“My Scarf?" Chess asked, her hand absently moving to feel the smooth silk around her neck.
“Aaron, would you please give the young Lady and I a moment?” Sholer turned to ask the knight politely.
Chess felt a shiver of anxiety at the prospect of being left alone with intimating Abbess.
"I'll be with my injured men." Caldur nodded and gave Chess a reassuring smile before skirting past pulling a cloak from a peg high on a tent pole and throwing it over his shoulders, on his way out.
“Ladies,” he said with a curt nod before disappearing behind the tent flap.
“If you would please indulge me, dear?” Sholer asked Chess once his steps had merged into the pounding rain overhead.
Chess gathered her thoughts for a moment before speaking. “Alright, about ten days ago, I had a brief encounter with a woman and two young men. They mistook me for a dryad and attacked,” Chess started.
Sholer stiffened and let out a choked sputter, cutting Chess off. “You...how are you still alive?” she said in shocked disbelief before shaking her head and schooling her features. “No, please continue. Tell me what happened,” she commanded.
Chess studied her with a frown. Huh, this is valuable to her. She wouldn’t’ve sent Caldur away otherwise. Maybe I can engender some goodwill. The lady was an ass, attacking me and not even talking to me like that. I can see no point in defending her.
Though she was clearly defending the boys with her. Ah, hell...
Chess sighed and resisted the urge to tug on her braid.
“The woman rushed me with a dagger out but only managed to knock me over. She kept right on going, running like a madwoman. When I finally got free of the bush, she’d pushed me into, they were long gone. In their rush, they’d left a few items scattered in their small camp. This scarf was one of them,” Chess explained, touching it.
Sholer nodded and let out a sigh. “Can you describe them?”
Chess shrugged and described the woman as best she could from her brief but vivid memory. Short and sturdy. Sholer nodded, pleased.
“I never got a look at the boys, sorry. Though I heard one call the other Thaylor,” Chess added.
“Ten days you said, are you sure?” Sholer asked.
“Not entirely. It’s been a trying time since I entered these woods, and I’ve lost track a bit,” Chess said.
“When was your last experience update?” Sholer prompted.
“Six days ago?” Chess shrugged.
“How long before that did you have the encounter?”
“Four or five days."
“Thank you, Miss Stewart, and please do consider my offer. It would be a pleasure to instruct such an intelligent pupil,” Sholer said in dismissal.
“So, it was about the woman, not the scarf? Do you need it?” Chess asked while fingering the cloth again.
“Yes, and no, it's rightfully yours. I wouldn’t feel right taking it, despite to whom it belonged. It’s quite valuable; Gredian spider-silk has a superb enchantment holding ability. I would be interested in buying it, if you want to sell it,” Sholer said.
“It’s not apprenticeship expensive, I take it?” Chess tried for some levity. Should I even wear this bloody thing if it’s that valuable? I've been wearing it for days, why is she the first to mention its value? Oh right, men, we don’t notice shit like this. Err they; whatever.
“Heavens no,” Sholer said absently, lost to her thoughts.
Chess shuffled from foot to foot a few times then shrugged and turned to leave after the woman ignored her.
Unfurling Sprig as she stepped outside, she gave the guards an insipid smile and strode off towards the hospital tent.
When she was a few yards away from Caldur’s tent she heard Sholer talking quietly to one of the guards.
“Brokenhammer was spotted ten days ago in these woods with the boys, send one of the men back. The Cardinal needs to be informed immediately,” Sholer’s faint voice said.
Fuck me! Was that a mistake? Why does it feel like a mistake? Something about the encounter just felt wrong, and she couldn't place her finger on what. Maybe it's just my distaste for this kind of thing. Chess sighed, resigned, and had to restrain herself from looking back at the woman and her guards. I’m a fool. Freya, but I could use a few wobbly-pops right now. Someone has to have something in this camp, right? I’ll ask Kan, maybe he has something.
After a brief search and an inquiry, she found Kan standing outside the hospital tent chatting with one of the men posted there.
She gave him a strained smile when he looked up at her approach.
“Lady Stewart,” he said formally, with a significant bow and nod towards the tent. “How can I help you?”
“Can I have a moment of your time, in private?” Chess asked, giving him a small nod.
“Of course. Adit, you hold it down here. If the sisters need anything...” he left the statement open and turned to follow Chess as she pivoted and headed back towards her tent.
“Aye, Sergeant,” Adit said.
Kan fell into step with Chess, and she turned to whisper to him, “Any idea where a guy can get a drink round here?”
“Guy eh?” he teased.
“Figure of speech,” she waved him off. “But seriously, I could really use a drink after that.” She gestured vaguely towards Caldur's tent.
“What happened?” he asked.
Chess sighed then recounted her conversation with Sholer.
“Brokenhammer huh, can’t say I've heard anything,” Kan said thoughtfully. “It’s bad business, getting mixed up with Cardinals, especially Portheel’s Grenhew. I suggest you forget about it and hope that’s the end of it,” he said, and they remained silent for the rest of the short walk.
Freya's fantastic fanny, I hope it's that easy, Chess thought.
She stopped at the entrance to her tent and paused on the woven floor created by her former cloak. Careful to remain under the umbrella, she stuck first one foot then the other into the rain to clean her boots before entering. Kan copied her and followed her inside, shaking the rain from his cloak as he doffed it and threw it over a stool.
Chess went back to the flap, and singing ‘I wanna know, have you ever seen the rain, Comin' down on a sunny day?’, rooted Sprig outside. She felt a pang at the old favorite and promised herself she’d play it in full when she had some time alone.
She pulled up Sprigs stats to look one more time before ducking back into the tent. Nothing had changed. It took quite the hit to durability when I transformed it; I hope planting lets it recover.
Kan produced a large beaten bronze flask from a pocket in his cloak and deftly pulled a cork from the top before taking a swig and passing it to Chess. This thing looks almost exactly like Gramp's, minus the cork, Chess mused taking it. She sang a few more lines of CCR and grew herself the hammock she’d promised herself before laying back into it.
Kan took the stool nearby and leaned back against a tent pole. Gotta remember to try, ‘heard it through the grapevine’, on some vines later; I think I remember most of it, she thought, her mouth moving through some of the lyrics.
Chess took a large swallow from the flask. She puckered her lips in appreciation at the smooth flavor reminiscent of raspberry brandy, and when the liquor warmed her belly, she sighed in pleasure.
“Fuck that’s some good shit,” Chess said passing the flask back to Kan, who took it, staring at her in baffled amazement.
“What?” Chess asked him with a grin.
“Nothing, it’s nothing,” he said, shaking his head.
“I can’t accept her offer, can I? Even if I wanted to,” Chess reasoned after a pleasant moment of silence.
“No,” Kan said, taking another sip and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “You would be a good fit for her; Caldur is right in that. Beauty, intelligence, and a strong manipulation class—that's a rare combination. Hells, it's not even often you end up with girls like Lynn: pretty with a good class and willing to fight. Usually, you find girls that are focused on family or other pursuits and with little or no interest in fighting if they aren’t outright fools. The fact you kept it together like you did when you were grabbed and even came out on top is the other reason this offer is even on the table. It’s a good offer, but no, it would be too risky for you to accept it,” he said, offering her the flask again.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
“It’s hard for me to associate what you’re saying with the woman I met. She was a little hard, in a stern grandmotherly way, but otherwise polite and friendly... reasonable,” Chess observed taking another drink.
“The Steel Lady has no reason to not be polite. Anyone who crosses her is rarely seen again, besides her spies no doubt informed her. Her nephew is fast friends with your ward," he said with a bit of force.
“The Steel Lady?” Chess raised an eyebrow.
“She got her reputation some 50 years ago, in an old war. Couldn’t tell you with whom exactly; it was before my time and kingdoms away. I wasn’t even a twinkle in my father’s eye yet. But they say she has a high-rank Steel Core. I heard she killed a lot of enemy mages and high-level soldiers in open battle when she was with the army,” he explained.
“Everyone has to sleep,” Chess joked leaning back to stare at the roof of the tent, taking another sip. She flopped her arm to full extension to give the flask back to Kan.
“Good luck with that,” he snorted taking a drink.
“So, I have to figure out a way to say no that doesn’t raise suspicions," Chess concluded with a sigh.
“Essentially.” Kan nodded.
They grew quiet, passing the flask back and forth.
“What did Caldur tell her about me?” Chess asked eventually, surprised by her reasonable tone. The pleasant warmth in her gut was calming.
“Not much, when I arrived he was detailing the battle. He described your part with as much detail as the rest of the men, explaining you have a music-based class with control over plants, and how you were pivotal in the end. Otherwise, he described your character and tried to convince her you needed a proper mentor. He didn’t give her any of your details and she didn’t ask if that’s what you’re worried about. People generally don’t discuss their details outside of family—unless they are applying for a service or apprenticeship,” he reassured her.
Chess let out a deep sigh into the subsequent silence.
“Hey, sorry about the whole flat-world thing. I didn’t mean to make you look stupid,” Chess said.
“Already forgiven. I can’t know what I don’t know unless I’m told,” he explained.
“There is some real wisdom in there I think.” Chess laughed.
“I should get back before someone finds me in here,” Kan said, getting to his feet after the comfortable silence had extended for a few minutes.
“Think she would take Ashley instead? She doesn’t have to worry about... you know... uncertainty. If her following Serus around is any sign,” Chess asked hopefully, offering him the flask.
“'Fraid not. She wouldn’t take an unawakened girl on. You can hang onto that, return it in the morning,” he said making for the door.
“Lady,” he said with a nod before disappearing into the pounding rain.
Chess lay back and stared at the canvas overhead gathering her thoughts before she pulled up the window that had started blinking in her vision halfway through their conversation.
A week in review.
Experience:
For playing music to comfort another.
Experience earned: 75
For performing to the satisfaction of 16 others.
Experience earned: 400
For your group killing 17 bandits' levels 2-5.
Experience earned: 2150
For surviving a severe case of mana saturation
Experience earned: 750
For your group killing 2 bandits' levels 6-10.
Experience earned: 1600
For creating 24 items common quality
Experience earned: 360
Skill gains: Survival +1, Sculpting +4, Instrument: Guitar +1, Perform +1
Well, a lot of shit happened this week I guess, she thought before bringing up her character sheet for a look. I need to get my shit together and learn more about all this.
Status
Name: Chess Stewart
Age: 18
Race: Half Wood-Elf/Half-Human
Sex: Female
Level: 1
Unspent stats: 0
Exp: 6,705/10,000
Class: Minstrel
Subclass:
Profession 1 Carpenter: High Apprentice
Profession 2 Bard: Mid Apprentice
Pyth and Gems: 0/4 Slots filled. 3/4 heritage slots filled.
Freya’s Blessing. +4 Char, +2 Agi, +2 Dex. Increased Fertility and +3 Animal handling: Cats
Stats
Strength
14 (2)
Dexterity
18 (4)
Agility
17 (3)
Constitution
13 (1)
Willpower
14 (2)
Mind
15 (2)
Charisma
22 (6)
Perception
14 (2)
Faith
14 (2)
Luck
13 (1)
Skills
Framing Const.
30
Singing
26
Woodworking
18
Instrument: Piano
28
Instrument: Guitar
21
Aqueduct Const.
16
Knitting/Weaving
20
Dodge
4
First-aid
12
Perform
17
Language: English
31
Language: Brastian
24
Metallurgy
10
Swimming
10
Instrument: Bass
10
Dance
10
Archery
10
Writing: English
18
Hunting/Gathering
8
Survival
7
Steam Forging
6
Lumberjack
14
Animal handling: Cats
3
Running
6
Whistling
6
Instrument: Harmonica
2
Climbing
2
Math
24
Plastering
16
Healing
2
Language: Wood Elf
8
Drafting
12
Tinkering
12
Chemistry
6
Mana vision
2
Massage
10
Instrument: Percussion
4
Skinning
6
Daggers
2
Herbology
4
Foundation Const.
24
Sculpting
4
Writing: Brastian
14
Pyth, Cores, and Gems
Inventory Pyth: allows the storage of up to Rank x Mind(mod) cubic feet. Takes 1 minute-Mind to retrieve items, and 1 minute-Mind-attribute seconds to store one.
Uncommon
Rank 1
Summon Musical Instrument Pyth: Allows the summoning of a magical replica of a musical instrument the user is intimately familiar with. 1 x Charisma (Mod)/Day, lasts 1 hour + 10*char(mod)minutes
Uncommon
Rank 2
Wooden Gem: Allows free manipulation and adjustment of deadwood at a rate of Rank cubic feet a Minute x Charisma(mod). For (2 x Rank) x Charisma(mod) minutes every 4hrs.
Passive: receive Rank x Charisma (mod) percent of daily required sustenance from the sun. Max 50% [Current 24%]
Passive 2: allows a detailed perception of the interior properties of the wood that you are working on with the Gem's magic. Including flaws, density, structure, moisture content. Accuracy improves with rank.
Rare
Rank 4
Abilities
Fascinate/Charm: As you play soothing melodies, you can keep one person/rank + Char(mod) people and/or creatures enraptured if they fail a will check against the caster. The weak of will may even fight for you.
Rank 2
Shaped Growth: Play and sing with intent and the world will bloom about you. Plants in a radius of (Char(mod)*Rank meters about you will grow to your intent, as you play music or sing. Growth speed is up to Rank*Char(mod) inches a second. Growth will die if the soil isn’t sufficient to support it.
Rank 2