Meeting Old Guys

Gil was escorted into the building, and found that the name "elder" was in this case quite literal. Five old folks sat around the small house, looking curiously at the newcomer. One, a vigorous old coot with a purple hat, walked forward to greet him.

"Welcome to our village." The Elder said, his voice filled with warmth. "Know that you have found a place of refuge, as much as any we know of. My name is Mura. What news do you bring from abroad? We rarely receive visitors. Oh, I see you're injured. Apologies, I'm sure we can get that treated easily enough."

Few visitors, eh? Gil thought, Definitely post apocalyptic. So what do I say to put them on their guard?

An elderly lady started a cup of tea in the corner, using a kettle suspended over an open flame.

"My name is Gilbert. I'm glad to find a safe place in these trying times." He said, "very glad indeed. I come from the north, you see."

Mura's eyes lit up. "Oh! Does the Biron Monastery still stand?"

"Yes, last time I saw it." Gil lied easily. "I wasn't there long. I am able to travel through the mists, so they sent me to warn you. I've only barely arrived in time. You're going to be attacked tonight. A focused assault by those brown skinned creatures, intended to pull down your walls. We can't afford to sit around talking."

Gil wasn't an incredibly skilled con artist, at least not at the moment, but he could manage a basic cold reading. If the elder had been a bit more wary, he probably wouldn't have handed Gil a cover story on a silver platter. As it was, the old man's face went white.

"No, no…" he moaned, clearly shaken. "We are not warriors, Gilbert. We don't have the tools needed to face the seru if the Gobu Gobu breach our walls. Not for long."

"I believe that if you can hold out until dawn, you'll be able to push them back." Gil assured him, before putting two and two together. "The wind comes in from the sea and pushes the mist away, doesn't it?"

"We will do what we can, Elder." One of the guards promised. "The hunters face down mist maddened beasts all the time."

"Let us pray that is all we face," Mura agreed, "but the Gobu Gobu do not band together normally. Whatever dark madness has gripped the seru must be guiding them as well."

Gil jotted down a few notes in his journal. The men were too preoccupied with their meeting to even note that he'd started typing; who knew what they'd think he was doing.

Gobu Gobu aren't normally a threat. Mist drives animals crazy. Got it. Avoid seru, whatever they are.

"I'm only a messenger," Gil said delicately. "I travel by avoiding conflict. I don't really know a damn thing about defending towns from seru. Is there any chance I could take a look around the town? I might see something that jogs a memory. I'll of course assist if I can, but I'm not much of a warrior."

"If you think it best." Mura nodded, distracted. "Please, finish your tea, then spread the word around town. Let them know we are expecting a breach. They'll know what to do. Oh! Start with Tetsu, our local Biron Monk. He'll be leading the defense."

Gil scurried off, eager to investigate the opportunities presented by this world. The old lady seemed scandalized that he didn't finish his tea, but it was extremely bitter and unpleasant. Gil had a perfectly good excuse: the town was about to be under attack. Hopefully it wasn't a grave offense, he just wanted to get moving.

Rim Elm was easy to navigate, at least. The great central pit and southern beach served as convenient points of reference, and Gil could jog from one end of the cramped enclosure to the other without much trouble. After being stuck on the Skyblock for a mostly uneventful week, it felt nice to stretch his legs.

As requested, he went to the beach first. He'd already wanted to talk to the martial arts duo, anyway. Naturally, he kept an eye out for any particularly attractive women or distinctive looking people in general. He wasn't sure what kind of genre he was in yet, but it was good to scout out potentially important people. He passed the blue haired young man on the way to the beach, walking alongside a young purple haired woman.

https://imgur.com/a/WNny1hA

"Hey, you." Gil flagged them down. "I saw you sparring on the beach earlier. So you know, there's probably going to be an attack on the wall tonight. The Elder seemed to think you'd know what to do with that information."

The girl tensed, covering her mouth with both hands. Blue boy frowned and gave a very stern nod.

"Vahn! What do we do?" The purple girl turned to the boy.

Vahn reached out and squeezed her shoulder. He gave her a reassuring smile, and she sighed.

"You're right, brother. We should just finish what we were doing. You'll need your hunter clothes, and Mei needs to be warned." She said, "thank you sir. My name is Nene. I wish I could ask about your travels, but there's no time for that now. Our house is over there."

Nene pointed at a hut, identical to all the others, then rushed off with her brother.

••••••••••

Tetsu was doing crunches on the sand with a precise cadence as Gil approached. He was apparently a warrior monk, and he looked the part. He was wearing a loose red gi, had his head shaved except for a simple top knot, and was buff as all hell. His physique was especially impressive for a man in his fifties.

"Excuse me, sir." Gil said. He didn't want to interrupt, but he certainly didn't want to stand around until Tetsu was done.

The man hopped from his back to his feet in a single fluid motion. He pounded one fist into his other palm, then bowed briefly before speaking.

"Greetings traveler." He said respectfully. "Do you have word from the Monastery? Does it still stand?"

"I'm afraid I don't know. I've never stepped foot in the monastery." Gil admitted. "I only came here because I think your town may be under attack soon."

"Impressive. I know of no one else who can walk through the mist as you seem to." The monk bowed again as he referenced Gil's supposed skills. "I would ask that you teach me your methods, if you can. It would give me great joy to return to my fellows."

Gil had a thought.

"Sure, just sell me your soul and I can see about getting you there."

Tetsu stepped back. His mind flooded with fleeting knowledge, but not half so much as Humbert had received. His choice was made the moment that he realized that Gil's offer was genuine.

"No. My soul is not mine to sell." He said forcefully. "I am pledged to Biron and his teachings, now and forever."

Tetsu felt dizzy for a moment, then centered himself.

"I apologize. I do not know what came over me. That was unbecoming."

"Don't worry about it." Gil said. "I admit it's not a very funny joke. Anyway, I need to tell others in town about the likely breach. The elder wants you to lead the defense."

"That is the purpose of my training." Tetsu said with a nod. "If I didn't use it to protect others, physical refinement would be nothing but vanity. Who is attacking? We don't have any real enemies."

"The Gobu Gobu seem to be the most likely attackers." Gil said, cringing slightly at the ridiculous name. "Do you think you can beat Seru, if they join in?"

"If I must." Tetsu said gravely. "I will need support, but I have faced men armed with seru in the past."

So seru are some kind of weapon? Intriguing. I'll need to see if they are something I can use. Of course they might be cursed or something, so I'll need to be careful. I don't want to repeat that stint as a chosen of Slaanesh, and I don't have Mind or Possession defense yet.

"Good man." Gil nodded and gave the man a small bow before running off. Tetsu was marked as a solid "maybe" for the stamp, assuming nothing better cropped up. Never using it for this world would be a waste, after all.