Second Skin- Fractures

by M Damon Baker

  I was tired and hungry when I finally made it into town late in the evening. When the buildings came into view, I hurried over to Daile’s shop, hoping he hadn’t already closed for the day. Fortunately, I had returned in time, and he was still open, and as I approached where he stood behind the counter, I pulled off my pack and began unloading the herbs.

  “This,” I began somewhat testily. “Was not as easy as you led me to believe.”

  “Oh,’ he replied curiously. “We’re they hard for you to find?”

  “No, locating the herbs was a simple matter,” I replied.

  Then I pulled my cloak back to reveal my shredded armor before I continued.

  “It was the wildlife in the area that made things difficult. Your ‘simple’ errand nearly got me killed. Twice.”

  “Oh—Oh my,” Daile stammered as he stared at the tattered remains of my armor.

  “The beast that did this,” I said, motioning at the ruined pants. “Also broke my bow.”

  Putting forth my best effort at Persuasion, I made my pitch.

  “I know that you said you couldn’t pay me for these herbs, and I accept that. However, I think perhaps we should come to an arrangement regarding some replacement gear.”

  At first, Daile seemed ready to argue the point, then he looked down at the large pile of herbs, and again at my torn leggings and blood-spattered armor. Finally, letting out a sigh, he simply nodded his assent.

  “Thank you,” I said genuinely. Since I had already won the point, I thought it best to be gracious.

  He smiled at me weakly, obviously resigned to the loss of profits in the name of fairness.

  “Why don’t you have a look at these,” I said, piling pelts, claws, and teeth on the counter. “And then you can show me some new gear.”

  Daile’s eyes widened at the sight of the bear’s pelt.

  “This is what attacked you?” He said, incredulously.

  “Almost. I managed to take him by surprise. The cat,” I said, gesturing to the other pelt. “Was the one that got me.”

  “Well, the hides, while impressive, aren’t worth all that much,” he began.

  I wanted to give him the evil eye, but with my hood up it would have been pointless.

  “But the claws and teeth do have some value,” he continued quickly, sensing my displeasure. “They are used as components in various magics; even a few mystical rites use them as well. These are particularly large and, therefore, more sought-after.”

  “Good,” I said. “Then perhaps we can still come to a mutually-beneficial deal even considering my new gear.”

  Daile’s smile was a bit more genuine this time.

  While Daile had a wide variety of armor, nothing was exceptional. An equivalent replacement would be easy to find, but I decided that an upgrade, if possible, might be in order.

  “Daile,” I asked. “I see that you have some potential replacements for me, but might you have anything around that would be more of an upgrade?”

  “I do, but before I show them to you, I have to tell you that they won’t come cheaply.”

  “Perhaps you should tell me what those claws and teeth are worth, before we proceed,” I quickly countered.

  “Yes, I can see how that might help you make a decision,” he replied thoughtfully.

  As he evaluated the teeth and claws, Daile explained his reasoning. The cat was not an uncommon creature, but its kind was stealthy and secretive by nature. Most of the time, the components would be scavenged from corpses or, occasionally one unlucky enough to be snared in a trap. The bear, on the other hand, was not an uncommon beast, but what set this one apart was its huge size—a beast of its proportions was a rarity indeed. I was shocked when he announced the total.

  “Sixty,” he said bluntly.

  “Sixty?” I asked. “Sixty what?”

  “Why, sixty Marks, of course,” Daile replied.

  Sixty Marks—that was a lot. More than the two Talons I had gotten for the wand and backpack, and I had thought that was a lot of coin.

  “Okay… Sixty Marks for these. Now show me some new armor,” I said hopefully. While what I was wearing was serviceable, I could certainly use an upgrade, if my budget allowed it.

  With a wide grin, Daile walked me over to a large locked cabinet, and as he opened the doors with a flourish, he gestured at the contents.

  “This is where I keep all my special archery gear. Judging by the quiver over your shoulder, I think you’ll be best served by having a look at these items,” Daile commented.

  There were several full suits of leather, but one of them drew me right in—a full set in matte black that hung from pegs inside the cabinet. The leather was thicker than what I wore, yet still supple. Inlayed into the various pieces were bands and strips of dark metal, offering an increased measure of protection. I was thankful for my hood at that moment so that Daile could not see me practically drooling over the set of armor.

  I quickly recovered, then pretended to examine a few of the other sets of leather. I was also in need of a new bow, so I looked over several of the bows in the cabinet as well, biding my time. Finally, not able to wait any longer, I asked.

  “The black set is decent… How much?”

  Daile chuckled. “I knew you’d want that one the moment you looked at it.”

  It was a full set, minus a helm, and Daile rattled off the cost of each piece. It came to over five Talons. And while it would cost me most of my coin, the added protection would be well worth it.

  “Is there somewhere I could try it on?” I asked.

  “Of course. Follow me,” he smiled.

  Daile took down the armor, including a matching set of padding, and showed me to a fitting room. As I followed him, I snatched up a new set of black clothes from a shelf along the way.

  Once inside the small room, I stripped off my old armor and padding and quickly put on the new set. Of course, it fit perfectly—yet another benefit of being Deathless. As Zander had told me, for a Deathless, almost any armor or clothing would adjust to fit properly. This made all sorts of loot more valuable, as nearly every item was potentially usable.

  I gathered up my old gear and stepped outside. I dropped the collection of old leather and padding on the counter, and I stepped over to the shop’s large mirror to admire my new armor. It was absolutely amazing.

  The black leather with its strategically placed bands of metal provided almost complete coverage—this was no bikini armor like in the video games the dead man used to play. Even so, with my cloak parted I could see that the leather still managed to closely follow the curves of my body. It was absolutely perfect—there probably wasn’t any better protection available to me that wasn’t magically infused.

  There was no way I could give up this armor, so I reluctantly began placing my coins on the counter in front of Daile until his price had been met. All the while, he just grinned at me as I practically emptied my entire purse for him.

  “You know,” he said, as his smile widened even further. “That’s a lovely set, but it does leave your head unprotected; well, except for that hood you insist on keeping up.”

  I could see where this was going, and I needed to stop him right now, or at least delay him a bit until I had finished taking care of the things I really needed. Holding my hands up, I replied, “Hold on. I’ll have a look at whatever it is after I settle with you on my old armor and a new bow.”

  I didn’t expect to get much for my old gear, but at this point, I was nearly broke, and every copper counted.

  The bow I had picked out was better than the one I had broken fending off the cat. When I picked it up, the Encumbrance was (60), and adjusted down to just (54) after my proficiency bonus kicked in—it would be a solid improvement.

  Daile offered it to me for ten Marks, taking off one full mark for my old armor, for a total of nine Marks. Smiling to myself, I piled nearly all my accumulated coppers on the counter. Through my prodigious looting of corpses, I had managed to gather the equ
ivalent of the nine Marks in coppers, with just one thin copper to spare.

  “Now, Daile,” I said when I had finished stacking the coppers, “you’ve managed to take nearly all my coin, so I’m not sure I can’t afford whatever else it was that you were planning to try and sell me.”

  “Well, that may be, but let’s just have a look, shall we?” He cajoled.

  Reluctantly, I followed him back to yet another locked cabinet. The sight of the secured storage container did not bode well for my already depleted coin purse.

  Daile unlocked the door to this smaller cabinet and reached inside. When he withdrew his hand, he held a simple, unimpressive looking band of black leather.

  “If you can’t identify it, you’ll have to tie it on to see its properties,” he said to me plainly.

  When I took the strap in my hand, I didn’t become aware of anything, so I turned away and carefully tied the band around my head. When I finished securing it in place, I immediately received a prompt.

  Archer’s Circlet – This simple band provides protection equivalent to a light leather helm.

  That was positively incredible! All the various helms I had tried on before seemed to be more of a hindrance than I wanted to deal with, and apparently, I was not alone in my perception. This simple band would solve that issue and afford at least some basic protection for my otherwise vulnerable head. It was almost a must-have, and I hoped Daile wasn’t going to try and gouge me for it.

  “Useful... How much?” I simply asked.

  “Yes, it certainly is a useful item. That’s why I can’t let it go for less than a full Talon,” he replied. Glancing over at the pile of coins I had just placed on the counter, he added, “And not a copper less.”

  Damn, the price was high, but it did seem fair. While he certainly was enjoying having me over a barrel, he wasn’t taking advantage of the situation either, and I could appreciate that.

  I plunked down another 25 Marks on the counter, remorsefully looking over the increasingly large pile of coins that had been mine just a few moments before. But I realized that, in the end, it didn’t matter, and coins in my pocket offered me no added protection in combat. But before he could fleece me any further, I decided that it was time for me to leave.

  “Daile, you’re a fine gentleman, but I don’t think I can afford any more of your company today,” I said as I began my hasty retreat.

  “The pleasure was all mine, miss,” he replied, emphasizing the fact that I still had not told him my name. “But were you planning on leaving before I could teach you about Herbalism?”

  With all that had happened, I had almost forgotten about that. I really did want to learn more about useful herbs, but I was both hungry and exhausted and decided that it would be easier to learn after I was well-fed and rested, so I made a suggestion.

  “How about I come back tomorrow for that lesson? Perhaps you might even come up with a paying job for me in the meanwhile,” I offered.

  Daile chuckled. “Yes, it is getting rather late. I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

  Reaching a snap decision, I called back to him one last time as I made my way out.

  “By the way, I don’t like being called ‘miss.’ It’s a bit too formal for me. You can call me Dae.”

  28

  I had struggled to come up with a pseudonym for a while—I didn’t want to pick something and then not respond when people called me by it, as that would only serve to raise suspicion. So, I decided to just go by my last name. I hadn’t really used it back in Tula, so I figured it would be both safe and familiar. As I crossed the street on the way back to the inn, I pulled up the single icon I had received while talking to Daile.

  Quest completed — You have gathered the herbs requested by Daile. You have been rewarded with 210 XP

  Ok, 200 XP for a simple gathering quest seemed fair, but it would require an awful lot of those to get me the levels I needed. It was going to take forever for me to level-up if I didn’t find some bigger quests. But I left that issue for later and turned my attention to more positive thoughts and checked out my new equipment.

  INVENTORY

  Encumbrance 70/165

  Clothing

  Recurve Bow, (54)

  Short Sword, (22)

  Daggers, Fine (3)

  Archer’s Circlet

  Fine Leather Chest Guard (12)

  Fine Leather Pauldrons (2)

  Fine Leather Tassets (5)

  Fine Leather Bracers (1)

  Fine Leather Armguards (1)

  Fine Leather Cuisse (1)

  Fine Leather Greaves (2)

  Fine Leather Boots (2)

  Fine Leather Gloves

  Hunter’s Cloak (2)

  Fine Padded Shirt (2)

  Fine Padded Pants (3)

  Minor Token of Grace

  Ring of Encumbrance

  Never Ending Quiver of Arrows

  Camp blade

  Belt pouch, common:

  15 weak health potions, 4 red crystals, 2 cure disease potions, 2 cure poison potions

  Coin pouch, Soul Bound:

  11 Silver Marks, 1 Copper

  Backpack 50 slot, 50% weight reduction

  The quality of my new leather had not only increased the level of my protection, but the superior craftsmanship also made the armor easier to bear and lowered the overall impact on my Encumbrance. Along with my new bow, I was able to take damage and was also more capable of dishing it out. I was quite happy with both aspects, even if I was considerably poorer in the purse. With the quick review complete, I closed the screen and entered the inn.

  The inn was a bit more crowded that evening, so I took a seat at one of the few empty tables and waited patiently for Annia to get a free moment. When she finished tending to the customers she had been waiting on, Annia made her way over to me.

  “Evening miss. Will you be wanting your supper now?” She inquired.

  “Absolutely! I’m positively famished,” I replied. “But I was wondering if I could ask a question first.”

  “Sure thing,” she smiled at me. “What can I do for you?”

  “Well, I was out running an errand for Daile today, and I ran across a bear,” her eyes widened as I told her this. “I managed to kill it, and now I have a great deal of bear meat. I was wondering if your cook would be interested in some.”

  “Oh, I think my Travis would just love that!” She exclaimed. “He’s got a wonderful recipe for bear stew, but seldom has the opportunity to make it. I’m sure we can work something out.”

  Annia motioned for me to follow her and she led me back into the kitchen. Once I was there, I saw an older man, presumably Travis, busily tending to several large cooking vessels. He seemed roughly the same age as Annia, perhaps in his late fifties, and after she had just referred to him as ‘her’ Travis, I realized that the two were probably married. Annia quickly told him of my offer, and he gestured to an empty counter.

  “Let’s see this meat you’ve got, lass,” Travis said, somewhat skeptically.

  I stepped over to the counter he indicated, unslung my pack and began removing large hunks of the fresh bear meat. Travis’ eyes widened as he saw the sheer volume of red meat I was dumping onto his counter. He picked up a piece, examined it closely and then smiled broadly.

  “The hunters haven’t brought me any decent bear meat in a very long time,” he lamented. “But with this, I can make a finally make my famous stew again.”

  “So,” I said. “It sounds like you’d like to make a deal?”

  Travis’s smile faded a little as he realized that he had likely given away too much in his excitement.

  I probably could have taken the opportunity and pushed for some coin, and considering how low my funds were, it wouldn’t have been a bad decision. But if I was going to stay in this town for any length of time, I also needed to start building some goodwill. The relationships I had been able to forge in Tula had saved my life there, so I wouldn’t underestimate the importance of creating stron
g bonds again.

  “Don’t look so glum, Travis,” I offered. “I’m not trying to rob you blind here. Perhaps just some consideration on my room and board is all I’m asking for.”

  “Oh, well,” he replied with some relief. “That’s easy enough. Just how long are you planning to stay with us then?”

  “Honestly, I’m not sure. I kind of like your little town here, so I was thinking of staying for a while and exploring the surrounding area. Perhaps a few weeks?”

  “A few weeks, I see,” Travis pondered for a moment. “Well, we’re busier than usual, but there are still a few empty rooms. How about a week’s room and board on the house?”

  I had already paid for one week’s stay and extending that to a second week might possibly manage to cover my entire time in Laurel. Even if it didn’t, it would provide me ample time to get my finances back in order before I would have to worry about getting kicked out onto the street, so I accepted his offer.

  “Good!” Travis exclaimed. “Now go on and have a seat outside. I’ll send you out something special in just a bit.”

  I hadn’t been back at my table for long before Annia brought me a large mug of ale and a steaming plate of food. Before she left to tend to the other tables, Annia let me know that Travis’ special stew would be served for tomorrow night’s dinner. But there was no need for me to wait that long for a delicious meal. The food she had brought me smelled absolutely incredible, and I dove into the plate with abandon.

  Once I finished wolfing down my meal, I sat back and sipped the ale contentedly. After taking a few swigs, I leaned back in my chair, settled in, and took in the sights and sounds of the crowded dining room.

  The gathered crowd was a mixed collection of both locals and travelers. After spending so much time alone, I found the steady hum of their conversation rather comforting. A bout of raucous laughter from a table at the rear of the room let me know that the party of elves and dwarves was once again in residence. Their boisterous laughter echoed through the room and rose above the low din of conversation.