During apprenticeship, Master Lenyet Birch began to teach me the Basic Polearm skill. I was finally learning to use a bo! There were two bos on hand, and Onre and I got to spar with them. After about 30 minutes of sparring and Lenyet’s pointers,
Learned Skill: Basic Polearm, F
I let everyone know. Onre had learned the skill during my sixdays, but he was still at F rank with me. Soon Master switched me to Basic Martial Arts. Our young friend Norrus Loruste picked up my bo and began imitating what Onre and I had been doing. Onre assisted him. When Onre went to practice his singing with Master Brune Thorm, Evening Sun came over and picked up Onre’s bo, continuing Norrus’ practice. Sun usually held it with two hands just like we bipeds; he just had three combinations of two hands. It is a fun weapon, almost more defensive than offensive. I was not surprised that multiple people were interested in learning it.
After our apprenticeship, Norrus and our gang walked to the bathhouse. On the way there, Odd wondered if I had any plans for all my money. I asked him what he was talking about. "Your portion of the reward for killing the zebors. You, Onre, Elder Stone, Lenyet, and I split the reward from six zebors, and the seventh was split evenly, between Unbroken and I. The Elder wanted to give me his portion 'for a new start', but Captain Pokka convinced him that our tribe might one day have dealings with fleshlings. It might prove useful to have some ready coin."
"Wolf," Onre added, "we're set. After taxes you and I received 24g 8s and Odd's portion was almost 11 gold higher. Rhonda is holding our money. Sterbian Morse bought the meat, but because zebor is so lean and tough, it is not a good seller.”
Kossa informed us, “Stewed for a long time, it is not bad.”
“If you hungry, you eat it,” commented Ferret.
As we bathed Arrjee said that a bank would be opening in the village in about two months. With the school and increased status and population of the village, it would likely be a profitable venture. And Grandma won’t need to be the family banker. Dad won’t be surprised if Cottages is upgraded to a town within three years.
We went to Kossa’s house for dinner. It was the Smithson’s turn, and she invited Norrus to come with us. He was friends with her 11-year old sister Kenna and her 9-year old brother Mols. My 12-year old sister Carrie was already there; she must have been invited separately. It would have been way over-crowded in the house with a full gang of teens and another of pups – I’m calling the Human kids pups, screw it! – so we ate outside on the ground, picnic style. We even ate what Jacques would have thought of as picnic food, essentially barbecued chicken, potato salad and a variety of semi-sweet, vinegary pickled vegetables. Just like is common in the USA, Kossa’s father Mista had grilled the chicken and her mother Kella had prepared the veggies and salad. That could be because of her background as a botanist and florist, though.
Everyone loved it, but as usual, Odd only had single bites of everything, just sampling it. His life as an Earth Elemental had nothing to compare it with, but he shared with us tales of similar foods on Erus’ world. That led me to discuss picnics and barbecues on Earth. Even Ferret could make a comparison, to the foods his nomadic tribe would eat. His recollection had a somber element, because oftentimes his tribe had gone hungry.
Probably wishing to change the downbeat tone we had achieved, Mista asked his kids if they remembered the fish fries their family used to have twice a week in the Fourth Duchy. “I loved those!” Kossa exclaimed. SecondDays and Seventhdays were my favorite days of the week. “You and Dad Dad would usually bring home all kinds of seafood, but my favorite was the fried fish.” For those who didn’t know, Kella explained that they had lived near the ocean coast, and seafood was plentiful.
“Shrimps! I loved shrimps,” Mols blurted out. “Can we have some shrimp soon?” His Mom explained that seafood was not so common in the Fifth Duchy, but if some became available they would be sure to buy some. Onre shared that they could catch fresh-water fish in River River, but he didn’t know anything locally which would taste like shrimp. He told Mols he loved it too, but had only had it a couple times at his old school in the First Duchy.
“Shrimp I like.” || I also like shrimp very much.
“It Trichyans eat.” || Trichyans ate it a lot.
I filled in the details by asking Sun a related question, “Did Trichyans eat a lot of seafood in general, or was it mostly just shrimp?”
curiosity
Shrimp, fish, crab, other we eat. || We ate all kinds including shrimp, fish, and crab.
“Mmm, crab,” Kenna said wistfully. “Mols can have the shrimp and I’ll have the crab.”
When we were finished eating, our gangs split up. Arrjee, Carrie, and I went home to spend time with Mom and Dad. Grandma was home, along with her apprentice Coval Hirsut and his foster mother he had mentioned last Tuesday, Mowd Dressen. I was surprised to meet her, but Corval was clearly pleased she had come to town. They had all had dinner together. After speaking for a few minutes, I learned more about her, including that she would be living with Rhonda and that she had formally adopted Corval.
For someone who got here just yesterday, she doesn’t waste time.
My curiosity about something needed abatement, and I didn’t want to sound too ignorant spouting Earth superstitions.
“Alchemist and Witch, hun? Interesting. Interface, can guys be witches?”
A few, yes. It is a female-gendered class. Biological males who identify as female can choose the Witch class. Females who identify as male cannot.
“So there are no lesbian witches?”
Their sexual preference is not the determinate; it is their gender identification which decides. It is quite possible that both parties in a lesbian couple could be witches.
“Is there an exclusively male-identification class, Warlock maybe?”
Yes, as you speculated, it is Warlock.
“What is the difference between a Witch and a Warlock?”
There is a lot of overlap, but the key difference is that the Witch class is based on mana, whereas the Warlock class is based on ki. Both have uses for eye of newt.
“Seriously?”
Yes.
“What about the people who identify as neither male nor female? Or both? And what about Trichyans who are biologically both to begin with?”
Gender identification is key to both witches and warlocks. I would have to research for more information. Would you like me to do so?
“Sometime if you are already on the forums and bored, sure. There is no hurry; it is just idle curiosity.
I realized everyone in the room was staring at me, apparently waiting for my response to something. “Uh, sorry. I was getting information from my interface about witches and warlocks. Mowd, if you don’t know, I am an unborn awakened, and my interface is very interactive. I even use Interface, capitalized, as his name. Now what was the question?”
Grandma repeated, “We were wondering if you had plans for the evening. The whole group of us would like to go for a stroll along Passing Stream to River River.”
“Oh, okay, that sounds good,” I replied. “Sometime this evening I would like to spend some time training with the Formless Abider, but that can wait for me to spend time with family and friends.”
----------------------------------------
Mowd added, “If you want to ask me about the Witch class while we walk, I know a thing or two. My knowledge of warlocks is more limited, but I will be happy to share what I know about both.”
Mom got her shield and let us know that the zebors were probably gone from the area. Still, they were here very recently; it would not hurt to be ready for a fight. Arrjee got his sword, and Corval had a large hunting knife, as did I. If there were a fight, I would probably do better with hands and claws, though. All the alchemists already carried a variety of potions, powders, and vials full of gaseous and liquid compounds. ‘Don’t leave home without them’, I guess. We were loaded for bear, and most other critters and monsters we might encounter. Dad told us we were probably over-prepared.
Dad, have you never seen a horror movie?! You just jinxed us.
No, I do not believe he has. And you may have seen too many.
Evening shadows were rising as we left the house. Grandma cast a torch which would follow her, and I turned on my Dark Sight. By the time we reached Passing Stream, I had a good feel for what the Witch class was. It is sort of a mix between alchemist and mage. The majority of the curses and blessings involved ingredients, including both the esoteric and the mundane. Some, however, like one she called Glamour, could be cast directly, no witch’s brew necessary. Combined with her alchemy, she was a walking chemistry powerhouse.
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Don’t mess with witches, check.
Warlocks tended to empower themselves. They would sometimes even temporarily curse themselves in battle to acquire an ability such as super-strength, even if it was accompanied by extreme disfigurement. Not everyone wants to look like a particularly ugly troll. They could permanently charm trinkets, though, providing a good cash flow. Mom said that Trees, where Asha and his family currently lived, had a couple of warlocks. It wasn’t part of her route, so she didn’t know much about them.
The evening was very pleasant, with almost perfect temperature and humidity. There was a light breeze that felt really nice rolling past my face. As the evening got darker, the sounds of the forest began to shift. The sound of the flowing stream was almost crisp-sounding, and the subtle noises made by various creatures and insects were different. Night shift was taking over, and I think the 20 in my perception made me more aware than Jacques had ever been.
Geez, what will it be like at 80?
You will adapt. Plus the effect of attribute growth is felt logarithmically, not linearly. So 80 should only feel about one and a half times what 20 does.
“I’d been sort of wondering about that. It is a good design. Attribute growth will not overwhelm me, yet my stats for health, stamina, and ki will grow and affect me linearly.”
Yes.
An odd, empty silence began to take hold as we approached River River. I could hear the river flowing ahead, and Passing Stream to our side. The breeze rustled the leaves.and bushes. There was the fading sound of creatures behind, but none seemed to be ahead. “Do you guys hear that? It is too quiet ahead.”
Unexpectedly Dad sent a party invite. I joined, as did everyone else. We stopped advancing.
BS: Yes, it is too quiet, Forrest. We need to be quiet as well. Something is ahead which caused the animals and insects to either leave the area or huddle in fright.
RS1: This is Rhetta. Ready yourselves for a possible fight. Do we investigate or retreat? My main concern is for Carrie and Arrjee who have yet to level and have low hit points. We don’t know what is ahead.
AS: I’m okay. I can fight better than Forrest.
RS2: That may be true, grandson. But he has over three times your hit points. A blow which would seriously injure him would kill you or Carrie.
BS: I’m activating my Nondescript Guard. The 11 soldiers will be on our side.
Mannequins. Eleven leather clad mannequins appeared. They were sort of clones of Dad, except maybe eight inches shorter. Their faces had very little detail, but they seemed to move well as they shifted into positions. Five were armed with bows, two with spears, and four with swords and wooden shields.
Potentate is awesome!
Yes.
CH: Minor gods, Mayor! I didn’t know you could do that.
BS: It is not a skill I need often. This may be only the fifth time I have used it while not training. There is one guard for each three of my levels, and their level is five less than my own. I can equip them as ranged, extended, or melee fighters. Carrie and Arrjee, you each have a melee fighter instructed to guard you. I won’t instruct others until we know what we are facing.
FR: Carrie, are you comfortable with a knife? I don’t think you’ll need to fight, but I know if I were you I would like to have something to defend myself with.
CS: Yes, I have practiced some with a knife. I wouldn’t say I’m trained with it, though.
I handed her the handle of my hunting knife, just like they taught Jacques to do in Boy Scouts.
BS: We should be able to handle just about anything that might be in the area. We don’t want whatever is out there to potentially hurt someone else. Let us stay together on the path and move slowly forward. The soldiers will act as our outer perimeter.
One spearman took the lead, while the other took the rear. The melee and ranged soldiers alternated in sort of a circle around us. We began to move slowly as the Mayor had directed. Just as we got near the point where Passing Stream emptied into River River, we heard a more-or-less human roar. Then another.
MD: Trolls. Young adults from the sound of them. Unless we hear a third roar there are two. I will curse them both with Infirm. Otherwise their health regeneration would prove to be extremely annoying.
RS2: Corval, I am going to give you two vials. Would you use your stealth to splatter our friends with their contents? You likely have some concoctions of your own to deliver as well.
RS1: Forrest, am I correct in assuming you would like to fight? If they are higher than level 25, please stay out of it. I will tank with the active assistance of Barrie’s soldiers. Arrjee, if they are less than 20, you may contribute to the battle with quick strikes, backing away each time. In either case, if we are not maintaining control of the fight, both of you back off.
Two very tall humanoid creatures come out of the treeline. They have sufficient intelligence to be wearing loincloths, but all I can tell is that they look angry, primitive, and filthy. They each carried a large, wooden club.
RS2: The tall one is level 24, the other is 19. We have had trolls in the area before, but it has probably been a decade since the last time. By the way, they are pure warriors, so their stamina and health regeneration will be considerable, even if they weren’t trolls.
MD: Infirm will reduce both. I’ll cast it on the big one first as soon as he is a little closer.
After a few seconds, Mowd began to chant. It was the first time I had witnessed someone use a chant to cast a spell. I didn’t know what ‘Infirm’ would feel like, but I thought those two trolls were going to have a bad night.
Mom looked at me, “Let’s go. They know we’re here so we won’t need to depend on the party interface so much.” She, Corval, and I began advancing, along with four of the melee soldiers. The bowmen had already started firing, aiming high, over our heads. Since those two monsters were probably ten and eleven feet high, I wasn’t worried about getting shot from behind. Two mid-intensity torches were hovering above and near both. I remembered that trolls don’t like sunlight, so bright torches might scare them off.
MD: Both are cursed now. Their health regeneration should be reduced by two thirds, and their stamina regeneration by half.
On reading that, Corval became very hard to see and ran ahead. After a moment, he reported.
CH: Rhonda, your packages were delivered. What was that stuff? It smelt very sweetly pungent.
RS2: It is my worst-selling perfume, Eau de Garden #3. Being used to filthy body odor 20/10 they will find it most unpleasant, distracting, and actively annoying.
MD: Very nice, Rhonda! I had not thought perfume would be useful in battle.
RS2: As soon as you said ‘trolls’, their scent was sealed.
Arrjee had come up to us. “Mom, if you and the soldiers keep the Level 19 one distracted, Forrest and I should be able to attack it fairly freely. Trolls are not known for speed or intelligence.” She told us to be careful, and made sure it had a fresh taunt.
Arrjee, Coval, and I all went in, our eyes always watching its club. One of the soldiers was actively fighting it as well, and even with Mom’s taunt, the soldier had most of its attention. It must have some sort of active taunt also. We established a rotation of attacks. After it swung its club, two of us would use its overswing and pre-swing time to get in attacks, then back off. This allowed me to have Dodge active for the large majority of time I was near it. I was using the Willow stance, which Master Birch had taught me to be a good choice against slow, lumbering opponents.
Level 19 Troll – youthful, sexless, angry
Slightly toxic body odor can cause headaches and nausea
I had also brought up its stats. It was at about 80% health and 90% stamina. The archers had probably done most of that damage. I wondered where they were getting their arrows. They must be created by magic, just like the soldiers themselves. With eleven soldiers, five of them making several arrows per minute, this must be a significant mana load for Dad. I’m not going to tell Grandma this, but her perfume and that body odor smelled sickening together. It wouldn’t surprise me if the trolls' toxicity were slightly higher.
The damn thing is four feet taller than me, and my eyeline is at its lower chest. Each of the three of us are taking turns at its stomach, sides, or back, while the melee soldier is focused almost exclusively on the stomach. His shield is rugged, and can stand against a full swing of the club. Wood on wood is working well; if the troll had a metal club, the soldier’s shield would quickly become toast. Mom was mainly focused on the bigger troll, but she would blast our troll occasionally with her energy stun attack. When one hit, the troll would pause for a second, then recommence attacking.
That is when I realized, these guys weren’t defending. They were all attack. I am guessing that they usually depend on their health regeneration to handle damage, but there are just too many of us, plus Mowd had crippled that regen. That said, our foe still had over half its health. I kept punching and clawing at it; all four of us did, plus I think one of the archers was on this guy too. A troll’s ‘crippled’ regen is still very impressive.
We got it below 40% health. Lots of its blood had made the ground slippery. Arrjee slipped as he was avoiding an unanticipated club swing, and the sickening crack I heard meant that his arm had been shattered. Corval and I pulled him 10 yards away from the fight. I still had almost a third of my ki, and immediately got ready to heal him. Corval gave him a potion of light healing, which restored some of the rigidity to his arm. The club had caught him above the elbow, and half his arm had been turned to a bag of broken, mashed bones.
Arrjee was still conscious, but I’m not really sure how. “I’ve got you brother. If the squirrels can’t have that arm, neither can a fucking troll.” He managed the slightest of smiles through his pain and tears. I started Heal Other above his elbow. By then Grandma and Mowd had reached us, each offering a potion of full healing.
“Thank you,” he whispered. “Let Forrest finish. He needs the prac-”
At that, he fainted. His HP stat hadn’t moved, it must have just been the pain and shock. Corval was relieved. “The anesthetic effect of the potion he drank just fully kicked in. He will be out for another twenty minutes or so.” I completed my ‘practice’, as Arrjee had requested. Then I had a fucker to kill. A dirty, smelly, sexless fucker. Dad called us over to his command area with the archers and Carrie. So I helped carry Arrjee there first.
NOW the fucker.
Yes.
The troll’s health was down to about 20%, as was its stamina. Corval and I rejoined our steadfast melee fighter friend so as to finish it off. After another ten minutes, we did; the troll’s body puffed away, replaced by a small wooden chest.
Oh yeah; monster’s leave rewards. Arrjee can have my part.
Our melee fighter had moved over tirelessly to the Level 24 troll. And the archer that was on our troll also shifted his attacks. Both spearmen and the soldier which had been guarding Carrie and the command area joined in as well. Holy crap, so has Dad! He has gone berserker, clawing at the 24 with abandon. He had no weapons, and wasn’t using martial arts. Just his claws and animal rage.
I wish I had a picture.
Click.
“Did you just take a picture?”
Yes. I have taken a number of pictures, but that is the first one you have specifically asked for.
“... We’ll talk later.”
With Dad and all the soldiers on 24, it went down fairly quickly. Mom didn’t go berserker, but stood her ground as lead tank the whole time. This troll’s body was replaced by a larger wooden chest.