Runemaster 10

(Click here to read the previous chapter)

Nyssha narrowed her eyes at the glowing text before her, wondering where it had come from. At first, she thought she must've snapped from the stress of this little adventure. But the message reminded her of the disembodied voice that had spoken to her when the little god tried to control her. Either way, it was probably worth considering.

On the one hand, it would be nice to have a little power for once in her life. Though she'd never heard of "admin privileges," she had heard of words of power. Words of power were supposed to be the fundamental laws that brought the universe into being. It was the stuff of gods, not only because of the immense power they represented, but also because each word could supposedly only be held by one being at a time.

That much power in each word, and she'd get two of them? There was no way this could be real, especially without a catch...

As she stared at the text comtemplatively, new text appeared letter-by-letter at the bottom of the original message:

Quest Received: Godkiller (Part 1)

DESCRIPTION: A strange man in a crypt has invited you to join his ragtag group whose purported purpose is to slay evil gods. Should you accept, you will learn more about the inner workings of the world than you ever thought possible and will gain access to unique resources to help you succeed. Reject this opportunity, and it will never be offered again.

This is a chain quest. New and updated information will be discovered as you progress in the chain, and partial rewards will be earned as you complete each step in the chain.

REWARDS:

Limited Admin Privileges

(2) Words of Power (Unique)

Do you accept? (Y/N)

ADMIN NOTE: Should you accept but later decide that you no longer wish to pursue this path, you may abandon this quest at any time, without penalty, and you will retain all rewards earned up to that point.

A shiver ran through her as she read the changes. It seemed that whoever or whatever had sent the message could already read her mind, so she was in its power anyway. And if it had that kind of power, why did it need her? No, this was too sketchy. She reached out a finger toward the big "N."

Before she could reject the quest, though, a sudden slap returned her senses to her surroundings. Jost, she was learning, wasn't a terribly delicate creature, and she was going to make him regret it. She reached for her knife before remembering she'd thrown it in the fight with Death's amalgamation. Growling in frustration, she swung a fist at Jost, but the strike was intercepted by Yarrel instead.

"Relax, girl," the big man said, "We just want to talk before you make the big decision."

"What are you—" her eyes went wide. "How do you know about—"

Jost cringed, "Yarr, tell me my head weren't so big when I got my first quest..."

"Yours was born bigger, Jost," Yarr stated flatly, "But I think it comes as a shock to all of us." He turned to Nyssha and explained, "These quests are things of the gods, generous offerings to convince mortals to do things no one else wants to."

Nyssha looked pointedly at the altar and raised an eyebrow.

"The benevolent gods," Yarrel corrected with an eye roll, "offer rewards and gifts through quests, formal agreements that their divinity binds them to honor. The rewards may seem unbelievable, but they're real. At least, they have been so far." He gestured at his eyes meaningfully, and they briefly flashed with that silver light again.

"Plus, killin' gods is good fun. May's well get paid fer it."

"But how did you know I was looking at a quest?"

"Honestly, we were going to kill you if you didn't get the quest," Yarrel said bluntly. "It would mean you're not worthy to help, which usually means you'd sell us out eventually."

"You just killed Death! Why would you be afraid of what I could do?"

"Death?" Yarrel looked at her in confusion until realization dawned on his face. Then he laughed in hers, "You thought that was Death? A god with a true domain? That's impossible."

"That pipsqueak weren't even full-grown," Jost contributed, "In't that why he wanted you?"

Nyssha was torn between confusion and embarrassment, but she didn't really know why. Before she could react, though, Yarrel spoke again, "That doesn't explain the quest, though. She must be special somehow, or she wouldn't get it." He turned to inspect her again, "She hasn't got much in the way of combat ability. Scrawny as a lark, too. Maybe it's magic?"

Jost appeared at her side and poked her, "Nah, couldn't be. She woulda used it on ol' Ugly." She swatted at him, but he dodged away and continued, "Or on us."

"Don't lump me in with you," Yarrel scoffed, "We're not all uncouth madmen."

"Least I ent nekked," Jost declared, and Nyssha mentally gave him a point for that one.

"Oh, come on, that's different—"

"Would someone just tell me what's going on?" Nyssha interjected, "What is with all this quest nonsense, and what am I supposed to do about it?"

Both men turned their eyes on her, and Yarrel had the decency to look abashed. Jost, however, completely missed that cue, "Accept it, o'course. The first one's always got a right doozy fer loot."

"The rewards usually outweigh the risks," Yarrel agreed, "which considering our undertaking, is really saying something."

She narrowed her eyes at them suspiciously before shrugging and accepting it. After all, the quest itself told her that she could get rid of it at any time. "I guess I'll join you, but if this is all fake, I'm out."

Quest Completed: Godkiller (Part 1)

DESCRIPTION: A strange man in a crypt has invited you to join his ragtag group whose purported purpose is to slay evil gods. Should you accept, you will learn more about the inner workings of the world than you ever thought possible and will gain access to unique resources to help you succeed. Reject this opportunity, and it will never be offered again.

This is a chain quest. New and updated information will be discovered as you progress in the chain, and partial rewards will be earned as you complete each step in the chain.

REWARDS AVAILABLE:

Limited Admin Privileges

(2) Words of Power (Unique)

Deliver rewards now? (Y/N)

Immediately, her eyes were drawn to additional text at the edge of her vision.

Wisdom Check: 18/10

Wisdom Check successful.

ADMIN NOTE: Come now, dear, that was a no-brainer. Are you going to overthink the rewards, too?

A chill went up her spine as she read the message from the supposed "admin." That sounded a little too similar to the talk of sources and hosts from the booming voice before.

Still, the mention of rewards perked her right up again. She wasn't getting paid for this job, after all, and a couple Words of Power sounded pretty valuable. At the thought, another prompt appeared before her.

Select Your Rewards:

Words of Power (Select 2)

1. Brek: No lock can deny you entry, but beware the price of admission.
2. Rdu: Your step is silent as a cloud, but so too is the world.
3. Vihr: The shadows become your refuge, but step lightly or they will be your tomb.
4. Haef: You sing the song of the night, but beware what might be listening.

Nyssha's confusion at her options must have shown on her face, for Yarrel gave her a knowing smirk and asked, "Hard choice? What did it give you for accepting?"

"I don't know," Nyssha began, "Words of pow—"

"What!" Yarrel exclaimed, "Words of power? Why do they want you so bad?"

"They?"

Jost explained, "They's the one's 'at gives us dem quests."

Yarrel continued, "We really have no clue who they are, but they must think you've got something they need, if they're giving you a Word."

"Two," Nyssha corrected, "but I—"

"But what!?" Yarrel demanded, "Accept it now!"

"Would you just let me finish?" Nyssha shouted. "I just don't know which ones to choose."

Jost burst out laughing, and Yarrel just stared at her, "Seriously? Which god did you seduce?"

Ignoring her sputtered reply, Yarrel motioned at Jost, who handed him a well-traveled leather pack. After digging through it, notably setting aside a change of clothes without even thinking about putting them on, he produced a thick book, seemingly handbound in some sort of leather. Flipping to a section of the book, he explained, "I once stole a book of Words and what they do and wrote a bunch of them here, just in case some of the godfodder pulled one out on us." Gesturing at Nyssha, he asked, "Which ones are on offer?"

Nyssha listed out the words, and he furrowed his brow as he scanned the page before him, "Looks like Brek is what it claims to be. It's said that some thieves could open a lock with nothing more than stray hair and a whispered word. Seems like a pretty good choice, but I can't tell what the downside would be..."

"All Words got 'em," Jost said, "Had a mate what got a Word to sharpen his forks, but dulled his wits each time. Bruv's brainbroke now."

"Rdu," Yarrel read aloud, ignoring Jost, "looks like it makes you silent to the world around you, but it slowly dulls your sense of hearing each time, too."

It was another moment before he found the last two words, "Here they are: Vihr lets you walk in the realm of shadows, where normies can't find you and most mages wouldn't know to look. But there are creatures that live in that realm and 'feed off the light in you,' whatever that means.

"Haef also taps into the shadows, which is probably why they were next to each other in the book. When you first say the word, you'll hear a song that reveals whatever dwells nearby in the shadows. Lost loot, dark creatures, even memories, it says. It seems the creatures are the danger for this one."

Nyssha sat thinking a moment. Each of the Words could be useful, but the drawbacks almost made the decision for her. She would hate to lose her hearing, so Rdu was definitely out. Brek seemed like a good choice at first, as there were always locks that couldn't be picked easily. But she was already pretty good at picking locks and planned to get better. Besides, she would miss the challenge if she only had to speak a word to break a lock; it would take half the fun out of life.

That just left Vihr and Haef. She had always been intrigued by the shadows in her life, and being able to travel through them to avoid detection sounded pretty convenient. Monsters, though? What kind of nightmares would she have to deal with if she chose those Words? At least Brek seemed to have no drawbacks, and it wasn't like she'd have to use it all the time. She could still improve her lockpicking, but if she came across something she couldn't pick, she'd have another option. The uncertainty surrounding Haef made her leery, too. Sure, it might give her something super valuable, but she hadn't survived this long by playing such poor odds.

A thought suddenly struck her, "Wait, if we're saying the Words so much right now, why is nothing happening?"

"When you're given a Word, you're not just given the way to say it, but the authority required for the universe to listen," Yarrel explained, "It's nearly impossible for someone to speak Words unless they've done something great."

"'parently, it also works if ya ain't so great, too, long as you've got a quest," Jost added.

Finally choosing to ignore Jost's antics, Nyssha asked Yarrel, "How do you know so much about Words? Do you have any Words of your own?"

"My people have a tradition," he replied, "when a boy becomes a man, he is sent away for a time with the charge to learn the Words. We learn about them from a young age so we can bring honor to our village by one day being granted a Word.

"Now, hurry up and make your choice so we can get out of here." He started putting on the clothes he'd discarded earlier and stood up, stretching his way around the room while Nyssha made her decision.

In the end, she chose Vihr and Brek for their versatility. The moment she selected them, the world went white, and she knew no more.