by Pirateaba
“Do not worry yourself. My magic is fully unhindered by my lack of a wand.”
Yvlon looked at Ceria. The half-Elf explained.
“He has a skill. But I worry about equipment, too. I’ve got my robes and they’re enchanted with good magic, but Pisces has no items whatsoever.”
“I could use a robe like yours. Something with defensive enchantments might be nice.”
“And something that resists stains.”
Ceria stared pointedly at Pisces’ dirty robe, and the mage sniffed.
“Very well. Healing potions, mana potions of course, and magical items. How, pray tell, will we pay for that? I have a few silver coins to my name.”
“I’ve got some money from helping Erin with the inn.”
Ceria sighed as she pulled out a very flat money pouch from her belt. She upended it and came up with one gold coin and a few coppers.
“That’s one potion and supplies for a few days, maybe. Not nearly enough. Pisces?”
He stared at her. Ceria stared back.
“Your pouch. Come on.”
“I don’t see why I have to contribute my savings—”
“You’re the one who wanted to join up. We’ll reimburse you.”
“Naturally.”
But even with Pisces’ coins, they only came up to just less than two gold coins. The three adventurers stared at the money.
“Well, if we take a few safe jobs…”
“Risk is not something I enjoy, Springwalker.”
“A loan?”
“Do you want to have to repay one of those merchants?”
“How much do we realistically need?”
“I’d say…fifteen gold coins for a full supply? That would do for a fourth adventurer as well. We’d have potions, one or two magical items…at the bare minimum, probably six gold coins.”
“Wonderful. And we have no mounts, should I mention that detail.”
“That’s limiting, yeah. Jobs around here are scarce with all these new adventurers.”
“What if Springwalker sells her robes? That would more than cover the startup cost?”
“What if I hit you?”
“I see I’ve touched a nerve. Well, you two sort it out. I must occasion to the outhouse.”
Pisces stood up and pushed back his chair as Erin reemerged, holding an overly-frothy mug of beer that she gave to a dismayed Drake. The mage wandered over to the door, turned, paused, and looked back at Yvlon and Ceria.
“Ah, I should mention this fact. I’ve been informed that any raising of the dead using bones of Drakes or Gnolls will not be allowed while I reside in Liscor or the surrounding area. So unless you plan to slay the monster and have me reanimate its corpse, I fear many of my spells will be unavailable to me.”
Ceria didn’t look surprised, but Yvlon frowned. Pisces walked towards the door and left the inn as the two adventurers talked.
“Sorry about Pisces, Yvlon. I told you he was annoying, but words don’t really cover it, do they?”
The blonde-haired woman shrugged.
“I’ve worked with difficult adventurers before. But I’m concerned. You said his main class is [Necromancer]. If he can’t use most of his spells, can he really fight with us?”
“Unless he’s lost his touch, I think he’ll be fine, even without magical items.”
Ceria replied drily as she took a drink of water and grimaced. Hot, boiled water wasn’t exactly her idea of a good drink. Yvlon looked towards the door to make sure Pisces hadn’t returned and lowered her voice.
“Is he any good?”
“Pisces? He’s an excellent mage, as much as I hate to say it.”
“Really?”
Both adventurers jumped. Erin was standing behind them with another plate of pancakes.
“Oops, sorry, sorry! I just overheard…what’s this about Pisces being good at anything?”
Ceria smiled as Erin put down the plate and pinched the topmost pancake for herself. She shrugged.
“Look, I know you two have your doubts, but Pisces is a strong mage. He’s got more levels than I do.”
“Yeah, but he’s…Pisces, y’know?”
Erin looked skeptical as she hovered next to the table. Yvlon had the same expression on her face, although she was polite enough not to say anything. Ceria sighed as she tore the pancake into chunks and popped them into her mouth.
“Look at it this way. He might be an arrogant loner who scared people out of coin, but he survived by himself for this long, didn’t he? How many people do you know who could live by themselves in the wilderness of Liscor?”
Erin raised a hand, and Ceria smiled and Yvlon had to laugh.
“Yeah, but I mean alone. I don’t know when he got to Izril, but he must have made his way to this spot pretty much by himself. He got past bandits and monsters and I know he killed at least a hundred undead in the battle for Liscor. Olesm says he even downed a Crypt Lord by himself.”
“That’s impressive, but not exactly difficult for a [Necromancer].”
Ceria nodded. And then she made a face again.
“Look…he’s nothing special now, but he was once, alright?”
She looked towards the door, but Pisces still hadn’t returned. Ceria sighed, and looked back at Erin and Yvlon.
“Okay, no jokes or sarcasm. Pisces is a powerful mage, especially for his level. His focus is [Necromancy], but he knows a lot of other spells; far more than I do. And he can use them well. He was an excellent duelist back in Wistram. One-on-one battles are his specialty. He knows a Tier 4 spell – [Invisibility] and he can conjure a small army of minions. He’s a better Silver-rank adventurer than we are.”
Erin’s jaw dropped. Yvlon’s eyebrows rose, but she didn’t oppose Ceria’s statement.
“Well then, why hasn’t he become an adventurer before? And why didn’t you want him on our expedition? I recall—”
“I know. But he wouldn’t have joined, and he’s not a good adventurer to journey with. The only reason he’s with us now is that he’s desperate for money.”
Ceria scowled into her drink. Then she looked up.
“The problem with Pisces is that he doesn’t obey people he doesn’t like, and he won’t follow any orders he thinks are stupid.”
“Will he obey you?”
The half-Elf grimaced.
“He’d better. But Pisces makes his own decisions. That’s why he’d have never worked with Gerial and Calruz. But we might be able to get him to cooperate. Maybe.”
“Oh—”
Erin looked up. Pisces walked back in, washing his hands with some snow that he casually tossed back outside as he shut the door.
“Back to work! Where’s Toren…?”
The innkeeper left and Pisces took his place. He looked at the two.
“Talking about me?”
“Just wondering if you can pull your weight without a zombie to do it for you. Look, okay, maybe we get enough money somehow. Erin might spot us some coin.”
Yvlon hesitated.
“I’d hate to bother her—”
“What choice do we have? We can offer to repay her double, but we need potions. And items. Hey, Erin!”
Erin poked her head out of the kitchen and walked back over.
“What? Need anything, Ceria?”
“Maybe. You wouldn’t happen to have some deadly weapon in a bottle we can use, would you?”
The girl stared at the half-Elf as suspiciously as the others at the table.
“…Like what?”
“I don’t know. A deadly poison? Some kind of spell scroll?”
“Why would I have anything like that?”
Erin propped her hands on her hips, but Ceria was unmoved.
“At one point you were selling jars of acid to Goblins. And you built your house out of a tree that explodes when anything gets near it.”
“Oh. Right. Well, I don’t have any more acid, but you could get some of that boom bark.”
“Boom bark?”
“Krakk trees.”
“Ah.”
“Aside from the fact that I’d prefer not to carry around an unstable explosive like that…I checked. Looks like someone cleared out the entire forest.”
“Weird. Huh. But I don’t have anything else. I’m sorry.”
“Hmm.”
Ceria shook her head. Erin hesitated.
“I know you guys are going to adventure again. You know, if you need help that bad, I could lend you Toren…”
Ceria looked over at the skeleton. She thought for one second and then shook her head.
“No.”
“I also must refuse.”
Yvlon looked at Toren as the skeleton walked across the inn, sheparding Lyon by poking her repeatedly in the back. Pisces just shrugged.
“He is quite competent, but I will abide by the majority vote. Unless your objection is because doubt my abilities as a [Necromancer], Springwalker?”
Ceria shook her head and sighed.
“Unless you’ve created one of your freakish leveling undead that you keep saying is possible, forget it. Even a regenerating skeleton won’t be that useful when we fight something like a Rock Crab.”
Pisces sniffed.
“No need to mock. Toren is a perfectly capable construct. Very well though. If not him, then who?”
Erin thought.
“Ryoka?”
“Hah!”
Ceria laughed out loud and even Yvlon smiled. Erin looked confused.
“Why? What’s wrong with her?”
“Frankly, Erin, even Pisces is a better choice than Ryoka.”
“Thank you for that.”
Yvlon nodded.
“Capable though she may be, she has no levels and her skills at fighting aren’t adequate for killing monsters. No.”
“Then how about me?”
This time Erin was the one who jumped. She looked around at blinked.
“Olesm? When did you get here?”
“Just now. I uh, was dodging Zevara but I knew you were going to discuss this today. Ceria mentioned it.”
The Drake looked proud as he took a seat at the table. Erin went back into her kitchen for more pancakes and Ceria covered her face with a palm as Pisces and Yvlon glanced at her expressionlessly.
“I mentioned that? When?”
“Last night. I…want to join your group.”
Pisces raised an eyebrow as he took a drink. Yvlon was silent, but Ceria could read the mood. She sighed. This was hard.
“Olesm—”
The Drake looked around the table, and he raised his voice slightly.
“[Tacticians] are very useful! Didn’t I prove my worth down in the crypts?”
“You did. I’m not saying you’re not useful. You can save lives. It’s just—”
“The class of [Tactician] is quite useless in small groups. Your skills are best used to aid large formations, not individuals. Unless you have adequate combat skill, you are relatively useless.”
Pisces delivered the explanation flatly while looking away from Olesm. The Drake stared at the Human.
“I want to become stronger.”
“Then by all means, join an army or play games of chess. But I would vote against your inclusion into any adventuring team.”
Yvlon sighed. She didn’t look too kindly at Olesm, but she nodded.
“So would I. I’m sorry Olesm, but Pisces is right. Rude, but right.”
“Ceria?”
She couldn’t meet his gaze.
“I—you’ve got your job, Olesm. This is what I do for a living, but you—I’m sorry.”
Olesm looked hurt and angry. Ceria’s heart hurt. Without a word, he stood up.
“Hey Olesm! I’ve got pancakes! Well, some are more like crepes, but—”
Erin paused as the Drake turned and strode out of the inn without another word. The innkeeper looked at the table, confused.
“What happened?”
“It’s nothing. We just…Olesm can’t be an adventurer. He took it hard.”
“Oh.”
Erin paused, and then set the pancakes on the table. Pisces grabbed another one, and Ceria sighed. The silence lengthened.
And then the door opened again.
Ceria looked up hopefully, expecting to see Olesm coming back. She could apologize—
But it wasn’t Olesm. It was an Antinium who walked in, but one Ceria only vaguely remembered. It wasn’t the one called Pawn, or the one called Klbkch. Erin recognized him. She gasped.
“Ksmvr? What happened?”
The Antinium was wounded. He stumbled into the inn, bleeding green. Ceria half-rose from her table, the spell for [Ice Spike] coming to her mind as Yvlon did likewise and Pisces shoveled down his pancake. Halrac had turned in his seat, and the party of Drakes and one Human had frozen.
Ksmvr didn’t appear to hear Erin at first. He stumbled a few more steps into the room, pausing as she rushed over to him. Toren was at her side, but the skeleton was clutching the sword hilt at his waist.
“You’re hurt!”
Ksmvr nodded. He had several deep cuts in his exoskeleton, but the worst of his injuries was his arms. One of them was missing. His lower right arm was a jagged stump of exoskeleton. It had been patched with some kind of grey goo, but traces of green still seeped around the bandage.
“I have been…relieved of my duties.”
He wavered, and nearly collapsed into the chair as Erin rushed him to a table near the three adventurers. Ceria and the others turned back to their meal, but everyone was listening as Erin and Ksmvr spoke.
“What happened? Did something attack you?”
Ksmvr half-nodded and shook his head as Erin snapped for water and cloth. A shrinking Lyonette brought the items to another table and Erin began making a messy tourniquet.
“I am no longer the Prognugator for my Hive. Or rather…I am, but I am no longer required to fulfill my duties.”
The Antinium said the words dully as Erin fussed over his injures. She looked at him with genuine concern in her eyes. Ceria had trouble doing the same; despite his wounds and the Antinium she had met, she still had a hard time forgetting what they had done. By the looks on Halrac’s and Yvlon’s faces, they felt much the same.
“What? So there’s no Prognugator? But I thought that was important.”
“Revalantor Klbkch will fulfill my duties in the interim. He…is far more qualified than I.”
“But what did you do? What happened?”
“I failed to hold the line.”
Ksmvr said nothing more as Erin bandaged him and offered him food – raw meat and fish, the things Antinium could digest. Ceria eyed his injuries. It looked like he’d been in combat from the wounds, but something was missing. What was it?
His weapons. Yes.
He was missing the two sword and daggers he’d carried for a short time. Without them, Ksmvr looked naked and smaller.
“Looks like the Antinium have their own battles. Intriguing.”
Pisces didn’t even bother to lower his voice. Ceria glanced at him in irritation, but the mage was studying Ksmvr with interest. The Antinium was nodding as Erin hovered around him, asking if there was anything he needed.
“I am fine. I am…fine. I have no purpose. I came here to…to…”
Ksmvr looked at Halrac.
“My Queen will begin negotiations for the immediate excavation of the ruins. The entrance is known to the Antinium. There are many…many monsters guarding it.”
Halrac hesitated. He frowned at the Antinium, but eyed Erin and just nodded.
“We might talk.”
“Good. That is good.”
Ksmvr sat in his chair, head bowed. Ceria tried to talk more with Yvlon and Pisces, but her attention was totally on the conversation the two were having.
“So, uh, first missions? Where should we go first?”
Yvlon shrugged.
“If we can, I’d like to find a good job here, but the odds are slim. We
’d have to go either north or south.”
“North.”
Pisces said it firmly.
“I have dealt with Drakes and Gnolls; they don’t trust humans. Given that we are almost all human, or have human heritage, we will find better employment north of here. In Esthelm, perhaps.”
“It’s a long trip, though, and it will take a while to get off the ground. We’d be earning only a few silver for the safer quests, and there’s not even a guarantee of getting a decent-paying one against tough monsters. Either way, it will be a struggle. What do you think, Ceria?”
“Hmm? Yeah…”
Ksmvr was talking to Erin. Ceria’s ears were better than a Human’s, and she could hear him as he spoke in a low voice with her.
“I came here to find you. You gave Pawn purpose and Klbkch thinks highly of you. I…don’t know what to do. I am a failure.”
“Don’t say that! You’re got tons of skills! Like…chopping things off. I mean, you can fight, right?”
“Revalantor Klbkch is by far my superior, despite his reduced levels. I am worthless. I cannot—”
“Springwalker? Are you even listening?”
Ceria looked around.
“What?”
Pisces gave her a pained look.
“Money. Where will we find it, pray?”
“I have no idea. The last mission the Horns of Hammerad did – well, before the ruins – was digging through the Ruins of Albez, near Celum.”
“Albez?”
Yvlon wrinkled her brow.
“That’s a risky endeavor. There’s not much to find there and a lot of strong monsters. Was it worth it?”
Ceria smiled.
“Pretty much. We got a few enchanted items – mundane stuff, like spelled cooking equipment, and an old recipe book and a few really expensive plates. It was enough to cover the healing costs and put us ahead in quite a bit of gold. But it’s risky.”
“Still, if we knew there was treasure…”
“We don’t. I’ve led several expeditions, and I’ve come up empty-handed often as not.”
Yvlon shook her head regretfully.
“If we’re going to risk taking a dangerous mission for rewards, I’d like better odds than that.”
“Yeah.”
Ceria looked back at Ksmvr and Erin. She was talking intently to him, but glancing over at their table every few seconds. What was she…?
