Tunnel Rat

Chapter 19: Cichol

Milo went to log out of the game, and got a most peculiar notification.

An Arcane Library is available for you to claim,

But...

An advisor waits to speak with you.

Please choose one of these before logging out.

(Or sure, you could do the annoying thing that lets you bypass the game controls, but where is the fun in that?)

Milo did have a couple of questions for Sidney, but the lure of an Arcane Library outstripped even the chance of a meal with cheese sauce.

The world darkened as he logged out and appeared somewhere else. Or perhaps 'nowhere else' was a better description. Milo was standing upon a small stone platform that seemed to be hanging in space. All around him, stars glittered in a cold void. The air was thin with no wind, and it was completely silent.

The only thing on the platform was a stone archway enclosing a peculiar door. At first, milo thought it was made of wood. But as soon as he touched it, he knew the truth. It was bone. Huge, thick slabs of bones carved and fitted together like a puzzle. Bones from a beast that had walked the land long, long ago. He got a sense of its long heavy steps. The door was made of its shin bones. There was a latch that opened the door. Milo stepped inside and shut the door behind him. Whatever was inside was better than the void with its endless sky.

He stepped down into the room. The floor was a mosaic of small pieces fit together in geometric patterns. Shades of white, ivory, and alabaster created interlocking sunbursts. The curved roof was of the rib bones of some leviathan. They arched up to connect with the ridgeline of vertebrae thirty feet above his head. The walls were plaster above wooden paneling, but he could feel the bones behind the decorations. Four hallways provided exits from this central room, but Milo was more interested in what was in front of him.

A rug was laid on the mosaic floor in front of a huge fireplace. Two chairs had been placed on the rug, facing the fire. One chair was empty, and the other occupied. A man sat in the chair. He was ancient and seemed made of wrinkles. His large knuckled hands gripped the head of an ivory cane that he leaned on. His voice was like the low growling wind can make as it sweeps through a canyon. "Come sit, and let me get a look at you. I would take the measure of the person who threw away so much power."

Milo sat in the other chair, and they stared at each other. Finally, the old man spoke again. "I was named Gricenchos by my kin, but they are long dead, and you are not kin. Call me Clapperleg instead. They called me that because of this useless left limb that does only half the work it should. I hated the name but it fits." Milo could see that his left leg was twisted and thin.

"At least you have a left leg. In the world I was born in I didn't have one until I made it myself. I won't call you that. I'd hate to have people call me by a name like that, and I won't do it to you."

The old man nodded and spit into the fire. "Well, enough, call me Cichol then. Tell me about this leg you made."

Later, Milo thought it was odd that he told Cichol about his life, and how he'd made his first prosthetic leg and better ones later. But at the moment, sitting in the chair before the fire, it felt like the right thing to do. When he was done talking, Cichol was silent for a bit, and then told a story of his own.

"My grandfather was a Bonemancer. Well, a Necromancer really, because he dabbled a bit with spirits and did have a few zombies around for carrying wood and doing chores. But he loved bones, and worked with them as his material whenever he could. My father continued his work, and married a woman from a mountain tribe who had her own magic. They worked their magic in bone and ivory, creating beautiful staves, wands, dice and other magical creations. She taught him to carve the runes and how to throw the knucklebones to see a glimpse of the future. I learned from them both."

"I lived a long time and learned much. Eventually I got it in my head to live past my long years. And so I did favors for one of the hidden lords. They were well pleased and loaned me the services of their weaver. From bits of my soul, and the sinews of the beasts in the nightmare realm we wove the tattered cloth you wear now. Within it, I built my library, and when I no longer had the strength to walk back from death, I retreated here to read my books and sit by the fire. Imagine my surprise when others came."

"Each was a wizard who used the bones for power. Each found the Bone-Runed Cowl and died wearing it. Their power and mine aided whoever the latest owner was. Some faded away eventually. A couple accepted oblivion and stepped into the void. And now comes a wet-behind-the-ears apprentice who washed out their blood and freed them all. Maybe that's best. I was tired of talking to them. The rat-kin was the worst."

"No, not just because he was a rat-kin, I can see you share that much with him. He just wouldn't shut up about his great plans and glorious destiny. We were all laughing when you defeated his fetid corpse. So, it's just the two of us now. An old ghost far past his time with nowhere to go. And a young man new to this world who made his own leg and tail before coming here."

"Tell me what you want to do, young Milo." Cichol picked up a metal scoop and threw more chunks of bone onto the fire from the bucket next to him. Without asking, Milo could sense they were whale bones, heavy with oil.

Milo thought for a moment. "I want to go places and see things. I can't do that in my other body, but I can here. I want to explore the caves and mines, and find secrets."

Cichol nodded. "Well, enough. And what about the Bones and the Magic? Do you want to learn more of those? Or will you just wear that old dishrag around because you like the color?"

Milo looked around the room. Many of the larger bones were carved with runic script he couldn't read. This room held a lot of secrets. "I want to know the secrets you have here, too."

Cichol nodded. "You might do then. But off with you for now. Go find a bone of your own to add to my library"

You have completed the Quest: Free the Captured Souls!

You have gained 5 Core Skill Points.

You have been given the Quest: One of Your Own

Cichol has tasked you with finding an old bone to add to the library. Return to him when you have one.

Success: Access to the books in the library and lessons in bonecasting.

Failure: A missed opportunity