{"id":10102,"date":"2021-02-21T04:04:40","date_gmt":"2021-02-21T04:04:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/wandering-inn\/?p=10102"},"modified":"2025-12-24T01:02:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T01:02:14","slug":"8-09","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wanderinginn.com\/2021\/02\/21\/8-09\/","title":{"rendered":"8.09"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Wandering Inn is going to be working with editors and holding a contest for paid, professional editors to apply! Please spread the word and find out more details here!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The great king raised his hand and spoke a single word.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdvance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Legions moved. Tens of thousands of bodies, pouring forwards across the ground, heedless of arrows and spells raining down around them.<\/p>\n

The Golden Ranks of Medain along with the army proper unleashed enough spell and firepower to vaporize the ground itself. Plumes of smoke rose from volleys of [Fireballs], bolts of lightning which crisscrossed the sky and left afterimages.<\/p>\n

They charged through smoke, towards the walls glowing with magic. A thousand must have died in the first volley alone.<\/p>\n

But they feared nothing. And their king ruled beyond death itself.<\/p>\n

Even so, the undead wave of Khelt looked as though it would break on the walls, for siege ladders or more sophisticated gear was missing. Would they, like undead, simply climb on top of each other until they reached the top? But the walls were twenty feet high and filled with strong defenders on every foot of space.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow. Swarm the gap. Commanders of Khelt, lead your forces in only after the ranged defenses are down. I shall join the vanguard.\u201d<\/p>\n

The living members of Khelt\u2019s army looked at Fetohep of Khelt, not understanding. Each one had a semi-autonomous force; Fetohep commanded the army as a whole, but he entrusted the living with their own forces that they might level and handle events he could not foresee. But they were young and did not have the undead\u2019s intrinsic connection with their ruler.<\/p>\n

What<\/em> gap? The walls of Medain\u2019s border fortress were unyielding. What g\u2014<\/em><\/p>\n

The Jaw of Zeikhal, the great beast, charged.<\/em> The defenders, who had confidently seen the first wave of undead disappear, began to fire spells at it. Trying to stop it. They had known they had to bring down the great beast.<\/p>\n

But it had stayed well clear of the undead. They would let the creatures mass to destroy this one titan. They were Gold-rank adventurers. They knew their business. And besides. The thing had so far to run, into spells and projectiles. It couldn\u2019t dodge; it was arguably larger than the fort itself!<\/p>\n

Few living beings had ever seen one of the Jaws of the Great Desert move. The giant creature of chitin and bone began to move as fast as someone jogged. Then\u2014the speed of a horse. Then\u2014the air itself left a vacuum in its wake.<\/p>\n

It hit the wall and broke through enchanted masonry in an explosion of sound and debris. Fetohep motioned it back; he was already riding at the gap with the undead massing. Screams from the living, confusion.<\/p>\n

The construct was already pulling back. The spells had damaged its armor, but it would be repaired. And the undead\u2014<\/p>\n

Skeletal warriors charged through the gap. The stunned forces of Medain found themselves locking blades and shields with a force that fought with skill,<\/em> unlike mundane skeletons that knew only to attack and defend. They fought in ranks! They ran<\/em>\u2014they had actual armor\u2014<\/p>\n

Then a golden light, among the glowing flames in the eye sockets. The King of Khelt rode through the lines of undead. An adventurer raised a bow and aimed an arrow.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Seeking Shots]! [Double Shot]! [Sonic Arrow]\u2014<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

The arrows cut the air and exploded, too fast for the naked eye to fully track.<\/p>\n

They missed.<\/p>\n

Fetohep had leaned out of the way of the arrows before they had been shot. They tried to curve, even so; he twisted around<\/em> them and they were unable to hit him and detonated in the ranks of the undead.<\/p>\n

Fetohep lifted his halberd. The group of Golden Ranks presented a wall of shields and weapons. He raised the halberd high and brought it down.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Chosen Blow].\u201d<\/p>\n

He was probably thirty feet away. The Golden Ranks braced for the enchanted halberd to activate.<\/p>\n

The halberd\u2019s blade descended through the [Archer]\u2019s head and helmet. The Golden Ranks turned their heads and saw the weapon appear from behind them. A chosen angle, and location.<\/p>\n

Fetohep rode down on them in the moment of distraction. He was grinning, the light of battle in his glowing eyes. And several undead followed him. An [Archer] put an arrow into one of the Golden Ranks; another followed Fetohep with a single-edged blade, curved, and a buckler.<\/p>\n

His companions of old. The King of Khelt broke the lines of the border fort. Where he fought, battle was a combination of incredible artifacts, levels, Skills that the Revenant undead possessed in life, unmatchable.<\/p>\n

Where his army fought, Medain\u2019s forces found themselves surrounded, hemmed in by undead. They saw undead swarm around them, until they could not even clear space to swing a sword. [Pikemen] looked up and saw undead giants crashing towards them.<\/p>\n

Those that did not surrender died. Those that surrendered were spared, and the undead flowed past them.<\/p>\n

The border fort fell within the hour. Morale broke before the soldiers; they surrendered, rather than fight the undead and fall back into the keep.<\/p>\n

Fetohep\u2019s army marched on almost without pause. His display of personal battle prowess, his army, seldom-seen in battle, the giant and unique undead his kingdom possessed\u2014for many it was the first time seeing such war. And Khelt\u2019s name was repeated.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

—-<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI had always known such a place existed, I suppose. No\u2014there are many nations in this world. I am\u2026aware necromancy is practiced by Rhir, for example, but I do not like to think often of it. It is a mark of their desperation, and the situation that we have seldom raised the issue. But this?\u201d<\/p>\n

The Summer\u2019s Champion watched the live coverage of the battle and aftermath with a look of disgust on his face.<\/p>\n

It was mirrored across all of the [Knights] present, even the [Squires]. A horror for the continent of Terandria, not just historically, but culturally.<\/p>\n

Necromancy. A kingdom ruled<\/em> by undead? To say they were horrified was an understatement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat anyone could suffer such is\u2026incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the [Summer Knights] remarked. The Summer\u2019s Champion nodded. He clenched a fist.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know there have been crusades against such evil before. Not just Khelt<\/em>\u2014but to see such brazen abhorrence\u2014if it were not for Ailendamus, I would petition the Knight-Commander to consider such a thing! But watch, then, even if naught can be done at this hour. Look upon how such things fight. As long as your stomach holds.\u201d<\/p>\n

The members of the Order of Seasons gathered in this room nodded grimly. Foes came and went and could be of any species or nation\u2014but here was a certain one. They looked at Fetohep with disdain, horror, contempt, even fear.<\/p>\n

Undead! Revenant, worst of all! A horror pretending to still have true thought and emotion. A pestilence upon the living, a threat made more cunning by its intelligence\u2014<\/p>\n

A sexy beast of war.<\/em><\/p>\n

That thought came from a certain Ser Solstice in the room. Rabbiteater was watching the King of Khelt fight. He thought that the King of Khelt had all the Redfang qualities of attractiveness. Imagine how good he must have been when he was alive?<\/em> Well\u2014you didn\u2019t have to.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d vouchsafe that to Meisa, later. This didn\u2019t seem like the time to air such thoughts. But the Goblin approved. That undead king was handling the halberd like a true weapons-expert. Frankly, better than the Summer\u2019s Champion was with his<\/em> weapons. Rabbiteater decided that if he ever had to choose another place to go after Terandria, maybe Chandrar would be on the list.<\/p>\n

It seemed like a fun place to be. But Fetohep had appeared on television and there was no unseeing the King of Khelt. Many did react as the [Knights]. Some\u2014like Rabbiteater.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

—-<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After repeat viewings of the highlight reel\u2014and nearly 17 hours of watching Fetohep of Khelt being amazing, Toren decided he wanted to become Fetohep when he grew up.<\/p>\n

That statement was so\u2026inaccurate\u2026that Az\u2019kerash actually had to process it for a few seconds. The Necromancer blinked at Toren, tried to figure out where to start, and then let Toren go.<\/p>\n

He had enough teaching problems to try to untangle that<\/em> one.<\/p>\n

However, if enemies or people with a morbid fascination or love of war were watching Fetohep many hours of the day, Az\u2019kerash watched them all<\/em> the hours.<\/p>\n

Literally. He did not sleep, and the Necromancer had actually used the various scrying devices and enchanted eight mirrors, that the broadcast of Pallass News Network would be playing throughout the castle.<\/p>\n

Also, to say he was in a \u2018a good mood\u2019 after seeing Khelt and Fetohep was to be as inaccurate as Toren\u2019s beliefs. Az\u2019kerash, the Necromancer of Terandria, Perril Chandler, Archmage Chandler, was in a disgustingly<\/em> exuberant mood. If there was merchandise of Fetohep, he would have bought a thousand copies.<\/p>\n

As it was, he had been smiling all day, and his Chosen were very much alarmed when the Necromancer walked about, humming, or complimenting mundane actions\u2014or dispensing Khelt-facts at random.<\/p>\n

It was so obnoxious, that Belavierr had actually left the castle rather than be around Az\u2019kerash after the second day. The Stitch Witch could handle threats, bodily harm, extreme passive-aggressiveness and the pallor of undeath. Az\u2019kerash being jovial was the step too far, apparently.<\/p>\n

That suited Toren just fine. He hated and feared the Stitch Witch. He<\/em> was just happy there was something to watch.<\/p>\n

For instance, after the meeting where the rulers had argued about killing one person for hours, a shift in understandings had taken place. A fad, a trend\u2014<\/p>\n

Copying. To limited degrees of success.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cHello, hello, are we \u2018live\u2019? I am King Ahrmal of\u2014<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cExcuse us, but we believe <\/em>we were first. We, the Radiance of Lomal, deign to join this judgment of\u2014<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIS THIS THING WORKING? <\/em>Hello? Hello\u2014<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMonarchs, apologies for the volume, I believe the King of Taimaguros is ah, having connection issues. If we can introduce ourselves in order of arrival.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cQuite so. I am King Ahrmal of\u2014<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will not be introduced after a <\/em>Chandrarian [King]!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cExcuse me\u2014<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The ensuing argument took up the entire hour timeslot. Noass never even got to introduce the criminal case of a murder; the four monarchs who had applied bickered the entire time about who would be introduced first; with the exception of Taimaguros\u2019 [King], who had to be muted due to issues with connection.<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t care for that. But Az\u2019kerash kept all of Pallass News Network on, despite some sections being boring.<\/p>\n

It was for his enjoyment, but also\u2026for the Chosen. Because here was something\u2026interesting\u2026that separated Toren\u2019s reaction from that of the now seven-strong Chosen.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Kerash the Gnoll Draugr.<\/p>\n

Bea, the Plague Zombie.<\/p>\n

Ijvani the Skeleton [Mage].<\/p>\n

Venitra, the Armored Bone [Warrior].<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

They had been the original four, along with Oom who had died. Now, more joined their number. Three Chosen had been created.<\/p>\n

Toren saw them wandering about. He was less likely to run from them than the original four; they didn\u2019t smash him in an instant for being there.<\/p>\n

Devail had been first of the new. A\u2026meat undead? All sinew, no bone. No flesh, so you couldn\u2019t call him a Flesh Golem; he carried a rapier and could slither through cracks in a wall.<\/p>\n

And perform inhuman stunts while fencing.<\/em> Az\u2019kerash was teaching him, personally.<\/p>\n

Next had been a unique creation, even for Az\u2019kerash. Born out of\u2026conversations, or so Toren understood. Conversation with who? The skeleton didn\u2019t ask. He just swept up and had heard Az\u2019kerash mention this while looking for rats to feed Healing Slime. Not that Toren was sure the slime really liked rats, but he was always looking for more foods for his friend.<\/p>\n

The second undead was called Wesixa; she was a combination of two creators. Belavierr and<\/em> Az\u2019kerash, as per their deal. But she was the Necromancer\u2019s. And she was\u2026<\/p>\n

Chitinous.<\/em> Not spider-like, although Toren understood she was compounded out of that; she was rather\u2026unique. Toren understood that Az\u2019kerash had told Wesixa that she would have to \u2018upgrade herself\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are based on this skeleton, Wesixa, in theory. Your chitin was not the sublime material I forged Venitra out of, for example. I have not stockpiled such; I did not animate arachnids or insects as a rule.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen, am I inferior, father?\u201d<\/p>\n

The undead creature had appeared distressed. She had lots<\/em> of \u2018eyes\u2019 in her body. Which were more like\u2026empty holes from which a kind of light shone. And uh, she was held together with thread\u2014connecting her individual parts. Belavierr\u2019s magic, but Wesixa produced her own thread.<\/p>\n

She rearranged herself, that more eyes might track Az\u2019kerash. He reached out and gently touched her\u2026Toren noted that her \u2018head\u2019 could move from midsection upwards. That, at least, was somewhat insectile.<\/p>\n

Puppet-Arachnid Golem thing. Toren edged away and put some Sage\u2019s Grass into his skull cavity as Az\u2019kerash addressed his child.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are inferior to nothing, Wesixa. Rather, I hope you will grow<\/em> in more than just level. You will create yourself, and I hope you will be one of the proudest of my creations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen I will try, father.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new Chosen called Az\u2019kerash \u2018father\u2019. Well\u2014two of them did. The old ones had trouble with it. And all of them had trouble with\u2026well, it was Fetohep who had revealed it.<\/p>\n

After the revelation of Jecrass\u2019 deal, Fetohep\u2019s appearance, Az\u2019kerash had looked at Toren. The skeleton had flinched; he\u2019d crept out of hiding because he\u2019d been so entranced.<\/p>\n

But the Necromancer read his thoughts. He could find Toren anywhere, even the time Toren had stolen an [Invisibility] scroll. And he could read Toren\u2019s thoughts.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou approve?\u201d<\/p>\n

Toren had nodded repeatedly. The Necromancer smiled.<\/p>\n

The Chosen did not. Wesixa and Devail looked confused. The Chosen\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cI do not understand, Master. That undead is not your creation. It was once living and has the mind of the living thing it was. Why do you approve?\u201d<\/p>\n

Az\u2019kerash\u2019s brow furrowed. He turned to the bone woman, who had stomped Toren\u2019s skull in yesterday. Toren hid behind him and made gestures at Venitra, despite knowing she didn\u2019t understand what they meant and would hunt him later. He was getting better at running away.<\/p>\n

\u201cI admire Fetohep of Khelt greatly, Venitra. I have always done so. To see him thus liberated is\u2026rewarding. Do you see nothing to admire? Ijvani, Bea, Kerash, Wesixa, Devail?\u201d<\/p>\n

Venitra, the Chosen, stared at Fetohep. The six Chosen out of the seven all hesitated. The four originals stared at Toren.<\/p>\n

Accusingly. He flinched; now they were angry at him<\/em> because\u2026they couldn\u2019t make him tell them what to say that would earn their master\u2019s approval.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs it because he is undead, master? And thus more undead means more enemies of the living?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

After a long thought, Ijvani raised one hand. Az\u2019kerash was dismayed.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot just that, Ijvani. That is the\u2026least accurate of the answers, although it is one. Do you see nothing grand? Nothing\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n

He looked at their blank faces and sighed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

—-<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Necromancer was no fool. Toren had been \u2018helping\u2019 the Chosen to impress him, but Az\u2019kerash was intelligent. Oblivious at times, changed by death and immortality, yes.<\/p>\n

But he began picking up a\u2026flaw in his children.<\/p>\n

It might have been time. Toren was the oldest leveling undead by far<\/em>. They were newborns if you ranked them that way, and they had been created and raised in different conditions.<\/p>\n

Nature and<\/em> nurture. Az\u2019kerash had confirmed his hunches by replaying something that he also had watched on repeat.<\/p>\n

The King of Duels\u2019 first match with the King of Destruction. Toren liked that one too. That plucky Human [King], being thrown around but stabbing that other one\u2014he liked the agile Human, having a lot of sympathy for Raelt\u2019s dilemma versus the tougher, stronger, King of Destruction.<\/p>\n

Toren saw the point. Az\u2019kerash hopefully turned to Ijvani this time.<\/p>\n

\u201cIjvani. Let us not talk about whether you enjoyed the duel. But give me your honest opinion. In that battle, who\u2014no, what would be your preferred outcome?\u201d<\/p>\n

Clever. Toren watched as Ijvani thought, her eyes glowing with uncertainty. He<\/em> would have preferred if Raelt won. Az\u2019kerash too, it seemed, because he smiled when Ijvani began with that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would have preferred at the last exchange, Master, if the blade had struck true and the other [King] died.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cAh! Yes! A victory for the King of Duels?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ijvani, encouraged, smiled. Her eyes lit up.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, at first, master! <\/em>And then\u2014the King of Destruction, with his last breath, smashes the King of Duel\u2019s skull in.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Toren and Az\u2019kerash stopped getting excited. Ijvani wasn\u2019t even done, though. She began gesturing.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd at that moment, a fissure opens and all of the armies fall into it! Then a volcano erupts and the city is destroyed!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThat is a good ending!\u201d<\/p>\n

Venitra pounded a fist into her palm, excitedly. Toren had suggested the more animated gesture, and she kept employing it, hoping Az\u2019kerash would keep praising her.<\/p>\n

The Necromancer stared at his creations.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2026see.\u201d<\/p>\n

He looked at Toren. And the skeleton saw his eyes flicker to his creations; even Wesixa and Devail seemed more enthused by Ijvani\u2019s ending.<\/p>\n

That he had work to do did not fill the Necromancer with dread, but a kind of resolve. He locked himself in his study, pondering the issue.<\/p>\n

And\u2026trying to figure out a conundrum.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

—-<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Toren cared not for Az\u2019kerash. He was willing to admit the Necromancer was\u2026interesting. He was really good with the pointy, flexy-swords. Rapiers and such. Better than Toren, actually.<\/p>\n

And Az\u2019kerash knew what Toren thought. He, unlike every other person, could understand Toren, sometimes asked what the skeleton thought.<\/p>\n

The problem was his damn kids, four of whom delighted in bullying and breaking Toren\u2019s bones. He would have put Az\u2019kerash squarely in the \u2018sort of nice to have around\u2019 camp, otherwise.<\/p>\n

That was one new thing about Toren. He no longer had two states of mind about\u2026everything\u2026which had been \u2018kill\u2019 and \u2018not-kill\u2019. And most things had been in the \u2018kill\u2019 category, even if it was \u2018kill later\u2019.<\/p>\n

Now, he thought about Liscor. He missed Liscor. It would be so nice if he could go back. Start over, not stab Erin\u2014<\/p>\n

Because Liscor was better than this. He wanted more than this. But he could not leave the castle.<\/p>\n

The reason he felt so different wasn\u2019t because he\u2019d come to an epiphany about his actions. The reason was\u2026he had a friend. And his friend thought nicer things, so Toren stopped vouchsafing that it was better to kill Mrsha and so on because it made his friend, Healing Slime, upset.<\/p>\n

He fed Healing Slime the stolen Sage\u2019s Grass and the little slime plopped in Toren\u2019s chest cavity. It felt safe behind his ribs. And it was a bit bigger thanks to Toren finding food for it; it had been tiny due to Ijvani\u2019s neglect.<\/p>\n

Toren liked being in their secret hideaway rooms from the Chosen. He only came out when they or Az\u2019kerash went looking for him; they could not discover Healing Slime.<\/p>\n

Healing Slime was the only good thing in this castle. Healing Slime was a friend. Toren had found Healing Slime when they were both\u2026despairing. And that was why he had purpose, now. He was going to do all the things Erin did for her weird guests. Feed, protect\u2026<\/p>\n

He was a skeleton with a mission.<\/p>\n

A Level 7 [Carer].<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

—-<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

One of his Skills was [Enriched Recipes]. It meant that if Toren found the right ingredients, he could make Healing Slime a \u2018meal\u2019 better than just the component parts.<\/p>\n

So he kept one of the Sage Grass leaves, and tried to find something else for the mishmash of alchemical ingredients that made the Healing Slime light up.<\/em> That, or a potion\u2014but the Potion of Frenzy he\u2019d stolen for Healing Slime hadn\u2019t\u2026reacted\u2026as well as either of them hoped.<\/p>\n

Healing Slime could be Speed Slime if it wanted to. Both from potions. But when Toren had tried to give it the third potion, the Healing Slime had greedily sucked it up\u2014<\/p>\n

Then exploded. <\/em>Toren had barely saved its life, putting the mana core in a jar of water with as much of it as he could gather.<\/p>\n

Something was wrong\u2014and neither he nor Healing Slime wanted to try that again. Toren had a hunch Healing Slime hadn\u2019t been able to \u2018contain\u2019 all three potion\u2019s effects, much like his skeleton couldn\u2019t contain all the magic sometimes, especially without the Archmage\u2019s bones which were going to a new<\/em> Chosen.<\/p>\n

So he was feeding Healing Slime back up. Some rat bones here, Sage\u2019s Grass there, glowing mold scraped off the walls, and you had a right proper meal. For a slime.<\/p>\n

Toren was busy doing that when Venitra came to exact her revenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cStay still, skeleton!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

She wanted to smash him to powder. Toren fled, arms waving in the air. This was dangerous<\/em>. He could die! Only Az\u2019kerash\u2019s castle steeped in death magic saved him from the bad beatings; if he was crushed to powder, especially his skull, he feared without the Archmage\u2019s bones\u2014he would die a skeleton\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

If he was lucky, Venitra would give up or get bored after doing less damage\u2014or he\u2019d find Az\u2019kerash. Or Belavierr, if she had been here. Neither suffered the Chosen\u2019s wrath upon Toren.<\/p>\n

Az\u2019kerash because he respected Toren or something weird like that. Belavierr because she wanted Toren alive for reasons that made the skeleton think it might be better to be dead.<\/p>\n

He was rounding a corner when Ijvani caught him with a spell. Toren flailed in the air as Venitra stopped.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaster always prefers your thoughts. Stop thinking them!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

The skeleton held a burning hand near Toren\u2019s skull. He struggled as Venitra smiled.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis time burn his skull until it turns to ash, Ijvani.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI will. I\u2014<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

The two stopped. Toren stopped struggling in the holding spell.<\/p>\n

Something was walking towards them.<\/em> Both Chosen and Toren stopped. Ijvani dropped Toren, abruptly.<\/p>\n

The last of the new Chosen stopped and stared. It\u2014she\u2014smiled.<\/p>\n

\u201cHello. I am Maviola. Do you know where my mother, Belavierr, is?\u201d<\/p>\n

Toren slowly got up. Ijvani, Venitra, both stared at Belavierr\u2019s price for her work. They slowly shook their heads.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour\u2026creator\u2026has left the castle.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe has? I did not know that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Maviola\u2019 looked\u2014Toren slowly got up and backed down the corridor. He kept facing the last Chosen. Ijvani, Venitra, hesitated, but they were loath to go after them.<\/p>\n

Even the Chosen felt uneasy in the presence of what Belavierr had wanted. Toren fled. Belavierr had a few steps on Az\u2019kerash in some ways.<\/p>\n

Her creation called her \u2018mother\u2019. And she called it\u2014her\u2014her beloved daughter.<\/em><\/p>\n

Toren had never called himself evil. He just liked killing things. He had admired the [Lady] of flame when he saw her\u2014and shortly before her death. Bravery\u2014he had never thought himself as bad, until the end with Erin.<\/p>\n

But the Stitch Witch had shown him evil.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

—-<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Az\u2019kerash himself did not like to think of\u2026what had been done by Belavierr. But they were allies of convenience. Then she would leave.<\/p>\n

The issue of her was temporary. The issue of teaching his Chosen\u2026less so. He had time. But now he worried about them. After all\u2014he would never uncreate his children. Not now they were people.<\/p>\n

You only got one chance. What had all the parents he\u2019d met said? He tried to recall a lifetime\u2019s memories in death.<\/p>\n

His companions had been little help. Archmages made for poor parental units, what few of them had children. [Mages]\u2026well, some were decent.<\/p>\n

But Perril Chandler\u2019s immediate friends hadn\u2019t been parents, by and large. One or two\u2026he clenched a hand as anger, even a hundred and fifty years later, struck him.<\/p>\n

Forget that. His thoughts went searching and found another applicable parent, especially to this situation.<\/p>\n

But had Zelkyr been a good father?<\/p>\n

\u201cNo. If they had been flesh and blood\u2014no. Far from it. I will not do what he did, not part or the whole of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Necromancer sat there. It was hard to parent alone.<\/p>\n

Also, he had so many things to do. A working parent with undead children. His servants and puppets moved, he had dealings in the world, he needed to watch his enemies like Reinhart and Teriarch…<\/p>\n

And he had promised that young [Necromancer]. For some reason, that ate most at Az\u2019kerash, driving his thoughts. Of all the things\u2026he did not want to be found out to have lied to Pisces.<\/p>\n

He was still stymied. Although\u2014it wasn\u2019t his field. Healing and ice magic. Not exactly high on his areas of expertise. In truth, Az\u2019kerash was moving into searching his collection and the world for spells or artifacts to aid the conundrum he was facing.<\/p>\n

\u201cStasis\u2026a kind of enhanced stasis? I need an artifact not from the [Mage]-schools of magic. Something different. Perhaps\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

As he sat in his rooms, an alarm-thought began pulsing. One of his split minds had detected something; any number of things he monitored for.<\/p>\n

[Messages] with \u2018Az\u2019kerash\u2019 in them, not encrypted.<\/p>\n

People inquiring into undead extermination.<\/p>\n

Key phrases with any of the local landmarks or geographical locations in them.<\/p>\n

\u2018Tier 7\u2019, \u2018Tier 8\u2019, \u2018Tier 9\u2019, \u2018Death of Magic\u2019, \u2018Named Adventurer\u2019, \u2018Relic-class artifact\u2019\u2026oh, the list went on.<\/p>\n

In this case, the reason his mind had picked up on it was because of the connections made. Content. He devoted two more \u2018selves\u2019 to analyzing it as he read a book and tried to alter a [Preservation] spell.<\/p>\n

Hoarding and Hostility: How to Deal With Negative Traits, by Kassi the [Carer].<\/em><\/p>\n

It was a Drake book, but it was surprisingly hard to get ahold of literature for adults raising children. Books weren\u2019t that<\/em> commonplace.<\/p>\n

More mini-Az\u2019s came back with a trace of the first [Message] spell in this \u2018chain\u2019 of conversation and all asides. They reviewed the findings to see if it actually mattered, then began kicking<\/em> his mind, so to speak. Az\u2019kerash focused his full mind on\u2014<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(Delivery Details) \u2013 To Lyonette du Marquin of The Wandering Inn, from Wall Lord Ilvriss of Salazsar, copy to Ceria Springwalker, Horns of Hammerad.<\/em><\/p>\n

(Content) \u2013 Miss Marquin, I have obtained a partial Potion of Regeneration and am sending it to Liscor with all haste. I have hired my own security and escort with Salazsar\u2019s transport rather than entrusting it to a Courier; they will arrive at Liscor in three days or less unless there are delays in changing mounts. I hope that it will aid Miss Solstice. <\/em><\/p>\n

–Wall Lord Ilvriss of Salazsar, sent by Alrric, [Administrator].<\/em><\/p>\n

(Additional Notes) \u2013 1st<\/sup>-rate delivery requested, City Runner for immediate delivery, replies paid in full, unlimited content. Maximum confidentiality.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Necromancer blinked. He stripped the superfluous details and checked\u2014yes, there was a reply! What was the date on this?<\/p>\n

Two days ago.<\/em> Az\u2019kerash frowned. There were two replies. One from the north\u2026the other from coordinates precise enough that he could almost be certain it was coming from Oteslia.<\/em><\/p>\n

Not Liscor.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ceria to Lyonette and Ilvriss, did you really get it? We\u2019re holding off on the Village of the Dead. Please tell us if there\u2019s anything we can do. I can arrive if you need ice-magic!<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Lyonette to all, I am not at Liscor. However, I have sent immediate word to the inn and [Mages] Palt, Bezale, or Montressa will be there to receive the potion. Thank you, Wall Lord Ilvriss. Ceria, I will tell you if you are needed. I am preparing to return home if news is good. Thank you again.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

He went over and confirmed\u2014yes, a [Message] spell to \u2018Palt\u2019\u2026the Necromancer kept blinking.<\/p>\n

A few thoughts ran through his head.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Ilvriss, a Wall Lord of Salazsar paid for a Potion of Regeneration?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Calculating the cost, even at market value would be exorbitant, even for a Wall Lord<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He was with Zel Shivertail. Danger?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 None shown; under scrutiny. Remember this.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Oteslia? Why would that young woman\u2014<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ah, antidotes, logical.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Odds of antidote low, however.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Reinhart is at Oteslia.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I wonder if there are good books on child rearing in Oteslia? Manus and Pallass\u2019 markets have not been as useful.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Manus does not surprise me.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The Village of the Dead is dangerous.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

His eyes snapped open. Az\u2019kerash terminated the parallel thoughts speaking and refining themselves before he was caught in a thought-trap. Left alone, they\u2019d list every salient fact until he was recalling market figures in Oteslia from decades ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cA Potion of Regeneration.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Necromancer sat there. He began to stretch his magical connections and mental ones out. Monitoring Liscor\u2019s [Message] spells. Extrapolating. Was there a chance a potion might\u2026?<\/p>\n

\u201cAwaken.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a cave, bones assembled. Something crept out, ignoring the remainder of the Shield Spiders, betrayers of the ancient alliance of oaths, now replenishing their numbers in treachery. It left the Defenders of the Cave\u2019s broken sanctuary.<\/p>\n

Two Shield Spiders objected to the creation of death. They tried to kill the bone-beaver. The glowing, green eyes in the sockets flashed.<\/p>\n

Az\u2019kerash had no time to waste on pests. His creation rapidly raced past the fragments of chitin and twisted legs. It zipped across the Floodplains, invisible, camouflaged.<\/p>\n

To see.<\/p>\n

It was just in time to witness the Drakes arriving via door from Pallass. The Wall Lord\u2019s representative; it kept well clear of three Drakes armed in full gemstone plate\u2014<\/em>the Rubirel Guard? It watched as the potion was delivered. The people clustered around.<\/p>\n

They were going to try to use it. Az\u2019kerash observed, listening to the commentary about\u2026a [Doctor]? A multi-phase process\u2026yes. He wished he could steal whatever notes they were discussing. But the debate was about using the potion now.<\/em> It was a Potion of Regeneration! If they warmed her around the frozen bolts\u2026<\/p>\n

Desperation and hope. The magical bottle\u2014Az\u2019kerash frowned. There were a lot <\/em>of powerful auras in this inn. People had gathered. Master Pelt of Pallass\u2014no, Esthelm. Hedault the [Enchanter] of Invrisil, a strange young woman who had no\u2026appraisable level\u2026<\/p>\n

The beaver crept around the outside of the inn, watching, as a group of [Mages] talked with friends. They decided it must be done. Attempted, at least.<\/p>\n

They brought the frozen girl out into the inn. A little, white Gnoll was kept back, but clung to a Drake\u2019s claw. She watched as they all did. Ice began to melt. Az\u2019kerash watched.<\/p>\n

They failed.<\/p>\n

He knew it before they began, in truth. But even so, they all watched the potion drip onto wounds\u2014fail to react, and splatter onto the floor. Only a few drops; but what a waste.<\/em><\/p>\n

Grief a second time. Sorrow. The Necromancer knew it had been desperation that drove them to that. The young woman was refrozen. The Drake delivered the news.<\/p>\n

His magic could not heal frozen flesh; similarly, this potion was incapable of it. All that had been done was to waste\u2026<\/p>\n

Well, the bone beaver disintegrated then and there. Az\u2019kerash opened his eyes. He wondered, perhaps, if they had done more damage unfreezing and refreezing\u2014although the [Enchanter] leading them had used the ice magic fairly well.<\/p>\n

To no effect, the Wall Lord had spent all this effort and time. To no point.<\/p>\n

Except one. The [Message] spell went out. The Necromancer read it, as it was sent to multiple sources.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

We tried it. The potion failed.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Replies, from the Wall Lord, Lyonette\u2014formality hiding true emotion, resolve to find an antidote<\/em> and way of\u2014<\/p>\n

And one that mattered to him.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ceria to Palt. We understand. We\u2019re assaulting the Village of the Dead in two days\u2019 time. Wish us luck.<\/em><\/p>\n

Wall Lord Ilvriss to the Horns of Hammerad. Will you wait for a week or two for additional adventurers from Salazsar?<\/em><\/p>\n

Ceria to Wall Lord Ilvriss. No, thank you, Wall Lord.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cFoolishness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Az\u2019kerash whispered. Youth and haste and mortality and\u2014desperation. The kind of madness he had once known. To defy an army by himself. To do battle against any odds.<\/p>\n

But the Village of the Dead? He closed his eyes.<\/p>\n

When he had first come to Izril, he had tried to claim them.<\/p>\n

He<\/em> had failed and declined to press further than the true interior. He wanted to tell the young man to stop his team.<\/p>\n

But would they? The Necromancer remembered the Crelers. He hesitated.<\/p>\n

Such moments made legends.<\/p>\n

After a long pause of racing thoughts\u2014he turned to the frozen corpses. And got back to work.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

—-<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Wandering Inn was a mix of emotions that day. As it usually was.<\/p>\n

First there had been a kind of\u2026peace. Not happiness. Not exactly. But a bit of something.<\/p>\n

The [Shaman] did not mourn someone she had never known. So, she had danced around the laptop in the secret rooms, excited.<\/p>\n

Watching a movie. She clapped her clawed hands, delighted, laughing, scarfing down snacks. She\u2019d raided the inn\u2019s pantry liberally.<\/p>\n

Mrsha ate a loaded baked potato skin, filled with an assortment of toppings. Was she happy?<\/em> No. But she was a kind of satisfied, watching the Hobgoblin\u2019s face.<\/p>\n

She and Ulvama had made peace. Even an alliance of sorts, to look after Numbtongue. Mostly because Ulvama was willing to treat Mrsha like a sort of equal.<\/p>\n

You scratch my back, I\u2019ll smack you. <\/em>Similarly\u2014you help me, I help you. The Hobgoblin [Shaman] was interesting. She had little power like Palt did.<\/p>\n

The Centaur had enchanted something\u2014the air, not exactly the laptop itself since no one wanted to risk the device\u2014to magnify<\/em> the screen to be larger than the tiny laptop screen itself. Thus, Mrsha didn\u2019t have to crowd around it. He could also do the same for the speakers.<\/p>\n

Simple magnification spells, he\u2019d called them. Ulvama couldn\u2019t do that. She was a [Shaman], and her magic was less\u2026technical<\/em> than a [Mage]\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u201cToo much think magic. Stupid. You\u2014you have magic like mine. Magic that comes from here, not here.\u201d<\/p>\n

She poked Mrsha\u2019s heart rather than her head. Her<\/em> magic was different. For instance, Ulvama had not been able to do much with the device of metal and electricity and plastic beyond use it, much to her disappointment.<\/p>\n

\u2026But she could reignite Erin\u2019s fire. And, crucially?<\/p>\n

Five faerie flowers were blooming in a bowl of water. They lay dead in vast patches in the [Garden of Sanctuary]. Mrsha had wept about her hard work when she\u2019d had the thought to look for them.<\/p>\n

But Ulvama had brought them back. She put some in water, mashed up some Sage\u2019s Grass and mixed it in, and cast some spells, muttering, when she saw how sad Mrsha was.<\/p>\n

A fraction had bloomed yellow the next day. The smug [Shaman] had shown Mrsha.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Renew Plants]. You give more good things, I teach.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thus, movies. Mrsha thought Ulvama would be nicer for a while. She thought the Hobgoblin was stingy<\/em> though; she\u2019d only brought back five flowers! What she didn\u2019t know was that Ulvama had nearly burnt her entire<\/em> mana supply on five and was seriously debating burning the flowers the Gnoll prized so much.<\/p>\n

She <\/em>knew a dangerous plant when she saw it. Although it was debatable what kind of danger it was\u2014perhaps, like Sage\u2019s Grass, it was more of a danger to itself and those who grew it. Either way, she was watching Humans on the silver screen and really enjoying it. The little Gnoll-child seemed happy too.<\/p>\n

And then had come the Drakes. People flooded into the inn. Hedault, Pelt, Selys\u2014Mrsha saw them all, and hoped. They brought Erin into the inn, fearing the [Garden of Sanctuary] might interfere in some way\u2014and Ilvriss\u2019 representative refused to give the Potion of Regeneration to anyone, even for a second.<\/p>\n

They failed.<\/p>\n

Mrsha hid in the basement, crawling under a sack of potatoes to be nothing-Mrsha. The others, above, left, rebroken by the moment. Some stayed; Ulvama let the Selys-Drake try to comfort Mrsha. Since she did a bad job, the Hobgoblin grabbed Mrsha, dragged her out, and gave her to the Fortress Beavers. The beaver gang cuddled her, at least.<\/p>\n

And then\u2026well, Ulvama went back to watching movies for the rest of the day. She<\/em> had her priorities straight. Let everyone else worry about how to fix the frozen Human. It looked annoying and complicated to her.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

—-<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The failed Potion of Regeneration had no lasting effect whatsoever. No, none at all.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t as if the image of the frozen young woman was traumatizing, or hope, reignited and then snuffed out, affected someone.<\/p>\n

The Horns were marching on the Village of the Dead.<\/em> They had told everyone who was able to make it to hurry.<\/p>\n

Some would not make it. Wall Lord Ilvriss, exasperated, argued with Ceria. But she did not budge on the timeline.<\/p>\n

Even so, it caused arguments. Not least because the Silver Swords were ready to turn around.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are two days from the port! Ylawes, we will not make it. Believe me\u2014there is something going on at Wistram.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIs it worth more than our friends\u2019 lives? My sister<\/em> is taking part in that raid. And that threat is Named-rank, Falene!\u201d<\/p>\n

Ylawes Byres and Falene Skystrall were arguing fiercely; they had stopped in the road. It was an unusual sight. Normally they were quite able to resolve all differences.<\/p>\n

But Falene was dragging them to Wistram. And Ylawes wanted to go to the Village of the Dead.<\/p>\n

The call had been put out, but they were far<\/em> from the Village of the Dead, having gone west to a port-city, rather than northeast, past Invrisil to the landmark of death.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to be there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will not make it. If Ceria has any sense, she won\u2019t try that place\u2014or if she does, she is capable of retreating, as is your sister, Ylawes. And unless you have a Scroll of Greater Teleport\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Dawil Ironbreaker tugged at his beard. The [Knight] and [Battlemage] were glaring at each other. Ylawes and Falene turned to him, almost at the same time.<\/p>\n

\u201cDawil, help me convince Falene we must<\/em> go back!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDawil, tell Ylawes he is being unreasonable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Dwarf sighed. He scratched at his chin and spoke.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe won\u2019t make it to the Village of the Dead before the Horns go in, lad. If Ceria\u2019s willing to wait, we\u2019ll turn back, sure enough. Ask her, Falene. You too, lad. Otherwise, we\u2019re Wistram-bound.\u201d<\/p>\n

The [Knight] and half-Elf looked at each other. Neither was pleased, but both nodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me compose the [Message] to Ceria, Falene.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh\u2014very well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Exasperated, the half-Elf acquiesced. Dawil got off his pony to stretch his legs. They were probably camped for the day.<\/p>\n

He sat by himself. Erin Solstice remained dead, then. He wondered if it was all futile.<\/p>\n

Dawil tugged hard at his beard. It wasn\u2019t for him to decide. They were bound in Falene\u2019s plans. They could go questing for a cure\u2026but Wistram was good as anywhere else for that, actually.<\/p>\n

And she had a hunch Wistram related to Erin and\u2026Dawil had agreed, which was why he was expecting to continue on his journey after Ylawes failed to convince his sister.<\/p>\n

She, he, and the Horns in general were as stubborn as Ylawes could be. Which meant no one was shifting the other. The Dwarf sat back. Unconsciously, he pulled out a little axe.<\/p>\n

He was an [Axe Champion], after all. Despite favoring the hammer he used. But the little throwing axe glinted in the light. He never touched the edge, and the sheath itself was designed not to rub against the blade.<\/p>\n

A beautiful tool. He wondered how much it was worth<\/em> to an Archmage. He had never considered selling it. Not once. He knew some of his people would actually hunt him down and murder him if he did.<\/p>\n

He had met one such in Liscor. Briefly.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

—-<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Then.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cMaster Pelt? I was hoping we could commission some armor or weapons for\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

The Dwarf slammed the door in Ylawes\u2019 face.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not accepting orders! Begone!\u201d<\/p>\n

The [Knight] turned to his team. They had stopped here, after returning to see Erin. The moment had shaken the Silver Swords.<\/p>\n

Pelt, likewise, was in no mood for anything. Ylawes would have left it there and gone to Falene, but Dawil nudged him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy don\u2019t you let me take over, lad? Maybe I can talk to Master Pelt, between Dwarves. You find Pointy Ears.\u201d<\/p>\n

The [Knight] eyed Dawil, but nodded. He had reason to doubt Dawil would get to Pelt with the bonds of species; Dasha of Vuliel Drae, among other Dwarves or part-Dwarves, had tried to coax Master Pelt into giving them a discount or taking their orders.<\/p>\n

He treated Dwarves with more disdain than other species and threw them out. But Dawil was confident, so Ylawes left him to find Falene.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaster Pelt?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don\u2019t leave, I will break your feet.\u201d<\/p>\n

The voice inside was thick with emotion. Dawil couldn\u2019t credit it; he\u2019d heard Pelt had gone to Pallass, but from what he\u2019d understood, the Dwarf was a drunk, a shadow of himself.<\/p>\n

Someone had brought him back. Given him his pride. And she was dead.<\/p>\n

No wonder\u2026<\/p>\n

Dawil knew Pelt. Hah! Any Dwarf raised in Der\u00edthal-Vel, the home of Dwarves, knew Pelt\u2019s infamous story. Disgraced\u2026Dawil spoke up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m Dawil Ironbreaker, from home, Master Pelt. I hope we can talk\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI said begone! <\/em>You\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Pelt\u2019s roar ended abruptly. Dawil heard a scuffling sound.<\/p>\n

\u201cDawil Ironbreaker?\u201d<\/p>\n

The name registered. Dawil had been poised on the balls of his feet\u2014to run like spit if Pelt came after him with a hammer. The Dwarf had been an amazing<\/em> [Smith] and they had swings that could kill even Gold-rank adventurers.<\/p>\n

But Pelt knew his name, too. The door abruptly opened. Pelt wasn\u2019t red-eyed; but he was<\/em> drunk. He looked at Dawil. His eyes passed over the Dwarf\u2019s face, and right to his side.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is you. Get in if you want to speak.\u201d<\/p>\n

He jerked the door open. Dawil eyed Pelt.<\/p>\n

To say he had mixed feelings about the [Smith] was an understatement. Dawil had heard the story; it had happened oh, what, over two decades ago? He\u2019d been a boy, so it had shaken him; he wasn\u2019t as old as Falene.<\/p>\n

But Dwarves still aged slower. Pelt, to Dawil, was older<\/em> by far. Still strong, but he would have been venerated, and Dawil respectful.<\/p>\n

If his failure wasn\u2019t known. Dawil nodded and stepped into the Dwarf\u2019s home.<\/p>\n

\u201cShow me.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was all Pelt demanded. He didn\u2019t offer Dawil anything; the [Axe Champion] hesitated. And then slowly unhooked the axe he treasured and carried everywhere and placed it on the table.<\/p>\n

\u201cAh.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pelt gently removed it from the sheath. His breath caught in his throat as he beheld the beautiful metal blade, a single, balanced piece of metal.<\/p>\n

He balanced it on one finger; Dawil had known how perfect it was to throw. If you put too much oil on one spot, or got enough blood on the tip, it actually changed the balance ever-so-slightly. He had once ascertained the perfect spot of balance and put it on a little wedge in his room overnight.<\/p>\n

When he woke up, it had stayed there; only a thump<\/em> from Ylawes dropping his armor had unbalanced it.<\/p>\n

The blade of the axe was ornate. Oh, the edge was straight, but it had some ornamentation; Der\u00edthal-Vel insignia, old runes of hearth and home on the head where it met the metal handle. The metal was\u2026odd. A jasper color, amid the tint of coral blue and brass, rather than gold.<\/p>\n

But it was not brass, or any other metal Dawil could name. And he was a Dwarf who could at least identify Mithril from fake silver-alloys with alchemical treatments.<\/p>\n

\u201cAh.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Pelt sounded like a Dwarf drinking after decades of thirst. He held the blade, running his fingers along it, inspecting it for\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cFlawless as the day it was forged.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dawil volunteered when the silence grew long and he was fidgeting from minutes of silence.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course it is!\u201d<\/p>\n

Pelt snapped at him. He stopped lovingly admiring it and fixed the throwing axe with a more critical eye.<\/p>\n

\u201cA flaw? A crack, or dulled edge? Watch your tongue, boy.<\/em> Do you even know what an honor it is to have won the right to carry this? It\u2019s not even the best work\u2026which one made this?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know, Master Pelt. About my companion\u2019s request. Would you find the time to take an armor or blade order? We needn\u2019t have it now, but upon our return. It can even be sent\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

The younger Dwarf held his temper. Pelt glanced at him.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a [Knight]? Pah. <\/em>I don\u2019t feel like making armor good enough to do the fighting for fools who don\u2019t deserve it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He actually spat. Dawil glowered.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat man is Ylawes Byres, my friend and team captain. Do you think I\u2019d travel with an amateur, Master Pelt? I won this axe. Does the craftsmanship not inspire you? Isn\u2019t it worth your<\/em> smithing?\u201d<\/p>\n

Pelt brought his fist down, upsetting the five bottles on his tables.<\/p>\n

\u201cCraftsmanship?<\/em> You want to talk craft? You?<\/em> You won this in a tournament\u2014you don\u2019t know how it was made! Hah! This isn\u2019t even fine work\u2014not by their standards. Not by far. I could crack<\/em> this myself! They put adamantium into it\u2014but it\u2019s not made that<\/em> strong. I could\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

He raised the axe and Dawil tensed. But then Pelt slowly lowered it and placed it almost reverentially on the table. He looked at it. And Dawil saw tears in his eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cGet out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dawil took the axe, carefully putting it in the sheath.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaster Pelt\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLeave your order and get out. Don\u2019t you dare lose that axe, Dawil Ironbreaker.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI won\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

—-<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dawil hadn\u2019t told Ylawes how he\u2019d secured the order. Now, he looked at the axe.<\/p>\n

Oh yes. Pelt would murder him. But\u2014Dawil flipped it up and caught it. A risky maneuver; you could lose all the fingers on your hand. He broke off reminiscing and saw Ylawes throwing up his hands and cursing. Another rare sight.<\/p>\n

\u201cWistram, then.\u201d<\/p>\n

If it came to it, would Pelt be happier Erin lived\u2014or the axe was gone? Dawil sighed. The Horns were on the move. And so were the Silver Swords.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

—-<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The other Dwarf thought of the axe then.<\/p>\n

Probably because he had replicated the conditions under how Dawil had met him. Drunk, Pelt was laughing.<\/p>\n

\u201cPotions of Regeneration. Ignorant bastards. Getting hopes up\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

He threw a bottle at a wall and cracked the wall. The glass sprayed<\/em> across the room, but much of it powdered on impact.<\/p>\n

Pelt was a [Smith]. He knew there was a process!<\/em> This\u2014this was like beating on unheated metal. They\u2019d crack Erin\u2019s body, thawing and freezing her.<\/p>\n

Or would they? He was no [Healer]. Pelt sat.<\/p>\n

Just like this, when he\u2019d laid eyes on another masterpiece. He recalled that brat\u2014Dawil\u2014and the way he\u2019d looked at Pelt. Contempt and awe.<\/p>\n

Well, Pelt deserved both! He would never deny it! Pelt looked for more alcohol and wobbled around his home.<\/p>\n

Esthelm. Esthelm had built this place and it was far from being as nice as Pallass\u2019 apartment. But he\u2019d trashed the one in Pallass, so Esthelm still won.<\/p>\n

\u201cPetty mining city. No skill here. No craft, but for me. Goblins sacked it. Not as damned bad as the places some of us went into exile, but\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Far from where Taxus had gone. Pelt snorted to himself. He hadn\u2019t believed in penance. They would never recover their honor, or so he\u2019d thought.<\/p>\n

But he had his pride. Somehow. The Dwarf stumbled out of Esthelm to find more drink.<\/p>\n

He came upon the statue of the [Florist] amid people nodding to him. The drunk Dwarf stared up at it.<\/p>\n

Flowers. They put flowers here. Grew them, rather, in a little garden around the [Florist]\u2019s feet. Someone had worked hard on this, replacing Skills with effort.<\/p>\n

The hero of Esthelm, who had apparently saved the city. Along with Goblins. Even the sculptor hadn\u2019t added Goblins in. But the names were here. Somehow, found.<\/p>\n

That\u2026those ones had been here. Pelt saw the connection.<\/p>\n

\u201cNumbtongue.\u201d<\/p>\n

His fingers touched carven stone. There was the name. And he recalled the blade he\u2019d made.<\/p>\n

\u201cFat lot of good it did. Should have made armor.<\/em> Beautiful stuff. Scale mail\u2014no, something lighter. Mithril woven fibers. An apron of the stuff. Hah! Hahaha\u2014she would have worn that.<\/em> Now that\u2026that would have been a masterpiece.\u201d<\/p>\n

His Drake apprentice, Emessa, found the old Dwarf giggling to himself, lying amid the flowers.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaster Pelt\u2014Master Pelt, people are staring. This is a statue\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just resting. Why are you here? The forge is empty!\u201d<\/p>\n

The Dwarf swiped at her. The apprentice carefully dodged; he was fearsomely strong and wouldn\u2019t hurt her on purpose, but he forgot his strength. He could probably uproot the statue by himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaster Pelt, let\u2019s get you home. I\u2019ll get you whatever you want. But please, have some water? Something to eat? Have you eaten?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMithril apron. No, something more subtle. Dye it. Infuse a flexible alloy so it looks like a damned apron. Miniature runes on the inside. That\u2019s what you\u2019d need. And it wouldn\u2019t stop an arrow to the face. That would be craft, though. Beyond me. I\u2019m not a damn [Seamstress]. But it would be something, eh?\u201d<\/p>\n

She didn\u2019t know what he was babbling about.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, Master Pelt. Master Pelt\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

He sat in the kitchen as she ran to get food from an inn. Pelt sat there.<\/p>\n

\u201cWasn\u2019t even a great blade for the Hobgoblin. Good\u2014solid Dragonblood crystal. Cuts beautifully, but it won\u2019t last a decade. Weapon for a Goblin, really. It\u2019ll keep cutting as it breaks off. But I could do better.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, Master Pelt.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was still babbling when she came back. Extremely<\/em> drunk\u2014she offered him some soup. He gulped it down and exhaled.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to make great blades.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are<\/em>, Master Pelt. Tomorrow we have to get to work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes. Tomorrow. But I used to make even better<\/em> blades. I\u2019m teaching you the secrets of Mithril. \u2018Dwarfsteel\u2019, you fools call it. What did that boy, Kevin, call it? Titanium? He knew some metals\u2026but there is craft beyond that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Drake stopped. She looked at him. He grinned at her hungry expression.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes. There is. Is the adamantium here?\u201d<\/p>\n

Slowly, Emessa put down the food.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Drakes from Salazsar actually brought some, Master Pelt. But you\u2019re drunk\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

The Dwarf wasn\u2019t listening. His eyes were far away.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a time I never touched drink. When I aspired to best what that brat, Dawil, held. But it wasn\u2019t just me.<\/em> Pallass\u2026is Maughin still working?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s done good work, Master Pelt. But he misses you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emessa had visited her home quite often thanks to the door. Pelt shook his head.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s young. Good, but alone. No competition. The \u2018best\u2019 in Pallass without me. They must be looking for another smith.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are, Master Pelt. Will you have some fries? You do like them\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

She offered the snack food. Pelt munched, talking as she plied him with water.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaughin now. He has potential. But I\u2019d never make him my apprentice. Even though he asked. Four times.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emessa\u2019s claws nearly slipped as she handled a knife, cutting up some fresh vegetables. Dangerous in Pelt\u2019s home; everything he owned he\u2019d made and they were all sharp.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cHe did?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes. But why would I teach someone like him? He<\/em> has ambition. Pushes himself. Not like you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emessa\u2019s head sank.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you\u2019re the expert, Master. It\u2019s\u2026terrifying, not knowing how to improve yourself. Smithing mithril, Dwarfsteel\u2014there\u2019s so much we\u2019ve lost.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes. I did learn from my masters, didn\u2019t I? Reminds me\u2026damn idiots with that potion. Wasting my\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

He was drifting off to sleep. Emessa wavered, with fresh vegetables, more food. Should she let him sleep? Drag him into a bed, or just put him on the floor and put a blanket over him?<\/p>\n

She slowly put down the bowl of vegetables and began to nibble on them, wondering if this would set back their work tomorrow. If it caused him to spiral back to his old self\u2014could she handle that, seeing him at his best, now?<\/p>\n

She munched on a carrot. Crunch, crunch\u2014<\/em><\/p>\n

Pelt\u2019s eyes opened. <\/em>The Dwarf snapped upright.<\/p>\n

\u201cCraftsmanship!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

He screamed in Emessa\u2019s face. The Drake apprentice fell out of her chair. Pelt was out the door before she could blink.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

—-<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cMaster Pelt! Master Pelt, please! Go back and rest!\u201d<\/p>\n

Emessa and the Dwarf smith attracted his apprentices, the new [Smiths] learning from the Dwarf. They had understood that the potion\u2014the [Innkeeper]\u2014had meant a surprise vacation, which wasn\u2019t that unpleasant.<\/p>\n

Pelt worked them hard.<\/em> He made them do 95% of all work, which meant they did level and learn the craft by his excruciating standards\u2014but it wasn\u2019t fun. He intended to wear them down for a year, maybe two. He got their hard work, and when it was done, they would be far better [Smiths] than when they started.<\/p>\n

A fair exchange. An ideal apprenticeship, in some ways. The Dwarf knew how to run a team, which was the thing. Not all [Smiths] were team players, but to everyone\u2019s surprise, Pelt was good at it\u2014or rather, he had been part of one and knew the components.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere\u2019s the adamantium?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHere, Master. But you told me once that our anvils couldn\u2019t even handle the force to shape them\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course they can\u2019t. Neither heat nor\u2026good stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was sniffing it. The Dwarf stared at the powdery rock; strata mixed in with stone. No solid lumps; you could mistake adamantium for weak<\/em> rock. Unless you noticed that some of the dust you\u2019d get from breaking it up was the hardest stuff in\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cAh. Teaching. This reminds me of how it was. Apprentice\u2014isn\u2019t there a good, open space somewhere outside of Esthelm? Find me one. A thousand feet of cleared space. Nothing woody or even plants around. Stone. I don\u2019t care if it\u2019s high-up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOutside the city?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGo!<\/em> You\u2014where\u2019s our worst anvil with a flat surface?\u201d<\/p>\n

Pelt pointed at a [Smith]. The man jumped.<\/p>\n

\u201cEr\u2014the worn ones?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes. Grab it and come with me. Apprentice, where\u2019s my spot?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Pelt was not a fun master. Perhaps because he had learned that if you kept shouting, you got results. Niceness was not only optional, but detrimental to getting things done as fast as possible.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cMaster, there\u2019s a good spot down the road. But\u2014what are we\u2014doing?\u201d<\/p>\n

The Dwarf was lifting one half of the anvil while a team of [Smiths] dragged the other half of the insanely heavy object. He grunted, still drunk. Still\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cTeaching. Come. Come!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019d brought some of his canisters of materials. From her understanding, Emessa recognized the mithril<\/em> canister, some actual billets they were supposed to be using for swords tomorrow\u2014and to her great surprise, an amulet.<\/p>\n

She\u2019d always wondered why Pelt had enchanted items like the amulet in his possession. She knew it was magical, but the Dwarf never used it. He tossed it all on the road, then looked around.<\/p>\n

\u201cA damned road, apprentice? Well, fine. You\u2014you lot, stand there. A thousand paces that way. You\u2014that way. No one goes past. This won\u2019t take more than an hour. If they have to, they can climb all the way\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

He indicated a vast circle around him. The [Smiths] exchanged looks. Some of Esthelm\u2019s residents were coming out, watching.<\/p>\n

What was he doing?<\/em> The Dwarf had half of the adamantium sample with him. Was he actually going to\u2026? Emessa looked at him.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaster? What is this for?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTeaching. Apprentice\u2014you can watch, I suppose. Hands help. But when I tell you to\u2014go with the others.\u201d<\/p>\n

The [Smith] didn\u2019t mean teaching her,<\/em> Emessa realized. He was setting up. Anvil. His personal hammer\u2026tongs\u2026<\/p>\n

Few tools compared to what he normally used. No forge, nothing. Just the worst anvil, with a stress-fracture already in it, in the middle of the road. Some people were standing closer.<\/p>\n

Pelt threw<\/em> his hammer and missed an onlooker by a foot. He called it back to him as the woman fled.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone comes closer than a thousand feet and I will break their toes! And it will be a kindness!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

He bellowed. The audience moved back; even Emessa hadn\u2019t been sure that had been an intentional miss. The [Smith] began laying out the materials.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaster? What are<\/em> you making? A blade?\u201d<\/p>\n

The Dwarf looked up. He stared at Emessa until she turned red.<\/p>\n

\u201cApprentice, do I look like I have a crucible of metal? Do I look like I have any material? <\/em>What is this?\u201d<\/p>\n

He pointed. She squirmed.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdamantium, master. I just meant\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAdamantium ore! Adamantium <\/em>dust! What, are you expecting me to squeeze<\/em> it into a metal? Put some water in it and make a brick out of it? What do we do, apprentice?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSmelt, then forge.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd what is the basis of any tool?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

He screamed at her.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe quality of the metal, Master Pelt! I apologize!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

She screamed back, exasperated despite knowing him. He calmed down.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood. Then what we are making is a teaching tool. Pass me the mithril. We\u2019re lacing this with the following\u2026watch. Because I cannot do this twice if I fail.\u201d<\/p>\n

He brought out the billets. Pure mithril, without impurity. And then\u2014Emessa saw the other components come out of the canisters.<\/p>\n

Grasgil.<\/em> The cold metal. And\u2014her eyes spotted one of the conductive metals of magic. Vetil, <\/em>an ore used in artifacts.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaster. Do you need a fire?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFire. We\u2019re constructing the big forge. But even then\u2014even with Hedault\u2014it wouldn\u2019t be enough, you know. Because we\u2019re using flame spells. Burning damned charcoal.<\/em> You know adamantium is one of the greatest metals of [Smiths]?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, Master. An achievement that makes you world-renowned.\u201d<\/p>\n

The young Drake\u2019s eyes were hungrily set on the stuff. Pelt snorted.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd you can forge it. But it\u2019s easier to forge it with tools. That\u2019s why artifacts for the stuff are fought over by [Smiths]. But that\u2019s not craft. The craft is knowing every moment of it. Adamantium. You know, when they teach us this, the best of us\u2014they make us forge a little bit. A ring. A cup, a fork or dagger. Something trivial. And then you know what they do?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, master.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was spreading it all out. Pelt was ready. He left the adamantium in a pile next to the anvil; it was the components, the mithril, Grasgil and such that he was staring at.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey toss it into a volcano. Or burning rock. Magma.<\/em> You know the stuff? They toss it in\u2014and then retrieve it. If it\u2019s whole, you did your job right. Any weakness and the adamantium wasn\u2019t forged right. You think you can get hotter than that<\/em> in a forge?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen\u2026how? You don\u2019t even have a forge fire, Master Pelt.\u201d<\/p>\n

He looked at her. His eyes shimmered\u2014no, was the air around him\u2014? Emessa felt the heat first. It radiated outwards, as the mithril began to glow in his grip.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am the great [Smith] of Der\u00edthal-vel, my apprentice Emessa. Did you think you had seen my Skills? Now, watch. Those Human women are not the only ones who know flame.<\/em> And mine burns hotter still.\u201d<\/p>\n

The metal was hot. <\/em>His hands alone might have melted it, but Emessa realized he was holding something. He put it at the end of his anvil. The iron began to catch fire<\/em> and deform from the heat\u2014then stopped. Pelt put the first glowing mithril bars on the anvil and hammered them down.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn alloy of mithril. Grasgil! Vetil\u2014stand back.<\/em> Toss me what I demand.\u201d<\/p>\n

She did. It was already growing hot. But she had felt the heat to cook mithril on her scales. She had [Resistance to Fire], as many [Smiths] did.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst mithril! Into every inch of it, the Grasgil must be infused! Until it practically melts\u2014<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

He was taking the mithril to that temperature. Undoing<\/em> the metal to turn it into an alloy. Mithril was no steel; it was a pure metal. Then, letting it rapidly cool away from the fire. Turning it into a billet. Then\u2026<\/p>\n

It was going to be a single thing. Made in two pieces, she realized. But this was no sword. Mithril, Grasgil, and Vetil went together. The clear metal of Vetil along one side; the bottom?<\/p>\n

No, top. The two sides came up. The fire roared, and Emessa felt it begin to sting her, despite her Skill.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow toss me the amulet!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Pelt was roaring as his hammer sang. Like all his work, he moved so fast that even mithril flowed around the way he wanted it. Emessa did.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is it, master? Do you need it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMe?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

He looked at her. The Dwarf began laughing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI already have what it does. Don\u2019t you know, apprentice? This\u2014is an artifact I bought from Gold-ranks too stupid to realize what it was. What it could be. This is an Amulet of Greater Fire Resistance.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

He held up the glowing locket, forged like a burning flame itself, bright red. He tore the chain off the amulet. And then\u2014pressed it into<\/em> the Vetil heart of the glowing\u2026<\/p>\n

Emessa saw what it was as the smith took his hand away.<\/p>\n

Two parts. Both like bowls\u2026but identical, save for one with the amulet buried in what would be the top. And both sides had grooves carved into the mithril alloy. Put them together and twist<\/em> and they would lock.<\/p>\n

A canister. A container. Pelt did so now, as the metal cooled. He had created\u2026a mithril box.<\/p>\n

Or, the Drake realized, the most flameproof container she had ever seen.<\/em> The glowing amulet fixed in the mithril container\u2014the Grasgil forged into mithril\u2014<\/p>\n

\u201cApprentice. You must know what this is. Tell me now, or throw away your hammer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pelt looked at her. Emessa gulped. But she spoke, almost without thinking.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s\u2026a crucible, master?\u201d<\/p>\n

He smiled. And it was a rare smile from master to student.<\/p>\n

\u201cA [Smith] without my Skills will make his own forge. Make his own anvil. Even his tools. Look\u2014did you know I made this hammer myself?\u201d<\/p>\n

He held it out to her. She studied the dull metal, covered by soot. And she saw Pelt shake his head.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they cast me out, I broke every hammer I had owned myself. We all did. They took my anvil and cast it in lead, then buried it so deep it would never be found. But I never forgot.<\/em> Every tool I used to first make new metal, I made myself.<\/em> But I was given one thing when I learned to make adamantium. This. From one [Smith] to another\u2014the great challenge. A first step. Because we work on the foundations of those before us. Now\u2014apprentice. Put the canisters into your bag of holding. All the tools. I only need the hammer, the tongs, and this.\u201d<\/p>\n

He hefted the mithril crucible. Emessa scrambled to put away his materials. There was just the anvil, the road\u2014people were watching from a distance. An impatient caravan had pulled up, but even they were watching.<\/p>\n

Pelt was piling the adamantium ore into the crucible. She knew what was happening now. And if the fire he had called was hot before\u2014it had gone now. Emessa was trembling.<\/p>\n

The Dwarf had all the crucible could fit. He looked up at her. And smiled again. With the joy of creation in his eyes, Pelt spoke.<\/p>\n

\u201cEmessa. You may watch for the first ten seconds. Listen. Learn. Some day you may pick up this hammer. Ten seconds. Then\u2014run.<\/em> Understand?\u201d<\/p>\n

She nodded. The [Smith] picked up his hammer. A strange tool for smelting. But then\u2014<\/p>\n

The air caught fire.<\/p>\n

The blast of flame was like a [Flame Geyser] spell. Emessa threw her arms up with a cry. The air ignited.<\/p>\n

The dirt of the road cracked. Sand turned to glass; dirt scorched itself away.<\/p>\n

The wave of fire cooked Emessa\u2019s scales in an instant. Her resistance to fire\u2014she felt her clothes catch fire.<\/p>\n

\u201cApprentice! Run! Look upon me once and run!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Pelt was laughing. Something was burning around the smith. Flame. Not the flame of memory. But pure heat. Emessa looked at him, at the culmination of her desire and craft. Then she ran.<\/p>\n

Behind her, the crucible was heating up. The lesser rock mixed with the adamantium was turning molten. Pelt\u2019s hammer struck<\/em> the glowing mass of liquid stone. He hammered<\/em> down the liquid and forced the heaviest metal to the bottom.<\/p>\n

Molten stone splashed his beard and sprayed into the air. Worthless to Pelt; he waited as it heated up. He just wanted the most precious metal of all. It wasn\u2019t even glowing<\/em> yet. He added more ore, repeated the process. Separating that which felt the heat from that which did not.<\/p>\n

The road was catching fire around him; weeds and the few plants incinerating. And the heat was spreading in moments. Emessa ran arms and legs pumping as those at the thousand-yard circle ran back further<\/em>, all those except the [Smiths] or with Skills like her.<\/p>\n

She heard him roar at last. His great Skills. The exiled [Smith].<\/p>\n

No\u2014she had heard his true class once before. She looked over her shoulder as he sang.<\/p>\n

[Hammer of a Hundred Metals].<\/p>\n

The Dwarf roared. And his voice was triumphant. He hammered and sang. His Skills were more than words. They were\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201c[I Forged in the Greatest Fire I Have Known]!\u201d<\/p>\n

It was melting the ground around him. He was sinking amid molten stone, a pillar of smoke and steam. Yet the anvil remained. His hammer, the tongs by which he was holding the crucible as he forced more adamantium down\u2014<\/em>all held.<\/p>\n

\u201c[My Tools Were Unbroken].<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Liquid rock struck Pelt. And he wiped it away. The last of the adamantium shed the lesser rock; powder and fragments. Now\u2014it began to heat up.<\/p>\n

And the Dwarf himself began to burn. His clothes, like Emessa\u2019s, were catching fire. Emessa turned back, staring as the heat baked her a thousand feet away. She heard the last Skill, with the other two. Advanced, a culmination of ability. A song, a boast.<\/p>\n

\u201c[I Forged in the Greatest Fire I Have Known]\/<\/em>[My Tools Were Unbroken]\/[I Fear No Flame].<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

The Skill that Dragons had once feared, but a [Smith]\u2019s Skill. Now, the Dwarf sang. The adamantium was\u2026melting.<\/em> He was breaking the impurity away with hammer blows that shook the world. The onlookers could feel<\/em> the vibrations.<\/p>\n

Then\u2014Pelt took the crucible and closed<\/em> it. He held it, in the burning pit, as the anvil melted away. He held his hammer as the tongs evaporated. He let the burning fire engulf it, and him, completing the smelting. Then he just sang. And Emessa heard the only song the Dwarf had ever sung, from his craft, from his home.<\/p>\n

When he had been legend.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cLook, now, and recall my tale! <\/em><\/p>\n

I forged in the greatest fire I have known.<\/em><\/p>\n

Yet my tools were unbroken! <\/em><\/p>\n

I feared no flame! Remember that, metal! <\/em><\/p>\n

Know who made you, who wrought you\u2014<\/em><\/p>\n

For there is no substance I cannot tame!<\/em><\/p>\n

As I turn you into purity, by my hammer, by my craft,<\/em><\/p>\n

Remember my name!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He was lost amid the smoke. Emessa and the others retreated as it grew too toxic to breathe. The people of Esthelm stared from their walls.<\/p>\n

It was a long time before the Dwarf reappeared. When he did\u2014Emessa saw the road was gone.<\/p>\n

A huge pit had formed where the dirt road had been. A depression formed as if a meteor or object had struck it.<\/p>\n

All was ash and fire around the area Pelt had forged.<\/p>\n

Yet two things remained.<\/p>\n

The first was the Dwarf. He was naked. Not that you could see anything out of the ash and grit caking his body. He climbed out, coughing, the stuff flaking off him.<\/p>\n

The second was the crucible he had made. It was glowing hot, even now. But it was done. And inside\u2026was a billet of dark red and brown. A glorious color though, a color unto itself. The great metal\u2014<\/p>\n

Adamantium.<\/em> Pelt looked at it. He smiled at her, wearily.<\/p>\n

This was the story of Pelt in his mastery. It did not end there, though.<\/p>\n

For the very hour as word spread, as Wistram lamented not having been there\u2014<\/em>for Pelt had not told them! As if he cared nothing for their fame!\u2014and the [Smiths] of Pallass stopped working, wondering at the tale, someone appeared on the 9th<\/sup> floor.<\/p>\n

Emessa. She walked past the forges. Past [Smiths]. Her arms burned from the short journey. Her scales were singed. The [Smiths] stopped talking to stare after her.<\/p>\n

Then\u2014followed. Because they saw what she held.<\/p>\n

Maughin the [Armorer] stood at his forge, staring down at the armor he was working on for a Dullahan. All he had made in inspiration, even love\u2014and his worry over seeing off Jelaqua\u2014had been erased temporarily from his mind by the tale of craft.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is this I am working on? What paltry\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

He was about to toss the armor aside, for all it had his own, patented alloy with yes, some mithril in it. The Dullahan turned in disgust.<\/p>\n

And there was Emessa.<\/p>\n

He stopped. The huge [Armorer] looked down.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaughin. I have something for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Drake apprentice\u2019s voice trembled. Slowly, she stepped forwards. Maughin\u2019s fellow [Smiths], his team\u2014looked and recoiled in shock.<\/p>\n

For she held the crucible. And\u2014with it\u2014a single, perfectly solid, incredibly dense<\/em> metal. She placed both on an unused anvil and bowed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat? What is th\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Maughin didn\u2019t believe it at first, for all the story was fresh in his ears. He looked down at the adamantium. The crucible.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaster Pelt sends it.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was no note. No instructions. No tools beyond the crucible and metal. That was the point.<\/p>\n

Teaching. A Blacksmith\u2019s Puzzle to end all puzzles. And the reward was\u2014<\/p>\n

Maughin dropped his hammer. And he had not done so since he was a boy learning his craft. The great Dwarf [Smith] had passed down a challenge.<\/p>\n

To a worthy smith. He saw Emessa turning away. He called out after her. But then she was running, laughing, giddy.<\/p>\n

It was the day a potion had failed to do a thing for Erin Solstice. And had no consequences. Whatsoever.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

—-<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pelt, the Hammer of Der\u00edthal-Vel. His name echoed for a moment. Adamantium smith. Master craftsman.<\/p>\n

A passed era of greatness. But one that might see a second dawning, if not so brilliant. A [Smith] did not lose their talents with time.<\/p>\n

\u2026Less so for those in professions that took harsher tolls.<\/p>\n

The Couriers of Izril had diminished over the events of the spring and summer. Four <\/em>had died, a harsh number. In other times, it might be taken as a sign that the Runner\u2019s Guild was lowering its standards.<\/p>\n

Some people did say that. For, Mihaela Godfrey had been bested by the Assassin\u2019s Guild and Lacel the Leaper had perished, as well as the Firedrake. The Courier of the Antinium Wars had lost her edge.<\/em> She was a Guildmistress, no longer the Courier to inspire.<\/p>\n

So some people said. For proof, why not look at her son, Valceif Godfrey, who had perished at the hands of common [Bandits]?<\/p>\n

Of course, they did not say this around other Couriers or anywhere near First Landing. But that was three.<\/p>\n

And the last, Tritel, the Moonlight Rider\u2014well, he had made the Courier\u2019s mistake of thinking he was an adventurer, hadn\u2019t he? Three Couriers versus three [Assassins] of high, possibly roughly-equal levels. What did you think would happen?<\/p>\n

Four dead, when it was rare for two Couriers to be certified in a year. Was this a referendum on the Runner\u2019s Guild? A sign of Izril\u2019s complacency?<\/p>\n

Or was it just talk from people who had no idea what they were saying? Couriers\u2014try running the places they went and then complain.<\/p>\n

The truth was simply that running deliveries was not a job for the old. That change happened all too quickly. Couriers rose and fell. And\u2026changed.<\/p>\n

They said two new Couriers had emerged from the deaths of the old. One was familiar\u2014but different.<\/p>\n

Salamani, the Mage Runner, had inherited Tritel\u2019s last will and legacy. His partner, Ci, rather. They called him the Mage Rider\u2014and whether it was a partnership that would last was unknown.<\/p>\n

And\u2014there was one new Courier whose name people still remembered. The Wind Runner of Reizmelt.<\/p>\n

Ryoka Griffin.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

—-<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A [Bandit] group waiting in ambush was looking for a juicy target. They were watching caravans, passing up the heavily-guarded [Merchant] with thirty [Mercenaries]. A lone [Trader], a City Runner who might be carrying something good\u2014they had a [Stalker] with an arrow trained on the road.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnything? What about that one?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m lining up a shot. Shut up.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was sighting down the arrow at a carriage. The [Bandit Leader] was a former [Warrior], a hard fighter who ruled the group by force.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do you see?\u201d<\/p>\n

The man grumbled.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Mark\u2019s Eye] says they\u2019re as poor as shit. We could still take the horses\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe go after someone and the road\u2019s dead all day. Wait. There\u2019s a Runner. That one?\u201d<\/p>\n

They saw a young woman running down the road at a good clip. The [Stalker] brightened.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s<\/em> something nice on her. Might be jewelry. Not the best mark, but\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s better than anything we\u2019ve got. Get ready\u2014we get her and<\/em> the horses.\u201d<\/p>\n

The [Bandit Leader] called to the others in the underbrush. The group of twelve readied themselves. The [Stalker] grumbled as he changed the position of his bow, tracking the possible City Runner.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell? Hurry up!\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the [Raiders] whispered loudly, already on horseback with a spear. He scratched at his hair; he had lice to the [Stalker]\u2019s keen eyes. Disgusted, the man snapped back.<\/p>\n

\u201cGive me a moment! It\u2019s not easy hitting a moving target! I just need\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

He drew back, calculating range, the environment. He felt a moment of regret, but he aimed for her chest, not legs. No taking chances. He held his breath for a moment\u2014<\/p>\n

And the wind changed. The [Stalker] cursed and shifted his aim. Just a bit\u2014he felt the wind growing stronger. Stronger\u2014<\/p>\n

\u201cDead gods damn it, is this a gale or what?\u201d<\/p>\n

He snapped. The [Stalker] relaxed slightly. And he heard a muffled curse.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s\u2014above\u2014<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

The man with the bow looked up as the [Bandits] stared up. He saw a strange thing in the sky. A triangle? His first reaction was to fear a wild Griffin. But no\u2014not a bird or monster. It was\u2026a person. She flew overhead.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

And she was looking at him.<\/em> The [Stalker] and the woman holding onto the glider locked eyes. He cursed, swinging his bow up\u2014<\/p>\n

The dust cloud blasted over the [Bandits]. The Courier\u2014the Wind Runner of Reizmelt tilted her glider and spun down.<\/p>\n

\u201cBandits in the brush! Run!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

She shouted over the scream of the wind and curses of the ambush group. The City Runner did a double-take. She turned and sprinted back the way she\u2019d come. So did the couple in the carriage and people on the road.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat bitch!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Sand and grit was whipping around the [Bandits], blasting them in the eyes. The [Stalker] cursed, but he was aiming at the shape as she swooped up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll kill her. I\u2019ll\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

A vice of iron pulled his arms down. The [Stalker]\u2019s shot went wide.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoss!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you mad? That\u2019s a Courier!<\/em> We have minutes before someone\u2019s on us. Get moving! Everyone in the saddle! We\u2019re running!\u201d<\/p>\n

The [Bandit Leader] bellowed. Cursing, the [Stalker] shouted an insult at the Wind Runner, already flying past them. He went running for his horse as the [Bandit Leader] shielded her face with her arm.<\/p>\n

To herself, she watched Ryoka Griffin soar off. The former [Warrior] grinned.<\/p>\n

\u201cBesides. I saw her on the scrying orb. And it was a damn good run.\u201d<\/p>\n

She watched as the Wind Runner flew on.<\/p>\n

Ryoka Griffin had weird fans.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

—-<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Wind Runner, the Courier<\/em>, flew her first delivery as an actual Courier and it was the strangest feeling ever.<\/p>\n

For one thing, she flew<\/em>. Ryoka was still amazed she could actually do that.<\/p>\n

But it had been a smooth <\/em>flight. She\u2019d taken off from Riverfarm, and found the \u2018right\u2019 breeze in the sky, going the right way. Well\u2014she\u2019d had the sense of where the wind was blowing from the start.<\/p>\n

She could<\/em> have burned her own mana for her personal wind, and she did twice when the wind changed, going up or down to find the right breeze, but Ryoka found that her travel was now\u2026holding onto the glider and watching the world go by.<\/p>\n

Was this less taxing, less athletic, than running? Was it cool as all heck? Yes to both accounts. Ryoka covered the distance from Riverfarm to her destination in\u2026a fifth<\/em> of the time it would take on foot? And that was taking regular shots of stamina potion with the wind at her back already. Even with Boots of Speed or whatever\u2014no comparison.<\/p>\n

And that was with her landing twice to stretch out her arms; they got tired, as did her body in the gliding position for such a long time. She wondered if she could just strap herself into the glider and not have to hold it.<\/p>\n

Well, it was an uneventful first leg of the journey aside from the [Bandits]. Ryoka had wavered when she saw them, but who else sat in a thicket near the road? She\u2019d dumped sand out of her bag of holding and warned the City Runner.<\/p>\n

Ryoka circled twice, but saw the [Bandits] break towards the hills rather than the road. So she flew on, and landed at one of the towns along her route.<\/p>\n

Not in<\/em> the city, but just outside the gates. Ryoka shook out her arms, hopped up and down to pump some blood into her legs, and then stowed the glider in her bag of holding. She had to disassemble parts of it; it didn\u2019t fit in one go, but it was relatively painless. She jogged up to the gates.<\/p>\n

\u201cCity Runner on delivery!\u201d<\/p>\n

The [Guards] stared at her. Ryoka Griffin waved her seal. After a second, one of the [Town Guards] leaned down.<\/p>\n

\u201cIsn\u2019t that Courier? <\/em>Dead gods, Miss! You just flew<\/em> here? You\u2019re\u2014the Wind Runner of Reizmelt!\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka blinked. She\u2019d forgotten her new designation. And she saw the [Town Guards] all abandon their gates.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was amazing! What\u2019s that thing you were flying?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw you on the scrying orb! Could\u2014could I try flying with that thing?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, will you sign my helmet? An auto-graph?<\/em> Here\u2014someone get some parchment!\u201d<\/p>\n

It was not the first such encounter she\u2019d have that day. Indeed, Ryoka took almost as long getting to the Runner\u2019s Guild in the small town as she had flying there; everyone wanted to see the Wind Runner.<\/p>\n

The adults were caught between amazement, the thrill of seeing a Courier, and horrified fascination at the idea of flying.<\/em> Some wanted to try it, others just wanted to ask how Ryoka did it.<\/p>\n

But Ryoka\u2019s real, hardcore fans, the ones who\u2019d been there from the start, flocked around her without reservation, begging<\/em> for just one<\/em> flight.<\/p>\n

Children. Ryoka\u2019s biggest fans were either children or types like adventurers, thrill-seekers, teens who had been like her. The Wind Runner, overwhelmed by it all, refused everyone a turn on the glider. The wind liked her, but even she couldn\u2019t guarantee it wouldn\u2019t try to flip<\/em> her in the air for \u2018fun\u2019. She could survive that; a random person, no.<\/p>\n

However, she did provide some amusement. A spare parachute and children were taking turns being \u2018flown\u2019 in a little basket. They screamed with delight and the adults looked on, some trying to hide their jealousy; they were too heavy, by and large. And it was beneath their dignity or something.<\/p>\n

Ryoka smiled at that, as the [Mayor]\u2019s son went screaming past her, pursued by the anxious woman herself, who wasn\u2019t convinced he was quite<\/em> safe. She stayed nearly two hours, then practically begged to deliver the sheaf of letters and several parcels from Riverfarm.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really must go. I\u2019m sorry, but I\u2019m trying to get to Reizmelt by evening\u2014excuse me, I\u2019ll take any correspondence that way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of it, Miss? We\u2019ve got a lot you could take if your bag of holding\u2019s big enough\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka saw the [Receptionist] at the Runner\u2019s Guild hesitate. Some of the City Runners and Street Runners who\u2019d queued up to shake her hand and say what an amazing<\/em> run they\u2019d seen looked dismayed.<\/p>\n

So, Ryoka caught herself and, mindful of the other Couriers she\u2019d met, amended her statement.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2014Er, sorry. I mean, any priority<\/em> mail or packages. Nothing local. Anything over two or three towns or which needs to get there fast.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAh, very good, Miss Griffin. We\u2019ve got\u2026seven items.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Runners relaxed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks, Miss Wind Runner.\u201d<\/p>\n

One nodded gratefully at Ryoka and she nodded back.<\/p>\n

Runner\u2019s etiquette, like Fals had taught her one time. It was all there. Lessons past and present. The Wind Runner collected her packages, assembled her glider as the crowd watched in the street, and, intensely embarrassed, flew up into the air to wild cheering.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

—-<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The next city Ryoka came to she ran into the gates\u2014and had \u2018run\u2019 all the way there after landing while out of sight of the town.<\/p>\n

She did it to avoid causing another scene\u2014and to try out her second mode of transport. She could glide or wingsuit fly to her destinations\u2014but the wingsuit was scary as hell, and less controllable than the glider. Also, frankly, a bit more embarrassing since people would stare up at Flying Squirrel Ryoka<\/em> as she sped past them.<\/p>\n

That was what she felt like. But Ryoka had an alternate use for the wingsuit\u2014which people kept thinking was \u2018windsuit\u2019, since they had no reference for it.<\/p>\n

She ran across the ground and leapt<\/em> over a hill. Ryoka\u2019s jump carried her forty feet; she landed lightly and ran past a [Farmer]\u2019s son in the fields. He stared at her, hoe raised.<\/p>\n

\u201cHi!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cH-hi?\u201d<\/p>\n

The young man of about fifteen waved back. He stared at Ryoka as she leapt again, a fifteen foot jump<\/em> which shattered all world records on Earth. How was she doing<\/em> that?<\/p>\n

Windsuit!<\/em> Ryoka was barely even \u2018running\u2019; the wind was picking up the loose cloth in her wingsuit and blowing her forwards. It was like when the wind was so strong you could barely fight against it\u2014but it was all behind her. She could leap<\/em> like a frog, and she was running almost as fast as the wind was blowing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is so cool!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Ryoka actually enjoyed the sensation of effortlessly leaping around more than flying for a bit. Because this\u2014this was like having super powers.<\/p>\n

The city of Onononno\u2014had a weird name. Ryoka had chosen it on her route just to see why it was named that.<\/p>\n

\u2026Well, there was a confusing statue in the square. Ryoka stared at the [Slime Rider] for a long time; the man riding a giant slime, which had been called Onononno, and the founder of the city.<\/p>\n

It just went to show there was something unique everywhere you went. [Slime Riders].<\/p>\n

She had thought her running into the city would attract less attention, but one look at her garb and her features and the same thing happened again. The [City Watch] turned out, people wanted to talk to her, children flew about\u2014<\/p>\n

And so did their pets. Onononno had few cats or dogs or any other \u2018regular\u2019 pet. Rather, they owned slimes. Ryoka saw one gelatinous blob and girl flying past her in the parachute-ride and decided this was a cool place.<\/p>\n

The parachute ride was a good idea to let kids play with. Sammial and Hethon had been the ones to suggest making it, and they had both been crushed when Ryoka said she had to leave.<\/p>\n

But\u2026it was inevitable, surely. It had been a strange goodbye.<\/p>\n

Laken had been\u2014off. He\u2019d refused to talk about the future, only talking about what he<\/em> would do. He\u2019d refused to hear Ryoka out\u2026why? Either his ego as an [Emperor] was finally inflating or\u2026<\/p>\n

What had been stranger was Tyrion Veltras. He hadn\u2019t shaken her hand like Prost and some of the others, but his family had been one of the last to leave Riverfarm. The nobles were going back home, the Solstice party done with.<\/p>\n

But he had remained, perhaps because his two sons had enjoyed Riverfarm too much. They both<\/em> threw tantrums, although Hethon\u2019s was more complaining. Sammial had demanded Ryoka stay and be fun.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI trust this event has aided you in some way, Miss Griffin. I still owe you a debt for your service to House Veltras.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, no\u2014you\u2019ve done more than enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is not what I believe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lord Tyrion was a strange [Lord]. He refused to settle their debt, and he had done so much already. Pride and stiff honor. Ryoka wished she could have actually disliked him. She knew what he had done to Liscor. But she couldn\u2019t help but feel like they were a bit similar.<\/p>\n

A bit. She wished she didn\u2019t, though, honestly. But Lord Tyrion had raced her while flying, even suggested seeing who was faster. It turned out he was, unless there was a faster wind. He\u2019d laughed and\u2026<\/p>\n

Well, it\u2019s just a connection of Runner and client. Perhaps I\u2019ll meet him again.<\/em> Ryoka thought of all the Veltras group, Jericha was somewhat glad to see her back. She\u2019d kept asking about Eldavin after the call.<\/p>\n

He had promised to help Erin. Ryoka tried to run, leaving Onononno behind. Wait. There was no better way than the Dragon. Even distant Ailendamus which had a \u2018surefire thing\u2019 or the \u2018best thing\u2019 according to Ivolethe and the powers of the fae, wasn\u2019t as good as a Dragon.<\/p>\n

He had promised. So Ryoka went back to her job, if only to see how flying worked. She ran out of Onononno\u2014well, slipped, really, the streets were a bit slimey\u2014<\/em>and continued on her way.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

—-<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If Ryoka Griffin got used to the attention her arrival caused after the fifth Runner\u2019s Guild delivery, she still tried not to let it get to her head.<\/p>\n

She wasn\u2019t a real<\/em> Courier yet. She had the speed\u2014not the Skills. She still remembered how fast Mihaela could go, or Salamani being able to conjure arrow-swarms of attack spells, cast [Haste], [Invisibility] as a matter of course\u2026<\/p>\n

She was a new, \u2018low-level\u2019 Courier. Even so, she resigned herself to being famous until the novelty wore out. She visited eight Runner\u2019s Guilds on her route north over two days; she kept losing hours to people, rather than the road.<\/p>\n

And she was still unprepared for Reizmelt. The entire city threw her a celebration<\/em> when they saw her flying in.<\/p>\n

\u201cMiss Wind Runner, Miss Griffin, you\u2019ve put Reizmelt on the map<\/em>, even more than it was! You\u2019re a credit to our city. It is an honor\u2014please, accept this honorary citizenship. A key to your new home, and\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka Griffin shook hands with each of the Councilmembers in turn. She smiled as people cheered, looked at her new, complimentary home as well as a citizenship in Reizmelt\u2026and decided not<\/em> to tell anyone she had been planning on getting \u2018Wind Runner of Reizmelt\u2019 changed to a different title. Wind Runner of Liscor, maybe.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m\u2014so honored. I feel like I haven\u2019t been in Reizmelt long, but you\u2019ve taken me in and I\u2019m just\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Super overwhelmed. <\/em>Ryoka gave a speech, shook hands, let kids play with the parachute-basket, and then hid inside her home until they left.<\/p>\n

They\u2019d decorated it with flowers.<\/em> Furniture! Ryoka stared at the house they\u2019d given her.<\/p>\n

Oh no. How was she going to tell them that\u2026she was not<\/em> staying in Reizmelt? She\u2019d rather stay in Liscor. She had to go there. To The Wandering Inn. To Mrsha and\u2026see Erin.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t worry. No one expects you to stay. But if you can just keep letting us call you the Wind Runner of Reizmelt?<\/em> It means something.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alime, the [Receptionist] at the Runner\u2019s Guild, actually hugged Ryoka when she came in. But she was the most reassuring. Ryoka exhaled.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s good to know. I um\u2014this is a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Everything was different. She had done a two day run<\/em> to Reizmelt from Riverfarm. Wind speed? Alime was over the moon about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re one of the faster<\/em> Couriers in Izril based on those speeds, Ryoka. I imagine there are limits.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah. Like flying monsters. I\u2019m not taking deliveries anywhere with Wyverns or Griffins.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka shuddered. She\u2019d ran afoul of some damn geese on the second day. They were aggressive<\/em>, pecking bastards.<\/p>\n

\u201cI imagine you\u2019re also grounded when it\u2019s raining or thundering?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYep. On foot for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI can actually add a note for prospective clients. Have you taken any private orders?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo. Why?\u201d<\/p>\n

Alime\u2019s eyes glittered with mirth.<\/p>\n

\u201cHas anyone told you there are people asking for you?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka stared. Couriers did get private orders; City Runners were rarer, but Couriers would get private requests all the time. And she had sixty eight\u2014<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cSixty eight?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t have to answer any of them. You\u2019re popular and your name is out there, so everyone wants you. Would you like to see them?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2014sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll have to get them\u2014[Receptionists] will have to request the details, for privacy\u2019s sake. I won\u2019t even be able to open them; you\u2019ll get it from our in-house [Mage] or the Mage\u2019s Guild for your eyes only. Also, there is<\/em> a fee to have all of them scribed. Sixty eight would be a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2026see. Um\u2014uh\u2014I\u2019ll tell you what. Can you write out\u2026six? And I\u2019ll look at them. I\u2019m going to visit a friend.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

—-<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Lupp the [Corn Farmer] was arguably one of Ryoka\u2019s few friends. An interesting friendship, to be sure. But one that had helped both.<\/p>\n

Ryoka had gotten corn that had\u2026impressed\u2026even the fae. Lupp? Well, he\u2019d gotten famous.<\/p>\n

Literally.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Famed Sweetcorn Farmer]?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka Griffin exclaimed in the man\u2019s homey kitchen. Lupp tried to keep from smiling too much. He modestly scratched at his head.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot my doing. I owe it all to you, Miss Ryoka. And to Eldert. You two kept talking me up, and I suppose it was why I was leveling out of nowhere. Got some nice Skills too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSuch as? Thank you so much<\/em>, by the way, Miss Ryoka. Father, show her your new corn!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Lupp\u2019s daughter was present. She had visited her father, perhaps because of the news, and Ryoka found Lupp\u2019s farmhouse more crowded than it had ever been.<\/p>\n

\u2026As in, there were about six people present. Lupp looked overwhelmed at the number of people, frankly. But two of the House of El\u2019s security forces were still watching his farm for trouble. Ryoka had been aghast to learn about the close call on his life and apologized\u2014Lupp seemed to take it in stride.<\/p>\n

Or at least, he hadn\u2019t said anything with his daughter and the two [Soldiers] around. As for the last member\u2026Lupp\u2019s daughter, Kamine, and Ryoka, and<\/em> the House of El\u2019s guards, were all trading glances at\u2026<\/p>\n

Eldertuin the Fortress. The Named Adventurer had visited Lupp and Ryoka had knocked to find him opening the door.<\/p>\n

Named Adventurer! Eldertuin Terland! In service to Ulva Terland herself as a [Bodyguard]!<\/em><\/p>\n

Ryoka kept those screaming thoughts inside. She smiled at the veteran adventurer.<\/p>\n

\u201cEldert. You arrived an hour before Ryoka\u2014I was going to show you\u2014fancy digging a bit and see if your Skills still work?\u201d<\/p>\n

Lupp smiled at his former neighbor-turned-adventurer. Kamine was scandalized.<\/p>\n

\u201cFather! Adventurer Eldertuin is\u2026a Named Adventurer!<\/em> You can\u2019t say that!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was Eldert to me. Fancy names don\u2019t change who he was. Used to be able to hoe a section of ground in half the time I did. What about it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cArgh. And I thought I\u2019d never hold a hoe again. Fine, Lupp. But only for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eldert, in the company of Lupp, was almost as down-to-earth as Lupp. Although Ryoka had a sense it was him coming back to his roots; he had been more \u2018official\u2019 as Ulva\u2019s bodyguard.<\/p>\n

But she saw how he had been a [Farmer]. He had a cologne, amazing<\/em> armor and the tower shield and mace, both enchanted, emblazoned with the Terland family sigils, and someone even styled his hair, by the looks of it. He wasn\u2019t as old as Lupp, so instead of white hair, he had a magnificent blonde-green, perhaps natural, but definitely augmented with alchemical items.<\/p>\n

Lupp had the right idea, though, and it was treating Eldert like an old friend. The two talked and Ryoka found herself hovering awkwardly as they caught up. In truth, she didn\u2019t mind; it was the first time the two had seen each other in a long time.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou stopped writing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou never seemed interested to get my letters. And I felt\u2026odd, sending them to you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI liked them. I never said? Well, they were hard years, after you left.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know. I should have come by for the\u2026funeral. I\u2019m sorry. May I visit her grave?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2019Course. You have to tell me too, how you met Miss Ryoka. Strange meetings, and that you both came by.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eldert glanced at Ryoka. She ducked her head.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe helped me in a tough spot, Lupp. Actually fought someone for my sake.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cReally?\u201d<\/p>\n

Lupp hadn\u2019t heard about the Solstice party. Eldert just waved it off.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t easy\u2014but I don\u2019t think I was in danger. But that [Knight] or whomever it was\u2026I haven\u2019t felt my arm shake like that in a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

He flexed it, and looked at Ryoka. She preempted his question.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re\u2026outsiders. Strong ones. If you went toe-to-toe with them\u2014well, they\u2019re the best in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their world.<\/em> Eldert nodded slowly.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt like it was a test. And I haven\u2019t felt that young since I became an adventurer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cStarted at thirty. Old! But you were never a good [Farmer]\u2014for all you grew things well. I\u2019m glad. But what\u2019s with the name? Eldertuin Terland.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Lupp teased the man as he handed him a hoe. The Named Adventurer sighed as he hefted it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI married into the Terland family for my service to Ulva Terland, Lupp. I have a family.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cReally? You never said!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s\u2026complicated.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Named Adventurer looked troubled for a moment. Ryoka and Lupp exchanged a look. Perhaps a former [Farmer] didn\u2019t enjoy being a Terland\u2026well, they dropped the subject.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust cut a new furrow, there, and there. Now, if you\u2019ve forgotten how it goes, you swing your hoe up and\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c[Channel Strike].\u201d<\/p>\n

Eldert swung the hoe down and a rift<\/em> of dirt, straight as an arrow, exploded up from the ground. Ryoka and Lupp blinked in the downpour of soil.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Farmer] Skills can become a [Warrior]\u2019s Skills. You want me to do it again?\u201d<\/p>\n

The Named Adventurer hefted the hoe. He looked at Lupp. After a second, the [Corn Farmer] spat out some dirt and laughed. He slapped Eldert on the back, and he and Ryoka stood back as the Named Adventurer did it again. Then they looked at his new corn.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

—-<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201c[Pepper Corn]? Seriously?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou get fancy Skills like swinging a sword and cutting the air, or new spells. I get new corn. I can even grow \u2018em in patterns, see? This one\u2019s just for fun. Mind you, even I\u2019ll take a week or two more till the first harvest, but look!\u201d<\/p>\n

Lupp proudly showed them his new Skills. Ryoka stared at a corn that had a weird checkered pattern.<\/p>\n

Red, <\/em>brilliant carmine kernels, mixed with a slight blue tint to them.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s the blue part taste like?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSugar\u2014sweet. So that\u2019d be a hot mouthful and sweet one. Not sure who\u2019d buy it, but I want to taste it first. These new ones take a bit more richness in the soil, and water, or so it feels. But they\u2019ll be good. Lady Bethal is already asking to have the first harvest sent to her.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHave you considered selling to another family? Lady Ulva herself complimented the corn. And she is\u2026peculiar about trusting food. She might offer you a better deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lupp looked worried. He actually had to sit down and have some calming tea.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2026don\u2019t do business decisions like that, Eldert. I just sell my corn. Thinking about money\u2014I can\u2019t refuse Lady Bethal after she\u2019s been so generous.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe wouldn\u2019t mind. Well, she might, but she knows it\u2019s business.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Ryoka knew it was Lupp\u2019s personality that made the thought of negotiating the sale of his corn so nerve-wracking. Eldert didn\u2019t push the matter, although he did ask Lupp to send him some corn when it was done. Ryoka, likewise.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you had any of the sweet-corn, I\u2019d take it with me. I\u2019m going to Liscor so I might not see you for a while\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAh, you can always fly by. Just visit me in a month or two\u2014I\u2019m busy enough. And I have something for you. Nothing full-grown, but\u2026it\u2019s another Skill. Here, take these.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lupp was understanding. And he handed Ryoka\u2026she blinked at the baby-corn<\/em>, all blue, and sweet as candy. He grinned at her expression.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have a sweet tooth for the stuff?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know a little Gnoll girl who might change her tune about corn. Well\u2014she likes it anyways, but she\u2019d gobble<\/em> this. Thanks, Lupp.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also handed her some baby corn of the spice variety. It was like eating a hot pepper spice on corn\u2014except it was all<\/em> hot. Ryoka\u2019s eyes watered.<\/p>\n

\u201cDamn<\/em>. Fuck, that\u2019s spicy\u2014it\u2019d be good if you mixed it with regular corn.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what I thought. Good for the children, though. They love it. The village\u2019s kids came begging for it; I\u2019ve been giving it out, the little ones at least.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lupp smiled as his daughter fussed around, scolding him for giving out his hard work as always. Ryoka wondered, honestly, if she\u2019d done him a disservice.<\/p>\n

His farm was crowded and he looked a bit overwhelmed by the company. But as Eldert bade her farewell for the night, she saw he and Lupp were going to sit, perhaps on the porch, with a drink.<\/p>\n

That was nostalgic. And Ryoka thought that made up for any inconvenience of fame. Lupp\u2019s house didn\u2019t seem so empty. The old [Farmer] looked at Ryoka and their conversations about bad days were unspoken.<\/p>\n

\u201cHard to sit by yourself when there are so many people you like about, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAh, just so long as you like them. Stop on by again if you\u2019re staying longer. Thank you, Ryoka.\u201d<\/p>\n

He winked at her. She grinned and left, spirits light.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

—-<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ironically, it was Ryoka who was down after meeting Lupp. He was doing well. But was this life?<\/p>\n

Was she going to forget Erin was dead and do deliveries? Visit Liscor and tell Mrsha and the others to wait?<\/p>\n

That was the sensible thing to do which normal-Ryoka would not do. And was thus the thing Ryoka should<\/em> do.<\/p>\n

\u2026But she wanted to fly to First Landing, get on a ship, and raid Ailendamus\u2019 vaults. She wanted to move now.<\/em><\/p>\n

And she knew she shouldn\u2019t risk herself. She was not immortal. She had thought Erin might be, but Ryoka would never assume she could survive\u2026<\/p>\n

She stared at her missing fingers when she needed a reminder of that. Or felt at the scars on her back where crossbow bolts had nearly ended her for good.<\/p>\n

Crossbows. Ryoka was starting to develop a thing about them.<\/p>\n

She was planning on making one last visit before she slept and headed south. She wasn\u2019t even actually planning on staying the night at Reizmelt\u2014she was pretty sure the Lischelle-Drakle household would be up all night and they\u2019d give her some space.<\/p>\n

She hadn\u2019t checked in on Fierre.<\/em> Ryoka went back, took the six sample requests she\u2019d asked to see, and got a list of names for the others. She went through them, and to the Mage\u2019s Guild.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have eight hundred and twenty one [Messages]. Would you like them all printed?\u201d<\/p>\n

The [Scribe] gave Ryoka a sunshine smile, behind which lurked the suggestion that if Ryoka said \u2018yes\u2019, this late at night, she would get a quill stuck in her forehead.<\/p>\n

After a while, he stared at Ryoka\u2019s open mouth and went on.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Mage\u2019s Guild does offer a service to ah, individuals of note to screen unnecessary [Message] spells. We only refer you to established clients such as [Merchants] of good repute, and so on. It cuts down on this. It\u2019s a small, yearly fee\u2014quite affordable for a Courier. Oh, and we can also take a list of people who should always be included.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, please. Can we do that now?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCertainly,<\/em> Miss Griffin. Who would you like to include? I can take names or cities as well\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLiscor. Um, Lyonette, Palt\u2014no, wait, that\u2019s all Liscor. Liscor, Celum, Players of Celum, Lupp\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka spent the next thirty minutes setting up a spam filter for [Messages], paying the fee for the service, and collected a lot fewer<\/em> [Messages].<\/p>\n

The first was from Fierre. Ryoka read, anxiously, aware she had left her friend to go do this party.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026am establishing a business in Invrisil. See me soon\u2014there\u2019s big stuff happening. <\/em>Well, that doesn\u2019t sound ominous at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka sighed. She wondered how Fierre\u2019s de-toxified life was going. She was definitely going to Invrisil as soon as\u2014<\/p>\n

The next letter was from Lyonette, informing her about the Potion of Regeneration. Ryoka dropped it, fumbled, and picked it up with shaking fingers. She read, heart pounding\u2014then saw a [Message] from Palt.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Potion failed.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Surprise, fear, shock\u2014it hit her all together so she wasn\u2019t as fully torn as she might have been if she had been able to get her hopes up. Ryoka lowered the letters.<\/p>\n

The potion was worthless. No\u2014they just hadn\u2019t done it right. There was something else. Teriarch would know. Teriarch would<\/em> know.<\/p>\n

She wasn\u2019t in the mood to visit the Lischelle-Drakle family all of a sudden. So, Ryoka trudged out of the Mage\u2019s Guild, sorting through the remaining letters slowly. It was too dark to read, so, without realizing it, she found herself pushing open a door into\u2026<\/p>\n

The Huntress\u2019 Haven.<\/em> It was\u2026<\/p>\n

Ryoka blinked at the noise, light, and voices<\/em> in the inn where she had stayed. She saw a group of people glance up\u2014and then an exclamation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere you are! Hah! I knew you\u2019d come by!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Mad Madain, [Innkeeper] and former adventurer, bellowed as he pushed himself back from a table where he was drinking. A serving man was passing out stew from a kettle, there was a lot of alcohol in the air\u2014<\/p>\n

Ryoka was back.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

—-<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

She\u2019d uh, forgotten about Mad Madain. Which was amazing since he was hard to forget.<\/em> But Alber and Fierre had both gone to Invrisil.<\/p>\n

But the [Innkeeper] had his inn. Ryoka might have expected it to be empty and Madain in a bad way as he sometimes got, but the inn was crowded.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously,<\/em> because the Wind Runner stays here! I\u2019m famous. So\u2019s your room. I heard you got a house so I didn\u2019t keep it\u2014also, someone bought everything where you stayed. Pillows, mattress\u2014even went sweeping up for your hair.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka nearly spat out the meat stew and drink.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd you let<\/em> them have it?\u201d<\/p>\n

The [Innkeeper] shrugged, unconcerned with the sale.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was good money. And she was what, a [Mage] or something. Weird woman.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stalker-creeps didn\u2019t get better by gender! Ryoka was about to protest when she had a sinking suspicion she knew which\u2026she\u2026had bought all that stuff.<\/p>\n

Well, that<\/em> was fun. Madain grinned at her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI also squashed some [Assassin] bastards. You can pay me for it later. Even those\u2026Pithfire kids. Yeah, they\u2019ve come by a lot. Although they\u2019re headed south on an adventure. Damned thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry I didn\u2019t see them. How are they? How\u2019re the dogs? How\u2019re you, Madain?\u201d<\/p>\n

This was fine. Ryoka was sorting through letters as she talked, and Madain wasn\u2019t that<\/em> much into the conversation. He just wanted to know about the battle. Saliss of Lights\u2014he had an admiring note when he talked about the Drake. Ryoka supposed the former adventurer had respect, even for a Drake Named adventurer.<\/p>\n

\u201cAh, well, I have actual <\/em>guests who want service, so I hired that bastard to serve and clean up. Not like the [Fistfighter] and Fierre. They were easy, like you. What\u2019s his name?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAlber. He\u2019s in Invrisil.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Madain was refreshingly straightforward\u2014at least at this moment. He was talking.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnyways, since business is good, I\u2019ve bought a scrying orb. That\u2019s fun all day, and getting adventurer-types in. Did you hear what the Pithfire Hounds are going for? Idiots. They\u2019re going to get hurt or killed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat? Why?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka was distracted. She\u2019d just seen a [Message] from\u2026Madain snorted.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome fools\u2014the Horns of Hammerad are going after the Village of the Dead. Better teams than theirs have died trying. I don\u2019t even know their name. Ever heard of them?\u201d<\/p>\n

The Wind Runner of Reizmelt stared at the [Messages] compiled from Ceria Springwalker. She looked up at Madain.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026What?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

—-<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThey went because they knew you were connected with those…Horns? I told them it was stupid. They got puffed heads because they sent a few [Assassins] running. Idiots.\u201d<\/p>\n

An hour later in the dead of night, Madain was talking to Eldert and Lupp. And wasn\u2019t that<\/em> a weird meeting?<\/p>\n

Ryoka had actually dragged him down to Lupp\u2019s farm. Madain could move quite fast on horseback. She\u2019d asked him to, so she could consult with the man who knew about the Horn\u2019s crazy plan\u2014and a Named Adventurer.<\/p>\n

Eldert and Lupp had been surprised to see Ryoka, but they\u2019d stopped talking on the porch to let them in. Madain was chewing on the spicy baby corn as he finished telling them the setup.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Village of the Dead. That\u2019s\u2026madness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eldertuin the Fortress looked at Madain and the former Gold-rank nodded. Ryoka\u2019s stomach twisted.<\/p>\n

Fool. She had been worried about what she, Ryoka, might do impulsively, especially given the Potion of Regeneration failing. The desire to see Erin again\u2026<\/p>\n

She had forgotten other people wanted to see her just as bad. And they would risk anything\u2014no, more than Ryoka. They were adventurers. She was a Runner.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you sure?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course we are. That\u2019s death. It\u2019s a safe zone\u2014doesn\u2019t attack you, doesn\u2019t get larger or send waves\u2014but it\u2019s still death. No one lives there. But it takes a real fool to try and attack it knowing how many attempts have been made.\u201d<\/p>\n

Madain was disgusted. Eldert looked at Ryoka.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me put it this way, Miss Griffin. I have a team of adventurers I would join with if I were raiding a dungeon or particular area I thought was worthwhile. I wouldn\u2019t try the Village of the Dead with them. I wouldn\u2019t try it if there were three times our numbers. You would need an army to fight that many undead, especially how fast they regenerate. Nothing kills<\/em> them permanently.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know? You\u2019ve been there?\u201d<\/p>\n

Madain spat. Lupp looked offended at the spot on his floor. Eldert looked at Madain.<\/p>\n

They both had.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone tries<\/em> it, well, most teams. Everyone thinks there\u2019s a way in, or that it\u2019s exaggeration. I nearly lost a teammate. Bitten down to her bones.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA similar experience. It\u2019s not even a place to train. The undead move too fast. They\u2019re too deadly\u2014we tried to kill a single zombie for good. Held it down, burned it until it was ash and tried to destroy the ash. It still came back. <\/em>You have to tell this team to stop. If they\u2019re wise, they\u2019ll fall back. But so many teams\u2014and Silver-ranks? They might push in too far.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka\u2019s heart was pounding. She knew they were right. But why the Village of the Dead? Unless\u2014Pisces knew there was something that could help<\/em> Erin?<\/p>\n

\u201cI think my friends have tried to talk them out of it. I\u2014I can make it there tomorrow. But what if I can\u2019t?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen you\u2019d better hope every Gold-rank team and Named Adventurer in the north joined their call.\u201d<\/p>\n

Madain drained his drink. He put it down and looked at Ryoka, serious for once.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I think it\u2019ll be them and half a dozen idiots like the Hounds. No one who\u2019s smart will read that and join in if they\u2019ve got half a brain. And the ones without\u2026who\u2019d go there for a share of the loot?<\/em> There\u2019s no gold, no glory. It\u2019s a stupid request. For an [Innkeeper]? Hah! I <\/em>couldn\u2019t get a Gold-rank team to risk their lives for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said that. But Ryoka just looked at him. And she saw another [Innkeeper]. For her? She slowly pushed herself up.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey might have an army, though. Even if it\u2019s not enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eldert and Madain stared at her, disbelieving.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

—-<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Village of the Dead lay far north of Invrisil. Not as far as Reizmelt. So\u2014if you left now, you could make it in three days.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, Jewel. You going to the Village of the Dead?\u201d<\/p>\n

In the Gold-rank+ back rooms of the Adventurer\u2019s Guild in Invrisil, one of the local Gold-rank adventurers leaned out of his chair and called across the room.<\/p>\n

Laughter followed his remark. Jewel, leader of the Glitterblade, ignored Samung\u2019s comment. But she was sitting there\u2014rather than making plans to go.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t believe anyone<\/em> is going. Or that someone would post a raid call that stupid.\u201d<\/p>\n

Samung, a member of Oblivion\u2019s Call, a Gold-rank team with a name that was arguably cooler than they were, was pushing the envelope.<\/p>\n

Jewel had laughed a bit with her team and shaken her head when she saw the request. But she had met the Horns.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re Hell\u2019s Wardens, Samung. Maybe they think they have a shot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another Gold-rank had his feet up on the table. Invrisil was actually quite crowded at the moment.<\/p>\n

Lots of Gold-rank teams had returned from the High Passes and the Wyvern hunt. They were in the mood to spend gold<\/em>, and the City of Adventurers was the place to do it.<\/p>\n

Jewel was annoyed because she\u2019d missed the rush\u2014and some teams had earned over ten thousand<\/em> gold. Three had earned over twenty thousand! Easy money!<\/p>\n

\u201cHey\u2014is this table taken?\u201d<\/p>\n

The veteran Gold-rank glanced up. He had his legs on one table, and he and his team\u2014Waterborn Raiders\u2014were occupying the other. A new Gold-rank team, rookies, were looking around and the crowded back room had nothing but standing room, which a number of teams were using.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy feet need rest. Who\u2019re you?\u201d<\/p>\n

Hazing again. Jewel, another relatively new team, was sick of it. But Todi wasn\u2019t here. The Gold-rank adventurer murmured.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re, uh, Ten Razors.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTen Razors?<\/em> Then why are there eight of you?\u201d<\/p>\n

The teammates of the adventurer flushed. The answer was that the founding group had taken casualties. One of them looked at the Waterborn Raider.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan we use this table?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSorry, my feet need rest.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Gold-rank veteran stared at them. He grinned unpleasantly, testing them. The Ten Razors knew the score. Two glowered, but the rest stood.<\/p>\n

Respect for seniority. <\/em>Alternatively, older adventurers bullying younger ones.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s almost tempting. If they offered money, I\u2019d give it a shot.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of Jewel\u2019s teammates muttered after a while. Jewel half-nodded. Tempting. But\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, aren\u2019t the Horns one of the Silver-ranked teams that got wiped<\/em> in Liscor\u2019s dungeons? They reformed\u2014but is anyone going to follow them<\/em> into another death-zone?\u201d<\/p>\n

The noisy adventurer got another muted round of laughs as he went on, studying the appeal.<\/p>\n

For the [Innkeeper] of Liscor.<\/em> If there was one reason Jewel would have been interested, it was that. But she wasn\u2019t about to speak up.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s being disrespectful. Why do we even hang out back here? We saw that [Innkeeper]\u2014she commanded the Black Tide<\/em>. There\u2019s something there, Jewel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jewel\u2019s friend muttered. He turned to the Gold-rank Captain and [Swashbuckler]. She nodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s go to the main room. At least we don\u2019t have to listen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Glitterblade was getting up. They had looked around\u2014as some teams had done\u2014when the Horns\u2019 contract was brought up.<\/p>\n

Because, despite what the Waterborn Raider said\u2014there was interest. But adventurers watched each other. Some took risks, but calculated ones.<\/p>\n

The Horns had taken huge losses at Liscor\u2014but they\u2019d also won<\/em> at Albez. That sort of squared their record. And they were Hell\u2019s Wardens\u2014a title even Gold-ranks respected.<\/p>\n

And the [Innkeeper]\u2026but no one had said they were going, so Invrisil\u2019s adventurers expected the Horns to not raid the Village of the Dead.<\/p>\n

Or\u2026do it alone? But that would be madness. Even the Village of the Dead\u2014<\/p>\n

Wasn\u2019t that what Gold-ranks did?<\/em><\/p>\n

Jewel was conflicted. Then\u2014the door opened. Heads swung around. There was a shout.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey! That\u2019s a face I haven\u2019t seen in a while! Is that you, Seborn?\u201d<\/p>\n

Jewel turned and saw another Gold-rank team enter the room.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho\u2019s that? I know that name.\u201d<\/p>\n

She turned to a friendlier team. An old [Mage], a member of the Distinguished Staves of Invrisil, a [Wizard], chuckled.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, Jewel, that\u2019s the Halfseekers. They\u2019ve been in the south for a while\u2014you know them?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe half-Fr\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Jewel kicked her teammate so fast that the word never came out. The older [Wizard] smiled and nudged one of her sleeping companions; her trio of three were all over fifty. [Mages] who walked to easy requests, blasted it with spells, and thus earned decent pay.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll like them. Their leader, Jelaqua, is quite friendly. And there\u2019s Moore, such a sweetheart. They\u2019re all friendly\u2014except for Seborn, at times. They had a rough patch\u2026but I hear they took on a new member. Oh, there she is.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Gold-ranks were surrounding a new team coming in. Greeting them, exchanging news\u2014Jewel saw one figure\u2019s head rise<\/em>. She blinked.<\/p>\n

A half-Giant. Old Geni waved her hat gently.<\/p>\n

\u201cJelaqua! Moore! Over here!\u201d<\/p>\n

They didn\u2019t appear to hear her. The half-Giant was frowning; he didn\u2019t look as friendly as described, but perhaps he was worried about standing on someone\u2019s foot. He did move through the room slowly, looking for a table.<\/p>\n

He saw the only one with the Waterborn\u2019s Raider resting his feet there. The half-Giant pointed.<\/p>\n

\u201cExcuse me. We need to use this table.\u201d<\/p>\n

A nervous Gnoll approached. That had to be the new member; there was a grinning Drake with a flail over her shoulder. Jewel realized both<\/em> were Selphids. There was a Drowned Man\u2014half crab or maybe lobster\u2014<\/p>\n

\u201cSorry, I\u2019m resting my feet.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Waterborn Raider smirked. Ulinde hesitated.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, we need this table. You\u2019re not using it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHey! Let our teammate rest his feet!\u201d<\/p>\n

The other Waterborn Raiders turned. They were apparently former [Raiders] in actuality, hence their nature. They sniggered as Ulinde turned to the [Rogue].<\/p>\n

\u201cSeborn?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re not using the table. Feet up.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n

The [Rogue] appeared and addressed the annoying adventurer. Jewel saw the man\u2019s eyes narrow.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh yeah? I don\u2019t take order from the half-Freaks.\u201d<\/p>\n

She held her breath. Seborn\u2019s Human eye narrowed. The Waterborn Raiders turned in their seats. There was a potential in the air. The other Gold-ranks leaned in or out depending on their natures.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeborn, there\u2019s no need for that. Sit with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Geni called out, but her voice was still lost. The Gold-rank adventurer looked at Seborn. Then\u2026a shadow fell over him. He looked up and his grin faded.<\/p>\n

\u201cMove.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Moore loomed<\/em> over the man. Jewel blinked.<\/p>\n

That didn\u2019t look<\/em> like a friendly half-Giant. He had a scar running across his chin. And\u2026nope. She didn\u2019t see any nice qualities. The [Rogue] looked like a ray of beaming sunshine compared to the [Green Mage]\u2019s face.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately or fortunately for the Waterborn Raider, he knew Moore. So he recovered from the moment of chagrin and sneered.<\/p>\n

\u201cNice try. Why don\u2019t you go coddle flies, Moore? Have Jelaqua come over, greet our team Captain, and then\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Moore reached down. He picked the man up\u2014and tossed<\/em> him over the table.<\/p>\n

It was so fast. It was like Jewel flicking a bug off her knee. She stared, open-mouthed, as the man shouted and then went thump.<\/em><\/p>\n

The other Waterborn Raiders stared. They had ducked when he went sailing over their heads. Two got up.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou b\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Moore reached out and grabbed a head. His hand\u2014gently covered the top of the adventurer\u2019s head.<\/p>\n

Now, the guild was silent. The Waterborn Raiders looked up. And finally began to realize that Moore had\u2026changed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy don\u2019t we all\u2026sit down? Sorry about the trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n

The leader of the Waterborn Raiders suggested slowly. Jelaqua Ivirith appeared.<\/p>\n

\u201cMoore? What\u2019s the problem?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing. We\u2019ve got a table.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moore turned. The Waterborn Raider he\u2019d let go of slowly sat back down and then shuffled his chair around. Everyone stared at the half-Giant.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhoa.<\/em> That\u2019s nice?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

One of Jewel\u2019s teammates whispered. Old Geni was just staring. Jewel looked at Moore, appraisingly. Nice or not, he\u2019d impressed her.<\/em><\/p>\n

Moore sat there, cross-legged on the ground, as the other Halfseekers sat down. They didn\u2019t smile long. Jelaqua greeted Geni, but she was transparent with why they\u2019d come.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing who else is heading north. We need to move today<\/em> if we\u2019re getting to the Village of the Dead.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Gold-ranks turned in their seats. Geni gasped.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Village of the Dead? You can\u2019t be serious<\/em>, my dear! We all thought it wasn\u2019t worth even considering. There have been jokes told all week.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBy who?<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n

Seborn was grinning. He turned to the Waterborn Raiders. They didn\u2019t look around.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust jokes.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of them muttered. Jelaqua\u2019s eyes were steady.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t have to take your team, Geni. It\u2019s going to be dangerous. No doubt about that. But we\u2019re going.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJelaqua, you\u2019ve never been\u2026this reckless. Are you sure?\u201d<\/p>\n

Geni chose her words carefully. The Selphid looked at her.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes, we have to go in. We\u2019re going. And we\u2019ve been getting ready. We\u2019re armed up.\u201d<\/p>\n

She gestured. And Jewel saw that under their travelling cloaks\u2014the Halfseekers were wearing armor. It wasn\u2019t unusual, so she\u2019d barely noticed.<\/p>\n

But wait.<\/p>\n

Even Moore?<\/em> Yes, the half-Giant was wearing a kind of leather-and-steel composite. Leather covering plates of metal. It was probably as thick as plate mail, but made for someone his<\/em> size.<\/p>\n

And\u2014Seborn pulled back his dark clothing to reveal shining chainmail.<\/p>\n

\u201cLightweight stuff. Custom-made by Maughin of Pallass.\u201d<\/p>\n

He told the other admiring adventurers. One whistled; even Ulinde and Jelaqua had armor. Light for the Selphid [Spellslinger]. Jelaqua?<\/p>\n

Jelaqua had plate armor. Her lover had not sent her without all the help he could muster.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to the Village of the Dead. Any team who wants to join us\u2014we can ride together. We\u2019ll hire the carriages.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jelaqua announced to the room. The Gold-rank teams hesitated. Jewel bit her tongue. It was still reckless.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if it\u2019s two teams, you\u2019re outnumbered.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the newer Gold-rank adventurers pointed out. Moore shifted in his seat. The female adventurer gulped.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just meant\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMoore.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jelaqua put a hand on his arm. The half-Giant looked away. Jelaqua replied with a smile. Not a happy one but\u2014just a smile.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re adventurers. <\/em>The Horns say this place has something special\u2014we\u2019re going in. For the [Innkeeper] of Liscor. And you\u2019re wrong, friend. We\u2019re not going alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

There were voices from the guild\u2019s main hall. Jewel rose as another team entered. To the surprise of Invrisil\u2019s adventurers, they saw\u2026<\/p>\n

Drakes.<\/em> In armor. The heavy-armored group marched in.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre those\u2014Drake adventurers?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFlamewardens. <\/em>That\u2019s Pallass\u2019 Gold-rank team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Someone muttered. Jewel saw Keldrass remove his helmet and look around.<\/p>\n

\u201cShame we can\u2019t stay here. So this is Invrisil\u2019s Guild? Are we sitting here? The other teams can\u2019t get in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe could ask for an exception.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other teams?<\/em> Jewel craned her head. Then\u2014more Drakes appeared.<\/p>\n

Lifwail Blades. Another Gold-rank team. The Wings of Pallass weren\u2019t present. But a Wall Lord had spoken. So more teams were waiting behind them.<\/p>\n

\u201cGemhammer, The Pride of Kelia, Pithfire Hounds\u2014Silver-ranks. The Silver Swords would join us if they weren\u2019t so far away. All but two teams in Liscor are coming through. Now\u2014who\u2019s coming from Invrisil?\u201d<\/p>\n

Jelaqua put her foot on a stool and looked around.<\/p>\n

Ceria had put out the call. The Horns, though\u2026they were new. New to their rank. But Jelaqua? She had led teams before. She turned her head, waiting. It just took one\u2014she needed a force<\/em> to bring to Ceria. She had promised.<\/p>\n

The southern teams waited, stares challenging. The Gold-ranks hesitated. To say it now was to not be able to go back. Not here.<\/em><\/p>\n

Then, someone spoke.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going too.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Selphid turned. She saw a team, fresh off their horses, stride into the guild. She blinked\u2014then smiled.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere you are.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy are you waiting around?\u201d<\/p>\n

Halrac stopped next to her. Revi, Typhenous, and Briganda entered the room. Jelaqua grinned.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were just leaving. Who\u2019s with us?\u201d<\/p>\n

Jewel pushed back her chair at the same time as half a dozen adventurers. And that was the first moment. She felt her heart beating.<\/p>\n

Reckless. Dangerous. She began ordering her teammates to stock up on gear.<\/p>\n

Because they were going to the Village of the Dead.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

—-<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

To the north, it was a dead zone. Even grass died the closer you came to the Village of the Dead. Only one group of people were in the area; animals fled, as did people.<\/p>\n

They had camped there for days now. And they were as yet alone. They might go in alone.<\/p>\n

But their friends had promised to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe could still wait. That is the strategic move. Wall Lord Ilvriss, Ylawes, they have promised to send aid or come.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not waiting, Ksmvr. The Potion failed. Who knows if she can be frozen forever? We\u2019re going in. If the other teams arrive, they won\u2019t wait for weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yvlon was polishing her sword. Checking the edge, though it was enchanted. Ksmvr nodded. She looked up.<\/p>\n

The village was silent. Apparently, empty. To her left, she saw a flash of light. A shout.<\/p>\n

\u201cTree rot!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

The magic around Ceria combusted and a flash of light blasted Yvlon and Ksmvr with air.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrouble, Ceria?\u201d<\/p>\n

The half-Elf came stomping over.<\/p>\n

\u201cA bit. Did I get you with anything?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNope.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is it you are failing at, Ceria?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ksmvr peered at what had been intricate drawings in the ground. The half-Elf blew out her cheeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpell circles. It\u2019s the next step in my [Mage] learning. Probably. I don\u2019t know. Illphres sort of outlined her process, and long-term spells\u2014fields of magic\u2014were what she said I should master. Control the battlefield.<\/em> Greater spells require stuff like that. But I\u2019m not going to master it before\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

She looked ahead. Cold air swirled around her. She was visibly nervous. But she calmed herself and her aura of ice cleared. Yvlon nodded. She couldn\u2019t do more than train with her blade\u2014and she didn\u2019t want to injure herself, or Ksmvr, so they weren\u2019t sparring hard. She turned her head.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat about you, Pisces? What\u2019s your next step?\u201d<\/p>\n

The [Necromancer] glanced up.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomething else that won\u2019t be ready in time.\u201d<\/p>\n

He went back to using a needle to\u2026Yvlon frowned.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you\u2026making another undead?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA permanent one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ceria blinked. She looked at him for confirmation. The [Necromancer] replied absently.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe barest beginnings, yes. It will take months\u2026but I thought it was time. I failed once. But it occurred to me one would be needed. Like Ceria, it will not be ready. We could prepare a year, Ksmvr. But that might become a decade, until we level. Alas. I do not believe we are that patient.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yvlon rose. She left their camp and walked to the edge of a bluff facing the Village of the Dead. It looked so\u2026empty. But every instinct she had, no Skills needed, told her what would happen when they approached it.<\/p>\n

They hadn\u2019t. Not yet, in case they woke something. She remembered the dungeon of Liscor and folded her arms.<\/p>\n

It will be different this time. It had to be. This was not for glory, but Erin. Pisces told them that if they recovered just <\/em>one Relic-class artifact\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Her silver-steel arms glinted in the light. The grim [Armsmistress] stood there, contemplating the odds and seeing no reason to turn back. Not for her. But her team\u2026<\/p>\n

Ksmvr joined her. He glanced at Yvlon, then folded both arms and his third arm over that. She smiled at him.<\/p>\n

Someone put his foot on the bluff. Pisces. He\u2026folded his arms and struck a pose, chin raised. Yvlon stopped smiling at Ksmvr and glared at him. He grinned at her.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are we doing, posing? Let me in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ceria joined them, arms folded, standing sideways. Both of them sniggered at Yvlon. She debated kicking them down the short incline.<\/p>\n

Then they stopped. The Horns looked at each other. Then at the Village of the Dead. Pisces sighed.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow does it go? Our team motto? Death before dishonor?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSomething like that. Calruz said it. I prefer \u2018let\u2019s not die, and get lots of loot\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is a very admirable statement, Captain Ceria. I find many practical elements in it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yvlon smiled. She looked at them. Then the Horns stared ahead.<\/p>\n

\u201cThree days. That\u2019s how long this place has to remain standing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the [Innkeeper] of Liscor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pisces agreed. He looked ahead, and Yvlon thought he looked more noble the less he pretended towards it. Ceria smiled. She sat down and dangled her legs over the edge. Ksmvr looked at Yvlon.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet us not die and get lots of loot.\u201d<\/p>\n

He suggested. They laughed. The Village of the Dead waited.<\/p>\n

The Horns of Hammerad laughed at it and went to have lunch.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Author\u2019s Note: <\/strong>A thousand words over 20,000. I did my best. Short\u2026shorter.<\/p>\n

The last chapter really tired me out. But I have one more chapter after this before my break, and let\u2019s hope it\u2019s a good one. Big announcement coming for the last chapter of the month. So stay tuned and hopefully there was something good in this shorter chapter!<\/p>\n

\u2026I have nothing more to say. Thanks for reading! I\u2019m going to eat food.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Wandering Inn Crosswords!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Week 2:<\/strong> https:\/\/www.armoredpenguin.com\/crossword\/bin\/crossword.cgi?cmd=solve&filefrag=2021.01\/2911\/29115458.133.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Week 3:<\/strong> https:\/\/www.armoredpenguin.com\/crossword\/bin\/crossword.cgi?cmd=solve&filefrag=2021.02\/0511\/05115830.762.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Week 4:<\/strong> https:\/\/www.armoredpenguin.com\/crossword\/bin\/crossword.cgi?cmd=solve&filefrag=2021.02\/1017\/10174609.478.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Week 5:<\/strong> https:\/\/www.armoredpenguin.com\/crossword\/bin\/crossword.cgi?cmd=solve&filefrag=2021.02\/1721\/17213828.965.html<\/a><\/p>\n

(Created by:<\/strong> Kadraginn, Gorexn, and Mr. Wiggles. Contributors: Richi, tt, Linnet_Melody, MoMo, Tomeo, Tnoz, Tacit Condor, Qwiliman, Kalmia, Vondeklompz, Me, AndromedaStar, and Igneel)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ilvriss by Auspicious Octopi!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Instagram:<\/strong> https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/auspiciousoctopi\/<\/a><\/p>\n

DeviantArt:<\/strong> https:\/\/www.deviantart.com\/auspiciousoctopi<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mrsha, Mrsha, and…me? by Pontastic!<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"MatchstickMrsha <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"MrshaDungeon <\/a> <\/div>
\"EvilAba <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Previous Chapter<\/a> Next Chapter<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Wandering Inn is going to be working with editors and holding a contest for paid, professional editors to apply! Please spread the word and find out more details here!   The great king raised his hand and spoke a single word. \u201cAdvance.\u201d Legions moved. Tens of thousands of bodies, pouring forwards across the ground, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52856846,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"patreon-level":0,"patreon_level":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11693088,349],"tags":[],"twi_volume":[11693137],"twi_collection":[],"class_list":["post-10102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-volume-8","category-writing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n8.09 - The Wandering Inn<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/wanderinginn.com\/2021\/02\/21\/8-09\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"8.09\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Wandering Inn is going to be working with editors and holding a contest for paid, professional editors to apply! 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