The Chaos Lands (Part 2)
The conversation stalled for a moment as both Idris and Conrad watched Eana pick up her staff and march over to the training dummy. Idris made to do the same but Conrad put a hand on his shoulder to hold him back.
“I don’t want you breaking our dummies,” he said.
Disappointed, Idris turned to watch Eana instead. She wound up and swung a few normal hits, getting back into the rhythm Conrad had been showing them before.
There was a flash of red energy through the staff as she swung an imbued strike that made the dummy swing and shake on its springy center.
Then she did it again.
“That’s… interesting,” Conrad said.
“Huh? Why?” Idris asked.
“There should be a cooldown. Can’t remember exactly but 30 seconds seems about right. But she just did it twice. In a row. No breaks.”
“Maybe it has some kind of interaction with her skill or overall level,” Idris ventured.
“Maybe,” Conrad said, his tone communicating how little stock he put in that explanation.
Eana imbued a third time and struck with all her might and, with a splintering crack, her staff broke apart where it impacted the hard, magical imbuement of the training dummy.
She gasped and covered her mouth, turning to Conrad she blurted, “I’m so sorry! I’ll replace it!”
Conrad held out his hands to forestall any more apology and said, “Don’t you worry about it. It’s my fault for giving you such a cheap staff. It was better meant for walking. Keep that half though. Makes a nice souvenir don’t you think?”
“Nice hit!” Idris said.
Inside he was bursting to try imbuing his hammer and breaking just about anything. The work in the mines tomorrow couldn’t come quickly enough.
“Now, if you had an ironwood staff you’d be in better shape. Very hard to break, and someday if you meet an Inscriber they can imbue it with magical properties to make it even stronger,” Conrad said, “I feel like I saw a small ironwood grove across the river. I’ll have to send one of my people to fetch some of it for you.”
Completely unintentionally, Idris and Eana met eyes. He cocked one eyebrow and she tilted her head for a second as if in thought, then nodded. He nodded back. And as if Order was there nodding along with them, a quest prompt popped into Idris’ vision.
Quest
Armed for Battle
Venture into the chaos lands and find the ironwood grove to the east. Return to Irondale with enough wood to create a fighting staff.
Reward: 75XP
Bonus: Improve Imbued Strike to level 2. 50XP
And with that prompt, everything Idris had invested in today felt suddenly justified. He hadn’t gotten a new quest for anything related to his Light Mage class or mining or anything else in what was likely years. And now, within minutes of becoming a Warrior, he already had new opportunities to grow in strength.
He wasn’t going to let this opportunity go to waste.
“Do you think you could take us?” Idris asked Conrad.
“Take you? Where?” his voice and expression conveying clearly that he knew exactly where Idris was talking about.
“To the Ironwood grove,” Eana supplied.
Conrad chuckled wryly, “Not today. Like I said I’ll send some of my people. Do some work on your own in the mines and,” he gestured at Eana, “whenever you find the opportunity.”
He glanced at the sun and looked around the now much more lively Adventurer’s Camp. “I’ve got duties to attend to. Running an adventuring band isn’t all breakfasts and mentoring. You two should be getting back anyway before your dad comes after me.”
He stuck out his hand and Idris took it, shaking firmly.
“You did good today, Idris.”
He turned to Eana and shook her hand too, “And you too,” he said.
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“Would you mind if we used the dummies a bit longer?” Idris asked.
“Sure, sure,” Conrad said, “But no imbued strikes on them from you. I want this place to still be usable when you’re done.”
Idris promised he wouldn’t break anything and Conrad turned and headed back toward Irondale, leaving the two of them to continue training.
“How long do you want to hit the dummy?” Eana asked.
“Uhhh,” Idris said, watching Conrad disappear from sight, “I think I’ve hit it enough actually. You ready?”
Eana nodded, “Let’s do it!”
Turning with Eana, Idris started walking east and away from town and any chance of running into Conrad. Before they went too far he took a quick look around and walked over to a large stump with leftover wood chunks around it.
“What are you doing?” Eana asked.
“Seeing if somebody left… yes!” Idris bent over the stump and retrieved a well-worn wood ax, “They probably share it in camp whenever somebody needs to chop firewood,” Idris said, “So, since we’re going to do some chopping of our own and Conrad invited us to the camp…”
He tossed the ax to Eana, who managed to catch it by the haft.
“We’re bringing it back, right?” she asked.
“Of course. But you need a weapon until we can get some of that ironwood to make you a staff.”
She gripped it and gave it a few awkward practice swings. It would do.
They left camp and headed toward the bridge before any of the adventurers noticed the ax wasn’t theirs.
Crossing it wouldn’t technically be the furthest Idris had ever gone into the Chaos Lands - the mines weren’t protected by the Irondale node after all and he went there just about every day. But there was something that felt especially ‘adventurous’ about crossing the bridge.
Leaving the node was something kids sometimes dared each other to do, but it was crossing the bridge itself, in a town that was used to viewing its bordering river as an implacable barrier, that held special significance. Idris realized that, with all of his attention focused on the other end of town - where the mine and the Hive were located - he just never really came out here.
“You ever been across before?” he asked Eana.
She shook her head no and made a mocking show of overexuberance.
“Fun times,” Idris said, rubbing his hands together. He wanted it to look like a joke, but inside he was genuinely excited in a way he hadn’t been in years.
Before long the bridge appeared in front of them, not grand by any means but sturdy and kept in good repair. Several stone struts held up the wooden arch of the bridge which was built more for foot traffic than anything else. It was wide enough to allow a wagon or maybe a few men walking side by side, though, and with the sun still well below its noon peak there were no other passersby to contend with as they both crossed.
Walking slightly in front and leaning deep into his role as older brother and guide, Idris turned and gave Eana what he thought would be a knowing look and said, “Take a look back. This is the last time you’ll get to leave Irondale… for the first time.”
Eana smiled and turned, giving a small wave to the town they both expected to return to inside a couple of hours.
With a burst of excitement and speed Idris ran the remaining distance of the bridge, Eana not far behind.
As they reached the halfway point Idris experienced the palpable sense of passage from a node of Order into the Chaos Lands. The sudden sensation of uncertainty with a tiny dab of disorientation quickly passed but was noticeable nonetheless.
Eana walked up beside him and asked, “So, how are we going to find the ironwood grove, anyway?”
“Actually, believe it or not,” Idris said, “I’m pretty sure I’ve seen it. Look,” He turned and pointed back the way they came, up into the mountains. “You can actually see the mine entrance if you know where to look.”
“Right. I’ve looked up at the mountains before, Idris.” Eana said.
“Course you have, but have you looked down from the mountains?” Idris asked. His sister made as if to reply but instead shook her head. “Right, see? I’ve looked down over this forest almost every day for years now. There’s a grove of trees with red leaves someplace off in that direction,” he motioned with his hand to the northeast, putting the river to their left. “I don’t think it’s that far out, honestly, but we can’t miss it.”
“So you could be totally wrong?” Eana said flatly.
“Nah,” Idris replied, then cocked his head a moment and considered again. He held his hand out and waggled it, “Probably not, anyway.”
“Right,” Eana said, “And how do you know those red trees are ironwoods? I never even heard of ironwood trees before Conrad mentioned them.”
Idris stared down at his little sister, “Ok, fine, I don’t know. We don’t have perfect information. Do you want to do some adventuring or what?”
Idris watched his sister go through a range of emotions. He remembered how he had hesitated when it came to killing the drone, how easily Tomme had handled him at the inn, and despite his own determination to grow stronger and not fail again, he wavered when he saw his own doubts reflected back at him in the indecision of his sister.
But they had come this far.
Eana looked up at him, “Do you really think it will make a difference? Is it even possible? For me.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m a Healer. I got the Warrior class but looking at you and then looking at me? It just seems so stupid now. I’ll never be as strong as you. Was it stupid? Did I waste all my XP investing in skills I’ll never be able to use just because… I don’t even know why anymore exactly, but to feel like maybe I could be the strong one?”
Idris considered her a moment before responding, “Hate to say it, Yahn, but you’ve been a warrior longer than I have.”
She laughed, “For like a full minute.”
“A minute is a long time in a fight! I think. But anyway, who knows if this was a stupid idea? Maybe it really is going to be just like dad says and we threw it all away. And now we’re just a couple of stunted normies who won’t ever amount to anything on Order’s path.”
He kicked a rock and they both stood silent before he continued, “But how is that any different than where we were before?”
“Well before we had a ton of XP we could put into anything we wanted…” Eana said.
“Oh yeah? What would you have put it in? Learn any new branches on the Healer path that Gendra didn’t know about? Meet any new Healers who can help you progress?”
“No but..”
“No. And dad’s idea about me going off and making something of myself is just a dream. He has no idea what we’ll find in Confluence or what kind of money or XP I’ll need. He just has a fantasy.”
“Dad really wants you to do something great though. He just loves you.”
“I know that. But he’s wrong about how I’m going to do it. And now we have skills to show him. Nobody from this town has the skills we do. Nobody but the adventurers and they won’t be here forever and… we shouldn’t either.”