Chapter 7 - Pep Talks (Patreon)

(FYI: In the final book, this chapter is going to be chapter 1 and used as a re-introduction to some of the main chars.)

From my time in Grant’s Crossing I’d learned a few cardinal rules. Universal truths and acknowledgements of the cycles of the village, as it were. Where to find which persons at which hour. 10 AM meant that Gillem would likely be starting his turn at the bar, while Chertog was sleeping still. Even with this knowledge, however, nothing was set in stone. If, at any time, I needed to locate three different persons, odds were, one of them would be difficult to locate. Today was a happy exception to the rule, however. Within minutes, we managed to find Atlas, who was quickly infected by the mood and ready to go on an adventure. Not only that, but when we arrived at the agreed-upon clearing, Mia-slash-Darya was already waiting, shooting arrows at a distant tree.

At my request, we watched for a while. I had never actually watched her shooting arrows out of actual combat – and now I took it in, awed to the core. There was an economy of motion in her movements I’d be hard pressed to emulate in ten years. Pick an arrow and string it without even looking at it. Raise and draw the bow in one fluid motion. Sight along the arrow – for an infinitesimally short moment – and then let go. A short glance to confirm the trueness of the arrow, then repetition. One arrow after the other, they thunked into their targets – a handful of wooden marks left dangling from rope strung from a large branch. The test was incredibly difficult. Anything but a direct hit would cause the arrow to glance off and fail. Her precision was impressive though. Out of a full quiver, only a handful scored glancing blows and just a single one missed the mark entirely.

When she was done, the brawny half-orc set her bow down and finally noticed our presence. Self-conscious, she adjusted her braids and rubbed her hands on her clothes.

In order to forestall the worst of the awkwardness, I stepped forward. “That was damn fine shooting, Darya. Alright. Gather up, everybody. That includes you, Atlas." They were looking at each other, slightly akward. "Alright, get comfortable - we'll spend a bit chatting before we get going. Plan out tactics and get to know each other - stuff like that. Who brought snacks?" I looked expectantly at the others, who in turn looked at me like I was having a stroke. I grinned, "me, that's who. After the crappy food from Nerit, I figured we earned something good. Sorry, Arack, but Steager cabbage soup? Urgh." I emptied the inventory of the foodstuffs I'd ordered from Gillem earlier and watched in delight as their faces perked up. "Alright, that's roasted and salted nuts, two types of sandwiches, some roasted dark bread things I don't even know what are and each type of fruit Gillem could come up with. Dig in." So maybe I'd splurged. The look on their faces was worth it and they attacked the selection with gusto.

"First off. Introductions. Some of you guys don't know each other very well - so why don't you take turns and introduce yourselves and tell us how you excel, in or out combat."

Arack jumped up right away, pocketing a handful of nuts in the process. "Heeey. I'm Arack Nerdiz. I'm a damn fine thief, a good dancer and I'm also getting to be pretty amazing with my throwing knives. Oh, and I also hurt myself really bad as a kid, so I have like no muscles in my arms whatsoever. Look." She showed off her arms, completely unabashed - and started juggling the nuts in one hand. 

Lyle asked, "erm. That's impressive and all - but did you just say thief?

Arack smiled toothily. "Yup. Thief, cutpurse, pickpocket or sneak thief. You name it, I know how to do it. These hands might be tiny, but they're fast."

The curly-haired knight-to-be did not look impressed. "A gods-cursed thief? Am I the only one who has a problem with this?" He looked at the rest of us.

The tiny kobold didn't take it lying down, however. "Excuse me? Gods-cursed? I don't know what your problem is - it's not like I was going to steal from any of you."

“Like that matters? Arcangelo, I’m not going to - ”

I decided to step in before this got completely out of hand. "Lyle. Shut it.” The look on his face was shocked. He was probably expecting my support. “Lyle, I understand your thoughts. But you need to know this. When Arack broke her arms, the leaders of Nerit deemed her worthless and cast her out. Left her to fend for herself in a city where only the strong survive. Yes, she has robbed to survive. She’s pilfered, lied and tricked others. And I blame her not one whit. Would you have her lie down and die?”

He blanched, stuttering, “of course not. But to be proud of being a thief…”

“You’re not seeing this. She has managed to survive by being faster and smarter than several hundred of kobolds who were stronger and older than her. Kobolds who were forced to struggle for the same scraps each and every day. How could she not be proud?” In a softer voice, I addressed Arack, “Because I’m damn proud of you. Enough so to accept responsibility for one vivacious rascal of a kobold. Who is definitely not going to steal anything in Grant’s Crossing, ever. Right?”

Arack preened. “Why would I need to? Food aplenty and I can earn my keep as a fighter.” The last word came out with barely suppressed glee.

“There you have it, Lyle. Would you fault her for being proud of her accomplishments? For struggling to survive?”

Lyle looked crestfallen. “I – I didn’t know. I mean, of course-“

“I don’t blame you, Lyle. Besides,” I added with a lopsided smile, “you’ll get right along. Her humor’s every bit as horrible as yours.”

“Hey!” The two youngsters complained in unison and then stared at each other before bursting out in laughter .

“So… Lyle. We managed to derail this introduction. How about you go next?”

Put on the spot, Lyle blushed. ”Erm. Sure. I’m a knight. Or training to become a knight, really. I still haven’t found a proper trainer for…” He ground to a stop and groaned. “I swear I’m not as dumb as this, usually. Me Lyle. Smash monster!” He made a face and waved his mace in a threatening gesture. “I also have a couple of skills that let me stun or stagger enemies, or dish out some real damage. Oh, and I’ve made this awesome armor myself. Benneth helped.”

As he sat down, Darya jumped up, half a sandwich in her fist. “You all know me.” She cleared her throat. “I learned a few new things lately though. Traps. I’m getting good at traps – lethal and otherwise. Got a few new skills too. Have a hobbling shot, an armor-piercing shot and a tracking shot. Mostly I deal damage.” She shrugged. "That's all, I guess."

“You’re also good at scouting and a great teacher.” Lyle added.

“Hah. Whatever he’s paying you, he needs to double it.”

That was my cue. “Alright, before anybody gets any crazy ideas about wages – my turn. I’m all about damage and crowd control. If we manage to ambush somebody, even better – I’ll be able to charm somebody or put them to sleep before the battle starts. I've got a handful of good spells for combat - I just need an unimpeded view of the enemy. Oh, and protection. I'm weak and squishy," I finished with a grin. 

"This brings us to our last participant. Atlas." At hearing his name, he managed to raise his head from where he was lying before it plonked back down. "You wouldn't know it from looking at him, but he's pretty deft in combat. His poison spit is powerful enough to knock out most enemies - and obviously, his camouflage is efficient enough that he's rarely ever spotted. He's pretty much the perfect scout." The perfect scout stretched at the sound of all the praise and promptly fell asleep.

I sat back down and grabbed a sandwich for myself. Between bites, I gestured at everybody. "So - strategy time. I've got a couple ideas, but - mmh - this sandwich is good enough that I'd like to hear from you guys first."

Darya was quick to enter the discussion. "The way I see it, there's not too much strategy to discuss. We've got tons of ranged damage and one close combat specialist. So this will be a game of Lyle holding the fort. Meanwhile,  the rest of us will stun, incapacitate and otherwise make the day worse for any enemy who tries to get past Lyle. As for when there's only one enemy, it'll be important for Lyle to present his side to us, so we have a clear line of sight. What else... hmm. Oh yeah, the rest of us should spread out as much as possible in order to avoid friendly fire."

Lyle and Arack nodded and I prodded them a little. "How about you guys? Anything to add?"

Arack frowned. "Yeah. I mean, I agree with everything and all. It's just... this only works for enemies where we get the jump on them and they don't have any spells or ranged weapons."

Lyle pointed at Arack, nodding. "What she said. Also, plans have a tendency to go south at first charge. Especially our plans. Right, Arcangelo? We probably need a back-up plan or something."

"Hear hear. It shouldn't be too complicated, however. We'll figure out something. As for ranged attacks or spellcasters, I believe we're pretty well equipped. In any shoot-out, I'd put my money on Darya's accuracy and the ability of Arack and myself to not get hit."

Lyle snorted. "What? You dodge like an old woman."

I was forced to show him the effects of Veil of Sound before we could continue. "I have two additional suggestions that I wanted to talk over with you all. First one: any of you have any Leadership skills? No? I do have a handful, but I haven't exactly chosen a set course for how to develop those skills." I lined out the general routes for the trio.

Lyle pondered out loud. "Defense. I'd definitely go with defense. Possibly some magic defense too. Yeah, I know. What a surprise from the kid with the heavy armor. But I mean, the lack of armor on Arack and you is an issue - so shouldn't any possible remedies be used to help with that?"

Arack looked like she was about to dispute what Lyle said, but instead she let her arms drop to her sides. "I... can't really argue with that."

Darya just nodded, once, and I smiled. "Well, that was easy. It's agreed. From here on out, every improvement goes to defense. Once I finally improve enough as a bard to learn my group buffs, we should see some real results around here.  Now, my second suggestion is different. It's a personal one and it revolves around you, Arack.”

The young kobold looked surprised. “What, me? But you already know what I can do?” She narrowed her eyes. “I said I wasn’t going to steal anything…”

I shook my head with a smile. “Not about that. This is about potential. You’re training to become proficient with those throwing daggers, right? On top of that, if you learn to craft some poison, you’d be downright deadly in a battle. Still, like an old friend called Logen once said: You have to be realistic about these things. Your lack of strength introduces some problems. Say you’re in a battle with somebody who carries heavy armor or is impervious to poison. That would leave you in dire straits, right – like that unfair fight your warrior trainer forced you into?”

She looked like she’d eaten something foul. “Yeah. I guess. That would suck.”

I nodded. ”That’s why I want you to start using these in combat right away – get used to using them right away.”

She caught the item I tossed at her with remarkable agility and squinted. “A… ball. Made of clay? Not too heavy either. I don’t get it. Even a direct hit on the weakest kobold would only annoy him.”

“Yup. That one’s for getting you used to the weight and for using it in action. I’ve brought a full bag for you. This is the real deal.” I – carefully – handed her a crafted version. “This one will cause a tiny amount of damage to whoever it hits and additional damage over time. And it ignores armor. It’s not all I can craft either. Poison damage, decreasing movement speed, you name it. This, combined with a brace of poisoned throwing daggers. That’s what I’m suggesting. So, what do you say?”

The gleam in her eyes told me everything I needed to know. “You’ll give me these? For nothing?”

”What? Would you pay for them? In that case, how much would…ouch. Hey!” My outburst was caused by Darya pelting me with nuts. I raised my hands in defense, laughing. “Of course it’d be for nothing. You’re one of us now. And the more materials we can find from animals today, the more I can create and improve my craft.”

“Yesss. How many have you got?”

“I’m almost out, to be honest. I’ve got these. (antal+type). I’d say today is more about you learning how to use them effectively in combat. Maybe use the practice ones along with your knives and save these for effect?”

Her hands shot out and greedily accepted the bag along with the crafted bombs. “Ooooh yes. Thracken watch me, this will be fun!”

We spent a while working on the backup plans, chatting over a set of different scenarios. What to do if we were ambushed or surprised, if we were outnumbered or outmatched, or faced a range of different setups. I blessed the grueling hours in Nerit spent training with Darek, the peg-legged old grouch, going through a multitude of different scenarios. While I had complained about the difficulty at the time, right now it paid off. We managed to arrive at a number of plans and assign each of our roles.

Brushing crumbs off my lap, I smiled at the group. “Well, that went swimmingly. How about we test it out in practice?” The chorus of assent caused Atlas to rouse and lift his head with a grouchy demeanor, to the mirth of everybody else. I gestured to Darya, “how about it, Darya? Did you manage to get a list of targets from Benneth?”

She nodded, eagerly. “Yeah. We’ve got a few possible marks. South-southwest. We've got a family of Gareads who're moving in and getting cozy. They're herbivorous-"

Lyle interrupted, "oh, damn. That's bad news, isn’t it?"

Darya gave him a long look. "Really?” When he just looked at her, she relented, “We have got to find you a teacher, Lyle. It means they’re plant eaters.” At the crestfallen look on his face, her scowl faded. “Oh, relax, Lyle. You just stick with me and we’ll take care of your education.” She cleared her throat. “Gareads are large, deer-like, but muscled like oxen and with a thick skin. They aren’t aggressive as such– but they are very territorial and if they’ve established themselves, we’ll need to remove them. Should be pretty easy.” She pointed in another direction, “maybe an hour straight south we have a different type of challenge. A family of Spitgyres have been spotted traveling along the river. Loathsome beasts, from what he tells me.” She grimaced. “The final mark could be… interesting, if what Benneth says holds true. It’s a couple of hours straight west. Let’s save that one for when we’ve handled the first two groups, though. Heh. You’ll like this part, Arcangelo. Benneth says the village is willing to pay a bounty based on how well we do.”

[offered new quest. Pest Exterminators.

Benneth, on behalf of Grant’s Crossing, has pinpointed three local threats. Given that the removal of these threats is of benefit to the village, you will be rewarded based on your success.

Reward:

150 xp per threat removed

Unknown – based on success]

“Niiiice!” I fished out my violin and started playing a happy little ditty. “Attaboy. Roll out.” We slowly got up, picked up the remnants of our meal and started walking west.

Lyle mused, “roll out. What does that even mean?”

“Nothing. Nothing.” Still, I watched the hint of a smile hidden behind Darya’s fake cough and couldn’t help but smile myself. She got me.