by G. R. Cooper
“So,” groaned Snorri, “any sign of a pot of gold?”
Wulfgar laughed.
“Not a penny, now shut up and let me take care of you.” He pulled off his pack and began making a healing poultice. As he ground the ingredients together, he looked up to see Rydra join them, pulling on the last of his clothes.
“You must have a story to tell,” said Wulfgar as he spread the healing ingredients onto a clean bandage.
“I must, but hell if I know what it is,” the little man smiled. “I was looking over an unconscious or dead man laying on some sort of stone table.”
“A naked unconscious or dead man,” grinned Snorri lasciviously through a fat lip.
Rydra chuckled, “Not my type. Besides, not into necrophilia. Anyway, one second I’m wondering who the hell that guy was and the next I wake up over there,” he nodded toward the center of the round room, “and noticed some sort of thing leaning back against me and a dagger laying on my chest.”
“Oh,” said Wulfgar sarcastically, as he wrapped the bandage around Snorri’s head, “so you thought you’d just ride in and save the day and take all of the credit for the fight? Is that it?”
“Something like that,” laughed Rydra, “something like that.”
Wulfgar shook his head, “And there I was, looking forward to finding out what the hell was going to happen to my sorry ass when I died. And you had to go and ruin everything!”
“I’ll be more considerate, next time,” smiled Rydra as he helped Wulfgar back to his feet. He held up the Lich’s staff, “We’ll have to get this checked out when we get back.” He also held a little leather bag that jingled when he shook it.
Wulfgar turned and walked back to Lauren.
“No excuses this time,” he said sternly, smiling, “your turn.” He dropped to one knee and made another poultice. As he began to grind the ingredients in the little stone bowl, he heard a new message.
“Congratulations! You have gained a level in Herb Lore!”
“Congratulations! You have gained a level in Healing Poultices!”
“Congratulations! You have earned the Herb Lore skill Cure Poison!”
Wulfgar smiled momentarily as he applied the bandage to Lauren. She sat up, then looked to Doe and Tane. She looked back to him. He just shook his head and frowned.
“Poor sugar Bear,” she sighed, watching as the dog seemed to grieve for his friend.
“Poor Bael,” added Wulfgar. The little princeling was wrapping his brother’s corpse. He looked up as Wulfgar approached.
“I don’t know what to say,” began Wulfgar.
“There’s nothing to say. He died for his people. He gave them back their home.”
Wulfgar nodded, felt the rest of the group joining them.
“May I?” asked Wulfgar, motioning toward Tane. Bael nodded. Wulfgar bent and took the Aos Si in his arms. He watched as Snorri did the same with Doe.
“That’s not necessary,” began Prince.
“It is,” countered Lauren, her tone brooking no argument.
“She’s yours, then,” finished Prince.
Wulfgar looked to his friends, “Is that it, then? Are we done?”
Rydra nodded, “I think so.”
“No message? No congratulations?”
Rydra shrugged, “Probably not until the Baen Si returns home - allowing the Aos Si to return to theirs, all the way up the chain.” He shrugged again. “There’s no other way out of this room,” he pointed up to the ramp that the wooden floor from above had become, which led back up to the door into the skeleton chamber.
“What about the other rooms?” asked Lauren. Rydra looked at them quizzically, and Wulfgar explained about the system of shifting rooms, and how they thought that the other doors led to two more areas that needed to be explored.
“That could be a problem,” countered Rydra, “We’re all pretty much banged up, and Wulfgar’s pretty blade disappeared with the Lich.”
“I’ll get you a new one,” whispered Lauren. Wulfgar nodded his thanks.
“Lichling,” countered Bael.
“What?” asked Wulfgar.
“Lichling. Not a lich. At least, not a fully grown lich,” he shrugged, “I guess you could call that a lich child.”
“A child?” asked Wulfgar incredulously, “That thing nearly kicked our ass. All of us.” Bael nodded. “What the hell,” continued Wulfgar, “would a fully grown lich have done to us?”
Bael just smiled sadly and pointed at his brother’s body.
They waited in the first of the lower rooms, the room where the sailor’s body had been found, while Rydra quickly checked the other two doorways. He returned shortly, shaking his head.
“The other ways had two other skeleton rooms,” he looked up at Lauren smiling, “but I didn’t drip the blood over the balls,” he’d enjoyed mocking Snorri when they’d told that story to them. Snorri smiled, acknowledging his own blunder.
“But each of the far doors in those rooms,” continued Rydra, “couldn’t be opened. If I had to guess, I’d say that these center rooms shift around, while the sacrificial chamber is only accessible through whichever one is connected to it at the time,” he shrugged, “in any case, there’s nothing else that I can find. I think we’ve cleared this place out.”
“How come,” asked Wulfgar, “if there there was a lich, a lichling,” he nodded toward Bael, “that we didn’t see any Revenant? I thought they were used by the lich folk as their servants.”
“They are,” said the Aos Si, “but they’re only of value in collecting souls for the lich. They would be of no use here, only outside, bringing in new victims.”
“Do we need to get out of here? In case any of them return?” asked Lauren.
Bael shook his head, “I don’t think that should be a concern. I’m not a lore master, but I believe that all of the revenant created by the lichling were released upon its death. They should be now free, their souls and their bodies. To go wherever souls go.” He looked at his brother.
They climbed the stairs in silence, made their way through the long hallway and back into the living chamber. The sailor, now dressed, rose and greeted them. Noting their demeanor, he didn’t say anything, he just filed into the group as they all left through the front door of the Baen Si’s home.
The group exited back out onto the grass in front of the doorway. It was now day, a bright cheerful morning greeted them as they walked back down the hill toward the waiting skiff. They moved in silence toward the sloping promontory that stretched like an arm down and into the sea, Wulfgar looked down at the little Aos Si in his arms. He looked like he was asleep, and his weight barely registered in Wulfgar’s arms. He wondered at what Bael had said.
“Where do the souls go?” he thought. Are there even such things as souls? Did he, Wulfgar, posses a soul? Did he separate from that when he’d separated from his body? Did he ever have one to begin with? Did the AI have a soul? If asked, as recently as a week ago, he’d have laughed off the thought as absurd. Now, however, he wasn’t so sure. What made a person? What made a soul? If a computer could pass a Turing test - if it could convince humans of its humanity - what difference, at the point, did it make? Would an intelligence - artificial or not - care whether organically created creatures considered it as having a soul?
At some level, Wulfgar thought, each of us are responsible only for our own existence - whether you wanted to call that sentience, a soul, consciousness, or whatever - and nobody else’s definition or thoughts on our existence mattered.
At some level, he countered himself, everybody else’s definition was all that mattered.
Lauren nudged his arm. He looked up at her and she motioned her head toward the south. He looked and, high on a perch at the top of one of Baile’s seaside cliffs, the Baen Si stood, watching. Silently.
Chapter 7
Wulfgar pulled himself over the gunwale and onto the deck of the Piraeus, then turned and helped the rest of his friends onto the ship. As he fin
ished pulling aboard Snorri, the last one out of the skiff, he straightened and stretched his back and looked up to the little island of Ma’Keis. Standing, almost shimmering, in front of her door was the Baen Si, arms still wrapped around her chest, long white hair and cloak still blowing in the wind. She didn’t move, didn’t acknowledge Wulfgar’s glance, but he felt that she was looking at him. He held her gaze for a moment then turned and joined the rest of his friends around the captain.
“We’ll need,” began Bael, “to return my brother to his people. To his land.” He glanced to the humans, “And the king and queen will want to speak again with those they’ve become indebted to, as well.” He gave directions to the captain on where to make landfall on Baile, no more than a few hours sail away.
The captain nodded and began moving through the crew, shouting orders, preparing the ship for sale. As the adventurers moved to the forward deck, Wulfgar glanced up at the barrow - the Baen Si was gone.
“Congratulations! You have completed the quest Balancing Light and Dark I from the Rat King of Light!”
“Congratulations! You have completed the quest Balancing Dark and Wet II from the Rat King of Dark and the Rat King of Wet!”
“You have gained in reputation with the Rat folk. They are now in awe of you!”
“You have upheld your oath to the Rat folk! All of the people of the world now hold you in higher esteem! +1 Personality!”
“Congratulations! You have completed the quest Baen Si’s Wail I by the Faerie Queen!”
“You have gained in reputation with the Faerie! They now respect you!”
“Congratulations! You have gained a level! You are now level 3! You have 2 Skill points to spend!”
Wulfgar paused in mid-stride, overwhelmed by the information that flooded into his brain. He looked up to his friends, who had all begun smiling, and knew that they’d received similar messages as well. They continued walking toward the front of the ship, and Rydra patted Wulfgar on the back.
“Thanks for the invite,” he smiled, “that was fun.”
“Is that it?” asked Wulfgar, “Is it over?”
Rydra nodded, “Yeah, though we’ll want to visit the folks who gave us the quests, to see if there are any further rewards.”
“As to that,” interrupted Prince, producing a small bag, “The Rat Kings have authorized me to provide this upon successful completion, as well as the thanks of our peoples.” He handed Wulfgar the bag, then Prince went belowdecks, into the comfort of the cold, damp and dark.
Wulfgar tossed the bag into the air once, then pulled it open and poured the contents onto his hand.
Eight gold coins.
He began dividing it among the group, two coins each to Rydra, Snorri, Lauren and himself.
“Doesn’t seem like much,” muttered as he pushed his own coins into his pocket.
Lauren shrugged, “It’s about a month’s pay for your average NPC. Not too shabby for a couple of days adventuring.”
“And that’s just from the rat quests,” added Snorri, “the faerie quest was more difficult, higher level. I’m sure the king and queen will reward us handsomely.”
Wulfgar and his friends bowed in front of the king and queen of the Aos Si. The tiny regal pair lounged at the crest of a small hillock, shaded by a copse of oak, ash and thorn. A stone circle crowned the hill, each menhir straight and clean; though the monoliths together gave the impression of great age, like the prehistoric monuments of the British Isles, there was nothing run down or out of shape about them. The evening sun shone between two of the rocks to the west, casting a warm and comforting glow into the shadows thrown by the stones.
Wulfgar lay the body of Tane in front of the prince’s parents, then took a step back to join his friends.
The king nodded toward Wulfgar as the queen looked sadly at her son. “We thank you,” he said slowly as the pair rose and, holding hands, walked toward the body. Looking down, they spoke softly, unintelligible to the humans. A warm, golden glow surrounded Tane’s body and it seemed to meld into the ground beneath him. After a few moments, all that was left was a slight discoloration in the green grass.
“We thank you,” repeated the queen, “for returning our son to his home, and for returning our people to theirs.”
“As a measure of our gratitude, we would like to offer these small gifts,” he looked up at Lauren. “As a creator, an artisan, a profession we hold in high esteem, we would offer you this.”
He held out a small hammer, beautifully made, that shone of polished steel.
Lauren nodded her thanks and took the gift.
The king turned to Snorri, who bowed his head.
“As a warrior, a protector, and righter of wrongs, we would offer you this.”
He held out a pair of beautifully wrought gauntlets made of green steel, each finger seemed formed of overlapping, leaf shaped plates.
Snorri smiled and took the gloves.
The king turned to Rydra.
“As a thief, a finder of truths, we would offer you this.”
He gave Rydra what looked to Wulfgar like a small keyring.
Rydra smiled and accepted it.
He turned last to Wulfgar.
“As a rogue, a covert fighter in the darks rooms of evil, we would offer you this.”
He held out a pair of black leather shoes, heavy slippers, which Wulfgar took thankfully.
Wulfgar examined the shoes.
“Clandestine Slippers: Provides wearer level 7 Stealth. Does not stack with skill levels, but will stack with other Clandestine items. A full suit of Clandestine gear provides a +4 Stealth bonus in addition to the stacking effects. Rare. Item 3 of 4 for suit.”
He looked back up at the king, smiling.
Wulfgar leaned back against the ship’s rail and pulled off the shoes Lauren had picked out for him and pulled on his Clandestine Slippers. He looked to his character sheet and scrolled down until he could read the entry for Stealth.
Stealth (2+12).
He was, functionally, level 14 Stealth. In addition to the higher percentages for success in all conditions, that gave him one-hundred and forty seconds per use. Nearly two and a half minutes. He smiled and looked to Rydra.
“I almost feel bad about this,” he said, “I mean, I’ve got my Clandestine piece and your Clandestine piece and I’m at a higher level of Stealth than you are.”
Rydra just shook his head, “No matter. Even if you gave me my piece and your piece, I’d still only gain a level.” He shrugged, “Anyway, I’m not too far from gaining that level anyway. I think we’ll be tied soon and,” he chuckled, “when you gain up to level three, you’ll still only be at the same level you are now, since those items don’t stack with your skill.” He smiled broadly, “Don’t worry, newby, I’ll be ahead of you again soon.”
Wulfgar laughed and turned to Lauren.
“What did you get?”
She was sitting, out of her armor, cross-legged in the middle of the deck, admiring her new hammer. It looked like a very small sledge, about the size of a standard claw hammer. She held it up into the fading sunlight.
“It’s an imbuing hammer,” she said happily, “It adds ten levels to my imbuing skill!”
“Wow!” exclaimed Wulfgar, impressed, “That seems pretty powerful.”
She smiled, “It is, but it only works five times, then it’s just a regular, plain ol’ hammer.” She looked back down at it, “I was just wondering how to use it. I think I’m going to save it, and only try it for second imbuing.”
“What’s that?” asked Rydra.
“Well, you can imbue an item with special qualities and keep going, as long as you’re successful. Rather than use this on a first attempt, I’ll save it and try imbuing a second quality on an item that I’ve already been successful with once. Maybe I’ll be able to make some really kick ass items.” She looked up at Wulfgar and winked.
“The gloves?” asked Rydra, looking to Snorri.
“They kick some major a
ss,” the big man laughed, “In addition to the highest armor class rating, they give me the ability to use Faerie’s Kiss once per day. That gives me a minutes worth of that buff. Each target I hit in that minute gets stunned for the amount of damage times one point five seconds.”
“Wasn’t the buff we got like four and a half minutes?”
Rydra nodded, “Bael and Tane were probably using a higher level of that spell.”
Wulfgar nodded. “And what did you get?” he asked Rydra.
Rydra pulled out the little ring.
“A keyring,” he laughed, “for my lockpicking tools. It gives me plus five levels in my lockpicking skill.” He looked up and smiled, “And it stacks on my skill, so I’ll be using this thing forever.”
He leaned back against the railing with a happy sigh, “This, coupled with the bonus I got for upholding the oath to the Rat folk, augur a large increase in my wealth, I do believe.”
“What was that?” asked Wulfgar.
“Once per week, I can call on the Rat folk to lead me into a building in Edonis, otherwise bypassing the normal entry points.” He smiled, “I can literally get in almost anywhere, undetected and with this,” he held up the keyring, “I’ll be going through chests and store-rooms like crazy!”
“I didn’t get anything for the oath,” frowned Lauren.
“Me neither,” added Snorri.
“Those are the breaks,” shrugged Rydra, “sometimes you get a nice bonus, often-times you don’t get squat. But you always lose, and lose big, if you fail the quest.”
“How can you fail? You could just keep trying, right?”
The rest shook their heads, “Nope, if we’d have died in there,” Rydra pointed his thumb backward in the general direction of Ma’Keis, “the quest would have been over. A failure. And it was a damn close thing as it was. If we didn’t have the Aos Si along, I doubt we’d have succeeded.”