by K R Dimmick
“Greetings, friends. It is my great honor to introduce you to King Faelyn Sophos and his consort, Queen Elysyia Clemens,” Cara said, bowing her head to each of us in turn.
The text above their heads gracefully changed from Elf Royalty to King Faelyn Sophos - 40 and Queen Elysyia Clemens - 39.
“Greetings, friends. We welcome you to the heart of our home. May you find peace, rest and fellowship,” King Faelyn declared in a deep voice that reminded me of mountains and thunderstorms.
“Welcome back, old friend,” Queen Elysyia smiled at Mikael. “It has been too long since you were among us.”
We all bowed to the royals in front of us.
“King Faelyn, I present to you the traveler who risked herself to rescue me, and Mikael, from the Dragon Hunters. Her name is Orianna. I propose that she be raised in standing to become a formal ally for her deeds,” intoned Cara.
I stepped forward and bowed again as I watched my XP bar grow now that I’d completed the quest to come and find her.
Congratulations! You have completed the quest: Seek Out Cara
You have received 5,000 XP.
“Agreed,” the King nodded.
“She has also been blessed by a bond with a white wolf named Soter.” Kira stepped forward and indicated him, causing the King’s eyes to widen slightly.
Turning to me, he raised his right hand and started to move his fingers in a complicated gesture. A pale green glow formed around his hand. The glow grew more and more intense, until finally, he stepped forward and placed his hand on my head. All of a sudden, it was like my eyesight sharpened. I could see the tiny twigs on the tree’s branches around me. I could see a faint pattern of runes in the King’s robes that I could have sworn hadn’t been there moments before.
You have received: Blessing of the Elves
+ 5 levels to Perception
+ 5 levels to Stealth
+ 5 levels to Night Vision
Your standing with the elves has been raised to ‘ally’, giving you free access to El Silvam and El Sanctum
The blessing is permanent as long as you don’t knowingly betray the elf Kingdom.
Congratulations! You have learned the skill: Night Vision.
You see 10% more detail at night, in low light and in a forest.
A little blue icon of a leaf appeared down in the bottom left of my vision. When I focused on it for more details, it simply said: Blessing of the Elves. While I’d been looking at my interface, the King had given Soter a similar blessing, allowing him to also come and go without any issue.
“Thank you, your majesty,” I stammered, “I am very grateful for your trust and the blessing is amazing.”
I’d never been very good at the role-playing side of things, but I was doing my best. I guess it wasn’t really role-playing anymore, was it? This was now my life. I didn’t have to act out any more roles. All I had to do was learn the rules of this world and be myself. I stepped backward, deep in thought.
“My King and Queen,” said Kira, “It is my great honor to present Aliz Rynemann to you. She is the daughter of Savrine Rynemann, and is already a Journeyman Alchemist herself.”
The elves in the clearing all started whispering excitedly. The King held up his hand to silence them.
“It has been a long time since we have been graced by one of your family. We made too many mistakes with your aunt,” a shadow fell across the King’s face. “However, that is all in the past. We would be honored if you would stay with us as long as you desire. Our home is yours.”
The King bowed to Aliz, and I wondered what they’d done to her aunt, Suri, the chef stuck in the Dragon Hunters’ kitchens.
“Thank you for your hospitality,” Aliz replied, bowing in turn. “I am in need of refuge. Before my mother died, she wrote down every Master and Grandmaster recipe, as well as all her experiments, in a journal. When the rumor reached her about the Dragon Hunters, she rewrote that journal in code, destroying the original, and gave it to her sister to keep safe for me once I came of age. Unfortunately, Andrew got hold of the journal and was using it to keep her hostage.”
A few gasps came from the crowd.
“Thankfully, Orianna managed to return the journal to me and I have left Milgate until I can decode it and become a Grandmaster myself, teaching others the secrets held within. I need somewhere safe from Andrew in order to do this. I place myself at your mercy,” Aliz said, looking hopefully at the King.
“Savrine’s daughter will always be welcome among us,” declared King Faelyn. “You will be given everything you need to succeed. All those who’ve studied the mysteries of Alchemy will be at your disposal.” He reached over to touch her head and give her the blessing as well.
Now that the formalities were over, the King and Queen both lost all pretense of grandeur and rushed forward like children to embrace Mikael and presumably catch up on old times.
“Please allow me to introduce my younger brother, Arik Vidende,” Kira said, waving her twin over.
“A matter of a few moments, I assure you, but she never fails to let everyone know she is the elder,” Arik looked at his beautiful twin sister with a twinkle in his eye. “And, therefore, the more feeble minded and decrepit of the two of us.”
The name above his head changed from Elf to Arik Vidende - 5. I smiled. I had a feeling I was going to enjoy being around these two. It was odd, though, I could’ve sworn I’d heard his name before.
“I think I’ve heard of you,” I blurted out before I could stop myself.
“See, Kira, people do read my books,” Arik turned and raised his chin at his sister as if to say I told you so.
“Wait! That’s it! That’s how I know your name. One of your books was in the Dragon Hunters’ library.”
Arik, Kira and everyone in earshot went as white as a sheet as silence descended like a stone.
32
Dangerous Ideas
“Your books are helping the Dragon Hunters?” the King thundered.
Perhaps I shouldn’t have said all of that out loud. Too late now.
“It was a book called Travelers, your majesty, and since it was all about travelers and what happens to them,” I said, casting an apologetic look at Arik, “I seriously doubt the Dragon Hunters would have learned anything they wouldn’t already find out for themselves at some point.”
The King calmed down somewhat, nodding to the Queen who’d put her hand on his arm.
“Was that the only one of his books in their library?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” I mumbled. Why hadn’t I kept my mouth shut? Worse yet, I now had to spring the news of the impending attack on him. Oh well, no use holding that back.
“Err, one other thing that we were coming here to tell you is that Andrew, the guild leader of the Dragon Hunters, is up to something. We’re not sure what exactly, but he’s offering the residents of Ratters Town protection sigils to keep them safe from the corrupted beasts that he says the elves are creating.” The King looked surprised, but before he could respond, I quickly carried on: “He’s putting together an army to come here and attack you all.”
The King started laughing. Okay, not the response I’d been expecting.
“Please, that wasn’t a joke, he really is coming and soon.” I pleaded.
“It’s okay, Mikael has already told me all about it,” the King finally got out through his laughter. “They stand no chance of getting near us. For every sentry you spotted out there in El Silvam, which I suspect wasn’t that many, there are a further twenty you didn’t spot.”
My mouth dropped open. Well, that explained the laughing, at least.
“Even if he manages to rally every single resident of Ratters Town, plus every single one of his guild members, we’ll still outnumber him, and the vast majority of us are much better fighters than they are,” the King smiled at me. “This is actually the best news I’ve heard all day. Since you’ve confirmed what Mikael has already told me, I can cease worrying about you being
a possible spy for Andrew, or you potentially betraying us in the future. I’m so glad Cara and Mikael were right about you.”
The shock must still have been evident on my face because there were a lot of people laughing now.
“We are a trusting people, Orianna, and we’ve been betrayed before by travelers who just wanted something and took it without considering the consequences for us. Andrew spent time here when he first arrived in this world and he knows a lot about us. His was the biggest betrayal, and we changed a lot of our practices after he corrupted the way a few of us thought. It was many years ago and we’ve dealt with the problem, but we won’t let anyone deceive us the same way again.”
King Faelyn was just smiling at me now.
“Come,” he said, “We have a stone at the heart of El Sanctum that I’m told travelers know what to do with. I’ve heard it called a Marker Stone.”
After I’d set my new spawn point to El Sanctum, the King told me that, since I was an ally, everyone would help me however they could with solving the riddle. He suggested I start by getting Arik’s help since he was their historian.
“Orianna,” Mikael caught me on my way to find Arik. “I need your help. You know as well as I do that Andrew is up to something and I’m worried about the locals of Ratters Town. I don’t know what that protection sigil does, but I seriously doubt it’s for their benefit, regardless of what we’ve seen.”
I nodded. I’d had the same concerns.
“Will you help me at least try and warn them to stay away from him?”
You have received a quest: Save the NPCs 1
Help Mikael warn three or more NPCs in Ratters Town that Andrew is dangerous and sacrificing the locals.
Completion of this quest will give you 40,000 XP.
Do you accept? Yes / No
Another multi-part quest. Excellent. Not that I’d made much progress with the first one yet, but this one would hopefully be easier. I thought yes and accepted it.
After a quick chat with Arik to get him started on some research, Mikael, Kira, Soter and I met up at the barrier around El Sanctum.
Near the edge of El Silvam, we came across a group of corrupted mobs that had strayed from the fields they’d been destroying. We quickly dispatched them without any trouble, netting me an extra 3,000 XP.
Mikael and I left Kira and Soter to hunt as we walked out of the forest and back to Ratters Town. Hopefully, Andrew had already left, or we might be in more trouble than we could handle.
We walked across the bridge and up to the gate guard who was currently talking to someone. He absentmindedly waved us through without even glancing away from his conversation. I caught a glimpse of an elaborate green cross on his hand that could only be one of Andrew’s protection sigils. I guess he thought he and all the residents were protected now, so it didn’t really matter who came through town.
The market square was swarming with people, but thankfully, I could see no obvious signs of the Dragon Hunters. There were stalls laden with goods that covered almost every available space in the square. The small areas between stalls were taken up by crowds of people, all in the midst of shopping. Food stalls seemed to be on the west side of the square, armor and weapons in the center and other goods like jewelry, household items and crystals on the east. At the furthest point from the gate, behind a bustling jewelry stall, was a single booth that was full of Alchemy supplies; from vials of blood, to various venom sacs, claws, fangs, herbs, flowers and other unidentifiable items. Sadly, with a sum total of one florin to my name, there wasn’t a whole lot of shopping I could do. I sighed. I guess some things didn’t change. Once I’d solved this riddle and become immortal, I was definitely going to be looking into making some more coin.
Mikael grabbed my arm and pulled me in the direction of the food stalls.
“I’m hungry. A friend of mine makes the most amazing pies,” he said, catching a glimpse of my face, “My treat.”
We had to squeeze through the crowd in front of the stall, but when we finally reached the front, I could see the table actually dipped in the center from the weight of all the pies covering it. There were meat pies, most of which I’d never heard of, fruit pies, and what I assumed were vegetable pies. All of them were piping hot, with steam escaping out of a small hole in their tops. My mouth started watering.
“Jon,” Mikael greeted the stall owner. “I’ll have two of your scorpion mouse pies.”
Okay, that did not sound appetizing.
“Best pie you’ll ever eat,” grinned Mikael, completely missing the look of disgust on my face.
“Mikael,” Jon shouted over the market noise. “Haven’t seen ya for months. Where ya been?”
“Long story, my friend. Can you spare a moment to chat?”
With the crowd around us as thick as it was, that seemed highly unlikely. I guess Mikael must have known something I didn’t though, because a couple of minutes later, Jon had convinced someone to cover his stall while he took a break.
We ducked into an alcove just off the square and Jon held out his hand to introduce himself to me. I noticed a green cross on the back of his hand and my heart sank. The text above his head changed from Vendor, to Jon Lytel - 10.
“We came here to warn you about the Dragon Hunters, and Andrew specifically,” I said after Mikael had told him about being imprisoned. “I can see you’ve already got the protection sigil and we’ve no idea what they do, but he’s definitely up to something that isn’t in your best interests.”
“Akk, there’s nuffin ta worry about. The sigil has already saved two farmers from being killed. It’s a good thing,” he said, patting my shoulder. “Don’t worry ya pretty little head over it.”
Well that was frustrating. I guess that’s why this was a multi-part quest.
“Now, why don’t ya taste that pie? It’s the best food ya’ll ever have, or I’ll give ya yer coin back.”
Mikael took a huge mouthful and looked like he’d died and gone to heaven. Maybe scorpion mouse was tastier than I gave it credit for. I tentatively took a small bite. The pastry was light, flaky and buttery. It dissolved in my mouth as a small, embarrassing sigh escaped my lips. A rich, salty gravy clung to the edge of the pastry. He wasn’t kidding. This had to be one of the best things I’d ever eaten. Before any of the gravy could ooze out of the hole in the crust, I took another bite. This time, a much larger one. The meat was so tender it didn’t need chewing and the gravy coated it, making it melt in my mouth. An earthy, slightly sweet taste was left in my mouth and I quickly devoured the rest of the pie, making sure I’d gotten every last crumb.
Finally, I noticed the little blue apple icon in the bottom left of my vision, and when I focused on it, I discovered the pie had granted me immunity to poison and +2 to Toughness for three hours.
Jon had long since gone back to looking after his stall, so it was time to try and find someone else to warn. We headed over to one of the jewelry stalls since that area of the market seemed to be a little quieter than the food side.
A petite blonde woman stood behind a table displaying a variety of necklaces, earrings, bracelets and rings. I started Inspecting them, only to find that most were sadly just basic or average quality.
“Are ya lookin for anything in particular?” she asked, watching me.
I noticed her hand didn’t have a green cross on it. We might have more luck with her than we’d had with Mikael’s friend Jon.
“We’re actually in town to try and warn a few people about the Dragon Hunters,” Mikael said before I could stop him.
“What do ya mean, warn?” shouted a large, burly man as he stood up from behind the stall next to the one we were at. “I don’t want nobody filling ma daughter’s head with stupid ideas now.”
He got up and started walking menacingly toward us.
“It’s bad enough she wouldn’t accept one of ‘em sigils as it were. I won’t have you lot making her think it were a good idea,” he growled. “Now, get lost and take ya dangerous id
eas with ya.”
The man was now making a fist and moving toward Mikael. I glanced at the woman. She seemed desperate to know more, but looked like she didn’t dare ask. She glanced at a woman behind her that was eagerly looking at me as well.
Edging toward them, I whispered, “You did the right thing not getting one of those sigils. Andrew is killing off the locals. I don’t know why he’s giving out protection sigils, but I know it won’t end well for those that get them. So, stay strong.”
They threw me a grateful look just as a scrawny looking older woman came around the corner with a piece of paper in her hands.
“Oi, these two look like them drawings that nice man gave us all,” she held up the piece of paper.
I could see a rough drawing of three people that looked distinctly like Mikael, Aliz and I. I felt like I’d swallowed a rock as my legs started to give way. Andrew must have put up some drawings of the three of us and distributed them around town so he didn’t have to waste time trying to catch us. Time to get out of here.
Mikael and I looked at each other and started running for the gate.
Feet were thrust out to trip us. Someone grabbed Mikael’s jacket from behind and he quickly took it off without missing a step. We reached the edge of the market. I glanced back to make sure Mikael was still following. When I turned back, a fist filled my vision. I didn’t have time to duck. It hit me right between the eyes and my world turned black.
33
Earned Name
When I came to, I found myself in a cell, lying on a rather dirty straw floor. Mikael was sitting with his knees bent, leaning against the stone wall behind us. My face hurt like I’d been punched. Clearly, the cells prevented us from healing.