~‌‌ ‌‌2.21 ‌‌-‌‌ We Are Xarrie Of The Araneae ~‌‌

Duskgrove

4th Waterday of the Full Moon

The sound of a tiny bell rang above the door as Flea and Bob walked into the Traveler’s Goods store. They had happened by the place on their way to the alchemist Bob had visited. Flea wanted to clean out his bags and see what they had in stock. He figured if they were going to sneak into the baron’s compound and manor, a few items were needed.

“I’ll be with you in a moment,” came a gruff voice from the back.

“Take your time! You got climbing gear?” yelled Flea.

“Thank you! Get back here, you damn brat! Right side, far wall!” the gruff voice yelled back.

The Gnome and cat looked at one another; Bob shrugged. They went over to the mentioned section and found what Flea was looking for. It only took a few minutes to pick out multiple bundles of rope and two grappling hooks. They then wandered about the store looking at the other goods available till Flea came across a glass case locked shut. Getting on his tiptoes to look inside, he could see three books priced at a Royal each and four sets of two books side by side, that looked perfectly identical with their pair, priced at 25 gold for each set.

“Knowledge and Communication Books,” came the gruff voice again, though this time from the right side of Flea.

Flea turned his head to find an older Dwarf holding a small child, complete with a short beard, by one of the child's legs.

“Sorry, the shop’s been slow. I watch my grandchild most days while my daughter and her husband make runs to Stuglegen to sell and buy our merchandise there. This little bastard has to be the most nimble Dwelf ever created.”

“Dwelf? Your son-in-law is an Elf?”

“Yep, surprised me too. He grew on me though; wasn’t uppity like most Elves.”

“I see. Could you explain what Knowledge and Communication Books are?”

“These three Knowledge Books are Blacksmithing, Enchanting, and Cooking. Binding to one of them will absorb the book’s knowledge, turning the book into dust. Communication Books come in pairs. Whatever is written in one, will be written in its twin.”

“How are the Knowledge Books created, and how far apart do the Communication Books work?”

“Someone sells their knowledge to a Mind Mage. The information is pulled from the player’s experiences and then stored in the tome. Most sell to pay back a debt or spend their time on a new craft and sell the old trade’s skills and knowledge. I’ve heard of some who can pick up the basics of a craft faster than others and just keep selling their knowledge over and over to make a living. There is no known limit on the distance for the Communication Books.”

“What do you think, Bob?”

“Get a set of the Communication Books.”

“Agreed. We’ll take a pair of the Communication Books, please.”

“You have gold?”

“No, but I have a Royal.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t have a change for a Royal. I don’t think anyone would in this town.”

“Throw a discount on one of the Knowledge books, and we might be able to make a deal.”

It took all but five seconds for the Dwarf to agree.

“Which you be wanting?”

“Cooking.”

The Dwarf unlocked the case by placing his palm on the glass and mumbling something under his breath. He removed a light grey book and a pair of smaller dark red books. Flea handed him the Royal. The Dwarf, smiling ear to ear, gave him the three books.

“Take the rope and grapples on the house. You’re my last customer here. I’m closing up shop and heading for Stuglegen.”

The Dwarf walked into the back, still holding his giggling Dwelf grandchild by the leg upside down. Before Flea could finish putting away his purchases, he returned with what looked to be a large wooden crate with runes on each of its sides. He placed his hand on top of it and began to mumble something. He quickly paused and turned to his customers.

“You may want to stand near the door.” the Dwarf said.

Bob and Flea took a few steps back just in time to witness entire shelves beginning to vanish from inside the shop and wisp into the crate.

“What is that?” Flea asked.

“My upgraded Magic Bag.”

“How many slots does that have?”

“One.”

“One?! How can you fit everything into it?”

“Once you upgrade your bag to Lv.50, it converts into a dimensional space. From there, you can increase its size by one foot in every direction each additional level.”

“What does it start at?”

“Five cubed.”

“Damn, thank you for letting us know about that.”

The entire shop was now nothing but barren walls.

“I thank you again. I’m going to hire a carriage and leave this town behind. I wish you two all the luck.”

The Dwarf placed his hands on the crate again, and in a moment, it changed to a large backpack with a child seat. Flea walked up and helped the Dwarf place his Dwelf grandson into the seat, the bag auto-closing a strap around the child.

“What’s your name, by the way?” Flea asked.

“Sorry! I’m Laws. This little tyke is Kraz.”

“It was nice meeting you, Laws. I’m Flea, and my furry companion here is Bob.”

The Dwarf shook Flea’s hand, and they left the shop. Laws locked the door behind him and waved them off as he began to walk towards the north.

“Let’s head to the alchemist. Afterward, we can case the baron’s place.”

Bob led Flea through the town to the alchemist where he had bought the antidote from. Entering the shop, Flea could smell the familiar scents of his summer cabin again.

“Hello again, and this must be the one who fought the Desmox?” asked the Elf behind the counter.

“Yep,” said Bob.

“Thank you for helping him with the antidote. You could have sold him something far more expensive, and he would have bought it to help me. We’re back to stock up, happy repeat customers,” Flea said.

“Oh, thank you for the kind words. What is it I can help you with today?”

“We require a few healing potions and combat poisons if you have them.”

“I have Lesser Healing Potions, 1 silver each. Basic Healing Potions, 25 silver each. I also have two Greater Healing Potions in stock, 5 gold each. As for combat, I have your typical trifecta; damage over time, paralyzing, and blinding powder.”

“How much for the paralyzing?”

“I have the Basic Paralyzing Vials for 50 silver apiece.”

“I’ll take your two greater healing, eight basics, and two basic paralyzing.”

“13 gold for the bunch.”

Bob handed the Elf the 13 gold. Turning around, the shopkeeper grabbed the cherry red potions off the shelf, then two yellow with black streaks that seemed to swim within the vial. Placing everything on the counter, he bent down and grabbed the two greaters from below the counter. They held a slightly glowing red liquid within.

“Here you go. Anything else I can help you with?”

“Do you know where we can buy specialty arrows?”

The shopkeep pondered the Gnome’s question for a few moments. While they waited, Flea handed half of the healing potions to Bob. Bob in return gave Flea two of the antidotes he was carrying.

“You should check out The Offensive Post. The shopkeep is an odd one, but they deal in everything; blade and shaft.”

“Thank you, where is the shop located?”

Flea and Bob found themselves at The Offensive Post twenty-some minutes later. Entering the shop, no bell rang. Flea, accustomed to every shop having a bell at the door, looked up, and grabbed Bob from going deeper inside. A bit startled Bob followed Flea’s gaze to see a single strand of web attached to the door leading into the ceiling. The high ceiling was covered entirely in the web. It looked as if the ceiling ten feet above them was nothing more than a large cocoon.

“Sssorry, if your ssspeciesss is not accussstomed to the Araneae. Pleassse do not fear. What can Xxxarrie help you with today?” came a voice from above.

“Hello, Xarrie. We are looking for specialty arrows. Looking for something that can knock out most humanoids. I’m also looking for something that can cause a distraction.”

“Yesss, Xxxarrie hasss what you ssseek.”

Looking around the large room now, Flea couldn’t see any merchandise. Against the wall opposite the door were multiple pedestals. Hundreds of boxes were shelved around the room. All of a sudden, things started moving seemingly on their own.

“Pleassse don’t be alarmed. Xxxarrie is gathering what you ssseek.”

Flea and Bob watched as four different crates pulled themselves from their shelves and floated along the floor and up onto the pedestals. Bob pulled on Flea’s arm, grabbing his attention. Flea looked to where Bob was now pointing and could just see hundreds of legs moving at the edge of one of the floating boxes.

When the crates were placed onto the pedestals, two strands of webbing came down from the ceiling. A pair of spiders came crawling down them. Where their heads should have been were instead the naked torsos of two women. Both were the size of Flea’s head.

“Spider Centaurs,” said Flea.

A low chittering chuckle could be heard from above.

“Our ssspeciesss has been called ssso before.”

The two larger Araneae began to open the four crates. Bob and Flea could see the smaller ones who had moved the containers start climbing the strands and back into the ceiling. Stepping forward towards the now open crates, they could see each held what Flea assumed was a bundle of a different arrow type.

“To your left are Ssstunning Arrowsss. The headsss are filled with a lightning rune. They are bessst usssed on cloth that can be pierced or metal armor. Sssecond, are Sssleep Arrowsss. They have a sssmall sssack of powder at the head that will releassse a cloud of powerful sssleeping powder harvesssted from the Fae. The third crate holdsss Sssoundless Arrowsss. Upon landing, the rune on the arrow’sss head activatesss, and a bubble formsss around the point. No sssound can essscape from within thisss bubble. The lassst crate holdsss Echo Arrowsss. The ussser can activate the arrow and sssay sssomething or caussse a noissse near the arrow’sss head. Once fired and landed, the arrow then beginsss to repeat what the ussser sssaid, causssing your dissstraction.”

“How much for the echo, soundless, and sleeping?” asked Flea.

“10, 10, and 25 gold per one-hundred.”

“Why are Sleeping Arrows so much more?” asked Bob.

“Coming to an agreement and harvesssting the dussst from Dream Walkersss of the Fae isss a processss in and of itssself.”

“We’ll take a bundle of all three, please.

“Our Thanksss.”

Flea took out the last Royal and held it out in his palm. A strand of the web lowered, and one of the smaller Araneae crawled down onto his palm. The legs almost tickled his hand. The Araneae picked up the Royal, and you could see it look at it for a few moments and possibly mumble something. The small Araneae patted his hand, grabbed the strand, and was yanked back up into the ceiling.

“What did the little one do with the Royal?” asked Flea.

“We asssked the sssystem if it wasss real.”

“Oh, we had a Dwarf shopkeeper do something similar not long ago. Do people try to make fake Royals?”

“No, not really. Royalsss are very rare thisss far from The Ssspire. We have not ssseen one in many phasssesss, ssso we check the validity of sssuch a coin.”

“I see. Thank you for explaining,” said Flea.

Flea and Bob could hear a ‘clank’ against the far wall, and a small chest floated into a recess that had opened in the wall.

“Your change. Thank you again for visssiting Xxxiarre.”

Bob placed the three bundles of the arrows into his bag. Leaving The Offensive Post, they walked back to the inn, down the steps, the long tunnel, never-ending stairs up, and into Tenzin’s Lorien.

“I’m going to log out for a while and go visit The NeXus. When I come back, I’ll log back in so you can play as I sleep.”

“Sounds good. When you get back, I’ll go find Zan. While you’re sleeping, would you mind if I check out the baron’s compound to see what I can learn using my [Eagle Eye] skill?

“As long as you’re careful, it’s alright with me.”

With that, Flea logged out.