by Pirateaba
Zevara was practically breathing fire; wisps of smoke were leaking from the corners of her mouth. Erin grumbled, but the Watch Captain didn’t wait for a response. She stomped away and then the [Guardsmen] left too.
The [Necromancer] nodded to himself in satisfaction. A predictable result. Really, it was just about knowing how people would react based on a certain set of variables. The Watch Captain was predictable…at least, where it came to Erin. She knew that Erin had the Antinium on her side, and so she was disinclined to start another incident.
Still, four gold coins was vindictive. A single gold coin would have been harsh for starting a brawl. The Watch Captain must have been extremely angry, which spoke to the aberrancy of this situation.
Soon, Erin was hurrying back to the inn with Ryoka. Mrsha was in the Runner’s arms, and the three adventuring groups broke up. Revi was still grumbling.
“We have things to do. How much do we have to do for this [Innkeeper]? Honestly, that obnoxious Drake innkeeper might have been rude and charged a lot, but at least he didn’t bother us.”
“I didn’t hear you complaining at Christmas.”
“That was fun. This is work, and we’re doing it for free.”
“Revi, don’t start.”
“I didn’t join this group to do work for free, Ulrien! If we’re going to keep helping Erin, we should at least be paid for…”
Pisces listened with half an ear as Revi, the Stitch-girl [Summoner] argued with the rest of her party. Her response was predictable too. But he had better things to do in this crucial moment where everyone’s guard was down. Pisces stared hard across the street. He could still see Ilvriss arguing—screaming, really—at Zel. They were too far away of course, but happily they were both standing across from each other, so Pisces could see their mouths moving. And that was important to Pisces for one particular reason:
He could read lips.
It would hardly be a great surprise to anyone who knew Pisces that he had that talent. Not a Skill in fact; Pisces had mastered the art of lip reading to avoid wasting a Skill on such a mundane ability. And it had been oh so useful in Wistram, especially when his ability to eavesdrop with his undead creations had been discovered.
Everyone always thought that he, the [Necromancer], had only one particular skill. But Pisces was a [Mage] as well. He had specialized his class in one field of magic—and then gone back to study every other field as well. Pisces sneered at the idea that a truly great mage had to be limited to one class. A true [Mage], or so he felt, specialized in as many classes as possible.
Yes, a great [Mage] was a [Pyromancer], a [Seer], an [Alchemist], a [Sword Mage], a [Warlock], a [Druid]—although Pisces was leery about getting tattooed. And any true mage, any true purveyor of knowledge and secrets had to have other skills as well.
Secrets were worth much even outside of Wistram. And a secret shared between a Wall Lord and a [General]? Oh, so very precious. Pisces’ eyes narrowed as he deciphered part of the Drakes’ conversation.
“I’ll take care of it. You cool your…”
“Ask her! So help me Shivertail, if you…if I have to go to war…”
“I know. I know.”
The two broke away from each other. One of the Drakes accompanying Ilvriss handed something small to Zel and he nodded at the Wall Lord. Pisces casually glanced away as Ilvriss began storming down the street, the other Drakes following him. Only Zel hung back. He slowly began to walk in the direction of the Wandering Inn.
Curious. Pisces stroked his chin as the adventurers began heading back to the inn as well. What did ‘I’ll take care of it’ mean? Clearly, Ryoka was important to the two Drakes, but the Wall Lord was particularly interested in her, it seemed. He’d threatened her with steel, against Watch Captain Zevara’s explicit orders. He would never normally do that, Wall Lord or not.
Pisces was aware of Drake politics, and a Watch Captain was second to none in her own city when it came to matters of law and order. She could only ever be overruled in military matters by a soldier of equivalent or equal rank to a [Colonel], and certainly not by a foreign lord.
“Ryoka’s back. Do you think she got the magical items appraised?”
Pisces focused back on reality as he heard Ceria speaking anxiously. Ah, yes. The magical artifacts. Pisces cleared his throat. He didn’t know whether Ryoka had them either, but his observations could only improve the general understanding of his group.
“I surmise that if she had the items, they are stored in the bag of holding at her belt. Given the limited opportunity she had to visit Invrisil, I would imagine it is unlikely she would have returned without some knowledge of the magical artifacts.”
“I know that.”
Ceria nodded, but she seemed relieved to have been reassured.
“She said she appraised them. But she also said she might have to sell some. I wonder…”
“Captain Ceria, I am unsure of the protocol regarding adventuring in groups. Should I express my dissatisfaction with Ryoka or general avarice at this point?”
Pisces’ lips quirked and he turned his head to avoid smiling at Ksmvr. The Antinium was far too amusing to belong in his Hive, which was probably why he’d been kicked out. Ceria paused and Pisces saw a peculiar expression on the face of the woman who was walking as far away from Pisces as politely possible.
Yvlon coughed and scratched absently at her bare forearms. At first glance, they looked like they were covered with some metallic liquid. Then it became clear that the metal was fused into her arms, melded with both flesh and bone. Yvlon’s affliction intrigued Pisces every time he looked at her. He had no little amount of sympathy for her either; she had received those injuries defending all of them from a fire construct. It was a shame he couldn’t use his skill with bones to fix her, but there wasn’t enough of her bone left unscathed for him to work with.
Perhaps if she’d let him experiment with adding someone else’s bone to hers. But Yvlon would never hear of it, so Pisces hadn’t bothered to suggest. She hated necromancy, and thus barely tolerated him.
“Ksmvr, you don’t have to do anything. Magical items are important it’s true, but in my experience, the best adventurers don’t fixate on them. I’ve seen too many teams torn apart fighting over the loot from an expedition to count.”
The Antinium with three arms absorbed this information slowly, nodding his head.
“I see. I will commit this information to memory. However, I assume we will wish to speak with Ryoka Griffin in the near future?”
“If we can. Looks like everyone wants a piece of her.”
Ceria groaned. And that was certainly true. When Pisces got to the inn, the first thing he heard was Erin’s voice.
“Okay everyone, form a line! Anyone who wants to speak with Ryoka can wait in line. Uh, send just one person if you’re a group. Krshia wants to talk first, and then Klbkch—hey Klbkch, your mean Captain says I have to give you money. And Zel said he wants to talk too. And then—oh, Ksmvr?”
Ksmvr strode into place right behind Zel and Klbkch. He flinched as the Revalantor of the Free Antinium stared at him, but Klbkch said nothing. Zel looked unhappy to be surrounded by Antinium, but his desire to speak to Ryoka clearly outweighed his emotions. He stood stiffly with both arms folded. Klbkch looked equally unhappy to have the Drake [General] behind him. Pisces nearly burst out laughing when he saw Klbkch and Zel fidgeting. How could no one see the humor in that situation?
But he refrained from laughing and just nodded towards Ksmvr as the Antinium waved to Pisces and the others Horns of Hammerad from his place at the back of the line.
“Commendable, I must say.”
Pisces said that appreciatively as he took a comfortable seat at one of the tables. He waved at Lyonette for a drink and something hot to eat while he waited. Pisces smiled to himself until he noticed Ceria and Yvlon glaring at him.
What? What? Oh, did they think he was being sarcastic? Pisces rolled his eyes. He had merely been expressing his gratitude tha
t Ksmvr would stand in line for them, despite his stated issues with Klbkch. Why were people so fixated on believing the worst of him?
In any case, the break gave Ceria and Yvlon time as well, and they spent that time worrying about what Ryoka had discovered in Invrisil. Pisces spent his time far more frugally. He devoted a pleasurable few seconds ordering what was on tap from Lyonette and receiving a small bowl of fried potato strips he quite liked. And all the time he watched Ryoka talking with the people in line.
He couldn’t see Krshia speaking with Ryoka, but he got a good view of Ryoka’s lips as Klbkch approached. Pisces paused, watching the young woman’s lips carefully as he bit into a french fry.
“I told Magnolia.”
Pisces’ eyes narrowed as he watched Klbkch nod, reply, and walk swiftly out of the inn. He couldn’t read the Antinium’s lips—since he didn’t have any, only mandibles. But this was curious too. What had Ryoka told Magnolia and why would it involve Klbkch the Slayer of all people?
After Klbkch came Zel Shivertail. Now Pisces was really interested. He tried to focus on Ryoka’s lips, but the Drake was blocking the way. Pisces hissed under his breath and reached into his robes. Time to try another tack.
Something crawled out of a hidden pocket Pisces had sewn into his new robes and onto his hand. He didn’t react, but carefully lowed it to the underside of the table. Pisces felt it crawl off and casually reached for another fry, not looking down at the ground. He didn’t have to; he could sense what was happening.
Quickly, a small spider began to scuttle down the table leg, onto the floor, and towards where Ryoka was seated across the inn. It was a Shield Spider, or rather, a Shield Spiderling. A baby spider, newly hatched.
And it was dead. In fact, it was undead. Pisces had found the spider a long time ago and figured out a way to reanimate it using his magic. It was an extraordinary achievement in the field of [Necromancy] for him—he hadn’t thought he could animate non-mammalian species until now. No one had appreciated that of course, but that was all to the better now. Because Pisces could see and hear what his creation did.
The undead Shield Spider scuttled quickly across the floorboards. Pisces tried to shield it from anyone’s view, keeping it in the shadows, running along the wall. Fortunately, all the adventurers were busy having a late lunch. Pisces had been worried Halrac, the keen-eyed [Scout] might see, but the man was too busy arguing with Revi. Thank goodness for loudmouthed [Mages]. Pisces detested them the most.
Nearly there…Pisces sat up in anticipation as his Shield Spider moved two tables away from Ryoka and Zel. He could hear them talking, faintly.
“…I am simply asking how…benefactor?…won’t give up…”
That was Zel’s voice. The spider scuttled closer. Pisces could see through its multiple eyes Ryoka and Zel’s feet. He heard Ryoka reply after a pause.
“I can’t tell you.”
“May I ask w—”
Something suddenly smacked the spider sideways, sending its view tumbling around in chaos. Pisces nearly leapt out of his chair. He looked over and saw a white ball of fur, crouched in the exact place where his spider was.
Mrsha! Pisces saw her tail wagging. He nearly stood up before he caught himself. Instead, he sent quick signals to his undead creation. The spider fled towards a table, but Mrsha leapt after it.
Drat the child! Pisces watched in horror as Mrsha chased after the fleeing undead spider. He desperately tried to get the young Gnoll’s attention, but Mrsha was oblivious as she cornered the Shield Spider’s corpse. With all the inquisitiveness, thoughtfulness, and brutality of an innocent child, she smashed the tiny spider into the ground and then sniffed at the remains.
The spider was gone. Pisces couldn’t control it, or hear anything else. He slumped in his chair, wanting to bury his face in his hands. All that work. No one knew how hard it was to animate a spider compared to a Human corpse, let alone put listening and vision spells on it! But she hadn’t known. Yet he’d been so close to hearing something worthwhile!
“Too bad about that.”
Pisces glanced up. Ceria was staring at him across the table. He frowned.
“Excuse me?”
The half-Elf nodded her head very slowly. She stole one of Pisces’ fries and licked at the salt on top before chewing it thoughtfully. She kept her voice very low as she spoke directly to Pisces.
“Next time, you should enchant it with something to make it faster, more durable, or smell bad. Otherwise Mrsha will just destroy it. She likes small moving things, unluckily for you.”
He stiffened and opened his mouth to deny the truth or to lie, but Ceria just looked at him. She pointed to where Ksmvr was patiently waiting at the head of the line. Zel was standing up, looking dissatisfied.
“We’re up.”
Pisces stared at Ceria, and then got to his feet. He reflected that while he saw much more than most, he had to be careful himself. Because other people were watching him. He wondered whether Ceria thought she was on his side, or if she was warning him. It didn’t matter. Pisces had no side.
He was, and always had been alone. Friendships were fleeting, and alliances were simply the prelude to betrayal. Pisces knew he should expect less than nothing from his new party, this reckless endeavor known as the Horns of Hammerad.
And yet, he did like them, even Yvlon. Imagine that.
—-
Ryoka sat in Erin’s inn, a drink of hot, lemon-flavored sugar water in front of her and a bowl of salty fries by her right hand. It was easier to eat fries with her right hand while she used her left hand to lift the cup. Her two missing fingers on her right hand made Ryoka’s grip feel uneasy and lopsided whenever she lifted something remotely heavy.
That wasn’t what she should be focusing on. There was so much to do, so much to think about! Now that Ryoka was back in Liscor, it seemed like everything was happening at once.
First Krshia, then Ilvriss. Now Klbkch. Ryoka watched as the Antinium strode out of the door. She couldn’t say much to him in the inn, not with everyone around. But he got the message. Magnolia knew of his intentions. What would Klbkch do now? Ryoka would have loved to talk it over with him, but now came another problem.
Zel Shivertail sat down across from Ryoka and gave her a brief smile.
“We meet again, Miss Runner. My apologies, it’s Miss Griffin, isn’t it?”
“Ryoka is fine.”
Ryoka stared at him warily. She barely recognized the huge Drake. But she remembered his voice. She remembered the second-to-last last time she’d seen him, in a dark and misty forest and soldiers fought and died around them. He’d been lost, until Ilvriss had arrived and everything had gone to hell.
She’d seen him two other times as well. Both times Zel had been leading a charge. First, on Ilvriss’ camp as Ryoka had run away in the chaos. The second time, against the Goblin Lord as the Stone Spears tribe and Ryoka had been fighting for their lives.
The young woman’s throat constricted as she remembered the thousands of Goblins killing the Gnolls, overrunning Zel’s army. She glanced away from Zel, towards Mrsha. The Gnoll was happily following something on the floor.
Zel followed Ryoka’s gaze.
“I remembered you and that Gnoll cub. Funny—I could have sworn she had brown fur before, but then I only got a short look at you while I was trying to kill that damn Goblin Lord.”
Ryoka paused. She looked at Zel. He’d been courteous to her before, more so than Ilvriss. But she didn’t know the first thing about him. But at least on this subject, being honest might help.
“She did have brown fur. It turned white after the battle.”
After she lost her tribe. Zel looked at Mrsha and shook his head. He looked melancholy. Was there affection in his eyes as he stared at Mrsha? Why?
“So some of the rumors about white fur among Gnolls is true. I had no idea their fur could change color, though. Mrsha certainly gets into enough trouble without needing bad luck.”
“Uh yeah
. I heard you helped save her once. Thank you.”
It felt odd. Ryoka was caught between the impulse to profusely thank Zel and the incongruity of it. She wasn’t Mrsha’s parents. But she was her guardian, the only one the Gnoll had left. She should have been there.
More guilt. Zel shook his head casually.
“Anyone would have done the same. But perhaps you can return the favor? I’m sorry about earlier, but you might have guessed that Ilvriss came to Liscor looking for you.”
Ryoka’s heart began to beat a bit faster. She kept her tone casual as she watched Erin buzz about the room, serving food, talking with people. How had her inn gotten so busy? The last time Ryoka had been here, it was practically deserted except for a few visitors. But now she had two Gold-rank adventurer teams staying here? And Zel?
“I did notice. Mind telling me what he wants?”
“He wants to know what happened to his lieutenant. Periss. She ran after you in the battle in the forest and never returned. Ilvriss thinks you had something to do with her going missing.”
Cold spikes of fear ran through Ryoka’s stomach. Here was something else she hadn’t had time to think about. The same argument ran through her head. Az’kerash, the legendary Necromancer was ranked about equal to Teriarch on Ryoka’s list of people she didn’t want to piss off. And if she told people where he was hiding…
Zel spread his claws out on the table.
“Let me tell you what I saw, back when we first met, Ryoka. I met you during a battlefield. Well, I saw you earlier after you’d sent Ilvriss’ camp into chaos. I still have to thank you for that. Without that advantage my side might have lost the battle.”
“Was it an important battle?”
Ryoka stared at Zel. The [General] shrugged, looking slightly bitter.
“Important for some. It was a squabble between one of the Walled Cities and a coalition of city-states. If I’d have lost, there would have been trouble, the cities might have had to become vassals or pay tribute or some other nonsense…but nothing tremendously terrible would have occurred.”
“And that’s why you’re with Ilvriss now? Because you’re all buddies after the war?”