200. Celebrations: Wiremu

We really celebrated. We loaded Dusk and Mosey, snuck out to Modrica and ate, drank, and swapped stories. Rodion came with us. He had gone through his army career hearing stories of the Mad Major, and now he not only met him but also heard a tale that beat all the others. We were so rowdy I think we will have to shift Modrica. I think they want to be closer to the action anyway.

Ruku has several new Skills and lots of Skill levels and a few Class Levels, but no new Classes. He still beats me out in total Attributes as his Calsses are all hush levelled, and mine are mostly low level. His are weighted to the physical attributes and still beats me in everything except Perception. He has Skill points to allocate, so he could also beat me there. He doesn’t see the need for another perception Skill right now. I was telling him about Telescopic Sight, but he is not a ranged fighter, so it wouldn’t suit him. I told him about my new class, and even though Metal Worker gives only three attribute points, I have gained fifteen by getting to level 5 over the last few weeks.

Ruku came bearing gifts. He has a good number of Skill Books, plus three Advance Class books, including the one on Slavery. I was fascinated to see the ritual to grant the specialist class. I had never come across that before. Then, later in the book, there was the Ritual to remove the class. This brought the number of rituals I had to three. The ritual to remove the class was interesting and not expensive. What I couldn’t understand was why it required a Jouneyman-level Slave Taskmaster. Why not an apprentice? It wasn’t about attributes; you can get attributes from any class. It wasn’t a skill. The class gave the Skill when you first got it, and it didn’t require the Slave Bond Skill to be at Journeyman Level. It requires the class to be at Journeyman Level. I would be going through this book in a lot of detail. The rituals themselves might have clues. I would work it out.

Ruku also had a number of Skill books with him. He had the trainer class, which allowed him to use Skill Books to give someone a skill or level a skill. Skill books have limited durability depending on the level of the person who created them. Some of his books only had a couple of uses left, and some had ten or more. He had a variety, some Lore, but mostly fighting Skills of various types. He did have a few crafting skills. The trick is to pick a skill you are compatible with or need for your class, or it will be very hard to level. A Skill book couldn’t help you if you didn't have the attributes for the Skill, but it could reduce other requirements, like the minimum level for a previous Skill. For example, my Bow Skill had to be Journeyman Level before I could get Longbow or Triple Shot. A skill book could make those available earlier if I had attributes for them.

Ruku offered us all one free Skill. He would need to source more books or a Scribe specialising in Skill Books. Most of the skills he had were common and could be learned. Things like Lockpick, Shield Bash, Camouflage, Traps etc. The Lore Skills were also common: Animal Lore, Mammal lore, Mineral Lore, and Sapient Lore. Crafting-wise, he had Animal Husbandry, Carpentry, and Metal Working. He had two archery skills, Longshot and Piercing shot. I didn’t have Piercing Shot, but I adapted Power Strike to work with the bow in my last fight. Ruku said I should keep practising it as it would probably become a skill.

While we got excited about this, there was not much for people of our level. I was interested in Metal Shaping, which assisted in shaping metal either with a hammer or in a cast. My Hammer Skills were up there, so I was just using them. It would help with the hammer and the cast, so getting the right shape would be easier. I would be able to make the perfect horseshoe or pot. It would speed things up, and the shapes became more complex at the higher levels. The right shape was critical in high-level blacksmithing, but there is much more to making a sword than the shape. I chose it anyway, as it would help, and everything else was too low level.

Tabitha was easy. As soon as she saw Agility Riding, she wanted it. I was surprised she didn’t already have it. It boosted the Physical Agility of both the person and the mount while riding. This didn’t just mean speed, then. It also meant jumping and trick riding.

Modrica was going to learn the sword, as it had been frustrating her, but we steered her away from that as it was obviously not her thing. She was a master of blunt weapons, but now a bloody fight was best for her. She also needed something with a longer reach that she could use mounted. Ruku had the perfect Skill for Modrica, the Flail. It would work with her Blunt Weapons Class and give her the reach she needed to use mounted on Težka. It would be devastating against armour; if it had a feathered or spiked head, it would draw blood. She learned the Skill, and now we need to get her a couple of Flails.

Rodion was honoured to be included, and he really wanted a disguise-type skill, but Ruku didn’t have any. I suggested he needed a ranged Skill, as in the only fight I had seen him in, he had to resort to leaping off buildings. It turns out he did have the Throw Weapons Skill in the upper Apprentice levels. He just didn’t have anything to throw. Rodion had the Sword and Shield at Journeyman level, so Ruku looked at his limited selection and suggested Shield Charge. Getting across the battlefield quickly is vital for a Skirmisher. When Rodion learned it, he let out a whoop of delight. It paired with his Sprint Skill, boosting it even from the low levels.

Kelda wasn’t with us, but when I told Ruku about the mismanagement in her class training and how effective she was with a Bow, he offered to teach her both the bow skills he had. If she could learn them.

Ruku settled into one of the rooms in the compound. When Kelda visited next, I introduced them, and she and Ruku sat down and had a long talk about her training and skills. Ruku was an experienced Trainer for the Marines. He knows the options. She needed some disguise Skills to go with her stealth and Blend if she wanted to go into more clandestine work. If she wanted to be a scout, she should pick up a riding class to match her Riding Skill. There were plenty of nature Classes available for someone with observation skills. If she was more of an urban operator, most crafting professionals would snatch her up. If she was going into leadership, the Captain training in the army was first class at giving her the mental skills and Leadership Class.

Then Kelda revealed she already had the Sharp Mind Skill that boosted her Mental Agility. She would rather be out of the army, although the Captain training was tempting. Her Bow Skill wasn’t far from Journeyman, so was probably OK to learn the archery Skills. She had the attributes but didn’t actually think the Archery Class was for her.

“What do you really like to do,” Ruku said.

“I like watching and teasing out secrets. That is how I got my Sharp Mind Skill, and I recently got the Lip Reading Skill from observing people,” Kelda replied.

“Fascinating. This is new territory for me. Lip Reading is an unusual Skill, but it would get around the sound barriers people use to stop those with Hearing Senses. I have heard of a Class called Treasure Hunter, which would be strong on observational Skills. With your Observation skills Learning Detect Traps and Tracking should be a walk in the park, and you should learn as many of those skills as possible.”

I piped in, “that's easy. I can teach those. You should also spend time in the casino.”

“The Casino?” Kelda was puzzled.

“It will level your Observer Class and Sight Skills, especially Keensight. Tabitha learned Sleight of Hand and other underhanded skills there. You would be going to see if you can spot such things and detect cheating. They might even pay you. Tabitha can show you. She is probably missing it.”

“Interesting suggestion,” Ruku said, “You should definitely try it.”

In the end, Kelda did learn Longbow and Piercing Shot, as the bow is the best weapon that matches her Observational Skills. This would take more thought. She and Tabitha set a date to visit the Casino and teach her some games. And observe, of course. I set a date to start teaching Detect Traps and Tracking, but most of that will have to wait until she leaves the army. To my mind, she was a good observer, but she was really best at observing people.

The next week, she came in all excited, “Wiremu, I did it! I learned Flame Senses!” The Skill was limited to small flames, but that would grow as the skill grew and her Spiritual Perception grew. The bigger the flame, the more she could sense, but the smaller the flame, the more of them she could have active at a time. There seemed to be no distance limit. As long as it was her flame, she could sense through it. This could be another use for her fire arrows to scout the area. Liten could light fires for her to see through.

We went out and celebrated.