Irwin's Journey - The Cardsmith

Two days later, Irwin was walking across the hardened road away from New Degonda, looking at the cultivated fields around him. In the distance, some farmers still working on the unfinished fields waved at him.

"Who would have thought," Greldo said, barking a laugh.

"Thought what?" Irwin asked as he waved back the farmers.

"That there would be a time when the farmers would have the strongest cards!"

Irwin grinned as he looked around. The rangers and guards were technically stronger, but he knew what Greldo meant. Right now, nearly every farmer had six cards, and although most had no combat cards, just the fact they had that many cards alone was incredible. Besides, he'd found that most cards that could be seen as farming and physical work cards increased endurance, strength, and constitution. He'd seen two farmers as burly as the smiths, could easily wrestle with any guard besides Basil, and had a high likelihood of winning.

Irwin's eyes drifted to the fields furthest east, which, according to one of the farmers who determined the soil fertility level, was the best one they had in the area. A mass of knee-high green plants stood there, resulting in the Cartofs planted and grown by the farmers.

Although it took all of them, including Susin, from dusk till dawn, and they nearly fell unconscious when the sun sank, the first fields would be harvestable in another two weeks. It was a speed unheard of, combined with the first fish arriving from Tréanbá and the wagons filled with nuts from New Malorin. It would be just enough to save everyone from starvation.

Well, not everyone, Irwin thought sadly, remembering the slowly growing graveyard north of the city.

They walked silently for a while, the cool breeze blowing around them as they reached the end of the hardened road and stepped onto the wide sandy path leading to Central Crossing. It was what people had called the empty space where the Portal to Giard had been weeks ago, and from there, the road split up to the other cities and towns. South led to Portal Keep and beyond that to New Malorin.

"So, you are sure you want to have a look at Portal Keep instead of just passing it and heading straight to New Malorin?" Greldo asked as he patted Coal, who was walking beside him.

"Yes, we need to check how the crew is doing," Irwin said. "I wonder if they are alright."

He'd not spoken to Rindiri, Zender, or the others since he returned from Giard, and all he knew was from Greldo.

"Bah, they are fine," Greldo said. "I told you, the kids are having fun in the forest, and Xi'kroak and his people are building their own district and helping out with the rest of the city. "

"Any news from La'suna?" Irwin asked.

"Nah. The last thing I heard was that she's been scouting south below Portal Keep. There's no news about any portals to adjacent worlds, then again-"

"They aren't ever going to find them," Ambraz snorted, flying from Irwin's shoulder and chasing after a large pale green insect, causing it to rush back into a bush. "The only ones here that are sensitive enough to the soulforce distanced to find those portals are Irwin and the other smiths."

Irwin shared a grin with Greldo before turning to Ambraz. "What about you?" he asked.

"What? Helping you with everything else isn't enough?" Ambraz asked.

"Well, it would be handy if you could detect them as far as you can detect soulforce," Irwin said.

Ambraz snorted as he flew around before landing back on his shoulder.

"That's not how my skills work," he muttered before keeping quiet.

Irwin didn't continue pestering him. He'd finally found out what Ambraz's problem had been, and that was his fear that Irwin would remain here for many years. When Irwin had told him they would leave after the first winter, he'd relaxed slightly, though he gave off the feeling he wasn't completely happy.

Time flew by, and although they could have reached their goal faster if they had run, Irwin and Greldo took it slow, enjoying the beauty of the world around them.

When they finally saw distant square shapes begin to appear, it was late in the morning, and Irwin's stomach was rumbling.

"By the Flames of Aghos, how far along are they?" Irwin asked as he saw the distant walls, easily half as high as the tallest trees of the still sparse forest. Behind them, a single tower rose, partially unfinished.

"Xi'kroak had two heartcarded wood-shapers in his crew and something they call chitin-shapers. Those helped, and the fact that Daubutim, Bron, and the others prioritized Portal Keep over everything else and sent far more stoneshapers there."

I guess that makes sense, Irwin thought.

Although none of the distant scouts had seen any indication of intelligent species, they could still be there, and the Exit Portal was the most important thing they had right now. Besides, if someone attacked them from the outside, they would need to guard the world.

As he thought about the large keep, there was a loud cracking sound.

Irwin jolted, lowering himself in a ready stance and turning in the direction of the sound. His hammer rested in his hand, and his heart rate spiked, and he was ready to burn whatever was rushing them.

Far away, a distant tree crashed into the ground, flattening bushes and causing dozens of birds and clouds of insects to flee.

"Eej, calm down! It's just the lumberjacks," Greldo exclaimed, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Irwin blinked, slowly rising and lowering his hammer.

"Sorry," he muttered as he looked at his friend, who was examining him, before shrugging and continuing ahead.

"It's… it's alright. I should have warned you. I've been hearing the chopping for hours," Greldo said with a weary sigh. "I guess with all that's happened, it makes sense that you're wound so tight. Let's go and have a chat with the others before we go to New Malorin. It's about time you see your family and take some rest."

Irwin looked at the tree before taking a deep breath and nodding at Greldo.

I definitely need some rest, he thought.

It took another half an hour before they reached the road that led up to the massive gate of Portal Keep. It was hard to say if it was meant to keep things in or out, but from the way the towers were being made, Irwin guessed it was both. Hundreds of people were moving around the walls, and as they reached the gate, a dozen guards ran up to meet them.

"Smith Irwin, Lord Greldo," one of them said as he stopped, bowing to them.

"Lord….?" Greldo whispered.

Irwin saw his friend gape at the guard, who didn't seem to notice as his eyes were on Irwin.

"Smith Irwin, Basil has asked if we can bring you to him if you show up! Would you mind following me?"

Irwin and Greldo shared a look, and then Irwin shrugged. "Sure. Lead on."

The guard grinned, and he gestured at the others as he walked through the gate into the city.

A slight distance away, a long building was growing up like a very slow mushroom, and three carded people stood next to it with their hands on the wall. All around them, more buildings stood in different stages of readiness.

"Why don't they just finish them?" Irwin asked as he sped up and walked beside the guard.

"The buildings?" the guard asked, looking around. "Those builders need way more energy to create anything that doesn't go straight up, so when they found out they could do four buildings with just walls and no roofs for everyone with it, they stopped. That's why they are all building wooden roofs!"

Irwin hummed as he noticed the guard was right. Some of the buildings that seemed roughly finished did have wooden roofs.

"Did they send a message with this to the other cities?" he asked.

The guard shrugged. "I don't know, really. I've only been building or guarding for the last weeks."

They continued walking through the city, and as they closed in on the center, it became obvious that besides the central keep that surrounded the exit portal, most of the rest of the city was barely more than tents and rough building outlines. The keep, however, looked far more finished than Irwin had imagined before coming here, and he looked up at the tower that was still being built higher.

"They have been building ever since they came here," Greldo said, seeming to see his surprise.

Yeah, Daubutim did say they only focused on this before splitting the stoneshapers up, Irwin thought as he realized he'd underestimated just what that meant.

"Still, it's insane to imagine they built this in under a month," he said.

"Can you imagine if we had a hundred soulcarded builders?" Greldo asked as he let out a whistle. "Perhaps they could create an entire city in a week!"

Irwin hummed in agreement as they continued to the keep, walking through the open gate that sat in the forty-foot wall. Shouts of encouragement and dull thwacking sounds came from ahead, and they stepped into an open courtyard. A dozen guards stood on the left side of the courtyard, shooting arrows at targets.

"I didn't expect that," Irwin muttered as he stared at the practicing guards.

Greldo didn't respond.

"What? Did you expect I let them just slouch and do nothing while the rest work in the city or hunt for food?" a familiar voice boomed from above them.

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Irwin turned around, staring up to see Basil look at them from a window sitting at the top of the wall.

"Wait, I'll come get you," Basil shouted as he disappeared back inside.

Irwin looked around, seeing a few doors that led into the wall or the building built against the wall- he wasn't sure which it was.

"The walls have defenses on each side," Greldo said as he pointed at some narrow shoot holes and slits before turning around and pointing at the main building behind them. "The exit portal is inside there, and there are only a few ways inside. Daubutim used some of the tricks we saw in Fiverion, and now Basil is preparing the prison system below."

"Not preparing, Greldo," Basil said as he came walking up to them. "It's already being built. I've got one of the groundshapers working on it every morning, just in case we need it."

Then, the towering captain of Bron's guards looked at Irwin. "So, Irwin, what do you think?"

"It's really impressive," Irwin said. "I never thought something like this could be built on such short notice."

"Hah, me neither, but it's still an empty shell. We focused on the walls and the central keep first, using all of the carded shapers we had, but finishing it would take a very long time. Most of the shapers are out near the villages, helping to create houses and stuff."

"I heard that not everyone is in the cities, but some actually spread out to create towns," Irwin said. "Is that really safe?"

"A lot safer than Giard was," Basil said. "I've been recruiting large numbers of people to the guards and rangers. I sent them out with properly trained men and women to scout and patrol the towns where help was needed."

"What about the creatures of this world?"

"Most aren't that dangerous. The bullfrogs went to the western marshes, which only leaves those razorteeth as the top predators and of any danger. But even those have been rapidly migrating to the southern forests."

Irwin shivered as he thought about the flying squirrels that hunted in small packs like wolves.

"Near New Malorin?" he asked worriedly.

"Don't worry. I've been in close contact with your brother, and they are doing fine," Basil said, giving his shoulder a quick, reassuring squeeze. "Now, let's go and find Rindiri and her kids! They've been asking about you every day for ages."

Irwin followed him back towards the gate tunnel.

"What about Xi'kroak?" he asked.

"Armorface? He hasn't returned from his last scouting mission," Basil said.

Armorface? Irwin thought, wondering what Xi'kroak would have to say about that nickname.

"He left again two days ago, and I don't expect him back in another few days. He headed out north from the entrance portal- ah, just so you know, we've decided to just call the hills you all came from the south. Just to make it easier! So, he's scouted both east and west for two days but found nothing," Basil said, his wide grin turning a slight bit worried. "The north is the final chance we have. Otherwise, there's not going to be any portal we could go through and reach a world to farm for cards."

"We will find a way," Irwin said as he thought about the blockade beyond Sesnanser. "It would be great if we could create more ships."

"That's exactly what I said, but Xi'kroak said we'd need to get the sails and proper wood from a proper craftsman. According to him, it's nearly impossible to create those things without the proper tools and knowledge."

That didn't surprise in the least as he recalled the sails he'd bought in Sesnanser.

They continued talking as they slowly made their way towards one of the more finished buildings. It stood inside an otherwise mostly empty area, with lines of stones and branches showing buildings and streets that were probably supposed to come eventually.

"So, this is the Yuurindi district. Or it will be when we ever get around to creating all of the buildings and streets and other stuff," Basil said.

Irwin looked around, and after a few moments, he made out what the district edges were. They were surprisingly small, and not just the Yuurindi one.

"Why aren't they bigger?" he asked as he looked around the entirety of what eventually would be Portal Keep City.

"Ah, that's Daubutim again," Basil said with a frown. "He said that if we let the district become too big, there will be too much of a separation, which will result in a… how did he call it again? A, them against us mentality, or something."

Irwin hummed. "So why make districts at all, then?"

Basil shrugged. "He tried explaining it to me, something about that it's good for people to have their own space but that it would be best if it's not too big, but I didn't really get it all. You'll have to ask Daubutim or Bron if you want to know more."

Irwin nodded, deciding he should try to remember asking Daubutim when he saw him next.

Whenever that is, he thought.

The door of the building was shoved open, and three purple-haired figures dashed out.

"Captain!"

"Irwin, Captain Irwin!"

Irwin stopped as Zender, Trinn, and Brinni rushed towards him.

"Told you they missed you," Basil said with a laugh.

A moment later, the three young Yuurindi stood around him, asking questions and talking through each other as they all tried to tell what they had been doing and how awesome the world was.

Irwin just listened as he walked with them to the building where Rindiri was standing at the door opening. She was frowning at her children, and when they reached the door, she snorted.

"Enough! I told you to remain calm! Now, let's go inside. You can show the Captain everything later!"

Irwin grinned. "Rindiri, how are things?" he asked.

"It's fine," she said with a sigh as she led him into a nearly empty room. "I never thought I'd say this, but I miss the ship and traveling. There are so many people here, little food, and no-" she waved around. "Things! Not even normal chairs!"

Irwin saw that makeshift wooden benches had been placed around a rough-looking table. It was clear that it wasn't made by a woodshaper but had been created the old-fashioned way and not by someone who knew what they were doing. Ib sat on one of them, looking at them quietly.

"Well, let's sit down," Greldo shouted as he picked up Zender, who had been asking him questions nonstop and placed him on the bench beside Ib.

For the next few hours, Irwin listened to the stories of the kids while Rindiri explained that she'd trained Basil's guards so they could at least fly the ship around slightly, though most of the time, it remained near the entrance portal.

Halfway through, they showed Irwin the building while Basil left to get some food, which was nothing but some dried meat, a basket filled with nuts and roots, and one fruit that looked way too ripe. Irwin knew he could have easily eaten the entire amount, but he held back, noticing that Greldo did the same. Basil didn't eat anything at all, saying he'd eat with the guards.

Finally, at the start of the afternoon, Irwin rose.

"Alright, it's time for Greldo and me to go to New Malorin," he said.

There was a moment of silence, and then Zender stood, looking at him hesitantly.

"Captain, can we go with you? I really want to see the other cities and-"

"Zender, what did I tell you?" Rindiri said softly, frowning at her son. "The captain needs to see his family, and he doesn't need all of us there with him."

Zender ignored his mother, staring at Irwin wide-eyed and hopeful.

Irwin shared a quick look with Greldo, who rolled his eyes and shrugged.

"It's fine," he said as he looked at Rindiri. "But I will be staying there for a while, perhaps until after winter."

"Are you sure?" Rindiri asked. Her words were interrupted by Zender, who let out a whoop and ran away, shouting something about getting his stuff.

"Yes, but you might have to head back on your own," Irwin said.

Rindiri held his eyes for a bit, then nodded and smiled. "Alright, you heard the captain. Get some stuff and get ready to leave!"

Irwin and Greldo watched as everyone ran around, gathering their small number of belongings.

A short while later, they were all gathered outside.

"I'll keep an eye out for this place," Basil said. "Just to make sure nobody thinks of taking the building as their own."

Rindiri nodded gratefully while Irwin looked at Basil.

"Let me know how things go with Xi'kroak," he said. "If you need help-"

"I'll send a teleporter to get you," Basil said, grinning widely. "If they weren't as busy right now, I'd offer for one to bring you, but…"

"It's fine," Irwin said. "I want to see more of our new world!"

As he said that, he realized how true that was, and he wasn't just thinking about the area close to them. He wanted to travel all around and see what else there was in this world. Besides, Ambraz was right; if there was anyone who could find the adjacent world portals, it was him.

After a short goodbye, they headed out, Zender rushing ahead with Coal, seeming incredibly excited to leave on an adventure.

--

"It's all made of wood!" Zender shouted as he climbed down from the tree he used to scout ahead.

"Not all of it," Greldo said.

Irwin and Rindiri walked a few dozen feet behind them while Ib, Trinn, and Brinni were running after Zender toward the distant city.

"There are so many more trees here," Rindiri said as she looked around. "You are sure there are even more ahead?"

Irwin stared at the trees around them, much denser than a few hours back to Portal Keep City, but nowhere near as dense as the Gloomforest had been or any of the other real forests he knew from Giard.

Still, he could understand. Rindiri had told him that she'd never been to a real forest, which made sense as she'd never been allowed on a world.

"A real forest is so dense you can barely move through it," Irwin said as he pointed at a spot where three trees stood close, with bushes between them growing up to twenty feet along the trunks. "Like that, but then everywhere."

"Hmm…" Rindiri said, and Irwin saw her look worriedly at her children.

It surprised him, seeing as that she'd never shown any overt care for any but Ib before. According to a whispered conversation with Greldo, she'd begun changing ever since Basil's guards took over the guarding of the ship and the entrance portal, and she and the kids were allowed on Eluathar.

"Stop! Who goes there?!"

A sudden shout caused Irwin to look up just in time to see the kids sprint back to hide behind Coal. He was about to summon his hammer when he saw Greldo's calm demeanor.

Rangers? he thought just as Greldo stepped to the side, staring at the trees.

"Smith Irwin and group returning home," Greldo roared.

Irwin flinched. Seriously? And Group?

There was a rustling from the trees Greldo was staring at, and two rangers appeared in a tree, lowering themselves from ropes. Irwin and Rindiri walked to Greldo, stopping beside him.

"You're Smith Irwin, the brother of Master Ranger Bronwyn?" one of them asked as he stopped before him, examining him.

"Dammit, Sieck, you can see it's him," the other ranger snapped, shouldering his bow. "Do you know of anyone else that's the size of Bronwyn, made of metal, and has those eyes?"

Greldo grinned while the first ranger rubbed his nose and shrugged.

"Yeah, well, we can't be too careful!"

The other ranger shook his head, glancing at Coal and whistling.

"Damn, your summon has gigantism?" he asked as he turned to Greldo.

"Nope, this is their regular size," Greldo said as he put his hand on Coal's shoulder.

"Damn… can you imagine what size that thing would be if it got gigantism?" the first ranger whispered.

"You guys know the way to town?" the second ranger asked.

"Yeah, I've been there before," Greldo said. "Though there weren't any rangers on the road back then. What's going on?"

The rangers shared a quick look before the second one sighed. "There's been weird things happening. Food going missing, people falling asleep midwatch. We hope it's just some hungry carded starting up some shit, but… well."

Irwin frowned as he shared a look with Greldo before turning to Rangers.

"Thanks for the warning. Is my brother in town?"

"Yeah, he doesn't leave much," the second ranger said. He was ready to say something else when he frowned and turned to look deeper into the forest. The other ranger and Greldo did the same thing.

"Looks like there's something happening back there, probably a pack of Sixtusks duking it out," the second ranger said. "Those things are way too territorial. You're okay, right?"

"We are fine," Irwin said as he waved him off. "Go and see what is up, and if you need help, come and get us."

The first ranger began jogging away while the second smiled. "No worries. So far, we've not encountered anything even half as dangerous as the things back on Giard. We'll be fine!"

He nodded, then turned and ran after the other ranger.

Irwin and the others watched them until they disappeared between the trees, then continued on ahead.

"What do you think of the missing food?" Irwin asked as he looked at his friend.

"Probably just someone with an interesting card getting hungry. But still, I'll look around tonight and see what I can find."

Irwin nodded, and they continued chatting as they walked further towards the squarish shapes. The sounds of voices and grinding slowly got closer, and a few hundred feet further, a wide open area became visible. Shortly later, they stepped out from the treeline into the open.

On the opposite side of an area dotted with tree stumps was a walled town, the top of the stone bottom covered in wood with guard towers on every corner. A massive gate was swung open, and a muddy road led out, spreading out to all directions of the surrounding forest. Everything felt much more unfinished, yet at the same time, older than both New Degonda and Portal Keep City. The wooden buildings seemed to blend in way more with the surroundings.

Irwin looked around, noticing people moving along the largest road that came from the town. It led to a wide, low building far to the left. Dozens of people were walking around it, and plumes of sawdust billowed out from the building's openings.

Far more people were moving along the distant forest edges, some chopping trees, others dragging them toward the building. Interestingly, not all trees were being chopped down, and Irwin saw two types of trees, one with large round yellow leaves and another, tall, narrow, and with blueish pines, where left. Around those, women and children were moving about, picking things from the low-hanging branches, while some climbed the trees.

"They are picking out nuts," Greldo said. "Those tall ones have long brownish stalks that have dozens of berries inside, while the yellow ones have nuts the size of your fist."

Irwin blinked, then looked around and saw hundreds of trees everywhere.

"So, this is where those nuts we had came from," he muttered. "Alright, let's go and see where Bronwyn is!"

Feeling his excitement grow, Irwin strode towards New Malorin.