RavensDagger

  Chapter Two Hundred and Ten - Read The Mood

  The entrao the Insmouth Duhat Howard brought us to wasn’t quite what I expected. It was, as he had said, in a graveyard, but one unlike any I had ever seen.

  The grounds around the dungeon proper were filled with little statues, eae atop a plinth. The plinths had gss on four sides, with brass rods on the ers holding up a block of square stone.

  In most of the gss boxes was an object. A knife, a reel from a fishing rod, a small toy. Sometimes it was a key, or a mug like those at the inn, or even a tiny carved boat. The older plinths had baubles that were so aged and rusted that it was hard to guess what they had once been.

  The plinths were usually grouped together, some linked by iron bars, others just tightly packed.

  The statues above were mostly of fish, which was iing, but I couldn’t help but stare at all the little kniacks inside.

  “What are those things?” I asked.

  Howard turned his big fishy eyes my way, and replied with quiet reverence. “When one of ours passes, we bury them here, in their best clothes and ed iing cloth so that their bones and flesh might better return to dirt. And to remember them, we take a little keepsake of theirs, something they cherished, and put it in a plinth. Ohere linth per family, but now our little unity has grown close enough that it’s a wonder if half the vilge isn’t the other half’s third cousin.”

  “Oh,” I said. It was... actually a really nice way to remember people.

  We all remained silent as Howard opened a gate in the fehat circled around the cemetery, then stood aside to let us in.

  “Don’t worry everyone! I am here! There is o fear any sort of ghost houl!”

  I sighed as Emmanuel’s voice rang out across the cemetery. It was like a spell being lifted, and suddenly the solemnity that came with being in such a pce was entirely gone.

  “Did no one ever teach you to read the mood?” Amaryllis sniped.

  “Of course! The Von Chadsbourne family is quite well off. I have been blessed with a wonderful education,” our new cervid... friend said.

  I eyed him for a moment, then snapped my attention back to the little sha the middle of the graveyard. It was a simple little building, made of stone just like the plinths and rising to be just a bit shorter than I was. That is, if you ted my ears in my height.

  “It’s okay, Amaryllis,” I said as I turowards Emmanuel. “I think this is where we’ll be parting ways. It was nice meeting you, and I’d love to be friends one day, really, but we o jump in the dungeon and fix it up as quick as we .”

  I felt my Friendmaking skill activating, and eagerly read what it revealed.

  Emmanuel Aldein Von ChadsbourneDesired Quality: Someone who admires his valour and chivalryDream: To be a hero of legends

  That... was kind of sad, actually. It looked like Emmanuel wanted admirers more than he wanted friends. But wanting to be a hero retty cool.

  “Pardon?” Emmanuel asked. He chuckled. “No worries, I won’t let you slow me down once we’re in the dungeon.”

  “Huh?”

  I heard Amaryllis’ talons smag her in the face. “He’s an idiot.”

  “Dear young miss, I am no such thing. I am merely expressing my for your well-being. Apanied as you are by two men, it doesn’t mean that there’s no dao be had within a dungeon,” Emmanuel said.

  I blinked. “Wait, is that just... casual misogyny? But like, really, really obvious?”

  “I suspeything more subtle than a sledge-hammer to the head is beyond him,” Amaryllis said.

  “Hmph,” Emmanuel said. “I tell when I am being insulted. Very well, it is somewhat uandable. Perhaps you are ag on prejudice, perhaps you merely doubt my abilities.”

  The cervid pranced past us on his way to the mausoleum in the grave’s tre.

  “In that case, I shall prove my ability!”

  “Uh,” I said. “We... should probably go after him?”

  By the time we started to move, the cervid had torn the door to the mausoleum open and was stomping on in.

  “Hey! Wait!” I called after him.

  Our whole group, Howard included, squeezed through the doorway into what looked like a rather tiny building oside, but the moment we were within, we were all able to stand up straight. The ceiling was even arched enough in the middle that my ears didn’t rub against it.

  You are Entering the Depths of InsmouthDungeon Level 8-10Your entire party has ehe DungeonSeal Dungeon until exit?

  Amaryllis grumbled something. “I’m going to create an instance for us. Including that moron out ahead. We don’t want any more people interfering if we avoid it.”

  “You’re including him?” I asked.

  “You’d whine if we didn’t save his foolish behind,” Amaryllis said.

  “Folk in town ought to know better than to e in here without me or one of the others used to running the dungeon,” Howard said. “And the other divers know that we’re moving in as a group today, they’ll keep an eye on things.”

  “That’s wonderful, thanks,” I said to Howard. I hadn’t really sidered all of that. What if a child chose to sneak into the duoday and we ended up breaking the core ter? That would be... really awful.

  I took a moment to gather myself and make sure everything was as ready as it could be. acked light. I had a sling bag over one shoulder--courtesy of Amaryllis who was very good at adventure-chique--and within that I had some ies for a nice adventure.

  1 - Pack of hardtack1 - of beans1 - Knife and other utensils1 - Kettle1 - B1 - Bandages and a small first-aid kit1 - Book about pnts

  And out of the bag I had more things. A couple of health potions, a stamina potion and a mana potion. A niife for chopping things, and of course my ade and trusty turtle-shell hat. My gambeson and armoured skirt were all nid , and I’d even used some extra ing magiy breastpte and armoured bits.

  My friends were equally well-prepared. Awen in her big blue coat over some respectable adventuring gear, her big repeating crossbow slung over her bad her hammer being fiddled with in hand.

  Bastion had his whole padi-up, with light armour and his fancy sword by his hip. He definitely looked like the ta of us all.

  Then there was Amaryllis in her leather coat arange harpy pants. She only had her strange wand-knife on her and her magic goggles around her neck.

  I was a little ed about my friends’ ck of armour. Amaryllis and Awen both preferred fighting from afar, when they had to fight at all, but that didn’t mean that they couldn’t afford to wear a bit more.

  Probably a for ter though. I could picture Awen doing all sorts of hings with her Meid Gss on css. Maybe a teeny tiny mecha suit? No, that was just silly. Cool, but silly. Amaryllis could definitely use more armour though. She was a bird-person, and birds had lots ile little bones.

  I set that aside.

  “Okay. Our first goal is to find Emmanuel. He ’t have gone far. Then we suggest that he leaves. After that, it’s down to the fourth floor as quickly as we . We o clear out any Evil Roots that are mug about around the core,” I said.

  “Sounds good to me,” Amaryllis said. “I wouldn’t mind being the o that cervid idiot out of here. I o practice my Puppeteering some more, and his unusual body shape would certainly give me plenty of experience.”

  “Just don’t hurt him,” I said. “He seems to mean well.”

  The opening corridor of the dungeon had bricks along the walls and ceiling, there were even a couple of lit sces on the walls but only for a few paces. After that, they gave way to rocky walls and a fllistening with moisture. The air smelled a bit like fresh mud and rotting seaweed, and it was surprisingly loud. Lots of pitter-pattering drops of water and the gurgle of what sounded like a stream. The sound echoes a little, making it sound as if the tunnel went on forever.

  We turned a slight er and the light dimmed a bit. Moss on the sides seemed to glow very faintly, so faintly that I wasirely sure that they did glow. There were also lots of fireflies buzzing around, casting globes of yellowish light.

  And, right there ahead of us, was Emmahe cervid had stopped for a moment, and was fixing a glowing o a hook on the side of his saddle. Was it a saddle? Saddles were for riding, and his armour didn’t look like it would be fortable to sit on.

  “Emmanuel!” I called out.

  “Ah, you’ve decided to joier all,” he said. “Fear not, I was just about to ehis here grotto. I suspect that it’s the first floor. Or, perhaps, a shortcut!”

  The cervid poio a thin cra the wall, ohat looked like it was just barely wider than my shoulders in its middle.

  “That is the first floor,” Howard said. He gestured past the cervid. “If you tinue down that way, you skip it entirely, but it’s mighty treacherous.”

  “Ah, a bit of treachery never scared me!” Emmanuel said.

  “No,” I replied. “We, and by we I mean my friends and I, are taking the safer route. We might want to finish this quickly, but we also mean to finish it safely. But you, mister Emmanuel, I think that you ought to return to the surfaow.”

  The cervid bli me. “Five me, but are you suggesting that I leave you alone down here?”

  “She’s not so much suggesting it, as she is you to leave,” Amaryllis said. “Please, do refuse. I would find it a lot more amusing to kick you out.”

  “Amaryllis, there’s o be rude.”

  “I’m aware that I don’t o be rude, I’m doing it purely for my owertai.”

  “Amaryllis,” I chided. With a sigh, I turned baanuel and tried to think of what to say. I really didn’t want him to get into trouble because of us, and I was a little afraid that he might get in the way. At the same time, he did seem prepared. He had his little mp, and a det amount of ons and good armour. His level was high enough that I imagined he’s been on a couple of adveoo. “Okay, hear me out,” I said.

  “Oh no,” Amaryllis muttered. Awen patted her on the back.

  “Mister Emmanuel,” I began.

  “Emmanuel Aldein Von Chadsbourne,” Emmanuel corrected gently.

  “Uh, sure,” I said. “Here’s the deal. We’re not really allowed to tell you to leave.” I shot Amaryllis a look before she said something rude again. “It’s not our dungeon. But, this is our party. So if you want to apany us, then you o follow our rules.”

  The cervid hesitated, then nodded. “I accept that. What are your rules?”

  “Uh,” I said. Did... we have rules? “Mostly it’s unwritten... unspoken on-sense sort of stuff. We watch out for each other, we listen to those that know best about something, and we do our best to make sure that all of our friends have a good, safe time, no matter how dangerous the stuff we might be dealing with is.”

  “I suppose I abide by that, though those rules are a little loose.”

  “Well, loose rules are goht?” I asked. “Strict isn’t any fun.”

  Emmanuel gestured to the crevi the wall. “Then shall we tinue here, or will we be taking the more expedient route?”

  ***

  RavensDagger

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