[SP-05] Let me get this straight... <<Arabian Nights: First Night>>

[Freyd 0]

Arabian Nights (1st Night)

"So let me get this straight: you and your brother, Cassim, went into the monster-infested desert in order to find some mystical 'cave of wonders', neither of you packing a blade or wearing any armor, got yourselves ambushed by bandits, and so you came back here and thought you'd find suitable help at the bottom of that particular bottle?"

Freyd's finger was aimed conspicuously at an onion-shaped bottle of rum with dark glass and wrapped in some of that weird wicker work these things occasionally came in.  The label read, Capt'n Jack's Missing Rum, which was not doubt an easter egg of some sort.  Someone had tried to put a false label that read 'Special Kool-Aid' over top of it, likely due to some obscure censorship restriction which was ultimately undermined by the quest's narrative.  Recognizing its own doom, the false label had simply peeled itself off and now lay curling in great loneliness, face-down on the bar.

Freyd, The Whisper in Shadows | HP:1550/1550 | EN:167/167 | DMG:20 | MIT:79 | EVA:2 | ACC:5 | ABS.ACC | KEEN 1 | LD:5 | BH:77

Spoiler

Name: Freyd, The Whisper in Shadows
Level: 76
HP: 1550/1550
EN: 167/167

Stats:
Damage: 20
Mitigation: 79
Evasion: 2
Accuracy: 5
BH:77
ABS.ACC
KEEN 1
LD:5

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: Grave Injustice (T3-2HSS, ACC 1, Keen 1, Abs. ACC)*1
Armor: Skirmisher's Garb (T3 LA, MIT 2, EVA 1)
Misc: Night Shades (T3-Trinket, ACC 3)

Skills:
2H Straight Sword [Rank 5]
Light Armor [Rank 5]
Searching [Rank 4]
Battle Healing [Rank 5]
Parry [Obtained]
Energist [Obtained]
Charge [Rank 5]
Extended Mod Limit R3 [Obtained]
Hiding [Rank 3]

Extra Skills:
Disguise
Familiar Mastery: Fighter 3
Survival
Meditation

Mods:
Precision
Finesse - Rank 3
LA Athletics
Ferocity
LA Sprint and Acrobatics
Night Vision
Vengeful Riposte

Battle Ready Inventory:
Teleport Crystals*5
Gungnir Shard: Haniel's Modesty (T3 Perfect HP Rec [Instant]*5
Flash of Rejuvenation (Mass HP Rec [Instant] (+30*Tier HP)*5
Fruit-Infused Tea (T3 HP Recovery)*5
Imugi's Inspiration (T3 Mass HP Recovery)*5
Mega-Duper... Sauce (Antidote 3)*5
Samael's Pride (T3-2HSS, VO 1, HOLY 1, FLN 1)

Housing Buffs:
Rested: -1 energy cost for the first two expenditures of each combat
Clean: The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 20% (rounded down)
Hard Working: +2 EXP per crafting attempt and +1 crafting attempt per day
Filling: Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot.
Item Stash: +1 Battle Ready Inventory Slot
Delicious: Turn 3 identical food items (same quality, tier, & enhancements) into a Feast. A Feast contains 6 portions of the food items sacrificed.
Relaxed: Increases out of combat HP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.
Skylight (Searching): +1 Rank to the Searching skill.
Angler: +1 material gained when fishing
Advanced Training: +2 SP to a thread. Limit one use per month [0/1]
Multipurpose: Gain +1 to LD, Stealth Rating, Stealth Detection, or Prosperity to one post in a thread. Can be applied after a roll
Decor [Potted Tanabata Bamboo Tree]: This buff affects the player and their choice of up to two party members.

Guild Hall Buffs:
Lucrative: Reduce LD needed for Salvage by 5 (10+ for Alchemist crystals, 6+ for everything else). +2 EXP per craft. Rank 9 crafters receive +1 crafting attempt per day. Rank 10 crafters receive +2 crafting attempts per day.
Col Deposit: +5% bonus col from last-hit monster kills and +10% bonus col from treasure chests.

Scents of the Wild:
Kumatetsu Statue: +1 Base Damage for a thread

Wedding Ring: n/a

 

[Freyd 0]

"It all began with a couple of words..." Ali said, moaning and groaning in his sorrow.  "How were we supposed to know that there would be a bunch of crooks about?!"  He slammed his glass, splattering the last swig of his drink all over the bar and earning a dour look from the barkeep.

"Uh... how long have you lived here?  Didn't you ever notice the dozens of angry-looking mobs that hang around just outside the gates?  Forget that... have you ever noticed the types that hang around inside the gates?  This place makes dark alleys look good.  In fact, I heard that the local BIA was thinking of importing some to spruce the place up a bit."  Freyd looked bored.  His face was leaning heavily against a black gloved hand while he engaged with the quest giver and peppered his rather bizarre rationale for handing out the quest in the first place.

"If you were supposedly so hard off before all this happened, how is it that you're able to pay me a handsome ransom?"  He cocked an eyebrow waiting for the NPC's response.

[Freyd 0]

"Well, we... that's not... we were in it for the adventure, not the profit.  Cassim and I were quite comfortable, but you know how it is?  More is always better!"  Ali attempted to down another shot, only to realize that his glass was still empty.  He called to the barkeep for a refill, but received a firmly negative shake of the head, indicating that his tab was tapped out.

"Look, this isn't exactly filling me with a great deal of confidence," Freyd added, watching the exchange.  "If you want my help, I want a share of whatever else the bandits have in the cave, especially since it looks like I'll be doing most of the work here."  He threw a handful of col at the barkeep, who nodded appreciatively and promptly refilled Ali's glass.

"It's more than a fair deal.  You get your brother back, if he's still alive, I get a bit of loot, and you get a finder's fee out of it.  Deal?"

Ali's gulps were enough to trigger the quest acceptance prompt.

[Freyd 0]

It took the better part of the rest of the bottle to convince Ali to tell him where the bandits were.  Freyd was starting to doubt that the man really wanted his brother back at all.  It seemed far more likely that he'd found, or thought he'd found, this mythical treasure heap somewhere and was trying to scam anyone he could to go clear a path for him.  He fully expected to get stabbed in the back at some point, but whatever...  It was a job, and the list of quests he had not yet completed was dwindling fast.  On the off chance that Ali was sincere, this was a good deed.  If he wasn't, then there'd be one more pile of shards in the wind at the end of the day.  Freyd didn't much care at this point.

Leaving the bar, he headed for the post and beam archway that passed as the city gate.  He knew it well by now, and nodded to the guardsmen on duty.  His comings and goings were commonplace on floor five, and those permitted by their programming to do so had come to recognize him as a common fixture.

[Freyd 0]

Everything on this floor revolved around the Devil's Pass.  It was the only thing that feigned to be a travelled road coming out of Fortaleza.  A small line of grey stone monoliths marked its route, their colour standing out in contrast to the reds and oranges of the native rock.  Someone had brought these here from afar to mark the road.  The sun was nearly down as Freyd left the tavern.  Most people considered it utter foolishness to wander the desert at night, but the dark and the cold didn't bother him.  He'd seen to those needs long ago with a few well-invested skill points.

When the time came, he turned away from the path and ventured into the lands of the lost, where many of the floor's most aggressive mobs could be found, and in the greatest numbers.  There was little to actually fear here.  Even the toughest mobs on the floor were far from being a challenge.  Short of Cardinal dropping an event on his head, he'd be fine.  Freyd's couldn't help but glance upward, just for having had the thought.

[Freyd 0]

He knew most of the caves and blinds in this area fairly well already.  The bandits had their camp just beyond the range of his past wanderings, but it didn't take much effort for Freyd to guess at what he'd encounter.  Sure enough, a campsite came into view as he carefully came round a bend in the path.  It was a good spot.  High ridges make mostly of solid stone deflected the winds and concealed the light of their fire.  The same winds scattered its smoke and carried the sound of any anyone approaching, at least from one side.  Freyd chose to sneak up from the downwind side, which also helped mask his scent, in case they had dogs or other pets sensitive to such things.

Apparently not. The four bandits in the camp were half passed out.  One was leaning heavily against a nearby rock face relieving himself.  Another was snoring loudly with a pot of containing what looked like beans cradled in his arms.  The last two looked to be playing at cards, though both seemed more preoccupied by what smoke shaped they could make with their cigars.

[Freyd 0]

Dropping silently down from above, the bandit with the pot was dead before he had a chance to stir.  Freyd caught the metal cauldron before it could give him away and whipped it at one of the two smoking their card, catching him squarely on the side of the face.  

*GONG*

The other smoker's eyes went wide as his companion suddenly disintegrated as the pot was swiftly followed by Freyd's blade.

"What the..." was all he managed to say before the same swipe separated his head from his shoulders and sent his shard spraying all over the fourth and final bandit, who was scrambling to get his pants reassembled.  Beans from the pot sizzled and crackled as they landed in the fire, the pot clanging loudly against the ring of stones that surrounded it.

A pair of hands shot into the air as a matching pair of pants hit the ground.  Freyd struck true and put both out of their misery.

"Now... where the hell is Cassim?"

Spoiler

Calamity Disaster (x12 AoE +8 for hits): 20 EN - (Rested, Finesse 3) = 16 EN

ID #177358 | BD: 5 + 5 = 10 (hit).  Freyd deals (20*12=240-25=215) damage to Thief #1
ID #177359 | BD: 10 (Crit +2).  Freyd deals (22*12=264-25=239) damage to Thief #2
ID #177360 | BD: 3 + 5 = 10 (hit).  Freyd deals (20*12=240-25=215) damage to Thief #3
ID #177361 | BD: 4 + 5 = 10 (hit).  Freyd deals (20*12=240-25=215) damage to Thief #4

Freyd, The Whisper in Shadows | HP:1550/1550 | EN:151/167 | DMG:20 | MIT:79 | EVA:2 | ACC:5 | ABS.ACC | KEEN 1 | LD:5 | BH:77

Thief  #1 | HP: 0/135 | DMG 6 | MIT 25 | ACC 1 | SAV 1
Thief  #2 | HP: 0/135 | DMG 6 | MIT 25 | ACC 1 | SAV 1
Thief  #3 | HP: 0/135 | DMG 6 | MIT 25 | ACC 1 | SAV 1
Thief  #4 | HP: 0/135 | DMG 6 | MIT 25 | ACC 1 | SAV 1

•    Basic Damage: 6 (7 on a natural BD of 9 , 8 on a natural 10 BD of 10)
Available Sword Arts / Conditions (Thief dice):
Bandits don't have an energy bar but they will use sword arts with every successful hit.
•    Side Bite - 2*(Basic Damage) / [On a successful hit, CD roll 1-4]
•    Infinite - 5*(Basic Damage) / [On a successful hit, CD roll 5-8]
•    Tri Pierce - 3*(Basic Damage) / [On a successful hit, CD roll 9-10]
•    Armor Pierce - 1*(Basic Damage) & Stun / [On a successful hit, CD roll 11-12, MD roll 1-5]
•    Shadow Stitch - 6*(Basic Damage) / [On a successful hit, CD roll 11-12, MD roll 6-10]
 

 

[Freyd 0]

A quick search of the camp found a middle-aged man with brown hair and eyes, and general features that matched Ali's save being rather less inebriated and considerably more parched.  Breaking his bindings and then offering him some water to relieve his thirst, Freyd took stock of the camp and found substantial booty concealed in a large pit.  It had been covered with a makeshift platform, then camouflaged with sand and other assorted debris, but Persi still noticed it immediately.  She dove under the cover and promptly popped it up to reveal her find, proud as punch that she had noticed it first.

"Nicely done, Persi.  Can you take quick look around and see if any more bad guys are about?"  A quick trilling whistle and gesture seemed to be more effective at communicating his intent.  The long, lean and silky shadow mongoose slid away to scan the surroundings.  She never spoke, or made a sound, really, but he was certain that he would know if anyone else was about the instant she found them.

[Freyd 0]

"You're Wilbur, yes?"  The man looked confused. 

"No, my name is Cassim.  My brother and I were ambushed by these bandits.  The rat tripped me and left me here to die while he ran back to Fortaleza!"  His anger prompted a coughing fit, likely caused by how dry his throat had become.  Freyd's little ruse had worked.  On the one hand, he confirmed the man's identity.  On the other, he'd also verified his credibility.  If he was as much of a liar and cheat as his kin, Freyd would have considered leaving him to fend for himself.  

"You're brother's fine.  He's drinking his guilt away at a tavern at the moment, and hired me to come check and see if you were still alive.  Nice guy!"  

Cassim raised an eyebrow at him, while still chugging away at his waterskin.  Freyd shrugged back.

"It seemed prudent to see if you'd be on the level."

The other man nodded, understanding the need for caution.

[Freyd 0]

"I'm not interested in your loot, but did you happen to find your great cave, or was that the sum total of it?"  Freyd gestured to the col-laden chest in the uncovered blind.  

"No, that's all we managed to find," Cassim replied, wiping away a bit of water tricking down his beard between gulps.  He clearly didn't care about the treasure anymore, being content to have had his life spared.

"This seems like a small group.  Were there any more?"  Freyd was still on guard.

"There were two more.  Whoever these bandits are, they clearly didn't get along with each other.  I'm fairly certain that the other two were hatching some plan to off these four and take the loot for themselves.  They went off about ten minutes ago to fetch some pitch to keep the fire burning.  Not much wood here, ya know?"  He started coughing, hoarsely.  Too many words at once, it seemed.

[Freyd 0]

"Can you travel?"  The Whisper had already conducted his own assessment, but thought it courteous to at least appear to be asking.

"Not much choice, I suppose, but I'm guessing the last two won't be much of a challenge for you considering what happened to these four."  Cassim stretched to get the stiffness out of his arms and legs.

"Why didn't they just kill you?"  Freyd asked, out of the blue.

"Huh?  What do you mean?"

"A prisoner is another mouth to feed.  They had to have another reason to want to keep you around."  Freyd's piercing red eyes watched Cassim's movements and reactions carefully.  If the man was going to pull something, it would be now.

"People are a commodity on this floor," Cassim replied.  "There is a thriving slave trade in the chaos of this wasteland, and I could easily have been sold off.  My talents as a scribe make me strangely valuable."  He wrung his wrists as he spoke.

"You're a good liar."  His tone was a mix of admiration and regret, and made it clear that Freyd wasn't quite fooled enough.

[Freyd 0]

"They should all be out by now.  Between the poison in the stew and what I laced those cigars with there's no way that th-"

The returning bandits had no way of realizing what they were walking into.  Thinking that their clever schemes to overcome their fellows had worked, both were suddenly stunned to find their prisoner awake and unshackled while their comrades had evidently vanished.

"Who said you could get up?" One of them barked angrily for a knife tucked into this leather belt.

"I did."  A dark blade slashed the man's chest in half, diagonally, as Freyd emerged from behind a concealing rock wall.  

"Who the he-AAargh!"  

Persi fell upon the second man from behind, mauling him so badly that he shattered instantly into shards.  Freyd turned to check on Cassim, and found only an empty camp site.

"Damn."

Sparing only a moment to collect the loot from the chest with a tap of his finger, Freyd set off into the darkness through the other exit from the camp.

Spoiler

Calamity Disaster (x12 AoE +4 for hits): 16 EN - (Rested, Finesse 3) = 12 EN

ID #177363 | BD: 2+5 = 10 (hit).  Freyd deals (20*12=240-25=215) damage to Thief #5
ID #177364 | BD: 7+5 = 10 (hit).  Freyd deals (20*12=240-25=215) damage to Thief #6

Freyd, The Whisper in Shadows | HP:1550/1550 | EN:155/167 | DMG:20 | MIT:79 | EVA:2 | ACC:5 | ABS.ACC | KEEN 1 | LD:5 | BH:77

Thief  #5 | HP: 0/135 | DMG 6 | MIT 25 | ACC 1 | SAV 1
Thief  #6 | HP: 0/135 | DMG 6 | MIT 25 | ACC 1 | SAV 1

•    Basic Damage: 6 (7 on a natural BD of 9 , 8 on a natural 10 BD of 10)
Available Sword Arts / Conditions (Thief dice):
Bandits don't have an energy bar but they will use sword arts with every successful hit.
•    Side Bite - 2*(Basic Damage) / [On a successful hit, CD roll 1-4]
•    Infinite - 5*(Basic Damage) / [On a successful hit, CD roll 5-8]
•    Tri Pierce - 3*(Basic Damage) / [On a successful hit, CD roll 9-10]
•    Armor Pierce - 1*(Basic Damage) & Stun / [On a successful hit, CD roll 11-12, MD roll 1-5]
•    Shadow Stitch - 6*(Basic Damage) / [On a successful hit, CD roll 11-12, MD roll 6-10]

 

[Freyd 0]

Racing around the corner, Freyd found Cassim twenty feet away, collapsed and wheezing terribly.  The man clearly wasn't in the best of health to begin with, but a couple of days gagged and bound in the scorching desert likely hadn't done him any favours.  Freyd walked up behind him, keeping at least an arm's length away in case the fool had it in his mind to try something even dumber.

"Where were you possibly thinking of going?  Your brother left you to die.  You have no weapons or armor.  It's night in the desert, and the only settlement within walking distance is the first place I'd look. Stop being an idiot and get up.  If I wanted to kill you or rob you, I would have done it already."  His grimace shone beneath his cowl, irritation at the situation starting to get to him.  Grabbing the ailing man by the scruff of the neck, he hauled him onto his feet and shoved him forward.

[Freyd 0]

"I can't see where I'm going," Cassim complained, crying out as he twisted his ankle for the third time.

"Oh, sure.  Now you're worried about that.  Where was your foresight twenty minutes ago?  Besides, the moon is full.  You can see well enough."  Freyd couldn't believe that these two twits had actually thought they would get rich pulling this kind of stunt.  It was laughably ridiculous.  Cassim was also starting to sound just as bad as his brother.  He'd just been the slower of the two when trouble came, or plain old unlucky.

"How the hell did you two get messed up in all of this, anyway?  And please don't say magic beans or some similar type of nonsense."

"Magic... no... what?  We just heard a rumour and followed up."

Freyd knew all too well how that tended to go.  His recent foray to Charko with Raidou had been based on the same pittance of information.

[Freyd 0]

"But you really hadn't thought things through, had you?  No supplies, or armor, or weapons, or even a cart filled with bags to carry your loot home.  You know what this place is like, Cassim!"  The sheer naivete and ignorance behind their actions galled him, though he knew it shouldn't.  For starters, these were the conditions set by their quest, so it wasn't really like they could know any better.  It was also fitting to the setting.  Fortaleza was hardly a pillar of reason and rhetoric.  These people led hard and desperate lives, and foolish action is not an uncommon result for their plight.  

Cassi, for his part, remained quiet for the rest of their journey.  Freyd hoped that it was because he was seeing the error of his ways, but suspected that he was probably trying to devise some other means of losing his escort.  He'd probably let him, if he tried, just to teach him through hard knocks.

Freyd managed to get his wayward ward back to the portal town without too much trouble: a pair of giant scorpions, twelve hyenas and a coyote in a pear tree.  Maybe the heat was getting to him after all.

[Freyd 0]

"What's your angle?"  Cassim seemed genuinely curious, and his tone was plainly distrusting of Freyd's motives.  "Nobody just helps others out around here.  That's not how things work on floor five."

It wasn't a surprising reaction.  Freyd cultivated an appearance and persona that was meant to let people fears and worries get the better of them.  It gave him a convenient out whenever something morally questionable needed to be done and kept most people at a distance.  He was fine with both.  It also meant that he didn't have to carry all the baggage that came with playing the hero.  He had neither the personality or intention to do so.  Heroism got in the way, and it was his role to clear obstacles.

"Don't presume to understand my motives.  I don't care for your wealth, or your secrets.  I have a job to do, and I will see it done.  There's really nothing more to it than that."

[Freyd 0]

"So you're nothing more than a mercenary, then?  Is that it?"  Cassim's tone wasn't especially judgmental.  It was a common source of employ for NPCs in these parts, though most changed their loyalties as quickly as the winds changed direction and heat fled the desert with the setting of the sun.  

"Of a sort," replied the Whisper.  "I took a task and mean to complete it under the term it set.  It's really no more complicated than that.  It's not a matter of honour or some misbegotten sense of duty, but simply one driven by good business sense.  Returning customers are far more valuable in the long term, than a single quick cash grab that burns any change of future profit."  The words resonated with Cassim's appetite for gain, and greed was a powerful agent in these lands.  This was its secret language, and through it he had found a way to reach the NPC and earn some modicum of respect.

[Freyd 0]

"What will you do to my brother and I?"  Fear cleaved close to his heart as he spoke the words.

"My only purpose is to bring you back to Ali.  What he intends for you, or you for him, is beyond my caring.  You can choose to stab each other in the back, or race back out into the desert, as you please.  My part will be done."  They were nearing the outskirts of Fortaleza now.  The town's red mud brick walls shone brightly in the growing morning sun, and nearly looked impressive, despite their terrible state of repair.  Despite the desolate landscape, there was a certain stark beauty to it.  It brought him a sense of peace and calm that few other sights in Aincrad could even hope to match.

Cassim stopped at his side, looking at the same view, taking note of its magnificence.  This place had been his home since he was a child, yet he had never seen it in this way.

"You're an odd one.  Did you know that?"

 

[Freyd 0]

"I get that a lot," Freyd replied with a low chuckle and wry grin.  "But it's what brought you home.  How many others around here, do you think, would have kept their bargain?"

"Not enough, if any at all."  Ali wasn't much older than Freyd, but his features were far more worn, his skin leathery from the blasts of wind and sand that had assaulted it.  He looked exhausted down to his soul, if an NPC could even have such a thing, and weighted down with thoughts that might not even be possible.  if nothing else, he was learning to fake it better.  Freyd hoped he had really reached him, but you could never be sure with mobs.  

"What will you do when you see your brother?"

Cassim remained silent as their long shadows passed through the town's tattered outer gates, dawn rising behind them.

"Probably forgive him.  He sent you.  That has to count for something."

[Freyd 0]

"Brother!" Ali shouted, awoken by the sound of the beaded curtains parting at the tavern door.  The man's eyes red and bleary, as if he'd been crying and drinking too much, not necessarily in that order.  He raced over, or tried and stumbled into a half-dozen stools in the process, finally the man managed to reach his kin and embrace him.  The two bawled in each other's arms, recounting their respective harrowing tales to each other and rejoicing at their reunion.  Freyd had already saddled himself by the bar, expecting this to take awhile.  

Once all the admonishments were cast, tears shed, again, and peace made between them, Ali came over to thank the Whisper for his efforts, and for being patient with his brother.  Freyd cast a glance over his shoulder.  Cassim raised a glass in his direction, likely containing only water.  A true sign of thanks in the desert.

"Remember this moment, the next time you get any grand ideas.  It might not turn out so well for you a second time."

***

Thread Summary:

4 SP (1 page, +1 event, +2 quest)

15,400 col

Staff Roll:
ID# 177559 results: Battle: 3, Craft: 10, Loot: 2, MOB: 6