The talk with Michelle practically made the decision for Luna. She would not stay and take the risk that someone would try to use her for their designs. Being rejected for not being human would have been bad enough, but being hunted for her Skill, that was a lot worse. Better to strike out and join the expedition, see new lands and help the settlers setting up a new town.
She talked to Parrot again and told him her decision to join. He seemed genuinely happy to have her, which made Luna feel a lot better about the decision. The news that the ships would be leaving in just 14 days was not so great.
They discussed at length what her duties would be. While on the ship she could more or less do what she wanted. While she held some authority, it did not extend to the crew working on the ship. If the settlers had problems she could intercede, but Parrot told her to not bother much. They would have to work out working together sooner or later, so they might as well get it over with while still on the ship.
Once they made landfall Luna would take over exploration of the surroundings and guard duty while the settlers got to work on their little town. It had been decided that everyone would first work on setting up a fortified settlement at the coast, some people with classes related to fishing were joining them and it was prudent to set up a food supply as quickly as possible. The plan was to cut down large areas of forest and use the logs for building log houses, easy to build and sturdy enough for potentially rough weather at the coast.
More logs would be used to build a wooden stockade as protection from unknown but very possible threats. Only after the first little town was finished would they start prospecting surrounding land and look for fertile soil to set up fields. It fell to Luna to find out if it was a valid option to set up outlying farmsteads or if the local wildlife was too dangerous.
Parrot also revealed that he was able to procure a Class Stone and a Class Tablet, so the settlers would be able to keep checking their status and children could undergo their Rite of Ascendancy.
Luna also went to Peter, because Michele was once again nowhere to be found, and requested some more clothes to be made to her specifications. She needed sturdily made clothes and gear that could survive the time on the ship and possibly long time afterwards. While there should be a settler with the right skills to repair her gear, Luna preferred having extra equipment on hand. Without the option to just have new things made, without having to worry about where the raw materials came from, meant she had to plan ahead for several months.
Luna also wrote a letter addressed to her parents and Peter promised that it would be sent to them with a reliable merchant. It was very hard to write the letter. She had planned on writing one once her position at the Pathfinder Guild was set in stone, but now she had to write something completely different. She told them about her success and how happy she was in the capital, not wanting to burden them with her problems. She could not write any details about the last mission and her personal development, as it would only cause problems if someone else read the letter. The less they knew, the less they could worry or accidentally tell someone else. The last of the letter part covered her decision to go on a long expedition to explore, leaving out the destination. She promised them to return sometime, but left it open how and when that might happen.
The expedition was leaving from Middingfurt in just 14 days and traveling to the border town was going to take them a few days, even if the bulk of gear and supplies had already been sent on the way with carts a few days prior. Luna might have crossed paths with some of the shipments on her way into town. Luna had seven days left to prepare herself, train some, read books about what to expect and then she would leave towards an adventure she could not have dreamed of just half a year ago.
Luna spent her days running through as many obstacle courses in the garden as possible. She ignored all the fancy things like trap disarming and lock picking, as they would be very much useless where she was going. Her focus was on movement, running, jumping and climbing over different obstacles, using grappling hooks to bridge gaps or climb on trees. During one of her evening reading sessions in the library Michelle appeared with a stack of books.
“Drop everything you are reading right now. These four books are important and we just now remembered that you should have these. I found some copies for you, so you may keep them and take them with you. They are books about Monsters and Dungeons. We have no idea what you might find when exploring, we do not even know if dungeons are a thing there. But if they are, then you might face more than just the local wildlife.” Michelle said to her and dropped the books on the table next to her.
“Suggestions which to start with?” Luna asked him excitedly.
Michelle picked a thin book, barely more than a leaflet and handed it to her. Luna read the title “Dungeons & Monsters - Common Variants”, nodded at Michelle and started to read.
The excitement quickly vanished as the author had seemingly taken every ounce of his skill and invested it in making the exciting topic sound as boring as possible. Luna kept on reading, there might be too many words in the book to convey simple meaning, but the content was still interesting.
The book listed the most common variants of monsters, and sorted them into two simple categories. Intelligent or Instinctual. The difference between the two was basically the same between a human and a common animal, one was able to make decisions based on some kind of thought process, while the others were purely animalistic instinct.
The could be further differentiated by different attributes the author had come up with.
Name: The name shown when using Identify
Numbers: The number of Monsters normally living in a group (Alone, pack, tribal)
Type: Exclusively Dungeon or also Natural
Weapons: What type of weapons the monsters used
Territorial: If the Monster reacted to intrusion to its territory
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Aggression: If the monster initiated hostilities without being provoked
Name
Numbers
Type
Weapons
Territorial
Aggression
Goblin
Tribal
Dungeon
Crude
Yes
Yes
Orc
Tribal
Dungeon
Metal
Yes
Yes
These two monsters had been the most encountered intelligent monsters that dungeons in the human lands had created and thrown against the human fortifications. Goblins were supposed to be filthy little creatures, barely half the size of a grown human, but their numbers made up for their lack in size and ferocity. Orcs were the exact opposite, huge physical brutes of creatures with vaguely human features. The tribes had different roles for their members, different ways to fight, sometimes even Shamans or other magical Classes.
Both Goblins and Orcs always attacked on sight, attempts to communicate with either had been fruitless.
Another entirely different monster type were the natural Monsters, which appeared from local wildlife. They were mostly bigger and meaner versions of their smaller animal counterparts, but they could also gain access to magical abilities. Sometimes dungeons also had these Monsters living within, but then they were often heavily changed and had different abilities that were unheard of in regular animals.
Luna kept reading through the whole thing and then started over at the beginning, going through it for a second time. She should have expected some scholars to write about dungeons and it was obvious that this booklet had been written as entry grade material for students. The author managed to explain a very complex topic in a very simple and dumbed down manner. He hinted at there being more variables and secrets behind it, but those were not necessary to have a basic understanding.
After looking for drawings in the other books Luna took those to Michelle and requested archery targets in the appropriate sizes to be mounted in the shooting gallery obstacles in the garden. If she was learning about the monsters, she might as well learn where to shoot them.
Luna tried getting as much routine into her days as possible, but they quickly devolved into a hectic mess of preparations. After her new clothes had been delivered, Peter had pointed out that Luna would need an assortment of extra tools, a new large backpacks, a smaller backpack for short scouting trips, a backup bow, several quivers for arrows, a large stack of arrows and an extra shaggy cloak which Luna could camouflage herself by using leaves from local trees and bushes.
Those were just a few of the items she was advised on taking with her as well and then Parrot brought up the question if Luna had thought about building a house. Luna just started laughing. This whole thing was so absurd, she had no idea how to plan for it. She had been reading about different topics, trying to pack all the items she might need and she had not even thought about the possibility of building an actual house in the settlement.
She decided to simply delay that part until they had arrived. The recent experience with sleeping in a bed had shown her that she no longer needed the typical amenities a human might need. Since the weather allowed it she had slept in the pavilion in the middle of the garden ever since the first night. Two blankets were plenty enough to keep her warm and Young Roots had worked it’s magic overnight.
The extra time she gained from sleeping less was invested into more reading. She was very much underprepared for the expedition and her duties. How would she find out what properties native plants had? What was safe to eat and was not? She would have to work out some kind of system with the settlers and maybe find someone with a cooking or alchemy related skill that could help with that.
She had started writing a list of things to figure out on arrival and was trying to put some kind of priority on them, but in the end she gave up on the futile attempt. She would have to decide after arrival. The list made it into her backpack though, the boring sea crossing would offer her plenty of time to muse on the topics and maybe add some new ones to the list.
The day of departure was drawing closer and Luna realized that with the normal travel speed she would most likely not see Joan again before leaving. It hit her hard to not see her mentor again. They had just survived taking out a bandit base all on their own and they had grown closer over the shared experience. Somewhere deep inside her Luna had hoped that Joan would join their crazy expedition.
Right now Luna was following Michelle through the underground armory. She had no idea what they were doing down here and was wondering what else she would have to cram into her already overflowing travel trunk or backpack. They stopped in front of a weapon rack and when Michelle pulled it up and pushed it to the side it simply swung away from the wall on hidden hinges. He fished a metal plate from his pocket and pressed it against the nondescript wall.
Luna gasped as a magical formation sprung to live and a hidden door swung inward. They stepped into a small brightly lit room with weapons mounted on the walls, shelves and glass cases filled nearly all the available space.
“Welcome to the hidden part of the armory. This is where we store the exceptional or dangerous items the Pathfinder guild has gathered over the years. We rarely take them out and if we do, then mostly in emergencies or to study them.” Michelle told her.
Luna was standing in the middle of the room, turning in a full circle and taking in the sight. Nearly every item had extra security on it. Every item had its own display case, wooden boxes with a glass front.
“Don’t bother trying to see any item tags. The glass blocks you from doing that. I brought you here for a special reason. I will give you two items that are of barely any use to us here anymore, but should help you tremendously.”
Michelle stepped towards a glass display and opened it with a key. He took out two small items and handed them over to Luna.
[Homefinder]
This magical device will always point towards a previously defined Class Tablet.
[Pathfinder Map]
This magical item, once bound to the user, will automatically create a map of the geography they travel through.
The Homefinder was a flat round metal object with hinges on one side. When Luna flipped it open she found a simple metal needle inside, which was marked red on one side.
“I can bind this to the Class Tablet in the new settlement and the red side will point towards it?” she asked Michelle.
“Exactly. And it will work for anyone who holds it. It holds a small charge of mana that needs to be replenished from time to time. Do not forget doing that, as it will lose its home setting.” He confirmed. “The Pathfinder Map on the other hand will only work once you bind it, simply inject some Mana into it to do that.”
Luna closed the Homefinder and put it into a pocket. The Map did not look like a map at all, just a simple wooden cube that fit snugly in her hand. She pushed some Mana into it, like she had done with the lighting plates in the library and suddenly the wooden block started to change shape. She quickly relaxed her hand and the block flattened into a thin piece of wood. On its surface lines started to appear, outlining the area in the capital she was currently in. It was not very detailed, no colors, just simple black lines on the wooden surface below.
“We only have two of the Maps left and we had no reason to use them. They do not show your current position, once you explore more land it will work just like a normal map. If you touch it with your finger and drag to one side the map will move. They were used to map the human kingdom and they can only be bound to a single person. Do not lose it.”
Luna was still looking at the small map on her palm. She had used magic herself, but seeing magic items like this still took her breath away. “Who created this?” she asked.
“An artificer who was also a Pathfinder made those centuries ago. I think others might be able to recreate them, there was no need for them after the human kingdoms were fully mapped. I might look into having new ones made now, depending on how the expedition goes there might finally be real Pathfinder work to be done again.”