Breaking the Rules Pt. 04

Sequel to Bending the Rules, although hopefully if you're familiar with RPGs you won't have too much trouble following along without having read that. Not based on any particular gaming franchise or storyline... but there may be guest appearances.

Thanks to everyone rating, faving, and commenting - and reading - you've all made this lockdown far more bearable over the last year. If you'd all pretend it's explained that Nuru dropped the amulet as he approached the rhinopotamus and then collected it after the capture was complete, I'd consider it worthy of a Big Favor. Now we return you to our carefully scheduled Random Encounters.

*****

Nuru picked up a book of scroll parchment and set off down the road, breaking away from the path to Emerald City to see if he could smash the amulet somehow on a rock. He picked his way through a line of brush and started looking for a good spot, saw some rocks laying out in a field, and went to go dig them up.

"Hey, excuse me!" a voice called out.

Nuru, alarmed at the sound of heavy wings flapping, took off running; flying mounts might mean Katlego, and there was no way he wanted to be caught on her terms right now. The polite greeting might be just the sort of trick she'd use to give her a split second to catch him off guard.

"Wait, don't-!" the voice called. A sudden barrage of fireballs rained down in a half-circle in front of him, and he skidded to a stop, covering his head. "Hey, lizard brain, you're being rude!" the voice said. It sounded like a woman.

"Oh, uhhh... sorry," a deep gravelly voice boomed out.

"I swear, you've been out doing battle too long. You need to settle down and learn some manners."

"I said I was sorry. It's been a few centuries since I last sat down to tea, what do you want from me?"

"Just wait for my signal before you open up full force like that."

"Fine, I'll let your next new friend run right into the field of traps."

"The... what?" the woman asked.

Nuru peeked as a flying red lizard touched down not far away, chomped a clump of dirt up from the ground, and spat. A metallic snap make Nuru jump again, and a little puff of poison drifted across the wind between Nuru and the newcomers.

"You were headed right for it," the lizard said. "But don't worry, next time I'll let you stumble right in."

"Guh... ermm... uh..." Nuru said, trying to put everything into perspective.

"I think the word you're looking for is 'thanks'," a woman, the owner of the other voice, said to Nuru.

"You're welcome," the lizard rumbled.

"Don't you go getting all high and mighty on me. I still haven't forgiven you for that stunt with the waterfall."

"I really thought there was something behind it! You know how many times we've found a cave with treasure!"

"Zip it. I'm trying to make a friend here, not a terrified vassal," she said, slipping from its back.

"Boooring. Suit yourself." The lizard settled its tail down and peering every other direction.

Nuru watched wide-eyed as she dropped some wicked-looking longswords and a bow that had to be at least Master quality, if not Legendary. It was an act of parlay, evening the playing field between them, and an unusual gesture of goodwill.

"My gods you're breathtaking," Nuru said quietly, completely star-struck.

"What's that?" the woman said, turning to walk over to him confidently.

"Uh- nothing. Thanks for showing me the trap. Can- can I help you?"

"He said you're breathtaking," the lizard said.

"I actually heard him, but I was trying to be polite," the woman snapped. "Will you let me do the talking?"

"Oops." The lizard's head drooped, chastened.

She turned back, smiling wryly. "It was very kind of you to say that. My name is Rynn."

"I'm nobody. I mean, Nuru," he said, blushing.

"Hello, new buddy Nuru! So glad we're past that whole awkward introduction thing and we can get right to being friendly," Rynn said, waving away his embarrassment brightly. "This great ruiner of first impressions is Arokh, but he's not allowed to talk for a little while, and he doesn't eat people, so don't worry about him."

"I don't care what he does with the body after I'm roasted. I'll be dead then, and won't care anymore," Nuru said.

She suppressed a laugh, a low sensuous movement that made her chest move in a way that made Nuru blink and strain his eyes to bring them back up to her face. "That's fair. Great warriors from my culture often get their own great catacombs full of traps and their fine luxury goods or whatever, but I hardly see how it does them any good. Listen, I want to be respectful of your time, so I'll get right to the point. I'm looking for the dragons, like Arokh here."

"Are- are you sure I can't interest you in a date instead? I promise you, I put out if you're interested, and I don't skimp on the foreplay."

Well, that was bold of him, but if she was in an agreeable mood... too bad he didn't have Sanaa's advice to assist.

(Damn this amulet! Will she think I'm being threatening if I throw it away? It would be rather suspicious. Or maybe she's here to steal it. Better play it safe for a minute.)

"Aw, you're sweet. I wish I had men back home like you. Unfortunately I'm in a little bit of a rush. It's most pressing that I find the dragon mother, she is needed at once. She was supposed to be right on the other side of this portal, but no such luck. Never such luck."

"Oh, well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news then. There's no dragons here."

"You're sure? We've seen all kinds of things, griffins, giant hawks, goblins, all manner of people flying about. Not too friendly, I'm sorry to say, some of them. You looked like you might give us a chance before going for the throat, with that beautiful drum and all. I love that blue color."

"Thanks! Yeah, the factions can be kind of contentious around here. Technically at war, you know. But no, no dragons I'm aware of. Near as anyone can tell they're all gone. Well, except maybe the one, I'm not sure if that counts."

"One's a start. Can you tell me about her? Or him, whichever. I'm sure they'll know where to go from here."

"Him. Uh... look, no offense, I don't think he's what you're looking for."

"I won't know until I meet him, I'm afraid. He may have clues as to where the others have gone. I'm certain they'll have left some behind."

"Well, if you're sure, I will just say this. His name is Neeoka, and he is a god. But a nice lady like you may regret seeking him out. He's... got a reputation. His followers are not friendly like me."

"A dragon became a god you say? No, Arokh, we're not staying here, get that idea right out of your head," She waved her finger at him in a wide arc.

"But I didn't even-"

"Shut it!"

Rynn laughed, jiggling in her well-fitted battle armor very distractingly.

"I can't help teasing him sometimes. It's probably not healthy."

"Yeah, he could just 'accidentally' drop you, flying around. I try to avoid mounts that have their own strong opinions, no offense."

"Oh no, he couldn't drop me, he'd die too. We're soul-bonded, you see; my life is tied to his. Really, talking to him is kind of like talking to myself. I've heard it's not good to have a conversation with yourself on both sides, but I've got two minds and two mouths to speak with, and one soul between them. I'm really not sure what to do with that, so I entertain myself sometimes. Call it putting on a show, for your benefit. I might be slowly going insane, I can't tell."

"Gods below, you're really not from around here," Nuru said. "I've never heard of anyone like you before, and that makes me sad."

"I'm a little sad too, we seem like we could really be friends if only I could stay. I could use someone calm in my life. But, duty calls; sorry to disappoint. Where can I find this 'Neeoka'?"

"Well, my understanding of it is that the gods are all in the demon realm. Or, uh, the realm of the angels, depending on who you ask. They can come over here, with some specific rules about the direct influence they can have. But physically they spend most of their time on the other side, building their runes and whatever else. Also, I don't know that he became a god, I think he's just always been. Is that armor something you brought with you? What is that, a complete Legendary set?"

"What? Oh, yeah, it's Armor of the Order. It's like a... uniform, I think. The ancients of the- well, nevermind, I doubt it would make sense to you. If I reach my goal, perhaps I'll come back and find you, and we'll chat about all kinds of things. How would I do that, do you suppose?"

"Just bring your talking lizard to a city somewhere. You know, land him and walk like you're not invading the place. I'll hear about it and come running, I swear on my life."

"See! I told you we shouldn't have buzzed the towers," Rynn said.

"But it's been so long since I've seen one intact up close," the dragon lamented. "I couldn't help it. Besides, you didn't say anything until after the twelfth time."

"Silly me, I thought you'd catch on after all the screaming started. 'Any moment now he'll stop,' I thought. But no, I had to tell you."

"The screaming started after the first pass. You've never hesitated to speak your mind before."

"Don't you sass me! You're still in talky-time-out!" Rynn chided.

"You know I'm right," Arokh muttered with a cheeky flip of his tail.

"I'd be grateful if you could pass along my apologies if you ever figure out who lives in those towers in the city over that way," Rynn said, pointing. "It seems I'll be too busy finding a way to enter the demon realm to do it myself. Any thoughts on where to start?"

"Well, that might be difficult, it's usually done the other way around. However, there could be another option. If you can talk to an archon of his, you could speak to Neeoka through them. Probably safer that way, although they're not ones to do a lot of travelling out in open spaces away from their fortress-temple or whatever it is they've got. Minus the dragon, you might be able to get someone to open up and invite you in. Just be careful; keep the dragon close by, I say. I've heard they like to hang around the Glitch, fighting with Jabu's boys. Maybe a week's walk thataway," Nuru waved vaguely in its direction.

"Don't worry, I've done my share of hostile negotations. Even in this armor people underestimate me. Someday I may get tired of seeing that look on their faces in the end. One of these swords heals me with every hit I land, it's a little OP if I'm being honest."

She turned to go back to the dragon. Nuru decided it was safe to ask.

"Wait! Just a moment, if you please. Do you think... you could break this for me?" Nuru said, holding out the amulet Fumnaya had given him.

"May I see it?" Rynn said, holding out her hand.

"Sure. I mean, whatever it takes, you know. There's something inside it for me, supposedly."

"Hmm. What do you think, can you chew it? We don't want to break whatever it is," Rynn said.

"If they made it too hard to open, and whatever's inside is delicate, they did it wrong," Arokh said. "But sure, give it to me and I'll see what I can do."

Rynn tossed the amulet and Arokh snatched it out of the air, and swallowed.

"Arokh! I didn't mean for you to- oh, right, you've got those teeth all down your gullet."

The dragon shook and flexed his neck muscles, snapping his head left and right with great force. Then he leaned down and spat, flattening the grass and leaving bits of amulet sizzling and crackling on the ground.

Nuru stood straight up as he heard Sanaa scream at the top of her lungs in his head.

/Pasihan abdi maot alit éta! Tetep sareng abdi salamina! Mother's milk, Nuru! What did you do!? Did you break the amulet? Who's that lovely creature in the spiney armor? Did you just get high-level lucky without me!?/

(I tried, I really did. You know I'd invite you to watch if I could. It's not out of the question for the future.)

Rynn collected her weapons, oblivious to his sudden shock and shimmied up onto the dragon's back with a practiced choreography on both their parts.

"What do you think, will that do it?" she asked.

"That's fantastic, thank you," Nuru replied, grinning shakily.

"Thanks for your help!" she waved and blasted off from the ground with hardly a running start. "Come Arokh, let's fly!"

"Let's go roast some evil scum."

"No, no! We need to talk to them."

"Bah, that's no fun."

"OK, maybe roast them if we don't like their answers. Or the minions get too handsy."

(They broke the mold when they made that one, didn't they?)

/Don't say that; you can always dream. I can arrange that, you know./

(Sign me up. Is it bedtime yet?)

Nuru stamped out the smoldering debris and poked through the pieces.

(What kind of gift would... what's this?)

Nuru picked up a thin ribbon of metal, wound in a tight spiral like a disc. He pried at it with his fingers, struggling to unroll it. Something was engraved he couldn't make sense of.

/"Naon Sora Hiji Leungeun Keprok". Most interesting. Where did this come from?/

(Fumnaya gave it to me. She-)

/Oh, it was inside the amulet she gave you./

(How do you know that?)

/I saw it when the pact connection came back. It flew by so quickly I couldn't make sense of how it all came together, but I think it's becoming clear./

(What does it mean?)

/It's a riddle. 'What is the sound of one hand clapping'. It must be something to do with how you can recognize others like her. Oh, hey handsome. Yes, I'm fine, thanks so much for asking. I'm just- oh, well, you don't need to bother yourself for- well, yes, I was a bit weak in the knees. Yes. I'm happy to meet you too!/

(Huh? What's going on?)

/Oh Nuru, I just had an explosive orgasm after I ran into this lovely titan. Just as soon as I laid eyes on him, I was overwhelmed and came right then and there so hard I fell over. I think I've just made a friend!/

(Came? From looking at him, or from the memories and EXP released by the amulet?)

/The latter, and some special kind of included surprise. But you won't tell my new friend that, will you?/

(I thought you didn't do friends. Enemies waiting to reveal themselves, you said.)

/Maybe you're rubbing off on me. Anyway, it's not serious, we're just gonna be fuck buddies./

Sanaa giggled in deep amusement, making his head swim and his pants tent up even more.

(Hey! How come I could cast your spells with that amulet anyway?)

/Apparently it suppresses all active transfers. MP of course, and EXP; communication doesn't take much but it's not zero either. I guess if you're pulling exclusively your own mana you can still cast anything I had slotted before we got cut off. You find another one and we can experiment. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got things to see, and people to do. Talk to you soon, though, we have a lot to discuss./

(Right... right.)

Nuru activated Tusa's oath and the translate spell, then continued slowly down the road. Once he caught sight of the lyena, he cut away from the road into the cover of the trees.

"I made the horrible mistake of going off completely alone into the woods a little bit ago, and just about ran into a trap. Well, come to think of it, I might not have missed it if that dragon hadn't come swooping in first... anyway, can you scout and make sure there's nothing waiting to nab me? I'm going up to Emerald City, and I'm a little concerned about the kind of people I'm going to start running into up that way. There's a bunch of higher-level areas up there. Also, I'd appreciate if you could identify the easier routes, since I can't climb steep hills as fast as you can."

Tusa chuffed and loped away. Nuru debated with himself on whether or not to hold the Weightless Foot spell in reserve because of the long cooldown, but decided he had lots of MP going to waste and might do well to boost proficiency on it for later on.

"How does that even work with a pact?" Nuru muttered to himself as he followed in the feliform's wake. "It's not even my spell. Can I boost proficiency? I guess I'll find out."

The trip was pretty uneventful. A couple times, Tusa ran back and grabbed Nuru's wrist with his teeth and yanked him downward so he laid flat on the ground until Tusa's ears tracked whatever was out there leaving the area. His food-to-go was running out though, so he was looking forward to getting there and restocking, and having some of his fermented juice that he liked. He was a bit perturbed to see not one but six entrances to Emerald City. He mosied up to a fighter that was headed in, acting casual.

"Hey, uh, this is my first time here. What's with the entrances?"

"Oh, well, they process people coming in by faction. You just pick the entry way that matches your symbol and walk in that way, and the wards do the rest. Didn't they warn you about that when they let you out past the gate?"

"Must have slipped my mind. It's been a busy couple days."

"Yeah, lots to remember, like how the big ward here activates to alert the guards to a Chaos factioner for closer scrutiny."

"But, they do let them in sometimes, right?"

"Sure, just so long as they're not on the Most Wanted list I think."

"Oh, yeah, makes sense. So, what are you doing here?"

"Got a meeting with some of mah boyyyys about a job we're thinking of taking. Basically trying to figure out if the possible payout is worth the number of guys we need to sign up to go with us for the risk profile."

"Sounds... well, pretty boring, even if I've never been to one of those," Nuru said.

"Yeah pretty much. I hate all the math. What's your story?"

"Oh, kinda the same. Meeting some people, looking for work."

They passed the big ward without incident.

"Cool, cool. Any prospects? You a, uh, field-playing bard, or an inn gig type?"

"More the field kind. Just helped take out an orc commander down by Sapphire City."

"Pshoo. Not far from Home Town. Somebody needs to get their head outta their ass and get some bigger quest rewards to put the fear of the gods back in those big green fools. Next thing you know, we're gonna have an Expansion to put a wall up around the road or something, so the noobs don't get jumped right outta the gate."

"I didn't think that's how Expansions work."

"Oh, you know, not exactly. They'll actually pay the conjurer's guild a buttload of money to do it, or whatever, on the existing space. You know what I mean."

"Yeah, I think so."

"Oh, hey, you're one of ours? Why didn't you say so?" the man said, stepping over the smaller ward.

The Blue Sun logo lit up over the doorway, which looked like a tree made out of vertically-parallel rows of metal bars which began rotating, only allowing people in through in one direction; the other side had more metal bars that intersected the space with just enough clearance for the rotating pieces to pass through coming back out.

"I didn't know," Nuru grinned. "What're the odds?"

"Hah! One in six. Well. Nice meeting ya, fellow Blue Sun. Catch you around."

"Good luck with your snooze-fest."

"We'll bring in some strippers, it'll be fine."

"Is... is that allowed? I've been going to all the wrong meetings," Nuru said, perking up.

"Hahah! I'm just kiddin'. Jelani'd never allow it. Officially," the fighter winked. "Now, dancers that keep their nips covered up? Completely different matter."

"Ah. That makes all the difference. Bye then!" Nuru said, rolling his eyes.

First he sated his hunger, then went to the library.

"Hello. You a frequent traveller?" the man at the desk said.

"Actually, I've never been," Nuru said. "And I'm prohibited, for physical reasons."

Nuru waved his cursed ring.

"Oh. What can I do for you then?"

"I'd like to send a message to the keeper of the Home Town location."

"Mm, ok, just wander on out there and grab a page," the man said. "We've got some with frequent traveler agreements that'll be happy to deliver it."