by Aleron Kong
A prompt filled Richter’s vision.
You have been made aware of and completed a Secret Quest: Unity of the Sorat’Shin I! Your strong bond with Hisako, the leader of the wood sprites of the Hearth Tree, has convinced her to share a secret knowledge with you. The loss of pixies in The Land was a tragedy for all forces of good, but especially for the sprites. Without the race that helped guide their destiny, the sprites had fractured into disparate peoples. By bringing pixies back to The Land, you have completed the first step in bringing back the Sorat’Shin!
Reward: A boon from Hisako!
Reward: +10 skill levels to Imbue Arrow!
Know This! A dramatic increase in your subskill, Imbue Arrow, has caused an increase in the main skill! +6 skill levels to Archery!
Reward: 31,250 experience (base 50,000 x 1.25 x 0.5)
Reward: + 1000 Relationship Points with all sprite races that have been linked with their meitu’meidon. Current bonus in relationship, applies to Wood sprites and Forest Sprites.
You have unlocked a Secret Quest: Unity of the Sorat’Shin II. Continue to unite pixie and sprite meitu’meidon to help bring about the reemergence of the sorat’shin! Help five different races of sprites create meidons to fulfill this quest. Current count: 2 of 5. Reward: Unknown. Fail Conditions: Sharing this information with anyone other than a sprite. Yes or No?
Congratulations! You have reached skill level 8 in Imbue Arrow. +5% damage. +5% speed of mana flow.
…
Congratulations! You have reached skill level 17 in Imbue Arrow. +5% damage. +5% speed of mana flow.
Congratulations! You have reached skill level 12 in Archery. +2% bonus to aim. +2% bonus to damage.
…
Congratulations! You have reached skill level 17 in Archery. +2% bonus to aim. +2% bonus to damage.
Congratulations! You have advanced from Novice to Initiate in Imbue Arrow. Energy transfer 20% more stable allowing for more energy to be imbued before improper arrow detonation.
You have received 625 bonus experience (base 1,000 x 1.25 x 0.5) for reaching level 10 in the subskill: Imbue Arrow.
Richter hugged Hisako back even harder and accepted the quest. The sprite leader squawked slightly, but she soon chuckled, appreciating the bear hug in the joyous manner with which it was given. It looked like his good relationship with the wood sprites was continuing to pay dividends. Without such a strong connection Hisako probably would never have shared this part of the sprite’s secret history, which had led to him finding a secret quest! It was kind of like helping an old lady across the street and poof; she turns into a sexy genie… and she likes Firefly!
He shook his head as he kept reading the prompts. Not only did the quest give a very respectable chunk of experience, but it also increased his relationship with all forest and wood sprites! One thousand relationship points was nothing to sneeze at! Richter and Hisako had the relationship rank of Ally, which meant they already had at least twenty-five thousand relationship points, so it didn’t alter their interplay too much. The thousand was enough to push his relationship with any new wood or forest sprites from Neutral to Interested though, three full ranks up!
The boost in Imbue Arrow was amazing too. At skill level one, every ten mana Richter had invested in a strike increased the final damage by one, and he was able to store ten mana in the arrow every second. Now that he was level seventeen it meant that every ten mana increased the damage by almost two points, and he could transfer eighteen and a half mana per second! On top of that, he could put more mana into his arrows without risking them blowing up in his face. The real prize, though, as far as he was concerned, was the ‘boon.’
Richter let go of Hisako and was preparing to ask about it, but she beat him to the punch, “If there is anything that I can do for you or your people. You only need to ask.”
Richter put a thoughtful expression on his face, “I actually have something in mind…"
She motioned for him to walk with her. The two of them conversed as they moved back through the village. Yoshi walked behind them, not comfortable leaving Hisako unguarded and in the open, even behind the village’s walls. He outlined exactly what he wanted and how it could benefit them both. At the end of his pitch, she told him that the resources of her people were not unlimited, but that if he handled his side of the proposal, then she would handle hers. She laughed a bit at seeing the relief on his face, but then her face firmed. The leader of the sprites started to fill him in on what had been happening in the war.
“We have had several battles with the bugbears,” she reported in a serious voice. “We have had losses, but we have held the line. They dare not push too far into our territory because of our ability to hide in the forest and then strike quickly. More than one of their patrol has not returned because of sneak attacks with our imbued arrows. Still, their own abilities with concealment are not inconsiderable. My people are excellent at ranged combat, but have difficulty if they are drawn into a melee battle with the bugbears.”
Richter nodded. He understood that she was making a profound understatement. As fierce as the sprites could be, they were still only three to four feet tall on average, built more for speed than strength. The bugbears that had attacked the village had all been at least six feet tall. Richter shuddered to think about what would happen to any sprite that got within weapons reach of the goblinoid creatures.
Hisako paused for a moment, and a look of sorrow crossed her face. When she spoke again, there was steel her voice, “Despite our losses, we will prevail. I can tell you now that we have discovered where their base resides. They are building a fortification in the wooded foothills of the Firetip Mountains.”
“I am sorry for your fallen, my lady, but at least we now know where our enemy is located.”
She nodded wearily, “The information came at a high cost. Of the four sprites sent to find the base, only one returned.” Hisako shook herself, and spoke with steel again, “These matters are serious, but are still secondary to the more grave threat of the eaters. There are still mysteries about their unexpected appearance that I have not unraveled. I do not know why they have come decades before they should. I do not know why they are not currently overrunning the forest. I have learned one thing, however. Through a powerful divination, I was able to determine that their nest is deep underground. Through… less elegant methods, we have discovered that the kobolds have been fighting them.”
“Less elegant?” Richter asked. Yoshi cleared his throat and then grinned wolfishly when he had the chaos seed’s attention. “Enough said,” Richter answered his own question.
“Yes,” Hisako said, not squeamish at all about torture. “The information, unfortunately, has not availed us.”
“Why not?”
“As loathsome as kobolds can be, there is no doubting their cunning. While a few of my warriors might cross unseen into their underground warrens, the preponderance of traps and twisting tunnels make a large assault almost impossible. Every entrance that we know of is so heavily defended that we cannot enter in force. According to the kobolds that we have captured, they are taking the swarm seriously, which is the only good news. The clans have even stopped their perpetual warfare to battle the eaters. The lizards we interrogated revealed that there have been heavy losses on both sides. This might be why we have not seen the eaters on the surface, which would be a boon.” Hisako’s resolve broke, and a bitter frustration made its way into her voice, “None of this information means anything if we cannot make our way down into the Depths. We have to destroy the queen!”
As they had walked, Richter had led them to the catacombs and now they stood over the Great Seal. He looked pointedly at the stairway leading downward. With a broad grin on his face, he exclaimed, “You know. It’s funny you should say that!”
CHAPTER 45 -- Day 139 – Kuborn 29, 15,386 EBG
Yoshi, Hisako, and Richter went into one of the side rooms that had served as the Scholars old workspace. Both of the scribes had now
moved into the house of scholarship. The room wasn’t completely empty, however. It had taken weeks, but now Richter was the proud owner of a Knowledge Table.
One of the forest sprites coming to the village had told Richter about a stand of Yodan wood he had come across. It was fifteen miles from the village, but when Bea had heard about the rare trees, he had immediately insisted that they be harvested. Richter had taken a large group to retrieve several trees and took care to harvest a few of the saplings that were present as well. They had had to carry the trees themselves until they reached the mists, but then Richter had been able to summon mist workers to take over the burden. The trip had taken most of the day, but Richter had fulfilled his quest.
Congratulations! You have completed a quest: Raw Materials. You have found a wood capable of holding a large amount of sustained magical charge.
Reward: A Knowledge Table.
Reward: 625 experience (base 1,000 x 1.25 x 0.5).
The experience Richter had gained was not much, but Bea had started working with carpenters the very next day. The green wood emitted a faint heat even when cut, and it required at least a Carpenter of apprentice rank or higher to work the wood effectively. Luckily, there was one wood elf with a skill level of thirty-four in Carpentry. Bea and the carpenter worked together for more than a week, but it was finally done. Richter now had a Knowledge Table, and all of the documents, maps and other data that could be uploaded, had been. He also negotiated to have Bea create another Knowledge Tablet at a substantial discount. The Scholar agreed for the sake of ‘future positive relations.’
Richter placed his hand on the activation crystal to bring the green wood table to life. What had been a well sanded wooden top became a glowing white panel. He placed his hand on the side of the tile and willed his map to appear. As the Scholars had said, it was not a fully linked version of his Traveler’s Map and the information was only as up-to-date as the last time it had been uploaded by Bea. It was still an incredible tool, though.
The first thing Richter did was to bring up a map of the forest. Then he zoomed out to be able to see the wood in its entirety. He needed to know where the bugbear encampment was. For a moment, Richter bemoaned the fact that the mapping ring he had given to Sion did not work as effectively for anyone that wasn’t his Companion.
When his friend had placed the ring on, it had not only shown whatever the sprite was currently looking at; it also showed everywhere the sprite had been in his entire life. As was always the case with Traveler’s Map, areas Sion had been to more recently were brighter, and locations the sprite hadn’t been to in quite a while were only in grey scale. Nonetheless, it had greatly increased the cartography info on Richter’s mental map.
He had tried to get other people to wear the ring since, but it had only added what that person was currently seeing to the map. The one other person that it had worked for in the same way was Terrod. Sections of black on the map were replaced to reflect the captain’s travels. Specifically, Terrod had increased Richter’s knowledge of the terrain in the Kingdom of Yves and in the capital city of Law to a great extent. That did not, unfortunately, help much with the topography of the forest. Asking Elora to wear the ring was out of the question because of her small size.
Still, Hisako was quickly able to point out where the main encampment was. Richter mentally annotated his own map with as many details as she could provide. He would have Bea update the table later that night. After that was done, he zoomed back to the village and showed Hisako and Yoshi the next level of the catacombs. The two sprites started intently pouring over the map, moving it themselves as they examined this tunnel and that. Yoshi even complimented Richter on the level of detail.
After some time had passed, Richter grew bored with watching them. Hisako and Yoshi seemed to have mostly forgotten his presence and were speaking quickly to each other in what seemed to be a sprite-speak shorthand. Yoshi had also pulled a large number of maps from his bag that looked to be sketches of other sections of Depths leading down from other entrances. It was no surprise to Richter that he had them. He knew from his own experience that Weak Charm could get enemies to spill their guts. He didn’t even want to think about how strong of a charm spell Hisako could wield. His own spell would break if he attacked his target. The Hearth Mother could probably make a man eat his own flesh. He shuddered slightly when he thought about the horrible possibilities and hoped he never met an evil Life master.
Richter left the sprites to their plotting. He had other things to do after all. Before he made it to the door, Yoshi called over his shoulder, “We will do some sparring after dinner tonight. I hope you have been practicing your sword forms. I have been collecting stout sticks over the past few weeks to aid in your training.”
Richter grunted. The ‘aid’ Yoshi had offered in the past was using a hard stick to spar with him. While that might initially seem like a better choice than a sword, it allowed Yoshi to break the sticks on various parts of Richter’s anatomy. Something the half-sprite took a sick pleasure in. Still, Richter was no punk, “I appreciate your training offer, Adept Yoshi. I will see you after dinner.” Richter got back to his daily routine. It was time to help the builders.
The next building that was being erected was one that was near and dear to everyone’s heart, a tavern. In line with that goal, Richter made one stop before he went to help the crews. He had been checking on the copper still daily, and he had so far been able to distill over twenty bottles of moonshine. When he had first examined them, several prompts had appeared.
Congratulations! You have learned the subskill: Distillation. This is a subskill of Brewing. Various combinations of plants, herbs, and fruits can create spirits of various strengths and properties. As you have learned this subskill, you have also learned the skill Brewing.
Congratulations! You have learned the skill: Brewing. “Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” You can now take the mundane, such as a boring potato, and make something truly wondrous… Beer!
You have created: Harsh Moonshine. Durability: 7/7. Strength: Blackout. Sensation: Rough. Weight: 1.5 kg. +3 to Constitution, -2 to Agility, -1 to Dexterity. +15% to lyrical composition
When Richter had first tasted the drink, he was forced to agree with the description on the prompt. It went down hard and, he couldn’t be sure, but he was fairly certain his eyes crossed for just a moment. For some reason that thought made him think of one of his exes in Texas, but he couldn’t figure out why.
Over the past several days, though, Richter had come to appreciate his vicious brew. He uncapped one of the bottles and took a swig. The liquid burned his throat but then gave him a nice, warm feeling inside. Recapping the bottle, he put it in one of the Cauldron’s storage cubbies. Aside from being a recipe for fun, the moonshine was also part of a project for the chaos seed.
When the first batch had been completed, Richter had numbered each bottle. His intention was to test the Cauldron’s property of increasing the traits of potions that were left to age. So every day he took a swig to gauge the progress of his experiment. His hope was that one day it would taste better than ass. It wasn’t clear if the potions actually had to be left in the glass building or not, or even if the moonshine would be considered a potion, but who didn’t want to do experiments like Mr. Wizard?
CHAPTER 46 -- Day 140 – Kuborn 30, 15,386 EBG
The following morning disrupted his routine. It would have been more accurate to say that it derailed it completely and that the dawn brought not only sunlight but also a sense of fear and wonder that swept through the village. During the night, people had disappeared. No children were taken, but mothers, fathers, and elders were absent from their beds. Concern and terror swept through the village quickly.
Richter had stayed up late and had finally fallen asleep under the Quickening, so he was one of the last to know. The training with Yoshi had been predictably painful and humiliating, so he had sought comfort afterwards under the celestial t
ree. He, Elora and Hisako had spoken for hours before sleep claimed him.
He was awoken by a guardswoman shouting his name. Alma flew up into the air from her perch on his lap, and Richter scrambled to his feet. She quickly informed him that villagers were missing and how panic was spreading through the settlement. Richter ran towards the hill leading down to the village, regretting that he hadn’t slept in his armor. By the time he got to the slope, Sion was running up it to meet him. The expression on the sprite’s face was inscrutable.
“What? What is it?” Richter asked with major stress in his voice. He looked out over the village, the top of the hill providing an excellent vantage point. The sun was up and was peaking over the trees, and Richter didn’t see any immediate threat of attack. The guards still patrolled the village walls, and the Confusing Mist defensive spell was still in place. Sion still hadn’t spoken yet, but the corner of his mouth was tilting up. “What the hell man? What’s happening?”
Sion looked at him and raised a placating hand, “First, everything is okay. I have already had Terrod start calming people down. I know exactly what is happening. Before I tell you any more, though, I need to know something.” He looked at the piece of paper in his hand before sounding out a word, “What is a cockgobbler?”
The word sounded strange in Sion’s melodic voice, but the meaning was still clear enough. Richter snatched the piece of paper from his friend and started reading. As the villagers began to calm down, his blood pressure began to rise.
Dear Richter,
Now that your friends the sprites are here, I see no reason not to start the Trials for any of your people who are eligible. I’m sure you will be upset about this. After all, cockgobblers never like to share…