I don’t know how long we’d spent travelling, at least a fortnight, but I knew we’d passed out of Trieste and were most likely in the forest marches of the Principality of Alasce - a poor and sparsely populated country to the south of Trieste but one who we needed to travel to reach the great river basins of the Ald and the Est, soon we’d turn north west for the Free City of Malin; a slightly circular route but the only one possible before the snow melt in the mountain chain that seperated the eastern kingdoms from the rest of the continent. Malin was about another two days by carriage and was where I would meet the boat, at the confluence of the two mighty rivers, which would take me downstream to Paras City. I wondered if there would be any more chance of escaping the boat? Although since I barely knew how to swim it probably was a bad idea anyway.
More realistically I was hoping I would get a chance to see Malin - the great oddity of the continent. The Free City of Malin, the continent’s only city state. It attracted people of all races; home to two hundred thousand souls, an unimaginable number to me, it was the largest city on the continent, possibly the world. A long time ago it had been part of the Duchy of Aldburgh. When Paras had annexed half of the Duchy and set up the rest as the vassal state of Levine, the border city of Malin had rebelled and held out behind its high walls for two years before an alliance of the eastern kingdoms finally drove Paras back. In the peace treaty it was agreed that Malin would belong to no kingdom, the size of its armed forces set by a treaty between the city, Paras and the Eastern Kingdoms, it was to be eternally neutral in any conflict on the continent. Somehow that arrangement was now about four hundred years old - the city had become a banking centre and the loans it had made to Paras and the eastern kingdoms over the years gave it an uneasy form of protection. That wasn’t what fascinated me though, it was that in the city there was no king, and although there were nobles - instead of ruling themselves they shared power with the commoners in a council of three hundred citizens (although nobles were guaranteed half the council seats) which made the laws and appointed a speaker from their number to act as their leader. I’m sure it wasn’t perfect but the whole idea appealed to me - especially as if I was Malinese I wouldn’t be forced to marry some smarmy looking prince.
Hopefully the boat would need a few days to get ready, as afterall with the state of the roads on the continent and my need to travel with a large party of guards to drive away any monsters or bandits that unfortunately plagued the Alascean marches, it meant that my journey to Malin could take a few weeks or it could take a few months depending on the weather and luck.
Talking of the state of the roads, somehow they’d got worse when we crossed over into Alasce. I didn’t think it was possible but now I was having to tightly grip the padded bench I sat on to stop myself being thrown into the walls or ceiling of the carriage and my lady-in-waiting had placed our trunk of clothes on her lap to weigh her down. Cautiously I risked looking out the tiny door window, pulling back the velvet curtain, to see what was going on. We were travelling on a rock strewn, pot holed track - you couldn’t even call it a road. It was narrow and my escort was travelling two abreast in front and behind the carriage. However, what was actually terrifying was after about a metre’s worth of road on my side of the carriage the land fell away at least 30 metres to a fast flowing river below.
I was completely fascinated, compelled, frozen, watching my narrow view of the carriage bounce this way and that, further and nearer to the cliff edge. Who had planned this route? Ok I know I’ve been complaining for the last week about how I don’t want to be here but I am a princess and this looks a decidedly an un-princess level of safety. We could at least slow down, couldn’t we? Were we in bandit country or something? Probably? I decided I was going to shout to the driver to slow down. I sat back and slid across the hatch that connected the passenger compartment with the coach driver’s perch. Ignoring the sudden protestations from my lady-in-waiting I pushed my head and shoulders through the hatch so I was poking out behind the driver.
“Hey,” I shouted, above the racket of the coach, the driver started and turned to look down at me, “any chance you could slow down? It just doesn’t seem awfully safe right now, with the cliff and everything?”
“No can do, your highness,” the man called back, “this is the perfect place for an…”
I never got to hear what the man was going to say as the coach suddenly hit something. What happened next seemed to take place in slow motion, the carriage jumped half a metre into the air, the horses panicked and the carriage landed and jerked sideways inexorably, inevitably towards the cliff edge. Well I assume that’s what happened as I was too busy being flung out the hatch and into the ravine myself, I had just enough time to see the carriage finally follow me over before I hit the icy water and blacked out.
Event Check: [Survive Lethal Fall]: Success Value = 40. Natural value: 10. Event Check Failed.
Natural Damage: 200 HP
Equipment: Court Dress [Resist Physical Damage] - 1 Damage
Modified Damage: 199 HP
(HP = 0/80).
Condition: [Death]. Time before resurrection impossible: 180 seconds
Luck Check [Spark of Life]: Success Value = 20. Natural Value 13 + Luck/2. Modified Value: 20.5 Luck Check Passed: +1 HP (HP = 1/80).
Condition: [Critically Wounded]. - Faults Apply.
XP awarded for cheating death: + 500 XP
You are ready to level up! Level Up: Y/N?
System Warning!
Your HP is critically low (1/80). Your are [Critically Wounded] Rest in [Camp], [Bedchamber] or [Inn] or use [Consumable: Health] urgently
Strength: -5
HP and Stamina Regen Rates: Reduced to 1/Hour until Condition: [Critically Wounded] Ends
Check Modifier: Bloodied and Broken [All Strength and dexterity checks] - 10.
Check Modifier: Dazed and Confused [All Intelligence and Wisdom Checks] - 8.
I came too on the river bank, parts of the carriage surrounding me on a small gravel beach. There was no sign of the coachman or my lady-in-waiting. I could hear distant shouts but I didn’t have the energy to shout back, I barely had the energy to breathe and the more awake I became the more pain wracked my body. I decided the best thing I could do was pass out again; so that’s what I did.
You are ready to level up! Level Up: Y/N?
I don’t know how long I was out for, but I felt a little better; little being the keyword - pain still shot through my body and I couldn’t even manage to find the strength to sit up. I quickly checked my character sheet and realised I had 5 HP now, so based on the system warning I half remembered I’d been out for four hours and was still [Critically Wounded]. Not that I wouldn’t have known that from the pain and blood that covered my body. I managed to roll onto my side and access my inventory.
Use [Potion of Minor Healing]: Y/N
Yes, I thought, and a small bottle appeared in my hand. No I don’t know how that happened, some of the finest mages in the world had been working on how the system inventory worked for centuries - where the items went, how thinking about an item could cause it to materialise or disappear - and no one had any idea still as to how it happened. Not that I cared about any of that right now, all I cared about was pulling the stopper out with my teeth and gulping down the bitter liquid inside the bottle.
[Potion of Minor Healing]: Removed from Inventory
HP + 40 (HP: 45/80)
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Condition [Critically Wounded]: Ends
Current Condition [Could be better]. ~ no boosts or faults apply
You are ready to Level Up! Level Up Y/N
Obviously, I thought yes. I needed all the help I could get!
System Information:
Congratulations you have reached Level 9.
HP + 10 (HP: 45/90)
Mana + 3 (Mana: 12/15)
Stamina + 6 (Stamina: 30/36)
Strength + 2, Dexterity + 1, Intelligence + 2, Wisdom + 1, Luck + 0.
Levelling up and the potion gave me something to work with and the pain in my body lessened to a dull ache all over and I was finally able to push myself to my feet. It was freezing, my clothes were still waterlogged, and daylight and the temperature were fading fast. At least I had water, I staggered to the river’s edge and used my hands to gulp in some of the freezing liquid. I could see a distorted reflection of myself in the water, I was covered in blood, my dress was torn to ruins, indecently so, I was bruised and pale and my hair was all over the place and reverting to the curly mess of its untended state.
HP + 5 (HP: 50/90)
Stamina + 5 (Stamina: 9/30)
As I continued to look around, I realised my little beach was actually in a small cave, well barely a cave, more of an overhang but enough so that anyone looking from the track above wouldn’t have been able to see me. That and the surging current of the river meant I guess any search being made by escort would be long gone by now. At least it meant I had a bit of shelter from the elements - not that I could stay here indefinitely. Also I was shivering badly now, if I stayed like this my stamina and then HP would be rapidly drained. I needed to get out of these wet clothes, even naked I wouldn’t be as cold as I would get from being in a soaked dress (well 50-60% of a dress). Off they came, they were ruined beyond repair anyway - worryingly, even if I could dry them somehow, what was salvageable meant I would be dressing in a blood stained petticoat at best and my shoes were long gone.
What I really needed, apart from clothes, was fire. Not that I knew how to light a fire but I knew I needed wood and there were plenty of bits of carriage around - wait they were all waterlogged and how was I going to light one anyway? Still what else could I do, maybe there would be some relatively dry bits somehow? Sure enough the bits of wood from the carriage were sopping wet and even if I knew how to set a fire there was no way I’d get them to burn. I was at the point of praying for a lightning strike when I spied something lying at the edge of the water, in danger of being washed back into the current was a bag. An oilskin bag, the coach driver’s bag. I didn’t push my luck and immediately leapt for it, giving myself a few more scrapes for my trouble:
HP - 1 (HP: 49/90)
I was actually possibly the luckiest person alive, this bag was good quality. It had been recently re-waxed and was triple laced at its only opening on its top. The bag was made of 3 tough layers of linen with worsted wool sandwiched between them and all that combined to mean that inside the contents were nearly dry and to my great relief they were actually useful!
Coachman’s Belongings
Item
Type
Description
Coachman’s Bag
Bag
A finely made travellers bag, a worthwhile investment for someone on the road.
Inventory Capacity: + 10
Cotton Shirt
Clothing
A pretty standard man’s shirt. At least it smells clean
Resist Physical Damage: + 1
Padded Leather Waistcoat
Clothing
A tough leather waistcoat, padded for warmth rather than protection.
Resist Physical Damage + 3
Canvas Short Trousers
Clothing
Scratchy and uncomfortable but tear resistant. A pair of trousers that could last years!
Resist Physical Damage + 2
Leather Shoes
(Old)
Footwear
A practical pair of shoes that have seen better days, probably a spare pair but better than going barefoot.
Dagger
(Old)
Weapon (Melee)
An old dagger, it’s got an edge and a point but also a lot of rust.
Inflict Physical Damage + 4
Canteen of Water
(3/4 Full)
Consumable (Food)
Water is life and now you can carry it with you.
Hp+5, Stamina + 5
Beef Jerky
(3/6 portions)
Consumable (Food)
Tough as old boots, possibly made of old boots, but it will fill your stomach for a while.
HP + 8. Stamina + 8
I pulled the clothes out of the bag and equipped them, I then equipped the bag and called the jerky out of the inventory. I ate a portion as fast as I could, which is to say it took me about 30 minutes of vigorous chewing - I was surprised it didn’t actually cost me some stamina - and took a drink from the river, taking the trouble to refill the canteen at the same time.
HP + 13 (HP: 62/90)
Stamina + 13 (Stamina: 23/30)
Current Condition [Healthy] + Minor Boosts
Beef Jerky (2/6 Portions)
Water Canteen (4/4 Full)
So I was miraculously clothed, fed and watered, I had some serious luck (well my luck stat was about double compared to everyone else I’d ever met) and now I just needed to decide what to do. Whilst I had a bit of shelter and possibly enough clothes to avoid hypothermia it was still bitterly cold. Perhaps I’d be better off on the move, exercise would help keep my body temperature up, but on the other hand if there was a search party looking for me maybe I should stay here.
Hang on, did I want to be found; presumed drowned was the solution to all my problems, wasn’t it? A dead princess couldn’t be married after all? And well the river was flowing in the opposite direction to which we had been travelling so if they were searching for me they were going away from where I wanted to go. Namely to continue towards Malin.
Now I know, I’d spent a fair bit of the last week lamenting my lack of practical skills but that was me thinking I’d be running away in Trieste and having to make my way in an agricultural based economy (wow clearly some of my tutoring had sunk in). However, I wasn’t in Trieste any more, ok I wasn’t in Malin either but it was close enough I might be able to make it there before I starved. Possibly. The point being, that surely, in a city of 200,000 souls I could disappear forever and eventually find some sort of job to earn my keep. Maybe I could find work as a scribe or an accountant, or a translator? I may not have many (alright any) physical skills but I could read and write, I had some skill with numbers and did I mention I can speak five languages. Surely in Malin there would be some job for me that didn’t rely on my ability to distinguish a crop from a weed?
The only problem was my character sheet had princess, literally, written all over it. Now not everyone had the skill [Identify] (I didn’t for one!) but it was common enough that it would be a problem and yes there was supposedly a cultural taboo about using the skill on people but if it was me I’d definitely be identifying everyone all the time and pretending I hadn’t. So ok that was a major flaw in my plan - it basically relied on everyone I met in Malin being a better person than me. Possible but not likely. Still people’s systems reflected their circumstances, perhaps if I resolved myself to making a new life the system would start updating itself. It wasn’t much to go on, but it was all I had, at least until I earned enough to buy some sort of obfuscating charm.
So Malin was my decision, I had at least a week of walking ahead of me, which made my other decision for me, I would start walking whilst my belly and canteen were full. I had very little food (maybe I could forage for some berries or something), no real protection from wind and rain and no survival skills to speak of. So if I was going to make it to Malin I best get going now whilst the weather was holding. Carefully, in the dimming light, I started to walk along the narrow river bank upstream and towards Malin.