The trio enter Caer Laga.
Synopsis[]
Having entered Caer Laga, Juniper and Fenn follow Amaryllis as she leads them to the vault. The vault contains treasure, some of which Juniper recognises from specific games that he ran on Earth. Specifically, he notes the Marzipan Urn, the Clonal Kit, and the Immobility Plate out of the seven entad treasures in the vault.
Amaryllis notes that Juniper's recollection of these items is the first time that his claims of creating pieces of Aerb can be tested. She and Fenn had been discussing Juniper's condition when the two of them were alone. Juniper takes it well, which nets him Loyalty Increased: Amaryllis lvl 6!. Amaryllis claims the treasures, passing the Anyblade to Juniper, which he immediately recognises after seeing it come to life in his hands. She keeps the Flickerblade for herself.
Fenn asks Juniper how many magic items he came up with, and Juniper responds that he thought of around one thousand in total. Fenn and Amaryllis compare this to the approximately one billion entads on Aerb and conclude that it is very unlikely that their party ran into so many entads that Juniper created.
Juniper reminds his companions that they should fight the fairies from the urn to get it over and done with. Amaryllis dons the Immobility Plate and the Ancestor's Amulet while Juniper tests the Anyblade. Juniper is reminded of his friend Reimer who was prone to munchkinry in D&D games. He turns around and is stunned by Amaryllis's deadly appearance. Juniper hopes that Amaryllis is on his side.
The party makes further preparations for their short-term future by experimenting with the Clonal Kit and its limitations of producing items in sets according to professions that people on Aerb have, and of needing to be paid back in items of equivalent value to produce more items. Fenn manipulates the box into producing a net by thinking of a profession of butterfly capturers. They open the urn, hoping to use the net to turn the fight into a curb-stomp battle, but the fairies coordinate to escape from the net. The fairies put up a pretty good fight against the party, one of them almost choking Juniper before Amaryllis materialises the tip of the Flickerblade inside Juniper's throat.
Having defeated the fairies, the three of them eat their corpses to recover their health. The sound of a helicopter, summoned by invisible wards around Caer Laga, becomes audible and the three decide on their next actions.
Featured characters[]
- Juniper Smith
- Amaryllis Penndraig
- Fenn Greenglass
- Arthur Reimer (mentioned only)
Quotes[]
“...it’s full of fairies made of marzipan. When we open it, they’ll attack.”
“What is the godsdamned point of that?”
“I think they’ll only attack the first time. At least, that’s how it was when I made it.”
“In this long dream you once had.”
- —Juniper describes the Marzipan Urn to a skeptical Fenn.
“Elf sense is screaming at me. Usually I listen, but it’s a bit incoherent right now, which is never a good sign.”
- —Fenn's elf luck warns her about the helicopter.
Notes[]
Real-world references[]
- Both Earth and Aerb have the notion of the Pareto principle.