I Don't Own Minecraft
Kebell isn't near as friendly as all the other villages we've been to so far. I knew that just from some rumors I had listened to in Vansal, but from some light reading on the place, it wasn't all that bad. Some mild discrimination, which was a bit fucked but that's basically the theme of this world, 'a bit fucked' so nothing new there. Surprisingly, there wasn't much in speciesism in the Inner-lands for how many humans there were.
To be fair the ratio wasn't that skewed, more about one to five in a very populated area, and not to mention over a very large period of time, it would most certainly shift to demi-humans being the majority. After all, from some light reading on the breeding and reproduction systems of these world. Yes I know that is a really weird thing to look into. I've learned that the cross breeding between normal humans and demis almost always end up with the offspring being a demi-human. The genes don't divide over time, it's either fifty percent or one hundred percent human.
With the latter of the two being quite rare to have, meaning that pure human DNA is recessive to demi-humans. I mean sure I'm the only person alive at the moment that even knows what DNA is, but I think it's interesting that our genes are stronger than full humans even when humans are the very bigoted ones, usually talking about how they're more superior through one thing or another. At least the stupid ones I've run into seem to use that logic. It doesn't hurt that all the bigoted ones I've run into I just happen to classify as stupid just because.
Anyway, back to my main point of thinking. Kebell isn't as friendly, for a number of reasons really. The main reason was the guards, while both not as professional as the ones in Vansal, and no were near as cooperative also seemed to have taken to the fact that they were above the law, as there was none, and used that to exploit people. At least that's what the main thing about them reads from my little travelers guide book that I nicked off a shelf in Vansal when I had been window shopping.
Said book didn't actually have all that much information that was helpful, as it only had reports and stories of other people, which couldn't always be trusted on principle, and because it only had a few villages listed at all. They were the Inner-land villages that were closest to the human's border, so it's not like this book comes from some seasoned world traveler, but the notes are a bit nice. And it is good to be aware of these things going in to some degree, though I will admit I kind of also like the surprise of finding things out as we go along as well, this is just safer in the short run, until it out lives it's usefulness.
Though it still has some use for right now of course, like the fact that the book has told me about the fact that the other main problem with the city were the pick pockets. Which happened to be the main reason for most of the intolerance for the demis in the village, even though from reading between the line, I do believe that the more likely situation here is that they are using the demis as a scapegoat for the humans to get away with robbing people as no one would think it would be them with the half people around.
Still, for that to be a massive thing the demi population to some degree must have started the trend for it to have gained that much traction. So both parties were at fault a bit, the demis for starting it at all, and humans to escalating it to fit their own needs. People just in general are idiots it would seem, no matter the race... Can I say that about when I happen to have a book in hand that I stole? Probably not, but to be fair I barely even notice when I do it, while I'm sure it was more deliberate for the others.
At least that's my justification for my mild kleptomaniac. But to be fair for me...yeah I can't think of anything to say to that, it's just something I do for no reason and have no reason to continue besides the fact that I just don't notice half the time when I walk away with stuff. I mean I would go back to pay for it but if no one noticed then what's the harm, not to mention I always make sure after I do notice that it is never something that important. I mean I checked, this book is only like five bucks, currency translated mentally of course to make more sense to me.
Even then, fifteen while a bigger sounding number still wasn't much so I just let it go. My morals only really cover treating people nicely and not lying, nothing says I have to be good and noble on top of all that, which can clearly be seen from my ever expanding body count. I wonder how many it's up to now? Well, I know because it's a number and I kind of don't forget those but rhetorical questions seem to lead into interesting thought experiments so there's that.
Hey, actually, I wonder if my habit of 'borrowing' stuff was taken from me by that void guy, as he doesn't actually seem all that original considering what game I'm in, and used as a base stereotype for this worlds population of demi-humans, if so then that's a bit ego boosting and demoralizing to know that a major dividing problem between species is something that was taken from me.
Well I can't exactly confirm that and it's better for my consciousness if I just pretend I never thought about that thought so that's what I'm going to do. Because I'm sure that's the healthiest way to deal with my problems. Sarcasm aside of course, I blinked out of my thoughts as I leaned back a bit to look off the side of the cart, to just let the wind breeze through my hair and ears as I looked on at the very quickly approaching village that had been the focus of my thoughts.
From an outside view it wasn't very impressive to be honest. This was very clearly not the high end side of the villages in this world. The size alone wasn't even the same as Tiame, that village Eline is from, as from my own updating as it went categorization of village rankings that I've visited, this one was very clearly on the small side. Nothing like the massive city like villages that both Vansal and Colwell were.
It was interesting to see the difference a bit from the big proper villages to this one. Not to say it looked like a slum or anything but there is a bit of a clear lack of a level of upkeep on the place. I could see moss growing on the outer walls. Not something that was unseen here, but from my own experience with walking around the outside of village walls, which is more than you'd think, it would normally be clean, maybe some on the north, but that's just because of how moss works.
But here I could see that no one really cared about the outer appearance of the village. Something that was at least had some level of upkeep by the guards or hired cleaners on occasion, in fact I had seen a job request on the Bar's board about such a thing the day before I decided it was time to leave Vansal. Sure even if they were jobs for such things, the inside of the village was very fully clean, but the appearance of it always seemed important before now. I wonder if just no one cares about such a thing.
"What are you thinking about?" I blinked away from my thoughts as I turned to look back at Zane, who had joined me in looking out the side of the cart, enjoying the breeze a bit more than I seemed to be. After a moment, I thought about how to phrase it before just saying simply.
"I'm wonder why the outside walls are so dirty here" He blinked to himself at that, probably not sure why I was thinking about it, before suddenly saying something really insightful.
"Oh...It's to show that the laws are much less strict in this village" I blinked at that as I turned to look at him fully, not really minding the sudden and to be honest interesting bit of knowledge, even if I was a bit confused about why that would be the showing of such a thing. He just blushed a bit before muttering.
"The bad people use to spend a lot of time in there places" My interest quickly turned closer to anger but I kept it off my face to make sure Zane didn't think I was mad at him as I turned away, to look up into the sky for a moment. Not really caring much anymore about why the walls were what was chosen to signify such a thing, and instead felt the need to turn the topic away from that.
"Oh, ok then. Well, I guess we're just going to have to be a bit careful then. Anyway, we're about to arrive, so mind grabbing you're cloak ok? We're going to find a place to hold our horses up then go get something to eat before exploring around the village to find the Status Bar here" He nodded as he got up and went to grab said cloak, it more than likely wasn't going to be necessary, but the clouds over head today were a deep shade of grey. It's probably going to rain soon and I see no reason to not make sure he doesn't have something to cover up with if it does start to pour.
It had been a day since we had arrived and we had spent most of that time mostly just resting up and getting a proper meal and some good sleep in proper beds. The others really seemed to need it, even though they had been getting use to it more and more. I just didn't mind myself, sure waking up a bit sore was unfortunate but it wasn't anything to be annoyed about.
So far, it hasn't been that bad here, I mean sure I've gotten a couple nasty looks from a few more of the grizzly villagers, but I'm fine with blaming that on the fact that I was humming to myself with a cheerful expression that really didn't suit the vibe the village gave off as I walked down the street. Anyway, that aside, it doesn't mean that everything is all that great, I mean, you just had to listen to notice it.
"Did you here out Alxyn? Dude was a runner and now no one can find him"
"I hear the runners are having quite the time, a number of their contacts where found, they're bodies where beaten to all high hell, mostly the face I heard. Anyway, I here it happened the same time a large 'shipment' of 'supplies' came here. You can bet the gang wasn't happy about that one"
That was just one snipit of one conversation of the many I've over heard from my walks through the village. I had used it as a time to go exploring but as I listened to more and more comments about these 'Runners' while I people watched and window shopped, I got to say, I was getting interested in what they were talking about. I will admit, I've always like to fancy myself as a bit of a detective. I mean, I am smart enough for it, and while I'm better at calculating, I am good at deductions as well.
Still, while I would love to grab a fashionable hat and a magnifier glass to play Sherlock for a few hours to figure it all out. We are at the moment running a bit tight on funds and so instead of that I was currently looking over the board of jobs in the dingy Bar this town had. And by board, I mean it was more of a small poster really, with how few options were on it. Nonetheless, there was a few that bordered on acceptable, though there was a small problem to be found.
"None of these are by the hour so to maximize payout it would be best to split up to handle two jobs at once in teams of two. These ones are the best for our current line up, we all can do it so I guess we could draw straws or something to pair us up" I was a bit iffy on separating and splitting the party, because that's like a massive no-no in most games, but it isn't a game and we are in a village. Not to mention that the jobs I choose, while still decent paying, didn't border on dangerous.
"Ok then, let's see, we have a farming detail job and some help fixing up some old run down houses to be flipped at a later date. Neither are all that great in pay but you're right that it's best to do more than one with it not being by the hour...Also, straws? How would we do that?" I just shrugged at Eline's question and said.
"Shortest two goes together? Do we even have straws? Better question, if we don't have straws then would we go by height? Because me and Warren are the same height so that cancels out" Eline just rolled her eyes as she reached out and placed a hand on Zane's shoulder and said.
"Then you two can pair up, I'm calling the farming job, it's the most peaceful and more than likely from personal experience the one that you two can't manage" I hummed a bit at that as I thought it over before nodding to Eline and said to her as I swung an arm around my new teammate's shoulder.
"Cool, both jobs should only last about two to three hours so we'll meet back here when we're done. Alright?" I got a nod from her and Zane, though I noted he seemed a bit apprehensive about going off without me. And while I would have normally said something to stop them to switch teams, but it isn't good for him to rely on me to always be there. Plus, we all are a party, even if I haven't figured out a name yet, so he does need to start to fully trust in Eline and Warren the same as he does in me. Still, doesn't mean I can't give a goodbye for the time being to put him at ease.
"I'll you two soon then! Afterwards we can get something to eat and talk about our jobs" Zane seemed to calm down a bit at that, food seems to have that effect on him, I think it's kind of adorable. And besides that, I find that the word 'soon' is better at calming people than saying 'later'. Both have similar meanings but one just sounds nicer to someone that wants to be over quicker. In this case Zane wanting to finish his work so he doesn't feel alone.
I had already planned this a bit, it's why I had mentioned height after noting, while actually already knowing, that we didn't have anything to actually draw. Thankfully Eline was nice enough to do the rest by saying she'd take Zane. Which I think she realized was what I wanted to happen because he really shouldn't rely on me to be the social one or to always be available. And in those cases, he can turn to others or be able to hold his own, either way, it was something he needed.
Though I will admit, I caught myself looking behind me once or twice as we headed to the job's employer, absently looking to make sure that Zane was staying close, only to remember that he was with Eline. It was a bit weird, like that feeling you have when you stop wearing bracelets after a long time...I don't like the feeling.
It had been a day since we had gone on that job, nothing bad had happened, and at the moment I was on my own, using this time to make sure Zane could be use to not having me nearby. And also because I needed some time alone to work on my side project. Playing detective! I was being a bit careful of course, it wouldn't do for people to find me as an easy target.
So I had my cloak over my head to hide my ears and my tail was currently wrapped around my waist so it looked more like a fluffy grey belt than a tail, though I will admit it is a bit weird to be constantly aware to keep it there. It's like trying to constantly hold your arms out to your side without noticing. Not as tiring over a long period of time but still not something you can do without be very aware of.
Still, I didn't mind much so I just continued walking down the street, listening in to the idle conversations of the populace for a while, making note of a few things. For one this place has a drug problem, which is apparently what the Runners were trading in mostly. Though not only the drugs you'd expect like the white powder, no apparently they also are the main medicine distributors as well.
That would put them a notch up in my book a bit but the fact that they just give out any kind of those drugs to people and just expect them to know what they need is a bit stupid and I'm sure a number of lives has ended from either conflicting pills or overdosing. And that's without mentioning the other kind of drug in that equation, though it was clear that those kind was more hidden from the general population with how little it was talked about in the open. I've only heard mentions of it so far but it's been more than enough to extrapolate from.
Though unneeded in this case as this group of Runners weren't what I was focusing on. Because to be honest I don't care much about a village killing themselves from not knowing how self medicating should work, I mean only the real idiots actually die from it and it is helping over all so I can't fault them to much. No I'm a bit more interested in the persons stealing from this group of Runners. Because they aren't stealing the drugs, they've been after the medicine.
Full cart loads so far, which thankfully no one was tight lipped about so it wasn't hard to learn. That wasn't the strangest thing though, even if I was confused as to why some one or someones would need so many pills, not unless they had no idea what they were doing or what they were looking for hadn't been found yet. Still besides that, the most strange thing was the simple thing of how all the Runners who were transporting were killed off.
The main thing was all had been killed, no survivors, and all had been killed in the same exact way, well the same method at least. So I'm looking for a brutal killer or killers all with very strong forms, probably. I say that because all had been beaten to death, though from hearing, I believe it's more likely that they all had there windpipes crushed and the signs of brutality came from the Runners fighting back and causing their attackers to be more violent in the process of choking them to death.
Another thing I was mostly sure it was, attackers plural, because otherwise someone would have been able to get away, with how many there was of the Runners their had to be a group killing them off. Only someone like me, a Magic User with strong AoE specialized Spells would be able to kill off that many before one could escape far enough to be at least a distance away from the crime scene before getting caught again killed, at least that can be assumed from how they were killed, it would take time. All the bodies were still next to the emptied carts, meaning a group probably.
Of course it could be that they had been dragged back afterwards, after all, all my information is second hand at best. I would be able to determine more if I could find this scene but it doesn't seem likely to be honest. Not to mention not worth it in the long run as it happened a few hundred feet away from the village and while I wouldn't mind going to explore the sight a bit, it was a bit late at the moment so I didn't want to go out at night without someone there to watch my back, even if I'm strongest during the nightlight hours.
So for now I'm just left with my speculations which are normally good enough for what I need. So that's what I went back to, idly thinking about the matter as I went along and looked into some of the few windowed shops to help hide the fact that I was eavesdropping, something that was a bit hard to do with my ears pressed down onto my head but whatever. Plus I also just wanted to look around as well so that was a nice bonus. At least that was what I was doing when I heard a faint warble in the air.
Blinking to myself at the strange sound, I looked around for a moment, now wondering if anyone had noticed the sound as I had. Looking around, I noted no one seemed to had heard it, cat ear thing then. Cat's can actually hear on a much higher frequency than humans can, it's the same with dogs actually, though I think cat's hearing is actually a small bit better. Either way, it's the way dog whistles work, something I don't believe I ever want to experience myself.
Still back to the point, it was high enough that I was the only one to hear it, or something like that, I'm not an expert on the matter. Only going off of what I had learned in my animal science class back when I was in high school. So with that I spun around, now facing the direction it had come from, at least I'm pretty sure, as while I'm kind of shit at judging distance, I'm surprisingly decent at stuff like depth perception and it's equivalent for hearing.
So with that, I looked into the direction that it had come from only to roll my eyes a bit as I looked into the dark alley. Of course, back to the stereotypes I guess, though this one doesn't really work when I can see just as fine as normal. So with that, I walked on into the dark alley I was looking around to make sure I wasn't about to be ambushed or anything but I mean I still have some daylight and I'm in a village so I see no reason as to why I shouldn't walk down here.
So that's what I did because I'm a man of my word, or something close to it at least. Moving down into the alleyway for a few moments, I looked around, mostly to gain my bearings of my surroundings before blinking at the sight in front of me as I turned a small corner that hugged to the side of the building to my left. The sight wasn't one I had been expecting but nonetheless one that I had to take in.
In front of me as a tall, and I mean very tall, form of what looked like a person, expect they were completely blacked out. With faint purple wisps of what looked like smoke trail off there forms. An endermen in short. And I had no idea what to do with that information. Neither did they apparently as the being turned to look at me, shocked to see anyone at all. We just stared at each other for a long moment. Well not staring eye to eye, I didn't feel like dying today, but the sentiment was the same. After a moment I spoke up.
"Um. Hi" The enderman just blinked, something I noticed from the top of my peripheral eye sight, clearly this wasn't what they had been expecting. And the fact that they seemed to be expecting anything was something I took in with great interest. This wasn't a mindless zombie or creeper bent on killing. No endermen are normally peaceful, and as it stands to reason, intelligent in some form, end cities speak to that fact.
"Hello?" The words were warbly as all hell, almost like there was a thick accent over them. But it most certainly an accent I've ever heard before, still, that wasn't near as important to the fact that I was right! Endermen can speak English! Or whatever this world calls the language. Moving right past that, this means that the comment one mister void man made almost two months ago suddenly made sense. 'it really isn't their fault as much as people make it out to be'. I had wondered what he had meant for a while now, with how clearly brain dead and murdery all the monsters I've found so far seemed to be. But this shows that their is something else here as well.
"Yeah, hello! Nice to meet you! Introductions and things like that. I haven't ever really talked to an enderman before" They tilted their head, something that I couldn't use to identity a gender, because while I did just say ender'man' I have no idea if that's a species term or a gender one, something I haven't figured out where the person in front of me falls into. Their voice is to heavy with that warble accent to make out anything to answer that question.
"...Neither have I. And yet you speak our tongue with apparent ease" What? No seriously, what the fuck? Tongue in this situation usually means language but I just made a comment about them speaking English, it was this whole thing! What in the world do they mean I'm speaking their tongue?
"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. You're speaking my tongue at the moment" The enderman was now just as confused as I was, which is good, because if I have to be confused I prefer if everyone was confused! Though that didn't last long as as they just said once more.
"No, you are confused, you are speaking the tongue of Ender, and yet you are unaware of it...Interesting, I don't believe I've meet anyone with an inborn knowledge of this language expect for my own kind. What are you?" What am I? I know what I am, but I haven't always been this way...That void guy! He said a minor bonus! I mean thinking about it in retrospect it is a bit strange that everything here, written language included is the exact same as what I'm use to. What if I've just been translating it without noticing, and that's what the gift was. In that case I think he just tossed a translator in my head and didn't think about it. Because being able to speak and read everything is a bit more than a minor bonus!
"Um, I have... Ok sorry you're just going to have to give me a minute to think about this new information" I held out my hand with a finger pointed up to signify I just needed a minutes as I lowered my head to the ground and began to think over what in the world this meant. Because I mean what the hell! I nearly failed high school French! And now I'm speaking so fluently that I don't even notice I'm using another language?
I mean, to start with, this is really and I mean really cool, because this opens a lot of doors for me to explore, not to mention I would have noticed before hand if certain monsters could speak, meaning that a number of the ones I've already dealt with, zombies, spiders, skeletons, and creepers all are unintelligent and mostly just there to cause chaos which I find interesting. Now then, now that I've thought about all this a small bit more and have wrapped my head around all the conclusions I've now been able to make with this information, time to stop being rude to my company.
"Sorry about that, I-...am alone, I am alone, and talking to myself" I had looked up and nothing was there to see. Great. No idea what to do now to be honest, because that just really distracted me from my goal and now I have this sudden urge to find whatever is closest to a library in the village and read all I can on languages from this world. Not to mention look into inborn languages because the enderman had made note of it and I feel like it was something more important than it was let on to be.
Act four is now in full play. I'm not sure how other people divide up arcs in stories but for certification this one is basically the fourth one so far. The first is just the introduction, then the necromancer, then exposition(Yes I'm labeling all of chapters 13-20 exposition, because it's pretty accurate), and now this one which I have yet to label as it would just give away the plot a bit. Anyway, See ya.