After a bit, she said, “I thought you were going to … go slow.”
“Well… it is your fault. You just looked too cute!”
She shut up at that, face burning once again before slapping her arm out at him and punching his arm, although her face smiled brilliantly at the compliment. She took some time to regain her equilibrium, but gave as good as she got.
“Well… I’ll make sure to remember this in the future. It’ll be good ammunition.”
“Hey! You can’t do that! Not allowed!”
“Ha! You always tease me!”
“Because it’s… you lik.. uh… I… it’s good for you!”
“Excellent. Then it must be good for you as well.”
“Ah… it’s only healthy for women.”
“Well, it’s always a good idea to… what do you say to Kukurnal? Verify data?”
Joe’s mouth dropped at this, mind frozen as he found himself unable to respond before he laughed loudly, “OK. You got me with that one.”
Kilniara giggled brightly and the two fell into silence once more before she quickly stood and held out her hand to him. He grasped it while looking at her quizzically.
She answered his unspoken question quickly, “Let’s walk some more. I’m too excited to simply sit.”
“Sure,” came Joe’s reply.
Soon, the two began meandering around the city, direction meaningless as they simply talked about anything that came to mind truly only concerned with enjoying one another’s presence, as unconcerned and lost in their conversation as they were in their meanderings. Soon, they found their way back to the park they’d just been resting in, finding the trees and low bushes much more pleasant and the glow of the lights inviting, drawing them back to the lighted areas of the city as the sun lowered.
The sun soon settled low in the sky and the darkness of dusk became prominent enough that Joe became aware of it and directed the two of them back home to the inn. As they turned to leave the park, he noticed the glow of light coming from several drain grates left in place to catch excess water from the watering of the plant life and was curious why the sewer lines were lighted.
“So, this probably isn’t the most romantic of conversations on a first date, but… why the lights in the sewage?”
Kilniara looked up at him in a bit of shock before bursting into a fit of giggling before shaking her head and replying, “You really should become a priest of knowledge. You want to know everything.”
Joe smiled back at her, unconcerned with her giggling and shrugged his shoulders in reply, “Learning about your new world is the difference between life and death.”
She sobered at that before nodding, “True, but you do have to admit you are eternally curious.”
“A weakness of my people, maybe?”
“Hmm… possibly. You will have to introduce me to some of your people for me to judge.”
Joe’s smile died at that as the reminder of a lost home hit him once again and Kiliniara grimaced before squeezing his arm and apologizing quickly.
Joe shook himself from his gloom and forced a smile on his face just before he also lightened his heart, “It’s fine. I’ll have to learn to accept this. Really. I’ll be OK.”
Kliniara smiled softly back at Joe, both in encouragement and grateful for his easy forgiveness before she leapt to turn his attention away from the topic, “Well. The lights in the sewage are to keep the monsters from appearing.”
“Monsters can just appear?”
“Not often, and rarely, although with three dungeons in the immediate vicinity, it is much more likely.”
“Hmm… so monsters don’t spawn in the wilderness,” Joe questioned quizzically, now curious about the slimes that seemed to spawn with such regularity in the small lake village he’d ended up in initially.
“Oh no! They do so regularly, although they will spawn more likely with people around.”
“Really?”
“Yes. There are two main sources for a monster to spawn: dungeons and people.”
“Dungeons and people? Why?" Joe’s mind worried at the problem like a predator on a meaty bone.
“Hmm… the scholars and temples teach that the minds and unclean hearts of people draw in darkness and form the monsters from the hearts of evil people.”
Joe considered the idea, “And is this… proven? Didn’t you say monsters spawn in the wilderness?”
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“Only if people are around. Most of the wilderness is devoid of monsters, but if merchants or adventurers are traveling, monsters can form near them and then are drawn towards them to attack.”
“Hm… then why did … when Garnedell and I traveled to this city, we spent the night in the forest. No monsters spawned to attack us.”
“How many people were there?”
Joe cocked his head in thought before replying quickly, “A family with.. two? Maybe three? Kids? Then Garnedell and I. So maybe six or seven? I can’t really remember how many were in the family.”
“A group of only six or seven would be more than safe enough with a campfire. You did have a campfire, yes?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm. Then the light of the campfire would have been enough to cover any miasma you and your group would have created nearby.”
“Then, what’s a normal group size and a dangerous one?”
“Hmm… The general rule is one campfire for ten people. But for each group of ten extra people, one needs to double the number of campfires. Larger groups often must simply post guards and fend off the monster waves throughout the nights.”
“They cannot simply just light more fires?”
Kilniara shrugged, “At a certain point, it becomes too difficult. Twenty people only need three campfires. Thirty people need seven. But forty need fifteen and fifty need thirty one or thirty two. Soon, it simply becomes impossible as fifty people need sixty or more campfires and sixty need over a hundred. The general rule is that thirty people is about the max number of people to safely rest with campfires, but you do need two or three people feeding all the campfires for the whole night.
“If you travel through a forest or near the border of one, it is possible to find enough wood, otherwise you would need to bring some form of nature mage to bring enough wood or a several light mages to light enough space. The miasma from so many people simply spreads too far and leaves plenty of darkness for monsters to appear if campfires are not spread out far enough to light all the area that miasma could spread.”
Joe fell into silence at that, his thoughts twisting through all the new information before another ramification leapt into his consciousness, “Then, how do the cities keep from spawning so many monsters outside their walls?”
Kilniara smiled, “Most do not, or… they simply delay it for some time. There is a shield that blocks the miasma and holds it in. But to keep the miasma from building to dangerous levels, they will release the shields every once and a while, allowing the miasma to spill forth and spawn monsters. The guards will then conduct a miasma purge, killing the monsters that spawn during the purge. Powerful cities may release the miasma every year and spawn a monster wave, many with powerful monsters and thus powerful creatures, but they have more than enough powerful guards and adventurers to protect them. Smaller cities will release more regularly, from every few weeks to monthly or even just every six months.”
“Hm… Guess it’s a balance between greed and caution, huh.”
“What do you mean?”
“Hmm… I guess they would want to build up the miasma for more powerful monsters to gain more powerful cores or materials from the powerful monsters or release smaller regular miasma waves and just kill easy small fry but without any strong gains from it.”
“Oh! No… monsters formed from miasma are only half monsters, a kind of shadow or mist like creature rather than their fully formed doppelgangers in the dungeons or their natural forms in the wilds. When they are formed from miasma, monsters die as usual, but their body fades away and their cores are not fully formed, fading quickly away with their deaths. Oh, there are some important crafting materials from miasma mist cores, but they are very ephemeral and very difficult to use.”
Joe found himself a bit taken aback by this, “Then… why wait for more powerful monsters to form. There is no point. Simply release regularly so that guards are safer.”
“Hmm… many do so, but waiting for more powerful miasma monsters allows for greater growth. And as I said, some very advanced craftsmen do need mist cores, so…”
“Huh!” Joe found his mind meandering through these new ideas, mind whirling through all of this as it drifted in thought even as he wandered quietly with Kilniara on his arm. Kilniara subtly directed him back to the inn and when the returned, he glanced down at her and smiled a bit self-consciously.
“Sorry! My mind wandered. It was very interesting. I just,” Joe cut himself off and glanced down at her again, “Yeah… sorry,” he finished with some embarrassment.
Kilniara chuckled and shook her head, “I don’t mind. I find it… cute.”
Joe actually blushed at that and turned his head away even as he heard her bright giggling burst out. Joe sighed a bit before looking back at her with a smirk and shook his head with a smile. She burst into even more giggles at his look and the two finally stepped into the inn.
As the entered, Joe found himself automatically panning the room looking for Kukurnal or other individuals who might be seeking him, although he didn’t find anyone. He thought a bit before a squeeze on his hand dropped his gaze to the hand holding his and he glanced back up with a smile at Kilniara. Huh… maybe a slightly different plan for the evening. He then took a glance around the room once more, now assessing it for an appropriate place for two to enjoy a dinner before deciding this inn didn’t have any such thing in the common room.
He turned to the barkeep come innkeeper, “Do you have any private rooms for dinner or meeting?”
The innkeeper looked up and a slightly mocking smirk came on his face, “Do I look like a clansmen to be serving such here?”
Joe held in his grimace, keeping his face neutral even as his anger spiked a bit. Not that polite. Joe responded just as quickly, “Do I look like an adventurer with three apprentices who’s spent quite a bit of money here with a priest of Knowledge and the matriarch?”
The innkeeper froze, his hands unmoving on the cup he’d been washing before he visibly gulped slightly, “Ah, yes… sire. No. We do not have a private dining area.”
“Thank you for your polite reply. Then could I ask for dinner for two be brought to my room? I will have dinner in my room.”
The man seemed about to deny Joe’s request, a twitch of anger stuttering along his eye before he nodded in quiet acceptance.
“Thank you,” Joe offered as he turned away but then stopped, turning back to the innkeeper, asking for service and offering a hint, “Ah, right! If the Matriarch or Kukurnal, the priest of knowledge come seeking me tonight, please let me know so I may come down and join them? And, also? You might wish to maybe try to find a small place to put a private room? The Matriarch will likely join me in the evenings and you have seen Kukurnal has come almost every night. I’m fine eating in the common area with Kukurnal, but I think the Matriarch may wish for privacy. If you need some funds to do so, let me know.
“Oh! And… you probably don’t want to spread around when the Matriarch is spending her time here, but…if people were to find that the Matriarch enjoyed dining here regularly? I’m certain that … such news would intrigue those who wish to enjoy a meal here? Maybe an increase in the menu and dining space would make you a rich man? And even after I have gone, the inn where the Matriarch ate… intriguing, is it not?”
The innkeeper’s stoic face flushed through rapid emotions before quickly landing on barely concealed greed, his nods quickly changing to stuttering awkward bows. Joe smiled and bowed his slightly in return as well before dropping two cores on the inn keepers bar top but hidden from the general eyes of the room.