Brightblade
Page 50
I took a deep breath and though about what I wanted to find; the airship that had escaped the tower, and the final larger airship that was on its way inbound now. With that thought, the eagle dove from my hands, wings folded tight and plunged towards the ground. A dozen feet down, it flared its wings wide and began spiraling, quickly finding a thermal and beginning to ascend. It passed the floors that had taken me hours to climb in mere seconds. Its speed was amazing, as was the lack of any kind of stamina restriction. It beat its powerful wings, building speed even as it passed the apex of the Tower and continued to climb, then spiraled outward in ever increasing circles.
It took less than three minutes in total, from the spell beginning until the second ship was spotted. Decin had headed straight south from the Tower, then turned to the west, skirting the edge of a valley before landing maybe ten miles away in a small clearing to make repairs. Once I’d found it, the eagle headed straight for the clearing, showing me the damage to the ship that had escaped. It looked severe from here, but the crew was working quickly, some tearing out sections of the deck and replacing them, as others worked to frantically install replacement rigging and sails.
Reassured that at least they weren’t attacking me, I sent the eagle searching again, finally spotting the third ship as it lumbered along. It was heading in from the coast, for some reason, a good thirty or forty miles to the east of the crashed airship.
I knew there was no way I could reach the ship with the few minutes of flight remaining to the eagle construct, so I set it to ‘search’ the area around the Tower for anything of interest. Instead, I returned to my own body with a start a short while later, when the spell expired.
I took a deep breath and looked down at my hands as I waited for the vertigo to subside from my eyesight changing, I almost felt blind in comparison to losing the eagle’s vision, but after a few seconds it normalized, and I felt good enough to get up and walk back into the gloom of the Tower. I checked the popups I’d received, dismissing the death notifications for Toka and the mage and blinked in surprise:
Congratulations, you have made progress on your Quest: A place to lay your head.
Wisps sworn fealty; 3/3
Locations cleared and secured; 4/5
SporeMother killed; 1/1
Guardians; 0/10
Servitors; 0/10
Reward: The Great Tower is yours to command. Surrounding area will become aware of your rightful ownership. Access to supplies and facilities. 450,000 Exp.
Clearly taking control of the Armory on this floor had counted towards the target, which was a bonus, considering I’d not even bothered to enter it yet. I guessed as people sworn to me had then it’d added it to my list. The next notification was even more surprising.
Congratulations! You have found seven (7) notable locations within eleven (11) miles of your current location. Your map has been updated. Will you explore your surroundings to uncover secrets of the ages, lost to memory and time?
Yes/No…
I automatically accepted the quest, then closed the screen down, coming to a halt while standing over Oren, who shot to his feet quickly.
“Did ye find ’em? Is Decin alive?” he asked, concern etched deep into his face.
“Yeah, I found them. They’re a couple miles from here, landed in a clearing. No idea who’s on board, but there was a fat bastard of a dwarf shouting at people when I saw them.” I said, remembering the image of the short figure stomping up and down the deck, berating everyone as he went. “I think he was wearing purple?”
“Hah! Aye, that be Decin. Found those robes in a scrap pile and fell in love; bin wearin’ ‘em ever since! Tells everyone he fought off a lich, and they were his prize! Now, what about the others? An’ can we talk on the way? Go help me lads?” He held his hands out to the sides and went on, pleading. “Please, Lord, those lads ha’ bin me crew fer years. They be family, good lads stuck out here while tryin’ te help me outta ma debt…”
“Yeah, we can; two minutes, though…” I said to him, holding up a hand in supplication.
“Oracle, time for a quick test, I think. Stay out of sight and watch over our new residents while I take Bob down to meet Oren’s friends…”
“Okay, Jax, but be careful!”
I turned to the cat and grinned at him a bit self-consciously, realizing I’d been neglecting my abilities in the heat of the moment. I cast ‘Identify’ and scanned the details that popped up.
Cai’Amanth a-Ull
Member of the Felinoid race, sub race: Panthera.
…
“You’re casting at me?” Cai’Amanth a-Ull asked, seeing my unsubtle gestures directed toward him and putting two and two together.
“Ah… yeah, sorry. Just trying to get a handle on who you all are?” I responded a little embarrassed.
“A handle?”
“I mean, I’m trying to learn about you.” I replied, swearing internally about colloquialisms.
“Ah! Here, I can share, since as a slave, you accept that privacy is no longer a concern.” he said cooly. With that, he made a few quick gestures, and I received a prompt asking if I wanted to see his character sheet. I clicked ‘Yes’ and a new screen flashed up before my eyes.
Name: Cai’Amanth a-Ull
Title: ?
Renown: ?
Level: 20
Progress: ?
Patron:?
Points to Distribute: ?
Stat
Current points
Description
Effect
Progress to next level
Agility
5
Governs dodge and movement.
Average speed -20%
?
Charisma
12
Governs likely success to charm, seduce, or threaten
Success chance -20%
?
Constitution
4
Governs health and health regeneration
HP+30, regen 4pts per 600s
?
Dexterity
20
Governs ability with weapons and crafting
+100%
?
Endurance
7
Governs stamina and stamina regeneration
STM +20, regen 3pts per 30s
?
Intelligence
13
Governs base mana and number of spells able to be learned
+30 mana, spell capacity: ?
?
Luck
10
Governs overall chance of bonuses
Average
?
Perception
20
Governs ranged damage and chance to spot traps/hidden items
+100% damage, +10% chance to spot traps/hidden items
?
Strength
13
Governs damage with melee weapons and carrying capacity
+2 Damage with melee weapons, +20% carrying capacity
?
Wisdom
7
Governs mana regeneration and memory
+30% mana recovery 1.3ps, 30% less likely to forget things
?
“It is common to ask before you use magic on another, but I understand, with the way we have met, why you would cast that aside…” he said, making it very clear he didn’t appreciate it.
“Right, sorry.” I took a deep breath and looked over his sheet again, seeing his abnormally high Dexterity and Perception, while his other stats trailed way behind. “Can I ask about your build? Look, I’m just gonna say it; I’m from a long way away, and I really don’t know much about your customs and what’s considered good or bad manners here. If you’re in any doubt whether I meant to offend you, I really didn’t. Easy rule of thumb with me is I’m not very good at subtle. If I do or say something that upsets you, I didn’t intend to. When I want to upset people or let you know I’m angry, you won’t be in any doubt, believe me. Unti
l then, just assume I’m a bit of a rude and unobservant ass.”
“Very well, I shall bear that in mind. As to my… build… yes, ask away.”
“You’re really heavy on the Dexterity and Perception, and light on the rest?”
“Yes… ah. Okay, first time meeting one of my kind? I am of the line of Panthera. We gain a single point to Dexterity and Perception with each level, plus two to assign as we wish. You are human? You receive three points to assign however you wish, yes?”
I frowned and looked over my details to be sure. I always received five points, not three, but decided to keep that quiet. I’d embarrassed myself enough already, and going from conquering hero to village idiot in one conversation was a record I didn’t want to earn.
“Okay, that’s great, then. Thanks, uh, Carama… math….”
“Cai, Cai’Amanth a-Ull is my full name, but Cai is acceptable. You are…?” He bared his teeth in what I took to be a small smile and I grinned back at him.
“Sorry for butchering your name there; Cai, it is. I’m Jax. Just Jax is fine,” I said and reached out without thinking. He saw the gesture and reached for my wrist instead of my hand, leading to some awkwardness as I tried to grip his palm. I took a deep breath and showed him a handshake. “This is how we do it where I’m from; how do you do it here?”
“Ha! Like this!” He disengaged from my hand and gripped my wrist instead. I grinned again and nodded.
“Right, okay, I’ll remember that. I need to take Oren down to the ground level and kill anything that gets in our way. Do me a favor, okay? Loot the corpses of these dicks and put everything aside for me to look over. Also, get everyone together and start moving the weapons back into the armory where you found them. For now, though, just get everyone free of the chains and find somewhere to rest. You’ll find a garden level three floors further down. It’s probably best to recover there. There will be fruits and water at least.”
“Of course, but the creatures that call the Tower home? The monster?” he asked, looking concernedly at the darkened stairwell, and Bob.
“Yeah, Bob there…” I gestured to my companion and he waved an arm absently in response. “…he’s my minion, so don’t worry about him. As for the Monster that used to live here? The SporeMother? It’s dead, don’t worry. I just need to sweep for any last surprises now.”
“We were to be given in tribute to something. If it was a SporeMother…” He shook his head as several of the slaves around us began to cry and mutter. “How long has it been dead…Jax? Whatever killed it may come back.”
“Oh, sorry. Yeah, I killed it, couple of days back, so don’t worry about that! Sorry, everyone! I should have said!” I called out, holding both hands up as I looked around. “My bad.”
The former slaves surrounding me jerked back at my words, shock obvious on their faces. Most of them took a step back, moving quickly away from me. I turned back to Cai and raised an eyebrow in question.
“You killed it?” he asked cautiously.
“Yeah, why?”
“The SporeMother. You actually fought one?” He asked again, slowly moving back from me while trying to hide it. I frowned and looked around at them all, suddenly realizing the one commonality in the way they were all moving. They were all backing steadily into the brightest lit patches of the ground they could find.
“You don’t believe me, do you?” I said, then shook my head in annoyance, striding quickly back into the full sunlight, as though I’d not just been standing out here with them all.
“Seriously, people! I’m not infected, I’m not possessed, and yes, I killed the damn thing, okay?”
“How? Forgive us, Lord Jax, but killing such a creature usually takes teams of highly trained adventurers, or entire Legion squads? Unless you have a team hidden elsewhere?”
“Oh, for…no, okay? I’m just a lucky fucker that’s good at killing things, that’s all.” I said in exasperation. “Now I’m starting to lose my patience, and you’re all wasting time. Loot the bodies, get the weapons back in the armory, and go down three levels. You’ll find a large open outdoor space. There’s food and water; go chill out.”
With that, I set off at a light jog across the floor and down the first set of stairs. Bob clattered along behind me, with Oren huffing and puffing as he brought up the rear.
“So come on, then. This third ship, it’s about thirty, maybe forty miles to the east, and headed straight for us. Decin has landed for a moment, but how long he’ll stay grounded, I don’t know. What are the chances they’ll see each other?” I asked, calling to Oren over the sounds of jingling metal and Bob’s clattering bones.
“They’ll probably be usin’ the beacon. It were attached to ma hull; same with Decin’s ship. They were to make sure we did’na try and sneak off wi’ anything. Like we’d ha tried it wi’ those fuckers aboard!”
“Why head for us, then? Why not head for the other ship’s beacon?”
“They were movin’. Ah was supposed to stay, while they looted owt they could from the ‘secret site’ and fucked off again. They’ll prob’ly be assumin’ they’ve left and are headin’ back, but they’ll no get to us here now before sunset tomorrow, the damage she’d taken was mostly t’ her drives, makin’ her slow as crap. Ah bet they’ll be heavin’ to and settin’ down somewhere. They’ll no want te’try landin’ in the dark, just in case...”
“Okay, that seems sensible.” I said, taking a moment to tell Seneschal to keep a look out as best he could, and asking Heph to come up with something to help him to do that. “Let’s pick up the pace a little and get this sorted, and then I need to make some plans for the defense of my Tower!”
We sped up, much to the horror of Oren, who began huffing like a bellows as we passed floor after floor.
It took considerably longer with Oren running than it would have with just Bob and myself. The trek highlighted just how unfit he was, despite the desire to push on, especially after he collapsed barely halfway and began to bounce down the remaining stairs. Bob grabbed him as he rolled past and hefted him easily. Finally free of the little dwarf’s attempts to keep up, we picked up speed, and an short while later we came out on the ground, pushing through low hanging branches to emerge into the dappled shade of the forest floor.
The first thing I saw was the crashed ship, a couple hundred feet off to my left. It was small, by the standards of the ships I knew from Earth, more a large pleasure boat than a real ship. It measured maybe twenty feet wide by sixty feet long. The hull had broken on a collapsed section of wall when it had crash landed, and the hole in its side revealed that it had two levels below decks, with the remains of a wheelhouse protected by a platform that came off what could only have been the captain’s cabin above. The rest of the upper deck was taken up by broken masts covered in torn sails, various piles of scrap that had likely once had functions, and a series of cages. Most had been rendered into scrap by the impact, but one had pinned a crew member underneath it, and four of the crew were trying to free him. The rest were armed and facing out, watching for any movement or tending to the wounds of two injured people.
All in all, there looked to be ten crew on the ship left alive. Two bodies covered by a tarp off to one side proved the landing hadn’t just been hard on the ship, and nobody looked to have gotten off scot free, judging from the groans and blood. Oren struggled and squirmed as he and Bob emerged behind me, causing cries of shock and anger to rise from his crew.
“Oh, for…Bob, drop him!” I said, wincing, as I realized I’d just given them their worst nightmare: a huge undead, with their captain as its prisoner.
“At last, ya stupid bag ‘o bones!” he cried as he righted himself and scurried away from us, rushing towards the group, who immediately raised weapons to forestall him.
“Don’t come any closer!” one called, stepping forward from the group and pointing a wicked-looking axe at him. “We know how to deal with your sort!”
“Ya wee fool!” Oren cried at him in annoyanc
e, gesturing at himself. “Do ye no recognize me? ‘Cause I recognize ye, Barrett! Ye always wanted to be captain; well, ye can wait a wee bit longer, ye damn eejit!” The crew seemed confused as Oren went on quickly.
“Those damn fools were beatin’ their slaves again, so Lord Jax‒him that’s standin’ behind me‒he kilt them all. He’s freed the slaves, and near as ah can tell, he’s kilt every other damn thing that was in the tower an’ all! Last damn thin ya be doin’ is pointin’ a weapon at him, right!”
“Bollocks!” Shouted one of the crew hunching down behind his shield even further.
“Aye, ah got a great big pair o’ them laddie, unlike ye! I recognize yer voice Smit, so pipe down or get back t’ pipin’ off the crew! Yer fuck-all use, besides that!” Oren snapped back at the shouter, making him sputter in outrage as the rest of the crew grinned and seemed to relax slightly.
“How do we know you’re still Oren? How do we know you’re not enslaved?” said Barrett, gesturing to the rest of the crew to settle down.
Oren quickly looked around and spotted a patch of sunlit earth a dozen feet to one side. He dashed over to it and stood straight and (almost) tall in the warm light.