I walked over to the Red Wolves lodging.

“What is with the spoon?” Halloway asked me.

“’Tis a treasure!” I announced to him.

“Right.” He just said and rolled his eyes.

“No, really. Got it in a treasure chest and everything.” I said as I looked it over. It was still covered in dried spider goo, but in the better light I could see some faint and worn carvings in the wood.

“Wait, really?” he asked curiously.

“Yep.”

“Oh! This might be good than, can I see it?” he asked as we entered the building.

Within was what I was anticipating, a simple room that looked like a summer camp cabin. Six large bunks lined one wall with a fireplace in the back of the building. A small door was in the back wall as well, leading deeper into the building. A table with some benches were in the center of the room. On the opposite wall there were individual gear cubbies like you’d see in a fancy locker room on sports interviews.

“Back room is the bosses,” Halloway informed me, seeing me looking. “Grab an open bay, and the bunks next to the door are open.”

I placed my bags and basket in a cubby that was opposite the bunks and removed my jacket to hang it on a hook.

“So… about that spoon?” He asked again.

“Oh, yea, here.” I handed him the spoon.

He examined it and made a face at the goo that covered it then brought it over to the table.

“I have seen some of these at the market. They sell well to Chosen that range out far.” He explained as he grabbed a bowl. He poured some water into it from a corked bottle on the table. After the bowl was about half full, he dipped the spoon in the water and started stirring it. The water began to change. It quickly turned opaque and took on the same color of the spider goo that covered it.

An odd way to clean a spoon, I thought. But as he kept stirring the water also got thicker, soon turning into a pudding consistency. After he seemed satisfied with the thickness of the goo he took the spoon out and took a bite.

I considered retching.

“What the fuck?” I asked.

“It’s not bad, tastes like crab.” He grinned and had a few more bites.

“What the fuck?” I repeated.

“It’s a Sustaining Spoon.” He informed me. “You can use it to make water into a gruel. They have different flavors and kinds, none of which are very good. But they will keep you alive and you don’t need to worry about rations out in the hinterlands.”

“Okay, that’s neat.” I said and he offered me the spoon back. I took it between two fingers. “You do realize that its spider flavored, right?”

“I’m not thrilled about it I suppose, but it’s not bad.” He said with a shrug.

“Gross,” I shuddered and wiped the spoon off on a cloth that was on the table. I tried to put it in my pocket and realized again that my Norse clothing lacked pockets. I just held onto it instead.

“Where is everyone?” I asked as I looked around the room.

“Mave and Dark went to the market to see if anything good was for sale and to unload the spider bits I harvested. Ryan went into his room.”

“Let’s go over to the Tavern and get you a patch.” Halloway said as he stood up.

“Okay, sounds good. I’m kinda at a loss as to what to do next anyway.”

“Well, let’s get you settled a little. I doubt we will be in town long. That dungeon was just one of a few we have scouted out recently. We will probably refresh and then head out again pretty soon.” He explained.

“You are a fount of knowledge.” I informed him.

“Yea, well being new sucks. Don’t worry, soon you will get it.”

I grabbed my jacket and took some of my coins out of the rucksack to put in my jacket pockets.

“Will my stuff be safe in here? It isn’t much but it is all I have.” I asked.

“Should be.” Halloway confirmed. “We leave some gear in here for weeks when we are out on a long-haul dungeon run. The five groups here have a few unwritten rules. One of them is to not fuck with other groups or their stuff.”

“Five? I only saw three. You, the bulls and the Vinlanders.”

“Yea, there are two more, their buildings are on the other side of ours,” he said as he pointed towards the back. “Kraken and Raid. They are okay. Into different things. Adventuring among the seas and raiding, if the names didn’t give it away. That sort of deal. We mostly do dungeons and treasure hunts. The Toros are monster hunters, now that those are a thing. The Vinlanders…. Well, they don’t do shit. But there are enough of them to be annoying if we don’t all follow the rules. The only reason they follow them is because Raid has made it clear what happens when the rules aren’t followed.”

“And what’s that?” I asked with a raised eyebrow as we left the building and made our way to the Tavern.

“Well, being immortal is great, but being drawn and quartered by four horses all medieval style is an unpleasant experience. That twitchy Vinlander got caught stealing from Raid and they did that to him. It only took once for those guys to fall in line.”

“How the hell does that work? The healing and loss of limb and stuff? Pest ripped off that one guy’s ear and it is still missing, but you say Terry was ripped apart and still has all his limbs?” I asked.

“It is weird,” he said as he opened the door to the Tavern. “Small stuff, like stuff you wouldn’t need to be a functional fighter, you can lose. But big pieces will come back. I once had a bad run in with some traps in a dungeon.”

He gestured his hand at me and looked at me seriously.

“Don’t press every button you see,” he said. “Damn thing released a guillotine like blade that cut my whole damn hand off. I didn’t have a chance. Couldn’t even stop the bleeding. Bled out. But the next day my hand was there, perfect as the day before. On the other hand, I lost a toe to a similar trap.”

I looked at his boot.

“Stupid tripwire on a stair and another huge ass sliding blade. I don’t know how all these dungeon creators can afford all these damn huge magically sharp trap blades,” he lamented, before going on. “And that toe seems gone for good.”

“You had some shit luck.” I told him.

“That what happens when you don’t put any points in it.”

I blinked at him. LUCKLESS was a flag on him. Maybe that was why. Could luck not be like the other stats? Instead of being atrophied and negative at 0 or 1, it instead was just unaugmented by the gods? If it wasn’t I can’t imagine how Halloway could go outside without getting stuck with lightning or something.

“That was a poor choice.” I told him. He just shrugged.

“Each their own,” he informed me wisely.

“That’s a bullshit response to my criticism!” I told him.

“Each their own,” he said again with a grin this time.

“Your mom.” I countered with my most devastating comeback. He just chuckled and walked up to the bar.

“Karen!” He exclaimed and the middle age woman who served me last time turned toward us.

“We are here to see your manager!” I announced happily. Halloway groaned slightly.

“Well, if it isn’t the first time I heard that, you chucklefuck.” She responded in her three-packs a day smokers voice.

“Don’t mind him, Karen, he is just dumb.” Halloway soothed her. “We need a Red Wolves patch for him.”

“One silver.” She said and I winced.

“I need two, actually, one normal and one smaller one. Please.” I informed her politely.

“Two silver.” She said immediately.

“Now, now, last time it was only a silver for all five of them.” Halloway interjected.

“Yea, but I don’t like him.”

“But you like me, don’t you?” Halloway said and I felt an odd influence from him.

“What the hell is your Charisma score?” I asked him.

“It’s something,” he said and went back to Karen. “Please? We need him, and the Vinlanders need to lay off him. So, we need his badge to make sure they don’t make any excuses about not knowing he was part of the Hand.”

“The Hand?” I asked.

“It’s what we call the group of the five guilds here,” he explained quickly before turning back to Karen.

“Please?” He asked her sweetly.

“Fine, one silver for two. And that includes what he owes me for breaking the peace and some of my furniture when he antagonized them the other day.” She said and got a stubborn look.

“Okay, deal.” I interjected and pulled a coin out of my jacket pocket. I did feel bad about messing up her place, even though it looked like the damage was minimal to non-existent on her well made furniture. “And I apologize. I’m a bit of a smart ass. But I don’t mean any offence.”

“If you don’t mean any offence, then don’t say stupid shit.” She snapped at me and took my coin. She reached under the bar and rifled around a bit before pulling out two Red Wolves patches.

“Wait, you had them already made?” I asked.

“Of course. I always have a few spares.”

“Oh,” I said simply and took them.

“Anything else for you boys?” She grated out.

“No, thank you,” Halloway answered politely. “We will be in for dinner though. Probably the whole group.”

“It’s going to be a full night.” She nodded at him. “Everyone is in today.”

“Good, Viktor can meet the rest of the Hand then.” Halloway smiled at her, and we left the tavern.

“The Hand?” I asked.

“I didn’t name it.” Halloway shrugged.

“Thank god, ‘cause that shit is tacky.” I looked around. “What now?”

“We could go peruse the market, check on how well Mave and Dark are making out.”

“Sounds good,” I said, and we made our way out of the fort and across the intersection.

“If they had a relationship name it would be pretty lame. Mark or Dave.” I mentioned absently and Halloway snorted at me.

The city was a little busier than last time I wandered through. A decent amount of foot traffic was present today as people made their way around. More Chosen were in attendance too. Mostly it seemed like individuals and duo’s than people who were part of a guild. Or rather I didn’t see any patches on them to indicate guild affiliation.

“How many Chosen live here?” I asked.

“Live? Not too many. Mostly just the hand,” he held out his hand and lowered a finger with each thing he listed. “Us, the Toros and Vinlanders are the smaller groups. Only a handful of us each.”

I groaned at his dad joke, and he chuckled as he made a fist then popped up two fingers.

“But Raid has about twenty and Kraken around twelve. If everyone is in town, the tavern is going to packed to bursting. Karen might make some people eat outside. It damn near becomes a miniature festival. A few other Chosen live in town, not in the fort, but most of these are wanderers or hermits.” Halloway indicated the other chosen walking around.

“I met a hermit. He tried to eat me.” I said thinking of Urkel.

“Yea, some people will do that. Things were a lot harder when there wasn’t any wild game or monsters to raid. That’s all new.” Halloway agreed. “Some people just don’t adjust to this new world well and lose their minds. Since they can’t die, they become pretty wild or weird.”

“How often do new things happen? Content updates I guess I should call them.” I asked.

“Every few months a big update comes through. With some smaller ones sporadically popping up with small bits of content or balance changes. When I first started, there was a bug with a certain tree. They were unbreakable, so you’d go scour the woods for a naturally small one, or a fallen limb, and you’d have a wicked club. They were light and easy to wield but hit like an iron pipe. Not to mention the armor potential. And if you could get one that you could use as an arrow, it would pierce brick walls. It was brutal. The monster patch was the latest. I think the dungeons came with the last one. It’s kind of hard to keep track of sometimes. The dungeons were a lot easier before the monsters, they were mostly puzzles and traps. Now it’s that, as well as all sorts of creatures and boss monsters. That spider you tangled with was one of the easier things.” He explained excitedly. “The dungeons also brought with it the new equipment. The dungeon treasure isn’t Viking stuff for the most part, he pointed at my jacket. It can be from any era or fantasy genre. Hell, it’s just time until we find a set of Power Armor or something.”

“That would be sweet.” I grinned at him.

We had made it to the entrance of the market. The fountain gurgled away as water fell around Loki as he took in all his admirers. Which was nobody right now. Everyone was focused on the booths set up around the square. It reminded me of a renaissance fair I had been to once. Booths and tents and kiosks full of all sorts of important and handmade goods. We slowly made out way down an aisle and window shopped.

I grabbed a few meat skewers that smelled delicious and gave one to Halloway as thanks for his tutelage. It wasn’t bad. Meat on a stick never seemed to be bad. I think it was my inner savage, delighting in it. Unless it was snake. That was bad.

We came across a series of tents that had wagons backed up from the other side, forming bins on wheels for their stock. Heaped on them were an assortment of parts and bits dissected from creatures known and unknown to me. It stank, some of the parts were rancid and rotting, others were just gross. Amongst all this was Mave, still having Pest hitching a ride on her shoulder, the little traitor. Mave was dickering heatedly with a vendor over a sack of spider parts. It was hard to follow for me, the back and forth, but Pest was right there with her hissing and chirping encouragement.

“The hell is going on?” I asked him.

‘Miss Mave is master merchant!’ Pest announced into my mind with enthusiasm. ‘Pest learns much!’

I chuckled and let them argue.

“She does that.” Halloway informed me, thinking I was asking him. “Loves to fight for the best price. It always looks like it will turn to a bloody brawl before the end.”

“Where is Dark?” I asked, noticing the kid wasn’t present.

“Probably over in the back looking at knives or something.” Halloway gestured. “He is always looking at those blades that look like they belong on a sacrificial alter or something.”

“Seems legit.” I said and kept watching Mave argue. She was fiery, much different from the bubbly singer from our walk. Her cheeks were flushed from the shouting fight and finally, just like Halloway predicted, she and the merchant were in each other’s face about ready to take a swing. She actually pulled back a fist ready to hit him, but as she brought it forward it turned into a slapping handshake and suddenly both sides were grinning and cackling like mad people.

“Jesus, they are both nuts.” I muttered. Halloway just shrugged.

“To each their own.” He said again with a grin, and I playfully punched him on the shoulder.

She came over to us bouncing with happiness.

“Hal, I got one ten!” She announced.

“Ehh?” I asked.

“She got about ten percent above base value. Normally the merchants won’t go above one, let alone one ten.” He explained.

“Alright, so you are the barter queen.”

“Damn right,” she confirmed with a nod and rubbed her nose to Pest’s nose.

“My little buddy fancies himself a merchant too, make sure to teach him all your tricks.” I told her.

“Are you a little merchant, Musty Man?” She asked him.

‘Pest is a businessman!’ He mind-shouted.

“He says he is a businessman.” I informed her. She just ruffled his fur until he gave an exasperated sigh.

“So, anything worth buying?” I asked her.

“I haven’t had a chance to check the good stuff yet, just been trying to unload the haul on this miser over here.” She shouted miser over her shoulder and shot a mock glare at the merchant who was already busy arguing with a man over some deer antlers. He shot her a dirty look, but it crumbled into a grin quickly and he gave her a wave before going back to the man.

“Got him wrapped around you little finger, don’t you?” I chuckled at her.

“I don’t know what you mean,” she said innocently and started walking away.

Halloway and I shared a look and followed after her.

The stalls she chose to visit were odd ones. There were three separate spots she seemed to make a beeline too, and they weren’t amongst the most popular ones. The first was in the very back corner, abutted next to a manure patch from the livestock kennels. I had to cover my face with a hand as she talked to the vendor. He was some sort of snake oil salesman, dealing in only the finest of herbal tonics and potions. I Inspected one.

Name: Bottle

Material: Clay

Durability: Average

Value: Below Average

FLAGS: FRAGILE

Contents: Water, Honey Mead, Flora – Goldenrod Flowers

Contents Flags: NOURISHMENT, ALCOHOLIC, DIURETIC, POLYURIA

Contents Efficacy: Poor

The little bottle matched a dozen others on the table. This one consisted of a little bit of goldenrod mixed with mead and water. It had some beneficial effects but was no miracle cure-all. And it was watered down enough that the efficacy even showed as poor. I didn’t remember the efficacy showing up at all on the restorative mead from the treasure chest. Must be another context triggered attribute, only showing when it fell out of the normal ranges. This container had a delineation mark. That meant I might be able to hack the rune-code easier, maybe safer.

“How much are these?” I asked, holding one of the little clay vessels.

“My fine sir, that is the most potent of…” The hyper salesman suddenly started his fast paced sales pitch.

“Stop, it’s just Goldenrod,” I interrupted him. “How much?”

He looked stricken for a moment and tried to recover.

“I’m sorry good sir you are mistak…”

“Stop trying to sell me and I will buy one of every type of potion you have for a decent price, or I will start shouting out what ingredients are in each of these to whoever passes by.” I interrupted him again and grabbed another vial.

“Take this for example…” I said as I Inspected the vial.

Name: Bottle

Material: Clay

Durability: Cracked (Patched)

Value: Trash

FLAGS: FRAGILE

Contents: Water, Flora – Hemlock Seeds

Contents Flags: TOXIC, SEDATIVE, ANALGESIC

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Contents Efficacy: Poor

“Ah… yes that is one of the best calming and pain reli…” He began extoling the virtues of the vial before I interrupted him again.

“And best poisons that you have. Hemlock, when taken in any sort of quantity will kill the shit out of you.”

“Hemlock?” Halloway asked.

“Didn’t ancient Greece use that as a punishment?” Mave added.

“As far as I know, which is a guess, but yes.” I confessed.

“Fine!” The merchant hissed and shoved a handful of bottles at me. “Half silver and you get one of each.”

I openly laughed in his angry face.

“Oh hell no. I’ll give you two pennies.”

[Congratulations. You have unlocked the Barter skill!]

As soon as I chose to argue over the price, I earned a skill. He looked outraged by the very idea that I wouldn’t take up his price.

“You plan to ruin and begger me?!” He yelled at me. “Five copper pennies or no deal!”

“The only thing I will give you is three copper pennies, and I won’t let anyone else know about the poison you are selling as medicine!” I yelled out, putting extra sass on the word poison.

“Four.” He said with a scowl.

“Three.” I countered again and cupped my mouth as if to shout out something to the crowd who had mostly been ignoring our bolstering barter, as it fit right in with the market atmosphere.

“Fine! Three!” He hissed and we exchanged money for goods. He didn’t look pleased after the deal was struck.

As we walked away Mave laughed.

“Looks like I’m not the only cutthroat barter around here. I think you actually made him go below base value.” She informed me.

“That’s what happens when you sell trash that someone can see through.” I told her.

“How did you do that? Know what was in the vials?” Halloway asked me.

“Oh…” I didn’t know why, but I wanted to keep my relationship with Loki on the down low, and especially my relationship with the rune-code. What if they had watching benefactors? I didn’t want to take out this advantage like I had the last. “I have the Herbalist skill.”

It was only a half-lie, therefore a half-truth. They accepted it at face value.

“I did unlock Bartering too.” I tried to distract with my fancy new skill.

[Barter]

Unlock Conditions – Argue with a merchant over a price.

[lvl 1] – You have a chance of doing well in a barter. BUY LOW, SELL HIGH! EASY PEASY!

“I would have been surprised if you didn’t,” Halloway said. “I unlocked mine trying to buy from a merchant who didn’t even speak our language. It’s an easy one.”

“Why did we even go to that booth? All this stuff is garbage.” I indicated all the vials and containers I clutched.

“If it was useless, why did you buy it?” Halloway asked.

“Science,” I answered informatively.

“Sometimes he has real healing stuff that he buys off people who don’t know any better. His barter skill isn’t very high for a merchant, so I can get them off of him for cheap.” Mave answered my original question.

“How do you know what is good for real healing?” I asked.

“I was an LPN in the old world. I just have a feel for the real stuff.” She answered.

I squinted at her. I was sensing someone else using the half-truth, but I didn’t call her out on it.

“What?” she asked, seeing my look.

“Nothing, just wondering how an LPN became a wizard, or mage, or whatever magic users are called here.”

“I prefer being called a sorceress.” She said as she raised the hood on her robes. “Dark and mysterious, that way.”

“Now you sound like your boyfriend.” I mocked and wagged a finger at me.

“Be nice to Dark.” she said sternly. “He is a nice boy.”

Boy, I thought, not voicing it, but shared a look with Halloway that told me he had the same thought.

The next booth was another out of the way one. Well, it was in the middle of the market, but the way the stalls were set up didn’t really mesh with that I would consider nice and orderly. They didn’t really believe in the Manhattan method of organization. It was more the, ‘oh here is a good space lets set up here, right where everyone walks,’ method.

After going in, what I think was a spiral to the very last booth and past it, we found an old lady sitting on a blanket in the shadows of the booths and tents around her. She was so well hidden I had to Inspect her to make sure she wasn’t a secret master or hidden god or something.

Name: Thyra

Race: Human

Type: Resident

Allegiance: Earl Uhtred (lord)

FLAGS: COGNITION_2, MERCHANT, WIDOWER, CRIPPLED

Health: Crippled

Energy: Tired

This was the first time I had seen a CRIPPLED person in the tower. It wasn’t obvious from looking at her, but she also had on a long skirt that covered her legs so it must have been hidden from sight. I don’t recall medieval and ancient societies being too lenient with crippled or handicapped people.

“Good afternoon, Ms. Thyra,” Mave said to her sweetly before announcing. “I have made some new friends!”

She sat down next to her and presented Pest to her. He sniffed at her nose, since Mave had stuffed him in her face.

“Oh! A ferret! I haven’t seen one of these in ages! They make such good rodent hunters!” She cooed and ruffled Pests checks with her old knotted hands. I considered her words. If the wildlife critters just spawned in, how would she have ever seen one? It seemed like the patch was starting to smooth out edges, as if it had never been a missing feature.

Thyra may have been the oldest person I had seen in the Tower so far, NPC or Chosen. Her skin was wrinkled and loose on her thin frame. Her hair had gone white and thinned some. But she seemed energized and ready to take on the day, even though her energy listed her as tired.

“That is Pest, and I am Viktor.” I introduced myself. “May I sit with you as well?”

“Oh yes, please do. I don’t get many visitors.” She said as she patted the space next to her.

“Well, you are kind of hidden back here.” I said with a glance around her little alcove behind the other tents.

Halloway sat down opposite her, and we formed a little circle sitting on her blanket.

“I should have brought my picnic basket,” I said with a chuckle.

“A what basket?” Thyra asked me.

“Picnic basket.” I pantomimed its shape and the action of opening it with my hands. “For taking a little snack and drink into the woods or grasslands for a pleasant afternoon.”

“Oh, yes!” Her eyes brightened and she patted my forearm. “I know just what you mean, my late Bjorn and I would do that.” She smiled at me.

“And a little something else while we were out there all alone.” she said with a devilish grin and elbowed Mave with a cackle.

I let out an involuntary burst of laughter. Old folks were awesome. They gave no fucks.

“Do you have anything for me today, Thyra?” Mave asked her with a smile.

“Oh, you are always straight to the trade, no chit-chat.” Thyra gave her a sour look.

“Be careful of this one, she will trade you pocket lint for your little Pest here and have you thanking her the entire time.” She informed me with another arm pat.

“Sorry, he isn’t for sale.” I said firmly. Mave looked a little sad at my statement.

“Does he know that?” Halloway interjected with a gesture at the fuzzy little traitor who seemed quite content in Mave’s hands right now.

“Not sure.” I muttered.

“Who’s my little Musty Man?” She said to him and gave him a little peck on the top of his head.

“It’s musky, you know? Musk, not must.” I told her.

“That’s what I said. Musty Man.” she said with a nod. I just sighed at her.

“So…. Thyra….” Mave smiled at Thyra who sighed at her as well.

“Fine!” She said with a click of her tongue and lifted her skirt a little.

Whoa, what are be buying here?! I thought to myself. But before I got to see any skin a small embroidered cloth was revealed. She tugged it forward and unwrapped it. The embroidery on the cloth was tight and fine, curling and swooping in swirls and twists. It unfolded like a gift wrap, expertly displaying the treasures nestled within.

“I have two Implements.” She said Implement like it was something serious, not just a tool. I inspected them.

Name: Brooch

Material: Gold Plated Silver

Durability: Undamaged

Value: Treasure

FLAGS: ANOINTED(HEIMDALL), PROTECTION

Name: Flute

Material: Sheep’s Bone

Durability: Cracked

Value: Treasure

FLAGS: ANOINTED(BRAGI), CHARM

More anointed objects! I was so excited about the flag that I ignored glazed over on the rest of the information and pulled my spoon out of my jacket pocket.

“Excuse me mam, is this an Implement?” I held the spoon out to her.

She took it in two hands and examined it closely. She hissed as she dropped it back into my hand as if it had burned her fingers.

“Yes, that is an Implement, but it is anointed to the trickster, and his Implements always have a deception. Something that makes them undesirable.”

“This spoon makes spider gruel.” I informed her.

“Yes, a harmless prank on this item, but the next may make poison gruel.” She said with a heavy scowl. She may have been the first creature in this tower who I heard say anything negative about Loki.

“Can you tell me what anointing is and how it works?” I asked her.

“I could, but that sort of information is valuable.” she said with a predatory look.

“Of course, a wise teacher should always get a good pay.” I told her and slipped a random coin to her. It was a silver, which made her eyes widen.

“You must think me as wise as the all-father,” she made the coin disappear somewhere into her dress. “But I will do my best to share what I know.”

“That’s all I ask for.” I smiled.

“When a priest or person with allegiance to a god finds an implement, they can dedicate it to their god. Not all ways of dedication to the gods are the same. They vary on their whims. But when it happens the god will appraise the item and manner of dedication and grant the item a small measure of power.” She picked up the brooch that she had revealed to us. “For example, this brooch is dedicated to Heimdall. I do not know how it was dedicated to him, but he has seen fit to offer its wearer a small extra measure of protection.”

She showed off the fine work of carvings and metalwork that had went into its crafting like it was on display on a home shopping channel.

“How do you know how it was dedicated to him and offers protection.”

“The carvings and runes and a little bit of intuition.” She turned it and showed off the runes as she spoke about them. “Here is the gods name, in runes. And here on this side section is a glyph of protection. It isn’t an uncommon piece, but still very useful for anyone who braves the wilds outside the walls.”

She set down the brooch and picked up the flute. It was short and only had four holes counting the one to blow in. I knew next to nothing about musical instruments. It looked pretty basic.

“This is dedicated to Bragi, the great skald poet. I do not know what power he has granted it, but it is something beneficial to those that hear it.” She turned it slowly in her fingers and showed us the carvings carefully. “Again, the name is here in runes, and here is another line of runes that are the name of a poem.”

I looked over my spoon, and was able to pick out the Loki runes on in. As I was focused on that Mave began to haggle with the old woman. It wasn’t as violent as with the merchant but they both were very firm and short with their prices and counters. Money exchanged hands and Mave took the brooch from her.

“Not going after the flute too?” I wondered aloud.

“Do you know how to play?” She asked me.

“Nope.” I shook my head. “Not an instrument guy.”

“None of the Red Wolves can either”, She explained as she put the brooch into a hip bag that she had.

“You’ll find, young man, that if you misuse an Implement, things don’t work out quite right. The good things that flute can do, if you play poorly will upset Bragi, will soon turn into bad things for you.” Thyra said.

“I once had a pair of wool sheers that weren’t supposed to go dull,” Halloway joined in. “I tried to use them to get a lock off a treasure chest. The blade broke off and I sliced my wrist. I bled out.”

“You sure do bleed out a lot.” I told him.

“Yea, hazards of the job,” he said with a shrug.

“To each their own.” I told him and he scoffed at me.

Our business with Thyra concluded, we wished her well and went off to our last booth. Before we got there, Halloway nudged me.

“This next one, can be a little intense.” He warned me.

“Intense? Intense how?” I asked nervously.

“You’ll see,” was all he would tell me.

Mave led us to directly behind the Loki statue, where a raised platform had been constructed. On it there was a stone lectern, but nobody was currently making use of it. A pole with a roost stood next to the lecture and a large black bird perched atop it. The bird watched people come and go and examined us as we made our way towards it. As it turned its eye to looked at me, I Inspected it back.

Name: Revna

Race: Raven

Type: Creature

Allegiance: Gorm (bond)

FLAGS: COGNITION_1, IS_BOUND (Gorm)

Health: Healthy

Energy: Full

A bound raven. It chose that moment to scream in my face. I can admit that it startled me. The high pitched scream that came out was from Mave, definitely Mave, and not me. Damn bird was loud. Mave walked right up to it, and it pecked at her hand. It must have caused her no discomfort because she ruffled its feathers and coo’ed at it.

She seemed to be a real animal lover. She introduced Pest to the raven, but he didn’t seem all that enthused.

“Play nice,” I told him jokingly.

‘Bird lacks spark.’ Pest told me.

“What do you mean?” I asked him.

‘No spark, bird doesn’t grow.’ Pest elaborated.

“Does Finley have it?” I had a thought that he meant ADAPTABLE. I had only seen a few creatures and NPC’s that had the flag.

‘No,’ he answered.

“Next time you think something sparks, let me know.” I informed him.

‘Yes, Chairman,’ he gave me a small head bob. I looked around to take in the space and noticed Halloway staring at me.

“What?” I asked him.

“Were you just talking to your ferret?” He gestured towards Pest. “And not just a little, your so cutsey-cute talk, but a real conversation?”

“Yes.”

“How long were you in the woods alone with him?” He asked with a look in his eye like he was preparing to hide all the sharp objects in the cabin.

“I kinda lost track, but it doesn’t matter. He talks back.” I said and tapped the side of my head. “I can hear him in my head.”

“Sure buddy. Whatever you say….” He told me and turned away, to pretend to be busy doing something.

“Hey! I’m serious!” I tried to tell him, but he ignored me.

As I grumbled to myself about treacherous guys with poorly spelled names I was startled again by another scream. This one came from a stone table right up against the fountain. A man stood there, facing away from us.

This side of the fountain had Loki facing away from us, towards the entrance of the market. Along its edges there were smaller and more crudely fashioned representations of other gods. I guess that Loki wasn’t completely greedy in his desire for worship, allowing these small effigies to exist. But the quality and size difference definitely made him stand out more.

Mave had finished greeting the bird and our small group went up to the man. I cautiously went forward as noises and thrashing came from his table. The man was struggling with something.

As we approached I heard him muttering to himself in a low tone, either words I didn’t know or too mumbled to understand. With a violent wrench and a horrible scream, he flung his arm out and a bloody knife wiped around splattering the three of us. I jumped back and pulled my spoon from my pocket. I really needed to start using my hatchet more often. He turned towards us with a sheepish expression. He was wearing a leather apron and blood was smeared along the front of it. Laying on the stone table was a goat that had just had its throat slit. It bled out onto the stone table. The table had groves carved into it that channeled the blood to flow into the fountain. The red mixed in with the water turning the whole thing into the most messed up kool-aid you have ever seen.

“Sorry, sorry, sorry,” he said three times. “The knife got away from me, got stuck on something. This is how it is sometimes with a sacrifice to the trickster’s fountain. Always some small reminder that he is always watching.”

For someone who was ritually sacrificing a living goat to a trickster god, he was not what I was expecting. He was young and good looking with a lean build. The robe he wore had no sleeves, so his lean arms were easily visible. He had dark tattoos of Celtic knots and animals intermixed with runes covering his arms from wrist until they disappeared into his clothing. Judging from the way they continued out of the neck of the robe I assumed his entire torso was like that.

His voice was strong and proud and held the local accent, so I knew he wasn’t a Chosen, but otherwise it was a guy you’d expect to see jogging down the side of the road in the early mornings. A confident and self-assured sort.

I inspected him.

Name: Gorm

Race: Human

Type: Resident

Allegiance: The Gods, Earl Uhtred (city lord)

FLAGS: COGNITION_3, MERCHANT, PRIEST, GODTOUCHED, HAS_BOUND(Revna)

Health: Healthy

Energy: Tired

A merchant and a priest. I wonder what he had to offer.

Mave frowned and looked down at herself.

“Do you know how hard it is to clean this robe? I either have to do it myself and it takes an entire day, or I have to pay for it.” She complained at him.

“It takes an entire day to wash your robe?” I asked a little surprised. I knew doing it by hand must suck, but an entire day?

“Yes, I hate laundry.” She confirmed.

“But why a day?” I asked and she just ignored me and snatched a cloth out of Gorm’s hand. I looked to Halloway.

“Just leave it, it’s a whole thing.” Halloway told me.

Mave set Pest down and cleaned at her robe. He skittered over to the fountain and hopped onto its edge. After a few sniffs he started lapping at the bloody water. I looked away and tried not to gag. Once Mave had become satisfied with her cleaning she handed the cloth to me, I looked at my jacket and shrugged and handed it to Halloway. I didn’t mind a little blood on my jacket. I’m sure it wouldn’t be the last time. Besides, the more blood on it, the lest vibrant blue it was.

While we went about that, Gorm had finished removing the head of the goat and set it to the side of his table. Engravings and runes were carved in circles below it. As the blood oozed out it began to fill the carvings and Gorm resumed his mumbling. I glanced at Mave, and she was looking away with disinterest and waiting, so I guess we had to wait for him to finish. After the blood finished filling the lines it began dripping off a spigot on the side of the table. Gorm took a wooden bowl and caught the blood. He dipped his fingers in the blood and wiped a line of it under his eyes, then brought the bowl in front of Halloway. Halloway nodded at him and Gorm rewet his fingers and drew a rune on his forehead with it. He stepped in front of me, and I glanced at my companions. Mave waved an impatient swirl motion with her hand urging me to get on with it, and Halloway just nodded again.

I looked into Gorms eyes, but he wasn’t quite looking back at me. It was more like he was looking through me to something a long ways behind me. But he still registered my nod and as he continued to mumble he drew a shape on my forehead.

[Congratulations, you have been blessed by in a holy rite.]

[This was a generic ritual so you will receive a blessing from your most attuned god.]

[Loki has given you a blessing.]

Okay, blessed by Loki, I’m sure that wasn’t a double-edged sword that would reveal itself at the most inopportune time or anything. I was starting to feel like my life was written by a bored househusband or something.

A tiny trumpet announced a second notification that slid into my vision.

[Achievement Unlocked – Team Loki]

[You have been blessed, received a boon, and have allegiance to the same god, Loki! Congratulations for picking the best of the lot!]

[Team Loki - Benefit] Your god is terrifying and infuriating. You have a bonus 10% chance to Intimidation, but you also have a 5% chance to cause your enemy to enter a Berserker state.

And a new achievement! I guess I was Team Loki whether I liked it or not. Sorry Edward. And as I had thought with the blessing, the achievement’s benefit was indeed a double-edged blade. An up to intimidation, but a bonus to giving my enemies a powerup at the same time. But it also had a possibility of exploit. If you needed to berserk to unlock Berserker, could I Intimidate people until it triggered and then charge them for the unlock? I might need to collect the money first… Interesting possibilities indeed.

Gorm took the bowl away from us and went down from his platform and into the crowd that was around the market.

“So… we are just going to wait then?” I asked after he had smeared blood on a few more volunteers.

“Yea, we had bad timing today.” Mave told me. “But he is usually in a pretty good mood after this, so we will at least get a better deal on his goods.”

“Which are?”

“He sells magic for those that can wield it and sometimes some Implements. But his are never as good as Thyra’s.” Mave said as she rubbed her forehead, smudging the blood rune. “Or as cheap.”

“Who can wield magic?” I asked.

“Don’t know, seems random.” Mave answered shortly. I didn’t sense she was being cagey about it, so maybe she just didn’t know.

“Probably mitochondria.” I said.

“Huh?” Mave looked at me in confusion.

“Nice,” Halloway said, enjoying my reference. “I was thinking the same thing, just Midi-chlorian.”

“Ewww,” I winced. “Space wizards got space parasites to get magic. I hope Loki doesn’t need to give us a STD infection to gain magic or something.”

Mave made a face and decided to ignore us.

The priest seemed to be making that little bowl of blood last and I decided to use the free moment to send a silent report to the system about that bad grammar I had seen earlier. Every good reader reports bad grammar after all.

Pest was busying himself by sniffing and lapping at the blood that dripped off the table. I wonder if he was getting blessings by the dozen for that.

“Who’d you get blessed by?” I asked the group.

“Gullveig,” Mave said.

“Haimdall,” Halloway said.

“Loki,” I said. Mave hissed like Thyra had. I just rolled my eyes at her.

“What do the blessings do?” I asked.

“Depends on the god that takes you up.” Mave said. “I usually get one of the names of Freyja. She has many. I think it’s different personas or something like that. Gullveig helps my magic, I get less exhausted as I use it.”

“Heimdall is all about protection. Makes me harder to hurt.” Halloway said.

“Good, maybe then you can stop bleeding out all the time.” I snarked at him. But he just nodded. “What about Loki, what will he give me?”

“Don’t know,” Mave shrugged. “Not many people get Loki for a blessing. I don’t think any of us have.”

“How do you guys know all this stuff? The System seems pretty stingy with details.” I asked.

“Trial and error mostly.” Halloway said.

“Hasn’t anyone started cataloging or writing any of this down yet?” I pondered. I had an urge to do it myself.

“If they have, we haven’t seen it yet.” Halloway answered.

“It is a lot. It would take a super nerd.” I mused.

“Plenty of those here, they are just too busy trying to survive.” Halloway said.

“I guess so.” I said and went back to the topic at hand, “I assume the blessings are temporary?”

“Yea, they seem to have a limit of some sort. But it is hard to keep track of. The more you use it the faster it goes.” Mave explained. Halloway nodded along.

I had run out of questions, so we just waited. Pest ran up to me and tried to scrabbled up my leg.

“What?” I asked him and leaned down. He was holding onto something. It was a large black feather. “Where did you find this?”

‘Put in nest!’ He demanded. I glanced at the Raven on his perch, didn’t seem to belong to him. At least he didn’t have a Pest shaped bite mark out of him.

“We don’t have the rucksack with us.” I told him, and Pest started to frantically look around for a hiding space.

“You are being weird again.” Halloway interrupted us, catching me talking to Pest again.

“Am not!” I yelled at him. Just as Pest was about to bolt and I snatched him up and took the feather. I slipped it into my jacket pocket.

“I’ll put it here for now.” I told him and patted my pocket. He stared at me for a moment before squirming around in my grip, trying to escape. I set him down and he scurried off again.

“Ahhh, it was a fine day for worship!” Gorm announced as he returned. His hands were covered in blood stains and his bowl empty. “Now Chosen, what may I do for you today?” He addressed us all.

“I would like to see your stock.” Mave asked him.

Gorm placed his bowl on the stone table and went to the lectern. It had some cubbies built into it on the speakers side, and from one of these he pulled out a small wooden box. He set it on the table and opened it. It was a basic box, lacking adornment on the outside, but inside it had a fine fabric colored a deep and rich blue. Resting upon the fabric was a handful of rolled up parchments. I call it parchment for lack of a better term, but it more resembled sheets off white bark peelings from a birch tree.

“I have these, Words from the gods themselves.” Gorm stated reverently. “You have already seen three of them, if I remember correctly. But two should be new to you.”

Mave gazed into the box but didn’t make a move towards them. Gorm pointed at one small, rolled scroll and named it.

“The Word of Whispers,” he said, in a whisper himself. And with sudden wild energy he announced the next. “The Word of Mania.”

“How do these work?” I asked them.

“One who is blessed with the touch of a god can read the Word. And if they manage to pronounce the Word before the scroll wears away, they can learn the Word to use and control the smallest bit of godly powers.” Gorm explained, his steady and confident voice taking on more zeal than it previously had.

“What are the other scrolls available?”

“Light, which I already have. Flash, which is a bright flash of light, so redundant. And Guidance, which is vague, as it is supposed to help you do something a little better bit better.” Mave told me before Gorm could go back into his theatrics.

“How much do they cost?”

“Gold, because the words of the gods all shine with the luster of the heavens. Today the price is one coin. They are pleased with the sacrifice and worship they have received this day.” Gorm informed me.

I looked to Mave, who nodded at me.

“It is a good price, the lowest it ever goes. On bad days it can be four gold.” She said.

“Those days are the ones at which we must make it up to the gods for our poor worship.” Gorm said with a frown finally creasing his features. “I do not name the price, I merely relate it to the devout.”

I Inspected a scroll at random.

Name: Scroll of the Word

Material: Paper Birch

Durability: Fragile

Value: Treasure

FLAGS: TEACH_POWERWORD – MANIA

“What happens if someone who isn’t… god-touched tries to read it?” I asked as I went over the information. It was pretty basic, just holding the special flag. I wondered if I could safely substitute the mania qualifier for something else. Would it give me the ability to get scrolls with crazy powerful words, or would it break the System and cause glitchy magic to be created? I would have to proceed carefully with experimenting on these objects.

“The gods would laugh.” Gorm said with amusement to my question.

I looked to my companions for clarification.

“Nothing, you just waste a scroll.” Halloway elaborated on the NPCs vagueness.

“Well. It is funny, because no matter how hard someone tries, they never pronounce it right. Even if it’s a basic word like… Sol. It comes out wrong.” Mave added, and on her saying the word, her hand flashed with light for a moment. “It sounds like drunken karaoke in a foreign language.”

“Sounds like a good drinking game. Whoever can’t pronounce the Word takes a shot.” I quipped.

“Yea, at minimum one gold an attempt.” Halloway quipped back.

“How many tries does the scroll give you.”

“It varies, an easier Word seem to wear out the scroll less. Someone may get more chances. We call them Word, but some of them are really words plural. Multiple actual words on a Word scroll. Those with more words are harder to pronounce and seem to wear out the scroll faster.” Mave explained.

“Chosen, do you wish to learn a new word?” Gorm asked Mave.

She hesitates for a moment before declining. As he went to close the box, I stopped him.

“Hold up, give me…” I paused and looked to Mave. “Do you have Guidance?”

“No, never seemed worth the bang for my buck.” She answered.

“Would you use it if you had it?” I asked.

“Probably, the more buffs I can use the better, yea?” She replied.

“Okay, I’ll take the Word of Guidance.” I told Gorm and pulled out my last gold coin. He smiled and reverently handed me the fragile looking scroll. He took the coin and immediately tossed it into the fountain. Pest, smelling lost revenue in the air, appeared just in time to watch it fly though the air and plop into the fountain water. He, without any hesitation, dove into the water after it.

“Pest!” I yelled at him but Gorm merely chuckled.

“Worry not, he cannot take it back. The gods have already claimed it.” He smiled at us.

I walked to the fountain’s edge and gazed in, sure enough no gleam of a coin was within the blood-tinged waters. Pest searched for a short time, even diving in like a little otter, before climbing out of the water and proceeding to do his post wetness ritual of dragging his ass around on the ground.

“Why did you just waste you money on something you can’t use?” Halloway asked me.

“Science!” I announced and tucked it amongst my bottle collection. “And if it works, Mave can have it afterwards.”

She let out a cheer.