☀️ Arselia and Akonia

...and Harold?



The door creaked open, and an unkempt, disheveled, fair-haired man stumbled into the room. A tall skeleton in a leather jacket jumped off the worn windowsill and directed its empty gaze at the newcomer.
— What's the news, brother?
— The best there is. A little bird chirped about an extraordinary artifact and shared the address. So get ready, we're going out tonight.
— Awesome, finally. What about "Dracena," have you changed your mind?
— No. Forget them, they screwed up the first mission, they betrayed us to a bunch of pathetic goblins, and you saw it all yourself. Associating with such people is disrespectful.
— Haha, I see. Well, we're a great team on our own. We'll grab your artifact and disappear, and let them keep getting beaten up by goblins and villagers.

***

Some time later...

The duo of thieves found themselves in a small hall. In its center, on a marble pedestal decorated with intricate carvings, lay the coveted artifact, which looked like an ordinary quiver for arrows or bolts. At first glance, it was completely unprotected.
Harold grinned menacingly and pointed at it.
— Look, here it is, heh-heh. It looks rather unassuming, we'll have to figure out how it works. So, shall we grab it and run?
— Hmm... It seems too easy. I have a bad feeling.
Garret cautiously approached and began to examine the pedestal.
— There are some runes here... Definitely a trap or a signal.
None of these runes were familiar to him. Running his fingers over them, he felt a slight tingling sensation. Meanwhile, Harold was starting to lose patience.
— Are you going to just stand there and stare? I know you're not an expert in magic besides necromancy.
His brother's impatience was contagious, and the irritated Garret cast a scathing glance at him.
— Oh, you're such an expert in security magic, aren't you? Come on, take a look yourself, you empty head.
The skeleton approached and stared at the runes with a blank expression.
— What the hell. We're not going to figure out these scribbles anyway, so stop wasting time. — He reached for the quiver.
— You'll regret it. — Garret "encouraged" his brother.
— Whatever.
With a sharp movement, Harold snatched the artifact from the pedestal. At that moment, a dazzling stream of golden sparks shot up to the ceiling, and the room was filled with a thunderous clang. As everything subsided, Garret shook his head, coming to his senses, and snatched the loot from the skeleton's hands, who had taken it much easier, but still stood frozen.
— Satisfied? Let's go, quickly.
With these words, Garret stuffed the strange quiver into his bag and hurried out, Harold followed him.

Of course, they didn't get far, and very soon the unlucky thieves found themselves surrounded by guards.
— Ho-ho, gentlemen... How nice of you to drop by.
In one motion, Garret raised his crossbow and sent a bolt through the eye of the nearest guard, broke through his position, and ran away, giving Harold a silent order to cover their retreat. Behind him, he heard the clashing of swords, but he wasn't too worried about his brother – this pile of bones could withstand a lot.

However, apparently realizing that the stolen artifact was with him, most of the guards rushed in pursuit. Eventually, running into some alley, Garret found himself cornered – it was a dead end. Hearing the clatter of iron-shod boots behind him, the robber, breathing heavily, turned to face the pursuers. Now they were approaching slowly and smugly, baring their malicious smiles, the blades of their drawn swords aimed at his throat.
It seems this is the end. And yet... Suddenly, a glimmer of hope appeared. Behind the guards, a familiar bony face loomed – Harold was sneaking up, raising a heavy knife, from which drops of blood were dripping. Maybe, if he could distract them for a couple of seconds...
— Hey... Hey, gentlemen... You need this, right?
Garret pulled out the stolen quiver. The nearest guard was already raising his sword with the expression of an executioner preparing to carry out a sentence.
— What if I...
The bony shadow darted forward, the blade flashed in the dim light.

...But today, Lady Luck was not on the brothers' side. Just at that moment, the guard who was swinging his sword slightly deviated to the side. Harold's knife whistled past and plunged straight into Garret's rib. He gasped and collapsed backward with the grace of a sack of potatoes. A critical miss.
— Damn... — Harold, who was left alone surrounded by guards, managed to comment on the situation. They had all the advantages.
A wide swing of the sword, a blow – and his skull flew off. Describing an arc in the air, it landed right on the twitching Garret's forehead, driving the knife into his chest up to the hilt.
Still clutching the fateful artifact in his hand, Garret looked with a look full of pain into the black voids of the eye sockets.
— Hr-r-r... You stupid idiot...
At that moment, consciousness left him, and he plunged into the bottomless darkness.

And so ended the story of the brothers-robbers from Aster. Or not?

Origin: Aster

Belief: Miss Cosmos
The character arrived in Anush from another world.
Profession: adventurer
Luck +8.

Skills:

Shooting


Rogue
Poison
The character's attacks deal +100% additional damage with wood and cause poison.
Stealth
The character can use stealth.

Characteristics:
Strength: 10
Endurance: 10
Perception: 10
Agility: 10
Luck: 10
Spirit: 10
Intelligence: 10
Speed: 10
Faith: 0
Beauty: 10
Charisma: 20

I'm not spending experience points yet

Equipment:
Weapon 1: Crossbow
Weapon 2: Harold's Combat Knife
Head: ---
Body: Clothing
+5% to dodge.
Shoulders: Cloak
+2% to dodge.
Hands: Leather gloves
+2% to accuracy.
Feet: Traveler's boots
+1 to SP.
Accessory 1: Garret's Ring
Accessory 2: ---
Other 1: Sylphid Quiver
One of the four legendary elemental artifacts.
Arrows and bolts are infinite.
Damage from arrows and bolts is converted to air.
Affinity (air) +100%.
Not destroyed.
Other 2: Faceted Emerald x2
Restores 90% health.
Other 3: Ordinary Amethyst x3
Removes all negative effects from the character.

Bag with other equipment:
Harold's Skull
no effects