Chapter 26 – Leavetaking (Patreon)

That night, the basement was crowded as ever. Darya had finished her quest and following some persuasion, Darek agreed to allow her entry. I had a feeling there was a saying hidden somewhere in that. 'Feed a kobold for three weeks....something something.' The mood in the room was cheerful. Especially Arack was practically bouncing with positive energy

The kobolds took to her right away and she was currently in the middle of retelling her final experience. "So there I am, in this dark cave. Dust and filth everywhere. I'm dead sure that I'm in the right place, because there are tracks everywhere, except I can't find the bloody thing. It's supposed to be this huge beast, slow as death, and I just. Can't. Find it. It's not like it's a huge cave system either. An entrance followed by a large, long cave. And that's when it happens."

Arack was sitting on the edge of her crate, barely breathing. "What? What happened."

"I hear a clicking noise. From straight above me."

"Noooo."

I kept my peace, enjoying the tale as well as the enthusiasm of my friends. Thinking back to the day I first met Darya, it was hard to compare the two images - the standoffish savage versus the mirthful storyweaver before me. I shuffled a bit closer and rested my hand on her shoulder. She took my hand and continued.

The laughter died down after she finished her story and Darek cleared his throat. "Thank you for that Miss Darya. Sometimes we forget the simple pleasures in our daily rutines." 

Muriel mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like "Some of us maybe," 

Darek pressed on, oblivious. "We need to discuss something of a more serious nature now, however." He faced me. "Over the past couple of weeks, we have been discussing the future. Arack's future, to be precise. And we would ask you to take her with you, when you leave."

Taken aback, I folded my arms over my chest. "Erm. You mean like with whoever else chooses to leave Nerit? That wouldn't be..."

Muriel interrupted. "No. I don't trust the other Fallen farther than I can spit. We want you to bring her with you like a companion. Take care of her. Teach her. Show her the world. Most of all - protect her. Please!" He must be able to tell my thoughts from my face, because he continued, more earnest than I'd ever seen him. "Listen, there is no future for a Fallen here in Nerit - it's a slow death, and we both know it. A few twisted persons thrive in these kinds of places - and some old farts are just too old to change scenery at this point. Arack's different though. If she gets out now, she might grow up to become a good person. Not here though. So please: Help her."

Helpless, I looked back and forth between Darek and Muriel. Both radiated solemnity but kept quiet, waiting for an answer. I turned towards Arack. "How about you? Is this what you want?"

With a grave face, she nodded. "I love my family - but we agree on this. I don't really want to grow up in a city that hates me." She leaned forward and whispered in a theatrical whisper, loud enough for everybody to hear. "Also, I want to experience some fun. These two old farts are so dull!"

Darek grumbled. "Don't make me change my mind, kid." The smile in his voice was easy to discern, however.

Arack continued. "I mean it though. I'm definitely going to visit from time to time, but I don't want to grow old without leaving Nerit. Please take me with you." 

I could feel my resolve wavering before those wide, innocent eyes. "You'll respect whatever rules I set?"

She nodded solemnly. 

My fingers started rubbing my temples by themselves as I looked for a way to slither away from the responsibility and found none. “You are going to regret this. All of you. But if you insist, there’s one thing I need you to do above all else.” I picked up the helmet I’d received as a quest reward and handed it to her. “Take care of yourself and don’t do anything stupid.”

Arack looked at the helmet for a moment. Then tears welled in her eyes, and she flung herself at me. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

It took me a while before I could disentangle myself from her – Exogenics needed to find their hugs to handshake algorithm and turn it way down. Still, she was a good girl, and I was dead sure she’d be a great help in the future.

An hour later, everything was agreed upon and I had somehow gained another NPC companion. So that had been the point of that weird phrase from the quest. ‘New training venues and possibilities have been made available.’ indeed!

I did pull Muriel aside at some point. “Listen, we need to talk business for a bit.” 

“More crime? I’ll have to check my schedule.”

I grinned at him – I was going to miss his devil-may-care behavior. “No crime this time.” I tossed a tiny item his way. “It’s payback. ‘The occasional gift, freely given’ were the words, I believe.”

The stocky lizard picked the glinting stone out of the air with a nonchalant attitude. When he saw what it was, his eyes widened, however. “That’s...the gem you nicked from Derth. Do you have any idea what this is?”

“Nope. And I prefer to keep it that way. Let’s just call it my miniscule gift to Darek and you to tide you over for the winter.”

He pocketed the item right away. “Next winter as well. Archangelo...I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m actually going to miss you. It’s going to be tragically dull without you.”

We shared a laugh at that. Somehow, I doubted that things would ever be boring when Muriel was near.

A while later, I was lying on my back, perusing Arack’s character sheet. 

Character Info:

Name: Arack Nerdiz

Race: Kobold

Class: Rogue, Level 3 – experience towards next level: 1260/3000

Crafting Class: Alchemist, Novice

Gathering Class: None

Deity: None

Stats and Attributes:

Health: 70/70 (+10)

Mana: 80/80 

Stamina: 70/70 (+10) 

Strength: 4 

Perception: 11 

Endurance: 7 (+1)

Charisma: 8 

Intelligence: 8

Agility: 18 (+3) 

Luck: 8

Skills:

Skill Name            Level        Rank               Stat

Acrobatics            12              Apprentice    Agi.

Alchemy                 3              Novice           Int. 

Barter                     3              Novice           Cha. 

Blackmail               1              Novice           Cha. 

Brawling                 1              Novice           Str. 

Lore:                       4              Novice           Int. 

- Crafting   Lore    4               Novice           Int. 

- History                1                Novice          Int. 

- Local   Lore: Dawnlight Forest   4 Novice Int. 

- Religion              2                Novice          Int. 

Piercing   Weapons 8            Novice          Agi. 

- 1-h   Weapon        12            Apprentice   Agi. 

- Dual   Wielding     3             Novice         Agi. 

- 2-h   Weapon        2              Novice        Agi. 

Sleight   Of Hand    11            Apprentice  Agi

Spot                          8             Novice        Per. 

Stealth                     13            Apprentice  Agi. 

Teacher                     2             Novice        Cha. 

Throwing                  16            Apprentice  Agi. 

Tracking                    5            Novice         Per. 

- City                         3            Novice         Per. 

Traps                         2            Novice         Agi. 

Unarmored Dodge   19          Apprentice  Agi.

Traits and Achievements:

Naturally agile: Kobolds have been blessed by nature with exceptional dexterity, making them extraordinarily quick and agile. Kobolds gain +1 Agility for each level gained.

Heat Vision: The vision of kobolds grant them the ability to perceive differences in temperature alongside their regular vision. This can be a matter of life and death, allowing a kobold to pick out enemies or animals among vegetation.

Impolite society: Your average rogue will be denied entry to a large part of polite society. However, in the lower ranges of society, the thieves guilds have different standards – and here, a rogue is always welcome.

Mark of Anathema: The carrier has been labeled Anathema to the kobold race. The mark singles them out and followers of Thracken will know that she is casteless, worth less than dirt. This mark is permanent, and can only be removed by a priest of Thracken.

Apprentice Rogue: Agility based skills increase 3% faster.

Permanent damage: The muscles in your arms have suffered serious damage and can never be restored to their former strength. As a result, you have learned to rely heavily on your nimbleness. Strength reduced by 3. Agility increased by 3.

Survivor: You have suffered through more pain than the average warrior and have been hardened from the process. You are able to shrug off pain that would leave most people crying. +10% pain resistance.

Those were definitely some interesting combinations – and that Unarmored Dodge skill! I loved how she’d taken her weakness and changed it to be her strength - she was fragile as hell, though. Weird to see a Rogue without Lock Picking of course, but it made sense. A couple of ideas were already brewing in the back of my head on how to optimize her build. 

A slap to the wrist brought me back to the presence. Darya had insisted we move our bed rolls back to the classroom for privacy. "You know, ignoring a lady is rude."

I laughed. "Sorry. I just can't get used to the fact that I'm suddenly playing the role of step dad to a teenage kobold."

She poked my nose. "And a good thing you agreed or I would have told you a thing or two." She slowly moved in closer, scrutinizing my features. Then she gave me a long kiss that left my head spinning. "We might be able to make a decent person out of you still." Following that, the conversation became less intelligible and the curtain slowly faded to black.

The following day was a day of preparations and goodbyes. This time, however, I made no effort at hiding. Everywhere I went, Anathema had questions they wanted answered. "Where would we live? Who would feed us? How about clothes?" Unfortunately, I could deliver little on that account - to a certain degree I was winging it myself. From what I could discern, however, they were mostly looking for reassurance - and that I could deliver. So I told them about Grant's Crossing, its people and possibilities. I had to spend a couple of hours with the Chief, arranging for the practicalities and meeting the two persons who would accompany me. One of them would act as a diplomat, and the other as a merchant, representing the crafters of Nerit.

At some point, however, I noticed that I was just wasting time - I had nothing I needed to do. No practical issues either, since I was dragging all my earthly possessions with me anyway. Hell, I'd even spent the time to visit old Oath and have that philosophical discussion he'd been talking about. He was an argumentative type and set in his ways, but he did have some good points. I also told Oath that I'd be stealing a bunch of Anathema, but of course he already knew. 

He took it well - his only admonishment was for me to take care of them and not have them stray too far from Thracken. "In a way, it will be an admission of defeat for them - accepting that they will never regain status in the eyes of Thracken. However, I would ask of you to remind them of two things: That this does not mean that the teachings of Thracken are worthless or that they should stop striving to meet his rules. Merely that the path towards obtaining his wisdom will be different." 

That night, I couldn't sleep. Darya was spending the night among the hunters - she wanted to say goodbye to some of the friends she'd made among them. My mind was restless, filled with fragments of to-do-lists and unanswered questions. This game, man. Every time I found answers to some of the larger questions, the scope expanded. Heh. Good thing I still had about 22 months of playing time left.

I am not going to dwell on the morning. There were a few attempts at talk, but they died down quickly. Even Arack was subdued, spending most of her time staring at the ground. The final goodbyes were emotional and heartfelt - and I could feel my resolve wavering the longer the moment was drawn out. In the end, however, a tearful Arack plodded silently along with me. I let my hand rest on her shoulder, keeping quiet for once. The moment I stepped outside the city gates, my language quest concluded and I was thrilled to see the rewards for my hard work.

[Congratulations. You have completed the quest: "When in Nerit..." (Chronicler quest)

Within three weeks, you have managed to obtain an Intermediate level of mastery in the Kobold language, both orally and written.

Reward:

You have received 400 experience points. Experience towards next level: 2745/4000

+2 to Chronicler skill]

Wonderful. That crossed the threshold for Apprentice to the Chronicler skill and I immediately checked out what that meant.

[You have crossed the threshold to Apprentice Chronicler. From now on, you will be permitted limited access to Chronicler Repositories all across Neyrus, upon passing a simple test.]

I nodded to myself in satisfaction. So the Chronicler Class wasn’t going to grant all sorts of buffs, items and whatnot all the time – mostly access to additional quests, experience and knowledge. I still counted myself lucky for finding it. 

We had told everybody to gather right outside the city gates. The morning was sunny, with not a cloud in sight - in short, perfect weather for traveling. The moment I stepped outside the gates, however, I had to sit down. There were people everywhere. At most, I'd expected twenty Fallen to be ready to leave everything behind, but here? We were at least fifty, not counting Darya and the Chief's people.

The trip back to Grant's Crossing was a different animal than the trip out here. The keyword being 'slow'. Everything took longer time than you'd expect. First was the fact that most of the Anathema were malnourished and not in the best of health - that meant we had to cut down on the distances and walk slow. On top of that, we needed to forage for 60 people total - not an easy task and one that took up at least a third of each day. Finally, it seemed like every time we'd handled a distraction or finagled some small details that needed to be taken care of, a new one arose - and for some reason, people expected me to do it. Fortunately, I was surrounded by competent persons. Darya volunteered to handle all Fallen with Hunter experience and the Merchant helped keep the stores and arranging fair shares for everybody.

The Chief had been kind enough to arrange food for the first two days and it was a pleasure to watch as people slowly rediscovered their strength, spirits and former aptitude. Disregarding a few minor episodes, everybody pitched in admirably. From the third day onward, we'd become rather well organized. We had scouts up front to avoid any surprises, a loose smattering of Gatherers who spent  the day looking for anything edible and two roaming bands of hunters who strayed further afield looking for quarry. In short, it was a slow trek, but was turning out to be pretty comfortable.

On the fourth night, I managed to arrange a sleeping space for Darya and myself a bit away from anybody else. That allowed me to address a topic that had been preying on my mind. "Darya - I need your help." She cocked her head in query and I showed her the Council’s quest. 

["Winning Hearts and Minds." 

With the worst local threats eliminated, the Council of Grant's Crossing looks to expand their hold on the nearby area. In order to aid them, improve relations with either the Kobolds to the east or the local Harpy nest to the West.] 

"So, while the description was vague, I may have overstepped my boundaries - and I need to sell this to the Council. Otherwise, they might send the Fallen back to be mistreated in Nerit."

She looked at me, exasperated. "Do you ever think things all the way through?"

I barely stopped myself from bursting out in laughter at that. Things would probably look a lot different if I owned that quality. "That is one of my flaws - I'll have to own that. But honestly, what was I supposed to do? Leave them there to rot?"

She took my hand. "Of course not. And of course I'll help you. We will get this sorted - together."

And we did. Over the next few days, Darya and I spoke with everybody, made lists and discussed just how to best address the situation. I was amazed by the versatility of Darya's mind - she was much more of a people person than I'd imagined the first time we met. In the end, the trip took eight days, compared to the three days it took to get there in the first place. Still it was all worth it, and looking upon the frothy whites of the Jagged Rush, I felt an unexpected pang of nostalgia. It felt like...coming home. Albeit with benefits.