(M-IC) Quest for the Restoration
The land was inhabited with scattered cities, and villages remained unchanging between them. Some of the country between and around those was still wilderness. The society of people, the mantypes, elves, dwarves, and half-giants, remained without an industrial revolution, and always would, for metal was not abundant enough. The metal in these places was all just the exotic metal, most of that which was hard to obtain was megamite, a quite heavy but strong metal. This is a distinct world. There is no metal here but that hard to obtain exotic metal, mainly megamite, hard enough to obtain that it is highly valued, and still is used for needed things including blades, nails, buckles, and coins. Most material used is still wood and stone, and materials from plants and animals. Megamite is used with crafting it at very high temperatures at which it is softer. Such an exotic metal as megamite is in fact found from what were meteorites.
The lower class has almost nothing of metal, just a few coins they manage acquiring and using those to acquire things, and any among them having very few other small metal items of use. So homes are not made with use of metal items. The upper class will have structures still made with use of nails, and most stores will be this way. A very few privileged will even actually have a hammer with a head of megamite.
There are still stone hammers, and stone tools are not a lost art here. There were a number of meteorites coming to this world with exotic metal, over previous ages. Nothing more than one meteor hit was known in history, 1700 years earlier, where it was found by some then consisting of exotic metal and a special class working with hidden knowledge has kept this secret knowledge that objects falling from the heavens can hold exotic metal, including megamite, and are among other things that come known just to them. More metal was acquired from other previously arrived meteorites, all exotic metal and most by far megamite, so metal is known about by all the people still.
Supernatural things yet happened around this country, which incuded Triovala, Tenoba, and Terricana, which many only understood as magic. Almost no one but a very few select individuals who specialized in that could have any control over any of those things. Such individuals were regarded by all as wizards, or any of a few being trained by those.
A terrible supernatural work had fallen on a number of people in one of those cities, Quadick, changing them a whole lot in undesirable ways. They would be stuck with that, if it were not rescued from that.
In the land of Tenoba, a gang was hired a couple of years ago by a wizard, Diragusher, who meant to have the control of that city Erpedoben continue, in the wake of divisive challengers causing instability to it. Those in the gang had passed tests, that limited their membership to the most agile and athletic in the community. When that was found to not be enough, that wizard selected those most trusted to his cause to carry small powerful artifacts, orbs, or rods, each with defining ability for those using them. And they were trained for supernatural activity. But lately there was more trouble heard of abroad. Some would have to be sent off from that community, for dealing with these things, including Arapegol with his friend Eyriconer.
Arapegol carried a medallion of exotic metal on him which identifies his order, that appointed gang. He carried a rod, with a glowing tip, freshly acquired and useful for alteration, and a glowing orb, freshly acquired and useful for teleportation. He had his bag of coins on his belt, the bow and arrows with him, and carried the bag with the orb, the rod, a few food items, and a blanket adequate for comfort wherever he might stop.
Arapegol left that city of Erpedoben mostly under control with the supervision of that wizard, commissioned by him and accompanied by Eyriconer of the appointed gang, a slightly younger though large and wider man, in their travel out to where the main road went by the Primal Forest with deep dark spaces within it where no people had ever gone. Here there had been disappearances lately, and they were actually the second two sent out from the wizard this way. They would both need the devices they were trusted with, to deal with whatever danger they found in that area.
A monster surprised them on the road where it went along the edge of the forest, shooting a tentacle out and withdrawing Eyriconer before either could react, but Arapegol shot at the monster presumably killing it. But Eyriconer did not respond to his calls and came out no more from there.
After a journey some way beyond the Primal Forest, Arapegol came to another city. He saw an inn, and came to it. Arapegol came in, looked around, and walked to the bar, letting out his grief. He came to some sense, he inquired and received directions to where he could by maps, to help him get his bearing. At this time there a was an attempted robbery on a carriage as it was pulling out. As Arapegol heard noises from that as he was coming to the door of the place where he had bought maps, he saw one of the gang there about to attack a female elf riding her mount from behind, he used the teleportation to cast that attacker far away. He ran to where the robbers were surrounding the carriage, and he cast more far away with teleportation. But just then as one who was leading the robbers held up some crystal gem claiming it was a powerful artifact he would threaten those there with, there was another there with a weapon that shot right at that artifact, and it shattered, and that other shot that robber until the robber fell. Other robbers had fallen too. But at the shattering of the artifact a supernatural event happened right then, and the minds of a number of people in that area were swept into others bodies whose minds had also moved to others. The mind of Arapegol went to the body of the woman within the carriage where the robbery was attempted. Others there were affected, who with their minds in new bodies had to find their original bodies. And so one party of altered characters, after the deputies of the law came and there was an account of the events and a reward for dealing with the leading robber, needed to find a safe place for where they would spend the night. They then went to choose a place for themselves. Arapegol though had used the rod of alteration to make a duplicate of his own body on the woman's body his mind was in, and went quickly on to hurry back on the road to his home city Erpedoben, after the rod of alteration was stolen away from him by a fiend that was kept as a familiar. Along the way he found his friend Eyriconer who had been knocked unconscious but had recently crawled out from that Primal Forest, where he lay along that road, and Arapegol helped him up and continued along the way where they returned to their city, where Eyriconer was brought to his home. Arapegol went to see the high wizard Diragusher who had appointed them to go.
The wizard Diragusher told him he had information on the artifact that could reverse the exchange of minds, which could be found, and gave instruction to Arapegol for going with more power he would hold. He would have to go back north past the Primal Forest, on his way to seek and acquire that artifact for the reversal in Terricana, and where he would likely find some of those who had also been altered. With Iperanton who now went with him Arapegol again carried his bag with his items including the glowing orb, and with his bow and his arrows, and a sharp blade on him that he knew how to use, and Iperanton with him similarly equipped, they left the city of Erpedoben on the road that went past the dangerous Primal Forest. They found one of the party who Arapegol had met, Jaydeen who was now altered to the body of the female elf who Arapegol had met, needing to be rescued from one of the tentacled monsters of the Primal Forest. They went on together to Quadick, though Jaydeen in the new body had been somewhat injured. When they reached this town, they went to a healer who treated Jaydeen. They afterward went to a nearby inn in Quadick, for a meal they would need and to plan then for the needed quest the next day to reach the nearest city in Terricana to the north, which was in the vicinity of where the amulet must be, after they would sleep at the room they had provided for them. While they were speaking with each other, there were certainly others sitting nearby with an interest in what was discussed.