Xenophobia was hard to track in the valley. The Osna people largely liked to keep themselves separate from the bandits and mercenaries that lived among them. It was easy as they all lived together on one side of town. They certainly did not like the foreigners that were trying to conquer them. They were a bit put off by the worshipping of an evil god in Battleville, but on the whole the Blade Spirits had been nothing less than a godsend to them. The new residents all thought the Osna people were a bit weird and backwards, but largely let them do their own thing in their spaces. They were extremely wary of these mystical beings that could turn into deadly weapons or be invisible until they struck you dead. It was something that made them concerned for their own safety. Especially when some of them worshipped an evil god out in the open. They were fine with foreigners. They used to come from those lands until they settled in the valley. It was annoying that the kingdoms wanted them to pay taxes, put they would be fine with it, if the spirits and Osna people gave it up.
It was at times of peace that one could actually explore the valley and see what made it great. The hermit at the shrine to the river god talked to me about the valley. I was able to get more lore from him. 9 generations ago, the exiled king came from the western mountain range. That was why Clemens was so happy and eager with his discovery of the silver and gold. This would not leave the valley so word never spread to the east. Those in the west knew the rumors and legends. The king died here. It was empty, but the Osna people had come from the mountains. They were driven from their homes about a decade earlier. With this level of irony, it was hard not to just laugh at the king's fate. He was put to death along with his servants and retainers. They did not know that he had his men stash the riches of the looted treasury of the kingdom all over the ground. It was his last act of defiance to the faction that ousted him. In the decade since they left the mountains to become outposts for the kingdom that stole their homes, they met the gods. I thanked him for a nice story.
Zipping through the valley on a stroll, it was not hard for me to spot a bandit hideout in the mountains. They seemed to have just set up a camp there. I wondered if there was loot there, or if they were planning of stashing the plunder from the valley up their. Either way, they would be dead soon enough. We had just killed another century of both sides of the mountain. They would probably need some time to notice they were not sending back word from the settlements and then send a search party. This would actually be the best time for us to awaken the second kusarigama for Ethana Town. Hopefully, the awakened spirit would not cause problems for the people of the town. Darrien was bandaged up and told to get some rest. That was not needed when I could heal him. I let him hold my chain for a few minutes. I did not heal a lot at once so it took quite some time to get him back to peak condition. I told him about the small bandit camp and not to say anything to anybody else. He nodded and got his kusarigama from the shrines. We left together without telling anyone.
