by Aleron Kong
Richter resisted the temptation of laying down again, even though that was exactly what he wanted to do. He had been going nonstop since leaving the dungeon to unlock his Life mastery. It hadn’t been a ridiculous amount of hours, but it also hadn’t exactly been a low stress environment. It wasn’t a shock that he had slept, but it also wasn’t excusable. If it wasn’t for Alma, that kobold could have sunk a spear into his neck and twisted. Major arteries would have almost definitely been severed and Richter wasn’t in a rush to die again.
So this time he stood in the central aisle and drew his short sword. He cast Far Light, dismissing Night Vision, and then started going through the sword forms he had learned from Yoshi. Some didn’t seem to quite work using a short sword rather than his old high steel longsword, but it was good practice nonetheless. To keep time, he sang songs under his breath. He started with Dave Matthews “Crash Into Me,” 5 minutes and 14 seconds, then he went into “Nosering Girl” by Nerfherder, 4 minutes and 4 seconds. After that he decided it was time for a little “The Creator” by Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth, 3 minutes and 49 seconds. And so it went. Practice, sing, renew the light, repeat. He was about to get down with Beyonce and all his single ladies, when he realized more than thirty minutes had gone by.
He stopped his sword form practice. A light sheen of sweat covered his body as he walked over to the charmed kobold. Sheets and sheets of paper had been filled, and the kobold still wasn’t done. Daunted by what he was seeing, Richter stopped Tri’yerin and asked him how all the pictures fit together. The kobold started yipping to explain how each paper led to the next, but Richter was getting confused. He ordered the creature to arrange all of the papers on an open section of the floor.
When Tri’yerin was done, a rat’s nest of interweaving tunnels was laid before him. The kobold had arranged it in three different patches that reflected different elevations of tunnels. The sheer complexity of the system made Richter’s head hurt. He didn’t see the kobold’s home though. When asked, the cognizant reptile replied that he hadn’t gotten to that part of the map yet.
“How much more could there possibly be?” Richter asked incredulous. Was the kobold resisting the spell somehow? Maybe being intentionally unhelpful?
“Oh this is only a small part, master. No more than a few miles.” Richter looked back at the picture of spaghetti in front of him in shock.
“So where would your city be then,” Richter asked.
Tri’yerin thought about it a second, then walked two feet past the edge of the middle elevation patch of map and said, “Here.”
Richter realized there was ABSOLUTELY no way he could have found his way through the tunnels without this map. And the amount of traps was mind numbing. Though, terrifying might have been a better word.
“Just draw me the way to the city,” Richter said. He started silently counting. He couldn’t have much time left on the spell that kept Tri’yerin pliable. When he reached ten minutes, he told Alma to be ready, and cast Charm a fourth time. Though there was still some time left on the last iteration of the spell, this cast made the kobold immediately growl. He sprung at Richter, small claws outstretched. The enraged reptile didn’t make it more than a foot. Once again, Alma had been hovering and ready. She dive bombed and latched onto him. Her level four Brain Drain immediately incapacitated the kobold. This time Richter didn’t stop her.
He thought about the person he was becoming. Not too long ago, he had been studying to be a doctor. Now, in just the past few hours, he had killed a sentient being. Immediately after that, Richter had coerced the dead kobold’s brother to betray the rest of their people. And what did he do for an encore, after that? Richter killed the kobold he had enslaved once the creature had outlived his usefulness. As he watched Alma feed, he wondered if he was going down the wrong path…
Then he put it out of his mind. The Land was his world now. A world of wonder and magic, but also a world of violence. He would do what he had to do. Richter realized that was the answer to his question he had been asking himself. Who was he becoming? He was becoming a man who would not shy from difficult or unpleasant tasks. He was becoming a leader.
Before long, Alma was done, and he had a new prompt.
You have been award 1,686 (base 33,716 x 0.04 x 1.25) experience from Brain Drain against Level 6 Kobold.
After dismissing the prompt, Richter walked over to the map which now included the location of the city and the route to reach it through the tunnels.
You have found a new map. Would you like to add it to your Traveler’s Map? Yes or No?
Richter choose ‘Yes’ and then accessed his Map. The flat representation became three dimensional in his mind’s eye. He realized he was putting a lot of faith both in the kobold’s artistry and memory, assuming that Tri’yerin had told the truth at all. Either way, he was much better prepared than he had been before.
Richter looked around, making sure nothing was out of place. He didn’t see anything that should betray the fact that he had invaded this section of the kobold’s domain. Then he picked up the bodies of both of reptilians and started walking up the stairs.
CHAPTER 6
Once again, Richter had to deal with the prompts asking if he wanted to cross back up to the village, but after that, he was on his way. The bodies of his two slain enemies were not very heavy. Their combined weight was only a fraction of what he could lift if he pushed himself. The bodies weighed on him in other ways, however. Richter wished he could say that he brought the kobold’s bodies along out of a sense of honor, or to bury them, but his reasons were completely pragmatic.
One, he couldn’t leave evidence that the other kobolds could find. If they found the bodies, then Richter might walk back into an ambush the next time he came down in the Depths. Two, if the bodies weren’t found, they would start to decompose. That would cause a horrible smell and also could lead to disease. Three… the kobold’s eyes glowed like useful herbs after they had died. He didn’t get a prompt for some reason, maybe because he hadn’t removed them from the body yet. He hadn’t received a prompt for the crypt mistress’s ichor until it had pooled outside of her body. He wouldn’t turn down a resource, but he just couldn’t bring himself to carve up a dead body in the middle of an old church. It would have felt like a desecration. He had never been a Bible beater, but he still had limits on what he would do.
His trip back up the stairs was safe but monotonous. He took the stairs two at a time until his endurance ran out, then he walked for a bit. Once it refilled most of the way, he would run again. Even with this pattern it took over two hours to get back to the Great Seal. One unwelcome surprise on the ascent was when the bowels of one of the kobolds loosed on him, running down his front. It was irritating but he supposed it just meant another bath later.
When he walked out over the Great Seal, he felt like there should be some type of fanfare after having fought and killed two enemies. There was nothing of the sort, however. The room was empty. He was still tired even after his cat nap, but he couldn’t rest yet. Before anything else he had to do something with these bodies.
Richter walked down the hall and into the outside. The sun was getting closer to the horizon and the shadows were stretching long. He could see that people were moving slower and taking the time to discuss the vagaries of their days. Food was being prepared outside of the new longhouse, and a rumble in his belly reminded Richter that he had not eaten since the morning. He planned to join his people soon for dinner, but was glad no one had seen him carrying these bodies, especially the children.
He moved quickly down the hill and walked over to where the hunters dressed their kills every day. Alma flew ahead, being hungry herself. When Richter reached his destination a few minutes later, he was pleased to see that a hunter had already cut off a piece of raw meat and fed it to the dragonling. The tenseness of the hunters first meeting with Alma had apparently faded into the rear view, and they even joked at watching her tear into the meat. Richter heard one man call
her, ‘the vicious hunter,’ earning a few laughs.
The levity died when Richter walked up.
“Are those kobolds, my Lord?”
“Yes,” Richter answered, unshouldering his load. “I need to examine their bodies, and I assumed you all wouldn’t be squeamish.”
“That won’t be a problem, Lord Richter,” another hunter assured him, “but where did you find them. Kobolds are almost never seen in the light of day, and I didn’t know we had found any nearby ruins. Is there a camp of them that we need to clear out?”
Richter looked at the man, somewhat surprised at the easy assumption that any population of these creatures would need to be exterminated. It just further underlined the easy acceptance of harsh realities that was shared by denizens of The Land. “I went into a lower level of the catacombs,” he assured them. “The kobolds won’t be able to follow us here.”
The hunter nodded, but didn’t totally relax. “Just because they can’t follow you the way you came doesn’t mean they can’t find another way to strike at us. Especially if that iron mine connects in some way to their tunnels. I was about to go break my fast. I’ll warn the miners and other villagers to be vigilant if that is okay with your Lordship.”
Richter nodded and thanked the man. It honestly hadn’t occurred to him that the kobolds might burrow to the surface, but he supposed it should have when he saw the prodigious amount of tunnels they had made. He borrowed a skinning knife from another hunter, and got to work.
First, he removed the eyes.
You have found: Tri Caste Kobold Eye. You have a feeling this could be used to make a dark vision potion. It could also be a component of a Strength damaging poison. It might be possible to use this as a component in trap detection spectacles.
He proceeded to examine the rest of the kobold’s body. He didn’t find anything else useful, until he saw a fleshy mass near the tail.
You have found: Kobold worker scent gland. This pungent gland exudes the classic odor of the kobold. It can be used to drive away certain predators or as the component of a stink trap. Concentrating the extract can make a solution to induce bloody vomiting.
Richter could well believe the prompt. The wet dog stench that he had smelled before was magnified twenty fold. Afraid that the odor was sinking into his skin, he quickly closed the body cavity that had hid the gland. Then he dragged the kobold over to the pit where the hunters discarded the offal from their kills. After he threw it in, he was dismayed that the smell hadn’t abated.
A green cloud icon in the corner of his vision informed him that smell was coming from him.
You smell quite horribly. The oils from the kobold’s scent gland have gotten onto your hands. -5 to Charisma until this is corrected.
The other hunters had wrinkled their noses at the stench and were actively trying not to laugh at seeing their Lord’s plight. One took pity on Richter and tossed him a block of lye soap and pointed to a trough of water. Richter immediately began shucking his armor and started scrubbing vigorously. The cold water didn’t seem up to the task so he cast Flame. Fire shot directly into the trough from his hand. Some water was converted to steam, but the rest just grew to a pleasant temperature. After that he started washing in earnest. The lye was horribly strong and started burning his skin almost immediately. The fumes from the hot water also made his eyes and throat burn as well. After ten minutes though, his hands were totally chaffed and the smell icon was thankfully gone. While he was at it, he cleaned the bodily waste from his armor that the dead kobold had excreted.
The hunters cheered him for vanquishing the stink monster. Richter treated them to a sour expression and then went back to the other kobold. He quickly removed its eyes. All four went into his bag and then threw the body down the pit.
Putting the entire distasteful affair behind him, Richter went to join his people.
CHAPTER 7
Richter was greeted with smiles and warm greetings when he walked inside of the longhouse. The building served a dual function of meeting place and rest area. He took a wooden bowl of deer stew from the villagers cooking outside, and then walked around. He tried to engage most of his villagers as he ate. Though he didn’t have any long conversations, everyone seemed to appreciate the effort he was making to connect. One thing he noticed as he did his rounds, was that there were small pockets of people who were quieter and somewhat withdrawn. Richter saw the three villagers who had been talking outside of the Forge earlier among those groups.
The room was lit with strategically placed torches. Each bracket in the wall was placed beneath a cleverly constructed air vent that pulled most of the smoke from the room. The floor was wooden, and straw was spread around. Someone had found a fragrant plant to throw into the fireplaces at either end of the room, filling the building with a pleasant scent.
One of the elves produced a lute and lightly plucked it in one corner, the music blending with the villagers’ happy voices in a comforting cacophony. Richter pulled Randolphus aside and told him about what had happened in the catacombs. The chamberlain documented everything, always hungry for more information. When Richter asked if the female prisoner had been fed and taken care of, Randolphus assured him that he would ensure it. Enjoying the good times and improving food, Richter had started feeling bad about keeping the young woman prisoner. She had already been poorly used by fate, which made him feel sympathy, but he still didn’t feel bad enough to underestimate her.
He planned to have her sent back on the ship as soon as it returned with Basil. Sending her home alone through dangerous countryside just didn’t seem right, but he also couldn’t spare anyone to escort her. The ship was the best option he could come up with to deal with her. When he thought of the mercenary prisoner though, his eyes hardened for a moment. Richter would deal with that man in the morning and it wouldn’t be pleasant.
A quick movement at the edge of his vision snapped Richter out of his dark thoughts. Alma was swooping through the air, catching morsels of food the children threw up to her. Greedy glut, Richter thought with a smile. She kept up the game until she had eaten her fill and then perched up on one of the rafters. Her belly was distended and a self-satisfied grin rested on her draconoid face.
Richter also pulled Beyan to the side and handed over the kobold eyes as well as one of the vials of ichor from the crypt mistress. He asked the gnome if he could make something out of them. Beyan smiled for the first time that Richter could remember. The smile was directed at the four gooey spheres and the vial in his hands, and not at Richter, of course. Beyan said it was a shame that he had not been able to grab the scent glands as well. Richter’s face adopted a pained expression and he admitted that he had found the scent gland, but that he’d thrown it down the hunters’ pit. Before the words were even fully out of his mouth, the alchemist was running from the building to collect them. Richter looked after him with an expression of open mouthed shock. Little freak, he thought, then he realized Beyan hadn’t ever actually said what potions he could make.
After about an hour, Richter stood up on a stool, Futen hovering behind him. Randolphus called for quiet.
“Is everybody having a good time tonight?” Richter shouted with one hand cupped to his ear.
“Yes!”
“We are!”
“Gnomes rule!”
Richter looked out over the crowd, but still didn’t see who was saying that last bit! Shaking his head, he continued, “Well I wanted to say that I am delighted about all of the great work ya’ll have put into the village while I was gone!” There was a cheer in response to his words. “Everyone’s wage this month will include an extra silver.” Now THAT got a loud cheer! Richter laughed and waved them to be quiet again. He smiled at seeing his people so happy and scanned the crowd. Then he made eye contact with a woman. The same woman he had held weeks ago after the bugbear attack. The same day that she had lost her daughter.
He spoke again, with a more serious tone, “Yes, I am proud of all of you and proud to be
a part of this community. Our future is bright, but we must not forget those that we have lost. We must always remember the sacrifices that have been made. We must learn,” he made eye contact with the woman again, “from our past mistakes so that we may better safeguard the future. Most of all, we must never forget the ones that we have lost. Everyone please come with me.”
Richter got down from his perch and started walking outside. At his command, Futen put out a bright light to illuminate the twilight cloaked village. At an easy pace, he led all of his villagers to the meadow north of the village. Climbing the slope, he waited at the top for some of the older villagers who had trouble making the ascent and then kept walking. The villagers walked past the herb garden and moved past the Quickening, finally arriving in front of the tarp covered section of cliff face. Outside of Richter, Randolphus, and Gloran, only one of the stone masons knew what was underneath. Richter turned to face his people who were looking at him with curiosity.
“We must never forget those that have fallen. As long as this mountain stands, we never will.”
He pulled on a cord attached to the tarp, revealing what was underneath.
A square plaque had been carved out of the mountain, raised several inches from the rest of the cliff face. It was seven feet tall and ten feet wide. Inscribed on the plaque were the names of each of the twenty-one villagers who had died in the bugbear attack and the names of each of the sprites who had died defending the village. Randolphus had spoken to the villagers and Hisako and found a fact about each of the fallen. Under each name was a detail written in the Common tongue.