1.16 – Guild Quest

Rika spent the rest of the afternoon collecting her equipment. As Addy, the innkeep’s wife, had promised, her armor and trousers were over with the town’s smith and armorer. A squat collection of buildings sat on the far side of the pond from the rest of the town—a smithy, tannery, and modest home. The town’s smith and his second eldest son, a leatherworker, had seen to her gear while she recovered.

A hot meal and a good sleep later, Rika headed out from the inn to meet Erik and the others at the appointed time. Canyon Falls was only just beginning to stir for the day as the sun crested the horizon in the east, breaking over the far-off heath and the closer forested foothills. As she approached the cart-path that wound down from the canyon to the main road, the others were already waiting.

Erik and Kriztan were geared much as they had been the previous day. Erik wore a fitted tunic and a pair of woolen trousers tucked into leather boots. He carried a pack and a thick quarterstaff. Kriztan had added a short sword and a pack to his arsenal.

Vilmos, on the other hand, was kitted out like Rika was, but much more heavily. A large heater shield was strapped to his pack, and a bearded axe hung from his belt. He wore a lamellar coat along with splinted bracers and boots. The entire panoply was topped by a peaked segmented helmet with a horsehair crest.

Raising an eyebrow as she approached, Rika couldn’t help but comment. “Sure this is your first real job? That’s quite the assortment.”

“Never said I didn’t have gear,” Vilmos said, shifting a bit. “I do come from a family of means, perhaps not as well-off as yourself, but enough to afford all this.”

“His dad’s a freeholder up north, on the other side of the Ironbacks,” Kriztan said. “Served you better than being the daughter of a duke, it seems.”

Rika let it slide. Her gear had kept her alive when she had nothing else to lean on. As far as she was concerned, it was good enough for now. “Ready to head out when all of you are,” she said.

“It’ll take us most of the day to reach the area where we’ll find the goblins. We set up a sheltered camp of our own, and attack at first light tomorrow morning.” Vilmos turned as he spoke, heading down the cart path. Rika and the others fell in behind him.

They followed the cart path down to the main road. A gorge fell off to one side, and dozens of feet below coursed the stream that flowed out from Canyon Falls above. To the other side rose a heavily wooded slope, not as steep as the gorge, but nearly as treacherous and just as impassable. Vilmos set a brisk pace despite his armor as they made their way down to the main road, and soon they marched deeper into the Ironbacks.

They were less than an hour outside of town when Kriztan started up again. “So,” he said. “Daughter of a duke, eh? Lotta good that did you. Couldn’t even show up with a proper kit.”

Rika took a deep breath of mountain air, pulling it in through her nose before exhaling the same way. Given the way Kriztan’s lips curled into a self-satisfied smirk as he glanced back, she’d clearly failed to keep her irritation off her face. “You’re one to talk. Says your class is ranger. All the rangers I’ve ever known have bows.”

Kriztan barked a laugh. “Shows what you know, kid. Thrown daggers work just as well, and I like getting close, anyway.”

“We really don’t need to do this,” Erik said from behind Rika, where he’d taken up the rear.

“Do you? From what I’ve figured, you’re just as untested as I am,” Rika said. “That’s half the reason nobody wanted to join this little adventure. The other half is probably because they couldn’t stand listening to your nonsense.”

“That’s rich coming from a girl who stumbled half-dead into town. Barely handled a couple of gobbo packs and nearly got yourself killed. I thought you nobles were supposed to have all sorts of advantages over us common folk.”

“Well, I’ve only had my class for less than a week, and I’m already level three. You look to be almost thirty. And you’ve only managed what, a level or two in that time? Seems like I’m on track to outpace you, disowned and all.”

A flash of anger crossed Kriztan’s features so fast that Rika almost thought she’d imagined it. Then he shot back at her, “Speaking of, what did you do to get kicked out? Opened those pretty legs for a castle boy, if I were to wager.”

“You fucking—”

“Enough!” Vilmos shouted with a force and tone that would have given Marin a run for his spot as guard captain.

Rika settled into a sullen silence, and Kriztan shot her one last smirk.

“I don’t think he really meant it,” Erik mumbled from behind her, just loud enough that she could hear.

Instead of responding, she stared daggers at Kriztan’s back.

Name: Kriztan
Class: Ranger (Basic, Common)
Level: 4 (Grade I)
Affiliation: Adventuring Guild – Novice

• Primary Stats

  • Might – 18

  • Finesse – 20

  • Resilience – 11

  • Magic – 6

  • Control – 1

  • Ward – 2

After finally getting a look at his stats, Rika set aside the idea of teaching him a lesson. Besides, doing so would just put the rest of them back in the same position they’d been in before she joined up. At least his magic stats were mostly trash.

Instead, she just resolved to walk away once all this was done. Vilmos wasn’t awful, but she got the impression that he came as a package deal with Kriztan. She couldn’t begin to fathom why. Erik seemed nice enough, but she didn’t have any real attachment to him. Sure, he’d saved her life, but she got the impression he’d have done that, regardless. She could always give him a cut of her pay for the job if she needed to ease any sense of obligation to him.

No, this group could go die in a cave somewhere for all she cared. Well, Kriztan, mostly. The others were alright, but the more she thought about it, the less reason she saw to stick around. Even if Vilmos wanted her to stay, she wasn’t about to keep subjecting herself to Kriztan’s insults. And according to everything Chryson had told her, she’d outpace all three of them eventually.

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In the long run, they’d just hold her back. Best to hook up with a supply caravan headed deeper into the mountains and try herself against stronger challenges than a bunch of goblins. She’d seen what they could do, and she’d survived it while alone. No sense in swimming around in such a small pond any longer than she had to. She checked over the quest again, just to be sure.

• Current Quest – Goblin Encampment

  • Clear the goblin raiding encampment threatening Canyon Falls.

  • Recommended Level – 5

  • Recommended Party – 4

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