by Lars M.
At the mention of the Cabal, she blanched. Reeling, she countered, "Anybody can claim they're a Chronicler. Prove it." Her defiant grin assured me that she wanted more than anything for me to be a fraud. As I reached into my inventory to pull out my Chronicler's Journal, her face fell. "That's - I will have to make sure that is not a forgery."
I could hear the defeat in her voice, however. I let her approach and, seconds later, she let out a long, complicated whistle, causing the rest of her group to cease their circling and land nearby.
A low-pitched, almost inaudible, series of clicks and whistling spilled from her as she stared at the ground. Before I could think it over, I asked, "Sorry. What was that?"
"Not for your ears, dirt dweller." She sighed and relented. "It was me complaining about the timing of your arrival. You have put us in a miserable situation."
I put on my most winning smile, stretched out my hand and said, " How about this? My name is Arcangelo. I'm the resident bard of Grant's Crossing and have been sent as an emissary to stop the hostilities between our people. How do you do?"
She took it all in with a disbelieving shake of her head. "Emissary. Sounds fancy. I'm Tirane - and I'm less than thrilled to see you."
Chapter 19 – Detour
It took a little wheedling, but fifteen minutes later, I finally managed to get the full story from Tirane. Truth be told, any other day, they might have asked us to explain ourselves before attacking us. However, given that they weren't exactly supposed to be drinking but rather out monster-hunting instead, they would have a hard time explaining to their superiors why they had returned empty-handed. Her rueful grin was a stark contrast to the former hostility. "Serves us right, I guess. Still, the punishment detail is probably going to be... nasty."
I nodded. "Seems unfair to me. I mean, we should be entitled to a little rest and relaxation now and again, right?"
"Right? Ah, well. It's not the first time it's happened. Poor Morine, however. It's the third time she's been caught shirking her duties. Third strike means a harsher punishment." The other three harpies kept to themself while we talked, but I could take a guess as to who Morine was. A tall, skinny and absolutely gorgeous harpy wore a morose look on her face, staring at the ground.
"So what were you supposed to be hunting?"
"A Mangler. It's supposed to be getting too close to..." she proceeded with a series of clicks and whistles.
"To what, now?"
"Directly translated, it would probably be somewhere around 'Mount D'hail.’ It's-"
"Mount Dale? Really? You have a mountain that's named after a dale? Whoever named the place must've been pretty fond of puns."
"Criticize our blessed home? Also, the name's High Hold for you ground dwellers." She continued. "Now, we were talking about Manglers. Nasty creatures. They're slow as hell, but their protective shell is the width of my finger - our arrows do nothing against them, so we need to lure them on the offensive, expose their vulnerable joints." She grimaced. "Dangerous work. One misstep and you're paste. Sooo - three times out of four, they just wander back where they came from, and the problem solves itself. We figured we'd just say we couldn't find it, enjoy ourselves a bit." She spat.
"Pity," I commiserated. "If only there was somebody nearby with a spell that could cause animals to enter a trance and stand completely still and vulnerable, until they're attacked."
"...are you serious?" The hopeful tone of her voice was hard to miss.
"Yup. I don't think we would mind a detour to help you lot out. I mean, you are going to help us get to High Hold in return. You might even say some nice words about us as an introduction or something." I gestured vaguely.
She shook with a deep belly laugh. "To think I almost turned you into a pincushion. If you manage this, we’re going to get along just fine." She turned back toward the others and trilled a command. "Let's go get ourselves out of trouble. Might be we found us a friend today."
As she walked over to explain the situation to her companions, I smiled at the pop-ups that appeared.
Congratulations. You have reached the apprentice level with your skill:
Leadership
From now on, the range of group bonuses, reception of experience, and updates from kills, and the range at which you can see your group members on the minimap expands to 60 meters.
You have been offered a quest:
Image Is Everything
You have offered to help Tirane's crew slay a Mangler and stay silent about their initial assault. In return, they will provide you with a good introduction to the powers of High Hold.
Reward:
150 experience points.
200 reputation with High Hold.
Accept/Decline?
I finally had a chance to check out the debuff in detail, too.
You are suffering from a debuff:
Mana Withdrawal
You have abused your reserves and are suffering from painful mana withdrawal. Any spells you cast will cost twice the mana. Additionally, any concentration checks will be at a penalty of -5.
44 minutes, 25 seconds remaining.
Damn - that was nasty. That should teach me to keep an eye on my mana counter. The debuff was ugly, too - and the sensation when it struck could be enough to get me killed, if it happened mid-combat. Erm. Again. I might even have to invest more points in intelligence to increase my mana pool.
Lyle approached me, confusion written clearly on his face. "Umm - what the Pits just happened, Archie? Why are we chummy with these feathered pests? They just tried their best to riddle us with holes, for Beren's sake."
A chuckle from Arack made us both turn, and she held up her hands. "Sorry... it's just. Isn't that what you knights are supposed to be? Holey?"
My eyes rolled so hard, I could feel the strain."Et tu, Arack? I thought Chertog was the only one who'd stoop so low with his horrible humor."
"Hah. You old farts just fail to recognize proper genius when you hear it. You never answered his question, either."
I smiled. "True. Long story short – the whole thing was a tiny misunderstanding. Once we've helped them kill a small monster, we're the tightest of friends."
"Oh, wow. There's no way this could possibly go wrong. Excuse me while I go pet Atlas for a while. Y'know, before our imminent doom." Contrary to her words, Arack had a spring in her step, practically skipping as she walked toward Atlas.
I shook my head at the girl and turned back to Lyle. "No, honestly, it's all good. I'll explain on the way. First, however - are you okay?"
He shrugged. "Sure. The shield and armor took care of the worst – they got me with a couple of grazing hits, but we're lucky that they don't use poison. Also, you should compliment her."
To my surprise, he didn't nod in Tirane's direction, but towards Arack. "Why? I guess her humor isn't that crappy, but still..."
"Not that." He snorted. "Well, not this time. During the battle, though. The reason why I wasn't hit more was that she kept a couple of them busy. She was constantly making faces, shouting at them, and being a nuisance, throwing rocks at them from the tunnel entrance." He held up a hand. "She didn’t hit them, though, just made them fly around and waste a lot of arrows. That's pretty solid thinking, especially when you said she couldn't attack them."
I nodded. "That is impressive - and she did manage to not put herself into too much danger. Thanks for mentioning it." Lyle standing up for Arack was a nice surprise, especially with the way he had initially thought of her. I immediately took his advice, lauding Arack for her help in distracting the harpies.
A bit later, we left the clearing. On our way toward the monster, I used the chance to scout out our new-found friends. If I were to compare them with the kobolds from my former outing, the only way I could describe it was that we'd reached a higher-leveled place - in every sense. Their items were of better quality and well taken care of. Well-polished wooden spears tipped with iron heads and that groove thing that my flaky memory told me had something
to do with blood. Lyle could probably expand on the topic - endlessly. They carried uniform, erm, uniforms, worn on top of matching leather armors. Where the kobolds had been decently, if haphazardly, outfitted, these avian soldiers oozed professionalism. And their bodies - damn. Slap a set of wings and deadly-looking clawed feet on a Greek statue, and it'd fit the bill rather well. Lyle might hold his own in a wrestling match with one or two of them. Might.
After walking for a while in relative silence, each group keeping to their own, I sidled over to chat with Tirane. It didn't take long for me to conclude that she was, surprisingly, good company. She was crass, dismissive of her superiors, and very liberal with curse words. She was also quick-witted and damn funny.
"So you'll have to stay the hell away from Lirinee's place. She does the best Seedfest in High Hold, but she abhors ground-dwellers. Nobody knows why, though. Hah - with her spotty plumage, my guess is that one of you dirtborn plucked off half her feathers at some point." Her expansive gestures made me hold a safe distance.
"I'm guessing Seedfest is some sort of food? I'll have to try it out at some point, then - but first, tell me about this Mangler of yours, and how we're going to beat it."
"Okay, it's like this: the beast is ugly - even uglier than that kobold friend of yours over there..."
"Hey!"
We spent the rest of the walk, plotting and chatting. After a while, the rest of our groups started joining in, adding opinions and strategies, and we devised with a simple plan without too many moving parts.
Compared to the effort we put into preparing and discussing what-ifs, the battle against the Mangler was easy. Trivial, even. It was still a nerve-wracking affair. From afar, the beast was intimidating, looking like a vicious cross-breed between a turtle and a praying mantis. According to Tirane, the shelled monstrosity could extract its entire upper body from the shell, doubling its reach. To my relief, my Entrance Animals took hold flawlessly, and the monster walked closer and closer until we had a mere three meters of distance between us. I had every opportunity to admire the shell-covered, dirt-colored body and legs. The blunt, armored head revealed hand-long teeth as it slowly emerged from beneath the shell, lolling back and forth, lost to my music. The head was at the same height as my own, and the beast was positively massive. 'Paste' was probably an accurate description of what would happen, should it hit me.
Our execution was excellent, however. When the harpies confirmed that I could keep the beast entranced, they slowly inched into position. At my shouted command, Atlas and I both sent stuns at the beast. The harpies struck with four simultaneous attacks - two targeting the unarmored hind parts of the forelegs, while Morine and Tirane slammed their spears into either side of the outstretched neck. We all fled back, awaiting the result, with Lyle ready to jump in to protect us. The stun ran its course after a moment, and the Mangler fought to raise itself on its injured legs while the blood ran in rivulets down its neck. A long minute later, the blood loss became too much, and the beast flopped to the ground with a thud. We all let out a cheer.
Morine looked at me with a relieved grin. Her high-pitched voice rang out, "Clear skies, man! Bard, you've saved my feathers. That was incredible. You'll have to join us again. I know where there's this nest of Hoarder eggs-"
I laughed at her exuberance. "Sounds incredible. I'd love to, if I can find the time, but I do have a mission here." I rubbed my hands together in anticipation. "Right now, however, we get to the best part - division of spoils."
Morine's eyes flickered towards Tirane. The lanky harpy held up her palms. "Erm - Ti - you didn't tell him?"
The muscled female walked closer, her hard eyes set on mine. "Never really got to it. Apologies, Arcangelo, but we don't get to keep anything for ourselves. As High Hold cares for us, keeping us armed, outfitted and sheltered, so do they require that we turn in every item we find. For the same reason, we are always grouped with an Alchemist, Skinner, and Tinkerer in each squad - we need to be able to extricate all possible items." Her look was equal parts apologetic and open.
My face fell. Seriously? A beast like this would probably hold some damn interesting items. My mind finally kicked into gear again. "Fair enough. Just tell me this one thing, however. Soldiers - people like you - who risk their life on a daily basis. Are you really telling me that you never keep something to yourself? A little something to trade or gamble, for your troubles?"
She barked, "Forget about it. I don't know how you dirt walkers handle things, but we have standards. Lists. They know what monsters are supposed to drop." Her eyes flickered to the side, though, almost too fast to notice.
I laughed. "I like you, Tirane, despite your attempt to bloody murder me an hour back. And this is not a stab at you. I'd think those on the front lines deserve fair rewards. Please don't insult my intelligence, though. You said it yourself - they know what monsters are supposed to drop. So I'm betting one of you has a fair idea of what we can keep before those in charge take notice of it." I raised an eyebrow and waited.
She stared at me for a moment before the side of her mouth quirked up. She waved at Morine to come over. "Tell him."
"Aw... okay, fair enough. You guys have earned it. Also, Manglers are pretty uncommon, so we can get away with a little more. What are you able to use?"
I pointed around in turn, ending with myself. "Armorsmith, Alchemist, Tinkerer."
She nodded, then clapped her hands together. "Alright - this corpse isn't going to strip itself. Let's get to it."
The quartet descended on the corpse, muttering quietly among themselves. Arack and Lyle flanked either side of me, keeping an eye on the others. Arack whispered, "You think we can trust them?"
I shrugged. "I'd say yes - until proven otherwise."
A while later, Morine walked over, eyes far away, muttering to herself. "... and that makes four. Yeah. Okay, first of all. Three vials of [Mangler Blood] and two of [Mangler Saliva] for the Alchemist. We get more liquids when it's a large specimen like this, so we can keep a little extra." Arack lit up with a huge smile, rushing forward to take them. "Hmm - for your armorer, we have some limitations. Obviously, we cannot keep any of the larger body parts, because they know how many there are. We could claim that one or more body parts had gotten mangled in the fight, except somebody's insisted that we do that too often this season already." A rude gesture from one of the other harpies made her laugh before continuing. "We can, however, give you a handful of these [Mangler Armor Patch]. With the right tools, you can work them into a decent armor set, or you can sew them into pockets on other types of armor for additional defense." Lyle took the proffered handful and promptly took to inspecting the material. "As for you - Arcangelo, was it? We can either let you have a part of all the Tinkerer items - or you could keep this." She held up a tiny ball that seemed to glow with an inner light. I took a look at the common items, but decided to accept the [Earthen Gland] with gratitude. I still hadn't learned what they did, but from Mrs. Bertinga's reaction, these types of items were something special. I'd always been a bit of a hoarder, especially when it came to unknown items. One never knew when you'd need that unidentified thingamajig.
Tirane called for a break, and I used the time to take stock of the developments. For a couple of hours’ detour, the quest rewards were quite nice.
Congratulations. You have completed the quest:
Image Is Everything
You have slain the Mangler, sparing Tirane’s group a punishment for shirking their duties.
Reward:
You have received 150 experience points. Experience towards next level 2645/5000
Your reputation with High Hold has increased by +200(+20%)=240. New reputation: 1240 (Liked).
My Diplomacy had also increased - no surprise there. As for spells, Affect Emotions had already increased to 3, while Veil of Sound gained a single point, getting me to Apprentice. Great!
Congratulations. You have reached the Apprentice level with your spell:
Veil of Sound
From now on, you are able to command up to ten sonic waves at the same time, improving coverage and protection.
The Mangler was also good for 300 experience points, leaving me almost halfway to level 6.
Checking over the skills of my companions, most developments were to be expected. Lyle's Heavy Armor skill had increased, as had his Concentration skill and Mace skill. Also, he had finally hit level 4! More strength and endurance for the meat shield. As for Arack... more points into Unarmored Dodge. We definitely needed to get her some armor. While she was agile and excellent at avoidance, her risk-taking left her exposed - and it would just take one or two blows, as long as she didn't carry armor. I wasn't too sure that talk was going to be easy - especially considering the feat she had just received.
Dance of the Dervish
Your agility and natural skill allows you to dodge, weave, and dance through a battlefield with awe-inspiring grace. In a fight, you are close to untouchable and gain an additional +3 to Unarmored Dodge.
Yeah, I wasn't looking forward to that chat.
The final kicker was Atlas having gained not one, but two levels since we had come home from Nerit. Gotta love those low level XP requirements. At first, I had been surprised by his character sheet being different - and less detailed – than humanoid characters, but I’d chalked it down to less possibilities with the evolution trees of animals. That reasoning was why, when I selected his character sheet to see the improvements, I was met with a surprise.
