Chaeli shivered as she sprinted over the surface of Mirror Lake. The air was freezing. Little flurries of snow fell perpetually only to be immediately swallowed by the mean lake. The wind stung. Slowly shaving off slivers of life as she ran through the hostile environment.

Her feet pattered over the perfectly smooth surface, without making a single ripple over the still water. [Phase Rush] saves the day once again! The water glittered beneath her as she activated [Dash], aaaannnd whooo! Now she was really moving! That rush never got old.

Frost riddled air tickled past the visor of her Aredrite Full Helm, as it stole some water from her carefully maintained skin. The double cold resistance mods certainly helped. It was a shame she couldn’t have Aredrite armor on all her equipment. That stuff was expensive!

Without enough cold resistance she would have to moisturize once she got back to base, but what else was new? This dungeon was either too cold, or too hot, or was trying to kill her.

Chaeli giggled at her own joke.

The dungeon was always trying to kill her.

She forced herself not to stop as she leapt onto the bank of the lake and began cresting the mountain. It would be catastrophic if [Phase Rush's] duration ended!

Chaeli grimaced as the slope elicited a hot burning sensation from her wooden calves. She never liked this part of the return journey. The path was steep and winding, full of jagged rocks and exposed crags.

On the one hand, the steep slopes protected Teluria’s less, ahem, combative residents from dungeon monsters. On the other hand, sprinting the entire distance was exhausting. Still it would absolutely be terrible if [Phase Rush] ended. She hadn’t the skill points to augment the cooldown yet, but she would be able to do it soon! Gar-khan had said so!

Hopefully it would be soon. Waiting was awful.

With several movement skills working in tandem the trip up the side of the mountain took barely a minute.

Chaeli crested the peak and almost immediately crashed into a dense barrier of compressed air. As usual, it pushed back on her, as if angry at her very presence, but eventually relented to her superior physicality and let her pass.

Take that, air.

She stumbled past the mean wall of rudeness and was immediately met with luscious air. Warm, and pleasant while still retaining the awesome freshness that living on the top of the mountain provided. Best of all, not dry!

And trees! Beautiful green trees. Not that horrid dull slate blue that the cold biome seemed to think was fashionable. No, eww! Greens and browns were where it was at.

She felt her [Phase Rush] flicker as her pace slowed while she eyed the treeline. That pulled her attention back, and she responded with a quick application of [Dash] in order to build up speed. Before long, she was rocketing deeper into the forest.

Practically a blur, she grinned happily as she dodged around young saplings, and fresh underbrush. She popped an Essence of Azurite into her mouth, and enjoyed the gentle sizzle as it touched her wooden tongue. The essence began to dissolve, but she crunched down on it before it could disintegrate completely. A fizzy sparkle of tingling awesomeness exploded in her mouth, causing shivers to race down her spine. Her grin widened as a surge of energy rushed down her throat and chased away the minor aches and pains she had accumulated during her excursion.

She pulled out a pocket mirror and flicked it open just briefly. Gar-khan had told her not to preen and run, but she was an expert. Her beautiful light brown oaken whorls remained smooth and undamaged by the dry air of the Frozen Wastes.

What a relief!

She snapped the mirror shut and stashed it as she nearly tripped over an errant sapling. Really, doesn’t it know it could trip someone growing like that in the middle of the path? Sheesh!

Suddenly an otherworldly screech heralded the arrival of Ms. Witch the evil. Horridly hoarse screeches, that could put a damper on even the brightest of days, echoed through the young forest, and caused Chaeli to frown unhappily. This was her second least favorite part of returning home.

Ms. Witch the rude ghost appeared through the undergrowth as Chaeli blasted past. It took a swipe at her, but ha! Too slow!

Chaeli stuck her tongue out at the ghost and continued on her way. It always bothered her that the ghost could pierce her shroud. Gar-Khan had told her not to worry about it though, so meh.

Truly it wasn’t really necessary to get even close to the evil ghost. The causeways were more than capable of taking her around the ghost’s frequent haunts, but it was important to show that she wasn’t afraid of it.

Gar-khan had said so.

...or something along those lines.

Gar-khan said a lot of things.

Chaeli sprinted towards a particularly thick tree and with a slight sigh of regret canceled the awesome speed boost of [Phase Rush]. She clambered up the side of the tree, getting impatient halfway up and using [Dash] to traverse the rest of the distance.

The skill took her a little too high into the air and she landed onto the platform with a slight wobble. For someone else, maybe a problem, but not for her.

With an elegant twirl, Chaeli recovered from her near tumble, and began to sprint, albeit much more slowly, down the rope bridge that spanned the heights of the tree.

She passed by Old Man Dim’s wooden abode with a rush of air.

“Hey, Mr. Dim! I’m back!” Chaeli called in through the open window.

Inside she heard something heavy and probably made of ceramic fall with a crash to the floor, Followed by a roar of rage, and the stomping of feet.

“Gah! Get back here you rascal. I’ma show you proper respect fer yer elders!”

“Bye bye, Mr. Dim! I’ve got an appointment with Gar-Khan!” Chaeli called back over her shoulder. She was already on the next bridge, rapidly escaping out of earshot. Despite that, she heard Old Man Dim’s door slam open and the cantankerous old Warforged shout after her.

“It's Dimitri, you rascal. Get back here and apologize! You made me drop my favorite bowl!”

Chaeli laughed, and dodged around the startled Miss Dahlia, then sprinted across the last rope bridge of the causeway before her destination.

Gar-Khan’s humble home.

For the first time in hours, Chaeli stopped running and stood perfectly still before the entranceway. Brother Rillaw always said it was weird when she did that, but it was definitely weirder to have to breathe all the time. Just imagine, having to remember to breathe in and out all the time. What a nightmare! How could you possibly remember to do all the other things that needed to get done during the day if you were constantly focused on breathing?

No wonder the Draele were so cranky all the time. She would be too if she had to eat and drink and breathe as often as they needed to.

Now that she thought about it, the crazy person had needed to breathe. Maybe that was what had made him crazy? That would explain a lot. He was like, definitely crazy.

Another cursory inspection of her gear with her hand mirror revealed a smudge that she vigorously rubbed out with a spare cloth. Once everything was absolutely perfect, Chaeli smiled nervously as her leaflets twinged in anticipation.

She politely knocked three times on the door, and after counting precisely to three, stepped inside.

She stepped into a living room turned meeting hall. The long and narrow room was converted to support a meeting of a dozen or more individuals. Comfortable couches formed a U-shape around a low dark-oak coffee table. Capped in the position of honor was a massive desk with several purple wax candles spewing purple smoke and sputtering fitfully despite the obvious lack of wind. Behind the desk sat Gar-Khan in his resplendent Ethereum breastplate.

Chaeli felt her leaflet’s shiver at the gorgeous site, but she savagely crushed the emotion. Be professional! She was a professional.

Chaeli squinted into the gloom, but refrained from commenting on the less than ideal atmosphere. She was used to this. Even if it made her leaflets shrivel into her skull. Luckily her helmet hid the small stalks. The Draele had it worse. Breathing the stuff must be rough.

She marched into the room, stepping around the couches and stopping before the heavy desk.

“Reporting for duty sir!” Chaeli snapped out a crisp salute towards Gar-Khan’s right shoulder as was proper.

Gar-Khan, slowly unfurled his stocky fists and placed them face down on the desk, as he turned his attention towards Chaeli.

He was bipedal, like most of the sentient races. That meant two arms, two legs, and a head. But as a Yawm, he was so much more. Little purple tendrils rose haphazardly over his skin, writhing desperately in the air. Sensing it. Tasting it. A third limb jutted over his right shoulder, and gave his main eye an imposing backdrop.

His three secondary eyes were on his head, one on the left, and two on the right. They were framed by a large beard of short purple tentacles that periodically curled or shivered, interest, excitement or both. His head was looking at the papers on his desk. That didn’t bother Chaeli. She had learned long ago that a Yawm’s attention was always on their larger primary eye jutting darkly out of their right shoulder.

The asymmetry gave Gar-Khan a sickly appearance. As if he was suffering from some genetic malady that had permanently grafted extra limbs, eyes and tentacles all over his body.

That was not the case at all. Gar-Khan was a healthy specimen of his species.

And with his armor sooo sexy-

Chaeli cut off that train of thought though she couldn’t help but identify his absolutely gorgeous body armor.

Etherium Plate Vest

Rare

Body Armor

iLevel: 18

13 chaos resistance

234 life

13.11 life regeneration

45 cold resistance

14 chaos resistance

Chaeli barely stifled an appreciative sigh. It was perfectly rolled too.

“My, my, my,” Gar-Khan intoned softly. “If it isn’t my young little butterfly. Young, youthful, lass. What may this humble servant do for you on this fine eventide?”

Chaeli dismissed the notification with a jerk of embarrassment. He hadn’t noticed. Right? Hopefully not, he only had one eye on her at the moment. Oh. No now there were two. Need to talk. Quick!

“Sir, here is my report. You may find it interesting, sir!” Chaeli said, in her most professional manner, handing the large Void creature a small notebook where she had written her thoughts. After a flustered moment where he didn’t take it, she lay it on the desk. She then took a step back and clasped her hands behind her back.

It was hard to remember all the little peculiarities of the Yawm.

All four of Gar-Khan’s jet black eyes swiveled towards the notebook. Ponderously, as if carrying a heavy weight, he opened the notebook and looked inside. He began to read. Each eye swiveling independently and absorbing her rambling notes far faster then she ever could.

“...scouting, searching, pondering. Yes. I remember now...” Gar-Khan rumbled, as the pages flew by.

“...The Shrine, yes. A safe location in this cursed dungeon. What is safe? Truly, one may become injured in any area, so what does it mean to be truly safe? Safety, what an elusive term.”

Chaeli shrugged. “Dunno boss, you could sleep there without getting attacked.”

“Indeed. And the ghost...safe...”

Suddenly Gar-Khan paused, and one of his secondary eyes swiveled up to Chaeli.

“...you found...a man?”

“Yessir!” Chaeli nodded.

“Strange...Unusual...Mad?” Gar-Khan murmured, “What is madness, but the baring of our deepest thoughts to the world to be poked and prodded at with little regard for integrity. What say you my little butterfly. Is madness truly such a horrid condition to be feared and rejected?”

Chaeli shrugged, “I dunno. It’s a little weird. He kept talking to himself, and I had a lot of trouble following the conversation. It was like there was someone there that I couldn’t see or hear.”

“Then perhaps he is not mad at all, simply supported by a powerful entity that can hide from even your illustrious senses.”

“If you say so.” Chaeli shrugged doubtfully. It seemed to her that if the crazy person had a patron, then he would be wearing prettier gear.

“Ahh, a description.” Gar-Khan refocused on the scout report. “Pale skin, old armor, ugly. Little butterfly, to be demeaning, is beneath you.”

Chaeli blushed, and ducked her head. It was true though! The guy was wearing an Iron Barbute. Really you couldn't get uglier than that!

“What is he?” Chaeli asked quizzically. The sooner the conversation moved along the better.

“A human? Perhaps. Strange to find their kind in these parts.”

“Uhm, sir? What’s a human?” Chaeli couldn’t help but blurt out. It had been bugging her the entire trip. She had followed the crazy guy for days and no matter how she wracked her head, she couldn’t recall ever learning about his particular race.

“Human.” Gar-Khan said slowly, tasting the word, as his feelers twitched excitedly, “A rare race. One of the Primordials I believe. Practically extinct in our times. The only place I know that they exist is in the far, cold, frigid north. It is said that they are barbarians one and all.”

“Are they all crazy like this dude?” Chaeli said.

“Crazy?” Gar-Khan, shifted his eyes towards the notebook and began to leaf through once more. “Ah, yes, speaking to the walls. A deep attachment to...dirt? Hmm, I don’t believe all humans are mad, but perhaps it is so. I have never met one personally.”

“Well this one is loopier than Old Man Dim. And by a lot too.”

“Are you sure that this strange, eccentric, and mystifying individual has not simply contracted Dungeon Madness?”

“I’m pretty sure he’s too new for that. He was level five when I first saw him. That’s like, not nearly high enough to have been here for a while.”

“Fascinating...scared of tables? I see,” Gar-Khan paused briefly before continuing to read.

“Yeah, he’s a weird one. And uhm,” Chaeli hesitated, shifting nervously before her boss. Then said in a small voice. “He noticed me.”

Gar-Khan’s feelers froze in shock, as he swiveled all four eyes to bore a hole into Chaeli’s shrinking form.

“Noticed you? At level five?”

“Well he was six at the time, but yeah.”

“Impossible.”

“I know right!” It was downright rude.

“No, no, no, it should be possible. Odd indeed. It would require several high quality scout skills. Eschewing damage at his level is simply asking for death.”

“Uhm, I don’t think he had any scout skills.”

Gar-Khan’s main eye narrowed, a surprising show of emotion on the normally placid Yawm. His other eyes feverishly returned to skimming the book.

“Explain.” He intoned deeply.

Chaeli cleared her throat. “Skills include a fire aligned beam skill, a support skill that spreads consecrated ground and an unknown skill likely associated purely with regeneration.”

“A holy skill, and a regeneration skill. How sure are you about this?”

“Pretty sure,” Chaeli went to fidget, but stopped herself before she offended the Yawm. “His regeneration was pretty insane. Able to recover from a Mrawll Warden of minus one level before its next hit.”

“That would be...nearly twenty percent of his maximum life per second. Give or take some based on his current armor. Still. Impressive for two skills. That does not explain how he found you, however.” Gar-Khan growled, then paused as he read something surprising, “A...penguin? Why, my dear, are you mentioning penguins in your scout report.”

“He mentioned them, and also told me that they are royal penguins, not regular penguins. Then I ran away.”

“Penguins are flightless...birds. You ran because he saw you?”

“He also called my name. It was scary.”

Gar-Khan leaned back thoughtfully in his chair and extended his digitigrade legs until they peaked out from underneath the desk. Chaeli refrained from identifying his boots. She knew they would be beautiful.

Chaeli waited for several moments, until she realized that Gar-Khan would be thinking for a while. She found a comfortable spot on a couch and sat down impatiently.

“It is good you ran.” Gar-Khan eventually intoned. “Running is the smart play when options are waning, dwindling, fading, and the unexpected rears it ugly head.”

Chaeli nodded, but let the elder continue.

“Regarding your unfortunate identification, I believe that the only option is that the man has a powerful artifact with the power of an item at level fifteen that grants him an auxiliary skill to detect the undetectable. There are few other options that I can think of that would allow him to perform such a feat.”

“He said my name though. I thought that was impossible.”

“It is. That is why I suggest an artifact of considerable, improbable, and dubious power.”

“What about his racial bonuses. Could one of those help him find me?” Chaeli asked into the silence.

“Racial...Ah yes, yes I see. No, no it could not be possible. You see, Humans do not possess racial bonuses like us younger races.”

“No racial bonuses?” Chaeli gawped, “How has he survived?”

“Indeed, Though I believe that humans are able to choose their specialization, or at the very least, have access to all five elements.”

“That’s pretty amazing,” Chaeli said, glancing at her own Physical Specialization. “Why did he choose fire though? Chaos would have been far more powerful.”

“I do not know. You say he’s mad. Perhaps it is true. Regardless, If he has survived all alone in the dungeon for at least a half dozen cycles, then he would be a good candidate to join our cause.”

Chaeli grinned, “The Resistance!”

“We are not the resistance, little one. Simply peasants wishing to be free. Even mad, another body would be of great assistance in escaping this prison.”

“Even mad?”

“Even mad.” Gar-Khan intoned. “He is also resourceful and has access to artifacts and skills that we might benefit from. Even with his current skill set, spreading consecrated ground would make him a boon to any party. Go back my dear. Find him, and gently try to convince him to join us here in Teluria.”

“Gently?”

“If he is truly mad, then it would be prudent to refrain from insulting his sensibilities, however obtuse they may be. Collect some dirt, and offer it to him in an Iron Barbute. Do so away from tables and try to greet him in a safe space. Be polite and hopefully we shall gain another ally in our war.”

“Ok!” Chaeli stood up, “I’ll leave immediately!”

Gar-Khan raised a heavy fist. “No, no. No. You shall leave on the morrow. Rest first my little butterfly. Even the warforged must rest sometimes.”

Chaeli, sagged, but complied with her elder’s order. She could just swallow another Azurite, but that was wasteful. Slightly.