“You’d better catch up some, then. With that dagger, it shouldn’t take you too long. If you make it up to Turlin soon, we’ve got a spot reserved for you,” relayed Roth.
“Awesome. I’ve just got a few things to take care of down here first.”
“No worries. Melee is a little cross since you never got back to her, so it couldn’t hurt to give her a few days to simmer down,” said Roth through the telepathic link.
“Hah. Right. Thanks for the heads up,” Dakkon replied.
“Again, no worries. We’re off to do some hunting,” said Roth.
“Ok. Take care,” finished Dakkon before the taut string sensation vanished. “I’ll have to keep an eye out for messages.”
Dakkon looked at his friends list and it showed that all four of his previous companions were online and that by each of their names there was a small envelope-shaped icon that both wiggled slightly and pulsed a green light from around its border. He spent a few minutes reading each one and felt a pang of shame for not looking into them sooner. Melee and Mina would be clued in by now via Roth that he was well, but Cline was separated from them.
Dakkon thought about Cline’s visage in an attempt to contact him, and thought the words, “Cline, I’m back on. How are things on your end?” But no connection was ever formed. “He must be busy,” thought Dakkon. Playing with his ‘Friends’ window he discovered how to send a message and wrote, “Hey Cline, I died and got forced out of the game for a few days. I’m still level 14 and have a few things to take care of down here. I’m probably going to head up towards Turlin after that. How’s the bow?” Within thirty seconds, Dakkon heard the sound of a lightly ringing bell.
[New message from Cline.]
Dakkon opened and read:
|Sender: Cline
|Sorry, I’ve got whispers turned off. The bow is AMAZING. I’m level 31 and kicking some SERIOUS ASS. Get on my level -Cline.
Dakkon chuckled to himself and decided he’d have to do just that.
Though he was now equipped with the ability to make ice cubes and start fires, Dakkon wanted to get a feel for his other new skill. Hotspot sounded straightforward. He could heat or cool an area just as the thermomancer master had. Could he attach it to a moving object though? After a bit of testing he found that, yes, he could. Perhaps one day that might empower his attacks. Dakkon could attempt to heat or cool an area of any size he could see. He could even select areas not immediately within his reach, but the skill was limited by complexity. An area the size of a breadbox was trivial to him even at first level. He could maintain an area of that size for as long as he wished. Adding a second hotspot of the same size was much more difficult, however. Plus, the larger the size of his hotspot, the more it drained him. On a whim, Dakkon tried to heat the area of the entire square he was sitting in, only to find himself immediately manaless and no warmer than when he started. He even felt a slight chill which he assumed was the result of spending his mana too quickly. Dakkon looked at his thermomancer skill levels and noticed that not only had Hotspot gone up by half a level, but Heat, Chill, and Thermoregulate had increased some as well. Dakkon could use Hotspot, and Condense he assumed, to level up his older abilities.
Dakkon created a warm Hotspot about the size of his head and walked halfway around Correndin, monitoring his mana as he did so. He found no additional strain due to distance, a tidbit that would no doubt prove invaluable. Dakkon next found an area out of the way and created one cool and another warm hotspot, each about the size of his hand, which he could maintain while walking around and set off towards the cartographer’s guild. Dakkon was long overdue for a map and it was high time he did something about that.
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Trekking back into the easterly artisan sector of Correndin, Dakkon asked for directions to the cartographer’s guild. Once he arrived, it was a hard location to mistake. The two-story wooden building had been erected in such a way that the foremost wall, standing three meters in front of the others, was shaped like a bowed, once-rolled map that had been pulled open for some giant’s navigation. The top and center of the map-wall was crowned with a compass rose, and to either side of the wall were recessed entrances into the building itself. Dakkon walked into the cartographer’s guild and was met by a steward.
“What can I do for you, citizen?” asked the steward.
“I find myself in need of a map,” said Dakkon. “I’ve been told there’s no better place than here to find one.”
“Right you are. What kind of map will you be needing?” the steward asked.
“A map of the region. Detailed. Preferably with points of interest such as caves and dangerous areas marked. I’d like to browse your selection if at all possible,” Dakkon said.
“I’m afraid we don’t let just anyone browse the repository at their leisure,” replied the steward. “There’s also the matter of payment. The sort of map you’re looking for doesn’t come cheap. You may be better off learning the cartography trade and creating your own than outright buying one, if you’ve got a knack for adventure.”
Although Dakkon would have gladly accepted a cartography role before, now that he was an edgemaster, he couldn’t waste class slots on something so mundane. Who knew how long it would take to become a master cartographer. Years, possibly. “That’s quite all right,” said Dakkon. “How much would a very detailed map cost? It doesn’t need to show within Correndin to any great detail but routes should be as detailed as possible and expand well beyond Turlin.”
“Very well then,” said the steward. “Before I hunt for your prize, how much are you willing to spend?”
“How much would such a map cost?” asked Dakkon.
“That entirely depends on the level of detail you desire. We have many maps from many guild cartographers. You could spend as little as five gold for a sloppy creation, or as much as 500 platinum.”
Dakkon would have felt sick spending 50 gold on a map, but the steward was claiming they had maps worth a thousand times that. “What makes a map worth 500 platinum?” he said after steeling himself.
“Our finest cartographers are very skillful and the information on their maps has been verified by the guild to an accuracy of 95 percent.” The steward beamed.
“Then would you have detailed maps of that area that have yet to be verified so thoroughly?” asked Dakkon.
Looking a bit displeased, the steward responded, “We have many. There are many fledgling map makers, many more who cannot pay the guild fee to have their maps verified, and even some who make fantastic claims which wouldn’t be verified even if they paid.”
“How much would a map from that last category cost me?” asked Dakkon. “The maps with fantastic claims that are nonetheless detailed, that is.”
“Please consider that their information will not be endorsed by the guild and they are likely to lead you astray, should you follow them with any seriousness,” remarked the steward.
“That’s fine, how much?”
“We can sell them to you for 10-20 gold. Would you like me to fetch one for you?” asked the steward.
“Bring several,” said Dakkon. “I’d like to give them a quick look over before selecting one.”
“Very well,” the steward said and then disappeared into a back room.
After only five minutes, the steward returned and set twelve maps on a large, lightly-colored wooden table for inspection. Dakkon looked at the maps, examining their level of detail. A tugging sensation from somewhere in his gut drew him towards a medium-sized but very poorly drawn one, extravagantly signed in the bottom corner by its creator, Ril. For some reason he liked it, although it didn’t really tell him anything of immediate value. It appeared as though someone had traveled around and marked things they had seen, or claimed to have seen. It was of such low quality that it could easily have been made by someone who had never even left the city, and just wanted to try their hand at making a few quick gold from selling a map. Dakkon selected the most detailed map of the bunch, meticulously drawn with names of locations abundant, and laid it next to the poorly drawn one. Several key points overlapped between the maps. Dakkon made his decision.