by Jez Cajiao
“You know, the ship, it’s… well, it’s not in very good shape…” she said as I started to jog down to the entrance floor.
“Aye, a more accurate description would be ‘fubar.’ ‘Fucked up beyond all recognition.’” I replied. “But that’s fine, because we only need some of it.”
“Heph, you there, buddy?”
“Aye, laddie; where else would ah be?”
“Good point. How are we coming along with the golems? And how strong are they?”
“They be plenty strong, and nowt much has changed. It still be another eight hours until the third Construction class golem be finished. The other two are workin’ away merrily, and the servitor is workin’ on the repairs. Why?”
I proceeded to fill Heph in on my plan, overriding his objections as he raised them. He was right that Infrastructure was important, but if we were all dead, it was no comfort that the floors were clean and the gear fixed up.
By the time I’d gotten Heph on board with my plan and explained it to Oracle and Seneschal for good measure, I was jogging the last few feet to the previously overgrown doorway leading out of the Tower.
The golem stationed there had done well, clearing away most of the debris and using it to shore up the walls where it could. It had blocked all other ways into the Tower on that floor with fallen masonry. One large entryway remained, which had a huge stone door growing to seal it. God, I love magic.
I emerged into the late afternoon dappled shade of the forest floor, reveling in the hum of insects and call of the birds as I slowed to a fast walk. I made my way across the moss- and grass-covered courtyard toward the crashed ship. I could see Oren standing next to the ship, looking in one of the broken sections, while a short human stood next to him. As I approached, I recognized the man as the one Oren had called Barrett and listened to them as they gestured at the ship.
“Well, she’s pretty buggered up, Captain. I’m sorry, but she is. We’d need a full shipyard to get her fixed up before winter, and I don’t see one of them around, do you? Just look at the keel. We’d need to replace it entirely, out here, without proper tools and with just these idiots to do the work?”
“They do no be too stupid; ah’d have kicked them overboard long since otherwise!” Oren retorted. He gestured at the huge trees around them. “Look at the wood, though. One o’ those be more than enough. That be all we need, and she only need hold t’gether fer a week. Ah bet we could make it t’ Shint’hamek. They do know me there, they’d mebbie help…”
“Or they might have thrown in with that prick, Barabarattas, and there might be a price on our heads by now.”
“Ach, he wouldna ken we swore to Lord Jax; no yet, anyway…” Oren said, waving his hands in dismissal.
“YOU swore to him, Captain. We didn’t, and for all we know… ah.” He went silent at seeing me out of the corner of his eye and swallowed hard. “Lord Jax…”
Oren spun around and met my eyes, shifting his attention to the two golems that were heading out of the Tower and stomping across the ground to the remains of his ship.
“Golems, wait! Aye, that’s the ticket! Jax…I mean Lord Jax, fergive me! Those golems, could we no borrow them fer a few days? Ah could get ma ship fixed, an’ mebbie we could all get oot o’ here afore that warship arrives…” Oren grinned, then started gesturing at his ship in an effort to convince me.
“Ha, no, I don’t see that working out for us all Oren, but we’ll get back to the ship and the golems in a minute. First of all, call your crew out for me, please. I need to see them.” Oren looked concerned but shouted and whistled, and in less than a minute, the remaining crew were appearing from all over the ship, jumping and climbing down until they stood a few feet away, nervously eying me.
Counting Oren, there were eleven of them, two of which looked decidedly worse for wear. One had his arm in a sling and a long cut down the side of his face, and the other was carried by two of his friends, his left leg wrapped in blood-stained bandages. The crew was composed of six humans, one catman of some kind, a big guy that looked like an Ewok the size of a grizzly bear, and two other dwarves. All of them wore clothes that looked like they’d been handed down from a charity shop’s reject basket, and it was evident that they were all only a few meals away from starving. The image of the steampunk airship crew I’d had in my head was totally buggered. These guys looked like they’d all fallen on hard times and were so used to it, it had become the norm for them.
I took a deep breath and looked to Oracle, getting a nod in return as she rested her hand on my temple in preparation.
“Look, I’m crap at speeches, so I’ll make it short.” I said, seeing a few of the crew look at Oren and back. “I’m in charge of the Tower behind me. I’m also the guy that killed the SporeMother and the rest of the assholes that you brought to trespass. I freed the slaves upstairs, too. I don’t give two shits who you are right now. Oren has sworn to me, and he said you’re a bunch of dicks, but you’re good dicks, so I’ll extend the offer to you that I made to the others. You can swear to me and take up residence in the Tower. I’ll feed you, and heal you, and I’ll do my best to look after you all. In return, you do as you’re told, don’t fuck around, no stealing, no abuse. That’s the first option.” I then gestured to the south, and the deep forests. “Option two is far simpler. The city you came from is a couple hundred miles or so in that direction, and you can tell me to get fucked and start walking. You don’t get to stay here if I can’t trust you, and without an oath, no chance I’m going to do that. Choose quickly.”
Silence filled the clearing as they looked at each other and then to Oren and back to me.
“Well, laddie, yer right aboot one thing…ye really do be crap at speeches!” Oren chuckled, finally getting a nervous laugh from his crew. He stepped forward to stand between me and his crew and turned to face them. “Look, lads. We were dyin’ back there, an’ ye all know it. We could’na feed our families, never mind pay th’ bills and keep th’ ship fueled. We be offered a choice here: a fresh start, or a walk home. If we make it back, then what? No ship, no work, no gold, silver, or coppers, and we’ll starve sharpish. At least fer now, our families can divide up th’ gold we got paid upfront. They’ll be good fer a few weeks. Only chance we got is t’ start again here.” He turned to me and went on. “Ye offered us a home. Do oor families be included in tha’?”
“Aye, you can bring your families. Same rules: everyone that can work, does, and no dicks.” I said, nodding. “No idea how you’ll get them here for now, though. We’ve got plenty to sort out first.”
“That be good enough fer me. Right then, ladies. Time to make a choice!” He walked over to stand in front of me and went down on one knee, right hand to his chest. Slowly at first, they followed. Barrett walked over to join Oren, then the pair of Dwarves, the monstrous Ewok lookalike, and then the rest of the crew all moved as one, as though afraid to be last.
“I swear te serve Lord Jax, t’ be faithful to him, and t’ no be a dick!” Oren said, with the others repeating along behind him. I swore to protect them, to look after them and to help them where I could, and I received a new notification.
Congratulations!
Your fledgling village has received eleven (11) more members of varying loyalties.
There was the loyalties bit again. I found that a bit concerning, but I didn’t have time to worry about it now. I gestured for them to rise and, with Oracle’s help, cast the new ‘Focused Heal All’ on both of the wounded men. It was still astonishing, seeing their bodies repair themselves, wounds disappearing in seconds as they drew in sharp breaths in shock.
The crew all looked stunned, but I didn’t give them time to respond. I gestured to the golems, sending them towards the remnants of the ship.
“Okay, guys, I hope that reassures you about the choice you just made, because I know you’re not going to like this part. I need your ship.”
The golems began to attack the ship, cutting the rear ten feet free and bre
aking the rest up. Oren began to cry out in distress.
“No! Ma ship, ma beau’iful baby!”
“Sorry, Oren, but we need it. Don’t worry, though. If everything works out, you’ll come out of this ahead yet. What we need to do is…”
Chapter Twenty-Five
It took us almost all of the remaining time we had to prepare for the ship’s arrival, and to hide the remnants of what was left of Oren’s ship in the lower floor of the Tower. The golems first‒and arguably longest‒job was transporting the rear of his ship, after breaking it free, up to the Armory floor. I gathered my thirty-eight new villagers and spoke to them. Eleven of them took me up on my offer of a life in my new military, sick as they were of having their lives decided for them by stronger beings. Besides me I guess….
The remainder, I promised to gift with skill memories if they earned them, on the condition that until the threat had passed, they would serve the Tower as servitors, cooking cleaning and repairing whatever they could.
After a lot of discussions with Oracle, Cai and Oren there was one issue though, we'd still not found anyone that was particularly interested or gifted at healing or medicine, so I decided to hold off on that choice until we found someone, rather than waste the memory stones and spellbooks.
I armed my new military with a mixture of weapons from the armory and the gear that I’d won from the team that had led them here. I’d taken my pick of the loot first, of course…
Cuirass of Night’s Embrace
Further Description Yes/No
Details:
This chest armor is made of vertical strips of blackened Highsteel laid over toughened leather. It gives a bonus of 5 to stealth. All attacks made when undetected will do extra damage.
Rarity
Magical
Durability
Charge:
Rare
Yes
82/100
N/A
Greaves of Night’s Embrace
Further Description Yes/No
Details:
These greaves are made of vertical strips of blackened Highsteel laid over toughened leather. They give a bonus of +2 to stealth.
Rarity
Magical
Durability
Charge:
Rare
Yes
82/100
N/A
Pauldrons of Night’s Embrace
Further Description Yes/No
Details:
These pauldrons are made of vertical strips of blackened Highsteel laid over toughened leather. They give a bonus of +2 to stealth.
Rarity
Magical
Durability
Charge:
Rare
Yes
82/100
N/A
Boots of Night’s Embrace
Further Description Yes/No
Details:
These boots are made of vertical strips of blackened Highsteel laid over toughened leather. They give a bonus of +3 to stealth and reduce the sound of footsteps made when wearing them.
Rarity
Magical
Durability
Charge:
Rare
Yes
82/100
12/100
Dagger of Ripping
Further Description Yes/No
Details:
This dagger is enchanted to tear a wound wider than normal, ensuring the target bleeds heavily
Rarity
Magical
Durability
Charge:
Rare
Yes
81/100
57/100
Ring of Infliction
Further Description Yes/No
Details:
This ring is enchanted to inflict 20% more pain on damage done by weapons held in this hand
Rarity
Magical
Durability
Charge:
Rare
Yes
67/100
11/100
I’d shared out the rest of the gear, including my own normal armor, trusting instead to the ‘Nights Embrace’ set. I was wearing four items from the set, but the rogue hadn’t had any other pieces. The hood he had been wearing it when Bob smashed his skull in with his mace… well, it really needed cleaning before I was going to consider wearing it, and it wasn’t part of the set thankfully. The gloves he’d been wearing were just standard gauntlets, nothing special, so I resolved to keep my eyes open for the rest of the set, especially as I got a notification pop up when I had equipped them…
Congratulations!
You have discovered four parts of the ‘Night’s Embrace’ set.
For assembling four out of six set pieces, you have an increase of 6% to all Stealth based abilities, and 12% to all attack damage done when hidden. Find more set items to increase the bonus given.
I’d retained my original belt, gauntlets, and bracers, and had added the ‘Dagger of Ripping’ to my belt, as well as equipping the ‘Ring of Infliction’. Once everything was in place, and the last of my new servitors were sworn in to obey the orders and needs of the Tower, second only to my own. I led my new team of soldiers down to the ground level and out to the collapsed Labyrinth. It took an hour of poking around to confirm parts of it still existed, but the majority was a ruin, with nothing of value beyond the interface.
Congratulations!
You have discovered ‘Labyrinth Interface.’
Do you wish to assume control of this Interface? Adding it to your existing structures will provide additional options once it is brought up to operational standards.
Yes/No…
I selected ‘Yes’, of course, and felt a power fill me, shuddering through my bones as the world seemed to shimmer and shake around me.
Congratulations, you have made progress on your Quest: A place to lay your head.
Wisps sworn fealty; 3/3
Locations cleared and secured; 5/5
SporeMother killed; 1/1
Guardians; 11/10
Servitors; 27/10
Reward: The Great Tower is yours to command. Surrounding area will become aware of your rightful ownership. Access to supplies and facilities. 450,000 Exp.
Congratulations! You have completed a quest!
WARNING: Hostile beings are approaching this location. Full ownership cannot be conferred until all hostiles are removed. Declaration of ownership suspended until this condition is met.
The world seemed to take a deep breath, and all was silent as power rushed through me. Four hundred and fifty thousand experience was mine, all in one go. The world just went right on changing for me as I reached level thirteen straight from level six. I also gained another Meridian Point to invest and a whopping total of forty attribute points, five for each of the seven levels I’d jumped, and then a five bonus points for hitting level ten! Thank you Jenae! I thought, concious that this quest had a one hundred thousand exp reward before, she'd really come through with that!
I knew it was all part of the plan that Jenae and I had come up with, but damn! It felt amazing, and as Xiao had said, I was faced with a choice in my notifications.
Class Evolution Recommendations
Common:
Enchanter: You’ve discovered how to infuse your spells into an object. Perhaps you’d like to do so permanently? Choosing this as your first-class evolution will grant you a one-off bonus of five points to Intelligence and five points to Dexterity.
Slayer: As your current life choices testify, you’re a natural monster hunter. Perhaps this would be a sensible class for you? Choosing this as your first-class evolution will grant you a one-off bonus of five points to Constitution and five points to Perception.
Magister: You have shown aptitude for becoming a mage that is at home on the battlefield. Perhaps you’d like to focus on your magic? Choosing this as your first-class evolution will grant you a one-off bonus of five points to Intelligence and five points to Wisdom.
&nbs
p; Rare:
Harvester: You’ve got the gift for hunting creatures . Perhaps you want to profit from this in a more tangible way? Choosing this as your first-class evolution will grant you a one-off bonus of five points to Dexterity and five points to Perception.
Spell Warden: Perhaps your fights would go better with more careful planning and use of defensive spells? Or any at all? Choosing this as your first-class evolution will grant you a one-off bonus of five points to Constitution and five points to Wisdom.
