Waifu Catalog Beta Tester: Free to Play Skyblock

"Hey. Gilbert. Wake up. We have to get going, right?"

Ireena's soft but insistent voice was far from the worst thing Gil had ever woken up to. As he suspected, he felt like shit. Multiple strained muscles will do that to you, even if you're the pig headed sort who can bull through such a thing. He probably wouldn't be able to walk without those healing leaves.

"Right. Right." Gil said, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "You're right, of course. Best to get you to your destination, eh?"

He stood up and tried to stretch. He'd been sleeping for a long while according to the tablet; he only had 11 hours left in Barovia and he intended to use them well.

"Alright. Let's get you to your new home." Gil said confidently. "There is only one thing you'll need to do before you can come with me. I'll need to press this against your skin, so please pull up your sleeve."

He held up the stamp. He still didn't think asking for her soul would go over well with this crowd, even after helping them out. Ireena, confused, held out one forearm and did as requested. Gil applied the stamp, leaving a starburst in blue ink.

"Good. You should be able to see the door now." Gil said, satisfied. "Let's get moving."

They were already on the north side of town, so it was only about a half hour for the trio to reach the old shack. The compass on his tablet made it fairly easy, but Gil was also just decent at finding his way around.

"Ireena, so you know, this is from Strahd." He said quietly. "What do you want to do with it? I didn't want to risk opening it in case it's magical, but I'd also rather not keep it for the same reason."

"Can you destroy it?" She asked, scowling. "Or throw it away?"

"Sure, but I think I should do it somewhere away from our path." Gil had a thought. "Do you know where Durst Manor is?"

"Yes, but why?" Ireena asked. "It's a cursed place. People vanish around that house."

"Perfect place to burn the letter, then." Gil said confidently. "I was told to find a harp kept there by my patron. I should at least make an attempt at it before I leave."

"Does your patron want you dead for some reason?" Ireena asked, and Gil genuinely couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic.

"Eh, probably not." Gil answered. "But they do want me to lead an interesting life right up until I do die, which is close at times."

"I'd suggest you find another employer, friend." Ismark suggested.

"I have to work off my debt first." Gil said with a shrug. "Besides, death and I have a strained relationship. My patron makes sure it never sticks, and sends me off to the next destination. There's all sorts of odd rules. For example, it's possible that despite the stamp Ireena might be tossed back to your home after we leave. She'll have some holes in her memory if that happens, but you two should still be able to go with your plan to take her to Walachia if that happens."

The siblings looked at each other nervously for a moment, but decided that this was still a better prospect than any they'd encountered thus far.

"I think I'll pack an extra bag in case that happens." Ismark said tactfully, "instead of putting all our goats in one pen."

Ismark looked around the ransacked house when they arrived, searching for a secret door. Ireena, as expected, saw the pillar of pulsating blue light immediately. She stared at it with fascination, not really sure what to do with this new information.

"Better get used to it, miss Kolyana." Gil noted. "This is our primary form of transportation. Theoretically, it should be as invisible to any pursuers as it is to Ismark here. I prefer not to test it, but it hasn't failed me yet."

"What is invisible to me?" Ismark grumbled. "This house is as bare as the Count's conscience."

"The portal that will whisk Ireena to safety of course." Gil said. "I can go first or go with you if you'd like, but we should probably get you through sooner rather than later. We will have time for explanations later."

Gil double checked that Ireena was indeed in his retinue; she was, with a 2 day and 23 hour timer. A tier 2 main character with the combatant, stealth, and Stress Defense tags. Excellent. Shame he wasn't working by the standard rule set or Stress Defense would have been discounted to 1 credit already. He supposed that someone stalked by a vampiric authority figure would need to be made of tough stuff in order to not have constant panic attacks.

Far more surprising was that there was another addition to the retinue: a wolf. Just a generic Barovian Wolf. Tier 2 generic animal, already captured. If it had been fully sentient it probably would have sneaked into tier 3, but as a normal instinct driven animal it was only t2.

Snow seemed to be fine according to her profile, so Gil decided to take the minor w. There were far worse animals to have on your side than a wolf, and Snow might be able to train it to serve as a bodyguard if nothing else. He only glanced through the entries, as much as he wanted to look closer.

"Alright, come along." Gil said, then thought better of it. "Ismark, could you take this letter for a moment? No point in tempting fate by having it go all the way home with us."

Gil walked through to the far more cluttered skyblock. A pile of random rubbish definitely did not enhance the aesthetic of the peaceful island in the sky, though Snow was a pleasant sight at the very least. She stirred awake from her place at the foot of the tree, roused by his footsteps.

"Oh!" She said, looking up at Gil. "Master! I'm so glad you're back! Is the portal about to close? Who is this?"

The last was directed at Ireena, who had cautiously stepped through the portal after Gil. The redhead was a bit busy gazing around the obviously magical island in slack jawed amazement.

"This is Ireena." Gil introduced her. "Ireena, this is Snow White. She's my maid and companion. I hope you take a shine to one another because it'll probably be just the three of us for the next week or so. Maybe a wolf?"

Snow cocked her head to the side, confused.

"Oh? Oh yes. I'm sorry, Master Gilbert, but I had to use your sphere to get away from this dreadful pack of wolves." Snow admitted. "You see, I was told to go into the woods by the rats after this awful bald creature attacked the house I was in. The wolves didn't welcome me at all though! They called me an intruder and started growling at me. One of them lunged for me, and I threw the ball at it and ran."

"I see," Gil sighed. "Hopefully I'll be able to recall it."

Company devices, like his stamp and tablet, usually had a built-in recall function. Snow had been lucky enough to actually capture the wolf, so in the worst case scenario he'd just have to sell the beast. He willed the red and white ball to his hand and felt… something. Something certainly happened, Gil just wasn't sure what.

"Anyway," Gil said with a shrug. "Ireena, you should probably stay here. Would you prefer if Snow stayed with you or should I bring her along to help haul your luggage?"

Ireena looked at the bubbly black haired girl, and considered the question.

"I think I'd like to ask her a few questions, if that's all right." She decided.

"Quite alright. I don't really have much to hide, Ireena." Gil said. "Snow, tell her whatever you like. If she's going to be traveling with us she might as well know as much as you do. Oh. And empty a backpack for me in case I need to take two trips."

Gil rummaged through the chest, swapping out his pouches of healing leaves for a fresh pair and making sure he had a Door of Light handy. He was pleasantly surprised to find that the storage chest, which had come free with the skyblock, now contained the beastmaster sphere.

"Ah! Don't worry Snow." He called, "looks like we are in a good place. Just don't touch the ball for a few days. We don't want to risk the beast trying to hurt Ireena."

The Beastmaster Sphere supposedly made the captured creature incapable of harming retinue members, a category that Ireena wasn't in just yet. Neither was the wolf, technically, until the portal closed. With nothing left to do on the skyblock, Gil hopped back through the portal to find a very concerned Ismark.

"You just vanished into thin air!" Ismark exclaimed.

"Through a portal actually." Gil said. "Would you mind bringing me to Durst Manor? It would be very kind of you to grab the rest of Ireena's baggage, but I've already spent quite a lot of time on her. If you leave it here in this room, I'll pick it up before the portal closes."

"If you must." Ismark said, "can you tell me anything about the place you've taken my sister? Will she be safe?"

"She will be as safe as she wishes to be." Gil said. "I doubt Strahd can follow, and if he can she will still be in a better state with me than here, where he's surely at his strongest. Death won't be able to hold her, not when she's with me, and neither will any other kind of dark fate. If that happens I'll send her back and in doing so I'll heal her; she'll be confused, but she will still be fully herself. It's the best I can promise."

"It'll have to be enough." Ismark said grimly. "Take care of her, and yourself for that matter. Even if you're as hard to kill as you claim, no man lives forever."

"You aren't wrong, but I've seen some make a pretty good attempt at it." Gil answered lightly. "I'll take care of her as well as I can, I swear it on whatever god you follow."

"It's all I can ask, I suppose." Ismark said, "the house is just over there."

Ismark pointed at Durst Manor. It was an old Victorian manor house, quite a bit nicer than the buildings around it. Suspiciously well maintained, in fact. To complete the picture, a young lady stood just inside the front gate with a young boy.

"Well Ismark, this is where we part ways." Gil said, clapping the other man on the shoulder. "If I don't see you again, may the moon guide your path."

"And may you live to see the final dawn." Ismark answered, a bit nonplussed but understanding the thrust of Gil's words.

As Gil approached, the two figures on the grounds called to him. They did not take a single step past the opened gates, he noted.

"Oh please sir! Come here." The woman said, pleading. "There's a terrible beast that has taken up residence in my home."

"Please mister." The young boy chimed in. "We need a hero like you. I know someone strong like you could help us."

"Sure, why not," Gil said, an amused smile forming as he walked onto the grounds of the haunted house. "I've got ten hours."

"Oh thank you sir." The woman said, stepping in close. "My name is Rose. If you could make my home safe again for me and my brother Thorn, I'd be ever so grateful."

She leaned forward, showing off a daring neckline. Rose had a slender build, but a respectable chest. Her black dress went only down to her mid thigh, showing long legs clad in tight black silk. She had on a long black cloak with a red lining, and wore her hair chin length. She put her hands against Gil's chest, and he braced himself to be attacked, but she did no such thing.

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It was such obvious bait that, if he didn't have a quick and nearly foolproof teleport in his back pocket, Gil would have turned and left instantly. The boy fell silent whenever the girl spoke, and clearly the duo had decided that he was more receptive to the pretty damsel than the scared child. Not a good sign for Gil's moral compass, but certainly accurate. It seemed that the two wanted him inside, and he was willing to play along.

Feeling a bit cheeky, Gil decided to ask the obvious question.

"Will you give me your soul if I go in and kill the monster?" He asked.

Gil had seen a few people offered that deal, and was used to them shuddering as their mind filled with knowledge. Rose didn't react much at all. She just gave him a look that was equal parts innocent and seductive. The kind of look that needed to be practiced in a mirror to be pulled off just right.

"Of course; I'll give you anything if you could only make my home safe." She leaned in closer and whispered in Gil's ear. "Anything."

She was quite pretty, but Gil was a bit put off by her response. Simply put, Rose hadn't responded to his question in the way anyone else had thus far. She should have been thrown off her game at least a bit by a magical upload of information. Either she hadn't cared in the slightest, or she wasn't actually a person. Given how blatantly she was serving as a lure, he was strongly leaning towards the latter.

"Deal." Gil said with a wink, and made his way to the front door of the house. He checked his pockets of course, just in case. The duo didn't follow him; which surprised him a bit. He was expecting an ambush any minute now.