Remembering when your other carriage ride was attacked by bandits, you didn't stick around and fight them, you took off and ran and it worked out (more or less). Seems like the same strategy should apply here.

You get out of the carriage and start unhooking one of the horses tied to your carriage. The driver who is still nearby sees what you're doing.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing? You need to start slinging spells at those orcs!" the driver shouts.
"Yeah, well that won't be happening." You say.

The driver at this point grabs your arm.

"And why the fuck not?"
"Because I'm not a fucking wizard asshole!" you reply and then slug the driver in face.

He falls to the ground and you successfully get the horse free. You're about to mount it when the driver once again attempts to stop you.

"Cowardly sonof…"

That's all he gets out before you shove a dagger in his throat and kick him to the ground again. You don't bother to retrieve the dagger as you see orcs quickly swaming the area, you just get on the horse and gallop away.

Your next plan is to follow the road and hopefully you'll eventually reach your destination. It's not ideal and you're still not exactly sure of the directions, but you're hoping you can figure it out as you go or hope that the Empire at least has signs on their more isolated roads even if they apparently don't have proper security on them.

You haven't gotten far when a javelin whizzes past you. You look behind and see two orcs in pursuit. You can't really do much except duck as low as you can and try to outpace them.

You see a bridge in the distance and head towards it. You feel something hit your back, or rather your backpack. Fortunate that you were wearing it to block the arrow.

One of the orcs has dispensed with ranged attacks and is concentrating on closing the gap. When you get to the bridge, he's almost on you and swinging a morning star.

You draw your sword and try to swing it at the orc. Unfortunately the orc's morning star partially wraps around it. Between riding and awkwardly trying to fight, you don't have enough grip to pull the sword back, especially since the orc is much stronger and pulling his own weapon back as well.

So you do the only logical thing and let go of the sword causing the orc to pull too much on his end, lose his balance; fall off his horse and over the side of bridge.

You don't have too much time to celebrate however since the other orc hasn't given up on ranged attacks and throws his last javelin at you. On the plus side it doesn't hit you. The bad news is it hits the horse causing it to flail and causing you to also lose balance and go over the side of the bridge!

The water isn't excessively deep, but the current in the river is strong that it instantly starts carrying your away. You no idea where the hell it's taking you, but your main concern is trying not to drown.

You tread water for a while in your attempt to get to shore despite the strong current. Eventually you manage to grab on to a fallen tree trunk and drag yourself to shore.

You're soaked, you're cold, and you're exhausted. You lost your pack during your time in the river and you have no idea where you are now, but you're too tired to care. You lie motionless on the muddy bank you're on for a moment just trying to gather yourself, but as they say, no rest for the wicked.

"Shit!" you shout just barely rolling out of the way of the large branch wielded by the orc who also fell off the bridge. You don't know where he came from and you didn't even hear him, but none of that matters right now. What matters is how you're going to survive his assault.

Miraculously, despite losing nearly all your other possessions in the river, you still have one extra dagger on your person. You draw it, but you don't have a positive feeling about your chances.

As tired as you are, the orc is fairly clumsy about swinging his branch at you so you manage to dodge. Obviously more used to fighting on horseback.

Still, the orc has a lot more endurance than you do and eventually he catches you with a glancing blow upside your head. You fall to the ground, dazed. Expecting the next hit to crush your skull, you hear the orc make a more anguished cry.

You look and see a woman dressed in fur clothing with a bow and she's currently getting another arrow ready now that the orc's attention is directed towards her and didn't go down from the first shot.

She hits it again, but it keeps coming. Now she begins to panic, but still attempts to get off another shot. She misses though.

Meanwhile, you've managed to recover a bit, and once again you can take the opportunity to run while the orc's attention is divided.

You finish off the orc

While normally you'd take this opportunity to run, you're pissed enough at the orc for trying to kill you in the first place and grateful enough that this woman just probably saved your life.

You run at the orc with your dagger in hand and manage to get it to the ground in its weakened state. You stab it in the back multiple times and don't stop until the woman calls out to you.

"Okay. I think you killed it." She shouts.

You snap out of your killing trance for a moment and see you've made quite the mess. You stand up breathing heavily.

"Fucking greenskins." You exclaim, kicking the dead body.
"I hope this isn't a possible invasion. We saw another one a few months ago, though he was much smaller and ran off when he saw us. He was nowhere near as big as this one." The woman remarks.
"Fortunately for you that you weren't where I just was, because there was a bunch of orcs that size on horseback about to destroy the Caravan I was part of."

The woman shakes her head.

"I thought the empire was supposed to be making the land safe. So much for their promises, well anyway, thanks for saving my life. I froze up a bit when that orc didn't go down with the second arrow." The woman says.
"You're welcome, but I'd say you saved mine first seeing as that orc would have caved my skull in if you hadn't shown up." You respond.
"Hm, I suppose that's true enough. Guess we helped each other. So where was this Caravan and where were you going?"
"Shit, I don't even know now. I know I was probably north east of here. There was a stone bridge and then I fell into the river and wound up here. I was travelling from Galpatolis and going to Arcanius."

The woman's eyes widen when you say that.

"I see. Why?"
"I got business there. I'd really appreciate it if you could tell me how I could get there from here." You say walking towards her, but then you experience a moment of fatigue and your legs give out causing you to partially collapse to the ground. The woman goes to help you up.

"Hey, you still don't look that great. Look, you're barely in any condition to walk anywhere let along travelling all the way to Arcanius. Why don't you come back with me where you can at least rest and heal up? I mean as I said, you did help me kill the orc. My village isn't that far away."
"Okay, yeah that sounds fine." You say not really wishing to argue since she's right about you not being in the best condition right now.

The woman tells you her name is Keira and her village is Tarvo. She goes on about how it was absorbed by the Empire decades ago and how they used to even have a sizable amount of soldiers there, but eventually they realized the village was never going to be a problem as far as rebellions go. As it stands there are only a few soldiers and a single Galpatis official who probably got sent there because he pissed someone off. As a result he doesn't really enforce many official Galpatian laws other than something obvious like murder or rape and allows everyone to go about their normal lives.

Eventually you get to the village, which is fairly humble. It's probably smaller than your old home of Teckleville.

"Hey Keira, you catch that hunting this time?" some other woman asks and points at you.
"Sort of. He was fighting an orc and we both brought it down together." Keira replies.
"An orc? This close to the village?! Shit. We need to tell the magistrate about that! Not that I really want soldiers stomping about here, but if orcs are going to be a problem then I'd rather we have better defenses then we have!"
"Mm. Well, I need to get back to my home and patch him up."
"Okay, but don't Ardan see you taking another man inside your home! He might get the wrong idea!"

Keira makes a minor laugh and waves at the woman, though you notice Keira also rolling her eyes when she turns her head away.

You soon get to Keira's home which isn't large, but you suppose it's big enough to serve Keira's needs since she's living here alone. She gets a fire started and you welcome the warmth since you've been near freezing since you got out of the water.

"You know you'll get warmer quicker if you get your clothes off. Those are going to need to dry properly anyway." Keira says.
"Um what?" a little taken by surprise.
"What? Is what you got under those clothes so impressive that you think I just won't be able to contain myself? Or perhaps you're just shy?"
"Well, after the day I had, I really wasn't expecting it to end with a pretty woman asking me to take my clothes off. I'm half expecting you to turn into a monster of some sort which would be more in line with my luck lately."

Keira chuckles a bit.

"Well that won't happen, so perhaps your luck is better than you think. Perhaps even Yaz is looking over you."
"Did you say Yag?"
"No, I said Yaz. You know, the god of fortune? I don't suppose he's worshipped in Galpatolis."
"No, but he's called Yag where I come from."
"Ah. Interesting. I suppose divine beings go by many names though. Glad to know you weren't one of those silly people that worships the emperor though I didn't think you were really from Galpatolis since you don't look like you are."
"You could tell just by looking at me?"
"I could tell just by how you speak and act. You speak the language like you only just learned it. You're obviously not a native Galpatian. Where are you from originally?"
"Eh, I'm originally from a small village far to the south. It's so small, nobody really knows it exists."
"Hm, I guess the Empire came and annexed your people too huh?"
"Something like that…ouch!" you say feeling the aches and pains in your body.
"Okay, I think it's time you took your clothes off, you probably got some wounds that need patching up and I can get to them better if you're naked."
"I gotta say, this is still pretty unusual for me. That other woman mentioned someone called Ardan, I mean I don't want your husband…"
"Ardan is NOT my husband."
"Okay, well boyfriend then."
"He's barely that, and if he does come in here, he can just step right back out, because he pissed me off recently anyway. I don't want to talk about that though. Besides, nothing is happening between us anyway. I don't just become involved with strange men I find in the wilderness, so let's get you fixed up."
"Okay then if you insist."

You still feel a bit weird about all this, but honestly with as much pain you're in right now, you really aren't thinking about Keira in that way. (Well at least not immediately)

Eventually Keira stitches up some of your wounds and places some sort of healing salve on them. She then gives you some spare furs to wrap yourself up in while your clothing dries. She tells you that you can stay here for a few days so you can heal up. As much as you're in a hurry to get to Arcanius, it probably would be best if you rested.

As the days pass Keira says with you here, she's probably spent more time in her home than she has since her mother died since she had to be around more to take care of her.

Apparently Keira prefers being outdoors hunting even when she doesn't need to, even sleeping outside under the stars at times rather than coming home. She says that sometimes she'd like to travel, but she says she's never quite had the nerve to do it. She's not sure why exactly seeing as there isn't much to tie her here except Ardan though once again she doesn't speak much more about him.

Keira asks you a few questions about yourself, which you keep vague with half truths, misdirections and outright lies. You don't want to discuss your real situation anymore than she wants to discuss Ardan.

Keira also tells you how to get to Arcanius though she doesn't ask why you're going again. Going by her directions, it's going to still be a long ass trip, especially with no horse or other mode of transportation now. You don't even have any supplies for such a journey though maybe Keira will give you some before you leave.

When you're feeling slightly better you insist on walking about the village which Keira is happy to see since she doesn't feel the need to check up on you.

You wander the village a bit and are mostly met with stares, but nothing more. A few people actually have heard about you since news spread in this village fairly quickly. It's mostly positive, since killing an orc is something to be celebrated here. In fact a few people are so nice they actually give you some free food.

As you're accepting a few of these free gifts, a couple of soldiers approach saying that you're the one they've been hearing about and how the magistrate wants to see you about the orc found near the village since a few people have expressed concern to him about it.

Seeing as you aren't really doing anything better right now and in no condition to resist. You go with the soldiers and follow to a slightly better looking building than the rest of the village.

The magistrate doesn't look like the typical noble that you've seen many times before back in Galpatolis. He's got more facial hair and a general less kept appearance. It's apparent he barely gives a shit about formalities anymore since he gives his nose a quick pick and blows it out before even speaking to you.

The meeting isn't very long. The magistrate just asks you some general questions about yourself and how you came to be in the situation where you were fighting an orc in the first place. You give him the same story you told Keira and he seems to accept that as a suitable explanation. He doesn't even ask why you were going to Arcanius. The man just seems to be fulfilling the basics of his duties.

"I see. So the orc you were fighting was separated from his fellows. Which means these villagers are jumping to conclusions that there is an imminent attack from orc savages. Glad to hear it, since I doubt if those assholes in the capital would bother sending anyone up here anyway. Very well. You're dismissed." The magistrate says.
"Okay. Um, is there any transportation from here to Arcanius?"
"Sure, put one foot in front of the other and start walking. What? Did you think we'd give you a horse for killing a single orc that you apparently lead near here in the first place? I got more important matters to care of. Out."

And with those words, the magistrate's soldiers start escorting you out the office and soon out the building as well.

Well at least the law isn't trying to arrest you for a change.

In any case, you get the strong impression you'll have to steal a horse before you leave this place. Not before at least another day of rest though. You wander the village a bit more before heading back to Keira's home.

When you arrive, she's still not back yet, though she did say now that you're feeling better, she might be gone a little longer. That's awfully trusting of her to just assume some stranger isn't going to take her stuff. You guess thieves aren't a real problem around here since everyone knows one another and she probably believes you to be an upstanding person.

She doesn't have much that you'd want to take anyway, not to mention you'd be quite the scoundrel indeed if you stole from a woman who has done nothing but help you. You aren't quite that much of an asshole.

Still, doesn't prevent you from being a little nosey and you look through some of her belonging that are more out in open.

As you're picking up what looks to be a flute sitting on a small table by her bed, you hear footsteps behind you.

"So you're the guy that killed an orc and has been living here with Keira? You are far less impressive than I heard about." A voice says.

You turn around and see a large older man standing in the entryway with a small axe in his hand. You just can't catch a break.

"And you're Ardan I presume. Surprised I haven't seen you sooner." You say.
"I was out hunting and I come back after a few days only to find that another man is trying to steal MY woman!" Ardan exclaims.
"Okay look, I'm not stealing your woman. She's just letting me stay here until I recover. In fact I should be leaving by tomorrow."
"Oh so you think you can just fuck my woman and leave then?"
"I haven't fucked her! In fact NOTHING has happened between us!"
"Oh we're going to see about that. Come on."
"What?"
"Come on. We're going to both go see Keira. I know her better than anyone and I'll know if she's lying or not when I confront her with you there."
"But she's out hunting."
"So? I know what grounds she prefers and that's where we're going. Now you're coming with me or I'm going to break your legs and drag you out of here."

Ardan grips his axe tightly after threatening you.

Well he's no orc, but you doubt if he'd be an easy fight either. The guy is predictably crazy jealous and you suppose to can understand his view point, but that doesn't change the fact that for all you know he's going to just take you out to a more secluded place and murder you there.

You go with Ardan

If Ardan has plans on killing you, he doesn't seem like he'd be averse to doing it right here if need be. If you need to run, better that you're not in an enclosed space to more easily get away.

"Okay, I'm coming with you. I really don't want any trouble. When we get to Keira, you'll see that nothing is going on." You say and raise your hands up.

Ardan is still giving you a look that could kill but seems to calm down enough that he opens the door to let you go through it first.

"And don't think about trying to run, I can split a grizzly's skull with this axe from a large distance. Wouldn't take much to do the same to the likes of you." Ardan says as you pass him.

The pair of you walk out of the village and in this light and at this range, you see his face better and something about him looks very familiar.

"What the fuck are you staring at me for?" Ardan asks.
"Nothing! Sheesh, I mean we are walking together and sometimes I'm going to look over at you. You really need to relax, you're going to see that Keira loves you, not me." You say trying to calm him again.
"She doesn't love me! If she did, she wouldn't make me angry all the time!"
"Well what does she do?"
"What does she do? What the hell doesn't she do?! She's constantly having these ideas!"
"A dangerous past time indeed." You say and fortunately Ardan doesn't realize your sarcasm and instead continues to rant.

"I know! She does silly things like try to play that flute thing instead of focusing on more important matters!"
"Like what?"
"Like not wasting her time playing a flute for one thing! She's horrible at it anyway and when I helpfully point this out to save her time, she gets pissed at me!"
"Wow, I can't imagine why."
"Also she wants to leave the village like there's something more out there for her! There's nothing that she needs outside the village that I can't provide! I mean…"

If it wasn't obvious before, it's very apparent now that this Ardan is incredibly insecure and most likely controlling. You can see why Kiera didn't want to talk about him.

Oddly, he's ranting about her so much now that it's almost like he's angrier at her than he is at you now. A step up you suppose, you figure maybe there might be hope to get out of this without a fight after all.

Again though, he seems familiar somehow. Even his voice is starting to remind you of someone you know.

"She wants to leave me after all I've fucking done for her! I taught her how to hunt better! I was by her side when her mother was dying! And fucking another man is how she repays me?"
"Ardan, I didn't have sex with Keira."
"It doesn't even fucking matter if you did or not. My point is, she's letting a damn stranger live with her before ME! That just shits all over our relationship as far as I'm concerned! And another thing…"

And then it hits you. You can't even believe it. You recognize this man. Or at least you recognize his facial features and voice. The beard was throwing you before, but there can be no mistake.

This Ardan could easily pass for your dad if your dad was more muscular and taller. You've also been yelled at your father enough that the voice is even similar. Ardan has to be an ancestor of yours! What the hell are the chances? Yag must have flipped the coin on the edge for you this time.

And if this man is indeed some ancestor of yours that means Keira is also! (You feel a little weird being naked in front of her now) It makes sense; she has similar traits that your sister has. Hell, now that you're thinking about it, Keira does have a similar nose as her.

Ardan is obviously older than Keira by probably at least twenty years since she's probably about your age. You sort of wonder how this relationship even got started, but then again an older guy with a much younger woman isn't that uncommon.

Still, this is all almost too much for you to comprehend. A few days ago you were pondering if you were meant to be here, well maybe THIS is the reason! Your ancestors are obviously having problems; maybe YOU need to fix them.

Meanwhile Ardan is still complaining.

"Hey! Are you listening to me? We're going this way!" Ardan shouts.
"Oh. Apologies. I was just thinking about your situation and I was wondering if you've tried being more supportive of her."
"Supportive? I just told you all the shit I've done for her!"
"Yes, but it always seems like you're doing these things and expecting a certain consistent behavior. I mean she's a woman not a dog."
"What do you mean?"
"What I mean is, it sounds like she just wants you to not yell at her so much when she wants to try something new. You telling her that she sucks at the flute might be the truth, but you could approach it a different way and not just tell her to give it up. You need to be more…sensitive."

You can't believe you just gave that as advice, but if that's what it's going to take to make sure you exist, then so be it.

Ardan scoffs as you continue.

"I mean if she wants to leave the village why not go with her? You're both hunters no? Surely between the pair of you, you would have no trouble in the foraging for food and water aspect or even overcoming dangers."
"Because I've lived here all my life and never felt the need to travel. I'm happy where I'm at and SHE needs to be happy too!"
"It doesn't really work that way."
"What the fuck would you know about it?"
"Okay, I'm not saying I'm an expert, but I know that talking to Keira the way you've been telling me you've been doing isn't going to win her over. I mean I've spoke with her and…"
"So what then? You telling me YOU know how to talk better to my woman than I do? Is that what you're getting at?"

You can't believe your ancestor is THIS much of a stubborn asshole. Or rather you can, but you're almost starting to feel sorry for your great grandmother many times over if this is the guy she's going to have to continue sleeping with so you eventually exist.

"You're not understanding me." You say almost immediately realizing your poor choice of words.
"So you're saying I'm stupid as well? You know what, you've been doing a lot of fucking talking, trying to fool me. Well I'm not fooled. You've obviously charmed Keira with your words and turned her against me!"
"Wha…how?! I only just got here! You were having problems with her long before I arrived!"
"Yeah well when I get rid of you that will be one less problem!"
"Oh shit!"

With a throaty yell, Ardan attacks you with his axe. Fortunately you're a lot more agile than he is, so you manage to dodge his swings. You can't even fight back, since you doubt if you could overpower him physically and you certainly can't kill him.

"Ardan! Listen to me! I'm not your enemy!" you shout, but he isn't listening.

You continue to back away and dodge, but you aren't sure how much longer you can keep this up because Ardan seems to have a lot of energy in trying to kill you.

"Ardan! Stop" you say and just barely manage to duck Ardan's axe.

Taking a risk, you draw your dagger and try to stab his weapon arm so he'll at least drop it.

You succeed and he drops his axe. When you go to pick it up however, Ardan just decides to tackle you, however the pair of you are near a slope and as a result, both of you go tumbling down a steep hill.

You both roll down it gaining speed and eventually even separating from each other. You fortunately manage to grab on to some bushes growing along the slope. Ardan however keeps rolling and that's when you see that the slope doesn't stop on flat ground, but instead what looks to be a long drop over a cliff.

"Oh fuck!" you say

Ardan just manages to stop himself from going over the side completely by grabbing the cliff edge.

You try to run down as fast as you can without tumbling again.

"Ardan! Hold on! I'm coming!" you shout.

You get just in range and then that's when you see his fingers slip followed by a yell. Your heart sinks and you can only hope that the drop wasn't as far as you think.

The yell stops and you slowly look over the side.

And that's when you see Ardan's broken body on a pile of rocks. This is a complete disaster. You feel sick and you actually throw up.

If your time here hasn't changed history before, it certainly has now, because your family as you know it, is dead. You sort of expect yourself to blink out of existence, but that doesn't happen. You don't know why, but maybe it doesn't work like that because you're still in the past.

But what happens now if you return to the future? Even if the mages at Arcanius can help you, you certainly can't return to your time now.

You run through a gamut of thoughts and emotions just thinking about all this. In between the thinking you keep kicking yourself for stealing that fucking crown. It warned you and you didn't listen.

You then ponder the idea that you keep going back to, "What if you're meant to be here?" and that's when you come to a damning realization.

"Shit. It's the only way now." You mutter to yourself and mentally prepare yourself.

When you get back to Keira's home, you find that she's home.

"Hey, there you are! I was thinking you left for Arcanius without saying goodbye. I mean not that you need to, but it would be the polite thing to do."
"Oh, I wouldn't do that. Not when you've done so much for me. In fact I was sort of wondering if you'd come with me."
"Come with you? To Arcanius?"
"Nah, I've decided a change of plans and I'm just going to head back to Galpatolis. I know how much you said you wanted to travel and see new places, so I figured I'd ask if you wanted to come."

Keira looks a bit surprised by all this.

"I…I don't really know." Keira remarks.
"What are you afraid of? You obviously have a wanderlust that needs to be sated and I'm willing to travel with you so you won't be alone on the journey. I mean we can go to different places if you like, but I figured we'd start with Galpatolis since it's a place I know very well and there's plenty to do there. I mean you could even bring your flute if you like. I noticed one sitting on your table. Didn't even knew you played, I wouldn't mind hearing you."

Keira briefly looks over at it and her eyes widen as if this encouragement is the first she's heard in awhile from anyone. You take a deep breath and approach her closer.

"Look, I know this is a big change, but sometimes when big changes present themselves, your best bet is to embrace them. I know I haven't known you long and maybe I'm over stepping a boundary here, but I think you're meant for things outside of this simple village."

Keira smiles a bit at you.

"You're lucky you're cute, otherwise I might not be so swayed by your charming words. However, I sense that you're being genuine with me and I think you're right anyway. I SHOULD follow my desires. I shall pack immediately!"

Keira suddenly kisses you on the cheek and excitedly goes to pack. Since you're a little tired from accidently killing your ancestor and all, you tell her you want to get some sleep and start the journey tomorrow. She agrees and continues to pack.

The next day, Keira wakes you up at the crack of dawn and the pair of you leave Tarvo.

While you're still a little groggy, Keira is very talkative and still very excited about all this.

You figure with as good of terms you're on with her, by the time your reach Galpatolis the pair of you should have already consummated your relationship. A little on the optimistic side perhaps, but you really need to seal this deal because it's not really your life you're worried about anymore, it's your entire lineage.

Sure you feel pretty weird about the fact that you're going to be sexing up what is your distant relative, but you remind yourself, that this is the only way.

Plus it doesn't hurt that she's attractive and has a pleasant personality.

"Hey I meant to ask you before you made your suggestion last night, as I was coming home yesterday, someone told me they thought they saw you coming out of my home with Ardan earlier." Keira remarks.
"Ardan? Never saw him. They must have been mistaken, though I'm surprised I never saw him." You reply.
"Hm. Yes, it is strange. I thought he'd at least show up threatening you or something similar. He was very jealous and possessive."
"Who knows. Hey, how about you play something on your flute?" you say quickly changing the subject.
"Oh I don't know. I'm not very good and I only know a few songs that my mother taught me."
"Well you can't get good unless you practice!"
"I suppose that's true. Okay! I'll play The Laughing Elf and his Talking Unicorn."
"I don't believe I know that one. Okay, go ahead."

Keira excitedly starts to play her song.

And she's fucking terrible. You feel like your ears are being raped. You suffer in silence as she continues to play horribly all the while thinking, she has to get better in her later years.

At least you hope she does because it's going to be a punishment if musicianship skips this generation. You also hope her poor skills on the flute don't also match other skills involving blowing.

"How does it sound?" Keira asks.
"Like nothing I've ever heard before. Just keep at it." You say with a smile.

While you're not sure if your life as a rogue is over, but it certainly has taken a very different turn.