The keep was empty; its inhabitants were early risers for the most part and had likely been up and about for hours at this point. If I wanted to find food I would likely have to get it myself, or head into the village proper and see if anyone had something tasty they felt like sharing with me. After some consideration, I decided to brave the outside. It was a beautiful morning; it would be a shame to waste it. To my surprise I found Hymir sitting just outside the main entrance, carefully whittling away at a huge stump, with an equally large knife. I couldn't see what it was supposed to be, definitely an animal of some sort, big and wide, with a squarish head. Maybe a bear? Hymir noticed me the moment I stepped outside and turned his head and gave me a welcoming smile.
"Hey there, Slim. Up early I see," he told me.
I gave him a halfhearted little wave. "Sun woke me up and I couldn't get back to sleep."
"Good, good," he said approvingly. "Better to be awake, you sleep too much as it is."
"If someone didn't make it his mission to run me rapged every day I might not need to." I retorted as I sat down beside the larger man on the bench he was sitting it. It was a big sucker, large enough that my feet didn't touch the ground. I felt like I was six again, small and gap-toothed, legs swinging in the air as I tried to eat an apple. I pushed down a sudden surge of homesickness.
"You can sleep when you are dead." Hymir riposted unapologetically. "Or at that school of yours. You won't be here for long, what kind of Jarl would I be if I didn't make use of the opportunity."
"The teachers usually frown on that sort of thing, and they can be 'creative' in discouraging that sort of behavior," I informed him.
Hymir laughed loudly. "I bet they can be."
I huffed. "So, I'm an 'opportunity' am I?"
"Darn straight. Not many wizards come around these parts. None in fact." He told me.
"Takoda does." I pointed out to him.
Hymir nodded. "That he does, and he's a good boy, but he doesn't have your skill with making things." He pointed out. "In a week you have managed to fix many of our problems here. Built houses, constructed piping for irrigating our fields and water for our homes, and help implement it. I would have to be touched in the head if I didn't make use of you."
"I don't think you're supposed to tell the person you are using that you're using them, just saying," I told him sardonically.
Hymir snorted. "As if you didn't know. You're a sharp one, you know what I was about your first day here. And you don't mind one bit despite all your bellyaching."
"I guess you have me all figured out then," I sneered goodnaturedly
Hymir chuckled in amusement. "Damn straight! It would have been a damn sight stranger if I hadn't, three hundred years' worth of experience counts for something you know." He told me and poked me with the butt of his knife. "There is one thing I'm curious about though."
"Oh yeah, thought you had me all pegged down." I snarked.
"Don't you smart mouth me, Slim. I've been teaching smart-mouthed little brats what's what since before your great grandpappy was even a stain on his parent's sheets." He admonished me lightly.
"Now there's an image I could have lived my whole life without having in my head." I muttered in disgust.
"Shush! Now, as I was saying. I noticed something curious when I met you, you didn't look surprised to meet us, didn't seem afraid none either."
I looked at him in surprise, not having expected that line of thought. "Yeah, so? You're not that scary."
"Slim, I haven't seen anyone come here and not be at least a little apprehensive at the sight of a whole town filled with giants, even those that know about us. Even Takoda was wary of us at first, and that boy barely has enough brains to be afraid, to begin with." Hymir told me sternly. "Now you, however, you barely blinked. Not surprised at all."
"Maybe I just hide it better," I suggested casually.
"Might be." Hymir allowed. "Or, a more likely reason would be that you've seen one of my kind before, and have a good opinion of 'em."
That was kinda impressive. I chuckled. "You don't miss much do you?"
"I've learned the benefit of paying attention." He told me, and I noted a strange undertone to his words. Like they had a deeper meaning. About what, I have no clue.
"You don't say," I said pleadingly, hoping he would give me some hints.
"Mmm." Hymir hummed but didn't seem inclined to elaborate on the subject. "So you have met more of my people, then?"
I nodded. "A few, there is one guy that works as a groundskeeper at my school. We are good friends. And there is a small family of Ettins living in the northern parts of Sweden; they are the caretakers of the dragon preserve there."
"Serious?" Hymir asked, looking surprised. "In the mother country? I didn't think there were any giants left in those parts."
I laughed. "Its a bit of a story, that. They are not from there originally." I explained before continuing. "Besides those, I only know of one more, a woman down in France, works as a teacher."
Hymir grimaced in disgust and spat on the ground. "Ach! Say no more, I know that one." He muttered darkly.
I raised an eyebrow curiously. "Do I detect a hint of hostility there?"
"Disappointment more like." Hymir corrected grumpily. "Heard of the girl some years back and decided to pay her a visit. Was damn excited to, an Ettin teacher of magic! Never thought I'd see the day. I'd hoped she would be able to teach her people how to do magic, seeing as she is a teacher. Would have been great." he said before leaning back with a tired sigh. "She was none too happy to see me. Called me all sort of nasty things, 'savage', 'barbarian' and 'primitive'. Would not hear of being an Ettin, kept claiming that she was "big-boned". Big-boned! Damn tripe!" He spat angrily.
I can't say I was surprised to hear that Olympe had reacted in that way. By the sound of it, from what I've read, she was highly invested in appearing normal, despite the obvious impossibility of the whole thing. You can't hide when you're eleven feet tall. Not that something small like that had ever stopped a wizard, or a witch in this case. This was the culture that had produced Humphrey Belcher, a wizard that thought a cheese cauldron was a sane idea. Fate had not been kind to Mr. Belcher. Why she didn't just shrink down to normal size I'll never know. Not too bright that one, I think.
"What did you expect?" I asked out loud. "She's French after all."
Hymir barked a laugh. "True that!"
"You might want to try to send a pretty boy her way, might have better luck than an old fart like you," I suggested humorously.
Hymir snorted. "I have you know I don't look a day over eighty. You'll be lucky to look as good as me when you are my age."
I smiled indulgently, it's not like he was wrong after all. At his age, I'd be dust in the wind. Unless I found some way around it. God knew I would give it a go. Death might not scare me like it once did, but that didn't mean I felt like leaving the mortal coil, and if I could find a way to avoid it, I'd damn well take it. I just wouldn't be stupid about it, like Piddle. Really, I'd die one day, even if I found the secret to eternal life, that one was a given. Be it by accident or by intent, I'd die. I was damn well not gonna spend eternity in limbo like that fuckwit.
"I'm sure." I drawled. "If you want to learn magic, Hagrid would probably be happy to help out."
Hymor looked intrested. "Hagrid?"
"That's the groundskeeper at my school; I've been teaching him wandless magic for the last four years or so on account of him not being allowed to use a wand. Not that I've really needed to lend a hand for a year or so. He's already teaching one of the girls from the family over in Sweden."
"Wandless magic?" Hymir asked, looking mystified. "I'd thought that was fiendishly hard to learn and only possible for the most powerful."
I waved away his concerns. "A common misconception. It's harder, true. But mostly at the start. It takes time, dedication, focus, and discipline to get anywhere with it. It's much easier to just pick up a wand and start doing magic, s'why most prefer it." I told him. "Once I get home I can send over a primer on how to get started and then you can have a chat with Hagrid and see if he's willing to help out."
"You think he will?" He asked, sounding a bit hopeful.
"Yeah," I said with surety. "I don't think it will be a problem. He might not be able to come here on a more permanent basis, he's rather attached to his job at Hogwarts..."
Hymir interrupted me with a snort. "Hogwarts... what kind of name is that for a school."
"Yeah, the Britts ain't too picky about what they name things," I told him with a smile. "Anyway, it might be better if you sent someone there. I know he has a spare room left, and I don't think he would mind another boarder."
"Another, he had one already?"
"Yeah, the girl he's teaching is living with him." I informed him with an eyebrow waggle.
Hymir rubbed his beard thoughtfully. "I see. And you don't think he is willing to relocate here?"
"Not as thing stand now, no. He's rather loyal to the headmaster, and he likes his job. You'd have to offer something big for him to consider it." I told him earnestly. Honestly, I thought it would be good for the big lug to come here, but I knew him well enough that he wouldn't go for it.
"Hmm." Hymir hummed thoughtfully. "I will have to think on this for a bit.
I shrugged before jumped to my feet. "No hurry. I'll be around for a few days more, I think." I said as I started to walk away. "But right now I need some breakfast, I'll see you later!"
With that last word, I departed on my quest for breakfast. I had a particular destination in mind. In any other village, it would be the local tavern, the place where people gathered in the evening for a pint of beer and shoot the breeze with your friends and maybe play a game of cards or stones. This place had all this but I'm not sure you could think of it as a tavern since everything was free. Why was that one might wonder? Well, it was free because there wasn't really any sort of currency flowing around the village so how did one pay for something?
By bartering of course. But that didn't work in that sort of setting. What do you barter for a bowl of soup, a beer and some bred? Three rabbits? A sack of potatoes? A stack of firewood? Yeah, that wouldn't work. Normally something like this wouldn't even exist in a village like this, there wouldn't be a need or want for it. The reason for it being a thing here came down to one person, and that person was a woman by the name of Jord.
Jord was much like all Ettins, big. In more ways than one. Not to say she was fat, but damn if she didn't have more curves then an Italian mountain road. She had a round merry face, with constantly red cheeks and a cute button nose. Her hair was blond as fresh wheat and her eyes were as blue as the sky itself. She was habitually dressed in a white blouse, that always looked to be a breath away from bursting under the strain of her... generous endowments. She had a leather corset-thing on to compensate, but that only served push her breasts up and make spillage more likely. So far I'd never seen her in anything but a good mood, always ready with a kind word and an understanding ear. And food, of course.
That was her domain, her kingdom. Jord was, bar none, and by unanimous village vote, the best cook in Utgard. And considering she only had her personal spice garden and whatever she got from foraging the area, that was saying something. And by that I mean, she was good. Very good. She didn't have much to work with, but she made what she had work. She was so good in fact that the villagers donated materials to her in exchange for her providing this service. Everyone pitched in a bit to keep her larders filled. They had even built her house for her so that she would have enough room to host a sizable crowd.
Jord's Tavern had been one of my first stops when I got there, and I'd quickly gotten on her very large good side by creating a walk-in freezer and refrigerator in her basement, as well as a sauna for her personal use. That had earned me a permanent welcome and all the food I could eat.
I licked my lips.
I was gonna enjoy this.