Chapter 13 – Leveling Noobs

What in the Dim were we thinking? Daos thought as he watched captains in the Warrior’s Guild try to keep up with the leveling quests they were issuing to Outsiders.

We don’t stand a chance. They’re going to be crushed, and the city will fall to DeathLag.

Or, you could stop thinking that way, and figure out a way through it.

Shut up, let me wallow for a few minutes.

Daos sighed and rubbed the back of his neck as his thoughts warred with one another.

“Excuse me, Keeper.”

“Sir Donnan!” Daos turned around to clasp the tailor’s arm and smiled.

“Quite the rousing speech The Rogue gave last night,” he said, smoothing one end of his moustache.

“We’re calling her Rogue Leader, actually,” Daos replied and tried to hide the humor from his voice. “What can I do for you?”

“To set it all out on the table, I’d like to give myself to the cause. To join the resistance officially and offer you my sword. I was hoping to speak with the Rogue Leader.”

Oh man, he took me seriously. This is going to be so good.

“She’s at the South Gate, so I’m afraid you’ve come the wrong direction. I was heading to the Smithery though, so I’m happy to accompany you part way.”

The clothier nodded in agreement. “Can’t say,” he said as they walked down the road, “that I’m a fan of this new design of yours. Certainly wouldn’t consider carrying it in my shop.” He sniffed.

“Yeah, I look the fool, I get it. What nobody else gets, however, is that as a Chromatyst I need color to cast my spells. Tell me, do you see any,” he glanced down at his robe, “purple right now, where we are?”

“Point taken, Keeper, but you absolutely must consult me when you’re ready for your new robe. I grant that it’s functional, but one can execute function without inviting atrociousness.”

Daos laughed. “Fair enough, wise tailor. Speaking of, care to teach me some more of the profession while I’m in Fyr?”

“Of course. Swing by the shop any time.”

“Thanks. This is me,” Daos said, stopping at Nadia’s forge and shaking Sir Donnan’s hand in goodbye. “Glad to have you on board.”

“If Rogue Leader will have me, yes,” the man said as he turned to head to the South Gate.

I wish I could be there to see her reaction. I’ll have to apologize to him later, after I stop laughing when he tells me how she threatened to kill me on the spot.

“Ah, decided to come down from yer academy tower and visit the wee townsfolk, eh?” Nadia asked playfully as Daos stepped into the smithery.

“It’s important to go slumming, now and again,” he responded with a smile.

“Roddard, stop yer hammerin’ for jus’ a moment and come present yer brawny self to me man,” she said.

Her man? Neat, not going to argue with that. Pretty fun to have her simply decide it, and not wait for me to make it formal.

Roddard set the hammer down, and shuffled over to where Nadia and Daos stood, staring at the ground.

“Roddard, this here is Keeper Daos, the one what I been tellin’ you of,” Nadia said. “I’ll be off with him for some time, so Coira will keep watch over the shop here. Greet him proper, now.”

The large man held out an arm, and Daos took it. The grip was strong, so he flexed his forearm muscles for all they were worth not to be crushed by it.

As soon as he released the hold, Roddard reached forward and rubbed his fingers over Daos’s robe.

“It means he likes it,” she whispered to him before he could react.

“Thank you, Roddard. You may be the only one to appreciate my style,” he said with a smile.

Roddard let his hands drop to his sides and stood silently until Nadia bade him get back to work.

“I’ve got the rest o’ me things out front, help me carry them ya?”

“Of course,” Daos said, then realized that the ‘rest of her things’ appeared to be all of her things. Bags and shoulder packs were stacked atop one another along the side wall outside. “You have a lot,” he observed, trying to keep his voice neutral.

“Well, I haf’ta move out what with Coira takin’ over the shop, don’t I? Cannae expect her to be there sunup and sundown while livin’ on the other side of town.”

“Oh, I didn’t realize you lived here. Where are we headed, then?” Daos asked, loading a pack onto each shoulder and reaching down for another two as Nadia hefted up the rest.

“You’ve a private room at the Academy, dinnae ya?”

“I do indeed,” Daos answered, finally catching on. He smiled at her. “Let’s get you settled in, then.”

She’d already turned, and was on her way back to the Academy.

**** **** ****

As they lay in his small bed in their room, Daos’s thoughts wandered to his past.

I’d been with a couple of women on the Outside, I know that, but I can’t remember their names, their faces. I can’t remember the feelings, what it was like with them.

He turned his head to look at Nadia’s, resting against his shoulder. Her shallow breath warmed his skin as she slept.

This, though. This was wonderful. Was it that way, before? Did it feel that unbelievably real, on the Outside? That life feels like a dream, now. Like it was just a character I played for a time, before waking up here. Slipping away, day by day, the way a dream does.

He looked back up at the rafters, barely discernible in the sliver of moonlight that shone through the window. He hugged Nadia closer, relishing the feel of her freckled skin on his.

What even is a graphic designer? I remember the words, but so much of the memories are falling away, like shattered glass.

He hadn’t realized he’d drifted off to sleep until Nadia stirred next to him. She kissed his cheek and he opened his eyes, all contemplations of the previous night gone.

The sun shone on her skin and made the green of her eyes sparkle like emeralds.

“Mornin’ love,” she whispered.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to be greeted that way every day from now one,” he said, giving her a soft kiss. “And mornin’ yourself, beautiful.”

“Ya know we haf’ta get a move on,” she said, trailing a finger down Daos’s chest. “A right shame we cannae stay here, like this.”

“Oh I think the world will wait a little while longer,” Daos said, pulling her to him as she giggled.

When they finally did descend the stairs, very few mages were in the main hall. Daos and Nadia exited the Academy and bought a couple of pies from the vendor outside.

Wish I’d seen that kid when I was in the Dim. Never even asked his name. Daos remembered the boy who’d originally been selling the savory meat pies on his first day in Velli Machia. It had been culture shock, hearing the kid’s accent as he’d chided Daos for not knowing his way around.

They ate as they walked and when they exited the South Gate, Chopper, Erlandra, and Sir Donnan were all huddled around a small wooden table somebody had dragged out into the field.

Nadia made her way straight to them as Daos looked over the landscape. The last time he’d seen the grassland, it had been filled with barbarians. Now it was filled with parties of fighters, rogues, and mages, all training and practicing for war.

Others ran to the woods beyond, fighting monsters to fulfill quests or to gather resources for the crafters to build battlements, brew potions, and other needs.

With a deep breath, Daos joined the others at the table. A map of Fyr and the surrounding lands was laid out on top of it.

“And when they do that, Blue Squad can flank them from here,” Sir Donnan explained, pushing three pieces of blue-tipped wood over to butt against a set of blackened pieces.

“Blue Squad?” Daos asked, quirking an eyebrow innocently at Erlandra.

“Rogue Leader’s names for the groups. The warriors are Blue Squad, the rogues and thieves are Red Squad, the mages are Gold,” Sir Donnan answered.

Daos tried to hold back his smile, keeping his eyes on Erlandra. “What about Rogue Squad?”

She rolled her eyes. “That’s us,” she replied.

He couldn’t hold it back anymore and laughed. “Love them. Good names, sorry to interrupt, Sir Donnan.”

Wait, why do we remember Star Wars, but I can’t remember any of my friends’ names?

“Glad you came around, Rogue Leader,” Daos added with a wink as he turned back to the tailor.

“Now remember, this is likely to be an advance battalion, filled with scouts and what have you, designed to test our mettle. It won’t be the full brunt of DeathLag’s army. That will come with the next wave, if the monster has any tactical sense about him,” Sir Donnan said.

“How long after this wave, until the rest of the army shows up?” Erlandra asked.

“That’s difficult to say. I’ve fought two wars in my time, mind you, but never against a lich lord. I’ve no idea how a skeleton thinks. Didn’t rightly even know they could, until he came into power.”

“Erlandra,” Daos asked, “are there any other liches in his army? Or is everybody local, everybody human. Did he recruit goblins, for example?”

“Other than his generals, everybody was a local when I left.”

“Unless he has a way to grant an entire army night vision, it’s likely it’ll be the next morning then, isn’t it?” Daos suggested.

Erlandra shrugged.

“There’s logic there, yes,” Sir Donnan agreed, “but we mustn’t underappreciate just how decidedly non-human DeathLag became when he transformed, or what magic he is capable of.”

“Daos, can I speak with you a moment?” Erlandra asked suddenly, stepping quickly away from the table, not waiting for him to respond.

He raised his eyebrows at Nadia as if to say “the boss is the boss”, and jogged after her. “What’s up?”

“You know we stand absolutely no chance against that army,” she said in a low, emotionless voice.

“I do,” Daos admitted quietly. “But I also know that we’re a breed apart from the locals. We were Outsiders, once. We think about things differently. Every step of the way, we’ve figured out a plan. We rescued Frederic when it didn’t seem possible, after all.”

“He’s actually why I pulled you over here. He kept saying something when I visited him and I couldn’t figure it out. I might have an idea now, though.”

“What did he say?”

“It’s fortuitous, how colorful the way, but in the end the bones all push up daisies.”

“Huh. And you think you’ve figured out what he means? I mean, he was right about the two things he told me, but I had no idea what the words meant until after it happened. I think prophecy works like that a lot of the time.”

“When Reichart introduced you at the auditorium, he said your coming was – and I quote – fortuitous.” She stopped walking and looked him up and down. “And your way, your Path, is one of color. You, yourself, are literally colorful. DeathLag is a lich, a skeleton. Bones. Pushing up daises is a phrase that means “to die”. And the daisies in the east are all orange. Orange, like lava.”

Daos felt like he should be grasping where she was going, but he couldn’t quite latch on to her train of thought and so he stayed quiet, waiting for her to continue.

“Don’t you see? We can’t kill DeathLag. Machiavelli can’t harm him. Nilchi can’t deactivate him. He must be stopped, but in a way that would never let him interact with anything or anyone ever again. We have to do to him, what he did to Frederic.”

Daos widened his eyes. “You want us to lure him to the lava cave, somehow reactivate the runes, and figure out a way to push him into the lava?”

“It’s the only way. Bones burn, after all. And if he gets stuck into a respawn loop, which he abso-fucking-lutely deserves, then he’s out of the picture, don’t you see? That’s how we win!”

“Okay, assuming we can do all this, yeah, I can see how that solves the problem. And, I mean, that all sounds like a reasonable interpretation of Frederic’s words, and I agree it’d be a fitting fate for him… but how could we possibly pull that off?

“For one, we’d have to lure him to the cave alone. He’s got an army capable of taking over a continent.”

“No, stop right there,” Erlandra said, cutting her hand through the air to shut him up. “You need to plan it, but I can’t hear it.”

“What do you mean? You’re the leader.”

“And I’m going to get captured. If I know what you’re planning, if I know what you’re up to, he’ll get it out of me.” She hugged her torso before realizing what she was doing, and instead crossed her arms in front of herself.

“That’s ridiculous, Erlandra. Besides, you deciphered the Seer’s message, so DeathLag would learn it if what you say is true.”

“Only that much – not how you’ll lure him or pull it off. You don’t know DeathLag like I do, Daos. Why do you think I was living in hiding? As soon as he sees I’m here, he’ll order my capture. He’ll interrogate me. Find way to torture me. Hell, he probably already knows, already has a plan. Steal my Artificer class levels away, perhaps.” Her eyes glistened with a hint of moisture.

She’s really upset. She’s never let me see insecurity like this before. Shit.

“You’re serious about this, then. I can’t pick your brain, the one person who actually knows this asshole. We plan it, without you.”

“Too much of a risk if I know the plan.”

“I don’t like this.”

“You think I do?” Her voice, rising with a sharp edge, betrayed emotions she was trying to hide.

Daos took a long, deep breath and let it out in a huff. “Acknowledged, Rogue Leader,” he said, trying to diffuse the tension a little. It worked.

“Fucking noob.” She punched him lightly in the arm.

As they turned to rejoin their group, the others were still huddled around the table, discussing strategy. Daos hung back just a step or two, observing them.

The Resistance Inner Circle. Erlandra’s generals. Rogue Squad.

[World Message: The evil Lich Lord, DeathLag, has invaded the West! Already the great city of Lyr has fallen to his army. Prepare, denizens of Velli Machia, for evil to sweep the land! Edict Corporation calls for brave and noble men and women to stand against the invading horde. Will you aid the locals of the world? Will you defend all that is good? Or will you fall to the evil that infests the enemy army? This world-level event begins tomorrow! – Edict Corporation]

Chopper, Erlandra, and Daos all looked at one another as shouts of excitement were heard from the field where Outsiders and locals trained.

“What’s an Edict Corporation?” Nadia asked

“Wait, you saw that?” Daos turned to her, surprised.

“Of course. World messages be rare, but they go out to all folk. It’s why they’re called world messages, love,” she explained.

“Edict Corporation is who sends Outsiders here, to Velli Machia,” Erlandra quickly explained for him.

“We’re out of time, then,” she added with a sigh. “They’ll be here tomorrow.”

Erlandra shot Daos a meaningful look, and he swallowed hard but nodded back.

**** **** ****

Outsiders who had been adventuring in the surrounding countryside flocked to Fyr after the announcement. More and more arrived every hour, and soon the city was overflowing with people.

Daos and Nadia invited Chopper, Sir Donnan, and Meister Oric to his room at the Academy. It was cramped but guaranteed to be private as access to the location was by invitation only.

Everybody was silent when he finished telling them what Erlandra had tasked him with.

“Between the two of us, we should be able to restore the runes,” Meister Oric began. “Once the stone is restored, I can push magic back into the runes to reactivate them – but DeathLag will have to be physically present for me to complete the binding itself.”

“Yeah, still working on that part. Any ideas how we lure him?” Daos asked the others.

“He wants ta kill a god, ya?” Chopper asked redundantly. “So, give him one.”

“Machiavelli isn’t going to take the risk of being present when DeathLag arrives, no way,” Daos replied.

“Does he know what Machiavelli looks like?” Sir Donnan asked. “Does anybody?”

“Daos here does, dinnae ya, love?” Nada smiled at him teasingly.

“Yeah, just a guy in a three-piece suit. He can probably appear any way he wants, though.”

Any way he wants…

“Which means,” Daos continued, bouncing a finger toward Sir Donnan in recognition as he looked at Chopper, “That if Nilchi showed up in the lava room, we could have him pretend to be Niccolo long enough for us to push DeathLag into the lava.”

“Crazy enough to work, that,” Chopper spoke his thought aloud.

“We’ll need you to message him, Chopper,” Daos said.

Nadia threw a questioning look at Daos.

Right, she doesn’t know Nilchi. Sir Donnan wouldn’t either.

“Nilchi is a friend of Chopper’s on the Outside. He works for Edict.”

“Is he who we thank for sendin’ ya to us, then?” Nadia asked.

“Um, kind of. Niccolo’s the one who organized it, but Nilchi’s the one who kept me calm long enough to realize what this place could be to me, so, sure.”

“The boyo’s no dosser, he’s the only reason I’m alive, ya?” Chopper added. “Though why can’t ya message him yerself, then?”

“Because you’re a known associate of his. If he’s being monitored by Edict, a message from a friend may be less noticeable than a message from me.

“And thanks for that idea, Sir Donnan. Give me just a moment, guys.” As Daos turned around, he heard Sir Donnan mumble something about not really offering up much, but he ignored the rest of the conversation and redirected his energies inward.

Niccolo, you there? I think we have an idea to stop DeathLag.

He waited, counting the seconds. Just as he was about to give up, the god replied.

“I’m here.” Niccolo’s voice was distracted.

Get an encrypted message to Nilchi. Tell him when Chopper sends an admin request in four or five days, from the lava room, to come right to us. No matter what else he’s doing, he must drop everything and come immediately. Tell him that right after he arrives, DeathLag will be there. Tell him he must pretend to be you, long enough to enact our plan.

“Message sent.”

Thanks. Hopefully this works.

“Godspeed.”

Hardy har har.

“Okay. Niccolo sent word to Nilchi. We need to move fast. Tomorrow, when DeathLag’s scouting party arrives we’ll take part in the battle. Watch out for Erlandra and make sure she isn’t captured.”

Daos took a deep breath as he ran the scenario through his mind one more time before speaking again.

“When the second attack comes – either that same day or the next, we need to flank the army and get behind enemy lines, close enough for me to see DeathLag clearly. When I do, I’ll send a Mental Missive to him, and play to his ego. Offer up the god Machiavelli if he’ll meet us in the lava room four days hence.”

“And if he says no?” Sir Donnan asked. Concern creased the lines of his cheeks as he pressed his lips into a thin line.

“Not an option. I’ll have to convince him.”

“Not a very good plan,” the tailor said softly.

“No, but it’s all we have time for. If you think of something better before the fighting starts, by all means, tell us. Until then, we’d better get some rest. Meister Oric, make whatever preparations you need. It would be best if you and Chopper left immediately after the first fight. Chopper can help you clear the way, and you can get a start on any other runes you may need to make DeathLag’s spell work. I don’t want you to arrive and find out you’re missing something critical and we’re out of time.”

The Meister nodded at Chopper, and the warrior returned it.

“Nadia and I will follow immediately after I’ve convinced DeathLag.” Daos said.

“I think you mean Nadia, yourself, and me,” Sir Donnan inserted.

“No, Sir Donnan, there’s another issue that needs your attention. Erlandra is convinced she’s going to be captured, tortured, and interrogated. It’s why she didn’t want to hear any of this plan. I need you to stay here and watch her back – not only during the battle, but in between. In fact, I’d like you to start tonight. I don’t know where her quarters are in the Rogue’s Guild, and while they may be private, access to and from them isn’t.”

To Daos’s relief, the tailor accepted the assignment with good grace, with no accusations of being shoved aside and kept out of harm’s way harm’s way due to age or something else just as ridiculous. Daos had seen the man’s skill with a blade.

“Regardless,” he added, “I’d also like you to keep this secret from her, that you’re watching her back, so that she doesn’t do anything to hinder you. If the resistance loses its leader at the same time all of the generals mysteriously go missing, the resistance will fall. Fyr will fall.”

“You don’t have to convince me, Keeper. I’ve fought my share of wars. I know a good order when I hear it. I’ll do what’s needed to keep her safe.”

“Thank you. In that case, let’s all get some rest. Tomorrow, we fight.”

They all clasped arms with one another. When he finally closed the door, he leaned against it and sighed.

“Me first war, and ‘ere I am, sharin’ a room an’ a bed with a general,” Nadia said, walking up to him.

He put his arms around her and hugged her to him, resting his chin on the top of her head.

“I’m not really a general.”

“O’ course ya are, we all be. A resistance is still an army.”

“Even if we give ourselves the title?”

“Especially then, love. How else is a resistance formed?”

Can’t argue with that. Not like I’ve ever fought a war.

“What do ya plan on sayin’ to him, then? The lich lord?” Nadia asked, after a moment of silence.

Daos paused to consider his answer, and then to hope one would come to him.

“No idea,” he finally admitted.

“Daos,” Nilchi’s voice said.

“By the Dim!” Nadia shouted as Daos jumped in surprise.

The gray avatar of Nilchi stood in the center of their dorm room.

“Christ, man. Nilchi, Nadia. Nadia, Nilchi. You got Niccolo’s message then?” Daos asked.

Nadia stepped away from him, her eyes wide as she studied the featureless form of the admin.

“Yes, and that’s all fine, but it’s not why I’m here. When I saw you all meeting here, I hoped to get logged in before they all left.”

“Too late,” Daos said. “What’s up?”

“I’ve been running over the scene of you all saving Frederic. Analyzing the runes that DeathLag used to do what he did. None of us on the outside knew about it. It looks like he’s figured out how to hack the code of the magic system. To create new spells, kind of like how you do, except with some kind of backdoor access, maybe.

“And then a memo went out. Edict just discovered that DeathLag’s wife worked for Edict years ago. She coded a lot of the early systems that allowed him get his unique subclass, and she hid her tracks really well. I don’t even know how he got accepted as a tester, when he was related to an employee. The company completely missed it.”

Holy shit. He can alter code, so he can change the fabric of reality?

Nilchi continued, speaking quickly. “Huge fucking oversight, I know. She was canned and tied up in so much legal paperwork that she’s still out of the picture, but it doesn’t change the fact that she’d worked on the game engine up to that point. Programmers are scouring all of her old logs as we speak but haven’t found anything yet. There’s a good chance DeathLag has accesses that nobody else does and unless we can find the holes and patch them, you have a lot of unknown variables to contend with.”

“That explains why he seemed so confident the few times I spoke with him, the way I’m speaking with you now,” Niccolo’s voice said in Daos’s mind before going silent again.

“Well sh- wait! What was his wife’s name?” Daos asked.

“Wendy, but I didn’t tell you that.”

“Wendy what?”

“Uh, fine, what the hell. Wendy Jones.”

“Okay, and what’s DeathLag’s Outsider name?”

“Collin. Why?”

“Thanks. Just rolling something around in my head.”

“My time’s up, I gotta go,” Nilchi suddenly said.

“You’ll be there when Chopper pings you?” Daos asked, but the admin had already disappeared.

“I don’t right know exactly what jus’ happened,” Nadia whispered.

“Life around me is just going to be weird sometimes, I think,” he replied with a wink, his brain spinning with ideas on how to use the wife’s name during his chat with DeathLag.

“Well then I best be getting’ used to it,” she said, stepping back into his embrace.

They stood for a time, each in their own thoughts, before separating and walking over to the bed.

Daos brought up his Character Sheet as he relaxed into the mattress. Hm, finally hit Level 10. I’d better not die anymore. One to Intelligence, two to Willpower, and one to Constitution.

NAME: Daos, Keeper

CLASS: Chromatyst > Mage

LEVEL: 10

EXPERIENCE: 12,382/14,200

GOVERNING ATTRIBUTES

POWER: [5]

PROWESS: [1]

ENDURANCE: [3]

PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES

STRENGTH: 1

DEXTERITY: 2

CONSTITUTION: 3

MENTAL ATTRIBUTES

INTELLIGENCE: 7

WIT: 3

WILLPOWER: 5

SKILLS

Analyze: 4

Arcane Perception: 3

Banter: 2

Barter: 3

Bashful: 3

Linguist: 2

Perception: 3

Sneak: 1

INVENTORY

EQUIPPED ARMOR: Chromatyst Patchwork, 30/30

EQUIPPED WEAPON: ACOLYTE WAND

ACOLYTE SPELL TOME, EQUIPPED

GOLD: 520

RATIONS: 2 Days

Amethyst Gem x1

Empty Pocket

PROFESSION: Clothier

Level: 4

EXPERIENCE: 3580/5720

He swiped the screen away when Nadia’s lips landed on his, eager and urgent, eliciting his own ferocious response.

Robe, unequip!

He smiled into her lips as the patchwork barrier between them disappeared. It was becoming easier and easier to love this new world.