Chapter 11: Runesmithing

After another quarter hour of delving, the eerie silence was finally broken. The scratching of claws on stone was faint, but definitely there. Once more noticing firelight flickering off the cave walls, I found more icy stones to stick my torch between. Reducing my pace to a crawl, I advanced until I reached the bend that interrupted my sight. Cautiously, I peeked around the curve, immediately noticing two more Ratfolk. Upon identification, they were the same Soldier variety from before, this time at levels 4 and 5. They stood attentively guarding a ruined stone doorway, both wielding spears. While the pillars making up the frame of the doorway were obviously ancient, a much less ancient plank of wood roughly three feet in diameter acted as a door, blocking my ability to see what they guarded.

At levels 4 and 5 they were higher level than the previous Soldiers I fought, with the ladder even matching my own. I could hear muffled chattering voices from inside the doorway, which ultimately made me decide against trying to lure the guards away from the door. I doubted I could kill both of them before they called for help, even with two Blade Manifestations . Silently sighing, I crept back to my torch, and retraced my steps to where I had killed the first group of Ratfolk.

Deciding against dragging one of the corpses the entire way to the surface, I hurried back to the cellar.

Finding the cellar door closed, I pounded on it for a few minutes before a startled looking Arcis lifted the hatch, cautiously holding a sword on one hand.

“How’d you get down there lad?” he asked, bewildered.

“I went to check on you after half an hour after you left, but I found no trace of ya.”

I coughed, and told him about the illusion, as well as the camp of Ratfolk and the dying words of one of the soldiers. His look of bewilderment only increased as I told him the story, and by the end he looked extremely troubled.

“Yer instincts were right boy, we should definitely let Sev know about something like this.” the Inkeep said.

He shouted at a few passing guards, and gave them a short summary of what happened. They agreed to guard the cellars entrance while we went to find Sev, Grouwth or one of the other high ranking guards.

Just as we began to leave the inn, a figure jumped out from the bushes off to one side. Arcis and I jumped, surprised.

“Sev..?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, yes, I was listening the whole time!” he said, in a uniquely obnoxious way.

“Why..?” I asked, more confused than angry.

“Why were you even hiding in the bushes?” I asked suspiciously.

“Well after seeing you leave the building so late at night, I had to make sure no wrongdoing was afoot! And so I followed you. But to my utter confusion, you simply went to the cellar. So I waited for you to come out. And waited. And waiiiiiited. And wa-” I interrupted him “Please continue Sev.”

He coughed. “ Once Arcis came out to the cellar, I knew something was wrong. But before I could do something about it, you made that horrible racket.” he said, as if It were all my fault.

Arcis and I just stared at him.

“But you were right! You should tell the guards. And so you have. Unknowingly.” he said, smiling.

I squinted at him. His smile just widened.

Sighing, he adopted a serious expression that I was not entirely sure was authentic.

“But of course this is not a good sign. I’m afraid the dried meat pilfering was a fortunate byproduct of the Ratfolk forces being here, rather than their actual goal. If they hadn’t undergone their devious grub gaining ploy, I doubt we would have any inkling of their plans.”

“I imagine, unfortunately, it will take some time to gather the proper expeditionary force to confront the Ratfolk force. And while you are certainly invited to join us when we do the aforementioned, I cannot imagine such a boisterous young adventurer like yourself would be willing to twiddle their thumbs while we prepare.”

“We’re like the same age dude.” I said.

Ignoring me, he continued.

“And so I have a task for you. There have been some unfortunate disappearances of late, mostly livestock and the like, but a few hunters have mysteriously disappeared. Even a shepherd and his flock vanished from their property, with hardly a trace. Each of these incidents are linked by one commonality. There has been some strange kind of hole near the site of each disappearance. The hole is always filled in with snow, but there are no bones, remnants of flesh, or even dropped personal belongings.”

New Quest: What dwells beneath.

Description: Investigate the hunters disappearance at the lake, and find what is responsible..

Rewards: Unknown.

Accept or Decline

I accepted the quest.

“I’d be willing to work on this while the soldiers gather, but where should I start?” I asked

“Wonderful! Yesterday, a hunter, Vero, went to the Anathi Frostlake to hunt Sereni, as well as gather herbs that grow around the lake's shores. He has yet to return, and while Sereni may have slain him, he is an extremely experienced hunter who has survived hundreds of hunts.” Sev said, handing me a map.

“This outlines the general landscape around Terris. I’ve marked the path you should follow to reach the lake, as well as Vero's favored hunting grounds and gathering route.” he said.

“Sounds good to me.” I said.

“If you plan on leaving now, be very, very careful. The dangers that roam the forest at night are beyond your current capabilities. I will have the soldiers ready around two hours after dawn.” Sev said, walking off.

“I trust you have no more questions.” he said, turning a corner, and disappearing from view.

“A strange fellow for sure.” Arcis mused.

“Yeah…” I said, trailing off , “By the way Arcis, Sev mentioned the hunter being a gatherer, is there somewhere I can learn something similar?” I asked

“Do you mean herbalism, or were you referring to learning professions in general?” he replied.

Surprised, I nodded and told him I meant the ladder.

“Depends on what you’re looking to learn. Terris has a wide variety of masters, including smithing, prospecting, herbalism, Alchemy, Cooking, as well as some more uncommon ones. Were ya looking for something in particular?”

“Are there any options for improving or creating weapons? Particularly any that use magic as a means to do so?” I asked.

“Ah, runesmithing sounds right down your alley lad. It allows you to imbue your weapons with temporary and permanent effects. It's great because runes aren’t that fussy. They generally don’t interfere with enchantments, other runes, or different magical effects. So you really can’t go wrong.” he said.

A pensive expression crossed his face, and he sighed. “A major downside is that runesmithing will require you to learn both prospecting and essence harvesting. This’ll leave you with no room for other gathering based professions.”

I interrupted him.

“No room?”

“Oh, I’ve gotten ahead of myself again. Generally, folks can’t learn more than four total professions. Two gathering based ones like prospecting, herbalism, fishing, and skinning. Also, the refining process is lumped in with their gathering counterparts. If you become a prospector, you also learn smelting. On the other side of the coin are the crafting based professions. You get to pick two of these, and they can include smithing, alchemy, enchanting, cooking, as well as runesmithing.” he said, taking a breath.

“runesmithing requires you to learn prospecting - for the material to make the rune-, and essence harvesting -to imbue the runes with power-. I’m no expert on the subject, you’ll have to talk to Siegfried to really learn about its nuance. This does mean that your second Crafting profession should really be something that uses either prospecting or essence harvesting. This limits your options a bit, unfortunately.”

“I’m fine with that, I’d like to talk to Siegfried and hear his input on it though.” I said.

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A cautious smile appeared on Arcis’s face. “Siegfried is a good man, but I feel I should warn you that he is a little… prickly”

Before I could give my input on that, he continued. “I would walk you to his place of business myself, but I need to watch over my Inn. I’m sure someone would be willing to show you the way if ya buy them a beer, though.”

“Will he be awake at this hour?” I asked.

“Oh that man is awake at all hours of the night, working on one project or another.” Arcis replied, yawning.

“He sleeps in his shop, which is also where he does his Runesmithing.”

Arcis began to walk back to the entrance to the inn, waving at me to follow.

Around half of the previous occupants were asleep, snoring in a puddle of their own drool. Of the remaining half, most had left, and only a few still drank.

“Carrie, would you be willing to do my new friend here a favor?” Arcis asked a muscular woman sitting at a table against one of the walls. A massive longbow lay against the wall, unstrung.

The woman glanced at Arcis, then at me, and raised one bushy eyebrow.

Arcis coughed, and clarified his question. “He needs directions to Siegfrieds lai- …uh, establishment. He’s new here.” he said.

“For a free room for tonight, I’d be willing to help him out.” she said, smiling.

Arcis sighed but agreed, and then turned to me. “Thanks for your help with the rodent problem, and I’m sorry it turned out so dangerous. In addition to a week of room and board, I've got an extra treat for ya. Come see me after you talk to Siegfried, before you go on Sev’s little mission.”

You have completed the quest: Rodents of Unusual Size

You have gained 120 experience.

I thanked him, and Carrie and I walked out into the night's biting chill.

“So, are you that supplier Sieg’s been expecting?” Carrie asked as we walked a dirt road.

“No, I asked Arcis about professions that might suit my needs, and he ended up recommending runesmithing.”

“Ah I see, a prospective apprentice then?” she asked.

“We’ll see, right now I'm really just looking to learn a little about what runesmithing can do.”

“Makes sense. You also have a mission from Sev as well! You are quite the busy adventurer, aren’t you?” she asked.

I rolled my eyes.

“I imagine he asked you to look into the disappearances, huh? Well, if you need help, I wouldn’t mind accompanying you. You see, the most recent disappearance was a friend, and I planned to go look for him anyway.” she said.

“I’d love to have you along. Before arriving, I spent hours wandering through the forest looking for civilization. So a guide would be much appreciated.” I said.

“Then it's decided, i’ll be at the inn, just come find me when you’re ready.” she said, stopping halfway down the road. She turned and nodded at a two story building, made of black wood. A sign hung above the door labeled Siegfried's Rune Shop.

“He’s.. a little stiff, by the way. Just be polite and you’ll probably be fine.” she said

“Thanks for the directions and the advice.” I paused, “Oh and I'm Lock.” I held out my hand.

She glanced at it, then shook.

“Nice to meet you Locke, I’m Carrie.”

She waved, and then started walking back the way we came. I turned to the not-quite haunted-house looking store, and approached. Stopping at the door, I couldn’t hear anything from inside. I knocked, and heard a yelping sound from somewhere inside, followed by what I assumed was cursing. A few seconds later, the door opened to reveal a slender man, dressed in black formal wear. His face was very sharp, and he looked as if I was something he had found on the bottom of his shoe.

“Who knocks on the door to a runesmithing shop? Who even knocks on the door of any shop?” he said in a high voice, a slight German accent evident in his tone.

“Uh, well, it is well past midnight. Sir.” I said, a little taken aback.

“Then why did you come in the first place? Perhaps you thought this was a pottery shop, and you came to practice your swordsmanship?” he said, his eyes narrowing.

“Arcis sent me, he said you could teach me a little about runesmithing. He also said you rarely sleep, and you’re often up into the late hours of the night.” I replied.

“Arcis.” he muttered, walking back into his establishment. I just stood there, holding the door open.

“Well? Come in.” he said, sounding annoyed.

I walked in, and was shocked to see a vast quantity of what I assumed were runes lining three of the four walls. Their size, material, and the color of their glowing engravings all varied wildly. One rune was the size of a table, and looked to be made of some green colored metal, its engraving glowed softly with a pale red light. At the far end of the room was a table that I assumed acted as a place to pay.

“Don’t touch anything.” he said, walking past the table, and through a hallway leading to another room.

“I’m going to finish the work I was doing before I was so rudely interrupted. You may begin by telling me what proficiency you have with runesmithing and its component arts, as well as what exactly you expect from me.”

He began to delicately carve into a blue speckled metal square about the size of my hand, a stone rod that itself seemed intricately engraved grasped deftly in one hand. Ignoring his jab, I replied.

“I actually have no experience with runesmithing, prospecting, essence harvesting, or anything else that may be related.”

He raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

“I’d like to know a little about what runesmithing can do, and what you can teach me.”

After a few seconds of quitely engraving, he completed what looked to be a circle in the pattern, and lifted the rod from the metal.

“Let me get a look at you, who wears a hood like that indoors anyways?”

I hesitated for a moment, debating the success rate of telling him I had a hideous deformity, but ultimately gave in.

“Ah, a Demifiend.” he said simply, and continued.

“runesmithing is the process of engraving a carefully shaped, magically conductive material with essence, which simply put, is aspected mana in its purest form.”

I opened my mouth, but he held up a finger.

“I don’t care who your parents were, only who you are.”

“Let's take this piece for example,” he said, gesturing to the metal square he was just engraving “The material is Rimesteel, a magical iron alloy that has been imbued with ice aspected mana. It is everywhere in Cairos, as ice mana is quite common here, so most iron here is aspected. Its purpose is to enhance ice based magic, and it is also fairly resistant to ice based attacks, magical or otherwise.”

“This particular engraving,” he said, tracing the engraving with one finger “will be for storing ice mana in a concentrated form.”

“The point of this rune is actually as a storage device. Activating it will restore mana to the user, although the restored mana’s aspect will be ice.”

“How does the material alter the outcome in this example?” I asked

“Good question. In order to increase storage capacity, the mana is concentrated as it is gathered. High densities of pure mana can cause damage to materials that contain it, as Rimesteel is partially resistant to ice, the Ice aspected mana is able to be contained safely.”

I digested his words as he began to engrave the rune once more. While I wasn’t an ice mage, and I didn’t think my mana had any aspect to it, it seemed like a powerful tool. What he described was essentially a refillable mana potion for ice mages. With the sheer quantity of runes in the first room, and their seeming uniqueness, I was certain that they all differed in effect and utility to at least some degree.

I simply watched him engrave in silence for what seemed like hours. After completing the final instance of a pattern, he slipped his rod into a pocket of the belt he wore. When he finally looked up from studying his work, he seemed surprised I was still there.

“Oh,” he said, clearing his throat “I can teach you some of the very basics, but in return I have a little task for you.” he said.

“Sure, what do you need?”

“If you would believe it, my stores of concentrated Ice aspected mana, called ice essence, are running low. It's not difficult to obtain. It’s usually a chore relegated to apprentice runesmiths. Think of this as a very, very easy test.”

He seemed to think about what he said.

“You are not my apprentice.”

I held up my hands in surrender, which seemed to mollify him.

He handed me a small engraved wooden cylinder, a protrusion on one end stuffed with a heavily engraved metal cork.

“This device will store a small amount of any type of essence. It even has four internal compartments to store up to as many kinds of different essence. Do not lose or break this.”

“What exactly is essence, and how is it different from aspected mana? You said it is aspected mana in its purest form, but what does that mean?”

To my surprise, he actually smiled.

“Aspected mana is mana that has developed an affinity to a substance, or even an idea, and changed fundamentally away from being pure. Essences are a step beyond this. A being that has aspected mana within itself, for example, a fire dragon, develops a physical manifestation of fire mana as it lives and uses its mana for various things. When it dies, it can be harvested by hand, or with a special tool like the one I’ve lended you. This manifestation does not quite reside in our realm, nor the realm that mana flows through. This manifestation is essence. It allows for the creation of especially potent magical items, and not just for runesmithing either.”

“Additionally, your options for obtaining essence are not limited to killing, although I know you adventurers are quite fond of wanton violence. Many different magical plants produce small amounts of various essences in their fruit. Some magical ore produces it as well. I suppose you’ll want to learn Prospecting and Essence Harvesting as well, won’t you?’ he said, sighing.

Siegfried has offered to teach you Prospecting. You may only have two gathering professions. (2 remaining)

Accept or Decline

Siegfried has offered to teach you Essence Harvesting. You may only have two gathering professions. (1 remaining)

Accept or Decline

Siegfried has offered to teach you Runesmithing. You may only have two crafting professions. (2 remaining)

Accept or Decline

You have received:

{Lesser Essence Anchor} x1

After a momentary hesitation, I accepted all three prompts.

“Alright, now leave me alone, and go get me essence, wherever you manage to find it.”