"Now, when you set your fletching on the shaft, you need to make absolutely certain that you're not placing the rise of the feather against the grain of the wood," Barthalomew, the strange Dwarven blacksmith that Merry had introduced Jim to, reminded him as Jim attempted to learn to make arrows from him. "Good, good. Now, once you've gotten the fletching in place, hold it carefully and don't. Move. A muscle."

Jim stood at the Dwarf's workbench, trying not to shift in place as the glue, which would hold the last feather on his newly made arrow in place, dried. Shooting another glance at the dark-haired Dwarf again, Jim was more impressed by the Dwarven man's wild and unkempt beard that extended to his waist in massive, tangled bush, than he was by the sheer amount of arrows the Dwarf had taught him to make.

"For this one, we're going to put a mithril head in place," Barthalomew told him, pulling a very sharp and oddly shiny, silvery metal arrowhead from a bucket of them that looked the exact same and held it out to Jim. "Some will tell you that the pin that holds the arrowhead in place needs to be the same metal as the arrowhead. They're wrong, I spent three years comparing everyhting about them that I could change to determine everything that can be changed. For elemental damages, you want to use a shaft carved from a half-elemental's bones, for enchantment conductivity, you want to use mithril, gold, white silver, black steel, and element-aligned woods, in that order. Feather's don't affect anything about damage and durability, but they do alter the flight; never use chicken feathers, Harpy feathers, or false feathers. And pins ought to be simple iron or copper, they weld easy and don't bind to the wood enough to crack the shaft. You should only use heavier or lighter metals when you're trying to make the arrow do something specific."

As the blacksmith continued to tell Jim all the various trivia facts about arrows, many of which he seemed to imply that he'd learned first-hand, Jim carefully tapped the iron pin through the mithril arrowhead's guidehole, and, once he had it through the other side, removed the excess material and grabbed the Dwarf's welding tool. Unlike a normal welder, the one Astrana's developers had made resembled a hammer with an enchantment that absorbed heat and pushed it through the head and into the struck target on impact. The tool had absorbed enough ambient heat from the hot forge that it was easy for Jim to lightly tap it on the iron pin's exposed points and weld the arrowhead in place. Finished, Jim examined his work.

Mithril Arrow: An arrow with a mithril arrowhead applied at the tip. The mithril head allows the arrow to conduct enchantment lines with stunning ease. Upon use, the shaft, made from the bones of a half-Death Elemental, will shatter and cause a severe rot to spread from the point of impact. You've learned the Skill: Fletching(Lesser)! You've learned the altered Skill: Barry's Fletching(Lesser)! Replaces Fletching(Lesser). Barry's Fletching(Lesser): Create arrows using raw materials. You've learned from the renowned Master Blacksmith Barthalomew Sledgearm how to alter your created arrows so that they can be more specialized.

"Good," Barthalomew said, looking at the arrow critically. "Now that we're done, get out. And take as many damned arrows as you can carry with you. I've finished my work with them and I'm sick of looking at the damned things."

"Thanks for all the help," Jim said with a grin at the Dwarf. "Do I owe you anything for teaching me?"

"Just a promise that you'll never teach anyone else how to make arrows using my methods," Barthalomew said turning away from Jim and moving toward the other side of the room where he removed his thick, leather forging apron and hung it on a hook beside the door. "Gonna be a few days before my shop's back in working order, but after that, I'll make you something, maybe something for that little letter opener you've got on your hip. Looks like my cousin's work."

"Your cousin?" Jim asked confused. "Barny?"

"Barnabus has always had crazy ideas," Barthalomew nodded. "How's that one working out for you?"

"Pretty good so far," Jim said looking down at his Trick Knife. "I had to use the saw to cut some troll fingers off the hands, so that worked out for me."

"Hmmm," Bathalomew mused as he looked at the knife. "I'll have to talk with him about what he's working on for it and ask how he made it. Go on now, git. A man's got a right to a hot bath without being gawked at by a stranger."

"Thanks again," Jim said, moving out the door and into the dirty front room filled with crates that were enchanted to hold large amounts of arrows. "He said I could take some of these, right?"

"Ah, Jim. There you are," Janet Alcott greeted him as Jim walked past the Cartographer's Guild on his way to Merry's General Store. "Been waiting for you to go by."

"Evening Janet," Jim greeted the woman as he set the heavy crate he'd been carrying to Merry's down on the step. "What's up?"

"The guild's gotten a direct request," she explained. "The Church of Grindel wants us to send someone to the Ubarion Penninsula and work to map it out to make sure that there hasn't been any changes in landscape and terrain. Normally, I'd send the missive to all our satellite's in the other cities and let someone pick it up from there, but since we've got a member in a city that's close to the Penninsula already, I thought I'd offer it to you first."

"What's the pay like?" Jim asked with a grin. "And thanks."

"No problem," Janet said, waving her hand as they watched the still-crowded streets flow with foot-traffic. "As for the request, you'll have to check it inside. City law about Guild business being conducted on the streets. I'll watch your box, it's on my desk."

Stepping into the building, Jim beelined for the guildmaster's secretarial desk and found the paper detailing the request lying on the top of other stacked papers.

The Church of Grindel requests a new map be made.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

The area we wish to be re-explored is the Ubarion Penninsula. We, the Church, will be conducting a large-scale exercise upon the Penninsula in the coming months. Please map the Penninsula as carefully as possible. Given the hazard of undead hordes and a cabal of necromancers that has been confined to the Penninsula, the Church of Grindel shall offer a large down payment to the Cartographer's Guild for your efforts in addition to the promised reward below.

Rewards: Five Gold coins; An Everflowing Flask of Holy Water; A Large Bag of Holding; A choice of a plot of developed land or 3 Silver coins.

A further Reward is offered for each confirmed member of the cabal and their general location.

A further Reward is offered for determining the best area for the Church to construct a new fortification.

All Rewards are redeemable at any location under the control of the Church of Grindel.

"Holy shit," Jim muttered to himself. "This has to do with Markus' new quest! That's so cool! And these rewards. Money is money, and a Bag of Holding is sweet, but why the holy water flask?"

Rereading the paper, Jim nodded to himself and moved to exit the building to talk to the guildmaster.

"Find it okay?" Janet asked as he stepped out of the building's interior.

"Yeah," Jim nodded. "It's something."

"It's nothing special compared to most of our requests," Janet shrugged. "All told, it's about fifty Gold, before the extra rewards."

"Fifty?" Jim asked, trying to keep his eyes from bugging out of his head. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Janet told him with an understanding smile. "Large Bags of Holding tend to go for around 25 Gold and any Everflowing Flask is another ten Gold at the least. When you account for the fact that it's been blessed to produce holy water, the price practically doubles. And on top of it all, you get a plot of developed land? That's enough for an enterprising member of the Hunter's Guild to retire."

"Why is the Everflowing Flask so expensive?" Jim asked. "I can get the Bag of Holding, but not that."

"Holy water is an excellent base for alchemical antidotes," Janet explained. "It's also very good for removing curses from your person. Most people can't afford to bathe in it, but with the Flask, you can do just that and never have to worry about suffering a curse's ill effects. That Flask might get you killed if it get's out that you have it."

"Wow," Jim muttered, a little starstruck at the whole thing. "That's a lot."

"That's a small amount compared to what we usually get," Janet said. "Of course, you have to remember that even if you're getting such excellent rewards, you're still spending months travelling the wilds, so you'll likely end up making just as much if you stay closer to the city and take on high-paying Hunter's jobs."

"I'll do it," Jim said before he could think further about it. "I'll get started on preparing for it tomorrow."

"Then come by the Guild building before you start," Janet said. "That down payment they mentioned was so you could prepare for this. I'll make up a list for you with things I recommend that you get before you go."

"Thanks," Jim grinned at her as he reached for his crate and hefted it with a groan. "Now, I just have to get this to Merry's before she's gone, and I'll get some brownie points with her."

"Good luck," Janet said, entering the building as Jim stepped into the much reduced flow of traffic on his way to the Half-Orc's general store.

"Hello?" Jim called as he entered the Barfing Minotaur while sunlight filtered into the alley the next morning. "Willow? Wulf? Are you there?"

"Do you know what time it is?" the Dwarf asked as he stuck his head out from the door leading to the back rooms. "Where else would we be?"

"Sorry," Jim said with a sheepish grin. "Did I wake you?"

"Did the sun rise?" Wulf asked unhappily.

"Right," Jim winced. "I was just wondering if you could tell me where Markus is."

"Try the Church of Grindel," Wulf said, ducking back behind the door. "And don't slam the door on your way out!"

"Thanks," Jim said to the empty room as he stepped out the door and back into the alley the tavern was situated in. "Now to find the Church."

"Excuse me," Jim said to the young Human woman wearing a nun's habit, "is this the Church of Grindel?"

"It is," she nodded with a smile before bowing her head to him. "Grindel's Grace guide you."

"Oh, thanks, you too," Jim said, rubbing his neck awkwardly. "Do you know if Markus is here? The Marquis that the Church asked to help them?"

"Sir Markus is resting," the nun told him kindly. "Can you leave a message?"

"Maybe to the guy that's supposed to be his aide," Jim said after a moment of thought.

"Paladin Squire Rankins will be here shortly," she said. "Please wait here."

"'Paladin Squire?'" Jim asked himself as he watched the woman walk quickly through the building and ascend a staircase. "I thought they'd be called something different."

As he waited, Jim looked around the large room and examined the pillars that supported the ceiling carefully, noting that many of them showed kind acts and just as many showed atrocities.

"Is that one a genocide in action?" he wondered aloud as he waited stepping closer to a pillar that showed a group of men on horseback riding through a series of villages and cities, slaughtering as many as they could.

"That pillar depicts the destruction of the Western Empire of Light," a voice told him. "The Paladins of the Watching Reaper rode out and sacked more than three-quarters of the Empire's lands after they'd unified over two-thirds of the continent. Their efforts allowed the Dark Pantheon to unite together and break the power block that had formed between the Light Pantheon."

"Which god did they serve?" Jim asked curiously as he looked behind him and saw a Human man and the nun that he'd been speaking to earlier.

"Grindel of course," the man said in a tone that said the answer was obvious. "The Order of the Watching Reaper only awakens when the other two Pantheons become unbalanced and threaten the lives and safety of the member races of the one another."

"So these pillars show.." Jim trailed off as he looked around and took in the sights carefully.

"They show the worshippers of Grindel engaging in acts as vile and foul as they are sacred and wonderful," the man said. "The Gray Pantheon seeks to hold the balance between the world, and if Light becomes so blinding that Dark is destroyed, then who is to stop the Light from burning those it claims to protect? Conversely, if Dark is so smothering and encompassing, then where do we pull our hope from so that we rise against it and shine light once more upon the world?"

"I'm not sure I like the idea of Grindel and his worshippers being so open with admitting to so many terrible things," Jim said carefully.

"Grindel and Brandi have always seen truth as something precious and to embody that ideal, we, their worshippers, seek to pull the truth to light," the man explained. "Especially if it does not show us in a flattering light. After all, why should the Watcher of the Dead care what others think?"

"I'm still not a fan of the idea," Jim grimaced. "So let's get what I came here for out of the way and I can leave before I really get into a debate with you about something I'm not sure I understand."

"Ah, yes," the man said with a slight bow. "I am Rankins. I have been assigned to serve as aide to Sir Markus until the completion of our request. You have a message for him?"

"I just want you to tell him that Jim's the one checking out the Ubarion Penninsula," Jim said to the man. "Make sure he knows that I'll be available for a message after sundown. That's when I'll make camp."

"Very well," Rankins nodded. "On behalf of the Church of Grindel, thank you for accepting our request."

"Thank you," the nun echoed with a deeper bow. "We are very grateful for your efforts."

"Yeah," Jim said as he walked away from them and tried to look at the pillars. "I'm sure."