The Dad Who Was Already Beaten

I gave myself six hours to bring a smith's son out of a troll prison. It took one hour and twelve minutes. Most of those minutes I spent looking for a log.

The Gnome Stronghold has an agility course. Its first obstacle is a log balance. I stood at the gate in rune armour and looked for it. I found two lamps, two stools, a bush, some flowers and a tree. I looked again. I found the same two lamps, the same two stools, the same bush. I looked eleven times over four minutes. The log did not appear. The lamps grew familiar. On the twelfth try it was simply there, and I crossed it, then the net, the branch, the rope, the pipe, all inside two minutes, as if the gnomes had hidden it to watch my face. I do not say they did. I say the gnomes were unkind, and I am still of that view.

Oziach took 84,500 coins for a rune platebody. Tenzing sold me climbing boots. Denulth told me about Godric. Then I went into the troll arena to fight their champion, whose name is Dad.

Twice I was told I could not finish Dad in time. Between those failures my own story was cut off three times by forces outside the Realm. On my third return I went up to Dad again and he would not talk to me. Then the arena told me something new: I did not need to fight him again. Some earlier version of me had won and nobody had mentioned it. Dad knew. I was the last to find out.

Inside the Stronghold a Troll General found me with eighteen hitpoints and nothing to eat. I left for Varrock by magic and did not look back. On the Exchange I bought eighteen sharks at 506 coins each and prayed at the church. Then I went back the way I had come: the stile, the arena, past Dad, who owed me nothing more. The next General had the prison key and handed it over the usual way. Twig the guard had Godric's cell key in his pocket and did not notice it leave.

Godric thanked me and walked out. That is the whole of what he said. I record it in full, since he is the only one in this chapter who said thank you. I am Rescuer of Godric.