image [https://i.imgur.com/TZLvQ45.jpg]
After the excitement ended, I spoke to Chutters in a quieter, more conversational voice. “How long has the queen had bad dreams?”
Chutters hesitated before answering and spoke in hushed tones, though the language barrier prevented eavesdropping.
“We have been without her highness for 140 nights and 140 days. 65 nights and 65 days later, the wererats and gnolls put collars on us all. Shapes alive! Her highness hit the floor only hours after you arrived.”
It seemed the kobolds weren’t privy to what Winterbyte and Femmeny had done to enslave them. Understanding the details behind the sequence of events wasn’t significant enough to belabor the point. Leaving the Graytooths with a treaty satisfied me enough to set my mind at ease.
I received a game alert.
Campaign completed
Kobold Unrest
Reward received
4 glory points
Getting only 4 glory points from my campaign didn’t seem to be very much. Had I done something wrong?
Perhaps the reward depended on the number of people under my command. Possibly, the glory system didn’t favor diplomatic alliances or didn’t consider treaties with kobolds a lasting solution. The game awarded me 8 points for surviving the Canine Invasion campaign, so perhaps 4 wasn’t so bad.
I could interpret the skimpy rewards in so many ways there seemed no point in dwelling on why I’d received only 4 glory points. Perhaps vague objectives kept the spirit of campaigns intact—otherwise, players would focus on gaming the system. Instead, I admired my command status. But Applied Knowledge tripled my glory point acquisition since commanding counted as a skill. The extra glory points made me feel better about the meager reward.
Commander name
Apache
Command rank
1 (glory to next rank 36/50)
Promotions
Protector
Militia subordinates
1 (Fabulosa)
Morale
42% (worried)
Campaign history
Canine Invasion, Kobold Unrest
Active Campaigns
none
The dozen glory points put me closer to the next commander rank and a tier 2 promotion of Tough Armor, Battle Regeneration, or Aid Ally.
The settlement’s morale hadn’t changed since I’d woken up, which disoriented me because I had gotten used to a change after getting eight hours of sleep. My interface clock showed almost midnight, which threw me off because I felt well-rested. Too much time underground made me uneasy. I looked forward to simple things like sunlight and returning to a routine.
Before closing the window, I considered the name of the latest campaign—Kobold Unrest. I wondered if unrest involved a double meaning, referring to Queen Mina’s troubled sleep. It seemed odd that the queen had mad dreams because The Book of Dungeons prevented players from having them. Perhaps if we dreamed, Crimson’s players might confuse realities.
On the other hand, Kobold Unrest might refer to my lack of sleep. If I returned to a more traditional day and night sleep cycle, maybe this little itch in my mind would go away, that one that made me feel as if I had missed something important.
Dreams explained the game’s high degree of realism. Crimson’s keynote speaker claimed their employees didn’t create every blade of grass, every monster, or non-player character. They discovered how to make players’ brains imagine everything. Synchronizing dreams with other people and computers seemed like science fiction, but it explained the game’s level of detail and depth of artificial intelligence.
Had Shelly, aka Winterbyte, hacked the dream interface to control a kobold clan? It didn’t seem plausible. If she and Femmeny had learned to manipulate the game, they would have aimed for bigger targets. Taking over a hill of mangy kobolds didn’t seem worth the trouble.
The kobolds escorted us through the tunnels and into the open night air. It reassured me to see my interface map, updating details of my surroundings as we emerged from a mountain cave. The kobolds tailed us down the mountain as we left their territory. The escort made me grin. Who could fault them for doubting us? They showed remarkable tolerance over losing so many of their kind to our weapons, so showing us the door didn’t feel too heavy-handed. The ratfolk could only trust humans so far.
Having turned the page on our dealings with the relic and the kobolds, we could look to the future and fortify our standing in The Great RPG Contest.
It had reached late in the morning by the time Fabulosa and I arrived in Hawkhurst. The night’s journey passed easily, with both of us endowed with infravision. I re-equipped the old gargoyle amulet that gave me +2 stamina—the addition of 20 health seemed an even trade.
Before reaching the town hall, I noticed two more staked-out building sites. Judging by their size and shape, they marked future roundhouses beside those already standing. It made sense to keep everyone together—at least everyone who wasn’t in the mercenary guild.
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Only the mercenaries lived outside the roundhouses. Iris and Fletcher garrisoned their people north, near the charcoal pits, but I assumed everyone harvested wood without workers near the building site.
Yula and Rachel greeted us first. We caught them heading out on patrol. Rachel wore shiny plate armor and Fort Krek insignias. She looked suited for guard duty in a castle, while Yula dressed only in handcrafted leathers. They made an odd dichotomy—one suited for civic obligations, the other an independent wilderness survivor. The pair represented the spectrum of Hawkhurst’s citizens.
When Rachel pumped a triumphant fist, I knew we had missed nothing dire in town.
Rachel’s gesture provided the only preview of the town’s fortune. Yula wasn’t prone to excitement and faced ill and fair tidings with the same raised chin. Her stoic demeanor didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits, but she wasn’t easy to read.
Rachel turned to Yula. “Does this mean we can follow them back to camp?”
It gladdened me that the Fort Krek veteran didn’t look to Fabulosa or me for permission but turned to the orc.
“We keep to duty. Double-back on trail ees good for surprise. Kobold never expect.”
Yula’s paranoia made me smile despite her partner’s disappointment. As much as we would have liked to indulge in their company, neither Fabulosa nor I complicated the issue by countermanding her decision.
Rachel nodded, but her shoulders deflated. Still, she voiced no complaints. Unhappy soldiers seemed to be the sign of a healthy chain of command.
“Will you be back in time for dinner? I have a feeling we’re going to feast tonight.”
Yula pretended not to notice Rachel’s expectant eyes. “Not if cooking meat from kobold dungeon.”
Fabulosa laughed. “No way! No rotten bats or rats for us. We’ll stick to our own vittles.”
Yula nodded. “We return at sundown. Do you patrol tomorrow?” Yula directed the question to Fabulosa.
Fabulosa thought for a second. “No, I’m staying in town and ranking up my combat skills with Dino for a while.”
Fabulosa, Yula, and Rachel exchanged long glances before we separated. Something transpired between the trio. Surely, they weren’t still tittering over Dino’s charm. And Fabulosa had already staked a claim. Rachel wouldn’t dare compete with her, would she?
Watching Yula and Rachel exchange looks made me realize the strange vibes weren’t over Dino. Fabulosa went from an outdoor to an indoor cat. I’d just witnessed the changing of the guard—the orc huntress had officially taken a new protégé under her wing—Rachel.
Fabulosa ran her fingers through her hair. “I’m going to clean up before dinner and check out the new soap house.”
“I’m dipping in the lake before bath time. I want to test drive my new swimming powers and see if we’ve underwater monsters nearby.”
“You want me to come?”
“Nah. We only have one water-breathing trident. Lloyd says the lake is muddy, and visibility might not be great. After the fisher attack, I don’t want to lose you down there.”
Fabulosa left with the scouts while I walked to Hawkhurst Rock.
Squaring things with Winterbyte and kobolds left me with an open future of possibilities. I hadn’t followed up on my old quest to see Sune Njal. With so many things to learn from Dino, visiting a mythical high-level trainer seemed premature, and I wanted to put my best foot forward when I did. I didn’t lead Fabulosa to Iremont. Despite my faux pas over the Artilith, I considered visiting the Pentarch an advantage only for me, a payoff for all those days of research. Nor did I want to risk Sune Njal liking her more than me. She’d encircled her limit of combat trainers.
I’d been waiting for a chance to test my new swimming powers since I picked the Amphibious mandate. I also need to review what powers worked under the surface. Setting up defenses for Winterbyte’s attack hadn’t given many opportunities to explore the water within the settlement’s boundaries. Many people drew buckets from the lake and bathed without incident, but The Book of Dungeons often rewarded exploration, and I wouldn’t want to miss a chance to discover something cool.
I buffed with Heavenly Favor but kept Presence off. Instead of diving in, I climbed to the water’s surface, clinging to Hawkhurst Rock. Lloyd promised deep water, but I wasn’t about to risk smashing my nose into a submerged rock for no reason. I slowly descended into the dark water, using Creeper to see and my trident to breathe.
Depth and murk greeted me.
Without my swimming buff, the underwater current would have pulled me into the lake from an underwater eddy caused by the river’s flow. It moved enough to spell the doom for anyone without Hawkhurst’s swimming bonus.
I tried summoning the Dark Room, hoping it would become an emergency diving bell, but the magic rope didn’t work in liquid.
I cycled through my spells to see what would work. Everything worked except Scorch, Compression Sphere, and Slipstream. Casting Shocking Reach on a water bug zapped my hands with damage. Knowing how it worked might be worth remembering the next time I found myself underwater.
The murk blocked infravision, effectively limiting visibility to only a few feet.
Dig cleared away the particulate suspended in the water, acting like an invisible vacuum. Unfortunately, it proved to be a losing battle. I could only clean a small volume at a time, and mud clouds seeped into the cleared areas soon after.
The mass swirled like the belly of a gas planet. Since the particulate blocked sunlight, my only sense of up and down came from bubbles, but they disappeared once I started water-breathing. The further I dropped, the colder it became, and water sucked the heat from my body. These claustrophobic conditions proved too much, so I retreated before bottoming. I hadn’t dropped fifty feet before losing my nerve.
I ascended slowly, unsure if water-breathing nullified decompression effects like the bends. After surfacing, the Amphibious leaping ability got me out of the water, and I climbed to the top of Hawkhurst Rock.
Magellanic Clouds of mud explained why nothing attacked us from Otter Lake. It comforted me to know nothing could live down there.
The water’s chill refreshed me enough to put off my bath ideas. After drip drying, I donned a spare outfit and went to the town hall. Instead of Rocky and Mrs. Berling commanding the cooking area, I saw Olive and Fortune cutting eyes out of potatoes with a pair of teenagers from Arlington. The ladies waved, and I exchanged smiles and nods.
“Where’s Rocky and Mrs. Berling?”
Olive turned to me. “Mrs. Berling went to the farm to see why it took so long to harvest potatoes. Chef Rockthane is at the forge picking up new salt shakers from Fin. We have new helpers today, and I’m showing them how to prep food.”
One teenager rolled their eyes as if to point out that they learned nothing from peeling potatoes.
Fortune frowned at their lack of enthusiasm. “Their fingers aren’t strong yet, so we’re just getting them accustomed to using knives. They’ll get the hang of it.” She ruffled the hair of one youth who squirmed from the tousling.
Fabulosa entered the doorway soon after I arrived. “Hey, scuba-man. Did you find anything?”
I shook my head. “If there’s anything down there, it’s too muddy to see, even with infravision.”
“I’m grabbing leftovers. Do you need me for anything?”
“No. Do you need the Dark Room? I’ll clean up later and crash after I find Greenie.”
“Nah, I’m good. Tell Chickers not to expect me for dinner. I’m eating with Dino tonight.”
“Bon appétit!”
Fabulosa said nothing but held a thin-lipped smile as she grabbed a plate of food and left the town hall.
She passed Greenie on the way out. Greenie visibly relaxed at the sight of us. The gesture accounted for the most expressive I’ve seen him since Charitybelle’s death. He searched my face for positive news, and I nodded to let him know we’d settled matters with the gnolls.
I put a plate together and sat at an empty table
The goblin joined me.
I summoned Beaker after Fabulosa departed. It had been a while since I brought him out, and he wouldn’t be a distraction in an empty town hall.
The griffon pumped his wings once and hopped onto the table. Griffons on tabletops breached our rules, but I made an exception because I missed his company. Usually, he’d jump onto a bench first, but he had the strength and wingspan to vault the full distance. He immediately scanned the room for Fabulosa before looking at me expectantly.
“You’re hungry, I bet. Here you go.” I withdrew small scraps of talax ram from my inventory that I kept for such occasions. Before I could rinse them, Beaker pounced on the meat. He plucked out one piece at a time and tore it apart between his beak and front talons.
“I trust you resolved our gnoll situation?” Greenie returned to his reserved, businesslike self. He spoke low enough that no one in the kitchen area could hear us, just in case I had bad news.
I recounted the highlights of my adventures, omitting bits about the Artilith and Femmeny being a player. “Winterbyte and the gnolls are gone. If it means anything, we made a nonaggression pact with the kobolds.”
I braced myself for warnings that we couldn’t trust kobolds, but Greenie nodded in approval.
It felt good to give a positive update. Everything in the game world rested in its proper place—except for a distant feeling that I’d overlooked something.
The itch refused to leave me alone.