Pellex stepped back from the airship’s controls and clasped his shaking hands behind his back, looking out over the Scourge. They’d escaped. He let out a shuddering sigh, a breath he felt like he’d been holding in the entire time. And then Pellex laughed. It was sharp, excited. He’d done it. If that wasn’t an adventure, he didn’t know what was. He had an unheard-of class, had fought a mysterious arder lord, befriended a dungeon core, and was flying a stolen airship home. The feeling was incredible, and he couldn’t stop now. Fortunately, he had a few ideas on where to go next.

He left the bridge and headed for the passenger area. Zolnre was still a while away, and there was nothing to hit in the sky. He found the party in the lounge, all of them relaxing for the first time in a long time. Iote was sitting on the countertop, getting carefully looked over by Ucria. Evwel was lying on one of the couches, awake, but just staring at the ceiling. Refos was digging around under the bar, and when he heard Pellex come in, the grizzled gunslinger stood up, holding a bottle and four glasses. When he saw Pellex’s face, he paused for a moment, then chuckled, opened the bottle, and started pouring.

“I see you’re feeling it. The relief of success, the newfound, or perhaps newly rekindled, desire for adventure. Usually, I see it in the inexperienced, after they’re stiflingly guided through a simple dungeon run, and I have to tell them it is not like that at all. You do know what it’s like, and due to that, I can only say ‘Welcome to the club’. It’s the most fantastic line of work in this world.”

He handed a glass to Pellex, and they both drank. Pellex wasn’t much of one for alcohol, outside of potions, but he had been a college student, and if any occasion warranted a drink, it would be this. He leaned against the bar and took a sip, thinking over Refos’ words. They weren’t what he’d expected, but he appreciated them. It was odd. He knew a lot about his party, in some ways. Fighting by someone’s side would do that. He knew their mannerisms, how they talked, how they moved, how they fought. But he didn’t know them. He’d met them a little over a day ago, and while they’d spent a lot of time together, they hadn’t exactly been making small talk. They barely knew him at all. Didn’t even know his class. But he liked them, and respected them, and, if he was going to adventure, would need people to adventure with. So, he should just get it over with.

“I’m not an [Artificer].” At his breaking the silence, everyone turned to him, and he could see their expressions. None of them seemed overly perturbed.

“What?” Ucria said, forgetting about Iote for a moment.

“I’m not an [Artificer]. Or, well, I kind of am, which is why I can do [Artificer] things, but that’s not my class. I didn’t want Julian finding out, so I went with what he thought I was.”

“Why would he care about your class? And what is it, anyway?”

“It’s called [Cogseer]. It’s a hybrid of [Artificer] and [Oracle], and the class skill is called [Cogsight]. It lets me see events in the past of constructs I touch.”

“You, um, can do what? And [Oracle] is the [Divination] class, right? What other skills do you have from there?”

“Just [Locate] and [Foresight]. Everything else is [Artificer] stuff, as that’s what I always planned on choosing.”

“Is that how you understood what the… what Iote wanted us to do with the loot?” Refos asked, fixing Pellex with a considering gaze.

“Uh, yes. I used [Cogsight] on the core lock right before Julian showed up, and I saw what he had done to merge with Iote in the first place.”

“That’s neat and all,” Evwel said, “but why are you telling us, again? You’re the reason we all got out of that Facet-forsaken waste. I’m not sure I would care if you had turned out to be an [Abrogator] and started firing [Malediction] everywhere, hiding a few details so that the slave-taking pirate king doesn’t make you use your special powers for evil barely even registers.”

“Oh. Well, thank you, but I couldn’t have escaped without any of you, either. And I’m telling all of you about this because we need to talk about what happens next. Right now, we’re going to land in Zolnre, find the Dawnwatch, and tell them where Julian’s Court is. They might want us to come back with them, but the Dawnwatch never lets civilians touch anything if they can help it. I’ve got a rare class, some money put away, and I’ll have to confirm with Iote, but it wanted to be free, and I can’t imagine adventuring wouldn’t fit the bill.”

: pellex made me free :

: gave me my name :

: i choose to be free with him :

From the looks on the others’ faces, Pellex saw that they had received that.

“You’re able to communicate without contact?” It wasn’t an uncommon ability for older dungeons, but they typically simulated speech via some contraption, or puppeteered one of their spawn with compatible vocal cords. Pellex wasn’t sure he had ever heard of telepathic dungeons.

: not easy :

: few words :

“Well, if you want to talk more in depth, let me know.”

: few words is fine :

: few things to say :

“Alright, then. So, it looks like Iote will be coming with me, and, as I was going to say, we should figure out what we plan on, well, doing. I think I’m going to become an adventurer. But no good adventurer travels alone, and if any of you wanted to come, I’d be happy to have you.”

“I’ve been studying dungeons, um, practically my entire life, so working with a roaming dungeon core is, um, not something I would miss.” Ucria said, glancing at her father.

“For 10 years, I was an adventurer. Then I met my wife, and I had a daughter, and I settled down. I led parties of teenagers through dungeons that had been thoroughly neutered by decades of good relations with our kind. Then… I retired, to raise my daughter, and after that, for the past three years I’ve been traveling from dungeon to dungeon, helping guard the research teams she’s been on. It was something to do. But if Ucria is going to adventure, then I’m going with her. And under these circumstances, I’d probably have gone anyway.”

Evwel stretched, as if to get up, then changed her mind, sinking back down.

“I want to go home. Nothing’s happened since I used [Excision], and from what Refos tells me, that probably means I’m fine. I have a family, and friends, and I love what I do. Not sure I’ll ever take an airship again, but I’ll be on the next train home after we land.”

Ucria looked disappointed, but Refos had apparently been expecting this. It made sense, after reflection. Evwel probably had had it the worst – manacled by the arders, her fighting style putting her toe-to-toe with all of their opponents, and had to take a skill that put her at tremendous risk. Not wanting to do that for a living was a sensible reaction, especially if she had people back home.

After a moment of silence, Refos spoke.

“Well, I hope you’ll let us see you off. It’s the least we can do.”

“Absolutely! No need to act all morbid, I’m not dying or anything. Probably less likely to die than all of you hooligans. And after you people brainstorm your harebrained schemes, we can kick back with some of this fine liquor and reminisce before we have to land.”

“On that topic, Pellex, do you have any ideas?”

“Something just occurred to me, actually. There were more prisoners when you arrived, weren’t there?”

“Quite a few. We, of course, were not permitted to speak much, but it seemed as if the attacks started recently, but not all too recently. And I believe I see what you’re getting at.”

“Yeah. None of this ever showed up in the news. I’m not an avid reader, but consistent attacks and disappearances over the Scourge would get noticed, even if they had no idea what caused it. And we know of at least two cases where recall stones were used. The Circle has to know. And, as far as we know, they haven’t done anything.”

“Perhaps, um, they didn’t want to cause panic? Or let the arders know they were on to them?”

“Hopefully. But Pellex is right. It can’t hurt to poke around, especially since spending some time in Zolnre to gather resources will be essential for preparing for travels farther afield.”

“When we hit the city, I’ll get in touch with the people I know. In the meantime, I have a few things I want to check, if that’s alright with all of you.”

Ucria and Refos nodded, and Evwel called after him.

“Go fast, you don’t want to miss out on the party!”

Back in the bridge, Pellex touched the controls, and felt something brush against the edge of his senses. [Cogsight]’s connection. With a tendril of thi, he followed it. The gear world didn’t exactly make things easy, but Pellex almost felt like he was starting to understand at least the basic level he was currently at. He chose the largest and brightest of the recent cogs, and he saw people die. The arders had attacked the airship much like they had when Pellex was captured, but these passengers were apparently higher level, and the fight was much harder. He noticed a Circleman and High Auditor recall as soon as the ship was boarded, their guards swinging forward to fight anyway. Both sides took losses, but this arder group fought better, two silver rank among them rather than one. At some point, the tide turned for good, and the arders finished off the passengers in the main compartment. Pellex watched them sweep through the rest of the ship, swiftly and simply executing anyone they encountered. The bridge was no different – Pellex felt a shiver run down his spine when the previous captain was killed in the same spot Pellex was currently standing.

Exiting the trance, Pellex found the compartment where the ship’s papers had been stashed, and spent a moment looking through them. Setting them aside, he tried to check the airship’s current location. Career pilots would have skills like [Minimap] or [Wayfinder], so navigation devices were not that common. There was the traditional ornate compass set into the helm, which is how he had steered the ship vaguely in the direction of Zolnre from the Bulwark mountain range, but anything more precise was beyond his ability. And with his limited knowledge of piloting, he could easily have set the speed twice as slow as the craft would normally travel, or maybe eight times faster. They could arrive at Zolnre in a few hours, or two days from now.

It didn’t matter, though. They’d get there. Pellex stuffed everything back where he’d found it and left the bridge. The party back in the lounge was the first time Pellex had been able to relax since his flight was attacked, and for the others it had been even longer. They swapped stories, shared drinks, and eased back from the hectic pace of the last few days. Refos and Ucria were surprisingly good singers, with a wide repertoire of popular songs, and Pellex and Evwel could carry a tune well enough to join in on the chorus lines. Iote declined to sing, but took an interest when a pack of cards was discovered in a drawer. Given the core’s lack of hands, they took turns standing in for it, and it won a surprising portion of their games. Every so often, Pellex would head up to the bridge to look things over, but nothing of note happened until the sun began to set, and fatigue finally wormed its way into the party.

Stifling a yawn, Pellex checked over the bridge. Evwel, having the highest physical stats, would take first watch. As he turned to go, he heard the helm’s centrex buzz. He rushed over and started flipping switches and tuning dials, bringing the complicated device online. With a smooth hum, something clicked into place, and for the first time as a [Cogseer], Pellex heard his home.

“-ose just tuning in, the Zolnre Scourgers are 6-4 against the Vokit Fateforgers, after a humiliating fumble by the Fateforgers’ star passer Gabirel Danna let Yan-”

“-know, Palopticus was the first [Observant Wanderer] to demonstrate the class’ incredible potential. Though he ranged far afield, the area that would later-”

“-And I say ‘what do I look like, a [Bard]?’ I’ll have you know that there’s a clear difference! For one, I have standards-”

Pellex flicked through the channels, letting the sounds of civilization wash over him. As per usual, nothing good was on, but this centrex only had the standard public links installed, excepting the official airship routing channels. Referencing what he remembered from a book he read once, Pellex switched to one of those, and after making sure it was clear, turned on his microphone and started reading off from the ship's papers.

“This is the Vexed Cloudherd, designation PSA-0239559. Requesting emergency priority and a centrex chain to Dawnwatch.”

After a few seconds, Pellex heard some movement on the other end and an older woman’s voice came out of the speakers.

“Request acknowleged. Deviate to priority landing queue and await Dawnwatch chain.”

“Uh, we have no navigation on board, requesting direction from control.”

Some more rustling, and this time a man about Pellex’s own age was on the other end.

“Navigation difficulties, eh? I’m Plom, [Plumed Sentry], and I’ll be providing remote assistance. Designation… 9559, sure. Acquiring… Oh, I’ve got you. And you’re coming in hot, I need you to slow down right now.”

Pellex grabbed for the throttle, only remembering to ease it back instead of yanking the ship into a lower speed at the last second.

“That’s great. Now I’m going to need you to turn about 4 degrees northwest…”

After an arduous half-hour of backseat driving, Pellex saw it. Zolnre. The massive soulbronze wall the city had been built to fit seemed massive, but inside the barrier, high towers built of mystical metals speared into the skies, massive cogs spun with ambient thi, dozens of airships floated between the spires, thousands of small buildings covered any place they could, and the city teemed with life. Bright lights in the windows of skyscrapers wiped away the stars, crowds walked the night under the aegis of streetlights, and multicolored flashes of power burst in the sky. Pellex tightened his grip on the controls and stared over the city in something approaching disbelief. He was home.