After a very comfortable, yet restless, night, Lanek availed himself of his new amenities. While he appreciated the availability of indoor plumbing, a freezing jet of water striking his nether regions and a cold shower dulled that appreciation somewhat.
Once he was dressed, he made his way to the meeting room to speak to Caelis, sniffling all the while. Upon entering, the spirit appeared and greeted him cheerily.
“Good morning, Lanek! Sleep well?”
“Yeah, but the cold water was not my favorite way to wake up.” he grumbled moodily. “Out of curiosity, where do the drains go? I find it odd that the plumbing still works after all these centuries.”
“Ah, the short answer is that there are typically two waste water cisterns in a building this large. The drains go to the first cistern which has very fine mesh that captures any solid waste that will be broken down and consumed by slimes. The water that passes through the mesh proceeds on to the second waste water cistern where water wisps will cleanse the water, at which point it will be sent on to the clean water cistern where those wisps keep the water clean indefinitely.”
“I’m guessing the slimes are non-sentient as well? And what about the pipes, don’t they need maintenance?” he asked.
“Of course, we wouldn’t enslave sentient creatures for our own convenience.” she responded, sounding somewhat offended at the mere thought. “As for the pipes, I have no idea what material was used in their construction, but I don’t remember ever having to worry about replacing or repairing them.”
“Well, it’s good to know that I won’t have to worry about water or plumbing for a long while. I just wish we could get the heating on. I’m not looking forward to the cold showers in the winter, especially since I can’t use the hearths or fireplaces to heat the water without giving away my position.”
“Good point. At least with the heating elements on, you could use the stoves in the kitchen to heat the water for bathing at the very least. The good news is that I found the crystals for those systems while you slept, they were embedded in the walls opposite the activation glyphs behind false panels. As I was afraid of, the crystals are completely empty and would require far more mana than you can provide.” Caelis said.
“I guess that would make sense, it is a big building. How large was the Order?” Lanek asked.
“Several hundred warriors total. While they only ever had 9 gryphon riders here, they had a large assortment of heavy foot soldiers, archers, and even a few mages and clerics. They did have more warriors and gryphon riders in other cities, but I was given to understand that this monastery and the makeup of their forces were the same. Also, I believe that I know why Idril is sealed away. She was the only female the Order had in the city, so I think that the grandmaster saw how desperate the battle against the Depths was going to be and sealed her away for her own protection and to rebuild the order later.”
“Are female gryphons rare?” Lanek asked.
“Not rare, just extremely difficult to capture and tame. Not only will they put up a nasty fight when someone attempts to capture them, but all of the gryphons in the vicinity will come to their aid. That is why the vast majority of gryphon mounts were trained from birth. It’s also why hippogryphs are far more popular as a mount, they are both easier to train and capture. The prevailing theory was that this was due to the giant cat component vs the horse component in the hippogryphs.”
“You mean the lion portion?” Lanek asked, fascinated by the topic.
Caelis looked at him oddly, “There are many types of gryphon in the world, with different varieties of eagle and big cat portions. Lions, tigers, panthers, all of them have a counterpart in the gryphon species. I’ve even heard tales about wingless varieties, but I’ve never seen them myself.”
“What kind is Idril?”
“Lion. The lion type is better at fighting in a group, so the organized fighting forces would prioritize the acquisition of that specific type.” she explained.
“Alright, I need to focus, I could listen to this all day.” Lanek said with a laugh, “But, I need to get to work. I want to level up a bit and check out those shops you mentioned.”
“Good luck, then. I will continue exploring the monastery and perusing the library.”
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Wait a minute, can you interact with things in the monastery?” he asked, a bit startled.
“Yes, as long as I have a node in a structure, I can interact with physical objects. However, there is a limit and the average book is about it.”
“I see. Well, I’m glad that you have something to do. I was worried that you would be bored.” Lanek sighed in relief.
“That’s kind of you. Now, go. Leave me to my books.” she responded kindly.
----------------------------------------
Lanek eyed the armor in front of him, having decided that in addition to his sabre and chain whip, he would add the dagger and the chain mail. The brigandine honestly seemed more comfortable, but he felt that the color of the armor would impact his stealth capabilities.
Heirloom Kusari Katabira [Rare] Kusari katabira is a form of light chain mail originating from one of the southern kingdoms and is extremely sought after by any class that prioritizes mobility and speed. This armor is crafted utilizing chain mail sewn onto the entire surface of a padded jacket, making it quite easy to don and adjust. This armor can be worn alone or with chain gauntlets that will extend the armor’s protection from the elbow all the way to the hands.
Fine Seax [Uncommon] A dagger originating from the raider tribes of the far north, these single-edged blades were designed for versatility. They were often heavy enough to chop wood for a fire or cut through rope and light armor. In addition, varieties the length of a short sword are also a common sight in the hands of the raider tribes.
Yep, that’s why I wanted it. The seax will be useful for more than just fighting. Lanek mused while looking at the weapon, noting its 40 cm long blade. Lanek proceeded to don the chain mail and attach the seax and sabre sheathes to his belt. He also strapped the throwing daggers to his thighs, just in case he needed a ranged option. However, he paused while looking at his gauntlet options.
He loved his han kote, but ultimately decided to wear the chain gauntlets that matched the kusari katabira. It all came down to protection. While the han kote were arguably sturdier, wearing them with the chain would leave a gap between the gauntlets and the chain sleeves, leaving his elbows exposed. On the other hand, the chain gauntlets were a part of the kusari katabira and would connect to the inside of the sleeves, eliminating that gap without impacting his range of motion.
Satisfied with his choices, Lanek left the monastery behind with Kazuma and Sanguineus trotting along at his side, having partaken in a bit of jerky that the Night Arrows had provided. While they walked, Lanek pondered how to recharge the crystals at the monastery. One option that stood out, although he wasn’t sure that Caelis would be pleased, was to attempt to use souls. They replenished his MP quite handily, but he didn’t know if it was possible to harvest a soul and keep it for future use.
The other option was to use monster cores, but that could take a very long time. He still wasn’t sure how to get them consistently as not every creature dropped them. A question for Caelis and Ograch, then.
Abruptly, Lanek felt himself be shoved to the side by Sanguineus, a spear piercing the air where he had been standing. Turning, Lanek found a twitching figure approaching. No, Lanek realized, Not twitching, flickering.
The creature appeared to move haltingly, but it was actually phasing in and out as it moved, and it was moving quickly. It was a disturbing sight to say the least, reminding him of the horror movies he used to watch far too much back home. The figure was covered in mail armor, blackened by ash. In its hands it carried an arming sword and heater shield, both also blackened by ash. He couldn’t see its face, only a void within the barbute it wore, with two sickly green orbs where there should have been eyes.
Within seconds, the creature was upon him, swinging its blade at monstrous speed toward his neck. Lanek stumbled back at the last second, taken off guard by the creature’s speed. Glancing past the creature, he could see three similar creatures exiting the alleys all around, one of which carried a small buckler with a javelin in its hand and with several more on its back. Ah, that’s what almost got me.
The other two creatures were more lightly armored than his current foe, bearing smaller round shields and leather armor. They were armed with a mace and spear respectively. While Lanek backpedaled, sabre desperately fending off the creature, he used [Identify].
Ash Wight
lvl 30
Ash wights are the corrupted corpses of dead adventurers reanimated by the Ashen Depths. These wights will typically travel and fight in the same parties they died alongside. These creatures are extremely dangerous as they retain their weapon skills, although not any spells that they had in life. However, the true danger when facing an ash wight is that if you encounter a party of ash wights, they most likely fought together while alive and will retain that teamwork in death.