New Atalan is not the center of the Kingdom of Saval. Rather, it is actually closer to the southern border. The kingdom stretches quite far to the north, and from the map I saw at the library today, we will be traveling through it for almost three more months.
Our brief appearance this morning before the prefects was rather interesting. As in Habbar, they decided to have someone join us as a diplomat to the Great King. However, unlike in Habbar, the individual assigned this task is much better prepared for a lengthy trek through the wilderness. He is Alkaar, a former soldier with a demeanor that reminds me of Pelmarco. He and Hibimage are about the same age, so they’re getting along fine. Alkaar said he was once the Captain of the Palace Guard, so he’s certainly well known in this land, and will have a lot of influence as we travel throughout the kingdom. The prefects also assured us they would provide any supplies we need.
As we followed the road north today, Alkaar kept Boktoseethet quite occupied. Since Alkaar is the only real soldier the boy’s had a real chance to talk with, Boktoseethet was eager to learn everything the man is willing to teach. The rest of us were rather amused when Alkaar ordered Boktoseethet to carry his load. Boktoseethet obliged, but eventually decided it was too difficult to carry Alkaar’s load in addition to his own, and gave up. Apparently, this was Alkaar’s lesson for him today, probably something about teamwork, but he explained it privately to Boktoseethet, not to the rest of us.
Our meal tonight was easy to obtain. An arvdil farmer in the area butchered an animal, and offered us as much meat as we wanted. His wife offered us some vegetables, which was nice considering it’s the middle of winter here and crops won’t be planted for another few months. During supper, I mentioned the incident several years ago when Rar speared an arvdil before learning it belonged to a farmer. That brought about quite a few laughs.