Chapter One Hundred and Eighty — The Parable of the Baker Knight
Chapter One Hundred and Eighty — The Parable of the Baker Knight “Raa!” I roared as I swung my padded spade around. The head swooshed through the air and hit absolutely nothing because the clever sylph I was trying to bonk with it casually stepped back and out of the way.“Duck!” Awen called out from behind me.I dipped down, ears dropping flat onto my head just as a crossbow bolt (with a sandbag for a head) shot past where I’d been.Bastion smiled and casually flicked the wooden pole he had in place for a sword, slapping the bolt off course. “Good timing there, girls,” he said. And then he was stepping up and swinging for me.I parried his first strike with the haft of my spade, then hopped over a sweeping kick-only the kick never happened; instead, mid-twist, Bastion shoulder-checked my tummy, grabbed the back of my knee, and sent me crashing to the deck back-first.“Erk!” I coughed.Bastion stepped past me and lunged for Awen. She tossed her crossbow aside and flung her arms out at him. Two balls of glass formed in her palms and launched out towards the sylph.But Bastion was way too fast, and he weaved around both before stepping right up to Awen. He shoved her arms aside, ignored a kick to the shin, then threw Awen over his shoulder and to the ground right next to me.“Awa!” Awen coughed.We were both down for the count. Again.“Well done,” Bastion said. “Your teamwork is improving, and even your reflexes.”I raised an arm to protest, then let it fall back down. I was too pooped to get up. "You’re too fast,” I complained.“I’ve got nearly twice your levels, and a decade’s worth of combat training,” Bastion said. “Good training too. Day after day of being punted around by my seniors until I learned how to take care of myself.”I rolled onto my tummy, then pushed myself up. My warspade-with the end wrapped in a bundle of cloth-had fallen a few steps away, so I had to move over to pick that up. “I don’t know if we’re getting any better,” I said.The day before, Bastion and my friends tricked me into going back to bed after lunch. But today I spent all morning trying to fight Bastion. I wasn’t back at my best, but I wasn’t too far from it, and yet I hadn't landed a single blow.“Captain!” Clive called from the quarterdeck. “Land ahead!”I gasped, and seeing that Awen was already jumping to her feet and didn’t need a hand, rushed to the bow to look out to sea. Out by the horizon was a long strip of green and brown. “We’re getting close.”“Looks like it,” Bastion said as he came over. “I think that’ll be a good place to end our training for today.”“Was it really training? All that happened is that you threw me and Awen around.”Bastion nodded. “Now you know how to be thrown around a little better. Don’t worry, you’ll improve.”“Of course I will. I’m doing my best after all. Right Awen?”“Right,” Awen agreed with a very serious nod. “We’ll be strong in no time.”“We have some open General Skill slots too, so we should fill those out with some combat stuff,” I said. “But that can wait. We’re heading to a port over in, uh.” I pointed to the shore ahead. “What nation is that?”“None,” Bastion said. “Or I suppose you could argue that the land is controlled by the Crying Mountains, but seeing as how the people from those mountains rarely move away from their dwellings that argument doesn’t hold up very well.”“So it’s a free place?” I asked.“Not quite,” another voice said. I turned to see Amaryllis coming over. “The land is lawless, which isn’t the same as free. There are a few communities there. Small villages and such. But for the most part it’s virgin territory. Only one nation ever tried to capture it though.”“Oh?” I asked. I knew how much Amaryllis liked her history lessons. Plus, they were neat!“The Trenten Flats mounted a sort-of invasion. They’re keen on expansion. So they crossed the Hoofbreaker Forest, and tried to conquer the one city and the few villages there. They crossed the Crystalline people of the Crying Mountains though. One of their biggest defeats. A running rout across the entire land, through the Hoofbreaker Forest-which is what earned it that name-and all the way to Crystalbreak where the reinforced army made a stand and arguably won. They never pushed back as far as I know. Not with the wall going up.”“The Grey Wall, right?” I vaguely remembered that part.Amaryllis nodded. “Paid for by the Crying Mountain. It’s a barrier across the only land bridge between two continents. Probably one of the biggest structures in the world. It took nearly half a century to be completed, and that’s with a decently large body of workers.”“Does it work? As a wall I mean.” I remembered learning about the Great Wall of China not being all that great at stopping Mongolian invaders.“I suppose so. The Treten Flats haven’t tried their luck again. I suppose the wall, and the forces behind it, act as a decent deterrent. The Hoofbreaker Forest is also mostly untouched. The cervid used the wood from it to build some of their infrastructure, but they have other sources.”“Cool,” I said. “Maybe we’ll be able to see the wall from the air in passing.”“Probably,” Amaryllis said. “We’ll be passing to the east of it in a few days. Assuming all goes well in Insmouth.”“What do you know about Insmouth?” I asked.“Very little,” Amaryllis said. “It’s a small independent port, with not much of value for sale, and it’s not on the way to anywhere interesting. If it wasn’t for the large detour we’re taking we wouldn’t be passing anywhere near here.”“Isn’t there anything to the south of it? The only maps I’ve seen cut off around there,” I said.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.Amaryllis shrugged. “Open desert, and not the sort that can be traversed like the Ostri Desert. I suppose there could be more that way, but if there is I haven’t heard of it. Airships should make exploring that way easier now, but I don’t know of any recent expeditions.”Bastion nodded. “There’s civilization all over, but you really need to go looking for it. And there’s little incentive to do so. Our corner of Dirt is rather plentiful already.”“It might be getting too full of plenty,” Amaryllis muttered. "The Trenten have been butting up against borders in nearly every direction, and they don’t seem keen on crossing the Vermin Vastness to go looking for more people to terrorize that way.”I didn’t quite know what to say about that. “Lunch?” I tried.“Certainly,” Amaryllis said. “As long as you’re cooking.”I nodded, placed my spade on my shoulder, then walked off to the back of the ship and down towards the kitchen. As we’d discovered through trial and lots of error, neither Amaryllis or Awen could cook. Nor were they allowed to try to cook anymore.Clive and Steve and Gordon could manage simple foods, and Bastion had a sort of camping skill that let him make some things in a hurry. I had a bit of experience preparing things back home, which made me one of our better chefs. The scallywags were also pretty deft, especially Joe who had worked a food stall once or twice.I rummaged around a bit for something to cook, then settled on a sort of stew. There were limited cooking ingredients in our little kitchen area, and not all that much in terms of tasty supplies.As good as hardtack could be when it came to lasting a long time and being nutritious, it didn’t beat proper food. So, I cleaned some veggies using my cheating cleaning magic, then started dicing them up and tossing them into a pot of water which I set to boil.We had a little bit of meat left, stuck in a rune-powered coldbox and wrapped in a few layers of filmy paper. That was the last of our supplies from the Harpy mountains. we hadn't had much time to stock up at Needleford.I made a mental note to pick up some more provisions at Insmouth. We had some canned food, and wouldn’t starve even if we had to ration things out for a month or more, but that didn’t mean that we’d enjoy beans three times a day.Which was as good a reason as any to open a can and dump it into the stew. More protein was always welcome!By the time most of the crew came down, the stew was simmering and I was filling out bowls with hot broth and placing them onto the table. “We should get utensils with magnets built into them,” I said as I put a bowl in front of Awen.“Ah? Oh, so that they don’t move around?” Awen asked.I nodded. “Yup. Who’s on watch above?”“Steve and Sally,” Oda said.“Do you want to bring them some bowls, or will they be eating after?”“They’ll take a break later,” Oda said. “We’ll just have to make sure not to eat it all.”I nodded, then got some help passing things around. Once everyone was set, we dug in. After having endured some of Amaryllis cooking, even something as boring as my stew felt great. “So, did you scallywags figure out what you want to do once we land?” I asked.Joe shrugged. “We might look for work. We might not. Depends. Heard that Insmouth is a pretty quiet place. So it’s probably safe, but that doesn’t mean there’s much to do there.”“Finding work is important. You’ll need some money to keep afloat. But with three of you helping each other out that shouldn’t be too hard. Once you have work, all three of you should find a dungeon,” Bastion said.Amaryllis nodded. “He’s right. You’re all going to find it hard to find better jobs if you’re caught at your first evolution.”“Is that a big problem?” I asked.Amaryllis made a so-so gesture. “In bigger cities it isn’t uncommon to have most of the population locked at their first evolution, with a few naturals having pushed past. It’s good enough to keep things running smoothly. But anyone of a higher level, with more classes, will be seen as somewhat more desirable in any given position. The stats alone mean that a person will be more resilient.”“Awa, there’s also a, um, notion that people that have gone past level ten are likely to keep on going. That they have more potential? Keeping someone at a low level means that they stay dependent.”“I should pay more attention to people’s levels, but it feels... kinda sad to only see people for the numbers, instead of seeing them for who they are.”“That’s a pretty common way of doing things,” Amaryllis said. “In peacetimes, when everything is going well, it’s hard to discriminate against people based solely on class and level. It’ll still happen. The amount of practice you need to... say out-blacksmith a Blacksmith is immense. Doesn’t mean it can’t be done.”“The Baker Knight,” Awen said. “Uncle said he met him once.”“Hmm?” I asked.“It’s a children’s story. Based on more or less real events,” Amaryllis said.“You never heard of the Baker Knight?” Joe asked. “Everyone knows the story.”I shrugged. “What’s it about?”“A young man that got the Baker class deciding he’d become a Knight,” Amaryllis said. “This was during some turmoil in Pyrowalk. The long version is filled with aesops and side stories. The short version is that he succeeded, eventually becoming a rather terrifying figure. The character’s often played off as a bit of a goof though.”“That sounds cute!” I said. I had been slowly getting accustomed to all sorts of new cultures and people, but I never really considered what the children's stories were like. It was something else to dig into... one of these days.
Chapter One Hundred and Eighty-One — Casting a Shadow Over Insmouth
Chapter One Hundred and Eighty-One — Casting a Shadow Over Insmouth Insmouth, from above, didn’t look like much.If Needleford was a small city, then Insmouth couldn’t be much more than a large village. It sprawled out a bit, most of the homes and buildings nestling around the end of a bay, with docks running out over the water.The docks seemed too small to deserve the name ‘port.’ The biggest ship moored there was a small caravel. Mostly, it was fishing boats that were bobbing away in the clear waters.“Foresails stowed!” I called. Clive, standing next to me by the wheel, nodded.The crew pulled in the foresails, canvas snapped, and with a slight lurch the Beaver Cleaver started to slow down.“Grav to half!” I said.Clive unlocked the lever controlling the gravity engine and dragged it gently down to the halfway mark before locking it once more. We started to dip soon after.I eyed the village in the distance and bit the tip of my tongue as I concentrated. I didn’t want us to overshoot it. Or crash into it for that matter. “Engines, counter-rotate. Quarter-speed.”Clive pulled the appropriate levers and soon the big propeller behind me started to spin in the opposite direction as before. I had to clamp onto my hat with my ears as wind blasted past me from behind. I laughed and spun the wheel a bit. With the prop spinning counter to its usual motion the wheel would need to be turned in the opposite direction as usual. It was a bit hard to keep track of.“Captain!” Steve called from his position next to the figurehead. He was tugging up a coil of rope. “We’re a quarter league up!”I nodded, then worked really hard to convert that to metric. That was... pretty high up, but not that high for an airship. We were also still dropping a little, even if it felt like the drop was slowing down. I certainly felt heavier as the Beaver moved down slower.“Clive, set grav up a notch,” I said.“Aye.”I turned the wheel a little more, adjusting course not for Insmouth or its docks, but for an empty field right next to the village’s wall. I hoped whomever the field belonged to didn’t mind us stopping above it.When we had slowed down to a crawl I had Clive set the engine to neutral and we coasted in over Insmouth, the tops of the tallest houses only a dozen meters below. I could see people staring up, some of them pointing, others running towards us.I imagined that the local kids didn’t see ships as cool as the Beaver every day.“Should we deploy more sail to stop?” I asked Clive.The old harpy looked about, then raised an arm so that his feathers caught in the wind. “No, there’s a light crosswind from the south. Best to face away from it and push back into it.”I nodded and spun the wheel around. “Quarter astern, Clive.”Soon enough we were... more or less over the field I was aiming for. I was happy that I didn’t tell anyone that I was aiming for the field, or else that would have been embarrassing. “Anchors down!” Clive called. He turned towards me. “Now, usually this is when you’d turn off the grav generator and allow the ship to float down on its balloon alone. But we’re not over a proper dock.”“Can the engine stay on forever?” I asked.“On a low idle? It can run for plenty long. We ought to keep it going in case we need to leave in a hurry.”I nodded. That was really clever. Insmouth looked like a nice town, and I bet that they never kidnapped anyone, but it was best to stay safe. Maybe we’d notice Golden Roger’s ship over the horizon one day and we’d need to bolt. “Are you staying aboard?” I asked.“My days of being part of an away party are long behind me, Captain,” Clive said. “If you don’t mind, I’ll make sure everything is settled, then I’ll find a corner to rest in while you negotiate for supplies.”I gave him a thumbs-up. “Sure thing.”When I came down the quarterdeck I found Awen shrugging on a backpack while Amaryllis tugged on her leather coat. “Should we lower the ladder right away?” Amaryllis asked.“You’re both coming down too?” I asked.“I need to be there to negotiate. You’d see one orphan kid and give away the ship. And Awen here knows what the engine room needs most,” Amaryllis said.Bastion moved over to us, looking really cool in his armour and with his sword sheathed by his side. “May I come as well? I would feel rather poor if one of you was injured while I stayed aboard.”I nodded. More people was more fun as far as I was concerned. “Should we get the Scallywags to come too?”Amaryllis shook her head. “We’ll head out first. Make sure things are safe. Those three aren’t fit for fighting. If they want to stay here after all, that’s on them.”I rubbed my chin, but there wasn’t much I could say against that. “Fine! We’ll make sure it’s a nice safe place, then I guess we can give everyone a day of shore leave.”“As long as we get what we need,” Amaryllis said. “Food, more water. A few odds and ends. Awen has a list that’s a little more important.”“Ah, yes,” Awen said. “We’re down to half a bunker of fuel. It’s enough to get to the Grey Wall, I think, but not to our destination. So we should refuel here if we can. And I need some things. Oil, some things to tinker with. Things like that.”“Let’s see what we can find then,” I said. A glance over the side showed a small group gathering not too far from the Beaver. From up in the air I could make out a couple of guys with spears, but for the most part they just looked like normal villagers.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.We dropped the ladder and Bastion started down first while I ran off to grab my gear. I wouldn’t be caught without any equipment in a spot of trouble a second time.I came down last, landing with a heavy ‘omph’ next to Awen. “Ladder up!” I called to the Beaver. Steve’s head poked over the edge, and soon the ladder was rolling back in place.“Alright Broccoli,” Amaryllis said. “Go be yourself at them.”I snorted. “What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.The harpy gestured to the villagers. “Go be a clumsy idiot. That way they’ll assume that we’re harmless.”“Mean,” I said before making sure that my outfit was nice and proper. I had all of my armour on of course, and my warspade. I probably cut a very fearsome figure as I flounced over to the villagers.One thing stuck out to me right away about the group. They all had very wide, wet eyes, and their skin looked a bit blue-ish. That’s when I noticed the gills around their throats and the lack of hair on a lot of them. They had neat little fins though, and some of the older ones had human ears and hair.From the air I’d assumed that they were human, what with the two legs and arms, but I had been way off. “Hello!” I greeted them as I stopped a few meters away. “My name’s Broccoli. Broccoli Bunch, captain of the Beaver Cleaver. Do you have a leader? A mayor?”One of the fishpeople stepped up and bowed a little while removing the formless fisherman’s cap that sat on his bald head. “Greeting captain. I’m Howard Philppers. There’s no mayor in Insmouth, but I know everyone who’s anyone here. If you need anything I’m always willing to help a stranger.”I grinned and extended a hand. The other fishfolk seemed a little nervous, but the spears were lowered and they seemed to be coming around to the idea that there wouldn’t be any fighting.I shook Howard’s hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir,” I said. “We didn’t really intend to stop here, but I’m glad we did, you seem to have a very cute village.”“Why thank you,” Howard said. “Insmouth has been a kind place to us all. We don’t often get guests, but I’m sure we can brush off the old hospitality and make sure you and your lot are comfortable. Are you traders?”“Us? No, we’re explorers! On our way to Sylphfree. We wanted to circle around the Trenten Flats, but we may have circled too far down.”“Explorers, huh?” Howard said. He blinked his big eyes. “That’s mighty interesting. Do you do dungeons? Fight monsters?”“Yup! We go on adventures.”Howard nodded. “Well, if you intend to stay around the town for any amount of time, we might have something that you could help us with. I think that would make the lot of us a lot more welcoming than before.”I tilted my head to the side. “What’s that? Have you been having trouble?”“A little,” Howard said. “But I ought not talk about it so openly. I’ll speak to a few townsfolk, see if there’s any interest in hiring some tough young folk to help.”I shrugged. It wouldn’t do not to at least see if we could help. “Sure. We should be around for a little over a day. We need a few essentials.”Howard smiled, seeming pretty pleased with that. “I work over at the Inn. You can’t miss it. I’ll ask around right away, so if you come over later I’ll have an answer for you.”“Brilliant!” I said. “And it’s okay that we shop here?”Howard nodded. “Sure thing. Gold spends as well here as anywhere else. We might need to weigh your coins though, we’re not part of any fancy-big governments you know?”“That’s fair,” I said. “So, is everyone here a fish... person? Ah, I don’t know the name of your race, I’m sorry!”Howard laughed. “No need for that. We don’t rightly have a name for what we are. Just normal folk. The local dungeon’s pretty easy, and if you do things right by it, you can become like us. My family’s been here for five generations now, and we all end up looking like this.”“That’s neat!” I said. “I guess I’ll give the town a tour while we grab some supplies.”“Sure thing, Captain. If you run into any trouble, you just ask me and I’ll help you as much as I can. Oh, but word of caution, get back to your ship before the fog sets in. It’s safer that way.”“The fog’s dangerous, got it,” I said. I waved to Howard and ran back over to my friends. “They seem nice,” I announced.“Strange looking folk,” Amaryllis said. “They might be bigger bumpkins than you.”“That’s a rather common thing with towns like this,” Bastion said.“What is?” I asked.“The town’s detached and separate from the rest of the world. So they develop their own little ideas and culture. These folk look like they might have been humans, or maybe their ancestors were. Now they’re not just separate from the rest of the world on account of their ideas and culture, but physically too.”“They don’t seem mean,” I said.Bastion shook his head. “I don’t doubt that they’re just as kind as anyone else. That might be the problem.”That was a weird way of thinking. “Whelp, they’re heading back in,” I said as I noticed the group dispersing. A few still looked up at the Beaver but it was with interest, not maliciousness. “We should see about getting our supplies too. Oh, and we need to stay out of the fog. It’s dangerous.”“We’ll see about that,” Amaryllis said.
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