Chapter Three Hundred and Eighty - The Wedding Trackers

We regrouped in the parlour on the floor above, where the older members of the Exploration Guild were gathered around, drinking and reminiscing and doing whatever it was old folk did when they were put together in a room and left to their own devices.

“So, what does that leave us with?” Caprica asked.

“It leaves you with a potential location,” Willowbud said. “An unspecified wedding, presumably somewhere on the continent.”

“Har har,” Amaryllis said, clearly unamused. “That wedding could be anywhere. We’re not exactly tied into the social networks of most countries, so if it’s going to take place in the Trenten Flats or the Harpy Mountains, then we won’t know for a good long while.”

“Ah, we have a timetable,” Awen said.

We glanced at her.

“The weapons need to arrive, right? So we know that Rainnewt’s plan probably involved waiting for them to get there. When were they going to be shipped?”

“It looked like the Baron was hard at work nagging the manufacturers to move faster,” Caprica said. “Good point, Awen, that does give us a small window. We know this wedding probably isn’t tomorrow. The further out it is, the further away the wedding will be, to account for the weapon’s necessary travel time.”

“Not that helpful,” Calamity said. “Uh, no offence meant, Awen. Good idea and all, just we still don’t know the when.”

“We could ask the crew of the ships the baron hired. That’ll give us a more accurate picture,” Amaryllis said. “Unless those guys have already left town. Or if they were planning on transferring the goods to another ship along the way. It might still give us a rough heading. Not every port ships to every location, so we can probably assume the most convenient routes are the ones Vonowl was planning on using. That barely narrows it down.”

Willowbud shrugged. “We’ll continue to question the baron.”

“Bah, bring him to the forge, I’ll roast that chicken for a few hours and then we’ll see if he talks,” Tharval said.

Willowbud patted the dwarf on the head, which seemed to really insult him. “No Tharval, we won’t torture the idiot noble, no matter how tempting. When our adversaries sink, we swim.”

I listened to the conversation going on around me, the back and forth and the friendly bickering, and I just soaked it all in. It was tense, but not bad.

While my friends talked, I debated over Social Butterfly.

The skill seemed really nice to have. It was what I aspired to be, in a way. A person who could make friends easily. Maybe I didn’t want to rely too much on a skill for that, but it didn’t seem too dishonest to have a bit of help. After all, my other skills also helped me make friends.

Cleaning helped by making it so that I wasn’t stinky when I met new people, for example, and that was important for socialising and I wouldn’t consider it a cheat.

Losing some of my other skills for Social Butterfly would hurt a little though. Matchmaking’s... matchmaking part wasn’t super interesting to me, but the way it helped with small fire spells was nice. Tea making was a great buffing skill, even if I probably didn’t use it to its full potential.

Really, the big loss was Dancing. It was, strangely enough, one of my main combat skills. It allowed me to have a more sure footing and to dance around opponents and predict their moves. It was super useful!

Then again, I had Way of the Mystic Bun now, which did something similar.

It would also free up some class skill slots. Dancing was a Cinnamon Bun Bun class skill, Tea Making was a Wonderlander skill, and both Matchmaking and Politeness were generals. With one new skill I’d open up three slots for new, shinier skills.

And then there was the winged elephant in the room.

Would Social Butterfly eventually give me butterfly wings?

I looked at Caprica, who had big, fluttery faerie wings on her back. They were pretty, a translucent, pale-blue film stretched over spar-like veins. They reminded me a little of stained glass. Careful and delicate and obviously very magical. Caprica might have been a rather tiny woman, but she still had to weigh too much for those wings to give her lift.

Maybe?

High school physics class was a while ago. Still, I remembered that thing about bee wings not being able to lift them up, even though they clearly did anyway. Maybe this was something like that? Or maybe it was just magic.

In any case, I wouldn’t mind being a bun with wings!

“Broccoli?” Awen asked.

“Hmm? Oh, sorry, I was distracted by something. What’s up?” I asked.

“Ah, we were going to go get some food,” Awen said. “Me and Calamity.” She waved a little piece of paper around. “Did you want something?”

“Oh? I’ll go with you!” I said. “Need to get my daily skips in any way, and I could use a walk.”

“Sure!” Awen said with a genuine little smile. “I wouldn’t mind having you along.”

I bounced out of my seat and followed Awen to the door, where Calamity was waiting while spinning his hat around on one finger. “Nya coming along too?” he asked. “Less to carry then!”

I laughed. “I mostly want to move a bit.”

“That’s fair. I don’t mind a pinch of planning, but some of our friends back there like talking more than they like moving, I think. Amaryllis and Caprica both.”

“They’re not so bad,” I said.

He shrugged. “I’ve known worse. Just I’m more of a doer, nya know?”

“Mhm!”

Was I a doer?

Do you wish to Merge Dancing, Tea Making, Matchmaking, and Politeness to unlock the
Social Butterfly skill?

"Yeah," I said to Mister Menu. I was a doer, and that meant taking concrete steps toward being the best friend I could be. Mister Menu popped away with a soap-bubble ‘plop’ and I felt myself shift slightly with my next step. My balance felt oh-so subtly different, as if the bounce in my step had changed in quality.

Where do you wish your new skill to be placed? Cinnamon Bun Bun, Wonderlander, General Skills?

Oh, that was something to consider, wasn’t it?

“Wonderlander,” I muttered. I was planning on getting this skill up a few levels, so that only made sense!

New Skill added!
Skills consolidated!
Skill Points refunded!

Oh! I had to check on the difference that made for my skills!

That was a lot of room for new skills, and I got back that one skill point from Wonderlander that I could now use on my brand new skill! Well, once I got it up a smidge. But that wouldn’t be too hard, I figured. I was nothing if not social, so I’d have plenty of opportunities to grind that out. I excitedly checked out my new skill.

Social Butterfly
Rank F - 0%
The ability to flit from conversation to conversation and make the best of any social situation.

Oh, that sounded like just the perfect skill!

Now all I needed to do was to start doing cool stuff so that I’d eventually unlock cool skills too!

“So,” I said as I started to aim to practice. “What did everyone order?”

“Ah, mostly Tharval suggested that we try this one place nearby,” Awen said. “It’s a dwarven pub? Um, he ordered steaks.”

“I want me some of that steak too,” Calamity said. He licked his lips and I could almost see the drool there. “These dwarves know how to eat.”

“Willowbud also suggested this elven place. It’s a saladhouse,” Awen said. “I thought you’d like that better.”

“Oh, yes, I would,” I agreed. Steak was nice, but it wasn’t worth the tummy ache. I had to start testing other foods. I couldn’t live off of just pastries, pastas, veggies, and fruit.

Well, I suppose I could, but variety was the spice of life, and eating tons of yummy things made me a happy bun. I was always at my happiest when surrounded by friends and with my tummy so full I could barely walk.

That was hard to achieve with salad.

On arriving at the Exploration Guild’s lobby, we were greeted by the same receptionist elf as usual. He nodded to us cordially. “Heading out?” he asked.

“Just to grab some food,” I said. “I guess we’re all a little hungry.”

“If you wish, we have people we can send out for that. The more experienced members can be a little demanding at times, so we keep a few very young members around to foist off all the undesirable tasks onto.”

“Ah, no, it’s okay,” I said. “But thanks!”

“No problem,” he said. “If you’re ever looking for suggestions on where to eat, then just ask, I’m usually well-connected.”

I paused. “You are?” I asked. “Hey... you wouldn’t happen to know of any weddings going on soon?”

“Weddings? A number of them, yes. Did you mean of Exploration Guild members?”

I shook my head. It wouldn’t be someone in the Storm Tower. “No, I meant more... someone important outside of this country, maybe? Like in the Harpy Mountains, or in the Trenten flats? Like a king getting married or something, maybe?”

The receptionist's eyebrows perked up. “Well, let me see. There’s an eligible princess in Pyrowalk who has become famous for refusing suitors. I suppose she might have found someone agreeable. But that’s far to the east. There’s a rich noble daughter missing from Mattergrove that’s sparked some controversy. And there’s a duke in the Trenten flats due to be married.”

“Oh, that one,” I said.

He nodded. “The wedding is in nine months, I think.”

“Oh... maybe not that one,” I deflated.

“The only other wedding I’ve heard of recently is the big one in Port Royal.”

I perked up. “Port Royal? In Deepmarsh?” I’d been there! Twice, even. It was where I’d joined the Exploration guild and met Amaryllis.

“That’s the one, yes. The grenoil city, though it has turned into something of a city state recently. The Deepmarsh government still tax people and run amenities, but there’s a dragon ruling over the city as well. Several of them, in fact. It’s one of them who is getting married, from what I’ve heard.”

I felt an electric shock zap through me, and a look to Awen showed her as wide-eyed and surprised as I was.

Spinning around, I launched forwards, ignoring the elevator to bounce up the stairs a flight at a time.

“Hey! Wait!” Calamity called as he ran after Awen and I. “What’s going on?”

At the top, I burst into the room with the rest of my friends, the door cracking open next to me. “Guys!” I said.

“Are they outta steak?” Tharval asked.

I took a deep breath. “Booksie’s getting married!”

***