The library was helpful to some degree. Some things I already know from the paladin order and general knowledge.
The adventurers knowledge is more useful than that though. While adventurers have more knowledge about survivability in the wild and a roster of dangers more parallel with hunters.
Liches do turn up from time to time, guarding treasured possessions of great magical power, especially in cemeteries and such, so adventurer books do have tips on how to deal with them or avoid them and a compilation of stories of a few cases, although it is scarce.
Most of all, the library adventurers books had tips on how to tell if liches are in a tomb or cemetery. When adventurers go into a crypt, should they expect a lich to guard it or perhaps a ghost, gargoyle etc.
If I look for these clues I might get a good understanding of when I’m close. While I stay alert I need to go through town and buy supplies or buy stuff to make them.
The squad is in the tavern, most of them drunk themselves to the point that they think they’re standing up straight with their cheeks pressed hard against the floor.
Not all of them are that drunk so I guess it’s OK to leave them like that, I know a couple who are more dependable and won’t probably drink to the point that they can’t take care of their comrades, but it does prove that non of them actually listen when I say-
“A battle could come from any where, at any time!”
Did I hear that right? did it come from them? One of the paladins seems to be helping one of the drunk comrades of his, while lecturing them too. It seems like he’s slightly disappointed in them.
Some others are also not too drunk but they don’t do as much to help, and they sway more then he does. In fact, he doesn’t seem drunk at all.
“The captain lieutenant will return to see you guys flat on the floor! have some paladin decency.” Then, his gaze points at me… oh crap… I wasn’t sneaking outside.
Honestly it would be easier making the preparations without them, and I was kind of relieved to see them incapable of coming with me, but I wasn’t avoiding them. I should have.
Not that it matters now, my paladin armor stands out, there is no way he did not recognize me, and my signature full clean plate.
“Lieutenant! I am so sorry. Some of them overdid it.” he says as he runs to me. At this point it’s lost.
There is no way I can salvage this, and this one is of the more orthodox ones, there is no way he will let me go unappointed into town.
“Ahh… was it… Glen?” He nod and salutes. It looks idiotic when it’s in the middle of a tavern, a guild no less.
“Well, Glen… you should… go take care of your comrades. I have some arrangements to run.” but he doesn’t seem to let me go.
“I will tell Troy, she and a few who haven’t lost their control can help the rest recuperate in the church dorms.”
“I think you should too, Glen. -”
“I do not need to recuperate, lieutenant, I didn’t drink at all.” I didn’t even continue to my next sentence. He didn’t drink at all? and he did cite me before… is he just trying to butter up? “I will tell her now.”
I still try to disuade him “We will be going to the street merchants and some shops that sell magical items and chemi solutions.” I say this before he turns away.
An orthodox paladin going to such places like a common adventurer? no way he would agree. Indeed he stopped for a second, and turns back and says with a pained face…
“Whatever you think is necessary, lieutenant.” and he runs back to talk to Troy, who chugs a mug in one hand and pulls an unconscious franz from the back of his shirt so he doesn’t fall to the floor.
Dammit, I though I had him. Well, if all he does is stay behind me and diligently stays out of trouble it won’t be a problem.
Glen, to my memory, is more reserved than the rest, and it is more likely he will not act up or get angry, or at least let that anger drive him. “After you lieutenant, where first?”
-----
This kind of reminds me of my guild days. We would go together and buy supplies.
Throwing daggers and poison, or magical crystals. Special items that can be used in chemi to create a potion with special properties, even a tome once and treasure maps twice, although these never led to the actual treasure it was an adventure non the less.
Now we need to go to a trader I know sells magical crystals, the books mentioned many magical tools that can be useful and to create magical bombs, we will need crystals.
“What are we doing here… not that I question you, just… out of curiosity.” Glen asks as we enter a shady store. Store might be too much for what it is, it’s more like a stall with a door.
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“I can use magic, but most of you have holy prayers and weapons. And while holy prayers will be useful against the lich, we need to be prepared.” He still seems confused
“I’m going to buy these and make magic bombs that you guys can use too.” I assume he understood that but he still looks not sure.
“What will you be having?” The merchant asks politely, he is just as baffled that two paladins walked into his store. “Should I tell you what I have on sale?”
“No need, I already know what I need and what components to use.” he looks surprised “And what their prices should be.” I add. The merchant looks away awkwardly. I bet he would try to swindle us with blown up prices.
“These magical crystals and this conduit… also… is this already loaded with holy torch?” They both look at me in shock
“it…um… no, this is… lantern”
“I see, and do you have ectoplasm?… wait is that a fairy-dragon feather? I’ll take that then.”
After that the chemist had similar reactions, and so did the halfling selling coats on the street.
“Do we really need all of these?” Glen asks while I arrange the things we bought at the church dorm office.
“Of course. These coats will reject undead, I want you all to wear them. These bombs will blind the lich, normal flash bombs won’t do, it sees mostly through the magic, so we must use these. This bomb with fairy dragon will negate most magic he can cast, and the mana burners will make sure that he remains too weak to dispell it. The potions here will make you trans-lucid in the magical sense so most spells will ignore you or even be reflected back at him. I still need to think what to do about ‘decay’ that magic is not nulled by the fairy-dragon bomb and the cloaks don’t seem strong enough… maybe I should ask my father.”
“Your father?” he asks. I almost forgot I was talking to him.
“The guild master of the guild we were in before.”
“I heard you grew up in a guild… but I did not assume it was there. What kind of person is you father?” he keeps prodding it.
“He’s… complicated. first of all he isn’t even a he. He’s a shapeshifter, so he can be a he, she, it, even they sometimes. But always the same person all the time… it’s like the physical appearance is just a conversation for him, where he can say whatever he wants for the other person to hear.”
“That is… I never heard of anything like this. Why do you call him father? is he your real dad?”
“No, I lost my parents when I was 3, then he found me crying on the street. He adopted me and decided to start a guild in order to feed me. Then he started training me when I was 6 and by the time I was 12 I was doing D level quests.”
“Ohh… how long did you stay there?”
“I was 16 when I joined the paladin order 2 years ago, I was ranked H. To be honest, it was all thanks to him I became that strong.”
“Wow… I’m 27 and it took me 9 years to get to where I am right now… not only weaker but working under you. Why did you leave? if you were so good at it and, well, it seemed today like you had a lot of fun going for supplies and stuff like that… Why did you join the paladins instead?”
“First of all, Sorteiva is an amazing person, he reminds me of my dad a lot. I even met him once when he was still called Drow, it was on a quest with my father on taking down a dark wyrm. Drow actually attacked my father because he turned himself into a dragon to transport us.”
“So you left several years later because of Sorteiva?”
“No, actually I was mad at my father, and also I thought the paladins would be a good cause to follow.”
“What did he do?”
I don't know if I should tell him... it's embarrassing...
“He stole a boy I liked from me!”
“…” Glen looks shocked, you don’t hear that from a girl about her father very often.
“He also did it to Clara the receptionist. He sometimes becomes impossibly beautiful to lure both men and women. There was this adventurer I liked, he was slightly younger then me but he was kind and had a lot of resolve, and I wanted to him ask out but my father already seduced him! I’m so angry just thinking back at it.”
“…”
I think I said too much... I know paladins see others living a humblest more sinful life, but I hardly believed he imagined this .
“I’ll go talk to him now, he may have found some rumor that can point us to the lich.” I need to get out of this conversation. I didn't even realize how much I had revealed.
-----
I walk into my father’s office. If he has some boy or girl there for me to interrupt then just so be it.
“Ahh, there you are! I found something.” He smiles, it seems he was there alone this time.
“I hear you went shopping too, there was some noise about two paladins who had gone to several not-paladin-like places. Fairy-dragon feather, huh? you had a good teacher.”
“I did, Too bad he slept with my crush.” Father makes an ashamed guilty face, I don’t want him to think I forgot or forgave.
“I didn’t know… Honestly, you and Clara heard this before but I never meant to hurt you. You most of all, Allous, I would never have done that if I had known. You must believe me!” I heard that before. It still doesn’t hurt any less.
“I love you.” heard that one too, not often as an apology, but not my first time hearing it in this context.
“Well, get to the point. What news did you get?”
“Darling, why don’t we share a pint? get this behind us, so that we can go back to feeling like a family.”
“I didn’t come here to have this conversation.” he looks like he could almost cry… I am being too harsh on him. I’ll come visit him after this, and more often in general. I forgot how much I missed him.
“Right… umm… so a few sewage rats crept up, it seems in the southern part of town, near the iron factory.
Some of the rats had marks of undead and decay, one was even said to be a zombie, but was apparently just very afflicted with decay. Either a wraith with a pet or a necromancer or lich in hiding, gathering power.”
“Sewage? no cemetery? no crypt or sacrificial burial ground?” This is weird for an undead to go to places like these, although he is a ‘fresh’ lich, perhaps some of it’s common sense stayed and made him pick the safe choice?
“I also have a wewe in a suburban street but that one is pretty locked as wewe and nothing else, sight witness and all, wants it almost for free so he got turned down a month ago, don’t have much detail on that anymore.”
“Alright, I’ll go check. By the way, what should I do about the decay spell he has?”
“I heard you bought some coats that reject death attribute magic, with enough mana burners you should be safe from it being too strong for the coats. your armor is safe but the others… to be safe you could craft a gift of nature and make a charm… or just watch out for it and dodge. If you could make a life spell strong enough to negate it you could probably make one strong enough to kill the lich in one go.”
“True. Also, if it is that desperate it probably doesn’t have a lot of strength, feeding off rat life force.” I got all the information I needed, I am now ready to head back and prepare some more before going into action, tomorrow.
I would probably need to concoct a potion to get everyone sober again, and scold them too.
As I walk out the door, I can see my father almost shedding a tear for how I treat him. He probably felt helpless for the past 2 years not hearing from me. I should be a good daughter and say…
“I love too you, father.”