Aldritch stood in an area located in the northernmost corner of the city, a place called the ‘The Old Quarter’ on the map. It was a slower, more relaxed place compared to the rest of the city. Few buildings were more than a single story tall, and each building had much more space separating them than any other two buildings from the newer parts of the city.
But Aldritch didn’t come to the Old Quarter for the laid-back atmosphere and the larger yards. No, he came to see the memorial stone.
Aldritch was standing just fifteen feet from the base of the almost hundred-foot-tall cylindrical statue. It was sitting on a large, square-shaped obsidian floor that kept most of the mud from the roads away from the statue. A number of wooden benches had been strategically placed on the obsidian floor, forming a circle around the stone, and providing a place to sit for any who needed it.
The memorial stone itself was made of a pale, almost snow-colored stone that made it an icon of purity amidst the sea of muck and filth that plagued the world. And a small, carefully placed silver plaque near the base of the stone explained its purpose in Common and ten other languages- including Elvish, Dwarvish, and even orcish. It read; “This stone, given to us by the God Zoddon; God of Honor, War, and Justice, stands as a memorial to the lives lost to the existence of the dungeons. Let us never forget their sacrifice in the face of our enemy. May their souls rest forever in paradise, free from the war that consumes our world to this day.”
Aldritch approached the stone with his hands by his sides and took a closer look at its snow-like body. There, carved into the surface, were the names of everyone who’d died because of the dungeon’s existence- His eyes widened noticeably as a barren space on the stone began to shift before his eyes. He watched as an invisible hand carved the name ‘Theron Wildthorn’ into the stone’s surface.
Out of curiosity, Aldritch paced around the circle of benches and read around a hundred of the countless names already carved into the stone. As he walked, he kept an eye on the people visiting the stone.
A squad of twelve armed sentinels stood nearby, watching everyone who approached the stone with a critical eye- while a trio of hunters monitored the area from the second-floor balcony of the tavern across the street. They all paid close attention to Aldritch for the first few minutes of his visit, but all soon lost interest when it appeared he was just another visitor who was searching the stone for the name of a loved one.
Aldritch also watched the people who approached the stone while he was there, but not for the same reason as the sentinels or the hunters. Aldritch assumed they were there to protect it from vandals and to drive away animals, while he was a mere spectator who’d come out of curiosity… Or was it something else that brought him here?
He supposed a part of him was just curious if the people of this strange and wonderful world mourned the same way his people did. Would they also mourn his people if they knew the truth? Or would they look on with the same bland curiosity he did?
A group of three women and one man were distraught; they took a seat almost immediately after arriving and bowed their heads to the stone. Aldritch could hear them quietly begging the gods to let their lost loved ones come back to them.
A group of men approached not long after the first group had settled in. This group, led by a large human male who could’ve easily passed for a grizzly bear, were angry- well, one of them was. The other two men just looked upset... The bear-like man stormed up to the stone, coming so close Aldritch wondered if he planned to punch it. But the man stopped about a foot away from the stone and stared at a certain spot with a look of indignant rage on his face. After a solid minute of staring, the man drunkenly swayed away from the stone and brought the half empty glass bottle he’d came with to his lips. He sucked the contents of the bottle down in one go, and Aldritch chose not to listen as the man spent a few minutes quietly ranting about the stupidity of someone before his two companions were finally able to drag him away from the stone, and towards the city proper.
…But the person who truly captured Aldritch’s attention was the lone male Kandis who approached the stone without a sound and sat on a bench. His emerald eyes stared at a spot near the bottom of the stone with the look of a dead fish. His clothes: an expensive looking three-piece suit was disheveled. The jacket had a rather obvious tear on the left side. The sleeves around his wrists were stained dark brown, as was his knees, shins, and his soft leather shoes. His blonde fur was unkempt and stuck out at odd angles, as if he’d been soaked to the bone and tried to quickly dry himself before he arrived.
Aldritch recognized the look. This was a man who knew they’d lost everything but was still holding out hope that it would turn out to be nothing but a nightmare… Aldritch felt genuine pity for the Kandis. “They haven’t given up hope yet.” Aldritch said to Oakairo. “I wonder how many days they’ll keep coming back?”
“Who knows. The spirit can be remarkably resilient sometimes… But that isn’t always a good thing. Sometimes, holding onto hope only prolongs the suffering when you should be healing.” Oakairo replied, his voice quiet and full of sympathy.
“I can’t blame him for holding onto whatever hope he can. You never know; that hope might just be the only thing keeping us around.” Aldritch replied, his eyes lingered on the Kandis man for a few seconds more before he ripped them away and stepped away from the memorial.
“Aldritch…”
“Sorry, my Lord.” Aldritch muttered. “Mind if we move on? I’m no longer comfortable watching these people. Their grief is-”
“It’s fine, Aldritch.” Oakairo replied. He didn’t need Aldritch to say anything to understand why the giant would have a problem watching them. “We can go whenever you’re ready to go… Hey, do you think the Chocolate Oracle will give us some Coco if we ask?”
Aldritch laughed at the sudden topic change and shrugged. “No idea. Suppose it wouldn’t hurt to ask.” He replied and started walking in the approximate direction of The Fancy Dryad. “Chocolate Oracle?” Aldritch asked, clearly amused by Faeyra’s new nickname.
“What?” Oakairo asked. He didn’t understand why he felt amusement flowing through their bond. Had he said something funny?
“Nothing, My Lord. I just like the name. It's cute.” Aldritch shook his head in amusement and filed away the nickname for later. He wondered how Faeyra would react to the nickname?
"Of course, you like it. I came up with it." Oakairo said, and Aldritch didn't need the bond to know he was puffing out his chest in satisfaction.
After a scant twenty minutes of walking, Aldritch was only a few streets over from The Fancy Dryad. Since it was later in the day, the number of people wandering the market square was but a fraction of what he’d seen earlier in the day. Most people had already returned home for the day or were out getting drinks and dinner with friends-
“Hey, isn’t that the place the Cat mentioned?” Oakairo asked, directing Aldritch’s attention to the large sign mounted above the door to a large tavern. Loud, fast tempoed music mixed with the voices of a hundred voices and filtered through the windows and front door to reach Aldritch’s ears.
The octagonal wooden building was four stories tall, with wide balconies wrapping around the exterior of each floor to give the patrons sitting outside just as much room to relax as those on the inside. Even from the street, Aldritch could see several dozen people sitting or standing on each floor- and that was just on one side of the building. He wondered just how many people were inside tonight?
Aldritch moved his eyes away from the people to the brightly lit sign mounted above the door. “The Odd Hawk…" Aldritch muttered, reading the sign. “Yes, I believe this is the place. Did you want to go inside?”
“Might as well check it out- Hey, maybe they have chocolate milk here!” Oakairo exclaimed, already getting excited over the idea.
“Possibly. But, my Lord, we don’t have the money to pay for any drinks.” Aldritch replied- He chuckled at the potent wave of dissatisfaction flowing through their bond. “We can still investigate the tavern, my Lord. And if they do have that beautiful beverage, then we can come back for it later. Deal?”
“Deal…” Oakairo replied. Aldritch could tell he was still sulking, but the emotions flowing through their bond had lessened a great deal.
Aldritch nodded and wandered over to the door- “Hey, big fella!” A feminine voice came from the second-floor balcony, causing Aldritch to stop walking and glance up. His eyes landed on a very pretty, and very obviously drunk young human woman in a tight black dress. She was leaning slightly over the railing which surrounded the balcony, beside her stood two other equally drunk and pretty human women in similarly tight outfits. “Are you the dancer we hired?” The woman asked, leaning over the railing to get a better look at Aldritch. “Hey, shut up!” She said, shushing her two friends, who were laughing about something Aldritch didn’t catch. “We hired a dancer for my friend’s birthday party, and he hasn’t shown up yet. The lady I talked to said they were sending over a big hunk of a red-head. Is that you?” She explained… Which earned an amused smirk from Aldritch.
“Sorry, miss. I’m not the giant you’re looking for.” Aldritch shook his head out of amusement and resumed walking- Or not.
“Hey, wait a second!” The woman called again, prompting Aldritch to look up at her. “Could you be the dancer?” She asked and leaned even further over the railing to give Aldritch an unobstructed view of her impressive cleavage. “I promised my friend a dancer and I’d just hate to disappoint her… I’ll make it worth your while~” The woman said in a teasing voice, and slightly wiggled her body to entice Aldritch.
Still smiling at her drunken antics, Aldritch just shook his head. “Unfortunately, miss, I’m not much of a dancer anymore. I’m sure there’s a strapping young lad in there somewhere who’s just dying to be your friend’s dancer. You, and your beautiful dress, just need to search for a bit longer and I’m positive you’ll find him.” He replied, tipping his head in goodbye to the three women.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
He made to move towards the door- He hesitated at the sound of wood creaking. “Hey, wait a secOND!?” What started as the woman drunkenly giggling turned into the horrified screams of all three women. The woman in the black dress screamed as she hurtled towards the ground after losing her balance and tumbling over the rail. Her friends and a few of the closer patrons had tried to save her, but only succeeded in ripping the bottom of her dress and pulling off one of her high heeled sandals. The woman closed her eyes and covered her head to brace for impact- A sudden, intense wind disoriented her, and gave her the impression that she was flying… A few seconds of not hitting the ground later, she realized something that felt strangely like velvet covered steel was holding her by the waist.
The woman opened her eyes and found herself face to face with Aldritch, who'd reacted instantly by jumping straight up and catching her before her body could build any momentum. The giant was hanging from the second-floor balcony by his right hand, while his left arm was wrapped snuggly around her waist, supporting the weight of her entire body. Aldritch was intently focused on the amount of strength he was putting into both arms. But that wasn't what the woman noticed- She only saw his stunning golden eyes staring at her, almost like he was looking directly into her soul.
Aldritch activated Wisdom of the Great Sage and scanned the woman for any sign of injury.
Diagnostic Screening
Age 25 Race Human Vitals
Optimal for Race B.P 127/75 120/80 Pulse 109 75 Temp 99.1 98.5 O.S 98% 100% Abnormalities affecting the Body:
Intoxicated | Recovery complete in [2] hours. Abnormalities affecting the Immune System:
Immune System working at 84% efficiency | Recovery complete in [14] Hours.
“Um… thank you.” The woman said in a quiet voice. She was unable to meet his eyes, and she didn’t know if it was the alcohol or the intensity in the Giant’s gaze, but she felt like her entire body was blushing.
Once he was sure she would be fine- provided she didn’t lean over any more rails- Aldritch deactivated Wisdom of the Great Sage and smiled at the woman. “You’re welcome, miss-”
“Rea.” The woman said, interrupting him. “Figured if you’re already holding me this close, might as well use my name.” She nervously laughed.
“Rea…” Aldritch slowly repeated. It wasn’t a name he’d ever heard before, and he wondered at what it meant, where it came from, and which language was it based in? He sorted out his questions in only a few seconds before replying “It’s a lovely name. It suits you.” He said, and smiled- He let go with his right hand and allowed gravity to do what it does best. Rea yelled as they plummeted towards the ground. But she was surprised to find she barely felt the impact; Aldritch had wrapped his right arm around her body and held the back of her head, essentially cradling her against his body to protect her from the impact of the drop. Once his feet were firmly on the ground, he eased his grip and helped her slide down his body to stand on top of his left boot.
“Would you ladies mind tossing her shoe and that piece of dress down here?” Aldritch said, directing his question to the two stupefied ladies staring down at them. He also noticed the many gazes on them from the patrons of the first two balconies, and a few more from the higher floors. But he didn’t care about them, he just wanted to get this over with so he could get inside.
One of Rea’s friends snapped out of her shock before Aldritch lost his patience and threw both the shoe and the strip of Rea’s dress over the rail to land next to Aldritch. “Thank you.” he said and smiled up at them. He thought he heard someone on the second-floor balcony say, “Oh, dear gods.” but he ignored it in favor of helping Rea step into her sandal. With that done, he motioned for her to step off his boot.
“This was a new dress too.” Rea sighed while looking at the nasty tear that ran up the thigh area of the dress.
“Oh, give me one moment and I'll have it fixed.” Aldritch muttered and knelt in front of Rea. “Mend.” He muttered while holding the torn off fabric against her leg. Aldritch’s mana poured into the dress and pulled the loose fabric with it. He watched as the spell took hold and the dress stitched itself together thread by thread, only stopping when all evidence of the tear was gone. “There.” Aldritch nodded and stood up. “I’d still take it to a tailor, but it should hold you for tonight. Just don’t lean over any more railings, alright?” Aldritch asked while looking her in the eye.
“Uh huh.” Rea nodded and stared up at Aldritch.
“Great.” Aldritch smiled- he was getting really tired of smiling, but a kind face went a long way to easing the anxiety of the people surrounding you. So, until he was given a reason to stop, he would continue to smile since he didn't see the point in making people unnecessarily uncomfortable. “You should get back to your friends. Oh, and good luck finding your dancer.”
“Who?” Rea asked- But Aldritch wasn’t paying her any more attention. With his work done, he pushed open the tavern door and stepped inside, while ignoring the various tempered gazes that were on him; Some seemed hostile, some curious, and a few others Aldritch couldn’t place.
Aldritch ignored all of them and took in the room; The first floor had the bar as its main attraction. The rectangular structure took up a huge portion of the first floor, leaving only enough room for a few tables and the stage where the band was still playing that ear shatteringly loud music. Most of the patrons on the first floor were sitting on one of the fifty something stools that surrounded it or were loitering in the area behind the stools. Despite there being well over a hundred people on the first floor, Aldritch saw only a handful of people even bothering to use the tables.
"This might get annoying..." Aldritch sighed an approached the bar. As he passed through the crowd of patrons, he looked to see which of the seven people inside the huge bar was the least busy- he spotted a male Half-Orc bartender standing off to one side and chatting up a blonde elf woman in a flashy blue dress.
Aldritch approached the bartender with a smile on his face, which prompted the half-orc to frown at the giant intruding on his conversation.
“Can I help you?” The half-orc asked. Aldritch couldn’t tell if the man was growling at him, or if his voice was always that raspy. Either way, Aldritch didn’t care.
“Do you sell chocolate milk in this tavern?” Aldritch asked, still maintaining his smile. The half-orc’s jaw dropped slightly at the request… Then he started laughing, loudly. His laughter attracted the attention of a few of the other bartenders, one of which asked what the fuck was so funny?
“This big bastard wants chocolate milk.” He managed to say in between laughing at Aldritch and attempting to breathe.
“Why do you want chocolate milk?” A female goblin bartender asked. It was obvious to anyone with eyes that she was an inch from laughing herself, but she managed to keep her laughter to herself through sheer determination and professionalism.
“Because it’s delicious.” Aldritch immediately replied, not caring if he was being laughed at- Okay, he did find slightly irritating and confusing. He didn’t understand why he was being laughed at.
“Are you sure you don’t want anything else? Liquor? Beer, maybe? We might have a barrel of mead in the back.” The goblin said, seemingly trying to give Aldritch the chance to change his mind… Which he ignored.
“Nothing you can give me will make me drunk.” Aldritch replied, still smiling. “Even if that weren’t the case, I’d still rather have the Chocolate milk. It just tastes better to me… Also, please ask your coworker to stop laughing at my choice of drink. I find his voice irritating, and it's just quite rude in general.”
Someone approached on Aldritch’s right side and slammed something down on the bar in front of him. Aldritch glanced over to see Rea glaring at the half-orc, a handful of bronze coins laying on the bar in front of her. “Ortag…” Rea said, her voice dropping into a dangerous tone. “Who the fuck do you think you’re laughing at, huh?” She asked in a voice that surprised even Aldritch.
Ortag, the half-orc bartender, smacked his lips in irritation and replied, “What the fuck’s your problem, Rea?”
“Your attitude is my problem.” Rea said angrily. Aldritch was amused to see the other six bartenders scatter at the sound of her voice. “Do I need to tell Zarud about what a piece of shit you’re being?”
That got Aldritch’s attention.
“Oh, c’mon Rea! Why are you bringing my brother into this?” Ortag asked in a whiny voice.
“Wait, you two know Zarud?” Aldritch asked, diverting their attention back to him. “I was actually supposed to meet him here. Know where he is?” Aldritch asked.
Ortag’s light green skin paled at the mention of Zarud, while Rea’s face lit up like she’d just won the lottery. “Yes, I do know him.” Rea said, wrapping her arm around Aldritch’s bicep. “He’s dating my sister. They’re both upstairs with my other friends- Hey, you should come with me, and I’ll take you to him. It’s the least I can do- Oh, and Ortag. Get whatever he wanted and put it on my tab.”
“He wanted chocolate milk.” Ortag replied while smirking at Aldritch. “The big man wants the biggest bitch drink.” He laughed.
“You like chocolate milk?” Rea asked Aldritch. And rather than being accusatory, her voice sounded interested… And more than a little amused.
“I love it.” Aldritch replied. And Oakairo didn’t raise no fool, he wasn’t about to turn down someone offering him a free glass of chocolatey goodness.
“Perfect.” Rea said, smiling up at him. “Ortag, get the man some chocolate milk and bring it up. Then hurry up and join us, Veta was asking about you earlier.”
“Really?” Ortag asked, smiling excitedly.
“Absolutely.” Rea said, and tugged on Aldritch’s arm. He was already used to this from Sulika trying to drag him around, so he just went with it and let her guide him up to the second floor. “Sorry about him. He’s normally not like that, but he and Zarud got into it earlier and… Well, I guess he’s still sore about it and needed to let off steam.”
“Don’t mind it.” Aldritch replied. “If I wanted him to stop laughing that badly, I would’ve stopped him. But I appreciate the assistance though. You probably saved me from having to clean blood out of my robes tonight.”
“Probably.” Rea laughed. “But don’t worry, I’m sure you could take him.” Rea said and gave Aldritch a reassuring wink.
Aldritch just smiled back at her and shook his head slightly.