“Traeg’s Knob is hilly, verging on mountainous,” said Alfric. “That should mean tougher monsters with thicker skin, if a bit slower. And because it’s less inhabited, we’ll expect less in the way of finished goods or worked rooms.”
“Bit of a surprise there was so much in Pucklechurch,” said Hannah.
“Variance,” Alfric said. “Knowing that a leyline used to run through there… it might have been that.”
“Or the big stone in my backyard?” asked Mizuki. She hadn’t had a chance to show Hannah, in part because of the mild hangover.
“Possible,” said Alfric. “If the Pucklechurch hex was a part of the leyline, then there’s a good chance that there are older ruins there, even if they’re buried deep. Many of the oldest cities were built along leylines.”
“Seems an argument for local knowledge,” said Hannah. “If you’re wantin’ to go through all the local hexes, maybe best to ask around first, to see if there’s somethin’ you don’t know about the place.”
“It didn’t end up mattering,” said Alfric. “We made it through.”
“Still,” said Hannah, “the dungeon we find in Traeg’s Knob, it pulls from a hundred twenty square miles or so, doesn’t it? Hard to know what might be buried there.”
“Well, yes,” said Alfric. “But firstly, I’m not terribly worried about it, and secondly, part of why we’re going to Liberfell is that we’re going to seek out the Adventurers’ League office, which will hopefully have details on each of the dungeons, just in case there’s something for us to know. Now, we could go there first and hit the Traeg’s Knob dungeon on the way back, but then we wouldn’t be able to sell what we get from there. Sometimes they also have rooms, but they’re usually pretty shoddy.”
“Ay,” said Hannah. “I’m not sayin’ that we should do different or that I wanted you to take a day to go to Liberfell on your own just to get some information that probably doesn’t help us.”
“You were just saying,” said Alfric, nodding.
“So, we’re unbalanced now,” said Mizuki. “In terms of elevation? But we’re also more prepared, a lot more prepared, and Isra’s got her bow. Is this more or less dangerous?”
“It’s very hard to say,” said Alfric.
“Probably more,” said Hannah, shrugging. “But not so much more that I’d worry. And who really knows, with variance.”
“Ideally,” said Alfric, “you accelerate in terms of gear. There are some graphs for expected difficulty, but it’s a lot of math and depends on a few too many things. Twenty dungeons down the line,” he held up a hand in Verity’s direction, “not that we’re committed to that. But if we ever got there, or if I got there with another group, I would hope that I was at least keeping pace, going into a dungeon with a much better entad weapon, ideally a spear, full plate armor, and a few other things.”
“A spear?” asked Isra. “Not a sword?”
“The sword was my father’s,” said Alfric. “It’s a family heirloom and a good weapon, but there are too many advantages to a spear, so long as it’s sturdy and light. A spear gives you reach, and reach means that you’re staying away from claws and fangs. They’re more nimble, they give better leverage, they can pierce through thick hide better… But the dungeons don’t always give you what you want, and I don’t want to spend funds on something like that, not at the kinds of prices a properly good entad can have.”
“Personally, I’ve been loving my spoon,” said Mizuki. “It’s properly handy.” She had brought it along, just in case.
“I know, I know,” said Alfric. “There’s no point thinking about it or making a wishlist, but it’s something that every dungeoneer does.”
“So you’re saying if I want to do this, I need a wishlist?” asked Mizuki.
“Do you want to be a proper dungeoneer?” asked Alfric.
“I don’t know,” said Mizuki. “I wouldn’t say that I liked the first one too much. But there were a lot of rings for the trouble, a neat spoon, and some stories to tell.”
“Well, as for my list, if everyone is supposed to have one,” said Hannah, “healin’ is through my hands, so longer hands might be nice.”
“Longer… hands?” asked Verity.
“Arms or hands,” said Hannah. “And of course somethin’ symmetrical would be nice, some armor, a weapon perhaps… Hard to say, but there’s a lot I might like.”
“I’d like something for the garden,” said Verity.
“That’s not really the kind of thing we’re talking about,” said Alfric.
“Why?” asked Verity.
Alfric hesitated. “It doesn’t help… with the dungeons.”
Verity laughed. “Oh, how dare I want something that won’t help with the dungeons. Why, that’s against the rules!”
“I knew that it sounded stupid even before it was out of my mouth,” said Alfric, giving her a sheepish grin.
“For me,” Mizuki considered, “something for cooking, I think.”
“Something that would make meals?” asked Hannah.
Mizuki frowned. “No, nothing like that. I like cooking, I don’t want something that takes the fun out of it. But something like, say, a knife that chops things for me, or a bottle that never runs out of oil, or something like that.”
“A magical instrument might be nice,” said Verity. “Though nothing too stressful.”
“I told them about the lute you used in Dondrian last night,” said Alfric. “I hope you don’t mind. I didn’t think that you might like to keep it private until it was out of my mouth. I apologize.”
“Oh,” said Verity. “No, I don’t care. Thank you for considering it, even if it was after the fact.”
“He said it made you sound like an orchestra,” said Hannah.
“It did,” said Verity. “The sound could fill a concert hall and did, on a few occasions. But it was taxing to play and made my head feel too full of melodies. I was thinking, if I could have another entad lute, that I might like something softer.”
“You’re unlikely to get a lute,” said Alfric. “We’re all unlikely to get exactly the thing we want. There’s too much variety.”
“Well, it’s a wishlist, anyway,” said Verity with a sigh. “Oh! Something to keep my hair from needing to be washed or combed.”
Mizuki looked at her. She did have the longest hair of any of them, though with Isra wearing a headscarf, it was hard to say whether she might have had Verity beat. Hannah had more hair, or at least it seemed like that with all the curls, but Verity’s was longer.
“Clothing might be nice,” said Hannah. “Something that protects against the elements?”
“A dress that would stay warm in winter,” said Verity.
“A dress I would look good in,” said Mizuki, frowning a bit. “I don’t know why, but every time I put on a dress, I look like a goon.”
“Ay,” said Hannah. “And it’d take magic to make that not happen, you think?” There was something very innocent in her expression that made the insult all the more funny, and Mizuki cackled.
“I would like an animal, I think,” said Isra.
“A dungeon animal?” asked Hannah. “They’re dangerous, ay.”
“You’ve said,” replied Isra.
“Well, just so you know,” said Hannah.
“Anything from an egg is much less likely to be dangerous,” said Alfric. “And given you’re a druid, you’ll know better than we do what kinds of things might have a good disposition.”