The angel slowly faded back to what she had been before.
“So, now we get treasure AND a manor. Good job, Worm.”
“I don’t know much about divine methods,” Elyndris spat at the tree. “So, I don’t know what to expect from these gifts."
They headed back to the grand hall.
“Hey, Klaw,” Daggat asked as they were getting ready to explore. “What happened between you and the demon?”
“We killed a bunch of zombie things, then it slipped in through a window. It told us to leave. Naturally, I told IT to fuck off. Then it picked me up and slammed me through the floor.” Well, that was about as Daggat had expected.
"Did you find anything interesting before then?”
“No. But I did find something you would like. C’mon, I’ll show you.”
Klaw led Daggat to the small room he had first run to. It contained a desk, a few chairs, and a small bookcase full of paperwork and books. Daggat practically drooled over the books. He dashed from book to book, glancing through their contents.
Ledgers, financial reports, tax information, and a brief history of the manor. He glossed through the last one but ignored the rest. This manor was built as a reward to Sir Varnsach upon his knighting. Daggat didn’t know what service he performed to be gifted this place, but it must have been major. The project took ten years to build under the knight's supervision.
Meanwhile, settlers built other buildings to enjoy the safety that a lord provided. This was to become a logging town.
Only a bit more than twelve years had passed since the construction of the manor, and then the notes stopped. That must have been when the place was condemned forty-odd years ago.
He copied it for a more detailed look later, as well as a financial report. It might hold the secrets of hidden funds or something.
Next, he investigated the desk itself. The shelves had loose paper, dried ink, pens, and other tools for general office work. One desk was locked; however,
He tried to pull it open, but it was really stuck in there.
“Hey, Klaw, come break this.” Klaw perked up and cracked his knuckles.
He was also unable to force it open. Most people could get pretty strong if they built that way. So it seemed locks were built to counter that. But the desk itself was not. Using the ruined blade, they managed to cut the lock.
Inside the locked compartment was a fancy glass bottle. It held a clear, amber liquid. There was also a small journal, a satchel of coins, and various contracts.
Daggat copied the journal and pocketed the coins. He would like to read through it now, but Klaw looked terribly bored. They had better move on to somewhere more interesting.
Klaw had abandoned the boots, gloves, and helm. But he kept the breastplate. Across the middle of it was a crack. It was more like cracked stone than metal.
“Let’s go. Lead the way.”
The roots in the halls and windows were inert, so exploring during the day was much easier. Was that an untethered thing, or was it just these creatures? He wished he could find out.
Above the great hall was a series of locked rooms. Klaw could kick these in, fortunately. The first led into a large room. The lord's private quarters. It had all the gaudy additions any lord would give their own quarters. A sitting room, a large bed, and dressers, drawers, and a powder station.
Daggat and Klaw sifted through the place. They found some jewelry, which they squirreled away in a sack they found at the bottom of a dresser.
There was a glass oval above a desk, but it was covered in dust. Daggat wiped it away and found his reflection on the other side. He had seen reflections in water or shiny metal, of course, but never had he seen one so clear.
He had no idea he was this handsome. His head was a bit unbalanced, with the missing ear and all, but still. He grinned at himself. Then Klaw’s face appeared behind his. He scowled.
“What is it?”
“Do you hear that?” Daggat focused on his hearing and lifted his ear up. There it was. A rhythmic thumping that echoed from outside.
“Yeah, what is it?” Then, a crack. Followed by several others. Then a great tearing of wood and a ground-shaking slam.
Daggat and Klaw ran downstairs and outside just in time to see the remnants of dust and snowdrifts. In front of the exit of the manor, a massive tree had been felled. It now lay blocking the entrance.
It would have been annoying at best to circumvent, but the warning was clear. They have the power to take down a tree just to lock them in. They didn’t want the crew to escape.
Soon, the rest of the crew ran outside to see what had happened. Daggat turned to face them.
“So, looks like they want us to stay. That’s good, 'cause we aren't leaving. I bet it was the woodsman.” The chopping started up again. Likely to block the other entrance.
“We should kill it,” Elyndris added, and flew in a circle.
“I don’t think so. We’re still wounded. Here is my plan. Slowly explore the manor over the next few days. Cut down any corpse wood for easy experience. Then, when we have recovered, we will take them on one at a time. We should get a level or two from them if we are lucky.” He gestured to the chopping noise. “This is just posturing. It changes nothing.”
Daggat presented two rude gestures in the direction of the chopping. They MIGHT have been able to kill the woodsman. If that was what it really was. But what kind of strength was required to fell one of these trees with an ax? One hit from that would kill any of them. Besides, he wanted to get an idea of where the others might be hiding.
As the rest of the party dispersed, Daggat inhaled deeply. The air was fresh and crisp. Back to work.
He and Klaw went around the manor. It was built in three parts. The central wing, which was three stories tall, and the two-story north and south wings. At the center was the great hall, and above it were the living quarters. He had yet to find a way to the third floor.
They circled north and found an iron gate where the building met the wall. It was overgrown with weeds and roots. Claw made short work of it, and they pushed their way in.
A garden waited in the cold. It was enclosed by the wall and building, almost more of a courtyard. Daggat recognized leeks, onions, and garlic. Plants Calion was leaving to grow through the winter. Something like that, Daggat never paid attention to gardening. Ironically, it was Klaw who took the most interest in it. Likely because he got to tear up weeds. The important thing was someone, or something, was tending it.
Along the wall was a line of overgrown trees, different from the local variety. Smaller and leafless. Possibly dead, he would have to wait for it to get warmer.
There was also a scent in the air. An acrid, rotten smell. He followed his nose to a blackened wall. Not black from fire or paint. Mold. So much it had eaten away at a door leading to a glass greenhouse. It was built into the side of the home.
Daggat inched toward it. A rotting smell emanated from it. There was also… singing. It was rhythmical but wet. Like someone trying to sing a lullaby from underwater.
He poked his head through the hole in the wall. A forest of fungi was on the other side. All different shapes and sizes of mushrooms. They grew from… corpses. No, corpse wood. It was hard to tell. In the center of the room was a woman.
Well, Daggat thought it was a human. She wore a dress that was multicolored in different molds and had various shelf-like toadstools growing from her corpse wood skin. The lady, for sure. Atop her head was a large flower that seemed to be made of meat. It lazily hung open, and there was a visible gloss to it.
Something clattered behind him. He pulled his head from the hole at the same time he heard the lady gasp. Klaw had gotten into a shed and was rummaging around the tools.
When Daggat looked back, she was gone.
“Klaw, you idiot. You scared her off!”
“Who?”
“The lady. She was in there, singing. She’s gone now.”
“Well, that’s two. Maybe she’ll come back?”
“Maybe. Let's try that door.” The door in question had a pipe leading away from the wall near it. The pipe led to a long trough.
It opened after some prodding. Within was a stone room with a large well in the center. It was full of water. A slight trickle of water from the well flowed into a drain in the wall. What was below them?
He turned to see Klaw head deep in the water, gulping. He gasped for air as he came up.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“That’s good. You should try this.” Daggat sipped some water from a palm. It was cold but clean. Crisper and more pure than any water he had ever tasted. This might make for a fine alchemy base.
Another room was connected to this. Klaw cursed, and Daggat laughed.
It was a bath.
A large tub had a ladder built in to climb in and out of, as well as what looked to be a complicated drain system. Copper pipes connected to the ceiling. They fed into the bath and into a series of orbs. Each orb had holes drilled into it. Small chains dangled from each.
Daggat stared at the pipes. He found himself subconsciously following them through the room and into another, smaller room. The pipes fed into an iron tank that was situated over a cold hearth. A pulley system seemed to allow a bucket to lift water up to it and then dump its load into the tank.
Hot water would then flow into either the bath or the orbs with holes in them. This was something to experiment with. Daggat spent some time searching the bath and boiler room, as well as the garden. He avoided the greenhouse.
Finally, they decided to head back to the hall.
Unfortunately, they encountered no walking dead when they explored. That meant the day was safer to explore, at least. Daggat also did not get much sleep, and neither did anyone else. A nap was in order.
Back in the hall, it had changed. The chairs were neatly placed in their spots. The dust was gone. Anath was still mopping a corner. She waved as they entered. The warmth of the fire was inviting.
Someone, likely Anath, had boarded up the broken windows above. Elyndris drifted in the air to practice flying. Birdy watched her with jealousy clear in the cat's eyes. Its one good wing flexed in and out.
Daggat found Hunter and Zuss in the kitchen. They had cleaned most of the tools and utensils and were in the process of organizing.
“Hey, Daggat! Welcome back! I’ve got a stew going for us; it should be done in half an hour.” It smelled like warg meat, but he wasn’t going to complain. "Did you find anything good?”
“Yeah, a bath, garden, and one more of the awakened corpse woods. She ran, though.”
“Hey, Dag, come check this out.” Zuss led him to a small, broken door in the back of the kitchen. It led to stairs going down. Ah, he knew there was something below them.
At the bottom, he was disappointed to find only a small room.
In the center of the room was a corpse. Not a corpse wood, but a real human body. But it was ancient, near mummified. Based on the beard, it was an old man. Next to it were a dozen empty bottles.
Wine filled the wine holder in the room. A wine cellar.
“Nice find. But what is our friend doing here?” Daggat thumbed the corpse.
“No idea. But the wine here. Other spirits in that other room. There's even alcohol hidden around the place. Whoever lived here before had a PROBLEM.”
Daggat inspected the body. No obvious wounds. And he had clearly drunk a lot of wine. Did he drink himself to death?
“Hey, was that door broken?”
“Nah, I had Hunter break it open.”
Daggat inspected the door. On the ground was a piece of wood. He held it up to the door. It was the perfect size to use as a brace.
He put it all together. The man locked himself down here and drank himself to death. What would cause a man to do that?
A demon might. How long had the demon been here? Since it was condemned.
“Well, I am going to eat and then get some rest. I recommend you all do the same. None of us gets a good night's sleep. How are the wounds?”
“Better, for the most part,” Elyndris answered. “By my rough calculations, the fire triples healing speed. Another night and I should be fine, and Zuss should be able to move more freely. Anath’s arms are already scabbing over.”
“Excellent.”
He went into detail about what he found while exploring. As they ate, they asked questions, shared stories, and generally joked around. Anath had opened up a bit more, but she was still wary. That, and she had a pretty bad hangover.
He settled into his chair to drift off for a nap. That night, they would hunt. He knew where to start looking.
Daggat
True Name: Daggat
Soul: Monster
Genseed: gremlin [ 3 Str, 4 Dex, 3 Con, 2 Int, 3 Wil, 3 Cha; Regenerating Teeth, Rot Resistance; Tiny Size]
Genbloom: goblin [ +2 Str, +2 Dex, +2 Con, +1 Int, +1 Wil; Scavanger; Small Size]
Monster Level: 7
Attributes (0/6):
Strength: 11
Dexterity: 11
Constitution: 11
Intelligence: 20
Will: 10
Charm: 12
Feats:
Encounter: True Angel
Ability: Mighty Intellect
Act: Fledgling Alchemist
Knowledge: System Knowledge
Act: Devotion [Layered feats]
Act: Usurper
Act: Touch of Death
Skills(0/3):
Alchemy: 1 [Source: Fledgling Alchemist]
System Aptitude: 1 [Source: System Knowledge]
System Assistant: 1
Mind Codex: 1 [Synergy: Mental notes + Copy Tome]
Party Leader: 1 [Source: Usurper]
Notable Natural Skills:
Literacy: Apprentice
Biotraits (2/6):
Base size: Small [Source: Goblin]
Regenerating Teeth [Source: Gremlin]
Enhanced Night Vision [Source: Gremlin]
Disease Resistance [Mutations: Rot Resistance; Source: Gremlin]
Hypnotic Gaze [Mutations: Dominating Gaze]
Temperature Resistant Skin [Synergy: Fire Resistant Skin + Cold Resistant Skin]
Scavenger [Source: goblin]
Death Sight [Source: Touch of Death]
Transformations:
Drakeheart Form:
+2 strength
+2 charm
Extreme Temperature Resistant Scales [Synergy: Fireproof scales + Temperature resistant Skin]
Fire breath
Night Stalker form:
+2 strength
+2 dexterity
Dark vision [Night Vision Enhanced]
Deepen Shadow
Other:
Variant: +10 Intelligence
Notable Gear:
Strange pure-white sword
Hunter
True Name: Hunter
Soul: Mortal
Genseed: Ogre [ 8 Str, 2 Dex, 6 Con, 2 Int, 3 Wil, 3 Cha; Ogre's curse; Large Size]
Hearth Tender Level: 6 [+1 Str, +1 Con, +4 Wil; Invoke Torch, Hearth Fire]
Attributes (1/5):
Strength: 13
Dexterity: 6
Constitution: 12
Intelligence: 8
Will: 13
Charm: 7
Feats:
Knowledge: System Knowledge
Act: Vile Concoction
Act: Devotion [layered feats]
Act: Slayer
Skills (0/7):
System Aptitude: 1 [Source: System Knowledge]
Invoke Torch: 1
Hearth Fire: 1
Sacred Flame: 2 [Perks: Debilitating Warmth]
Encompassing Warmth: 1
Brilliant Bash: 2 [Perks: Hearth Flame]
Bounty Hunter: 1 [Source: Slayer]
Seek: 1
Biotraits (0/1):
Base Size: Large
Disease Resistance [Mutations: Rot Resistance; Source: Vile Concoction]
Other:
Curse: Ogre Curse
Zuss
True Name: Zuss
Soul: Monster
Genseed: gremlin [ 3 Str, 4 Dex, 3 Con, 2 Int, 3 Wil, 3 Cha; Regenerating Teeth, Rot Resistance; Tiny Size]
Genbloom: hobgoblin [ +1 Str, +3 Dex, +2 Con, +1 Int, +1 Wil; Nimble Fingers; Small Size]
Monster Level: 7
Attributes (0/6):
Strength: 10
Dexterity: 16
Constitution: 8
Intelligence: 8
Will: 10
Charm: 9
Feats:
Knowledge: System Knowledge
Act: Devotion [Layered feats]
Ability: Mighty Alacrity
Skills(0/2):
System Aptitude: 1 [Source: System Knowledge]
Deep Shadows: 1
Path Finding [Type: Climbing]
Notable Natural Skills:
Stealth: Apprentice
Climb: Apprentice
Biotraits (1/7):
Base size: Small [Source: Hobgoblin]
Regenerating Teeth [Source: Gremlin]
Enhanced Night Vision [Mutations: Dark Vision; Source: Gremlin]
Disease Resistance [Mutations: Rot Resistance; Source: Gremlin]
Improved Body Control [Synergy: Improved Balance + Improved Nerve Conduction + Improved flexibility]
Nimble Hands and Feet [Synergy: Nimble hands + Prehensile Feet]
Cold Resistant Skin
Transformations:
Drakeheart Form:
+2 strength
+2 dexterity
Smoke Aura
Lesser Wings
Night Stalker form:
+2 strength
+2 dexterity
Enhanced Scent
Deepen Shadow+, Widen Shadows
Pet:
Name: Birdy
Genseed: Cat
Attributes:
Strength: 2
Dexterity: 4
Constitution: 2
Intelligence: 2
Will: 2
Charm: 3
Biotraits:
Lesser Wings
Anath
True Name: Anathema
Soul: Monster/Mortal
Genseed: Human [ 3 Str, 3 Dex, 3 Con, 3 Int, 3 Wil, 3 Cha; Standard Size]
Monster Level: 4
[Class] Level: 4
Attributes (0/6):
Strength: 11
Dexterity: 8
Constitution: 9
Intelligence: 10
Will: 9
Charm: 8
Feats:
Encounter: True Angel
Knowledge: System Knowledge
Act: Vile Concoction
Skills(1/6):
System Aptitude: 1 [Source: System Knowledge]
System Assistant: 1
Skill Boosts: Survival (1)
Savage Legs: 1
Warriors Spirit: 1 [Synergy: Burst of Strength + Burst of Alacrity + Burst of Vitality]
Notable Natural Skills:
Survival: Apprentice
Savagery: Apprentice
Biotraits [1/4]:
Disease Resistance [Source: Vile Concoction]
Extra Limb (Arachnid), x4 [Source: Variant]
Venomous Mandibles [Source: Variant]
Multi-eye [Mutations: Magnified, Night Vision; Source: Variant]
Hardened Chitin
Transformations:
Night Stalker form:
+2 strength
+2 dexterity
Claws
Dark Vision
Other:
Variant: Arachnid Traits
Klaw
True Name: Klaw
Soul: Monster
Genseed: gremlin [ 3 Str, 4 Dex, 3 Con, 2 Int, 3 Wil, 3 Cha; Regenerating Teeth, Rot Resistance; Tiny Size]
Genbloom: Bugbear [ +3 Str, +1 Dex, +2 Con, +1 Int, +1 Wil; Rough Fur; Small Size]
Monster Level: 7
Attributes (0/6):
Strength: 19
Dexterity: 10
Constitution: 11
Intelligence: 8
Will: 9
Charm: 8
Feats:
Knowledge: System Knowledge
Act: Devotion [Layered feats]
Ability: Mighty Strength
Skills(0/2):
System Aptitude: 1
Burst of Strength: 1
Attribute Boost: Strength (+2)
Notable Natural Skills:
Savagery: Apprentice
Biotraits (0/7):
Base size: Standard [Source: Gremlin]
Regenerating Teeth [Source: Gremlin]
Enhanced Night Vision [Source: Gremlin]
Disease Resistance [Mutations: Rot Resistance; Source: Gremlin]
Claws [Mutations: Forged, Retractable]
Dense Muscle Fibers
Rough Fur [Mutations: Insulating Fur; Source: Bugbear]
Dense Bone
Transformations:
Drakeheart Form:
+2 strength
+2 constitution
Fire-proof Scales
Claws [Mutation added: Burning]
Night Stalker form:
+2 strength
+2 dexterity
+2 constitution
Dark Vision
Notable Gear:
Mountain Heart Armor
Elyndris
True Name: Elyndris
Soul: Monster
Genseed: Larva [ 1 Str, 1 Dex, 1 Con, 1 Int, 1 Wil, 1 Cha; miniscule Size]
Monster Level: 6
Attributes (0/12):
Strength: 10
Dexterity: 8
Constitution: 8
Intelligence: 15
Will: 7
Charm: 7
Feats:
Encounter: True Angel
Knowledge: System Knowledge
Act: Devotion [layered feats]
Act: Blasphemy
Ability: Mighty Intellect
Skills (1/3):
Burst of Strength
Pounce
Biotraits (1/6):
Base size: Miniscule
Jaws
Enhanced Touch [Mutation: Tremor Sense]
Complex organs
Limbs [Mutation: Lesser Wings]
Transformations:
Night Stalker form:
+2 strength
+2 dexterity
+2 constitution
Jaws [Mutation: Powerful Jaws]
Other:
Curse: Ungenesis