“Wait,” Kaid hissed, grabbing hold of Joe’s pants leg.
They were walking on the same road that Joe had first come to Crowfield on as the sun was starting to set. From that vantage point, Joe could just make out the Dellham farmstead in the distance. He was tired and sweaty. He just wanted to get back, treat Sarsa, and relax after a very trying day. The last thing he was interested in was more drama. “What now?”
“Something is wrong.” Kaid stood stock still, peering at the homestead ahead of them.
“What do you mean? There is nothing wrong. Look there is Konren sitting on his porch, rocking away.”
“Exactly. There are still a couple of good hours of daylight left. In all the times I have come out to the Dellhams, I have never seen Konren slouching on his porch while the sun was still up, especially this close to harvest. Something is wrong.”
Joe did not know Rhiley’s family nearly as well as Kaid did. Even so, once he thought about it, it did seem odd that Konren would be kicking back on his front porch during the day. Joe had not figured out Illuminaria’s calendar yet, but if he had to guess it felt like a late summer day. That would make this one of the busiest times for a farmer and his family.
Joe also had to admit he trusted Kaid’s sense of peril over his own. “So what do we do?” he asked, dropping his voice.
“WE don’t do anything. I’ll go take a look. You stay here. Actually, stay over there,” he commanded, pointing at a tree back down the hillside. “You’re standing out like a signpost on the horizon. I’ll be back in an hour or so.”
Kaid jogged along the side of the road keeping low until he reached the edge of the closest field of crops. After the thief vanished into the plants, Joe turned and walked to the welcome shade of the maple-like tree growing on the back of the hill. He slid down the smooth trunk and took a drink of tepid water from his waterskin. It quenched his thirst but warm water was not nearly as satisfying as a refrigerated bottle of water. Joe realized he was going to miss ice on demand. There were few things better than a glass of iced tea or a cold beer on a hot August day.
Joe tried to conjure up other advantages of his old life but found his mind returning time and again to his progress here. There would surely be things this world lacked but Illuminaria was proving to be far more engaging than his old life on Earth ever was. Thinking about what he had gained, Joe opened up his character sheet.
PLAYER PROFILE: Joseph (Joe) Morris
Race: Changeling
Level 5
Experience: 1800 /1980
RESOURCES
· Health: 65 / 65
· Stamina: 213 / 273
· Mana: 66 / 93
ATTRIBUTES
· Strength: 1
· Vigor: 4
· Dexterity: 2
· Perception: 3
· Spirit: 5
Available Attribute Points Unspent: 2
CLASSES
Primary Class: Healer - 5
Secondary Class: None
Tertiary Class: None
SKILLS
STRENGTH SKILLS: (0 / 1 )
VIGOR SKILLS: (4 / 4)
· [Deaden Flesh] (U): rank 0
· [Efferous Endurance] (U): rank 12
DEXTERITY SKILLS: (2 / 2)
· [Parry] (C): rank 12
· [Staff Expertise] (C): rank 8
PERCEPTION SKILLS: (3 / 3)
· [Assess Creatures] (C): rank 11
· [Assess Wounds] (C): rank 6
· [Coin Catcher] (C): rank 3
SPIRIT SKILLS: (5 / 5)
· [Dispel Rot] (C): rank 0
· [Healing Touch] (C): rank 16
· [Heart Fire] (C): rank 6
· [Purge] (U): rank 0
TRAITS
· [Anyone] (Racial)
· [No one] (Racial)
· [Iron Mind] (Hereditary)
· [Beastmaster] (Achievement)
· [Dancer] (Achievement)
· [Mystic] (Achievement)
· [Overachiever] (Achievement)
· [Punching-Bag] (Achievement)
· · [Glutton for Punishment] (Achievement)
· [Survivalist] (Achievement)
· [The Seal of Passing] (Prophetic)
His stats were still pretty low, but he reminded himself that he had only been in this world for less than two days. So far his [Healing Touch] was clearly the foundation of his character but Efferous Endurance was probably his favorite skill. Being able to slough off his tiredness and keep going made the trials he had gone through far more manageable. His improved vigor was helping as well. Just being able to run was something Joe missed out on being able to do for years. He could now not only run, but he could run a marathon if his endurance boosting spell was not considered cheating.
Focusing on his sheet again he noted he was close to leveling again. Killing the Beguilburr had pushed him almost to level 6. While Joe was aware he still had an offense problem, he was pretty happy with his progress so far. If things kept going as they had so far, he should be able to take care of himself fairly soon. Not needing any more Kaids was a huge incentive to keep improving.
He looked at his pair of free attribute points and considered what to spend them on but realized he couldn't guess what he would need next. Who knew what the next new skill or skills might need for stats. Two points would allow him to learn an uncommon skill. Joe vacillated back and forth for a few minutes before deciding to leave them unspent. He figured he could always allocate them in a pinch but he couldn't unspend them if he needed the points for something else.
Joe moved from his sheet to his new item. Pulling the heavy loop out of his satchel, Joe rolled the ornate bracelet around in his fingers. The movement of the hues under the bright glossy finish was a little hypnotic to look at. The band was a heavy metal loop with a break to slide your wrist through. The colors were blends of fuchsia-like pink and grape-shaded purple. Neither of these two were colors Joe ever wore, but he had to admit the torc-styled bracelet was very striking. Joe read the item description again and scowled. Its power fit the creature it came from but Joe was not a fan of what it could do.
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
Item [Band of Beguilement] (Wrist - Rare): If you overwhelm a target’s spirit, you can force it to obey your commands. Target will not obey an obviously self-destructive order but it can be compelled to perform actions that conflict with its interests. Cooldown: Long. Range: Medium.
Mental domination seemed like a pretty evil power. On the other hand, killing was not good either. Joe had had no moral issues with killing the beetles. Bugs might not count though. Everyone squashed insects now and then. Even so, he knew that he would have other fights in the days to come. Sooner or later Joe would have to face creatures like the goblins again. Killing was something he was going to have to learn how to accept if he was going to be an adventurer. Joe still had not wrapped his head around the fact that this was both a new reality but it was game-like at the same time. He needed to not only learn the rules of this world's cultures but also how to succeed in a land filled with monsters. If he did not adjust quickly, this world would kill him, and he could not expect another chance at life if it did.
Joe slipped the violet band on his wrist. Someday he might be powerful enough to pass on powers he didn’t like, but for now, he knew he needed all the tricks he could find.
Joe rested his head against the trunk and debated closing his eyes but the events of the day had him too tense to nod off. Still, it was nice to just sit and watch the sky start to move from blue to orange. He watched birds cross the sky. They seemed larger than he would expect to see on Earth but creatures soar onwards, uninterested or unaware of Joe’s observance.
Just as Joe’s eye started to droop, Kaid returned. He did so with a full conniption fit boiling out of him. Joe hoped that he was not somehow the cause of the gnome's fury once again. It had been exhausting the first time. Joe knew he was not in the mood for a second round of it any time soon, if ever.
The spitting and muttering Kaid stomped up to Joe and threw a wad of paper into his chest before turning and pacing; his utterances becoming louder and angrier. Joe uncrumpled the page to find himself looking at a classic old-time looking wanted poster with his face and Kaid’s inked onto it.
WANTED
ANATHEMA / THIEF
The newcomer known as JOSEPH MORRIS, has been deemed to be an anathema to the peace of the Kingdom of Duskurg by the Order of the Golden Edict, by the House of Amberwroth and by the Priesthood of the Celestial Throne. This outsider is an agent of the vile Courts of the Gossamer Realm.
He is aided and abetted by the known criminal, Kaid. This thief has been incarcerated numerous times for theft and assault. His collusion with the misanthropic agent of the Fey proves his unrepentant nature and his need for rehabilitation.
These two individuals are to be incarcerated on sight and held until they can be relinquished into the hands of an agent of Phealti’s Law.
REWARD: 500 GP
“I have no idea what half of this means. Well, I get the five hundred gold pieces? Holy cow, that’s nuts.”
Kaid broke out of his guttural vulgar litany to look at Joe. “What do you mean?” he asked in a confused voice.
“I’ve never seen anything like that kind of money.”
“Cause you’re a greenhorn. Five hundred is a pretty normal quest amount when there are no additional looting options. You should look at your own scrolls. You probably have a shot at the five yourself. I do.”
Joe was positive there had been no waiting notifications a second ago but there was one now. Sure enough, he had a new quest.
NEW QUEST [ELUDE THE HUNT]
YOU ARE BEING HUNTED BY THE ORDER OF THE GOLDEN EDICT. EVADE THEIR PURSUIT.
REWARD: 500 GP
He must not have qualified for the quest until he knew he was being hunted. “Man! Only five hundred gold for not getting arrested. That quest is so not worth it.”
“What are you talking about? You want to get caught?”
“I was kidding, Kaid.” Joe thought Kaid would be better at detecting sarcasm, given it was one of the gnome's primary forms of communication. “So what can you tell me about this Order of the Golden Edict? That’s Sir Grover’s group, right?”
“Groven, Sir Groven. I would not keep getting that man’s name wrong if I was you. Not that it matters anymore. He plans to toss you into a fire no matter what you call him.”
“I was kidding. Grover is a reference … WAIT! What?!”
“That is what the Phealtians do with heretics. They burn em at the stake.” The gnome’s tone was far more smug than Joe liked.
“Kaid! I got here yesterday. Remember? Your habit of blurting snippets of loosely connected information is not helping. I need full sentences. With details. Who are these guys?”
The thief sighed loudly as if Joe had just asked for major favor instead of simply a clear answer. “Fine. The Golden Knights are an order of paladins and templars that follows Phealti, one of the Gods of Law. They are big on demon hunting, but also have a bad case of spiders in their shorts about anything from the Feylands too. Basically, this says you are not human. That you’re some monstrous fairy.”
Joe thought back on his odd race. He grimaced and uttered, “well, that’s not entirely untrue.”
“Really? No snoot?" Kaid exclaimed. "How untrue?”
“I was human before I crossed over into Illumniaria. There was a problem during the transfer, so Hawk… the One Above had to make a tweak to me. I ended up getting a faerie heritage.”
“That sure explains why he’s been gunning for you. Sir Groven is a serious grump at any time but his hate on you was over the top, even for him. I was wondering what you had done. Now it makes more sense. Oh muds, he can’t assess you either. I’ll bet that’s driving him nuts. He probably can sense a bit of fey-shadow, since that is what Phealtian specialize at. But he can’t see enough to know you’re worthless. You could be some high mucky-muck fairy prince and he can’t tell. No wonder you’re so screwed."
“Your empathy is overwhelmingly touching,” Joe groaned, rubbing his palm against one of his eyebrows. “So how bad are the fey? If having fey-blood is a death sentence, they must be pretty horrible.”
“Depends on who you ask. The fey are tricky and powerful but they ain’t all bad. Pooka are great if ya don’t piss them off. They’ll clean your house, fix your shoes, chase away rats. But there are also fey that you don’t ever want to meet. Kelpies will drown you. Willow-o-wisps will you lead off to die in the woods. Redcaps' caps are red cause they soak them in mortal blood. Don’t get me started on dearg-due or hags,” Kaid added with a shudder. “Then there are a whole bunch of them in between.”
“I don’t get it," Joe remarked, looking at Kaid with a puzzled expression. "If fey are a mixed bag why do the Phealti guys kill them no questions asked?”
“That’s cause Phealtians are black and white kind a folks. They don’t do gray,” Kaid stated holding out both arms like a set of scales. “Either you're a mortal and not their problem,” he said dipping one hand, “or you're an outsider and you don't belong,” the gnome explained, tilting his limbs the other way. “Keep in mind the fey are just one type of outsiders. You also have demons and eldritch boogies from the way beyond. Phealtians deal with all of them. If a demon shows up you damn sure are happy if a Phealtian knight is there to deal with it while the smart folks run away. Yeah, they’re a bunch a donkey balls but they are donkey balls that save whole towns.”
“Great. What can I do now? If the god of law is after me, am I going to have a problem with every town guard I meet from now on?”
“Nah, Phealti is only one of the Gods of Law. Technically he's the God of Order. He's not even the god most guards follow. That would be Glauri or Juris. Glauri is the Goddess of Laws and Rule. Juris is the God of Justice.”
“How many gods of law are there.”
“Four. The last is Onhur, the God of Oaths.”
Joe had been noticing the weird trend with the names of the gods and couldn’t help but ask. “Are the names of all the gods variants of words that refer to what they are in charge of? Like, this morning I saw in the store a plaque about the Crowfield local gods. The brewer god’s name was spelled Ayl. Which sounds like ale. Then there was Rhepe, which sounds like reap, for the harvest god.”
“You got it backwards, Joe. Ale the drink was named after Ayl the god but you don’t go taking a god’s name, so the spelling was fixed.”
Joe’s mind boggled for a second, trying to wrap his head around that idea. He had to keep reminding himself the gods in this world were not figures of myths but actual entities that could influence the world. He added ‘finding a priest or priestess’ to his mental list of things to do. He really wanted to talk through how these greater beings worked. But that would have to wait until he no longer had one and its servants gunning for him.
“So what is the deal with this Phealti?” Joe asked, noticing Kaid had resumed his pacing while he had been thinking about the nature of the gods. “What does the god of order do?”
“Phealti is all about the proper order of things. The movement of the moon and sun. The order of seasons. But nobody really knows him for that. Mostly he’s all about banishing demons and abominations. Fey too. Anything from one of the Twisted Planes, the Feylands, the Void, the Abyss, realms like those. Anything from one of them, the Phealtians want it dead or gone. There is even some talk that they don’t like newcomers,” Kaid added, stopping to give Joe a pointed look. “Sir Groven might be one of those hardliners. That would be another notch against you.”
Joe pondered the idea of an entire church pissed at him just because he freaked out at the wrong moment during his set-up. It seemed phenomenally unfair, but Joe had accepted long ago life was not fair. “How powerful is this church?” Joe asked.
“Mid-range. They’re not overly popular but Phealti tends to recruit a lot of paladins. That means that, even though they are not one of the bigger churches around, their members are usually pretty strong. That allows them to push hard when they want something.”
“Great.” Joe stood and dusted off his butt. “We can’t just go hide though. After all I went through to get a cure for Sarsa, I’m not quitting now. Do you think they are guarding the farm?”
“Definitely, but they are not that good at it. Once it gets dark, there are at least three different ways to sneak into the house. Getting in there shouldn’t be too hard. Even if I have you as a handicap. We just have to wait a few hours.”
Joe bit his tongue and let the barb slide. “What happens afterward? How do we get away?”
“I’ll get you out again and then we can say our goodbyes. I would suggest you run really fast to someplace far from here.” Kaid settled into the comfortable spot Joe had just abandoned. “Me? I’ll hide out for a few weeks and then, once the stink has died down, I’ll come back. Like I always do. If you’re gone, the Phealtians will go back to not caring about me anymore.”
“Good to know you got my back.”
Kaid picked up a small stone from the ground beside him. “Phhffft. I’m still out some of my best weapons thanks to you. I don’t care how Granny spun it. The only reason I put up with your worthless hide was ‘cause you could help Missus Dellham and Rhiley. Once you get that done, I’m happy to watch you go.” He punctuated that thought by flicking the pebble, launching it out into the weeds.
“Fine. In that case, you’re still my protection for a few hours.” Joe found a soft stretch of grass and laid down on his back. Placing his backpack under his head, he closed his eyes.“Wake me when it’s time to go.”
It was a small win but it made Joe smile as he drifted off into a well-deserved nap.