by R. A. Mejia
Mary clutches her chest in mock surprise before pointing a finger at me and miming a choking gesture. “I find your lack of faith disturbing.”
I put my hands together in mock contrition. “I’m one with the Force. The Force is with me.”
She nods sagely. “That’s better.”
The two of us laugh at the movie-quote showdown, but I feel Vrax shake his head, not understanding in the least what we’re doing. Turning in the saddle, I tell him, “Don’t worry, buddy. We’ll have lots of time on this trip to catch you up.”
Within a few minutes, the camels start to move. We leave the deceptively-small town that marks the hideout of Potentate Pauline and her smuggling operation and begin our slow trek across the vast and unforgiving Loblin Desert, its unending dunes shimmering in the early morning sun.
Chapter 17
The next few weeks are the repetitive rhythm of a traveling life. Our group takes turns riding the camels, and when we’re not riding, we’re walking beside them. The caravan doesn’t move very fast. I mean, no one ever described a camel as a speedster, and one laden with goods goes even slower. Most days, the caravan starts and stops with the rising and falling of the sun, although we’ll push past sunset if a source of water has dried up, or our resupply isn’t where it’s supposed to be.
Weather, terrain, and most importantly water determine our pace. The camels can go for several weeks without water or food, but no one wants to push them that far. They’re valuable beasts of burden. So, instead, the caravan leader tries to make sure we go no more than three or four days between watering holes. Sometimes, that means we stay near an oasis; other times, that means trading with a tribe of nomads for access to their water well and feed.
Daily life is mostly consistent: walk with the caravan or ride on it, look out for predators, watch for bandits. During the day, we eat as we travel, no stops for lunch. When we break for the day, everyone helps pitch camp and take care of the animals. My skill [Animal Care] goes up to nine, but without a trainer to raise it from Novice rank to Beginner rank, it’ll stay there.
That’s not to say that there isn’t time to do other things. In the mornings, or at night after a meal, we each have time to practice our skills and learn new ones.
Mary and I also make time to tell Vrax about the wonders of the Star Wars universe. Sure, he doesn’t get the concept of space travel and thinks the ships we refer to are the kind used on the water, but he gets enough. The themes of conquest and rebellion are pretty universal. I also make sure to include the extended universe stuff. I know it’s not official canon since Disney took over, but I just love the Thrawn saga too much not to include it. I mean, who wouldn’t love a funny-looking alien that beats everyone because he understands a culture enough through their art to predict their actions in battle? He didn’t need magic powers, just empathy and intelligence. Mary, on the other hand, loves Mara Jade the most--which figures, since the two ladies are both sassy and badass. What really bugs me is how much Vrax likes Jar Jar. For some reason, he connects with the character. One evening the discussion on the character’s merits becomes especially heated.
“Jar Jar start small and stupid but work hard to become better. He even become leader of his people and stands up for them in senate,” Vrax says.
I counter with a brilliant argument. “Pfffft. Sure, that’s technically true. But he’s still the dumbest character in any of the stories. Heck, if it wasn’t for him, Senator Palpatine would never have risen to power and formed the Empire. Loads of people actually speculate that Jar Jar was really a Sith the whole time. Which makes sense if you consider how his vote basically led to the destruction of the Jedi.”
“You take that back! Jar Jar no stupid! He only did what he thought was best! Not his fault stupid Palppi . . . Palpo . . .”
“Palpatine,” I add helpfully.
“Yip. Him. Not Jar Jar fault that one do bad things.”
I roll my eyes at my naive friend. “He’s still a dumb character whose only purpose was to be comedic relief. He looks like the love child of Donald and Goofy and should have been killed off in Episode One.”
Vrax, hopping mad by now, shakes his fists at me. “You take that back . . . you . . . you . . . Ewok lover!”
I push Vrax. “Now you’ve gone too far! How dare you bring those adorable mini Wookies into this. Everyone knows that, pound for pound, an Ewok is one of the deadliest hunters in the galaxy.”
Vrax pushes me back and taunts louder, “Ewok lover!”
“That is a enough!” Mary shouts. Her words are backed up by the growl of Mr. Snuggle Butt, whom she summoned. “I’m sooo tired of listening to this argument. From now on, I’m instituting a strict no Jar Jar rule. He shall not be discussed or ever mentioned again!”
With that, our argument ended. Though, no will ever be able to convince me of the merits of that character. Still, I enjoy sharing some of the stories from my world: it is comforting. It’s like I’m connecting my old life with my new one in a way.
Keans, when he’s not watching for trouble, takes the time to teach me how to throw knives. He tried to show me how to use his bow as well, but quite frankly, I don’t like tying up both my hands during a fight. I like having the option of using magic, and spellwriting requires at least one hand.
It’s a little challenging to accurately throw the knives. You have to change how you’re holding your knife depending on how far away the target is and get the spin just right, but the daily practice nets me an increase in dexterity and the skill [Knife Throwing], which pairs well with my existing skill [Knife Mastery]. By the end of the two weeks, I’ve increased the two skills to four and two respectively.
While I’m riding the camel or at night before bed, I work with the crafting materials we’ve been able to gather and practice with my new artificer skills. My favorite thing to do is to use my new design interface to scan in the items and materials, create 3D images of those things, and break them down into their component parts, modify them, or use them in another project. I scanned in the short sword Vrax uses, for example, and the program records it as:
Worn Short Sword
Damage: 4-5 (Piercing)
Durability: 3/15
Seeing the low durability reminds me that I need to repair the item later. The design interface lets me break down the sword into the blade, the hilt, and the pommel. I can then design improvements to the sword based on my current skills and any design parameters. Let's say I want to increase the damage output on the sword. I could use magical engraving to add fire damage to the blade of the weapon. I could then draw all my spellwriting symbols directly on the 3D version of the blade, put the whole sword together virtually, and the design interface would tell me that the engraving would cost me 35 XP to complete with a failure chance of 38%.
Now, let's say that I change my design, and instead of spellwriting on just the blade itself, I incorporate it all onto the hilt, with the effect ending only on the tip of the blade instead of all along it. That way, Vrax wouldn’t have to grab his blade to send the mana to the spellwriting, and the area of effect of the blade is much smaller. Well, the design program will update the cost of that engraving, it’s chance of failure, and note any side effects. Adding a heating element to the blade increases its durability loss. The expansion and contraction of the metal from the heat just causes more structural damage to the blade. Additionally, lets say I wanted to add a magical energy source to power the spell instead of making Vrax use his own mana. Well, I’d first have to create that object and scan it or create a model of it, and then I could incorporate it into the sword’s hilt, and the interface would update the cost of of creating the item.
Since the [Crystal Programming] skill works with the design interface, I get to practice coding the crystals I have without the chance of breaking them. Sure, I won’t actually get any increase in the skill until I actually code a crystal, but it’s a great way to see how the various instructions work and to test their effects without bur
ning through crystals. It also lets me test the energy and instructional capacities of each crystal--something that’s much more difficult to do by hand. I only have the few crystals that Mary got for me, but I experiment with modifying where the magical energy is being spent. Instead of expending magical energy towards damage, I can instead increase the secondary effects.
Crystal Force Grenade
Damage: 0 (Force)
Secondary Effect: Push Back
Area of effect: 3 ft^2
Durability: 3/3
Mana Cost create: 10
XP Cost to create: 10
Crystal Air Grenade
Damage: 0 (Air)
Secondary Effect: Knock back
Area of effect: 3 ft^2
Durability: 3/3
Mana Cost create: 10
XP Cost to create: 10
Sure, they don’t do damage, but they create an area of effect blast that can disable multiple people--well, assuming they don’t notice the exploding magical energy beneath them and jump away. Still, potentially very cool.
Experimenting with various designs is a fun way to pass the time, but actually making them is still just as challenging as before. After repairing Vrax’s blade, I ask him if he wants me to upgrade his sword or the stone knife. He shakes his head when I suggest he tamper with his knife, but he’s happy to let me add the fire ability to his blade and hilt. When I’m done, all he has to do is hold it and think of it heating up, and his mana will be used to heat the tip of the blade. Once the sword is repaired and complete, it costs me a whole 45 XP, but the results are worth it.
Worn Short Sword of Burning
Damage: 4-5 (Piercing)
Durability: 15/15
This worn short sword has been modified to include a burning effect. When the user sends mana into the weapon, the tip of the short sword will heat up until it is red hot. Additional fire damage will be added when the effect is activated.
Activation cost: 10 mana/min.
Fire damage: 2-3
My skills in [Magical Engraving] goes up to seven, [Repair] to four, and [Crystal Programming] to six.
Vrax and Mary work on their own skills, and from looking at their companion sheets, I can see that they’ve worked really hard over the last couple of months.
VraxLvl 6 Kobold - Scout
XP to level:1464
Defense: 4
Health100
Stamina 177
Mana44
Str15
Con18
Int15
Dex25
Wis7
Char8
Skills: Sneak - Beginner 5, Knife Mastery - Beginner 3, Search - Novice 8, Track - Novice 8, Herbalism: Novice 4, Sword Mastery: Beginner 1, Sling: Novice 8, Unarmed Combat: Novice 8, Trapping: Novice 5
Abilities: Backstab, Hamstring
Spells: None
Damage
4-6Stone knife
7-14Shortsword
3-4Unarmed
MaryLevel 5 Fairy - Mage
XP to level:101
Defense: 13
Health44
Stamina 67
Mana 157
Str7
Con15
Int24
Dex22
Wis17
Cha11
Skills: Unarmed Combat - Novice 3, Sneak - Novice 7, Hide - Novice 7, Herbalism: Novice 8, Haggle - Novice 9, Search - Novice 8
Abilities: Spell Boost - Duration, Spell Boost - Damage
Spells: Light, Summon Nature’s Ally I, Magic Missile, Nature's Grasp, Light Heal
Light - Duration 1hr
Summon Nature’s Ally I - Duration 90 min (Bonus from item)
Magic Missile - Damage: 3-6 / missile
Nature’s Grasp - Duration 3 min.
Light Heal - 5-7 health healed
I can’t help but stare at exactly how far they’ve come since we parted at the courthouse in Monstrum. They’ve both gained a level, applied their free stat points, and taken a class of their own. Vrax’s health and stamina are double what mine are now, and Mary’s mana pool is over twice what I have. The only area in which I’m sure that my class excels theirs is mana regeneration. When I look at how much XP Mary has to get in order to reach level six, I almost weep. She only needs 100 XP, while I need almost 500. I take deep cleansing breaths and remember that I’ve been crafting a lot, and that costs me XP. It’s a trade off I knew about when I first started magical engraving, but, man oh man, am I wishing I’d taken one of those class abilities that reduced XP cost for making magical weapons.
Vrax and Mary are out ahead scouting right now, but I’m going to have to remember to ask them about what they did while I was in prison.
Chapter 18
Several weeks into our journey, we run into a huge problem. It turns out that there are massive sandstorms that occasionally rip through the desert. If you’re caught out in the open, it can kill you in a number of ways: you could outright suffocate from all the dust and sand in the air, you could get disoriented and hurt yourself, or you could die in some other creative way.
The caravan master, whose name I eventually learn is Swayine, insists that we leave our current route and travel to the ruins of an ancient temple in order to avoid a giant sandstorm heading out way. The locals are afraid of the deserted remains of the once-holy place, believing that they are haunted by evil spirits, but Swayine insists he’s camped there before without issue. According to him, all that’s really there are some hollowed-out buildings, but the still-standing walls should provide us with enough protection from the storm.
It’s a day’s journey away, and all the while, the wind keeps picking up. By the time we catch sight of the ruins, the storm is already on our heels. Sand and dirt are flying everywhere, and the wind is so strong that it’s hard to even hear your own voice. Most of the caravan knows how to deal with these kinds of storms and secures all the goods and animals. They wrap themselves up in their robes and clothes until they look like they’re covered in cloth cocoons, and I don’t understand what they’re doing until I look toward the horizon and see the full sandstorm.
The howling wind mutes the expletives that escape my mouth when I see it. Encompassing the entire horizon is a wall of sand so tall it blocks out the sun. A great shadow precedes the storm, seemingly swallowing everything in its path. I would have stared at it, stunned by the sight even as it consumed me, except that Sonya pulls me down next to her. She quickly wraps the two of us in a large blanket. I can see her lips moving, but I can’t make out what she’s saying over the wind. She mimes something, but then all the light is just gone as the storm finally hits us.
Oh my god. I’d never realized how painful it could be to be hit with millions of grains of sand traveling at one-hundred miles per hour. It feels like I’ve been blindfolded and am being hit by fire hoses from multiple directions all at once, even with the protection from the blankets. I can only imagine what it must be like for someone caught in the open by a storm like this.
Under the blanket and in the dark, time seems to move at a snail's pace. I can’t tell if it’s been hours or only minutes, but my mind starts to panic. That is, until I feel a hand reaching for me. I grab it and feel the calluses created by countless hours of weapons practice but also the warmth of someone who cares for me. I’m thankful that I’m not alone.
______
It takes two full days for the sandstorm to break. I mostly nod in and out of sleep during that time. The sky is dark, so it’s hard to focus on anything to remain conscience. When I’m awake, I’d spellwrite the symbol for ‘light’ inside the blankets covering us so that Sonya and I wouldn’t be trapped in total darkness. She had some rations in her inventory, and I can gather just enough water with my spellwriting for the two of us, so we have enough to eat and drink. We eventually figure out how to talk to each other, but it requires each of us to speak directly into the other’s ear. Thankfully, conversation helps break the monotony of the situation.
I teach her h
ow to play twenty questions, and we spend some time guessing what the other is thinking about. I have a huge advantage in that I can use any number of items from my world, but she’s surprisingly insightful with her guesses. I had a television in mind, and with only a few questions, she had learned that it was inanimate but showed moving people, and she guessed a far-seeing stone. I don’t do nearly as well. She usually chooses some exotic weapon, piece of armor, or another piece of adventuring gear.
After twenty questions gets boring, the two of us just talk. Turns out that I get pretty chatty when I’m cooped up. She’s curious about what things were like for me in the prison camp, and I tell her everything.
“It was a lot of routine. Get up, eat, work, eat, watch out for the three stooges, talk with Meno or Token, and sleep. That was what I did every day, day in and day out, until Token unlocked my prisoner’s collar. After that, I could use skills and magic, so I practiced those until we escaped.”
“The three stooges?”
I laugh and try to explain the best I can. “There were three human idiots that kept harassing me for hanging around a hobgoblin and a kobold. They acted stupid, and one of them was bald, so I named them after a comedy trio that were known for their slapstick humor. Best comedy team ever, in my opinion.” She has more questions about slapstick humor and the type of comedy entertainment I’m referring too, and I have to try and explain. It takes some time, but it helps fill the hours while we wait for the storm to pass.