The First Quest
While my current accommodations were less than desirable, I felt a thrill the next morning when I awoke. Today I would start my first quest. In my life on Earth, something like this was the thing of books and video games. Having fully accepted those memories as my own, I felt like I was fulfilling a childhood fantasy. I soon arrived in the main hall of the Union for my meeting with Raginhard. He laid out a large copy of Torinheim's sewer system before me.
Crawling through shit didn't seem like that start of a promising adventuring career but it was something.
"Outside of the Duchess's archives, you won't find a better map of the current sewers. Unfortunately it's not completely accurate. Torinheim has been destroyed completely twice in its thousand year history and partially destroyed seven times." Raginhard said.
"How much of the system do you think is here?" I asked. Cities as old as Torinheim have had dozens of redesigns of their sewers. Newer plans often didn't have unused parts of the system accurately portrayed.
"I would say around 70%. But that is just my guess. The two biggest factors that make for inaccuracies are criminals making their own alterations using the sewers to avoid the city guard and large burrowing monsters. Tunnels could be collapsed with old tunnels sealed off by cave-ins, and dead ends that are really just secret hideouts." He said.
"Besides monstrous rats, what should I be on the lookout for?" I asked.
"As I said, criminals and large burrowers can be found. Various species of slimes and molds have been reported. Undead are very uncommon as the Church of the Holy Light hold a ceremony that envelops the city in a purifying aura that weakens the lesser undead and marks any other undead, making them easier to find. That happens on the summer solstice, so there is a chance that some have found their way into the sewer since then." He said.
"As for other monsters… It can vary. The reports I have seen from others that have gone down report a number of different species but they tend to be one offs. Individual monsters that just happen to get lost down there. That's why it is usually recommended to go as a group."
"Thanks for the information." I said.
He handed me an iron disc with a few gems embedded in it. "You will need to take this with you. As indicated on the map, there are places you need to go within the sewers. They will have markers that will activate part of the disc when you get close enough to them. You will have to turn this in in order to successfully complete the quest."
I saw 14 marks total throughout the sewers, none were close to entry points. It guaranteed that whoever took the quest had to make their way through the sewers instead of just dropping in and getting out without doing anything.
"Keep in mind that every monstrous rat tail is worth 3 copper. If you find belongings of other adventurers, there will also be rewards for turning them in. Within the city they are considered lost property, outside the city they would be fair game for you to keep." He said.
With nothing else to discuss, he led me towards the lower levels of the Union. Due to having to constantly enter the sewers for quests, the Adventures Union had an easy access door on its lower level. Raginhard took out a large key and undid the locks. He then handed me three cloth face coverings with herbs and flowers sewn into them.
"I'll check here three times a day to see if you came back to this door. You can use a number of other marked exit points. You'll need this grate key in order to open them. Some might be rusted shut so don't wait until too late at night, or you might have to travel a distance to get out. Remember that you have two weeks to complete the quest, there's no need to push yourself." He said as he handed me the key.
I placed two of the coverings in my storage ring and wrapped the other around my nose and mouth. Kloan had a few bright stones in the ring when I took it from him. Lighting one I opened the door and made my way in.
The door closed behind me and I could hear Raginhard locking it. Even with the covering, the stench was revolting. The ceiling was high enough near the door but became lower as I moved further in. It didn't take long for me to come to my first junction. Checking the map, I made my way towards my first check point.
On the way I only noticed a few normal rats. It wasn't necessary but I did kill those that I could hit with simple Firebolts. While also seen as unclean in this world, they didn't have the same connection with plagues that they did on Earth. History lessons of the Black Plague left me with no sympathy towards them.
I soon came to the first marker embedded in the wall. The first gem in the disc gave off a slight glow before fading. After checking the map, I made my way towards the next one. This one took me longer to get to and required a few twists and turns. In the end I got there without any incident. While on the one hand it was nice to make my way without difficulty, I needed rat tails for the monster bounty. The pay for just the quest wasn't too high, a supplement would be nice.
It was later in the day when I came to the third marker and my luck, if you can call it that, improved. Five monstrous rats came scurrying around a corner. With my aura circulating it didn't take much to take care of them. With the Osgar aura they weren't able to pierce my skin and the Lydos aura on my blade burned through them with ease.
Monstrous rats didn't have many parts that were useful but I was able to get a bit of blood and a few of their glands that are good for making antidotes. After taking those parts and their tails into my storage ring I burned the rest. On the way to the fourth marker I ran into a total of 16 more monstrous rats. They were in small groups allowing me to take care of them easily.
By this point it was close to dinner time and I hadn't wanted to eat down here, so I looked at the map for the nearest exit. I should have planned my route better. It was going to take a while to make my way out. As I continued onward, a slight chill entered my heart.
Now knowing what it meant, I stopped and let my senses take in my surroundings. The general sewer smell was too overpowering for me to gain anything in that regard. All I heard was the sound of slow running water and a constant dripping from several places. Within the glow of the bright stone I didn't see anything out of the ordinary. There was nothing else for me to do but continue on.
Minutes passed without change. The chill was still there and I wasn't picking up anything with my senses. After I took care of a group of three monstrous rats, I thought I heard a noise behind me. Energizing my air and water motes, I sent a spell back the way I came. Water was whipped around the tunnel. Any intelligent creature could tell that this wasn't anything that could do them harm.
The creature that came lunging out of the dark must not have realized this. It looked like a black snake with a dark gold under belly thicker than my forearm. As it got closer I saw that its tail was actually several tentacle-like appendages. It took a Firebolt head on as its tentacles wiped out to try and grab me as it attempted to sink its fangs into my leg.
A few tentacles were severed by my sword as its fangs failed to pierce my Osgar aura. I was slightly surprised that it actually came close to breaking through. It pushed off the wall with its tentacles and increased its speed of attack. More of its appendages were cut off but it was still able to wrap around my leg. Through my aura I could feel tiny hooks in each of its suckers trying to pierce my flesh.
I sent a shock of lightning through my leg. The spell wasn't too powerful, a human would find it annoying but not deadly by any means. With another lightning mote, it would become an effective counterattack. For the smaller snake creature, it did some decent damage. With it momentarily stunned I was able to slice its head off.
Before harvesting it, I consulted a small book that Raginhard had given me last night. All new adventures were given this introductory guide to the more common monsters in the north. I found that it was called an ormstram, it commonly was found in caves and darker forest and preyed on monsters such as the monstrous rat. Curiously, its fangs weren't venomous but the little hooks in its suckers were. Unfortunately for me it was a C ranked bounty.
I still harvested it to sell the parts but it would be hard for me to get a bounty for it. Not being too far from the exit now, I killed a few more monstrous rats before finding the ladder that led up to a grated entrance. The key was difficult to turn but I was able to get the grate open eventually. As I was locking the grate, I heard a woman's voice.
"Ah what is that smell? Is it that man?" I came out in an alley near a street. I still had the face covering to lessen the smell but I had no doubt I smelled rather fierce at the moment.
There were three women dressed in nice revealing clothes. Two of them looked disgusted at me. The other I recognized and she had a curious look on her face.
"I'm sorry ladies but you'll have to continue without me. My appointment has arrived." The fox beast-kin Floriana stood before me.