85. Mail

Prowlhaven was not the city I was expecting it to be.  There was nothing wrong with it.  Quite the opposite, it was actually quite beautiful and well built.  But I had often heard it called ‘Zhesa city’s little sibling,’ which had caused me to expect it to look more like home.  It didn’t.

The streets of Zhesa were almost all cobblestone.  Prowlhaven’s were packed earth.  Few buildings in Zhesa city proper were shorter than three stories, and they were all made of brick or stone.  Prowlhaven’s buildings were seldom more than two stories tall, and they were almost entirely built of wood harvested from the nearby forests.

The shape and feelof the buildings was similar, despite the differences in building materials.  But there were also other indications that this city belonged to a culture that was not my own.  Totems for several of the beastkin tribes stood vigil outside of certain buildings, letting foreigners know that they were not welcome inside.  They weren’t completely forbidding either; there were spacious waiting areas outside of the tribal buildings for guests.  But forcing your way inside without an express invitation from the buildings matriarch or patriarch was effectively a capital offense.

Most noticeably, however, was that there was simply so much more space!  Zhesa city was all crammed together, a result of centuries of its residents fighting for every inch of real estate.  Whether Prowlhaven simply hadn’t existed for long enough to have gone through that same process, or if there was some fundamental difference between the cultures of Yuikon and Eolstree that I remained ignorant of, I couldn’t say.

We were passing what passed for a mercantile district when I noticed an object, and I immediately reined Shadow in.  “Hold up.  I need to check my mail,” I announced.  My party quickly detoured, except for Larissa.

“I think I’m going to leave you to it, Hail, if that’s okay.  I’m going to go see if I can track down Archmage Blanch in the next hour or two, and if I can’t then I’m going to go to sleep,” she said.

I waved that I’d heard her, and she rode off to do her own thing while I interacted with the Traveler mail system for the first time.  And I was promptly surprised to find that I had mail.  Lots, and lots, and lots of mail.

Mostly from Travelers I had never met, demanding all sorts of things from me, from specialized quests to insights into the world which were, frankly, well beyond me.  Some of them sent a bunch of math symbols which made absolutely no sense to me.  But then, my education in math was somewhat stalled at basic algebra, so that might explain why the equations were nonsensical to me.  Mixed in with the junk were actually a fair number of messages along the lines of ‘Hey, I heard you exist and you sound kind of cool.  I hope we meet in game sometime.”  But mostly it was all junk.

Fortunately there were filters that I could apply to remove anyone whom I hadn’t met, which brought the list down to a much more manageable size.  At the top of the list was the reward for my participation in the Battleground, but despite the temptation, I clicked on the messages from Daemon first.  A while ago I had asked him to sell some of the vanity pets I had acquired, and I had never collected my earnings.

I was surprised, and gratified, at how many commas were in the number.  It wasn’t enough to solve the Shire’s debt problem, but it was a hell of a lot of gold.  However, Daemon’s most recent message to me gave me an indication that quite a bit of that gold was about to evaporate.

Daemon

Hail,

I just wanted to officially thank you for the opportunity you’ve given me.  I’m certain you saw through my little act, but either way I wanted to be explicit.  I am excited about this new opportunity, even though it means leaving my old role as an officer in <Nethersong Mavericks> behind.

While I agree with the idea that you need to lie low for the next few weeks after the recent excitement, I have come across a few options that my position allows me to see as possibilities, but which I require your permission to enact.

There are a number of them, but the most important, I believe, is the creation of a teleportation platform.  If I am reading this correctly, I can commission the construction of infrastructure that would allow the international teleportation stations to list us as a potential destination.  It seems to be one-way only, although we can upgrade it later, but it would allow Travelers everywhere to come directly to the Shire from any of the capital cities.  I’m sure you can see the benefits to such a building.   We would also generate a twenty-percent toll on everyone who passed through it, which means that the building would potentially pay for itself over time.

Unfortunately, I am unable to use guild funds for the purposes, and not only is the Shire in debt, but by your decree, all spending is frozen until the completion of the audit.  I believe that this is a time sensitive matter, however, and I believe I have a solution.

Unfortunately, the solution is for you to pay for the facility yourself.  It will cost three million gold.  I recommend this action without hesitation, but it is ultimately your money, and your decision.

If you do not respond before I log for the night, I will bring this matter up with you the next time I have the chance.

I sighed, and I checked my inventory.  I didhave three million gold.  The [Wind-Up Malkios] vanity pets had been very popular.  Combined with my previous fortune from selling the [Immature Gemos Hearts], I had just enough.

Just enough.  I would only have three thousand gold left over.  Which was actually a large amount for a level thirty-two Traveler, and if I was just a Traveler I’d still consider myself rich.  Still, I didn’t need a detailed guide to figure out at least a dozen ways that being a destination for international travelers would benefit the shire.  It was painful to type in such a large amount, but reluctantly, I sent the requested funds.  Just to be clear, I sent a short message.

Hail

Daemon

Yeah, I thought that you were just playing hard to get.  I could tell that you were actually excited.  I’m sorry if we haven’t always gotten along in the past.  I think you remind me of my old tutor or something.  I think I might not have really been fair to you because of that, but you have helped me probably more than anyone else except Tarisha.

Here’s the gold for the teleportation beacon.  I approve of its construction.  Let me know if I need to give more authorization than that or something to get the system to move forward.

Since you wiped out all of my funds, I need to sell some more vanity pets.  Can I still give them to you to sell, or should I find someone else to do it?

I sent the message, and I winced as I checked my remaining gold.  I was tempted to go back to the battleground reward to cheer myself up, but instead scrolled down to the bottom of my filtered messages.  And saw one that I wasn’t expecting.  From my father.

It had an item attached.  As an item, it was just a chunk of cedar.  But I recognized it, even before I [Analyzed] it.

Shard of Hail’s Wardrobe

Summons a Unique Vanity Pet

Binds On Use

Idly, I wondered how much this item was worth, and what I should do with it.  I wondered why my father had sent it to me, so I turned to his message for answers.  Not that there were many hidden within.

Gideon

Hey kid.

I’m an asshole.  Always kind of knew that, but the last few days have really put that in perspective.  Hope you don’t get that from me and you grow up to be generous and well adjusted and whatever.  I’m probably not going to be around to see that, which is actually bumming me out quite a bit more than I was expecting.

I’m about to do something really stupid.  I don’t think I’ll be allowed to log back in afterwards, so don’t be surprised if you never hear from me.  Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.

I swear on my honor, by Thedum, and on my life than I didn’t know what Nial was planning.  I would have stopped him if I did.

Good luck.

Putting the context together, I gathered that my father had sent this message to me just before he had dramatically dismantled <The Endolphins> in the wake of my grandfather’s death, and my own actions as a temporary worldboss.  I was surprised, and actually a little touched, that he had bothered to say goodbye.  Even if it was through the mail system.  Given my own state of mind at the time he had composed this letter, it had probably been the only method he’d had of contacting me.  I’d genuinely not known that he had cared enough for such a gesture.

I considered sending a response, but I honestly couldn’t formulate one.  And there was simultaneously no rush and little point except catharsis.  I knew that Father was facing ramifications in his world for disbanding the guild that he had founded, although I didn’t really understand whyhe was facing them.  He would either weather the storm and return to my world.  Or he wouldn’t.  If he did return, I would have the chance to confront him once again.  And if he didn’t, then sending an emotional message into the ether would just be pointless.

I examined the vanity pet he had sent me.  The thought again crossed my mind to wonder how much it was worth.  I really didn’t have much reference for how Travelers viewed such things.  I had sold the other vanity pets I had earned for busting dungeons for vast amounts, but I’d had many of them.  This was the only [Shard of Hail’s Wardrobe] that would ever be.  Probably, unless I created more dungeons by sticking dungeon cores inside my wardrobes.  Being unique made it valuable, right?  I figured I should probably at least ask in guild chat how much such a thing would sell for.

Except that it was a gift from my father.

I activated the item, and summoned the pet.  It was a googly eyed miniature version of the final boss of Zhesa castle.  It circled around me awkwardly, and every few minutes it would open its doors, and a set of my princely outfits would step out for a moment, until there were five different outfits following it.  That was kind of cool, I guess.  They were actual outfits that I had worn in my younger years, and every now and then they would perform some action.  A handstand, a summersault, casting miniature version of [Spark].

I decided to leave it active, in honor of my father, as I turned my attention back to my mail.

Daemon had, surprisingly, already responded to my message.

Daemon

Hail,

I went ahead and purchased the building.  The system informs me that it will be in operation within twenty-four game hours.

Also, there is a Native child wandering around town named Irvine.  Apparently you sent for him?  He keeps bothering me for some reason.  Wasn’t certain how I should handle that.

I’d forgotten all about Irvine, so I quickly responded.

Hail

I was going to offer Irvine a position as a stableboy and teach him the proper way to bow.  It’s not that important, but I guess he’s been showing everybody how to do it wrong.  Anyway, yeah.   Just tell him that he can be my stableboy once Randal builds my new mansion and send him home, I guess.

I moved on to my other messages, of which there were actually quite a few from guild members.  There weren’t many of great importance, but a few very old messages detailed the adventures of the guild members who had investigated the fate of my old nurse, Beckah, which reminded me that I had been meaning to reward them personally, in addition to whatever award they had gotten from the system.

The letter in which Beckah had listed the Travelers who had aided her had been destroyed when Zhesa castle had become a dungeon, but I found that I still remembered the names that it had contained.  After giving the matter some thought, I sent each of the twelve players one of my [Wind Up King Rain Teoran].  Hopefully they would appreciate the gifts, despite the delay in how long it had taken me to remember to send them.

Finally, after combing through all of my remaining messages and finding nothing pressing, I returned to the one at the top.  The one which promised my award from the battleground.  Feeling almost as nervous as I had when opening my father’s final message, I selected it to see what I had earned.

“Huh,” I said, rereading the words as the message presented my options.  However, I quickly came to the conclusion that this wasn’t a decision I could make on my own.  I motioned to Tarisha and my guards that I wanted to speak with them, and when they were close enough I chose the option to share my menu with them.  “I don’t know what to pick.”

There were three options.

The biggest upgrade, by far, were the boots.  Laughably, I was still wearing my [Sturdy Crystal Toed Boots], which I had earned during my disastrous first delve into [Gemos Cavern].  They required level eight, and only gave me a negligible amount of Vitality and Endurance.  They were also very comfortable, and I was used to wearing them.  The proposed upgrade was a level thirty-two pair of boots called [Calfskin Kickers], which provided twelve Dexterity, four Vitality, and six armor.

I was tempted to go with the new boots simply because it was sort of embarrassing to still wear a piece of gear that I’d been unable to replace since I’d been stuck as a level ten [Child].  However, the other two options had their own allure, which forced me to consider them seriously.

The second option was a pair of earrings.  Which was actually a mark against choosing them, in my opinion, since wearing earrings wasn’t masculine in Yuikon.  Not that that would stop a Traveler from wearing whatever they thought was Bee Eye Ess.  But the earrings didn’t provide a static bonus like most items did.  Instead, they would increase my Spell Power and Dexterity by thirty points for twenty seconds after I activated them, on a five minute cooldown.  Most of the time, the accessory would do absolutely nothing.  I would have to actively use it, which was one more thing to do in the heat of battle.  But it would be a substantial power boost while it was --

“Whatever you do, don’t get the earrings,” Marvin of Cincinnati said.

“Why?” I asked, curious to his reasoning.

“They clash with your eyes,” he said, and Tarisha smacked him playfully on the shoulder.

“While that sort of accessory is powerful and you should look into obtaining something like them eventually, Marvin is correct in pointing out that those are by far the weakest of your options,” Tarisha explained.  “While they would be powerful if you remembered to activate them during the burn phase of a difficult boss, having a constant stat boost will serve you better until your level is in the triple digits.”

“So it’s between the boots and the sword then?” I asked.  “The boots are a much bigger upgrade.”

“No, the sword is,” Tarisha said.

“I have [Gemos Longsword].  It’s level twenty-three, my boots are level eight,” I pointed out.

“The sword is still the bigger upgrade,” Tarisha said.  “As a dee pee ess class, upgrading your weapon is your biggest gear priority.  And that’s not a level thirty-two weapon, despite what it says.  It’s a level fifty weapon with a level thirty-two equip requirement.  You can find another pair of boots on the auctions that will have comparable stats to the [Calfskin Kickers].  That weapon will serve you until level sixty or higher.  It would be worth equipping for the C+ damage rating by itself.  Combine that with the fact that it has Spell Power and Dexterity, and you’re unlikely to find an upgrade anywhere, even if the system decides to continue throwing one-of-a-kind items in your direction like confetti.”

I considered her advice for a few moments, and decided that she was right.  So I made my selection, pulling my new weapon from the system menu and giving it a few test swings.  I quickly decided that it was perfect.

Mooncrest Ancestral Sword

Rare, Requires level 32

Damage

C+

Dexterity

9

Spell damage

9