70 - Before Moonrise

  Joe woke up gently. He lay in the small but comfortable bunk for a few minutes, listening to the soothing music and replaying his fading dreams. They had been good ones: Jan, Keith, and him skating on the beaver pond, a lazy weekend morning sleeping in with the pups, shaggy Mia curled against his stomach, Ripple nestled behind his knees, little Zoe on his hip, a Christmas morning, a summer night filled with fireflies.

  All of these good memories were a balm over last night’s deed.

  He wasn’t sure how deities worked in this world, but he was certain his dreams would have been far darker if he had not been spending the night under Murrcee’s roof. His restorative sleep might be a divine blessing, or maybe it was just the magic worked into this temple dedicated to caring.

  Either way, Joe felt like he had come much further through dealing with killing Sir Groven, justified or not, than he would have on his own. The event felt like it occurred weeks ago, not just last night.

  Joe knew if he kept picking at it, he would just reopen his unease. A better plan was to get busy doing something. Tonight, if all went according to plan, they were going to face the Night Skinner. Joe was better prepared, but there was still more he could do. At the very least, he needed to grab replacement mana potions, repair his gambeson, and spend his new attribute point.

  He would have to track down Mazsy for funds as he only had a few coins left …

  Joe stopped as something occurred to him. Jink’s purse.

  He had not needed it for the Wellwatcher, and the elf had never asked for it back. Rolling over onto his stomach, Joe dug through the pile of gear heaped on the floor by the bed. Emptying the small leather pouch onto the blanket, Joe found it was full of pearls and odd blue coins. He lifted one of the aqua-colored discs and watched the light ripple across it. The effect was a weird mix of blue Damascus steel and actual undulating waves.

  ‘Cool. I wonder what these are worth,’ he pondered. ‘Jink must have planned to go to the oracle all along. Pearls and watery metal coins. These seem like a gift tailored to please the naga.’

  Joe had no idea what the value of the small bag was, but his gut was telling him it was far more money than he had ever seen so far. Jink was way too savvy to have forgotten to ask for the purse back. He meant for Joe to keep it.

  This meant he could upgrade his gear, too.

  Weapon-wise, Joe was fine. He was beginning to realize that staff was not going to be his weapon of choice for much longer. Defensively, it was great at blocking attacks, but offensively, it was not working for him, whether it was the nature of a quarterstaff or just Joe. He had been more comfortable fighting with [Haybreaker], and the crowbar, than he ever had been with a staff.

  Armor, though, he could improve. Joe’s job was to stay alive so he could keep the team going. That meant better defenses. He still wanted to keep his armor light, but Joe pictured adding some pieces to assist his currently tattered gambeson.

  Hopping out of bed, Joe found a basin of warm water and washcloths on the table in his little room. He had scrubbed himself several times the night before, but it felt good to give himself a good once-over before getting dressed again. The problem came when Joe went to put on his outfit. The shirt and pants were covered in blood-crusted tears. Joe held up the tattered tunic and hissed out a breath. It was shocking to see how much punishment he had managed to survive. Not wanting to go begging for a spare change of clothes, Joe eased on the bedraggled garments. As he did so, he added new clothes and some mending and cleansing scrolls to his shopping list.

  It was easy enough to find his way out of the temple. The tan-robed clerics all greeted him warmly as he passed them. Joe asked one of them about J’kadoo, wanting to express his gratitude for the night before. He was asked to wait, and a minute later, a bald gnome with a horseshoe mustache trotted over to him.

  “I’m sorry but J’kadoo still sleeps. He was up deep into the night with a man matching your description, Joe. You are welcome to rest some more and try again after a few more hours.”

  “Thanks, but I spent way more time in bed than anybody ever should. I’m feeling like I want to get something done. Besides, keeping busy is better than stewing in my thoughts.”

  “Oh? My name’s Norbip. If you would like to talk, I’d be happy to listen. Getting that stew off the stove and onto the table may help.”

  “J’kadoo did that for me already, Norbip. Lent me his ear all last night. I’m good. I think getting some errands done will do more for me right now.”

  “Understandable. Well, is there anything I can do to help with those errands?”

  “Actually, yeah. Can you tell me what these are worth?” Joe inquired, taking the pouch out of his satchel and withdrawing an azure coin.

  “Ooh. That metal is undium; some people call it rivertite. One of the elemental metals. The coin is an undium drib. These are a good currency to use in port cities. Easy way to carry around a hundred gold.”

  “A hundred gold!” Joe jabbered. “This one coin is worth one hundred?”

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  “Yes, it is. How many do you have?”

  “Twenty-four. And some pearls.”

  “I’d be happy to appraise …” Before the gnome finished, Joe had the eight near identical pearls in his hand, which was easily done thanks to having a third hand to sort with. “Good quality. I’d value each of them at three-quarters of one of the dribs. All total, it looks like you have three thousand worth on the nose.”

  It was such a suspiciously round number that he didn’t doubt the small man’s valuation.

  “Holy,” Joe breathed. He was way better off than he imagined.

  “Yes, she is,” the robed priest replied worshipfully. “So, what are your plans with this newfound wealth, friend?”

  Having found a local source of information whose very religion was based on helping others, Joe launched into his plans. Norbip wasn’t much up on leather armor as Murrceeains tended to wear magical robes instead of mundane protective gear. Still, he suggested a street a few blocks away where a number of light armor shops were. His next recommendation was a nearby charm shop instead of a scroll shop since mending and cleaning were more commonly bought that way. Lastly, the priest’s brother was a skills merchant. The gnome gave Joe permission to name-drop for a discount.

  Looking at Joe’s cumbersome backpack and running his finger over his facial hair, Norbip added a suggestion. “If you are going to be hunting something tonight,” Joe had not specified his quarry, “Then might I suggest you lighten your load? What you have mentioned so far should not cost you more than a couple dribs. With the rest, you could buy a spatial bag. Nothing too fancy. Yet more than enough there to contain that ungainly pack.”

  He didn’t have too much in his rucksack, and years of school had gotten him used to the feel of a bag on his back, so he really didn’t notice it much. Even so, the thought of not having everything he owned sitting on his shoulders had a real appeal. It would also allow him to move and, if necessary, fight easier. Joe compared the warehouse fights against his training without the backpack on, and realized this windfall might be the only chance he would have to make this kind of purchase for a long time.

  The gnome suggested a pouch shop across the street from the charm shop. After gratefully shaking hands with the small, helpful templar, Joe set off to get ready for his quest.

  Four hours later, Joe had polished off his wish list.

  He had his gambeson magically repaired and had purchased a bracelet and twelve charms: six of [Clean] and six of [Mend]. It was cheaper to buy a new set of clothes than to salvage the mess his current outfit was in. He picked up another spare set as well this time.

  He bought five rare mana potions. These were not cheap, but the potion dealer had given him a discount on the fifth one. Even with [Swap Stamina], Joe knew running out of mana could be fatal for him. These should save him in a mana emergency.

  He replaced the goblin knife, which he had left right where it had been lodged the night before, with a proper dagger. His hunting knife was a good utility item, but the poniard he had purchased would be better in a fight.

  The longest period of time had gone into supplementing his padded armor with some additional leather and studded-leather pieces. Joe now had a pair of protective gloves with reinforced knuckles. A leather skullcap and a gorget would shield his head, neck, and shoulders. He also added a set of shinguards to cover his legs below his tassets. The best part was that the added pieces did not make his trusty gambeson any less comfortable.

  At the armorer’s suggestion, he picked up a handful of troll bone discs. The armorer used them at times in place of metal scales. They didn’t offer quite as much protection as steel, but they were both lighter and self-repairing. Joe and the crafter slid the pale bone slices into the pockets of Joe’s blue coat wherever he needed extra protection.

  The purchase of his storage bag was both amazing and a little disappointing.

  The bag was a marvel: it was a small crossbody sack that Joe would still hang on his back, but it held everything he owned, even his six-foot quarterstaff, and weighed almost nothing. The coolest part was that Joe just had to reach into the sack, and the item he wanted magically found its way into his hand; no more searching for that thing at the bottom of his pack. The biggest limiter on the bag was he had to put items in through the opening, so nothing bigger than about a foot in diameter.

  The shop was filled with many far pricier and more exciting variations: rings, lockets, billfolds, purses, and more. Some could hold rooms full of items. Some had actual rooms built into them. For Joe’s budget, the choice was the most common item in the store, a rack with little deviation besides color to distinguish between them. His purchase elicited as much enthusiasm from the clerk as selling a gallon of milk at a convenience store would have back on Earth.

  Joe turned over what he considered to be a small fortune, twenty-five hundred gold, and received nothing more than his plain-looking dimensional bag, a shrug, and a good day.

  The last task was filling in his open skill point. Joe was still a few ranks shy of being able to upgrade something to rare, but he still had common skills he could upgrade to uncommon.

  [Strong Arm] was at the top of his list. It had batted away a number of what could have been lethal strikes from Groven. Maybe it would damage his hand less as it moved to a higher grade or have less of a lag between uses.

  Joe had considered [Whisperstep] in case they might have to sneak to catch the Night Skinner, but he rejected that choice after some consideration. If stealth was a requirement, then Azbekt would give them away far more than Joe would. He couldn’t imagine they would be able to tell the dwarf to stay put while they snuck on ahead without him.

  [Helping Hand] was probably going to advance on its own thanks to the [Signature Spell] trait.

  The rest of Joe’s common skills lacked enough ranks to warrant upgrading them right now. Joe’s focus today was getting tougher, being able to survive tonight. So, either it would be [Strong Arm] or something that would give him an even better defense.

  Since J’kadoo had suggested {Bone} to help with his healing of breaks, he looked there first. When Norbip’s brother, Ninbem, described [Bonemail], Joe knew he had the winner.

  Ninbem suggested that Joe practice with the spell because, after a few ranks, he would be able to target more than just one piece of armor at a time. Joe’s piecemeal armor would layer the protection better than a single suit would.

  The bump to Vigor also added over a hundred health and stamina to his resources. Something he might very well need in the hunt to come.

  Joe spent the afternoon wandering Peregrine Harbor Bay, following Ninbem’s advice. By the time the hour had come to meet the others in Telemont Square, he had gotten [Bonemail] to target everything on his upper body and head, all the pieces except his legs, hands, and feet.

  Sheet

  Skills

  Traits

  Items