Dragon's Road
Chapter 11
Castle on the Lake
The Silfor river was the largest waterway in Brent Kingdom. It flowed through the mountains between Brent and Rosenheim north where it emptied at the ocean.The average width of the river was an eighty meters long, its depth between ten and twenty meters. Ferries sailed up and down the river constantly.It was because of this river that trade between Brent and Rosenheim was so great, despite the fact that such a large mountain range lined the border between them.
Ryuu traveled along the river north, going nowhere in particular. He sought the unexplored lands beyond the ocean, but any adventure would do. He just wanted to get his name and the name of his fighting style out there the best he could.
A ferry ride was not cheap, but it was not expensive either. Ryuu could afford it if he wished, but he still prefered traveling by foot. Doing so had several advantages. Monsters of many types frequented could be found along the river. He used them to strengthen his staff, a sentient weapon that strengthened as he used it.. It also had other benefits. There were many fisherman by the river, and most would be willing to sell and even cook some of their catch for some money. A few even offered to give Ryuu food for free.
NPCs exist in a game to help or direct adventurers, most enjoy speaking to them, even if the information is worthless. One such fisherman had a few interesting stories to share with Ryuu.
“I used to be a great adventurer back in the day. Then I took an arrow to the knee. After that I couldn’t travel much so I became a fisherman.”
“Arrow to the knee huh?” asked Ryuu.
“Yeah. Funny thing though, it seems that kind of injury is not all that uncommon.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I’ve met five others who all had to retire from adventuring because they took an arrow to the knee.”
“Huh. Wierd.”
The fisherman nodded. Then he asked, “Have you heard of the Mirage Castle?”
“No. What is it?” NPCs around certain areas often gave random bits of information related to area specific quests or events. Finding information on such things is easy, discovering the event less so.
“It is a rumored site around the town of Folls. It pops up randomly at certain places, never the same spot twice. If you approach it however it disappears like a mirage.”
“Well that is interesting. What’s inside?”
“No one knows. No one has ever been able to enter it.” At that moment the fisherman’s line tugged and he started reeling in. “Oh here’s a big one.”
Ryuu considered whether or not to pursue the adventure. If NPC’s were giving information about it so easily then many Users would know of it. The fact that the castle remained undiscovered meant that every User who sought to find it had failed. That being said, it could prove a good challenge.
Although there were many adventurers with far more fame than Ryuu, he still found that NPCs gave him information more freely than they did others. If this was because he had a good reputation with NPCs or because of his title of Underdog Champion he didn’t know, but it did mean he had a greater chance of acquiring informations others could not.
The trading town of Folls was built at the edge of Mirror lake, the largest body of water in Brent kingdom. From one side you could not see all the way to the other. Mirror lake was connected via the Silfor river to the ocean, and was surrounded by an expansive forest on the northern side. Thus it had become the largest shipbuilding town in four kingdoms. Although there were monsters in the lake, they were far weaker than the monsters in the ocean, thus making the lake a preferable place to safely build and sell sea faring ships. It was also one of the largest trading posts in the kingdom, with more goods moving in and out of Folls on a daily basis than most cities.
Ryuu found his way to the Foll’s Quest board, the check on the various opportunities posted for adventurers.
Most were requests from NPCs asking for help with material collection. One asked for the hides of a certain monster that lived on the western shore of the lake. Another requested a large amount of gemstones. There were also bodyguard quests to protect lumberjacks from forest monsters and quests to locate criminals and thieves with bounties on their heads. Ryuu eventually found what he was looking for on it. Three different requests, posted by Users, for any information regarding the Mirage castle. The rewards on each seemed to be competing with each other, but it confirmed for Ryuu that finding the castle was not easy.
Ryuu decided this town was a good place to stay for a while and took a quest on the bounty board. Bounties were difficult, but rewarded fame as well as money for completion.
His first target was a thief named Helkil Ton, wanted for stealing a large amount of wine barrels a week prior from a merchant ship.
There are three parts to capturing a wanted man. Knowing what the target wants, knowing what the target needs, and knowing where the target can acquire these things.
Wine can be easily bought but not easily sold. Each wine is unique, and even of the marked barrels were switched out, the taste would give it away. So stolen wine can only be sold as stolen wine. Thus, the thief would need a place that is willing to buy stolen wine. After a few hours of passing gold coins around at various pubs, Ryuu eventually found one such place.
The door to the shady establishment was guarded by an overbearing thugs that didn’t appear too bright. He saw Ryuu approach and lifted his great axe as a threat.
Ryuu said, “I have business with Mr. Roland.”
The thug looked over him for a moment, but let him through. Ryuu thanked his charisma stat, it made dealing with NPCs much easier.
The establishment was a tavern that, despite the guard outside, appeared quite normal. Ryuu walked up to the bar and asked, “Do you have any Winter wine?”
The barman looked over Ryuu for a moment and said, “Nope, don’t sell Winter wine here.”
Ryuu figured it couldn’t be that easy. Every barmen knew that every barrel of Winter wine had been stolen, so if any place had it, it could only have come from the thief. The barkeep wasn’t about to advertise to a complete stranger that he possessed stolen wine.
Ryuu placed a stack of seven gold pieces on the bar and said, “Would it be alright if I had a word with the owner, Mr. Roland?”
The barman looked at the gold for a moment before nodding and taking it.
Ryuu had a large amount of gold he had no use for due to all the loot he sold from bandits and the like that attacked him, as well as the money he made from selling the prizes of the tournament. He had also learned the proper amount to bribe when doing so. Too little would be insulting, and too much would make one greedy and want more.
A few moments later a well dressed gentleman approached Ryuu. A moment later Ryuu heard several doors close. The man said, “You were asking for Winter wine huh? WHy would you ask for such a thing here?”
Ryuu calmly said, “I took a job to catch a certain thief. I don’t care about the wine, just the man who sold it to you.”
"Right to the point huh. I can’t say I dislike that. But revealing such information would be bad for business.”
The air in the room was getting tense. The situation could go south very quickly. So Ryuu decided to play a bit dirty. “Letting him stay free would be bad for business too. The man has a mouth, and uses it too frequently. You think I found this place by accident?”
The man remained silent for a moment. The accusation that the man wasn’t an asset but a liability unsettled him for a bit. He walked over to the other side of the counter, pulled out a bottle, and poured a glass of wine. He said, “Have you ever had a bottle of Winter wine?”
Ryuu shook his head.
“Great stuff. Best when chilled. No one should ever have to drink it warm.”
After finishing the glass, he said, “I hear Ton has a long skiff he used for the theft. That’s all I can tell you.”
“Thankyou.” With that Ryuu left.
Finding out where Helkil Ton was right now would’ve been useful, but he left with more than he had which was productive as well.
Now Ryuu needed to find out what the thief wanted. Such a thing was not difficult. Thieves are not the most imaginative of people. If something works once, why change it. It was likely that Helkil was going to rob another boat, so Ryuu just had to find out what valuable commodities were coming in and which were poorly guarded. Doing so is costly, but not difficult.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Ryuu scouted out a few of the most likely areas for someone to rob. A successful heist required foreknowledge, so it was likely he would find his thief scouting one of these locations.
On the third area he searched, he found a unique long skiff that was anchored at a spot with a perfect view of the dock a certain ship carrying many bundles of silk would land in the next day.
Ryuu rented a cart, purchased some rope and a blanket, and found a man matching Ton’s description walking along the dock.
A man carrying rope on a dock is not something that stands out. Ryuu walked right up to and past Ton. Then he said “Mr. Ton?”
On impulse the man turned around, only realized as he saw Ryuu’s face that he had given himself away. He moved to run into the water but Ryuu was a step faster and punched the thief in the diaphragm hard enough for the man to keel over. Ryuu then quickly tied the man up, lifted him onto his shoulder and brought him to his cart where he dropped the bound man and tossed the blanket over him.
He walked the cart over to the man who posted the office of the man who posted the job.
Helkil was taken inside, still bound, by some guards, and Ryuu was asked to wait inside for the reward. A portly fellow in a suit walked up to Ryuu and said, “Thankyou for delivering this thief to me. Here is your reward.”
Bounty Complete: Helkil Ton
The notorious thief will never steal again.
Reward: 550 gold
Fame +65
The man continued. “If I do say, that was quite well done. If you’re up for it, I might know a few people who are in need of a capable man such as yourself.”
As so it began. One job did not always lead to another, but if one picked the right job and did it well enough there was always work to be done. Ryuu somewhat enjoyed doing jobs with shady people because it reminded him of his ‘misspent youth.’ He wasn’t born a boy scout after all.
In addition to bounties, Ryuu did a large variety of quests that spread his name throughout the NPCs of the town. He diverted groups of monsters that were attacking lumberjacks without killing them, he acquired a large amount of a rare herb (with Ishibo’s help) for a potion master, and he defeated a large number of lake monsters that were attacking a merchant ship.
After a month of various quests, an NPC shared a piece of information with Ryuu that he had not heard of before.
Ryuu had become friends with a local bartender by doing quests for the man’s friends and family. Few adventurers took advantage of the fact that intimacy with some NPCs can be shared through family, so even though the bartender had never given Ryuu a quest, they were good friends.
The bartender said, “I think I heard a while back of some guy who did make it inside the Mirage castle.”
Ryuu nodded as if he was only half paying attention, he said, “Really? What happened?”
The man continued, “The dude touched the castle and ran off after finding out it wasn’t a mirage.”
Ryuu chuckled and asked, “That’s funny. Know where I can find this guy?”
The bartender motioned with his head to a scrawny young man in the corner of the bar. Ryuu thanked the man, left a silver coin for a tip, and walked over to sit next to the young lad.
The looked up at Ryuu and said, “Oh, hello. What can I do for you?”
The fellow had likely heard of Ryuu somewhat. It would make talking to him much simpler.
“I heard you once touched the Mirage Castle. I’d like to hear that story.”
The man squirmed in his seat. He was the nervous type that would likely faint on the spot if he had to address a room full of people.
The man said, “There is not much to tell. Really.”
Ryuu said, “Share what you can.”
“Hmm. Alright. I was looking for flowers in the woods for.... a girl I fancy... I this one I liked growing out of a log on in the water of the lake and swam to it. After getting it I swam back. A bit later I saw it. The mirage castle. I’d never seen it before and never really believed in it. But I wanted to see if it really disappeared when you got close. I walked right up to it and touched it. When I realized it wasn’t a mirage I kinda panicked and ran away.I calmed down later and went back, but the castle wasn’t there, and I haven’t seen it since.”
Ryuu asked, “Have you told this story to anyone else?”
“Yeah, a few people.”
Ryuu nodded, thanked the man, and left for the quest board. It confirmed his suspicion. Several of the information requests regarding the Mirage castle had been updated. They were requesting information on rare flowers or information on the local fauna. They had progressed, but they had not found out the secret yet. Ryuu felt a small smirk form on his face. At this point, he had something even he considered an unfair advantage, but he would still use it all the same.
Ryuu left for the forest and took out his staff. “Ishibo, could you ask the trees if there are any flowers that grant access to the Mirage Castle?”
-One moment master.
Ryuu’s staff was a sentient tree that could alter its form, (though not its weight). It could of course speak to other trees. Such an ability could be acquired by a user, but only by specific branches of certain classes like Druid. For a User, having a weapon that could ask the trees for specific information and relay it to the user via telepathy was practically a cheat.
-The white cordelia flower, when soaked with water and bathed in moonlight with open the path.
Of course the ability wasn’t a complete cheat. Ryuu had of course gone to the forest to have Ishibo ask the trees about mirage castle long before, but they did not know anything at the time. If Ryuu wanted an answer, he had to linearly progress through the information gathering part of the event to get to the point where he knew just the right question to ask.
Ryuu returned to the town to finish up his business there and get enough food to last a while. He waited until the next full moon and set out the the forest to find a white cordelia. He didn’t know what one looked like, but his staff did so he found one eventually. He picked it brought it to the lake where he dipped it in the water before letting it take in the moonlight. Suddenly it started glowing.
-Dive into the water.
“Huh?”
-Dive into the water.
Ryuu thought the event to allow entry into the castle was just to acquire the flower and get it wet on a night with a full moon,but it appeared to not be as straightforward as that.
Ryuu jumped into the water and the flower stopped glowing.
He came back out, but when he did, he was not on the shore he had just leaped from.
Ryuu looked around, wondering if a stream had carried him to a different spot. Then he noticed something wrong, the forest didn’t have any shadows. He looked up and saw that there was no moon, then he looked back at the lake’s surface to see that the reflection of the moon was still there.
“Where am I?”
Ryuu examined the reflection again. He noticed that the reflections didn’t match up with what was around him. In fact, the image reflected appeared to be where he was before he dived into the water.
Ryuu felt the epiphany come to him like a smack to the face.
“Mirror lake. It’s called mirror lake.” Through the reflection he had come, with the flower opening the way. Ryuu walked away from the lake and through the forest. It didn’t take long for him to find it, a grand castle made of pure white stone.
You have discovered Mirror Castle.
Fame +450
Ryuu couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face. Discovering a new area had a much larger bonus than most acts, even winning a tournament. With this his fame had reached over a thousand.
The grand white doors seemed to beckon him in. Ryuu walked up to them and pushed. They opened without resistance.
“Well I’ve come this far, it’d be a shame to back out now.”