by Lars M.
I wasn't. I really wasn't. Still, I mumbled something in the affirmative and fled the place. Damn. Either Aron was a world-class actor, or Benjamin had just made a fool of me. I hadn't even been clever enough to make a copy of the map. Exogenics mocked me with a pop-up.
You have been offered a quest:
Spot The Liar (Chronicler Quest)
You have been robbed. Either Benjamin Earnest or Aron Arngrimson has stolen your map. You need to figure out who and expose them. This is a timed quest. The result for solving or not solving the quest depend on the speed with which you solve the quest.
Reward: Unknown.
Current result: Completing the quest right now will result in the optimal result.
Accept/Decline?
Oh, come ON! That was totally uncalled for. Now I'd have to hurry and... take a deep breath. I found a bench inside the library and sat down, lowering my head to the table, trying to calm my mind and make some sense of the situation.
Okay. First things first. Why the hell would either of them filch the map in the first place? Obvious answer is obvious. Because it's valuable.
But then, why go about it in such a clumsy manner? That one was pretty easy, too. They weren't used to spy work, but had merely seized an opportunity when they saw it. Huh. Also, I supposed they could be making a copy right now and they'd be able to go "What map? Oh, this one right here? You must have dropped it. How silly of you."
Why the rush, though? Could be several things. Maybe they'd empty every spot on the map if I didn't catch them in time. Or they'd flee from the city. Could be-
I was shaken from my inner discussion by a heavy hand patting my shoulder. "Hey, Archie. Are you okay, man?" Lyle's kind face stared down at me, his voice betraying his worry.
"I... No, I'm not. Are you okay with us going to get Arack? Like, right now?"
Soon, we sat around the table in the tavern and I recounted what had just happened.
Arack was beside herself with fury. "They think they can steal our treasures and live? I'll rob them blind and leave them naked in the street, crying out for help."
Lyle addressed her in a soothing voice. "That's... pretty vindictive. Maybe we can talk this over, plan how to best handle it?"
Arack scoffed. "What's there to talk about? They're robbing us of our treasures. We need to get that map back!"
I interrupted. "I agree. Still, let's be clever about this. Right now, we don't know for sure if Benjamin or Aron is our culprit, but we do know that whoever did it expects some sort of reaction. They'll be prepared. Just robbing them won't work. Mind you, I'm still pretty damn angry myself, and I'm having a hard time focusing. So, any suggestions?"
Lyle held up a hand. "Appeal to the authorities?"
How very... Lyle of him. "That would be my first approach, - except they aren't dumb. That would be anybody's first approach. They'd know to hide the map, and if we come up with a false accusation once, the authorities aren't likely to listen to us a second time. So, yes, that would work, but we need proof first."
Lyle nodded. "You’re probably right. In that case, I have a question. Neither of you are going to like it, but I want you to think about it. Really think about it." Arack and I looked at each other before nodding and he carried on, "Good. My question is this: in the larger scheme of things, does the map matter?" Arack's protests and mine came out in a hissed jumble, but he held up his hands. "No! Hear me out, I said. We're here to build an alliance between Grant's Crossing and High Hold - not to go out treasure hunting. I'm annoyed they ripped us off as well, but do we really want to waste our chance to form this alliance in order to get revenge and hopefully find some items?"
Arack wasn't buying it. "Seriously? Are you, like, even a team player? If somebody cheats one of us, they mess with all of us. I can't believe that you even-"
"He's right." I said in a serious voice. Arack turned to me with a betrayed look. "No, I mean it. He's annoying, but he's right. I'm not saying we drop it or anything, but the first priority has to be Grant's Crossing. What happens if we drop everything to get our vengeance and mess with the wrong people before the alliance is settled? Then we'll be left with nothing at all."
Lyle nodded in satisfaction. "I'm glad you are willing to listen to sense. From what you've told us, with a couple of weeks of solid work, we'll be at the point where we can arrange for the alliance. Then, if we choose to spend energy on it, we can try to go after the thief."
I raised an eyebrow. "You misunderstand me. What I'm saying is that we shouldn't focus exclusively on outing the thief. It's not like we work 24/7 these days - we still have plenty of time in the day to find some proof. Unless you don't care about justice being served?" Lyle looked properly chastised, and I felt a pang of guilt. I just couldn't tell him the real reason I wanted revenge. I mean, how embarrassing was it that I'd been had by a frigging NPC? "There's also the question of time. The longer it takes to look for proof, the higher the chance that he's managed to hide every hint of proof, or worse, cleaned out the treasures."
Arack grumbled a bit, but relented. "As long as we're not letting him get away with it."
"Oh, Pits, no. We'll just have to be clever about it. Gather information first and then strike. Now, with that in mind - what do we have to work with?"
We spent a while, shooting ideas back and forth, planning and discarding stratagems. We brushed off both Viola and a few of the local Fingers players, soon retreating to Lyle's room to ensure privacy while we planned. After an hour of plotting, Arack started yawning. "Sorry, guys. I've been getting used to an early schedule - when we reach evening, my eyelids just start closing."
I stretched. "Yeah, I'm pretty beat, too. I think we've reached the limits of what we could possibly expect at this hour. So, let's recap. Lyle?"
He nodded, serious. "I'll stay in the library for now. Try to get a sense of the amount of information they have on the kobold expansion. Since I've gotten to know a few of the Chroniclers, I can talk to them about people who would be interested in maps like that."
Arack nodded, "I'll just," she paused to let out another jaw-splitting yawn, "sorry. I'll focus on my work, but, well, I like people. Nobody will wonder at me asking about weird stuff. I do it all the time anyway. Besides, somebody's got to leave with the map if they want to use it. So I'll just be asking about people leaving and entering the place, find out who we can suspect."
"Great. Meanwhile, both Lyle and myself will keep an eye out for Aron and Benjamin, see if we spot anything out of the ordinary. I'll continue with my regular schedule, too, but I'll try to see if I can't find somebody who can give us an opening or some useful information. Optimally, we'd find a way to rummage through their rooms or keep an eye on them."
"Beren guard me from impurities. We're so dumb." Lyle's comment came from out of thin air, and Arack and I just stared at him, nonplussed. "Seriously. Who do we know who'd be perfect for spying on the pair from afar, maybe get a look into their rooms?"
"Oh, wow. Yeah. That was pretty dumb." I scratched my head. "There's a couple of issues, though. We need to get Atlas over the water, somehow. That bridge is not a possibility unless we manage to get permission. Then we need to keep him away from harpy eyes during the day. Maybe..."
"Maybe it sounds like something we should start on tomorrow?" Arack's voice was turning grouchy.
"Good idea. We'll all think about how to get Atlas into position tomorrow. Until then, sweet dreams. Lyle? I'm in need a bit of stress relief before bed - going to play for a bit. Join in?"
He grinned, and we said goodnight to Arack and went downstairs to enjoy ourselves for a while.
The day after started as it always did. I spent a while chatting with a halfling. His long-time girlfriend had broken up with him, and he was a mess. I wasn't sure I was getting to him, but at least he realized that spending the day pining away wasn't doing himself any favors. As I turned in the quest at the board, Cam and Soren came up, laughing.
"Hey, you two. What's happening?"<
br />
Cam responded, "Nothing much. Just turning in a Token." As I looked, he delved into his pocket and came up with another necklace in addition to the one that hung around his neck.
"Token?"
Cam looked at Soren with a grin. "We can tell him, right? I mean, he's not been that much of a pain."
Soren looked at me, his glittering eyes gleaming with amusement beneath the dark fur. "I guess not." He laughed. "Truth be told, we were going to introduce you to the system after classes today anyway."
"System? Color me intrigued." Sounded like I had actually gained something from hitting that Honored status.
"Not here," Cam cautioned. "Let's find a spot at the Amphitheater."
A minute later, I was staring, enthralled, as the ratlings talked. By now, I'd gotten to know them well enough to know that Soren was the more thoughtful one, while Cam was more impulsive. Both were a ton of fun to be around, though. "Okay, so, Tokens. You've spent enough time here to notice that the tasks the Academy asks from us are... sort of limited in nature, right?"
"I... guess? It's not too bad, but yeah. It's pretty much running errands, helping people, or playing music. That, or research stuff, and I find those tasks to be... sort of difficult."
Soren grinned. "You're not the only one, mate. Tell you the truth, the Academy has more hands than it knows what to do with. Those difficult tasks are mostly for those who've already earned their Citizenship, to keep them engaged in aiding the city, with the added bonus of avoiding the boring tasks the rest of us have to do. Still, it gets pretty stale after a while."
Cam lay on his back, chewing on a stick of something sweet-smelling, "And that’s where the Tokens enter play."
Soren nodded. "What he said. Ages back – or, like, a decade or two - they started out as simple favors. Like, ‘hey, my warlock friend. I have to dig a ditch for a punishment. How about you lend me a summoned creature for an hour? In return, I'll complete, say, two simple tasks for you.’ Warlock does the summoning, easy peasy, bard runs a couple of errands on behalf of the warlock and avoids the hard labor, everybody's happy."
I mulled it over. "That's pretty clever. I had been wondering why there wasn't more interaction between the different wings here."
"You were not to know," Cam said in a pompous voice and then dissolved into laughter.
Soren smirked. "He's right, though. We want to get to know people before we let them in on the system. Essentially, it's a barter system, but after a few decades, it's pretty formalized. You need something done, you tell the grapevine, then whoever's interested will contact you, and you can arrange the price." He shrugged. "Prices are always negotiable, but you can ask anybody for a general idea."
I nodded. "That's pretty logical. I'm guessing the price is based on... time and effort involved, how hard the task is? Something like that?"
"Got it in one." Cam pointed at me. "Also, the prices for any materials needed can usually either be settled on the side or added to the cost of the tasks."
"Huh. That sounds... perfect, actually. So, I'm guessing this is all sort of hush-hush."
"Yes and no," Soren answered. "The leaders know about the system. Obviously. They're letting it exist, however, because it solves more problems than it causes, and because we all know not to rock the boat. If anybody tries to buy a Token that's completely illegal or immoral, we'll step in, help with an explanation on what's proper and what isn't. If they try again?" He made a slicing gesture, "They're cut off."
Cam rolled his eyes. "He means that figuratively. Don't be a dolt, Soren."
"Incredible. That sounds exactly like what I was looking for. See, I have this pet out in the woods that I really want to bring with me into the city, except, the city guards are being a nuisance..." I explained the situation with Atlas, and the twins agreed to let this particular Token make the rounds, to see if somebody would help. Not only that, they showed me a nearby clump of abandoned, dilapidated buildings where he'd be able to hide during the day.
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. I started in on my Chronicler quest. Now that I didn't have the map, I decided to move on with the spell idea. For starters, I constructed the skeleton of what I was going to present. I discounted Sonic Blast and Sonic Missile right away. They were the first spells I'd gotten and were clearly common ones. Charm and Sleep had to go as well, for the same reason. Picking through my spell list, I ended up with a rather eclectic list of spells that I was going to elaborate on. Veil of Sound, Stream of Songs, Entrance Animals, and Stun Blast. At an impulse, I decided to include my experiences with multicasting as well. That information wasn't a spell, but I also figured it wasn't too common. With my prior research on Sonic Push, there was little doubt of what I had to do. The task before me was manageable, if large. Today, I kept it simple, listing only the pros and cons, as well as the general specifics and formalities of each spell and skill. Later, I'd get my hands dirty with describing the testing of each spell.
I only spotted Benjamin once, leaving his office as I was entering the Sonic Magic class. I debated following him, but with my abysmal sneaking abilities, it would be an uphill battle. In the end, I decided to follow our initial plan. Following my magic classes, I was leaving the building in favor of the tavern, when a bored sorcerer came strolling up. Within minutes, our haggling had resulted in an agreement to meet the following night at the low, low price of three minor tasks.
The rest of the evening was uneventful. None of the others had turned up anything useful, though Arack said that she had had a lot of feelers out. The only thing to take place was an update to my Spot the Liar quest, stating that I was no longer looking at an 'optimal' result, merely a 'very good' one. With the ticking clock in mind, I decided that I was going to be a responsible adult and cut down on alcohol for the time being.
Chapter 28 – Rolling With It
I had anticipated that the next couple of days were going to be eventful and thrilling ones. In the end, they turned out to be quite dull, though filled with activities. I got to work on my Chronicler quest, working hard to test and describe the finer arts of each separate spell. Now and again, one or more students from the class deigned to join me if the spells caught their attention. Their help was limited, but it did help alleviate the boredom and brought me a few unexpected realizations, such as Sienna noting that Veil of Sound could very well be used offensively by a melee bard. A talented bard with close combat weapons could easily manipulate the swirling, buffeting energy surrounding him strategically, pushing his enemy off-balance and creating openings. Also, Morvin pointed out that a short burst of the dark energy from Stream of Songs would be quite effective at blinding a charging opponent, even if the damage didn't faze them.
The single most exhilarating event was when we brought Atlas to High Hold. The crossing itself was uneventful. The sorcerer simply crossed his arms, summoned an ice floe and commanded it to cross the waters. Minutes later, it returned with an uneasy Atlas perched on top and we parted ways with the sorcerer. Now, intellectually, I was well aware that the odds of somebody spotting Atlas at night with his camouflage active was minuscule. Even so, the walk through the city had me jumping at shadows. Atlas, on the other hand, was a bundle of happy emotions, and he seemed to enjoy my tension. To my relief, nothing happened, and we installed him in an old abandoned building with plenty of food to keep him occupied.
The next morning Lyle, Arack, and I had a longer breakfast than usual. Morning meals in the Perch were usually based around porridge and a very limited selection of fruits and bread, meaning I tended to split quickly. The bacon incident apparently was not a common occurrence. Today, however, we plotted.
"So I'm going to spend my evenings near the Academy from now on; see what I can find out." I opted.
Lyle gave me the thumbs up. "Good idea. I might be keeping some long evenings myself. I had a stroke of luck yesterday. I've been chatting with a young gnomish Chronicler who seemed interested in my studies. She's agreed to help me find some material
today." He smiled. "And get this. Because she's a Chronicler, they won't close the library early."
I nodded. I'd actually seen the gnome he was talking about. My guess was that the kind of studies she wanted to get into were more of the intimate kind. I kept my mouth shut, though. "That's great, Lyle. How about you, Arack?"
"Oh, I didn't tell you yesterday? Yeah, I totally found some information." She beamed an innocent smile at us.
That smugness of hers. With an equally innocent voice, I asked,"Do you think you might be persuaded to share?"
She snorted. "Well, duh. So, I chatted to this collector. He's, like, the guy who oversees the gathering of all the materials for the Hammers. That's not the important part, though. So get this: everybody who leaves and enters the city is noted by the bridge guards to keep track of, like, efficacy and stuff." She tapped her leg. "Also for security measures, I guess. Anyway, they write it down! So if somebody runs off with the map, we'll know who it was."
I beamed a smile at her."That's great. Of course, we won't be able to tell until after the fact, and we'll still have to suss out which one it was. Even so, amazing job. Did you manage to find out where they keep the notes?"
"Depends. Am I an amazing warrior whirlwind princess?"
Lyle rolled his eyes until I slapped him in the back of the head. "My guess would be yes."
She stretched, enjoying the attention. "In that case, yes. They're keeping it... inside the Repository. Any Chronicler has access."
