by Ryan DeBruyn
He glanced at Azoth, who also was expelling water from his feathers and fur as well. He mentally sent encouragement to his pet, and verbally continued to bolster Sela. They might be okay after all!
He kept holding Sela long after she was back to her normal complexion and no longer shaking. Finally, once he was sure she was sleeping and okay, he deposited the arm into his bag and lifted her up in his arms.
He mentally sent to Azoth as he went, “Once you’ve rested enough, join us in the Grotto, okay?”
Azoth, who had been keeping up a constant mental mumble for the last five minutes, responded with, “If that was bath, Azoth never taking again!” before his mental voice went quiet in the tell-tale way it did when he slept.
Chapter Twenty
Aretrin Bazaar – Seed Shop – Deep Cave
Amelia entered the shop and took off from the landing area quickly, running to a shadow of a tent, acting her part as an iridescent Kobold. She had discovered a while back that her nano-bots could manipulate the seed shops and create an image of a different race. It was strange to be half again her normal height and be so colorful, but the disguise made it very easy for her to go relatively unnoticed.
While it was unfortunate for her people, she had been forced to limit access to the shops proper because she was the only one who could be seen in them, albeit with the disguise she now wore. Amelia wasn’t here on her usual Territorial errands, and most of her people could buy things using the Populace shop from the assistant when they needed. Those rarer items meant she made a trip occasionally to get some of the merchants’ select wares, but today, she was here to speak to one man.
She flitted from tent to tent, trying to pretend to stay hidden but just playing her role as best as she could with the timer that was counting down in the back of her mind. As she approached the stall of the one man who knew her for who she truly was, she took a deep breath and paused out of sight as he finished some transactions. Once the coast was clear, she ran up to him and immediately sent an invite for a private room. She was loathe to spend the crystal, her inner miser disliking the need, but the pragmatist inside her forced that feeling down.
A moment later, she flickered into a small stone room with two chairs surrounding a rather shabby looking table. She had theorized that this place was meant to be unappealing to push trades along faster, but the stone and cold reminded her of home, the safety and comfort of the deep cave. She smiled as the man she was here to see phased into view in front of her.
“Amelia, twice in a month. I hope this be a pleasant surprise, but from your expression, I art be assuming this is somewhat urgent?” Garnell conversed in his sturdy, dependable Karacy lilt. Of all the races, the Karacy were Amelia’s favorite as they too loved to spend time underground, and while they were most well known for their excellent craftsmanship, they were also known for their honesty and perhaps their facial hair.
Amelia attempted a smile but failed miserably. “I apologize for the promptness of this meeting, Garnell, but I have another five contacts to meet today, and you are just the first.” She paused for a moment and mentally commanded her nano-bots to allow her regular projection to be cast. A moment later, she felt her perspective shoot up towards the ceiling and immediately felt more comfortable. “What I say next is privileged information, Garnell. Please keep it between us.”
Garnell nodded and leaned forward after those words. He hadn’t heard her speak them in a long time, and she wasn’t one to casually throw them around either. Amelia continued into the avid silence, “The Etherless Void has changed. It is too early to tell why, but I can say with certainty that Ether has returned to the perimeter and quite a bit farther since the drones are coming back online.”
Garnell felt his mouth fall open, and he rebuked, “Is that the confidential information? Because ye know full well, I will need to eventually let my people on Gelthisar know of it…” Amelia waved a hand acknowledging the Karacy’s plight. Then she made a motion touching each one of her foreclaws to her thumb; in the language of the Endarkened, it meant somewhat.
Amelia spoke, clarifying her meaning, “Yes and no. I ask that you please wait a week to share that news and honor this information in the manner it was given. I did not charge you for it, so ask that this be part of the price you pay for it now.” At Garnell’s slow nod, she continued, “Good! Now, what I need your help with and what is the true secret is that I have been holding this information away from the Guild Collective. My nanobots can probably only continue to disrupt the functionality of the drones for another two weeks at most.” Amelia held up two fingers and then shot two claws further out, emphasizing a rather meaningless point. She had always been a bit dramatic in Garnell’s opinion, but the information she had already shared with him was so large he didn’t blame her. He was a bit worried in fact about what she would ask for what remained, of the vast majority, of the payment.
“I have discovered that the Mechano-Lords failed to create a beacon to a new world, and I have suspicions that the reason for this is because it isn’t a new planetary god.” Garnell felt his eyebrows rise at her implication. “Yes, Garnell, I believe that the rumors of the Etherless Void being older than any planet alive are true and have procured some evidence from the Alchemy guild that speaks to that fact. So, I ask you, in payment for the information I have willingly gave, have you seen or heard of anything strange in the last few weeks?”
Garnell felt his mouth open and close like a fish as he blinked rapidly. Amelia was not someone to over exaggerate, at least not to this degree. She was dramatic, proud, devious, and even a little scary at times, but this claim he never would have expected from her. In fact, they had discussed theology at length in previous meetings, and he strongly remembered that she believed that the Etherless Void was just an anomaly. Now she was suggesting something far different.
Garnell felt his mouth slam shut, and his eyes widen when he connected some odd dots in his head. Humans were rare creatures, and he had only encountered them in their own shops before. While he had found it odd that two of them were walking around the Aretrin Bazaar, he hadn’t considered it implausible. He had assumed they were a force conquering a new minor planetary god and setting up a Settlement for the Aesir, the Seraphian Seven, or one of the multitudes of other powerful human factions. The reason his mind connected these particular dots was that all of his research into the rumors of the Etherless Void had always come back to the Humans or Martians.
Amelia saw his look change, and she felt herself grow excited; she knew Garnell well enough to know he had thought of something. “I can see you have thought of something particularly odd. I don’t think I have ever seen you this out of sorts before!” she crowed.
Garnell gave a chagrined smile. “That was a lot of information to have thrown at me in a relatively short amount of time, Amelia, which I assume was yer strategy all along.” He ran a hand over his face trying to regain a bit of composure. “I may have some idea of who ye are looking for and may even be able to set up a meeting. I will post a request through the channels I have available and let ye know in the same way?”
Amelia smiled. “I will expect a message in my Populace Accessible shop then?”
Garnell nodded and rose from his chair, extending his hand. He cleared his throat as she extended hers, but before they clasped, he stated, “I cannot guarantee that they will meet with ye. I can only extend an ore vein and hope that they will swing the pick.” She grabbed his hand and nodded once as she began shrinking back down to her Kobold form. Then they both winked out of the room to complete the rest of their remaining tasks for the day.
Rocky
Sela was in a pretty deep sleep, but healthy if what he Analyzed was anything to go off of. He left the Guild Tent and walked outside into the night. He’d been walking back and forth the remainder of the day, checking on her. He knew it was a bit overkill, but that didn’t change his need to check. He wanted her to have a familiar face there either right when she woke back up
or shortly after. He assumed it was a hang-up from his own time in hospital after sports injuries, but honestly, the need to check was there, so he just kept going back.
The council and all citizens had undergone Meditation for a large portion of the day, even being joined by the Knights, Gamma and Tao, who surprisingly were able to move their internal Ether around outside their bodies, creating patterns and figures. It was quite the show to watch supposedly, and Rocky was disappointed he had missed it. That being said, in time, he would be able to match it. He’d been gaining ranks in the skill pretty consistently if his character sheet was any indication.
Rockland Barkclay Level 22
Class: Apprentice-Dark (Azrael) Revenant,
Level 1 Strategist
Class Skills: Dark Blade, Dark Mend, Soul Blade, Dark Cloak, Shadow Clone
Health Points = 270/270
Dark Ether Pool = 210/210
You have 0 stat points and 0 skill points to distribute.
Stamina – 27 (Strength of Body +6)
Strength – 31 (Strength of Arms +5) (Strength of Arms +12)
Agility – 38 (Speed of Arms +5)
Dexterity – 31
Intelligence – 21 (+1)
Wisdom – 28
Charisma – 30
Luck – 10
Weak Skills
Non-Class Combat Skills: Combatant – 22, Ether Channels – 18 (+5), Ether Cleanse - 4 (+3), Ether Manipulation – 17 (+6), Stealth – 26 (*Rank up?*), Swordsmanship – 29 (+3) (*Rank up?*)
Common Skills: Barter – 8 (+3), Camouflage – 7, Endurance – 25 (+3), Perception – 28 (+4)(*Rank up?*), Tracker – 16, Trance Meditation – 19 (+4)
Profession Skills: Actor – 5, Butcher – 22 (+3), Cook – 2, Herbalist – 19, Miner – 1, Skinner – 22 (+2), Teacher - 10 (+9), Trader – 5
Moderate Skills
Non-Class Combat Skills
Common Skills: Analyze – 12 (+2), Sneak – 13 (+1)
Profession Skills
The skill point he dumped into his Shadow Clone skill, bringing it to two of five and increasing the stat transfer to his second self, despite it being a bit of a jerk lately. As for the stat, he placed it in Intelligence, as it seemed to be the stat that was flagging behind the farthest. He’d also bottomed out on Ether a few times on the trip and during the healing after the previous ambush.
Rocky raised his eyebrows as he reached the bottom of the page and saw that he could rank up a few skills. It was frustrating because some skills allowed him to rank up sooner than others. He thought about each skill he could rank up and realized he understood a new concept in each that he hadn’t before the rank up option had become available. Swordsmanship, for instance, he’d focused primarily on his wrist and grip for much of the apprentice rank. However, in recent one-on-one training with Sela and her Seraph sword, he realized that concise, compact motions were highlighted. While many Hollywood movies made a sword fight showy, the Seraph sword style was much more about positioning of the blade and minimal movement to do the maximum damage. Was it that lesson that gave him the ability to rank up?
Swordsmanship
A quantifiable number for your ability to use a sword.
Weak - For each level of the skill, you are four times less likely to cut yourself when using a sword.
Moderate - For each level of the skill, you increase the chance to strike accurately by 2%.
—
Perception
An ability to notice things that others may miss.
Weak - Increases chances for you to notice obvious abnormalities in your surroundings.
Moderate - Increases chances for you to notice conspicuous abnormalities in your surroundings.
Symbiosis:
Moderate - Analyze - Increased chance to observe hidden information about objects and people.
As for perception, he’d spent the rest of the day after discovering that information could be hidden glaring at everyone and casting Analyze on them, trying to see if he could find any discrepancies in the information provided. He discovered one person who changed the spelling of their first name. When he saw their name the way it was given by their parents, he immediately understood why they’d wanted it to change. His original name was Ben Tweener, and he’d changed it to Benjamin Tweener.
Rocky couldn’t wait to have a chuckle with the man about it over a beer one day; parents could be so cruel. During this process, he noticed that if something was altered about the person, it could be distinguishable by a slight distortion around the information in the notification window. It was so subtle he’d quite honestly missed it and moved on to the next person the first time. It was when he was examining Phoebe Cathe’s information that he noticed a difference between hers and Benjamin’s and returned to examine the man.
Luckily, they were both busy with construction projects. If they had seen me glaring at them, they may have questioned my sanity or intentions.
Finally, Stealth was a bit of mystery. The number for the skill hadn't changed, but now he could increase its rank. He thought back and realized that he learned something watching his Clone. During one of the numerous times he had popped out of existence, he had noticed that the Stealth skill often took time to reach the centerline on his clone. He’d since been focusing on starting his skill at center and the edges simultaneously; perhaps it had been working.
Hard to tell without a mirror.
Stealth
The skill of manipulating light waves and becoming mostly invisible as a result.
Weak - Use your own internal Ether to manipulate the surrounding light waves and Ether to hide your presence.
Ether cost: 10 personal Ether per second. Increased by the amount of noise made.
Moderate - 8 Personal Ether per second. Small noises will draw ambient Ether to cover.
Symbiosis:
Moderate-Sneak: Decreased by 25% + 2% per level.
Dark Ether: Reduces cost by 90% on the value after initial deductions.
Dark Cloak: Reduces the Ether cost of this skill.
Azoth had recovered far faster than Sela, and in his disjointed childish way, he had relayed the two’s adventures to Chalk River. It was impressive that Azoth had managed to collapse a spell glyph and sixteen Necromancers into a massive pit with an aerial stomp. Rocky suspected that Sela had a huge hand in the endeavor, but he was still going to ensure he told Azoth’s side of the story, maybe even embellishing it a little. Rocky gave a small chuckle and hoped that this meant they’d seen the last of the storms for the time being.
Azoth was particularly furious about the treatment of the Dragon, Bathilda. Rocky could sense in his mental sendings the anger and hurt that he felt for the trapped beast. There was something unnatural about holding creatures against their will. Rocky didn’t believe pets were part of this category, taking Azoth as an example. However, to capture and hold a creature that clearly belonged to itself and amongst a different setting entirely was wrong. In a way, Azoth communicated in emotion rather than language.
I think we’ll need everyone to have a chance against what might be lying in wait for us. Frankie could travel in the storm, which lasted hours, and would have warned them already, which means they’ll be prepared!
Tomorrow at the latest, they would go and assault whatever forces were detaining the Dragon and try to return the three Heartstrings to the beast. Perhaps not if it was aggressive and an enemy, but regardless, Rocky was hoping to negotiate with the thing to get another powerful ally. He wondered if Sela had Analyzed the creature or if she’d been forced to stay out of range to not attract unwanted attention and then realized it was likely the latter.
Rocky watched Tao and Gamma return to the Grotto, fording the river with four massive trees. Both monstrous golems only sank to mid-thigh in the river and easily carried two trees each, one over each shoulder. He shuddered at their show of monstrous strength, then smiled, remembering they were on his side. The two worked tirelessly, and since they’d arrived, the sawm
ill didn’t have any downtime. As he watched them dump their loads, he remembered Tao’s insight.
Tao, in his wise and soft-spoken way of speaking, had listened to Rocky relay what Azoth had seen in Chalk River while sitting with the council and observing. Then as if to himself, he deliberated, “Dragons are by far the most ill-treated of all races. Most Dragons birth five to twenty offspring every century, and rarely does a single one make it out of adolescence. Unfortunately, their bones are too valuable, their blood too potent, and their scales too resistant to ignore.” Then he went silent and looked to the sky.
Where the ‘young’ golem had heard this rumor, he didn’t know. Rocky glanced at Gamma to gauge his reaction right after the uncharacteristic speech, but Gamma, too, was looking up at the stars, both looking reverent and contemplative.
As Rocky sat remembering the scene that had occurred a few hours ago, the two golems turned and headed back across the river to bring more trees and resources back. By morning, the bottleneck of cut wood would be entirely removed, and the builders would be the new stone in the road. He looked at the mostly completed first Longhouse and instantly felt like things were going to be better. Today as he had moved around, Tao and Gamma had lifted massive pieces of wood into place as humans worked around them. It had sped the construction of the building up drastically, making the need for widgets and coordination between teams nearly meaningless.
Here’s hoping the other three bring back more Sapient Golems! Each one of them is worth a hundred humans when it comes to feats of strength. Heeaavve…
After the two were across the river again, Rocky walked over and attempted to lift a side of the log they had been carrying. It didn’t even roll over, and he felt his face go red. He casually placed his hands on his hips and turned to walk away. Smith was standing there, smiling. “Yeah, I did the same thing after their first load. They made it look so easy!”
