The first thing Jacob did was head to the kitchen, the reason being was that it was where a few maids were. Although Vulcan had control before, Jacob was still able to see what was going on.
Who knows, maybe one of the maids would be kind enough to tell him a thing or two about the current lord.
He figured that since none of them greeted him when he entered beforehand, they already knew he was not the lord of the mansion even though the two of them resembled each other dramatically.
Still, making friends out of the people was never a bad idea.
Just as Sun Tzu stated, 'if you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles'. In a situation like this, Jacob may not be going into a ton of battles but he was going against a lord he did not know.
He was cautious and had a feeling that this lord was dangerous. Not in a sense as he would kill you with his bare hands, no, instead he presented himself as a wolf in sheep's clothing.
Very calm on the outside, but watching his prey and waiting for a moment to strike.
Jacob was not his prey, he was just caught in the middle of two tigers. He was the bait and a juicy one at that.
What he needed was to find out more about the lord of this place and gather some money so he could buy himself some equipment for protection.
The cheapest sword would cost him five hundred silver, while the ones on the more expensive side could easily be over eight thousand. Jacob was a poor young teen without silver in name.
Without joining the army, he would need to make his own money.
Walking into the kitchen, Jacob could smell the lovely aroma in the air. It smelt like someone was frying chicken, but he knew that could not be the case.
What greeted him instead were the maids carrying plates of roast outside. Being the curious sort, Jacob followed right behind them, as it is also where the smell was coming from.
There was a large man wearing a brown leather apron, dried bloodstains could be seen on it. In his hand was a large butcher's knife, but his eyes were focused on the large piece of meat that was attached to a thick stick. The stick was thicker than Jacob's arms, and the way it was sizzling over the fire caused his mouth to water.
From the corner of his eye, he noticed a stone oven that was not going and wondered why they did not just use that to cook the food.
In the far distance, Jacob could make out people cheering and shouting. His vision was decent, but he couldn't tell what was going on due to the large wooden building blocking his view. Whatever was happening was going on behind that building.
Instead of going over there right away, Jacob walked over to the cook or butcher. He was not internally sure which he was.
"What are you cooking? It smells delicious!"
Jacob said in a somewhat excited voice. He wasn't too thrilled with the food but needed to act his part in order to get a proper response.
The large man looked down towards Jacob, he honestly did not even notice the little guy. He heard whispers that there was a kid here who looked like the lord, but he didn't believe it until now.
His lord never left the mansion, so clearly this was not their lord. It had to be the other guy, but still just to be sure he better respond in a friendly manner.
"Wolf meat, taken from the great plains of Elune and seasoned to perfection by yours truly."
The grin on his face told Jacob he was truly proud of his work, but he was a bit skeptical. After all, it is not every day you meet someone who openly tells you they eat dog meat.
The large man patted his large round stomach and let out a boisterous laugh after seeing the look on Jacob's face. Who wouldn't be surprised after hearing that this meat came from the great plains of Elune? Only a few knights brave enough to traverse the land would go and seek out any treasures hidden there, but the majority returned with rare animals or exotic food.
What he did not know was that he and Jacob were thinking about two different things. One was proud to have a chance to dapple with this sort of rare meat, while the other one was repulsed by the fact that they were eating dog meat.
Jacob squatted down a bit and leaned closer towards the sizzling meat. What was so special about this?
The large man yanked Jacob back by his collar.
"Careful little one, the fire is hotter than what it seems. It would melt your hand within seconds, let alone your face."
Hearing those words, Jacob did not believe him. He got pretty close to the fire but barely felt a thing. He knew all sorts of fire magic that one would be able to accomplish, but this did not give him the feeling of magical fire.
"What's the great plains of Elune and why are you so proud of this meat?"
The large man was taken back by Jacob's question. Who exactly was this kid and where did he grow up? All citizens knew about the great plains of Elune and the mystery behind it. You would have to grow up under a rock not to know.
In his time helping develop Pathfinder, Jacob never once heard of the great plains of Elune. Not even in the history before the events took place in the empire's downfall.
Seeing the serious look in Jacob's eye, the large man knew that he really did not know what the great plains of Elune were.
"The great plains of Elune are north of the Valorian empire. More than a hundred years ago, the emperor began a campaign to conquer the north and expand the empire. Except out of the ten thousand soldiers he took with him, less than half returned."
"A thick white fog covers the entire plains north of here, and no one knows what is truly inside. After suffering a heavy loss, the empire never started another campaign to conquer the north. And after losing the emperor at that time during the campaign, the plains were named after him, Elune. As for this meat here, it is the same with anything brought back from the great plains of Elune. It's expensive but most importantly rare. This meat is not only juicy and has more flavor than other meat, but it also promotes muscle growth which is always good for keeping our soldiers nice and strong."
Explaining a bit of the history behind the great plains of Elune was all he could offer. Stories were always told in the taverns about the place, but that's all they were, stories. If you believed in them then that was your decision, but not everything you hear is true.
'What exactly is going on here? This place is exactly like Pathfinder, but there are a few subtle differences. My knowledge about this world may not even be accurate anymore. Are Veronica and Albert even generals here?'
Jacob felt a bit lost, he just hoped that going forward things stayed on track.
"Now, it is my turn for a question. How come you do not know of the great plains of Elune? It is taught to every child when they are young, even the villagers know about it."
The large man asked Jacob as he gazed down towards him.
"Honestly, I am an orphan and was never taught any of our history. The little things I do know I picked up from others."
With eyes wide open the large man seemed to understand.
He slapped Jacob's back as he laughed.
"Come to Rolf if you ever want to know anything. I have many stories to tell, especially about the Malzurian princess. She is something else! But for now, I need to finish cooking. Why not hang out with the guards, maybe they can answer your questions."
Rolf told Jacob as he turned his attention back to the wolf meat.
Jacob looked over at the big guy and could see he had a big heart. Rolf did not treat him badly but instead spoke to him without any disrespect. He could also see the change in Rolf's expression when he told him he was an orphan. It was almost as if he could relate to Jacob, maybe there was a story to tell.
However, the two of them did not have that much intimacy yet and Rolf wouldn't tell him about his past. If Jacob really wanted to know, he needed to build his relationship up with Rolf.
The backstories of characters in Pathfinder were interesting, at least for most of them. If a player reached a certain relation with an NPC, they may be given a special quest that would reward them with a massive amount of experience or a unique item. In certain cases, you could even be adopted into a family.
You never know what secrets an NPC had unless you built up a relation with them. That maid who works for a lord might actually be a princess of a fallen kingdom.
