CHAPTER 5!

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CHAPTER 5 – Day 141 – Kuborn 31, 0 AoC

Richter’s mind cleared a minute later. He saw his attacker was held securely in Caulder’s grasp. His Life mage cast Weak Slow Heal on him. The throbbing headache was probably the only reason he hadn’t thought to do it himself. The pain in his head, and his tailbone had barely abated, but at least it had removed the rising lump on his face. It was probably the Universe’s way of saying only a moron let himself be shot in the head by a creepy one-direction reject. 

The village soldiers were all still shouting, no doubt notifying every monster within a league of their location. He was about to put a stop to it, when Caulder spoke up, doing it for him, “Stop all that caterwauling! If you feel the need to shout and cry, I can give you something to truly shout about! Secure the perimeter!”

The guards sent many ugly glances at the small man the sergeant had a death grip on. More than a few sported rising knots on their foreheads, and one limped from a bruised knee. They obeyed however. Soon, only the captive, biomancers, archers and Caulder remained by their lord. One of the archers helped Richter to his feet. His gaze fell upon the bound figure struggling in the sergeant’s grip. Cualder rolled his eyes and slammed a fist down on top of the man’s head. “Be still kindir,” he barked.

The prisoner let out an oof and stilled his movement. He cast an aggrieved look up at Caulder as if he could not imagine what he had done to earn such harsh treatment. 

Richter looked at Caulder, raising one eyebrow, to echo the small man’s question. Was it really necessary to slap the guy around? The sergeant just shrugged and looked completely at peace with his actions. Rolling his eye slightly, the chaos seed used Analyze. 

(SEE ATTACHMENT)

A kindir, Ricther thought to himself abstractly. He felt like he’d heard that before, but he couldn’t place it. He decided to put it aside before it worried him like a burr in his foot. The Land had been created to embody every magic, culture and race in existence, it only made sense that some things would be familiar. What was more interesting was that the man had the widest collection of skills he’d seen on anyone other than himself. This Shinecatcher was also the first Bard he’d ever met. 

There was both anger and distaste in his voice when Caulder spoke, “We caught the thief, my lord.”

“I’m not a thief,” the bound man protested. “I was merely strolling through the woods when I saw this shining thing. I picked it up and before I knew it, these men came out of nowhere and tried to steal it from me. Naturally, I tried to run and-”

“You’re a liar and thief just like all of your people,” Caulder seethed, interrupting his captive. The sergeant started shaking him for good measure. The Bard’s small body shook like a flag in the wind. 

“Not true!” Shinecatcher protested in an aggrieved voice, even as he flopped about. He really did sound like he was the victim of a gross miscarriage of justice. “Not true at all! You’re a liar… your liar breath feels like fire!”

“Let me kill him, my lord,” Caulder shouted.

“Breathe man,” Richter responded calmingly. “I’m not a huge fan of this guy either. I can’t tell you how irritating it was to be shot by whatever the hell that was-”

“An acorn,” the kindir interjected helpfully. His voice was bright and happy as if the large man holding him wasn’t discussing his imminent death. Then again, Richter thought, maybe the kindir was just used to people threatening his life. That was entirely possible. 

“An acorn,” Richter repeated incredulously. “It was just an acorn?”

“Yes,” the kindir answered smiling. There was no malice in his expression, just an easy happiness, “Can I have it back?”

“What?” Richter asked in disbelief. Who the hell would ask for something like that back? Then a much more worrying thought occurred to him. He’d just taken a nut to the face, grown weak in the knees, and now his ass hurt.  The metaphysical implications were not making him happy. For just a moment, he considered ending the kindir’s life. If he was being honest, it was more like five whole moments, but in the end, he decided not to kill the little man. Something which, in Richter’s opinion, was a moral triumph.

The chaos seed calmed himself before addressing Caulder again, “Okay, he shot me with an acorn, but no lasting harm was done. Did you retrieve my psi crystal?”

“Here you are, my lord.”  The sergeant handed the glowing jewel over.

Shinecatcher reached out to intercept it, “That is my crystal!” He quieted when Caulder cuffed him again. The kinder’s voice was high pitched like a child’s, furthering the overall impression that the man was just a teenager. Richter didn’t let himself forget what he had just seen, though. This was a Professional Bard. Contrary to popular belief, Bards weren’t just happy little guys in tights that strummed lutes all day. They were normally “catch-all” classes that had no issue employing Rogue tactics and skills. Shinecatcher’s status sheet proved that. He was level twenty-four in pickpocketing. Hell, the guy’s name proved that Richter should keep an eye on him. There was also the fact that the kindir had downed him in one shot and it had taken almost twenty guards to subdue him. Richter wouldn’t make the mistake of underestimating the thief. 

Richter put the crystal in his bag, out of the reach of the light fingered kindir and addressed him again, “I have several questions, but the most important is, how can you see in the mists?”

“Mist? What mist?” Shinecatcher asked, his eyes wide and innocent. 

“Do you see, my lord,” Caulder spat. “His people are all liars and thieves.  You should just let me-” The sergeant paused, hand patting his waist. “Where is my dagger?”

Shinecatcher began looking around as if he was trying to help find it, all the while sawing through his bonds with the very item that was missing. 

“Gaaahh!” Caulder shouted. He snatched the blade back and pounded his gauntleted fist on the kindir’s head. Shinecatched dropped to the ground, dazed. 

“Sergeant!” Richter sharply admonished the man. “We need him alive and coherent to get answers. Control yourself!”

“I apologize, my lord.” His tone was recalcitrant, but he still glared bloody murder at the addled kindir. “You must understand that in some countries, kindir are killed on sight.” 

“Be that as it may,” Richter said, “try to be cool.”

Caulder nodded in acquiescence, but didn’t let down his guard. At least when he helped the small fellow back to his feet, he wasn’t overly rough, Richter though.

A few minutes later, Shinecatcher had recovered enough to speak again. Richter repeated his earlier question.

“Oh these mists,” the kindir said, looking around. “I use my eyes to see through them.”

Heading off Caulder’s inevitable retaliation, Richter spoke up. “Look, I don’t have time for this. My people are in trouble. You tried to steal my gem, but I’m willing to just let that go. What I absolutely have to know however, is how you are immune to the magic of mists.” He looked earnestly at Shinecatcher. “I am the lord of these lands and if there is a problem with the enchantment protecting my village, I have to know. I don’t want to hurt you, but I will. Believe me when I tell you that I will do whatever I must to safeguard my people.”

A look of consideration crossed Shinecatcher’s face. Then he spoke in a bargaining tone, “If I tell you, will you give me back my gem?”

“It is not yours you little bastard,” Caulder spat. This time he turned the kinidir around to face him and put his hands on both of the gnome’s arms so he could get some serious shaking done. Before he really got into it though, Richter spoke up again.

“Dude! You have got to chill out!” Caulder looked up like he’d forgotten Richter was there, but he nodded and turned his captive back around. He looked a bit sheepish, when his liege said, “Woosaa bra! Wooo-saaaa.” The sergeant had no idea what his lord was talking about, but was used to Richter’s strange references by now and got the general tone. He took a deep breath and calmed himself. 

One of the archers chuckled slightly, but cut off when Richter looked at him sharply and said. “Not helping.”

The guard looked down and said, “Sorry, my lord.”

Richter just shook his head, “Read the room guy.” With a heavy sigh, the chaos seed looked at Shinecatcher again. “You cannot have the gem, but if you tell me what I need to know, then I’ll give you this.” He reached into his Bag of Holding and pulled out a high steel dagger enchanted with Life Damage.

The kindir’s eyes lit up, “Oooooh. Is it enchanted? It is enchanted! What is it enchanted with? Wait, let me guess. Is it a dagger that causes boils? Does it cook meat while you cut with it? Can it make you stop farting? Can it make you start? My uncle makes a stew that does that.” His grin widened and he drew in an excited breath, “I could call it the stew dagger!”

Richter looked at the little man in amazement. That entire speech had only taken about five seconds. He had no idea how the kindir’s little chest had been able to hold enough air to say all that in one breath. Holding up a hand quickly to stop any further guesses, he said, “It’s a High Steel Dagger of Life Damage. It will be very effective against Death creatures.”

“Ooooooooh,” Shinecatcher said, even longer this time. The kindir reached for the dagger, but Richter kept it out of reach. His head still throbbed. If that really had been what the Bard could do with just an acorn, he wasn’t eager to arm the kindir with a blade. 

Shinecatcher looked at the blade for another few seconds, until another considering look came into his eyes, “Are good at killing undead?”

“We do not have time for this, my lord,” Caulder protested.

Richter raised a hand to quiet him. The sergeant wasn’t wrong, but his trade skill had just activated. He could “smell” that there was a deal to be made. “We kill undead,” Richter answered.

“I live that way,” Shinecatcher said, pointing south. “There is a cave full of undead that has appeared near my people. If you agree to destroy the boners and groaners, I will tell you how I can see in the grey now. I’ll even share the recipe. Oh, and I get to keep the dagger. Will you help? I’m know my people would really appreciate it!”

Unbidden, a prompt appeared in Richter’s vision,

You have been offered a Quest: Helping Hand I. You have just encountered a new race. The kindir are somehow immune to your settlement spell, Confusing Mists. Shinecatcher says he will tell you the secrete of the immunity if you destroy a nest of undead near his home. Though it is unclear what type of Death creatures there are, you assume ‘boners’ and ‘groaners’ might mean skeletons and zombies. On the other hand, you could be completely wrong. What does seem clear is that the secret has something to do with a potion, from what the kindir let slip about a “recipe.” To accept this quest, you must give the Life dagger to Shinecatcher. Reward: Secret of Shinecatcher’s immunity to the mist. Increased Relationship with his people. Penalty for failure or refusal of Quest: Unknown. Do you accept? Yes or No? 

Richter read through the quest, before he made a decision though, he needed to know something, “How far away do your people live?”

“Oh not far,” Shinecatcher said shrugging.

Richter sighed. He needed a better answer. The problem was that his domain extended south for another seven or eight miles. He pulled his map out. “Can you show me?” He mentally positioned the map so that it only showed the southern half of his domain. After a minute of studying it, Shinecatcher pointed with his finger at a spot only three miles south.

Map Updated! Kinder settlement now added.

A new icon appeared on the map. It looked like a tiny hut, and was well within Richter’s domain. “How long have you all been there?” he asked. Was there really a whole settlement of people that he just had no idea about? With a ten mile radius, his domain was over three hundred miles of untouched wilderness so it wasn’t outside the realm of possibility, but it did make Richter uneasy. Even if the kindir weren’t a threat, it didn’t mean that other settlements wouldn’t be. Exploration was still something that needed to be stressed. 

Shinecatcher shrugged again, unaware of the chaos seed’s concerne, “We come and go, but usually come back at least once a year.”

Richter shook his head. The man was a veritable font of information. The quest prompt was still hanging in his vision. One thing was sure, he needed to know how the kindir could see in the mist. He really didn’t want to torture the guy to find out, and it was clear he wasn’t about to just tell him. There wasn’t really a choice, he had to accept the quest. 

Before he didn’t though, he’d see if he could add in his own proviso, “I will accept your offer if you promise to tell your people first, and you come to my village and guide us there in three days.” This guy was definitely a little squirley. If that was indicative of his people, then it was entirely possible that they might start shooting Richter’s war party full of something a lot worse than acorns when they got close.

Shinecatcher seemed to ponder the idea for a moment before saying, “Well I was planning on heading into Law to sell this new crystal I found.”

Caulder started shaking the man. Really shaking him! The kindir was doing a bobble head impression for a good three or four seconds before Richter held out his hand to stop the sergeant. It had the desired effect though. 

After blinking several times, Shinecatcher looked back at Richter, “After much consideration, however, I agree to your terms.”

“Say it two more times,” Richter said. “Or,” he added sharply, before Shinecatcher could protest, “I will let Sergeant Caulder try and get the information out of your now. This quest will help both of us, but I need to be absolutely sure that you will return. I will have your vow.” His tone was as hard as steel. 

For the first time, the innocence fled Shinecatcher’s face and his expression turned grave. He looked from Richter’s deadly serious face to Caulder’s smiling expression which was no less dangerous. He knew he was out of options. “I will appear at your village in three days time and guide you to my settlement. I swear it. I swear it. I swear it.”

“Thrice heard and witnessed,” Richter intoned. All of his men repeated the ritual words.

Shinecatcher has made you a Vow. Failure to do so when asked will cause a decrease in his reputation with all beings, and other unknown consequences. Keep in mind, your word means everything!

The quest prompt changed in Richter’s vision to include this new proviso. He selected “Yes.”

“We don’t have anymore time to waste,” the chaos seed said. He still didn’t like the idea of letting Shinecatcher go, but the truth was he’d been mostly bluffing. He and his men still needed to see the army safely back to the village, and this whole affair had lost them thirty minutes. Now that he had the kindir’s vow and the quest, he felt much better about letting him go. “Cut him loose.”

Cualder looked like he’d been asked to chew glass, but he did as he was told. Richter kept his part of the bargain and handed over the Life dagger. 

“It was great meeting all of you,” Shinecatcher said brightly. His previous serious expression disappeared like words on the wind. Now that he was free, he wasted no time and started walking away. Before he disappeared into the forest, he stopped and waved both hands at the warband, “Thanks for the daggers and I’ll see you soon!” There was a blade in both of his hands.

“Daggers?” Caulder repeated questioningly. Then his hand shot to his belt, finding only an empty sheath. “That dirty bastard!” He took a step towards the kindir, but the man had already disappeared into the forest. A mocking song rose into the air from the direction he’d gone, quickly fading away.

Shaking his head at the inanity of life, Richter told Caulder to just let it go. The biomancers had healed the few small injuries the guards sported, and everyone was almost at a hundred percent. A minute later, they were moving again, but the sergeant didn’t stop cursing for at least a mile. 

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 I hope ya’ll enjoyed Chapter 5! 

I know everyone is waiting for Book 7 and I'm writing every day :)

I promise I'll keep you updated!

And i hope you like the new format for status pages, this will be one of the changes for version 3.0 :)

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