Chapter Two-Hundred Ninety-Five

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Olander

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Back in his suite, the elf pores over his notes, trying to make sense of what he saw from Rocky.  Never in his wildest dreams did he think the zombie scion could do what he witnessed.  He’s never seen liches do something like that!

His thoughts are even more jumbled than his workspace, though the mess of ink and papers is making a valiant effort to keep up.  He looks mad as he scribbles, writing at a pace to make any trained scribe jealous as he records his thoughts.  He calms as he goes, letting the questions remain on the paper he placed them, to be taken in turn without worry of forgetting anything.

He sighs as he finally puts the quill away, and gets to organizing.  Much of his scribblings are either outlandish worries or wild theories, and can be easily put aside for later.  In fact, looking over his thoughts now, he sees only two immediately important things: Thedeim provided the seed for Rocky’s fighting style, and Rocky’s affinity prowess is unheard of.  Put side by side like that, it’s not much of a leap to guess that Thedeim has a deep understanding of affinities, too.

It lends all the more credence to the insane theory he is somehow a Lost dungeon, sealed away and only recently opened to the outside world once more.  It’s a crazy idea, that he would be somehow trapped beneath Fourdock for ages, but he can’t imagine any other explanation for not only his growth, but the power of his scions.

Power he seems to be willing to share with his protege.  He doesn’t know what judo is, but if it’s as strong as Rocky’s boxing, Onyx is going to be the strongest scion from a toybox ever recorded.  Her being a shade already makes her rare, and even if she genuinely seems friendly and a little innocent, she’ll be a true nightmare to anyone unfortunate enough to earn the ire of her or her dungeon.

He jots that thought down and turns to his notes on Rocky’s fighting style, recalling how the zombie moved.  His dexterity rivals the nimble fey, while his raw power is at the level of the strongest beast, and his magic…

It’s hard not to be in awe of it, even after all Olander has seen.  On the other hand, it’s so impressive because of all he’s seen.  Among scions, he’s only seen archliches wield opposing affinities with any amount of control and skill, and only a handful of mages can do the same.  He recognizes the difference between Arcane affinity tricks and actual opposing forces, and Rocky was using the real deals.

Even more, he wove and utilized them like they were the same affinity!  Teemo’s teasing words echo in his mind, but he can’t accept them.  That is not how fire and ice work.  He’s fought alongside enough friends and against enough foes with those affinities to know how they’re used.  And, if the pamphlet from the Dungeoneers is correct, that’s not all of his affinities.

How can a single zombie have more affinities on his own than most entire parties?!  A zombie, of all things!  If he was a lich, it’d make at least a little sense, but no.  He grumbles and stands, beginning to pace and try to burn off some energy.

He hasn’t felt this apprehensive since his final trial to become Crown Inspector.  And just like back then, though there is some fear, there is a lot of eagerness, too.  Sure, Rocky could cause untold devastation if he decided to, but any Conduit could probably do even more.  Even more important to Olander, however, is the challenge Rocky can give.

The way he moves, the way he uses his affinities!  There’s going to be a lot of people trying to mimic him in the coming years, Olander is certain of it.  A fighting style like that should be translatable to delvers with minimal issue.  If he wasn’t so used to his glaive, he might even try to dabble.  Unfortunately, from everything he saw in that fight, the style is almost exclusively punches, with the occasional headbut thrown in for good measure.  Olander needs both hands on his glaive to use it properly.

He stops pacing as he remembers something.  It doesn’t take him long to find the paper in his notes, and he nods at the forethought of his past self.  He should interview some of the adventurers.  They’ll have a different perspective on Thedeim, but also should have better details about Rocky.  He’s supposed to accept challenges, so getting to talk to them could give him a better understanding of how to get the most out of his impending fight with the surprising zombie.

He cleans himself up a bit before heading for the Adventurer’s Guild.  Looking fresh from a delve is one thing among adventurers, but showing up covered in ink rather than blood sends a certain message, no matter the glaive at his back.  It doesn’t take him long to look presentable as a semi-retired adventurer, enjoying a bit of down time, and soon he walks through the doors of the guild.

He gets a few curious glances, but most don’t pay him much mind.  The thin orc at the bar watches him for a few moments longer than the others, before returning to preparing drinks and food for the relaxing adventurers.  Olander is moderately certain Karn the Slight knows who he is, but the rogue is polite enough to not go spreading that around.

As much as he’d like to leave the guildmaster to his business, he really does need some advice for who to ask about advice against Rocky.  He takes a seat at the bar next to some variety of birdkin with a smoking pipe.  An eaglekin, perhaps?  He’s never been good at differentiating the birds of prey.  He’s smoking an interesting blend, which makes the wait more pleasant than he expected, until Karn stands before him.

“Olander, yeah?  I hear you’re helping out the Dungeoneers?”

The elf nods casually.  “I am.  I also have a quest in the local dungeon.”

Karn grins at the understatement.  “Oh really?  I’ve heard a couple rumors, but I‘m definitely not running a betting pool on how it’ll go.”

Olander snorts at that.  “Well, who would I talk to to improve my odds?  I got my first hint of what he’s capable of yesterday, and I’m hoping to learn a bit more.”

“You can ask pretty much anyone, really.  I think only Aelara’s and Vnarl’s groups have resisted the urge to go a round with him.  If you want my advice, though… I think it’ll take a different Olander with a glaive to beat him, and even that wouldn’t be a guarantee.”

The smoking birdkin chuckles at the absurdity of the Crown Inspector visiting Fourdock, and nods at the sentiment.  Olander raises an eyebrow at that, and addresses him.

“Really?  Have you faced Rocky then, friend?”

He nods and takes a drag from his pipe, savoring it before exhaling and elaborating.  “I thought I could handle him once.  I have both wind and fire affinities, and I’ve never seen an undead withstand my conflagration spell.”  He chuckles at himself, taking another drag before continuing.  “I felt like a fledgeling again.  What portions he didn’t simply dodge, he suborned to his own use.  He danced through the spell, gathering what portions he wanted, before darting forward with a punch.  I barely knew it was coming before I woke up in a healing slime.  The spectators tell me I was launched clear out of the ring and into the strange denizen.”

He smiles at the memory, tapping out his pipe onto a provided tray.  “It’s good to be reminded there are still greater heights to soar to.”  Olander eyes the birdkin as he talks, getting a feel for his level.  He’s certainly not new to adventuring.

“Just one hit?” he asks for clarity, and the birdkin nods.

“One hit.  Many of his fights are decided in one, though he’ll sometimes take the time to soften people up before going for the finish.  His fight with Rhonda, Freddie, and Larrez is one everyone remembers.”

“A party?  Did they win?”

He squawks in a laugh.  “Goodness no!  But they put up a spectacular fight.  You should try to get them to share the tale themselves.”  He turns to look out into the rest of the guild.  “I don’t think they’re here right now, though.”

“Do you know where I can find them?”

“Respect their privacy, Jirt,” interjects Karn, and the birdkin nods.

“I’m sure you’ll bump into them around town.  A goblin mage of a sort, an orcish paladin, and an elven swordfighter.  They’re young and more casual than most of the adventurers here, so they don’t really want publicity just yet.  But mark my words, they’re going places.”

Karn nods at that description, and Olander does his best to commit that to memory.  “What about the groups that haven’t fought him yet?”

Karn nods at Jirt before walking off to tend to other adventurers, leaving the two to chat.  “Both groups have their reasons, though I can only guess.”

“What do you guess?” asks Olander, quietly placing a coin next to the adventurer’s pipe.  He casually scoops both up and starts idly packing the pipe as he thinks.

“Well, for Aelara’s group, it’d be a bit of a conflict of interests, I think.  Aranya and Yvonne are both Residents.  I’m hardly a Dungeoneer, but I understand those with close ties to a dungeon don’t generate as much mana as those unfettered?  They get plenty of adventuring out in the wilds, scouting or dealing with Ranger business.  As for Vnarl’s group…”

He pauses, using a finger to create the flame for his pipe.  “I think they’ve had enough of Thedeim’s scions.  They provoked Poe to a fight by threatening Yvonne.  After knocking them out, Thedeim imprisoned them until they could escape through the gauntlet.  Their relationship is warmed now, but I think they’ve had their fill of fighting his scions.”

“Are they here?” asks Olander, eager to hear their side of the battle.  Jirt looks out over the guild once more and nods.

“They’re in the middle there, the troll, halfling, and wood elf.”  Olander follows his gaze and nods before standing.

“Thanks.  Enjoy your pipe.”  The birdkin nods and settles in as Olander approaches the group, earning a squint from Vnarl as he gets near.

“Do I know you?  You seem familiar.”

“Probably not.  I’ve been mostly around the capital for years now.”

Vnarl’s squint intensifies before he shrugs.  “So were we.  We probably bumped shoulders somewhere.  Anyway, you need something?”

“Well, I have a quest to fight Rocky, and I hear you’ve tangled with some of Thedeim’s other scions?  I’m trying to get a better feel for what I’m up against.”

The halfling snorts where the other elf looks a bit sympathetic.  For his part, Vnarl just grins.  “Hah!  Maybe that’s where I know you from then!  Thedeim has your face plastered everywhere he can put those notices!”

“So can you help me?”

The troll shrugs and motions for him to take a seat.  “I probably shouldn't, I bet on Rocky, but I’ll do what I can.  We’ve steered clear of Thedeim's scions after Poe.”

Olander gratefully takes a seat.  “I heard a little about that, but would you like to explain?  Oh, I’m Olander, by the way.”  He offers his hand and they shake it in turn, introducing themselves.

With that out the way, Mlynda speaks up first.  “We were stupid and thought we could take on the world.  If we took the time to gather info like you, we’d probably still be in our old guild.”

Hark chuckles and elbows her.  “At least that worked out well for us.  Slim Chance is a way better guild.”

Vnarl nods.  “And Thedeim’s a way better delve than anything in the capital, too.  Anyway, there’s not all that much to tell about the fight, honestly.  We had the bad luck to discover Poe’s titles.  Even before he embraced them, he took Hark out of the fight.”

Hark winces at the memory and nods.  “He swooped down from the roof, grabbed me, and bounced me off it, a tree, I think a second tree, and then the ground.”

Mlynda continues.  “He directed the crows and ravens around to attack us, and even with a combination attack, Vnarl and I were pretty beat up by the time we dealt with the other birds.  Then the expeditions returned.  We never stood a chance.”

“Is that why you haven’t challenged Rocky?”

All three laugh, with Vnarl explaining.  “A bit, yeah.  Mostly though, we’ve seen him fight.  Whenever someone gets the idea to challenge him, we try to be there to watch.”

Hark finishes the thought.  “I don’t know if we’d even lose in an interesting way.  We’re kinda midrange specialists.  Even without the ring keeping things close, I think he’d close the gap no matter what we do.”

Olander hums and nods at that, recalling what Jirt said about Rocky dancing through his conflagration.  “Any other advice?”

The group shrugs as Mlynda speaks up.  “You could try the guild library, if Karn doesn’t mind.  It has a lot of accounts of delves in Thedeim, and pretty much everyone writes about their bout with Rocky.”

Olander nods at that and stands.  “I think I will, and I’ll pay for your next round, too.”

The trio grin at that and raise their mugs in a salute as he goes, and it’s not difficult to get Karn's attention once back at the bar.  “The next round at Vnarl’s table is on me, ok?  And can I check out your library?”

Karn nods at the first, and after a few second’s consideration, nods at the second.  “That should be fine.  Just try not to get in the librarian’s way.  She’s been busy organizing, and I don’t want you to mess her up.  It’s just up the stairs, can’t miss it.”

He nods and places a few coins on the counter before following the directions, and is surprised to see a familiar face among the tomes.  “Tula!  I didn’t expect to see you here!  How goes your search?”

She brightens and smiles, placing her books on a counter so she can greet him properly.  “Olander!  I still haven’t found whatever an ice sage is, but this library makes up for it!  The organization is…” she trails off and blushes a bit, realizing he probably doesn’t understand the intricacies of handling books.  “Well, it’s novel and incredible, but I won’t bore you with the details.”

He laughs.  “Well, I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself!  Hang on, you have a fly in your hair.  Let me…”  He reaches toward her, only for her to flinch away and stop his hand.

“No!  She’s… well, they’re all assistants, I guess?”

Olander gives her a confused look.  “Assistants?”

She nods.  “I think the local dungeon is into books!  I’ve tried asking around, and apparently he has a bee scion, and these are some of her helpers.  They’re very polite.”

Olander still looks confused, but now that he looks over the small library, he can see a small hive developing in one of the high corners.  “If you say so.  Heh, Karn said to not mess with your system, so I’ll trust you.  Do you have the book on the fights with Rocky?  I’m doing a bit of research of my own.”

Tula is more than eager to show him where it is, and he lets her guide him.  In a dungeon, he may be king, but this is Tula’s domain.  He’ll follow her lead.