by Lars M.
"Hmm - I understand. Comprehension between species can be like walking a new forest blindfolded. Still, you have made some headway. Have you progressed beyond the initial words we used?"
"Yes." We'd started by developing a list of words that I could attach to a matching mental image. The hope was that we could use this to not only teach Atlas, but also expand his understanding of the spoken language. "He has taken to it like a duck to water. He understands at least these words and... I'd wager at least 50 more. It's hard to tell. Sometimes he clearly reacts to my voice, but at other times he will act upon something I hadn't realized I was sending to him."
"Arcangelo!" Her outburst startled me and Atlas both. The large chameleon lifted his head from her lap, affronted by the noise, but was easily mollified as she went back to caressing him. She beamed at me. "This is wonderful. A family like yours usually takes longer to build this level of intimacy." She stared off into space while her hands stroked Atlas. "I... would usually wait a while to recommend this. Even so, if you and Atlas are about to leave for a while, I believe it is the right way to improve his comprehension."
I nodded, all ears.
The elf was unusually serious. "This may seem unconventional, given how you two have been busy practicing to have him understand your mental messages. But I would ask you to speak aloud from now on and only send mental messages if it's necessary for his understanding. Or in emergencies. You tend to attract those."
I snorted. "I guess I do, at that. What's the reason for limiting our mental talks?"
She huffed. "It is a matter of expediency. If you were to come around every other day, we would be able to continue adding to your mental images until his mental vocabulary was sufficient. Then, the transition into his understanding of the spoken word would be effortless. Without the two of us coordinating, however, you would likely come back from your trip with limited results and a scattered gathering of mental images."
I had a hard time disputing that. "No argument here. It's not like I've ever tried this before, and without guidance or a book or something to follow, I'd probably just end up teaching him whatever came to mind in the moment."
"Exactly. This way, we are forcing the issue a little, but nothing too drastic. As a baby bird sometimes needs a push before it takes the jump and learns how to fly, we're pushing Atlas to pay attention to your words. It may cause some misunderstandings along the path, but I believe that your connection should be enough to work past those and reach a good result."
"That sounds like solid thinking. Thank you."
She smiled before putting on a stern face. "Arcangelo. Elves, by blood and creed, have a deeper connection with the soil. We feel where others need facts. And I feel you would do best to learn fast."
I waited for her to continue... except she didn't. "Naevys. I'm going to need you to elaborate on that."
She looked unsure of herself. "I...have a bad feeling. Like dark clouds gathering."
"I'll take it to heart." And I would. Of course, I didn't know what it was. The AI's way of telling me that shit was going to go down? An obscure hint of things to come? Maybe just a personality quirk from whoever was the base of Naevys.
We went back to music and Naevys made a point of playing each of her new songs several times over, with me providing the vocals. They were good choices, too. Simple songs, but ones you could embellish upon, speed up, or slow down as the mood required. Later, as Atlas and I were walking through the forest on my way back towards the village, I couldn't help but think of the look on her face as she hugged me goodbye. Her eyes had held an unusual emotion that I couldn't quite decode. Sadness? Trepidation? Fear, even? My mind was still churning over the thought when I opened the door to the Warlock's End.
Chapter 15 – Tinker, Terror, End Is Nigh
The combination of heat, a multitude of smells, and a blanket of noise hit me like the head hits the pillow after a long day. It was so comforting, my misgivings all but oozed away.
As I got closer to the bar, Gillem noticed my presence and yelled, "Archie! Things are crazy today. Be with you in a bit."
I gave him a thumbs up and stood back a little, breathing it all in. The scene was beautiful in all its messy splendor. The place was packed full, and it seemed everybody was talking or shouting all at once. At one table, Chertog sat laughing uproariously at something, while Aurora hid her face. At another, a group I recognized as some of the crafters, including Lyle's father, were arguing, heads close together. Near the exit, I even spotted Millerd sitting with a group of the Fallen, cards spread on the table. A clenching feeling hit my stomach as I realized how much I was going to miss the place when I left. The people, my habits and interactions – I'd grown more than fond of them through the short period of time that I'd spent in-game.
"Hey. You're falling asleep on your feet, there." I could hear the laughter in Gillem's voice.
"Not sleepy. Just realized I was actually going to miss you people, backwards, inbred yokels and all."
"Inbred yokels? I'll have you know that the correct term is rural cousin-sisters, thank you very much!" His gleaming white teeth as he laughed stood in contrast to his sunburned skin and dark, curly hair. "You know it's going to be dull as Pits when you're not around, right?"
"Uh-huh. I could go for dull – just for a month or two. Hey, here's something, though. I may have been able to convince Naevys to come sing every now and then while I'm gone."
His eyebrows shot up. "I take back what I said. We're not going to miss you at all. Damn, but she's sweet on the eyes – and ears. No offense, of course."
"Plenty of offense taken, you rascal." I punched his shoulder. "Hey, what's with the hubbub?"
"Pfft. It's your fault, and you know it. I don't have time to stand and chat, really. Everybody's riled up to push Grant's Crossing into history as the new trade power," he waved his hand dismissively, "or whatever it is you've promised them in that little speech of yours."
"That's... I didn't-"
"Oh, relax. Just messing with your head." He winked. "Mostly, people are moaning over all the extra work that'll come from having to teach the kobolds. The Council asked me to tell you we're getting started on your plan tomorrow, gathering everybody and putting them to work. The Mayor's beside herself with excitement from all the administration and planning we need to do to handle everything and everybody. I left a little something on your table. And before you say anything – well done. I mean that. As long as the kobolds behave half as well as we hope, Grant's Crossing's going to explode. Pits, if we manage to come up with some good ideas, maybe reopen the quarry and the mine... the possibilities are huge. But I'm chattering when I should be working. Need anything?"
"Yup. Some food. You mind putting together a tray or something I can take to my room?"
"No music tonight?"
I grimaced. "Sorry, no. I'm kinda stressed, what with the caravan inbound. Appreciate the update, though." I smiled. "And the gift, for sure."
"Oh. Curses. I'd forgotten about the caravan again." Jeb near the bar was waving his arms, trying to catch Gillem’s attention.
"Who even says 'curses'? You're an old man at heart, Gillem." I ceased the mocking tone and shot him a smile. "Get to work, friend. Talk in the morning."
As I opened my door, the gift from the Council immediately sprang to my attention and I minimized the pop-up confirming that the quest had been completed. I received no additional rewards, but the large burlap sack waiting for me on my rough wooden table was intriguing enough, bulging with whatever items it held. A sealed envelope was placed before the sack, carrying only my name.
Man. If there was anything more wonderful than physical quest rewards, I did not care to hear about it. Reputation and experience were lovely, but when somebody threw additional gift items your way, it made the proverbial icing on the karmic cake taste that much better. Still, I was going to savor it. Instead of tearing open the sack, I carefully opened the letter and my smile as I read soon stretched until I was grinni
ng like a loon. Autoria's neat lettering stood out enough that I could almost hear her formal voice.
Mr. Arcangelo,
By now, you have performed a good number of services for Grant's Crossing. You have been adequately reimbursed for each setting, but we have become aware that you have gone above and beyond the call of duty, to the great advantage of Grant's Crossing. Please accept the enclosed.
Yours in gratitude
The Council of Grant's Crossing
Oh my. That was an interesting introduction to the gift. Now it made me wonder if the gift was a reward for the quest, for some of my earlier actions, or a combination. I carefully extracted the contents of the sack and lined them up before me.
Each was presented with a note, in order to remove any confusion as to which was which.
The future is an unknown variable. Gold is not. Three glittering gold pieces were wrapped inside the note.
Your present is bound to contain a journey. We wish you peaceful travels to High Hold. In case the 'peaceful' part fails to make itself known...
3 x Health Potion (Medium Quality)
This concoction immediately restores hit points upon consumption. Can be recorked.
80/80 hit points remaining.
and
3 x Mana Potion (Medium Quality)
This concoction immediately restores mana points upon consumption. Can be recorked.
80/80 mana points remaining.
Wonderful! I had been meaning to buy some potions since forever - but I kept running out of funds or wasting my hard-earned cash on unnecessary purchases. Huh. Story of my life, really. What did this last one say?
Oftentimes, the past is merely a list of reminders of things we should avoid doing in the future. With that in mind, a sated belly often keeps tempers down.
30 x Trail Mix (High Quality)
This mixture of nuts, deer fat and honey has been fried and seasoned to perfection. The mixture will keep a man sated for a full day of traveling and improve his stamina.
+3 Endurance for 8 hours
Oh - snap. Did she just tell me to eat a goddamn Snickers?
Once I'd finished sending happy thoughts to the council for the unexpected treasure trove, I got to work. First, I cleared the table and laid out all of the crafting items I had available to get an overview. I realized that the table wouldn't be enough space and expanded to the floor on either side. Two minutes later, I stepped back, watching the item piles. Well, heaps, rather. Piles indicated a certain degree of order. What I had was a table and a quarter of my room filled with heaps of body parts. The place looked and smelled like I imagined a serial killer's dungeon would.
Still, it did the job and I managed to get an index of what I had to work with. For what I hoped would be the last time, I disregarded the rare items, using only common and uncommon quality. I hoped increasing my intelligence stat would help, but, more than that, I needed more knowledge before I wasted those items. The first thing I needed to do was process the items into cores, to see if I could spot some logic behind the attributes and strengths.
I still had a small bunch of cores left over from my latest crafting spree in Nerit. I'd wasted a lot of materials back then, trying to increase my Tinkering skill by crafting some items that could help me in my subsequent struggles with the kobolds. There was also a tiny handful of items I hadn't been able to find a use for or wanted to save.
That tiny pile was dwarfed by the mounds of flesh, carapace, et al that surrounded me, however. I got to work reducing the items to cores and noting their attributes. A while later, I was left with a lingering scent of flesh and worse – and a gleaming, glittering pile of enough item cores to make an infant dragon squee with pleasure. It was the first time I'd held that large of a treasure trove of cores, and it felt like a veritable Scrooge McDuck moment. I held up a handful of the tiny, glittering gem-like items and let them roll through my hands, reveling in the kaleidoscope of colors that swam over my hands, like a miniature rainbow that had been caught and caged.
Wait a minute. I frowned in confusion. Colors? I'd never noticed different colors before. I picked up one of the gem-like cores and squinted at it, trying to make out all the details. The cores were gem-like. This one was octagonal and oblong, and carried several imperfections. It also gave off a tiny light. Colorless – or so I'd thought. As I compared it to another core, I could see the difference – a weak, green aura that accompanied the light. Hands trembling, I picked out another. Brown. Exhilarated, I started sorting out the items according to their colors. This might be what I needed to crack the code.
A good while later, I placed the last core before me. I hadn't realized I'd been humming, but the insistent, busy tones of Mozart's Symphony No. 40 accompanied my work as I gained an overview.
Cores with green auras:
6 x Garead Horns (uncommon) 10-40 Piercing damage. Chance to cause knockback.
3 x Garead Sinews, (uncommon) +2 to block for 30 minutes.
4 x Garead Tails (common) + 2 Unarmored dodge for 30 minutes.
6 x Garead Fur (common) +1 strength.
3 x Garead Eyes (uncommon) –2 perception.
27 x Maggot Mouthpart (common) 10 slashing damage. -10% disease resistance.
17 x Maggot Skin (common) + 10% blunt damage resistance.
10 x Tuft of Giant Fly Hair (uncommon) -1 Endurance. 10% chance to cause 1 vitality damage/second for 30 seconds.
1 x Giant Fly Eye. (uncommon) +2 perception.
5 x Rat Eye. (common) -1 perception.
7 x Viper Eye. (uncommon) Grants heat vision.
4 x Soarer Beaks. (uncommon) 10-40 piercing damage. Ignores armor.
Cores with brown auras:
19 x Gyrespit Legs (common) +10% in-combat movement speed.
12 x Gyrespit Tooth (common) 10-20 tribal magic damage. -10% piercing resistance
4 x Gyrespit Vertebrae (uncommon) -2 Endurance.
5 x Gyrespit Eyes (uncommon) +1 Perception. +1 intelligence.
3 x Gyrespit Intestines (uncommon) -20% tribal magic resistance.
Cores with black auras:
6 x Dark-infested Maggot Mouthpart (common) 10-20 blunt damage. Lowers disease resistance by 10%.
2 x Dark-infused Maggot Mouthpart (uncommon) 10-40 blunt damage. Lowers disease resistance by 15%.
4 x Dark-infested Maggot Skin (common) +10% blunt damage resistance.
1 x Dark-infused Maggot Skin (uncommon) +20% blunt damage resistance.
1 x Dark-infused Tuft of Giant Fly Hair (uncommon) -2 Endurance. 20% chance to cause 2 vitality damage/second for 30 seconds.
The maggot meat, I found, to my surprise, was not a crafting item but actual meat – supposedly for consumption. Disgusting. As for the rest, I believed I was teetering on the verge of a discovery. Clearly, the colors of the cores were meant to show which category the items belonged to. I looked at my older items. The rat eyes and soarer beaks were all green, while the viper eyes had...sort of a rainbow effect. As to what the category meant – that one was tougher. I'd probably have to ask Mrs. Bertinga, see if she'd relent a little on the whole "tinker and figure it out for yourself" deal. Except – maybe there was something here?
The majority of the items from the maggots and the fly were green, aside from those infested or infused by darkness. So, what was the difference? Nothing...except, of course, for their being infected by demonic magic.
Sooo… all the green items? I checked. Yeah, they were from regular beasts. Fantastic ones, but still non-magical. The Gyrespit items, however, were brown. That would be... because they weren't regular animals? They did have that weird hivemind effect going on. So... types of monsters defined which color core you’d end up with? Something like that.
I decided that was enough theorycrafting for the moment and got to work with the tinkering. The past couple of times I had crafted, I went for a balanced approach – ended up with a little of this, a little of that. This time, I was going for one thing above all: outfitting our kobold bombard
ier with as many bloody weapons as humanly possible. Every core with a possibility of dealing damage, I was going to turn into a grenade. Every single one. I started with the common ones first and got to it.
28 repetitions later, I grinned to see a notification pop up.
Congratulations. You have reached the Apprentice level with your skill:
Tinkering
From now on, the effect of all items created with Common-level cores will be 25% more efficient.
Nice one. The ratio of common vs. everything else was probably around two to one – meaning the vast majority of all tinkering items just got a quarter better. Not only that, but I had already been able to note the difference from my increased intelligence score – I'd only failed in creating three items, as opposed to before, where every fifth item had failed. Now for the real treat, though. Holding my breath, I opened the crafting window to see the possibilities – and watched in glee as another crafting circle faded into being right next to the first. Yes! That meant I should be able to combine two items. Instantly, I combined a core from a Maggot Mouthpart with one from a Gyrespit Tooth – only to watch it fizzle out and both items be consumed. Damnit. Of course, it'd be even harder to combine two. The next attempt succeeded, however, and I compared the result with one of the prior results.
Small Clay Bomb
A fragile clay shell surrounds the Tinkerer’s core and will release the enchantment contained within upon impact with the target.
