Soul Bound

1              Soul Bound

1.1            Finding her Feet

1.1.5          An Inscrutable Mastermind

1.1.5.13       Preparation

She tested the meat in the middle, to see if the steaks were done. Good.

She slid them off onto a tilted board, and summoned Wellington over, while she tried casting her own improvement spell, concentrating on removing excess fat while leaving it juicy and tasty. Her spell seemed to work, as a good quantity of excess fat ran off it and dripped off the board. Whoops. Well, next time she’d plan ahead better. She sharpened a knife. Since she had handy victims, err, experimental subjects, she might as well try some variety and get feedback. Two steaks she left alone as she put them onto the prepared plates, two she sliced and laid in an overlapping pattern. For Alderney, who didn’t eat a great deal in velife as her avatar’s body size affected her satiety, she cut one of them into a cat shape. And the other she caved into a fantasy playground, with a long water slide, using the discarded bits from Alderney’s to prop it up in strategic places. The remaining plates and steaks she popped into her inventory box, to complete when she’d decided how.

“Chow time.”

Bulgaria appeared at that moment with Alderney, having managed to set out a table for them up on Columbina’s private balcony, where they could look out but wouldn’t be seen and so detract from the establishment’s reputation. He’d even put out a bottle of red wine. Columbina followed them up, having finished (metaphorically) disembowelling her now fired assistant, and watched the delighted expression on Alderney’s face, and on Bungo’s as he poured his dressing and watched it flow down the mock water-slide in wide turns that drew out a rune. Kafana used her orglife copy of the drizzle pattern Wellington had devised and poured her mana in along with the dressing as she did the other plates. “Time to eat. Let me know how it tastes.”

Columbina speared a piece of Wellington’s steak with her knife, without asking or warning, and inspected it closely before tasting it. Keeping a poker face she said: “Thank you for the warning about the fish. Judging by the guts, it had been bitten by one of the more venomous sea snakes before being caught. My assistant didn’t notice, and if that dish had been served, the customer would surely have died. If the wonderful Alderney is able to construct a device that would detect such things in the future, I would let you all eat free here for the rest of your stay in Torello. I must go back to cooking now, but I will send a detailed letter with my thoughts on your meal choices and preparation to your Vessel care of the Sanctum, and you should review your own thoughts about what you could have done differently or better before reading it.” With that, she disappeared as silently as she had arrived, leaving them to their meal and the excellent view over the Plaza of the Public.

Wellington: “If she’s willing to open with that offer, I’m sure we could get more out of her for it. But it might be better to let her know we know that, and just have her feel she owes us a favour.”

Alderney passed her back the diadem and giggled. “Oh, I did have fun with Harlequin. By the way, he complained that the diadem cramps his style - it kept glowing red every time he lied to a customer. So I made sure it was visible while I negotiated with him.”

Wellington blanched.

Tomsk asked, cautiously: “What happened?”

“Oh, nothing much” said Alderney, artfully “I’m now his apprentice, and we’ll make stuff for each other, and I get to go out and do fun stuff with him.”

The wine in Wellington’s mouth spewed halfway across the table.

“He’s the most untrustworthy man I’ve ever met!” Wellington protested. “Did you at least get the details in writing?”

“Nope!” said Alderney proudly. “We both said a bunch of stuff and then spat on our hands and shook on it.” she added: “Oh, and he gave me this receipt for you.”

Wellington took it gravely. In the signature spot was a scrawl that could have been anything. On the back was a note addressed to Wellington:

“I treat rules lawyers like lawyers ought to be treated. This little one granted me her open trust, despite your warnings. I’ll show you what can be made of one such as her.”

“By the way” Alderney added, thoughtfully “I liked his staff. Not only can it produce a controlled flame intense enough to melt through metal. It can also produce pretty coloured sparks, just right for delighting children. He said that If I’m a good girl, he’ll make me one too.”

Bulgaria said, with equal thought “I see what you mean, Alderney. Shows his true character, doesn’t it?”

Tomsk: “He disguises a weapon as something to delight kids?”

Kafana: “He disguises something to delight kids inside a weapon?”

Bulgaria: “Disguises can be good things, if used for the right purpose. Are we not planning to give disguises to our Vessels to protect them? No, I was thinking that it shows he cares for his tools, and plans ahead. A variable flame like that, can do more than cut through locks. He probably uses it in crafting rings. If he recognises Alderney as a worthy crafter, and he must if he wants her to make things for him, I think he’ll value her.”

Tomsk: “Enough about that, we’re planning on killing stuff this afternoon. And before we do that, we need to pick a quest and allocate any unallocated stat points. To start with, I’d like to know what skills everybody has, so I know what we can do and what we need to practise.

{Shared documents SKILLS} he added in chat.

{Check out our shared quest log too} said Alderney {I got a new one from Harlequin, on behalf of his employer, Pantalone.}

Name: TOMSK

Titles :

Warrior

Captain

the Hammer

Professions :

8 Warrior

5 Captain

3 Musician

Skills :

(warrior)

7 Identify Vulnerability

7 Meteor Hammer (double slam)

4 Longsword

3 Meteor Hammer (whip)

3 Meteor Hammer (swing)

2 Meteor Hammer (snare)

2 Throwing Axe

2 Dodge

2 Block

1 Meteor Hammer (ranged throw)

(captain)

5 Insight

5 Aura Of Authority

4 Project Voice

4 Lead

3 Train

3 Maneuver

2 Inspire

(musician)

3 Drumming

(none)

4 Performance

Tomsk: {I need to change over to using the longsword, try to get it up to level 10 then evolve the skill.}

Bulgaria: {What do Lead and Train do? Will they help us or do they just apply to NPCs?}

Tomsk: {The game tries not to distinguish. So I might be able to help you gain levels in formation fighting faster than you could on your own, and maybe give you a bonus in combat. That’s one of the things I want to test out today.}

Name: BULGARIA

Titles :

Actor

Spy

Necromancer

the kind hearted

Rumourmonger

Gossip

Professions :

9 Actor

5 Necromancer

Skills :

(actor)

9 Acting

9 Impersonation

(necromancer)

5 Talk With Spirits

2 Raise Spirit As Undead

2 Dispel Undead Back To Spirit

1 Command Spirits

(none)

6 Performance

7 Acute Hearing

7 Acute Eyesight

7 Detect Lie

5 Bluff

5 Charm

5 Intimidate

4 Sense Motive

4 Carouse

3 Forge Document

3 Create Disguise

3 Bribe

3 Hide Motive

Alderney: {Bulgaria, what have you been up to?}

Bulgaria: {I’ve been investigating things. Trying to make sure we don’t face any nasty surprises from our fellow players or factions within our city. Talking with spirits is surprisingly useful, when it comes to finding skeletons in closets, so to speak.}

Name: ALDERNEY

Titles :

Menace

Demon

The Wonderful Tigger

Stroker of Cats

Scout

the Awesome

Smith

Professions :

5 Scout

9 Crafter

Skills :

(scout)

4 Eagle Eyes (see distance)

4 Tarsier Eyes (see high detail)

4 3D Thinking (able to orient yourself and objects in 3D)

4 Throw Objects

4 Danger Sense

4 Survival (streets)

4 Survival (wilderness)

4 Lay Traps

3 Cat Eyes (see in dark)

3 Tracking

2 Chameleon Eyes (see 360 degrees)

2 Disguise Trail

1 Detect Traps

1 Disarm Trap

(crafter)

19 Crafting (practice)

15 Crafting (theory)

8 Crafting Specialisation (weapons)

8 Crafting Specialisation (mechanisms)

7 Crafting Specialisation (armour)

6 Crafting Specialisation (tailoring)

5 Crafting Specialisation (fine metals)

5 Crafting (repair)

4 Crafting Specialisation (tools)

(none)

4 Performance

4 Brachiating (move swiftly from tree to tree)

4 Drop kick

Wellington: {I think that confirms our hypothesis about the effect of gaining experience while under the influence of buffs. Kafana, can you keep an appropriate buff on us while we practice combat skills?}

Kafana: {If you and Wellington can join in casting some things, so I don’t have to produce all the mana, probably.}

Name: WELLINGTON

Titles :

Trader

Mage

Professions :

5 Trader

7 Mage

3 Seer

Skills :

(trader)

7 Appraise

4 Bargain

3 Identify

2 Construct Binding Contract

(mage)

9 Rune Diagram (theory)

5 Rune Diagram (practice)

4 Mage Sight

(seer)

2 Bibliomancy

(none)

4 Performance

4 Impersonate

4 Aura Of Confidence

2 Knife

Bungo: {Bibliomancy?}

Wellington: {I can concentrate on the sort of information I want to find, and use my mage sight to see which of the nearby books contain it, if any. When I get a chance I want to spend time in a library, and level it up as high as possible.}

Kafana: {My Vessel likes libraries and is scanning through books for me. She’s got free access to the Sanctum library and I’m going to ask her if she’ll take a message to Grand Master Water asking him to grant her free access to all the libraries in the Mage Tower. Why not invite your Vessel to accompany her? Vessels share our skills. Just tell him exactly how to perform the bibliomancy.}

Wellington: {OK, thanks. Good idea, I’ll try that.}

Name: BUNGO

Titles :

the Flash

Monkey

Venerable Sage

Staff Master

Winner of the Pill Tower tournament

Dedicated Cultivator

Illusionist

Monk

Guild Officer

Amusing Drunkard

Actor

the Joker

Alchemist

Professions :

6 Warrior

Guru (UNIQUE)

Skills :

(warrior)

7 Shield Bash

5 Dodge

4 Draw Aggro

3 Block

2 Throw Objects

(guru)

3 The Way Of The Monk

(legacy)

36 Pill Making (GRAND MASTER)

29 Ingredient Harvesting (MASTER)

29 Living Illusion (MASTER)

Enhanced Constitution (SPECIAL)

Superior Enhanced Dexterity (SPECIAL)

(none)

4 Performance

3 Improve Ingredient Quality

Tomsk: {We’re definitely going to need to practice your Draw Aggro skill, and your ability to use your shield’s new xistera.}

Alderney: {I want to hear how you got the title “Amusing Drunkard”}

Kafana: {I want to hear about the Pill Tower. Is winning that tournament as impressive as I think it is?}

Bungo: {It was a pretty major event, yeah. XperiSense even did the live streaming themselves, rather than relying upon players.}

Name: KAFANA

Titles :

Healer

Cook

Suor

Mage

Entertainer

Ally of House Landi

Personal friend of Claudio Landi

Giovanni’s Heir

Victor

Professions :

6 Mage

6 Cook

5 Priestess

4 Singer

4 Musician

Skills :

(cook)

3 Create Healing Meals

2 Create Buffing Meals

1 Improve Ingredient Quality

(mage)

6 Working buff

4 Speed buff

3 Mana Regen Meditation

3 Mage Sight

2 Learning buff

1 Gain Aggro buff

1 Luck buff

1 Sorrow debuff

1 Reduce Weight buff

1 Fascination debuff

1 Protection Against Fear

1 Protection Against Shock

(priestess)

2 Cov's Forgiveness

2 Holy Inscription

1 Cure light wounds

1 Purify

(none)

6 Performance

3 Sweet Talk

2 Running

2 Perform While Multitasking

1 Aura Of Authority

1 Bargaining

1 Intimidate

1 Stealth Performance

Wellington: {Your skills are pretty spread out. Nothing above level 6. And you’ve got 5 professions. Just getting those all up to master stage would take another 37 skill points. What’s your long term plan?}

Kafana: {I don’t have one. I’m not used to these sorts of games. I’m making it up as I go along. I feel so rushed. I want to fold singing and playing the violin into a single thing, or maybe into priest and mage, as I use it in both roles. Can one do that? I’m only on 6 hours a day, while you all keep logging in at other times as well. I don’t have time to just practice.}

Bulgaria: {Hey, hey. It’s our fault, not yours. You’ve been running yourself ragged, and trying to support everyone else. And you’ve been so calm and amazing, we’ve been assuming things, without noticing how much you’re struggling.}

Alderney got up and walked around the table and took Kafana into her arms, to hold her and stroke her.

[Minion here. I’ve got a direct call from Alderney. Would you like to flip out to take it?]

{Guys, back in a few minutes.}

*flip*

Heather: “Nadine, how are you off for guest bedrooms?”

Nadine: “I’ve got one, why?”

Heather: “I’m currently based on a seasteading in the Adriatic, less than 200 km from your house. I’m not doing anything right now that I can’t do just as well remotely. I really really want to give you some hugs in real life. How about I drop around this afternoon, and stay with you for a few days? I could install some proper security for you while I’m there, so it is something I ought to do anyway. What do you say? Please?”

Nadine: “I think I’d like that. I think I’d like that more than I can say, so I’m going to cry at you and sniffle for a bit. It’s been so damn long since anyone has held me in arlife. Anyone at all. My body is starved for it.”

Heather joined her, and they cleared up their tears together a few minutes later.

Heather: “Well that’s settled then. I’m coming and I’m bringing so much firepower with me that a Panzer Division couldn’t stop me.”

They returned to the game.

*flip*

“Up to a gentle boat ride over to the Necropolis?” asked Bulgaria, solicitously.

Alderney: “You’ve agreed on a plan for which quests to do?”

Wellington: “Provisionally. If Kafana’s ok with it. We’ve also allocated stat points and put them in a shared document too.”

Kafana smiled. “Thanks, guys. I’ll be fine. Sure, a boat ride sounds swell. I allocated my stats this morning before helping with Tomsk’s sword. Let’s go!”

Character CHA INT MAG STR DEX CON

Bungo 1 5 20 20 96 64

Tomsk 1 1 1 65 21 21

Alderney 1 20 1 1 67 20

Kafana 1 20 58 1 10 20

Wellington 50 14 15 1 10 20

Bulgaria 18 18 18 18 18 20