“Why do you sing along to… what's it called… the electric guitar.”
“And drums.”
Fighter chimes in. I look at Cleric who asked the initial question.
“It’s just how things are done. Trust me if we find something you like, you’ll sing instrument parts too.”
I reply, the answer obvious. I flip my phone from ‘Hooked on a feeling’ to ‘Heathens’ maybe a strange juxtaposition, sue me. I twirled my umbrella, and danced down the road. Side stepping to the beat. I had one of my headphones in, the other I had clipped to a lower part of the wire.
“Wait until we get my computer out.”
Then frowned. I didn’t have an outlet, and I doubted a shocking grasp constituted a stable electrical connection. I knew generators had something to do with magnets. I had taken one of those shakeable flashlights apart once, I’d given myself a number of shocks and a bloody nose. The inside had two magnets, the motion of them maybe? I made a mental note to do some experimentation with that.
It was rainy, muddy, my new boots were giving me blisters, and overall awful. We made ⅔ the progress we would have otherwise, when it became too dark to see. We strung up a piece of canvas to place our squat tents under. Really wish I had a hanging tent right now, or a hammock.
We find a small incline to camp on. Flat enough so we don’t slide in our sleep, but steep enough for the water to no pool beneath us. The canvas blocks most of the rain. We split the watch into 5 parts. Shorter than normal, so we each get more rest.
“Rogue come here. Anyone else that wants to learn simple traps too.”
Cleric, and Fighter walk over. Wizard practices spells, casting prestidigitation to dry off her gear.
“First rule is to always remember where your traps are. Always.”
I put a lot of emphasis on that. I unwind the thin wire. It will be hard to make out in the rain, a perfect setup.
“Second make sure your trap matches the environment. Trip wires are very good at that.”
I string the line between two trees at the edge of camp. I ram a pitton into the trunk of one if the trees, then wind the wire up the tree. I ram another pitton in and then loop it around the back of the tree and draping it over a final pitton. I tie a few bells around the end of the line, and let them hang.
I put my foot over the trap, and the bells jingle. I put more weight all the way to the ground, and the wire pulls, but doesn’t break.
“Traps should reset themselves,”
I lift my foot up and the wire pulls taut again, and the bells jingle falling once more.
“Set more traps like these up around the camp. Make sure the bells are at least mostly hidden.”
I instruct, I hand each of them a small spool of wire, and a handful of bells.
“Make sure to leave enough slack so that they don’t break when you step on it. Rogue set up a few lower to the ground with the intent to trip not alarm.”
He nods, and they start setting up the traps. The jingling of bells just audible over the rain. I play ‘Welcome to the Black Parade’ without my headphones on. Letting the music wash over everyone. Wizard is thoroughly disturbed by the sound.
“How is that music? It just sounds like noise.”
I chuckle.
“I could probably pick out each instrument in the song. You get an ear for these things after a while. It helps knowing what each instrument is though probably.”
I lounge on my bedroll, while not a nice bed from home,it’s better than the ground. When the song finishes I turn it off.
“You aren’t gonna play anymore?”
Asks Rogue. I look at him.
“Of course you would be the one to like MCR. I’ll play some more tomorrow, maybe some ‘Panic! At the disco.’ The noise is distracting for watches, and I can never fall asleep with music on.”
I turn over, and close my eyes.
“Fucking hot topic rogue.”
I mumble to myself. Quickly drifting to sleep.
Cleric shakes me awake.
“Your turn for watch.”
She says. I wipe my eyes, and stretch. My back making a satisfying crack. I twist my neck, and crack it too. Cleric gives me a look of revulsion. I don my robe, and heft my staff over my shoulder. I’d kept the thing a few feet away from me when I slept, since the dream. I sit on a log that we rolled under the canvas, and dried with prestidigitation.
I take this time to think about myself. What sort of build do I want to go with. As much as I disliked playing faces, I might be forced into a charisma build. Though I could circumvent that with enough power. Hopefully the dragon would be able to help with that.
I was hoping to learn some magic, and potentially be a wizard, or necromancer. But I caught a glimpse of Wizards spell book at one point, and it had my head spinning.
Spells seemed to be similar to a complicated mathematical equation, that were supplemented by words, actions, and components. For example the light cantrip could be seen as 1+2+3=6. 1 is the verbal spell, 2 is the material component, and 3 is mana, which all come together to make 6, the spell. However the written version of it was equivalent to,
y(2x^4 +y)dy/dx =(1-4xy^2)x^2.
And they only get more complex from there. Hopefully the dragon, part of me meant I had a draconic bloodline. So I could be sorcerer and not deal with those fucking equations from hell. If that didn’t pan out I’d move onto bard , and then warlock. I might be a cleric, maybe if I need to. But didn’t find it likely.
The tingling of a copper disk hitting a metal plate alerts me. I had final watch, so I kick everyone awake. And start getting the camp packed up.
“My wires missing!"
Fighter calls. I head over to him.
“I tied it here and here, then looped it up around this branch and dangled the bells like you showed us.”
I shrug,
“If you forgot where you put it it’s okay. Visibility is low, and we were tired yesterday. No one is infallible.”
I reply. I expected someone to lose at least one. He shakes his head.
“No I remember it was right here. I haven’t lost it it’s straight up missing. Like someone took it.”
He’s getting a little upset now.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s just some wire, and bells. Even if something took it, we can’t exactly track them in this rain.”
He looks unbelieving at the spot.
“I didn’t lose it, it was right here.”
He mumbles.
“Come on,”
I grab his shoulder.
“Let's grab some breakfast.”
I walk over towards the main area, it’s damp all around. Wizard uses prestidigitation to dry all of our gear off. Fighter eventually wanders over out of the rain, muttering to himself. Rogue shows me how to roll up the bedroll, and blanket together so that it rolls out quickly, and neatly. My phone is on 30% but if I can ration it out with music I should be good.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
The rain is as heavy as ever, though it isn’t thundering out, the sky is dark and turbulent. The only reason we know it’s morning is the alarm candle we have. Enchanted wick made 1000 of feet at a time, never go out unless completely submerged. Small copper discs are embedded halfway into the side fall out at specific intervals. Based on the type of wick, and the wax.
Cleric, and Wizard each cast light. Wizard has a dull ioun stone that levitates around her head she casts it on. Cleric casts it on a small medallion on fighters breastplate.
We eat a brief meal of dried meats, and fruit soaked in some warm gravy. We have Wizard to thank for that, prestidigitation is a wonderful spell. I thought I would be more shocked by magic if I saw it, but I guess role playing games, and people like David Blaine have tempered my expectations. Plus all 5 seasons of Merlin.
We finish our meal, and fold up the canvas sheet we have hanging over our campsite. Wizard gives it a once over, and then slides it into Rogus pack. I open my umbrella, thankful that once again the wind isn’t blowing. Cleric gives me a dirty look, as her hair immediately is soaked by the heavy rain. I put an earbud in, and play ‘Brandy (You’re A Fine Girl)’. I’d watched Guardians of the Galaxy 2 a week or so ago, and the song was instantly on my download list.
The ground wasn’t as muddy going forward, the ground was fairly rocky, as we got closer to the mountain. That isn’t to say that the plant’s didn’t grow out of the hard ground. Trees, bushes and hard grasses grew like it was no obstacle. Bamboo could grow nicely, I liked to eat bamboo shoots in soup.
“Wizard you know plants right?”
Her head focuses to me, her eyes narrowed.
“Yes, I do.”
“So you know Bamboo?”
She nods her head.
“Yeah actually. The Isekai nations in the west cultivate the plant to use as a building material and food source.”
I pause,
“Did you say Isekai?”
“Yeah is that a problem? That’s the name of the nation, do you know them?”
I shake my head.
“Never mind, just a thing from where I am from. Wouldn’t expect anyone to know.”
“Uh huh.”
Wizard says clicking her tongue afterwards.
We walk for a little while, a couple hours at least as the sky has brightened although barely. Fighter rouses me out of the walking trance I’d fallen into.
“So Jon how do you remember all the lyrics to all these songs, you’ve been singing along for hours to these songs. No pauses, no breaks, even if it isn’t loud you say the words.”
I take my earbud out for a moment.
“How do you remember how to speak? Or how to eat, or walk, or breathe? When you do something enough times it becomes second nature. I’ve probably listened to these songs hundreds of times. I know them unconsciously.”
I think for a moment.
“That is a slow part of your training. Something that will take time, and effort. ‘Fear the man who practiced 1 strike 1000 times’, or something Bruce Lee. Repetition is the key to mastery, habits are important. And you will have many of them, all beneficial.”
I put my earbud back in, and continue to listen to ‘99 Luftballons’.
Fighter tilts his head, and considers this. Smoke seems to pour out of his ear as the two rusty gears in his head grind together.
We make better time today, and the mountain looms in front of us. If it weren't for the rain I would want us to walk the rest of the way. We find two trees to string the canvas between.
“Let's set up some traps."
I say, and hand out some more bells and wire. It takes a little while to setup the traps, but we all eventually return to the canvas to eat some food. The rain pounds down around us. The sky darkens, but we have light. I stretch out, and settle down.
“We need some cots, or hammocks.”
I say aloud.
“Wizard write it down somewhere.”
I close my eyes, basking in the warm air, and the cool mist. I drift off to sleep eventually, the soft chatter of the party in the background.
“hey, hey jon.”
Wizard whispers. She shakes me awake, she had the third watch.
“What. What?”
She presses her hand over my mouth. Rogue turns over in his sleep.
“shhhh listen.”
I keep my ears peeled.
“what I don’t he-"
I look out of the canvas, no rain falls for a good 60 feet in all directions of the canvas. It isn’t raining as hard either. I slowly get up, and inch over to the edge. As I go to peek my head out. The bells on the other side of the campsite start to ring.
“HUH? Wh-"
Rogue starts, Wizard slams her hand over his mouth. She puts a finger to her lips. The bells keep ringing. Then another trap starts to go off, and then another. Until all 8 of the traps we’ve set up start to ring.
Wizard and Rogue have roused Cleric and Fighter. All at once the bells stop ringing. Then with an eerie laugh the rain starts again, pouring down as hard as ever.
Each set of wire, and bells lands in a pile in front of me. Just outside the canvas. I squint a little, and see the form of a woman walking, the rain falling onto her invisible form, but just barely. It heads off towards the mountain.
“what the fuck was that?”
Fighter asks his voice barely above a whisper.
“Nature spirit playing a prank, probably.”
I lay back down on my bedroll.
“Back to sleep then.”
I should probably leave an offering. I might actually cook something tomorrow, I brought some fresh ingredients. I roll over, and nod to sleep again. Wizard wakes me up again, this time however it is light(er) out. Her eyes are bloodshot, and she has heavy bags.
“You didn’t sleep?”
She shakes her head.
“I’ll show you some measures to counteract ghosts later. This isn’t a ghost though, it’s a nature spirit. Like something that makes harvests better, or watches over a particular part of a forest.”
I tell her.
“R-really?”
I nod.
“Now I need to get a fire going to make an offering to the spirit.”
The others are roused.
“I need you lot to find some large rocks. And build a shrine with them. Something that will keep the food dry.”
I pull out a bundle of sticks called a fire-starter by the group. I set it on the ground, and pile some other sticks around it. They are wet, but I was told it didn’t matter. I pull out a flint, and steel. Strike once, strike twice, strike thrice, strike a fourth time, and a fifth time, sixth time's a charm, and a seventh time. Cleric walks over takes the flint and steel from me, and strikes once igniting the fire-starter, with a smug smile.
“Warmed it up for you.”
I say. She nods.
“Uh huh.”
I pile some more branches on top of the immediately blazing fire. Drops of rain hiss, and spit as they hit the hot wood. It’s apparently a goblin innovation, that adventurers adapted. I have the blaze going steady now, and pull over a medium sized log to burn. Putting a few others in the periphery of the fire to dry off, and burn eventually.
Fighter pulls a metal grate out of his bag, and passes it to me. It’s a finely made thing, and sits over a fire to cook food on. Little legs fold out of its sides and snap stable. I nestle it over the fire, and put the wok on it. I use a sturdy wooden plank to chop up a dragons eye, some cured meat, and a few veggies, carrots, an onion, and a handful of mushrooms. I pull a handful of eggs out of my bag, and whisk them together.
I didn’t have to worry about salmonella, since it’s only in American chickens, or was it. I decided to contemplate that later. I wish I had a bit of milk, but that wasn’t in the cards right now. I took a bit of fat, and put it into the wok. I let it sit a little using a knife to maneuver it around the bottom. Once the bottom is coated pour the eggs, and veggies in. I drop a few pieces of meat into the baby omelet I let it cook for a little, I break it up turning it into scrambled eggs with veggies, and meat in it.
The party has piled up some slate, and a few short, and sturdy pieces of wood into a small shrine. Like a shitty shrine in the mountains from an anime. I divide the food in half. There is quite a lot of it. I put one half in to a bowl, and walk over to the shrine using the umbrella to shield the food. I place the bowl into the small alcove, and kneel on the soggy ground.
“I thank you spirit of mulched earth, and dead leaves.
Of a cooling rain, and warm breeze.
Of muddy ground, and rocky soil.
Of barren trees, and vines that coil.
Thank you for your benevolence, and grant us your blessing.”
I close my eyes, and nod my head. Then stand up, and brush my pants off. I head over to the canvas a serve out the rest of the food. I hand a bowl to each of the party.
“Was that a prayer from your home?”
Cleric asks, between mouthfuls of breakfast.
“No, just a little rhyme I came up with on the spot.”
Wizard pauses for a moment.
“So does your home worship, or revere spirits like that?”
I tilt my head.
“Some people do, I was raised as a catholic, although I don’t really practice.”
Cleric perks up at that.
“What do they practice?”
“Well we have a huge book called the Bible that has a bunch of parables in it. And we believe in one true God, capital ‘G’. He has three parts the father, son, and holy spirit, different type of spirit. God spent seven days, although they are more metaphorical than literal, to create day and night, the earth, all the animals and plants, and humans. A long time after that he placed a child inside of a virgin woman, and Jesus was born. He died for everyone's sins, and so that they could get accepted into heaven. Or thats what Catholics, and related denominations believe."
I shovel some more food into my mouth.
“So what about other races, do the elves have a god like that for them?”
Wizard asks.
“No just humans where I am from. Although we have stories about elves, dwarves, giants, etc. They are considered myth, and fantasy.”
“So how do you know so much about them?”
Wizard asks.
“Inference, and trends in behavior. Goblins usually always act the same, Elves and Dwarves too. Slight variance exists, for example it’s split 50/50 that Kobolds are reptoids related to Dragon, or Gnolls by a different name. I’m a firm believer in the former. And I was right.”
We finish our food, and pack our camp up in the same.way as yesterday, minus one bowl. The rain has calmed some, and the clouds have begun to thin out. While the rain is still coming down, we have visibility. This makes the rest of the journey much easier. And in two hours, or so we are at the foot of the mountain.
The rain turns to a light drizzle.
“Well let's do this, waiting around ain’t gonna help us from doing anything.”
I say, and start the climb up. Hopefully this goes well.