Companions
Not everyone you know is online when you want to hunt. Companions fill the gap: hirelings you pay, friends who'll fight beside you in their own lands, and animals.
How it works
- Hire at the hiring board in Thornwick's guildhall, or the notice board at Saltmere's harbor watch.
HIRELINGSthere shows who's available and what they cost.HIRE <name>takes them on for a game day (two real hours). - How many: alone, you can have two companions. In a group, each player may bring one.
- They follow you, fight what's attacking you or what you're fighting, and back off when badly hurt. Healers heal; porters search bodies and carry your extra loot.
- Orders:
ORDER <name> ATTACK [creature],FOLLOW,STAY,GUARD(they take most of the blows meant for you),HEAL [me|name],BACK(pull out of the fight).ORDER ALL ...orders everyone. - Strength: about three-quarters of your level. They help; they won't carry you.
- They take no experience and no loot. Their fee is their share.
- Loyalty: hire the same person again and they get cheaper (5% per hire, up to 25%). After five jobs together, they'll have saved up for better gear.
- If they fall, a Priest's Restore Life, or Sister Aldra's, brings them back if it's done within three minutes. Otherwise they're carried back to town to recover for half an hour, and a hireling's contract ends.
- Logging out: they wait for you. A contract keeps running while you're away.
DISMISS <name>sends a companion home.HIRELINGSanywhere shows your companions.
For hire
Garrick Holt
A broad, weathered sellsword in battered chainmail, with a broadsword on his hip and a face that has been punched by professionals.
Fighter: takes the blows, GUARDs you
30 silver + 6 per level of yours, per game day
Sister Wren
A young priestess in sun-yellow robes a size too big, with a mace she clearly isn't sure about and a satchel of bandages she clearly is.
Healer: mends wounds and stanches bleeding
30 silver + 6 per level of yours, per game day
Kestrel
A lean Silverbough ranger with sharp grey eyes, a longbow taller than she is, and a quiver of white-fletched arrows.
Archer: hits hard from the back, backs off when hurt
30 silver + 6 per level of yours, per game day
Corwin Ashby
A thin, ink-stained young hedge-mage in a patched cloak, with a satchel of books and a small flame dancing over his palm for light.
Mage: fire bolts, and light in dark places
35 silver + 7 per level of yours, per game day
Brask
A huge, slow-moving Grendari porter with an enormous frame-pack, a walking staff the size of a small tree, and an expression of total calm.
Porter: carries more, searches bodies for you
15 silver + 3 per level of yours, per game day
Friends who'll fight beside you
Gwen Saltwhistle
Fighter: takes the blows, GUARDs you. Travels with you only in Wreckers' Coast and Saltmere, once she trusts you completely.
Ithrael of the Leaf
Archer: hits hard from the back, backs off when hurt. Travels with you only in Silverbough Eaves, once he trusts you completely.
Maud of the Stones
Mage: fire bolts, and light in dark places. Travels with you only in the Greyveil Moors, once she trusts you completely.
Animals
A hunting hound
A lean brindled hunting hound with a deep chest, soft ears and a nose that never stops working.
Animal: bites, and sniffs out hidden things. 150 silver, once, at the Riverside Stables in Thornwick. Yours for good.
Patch
Thornwick's docks dog. Feed him, pet him, be his friend, and one day a WHISTLE will bring him running, ready to follow you anywhere.