Chapter Two Hundred and Eight - Dine Hard

“Dig in!” I cheered.

Most of the crew, minus Steve and Oda, were spread out around the dining room table with their share of supper before them. We didn’t do anything special before eating, but somehow--without ever actually talking about it--we tended to wait until everyone had food on their plate before we’d dig in.

There were some nice noises of agreement from the others as they tucked in. The porridge seemed like a good place to start, and some were already cutting into their slices of grilled fish. “I need to thank Amaryllis and Awen, they helped a lot,” I said.

Everyone but the two girls slowed down and hesitated to continue eating.

“Aww, don’t be like that,” I said. “They’re getting better. I bet they might even get a cooking skill one of these days.”

“Oh, please no,” Amaryllis said. “That would be such a waste of a general skill slot.”

“Really? I wouldn’t mind it too much,” I said. “It’s not something too awesome, but it’s very practical. I still have a couple of general skill slots to fill, you know?”

“I do have some unused slots,” Amaryllis allowed as she picked at her fish. There were still bones and such in it, which made it tricky to eat. “I’m not sure if I should focus on more exploration-related skills, or some that would be more practical in the day-to-day.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Most people,” Bastion replied. “Will have to make a choice between obtaining skills to help them do the things they do every day, or skills that assist them with their work. Something like Sword-Fighting is a wonderful skill for a Paladin like myself, but it would be wasted on a Farmer. Likewise, I wouldn’t have much use for a Planting skill. But in both cases we’re assuming that a person is heavily specialized. If you’re not, then it makes sense to invest in skills that help you make your everyday life easier.”

“It’s a trade, then,” I said.

Bastion nodded. “That’s it. The best people in their field are almost always those that have invested everything into being the best. Every class and every skill. They will be impressively good at the one thing they focused on, whatever that may be.”

I nodded along while I considered that. “I don’t know what I want to be,” I said. “I know what I want, but I’m not sure if I need any classes or anything to do that, just hard work.”

“I know that your answer is going to be some sickeningly sweet, idiocic tripe, but I find myself compelled to ask anyway,” Amaryllis said. “What’s your goal?”

“To make the best friends, and to make sure they’re as happy as can be,” I said.

Amaryllis rolled her eyes and Awen giggled. A few others at the table laughed, but I didn’t mind, it was a good laugh.

“I recall you mentioning wanting to be strong,” Amaryllis said.

“That too,” I agreed. “But I don’t need to be crazy-strong, just tough enough that people will hesitate to hurt my friends.”

Bastion hummed, then gestured to me with his fork. “Perhaps focus on skills that will help your role as a captain then. Leadership skills do help in a tight spot, and they’d assist you in your current role as captain, obviously.”

“Awa, maybe you should just accept the skill you get naturally? That’s what uncle does. He says that if you’re getting skills because you’re doing something you like, then those skills are the ones the World thinks you’ll enjoy best.”

“Huh. I guess that makes sense. It also means I don’t need to worry about it!”

“Moron,” Amaryllis said.

We continued eating, our constant yammering slowing us down a bit. On the far end of the table, Howard and Clive were having an in-depth discussion about fishing of all things, and Sally and Joe were talking to Gordon about different ports the harpy had visited.

I enjoyed the babble of conversation, it made the Beaver sound like a wonderfully happy place. Orange strutted down, walking on air as only a spirit cat could, and set herself down on Amaryllis’ lap and started purring up a storm.

“I suspect that we ought to plan our next steps,” Bastion said as he set his fork down. He always ate quickly, as if his meal might slip away at a moment’s notice.

“Do you mean the next part of the trip, or the next adventure?” I asked.

“I mean the Insmouth dungeon,” Bastion said. Howard looked over at that, and Bastion caught his eye. “Can you tell us more about it?”

Howard nodded before pulling a pipe out from his old coat. Clive already had his pipe out and was carefully pushing some stuff in it from a little tin jar on the table. “Our dungeon’s fairly old, but it was never one to grow fast. Three floors for the longest time. Four now. Not too many monsters, but plenty of tricks.”

“I see,” Bastion said. “What are the floors like?”

“Hmm,” Howard paused as he lit his pipe and took a pull while flicking out a match. It left the room smelling kind of smoky and fruity. Not the worst smell, but not the best. I let my Cleaning aura expand a bit to remove the smell. “The floors are all connected by this long, narrow cave. You can skip a floor, but it’s mighty dangerous.”

“Monster types?” Amaryllis asked.

“Large fish-like creatures, things with tentacles, and the mist. You can’t really fight the last.” He puffed out a perfect ring into the air. “Your worst enemy is yourself and your friends. Something about the dungeon makes it hard to trust folk. The longer you stay, the more you start doubting them. It’s why I tend to spend some time with people about to go in for the first time, get some drinks with them, maybe smoke together a little, get a good relationship going, because that makes it take longer for the lack of trust to set in.”

“That’s awful,” I said.

“Some sort of paranoia effect,” Amaryllis said. “Or something close to that. Does it vary in power?”

“The more folk that go down, the stronger the feel of it is,” Howard said.

“So we send in as few people as possible,” Bastion said. “How many do you usually go in with?”

“Just myself and the person needing the class,” Howard said. He pulled his pipe out and traced a circle in the air with the mouthpiece. “Three’s fine if they trust each other, but more than that and it gets harder, unless you really trust each other. Still, more people often means moving along faster too. So it’s a balancing act, in the grand scheme of things.”

“We’re not just going down with one of us,” I said. “That’s way too dangerous.”

“Up to you folk,” Howard said.

“Right. So the plan’s pretty simple, I guess. We arrive in town, anchor the Beaver down, then head over to the dungeon right away. The longer we wait, the worse it’ll be. We don’t want to go too fast, because that’s dangerous, so we want to start as soon as we can. Maybe we bring some supplies to last a day or so.”

“Only takes an afternoon to clear it,” Howard said.

“It might take longer now,” I said. “We don’t know that yet, so it’s best to over-prepare.”

There were nods all around.

“I think it’ll be... um, I need to be there for the Cleaning magic. Amaryllis should be there to lightning things, and Awen to mechanic things, and Bastion because he’s fun. And Howard, of course, to act as a guide and local expert.” I nodded, very much pleased with my leadership abilities when it came to picking out a good team.

“You idiot, you just want us to be there because you think this is some big adventure,” Amaryllis said.

“Isn’t it?”

Awen nodded. “It is.”

“Hmph,” Amaryllis hmphed. “Well, whatever. As long as we get this over with. We’re a few days behind. We were supposed to arrive in Sylphfree the day after tomorrow. A quick glance at any map will reveal that we’re some three days away now, if we fly straight over right away.”

“Ah, but we were going to be a week early, right?” I asked.

“Yes, and that’s not worth anything if we arrive a week late,” Amaryllis snapped.

I shrugged. “Alright. So, who wants to help me with the dishes!” I asked as I stood.

The room cleared pretty quickly after that, only Awen staying behind to help me pick up. I, of course, cheated with Cleaning magic, because doing the dishes wasn’t actually fun at all unless you were doing them with someone.

“Ah, I think I should run back to do some work,” Awen said. “My crossbow needs some maintenance. I had some ideas for it, but we won’t have time for that before we arrive in Insmouth.”

“Anything I can help with?” I asked.

Awen shook her head. “No, it’s fine. I might look around town to buy some supplies. We have some here, but I’d feel safer with more, in case the Beaver needs repairs.” She blinked , then looked my way. “Is there anything you need, Broc? I can tinker now. Sometimes I just don’t know what to make though.”

“Hmm,” I said. I didn’t want to say ‘nothing’ that wouldn’t be too nice, not when Awen seemed so eager to actually put her skills to some use. But there wasn’t too much that I actually needed, not for adventuring. Maybe for my role as captain? “Oh! I need a cool telescope,” I said.

“A telescope? Like, to see things?”

“Yup. All good captains have one, it’s a staple, right up there with a cool pet. Usually that’s a parrot or a monkey, but I think Orange fits there.”

The cat in question glanced my way from her spot on my seat at the head of the table. I think she was just there because it was warm.

Once everything was tucked away, Awen said she’d be heading to her workshop, so I gave her a quick hug--for skill practice and because hugs--then I checked over my collection of teas before picking a couple and setting them aside. Then it was back onto deck.

I jumped to helping the others when I saw that Clive was starting to pull the Beaver around a rather tight turn. It only took a glance towards Insmouth a bit to the north to see why. We hadn’t overshot the village, exactly, but it was a near thing.

Sails snapped, the propeller hissed and the engine rumbled below deck while the Scallywags and the harpies and I ran around getting everything in order to aim back towards the town. Soon enough we were stowing the sails, slowing down as best we could to coast in over the town.

It was past mid-day, and out in the bay little fishing boats were bobbing along, a few of them already heading back into the docks with their day’s catch.

The people of Insmouth must have been expecting to see the Beaver because we barely warranted more than a glance as we came to a stop over a nearby clearing and dropped anchor.

The airship tugged at the anchor chain and bobbed about for a bit until it settled down. The engines idled and Clive ordered the crew to run a quick inspection of the lines and sails.

“An inspection?” I asked.

“Aye,” the old harpy said. “If we’re going to be sitting here for the evening, might as well ensure that everything’s in working order. Can’t do that well while we’re in full flight.”

“Right,” I said. One of these days I’d get the hang of it. For now though, I had more pressing things to look forward to.

My friends came up, one at a time, and soon all of us were gathered on deck, backpacks on and equipment ready for another adventure. It was time to do our part to save... maybe not the world, but at least this little corner of it!

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