Book 3: Chapter 6 - Cultural Exchange (RAW)

Of the Mer, the children of the salt and sea, not much is known. It was once said in a few academic circles that they once enjoyed an alliance with the Children of the Tides when the Tides were once a sea-going people in ages long past. Some even speculate that it was in fact the Mer that taught humans how to use the element of water, a claim I find patently fantastical.

At first glance, the Mer bear some resemblance to humans, much as apes might seem kin to us. They possess a head, torso, two arms, and, peculiarly, two feet. However, the similarities abruptly cease there. The Mer are a diverse people, but their features often belong to the realm of nightmares. Some have large bulbous, unblinking eyes, while others have non, relying instead on quivering feelers that sample the air for sensory input. Their extremities are webbed, and some even sport sinuous tails. Bony spines erupt along their dorsal ridges, providing an otherworldly contour to their forms. The hue of their blood ranges from emerald green to viscous purples and vivid reds, adding another layer to their arcane mystique. While some are encased in intricate scales, others have skin as sleek as that of eels.

According to seasoned adventurers, encountering a Mer on land is akin to facing a formidable adversary, which leads me to conjecture that in their aquatic realm, they would be nigh unstoppable. An intriguing yet disquieting footnote: their flesh is considered a prized delicacy in the city-state of Al-Lazar, a detail that reveals as much about the Mer as it does about the peculiar tastes of Al-Lazar’s citizens.

- The Fanciful Travels by Beron de Laney 376 AC.

The clack of unsoled feet on smooth stone, came up from the dark passage. Shapes coalesced into vague mimicries of men, hunched and twisted, and albino pale. They held crude weapons, clubs and simple spears, waving them at me in threat. However, they looked away from me, shying away from my golden light. The leading figure, stooped, but larger howled at me in primitive warning.

To their credit, these troglodytes, these approximations of the men did not attack me. Perhaps they were not as stupid as I thought them to be, or maybe they just knew on an instinctual level that I was armored death, come from the surface.

Drawing myself to my full height, my head almost brushed the ceiling of the low tunnel and looked down at them, seeing them for the pathetic creatures that they were. Feeling generous, I decided that I would at least try to communicate with them before I sacrificed them all on the altar for more experience points. I began as I always did by casting an Identify on the leader of this pack, followed by another cast on his guttaral howls and attempts at language.

Glod - Troglodyte Ranger (Human lvl.10)

Health: 176/180

Stamina: 41/44

Mana: 7/7

What was most surprising was that he was actually a human, or at least this game classified him as a human. Interesting, indeed, for the game it seemed certainly had a broad definition for the term. The thing before me even had the temerity to have a name. I took a moment to look more closely at this motley group of ‘humans’, noticing the mismatched series of leather strips and rags that served as their clothing, hiding for the most part only their genitalia.

I had been taught in my old world that all cultures were beautiful, and equal, in their own special ways. These things before me put paid to such fanciful and weak notions.

The threads of my last Identify spell came back to me, filling my mind with new meaning. With my increased Intelligence and increased intellect, along with the aid of the spell, I was able to parse most of his words.

“You have come from the Darker than Dark. Metal Giant not of the Stone, does not belong here. You trespass, go back!” the leader stated, puffing out his chest to try and look larger and waving a club studded with the teeth and claws of unknown animals.

Smiling within my helm, I pointed calmly at him with my sword, the smooth motion a juxtaposition against his erratic movements. Metal Giant, he said, I never considered myself to be exceptionally tall, but here I felt like an adult among infants. He looked at me worriedly, fearing a challenge, before I lowered my blade to point at the flask I noticed that he had at his hip.

Apprehension danced across his face, its steps followed slowly by incredulity, followed by curiosity. Slowly, he understood my meaning, and reached for the flask with his free hand, his club finally stopping its motion. Likewise, the others of the group, of whom seven I could see, also stopped waving their primitive weapons.

“You want water? Then go back?” he asked of me placatingly, the last threads of my spell slowly fading. However, I found the sounds that served as his language offensive to my cultured ears.

Instead of responding, silence, I decided to be the more menacing answer. What came next was more nonsensical grunts, but less threatening grunts, among the group as they discussed among themselves my intent. Refreshing my spell with a new cast, their words became known to me again.

“Give Metal thing water skin? But why? My favorite this. Made from Zlesh…

“Yes, two dead in that hunt. But much food for all,” one of their number commented. I could not tell if that specimen had been male or female.

“Not talk of things gone by. Come, can he even understand words of the people?” another decided to add.

“Many of us. One of him…” a more belligerent member opined, swinging a crude sling. A ranged attack might be worrying…

“Fool! What if he can…” a more even headed member chastised.

Time was wasting as they discussed the predicament that was my presence. My precious time. My patience was being sorely tested, and I longed to vent out my frustrations on something that was weaker than me.

I was severely outnumbered, but from my magical analysis of their leader, I was far from outclassed. In this narrow tunnel, it would be difficult for them to bring the advantage that their number brought to bear. Also, there was always my magic.

The leader, Glod, addressed me again, “We will give you our water skins… but first we need you to help us. There is the Restless, wandering close to our homes. Perhaps the metal to beat metal.”

My response was, naturally, a resounding no. Had I the time, or the barest inclination, I might have even helped them, for I am quite the charitable sort. But without a quest message, and the entailed promise of experience that a new quest entailed, these pathetic worms were merely wasting my time.

Their problems were not mine, and I was under no obligation to help them. I flipped the weapon in my hand, causing them all to take a step back, and I smashed the hammer’s head against the wall of the tunnel. The force of the blow sent sparks, and splinters and fragments of stone flying from where the metal had struck the stone.

The message was clear, for all of them dropped their water skins and started to flee. In a moment of rare inspiration, I grabbed one of them, a smaller individual, by its long dirty and matted hair, causing it to scream in abject terror.

The rest of them continued to flee back to wherever they had come from, the echoes of their flight growing weaker by the second. The one I had captured continued to gibber nonsense, most of it howls and grunts interspersed with entreaties for me to spare its little life. It spoke to their strength of character that they chose to leave one of their own behind, I chuckled to myself. Or perhaps it was simply because their fear of me was just so great?

I lifted the creature I had captured off the ground with one hand by its hair to eye level, causing fresh new screams. My own Strength surprised me, as a feat such as this would have been impossible before.

The thing continued to bleat out nonsense, causing me to realize that the magic of my spell Identify had faded. Recasting the spell yet again, I focused on the thing in front of me for a moment.

“Please! No! No! I have family, my brothers and sisters must feed! After many turns, finally became a scout! To end like this…” the Troglodyte continued to beg. I felt a shard of sympathy lodge itself in my heart, before I mercilessly excised it.

I was not really listening to the meaning of its words per se, just absorbing its words and letting my magic do its work. Knowledge and information flowed into me at a much faster rate than when I had attempted a similar feat when I had been trapped in a cell. I was improving.

In passing, I cast an Identify, not on its words, but on my prisoner itself, giving me a vague understanding of its physical and mental capabilities.

Zala - Troglodyte Scout (Human lvl.9)

Health: 121/137

Stamina: 32/41

Mana: 10/10

It was a non-threat, slightly weaker than Glod, but probably substantially more intelligent. A part of me regretted not just slaughtering them all to the man, for the experience, if Zala’s and Glod’s attributes was anything to go by.

Sometimes my captured Troglodyte would grow quiet, the stream of information from the spell pausing until I violently shook the humanoid, causing it to go on a fresh desperate rant. In this way, I learned their primitive language. Well, at least, a semblance of understanding.

You have gained 1 Intelligence.

Finally, a reward for my efforts. Though no improvements to my maximum Mana, at least not yet, I could already feel the gears within my mind turning that little smidgen faster.

I learned that it was tonal language, the inflections on certain grunts that served as words changing in meaning. From my improved intellect and my magic, I concluded that the Troglodyte language was also highly contextual, with various ‘words’ having a very different meaning depending on the situation that they were spoken in. In short, it was a very difficult language.

When I thought I had learned enough of their speak, I waited for my prisoner to quiet down before taking a quick glance at my Status. I had only about a third of my Mana left, and it was about high time that I got a few answers for my efforts.

Taking a deep breath, I spoke to the creature thus in my most commanding voice, “Zala, you will take us to the surface.”