
![]() | Name | The Legends of Reed Miller, Thief Extraordinaire (III) |
Type (Ingame) | Quest Item | |
Family | Book, loc_fam_book_family_1067 | |
Rarity | ![]() ![]() ![]() | |
Description | An anthology of pulp fiction stories based on the exploits of Reed Miller that is wildly popular throughout Nod-Krai. Collated from various works and authors, the veracity of the stories within is as dubious as the quality of the paper they are printed on. |
Table of Content |
Item Story |
Obtained From |
Gallery |
Item Story
Little is known about Zima, who hailed from Snezhnaya, a land of perpetual winter. His name is found in no logbook, no epic, no heroic tale. Like a single snowflake, he briefly brushed against the surface of legend before disappearing without a trace. Zima came from a small town southeast of Snezhnograd, where villagers harvested ice beneath the snow-capped mountain peaks. On snowy nights, they called forth tales and skeins, like primeval airs sealed beneath the ice — of mischievous frost spirits who stole travelers' boots and pale, melancholy snow maidens who, when betrayed, froze the lovers they had once sought into lifelike statues by ripping the very warmth from them. Zima had seen a strange, deranged smile on a companion who fell for a maiden before, and he found it a monotonous way to die. He abhorred following a pattern, even the pattern of an unusual death. Instead, he longed for a unique fate and a life of adventure, and so he left the land of eternal white for the blue seas of the archipelago to the south. It was there that he first heard of the legendary master thief. The name Reed Miller was already well-known across Nod-Krai. Stories claimed he had been captured by the governor and taken to Snezhnograd for a hanging on the public square. But just as everyone believed his story would end with a swaying corpse, the governor's vault was found emptied with a taunting message etched in gold dust on the wall. No one knew how he had escaped the noose, but his miraculous return turned him into a tavern legend and an idol to the youth. So when the master thief reappears, buys a three-masted ship, and starts recruiting sailors seeking adventure and fortune at the harbor, Zima offers his name without a second thought. Life aboard the ship, however, turns out to be far less heroic than the legends promised. Though famed for robbing the rich, Miller runs his operation with the meticulous care of a spice merchant — his nautical charts are cluttered not only with markings for reefs and currents but also red-circled warnings for waters said to harbor sea monsters. He spends days skirting around those regions, avoiding the dark abysses where dangerous creatures lurk as well as the serpent-infested Sea of Mist. Day-to-day life has been a grind of scrubbing decks, patching sails, and scurvy gums. For Zima, it all feels too familiar, too safe, too dull. At night, he prays to the inky sea for a real storm, or for some monstrous kraken to rise from the depths. He longs to see the master thief drive a harpoon into a creature's eye, just like the heroes of old. More than anything, he craves an adventure that would truly stir his soul. His prayers are answered, albeit in a cruel and twisted way. Drifting into a calm, azure sea, the ship is met with a strange, inhuman song. Though it has no melody, its power ensnares even the most drunken sailors. The sails drop, and the ship stalls. From the water, a pale, hauntingly beautiful face emerges. It is a siren, and she demands a sacrifice in exchange for safe passage. The ship is given a choice: make a sacrifice, or be dragged to the depths. Reed Miller flatly refuses to make the sacrifice. Instead, he orders everyone aboard to plug their ears with beeswax to block out the siren's haunting song. But it is futile. Even reason and willpower bend beneath the weight of legend. Seized by panic and the deadly song, the sailors hurl the crates of Mora looted from the governor's palace overboard, thinking the gold might serve as payment. But the siren pays the shimmering discs that have scattered and sank into the azure deep no heed, for human wealth means nothing to her. Her covetous gaze remains only on the sailors themselves. The master thief, whose neck not even the hangman's noose could restrain, now has no choice but to acquiesce. Miller places his scimitar coldly at Zima's throat, but Zima does not resist. This is the moment he has traveled so far for. As the icy waters rise above his head, the face of his long-lost friend appears before him, frozen in sculpture, still wearing that faint, familiar, ecstatic smile sealed by the snow maiden's kiss. All his life, Zima has abhorred following a pattern, running from every known ending, only to realize in this final moment that every escape has been a flight into another mirror. His adventures did not pen a new story... They were merely unnoticed footnotes to an existing one. |
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lunar reaction is extremely unnecessary. Unless you have huge crit rate, it is even worse than elec...