by M J Sweeney
“Sorry for the slur,” said Drognad, “I can’t always tell the difference between a high elf and a wood elf. No offense meant.”
“None taken,” I replied. I was betting most elves would be more sensitive than me about this.
“And I have to thank you for savin’ me bacon back there. It wouldna ended well if you hadn’t intervened.”
“No trouble.” I was surprised to hear a little ding from my interface—some kind of progress. I ignored it.
“And…” The gnome paused.
“Yes?” His eyebrows seemed to be inching up his forehead as he tried to explain.
“I’m not one for usually asking for favours…” He looked at me, expression deadly serious. Gnomes were a strange race, to my thinking. A bit odd looking, pebbly skin and all, very serious, and kind of distracting when they were just so… small.
“Yes?” I tried to keep all of that from my face.
“You see, it will take another two nights to get to Ell’Escow, so if you don’t mind doin’ a bit more protectin’ until then, I would be in your debt.” He was looking at his hands on the reins.
“Of course. No problem.” I just smiled and looked ahead, as it was good news for me.
He beamed up at me. I heard another ding from my interface. I wondered if I should have negotiated a fee. Nah, just wing it.
We spent the next couple of hours in relative silence while I accessed my interface and adjusted a few functions… and got a really sore ass. Oh, the bouncing!
My health, mana, and stamina bars I placed evenly at the middle of the bottom of my view, as they were mostly see-through. Interactions/icons went at the very top in the middle. Abilities were at the bottom right, movement icons on the bottom left, and map in the top right. The latter was showing only basic details of just a small piece of the total. Lastly, if I ever teamed up with anyone, their info (group stats) would go in the top left. That was about it for the beginning.
Then, I looked at my experience and skill progress. It had only been a short fight, but I was already two-thirds of the way to the next level. I checked the logs and saw that most of that had come from completing the quest.
/ Rescue Drognad the Merchant from Brigands / Completed
/ Escort Drognad the Merchant safely to Ell’Escow / 3 Days to Complete
I looked up my quarterstaff skill and saw it had progressed to skill level twenty-one (it had started at twenty). Similarly my unarmed combat and leather armour skills had also progressed by one point each. A few other skills, like woodland travel, sneak, and persuade had also gone up slightly. Most of the other skills either hadn’t increased, or were completely greyed out, I think that meant I didn’t have them yet.
I then began fiddling with the leather gear, adjusting straps and buckles, seeing if any of it could be fitted to my smaller frame. I managed to get the bracers and shoulder armour fitted, and with some socks I borrowed from Drognad, the smaller boots would do for now. But the leather greaves, leg guards, leather skull cap, and chest armour were not feasible.
That first evening, Drognad asked me to set up camp while he took care of the horse and wagon. I found what I thought was a suitable place, not too close to the forest, but well off the road, and began gathering wood for fire. The forest seemed to speak to me as I did this, whispering to me in a kindly-old-uncle sort of way. I hoped it didn’t get cranky when we lit the fire. I tried to send reassurances, but couldn’t tell if it had any effect.
When it came to lighting the fire, I realised I was out of luck, as there were no matches or kerosene and I had no flint and steel, nor any skill with rubbing two sticks together. I looked over at the gnome, who was now finished.
“Food? Fire?”
Drognad smiled a little. “Was curious what you were gonna try. Shall I do it?”
I nodded.
He strolled over to the pile of dead wood I’d stacked and muttered a small incantation. A candle-length of flame appeared at his fingertips, whereby he promptly set fire to the kindling.
“Easy as pie, no?” he said with a grin.
“Apparently.” I was impressed. And going by Drognad’s grin, that’s what he’d been aiming for.
“Mage?”
“Not really. Alchemist, actually, but I never had much talent.” He pointed at his red hair. “The carrot-top is the family emblem, so-to-speak; it’s where we get the talent for fire. It’s not that useful in a fight, other than trying to scare people off.”
“So not a mage, rather a merchant?”
He nodded.
The cooking and meal passed companionably while Drognad explained a bit of his business. “Ye see, not sure what yer know about gnomes, but we’re an organised lot. More organised than dwarfs, truth be told.” He looked at me, obviously wondering if I would argue. “So this here outfit,” he gestured at the wagon, “is stuff from me whole village. Some things are mine personally that I sell, but most of it’s from anyone who’s got anything of value they want ter trade. As I’m the designated village trader, I go out on missions like this, find appropriate markets, sell it all, trade for other stuff we might need, and return when I’m sold out. Y’see, I’m entrusted with all the gear, capital, and trading decisions—you name it.”
“So if the brigands had robbed you…” I trailed off expectantly.
“They would be robbing the whole village.” The gnome grimaced. “In some cases, death is considered preferable to returning with no gains for everyone. On the other hand, if he’d just taken me coins and left the rest, then I woulda just split the loss between all parties, and still been able to recoup from later trades.”
“But still a pain to lose your surplus, no?”
“Yes. Agreed.”
“But that would still be better than losing your life, no?”
“Yes, no doubt…” He trailed off, looking a bit glum.
“And the flame thing?”
“Me family name actually be Zahngoracksenn, and the zahn part is red in gnomish. We apparently have ties to Anguroch…” He shivered slightly as he said this. “… but no one likes to talk about that.” He peered up at me through his thick ginger eyebrows.
I didn’t comment. Anguroch was one of the Gods—another thing I would have to look up later.
“Anyway, as a result, me family have some affinity for magic, only not me. Not beyond the basics. I prefer bein’ out and about and makin’ profits.”
Once we bedded down under the lee of the wagon—Drognad pulled an awning from the roof of the wagon, which provided some cover—I opened my interface and set up a folder called “Notes.” I wrote: check elvish language, check coins, find supplier, find trainer, find armourer, find maps, find quests. I also wrote: research more on Gods—a gnomish one called Odgallum, another called Anguroch. Check statistic allocation and rates for gaining Health, Stamina, and Mana.
After that, I slept well despite the ground being hard. It was warm by the fire, and peaceful.
When I woke, I rolled up the bedding Drognad had provided. He still seemed to be asleep. It wasn’t quite dawn, so I quietly got up and moved back into the clearing, then began a warm-up routine to ease out my stiffness. I was at it for about forty minutes before the sun started to come up, lending a rosy glow to the clearing. I laughed to myself as I continued my exercises. It did look nice.
“Huang’s nuts, elf, that looks painful.” Drognad was squinting at me incredulously as I continued with some high kicks, stretching out my back and hamstrings. I was almost finished with my routine.
“Good morning!” I exclaimed. “Time for breakfast?”
“Gah. An elf doing ballet. And a happy elf at that. My world has turned to shit.” The gnome was clearly not a morning person. He grunted a few times as he got up, glaring at me intermittently. I finished with a little bit of a run around the clearing, wishing there was a nearby stream so I could wash off, but no luck. Just forest and the dirt-packed roadway.
He revived once he had made himself some kind of gnomish
tea, though he warned me off tasting it, saying it wasn’t for the faint-hearted.
The next two days passed quite pleasantly, with no particular challenges. The only troubling sound we heard was a pack of wolves in the distance on the second night, but none came close to us. I learned how to better set up camp with Drognad’s help, and even learned a few gnomish recipes. Turns out they loved spices—my insides were suffering and rebelling by the time we approached the town.
Chapter 2
Ell’Escow was not walled. Drognad told me few elven cities were. He also said despite it being a smaller town, this one also had patrols of high elf scouts and warriors, so they didn’t lack protection. As a smaller town, it also gave good prices for certain items, so he was keen to offload some of his gear. The place literally translated as “little hill” and had four entrances, one at each of the points of the compass. We approached from the west side, up a gradual incline. Here, the road had changed to flat, wide cobblestones, so the passage of the wagon was smoother and kinder on my backside.
We were stopped at the town entrance by two high elven guards wearing elven chainmail and carrying long swords and shields. They looked quite elegant and competent in their matching gear. They had their helmets off, which were attached to some kind of hook on the back of their armour.
I discovered I now spoke fluent elvish, Memory providing me with a seamless translation and pronunciation ability. “Greetings of the day, sir,” I said politely.
“Good morrow, dryad. The woods are calm today, no?” His tone was neutral, but his face seemed accepting. We were speaking ilya, or low-elvish, common to these parts. Only in the city, or amongst certain high elf nobles, was the alya tongue spoken. His voice was like a song, and rose and fell fluidly, mesmerising me for a moment. I tried to copy.
“Yes, indeed. The sun shines, the wind blows, and all is well.” I was making this shit up as I went along. “Can we enter?” I asked.
He gave me a look and glanced at the gnome. “Names?”
“Cordaen…” I hesitated. “…from the North-West.” I waved vaguely in that direction.
“Drognad Zahngoracksenn.”
The guard looked between us for a moment, then nodded at me.
“You will vouch for the sprite?” he asked.
I blinked a moment, wondering what that meant. “Certainly, he has my protection.”
The guard nodded in reply and waved us through.
Drognad looked at me strangely, then grinned as he clucked for the horse to move on.
“Oh, very good,” he said softly. “Normally, I have to pay the guards a per diem for the time I trade. And same for the quartermaster inside.” He rubbed his hands. “I guess you’ll want a cut for that?” He looked at me slyly as we passed into the town proper.
I chuckled and wriggled my booted feet at him. “Three pairs of socks a fair trade?” I asked. He’d already given me those on the first night.
He laughed unreservedly at that. “Master elf, you drive a hard bargain. But done! Accepted.”
The buildings were mostly stone and wood or a combination, simply designed. None of the architecture really stood out as “elvish,” as far as I could tell, although most of the doorways were carved with wooden designs of various types.
We wound around the side of the hill, which had a large manor perched at the summit, to a market by the north gate.
Drognad started to thank me again, clearly letting me go on my way, but I gestured at him to stop and pointed at the crates. “Where do you want them?”
He grinned at me. “Okay, okay. Didn’t want to keep you from… whatever you’re doing next. Thanks. One moment.”
Drognad had placed the wagon on a spare patch of earth not far from the gate, and so pulled out the awning and started unfolding a wooden table with hinges. It was a clever piece that started quite small and then unfolded to a respectable size. Despite this world being medieval, a typical fantasy setting, there were some modern-looking adaptations.
“All right, now that’s done, stack all the crates you find in the back to the side of the table here. I’ll unhitch the horse and take care of everything else. Just don’t drop any of the crates, no?”
I got to work. I had to place the crates on the back of the wagon first before I clambered down, then pick them up again and place them by the table. It was simple enough. After a little less than an hour, it was all done. There were a few rolled-up carpets and cloth sacks still inside, but I left those.
Drognad was chatting with an elf with a clipboard and a feather quill when I finished the last crate. The elf checked something on his list and the gnome handed over some coins. Probably a trade manager of some kind.
Drognad had set up a small placard hanging from the awning that read, “Zahn and Derge Merchant Goods—Gnomish and Dwarfish Ware.”
A lockable metal till with a chain attached connected to the wagon—to deter thieves, I would guess. The horse was loosely tied to the side of the wagon, minus its saddle and wagon harness, and now with a nosebag attached and happily munching. It was a placid beast, a solid kind of animal, but I hadn’t really gotten to know it that well. I gave it a pat on the neck anyway, but it just ignored me.
The elf walked off, nodding to me in passing.
“All right, all done?” the gnome asked.
“Yup.”
“Me thanks again. Ye did a fine job as guard and companion these last two days. If I had the option, I’d hire you fer the full trip to Geras Anandiel, but can’t really afford to. Though that’s not entirely the case, but the clan won’t allow it.” He sighed at that.
“Is that why you had no guards?” I asked.
“Yes, mostly. I mean, these roads are peaceful enough, and the roads from here to Geras are even better patrolled, but… you saw what happened. Trouble is always possible.”
“You can’t hire guards anyway?” I thought it would be a great way to see more of the world. The gnome wasn’t the most naturally engaging character, but he did warm up eventually.
“I could… but it would eat into me private funds. And what’s the point of that? Besides, the council would have a fit if I went against their wishes like that… no, no, best to just make the best of it. I’ll see if I can convince them for next season though.” He gestured at the stacked boxes and handed me a small pouch. “I decided this were yer share for guard duty, hazard pay, and fer goin’ above and beyond.”
I shook my head. “No, really, it’s all right.” I knew I wanted the coins, but I wanted his goodwill and friendship more. “I didn’t really do it for pay,” I added.
This time, he glared at me. “Y’all take the fee and y’all be grateful too! By Odgallum, what kind of gnome I be if I let yer give me free service. Gah! Free! That’s for pixies ‘n sprites, not fer gnomes!” He thumped his chest. “Gnomes abide by the law and we uphold our contracts. Always! Now take the damn pouch.”
That was the longest speech the little guy had given yet; he was also glaring fiercely, his orange brows beetled together. “All right, I’m grateful. I am short of coin.” I took the pouch, which clinked satisfyingly.
“Thought as much.” His gaze softened. I heard a ding from my interface, followed by a series of horns and trumpets in fanfare. Although it was soft in the background, it sounded like the heavenly host was arriving. I tried to ignore the distracting sound.
“So, what’s next for you?” he asked.
“I’d like some advice…” The gnome nodded at my words. “Is there someone here you’d recommend for travel food and general goods, like backpacks, camping gear, flint, and whatnot? Is there an armourer or smith or weapon-maker here? Oh, plus any weapons-trainers? And last question: is there a church or place of worship where I can ask about deities?”
“All right, for the first, best to try the general goods store around by the east gate. There’s the town smith right beside that. For trainers, I don’t rightly know. Perhaps ask the smith. Oh, and given yer cooking skill, or lack of it, I’d
recommend finding someone to teach yer some travel recipes. For the church, there’s a set of small shrines up by the manor and a caretaker and priest by the grove beside it. That it?”
“Thanks for your help, Drognad, you’ve been a godsend.”
He frowned a little at the expression, but then did a short bow, so I bowed in return. “I’m off.”
I went to the back of the wagon first and collected the two weapons I’d appropriated. There were a few elves walking about on their errands; most were simply dressed in cotton, wool, or leather, with forest colours of brown and green, and some white and black.
Walking slowly, I could access my inventory screen and not inadvertently bump in to anyone. I was level 2 and halfway to level 3! Some of my stats had increased, and I applied my one spare attribute point to vitality. As I did that, I realised my mistake. Suddenly I couldn’t walk, or even stand straight. My body was changing, and… growing? Not so much up, but inwardly. I fell over, kicking at the dirt on the roadway. My lungs were expanding somehow, even though I had trouble breathing—gasping like a fish, rather. The best part was the way my muscles started to feel stronger, and the earth under my body more solid somehow.
Not a few elves had stopped their walking, and were now staring. As the worst of it seemed to have finished, I quickly got myself together, sat, then stood up and dusted myself off. I tried to look as though nothing had happened. More than a bit embarrassed, I continued on my way and accessed the interface again. I felt good now, but I’d have to do that in private next time, or at least sitting down.
I wouldn’t get any new abilities until level 5, but at this rate, it shouldn’t take long. My skills with athletics, persuasion, wagoneering, and camping had all increased a little.
/ Cordaen Sequoia / Level 2 Warrior-Priest /
STR 20
INT 22
AGI 21
VIT 20
CHA 18
LCK 13
Health: 560 (+40%)
Mana: 506 (+15%)