A Record of Ash & Ruin: The Grieving Lands

Book 1: Chapter 48: The Name Behind the Man

Seas rose, and continents cracked under the energies that ravaged the world. The sky itself burned in places that scoured the very ground beneath of all life. Great volcanos spewed mountains of dark ash into the air, covering the world in primordial darkness. In the deep places of the ocean, there was to be no refuge. The water boiled, killing all but the hardiest of creatures and the people of the Mer suffered greatly.

Thus was how the first cataclysm started, and the game board set anew for the unending game of the thirsting gods.

- On the Cataclysm by an unknown Quassian Scholar circa 103 AC.

Dawn had yet to cast her rosy fingers across the sky before I was woken, without ceremony. The Rogue, his breath still scented with strong drink, shook me awake from my dreams where something unwholesome stalked me through the corridors of my own mind. Shaking off the last vestiges of sleep, I made my way to do my morning toilet before washing my hands again and having a quick drink from a flask.

“Good morning to you, muse of music! Since I didn’t want to be eating jerky all the time on the road, I bought us a few other trail snacks. Think of it as a thank you present!” chirped Elwin, his morning energy a little grating on my nerves.

He ran a hand through what remained of his hair and handed over a simple leather satchel filled with traveling provisions.

“And to you too,” I unenthusiastically replied. “We’ll make our way to the Adventurer’s guild and see what’s about, I suppose. We will have to find some sort of work to pay for a caravan or transport out of this town to head for more civilized climes,” I said, still struggling to find some motivation.

As my companions gathered the rest of our provisions and supplies, I mentally looked over my character sheet. Sleeping in my armor during the night had given me a level in the Heavy Armor skill. The effect of the improved skill was already apparent, as I felt a little less cumbersome in my equipment as we went down the stairs.

The innkeeper of the establishment was waging war with the remnants of last night’s revels. He was mopping spilled ale and vomit and hitting his still-sleeping customers to wakefulness with the business end of his mop. The Bard from last night was nowhere in sight, as was to be expected from a man of his caliber. The regular customers were just making their way out when we noticed that there seemed to be a smell of something cooking wafting up through the air.

“Good morning, Taper,” I said, trying to muster up some goodwill and energy. “I see that business was good last night.”

“Business is always good when there’s a Bard about. This sorry lot is always looking for an excuse to celebrate and drink,” he replied to my greeting as he put his mop away. “I’ll be serving breakfast soon, the usual three coppers, if it pleases you.”

I sat down with my companions at the counter, placing nine dull copper coins on its impeccably clean surface. I asked the innkeeper for directions to the Adventurer’s Guild, even though I was pretty sure the building I had passed on my way to my fight with Jongshoi was the same one.

The innkeeper gave me some rough directions from the inn, which confirmed my suspicions. In the old world, I was never much gifted in the art of map reading, let alone directions, but thanks to my increased Intelligence I had a much clearer picture in my mind of where the Guild should be.

Soon enough, Taper served us some form of gruel with a dollop of honey in the center. It was a simple and filling fare and Kidu even asked for seconds, counting out three coppers from his purse. We waited for Kidu, who finished his meal with a resounding burp that amused Elwin to no end and then we exited the inn.

The morning light had fully taken the sky now, and with the risen sun, came the sounds of a city waking up. There had been a light rain during the night and the streets were muddy as we started off in the direction of the Adventurer’s Guild. The mud did little to hamper the number of people who were making their way about their daily business.

We plowed on through to the market square as I retraced my steps from the jail to the Adventurer’s Guild. Turning a few corners and passing many yurt-like buildings, we finally arrived at our planned destination. I accidentally stepped into a puddle and sunk down to my ankles, much to the amusement of my companions.

The building was as I remembered it and where Taper had described. The guild hall was carved from large blocks of simple white stone. Over its large heavy wooden iron-banded entrance, hung a sign bearing the symbol of a crossed sword over a wooden burning torch. We entered the building to find the common room surprisingly well-lit with a large fireplace bathing the room with its warmth. The floor was made of worn wood and there were several brushes by the door, which I saw people using to wipe the road from their boots.

The people inside seemed to come from all sorts of backgrounds and walks of life. Some were armored to various degrees - from full-plate to ratty-looking worn leathers, and all of them were armed with an eclectic mix of ranged and melee weapons of varying quality and origins. What drew my eye were the few that were dressed in mystical garments of various hues and wielded magical-looking staves and wands.

A man, in a red robe and wide-brimmed ‘wizard’s hat’, patterned with yellow stars, gripped a staff tipped with a scarlet crystalline point and was smoking from a delicate wooden pipe. The smoke from which was so dense that it looked like an extension of his bushy gray beard that reached to his chest.

Serving girls wended their way through large wooden tables, delivering stacked trays full of delicious-looking food and ale. It seemed that the Adventurer’s Guild also doubled as a tavern in this city. A smart move, I thought to myself.

Several groups of people were sitting at tables, discussing amongst themselves, and exchanging information. Not everyone was in a group, and not everyone was human. Alone at a table, a dark-skinned humanoid with the characteristically pointed ears of the elves and platinum-silver hair sat, nursing a drink. My hackles rose at seeing the elf and I had to pointedly refrain from reaching for the flail at my side. I did not have a good first impression of elves.

At the other side of the large hall was a wooden counter where several people were queueing up. Behind the counter, smartly dressed employees in elegantly cut clothes were busy with clerical work as they tallied, counted, and calculated. Next to the counter was a large board with various pieces of paper pinned onto its surface.

“Nice setup they got here,” Elwin chimed in as he whistled in awe.

“It certainly looks like an Adventurer’s Guild, not that I have seen one before mind you,” I commented, making sure to correct myself.

Kidu, taciturn as always, just grunted knowingly.

Not knowing what to do, I decided that it would be best to ask. Still unsure of the social niceties required and not wanting to cause a stir with a potential faux pas, I sent Elwin to find some information. Meanwhile, Kidu and I finished cleaning our shoes and waited at an empty table. In due course, one of the serving girls came to us.

The girl was perhaps in her twenties, young and fair-skinned with a sprinkling of light freckles around her nose. She had flame-red hair tied in a bun but had the Asiatic eyes and a small nose, so common to the locals here. Our server was pretty in a homely sort of way, offering us a pleasant smile while she asked for our order.

“Hello there! Nice to see some new faces,” she began cheerfully in a high singsong voice as she eyed the massive Kidu up and down, stifling a giggle. “What can I get for you?”

“Do you have anything that is non-alcoholic, juice or milk perhaps? And a light snack, as we have just eaten?” I asked, not wanting to start drinking so early in the day.

Her bright smile grew a little in amusement. “We got a little Lanelo juice and some Rockcrab legs,” she said as if rummaging through the back of her mind.

“That would be lovely,” I said gratefully. Wistfully, I couldn't help but recall my struggles with complicated menus in the past.

“That will be twelve coppers then, for three of you, I’m assuming you’ll be wanting to order for the man that came with you too?”

As she smiled, I realized she was the type that grew prettier as they smiled.

Now that Elwin was elsewhere, scouring for information, I was able to summon up a little courage. “What’s your name, if I may be so bold?” I blurted out, a little too formally, as I placed twelve copper coins on the table.

Red stained my cheeks as I removed my helm and placed it on the table, and I grew conscious of my appearance.

“Aren’t you a dear! My name’s Halena Aster. Nice to meet you, adventurers.” She smiled, eyes lighting as she played with a loose strand of hair.

“Kidu Kreshin,” the big man rumbled as he introduced himself.

For the first time, Kidu had introduced himself with a second name. I had known about this additional part of his name for a long time now, having cast Identify on the wildman during our days of enslavement. Perhaps it held some significance? I would have to ask him about it later.

“Well, aren’t you both the strapping sort! I’ll be right back with your order,” she finished, giving us a wink and dexterously scooping up the coins in one smooth motion before turning around and walking toward the kitchens.

I noticed that she never asked for my name and that Kidu was looking at her retreating form for a few long moments before I coughed.

“Kreshin?” I asked, curiosity apparent in my tone.

“On the ice, we receive the name of the first kill as our second name, that we may never forget the struggle and the test. The Kreshin brought me great honor among my tribe,” he said solemnly, successfully tearing his eyes away from our server.

“So, no family name?”

“All in the tribe are one, my family is the Three Bears,” he said stiffly, unused to this line of questioning. He probably thought that this must be common knowledge and was currently distracted by our waitress.

I was soon saved by Elwin after he navigated through the groups of people back toward our table, a roguish grin plastered to his face. He plopped himself down and looked us both in the eye before he began.

“So right, the thing is, first of all, before we start doing jobs for the Adventurer’s Guild is that we got to register and pay the membership fee,” he stated, pointing a thumb at the wooden counter where the people were lined up. “That’s three silver each, but from what I heard only one of us needs to be a member to take on jobs so that saves us six silver. Though if we’ll be doing work a little bit on the regular side, they advised that we all register.” He shrugged noncommittally. “Course, the pays all the same split three ways but some jobs require a minimum number of members. Once we register we’ll have to meet the Guildmaster and be given a badge designating our rank, it’s the same system like the Guilds where I come from. We can take any jobs from the board as long as they are within one rank of our badges, the guild gives out a death payment only on jobs of the same rank. I don’t plan on dying anytime soon, so this doesn’t really matter I guess…” He finished just as Halena returned with our food and drinks.

“What rose blooms in this here sad garden?” Elwin asked lasciviously, looking the girl up and down as he made to touch her shapely rear.

Halena, with a stony, fixed smile on her face and a veteran of a hundred such advances, adroitly dodged his questing hands while placing our items on the table.

“Anything else?” she asked, a little annoyance clouding her voice.

“No, thank you,” I quickly added.

She had already begun to turn away to take another adventurer’s order before I had even finished.

“I can tell that one likes me!” Elwin guffawed, which drew a simple grunt from Kidu.

We drank our purple Lanelo juice, which was sweet and tart, and ate our deliciously spiced salty Rockcrabs, which made us order even more juice. Elwin, uncharacteristically, didn’t even complain that the drinks weren’t alcoholic.

Once we had finished our light meal and drinks we made our way to join the queue at the counter. In front of us was a line of about ten people. As we waited, the dark-skinned elf, who was at the front of the queue, briskly handed over a bundle of herbs and plants to a busy-looking clerk who then stamped a few official-looking papers.

Moments later, and with great clerical efficiency, a few silver and bronze coins were presented on a tray which the elf quickly picked up with dexterous fingers, placing them quickly into a small purse. Even hooded and cloaked I could see now more clearly that the lines of the elf’s body under the tough-scaled leather armor were of a more feminine persuasion.

She walked with an unconscious, yet confident, sway in her hips that challenged every man in the room as she exuded competence and deadliness in equal measure. The elf shot one last glance around the Guild and our eyes met for the merest fraction of a second as she exited the building through the thick iron-banded doors.

With time to burn and curiosity to be sated, I asked the man in front of me about the sight I had just seen. He was a distinctly average specimen of Asiatic persuasion, of medium height and girth, with a round homely face. Brown hair fell from a wide-brimmed kettle helm, and he was clad in a mixture of old scaled leather, coarse homespun linen, and patchwork chainmail. At his waist, though, was a deadly-looking unadorned bearded axe of dark wood and darker black iron of exceptional quality.

“Oh, her. She caught your eye too? She’s a famous one, that’s Lanarisa. We all just call her Lana which she hates,” grinned the boyish man. “Name’s Gan Garamgai. You can call me Gan if you like, that's what everyone else does anyways. Say, haven’t seen you around before, what's your name if you don’t mind me asking?” He stuck out his gauntleted hand in greeting.

I regretted my decision to ask the overly familiar man almost immediately and I looked at his gauntleted hand for a moment as if it was a snake. Something about him simply grated upon me. My goals depended upon me not standing out and causing a scene, so I swallowed my regret and remembered my manners. I held a special place in my heart for all the Children of the Tides, and Gan Garamgai, with his stupid name, was no exception.

Gilgamesh of Uruk would have to play the friendly individual for a while, then perhaps sometime in the future, I could convert Gan into experience points. Somewhere in a hidden corner of my mind, a dark thing silently voiced its agreement as I reached to shake his armored hand and introduced myself. Something must have reminded the dolt of his own lack of manners, and he stopped himself before finally removing his own gauntlets.

“Name’s Gil, pleasure to meet you Gan,” I said with a smile that probably didn’t quite reach my eyes. “Are you a regular member of this guild?” I asked casually as I clasped the now unarmored hand.

“Oh, that I am, just a bronze, though,” he said, pointing to a small bronze badge on his chest depicting a crossed sword over a burning wooden torch. “Still, started way back when I was Copper. Dad couldn’t work the farm, so I had to step up.” His chest puffed up a little in pride.

I had to bite back a scathing reply suggesting he could have worked the farm instead but chose to be tactful and inquire, “And how, exactly, does one gain in rank?”

“Well, continue to do jobs and help out the guild and the Guildmaster will promote you, when he, like, sees you do real well. Remember Lana? She’s the only silver adventurer here, always takes on jobs by herself too, and almost always completes them. Doesn’t do much on speaking though,” he continued inanely.

The conversation continued to meander this way and that. Gan told us in annoyingly exquisite detail about the members of his extended family, going to great lengths to extoll the virtues of one of his younger sisters. According to his description, she was basically the goddess given flesh once more.

I was able to glean another useful nugget of information out of the country bumpkin, it seemed that the Guildmaster, a man called Darcen Tsend, had a means of telling if someone spoke the truth. It was probably one of the reasons he had ascended to his lofty position. Elwin tried to insert himself into the conversation, asking if Gan’s sister was in his words “A looker,” which just caused Gan to clam up, thankfully, until it was finally his turn at the counter.

Gan, finishing his business, offered to group up to do a few board jobs with us someday and then waved goodbye. Perhaps I would take him up on his offer, I mused.