48. Canine Queen: Wiremu

After I helped Tabitha to a borrowed bed roll, I made sure we would be safe enough with the Orcs, and made sure they knew to leave Tāoke alone, then I also crashed.

I woke up in the predawn the next day. I think it was only the next day. Tāoke was curled up on my stomach, back to his normal size. There was a fire going and a pot of something on it. My stomach told me I needed that something. I got up putting Tāoke on my shoulder, my armour chest piece was nearby, as I had felt safe enough to take it off.

The large human male was tending the pot. Actually he was the only human in both groups. He saw me coming and dished up a bowl which he sprinkled powder over and then some honey. I figured he wasn’t going to be so obvious if he was going to poison me, but I raised an eyebrow in query about what he put in it.

“Ört’s the name,” he introduced himself. “I am a Herbalist and Healer, that will help your stomach settle and fight any infection.” I was pretty sure my Regeneration would take care of any infection. I noticed all the cuts and scratches were gone and Regeneration was now level 2.

“Thanks,” I said, taking it. “Herbalist and Healer ah? I wouldn’t have picked that from the axe and the dog.”

“Well I started my life as a Forrester, logging these hills.” He gave a short whistle and the dog came over. It was a large dog. “This is my bond, Kryddor.” He introduced her.

“Nice to meet you, Kryddor.” I said putting my hand down for her to sniff. “This is my bond, Tāoke.”

I sat down to eat and Ört set out some small strips of meat for Tāoke. Forrester, Herbalist and Healer means Ört has a massive amount of Lore in that head. He must be one very smart man. Forrester needed Plant and Animal Lore, Herbalist needed Herb Lore, and Healer needed Sentient Lore and Anatomy. That was amazing.

I chatted with Ört as I ate my second bowl. Skavt was on watch. She was the Orc spearman and was actually in charge of this group. The group, Ört clarified, was himself, Kryddor and the other two Orcs, not the dwarves. Skavt was a Warrior who specialised as a Dragoon which gave her a riding bonus, although she generally still fought on foot. She had also recently managed to pick up the Scout Specialisation, which she was really proud of. It gave her a mapping skill.

The other two Orcs were twins. Najprej was the older and Drugič the younger. Both were specialised warriors in both the Sword and the Shield. Najprej was better with the shield and Drugič with the sword. I understood there was a bit of sibling rivalry going on there.

These were the calibre of mercenaries I was expecting, not the Loudmouth ones. Each had two specialisations and were closer to what I saw in the Mother’s Tusks. Ört was the odd one out as he didn’t have a specialisation, but had three basic classes. Very unusual.

Skavt joined us for a bowl and I learned the team was called the Canine Queens. When I asked in Orcish if that was because of Kryddor, or because of their tusks, she just smiled and said yes.

The camp was waking. Ört had managed to keep some of the dwarves alive yesterday. Of the original six, two could walk home, two would need to be carted and two were dead, including their leader.

I asked what they were doing out here. Skavt replied, “ The Jern Guard put out a standing contract on goblins. They are paying a copper an ear, so two copper per goblin, and a minimum of five gold for a goblin monster core. Depending on the core, that could go up as high as a platinum. Word was sent to Jern about goblin sightings near here so we teamed with the ‘Dwarven Devils’ to come and look,” the way she said ‘Dwarven Devils’ indicated it was not a happy collaboration.

“We are very happy you did as we were stuck in the caves, wondering how to get past this lot. We were one of the teams on contract to the Guard to scout the caves for goblins. We were with a couple of Guardsmen. They went to get the information out and are on their way to Jern right now. We stayed to help.”

She frowned at that, “Did you find any goblins?” she asked.

“Let’s just say that with what we saw there will be plenty of money to be made.” She frowned at what that meant too.

She went to get everyone up. Ört went to check on his patients and feed the invalids. We wouldn't be getting underway till lunch, if then because of the patients. I decided to let Tabitha sleep. Next to my armour was stacked the shield I was using and one of my stone knives that they had found. Both had been rinsed off. The shield with the spikes and a stone knife must have caused quite some puzzlement. I put the knife in one of my empty sheaths, I hadn’t re-created any yet. I decided to leave the shield for now, after all they went to the trouble of cleaning it.

I noted Tabitha’s knife was in a sheath lying next to her. That knife was worth more than everything here, several times over. It spoke well of Skavt’s leadership that it was here and not stolen. I wonder what Nyx would do if it was stolen, as she seems to have made it her home? I am sure we will find out one day. Somebody will try.

I have a lot of skill gains from the last two weeks. Too many to detail. Small Blades is now equal with Hammer in level. Monster hunter levelled in that last fight. I have ten free attribute points. I know there is an advanced Granite skill called Petrify available, if I can get my Spiritual attributes high enough. Around the 35 mark I think, for Spiritual Strength and Agility anyway. That is probably where I am going to put them, but there is no rush.

Wiremu Hunter

Class

Hunt

QW

Spy

Pros

MHunt

Total

Type

Attribute

Level

10

11

7

2

2

Constitution

Physical

Strength (PS)

9

11

2

22

1

2

47

112.0

Agility (PA)

12

5

10 4 2 31

Perception (PP)

11

0

20

1

2

34

Mental

Strength (MS)

9

12

2

2

23

66.0

Agility (MA)

12

3

2

7

24

Perception (MP)

11

1

7

19

Spiritual

Strength (SS)

10

3

0

11

3

2

27

75.0

Agility (SA)

8

2

5

8

1

1

25

Perception (SP)

10

4

7

2

23

Totals

92

41

41

33

35

8

9

253 Free Points

9

0

0

0

1

Resistances:

Poison +18, Pain+10, Crushing +21, Cold +20

Skills

Novice: Animal Care 4, Truth Sensing 3, Lock Pick 4, Disarm Traps 4, Sense Spiritual 4, Disarm Spiritual Trap1, Monster Lore 3, Detect Spiritual Trap 3, Detect Traps 4, Venom Arrow 3, Spiritual Trapping 4, Regeneration 2

Apprentice: Bond Senses 9, Fishing 5, Orcish 7, Far Sight 9, Riding 7, Unarmed Combat 7, Sewing 7, Camouflage 8, Sense Treasure 6, Mineral Lore 5, Spear 7, Animal Lore 7, Manipulate Status 7, Butchering 5, Plant Lore 5, Weapon Repair 5, Granite Shield 8, Power Strike 9, Darksight 9, Repair Leather Armour 5, Cooking 5, Imbue Venom 9

Journeyman: Hearing Aid 12, Hammer 13, Identify 11, Granite Spike 13, Trapping 10, Tracking 10, Bow 10, Skinning 10, Deceive 11, Granite Sense 10, Small Blades 13, Granite Bones 11, Hide Armourer 10, Throw Weapons 10, Quick Strike 10

Master: Stealth 16, Animal Bond 15

Affinity: Granite

Monster Kills: 3

Bond: Tāoke, Venom Serpent.

Crushing Resistance 21, Cold Resistance 20

Skills:

Novice: Growth 3, Granite Shield 4

Apprentice: Power Strike 6, Granite Spike 5, Strength Boost 7, Venom Spit 5

Journeyman: Granite Bones 11, Camouflage 12

Master: Venom Bite 16, Quick Strike 16

Affinity: Granite

Tabitha woke for Lunch. Ört had made a big pot of stew so there was plenty and it was very tasty. These Herbalist cooks are fantastic. There is no way we are leaving today. We will leave early tomorrow and hopefully get to the village Kulle by nightfall. It is then three days by road back to Jern. They have horses waiting in Kulle and the Dwarven Devils have a cart. The day’s rest is what Tabitha and I needed.

The new leader of the Dwarven Devils is trouble. His name is Borc and he argues about everything. His main beef with Skavt is that he thinks they should have one of the monster cores. She told him a flat no. Ört killed the wood skilled one so it belonged to the Canine Queens, and I killed the water one, so it belonged to me. That was the first I heard about what had happened to them. I was going to ask, but I assumed I would be entitled to a share once it was sold to the Guard. Apparently the Dwarven Devils had insisted that what you killed is what you got, instead of a split of everything at the end. Now it is biting them in the arse. Apparently, Skavt had also separated the goblin ears as to who killed what, as far as could be determined. She was apparently cheating them on that as well. She told me later there was a sack for Tabitha and I as well.

That afternoon Tabitha went off for a walk. I think she was going to spend time going over things with Nyx. I discreetly replaced my Granite darts and knives. I really didn’t want to lug that shield back, but it would raise a lot of suspicion if it disappeared. I went over my armour. It needed work, but now was not the time and I didn’t have any tools. Drugič apparently had some tools for looking after their weapons, so I borrowed them and repaired my steel knife and then went through and maintained the Canine Queen’s weapons as a thankyou for watching over us and being fair. I didn’t level the Skill, but it was appreciated.

Ört the Forrester went out and made a couple of travois to help transport the invalids to the village. I was liking what I was seeing in the Canine Queens, and was wondering if they wanted a fifth member. Sixth member. Don’t forget Kryddor. I would definitely sound them out before we get to Jern. Maybe offer to do a couple of contracts with them as a trial.

Things blew up again at dinner. Borc wasn’t happy Tabitha and I were getting a cut as we were not part of their contract. Skavt reminded him the contract stated you get what you kill, therefore nobody in the contract had a claim to what we had killed. Well that wasn’t good enough. He stomped over to Tabitha cursing and swearing and accusing us of poaching on their contract. I think he chose Tabitha as she looked like she was vulnerable and easy to walk over. What a fool.

Tabitha let him rant for a bit without responding. He was getting more and more worked up and stepped closer to her as if he might do physical violence. I saw all the Canine Queen members move a hand to a weapon. Then everybody froze as this really low menacing growl came from the edge of the campfire light to one side of Tabitha. With my Hearing Aid I could tell the sound came from Tabitha but nobody else did. Then the Shadow moved and this huge black predator cat moved into the light beside Tabitha. Its shoulders were higher than Tabitha’s waist. Fangs were visible and the tail waved slowly as it stalked forward.

“Now Borc, you seem to have upset my cat Nyx. That is not a smart thing to do.” She put her hand down by the cat’s huge jaw then ruffled its head. Borc was backing away as fast as he could without taking his eyes off it. Everybody was puzzled as to how the cat got there past all their sharp senses, but the undeniable fact was, that the cat was there, it was huge and Tabitha was treating it like her very own pet kitten.

I assume it was a skill of Nyx’s but it was very impressive. The fur ruffled in the wind as well as when Tabitha ran her hands through it. There was even a bit of saliva dribbling from the jaw. Borc and the other Dwarf left together, I assume to guard their invalids? Not sure. Maybe they are just running.

“Come on girl,” Tabitha said to the cat, which I assume is Nyx, “let’s take you away from these angry people.” She then led Nyx out into the night.

Everybody left, that was only all the members of the Canine Queen, were looking at me.

“What?” I asked. “Don’t look at me. It is her cat.”

“You knew it was there,” Skavt accused.

“Seriously,” I said, “If you want to know about Nyx you will have to talk to Tabitha.”

“Is the camp safe?” she asked.

“From Nyx? Certainly.” I replied.

“How did it get here? None of us sensed it.” She continued.

“For any details like that you will have to talk to Tabitha.”

“Very well,” she said, getting up, “I will do so,” and she headed off following Tabitha and Nyx.

A woman of action that one.