What a Father Isn't -Chapter 5

(back to the present)

"Kres wasn't and isn't wanted by those two. I've been in Cothmore for two years and have never seen either of them show Kres any sign of affection. Most of the time Falchan doesn't even acknowledge he exists, and Drysia only when he might be an inconvenience. And, of course, when they're trying to steal his share of the monster pieces or rewards." Sky paused and took a deep breath. "Lately it's been a balancing act between Elmerin insisting on Kres getting his share, those two, especially Falchan, threatening to cut him off from Kres if he pushes it, and Elmerin saying he won't work for them anymore if they do that.

"It's really messy, and everyone hates it. Why Count Cothmore never does anything, I don't even know. You'd think he'd at least call to the temples of Ikor of Light or Keri of Dark to test if Kres' blood does connect to his own." Sky rubbed their temples. "But you can't fix this; there's nothing to fix, nothing was ever built. So just… back off, okay?" 

Nera was near tears. "But… it's so sad…"

"It is. But it is what it is." Sky ran their hand through their hair. "Even as a healer, it's usually not a good idea to poke your nose into your party mates' personal business, especially in a temporary party. Elmerin will be including that in his report about whether you should rank up."

"Wait, Elmerin?" Nera was confused. "Why not Falchan and Drysia?"

"Oh, they'll submit their reports as well, but Falchan tends to be bad at them in general and Drysia is very harsh. Guildmaster Atol and Elmerin hate each other's guts, but the guildmaster knows that Elmerin's assessments are sensible and even-handed." 

"And you?"

"I'm just a Topaz like you'll hopefully be. I'll submit my report, but it won't have nearly as much impact as a Sapphire or Diamond, or an Emerald who's only still Emerald because he's deliberately stalling."

Nera stood up and shook out the tail of her travel robe; cut waist-length in front and ankle-length in back, the idea was to clearly identify priests without encumbering them the way full temple robes would. "I really don't get that. Wouldn't he have more power to do what he wants at a higher rank?" She sighed. "It's time for my prayers. I'll get Drysia up."

To give the young priestess time for her prayers -and because her stamina frankly stunk- Nera only had to stand half a watch at night. Watches would overlap until morning, when Elmerin would get Nera up to share the last half of his watch with him.

He also used the time to privately advise her about the more common-sense aspects of being an adventurer, but not much seemed to be sinking in. 

*******

Elmerin snapped awake as someone crossed the ward he'd put around the tent he and Kres shared. He quickly sat up, facing Drysia as she ducked inside the opening between the tent panel and wall. Her expression immediately turned sour.

Too bad for her; he'd started putting up the warning ward this trip because she'd kept ignoring the bell that could be rung from outside, the string running through the Silence stone's shield, and entering the tent to shake him awake. Elmerin had no idea what had set off her irritation with him this time, and wasn't inclined to ask. 

While Drysia huffed her way back to her and Falchan's tent, Elmerin finished waking up, taking care of necessary tasks, then getting a drink from a water skin.

"Hey Elmerin." Falchan jerked his head toward a spot near the inner door. "Come talk a moment."

Elmerin was checking the campfire plate to see if its magic needed to be recharged. "Why not here?"

"Nera and Sky don't have Silence stones and I don't want to risk them hearing this."

"So it's something shady."

"But it's very beneficial to you," Falchan wheedled. "I can pay you a lot. And more. I can offer your pick of a bunch of different items, or some really expensive armor or other goods. Your horse is getting old, right?"

Falchan was very big about throwing money at problems to make them go away, but offering items or expensive goods was something else again. It might be worth hearing him out.

Walking over, Elmerin leaned on the wall by the door, folded his arms, and waited. <Muted Sound>.

Falchan put his hands together, steepled as for prayer, and bowed his head. "Please give me credit for killing the orc general!" 

"The record cards document kills automatically, and updates the guild's records when the adventurer checks in. There's no legitimate way to override that."

"We don't have to," Falchan said eagerly. "Atol controls the guild workers, so they won't blab what the cards really say. There aren't that many workers from Korech, and none of them are any kind of adventurer guild workers; they can only check the records if someone makes a complaint.

"If we say I killed it, and Anol says I killed it, and no one makes a complaint about who really did it, then no one will know who really killed it."

"You mean your father won't know who really killed it."

Falchan tightened his hands into fists and glared at him.

"And you won't have to spend the next three months looking for a kill to keep from being demoted to Emerald."

"You know about that!?!"

"What do I get out of losing my kill?"

"Well, a lot of gold -the county's crops did very well this year. And father has a lot of items he's looking to get rid of. He doesn't consider them worthy of awarding to adventurers or vassals, but he doesn't want to be seen selling them because he's afraid of people thinking the county is running out of money. 'Trading'... two of them should be fine."

"Fine, but like you said, I get to pick. What else?"

"Errr…"

Elmerin sighed. "Of the items, I want the Lifting Gloves and the Earrings of Song. There's also an antique in your estate, a blacksteel blade a little over seventy-five centimeters long with a gold-crafted hilt and scabbard, both set with black and crystal opals. I want that. I also want a Calban mare-"

"Are you flipping nuts!?!" Falchan barely kept his voice down. "You know how much those cost!?! They're worth way, way more than a general orc! They're incredibly rare -they're so hard to get ahold of! Father spent three months' income from the entire county on the ones we have!"

Should you really be telling me that?

"Seriously, I can't believe you have the gall to even think a commoner like you-"

Better stop him before I have to get mad. "Alright then. Two Kethelsons instead. And one can be a gelding."

Falchan sniffed. "That's better. Good horses, but nothing special."

"And I want you to sign these." Elmerin held up the papers he'd slipped out of his item bag -really his item box- while Falchan was ranting. "Both are already blessed by the power of Telif of Light of Oaths and Terla of Dark of Bonds. One's a pledging paper. I'll fill it out that you'll give me all the items discussed within two days of leaving here, and pay the fee for watching Kres until I leave the county, then you'll sign it.

"The other gives me your legal paternal rights to Kres. I'll have all your rights, and it'll be irreversible by anything short of declaration by the king-" He was cut off as Falchan snatched the paper away from him.

"Sounds good. You fill the other one out while I sign this. Just hit the road once you get Drysia's rights. I'll help you if money's involved."

Elmerin reminded himself that 1) killing nobles brought a very quick death penalty in Korrum and 2) Falchan was the easier of the pair to handle. He turned to fill out the pledge paper, making sure to add an asshole tax to the amount of gold.

*******

Elmerin

Kres

Drysia

Nera Faunford

Sky

Falchan Cothmore

Spells in chapter:

Warning ward: A semi- or complete sphere surrounding a point designated by the caster. Informs the caster of anything that moves through it. Higher level wards can also inform their casters of what is moving through them. Size and duration depends on designated limits, but have a hard upper limit of the caster's mana.

Items, magical:

Agreement papers: Papers blessed with the powers of light and dark. While any priest sufficiently trained can do the blessing, custom restricts the casting to the priests who serve gods and goddesses of oaths, bonds, agreements, and promises. The blessings place a geas on the signing parties to fulfill their ends of the agreement. However, people cannot be forced to sign against their will; the blessings will not allow the signature to take form unless the party is signing out of free will, including not being under duress from someone else being threatened. The only loophole requires being a priest of Light and Dark and able to cast both blessings and being a signatory to the agreement.

 -Custody paper: This transfers only that parent's or guardian's custody to the other signatory. The other parent can still object or refuse, assuming the other (usually the father) is known and has been notified. If there is more than one guardian, they must all sign. In some countries, orphans are placed under "custody" of multiple entities -orphanage, church, state, etc.- to prevent illegal selling into slavery. These cannot be broken; custody can only be transferred until the child ages out.

 -Pledging paper: A blessed paper that holds an agreement to provide agreed-upon goods and/or services in exchange for such in return. Breaking these is possible, but will send the geas-breaker into weeks to years of pain, depending on the specifics of the agreement and the losses the other party suffers.

Earrings of Song: For Wind Level 7 and down, the earrings make lovely music when infused with wind-type mana. For Level 8 and above, they also strengthen wind powers. Maxed out levels can temporarily be boosted beyond their limits, but the power can run wild if the mage does not exercise sufficient control.

Lifting Gloves: Increases lifting and pulling power. Come with the required secondary powers of body strengthening and endurance.

Record cards: The cards used by the four big guilds (Adventurer, Crafting, Merchant, Watch). Each differs in some detail, but each lists certain aspects of the holder of the card, including name, race, age, skills, birth-talents, and any crimes the holder has committed against sentient and sapient species. While some information can be hidden, Name and Guild Rank cannot be. It's considered polite to display the skills a person claims to a new party. The cards are integrated into the individual guilds' registration and communication systems, and sync with them when a guild member uses their card to interact with the system, such as when an adventurer brings in materials to show they fulfilled a request.

The cards cannot be stolen, since none but the owner can touch them without permission. When not in use, the record card is merged with the owner, and summoned when needed. On death, the card is expelled.

Items, non-magical:

Blacksteel -a lost method of working iron and steel. Magic was used to make it, but the metal itself isn't magical. The forged steel comes out in a range of shiny to muted black, and the process creates a blade that is far more durable and longer-lasting than ordinary steel, iron, or bronze. Such blades also require a specialist in the process to repair them, so most surviving blades are display pieces.

The Blade of the Moon: A blacksteel blade a little over seventy-five centimeters long with a gold-crafted hilt and scabbard, both set with black and crystal opals. It was once the royal sign of the sovereign of the kingdom of Drendale, fallen in the march of the Demon King. Over the years, its importance has been forgotten by most and it is now regarded as a useless old antique.

Horses: 

 -Calban: High end and rare, from the southeastern deserts of the largest continent. Bred for stamina and speed, tall and lean, it's said that one can travel five hundred kilometers in a night without stopping. Tends to come in lighter colors.

 -Kethelson: A solid breed bred for anyone who needs to travel a lot. Well-muscled and long-winded with high endurance, they have been known to keep moving forward even when dehydrated, starving, or wounded. Tend to be a little stubborn and mostly found in darker colors.

Temple journey robes: A priest's full robes can prove cumbersome when adventuring or traveling from place to place. The travel robes have the appropriate colors for the deity the priest serves, but are cut just above the ankle behind and at the waist in front, with tighter, narrower sleeves then the usually loosely-flowing ones. They also include pants (trousers) instead of an underskirt, and boots instead of soft shoes or sandals. The priest's traveling stole is much shorter than the temple version and is often pinned or sewn to the robe or fastened in front.