Honour Rae
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B2 Ch10: A Legendary Meeting
🕑 Added 2022-10-14 05:51:04 +0000 UTCHousekeeping note: I'm changing the wording slightly from 'skill' to 'enhancement' when it comes to aspects of Arthur's Body Enhancement card.
Lost in his thoughts and self-recrimination, Arthur lost track of the conversation.
He came back to it at Valentina’s sharp tone.
“I need you to spread the word among the Sickness seekers. We need to know if there’s any sign of scourge in our uncarded.”
“That would be a mistake,” Whitaker said. “Word will get out and introduce panic. Next thing you know, people will hide their disease—"
Both leaders went very still. Then, as one, looked to the double doors.
A moment later, the bells began to ring. Not the excited high-pitched chimes whenever a Rare egg was laid, but the bone-rattling bong-bong-bong of alarm. The hive was to muster for a scourge eruption.
“Another one,” Valentina said. “Damn.”
Whitaker strode to the door. “It is what it is. You have the hive, Val. I’ll take care of this.”
Arthur caught a glimpse of frustration on Valentina’s wrinkled face. He couldn’t tell if she was annoyed with Whitaker or if she wanted to go out and fight, too. But as she was in her eighth decade, that wasn’t a good idea.
Arthur had never seen her dragon. Rumor said it was so old it couldn’t easily fly.
Mastering herself, Valentina nodded to the healers. “Scourge-protocol takes precedence… but keep an eye on the animal populations. If corruption is taking root, it may show there first.”
The men and women bowed and left.
Finally, Valentina turned to snap her fingers at Arthur. “Follow me.”
He had no choice but to follow her as she walked out.
Valentina did not walk fast. She was shorter than him and had such a stiff gait that he wondered why she didn’t use the floating cloud trick to get around.
His silent question was answered when she led him to a luxuriant office, only two doors down from the ballroom. A roaring fireplace sat in the corner, and the whole room was stuffed with polished wood furniture, sitting couches, and one large desk that had a grand view of the hive city vista through floor-to-ceiling windows.
Valentina crossed the room and went to a small stand topped by fluted glassware. “Drink?”
“Uh, yes please?” He was vaguely aware of some kind of protocol between nobles offering drinks and accepting them… but couldn’t remember whether accepting or declining was polite. He went with the option that got him a taste of their expensive booze.
Maybe it would level up his Sommelier skill.
But the small drink she poured him was a brown liquor. Brandy. He took a sip and found it smoother than any he had tried before.
New enhancement gained: Alcohol Resistance (poison class)
Due to your previous experience and your card’s bonus traits, you automatically start this enhancement at level 4.
This is an optional enhancement. Do you wish to activate alcohol resistance?
An optional enhancement His Master of Skills card had never given him the ability to turn off or on a skill before. Was this strictly a function of his new Body Enhancement card, or because he had a pair of cards in the same set?
Either way, the prudent thing was to select Yes. He needed to be as sharp as possible while dealing with Valentina.
She poured herself a more generous glass and then gestured for Arthur to sit down on a leather chair. She sat in the opposite chair and studied him for a long moment… so long he wondered if he was being scanned by some sort of seeking power.
After what felt like an age, she spoke. “I wanted to let you know that I acknowledge and appreciate your help with this delicate hive matter.”
“Of course,” Arthur said.
“To be frank, and I like to be frank, your behavior is already more than I would have expected knowing what I do about your father.”
Arthur choked.
She shrugged, obviously not caring that she had just insulted Baron Kane. Not that Arthur gave a damn either.
“I like to think I take after my mother,” he said.
“Well, I wanted to let you know that your continuing discretion is appreciated and expected. Don’t think I have forgotten you’re interested in the Legendary egg.”
He perked up. “How is it?”
“We’ve had the veterinary healers look it over as best they could. As you heard, none are above the Uncommon rank so there is a limit to what they can discover. However, they agree that if it hasn’t died yet thanks to neglect, it’s not likely to at this point.” She sighed and took a rather large sip of her brandy. “The standard procedure is to introduce likely dragon riders to the egg at once. However, considering it may be in a delicate state, we’re not going to rush the thing now. Especially considering this recent fiasco.”
He tried to keep the disappointment off his face but knew from her look that he failed.
“Legendary eggs are not like Rares,” Valentina continued. “There is a great risk. Not only from the egg but from your other competitors. And I use that word deliberately. I don’t know if you’ve yet written to your father for a higher-tier card, but you may want to consider it carefully. This will be a cause you will be willing to die for.”
Death was a constant companion growing up in the borderland village. Arthur couldn’t say he didn’t fear it, but it was at least a known phenomenon. He couldn’t say the same for the other nobles.
“Will I have many other, uh, competitors?” he asked, then leaned into the lie of Ernest Kane. “I know the state of my noble house, but I have a hard time believing many others would be willing to sacrifice their sons and daughters.”
“And you think the incentive from the crown won’t sway them?” she asked dryly. “How many noble houses wouldn’t sell their first-born sons off to be known by the king? Much less the riches.”
Arthur had no idea what she was talking about, but she acted like this was common knowledge. He nodded his head, playing along.
“One other thing: the recruiter who brought me to the hive. I assume she will be compensated?”
“Of course.” She smiled. “If you do become a legendary rider, you’ll learn that the best way to get people to work is to reward them when they do a good job.”
The words were pleasant, but her smile was edging toward sarcasm. He had the feeling she had a double meaning… but he had no idea what it could be.
“Is there anything else?” she asked.
“Can I see the egg?” he asked, deciding to press his luck.
Again, she looked at him for a long, long moment. “Yes, I do think you’re eligible for a reward, considering. But you must not get too close. Even if I was to show an utterly shameless preference for you, and I’m still deciding if I should, you’re carrying a precious package in your storage, Ernest. I can’t risk it.”
“Forgive me for asking—"
“Oh, just blurt it out,” she snapped. “If already know you need to be forgiven, then you know you’re doing something wrong. Just say it.”
He paused and then nodded. “Why is this Rare so important to you? I know it’s a high level and a shimmer, but… it’s also a pink. It probably won’t be able to fight the scourge like a red or an elemental-based dragon. Don’t get me wrong,” he added, “I want it to live, but I don’t know why it’s important to you.”
Thankfully, she didn’t take offense to his words. She just stared at him and though her face was aged, her eyes were bright and fiery. “We need all dragons to create a healthy, functioning hive. Yes, some pinks are downright scholarly. But it could also be the next tactical genius. We have problems in this hive, and we need solutions. We need thinkers. We need scholars — actual scholars and not those lazy-robed louts you saw earlier today. Furthermore, pink dragons are known as wildcards. They aren’t strictly knowledge dragons. They are meta dragons. And right now, we need that out-of-the-box thinking. We cannot continue forever in this stalemate with the scourge, always reacting and never doing.” She sighed and stood, signaling an end to this conversation. “Now, do you want to see the egg or not?”
He wanted to question exactly what she meant… but he wanted to see the egg more.
Once again, she led him down the hall a short way and then through a door that led to a grand balcony.
There, twenty feet away at the end of the balcony, sitting in the full sun, sat the tiny dark egg. It sat in a woven straw nest, surrounded by braziers of roaring fire to keep the temperature warm. Several dragon-sized divots were carved into the cliff walls directly on either side. Sitting in them within easy leaping range, were large dragons. Arthur recognized them as hive Rares, though he didn’t know their names.
They were guarding the egg — a task important enough so that they were excused from fighting the scourge eruption.
Valentina stopped him and pointed to a chalk outline near his feet. “Stay on this side of the line.”
He nodded absently, all his attention on the egg.
It was a spot of black, bracketed against the deep blue of a high-altitude sky. It seemed to suck in the light around it… and despite the many braziers set up around the balcony, Arthur could almost feel the warmth leaching into the black heart of the egg.
But… it wasn’t entirely black, was it? Gazing straight at the egg, he caught a hint of a deep dark purple. Or perhaps that was a shimmer quality to the egg.
Arthur didn’t realize he was swaying forward until Valentina caught his shoulder. The tiny woman was stronger than she looked.
“I might have to adjust the chalk line further back,” Valentina said. “It seems the egg is growing in strength.”
He and Valentina walked back in silence. She was lost in her thoughts and he was wondering what would happen if he broke away and made a sprint to the egg.
Nothing good, probably.
“Ernest.”
It took a beat to realize Valentina meant him. With a mental shake, Arthur turned to her. “Yes?”
The leader looked straight at him. “You may have noticed I’m not fond of people shirking their duties to the kingdom by hiding away in their guilds.”
She meant the scholars. He nodded, waiting for her to get to the point.
“You’ve already taken some steps to put yourself in good favor. If you could think of some way,” pause “to get the pink dragon linked, I would appreciate it. And I still have enough pull to make it important to Whitaker as well.” Another pause. “Do we understand each other?”
Arthur’s heart began to beat fast. Was she saying what he thought she was saying?
Looking into her steely eyes, he knew that she was.
She had someone following him and likely knew that she had met up with Cressida who was desperate to link with the dragon. The scholars were in disfavor, and she had just said in not-so-many words that she would be willing to overlook certain things.
“Yes,” Arthur said, “I understand.”
“Then you may go.”
Valentina turned her back on him and started to walk away. As she did, a new miniature cloud formed under her feet. It carried her up the next set of stairs and away.
Arthur turned and started his long, long trek back to the lower levels.
It all came down to finding the pink dragon’s card match. Now he had the means, ability, and permission to do what needed to be done.
And then he could focus on the fact that he might have brought scourge into the hive.
Comments
Undead Writer
Thanks for the chapter!! Can’t wait for more!!
Logan Loophole
Right one? Take em all! Oceans eleven has nothing on Auth*cough* Ernest!
Gerry
"But… it wasn’t entirely black, was it? Gazing straight at the egg, he caught a hint of a deep dark purple." The color of the egg does not entirely mean that the dragon would be the same color right? The pink dragon that just hatched came from a blue egg, if I'm not mistaken
Nathan Sto
That would be cool because it would have three major consequences: 1. some future information economy like ours could more or less predict the creation of new cards with a large enough database. 2. It would make cards that have dropped more recently more valuable, because more of the set is likely to be around. 3. It would give good justification for “ages” in your world. An age of greatness, where there were more legendaries born because of incomplete card sets. An age of low magic where all those sets were completed, and whatever “pressure” the universe exerted to complete them was gone. Actually, you could ret-con the scourge eruptions to be a consequence of the mythical card the king is holding needing to be completed. There are more, because the mythical shards need to be dropped off.
Nathan Sto
Lol, that’s a good movie. An extension of the above thought: does this imply that there is some degree of predetermination with regards to a card’s abilities? I feel like, if cards in a set were not all created within a similar time period, the chances of ever finding a pair, let alone a set, would be zero. After all, it could be thousands of years before the conditions for another “return to start” card are met. Since we do find sets occasionally, that would imply that sets are typically created within, say, a century of the first card.
Honour Rae
Don't worry, that killed pink will not be forgotten! Honour Rae - Master of Red Herrings.
Honour Rae
Master of Fine Arts. ;)
Honour Rae
I am hitting pretty hard on the 'dark' them, no?
Honour Rae
I'd say a trip to the library is in order, wouldn't you?
Honour Rae
Sadly, the twins are Uncommon level and the vet said they need at least Rare or Legendary. That's not to say the twins will be completely forgotten about.
Honour Rae
I am just loving all the theories on this thread.
Honour Rae
Oh my god, I didn't even think about facebook. Sadly, no. The dragons all have legs.
Honour Rae
All I'll say is that there is some politics afoot!
Honour Rae
Oh no worries, there will be an explanation. It'll be... kind of a major point in the next chapter.
Honour Rae
That's a good question. Card sets are formed one at a time. So it's possible that there are four cards in a set in the world and one that hasn't been fully formed yet. Or even worse, one that was allowed to crumble away. Card sets are really hard to put together because the synergy is so powerful. I'm imagining that moment in Stepbrothers were the guys are like "Did we just become best friends?" upon finding they have cards in the same set. lol
Benjamin Walsh
How is he going to know what the right card is? It’s been mentioned many times that just being a knowledge card isn’t enough, he could help Cressida get a card and it still not be the right card. I know it will be due to plot armor, but it would be nice if there was some explanation
SweetRoll
Assuming that Arthur is going to link with them I'd guess it has to be something related to boosting one of their attributes or at least something along that vein. I don't see how a stealth or shadow step card would want to combine with either of his 'Master of' cards. Unless it was like Master of Shadows 🤔
Stylemys
I think it's more that she knows that Baron Kane could not legally possess a Legendary card. The Barony is already in debt for the lost Legendary card, so if the King knew they owned another one or even had the money to buy another one, they would have been forced to give it up to repay the loss. Therefore, the only way they could have another Legendary now is if they stole it. Given how valuable a card like that is, they would have had to steal it from from another noble's library too. Keep in mind, Valentina also thinks that Ernest Kane has an impressive stealth card, she knows he has a Rare storage card (i.e. loot bag), and she knows he found the <i>incalculably valuable</i>, very hidden Legendary egg almost as if he has a Seeker card for hidden items. That's a <b>thief's toolkit</b> right there. So in her mind, Baron Kane clearly outfitted one of his younger sons with a shady card set and had him trained as a master thief (probably by the literal band of criminals he rules). She's telling Ernest to rob the scholars' library because she thinks he's definitely already done this exact type of thing before.
Stylemys
My thought was that the kids he brought might be the real problem, made worse by the time-freezing properties of his storage skill. They were all <i>literally fresh</i> from the border after living there for years. There was no transition period/ journey, just a sudden introduction. They were still wearing the same border-filth covered clothes when they left as when they arrived and with the same border-grown food in their stomachs ready to shit out. Then at the orphanage, they'd be interacting with other kids that had apprenticeships throughout the city too. Additionally, the twins and their kitten were supposed to be sent directly to the Hive after a brief acclimation period.
Nathan Sto
Yo, do we know how card sets are formed, if the cards are developed individually? Does that imply that there are dragons who have cards of the same set around, destined to be best buds?
Nathan Sto
I would suggest that most people would be unwilling to add a card to their hands which isn’t in line with their personality. Anyone who could afford such a service already has a card that suits them, and wouldn’t be willing to change their personality for a linking chance.
Pebble
"he might have brought scourge into the hive" I'm guessing this might be a red herring, and it was actually brought in by someone from another Hive. Since I find it a little hard to believe Arthur's simple visit to the border village would be all it took to infect the dragon (though having Arthur sweat a little over this should be good to his character growth). We've had some glimpses now as to how cutthroat Hive politics can be, so I wouldn't be surprised if there is one out there that would be willing to weaponize the scourge for a little biological warfare to take down a rival Hive. It is even possible that one of the nobles that came to see the egg is working with that other Hive in some fashion, and took advantage of his access to the egg to expose it to the scourge. Speaking of cutthroat and pink dragons, I wonder if Arthur will one day be able to get his hands on the card from that pink he saw get killed. Since he already has the card from the rider, it would be kind of poetic to have the two cards reunite.
Christine Thomas
I am curious what card attribute the legendary has. Feels like it might be some type of stealth or shadow step.
seth dauer
I don't think she does. People see what they want to see. She thinks he has to ask for a legendary to be delivered, not that he already has one. It's basically impossible in her mind for a non noble to have a legendary. It wouldn't surprise me to find out it is illegal
haha good answer. That makes sense. If this were quora I would upvote your answer. So it has a card that impacts other cards, or is a dragon that impacts other dragons through its card. Interesting. Thanks for the reply!
Victor
Hehe, someone is going to assault some lazy scholars card deposit!!!
Amber Cabaniss
She said that they have no uncommon level vets. That's about to change, remember the twin with the "Uncommon Minor Health Restore" Arthur doesn't think she will link to a dragon but her sister might with her "animal empathy" card. Most likely he has not thought of them cause it has just been one day. And who knows maybe the hive is about to get lucky.
Curtis
She totally knows he's not Ernest Kane. Like, why in the world would she ask a noble born to rob a library? That would be madness. Unless she knew he had experience robbing cards before. I think she 'knows' he's a farm orphan picked up in a scourge who got lucky with a rare card. That a few months ago he got close to Rowantree's son - and that shortly there after the family left, with rumours of a stolen legendary. Then Kane suddenly implies that he has a legendary card, which he can get from his father, who Valentina already knows is not Baron Kane. The dots practically connect themselves.
Curtis
I think it means they tend to have cards that affect other cards. Wasn't Nullify (the common Arthur uses to block Return to Start) described as a Meta Card?
What does a “meta dragon” mean? Curious to find out. Meta is one of those words that means everything and nothing: an “ironically self-referential dragon” a “transcendental dragon” a “postmodern dragon”? A hipster dragon that sits on a pile of gold and burns up folk but does it “ironically”? A “meta dragon”....hmmm....maybe it works at facebook???
Stephan Bucher
I’m more interested, if she is going to out the fact that he’s not Kanes son. Or if she is going to use her influence, to force Kane to acknowledge him as a Bastard born. So that while he won’t inherit any land of the Barons, the Kane family will get the prestige of being related to a Legendary Dragonrider.
