As I walked through the village the distrust in the air only became more and more obvious. There were a few market stalls dotted around the place, with people selling various kinds of food, tools, and just general supplies, but the people running them were being very… selective about who they sold to.
I watched as one particular person was turned away from every stall on a street before turning back the way they came dejectedly, presumably heading back to their home. This happened to at least a dozen people that I just happened to see, though I imagined that I hadn’t caught even close to all of the times that it had happened.
It goes without saying that I was incredibly confused, as far as I could tell there was nothing in common between the people being rejected, and usually they’d be able to go to another stall just a few metres away so it couldn’t have been that they were generally disliked. Don’t get me wrong, this wasn’t a situation that was purely isolated to the shopkeepers either. Often people would completely change their routes in order to avoid one particular person, like they either couldn’t stand being around them or feared how they might react.
Frankly, I was completely stumped. I had never before seen an entire village act like this, and I had some sincere doubts that it was caused by just one little thief. I considered the fact that I might have somehow been in the wrong place, but discarded that idea until I could figure out some way to actually confirm it.
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Woodhaven was not a large village, it was certainly nowhere close to the size of Ironhold, but even still it took some time to find the village Leader. They were the person who would be most likely to know what I could do to complete the Job, which I was only now realising that I had no idea how to even start.
Thankfully, I soon came across a building that was noticeably larger than the others and guessed that it was the right place. I knocked on the door politely and waited for someone to answer. A few minutes later, when I had taken to impatiently tapping my foot and sparking Lightning between my fingertips, the door opened to reveal an elderly lady with grey hair.
She looked haggard, to say the least. Her hair was messily tied together, just barely managing to stay out of her eyes, and she looked like she hadn’t slept in days. Her dishevelled appearance combined with the haggard frown on her face made my impatience evaporate to instead be replaced with a slight sense of guilt.
I’m not normally so impatient, and she clearly has a good reason to take a few minutes to get to the door. I guess it’s just lucky that I didn’t get mad at her as soon as she opened the door.
“Welcome stranger,” Her voice wasn’t nearly as tired as she looked, but it still carried a certain degree of resignation, “You’ll have to forgive the delay, you may have noticed already but the village isn’t in the best shape at the moment.”
I was momentarily at a loss for what to say, but I soon regained my composure and said, “My name’s Rob, I’m here about that Job, the one-” She interrupted me with a sharp cough.
“Yes, the one to deal with whatever’s been stealing our crops. I’m afraid that’s not something that we can spare thought for at the moment, there are much more pressing matters affecting us,” Almost as an afterthought, she added, “And you can call me Chief Elmwood.”
“Oh, uh. I see. Maybe I can help with those instead, then?” I need to do something to stay out of the city for a while, this seems like it shouldn’t be that much harder than what I was here for anyway. Probably.
She gave me an odd look before motioning me to follow her inside, “Come then, I’ll need to explain the full story for you to be able to understand. Care for some tea?”
“No thanks, I’m fine.” Once I declined she led me to a table next to the window and sat down. Taking the hint, I did the same.
“So, in Woodhaven we’ve always held a great amount of respect for our dead. Allowing them to be harmed or desecrated is just about the worst thing you could do around here, so sometime far before I was born we built a hidden tomb where we laid our people to rest.
And it’s quite a well hidden tomb as well, such that most people just assume that no outsiders have any chance of finding it. Which is where the problems started,” She sighed and held her head in her hands for a moment before straightening up and continuing, “The tomb was found. I don’t know how or by who, but someone broke in and now several of our ancestors have gone missing.
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I couldn’t imagine what someone would want them for and, frankly, I don't care. The real problem here is that everyone suspects someone else, and every little slight has been taken out of proportion and led to even more distrust and,” She let out another sigh, resting her head in her hands, but this time just let herself stay like that, “It’s reached a point where I have no idea how to fix it. The only solution that I know would work is finding the real culprit, but then people would still have to deal with the fact that they accused the wrong person. It’s just a mess.”
Oh, I see.
“Well, this is kind of embarrassing, I don’t really know how I could help here. The only skill I have that might help is Sense Danger, but that’s only if the thief is dangerous to me.”
She chuckled wryly, “That’s about my luck. How were you planning on helping with the Job you came here for, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“I didn’t really think that far ahead, I guess,” I muttered. Maybe I should have at least thought about it a little whilst I was on my way. It would have been better than thinking about my problems.
The chief just shook her head, but then stopped and sharply looked up as though she had a sudden idea, “Actually, this might not be so bad. Having an outsider around might prove helpful. At the very least, my Skills are telling me that the situation is no longer so bleak. Come on, let’s go.”
She stood up, looking noticeably more energetic than just moments before, and rushed out the door. A few seconds later I realised that I should be following her and rushed along as well.
We walked through the streets with purpose, well I say ‘walked’ but it was actually almost as fast as a jog. I hadn’t really thought about it before then, but wasn’t it strange that I was suddenly walking so much faster? When did that happen? Did one of my Skills increase my walking speed?
But I didn’t have time to keep thinking about that before Chief Elmwood began to explain where we were actually going, “I have a few trustworthy people keeping an eye on the tomb, just to make sure that nothing untoward happens again. They’re the people who are likely the closest to some actual answers, and the people who would benefit most from an extra set of hands.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but Elmwood just powered on.
“Normally I wouldn’t trust some random outsider with this, but I’m a good Judge Of Character and the situation isn’t exactly ideal, so I’m willing to make an exception just this once. I trust that you don’t have any reason to share this information around, and that you wouldn’t even if you did, so I expect you not to break that trust.” The more she spoke the more of a threatening tone her voice took, until I felt the familiar sense of unease that signified Sense Danger warning me of something.
“No I wouldn’t do that, I promise.”
Her face softened and her voice lost its edge, “Of course.”
After that we lapsed into silence, just walking through the village towards this mysterious tomb of theirs. Interestingly, the villagers seemed to be acting completely different with Elmwood around. They still didn’t talk to each other much, but their blatant bias was a lot less… blatant I guess.
It was as we left the bounds of the village that I noticed someone rushing towards us from the treeline, a look of panic clear on their face.
“Chief Elmwood! Chief Elmwood! Thank the Gods you’re here!”
“What happened? Is something wrong with the tomb?”
The person skidded to a stop, taking a moment to catch their breath before speaking, “Th- the thieves are back! A bunch of people in cloaks are breaking into the tomb!”
“What? Why so many?” She shook her head before turning to me, “Rob you go with Andrew to the tomb. You’re an adventurer, right? Surely you can handle a few brigands.”
Ok this whole situation is so weird. Why would someone need so many corpses?
“Now, quickly!”
Oh yeah, I should get going.
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Robert Zeneki Lightning Adept 18 Level 22 Willpower 22 Wisdom 11 Strength 5 Agility 8
Path Skills Lightning Generator 16 Lightning Bolt 17 Lightning Cloak 8 Charge 14 Chain Lightning 5 Grand Skewer 3 Scorch Affinity
General Skills MAX Lightning Steps 13 Breath Of Mana 8 Sense Danger 9 Channel Lightning
5 Meditation 9
King Slayer
Scorch Affinity