| Status | |||||
| Name | Arden | Class | Cleric | ||
| Race | Human | Level | 1 | ||
| Languages | English, Common, Celestial | XP / Next | 0 / 200 | ||
| Attributes | |||||
| Health | Stamina | Mana | |||
| 178 | 150 | 100 | |||
| [Stats] | |||||
| A | L | M | S | ||
| 45 | 16 | 37 | 31 | ||
| [Skills] | [Spells] | [Quests] | [Abilities] | [Boons] | |
| Object Identification |
| Arden''s Backpack |
| Arlo | |||||
| Species: | Dire Wolf | Companion to: | Willow | Level: | N/A |
| Equipment | |||||
| Preset 1 | Preset 2 | Preset 3 | |||
| Save | Load | Save | Load | Save | Load |
| Inventory | |||||
| Weapons & Armor | Consumables | Everything Else | |||
| Chainmail armor set | 55 lbs | Rations (10) | 20 lbs | Bedroll | 7 lbs |
| Dagger | 1 lb | Waterskin | 5 lbs | Chest | 25 lbs |
| Long Sword | 3 lbs | Holy Water | 1 lb | Crowbar | 5 lbs |
| Shield | 6 lbs | Hammer | 3 lbs | ||
| Holy Symbol | .25 lbs | ||||
| Manacles | 6 lbs | ||||
| Mess Kit | .5 lb | ||||
| Oil Flask | 1 lb | ||||
| Rope (50 ft) This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. | 10 lb | ||||
| Torch | 2 lb | ||||
Class Ability: Chaos Wave Level: 1 Description: At the cost of 75% of the caster''s total mana, they can unleash a chaotic wave of magic that has random effects. If the caster has less than 75% of their mana remaining, their health will be used in its place.¡°Seems like a last resort skill.¡± Willow suggested. ¡°But it levels. I wonder if she¡¯ll get more control over the spell as she increases her level in it?¡± Arden mused. ¡°How is she supposed to level a spell when she has no idea what will happen when she casts it?¡± Nolan questioned. ¡°Seems risky.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I thought!¡± exclaimed Hazel. ¡°Nothing wrong with a little bit of risk. How about you cast that when we find our first group of goblins this morning and let¡¯s see what happens?¡± Arden recommended. ¡°Why first thing this morning?¡± Asked Willow ¡°So if it goes horribly wrong we¡¯re all still fresh enough to fight or run from it.¡± ¡°Makes sense,¡± Nolan said. ¡°Anyone else get anything good?¡± Willow raised her hand, ¡°I got an ability that gives me information on plants.¡± ¡°I got an aura ability that says it will boost to my allies willpower and composure if they¡¯re within a certain range of me,¡± Arden added. Nolan tilted his head in thought before responding, ¡°Why willpower and composure? This makes several times now that we have seen references to hidden stats.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure. Seems like the more we learn about this new world the more questions we have. But, maybe this ability will keep people from losing heart in the middle of a fight?¡± ¡°As good of a guess as any, I suppose. We really need some sort of guide. Liam¡¯s and Regina¡¯s groups have a real advantage over us with the training they¡¯re receiving.¡± ¡°Agreed. So what new skill, spell, or whatever did you get?¡± ¡°I got one that is suppose to make me more resistant to mind-control and emotional manipulation.¡± ¡°Really? That plus the skill we got to resist mind-control. Seems like another case where the gods are preparing us for something, doesn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°My thoughts exactly. Guess we should figure out a way to level that up along with all the other skills.¡± ¡°I suppose so. Let¡¯s go drop Ewan off and get started.¡± Arden said as he got up. ? Just over an hour later the party was easing through the forest trying to stay quiet as they followed Arlo to what they hoped were some sleeping goblins. Instead they came upon a group of goblins that were in the process of building a series of traps. Nolan motioned for the party to stop. Arden used [Message] to let Hazel know it was time. Hazel stepped out in front of the party and approached the goblins as she activated [Chaos Wave] for the first time. Immediately wind blew from Hazel and then bubbles started to form around her and get blown out toward the goblins. The goblins, for there part, were confused and immediately dropped their tools and charged the sorceress. Until one of the goblins was touched by one of the bubbles. The goblin was immediately pulled into the bubble which continued to float along. The goblin struggled to get free but the bubble simply contorted and expanded, refusing to free the goblin. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Seeing this, another goblin ran up to the bubble the first goblin was in and tried to pop it with his claw. As soon as his claw touched the bubble, he too was pulled inside. The bubbles continued to float toward the goblins and the party realized that the bubbles appeared to be attracted to the goblins, following them as they started to panic, speeding up as they got closer. Then Willow noticed something about the two in the first bubble, ¡°Hey guys, look! It¡¯s shrinking.¡± Sure enough the bubble with the two goblins in it was getting smaller and smaller. As they watched, the goblins started getting smashed together, then crushed. Then the goblins and the bubble popped and gore burst out. As the party watched, the other bubbles continued to shrink and pop, killing whatever was inside of them. After the last of the goblins had popped the area went quiet. Everyone just looked around at the scene in front of them. ¡°Well,¡± said Willow, ¡°that was something.¡± ¡°Playful but deadly,¡± Nolan muttered before looking over at Hazel. ¡°Seems about right.¡± ¡°Wonder what will happen the next time she casts that spell?¡± Arden mused. ¡°It took what, five minutes for that to kill everything? Hazel, how¡¯s your mana pool?¡± ¡°I¡¯m just over half.¡± ¡°Instead of being a last resort ability,¡± Arden turned to Nolan, ¡°I like it more as an opener. Even if it isn¡¯t this powerful every time, the randomness of it all would help to throw off the other side.¡± Nolan just shrugged. ¡°Maybe, but it could throw off our side as well. Let¡¯s do some more testing¡± The party just left the goblins without trying to loot anything. They continued hunting and soon Arlo found another trail. This time they were able to sneak up on sleeping goblins without setting off any traps. Everyone drew their dagger and went to work. As they left the goblin camp Willow looked over to the others and asked, ¡°Does it bother y¡¯all that we¡¯re killing other people?¡± Hazel raises and eyebrow at the question, ¡°But they aren¡¯t people. They¡¯re goblins.¡± ¡°Just because they aren¡¯t human doesn¡¯t mean they aren¡¯t people. We know they can speak. We know they can learn to use weapons and build traps. They have to be sapient.¡± Interjecting before the sisters get too wound up, Arden says, ¡°Yes they are likely sapient which would make them people. And yes, it does bother me. But they¡¯ve been murdering the people of Wildemill for some time and they¡¯re only in this area because they ostensibly plan to continue doing so.¡± Nolan nods his head, ¡°Yeah, all life is sacred. But until one of these buggers is willing to talk before attacking, I¡¯m fine with doing what needs to be done.¡± ¡°You realize those two statements you just said are contradictory, right?¡± Willow asked Nolan. ¡°Yes. What can I say, I¡¯m a complex person.¡± The group spent another three hours searching before they were able to find another group of goblins. This time they were awake so they gave Hazel¡¯s [Chaos Wave] spell another go. The results were not as deadly but no less spectacular as it turned the area blue. The goblins, the grass, the trees, everything in front of Hazel for about 50 feet was just blue. This didn¡¯t seem to harm anything, but it did surprise the goblins and gave the party an opening during the start of the fight and they were able to quickly subdue them all. They waited around for about half an hour before the blue started to fad and everything went back to it¡¯s normal color. The rest of the day was rather uneventful. Arlo was finding a lot of trails and the party saw many tracks, but it seemed like the goblins were intentionally going in circles and trying to create false trails. They went to check the two poison traps they had built the night before. Both appeared to have been set off but neither had any goblins in them. ¡°Didn¡¯t y¡¯all say a proper pit trap should have spikes. We just put Hazel¡¯s poison gas in there.¡± Willow said as they were all standing around looking at one of the traps. ¡°Yeah, it really was just an idea without any testing. We don¡¯t know if the poison would even hurt the goblins.¡± Nolan added. ¡°Let¡¯s hold off on building more traps until we have time to test the ideas,¡± Arden said. ¡°We don¡¯t even know how long the poison gas Hazel¡¯s spell creates will last. It could dissipate an hour after she summons it or something.¡± ¡°So I didn¡¯t do anything wrong?¡± Hazel asked hesitantly. ¡°No, this was just poor planning,¡± Nolan answered. Arden used the dirt they had stored in his pack the previous day to refill one of the pits and Willow used her [Mold Earth] spell to fill the other. Afterwards they went ahead and returned to town. The following day of hunting started out much like the previous one ended. Hours spent looking for more goblins with nothing to show for it. Nolan decided to lead the party further south, in hopes that a new hunting ground would be more fruitful and they did have some fortune, finding two groups of goblins. It was well after lunch by the time they defeated the second group so they decided to head back to town since they were further away than normal. On their fourth day of hunting the party traveled south until nearly lunch time, covering about fifteen miles. After a quick snack, they let Arlo start hunting. Arlo soon found a trail that headed in a north easterly direction which they followed for another three miles before they came upon a single goblin scout that was hiding in a tree. After taking care of the scout they continued north while Arlo searched for another trail but didn¡¯t find anything. Eventually they gave up and returned to town about an hour before sunset. The fifth day they went out, they crossed the river on the west side of town and started scouting the forest there while moving in a southward direction. After a few hours of not seeing any evidence of the goblins on that side of the river they crossed back over the river, spending the afternoon searching the area where they hunted earlier in the week to see if any goblins had returned. Unfortunately the afternoon was just as unfruitful as the morning and they returned to town tired and feeling down. Ch 21 | ? Point & Counterpoint After a week of daily hunts the party went downstairs for breakfast only to find Guard Captain Christi waiting for them in the eating area of the inn. ¡°Word is that you all have been hunting goblins,¡± Chirsti stated in a no nonsense tone. ¡°Some even claim that you¡¯re killing some absurd numbers of them. But I don¡¯t trust rumors, I wanted to hear it directly. What have you managed, five? Maybe ten in the last five days?¡± The party looked to one another and Arden cast [Message] and told Hazel what to do. With a smile Hazel took off her pack and walked over to about five feet in front of Christi and turned her pack upside down while thinking ¡®Goblin¡¯. Dozens of heads fell to the floor at the guard captain¡¯s feet. Once they stopped appearing from the pack, Hazel closed the flap and walked back to join her family. ¡°Any other questions?¡± Arden asked dryly. ¡°Or can we sit and eat breakfast?¡± ¡°You aren¡¯t eating anything in my inn until you clean up that mess!¡± yelled Jacob from the kitchen doorway. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you just dumped that on my floor.¡± Arden winced as he turned to Jacob, ¡°Apologies, sir. Was simply trying to make a point to our honorable guard captain here. We¡¯ll pick them all up and clean the floor as well.¡± Putting actions to words, Arden retrieved Hazel¡¯s pack and knelt down in front of Christi and started picking up all the goblin heads. Once finished he performed a few castings of [Clean] on the area before calling it done. As Arden took his regular seat, Jacob brought out the breakfast plates. As the party started to eat, Christi approached the table, ¡°I don¡¯t understand you all. My skills still tell me you¡¯re rather weak first tier. Stronger than when I first met you but weak nonetheless. Yet you still managed to kill all those goblins? How?¡± ¡°Does it matter?¡± Nolan asked. ¡°It¡¯s obvious that you don¡¯t care for us, but we¡¯re trying to help make the town safe. Can¡¯t you just be happy about that?¡± Christi appeared to think on Nolan¡¯s words for a moment before nodding. She then turned and exited the building without saying another word. ¡°What was that all about?¡± Willow asked. Jacob laughed as he brought out a pitcher of breakfast ale, ¡°She doesn¡¯t know what to do about you. You claim the gods sent you and she hates that. Add to it that you¡¯re having more success than she and her guard ever did. She doesn¡¯t want to trust you. But she takes her responsibility to the town seriously and can see that you are doing good for the town. It¡¯s creating an conflict that she needs to resolve. Now, how many goblin heads was that? And why do you have them?¡± ¡°I counted them as I picked them up. We¡¯re at 47 in five days,¡± Arden answered. ¡°Averaging a touch over nine per day? That¡¯s pretty good.¡± ¡°It would be if it wasn¡¯t trending sharply down. We¡¯re going to have to start going further south to find them. Or hunting far less. Yesterday we didn¡¯t find any all day.¡± ¡°But that¡¯s a good thing. That means the area around the town is safer. Maybe we could get the fields planted again?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good point. I hadn¡¯t thought about it from than angle,¡± said Arden right before taking another bite of eggs. ¡°You didn¡¯t say why you were keeping the heads? Was it just to pour on my floor?¡± ¡°I want to put the heads on spikes!¡± Hazel exclaimed. ¡°She thinks it¡¯ll scare the goblins.¡± Willow added. Jacob paled a bit before responding, ¡°Well, that would certainly make me think twice about attacking. Though you should probably get permission from the mayor before you do that.¡± Arden and Nolan looked to one another before shrugging and nodding. Nolan responded, ¡°That sounds like a good idea. We had already planned to stay in town today, so perhaps we can find time to meet her today.¡± ¡°Dad,¡± Willow started, ¡°Oringo said that the goblins only had like 150 warriors. If we¡¯ve nearly killed a third of them in one week, whomever is in charge is going to notice.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking about that as well,¡± Nolan said. ¡°I think that¡¯s why we didn¡¯t find anyone yesterday. I think they pulled them back to make new plans and things are about become far more dangerous.¡± Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°We¡¯ll just have to stay alert then. Maybe hold off on those plans to head further south for a while,¡± Arden suggested. ¡°Yeah, probably a good idea. What if we start trapping the area around here and we only move further south once we have enough traps near town. Then, if we get in over our heads we could fall back and let the traps thin them out?¡± ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s plan on doing that. Maybe run it by Christi and Oringo and figure out how we can mark the traps so that the guards and hunters don¡¯t get caught in them.¡± ¡°Good call.¡± Seeing Jacob heading back into his kitchen, Nolan continued, ¡°Did anyone get anything for hitting level seven?¡± ¡°Heck no, I got gypped. I thought each level came with more skills and such?¡± Arden replied. ¡°Dad!¡± exclaimed Willow. ¡°You can¡¯t say gypped. It¡¯s raciest.¡± ¡°How so?¡± ¡°Seriously? You know that that word derives from gypsy which is also raciest.¡± ¡°To the Romani, yes. But we¡¯re in a completely different world. I doubt there¡¯s any Romani here.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter. What was it you use to tell us? ¡®Manners matter¡¯¡± As Willow continued correcting her father, the door to the inn opened and guard captain Christi and another lady entered the inn. ¡°Okay. I admit you¡¯re right and I¡¯m wrong,¡± Arden conceded. ¡°But back to the point, why didn¡¯t we get any class abilities or spells for leveling up?¡± ¡°As you progress in levels, new abilities and spells are spaced out further,¡± said the lady with the guard captain. ¡°Though, you can continue to learn them on your own.¡± Seeing that she had the party¡¯s attention the lady continued, ¡°Apologies for butting in. I¡¯m Helen Baumgartner, the mayor of Wildemill. I¡¯ve been hearing a lot about you and wanted to come and meet with you, if you have time.¡± The party glanced at one another all of them to one degree or other feeling like they were about to be in trouble. Like they had been sent to the principals office and weren¡¯t entirely sure why. ¡°Pull up a seat mayor, join us for breakfast,¡± Arden finally said. ¡°Christi, you¡¯re welcome to join as well if you can tolerate my company for a bit.¡± Once the ladies were seated Arden asked, ¡°I assume you come with questions, mayor. What answers can we provide?¡± The mayor looked over the party for a moment before speaking in a distraction tone, as if some answers just feel into place for her but they brought more questions with them, ¡°Questions? Oh, yes. I¡¯m sorry.¡± Looking toward the kitchen the mayor called out, ¡°Jacob sir, can you bring me a drink, please?¡± Looking back to Arden she continued, ¡°Guard Captain Christi tells me that you claimed to have been sent by the gods to help us. Is that true?¡± ¡°Technically, the gods simply told to help those who needed it. Your town appears to need it.¡± Cutting in, with disbelief in her voice, Christi asked, ¡°And exactly which gods told you this? Or did you just see them at a party and they decided to give you this order?¡± ¡°Sort of,¡± Willow answered. ¡°Not really,¡± Hazel said at the same time. ¡°Well which is it?¡± Christi asked, smiling like she¡¯d tripped them up. ¡°Guard Captain,¡± Nolan started in a neutral tone, ¡°I don¡¯t think you¡¯re going to believe anything we say. But the truth is that each of us has spoken with a different god or goddess. Each were told essentially the same thing and then we were sent in your direction. So, yes, I believe they did get together and plan this but I¡¯m not sure if it was at a party. The order was communicated one-on-one. The god I spoke with was Robani. Arden spoke with Cilena, Hazel spoke with Viznen, and Willow spoke with Aservia. Please feel free to pray to any of them and ask for confirmation.¡± ¡°So what, you¡¯re all priests or something?¡± grumbled Christi. ¡°No, none of us are priests,¡± Arden said with a smirk. ¡°Nothing wrong with being a priest but it seems a bit too¡ passive for me. But I am a cleric. Nolan is a monk, Hazel is a sorceress, and Willow is a druid. My grandson doesn¡¯t have a class yet, which I believe is normal? Now, I think it¡¯s only fair to go tit for tat. What class do you have guard captain?¡± As Arden asked the question he saw the expression on the mayor¡¯s face change slightly. Evidently he just gave something away. ¡°I have a variant on the solider class as do all the guards.¡± Christi responded, also a touch confused. About that time Jacob arrived at the table with the drink the mayor requested but also with two more plates of food and a pitcher of breakfast ale for the table. ¡°Jacob,¡± the mayor asked, ¡°do you have anyone else staying at the inn?¡± ¡°No ma¡¯am.¡± ¡°Would you mind locking the doors to keep anyone else from wandering in. I think we¡¯re about to start discussing some sensitive topics.¡± ¡°Of course Mayor,¡± Jacob replied, already heading for the doors. ¡°What is it mayor?¡± Christi asked, confused. Looking back at the others at the table, Mayor Helen started ticking points off on her fingers, ¡°You appeared out of nowhere. You claim the gods sent you. With the exception of the child, you all appear to be about the same age but supposedly Arden is the father of Hazel and Willow. You fight well above your level. You didn¡¯t know that not every level comes with class abilities or spells. You didn¡¯t know that guards always have a variant of the solider class. Do you know what all the points add up to?¡± As the mayor worked her way down her list the party grew more and more on edge. Even Ewan looked up from his meal, sensing something was up. ¡°Mayor?¡± Christi asked, feeling the tension in the air and not being confident at all of being able to protect the mayor from the whole party she was just locked in with. ¡°Tell me, how long has it been since the gods brought you to Traum?¡± Ch 22 | ? Cleaning House After breakfast, Mira and Regina decided they were going to explore a bit of the town and left Ramiro and Eric behind. Looking for something constructive to do, the men grabbed the five who had volunteered to help, and they went downstairs and started cleaning up the mess that had been left behind from the previous day¡¯s fighting. As they cleaned, they got a feel for each of the young elves¡¯ personalities and even some of their skills. It was obvious to both Eric and Ramiro that the five had led a harsh life when they willingly helped them move and dispose of the bodies of those killed in the fighting yesterday without any hesitation. While they worked, they spoke of life before being put into slavery. The one called Rye seemed to be the planner of the group, and he had put together a doozy. They called their crew ¡®The Hand,¡¯ and they were each ¡®Fingers.¡¯ Rye had encouraged them all to choose different skills to grow. His twin sister, Rain, was a magic user, Mal was the tracker, Nails was an assassin, and Aim did some pickpocketing as well as running confidence games. ¡°Hold up,¡± said Eric, ¡°Your names are actually Rye, Rain, Aim, and Nails?¡± ¡°My given name is actually Malquis,¡± said Mal, ¡°but that¡¯s a bit of a mouthful.¡± Rye added, ¡°Yeah, my name is actually Ryel, Rain is really Rania, Nails is Naill, and Aim is Aimer. But those aren¡¯t really suitable street names.¡± ¡°Fair enough. Sorry for interrupting,¡± apologized Eric. And Rye continued his story they learned that The Hand was successful for a time. The crew was young, especially for elves, so people tended to underestimate them. Things went well until another crew felt threatened. Tensions between the two crews escalated over time, but in the end, the other crew won out by being more devious. Rye had standing plans in place in case the city guards interrupted one of their jobs. He did not have plans in place for being jumped by cultists. Ramiro saw Rye¡¯s demeanor change when that part of the story was told but he had no idea how to comfort him so he changed the topic, ¡°How are we going to dispose of the bodies without the city guard getting involved?¡± ¡°We can bury them,¡± Aim suggested ¡°I can burn them.¡± Rain said. ¡°I have a spell that will burn everything but the bones.¡± ¡°That¡¯s going to smell horrible.¡± Eric replied ¡°And we don¡¯t have anywhere for the smoke to go, do we?¡± Ramiro adds. ¡°We may. These rooms have to have some sort of ventilation.¡± Rye said while looking for said ventilation. Nails snaps his fingers, ¡°Nam killed too many folks for him not to have a way to deal with bodies. There¡¯s got to be a mass grave or something around here.¡± Looking to Ramiro and Eric he asked, ¡°Are there any doors you haven¡¯t opened yet?¡± ¡°Quite a few,¡± Eric said The group split up and started searching. Most of the doors they opened appeared to be offices or bunk rooms. Ramiro found a locked door but managed to get it open after some effort. The room behind it was small, not even five by five. But the shelves were full of jewelry and other valuables, including more than a few stacks of coins. Mal found a room that was full of clothes, many with blood on them. Eric found what looked like a laundry chute and, next to it, a door to a staircase leading down. He called out to everyone, and a few minutes later they were all heading down the stairs. At the bottom, the stairs ended next to a massive pit. Looking into the pit they initially couldn¡¯t see anything because of how deep it was. Rain used her magic to conjure some fire to see by, and what they saw turned their stomachs. Deep in the pit were dozens and dozens of bodies in various stats of decomposition. Ramiro turned to the others, ¡°No one tells Mira about this.¡± Everyone nodded as they all started walking back up the stairs. ¡°How wide do you think that pit was?¡± Eric asked ¡°No more than 15 feet; why?¡± Rye responded ¡°Rain, go back down and throw all the fire you can into the pit. The rest of you start moving bodies to the chute.¡± ¡°Dude, the smoke and the smell are going to go everywhere,¡± Ramiro warned. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. I think that room is sealed. The air in there was nothing like the air in here. And the smell in there hasn¡¯t gotten in here. I think we¡¯ll be okay. Within twenty minutes all the bodies had been stripped and dropped down the chute and into the pit which was full of roaring flames thanks to Rain. Eric stopped Rain from casting more and motioned for them to head back upstairs. Once they had the door closed again Eric took a deep breath. ¡°Yep. The smoke and the smell are all contained.¡± ¡°Must be some sort of enchantment,¡± replied Rain. As Rain and Eric got back to where they left everyone else, they saw the others are going through the clothing room and selecting outfits for themselves. Rain took a seat on the floor with her back against a wall and used her magic to clean and repair all the clothes the others picked out. Within the hour, all of them had a week''s worth of clothing. Seeing they were done with the clothes, Ramiro walked up to Rain, ¡°If you¡¯re not too tired, can you use that magic to clean all of us? I¡¯d like to take you all shopping, but I¡¯d rather we didn¡¯t smell like the dead.¡± Rain gladly started casting [Clean] on everyone. ¡°We just got some clothes; why do we need to go shopping now?¡± Mal asked ¡°If you¡¯re going to help us, you¡¯re going to need more than clothes. I want to make sure you¡¯re all equipped properly. Whatever tools, weapons, or armor that you need.¡± The five froze and looked at one another as if they couldn¡¯t believe what Ramiro said and were wanting confirmation. ¡°Well, you just going to stand there or what?¡± Eric asked with a grin. ¡°Can¡¯t bring back The Hand with no gear.¡± ? Alexis woke up to the sun shining in the window of her hotel room. She still couldn¡¯t believe she was in another world. As she lied there letting her mind process everything she noticed a flashing underscore in the lower right corner of her vision. Focusing on it her vision was filled with a screen telling her that she¡¯s leveled up. Her fighter class had assigned two points to her Athletics stat and she had two more stat points to assign. Thinking about how low her health had gotten yesterday during the fighting she dropped both of the free points in Athletics as well. ¡°Now that¡¯s done, let¡¯s go see what the plan is for today.¡± She said to herself as she got up. She went to the rooms next to her¡¯s that the rest of the team was using and no one was there. ¡°Guess I sleep later than I realized¡± she thought to herself. As Alexis was descending the stairs into the common room she found about half of the captives that stayed were there and they appeared to be in a heated debate about something. She hesitated briefly but her stomach grumbled so she decided to go sit at the bar and hoped the cooks had made breakfast. In short order she had a plate in front of her. ¡°Morning Mia. How are you feeling today?¡± The waitress paused for a moment in thought before answering, ¡°I always thought I couldn¡¯t wait to get out of this inn but this morning I find myself doing my usual duties for the comfort they provide. It¡¯s going to take some time for me to adjust.¡± ¡°That makes sense. I know we just met yesterday, but if you need to talk, let me know.¡± Alexis responded. Before Mia could say anything there was loud crash behind them. Both of the ladies turned to see one of the men lying in a jumble of wood that had been a table. Another man standing near him motioning for him to come at him. ¡°That¡¯s enough!¡± Alexis yelled as she hopped off her bar stool and walked toward the men. Both of the men fighting turn to her. ¡°Stay out of this, it doesn¡¯t have anything to do with you,¡± said the man standing. ¡°Oh? Then what does it have to do with? Free for less than 24 hours and rather than celebrating you¡¯re fighting? What sense does that make?¡± A puzzled look came across the man¡¯s face, ¡°You mean 25 hours?¡± ¡°Whatever! Why are you fighting?¡± Before either man could answer an elven woman with streaks of gray in her hair stepped forward, and pointed at the man who had been thrown into the table, ¡°That¡¯s Harry and the other is Phuc. We were all talking this morning trying to decide what we¡¯re going to do, where we¡¯re going to go from here. Somehow, these two made the whole discussion about themselves. Come to find out they each blame the other for them being abducted.¡± Alexis stood there for a moment processing what she¡¯d just heard before finally shaking herself. ¡°Thank you for explaining it. What was your name, ma¡¯am?¡± ¡°I¡¯m Siona¡± the woman answered ¡°Thank you Siona. I appreciate your help.¡± Alexis said before looking back to the two men. ¡°Seems you two some issues to work out, just like everyone else here. But you¡¯re the only ones getting violent. I¡¯d think you¡¯d have had enough violence in your lives already. Now, the person responsible for you being abducted is dead. Stop looking for someone else to blame and be thankful that you¡¯re free.¡± At this point both men were standing, heads hung in shame. Alexis walked to a table in the corner of the room, sat down and motioned for the men to sit with her. Then she looked at the rest of them, ¡°Pull you chairs over here. Let¡¯s sit and talk about what¡¯s next. Let me know what skills and training everyone has and we¡¯ll work together to try and figure out what occupations would be best. Alexis learned that several of the recently freed people had never been taught to read. Since she served the Goddess of Literacy she figured she should offer to help them learn. Some readily agreed while others were hesitant. Alexis also learned that a few had experience in a trade skill but most were just manual laborers of some sort. Siona knew little beyond how to clean a house which wouldn¡¯t have been too bad if not for the fact that she was over 600 years old. But slowly a plan came together for most of the people as they discussed everyone¡¯s skills and desires. When they finished, it was late morning and the group¡¯s optimism was much higher than it had been. When Alexis excused herself from the table she was feeling quite proud of how she handled things. Ch 23 | ? Meeting the King By early that evening, the party had gathered back around a table in the private dining room discussing the day¡¯s events. Regina and Mira managed to explore a fair bit of the city and learned quite a bit in the process. The gods had placed them in Onakadi, which was the capital city for the elven kingdom of Avallon. The east side of the city ended in a massive lake the likes of which they¡¯d never seen on Earth. The city was walled and guarded on the remaining sides. They also let them know that their inn seemed to be in an average part of town and really built to blend in with their surroundings. Even the name, ¡°The Forgotten Mask Inn¡± fit with the Cherry Blossom Theater that shared the street. Ramiro and Eric shared what they¡¯d learned about their thieving crew and what the crew told them about the city. Onakadi was about a mile and a half from the western wall to the eastern lake and just over two miles from north to south. The city was ruled over by an elected council of five elders and the kingdom was ruled by King Hung Daot and his queen, Hung Jin as well as an elected parliament with representatives from across the kingdom. The royal palace is here as well. ¡°The royal palace?¡± asked Mira, ¡°I wanna go see it!¡± ¡°Yeah, if you want to see it I¡¯ll take you to see it,¡± Romiro replied as if that was the last thing he wanted to do. ¡°Alexis, what did you do today?¡± Regina asked. ¡°We hear there was a fight? What was that about.¡± ¡°They were all trying to figure out what they were going to do with their lives, and a fight broke out. I settled them down and got them talking about what skills they have and what things they were interested in and helped them brainstorm various options. I learned that most are not literate nor do they know how to budget. So even if we helped them get jobs they wouldn¡¯t know how to save for food and rent. I went over the basics of all of it with them. Then I went out and tried to find a library to get some books to try and teach them to read. I found a few bookstores, but this city has no public libraries, unfortunately.¡± ¡°Do they need to read?¡± Eric asked. When everyone just stared at him in response he continued, ¡°I¡¯m not trying to be mean, but I don¡¯t think reading is all that important here. If a blacksmith can make a sword, why does he need to read? Most of the trade skills likely won¡¯t find reading all that important.¡± ¡°He has a point,¡± Mira said. ¡°He does,¡± admitted Alexis. ¡°And most people don¡¯t find reading important, I learned. But since my patron is the Goddess of Literacy, I feel it¡¯s important I try to help encourage them where I can.¡± ¡°Makes sense. Do whatever you feel is needed to help these folks get back on their feet,¡± Regina said. ¡°We¡¯ve got your back.¡± Over the next hour, the party continued to discuss various courses of action for moving forward. Regina and Eric planned to spend the next day inspecting the other properties they now owned within the city. Mira and Alexis say they were going to start teaching basic life skills to the recently freed. Before Ramiro can share his plans, there was a knock at the door, and Mia poked her head in, her eyes wide with fear. ¡°Uhh, there are guards here. Royal guards. They are umm¡ asking for whoever is in charge.¡± A look of solemnity is passed amongst the party. They would face this together. As one, they rose and walked back into the common room. Waiting for them was the best-dressed elf they¡¯ve seen so far. Thankfully he didn¡¯t appear to be armed. He didn¡¯t need to be, behind him stood two guards in elaborate uniforms. Regina took the lead and approached the well dressed man, ¡°We were told you were looking for us?¡± The man makes a slight bow of his head, ¡°Indeed.¡± He said quietly before continuing in a voice loud enough for all to hear. ¡°I bring a summons from King Hung Daot, Heart of the People, First Apostle of Beauty Herself, and Watcher of the Vail. Those who were sent by the gods are to appear before the throne with the utmost haste that decorum will allow.¡± When the man finished speaking the room fell silent as everyone looked to one another. Finally, Ramiro spoke up, ¡°Well, Mira said she wanted to see the royal palace.¡± In a more normal, but still dignified tone of voice, the man continued, ¡°My name is Ailmon Kelwynn. I would appreciate it if you would accompany me to the palace. I have a carriage outside waiting.¡± ¡°And you have more guards outside waiting in case we say no. Right?¡± Ramiro asked. ¡°Yes. A full platoon.¡± Alexis raised her hand and when Ailmon looked in her direction she asked, ¡°How many are in a platoon?¡± ¡°Forty guards, four guard sergeants, and one guard captain.¡± Ailmon answered before looking to the group as a whole and motioning for the door, ¡°Shall we?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s get this over with,¡± Regina said as she headed for the door, with the rest following. Mira stopped at the door and turned back to those in the room, ¡°We¡¯ll be back as soon as we can. Stay here and stay safe.¡± Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. As the group followed Ailmon to the carriage, Eric noticed that the guards weren¡¯t just waiting outside. They were positioned around the building to block exits and there are spotters on the roofs of nearby buildings. Once in the carriage, everyone sat quietly, if somewhat awkwardly. After a bit, Regina reached into her pocket and touched the two sending stones. While looking out the window of the carriage she mentally activated both stones and told Liam and Arden the situation and promised to contact them the next morning with an update. Regina then settled back and tried to relax a bit knowing that if nothing else, the calvary knows where she¡¯s at. Even if they are months away. About fifteen minutes after leaving the inn, the carriage entered the palace grounds and the party got their first look at the royal palace. ¡°Well, it¡¯s certainly big,¡± Ramiro said ¡°Yeah¡ I was expecting something¡ more,¡± added Eric ¡°It¡¯s very elegant, I think,¡± Mira said. Mira and Alexis started to ask questioned about the palace and grounds. Ailmon, to his credit, answered as politely as he could. Regina jumped in with a question of her own, hoping to catch the man off guard. ¡°Why does the king wish to see us?¡± Ailmon smiled as if he knew what she was trying to accomplish and just said, ¡°That¡¯s for his royal highness to share,¡± and then he went right back to answering everyone else¡¯s questions. It wasn¡¯t long until the party was escorted from the carriage through the palace and into what could only be the throne room. Sitting at the front of the room was, presumably the king and queen. To the side and behind the king stood a man wearing what appeared to be wizard''s robe of deep green. On the queen¡¯s side stood a woman in a similar robe of pure black with pinpoints of light, as if they were stars in the night sky. Both individuals had their cowls pulled forward so their faces could not be seen. Ailmon escorted the group into the room, stopped about twenty feet from the throne, and bowed. The party looked at one another, not knowing if they should bow or not. Alexis, Mira, and Eric all tried to mimic Ailmon¡¯s bow. ¡°Rise and report,¡± the king said, in a strong, firm voice ¡°I¡¯ve brought those whom you called for, your majesty.¡± Ailmon said as he motioned to the party. ¡°Thank you, Ailmon, you may leave us now.¡± Once Ailmon left the room the king continued, ¡°Word has reached my ears that you all have committed murder in my realm, in my capital city.¡± The party looked at one another, and Regina finally spoke, ¡°Is it murder to kill in the defense of oneself and family? If so, then yes.¡± ¡°Self-defense was your only reason?¡± the queen asked in a light but curious tone. Regina opened her mouth to state that it was but the words won¡¯t come. She tried again, still, no sound comes from her. She realized she was unable to take a breath either. She looked around and notices a satisfied smirk on the face of the king. ¡°This room is warded against lies. You¡¯ll not be able to breathe, much less speak, until you decide to be truthful.¡± The king said. Thinking quickly Alexis said, ¡°We were bound and captured by those who would enslave or kill us. We killed them to prevent that from happening.¡± ¡°Very well done, my dear. A truthful statement that doesn¡¯t answer the question asked.¡± said the queen. ¡°Nice use of misdirection.¡± Frustrated, Regina was finally able to take a breath once she decided to say a true statement and growled, ¡°They broke their oaths. As a paladin of Calore, I was obligated to pass judgment.¡± ¡°It is as we were told.¡± The queen said to her husband. The king nodded his head, ¡°People break oaths daily. Will you go around killing all of my subjects?¡± ¡°I do not know. Those who we killed were criminals who were capturing people and selling them to others to be sacrificed. What they did was an abomination.¡± ¡°I see. So you mean to do the same to the rest of their organization?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Ramiro said, glancing to Regina, who was nodding, ¡°Someone has to since you¡¯re not doing anything about it evidently.¡± The king, unused to anyone speaking to him in such a way stopped and glared at Ramiro. ¡°You would speak this way to me in my own throne room?¡± ¡°You¡¯re angry, but you¡¯re not denying it,¡± replied Ramiro in an even tone. ¡°Almost makes us wonder if you were involved too," Regina said before adding a belated, "Your majesty." Angered, the king jumped to his feet, ¡°How dare you! I have never approved of nor taken part in any sort of sacrificing or enslaving!¡± Breathing heavily, the king on his dais loomed ominously over the party, which he quickly noticed didn¡¯t appear to faze most of them. Regina gave the king a moment to catch his breath. As he sat, she asked, ¡°Your majesty, could you do me a favor and tell me your wizard¡¯s robe is pink.¡± ¡°What? First, you accuse me of being a cultist, and now you make ridiculous requests! Will you ask me to juggle balls for you next? I am not here to entertain you!¡± The king fired back. The queen¡¯s eyes lit up as she realized what just happened. She stood, and stated, ¡°King Daot nor myself have ever participated in, profited, or encouraged the crimes of trafficking, slavery, or sacrifice in our kingdom. And Royal Mage Tiarsus Heijeon is wearing a¡¡± The queen''s voice cut off as she visibly struggled to breathe. She fell back onto her throne and finally took a few deep breaths before looking back at the group. ¡°Is that proof enough that the same ward holds us as you?¡± ¡°Yes, your majesty,¡± Alexis said meekly The king continued to glare at the party, but there was also some cool calculation in his eyes. ¡°Very well done. Anger me to find out what you needed to know. I suppose I can¡¯t hold it against you since I treated this as an interrogation from the start,¡± the king said. ¡°Is it safe to assume that had I been involved, you would have tried to kill me as well?¡± Seeing Regina and Ramiro both nod, he chuckled, ¡°Then I think we¡¯ve done enough sizing one another up. The gods have spoken true and it¡¯s time to figure out how the crown can best help you all do what you¡¯ve come to do.¡± Looking to his left past his queen he added, ¡°Would the Royal Seer like to take it from here?¡± Without a word, the woman in the black wizard''s robe walked down the steps and toward the party. Stopping five feet away, she flipped her hood back and looked straight at Regina with a smile, ¡°Hi, mom!¡± Ch 24 | ? Royal Reunion "Reyna?" Regina gasped. The rest of the party stood in stunned silence. Suddenly peals of laughter sounded from the raised dais where King Daot was doubled over. After a moment he composed himself and stood, "Forgive my laughter but the look on your faces, especially yours Regina, was worth getting upset. Rising from his throne the king motioned for everyone to follow him as he headed for a door behind him. "Come, let us sit comfortably while we discuss what we each know about this cult and put together the beginnings of a plan. The king and queen lead them into a lavishly apportioned sitting room where finger foods and drinks were waiting on them. Over the next hour, they shared what they had learned and the king and queen filled in the gaps as best they could. "Now, I am sure you have much to catch up on and are eager to do so. Reyna has already been briefed on how we can best help as well as what help we could use. It is getting late, please go with our gratitude, both for what you have done and what you will do. The carriage that brought you will take you back to your inn." With that, the king and queen exited the room and Ailmon ushered the group back out to the carriage. The ride back to the inn was full of chatter as everyone was talking over one another trying to ask Reyna questioned. After a few minutes of this Ramiro let out a high-pitched whistle to get everyone¡¯s attention. "Maybe if you let her talk, she could answer your questions." Reyna smiled at all the chagrined looks. "Thank you, Ramiro. Let¡¯s see, what did y¡¯all ask? I¡¯ve been here the same length of time as you. I woke up in a room in the castle. Ailmon was knocking on the door. He won¡¯t admit it but he let out a scream when I yelled for him to come in. Seems the king had sent him to that room every morning for a week to knock on the door with orders to escort anyone found inside to him. Knowing that no one would break into the castle just to sleep Ailmon never expected anyone to answer. Yes, I spoke with a god as you all did. Yes, I have a character sheet. My class is currently Druid but I plan to become a Soothsayer in time. And, as you can guess, my abilities mostly revolve around having and interpreting visions and omens from my god. One of the things we need to do is get as many people in the group the items or abilitys to use magic for communication so that we can get word to everyone when I have a premonition." "Look, you all know I¡¯m not the smartest. But how can your visions help us?" Eric asked. "One example would be to warn you of a danger that you do not see. Such as the former captive that you freed who means you harm. When we get back to your inn I will point her out." "Who?" asked Mira "I do not know her name. But I will know her when I see her." Most of the group is stunned by this and Ramiro jumped into the silence. "The king said you know what they can do to help us. What¡¯s their plan?" "They want you to rid the kingdom of this cult. As they said earlier, they don''t know who''s leading it but they have proof implicating a number of lesser noble families and some merchants. But they want the leader as that''s who is working against them. They are willing to train all of us in whatever skills we feel are needed as well as provide equipment. Additionally, they will have royal tutors educate us on the world we now live in so that we are better able to understand and blend in." "Question," Alexis declared. "If we''re all talking to gods and goddesses, why can''t one of them just tell us who is leading this cult so we could go get them?" "Better yet, why can''t one of these gods just take care of it for us?" Regina asked. "Because there are always rules. The gods we have met have¡ parents for lack of a better term. The supreme deity that created them all. It basically grounded all the gods sometime in the past. Forced them to come to Traum and walk as a mortal for a thousand years. Before he let them back into heaven, or whatever you call the plane where the gods live, he forced all of them to swear an oath to abide by certain rules." "Did they all take the oath?" asked Ramiro. "I don''t know. I didn''t think to ask. That''ll be a good question to ask the trainers the king sends," answered Reyna. "Will the king give us magic weapons and armor?" Alexis asked "Good question," Regina commented, "I want magic stuff." "Possibly later but not right now." Reyna answered "Okay, the gods can''t do this but I still don¡¯t understand why the king can''t," Mira said. "He has an entire army. Why us?" "It goes back to the system of government that¡¯s in place. Think of Avallon like the UK. The queen is the queen, but she doesn¡¯t wield absolute authority. It¡¯s the same way here. The royal family does have some authority, but they are kept in check by the elected politicians." "And some of those politicians are criminals, right?" Regina asked "The king believes so. But the king only has evidence against some of those at the city level. He doesn''t have any evidence against any of the high nobles. Additionally, it¡¯s assumed that some people in the king''s employ are spies for the politicians, which is why you were brought in this evening after most everyone had left the castle for the day." "Are we supposed to just find the evidence and turn it over?" Mira questioned. Stolen story; please report. "You can and the royal family would appreciate that. However, that would force things into the public eye and the King would rather this all be handled quietly if possible." "So he wants us to kill his opponents?" Alexis said. "He wants you to kill all the cultists regardless of station or rank. And to help with that he asked me to pass out these rings to you all." Reyna said as she pulled out a pouch and started handing out rings. Each ring was a simple metal band imprinted with the seal of the king on it. But as they were put on, the ring changed color and size to fit and blend into the finger it was now on. Explaining, Reyna continued "There is a very old law that nearly everyone has forgotten that allows the king to empower a group to do the dark work of protecting the kingdom without fear of being detained or arrested. The king has never invoked this law before because of the trust it requires. With these rings, we have the authority to do anything we deem necessary short of regicide. It was only the promise of a goddess that we would not betray him or the kingdom that allowed him to finally make this decision. "So, congratulations! You¡¯re all members of a secret organization known as "The Legion of the Owl. Oh, and the rings I just gave you will remain undetected by most spells but you can make them appear by simply willing it to do so. This way they can be shown to any guard as proof of our identity. I was also told it had other magical powers but I wasn¡¯t told what they were." ¡°Probably gives the king the ability to track us,¡± muttered Eric. Regina nodded, ¡°That would make sense. But it¡¯s worth keeping that in mind.¡± As Reyna finished speaking the carriage started to slow. "Looks like we¡¯re here." As the group entered the inn they now owned, they found most of the former slaves sitting around, apparently waiting for them. "You¡¯ve made it back! We were so worried" Mia said as she rushed toward them. Mia only made it a few steps before she was surrounded by a silver light, and translucent flames burst from her body. Mia fell to the ground, yelling in pain. "Reyna, stop! What are you doing?" Alexis yelled. Regina had been so surprised she didn¡¯t even realize it was Reyna casting the spell. She quickly stepped between her daughters. "Alexis, she warned us. Look." Gasps were heard from around the room, and everyone looked back to see that Mia wasn¡¯t Mia any longer. She¡ it¡ was a pale humanoid figure with white eyes and hair. The figure lay on the floor in pain from Reyna¡¯s spell. Reyna looked to Ramiro and Eric, "Grab her and take her somewhere private. We need to talk with her." As the guys did as they were bid, Mira looked back to the crowd, "Sorry y¡¯all. This is Reyna, one of Regina¡¯s daughters. She¡¯s here to help. Seems we had a spy in our midst." "Thank you all for waiting up for us. But everything is going to be okay. The meeting with the king went well. We¡¯re still going to help you as we promised. Feel free to go get some sleep and we can talk more tomorrow." Alexis added, trying to reassure the crowd while not letting on that she was on the verge of tears a moment ago. The group headed into the dining room where they had fell victim to the slavers just the day before, and not-Mia was set in a chair with her hands bound behind her back. Reyna approached her and with steel in her voice asked, "Where is Mia?" The not-Mia laughed and said, "She is.." Before she can finish, the light and translucent flames appear again forcing her to cry out in pain. "Let me be very clear,¡± Reyna stated. ¡°You will die tonight. The only choice you have is how painful you want your last night of life to be. The more you lie or avoid our questioned, the more pain you will feel." "She¡¯s in room 302, tied up in the closet. I gave her something to knock her out." Reyna looked to Mira and Alexis, "Can you two go see if that¡¯s true? If so help her out, please?" Both women nodded and headed for the door. Turning back to their captive Reyna continued, "Thank you. Now we need the names and locations of everyone you know involved in your cult. And before you protest, remember what I said." Two hours later, Reyna and Regina reentered the common room, both clearly exhausted. Regina fixed them each a mug of ale and sat next to her daughter. "You did what needed doing. But this is such a huge change from how you are normally. You¡¯ve never even been mean, much less murderous. Did coming here change you that much?" Reyna shook her head, "No Mom, coming here didn¡¯t change me. The visions I had of things she has done in the past and what she would have done to you should I not make it here in time¡ that is what motivated me tonight." Reyna met Regina¡¯s eyes, "I promise she deserved everything I did and more. But I gave her the painless death as I promised once she cooperated. But I doubt I¡¯ll ever sleep again with those visions in my head." A few minutes later Ramiro and Eric walked into the room and fixed themselves some drinks. Ramiro looked over at Reyna, "I know part of you feels bad but fuck her. She should have cooperated from the start." ¡°Or not have led the life of a sadistic, murderous bitch,¡± added Eric. Wanting to change the topic, Regina spoke up, "We have the information we found here, the information we just got from whatever her name was, and a promise from the king to help us get trained. What''s our next step?" Regina asked. "I think we should share some of the information with our gang. Let them do some digging while we get trained up." Eric suggested "Yeah. We need to find our way to the top of this and then kill as many of these people as we can at one time so none of them have a chance to run away." Ramiro added "Then we¡¯ll need more people. We have the names of nearly two dozen people involved in this. And that¡¯s just the ones in this town." Regina said. "Then there¡¯s the other towns we¡¯ll need to travel to. The head of this isn¡¯t here. I bet it¡¯s some rich guy with a bunch of land out away from everyone." ¡°Missing Arden, are you?¡± Ramiro asked with a smirk drawing laughs from Eric and Reyna. ¡°Hey,¡± fired back Regina with a laugh, ¡°I said rich! Arden just has land that he can¡¯t even afford to do anything with.¡± After they all finished chuckling Reyna spoke, "Focus on training and gathering information for now.¡± The rest of the group noticed her eyes had started glowing golden as she continued to talk, "Then start with the smaller cells first and follow the clues. When it¡¯s time to cut the head off of this, the rest of the family will be with you." "They¡¯re coming here?" Regina asked Reyna shook herself, and her eyes returned to normal, "They have other fights first. So do you. But they¡¯ll be with you when it¡¯s time to end this." "I hope they¡¯re not as scary as you just were," Eric joked. Ramiro shook his head, "I hope they¡¯re more scary. We¡¯re going to need it." "A few are," Reyna said in somber tone. "And you''re going to see sides of a few of your brothers that you''ve never seen before, just as you did tonight with me. Remember, we''re all still the same people we''ve always been. But we will be put into situations we''ve never been in before, and those situations will require us all to do things we''ve never done before." Ch 25 | ? Meet the Teachers The next morning the gang sat around a table eating breakfast while speaking with the five members of The Hand. Regina shook her head, thinking about how lame the name was. "It seems that no matter what world you come from, young people are always trying to sound cool," she thought. By the time the meal was finished, the rogues had their orders of who to follow and what to look for. As the team was cleaning their table, a group of people walked into the inn. Some were smiling, but the group had an air of danger around them. Immediately the whole party paused in what they were doing, and placed their hands on their closest weapon, mentally preparing their next steps. ¡°Good instincts. Damn good instincts,¡± said an older elf in the front of the group. ¡°Before there¡¯s any misunderstanding, let me say we were sent here to train some folks. I assume that is you all?¡± Regina nodded and then glanced to Reyna, who held up a finger in the universal ''wait a minute'' gesture before turning to the elf that had been speaking. ¡°Could you tell me the color of the tabard you wore the day you first met his royal highness?¡± The old man laughed before answering, ¡°It was teal.¡± Seeing that Reyna was about to disagree. ¡°It was teal, but if you¡¯re a king you would probably insist that it was verdigris. Because he likes to be fancy.¡± Reyna nodded, ¡°He speaks the truth, Mom.¡± Looking back to the group, ¡°Would you like to eat, or are you ready to start the training?¡± ¡°We¡¯ve already eaten. Please show us where we can train.¡± The team led these trainers to the underground warehouse. After explaining why there were rows and rows of cages, everyone helped push the cages about and used them to mark off multiple training areas on the massive floor. Once that was done, they went into one of the meeting rooms. After a round of introductions, they learned that the older elf that had been taking point was Khatar Vaxalim, who was in charge of the training. He personally would be teaching general education and culture, which they learned would include an elven style of martial arts. Next up was a middle-aged elf, who appeared rather buffed, named Nindrol, who would teach them forms for the heavy swords and war hammers and how to wield a shield properly. While none of the elves were fat, the next one up took skinny to a whole new level, almost frail-looking, and her features looked slightly different than the others. They introduced themselves as Nym Yelqen of the sun elves and stated that they would be teaching the use of small blades such as short swords and knives as well as how to duel weld them. The next elf that stood introduced herself as Talindra and said she was there to teach the use of bows, crossbows, spears, throwing knives, and any other ranged weapons. A wood elf stood next. While still lean, he appeared to have more muscle on his frame than all except Nindrol. He said his name was Jandar and that he would be teaching how to track someone without being seen, how to hide in almost any environment, and how to survive in the wilderness. The last two stood together. They were obviously mages, just from their clothing, and introduced themselves as such. Their names were Zeno and Aien and they would be teaching the group magic. Aien would teach the history and theory of magic, while Zeno would teach practical application. Once everyone had their turn, Khatar turned to his fellow instructors with a questioning look. After everyone nodded, Khatar stood and announced, ¡°We who have just introduced ourselves take an oath now before you to teach you to the best of your and our abilities. We swear to keep your secrets from any outside of this room, including the king himself. We will only report your progress and level of skill to his majesty.¡± When Khatar finished speaking, the other instructors all stated flatly, ¡°So we all agree.¡± Instantly the party all received a notification of this binding oath being in effect: [Khatar Vaxalim, Nindrol Naedi, Nym Yelqen, Talindra Tralee, Jandar Farwraek, Zeno Aragella, and Aien Dorthyra have sworn an oath to train you and hold your secrets. Breaking this oath will cause serious harm to them, physically and even more so karmically.¡±] ¡°Now that you know you can trust us I have but one question I wish to ask. How is it that all of you look like elves, but none of you speak or carry yourself like an elf?¡± Khatar asked. The party looked to one another and back to the trainers, all of whom eagerly awaited an answer. No one wanted to answer, but the silence was rather awkward. Finally, Alexis spoke up, ¡°We aren¡¯t from here. We were born on another planet. We were brought here by the gods of this world to¡ try and help out.¡± A whispered, "Twiceborn" escaped Jandar''s mouth and all turned to look at him. "Indeed," Khatar said while nodding slowly. ¡°Yes, I suppose that would make a difference. Were you elves in your old world?¡± ¡°No,¡± Regina answered. ¡°In our old world, there were only humans.¡± "What does ''Twiceborn'' mean?" Eric asked. "It is an old term for those brought here from other worlds. Most scholars would refer to you as Migrant Spirits," explained Aien. "It is uncommon to meet someone such as yourself, but not unheard of. However, it is rare for a Migrant Spirit to be born an elf unless they were elves in their first life. But what is truly unique about your situation is that I''ve never heard of a situation where more than two people were brought over together. That we have six migrant spirits here at once¡ well, that''s terrifying to me." Elbowing Mira, Ramiro pretends to whisper, "Guess we shouldn''t tell him about Liam''s and Arden''s groups that came over with us." Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Aien''s eyes grew big, but before he could say anything, Zeno spoke up, "There are two more GROUPS of you?" ¡°My, that does explain some things," Khatar said, trying to retake control of the conversation. "We have much to teach you. You will not leave here knowing everything, obviously. But if you listen and stay focused, you should be able to learn enough to blend in. We¡¯ve been ordered to stay with you all for three months. We will build a schedule for the lessons and would like as much of your time as you can give us. I would normally ask if you had any obligations that could not be put on hold for the next few months, but since you just arrived, I assume you have the time?¡± ¡°No!¡± Mira said. When everyone turned to look at her, she shrank back a bit but continued in a lower tone, ¡°There are cultists and slavers out there that we need to be tracking down. We can¡¯t take a three-month break.¡± ¡°And our little group of rogues. Gotta keep an eye on those kids so nothing happens to them.¡± Eric added. Alexis jumped in next, ¡°I promised the former captives upstairs that I would teach them to read and help them find jobs so they can get back on their feet.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure we can incorporate tracking down the kingdom''s enemies into your training without too much issue. And I think we can arrange for staff from the castle to help you teach the folks upstairs and help them find work.¡± ¡°You can do that?¡± Alexis asked, clearly happy. ¡°Of course. Now, what about this¡ what did you call them, little group of rogues?¡± ¡°It was a group of kids. Called themselves ¡®The Hand¡¯. Upset a gang and got sold to the cult. When we freed them, they refused to leave. Said they wanted to help us catch the other cultists. They¡¯re young but have plenty of street smarts.¡± Ramiro said. ¡°Their skills are the typical stuff like stealth, sleight of hand, and such. They¡¯re good kids without a home. We figured they know the town better than we do, and they wanted to help.¡± Eric added. ¡°Kids? How old are they?¡± Khatar asked, clearly thinking. ¡°And where are they right now?¡± ¡°I''m not sure their exact ages, but they look to be in their early twenties. We gave them the names of some folks we think are cultists and asked them to find out where they live and work.¡± Ramiro answered. "You send children out to find cultists!? Are you insane," snapped Talindra, clearly exasperated. "First off, he just said they were in their twenties, so not children. Plus, they wanted to help, have more skills than we do, and know the city better than we do. What''s the issue?" Regina asked. Khatar waved his team back while shaking his head. ¡°Okay. Okay. We¡¯re going to help here, too. Jandar, when these rogues come back, I want you to start working with them immediately. It¡¯ll be a couple of weeks before anyone here is ready for your lessons anyway.¡± Jandar just nodded in agreement. Regina motioned for Khatar''s attention, "Why three months? Is something happening that we need to know about?" "That was simply the time frame his royal majesty gave me. I did not question it." "Actually, I was the one who came up with that," Reyna interjected. "Based on information from my divinations, three months is how long we have before we need to be moving so that you can be where you need to be later on. And we want as much training as we can get so there''s no reason not to use the full amount of time allotted." ¡°I think that covers everything. If none of you object, we¡¯re going to find places here in this basement to make our own during our stay. Tie up any other loose ends you have today because you¡¯re going to be busy for the next few months.¡± ? The next day found the group back in the meeting room. The party all had flashbacks of being in school as Khatar started lecturing. The old elf stressed that the topics would be challenging to internalize because they were being exposed so late in life but that they should try to act accordingly until the understanding took hold. "Fake it until we make it?" Alexis asked "I''ve never heard it put that way," Khatar responded with a slight smile, "but yes." "We elves are unique in many ways. I''m going to assume the humans on your world are the same as the ones here and try to point out those differences and we can discuss any questions you have. The first big difference between the elves and the other races is, as I''m sure you''ve all noticed, we don''t have to sleep. We can, of course. But typically we meditate for about four hours per night during which time we dream. For us natural born adult elves, we dream about our life. This allows us to continue learning and growing from our previous experiences. Honestly, I''m not sure how this will work with you all." "I still slept all night last night," Eric said. "What about you Ramiro?" "No, I did sleep but only for a few hours. It¡¯s been like that since I¡¯ve gotten here. Three or four hours a night.¡± "Interesting," said Khatar. "Please keep me apprised of how this changes for you all. Now, moving on. The next difference is reproduction. It takes humans fourteen months to have a child whereas elves..." "Hold up," Regina cut in. "Fourteen months? It only took nine months in our old world." "Only nine months?" Khatar asked, surprise on his face. "Wait mom," Reyna said, "Khatar, how many days does it take a human?" "Around 280 days, why?" Khatar responded. "That''s about the same amount of time." Reyna said as she turned to Regina, "The months are shorter here." "Oh! Okay, that''s better." Regina answered. "Ahh, I had not even considered that. Well done Reyna. As I was saying, fourteen months to have a human child. Dwarves take just over three years. And we elves take more than eight years. Now, who here is eager to spend the next eight years of your life pregnant?" "No thank you," Alexis called out. "That is insane," added Mira. "And most elven women would agree with you," Khatar continued. "Many other races think that elves aren''t as fertile as other races. There is some truth to that, but the bigger issue is that we just don''t want to have to deal with such long pregnancies followed by a century of raising the child. But! And this is important and why you got the reaction you did last night when speaking about The Hand. Because no one wants to have kids, they are rare. And because they are rare, as a society, we feel they should be taken care of and protected." ¡°Okay, I get that kids are rare. But our friends are in their twenties, not twelve,¡± retorted Regina. ¡°Ahh, yes. Again, my apologies. There are so many things that are different between our cultures I keep missing some of the basics. In elven society, one is not an adult until their hundredth birthday.¡± This revelation stunned the group. Finally Alexis spoke up, ¡°But they appear to be adults. What other development is needed?¡± ¡°Physically they are certainly adults. But part of our culture is to allow children the time and space to make mistakes and to fully mature. We¡¯ll go over this more in a later lesson.¡± "Well, if your society feels that kids are to protected then your society failed our friends," Eric replied in a serious tone. Ch 26 | ? History Lesson "Well, if your society feels that kids are to protected then your society failed our friends," Eric replied in a serious tone. "Yes," Khatar said with obvious shame in his eyes. "Yes, we did. And not just your friends. The Elves as a race have failed our goddess and even the world of Traum as a whole. Tell me, what do you know of the wars the elves have fought in since leaving the Feywilde?" Khatar looked around and after seeing blank looks on everyone''s faces, he continued, "Then we will start today with a history lesson. I¡¯ll keep it as brief as I can but you need to be aware of the elven race¡¯s biggest sin. In year 8500 BR, the giants and the dragons teamed up and tried to wipe out the dwarves and the elves." Raising his hand, Eric cut in, "What''s BR mean?" "I keep trying to give you a good foundation and I keep realizing I haven''t dug deep enough to hit bedrock," Khatar said with a chuckle. "BR just stands for Before Reformation. We''ll get to the Reformation shortly. Now, this war with the giants and dragons is called the War of Dominance, and it lasted for about 2,500 years. After that, we had peace for about 2,500 years. During that time of peace, our societies urged everyone who could to have children because we lost so many elves during the war. Our birthrate more than quadrupled during this time. Similar explosions in birth rates happened for the other races as well. And try as we might, we elves could not keep up with the population boom seen in the humans. "And to make it even worse, there were these new beastkin races that were being encountered for the first time. And the humans just welcomed them into their cities, like a seven foot tall bull walking on just two legs was normal. And with the halflings and the gnomes and all the other races joining in, the humans expanded far and wide. We elves viewed all these races as lessor. We had a grudging respect for the dwarves, dragons, and giants. But these humans and beasts and everyone else, they were to be pitied or reviled, depending on who you asked. And this expansion by those we viewed as inferior angered many elves. We were trying to rebuild and were happy to just get back to where we had been before the war. And we look out and see that all these other races were everywhere. And they all thought they were our equals. "After many meetings and much planning, the elves eventually decided we were going to put these lessor races in their place and show them why the elves were superior." Khatar ended his sentence with a grin. "How''d that work out for you?" Regina asked, also grinning. "Worse than you can even imagine. In the year 3300 BR, we started what became known as the Fey Wars. And it did not go the way we wanted. In the years of peace we had simply rebuilt what we had lost. But the other races had called that same period the ''Era of Wonders'' due to all the advances they made in magic and technology. We had not kept up. We had not evolved. And we were outnumbered. "We turned to our gods and begged them for help. And they did. They gave us knowledge. They gave us powers. They anointed many of our best as champions, raising them nearly to the level of demigod. We started winning battle after battle. The war started to turn in our favor. But then the other races prayed to their gods as well. And then all the mortals became nothing more than pawns on a chessboard. 1,300 years into the war, it became known as the War of the Gods. We pulled our deities down to our level and embroiled them in our sins. By the end, the gods themselves were taking part in battles. I mean that literally. The came to Traum in their avatar form and fought like the rest of us. Gods fighting gods. "The number of lives lost in every battle increased by orders of magnitude. During the War of Dominance, about seven percent of the sapient beings on Traum were killed. During the Fey Wars, about five percent were killed. The War of the Gods lasted for fifteen hundred years and the population of Traum dropped by over sixty percent. Even the beastkin and humans could not have children fast enough to fight in that war. Billions of people were killed. Every race prayed constantly asking for the gods to make peace. We all begged the gods to stop. But the years continued to pass and nothing changed. For the shorter lived races such as humans, something like thirteen generations lived their entire lives knowing only war. While no war is pretty, the war of the gods was horrific. They didn¡¯t just wipe cities off a map. They removed continents. They literally reshaped the planet itself in their fighting. Entire countries were lost." "How did you ever get it to stop?" Mira asked, clearly on the verge of tears. "We didn''t. We couldn''t. But Quo, the supreme god, could. He, Ba, Fo, Belseri, and Shikotel were the only deities that weren''t in their avatar form, fighting on Traum. Angered by the actions of their children and seeing the perfect time to act, Quo locked all the other deities into their avatar form, trapping them all on Traum. Additionally, he severed the connection to plane of magic. Suddenly, no one could regain mana after casting a spell. This time is called The Collapse. Quo''s actions ended the war. But by cutting off the mana supply, every race suffered. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "The cities that the humans had built back then were works of wonder. Runes were laid that provided all sorts of magical help for society. Everything from blocking disease and disposing of waste to heating and cooling homes. But all of those runes soon ran out of mana. The runes they used to help grow crops swiftly failed and abruptly the harvests were a fraction of what they used to be. "All the races were forced to rebuild and this time without the aid of magic. And the gods and goddesses were stuck on Traum during this time, forced to see the hardship their actions had brought about. Many hid in shame. Some demanded to be worshiped even then. And some of those were slain. "After a thousand years, Quo showed back up and offered all the gods a chance to regain their power. But they had to agree to a new set of rules. These rules limited how they could interact with Traum and the life on it. And if you didn''t agree, then you stayed an avatar. All of the gods and goddesses except one agreed. Quo reconnected the plane of mana and magic was once again possible. This was known as The Reformation and it happened about a hundred years ago.¡± ¡°Wait,¡± Mira cut in. ¡°So you were alive when that happened. When magic came back?¡± ¡°I was. It was¡ odd. Suddenly everything felt more alive as mana permeated everything around me, and me, too. And at the same time some text appeared before my eyes. No matter where I looked it was still visible. It was a message from Quo introducing us to the system.¡± ¡°Wait? I thought that had been part of the world of Traum forever,¡± Eric questioned. ¡°It has. But until this point, only the gods could see it. When we were given the ability to see it, we saw our strengths and weaknesses. We saw the progress we had made in certain areas. It was quite interesting, as you all no doubt know. We had access to magic once again, and a new system to help guide us a bit. Too bad no one alive had ever done magic. Everything we know had to be learned from scratch. And so many things still have yet to be re-learned.¡± ¡°So why did Quo give access to everyone?¡± ¡°It was expanded to include everyone because, now, everyone can become a god. That¡¯s what happened to those who killed a god during The Collapse. Each one absorbed the power, and the responsibilities, of that god. "So just about every society has spent the last hundred years trying to learn magic. Trying to learn how this system works. Archaeologist are everywhere trying to dig up cities from thousands of years ago hoping to find tomes of knowledge. Treasure hunters dig for artifacts that have started working again now that mana has been reintroduced. The deities are helping where they can, but they claim the new rules limit them from doing much. And no one is sure how truthful they''re being. Most of them weren''t any help for a thousand years and the vast majority of people still blame them for the wars.¡± ¡°Is that why people dislike the gods?¡± Mira asked. ¡°We¡¯ve literally freed people from a cult and they still yelled at us when we told them the gods sent us.¡± ¡°It is indeed. Many still blame the gods for all the destruction and death they caused during the war. And they accuse them of not doing enough to make up for it since they returned to their full power.¡± ¡°Why aren¡¯t you angry at them?¡± asked Regina. ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know. Part of me feels that I should be. But I¡¯m more suspicious than anything. A single Migrant Spirit can change the world. Much of the advancements that happened during The Collapse was due to people like you. A single person with knowledge can make a huge difference. So why bring so many of you here at one time?¡± ¡°They never did give us a straight answer to that question,¡± complained Alexis. ¡°And they likely never will.¡± "That''s interesting an all," Ramiro cut in, "but what does it have to do with the children your society failed?" "Thank you for bringing us back on topic, Ramiro. How long does it take to rebuild a society? The war only ended eleven hundred years ago. My parents were on a battle field that day. My generation is the first to be born in peace and to try and rebuild what the previous generations destroyed. On your home world, how many generations were needed to recover from a multiple-generation war? "The society that should have been there to support me as a child did not exist. Instead I was told stories of it and told that I should strive to rebuild it. And so I, and countless others, have spent our life trying to rebuild our society, and to improve on it while doing so. This city? This king? It''s all happened in the last five hundred years. And it''s strange. We''re trying to blend what we were taught of our old ways with what we learn from the other races. And, like everything we do, we''re going slow. This leaves many gaps for people to fall through. "Historically, Elves have never cared much for government. Most of our ancestors lived in small groups where everyone just respected one another and spent their lives trying to create works of art. We had no need for someone to make laws. We had no need for cities. But we''re trying to advance our race. And we''re doing some things right, but we''re also making mistakes. And some people are getting overlooked. We''re trying our best, though." As Khatar stopped to take a breath, obviously upset by this topic, Alexis got up and approached the elf and gave him a hug. Khatar leaned into her for several moments before pulling away, "Thank you, Alexis." Looking to the rest. "Let''s take a break for two hours, get some food and exercise. Then we can come back and discuss the three parts of elvish culture that sets us apart from the other races." Ch 27 | ? The Elven Way After the break, Khatar resumed his lecture. "Would everyone here agree that emotions can be powerful and oftentimes messy?" "Don''t forget violent," Eric said while staring at Regina. "That too," Khatar agreed. "So how do elves handle emotions?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it some sort of nature tree hugging stuff?¡± answered Regina. ¡°No eating meat. Walk around like there¡¯s a stick up your¡¡± Cutting her off, Khatar pressed on, ¡°The ties to nature is correct. I¡¯m not sure what you mean by tree hugging and most of us do eat meat. ¡°To be an elf is to be connected to nature. It is central to our very existence. Our ancestors lived in a different realm with different rules. In that realm they were so connected to nature there that they were immortal. Then, some of them left this other realm, called the feywilde, and came here to what some call the material realm or the prime realm.¡± ¡°If your ancestors were all immortal in the feywilde why did they come here?¡± asked Alexis. ¡°The feywilde is the same today as it was thousands of years ago. Nothing ever changes. Everything exists in harmony or it¡¯s removed. There¡¯s no innovation or change. And time itself is different and unpredictable there. You could go there and stay for centuries and return here and only minutes have passed. Or you could go there for minutes and return here to learn that tens of thousands of years have passed. ¡°As for why my ancestors came here, it was because they were bored. They heard stories from our goddess Ashduin about prime realm and the idea of how fast things here changed seemed enticing to those who were millennia old and bored. So they started to ask if they could see the prime realm. Ashduin would open portals and let them look upon this realm. As the years passed they then asked if they could visit. Eventually Ashduin allowed a few to visit and return. This continued to drive the curiosity and in time one entire group of elves wanted to come to the prime realm. Eventually our goddess Ashduin decided that it was time and brought all her creations together and urged them all to travel to the prime realm. Peace had been reached between the dragons and giants, their war was over and it was now considered safe for us to come here. Oaths were swore and portals opened and fey races came. In the end about three quarters of the fey stayed while the other quarter decided to move home to the feywilde. ¡°As the years went by the nature of this realm impacted us and we started to take on traits related to where we lived. Now rather than there being just Yuantinh which is to say, an elf from the feywilde, we now have many subspecies here on Traum. There are light elves, also called sun elves or high elves by some. They pride themselves in being the most like the Yuantinh whether we are or not is up for debate. Then the dark elves which like to live underground, wood or green elves, arctic or snow elves, water elves which are also called sea elves, dune elves also called sand elves. And then we have half-elves such as Alexis here. Half-elves are the product of an elf mating with those of another species. Alexis, if someone refers to you as a Bantinh, they are intentionally being insulting and are implying that you are beneath them. ¡°Now, how did we end up with so many subspecies of elves? Remember that connection to nature that I spoke of? That connection sped up our evolutions to adapt us to the environments we chose to settle in.¡± ¡°What do you mean by adaptations?¡± asked Mira. ¡°The water elves have gills below their ears allowing them to breath underwater. The dune elves have a second set of eyelids that are clear, allowing them to keep sand out of their eyes.¡± ¡°Dude, that¡¯s cool! I¡¯m a wood elf. What adaptations do I have?¡± Eric enthusiastically asked. Khatar smiled, happy to some engagement, ¡°Wood elves are typically more agile and have better senses. But no one is entirely sure if that¡¯s by birth or due to being raised in the forests. The one that we know for sure is a racial trait is that wood elves can enter a meditative trance while in sunlight to regain their energy. So, as long as it¡¯s sunny outside, you can skip eating and reduce your need to sleep. However, you will need more water than usual when you do so.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re part plant now!¡± Alexis laughed. ¡°I wonder, are you an succulent?¡± ¡°He¡¯s prickly enough to be a cactus,¡± added Regina. ¡°Laugh all you want. I just learned I¡¯m solar powered,¡± Eric fired back with a grin. After giving the group a few minutes to talk and play, Khatar brought them back on topic, ¡°Now, knowing what we now know about our connect to nature, is it any surprise that we try to model how we handle our emotions after nature itself? ¡°We try to flow with our emotions rather than fight against them. This allows us to be happy or at least content, in almost any situation. This is the first thing that sets us apart from the humans you were and will likely be the easiest part of our culture for you to learn. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. "The second part of being an elf that you must practice is learning to focus on the whole, not the individual. This is not something unique to us, though. Dwarves, Gnomes, and others share this idea that the we is more important than the me. But humans, in this world at least, seem to be the exact opposite. If that is true for your world, then I expect you may have trouble with this concept. "The last major difference between elves and others is that we focus on the long term more than the short term. That is not to say we ignore the short term, merely that we keep a longer viewpoint in mind. If a human builds a fence, he may build one to last the next twenty years and be satisfied with it. If an elf builds a fence, it better last several centuries, or he will be upset. I realize that this mindset is largely due to the differences in lifespans, so this may be impossible for you to internalize until you''ve lived in our culture for some time. But you should, at the minimum, be aware of it as it could lead to disagreements when you¡¯re dealing with other elves. Should you upset an elf tomorrow and then move on in life, you very well may meet that same elf in four hundred years and learn that he¡¯s still waiting on an apology.¡± Looking around the room Khatar asked, ¡°Any questions on those three parts of elvish culture that sets us apart?¡± ¡°When you say focus on the whole, what do you mean?¡± asked Mira. Most elves live in tight communities. Even in this city, there are thousands of small little communities. So those elves will first consider the other elves in the community before themselves. For you all, it would be first considering one another before yourself.¡± ¡°So, does that mean if I want to eat tacos and Regina wants a burger I should take her to get a burger for dinner?¡± asked Eric. ¡°I don¡¯t know what either of those are, but yes. You should consinder those around you when deciding what to fix for dinner. But more to the lesson, you should consider what impact your actions will have on your group at all times. That¡¯s not to say you can never do something just for yourself. Just that you shouldn¡¯t do things that negatively impact the others around you.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± said Regina. ¡°When you eat tacos, think of me and skip the beans so I don¡¯t have to smell you all night.¡± "That¡¯s a good example. If you were to eat the beans, then find another place to go afterwards so as to not negatively impact others. Now, let''s delve into emotions. I believe this will be the easiest of the three parts for you to pick up. ¡°Elves physically and mentally mature at about the same rate as a human. So why does our culture consider fully grown elves to be children until their hundredth year?" Putting it together with the discussion from the previous night, Reyna answered, "To give them time to gain emotional maturity." "Exactly. Since you all grew up as humans, you know that the emotions of teenagers can often times swing from one extreme to another quite quickly. But in human adults, that is less common. This is because human society, and I''m assuming your home is similar to the human cities here, but through societal pressures teaches that these wild swings are bad and that you should learn to control them. Elves are the same way. But rather than giving kids a few years to learn this entirely on their own, we give them decades to learn. And rather than it simply being a matter of pressure from their elders, it''s a matter of custom, training, and even law. "I know from speaking with you yesterday that you all were adult humans. But none of you look more than a couple decades old. So when you are out and about in elven culture, you all will be seen as children. Not children in the way that you need constant supervision, but children in that you aren¡¯t expected to be fully mature. Other elves will not be surprised when you violate cultural norms occasionally but if you do it too much or violate the wrong norm, someone will come to speak with you. Perhaps an elder or a priest. Or maybe a gate guard or other government official. "Over the next few months, we''re going to teach you about the culture we''re trying to rebuild. And as you go out in the world, we will expect you to behave appropriately. But because of your perceived youth, the occasional solecism will be excused. This will be to your benefit. Khatar continued to teach the team that the elves learned from nature to flow with events; to adapt to changes. "The tree that refuses to bend is eventually broken." "Emotions are like nature as well. Anger is a wildfire ready to destroy everything in its path. Happiness is like a warm spring day. Jealousy can be like a thunderstorm causing its own havoc, but also causing other emotions like anger, frustration or embarrassment just as the storm can bring about floods, tornadoes or fires. "But how one acts in nature depends on the conditions. You want to go to high ground if there is a flash flood. But you want to hide in a cave if there''s a tornado. The same is true with our emotions. How you deal with them requires you to know your emotions. As we train, the other instructors and I will occasionally ask you what emotion is strongest within you at that moment. You will answer immediately. If you do not, then the next emotion you feel will likely be anger or frustration as we make you do extra exercises." "Are you saying that elves don¡¯t get angry? They don¡¯t lose their temper?" Eric asked "I¡¯ve always found that phrase interesting. I¡¯ve only ever heard humans say that, but I swear it must have originated with dwarves. Who else would compare emotions to worked steel? Elves feel all the same emotions that any other sentient race feels, including anger. What you call losing one''s temper is a physical expression of that emotion. However, it implies the loss of control as well. Elves certainly will physically express their anger when the situation calls for it. But we do so without losing control. You may express joy by jumping up and down. Excitement by clapping your hands. Empathy by hugging someone as Alexis did for me earlier. These are all physical expressions. And, as any parent will tell you, there¡¯s a right time and place for all of them. The same is true with anger." Khatar continued lecturing on emotions until supper time. As the group left the room to get food, Khatar stopped Regina, "What emotions are you feeling right now?" "Hunger" was Regina¡¯s snarky reply "That is not an emotion." "True, but you don¡¯t let her eat; she gets angry," Reyna said as she walked by. Khatar grinned, "Go and eat with your friends. This evening after dinner we train." Ch 28 | ? Migrant Spirits ¡°Tell me, how long has it been since the gods brought you to Traum?¡± the mayor asked. Jacob nearly missed his next step when he heard the mayor¡¯s question. Christi¡¯s eyes bulged out. Mana could be felt condensing around the party as Nolan and Willow slide their chairs back to stand. Arden quickly cast a spell enveloping them all before holding his arms out to the sides to motion for his family not to take any actions, yet. ¡°I¡¯ve just cast a spell named [Dome of Truth]. You could resist it but I will know if you do. I ask that you do not. Mayor, what you¡¯ve just revealed could be very dangerous for my family and I. Knowing what you know now, do you intend ill toward me or my party? With an huge smile on her face the mayor answered, ¡°Absolutely not. I¡¯ve being praying for help for quite some time. I never expected the gods to answer quite like this, but I am happy that they did.¡± Christi looked like she was still processing what was happening so Arden turned to Jacob next, ¡°Jacob, can you keep this secret of ours?¡± ¡°Of course Arden.¡± ¡°Are you already trying to figure a way to make more money off of us?¡± Jacob smiled and replied, ¡°Of course Arden,¡± before breaking out into a laugh. Arden chuckled as well as he turned to look at Christi. Taking on a more somber tone he said, ¡°I can only assume with how much you hate the gods this news likely makes you dislike us even more. If you can keep this secret of ours, we will continue to help the town and I¡¯ll try to stop needling you. Can you keep our secret?¡± Christi looked to the mayor, ¡°With all that we¡¯ve lost. With all that you¡¯ve lost, you still pray to the gods? You asked for their help?¡± The mayor gave Christi a motherly smile and patted her hand, ¡°Of course, dear. Who else would come to our aid? Lord Daintith made he clear that he didn¡¯t care what happened to us.¡± Christi looked like she didn¡¯t agree but finally said, ¡°Yes ma¡¯am.¡± Arden continued to watch Christi, waiting on her to answer his question. Finally she looked up, ¡°So you¡¯d really just abandon us if I refuse to keep your secret? Just let what¡¯s left of Wildemill to die if I don¡¯t do things your way? If I don¡¯t keep a secret that¡¯s going to get out eventually anyway?¡± Arden met her eyes and slowly nodded his head, ¡°Our secret may get out eventually. But this is only our seventh day in your world. Knowledge is power and as your mayor just demonstrated, we have very little of it at this point. Every day we can keep this secret is one more day for us to grow stronger in this new world. You¡¯ve mentioned to me twice that we are weak first tiers. I don¡¯t even know what that means, other than we¡¯re weak and vulnerable.¡± Taking a drink Arden continued, looking to Christi and Mayor Helen, ¡°But I need you to understand that while we are here to help, my first obligation is always to my family. And weak tier one or not, I will burn this whole world down to its bedrock to protect my family.¡± *wack* Just as he finished talking, Nolan smacked Arden in the back of the head and started lecturing him, ¡°Dude, really? Just had to go all dark and edgy? They have undoubtedly lost loved ones to these goblins and Christi very obviously wants to burn the world. You think you can do something she can¡¯t? ¡®Ooo I¡¯m dangerous and mean. Fear me.¡¯ You¡¯re a damn cleric because your goddess knew you wanted to heal people more than anything.¡± While Nolan chewed Arden out, the rest of the party started smiling, some even laughing. This in turn lightened the mood in the room. Even Christi cracked a smile. ¡°And what do you mean you don¡¯t know what tier one means? I went over the tiers as we walked here. How the hell you going to lie like that in a [Dome of Truth].¡± At this Arden started laughing, too. ¡°What dome of truth? I dropped the spell before I got to that part. But none of you noticed.¡± ¡°That¡¯s pretty slick,¡± Mayor Helen mused. ¡°I¡¯m going to have to keep an eye on you.¡± ¡°Probably not a bad idea ma¡¯am,¡± Arden replied before looking to Christi. ¡°Will you keep our secret?¡± Christi smirked and replied, ¡°Sure, if you agree not to try and be all dark and scary again.¡± ¡°Deal,¡± Arden said. ¡°Ernis was suppose to teach you what you needed to know, right?¡± The mayor asked. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Yes ma¡¯am,¡± answered Nolan. Mayor Helen continued, ¡°In the larger towns, the temples actually offer classes for Migrant Spirits to help them acclimate to Traum. To teach them enough to keep them from misunderstandings due to cultural differences. And to keep them from being taken advantage of. Wildemill does not have the resources to offer such training." Arden took a drink before asking, "So, what aid can you offer? And, more importantly, what would you ask for in return, mayor? "I ask nothing you''ve not already said you wish to do. I want to save this village. If you can stop the goblin threat, that is enough for me. As for what I can help with, well¡ anything I can. For starters, I''d be willing to help answer any questions I can. I can only imagine what it''s like waking up in a new world. Taking a deep breath, Arden asked, "So situations like ours are common? You mentioned Migrant Spirits a moment ago, is that what we are?" "Yes, though you might also hear the term ¡®Twiceborn¡¯ used occasionally as well. And no, I wouldn''t say Migrant Spirits are common. Most cities or bigger towns will have a Migrant Spirit pass through every century or so. But I''ve never heard of a group of migrant spirits before. And you were right in trying to keep this information hidden. There are those who would try to take advantage of you were they to find out." ¡°If they only see a Migrant Spirit once a century, how does it make sense to keep people trained to help them?¡± Nolan asked. ¡°It¡¯s worth it because of the damage it prevents. Someone new to our world but still holding on to the values of their previous world could end up causing a lot of issues.¡± "Which deity is it that you follow?" Arden asked "I pay tribute to a couple. Mostly to Tynas, the god of law, but also to Beliki, the goddess of crafting. And a general prayer each day to Ba and Shikotel as is normal. But I also pray to others as the situation calls for it. "Who are Ba and Shikotel?" Willow asked. Mayor Helen blinked a few times before she shook her head, "I''ve never helped a Migrant Spirit before. Please forgive me for assuming you would know things that you do not. Let us start at the top, shall we. Quo is the supreme being, the God of balance. They are the one who created this world. Quo created Ba and Fo. Ba is the God of Order. Fo is the God of Chaos. Quo then created Shikotel, the Goddess of Life, and Belseri, the Goddess of Death. Through those five, all other deities were made. Through all of them, all of life was created." "Does anyone actually worship Fo?" "Of course, my dear. Usually, it''s people who are feeling their life has gotten too repetitive or dull. But it''s even odds on if they''ll regret doing so or not." The rest of the party continued to ask the mayor questions while Arden took a moment to size up the situation. Was she one they could trust? Did they even have an option? Willow broke Arden from his ruminations by laying her hand on her father''s shoulder and speaking softly, "I trust her, Dad." Arden took a deep breath, "I hope your right. In for a penny, in for a pound, I suppose." Looking to the mayor, he continued, "Mayor Helen, when we spoke to the gods, they gave us a mission of sorts. They worded it as more of a request, but it really wasn''t. Basically, they know they''ve screwed the pooch here and claim to understand why people no longer venerate them as before. They did not choose to share that information with us. What we were told was that we were to spend the next few years traveling around helping people and training. They want us to do a bunch of good deeds in their name to let people know they still care. I suspect that there''s more to it, but that''s all we know right now." "It''s great that they''re finally taking action, but they might as well send you to fight at Dugu Senuma for all the good it''ll do. Four people, even Migrant Spirits, aren''t going to make people forgive them for centuries of neglect." "I wholeheartedly agree. But we accepted the job so we¡¯re going to give it our best.¡± Looking to Christi, Arden added, ¡°We need someone to tell us the truth about why so many people dislike the gods. A history lesson, if you will. Or books about it that we could read. Anything to help us get a better understanding of what we¡¯re up against.¡± This was all the opening Christi needed. She started to venting more than teaching but it essentially came down to her feeling like the gods neglected the mortal races. They used to come down and meet with people and bless them. Then there was a war where millions were killed. Then the gods lost most of their power and it was mortals that protected them. When the gods¡¯ had their powers restored they left Traum and had not returned. From there, Christi¡¯s story turned more personal as she shared about the town of Wildemill and how the gods had done nothing to help with the goblins. How the town had been attacked for over six months straight now with no help whatsoever, during which time both of her parents had been killed. By the time Christi had finished her story, her voice was cracking and she had tears in her eyes. Jacob brought out a bottle of ale and poured everyone a glass, starting with Christi. As she drank, Jacob spoke up for the first time that day, ¡°The dealings of Gods and Goddesses are beyond me. I just want to run my inn, spend time with my family, visit with old friends, and maybe make some new ones. And those things are hard to do when nearly everyone has fled the town to look for safety elsewhere.¡± ¡°I fear I¡¯m not that detached, myself,¡± Mayor Helen cut in, ¡°But I¡¯ve not renounced the gods as Christi did, either. The goblins killed my husband some months back. I blame the goblins but I also lay a certain amount of blame for his death at the feet of the gods as well. But I continue to pray and seek their wisdom for how to run this town, for how to keep us safe. And I¡¯ve prayed for help. I¡¯m not sure that they¡¯ve ever granted me the wisdom but at least they finally sent help.¡± The group continued to talk until lunch time, with everyone asking questions. Christi seemed more at ease after getting to vent her frustrations and the Mayor suspected that¡¯s what Arden had wanted. They discussed plans for how to keep the town safe as well as training opportunities for the party. Christi agreed to have her training sergeant work with the party help teach them how to fight. The mayor agreed to set aside time to talk with them about the world and to try and teach them what she could. They discussed the town¡¯s needs, such as crops and firewood. Hazel pitched her idea of posting goblin heads on spikes south of town to the mayor who was hesitant but eventually agreed to let her do it. Ch 29 | ? Finally Some Training After the heavy conversations of the morning, the party split up for the afternoon. Knowing that the mayor and guard captain were going to help them was a relief to Arden, but he was still feeling the stress of leading and protecting his family. Because of this he spent a few hours at the shrine in prayer and meditation. Once he felt he had a good handle on his stress and emotions, Arden went looking for the sergeant in charge of training the guard to discuss a training regiment for his party. After spending far longer than he would have liked trying to convince the sergeant that he wasn¡¯t trying to make everyone an expert spearman or swordsman but rather just wanted his group trained in the basics of any weapons available. Arden finally acquiesced to having each person train to a skill level of five in spears first. Then they would be trained to a skill level of one in every weapon the guard had and to skill level ten in a single weapon of their choosing. Arden agreed that they would do the same exercises as the guards as well, which seemed to please the sergeant. As he was about to leave the sergeant grumbled about having to spend the next ten months teaching them. Arden laughed at this and stated that his group could finish all this training in less than five months. When the guard scoffed, Arden offered a wager that was quickly accepted. That evening at dinner the party talked about how they had spent their afternoons. It seemed Hazel and Ewan walked around looking for any shops that were still open. They found a seamstress named Caitlin and were able to buy some new clothes. And they came across Sidi, a jeweler who evidently liked to talk. Hazel hadn¡¯t bought anything from Sidi but had stayed and visited with her for a few hours. Willow and Arlo also wandered the town just looking around. They found what Willow thought was a public park with dozens of different types of flowers growing in it. Curious about them she started using her [Identification] and [Herbal Lore] skills on them trying to learn what she could, but her skill was too low for most of the flowers, even though she leveled them both in the process. A passerby let her know that the garden had been planted by an alchemist named Oscar. Not wanting to upset anyone, Willow left the plants alone and she and Arlo went east, crossed the river and out into the forest where they spent the afternoon playing. Nolan had asked Jacob for directions to the blacksmith¡¯s forge. He went and introduced himself to the blacksmith, Nicolaus, and explained that he had some experience in knife making but wanted to learn more while he was in town. Evidently the smith was in need of some help because after only asking a few few questions he put Nolan to work making nails all afternoon. Arden shared with the group his meeting with the training sergeant and mentioned how the man was a bit of a jerk still. Hazel asked what the sergeant¡¯s name was and Arden realized he had no idea. And not a simple case of he forgot but rather that he had never even asked. Nolan was quick to point out that could be why the man was rude. Arden conceded and agreed to make it right the following morning before their first training session. He went on to tell them how the sergeant insisted on everyone getting trained with a spear first. ¡°Makes sense,¡± Nolan replied. ¡°Spears are the easiest weapon to use well. It doesn¡¯t take near as much training as a sword or mace to become useful. Since all of you have quarterstaves, much of it will transfer over as well.¡± ¡°I hadn¡¯t thought about that, but it¡¯s a good point. So, training in spears until everyone is at level five. Then training in every weapon they have in their armory until we have the first level in each one. Then we each get to pick a weapon and they¡¯ll train us until we reach level ten in it. Oh, and we need to do it in less than five months.¡± ¡°Why do we need to do it so quickly?¡± Willow asked. ¡°He was grumbling that it would take ten months to train us like this and that the goblins would probably have wiped out the town by then. By this point I was frustrated so I told him we could do it in half that time. And we made a wager on it.¡± ¡°Of course you did,¡± Nolan replied while shaking his head. ¡°But you¡¯re probably right. With the boons we have and the previous experience, it really shouldn¡¯t take us very long.¡± Stolen story; please report. ¡°Of course I¡¯m right,¡± Arden said before sticking out his tongue. ¡°Did you account for the fact that the months here are shorter so it¡¯s closer to four months than five?¡± asked Willow with a smirk. Arden just looked at his youngest daughter for a moment before speaking, ¡°You know, it¡¯s times like this I wish your oldest sister was here. She wouldn¡¯t be mean to me like you.¡± At this both daughters started laughing before Willow replied, ¡°She¡¯d probably join the goblins just to spite you.¡± ¡°You¡¯re probably right,¡± Arden sighed. ¡°But back on topic, the plan as I see it is we get up and go work out in the mornings. Afternoons we¡¯re free do as we please unless something comes up, though I¡¯d recommend a nap. Then after dinner I¡¯d like to start going hunting. We¡¯ve thinned out the goblins in this area, I want to keep it thinned out.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a pretty rough schedule,¡± Nolan stated before either of the girls could start in. ¡°How about we go hunting three nights per week and we choose the nights randomly so that the goblins won¡¯t know when we¡¯re coming? We also agreed to schedule time to meet with the mayor one afternoon per week so that she could continue to try and teach us.¡± Arden sat in thought for a moment before nodding, ¡°Yeah, that does sound better. We also need to help get some crops planted. Not sure how much of that will be us planting verses us protecting others while they plant but either way we need to get seeds in the ground.¡± ? In the following weeks, the party settled into some routines. Each morning Sergent Cliff worked them hard, both during the exercise and weapons training portions. Arden and Nolan were both getting plenty of practice with their healing spells each day. But their stats had started to grow and their weapons skills flourished. The sparing with the more experienced guards even helped Nolan to raise his class abilities as well. Hazel had begun spend her afternoons learning to make jewelry with Sidi. There was some disagreement as to how useful that was in the current situation, but Arden encouraged her to continue with it. Nolan¡¯s afternoons were spent at the forge. He was a journeyman blade smith back home and his skills carried over quite well. It didn¡¯t take long for him to hit his stride as a blacksmith, and soon was able to take quite a bit of the easy work off Nicolaus¡¯s plate. Willow had finally met the mysterious Oscar and asked him about the flower garden. The odd alchemist took the time to teach her about each of the flowers and even asked her to keep a look out for certain ones when she was out hunting. When she told him she was a druid he brought her a magic scroll, the first the party had seen. Upon reading it Willow learned a spell simply titled [Plant Growth]. Oscar asked Willow to use the spell to help the recently replanted crops to grow more quickly. Arden was the only one who hadn¡¯t picked up a hobby or job so he spent his afternoons with his grandson and Malusi. Arden used healing spells on Malusi nearly every time he saw him, trying to focus the magic on the mental trauma the young man was suffering from, but he couldn¡¯t tell if it was working or not. Initially they did some sort of training each day but the results were pretty non-existent since they were having to work at Ewan¡¯s level. So Arden took Ewan into a lesser populated part of town started playing various games like tag and hide-n-seek. He tried to get Malusi to accompany them but Malusi wasn¡¯t ready for that. It was during this time, oddly, that Arden really started to see growth in his skills and attributes. Occasionally they would run into Allissa and her father and Ewan would get to play with someone near his own age for a bit while Arden and Allissa¡¯s dad stood in awkward silence. The team met with the mayor one afternoon a week for a meal and always brought a list of questions as the mayor tried to patiently teach them about the world they found themselves in. But it seemed each answer just spawned more questions, and they never actually made it through the list. During one of these meetings, Arden explained to the mayor how he started seeing skill improvement when playing games with Ewan but not when trying to train with him. The mayor was unsure of why Arden would have gained anything from simply playing games with a toddler but advised him to start keeping a notebook with questions like that in it so that he could research it later should he make it to a larger town or city. The party continued to go out night and hunt goblins. Their skills and spells continued to level as they learned more, but they weren¡¯t finding enough goblins to raise their overall levels which was frustrating them. After some discussion within the group and then with Guard Captain Christi, the party decided to plan a multi-day hunt to the south to see if they could find more goblins. Ch 30 | ? Hunting Trip ¡°What do you mean Ewan can¡¯t come with us?¡± snapped Hazel ¡°We can not take Ewan with us,¡± Arden said for what felt like the tenth time. ¡°Why not? He¡¯s warded. The goblins can¡¯t hurt him.¡± Hazel said defensively. ¡°Not directly, that¡¯s true. But there¡¯s more to it. We¡¯re not protected Hazel. This is our first true excursion from the town since we got here. We don¡¯t know how many goblin warriors there are or what sort of traps they have in place. The best case scenario is he¡¯ll slow us down and see us killing goblins. The worst case, we die and he¡¯s left alone in the forest with those very goblins.¡± ¡°Never thought about that,¡± Willow said ¡°I don¡¯t want to leave my kid¡±, snapped Hazel. ¡°I¡¯m not going to abandon him!¡± ¡°You¡¯re not abandoning him by letting him stay with a babysitter for a few days, Hazel,¡± Nolan added in a calm voice. ¡°Dad just said we could die. That would be abandoning him!¡± Hazel fired back. ¡°Look!,¡± Arden fired back. ¡°Either you come or you don¡¯t. That¡¯s up to you. But Ewan isn¡¯t coming along.¡± At this Hazel stormed off, leaving an awkward silence at the table. Finally Nolan spoke up, ¡°I have to admit, I don¡¯t get it. She¡¯s been fine leaving Ewan to go on the evening hunts so he¡¯s already been sleeping at Malusi¡¯s a few times per week.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand it either, but it¡¯s obviously a sore spot where we¡¯re going to need to show some extra patience,¡± replied Arden. ¡°Where ¡®we¡¯ need to show patience?¡± said Willow sweetly. ¡°We,¡± she said while motioning to Nolan and herself, ¡°weren¡¯t the ones who just shut her down without hearing her out.¡± Arden sighed, ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll go talk to her and let her say her peace.¡± ¡°Well, good luck with that,¡± Nolan said as he stood up. ¡°I¡¯m heading to bed. See y¡¯all in the morning.¡± ? The party rose early on their 34th day of being on Traum, packed their gear, ate a large breakfast, and dropped Ewan off with Malusi without incident and headed to the south gate. Christi was there waiting for them to let them out. ¡°Mayor Helen asked me to remind you that the Verdance Day celebration is coming up in five days. Please make sure you¡¯re back by then.¡± Christi stated. Hazel, who had been trying to memorize the months, asked, ¡°Five days will be the first of Tramon, right?¡± ¡°No. The holidays are outside of the months. We will have Budod 25th, then Verdance Day, then Tramon 1st.¡± Christi answered. ¡°And if you could bring some fresh meat for the feast, the mayor said she would appreciate it.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll see what we can do,¡± Arden replied with a grin. ¡°My grandson is staying with Malusi and his father. Ewan has a sending stone with him and Hazel has the other half. If something comes up, you can use that to get into touch with us.¡± ¡°Good to know but there shouldn¡¯t be any issues.¡± Christi bid them good hunting while closing the gate behind them and the party set off in hopes of finding creatures to fight so that they could level up further. ¡°It¡¯s crazy how big of a difference a few levels and some training makes,¡± Arden commented as they walked. ¡°A few weeks back we were ¡®going to war¡¯ against these goblins. Now we¡¯re just going hunting, as if they¡¯re no more of a threat than any other beast.¡± ¡°Yeah, but don¡¯t get too lax,¡± Nolan replied. ¡°These are intelligent, sentient, possibly sapient, beasts. They could surprise us. ¡°If they¡¯re sapient are they still beasts?¡± asked Hazel. ¡°I had not thought about that. I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°The mayor says that there are beastkin races,¡± cut in Willow. ¡°They¡¯re sapient and still called beastkin. But it does feel wrong to call sapient beings ¡®beasts¡¯ though.¡± ¡°Well, whatever you call them, don¡¯t forget that they¡¯re dangerous. A simple mistake could reverse our roles on this hunt.¡± The party spent the entire day walking and hunting but never found any goblins. Arlo hit on some trails but they never lead to anything. By sunset the party was over twenty miles south of Wildemill and feeling rather frustrated. ¡°I admit it, they have surprised me.¡± Arden announced. ¡°By not being around?¡± asked Nolan. ¡°Exactly.¡± Hazel spoke up, ¡°I don¡¯t get it. How can there not be any goblins around. Maybe they¡¯re near but Arlo¡¯s sniffer is broken.¡± If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°No, it¡¯s not,¡± Willow snapped back defensively. ¡°All the trails we found today were at least five days old. I told y¡¯all that before we followed them. He hasn¡¯t found a recent trail all day.¡± "Calm down you two,¡± Arden interrupted before the sisters could get into an argument. ¡°Let¡¯s find a place to set up camp before it gets dark.¡± Hazel looked around at the forest they were in and looked back at her dad, ¡°Where, exactly?¡± ¡°Should be a hill or something around here. Just want to block any wind and have some cover in case of rain,¡± Arden said while turning in place scoping out the area. After another hour of looking, the party finally settled on a simple clearing. Bedrolls were laid out and tents were hung from the trees above them for some cover. A quick meal of rations and then a watch rotation was setup. Thankfully the night passed without incident. Their second day Nolan had the group focus more on covering ground then hunting so by the time they made camp they were nearly sixty miles south of the village. Arlo continued to range ahead and out to the sides sniffing for any trails but didn¡¯t find anything recent. They were able to find a slightly better place to camp though. Rather that an alcove in the side of a hill like they wanted, it was an area where a couple rather large trees had fallen and vines had grown over. Willow used her [Mold Earth] spell to dig some room out from under the trees to provide a bit more cover. Bedrolls were laid out and, feeling a bit safer than the previous night, a fire was started and Nolan got some food cooking. No sooner was camp set up than Hazel was pulling out her sending stone and talking with her son. Ewan was fine. He shared a story about how Allissa had come by to play earlier. After speaking with him, Hazel was noticeably calmer the rest of the evening. As they ate, they decided on watch schedule with Hazel volunteering to take the first shift and Willow the second. After dinner Arden noticed Willow looking at the end of one of the trees they were sheltering under and walked over to her. ¡°Whatcha looking at baby girl?¡± Willow hadn¡¯t heard her father approaching and jumped when he spoke. ¡°I was looking at the rings on this tree. Do you think they represent years here like they do on earth?¡± ¡°I would assume so, but who knows. Why? What did you find?¡± ¡°Nothing really. I was just counting the rings on this tree and noticed that they¡¯re spaced further apart than the trees I saw back on earth.¡± ¡°Really? What do you think that means?¡± ¡°At first I thought it meant the years were longer but then I remembered that the years aren¡¯t much different than back on Earth. Now I¡¯m thinking it means they grow a lot more in a year than the trees back home did.¡± ¡°Makes sense. It is just because of the type of tree. Like how bamboo grew really fast compared to oaks?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so. I think the ambient mana in the air helps nurture life. Not just the tree¡¯s but the life of all the organisms in the soil. This whole ecosystem is on magic steroids.¡± ¡°That¡¯s pretty interesting. What makes you think that?¡± ¡°I think it¡¯s my druid class. As I level up I continue to learn more and more about nature. I saw a bird earlier today and I just knew what kind it was even before I used [Identify] on it.¡± ¡°Well that¡¯s pretty cool. Question. If we were to dig up some worms here, would they be bigger than we¡¯re used to? And then could we head over to the river and catch a fish that would be bigger?¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± Willow answered with a shrug. ¡°One more question. How can you see the rings on that tree in the dark?¡± Willow looked around for the sun and then shrugged, ¡°Guess it¡¯s that half-elf night vision.¡± ¡°I¡¯m so jealous you have that. I should have asked for something like that. Anyway, it¡¯s late. Go get some sleep before you have to go on watch. And Nolan will have us up before sunrise to get moving again.¡± After Willow got into her bedroll and snuggled next to the ever growing Arlo, Arden banked the coals of the fire as Hazel found a good spot about ten feet up in a nearby tree to perch up to keep watch. ? The next morning Nolan did indeed have everyone up before sunrise, ¡°Today we¡¯re going to do a bit of hunting around this area just to make sure it¡¯s clear but I don¡¯t expect to find any goblins.¡± ¡°What? Then why are we here?¡± Hazel interrupted. ¡°The goblins are regularly moving between their home and Wildemill. We¡¯re going to spend the day setting a few traps here and there. A few days ago I met with Christi and Oringo and got the go ahead as none of the guard or hunters come this far south. So first thing, let¡¯s do a sweep of the area and make sure there¡¯s no goblins nearby, just to be safe.¡± The party started their sweep and true to Nolan¡¯s prediction, they didn¡¯t find a single goblin even after searching the area for several hours. Nolan ended the searching when they were about five miles south of where they were camping, on a very well traveled trail. ¡°We¡¯ll set our first trap here. Nothing fancy, just a punji pit. Willow, if you would, we want a hole about five feet deep and¡± Arden cut Nolan off, ¡°Goblins are shorter than us.¡± ¡°Good point,¡± Nolan agreed before turning back to Willow. ¡°Make the pits two feet deep and about one foot square. We¡¯re going to do five of these in this area, I¡¯ll mark where.¡± Nolan then pulled out some sticks from his pack, each about a foot and a half long and pass a few over to Arden and Hazel. ¡°Sharpen these, please.¡± It didn¡¯t take long for the pits to be dug and sticks sharpened. With a touch more help from Willow, holes were dug for each stick to be inserted into and then the ground was packed down around them. ¡°Well,¡± Willow said as she cast [Mould Earth] again, ¡°at least all this is helping me level this spell more. I¡¯m up to level four already.¡± ¡°Nice Willow!¡± Nolan said while patting her on the back. Looking over to Hazel he asked, ¡°Do you have a flamethrower type spell?¡± ¡°No sir.¡± ¡°Oh, that would be cool,¡± Arden cut in. ¡°Can you create one with that Spellmaker skill?¡± ¡°It¡¯s [Spellweaver], and maybe but it would take some time.¡± ¡°There could be a lot of uses for something like that, where you can keep throwing fire for as long as you have mana. If you don¡¯t mind putting the work in, I think it could help us all,¡± Nolan stated. ¡°I¡¯ll try after we get back to town,¡± Hazel answered timidly. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I haven¡¯t used it yet.¡± ¡°Hey, you¡¯re not in trouble,¡± Arden said reassuringly. ¡°We were just asking. And if you can¡¯t do it, that¡¯s okay too.¡± For the next several hours the party continued to follow Nolan¡¯s lead and build punji pits, snares, whip trips, and more. By sundown the party was tired. Even with magic, there was a lot of effort involved in getting everything just right. But they had managed to trap a five mile section of the forest along and around a few different paths. Ch 31 | ? Cornered As they settled into camp that evening, Hazel volunteered to cook supper while the other three and Arlo relaxed. Willow kept glancing over at Arden and Nolan like she had something to say but she kept hesitating. Finally after nearly an hour Nolan spoke up, ¡°Willow, just say it already.¡± More bashful that usual, Willow took a deep breath and then asked, ¡°Why did we make all the traps so that they would injure the goblins instead of kill them?¡± ¡°By injuring them we slow down the group they¡¯re with. We¡¯re sixty or so miles from Wildemill but only about twenty miles from the goblin¡¯s home. Ideally the goblins will decide to return home with their injured comrades. This slows them more and word spreads that the forest is trapped making any other goblins coming this direction more cautious which will slow them even more.¡± ¡°So, this is as much psychological as it is physical?¡± ¡°Basically. Does it bother you?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t like the idea of anyone suffering, even if it is goblins.¡± ¡°I get that. But if it were you, would you rather die in a trap or just get injured?¡± ¡°Obviously I¡¯d rather be injured. But from what we¡¯ve learned about goblin culture from Ms Christi, they don¡¯t have the healing options we do and they don¡¯t tend to take care of their sick or injured like we would. So really, aren¡¯t the options just immediate death or drawn out, painful death?¡± Nolan thought for a moment before responding, ¡°You make a valid point. But from the standpoint of trying to protect the village of Wildemill, I¡¯m okay with making the goblins suffer until they stop trying to attack.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t feel ¡®right¡¯ to me. But I don¡¯t know how to explain what I¡¯m feeling. I just feel that it¡¯s better to just kill them cleanly if possible.¡± ¡°In general I do agree with you. But in this instance I think it¡¯s warranted.¡± Arden joined the conversation with, ¡°You seemed nervous to bring this up to us. There¡¯s nothing wrong with disagreeing on the best way to go about something. And you did well to finish the tasks at hand first and then to discuss this afterwards.¡± ¡°Dinner¡¯s ready,¡± Hazel called out. ¡°And I¡¯m perfectly fine with the goblins suffering, for the record.¡± ¡°Of course you are,¡± Willow replied. ¡°That¡¯s fine too, Hazel. Everyone can feel however they want as long as we¡¯re all working together,¡± said Arden as he attempted to reassure both daughters while keeping the peace. As Nolan fixed his plate and sat back down he said, ¡°Something I wanted to cover tonight was all the skills and spells we have that aren¡¯t getting leveled. I started thinking about it after the earlier discussion about Hazel¡¯s [Spellweaver] skill that she¡¯s never used. I think we all have some skills and spells that we haven¡¯t used yet. Let¡¯s start focusing on those more. We want to level them up as far as we can. Granted, we¡¯ll gain experience for them faster when using them in combat but we can still gain while using them in camp or back at the inn. Those with shield spells could literally walk around with the shield active all day to slowly level it up. And this applies to me as well. I have spells I¡¯ve never even cast.¡± Arden chanted something and waved his hand. Suddenly the group felt a slight pressure on them. With a smirk Arden said, ¡°I agree. And surely no one minds sitting in a [Dome of Truth] while we eat to help me level that up, right?¡± No one answered for fear the spell would make them stop breathing like Regina had described it to them. Ignoring the question, Nolan continued, ¡°See, this is good. We should work to find way to train all these skills and spells. The higher we can level them the better off we are.¡± ¡°He¡¯s right,¡± Arden added in. ¡°I¡¯ve been identifying everything I see since we got here. It¡¯s literally my highest skill now at level 8.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve tried that but it never shows me anything useful. I identify a tree and it just says ¡®tree¡¯. Like, no shit it¡¯s a tree,¡± Complained Hazel. ¡°Yeah, it does that until you level it up. After a few levels it gives more information. And as you continue to level you get even more information. For example, that tree you¡¯re leaning against is an Oak tree. And after more levels I know it¡¯s of the Black Oak variety. And after more levels I know that it¡¯s currently fighting some sort of rot. I bet if I leveled the [Identify] skill to ten I¡¯d be able to tell you what type of rot.¡± Hearing that the tree was sick, Willow immediately got up and went to the tree and cast [Plant Growth] on it. Looking back at her father she asked, ¡°Did that do anything?¡± ¡°Still identifies the same way. I don¡¯t think just helping it grow will be enough.¡± ¡°Well, try healing it.¡± ¡°You want me to heal a tree?¡± ¡°Weren¡¯t you just agreeing that we should practice our skills more?¡± Willow asked with a smile. ¡°Well, it¡¯s a good size tree, should be a lot of practice for you.¡± Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°She got you there, dude.¡± Nolan said while laughing Arden chuckled as he got up, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll give it a go.¡± Arden approached the tree and laid a glowing hand on it, casting his [Healing Touch] spell. But nothing seemed to happen. So Arden tried again, but this time his hand continued to glow. After about a minute and a half he grabbed his head and complained, ¡°Freaking mana headache. Ahh, they remind me of brain freeze and they suuuuuck.¡± ¡°What did you do differently that second time?¡± Nolan asked. ¡°Rather than just a single cast, I channeled the spell so that the healing would continue until I stopped or, in this case, ran out of mana and got a mana headache.¡± He stood there for a couple minutes before removing his head from his hands. ¡°Dang those suck. But it worked Willow. The tree no longer shows to be sick.¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t you stop before you got the headache?¡± Asked Hazel Arden grinned, ¡°Because Mayor Helen says that if you do it enough it¡¯s possible to get used to them so that they don¡¯t debilitate you.¡± ¡°And I suppose you are going to want us to do that, too?¡± ¡°It would be for the best, but probably best to do it somewhere safe and not out in the forest.¡± ¡°Well,¡± said Nolan, ¡°as much as I like watching Arden writhe in pain, it¡¯s time for some sleep. We have a long run back to town tomorrow and I¡¯d like to get an early start.¡± ¡°Yeah it¡¯s getting late. I¡¯ll pull first watch. Nolan has second watch. Y¡¯all get some sleep.¡± As everyone got ready for sleep, Arden climbed up about ten feet in the tree he had healed and took a seat on a branch while thinking to himself, ¡°It¡¯s a nice night. Wish I had a book¡ and could see in the dark.¡± ? When Nolan woke up it took him a second to remember where he was. Then he wondered why Arden hadn¡¯t woken him to pull watch. He was torn between assuming Arden had fallen asleep or assuming Arden had decided to stay on watch all night. As he started to move he heard Arden¡¯s voice in his head. He was really starting to hate that [Message] spell of his. ¡°Don¡¯t move. The camp is surrounded.¡± ¡°How? You were on watch. Did you fall asleep?¡± Nolan thought back angrily. ¡°No. Just couldn¡¯t see them in the dark until it was too late. They were surprisingly careful in their approach. I¡¯ve counted over three dozen goblins but something else is with them, leading them. I can¡¯t get a clear enough look at it to use [Identify] on it but it¡¯s bigger than they are. As far as I can tell, they haven¡¯t spotted me yet.¡± ¡°Ideas?¡± ¡°Not really. We¡¯re going to have to fight our way out. If you could wake up the girls without the goblins noticing, that would be great. Otherwise those few seconds of disorientation is going to be risky.¡± ¡°Where are you?¡± ¡°To the east of you, in the tree Willow made me heal.¡± ¡°How long do you think we have until they attack?¡± ¡°Oddly, I don¡¯t think they intend to for a while yet. This leader seems to be playing it cautious. But I¡¯m worried that they¡¯ll end up waking up Arlo and it¡¯ll turn into a shit show.¡± ¡°Is it safe for me to throw something at one of the girls to wake them up?¡± ¡°Yeah, if it¡¯s small.¡± It took over five more minutes before both girls were awake and caught up on the situation. Hazel, of course, wanted to stand up and release another [Chaos Wave] but Arden and Nolan ruled it too risky. After some discussion they decided to start with some distraction. Arden would attempt to cast [Message] on the leader to see if he could rattle him or learn anything useful. While he did that the other three would be casting buffing spells and preparing for a bit of shock and awe. Nolan waited for what felt like twenty minutes but was closer to three before Arden finally let him know that whomever the leader was, he didn¡¯t want to talk. Nolan¡¯s opening move was to cast [Light] as far to the south of them as he could to ruin the goblins night vision. Then Willow cast [Entangle] in one direction as Hazel cast [Sleep] in the other. All of this was done from the cover of the downed trees they had made their camp under. Arden cast [Light] toward the north and then cast his [Shield of Faith] spell on himself. Then he stood up on the tree branch and started firing off [Radiant Bolt]s at the leader of the goblins, each shot lighting him up as the magic left his hand. It didn¡¯t take long for the goblins to start firing arrows and throwing spears at Arden, who in turn laughed and ridiculed them. Once they were all focused on him, Nolan and Arlo both slipped out of camp and started to stalk their prey. Hazel cast [Mana Shield] on herself and then stood up and started casting spell after spell. Willow cast [Barkskin] on herself, [Shillelagh] on her staff and took off. Arlo was mostly darting in close and hamstringing the goblins whereas Nolan was crushing windpipes so they couldn¡¯t scream. As a result, more and more goblins charged toward Arlo¡¯s side of the fight as the goblins he continued to incapacitate continued to call for help. It wasn¡¯t long before Arlo was overwhelmed and when he tried to slip away one of the goblins got a lucky shot in and embedded an arrow in his left hind quarters. Arlo let out a pained cry and before anyone could stop her Willow was heading for Arlo. Immediately, Arden started throwing his bolts toward the growing group of goblins as Arlo continue to let out cries as the goblins continued to attack him. Nolan was weaving in between the trees trying to get to where Willow was heading when Arden reached out with another [Message] ¡°Go after the leader.¡± ¡°Seriously dude? Willow¡¯s going to get herself killed. There¡¯s over a dozen goblins surrounding Arlo right now with more on the way. She¡¯s not that good of a fighter yet.¡± ¡°Trust me brother¡± ¡°Okay. I hope you¡¯re right. Where¡¯s this leader?¡± ¡°Southeast of you but moving through the trees heading west. Just go due south and you should run into him.¡± Nolan shook his head and turned to go where Arden said this mysterious leader was. He hadn¡¯t gone ten feet when he heard the roar of a bear. Turning back Willow was no where to be seen but a huge grizzly was moving between trees steadily swatting goblins away from Arlo as if they were simple houseflies. ¡°Heh, I guess she finally decided to choose her first animal for her wildshift ability. About time,¡± Nolan thought to himself as he continued his hunt. Ch 32 | ? Interrogations After another twenty or so feet, Nolan was finally able to make out a figure that was running between the trees as one of Arden¡¯s [Radiant Bolt] spells hit it and lit it up for a moment. The humanoid stood over six feet tall and was yelling out orders in goblin. Nolan angled his approach to come in from the side of this leader and was able to get the first strike. But, unlike the goblins, this new enemy could actually fight and managed to deflect Nolan¡¯s second strike and draw his sword. ¡°Try not to kill him. I¡¯d like to interrogate him.¡± Arden spoke into his mind. ¡°That may not be possible,¡± Nolan thought back while trying to keep from being cut. ¡°He¡¯s a far better fighter than the goblins.¡± Nolan continued to dance around the sword strikes that were coming at him without taking any fatal blows, but it was a close thing. After a few minutes Arden sent another [message]. ¡°How can I help?¡± ¡°More light! The trees here are blocking both of our light spells from earlier. I¡¯ve nearly tripped several times on the roots while trying to dodge.¡± A moment later, several balls of light appeared about fifteen feet above Nolan and this mysterious leader, forming a circle around them. This helped tilt things in Nolan¡¯s favor a bit. Nolan could now clearly see his enemy was taller than he was and had orange skin and sharp teeth. He wore leather armor and was pretty good with the sword he was using. He definitely looked related to the goblins but was not a goblin. When Nolan used his [Identify] skill on the creature he learned that he was fighting a hobgoblin but not his level. A few minutes later, Nolan¡¯s opponent glanced back toward the tree Arden was in and yelled in Common, ¡°Get out of my head you coward!¡± Nolan used this opportunity to slip in and land a punch in the solar plexus in an attempt to knock the wind out of his opponent. While it did hurt the hobgoblin, it did not have the effect he wanted. Before he could withdraw, the hobgoblin lunged at Nolan with his sword out and activated a skill that caused his fist and sword to glow red for a moment. Nolan attempted to redirect the attack but wasn¡¯t able to do so. The sword pierced his stomach, staggering him. Nolan grabbed the hobgoblin¡¯s sword hand to try and keep him from pulling the sword back out while he started to cast a spell. The hobgoblin threw out a left hook which rocked Nolan¡¯s head and caused him to let go of the sword arm, but didn¡¯t break his focus on his spell. A moment later he finished casting [Shocking Hand] and reached forward and grabbed the hobgoblin. As electricity coursed through the hobgoblin, causing his body to seize up, Nolan noticed a bear coming up behind his electrified foe. It stood and raised a huge paw. Nolan quickly stopped his spell and stepped back as the bear¡¯s paw slammed down on the hobgoblin¡¯s head, knocking it out. Before Nolan could say anything, a hand rested on his shoulder from behind and healing power poured into him as Arden walked up beside him. ¡°Well¡ we found some goblins,¡± quipped Arden. ? In short order they had the hobgoblin tied up to a tree with Nolan watching him, waiting on him to regain consciousness. Arden and Hazel were dragging goblins toward a pit that Willow was digging. Arlo laid nearby, physically healed by Arden but with the memory of the pain still lingering. When the hobgoblin started to stir, Nolan called Arden over and they got ready to start the interrogation. As soon as the hobgoblin opened his eyes and saw the humans, he started to struggle at his bonds attempting to free himself. No one said anything, they let him continue to try until he finally had to stop and rest. Arden approached and asked, ¡°Now will you tell me your name?¡± ¡°Kozack¡± ¡°How did you find us?¡± ¡°Lucky. We were walking north and one of the scouts smelled you.¡± Nolan cut in, ¡°Kozack, why are your people attacking the town of Wildemill?¡± ¡°Chief said to.¡± ¡°That¡¯s it? Chief said to go get yourself killed so you do it?¡± Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°It is an honor to die for one¡¯s clan. Something you humans know nothing of.¡± ¡°He¡¯s got us there, bro,¡± Arden said with a grin. ¡°We don¡¯t know anything about dying.¡± Nolan chuffed at Arden¡¯s attempt at a joke before continuing on, ¡°I do not know much about your people but it¡¯s my understanding that you have a caste system. How many are in your warrior caste?¡± ¡°The goblins have a caste system. All hobgoblins are warriors.¡± ¡°And there are how many hobgoblins?¡± ¡°That I will not tell you. I will not betray my people. Do your worst.¡± ¡°Woah, hold up there,¡± Arden cut in. ¡°Before he starts cutting parts off of you, can you at least tell me the the name of your chief?¡± ¡°My chief is Dronkazol the Loud.¡± ¡°Thank you Kozack. Now, would you be willing to tell me how long he¡¯s been chief over the goblins to the south of here?¡± ¡°Chief Dronkazol saved this settlement about six months ago.¡± ¡°Saved from whom?¡± ¡°The previous goblin chief was weak. He had few warriors and never grew his territory. Chief Dronkazol will teach them the ways of battle and bring glory to these worthless goblins.¡± Arden nodded his head as he turned and walked over to a log and sat down. Nolan followed him and the two discussed their next steps before Nolan walked back to Kozack. The hobgoblin meet Nolan¡¯s eyes, ¡°I¡¯m ready. Begin your torture.¡± ¡°No,¡± Nolan replied. ¡°You been mostly straight with us. The only lie you told was that you were coming from the south when you found us by smell. We know from the tracks you left that you were coming from the north. We know many of the goblins you were leading were carrying shovels so we have to assume you¡¯re digging something. Tell us what you were doing to the north, what you¡¯re digging for and I¡¯ll offer you a clean death. Refuse and I¡¯ll chop off all your limbs, remove your eyes and ears, and heal the wounds so that you don¡¯t bleed out. We¡¯ll stuff cloth in your ears and put a gag in your mouth. You¡¯ll spend your remaining days alone in your own mind until a wild animal finds you and eats you.¡± For the first time Kozack showed some indecisiveness before finally nodding. ¡°We were sent to look for a dungeon.¡± ¡°Like, basement of a castle, where the prisoners are held? That kind of dungeon?¡± Arden hurried over, ¡°Did he just say dungeon?¡± Looking to Kozack, ¡°Tell me more about dungeons!¡± ¡°We believe there is a dungeon to the north of here. We¡¯re trying to find it.¡± ¡°Yeah, got that part. Listen, I¡¯m not from around here. Can you tell me how dungeons work?¡± Kozack looked confused, ¡°Sometimes mana will collect in an area. If there¡¯s enough of it there¡¯s a chance it will form an elemental. But sometimes, instead of an elemental it¡¯ll form a dungeon.¡± ¡°Awesome!¡± Arden said, clearly excited. ¡°Now, do dungeons have themes. For example, could a dungeon form and be full of nothing but goblins and hobgoblins?¡± This clearly offended Kozack, ¡°We are intelligent beings, not monsters!¡± ¡°Woah there hoss, I wasn¡¯t trying to upset you. So, evidently dungeons don¡¯t have intelligent beings in them. Back to my question though. Would a dungeon have nothing but a single type of beast, or nothing but traps, or some theme like that?¡± ¡°You humans always think you¡¯re so smart but have such a poor education if you don¡¯t even know this. I am your captive, not your teacher. I¡¯ve answered your questions. Now either let me go or give me my death.¡± Kozack then lifted his chin, exposing his neck to Nolan and Arden A moment later Nolan was cleaning the blood off his sword while Arden stood there in shock. ¡°You really couldn¡¯t have let me ask him more questions?¡± ¡°No. It would be too easy for him to feed us false information.¡± ¡°Dude, I had [Dome of Truth] up. He¡¯s been feeding us false information since you threatened him.¡± ¡°When did you cast that?¡± ¡°Before I ever asked for his name.¡± ¡°Then how did he lie about how they found us? I thought the spell preventing people from lying?¡± ¡°About that. If you level it at bit then you have an option on how you want it to work. I just unlocked the option last night that lets me cast it so that it would just tell me if anyone lied. Less noticeable that way, no body stops breathing.¡± Nolan stared at Arden for a moment, clearly upset. Finally he answers, ¡°Good to know. But my point remains. We can go back to town and ask Helen or Christi about dungeons and know the information is reliable,¡± Nolan stated as he untied the ropes holding Kozack to the tree. ¡°You¡¯re right about that, we¡¯re totally going to talk with the mayor. But his lies were revealing information as well. I could have learned more from him.¡± Nolan shrugged, ¡°Well, next time let me know what¡¯s going on. I can¡¯t be expected to make the correct decisions when I don¡¯t have all the information.¡± With that Nolan motioned for Arden to grab the body and the two lifted Kozack and carried him to the pit where Hazel and Willow already had a fire going burning the goblin bodies. Once all the bodies had burned down and their camp was cleaned up, Willow used her [Mould Earth] and [Plant Growth] spells to cover up the area where the remains of the goblin party were buried. Arden took this chance to cast [Mending] on his clothes to patch the holes from all the arrows and spears he was hit with during the battle. After he finished with his own clothes he mended everyone else¡¯s. By this point there was less than an hour until sunrise. ¡°No sense trying to go back to sleep,¡± Nolan announced. ¡°Let¡¯s go ahead and start running back.¡± Ch 33 | ? Unexpected Surprise The party was making good time and the trip through the forest was a bit surreal to Arden. This was the third time they¡¯d gone through these woods, and each time had felt so different. The first was just over a month ago when they arrived in this world. They were all excited and the reality of being in a new world hadn¡¯t set in yet. The second was a week ago, to go hunting. They were all nervous and hiding it with confidence. And now they were heading back to Wildemill having slain a party of over thirty goblins in one go. Arden was not even considering that there could be danger in the area. Which he soon realized was a mistake. "Honestly, I¡¯m kinda sad there wasn¡¯t more goblins. Once I turned into the grizzly bear they were so easy to beat," complained Willow. "Really?" Arden asked. "You want to complain that it was too easy?¡± Hazel shook her head, ¡°One minute she¡¯s complaining about hurting other sapient beings and the next she¡¯s complaining that she didn¡¯t get to kill enough of them.¡± "I''m just saying I was bit let down because I didn''t get to fight mor¡" Willow''s last word hit a high note as a tan and black shape lunged from an overhead tree branch, tackling Willow and pinning her to the ground. Arden rushed toward what he now saw was some type of cat. At first he thought it was a jaguar that was standing on Willow¡¯s chest. But has he rushed toward it he saw that it had six legs and a slight shimmer to it that was making it hard to focus on. Then he noticed the cat was just staring into Willow¡¯s eyes. Neither the weird jaguar nor Willow was moving. Failing to read the situation, Hazel laughed, "That''s what you get for complaining." A howl was heard from Arlo, who was scouting ahead. His howl was answered by various roars many times over. ¡°Dad¡¡± Hazel said in an urgent but quiet tone, finally realizing this was serious. Arden looked at his daughter and saw she was looking to the side. He slowly turned and saw that they were surrounded by animals. Jaguars, wolves, bears, and more. Everywhere he looked was a predator watching them. ¡°No sudden movements, folks.¡± Nolan cautioned, ¡°This is not normal. Who¡¯s causing it and why?¡± ¡°Aservia,¡± Willow whispered ¡°Your goddess?¡± Hazel asked. ¡°Did you upset her?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t think so.¡± Willow answered, ¡°But we¡¯re supposed to follow this wampus cat.¡± Arden looked at what was evidently a wampus cat, ¡°Fine, we¡¯ll follow. Now get off my daughter.¡± The cat lifted a paw and studied it for a moment as if it had no cares in the world. ¡°Please,¡± Arden added through gritted teeth. The jaguar stepped off of Willow and led the group through the circle of animals in a more easterly direction. Everyone followed, but the tension was thick enough to cut with a knife. A few minutes into following the leader, Arlo rejoined the group, seemingly in good health but obviously frustrated. After nearly an hour of walking, the cat led them into a clearing. The group realized it was the clearing they first appeared in when they came into this world. In the middle of the clearing stood a large blond wolf with the last rays of the setting sun highlighting its fur. Seeing the wolf, Arlo let out a bark and charged forward, past their guide cat. Seeing Arlo coming, the tan wolf started running toward the edge of the clearing, and just as it looked like the two wolves were about to collide, the new wolf cut to the left. The next few moments were full of the new wolf juking and jiving away from Arlo, and it took the group a bit to realize they were playing. Suddenly there was a flash of light back in the middle of the clearing, and a beautiful feminine figure stood there with light radiating softly from her. Both wolves immediately stopped playing, ran to her and laid at her feet. Then the group saw Willow kneeling before this woman, shocked because they hadn¡¯t even noticed her walking over. ¡°Betting that¡¯s her goddess. Should we kneel?¡± Arden asked. ¡°Will our gods get mad?¡± Hazel asked. ¡°Never hurts to be polite,¡± Nolan said as he walked up to where Willow was and knelt beside her. The rest of the group followed, including the wampus cat. All showed reverence to the goddess. With a smile on her face, the goddess looked down at the group, ¡°It¡¯s rare that I get to do something for no reason other than simple joy. Most things people ask for wouldn¡¯t actually make them happy. And most everything else I do is just work. But every now and then, something like this comes along. While you were hunting goblins, I overheard a story that Ewan was sharing about his dog Twix. Along with the joy of the story, there was also a hint of sadness. He missed Twix. Since Viznen is Jonthan¡¯s patron deity, I ran my idea by him first. He agreed, so I brought Twix here. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. ¡°I did this to bring happiness to a young child. I didn¡¯t realize how much joy it would bring to Arlo as well.¡± Aservia knelt down and petted both wolves before looking back to the group. ¡°As Arlo is Willow¡¯s companion, Twix will be Ewan¡¯s. She will be there to protect him when the rest of you can¡¯t be.¡± Turning to face Willow directly, ¡°I am pleased by your work to grow food for the village of Wildemill. And your efforts to learn more about the plants around you also bring me joy. Most don¡¯t realize how powerful simple plants can be. Continue to grow, and you will reap many rewards.¡± As she finished speaking, a golden glow appeared around Willow for just a moment. Aservia looked back to the group, ¡°Tougher fights are coming. Take care and continue to grow.¡± In the space between the start and end of a blink, the goddess was gone. Everyone stood in silent awe of the divine being that had just left for several moments before Nolan spoke up. ¡°There¡¯s no way we¡¯re making it back to the village before nightfall. I think we should camp here.¡± ¡°Wait up, I wanna know what that glow was. Willow did you get some sort of blessing or something?¡± asked Hazel. ¡°My [Herbal Lore] class ability just went up by five points!¡± Everyone spent the next few minutes congratulating Willow and talking about how they had met a god ¡®in the flesh¡¯, so to speak. Eventually Nolan brought the discussion back around to camping in the clearing. ¡°A bit exposed, don¡¯t you think?¡± Arden asked. ¡°Easier to see anyone coming, though,¡± Hazel added. Willow noticed that the wampus cat from earlier was still with them and walked over to it. ¡°Will you and the others keep a watch while we sleep here tonight?¡± The cat nodded before turning and trotting back to the tree line. Looking at the group Willow said, ¡°We¡¯re good. They¡¯ll keep an eye out.¡± Arden shrugged, ¡°Works for me. Let¡¯s set up camp.¡± Setting camp consisted of just unrolling bedrolls and setting up a makeshift fire pit. Hazel supplied a bit of magic to get the campfire going. Nolan started on dinner. The party gathered around, and Arden got out his sending stones. He tossed one to Hazel and one to Willow. ¡°Here, y¡¯all update the others.¡± "What are you going to do?" Willow asked "I''m going to play with Twix and Arlo for a bit and try to relax. The last few days were stressful. I need some fun." ? The night went without interruption, and Hazel had the party up and fed before the sun broke the horizon. "Why did you wake us up so early?" Willow complained while rolling her bedroll. "The sooner we get moving, the sooner I can see my son," Hazel said as if the answer was obvious. "It won''t take long to get there. Last time we didn''t know where we were going, and we were being cautious. We should be able to move much faster this time," Nolan responded. As they were leaving the clearing Arden asked, "I assume everyone got two levels on this trip? We didn''t talk about it before leaving the goblins. Has everyone assigned their stats? Any new skills or spells worth sharing?" ¡°I got a new spell!¡± Willow said excitedly. ¡°Thorn whip. It allows me to conjure a whip that¡¯s made of a vine with thorns on it. It says it can be used for attacks or to restrain someone.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good. You¡¯ve been needing something that could help you with single opponents,¡± observed Nolan. ¡°Hazel, what about you?¡± ¡°Elemental affinity. It¡¯s an ability that says I¡¯ll get an affinity for any magic skill that is at least level ten. The affinity then lowers the mana cost for spells related to that element and grants me a ten percent resistance to that element.¡± ¡°Wow,¡± replied Arden. ¡°That could be a huge help. Especially if you level the ability itself.¡± Looking to Nolan, ¡°I got another spell. This one is called [Unyielding Duty]. Says it ¡®bestows upon a target the resolve needed to perform a difficult task, granting temporary resistance to fatigue, fear, or any demoralization effects.¡¯ Seems kinda similar to my [Divine Aura] ability in a way.¡± Nolan nodded, ¡°I¡¯m sure that as you use them you¡¯ll find some differences. I picked up an ability that will let me deflect arrows. I¡¯m betting that if I can level it up, I¡¯ll eventually be able to catch them, too. ¡°Dude, that¡¯ll be awesome.¡± Arden replied. The party continued moving and chatting along the way and were able to make it back to the village by midday. Hazel, Willow, and both wolves headed to Oringo¡¯s and Malusi¡¯s home to pick up Ewan. They were super excited to let Ewan know that Twix was there. Nolan and Arden headed to the mayor¡¯s office/house. Upon arriving the mayor greeted the two but looked confused, ¡°I¡¯m sorry gentlemen, did we have an appointment today that I¡¯ve forgotten about? If so I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll need to reschedule. We¡¯re trying to get the last of the preparations done for tomorrow¡¯s Verdance Day celebration.¡± ¡°No mayor,¡± Nolan answered, ¡°we didn¡¯t have a meeting planned for today, but we just returned from our hunting trip with some news we believe you¡¯re going to want to hear. If you can give us couple minutes we¡¯ll give you the brief version and you can decide how important it is.¡± Looking weary and worried the mayor motioned for them to continue. Nolan turned to Arden to pick up the story. Arden just shrugged and said a matter of fact tone, ¡°Captured a hobgoblin and interrogated him. He says a new chief, another hobgoblin, took over the goblin tribe about six months ago. If I¡¯m not mistaken that¡¯s about the same time Wildemill started having issues with them? Also, most of the goblins with him were carrying shovels. When asked what they were digging he lied and said that they looking for a dungeon.¡± The mayor was nodding when hearing about a new chief but when Arden said dungeon her eyes went wide. ¡°Are you certain it was a lie?¡± ¡°Yes ma¡¯am.¡± replied Arden. The mayor was quiet for a few minutes before looking back at the two men, ¡°We¡¯ve not covered dungeons in our lessons and I¡¯m sure you both have a lot of questions about them. I can see, and smell, that you just returned from your hunt. Please, go back to the inn and get some food. Relax as best you can. Christi and I will be by later this evening to get a full debriefing and to do some teaching.¡± Ch 34 | ? Magic and Dungeons Later that evening the party sat at their usual table with Mayor Helen and Guard Captain Christi. Jacob had locked the doors and was refilling everyone¡¯s cup. ¡°So you were surrounded by over thirty goblins that were being lead by a hobgoblin?¡± Christi asked in disbelief. ¡°And you¡¯re all still here?¡± Arden laughed as he replied, ¡°Yeah, we¡¯re a bit hard to get rid of.¡± ¡°Especially Arden¡± interjected Nolan with a grin. ¡°I¡¯ve been trying for years. But jokes aside, what can you tell us about dungeons?¡± ¡°Before we go to that, there¡¯s context you¡¯ll need to know. You all already have some magic so you¡¯re aware of what mana is. What you don¡¯t know is that prolonged exposure to mana can have weird effects. For example, our world has wild animals. Squirrels, rabbits, bears, etc. But if you take a rabbit and keep in a cage next to where someone is practicing fire based spells, over time some of that fire aspected mana will start to accumulate in the rabbit. And if this goes on for a long enough time, the rabbit could evolve into a fire rabbit with it¡¯s own magic spells. Or it could mate with another rabbit and have offspring that are flame aspected. Mana likes to be near similar mana. So the more fire magic done near the rabbit, the greater the quantities of fire mana it will absorb. This is why pest control in cities is usually a priority. The last thing you want is rats that live near a kitchen to start to draw on the fire mana coming from the ovens. Then you end up with rats that can throw fire bolt spells and your town burns down. Are you with me so far?¡± ¡°Yes, but I have questions,¡± Arden replied. ¡°Save them until the end, please. Now, if there isn¡¯t anything nearby to absorb the trace mana, then the fire mana would start to condense around itself. If this happened for a long enough period of time it could produce a fire elemental. Obviously this would take far far longer than simply imbuing animals with magic. ¡°And finally, if for whatever reason the conditions to form an elemental aren¡¯t right, then the mana will continue to condense and eventually form what is known as a dungeon core. These are essentially a gem. The color is dependent on the types of mana it is made of. The size of the gem depends on its level. A tier one dungeon core would be pretty small. Dungeon cores have a form of intelligence but they¡¯re not actually sapient. ¡°When a dungeon core forms it begins to absorb mana from the surrounding area until it can eventually create an entrance to its dungeon. The actual dungeon is in a pocket dimension. Remember this, you can¡¯t dig you way into or out of a dungeon. You¡¯d be amazed at how many people try it anyway. Once the entrance to the pocket dimension is created, the core itself goes through the entrance and starts to build its dungeon. The core will populate the dungeon with bests, monsters, traps, etc. No one is sure how the dungeons decide on what to put in there or what limits they have. We do know that as living creatures venture into the dungeon it will attempt to kill them. Some people believe that the dungeon core earns experience just like every other creature. Some believe that it only absorbs the remnant mana. Either way, the more it gets, the bigger it will grow and the smarter it will become. ¡°The dungeon core can be destroyed which will of course destroy the dungeon. Some teams spend their lives going around and destroying cores as the experience earned from doing so is rumored to be phenomenal. The core can also be captured and moved to a new location. Doing this would allow you a measure of control over the dungeon which can have massive benefits. Some kingdoms have dungeons they have specifically set up to train their armies. A number of powerful wizards have created a symbiotic relationships with dungeon cores where they¡¯ve built their mage towers inside a dungeon and regularly provide it whatever it is that it wants and in return the dungeon serves as a layer of protection. ¡°Now, all that said, I must ask again. Are you absolutely certain that the hobgoblin was lying about searching for a dungeon core. Dungeons grant experience for the kills made inside, but they also serve as opportunities to gain money and equipment. In some dungeons you can even mine for rare metals. This would be a huge deal for a tribe to possess. I don¡¯t think I need to tell you how bad this would be for Wildemill and the surrounding area.¡± The room fell silent after Helen stopped lecturing and everyone worked to process all the implications of what was said. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Eventually Arden spoke up, ¡°I had my [Dome of Truth] spell active. I¡¯ve leveled it up enough that now I can have it allow people to lie and simply let me know, rather than strangling them. Nolan asked the hobgoblin where they had been and why so many goblins were carrying shovels. The hobgoblin replied that they had been hunting for a dungeon that they believed was to the north of them. When he said that, my spell let me know that he was lying.¡± The mayor nodded in thought for a moment before replying, ¡°That does not mean there isn¡¯t a dungeon in the area. He could have been lying about it being to the north, couldn¡¯t he?¡± ¡°I suppose that is a possibility. But the goblins were coming from the north.¡± ¡°If he was lying, what do you think he was trying to hide?¡± Arden motioned to Nolan who took over, ¡°We think they were digging a tunnel into the town. In recent weeks we¡¯ve made the surrounding countryside inhospitable to them so we think they¡¯re going to try and go under the walls. That said, we also wondered if they were doing something with the river that would cause it to flood but it seemed like to massive a job for the crew we encountered.¡± ¡°These are reasonable conclusions. I do agree that tunneling under the wall is most likely. However, the enormity of the problem that will arise if they really do find a dungeon core requires that we investigate it just to be on the safe side.¡± ¡°Understood. We¡¯ll start looking for any signs of digging in the area. Hopefully that will lead us to whatever their plan is.¡± Hazel asked, ¡°If it is a dungeon core and we could it and bring it here, that would be a boon for Wildemill right? It would help you rebuild.¡± Mayor Helen nodded her head, ¡°It would be for a short while. Then word would spread that we had a dungeon and our Lord would inevitably send troops here to take possession of it. It would be best for Wildemill if you could find the dungeon and destroy it. This would also provide quite a big of experience for all of you as well.¡± As the mayor said this, the party all got an alert: New Quest: Mayor Helen fears there goblins may be searching for dungeon or tunneling into Wildemill. Determine which is correct and stop them. Rewards: Unknown The party all smiled and closed the alert. ¡°How would we go about finding a dungeon core, though?¡± Nolan queried. ¡°If a dungeon core is so small, couldn¡¯t we just put it in our pocket or something and not tell anyone about it?¡± Willow asked. The mayor smiled at the two talking over one another, ¡°Normally I¡¯d say one at a time, but these answers are related. To find a dungeon you look for an area without mana. One were it feels like the air is trying to pull the very mana from your body. In the middle of that area will be the dungeon core or an entrance to a dungeon. And that feeling is why you can¡¯t just put one in your pocket to hide it. Everyone nearby would feel it.¡± Willow thought for a moment before asking, ¡°What if it¡¯s in our packs?¡± ¡°BOOM¡± said Arden. ¡°Why would it explode in your pack?¡± Christi asked. ¡°I was just joking,¡± Arden said. ¡°But our packs are spatial containers. Would that not cause problems?¡± Helen shook her head, ¡°No, actually that¡¯s the best way to transport them. Putting a dungeon core inside a spatial bag will cause the core to go into a type of hibernation.¡± ¡°Maybe we could do that,¡± Willow said. ¡°Then save the dungeon for later.¡± Arden raised a hand as he spoke, ¡°Can we back up a bit? I have a question about mana and animals becoming imbued. What if we left a bunch of rabbit in cages next to an area where priests and clerics were regularly healing people? Would the rabbits become imbued with healing magic?¡± ¡°Yes, they would. But to the rabbits, you would be the enemies so what good would them having healing powers do? Then you¡¯d have to worry about having a pest problem that could heal itself.¡± ¡°Still, seems like that would have some advantages. What if I just cast loads of healing spells next to Arlo and pushed healing mana into him. If he eventually obtained a healing spell, he could help watch over Willow.¡± ¡°That could happen. But in the case of companion animals, it would be easier and much quicker to just buy the desired spell scroll and have them learn it.¡± ¡°Arlo can learn magic spells?¡± Willow questioned. The mayor shrugged, ¡°If his mental stat is high enough and he wishes to do so, then yes. Now, a question of my own. How¡¯d you leave with one wolf and come back with two?¡± Willow excitedly told the story of how her goddess had brought their other pet to them for Ewan and how, even though Ewan wasn¡¯t of age he now had a companion. After that, the group continued to lob question after question at Mayor Helen for as long as she was willing to hang around and answer them. Christi was starting to answer more as well, having finally accepted that she could dislike the gods and still enjoy the company of people the gods sent to help. Ch 35 | ? Verdance Day The following sunrise found the party back at that same table eating breakfast and trying to plan out the day. They wanted to participate in some of the Verdance Day celebrations but they also wanted to immediately start hunting for whatever the goblins had been digging. They decided to split up the day. They would stay in town until lunch and then head out to hunt for the dungeon. After breakfast they walked over to the town square to find about two dozen booths set up with folks selling various items. Daw, one of the town guards, was walking down the street and saw them and walked over to talk to them, ¡°It¡¯s not much of a celebration this year. Normally we have nearly three times as many booths and decorations on the buildings. Some of the folks wanted to cancel the celebration all together but the mayor insisted that we needed it. I think she was right.¡± Arden nodded, ¡°It¡¯s always important to give people something to take their minds off their worries.¡± ¡°Exactly!¡± Daw replied. ¡°Well, I¡¯m going to continue my patrol. But you be sure to check out the fourth booth on the right up there. That¡¯s Ms. Tizita and she¡¯s selling bowls of wat with injera. Give it a try and thank me later.¡± As Daw wandered off, the party looked to one another, shrugged and went to go meet Ms Tizita. The morning passed with the party meeting far more people than they had thus far in their time in Wildemill. And for once, people seemed to be somewhat friendly. There were planting rituals where some of the townspeople planted gardens or trees, symbolizing the growth hoped for. A band played while some folks did some sort of interpretive dance. The party didn¡¯t understand it but a bystander explained that it was to mimic the flow of nature, from the gentle sway of growing plants to the lively bursts of blooming flowers. They tried a number of different foods and even bought a few odds and ends from the townsfolk. The mayor came and got the party and lead them to the shrine, explaining that part of the celebration was to make offerings to the gods, honoring them and seeking their blessing for the season ahead. Of course no one else was at the shrine, though there were a couple offerings already there so evidently some folks in town still worshiped the gods. It was near lunchtime when they left the shrine but no one was hungry so they grabbed their packs and headed out of town to go dungeon hunting. Hazel insisted on keeping Ewan with them this time. A guard named Jerome was at the north gate and reminded the party of the feast and lighting of lanterns that would happen later. The party spent the next few hours just wandering around the forest east of the village. They were all in a good mood and not trying to be quiet in the least. They played games with Ewan and generally just enjoyed their time together. Arlo and Twix ran around playing with one another and chasing whatever they came across. Willow even turned into her bear form and let Ewan ride on her back for a bit. Hazel kept casting various spells to drain her mana so that she could use her [Mana Recovery] class ability. Before they realized it, the sun was starting to set and they had wandered quite a ways from the village. They took a moment to get their bearings and started back toward the village going a more direct path then what they had been on. With less than an hour of sunlight remaining Arlo suddenly started sniffing around in circles and growling. ¡°Willow, what¡¯s he smelling?¡± Nolan asked ¡°He said he smells goblins.¡± ¡°Equip armor,¡± Arden ordered while triggering his preset to equip his own. He then made a throwing motion and set a few light orbs floating around them. ¡°It¡¯s getting a bit dim out here for my human eyes,¡± he said as he toss up a few light orbs. ¡°Everyone line up about six or so feet apart and let''s walk forward in a line looking for any tracks.¡± The party fanned out, and started to walk. They had gone about about forty feet when Hazel tripped and fell. ¡°A whole new world, and you¡¯re still clumsy?¡± Arden joked ¡°I guess so,¡± Hazel said, smiling as she stood back up. ¡°What did you trip over?¡± Nolan asked as he knelt down and inspected the area. ¡°Uh, guys. I think Hazel found something.¡± Everyone gathered around as Nolan lifted what looked like a cover made of interwoven tree limbs revealing a sloping tunnel under it. It hadn¡¯t covered the entire hole and Hazel¡¯s foot slipped into the gap. Arlo walked up and put his head the in the tunnel, and started growling. ¡°He says there are goblins in there,¡± Willow said with concern in her voice. ¡°Did they find the dungeon core under ground?¡± Arden asked. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Hazel shook her head, ¡°I don¡¯t think so. I¡¯m still able to absorb mana from the area without any issue.¡± ¡°Shit!¡± exclaimed Nolan. ¡°That means they¡¯re tunneling under the wall and into the village. I¡¯d bet all the gold I have on it.¡± ¡°Surely not,¡± Arden said in disbelief. ¡°We¡¯ve got to be a couple miles from the village aren¡¯t we?¡± ¡°A few years back, smugglers dug a tunnel from Mexico into the US that was nearly a mile long. And that was without magic,¡± Nolan stated. ¡°Someone hop in the tunnel and see if it¡¯s big enough for us to follow,¡± Arden directed. Hazel volunteered and quickly learned the tunnel wasn''t even four feet tall. ¡°Arlo says he can fit.¡± Willow announced. ¡°By himself?¡± asked Arden ¡°I guess. He wants to go.¡± ¡°Tell him to go until the tunnel levels out or he loses contact with you. Let¡¯s walk above the tunnel as he goes.¡± With that Arlo took off down the tunnel and the party followed above ground. There were a few times were the tunnel curved but Willow was able to keep them on track. By the time Willow motioned for them to stop, they had moved another four hundred feet. ¡°Arlo said it just now leveled out. He¡¯s pretty deep now. Probably more than fifty feet down.¡± ¡°Does he see, hear, smell anything close to him?¡± Nolan asked ¡°No sir.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure what to do here, folks. I don¡¯t want Arlo to make contact with the goblins. But we kinda need his and Willow¡¯s connection to know where the tunnel leads.¡± ¡°Willow, tell Arlo to sneak down the tunnel slowly and to stop if it starts to rise up or if he detects anyone close to him.¡± Nolan advised. ¡°But ask him to please go slow.¡± Willow passed on the instructions and they continued to follow the direwolf from above ground. Soon the sun had completely set and the party was exiting the forest into the killing field outside of town. ¡°Tell Arlo to stop. It¡¯s obvious the tunnel is heading under the town,¡± Arden ordered. ¡°Willow, can you move enough dirt to open up the tunnel so that we can get Arlo out without having to back track?¡± ¡°It¡¯ll take me a few minutes, but I can.¡± It took nearly half an hour to move enough dirt to reach Arlo and make a ramp for him to be able to climb out. Once Arlo was out they all started running toward the village, hoping they weren¡¯t too late. As they got to the gate, they saw Daw and Simon standing watch. ¡°Fellas, do you know where Christi is?¡± Arden asked Simon just glared at the party but Daw answered, ¡°I assume she¡¯s at home. The celebration ended about an hour ago. You all missed the feast and lantern lighting.¡± ¡°Apologies for that Daw. Can one of you go and let Christi know that we just found a goblin tunnel leading under the eastern wall? It seems the goblins are trying to tunnel into the village. We¡¯re not sure where it comes out, though.¡± The guards just looked at the group as if they were crazy before Simon spoke up, ¡°You''re asking this time? You''re not going trip me again when I try to do my job?" Arden stepped forward toward Simon and answered in a flat voice, "If I hadn''t tripped you that time, my daughter and her wolf would have ripped you apart. I''ll not apologize to you for saving your life. But if you''re so petty, that you''re willing to let your home be invaded just out of spite, maybe I should go apologize to the village for not letting you die." Daw, seeing Simon biting off more than he could chew, spoke up, "We''ll get your message to the guard captain. Good luck in your search." Arden thanked Daw and lead his group into town, straining his senses to the limit hoping to see, smell, or hear something. ¡°Girls, are those half elven eyes picking up anything we¡¯re not?¡± Nolan asked. ¡°No. The lanterns they hung for the celebration are helping a lot but there¡¯s nothing to see.¡± Hazel answered as she set Ewan on Arlo¡¯s back. ¡°I hate to say it, but I think we¡¯re going to need to split the party,¡± Arden said. ¡°Come on, man. You know you should never split the party,¡± Nolan said. ¡°Then we need to walk faster or something. We¡¯re not going to find¡± Arden is cut off by the sound of a man¡¯s scream a few blocks away. The party started running toward the sound. After a couple empty streets, they finally rounded a corner and saw a man lying on the ground crying while hugging his midsection. Nolan ran ahead and started healing the man. By the time the others arrived, the wounds in the man''s midsection had closed up and he was taking deep breaths trying to regain his composure. "What happened," Hazel asked. "Kids jumped out of the dark and stabbed me, then ran away." Wobbling a bit, the man stood and looked at Nolan, "Thank you for healing me, but you didn''t have to sober me up, too." "Apologies sir. Please go on home and lock your doors and windows," Nolan told him. As the man walked away, both Twix and Arlo hit on a scent and followed it into a empty alley. With nothing to see, the party went back to patrolling the town looking for any sign of the goblins. Three streets later, Willow called out. The rest of the party turned to see that she had taken a few steps into an alley and was now surrounded by 3 goblins. As they ran toward Willow, the goblins broke and ran further in the alley. Willow managed to catch one with her staff but the other two seem to almost vanish. ¡°They¡¯re trying to separate us. Pick us off one at a time.¡± Nolan said in a bitter tone. ¡°Good thing we didn¡¯t split up.¡± Arden bobbed his head and took the chastising. ¡°Should we chase them further into the alley?¡± Hazel asked Before anyone could answer, the sound of two wolves snarling and a goblin screaming rang out from up the street. The party ran back out of the alley and saw Arlo, Twix, Ewan, and another man all surrounded by goblins about 25 yards down the street. Ch 36 | ? Goblins come for a visit They started running and, as they got closer, they saw that Ewan was kneeling over another child trying to protect her from the goblins. Next to him lied an injured man who wasn''t moving. Seven goblins were harrying Arlo and Twix while three more were attacking Ewan and the girl he was kneed over. Seeing her son being attacked set Hazel off. She let out a scream that sounded close to a roar and charged ahead of the others with her staff held high. As soon as she was in range, Hazel swung her staff at one of the goblins attacking her son. The goblin flew into another goblin, causing them both to fall. Hazel stepped forward and thrust out her staff as if it was a spear, crushing the windpipe of one of the goblins before putting the staff tip through the eye of the other she¡¯d knocked down. The final goblin turned to flee, but a flash of steel swung out from Nolan, who appeared in front of it. The goblin''s head toppled from its body. By this point, Arlo had caught and killed one of the goblins attacking him and was working on another. Twix was still being attacked by two because she was busy eating the goblin she had killed rather than fighting. Willow ran in and killed the last one on Arlo with her staff before she and Arlo took out the two attacking Twix. While the rest were killing goblins, Arden knelt next to the children and made sure they were okay. ¡°Shit, this is Allissa!¡± Arden said. ¡°That makes this Benjamin then,¡± Nolan said while rolling the man over. ¡°Yep, it¡¯s him,¡± he said as he started using [Healing Touch] on the unconscious man. As the magic took hold, the stab wound in the man¡¯s side and the cut on the side of his face stopped bleeding and closed up. A few moments later he opened his eyes and glanced around before jerking upright, looking for his daughter. Allissa hugged her dad while Hazel pulled Ewan away and started fussing at him. ¡°Why did you run off like that? You could have been hurt!¡± Hazel hissed Ewan just looked at his mom, confused, before saying in the limited vocabulary of a four year old, ¡°I not hurt. Magic. I keep Lissa safe.¡± "I know you can''t get hurt, but still," Hazel said as she struggled with her emotions in the face of the four year old''s logic. ¡°What does he mean he can¡¯t be hurt,¡± Allissa¡¯s father asked. ¡°He¡¯s too young to know magic.¡± Everyone looked at one another before Arden replied, ¡°Ewan has a magic ward cast over him. Nothing can hurt him. Knowing this, the smart little shit used his body as a shield to protect Allissa from the goblin¡¯s swords. The man just looked at them all as if they were crazy. Finally, Willow walked over and said ¡°Watch¡± and used her staff to whack Ewan on the head. The staff made a solid thunk sound but was stopped just a hair above the child¡¯s head. Ewan looked over at the man. ¡°Magic, I no hurt.¡± Hazel walked up to the man and extended her hand, ¡°I¡¯m Ewan¡¯s mom, Hazel. Ewan and my father have told me about you and Allissa. It¡¯s good to finally meet and you, and I¡¯m glad you¡¯re both okay.¡± Shaking himself, the man looked at Hazel, ¡°Yes! Yes, thanks to you all, we¡¯re both fine. My name is Benjamin, but you can call me Ben.¡± ¡°Ben, let¡¯s get you and Allissa somewhere safe before we finish hunting the goblins,¡± Nolan suggested. Ben nodded and waved the group forward as he picked up his daughter and walked hurriedly to their house, which was only a couple of houses down from where they had been attacked. Once the party confirmed that no goblins were hiding inside Ben¡¯s house, they helped him secure all the windows and doors before heading back out in search of goblins. After leaving Ben¡¯s house the party wandered up and down streets for another twenty minutes not finding any more goblins. ¡°There has to be a better way to do this,¡± complained Nolan. ¡°Girls, I need a volunteer to climb on top of a building to look around and let us know what you find,¡± Arden said. Ten minutes later they had located a three story building and were helping Hazel get onto the roof as quietly as they could. Once she was up there, Hazel quickly scanned the skyline looking any signs of goblins. As she looked across the roofs of the village she saw dozens of goblins moving about. She quickly relayed this to the rest of the group. ¡°If there¡¯s so many of them, why can¡¯t we find them?¡± Arden questioned. ¡°Because they¡¯re avoiding us,¡± Nolan said coldly. ¡°They¡¯re ambush hunters. They¡¯ve run or tried to run from us each time we¡¯ve seen them tonight. The goblins want easy prey, something they can quickly overwhelm and move on.¡± A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡°Then we need to trick them,¡± Willow said with a grin. ¡°Got a plan, Willow?¡± Arden asked ¡°What if you all hide and let me walk down the street by myself? When they jump me, you all attack.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good idea, but I think we can improve on it,¡± Arden said while looking at his grandson. ¡°You¡¯re not using my son as bait!¡± Hazel hissed as she climbed down from the roof. ¡°Why not? He¡¯s proved that he can¡¯t be hurt. How about you pick him up and run down the street, acting terrified? I bet that would pull quite a few of them.¡± Arden said ¡°Yeah, he can keep you safe until we get there,¡± Nolan added with a grin. After another few minutes of discussion and the party had a plan. Hazel, Willow, and Ewan walked hurriedly down the street. Nolan, Arden, Twix and Arlo followed behind them, hoping they were far enough back not to be noticed but close enough to be able to help in time. By the time the girls made it a couple streets over, they were no longer pretending to be scared. Every noise had them jerking to look around. The goblins seemed to be picking up on their fear as a larger-than-expected group stalked them from the rooftops. Big enough that Arden and Nolan noticed them from the ground. As they neared a main cross street with a fountain in the middle, Arden cast [Message] to Willow and told her to pretend to trip as she neared the fountain. When she did, the goblins swarmed out of the alleys and off the rooftops. Immediately Willow cast [Entangle] on the street to the north, causing vines to sprout from the ground and start grabbing the goblins. Hazel cast sleep on the group coming at her from the west. Arlo, Nolan and Arden charged in from the south, Arden''s shield and momentum acting like a snow plow tossing goblins to the sides as Arlo, Twix, and Nolan finished them off. In moments the goblin force lost a dozen fighters with another couple dozen either tangled up or put to sleep. Some of the remaining goblins turned to run but a voice called out from a nearby rooftop in goblin, ordering them to stay and fight. Soon more goblins begin to enter the area and the goblins Hazel had put to sleep started to wake. Willow and Hazel stood nearly back to back with Ewan between them, both throwing out all the magic they could. Arden, Nolan, Arlo, and Twix fought their way to the girls and helped keep the goblins back from them. ¡°I think this plan worked too well,¡± Willow said. ¡°I never expected them to commit this many at one time,¡± Nolan yelled ¡°Block me for a moment,¡± Arden called out as he stepped behind Arden. A golden glow surrounded his hand, and then everyone in the group one by one, providing some healing to everyone. ¡°Thanks dad," yelled Willow. "You¡¯re welcome. Someone put Ewan on Twix," Arden ordered. "Willow, tell Arlo that he and Twix are to take Ewan to Malusi¡¯s home. Let¡¯s get him out of here." Looking to Hazel, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. We should have dropped him off when we first returned to town.¡± Hazel glanced back at her father and simply nodded before throwing another fire bolt at a goblin. Willow grabbed her nephew and did what her father said. Arlo understood that Ewan was to be protected, but he did not want to leave Willow. He wanted her to come, too. At Willow''s urging, though, he did as asked and led Twix to Malusi¡¯s. ¡°Create an opening,¡± yelled Nolan. Hazel turned and cast, putting a row of goblins to sleep and the wolves ran over them on their way out. ¡°Guys, I¡¯m running out of magic,¡± called out Hazel. ¡°That¡¯s why we¡¯ve been training with weapons. Use that staff like a spear!¡± hollered back Nolan. Everyone was getting tired. With each passing second they were killing half a dozen. Dead goblins were piling up around the party but more were still rushing them. The tide looked never ending. The fighting continued for what felt like hours but was probably only fifteen minutes. The party was taking more and more hits as they slowed down. Hopelessness was starting to fill them. Arden wasn¡¯t even attacking any more but simply trying to block for his daughters and repeatedly casting heal spells as fast as his mana could recover. Then the sound of a horn pierced the night, and a dozen village guards came charging into the area from the west with Christi leading the group, sword in hand. An answering horn sounded from the east as another dozen guards, headed up by Training Sergeant Cliff moved forward. The appearance of the guards seemed to give everyone a second wind. Arden let out a laugh and yelled, ¡°Now y¡¯all are really screwed!¡± as he surged forward and knocked several goblins down with his shield, giving his team some room to work. The next few minutes were filled with goblin screams as they tried to retreat but were cut down to the last. Once they were sure all the gobs were dead, Nolan and Arden started healing the party and guards alike. Christi approached the two with a frown. Before she can say anything, Arden spoke up, ¡°Thank you, Captain, for your timely intervention. We could not have killed them all without taking some losses.¡± Christi just nods before saying, ¡°I¡¯ve never seen goblins hold a line like that unless something was forcing them to. Have you found any hobgoblins with them?¡± ¡°No, ma¡¯am. But they did have a leader,¡± Nolan responded. ¡°He was on one of the buildings. We heard him shouting at them.¡± Christi turned to her guards, "The goblin leader is still here somewhere. Spread out and find him!" Arden held up a hand, ¡°Captain, can we take him alive? We need to know where their tunnel is.¡± "Nodding at Arden''s request, the Guard Captain added, "Do not kill it. We need it alive to interrogate!" Ch 37 | ? Aftermath Within half an hour the party was sitting on the edge of the fountain staring at Malusi, Ewan and Twix on one side and Arlo, Simon, and a bound up goblin on the other. Arden took a long drink of water from his canteen and then looked over to Malusi. ¡°You¡¯re smiling so I assume all is well, but I gotta hear this story. How are you out of the house?¡± Malusi¡¯s grin grew even bigger as he started talking, ¡°One of the guards had come and gotten dad earlier so I knew something was up. I got dressed and was sitting near the door with a machete in hand. Then I heard a commotion outside. Some growling and screaming. I opened the door as saw Ewan sitting on Twix while Arlo was trying to fight off some goblins that had surrounded them. I wanted to go help but I couldn¡¯t bring myself to leave the house. Just as I made eye contact with Ewan one of the goblins dove over Arlo and tackled Ewan, knocking him to the ground. The next thing I knew, I was standing over Ewan and was killing goblins as fast as they could come. ¡°After it was all over, I was sort of afraid to go back inside. Afraid I might not come out again. So Ewan, the wolves, and I sat down in front of my house and just waited. When we heard the horns we knew the guards were taking care of business so we waited for a bit and then started cautiously making our way in this direction. As we were coming this way, Arlo must have smelled something because he suddenly took off on his own.¡± Arden nodded his head and then looked over to Simon the guard and Arlo, ¡°And how do you two end up together.¡± Simon stopped petting the wolf and stood as if giving a formal report. ¡°I was patrolling Bread Street and had just passed Spittal Street when I heard an animal yelp and a goblin¡¯s battle cry. I doubled back to Spittal ran over to Lawson and saw Arlo and this goblin fighting. At first I couldn¡¯t understand what was going on because I knew the wolf could easily kill the goblin, but Arlo was taking hits while trying to grab and drag the goblin. I ran forward and clubbed the goblin over the head, knocking him out. I quickly blew my whistle to get more help and then bound the goblin. Once another guard showed up I passed him the bound goblin and then I picked up Arlo and brought him here for healing. Before Arden could reply Christi stepped up, ¡°Thank you for your report Simon. You did well. Now, sit before you fall over. You look exhausted.¡± Arden laughed to himself. The way Simon made his report completely left out the emotions of the situation. Simon was nearly in tears, thinking the wolf was near death. Thankfully, the wounds looked worse than they were. ¡°Well, let¡¯s get to the next step,¡± Arden said as he stood and walked over to the goblin and healed him, drawing some questioning looks from the guards. Nolan approached the now healed goblin and asked in common, "Where is the tunnel you used to get into the village?" The goblin just stared at him as if he couldn''t understand him. Before he could ask again in the Goblin tongue, Christi pulled a dagger and stepped forward saying, ¡°Well, if we can¡¯t talk to him we might as well kill him.¡± As she did so, the goblin started screaming, ¡°I speak human! I speak! I love to speak human!¡± Everyone but Christi seems surprised by this. Christi continued forward and placed her dagger right in front of the goblin¡¯s eyes. ¡°Good. Show us how you got into our village.¡± After that, the goblin obeyed pretty well. While the group was walking through town they learned that his name was Prit and he was a goblin boss of some sort. His orders had been to kill as many people in the village as he could before dying. ¡°So this was a suicide mission?¡± Hazel asked Prit nodded his head, ¡°Yes. We were all prisoners. Promised freedom if we kill everyone.¡± ¡°Why not just run away.¡± Willow asked ¡°Death better than punishment. Quicker.¡± Prit said. The group stopped talking as everyone processed this news. Thankfully they reached a house shortly after and Prit pointed up to it. ¡°The tunnel is in there.¡± Hazel moved to enter the home and both Christi and Nolan held out their hands to stop her. Nolan looked back to Prit. ¡°Please go before us and disarm your traps.¡± Prit grinned a sly grin as he stepped up to the door and knelt down. A moment later there was a click and the door opened, revealing some sort of mechanism with two spears. ¡°Good call,¡± Arden said. Arden, Nolan, and Christi did a quick survey of the home which reveled a couple in the master bedroom with their throats cut and a tunnel in the basement. Thankfully there were no other goblins. Between the goblins and the dead bodies the house reeked so the group headed back outside to make plans. ¡°Captain, do you have a jail cell where you can hold Prit for us?¡± Nolan asked. ¡°I do, but why? Why not just kill him?¡± ¡°He has information we¡¯re going to need if we¡¯re going to stop the goblin threat.¡± "Stop the goblin threat" the Captain asked? "You plan to attack them?" You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. "I don''t see any other way to get them to leave Wildemill alone." Thinking for a moment Christi nodded. ¡°Yeah, I can hold him. But what are we going to do about the tunnel? If we just cave it in it could damage a number of buildings between the wall and here.¡± Arden shrugged, ¡°I don¡¯t know. Find some volunteers to live in the house and guard the tunnel.¡± "I like it. I volunteer you,¡± Chiristi said with a grin. Arden just shrugged, "Well, after your guards take away the dead bodies and we clean it, sure. We can''t stay at the inn forever. Did you know the couple that lived here?¡± ¡°Yes. It was Oscar and Leah Myer. They¡¯ve been here for a couple decades. He was our alchemist. They were good people.¡± ¡°That was Oscar?¡± Willow asked in a soft voice with a stunned expression on her face. Arden quickly stepped beside her and embraced her. Christi, Prit, and the rest of the party stepped off to the side to give Willow some space. ¡°Do they have any relatives? Any kids,¡± Hazel asked. ¡°No. At least they¡¯ve never mentioned any.¡± Christi paused before continuing, ¡°I¡¯ll speak with the mayor tomorrow and see what she thinks about letting you have the place, or at least stay there for the time being. For now, I¡¯m going to go help my guards clean up the goblin corpses before the town wakes up. Thank you all for your help tonight. This could have been much worse. They chose a good night to do this raid as most of the town is too drunk to have noticed anything. They could have slit nearly everyone¡¯s throat by morning and no one would have heard a thing.¡± As Christi walked away Nolan turned to the group and in a somber voice said, ¡°Let¡¯s head to the inn, clean up, and get some sleep. I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll all have some stat points to assign when we wake up tomorrow.¡± ? When Nolan woke the next morning, the sun was up higher than he had wanted. He hurriedly read through his notifications from the previous night¡¯s fighting, he didn¡¯t get another level as he expected but he was close. He did, however, level up a couple skills and his healing spell. Nolan dressed and headed into the common room where he found Arden eating breakfast with an exhausted looking captain of the guard and the mayor. ¡°Morning,¡± he said as he approached the table. Looking to Christi he asked, ¡°You¡¯ve been up all night?¡± ¡°No sleep until the job is done. Couldn¡¯t have people waking up to dead goblins everywhere.¡± ¡°I suppose not.¡± Helen looked over, ¡°Arden said you all would be interested in the Myer residence. Are you sure you¡¯re okay with staying in a home with a goblin tunnel in the basement?¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m not sure about staying there, but my hesitance is more because I like my privacy¡ and Arden snores. But I¡¯m sure we can find a way to block that tunnel. Willow has gotten pretty good with that earth moving spell.¡± The mayor grinned and looked to Arden, who just shrugged. ¡°He¡¯s right on both counts. I do snore, and I¡¯m sure we can block or seal that tunnel.¡± Christi laughed while Helen nodded her head. ¡°Well, if you want the house, you can stay there. We¡¯ve already removed the Myers. They¡¯re being prepped for the funeral we''re holding tomorrow for all those killed by the goblins. You can move in today if you¡¯d like. The Myers¡¯ belongings are still there, however. Since they have no family that we are aware of, feel free to use what you can and give away the rest. However, the house only has two bedrooms, and I know there are five of you. So I¡¯ve chosen two other vacant houses. Normally houses are tough to come by, but with so many people having fled, we have a number of houses sitting empty right now.¡± ¡°That sounds good," Arden said, "I assume there will be rent due on these houses? How much will that be?¡± The mayor rolled her eyes, ¡°Please. After all the ways you¡¯ve helped out since you¡¯ve arrived, not to mention last night? As far as I¡¯m concerned, the houses are yours as long as you¡¯re here in honor of the help you already provided. Had you not found the tunnel and tracked the goblins last night, a great many people would have likely had their throats cut by this morning. As it is, we only lost eleven citizens last night.¡± ¡°Thank you, madam mayor. We appreciate that.¡± Arden said ¡°Eleven dead,¡± Nolan said dejectedly. ¡°I had hoped we stopped them soon enough to prevent that.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± Helen said, ¡°But if wishes were fishes, we¡¯d never go hungry. Accept what¡¯s happened and move forward, which brings me to my next point. Christi filled me in on your conversation with Prit, and I¡¯ve spoken with him as well this morning. It¡¯s obvious that something has to be done about the goblins, or they will simply continue to bleed us. And it sounds like their current hobgoblin chieftain isn¡¯t going to back off.¡± ¡°You want us to attack the goblins?¡± Arden asked ¡°Yes, I do. From what Christi told me, you did better than our best guards could have even though many of them out-level you by a fair margin." Looking at Arden, Nolan asked, ¡°Thoughts?¡± ¡°I¡¯d say she¡¯s right. Willow is our weakest fighter and she¡¯s better than two thirds of the guards I feel.¡± ¡°I meant, what do you think about attacking the goblins¡± Nolan clarified. ¡°Oh, yeah. We gotta do it. But we need information. And we can¡¯t forget about the dungeon we still need to find.¡± ¡°Do you think there really is a dungeon,¡± Helen asked? ¡°No. But like you said, it¡¯s a risk so we gotta look for it. Right?¡± The mayor sighed, ¡°How long until you think you could put together an attack on the goblins?¡± ¡°We could do it today if we actually knew anything. We need time to gather information.¡± Arden answered. ¡°How long do you think we can hold off on attacking the goblins? Are we looking at days, weeks, or months?¡± Nolan asked. "And what are our constraints? If it''s food, could we just go buy more and bring it back? Is there some other limiting factor," Arden questioned. ¡°Right now our constraints, as you put it, are making sure we evacuate while we still have the supplies to get us safely back to Wyham. And we¡¯re not currently hurting for anything. But I don¡¯t want to give the goblins time to plan another attack like last night." ¡°I get that. But let¡¯s take some time to interrogate Prit. The most recent scouting report wasn¡¯t even aware of the hobgoblins taking over. That¡¯s a big unknown. I¡¯m hoping Prit can shed some light on a lot of this, starting with whether or not they actually believe the dungeon exists. Once we have enough information to know what we¡¯re getting ourselves into, we¡¯ll take the fight to the goblins.¡± ¡°Sounds like a plan,¡± the mayor said. ¡°Would you like to see the houses I¡¯ve picked out for you?¡± ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we wait for everyone else to wake up?¡± Nolan asked. ¡°They¡¯re all out and about already,¡± Arden answered. ¡®I really did sleep late.¡¯ Nolan thought. Ch 38 | ? Importance of Clan Over the following weeks, the team continued to spend time learning about dwarven culture from Azna and smithing from Renir. The group learned that when greeting people for the first time, it was common for dwarves to insult the new person. This was how they took measure of one another. If the newcomer was offended then the dwarves would judge them negatively. If the newcomer just laughed, that was a good sign. If the newcomer fired back with an insult of their own, the dwarves considered them someone who they could form a relationship with. But there were exceptions to this rule. For one, you never punched down. If you were hiring a someone for a job you would not insult them first. If they insulted you, then you could reply in kind. And the more formal the occasion the more tame the insult, typically. Azna also went over the rules for fighting in dwarven society. Evidently it wasn¡¯t overly frowned on to start a brawl at a tavern. The dwarves involved would be tossed out for the night and expected to cover the repair costs the next time they came. If two dwarves just wanted to fight, most clans had training grounds that they could use. And if it was a matter of ones honor, you could call out another dwarf and challenge them. The rules for this was very similar to duels in early America, with each party having a second who would try to negotiate for peace. The seconds tried to resolve the issue not out of concern for the participant, since these rarely ended in death thanks to healing potions and magic. No, they sought peace because anything involving honor involved the clans. And the clan¡¯s honor was infinitely more important than a single dwarf¡¯s. The next lesson Azna taught was in regards to work ethic. Azna stressed the importance of hard work and spoke derogatorily about humans and how so many of them simply did the bear minimum and stressed that dwarves who slacked off were looked down on and often times found themselves clanless shortly after reaching adulthood. This lesson sparked some controversy amongst the group. ¡°What if I¡¯m being paid half what the person next to me makes for the same job?¡± asked Dakota. "If ye''re bein'' paid, then ye''ve already done somethin'' wrong," Azna replied. Seeing the looks of confusion on everyone''s faces she continued, "Dwarves are assigned jobs by their clan. Tha clan provides housin'', food, and a stipend. Each clan has their own rules on how everythin'' is split, but in tha vast majority o'' clans, a dwarf does tha job they are assigned and they get a stipend based on how useful tha clan views that job. A master artisan gets a higher stipend than a general laborer. A master teacher gets more than a master warrior. Sometimes dwarves can barter within their clan and trade a higher stipend for a larger residence or vice versa. Some occupations come with a second stipend for materials. For example," looking at Wendell, "if ye''re learnin'' tanning ye would be given a stipend specifically for materials needed to progress yer tanning skills." Taking a breath Azna continued, "So, if ye''re gettin'' paid half what tha person next to ye is makin'', then it¡¯s likely that ye''re IIkkavareg, which means clanless, and are bein'' taken advantage of. And, unfortunately, yer options are to do a good job or to quit. But never. Let me stress this, never do a half-hearted job. In tha case o'' ye bein'' clanless, then ye''ll just justify everyone''s opinion o'' tha IIkkavareg and ye''ll make it harder for yerself to survive. If ye''re workin'' for yer clan and are unhappy with yer position or stipend, then it¡¯s even more important that ye work hard so that when ye speak with tha clan elders about gettin'' a better assignment ye won''t have anyone tellin'' them that ye don''t take pride in yer work. Do yer jobs and do ''em well. Anythin'' less brings shame to yer clan and, as I covered before, tha clan¡¯s weal above all." ¡°So no matter what, we¡¯re going to spend our days working ourselves to death?¡± asked Miguel in a sour tone. Azna could see her students were dissatisfied with her lesson and tried to think through it all from their point of view and realized that she couldn¡¯t because she didn¡¯t know enough about where they came from. ¡°I feel like ye''re still lookin'' at things through tha lenses of yer life before Traum. This be natural but is somethin'' we should strive to correct. Tell me, please, about how an adult in yer world lived. How were jobs assigned? How much time was spent at work vs with family? Help me understand yer perspective on these things.¡± The group had expected more of an argument, not this sort of willingness to listen. They all took turns telling Azna about their lives in specific as well as how things were done in their cultures. Azna listened attentively and was shocked by much of what she heard. She asked clarifying questions and the group could tell that she was honestly trying to understand them better. Once they finished explaining, Azna nodded her head, ¡°I can see why ye were gettin'' upset about how we dwarves do things. Ye''re comin'' from a society who valued independence above all and to be put into one that frowns on it and instead puts all tha value on clan. Let me explain more about how tha typical dwarf grows up so that ye can see how we feel it should work. ¡°Tha typical dwarf¡¯s life can be broadly summarized in tha following stages:
| Status | |||||
| Name | Sage Rose | Class | N/A due to race | ||
| Race | Drake (Dragon) | Level | N/A | ||
| Languages | Draconic | ||||
| Attributes | |||||
| Health | Stamina | Mana | |||
| 168 | 180 | 67 | |||
| [Stats] | |||||
| A | L | M | S | ||
| 42 | 5 | 20 | 15 | ||
| Status | |||||
| Name | Wendell | Class | Sorcerer | ||
| Race | Dragonkin | Level | 10 | ||
| Languages | Common, Draconic, Goblin The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. | XP / Next | 8,020 / 13,000 | ||
| Attributes | |||||
| Health | Stamina | Mana | |||
| 148 | 160 | 220 | |||
| Stats | |||||
| A | L | M | S | ||
| 41 | 10 | 48 | 42 | ||