by A. C Carter
Purrigan disappeared into the shop, leaving Arilee alone. She took the time to look over some of the gear lying about.
It wasn't long until Purrigan returned with a short simple bow in her hands. "This should work for now. As you train your Bow skill you will be able to use more complex Bows."
Purrigan turned to Leela, "And what about you?"
Arilee watched Leela look at the options available to her. She picked up a small one handed short sword.
"I guess this will work for now."
Arileei nodded, quickly checked her Stats Scrolls.
Stats Scroll
Daggers
1/100
Bows
10/100
She looked at Leela who had finished tying her new sheathe to her belt. "Ready to find the Scout Marshall?"
Quest Scroll - Getting Started
X
Report to Kaerlin the Healer
X
Report to Purrigan the Blacksmith
-
Report to Scout Marshall Bodwin
Report to The Scout Marshall
Chapter 5
Outside the Purrigan's smithy was the soldiers' common area. A group of soldiers were gathered around a cauldron over a small fire. One of the soldiers was softly strumming a stringed instrument. She could overhear one Warrior telling a tale of a recent skirmish against the Goblins. It was a night raid on one of their camps. Arilee stopped to listen.
"Goblins know they are small, so they wait to attack you in numbers. Poor Griff over here was about to get overwhelmed till I came chargin' in swingin mah axe."
A smaller stature man, in a matching black leather outfit with the Overlord's crest in white on the shoulder pads, spoke up.
"Pah, saved me by chargin in did ye now? And here I thought I had perfectly led them into my oil trap. Which you woulda saw if ya didn't come in spinning in a circle with your axe screamin ya damn war song." The smaller man stood and started spinning with a pretend axe in his hands, mockingly chanting "Holly dolly doodly Doo".
The circle of men all erupted in laughter. "After your last Rogue Trap, I wasn't saving you from the goblins, but saving the rest of us from you!" said the big man still laughing.
The smaller man sat down and elbowed the big one in the ribs. "I'm only kidding, thanks for the save partner. And without ol' Friur over there, spamming his heal spell, none of us would have made it out. Every party needs a healer, but we have the best!"
Arilee looked across the circle at a man in a plain brown monk shawl. He was bald on top with hair on the sides. He looked tired. His drooping eyes told a longer version of other mens' story. "A healer's work is never done, may the Goddess bless us," Is all he said.
Arilee and Leela walked away from the circle, knowing they have an agenda for the day. Judging by the sun, it was still before mid-day. The Scout Marshall should be outside the encampment in the hills. Arilee followed the path she was on through the camp and to the gate. The gate had a guard tower, barricades with pointed stakes facing outwards, and a draw-gate that pulled upward via a rough pulley system.
Arilee approached the guards, a lizard humanoid and a dwarf. "Hello there, I am Arilee. This is Leela. We need to get through. Could you lift the gate?"
'Silas level 25 / Rogan level 25'
"What'sss your busssinessssss?" said the reptile-man.
"We are supposed to meet with the Scout Marshall. I was told he was outside the gate past the ramparts."
"Ahh yesss, the other adventures came by already. The Ssscout Marshall took them up to the hills. They left a little while ago. If you hurry, you can catch up."
Arilee and Leela exited through the gate and proceeded to follow the guards directions. The path took them up the coast from where the Military was encamped through a series of rolling hills. Not too far away, Arilee could hear the sound of wood clashing on wood. Down below in the valley was a makeshift training yard. Two figures were attacking training dummies as a third looked on.
Quest Scroll - Getting Started
X
Report to Kaerlin the Healer
X
Report to Purrigan the Blacksmith
X
Report to Scout Marshall Bodwin
Quest 2: Scout The River
Chapter 6
"That's it you two. Keep attacking. Don't forget about watching your feet!" Arilee could hear the shouted orders echoing off the hills. The clattering sounds of wood on wood filled the air.
The man shouting orders turned and looked up the hill. "Ah the newcomers have finally awoken to join us. Quick, get down here!" Bellowed a deep, baritone voice.
Arilee and Leela jogged the rest of the short distance down the hill.
A long curly-haired man wearing the same black military gear greeted them . He was tall with broad shoulders and thick arms. His skin was a shade paler than the other human men in camp. His helmet lay on the ground in a pile of gear, letting his long red hair drape down his back. She also noticed a giant steel battle-axe, inlaid with golden symbols and runes, on the ground.
As she approached the group,the pale big man greeted her, "Welcome to training, recruits. You are late." His voice was deep and his sentences cut off with a cold bite.
Arilee nodded, taken aback by his abruptness.
A dialogue scroll opened up for her presenting a list of options.
Dialogue Scroll
-
"I'm sorry. We had so many people to see this morning. I don't mean to be rude and hurried as fast as we could."
-
Don't apologize - "It is not our fault. The Commander needed us. Take it up with him if you have problems.
Arilee didn't read past the start of the second option. She did not want to make a worse first impression. "I'm sorry …" Arilee started but he cut her off. Her quest scroll disappeared.
"There's no time for that. No excuses here. Excuses won't get us the morning back. You will need to work extra hard to catch up to the rest of the group."
She caught herself looking down at her feet, and forced herself to look up and meet the Scout Marshall's eyes. "Yes, I understand," she said straight-faced.
“First, come gather around and meet the rest of the group.” said the Scout Marshall.
The two other recruits stopped their attacks on the target dummies and turned to greet Leela and Arilee.
“Hey, its you!”
Arilee looked at the speaker. He had dark hair with olive-tan skin and was wearing a red mage robe. She tried to recall where she remembered him from, but Leela beat her to it.
“It’s Chip, from the ship? Right?” said Leela. “And you are, Slocks?”
“Slicksss.” hissed the lizardman.
“Oh ho! It looks like you all know each other already. Great. That solves introductions,” started the Scout Marshall.
“Groups usually range from four to five members. The military forms group around a holy trinity: A frontline, damage dealers, and healers. For your group, Slicks will your frontline. The tank who will be the focus of your enemies attacks. Arilee and Chip will serve as the main sources of damage. Between Chip’s magic and Arilee’s arrows, you will make quick work of the Goblins. Leela will be the healer. With her priestess spells and blessings she should be able to keep you alive.”
“Excuse me, Scout Marshall,” said Leela. “But I only know one healing spell. I’m not sure how much use I will be.”
“That’s okay. You will learn more in time. In fact, as a reward for when you complete your first quest, I have a skill scroll for each of you.
"Doooo you know what the quessst isss, sssssir?"
"As you may have guessed, it has to do with the Goblins. The Overlord wants this island. The Goblins also want this island. The military's job is to get rid of the Goblins. We have had reports of trouble stirring deeper in the forest.” “The Scout Marshall opened a jug of water and passed it to the recruits.
“We need you to do some scouting for us while the military's m
en spend every second training for the final push. You should not encounter many Goblins, but in case you do, I am preparing you for basic combat. You will have the advantage unless you are heavily outnumbered. Goblins are small and weak, and you will have a well rounded group. The plan is after we work on individual combat today, tomorrow we will work on group dynamics."
Scout Marshall paused, and turned back to Arilee. "Trade your weapons for a pair of practice daggers from the weapon pile and then fall in line with others. We will work on your bow skill later." He said gesturing to the supplies on a large tarp to his left, and then to a practice dummy next to the others.
Arilee did as she was told and fell in line. The wood daggers felt heavy in the blade and off-balance. She approached the awkward looking goblin dummy. It was about 4 feet tall, coming up to her chest in height, and had a splattering of green paint on its head. A lazy job or a hasty job, Arilee thought to herself. It looked a little silly with its poorly carved giant buggy eyes. It also had long lanky branches for arms sticking straight out of its 'torso'.
"Today we are working on the group's Weapon Skills. With continual use your Weapon Skills will grow, increasing the damage you do. You will learn new forms and stances, new thrusts and feints. Your will learn to dodge, dip, duck, dive, and dodge."
"You said dodge twice!" said Chip.
"Dodging is extra important, Chip. Especially for someone as small as yourself." The Scout Marshall paused for effect, then continued. "Your skill in your weapon will determine what style of weapon you can use. Since all your Weapon Skills are low, we are working on basic swings and stabs." He mimed a swing and thrust with an imaginary sword.
He continued, "Do you know why the Overlord has the best army? Because we are the best trained.”
The Scout Marshall walked behind the line of trainees to behind Arilee. "Remember to keep on your toes. If your daggers are out, during a real fight, it should only be because because you couldn't use your bow. Stay light and agile. Keep your arms close to your body and don't overextend."
Arilee moved her feet into position and her arms into a ready pose with her daggers in front of her.
"Tighten in your elbows a bit." He said tapping on her on the arm with his own training sword. "And spread your feet more. Here, like me." The massive Barbarian loosened all his muscles and jumped into stance, looking light as a dancer as he bounced from toe to toe and waiving imaginary daggers from side to side in front of him.
Arilee followed the orders and mimicked his pose.
"Much better. This is called your Basic Stance. As you train, you will learn more Stances. Your form is of utmost importance. Remember, perfect practice makes perfect. It is not worth swinging if you are not swinging correctly."
Arilee looked to her right to see Leela swinging her own practice sword at a goblin dummy, her pale face sweating heavily under the hot sun. She was no longer wearing the Priestess veil. She had medium-length bright blond hair tied into a bun on her head, her light-green High Elf eyes squinting to see through the glare. Each swing of Leela's sword came with a solid thwack. Arilee shook her head to get herself to focus on her own task.
She took a deep breath, and started slicing and dicing the wooden goblin.
The Campfire
Chapter 7
The sun slowly set behind the hills after a long day of training. The group piled their practice weapons on the tarp. The wood chipped and splintered after a full day of use. Arilee wiped dirt and sweat from her eyes after dropping her daggers and picking her own back up. Her arms and legs ached. Everything hurt.
“Today was a good day, recruits”, started Scout Marshall Bodwin. “We will camp out here tonight so we can get a fresh start tomorrow. We will get a campfire started and I brought enough food for all of us. ”
“I can do a spark spell if you need, Sir!” said Chip, spritely, eager to offer help.
Scout Marshall smiled, “Thank you for volunteering to make the fire and cook, Chip. There are wood logs in my bag of supplies over there and you can gather some stones from the ground.”
Chip, not minding that he was just assigned extra duties, hurried to complete his task.
Scout Marshall addressed the rest of the group, “The rest of you can sit down and relax for now. There will be no more training tonight. I decided instead of going back to the Main Encampment, I'll assign you your next quest now. During the day, a pigeon came reporting Goblin activity by the river. Tomorrow, I will go with you all to the river and we will look for tracks and signs of what they are doing. It should be pretty simple and straightforward. I will be with you if we run into any trouble.”
Quest Scroll - Scout The River
-
Go to the river
-
Find Evidence of Goblin Activity
-
Report back to Commander Bjorn
Arilee found a comfy spot on the ground next to where Chip was placing the fire. Leela sat next to her on the left, kicking her feet out in front of her as she did. Slicks sat down next to Leela, with his legs crossed and his tail out behind him. It was the first chance Arilee got to see his scale, the black and white patterns creating a hypnotic circular pattern that drew the eye. It was thick and about 3 feet long, just more than a third of his height. With a quick flash, he summoned his Stats Scroll in front him, reminding Arilee to check her own. She focused inwardly on bringing up her Weapon Skills.
Stats Scroll - Level 1
Bows
10/100
Daggers +5
6/100
She grabbed a dagger from her belt and felt it over in her hand. She did feel more confident now holding it after practicing all day, she thought to herself. The weight of her dagger felt more comfortable in her hand than it did this morning. She did a few more practice slices through the air in front of her, and smiled. Nice. She was excited to learn more. Even more excited to meet a Trainer. Today was a little boring in its basics but training has to start somewhere.
Leela watched Arilee smiling and playing with her dagger. "It's fun feeling yourself improve isn't it? she said lightly, giggling shyly softly towards the end.
Arilee looked up, turning red in her cheeks at getting caught fantasizing. "Yes it is. These already feel so much better in my hands. I feel more confident."
Leela cradled her own Iron Sword in her lap, gently stroking the blade. "Same with me. I never thought I'd find myself with a weapon in my hand. But we must do as the times call. It's unfortunate our ship wrecked. Speaking of, how are you feeling? Head still boggled a little?"
Arilee paused in silence a moment. "I feel much better thank you for asking. Thank the gods we four are okay."
Slicks added his voice to the conversation. "The goddess have nothing to do with it. They care not for the lizard-people. Bound here, in sssservice to the Overlord. Thissss isss not luck. We are not blessssed. First the sea monster, and now this."
Just then, Chip came back and stacked the logs in front of the group, making sure to encircle the wood with the stones to contain the fire. "Alright, it looks like its ready!" He exclaimed.
Chip began rubbing his hands together, cupping them occasionally and blowing into them. After doing this a few times, a glow began to appear between his hands. He bent in front of the wood and brought his cupped hands to his mouth and blew into them, towards the wood logs.
"Fiur!"
A jet of flame quickly shot from his hands into the logs, catching them on fire immediately. "Yes!" he yelled exclamatory.
"Good job Chip!" Leela cheered on.
Scout Marshall Bodwin sat with the group next to the fire. "You can take off your boots and armor. Get comfortable." He said as his boots disappeared off his feet and appeared next to him on the ground.
Arilee joined in and sat on the ground, unequipping her boots and leathers. They appeared in a nice pile beside her. Leela and Slicks did the same. Chip was still walking between the supplies and the fire, preparing the Meat Stew for the night.
"Hey Chip, where did you learn to cook?" asked Arilee, watching him pour diced potatoes into the stew.
"My dad is a spice merchant in Eastern Foscor. When new spices came from Corder, he would sometimes let me pinch some for my own use. He always wanted me to be a mage, so I spent hours with private tutors and in libraries. I told him the spices were for magic rituals. What he didn't know was that bubbling in my cauldron was really just delicious stew. I personally was never a motivated student. I used to spend every chance I could reading about cooking. The Philosophies of Salt by the great chef Jordan Emeril was always hidden under my pillow. My teachers thought I wasted my talent. They were always so impressed I could heat a cauldron to the exact temperature I needed, but never impressed about what I was cooking."
Slicks started laughing. It was a wheezing, grating sound. "You are a fooool. You had the most powerful knowledge offered and scorned it. For cooking." He chuckled again. "I was born a sssslave. Like all magic creaturessss remaining in the Overlord'ss kingdom. In a mining town far to the sssssouth." His tongue flicked in and out. "You are a fool. Magic is strength. Strength is Power. Power keeps you free."