Chapter 52
Foul Intent
The rest of the night was uncomfortable - but after retreating to the middle encampment, the Party eventually got some rest to round off the day. The half-zombie had vanished. Apparently, only some kind of temporary summon - but Lars remained and kept watch alongside Humphrey.
Sally rolled out of the bedroll onto the hard earth. The fight of the previous night seemed like it was a dream. Mostly a good dream, on account of the fact that she ate a brain. Despite being a zombie for nearly a week, it hadn’t felt like something she wanted to do until that skill was unlocked. Maybe that was her Player side overriding the natural zombie stuff.
Her STAR blinked with notifications.
[Chuck: it was only a matter of time, huh?]
[Chuck: pretty late though, you okay?]
[Chuck: we saved some goats or something]
[Chuck: seems weak, but I levelled and I’m now a Druid]
[Chuck: no judgements, zombie girl]
She smiled and closed the Chat. There would be no point in cluing him in on the whole eat-a-brain thing. Druid was interesting though. He had also levelled up without having to kill things - a thought both almost as uncomfortable as the ground she lay on and not as comforting as the meal the Monk had been.
It reminded her about the Quests that she had pretty much ignored after getting Bella back to her mother. Things had just snowballed from there, and they had Monster’d around with no proper direction. Perhaps she would check it out - after making sure everyone was alright.
As she clambered to her feet, she saw the Death Knight sitting, arms folded, in a wooden chair that looked about ready to give up under the weight. With a yawn, she gave him a nod. “All is well, Humps?”
“Nothing to report.” The flame of his helmet flickered a little higher. “You know, we could have tracked them down after they escaped?”
She narrowed her eyes in response. “True. I think we need to work on our soft skills though. Having more allies - or at least people that will keep out of our way, will further our goal more than killing and eating all.”
“Very measured of you.” Humphrey crossed his arms and looked around the encampment at the death and destruction they had levelled the previous day. “Meditate on that, did you?”
“Don’t you sass me.” She wiggled a finger at him. “The brain actually gave me some Melee Damage boost. Let me guess - the bonus depends on what kind of brain I eat - the Level and Class?”
The Death Knight grinned. “Soon you will be done with my mentorship, and I can die a nice dramatic death to further your growth arc.”
“As your Boss, I forbid it.” She sighed and looked around the middle camp - most of the remaining bandits were keeping to themselves or doing repairs on the tavern. It was slightly surprising that the building didn’t regenerate like how the Monsters respawned. “Where’s the rest of the gang?”
“First camp.” He stood and rolled out his shoulders. “Theo was trying to find a way for the cat to speak again. Jackie went mostly to watch in amusement.”
“What do you think of our new pal?”
“Effective in combat and fills the missing role of ranged damage that we lack.” Humphrey looked around to make sure nobody was listening in. “Abrasive personality - and I’m not sure I commend the smoking.”
“You are literally constantly on fire.” She gestured her head towards the fixed gateway. “But, you are correct. We could really do with a healer of some sort. If I could rely on the System to give me a clear Class, then it would have been easier to stack the party to be more fleshed out.”
“Four melee unless the cat has something interesting going on.”
Sally shrugged and pushed through into the start of the camp once more. The bright daylight, unhindered by the cavern or any wooden structure was painful to her eyes. She shielded them with her hand and looked out to see the rest of her Party.
Theo had seemingly given up on trying to communicate with Archie, the ginger cat now asleep on his stomach as he lay back on some crates. Jackie was similarly reclined in a chair nearby, her hat dipped down over her eyes. On hearing the pair approach, the mobster lifted it to squint at the zombie.
“Hey Jacks,” Sally nodded, “any chance your bandit friends can join us?”
“I tried before, but the buggers won’t leave the camp past…” she loosely gestured with a wave of her hand, “about thirty feet? Then they turn tail back here.”
That made some sense. Monsters had some kind of tether to their spawning place - perhaps not all Monsters did - but certainly those who were trying to defend a specific place. A regiment of bandits against the regiment sent from Poppybrook would have made for a nice standoff, though.
“Shame. We have to be back at Sanctuary tomorrow, Humps?”
The Death Knight nodded and looked out towards the sky as if there lay a more detailed answer out in the clear blue.
“Remind me what’s going on?” Jackie sat forward to light a cigarette. “I kinda tuned out most of the pretty words you were yabberin’ yesterday. We’re doing some adventurin’ and killin’?”
“Short answer, yes,” Theo murmured from beneath his forearm. He tilted his head to the side to regard the two women talking, not wanting to disturb the cat. “Only death follows the path we take.”
Humphrey grinned at the morose Novice.
Sally rolled her eyes, despite the delightful juxtaposition of her reflective mood and his sour one. That’s what you get for not eating brains. Or something more normal-adjacent. “Hush, but yeah, kinda. We ousted a village from the humans and elves there, and Poppybrook is sending a regiment of… people to come un-oust it.”
Jackie let the slim stream of smoke from her cigarette idly wave in the air. “Alright - and you said you would get me a village next, yeah?”
“Sure, we’d need to find four more Uniques to be Leaders.” She shrugged and turned to the Death Knight. “How many villages are there in this first area?”
“Six.”
“How many do we need to take to march on Poppybrook?”
Humphrey paused, a flicker of hesitation crossing his skull before the answer was released. “Three.”
“Easy then, right?” She beamed and counted on her fingers. “First up we need to secure Sanctuary - that’s the big crux of our movement. Then with that under our belt two more villages should be the priority - before another climax in taking Poppybrook.”
“This isn’t a movie trilogy,” Theo groaned into his arm. “If we have to get to max level and go through all the areas to find the Architect then that’s like…”
“Could be ten movies. Or we could just find a way out of the System or some way to circumvent levelling and travel options before then. I’m sure if we put our brains to it,” she licked her lips by reflex, “we can wrap this up in a neat and tidy way.”
The Novice just groaned in response.
Humphrey and Jackie gave each other a shrug as Sally brought up her STAR menus. Time to actually use the Map! The island they were on was indeed croissant shaped - or like a crescent moon. They were on the left side - a large chunk of that tip being verdant green with the mass of woodlands that comprised most of the area.
She zoomed in and wrinkled her nose. “Humphrey, come point out the Mines for me.”
The Death Knight moved behind her and pointed with a plated digit. “There, ha-ha.”
As Sally selected the waypoint, the transparent arrow appeared over her head again. There was a button to share it with Theo - but it kept rejecting the transfer every time she pressed it.
“Oh, I don’t do Quests.” The Novice finally sat up, disrupting Archie. The cat stretched and yawned as Theo continued. “Just went out into the wild as soon as possible to start hitting things-“
“Punching down at Monsters”
“-yeah, that.”
Sally scowled at him, more so because she had completed more Quests than he had - he was a terrible excuse for a Player. No Class, no proper equipment, no Skills, no Quests, and no decency to offer up his brain to her.
“Well, get packed up. We are heading out - and you can leave the bad attitude here, Mister.” Her sneakers tapped against the dry dirt as she continued her scowl. She gave a [Command] to Lars, who had been stowed away in one of the small shacks near the second camp gate as an alarm. He stumbled out with a low moan.
A Zombie army of one was a small start - if she could keep him alive and eat more brains, then it would soon grow. If she was supposedly a carrier now, any bite should do it. She brought up the ability description whilst she waited for the Party to gather.
[Carrier - Passive]
[Players killed by you turn into zombies under your control]
As always, the System was as vague as expected. The Death Knight caught her confused glare at the text window.
“It makes it sound like a guaranteed thing,” he shrugged, “but there are degrees of success. Every scratch or bite has a chance to pass on the [Zombie Curse] - against a Constitution Save. Eating their brains is one-hundred percent chance. When they die - no matter in what manner - if they have the curse, then they turn.”
“They should get you to write these things,” she sighed, closing the window. “You’d do a better job.”
“Ha-ha. That is a Light-Blue Observer job. My cousin is in that field.”
“Like an actual field or-“
“No. Why was that your take from the conversation?”
“I just thought that…” Sally turned to see the rest of the Outsiders waiting for them to finish their meandering chat.
She glanced at her wrist; the Daily Item Reward notification was lonely and ignored. Briefly, her finger hovered over it… before she decided against it.
“Let’s move out,” she growled, pointing in the direction of the Kobold Mines.
Chapter 52
Foul Intent
The rest of the night was uncomfortable - but after retreating to the middle encampment, the Party eventually got some rest to round off the day. The half-zombie had vanished. Apparently, only some kind of temporary summon - but Lars remained and kept watch alongside Humphrey.
Sally rolled out of the bedroll onto the hard earth. The fight of the previous night seemed like it was a dream. Mostly a good dream, on account of the fact that she ate a brain. Despite being a zombie for nearly a week, it hadn’t felt like something she wanted to do until that skill was unlocked. Maybe that was her Player side overriding the natural zombie stuff.
Her STAR blinked with notifications.
[Chuck: it was only a matter of time, huh?]
[Chuck: pretty late though, you okay?]
[Chuck: we saved some goats or something]
[Chuck: seems weak, but I levelled and I’m now a Druid]
[Chuck: no judgements, zombie girl]
She smiled and closed the Chat. There would be no point in cluing him in on the whole eat-a-brain thing. Druid was interesting though. He had also levelled up without having to kill things - a thought both almost as uncomfortable as the ground she lay on and not as comforting as the meal the Monk had been.
It reminded her about the Quests that she had pretty much ignored after getting Bella back to her mother. Things had just snowballed from there, and they had Monster’d around with no proper direction. Perhaps she would check it out - after making sure everyone was alright.
As she clambered to her feet, she saw the Death Knight sitting, arms folded, in a wooden chair that looked about ready to give up under the weight. With a yawn, she gave him a nod. “All is well, Humps?”
“Nothing to report.” The flame of his helmet flickered a little higher. “You know, we could have tracked them down after they escaped?”
She narrowed her eyes in response. “True. I think we need to work on our soft skills though. Having more allies - or at least people that will keep out of our way, will further our goal more than killing and eating all.”
“Very measured of you.” Humphrey crossed his arms and looked around the encampment at the death and destruction they had levelled the previous day. “Meditate on that, did you?”
“Don’t you sass me.” She wiggled a finger at him. “The brain actually gave me some Melee Damage boost. Let me guess - the bonus depends on what kind of brain I eat - the Level and Class?”
The Death Knight grinned. “Soon you will be done with my mentorship, and I can die a nice dramatic death to further your growth arc.”
“As your Boss, I forbid it.” She sighed and looked around the middle camp - most of the remaining bandits were keeping to themselves or doing repairs on the tavern. It was slightly surprising that the building didn’t regenerate like how the Monsters respawned. “Where’s the rest of the gang?”
“First camp.” He stood and rolled out his shoulders. “Theo was trying to find a way for the cat to speak again. Jackie went mostly to watch in amusement.”
“What do you think of our new pal?”
“Effective in combat and fills the missing role of ranged damage that we lack.” Humphrey looked around to make sure nobody was listening in. “Abrasive personality - and I’m not sure I commend the smoking.”
“You are literally constantly on fire.” She gestured her head towards the fixed gateway. “But, you are correct. We could really do with a healer of some sort. If I could rely on the System to give me a clear Class, then it would have been easier to stack the party to be more fleshed out.”
“Four melee unless the cat has something interesting going on.”
Sally shrugged and pushed through into the start of the camp once more. The bright daylight, unhindered by the cavern or any wooden structure was painful to her eyes. She shielded them with her hand and looked out to see the rest of her Party.
Theo had seemingly given up on trying to communicate with Archie, the ginger cat now asleep on his stomach as he lay back on some crates. Jackie was similarly reclined in a chair nearby, her hat dipped down over her eyes. On hearing the pair approach, the mobster lifted it to squint at the zombie.
“Hey Jacks,” Sally nodded, “any chance your bandit friends can join us?”
“I tried before, but the buggers won’t leave the camp past…” she loosely gestured with a wave of her hand, “about thirty feet? Then they turn tail back here.”
That made some sense. Monsters had some kind of tether to their spawning place - perhaps not all Monsters did - but certainly those who were trying to defend a specific place. A regiment of bandits against the regiment sent from Poppybrook would have made for a nice standoff, though.
“Shame. We have to be back at Sanctuary tomorrow, Humps?”
The Death Knight nodded and looked out towards the sky as if there lay a more detailed answer out in the clear blue.
“Remind me what’s going on?” Jackie sat forward to light a cigarette. “I kinda tuned out most of the pretty words you were yabberin’ yesterday. We’re doing some adventurin’ and killin’?”
“Short answer, yes,” Theo murmured from beneath his forearm. He tilted his head to the side to regard the two women talking, not wanting to disturb the cat. “Only death follows the path we take.”
Humphrey grinned at the morose Novice.
Sally rolled her eyes, despite the delightful juxtaposition of her reflective mood and his sour one. That’s what you get for not eating brains. Or something more normal-adjacent. “Hush, but yeah, kinda. We ousted a village from the humans and elves there, and Poppybrook is sending a regiment of… people to come un-oust it.”
Jackie let the slim stream of smoke from her cigarette idly wave in the air. “Alright - and you said you would get me a village next, yeah?”
“Sure, we’d need to find four more Uniques to be Leaders.” She shrugged and turned to the Death Knight. “How many villages are there in this first area?”
“Six.”
“How many do we need to take to march on Poppybrook?”
Humphrey paused, a flicker of hesitation crossing his skull before the answer was released. “Three.”
“Easy then, right?” She beamed and counted on her fingers. “First up we need to secure Sanctuary - that’s the big crux of our movement. Then with that under our belt two more villages should be the priority - before another climax in taking Poppybrook.”
“This isn’t a movie trilogy,” Theo groaned into his arm. “If we have to get to max level and go through all the areas to find the Architect then that’s like…”
“Could be ten movies. Or we could just find a way out of the System or some way to circumvent levelling and travel options before then. I’m sure if we put our brains to it,” she licked her lips by reflex, “we can wrap this up in a neat and tidy way.”
The Novice just groaned in response.
Humphrey and Jackie gave each other a shrug as Sally brought up her STAR menus. Time to actually use the Map! The island they were on was indeed croissant shaped - or like a crescent moon. They were on the left side - a large chunk of that tip being verdant green with the mass of woodlands that comprised most of the area.
She zoomed in and wrinkled her nose. “Humphrey, come point out the Mines for me.”
The Death Knight moved behind her and pointed with a plated digit. “There, ha-ha.”
As Sally selected the waypoint, the transparent arrow appeared over her head again. There was a button to share it with Theo - but it kept rejecting the transfer every time she pressed it.
“Oh, I don’t do Quests.” The Novice finally sat up, disrupting Archie. The cat stretched and yawned as Theo continued. “Just went out into the wild as soon as possible to start hitting things-“
“Punching down at Monsters”
“-yeah, that.”
Sally scowled at him, more so because she had completed more Quests than he had - he was a terrible excuse for a Player. No Class, no proper equipment, no Skills, no Quests, and no decency to offer up his brain to her.
“Well, get packed up. We are heading out - and you can leave the bad attitude here, Mister.” Her sneakers tapped against the dry dirt as she continued her scowl. She gave a [Command] to Lars, who had been stowed away in one of the small shacks near the second camp gate as an alarm. He stumbled out with a low moan.
A Zombie army of one was a small start - if she could keep him alive and eat more brains, then it would soon grow. If she was supposedly a carrier now, any bite should do it. She brought up the ability description whilst she waited for the Party to gather.
[Carrier - Passive]
[Players killed by you turn into zombies under your control]
As always, the System was as vague as expected. The Death Knight caught her confused glare at the text window.
“It makes it sound like a guaranteed thing,” he shrugged, “but there are degrees of success. Every scratch or bite has a chance to pass on the [Zombie Curse] - against a Constitution Save. Eating their brains is one-hundred percent chance. When they die - no matter in what manner - if they have the curse, then they turn.”
“They should get you to write these things,” she sighed, closing the window. “You’d do a better job.”
“Ha-ha. That is a Light-Blue Observer job. My cousin is in that field.”
“Like an actual field or-“
“No. Why was that your take from the conversation?”
“I just thought that…” Sally turned to see the rest of the Outsiders waiting for them to finish their meandering chat.
She glanced at her wrist; the Daily Item Reward notification was lonely and ignored. Briefly, her finger hovered over it… before she decided against it.
“Let’s move out,” she growled, pointing in the direction of the Kobold Mines.
