The Pinnacle Warrior

Before Astrid could knock on Klara’s door, the smaller woman called her in. As always, the room was a testament to Klara’s personality—overwhelming, flighty, and somehow personable. The orc and warg towered in one edge of the room, and Klara’s desk had now been moved to be right in front of it. Taxidermied monsters capable of destroying every village and town that Astrid had ever been in loomed over Klara, who sat with her fingers laced together and a somewhat jovial look on her face.

“Take a seat, if you’d like. I don’t think we’ll take too long. I just wanted to ask what you’re doing with your funds. I know your party hasn’t been spending much, so I wanted to check with you what your plans were now.”

“We…” Astrid squinted, unsure if Klara was deliberately acting as if she didn’t know. Eventually, she just decided to blaze ahead. “We’re planning on saving 3 gold and taking it to Skandr’s debtors at the same time. By then, his debt should be around 1 gold, and we’ll be able to combat any spurious charges that they’ll try to levy on him. That’s the main goal, to make sure that we’re not under anyone’s thumb.”

“Not a bad plan. Have you considered spending it all, though?”

Astrid recoiled. The thought of being in that shark’s hands, of losing a silver every day to the shifty-eyed Kin, turned her stomach. 

“No. We lose a silver a day that way, and there’s no reason to lose the money.”

“Again, not a bad plan. Have you thought that, because you are still in debt, people still think that they can twist your arm that way? So they won’t resort to other measures?”

Seeing Astrid’s curious look, Klara continued, “A lot of the most powerful delvers that’re controlled by some of the families in Ginnastadt started off as debtors. Some become debt slaves, others embrace the gilded collar that’s placed on them, and others still manage to throw off the shackles that are so gently placed around them. It’s nearly impossible and I can only think of three that managed to do so, but it has happened. The point at hand is that mounting debts upon debts is an easy enough way to get a delver under your thumb. If you continue to show that you’re unwilling to potentially fall down that slope, those who are trying to entrap you will try other methods.”

“But they’re going to try them anyways when we pay off the debt eventually!” Astrid scoffed. “So why would we lose that money until then? A silver? That’s a tenth of what we make on our full delve days as a party right now!”

“True, but if you pay it off when you leave, as if you’re looking just to settle up with them before you go somewhere else, they see that it’s a possibility! And, even if they change their angle of attack, you’ll be four levels higher than you are right now, past another watershed. Each one of those is massive! Think about what will change for you three, and how much easier it will be for you to find another party member or two?”

Astrid frowned and settled back into her seat. That was only part of the Guild representative’s point, and Astrid had a certain sense that the woman’s biggest point was yet to be made. 

“And what is it that you want me to spend money on? There’s something you know that I don’t because I don’t know of anything worth spending our money on at this point around here. There’s just ordinary equipment. And yeah, we can buy a couple potions, probably should, but it’s better to just be cautious. So what’s the point?”

Klara smiled as she shook a finger at Astrid. “You’re a clever girl. Cleverer than you let on. So let me tell you. It’s the time of year that novice Blacksmiths, Armorers, Leatherworkers, Smiths, Enchanters and other crafting Classes send their first works out into the world. This equipment is cheap because it’s ugly, made with piss-poor materials, and is generally not what most delvers want.”

“And I should… avoid getting out of debt and buy this terrible equipment?”

“I never said it was terrible. Don’t get me wrong. You and Muti have good armor right now, but Skandr’s is just thick robes. If anything closes in on him, he’ll be out of the fight or dead. And don’t get me wrong—that’s absolutely going to start happening on the third floor. From there, there’s always at least a couple gnolls awake in every pack, and a pack of five or six gnolls that’s awake when you approach is going to close in on him. The rangers are going to shoot him, he’s going to get hit, and you don’t want him to die. This will be your best opportunity to get him something to keep him alive.”

“And we’ll be able to afford it?” 

“Probably better equipment for him, as well as small trinket accessories for you and Muti. Nothing huge, but impactful.” Klara shrugged and Astrid took note of the small earrings and modest necklace that the woman always wore. “I don’t know how much you’ve saved. I just know it’s a good amount. Honestly, it might be worth going into a little bit of debt you can pay off really quickly to ensure you get something from one of the better options available. That’ll also send a good message to the bastards looking to trap you in debt, that they don’t need to do anything but bait their traps with more honey. You might be able to get away with the bait without sustaining too many injuries while you’re at it.”

Astrid rubbed her face with her hands. A hot flash of embarrassment burned her face as she felt the dirt and salt and filth from delving stuck on herself, and a part of her scoffed at the shallow reaction she had to realizing she was dirty. She was a delver. She spent most of her days underground, killing monsters. If she didn’t, they’d grow in number until they swelled out of the ground and started to lay claim to the surface and kill everything nearby.

“So we can spend our gold and a half on getting armor and accessories?” Astrid asked.

“It’ll be another week before they’re scheduled to arrive,” Klara said, “actually, ten days. I’d suggest you get as close to another gold as you can manage before then. I’d guess you can, but listen, the best stuff will go fast. It’ll probably be better for you to go into a little more debt to ensure you get what you want and need. Each floor you go down, there’s more possibility for profit, and the danger spikes accordingly. Getting some equipment now will pay off in the long run, even if it only gives a couple attribute points and you need to put more of your funds into paying off debts than you’re comfortable with. You’ve seen in your helmet that magical equipment is more impactful than just making you a little stronger or faster.”

Astrid nodded slowly. She’d been smashed in the face by enough gnoll fists to know that the small enchantment that Isana had put into her helmet was more than just a small blessing to her attributes.

“But it’s a silver a day!”

Klara shrugged. “I hear you say things like that. ‘But this, but that!’ You’re an adult. You’re a delver. You can make decisions for yourself. I’m giving you advice as someone who’s gone further than you have and knows better than you. You should understand the risks by now: if you do this and you get seriously injured or stop showing the promise you have thus far, then you’ll be in deep debt and might not be able to bail yourselves out of it. The people who want to trap you will take steps to try to make sure you can’t escape their grasp, which you’ll have to circumvent, somehow. Take the advice if you want it, but you don’t have to do anything. Now shoo. You need a bath.”

The Guild’s representative looked down at her desk, a different map spread across it than before. Something in her eyes flashed with a light that illuminated the parchment as she pulled a quill from where it rested in an ink well and marked three locations on the map. Astrid walked out, none the wiser as to what the woman was doing, and more confused than only 20 minutes before. She… should she do it? Muti and Skandr would have to put in their own opinions, and Astrid really wasn’t sure what they would think. As she walked into the inn’s main room, she made eye contact with both of her party members before lifting her left hand with the fourth finger and thumb pulled into the center of her palm, the other three extended. A signal that they’d need to talk tonight, but no hurry.

Then, once both nodded to show they’d understood, she retired to her room, where she shed her armor, placing it on the mannequin and taking her gambeson off while she inspected the rings of her heavy chain mail shirt. She was willing to allow cheap repairs on her shield, as that wouldn’t impact its integrity and ability to protect her. The mail, though, that was her life right there. When a gnoll arrow had hit it perfectly and pierced through the links, she’d paid almost a full silver to repair that small split in the weave of steel. She regretted nothing about paying to ensure that the scars that already patterned her shoulders and arms weren’t given free reign to cover the rest of her body too. Each one was a story told of a close call.

Fortunately, there were no marks of damage on the armor that couldn’t be worked out with her own hands. Another expense saved, then. Astrid pulled her sweatstained clothing off and lumped it into a bundle as she walked out the door in just breeches and her breastwrap. There, Markus stood with his fist ready to knock.

“Uh. Hi.” He said. His eyes flicked down, no doubt taking in everything she hadn’t bothered to hide. A split second later, he caught himself and instead looked into her eyes, craning his neck up to look her in the face and only the face. Despite everything else, her focus on delving, gaining levels, keeping herself safe from potential assassins, and maybe or maybe not bailing her friend out of debt, Astrid felt a little thrill of excitement and fear as she watched Markus deliberately angling his face up to stare into her own instead of looking at the skin she had exposed. Why was it different now? She’d stepped out knowing that people would see her. It wasn’t immodest or exhibitionistic what she was doing, but one part of her wanted to cover herself while the other part of her wondered how he’d react if she posed a little. 

Instead, she pulled the door closed behind her and locked it as she carried her load of laundry under her arm. 

“What can I do for you, Markus?” She forced nonchalance into her tone as she strode forward. “I could let you in if you’d like, but I worry about the smell…” 

Astrid drifted off. The smell? Was she stupid? Talking about how she was stinky? She blazed on.

“I needed to bathe after delving.” She finished lamely. 

“Yeah. No worries. I just…” Markus kept his head craned up to look into her eyes. It was a valiant effort, and the awkward reaction loosened her up enough. Seemed he was just as unsure of how to deal with this as she was

“Wanted to ask why Klara called me in?” Astrid offered.

“Yeah. We can talk later, I guess. Don’t want to keep you from getting clean. Not because you’re dirty, but you know, delving is dirty work, so…”

“Tomorrow, sure. Around breakfast time?”

“Sure. I can buy for both of us?” He offered.

“It can be just us, but it’s something that you’ll want to talk with your party about. If you want to just take the information to them, you can after. Whatever you want.”

“... Ok, we’ll meet after breakfast.” Markus replied, his posture shifting somewhat. Then, with a smile and a nod, he turned and walked back into the main room of the inn.

It took Astrid until the time she’d already rinsed off and was sitting in the bath to realize what she’d missed. She sank lower into the water and comforted herself that at least she would be able to continue delving and stay out of courtship.

***

“Your people’s practices with money remain foolishness.”

“But it’ll keep me alive! I’m pretty attached to keeping myself that way.”

To Astrid’s surprise, it was Skandr, the man already in debt, who wanted to spend more, and Muti, the Barbarian who didn’t understand money in general, who refused to take on debt. Maybe it shouldn’t have been such a surprise, in retrospect.

“We’re not going to spend the party’s funds without complete agreement.” Astrid broke through the crescendoing argument. “We had everyone’s agreement to spend it for Skandr’s debt, but if we can’t agree on spending for equipment, we aren’t going to do it. So we need to come to some sort of an agreement on what we’re going to do for now. So, give me your last argument for your point.”

“I will not argue.” Muti said, cutting off Skandr who opened his mouth. “I do not argue. I will tell you the truth. This is foolish. It is dangerous. If you know that what you do is foolish and dangerous, then you must explain how it is foolish and dangerous. If, after you can explain this, you still desire to follow this path, then we shall do so.”

Skandr opened his mouth, then let it close just enough that Astrid thought she could see what he was thinking. Then, after taking a deep breath, he explained, “This could not only get me into trouble, but you two as well. If this, somehow, goes entirely sideways, then all three of us will probably end up in deep debt to people who will never let us go. We’ll lose our autonomy, our choice, and everything that’s allowed us to become successful until now, just to be stuck as slaves to people who’ll use us until they decide we’re not worth the effort.”

“Yes. You understand that this is a path that would lead to slavery.”

“Yes.”

“For me and for Astrid, your leader.”

“Yes.” 

“Two people who have worked to save your life and protect you from those who would make you a slave?”

“Yes, I get it!” Skandr replied, scowling darkly. “I don’t think that would ever happen, but yes, I understand!”

“And you still wish to embark on this path? One of foolishness and danger?”

Instead of the immediate answers that he’d given before, Skandr actually thought about it for a moment. Then, after gathering his thoughts for the second time in the conversation, he spoke.

“I think that if we don’t do this, we’ll be in more danger in the long run. I think that we have what it takes to pass through the floors here in Kznietch in just a couple months, and then we’ll pass the level 11 watershed and be well on our way to getting to Iron. We’re going to make money. Even if we just keep making money the way that we are right now, we’ll be fine in the long run, to say nothing about delving and killing more monsters. When we gain more levels, we’ll be able to do more, and with better equipment, we’ll be able to do much more than we can right now. So I think we should make sure we secure enough funds to buy good equipment for all three of us, not just me, and we should leave my existing loan alone for now.

“That’s all.”

Astrid looked at Muti, whose face was impassive as she walked forward, looming over Skandr. Then, she placed her hands on his shoulders.

“You are brave, and have thought this through. You have my support. And you, leader?” She turned to Astrid. She realized she was reckless, and that plans never went according to plan. So… 

“I’m in.” She said, throwing her hands up. “We’ll delve as much as we can to continue to gather funds, then, with a day or so to spare, we’ll see what loans we can get. Maybe even see if we can get that free week from our ‘friend’ and not bankrupt ourselves completely.”

Skandr grinned widely and stepped forward. Taking both of his party members in a quick hug, his arms barely reaching around their torsos, he laughed.

“This’ll be great! I know it!” Then, he rushed out of the room and into his next door. Muti and Astrid locked eyes, and Muti bowed her head, her untied golden hair wreathing her face. 

“I do not share his excitement, but I do wish to see what options will be presented to us.” 

Then, the Rogue walked out and closed the door behind herself. Astrid locked it and then, with a sigh, threw herself onto her bed. Before allowing herself to sleep, she pulled the letter out from a pocket and unfolded it. With the letter in hand, she sat on the bed and leaned against the wall. Her mother’s businesslike reporting of her time on the front was padded by her emotional engagement with Astrid’s struggles, hopes, and experiences here. Her papa’s letter was simple, explaining things that her mother hesitated to about the casualties in Brighid’s squad and how she was faring. It seemed that she excelled in the fighting itself, but once the action died down, she found herself unable to get the battle out of her mind. 

Astrid succumbed to sleep, dreams of Markus fighting her mother on a tall wall while her armor came apart and the individual chain links flew apart while swords cut into her flesh.

She woke, her mouth tasting like a dead rat smelled. Blinking sleep from her eyes, Astrid looked around. Surely that boded well for the future, right?