Hollow Henry

The next morning they had much higher spirits. They ate a breakfast of dogleg and vegetable stew. Henry needed to start diversifying his crops. The stockpile of vegetables he had was already starting to turn. They both avoided the very obvious topic of the Admins. Hamish wouldn't say it, but he was concerned about Henry after the execution. Taking a sentient life wasn't like killing a monster. Henry had never killed a man, at least as far as Hamish knew. For Henry's part, he was getting through it alright. He might not have killed a man before LongJohn, but he'd had to put down animals he had a lot more respect for when he was back on earth. It was the less than pretty part of having livestock and farm dogs around. The enemy player was like a wild dog from the bush. Henry took no pleasure in taking him out, but it was him or the flock. The fact that the player would come back at some point helped sway his guilt somewhat, but he knew that was a dangerous line of thinking.

Their loot from the fight was all gathered in a pile outside of Henry's house. They already decided that Andy would get the king's share. The chitin armour would probably fit the deceased marksman, and its quality was leagues ahead of anything they currently had access to. It had hardness and swiftness enchantments along with a passive spell to keep from being noticed by bug monsters. Henry hadn't considered bug monsters before that, and he really didn't want to meet one. The blades were both enchanted with sharpness, swiftness and hardness. The one he cut Henry with also had a nasty little bleeding enchantment, which explained why it took Henry several hours to start healing. The rings were buff spells. For a player they would increase different stats, for a native they would just increase strength and awareness. One of the rings was particularly interesting. It was an item from the Goblin Shop, that much was obvious. Player specific items had an aura about them that somehow separated them from other items. A player could tell in an instant if something had come from the Goblin Shop. The ring must have been a unique shop item however, since it wasn't in the general catalogue. According to the Scotsmen, every Tavern had a Goblin Shop, and every Shop sold a set of unique items along with the standard catalogue. Wherever the ring had come from, Henry wanted to go. It was a storage item with a space of 50 square feet, and it was soul bound under certain conditions. The other player would have gotten to keep all of his stuff if Henry didn't strip him. If the ring was still on someone's body when they died, it would follow them to respawn. It was like a way to have everything you carried around be soul bound. Henry had no use for it, since he could already go one step further with his Temple Realm, but the Scotsmen would definitely see a use for it. Nothing gave away what might have made the players gauntlets glow, so they chalked the light balls up to being a power or skill.

The biggest item of interest to the both of them however, was the sharp tooth necklace that changed LongJohn's tier. When Henry grabbed it,he didn't pay close attention to what it looked like. Up close it was clearly a fang that once belonged to something bigger. It was about an inch long, and it was warm to the touch with the power it held.

Wyvern tooth necklace:

Tier: 4

Natural enchantment.

Wearer inherits the bloodline of ‘Lord Grakkagurr Tane Desatorrok’ the wyvern king of Firr Delpann.

Effect is variable dependent on the wearer.

There were a lot of words there that he didn't understand, but it was still clear enough. Clear might be the wrong word, since it as much as stated that the effect was vague. He wanted to put it on right away, his curiosity was burning. Still, he set it into the pile. It was up to Andy to choose first, so he'd have to wait a couple of days. He would be happy to accept nothing else from the haul but the tooth. It called to him like the loot of his dreams, plus he had an idea on what to do with it. The power inside the thing was significant. If he fed it to his essence it might be a waste of a great artefact, but there were other things he could do. The innkeeper mentioned something about integrating things into his core. She mentioned it as more of a warning, telling him he's better off feeding his essence into his core. If he fed something directly to his core before converting it into essence, his core would take on traits of whatever he put in. The outcome was apparently often unfavourable if it was just any old thing. There needed to be a resonance between the core and the item. He wasn't entirely sure what she meant by resonance, but he felt an undeniable connection to the tooth.

He would plead his case to Andy when he returned. Both of his friends were pretty understanding, and Andy especially was curious to see what Henry was capable of, so he was already confident he'd be using the necklace soon.

Their walk back to camp took longer than the one there. They weren't in much of a hurry to bring back the bad news. By the time they crossed the wards laid by the guards, they could smell the camp's breakfast cooking. It was easy enough to find the princess with all of her yelling. Apparently some of the guards hadn't packed away a tent properly, and now the ropes were tangled in a bush with a very angry bird and cart. In her defence, the guards tasked with the tent were known among the troop for their lack of brain cells.

“And when you're done with the ropes, I want the 3 of you to go and sit on your fucking hands somewhere,” she shouted, finishing her undressing of the guards little dignity. “About fucking time you got here,” she continued, spinning on her heel to face the players.

“Good morning to you too, your highness,” Henry said, rolling his eyes.

She looked them both over, then looked behind them to see they were alone. Her face shifted from anger to concern. Henry still wasn't wearing armour, and the cut he'd received had left behind a long and nasty scar, despite the healing. His chin was now marred, ruining the perfect skin he'd managed to keep since he got to the Hollows.

“We should talk in my tent,” she said with a serious tone.

They nodded, and followed her silently to her tent. Two guards stood watch outside, but she still cast a spell to keep them from being heard.

As a human she couldn't simply cast magic, so she used a crystal on a wire that she pressed against the rune in her grimoire. There was enchanted gear that would give her the ability to do such things without the wire, but she wasn't exactly dressed for magic. She still wore the same heavy armour he'd met her in. He was starting to think it was connected to her skin.

They walked her through what had happened the day before, and gave her the 3 medallions they collected from the dead guards. She didn't yell or swear once the whole time. Henry had expected her to argue and accuse, given that every interaction they ever had was combative in some way. He almost felt bad for his opinion when he saw a tear fall down her cheek.

“Thank you for trying,” she said softly. Her expression never shifted from serious, apparently ignoring her tears as much as the players were. “I'm sorry about your friend. I hope he's with us again soon.”

“Thank you, princess,” Hamish said with a nod. “We need to talk about this guild. It's not a group you want to take lightly.”

“I appreciate that,” she assured him. “You'll have your audience with my father's advisor, and I'll join the meeting.”

“That would go a long way,” Hamish admitted. “For now I think we should hurry up with packing up the camp,” he said, standing to leave.

“You see to that,” she half ordered. “Can I speak with you alone for a moment?” She asked, looking at Henry.

He shrugged. “I don't see why not.”

The ‘Fragile’ Henry:

Don't leave me alone with her!

She's being too nice

I think she's up to something

‘Unstoppable’ Hamish:

Good luck Casanova

Hamish shot him a smirk, and bid them farewell. Once the tent door was closed, she got his attention again.

“Are you alright?” She asked calmly.

He furrowed his brow and gave her a curious look. “Uh… yeah. Why do you ask?”

She shrugged back at him. “Well I don't know if you've ever killed anyone before. I wanted to make sure you were alright.”

That surprised him a little. It was his first murder, but it still wasn't weighing on him very heavily. What surprised him was her concern. “I'm all good. Thanks for asking though,” he said carefully.

“That's a relief,” she sighed. “You’re usually a massive pussy.”

He laughed abruptly. “There she is. I was starting to think you'd hit your head or something.”

“I'm not a monster,” she defended with a smile. “I'm honestly glad you're both okay. I know you're here to keep us all safe, but I still feel responsible for every person here.”

He nodded. That made sense. She was a leader after all, it was up to her to make sure they could continue keeping her safe. She had a kinder heart than he'd given her credit for. “You know. You're not so bad for a princess. I might not even eat you.”

She laughed too. “You say that now, but wait until we run out of food.”

He shrugged again. “Then don't run out of food.”

She leant back in her chair with a look of contemplation. “Shit…” she eventually said with a sigh. “If we need to move fast, we might have to ditch some of the food.”

Henry smiled. He'd thought about such a scenario. The troop didn't need to worry about all of their gear if the princess would have a little trust. “Why don't you let me carry it. I'll carry the gear too. Shit, I can even take the carts and birds if you need me to.”

She rubbed at her chin. “I won't lie to you. I've thought about that,” she admitted. “I think I could go for that. Some of the guards might appreciate the safety too.”

Henry raised an eyebrow. “Some of the guards?” He asked. He wasn't sure if he was on board with having people he barely knew in his realm while he wasn't around.

“Good thinking,” she said, ignoring his reluctant tone. “They can stay there in shifts, and you can switch them around when it's time for a shift change.”

“Wait. Can we just,” he started to speak, but she stood up and cut him off.

“I'll let the troop know,” she declared. “I'm glad you're here,” she said to him with a smile that was a little too sweet. She knew exactly what she was doing when she left him stunned and confused in her tent.

Her plan was going to cost him a lot in magic and essence. The magic he could regenerate, but every point of essence he had was valuable to him. He'd already spent a bit in his fight against LongJohn. He didn't want to spend much more on anything other than his Temple. He sighed, and stood to leave. There was a lot to do. He just hoped what they were getting paid would make it all worthwhile.