Prelude 7 - Choices and Knowledge

Her golden, brilliant locks bound into a ponytail drop of sun-kissed honey, Suray emerged from the same clearing as Sekina with an arm raised high above her head. Turning at first to smile, Kaye immediately tensed up at their mentor’s presence. She had changed her clothes.

When they met after his mistake-filled beginning, she wore much the same as everyone else. Heavy tan gloves, a dense, ridged leather skirt with a pale fringe that nearly met her tall boots, and metal armor encasing her sleeveless, moss-toned tunic. Now, she was dressed far more adventurously.

A gem-joined gray cloak with hard, silver shoulder pads enveloped the sides of her neck and stretched almost to the ground. Golden bracers with ruby jewels like crimson constellations bulked up her arms all the way to segmented gloves. In her right, she held a long, glistening sword remarkably similar to the one Rufus had planted in the ground next to his strange sewing machine. Thick, bronze leg armor reached up to her thighs. And that was the last feature Kaye could bring himself to dwell on, as so much was...showing with her sparse top and short leather skirt snaked by shimmering belts behind the cloak.

Suray’s toned, bare abs accented the shape of her body, suggesting but not completely revealing the raw strength Kaye knew she wielded. She dressed like this on the occasional visit, especially when his eyes lingered longer on Cestia’s developing shape when they started to leave childhood behind. It was like mental warfare with a smile, squeezing her flesh into his back, a prize she wouldn’t let go of.

Across her chest, she wore the skinniest of the kind of top that got the old ladies around their village chatting just loud enough to hear whenever Suray left and Cestia and Kearny were the ones to bear the brunt of social separation.

Cestia, who long ago decided being a local pariah was a victory, barely withheld obscene words and gestures in response. Kearny bore them silently with his tongue clenched in his mouth. They blindly took his ignoring for ignorance, heaping on speculation whether he was an “idiot”, “imbecile”, or simply “feeble-minded” with laughter when he was alone in a crowd. He saved his fury for his farm work and his tears for animals who didn’t care whether his eyes were streaked or not, so long as he fed them.

So much of Suray was revealed that even his flash glance towards her left him with the impression of a striking X tracing the full swoop of her bust. She was beautiful, always beautiful, like how the somber, old warriors described their dreams and hopes of Valkyries they might never know. He did his best to look casual as his hand strayed out from Sekina’s glossy, sleek feathers to wave back. Rufus nearly rattled his tenuously balanced calm with a loud and boisterous chuckle in response, remarking, “You’re always on time. Perfectly punctual.”

Before Rufus could either introduce Suray or welcome her to introduce herself, she preempted him and declared, “These two know me all too well. Too many old stories. Now, they need to make some of their own.”

Suray lightly seized Kaye by the shoulders and directed him to stand at a spot a few feet away. Cestia joined immediately after the same way. While they waited for whatever Suray had for them next, Momo giddily anointed the region with happy, slow loops.

Sheathing her sword behind her before clasping her hands together, Suray began, "I'm glad you managed to find Rufus as your quest instructor. If you found your way to Briar or Halodar, then well...you would’ve still done fine. And, if you run across them in the future, send my best. I just sometimes catch up with my students and find them falling over from running laps around the forest for hours. And they tell me, oh, I was sent to Providence Bridge to go check in with this particular royal guard and then over to the edge of the desert before pacing the perimeter of Lingsie Island looking for a crystal shard in the local market. I trust Rufus hasn’t sent you across the continent just to carry around a conversation which would be best served by mail or bitterfly wing¹This is 100 percent me venting about MMORPG quests.” Rufus contributed a hearty, quick chuckle of confirmation.

Once she was caught up with a gloss of events, she gave a wistful sigh about Char and led into, “So-called "headgear' is crucial. It’s everything you arm yourself with. I would invite both of you to take a good look at me."

Suray rarely missed anything of note, so Kaye knew in some deep, abyssal zone of his nethers that she was toying with him while still providing a useful lesson. He could feel like others were watching him, even if they weren't. Cestia's prying gaze would be worst of all. But he was watching according to Suray's invitation.

Focusing his will, he did his best to keep his eighteen-winter-old mind directed at everything, not just the fleshy X at her chest. But it kept returning, despite hot embarrassment he hoped didn't show on his face. Fortunately, his traveler trousers were bulky and loose enough to hide plenty of secrets.

Moments later, Suray brought a hand to her breast, dividing the X into two U’s while not adjusting her prominent figure. With a flash of shimmering light, an ornate, silver-armored breastplate obscured the view of her flesh. The curves could still be seen but encased in broad crests, which made her look even bigger.

She explained, “Once you slip a piece of your gear into the pages of the Adventurers Alliance Encyclopedia, you can use it as an illusion and instantly draw it in and out of your inventory. So, I can make myself look wide-open and easy to be taken by an opponent. Then, suddenly, I’m the one in control and my adversaries will be running scared. But that’s not the most important thing. This is...”

With a quick gesture, Suray a little faster than Rufus, something like a helmet appeared on each of their heads. For Rufus, that helmet was a shiny, golden-tan half eggshell that reached past his ears. The fringe was even and smooth, as though sliced cleanly by the finest blade. Grinning to himself, Rufus knocked on the pinnacle with his fist and Sekina playfully nudged the side with her long beak.

Suray displayed a much different headpiece. Hers looked like a sizable Charmdrop with its colors sharply highlighted and a head-sized portion of the underside and interior hollowed out so as to be snuggly worn. A playful but unchanging expression, like the number 3 turned sideways, rested under a pair of black-dot eyes. Neither Sekina nor Momo expressed alarm, which comforted Kaye. Cestia beamed with anticipation.

“Which hat do you choose? This is an important issue. Brisk tavern arguments rage over this. The Taye Taye Daring Shellmet or the Squishy Charmet. It will only decide everything in all things for the rest of your lives as adventurers.” A sly smirk crept over her face while Rufus stretched a broad one.

Kaye did his best not to let his immediate crest in stress show. It was just a hat and their instructors were playing around with them. These were the introductory quests they gave everyone. And yet so much so far had escalated to conflict or seized up because of him. Bringing his hand into a fist, he resolved to make the decision on his own terms without Cestia dragging him along or uncertainty suffocating him.

Resolutely, he faced towards Suray and Rufus, set his boots, and opened his mouth to decide on...

“What do you think, Kaye? Which do you like?” Cestia‘s words wafted with calm enthusiasm against his ear. They still felt nervously stifling, like they had the weight of a winter cap pulled too snug.

What did he think? What did he like? He’d used up his focus just setting his mind to act. Now, he felt off-balanced and flustered as his silence filled the space after her questions. Before either of them could say anything else, Suray added, two of her fingers raised casually, “Before I forget, I wanted to add there are two key things to consider when you decide to acquire or craft any headgear. First, consider how it will improve your life and strength. Gear has a primary quality when you wear it. And then, there is a discovery and preservation attribute. Basically, wear it to be stronger. Find or make it to earn some benefit through your parchments and Yggdrasil. And you can see what those will be, according to the books you have been given with ancient knowledge. The benefits of each of these are absolutely identical in those respects, so it falls to the second key thing: Does it look good?”

While Suray’s explanation bought Kaye a few more moments of not having to speak his mind, that mind was in a screaming panic. Though it had never happened, except in his nervous imaginings and late-night dreams, Kaye felt like he was tumbling down, one slippery branch to the next, their immense tree of adventures.

And, while he was falling, it felt like Cestia was asking him questions about the composition of the branches and Suray was attempting to explain how best to grip the bark. Even basic flailing felt beyond him.

The choice ultimately came down to chance. He was facing Suray and saw her hat, reacting with the word “Charmie”, before any deeper thoughts could solidify. It was simply deciding which direction was the ground. The impact of his choice came moments later, when Cestia clapped and concurred, “Good call! I like a hard helmet. But it could get sweaty. Charmies absorb, contain, and clean, so that one might have those benefits."

Suray nodded in agreement, although she clarified, “The gear only has some of the qualities of a Charmie. You’re crafting it from many ingredients, not taking a hollowed-out Charmie and wearing it or putting a dried, hard shell on your head. I do not advise attempting that. Some have tried, and I’ve had to...deal with such matters recently. It’s not because it makes a bad thing… It’s rather the creatures affected hold a long, long grudge.”

In response to this, Sekina turned her feathery head and made a high, soft sound like a curious question. Momo still didn’t seem concerned at all about any of this, she just bounded around. It didn’t take much more discussion before Suray also clapped her hands and proclaimed, “Two more Squishy Charmets.”

From her inventory, Suray handed them each a crafting recipe. It cited particular amounts of Glompy Goo, Charm Juice, and something called Wormwool Tufts. Rufus explained Charm Juice was a semi-regular find from Charmies whereas those Tufts, “Come from Wormwools, which are the third major regional species. You can check in the book for that. Page sixteen.”

Latching onto this very specific instruction, Kaye pulled out the Encyclopedia and soon found that page. It detailed South Pronderosa fauna with light sketches and brief descriptions.

Charmdrop

The fundamental variety of Dropish creatures you will find in Mithgard and throughout the Nine Realms. Formed from the primal essence left behind by Yaemir at the beginning of time and Odin at the forging of the worlds, they are friendly, pleasant, and benign unless attacked. Can easily be domesticated as mounts and pets and are quite adept at cleaning. Sadly, female-like forms of them do not exist. They adore sweet things, such as apples and juice, are easily distracted, and love to collect rubbish. The Duke of Decks, one of the largest and oldest known Charmdrops, collects essence cards, prized by adventurers...

Level 1 creature
HP - 10
STR - 0
DEX - 0...

Kaye skimmed through the technical number data, glad that it was there and surprised how many zeros followed every detail but also grateful he didn’t need to retain it all in the shallow, cracked cup that was his memory. The passage included quotes about the creatures from adventurers and a note that, “While the Charmie speaks no known language natively, nortmen can learn to understand them, given enough time, and a Charmie can take up the common tongue despite its lack of tongue to speak.”

But that wasn’t what Rufus asked him to look up. Continuing down the page detailing this region, Kaye finally came across the note about Wormwools.

Wormwool

The juvenile form of the annoying monster, silkenflies. Not to be confused with bitterflies and other common nuisance insects of West Pronderosa forests. Adults migrate to the south to lay their eggs and then the young feast there before developing wings and returning home to continue their life cycle. Since the small region contains no local native predators, aside from young adventurers, it is a perfect spawning area...

From there were some basic stats and attributes which Kaye glossed over as he reflected on the route they took north and east to arrive in Pronderosa. He had to steer Cestia away from the allure of the city to the south against the sea cloaked in darkness which still blazing with azure light. And then there were dangers they had to push through with goblin and orc encampments surrounding them like the jaw of a great, shadowy beast. At least Cestia didn’t protest once she saw the gnarled bones strung across the upper branches of trees like morbid, ivory wind chimes. The runic lands truly were terrifying and page sixteen was as far as he wanted to learn about it for the moment.