Day 12 - Trial by Fire, Water, and Bureaucracy

"Through practical experience, I learned that it is best not to dry wet boots over a fire with your feet still in them."

Patrick F. McManus

14:20 EST, Saturday February 7th, 2043

Time passed in real world: 43hrs 20mins

Time passed in Majesta: 260hrs

12.1 On Runes and Reputation

Mayah stretched as the sound of trumpets blared in her ears. She rolled over after hearing the deep guttural groan. She saw Margaret her favorite Necro-Ranger swipe away the notification and pull her shirt pillow over her head blocking the light.

Specter’s Keep Daily Update

3,562 teams entered the dungeon 4 days ago. Only 152 remain.

Congratulations on making it through your fourth night.

Thank you, for playing Majesta.

“Good mooooooooorning Margaret!!!!!” Mayah sang cheerfully.

Dark and muttered words of possible eldritch origin were the only response that Mayah received.

“That’s fine, but could you at least pull out the tea for me, please?”

Margaret’s body rustled under her blanket and an arm stretched out holding a thermos. She deposited the tea and her arm snaked back under the blanket like the leg of a trap-door spider.

“How is she so unintentionally creepy?” Mayah said to herself. She looked at the clock and wondered when Grax was going to be back. Then she switched over and began thinking about how last night could’ve gone better.

Rushing head first into a zerg rush. Not my best bit of planning but it worked. She shrugged and poured a single cup of tea letting the sleeping nec lie. The Tower defense was fun if a little on the repetitive side.

I've really been letting my crafting slide. I need a whole day to sit alone and build things. The biggest thing holding me back is I need materials to build things. Her thoughts turned to the market place back at the training village and wished she’d spent more time there.

Might as well look at what we have already.

She looked at the rewards pane in her inventory and saw they hadn’t distributed any of the loot for the dungeon so far.

Shadow’s Keep Loot Table

Skaduvuurm Skin x79

Skaduvuurm Oil sac x120

Skaduvuurm Wings(2) x83

Skaduvuurm Meat x374

Skaduvuurmlord skin (damaged)

Skaduvuurmlord tail

Skaduvuurmlord claw x3

Skaduvuurmlord scale x21

Eye of Shadow

Vial of Skaduweesp essence x13

1 Class Specific Plan: Arrow Tower (engineer)

1 Class Specific ornament: torc of the Fleet (Ranger)

1 Class Specific Raiment: Cowl of Silence (Rogue)

Blackfire scale Breastplate

Greaves of darkness

Bracers of umbra

Skaduweesp Commander’s dagger

Skaduweesp titan’s War cleaver

Vial of Umbrosia x3

This list didn’t include the Gather (S) rune she had scoped from the temple of umbrasom, Tarhandtula remains from the time she spent in Clacker’s Alley, or the spoils she gathered when she discovered the rötten.

Mayah wondered why the drops were so poor and went onto the forums and searched for item prices and almost instantly found a high-ranking article by someone named BaconBeard32. It was titled Disparity of drops in training village vs. the sandbox.

It summed up the harsh reality that awaited them outside of the village with this quote, “The drops and rewards for quest were found to be doled out in copper and silver, versus the gold we were accustomed to. A paladin could easily live in the shadier side of town for fairly cheap. A single gold coin can last you a month if you lived sparingly.”

Mayah’s face screwed up a bit as she thought this over. “The training village really was trying to give us a leg up, just like Jensen said.” she sipped her tea and mused on the reality of this.

It’s gonna be hard to get rich in Majesta unless you really grind and get to the high-level mobs. But that falls directly in line with what we were told.

Next, she looked at the sleeping rötten and pulled up their stats from last night’s power leveling. Deanna who did most of the work went from level 2 to level 5. Riker who started off at level 3 had only made it to level six because he was a bit squishier than Deanna and acted like it

Time to fix that right now. If I can get them to level 10 before we leave that would be amazing.

She started to pull out items that could make a difference in Riker’s offensive or defensive capabilities and thought over how she had mistakenly created Deanna by pulling out her soul. She shuddered at the thought and recalled that was what originally made Deanna drop back to level 1 from level 3.

Gotta avoid that if at all possible. She scratched her upper lip and was attacked by the smell of gasoline mixed with high proof alcohol. She looked at her finger and noticed it was covered in skaduvuurm oil and the ink of her stamping. She wiped it off on her pants and It left a smudge of the ink on her pants and it came off of her finger as well..

“Thank god I can finally get rid of this mustache.”

She pressed her finger into an oil sac and wiped it on her lip and then wiped it off with a scrap of fabric. Even though her sense of smell was tarnished by the world smelling flammable and noxious she knew it would fade.

“I really need to pay more attention to my alchemy and this wouldn’t happen to me.” she looked at the 13 vials of skaduweesp essence. “What can I make with those?”

Her hand hovered above the list and then she swiped it away in frustration. “Gotta stay focused. I was working on Riker and Deanna.”

She pulled up her companion tab.

Companion tab

Companion 1 Name: Riker

Species:

Rötten - Male

Level:

6

HP:

22/22

Disposition:

Friendly

Abilities:

Bite and Claw

Upgrades available - Riker

Defense

1

increase defense

1 point

Attack

1

Increase attack

1 point

Strength

1

Increase Strength

1 point

Stamina

1

Increase stamina

1 point

Agility

1

Increase agility

1 point

Rapport

1

Increase Rapport

1 point

You have: 50 points

Companion tab

Companion 2 Name: Deanna

Species:

Iron Rötten - Female

Level:

5

HP:

80/80

Disposition:

Friendly

Abilities:

Bite and Claw. Bones, hair and teeth have been magically infused with iron. This gives this subspecies of rötten a higher attack and defense rating. +1 to Base for Attack, Defense and Affinity

Upgrades available - Deanna

Defense*

4

increase defense

4 points

Attack*

4

Increase attack

4 points

Strength

2

Increase Strength

3 points

Stamina

2

Increase stamina

3 point

Agility

2

Increase agility

3 point

Affinity*

3

Increase affinity

2 points

Rapport

2

Increase Rapport

3 points

You have: 30 points

Mayah noticed a few differences between her two companion’s charts and a major oddity. “Riker has points available for all of his levels.” The other oddity being that even though the rötten had leveled their hp had stayed the same. The major differences were that Riker had no affinity and his abilities were basic compared to Deanna’s.

The interrupted thought from earlier came back to her in a flash. “So can I give Riker his affinity without dropping him down to level one? Well I guess we’re gonna have to find out. But first we need to know what kind of affinity he wants.”

She pulled up her enchanting skill tree.

Enchantment skill Tree

Arm

Charge

Auxiliary Skills

Arm 1

Unlocked

Charge 1

Unlocked

Batch Enchant 1

Unlocked

Soul Drawing 1

Unlocked.

Elemental Soul substitution 1

Unlocked

Arm 2

Unlocked

Charge 2

Unlocked

Batch Enchant 2

15pts

Soul Drawing 1

Unlocked

Elemental Soul substitution 2

Unlocked

Arm 3

Unlocked

Charge 3

Unlocked

Soul Drawing 1

20pts.

Soul Snare 1

Unlocked

Elemental Soul sub 3

20pts.

Imbue Essence 1

20pts.

Arm 4

19pts

Charge 4

19pts

Soul snare 2

25pts.

Mayah had used a combination of soul drawing and Elemental souls substitution to create the anomaly that was Deanna. It had taken two rounds of enchantment which were about 20 or so minutes apart and during that time Deanna had gone from a level 3 rötten to a level 1. Now she prayed that she could avoid most of the level loss if she did the Elemental soul substitution as soon as possible.

There was also the question of if she could just use the elemental soul substitution by itself. She decided to read the description again to make sure.

Elemental soul Substitution

Level 2 Enchantment skill tree

Allows the enchanter to remove a portion of living essence from a creature which will be substituted with an element of the enchanter’s choosing. The element chosen will determine new abilities and properties of the creature. The creature will have an affinity for the element and will need that element to continue its growth.

Example: Like, maybe by removing the Life essence of a rötten you can add the essence of iron from a throwing knife. ...or something like that. Except now you can add more elements.

At level 2 you will be able to substitute 2 elemental affinities per creature.

Unlocked

That would eliminate the time that it took her to complete the enchantment and also the risk of lost levels. And she had given Deanna her affinity with no levels at all. She considered upgrading the soul substitution but decided against it. She took a deep breath and relaxed. No harm would come to the little guy if she could help it.

Mayah reached over and shook Riker awake. “Hey bud, you want an element like Deanna?”

Riker’s head popped up completely attentive. Deanna hearing her name stirred, opened one eye and then fell back asleep

Riker skittered over into Mayah’s lap and looked her in the face expectantly. Mayah smiled into his beady eyes.

Okay, little guy I have a few choices, for you. We can go metal like Deanna, but I wouldn’t suggest that because you’ll just bump heads. And if I'm correct you want something to impress her. I'm fairly sure that I can use something that I have enchanted to give you properties like fire,” She pointed at the smoking campfire, “Or maybe shadow?”

At the mention of shadow Riker squeaked and hid under her arm. she remembered the trauma he must’ve gone through as a skadurötten driven insane by the evil shadows in this place.

“Okay so maybe not shadows. But it wouldn’t be the angry shadows this time just regular shadows. Now next on my list are the poison sacs and web sacs. You could make yourself pretty useful if you could trap and poison things. Then there’s the oil sac from the vuurm which they used to spit fire.”

“The way these things work I'm really leaning towards a stealth build for you. You could sneak in someplace poison them and then when they’re weakened we could steamroll them. Where as for Deanna, I have a feeling she’s gonna be right up front in the thick of it, causing distractions and such. So for now I would say go for poison and we can add an element later. I think.” she scratched her cheek absentmindedly as she thought about it.

“Yeah I think poison would be best. You can bite something and it would get weakened. I'll up your agility and you can dart in and out while Deanna tanks whatever it is your fighting.”

Riker let out a squeak and looked around and then back to Mayah.

“You trust me don’t you?”

Riker looked down at his paws and then back up to Mayah and nodded an affirmative.

“I won’t let you down, little guy.”

Mayah pulled out all of the venom sacs she had. They looked like small leather bags big enough to hold a dime and they were moist and slippery. She shuddered when she touched them and separated twenty of them figuring that would be enough to complete the enchantment.

She grabbed Riker and wrapped him a burrito of fabric so that only his head and tail were sticking out. He looked at Mayah with worry and a few squeaks as he struggled against his blanket bonds.

“This is just to make sure I won’t lose my grip on you and screw something up. I'll get this over as quickly as possible and let you free okay?” She snuggled the rat in a rug to reassure him. She gathered the sacs in one hand and her hand began to itch slightly from the venom sacs.

Better hurry this up.

“You ready?” Riker squeaked his assent from Mayah’s lap. Okay here we go.”

Mayah started the enchantment and thought elemental soul substitution. Riker went limp as his essence was pulled from his body and she felt it floating in front of her. She pushed the essence from the venom sacs up towards the floating ball of soul and began to mix the essences together.

She wrapped the venom essence around and through Riker’s essence adding as much as she could. She kneaded and mixed the essences trying to make them completely homogenous before her mana ran out. She cut the string off of the venom sacs and with a final push she surrounded Riker with his new venom essence. She dropped 30 points of stamina into her mana using wellspring and compressed the essence into the rötten’s tiny body.

With a final push it clicked and Mayah released the enchantment and Riker began to stir. Mayah gently unwrapped her rötten burrito and laid Riker in her lap. He opened his eyes and yawned. Mayah stared at his opened mouth.

Two sections separated from the back of his jaw and spread wide, like a spider's mandibles. A glistening fang uncurled and extended from each of the mandible-like structures. As the yawn ceased the fangs folded back down and the secondary mandibles disappeared back into Riker’s mouth. Mayah stared on in disbelief as Riker sat up and began to clean himself.

“So bud, notice anything different about your mouth?”

Riker ignored her. And kept cleaning.

“Fine then but you’re going to bite me later and show me what you’re working with.” She opened up the companion tab and found that he had a new subspecies designation and an affinity.

Companion tab

Companion 1 Name: Riker

Species:

Venom Rötten - Male

Level:

6

HP:

22/22

Disposition:

Friendly

Abilities:

Poison Bite, Poison Claw. Teeth and Claws have been magically infused with Venom. This gives this subspecies of rötten a higher attack rating. +1 to Base for Attack and Affinity

Upgrades available - Riker

Defense

1

increase defense

1 point

Attack*

2

Increase attack

1 point

Strength

1

Increase Strength

1 point

Stamina

1

Increase stamina

1 point

Agility

1

Increase agility

1 point

Affinity*

2

Increase affinity

1 point

Rapport

1

Increase Rapport

1 point

You have: 50 points

“So he has an affinity now, a boost to his attack, and I get to play with all the points from levels two through six. So I need to up his defense first. Wanna make sure he survives. Then his attack. Hopefully his venom will get stronger. Then his agility, rapport and affinity. She finished the distribution and looked at his chart.

Companion tab

Companion 1 Name: Riker

Species:

Venom Rötten - Male

Level:

6

HP:

80/80

Disposition:

Friendly

Abilities:

Poison Bite, Poison Claw. Teeth and Claws have been magically infused with Venom. This gives this subspecies of rötten a higher attack rating. +1 to Base for Attack and Affinity

Upgrades available - Riker

Defense

3

increase defense

4 points

Attack*

5

Increase attack

4 points

Strength

4

Increase Strength

1 point

Stamina

3

Increase stamina

4 points

Agility

4

Increase agility

5 points

Affinity*

5

Increase affinity

5 points

Rapport

3

Increase Rapport

4 points

You have: 0 points

Mayah accepted the changes and watched as Riker began to transform. His shoulders and chest got broader and then slimmed down as his body and neck stretched out. He began to take on the proportions of a weasel with longer and skinnier legs.

He definitely looks more agile. And where’ed that extra point in attack come from? I’m gonna need to add these points one at a time next time we do this.

The transformation stopped and Riker squeaked. It had more bass to it than before, but was still a squeak. He began to examine himself and scampered out onto the grass and spun in circles squeaking trying to look himself over.

Deanna finally woke and tried to find the source of the squeaks. When she saw Riker she dropped her ears, bared her teeth, and her hair bristled sharply. Riker noticed her at once and ran over to her. Deanna lifted up on her hind legs and swiped a claw at him. Riker jumped a foot to the side to avoid the blow. He looked extremely surprised at the distance he had moved and spun, lowered his head, and rushed back into towards Deanna. She tried to bite him and Riker agiley avoided the move again.

Riker being confident that Deanna couldn’t touch him came in slow, squeaking at Deanna. Deanna must have gotten his scent and she relaxed slightly. Riker spun to show himself off to her and bounced around excitedly. He ran up on Mayah’s lap and bounced again and put a paw on Mayah

Deanna squeaked, ambled over and put a paw on Mayah as well looking up into her eyes.

“You want upgrades too?” Deanna squeaked and nodded. “Well okay then. Who am I to argue. You earned those points.”

Mayah added one point to defense and watched Deanna’s HP jump 15 points. She added a point to attack and nothing changed. Next she added two points to strength and watched Deanna’s HP jump another ten points. When she added two points to stamina the HP jumped another ten points.

She continued down the list adding to points to everything until she added two points to affinity. As soon as she brought Deanna’s affinity up to five the rötten’s attack and defense jumped by one.

So that’s where that extra point came from.

She finished up by bringing Deanna’s Rapport up by two and finalized the changes.

Companion tab

Companion 2 Name: Deanna

Species:

Iron Rötten - Female

Level:

5

HP:

130/130

Disposition:

Friendly

Abilities:

Bite and Claw. Bones, hair and teeth have been magically infused with iron. This gives this subspecies of rötten a higher attack and defense rating. +1 to Base for Attack, Defense and Affinity

Upgrades available - Deanna

Defense*

6

increase defense

4 points

Attack*

6

Increase attack

4 points

Strength

4

Increase Strength

4 points

Stamina

4

Increase stamina

4 points

Agility

3

Increase agility

3 points

Affinity*

5

Increase affinity

4 points

Rapport

4

Increase Rapport

4 points

You have: 1 points

Mayah watched as the hair on Deanna’s back became stiffer and was grouped into individual tufts that looked more like spikes that stuck up from her body. She got wider and her legs got more muscular and a tad bit longer. She was a cross between a rat on steroids and the missing link between a porcupine and a pangolin.

She’s a pangupine!

“Soft fur girl,” Mayah said and the iron spikes fell flat. Mayah gave her scritches and felt that the hair was stiffer and didn’t soften as much as it did before.

“You like it?” she asked Deanna.

Deanna tried to jump like Riker and wound up barely getting the air he did.

“Oh you wanted to be more agile like Riker?”

Deanna nodded.

“Sorry girl. I was imagining you as a tank. That way you could take what anybody threw at you. It kinda fits with the whole iron thing.”

Deanna sulked.

“We’ll get you some more agility. We just need the levels to do it.”

Deanna looked up at Mayah. Riker came over and put a paw on Deanna’s shoulder. Deanna instantly bristled.

Mayah turned Deana’s head towards herself. “Don’t you take it out on him. I did this, not him. And we’ll fix it. Okay?”

“But for now, just know he’s got a venom attack and you give damage when attacked. So, you’ll work well together. He’s the damage dealer and you’re the tank. Plus, I'll have another element I can give you soon.”

Both of the rötten perked up at that. Mayah chuckled.

“Not now. We’ll get these elements leveled and then you’ll be ready.”

Mayah looked at her clock.

“Nine o’clock. Where is that cat? Anyway, let’s have a look at my skill trees.”

Mayah pulled up her enchantment skill trees and sighed. These auxillary skills are great and I need more of them, but I should focus on the main branch and see where that leads me.

Currently her Arm enchantment and Charge enchantment set at level three. She hoped there would be a breakthrough soon but with 166 skill tree points she was planning on breaking through something today.

First, she added Arm level four for 19 points and level five for 20 points.

Arm

Level 5 Enchantment skill tree

Allows the enchanter to arm any object by placing an active essence into the enchanted object. The enchanted object will then have some of the behaviors of the essence. It will also activate any runes that are on the object if they are compatible with the active essence.

Example: Enchanting a dagger with poison will change the dagger’s essence and make it a poison dagger. Unless the enchantment is removed, the dagger will remain poisoned for the rest of its existence.

At level 5, arm will transfer up to 100% of the active essence to the enchanted item.

Unlocked

You have 127 skill tree points remaining.

The next level was greyed out and unavailable.

After all that, a dead end? Can’t be.

She examined the chart again and the next skill was actually placed between the arm and charge columns.

So, I don’t meet the prerequisites. Let’s see if I can fix that.

Mayah spent the 39 points to bring Charge up to level five.

Charge

Level 1 Enchantment skill tree

Allows the enchanter to imbue mana into the enchanted object to activate when prompted. After creation, anyone can prompt the activation of a charged enchantment.

Example: A torch enchanted with fire will light when prompted to by the bearer of the torch.

At level 5 only 200% of mana used to enchant the item can be put into the charged object. At higher levels, more mana can be added from secondary or tertiary sources for a longer duration of effect.

Unlocked

You have 88 skill tree points remaining.

The first thing that Mayah noticed was that charge 5 used the words ‘only 200%’ meaning that there were going to be more levels of charge and as she looked at the skill tree the block that was greyed out off of Arm 5 turned blue and connected to charge 5.

“Necessary steps huh?”

The new block was labeled mana control. It gave no other information and cost 25 skill tree points.

“Well I can’t get around it and if I want my enchanting to level I might as well.”

She pushed the buy button and was flabbergasted.

Mana Control

You have gained a basic understanding of how to form and shape mana. This allows you to visualize the flows of mana you produce while enchanting. You will have greater control over size shape and density of mana you can project. Denser manas will be easier to handle and the rarer or less dense manas will be easier to coalesce into manageable densities.

All mana usage cost 10% less.

You have 63 skill tree points remaining.

A 10% off coupon for all mana purchases??? Yes please and thank you. Should have done this as soon as I got these points yesterday. Just because I have a big hammer doesn’t make me a warrior. I'm a crafter and I need to stay in my lane. She went back to her tree to see what came next and was happily surprised until she read it in its entirety.

Enchantment Skill

Apprentice level up

At the apprentice level, anyone who wishes to advance their Skills must find a trainer, join a guild with a trainer, or complete a Class specific quest to unlock this tier of advancement. For your apprentice Enchanting Skill you must join the Enchanters guild or find a suitable trainer. This will grant you access to enchanting formulas, libraries and trainers who will be able to help you level your apprentice level Skill. If you never join a guild, find a trainer, or complete a class specific quest you will level your skill normally and be capped at beginner level 100 in the skill

Cost: 30 Skill Tree Points

Locked: Conditions not met.

You have 63 skill tree points remaining.

The frustration this roadblock caused anger to burn bright in her stomach. Her fists clenched and she ground her teeth. As the pressure was building inside of her thoughts flew around her mind at an incredible speed. She tried to find the words to sum up what she was feeling. Only one word came to mind and she let it out like a valve blowing off the extra pressure.

“Boooooooooo…!!!!”

……

Mo sneezed himself awake and fumbled with his nose withdrawing a long piece of straw that had tickled him into awareness. He sneezed twice more and blinked at the sunlight streaming into the haybarn. His dream clouded thoughts coalesced into the reckoning of his present situation.

“Right. Chickens. Slept on hay bales.” he stretched and yawned taking in his surroundings. He could hear the sound of knockers and construction coming from across the yard. He stood up and stretched once more then brushed off all of the hay that was stuck to him.

He walked out of the haybarn covering his eyes from the sun as his eyes blinked away the last of their sleepiness and caught a whiff of the most delicious smell. His stomach rumbled hungrily.

He rubbed his rumbly tummy and said, “when in doubt, follow your nose, it always knows.”

He stumbled over to the house, the smells intensifying, and he knocked on the door, ignoring the construction team on the other side of the yard. Engele Henhausen answered the door. Driskel’s wife had a smile on her face this morning and invited Mo in.

“And a good morning to you, Booms. Would you like some tea?”

“Yes please, and some of whatever is cooking in there,” he said hopefully.

“Yewl eat when everyone eats moy boy-o!” Celiaphus Bonkers’ voice rang out from the kitchen. Mo chuckled hearing the leader of the knockers engaged in his true passion.

“He’s been up cooking for hours,” Engele said as she disappeared into the kitchen. She promptly returned with a cup of tea and a pot of honey.

“He is a delightful cook. I wondered how I was going to feed all of these men.”

“Oi cook for moy boys all the toime,” Bonkers’ voice reached out of the kitchen. “It’s no put-out for me. But Booms, the missus, ‘ere has some excellent stock which’ll have us all celebrating our tum-tums in wee bit.”

Mo's stomach whined to be fed and he took a sip of the tea hoping to calm the rumblings. The tea was warm and sweet and Mo felt instantly refreshed.

20% boost to stamina regeneration for the next 2 hours

“This tea is amazing Engele. I wish I could have some of this everywhere I went.”

Engele smiled at the compliment.

“What till you see what Celiaphus made, Booms. We traded recipes and came up with a muffin recipe that you’re sure to love.”

Bonkers head popped out of the kitchen. “The whole knoife grabbing thing is gone too. Me and the boys noticed it this morning. Feels good, it does.”

“Glad to hear that.” Mo gave a little celebratory fist pump.

Bonkers came out of the kitchen and pulled off his apron. “Everything is almost ready. I got one last bunch of muffins finishing off.”

“So, about that quest you gave us? Where do you think we should start?”

“Oi'm of the moind that the knockers should be some type of official group loike. Like the knocker’s society or the union of knockers.”

“Have you thought about changing the name from knockers at all? I don’t mean to put it down but the name isn’t that upwardly mobile.” He sipped more of the tasty tea while Bonkers scratched his chin.

“Oi hadn’t really looked at it as such. Which is obviously why we need your help. We need to know what type’o organizations we’ave to choose from. And then we can figure everything out from there.”

“Sounds like I know what I'm doing today. Any good ideas on where to start?”

“Ooh,” Engele interjected with her bubbly voice. “try the main offices of the science assemblage. The info counter there should be able to aim you in the right direction.”

“Sounds good to me.” Mo replied.

Bonkers stood up. “Toime to get moy muffins outta the foire. Message the boys and tell’em brekky in foive, would ya?”

“Sure thing Bonkers.” Mo messaged the whole team and told them to “Get up and at’em.” a few angry responses came through about dreams and such but they were mostly playful. Then Mo helped Engele carry tables outside where the knockers would get served soup kitchen style.

As Bonkers brought the food out Mo told him, “I'm taking Ziggs and Mephi back to town after we eat. I want to get a good start on the quest you gave us.”

Good Oidea. Oi'll send most of these fellers back with youse. There’s only so many men that can build chicken coops until hands and arms start getting in the way.”

“Elbows to buttholes my dad used to say.” The words were floated into the conversation with a whiff of skunkiness as Mephi showed up.

“Hey Meph,” Mo gave the skunkman daps.

Bonkers practically threw a plate of food at Mephi. Now youse get away from my buffet!!! You’ll ruin the taste with miasma, ya will”

Mephi shrugged. “Can’t be angry at getting served first.”

Hey Bonkers, make me a plate for Ziggs as well?”

“Sure thing, Booms.”

Bonkers handed Mo two plates and the duo walked off to waft the smell of bacon and eggs and cinnamon rolls and something that Mo had no idea what it was across the farmyard.

Knockers began to stir rather quickly after a whiff of the food and they continued their search for Ziggs.

The found her box underneath the tree in a corner of the yard. Mo knocked lightly on the robo box and heard Ziggs whine, “What? I'm sleeping.”

“We got breakfast trashbot!” Mephi yelled.

“Ooh breakfast in bed…”

The cockpit slid out of her soon to be mecha named gunny num nums and instead of the seat which they had gotten used to there was a fairy sized equivalent of a king-sized bed with a tiny fairy sleepily lazing in the sheets.

“Gimme,” she hisspered.

Mo placed the food on top of her mecha chassis and said, “Not if you’re gonna ask like that.”

“Fine.” Ziggs began typing on an invisible interface and a robotic arm reached out of the side of the box. It grabbed the plate and pulled it into a side compartment. Twenty seconds later a small tray rolled out next to her bed with a full complement of the meal in fairy sized proportions.

Mo's eyebrows raised. Ziggs saw the look and before he could ask, she said, “fairy magic.”

As they all ate Mo briefed them on how they were going to head to the science assemblage and start the quest for the knockers. Ziggs brought up a good question through a mouthful of cinnamon roll.

“So, what are they going to change their name to?”

“No idea. But we should have that conversation sooner than later.” Mephi added.

“The first thing they need to figure out,” Mo swallowed the last of the food in his mouth, “before everything else, is what kind of organization they’d like to build. And for that we should figure out the types available. So, first step is still the science assemblage.”

“After we thank Bonkers and Engele for the delicious meal we head back into the city and get started. Any other business?”

“Just the same things. Where do we get levels and how quick can we get them?”

“And shinies, this fairy needs shinies—for reasons.”

“Girls…” Mephi groaned. “After this quest I have to finish up my class quest. I need that to be on the schedule.”

“Unless we get waylaid by some evil forces you should be fine ya big smelly lump of… you!” Ziggs chided and instantly retracted her cockpit back into her pixie frame.

Mo was hit with the olfactory wave of irritation and said, “knock on wood.” and knocked on the tree.

“Why?” Mephi asked.

“Because, yesterday she said something about anticlimactic and then we end up fighting three giant chickens. I think we should talk about the things we do want and not the things we don’t want. There used to be this whole movement that dealt with the law of attraction. It was basically training your brain to see the positives in life and thereby made you more able to enjoy the small things and be happier. But I think this game actually listens.”

“So you think the game hears us say something and then laughs evilly and puts that something in our path?”

“Don’t have enough info yet but I'm noticing a trend.”

“So we should watch what we say?” Ziggs asked

“That’s my recommendation until we learn more.” Mephi said seriously

“Yeah Ziggs,” Mo added. “it would be a shame if someone showed up and just gave us a ton of money. It would be so horrible.”

Ziggs chuckled, “Oh no what would we ever do if we were covered in money?”

Mephi just facepalmed. “I don’t think it works that way.”

Mo grabbed him by the shoulder and laughed as Mephi sighed defeatedly.

…...

Malcipher awoke in the spider’s den, the silk sheets just a whisper against his skin. He had never known that luxury could feel so amazing. He still held no use for the trappings of the rich but he made up his mind to enjoy it while he could.

He lazed in the bed for a minute more before throwing the sheets off and sitting up. He pushed open the curtains that surrounded the large bed and glared at his surroundings.

Zhīzhū had given him a large room with more silk pillows and spider themed ornaments than he had ever seen in one place before. Everything was done in black and silver silk with the occasional flash of red. The accommodations could be considered lavish even if the styling was peculiar and reminded him of a spider’s web.

He recalled her words as she left him last night. “This is where I let my special guest stay,” she said temptingly, her hand tracing down his cheek and neck, before finally coming to rest on his chest.

The predatory glint in her eye made him shudder unconsciously at the memory. He shook it off and equipped his armor. It was a shabby counterpoint to the opulence that surrounded him.

He messaged Halsh and told him to meet him in the common room. As soon as he did a knock came from the door.

“Who’s there?” he asked gruffly. From his inventory he pulled a sword and buckler. He got into his stance and prepared for close quarters combat.

“It’s me, Keyes, Lord Coad,” Halsh’s voice came from outside the door.

“Come in. Slowly,” Malcipher growled. He didn’t like surprises.

The door slowly opened and Halsh’s hand came into view followed slowly by his other hand and then the rest of his body.

Malcipher still in his ready stance motioned for him to enter and waited until Halsh had closed the door. Once it was closed, he stashed his weapons into his inventory and relaxed a bit.

“Lord Coad.”Halsh nodded.

“Keyes. Why were you outside my door?”

“Waiting for you, sir.”

Malcipher growled in thought.

“Have you seen Zhīzhū?” he asked the man.

“No sir, one of her men gave me this letter and asked me to give it to you.” Halsh reached into his bag and offered the letter to Malcipher. The letter was heavily perfumed and Malcipher broke the waxen seal with a spider imprinted on it and read the letter.

Lord Falx Coad of the rugged jaws,

My dearest, I have some urgent business to attend to. Please enjoy yourself in Drahtspule. Here is a messaging stone and some spending money to help with that.

I will return this evening so we can dine together. I will message you when I am on my way. Please find suitable attire as we may need to travel in the higher echelons of society to further my needs. There should be more than enough money to get that small task done.

Remember your oath not to kill anyone, or disrupt or draw attention to my business. Behave as a normal law abiding citizen. Avoid violence if you can. If you can’t make sure you only act in self defense or can completely destroy any evidence. In other words keeps your hands out of and off of everything while you’re here in techros.

Forever yours,

Zhīzhū

Ps. Try to find something in silk. XOXOXO

As he unfolded the last bit of parchment a silver messaging stone with a spider embossed on it fell into his hand along with a silver coin that was smaller and brighter than the silver coins he was used to.

Platinum.

“We’ve just gotten ordered to find nice clothes and hang around looking pretty.”

“Well, Lord Coad, it could be worse.” Halsh smirked.

“Pray tell, Keyes, how could it be worse?”

“Instead of being off mission and cleaning toilets we get to go shopping. Personally, I could use a few healing potions and new armor,” Halsh hinted to Malcipher.

“You know Halsh, you may be on to something,” Malciper agreed. As he stroked his chin the perfume made its way into his nostrils again. They flared and he grimaced at the scent.

“We can leave as soon as I wash this putrid perfume off.”

Yes, Lord Coad.” Halsh’s stiff upper lip may have held back the laughter but it couldn’t hold back the mirth from his voice.

Malcipher glared at the shadowranger.

“Get me some soap and water.”

“As you command Lord Coad.” Halsh bowed and then left to find a chambermaid.

…..

Before Grax fully formed in the clearing he could hear Mayah saying, “Finally!”

Grax spun to find both women printing papers with rune stamps.

“What’s up princess?”

“What do you think, dinkus? We were waiting on you.”

“Well your wait is finally over. Also... good morning,” he said chipperly.

“And a good almost afternoon to you too.”

“Morning kitty,” Margaret said. “I have a surprise for you.”

Before he could ask what the surprise was, Margaret chucked a stiletto at him. Grax dipped the throw and glared at Margaret.

“Awww… you ducked.” Margaret Gripped the grass in her fist. “I thought you liked gifts?”

“Not gifts of pain!” Grax said brusqely and shook his head at the necro-ranger. “Anyway, hold off for a second while I share my good news.”

“What good news is that?” Mayah sat back on her haunches and studied Grax.

Grax stared back. “Aw man your hitler-stache is gone!”

“What. is. your. good. news?” Mayah emphasized every word to get the cat back on track.

“I had so many new jokes planned for you.”

“Good news. Now! Or I won't be held responsible for what Margaret does to you.”

“Fine, fine.” Grax sidled over to them and sat down. My mom got a call from Attactus Industries.”

“And?”

“Well long story short. They may have a system to help my sister. But since she’s going to be in long term immersion, they need her to buddy up with someone. Guess who they picked?”

Mayah crossed her arms and glared at him. Grax took the hint and continued.

“So, they want to talk to my parents and bring me a long term immersion pod and something about attactus VR school settings, advanced learning stuff, time compression and college within the year, blah, blah, blah...”

So, under the guise of helping your sister you get a long-term immersion pod so that you can help Fluff?” Margaret asked.

“Yep! It’s tech heaven.”

“Will they really be able to help your sister?”

“That’s still an unknown, But it’s better than the nothing that’s happening for her right now. They’ll be there tomorrow at 8 a.m.to get the paperwork finished and start the process. When I logged in Josh left me a message about it. He said they’re going to claim the first week will be a testing phase before the school actually starts. So I'll be able to be here helping out more while they work on my sister.”

“Congratulations, Grax. I hope they can help your sister”

“Me too.” His smile faltered a bit. “But since we’re here, what’s the plan?”

Mayah pointed to the cave. “Go that way. Kill stuff.”

“Wash, rinse, and repeat,” Margaret chimed in.

“I'm really starting to like this new Mags. Any way we can call a truce?”

“Whoa! Look at the kitty using diplomacy.” Mayah fanned herself.

Grax ignored Mayah and stared at Margaret with all of the sincerity he could muster.

“Not yet, but soon. I'm having too much fun terrorizing you.”

Grax could only chuckle. “Fine. that sounds almost fair.”

“So what’s the plan? we going to The Lürkinmürk or clacker’s alley?”

“First place we’re going to a secret location in the city then we’re going to search the temple of umbrasom. Found some cool but dangerous stuff in there and then we’ll decide. I wanna clear two sections if possible. My crafting is taking a hit without materials.”

“I can’t level my enchanting tier past novice while we’re in here either.”

“novice?” Grax cocked his head.

“I already shared this with Mags but you were mysteriously absent. So here we go again.

I leveled up my skill trees and hit a dead end. For now at least. I'm a novice enchanter and I can’t become an apprentice until I join a guild, find a trainer, or do a skill specific quest.”

“So you can’t level your enchanting?”

“No I can level it up to 100 but I'm capped there and all my enchantments will still be novice level. No one on the forums has any info on it yet so I assume either they’re playing it close to their vest or no one has made it that far yet. I got a lot of extra skill points for leveling my trades.

“Speaking of, how’s your engraving?” She cocked her head stared at Grax expectantly.

“Not as good as my sword play but it’s coming along,” Grax said cockily.

“He’s never going to be of any help,” Margaret chided. “Let’s just leave him and finish the dungeon.”

“Before that we need to set up our loot distribution.

“I want the bracers!” Grax rallied.

“Need before greed, baka neko chan.”

“I still want the bracers.”

“Did you even look at the stats?

“No. But they look gnarlztabulaous.”

“Geez, okay let’s look at the class specific stuff first. Then the armor and weapon drops.”

“We have 1 Class Specific Plan: Arrow Tower for an engineer. That goes to me. Any objections?” no one said anything. “Margaret gets the Torc of the Fleet for a Ranger. And finally, Grax, you get the Cowl of Silence since you’re our Rogue.”

“Nice, lowers the noise I make by 20%.”

“Does it work on your mouth?” Margaret asked.

“Buuuurn…” Mayah said quietly.

“Hahaha,”Grax said with a stone face. “What’s that torc do, grandma?”

Margaret, glared at Grax and said, “increases my top speed by 20%.”

“Finally, you can stop slowing us down.”

“Buuuurn…” Mayah repeated.

“I thought you were on my side Fluff?”

“I am but he showed some humility today and I'm responding with a bit of equitability. Hopefully he’ll continue to be a bit nicer and I won’t have to resort to inflicting pain, doom, and disaster upon him.”

Margaret hmmph’ed

“So princess, what’s that plan do for you?”

“I'm guessing, I build it to level my engineering class skill. And with the delivery arrows they'll be more powerful than the original by at least an order of magnitude.”

“And we’ll be able to carry them around with us thanks to Dr. Fluffenstein’s magical assault crystals.” Grax looked happy enough to dance.

“Now onto the armor drops. We have the Greaves of darkness, the Bracers of umbra, the Skaduweesp Commander’s dagger, the Skaduweesp titan’s War cleaver, and the Blackfire scale Breastplate.” she named each item as she layed it on the ground. The breastplate made her fingers tickle like a bit of electricty mixed with glue. She rubbed her fingers after she released it.

Name:

Blackfire Scale Breastplate

Type:

Armor (chest slot)

Grade:

???

Material:

Vurmloord Scale, ???, ???

Weight:

32 lbs.

Durability:

???/???

Attributes:

Disperse mana ???

Name:

Greaves of Darkness

Type:

Armor (lower leg slot)

Grade:

???

Material:

???

Weight:

8.2 lbs. (4.1 lbs. each)

Durability:

???/???

Attributes:

???

Name:

Bracers of Umbra

Type:

Armor (forearm slot)

Grade:

???

Material:

???

Weight:

14.4 lbs. (7.2 lbs. each)

Durability:

???/???

Attributes:

???

Name:

Skaduweesp Commander’s Dagger

Type:

Dagger

Grade:

???

Material:

Skaduweesp Commander ???

Weight:

1.1 lbs

Durability:

???/???

Attributes:

???

Name:

Skaduweesp Titan’s War Cleaver

Type:

Three Handed War Cleaver (Oversized)

Grade:

???

Material:

??? ??? ???

Weight:

43.3 lbs

Damage:

???

Durability:

???/???

Attributes:

???

“Gnarlz, almost everything is question marks.

“With all of the darkness and shadow going on in the names I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re a set. So, my suggestion is that they stay in the general fund until after we clear dungeon. Then we see if we can get them ID’d, and then sell them or find someone to join our party and use them as our tank.

“Why do you say that dear? And why do you say for a tank?”

“Most of this stuff is on the heavy side. That means it’s for a warrior build. See how the chestplate says it disperses mana? When I touch it it felt like it was absorbing my mana. That would lessen my casting ability. Also the physical boosts it gives are definitely tanky.”

“I still want the bracers.” Grax said.

“At that weight won’t that slow you down a bit?”

“Yeah, but I would look so cool.”

“Fine cat, you can use the bracers but you’re responsible for any repairs they’ll need. And I mean physically and fiscally.”

“Fine, geez, whatevs.” Grax armed the bracers and Mayah watched as his arms flexed, feeling out the weight. The he started to do bicep curls.

“Aren’t most of your skills stamina based? Wouldn’t they drain your stamina?”

“I'll—wait for it,” he said as he continued to do curls. “work it out.”

“You better not get us caught up in your shenanigans,” Mayah warned.

“What shenanigans?”

“Pfft...”Margaret scoffed

“I also wanna try out that dagger, and Fluff you should check out the titan’s cleaver.” Grax was practically drooling over the armor.

Mayah pointedly said, “I'm gonna wait and make sure they’re not cursed, thank you very much.”

“Why wouldn’t you say that before I equipped the bracers?”

“Because you don’t listen when I tell you things. Plus, I love to use you as an experimental lab cat.”

Grax growled, took off the bracers just to make sure they would come off and then put them back on.

“Anyway other than that we have some vuurm wings, meat, and oil sacs. Some weesp essence, and finally the eye of shadow and the vials of umbrosia.”

“What are those last ones, dear?”

“Not sure. Just a bunch of question marks for me.” Mayah replied “I really hope they have appraisers in this game.”

“Or a trade we can learn. I don’t want my next magic skill to go to learning what stuff is. I mean it’s a valuable skill but I can wait on it if there is a service for it.”

“That sounds like something I might be interested in, dear. I do like a good business deal.”

“Alright, looks like Mags just volunteered for the team merchant position. I guess that makes me lead science officer. And Grax I'm guessing your head of combat-security-fighty-bitey stuff.”

“Works for me,” Grax conceded

“And don’t forget the rope next time,” Margaret growled

“It was one time Mags! And you both forgot it too.”

Mayah laughed as she licked her finger and swiped it down in front of her. “Point, Mags.”

“So, you’re keeping score now?”

“Somebody’s got to.”

“So, what are you stamping?” Grax looked over the papers.

“Surge (S) runes for knockback, Over (F) runes for flaming AOEs. we did a bunch of Acid (D) and Spike (W) runes earlier.”

So, did you guys… I'm sorry, ladies, go over your runes?”

“We were waiting for you.”

Well I'm here. Let’s see the good stuff.”

Mayah pulled out her rune book. And opened it to her list of runes. “Here you go.”

Grax stuck his nose in the book and screwed up his face. He turned through the pages and handed the book to Margaret, as he looked at Mayah with the same screwed up face.

Margaret’s face screwed up as well and she looked at Mayah. “How can you read this?”

“It’s just a regular book.”

“Nuh-uh.” Grax shook his head. “I saw a few runes that I recognized but mostly it was just squiggly lines and weird symbols.”

“It actually made my head hurt to look at it, dear.”

“Mine too.”

“Well that’s wonderful. So I can teach you runes but you can’t read their description.” Mayah flopped back on the ground and stamped her feet in exasperation while groaning balefully. She popped back upright. “Alright looks like it’s class time.”

“Awww man…” Grax took his turn at flopping back and writhing on the grass.

“Get up cat you asked for this. Pull out some paper and get ready to take notes.”

Margaret flopped back on the grass and threw her own tantrum.

“Mags? Why?” Mayah asked, befuddled.

“I don’t know. It looked like fun.” she smiled and waggled her eyebrows inducing sniggers around their little circle.

“You are getting sillier, grandma.”

“But are you getting smarter?” she asked Grax

Grax just growled in return.

Mayah licked her finger and swiped downwards. “Two points, Mags.”

“Really?” Grax squealed.

“Git gud, cat.” Margaret said flippantly with a cock of her head.

Grax could only growl.

“Three - love, Mags.” Mayah chuckled

“This isn’t tennis.” Grax grumbled.

“But it is a ball.” Margaret retorted. She gave Mayah a high five.

“Four - love, Mags.” Mayah tried to keep her laughter in.

“And today I came to you humbly, asking for a truce, for forgiveness. Remember you brought this on yourself.”

“Is that a threat?”

“Where we’re going, we don’t need threats.” He slit his eyes and stared holes into Margaret.

“Okay that’s creepy. Four - one, Mags. Glad you’re on the board, little buddy. I was worried there for a second.”

“Like I'm gonna let some noob merc me. She’s lucky I have parental filters.”

“I'm glad you have them too. Keeps everyone on the same playing field. But for now, get some paper and ink and let’s go through the most useful runes and then we can tackle the dungeon. I want free of this place.”

…..

Mo, Ziggs, Mephi, Davemarth, and a few of the knockers traveled back into town. When they walked into the knocker’s headquarters Riller one of the Bonkers’ top five men ran up to them.

“Thank gods you're back. Me and Nessler came back last night ta keep an eye on the place. When I wake up I find a note saying he went ta look for Old ‘arry. I haven’t seen him since last night.”

Davemarth pointed at two knockers. “You two run back out to Driskel’s. As soon as you’re in range, message Bonkers and have everyone else who’s not working on the coops come back.

They nodded without a word and ran back the way they’d just come.

“What happened?” Ziggs asked Davemarth.

Davemarth sighed. “Remember when we told you about Old ‘arry? How he disappeared and went a bit mental?” Mo's gang nodded. “Well it looks like he went to go snoopin’ around the spider’s den. Nessler’s been wondering what happened since then and probably got a wild hair up his nose. Coppers to gold I bet nuffin good’ll come from this.”

“So, we’re what? Just gonna wait for Bonkers.” Mephi said agitatedly. “We should go looking for him right now.”

“Not a good idea. Need teams. People go missin’ down there. Like proper missin’. And I ain't afraid of much but you did’na see the look in Old ‘arry’s eyes when he gathered up his stuff. It was like he was a puppet.”

“I stood in his way and he just stepped around me. Acted like I wasn’t even there. Like I was piece of furniture.”

Mo had never seen Davemarth show any frailties, but the man was shook, down to the core. Mo placed a hand on his shoulder for reassurance and Davemarth looked up to him with questioning eyes.

“We’re going to help you find out what happened, promise.”

Will you really? He asked hope blooming in his eyes.

DING!!!

You have been offered a quest:

Where have all the knockers gone?

The Knockers believed you when you said that you would help them find out what has happened to their members Harry “Old ‘arry” Hendricks and Ganforth Nessler. Hendricks went missing for three days and then came back to gather his belongings and left. While he was doing that he acted as if the other knockers didn’t even exist. Extremely strange behavior for Old ‘arry, as they affectionately call him. Nessler went looking for Hendricks and hasn’t returned. The only clues are that they both went towards the spiders den, a place the knockers fear. Maybe their fears are warranted.

Time limit: 7 days MJT

Failure: No information is found or you just don’t look into what’s going on.

Rank: B

Rewards: Variable.

Penalties: Variable. depending on the outcome, you will lower your reputation score with the knockers. Failed quest reputation will fall anywhere between distrust and hatred.

Do you wish to accept?

Y/N?

Ziggs: Of course we accept.

Mephi: I'm in.

Mo Swiped Yes

“Of course we’ll help. That’s what friends are for.”

Davemarth clapped a hand on Mo's and stiffened up and with steel in his voice said, “So, now we wait for the reinforcements.”

“While we do, you, Riller and us three should talk about the knockers organization. Just to distract ourselves.” Mo added.

“Sure you're right.” Riller agreed.

The five sat at a table and Mo began. “So how does the knockers’ chain of command usually work?”

Riller began, “Usually Bonkers gives either me, Davemarth, Chonchaise, Portquise, and Grimsaw an order and we grab the bodies to make it happen.” He said it matter of factly.

“If there was an order of rank for us. It would be Bonkers, Me, Riller, Portquise, Chonchaise and then Grimsaw,” Davemarth added in.

“So the six of you are the main group. Do you have specialties in what you do?” Mo inquired.

“Chonchaise is usually buying things for us. Grimsaw is all about a brawl and will climb over someone to protect a friend. Portquise makes the happy time drinks, and Davemarth keeps everyone in line with his grumping.”

“While Riller usually disappears for hours at a time and gets all the juicy intel. And Bonkers of course is the glue, he is. Kept us together through all type o’storm.”

“So, what function does your group serve?” Mo probed trying to get more info.

“Up until now it served to keep us from being blacklisted and forced into a life of crime,” Riller said thoughtfully.

“At negative thirty reputation you’ll never get an honest job and the guards will roust you just for walking down the street,” Davemarth growled.

“So when you say ‘forced into a life of crime,’ you mean literally?” Ziggs inquired bewildered.

“Sure a sunshine on sunny days.”

“Whoa! So, are there any ways to instantly drop you rep with the empire?” Mo

“Sure, you can kill a guard. That’ll drop you down to negative forty which is shoot on sight.”

“There are going to be a lot of upset paladins. Those murder hobos will kill a guard first chance they get just to see what will happen.” Mephi chortled.

“Was so funny?” Riller asked.

“Well you see how weak we are?” Mephi responded. “Wait until the paladins find out how strong the guards are. There are gonna be so many new cell ornaments in the next few months.”

Mephi laughed out loud and Ziggs got caught up in the of infectious thought. Mo couldn’t help but smile as he Imagined a level 12 noob trying to complete a rogues quest and getting snatched out of the shadows and hauled off to jail.

So, now that everyone is back to neutral what do you think you’ll wind up doing? Will the knockers lose any members now that they can go back to their lives?”

“It’s not that easy. Just because our reputation with the empire is fixed doesn’t mean we can waltz right back into our old lives. For instance, if my brother found me we’d still fight to a bloody end. I wouldn’t want to fight him but I would because I don’t want ta die.” Riller clammed up after he realized he was oversharing.

“And what about you Davemarth? You gonna go back to your old life?”

“I have the best version of my life here. No need looking for trouble when I'm sitting level.”

“So what I just learned from you is that there is reputation on more than one scale. We didn’t know that you could have a reputation between two people. How does that work?” Mo asked searching for a deeper understanding of the mechanics of Majesta.

Davemarth rubbed his chin for a second, deep in thought. As he was about to speak Riller cut him off.

“Say there’s a bloke you dislike and you feel that he’s shifty and leading a certain pretty girl on. And let’s say you’ve been fancying this girl and you point out the bloke's shortcomings to make yourself look good. Well the lass can see the fool for what he is and lower her reputation of the bloke and raise you up in her reputation.”

“Don’t forget,” Davemarth quickly added. “That this could go all belly-up as well. She could begin to dislike youse nosing around in her business all stalker like and tell the other bloke and together they can lower your reputation score with them.”

Riller took another turn. “Now let’s say that this bloke is the son of a local top hat—he runs the city or a big business. And he finds out his soon to be daughter in law dislikes ya for snooping and he puts the squeeze on ya and you reputation drops across the town. Food becomes more expensive, work dries up, old friends spit on ya and then the guards get wind of ya being a shady character who can’t be trusted. And guess what they do? Give youse a pair of iron bracelets for sleeping in an alley.”

“And that’s when your imperial reputation begins to fall. From there it’s a hard climb back to just being normal. It usually better to move out of a town like that before the guards get wind of ya. Once your imperial rep drops you’re on a slippery slope.” Davemarth continued.

“Out at night? Instantly suspicious.” Riller scratched his arm.

“Staring at the food cart because you’re hungry? Oh you must be casing the place.” Davemarth’s arms went wide in frustration.

The two went back and forth for quite a while suggesting that these were offenses they had suffered. It was turning into a contest of who had it worse rather quickly. Mo leaned over to his compatriots

“Hey Meph, Ziggs, can you go and talk to the Bonkers and see what their functions within the group are? I wanna grill Riller and Davemarth after their done.”

“Sure thing, boss” Ziggs said sarcastically. She even rocked side to side as she spun making her look like a killer robot from the 2Ds in the 1950s.

“On it,” Mephi put a hand on Mo's shoulder as he walked past and went to talk to some random knockers.

“So,” Mo said loudly, “I think I get the drift. It spirals down and out of any sensible control. So now the question is, what will you do with your newfound reputation, as I said before. Will you all stay together or will you lose some numbers? These are things I need you to think about as we move forward with making you a new organization.”

“We need to answer questions like: What do you want your organization to be like? What kind of structure will it have? What community do you intend to serve? How do you intend to serve them? And are you still going to be called the knockers?”

Riller and Davemarth looked put out by the thought that they could be anything other than knockers. Before they could voice their complaint, Mo plowed through.

“Right now we need answers to all of those questions, but we need to get everyone thinking about it so we can create an organization that will make you proud.

“I personally would like to see your reputation grow to friendly or honored with the empire. I mean why struggle to stay at the edge of the slope when you all have the tenacity to climb.”

The two knocker captains sat their flabbergasted. They had never thought of being anything more than neutral with the empire again. For them that was the culmination of the dream. But now they were being given another option, one which could be obtained through hard work and dedication.

After being in the dark for so long they were actually seeing the sunlight and feeling the warmth of promise on their skin. The taste of rarified air on their palettes giving their minds new thoughts.

“Do youse really think so? That we could be honored by the empire?” Riller asked.

“Anything is possible with dreams and hard work.”

“Now you sound like my da.” Davemarth said. “He would always give me platitudes instead of coppers. I ain’t never had much faith in platitudes.”

“Was getting your rep back to neutral a platitude?”

The words make Davemarth grimace a bit. Riller looked on in studious silence, deferring to the second in command.

“Just have a little faith,” Mo urged.

Davemarth’s face screwed up. Mo could tell he didn’t like it but he already had a taste of the proof pudding.

“There’s a saying where I come from, Faith the size of a mustard seed can move a mountain. I'm not telling you to sell your farm, Davemarth. Just have a little faith. If not in yourself then in your brothers and in me. But only a little bit in me, I'm just learning the ropes.” Mo joked.

That made Davemarth smile. “I guess being me didn’t lead me to the heights I dreamed of. Maybe there is a better way.”

Riller shook Davemarth’s shoulder.

“There ya go. Now, let’s talk about what you personally would like to accomplish, and find out how we can tie all of your dreams together to make an organization you can be proud of. Sound like a plan?”

“Indeed it does.” Davemarth chuckled.