Unbound

Kelpie Pie Consumed!

+5 AGL, VIT

Duration: 15 Minutes

"A buff? Huh." Felix chewed appreciatively and stared at the saucer-sized meat pie in his hands. "This is really good. What's a Kelpie? A type of fish?"

"Don't know the Kelpie?" The cook they'd just purchased from leaned over the stall counter and smacked a grease-stained etching of a half horse and fish creature. It wasn't particularly well made. "Shapeshifter, Elemental Type. Real common in the Hills, but you gotta catch 'em before they can get to land. Unless you like the taste of sour horseflesh!"

Felix slowed his chewing and looked down at the flaky pastry in his hands. A sheen of brown and blue infused the fillings, only faintly occluding the flaky meat. "Really."

Voracious Eye!

Name: Kelpie Pie

Type: Protein/Carbohydrate

Lore: Baked by Skilled hands, this dish is fortified by the essential Mana of the Kelpie, an Elemental shapeshifter that changes form depending on its contact with water. Effects have been increased due to applied Cooking Skill.

Effect: +5 Agility and Vitality for 15 Minutes

"Never had food good enough to give me a stat boost," Felix said.

"S'cuz you haven't seen a Journeyman Tier cook, that's why!" The man behind the counter flourished his hands, one of which was covered in flour and the other held a chef's knife. They quickly went back to kneading dough and chopping vegetables, fast and accurate and the man wasn't even looking. "If you travel north, to Prince Garin's lands, you'll be able to find Adept Tier chefs as well! They're the best in the Territory, by far! Some say they can boost three stats at once, by more than ten points!"

The man's boisterous words had actually drawn a crowd—on purpose, Felix didn't doubt—and they all murmured excitedly before hastening forward to buy one for themselves. By and large, Felix had spent time in some of the more rural portions of the Continent, and had little experience with the potential wonders the Continent offered on a wider scale. Excepting Ahkestria, of course, but he hadn't had any real chance to experience that city. Felix idly wondered if there were high Tiered cooks back in the city...and if he could arrange to have dishes sent through his Beacon.

"What do you think, Pit?" At his feet, Pit was basically vibrating with joy. His thin, Masked tail whipped back and forth fast enough to make a sound, and his tiny jowls oozed with drool. Two pieces of wax paper were on the ground, smeared with grease and little else, and Pit let out a warbling bark. Felix laughed. "It seems we both like them. Can I have another six?

"If the Gallant is payin', then I don't mind none at all!" the portly cook said with a hearty laugh. In a few short moments, the man slid another stack of greasy pies into Felix's hands. "I'll just send the bill to yer commander later."

Venali winced, but didn't stop them as Felix fed all but one to his Companion. Watching both of their Status screens closely, Felix was disappointed to see that the buff stacked neither effect or duration. At least it tastes delicious.

"Do you think you're full?" Venali asked. "You and your...your Pit?"

"Good for now," Felix said with a burp, and for the first time noticed one of the people in the crowd paying. The sign said the pies were a full silver penny, but he hadn't any real idea what that was worth. Apart from the fact that he only barely understood Hierocracy currency, let alone the Ghreldan Hills', Felix hadn't had to pay for...anything in a while. "Huh. I feel a bit bad letting you pay for us all this time. I can pay myself if you need—"

"No no, don't think of it, I offered," Venali said with a weak grin. "I make enough as a Gallant to offset it all."

"Uh huh," Felix said, before fishing around in his pocket for some loose coins. He kept only a few in some hidden pouches he'd Willed into the lining of his jacket, but hopefully it would be enough. He pulled out six silver swords—he had only a few copper stones, ten silver swords, and like two golden crowns—and placed them into the Half-Elf's hand. "Does this cover it?"

Venali gaped at the silver, before trying to shove all but one of them back. "M-more than enough! I cannot possibly take all this."

"Eh, keep it," Felix said with a shrug. "It'll make up for the other stuff Pit ate too."

"A-ah, alright then."

The Half-Elf mage had been leading Felix and Pit on a tour of the courtyard and festival events when Pit had stopped (again) at a food stall. The Kelpie Pies were the fourth such stop they'd had to make, and the first one that had more than just fish or fried water reed. Everything had tasted delicious, if heavily spiced, and the pies had been the best.

Children rushed around them, way more than Felix had expected, all giggling and chasing one another. The tenku was happy to join in, letting out trilling noises as he nipped playfully at some little Goblin girl's heels who shrieked in delight. Older folks watched on, small smiles on their lined faces that only lasted so long as the children were in view. Then their expressions—and their Spirits—deflated like leaky balloons, revealing an undercurrent of distress and tension that Felix could read even without his Affinity. Robes and dresses and tunics were torn or only hastily repaired, eyes were ringed with a darkness caused by more than lack of sleep, and more than one body was wrapped in bandages. For how fast people healed on the Continent, Felix had to assume those wounds were very recent—only a day old at most. Knights prowled the walls, a number that increased as the sky darkened into deep twilight. More than once, sounds far beyond Redoubt had reached Felix's ears: screams and splashes, though not from any Human throat.

Monsters. They're in the town itself. The broken walls in Low Side had told the tale, and as he reviewed them in his memory Felix recalled more than one sizable hole bored straight through. Monsters got in, people ran to higher ground to escape. He looked around, doing a quick count of the crowd. "Venali, how many people escaped the initial flooding?"

"We call it the Troubles," the mage said, gesturing Felix to keep his voice down. A few people shot them gaunt, thousand-yard stares and Felix grimaced in apology. "And not nearly enough. The water was bad, but it was the monsters that caused the real problems. That Bog-Lure, for instance; it's not the first thing to come washing out of the deep Hills, and it won't be the last."

"Oh aye, me caravan was swept away by some sorta bird-fish," a bespectacled man said. He was at their feet and slurred a little, and Felix jolted in surprise, having mistaken him for a mound of trash at first. He was wearing a ragged blanket over his shoulders and had an assortment of random junk spilled out onto another patchwork blanket in from of him. The man gave both Venali and Felix a sharp glare. "Had feathers and all, but fins too. Strange thing, and stranger still will come."

"Alright," Venali said carefully, before beginning to walk away. "I'm sorry for your troubles, sir."

"We'll all be sorry soon, mark my words."

"The Knights and the Gallants will protect us, don't you worry, sir," the mage said, still stepping slowly away. He gave Felix a pained, somewhat exhausted look before addressing the junk merchant again. "Just hunker down a bit, sell your...wares...and we'll get it all sorted out."

"The Knights! Hah! And the Gallant aren't any better! Weak! All of 'em!" The junk merchant was yelling now, though he didn't stand or jump or point wildly. "What about those snakes? Hm? What's the Knight Commander gonna do about them? They ate my cousin!"

"Snakes?" Felix asked, interest piqued. "What sort of snakes?"

"Huge ones that come prowlin' outta the water, hungry as a Primordial and twice as mean. My cousin saw one the size of a mountain range that came up just south of here before it swallowed him and his entire village!"

"And how did you hear about this?" Venali asked.

"My cousin told me!"

"The one who died?"

"The—wait, don't try and trick me! He knows what he saw!" The junk merchant stabbed a single, gnarled finger at the mage. "You Gallants are all the same! Thinkin' you're too good for us, too smart with all your fancy magics and high Intelligence. Some of us had to invest in Endurance for a livin'!"

At that point, the Knights in the crowd were noticing things. The junk merchant was raising such a stink it was hard to avoid, though everyone around them was doing their level best to ignore him. Grief and fear rippled through the crowd like a bad smell, or a lilting melody in minor key that drove everyone away. It was strongest of all in the merchant, and the man had tears dangling from the corners of his eyes. He'd clearly been through a lot, and the last thing Felix wanted to see was him hauled off for disturbing the peace or whatever. "Hey, Berek, listen."

The junk merchant looked up at Felix, surprised. "You know my name?"

"Who doesn't?" Felix smiled and spread his hands. Anyone with Analyze would have, but the guy was too upset, and a little too drunk, to think straight. "I also believe you. You're talking about the Naga right?"

"Yes! Exactly! The serpents what linger in the deeps. They woke up same time as this flood came on!"

"Those are myths—" Venali started, but Felix cut him off.

"Myths come true all the time," Felix said. "When was the last time you saw a desert flood?"

"I-I suppose you have a point, Mr. Veil. But the Naga are bedtime stories to scare children."

"My cousin saw 'em! I told you!" Berek the junk merchant repeated. "And I'll keep shoutin' it til someone listens!"

"Berek. We're listening. Truly." Felix said. "When I'm done with the Gallant here, I'll come back and I'll listen to your whole tale. Start to finish. Alright?"

Berek squinted up at him, and Felix noticed the man's glasses were half an inch thick and cracked. "And you believe me?"

Felix only nodded.

"Fine. But you'll listen to all of it!" Berek said, half threat and half request.

"Of course," Felix said, and mentally swiped away the notifications that popped up. "Stay outta trouble."

Negotiation is level 34!

...

Negotiation is level 37!

Felix led a stunned Venali away, into the crowd at out of the upset merchant's eye sight. He soon found Pit running in circles around a tall, thick pole that was being painted by several dozen children. A number of colored ribbons hung limp from the top, unmoving in the hot, humid air.

"That was astonishing, Mr. Veil," the mage said after a time.

Felix shrugged. "Hm? Oh, no it wasn't. Just had to defuse the situation a bit. Plus, I do want to hear what he has to say about those Naga."

Venali led him a bit further down, until they came into a quieter section by the inner wall, where a wide, wall-mounted fountain burbled into a deep basin. The spigot was shaped like a scaled lion of some sort and layered with a heavy green patina. "The Naga are tavern tales. They don't exist, but plenty of the Hillfolk think they do, so the point is moot I suppose. They'll report just about anything as Nagas in the waters, sending the Gallants and Knights running all over the Hills in search of rumors and fables."

"You don't think they could be real?" Felix asked. Garox and the Deepking are going to be so surprised to hear they're fake.

Blech. Snakemen are unnerving, Pit sent to him as he rolled in the dust. His rusty coat was thick with gray-brown dirt, and he kept working it in further.

Be nice. They're...not friends. Allies.

"There is a great many things located on the Continent that I have no handle on, Mr. Veil, but the Hills are where I've grown up. I have never seen a Naga before, and I never will." Venali snorted. "To hear the Hillfolk talk, a Naga encircles the whole of the world, end to end, biting its own tail within its mountainous jaws. Pure, idle fancy."

"Hm," Felix said, as noncommittally as he could. A part of him envisioned such a beast, and he begged the universe for it not to be true. Knowing his luck, Felix would have to fight it.

"I didn't mean to be short with the fellow. Honestly, the last few days have been rough on us all. That particular rumor drives me a bit mad, I admit. It's an excuse or false alarm put out to the Knights so often it's become a joke. The Naga stole my cattle. The Naga ate my kids. The Naga sank my whole village." Venali paused, taking a seat at the edge of the wide basin. "That one actually happened, though it turned out to be some young girl who discovered the Whirlpool Skill, somehow. We snatched her up quick for training...after we gave her a stern talking to, of course."

"Been wondering about that too. I've seen plenty of the Knights wandering around, but not a lot of Gallants," Felix said.

"Ah, yes. Well. The Gallant Lotus is a brother society of the Knights Ghreldan, as I said, but we are not afforded the same...luxuries as the Knights." Venali gestured vaguely before folding his hands on his lap, his rusty pauldrons sqeaking a little. "Most of us are water mages of some stripe, though there are life mages among us as well. Once we had an academy, best in the nine provinces, but now we all learn what scraps we can from the old, retired Lotuses in the Prince's third citadel, northeast of here. Villa Tevin, they call it, and there are only a handful of instructors. Most of the time, the younger, untrained mages are foisted on us out here in the Redoubts for field training. All in all, we've weaker, more common Skills, less Tempering opportunities, and few sure ways to get Titles. Not for lack of trying, mind you!" The Half-Elf laughed, blinking as if just realizing something. "Why am I telling you all this?"

"I've got one of those faces, probably," Felix said with a gentle smile. "Don't worry, I won't tell."

"It's not anything people don't already know. I'm just surprised I'm dumping this all on you. Nice as you are, Mr. Veil, I barely know you, so I apologize."

Felix only shrugged and offered a short laugh. "Venting to strangers is the best. You get it off your chest, and the stranger leaves, never to return. It's a great deal."

"True enough." Venali sighed. "All the Gallants are weaker than the average Knight, but we have our specialties. That is why we focus so much on support and battlefield control, Mr. Veil. Direct attacks do not work well for our society."

"That makes sense. Work with what you have, and all." Felix looked up, studying the stars as they started to peek out among the clear western sky. The night spread out above them like a dark shroud, slowly smothering the pinks, oranges, and yellows of the fading east. The sounds of roaring and splashing had faded a bit, likely due to the Knights firing a few volleys of arrows every handful of minutes. Curious, Felix stretched himself out, sounding his Affinity and Perception both toward the outer walls.

Huh. He tried again, but got the same result. That's interesting. That's a lot of wards.

The Redoubt wasn't huge, and Felix certainly couldn't encompass the whole thing with his senses at once, but just within his range he spotted six wards. The unsurprising ones were worked into the walls themselves, designed to kick back anything that tried to climb them. He could even sense the monster cores buried deep within them, banks of them all tied to an impressive looking array of some design. The details were fuzzy of course—he'd have to get a lot closer to check them out fully—but Felix no longer wondered how the fortress had repelled waves of monster attacks.

Other wards, however, were far more subtle. Felix probably even missed a few within his range, they were so quiet and unobtrusive. One was above them in the central, squat tower. He could just make out the edges of something blocking Perception Skills, like a fuzziness in the air. But there was another, located further down beneath them that was so strangely out of place that it was like a single dead, gray tooth amid a perfect white smile.

What's down there? Pit asked. I can't smell anything.

Felix stared a bit longer, attempting to work his senses beyond the shroud, to no avail. He stared so long that the mage was now peering at him curiously. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Being nosy. What's beneath us?"

Venali's face paled, like someone had drained him of all the blood he had. "How did you—"

Above them, the large, heavy bells began to toll.

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