Chapter 486: Friends Old and New
"Thank you, Georg," Ashlynn said warmly, nodding in acknowledgement as Ollie led her toward the village gate. As much as she wanted to linger for proper greetings, the witchcraft she’d used in the carriage would provide temporary relief at best, and more than anything, she wanted to settle into a comfortable chair by a warm fire with a hot meal. Once she had soaked in the rich, tenacious energy of the forest around the village, she would be better company for everyone who had come to meet her here.
As she walked alongside Ollie, Orava Village spread before them like a memory from another time, a relic of the years when Nyrielle had been forced to reconquer the Vale of Mists after Cellach Lothian’s soldiers and the Church’s Inquisitors burned most of the Vale’s settlements to the ground.
Surrounding the village, a high wooden palisade wall rose against the backdrop of stunted pines, its timbers weathered to a silvery-gray that looked like the weathered bones of the mountain in the pale autumn sunlight. These days, the wall stood not as much for protection as tradition, a reminder of harsher times when refugees fleeing Lothian territories would arrive at these gates seeking safety before they continued their flight across the mountains.
When Ollie escorted Ashlynn through the main gate, she noticed the well-worn grooves in the ground where the gates swung wide to admit both people on foot and wagons packed with people and goods, evidence of generations who had passed through these same gates.
Generations ago, in the years after Nyrielle’s victory over the Lothians, much of the traffic came from people returning to the Vale after being driven from their homes. Though the village hadn’t welcomed such refugees in many decades, Ashlynn hoped that Orava village would soon play host to the descendants of those refugees who might finally make the pilgrimage back to the homeland of their ancestors.
Whether they came to visit or to resettle, Ashlynn didn’t care, though she hoped that more people would choose to make their homes in the Vale after seeing what it would become in the years to come. For now, however, as long as more people found a reason to cross the mountains and visit their corner of the Eldritch world, Ashlynn would be happy.
"There’s a longhouse that’s reserved for guests and visitors," Ollie explained, gesturing toward one of the structures that dominated the village interior. Each longhouse rose tall against the crisp autumn sky, built to accommodate the larger frames of bear-like clan members who preferred communal living. The structures formed a loose circle around a central gathering space, and beside each stood garden plots now largely dormant in the late-autumn chill. Only a few hardy greens and root vegetables remained, most covered with cloths to protect them from early frosts.
"I hope you don’t mind, my lady," he added a touch awkwardly as they approached the worn, aging structure that stood slightly apart from the others in the village. "I brought some comforts from the castle, but the guesthouse mostly serves as a stopover for traders crossing the High Pass during the summer. It, it may not be up to your standards," he apologized, worried that she would feel somehow slighted by the humble interior of the long house once they arrived.
"Ollie," Ashlynn said with an amused smile. "Heila and I spent the entire summer living in huts in a swamp. Whatever arrangements you’ve made, I’m sure they’ll be fine," she said, giving his muscular forearm a reassuring squeeze.