When we got back to the inn and told Banach and Marid how it went and showed them one of the Black Wolf carcasses, they took our orders and then insisted dinner was on the house. Word soon got around and apparently the whole village was genuinely grateful like our hosts said they’d be, as they started trickling in while we were finishing dinner until the place was packed. They threw us a spontaneous party, bringing us drinks, snacks, and various little things.
A few of them wanted to see one of the Black Wolves, but none of them were interested in touching it. As some of them put it, just looking at the things gave them chills. I can kind of understand. Goblins are creepy looking and … off … like a thing that shouldn’t really be viable outside movies or games. Ogres are hideous and also strange like that. But it’s even more so with these not-exactly-wolves.
Oogly monster viewings aside, it was a fun party. Lots of friendly people.
In the morning, I had options from reaching level 4 and I chose Intelligence, Reaction, and Charm. The other one that had been available this time was Sensory, but Felix and Midnight cover that pretty well. So it seems like less of a priority now.
Checking out George, I’m a little confused.
George (Maeve’s pet)
Level 3
Health 9/9
Mana 2/2
Level 3? What was this squirrel doing before us? Or did he get all his levels with us? What the heck does it even mean for a squirrel to be level 3? It makes Earth-logic sense that his Health is smaller than Midnight’s even at the same level Midnight was when she first pounced on me. I guess. I mean, if I accept the idea of a squirrel being level 3 at all. But are there different scales for different animals or maybe a size multiplier or what? The game prepared me for a good many things in this world, but not for squirrel companions leveling up.
Then as we were having breakfast, some local craftsmen brought us parts that would work to replace the missing pieces of Simon’s armor along with needle and thread. With that Simon stitched the missing plates back into his jack of plates and his left arm guard while one of the locals riveted a couple replacement plates into his leg guards, which got his armor back more or less good as new. Except of course all the manual patches still were obvious patch jobs and the new pieces didn’t match exactly.
Five more days of riding brought us to the southeast gates of Selkir City. I’d figured it was worth trying to bring Midnight along, so we rode up to the gates with her. But the guards were absolutely unwilling to even consider letting us in with her. I even offered to pay a fee or something; and I was sternly told, “not at any price.”
Not that I can really blame them when I’m probably the first person who ever tried to bring a stalker into the city as a pet. Thankfully, they did helpfully offer some ideas where I might be able to let her stay while we’re in the city. About a 15 minute ride from the gate and then another half hour down a side path, there’s a farm trying to tame wolves. Of course, that’s the Three Moons native equivalent of grey wolves rather than the Black Wolves. The guards had said everything figured those farmers were crazy for even trying, but also that having seen my tamed stalker they had to wonder whether maybe taming wolves could be done after all.
The farmers – a pair of guys named Taog and Osgar – were excited to meet us. Or at least to meet Midnight. Thankfully, they seemed to have a healthy respect for the personal space of predatory animals, because Midnight did not want them coming up to inspect her. They wanted to know all about how I tamed Midnight. It felt kind of sad to break it to them that it wasn’t so much an easily trainable method as I guess some sort of power that I’m suspecting might have been granted by Ilki. Una said that I was blessed by all seven gods. It seems likely my pet taming comes from Ilki’s blessing. But they showed me their facilities, their wolves, and a bit of their methods.
They agreed pretty quickly to set up a large pen for Midnight in exchange for compensation. After discussing a bunch of options for what that should be, they accepted one of the black wolf carcasses, which they said they wanted to study. That bought a week’s feeding in the bargain. If we’re staying longer than that, I’ll have to figure out something more. But it’s not like I’m going to go a week without visiting Midnight anyway. So I’ll be out here before that.
They also asked permission to get a portrait painter in to make portraits of Midnight. Fine with me. If I had somewhere to hang it, I’d want one myself.
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