Herein on this day, I say that I do not own Capcom's Dragon's Dogma.

Chapter 4: The Guild

The scene: the somewhat busy marketplace of Gran Soren. The sun is just rising and the air is cool. Outside of the inn, Ser Mercedes is meeting up with the redheaded midget that is the Arisen.

"How did his Grace like the head?" I asked.

"He seemed most pleased with it." Mercedes said. "He said that he will send someone to you shortly. In the meantime, sojourn in the capital for a while."

With that said, Ser Mercedes walked off. At first, I wondered what I could do in the capital of Gransys, then the thought of breakfast crossed my mind. My pawns and I went back into the inn and I had a breakfast of berries and hot cakes. I guess that pawns don't really eat to satiate their hunger, as none of my companions sat down to eat. The only time I saw them eat was when they ate herbs to heal up. Oh well, more hot cakes for me, then.

After breakfast, I asked my pawns, "So, what now?"

"Ah, fortune smiles upon me." An unfamiliar voice spoke up. "Well met, Ser Arisen."

I turned my head and saw a dark man in orange clothing standing at the doorway to the eating area. I simply asked, "Can I help you?"

The man walked up to me and said, "I am called Mason."

"Kennedreth."

"I could not help but overhear your words, ser. You've come to the capital a conquering hero, you need aught to do, eh? My word to you: inquire the pawns here at Gran Soren."

"Any particular reason why?"

"Their kind's woven tight into the fate of the Arisen. If you'd know your destiny, know them."

Without another word, Mason turned around and started to leave. Something about him seemed wrong, so I stood up and shouted, "Hoy, wait!"

He stopped where he was and turned around to face me again. I asked warily, "Is there something you're not telling me?"

"I have told you all that you aught to know." Mason simply said before he left the inn.

I ran outside the inn to go after him, but he was gone. There wasn't a crowd he could disappear into, so how did he vanish so quickly? The only thing I could think of was that he was one hell of an escape artist. Still standing at the open doorway of the inn, I asked out loud, "How am I to find more about the pawns here?"

"I would start with the Pawn Guild." A familiar voice piped up.

I turned around and saw that it was the man behind the counter who said that. I walked up to him and asked, "Where is this guild?"

"O'er in the Craftsman Quarters, west of here, but you need to tell the sentry that you have business there."

I gave my thanks and I was about to head on over when I remembered that I had no healing herbs on me. I looked around the marketplace for a few minutes and saw that there was an apothecary and an armory. Having so little gold on me, I ignored the armory for now and went to the apothecary. I used all the gold that I had to buy a few herbs. I distributed them amongst my team and we set off to the west side of Gran Soren.

Standing in the middle of an open gateway was a guard. I walked up to him and said, "I have business with the Pawn Guild."

"Do you now?" The guard asked. He stepped to the side and said, "Go on through."

The Craftsman Quarters were very different from the marketplace. There were a few houses and a large open field of grain where farmers were busy at work. I wandered around for a minute before I spotted a building with a sign that said "Guild". With my pawns following close behind, I entered the building. Right off the bat, I was greeted by a man in a white vest.

"Welcome, Arisen." The man said. "We have awaited your coming."

"Uh…" I didn't know what to say.

"This pawn's name is Barnaby. I tend to the affairs of the Pawn Guild. This place serves as a place of rest for pawns, and as the gate to the Everfall."

"The what?"

"The Everfall lies beneath Gran Soren. Tis a place of great importance to our kind. But for now, let us rejoice in the coming of the Arisen, the light that guides the legion."

All pawns inside the guild lowered their heads in a bow. I will admit, it feels strange to be getting respect just because a dragon stole my heart. Barnaby lifted his head and whispered to me, "A word if you would, Arisen."

He walked off to a smaller room and I followed him there. My pawns stood outside the door as Barnaby told me, "It grieves me to burden you, weary from the road as you must be, but I fear trouble brews."

"Already?" I asked.

"I would beg your assistance in this matter, Arisen, if it please you."

"Well, what's the problem?"

Barnaby walked to the back of the room and stood in front of a metal doorway. He took out a key and unlocked the door, but he did not open it. He looked at me and explained, "Beyond lies the Everfall, an ancient place that sleeps beneath Gran Soren's stones. We pawns have long served as keepers of the entrance to this place, but since the dragon's coming, a strange aura has filled the Everfall, a…presence"

"So you want me to go down and investigate, right?"

"If it be some omen of evil to come, we cannot allow it to go unchecked. I ask that you seek out the cause of the change, or some proof of what's happened. The Everfall is a place unique unto itself. This is not a simple task, nor a favor that I ask lightly, which is why I ask you, Arisen, please, lend us your aid."

"Well, I have naught else to do until I receive word from the duke." I shrugged. I looked to my pawns, who now entered the room, and asked them, "What do you think?"

"We are always at your side, Arisen." Aiken simply said.

"I will do as you ask, Arisen." Rook answered me.

"I am at your side, Arisen." Sam said.

There were many things about these pawns that amazed me, and their loyalty was one of them. I faced the door to the underground and said heroically, "Well then, let's be off!"

I opened the door with a flourish and saw that there were stairs leading down into darkness. I took out my handy dandy lantern and lit it. I expected the pawns to do the same thing, but they did not. I pointed to the darkness below and said, "You know you are going to need lanterns, right?"

"We have naught on us but herbs, master." Rook shook his head.

I gave a frustrated sigh. I had no gold left to buy the rest of my group lanterns. Well, maybe there was a chance of finding some gold down below. I hooked the lantern to my belt and told the group, "Stay close; this is the only light we have."

I took a step down, quickly lost my footing, and I tumbled down the stairs. Upon landing on the ground, my lantern was smashed and the light went out. I groaned in both pain and frustration. I heard footsteps running towards my direction and I felt someone help me up.

"Are you all right, Arisen?" I heard Aiken ask.

"Forget what I said earlier," I grumbled, "we have no light and I have a headache."

"Tis fortunate that you did not break your neck."

"Aye, it wouldn't look good in the history books…"

We both walked back up the stairs and I turned to look at Barnaby. I asked, "You wouldn't happen to have a lantern on you, by any chance?"

Barnaby walked to a nearby cupboard and opened it up. Crowding the shelves were many lanterns and flasks of oil. He took out four lanterns and flasks and handed one of each to each of us. I thanked him and told him that I would pay him later.

"There is no need, Arisen," Barnaby said humbly, "we pawns are always glad to help you."

My pawns and I lit our lanterns and we descended down the stairs, and I was careful to watch my footing this time around.

In the darkness of the Everfall, one can't help but notice the silence in the air…as well as the dust. I found that the entire chamber was one gigantic stairwell leading down. I looked over the edge and I could see glowing blue cracks at the very bottom. Looking down, I also noticed how far we had to walk to get there. I moved away from the edge and I turned to look at the stone steps that led down below. I slowly made my way down, with the pawns following close.

"Strange," Sam spoke up, "I somehow feel…connected… to this place."

"Barnaby said something similar." I noted. "What I want to know, though, is what is down here?"

"Skeletons!" Aiken shouted.

"There might be, but can you not shout-?"

Up ahead, I saw several skeletons with weapons in their bony hands, standing skeletons, might I add. My jaw dropped as my pawns ran forward to fight them. When I was little, the chief would always tell the children at Cassardis to never leave the village at night, for that was when skeletons and the undead rose from the grave to eat, and I believed him. As I got older, though, I dismissed the chief's words as just a story to scare us kids. Looking at the skeletons now, all that went through my head was "Oh my God, the chief was right!"

In my moment of panic, one skeleton ran at me with a greatsword in hand. It was about to swing it when Aiken raised his shield and ran at it, knocking them both to the ground. Aiken's weight seemed to crush some of the old bones, but to make sure it really wouldn't come back, I kicked its skull down the stairwell. I glanced around and I saw that the others took care of the rest of the skeletons.

Aiken stood up, brushed the bits of bone from his armor, and asked me, "Are you all right, Arisen?"

"Sorry," I lowered my head, "I was too freaked out to do anything. I thought skeletons couldn't come back."

Thinking back on that moment, that was a pretty dumb thing to say, considering that I'm technically undead myself. I gave an awkward smile and said, "Well, I guess that makes us even, Aiken. I saved you, and now you just saved me."

"Remember," Aiken said, "strength in numbers, Arisen."

"Got it."

We looted the skeletons and, while I picked up gold and old weaponry to sell, the pawns picked up skulls, pieces of broken metal, and rocks. Continuing on downwards, we came across several rotting undead, in addition to more skeletons. This time around, I steeled myself for battle and I was able to take out a few undead.

A few battles later, we came to a closed gate in the middle of the stairwell. On the other side, I could see a lever, and odds were, it controlled the gate mechanism. Fortunately, there was a corridor off to the side that we could take. Of course, once we stepped through and went into a nearby room, what were waiting for us, but the undead?

Again, with my mind set on the fight, they were no big deal. I think I was actually getting the hang of fighting. We walked down another corridor and we were right back at the stairwell, though we were on the other side of the gate this time around. Making sure that we didn't have to go through the long way on the way out, I walked up to the lever and pulled it down. The gate slowly raised itself up with a metallic creak. I turned around we continued our descent.

It was not long before we saw something large and hairy up ahead. The monster was as big as a Cyclops, yet it was covered in fur, had two eyes, and had small horns on its head. Looking at this monstrosity, I couldn't help but think back to another one of the chief's stories.

Supposedly, there used to be creatures called "apes" that used to live in the forests of Gransys, but they almost became extinct due to a temporary overpopulation of hydras (later taken down by human hunting parties). Again, supposedly, the last of the apes evolved into giant brutes so that they could defend themselves better. These brutes, now called "trolls", still exist today, and not only are they among the list of giant nuisances to mankind, but they are also the biggest source of jokes in this generation (like "How many trolls does it take to give someone a headache?" and other such jokes of the unfunny category). I never really believed the chief's story about the apes, but I didn't believe in the reanimate dead either until I just fought them minutes ago.

Right now, the troll was sleeping in the middle of the stairwell, and it was giving us no room to sneak past it. Well, even if we could sneak past it, my pawns made sure that we had no choice but to fight it.

"Troll!" Aiken shouted.

"Tis fiercer than a Cyclops!" Sam joined in on the shouting.

"Would you two shut up?" I hissed at them both.

It was too late, as the troll was already now awake. It grumbled as it slowly sat up and turned to stare at us. Obviously mad that the pawns woke it up, it roared angrily at us and stood up.

Even in the moment of danger, my sarcasm slipped through as I told my pawns, "Truly, you two are the smartest pawns in Gransys."

While I was saying this, the three pawns had already started the fight. Aiken had grabbed hold of one of the troll's legs, Rook was firing lightning bolts at it out of his staff, and Sam was hacking away at the troll's ankles. The troll wasn't too bothered by the attacks, as it just simply shook Aiken off its leg and kicked Sam in Rook's direction, knocking both pawns down. As I ran over to help Rook and Sam up, I heard the troll make excitable noises.

"The sight of women excites it!" Aiken shouted as he started to hack at the troll's leg.

"What?" I turned to face Aiken. "You must be kid-!"

Before I could finish my sentence, the troll reached forward, snatched me up in its large hand, and ran down the stairs. All my pawns could do was shout threats at the troll and run after it. In the troll's grip, I was able to grab hold of my daggers, but I couldn't pull my arms out. All the while, as I struggled, I shouted profanities that only the sailors of Cassardis wouldn't be ashamed of saying.

After a minute, the troll stopped running, brought me close to its face, and sniffed. Amidst all the struggling, I had managed to free one arm. I glared at the troll in its red eyes and snarled, "Get your hands off me, you damn, dirty ape!"

With that said, I raised my dagger and stabbed the troll's thumb. The troll let out a cry of pain and anger, and it released me. The moment I landed on my feet, I jumped at the troll and started scaling it like a frenzied ant. I crawled its back and up the back of its head. That was when the troll did something unexpected, but smart at the same time: it jumped backwards and landed on its back. I was already on its head, so I didn't take any damage.

However, what neither of us noticed was that the troll was near the edge of the stairwell.

When it jumped, it landed on the railing, spine first. Seeing that it was about to topple over the edge, I scrambled over the troll's face and made a desperate jump. I didn't land as gracefully as last time, but at least I landed on the stairwell. From behind me, I could hear the troll roaring, followed by a loud splat.

The three pawns ran up to me and helped me up. Aiken asked, "Are you-?"

"Shaken," I interrupted, "but I'm all right." I walked up to the edge and peered down. Down below, illuminated by the blue glow of the cracks of the floor, I could make out the broken form of the troll, resting in a puddle of its own blood.

"Tis fortunate that the beast was near the edge when it jumped." Rook said.

"Aye." I let out a sigh of relief and placed my hand over my heart. Again, I keep forgetting that I no longer have a heart. Again, I moved my hand away before the dragon's message could repeat itself. I walked up to the wall and sat down, so that I could at least catch my breath. After a minute, I got up and continued the walk down with my pawns.

After another fight with some skeletons, we finally reached the bottom. Up ahead, we had a better look of the troll's corpse, whose gory details I will not get into. However, the moment we stepped on the ground floor, many red snake…tentacle…things with mouths rose out of the ground.

"What are those things?" I asked.

"An Evil Eye!" Sam shouted.

"We must run!" Aiken shouted.

That was the smartest thing any of my pawns had said up to date. I did not question the pawns' sudden urge to flee and I ran back up the stairwell with them. As we ascended, more tentacles rose out of the stone stairs, with some of them trying to bite us and others casting magic fireballs. I ran ahead of the group and at one point, I paused to see if those things were after us.

None of the tentacles followed me, and the exact same thing went for my pawns. Even though they said to flee, they were a ways away behind, fighting the tentacles in vain. I cupped my hands over my mouth and called out, "What are you doing? Run!"

"Right away, Arisen!" Aiken said as he ran towards my direction.

"On my way!" Sam said as he also ran up the stairwell.

"Hold on a minute, I'll be right there!" Rook said as he stood still and tried to cast a healing spell on himself.

I sighed angrily and ran back down, bypassing Aiken and Sam on the way. I grabbed Rook by the sleeve and pulled, saying, "When I say run, I mean run!"

Rook lowered his staff and started to run back up the stairwell, with me following close behind. We bypassed Aiken and Sam again on the way up, and they turned around and followed us up. During the ascension, the tentacles kept following us, and the pawns would stop to fight. Again and again, I had to shout at them to stop fighting and run, just like they had originally said.

Finally, we reached the top. I had my pawns go ahead of me so that I could slam the door shut behind us. Still in a state of panic, I pulled the nearest cabinet until it was covering the door, then I proceeded to pile the chairs against the cabinet. I was about to pull the tables to add to the barricade when I heard someone ask, "What are you doing, Arisen?"

I stopped and turned to the direction of the voice. Standing at the doorway in front of the room was Barnaby with a somewhat confused look on his face. I say "somewhat confused" because it looked like he was attempting to look confused without really knowing what a confused expression looks like. Believe me, you wouldn't know what I was talking about unless you see it for yourself.

I looked back at the barricade and I now realized just what I was doing. I gave a nervous laugh and said to Barnaby, "Sorry, I just got carried away there."

"Is the presence below that evil?" He asked.

"I don't know, but it was creepy, ugly, and it was enough to get the pawns running."

"What did you see down there?"

"Well, there was blue light at bottom-."

"A light in the furthest depths? I see…"

"'I see'? That's all you have to say?"

"In truth, even we pawns know little about the Everfall. I can say with utmost certainty, though, the light you speak of is newly come. We cannot know if this small aberration will give rise to great calamity hence."

"There were red tentacles after us down there! I think Sam called it an 'Evil Eye'…"

"Then action must be taken."

I expected Barnaby to go running out of the guild to call some soldiers to help, but instead, he said, "We shall redouble our efforts here, and keep vigilant for further signs of change."

Did he not hear what I had just said? I stressed each word, "There's…something…down…there!"

"And we will always be at watch." Barnaby tried to assure me.

I gave up then and there. I rolled my eyes and made my way out of the guild, saying, "Don't come crying to me when that thing-."

"A word, ser." A voice in front of me said.

I faced forward and saw a soldier in front of me. He asked, "Are you the Arisen? I bring a message from the duke himself."

"Everyone calls me the Arisen," I shrugged, "so I guess I am. What message does the duke send?"

"His Grace has judged your feat in slaying the hydra most laudable."

"Uh, just because I severed one head does not mean-."

"To honor your noble works, you are hereby welcomed to the Wyrm Hunt. You may now accept orders from Ser Maximilian, Captain of the Hunt."

"The…Wyrm Hunt?"

The soldier handed me a sheet of parchment and told me, "Bring this writ to Ser Maximilian, outside the castle gates. He will instruct you further. That document confers the status of hunter upon you. Carry it on your person always."

Before I could ask him about the Wyrm Hunt, the soldier ran off. I looked over the writ and saw that it was covered in tiny writing. Not really reading it, I pocketed the license and went back to the marketplace.

During the exploration of the Everfall, my team found various things, from old weapons to metal scraps. We sold them to the armory and actually made a lot of coin. With some gold available, I decided to see what weapons were for sale.

The first thing that caught my interest was a greatsword. I turned to Aiken and asked, "Do you think you can use that?"

"I am certainly strong enough to wield it, master." Aiken answered.

I told the man at the counter, "One greatsword for my ally."

"Present his vocation slip."

Not knowing what the heck he was talking about, I asked, "What vocation slip?"

"I need proof that your friend is a warrior."

"He is a warrior!"

"No, he's a fighter."

"What's the difference?"

"Fighters wield one-handed swords and shields while warriors wield greatswords."

"Well, why does he need a vocation slip to prove that he is a warrior?"

"I don't want to sell equipment to individuals who are unable to wield them."

I was really getting frustrated. I asked, "Well, where can we get a vocation slip?"

"At the inn."

We headed back to the inn and told the keeper, "I need a vocation slip for Aiken."

The man pulled out a sheet of parchment and said, "One thousand gold, if you will."

My temper rose some, but I handed over the gold nevertheless. With a nearby quill, I had Aiken fill out the parchment. I looked over his shoulder and I couldn't believe how simple the vocation slip was.

Previous vocation (circle one): Fighter, Strider, Mage, Warrior, Ranger, Wizard, Mystic Knight*, Assassin*, Magic Archer*.

Desired vocation (circle one): Fighter, Strider, Mage, Warrior, Ranger, Wizard, Mystic Knight*, Assassin*, Magic Archer*.

*Does not apply to pawns.

Sign here:

It took less than a minute for Aiken to fill it out. We went back to the armory and showed the man behind the counter the vocation slip. He glanced at it, nodded, and walked to the back of the store to get the greatsword. He set it on the counter and said, "Ten thousand gold."

It was a ridiculously large sum of money, but I was still able to pay for it. After the purchase, we immediately sold Aiken's sword and shield. I browsed the store some more and I found a nice looking bow with intricate blue spiral carvings on it. I told the man, "How much for the bow?"

"Present your vocation slip." The man folded his arms.

I gaped at him and asked, "Are you kidding me? Look at me, I'm a strider! I don't need a slip of parchment to say that I can wield a bow."

"Sorry, but that bow is magic enhanced, and only magic archers can wield magic bows."

I was really mad at this point, but at the same time, I really wanted that bow. I've seen a few travelers in Cassardis who wielded magic bows, and I had the honor of seeing a magic archer in action. With those bows, you could fire magic powered arrows, including multiple arrows that seek out their targets! I grumbled and went back to the inn. I requested for another vocation slip and I had to pay another thousand gold. After filling it out, I went back to the armory and showed the man the slip.

Again, he nodded, brought the bow to the counter, and said, "Eight thousand gold."

At this point, I was close to broke, but I bought it anyways. I sold my old bow and I had just enough gold to stay at the inn for one more night. Well, I figured that now would be a good time to meet up with Ser Maximilian and see what the whole Wyrm Hunt thing is all about. With any luck, we could form a hunting party and go after the dragon.

Of course, with this being the misadventures of Kennedreth, the Smartass Slacker of Cassardis, things aren't always going to go as planned.

Next time, Kennedreth and co meet Ser Maximilian and go figure out a cipher.

Notice: I just made up the whole "hydras ate the apes to near extinction, so the apes evolved into trolls in order to survive" story just so I could insert that Planet of the Apes quote. Dumb excuse, I know, but I really wanted that quote in the story.

I notice that I'm getting a lot of readers, but not a lot of reviews. Please leave a review; it doesn't take too much of your time and receiving positive feedback is always a great feeling.

Chapter 5: The Cipher (excerpt)

"Wait a minute!" I called after Sam. "How do you know who to talk to?"

"It is because I have done this quest before." Sam answered without stopping.

"How?"

"I have done this quest before with my original master."

"The exact same quest?"

"Aye."

I remembered the small talk about the other worlds. Sam had said that the worlds were almost exactly identical, and now I see that he wasn't kidding. A thought crossed my mind and I asked, "Then why don't you tell me what the cipher says, if you've already done this before?"

"That is not the way quests work, master." Sam said.

"But that would save us a lot of time!"

"I am sorry, but that is not the way things work."

I swear, I'll never understand pawns.