by Drew Hayes
“Everyone roll me a Vision check,” Jamie ordered, and the players threw their dice without hesitation. “Looks like everyone passed. Oh, Terry got a natural twenty.”
“Rogue eyes, baby, nothing like them,” Terry said.
Jamie glanced down, consulting her module. “Well, with those scores, you all notice that as you get closer to the Hall of Adventurers, the road gets thicker with people traveling in the same direction. Once the Hall actually comes into sight, you can all make out a golden banner hung over the entrance. Normally, you’d need a Historical check to have a clue what that means, but with Terry’s twenty, he can read the words ‘Grand Quest’ on the banner, even from so far away.”
“The hell is a Grand Quest?” Glenn asked.
“For that, you can either roll a Historical check or wait until you’re all close enough to read the rest of the banner,” Jamie replied.
“Roll them.” Mitch led the pack, tossing his dice onto the table, where it was quickly joined by Terry and Glenn’s.
“Since Glenn rolled an eighteen, that’s more than enough to know about Alcatham’s Grand Quests,” Jamie told them. “These are historic events with high amounts of danger and treasure for those who undertake them. With a roll that high, you can even know that participating usually requires proving yourself with another quest beforehand. The details vary with every Grand Quest, though, so the Historical check can’t tell you anything about what this one entails.”
“It doesn’t need to,” Mitch declared. “We all heard you say high reward.”
“Technically, only Glenn knows about that,” Jamie reminded him.
“Whatever, he’ll obviously tell us,” Mitch said. “I spur my horse on faster and motion for the others to do the same. We need to drop these wolves off as quick as possible. Looks like there’s a real payday to prepare for.”
* * *
“You want a third of our reward, a thousand gold, for lessons on sneaking around?” Gabrielle crossed her arms, an unnecessary addition to convey her incredulous mood, but she’d never been one to do things by half-measures.
It was the first chance they’d had to really speak freely, as Thistle had insisted on going somewhere private to discuss these sorts of bargains. By process of elimination, one of the inn’s rooms was the easiest spot to procure. Cramming all six people, and one boar, into a space meant for two was a tight squeeze, all the more so with Timuscor in full armor and Gabrielle’s axe knocking around.
“Sneaking around is part of the curriculum, as are many of the other basic rogue skills your friend is blatantly lacking.” Elora jabbed a finger at Eric, poking him in the chest. “He’s using a short sword and nothing else, for Tristan’s sake. A rogue is a warrior who depends on a wide arsenal. Think back to when I fought you. I used throwing blades, a crossbow, and smoke vials in just that little scuffle, plus you all saw me whip out my daggers. We are not barbarians or knights; we do not thrive in straightforward, one-on-one battles. Rogues need many different tools and weapons; all Eric seems to have are good senses and a knack for slipping around unseen. As it stands, I’m amazed he’s even managed to survive this long.”
“I’m also good at picking locks,” Eric told her. It was about the only defense he could muster. Elora was right on every account. Seeing her fight had made him realize just how woefully lacking his own self-taught methods were. Yes, he was useful to his friends, but now that he understood what a real one could do, he wasn’t sure he felt right calling himself a rogue.
“A useful skill that I would also hone in you, along with a myriad of others,” Elora replied. “Look, I don’t usually take on tutoring gigs anymore, not for any price, but Eric has potential. Since I’m stuck owing him a blood debt anyway, I might as well help him develop that potential into something useful.”
“For the low cost of only a thousand gold,” Gabrielle reiterated.
“You keep saying that number like it really matters, but does it?” Elora looked around the room, carefully examining each piece of their equipment. “With two thousand gold, I could negotiate replacements for nearly everything you’ve got on you, plus plenty of supplies for the next leg of your journey.”
Eric glanced at the others, eyes wide as he scoured his memory. In all the time they’d been with Elora, no one had mentioned what their plans were after they completed the ildenberry quest—or at least, they shouldn’t have. Blood debt or no, telling someone who’d been hunting them for a bounty about their next destination had seemed well into the bounds of stupidity.
“Everyone calm down. None of you let anything slip,” Elora told them. “I’m just not stupid. The five of you don’t come off as hungry for money or glory, and given that the king of Solium wants you back pretty bad, it makes sense that you’d avoid big towns as much as possible. I’d wager you only stopped in here because you desperately needed gold. Probably for a long, rough trip, which means you’re either heading to Urthos or Baltmur.”
“Were that the case, I’m sure you’d understand that we could neither confirm nor deny it,” Thistle said.
“Tell me, or don’t. It’s not like I can collect the bounty, anyway,” Elora replied. “But here’s how I see it: right now, you seem to be debating between two choices. You can either take your three thousand gold, buy what you need, and get out of town, or you can stay around long enough to try and take on the Grand Quest. If you choose the former, then so be it. I’ll keep my word about helping you haggle to make your gold go far, and that will be that. If you choose to stay, however, then you may as well pay me to train Eric.”
Timuscor moved slightly forward, the clanking of his armor echoing off the walls. “Although I hate to admit it, Elora did display exceptional proficiency during our fight in the orchard. It’s hard to deny that we would be far more formidable if Eric had those skills, especially if we’re aiming to undertake the Grand Quest.”
“Thanks, pig-guy, I was—”
“However,” Timuscor continued, plowing right over Elora’s appreciation. “I do not trust her or her intentions, and I think it would be unwise to leave any of us alone with her for a prolonged period of time. Should we accept her offer, we should keep them under close observation to ensure that training is all she does.”
“What, you think I’m going to brainwash him?” Elora asked.
“Yes, that is exactly what I was thinking,” Timuscor agreed. “Even if you were unable to do so through conditioning or torture, due to your debt, there are more than a few poisons and magics that soften the mind… the sort of tools someone with your skills would no doubt know how to use.”
The room fell silent as the knight and the elf stared each other down, until the latter let out a small sigh. “You know, for an armor-wearer, you’re smarter than I expected. In other circumstances, that’s exactly what I’d do. Luckily enough—for you, anyway—a month isn’t really long enough to break down and rebuild someone with those methods. Besides, it’s not explicitly stated, but I’m almost certain that would go against my blood debt.”
“You’ll forgive us if we still choose to keep a watch over the training,” Gabrielle said.
“See, that doesn’t work, for two reasons.” Elora lifted the slender index finger of her right hand and held it in the air. “First off, it’s impossible. The training I’m going to give Eric is rogues only. Even if I wanted to take you into the places we’d be going, which I very much don’t, how much stealth training do you think we’d accomplish with one of you banging around behind us? And then there are the lessons on weapons, poisons, information gathering—really, there’s just so much to learn—and I’m already trying to cram a lot of training into just a month. With you lot there, slowing us down, he’d learn so little it would barely even be worth your gold.”
“And what’s the second reason?” Thistle didn’t seem bothered by being told they weren’t welcome at Eric’s training, but then again, Eric could count on one hand the number of times he’d seen the gnome lose his cool.
“Fifteen thousand gold.” Gabrielle’s mouth hung halfway open, as if even saying such a large sum had injured her jaw. “You’ve got to kidding. How in the hells are we going to get that kind of coin?”
“Well, Eric did negotiate my help in choosing a quest for you,” Elora reminded them. “If you take on one or two of the more difficult ones, you should easily be able to rake in that much gold.”
“We can’t do it.” It was the first time Grumph had spoken since they got to the room, and he shook his head heavily as he did. “Thistle and I have seen hard ones. They’re beyond us. Especially without Eric.”
“Not if you pick carefully. A little knowledge, the right strategy, and you’d be amazed at what can be accomplished. Though I suppose losing the only member of your group who can work in the shadows would make things harder.” Elora fell silent for a moment, resting her chin atop her still raised hand. “Fine, let’s kill two dragons with one arrow. Eric’s going to need every minute of the next month to train, but I don’t necessarily have to be there for each part of it. I’ll take his place on one, and only one, quest. Of course, I’ll also take his share of the gold, so you’ll need to make enough to pool together for his equipment. Still, I think none of you can say I’m not qualified for the task.”
“Aye, you have the skills, though whether or not we could trust you in such a situation is another matter,” Thistle said.
“At that point, we’d be working together for gold. Think what you will of rogues, but we’re not in the habit of betraying our own finances.”
“Perhaps. Ultimately, this comes down to two choices: whether or not we’re going to try and undertake the Grand Quest, and if we should permit you to train Eric. While we can debate to no end about the former, I think there is really only one of us who can offer a verdict on the latter.” Thistle rotated slowly, turning to face Eric, and the rest of the room followed suit.
Eric knew what he wanted to say, what the smart move would be. They’d gotten lucky in the orchard, so much so that Eric suspected a bit of the gods’ good favor had been in place, but it wasn’t luck they could count on indefinitely. Yes, the prize for the Grand Quest might be another piece of the Bridge. Was that really their problem, though? It had existed long before any of them were alive, and would continue to do so well after they passed on. They were not the keepers or collectors of the Bridge. The party would be safer if they just took the gold, bought what they needed, and set out for Baltmur.
Except that once they did, he’d lose out on a chance at learning to be a real rogue. His role wasn’t a martial one like Gabrielle’s, where he could learn through pure battle, nor was it a divine one where he was given a god’s guidance, like Thistle. Eric wasn’t as smart as Grumph, able to improve himself with only three days of instruction and tutorial spell books. Meeting a rogue like Elora was rare; having one in a position like hers was even less common. If they walked away, then odds were strong he would never have a chance quite like this one again. And while no one would fault him for it, Eric would have to spend the rest of his time with this party knowing he was less than he could have been.
He’d made a bargain with the gods to never go home again. If this was his real life, then Eric wanted to accept it, embrace it, and become better at it. Which meant, unfortunately, that he had to trust Elora.
“We’re lacking,” Eric said at last. “I’m lacking. Everyone is trying to grow, to get stronger in their own ways, but some things cannot be learned through trial and error. We distrust Elora for the very same reason that she would make a good teacher: because she is a rogue through and through. I can’t ask you all to part with so much gold, or to risk your lives by staying here. But if you’re asking me what I want, it’s to be a rogue. A real one. One who can make this party better, and help to keep you all safer.”
Silence stretched on, until the sound of rustling armor broke it. Gabrielle had uncrossed her arms and begun to rise from her place on the floor. “A thousand gold.”
“You’ve said that already,” Elora pointed out.
“Yeah, well, this time I was just reminding myself how much to go get,” Gabrielle replied. “Thistle, give me the proof of funds. I need to make a withdrawal.”
Eric waited for someone to object, to say it was a bad idea, but Thistle merely pulled the small scroll from his pocket and handed it to Gabrielle.
“Are... are you all sure about this?” Eric asked.
“If it were any of us, you wouldn’t hesitate to say we should take the opportunity to train,” Gabrielle said. “And if you can get better, that helps everyone, so it’s money well spent.” She turned to Elora and motioned for the elf to rise. “But if you try anything, I don’t care how many tricks you’ve got, I will bury my axe in your skull. Even if it kills me.”
“Oh, it would,” Elora replied. “Though I don’t doubt you’d make good on your promise even after such a paltry thing as death. You really don’t need to worry so much; I like to think I’m an excellent teacher.”
While he couldn’t put a finger on it, there was something in the way Elora smiled as she spoke that made Eric wonder if perhaps he shouldn’t have just kept his big mouth shut.
Chapter 17
“So, on top of five thousand gold for successfully wiping out every single animated plant in sight, the clerk gave you a special coin that allows you entrance into the Grand Quest.” Russell ran down his note pad from the end of their last session, making sure he’d kept everything straight. “If you’re shopping in town, there’s a proof of funds scroll they handed over that you can use at the stores, but if you want to go anywhere else, you’ll need to find a way to haul all of that gold around. Speaking of, who is holding on to the coin and the proof of funds?”
“Timanuel.” The word was spoken both by Bert and, more quietly, Alexis simultaneously.
“Going to pretend my feelings aren’t hurt by how fast you both tossed that out,” Cheri said.
“Nothing personal, it’s just that he’s the paladin. That makes him inherently the most trustworthy person in the group. Plus, Chalara and Wimberly are both frail due to their classes, meaning they’re easier to rob, and Gelthorn is catatonic for as long she’s in the city. Having Timanuel hang on to the important stuff is our soundest strategy,” Bert said.
Cheri narrowed her eyes and took a long drink from her soda, but made no counterargument. Russell leapt upon her silence, as any experienced GM would.
“Okay then, with that sorted out, you need to decide what comes next. Even with deductions for food and lodging, you’ve got plenty of gold to spend. There’s a whole merchant district a short walk away where you could all go shopping, or you can go see what quests are being offered today. With your performance at the enchanted spring, there are going to be some new options with high risk and reward. Of course, you don’t have to do either of those things if you’ve got something else in mind.”
“No, this is a good situation. We should see it through.” Tim looked over his character sheet carefully. “With five thousand gold, we can probably upgrade our equipment; we likely never would have gotten a chance to do that since we spent so much on having that sealed chest shrunken down. Then again, that might be enough to find someone who can actually open the thing.”
“Or we can sit on the money, take another quest, and try and save our coin for some real upgrades,” Bert suggested. “If we’re trying to take on some epic quest with an artifact as a prize, I have a feeling we’ll want all the decent gear we can get. Wimberly got some pretty cool new gadgeteer bluepr
int options on her last level-up, but the materials are pretty pricey.”
Alexis opened her mouth to speak, then stopped herself, closing it silently. It was a small gesture, but one that didn’t escape Cheri’s notice.
“I know Gelthorn is fighting off a panic attack in her room, but if she were here, I’m pretty positive she’d vote for a quest. Especially one that took us back to the forest,” Cheri told them. “And for that matter, Chalara agrees. We’ve got less than a month in game until the Grand Quest starts, so let’s use that time to rack up all the experience and loot we can get. The battle at the end of the last module nearly killed us all, and we started this one with Chalara on the ropes. She’s feeling the need to get more powerful.”
Russell had seen the silent attempt at speech from Alexis, as well as Cheri’s picking up on the cue, but he did nothing to stop it. Alexis had caught herself before weighing in on a discussion her character wasn’t present for, and while Cheri was technically meta-gaming slightly, it had been handled well. The characters were close after everything they’d been through; it was believable that they would speak for each other when one was absent.
“The hour is getting late at the Hall,” Russell told them. “So if you want to take on a quest, you need to decide to do it now. Otherwise, you’ll have to wait until morning.”
“You know what? I think Chalara is okay with that,” Cheri said. “After a swamp fight and all that riding, she could use a good meal and a hot bath. Plus, this will let her talk to Gelthorn and see if she has any input for when they pick a quest.”
“Wimberly is on the same page,” Bert agreed. “That last fight was a long one. I think all our characters could use a good night’s rest.”