carry. “We all have knowledge from a more advanced society.”
“You mean the History Channel, the Military Channel, and NatGeo,” Jeff dusted his feet with talc.
“Whatever. Thing is, we know stuff that other people here don’t.”
“Well, Fred’s theory has yet to be proven, but if he is right, what’s your point?” Shad asked. “There’s only so much application we can bring. Knowing what made the Roman Legions great doesn’t do much for four guys with chump change between them.”
“Well, for one thing me and Fred saw a documentary on codes,” Derek persisted. “I bet there is a demand for that. We take some down time, we can work it up and sell it.”
“That’s a good idea,” Jeff nodded. “Modern coding is far advanced over what they had in medieval times.”
“Only problem I see is word getting to the Ultimate Master,” Shad pointed out. “A modern code popping up means he’s got a hit team on his tail.”
“Choose your buyer,” Fred mumbled. “Somebody who will just use it, not re-sell it. And he knows he has hit teams on him-we’re not the first.”
“Good point,” Shad conceded. “And good ideas. We need to drop assumptions and give every documentary and history book a good thinking over.”
“Are we really going to try to kill the Ultimate Master?” Derek asked as he dug out his mess kit.
“That’s up to a vote, which I suggest we postpone for a while,” Shad shrugged. “We have to level up quite a bit before we try, and frankly, I’m not terribly enthused about being an assassin. Self-defense and non-Humans I can live with. Of course, I want to go back home, too. Way I see it, we have two options to get home: frag the five and hope Yorrian was telling the truth about these tats, or locate the five, choose the most approachable, and see if they can get us home.”
“Or find Yorrian and hold her feet to the fire until she sends us back,” Jeff suggested.
“Three options,” Shad conceded.
“What about hiring a mage?” Fred asked.
“I don’t think so,” Derek shook his head. “Class knowledge, but an undertaking like getting us home would require something extremely special. I bet Yorrian was part of a group effort. Remember, these guys have been stuck here for thousands of years.”
“But the rules are different for us,” the Shadowmancer continued. “If my class knowledge is right, we can get back because we’re not native.”
“Well, we’ll call getting home the core quest,” Shad broke a hardtack on the pommel of his dagger. “Lotta research before we get a glimmer of a plan. Derek, could a mage detect that we are outsiders?”
“No.”
“Could they detect where we came through…or into, or whatever?”
The Shadowmancer pondered the question. “Maybe. If they were actively looking. But there would be a delay, like a sonar ping. How long, I don’t know.”
“So assuming the watcher or magic tracking item was in the city, the Ultimate Master wouldn’t know we had arrived for a while,” Shad mused. “We came by the most direct route, and we didn’t encounter anyone hunting us, so either he wasn’t watching, or no response was organized until after we were within the walls. He can’t locate us by magic, so all he has is old-fashioned detective work.”
“We came through the most logical gate, and cashed in Goblin ears,” Jeff pointed out. “We would be remembered.”
“Derek ditched his robes yesterday, and that’s the most memorable thing about us,” Shad countered. “I saw several bear barbarians in the city. If all he knows is that we came through, there’s no guarantee we came to the city.”
“So do we stick to the job?” Fred asked.
“Yeah. We need the money.” Shad thought hard. “But when we go back we use another inn, just to be safe, and we buy a map. We better look for another base of operations.”
“What if they make sketches of us?” Derek asked.
Jeff shrugged. “You saw how many people were
“You mean the History Channel, the Military Channel, and NatGeo,” Jeff dusted his feet with talc.
“Whatever. Thing is, we know stuff that other people here don’t.”
“Well, Fred’s theory has yet to be proven, but if he is right, what’s your point?” Shad asked. “There’s only so much application we can bring. Knowing what made the Roman Legions great doesn’t do much for four guys with chump change between them.”
“Well, for one thing me and Fred saw a documentary on codes,” Derek persisted. “I bet there is a demand for that. We take some down time, we can work it up and sell it.”
“That’s a good idea,” Jeff nodded. “Modern coding is far advanced over what they had in medieval times.”
“Only problem I see is word getting to the Ultimate Master,” Shad pointed out. “A modern code popping up means he’s got a hit team on his tail.”
“Choose your buyer,” Fred mumbled. “Somebody who will just use it, not re-sell it. And he knows he has hit teams on him-we’re not the first.”
“Good point,” Shad conceded. “And good ideas. We need to drop assumptions and give every documentary and history book a good thinking over.”
“Are we really going to try to kill the Ultimate Master?” Derek asked as he dug out his mess kit.
“That’s up to a vote, which I suggest we postpone for a while,” Shad shrugged. “We have to level up quite a bit before we try, and frankly, I’m not terribly enthused about being an assassin. Self-defense and non-Humans I can live with. Of course, I want to go back home, too. Way I see it, we have two options to get home: frag the five and hope Yorrian was telling the truth about these tats, or locate the five, choose the most approachable, and see if they can get us home.”
“Or find Yorrian and hold her feet to the fire until she sends us back,” Jeff suggested.
“Three options,” Shad conceded.
“What about hiring a mage?” Fred asked.
“I don’t think so,” Derek shook his head. “Class knowledge, but an undertaking like getting us home would require something extremely special. I bet Yorrian was part of a group effort. Remember, these guys have been stuck here for thousands of years.”
“But the rules are different for us,” the Shadowmancer continued. “If my class knowledge is right, we can get back because we’re not native.”
“Well, we’ll call getting home the core quest,” Shad broke a hardtack on the pommel of his dagger. “Lotta research before we get a glimmer of a plan. Derek, could a mage detect that we are outsiders?”
“No.”
“Could they detect where we came through…or into, or whatever?”
The Shadowmancer pondered the question. “Maybe. If they were actively looking. But there would be a delay, like a sonar ping. How long, I don’t know.”
“So assuming the watcher or magic tracking item was in the city, the Ultimate Master wouldn’t know we had arrived for a while,” Shad mused. “We came by the most direct route, and we didn’t encounter anyone hunting us, so either he wasn’t watching, or no response was organized until after we were within the walls. He can’t locate us by magic, so all he has is old-fashioned detective work.”
“We came through the most logical gate, and cashed in Goblin ears,” Jeff pointed out. “We would be remembered.”
“Derek ditched his robes yesterday, and that’s the most memorable thing about us,” Shad countered. “I saw several bear barbarians in the city. If all he knows is that we came through, there’s no guarantee we came to the city.”
“So do we stick to the job?” Fred asked.
“Yeah. We need the money.” Shad thought hard. “But when we go back we use another inn, just to be safe, and we buy a map. We better look for another base of operations.”
“What if they make sketches of us?” Derek asked.
Jeff shrugged. “You saw how many people were
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