— Keira —

Keir was soon standing just before the now unsealed door but the veil of shadow within was just as impenetrable as it had been from across the room. She wasn’t sure what she might find beyond, but she felt almost certain that if she was to ever take the next step on her chosen Path she would need to explore what lay beyond it. From what little she had been taught about such things, walking a Path often consisted of a mixture of actions taken in the world at large and actions within the soulscape.

She had no need to breathe but the habits of a lifetime were not so easily left behind, even in death, so she took a deep breath before stepping into the shadow like she was slipping beneath the water. The shadows didn’t impede her passage but they did cling to her like she was walking through layers of diaphanous curtains. After a few steps she began to wonder if the shadows filled everything beyond the door. Then they parted around her slipping away in moments leaving her standing in a large rectangular room.

Much like the room she had just left, what she could see of the room was carved from polished white marble. From where she stood she could only tell she was in a large room by examining the ceiling at least fifty feet above her. She could see where the side walls met the unadorned ceiling but the further wall was blocked by her surroundings.

She stood in an open square space between ten and fifteen feet to a side lined with ten foot tall bookshelves. Along most of the square were openings that led into maze-like rows of more marble bookshelves of equal height. Countless tomes bound in almost as many different materials lined the shelves. The only thing other than books and the shelves holding them was a thick plaque made from a copper like metal mounted directly opposite the door she’d entered through. Blue-green coral was inlaid in strange patterns that burned their meaning into her mind as she stared at them.

“The first Step has been taken. The first Choice has been made. Your Path lies before you cloaked in knowledge.”

As the burning faded from her mind she looked around more closely at the nearest books. Every spine was marked with the same sort of unnatural patterns but their meaning didn’t sear into her. Instead she found that she could innately understand a portion of the writing. Not enough to actually read the entire titles let alone what must be written within.

She wasn’t sure if she needed to try to learn the language. Was the language the cloak that hid the path or were the books themselves what she should disregard to find her way. Regardless, she felt that her best option was to explore further into the room.

She wasn’t sure how much time she had before she needed to go to the council meeting she had arranged. She was at least fairly sure she had a little time so she decided to explore a little, but only until she found something or about twenty minutes had passed. She also decided to make sure she stayed close to the entrance as she had a feeling she wouldn’t be able to return to her body while within the maze.

The clack of her boots on the polished stone floor were somewhat disconcerting. They were at once muffled by the tight book lined paths and echoed loudly off of the high ceiling. It gave the constant impression that there was at least one other person keeping pace with her just on the other side of the nearby shelves. With every turn she made, she half expected to come face to face with an enemy. She was dressed the same as her actual body but she wished she also had her sword, or even better a dagger given the tight confines.

She was just starting to think about turning back when she noticed a short rectangular chest sitting on one of the shelves about seven feet up. Only the fact the chest was much shorter than the books around it leaving a noticeable gap at the top drew her attention.

When she retrieved it she saw the chest was actually more of a thin rectangular scroll case carved from polished red coral. The hinges and latch were made from the same crystal as most things directly tied to the Village Interface System. Given her Path was intrinsically linked to her leading Still-Leaf village she was not entirely surprised to see elements of it even here.

She retraced her path to the room with the statue of Mortis before looking more closely at the box she’d retrieved.

The latch was simple and opened with only a quick flick of her thumb. The lid likewise presented no obstacle and she was soon retrieving a tightly wound scroll flecked with the familiar crystal from the silk lined interior. Before she could unroll it however it crumbled with the sound of System notification. The scroll crumbled away to nothing before any of it reached the ground.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

She approached the statue and offered a simple prayer of gratitude before she focused on returning her awareness to her body. Without a comparable feeling to guide her way like the waves had, it took her at least twice as long but eventually she was opening her eyes once more sitting in the tavern room she had borrowed.

The System notification was waiting for her so she immediately opened it.

Village Leader Quest available: Clear Deep Root Cavern (Expand for Details)

Keir didn’t hesitate. Any quest that was linked to both the System and her Path was almost certainly worth doing.

Clear Deep Root Cavern: Find the opening to Deep Root Cavern near Still-Leaf village and clear out the creatures infesting it. Reward: Unique Mine and Path progress

The moment Keir finished reading the quest she accepted it. The village would have needed a mine eventually anyway and Unique buildings were much more useful than normal ones. Progress on her Path on the other hand was invaluable, even if it would certainly only be a tiny bit of it for such a simple quest.

Looking out the window she frowned. She had too much time before the meeting to just go and wait and not enough time to actually do anything useful. If she started doing something she would just be getting into it properly when she needed to stop.

She had no desire to just sit around so she went downstairs and sought out Mesalin. She didn’t have the time to seek out one of the other few people she had met in the village so far and the only other person who she knew where to find was the orc, Skariish, in the street outside. She was no butcher and she felt like she had spent enough time coated in the serpent's blood for a lifetime so she quickly set that thought aside.

In the time since Keir had gone upstairs Mesalin had clearly managed to get the common room into decent shape. There was still plenty of dust and cobwebs in more out of the way areas, but the floor was swept and the furniture was clean. The occasional thump coming up from the staircase in the kitchen made it clear where Mesalin had gone after finishing in the common room. Keir deposited her key behind the bar and followed the noises.

Mesalin was crouched down near a number of large casks with dwarven runes burnt into the heavy wood. From the distance and direction from the stairs, Keir assumed that Mesalin was almost directly beneath the bar above. From the corroded copper pipes extending from the ceiling above towards an equally deteriorated mechanism it looked like Mesalin and Alasdair had installed a set of dwarven bar taps. Keir wasn’t sure what level of bar was required for the System to maintain that feature but clearly it either had not been high enough or it had deteriorated below that level. Either way years with no maintenance from either the System or people had been more than the delicate and complex mechanism could survive. Keir was by no means an expert but she suspected the entire system would need to be stripped out and replaced.

Keir was about to call out, when Mesalin cursed under her breath and stood. Keir tapped her boot lightly on the stone steps to announce her presence and said “That is very much outside of my wheelhouse. Is there anything else you need help with before the meeting starts?”

Mesalin didn’t jump or even seem terribly surprised when she said “You could get the other end of one of these untapped casks. I don’t know if anyone in the village can actually still get drunk but even still plenty of people will want a drink.”

Keir walked over and said “Sure, which one do you want to grab.”

“This one, and maybe that one as well, if you don’t mind.”

By the time they finished maneuvering the heavy oak barrels, being mindful of the strength of the floor, enough time had passed that it wasn’t too early to leave for the meeting.

Mesalin and Alasdair had apparently not decided who would hold their seat first so both would be going to the meeting.

Keir was fairly sure she remembered the directions from the night before but she was still glad to be walking over with Mesalin.

Keir gave Skariish a respectful nod as they walked off towards the village hall before turning towards the harpy woman and asked “This might be a bit odd, but do you mind if I ask you a question?” Mesalin nodded her assent so Keir continued “Do you know much about Lovisa?”

Mesalin grinned slightly and with a bit of teasing mirth in her voice said “You should at least spend some time getting to know her before coming to me for gossip.”

Mesalin was clearly sounding the water to see how Keir would react to a bit of teasing more than she was serious so Keir chuckled and said “Well I would definitely like to get to know her better, but in this case I was thinking more along the lines of do you think she would make a good candidate for the new guard captain.”

Mesalin grew a bit more serious but still had a slight grin when she said “I would joke about your motivation but I genuinely think she would be a good fit. She is skilled and personable enough to be good to work with.”

Keir was glad to hear that and the conversation soon turned back to lighter topics. They quickly fell into a pattern of teasing banter and Keir was fairly sure that it wouldn’t take long before they were friends.