Chess reached out to pet the velvety statue again before she summoned her vault and started rummaging around and removing items so she could give her totem ability a try.
After placing a handful of broken spider eggs, a roll of soft silk threads, a handful of seeds, and 5 doses of Swathing silk pyth in the altars bowl, she gently retrieved the small falcon figurine from the bag on her belt and placed it between the Heliwr’s paws.
She rubbed her hand together for a moment, thinking before moving her fingers in the wide circles the pyth required to draw the proper magic circle. Some sort of protection for Ashley, she decided to use as a focus for this charm.
The magic built for long minutes, drawn off the lake and the forest then tightened into a dense and intricate orb around the altar before settling into the items in the bowl. Another minute of intense gathering later, the items in the bowl flashed with amber light then disappeared with a puff of pearl-white mist that floated into Chess taking something before it floated back to the altar then sunk into the small peregrine falcon figurine, adding whites, greys, and golds to the detailed dark-purple sculpture.
Chess gasped from a sudden bone-aching weariness that suffused her and sunk to her knees at the base of the altar for a full minute to catch her breath.
Eventually, she turned to put her back to the tree's base and stared out over the lake. It had felt like someone had slammed a shoulder into her sternum but without the pain of the blow. All of something that felt a lot like her breath, but wasn’t, had been drawn from her body in one shot when the spell had finished. Was it my magic? Or something else? She wondered when she finally regained her bearings but not the ability to regain her feet.
Her stomach dropped at a half-remembered conversation about Ashley’s amulet, and she hurriedly opened her status to look for any deficiencies. Thank Freya for that much, she sighed when she found nothing changed after a careful inspection. Scared myself for a second there, she thought, putting two fingers to her neck to feel her racing pulse.
With another long breath, she turned back to the altar and looked at what she had created. The spell had added a handspan of white silken thread to the center of the diving bird's back, and Chess spun the line around a finger and raised it to eye level before slumping, putting her back against the altar again.
She turned it about on its thread for a moment before its window popped into her vision.
Motherhood Totem Charm
Type: Hair-Charm
Unique
This charm is restricted to use by worshipers of Freya or Divine interpretations of her associated Animals.
Requires an eight-inch braid of hair.
Decreases the chance of the wearer, or an animal the wearer solely raised, having stillborn offspring or otherwise losing an unborn fetus from natural effects aside from violence by (Faith(mod) x Con(mod) x Harvest Pyth or Fertility Core Rank)% while worn. [Current 4%] If over 100% increases the chance of multiple offspring by the percentage minus 100.
When worn by Creator: in a radius of faith(mod) x totem rank miles detect a pregnant mother in need once every score of days.
Can’t be worn with other pregnancy charms.
If removed from stasis or/and from the possession of a follower of Freya for more than two days this Charm will lose all effect.
Effects of this charm are hidden from unbelievers.
"Well, that's random," Chess observed turning the pretty falcon with her fingertips. A score is twenty days, I think.
It’s a lot more solid than it was, she observed then tentatively scratch at it with a fingernail.
Then, because Lynn suggested she be meticulous about keeping notes of her successes and failures, she brought out a hunk of firewood she’d taken that morning and used her magic to make an eight-inch slab then wrote the formula into its surface using the wood grain. A technique she decided to use until she could acquire proper paper. Though this might be better if I can find strong enough wood with dark and light-colored age rings. Or I could punch the words through the page. No, she shook off the tangent and continued her notes.
When she’d finished recording her formula, she tied the small charm into her hair, proud that she had at least succeeded in making something that worked.
Riding the high of success, she dug more wood and items from her vault and tried again, this time with a cat figurine. Only to fail and have a good half hour of exhaustion and ash to show for her efforts.
Then she failed again with the next, burning an unknown amount of wealth of spider parts and pyth to ash upon the altar.
“Beginner's luck,” Chess cursed, looking down at the successful falcon hanging near her jaw as the fourth charm blackened along with the offered sacrifices in the bowl. Experience told her to wait and a few minutes later all that remained of her attempt vanished from the altar.
Her eyes were starting to ache from the casting after the morning spent working wood and she decided to take a break from trying to make charms after recording the latest failure. I’m missing something, she decided and pulled out more wood to sculpt into various cats and birds of prey.
Chess leaned back against a support pole to think again. The first piece of wood Wanted to be a falcon. Is it that simple? Do I need to wait for that feeling each time?
She picked up another block and stared at it for a long minute. What do you want to be? she wondered but gave up after a bit. This isn’t working, I’ll have to ask Lynn.
Chess rubbed at her face. At least I’ve decided to keep the pyth, making items is fun, and making enchanted ones is even better. Even if failing sucks. She allowed herself a wide smile and fingered her one successful charm again before she plopped herself down with her legs hanging from the edge of the bluff and looked out over the sun-dappled lake. Freya but this place is beautiful.
The small sun had reached its zenith and banished the misty clouds that clung to the large mountain island that floated high over the lake spreading its glistening water on the world below.
She pulled a much-neglected Sprig from her vault and planted it beside her before reacquainting herself with its properties.
Sprig
Bonded: Chess Stewart
Type: Short Recurve Bow, Piercing.
Rank: 3
Rarity: Custom/unique
Properties: Living Dryad Ironwood
Durability: 9784/10000
Draw weight: 50lb
Enchantments: Musical Ease: Sprig is enchanted to work with Bonded’s music.
A gift, freely given, to a traveler for her gift of beautiful music, magic, and patience.
“I should do something with you. For some reason you being a weapon just doesn’t suit you. You were better as an umbrella but even that isn’t quite right,” Chess muttered.
“Enchanted to work with Bonded’s music,” she read aloud.
“I’m an idiot,” Chess declared and slapped her forehead, dispelling the window with the move.
She studied the elegant bow and smiled. “You’re supposed to be an instrument, aren't you?” She asked. “But what type? Having a guitar I don’t have to spend time summoning might be nice.”
“Talking to yourself?” a voice said from behind her, and Chess turned quickly, finding a smiling Lynn coming up behind her with a basket on her arm.
“Talking to Sprig,” Chess explained, waving at the rooted bow beside her.
“I’d still call that talking to yourself,” Lynn joked and joined her, sitting on the edge of the short bluff, placing the basket between them.
Chess snorted. “Its status says it's living. Therefore, it’s a perfectly acceptable conversation partner,” Chess argued with a matching smile.
“Keep telling yourself that,” Lynn said then shook the basket. “Lunch?”
“Please,” Chess nodded with enthusiasm and dug into the basket. Finding all sorts of things, mostly dried meats, berries, and a piece of surprisingly good soft goat cheese.
“What were you talking to your bow about?” Lynn prompted after they had their fill of the lunch and were picking at the leftovers.
“I think I’ve missed the whole point of its innate enchantment,” Chess said before explaining her reasoning along with the cost to Sprig for each change.
“I agree, turn it into a ‘guitar?’ It’s your primary instrument, and it would leave your pyth open to summon something else like a drum or something smaller if you so desire. It will also save you the time it takes to summon one when you need it fast. With Sprig's innate self-repair when planted and insane durability, it could survive a few heavy blows if it comes to it,” Lynn nodded.
“Yeah, I think I will,” Chess said, running a hand down the bow’s length before uprooting it and laying it in her lap.
“Think of a way out of here yet?” Lynn asked, nibbling at the leftover cheese.
“I have a few ideas. Some would take longer than others. No luck with the Keeper?” Chess asked before summoning her guitar from motes of magic.
“No. They are more than happy to have us around for a while to trade and maybe help with a few other things if we have the time. Chilkuy is a gracious host, regardless of how unsettling her Class makes her to talk to. In fact, I purchased the shelter we are currently using. The silk alone will be worth more than the spider parts we forfeited, and it saved us from going back for them today. It's a beautiful cloth even though it's tablet-woven. I also got a handful of Heliwr pelts and a large roll of both the red and yellow silks so you and Ashley can get some proper clothes made when we reach the Heel. I think silk and spider parts could be a lucrative trade between the tribe and future delvers. At least it could help them reduce potential conflict. I’ve taught Chilkuy the proper greetings and means of contact for guild-sanctioned delvers,” Lynn said.
“Should we trade them the silk we collected for finished cloth?” Chess asked.
“That’s a good notion,” Lynn said, tapping her chin with a finger. “If we could somehow guarantee that outside Delvers don’t gain access, it might be a good idea to teach them a few things. Like how to make a spinning wheel and a proper loom. As it is, it likely takes them many days or even months to make a single home.”
“And bows to defend themselves, if you're gonna teach them things?” Chess asked. “I haven’t seen one since we arrived.”
“No,” Lynn shook her head. “Their primary weapon is a sling with clubs and stone knives for other work. I think it would be better to show them staff slings and better-shaped stones. It would have less impact on the classes they are currently using. Seeing your bow may have given them enough of an idea already but it will take generations for them to find classes that synergize with the local pyth’s and environment if they choose to copy it.”
“Okay, I’ll leave those decisions to you. I wonder why they haven’t tried to escape this place,” Chess said while watching a pair of birds cavorting a handspan from the surface of the lake in graceful arcs. She contemplated what to play for a moment before starting to play Free Fallin’ by Tom Petty while she listened to Lynn.
“They have, which answers another question for us. This rift has greatly accelerated time dilation. It's less than an hour outside for every day inside; I suspect it's as little as a minute. When I asked Chilkuy about them ever leaving she talked of ancestors returning decades and centuries later barely older than when they’d left. It’s actually how she has access to some of the languages of Astra. It’s sorted in the memories of those that have returned,” Lynn explained.
“Explains why no one has shown up in pursuit of us and why Freya thinks we can still retrieve Kan’s body,” Chess said with a nod. “I guess it also explains why they rarely leave too. No one wants to leave and never see their loved ones again. It’s how cults function.”
“Cults?” Lynn asked with a raised brow. “Wait Sergeant Hilkan? But he’s devout, I’ve seen him at the temple nearly every week with his sister and her kids.”
“It’s not my story to tell. Hey, would you give me a moment to do this?” Chess said and picked her guitar up for emphasis.
Lynn scowled but nodded, and Chess concentrated on Sprig where it lay before her. She started to sing along to her song and willed Sprig to change to take on a form much like the one she played. She gave it the skeleton of the idea and let the song and Sprig do the work.
First, it rerooted itself before forming into a large grey sphere that shifted with liquidity extending up and ballooning out into the classic curves of an acoustic guitar. Once it had formed the basic body shape it started adding flourishes and beauty. The neck grew up in brilliant clear amber and the saddle rose from the body, made of the same gem before the neck filled with whisper-thin tendrils that sprouted tiny woven leaves and thorns. The head flowed from the neck in a stylized tree; each small branch formed the tuning keys from which the strings sprouted flowing down the length before attaching to the saddle. The simple grey metal of the strings and frets faded into the beauty of the rest. Lastly, Sprig formed a pickguard of intricately woven leaves and flowers.
Lynn chuckled. “I think it almost ‘wanted’ that. I haven’t seen anything nearly so beautiful form so quickly before, and I’ve spent plenty of time around the Iron Lady,” she said.
“Yeah,” Chess breathed.
Sprig
Bonded: Chess Stewart
Type: Acoustic guitar
Rank: 3
Rarity: Custom/unique
Properties: Living Dryad Ironwood
Durability: 9684/10000
Enchantments:
Musical Ease: Sprig is enchanted to work with Bonded’s music, correcting up to (Rank) number of mistakes per song. [Current 3]
Synergy between bonded’s Musical Memory skill and Musical Ease found:
Musical Storage: Store one song played on Sprig per Rank each day. Stored songs can be played back once for each time stored. The first (Rank) songs played on Sprig each day will be stored. All stored songs fade at midnight.
A gift, freely given, to a traveler for her gift of beautiful music, magic, and patience.
“Fuck yeah!” Chess said breaking into a savage grin. She threw her summoned guitar from the bluff to the water below where it burst into a cloud of colorful motes before scooping up Sprig and laying it in her lap. She couldn’t help herself and started playing it.
Lynn relaxed and listened while Chess played a few songs before interrupting her.
“How are you coming with your other decisions?” She asked.
“I was thinking about roles again, and I think Spread-the-Magic gives me the best utility if I’m going to continue to have these sorts of situations. And with Freya insisting I travel and train, I fear it’s inevitable. I’m only hesitating because it locks me in with all the pyths I currently have and snow-flurry is very lackluster. I’m still not sold on any of the passives though,” Chess explained.
“Well, you could always get the ability up to a desirable rank then freeze it by removing the flurry. But if you’ve decided on it, it’s best to get it out of the way now. Maybe when you know what it does it will help with the other choice,” Lynn reasoned.
Chess nodded. “I choose Spread the Magic,” she said and waited for the prompt.
Spread the Magic: Rank 1:
Spread your passive magic to allies who hear your music. Allies within ‘full’ hearing of your music can receive your full benefit of up to (Rank) number of passive effects you currently possess from Pyths, Cores, Gems, or Class abilities. [Current 1]
This ability has integrated identify-friend-or-foe based on the feelings of the caster.
Playing an instrument or singing alone halves the power of granted passive(s). The full effect can only be achieved through both singing and playing an instrument together.
“Seems pretty clear,” Chess said after reading it to Lynn. She then asked the world how it worked, filling her head with the particulars of using the ability.
“It’s based on your status which means a lot of stat work in your future. That said, it’s also multiple buffs, which is ridiculous,” Lynn observed with a tight headshake. “But that ‘full’ worries me,” Lynn said and stood. “Okay, I want you to activate it, and I’ll wander down the slope. It’s best to figure out its limitations now.”
Chess did as Lynn asked, slotting her snowflurry passive into the ability and singing and playing a different Tom Petty song as Lynn wandered away.
As she played, a light sprinkling of snow settled on the landscape lowering the temperature a few degrees. When she’d finished her song, Lynn strolled back to her and sat back down.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“As soon as I couldn’t clearly distinguish the music from the sound of the falls the effect canceled out. The actual line was quite a way past the light snowfall, so I assume that’s just a side effect of the ability’s synergies. I’m afraid it’s all or nothing at the moment. Though I suspect higher ranks may change that based on the number of synergies in the ability,” Lynn said.
“Okay next test: can you do it on the move?” Lynn said, holding out a hand.
Chess sighed and took it. What followed was an extensive exploration of her new ability. Yes, she could do it while walking, but when she tried to run or jog, it would flicker between on, half-power, and off. Lynn figured this would take practice and/or perhaps the use of Sprig's new enchantment to overcome. Though running and singing didn’t mix well in Chess’s opinion. Lynn insisted she’d need to learn to do it for short sprints eventually. Next, she tried to use non-class abilities while using the spell to mixed results. Chess was surprised this was even possible with the two, aside from Thump, she managed: the Wooden Gem’s wood manipulation which Lynn figured was a result of it being an instantaneous ability with no build-up, and Snow Flurry which lowered the temperature even further than Spread the Magic alone while also increasing the number of snowflakes.
Thump gave Chess the most exciting result, after summoning a bass drum they retested the range of the ability finding that Lynn received half power as long as she could hear it booming.
“The problem with that drum is that it’s not easily portable,” Lynn reasoned.
“I get it, you want me to take Amplify because of what it would do for Spread,” Chess said, giving Lynn a look.
“I’m… Yes, I do but I’m not going to rehash my arguments except to say it would be cheap to level. Those Pyth’s aren’t highly sought after so should be easily and cheaply found,” Lynn reasoned.
“To be honest I’m deciding between it, Charismatic, and Spirit instrument,” Chess allowed.
“Your charisma is already over 18; Faithful would be a better consideration with your connection to Freya. But like Charismatic it will likely show up in the future with your class, so I’d put it off. As for Spirit Instrument, it’s a really big question. I wouldn’t take anything like it without doing research first,” Lynn said.
“Fine, but if it’s complete shit, I’m blaming you,” Chess said with a grin.
“Wai..”
“I choose Greater Amplify,” Chess said, then a wave of vertigo hit making her stumble back a step then fell on her butt with a thump which sent a rough jolt up her spine and rattled her teeth.
“Shit,” Chess said, putting her head between her knees as the world tilted further and pain bloomed behind her eyes.
“Fool. I didn’t mean right this second, you’ve been casting half the day already. You should know better. You’ve had two severe cases of mana sickness already, and it’s been barely two months since you awakened,” Lynn admonished while casting her shadow over Chess’s slumped form.
“Yeah,” Chess agreed, nodding her head between her knees. She breathed through her nose to keep from losing her lunch.
“No more magic for today at the very least unless it’s an emergency. You can’t keep on doing so much every day. Learn to spread it out a bit. Goddess, if you keep this up, you could stunt your growth or worse, die,” Lynn continued.
“I said I know,” Chess whined.
Lynn sighed, “Well? What does it do?”
After the world stopped spinning and she felt it was safe to raise her head, Chess brought up the window then read it to Lynn.
Greater Amplify: Rank 1
Rank 1: Amplifies any sound you produce with your mouth by up to Char(mod) x Dex(mod) x Rank %. This percentage can be added to all similar effects. Volume adjustable by will. [Current 24%]
“It says rank one twice like that?” Lynn clarified.
“Yeah,” Chess agreed with a frown.
“Good, that means that’s only the rank one effect,” Lynn said.
“It’s shit, Thump has a much better effect,” Chess argued.
“No Greater ability is feces; it’s just the first rank. Besides, Thump has to be activated with a spell. This one only takes the desire,” Lynn countered.
“Fine, now what?” Chess asked, her frown deepening. “What’s Ashley doing?”
“Her and Mikel and a few of the other youths have their heads together. I assume it's about the Heliwr hunt,” Lynn said with a fond smile. “It’s good. It’s best she keeps her mind off everything that’s happened for now. At least until we get home.”
“She’s already that fluent?” Chess asked. Home? Chess shook the thought off before it could fully form.
“She’s picking it up quickly. I think she may have a talent for languages. She at least enjoys it. Her summoning game helps,” Lynn shrugged.
“Alright, I guess that leaves us to brainstorm a proper means up there,” Chess said pointing at the exit island floating over the lake. “How hard do you think it would be to get even a little bit of that skystone that’s been mentioned a few times now?”
“I don’t know,” Lynn admitted. “I forgot to ask Chilkuy if she knew of any safe sources for it.”
“Well, there isn’t anything else I can do until tomorrow. So, shall we?” Chess said while standing and brushing at her backside before gesturing back towards the hamlet.
“That’s a pretty charm.” Lynn nodded to Chess’s new creation as they walked.
“It was my only success,” Chess admitted with a disappointed shrug.
“Does it have a good effect?” Lynn asked.
Chess explained with a chuckle.
“Don’t dismiss it, that’s a powerful result for your first successful charm.”
“I guess, it just sucks to fail four times in a row afterward,” Chess explained, and they fell silent following Lynn’s knowing nod.
When they found her, the Keeper readily gave the pair directions to a few tunnels on the other side of the lake that may have what they needed and the pair decided to take the rest of the evening off and tackle it in the morning since the sun already cast the village in long shadows.
With that, Lynn cleaned her gear and went to bed while Chess sat up at the fire and played songs and sang for Ashley and the Muskrats.
Chess was shocked to find the small village housed over a hundred of the muskrats after a rough count of those that showed up to hear her play. I wonder if there are other tribes and how large this island is. Do they have ways to get to other floating islands they aren’t telling us about? She left the thought to be explored later and enjoyed herself.
The singing also gave her the first look she got at any of their young but not babies. They looked like smaller softer versions of the adults, only with downy tan fur on their bellies and a lot of energy like most young children. Chess had a blast playing fast lively songs for them to dance to until she grew tired and retired for the night herself. She woke once when Ashley crawled in beside her in the wee hours.
----------------------------------------
The next morning found the pair and a group of muskrats preparing to return to the tunnels. Ashley and a small group of Muskrats had accosted them first thing with an elaborate plan that included nets, some catch poles—Chess had to make a few more, a few days' worth of rations, and one of the crossbows. It seemed the youths were just as entranced by the possibilities of binding a Heliwr as Ash, and a group of them planned to accompany her. On Chilkuy’s suggestion, one of the more experienced hunters would be trailing the group to watch after them.
At first, Chess hesitated to let Ashley go off with the group, thinking she and Lynn should go, but both Lynn and Chilkuy swore she’d not come to misfortune from the Muskrats.
Chess chose to trust in Mikel over the nebulous promises of the others. He’d shown himself to be trustworthy, and the muskrat boy, who was accompanying her, owed the group his life for saving him from the ghoul.
Lynn and Chess decided to delay the Skystone harvesting for another day.
They spent half the day lowering the water levels in the familiar tunnels with Chess's largely empty vault so they could return to the spider cavern.
Chess created a bunch of sealed dense wooden boxes to store their valuables and didn't see the point in removing the skulls. Lynn figured the stasis effect of her vault would protect their things anyway. Most of the spider parts they left in the village with a muskrat elder with an even larger inventory space than Chess suspected Sholer had before swimming back to the spider cave after watching them stream out on their midday hunt in the lake.
Dent and their tied-up skeletal abomination were where they left them and the pair quickly got to work storing everything when they arrived.
Chess had a brief moment of confusion on what to do with Dent since Ashley wasn’t around to order him before Lynn suggested she knock the unresponsive skeleton into her vault with everything he carried and have Ashley deal with him later.
After stowing their stuff, the pair spent some time collecting more spider parts with their muskrat companions. Chess snagged more samples of the mushrooms and other lichen-like plants then everyone fled before the spiders returned. They made it back to the village well after night had fallen and the pair collapsed into their beds and a bone-weary sleep.
Chess offered a brief prayer to Freya to look after Ashley and her small band of explorers. It’s strange not having her cuddled beside me, she thought pulling the furs close before darkness took her.
----------------------------------------
The third day started with Chess sitting with her feet dangling from the edge of the bluff before Freya's shrine, studying the floating islands and waiting for Lynn and her potential escort into the skystone tunnels.
The night before, Lynn had learned more about the other tunnels Chilkuy had mentioned. Ones Lynn suspected were where the original mining operation was before the place was abandoned.
Lynn now thought that water and pockets of helium were the main factors responsible for the abandonment of the rift. They were lucky to have passed through the tunnels when they did since every spring the tunnels largely fill with water and trap large deposits of helium everywhere water wasn't.
"The muskrats move their homes onto a higher bluff for spring and summer when the lake swells then down for the fall and winter. It's currently early fall and they just completed the move. It will require careful math to determine when it's safe to enter if the time dilatation in here is as I expect. The longer our pursuers take to arrive the surer I become," Lynn had explained. Chess remembered studying the trees and noticing the start of fall colors in a few of the hardwoods.
Chess let her eyes lose focus over the water and sighed before deciding to be somewhat productive since Lynn was taking her sweet time.
She took a few items out of her vault, including a few of the remaining ironwood arrows, a few bearings she’d made the day before, and a thick spool of spider silk thread she’d traded one of the tribe women a bundle of loose swathing silk for, then started to tinker.
She didn’t have a real plan in mind when she started, maybe a new charm, before she focused on the gently lapping water below the bluff and the peaceful calm reminded her of all the time she’d spent fishing with Gramps. She ached with the memory, and from there, it quickly came together.
She’d had her spinning reels in pieces numerous times to switch out parts with other broken ones to make a working whole. With some improvising where she couldn’t remember exactly what she needed, she found herself with a working spinning reel and thin ironwood fishing rod in hand before her skunk-kin companion showed up.
“Now I just need a lure,” Chess muttered after she’d finished threading the waterproof silk line onto the reel.
Congratulations on your new creation!
As the first person to create this item, you have the privilege of naming it.
Please speak its name.
Really? Chess laughed, then fell back to lay flat and laughed some more. She laughed until she had a stitch in her side from the lack of a full breath. I needed that, she thought once she regained herself and sat back up.
She reread the prompt and stopped. Uh? It must be the reel that it means, right?
“It’s a Spinning Reel.” Chess shrugged mentally.
Please confirm: Spinning reel?
“Yes.”
Steam Forging +4 For inventing a new mechanical device for the first time.
Fishing +5 For inventing a trade-specific item.
A sliver of ironwood, a bit of swathing silk and more thread, and a bit of digging with the handle of her hammer for some worms in the soft soil later Chess cast her line off the bluff to fall a couple of dozen yards out into the glimmering lake. A scavenged bit of deadfall produced a holder for her rod, and Chess sat back to watch the tip for the telltale signs of a nibble.
She stole the odd glimpse at the village below for signs of Lynn but soon fell into the relaxing endeavor.
“I discovered why they developed those big teeth like tusks,” Lynn said by way of greeting as she plopped down beside Chess about halfway through the morning
Chess already had a handful of the perch-like fish on a long stringer in the water before her.
“Oh really?” Chess asked.
“Yeah, the two main staples of their diet are large nuts and a hard mussel that they harvest from the bottom of the lake. They use their buck teeth to break into both. It’s why the spider meat and the odd goat they slaughter is a delicacy for them,” Lynn explained.
“Huh,” Chess said, concentrating on her rod.
“What are you doing?” Lynn asked.
“Fishing,” Chess said with a quirk of the lips. “I needed something normal to clear my head. I know I'm missing something obvious here. The easy way out is stuck in my head somewhere, and I need to knock it out. All my current plans seem needlessly complex and time-consuming. Fishing is relaxing.” Chess jerked the rod after a particularly good nibble but failed to set the hook before deciding to reel in to check her bait.
“I got another creator boon for making the reel,” Chess said with a grin.
“Really? Can I see it?” Lynn asked, and Chess handed it over for the skunkkin to study.
“Would you make me one?” Lynn asked after returning the rod and Chess had recast her line.
"Sure," Chess shrugged. "But not today. Where is our escort?"
“She’ll be along shortly.”
“Alright. I’m hoping getting my hands on some of this stone will cement a good plan in my head,” Chess reasoned.
“It takes a lot of skystone to float an island this massive. I’m sure we’ll find some,” Lynn reasoned.
Chess sighed and leaned back, resting her rod in the crook of her folded legs.
“We can't stay here forever, so I hope we come up with something soon. Eventually, Canfree’s delvers will catch up, and we'll need to be gone, no matter the time dilation. Hells, even the ones left in the cavern might find the courage to follow us,” Lynn said.
“That's if they get through the helium alive,” Chess pointed out.
Lynn sighed. “Someone will eventually. It's better for us if we get back and make our claim before they can.”
“I'm worried about our new friends. Are the delvers just gonna kill them if we don’t beat Canfree’s men?” Chess asked.
“As I said the other day. Having the proper greetings should help. But that’s not to say some groups won't try to massacre them all for their pyths if they think they can get away with it.”
“Thus, the improved sling idea,” Chess said, giving the rod a firm tug and setting another fish before standing to reel it in.
“Amongst others,” Lynn agreed. “I want us to do a few more things in the tunnels before we leave if we have the time. Though I will say, if Chilkuy or her successor is around, the tribe will not be easy prey. Keeper is a formidable class as far as I’ve been able to garner. And their slingers are quite skilled at taking birds down.”
“Okay,” Chess agreed as she removed the small fish from her hook and added it to the stringer.
She turned back to Lynn to find their guide had arrived.
“Looks like it’s time to go,” Chess observed and turned back to her string of fish and stored it in her vault. Slinging Sprig onto her back the pair followed their quiet guide to the far, unexplored side of the lake and into a short tunnel that required Chess to bend nearly double to scurry through.
They spent the rest of the day taking one dark and musty tunnel after another, backtracking and leaving the tunnels often to try new systems, as they carefully checked each for signs of extensive mining or helium. A few tunnels resisted their endeavors entirely when they entered and found the helium level too large to continue.
Thankfully they never encountered any sort of threat, or even signs of one, other than the gas. Though Lynn insisted on constant vigilance throughout.
They had a pungent breeze tickling their faces when they found what they were looking for hours later. It left the taste of day-old socks in Chess’s mouth, and she grimaced at Lynn when she insisted this is what they’d been searching for.
“It smells like rotting plant matter. There is nothing to worry about with this breeze flowing through,” Lynn said when Chess hesitated.
“Fine, but can we hurry? Please,” Chess insisted.
Deep alcoves had been chipped away from each side of the tunnel with obvious intent to harvest something from the stone. The pair took up some of the looted pickaxes including the enchanted one and got to work adding to the deepest alcove.
It was back-breaking work. Punctuated with constant breaks as the pair took time to chat, to reassure themselves that helium or some other gas hadn’t filled the chamber as they worked.
It took hours before Lynn gasped and motioned Chess to stop before she stepped forward and reached up, plucking a small chunk of stone from the low ceiling of their work area.
“Ha!” Lynn said with a wide smile handing the finger-sized stone to Chess. “Skystone. Careful, put it under your hand otherwise it will float off.”
Chess did as instructed before raising her hand to study the stone pressing firmly into the bottom of it.
Half the stone looked like the same light-grey chalky stone they’d been hammering away at while the reverse was an almost translucent gem that reflected a vibrant blue in the light given off from the miner's helm they were now using as a spotlight. Apparently, their guide had remarkably high willpower and was more than willing to hold the light while the pair worked.
“Wow,” Chess said, pushing down on the stone to get a feel for its lifting power.
“It’s a start,” Lynn agreed. “Let’s see if there is more before we call it a day and head back.” She pointed to where Chess’s last few strikes had fallen and indicated Chess should continue.
“Agreed,” Chess smiled, storing the small stone in her vault before laying into the stone with renewed energy.
The next hour yielded a fistful of the embedded skystone ore before Lynn determined they should head back before night fell outside.
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Chess shook her arms out and lay them out to her sides to stretch against the ache.
“Freya but this sucks balls,” Chess whined from where she lay beneath an improvised table of brambles and vines reinforced with blocks of her dense wood that Chess had created to hold a thick slab of the dense hardwood from a felled red giant. She had sunk a chunk of granite and a mortar and pestle into the underside and lay beneath to work.
Lynn barked a short laugh. “There is a reason it's rare for it to be used outside its rough ore state. Ship captains aren’t too picky about their ballast as long as it’s mostly clean. A few blows to knock off the large chunks of other stone is usually enough,” Lynn explained from nearby where she worked a length of silk cloth with a bone needle turning it into a vest for one of Chess’s ideas. Namely a safety vest of a sort for when they made their first attempt to reach the island.
“I need it as clean as possible for my plan,” Chess said.
“Then you’re doing it to yourself,” Lynn shrugged. “Stop whining. It's not like it’s exactly hard to do.”
“I know, still blows chunks,” Chess mumbled. “Pouring things upside down is a real mind fuck too.” Chess picked the pestle up again and finished working the small clear stone into the sand before pouring the result into the wooden box she was using to store it.
“At least gravity does the work of separating the limestone out. I don’t know how I would do it otherwise,” Chess allowed. At least I think it’s limestone.
The pair spent a few of the early hours working on their respective projects before heading back to the tunnel to mine more of the stone for the rest of the day, quickly falling into a companionable silence as they worked.
They returned a few hours earlier than they did the day before, and Chess spent some time after supper under her table before calling it a night, once again crawling into her empty bedroll and praying to Freya to keep her daughter safe.
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“I think I've been thinking about this all wrong,” Chess observed to Lynn the next morning when the kin-woman found her once again fishing from the bluff in front of Freya’s shrine. She had yet to get even a nibble.
She had a small box of the processed crystalline blue sand under a dense chunk of wood next to her and kept glancing at it then back to her fishing rod, thinking.
“How so?” Lynn inquired.
“I kept thinking we could build a raft or balloon and use ropes to let it rise slowly up to the island but at the rate we're getting stone, it will take weeks to get enough stone to raise even one person at a time. Let alone a raft,” Chess said.
“We could use the stone you insist is for the vests,” Lynn pointed out.
“That’s just it, we don’t have enough for even one yet.”
“We got enough bigger chunks yesterday to slow the fall so it’s survivable, especially into the water,” Lynn countered.
“Yeah.” Chess rubbed at her scalp. “Give me an hour to try something before we go mining today?”
“Sure,” Lynn said, indicating Chess should hand over the fishing rod with a smile.
Chess sighed and let the skunk take her place before pulling a stool from her vault, sitting down, and picking up Sprig.
She played a short tune to grow herself a new work table before taking out a few other items including her crossbow. The fishing reel gave her the idea so she started by recreating it, only bigger so that it could hold a lot more of the silken thread.
This took her nearly an hour before she attached it to the base of her crossbow, just behind the latch then moved on to hollowing out a bolt that she poured full of the skystone before sealing it. It took her a while to find a balance so the bolt had just under neutral buoyancy. She still needed it to fall afterward.
Once she felt satisfied with her creation and had filled the reel to bursting with the thin silken thread, she stood next to Lynn and took aim.
The short bluff was as good as anywhere else to test her theory. Since the exit island floated a good deal closer to it than other places around the lake.
The first shot fell well short of the mark and Lynn chuckled. “You forgot to account for the weight of the line,” she pointed out.
“Yeah, and drag from the reel but I still need the bolt to come down on the other side. If it doesn’t then how are we supposed to pull up a thicker line?”
“Try a, I want to say heavier, bolt but that’s not right,” Lynn suggested.
“Massive,” Chess corrected with a wry grin. Then did as Lynn suggested.
The next two tries got closer but neither reached the island though the second passed close below it before being dragged down into the water. The first she made as dense as possible before refilling it with sand. The second she made denser and even larger.
“I think I need a stronger crossbow,” Chess reasoned when the third bolt sat strangely in the slide and a few inches past the body of the bow than it should.
“Or a larger one,” Lynn agreed, adding a fish to the stringer when the shot once again fell short.
Chess sighed. “Feel like giving me your bracers? I’ll make you new ones from redwood and replace them when we get out of this place?”
“You can have my left greave if you replace it now,” Lynn countered, rising to work at the cords that bound her armor in place.
“Deal,” Chess agreed, pulling some of the dense redwood from her vault.
By the time Chess had built a new larger crossbow and an even more massive bolt with more ironwood parts and replaced Lynn’s greave, the sun was high in the sky.
The new bolt, twice the size of the last, sat perfectly in its slide as Chess stood and took aim.
She pulled the trigger and watched with the surety that comes with a perfect shot as the bolt drew the line out of the whirling reel in a perfect arc up and over the exit island before, somewhere near the far shore, the weight of the line finally drew it down to the ground.
“Fuck yeah!” Chess said, pumping a fist in the air.
“Flip for who has to walk all the way over there and drag the larger line up?” Lynn said with a matching grin while holding up a chit.
Chess laughed and nodded. “Sure.”