Disclaimer: I own neither Fate nor the Pathfinder Kingmaker CRPG.
"For Mental Communications"
'For thoughts'
The traps were set, the short plan was in motion. Robin was abusing them on their path here, using his Noble Phantasm he was invisible to the weaker bandits, he did mention that the girl fled farther than the small outpost the company of bandits had after telling them to come. Oleg will fire a shot as soon as he sees the first one.
Hakuno watched the sun begin to set as she heard yelling.
"Took out bout half of them, almost at the post."
She dusted off her robe as she stood up and looked at her party members, "They are here."
"Kobolds eat me alive! What is this!" Two bandits arrived and with a swoosh of a bolt lit the alchemist fire and tar they stood on.
Hakuno wasn't fully expecting the size of the explosion, enough for surface level damage to the walls but they seemed to hold strong, but the people who were stuck in the tar?
The smell made her feel sick.
The fire quickly died as the tar was eaten by the alchemist fire, the soaked walls unable to catch from the alchemical reaction.
The remaining bandits were stunned for a few moments, but seemed to have used the few remaining moments to gather themselves.
"Come on! They can't do that again!"
"Amiri, have fun." Hakuno nodded towards the Barbarian as for the second time today she grew in size with a predator smile on her face.
"Blood For Gorum!" The berserk woman yelled as she sprung into the fight, her giant sword going to bat with several of the bandits who managed to evade the explosion.
Hakuno idly noted that the party had battle music in the form of Linzi as her magic imbued everyone with a certain level of magical precision.
Valerie took up her shield and blocked several arrows aimed at the two more fragile members of their party. Hakuno nodded in thanks as she funneled her Od.
"Hack." She whispered as one of the pesky archers froze up letting Robin's bolts hit true, Hakuno could see him taking shots from the watchtower.
Hakuno saw one of the bandits get close to them, as she channeled her Od and Valerie blocked the man's sword a large palm came and grabbed him. With a feral grin Amiri threw the man at the bandit's few remaining archers.
The bandits, stunned at that, were unable to react fast enough as both Amiri and Valerie drove their swords into the downed archers.
"The rats got what they deserved!" Oleg yelled as the last one died, Hakuno felt a drop of water fall on her head, glancing up she noticed large clouds covering the sky.
"Come come, I'll take care of stripping them. Rain here usually only lasts a day or two." Oleg motioned for them to come inside as the magic began to wear off of Amiri shrinking her size.
"Including you Bokken, stay the night!" The elderly herbalist emerged from the nearby bush as he quickly ran inside.
Svetlana met them and ushered them into a small dining room, "Well eat on up! On the house tonight."
On the main table Hakuno's mouth watered as she saw the spread, "Seasoned Chicken, Jeweled rice and my personal favorite, Galt Ragout!"
"Great stuff!" Amiri was devouring the chicken while Valerie was eating the ragout. Linzi had a mix of both on her plate while Hakuno ate the Jeweled Rice, noting it could have been made spicier.
Robin appeared from the doorway, as he sat down he made himself a plate, going after the Jeweled Rice as well, "Master, just a heads up a lot of fey are in the area we are heading to, they seem docile at the moment though."
Hakuno idly nodded as she ate, as long as they didn't attack she actually would enjoy meeting some of them. Afterall, to her this journey was more to see the world while becoming a 'baron' was second to her adventuring.
'Huh… I did grow fond of the idea of adventuring quickly…'
Once they were done eating, Oleg came back in, absolutely drenched, "This is for your efforts." He placed a large bag on the counter, "Now don't offend me by trying to turn it down, just take it! Honest fight deserves an honest reward," He began to mumble, "If only it was a more common practice in this world.."
"Anyways, stripped them from what could be resold and reused as well, they had a few potions that Bokken will test before the morning comes, gotta make sure they aren't expired."
Hakuno nodded and glanced towards Valerie as she spoke up, "And I am sure you will give us a good deal for the armor and weapons?"
"Yeah, yeah, nothing too amazing, just some poor quality Leather and Fur while the weapons are of a decent quality, will add up everything before you leave."
Valerie looked towards Hakuno who nodded she was still new to these lands Oleg seemed trustworthy to her so it would be best to let him and Valerie work out the payment.
"Head on to the guest rooms on the second floor, you all deserve some rest after this day. And thank you again, I wouldn't know what I would've done if you five hadn't shown up today." Hakuno did a slight bow as the party headed up.
"Seems safe enough, the little ones will wake me up if anything happens." Robin stated.
Hakuno noticed the confused look on Linzi's face, "Robin can see fey spirits."
Linzi nodded with a large smile, "That makes so much sense! Is he an Azata? I did hear that some of them got along with the fae."
Azata?
Robin shook his head, "Just grew up with druids. You get used to seeing them."
Amiri stated, "But ya didn't take up the magic you like to shoot your pea shooter too much." Hearing that Robin just shrugged,
"You're rather rude, ya know?" Robin states as he stores their limited gear into the chest at the end of his bed.
"You bet!" Amiri grins as she stabbed the sword into the wood as it stood up right next to her bed.
"It would be best if you wouldn't destroy the Inn we just saved, we unwind a bit."
Hakuno looked at everyone, "We will rest here for two days and then continue on, Robin and Amiri will check out the cave that we saw on the way here." Saying that Robin sighed as Amiri nodded.
"Valerie, could you teach me about any previous journeys into these lands?"
"Very well. If that is what you wish."
"And Linzi can show me how to cast magic, the way we used magic in my homeland differs from yours." Hakuno yawned as she finished speaking.
"I got a few ideas, I'm not a wizard or anything but I should be able to teach you the basics. If you tell me about your homeland!"
Hakuno nodded, 'At least I can tell her about Japan, the Moon Cell shouldn't be mentioned just yet.'
A small orange and white kitten appeared from under Hakuno's bed and curled up beside her as she laid down with a smile.
Hakuno was floating; she could feel the digital sea surrounding her, tensing up she noticed it was a far cry from the digital sea in the Moon Cell and only spread out a few feet from her.
'I thought I left!? Was it all a hallucination?'
With a quick check she noticed she wasn't feeling pain letting out a sigh she muttered, "What's happening?"
She could feel her connection to Robin, the three glowing command seals still on her hand, then she felt it.
A fog creeped in from the windows and stairs, the digital aura protected her from the fog, "Hear me… Please hear me…" A staticy voice called out.
Hakuno froze. The digital aura condensed closer around her, as only a few feet in front of her the fog condensed into a person, a rough form of a curvy woman with large butterfly looking wings.
"Who…"
"Just a tear… shred by the land itself. The bitter sigh of nature, a guardian of this land, a fallen guardian... Call be… Guardian of the Bloom if you wish."
Hakuno felt the digital aura pushing back against the fog. The Regalia glowed in multi-colored light as the 'Guardian of the Bloom' stumbled back.
"Why are you here?" Hakuno asked. 'Can Robin enter my dream with a command spell? The Regalia seems to be trying to fight her out of my dream…'
"Aid, Salvation.." The 'Guardian' coughed, "We have a common enemy, and long have I searched for one to defeat him. The one you call Stag Lord… He wreaks havoc with the swords of his servants! My forests and flowers suffocate in this fog, soon even I will vanish as the Last ray of light fades to dusk…"
Hakuno paused, 'So the Stag Lord controls this fog? But what is this fog?'
Hakuno felt for her connection to Robin as she asked "Robin, can you hear me?"
"-s, -thing brea- up? Use a -mand s-l, so-hing is -te-ring."
Hakuno felt a wave of worry as she channeled her Od.
"Wait wait!" The Guardian begged, "I mean you no harm!"
"With this command seal I command you! Robin appear!"
With a burst of energy Robin appeared, his green cloak billowing as the windows opened one of the three seals on her hand dissipated.
Hakuno saw Robin freeze as he saw the fogged creature, "A nymph… That explains why the fey didn't react."
"Why are you here?" Robin aimed his crossbow at her, "Or at least an illusion of yourself? Can't trick my Master here that easily."
"A druid… I see, I wish to assist you. The Stag Lord commands a powerful druid who has made this fog suffocate the land itself, I know not how he does it but somewhere in this forest there remains his old home. It is deep within the fog but I know where the bandits have a camp near the Thorn Ford. They know where it is. Once the fog clears, nature will breathe again. And you will be able to find your way to the fortress of our enemy."
"That's nice and all, but how can we trust you?" Robin noted, "You refuse to even show up and are keeping the rest in a dream-like state." Robin pointed at the others who have yet to react.
Hakuno noted that the fey seemed offended by this, "Most of my power is lost to keep what I can alive, this is all I can spare, once you deal with this fog and the Stag Lord I should be able to reward you."
Robin sighed as he scratched his head "A request from a pretty lass… this is usually how the fey get you, sweet words and looks then they eat you or do other horrible things. Follow my lead"
"I think it would be best for you to leave," Robin shrugged, "If the land is dying we will do what we can."
"We can't make any promises… We just want to travel." Hakuno added.
"I see… I do hope that you will find and clear this fog… our mutual enemy uses it to hide, while I don't believe in fate… I think your arrival to these lands is more than a coincidence."
Hakuno watched as the Nymph's form dissipated, having her leave Robin let out a deep sigh.
"Master… That fey is most likely lying in some way, unsure how but I wouldn't trust her. We might be able to trust the location she mentioned we will have to go with caution. Get some rest."
Hakuno nodded, taking a glance at her companions as they still dreamed Hakuno curled next to the small ginger cat and fell quickly asleep.
"Interesting. This new Ruler might show me something new… Doesn't matter in the end, her and her country will fall apart and I will have my dues. Just need a few more grains…"
Author's Note: And thats a wrap! Planned this encounter a bit differently, but I think its better this way. Good old Robin and him being raised by druids would definitely know bout how tricky the fey are.