Garovel went over the cliff for a closer look.
“Hey!” said Hector. “Don’t go off on your own!”
‘Relax. I’d be able to sense if there was anything alive down here. Just stay up there and give me light.’
Hector wanted to protest more, but he figured he should probably just trust that Garovel knew what he was doing. He wasn’t particularly happy about it, though.
‘It’s strange,’ the reaper said. ‘Usually, if I concentrate, I can sense even small animals within a hundred meters or so, but I haven’t been able to sense any life at all. No insects or mice in the castle, no fish or anything in this water here, no worms in the dirt, even.’
‘That can’t be right,’ thought Hector. ‘There’s gotta be bugs down here somewhere, right? Maybe your soul radar or whatever is getting screwed up for some reason. You should get back over here.’
‘My sense is fine. I can still sense you perfectly well. You are literally the only living thing in Warrenhold, right now.’
He looked around again. ‘That’s... a little creepy.’
‘These buildings in the water are houses,’ said Garovel. ‘Very old and empty. This used to be a tiny village.’
‘I wonder how it flooded...’
‘Bah. It’s too dark. I can’t see where the lake ends or begins, but it does seem to be flowing east. Wherever that waterfall is, I don’t think it’ll be easy to reach.’
‘What now?’
‘Eh, we’ll explore the water later. You should get back above ground soon and check your messages. I’m sure your cell reception in here is terrible, and the others will be wanting to hear from you.’
‘Alright.’
Garovel was returning now, flying backwards as he looked over the dotted lake. ‘It seems our new home has seen some rough times.’
“No kidding.”
‘It won’t be easy to repair.’
“That’s, um... yeah. I’m not sure how we’re supposed to afford it. I didn’t even see furniture in any of the rooms, either, so we’ll need money for that, too.”
‘Yeah, and the Queen only gave you three million troas to work with.’
A dark serial novel. Set in a modern fantasy world called Eleg. Mature language. Updates every night at midnight PST by ~400 words.
So.....the ruins of a reaper village? Has it been mentioned if the undead scare off wildlife? You know, by existing, obviously creating giant metal pillars and shooting laser beams would do that on their own.
ReplyDelete'only three million troa'
ReplyDeleteI think it's more like a euro.
ReplyDeleteFrosty said in the comments to page 66, "In terms of spending power, compared to a real world euro or US dollar, a troa would be more valuable."
ReplyDeleteAnyone else expecting to find a connection to the realm of the Void down there? I suppose that might kill or scare off all wildlife. And it might make sense that Voreese knows about this while the other reapers didn't. Frosty refused to give her age, so maybe she's actually a lot older than the other reapers.
ReplyDeleteooo, good prediction
ReplyDeleteIn all likelihood, it was the sight of a major battle where several reapers where destroyed. There energy might have infused the land, repelling living creatures. That and there might be a servant or two left still half alive down there, feeding on the flesh / soul of anything that gets near.
ReplyDeleteThat has never been mentioned, no.
ReplyDeleteA subtle hint that Garovel would be a very high-maintenance boyfriend.
ReplyDelete:)
ReplyDeleteoh no
ReplyDelete*Only* three million?!
ReplyDeleteThis underground village is creepy as all Hell
is a Troa more, less, or equal to a US Dollar?
ReplyDelete