Jack and Eldrin searched the innards of the mayor's house from the doorway. A grand set of stairs stood straight ahead, while two large, dusty rooms resided either side.
They swept the first floor and found little in the way of salvageable goods - but there were no attackers and no monsters, and that was good enough for Jack.
‘Let us check upstairs,’ Eldrin said. ‘If this place was owned by a man of high standing, he may have left something of value or use up there.’
While Eldrin was clearly proud of being a guard back in his kingdom, he didn’t seem to want to talk about too many of the specifics surrounding his role.
Royal secrets, Jack surmised. He decided not to pry.
Eldrin headed upstairs first and checked the rooms on the first floor as he went while Jack followed close-by with his dagger drawn.
‘This place doesn’t look half-bad,’ Jack commented. ‘There might not be a whole lot in the way of resources up here, but the building itself could act as a home for the time being, especially tonight.’
They scoured the rooms and found nothing but dried leaves and old, grand furniture. There were plenty of large rooms across the first and second floors, while a second much steeper staircase led up to the attic.
Jack headed up with his dagger in hand and glanced about. He found a cozy attic with a sloped roof, the moonlight spilling in through an old window.
The attic was silent, but its corners were bathed in darkness.
‘Can’t keep relying on Eldrin to keep me alive,’ Jack said to himself. ‘Some things a man has to do on his own.’
Jack kept his dagger clutched in his hand and moved around the edges of the attic, sweeping the place for any signs of life.
With the room cleared, he returned to the second floor and found Eldrin roughly working the handle of a closed door just off the stairs.
‘The only locked room,’ Eldrin said. ‘Do we definitely know that the owners are not returning to this place?’
‘It doesn’t look like anybody has lived here for a while.’
‘So upon your orders we may investigate?’
‘Upon my orders?’ Jack said. 'Why is it my call?'
‘I am merely a trained tool upon two legs,’ Eldrin spoke. ‘I take orders.’
Despite being a well-trained guard who had already demonstrated that he knew how to wield a polearm, Eldrin had a natural craving for being given instructions.
‘In that case, let’s get inside this room,’ Jack spoke resolutely.
They checked the frame. It wasn’t rotted, but considering how easily the front door had come open, he figured they could get through this one.
‘Wait, wait,’ Eldrin said. ‘Let me.’ He took his polearm, wedged it firmly into the gap between the door and the frame and applied plenty of leverage. The door held on its lock but budged above for several inches. ‘Now try.’
Jack stepped back on his heel and smashed his foot against the door. The wood creaked and cracked, and a jolt of pain rushed through his knee.
Swiftly he remembered his stats:
HP: 100/100
Stamina: 11
Strength: 5
Intellect: 12
Charisma: 11
Magic: 1
5 strength. That wasn’t ideal.
But two strikes should do it.
Jack took another breath, bounced on his heel and struck the door. It cracked and spun wide, revealing-
‘Eugh…’
‘Good lord…’
The smell that emanated from the room was pungent to say the least, and it was easy to see why.
A desk sat squarely in the center of the room before a chair, and occupying that old leather chair, right in front of a window, was a skeleton wrapped in old leather garments. The jaw hung open in a cold, quiet laugh, the rest of its form only held together by the scraps of leather that remained of its clothes.
Thankfully the man had been dead a while considering his skeletal state, and even more thankfully the window behind him was smashed, letting in some air to get rid of most of the smell.
‘Well, there’s the mayor,’ Jack said dryly, crossing to the skeleton and examining it. His attention was turned by an impressive longbow that resided upon the desk, along with a few dozen arrows tucked into a tough quiver. ‘I don’t know many mayors that can wield longbows, but then again there’s a lot that’s strange about this world.’
Jack checked through the broken window pane down at the street below. Three skeletons laid in along a patch of road in Silverware that he had yet to walk, each with several arrows sticking from the folds of their leathers.
‘Looks like our skeletal host took down some raiders while defending his home,’ Jack muttered. ‘I wonder how he died.’
‘Perhaps by his own blade.’
‘I don’t see a knife anywhere… Wait…’
Jack pried open the skeletal fingers and found an old glass vial clinging in its grasp. He pried the vial out and held it up. After all this time no liquid was left, but the glass was still stained with something dark.
Jack sniffed it uneasily and found a stale, bitter scent greeting his nostrils.
Item: Empty Vial (Traces of Siren’s Kiss)
Jack discreetly tapped the name Siren’s Kiss.
Siren’s Kiss: A fast-acting poison that incinerates the innards of natural beings.
What a way to go.
'Poison by the smell of things,' Jack said. ‘So he took the quick way out rather than dealing with anymore intruders.'
‘Well, it looks like the last of the threats in here are extinguished,’ Eldrin said, 'I shall return outside to inform the others.’
Eldrin departed while Jack checked the rest of the room. The bow was a good find as well as the 24 remaining arrows and the quiver – he had taken a few archery lessons a year ago and remembered the basics. Hopefully with a little practice he would be able to improve his proficiency.
Other items sat upon the desk too, namely several coins left scattered. Jack gathered and examined them; they were all the same size, with seven being made of bronze, three of silver and one of gold.
Neighboring the coins were an old feather quill, a pot of ink and a piece of parchment – with something written upon it.
Jack took it up and read the words etched roughly into the paper.
To whomever finds this,
I am the last left alive. All else have either departed for more prosperous hopes or been slain by the bastards in the wilds.
There are some supplies in the storage house, some tools in the blacksmiths and perhaps some provisions remaining in the tavern. They are all that remains of Silverward.
These six buildings were the first built by my great-grandfather, Harlonium Moss, so it is only fitting that I see myself away among them. All places must meet their end eventually, but I never anticipated that Virendel would end in such disarray.
Do this world some good.
Morgan Moss
‘At least those bastards out there didn’t get to you in the end,’ Jack nodded, setting the letter down.
He checked the desk drawers. There wasn’t much of use beyond a letter opener with a reasonably sharp blade and some blank pieces of parchment.
But the parchment reminded him of something.
The map.
After checking to make sure that Eldrin had headed downstairs, he pulled the map out of his back pocket and unfolded it.
It depicted the town: the plaza, the buildings and the streets, and it would make navigating Silverward much easier.
What's more, this seemed like the perfect place to 'find' the map.
Jack gathered up the coins, swung the bow and the quiver of arrows over his shoulder and headed outside to meet up with his new companions.
'Nice bow,’ Aeshara smiled.
‘Coins, too,’ Jack said, holding them out in his hand. ‘A letter from our departed mayor, and a map.’
The group examined the items.
‘Good lord,’ Eldrin muttered quietly as he finished the letter. ‘So we are the only ones left in this forsaken place.’
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‘The only ones left in this town, at least,’ Jack nodded. ‘No doubt there’s plenty of folks residing in other villages, towns and communities beyond. Anything else to report?’
‘Just some old hay in the stables,’ Fiora said.
‘Hay and very bad fox hiding in hay,’ Zania said, holding up a dead fox by its tail. ‘Zania kill bad fox.’
‘In fairness it was a particularly vicious fox,’ Fiora commented. ‘The blacksmiths building possesses an anvil, some tools and some mined ores that have been leftover.'
‘They'll be useful,’ Jack replied. ‘We also found some lantern oil and candles in the storage house.’
‘I am not experimenting with lantern oil in this darkness,’ Torick said firmly. ‘I have enough trouble blowing things up.’
‘Wax it is,’ Jack said.
In no time they had their candles lit by the fire of the Builder's Flame, each secured inside a lantern box from the storage house.
‘Okay, nighttime in a strange world is creeping me out,’ Fiora said. ‘Can we please turn in for the night now? We can proceed with this kingdom building come morning.’
‘That depends if we’re all okay with sleeping in the same house.’
‘I’m too tired to murder anybody in their sleep,’ Torick yawned, before receiving a round of unamused glanced from everyone. ‘What? I’m joking…’
Everybody headed into the mayor’s house except for Zania.
‘Sleep?’ Jack said simply, pointing through the front door.
‘Zania prefer to close eyes when alone. Zania sleep in stable.’
‘Outside?’
‘No, sleep inside. Stable have roof. Zania live in cave in old world. Stable same. Zania no trust any being. Jack and others not threat. But Zania sleep alone.’
‘Fair enough. Goodnight, and, uhh… Shout if you need us.’
‘Mm.’
Jack entered the house, closed the broken door and, with a little help from Eldrin, barred it with a few pieces of furniture. It felt a little strange locking one of the group out, but the troll-woman was pretty insistent about fending for herself.
Jack took the stairs up the first two floors. Torick and Eldrin set up their bedrolls on the first floor living area, while Aeshara and Fiora set up theirs on the second in a large bedroom.
The ground floor seemed a safe enough place, but with the secret interface playing on his mind, he decided to retire to the attic for a little privacy.
He checked inside the crates and boxes to make sure that there were no rats or other vermin, and after coming up clean he found a secluded spot in the corner to settle down for the night. It wasn’t exactly the comfiest spot in the world, but all things considered, it was pretty darn cozy.
This will have to do until I’ve got a bedroom of my own.
He pulled the bedroll out of his satchel, undid the ties, unrolled it upon the floor and settled in with his meager possessions nearby: two chunks of bread, a half-filled flask of water, the sheathed dagger, the bow, the quiver of arrows, the coins and the map. It wasn’t much, but he had to start somewhere.
He folded the empty satchel over and tucked it beneath his head. He unscrewed the flask and took a few generous gulps of water, as well as taking down the second of the three chunks of bread.
Then he took a second to comprehend his situation.
I’m in another world with the most claptrap group of magical beings ever assembled, somehow we’re supposed to build a whole kingdom, and to make matters even more complicated I’ve got access to a system interface that nobody else knows about.
Jack pulled the interface open. He was about to run through the tabs when a flashing light appeared, beckoning him to tap it.
After doing so, a help screen appeared.
Welcome to the System – please read the following guide carefully.
Jack had a feeling about what to expect, but if there were any hidden nuggets of information outside the ordinary, he wanted to find them.
Stats
HP is a measure of a being’s current health. All beings lose HP at different rates depending on their Stamina level. HP may be restored by a variety of means depending on the malady a being experiences. When a being’s HP drops to zero, they die.
Stamina is not only a measure of a being’s rate of HP restoration, but also their ability to persist in demanding physical circumstances.
Strength is a measure of the force that a being is capable of exerting upon the world around them.
Intellect is a measure of a being’s intelligence, including their ability to retain knowledge, process their world, and adapt to difficult situations.
Charisma is a versatile measure of a being’s social skills when conversing with beings around them.
Magic is a measure of the magical ability that a being possesses.
Upon levelling up, a being shall be rewarded with 1 skill point. Among the Kingdom Settlers, this skill point may be assigned by the Mediator to either Stamina, Strength, Intellect, Charisma or Magic. Skill levels are capped for all beings at 50. Skill points may also be applied to the HP counter for a permanent increase of 10HP.
Note: Congratulations on surviving your first evening in Virendel and refraining from killing each other! Settler Levels are now active.
Jack genuinely appreciated the system's compliment about none of the group killing each other; it had been a quest all on its own to accomplish.
Kingdom Settlers. That must refer to the members of my group. Catchy.
The information about HP, Stamina and the assigning of skill points were the parts that stood out the most – right now the most important thing to Jack was keeping his companions alive.
But then there was the final point. Once a being levelled up, a skill point could be assigned to increase one of their stats.
HP, Stamina, Strength, Magic, those all make sense, Jack thought. But what about Intellect and Charisma? If I assign points to those skills, are their personalities going to change? Based on the descriptions it seems pretty obvious…
It was a serious problem, but fortunately one that could wait for another time. He dismissed the help window and returned to the main screen.
Quests – Skills - Companions
Companions. That’s new.
Jack tapped the Companions tab and found all five of his new companions present on the list. He figured that if he clicked them he could view their statistics just like his own, but something made him hesitate.
On the one hand it felt a little weird viewing these things without them knowing; on the other, Jack realized that these statistics weren’t really all that personal. They didn’t tell him anything about his new friends apart from vague physical and mental attributes within the strange system that had presented itself to him.
Each window had flashed up when he had met his companions, but he needed to check them in more detail. He clicked on the first companion and read the information.
Companion: Torick
Level: 1
Being: Gnome
Class: Mage
HP: 98/100
Stamina: 8
Strength: 3
Intellect: 11
Charisma: 10
Magic: 14
Weapon proficiency: Staff – 12, Daggers - 11
‘So serious weakpoints in strength, but that makes sense seeing as he’s a gnome. He easily makes up for those in Magic, but without a staff right now he can’t use it. We need to get him one from somewhere…’
Companion: Zania
Level: 1
Being: Troll
Class: Berserker
HP: 100/100
Stamina: 13
Strength: 15
Intellect: 7
Charisma: 7
Magic: 2
Weapon proficiency: Club - 13
Nothing out of the ordinary there, Jack thought. She’s was a typical berserker, although her Intellect and Charisma were higher than he expected for such a role. Charisma made sense when he thought about it – berserkers were the first into battle, and they motivated people to follow them. But the Intellect? It was low, but evidently she wasn’t a complete moron.
Companion: Eldrin
Level: 1
Being: High-Elf
Class: Guard
HP: 100/100
Stamina: 13
Strength: 12
Intellect: 8
Charisma: 8
Magic: 1
Weapon proficiency: Polearm - 13
Eldrin seemed to be a pretty decent all-rounder save for his Magic level. His versatility would lend well to most situations that Jack needed him for.
Companion: Aeshara
Level: 1
Being: Half-elf
Class: Bard
HP: 100/100
Stamina: 8
Strength: 6
Intellect: 12
Charisma: 14
Magic: 13
Weapon proficiency: One-handed sword – 11
Magic and Charisma were Aeshara’s strongpoints – they would be useful in healing and social situations when the group had to interact with villages and towns beyond Silverward.
Not a jack-of-all-trades. More like a jack-of-several-trades.
But it was easy to see just how valuable the half-elf healing bard was.
What stuck out was her weapon proficiency. Aeshara claimed that she was a bard and a healer alone, but based on her skill level she seemed mighty proficient at using a one-handed sword.
Weird.
Finally there was Fiora.
Companion: Fiora
Level: 1
Being: Fae
Class: Scholar
HP: 100/100
Stamina: 8
Strength: 6
Intellect: 16
Charisma: 7
Magic: 4
Weapon proficiency: Dagger - 1
So everybody was starting at Level 1, and everybody's HP currently stood at 100; current Stamina levels only dictated how well they could persist in demanding physical situations, and HP would increase with the application of skill points, regardless of where it began now.
Fiora’s stats didn’t seem peculiar at first. Her Intellect score was no surprise considering how bright she had already demonstrated herself to be – and even if she wasn’t a legendary scholar, technically that was still her class, and it lined up with Ayak’s assumption about who she was. She possessed Magic in some form too, but then she was a fae; even as a scholar, surely that came with the package.
But next to her name, another sub-tab had appeared.
Companion: Fiora
Level: Locked
Being: Locked
Class: Locked
HP: 100/100
Stamina: 16
Strength: 18
Intellect: 2
Charisma: N/A
Magic: 3
Weapon proficiency: N/A
Jack examined the alternative stats for Fiora. Ridiculously high Stamina and Strength, but her intellect had taken a nosedive.
And her Charisma? For some reason it didn't even apply.
‘What the hell is this?’ Jack whispered to himself. ‘And why are Being and Class locked?'
He did a quick run through his other companions and realized that none of them possessed a secondary tab.
Just Fiora, the unassuming, pretty fae scholar.
There was no way it could have been a glitch. There had to be a reason for the secondary tab.
But like the dozen other problems on his plate, it could wait; he was too exhausted to think about anything other than the surprisingly comfortable bedroll wrapped around his body, and the tightly-bound satchel acting as his pillow.
He had survived the first night. Now all he had to do was hope that everybody he was sharing the house with was as friendly as they appeared.