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I was standing in Crogar's study. He was examining another weapon, but was simply admiring the gleam.

"So, did you hear about their encampment?"

"I saw the blaze on my way to one of the inns in Xjagto."

"Oh... Then what took you so long to return?"

"Well..." Shit, I didn't think about that! "The master of Xjagto had an erand for me to run. It was business with the magicians at Nox'Hyem."

"Nox'Hyem? And how did you manage to get in there?"

"Well, my father's one of the magicians. He insisted that I stay the night, so that extended the delay."

"Ah. How do you feel, about my gift to those monsters?"

"I think it was rash, but it's already happened, so we don't have a choice, now do we?"

"I guess not. Unless you know anything about necromancy."

"Necromancy?"

"It was a joke. I guess it's time you claim your reward, so, choose anything from this room, and it's yours."

"Anything?"

"Well not me, of course."

"No, but... Anything? There's a lot of strange and fascinating things in here."

"Well, nothing in here is cheap, you see. So, one item should serve as a profitable payment."

"Huh..." I was looking around the room, scanning over the weapons, glimpsing at the objects on the various desks. Here and there, something would catch my eye. A glowing orb on a pedestal, an embellished book on a shelf... The blade in his hand.

I went over and grabbed a sword off the wall. It felt lighter than it should've felt, and upon unsheathing it, I found the blade was black as night, and gleamed like a diamond.

"What metal is this?"

"That? Oh... Everything in this room is forged in a very unique kind of steel. You see, steel is always formed in the same way, melting the iron into coals and fuels. Depending on what material you melt it into, can effect the kind of metal."

"And what material was this melted into?"

"Well... My father had a bit of a... quandary with someone. My father was a master blacksmith, but nothing compared to his finest batch of steel. This metal, is called Dark Steel. It's forged in living, Canine, flesh." I looked over at Crogar to see his face. There was a bit of a crooked smile on it, as if he were proud that his wall was decorated in the remains of his father's foe.

I carefully put the blade back, "You know, I think I'll stay away from one of these weapons."

"But those are only rumors. I mean, the steel itself has wonderous qualities. When exposed to blood, the metal super heats, and steam rises off the boiling hot blade when it does so. Truly, truly magnificent metal, indeed."

"Uh, no, I think I'd rather stay away from it. I'm not a fan of weaponry, anyways." I caught a glimpse of a strange book on his desk, "But this on the other hand..."

The book itself was nearly three inches thick, excluding the thick, leather bound cover. Across the top was a twelve pointed star, decorated with crystals and gems of every kind. The side read "Arcane Spells and Rituals", and the leather had been dyed a vibrant sky blue. The paper wasn't thick parchment, but a newer paper of thin sheets of ply wood, pressed and melted together into white sheets.

"Well, that's just a book. I mean, come now, who would want such a worthless thing?"

"I personally find knowledge to be incredibly valuable, and on such a delicate matter as... the arcane... I think this book could prove useful to me."

"This is the one thing that you can't have-"

"You said that you, yourself, was the one thing I couldn't have."

"... Fine. But let me warn you, what lies within is no laughing matter. They aren't cheap party tricks and they most certainly weren't meant for the likes of petty messengers. Take it and be on your way." And so I was.

* * *

Back at Nox'Hyem, a few of the men were gathered around at a table. I got there and saw they were pouring over maps and trying to piece together their world.

We just so happened to be located way up north, just west of the Dragonoids. To our south were the Otters and Ferrets, and farther south were the leapards. East of the leapards were the Crysterlorn, and east of the Dragonoids were the Lions. The desert was far south and east, and supposedly held other creatures. The Leapards claimed there was a vast jungle to their south, where logic and reason had yet to come, and all the creatures fought like wild animals.

The Orcas, Sharks, and Dolphins all lived on a large series of islands, far out in the ocean, and had docked in the Alecian Harbor, which was what the Leapards called home. The Dragonoids live atop massive mountins, safe from any bandits and monsters that live in the deep, crevice-like valleys of Vut'ragc. There's a mountain range crossing the entire land, and two rivers spring from one of those mountains. One river strays north through our lands, and the other divides the home of the Otters and the Ferrets, and crosses through small valleys and passage ways to become the Alecian Harbor.

There aren't many mountains where the Snakes and Lions come from, and it's all one big valley. The desert is the southern half, and the savanna is the northern half. The Ferrets claimed to know of a place across the mountains to their north west. Supposedly, horse-like people lived in a wartorn society, and no one dared travel to that place because the only pass was blocked by monsters and demons who could crush people under their massive weight and size.

"Do you have any idea what these monsters look like?" [Duskle]

"Yes. Well, sort of. They're like horses, but their necks are the upper half of a person, including the arms and the head. They're strange, strong, and unnatural." [Riley]

"Wait, you're talking about Taurs." [Zander]

"Yeah. You know of them?"

"They occasionally get lost and enter our cities. They aren't clever, so they're agility is all they've got going for them. We hunt them for sport."

"How do you kill them? They're huge!"

"Yeah, they stand twelve feet tall, and we kill them by luring them into the waters in the harbor and ramming their heads with a boat. Then we drag out the body and burn it as a sacrifice to Dravinity."

"Dravinity's your deity, I presume?" [Dragonoid]

"Dravinity's not a just a deity, but a supreme entity. He's beyond Anthran. Many have seen him, and he's the one who taught us to build boats and kill the Taurs."

"Taurs can't be killed." [Riley]

"Ever seen my bedroll?"

"No."

"Well you should. It's made from the skin of a Taur, one that I killed myself."

"I thought you burned them as offerings to your god." [Duskle]

"Oh, we skin them first. Dravinity told us to do that after we wasted the first one a couple hundred years ago. He wants us to make use of their bodies, because of how hard they are to kill."

"How often do they wander into your cities?" [Riley]

"Weekly basis? With all the cities we have in the north, probably more, and that's just the ones we catch and kill."

"Your people are brutish and violent." [Neyclos]

"How would you deal with carnivorous monsters that eat Anthrans? Capture them and let them loose? I don't think so. Taurs aren't friendly creatures, and they certainly aren't intelligent enough to make tools and weaponry."

"How do you know this?"

"A few years ago, me and a group of friends decided to go and study them. They're disturbed creatures. They sleep in a single massive pit, and rape eachother in their sleep. They're oversexual quears with no understanding of emotion or reasoning. They're animals, Neyclos. They feast on raw meat, and what they don't eat, they roll in, covering themselves in the stench of death and decay. They play with their prey before eating it, maiming it's body and detaching it's limbs. They aren't people, and they aren't animals. They're Taurs, and deserve to die."