“Really?” Christopher murmured.
“Indeed! It was shameful!” Maxina spread her hands wide. They were white and plump and each finger had at least one ring on it. “But now you get what you pay for. You want to poison that annoying old man down the road? I have that! You want to make that blasted woman next door believe you’re scintillating? I have that! You want to heal the gash from a Death’s Head Spider’s fangs? Not only do I have that, but I have the antidote to their poison!”
Luke’s eyes had widened a little bit at her suggestion of poisoning people and stealing people’s affections, but clearly she knew what she was doing in terms of the potion trade. Christopher seemed completely unfazed for once by any of the nefarious things she had suggested. Instead, he just seemed amazed by it all.
“I don’t suppose you have recipes for health and mana potions, do you?” Christopher asked her almost tentatively.
“I do! But I don’t just hand those out to anyone, you know.” She leaned forward almost conspiratorially as she said this. “While you seem like the right sort to trust with such a thing, I’m afraid you’ll have to prove your worth.”
“Of course!” Christopher immediately agreed with her even as Cassie’s mouth opened, likely to give Maxina a piece of her mind. “Potions are powerful things. To create one that can restore health or magic is the result of years, decades, centuries of research! You can’t just hand them over!”
Cassie said out of the side of her mouth to Luke, “Or took the developers like two seconds to code it.”
Luke smirked. But neither Christopher nor Maxina heard her, or they pretended not to, anyways.
“I truly fathom the responsibility of such things. Though I am just a beginner, I do wish to prove myself worthy of your trust,” Christopher practically simpered.
Mack sighed loudly, and shook his head.
“I’m glad you understand my position.” Maxina placed one of those plump hands over her ample bosom that rose and fell with seeming emotion. “Because potions are the key to getting ahead in this world.”
“Bashing heads with an axe does that just as well,” Mack pointed out. “Am I right, Luke?”
Luke just smiled. Alicia had wandered over to the far wall and took down a dark green bottle with smoke in it. Before anyone could say anything, she had uncorked it. Immediately, black smoke escaped from the bottle and started to encircle her head. She batted at it as if smoke could be harmed by claws.
“Alicia!” Luke cried.
He ignited one of his hands with Firestream, but hesitated. He would more likely hit her than the smoke. And what good would fire do against smoke? He did recall that some smoke was actually flammable, but who knew if this kind was or what it would do to Alicia if attacked.
“Don’t you be using fire in here, young man!” Maxina warned Luke. “Unless you want there to be a crater where the Silver Winds currently stands!”
Luke grimaced, and doused his fire. He didn’t have to worry for long about Alicia though. Maxina moved with surprising speed for someone as big as she was. She hopped off her stool, and scuttled around to their side of the counter. She grabbed the bottle from Alicia’s clawed hands and said something in a singsong language that Luke could not understand, but the smoke evidently did, because it slunk back into the bottle. She put the cork on, and hit it with the palm of her hand to make sure that it was solidly in place. She then wagged a finger at Alicia, which Luke had to give her credit for. Because she just a little over half of Alicia’s height, and one did not wag a finger at an orc.
“These are not for touching by the uninitiated in the great and terrible art of alchemy! Your whole face could have been burned off if you’d been unlucky,” she lectured Alicia.
Alicia wiped her face with the back of one hand and growled, “Why would you keep something that could burn a person’s face off in the open?”
Maxina did not answer at first as she went over to the shelf and replaced the bottle where Alicia had taken it from. She had to get up on her tiptoes to reach it, because she wasn’t more than five feet tall. Finally, once the bottle was securely in its spot, she retorted, “Because most people have the sense not to open a bottle filled with a substance that is unknown to them in an alchemist shop!”
Mack suppressed a laugh, but Alicia heard him and gave him a dark look. Mack then put his hands behind his back, and began to whistle loudly and unconvincingly, as if he’d been doing nothing wrong whatsoever, let alone making fun of her.
Cassie went over to the counter as soon as Maxina had fluttered behind it again. “So what do you need us to do in order to get those recipes from you?”
“I need you to get me a very rare ingredient,” she said, her voice dropping an octave as if she feared anyone else hearing her request, even though they were the only people in the store.
“So what is it?” Cassie asked. “And what will we have to do to get it? I’m guessing there’s something nasty waiting for us that’s guarding it. Or maybe it is something nasty.”
“It’s not nasty. It’s a simple mushroom. A rather lovely one that’s a dark brown on top with cream underneath. It’s in a cave,” Maxina answered her.
“It’s always in a cave or in a tomb or at the end of some spooky road,” Mack chuckled.
“I need it for a sleeping draught for poor old Lalob down the road. Can’t sleep a wink these days. The only difficulty for me is that it’s far away from Lethbridge, and I can’t leave the shop for that long. The whole place here would be killed by the plague if I left for even a few hours.”
Luke wondered if the plague really was lurking in the shadows, waiting for the woman to leave, before it struck. He doubted it, but it made for a good reason to send them after the mushroom rather than to go herself.
“How is getting this mushroom in a cave going to show you that my brother is worthy of these potion recipes? Surely, his worshipful attitude has already proven that,” Cassie pointed out.
Maxina looked between Cassie’s wood elf character and Christopher’s high elf one. “You’re… related?”
“It is a complicated genealogy,” Christopher said while giving his sister a suppressive look. “We are more than happy to get you the mushroom for poor Lalob’s sleep potion.”
“Speak for yourself,” Alicia muttered as she crossed her arms over her chest.
“I do so appreciate it.” Maxina smiled broadly at Christopher.
“But what’s the catch? There must be a catch,” Cassie pressed.
Maxina tapped her chin. “Well, there might be something in the cave. You know how creatures are. They must find a place to bed down. I would imagine that in this particular cave there might be something living there as well as the mushrooms.”
“HA! I knew it!” Cassie poked her brother’s side. “She’s sending us to our potential deaths for her mushrooms.”
Christopher narrowed his eyes at her. “She doesn’t know there is a creature inside. Only that there might be. And it could be a nice creature.”
“Nice?” Mack guffawed, which got him a sniff in response.
“Don’t listen to them, dear. Only someone truly devoted to learning the craft of alchemy would be so open to my request.” Maxina patted Christopher’s hand. It was evidently them against the world.
Luke’s HUD informed him that they had a new quest. It was: Locate the butterfly wing mushrooms in the cave! And it also informed him that there was a new location marked on this map. Likely that was the cave.
“How will we know which mushroom we should pick for you?” Christopher asked.
Maxina held up a finger and said, “Very good question! Let me show you what it looks like.”
She then dropped out of sight as she rummaged beneath the counter. She brought out a huge book that was covered in a thick layer of dust. She blew it off and dust puffed up into the air. This had Luke sneezing. Alicia let out a low growl as she, too, had a suspicious nose twitch. But Maxina paid them no attention once more. She only had
eyes and ears for Christopher, evidently.
She flipped the book open, which was so heavy that it thumped against the top of the counter as she spread it wide. She paged through it until she stopped somewhere in the middle of the tome. With a sound of satisfaction, she turned the large book around so that Christopher could see an illustration of the mushroom.
“So you think you can remember that?” she asked.
“Indeed, I have a nearly photographic memory,” Christopher informed her. The fact that they likely didn’t have cameras in Neverfall evidently hadn’t occurred to him, but Maxina just nodded, understanding the phrase.
“Well, it feels like this was fate,” she said as she closed the book. “To find another as interested in the mysteries of brewing in this little town as myself. I never thought I’d see the day.”
“Do you do any training?” Christopher asked eagerly.
“I do not, but I do know of someone who might train you in Renogath. But you have to improve your skills before you approach her. She has a wicked tongue,” Maxina warned. “But help me with my work and your skills will improve a hundred times over. Now, would you like to see any of my wares?”
Christopher answered for them. “I am afraid we are light on coin. We need to go battle for money.”
She brightened again. “If it is extra coin you need, then I have several other herbs and ingredients you might encounter on your explorations around Lethbridge.”
Luke’s HUD lit up once more: Find Maxina the following ingredients for coin: luxora, mandeep, salvia pescia, and raddin!
“Thank you so much for the work, Maxina!” Christopher beamed. “We so appreciate it!”
“I think if you head over to Esme’s Goods & Barter, Edmund might have some tasks you can do for him for coin. He mentioned something to me about a lost shipment of goods,” Maxina offered.
Luke’s HUD informed him of yet another quest: Speak to Edmund at Esme’s Goods & Barter about the lost shipment!
“I guess we’ll be heading to Esme’s,” Luke said, grateful at the thought of going outside and into the cleaner air.
“Good luck to you all! And bring me back those mushrooms so poor Lalob can sleep!” Maxina waved after them as they filed out of Silver Winds.
Luke took grateful gulps of fresh air the moment he stepped out of the shop. He suspected, though, that he would smell of the shop for some time to come. Mack suddenly grabbed his arm and started to pull him towards the item shop, which was right next door.
In explanation, his friend said, “I’m eager to get that axe from Denarius’ forge. But best to get all of the quests in town now before we head out.”
“Maybe there’s some rations that we can get from Esme’s to deal with the hunger and thirst aspect, too. We can’t be heading back to the inn every time we’re hungry,” Luke said as he realized their large breakfasts likely wouldn’t last as long as he hoped.
“Nah, no need. The staff already gave me packets of jerky, loaves of bread, hunks of cheese, and skins of water. I’ve got them in my pouch.” Mack patted the magically small pouch at his waist.
“Well done, Mack!” Luke grinned.
Mack pinked with pleasure. “Don’t you worry, Luke. I’ve got us covered.”
The two of them entered then entered the shop first with the others closely on their heels. Like Silver Winds and Taig’s Forge, in Esme’s there was a counter along the far wall where an elderly man was standing. He was filling cloth bags with beans. He had wire-rimmed glasses. When he glanced up at them, the light from the windows and the candles in the room reflected off of the glass so they could not see his eyes. He was dressed in plain, but neat clothes and reminded Luke of a dry goods salesman from old Sears catalogues.
“Can I help you?” the old man asked.
“Are you Edmund?” Mack asked back.
“Yes, indeed,” he answered. “What can I do for you?”
“It’s actually what we might be able to do for you,” Luke said as he approached the counter with an easy smile on his face. “We heard from Maxina that you were expecting a shipment and it didn’t arrive?”
Edmund nodded slowly. “I was expecting a wagon-load of goods to come from the capital city earlier this week, but it hasn’t arrived and I’m afraid that something has happened to it. Even the main road between Lethbridge and Renogath has become dangerous as of late. There are few people like yourselves to kill the monsters and take care of the bandits. The king and queen’s guards don’t stray from the city. We’re all on our own, or so it seems.”
“We’re looking for paid work. If you’re willing to give us a fair wage, we will find out what happened to that load of goods for you,” Luke told him.
“Trade’s not been so brisk as it once was, but I can’t afford to lose those goods. I already paid for them. But I suppose I have no other choice than to pay to have someone retrieve them,” Edmund said with a sigh. “Can’t expect you to work for free, I suppose.”
“Things are tough for adventurers too,” Cassie told him with a bright smile. “We can’t even afford to get our armor upgraded or pick up a crossbow. So, I’m afraid we really do need coin.”
Edmund again made one of those slow nods. “I’m willing to pay you five gold pieces if you can locate my goods and return them to me.”
Mack let out whistle. “Five gold pieces? That sounds--”
But Luke held up a hand to silence him. “I’m sure you stand to make a lot more on those goods than five gold pieces, at the end. How about 10?”
“Perhaps I’ll go look for them myself,” Edmund said with a purse of his lips.
Luke willed a thread of Persuasion to enter his voice. “You’re a shopkeeper, Edmund, not a warrior or a mage. You should leave the retrieval of your goods to people who know what they’re doing. Like us. And, before you say you’ll get a better deal with someone else, it seems to me that we’re the only adventurers in town.”
Edmund sighed. “Perhaps you’re right at that. It cuts into my profits dearly, but some profit is better than none. I’ll give you eight gold pieces and not a copper more! It truly is as much as I can give without losing money on the whole deal.”
Luke smiled and held out his hand, which Edmund took and they shook. “It’s a deal.”
His HUD informed him that he had Persuaded Edmund and increased the reward for completing the updated quest: Locate and retrieve Edmund’s goods. The HUD also informed him that another location had been added to his Map.
They did not bother looking at what Edmund had for sale in the shop as it mostly looked to be dried goods for cooking. Later, when they were going to be questing away from Lethbridge they might need such staples, but the food and drink they’d gotten from the inn would be more than enough for their day trip. The survival aspect of Neverfall would have really intrigued him if he were just gaming, but now, with their need to build up their characters it was an added complication that they did not need right there and then.
They headed out of the store and as soon as the door closed behind them, Mack clapped his back and said, “I didn’t know you could do that! You charmed him!”
“It’s part of the Persuasion Perk. I figured that I might be able to get us some more money like Geralt does in The Witcher series. I was right! I suppose there might be a manual or something through the Help commands, but things seem to be pretty intuitive.”
“For sure!” Mack agreed.
“That Perk will seriously help us out later on in knocking down prices when we actually have enough gold to be taken seriously,” Cassie remarked.
Luke nodded. He didn’t remind her of how his father had used the Perk to nearly lure him into his clutches. That was the darker side of Persuasion.
“So where should we go first, guys?” Luke asked them.
“I vote we make our way towards Denarius’ forge,” Mack said as he rubbed his hands together in expectation of getting them on the magical axe.
Christopher frowned. “Lalob needs that sle
eping potion. He’s an old man who requires rest. We should do that first and get the recipes for the health and mana potions. We’re dangerously low on those as it is, and it will take time to locate ingredients and brew them, I’m sure.”
Cassie shook her head. “I think we should head towards the main road between Renogath and Lethbridge to find that lost shipment. We need the coin.”
“We have three other quests as well,” Alicia said as she scanned her own quest log. “Go Investigate the Keep, Talk to Mary Winslow and Go to the Graveyard.”
“No!” The word exploded from Luke’s lips. Sweat coated his face. The dream where everyone’s soul was sucked out of their bodies was full front and center of his mind. Everyone stared at him. “I mean… we aren’t anywhere near strong enough for those. They involve Tethic Bonecall at the keep. We need to stay away from there until we’re overpowered.”
“Okay, I guess that makes sense,” Cassie said after the silence had stretched out too long.
Alicia’s gaze was hard. Luke ignored her. His chest felt like it was in a vise. Again and again, his friends’ empty bodies appeared before his eyes. He would not allow that to happen. He would do anything to stop that from happening again. His father would not win. He would be able to keep them safe without his help.
“So what do you think we should start with first, Luke?” Mack asked.
“Whatever is closest. We should make our way as efficiently as possible, grinding as we go, and trying to pick up as much loot as we can. We should make sure that we exhaust the Itaerian map,” Luke suggested.
“All of the locations are beyond the forest,” Christopher said helpfully as he stared at his Map. “So we’ll have plenty of chances to--to take the lives of innocent creatures to level up. And we might check out that glowing path. I am certain that it will lead to something wonderful. Where you will kill more things.”
“I love the smell of death in the morning!” Mack laughed.
Luke also remembered that path. There was so much to explore and, suddenly, he couldn’t wait to get started. Alicia must have felt the same way.
Neverfall: The Dark Path (Book 2): A Gamelit Lit RPG Series Page 7