“... if the Keeper agrees with my suggestion...” I heard his last words.
All eyes turned on me.
I frowned as if making up my mind while I hurried to rewind the video I’d been making. My wife Sveta had asked me to document my every moment in Mirror World, so I had.
Where was it now... aha... found it! Let’s take a look.
Ah, I see. Amai had suggested we simply loot the Forbidden City and get the hell out of here before the Noctean horde arrived.
This actually sounded quite reasonable. I had to admit that Amai’s thinking was typical of a human gamer. Still, judging by the grim expressions on my clanmates’ faces, they didn’t like it.
In any case, what was there to loot? All we had to show for our trouble were piles of snow and heaps of collapsed stonework. That was the extent of the treasures left to me by the city’s previous Keepers.
The warriors waited for my decision. I could see that my clanmates were prepared to stand their ground. The Wolves appeared calm, even though I could read in Pike’s eyes his disapproval of his young leader’s indiscretion.
Amai stared right in front of him. This must have been his usual manner of speech. He probably thought — and rightfully so — that they were stronger.
I’d already made some calculations. If Crym were to be believed, the Wolves had twice as many regular clan members as they had warriors. Which brought their numbers to almost fifteen hundred.
Not a good ratio compared to our meager ranks. If these NPCs changed their status from neutral to enemy, they could create a lot of problems. We needed them as friends.
Never mind. Time to finish this discussion. Laosh was already at the end of his tether, I could see that. As shamans went, he was quite irascible. Just my luck. His diplomacy skills were non-existent. He’d rather call a spade a spade. Which was great if you wanted to start a war with someone but pretty useless if you hoped to strike an alliance with them.
The problem was, Laosh still viewed Amai as a green youngster who’d only ascended to the leadership thanks to his initial position as a shaman. Me, however, I could see the young man for what he truly was: a tough albeit slightly cantankerous leader, smart and cunning beyond his years. At least he had enough sense to listen to his advisor. I’d already taken a closer look at Pike and let me assure you, he seemed to be much more than he appeared to be. Whoever chose to view him as a shaggy ape were making a big mistake. I could bet all you want that the Wolves clan was in fact ruled not by one but by two heads.
Neither Droy nor Laosh seemed to realize that. No wonder the shaman’s popularity ranking with his clanmates was at its all-time lowest.
“I heard your words, O brave Amai!” I hurried to announce before Laosh got the chance to tell us everything he thought about the Wolves’ leader. “I heard you and I understand your position.”
My clanmates’ faces betrayed their indignant incomprehension. Amai, however, grinned back at me while breathing an inconspicuous sigh of relief. No wonder: this wasn’t his prairie home and he’d definitely overstepped the line. He didn’t need a conflict any more than I did.
“Still, you need to understand me,” I continued. “This city belonged to my ancestors. I’m its Keeper. Then a Caltean stranger comes along offering me to loot my ancient heritage.”
The Wolves’ smiles began to fade.
“I know where you’re coming from, Amai, which is why I’m not angry with you,” I added pointedly. “Being nomads, you can’t understand our respect for the land bequeathed to us by our ancestors.”
Amai gritted his teeth. Pike clenched his white-knuckled fists, his slanted eyes glistening under bushy eyebrows.
Ah, so you didn’t like it, did you? Never mind. You’ll have to grin and bear it, I’m afraid.
Droy appeared relaxed but I could see he was like a taut spring, prepared to jump upon the Wolves at a moment’s notice. Laosh bared the yellow stumps of his teeth in a smile, enjoying the show.
I paused. A heavy silence hung in the tent. The glares of Amai and Pike were literally boring a hole in me.
Right. Time to lighten up. “As you may well have noticed,” I said, “we can’t accept your suggestion.”
Amai chuckled. Pike fidgeted in his place, and so did Droy — or so I thought. Laosh snapped his fingers as if saying, that’ll teach you!
“But!” I raised a meaningful finger. “You’re our guests. And as we well know, you can’t let a guest leave with a heavy heart. If you do, he might never come back which will bring disgrace on his hosts.”
It was funny to watch the change of atmosphere in the tent. Now both Wolves and Owls were staring at me open-mouthed.
I rose ceremoniously. “On behalf of my clan and in my own name, I offer our friendship to you and your people! Let us seal our union with a peace agreement! From now on, your clanmates are guaranteed shelter, food and protection in our ancestral lands! And to celebrate our alliance, I’d like to invite you and your warriors to take part in a raid on the ancient dungeons we discovered a few days ago.”
There! A peace treaty to begin with, how about that? And then we’ll see. The dungeon loot would sugar-coat our refusal very nicely.
Now it was his turn.
Amai too rose from his seat, albeit slightly too hastily. Judging by Pike’s unhappy expression, he must have noticed it too.
“I, the leader of the Northern Wolves, accept the friendship of the Red Owls! I swear to be a trusty friend and a good neighbor to you! And I accept your offer of hunting for your ancestors’ treasures!”
A good neighbor, wow! That was lucky! And I’d thought we’d just part ways, end of story.
The realization of what had just happened must have finally dawned on Laosh who hurried to add,
“I suggest we seal our union with the magic oath created by our forefathers!”
Both Amai and Pike nodded. Excellent. No problems there.
The magic oathing procedure turned out to be rather simple and mundane. The system didn’t offer any surprises. I received a standard message informing me of a peace alliance between the Red Owls and the Northern Wolves.
The next message, however, did surprise me. I’d received +50 pt. to my Reputation with the Wolves. How interesting.
We spent another hour celebrating our agreement, then parted ways — mainly because Laosh had underestimated his drinking prowess and had fallen asleep right there by the fire.
Droy took Pike on a guided tour of our camp. Actually, it might have been a clever move on the part of Pike in order to leave Amai and myself alone with each other. I didn’t mind. It would be a good idea to talk to him in private.
We walked out of the tent and stood by the collapsed city wall. Parts of it had already been restored. My masons didn’t waste their time.
“I didn’t know any Ennans had survived,” Amai spoke, looking at the vast expanse of snow covering the foothills.
“Some say there’s a drop of their ancient blood running in Caltean veins too,” I said.
Amai chuckled. “Don’t think we have much of it left in ours.”
“Maybe not.”
“Can I be honest with you?” Amai suddenly asked.
“That’s probably the only way we can stay friends,” I said.
“Then I’d like you to tell me something, Keeper. Do you really believe you can defend this place? With a handful of Caltean hunters? I don’t think you’re a match for those who’re about to arrive here.”
“Are you talking about the Nocteans?”
“Not necessarily. My brothers made some hasty decisions which got all their clans into trouble,” Amai nodded at Laosh’ tent. “First they failed to unite against the Noctean hordes. And then they stirred up a hornets’ nest in the south, losing their best warriors in an unnecessary scuffle.”
“Couldn’t you have done something?”
“I tried,” Amai replied sadly. “But as you surely know, Laosh is a pigheaded bastard. And he was the weakest among those who dec
ided the fate of our clans. Me, I was the youngest. No one listened to me. They just said I was speaking out of turn. And when I took my clan out onto the steppes, they called me a coward!” he added through clenched teeth. Judging by his blushing cheeks, he still smarted from the memory.
“And where are they now?” I tried to cheer him up. “You turned out to be the wisest among all those gray-haired elders. You saved your clan. Or did they expect you to humbly obey their ridiculous orders?”
The young shaman chuckled. “You sound like Pike.”
“And probably not just him. I can see it in your eyes that you’ve heard it before. You know what my granddad used to tell me? He said, if a friend tells you you’re drunk you can disregard his words. But when five friends tell you the same thing you’d better go home and sleep it off.”
“These are the words of a wise man. I need to remember that.”
“Can I ask you something?”
He nodded. “Speak up.”
“Do you know anything about the other clans?”
“I don’t think so,” he admitted. “We were the first to leave the valley when the Noctean horde had just arrived at the Crooked Ravine. That’s two days’ march from the Silver Mountains. Do you think they might discover the magic marks left by Laosh?”
“I’ve only just learned about them,” I admitted. “But seeing as they’re already there, they might help other Caltean refugees to find their way here. We could offer them food and shelter...”
“You’re more worried about them than their own leaders,” Amai said. “I’m not surprised the Owls obey you. The Black Axes must have joined them only because of you. Don’t look at me like that. You really think that Crym or Pritus would listen to Laosh like they listen to you? I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure that old Laosh didn’t even know where he was supposed to be taking them.”
He was quite astute, wasn’t he? “You shouldn’t exaggerate. If you take Droy...”
“Forgive me for interrupting you,” Amai raised his hands in reconciliation, “I have nothing against Droy. He’s a powerful warrior and a strong commander. But he can’t think several moves ahead. Let me be completely frank with you. I know about your battle with the Darks. Before you arrived on your flying beast, I took the chance to talk to some of the Owl warriors. I didn’t like what I heard. At the beginning of the battle, they outnumbered the enemy ten to one, if you count both Owls and Black Axes. I expected to hear a glorious tale of their triumph. Imagine my disappointment when they told me that had it not been for your clever move involving the Erezes, it might have ended very badly for them...”
We talked well into the night, mainly discussing our future cooperation. As it turned out, the Wolves didn’t have any problems with either food or cattle fodder. They even had some to spare. What they did need was tools, especially weapons: the tribe wasn’t good at working steel. Normally, they bought everything they needed from the Caltean highlanders. But now that their habitat had been destroyed, they had to look for new solutions.
So this was the result of our conversation: we made an agreement to exchange tools and weapons for food and fodder.
Somebody might say this was a pittance. But personally, I think we’d made a very good start.
Chapter Nine
ONCE WE’D SEEN our guests on their way the next morning, I decided to distribute the items I’d bought for my clan members. If the truth were known, I was quite restless. What if it didn’t work? It wasn’t about the money even because I could always resell the items at auction. But my theory... was it right, after all? Because if it wasn’t, we might just as well pack up and leave. Without having the option of leveling up, my NPCs were doomed: sooner or later, they’d be annihilated by either the players or mobs.
“Uncle Olgerd! Granddad said you had a present for me!”
Aha, here was my first test subject. Lia couldn’t wait for her turn, could she?
Crunch stood behind her, shrugging in amazement at her childish impatience.
The girl’s hands, face and even clothes were covered in paint. Her little turned-up nose seemed to live a life of its own. Her emerald green eyes beamed with hope and excitement.
I couldn’t help it. My hands hurried to produce all my purchases from my bag.
“Your granddad is wrong,” I grinned back to her. “I haven’t got a present for you. I’ve got lots of them.”
As I spoke, her face changed expression from hope to disappointment to unbridled joy. She was almost hopping with excitement.
“There you go!” I began pulling out all the art tools I’d bought for her.
As the pile of gifts in front of her grew, Lia’s eye opened wider and wider. The box of paints and the packet of brushes were met with a happy squeak.
Finally, Lia calmed down a little. “Thank you so much, Uncle Olgerd!” she pressed the paints and brushes to her chest like the greatest of treasures.
Then she said something which held the promise of my plan’s success. “What a shame I can’t use any of this...”
Big sign of relief. “Why not?” I asked, second-guessing her reply.
She lowered her eyes. “Because I don’t know how to use these things yet... “
Crunch stood motionless, afraid of speaking. I could see he didn’t understand what was going on — but still he seemed to know it was all going to work out fine.
“How did you paint before?” I asked.
“Well,” the girl hurried to lay the presents onto the table, then reached into her own little pocket, “I had this.”
“What is it?” I asked, peering at a tiny scrap of parchment.
“My mom showed me how to draw a vine. She also marked down which paints and brushes I should use. And here, the words I should be saying as I paint...”
That came as a surprise. “Words? Which words?”
Crunch decided to interfere, “This is ancient sorcery. My wife learned it from her grandmother. She taught it to her daughter who in turn passed it on to Lia...”
Aha, so that’s what it was, then. How clever. This seemed to be a double-barreled profession. Just painting a pattern wasn’t enough: you still had to cast a spell on it. I hadn’t thought about it. Still, it was only understandable: all these professions were complicated to say the least.
Never mind. Next time I’d know what to look for.
“Not to worry,” I said. “The merchant who sold me the paints also gave me this,” I produced five scrolls tied up with pale green ribbons.
The girl’s hands shook as she unfolded the scrolls and began reading.
Now, the moment of truth. I was probably the more excited of the two of us.
After what seemed like an eternity, Lia looked up at me.
“What do you think?” I asked, trying to keep my cool.
“These are sketches,” she replied. “They look very similar to the ones Mom made. Only they’re prettier. And better. They’re easy to copy. I can draw them now, no problem. The rhymes are easy to remember too.”
Yesss! Yesss!! Yessss!!! I could scream and shout with joy. Still, I had to be careful not to scare the girl.
It worked! I did it! My NPCs will evolve!
Wait a sec. What had she just said?
“Which rhymes?” I asked.
“They’re similar to the ones Mom taught me. When you say them, the drawing will make the object stronger.”
Grrrrreat. So the sketches were sold complete with their respective spells. Excellent. One headache less. “So these sketches, what are they like?”
“This one,” the girl pointed her little finger, “if I paint it on Granddad’s cart, it’ll make it run faster.”
Crunch opened his eyes wide.
“If I paint those little leaves on his hammer, he won’t miss when he hits nails anymore. And those flowers, if you paint them on a tent, they’ll make it warmer on cold winter nights.”
Oh. Beautiful. Excellent!
“Thank you so much, Uncle Olgerd!” laughing, the
girl skipped out of the tent, hugging her armful of treasures.
I shouldn’t forget to tell everyone not to interfere with her art activities. Let her paint what she wants and where she wants. She needed the practice.
With that out of the way, I turned to Crunch. He didn’t take much time. I handed him some tools I’d bought for him, as well as a few blueprints and a small supply of materials. He thanked me profusely, both for himself and his little granddaughter. We shook hands, after which he hurried to his workshop to try out his newly-acquired knowledge.
There it was, the first droplet — which I hoped would spread, making very wide circles indeed.
I spent the whole evening walking around the camp distributing my wares. The whole place was buzzing with excitement.
Before going to bed later that night, I wrapped myself in animal skins for warmth and opened my clan control panel. I think I fell asleep with a happy smile still glued to my face, watching the drab gray of my clanmates’ possessions being replaced by the cheerful glow of a hopeful green.
* * *
“Now look here,” Zachary the blacksmith rubbed his red beard. “This one is for archers. This one is for shield-bearers who are the first to fend off the enemy. And this one is for lancers!”
His large hands gingerly readjusted the weapons and suits of armor that he’d laid out on a large flat rock chosen by him to showcase his new collection. Droy, myself and all the warriors made up the panel of judges. You should have seen the amazement on their faces as they studied their new “green” equipment. The sight of them pleased the eye.
I looked over the group, “I have a suggestion to make.”
They stopped talking and turned to me.
“On my request, these three suits have been custom-made for Droy, Crym and Seet. Why, might you ask? I’ll tell you. Zachary, can you explain, please?”
“There’s nothing to explain, really,” the blacksmith began. “You all know how important it is to get the size right. And as I couldn’t take everybody’s measurements, I had to make do with these three. That’s basically it.”
The Twilight Obelisk (Mirror World Book #4) LitRPG series Page 10