GH - 226

“A wardcrafter? The runes on his clothes… Are those wards?”

(Nay, my musical friend,) said Mr. Inuus.

“Neigh? Isn’t that the sound horses make? You’re a goat.” I looked around. My reflections on the ice stared back at me while imaginary crickets chirped. “I concede that was a lame joke. Go ahead, Mr. Inuus. What’re those symbols carved on the strips of metal?”

(Magical runes, that they are. But runes are not wards.) Mr. Inuus pointed with a hoof at the corpse’s armor. (Runes, our herds, and yours make use of aplenty. Wardcrafters employ runes to mold energies into constructs to carry out tasks. Unlike other runes, these for wardcrafting do not have the inherent power to influence the world—the wards they make do.)

I wrinkled my forehead. “I don’t follow. Runes can do things on their own, right? Why use runes to make wards and have those wards do the work? What’s with the extra step?”

(Consider a door bolt and a guard. A bolt can secure a door. Likewise, a guard. The latter, however, is a living being capable of a wide range of actions to carry out his duty of making sure the door stays closed. The bolt has only one function—keep the door closed with the bolt across the door and its frame.)

“Wards are like summons then? Can they think? I’m still confused about your explanation.”

Mr. Inuus tilted his great horned head side to side. (Wards can be considered alive and have some level of autonomy, yes, you can say that. Wards tasked with protecting a wall will not only strengthen it with barriers but can also repair its damaged sections. More advanced wards can rearrange the grains of each block to bind them stronger. Some wards can engage the enemies scaling the walls, shooting them down, and such. All that, to carry out their task.)

“And wards also can last long after their maker is gone,” I added, gaining more respect for the wardcrafter route. The wards of Elder Pabilsag that attracted Mirdabons to the front of the village as a buffet buffer against Buvalu did their job despite Elder Pabilsag’s passing until they were uprooted to make way for the refugees of Mad Brewer Bawu’s bioterrorism.

(Powerful constructs, those wards,) Mr. Inuus said. (A myriad of uses like our music magic. More flexible, even. I admire the wardcrafters in their art. A pity one of them met a lonely death in this cave; a huge loss of knowledge and creativity.)

“Do you know this guy?” I tried to flip the body to get a look at his face. The slightest movement caused cracking noises. I immediately let go and backed off, hoping Mr. Inuus wouldn’t accuse me of desecrating a corpse. I didn’t appear to have broken off anything.

(Careful, musical friend. Let the dead in their rest have peace.)

“Sorry about that,” I hastily said. “Can you spot any identifying marks on him? Do wardcrafter families have signature rune designs that set them apart from each other?”

Mr. Inuus examined the etched metal bands. (You are correct that each family has signature strokes. However, I am not well-versed in the wardcrafter’s runic arts to discern specific design tendencies. What I can say with certainty is that this Mardukryon friend is of Mezhu Nue. Sorrow fills my heart.) He played the sad, funeral-sounding song from earlier.

“Really? Oh, I meant ‘really,’ as in, he’s from Mezhu Nue. Not if you’re really sad. This popsicle friend must be a relative of Elder Pabilsag.”

It took a minute for Mr. Inuus to finish his song and answer me. (Not necessarily so. For this resting friend might be an external apprentice, taken in by a wardcrafter’s family who found great promise in him.)

“So, they do teach outsiders their craft? I was told that Elder Pabilsag took in students, but I assumed that was only because he thought his family in Mezhu Nue was wiped out. At least, we have a tidbit of info on the identity of this dead guy.” I looked over my shoulder. “Could he be related to the merchant way back there? Too much of a coincidence that two of them died frozen.”

Mr. Inuus eagerly nodded, his hair waving as he did. (I agree with your assessment.)

“You’re a very agreeable musical friend, Mr. Inuus.”

(Going further, I daresay they both died around the same time this tunnel was frozen.)

“The question is, when did that happen? If our two mystery corpses are from Mezhu Nue—maybe they were part of the same party—they could’ve wandered into this area only after Elder Pablisag last visited his cave. And that’s after the Immensely Great Quaking Heave. This confirms that a path to Mezhu Nue is here somewhere. A part of this stretch of icy walls isn’t so solid.”

(A path to the surface… or a path to our deaths,) Mr. Inuus somberly said. (What killed our poor friends may still lurk hereabouts, a geyser of the Mountain Guardian’s exhalations, waiting to be released.)

“The deadly freezing gases must’ve already dissipated after all these years… I hope. Not that we have many options for where to go next. Maybe there’s something inside here that could help us.” I knocked on the boulder. “Do you know how to open this?”

(I do not. Most unfortunate. If our wardcrafter friend here—) Mr. Inuus nodded at the dead guy (—was not able to open it, then less likely are we to do so.)

“Right.” I thought the same upon seeing the dead guy.

(Seeing these runes for crafting wards, I daresay this boulder houses wards that protect it from brute force attempts at moving it. Fighting powerful wards made by master crafters gives us no benefit, musical friend.)

I slowly nodded. Those protections of the boulder were a big flashing sign there were more quests to do to unlock this area. Annoying, but understandable. My immediate goal was to search this dead guy for any clues. And items. Fingers crossed he also had some Skills Shards. Could I loot his armor too?  

I needed to distract Mr. Inuus. If he didn’t think investigating the boulder would yield anything helpful, I should try to convince him to start scanning the walls.

“Mr. Inuus, maybe you can start… erm, what is it?” I asked, wondering why he was sniffing the corpse.

(Most curious…) He went to the other side of the dead body and sniffed some more.

“What is? The smell?”

(Some runes on his armor persist in their ember.)

“What’s wrong with that? Residue of some power? The runes on this boulder are also glowing.”

(Runes used for ward construction, unlike those on the boulder, are linked to the artisans’ life force. For if they do not have any power, they will not work.)

I jolted. “Are you saying that guy is still alive? Looks pretty dead to me.”

(And he is.) Mr. Inuus unburied his noise from the corpse. (Apologies I give for disturbing your peace, sleeping friend. Rest again, eternally in the musical beyond.) To me, Mr. Inuus then asked, (What were you saying, musical friend?)

“My theory about a hidden way out… Can you start scanning the walls for any hollow parts, pretty please? Then we’ll weigh the risk of busting through. Not sure what I can do to help with the search, but I’ll follow after saying my Mardukryon prayer for the dead.”

Mr. Inuus left me with the corpse. Bowing my head and mumbling nonsense, I hid a grin.

Time to loot my kin!

“Where’s the damn button?” Was this the sort of bullshit in games that I have to be looking at the correct angle for the button to appear? The whole corpse was right in front of me! I shifted left and right. Still nothing. Mr. Inuus might get suspicious.

Getting impatient, I tried to manually remove the still-glowing armor, hoping that it was important given Mr. Inuus’ explanation, but couldn’t do so. Sounds of ice breaking echoed in the cave. I stopped pulling and loudly coughed to cover the noise of my shenanigans.

Mr. Inuus didn’t appear to notice what I just did. He had his back turned to me while facing the wall, his music magic loudly screeching.

I didn’t want to give up on desecrating the corpse of my fellow Mardukryon. I already started it, might as well continue. I need to get this armor.

Next, I tried to individually remove the metal bands. The runes on them were the most important part. My [Heavy Spear] was too long and unwieldy to use as a prying tool, and Mr. Inuus would have a heart attack if he saw me poking the corpse with it, so I used the bottom end of my shield. The edge got under a metal strip. I started to push it up. No breaking ice. Was this a success?

Then I froze upon hearing some clip-clopping of hooves. I looked sideways to check if Mr. Inuus was coming over. It wasn’t him; he was still by the walls.

The sounds continued, uneven as if the one walking was drunk. They were heavier than the steps of a musical goat. Mr. Inuus heard them too, and he turned to check what was approaching us from behind.

“What the…” I said, checking what new trouble this was. “You’re the dead merchant!”

But he wasn’t so dead anymore, ambling towards us. His eyes glowed blue, his white ashen body dropping flakes like a dandruff bonanza as he came closer. Parts of his frozen solid robes broke off into colorful shards. His right arm dangled from his elbow by a few strands of muscle. A chunk of his side fell off, exposing ribs inside. What a horrible day to have eyes.

Though the no-longer-that-dead merchant looked like crap, it might not be so weak judging by the caption floating above its head—[Lvl 64 Glacial Ifrit]

“Ifrit? Isn’t that a fire spirit or demon or something?” No idea which folklore the ifrits were from, but I had played a few computer games with ifrits in them and they were always depicted as fire elementals of sorts. “Huh, ‘glacial’. You’re an ice Ifrit? But aren’t you supposed to be a zombie or—Ah, I get it. You’re possessing the body.”

(How horrid! A Glacial Ifrit disturbing the rest of Mardukryon friend!)

“You’re familiar with this kind of monster? What are its weaknesses?”

(If the body it wears is destroyed, the naked malignant spirit will be easy to vanquish,) Mr. Inuus explained. (But there is a problem.)

“I see a problem all right. It’s about to attack!” I exclaimed as I rushed to Mr. Inuus for protection.

The Glacial Ifrit, or rather the body it possessed, opened its mouth and shot a bright blue beam at where I had stood a second before. A gigantic bouquet of icicles blossomed. For the next shot, I was already under Mr. Inuus’ barriers. Ice formed outside the barrier, tracing its curved shape. Then the ice broke apart, each piece exploding into smaller and smaller pieces until it was just snow.

Quite a fearsome attack. But I had a more fearsome guardian.  

“It can’t do anything to us,” I said. “Finish it off quick, Mr. Inuus!”

(I’m afraid I can’t.)