《Race of Culdovia》


 Chapter 1: The Search

    Su''lia tramped through the ash, her mood as dire as the sky''s deep reddish orange hue. She towered over everyone in the crowd. From the diminutive and spindly Kobolds, to the hauntingly beautiful scaled Dragonkiln, they all came below her chest. To be fair, not many races matched the height of a Half-Orc, standing at an impressive six foot, ten inches, it was almost fair to say she was a moving skyscraper to those so much smaller than her. As she traversed the crowd, she kept a lookout for a shop, not just any shop though, a purveyor of Stones. Stones, the force that fed the power to furnaces, that moved the continent revolving Magna-Rail, and that let adventures have at least a chance against the monsters of Culdovia. Stones were the power provided by the Godly Patrons, the five beings that ruled the world.


    Each Godly Patron lived in the center tower that was the namesake of Culdovia and they held a race every five years. This race was a simple one in practice, make it to the top of the Tower and receive a boon from each Godly Patron. In fact, this was the exact reason Su''lia was out searching for a Stones shop, she was going to participate in the race this year and needed to prove to an adventuring group that she was worth their time! She just needed to find the right shop, what did her Gran''s call it, ah thats right, ''The Merchants Magician''.


    Having searched for the better part of the morning, Su''lia was getting grumpy, she knew it was because she was hungry and that all of the shop signs came to just below her nose forcing her to. It did not help matters that she had already knocked over two stalls of merchants and broke a sign with her forehead as she backed away from the said merchants robust anger. It really wasn''t her fault that the sign was right behind her, so when she turned to flee it just hit her and broke. The merchants here really needed to pay for better materials.


    Humphing to herself she looked for someone to provide directions to the shop she was trying so hard to find. As she looked around she felt a small brush against her leg, it was not unusual but due to her size, many choose to steer as clear as they could, this made walking the streets easier and far less tedious. This made the sensation of something brushing her leg odd, as she looked around she saw many a kobolds small head and body, the graceful gait of the Dragonkiln, a Goblin running through the streets behind her, she really did not know what. She felt for her coin rod and found that it was missing.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    ''Wait! A goblin! In Krix! That little runt herding.'' Su''lia thought as she put the pieces together. Su''lia turned and gave chase. Her size made it a bit harder to travel the streets but she rushed as fast as she could. "Stop that Goblin!"? Su''lia yelled, "He is a thief! Stop him!"


    No one really wanted to get involved in the ravings of such a large Half Orc. Her race was known for kicking small buildings over in their anger or even throwing others that were smaller than them. It was just unsightly and demeaning to be used as a projectile. Su''lia bounded over a stall, her frame helping her clear the stall, well, most of it. Her back foot caught the edge of the stall and caused it to not only flip into the air but it caused her to fall face first.


    Su''lia looked on as the now airborne stall reached its apex. Shouting at the crowd to move, Su''lia scrambled to her feet and snatched her Gran''s heirloom from its hidden wrist sheath. Pulling the wand from its hidden location she directed the tip at the cart and made a quick circle motion with her wrist. Suddenly the air surrounding the now plunging cart grew dense forcing the cart to slow down. The crowd was looking at the spectacle. Stones that controlled air to this degree were rare and even more rare was it to see one in action. As Su''lia ran to the cart, her arm flashed out and caught the pesky goblin by his collar. The shirt on his frame was slightly loose but serviceable. It had a painted picture of an alpaca on it. "I got you now, you pesky runt herding son of a goat."? spoke the angry half-orc.


    Su''lia used her wand to slowly lower the stall to the ground and apologized for the trouble to the owner. Thankfully no one was hurt in all of this or she may have seen some time in a cramped kobold sized cell. Su''lia shuddered at the thought of being forced to endure such confinement. With her goblin prisoner in tow, she headed to an alley, she needed her coin rod and if she had to string the runt up she would.

 Chapter 2: Friends in the most unlikely of places

    Su''lia stalked into the ally, the thieving goblin held now by his legs so that he could not escape her wrath. She tossed the little runt into the air and watched him flip himself and land on top of a barrel. The little bastard looked so smug, oh how it irritated her to no end. "Look here you little cretain,"? she began, but before she could continue the goblin put a finger to his lips and pulled out a magic revolver. The next three seconds seemed to span for an eternity to Su''lia. The gun was shaped like all guns of its type were, a medium length cylinder attached to a lever, a wheel that housed the Stones that were activated when fired. While some people put different stones into these chambers, others just used a connecting stone to link each tube. After that there was the handle and its trigger mechanism.


    Now, Su''lia knew that guns were rare, she also knew that goblins were not the smartest or even had the best eyesight, but at that range she visibly gulped. Her voice broke a tiny bit as she asked "O-okay, what do you want with me?"?, not really caring if her voice quavered or broke, she was after all staring down the barrel of a .45, a McDougal Special she thought, odd enough in a sort of calm retrospect. The goblin looked her up and down approvingly and nodded his head. Unsure why he was checking her out this way, Su''lia prepared to draw her Gran''s wand and make a run for it.


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    Suddenly the goblin cackled and flipped the gun into the air and over his head. As if by magic it landed in the holster at his back and he gave a bow from atop the rickety barrel. In a small but slightly high pitched male voice the goblin spoke, "It is fun to meet you tall lady. I be Knucklebiter von''Powder. My, happiness to meet you."? Taking a moment to translate the child like way of speech, she returned "I am Su''lia of the Twine Peaks Clan."?  narrowing her eyes she repeats her earlier question but more diplomatic, "How can I help you, Knucklebiter?"?.


    Knucklebiter smiled a toothy smile and waved her to follow. "Come, come tall lady. I take you to friend. You handle self much better than other spindly rug wearers." This statement took a bit to actually work through. Did the goblin mean that he had done this to others that looked like mages? Did this mean he was looking for mages? If so the only thing that flashed repeatedly through her mind was Why?


    They continued down the alley for a ways before turning to a door. This purple and red slashed door had a simple yet elegant sign above it. This sign was actually taller than Sua€?lia which was an oddity in itself. The air around the door was chilled, it felt like power radiated off of it in waves. To be honest she was afraid of this door, of what could be beyond. Finally looking up to the sign she read ''The Merchants Magician''.


    In a whisper that was just barely audible she said, "You have got to be kidding me. . ."

 Chapter 3 Beyond the door

    "What is the meaning of this!"? she exclaimed at Knucklebiter as she turned to face him. The infuriatingly smug goblin just grinned wider showing off his full collection of teeth. Oh how she hated that smug attitude of his, but what was she to do. "Friends shop. Looking for smart rug wearer. You might do"?  said the goblin in halting common. It was like trying to decipher a toddlers speech at times with this, well she needed to continue on. "So whats next then Knucklebiter?"? asked Su''lia, she was not sure if she should go in and the power she felt from the door honestly took her aback.


    Excuse me, have you seen a goblin? He just entered the store and I seemed to have lost him." Looking at her, he continued to clean the glass in his hand and nodded his head. In an elegant voice he spoke to her, "You mean that scoundrel Knucklebiter? He went to get the shop master. Seems some, what did he call you, ah that is right some ''smart rug wearer'' was found."? the bartender chuckled at this. "Would you like something to drink?" he asked Su''lia, inwardly cursing her lack of manners, "Su''lia, and yes. Do you have any Twine Peaks Holova?"? she missed the drink, its spicy yet sweet aftertaste coupled by its smooth feel going down before the life giving warmth explodes through ones body, ah, what a drink.


    "Holova eh? Hmm, not a request I hear often. Maybe, AH! Here it is."? It had taken the bartender a few moments to find the slightly dust covered bottle but she knew Holova when she saw it. The slightly pink color of the drink had a dim glow behind the veneer of dust on the bottle. She guessed it was maybe a three year old bottle. Good time for it to build its flavor. "Would you like some ice with this Ms Su''lia? OH! Where are my manners, I am Meltra, humble barkeep at the ''The Merchants Magician''." as Meltra introduced himself he smiled and did a small bow. Really just more of an incline of his head. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    "I will not bite you little human."? her toothy grin was not exactly reassuring but she made the attempt to be kind, she would be lying though if she said that it did not give her any sort of thrill to tease the scrawny human. Heeding her gesture, he came forward and sat down though he still sounded like he might be muttering to something.


    Want anything to drink Mr.?". Meltra seemed to be doing what bartenders do best, dig for information. The human spoke up, "Kailo, Kailo Skybrand."? he stated politely "Um, sure, can I get a Culdova on the rocks please?" Kailo inquired. This made Meltra and Su''lia raise their eyebrows. A Culdova was a potent drink, mixing a dash of half-orc Holova, elvish Beam Whiskey, halfling Runt Rum, and to top it all off dwarven Mountain Jewel Scotch. While sounding horrendous in its combination, it was actually a drink favored by those who could drink most people under the table. Even dwarves stayed away from the drink which would tell anyone to stay away.


    "Are you sure, Kailo was it? That is a pretty potent drink."? Meltra asked cautiously. Silently Su''lia agreed, she had seen a dwarf once try a Culdova and in less than five minutes he was out like a light. Kailo just smiled and nodded "Absolutely, this is one of my favorite drinks. Heavy on the rocks though." he said a bit sheepishly. Su''lia smiled and took a bit of a liking to the boy. He was smart enough to know that the ice would help him out and he likely would just sip the drink. She leaned closer to the young man"So, Kailo, what brings you to this shop? Are you a Krix Racer?"?  she asked curiously, she knew nothing of the little human but he was much better company than the missing Kuncklebiter to be certain. He grinned sheepishly again "A, friend, suggested this place to me. She said that this would be a great place to get some information on the Race and maybe even a group to join."?. He was straightforward with her and she definitely appreciated that. She smiled at him and placed an elbow on the bar, she laid her chin onto her upwards palm and ignoring Meltra''s glare she stated "You too eh? I happen to be in the same shoes though I am looking for some Stones to help me out."