Mask of Humanity

‘I’m called Nicolai,’ he said to the skeleton. ‘What’s your name?’

‘Maric,’ said the skeleton. It closed its book with a thump. ‘It’s been a long time since I met someone sane in here. I imagine you’re looking for a book.’

And you’ll have to keep on waiting. Nicolai smiled. ‘That’s right. Perhaps you could help me find it?’

‘Perhaps I could. If you agree to help me do something in return.’

That sounded like it wanted to make a Contract, but Nicolai was wary of making more so soon. His final two contract slots should be saved for something more necessary. However, he’d hear it out first before making any decisions

‘What do you want, then?’

‘I want to get up there.’ It pointed a finger-bone up. ‘Into the upper levels. The top level. There’s a book up there I’m looking for.’

‘Is there no way up?’ Nicolai asked. He’d assumed there would be a stairwell in here somewhere.

‘There is, but it’s locked. There’s a lock on each level. I need the keys,’ the skeleton was leaning forward, and Nicolai sensed a sort of hungry desperation from it.

‘So where are the keys?’ he asked. ‘And why haven’t you just gone and gotten them?’

‘I don’t know precisely where they are, and I can’t leave the library. If I go out, then in the next night I’ll be just like the rest of them.’

‘I see,’ said Nicolai, who didn’t.

‘If you get me the keys, I’ll help you find your book,’ it said.

Nicolai smiled at it. ‘This is the basic rituals section, isn’t it? The book will be here, somewhere, if I search long enough. I reckon that will be a fair bit easier than going hunting for these keys of yours.’ He shrugged. ‘It’s a bad trade.’

‘Maybe I’ve hidden the book you want,’ it snapped at him.

Nicolai sighed. ‘There’s no need to get snippy. You don’t even know what book it is. How about this: I intend to explore this castle thoroughly, to learn as much as I can, to find all I can. I want to get into the upper levels of this library eventually, anyway. If you help me out now, and help me out with any future requests, then once I’ve found those keys, you can come up there with me.’

‘I need to get up there now!’ it hissed at him. ‘It’s been too long already, I need—‘

‘Shhhh,’ he hissed back at it. ‘The furniture have ears. Think about it like this. Would you rather get up there later, or never?’

The blue light in its eyes writhed with sullen anger. ‘Later, then,’ it said. ‘You promise you’ll find the keys?’

‘I’ll do my best,’ he said.

It gave him a searching glance, then it gave an enthusiastic little jerk. ‘I know, I know, I can offer you a reward!’ said the skeleton.

‘Yeah?’ Nicolai asked, slightly more interested.

It extended a hand. ‘Let me touch your Mark. I think I can give you a quest. You Marked always want quests, don’t you?’

Nicolai found this sudden desire for close contact suspicious. But he was good at spotting lies, good at spotting attempts to deceive and ambush, and all he felt from this skeleton was a fervid desire to get up to the upper layers, and much like Kleos, it seemed to view him as the best way to accomplish that. He wondered whether the two of them held the same goal, whether Maric also wanted to get its hands on the book Kleos had mentioned, the Book of the Raised.

He stepped forwards and raised the baton as much as he could in the cramped confines, and the skeleton lurched back into its chair, raising its arms. ‘Hey—don’t!’ it shrilled.

‘Don’t worry,’ he said, even as he loomed over it. ‘This is just insurance.’ He proffered his right hand as much as he could without straining the wound. ‘Touch it, then,’ he said, watching closely, ready to strike if necessary.

Extending an uncertain skeletal hand, Maric touched the back of his hand where the Mark glittered, and the skeleton said, ‘I request the help of this Marked, to help me reach the upper floors of the library, to find what I seek.’

The skeleton withdrew its hand, and Nicolai took a step back to create a little more room, both of them watching his Mark. The gold on it was shifting, circling, seeming almost to be thinking. Deciding whether it was going to accept this?

The light surged, and words emerged.

A Skeleton’s Request

Maric wishes to reach the upper floors of the library. Find the keys or another route, and take Maric up there so that he might search for what he wants.

‘Did it work?’ asked Maric.

‘It did,’ Nicolai assured the skeleton. ‘You may consider me fully motivated. But I still want the book I’m after. I need something on rituals that will detail how I can make a soul trap.’

‘Of course, of course, let me have a look,’ said the skeleton, seeming quite pleased with itself.

The impression Nicolai had of the quests and challenges of his Mark were that they were optional ways to earn reward shrines, which seemed worth earning. They didn’t lock him into doing stuff. So, he was also feeling quite pleased with himself.

He hadn’t been lying when he’d told Maric he intended to thoroughly explore and get into every nook and cranny he could in search of information, resources, weapons, and anything else of value. The upper floors of the library were no exception, and he needed to get up there for Kleos already. So far as he was concerned, this was promise of payment for something he was planning to do at some point anyway.

The skeleton was searching through the books it had piled up in the corners of its home.

‘How do these quests work? Why are you able to hand them out?’ asked Nicolai. He’d gained another quest from Kleos but that one hadn’t been explicitly given by Kleos, it had emerged as part of their deal.

‘Well, for Marked they’re… I don’t know, a way to prove yourselves? A reason to do things? Heaven is unknowable,’ said Maric into the books it was hunting through. ‘For us living here, they’re kind of like subsidies. We get to ask Marked to do things for us, and Heaven pays for it!’ the skeleton let out a hollow chuckle.

‘Everyone wins,’ muttered Nicolai. Apart from Heaven, apparently. There was definitely something odd going on there. ‘So you can just hand them out whenever?’

‘No, no, it’s not that simple. That’s the first time I’ve done it, actually. First time meeting a Marked! But from what I’ve read, any non-marked being living in a world within the Great Game is technically able to give out a quest, but it all depends on Heaven, and it depends on the being.

‘For me, I doubt I’ll be able to give another quest. Not until you complete that one, at the minimum, and perhaps not even then. That might be the only one I ever give. For more powerful beings, they can supposedly give out more, even multiple at a time. But even for them, it’s a limited resource. Smart to bet on the right horse, isn’t it?’ the skeleton chuckled again. ‘I’m hoping you’re capable. Uhh… and of course, all quests require Heaven’s acceptance. If it doesn’t think the giver is sincere, doesn’t think they really need what they’re asking for, then there’s no quest, at least these days.’

The skeleton got onto its hands and knees and stuck its skull under the table, hunting around, its voice emerging a little muted from below. ‘I read, once, about this king who let Marked define a quest, something really easy like fetching bread, only he knew ways to make Heaven think it was a difficult quest worth a big reward, then he’d give the Marked the quest in trade. They’d give him something valuable, he’d give them the quest, they complete it and get to choose a reward.

‘He always made sure to select the end location of the quest, too, so he knew where they’d end up. Then he’d have his assassins waiting, ready to strike the moment they’d chosen the reward. Smart guy, right? Gets them coming and going. But an Angel caught onto that little trick. Didn’t end well for him…’ the skeletons muttered words grew quieter.

‘Ah!’ said Maric, pulling out a dusty book with a triumphant flourish. ‘There you are! This should have what you need,’ it said, patting at the book which produced a great cloud of dust.

Nicolai dodged back from the cloud before it could reach him, out from the skeleton’s cubby of books. He didn’t want to be caught in a coughing fit.

‘Marked?’ came the voice of the skeleton from the dust.

‘Wait a second,’ he told it, glancing behind to check none of the furniture were creeping up on him. He turned back and watched the dust settle, the skeleton re-emerging as it faded. It proffered the book towards him and he stepped forwards to take it, glancing it over.

The book was titled: Novitiate Soul Rituals, which sounded perfect to him. He flipped through the pages, seeing that they were in decent enough condition. The words on every page he glanced at swum momentarily before forming into English. He took a moment to flip to the front, found the index, found an entry for Soul Traps, flipped to the page, and skimmed enough to know this was indeed what he was looking for.

‘Thank you,’ he said, eyeing the hopeful skeleton. ‘I’ll find those keys,’ he assured it again. ‘But now that I’m here, I’m thinking you might be able to help me a bit more. Have you ever heard of the Lizard?’

‘The Lizard?’ the skeleton stared at him. ‘No, what’s that?’

‘No matter,’ murmured Nicolai. ‘What of Heaven? Are there any books about Heaven, about the history of this world, about… important figures and the Great Game?’

The skeleton let out a thoughtful hum. ‘Wait here,’ it said. ‘I’ll go have a look around.’ It headed past him.

Nicolai watched it go. As soon as it was out of sight he began a thorough check of its little cubby. He couldn’t take too long, because he was worried it might call the furniture to come after him (he saw no signs the skeleton intended to betray him, but in his view, it was best always to suspect betrayal) so he wanted to be ready to flee before it returned. He was hoping to find an Imbued item, but examinations of the random clutter revealed they were all mundane.

However, he did find a small, dusty box buried amidst the skeleton's trash containing five Oma crystals. He grinned at the sight of them. That brought him from nine up to fourteen. From what Kleos had said, he would need Oma crystals to power the Soul Trap. He placed them in his pouch with the two other crystals.

Nicolai ducked out from the darkness under the shelf, checking for furniture or the returning skeleton. Seeing neither, he stepped around to the other side of the leaning bookshelf, and began climbing up it. With it tilted at its angle he was able to use the shelves as steps, no need to bring in his bad arm to help climb or waste Oma using the ring.

The shelves were largely cleared of books, likely by the efforts of the skeleton, which made the task easier. Once he was high enough, he lay down in one of the shelves, using it to hide himself from view, and waited. As he did so, he connected with his Seed, managing it in a short time, and spread out his Soul Sense tendrils, feeling at the area around him.

About ten minutes later, he heard the click of bone on stone and peeked over his shelf. The skeleton was returning, books in hand, and it wasn’t leading furniture with it. It headed back under the shelf as Nicolai watched. Nicolai’s Soul Sense tendrils traced its movement, following it into the space under the shelves. It felt largely cold and dead, except for a faint sense of… regret? Bitterness?

Nicolai remained where he was, still and quiet like a spider. Not long later there came a stealthy squeaking, and the cabinet rolled into view, trailing after the skeleton. Balanced atop it was a new chair and the torch.

Nicolai didn’t think the skeleton had betrayed him. It just wasn’t wary enough, had been spotted by the furniture, and they’d used it to track him down. He pulled his Soul Sense back, wary of touching on them. If they had any means to feel his Soul Sense, they might notice and be warned he was near.

He had no intentions of giving them any such warning.

The furniture took up positions at the entrance to the gap under the shelf and waited, exchanging wooden nods of readiness, entirely unaware that their target was gazing down at them.