MAYA: What…
She can barely speak in between her panting.
MAYA: What was that…?!
[GUILDMASTER]: High varodon, I think. Maddened. The monster that Marlond spotted.
Marlond gives you a look, but says nothing.
KANI: That doesn't… Ugh.
Out of all of them, Kani is the best off, but even she is thoroughly drained from the long fight and the quick flight. Tarrian, however…
TARRIAN: Give me a bit… I'll get us going again…
?
By necessity, your pace slows a bit. It takes an hour and a half longer before you clear the woods, and yet another half before the party finally decides to rest. At Marlond's suggestion, you shelter on the southward side of a craggy slope.
KANI: Guildmaster…
[GUILDMASTER]: We're far enough… let's stop here and wait for Varant. Maya, locale reading?
MAYA: O-Okay.
— Karsis, Northern Province —
Locale properties: Karsis, Northern Province - Spring - Favorable
-
Mana draw: 110%
-
Mana composition: 0.4 elemental / 0.4 unaspected / 0.3 Divine
-
Elemental distribution: 30% Fire, 25% Earth, 20% Ice, 25% Lightning
- Conditions: Dry
[GUILDMASTER]: Alright, got it.
MAYA: Guildmaster… Marlond… Do you think he can find us here?
MARLOND: Unlikely. But I don't know his skills.
[GUILDMASTER]: We'll go ahead and start up a fire… He seemed confident we'd be safe this far away…
TARRIAN: How… how dangerous is a high varodon?
KANI: Depends… The one I fought was upper mid-tier. High varodons are generally classified as mid-tier, but the maddened ones you treat like high-tier… They're usually so rare, so it's weird… Weird that there's another one in just a year…
You're all silent for some time, unpacking supplies and making camp. The lotch has calmed entirely, but the party is more nervous than ever.
EVYLIE: He doesn't seem the type to make a last stand…
KANI: Yeah… I mean he would if he had to, but he's not stupid…
[GUILDMASTER]: He knew it was coming, I could tell. Probably knew the noise would draw it. He would've stepped in, helped you guys with the parullon if he thought the situation was dire. We have every reason to believe in him.
MAYA: He did…?
KANI: That's good…
Everyone's fears are eased by that knowledge, as much as they are by the promise of rest and food.
RUVI: Guildmaster… Should we set up the tents, or…
Her upper body is still coated in flaking monster blood, except for her face where she's mostly rubbed it off. She must be eager for a wash…
[GUILDMASTER]: Yeah, let's camp here for the day. You guys deserve the rest anyways, I'd even argue with Varant about it if it came to it. Kani, you good for first watch?
KANI: No problems here.
[GUILDMASTER]: I'll take second. In the meantime, I've got an idea…
As the others are still setting up and getting the fire going, you set about gathering what you need. The remaining leaves of silkwort are right where you remember them, in the supply pouch with the flint and steel. The shrub Varant used for kindling before is harder to find here outside the Rise, so you supplement the bit you have with some other dried wood. You decide to make a separate firepit for your task, and that's what takes you the longest.
Marlond is taking measures to minimize and hide the smoke of the campfire, and you feel bad that you're about to defeat his efforts with another. But you're willing to take the extra risk. You trickle only half the leaves over your budding flame, hoping to extend the life of your signal fire. Soon that familiar column of green smoke is rising into the sky, though looking rather weak.
If Varant is anywhere nearby, however…
MAYA: Varant said the hobgoblins wouldn't show up outside the Rise…
TARRIAN: It's probably for Varant himself.
RUVI: I hope he shows up soon…
[GUILDMASTER]: Kani, what kind of monsters do we have to worry about attracting with this?
KANI: Around here? The Watch just cleared out a nest of narglets a couple months ago, I don't think there's much other than the occasional alglot left. Even on the main road, it's clear going until you hit the Flats.
MARLOND: There's some small game if you'd like me to hunt.
This is another unexpected stop on your trip, and though the extra provisions Varant bought should last through tomorrow, you really don't want to have to stretch them farther than that.
[GUILDMASTER]: Yes please. What do you think you'll find?
MARLOND: Flitsil and some kind of hare.
KANI: Ooooh I could go for some flitsil…
RUVI: Marlond pleeeeeease!
[GUILDMASTER]: Yes please.
?
You take Kani's watch from her a bit early, noting that she hasn't eaten yet. You pace slowly around the perimeter of the camp, actively trying to keep the anxiety out of your mind. But the afternoon hours pass without relief—the absence of Varant is an ever-growing weight on the spirits of you and your adventurers.
Everyone has begun to settle in, either in their tent or making a place for themselves on the rocky ground around the campfire or among the boulders by the slope.
Marlond punctually returns with his target flitsil, and dinner preparations begin early. For everyone in the camp, the smell of the roasting demi-bird is a much-needed mood lifter.
But there's still no conversation as the sun begins to dip into the arid western sands.
?
Your watch is about to end. Orange sunlight washes over the craggy ground, interrupted by the branching greens and reds of various springtime blooms. The anxiety has gnawed your conscience through and you've decided that if Varant doesn't show today, you'll have to return to Mayika and hope he expects to find you there.
You pace and you pace, barely able to keep focus on the world around you. You always did hate watch duty.
You pace and you pace, and…
Suddenly you stop. And grin. That little black speck to the northwest, barely visible in the gloaming? It's moving. And the closer it gets, the more man-sized and man-shaped it appears. It's heading straight toward you, toward your dwindling signal fire. You try to keep watch as you should, holding your attention on all the approaches to camp. But of course you find yourself looking northwards twice as often as anywhere else.
You don't say anything to the adventurers. You don't call out or say anything to him as he approaches. But you can't stop grinning, even when he marches right up to you with a supremely grumpy frown on his face.
VARANT: Hm.
Getting no response, he turns and takes his grumping into camp.
VARANT: …
He steps up beside the campfire, unnoticed, and puts his hands on his hips.
VARANT: Alright sprouts, who wants to go over each and every thing we did wrong today?
The camp performs a brief symphony of gasps and cheers as the adventurers rush to their feet.
[GUILDMASTER]: Oh no we won't, not until you've had some food and a half-decent rest. We saved you a portion of Marlond's flitsil, even. There's a spot for you by the fire—here.
[ Varant has rejoined your party's convoy. ]
?
VARANT: You sprouts are the best.
In less than a quarter hour, Varant's mood has made a full reversal.
VARANT: You know, I was right pissed at first that you guys ran so fast, but this? This makes up for it.
He's even more talkative than you've ever seen him.
VARANT: Guildmaster, next time we go on a trek with Marlond, let's remember to pack some seasonings. It's about the only thing that could make this even better.
But he's not saying anything useful.
VARANT: Now what kind of drinks could we bring along to complete the scene…
The adventurers are all sitting around the fire in various poses, feeling just as exasperated as you are. You give up on patience and try to force the topic. Tact optional.
[GUILDMASTER]:
—
—<1> You more thirsty from the march, or thirsty from the fight?
Varant grunts. His eyes turn to the past and he scowls at whatever it is he sees. Growls, even.
—<2> Something with some punch to it. Maybe it could've helped you deal with that varodon faster.
VARANT: Bah! What I needed was something strong enough to deafen me. The damn thing's screaming was likely to drive me crazier than it was.
—<3> Whatever you want, if it keeps you from pulling that shit again. Now what kept you?
VARANT: Gah. I was hardly gone that long.
[GUILDMASTER]: Half a day is long enough for people who have no idea if you're alive or not.
VARANT: Bah, shouldn't've been near half that long…
[GUILDMASTER]: Sounds like it gave you a harder time than you expected.
Varant lets loose as if you'd just uncorked his distilled discontent.
VARANT: Quaggy slog-sucking nad-grobbling sog-bottomed muck-sucker of a fu—
[GUILDMASTER]: That bad?
VARANT: —mple-brained asp-slurping maggle-toed bog-gribbler in the form of a sh—
[GUILDMASTER]: …
KANI: Wow.
VARANT: —ag-baggling gall-bodied slum-grubbing hog-spatter…!
You can tell he wants to go on, but he's run dry. You hand him another waterskin, and he accepts it gratefully. The adventurers all look at him expectantly.
VARANT: Trog-????er was persistent. Hateful. I've fought my share of maddened varodons—a once-in-a-decade threat, they say, and this was my fourth.
Kani squirms in place, but refrains from interrupting him.
VARANT: Unpredictable and vicious, they all were, but not like… whatever today was. Bah.
He takes a moment to nearly drain the waterskin, then uses the last of it to rinse the flitsil-juice off his hands before wiping them on an ancient-looking rag.
VARANT: See, the mad ones, they hate light. They don't mind fire, not the heat of it at least, but bright enough lights drive 'em… eh, crazier. Evylie, you know that big blinding spell I showed you on the second day?
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
She nods.
VARANT: There's a bigger one, and it's grand. Not so much in normal combat, it's inefficient. But…
He pulls out his shield, which he used to keep under a hide wrap. Now it's bare, the wrapping presumably lost, and you can see why he might want to keep it covered. It's a kite shield, not the tower shield you'd expect from an A-Ranking Guardian-of-the-Line, and it's made of a silvery material so reflective it shines like a mirror.
VARANT: Not my best shield, but it's my favorite. Couldn't bear to sell it just yet. You know most monsters, like any animal, won't recognize themselves in a mirror? It's true, they'll think they've just seen a competitor. Anyways, it's also good at magnifying the effect of your flash spells.
So you get the gist of what I was trying to do—you can't exactly chase away a maddened varodon, but you can divert their attention to something less noxious to their senses, which can be near anything—they'll eat a rotted tree as soon as yer ol' grandmum, both are just as tasty to its black-addled pate.
[GUILDMASTER]: So you had us get away as fast as we could so we wouldn't be another potential target. But then…
VARANT: Then it just wouldn't give up the chase. Don't think it was trying to eat, just wanted to kill. Got riled up from the noise, I suppose. Never heard one scream so much, either.
EVYLIE: How did you finally get away?
VARANT: I stopped trying to angle southwards and brought it back to your parullon friend, kept that bloody mess right under it's nose. I think when it got enough of the smell it just couldn't resist.
MAYA: It really was a mess…
RUVI: Our other battles won't all be like that, will they…?
KANI: I don't think so, not like that…
VARANT: They won't, but the hardest ones always will. Keep in mind, your gear is on the very bottom end of what was acceptable for this fight. And you still pulled through.
[GUILDMASTER]: My father believed—the stronger you are, the cleaner you can afford to fight. Though he meant it in the context of fighting other people, I believe it applies here. If you're strong enough, you have more options to disable your opponent without putting them, yourself, or others in undue danger; whereas a desperate fight is a dirty fight. If winning is survival, you do whatever you have to in order to win.
VARANT: Right. Remember how we talked about a soldier not being able to do an adventurer's job due to the difference in training and difference in power? There's a similar difference between high-ranking adventurers and low-ranking adventurers. In the future, in fact not too long from now, you won't need a thousand cuts for a parullon. You won't need to bloody it from one end to the other to put it down, and you might not need to put it down at all.
MAYA: That makes sense…
RUVI: I guess that means there's a similar difference in power between adventurers and Heroes, huh…
TARRIAN: Now that you mention it, it actually makes the stories feel more believable.
VARANT: Virtues' truth, I'd believe it if that Brimrose could take the head of a parullon like that with a single swipe. But that's not what you should be aspiring to; what matters is that you did your best within the scope of your ability.
Varant seems to feel genuinely better now after his food and his vent. He stands up.
VARANT: And now I want to debrief—always best to do it the day of, before you sleep. And before the potion sickness sets in for some of you.
He eyes Tarrian, who is already looking a bit unsteady from all the mana potions he'd downed today. But mostly from whatever gloom it is that's been hanging over his eyes since the fight in the woods.
VARANT: But first, I want to talk about what we did wrong. The Guildmaster and I, as part of the guild that's supposed to train and prepare you for occasions like this.
You nod and get to your feet. The thought had been on your mind all day, but eclipsed by Varant's absence. Some of the mistakes today were really basic… and that's your fault. You move over to stand beside Varant.
VARANT: We had two near-deaths today. And it's a sign of your individual competency that there were zero.
At the mention of near-deaths, Tarrian and Marlond hang their heads.
VARANT: Marlond, I don't know how in the Gataran hells you run that fast, but it saved your damn life. But you should've known how to play that—if you're in trouble, run to the Keep and keep in sight of the healer. You didn't know that, and that's our fault.
Marlond's mouth is sealed in a tight line, and he doesn't know where to look.
VARANT: I said at our last staff meeting that I'd want a week minimum before sending you six out on low-tier quests. Instead you got two days, and then had to fight a mid-tier monster—even if it was an easy one.
[GUILDMASTER]: I promised Annessa that I wouldn't send our adventurers anywhere they weren't prepared to be. It's one of the most important promises I've made. It's our very first quest, and I've already broken that. I'm sorry…
You give your adventurers an apologetic bow, perhaps deeper than you'd intended.
Varant looks at you and then raises an eyebrow.
VARANT: Ah, don't be too glum, Guildmaster. It was just a parullon! They don't even eat humans, and their venom isn't fatal by itself. With Beatific Breath up, we could've picked 'em up wherever they fell. Poor Marlond would've been dozing out in the woods 'til we finished it off, but I was exaggerating when I said there would be casualties.
Wait, really?
KANI: It's true, Guildmaster… Parullons may be stupid aggressive, but they don't eat anything bigger than… well, lephan. The poison sure makes you feel like you're going to die, though…
VARANT: If anything we simply shouldn't have taken this detour I insisted on. I'm to blame for this, and I'm sorry.
An awkward moment or two passes before Kani speaks up.
KANI: Um… thank you. It helps to know how seriously you're both taking this…
Ruvi and Evylie nod. After a second, Marlond nods as well—he looks significantly more clear-headed than he did a minute ago.
MAYA: I think it's fine… Well, I don't know about fine, but… Thank you for the apologies! …We'll do our best as well!
She looks around for support, but Tarrian is still trapped in his gloomy thoughts. Unexpectedly, Ruvi comes to her rescue.
RUVI: Right we will!
[GUILDMASTER]: Thanks…
VARANT: Yeh. Well, I don't have the Guildmaster's tact so I'm just going to move on to the fun part: discussing your individual performances today. Let's do it this way… hrm.
He looks around for a bit.
VARANT: Guildmaster, help me collect some small stones to use as tokens—smooth and flat as you can find. Let's each get about a dozen.
Your adventurers sit awkwardly around the evening campfire as their senior instructor and guild master take a couple minutes to pick pebbles off the ground.
VARANT: Now—with the Guildmaster's permission—each of these stones represents an extra ration of cheese.
You nod—it's a small expense for whatever exercise Varant has planned.
VARANT: I want each of you to come over here and grab as many as you think you deserve for your performance today. Take one for each time you did something good.
Then he glares pointedly at Tarrian.
VARANT: Minimum of one.
One by one, the adventurers get up and gingerly take a pebble from the pile in front of Varant. You notice that none of them take more than one.
VARANT: You're a humble bunch. I doubt any of our future parties will do the same, heh heh. Alright—Evylie, let's start with you. How did you do today? Think about it this way: If you could redo that fight, what would you do differently?
EVYLIE: I messed up a lot with my footing… Couldn't dodge everything. I'm used to being able to use my shield, but…
Varant just nods.
EVYLIE: I wish… I don't know what it was that I was doing wrong, but I wish I could have kept it from attacking the others… Especially Ruvi…
VARANT: You didn't do anything wrong, you just didn't have the tools or the power to do better. And you will get more of those with time… but frankly, you will never have enough. The party as a whole needs to assume that it's impossible for you to keep its attention the full time. Sometimes even half—some monsters won't sit still like a parullon will. Sometimes the best you can do is divert the odd attack or limit its movement options just by being an obstacle, but that's enough.
Evylie, I'd say you did great. Even if there were a thousand little things you could have done better, you did great today, and for that I'd wager you deserve another cheese. Get up and take a second. And let it put a little pride in you.
Evylie uncrosses her legs and gets to her feet, unable to hold back a faint smile as she steps over to take another pebble.
VARANT: Now back to the attack that got Ruvi. Faithspeaker, how do you think you did today?
Eyes downcast and lips pursed, Tarrian spends a moment formulating his response.
TARRIAN: I believe I should have done better in every respect, but most importantly, I made a mistake when I didn't cast Steadfast Conviction or Shell of Ardor at first. Ruvi wouldn't have…
RUVI: Is that what you're so glum about, mister Faithspeaker? You know that was my fault, right?
Tarrian looks up at her, clearly surprised she'd feel that way.
RUVI: I mean, Kani and the Guildmaster dodged it just fine. Zoel kept telling me… he told me this would happen, when he was teaching me those new attacks. He said the biggest danger was losing my attention to what the monster was doing in order to pull them off. He said positioning and timing were key, but I just… I just couldn't get the hang of it…
VARANT: You listened well. But every creature's different… The timing and positioning are things you're going to have to learn over and over again for each monster. Gets easier every time you do, though. Ruvi, I've seen you fighting the last couple days, and I saw you fight today. You're off to a good start.
RUVI: Th… Thank you…
She clearly did not expect praise today, and her reddening face shows it.
VARANT: It's notoriously difficult for a starting Rogue or Blackguard to learn how to contribute to a fight. But you certainly put it in with that attack, and you didn't let getting walloped keep you from getting up and doing it again.
Ruvi, get up here and take a second pebble.
Maya gives her a small cheer, and then Kani joins with a smile and a quick clap. With light feet and ruddy cheeks Ruvi picks a pebble from Varant's pile before scrambling back to her spot by the campfire.
VARANT: So, Faithspeaker. What exactly was it that you did wrong today?
TARRIAN: I… Well, there were a lot of things. I couldn't help Kani soon enough, there's a lot of things I could have done to keep the situation from getting that bad… But I think… The biggest mistake was not putting up those defensive auras…
VARANT: Hm. Maybe.
He turns to you.
VARANT: Guildmaster. How about you answer the question for him?
You take a moment to think over your answer before looking up at Tarrian.
[GUILDMASTER]:
—
—<1> Safety is paramount.
[GUILDMASTER]: Just make it part of your routine to get those spells up as soon as you can. Keeping the party safe is the primary part of your job. This way, you'll never regret it.
TARRIAN: You're right… I should have known it all along, but I just always thought that I could do more. Just my own pride once again, I suppose…
His face is strained and his eyes look pained, as if he's wrestling with the idea—as if he's losing a part of himself in the process.
[ Tarrian loses the Aggressive trait. ]
—<2> It really depends.
[GUILDMASTER]: This party, for instance, has a lot of… impatient personalities, and started today's fight very aggressively. Helping Evylie in her role made a lot of sense in that context. And I'd never snub offensive support when the opportunity cost is right. Your only mistake this time was not switching to defensive support before it was too late. In the future? It'll be different from fight to fight, and from party to party.
TARRIAN: I guess that's one way to look at it… I suppose I really don't have a good enough understanding of party dynamics yet. Or of how different each fight can be. I thought I got the hang of things when we were fighting those monsters in the Rise, but it really was a narrow-minded approach…
His mouth forms into a rueful smile.
TARRIAN: Yeah, I think with some more practice, I can know when to do what. Sorry about today, everyone. And thanks, Guildmaster—sometimes it really helps to have somebody to tell you the obvious.
[ Tarrian's Aggressive trait has evolved into Dynamic. ]
—<3> I saw what you were trying to do, and I think it was worth it at the start.
[GUILDMASTER]: The way you opened the fight today wasn't a mistake. But there was a sizable window in between your first volley and when Ruvi got hurt where your contribution to the offense just didn't have the value that your party support would have. That was the time to put up your defensive buffs. So trying to do both, I think, is certainly viable in some situations. I think you should keep doing what you're doing, but learn to do it more wisely.
Tarrian's face clears up—lights up in surprise, even.
TARRIAN: Do you really think so? That I just need more practice—and better judgment… Better perception of the situation, and better understanding… It's so much, but do you think I can do it?
[GUILDMASTER]: You can. I don't expect perfection, but I expect you to be good at it.
EVYLIE: Tarrian, those blinding and vulnerability spells really helped me out. And you kept me going the whole time, even when I messed up. I haven't fought with many healers, but none of them were as responsive with the healing as you were. As far as I'm concerned, you were doing two jobs at once, and it helped me out so much.
RUVI: Mister Faithspeaker, as far as the Divine Arts go, I feel like you're the one in the best position to know when to do what. What I learned from today is that even if I go down, you'll be there to get me up again. Anything more than that… that's stuff for you to figure out, right? It's not like you're going to do anything other than your best to help us out.
KANI: Right! If you think you made a mistake today, that's fine. What matters is that we know you're already doing great and that you're going to do your best to get better. Like we all do.
Tarrian looks down, but now a small smile shapes his lips. When he looks up, he is more clear-headed than he's been all day.
TARRIAN: Well. If you all don't mind, then I'm going to keep trying. I want to be good enough that it lets us do things we wouldn't be able to do otherwise. And I think that when I do mess up again, I can still at least do better than I did today.
[ Tarrian gains the trait Driven. ]
Varant eyes both you and Tarrian with the same non-hostile judgment you'd felt from him when you first met. Suddenly you wonder if this was a test for you as much as it was for Tarrian.
After a moment, he speaks.
VARANT: Faithspeaker. I told Evylie that even if she could have done a thousand things better today, she still did great. For most of the party, it's possible to perform perfectly, to use all your strongest attacks while avoiding the monster's own. Speaking as a lifelong Keep, that's not true for us—or for healers, I believe. Our jobs are a succession of judgment calls, of prioritizations. There's never a perfect play worthy of the name. Sometimes the best you can hope to do is to do a good job. And Faithspeaker, that's what you did today. So I'll tell you what I told Evylie:
Tarrian, Great work out there.
Now get up here and grab yourself another token.
Surprise and gratitude immediately wash the remaining gloom from Tarrian's face. He probably would've forgotten to get up and take one if not for the girls cheering and prodding him. Even Evylie has a genuine smile on her, more even than when it was her own turn.
Tarrian sits down again, and the relief in him is palpable to the entire group.
?
Another quarter hour or so goes by as Varant continues the debrief in thorough fashion. Like the rest, he convinces Kani, Maya, and Marlond to each take another pebble for themselves.
You ponder the effectiveness of Varant's pebble tokens. Right now, you're sure the adventurers aren't even thinking about the cheese rations they represent; the tokens are just validation of their efforts today, a sign of Varant's approval. Each and every one he's passing out is like a badge of honor to them.
?
Dusk gives way to nighttime. You finish fumbling around the bags at your lotch's feet and review their contents in your head. You've got plenty of food and just enough water to last through the middle of the day after tomorrow. The plan is to settle in place through tomorrow until Tarrian is recovered from the potion sickness. He'd apparently taken a total of four in the process of the fight and ensuing flight from the woods, which is at least two too many for someone with his anima grade. They must have been from his personal bag, as you don't even remember packing that many…
You pick up the rune torches you'd been using to see with and begin to make your way back to the campfire. Then you see Marlond and Varant on the west side, talking in low voices.
Their faces are stoic but the set of their shoulders gives away their seriousness. They stop talking as they notice you approach, only acknowledging you when you step up next to them.
VARANT: Marlond, start from the beginning.
MARLOND: To the east. Three humanoids, trying to remain hidden. To the south, one more. Haven't checked west or north. I don't know if they know that I noticed them.
Your mind immediately drifts to the signal fire that had been lit all afternoon. Maybe it wasn't monsters you should've been worried about…
———————————— DEFINITIONS:
flitsil?/?fl?t.s?l/
A grey-brown creature that resembles a flightless bird. Its "feathers" are actually hard, shell-like protrusions that help form its rock-like camouflage. It is common game for skilled hunters across the Monarchies and is served at every table, from paupers to kings.
———————————— CHANGELOG:
2025-04-22 ? Removed release note.