Following Oracle's directions, you navigate through streets smelling increasingly of cured hides and chemicals, finally arriving at 'The Tipsy Troll' Inn. It's a smaller, less ostentatious establishment than the Stone Bridge Inn, tucked away on a side street. The sign depicts a cheerfully drunk-looking troll falling off a stool.
Pushing open the door, you find a much quieter, cozier common room. Only a few patrons nurse drinks at sturdy wooden tables – men who look like local craftsmen, judging by their calloused hands and leather aprons hanging on nearby pegs. The air smells of stew, sawdust, and the fainter, sharper tang of the nearby tanneries. Behind a simple counter stands a stout woman with friendly eyes and flour dusting her apron.
"Afternoon," she greets you with a welcoming smile. "Looking for a drink, or maybe a room?"
"A room, please," you reply, feeling much more confident now with Elara's coin weighing down your pocket. "A private one, just for tonight."
"Certainly," she says, pulling a large ledger towards her. "Got a small single room upstairs, overlooks the alley – quiet enough, usually. Window bars are sturdy. That'll be ten coppers for the night." Oracle's estimate was spot on.
This time, you don't hesitate. You reach into Elara's heavy coin purse (kept separate from your own meager funds), trying not to reveal its full contents. You carefully extract ten distinct copper coins and place them on the counter. The woman sweeps them into a drawer, hands you a simple iron key attached to a wooden tag marked 'Room 3', and points towards a narrow staircase. "Up the stairs, second door on yer left. Enjoy your stay. Kitchen's open 'til eighth bell if ye get hungry."
"Thank you," you say, taking the key. You head up the narrow, creaking stairs. Finding Room 3, you unlock the sturdy wooden door and step inside.
It's small, basic, but clean. A narrow bed with a slightly lumpy mattress and clean-looking linens, a small wooden chest at the foot of the bed, a washstand with a pitcher and basin, one stool, and the promised window overlooking a quiet back alley. Most importantly, it has a door that locks from the inside and solid walls. Compared to the Fletcher cabin or the common loft, it feels like luxury.
You immediately lock the door behind you, sliding a small bolt home for extra security. You toss your bundle of old clothes and the blanket onto the chest. Your sword belt goes on the stool within easy reach. Finally, you take the courier's leather satchel and place it carefully on the bed.
Your heart beats a little faster. Time to examine your prize.
You open the satchel and carefully lift out The Serpent's Eye. Held directly, even without skin contact (you keep it cradled in the satchel flap or use a cloth), the obsidian orb feels unnaturally cold, and the faint thrumming sensation is more pronounced. The intricate green runes seem to shift and crawl just at the edge of your vision, giving the orb an unsettlingly alive quality.
'Oracle,' you command, your focus absolute. 'Perform a maximum-depth analysis of The Serpent's Eye. Identify its properties, functions, potential risks, and any methods for utilization or absorption. Prioritize identifying ways to gain power or skills from it safely.'
<< Acknowledged. Initiating deep-spectrum analysis of Artifact: 'The Serpent's Eye'. Analyzing energy signatures, runic structure, material composition, potential consciousness patterns... Warning: Artifact emits complex energy field. Direct absorption may carry significant, unpredictable risks including mutation, madness, or soul corruption. Proceeding with analysis... >>
The mental 'bandwidth' dedicated to the task feels immense. Oracle is working hard, parsing the artifact's complex nature. Minutes stretch into tense silence within the small room.
<< Analysis Complete. Partial Data Decryption Achieved. Runic language identified: Ancient Ophidian Script (Pre-Epoch of Man). Artifact Nature: Bound Elemental Focus / Sentient Shard? (Conflicting data signatures). >>
<< Identified Properties:
* [Gaze of the Serpent]: Passively enhances user's perception, particularly regarding detecting hidden or obscured objects/individuals (Stacks with existing perception skills). Allows brief moments of 'true sight' penetrating mundane illusions/darkness with concentration (Requires INT check, potential mental strain).
* [Whispers of Scale]: Allows rudimentary communication/empathy with reptilian creatures (Snakes, lizards, potentially draconic beings at higher power levels?). Effectiveness unknown.
* [Runic Resonance]: The runes contain vast amounts of fragmented data/memories, possibly from the entity bound within or previous users. Accessing requires specific mental attunement or ritual (details unclear). Potential for knowledge gain (History, Magic) or madness.
* [Latent Necrotic/Nature Energy]: Contains conflicting energy signatures. Potential source for empowering certain spell types or abilities, but inherently unstable.
* Sentience Signature: Low-level, non-verbal consciousness detected within the orb. Seems dormant or bound. Nature: Unknown (Elemental? Fragmented Soul? Parasitic entity?). Motive: Unknown (likely self-preservation/influence). >>
<< Absorption / Utilization Methods:
* Attunement (Recommended, Slowest): Prolonged proximity and meditative focus may allow gradual absorption of passive abilities ([Gaze of the Serpent], [Whispers of Scale]) with minimal risk over weeks/months. Requires INT/CON saves against mental influence/corruption.
* Runic Ritual (Dangerous): Deciphering the courier's manifest or other related texts might reveal a ritual to directly interface with the runes. High risk of magical backlash, madness, or unleashing the bound entity. Requires specific components/timing (unknown).
* Direct Integration (Extremely Dangerous - NOT RECOMMENDED): Attempting to force absorption via direct energy transfer or physical integration (e.g., embedding). Almost certain critical failure resulting in mutation, severe injury, insanity, or hostile possession by internal sentience. >>
<< AI Recommendation: Utilize Attunement method for passive benefits. Avoid direct absorption attempts. The artifact's power is significant but volatile and poorly understood. Gaining skills directly via absorption is statistically improbable without catastrophic side effects based on current analysis. Passive benefits are the safest route. >>
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Oracle's findings are both exciting and deeply cautionary. The Serpent's Eye offers powerful perception enhancements and unique communication potential, but it's clearly not a simple 'skill gem' to be consumed. It's ancient, complex, potentially sentient, and dangerous. Forcing absorption seems like a terrible idea. The safest path is slow attunement, simply keeping it close and meditating on it occasionally. This won't grant an instant new skill in the way you perhaps hoped, but the passive 'Gaze of the Serpent' ability seems like it would begin to manifest relatively quickly through proximity alone, boosting your already formidable perception.
You decide to heed Oracle's warning. No risky rituals or direct absorption attempts. You'll keep The Serpent's Eye with you, perhaps meditating with it briefly each day, and allow the passive attunement to work its slow magic.
New Passive Ability Gained (Potential - Requires Attunement):
- [Gaze of the Serpent] (Rank E - Latent): Initial stages of attunement grant slightly enhanced perception for detecting hidden details. (Will improve slowly over time with continued proximity/focus).
You carefully wrap the Serpent's Eye in a spare cloth from your bundle and place it deep within your bum bag, nestled amongst your other unusual belongings. Even shielded, you feel its faint, cold presence, a secret source of power and danger now tied to your fate.
You feel a sharp pang of disappointment regarding The Serpent's Eye. While Oracle's analysis revealed fascinating potential, its primary immediate benefit – enhanced perception – feels underwhelming when you possess an AI capable of perfect environmental scanning and threat detection on demand. Why rely on a passive boost when I have perfect knowledge available instantly? The other abilities, like talking to snakes or risking madness for fragmented memories, seem situational at best, dangerous at worst. It feels like you risked a confrontation with a deadly assassin for a somewhat lackluster prize, at least in terms of immediate, game-changing power for you. Oracle's perception abilities are simply too superior.
However, there's the other part of the loot. You push the slight disillusionment with the artifact aside and turn your attention to Elara Vane's coin purse. Sitting on the edge of the lumpy bed in the privacy of your locked room, you pull out the heavy leather pouch. It's well-made, drawstring tightly pulled. Loosening the string, you pour the contents carefully onto the bed's thin blanket, ensuring none roll away.
Your eyes widen. This is significantly more than the ten copper pieces you earned in Oakhaven. Gleaming gold coins catch the dim light, nestled amongst a larger number of silver pieces and a scattering of copper. You meticulously count it out, stacking the coins neatly.
The final tally is:
- 14 Gold Coins
- 62 Silver Coins
- 35 Copper Coins
Fourteen gold pieces... You recall Torvin mentioning that Silvercliff City was run by nobles and had thousands of people – that's the kind of place where gold might be commonly used. In villages like Oakhaven, a single gold coin would be a fortune. Even the sixty-two silver coins represent substantial wealth for ordinary folk. This is far more money than you could have realistically hoped to earn through weeks or even months of mundane labor.
A thrill runs through you – the thrill of sudden wealth, of problems solved. Food, lodging, better gear, passage to Silvercliff... all suddenly seem easily attainable. This single act of theft has propelled you from near-penniless desperation to relative comfort, at least financially.
But the thrill is quickly tempered by caution. This wealth ties you directly to Elara Vane and the Syndicate. Flashing it around would be incredibly foolish. And while it solves your immediate money problems, it doesn't remove the danger Elara represents. If anything, she now has even more reason to hunt you down – not just for the artifact, but for her stolen funds. You need to be extremely careful how you handle and spend this money.
You carefully gather the coins, adding the silver and copper to the small pouch Torvin gave you (which previously held your few coppers), keeping them separate from the gold for now. You place the significant stash of gold coins back into Elara's original, more robust purse and hide it deep within the sack containing your modern clothes, burying it amongst the fabric. It feels safer than carrying it all directly on your person.
Now truly possessing resources, the possibilities for your journey south seem much broader. But the shadow of the Syndicate looms larger than ever.
You carefully transfer all the coins – gold, silver, and copper – into your sturdy modern bum bag, zipping it securely. It feels much safer having the wealth directly on your person, protected by modern closures, rather than hidden loosely. You then sling the courier's surprisingly sturdy leather satchel over your shoulder. It's not designed as a backpack, but it can hold your rolled blanket and perhaps the sack of old clothes, freeing up your hands and making you look slightly more like a prepared traveler.
With your newfound wealth comes a reassessment of priorities. The militia short sword is functional, certainly better than the goblin dagger, but facing potential Syndicate retaliation or other C-rank+ threats requires something more reliable, better crafted. A proper weapon is essential.
Decision made, you unlock your room door and head back down the narrow stairs into the quiet common room of The Tipsy Troll. The stout, friendly innkeeper looks up from wiping down a table as you approach the counter.
"Leaving us so soon?" she asks with a smile.
"Not just yet," you reply. "Actually, I was hoping for some local advice. I find myself in need of a better blade than the one I'm carrying." You gesture casually to the militia sword at your belt. "Could you recommend a good, honest blacksmith or weapon shop here in Bridgetown? Someone who sells quality steel without trying to fleece travelers?"
She leans on the counter conspiratorially, lowering her voice slightly. "Aye, can do. Two main options, really. There's 'Ironhand Forge' down by the east gate. Run by Master Borin's cousin, coincidentally." She grimaces slightly, clearly aware of the Oakhaven smith's reputation, perhaps through travelers' tales. "Makes sturdy tools, decent blades for guards, farmers. Fair prices, solid work, nothing fancy."
She pauses, then points vaguely north-west, deeper into the Tanner's Quarter. "Then there's 'Silas's Steel'. Old Man Silas... he's cranky as a badger in a bag, mind you, and charges more. But gods, the man knows steel. Doesn't do volume, mostly custom orders or repairs for folks who know quality. But sometimes he has a piece or two ready for sale on the rack. If you want quality and can handle his temper, that's where you go. Just don't waste his time if you're only window shopping."
Her advice seems candid. Ironhand Forge sounds like the safe, predictable option, likely similar quality to your current sword. Silas's Steel sounds like the place for a potential significant upgrade, but riskier in terms of price and the smith's temperament. Given your funds and the potential threats, quality seems paramount.
"Silas's Steel sounds more like what I'm looking for," you decide. "Thank you for the direction."
"Just mind what I said about his temper," she chuckles. "Good luck, lad."
Following her directions, you head north-west, deeper into the Tanner's Quarter. The smell of curing hides intensifies here. The streets are narrower, the buildings more functional workshops than pleasant homes. After a few minutes, you find it – a small, unassuming stone building tucked between a leatherworker's shop and a dyer's. No fancy sign, just a small, soot-stained wooden placard by the door reading 'SILAS - STEELWORK'. A steady, rhythmic clang... clang... clang echoes from within, the unmistakable sound of a hammer shaping hot metal.
You push open the heavy wooden door and step inside.