First chapter of Aarni’s story

My name is Aarni and I’m a traveller. I welcome you to join my journey through the world, where everything is still unknown to me. I hope my adventures inspire you on your journey too.

Rotten Key Miniatures Magical Fighter Set November 2021 — I left my home village Aava today, taking some food, camping equipment and my knife with me. It’s not much, but enough for my first waypoint. I am going to Nila, the village in the forest next to our village. It should take two days to travel there by foot, but it doesn’t bother me because I get to see the forest too.
I walk for hours in a mellow forest thinking about Nila. It’s said to be village full of strong fighters with magical powers. They helped our village in the past during war, but after the peace, they have been more secluded. Occasionally, some of their merchants have visited our village and I have admired their rugged looks. I wonder what their village looks like.
On the way I notice how the trees grow taller and the forest floor turns greener. The place feels magical when the sunshine seeps through the leaves, glimmering on the dew drops on the foliage. The moss feels soft under my feet and I hear the birds singing all around me. I find my way to a stream and decide to stop there. I take a refreshing sip of the clear water before I take off my boots to cool my feet in it. This feels like a perfect spot for a camp tonight. I eat and lay down on the soft mossy ground. It feels so comfortable and soon I feel my whole body falling to sleep.

Rotten Key Miniatures The Magical Fighter Set November 2021 — The next day I woke up to a voice of a man. He was shaking me awake, but I wanted to sleep more.
“Get up now, or the forest will swallow you!”
I opened my eyes drowsily. I saw a rough faced man with a short beard, wearing dark blue robe. My body felt numb and heavy, but the man helped me to stand up.
“You shouldn’t sleep in a place like this, it’s dangerous. Lucky for you I found you, otherwise you’d been goner.”
I try to ask what he means but my throat feels dry. The man seems to read my mind and hands me a flagon.
“You’ve probably been drinking that stream water. It drains you, just like the forest.”
The flagon had murky mead in it, but it felt heavenly. I drank until I felt better. When I could talk again I gave the flagon back to the man and thanked him.
“No worries kid, it would have been sad to see such a young traveler sink under the moss. I assume you are from Aava.”
“Yes, I am travelling to Nila and thought I could sleep the night in the forest, but apparently it is evil.”
“No, no, the forest is not evil. It needs to live just like you and me.”

Rotten Key Miniatures The Magical Fighter Set November 2021 — The man laughed and waved for me to follow him. We walked to a cart pulled by a huge horse. He pulled out a dead deer, throwing it on the moss bed. Immediately the carcass started to sink into the moss.
“I promised I’d bring some food home today, but I think the forest is hungrier so it can keep the deer. My name is Otso, by the way, what is yours?”
“I am Aarni, nice to meet you Otso, are you from Nila?”
“Yes I am, would you like to have a ride there?”
I accepted the request and climbed on the cart. There were blueberries, mushrooms and roots in baskets and a pile of chopped wood. The ride went smoothly and Otso told me more about the forest. It was once an ordinary forest, but during the war the master magicians of Nila had to enchant it in order to keep the enemy away. Later it became burial grounds for the fallen. The forest was friendly to the villagers of Nila and granted its produce to them as long as the villagers were respectful towards it.

At noon we arrived to Nila. The village was bustling, children were playing with toys made of pine cones and some of the older ones helped their parents with chores. The houses were made of wood, clay and pelts, and grass was growing on the roofs. I could hear a wooden wind chime clacking in the wind and somewhere someone was roasting meat. In the middle of the village stood a large stone building, covered in moss. A light smoke was floating out of its windows on the second floor and I could smell a faint scent of blackcurrant.
I spent two days in Nila, learning their ways of living. Under the rough looking shell they are very spiritual and close to nature. Every once in a while a baby with magical abilities is born in the village and is seen as a gift from gods. That child will grow to be a strong fighter with magical abilities, such as healing, spell casting or illusions. Some of the fighters have potential to be even stronger magicians and they are promoted to master magicians. Some of them work as tacticians on the field and some are oracles who work mainly from the village, living in the big stone building, meditating and talking to the gods.

This set is available on our Patreon on November 2021 as the set of the month.

The story of Aarni will continue with a new chapter next month.