While my gear was in the works I rounded out the day buying a variety of steel weapons and shields from a mundane weapons shop. I also grabbed a couple different bows and all the arrows an irritable fletcher would sell me, which was a few hundred. All of that got tossed into my inventory for me to play around with later.

I had the cash, I needed to figure out what I vibed with, and it wasn’t that expensive to buy non-magical items. Plus I had the inventory space with my recent Closet expansion.

Ok, maybe my concept of money had been slightly distorted by my new wealth, since throwing down a decade’s worth of peasant wages was what I considered ‘cheap’.

I went back to my place and spent the evening and most of the next day training, snagging another plus one to Strength and Speed. Closing the deal with Seinnador had also gotten me a point of Charisma and offered the intrinsic skill Mercantile, which I seriously considered, but decided to pass on for the moment.

I would have liked to train more before the journey, but I was pretty happy with how my stats were looking.

Strength 8

Agility 2

Speed 6

Fortitude 22

Intelligence 10

Wisdom 10

Charisma 4

Luck 2

The evening before our departure I helped Nuralie install a basic alchemy station in the Closet. She insisted that I move the entrance to the alchemy room for ventilation reasons. She had a few purification wards that she could place above the various beakers, alembics, and one straight-up witch’s cauldron, but said that there was no good replacement for fresh air.

The conversation reminded me that I didn’t know how quickly the space would be depleted of oxygen if we were forced to seal it and stay inside for an extended period. Maybe I could build a greenhouse to solve that problem? A really big greenhouse. Another one for The List.

The morning of, I traveled to Seinnador’s to pick up my completed gear with Nuralie in tow, who had a few last-minute purchases to make with the discretionary budget Umi-Doo had given us.

Notably, the loson picked up a pair of shiny black gloves made from the skin of a giant serpent creature. They boasted several useful qualities–waterproof, fireproof, corrosion and acid resistant, among others–and fit snugly around her fingers.

I’d sort of forgotten about the stipend, so I hastily bought a bundle of paralytic arrows and a half-dozen of what Seinnador called “Dazzlers.” They were some sort of magic flash-bang, and that seemed like a good thing to have.

We made our way to the meeting point along the main street that led from Formation down the mountain and into Foundation proper. Xim, Lito, and a trio of unfamiliar Delvers awaited us.

Two of them were women–identical twins. The first wore a light, scale armor suit similar to my own, but it was gold and bronze in color. Her white and gray Hiwardian hair was tied up in a bun, and she lounged on a bench with her arms spread wide over the top of the backrest. She had bright blue eyes which were somewhat lidded, and she studied me as I approached.

The second had on a set of what at first appeared to be form-fitting travel clothes, though the neutral-toned jacket and leather riding pants were thick and sturdy. I suspected the clothes were a disguised set of protective gear. Her own hair was woven into a single long braid that hung over one shoulder. She stood next to her more obviously armored twin and followed her gaze toward me.

The third was a slim-built man who stood at the exact same height as the second woman and had uncannily similar features, though distinctly masculine. He had a short, neat beard, the same dirty-white color that all three had up top, and wore a buckled crimson tunic that came down to his knees. He was speaking with Lito and paid no mind to our approach.

When Lito saw me, he looked me over and grunted.

“You look like you want everyone on the battlefield to know you’re there,” he said.

“I do have a sort of presence to me.”

“Hope you’re good at dodging arrows. And spells.”

“I don’t think Arlo dodges too much,” said Xim.

“Not for lack of trying,” I said.

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“I don’t know,” said the crimson man, “if I saw a warrior on the battlefield wearing violet armor with fuschia highlights I might be afraid of them.” He rubbed his chin. “They’d be insane, obviously.”

“I think I’m holding it together pretty well under the circumstances.”

Xim chuckled at that. Nuralie nodded, though I think she underestimated the number of things that might have been leading me to crack up.

“Arlo, Nuralie, this is Cole. Cole, Arlo and Nuralie,” said Lito. “Ashe is the one in the gold mail, and the one wearing armored travel clothes is Ember.”

“Cole, Ashe, and Ember. That’s good theming,” I said. “Are y’all the triplets?”

“We are indeed,” said Cole.

I wasn’t sure how that worked. The two women were twins, but Cole was…what? A fraternal triplet? Was that even possible to have at the same time as twins? I didn’t want to accidentally offend, so I held back any questions. I wasn’t exactly an expert on the biology of pregnancy.

Maybe I should check in Umi-Doo’s book.

Fortunately, Xim didn’t harbor any reticence with her curiosity.

“How’s that work?” she said. “Shouldn’t you all be identical cute Hiwardian women?”

Cole smiled.

“We used to be. However, the body reforging that occurs within the Creation Delve can be a bit more… comprehensive than most realize.”

“Wait, you mean-” I began, but Ashe cut me off.

“Cinder went through the Delve portal with an innie and Cole emerged with an outie.”

“It took most of a day for him to convince us he wasn’t some weird imposter,” said Ember, fussing with her braid.

“I still have my doubts,” said Ashe, reaching over with a gauntleted hand and giving her brother a shove. He staggered away over-dramatically.

“Can that happen to anyone?” said Xim. She sounded more fascinated by the chance of her gender having changed unexpectedly than concerned.

“I doubt it,” said Cole. “Half the reason I wanted to become a Delver in the first place was to figure out a way to accomplish that very thing. I think the Delve somehow realized that.”

“It’s not the destination of the Creation Delve that matters,” said Ashe. “It’s the dysphoria you shed along the way.”

“She uses that line every time we have to explain this,” said Cole with a sigh.

“What is dysphoria?” asked Nuralie.

Lito cleared his throat.

“Feel free to discuss in your own time, but we have a schedule to keep. Now that the introductions are done, let’s talk about our route and schedule.”

The eight of us formed up into a tighter group as Lito laid out a map of Hiward on the bench, then went over our route.

image [https://i.imgur.com/B7awxFe.jpg]

The journey south would have three main stops. The first was a Chovali colony at the mouth of Formation river, which we would reach by river barge. I had no idea what a Chovali was, and I didn’t ask. I’d find out soon enough. Afterward, we would sail southeast to a city called Arsenal, which was a major trade hub for the nation. Then, we would run–literally run–a hundred miles south and into a mountain pass north of the Ravvenblaq thundry.

“How much are we getting paid for this?” said Cole.

“Umi-Doo will owe us each a favor,” said Ember, fussing more anxiously at her braid. “Plus an emerald chip.”

“I don’t need the favor that bad,” said Ashe, shifting to set her elbows onto her golden thighs with a clink. “An emerald chip is nice… but running. Ugh.”

“I dunno,” I said. “Umi-Doo’s got a pretty good library.”

“He does,” said Myria with a distant look and a smirk.

“Once we make the pass,” said Lito, ignoring the grumbling, “we’ll turn west and follow the south side of the mountains for about fifty miles. This is where we will meet up with the Ravvenblaq group, consisting of the Ravvenblaq Thundralkes–Ealdric the Third and Nola–along with the Xor’Drel chiefs, Drel’Gethed and Xorna. Ealdric and Nola’s son Varrin will also be with them.”

“I love power couples,” said Cole.

“It’s then a fifteen mile hike north,” said Lito, “through wild mountain-land to make it to the coordinates for The Calvani Caverns. Any questions?”

“What do we expect to find at the caverns?” asked Ember.

“Myria gave you the rundown when recruiting you, didn’t she?”

“Sure, but I like hearing what you think, Lito.”

The two of them shared a strange look between them, and Ashe did a bad job hiding a smile as she watched whatever unspoken communication was going on.

“We don’t know for certain,” said Lito. “Most likely there will be a group of Delvers unaffiliated with any noble house. We’ve gone up against a pair of level fifteens, but can’t say for certain whether that’s the full depth of their talent pool. I find it unlikely they have anyone more powerful, especially since they were sending dregs like the Artemix group after Arlo, but there’s evidence that the organization involved in this mess has been pulling strings at a major scale.”

“So there might be a powerful figurehead or leader,” said Ember.

“Possibly.”

“That’s the main thing that worries me,” said Ember.

“Our group will have competent scouts,” said Lito. “If we recon and it looks like more than we can handle, we back off and send word to Umi-Doo. He can rally someone more suited.”

“Right now, all the big boys and girls have better things to do,” said Myria. “But I’m sure they’d be happy to swing by if we find them a worthy playmate.”

Lito looked around the group, but no one else volunteered a question.

“If that’s everything,” said Lito, rolling up his map, “let’s get ourselves on a boat.”