“W-well, I have to gather some materials for practicing my craft.” Nik said as he listed his quest requirements. “I’ve been told there are a few places to find the types of wood I need, there’s a f-flower that grows in the forest used as a catalyst, but there’s only one place to get i-iron.

“My mentor said there’s a mine, but wouldn’t tell me where it is. He said I couldn’t handle it by myself.” Nik told me, looking at his feet for the last bit. I really need to help him with his confidence.

“Well, you’ve got me now, man. Let’s go talk to your teacher. Where is he?”

“Mayor’s house.”

“He lives with the mayor?”

“He is the mayor.”

This could turn out profitable! Nik was training under the mayor. Maybe this would be a good time to get in good with him? I’d heard that, unlike the static quests and NPCs of old MMOs, NPCs in The Realms were almost real people. They have their own motivations and goals and could be reasoned with and worked with in a much more dynamic way than just reputation points.

“Well, let’s go talk to the mayor!” I said with a grin and walked off. Nik struggled with what to say before realizing I was leaving him behind, so he sprinted to catch up.

We walked the short (I swear it isn’t a pun) distance across the Gnome village to the mayor’s house. Letting Nik lead the way, he knocked three times in an unusual pattern before opening the door and entering. Well, at least it wasn’t “Shave and a Haircut.”

“Nik! How are you my boy? Oh, and I see you brought a companion!” the Gnome said as he heartily greeted my new friend. He was about the same height as Nik, but chubbier and with much much whiter hair-well, the parts that weren’t singed were whiter. Now that I was looking, everything was a little singed. His clothing seemed to be purely functional. A leather apron that had been patched many times over and was covered in burns.

He seemed dangerous, but not in the “kill you in your sleep without making a sound” way. No, he was more of the “level a city block while trying to invent a new type of pencil sharpener” kind of dangerous.

“Poppil, this is my new friend Jack. He’s agreed to help me with my Artificer quest!” Nik said, rather proudly. Poor guy must not make lots of friends.

“Hello, Poppil. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Nik said something about a mine? If I had to guess, it has a monster problem that needs cleared up. That’s why you didn’t want Nik to go alone, right?”

Poppil tapped the side of his nose and grinned at me. “Aye, good call, lad! Our friend Nik here seems to be a natural when it comes to tinkering and inventing, but not much for a straight up fight.” Nik seemed to be blushing at the backhanded compliment, only to perk up and stare at me curiously. I guess he just realized it never dawned on him why Poppil said he couldn’t handle the mine.

“So, what individually-weak-but-dangerous-in-large-numbers type of monster are we expecting?” That earned me a big, toothy grin.

“Kobolds, my boy! Place is overrun with them! We haven’t been able to mine proper in years! If you’d...thin the herd, so to speak, I’d greatly appreciate it. Usually clearing out the first level of the mine buys us some time to be able to go in and mine for a bit before they have enough numbers to take it back.”

Quest Updated:

Rogue 3

Mayor Poppil has asked you to protect the Adventurer Nik while he gathers materials for crafting. Kobolds sound like good target practice, too! Clear the top floor for Poppil for an extra reward!

“Sorry if it’s a stupid question, but why not completely clear out the mine so that it can be fully operational?” I said and a glimmer of...hope, I think, showed in his eyes.

“Would you actually do that? We were all under the impression that you Adventurer folks might do a small favor or two before moving on to a bigger city! To answer your question, though, if you could clear out everything there you’d have the option to take it over! You’d own it and be entitled to all profits the mine generated. We would supply guards and miners, but their pay would come out of your earnings.”

Hidden Quest Discovered:

Miner Threat

Objective: Clear all Kobolds and Claim the Mine!

Reward: Gnometheran Iron Mine, The Respect of the Gnomes, More Complicated Tax Forms

Note: As a Hidden Quest, you cannot accept or refuse. Not completing the Quest will not have a directly negative impact on your character.

Alfred, did my eyes turn into dollar signs just now? I asked, suddenly concerned my greed would show.

“No, sir.”

Did I tap my fingertips together menacingly?

“No, sir.”

Good. Also, call me paranoid but “directly negative” seems ominous. And one more thing...tax forms?

“That merely means that this won’t effect Main Quests, Side Quests, or faction relationships, sir. It can however cause one to lose access to additional Hidden Quests or rewards. Regarding forms, I should first remind you there is no revenue service within the realms. Secondly, the system seems to be “lightening up,” as it were. It can tweak interfaces and notifications based on player personality and choices. I can request it be toned down if you wish.”

How can you request that the- You know what, never mind. And no, it’s fine. If it’s trying to be funny, it could use the practice.

Quest Updated: Rogue 3

Additional Objective: Reach Level 5

Note: Maybe you could use the practice.

OK, I deserved that I suppose.

“Yes you did, sir.”

“Sounds like it’s mutually beneficial to clean the whole thing out and take back the mine. How do you know they won’t simply resp...come back?” Oops. I figured role-play would be helpful when dealing with these NPCs. Plus, it just seemed to feel right talking to them as though it’s all real.

“Well, lad, as long as it isn’t a proper dungeon, once they’re gone, they’re gone. Only a dungeon can refill itself with monsters if they’re completely wiped out.” Good to know.

“Alright then. If you’d be so kind as to mark the mine location on a map or something, we’ll be on our way!” I said to the mayor, eager to get started.

Nik, who was apparently taking all this in at a pace of about 75% of the conversational speed Poppil and I kept, apparently realized right that very second that he was going to have to fight stuff. How can someone possibly look that scared by kobolds?

Poppil marked the mine as about being about a 30 minute walk, assuming you weren’t a species that capped out at around 3’11”. Knowing where we were going and exactly what route we were taking, it was time for some shopping.

Wait. Alfred, how much gold do I have?

“None, sir.”

Well...fuck.

* * *

“Nik, I need a favor...” At this point, a normal person would take the pregnant pause as a cue to ask what the favor is. Nik took the pregnant pause as a cue to stare at me like I was speaking Martian and his universal translator had broken. Maybe he just never really talks to people? Moving on...

“Have you made any gold since you started?” A quick shake of the head and some blinking brought him out of whatever dazed state the beginning of a normal conversation had left him in. “50 gold. Why?” he responded. It seemed like whatever was going on with him earlier was over.

“Nik, it’s time to invest! I, and by that I mean WE, need a few things that we, and by that I mean YOU need to buy before we go.” I told him. There’s the confused face again.

OK look, before anyone judges me, I have no intention of trying to scam him out of his money. I promise! I just need to build up his confidence in me like the beginning of a scam so he trusts me enough to help. If all goes well, we should both make a nice bit of gold to get us started.

“What do you think we need, Jack?” Nik said through squinting eyes. He’s doubting me already? OK, step one: get him off balance. “Nothing, Nik. I don’t think we need anything.” That made him stop dead in his tracks.

Step two, pull him in with a grand, but vague promise. “Do you want to hear about what I know we need? Do you want to hear about my plan to get us well funded for the foreseeable future?” No distrusting squinting was left now-I could almost hear him thinking about all the gadgets he could make with a big pile of gold. “OK, Jack, what do we need?” Got him.

Step three, give him enough details that he believes the plan will work, but not enough that he can start picking holes in it. “We need two pickaxes, some travel rations, a wagon, and some sort of beast of burden.” He was doing the math in his head that I’d already done. Better cut that train of thought before he second guesses. “The way I see it, we’re looking at about 10g for two pickaxes, 12g for two rations per person per day for three days, and about 50g for a horse and wagon.”

Realizing those numbers added up to more than 50g total, Nik wanted to interrupt again, but I addressed those fears first. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll sweet talk my way into some discounts.” I said, before flashing him my best Cheshire grin and starting back towards the market.

“Look, son, I’d love to give you a discount on these pickaxes, but business is all but non-existent around here when it comes to mining supplies, so I have to make the money when I can.” the proprietor of the General Goods store said when I asked if he could give us a better price than 5g per tool. “That’s what we heard from the mayor, sir. It’s also why I’ve promised to clear the kobolds and take control of the mine from them. Well, promised to clear them if I can do some mining when we get there to confirm the ore is worth taking it. I’d imagine things will pick up once the mine is up and running again.”

If one were to have listened very closely to the shopkeeper’s head at that very moment, I guarantee you’d have been able to hear the gears turning as he ran the cost-benefit analysis of selling these to me cheaply right now for the possible reward of steady business once we were done in the mine. “What sort of deal do you have in mind, sonny?”

“Well, 3 pickaxes for 5g. If I clear the mine, I pay you the 10g you discount me. If we choose not to, we’ll return the pickaxes back to you. We also need rations and we can buy twelve for another 5g. That, we pay you back another 10g for no matter what. You’ll miss out on 17g today, but when we return you’ll get a minimum 10g plus pickaxes you can resell for 15g. So, in three days you’ll have made at least 8g more than if you’d sold these to anyone else.” I did my best to maintain eye contact so that I came across as trustworthy, but I really wish I could have taken a full look at Nik’s face. Every word made his jaw drop a little bit more at the impossible logic I was relying on.

New Skill!

Bluff

Level 1

I guess you aren’t technically lying by saying you may or may not do something. Not that there’s a skill called Lying. Don’t you feel a little bad, though?

+1% Chance to keep someone from calling your bluff

Note: There is no charisma stat in The Realms. Social skills like Bluff combine with your own conversational talents and situational factors to determine your success or failure!

New Skill!

Haggle

Level 1

Convincing a merchant to sell you goods at a fraction of the cost so that he would make more money? That’s borderline miraculous!

+1-10% Selling Price

-1-10% Buying Cost

Note: There is no charisma stat in The Realms. Social skills like Haggle combine with your own conversational talents and situational factors to determine your success or failure!

Thanking him for his time and his willingness to invest in the future of the mine and the town, we moved on to the stables.

Wait a minute. Why does a gnomish town have full size horses? There’s no way they can ride them, right? I asked my guide.

“You are correct in that they cannot ride them, sir. However, smaller horses would have great difficulties pulling many of the heavy shipments and devices the gnomes are often required to move.”

Fair enough, I suppose.

“Welcome, lads. I expect you’re wanting to get yourselves a horse or two?” the jovial stable master greeted us as we approached. Looking closely, I realized he was probably the tallest gnome we’d seen so far. Of course, that only means he was about 4’3”. “That we are, sir. Hoping to rent a horse and wagon for about three days or so. And if I’m being honest with you sir, we only have about 20g left to us.”

Skill Increase!

Bluff

Level 2

You can’t help it can you? “Oh this person sells things. Better tell lies!

+2% Chance to keep someone from calling your bluff

“Whew, that is a bit of a predicament. What do you boys need it for anyway?” he believed we were broke, but didn’t trust our intentions.

“Well, sir, we’re hoping to clear the mine out in a couple of days and would like to have the wagon to bring back our spoils and maybe some ingots.” Mention of the mine brought that hopeful look to his eyes that I’d seen before since I got the Hidden Quest. At this point, even if the mine wasn’t about to turn into my cash cow I’d probably still help.

“Well, son, I’m afraid I can’t do it for that long for that cheap.” he responded with disappointment. Well, if that’s how he responds, he clearly wants to help, so I’ll give him one.

After a few minutes of discussions involving times and maps, he agreed to have someone meet us in 3 days time to collect us and our loot. All for the low price of 10g.

Skill Increase!

Haggle

Level 2

Oh, now you’ve convinced the stable master to do more work for less money? You should write a book on this...

+2-12% Selling Price

-2-12% Buying Cost