It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Join me in this week's episode of Dragons and Red Shirts where I wound up running around like a maniac when what I really wanted to do was just enjoy the environment. Dragons and Red Shirts gives me the opportunity to improve my writing skills by creating short stories out of the games I play and stream. This ensures that you, the reader, are getting the best out of me. As is all too common in writing of course, I just couldn't fit everything into this episode because I don't want these to be too long. Things I left out? The defensive wall, the two extra mass attacks by grey dwarves, and death by troll. again. Oh, the morality thing? Dear readers, there will never be a time when I am not concerned with the morality of an action, even in a game.
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Following a troll was actually very difficult. Grillain was forced to move from bit of cover to bit of cover as the blue skinned monster paced along the shoreline. Every once in a while it would stop and sniff the air, move a few paces toward Grillain, but then turn back. It was unsure where she was, and lost interest easily. She was persistent though. She wanted to get close enough to bring it down, but in the right spot! In heavy forest she'd be TOO much of a target. That thing ripped up trees like breaking twigs while she had to scramble over rocks, getting tired all the time. Early morning hours passed as she kept following.
"Gr. Stomp. Gr. Stomp. Why don't you just fall off the edge of Valheim you big brute?"
Abruptly the troll disappeared and Grillain blinked.
"I didn't mean that literally. What happened?"
Grillain crept forward, keeping herself hidden. As she got closer her heart sped up and she flared her nostrils to take in more air. A healthy sense of fear seized hold of her. She didn't want the troll breaking her either. As she came to the edge of where she last saw the troll, it's head appeared, moving back and forth. Across the expanse of clearing, Grillain saw the perfect opportunity to get some vital hits in before it came after her. She whipped out her bow and the brand new arrows she had fashioned. The whole head of the wooden arrow was soaked in flammable resin. A tiny piece of flint attached to the bow created a spark as the projectile was loosed so the whole arrow lit up like a tiny bolt of fire as it flew. It set fire to anything it sank into. It was very destructive.
One, two, three arrows. She got the aim perfect and she saw flares of fire as they hit their target squarely. The troll flung its arms around itself and she could see it move back and forth even faster. At this extreme range she couldn't really tell how hard it had been hit, but she decided to stay where she was and kept firing arrows.
But why wasn't it moving toward her? Any arrow would tell the beast where she was and it should have come striding over the clearing to beat the unloving crap out of her by now. Her heart calmed after the tenth arrow and she became too curious to resist moving closer. The morning birds had all fallen silent as her arrows passed and all she heard was her own footsteps swishing through the now dry grass. She kept her bow at the ready.
Just past the trees, right up against the shore of the water, the cliff face appeared to have crumbled. The troll angrily stomped back and forth. It's head and shoulders were covered with seared marks and it rumbled weakly. It was obviously close to being defeated. Lifting her bow, Grillain couldn't believe her luck. It was trapped! She sighted down the arrow. Oh elation. What an opportunity!
Ten seconds later, the arrow hadn't left the bow.
"What am I doing? It's just…it's just a monster."
Walking around on two legs. With those two eyes. Howling. Trapped. Killing a deer wasn't like this. If it had chased her she wouldn't have had a problem killing it. It was just a troll. The real problem cut into Grillain's chest. Was it an animal, or was it a sentient innocent?
"Don't be ridiculous. It's a monster. Like the skeletons!"
But it didn't look like a skeleton. It also didn't look like those nasty greylings with their long emaciated fingers. It had clothing. It was also trapped. It didn't feel quite fair. If it had been a deer she would have been more than happy to trap it in one of her three sided nets and shoot it at leisure. But it wasn't an animal. And it was helpless. She didn't want to make it suffer, she just wanted to get rid of it! Her bow raised and then lowered again. The troll let out another howl of pain and Grillain swallowed hard. She raised the bow and sighted very carefully.
The troll hit the ground without another sound, but Grillain didn't feel any better. She skinned it swiftly. The thick blue hide would make excellent armor. Surprisingly, it also had coins on it in a little belt pouch. What would a monster want with coins? She took them with gentle fingers. Did this change how she felt about trolls? Absolutely not! They were dangerous monsters who needed to be cleared out of this land so that Valheim could once more be populated by Odin's chosen. The crack of thunder echoed a gust of wind. Without another thought, she took her prizes, including the trolls head, and walked home through the rain.
"I need a break."
The morning's rays peeked through a thin edge of roof thatching into Grillain's eyes. As always, she felt no urge to turn over and go back to sleep. She just sat up, clear eyed and ready to go. It was another invaluable benefit to this place that was not the home she'd known.
Her path was not for wood today, nor for metals, nor for Prey. Today was just for her. She wanted to wander, she wanted to seek and see what she would find. all her tools went into her pack or onto her belt. Her hammer, her pick, her good sharp axe. It was only at the last moment on the way out the door she snatched up the almost forgotten bow and plenty of arrows. With the troll dead she wasn't likely to see any action but perhaps a few greylings.
The coast was quiet and she used a torch to light her way for a while. The lapping of the waves on the shoreline was peaceful. Fog rolled in, it's misty tendrils tentative across the green grass. It was not intrusive to her view, only ornamental. She continued on, past where she'd killed the troll, past where she'd mined tin. She left the smells and bright sounds of the meadows for the deeper, earthier environment of the Black Forest. The rocky cliffs were a bit more dangerous, the waves crashing a bit harder.
Upon one of these cliffs, tucked away into a pocket overlooking the ocean, was an old structure. It didn't look exactly like a house, though it was small enough to be one. It had a tall roof and was a bit longer than the normal places she'd seen. A strange urge grabbed her and she took out her hammer, easily replacing panels and securing them so the whole place was once again solid. She set up a box and a bench in the corner and the urge fled, as if it had been satisfied. She left a few arrows and berries in the box as a tribute to whichever spirit happened to inhabit this place. It hadn't taken long and she was back on her way quickly.
Soon enough the rocky shoreline became difficult to traverse. She realized the rocks were becoming bigger, until she found herself standing on one big enough to run on. That was odd. She'd never noticed anything this big except when she entered the barrow…
Grillain froze. Very carefully she slid down and around the pile until she came face to face with the giant shadowed entry way. This was definitely a troll den. Her eyes watered slightly. It even smelled like it! Surely this was where the troll had lived. What did it look like inside, she wondered.
Carefully she crept forward, past the opening, into the dark smelly interior. It was surprisingly bare here. The walls weren't dripping with slime or feces. However, whether it was the shifting of the rock or what Grillain really thought it was, a short deep rumbling sound caused Grillain to reverse course and scramble headlong out of the cave. Her feet didn't stop once outside but kept taking her back along her course, tripping and scuffling until she reached the dubious safety of the actual Black Forest where blueberry shrubs and thistle bristled in the light that filtered through the canopy of fir and pine trees.
Once at a normal walk, she tried to catch her breath and calm her heartbeat.
"This is not what I had in mind for a day off."
Only one little greyling attempted to confront her which she dispatched with ease and an arrogant chuckle
"They can't even get close to me anymore."
A tightening of her shoulders and chest caused her to take a deep breath in an attempt to relax once again, but it was futile. Mayyyybe she should find some wood. Plenty of pines here. She'd grab a bit and just go. The bronze axe bit satisfyingly into the pine. Three strikes later and it toppled. But along with the crashing of the pine came the crashing of other things. Greylings and larger greylings with antlers sticking out of them. Were these things attracted to the sound of her axe?
She took down the greylings with ease. Turning to face the bigger one, she received a faceful of green mist. Instantly her face and front were burning in agony. The pain made her feel as if her skin were melting. She wanted to rip it off her own head it hurt so badly. She had to get away! Had to! She staggered to the side as the greyling muttered some kind of spell and hurled another cloud. The things eyes blazed through the misty green fog. She began running and didn't stop. She ran into more than one tree. She didn't even slow down until she realized she was no longer surrounded by trees. She was in a meadow, north of her original home base.
Clean, fresh air soothed her lungs and face. Only the quiet sounds of barking deer greeted her. Until the boar decided she was too close. A solid WHUMP right in her midsection drove her into the sodden grassy soil. She weakly flailed her axe but it got away. It whirled for a second run at her. WHUMP. She almost felt like laughing. She couldn't be killed by a PIG. She couldn't! After five or six swings she finally brought the thing down right in her lap. It bled its life away there while she leaned back on the grassy hump.
Once she had finally gotten her breath back she opened her eyes and looked around. What a wonderful meadow! It was bright and clear and she could see the Black Forest from here. If she built a barn, she could fill it with boxes and store wood here on her way back home. It would give her a safe place to run to. The rest of the boars in the meadow gave her a respectful berth of space as she used the remaining wood she had on hand to make a single wall. Wearily she stuffed food into her mouth and felt strength begin to return to her limbs as she dragged herself up to go get more wood.
A short trip through the wooded area of the meadow should have been quiet and peaceful.
….should have been.
She found that it didn't matter where she tried to cut down a tree, within seconds she was surrounded by greyling monstrosities! Growling, snarling, spitting mist and threatening to tear her limb from limb. As she finally got rid of the last one, she realized she was lost. Not lost-lost. Her mental map showed her she was a long ways away from where she had planned to build a storage barn, but she was lost. She didn't know exactly what was around here. She stumbled over several large piles of what looked like shiny rock and discovered to her great pleasure, it was copper! Copper mines within striking distance of the meadow!
But the greatest was yet to come. For as she entered what appeared to be another meadow, she realized it was man made, not natural. It was cleared ground, with buildings. Big, well built buildings. A whole village! At this point, she could have cried with relief. She didn't have to build more buildings on her own! She just had to fix these and then fill them with boxes! Her exhausting day off was at an end as she chose a building to repair and got it in shape within just a short time. She didn't even bother building a fire. She just dropped to the ground after closing the door.
"Thank you Odin."
Above her, on the roof, the Valkyrie landed silently and cleaned its claws, looking around curiously.