Salunwell's Ring of Stars

It turned out that long ago, when the Shamanic Doctrine had just been born, Shamans had also been considered clergy. The gods they worshipped and believed in were the Elemental Gods. However, the Elemental Gods weren't very fond of answering their followers, so it was usually the Elemental Demigods of the Elemental Plane who responded instead.

Back then, Shamans could often summon these powerful Elemental Demigods and gain the power to devastate the world. But later, for some unknown reason, the beings of the Elemental Plane suddenly stopped answering the followers of the Prime Material Plane, and the Shamans' status plummeted.

Even so, some exceptionally gifted Shamans could still communicate with powerful beings on the Elemental Plane and gain remarkable abilities. The specific abilities depended on which powerful Elemental Demigod they contacted. There were simply too many demigods on the Elemental Plane. Plenty had made names for themselves on the Prime Material Plane, not to mention all those whose reputations had never spread there. As a result, their abilities varied wildly.

Solam might have earned the favor of four Elemental Demigods at once. That was unusual, but given how notoriously capricious elemental beings were, it wasn't impossible.

Orcs had no writing, and their history was passed down by word of mouth, so there were no records to confirm whether anything like Solam's situation had happened before. But the chieftain's instincts told him it wasn't a bad thing. When an Elemental Demigod favored a Shaman, it usually just wanted its name spread across the Prime Material Plane. That wasn't a big deal. As for why those Elemental Demigods had never contacted Solam all these years, that was easy enough to explain: with Solam's current strength, there would be no point in contacting him.

Solam felt that it didn't sound like a bad thing, but he was still a little worried. He feared those powerful Elemental Demigods might realize he had come from another world. He had no idea what they would think of someone from another world. But worrying wouldn't help. Who knew what those elementals were thinking? So Solam simply stopped dwelling on it.

After that, the chieftain danced around Solam, muttering all the while. It left Solam feeling a little awkward.

The old man spent nearly twenty minutes at it before he was finally done. He was utterly exhausted. Solam hurriedly helped him onto the bed, and the old man spent a long while catching his breath before he recovered. He nearly scared Solam to death. If anything had happened to him, Solam would have been in serious trouble.

"I just borrowed the power of a Heroic Spirit to look into your fate. But it's strange. After all that effort, I could only see a cloud of chaos, as if your fate didn't exist at all. That's highly unusual. I can always glimpse at least a few fragments of anyone born in this world, but your fate seems to be entirely outside it."

So all that singing and dancing had been a divination. Of course he couldn't see anything. Solam wasn't from this world. Still, Solam thought it best to keep quiet. If the old man found out, he had no idea whether it would be good or bad.

The old man glanced at Solam, puzzled. It was strange for someone to have no curiosity at all about his own fate, so he asked Solam,

"Are you not curious about your future?"

"Not really," Solam could only say.

"Why?" The old man was even more curious.

"If I saw a glimpse of my fate, could I change it?"

"It'd be difficult, but it wouldn't be impossible."

Damn, even fate could be changed in this world? Wasn't fate supposed to be set in stone? Solam was all the more intrigued. He would have loved to see his own future, even if he couldn't change it. His curiosity was hard to resist. But he still had to bluff his way through with the chieftain, so he couldn't say that.

"Chieftain, I think we should accept our own fate. What good would it do to see it? Would I have to change who I am now just to alter what happens later? It's better not to know. An unpredictable fate is more interesting, and then I don't have to go against my own nature. Whether the future is good or terrible, I'll have made it myself, and I can accept it." Solam was certainly curious, but he meant every word. Better not to know; there was no point in worrying himself over it.

The chieftain was taken aback by Solam's words, then broke into a smile.

"Heh, I didn't expect you to be so carefree, boy. But what you said sounds just like Kramsh. No wonder you're his grandson."

"Did my grandfather say that too?" Solam had never known.

"Mm. When he was young, I once tried to tell his fortune, but he refused. He said that if it was his fate, he would accept it, whether he saw it or not. But in the end, he regretted it."

"Regretted it? No way. I know my grandfather too well." Solam didn't believe it. His grandfather was so stubborn that there was no way he'd regret his own decision.

"If he hadn't regretted it, why would he have asked me to read your fortune? You think I had nothing better to do? One divination could cost me my life. If Kramsh hadn't begged me, I wouldn't have lifted a finger."

"Th-then why did my grandfather ask you to do this?"

"Alas." The old man sighed, sounding a little wistful. "It was because of your poor father. Kramsh has always been deeply troubled by his accidental death, so he asked me to tell your fortune and make sure you didn't meet the same fate."

Solam would have been lying if he said he wasn't touched. But he couldn't cry like a girl. A real man didn't get sentimental.

"I've failed to fulfill my promise, too. I couldn't see anything." The old man felt he'd let Kramsh down.

"Hey! It's not like you did it on purpose. What could you do if you couldn't see anything?" Solam comforted the old man with an easygoing smile. This one was Solam's problem; there was no reason to blame anyone else.

The old man looked at the shameless boy and thought Solam was every bit Kramsh's grandson.

"Take this. It's my way of making it up to you." The old man reached into his clothes and pulled out a silver ring set with gems, handing it to Solam. "I found it on an adventure a long time ago."

Solam hadn't wanted to take it. The ring looked incredibly valuable. A large ruby was set into its face, and the band was studded with many smaller gems. Mysterious runes covered the whole thing. He didn't know what it did, but the magical glow shimmering across it made it clear that it was no ordinary ring. Solam thought it was far too precious and tried to refuse, but the old man wouldn't take no for an answer. They went back and forth until the old man was nearly furious, and only then did Solam reluctantly accept it. Afterward, the old man said he needed to rest and sent Solam away.

Solam walked out alone, holding the ring. He glanced back at the tent, then quickly took it out and examined it.

Salunwell's Ring of Stars

Among the many Mages around Waterdeep, Salunwell was undoubtedly the most popular. He was both charming and powerful. He insisted that his powers came from the favor of the Mysterious Lady, who had bestowed them upon him. Many people at the time believed he had truly become the goddess's chosen one. But later, he encountered Sammaster, a former chosen one of the goddess who had fallen into madness, and was easily killed. That was when everyone learned about this ring.

The ring made its wearer more charming while greatly enhancing their spellcasting abilities. To this day, no one knew where Salunwell had obtained it.

Equipment Effects:

Charisma +2

Spell Slots for levels 0 to 5: +2

Charm, three times per day (duration: one hour)

Powerful Charm, once per day (minimum duration: 3 minutes; one additional minute per caster level)

Casting speed +1

Solam was completely stunned by the ring's abilities. He had spent three years training as a Mage's apprentice and was no longer the clueless bumpkin he'd once been, with no idea what magical equipment was worth. He knew how rare magic items that increased Spell Slots were in this world, and this ring could even boost a base attribute. It was practically a legendary item. Incidentally, Thor's Hammer was worth about the same as this ring. Both counted as high-grade magic items, just shy of legendary.

But Solam didn't awkwardly try to return it to the chieftain. He could tell he would soon be leaving Avalon; otherwise, his grandfather wouldn't have asked the chieftain to tell his fortune. In that case, he could use all the equipment he could get to strengthen himself. He simply kept the old man's kindness in his heart, knowing he would repay it someday if he got the chance.

The ring's Charisma boost and spells were no use to Solam. He didn't rely on those to get by. But the extra Spell Slots were exactly what he needed. As an Arcane Knight, nothing could improve his strength more than having more Spell Slots.

There wasn't much else to say after that. They just had to wait for Lilia, Krum's girlfriend, to turn sixteen, then bring her back to the clan so she and Krum could marry.

In the meantime, Krum had no real chance to spend time with Lilia. He spent most of his days fighting people. There was no helping it: Lilia might not be very old, but she was beautiful, and she had plenty of admirers. Orcs had a tradition of bride snatching, so a lot of rivals had been challenging Krum lately, hoping to steal her away. Krum had been fighting people every day. To protect his love, he was covered in bruises more often than not.

Bride snatching was basically a series of one-on-one fights, and no one else was allowed to help. At most, Solam could cast a few Rejuvenation Spells on Krum after a fight. There was nothing else he could do. But Krum's daily fights had gotten Little Saurfang worked up. He went to cheer him on every time, as excited as if it were a festival.