Chapter 1

Far away in a realm not so distant, lived a merchant and his wife in the village of Grymm. It was dawn and wife Élymnas was tending the animals. She had longed to have a child of her own but the only kids she had were her goats. Husband Therius was busy asleep. It seems he had one too many ales last night in his efforts to garner a year's supply of bread and butter at the annual Alefest. But there was noone who could out-guzzle the legendary Tahrreg the 'Keg' Bard, who had a penchant for drunkness. Therius wasn't asleep for much longer though, his work ethics overwhelmed his fatigue.

Therius got up and ate his breakfast that morning.
"Morning dear" he yawned.
"Morning, how are we today Therius, sleepy head!" his wife replied.
"Yeah abit sleepy, and a teeny bit hungover..."
Élymnas measured his temperature, it was fine rather.
"Well you better not do crazy things like that again!"

Therius felt ashamed, for once in his life, he actually accepted what Élymnas had said.
Élymnas headed off to the pen to feed the chickens, while Therius remained in the house munching on his bread.

Later that day, Therius drove his cart to the marketplace in the nearby town of Torel. The atmosphere was exciting, pulsating if you will. The children were playing, others were on the move, the bow-wows were roaming and who could forget the merchants. As Therius was unloading his produce onto his stall, he felt a poke on his right shoulder.

"Well well well, if it ain't merchant boy, how ya goin?"
It was the most frightening voice for Therius, after his wife's.
"Say, have you seen mi money anywhere?"
In the distance, Therius saw his wife.
Stuttering for answers, Therius quickly knelt down
"I beg you sir, please, my wife's been ill all week and I had no money for medicine, she's very very ill, oh please spare a thought sir!"
"Hah! - Sir? you...you called me sir!" the man and his mob giggled swinely.
"Now boy, let me say this loud and clear, one week - but if I don't get my money by sunset in seven days, you'll regret ever living boy!"
And with those words Shum, went off with his mob to look for trouble elsewhere.

Therius arrived home that evening, his profit was declining and the fatigue was apparent. He had half the income he would usually receive in other times, more and more merchants were moving into the region and it was becoming impossible to make a living merchanting.

The very next day, Therius went mushroom picking with a group of elderly people. The woods of Verillan with its high pines and lush soil was the perfect place for wild mushroom to grow. The season was just right for picking them as recent rains secured the survival of the fungi.

"What's your name lad?" asked a man
"Therius, Therius Quentaes"
"Oh, your father was a great friend of ours, he helped save our village from the ruthless northerners. You should be a proud boy!"
His head tilted towards the sky.
"There there lad, I'm sure he's looking down upon you from a better place"
"I know he is" he said with bitterness.

Within sight was a garden of fungi. Therius reached down and before he could pluck one out of the ground, the man shouted.
"No lad, no! That's a Vargul, very poisonous it is"
Therius was an amateur at mushroom picking, which the locals called fungi-plucking.
"I see you must be new to this, now let me give you a quick tour of what is what"
The old man showed Therius all kinds of mushrooms which grew in the area. Among them, was a lovely white one. It shone even beneath the overcast.
"What's this one?" Therius asked.
But the man stood still, his jaws dropped.
"Lad, that is a Verilla, the most precious of them all...lad, where did you find that?"
"Well, just behind there!" he said pointing at the mud.

"Do you know what this means?"
"We get rich?"
"Yes lad, I'm glad we're on equal terms"
And so the two bent down and plucked the dozen or so which lay in the muddy soil.
The other pluckers noticed the two and suddenly walked over to them.
"What's going on?" asked a woman.
"Oh my! Verillas!"
"Yes dear, we're going to have food on our tables!" the old man exclaimed.
"Here lad, take some - this young lad found them you know dear!"

They decided to return home, but Therius stayed. He moved deeper into the woods but it started to rain and poor Therius rushed under a big tree. It seemed to glow, but Therius didn't appear to understand why. He found another dozen or so Verillas around the place. And after a while, he returned home.

Soaked in rain, he undressed as he walked into the house. But little did he know, Élymnas had company.
"Therius! Oh I'm sorry Rosella!"
"Oh it's okay, hello Therius, I see you've been out" Rosella said
"Yeah, I went fungi-plucking with a couple of the locals.
"Did you find any?" asked Rosella
"Not really, I couldn't find anything worthwhile"
"Oh that's a shame, well I'd best be off, my husband's folks have come over to visit us from Elsgard.
"Alright, I'm come over sometime!" Élymnas told her.

"Therius, why's your shirt off?"
"Well it's pouring out there!"
"Why'd you go plucking, nobody ever finds anything nowadays"
"Oh really?" he said as he showed her his basket.
"Where'd you get all these Verillas?" she whispered.
"Well I'm not sure, but I think...maybe there's...well there's this yew and I'm pretty sure I saw it glow. At its root, I found not just Verillas, but others too!"
"Well, you're probably just lucky, magic doesn't exist in real life!"

And so, they boiled the mushrooms and then waited for the rains to ease as they reluctantly dried them. Therius received a letter - it was from his brother Aerimus from Faldûr, the capital of the realm of Thyrria. The letter read:

"Dearest Therius,
It has been a while since we have conversed, you should come visit me sometime. I must inform you of my great successes and I hope to share them with you, but keep this a secret, do not tell anyone, not even your wife - I have been given an estate not far from my mansion, I think you two should come and live here in Faldûr.

I have gladly included two tickets aboard the Marus Granun which will depart in two weeks in Granun. Also, please accept this sum of money I offer. I hope you choose what you know is right for you.
Your brother, Aerimus

Therius thought for a while, but eventually he decided to take the offer.
'She mustn't know about this' started to stream his thoughts
It was decided. He drank his tea and concealed the letter under his bed.

Seven suns and moons had passed and it was the day of reckoning for Therius. When supper was ready, he arrived home from Torel.
"Therius, come and sit with me"
"Yes yes, right away darling" he mumbled as he sat down beside dear Élymnas.
She knew his face and what it meant. Élymnas glanced into her husband's eyes and softly spoke.
"Look, whatever's bothering you, tell me dear. Don't keep it all jumbled inside of you, it's not healthy"

Therius then looked into her eyes and said
"Uh...you know what dear, I think it's time we take some time and explore the world, I mean you've always wanted to go to Faldûr haven't you?"
"Well, I s'pose so', but who'll feed the animals?"
"You're right, maybe we shouldn't..."

But then she had an idea.
"You know what? I could ask my friend Rose to watch over our place in our absence, how long are you planning to go for dear?"
"Well, as long as you want! The best thing to do is just to go and then we'll worry about those matters later onwards, don't you agree?"
Élymnas gladly nodded.
"Alright then, first thing tomorrow I'll inform Rose"
"Great! We'll stay at my brother's whilst in Faldûr"
"Well, we'll have to ask him first"
"Oh don't be silly, he's my brother - of course he'll let us stay with him!"
"Now let's eat!" he said.

But suddenly, somebody knocked on the door.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
"Open up Therius! Weer's mi money!"
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
"Who's that?" asked Élymnas
"Oh no! Please don't hurt us!" cried Therius
"What d'ya mean merchant boy? Open up!"
"Oh no! He's been stalking me, c'mon Élymnas, we'll escape through the back door.
She was shocked but rushed out, not forgetting the Verillas.

The two dashed off with Élymnas left shocked but pondering.
"What on Thyrria is going on?"
"Oh noone...HE WAS GONNA KILL ME!"
"Kill you? What have you done this time?" she grunted
"Nothing I swear, oh I knew I shouldn't have..."
"Shouldn't have what?"
"We got no time for this, please, just hop into that cart will you!"
So she unwittingly did as footsteps approached.

"Oh hi Therius!" a woman said
"Hi Rosella!"
"Rose dear, listen, you don't mind looking after my place for a while do you?" Élymnas asked
"No no, I'll take care of that!"
"Right, let's go Therius!"
"You playing dressup are we?"
"Yes actually..."
Élymnas stared at Therius with a strange look.
"What?"

Disguised in dark robes, Therius pushed his wife on a merchant cart.
"Therius, this is ridiculous!"
"Be quiet!" he murmured
"Hey, mister - have you seen a man about your height, decent hair, rugged face and a cart like your's around here now have you?"
"No, I'm sorry - well must be off"
"What's in the cart?"
"Er...my produce!"
"Well it seems to be moving..."
"No it isn't!"
Shum scratched his head, he was acting out the movements to his mob.
"Anyways, nice to meet you...imbeciles!"
"Oh, you too" replied Shum, who obviously knew not the meaning.
So the two ventured off into the Verillan woods en route to Granun.