Keeper Read online

  Eddie blushed.

  “Yeah, I haven't been paying enough attention to her recently.”

  “Anyhow, what's the word? I saw that Karl's up already.”

  “He agreed, we just need to get everyone together to go hit the dun...” he caught himself at the last moment and after a moment of silence continued.

  “To go try out that new place.”

  A glance around showed no-one paying any attention to him.

  Good, I hope that means no-one heard my slip, or my near slip anyhow, he thought.

  “In the meanwhile, you want to help me with something?” Eddie asked. “The Collier is supposed to get here today, or was it tomorrow? I don't quite remember. Anyhow, I found a nice spot to build a house for him. Stone foundation and lower walls, plus a chimney and fireplace. The rest is wood and I can do it as I find the time. Maybe I won't have to steal Karl's rental place for more than a week or so.”

  “Sure, Jern will help also. He likes you and he feels indebted to us still. He was telling me that the other day. Plus, he was marveling about getting points in his skills much faster than he ever did in Hammer Hold.”

  “Good, but we'll get Jern later, I'll tell him about it and share the blueprints with him on the way back to the inn, but we have to set a time for our newest endeavor. I figure Dominic will be around by lunch time, and I'll ask Karl to get Dominic to stay if he shows up earlier. Becky will probably be here at some point this morning also. So we can have everyone together to decide if we bring Jern back an hour or so before lunch.”

  “Sounds like a plan. If only Jern were a little bit closer, we'd be able to use group chat all the time to do these things. Dominic is in range when he's at his house.”

  “Yeah, I don't think there's anything to his taste around here though. You're the one that helped him line that old lair with rock, right? Do you think he'd like being in a wooden building?”

  She shook her head.

  “No, he's much happier where he is,” she said, “and it isn't really that far, so it's no big deal.”

  “Alright, let me talk to Karl for a moment and then we'll head out. Go get the stable boy to hitch up the cart? I'll use it to bring a load of stone to the site I want to build at.”

  Tiana went out the back to go to the barn while Eddie went over to Karl.

  “Karl, got a job that's just your speed here. Can you wait in the inn and detain Becky and Dominic when they show up? Tell them we're going to set a time if we can get everyone together.”

  “Will do.”

  The door to the inn opened about then and Allie walked in, looking more than a little upset.

  “Karl, what are you doing here?”

  “I was up, and I didn't want to wake you, so I came over here for breakfast,” Karl said.

  “What the hell was going on with you yesterday,” she practically yelled.

  Eddie caught her gaze and shook his head. She looked curious as she sat down at the table. When Karl leaned over and whispered in her ear, she gulped and the look on her face went from one of near anger to one of sympathy.

  “Oh,” she said, the wind fully out of her sails now. “If that's the case, then tell me, alright?”

  Karl nodded.

  “I'll tell you as soon as I know,” he replied.

  Eddie left the two alone and headed out to the road. Tiana was out with the ox and cart a minute later and they headed down the road towards the building site.

  When they reached the site, Eddie pulled out the blueprint.

  Guess I'll be using this a lot sooner than planned, he thought.

  A quick Evaluate verified that it was exactly what he'd wanted to build here.

  Cottage -standard - medium

  Capacity: 5

  Level: common

  created: Great Alex

  This structure is a basic cottage designed to accommodate up to five people. The fireplace provides heating and cooking capability.

  He read off the blueprint and stared at the shimmering lines that formed. Once it was fully developed he shared the stonework portions with Tiana. She walked out into the midst of the shimmering blueprint and started planning her work. Eddie hopped up on the cart and drove towards the smithy where he was planning on getting the load of stone.

  “I'll be back in a few,” he called out.

  She raised a hand and waved at him absently as he left.

  When he returned a half hour later she was sitting under a tree to one side of the blueprint. Lucky was cuddled up against her, the cat's head resting on her thigh. Tiana gave Lucky a quick scritch between the ears, then pushed her away and stood.

  “The floor has to go in first. It's kind of like the foundation for everything else. If you'll haul stone to me, I'll start placing it where I think it will fit,” she said.

  Eddie grabbed the first piece of stone and started playing assistant.

  Two hours later the floor was finished. They didn't have enough stone to complete the fireplace so Tiana chose not to start it yet. They hopped in the wagon and continued on towards the farm.

  They found Jern out in the fields. He'd set up a man-shaped target, something like a scarecrow, and was practicing throwing a small hammer at it.

  “Jern,” Eddie called out.

  “Eh, Eddie, how are ya?” the dwarf replied, walking out to retrieve his hammer from where it had landed after striking the target.

  “Well, we found Karl and everyone's in agreement about our discussion yesterday. We just have to determine when. So I thought I'd pick you up and give you a ride to the inn. Everyone should be there around lunch time and we can discuss it.”

  “Give me just a minute,” Jern said.

  He trotted out to the entrance to his cave and disappeared inside. A moment later he was back out and ready to go.

  “Let's go make some plans, lad,” Jern said as he scrambled up onto the back of the cart.

  ~ ~ ~

  They'd all settled in at the most isolated table in the inn. Even so they were still talking around the subject of their discussion.

  “So, when do we want to do this?” Eddie asked. “Does anyone know just how long it will take?”

  “Doesn't matter,” Allie said, “you can exit one of these just like a normal building. They don't do that trap you inside of it once you enter thing here. Well, maybe they do in some, but from what I've heard most of them aren't like that.”

  “Good, maybe tomorrow morning?” Eddie asked.

  Becky interjected, her voice a touch whiny.

  “Doesn't matter to me, it's not like I have anything else to do.”

  “Why don't we do it right now?” Allie asked. “It's not even lunch time yet.”

  “Because I have to be back here for dinner time,” Eddie said.

  “Um... Eddie?” Tiana interjected, “Liv would be happy to stay. She's offered several times already, and she's certainly good enough to keep the food flowing. Besides you have to face the fact that sooner or later you'll need to find someone to cover the kitchen for dinner. With your plans, you won't be able to do it forever.”

  Eddie pursed his lips and blew out a breath.

  “Yeah, I know, but...”

  He stood.

  “I'll go ask her, and then we'll know for sure.”

  After a quick trip back to the kitchen he sank back into his chair.

  “She's happy to do it. Hell, she's been staying to help me on the dinner rush most of the time, even when I didn't ask.”

  “Well then, what are we waiting for?” Allie asked.

  She stood, followed by the others.

  “Everyone have everything they need?” Eddie asked. “Karl, got your cartography kit? A map of this place might be worth something.”

  Karl patted his pouch, since he couldn't pat his inventory.

  “I don't leave home without it,” he replied.

  Karl took the lead heading out of the inn. As he exited the door he called out “For luck!” and tapped the base of the sign. Allie, ri
ght behind him, did the same. Dominic followed suit, and even Jern lifted his hammer and tapped it on the sign lightly, muttering under his breath.

  Tiana turned and looked at him apologetically before tapping it herself.

  Oh, what the hell, why not? Eddie thought.

  He tapped the sign, then called out loudly.

  “For luck!”

  Karl turned, sporting a huge grin and Eddie flipped him the finger. Karl's grin only grew wider at the gesture, then they turned and headed west, en masse. Lucky stayed well behind them, but followed along as well.

  The walk out to the lake was quick, but Eddie stopped them just before it.

  “We need to borrow some logs from the sawmill,” he said. “We can put them back later, but we need a raft. Becky said we didn't want to be swimming in the lake.”

  “Yeah, something tried to grab me the last time I was in there,” Becky added.

  “So anyone with a decent strength grab a log or two and drag it down to the beach,” Eddie said. “Try to get the twenty footers or larger so we can all go in one trip.”

  He wandered off, staring at the ground.

  “Hey, aren't you going to help?” Karl called out.

  “I am, do you want to paddle with your hands if there's something hostile in the lake or would you rather we had some paddles?” Eddie replied.

  “Oh...”

  Karl turned back around and tried to wrestle a log out of the stack.

  Eddie found a pair of forked branches several feet long, then a bunch of thinner, flexible twigs. He moved down near the shore and while the others brought down logs, he started weaving the twigs around the forked areas.

  “Over, under, secure the end, over, under, secure the end,” he muttered to himself as he worked.

  Even with as much practice as he'd gotten with the weaving skill, he still found it easier when he spelled out what he was doing aloud.

  By the time he had the paddles done, there were a bunch of logs on the shore. He pulled some rope out of his inventory and set to work trying to tie them together into a raft.

  “I sure hope this qualifies as carpentry,” he said. “Because I don't want it to fall apart on us halfway out there.”

  His doubts were soothed a moment later as he finished the last knot.

  You have upgraded the skill Carpentry to (6).

  You have upgraded the skill Rope Use to (2).

  “There, that should hold together,” he said. “And yes, if anyone else is worried, it was carpentry and I just got a point in it so I'm pretty sure I did it right.”

  It took three of them to push it into the lake.

  “I sure hope you are right Eddie,” Jern said, “because I bloody well don't know how to swim.”

  Lucky didn't want to get on the raft at first. Eddie continued to try coaxing her, but it wasn't until Becky muttered something under her breath then turned to the cat and spoke that she agreed to hop onto the raft.

  “I'm sorry,” Becky had said. “I won't do it again, I promise. I just wanted a friend and someone to fight by my side. I have that on my own now. I won't try to steal you from Eddie again.”

  Eddie and Allie took the paddles and started paddling on either side of the raft, slowly propelling them out towards the island of ruins. There were definitely things in the water, large things. Eddie saw more than one beneath them as he paddled, and at one point he'd swear that something tried to yank his paddle out of his hand. But they made it, grounding the raft on a sandy beach and then dragging it up and out of the water.

  Becky led them from that point, along straight paths that carved their way through the ruins. Eddie felt the stone beneath the sand he was walking on. These streets had been paved at some point, probably with cobblestones from the feel of it, but had been covered in sand and debris since then.

  When Becky scrambled down into a debris filled pit in the middle of the ruins, Eddie's regard for her rose somewhat.

  She went through this whole place by herself, even crawling down into this hole? She's got some guts at least, he thought.

  The rest of the group followed and in a few moments they stood in front of a door. It looked to be made of iron, but blackened by something. Becky reached out and touched it, then paused.

  “It says the entire party has to agree before the door will open,” she said.

  One at a time the party stepped forward and touched the door. Eddie was the last.

  You have Discovered: Ancient Dungeon (Meadowlands)

  This dungeon is designed for parties with members of levels 1-10.

  Do you wish to enter?

  (Y/N)

  Eddie mentally selected yes and the door creaked open.

  ~ ~ ~

  Karl was the first to enter, although no-one actually saw him. He dropped into stealth and Eddie saw only the briefest shimmer as the scout slid into the dungeon. A moment later he called back.

  “It's an entry room, nothing alive in here, although creepy is an understatement.”

  The rest of the party filed in, one at a time. Eddie was the last person in and Lucky lagged behind him even, none too happy about entering. Once Eddie went in, the bobcat did as well though, staying very close to his legs once she was inside.

  The first room was full of dust, cobwebs, and bones.

  Although, he thought, those might not be cobwebs, they might be spiderwebs. Are those bones stuck up in that one?

  “Eww, spiders,” Karl muttered.

  “Looks like it,” Allie agreed cheerfully.

  “Alright, we're in, now where do we go?” Tiana asked, looking around at the three other doors leading out of the room.

  “Check them out one at a time?” Eddie said.

  “I suppose that means you want me to scout them, yeah?” Karl asked.

  “You are the scout,” Jern said. “Isn't that your job?”

  Karl sighed heavily.

  “Well someone open doors for me. I'm going into stealth before I go through them,” he said.

  He shimmered out of view and Eddie walked over to the door on the wall to the left of where they came in.

  “Always go left, right?” Eddie asked, then pushed the door open a bit. He couldn't see much in there, the only light in the first room was what was coming in through the entry door to the dungeon. A slight breeze touched him and he assumed that was Karl slipping into the room. A moment later Karl stepped back out.

  “Looks like that might've been a guard room or something. Not much in there now but some badly decayed wood. Next?”

  Allie stepped up to the door across from the one they'd entered. Karl shimmered out of sight again and she swung the door open.

  It was about thirty seconds later when a message started flashing urgently in Eddie's panel. He pulled it up and stopped dead when he read it.

  Group Notification:

  Karl Rostov has left the group.

  ~ ~ ~

  Chapter Fourteen

  Specialist Harmon slapped Olson across the face, for the third time.

  “Come on, snap out of it,” Harmon said.

  The stupid, loopy grin on Olson's face didn't change in the slightest. His eyes were open, he'd even said a few words to Harmon, then his eyes had shut again. He was obviously awake, but just as obviously not focused on where he was or what he was doing.

  “Hey boss,” Olson said. “I'm so...” he drew out the word.

  “comfy,” he continued. “I had the best dreams.”

  “Snap out of it Olson! You've been out cold for twelve hours, and before that we had no idea what had happened to you.”

  “Beautiful blonde,” Olson replied. “Made me comfortable. Best dreams ever.”

  “Damn it, Olson, you need to get coherent for me,” Harmon muttered.

  He checked Olson's buffs again, he'd done so while the man was sleeping but there weren't any entries except for the confusing 'Comfort' buff. This time when he checked there was still just one entry, but it read: Dazed – duration 43 minutes.
r />   Aha! Harmon thought. This I can do something about.

  He popped open his command window and loaded a potion. The Purify potion should remove any ill effects on the person who drank it. Now he just needed to get Olson to drink it.

  “Hey Olson, got something for you that you'll like. Here, bottoms up!”

  Harmon handed over the potion. Olson looked at it curiously for a moment, shrugged, then tilted the bottle back, draining the potion in one go. In less than a minute his eyes began to focus, then he snapped into a sitting position.

  “Specialist Harmon, why am I back here at the camp?”

  “You don't know?”

  Olson shook his head.

  “Last thing I remember was fighting a group of adventurers in one of the goblin villages. Then I was dreaming for a while, and now I'm here.”

  Harmon gritted his teeth.

  Shit! Unless I can work it out from his dreams I'm just not going to know what's going on here, he thought.

  “Dreams?” he asked.

  “Yeah, first I couldn't see anything, or hear anything, but then there was this incredibly hot blonde woman who made me feel really—”

  Harmon cut him off.

  “I don't want to know about your freakin' pornographic fantasies Olson, I want to know what you dreamed.”

  “I'm trying to tell you. This blonde made me feel really scared, then really comfortable, then the dream changed and I was in the middle of a harem. That was most of the rest of the dream, I won't go into it because you just told me you didn't want to hear it. But that was the whole thing, the blonde scaring me then making me more comfortable after she scared me, and then the harem.”

  Huh, well the harem bit is self explanatory, but scaring Olson? That had to be some blonde, Harmon thought.

  “Describe the blonde for me,” he said.

  “It's kind of fuzzy now, I just remember she was a real stunner, Nordic features, stacked, hot as hell, but she had me quivering in my boots. I remember that I was already scared when I first laid eyes on her, so maybe she wasn't what scared me?”