The winter closed in on all sides and the men in the river boat clutched onto their cloaks tightly. Their heavy gloves only staved off the winter’s bite for the moment and the only sound beside the creaking of the vessel or the howling wind was the strange goblin contraption.

The man flicked off the flakes dusting his cat ears, and eyed the goblin woman at the back of the boat. She sat on her padded seat with a bored expression, one hand on a long lever to guide the sputtering contraption as it propelled the boat along its course.

Knowledge Arcane : Failure!

The man wrapped his dirty grey tail around his legs and nudged closer to his friend at the front of the boat. The boat was heavily laden down with cargo and the dog ears of his friend were sticking straight up into the air, telling him his friend was at high alert.

“Otto,” the man said, blowing out a plume of mist. “It’s colder than you said it would be.”

Otto shrugged and poked at the water with a long wooden pole, pushing away ice. “Rodney said it was a good day for a shipment. Not getting nervous, are you Cazza?”

Cazza shook his head, sending his long grey locks lodged with ice into his eyes. He looked at his own character sheet wondering if he should use his last remaining skill point on cold resistance. It seemed almost unfair that his father was a snow leopard and he didn’t inherit their natural talents.

Cazza, Cat Beast-kin, Level 2 Commoner

“It’s just…this is a keeper we are talking about Otto, why are we dealing with one?” Cazza asked, quietly so the others didn’t overhear.

“He’s really not that bad. Just be polite Cazza, and we get an easy pay out,” Otto said with a yawn.

Cazza felt his fingers anxiously flex. The promise of payment was good, too good to be true. He had worked tirelessly for the last few years before he reached adulthood to aid his family, and now with his mother and little sister possibly losing their new home he needed the coin, now. There just had to be a catch dealing with a monster.

“Easy Cazza,” Otto said.

“Easy? Otto, we are about to deal with the enemy of our people for the last millennia. One of the worst scum to walk the earth ever since Raddagar the Black rose to power. All keepers are evil, plain and simple,” Cazza said, a cat-like growl building in the back of his throat.

Otto let out a defiant bark that shook Cazza to his core. Otto smirked and clapped his young friend on the back. When the moment had passed Cazza relaxed and Otto’s tail began to wag.

“For mama and sister I will try,” Cazza said.

“Atta boy, just smile and we can probably get a hot meal from a cute fox lady,” Otto said.

Cazza immediately perked up at the sound of that. Just as he wondered how much longer it would be, the boat rounded a bend in the river, and their destination was in sight. The others shot up, straightened their backs and had a look of confusion on their faces.

“Did they remodel the town?” Minx the goblin woman asked.

“Seems so,” Otto said, pushing ice away from the dock. “We have been gone for a while, but I didn’t think he could rebuild the place so quickly.”

The dwarf put a hand over his brow and scanned the horizon. “There's damage to the walls, and a moat that wasn’t there before. There's been a fight.”

The air became tense, and all worries about the cold vanished. Was the keeper even here? Did he get disposed of? Cazza felt like voicing what they were thinking, but was cut off when a bundle of bright red came over the wall. It was a fellow beast kin, and a fox at that. She skipped down the path from the town towards the docks and at her heels were three bundles of fuzzy black shadows.

The fox girl was bundled up in soft layers of rabbit fur from head to toe. Her thick coat, hat and cloak made Cazza jealous. It was a mix of luxury and comfort, both of which he lacked. Cazza kept a close eye on the creatures, which had to be foul creations of the keeper, and even saw they wore small cloaks to protect against the cold.

“Fancy seeing you again Otto. I see you brought some friends along for the ride,” the fox girl beamed, a welcome spark of happiness in the otherwise bleak setting.

“This is our newest hire for Rodney’s shipping services, a young cat by the name of Cazza,” Otto said, shaking Cazza’s shoulder.

“Oh he seems cute. I love it when they send the cutest delivery boy,” the fox girl giggled.

“Is Josh around, Rolada?” Otto asked. “Rodney sent Minx with the orb to chat about prices again.”

“Of course! Now it’s pretty slippery up the path, so why don’t you guys come inside for a meal and the minions can take care of the boat,” Rolada said, patting the black ball of fur beside her.

The ‘minion’ grinned with teeth that were too big for Cazza’s liking and raised up its four arms to show off its claws. Cazza felt a cold sweat run down his neck as the strange creatures tied off the boat and put down a plank. Their tiny clawed feet gripped the ice, and he watched them jump onto the boat, grinning with wide smiles and red eyes.

“Come on then, don’t stand in the cold silly,” the happy fox girl said, pulling Cazza by the arm. “You are going to get sick if you stand outside all day.”

They followed the snowy path up to the walled settlement and Cazza’s first thought was that the wall was far too short. It could keep some forest creatures out or the smaller races, but someone like him could climb over the top. The moat was dry at the moment, and was really just a short fall down too, making the defense of the town rather pitiful. In the middle of the town he saw the construction of a tall tower, and the base of it was already underway.

More of these ‘minions’ were stacking up stone blocks twice their size while a wild looking dwarf and a goblin lacking eyebrows directed them. One minion stood on top of a wooden stool, putting himself above the others and when their group got near, the minion did a double take.

Cazza stopped and looked down at the little creature and he saw behind the large red eyes something like fury. The creature crawled onto a section of half built wall and stood on his sharp toes to look down at Cazza. The fury vanished and instead amusement danced behind its eyes.

Dexterity check : Failure!

Cazza tried to rise on the tips of his toes and slipped on the ice, crashing hard onto his back. He read the notification with disdain, wondering which god he had angered today to curse him with bad luck. Or was it the keeper’s doing?

A massive shadow passed overhead and Cazza felt something impossibly strong whisked him back to his feet. Standing over him and holding him like a kitten was an ogre. The mighty man was wide in the shoulders, had beige skin and a winning smile as he placed Cazza back down and brushed him off.

One look at the forearm of the ogre made Cazza tremble. The man had arms as thick as tree trunks and could probably bend iron ingots with them for fun. Yet despite the massive imposing frame and strength that had to be in the twenties, Cazza detected a rather friendly attitude.

Insight : Success!

“New cat friend needs to watch his step,” the ogre said. “I’ll let Joshie know we need someone to clean up the streets.”

“What are you up to, Bent?” Rolada asked.

“Moving blocks and making sure the minions make the houses with enough space around them. We can probably have a good jogging trail around the outskirts,” the ogre said, stroking his chin. His eyes followed a long street heading towards the wall. “Get some good cardio into everyone. Rolada have you been-”

“Got to go!” Rolada said, grabbing Otto and Cazza by the arms. “Business calls!”

The troop of merchants shuffled after the energetic fox girl, reaching a shed in the middle of the town. Cazza looked around at the nice collections of homes dotting the township and painfully wished he could call one his own. The dark, noisy apartments in the goblin city of Wyrmbreath felt more like a prison than these bright, spacious homes. The strange thing was most of them were built somewhat into the ground.

“What’s with the houses?” Cazza asked their guide.

“They are connected to the dungeon and the infloor heating,” Rolada said, opening the shed and revealing a ramp leading down to a warm. lit corridor. “Welcome to our lovely dungeon!”

Otto’s and Cazza’s ears perked up and their tails wagged behind them. As they entered the shed they saw some pig bristle brushes to shake out the ice lodged in their shoes. The entryway warmed up considerably from the frozen world outside.

“Where’s all the heat coming from?” Minx asked, shouldering her way to the front.

“A mixture of in-floor heating and these heating cubes Josh made. They are these little clay boxes that take a spark of magic and keep you nice and cozy. Not as great as a wood fire…” Rolada said, trailing off into a sigh.

It sounded like the kind of magic mages made for lords and merchants of renown. Cazza breathed in the hot air and felt ice crystals melt inside his nose. It felt amazing, and if such a thing was on offer maybe he could find one that ‘fell off the boat’ for his family. Even with the decent pay it was probably out of his budget otherwise. The keeper couldn’t have eyes everywhere, could he?

They reached a defensive gatehouse, arrow slits angled towards the entry and a trap door set into the floor. Rolada walked over the trap door without a care and waved her hand. Metal chains shook inside the walls and the reinforced gate moved, allowing them entry.

Cazza didn’t see anyone manning it and chalked it up to more magic at the keeper’s disposal. The gate closed behind them and Cazza felt nervous, they were stuck inside now. Cazza felt his hands twitch and his tail’s fur was sticking up. Rolada picked up on his anxiousness and put a calming hand on his shoulder.

They continued to follow Rolada over the main hall of the dungeon and Cazza let his eyes wander around, searching for an escape. There was a storage room, with a supply of banged up furniture, and raw materials of clay, wood and metal. There was a workspace filled with tools and benches, with projects underway.

Across the hall on the other side Cazza spied a humming, beautiful fox woman, possibly Rolada’s sister, in the kitchen whipping up a meal. At a huge table were two other women, one that made Cazza’s blood run cold. A demoness in full black armour. Her hands were dancing over a map, probably planning a conquest for the keeper.

The other woman made Cazza’s blood run hot. A winter blessed, white haired cat girl with tanned skin, tight fitting pants and a playful smirk plastered on her face. Her rugged jacket and array of weapons on her hip made her the kind of girl his mother told him to stay away from, yet he couldn’t help but feel drawn to her.

“Cazza, did the goddess give you wool between your ears?” Otto laughed, dragging him to follow the others.

They reached a curtain separating a doorway, and Rolada announced their presence before leading them in. Cazza was the last to step in and he found a simple carved out room, with shelves carved into the walls, a desk and a figure sitting in a chair.

The figure turned around and tossed the sword he was inspecting over his shoulder onto the desk’s surface, knocking around stacks and stacks of papers. This man was everything Cazza had been told to fear. He sat back in his chair like he owned the world, piercing eyes regarding him like he was about to tear out his secrets, and break him down, one piece at a time. As he shifted in his seat, his scale mail rustled and Cazza’s eyes shot open, the armour was made of white dragon scales.

The corner of the man’s mouth curled up into a smile. “So, what does Rodney want now?”

…

I slapped away the new notifications and growled, leaning against my overburdened desk. I held up the wight captain’s sword and checked it again.

Knowledge Arcane : Failure!

“I’m actually going to buy that keeper talent, this is getting ridiculous,” I mumbled, rubbing my temple.

Joshua Hale, Human, Level 3 Battlemage

Current Experience 1958/2700

“Really…” I groaned.

I flexed my right hand and mentally pushed away the encroaching thoughts. I was grateful to be alive, and I prayed to Icharn, Ishaka and Heineken’s tits each day to thank Sliva for saving me. But come on man, I worked my ass off to win that fight and didn’t even get a level to show for it.

I did manage to swipe some easy experience looking at the equipment all our enemies brought which had been lovely, but there had been a few strange hiccups. Some of the magic items we recovered instantly lost all charge, and no one knew why. Even Sliva admitted it was strange, as if the mana had been leached right out of them before we gathered them up. If I could just figure out the spell lines in a few of them I could have a brand new magical sword and a flaming staff to mix into my fighting style.

“Damn thing, why won’t you work?” I hissed under my breath, holding the sword in my lap as I checked over the open books at my desk again. “Does the frost wind rune connect to the arcane spell work or…”

In truth I was still what I would consider a fake wizard. I barely understood what magic was or how it acted. I was more so at the stage where I could ‘feel’ magic, and give it a push to do something. Yet the more fine stuff like magical theory went over my head, it was learning addition one day and then being asked to do calculus the next, it was quite the jump.

“Josh, we have guests!” Rolada said, through the curtain and knocking on the doorframe.

I closed my eyes and focused hard, trying to let the building frustration go. I cracked open an eye to see the mounting pile of paperwork overloading my desk. I had more work to do now with far greater consequences than back on earth. I had at one point the hilarious notion that all this could be a breath of fresh air in my life, and instead it had just been a sequence of me getting my ass kicked or winning by the skin of my teeth.

“Big sister Lin will always watch out for you.”

The odd thought instantly improved my mood. I had good people who were my friends and helped me out, and I had a very interesting white haired lady that liked to pick me up when I was down. Well, everyone had picked me up at some point.

I called Rolada in and swiveled my new desk chair around, tossing the sword over my shoulder onto the desk. I leaned back in my freshly repaired armour, crossed my legs to show off my cleaned curly white wizard shoes and gave Rodney’s people a warm smile.

“So, what does Rodney want now?” I asked with a light chuckle. “Bright pink bricks?”

There was a new member to the boat crew and the cat boy looked pretty young, barely an adult by my measure. He held back behind Otto and Minx, letting them do the talking. Minx stepped up with the glass orb and inside I could see Rodney relaxing in a new Tired Lad sofa, holding a glass of wine.

“Josh, my good buddy, good pal,” Rodney said, kicking off what could only be everything I wanted to hear. “The brick business has been good, and with your supplies I’ve been able to open some apartment buildings.”

I raised a brow and nodded. “Sounds…profitibable.”

Rodney laughed, spilling wine onto his burgundy bathrobe. “Don’t get me started on what the king has to charge me for taxes. But I came down to say after this shipment, my priorities have changed. I need equipment.”

I saw a flash in the corner of Rodney’s eye as he checked out the sword on my desk. I picked it up and branshied it, showing off the perfect edges and the design in the glow of my dungeon lights. I hummed to myself, trying to appear busy in thought and tried to remember what we had.

“Funny you should mention that,” I said. “I recently came into possession of some old military equipment, I’m not sure how good it is-”

“I’ll take it!” Rodney said, shattering the wine glass on the ground. He licked his lips and clasped his hands. “If it’s worn and half broken, even better. I’ll pay full market value.”

Something was going on, and I looked at Rolada’s nervous gaze. She looked at me and set her shoulders, giving me a go ahead. I turned back to Rodney and tapped my fingers down the length of the sword.

“Well I suppose I could. I am starting new building projects and need my bricks anyways. I’ll have Rolada talk to your people and set something up. Sounds good?” I asked.

“Josh, my good pal, you are a lifesaver. Next time we are in Wyrmbreath I’ll take you to that maid place you like, hell I’ll buy the maids and let you take them home,” Rodney laughed.

Insight : Success!

+5 XP gained.

Something was up, and I kept seeing Rodney’s mouth twitch. There was a dangerous light to the goblin’s eyes and I could see bags under them, like he hadn’t slept much in the last few days. I looked at Rolada and she gave me another nod.

“Sounds fun…buddy,” I said, forcing myself to say the word. “Catch you around.”

Rodney disappeared from the orb and the punkish goblin girl tucked it away. I tossed the sword back onto the desk, knocking boring reports onto the floor and spread my hands.

“Who wants a dungeon tour?” I asked.