I pressed the captain of the guard to let us leave at midnight, but he cautioned we wait until we could at least fight back, should we be ambushed. I had to agree with him, but at least won out that we could leave the city as soon as the sky began to turn gray.
It wasn’t quite noon when we finished our tense but uneventful march to Taelman’s Pond. When we arrived at the front gate, I shouted to the guards who aimed bows down at us from the two short towers above. “We’re here to help! Tell Hana that the warlord of clan Mendoza has finally arrived.”
A shrill voice rose above the din of activity. “Madi! Open the gates, quick! Let them in!”
A handful of guards busied themselves opening the gate, and I saw the huntress standing beside Pachi and a tall redhead that was pretty enough to make a thread of jealousy rise within me.
I shook the thoughts from my mind and hugged the girl who barreled into me. Then she pulled back and punched me in the breastplate, hissing, “What the heck? You show up late ‘cause you couldn’t stop yourself from shopping?” Her gaze was distant as she viewed my gear stats.
“Be nice, Hana, or I won’t give you your presents,” I said as we walked into the town itself.
Hana squealed a bit, but visibly restrained herself. The presence of a dozen soldiers and NPCs dampened her exuberance. She cleared her throat and introduced the tall woman. “This is Adalee. She’s the hunter that first taught me to use the bow.”
I shook her hand and smiled, but a flicker of amusement in the woman’s eyes gave me pause. What was she thinking?
Adalee’s tone was light and friendly, and I realized at once she was an ally. “I’ve heard a lot about you. I remember seeing you at Wardeen’s forge, but never had the chance to introduce myself.”
“I probably should recognize you, but it’s so hard to remember names and faces when you’re as selfish as I am,” I quipped, and a bit of laughter broke the remaining ice. “Did the players arrive yesterday?”
Hana said they had, and I followed up my comments with a description of the Battle of the Bridges, including how many enemies we killed. Though everyone seemed grateful, it was clear they were still in the clutches of fear.
We had made our way to a large tent that stood at the center of the town, and Tejón and Pachi were tussling a bit, getting reacquainted, so I decided it was a good time for gifts. I showed Hana my new abyss bag and Adalee gasped. “Those are insanely rare. I’ve only ever seen Alysand’s. How did you manage to get one?”
“Well, I had to give my left ovary and a good deal of coin. Bought it in Bridgerun. Managed to make a few friends with my successes in the arena.”
Hana’s brow furrowed. “Wait, you fought in the arena?”
Teegan answered from behind, “Yeah, and she dropped her foes like so many flies.”
I introduced the elf. He bowed formally, then gave me a push. “Go on, quit putting it off.”
Obliging, I pulled out the ring I’d bought for Hana first. “This isn’t very fancy, but I thought of you when I saw it. Here, put it on.”
Hana made appropriate squeaky noises and blushed from ears to nose. She always got so embarrassed when she did so, but I thought it made her look adorable.
“Thank you, Madi! Wow, no stat bonuses, but a permanent increase to my rate of fire will be a nice perk, especially in the fight to come.”
I noticed that she looked upset for a second, probably because she didn’t have a gift for me. “No big deal. It wasn’t much. I know how you hate to spend coin,” I teased, then tried to move the conversation along. “Besides, this is the real gift and it didn’t come from me. Turns out, the grumpy blacksmith’s brother is a pretty nice guy.”
I pulled out the scale armor, one piece at a time, and set them down on the ground before Hana. A few gasps were shared, and Hana stared at the gleaming armor. I finally had to urge her, “Well, don’t just stare at it, put it on!”
She picked up a pile of the gear and disappeared into the tent with a promise to be right back. The wait was awkward, but thankfully Adalee gave me a brief rundown on the defenses that they’d put in place, which eased some of the tension. I never was very good with strangers, and sitting on the brink of battle didn’t help at all.
Finally, Hana burst from the tent, and it was my time to gawk. Every inch of her looked a warrior. The overlapping scales had a muted gray color to them, and as she turned, the outlines seemed almost to blur.
I examined the stats with everyone else who was staring at the masterful equipment.
Ash of Anwar Scale Cuirass
Quality: Legendary: Armor 115
Durability 500/500
+10 Stamina, +50% Fire Resistance
Ash of Anwar Scale Gauntlets
Quality: Legendary: Armor 40
Durability 180/180
+10 Dexterity, +25% Slashing Damage Resistance
Ash of Anwar Scale Pauldron
Quality: Legendary: Armor 80
Durability 200/200
+5 Intelligence, +5 Stamina, +5 Strength
Ash of Anwar Scale Faulds
Quality: Legendary: Armor 100
Durability 220/220
+10 Dexterity
Ash of Anwar Matching set bonus: Equipping all pieces of the armor grants an additional 20% towards Stealth and increases all elemental attacks by 10%.
Special Ability: Cinders of the Past
Cinders of the Past (Active): When invoked, a cloud of cinders envelops the enemy, granting 100% chance of causing Blindness and Choke to all enemies in the Area of Effect. Choke saps enemies Stamina by 2% every 3 seconds and lasts for duration of spell. Area of Effect changes due to local wind conditions with a maximum area of 1000 square feet. Elemental attacks
