It is now many years later that I am contemplating how much of an impact our expedition has had.
Hunting and fishing is in our blood, so we never completely stopped doing that, but we supplement our diet with a variety of homegrown vegetables. There hasn't been a winter harsh enough to make us worry since those days.
Since the days that we were no longer required to chase our food around, the Fremennik have devoted their time to other things. Crafting clay and glass items became one of the main industries that we developed, with exports to the south bringing a new level of richness to these lands.
Artwork by Hawkxs
Who would have thought that a simple tomato would have such a big impact?
This too had an effect on how our town looks these days. Clay brick houses are now much more common than wooden ones, and our city's fence has been almost completely replaced with a brick wall.
Our kin from the mountains never returned to their camp. Not much later after that fateful winter Hamal, their chieftain, fell ill and died. He hung on long enough for him to see his niece again in the spring.
On his deathbed he made Freyleif promise not to forget the legacy of his daughter Asleif. The mountain camp today is a place of spiritual pilgrimage. Many people go the lake there to beseech the elders at the Hall of our Fathers for guidance. Some say they even got an answer.
Freyleif did not stay at Rellekka. She, along with some of her people, joined forces with Armod in defense of the river.
Anders too moved south. The trading opportunities between the villages in the south, the dwarves under the mountains and himself as a middleman kept him on the move for a while, but he eventually built himself a trading post near Armod's camp.
Pieter was allowed to live in Keldagrim. To this day he still studies the dwarven technologies and occasionally visits our lands to share his new ideas and visit his old friends.
Vemund has never seen busier times. His expertise in woodcraft is what got him to help build almost every single defensive feature and other structure that now stands in the new settlement that has formed along the river's bank.
Armod's friends never left his side. Reinn and Beigarth have now retired their swords but still command the defensive forces of the new settlement. They have successfully stopped any attempt of Kandarin's forces to get a foothold on this side of the river.
Signy, despite her clumsy luck, now teaches archery as well as the art of making your own bow and arrows to whomever wishes to serve in defense of the town.
Hild makes good use of this as she too leads a small group of trained bowmen that patrol the shores of the river.
Svidi now serves as a diplomatic liaison between Kandarin and the Fremennik lands. The king thus far refuses to recognize our independence still, and denies knowing what happened to Heinz and his people in Hemenster as we haven't heard from them since our skirmish in Catherby. But there is finally a cease-fire now.
Sigmar remained in Rellekka. He took upon himself the duties that aging council members could not, and has helped to lead our lands into this prosperous yet dangerous time.
Brundt and Sigli are old now, and rarely meddle in the doings of Rellekka anymore. As the duties of the council are passed on to the next generation, they are still disagreeing with each other the same way they always did.
Brundt thinks Sigli's son Sigmar should be the next chieftain, while Sigli has the exact opposite opinion and thinks Brundt's son Armod should be chieftain. Armod has more than made up for whatever mistakes he made and has earned the right to succeed his father.
They'll figure it out eventually.
THE END
