Cat With a Raygun

Joe saw another cell in the back of the room Glior came out of. Glior was tough so his body thawed rather fast, even though he was already dead, and Joe was able to find a few keys in his pockets. One of them opened the cell with the crying gnome teen.

“Hey, don't worry. I'm going to get you out of here. Your father is still alive. I rescued him and your mother from their cells, and she healed the poison keeping him from walking.” Joe looked over the young gnome, “Do you have any poison or other wounds you need healed?”

Gymmie wiped his tears away and cleared his throat, “No, I can walk okay.”

“Okay, there are still a couple of bandits, but let's get you reunited with your parents before I go get them.”

Gymmie's eyes lit up at that idea and he vigorously nodded in agreement as Joe turned to lead him back to where he entered. There was another path that came to the other door in the prison room where they found the elf teen still waiting. Joe produced the other key which fit the manacles so he could free the boy while Gymmie knocked on the back door.

“Mom, dad, it's Gymmie, a felinoid rescued me from Glior. Can we open the door?”

Before Gymmie even finished his question the door flew open and the boy's father rushed towards him. His mother followed shortly after seeing that it wasn't a trick the bandits forced Gymmie to participate in. The three gnomes cried as they embraced each other.

“I'm glad I was able to get you guys back together. Enjoy your family reunion, take care of this guy, too, if you could. I watched him get captured and his father killed by Glior, which is why I killed him, but there's still two more bandits left, I think they're almost done organizing their loot, though. I'll be back soon. I'll bring some of the food they stole from the caravan.”

Passing the corpses of those he had killed earlier Joe was actually glad that his Harvest spell wouldn't work on them. It would be incredibly weird to wear or wield things made out of people. That was a path he had no interest in going down.

The last two bandits were moving in his direction, so it didn't take long to get to them. They were as weak as the first group he killed in the prison room, so they were easy enough to take down. He went back through the dining room and gathered the food the bandits hadn't eaten yet and came to get the former prisoners.

Food was passed out and introductions were made. The gnome parents were Tess and Malcolm, the elf woman Eleanor, the human girl Melanie, and the elf boy Kerras. They all thanked Joe and Eleanor let him know what Glior had planned for Melanie and Kerras. As Ferric had told him months ago when he first got to Rust's Edge, the problem with mages is that there are so few people with the high intelligence needed to be able to pick the class. Eleanor was an alchemist who could create an elixir which would give the drinker a permanent +5 to their Intelligence, which would make almost anyone eligible for the mage class, so long as they drank it as soon as they got their CWEST Guidebook. The elixir didn't work on anyone before they were part of the CGS, for some reason, which they found out with the first two test prisoners who were subsequently killed for being failures.

Glior was going to create mages then sell them for a fortune to the highest bidder. He had already sold a third prisoner who successfully became a mage. Melanie would have been his second sale.

After things calmed down Joe asked if they were ready to leave. Tess said that she couldn't leave without her Weavers, and Eleanor said they should collect the remaining two Intelligence Elixirs she had already made. Joe wasn't sure what her Weavers were, but he certainly wasn't expecting what he found. A 1 meter crate on wheels filled with spiders. The treasure vault hadn't been opened yet, Joe guessed they were waiting to give a full report to Glior on what they looted from the caravan, so Joe filled the wagon back up with everything that had been set out for inspection, planning on returning it to the caravan. Joe opened the vault and was able to retrieve the elixirs for Eleanor.

Despite their magical healing, the long period of captivity made it so that Kerras and Joe were the only ones capable of leaving by ladder, so Joe went back up and tried to move the boulder himself. He certainly wasn't as strong as Jedzin the orc woman had been, but he was still much stronger than a mage should be, and with effort was able to roll the boulder out of the way of the cave opening. It was still dark, but he had promised the caravan he'd be back before morning, so he pulled the wagon along back to the road, loaded with their stolen supplies and the five former prisoners. It was much heavier than his handcart, so he gained another level in his Portering skill after the short trek back.

It wasn't easy getting it safely back to the road from up on the rocks, but he managed it. Joe saw that the horse that nearly knocked him down during the bandit ambush had wandered back, so they were only down two horses that had died. It looked like they'd be able to make it on to Mankerin as planned, and Joe asked them if that's what they would do.

“Well, we weren't sure how things would turn out. We'll need to sleep on it. Normally this wouldn't be a good place to camp, in the middle of the road, but we're all too shaken up to do much more moving tonight.”

“Okay, and what plans do you guys have?” Joe asked the prisoners he had freed.

“We haven't even begun to think about that. We'll also need time. What are your plans, by the way?” Malcom asked.

“Well, I'm on my way to Trenos to make some trades and then I have a long trek back to my home. I'll be on the road for months.”

“Can I go with you?” Kerras quickly asked. “I'm sorry to impose after all you've already done, but with my father dead I'll have no place in Mankerin where he was going to take a job as a scribe.”

Joe considered it for a moment. “Well, besides supplies for my town I'm also looking for new residents. We're expecting a lot of growth in our neck of the woods in the next couple of years and are trying to get ahead of it. If you're willing to earn your keep and help out around the town with whatever skills you develop after you get your Guidebook I don't see why you wouldn't be welcome.”

Joe turned to the rest of the prisoners, “That goes for all of you. If you're willing to come back with me I'll put you up in Trenos while I conduct my business, then we can travel back to my town together. Think about it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get my stuff.”

Joe cast Backtrack and disappeared from the midst of the caravan. After a few minutes he returned pulling his handcart behind him.

“Right where I left it.”

- - - - -

It was late into the next day when the caravan finally got ready to leave. They had decided to continue on their original path to Mankerin. It would be a little more difficult, but they should be able to manage. The former prisoners decided to take up Joe on his offer, although he was careful not to mention the town he was from, trying to keep rumors from spreading before Rust's Edge was ready for it.

Joe gave the rest of his food supplies to the caravan, planning on doing some hunting later that day. The gnomes and Melanie were feeling stronger from having a good meal and seeing the sun again, but Eleanor wasn't conditioned enough to travel, so she sat in the handcart. Before they left the area, Joe decided it would be silly to leave behind the rest of the loot the bandits had gathered in their hideout, so he used Minor Levitation to get the handcart back up the rocky hills while helping the others climb up and they went back.

Malcom had the Woodwright profession, meaning he could make things out of wood. He went back down into the caves with Joe and put back together one of the many wagons the bandits had previously captured and he had helped disassemble for parts for other things in the hideout. They loaded it up with all of the loot they deemed useful or valuable. Joe did another search around Glior's room and found a few more valuables, including a few small diamonds.

Joe also took the table from the dining room, flipping it over, and started piling the bodies, and parts, on it. There was a well in the prison room which made it easier to clean all the splatters from the two bandits he had shattered while frozen, and he also took all the old food and piled it up as well. He used Minor Levitation to take the table of bodies out of there. When they left he moved the boulder back. He also found a latch on the inside of the hidden ladder shaft, so he locked it. You never know when a hidden underground base could be useful. Don't want undesirables moving in while he's away.

After they met back up with the others they moved Eleanor to the bigger wagon and tied the handcart to the back of it. All of the coins, gems, and most valuable things were put in the steelwood chest.

“Forgive my ignorance,” Joe began to say to Tess, “I don't know anything about druids. Are you under any vows not to eat meat?”

“Some orders take such measures, but no, not I.”

“Oh, good, cause I rely on hunting for most of my food while traveling.”

“I can help with that, I can find clusters of large game for you,” Tess offered.

“Sounds good. We'll move on to a more wooded area and go hunting if there's a good source of meat there. Let's get back on the road.”

As they traveled Joe pulled the wagon from the front and opened up small CGS windows, hoping the others wouldn't notice. His Stealth had gone up 2 levels for sneaking around the hideout and killing the bandits without raising an alarm. He also got a good Strategy combat bonus after killing the last bandit. It was enough to get him to level 7 in his Mage class even though he had just got to level 6 two days prior. As before his extra points went into Intelligence.

For the first time he didn't get a new ability on an odd level. He did get a new spell option which seemed interesting by its name, so he chose it.

Karmic Bond (Level 1). This spell allows the caster to link two creatures within 2 meters of one another at the time of casting. What happens to one happens to the other, and vice versa. If one gets harmed the other takes the same damage. If one is healed the other gets the same healing. This spell lasts for one minute at its current level.

Mana cost: 75 mana