by Stone Thomas
“Lucky us,” I said. “Fine, begin whatever inspection suits your fancy. Everyone else, to the temple.”
Yurip lost no time. He power walked toward the temple, then up the steps that led to the top of the hill.
Good, I thought to myself. Yurip Knobble has left your party.
I scanned the crowd of refugees. “Rinka!” I said, pushing my way toward the brewer as the group approached the temple’s entrance. “We took some supplies from Parmo’s bakery and from your shop, but we’ll pay you what they’re worth when we have funds.”
“You owe me nothing,” she said. “You just saved all of our lives.”
“This seemed valuable though,” I said, pulling the small potion from my pocket. “I don’t want to take what isn’t mine.”
“It is valuable,” she said. “A potion like that activates a special skill, free of action points, whether or not it’s a skill you’ve unlocked. With enough training I could make potions like that here, but I’d need an herblorist to grow ingredients, or adventurers to bring them back.”
“I would happily train you,” I said. “Let’s discuss ingredients later.”
I looked over my shoulder. Vix stood there, bouncing eagerly on her tiptoes.
“Don’t forget,” she said. “I want to show you what I’ve been working on.”
I nodded and we entered the temple. Nola had emerged from her crystal cocoon and stood before her altar, her soft yellow glow dampened only by the long white toga that hung loosely from her body.
“Welcome to Nola’s temple,” I said. “Nola is the goddess of clever insight and premonition. When you leave your home for a trip, but suddenly wonder whether you forgot to pack your toothbrush? You did. And you’re welcome.”
A low ooh went through the crowd.
“And I’m Gowes!” the cyan god said, sitting cross-legged in the air. “I’m just here for a visit.”
“The audit is over, Gowes,” I said. “The lawmonger is here now. You can go home.”
“I won’t overstay my welcome,” he said. He made no motion toward gathering up Eranza and heading back to Valleyvale. Something told me he overestimated how big his welcome was.
Ess was the first to pledge her fealty. “Goddess two-leg with no egg, for your blessing I do beg.” She turned to me next, reciting the customary pledge to a temple’s head priest. “Leader Arden, Nola’s pastor, on these grounds you are my master.” She scowled as she spoke those words, but her feelings were irrelevant. The pledge, once spoken, was binding.
Nola, I said while the refugees lined up for their chance to promise their loyalty to the goddess and then to me, we filled a few of these lilac-colored energems battling Kāya’s creations. They’re small, but they may have some energy you can use. I put the items on her altar.
I’ll snack on these later, she said. Thank you. What did you learn about Kāya?
She’s the goddess of chaos now, I said. When we walked into the temple, she did this thing where it looked like bombs exploding and then she just appeared. It was pretty dramatic. Kind of like what Laranj used to do, when she emerged from a soft pink whirlpool to the sound of angels yawning.
Ugh, Nola said. Everyone has a flourish but me! I really need to work on that.
A flourish?, I asked.
Yes!, Nola said. Every god who’s any god has one. It’s an impressive little trick for gods that can pull it off. Really impresses people. I’ll start working on one.
In the meantime, what should I do about Yurip?, I asked.
Tolerate him, she said, answer his questions, impress him with all of our hard work. The empire controls too much of people’s lives, but we can’t change that. Without Yurip’s blessing, whatever precious metals and jewels we mine will be worthless.
That’s right, I said. We’ll need papers to prove they aren’t stolen. Can he provide that?
He can draft a distribution decree for the mine, she said, and if we want to send adventurers out with binding quest contracts, we’ll need the empire’s approval first. It was only a matter of time before one of the empire’s roving lawmongers found us. I’m surprised it happened so quickly though. I thought we’d have more time to smooth things out.
Does this mean he works for the Great Mother?, I asked. Cahn said she protects the empire.
She does, Nola said. And she’s wrong to do it.
I had never heard anyone speak out against the Great Mother before. In all the stories I’d ever heard, she was the great leveler, the woman that rebalanced the pantheon at the end of the first god war and brought peace back to the world. Her word was wise and infallible.
The empire emerged because the Great Mother wanted to reward her head priest, Nola said. He became the first emperor. In their zeal to keep the peace, they made requests of the cities whose citizens they had saved. Money, equipment, labor. Those requests turned into demands. Taxes, legal restrictions, thinly veiled bribes.
The empire provided food and armor to Landondowns to keep its population growing and safe, but it came at a cost. My mother was to report every premonition to the Great Mother directly. Every, single, one. For the goddess of premonition, that was an awful lot.
The empire did what it wanted with that information, which sometimes meant cutting off particular cities from aid until they took measures to kill a budding threat to the Great Mother’s divine order.
I was sick of watching them squeeze my mother for information, and sick of watching my mother do their bidding. She and I had an argument that resulted in me leaving home, setting off for a place far from Landondowns where I could grow on my own.
I thought I’d have a chance to show her I was good, moral, and just. To show her I was strong and capable. And to reconcile, after a time. Then Duul took her from me.
All the Great Mother’s promises, all of the empire’s payments to Landondowns in exchange for information, it meant nothing. The city was never safe, only afraid of the empire and cloaked in a false sense of security.
If anything, Duul has shown us how fragile the empire’s divine order really was.
Not that this story would sway someone like Yurip. He has a job to do, and he’s here to do it. We need the empire’s approval so that all the people out there who still fear the empire’s wrath will treat us as equals and trade with us openly.
Wow, I said. That’s a lot to take in.
Go ahead and ask, she said. She knew the question that burned in my mind. Of course she knew.
Cahn said that Sajia saw a future for me, one where I lead Duul’s army and tear down the empire, I said. Is that true?
Not every premonition comes to pass, Nola said. And I have no special knowledge on that one. If the empire decided one of my mother’s premonitions was dangerous, she shared it with no one. Not even me. Her power was among the most valued by the Great Mother because it helped them see challengers arise before they got too strong.
Which is why Kāya wants the power so badly, I said. To make sure Duul sees the value in keeping her alive.
Okay, I continued, first things first. Get on Yurip’s good side.
“Lily, Ambry,” I said, “do you have a moment?”
“You haven’t been to Valleyvale yet,” Lily said from across the temple. “You haven’t been gone long enough.”
“No,” I said, “and I can’t head there yet either. We have a rabid lawmonger on the loose and I suspect you girls have dealt with him before. Can one of you supervise the ongoing pledges here while the other comes up top with me? We need to make sure he’s on the right track before I set out.”
“I’ll go,” Ambry said, strutting toward me. Her stride wasn’t slow, but it was measured. She walked with the confidence of a woman who knew men would wait on her. I hadn’t spent much time with Ambry, but there was something intriguing about her.
I walked with the girls toward the temple’s exit when Carzl grabbed me by the arm. The twolf pup trotted alongside him. “Arden,” he said, “I meant what I said earlier about our prof
itable new venture. I’d like to talk business with you.”
“I have to trail Yurip for a bit,” I said. “Do me a favor and bring the flour up to the chow house, and stock our other items on the shelves behind Nola’s altar. We’ll talk soon.” There was no way I would talk business with him without Cindra by my side, but he didn’t need to know that. “I’ll take the fairyfly though.”
With the small insectoid woman under my arm, I followed Vix and Ambry up the stone steps to the top of the hill. In the middle of climbing those steps, I remembered Nola’s premonition. Suddenly aware of each step, I found it more difficult to keep myself coordinated. Stairs are best taken without thinking about them.
The first thing I noticed on the hill was the smell.
“That odor,” I said.
“Sewage,” Ambry said. She pointed to an outhouse with a long line of people standing outside it.
The hill was wide, almost as wide as Meadowdale had been. An unfinished stone wall ran around the outer periphery before the hill’s slope dropped toward the ground. The low rows of stone had bare metal bars poking up through them in spots serving as internal supports so the wall would hold up against an attack.
The center of the hill had a short tower now, also unfinished, which must have been one of Vix’s newest ideas. It looked over the few rows of shops and residences that Vix had overseen so far, while additional rows of partial buildings and foundation pits extended further outward.
“I’ll need a water tower,” Vix said, gesturing toward the outhouse, “to drive water pressure, and then a sewer for drainage before indoor plumbing will work. All of the water comes from wells in the forest at this point, so the water situation has been tough all around. There’s not enough to drive plumbing yet.
“Unhygienic,” Yurip said, “and unsustainable.” He stood in the street with a clipboard, staring at the same outhouse. “Let’s not start at the end though. Show me where the food stores are.”
Ambry walked to a nearby building with a sign on the door that said “Chow House.” She held open the front door.
“After you, Yurip,” I said. The lawmonger seemed to appreciate that small courtesy. Really, I wanted him to have his back to me while I had a word with the culinarian.
Our chow house was a meat-roasting, bread-baking, dry-goods-storing operation all in one. I waved the culinarian over while Yurip wandered toward the grain pantry to take inventory.
“Roda,” I whispered, “tell me you’ve figured out how to make sweet rolls. This guy’s an imperial, and I need something to put him in a pleasant mood, if that’s even possible.”
Roda narrowed her eyes and put her hands on her considerable hips. “Is this a test? Because I’m not gonna fail it.” She leaned back and glared at me.
“Not a test, Roda,” I said. “Sweet rolls are life, and I want to live.”
“I have too many mouths to feed to spend my time experimenting with scarce resources to make little treats. We have meat, we have bread, and we have plumberry jam.”
“Bread and jam please,” I said. Roda sliced open a bun and jellied the bread before handing it back to me. “That’s your ration for the day, same restriction as everyone else. We need to make this stretch.”
“You’re good at what you do, Roda,” I said. “Thanks for this. Before I go, let me skillmeister you. Your skills improve your cooking output, and we’ll need you as productive as possible.” I stared into her eyes for a moment as my vision filled with letters and numbers.
When I was done, I improved Roda’s Portion Control ability, increasing her bonus cooking output from 10% to 11%. It was a small change, but meaningful. I also noticed a combat class open up for her since the last time I had her skillmeister menu open.
“You have a combat class open now,” I said, “but it’s just a frying pan.”
“Have I ever hit you in the head with a frying pan?” Roda asked.
“No,” I replied.
“That’s why you’re still alive,” she said.
“Noted,” I said. “I’ll check in soon to see if you’re ready for another upgrade.”
Meanwhile, Yurip scribbled away with his quill. “Divided by the new head count… Completely insufficient.”
“I’m sure we’re all tired from a long day’s work,” I said. “Let’s take a moment to eat something.” I offered Yurip a piece of jam-covered bread, but he refused.
“This would constitute a bribe,” he said, “which I’m sure was not your intention, but nonetheless. I carry my own food for times like this. I must be careful to avoid any appearance of impropriety.”
“Do you always talk like this?” I asked.
“I should say so,” he replied. “I strive for consistency in all things.” He walked to the chow house’s front door and we followed him into the street, just in time to witness a girl back out of an open doorframe a few buildings away, along with a burst of black smoke.
“I’m really sorry,” she said, “I didn’t know that would happen. I was just trying to help.”
“Go help somewhere else, would ya?” a voice begged from inside before closing the door behind her.
“Jessip,” Vix muttered. “I forgot all about her when we set out for Meadowdale. I was too excited for the trip.”
“Go,” I said, “see what you can do to find her something she’s good at. You can show me your projects later.”
Vix nodded and jogged over to Jessip.
“If there had been a fire,” Yurip said, “there would be no water to put it out.” He marked something down on his clipboard.
Ambry reached over and took the clipboard and quill from him. He protested for a moment, then leaned over to see what she was writing.
“Oh, that’s correct, Ms. Ingriss,” he said. “Fire protective services are not an approval prerequisite where buildings are at least twenty paces apart. I would have caught that error on the second draft of my report, I assure you.” His eyes hit the ground as he took his clipboard back.
So Ambry knew something of the law. I’d have to keep that in mind.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me,” Yurip said, “I need to interview some of the residents. Alone.”
“Keep an eye on him,” I said. Ambry nodded and left.
How’s it going?, Nola asked.
Poorly, I said.
It’s about to get worse, she replied.
I heard running and turned around. Sprinting right toward me was a small naked creature with dark green skin, pointy ears, and an open mouth full of short yellow teeth. In his hand was a small nugget of gold.
+15
Cindra climbed over a low section of the defensive wall that Vix hadn’t built very high yet. She sprinted after the oncoming creature. Her green slime body molded to the curves of her tight-fitting Radiance Gown. Large green breasts bounced with her stride as her wide hips rolled side to side.
“Stop him!” she yelled.
I tossed my spear to the ground and put the fairyfly down next to it. With my legs spread out, I reached my arms wide and shuffled to the side to block the oncoming creature’s path.
He skidded to a stop in the dirt before he got close, then glanced at the fairyfly. She went crazy in her bottle, banging on the glass with all four of her fists. The pointy-eared green creature that stared at her started to drool from his gaping mouth.
Then he looked over his shoulder and locked eyes with Cindra for a moment. A moment was all she needed.
“Drop the nugget, sexy little man,” she yelled.
“What?” I asked. The gold nugget fell from his hand and he stood there, waiting for Cindra to arrive. When she did, she scooped up the small piece of gold.
“Now shoo!” she said. The green creature stole one more glance at the fairyfly, then ran into the distance.
“Goblins,” Cindra said. “That’s who’s stealing our gold. We have goblins in the mine.”
“Sexy ones?” I asked.
“Oh, no,” she said, “I had to use Flirt to get him
to listen to me. He’s not my type though.” She ran a finger down my front and smiled. I smiled too, wider the further down her finger traced. When she got to my navel, I heard someone yell.
“Gobbins!”
“Not Hork again,” Cindra said. “He won’t leave me alone. Every time I come up here, he gawks and tries to wave toward me. It’s all I can do to keep my distance. When will those adventurers leave?”
“When this dump gets a working portal arch,” Lura said, approaching from the guesthouse. She held another little green goblin by the ear with pinched fingers. Hork and Prandon walked up behind her, along with Yurip Knobble.
“We were just telling Yurip here what a terrible time we’re having in Halcyon,” Prandon said. “Not to be mean about it, it’s just the truth.”
“Hold on,” Yurip said, “I have to mark this down on my vermin checklist. Okay, got it.”
Lura tossed the green creature aside after that. It shouted in high pitched sounds as it ran off.
“You have a vermin checklist?” I asked.
“Oh yes, I have a lot of checklists to review.” He patted himself on the back.
“A little early to congratulate yourself then,” I said.
“You misunderstand,” Yurip said. He made a motion like taking a backpack off, but there was nothing there.
“I sure do,” I said.
“All of my law books, ordinance tables, decree parchments, and checklists are in here.” He started pulling piles of books and scrolls out of… nothing.
“What are you, new here?” Lura asked. “You act like you’ve never seen an expansion pack before.”
“Let’s pretend I haven’t,” I said. “What is an expansion pack?”
“Give it the old side-eye,” Prandon said. I tilted my head away and glanced sideways where Yurip’s pack supposedly was. I could just about make out the shape of a small rucksack. When I looked back, it was gone. I scanned the area a few times to play with the perception-altering effect.
Every time my eyes landed on the object, they darted to the side and then I’d forget the color and shape of the bag entirely. It was like it had some kind of spell on it that said, “don’t look at me, I’m not really here, carry on with what you were doing.” The kind of spell every young guy would use to sneak into the women’s locker room at the public baths.