“Thank you both,” Jasper said, saluting them.
Quest Completed: Teach the Stormguard Fort guards some martial arts
Receive: Increased reputation with all Stormguard Guard factions
The pair returned the salute then followed the messenger to the Commander. Karen chuckled, “Well, that gets me to Liked with the guards here.”
“Oh good, maybe I won't have to vouch for you anymore,” Alburet said. “I forgot what a good long, hard session was like with a skilled instructor.”
“I thought you said the masseuse was skilled? I'm sure that was a long hard session wasn't it?” Karen deadpanned.
Shaking his head, Alburet grinned, “Oh she was. Somehow I think you can out do her in some ways, though.”
“Should I accept that challenge or not? Hmm...” Karen smirked but fell silent as they were ushered before the Commander.
The Commander looked up as they came in, “Welcome back. We’ve changed the mission. The satchel contained plans for the goblins and orcs to team up to attack the forts. Instead of planting false information, your mission now is to disrupt a key meeting that is to take place to the south. Any questions?”
Quest: Stop the Goblins and Orcs meeting in the southern province
Reward: Twenty gold and increased reputation with all Stormguard Guard factions
“So we just need to find and break up the meeting?” Alburet asked.
“A Goblin Messenger and an Orc Messenger should be meeting somewhere to the south. Intercept and kill them.” The Commander said before dismissing them once they accepted the quest.
Alburet saluted before turning on his heel and leaving, Karen’s actions mirroring his own. Once they were out of the office Alburet glanced at Karen. “So, what’s the plan?”
“We can jump to Stormguard and take a portal to the keep closest to the orcs, or we can just go south killing stuff as we go. Once we’re done it will be easiest to port back to Stormguard.”
“I'm free all day, so what do you want to do?”
“Let's just take a portal. I don't feel like spending hours trekking south.” Karen said, pulling out her Homestone.
Alburet nodded, “See you there shortly.”
Alburet paused as Karen vanished and buffed himself with everything he could, then used his own Homestone. He appeared in the graveyard with no one else near him, so he took two steps towards the portal guild then suddenly thrust both hands up and spoke, “Ground zero.” A blast of fire filled the space around him in a thirty foot circle that left only him untouched by the flames.
He heard a grunt of pain from behind him. Alburet dove forward and rolled to his feet, turning while pulling the maul from his back and invoking Flame Weapon.
“I was going to kill you nice and easy again, but now I’ll do it the hard way,” the same cloaked figure who had killed him twice said as he patted at a scorch mark on his cloak. Twirling a dagger, the enemy sheathed it and drew a different blade from under his cloak. “I hope you enjoy pain,” the enemy hissed as he took a step forward and vanished.
Alburet glanced at the inn just in time to see Stewart stick his head out the door. “Stewart, could use a hand,” Alburet said as he started backing away from where the assassin had been. “Seems I have an assassin trying to kill me for a third time.”
Stewart came out of the building looking thoughtful, “How many times are you supposed to die?”
“Three, already died twice but this time I caught him with Fire Burst.”
“That seems a touch excessive. Who did you piss off?”
Alburet shook his head, “Can we talk about it later? Right now I just would rather not get killed again.”
Stewart shrugged, “Assassin, can we talk?”
The man in the cloak appeared right behind Alburet, the knife pricking his back just enough for the poison to be applied. “No need. He is dead, and that is the last of it. Try not to piss off House Gilden again.”
The poison spread quickly from the small cut on his back, causing Alburet to seize in pain. Gasping and falling to his knees, he only vaguely heard the assassin speaking as his muscles began rhythmically spasming. The pain of his muscles forcefully contracting was intense, making him shake as each wave washed through him.
The assassin smirked at Stewart before he walked off. Stewart waited a second then went to Alburet and checked him. “Ew, nasty stuff. You’re losing 5% of your health every second and it’s going to hurt worse as it drags on. So the simple thing to do is this,” Stewart put his hand on Alburet’s back and said something.
A brief flash of heat filled Alburet, then he was floating above his corpse and Stewart was standing up, wiping his hand. Stewart hung around until Alburet reappeared a few steps away. “Better to just end your life quickly than let the poison keep hitting you.”
Alburet closed his eyes as he bit down on his anger at having been killed yet again. His voice came out rough and harsh, “Yeah, thanks for that.”
“So you pissed off Gilden House?”
Shaking his head, Alburet opened his eyes to look at Stewart, “Later. I have things to do and if I start thinking about it right now I will react badly.”
Pursing his lips, Stewart watched him carefully but nodded, “Later, then.” He turned to walk back into the inn, but paused when Alburet spoke again.
“Thank you, for stopping the pain.” The words came out clipped and angry.
Stewart nodded then waved as he walked into the inn without glancing back, “We should talk later.”
Alburet took off towards the portal guild at a fast walk, still seething with anger. As he reached the door he heard a cough behind him, turning he found Karen looking at him with curiosity.
“So what happened to twist you around the loop?” Karen asked as she entered the building with him.
“I was just killed for the third time by an assassin,” Alburet replied, his voice level but the anger still clearly evident on his face.
“Someone took a contract out on you?”
“I seem to have upset the House of Gilden. They paid for me to die three times and to be told who had taken the contract out on me.” He stopped behind the person speaking to the receptionist and let out a deep breath. “Sorry for my attitude right now, but I’m a little pissed. This time he used a convulsive poison that was taking 5% of my life per second while causing excruciating pain.”
“Wow, I’m so going to ask my trainer about that poison next time I see him. So, who is the House of Gilden and how did you piss them off?” Karen asked, smiling at the receptionist who greeted them. “Hi. We need a group portal to the small keep that is near the southern orc area.”
“Ahh, a change of scenery is always good. The price is one and a half gold each,” Alburet handed the three gold to the receptionist, earning him an arch look from Karen.
“I owed you from selling the junk from last night,” Alburet said, forestalling Karen’s argument.
“Right, okay then. Now, who is the House of Gilden?” Karen said as they went to the waiting area and found seats.
“A minor noble house that I seemed to have pissed off. The only person I’ve upset to such a degree that I know of is a guard called Wilber. He’s supposedly a son of that house.”
Karen waved her hand in a keep going motion. Alburet sighed and relayed the story of his encounters with Wilber. Just as he was finishing up the portal mage, Rolland, came to get them. “So there it is,” Alburet said, nodding to Rolland, “you know everything I do.” By the time he finished his tale he was also calm again.
“Okay, the kid kept getting upset over being called Skippy. Weird, but okay.” Karen replied shaking her head, “Probably the weirdest reason I’ve ever heard of to hire an assassin.”
“Yeah, so I’m going to speak with Captain Ramirez tomorrow. Maybe he can shed some more light on this topic for me.”
“Here we are,” Rolland said motioning them into the room with a glowing glyph on the floor.