Beyond Chaos – A DiceRPG

593. Rats Along The River

Omen: 4, 5

The group spent very little time in East Port, as the next month approached, they made their way out towards the north, escorting Sir Landon and his two knights.

Zeus, the mighty elk, pulled the cart along. Sir Landon sat upfront with Sir Vonda, his two knights flanking their sides. Lucy and Mara relaxed in the back of the cart, alongside the food which Jurot and Sir Landon had brought for the journey.

Jeremy and Remy carried a sack of wheat each within their wooden packs, wanting to work their muscles once more. The month had been the most they hadn’t worked, and it had made them more money than they could have imagined. They wondered how much money Adam had made, and had pegged it at around ten thousand gold.

‘Man, I can’t believe I’m so rich,’ Adam thought. ‘I have so much XP too.’

The Iyrmen, too, had made a pretty penny. They hadn’t bet quite as much as Adam, but they had made far more than the thousand gold coins the farmers and porters had made. Even Lucy and Mara had made a pretty penny for themselves, betting on the Iyrmen, and Adam. 

‘I can’t wait to get back home,’ Adam thought, thinking about all those who were waiting for him. ‘I’m going to shower you all in gold!’

Omen: 3, 19

“Hmm?” Adam looked ahead towards the river, which was easily a hundred steps wide, and watched as a small portion of it rocks from one side to the next as it snaked towards them. He had been wondering why their journey had been so safe recently, considering they had faced so many creatures the first time they had come this way. 

“What is it?”

“It is a waterwyrm,” Jurot explained.

Adam exchanged a look with his brother, before glancing towards the river once more. They all were trekking on the road, but it wasn’t that far from the river. If they had been travelling by river, Adam wouldn’t be able to wear his armour for the risk of drowning. 

“Do you want to fight it?”

“Yes,” Jurot said. 

“Will you drag me out if I fall into the river?”

“I will,” Jurot said, before reaching for the rope to tie it against Adam’s waist.

‘I could use my Omen, just in case.’

Adam stepped up towards the waterwyrm as it rushed down the river towards them, Jurot and Lucy taking his side. He threw a look to Lucy, but she threw a look back that dared him to deny her this fight.

‘Bell, please set it up so this one is for me, the trio, and the Demons.’ Adam had realised that the others were far too close to them right now, and he needed to make sure that Jurot and the others were stronger. 

[Okay.]

Adam inhaled deeply as the rushing waterwyrm approached him. The river heaved to and fro before the waterwyrm shot out from the river, water droplets falling like rain across the trio. It was as large as the giant pythons he had faced previously, easily twice Adam’s height, though much of it remained within the water.

“Hello there,” Adam called. 

Battle Order
D20 + 1 = 17 (16)

Health: 78 -> 64

Fighting Spirit: 3 -> 2
Health: 64 -> 69

Attack - Wraith
D20 + 10 = 12 (2)
D20 + 10 = 17 (7)
Hit!
Mana: 21 -> 20
Ability: Divine Smite
Wraith: 3 -> 2
2D6 + 2D6 + 2d6 + 9 = 27 (3, 5)(2, 3)(1, 4)
27 damage!

Attack - Wraith
D20 + 10 = 14 (4)
D20 + 10 = 25 (15)
Hit!
Mana: 20 -> 19
Ability: Divine Smite
Wraith: 2 -> 1
2D6 + 2D6 + 2d6 + 9 = 26 (1, 2)(2, 4)(4, 4)
26 damage!

Onward Soar: 1 -> 0

Attack - Wraith
D20 + 10 = 15 (5)
D20 + 10 = 25 (15)
Hit!
Mana: 18 -> 18
Ability: Divine Smite
Wraith: 1 -> 0
2D6 + 2D6 + 2d6 + 9 = 21 (1, 2)(1, 3)(1, 4)
21 damage!

Attack - Wraith
D20 + 10 = 23 (13)
D20 + 10 = 24 (14)
Hit!
Mana: 18 -> 17
Ability: Divine Smite
2D6 + 2d6 + 9 = 25 (2, 2)(6, 6)
25 damage!

The waterwyrm hissed out water towards them, before water blasted the trio, with such force that Adam was pushed back as his shield was blasted. Jurot and Lucy fell into a rage, and though the water cut them like a blade, their skin was like steel. They leapt up to strike the creature with their axes, ready and eager for slaughter.

Adam quickly stepped forward as the earth under him became more like mud, before also leaping through the creature, focusing as the pair before him cut into its water body, before he slammed into it, grabbing around it, the water almost like jelly, hacking it wildly with his axe. He struck it as many times as he could, using whatever strength he could muster, before the snake like body of water fell, with Adam dropping into the river with it. 

He inhaled deeply, his heart pounded wildly, but before he could fall into the water, he was tugged backwards by the two sets of rope tied to him. One was pulled by Nobby and Rick, the other was pulled by Remy and Jeremy. 

Adam slid backwards, and once he was a few steps clear of the river, he twisted his body and righted himself, carefully stomping towards the group, before casting his Tricks trick to clean his armour. Jurot and Lucy, who had fallen into the water, swam back out. 

Victory!
Waterwyrm
XP Gained: +500
XP: 13 000 -> 13 500

“Thank you,” Adam said to the four, nodding his head at them. “Not the most graceful kill, but it’ll do.” He then looked to Vonda. ‘Oh. Oops.’

“It is fine,” Vonda said. “Waterwyrms are a terrible danger in East Aldland.”

“Phew.”

“Adam,” Jurot called from behind, revealing a jelly like substance which was squirming around his hand. “Living water.”

“Nice!” Adam replied, smiling. He was sure he needed it for something, though couldn’t quite remember what. “Is that a core?”

“Yes.” Jurot held up the core in his other hand. It was almost clear, and slightly larger than the other cores the group had managed to gather.

“Nice.” Adam glanced around at the others, before recalling they were still meant to split everything. ‘Oh, damn it.’ “We’ll, uh, sort out the loot another time.” 

The labourers just nodded, not because they feared the trio who had taken out a waterwyrm near instantly, but because they were a thousand gold richer, which was more than they would have made with anyone else. 

“Careful,” Lucy called out, staring out towards the river. A ship approached the group from the horizon. It was black, and as it approached, they could spot five people.

Adam squinted his eyes. The black of the ship seemed a little off. 

The ship veered away from them towards the other side of the river, before it turned towards them, flying out of the river. The ship turned into cloth, and spun around one of the five figures like a cloak, before the five landed between Fate’s Golden and the river.

Jurot, Kitool, and Jaygak each stepped forward, around Adam, while the teen Iyrmen stepped behind them, eyeing up the five strangers who had appeared. The two knights, seeing the way the Iyrmen acted, reached for their blades, but did not draw them.

The five strangers wore cloaks of black, which covered them from head to toe, hiding their faces in shadow. None seemed to be well armed, though each carried a dagger at their side. One removed her hood, revealing an older woman with a heavily tattooed forehead. Her hair was grey, but her eyes were a deep black, like the depths of the ocean.

“Greetings,” the old woman said, almost in a whisper. “We apologise for the interruption, but have you seen a waterwyrm?”

“Yeah, we killed it,” Adam replied, holding Strong Shield to his side, still strapped to his arm. 

“We congratulate you, great warriors,” the old woman said, with the slightest hint of sarcasm, her eyes falling to the Iyrmen. “It is a little awkward for us, since we have need of the living water.”

“Unfortunately, we need the…” Adam turned to Jurot, furrowing his brow. “Do we need the living water?”

“It is useful for enchanting.”

“Hmm.” Adam slowly nodded his head. “What do you need it for?” 

“Our comrade is dying,” the old woman replied. “We need it for her health.”

“Well, if you say it like that, I can’t exactly refuse so easily.” Adam continued to eye up the group, but some of his thoughts were on why the Iyrmen had stepped out. “What will you trade for it?”

“What would you like, young man?”

“What is your comrade’s life worth?” Adam joked.

“A dark question.”

“Take it in good humour,” Adam replied, meeting the woman’s eyes once more. “I’m known for my terrible jokes.”

“Is it a Black Rat?” Jurot asked.

“Yes,” the old woman replied.

“A Black Rat?” Adam raised his brow towards his brother.

“They are a cult.” Jurot’s eyes remained focused on the group, but his eyes were staring past the old woman, towards the figure behind her. 

The woman smiled at the words, but said nothing. She, as they all did, knew of the Iyrmen’s thoughts on their group. 

“So, what are you going to trade?”

“What do you wish for?”

“I want my children to grow happy and healthy,” Adam replied, hearing Lucy’s groan from nearby.

“We will be able to provide such a living,” the old woman confirmed.

“Better than the Iyr?”

The old woman’s eyes fell to Adam’s armour, and then to his eyes through the slits of his visor. Adam, who hadn’t taken off his helmet, and yet wore armour made of puthral? 

“What is your connection to the Iyr? Are you a Nephew?”

“Yes.”

“Then there is much less we can offer,” the old woman admitted, no longer smiling.

The figure behind her stepped forward, undoing his hood to reveal his face. He was as old as the woman, roughly in his fifties, with the same tattoos on his forehead, though the tattoos fell down to his cheeks too. 

“I, too, wish for my granddaughter to grow up happy and healthy, young man,” the stranger said. His eyes, like two pits into the void, stared deep into Adam’s eyes.

“The name’s Adam.” 

“I would owe you a great favour, Adam.”

Adam inhaled deeply. He could feel it in the air. The tension. Whoever these people were, they weren’t easy to deal with. “What do you think? Are they trustworthy?”

“The Black Rats are a cult who prove troublesome for Drakkenlan,” Jurot explained, before pausing. “Their word is golden.”

“Then I’ll trust that you repay this favour one day,” Adam said, before nodding his head. 

Jurot stepped forward, handing the living water to the Black Rat, before stepped back to Adam’s side once more. The Black Rats glanced between the group, taking in the sight of the Demons, the Iyrmen, the nobles, and the labourers. They eyed up Nobby especially.

“We will repay this favour to you one day,” the Black Rat stated once more, before the group bowed their heads, and slipped away onto their ship made of black cloth, heading further down to East Port. 

“So, who the hell are they?” Adam asked.

“An ancient cult,” Jurot replied, simply.

“Are they strong?”

“Yes.”

“How strong was the old guy?”

“A Paragon.”

“Yeah?”

“They both were.”

“Both of them? The old woman too?”

“Yes.”

Adam whistled. “Glad we didn’t start a fight with them then. I had a crit in my back pocket, but I didn’t have any more Wraith charges.” Adam looked out towards the disappearing ship near the horizon. “So, what kind of favour can I request?”

“You assisted the one known as Elder Rat. It will be no small favour.”

“It feels a bit weird since it’s meant to be shared between us all,” Adam admitted. “At least we have the core.”

‘Elder Rat?’ Sir Landon thought, looking out to the group. ‘…’ He looked to Adam, wondering how he didn’t know about the Black Rats, nor to the significance of the favour he had earned. Adam was a creature he still didn’t quite understand.

‘Should I make a play for the title of Baron?’ 

It's been a while since the Black Rats were last mentioned.

I'm sure that favour will never come up again...