Chapter 77: Isekai Life & Quiet Moment
When I awoke, it was by bright red rays of dawn sunlight angling into the treasure room from an arrow slit. It just so happened, my face was lying directly in the path of the beam. I shielded myself with my hands as I blinked the sleep from my eyes, and rolled over to face the darker half of the room. Awareness gradually came back to me, and I realized I could hear the soft sounds of snoring. Raszil was still sitting in place across from me, now with his chin resting on his chest as he slept.
I also noticed that someone had thoughtfully dropped off our packs just inside the doorway. As quietly as I could, I scrambled across the floor and carefully withdrew my spellbook. If I wasn't dead, and it was dawn, that meant we had all survived the first night of the siege, and if I was to be any use going forward I'd have to memorize a new host of spells. And with seventy minutes' worth of spell memorization ahead of me, there was no time to waste.
I mainly kept to what were quickly becoming my “classics”, spells that would let me control the battlefield or deliver lots of damage. Magic Missile in case I needed to damage a worg without hurting my allies, also Knock because one spell slot per level was exclusively for my school, so I had no choice in that regard.
As I studied, my thoughts drifted to what Raszil had said the night previous, about me not knowing what my followers really wanted... and to Calliope's spellbook. Once I had my spells for the day memorized, I lifted the more slender tome gently out of my pack, and flipped through until the beginning of the ESP spell. Would it be okay, to go around sensing the thoughts of my own followers, as a way to better lead them? Could I manage to keep my knowledge of that spell secret, if I did? I didn't have pen and ink ready at the moment, but with a bit of privacy it'd be easy to transcribe the spell and just never mention it.
I slipped both books away. The issue would have to wait, for now. We were in a siege, and there wouldn't be any point to worrying about this if we all died horribly.
In the time that I was concentrating on spellbooks, Raszil had slipped out, probably to do his own prayers and ask for his spells the day. Hopefully, healing spells- we needed them, badly, with Voss, Yua, and Raszil himself almost out of action. But even before we allocated our small amount of magical healing, I needed to know what the situation was, so I headed downstairs to figure out what the situation was.
Now that they were no longer boxed up in the one room, it seems that the former slaves of the goblins were taking the time to enjoy stretching their legs- Not only were there packs of farmers murmuring quietly to one another hanging out in the hall when I left the treasure room, the stairs were busy with people going up, down, or even just sitting on the steps.
I almost tripped over one of the latter, an old woman helping herself to some kind of soup or stew, and had to dance quickly down a few steps to keep my balance. Behind me, I heard the old woman given a throaty chuckle. “Didn't know you were the acrobatic type, boy.”
“I'm not,” I replied, turning to face Moruca. “You know it's dangerous to get in people's way when they're climbing stairs.”
Although it occurred to me that, as a bunch of country folk, these people weren't particularly practised in stairway etiquette.
The old woman grunted at me in turn, having another spoonful of soup. “These slaves have been eating better'n we have. I would die if I had to have another slice of sawdust bread.”
“I don't know if many of them would agree with you,” I replied, thinking of the mystery meat that was in the kitchen yesterday.
The old woman shrugged. “Being driven to rat once in your lifetime is good for you. Builds character. Makes you appreciate what hunger really feels like.”
I sighed. “Yeah, I guess so. Sorry I didn't check on you before I fell asleep last night.”
Moruca chuckled. “Somehow I've made it over sixty years without being tucked in by you, pretty sure I don't need it.”
“Fair enough. Do you know if the goblins attacked last night?”
“Aye,” she replied, around another mouthful of stew, “They charged us a couple times, but couldn't get ''round the barricade. Managed to spear a half-dozen or so through the murder holes. Got a few more when they retreated, but we had no light to see by when they retreated.”
“Retreated?” I asked, “You mean, back downstairs?”
The old woman shook her head. “In wee hours, there was a baying of wolves from the tree line. Their raiders comin' back, and somehow they figgered out what was going on in here. So they set their wolf buddies to howling, and all the goblins came streaming out of the tower. Those of us on guard at the battlements chucked some rocks and boiling water down on 'em. Only about twenty or so bodies left out in the mornin'.”
I rubbed my chin, and then had to dodge a cluster of laughing children going running down the stairs. “Where did they go?”
“Coins to cabbages that they're waiting inside the treeline, making ready to push on us tonight,” Moruca replied, toying with her spoon idly. “Find out real fast if we go huntin'.”
“We're not in a great position to sortie, while our best fighters almost on their knees,” I said thoughtfully, “We need to conserve our strength.”
“Aye, that tall dark elf-man Haseth told me your plan,” Moruca replied, “It's a good plan. Needs more dead goblins, though. Not sure about running off just because their wolves are dead.”
“Well, ideally, I'd like to nail the chieftain, too.”
The old woman chuckled again. “Nail him. I like that word. Nail him to the side of the tower and let the wind and rain and hunger do for him.”
“Uh, yeah, I guess,” I replied, suddenly uncomfortable. “I'm, uh, going to check on the others.”
I backed carefully away from Moruca and heading down the stairs still further, while the old woman chuckled at my sudden departure. “Hope you can get be some nails, Theodore, some good long ones!” she teased as I fled.
By then my stomach realized exactly what time it was. I slipped through the bent bars into the kitchen area, and got in queue for the vegetable stew that some of the ex-slaves were handing out. Once I had the hot bowl steaming in my hand, feeling a little like being in high school all over again, I glanced around for someone to sit with. I spotted Nievan and a few of the Ravenswatch sitting with Princess Kythaela at the far end of the room, and headed over there.
“Ah, Sir Theodore,” Nievan said with a nod as I sat cross-legged across from the princess, “We were just discussing you and your, ah....”
“Team,” I suggested, with a shrug, “Team is fine. Only good things I hope?”
“Actually, Her Grace was concerned about the level of disorganization among the former human slaves,” said one of the other Ravenwatch...men? “This is a tactical and logistical liability.”
“Yeah, you're right,” I replied between sips of the stew- it was a thin but salty, earthy mushroom broth, but it hit the spot just fine. “I'll talk to that old guy, Boss Gull. We should be prepared to leave as soon as possible once we have our opening, anyway, and these farmers wandering around doing whatever will be a problem when the goblins attack.”
A sudden thought occurred to me. “You said two of your Ravenwatch could use magic, correct?” I mentioned, “Do either of the know how that spell... I don't know it's name in Elven, but it creates the magical bolt that will always hit it's target?”
It was subtle, but Nievan's eyes darted in the direct of the princess for a moment before he replied. “Yes, most of our mages know that spell. I believe they may even had prepared it today. Why do you ask?”
“The goblin leader may be wise enough to actually besiege us than attempt an assault,” I explained, “So if that's the case, we may need to cut off the head, and then let one of their lieutenants make the stupid mistake-”
“Excuse me,” Princess Kythaela said suddenly, rising to her feet and striding off to one of the side rooms. Silently the two Ravenwatch other than Nievan rose and followed her obediently.
The two of us remaining had a long, awkward pause. Then, Neivan spoke, “Please forgive Her Grace, her time after being captured has been difficult on her.”
“Of course,” I replied, a little bewildered, “Can I ask what happened? I'm still a little foggy on the details of how you all came to be here.”
It was Nievan's turn to frown. “It's a long story... are you sure that you can time?”
“We're under siege, aren't we?” I shrugged, “Besides, the details might be important.”
Nievan took a deep breath, steeling himself to share the tale.
“His Grace the Mist King and the royal court learned of what was happening in what humans called the Lakelands some weeks ago,” he began, “That, well, it was only two back then, but two human villages had vanished. Most of the Mist King's ministers, as well as Prince Alwyn, His Grace's heir, argued that human problems were no real concern of ours, that we should look the other way. The minority of the court argued for some kind of investigation, or intervention, but they were supported by Princess Kythaela and the middle child, Prince Falaen. In the end, His Grace sided with the non-interventionists, and let it be.
“Then, we received word about the third village. The Princess was so incensed by her father's lack of action while people suffered, she ordered her bodyguards to accompany her while she did something about it.”
“That's you guys? The Ravenwatch?” I asked.
“The Ravenwatch serves the entire royal family,” Nievan explained, “We are the guardians of the entire royal family, but Sir Haseth and the rest of us here are from the unit that was assigned to protect Princess Kythaela. There were twenty of us, but now... well, we are sworn to protect Princess Kythaela, and Princess Kythaela was going to help the humans. So, too, must we go.
“With the amount of ground we were able to cover with our griffon mounts, we were able to identify the goblin threat and track down their source to this tower easily. We then made a plan- fly up under cover of darkness, to hide the griffons from their sentries, land two at a time on the roof, and then fight through the tower.”
I nodded. Maybe against normal enemies that would be a smart plan, but goblins were nocturnal and could see fine in the dark. They were also pitting twenty elves against hundreds of goblins, dozens of warg, the bugbears, and everything. We had the advantage of slowly whittling away goblin raiding parties for days, this assault Nievan described did not.
“Once they realized what was happening, the goblins and their allies came against us, hard. We were badly outnumbered. We would fight to the bitter end- we weren't stupid- but many of us were overwhelmed by charging goblins or brought to the brink of death and then healed by their shaman. Those of us who didn't die or escape, were trapped here. Don't misunderstand me, we fought well, extremely well, but the entire situation was a mistake.
“I and the other members of the Ravenwatch will help you to get get these humans away from here, to exterminate the goblins, and to rescue Her Grace the princess. You saved us from the very brink of despair, so we owe you that much.”
I nodded. “Sorry if this brought up any bad memories.”
The elf sighed. “Worry not. I hope knowing all the relevant details helps you. If you'll excuse me, I should check in on my charge. Please take the time to speak to Boss Gull and make your preparations for tonight. It seems like we have all day, but trust me when I say that there just never seems to be quite enough time to go around.”
---------------------------
Character Name: Theodore Esche
Race: Human
Class: Transmuter
Level (XP): 3 (7783/10000)
Hit Points: 7/7
Ability Scores
Strength 11
Dexterity 17
Constitution 8
Intelligence 17
Wisdom 13
Charisma 14
Weapon Proficiencies: Darts
Nonweapon Proficiencies: Direction Sense, Etiquette, Reading/Writing, Swimming, Tailoring
Spells Per Day:
1st Level- 3
2nd Level- 2
Spellbook:
(1st Level): Armor, Burning Hands, Detect Magic, Detect Undead, Enlarge, Featherfall, Magic Missile, Mending, Read Magic, Sleep, Tenser's Floating Disc, Wall of Fog
(2nd Level): Knock, Stinking Cloud
Spells Prepared:
(1st Level): Burning Hands, Magic Missile, Sleep
(2nd Level): Knock, Stinking Cloud
Equipment: Belt, Belt Pouch (Large, 3), Belt Pouch (Small, 4), Boots, Darts (23), Robes, Dagger, 5 Unidentified Gems, Backpack, Bag of Fine Sand, Hand Mirror, Hat, Hooded Lantern, Pearl (worth 100gp), Rations (10 meals), Robes (2), Signet Ring, Wedding Ring, Small Tent, Oil of Acid Resistance, mint green potion, Potion of Rainbow Hues
Money: 320 gp, 791 sp, 7 cp
Languages: Common, Elven, Dwarven, Orc, Goblin, Draconic, Dragonborn
Companions: Voss (Level 4 Fighter), Raszil (Level 3 Cleric/Level 3 Thief), Moruca (Level 3 Ranger), Haseth (Level 3 Fighter), Yua (Level 3 Paladin)
Elsewhere: Katriana (Level 3 Fighter, sister & wife), Ashryn (Level 3 Cleric, fiancee), Smokey Enna (Level 4 Fighter/Level 4 Thief), Bekker (Butler)
Sexual Partners: 5
Storage Chest: Alchemical Steel Broadsword, Alchemical Steel Bastard Sword, 299 pp, 2386 gp, 16 sp, 50 cp
When I awoke, it was by bright red rays of dawn sunlight angling into the treasure room from an arrow slit. It just so happened, my face was lying directly in the path of the beam. I shielded myself with my hands as I blinked the sleep from my eyes, and rolled over to face the darker half of the room. Awareness gradually came back to me, and I realized I could hear the soft sounds of snoring. Raszil was still sitting in place across from me, now with his chin resting on his chest as he slept.
I also noticed that someone had thoughtfully dropped off our packs just inside the doorway. As quietly as I could, I scrambled across the floor and carefully withdrew my spellbook. If I wasn't dead, and it was dawn, that meant we had all survived the first night of the siege, and if I was to be any use going forward I'd have to memorize a new host of spells. And with seventy minutes' worth of spell memorization ahead of me, there was no time to waste.
I mainly kept to what were quickly becoming my “classics”, spells that would let me control the battlefield or deliver lots of damage. Magic Missile in case I needed to damage a worg without hurting my allies, also Knock because one spell slot per level was exclusively for my school, so I had no choice in that regard.
As I studied, my thoughts drifted to what Raszil had said the night previous, about me not knowing what my followers really wanted... and to Calliope's spellbook. Once I had my spells for the day memorized, I lifted the more slender tome gently out of my pack, and flipped through until the beginning of the ESP spell. Would it be okay, to go around sensing the thoughts of my own followers, as a way to better lead them? Could I manage to keep my knowledge of that spell secret, if I did? I didn't have pen and ink ready at the moment, but with a bit of privacy it'd be easy to transcribe the spell and just never mention it.
I slipped both books away. The issue would have to wait, for now. We were in a siege, and there wouldn't be any point to worrying about this if we all died horribly.
In the time that I was concentrating on spellbooks, Raszil had slipped out, probably to do his own prayers and ask for his spells the day. Hopefully, healing spells- we needed them, badly, with Voss, Yua, and Raszil himself almost out of action. But even before we allocated our small amount of magical healing, I needed to know what the situation was, so I headed downstairs to figure out what the situation was.
Now that they were no longer boxed up in the one room, it seems that the former slaves of the goblins were taking the time to enjoy stretching their legs- Not only were there packs of farmers murmuring quietly to one another hanging out in the hall when I left the treasure room, the stairs were busy with people going up, down, or even just sitting on the steps.
I almost tripped over one of the latter, an old woman helping herself to some kind of soup or stew, and had to dance quickly down a few steps to keep my balance. Behind me, I heard the old woman given a throaty chuckle. “Didn't know you were the acrobatic type, boy.”
“I'm not,” I replied, turning to face Moruca. “You know it's dangerous to get in people's way when they're climbing stairs.”
Although it occurred to me that, as a bunch of country folk, these people weren't particularly practised in stairway etiquette.
The old woman grunted at me in turn, having another spoonful of soup. “These slaves have been eating better'n we have. I would die if I had to have another slice of sawdust bread.”
“I don't know if many of them would agree with you,” I replied, thinking of the mystery meat that was in the kitchen yesterday.
The old woman shrugged. “Being driven to rat once in your lifetime is good for you. Builds character. Makes you appreciate what hunger really feels like.”
I sighed. “Yeah, I guess so. Sorry I didn't check on you before I fell asleep last night.”
Moruca chuckled. “Somehow I've made it over sixty years without being tucked in by you, pretty sure I don't need it.”
“Fair enough. Do you know if the goblins attacked last night?”
“Aye,” she replied, around another mouthful of stew, “They charged us a couple times, but couldn't get ''round the barricade. Managed to spear a half-dozen or so through the murder holes. Got a few more when they retreated, but we had no light to see by when they retreated.”
“Retreated?” I asked, “You mean, back downstairs?”
The old woman shook her head. “In wee hours, there was a baying of wolves from the tree line. Their raiders comin' back, and somehow they figgered out what was going on in here. So they set their wolf buddies to howling, and all the goblins came streaming out of the tower. Those of us on guard at the battlements chucked some rocks and boiling water down on 'em. Only about twenty or so bodies left out in the mornin'.”
I rubbed my chin, and then had to dodge a cluster of laughing children going running down the stairs. “Where did they go?”
“Coins to cabbages that they're waiting inside the treeline, making ready to push on us tonight,” Moruca replied, toying with her spoon idly. “Find out real fast if we go huntin'.”
“We're not in a great position to sortie, while our best fighters almost on their knees,” I said thoughtfully, “We need to conserve our strength.”
“Aye, that tall dark elf-man Haseth told me your plan,” Moruca replied, “It's a good plan. Needs more dead goblins, though. Not sure about running off just because their wolves are dead.”
“Well, ideally, I'd like to nail the chieftain, too.”
The old woman chuckled again. “Nail him. I like that word. Nail him to the side of the tower and let the wind and rain and hunger do for him.”
“Uh, yeah, I guess,” I replied, suddenly uncomfortable. “I'm, uh, going to check on the others.”
I backed carefully away from Moruca and heading down the stairs still further, while the old woman chuckled at my sudden departure. “Hope you can get be some nails, Theodore, some good long ones!” she teased as I fled.
By then my stomach realized exactly what time it was. I slipped through the bent bars into the kitchen area, and got in queue for the vegetable stew that some of the ex-slaves were handing out. Once I had the hot bowl steaming in my hand, feeling a little like being in high school all over again, I glanced around for someone to sit with. I spotted Nievan and a few of the Ravenswatch sitting with Princess Kythaela at the far end of the room, and headed over there.
“Ah, Sir Theodore,” Nievan said with a nod as I sat cross-legged across from the princess, “We were just discussing you and your, ah....”
“Team,” I suggested, with a shrug, “Team is fine. Only good things I hope?”
“Actually, Her Grace was concerned about the level of disorganization among the former human slaves,” said one of the other Ravenwatch...men? “This is a tactical and logistical liability.”
“Yeah, you're right,” I replied between sips of the stew- it was a thin but salty, earthy mushroom broth, but it hit the spot just fine. “I'll talk to that old guy, Boss Gull. We should be prepared to leave as soon as possible once we have our opening, anyway, and these farmers wandering around doing whatever will be a problem when the goblins attack.”
A sudden thought occurred to me. “You said two of your Ravenwatch could use magic, correct?” I mentioned, “Do either of the know how that spell... I don't know it's name in Elven, but it creates the magical bolt that will always hit it's target?”
It was subtle, but Nievan's eyes darted in the direct of the princess for a moment before he replied. “Yes, most of our mages know that spell. I believe they may even had prepared it today. Why do you ask?”
“The goblin leader may be wise enough to actually besiege us than attempt an assault,” I explained, “So if that's the case, we may need to cut off the head, and then let one of their lieutenants make the stupid mistake-”
“Excuse me,” Princess Kythaela said suddenly, rising to her feet and striding off to one of the side rooms. Silently the two Ravenwatch other than Nievan rose and followed her obediently.
The two of us remaining had a long, awkward pause. Then, Neivan spoke, “Please forgive Her Grace, her time after being captured has been difficult on her.”
“Of course,” I replied, a little bewildered, “Can I ask what happened? I'm still a little foggy on the details of how you all came to be here.”
It was Nievan's turn to frown. “It's a long story... are you sure that you can time?”
“We're under siege, aren't we?” I shrugged, “Besides, the details might be important.”
Nievan took a deep breath, steeling himself to share the tale.
“His Grace the Mist King and the royal court learned of what was happening in what humans called the Lakelands some weeks ago,” he began, “That, well, it was only two back then, but two human villages had vanished. Most of the Mist King's ministers, as well as Prince Alwyn, His Grace's heir, argued that human problems were no real concern of ours, that we should look the other way. The minority of the court argued for some kind of investigation, or intervention, but they were supported by Princess Kythaela and the middle child, Prince Falaen. In the end, His Grace sided with the non-interventionists, and let it be.
“Then, we received word about the third village. The Princess was so incensed by her father's lack of action while people suffered, she ordered her bodyguards to accompany her while she did something about it.”
“That's you guys? The Ravenwatch?” I asked.
“The Ravenwatch serves the entire royal family,” Nievan explained, “We are the guardians of the entire royal family, but Sir Haseth and the rest of us here are from the unit that was assigned to protect Princess Kythaela. There were twenty of us, but now... well, we are sworn to protect Princess Kythaela, and Princess Kythaela was going to help the humans. So, too, must we go.
“With the amount of ground we were able to cover with our griffon mounts, we were able to identify the goblin threat and track down their source to this tower easily. We then made a plan- fly up under cover of darkness, to hide the griffons from their sentries, land two at a time on the roof, and then fight through the tower.”
I nodded. Maybe against normal enemies that would be a smart plan, but goblins were nocturnal and could see fine in the dark. They were also pitting twenty elves against hundreds of goblins, dozens of warg, the bugbears, and everything. We had the advantage of slowly whittling away goblin raiding parties for days, this assault Nievan described did not.
“Once they realized what was happening, the goblins and their allies came against us, hard. We were badly outnumbered. We would fight to the bitter end- we weren't stupid- but many of us were overwhelmed by charging goblins or brought to the brink of death and then healed by their shaman. Those of us who didn't die or escape, were trapped here. Don't misunderstand me, we fought well, extremely well, but the entire situation was a mistake.
“I and the other members of the Ravenwatch will help you to get get these humans away from here, to exterminate the goblins, and to rescue Her Grace the princess. You saved us from the very brink of despair, so we owe you that much.”
I nodded. “Sorry if this brought up any bad memories.”
The elf sighed. “Worry not. I hope knowing all the relevant details helps you. If you'll excuse me, I should check in on my charge. Please take the time to speak to Boss Gull and make your preparations for tonight. It seems like we have all day, but trust me when I say that there just never seems to be quite enough time to go around.”
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Character Name: Theodore Esche
Race: Human
Class: Transmuter
Level (XP): 3 (7783/10000)
Hit Points: 7/7
Ability Scores
Strength 11
Dexterity 17
Constitution 8
Intelligence 17
Wisdom 13
Charisma 14
Weapon Proficiencies: Darts
Nonweapon Proficiencies: Direction Sense, Etiquette, Reading/Writing, Swimming, Tailoring
Spells Per Day:
1st Level- 3
2nd Level- 2
Spellbook:
(1st Level): Armor, Burning Hands, Detect Magic, Detect Undead, Enlarge, Featherfall, Magic Missile, Mending, Read Magic, Sleep, Tenser's Floating Disc, Wall of Fog
(2nd Level): Knock, Stinking Cloud
Spells Prepared:
(1st Level): Burning Hands, Magic Missile, Sleep
(2nd Level): Knock, Stinking Cloud
Equipment: Belt, Belt Pouch (Large, 3), Belt Pouch (Small, 4), Boots, Darts (23), Robes, Dagger, 5 Unidentified Gems, Backpack, Bag of Fine Sand, Hand Mirror, Hat, Hooded Lantern, Pearl (worth 100gp), Rations (10 meals), Robes (2), Signet Ring, Wedding Ring, Small Tent, Oil of Acid Resistance, mint green potion, Potion of Rainbow Hues
Money: 320 gp, 791 sp, 7 cp
Languages: Common, Elven, Dwarven, Orc, Goblin, Draconic, Dragonborn
Companions: Voss (Level 4 Fighter), Raszil (Level 3 Cleric/Level 3 Thief), Moruca (Level 3 Ranger), Haseth (Level 3 Fighter), Yua (Level 3 Paladin)
Elsewhere: Katriana (Level 3 Fighter, sister & wife), Ashryn (Level 3 Cleric, fiancee), Smokey Enna (Level 4 Fighter/Level 4 Thief), Bekker (Butler)
Sexual Partners: 5
Storage Chest: Alchemical Steel Broadsword, Alchemical Steel Bastard Sword, 299 pp, 2386 gp, 16 sp, 50 cp
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