by M. Coulray
The orphaned child started to turn, but I reached out and touched her shoulder. “Are you all right?”
Her face showed confusion. “Am I injured?” She turned her head and inspected her back over her shoulder, which made my neck hurt just looking at it.
“No, but… your mother. She died fighting… people like me.”
Daughter of Ket shook her head. “Not like you, Denel. You are one of our people. You were on this side of the wall, and you fought with us. My mother died, but did not yield the gate.” The small lizard girl stood tall on her digitigrade legs. “I will be a guard like my mother.” Then she turned and ran off, leaving me feeling bewildered, sad and a little bit guilty.
At the temple, a few lizard folk had gathered. I recognized Telix and Krees, as well as the temple guard who had argued for the right to kill me. He didn’t want to meet my eyes for whatever reason. I walked up to Telix and Krees and presented myself.
“Denel. There are more of your kind in the area. Our hunters have found them, to the east of here.” Telix pointed past the temple. If the changes in the swamp held true, the ground there was likely mostly dry.
I ascended the palisade and looked over the wall. The swamplands faded into the distance, but I could see this being a problem. The last group had shown up on the watery side of the village, like me, but if players started coming from this direction, then we’d have a hard time stopping them from setting up some kind of base of operations.
“What’s out that direction?”
A short lizardman with mottled scales presented himself. “I am Nuln, hunter. For a week’s travel, there is nothing but the lands of the Goddess. The swamp is drier in that direction. The hunting is very good, and much safer than the western swamplands.” He looked up at me, a rare thing among lizardmen. “I found the Scaleless out there. I ran back. They are two hours east.”
Adrenaline surged through me. “How many? What did they look like?”
“There were ten, perhaps more. I did not seek out any that I could not see. They all looked the same to me. They were cutting trees.”
Shit. “They’re setting up a camp, or a base. We need to deal with them somehow,” I said.
“We should kill them,” said the temple guard. He sure liked the idea of killing people. I thought about that old saying, about how when you only have a hammer everything looks like a nail.
“Can they be treated with?” asked Krees.
I opened my mouth to say no, but then closed it again. “I… don’t know. I mean, they’ll probably be willing to talk to me, but who knows whether they’ll be belligerent.”
“If we had killed Denel on sight then we would have made an error,” said Telix with a glance at Krees. “I think we should should try to speak to them.”
Krees and Telix fell to talking. Votess arrived sometime after, apparently having heard rumours that something was up at the temple building. “What is going on?”
I brought her up to speed. “I’m not sure what the plan’s going to be, but they’re too close to ignore. Nuln says the hunting’s good on that side, so they’ve got access to food, and I’d bet anything they’re building shelter. We need to either nip this in the bud or make friends with them, and fast.”
“We will send scouts to get more information,” said Telix. “There is no guarantee that simply killing them will end this threat.”
Telix was right. If we killed them, and they were players, they’d just come back. “I think I should go talk to them, with Votess. I can speak their language and maybe I can get more useful information.”
Krees and telix nodded. “We will dispatch scouts tonight, and then tomorrow you will go with Votess.”
20
Morning found Votess and I walking through the swamp, which was indeed much drier than the area I’d seen so far. The hunter came with us for the first hour, then told Votess how to get the rest of the way.
“You will not need my instructions for much longer. They are loud and not trying to hide.”
“Thank you, Nuln,” I said.
With a nod, Nuln disappeared into the mist. We walked on, with Votess alert for trouble.
True to his word, we heard the camp long before we saw it. Votess held up a hand and halted us. “I can smell them burning meat, like you do.”
“Cooking?”
“Yes, but with more smoke.”
She crept forward and I tried to keep up, but I had to choose between speed and stealth. After another ten minutes, she halted us again.
“They are directly ahead. But one is over there, cutting wood.” She waved off to the left. “Shall we ambush him and interrogate him?”
I touched Votess’ spear. “Let’s save the ambushing for later. I’m hoping we can make friends here. Let’s walk side by side, so they don’t get the wrong idea.”
We advanced openly, but nobody detected us until we were full in the clearing of the strangers’ camp. When one of them finally saw us, he raised an alarm and they all formed up in a ragged defensive line.
“Who are you?” The one who spoke was an elf, and a glance told me she was a player.
[Mika Hix]
Race: Elven (Player)
Level: 8
Vitality: 192/192
Mana: 299/299
“My name’s Denel, and this is my friend Votess,” I said, making sure to emphasize the ‘friend’ part. “What are you doing in the swamp people’s lands?”
The rest of the crew was made up of non-players, or what I was rapidly starting to think of as “real people”. I wasn’t sure what that said about me. They eyed Votess warily and more than a few of them clutched tools that could double as weapons.
Mika stepped forward. She wore a long, white robe with a steel breastplate strapped over it, and on her hip she carried a long blade in a sheath. Stains covered the lower half of her clothes. “We are here on a quest, to find a new home for these refugees.” She waved a hand at the ten or so people behind him. “They are not warriors and do not want to fight, but I won’t allow them to be hurt.”
“What is it saying?” asked Votess.
“She says he’s here with refugees looking for a new home. They aren’t here to fight.”
We both looked around. The other humans had cleared a good chunk of land, at least large enough to build a decent longhouse on. Mika stared at us nervously.
“Are you allied with the lizard… people? You can understand them? I can’t understand all that hissing and clicking.”
“Me? Oh, yeah,” I said. “They’re my friends, and I’m a member of their village. My name is Denel, teacher of Goddess Watch. I have a knack for language, I guess.”
“Which Goddess do you watch?” Mika’s tone was curious. “I serve Minolt, the god of purification. His blessing is what allows us to stop these tools from rusting.”
Interesting. Now that I looked, the various axes, shovels and saws the humans were holding showed no sign of rust.
“The Goddess is just the Goddess. She was killed or imprisoned long ago, and now the swamp people wait for her return.”
“Oh, ok. I don’t think my god has any beef with your Goddess.” Mika approached with her hand out and a smile on her face. “Maybe we can be—”
In flash, Votess was in front of me, and she knocked Mika to the ground. The breastplate Mika wore deflected Votess’ claws, but it was clear she had struck with intent. The rest of the humans all pulled back, with only one willing to step up and face us. He held his axe in a woodsman’s grip, and one look told me he wasn’t going to be any challenge even for me. However, I was still hoping to avoid a fight!
“What’s wrong, Votess?”
“Its teeth were bared,” she replied, pinning Mika to the ground with her spear. “And it advanced to attack!”
I grabbed the shaft of her spear and pulled it back. “No, she was smiling, remember? We smile? It means she’s friendly!”
After a moment, Votess pulled back and hung her head in a position that I re
cognized as shame and embarrassment. “I am sorry, Denel. It is hard to remember that your people are so different. Will you convey my apologies to it— to her?”
My hand grasped Mika’s wrist as I hauled him to his feet. “Votess wants you to know, she’s sorry for acting in haste. They have a thing about seeing teeth. It represents aggression to them. So when you smile--”
“—they take offence,” finished Mika. “I understand.” She turned and waved to her companions. “It’s all right! I’m fine. Cultural misunderstanding!”
Apparently things weren’t irreparably harmed by Votess and her outburst, but there was still nervousness in every face, including Mika’s. I shook her hand. “Look, I’m not gonna lie to you. The swamp people are pretty insular, and they don’t much like Scaleless. That’s what they call us. They only just learned about players when I arrived.”
“You’re a player?”
That was the second time another player had expressed surprise at me. I’d have to ask why later. “Yeah, I got a rough start, but I’m a player and this is my home area. I’m allied with the swamp people and I’m not willing to harm them. In fact, I have a few things I’m trying to do to help them out.”
Mika drew a deep breath. “All these people fled from religious oppression. It was an event in one of the major cities, and I took up the quest. I didn’t realize it would mean being portaled across the world with nothing but what I had in my pockets! Luckily they’re well provisioned and have a lot of, well, stuff.”
Behind the line of refugees, I could see three wagons with their wheels removed, sitting on logs. The wagons were covered in canvas. “What’s in there?”
“Tools, the raw makings of a forge, a mess hall setup, and rough shelters. We slept outside last night and I kept guard, but I had to log out this morning to do some stuff. Uh, that means… oh yeah, you’re a player too. Sorry.”
“The last player I met was surprised at me as well. What is it about me that tells you I might not be a player?”
“You data doesn’t show you as one,” said Mika. “You’re just Daniel Descouteaux, aka Denel, with the Teacher title. It’s like you’re an NPC but you’re obviously not.”
Hmm. That was weird, but most likely it had to do with how I was in the game permanently. As I didn’t have any more info, I put the matter aside. “It sounds like you folks are going to have a rough go of it. This place is dangerous, and I almost died the first hour I was here. Maybe we can help you. Let me talk to my companion for a minute.”
Votess and I stepped away a little bit to create the illusion of privacy. Behind us, Mika went to work calming her flock.
“Votess, these people are in need of a home, and they have things that could help Goddess Watch. Also, I think Mika might be able to help us with the temple. Do you think it is a mistake to ask Telix and Krees if they can move closer to the village?”
Votess thought for a moment. “They are Scaleless and we do not trust them, as a rule. However, you have created some doubt about the true nature of their kind, and I think your word might hold sway. Let us return to the village and ask the wise ones.”
When Mika was done talking with her people, I waved her over. “Votess thinks we might be able to negotiate between the village elders and your people. I can’t guarantee acceptance, but maybe we can work something out, like a non-aggression pact? If I can, I’m going to ask if you can move closer to the village.” I didn’t mention that it would be easier to keep an eye on them if they were nearer.
Mika’s eyes shone brightly. “Great! That would be great! We’ve got food for another week, then we’re going to need to start hunting, and I don’t actually know what is safe to eat around here. Thanks a lot, Denel. I’ll be waiting for you.”
“Well, she’s a trusting sort,” I said to Votess.
“We are not,” she replied. “Let us return and speak to my mother. I hope she takes this better than when I returned with you.”
“But that worked out pretty well in the end, right?”
Votess looked at me. “I had to kill you to get her to accept you, in case you have forgotten.”
I rubbed the back of my neck. Yeah, I hadn’t forgotten that.
21
It wasn’t much challenge to talk Telix and Krees into letting the potential settlers move closer to the village. Both of them agreed that keeping an eye on the group was important, and I could see in Krees’ expression that she had tempered her natural hatred of Scaleless since meeting me. The next day I returned with Votess and two unnamed lizard folk to bring the news to Mika.
“That’s great!” Her enthusiasm was endless and she couldn’t stop grinning. “Everyone! These people have granted us permission to live near them! I hope this is the start of a new understanding between races!”
None of the settlers had her enthusiasm, but none of them outright rebelled, either. The one who had stood his ground when Votess attacked Mika in my defense approached and stuck his hand out. I took it and shook.
“My name’s Denel, and I’m a teacher at Goddess Watch, the swamp people’s village.”
“I’m Joenn Bixby, carpenter. Thank you for keeping an open mind.”
I looked the man over. He was shorter than me, but much more muscled. His hands were hard and calloused, the result of years of labour. “Mika mentioned you were all fleeing religious problems?”
Joenn pressed his lips into a thin line. “More like lack of religion. Minolt, Mika’s god, doesn’t demand worship, so we get along fine with him, but some of the other gods ask for more than we’re willing to give. When the local group faith temple started demanding tithes from everyone, we spoke out against it.” He waved his hands to encompass everyone present. “None of us are particularly interested in religion, and when the issue was pressed, only Mika stood with us. We were excommunicated, and then the town’s council drove us out. Mika used a miracle to help us escape, and now we’re here.”
“Hell of a story. Well, the swamp people have their own ideas about religion, but as long as you don’t trespass on their temple grounds or badmouth their Goddess, I think they’re fine.”
Joenn nodded to me. “All we wanted was to be left alone, to live our lives. We won’t cause trouble for anyone that doesn’t bring it to us.”
In other words, don’t start none, won’t be none. I could respect that.
The two nameless lizard folk assisted the humans in packing up their campsite, but it was soon clear that the wagon’s wouldn’t be moving anywhere. The wheels sunk into the earth the moment they were attached and made to bear weight, and besides, the path between the village and here was not even a little cleared. With some work, the humans made a number of travois and loaded as much as they could on them.
“We’ll leave the non perishable stuff here if we have to. I don’t imagine we want to make a trip in the dark.” Joenn’s words got the attention of all present. I found it interesting that although Mika was a player, and this was her quest, it was Joenn who seemed to be in charge of everyone.
I looked up and saw that the day had indeed slipped by us. “Agreed. All your food and anything that can’t bear getting a little wet should come with us now. As it is, we’ll be setting up camp in the dark once we arrive.”
We all started out. Even Votess and I dragged a travois behind us, although each of the swamp folk pulled a much heavier burden than any two humans combined. The walk home was a lot slower. I had misjudged how long it would take, and it wasn’t until well into twilight that we saw the ghost lights of Goddess Watch.
The sight filled most of the humans with trepidation, and I could see why. In the past few days I’d grown used to the pale lights that floated through the air, but they did look somewhat eerie from a distance.
“That’s us, folks.” I pointed towards the village, where I knew several guards would be watching for us. “There’s an area near the palisade that is wide enough for you to set up camp. We’ll figure out what the long term plan is tomorrow.”
&n
bsp; We got to the palisade and sure enough, almost every guard in the place was there, spears at the ready. I waved to them and declared that all was well, but only half left. Likely that was by the command of Telix or Krees. I couldn’t blame them one bit, after the last bunch of assholes that had showed up.
“We can take it from here,” said Joenn. “They’d rather have us under their eyes anyway, am I right?”
I nodded, and saw Mika’s eyes widen. Apparently she hadn’t thought of that. “As long as you cause no trouble, there won’t be an issue. I’ll talk to someone I know tomorrow about helping you learn what’s good hunting around here.” An idea popped into my head about how I might forge a connection between the two peoples, but I kept it to myself for the night.
We said our goodbyes and I entered the village through the east gate. I climbed the palisade and watched the humans set up their tents, and build a campfire. This got the swamp people interested, and doubly so when the smell of cooking meat wafted over. I grinned. This might be easier than I thought.
The next day, I headed straight to where I knew Jin would be carving meat. “Hey, Jin? What have you heard about the Scaleless who are camped out by the east gate?”
Jin put down his bone blade and looked at me. “Only that they are there. What are you asking?”
“I think they might have a larger cooking setup. They can probably cook for ten or more. Wanna come check it out with me?”
Strictly speaking, I was overstepping here. Telix and Krees had granted permission for the humans to move next to the village, but had said nothing about interacting with them. I had two factors in my favour, though. First, I was Named and also Scaleless, which meant that I was perceived as knowledgable. Second, I hoped to forge a friendship between the two races that would benefit both, and I could honestly say before the wise ones that I meant to help the village.