After leaving the compound through the east exit and skirting the line of market stalls I paused to simply watch the glory of the bustling market in all its splendor. People of all sorts and from all walks of life were crowded together by the uniting force of economics. The crowds reluctantly parted as merchants slowly made their way through with carts laden down by goods to populate or depopulate the various stalls. I even saw an Aviar woman take flight, too impatient to wait any longer in a traffic jam that had formed. She looked like an angel out of a story. If angels wore leather armor and carried iron spears.

The mass of people made me think of the first time I waded through them with Marcus and Aaron to train my Suppression skill and I remembered I still hadn’t spent my skill points yet. I found an out of the way spot to stand and called up my Character Sheet.

Name

James

Race

Half Dark Elf / Half Wood Elf

Level

2

Experience

1000/2000

Health

100/100

Mana

100/100

Stats

Strength

5

Agility

17

Endurance

10

Intelligence

10

Wisdom

10

Active Effects

Armor of the Shadowcaster

+50 to effective Stealth skill level

Chain of the Shadow Fangs

+10 to effective Suppression skill level

Necklace of the Shadow Fangs

+10 to effective Deception skill level

Skills

Arcane Magic

Level 19 (100%) [Novice]

Daggers

Level 10 (0%) [Novice]

Dark Magic

Level 1 (0%) [Novice]

Deception

Level 1 (0%) [Novice]

Dodge

Level 19 (100%) [Novice]

Hand to Hand

Level 1 (0%) [Novice]

Lockpicking

Level 2 (22%) [Novice]

Medium Armor

Level 19 (100%) [Novice]

Perception

Level 1 (0%) [Novice]

Stealth

Level 1 (0%) [Novice]

Suppression

Level 19 (100%) [Novice]

Traps

Level 19 (100%) [Novice]

Unspent Points

Attribute

1

Skill

2

Spells

Mage Sight

Rank X (100%) [Arcane - Novice]

Mana Bolt

Rank III (23%) [Arcane - Novice]

Curse of Blindness

Rank I (0%) [Dark - Novice]

Embrace the Darkness

Rank I (0%) [Dark - Novice]

Passive Abilities

Keen Senses

[Racial - Wood Elf]

Nightvision

[Racial - Dark Elf]

Sneak Attack

[Stealth]

Active Abilities

Change Information

[Deception]

Sneak

[Stealth]

Suppress Information

[Suppression]

When I saw the active effects category I was shocked at the bonus to Stealth. Then a second later it hit me: each of the pieces of armor was giving me a bonus. I checked over the various pieces I wore and saw that each of the boots, armguards, and gloves gave five bonus levels to Stealth while the chest and pants gave ten. That was more than a little impressive, I had just learned the skill but had the effective level of a middle Journeyman. No wonder the armor was so valuable.

Eventually I decided to put a single Skill Point into my Suppression skill like Marcus recommended but save the other one until I knew more about how the classes or skills worked. When I concentrated on the Suppression entry in the Character Sheet a pop-up appeared.

Skill Advancement: Suppression

Advancing the Suppression skill to the next tier will unlock the next levels of advancement and provide one of the following skill morphs of your choice:

The Suppress Information ability now has an infinite duration and can be canceled at will.

Choose Option: 1/Cancel

1. That was certainly a useful change, now I wouldn’t have to worry about constantly refreshing the ability. It appeared as though other skills or tiers might have multiple options to their advancement too, which could make things interesting. But the booze was calling, so I activated Suppress Information and with a mental shrug decided to also try out Change Information. It was then that I was surprised by another couple of pop-ups in my field of vision.

Notification: Change Information

What name will you show the world?

Choose Name:

Notification: Change Information

What level will you show the world?

Choose Level:

After thinking about a fake name longer than I’d like to admit I ended up choosing Allen and 2 to fill out my display. It was a little unnerving at first because I had no idea if it would work or not but I supposed that if someone had a high enough level or Perception skill they would still have to see through my Suppression skill to know my actual name. There wasn’t much I could do about it either way so I headed off into the sights and sounds of the marketplace.

It felt like being a tourist in one of those old world markets where everything is new and interesting and you don’t even know what half of the stuff on sale is. Except there were also a dozen different races scattered about and although most of the people around were human I spotted all of the races present as both buyers and sellers. Surreal doesn’t begin to describe barely dodging a turning Aviar’s wing only to nearly collide with a group of Infernal shopping at a stall full of tridents being sold by a Merfolk woman.

At first I noticed that my shadowy hood and darkened leather armor drew glances but after a while that seemed to increase even more. Finally, I understood why when I caught a customer in line glancing suspiciously at the space above my head. My Change Information ability had worn off so I reactivated it and the looks abated somewhat. I also noted that I had already gained eight levels in Deception thanks to the packed market and resolved to wander around a bit until I could use my last skill point in it. It didn’t take nearly as long as I thought it would.

After I hit level ten the skill gain seemed to skyrocket and it took me a while to figure out why that might be. I eventually reasoned that my combined effective level at that point put me at twenty, high enough to need someone to invest a skill point in Perception or have an unusually high character level. Most of the people I’d seen in the marketplace were in the single digits or low teens in terms of character level, although people with a more martial appearance had a wider range.

When my Deception skill hit the cap I put in my last skill point and saw a dialog almost identical to the one for Suppression. I was just glad I didn’t have to worry about it fading on me without realizing it again. As I walked out of the market towards the Broker, which was still in Shadow Fangs territory thankfully, I caught sight of a young elf staring up at me with big eyes. It was the kind of stare that only kids can manage, full of unabashed awe, and it made me stop and study the boy.

He had pointy ears, of course. Just like mine, I reflected whimsically. But he was also very dirty and obviously poor judging by the way his clothes, little more than rags really, hung on his lean frame. I also noticed that behind him were several other children slightly younger than his eleven or twelve years. There was a merfolk child, an infernal, a gnome, and a few humans, and they all looked as filthy and forlorn as the boy in front did.

I flipped down my hood to talk to the kid and he recoiled in fear. On reflection I supposed he was more street smart than I was, seeing someone’s face who wished to be hidden was probably not good for your health. So I knelt down to his level, keeping my hand away from my knife, and saw that the boy’s tension dissipated slowly. After a moment I asked him, “What’s your name?”

“Ren,” he mumbled so softly even my enhanced hearing barely picked it up in the bustle around us.

I nodded back to the group of kids behind him. They were all wedged in between the corner made of the wooden sides of two market stalls. I’d have been surprised if the stall owners were even aware they were here. I asked, “Are they your crew?”

He puffed up with pride and nodded with a smile. The others seemed to swell a bit too and it was all I could do not to laugh at the sight. They were obviously sincere and I didn’t want to dampen their spirits. It was clear they got enough of that out of life already. They looked run down and generally miserable. But what I saw was potential, and an opportunity for investment.

“What would you do if I gave you a gold piece?” I asked Ren with a serious expression.

He didn’t hesitate a moment and said, “Buy food.”

Well, clearly they were in a bad way but I was trying to get at what they’d do if they had money to spend so I pressed on, “What would you do if you had all the food you could want and I gave you another gold piece?”

He seemed confused for a moment, as if he didn’t understand or perhaps couldn’t imagine such a possibility occurring. Then he glanced back at his crew for a second before he turned to me and said, “Buy clothes.”

The moment he glanced back at the others I knew what I would do and pulled out five gold coins. Ren’s eyes got all huge when I pulled them out and his eyes darted back to mine when I spoke to him, “Do you want to work for me?”

He nodded as fast as he could. In his state he would have done pretty much anything for the wealth I had in my hand, the wealth I had stolen from a dead man, but hopefully I could put some part of it to good use. I handed him the coins and said, “Make sure you and your crew are fed and get some new clothes. Then make sure you all have a decent roof over your heads. I want you to keep an eye out on the market around here for me. Don’t do anything yourselves, just tell me what it is you see. Can you do that?”

The boy nodded vaguely and I knew that he had heard me but his gaze, as well as those of the kids behind him, was riveted on the small pile of coins in his palm. Before I left I said one last thing to him, “If anybody gives you any trouble about those coins tell them the Shadow Fangs gave them to you. And if you still run into trouble…” I paused and thought of some way he could contact me then came up with, “Find someone in a black cloak like this one and tell them that you need to speak to the First Traveler.”

Figuring that was the best I could do, I left the stunned children. I didn’t really expect to see them again but it did help ease my mind, a bribe to my own conscious as it were, and I walked on towards the Brokers. Thankfully, it was still in Shadow Fangs territory, though closer to the castle at the center of the city. Either I’d find a bar on the way there or pay a Broker to tell me where I could find a good one. One way or another, I was determined to get that drink.