“This guy killed all my friends!” Renny started tugging on the rope, doing his best to haul Chase back. But she resisted...

STR+1

Her own strength, honed by years of chores, was far more than adequate to fend off the frightened fox. “Wait! Wait, hold on. He's far enough away, we can run if we have to,” Chase said, trying to talk some sense into Renny.

“You won't have to,” the man called out. Then he stood up and put his hand to his eyes, peering past the lights. “Is that the toy that got away? I can't tell from here.”

“Stop fighting!” Chase said, finally letting go of the rope, and the little fox barely managed to avoid falling on his rump. “Yes, that's him. You admit that you killed his friends?”

“I did no such thing. They're all still alive,” the prisoner spread his arms.

“You lie!” Renny howled, tail poofed up in alarm. “They fell out of my party, one by one. I watched the party screen as they dropped off. I'm the only one left!”

But there was a trace of uncertainty in his voice.

Chase's lessons came back to her. “Renny, could they have left the party instead?”

“Why would they do that? They wouldn't leave me— they wouldn't do that.”

“They didn't have a choice,” the man called again. “I can tell you what happened, but it's a long story. We can keep bellowing across the lake and maybe risk getting you attacked by guards, or you can come over here and we can talk like civilized people.”

Chase stared at the underground lake, and the ink-dark water. “I think I'm going to have to decline. I'm not that great a swimmer.”

“Don't worry. The wa-wat...” The man coughed. “The stuff is barely two feet deep. Even a short-stuff like you could do it.”

That was definitely a stutter. He'd stuttered the last time he'd mentioned water. “Renny, is he telling the truth? Is it that shallow?”

“Yes. Baconator and I rode on Moira's shoulders, and it barely came up to her knees. But I can't believe you're considering this! He's a monster! He took us all down in less than a minute...”

“To be fair, you'd been murdering your way through the prison.” The man shrugged. “I heard the screams of the men you killed at the barricade. I thought you were coming to kill me, so I struck first.”

“Why don't you come to us?” Chase said, putting her hand on Renny's shoulder. “If the water's that shallow, it shouldn't be a problem.”

The man looked away, and was silent for a moment. When he turned back, he wasn't smiling anymore. “They did something to me. I can't cross the, the water. Even the thought of it... even the thought of it terrifies me. This is not a thing I admit lightly, girl. Let that testify to my sincerity.”

Chase stared at him, trying to gauge his honesty. She couldn't. The distance was far, and his face was barely visible, even in the light. But then another thought struck her. “So it's like a condition?”

“It's exactly a condition,” he said.

I have just the thing for that! “Diagnose,” Chase whispered.

Words filled her view.

“Il Macelleaio”

DEBUFFS: None

CONDITIONS: Hunger, Malnutrition, Insanity: Hydrophobia

Hunger and Malnutrition, those were words she knew... things to frighten young halvens into behaving, and give them nightmares. Insanity she understood, as much as anyone did. But Hydrophobia? That was an unfamiliar word. “Help Hydrophobia,” she whispered.

Hydrophobia: An insanity that is shown through an extreme fear of water. The being afflicted will not willingly enter or cross significant bodies of water, and takes moxie and sanity damage from contact with the substance.

“I believe you,” Chase called, and glanced back to Renny. “You're a tailor, right? You can clean and press?”

“Yes. You're not seriously going to do this?”

“It's that or try the disguise idea. And if he saw through it, the guards will.”

“Chase... if you get within arm's reach of him he can kill you. It's as simple as that.”

“Which is why I won't.” She raised her voice. “I want your word that you won't harm us.”

“I swear I won't.”

“Or cause us to come to harm.”

“That too.”

“Swear!” Chase commanded, and folded her arms.

But the man merely laughed at her display. “I swear. Now come on, get over here. If we're really lucky, your noise hasn't let half the prison know you're here yet.”

Chase knelt down next to Renny, and hugged him. “You don't have to go. You can stay here, if you want. I'll be fine, he doesn't know what I can do. And I've no intention of telling him.”

“I'll go,” whispered Renny. “If there's any chance of getting my friends back I have to try. And right now he's the only one who might give us answers.”

“Yeah,” Chase said, giving him one more squeeze, then lifting him up to her shoulders. Then she pulled the rolls she had left out of her pockets and put them into her pack, lifting it up so they wouldn't get soggy.

The water was as cold as she thought it would be, and Chase shivered as she slid into it. It was clammy and frigid and the bottom of the lake was slimy with unseen mud and vegetation. At least Chase hoped it was vegetation.

Far to her right, where the light's didn't reach, the water gurgled as it drained away and formed the river flowing down through the mountain. Fortunately there wasn't much of a current, so that was one of her worries laid to rest.

It seemed to take forever to cross over to the island, but it was probably only a minute or two, all told. She took her time, moving carefully and keeping her footing on the slick mud.

Your Swim skill is now level 7!

The words didn't cheer her like they normally would have, though. She was too busy staring at the prisoner. Now that she was closer, she could make out every detail, and she didn't like what she was seeing.

He was the tallest human she had ever seen. He had to be over two meters, perhaps by a third again, or so. Even for humans, she thought that was big. His muscles shown through his torn clothes in lumps and bunches, even though he looked fairly thin and out of proportion to his height. That could be the malnutrition, she knew. It was hard to tell exactly, for he wore the tattered remnants of a suit of metal armor, embossed with broken leonine faces and crusted with dirt and gore. The few bits that weren't mucked over with grime shone goldish in the light, and two lion's eyes on the breastplate glowed blue with magical light.

But the armor was broken, over half of it missing. His legs were bare save for shredded trousers, and his feet were muddy and pale, pale as the deep sea fishes she'd read about so long ago. His face was pale too, black hair wild and shaggy, contrasting with the rest of it. Matted with gore, heavy bangs fell over his glittering blue eyes. His features were as leonine as his armor, and tension showed behind his smile. Once she found those eyes she could no more look away than a mouse could break the gaze of a serpent.

I fear this man and I'm not afraid to admit that, Chase thought. There was no shame in showing weakness before this man, he was very clearly dangerous and only the truly stupid would deny that. Absurdly enough, the thought gave her the courage to look away.

WILL+1

“Who are you, girl?” The prisoner asked. “And you, too, little toy. I'm Dijornos.”

“I'm Chase.”

“Call me Renny.”

“Interesting. Your names don't match the local area. Now why is that?”

“I don't know what you mean,” Chase said, staring at him, trying to get used to the cold, cold water. It was truly horrible, standing in this stuff. She rather thought she was losing feeling in her toes. “My name is a good, halven one.”

“Ah! Halven, that's the explanation, then. Some races are exempt from the regional naming algorithms.”

“The what now?” She didn't know that last word.

“Don't you worry about it, it's inconsequential. Is ah, is that bread for me?”

He'd apparently caught sight of the baked goods poking out of her pack. Not too unexpected, given how she was carrying it above her head, to keep the rolls from sogging up. “I suppose I could share. Do you remember your promise not to hurt us?”

“Of course,” said the man, and when he was talking, she muttered “Foresight.”

Again, time slowed, and the ghost image of herself splashed through the water, getting into the shallows around the island. She saw the shadow of the prisoner back away, hands raised, and sit on the ground as if calming an animal. Ghostly Chase put the rolls down and backed away, and the prisoner slowly approached and knelt, eating hungrily as Chase retreated to the shore.

“All right then,” Chase said as time renewed, and she darted forward, feeling that band in her chest tighten... and relax as she followed the course of her prediction.

Your Foresight skill is now level 3!

Seconds later, she was back at the edge of the water, feeling Renny tremble on her shoulder as the Dijornos gorged himself on her rolls. He ate with gusto, making no pretense of table manners, rolling his eyes with pleasure.

“Do you want that clean and press now?” Renny asked.

“No. We might have to get wet again all of a sudden if he decides to break his word.”

Dijornos glanced up at that, smiling, finishing off the last scrap of bread. “Oh girl, I won't. I could hug you!” He stood up and spread his arms, and Chase backed up, holding up her own hands.

“Please keep away. You're still very scary. And, er... well... it's ah...” She sniffled. The man smelled horrible, now that she was this close.

“Ah. I understand. It's the business with the...” he gestured around at the lake. “I can't clean myself that way. And I'm not a tailor, so...”

“Clean and Press,” Renny spoke, and instantly the grime was gone. The man sighed in relief, his armor gleaming now, his hair flopping down from gore-stiffened spikes into a long mane.

“Kind of you to do so,” Dijornos smiled, and sat down. “I understand your caution. In your place I'd do the same.”

“Chase, let me clean you too at least,” Renny offered. “It doesn't take much sanity.”

The air was no less cold and clammy now that she was out of the water, and she was tired of shivering, so Chase just nodded. Renny muttered, and it was done.

“So you've got the Tailor job to repair yourself? Clever,” the prisoner said. “I suppose that little wooden pig is a woodworker, to handle his own repairs, too?”

“Where is Baconator? And the others, for that matter! What did you do with my friends?” Renny clutched Chase's hair with one hand, pointing in accusation at the prisoner.

The prisoner stared back, and his eyes lost any warmth they might have held. “Toy,” he breathed, in a tone that shook Chase's spine. “You would do well to speak to me with a respectful tone. Two decades I have been down here, and I have no patience for insults.”

Renny fell silent.

“He meant nothing by it,” Chase said, hurrying to dispel the worrisome silence. “He's upset. You would be too, I'm sure.”

The prisoner closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. Took another, and the halven and the golem watched the madman, and listened to him pant in the dark. Only when he smiled a rueful grin did they relax. Just a bit, though. “You're right, of course,” The prisoner said. “Your friends are alive. Let me think... your father told you that this place was built to hold five of us?”

“Five prisoners, yes.”

“He also said that they couldn't kill us. Do you know why that is?”

“No. I don't.”

Oddly enough, Dijornos seemed to relax. “It is because we're different than you. We operate by... different rules.”

Chase weighed her options for responding, and stayed silent. If this man had been down here for two decades, then she thought he might appreciate a pair of sympathetic, silent, ears.

She thought correctly, as Dijornos waved a hand, and continued. “They can't kill us, because we don't always stay dead. And when we come back, it's somewhere else. They want me off the board, they don't want me respawning... coming back to life, I mean. I doubt you'd know the other term.”

“Is that a term like griefer?” Chase looked at him, watching for his reaction.

She wasn't disappointed. His eyes went wide, and he started to stand, only stopped when she took some hasty steps backward.

“How did you hear that word?” he breathed.

“Thomasi said it,” Chase lied.

CHA+1

“Ah. Heh. That hypocrite. Insisting we keep things secret from the ennpeasies, and now he goes and drops some gamerspeak.” Dijornos settled back down, chuckling.

“I'm sure I heard that peasies word wrong,” Chase said, relaxing. Just a bit.

“Ennpeasies. It's what we call you. You and everyone else who was... born in this world.”

“That's a strange thing to say.”

“Hum. How do I explain it... think of us like demigods. We weren't from this world, originally. This is... one of many that we wandered through. But something went wrong, and now we're stuck here. Those of us who are left, anyway.” Dijornos looked at her, soberly. “For the record, repeating anything I say here will get you killed at some point. Whoever put us here is ruthless, plain and simple.”

“All right,” Chase said, the implications of what he'd said whirling through her mind like panicked birds. Taking charge of her thoughts, she focused on her goals. “But we were talking about Renny's friends.”

“I was getting to that,” Dijornos said without missing a beat. “See, they let us talk with each other. The five of us.” he pointed down into the stairwell. “We've got speaking tubes to each other. It helps keep us sane, and we cause less trouble. That's the excuse, anyway. The real reason is that if we didn't have each other we would have killed ourselves long ago and taken our chances with the respawn.” Then he sneered. “And it lets them spy on our conversations, and get useful pieces of information. So we worked out a code. And then once we had a code, we worked out plans. Plans for any number of occurences... including a random group of murderhobos showing up and looting the place.” He flicked his gaze over to Renny.

“What did you call us?” Renny asked.

“Murderhobos. Long story, otherworld slang. Don't worry about it,” he sighed. “As planned, I took down your friends, but I didn't kill them. YOU got knocked into the l-lake, and drifted downs...down there.” Dijornos shuddered, sweeping an arm towards the exit. “But that's okay. Six hardened guard-murderers were enough. I took them to the speaking tubes, and woke them up one by one, holding them tight while Speranza sang.”

“Speranza? That's the old word for hope,” Chase said.

“Is it? I never bothered to learn the language. Stupid algorithm threw me here because I named my toon after a damn pizza.”

“What?”

“We figured it out eventually. The starting areas were supposed to be random, but everyone who called themselves something like Sanji or Narootoe ended up in a Japanese analogue. Stuff like that. Damned lazy programming, really.” Dijornos shook his head.

“I'm sorry,” Chase apologized again.

“Yeah, I know. You don't understand.” For a second she thought she caught something in his voice... a mocking undercurrent, some bitterness, it was hard to tell.

He may be friendly right now, but he's still a murderous killer. He's in here for a reason. He is NOT our friend, Chase thought to herself. And almost gasped, as proof of her sensibility flickered into view.

WIS+1

“Anyway,” Dijronos said, not noticing her moment of alarm, “Speranza. She used her voice to charm them. They're her minions now.”

“What does that mean?” Renny asked.

“They're like her slaves. She's a siren, she can enslave humanoids with her voice.”

“Did she do that to you?” Chase asked, edging backwards a bit.

“What? No. Her tricks don't work on my sort. Not permanently. But on your kind... well. It's for good, I fear. Once they were serving her, she gave them directions, and they went out to free us all. They walked back across the lake and went back into the prison. And I sat down and waited for them to shut down the pumps, and free me.” His expression soured. “And do you want to know what happened then?” He said, his voice lower and huskier than it had been.

“Nothing,” Chase guessed.

“NOTHING!” roared Dijornos, and Chase dashed into the water as he leaped up and pounded the air, stalking around the island like the lion on his breastplate, shouting into the darkness with pure rage and fury. “She betrayed me! Left me to rot! Agh!” he screamed, falling to his knees, and pounding the ground, hard enough that she heard the meaty whacks of stone pulping flesh. “Left me to rot,” he sobbed. “Prisoner's dilemma and I smiled when I should have frowned. Idiot, idiot, idiot.”

“I'm sorry,” Chase said, cautiously stepping out of the shallows once she was sure his rage had turned to self-pity. “I am. So... can you help us get Renny's friends back? Can you help me save my father? It sounds like what she's doing with him and the others is enslaving them. I want to stop that. Please, can you help us?”

Either Dijornos was too far gone into his self-pity to care, or he hadn't heard her in the first place, but he kept sobbing, talking to himself, rather than responding. “How could this happen to me? Me! The man who led the best damned guild in Airenze! Sucker, sucker, stupid, stupid noob!”

Chase's words died on her lips. Again, the fortuna casting came back to her.

And the card in her ally's spot was the Guild Master.

Things fell into place. Speranza was the Elemental, then. Vaffanculo was the Griefer, had to be. And Dijornos, poor mad Dijornos, was the Guild Master.

“Chase,” Renny whispered, as she moved forward, step by cautious step. “Chase, what are you doing?”

“It's fine. Look, Foresight,” she spoke, and nodded as events unfolded peacefully.

Your Foresight skill is now level 4!

She kept on walking, and knelt down by the prisoner, just as she'd seen herself do. “You've hurt your hands. Here, let me help you. Lesser Healing.”

You have healed Dijornos 8 points!

Your Lesser Healing skill is now level 2!

Split knuckles sealed, but bruises remained under the blood, and she cast it again.

You have healed Dijornos 8 points!

Your Lesser Healing skill is now level 3!

He'd gone silent, and she took that for a good sign. His hands were still bruised, but as she opened her mouth to cast again, he straightened up, chuckling. “Wow. That's some pathetic healing. You're new at this, huh?”

“Uh... Yes. More or less.” Absurdly enough she felt offended, but pushed it down. He was looking at her speculatively, and she took a step back, not liking the look in his eyes.

“Hey, we all have to start somewhere. So what if your Cleric job is lower than... eight? That's what your halven level says, so Cleric's lower than that.”

“You can see my status screen?” Chase blanched. “Are you a Scout? Or an Inquisitor or something?”

“No. Like I said, we're special. All I have to do is look at the words over your head, and I know all I need to know about you, Chase Berrymore.” Dijornos frowned. “Ah, that came out creepy. Nevermind. Look. Can I trust you?”

“Yes,” Chase said, and Renny tugged on her hair. She patted him absently. “Tell us how to save Renny's friends.”

“You'll need me along. From what your father said, she's converted nearly all the guards into her minions. Just a matter of time before she finishes that. I can help you fight through them and take down Speranza.”

“I thought you said death wasn't permanent for... you people?” Chase finished, a little lamely, she thought.

“It isn't. But...” he gauged her. “We don't have limitless chances of reviving. I'm not planning to kill her, just to overpower her and force her to release your little toy's friends. She'll do that rather than lose a respawn.”

Renny quivered on her shoulder, but held his tongue. Probably for the best, Chase knew. This man might be an ally, but he was volatile.

“And for me to do that, to fight down through the prison with you, you'll need to drain the water. There's a pump room somewhere, I don't know exactly where. I need you to sneak through the prison, find it, and stop the pumps. The lake will drain then, and I'll be able to walk out of here freely.”

“That's not going to be easy,” Chase admitted. “You said the disguise wouldn't work, and we're not the best at sneaking.”

“Yeah. The disguise won't work because the minions are all under the same faction. They're part of Speranza's, ah... it's hard to explain. I never paid much attention to how the pet classes worked.”

“Classes?”

“Jobs. Look, just listen. You're better off without the disguise, just sneak around as best you can. You're a halven and he's tiny, you should both be good at that. Getting converted does a number on their attributes and skills anyway. They won't be as good at fighting as they were before they were charmed.”

Chase mulled it over. It seemed like bad odds. And how long would it take the lake to drain? A lake this size, it seemed like it would take hours, or more. Which was all fine and well for Dijornos, but sooner or later Vaffanculo would come to destroy Bothernot. No, she had a time limit to worry about, here.

And then she remembered something helpful. Tailor-made for the situation, almost. “Your insanity is a condition,” she said, looking up with sudden hope.

“Yeah. Why?”

“I might be able to remove it. Your fear of water, I mean.”

“What?” Dijornos breathed the word, like he was fearful he'd misheard her. “You can do that?”

“Maybe. I'm new at this, like you said. Let me try absorbing it. Then you can carry me across the water, and we'll go stop Speranza now.”

“Yes. Yes, let's do that! What do I need to do?”

“Just hold still,” Chase said, and stretched out her hands. He knelt, putting his head even lower than hers, and she glanced down, gathering her nerves. This wouldn't be pleasant, she suspected.

But at the last moment, her eyes traced stains on the ground. Bloodstains, she realized with sick disgust. And a single, solitary tooth, bloody and lying there, like a little pearl dipped in gore.

PER+1

And some misgiving, some sense of the caution that her mother had spent her life instilling in Chase reared its head. So instead of saying absorb condition, Chase instead opened her lips and said “Foresight.”

She watched, as ghost-Chase put her hands to Dijornos' head. She watched ghostly Chase step back and scream, falling into a heap as she stared out at the lake.

And she watched ghost-Dijornos laugh triumphantly, scoop up ghost-Renny, and tear his head clean off as he walked out into the shallows, without a backward glance at her huddled form.

Then the vision faded, and realization crashed in to Chase's mind.

He's no ally! He just wants to use me to escape!

Back in the now then, as time resumed, and the band in her chest tightened.

“Well?” Dijornos said, lifting his head, and staring her in the eyes from inches away.

And as the band tightened in her chest, the dissonance causing the pain to grow, Chase couldn't think of a single word to say.

Dijornos' eyes narrowed, as he raised a hand and reached out toward her...

CHASE'S CHARACTER SHEET

Spoiler: Spoiler

Name: Chase Berrymore

Age: 15 Years

Jobs:

Halven level 8, Cook level 4, Oracle level 1

Attributes / Pools / Defenses

Strength: 41 Constitution: 28 / Hit Points: 69 / Armor: 0

Intelligence: 46 Wisdom: 58 / Sanity: 104 / Mental Fortitude: 25

Dexterity: 60 Agility: 52 / Stamina: 112 / Endurance: 0

Charisma: 73 Willpower: 37 / Moxie: 110 / Cool: 25

Perception: 44 Luck: 74 / Fortune: 118 / Fate: 17

Generic Skills

Brawling – Level 7

Climb – Level 15

Dagger – Level 2

Dodge – Level 9

Fishing – Level 14

Ride – Level 10

Stealth – Level 11

Swim – Level 7

Throwing – Level 19

Halven Skills

Fate's Friend – Level N/A

Small in a Good Way – Level N/A

Cook Skills

Cooking - Level 14

Freshen - Level 10

Oracle Skills

Absorb Condition – Level N/A

Diagnose – Level N/A

Divine Pawn – Level N/A

Foresight – Level 4

Lesser Healing – Level 3

Unlocked Jobs

Archer, Farmer, Grifter, Herbalist, Teacher