Does a Bear Sit in the Woods 1 (2/2)
“It is.” She rose, and stretched her legs. “I’m ready!”
Three hills over, he took her to the peak, pointed at the tallest oak tree he could find, and made her tell him all about it. He seemed pleased with her assessment. Threadbare was more interested in the busy beehive that churned up in its branches. But Celia held him tight, and it was a bit far away from her, anyway.
One valley later, Mordecai’s eyes went wide, and he whipped a hand up. “Monsters,” he whispered.
Celia instantly started pulling out her daggers, and he shook his head. “I got this. Come along an’ stay quiet.”
He led her through some young trees, past stumps and corroded metal bars sat into the ground. And there, at the base of a solid stony cliff, lay a series of planks nailed across a cave heading back into the mountain. A few crumbled, rusted metal carts lay scattered nearby. Obviously it was one of the abandoned mine shafts that her Daddy had told her about.
Two strange creatures patrolled back and forth in front of the mine. They had black and gray and white fur, bushy tails, and each one wore a crude wooden mask. The one to the left had one that said “KITY” and a crude caricature of Pulsivar’s face. The other one had a mask that looked like no creature Threadbare had ever said before, and had the word “DOGY” scratched into it.
“Wait here. Do NOT move, Camouflage,” Mordecai said, and then he was gone, blurring into an outline before the blur itself moved away and vanished in the afternoon haze.
Threadbare had understood that sentence, up until the last word. But the rest of it was simple, and it made sense for the situation.
INT +1
So he froze. Celia froze too, but her breath came a little heavier, and one hand crept inside her coat to where she kept her knives.
Minutes crawled by, and then Mordecai crawled up, reappearing. He pointed at Celia, pointed back the way they came, and straightened up, heading back through the underbrush. Celia followed, glad to be away from the monsters.
Once away, they resumed their walk. Finally, Mordecai gestured a halt, at the base of the tallest, steepest hill yet. “We can talk. Those were Raccants.”
“Raccants? I think I heard Daddy swearing about those once. They’re what raccoons can become, right?”
“One o’ the options. They’re raccoons what like livin’ around humans. They see how easy pets got it and want to be pets, but they can’t pull it off. Just ain’t got the temperament. So they wears masks and nicks stuff and causes trouble.”
“So what are they doing here?”
“There’s a steading or two just on th’ other side o’ the ridge. An’ yer father’s house ent far. They roam. As to what they’re doin’ here, they made a dungeon.”
“What?” Celia almost shrieked, then clapped her hands over her mouth. “Dungeons are bad!”
“Aye, they can be, if ya let’em go. But this one’s small yet. Figure it’ll take a few years before it even reaches a level where ya’d find it a challenge. So fer now, it can stay.”
“But shouldn’t we take care of it? You and me, we could stop it from being a threat.”
“Celia.” Mordecai knelt to stare into her eyes. “Everyfing has a purpose. Dungeons have a purpose. And raccants ent likely ta kill, not like some o’ the other monsters out here. Time goes on, it’ll make treasure, too. Be a good trainin’ ground, and source of loot.”
“But… I mean…”
“Not all monsters is bad. Some just is. And bad or good, this’ll be a good spot fer ya to level up later.” He straightened up, and cast a gaze up the cliff. “Come on. One mile left ta go, and it’s the worst part.”
Two hours later, as dusk fell, Celia clambered up the last slope, and stared wide-eyed at what lay in front of her.
It was nothing at all.
Literally, nothing at all.
Around her she could see a high mountain plateau, with snow melting and forming a pool, that ran off into a small waterfall she’d passed on the way up. A few straggly pines grew up here, but nothing else.
But on the other side of the mountain?
Nothing. Blackness so deep that light seemed to vanish into it. It filled the horizon, wrapped around with a visible curve, and literally bisected mountains to either side.
“What is that?” She whispered.
“Oblivion Point,” Mordecai told her. “Easiest place around here ta see the evidence of our stupidity.”
“I never heard of this.”
“It’s not somefing to be proud of. Not as I count it, anyway.” He sat on a rock, next to an old fire ring, long burnt-out and now filled with snowy ashes. “Yer Daddy tell you how we got afraid, when the changes hit? Started losing settlements?”
“Yes. But not much further. We were interrupted.” She pulled Threadbare out of the back where she’d stowed him, and sat him down. and walked toward the pit, with the little toy golem following. They pulled up their own rocks, eyes staring into the nothing.
Threadbare had no idea what it could be, but he wasn’t about to leave Celia’s side, so he figured it could stay over there and he’d stay over here, and that would be fine.
Mordecai spoke again. “So the king at the time, he gets the notion that we need to seal off our kingdom. Cut ourself off from the madness. He goes to the high wizard, th’ oldest member o’ the Seven.”
“The Seven?”
“Tell yer about them later.” Mordecai coughed. “Much later. Anyways, Grissle, the high wizard, spends years figurin’ out the spell. Then he gives it a try.” Mordecai scowled, and hucked a pebble into the void. It disappeared without a trace. “And damn his eyes, it works. Sort of. Nothin’ goes out a’ Cylvania. Nothin’ comes in. But we didn’t know that the trouble was already in here, sealed in wi’ us.”
“How does it work? I mean… does it kill anyone who tries?”
“No. Yes. Nobody knows. Knew a man once, swore up and down that the farther you go in there, the weirder it gets. Said that you go far enough, you start seein’ numbers. Nothin’ but numbers. And he said that if you do that, you turn and get back as fast as you can, or you start turnin’ INTO numbers.” Mordecai shook his head.
“Who said that? What’s his name?” Celia asked.
“Don’t matter. One day he went in and didn’t come back. Which is what happens ta most who go in there.” Mordecai shrugged. “The wizard’s gone, too. His labs under Castle Cylvania are a dungeon now, the most dangerous one left in this sealed-off little land. If there’s any way to fix it, it’s lost forever.”
Celia shuddered. Then she clapped her hands with glee as Mordecai pulled out several plants he’d foraged, and a pair of rabbits he’d hunted on the way up.
He showed her how to build a fire, striking a steel knife against a flint stone, and how to dress and clean rabbits. Threadbare watched, fascinated, gaining a point of wisdom as he learned that living things could be disassembled too.
Mordecai also showed her how to build a bed of branches and pine needles, sheltering it out of the wind and close enough to the fire that it’d hold a little heat. And as she slept he sat across from the fire, looking at her, then around, keeping watch.
She was tired by then, and never thought to question why he didn’t make one for himself.
Threadbare didn’t sleep. And as he lay in Celia’s arms, as always, he watched Mordecai eventually take out a piece of paper and dig out a stick from the fire. The old scout scratched the stick against the paper, leaving charcoal letters. Then he stuck his knife through it, stuck it into a nearby tree, and hung his waterskin from the knife’s handle.
The bear stirred, and Mordecai caught it. “Stay still, Mister Bear. This is her test, savvy?”
Threadbare didn’t know what a savvy was, but he understood most of the rest. So he nodded.
CHA +1
Mordecai nodded back, and vanished into the night.
And when Celia woke up in the morning, he was long gone.
Threadbare's Character Sheet
Spoiler: Spoiler
Name: Threadbare
Age: 6 days
Jobs:
Greater Toy Golem Level 6
Bear Level 2
Ruler Level 1
Attributes:
Strength: 35 Constitution: 44 Hit Points: 123 Armor: 16
Intelligence: 30 Wisdom: 38(43) Sanity: 62(67) Mental Fortitude: 6
Dexterity: 18 Agility: 25 Stamina: 52 Endurance: 26
Charisma: 26 (31) Willpower: 25 Moxie: 50(55) Cool: 20 (30)
Perception: 27 Luck: 24 Fortune: 51 Fate: 6
Generic Skills
Brawling - Level 8
Climb - Level 6
Clubs and Maces - Level 7
Dodge - Level 1
Ride - Level 1
Swim - Level 1
Greater Toy Golem Skills
Adorable – Level 8
Gift of Sapience – Level NA
Golem Body – Level 5
Innocent Embrace - Level 2
Magic Resistance –Level 4
Bear Skills
Animalistic Interface – NA
Claw Swipes – 5
Forage – 1
Scents and Sensibility – 5
Toughness – 7
Ruler Skills
Emboldening Speech - Level 1
Identify Subject - Level 1
Noblesse Oblige - Level 1
Royal Request - Level 1
Simple Decree - Level 1
Equipment
Rod of Baronly Might - (Level 5 Club, CHA +5, WIS +5, +10 Cool )
Quests
Do what Mordecai Says
Help Anise Layd'i