal would flare in such a way was when there was a being of great power.  "A god out in this small place?  That is quite unexpected."  He licked his lips as he thought about how to approach the situation.  If a god was in a small village, than there was a high likelihood that he was the patron.  There was no plan for the diowolf to cause any issues for the villagers, but small places like this one had the tendency to not trust strangers.  The last thing he wanted to worry about was being smote before getting the chance to explain himself.  

Boots carried the man to the small gathering of villagers, and he nodded in greeting to those that were on the outside.  A few pulled away, obviously not knowing what to do with a newcomer.  Kiba made his way to the center of the group while still maintaining a healthy distance.  "Excuse me gentlemen.  I see that there are changes being made to the village, and I just wanted to announce my arrival out of politeness.  I am passing through and did not want to alarm anyone.  Would it be possible to set up lodging for the evening into the next day?"

It did not take long for the stranger to catch peoples' attentions upon his arrival. Lokir glanced over when he saw the people moving out of the way of the man until he made it closer and spoke his greeting. He was passing through and looking for a place to lodge for the night before continuing on the next day. Lokir smiled inwardly, it was very nice of the man to introduce himself, seeing that he was unknown in the village.

The God looked to the one village leader who was closest as the man eyed the stranger critically for a moment. ”We have no in and no trust of strangers, I'm sorry but,”

Lokir cleared his throat getting the man's attention, with a grin Lokir spoke. ”I understand your distrust of strangers, but would it not be prudent to at least try and get along? Not everyone who comes to visit this far will be a bandit or spy working for them, some people are just travelling.” Lokir eyed the stranger for a moment and then looked back to the elder. ”I think you can trust this one, I like his bearing, he was kind enough to present himself after all.”

The elder thought a moment and sighed and looked back to Kiba. ”My apologizes, please be welcome and we'll find you a place to sleep for the night.” With that he left to go back to his own duties.

The Tetrarch watched him go for a moment and looked back to the stranger with smile. ”Please excuse him, they aren't trusting of strangers and have been lucky for years to have no suffered a bandit attack. It's why myself and my people are here, we're working with the villagers to help them be able to protect themselves in the event of an attack. I'm Lokir, by the way.” Lokir didn't bother with his statues and title, he wasn't one to flaunt it if he could help it. He scratched his head of grey hair for as he continued. ”So, may I ask what brings you out this far aside from travel? Where are you heading?” If the stranger didn't want to answer any of that that was fine, everyone had their secrets and privacy after all.

Even without the Reztreal picking up the auras of the townspeople it was easy to see how uneasy each of them were. Kiba looked at the state of the village. Aside from the recent upgrades that had been made to the buildings…he could not see evidence of a recent attack. The diowolf lifted a curious brow as he tried to think of why they were so wary of a new comer with nothing recent to make them cautious. “Fear is always worse than reality,” he mentally reminded himself. He began to question if should try to stay the night in a village that feared something that had not come to pass yet. The potential that they would believe he was their downturn was a higher likelihood as he watched their criticizing gazes. One small girl pointed at his red eye, as it was drastically different from his normal blue one. Kiba made sure to smile and wave at her before making his way up to the central group.

Surprise did not cross his features when the answer was given by the town elder. He made sure to smile politely and nod his head in understanding. When he heard the powerful man clear his throat that was when surprise came to his face. It took much of his willpower to hold back a laugh. The powerful man spoke gracious words that Kiba appreciated greatly. Even more so, the diowolf’s suspicions had been correct. Kiba lifted his hands to show he meant no harm and tried to smile brightly. He turned to the man speaking up for him and nodded in agreement. “He speaks the truth. I am not here on the behalf of anyone, but myself.”

It was a good thing that the god was on the diowolf’s side. He was grateful to not need to sleep outside again. “Thank you, truly. I won’t take up much space and be out of your hair early in the morning.” A slight bow of his head was given before the elder left about his work once more. 

He turned his attention back to the man who stood up for him. This time he could not hold back a gentle laugh and a crooked smile. Kiba extended his hand out for a handshake before bowing his head in respect. Since the god had not used his title, the diowolf appreciated the down to earth mannerisms that were being displayed. It gave him hope for the beings of this new land. “I appreciate the help you just gave. It is cold out and the hard ground is getting tedious to sleep on as of late. There are no apologies necessary. Small villages like this are usually more superstitious and cautious, at least in my experience. I wasn’t fully expecting to get any kind of lodging…so I am in your debt for that.” Kiba continued to smile while crossing his arms over his chest.  

“My travel is actually an odd story as it were. I think if I were to speak to anyone out here, you would be the only one to understand it.” He lifted a finger and tapped his left temple to indicate the Reztreal in his eye socket. “You may not have used a title, sire, but my eye can detect power. You are a ruler of these lands. I am not from here originally. My memories are quite incoherent, but I am from another land and somehow came here. I know of no way to return. In the meantime…I plan to get to know this place. The only way I know how to do that is to travel.” Kiba shrugged and crossed his arms once more while rocking on his heels. He noticed the little girl from earlier and she did not seem as concern as before. “I have nothing else to do, so I figured traveling would keep my mind off the fact that I have relatively no memories of my past. I can do everything, even skills with a blade are honed….and you didn’t ask any of these questions,” he laughed with a slight heat to his cheeks. Kiba normally was not a talker, but Lokir was an easy entity to be around. Which was an odd concept considering the power that radiated off the man.

Lokir looked to the young man as he spoke, watching his mannerisms and body language as best he could. ”Ah, no dept owed, friend, they need to learn that don't have to be so closed to people, careful, yes, but not totally closed off to strangers.” Lokir replied with a grin as the man spoke of his travels.

Indeed as the man indicated with a tap of his finger the odd thing where his eyes should be, a thing that Lokir could feel power coming from, Lokir would have admitted curiosity towards it. But he was too kind to ask such questions outright, at least while sober. Sire? Ruler of these lands? Lokir looked puzzled for a moment but then got it, the man knew that he was speaking of a God then. He continued on, about how he wasn't from here and his memories were incoherent but he knew he was from another land and somehow ended up in these lands. He intended to travel to get to know these lands until he could figure out a way to get back to where he came from.

By the end when he laughed and some heat came to his cheeks Lokir laughed lightly as well with him. ”I would have asked anyway.” Lokir confessed with a slight shrug and a grin. ”I'm sorry about your memories, that can't be an easy thing. I will say, you aren't the only one I have heard of having such memory issues, perhaps they are related? I cannot say, and I don't mean to get your hopes up.” Lokir added at the end just in case. ”Since you figured out what am I am, I may as well at least let you know that I am the God of Strength and Courage.” He explained. ”I am no ruler of these lands, or any lands. The only place I have that could be called mine is Scarwood Fort located South of the Highlands on the North Eastern end of the Bohar Plains. The Fort, however, is open to anyone who is looking for training, be that in martial skills or magical. Many of the villagers here came to us in groups for training to defend their homes, and give them the confidence they need to do so when the time comes.” Lokir explained. ”You would be welcome there as well, friend, and if you're as good as you claim with a blade you would be welcome to help us train others, if you're interested, compensation is available for your time of course.” Lokir offered, in case Kiba wanted a way to make a living that didn't involve putting his life on the line all the time.

"I will just need to be on the cautious side.  The last thing that I want to do is cause an unnecessary stir. I do appreciate the openness you bring to these people.  It is good to see that there are those that care still."  Kiba scratched the back of his neck while giving a small grin at the leader.  As the conversation went on, the diowolf had wished he had kept his mouth shut.  A decent amount of time had passed since his last coherent conversation.  There was more travel in silence than he had wanted to admit.  Cities, towns, and villages were few and far between on his trek.  From time to time he found a village that was willing to trade him supplies for manual labor offered.  Most did not want him to linger long or have much of any kind of interaction.  That left Kiba with the heavy lifting and moving on in a rather quick manner.  

The diowolf shrugged slightly in response.  "At this point I need to take everything in stride.  If I fret too much over memories past, than I won't have the ability to build a future…whatever it may be.  I thank you for the concern.  If it is a pattern, well at least I know that it is not so rare of a case.  There could be a fix, but I shall see."  Out muscle memory habit he bowed his head slightly out of respect.  The god of Strength and Courage.  That was quite the deity.  Most of all, it impressed that the god was in person to help the small village.  It was not common for the gods to make an appearance themselves in front of mortals outside of their temples or whatnot.  Kiba was feeling more and more respect for the man that stood next to him.  

He could not hide the visible flinch of surprise at the offer to train within the god's fort.  The traveler was not sure if the god knew the honor he had just placed on a man he barely even knew.  "That is a very generous offer, sir.  Extremely generous.  It would be nice to not be on the road constantly. What do you require of your trainers?"

”Someone has to care, can't see I can't be one of them. I was trained as a knight along with all the vows, I may be released of those vows now but I still adhere to them as best I can.” He grinned. ”Hopefully they open up some more, and in truth your coming here was a good first opportunity for them. They allow my people here because of me, and they asked for our help, but you're unknown to them. Be careful, but I truly don't believe that they will give you any problems from here on out.” Lokir assured.

Lokir explained more on who he was and where he came from. ”A good line of thinking, dwelling on the past can be detrimental indeed, learn from the past, but leave the mistakes and emotions from those mistakes behind.” Lokir replied with a nod of his head own in reply to Kiba's bow, this man was very respectful that was much was easy to see.

Lokir made his offer to Kiba to come and train, or help train others. While Kiba thought that was an honour, what Lokir had offered, it was something that Lokir would offer anyone who was respectful and handy with a sword. ”To be a trainer isn't too hard. I'd have you tested by my current trainers to make sure you're up to the task with your own skills. Once you pass that, we can figure out if you'd want to take on groups to train at once or if you're more of a one on one trainer, more specialized if you will. From there you'd start training as people come in and request it, you're assigned trainees based on what they are looking for in their training. If we're overly busy you may be asked to step in to help other trainers or take on more than normal.” He thought a moment. ”That is really about it, we also train for magic as well if you have any talent in that area. Still interested?”

There was a sense of pride in what the god was doing for the people.  It was not just an obligation to receive their worship.  He genuinely cared for them, and was doing what he could to help them rely on themselves instead of another.  Kiba was impressed with the logic and the methods.  What this ascended knight was doing what the lords of the lands should be doing.  It was great to see that the people had not been forgotten by the deities even with the power that had been given to them.  "I will be careful, that you can be sure of," he said with a laugh.  Small villages that were full of fear were not safe for visitors.  What was being done now allowed this particular village the ability to grow, and even become a trading post if they got passed their fears.  

The diowolf's grin grew as the other man explained what the position would be like.  It sounded like a perfect fit for Kiba, and there was no way he would reject the position.  He had been looking for some sort of purpose while in Revaliir.  Getting his memories back was a slow process and was not entirely a given.  There was a necessity for him to move forward with his life.  "Everything you describe, sir, sounds perfect.  Whatever tests you would like me to take I am more than willing.  To have something to put my life at task for…I've been missing that.  It is getting boring to travel through the lands and not have a particular destination.  I need something more, and I enjoy helping others."  Kiba grinned almost like a happy child.  To have the direction once more was thrilling.

"How much longer do you intend to stay within the village?  Is there much more work that is needed?"

As Lokir explained more of what the position would be like he noticed the grin on Kiba's face grow larger. Good, he was hoping he would like the idea and it seemed that was true. At Kiba replied Lokir smiled, excellent! ”Wonderful! There is no rush, so whenever you wish to make your way there you'll be welcomed, even if I am not there. Uh, I will need to know you name, however.” Lokir chuckled lightly, as far as he could recall the young man hadn't introduced himself, but he could have missed it.

At the question of how long they would be here for Lokir looked back to the work being done and mulled it over. ”Today is to be the last day for us here, the villagers have had their training and I have supplied some weapons for them as well. The work should be done soon, care to go and see what we have done?” Lokir asked with a grin.

Kiba agreed and they headed over to the building that Lokir's people were working on, the central building for the village where they help meetings for the people. The outside didn't look that much different, but once inside it was easier to see what Lokir's people had done. The wall had been reinforced with heavy wood and scaffolding had been built to allow arches easier access to ports that had been cut into the walls, but also had shutters on them to keep them closed when not in use. A fire place had been built already by the locals so that was something they hadn't needed to do, a chimney was already in place, but on the roof they had added protection to it so that no one could throw something down it.

The door hinges and locking bar were of mithril, almost impossible to break unless the bandits had a seige engine capable of such power, but there weren't many that had something like that. They could barricade themselves in here for days and have no fear of anyone breaking in. ”As you can see, it would take some effort to get inside here by any attacking force. Down below in the cellar is enough pickled and dried food to last them a week or so if rationed well, and they can keep that supply fresh by adding a few more crops to their fields. There is a small armour in the back, mostly the bows for the archery points above and below, a few swords as well just in case.” Lokir explained. ”One thing we haven't managed to figure out yet is how to make the wood totally fire proof, so that threat remains. However, there is an escape tunnel that leads well away from the village just in case the worst happens.” He grinned, pleased with the work done. ”This is the first village we have helped in such a way, but I don't think it'll be the last.”

The diowolf closed his eyes in embarrassment that  he had neglected to introduce himself to the other.  Everything had unfolded in an odd way, and yet he was already being offered a prestigious position whether the god saw it that way or not.  Kiba was elated that he would be able to have some sort of purpose again, even if he could not remember his original one from before.  It was time to move forward and this seemed like an excellent way to do that.  "I apologize sincerely.  My name is Kiba Balatro.  I may not remember much of my self before, but I do have my identity to hold on to."  He offered his hand again for as an 'introductory' handshake since he had not done it correctly before.

Lokir glanced back at the work that was almost completed on the village.  The diowolf followed that gaze and took in the workers that were putting their utmost best into their projects.  Kiba could see their dedication to the vision put forth by the deity.  If the villagers could not see it yet, they would soon enough.  The location had all the potential to be a major hub of trade if they would learn to accept visitors into their ranks.  Merchants would find themselves passing through with safety, and bring their wares to sell.  If proper tariffs were put into place a lot of money could be made.  All of this depended on the villagers being open to the idea of others in their home.  He followed Lokir into the village to examine the work that had already been completed.  Some of the changes would have been subtle, but it was enough for a trained eye to notice.  

"Mithril is quite expensive," Kiba mused aloud.  His finger traced one of the door hinges while being impressed.  "You did not cut any corners, sir."  He stood up and continued to follow the deity while making the rounds.  The basis for the protection was being given, but it would be up to the villagers to keep it up to date.  With the training provided, they should be able to handle it without much issue.  "This is rather fantastical.  I am thinking this is a great service to provide to villages.  It has many different uses besides just protection.  They can keep this going themselves.  You have taught them to fish instead of just giving them one, as the saying goes.  I hope they don't squander it and are able to 'unturtle' themselves from the world.  The location is perfect for growth."