Spire's Spite

The team followed Fritz as he strode down the brazier-lit, and surprisingly smokeless, halls. They turned this way and that as the branching corridors presented themselves, winding as they did to deny any angle from which an arrow could be loosed. Focused as he was on his Trap Sense, Fritz nearly walked past a hidden passage, even though he was specifically searching for one.

There was just too much to pay attention to. He had to listen for the whooshing of wind that preceded arrows, be on alert for the many traps he had to judge, and navigate whilst also needing to keep track of the distant Stairway's direction.

Fortunately, a rustling of flame in one of the iron braziers had him notice a subtle breeze that led him to a nondescript section of equally nondescript stone-brick wall. Fritz ran his fingers across it as the team stood around restlessly. Agitated and obviously on edge, they stared down the hall.

"Why are you fondling the wall? A secret passage?" Bert asked.

Fritz nodded and smiled when his hand ran over a particularly smooth brick. He pressed on the stone and it gave way to the pressure with a soft click. Something behind the wall clanked and the section ground open sideways. He ushered them through into a dry, dusty, or rather, dustier, corridor. When they were all through he pulled on a, thankfully, unobscured iron lever that shut the wall behind them.

After a sigh and a sag of the shoulders Fritz hoarsely said, "Take a rest. We need it and we'll know if the raider comes through that door."

"Couldn't miss it," Bert agreed.

The rest of the team still looked sullen, angry and tired, but at least they didn't complain about being told to rest. After some stilted inquiries about injuries, they had Lauren, with the help of the Amulet of Repose, use her Sooth Burns on both George and Bert. She had explained that the mana Essence of Fire produced couldn't be used for the Life Aligned Ability, so Bert had offered his Treasure up to help with the task.

She apologised softly, and her demeanour was steadily falling into a weary teariness. The burnt men stoically bore the small sorrys, waving off her concern with earnest words of forgiveness.

"It was only a light scorching. No worse than any other burn I've received," Bert said, lightly slapping her on the shoulder.

"The cloak protected me from the worst of it," George said. "But next time, maybe hold the fire until we're out of the way."

She nodded, a strained smile pulled onto her face as soothing waves of energy rolled off her palms and onto George's blistered skin. The pustules receded and the red colouring of the scalded flesh faded, leaving his skin looking pink and raw.

Lauren sighed heavily as the stamina drain took its toll, then she handed the golden amulet back now it had been wrung dry of mana.

"Wish we had some triads to refill my precious Treasure," Bert said, rubbing at his much recovered upper arm. "Did we get any in the chest?"

"Nah," Rosie said.

"Aren't you gonna scold us for opening it without you?" Cal asked darkly.

"What? Gods no," Fritz choked out.

Cal and Rosie stared at him, waiting for some explanation.

Now that he had some time he pulled his water flask out and drank from it, hoping the cool water would help his sore throat. It did, and he made to answer their expectant expressions.

"It was the right choice. With Lauren hurt as she was, gambling on receiving a healing potion or some life-saving Treasure was a good idea," Fritz said. "Who cares if the rewards are no longer tailored to Bert and I."

While Fritz put on an air of gracious acceptance, some greedy, unfair part of him was annoyed. He shoved the feeling away and stated, "We should look over what we got while we have the time. We're safe enough for now, but I don't think this wall will stop that beast for long."

The others nodded, arranging the various Treasures on the ground. They sat around the eclectic collection of objects and started going through them. There were the two healing potions, which were quickly split between Fritz and Rosie. The team readily agreed that they were the most likely to be able to help someone who was injured.

Then there were two items that Fritz hadn't noticed previously, both familiar. A Know-note and a pair of door dowsers. Items that hadn't been rewarded to him before. It occurred to Fritz that the reason that the chests he had opened had none of the door-divining objects was likely due to having Door Sense. Lauren reinforced this suspicion when she spoke.

"I'm glad that this chest had some Door dowsers. Strange the other chest didn't have any, though it does happen, sometimes."

"Aren't they rare?" Bert asked.

"No, one of the most common minor treasures along with Know-notes," She espoused. "They'll make navigating this maze of tunnels much easier."

"Wonderful!" Fritz lied, putting on a wide smile. "Though I'm more interested in all this other stuff. Oh, and there's the flail you mentioned Cal. Lucky you!"

Cal shrugged, reaching for the pale wooden haft of the flail. The dull chain clinked and rattled as he lifted it, and the heavy iron ball scraped across the floor as he drew it to himself.

"And Rosie, it's not an axe, but a war-pick is close enough, yes?" Fritz said motioning to the next item.

"Guess so," She said taking up the weapon. Its shaft was made of ivory and it had a long, silvery spike on one side while on the other had a flat hammer head. "It's a bit... pretty."

"A pretty pick for a pretty lady," Fritz replied easily.

Cal scoffed as Rosie blushed and hugged the Treasure to her chest possessively.

"Wonder what it does," George said, though he mostly had eyes for the bastard sword.

"We have one, now two no-notes, we just have to decide what to use them on," Bert said, stating the obvious.

Lauren sighed and pulled out her lens, setting it to her eye, then gradually looking over the items. She started at the pick moved to the flail and copper sword, then the white boots and steel helm. Her brow started furrowed, but raised higher and higher, surprise overriding frustration as she inspected each item.

"They're all... Treasures," she said with no little wonder.

"What?" Fritz said dumbly.

"All of them?" Bert asked.

"Yes, all of them," Lauren replied.

"That's got to be rare," Cal said, looking at his flail in new appreciation.

"It is. Quite rare," she said, still somewhat stunned by the huge windfall.

"How do we decide which ones to identify?" George asked.

"Lottery?" Fritz suggested.

"Calling dibs," Bert said, grinning.

"Or maybe Fritz should decide everything, like before," Cal said.

"Are you still mad about that?" Fritz said with some honest exasperation.

Cal shrugged, not meeting his eyes.

"I didn't explain before because my throat was still stiff and painful from my small case of strangulation," Fritz continued. "Though, did you not notice how odd it was for you four to all vote the same way? In a heartbeat? Without conferring with each other?" The wrong way. he almost added, but stopped himself. He didn't want to reveal that any time soon.

His words were laced with a little more anger than he intended, Cal's attitude had been grating on him for some time now. Even if he understood some of the man's dark mood he didn't know why he couldn't just enjoy the victories and new Power like the others did.

The team glanced at each other, their expressions thoughtful and somewhat embarrassed now that he had chastised them for their foolish misgivings. Even Cal had the good sense to begrudgingly nod and let go of this idiotic disagreement.

"Treasures!" Bert said into the awkward silence.

"Treasures! Let's decide which ones to use the Know-notes on quickly. Lauren, you appraise things like this often, yes?" Fritz said.

"My mother usually did the real work, though I did help and watch," she replied.

"Then do you have any suggestions or observations?"

"Weapons first, it's important to know what they can do if you're going to use them. The second kind of Treasures to identify are usually armours, as it's good to know what you're being protected by and if it has any strange weaknesses. Though that might not be revealed entirely by Know-notes. You would need a proper appraisal for that. Then after that, it's generally the items that anyone could use like apparel, rings, amulets and other jewellery."

"Wait, no-note's don't tell you everything!?" Bert cried. "I've been scammed!" He threw the Know-note in his hand at the ground in fuming, false outrage.

Fritz smirked at the display, especially when Bert scooped the white card right back up before giving the group an abashed look that was as fake as the affront he affected.

The others seemed not to know how to react to the odd outburst, bemusement flourishing in their faces.

Lauren coughed, raised an eyebrow, and continued her lecture. "They show the important things, like Imbuements, but not all the small properties like increased hardness, sharpness, or a resistance to a certain kind of element or magic. Most Treasures have enhanced durability to a degree, though not all Treasures are created equal and can have varying amounts of the myriad properties that may manifest."

Fritz nodded, having noticed that himself. His bone dagger was both incredibly durable and wildly sharp, and when he'd gone to hone it further he found that his whetstone had no discernible effect on the razor edge.

"That still leaves us in somewhat of a dilemma," Fritz said. "Three of these Treasures are weapons and we have only two Know-notes."

The group offered no solutions so Fritz went with his gut.

"Everyone grab the Treasure you want. Then we'll decide with the great game of selection."

"Great game of selection? What's that?" Cal asked.

"Paper-scissors-rock," Rosie said, reading into the words and ruining his reveal.

Damn Awareness.

"...Yes," Fritz agreed.

"As good a plan as any," Lauren sighed.

"I'll grab this sword if no one objects. I do need a new one. I accidentally left my sword behind in my haste to get Lauren and the chest out," George admitted, grasping the copper bastard sword and looking over its hilt and blade with muted eagerness. No one opposed him.

Lauren stared at the remaining Treasures, seemingly weighing up which one she should choose while Cal and Rosie held on to their respective weapons. She eventually reached out to the boots, they were made of thick, white hide and their insides were lined with pale fur that seemed as soft as a whispered word.

The last item left was the helmet. It was forged of blue-tinted steel, was open-faced and without a nose-guard, the edges lined in dull silver. All across the outside there were engravings that made the metal look like interlocked scales.

"Bert, are you desirous of a helmet?" Fritz asked.

"Nay. I am...undesirous," Bert said attempting to mock Fritz's pompous tones. "Armour would conflict with the Arte and I have my headband."

"Oh right. Don't the bracers count as armour though?" Fritz asked.

"They do not, the Arte Pugilist even suggests that you use them. And has some drills for adding blocking and parrying to the mix of dodges, ducks and weaves. But it still relies mostly on evasion, for now."

"Huh," Fritz said. "Any other hidden secrets of the Arte you'd like to share?"

"Not really," Bert said. "But I think it was meant to be paired with another Technique that was meant to increase the toughness of your body."

"Really?"

Bert nodded sagely. "That or Abilities or Traits to do the same. The Brotherhood Escantor might have had a toughness Spire or something. If they were real."

"They are real, or maybe were. Techniques come from humans. The Spire's just appropriate them, somehow," Lauren provided, as she removed her grey leather boots.

"Is that so," Fritz said, having remembered reading something of the sort long ago.

"Mhm. It's one of the few facts we know for sure," she said distractedly, slipping the snow-white boots over her bare feet. There was a subtle warping of the air around them and the hide seemed to shift, resizing to fit her snugly. She smiled as she looked down at her new footwear.

"Comfy?" Fritz asked, revelling in his own boots.

"Like walking on fluffy, warm clouds," she said happily.

"Can we get to the Know-notes," Cal interrupted, rudely but rightfully so.

The three with weapons readied themselves for the game and faced off. While it might have been fine for them all to compete with their various Treasures normally, they knew that they needed to seize every advantage to survive, and that meant finding out what the weapons did.

Rosie claimed the first victory with scissors and a smug smile, while George claimed the second with rock and an apologetic grimace. With that, it was settled and the Know-notes were awarded. The cards were tapped to the pick and the sword and the group crowded in to get a good view of the glyphs as they burnt into the paper.

Fritz sat back, content to let them see what the Treasures did, then decided to try on the helmet, just to see how it felt. It was a little heavier than he'd like and even though it was open-faced his vision was still limited on the peripherals, something he couldn't countenance. As a Scout he needed to be able to see anything that was coming for him, so he took the offending armour off.

"Interesting, but a little underwhelming," George said. "Not that I'm complaining, mind you."

Peering over the man's shoulder at the Know-note in his hand Fritz read:

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Treasure

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Copperchange Sword

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Alignment: Blade, Metal.

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Capacity: 3/9

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Abilities Imbued

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Malleable Form: Four Swords, Ring.

Many a thing, shape of one. Solid changing, all and none.

This Treasure transforms between one of five forms: Greatsword, Bastard Sword, longsword, shortsword and Ring.

Alignment: Blade, Metal.

Cost: Swords: One, Ring: Two.

Duration: None.

Refresh: None.

---

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"Versatile," Fritz complimented, though he was also disappointed in the Imbued Abilities. Though the more he thought about it the more it appealed to him.

"How quickly does it change?" Fritz asked.

"Good question," George said.

The bastard sword in his hand shifted, its blade retracted while the wide cross-guard and heavy pommel shrunk down until the weapon could more properly be classified as a longsword. It took less than a second and Fritz's estimation of the item grew.

"Could be very useful for feints or surprising your foe with a sudden shift in the blade's reach," He observed.

George smiled, then broke into a wide grin as he considered the new possibilities the Treasure provided.

The hidden hallway was suddenly cast in white light, the origin of which was Rosie's war-pick. Its head glowed brightly, though the light didn't obscure the weapon, rather it seemed to radiate the light, illuminating everything around her, much like the previous Floor had.

She held it aloft like a torch, waving it to and fro.

"I like this Treasure," she said with glee.

"Can I see the Know-note?" Fritz asked as Lauren had just finished reading it. She handed it off and he read:

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Treasure

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Starlight Pick

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Alignment: Light.

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Capacity: 3/6

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Abilities Imbued

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Light

Brightly shine, clear as day, banish dark, light the way.

This Treasure sheds a bright light.

Alignment: Light.

Cost: One.

Duration: Three hours.

Refresh: None.

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Glow Strike

Brilliant blows, a gleaming smite. Sticking stars, pierce the night.

Your strike dispels shadows and inflicts a shining mark.

Alignment: Light.

Cost: One.

Duration: Strike: Three seconds, Affliction: Ten Minutes.

Refresh: None.

---

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This Treasure was far less interesting to Fritz, it would be terrible for a scout like himself. That and the light, while tolerable, made him feel agitated and exposed.

"We're supposed to be hiding, put out the light," Cal hissed.

"How do I turn it off," She asked, waving the shining pick as if trying to dislodge the light.

"It didn't say it was suppressible, so you can't," Lauren said frowning.

Fritz sighed. "Hold it still," he ordered, and when she did he wove an orb of Illusory Shadow over the weapon. The light was immediately devoured, plunging them back into the dim flickering of the braziers.

"What? Is that a Darkness Ability?" Cal asked with some shock.

"Yes. I don't know why you're acting so surprised. I told you about it before," Fritz said, then added with a smirk. "Unless you thought I was lying, and have been secretly suspicious of both me and my motives."

Cal looked away, abashed and mumbled something under his breath that was covered by Rosie's voice.

"No, we wasn't suspicious or nothin'," she exclaimed without guile. "We trust you, don't we Cal."

She nudged him with her elbow and with a fake smile he said, "Yes, we trust you."

"Good, good," Fritz intoned, sitting back and relaxing, pretending his ire had abated.

"Does no one want the helm?" George asked.

"Looking for a replacement?"

"Not really, I want the visor," He replied. "Wouldn't want to take a claw to the face."

"I don't know, a rugged scar might suit you," Bert said.

George smiled.

"The helm's carvings would match me scales," Rosie said. "But I already have a Treasure."

"Take it," Lauren said. "You're a defender, after all, a little armour would do you some good. Triply so, because Durability extends some small amount of its effects to your armour and apparel."

"Interesting. I didn't know that," Fritz said. "Though I think that's enough talking. Now that we've caught our collective breaths, we should be moving."

Rosie slapped on the helmet and fastened its scaled strap. It looked somewhat incongruous on her slight frame, making her resemble a lopsided, heavy-headed mace, but Fritz supposed she'd grow into it in time.

Though the team were still tired and scared, their mood had lifted considerably in the past minutes. They chattered excitedly now they each had a Treasure, even if they didn't know what they all did. Fritz shushed them, holding a finger to his mouth as he heard a scraping, then a tapping on the false wall behind them. He motioned them to follow and led them further into the maze.

They reached another crossroads, and Lauren pulled out the Door Dowser and handed it to Fritz. He hid his grimace, these were likely worth gold and using them up was a waste of triads. But he also needed to keep his cover. Even if he had already revealed a lot of his secrets, Door Sense was not one he would ever disclose willingly. It was far too risky, what if they went to the Guides and told them about his Ability? He knew there had to be a bounty on people like him who hid their Guide-like Powers.

Plastering a pretend smile on his face he took the Door dowsing stick. It was twisted like a twig and had small glyphs written up its length on one side. With an internal sigh, he activated it, and felt it shiver and reverberate with his Door Sense and Awareness. It tugged his hand to the side until it pointed down the right side passage. Then it snapped in two, vertically, so he was left with the thin wooden halves in his fist.

Though the way it had split had been somewhat surprising, the more surprising thing was that his Door Sense gave him a far clearer impression than it had before. One that gave him a better sense of the distance between them. He looked down at the dowser with wonder. Maybe they aren't so useless for me after all.

Shaking his head free of distraction he moved right, following the new impression's urging. From behind the grinding of the wall could be heard. Vaa'gur must have found the correct brick.

"Run?' Cal asked anxiously.

"Run," Fritz agreed.

Without another word they fled, running down the stone tunnels, veering right whenever an opportunity presented itself. They crossed the multitude of deadly traps as quickly and as carefully as they could. Though most of the danger was dulled, or rather the perilous pits and springing spikes were rendered into little more than annoying nuisances by Fritz's Ability.

After around eighteen minutes of cautious running, they had reached the Stairway up and hadn't seen any more arrows or any sign of the raider following, though Fritz knew that he still was. Likely the beast of a man was being delayed by the traps, giving them the edge in these deceptively dangerous halls.

"Thank the Gods," he panted as he ran up the familiar stairs and into the Well room above.

With a quick assessment, he spotted the Well. This one was a column of falling water at one side of the room opposite the Doors upwards. The cylindrical waterfall misted the area as it spilled through a grate of fine golden bars. The rest of the room was nondescript stone brick, looking like one of the many flooded waterway tunnels below the ground of Rain City. The ones long left abandoned after they had been filled with water and had failed in their purpose.

Fritz ran to the Well and plunged his hand into the column, pulling in the cold burning energies into his Sanctum. Bert soon followed and signalled that he wanted his Golden Seed. Fritz rankled at having to wait to sink into his Sanctum. But he acquiesced without complaint, opening his pack and with a small trick and some sleight of hand, placed the soap into his friend's pocket without the gathering team noticing.

He sat in a rush, nearly falling into the water behind, but catching himself easily. Fritz dived into his raining Sanctum, ignored the cackling flame in the corner of his vision and found his newly offered choices.

Or he would have if a subtle scent and a clinking of glass didn't break his concentration and bring him back to the real world. He was quick to spot the black glass bottle pouring out a billowing cloud of almost invisible green-tinged gas. The fog of transparent green wafted over him and now he could taste the gas as well as smell it. It was like liquorice mixed with citrus and a hint of stone dust, dry and light. His tongue numbed then his eyes and nose. His face was next and then the rest of his skin, his chest and head felt heavy and he sagged where he sat.

He turned to see the rest of his team still in their Sanctums. Fritz cursed, in their haste they had made a mistake, no watchers. Though maybe it wouldn't have made a difference as Vaa'gur blended into view, stepping away from the wall like he was walking out of it. He grinned smugly as if he'd been waiting for them and they'd stupidly stumbled into his trap.

"Caught you."