28 - Elven Gift

With a very interested dog-monkey watching his every move, Joe picked up one of the nuts and identified it. These looted items were smaller than the coconut-sized missiles the badboons had been chucking at them. These were more like large chestnuts.

[Hurling Nuts] (Item: Weapon (Thrown) - Common): These thrown missiles are augmented with median damage and major enhanced targeting. They have a hardness of 50. {Wood}

The hardness let Joe know that if the nut hit for more than fifty points of damage, the missile would be destroyed. The enhanced targeting made him curious. He had not seen that enhancement before.

Not wanting to hurt Mojo, Joe decided to test the damage output of the missile before tossing one to the little guy. He sent his [Forceful Fist] to the other end of the ravine and threw the nut to it. As he released the shell, he could see it smooth out its flight to better fly to his target. The ruby digit snatched the object out of the air, and Joe willed the hand to hurl it back. He could sense the nut reacting to his will from there, too, tweaking its trajectory to come right back to him.

Mojo let out a weird hooting bark and chased the flying nut, first to the hand and then back to Joe. After a few throws, Joe figured out that he could lob the object without hurting his hands or disrupting his force digit.

Now it was time to let Mojo in on the game, though monkey-in-the-middle was very apropos for the game so far. Joe more bowled the nut than tossed it the first time. He sent his hand to grab it, but he let Mojo get there first. Joe half-expected the creature to grab the round shell like a dog, but Mojo scooped it up with one hand and spun in the air, firing the missile at Joe with the speed of a fastball. Thankfully, Joe's hands were heavily reinforced with physical damage resistance. Even so, catching the empowered nut stung his palms fiercely.

"Ow. Not so hard, bud. Gentler throws." Joe underhanded the nut back, and Mojo easily snagged it out of the air. The return throw was almost as gentle as Joe's was. Raising an eyebrow, Joe realized this little guy was far smarter than any dog Joe had ever trained, even his mini-poodle Zoe, whose problem-solving skills verged on octopus-level canniness. So far, Mojo had not shown any ability to speak, but Joe suspected it understood much of what Joe was saying.

"Ok, let's see how smart you are, Bud." Joe dual-cast his [Forceful Fists] and tied a strip of bandage around the wrist of one of them. "This one is called 'Bandage.' That one we'll call … 'Naked' cause I can't think of anything else. You stand in the middle and throw the nut to Bandage, Naked, or me, whichever one I call out."

Joe was right. Mojo understood him. Joe would toss the nut to Mojo from one of his hands and then call out the target for Mojo to throw back to. The little guy was far from perfect, but he clearly understood the rules of the game, getting it right too many times to be a coincidence..

After a couple of good volleys, they added another layer of challenge to the game. They began to move around the ravine. Catching and throwing from three different locations took some real effort for Joe, until he added [Crystal Mind].

As Mojo leapt to catch a bad throw from Joe, they noticed a very amused elf watching them. Her incredibly brilliant eyes sparkled, wearing a grin as she watched Joe's and Mojo's antics.

"Sorry, Earcellwen," Joe blurted. "I thought you would be longer."

"Not to worry. My father always says 'Those who take no time for mirth cannot truly fathom happiness."

"Your dad has a lot of quotes," Joe replied, placing the nuts back on the boulder and letting Mojo climb up to perch on his shoulder. The wildness rumbled happily and fortified Joe's neck and shoulder to better support the weight of the little dog-ape.

"Yes, he does," she answered in a cryptic tone before turning her attention to the flattened boulder top. While they had been playing, she had split up the precious stones into two piles. The piles were not even in number; the small pile consisted of just a couple of stones and one large one that looked to be a true gemstone. The large pile had at least twenty stones, but they all looked to be semi-precious.

"They are about the same worth," she stated, confirming Joe's hypothesis. "I split. You pick. I have no preference. Feel free to take the pile with aquamarine if you want it. It should polish up into a very nice stone."

Joe liked the idea of the large gem and picked it.

"You can have the nuts, too," she added. "I can think of no instance where I would ever throw a nut over using my bow."

"Yeah, that makes sense. Why don't you take both ape cards then? You probably would be able to communicate with them better than I could anyway."

"Thank you. Good idea."

"That just leaves the skill crystal," Joe pointed out, holding up the shard of [Gang Leader].

"You take it. I am almost always on the periphery of combats. You would likely be in the middle. A defensive aura around you would be better than one around me. If you end up selling it, then you can split the money with me then. Otherwise, if you learn it, I'm sure I'll benefit from it at some point. Fair?"

"Very," he replied, feeling extremely happy with this team-up. He'd have to remember to thank Tezeno when he got back to Fort Coral. Earcellwen was great to work with. He wasn't drawn to her the way he was with Kendell, but in just this one afternoon, he was so comfortable with her that it felt as though they had been friends for far longer.

As he put away his share of the loot, he knew he wanted to keep going and see what was lurking in the background of their quest.

"What did you pick for your upgrade?" Earcellwen asked, hopping up to sit on a section of the boulder where the top overhung the rest of the stone. There she perched: her legs swinging. Mojo hopped off Joe to sit with her and get pats.

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"I think I am going to talk it over with Myllo and Kenda. I don't have the same background you guys do. So far, I have been guessing my way through my build. I think it's time I started getting some help with my skill decisions."

"That makes sense. It still amazes me that you grew up in such a different world. I mean, I'm used to meeting kin and clan from across the Veil, so the idea of living in another world is not an alien idea. But a world without traits or classes or anything, it's hard to imagine."

"We had stuff. Just nothing as cool as Illuminaria does," Joe inquired, reaching over to scratch Mojo's forehead. "Speaking of traits. I was wondering something? Do you have any you'd be willing to share?"

By paying attention to the small creature, Joe was able to avoid some eye contact with Earcellwen. He hated asking people for things, yet that was a hang-up he was going to have to get over. If he was going to make it here in Illuminaria, he was going to have to seek and accept help until he better understood how things worked in this realm.

"You mean skills, Joe. And of course. I'd be happy to. What sort of skill are you looking for? Want one for improved accuracy? I've got [Keen Eye] that would help with your nut throwing," she remarks with a smile. "It would also help you aim your shard spell."

"Um, that sounds great, but I really did mean traits," he corrected. "I have a trait that allows me to learn racial and organizational traits from other people. I just leveled, and the cooldown on my [Anyone] trait is finished. I missed a bunch of free traits in my early levels because I didn't get the trait before I leveled again. I want to make sure that doesn't happen again. So I figured I'd check with whoever I was with as soon as I leveled. Which is you," he remarked, stopping his petting and meeting her scintillating eyes. "If you don't want to, then no worries. Corran Loigen owes me a favor, which I could cash in for a trait."

"You should save that favor, Joe. He is equal to what people from the northern kingdoms call a knight-errant. That boon could be very valuable. Besides, no need to waste it all. I'd be happy to share a family trait with you. My holt has many excellent traits. But which one would be best for you?" she mused. Her legs stopped as she began to ponder the question. "With your Spirit, [Ancestral Guidance] would be amazing, but that would put you in direct contact with the elven spirits of my kin. I should introduce you to my family first, I think."

"Yeah. I don't want to cause any problems here. I had enough drama in Duskrug. I'm looking for something simple."

"Or I could just sponsor you into the holt with [Scion of Hart's Holt]. That would solve the problem. Then next time you level, we could do [Ancestral Guidance]."

"That seems like the opposite of no drama, Earcellwen. Scion? Aren't scions members of a noble or notable family? How would joining a high elven house not entail drama?"

"Ok. There could be a little drama involved, but not much. It's not like I'm adopting you into Holt Rhuival. Sponsorship is at the discretion of the family member. We've had far more unlikely patronages in the past. My eldest brother sponsored Moggrinn Blackrock, the Thane of the Ebon Iron clan. After that bomb, no one will look even a tad askance at my choice with you."

"I know we have only just met, but I trust Naenaeon's judgement. The fact that he chose you to care for the broodling and honored you with a bow speaks volumes. I have no qualms about sponsoring you on his recommendation." She stopped swinging her legs and with a keen expression, added, "Besides, it's an exceptionally good trait, Joe. It's the only one I have that gives three attribute points, and it has an aiming enhancement that would stack with the [Keen Eye] skill if you still want it."

"Three attributes? There are traits that give three?" Joe asked, amazed. The trait he had gotten from Count Randeau, [Dual Cast], had two attributes, and he had thought that was about as good as he'd ever see again..

"My holt is very old and an important one among the elves. [Scion of Hart's Holt] is an epic trait only bestowable by a ranking member of my family. I would not expect to see many with higher attribute awards, Joe," she affirmed. "Now that I think about it, even more than [Ancestral Guidance], it's the best thing I can give you."

"Will this come with any ties or duties to your family? No offense, but I'm just starting to find my way here. I'm not sure I'm ready to take on the duties required by a clan just yet."

"Holt. The dwarves have clans. But, no. Well, you should avoid doing any considerable damage to the forest of the Kingswald. But other than starting a forest fire or a major dessication spell, there are no hidden catches."

She took a breath before adding. "Just as a warning, I'm not even sure you will qualify. The trait has some requisites. The scion part requires you to have at least a title of banneret, abbot, magus, oracle, or some other equivalent."

"My [Anyone] trait says 'any race, ancestry, or order,' so I would think it should be possible even though I don't have any sort of rank. I guess it wouldn't hurt to try." Joe found his curiosity was outweighing his anxiety about becoming part of an elven house; or holt as RC called it.

Her window opened in the air in front of him, looking like a translucent rectangular leaf instead of the parchment or stone ones he had seen so far. It was much more organic than his own sci-fi screen-like sheet. She had dozens of traits on it, more than any one he had ever seen before, and she was a lower level than he was. Joe was curious just what sort of holt Earcellwen belonged to.

[Scion of Hart's Holt] pulsed for him, drawing his eyes.

[Scion of Hart's Holt] One with the wilds +2 to Perception. +1 to Dexterity. You have been blessed with clear senses to watch over the wilds of the Kingswald and granted a moderate enhancement to your ranged accuracy to defend it.

The difference in tone struck Joe immediately. The messages he had gotten from Hawking ranged from friendly to playfully snarky. This read far more formally than anything he had seen so far.

He reached out to the trait, expecting to feel some resistance from his lack of rank, and found none. The trait slid onto his sheet with zero hesitancy.

Its effect was immediately noticeable. The world sharpened around him. Even before he was aware of any changes to his sight or hearing, Joe was struck by the clarity of scents around him. Poop, death and undeath were the strongest smells around him but Joe found that his improved stat was now far more adept at sorting through the layers of smells. He worked his way to the churned earth from their battle, which hung heavily in the air. There was a trace of Naenaeon still remaining. The nuts had a sharp scent that Joe had not noticed until now. Eacellwen's scent was wonderful; she had some sort of floral oil in her silver hair that perfectly complemented her personal aroma. Oddly, Mojo seemed to have no smell at all.

He picked up a nut and tossed it to his other hand, finding it easier than his play with Mojo. Given how low Joe's Dexterity had been, going from a three to a four was a significant upgrade. He caught the shell effortlessly. It also helped that the throw was perfect. Between the magic in the nut and the brand new boost to his ranged accuracy, Joe was pretty sure he would rule at darts back at the pub he used to favor when he was in college. Well, probably not rule; Dexterity was still his lowest stat. Even so, he might be able to give the bar-champs a bit of competition now.

"That is some trait, Earcellwen," Joe exclaimed, trying to toss the nut out of Mojo's reach, but the little guy's jump was much better than he accounted for. The critter sprang upward and snatched the shell before Joe's enhanced Dex could get it first. The joyful, toothy smile was worth losing to. Joe ruffled the small head as Mojo showed Earcellwen his prize.

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