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By day four, Calaf had amassed quite the haul:
Calaf’s Inventory:
Broken Steel Spear:
(x1)
Pickaxe:
(x1)
Iron Ore (Smithing Forgeable):
(x119)
Plainskarst (Misc Forgeable):
(x399)
Gold Ore (Smithing Forgeable):
(x18)
Strange Bone (Misc):
(x5)
Orichalium Ore (Smithing Forgeable):
(x6)
Seal of the Old Ones (Cursed):
(x2)
Rubbish (Misc):
(x18)
More than enough to fund a new steel spear or two, if he was so inclined.
Calaf went back to town one last day. He traded his pickaxe to the next upstart he passed on the road heading to the quarry without gear. All gold ore he sold for a healthy sum. More than enough to fund the next week of his journey at least. Likewise, he sold the rubbish and other miscellaneous items for a pittance.
Iron, he sent to the smith. He had it forged, three ores for a single clump of steel. Then that steel was further combined into ingots. A surprise level-up on the blacksmith’s end doubled their haul and took a sizable chunk out of how much time was required to complete this task.
Still, Calaf waited long into the night for his commission to be complete. He handed over his broken spear, the steel, and a bit of wood, and watched as it was reforged. In the end, his weapon was back, with improvements:
Item: Steel Spear O’ The Plains +1 (x1)
Description: A spear fluted with an aerodynamic wood from the plainslands. +5 to throwing, +3 to offensive sweeps, +2 to durability. (AGL: 16)
Success! The spearhead was physically very much the same steel spike he’d bought back in Granite Pass. The plains-specific crafting bonuses added two steel spikes perpendicular to the main blade, allowing for sideswipes and helping with guarding in a pinch. And the aerodynamic shaft the thing was now affixed to made throwing the spear in combat viable as a Special Technique (if unadvised). Offensive-minded Stalwarts were rare, but any extra bit of attack would certainly help him when traveling solo.
There was more than enough steel left over to commission a secondary weapon. Just in case:
Item: Steel Vorpal Knife
Description: A short knife. x4 attack speed. x6 stealth attacks. (STR: 2, AGL 8)
The rest of the steel he used to repair his armor, then sold what was left of the steel and iron to the blacksmith as a kind of tip. He’d be more than capable of braving the trail solo until he reached the Delta at least.
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On the sixth day back at the junction, a strange calm fell over the town. A few straggling caravans were heading south down the route. Hoping to get to Riverglen in time for peak pilgrimage season.
It was in this environment that Calaf went to the market, dropping off some dire-deer furs he’d acquired for a pittance of XP and gold with his newly improved gear.
It was there that he discovered a group of four people, a balanced party, desperately trying to buy gear that was far over-leveled for them. They were:
Name:
Jorge
Rank:
Shielder.
Level
12
Status:
12/50 (Winded!)
Weapons:
Mace and Buckler
A former initiate, having respecced into Shielder. Like a less-leveled version of Calaf himself. And he was going for a mace and shield combo – probably aiming for more of a Warrior build than a noble Paladin.
Name:
Sarah
Rank:
Healer
Level:
10
Status:
29/29 (In Over Her Head)
Weapons:
Iron Stave
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Yes, this was a familiar face as well. She’d specced into a healer class – the first step on the path to cleric. Restoration magic was the backbone of any balanced party.
Name:
Gerard
Rank:
Trailblazer
Level:
14
Status:
2/32 (Holdin’ On)
Weapons:
Twin Knives (gilded).
This guy should have really upgraded his knives further before leaving Riverglen…
Name:
Isaac
Rank:
Fighter
Level:
11
Status:
30/42 (Oof)
Weapons:
Half-Shattered Zweihander (bronze)
And a warrior class – a non-magic class, kin of the Stalwart, that could eventually work its way into the Battlemage route. All in all, this was a well-balanced party. And yet, they were 1) horribly under-leveled for the region. 2) actively hurting, right there in the city. And 3)…
“Hail, travelers,” Calaf began.
The four of them looked at the wayfarer as if they could just barely recall where they’d seen this fellow from before.
“It is I,” he said. “Calaf.”
Still, they looked confused.
“The sewer guard?”
“Oh,” said Sarah, the healer. “The one who helped us with those Rat Kings?”
“The one who looked like he was about to fall asleep?” Asked Isaac, the fighter.
“No, no, that was probably Gorman. He’s back at the post. I am Calaf, Stalwart, Wayfarer, temporarily-on-hiatus sewer guard, and hunter of church apostates.” Calaf cleared his throat. “And you all look like you could use my help.”
----------------------------------------
Calaf introduced himself to the group once again. They’d changed quite a bit since that near-disastrous bout against the rat-nados. Their gear was upgraded from their initiate equipment, but otherwise they hadn’t visited a smith or shop since Riverglen. Probably not a good idea – a good equipment run in Granite Pass or Deepwood would leave you set for the next several towns.
And their levels were all over the place! They weren’t all gaining up on beasts of the field to share in the bounties.
And their health! The healer was letting her fellows walk around town near death.
“We were trying to get ahead of the pilgrimage. Get a head start before the crowds show up, yeah?” Jorge said.
“Why, walking alongside a crowd is part of the honor of traveling on the pilgrimage!” Calaf said.
“Yeah, but they’ll take all the good loot,” said Jorge. “I’m from Plains Junction and every year the glut of raw supplies and influx of gold inflates the economy.”
“Is that so?” Calaf raised a skeptical eyebrow. “I… never thought of that. Still, you’re hardly the correct level to even think of going down the pilgrimage route further. Please, let me help you gain a few levels for the next couple of days.”
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The southernmost end of the plains – particularly those near the road and the highlands – had monsters at a relatively tame level 23. The northern and western bits, those closer to the next station, were up in the low 30s. This is to say that even the lower end was a bit much for this quad-team’s level range. And while the nearby Delta just past the borderline had level 25-tier ranges in limited sectors, if they couldn’t properly survive the route without a caravan they weren’t getting anywhere near the next station before the rest of the pilgrims showed up.
Calaf’s solution, of course, was thus:
“Allow me to accompany you for a few days. We should be able to handle the lower range of monsters here, and by the time the first pilgrims appear over the horizon, you will be sufficiently leveled enough to leave them in the dust on the way to the Delta.”
Jorge, Sarah, and Isaac reluctantly agreed. Gerard was a bit more skeptical but ultimately had no choice but to go with the remainder of his party.
And so, the group of five met right where the highlands transitioned to plains, to hunt a few dire-boars of level 22 or so.
Calaf was still not but level 18, but with his top-tier equipment that was more than enough to perform shield duty for the lower leveled group. Jorge swapped his buckler out for the mace and just went pure damage. Isaac’s shattered Zweihander likewise swung in big arcs that took dozens of hit points off each boar per swing. Gerard was responsible for ranged pulling with a set of throwing knives (mercifully retrievable once the boars were felled).
And the best thing about this configuration was that healer Sarah needed to typically only focus any healing on Calaf – and occasionally Gerard, if a boar got a lucky hit in. With five people, they easily made short work of everything at the foot of the highlands and gradually moved into the level 26-28 ranged hunting rounds within a day or so.
By this time, Calaf had gained two levels and his new friends/wards had gained four. The party’s level distribution appeared thus:
Name: Calaf
Level: 20
Name: Jorge
Level: 16
Name: Sarah
Level: 14
Name: Gerard
Level: 17
Name: Isaac
Level: 15
In time the level delta between Calaf and the others would shrink, and the levels amongst themselves would gradually even out. At that point it wouldn’t be necessary for Calaf to chaperone them, they’d just be a regular at-level party.
Still, it was within sight of the town’s church steeples, at the edge of the plains, where the new party discovered a legendary monster…
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“Got a second one!” Gerard said as he returned from a pull on a level 28 dire-bovine.
The high-level delta would reward a significant XP bonus. Only…
A second, two-legged lizard-looking thing was following after him. Level 36, way out of the southern plain’s usual level ranges. And it had a level 28 dire-boar hoof sticking out of its mouth!
Name:
Leggy Lizard
Level:
36.
Status:
100/100 HP
“What is that!?” Sarah asked.
“Legendary monster,” Calaf said. “Everyone behind me. Let me provoke it.”
Calaf stood in front of Gerard’s path, let him pass, then brought up his shield.
A toothy bite latched onto Calaf’s shield. He felt his mail boots being pushed back through the plain’s brittle dirt. This was the strongest creature he’d encountered since that dire-worm!
“I’ve got him provoked. Get in on his flanks and start stabbing!” Calaf said.
Jorge and Isaac approached from either side, two-handed mace and exactly half a Zweihander cutting into the beast’s scaly hide. A full-force blow from the Zweihander did a whopping five HP of damage to the legendary beast.
“We’ll be here all day,” Calaf said, grindstone-like teeth trying very hard to eat his shield.
Just then, the fourth melee-focused member of their group swooped in from behind…
Special Technique: Thief Strike
Description: Quadruples damage when attacking from behind. Lasts for one hit only.
The twin daggers did little damage individually. But with quadruple multipliers, even the slightest hit left the creature reeling. All at once, the creature went from a meaty 85/100 HP to a much more manageable 55/100 HP!
Only, now the dire-lizard was no longer interested in Calaf’s shield. It turned, ready to devour their Scout in one foul gulp. Ah, what would Jelena do in this situation? Not sit around and wait for her turn as this creature ate a comrade, presumably. Calaf learned from her less-than-holy example and took the initiative with a…
Calaf Uses: Shield Bash
Effect: Attack With Shield. Low Damage, Potential to Stun.
The blow left the monster reeling, its attention back on Calaf(‘s shield).
“Use your Zweihander as its name implies,” Calaf told Isaac. “It doubles all damage multipliers.”
No sooner had the beast’s mouth taken a bit to Calaf’s pauldrons was Sarah ready with the heals. And she even had time to imbue their weapons with a low-level lightning charm that proved exceptionally adept at rending the lizard’s armor.
After some twenty minutes of constant hacking at this legendary beast, the Leggy Lizard lay dead. Gold was evenly distributed, XP was slightly less evenly distributed, and Calaf leveled up once more! Why, he even got a second wind, enough to pick up the item that this legendary beast was so sought after:
Item: Golden Dire-Lizard Hide of Yore
Description: An Exceptionally Rare Crafting Material to Make the Fabled Sage’s Lizardskin Boots.
“What’re we going to do with that?” Asked Jorge.
“Well, you can sell it, or you can give it to a particularly skilled crafter to forge into boots that sell for even more,” Calaf said. “Boots help with agility on battlemages and clerics, but It’s probably more efficient to sell it. Though, if you wanted to maximize your gains we could wait for the next station.”
Why, not but a week ago Calaf felt like a novice. But even with his paltry knowledge, he was still a relative expert compared to his new party.
They all agreed to wait until they reached the Delta to sell this hide, then split the proceeds five ways.
And so, the group headed north just as they heard word of the first pilgrim convoys reaching Granite Pass.
And on that day that they left the plains, Calaf’s stats were thus:
Name:
Calaf, Wayfarer (Pilgrim)
Rank:
Stalwart, The Most Holy Church of the Menu
Level:
21
Status:
89/89 (Healthy)
Strength:
32
Endurance:
46
Agility:
19
Intelligence:
15
Charisma:
13
Arcane:
6
Luck:
21
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