Once he’d pulled himself out of the river onto a wide flat boulder, he hadn’t dared to light a fire, fearing that the guards might be close enough to spot the smoke. The rock was warm from the sun overhead, so he’d sat there checking his loot and inventory as his clothes dried.
It wasn’t much. He had ten slots of storage, nine of which were filled. There was his kitchen knife, a smaller belt knife in a sheath, a ratty leather jerkin he’d looted from the drunk, a packet of spices, a heavy skillet, and a bottle of wine from the innkeeper. He’d purchased a meat pie from a vendor before his troubles, along with a cheap water skin. And the last item was a promising looking rock he’d found on the riverbank. He thought it might be flint, which he could use with his belt knife to start a fire. If not, he could always try and sharpen it into a spear point or crude axe head.
Walking back to the riverbank, he took a moment to wash his face and hands, then decided he needed a bath. His skin felt like it was crawling after sleeping under the tree. Removing his clothes, he dunked himself in the chilly water and used sand to scrub his skin. Getting out, he filled his water skin as the breeze dried him off, then got dressed.
His clothes stained and wrinkled after two murders and two soakings in the river, Lagrass looked and felt like a beggar. The good news was that the innkeeper had been carrying ten gold coins and several silver. In all, he’d looted nearly twelve gold from his kills. Based on the prices he’d seen at the city’s shops, he should be able to get a decent set of traveling clothes and a better weapon for that. Maybe more, if he negotiated hard.
He had walked for most of the day after climbing out of the water, keeping to the woods and continuing to follow the river. His hope was that he would come across a town, or a road that would lead him to one. He hadn’t found either by the time the sun began to set and he took shelter under the tree.
Now it was a new day, and he continued in a new direction. Moving directly away from the river, he did his best to use the sun to keep himself going in a straight line. The canopy above was thick, but there were enough breaks that he could find the sun regularly and sight something ahead to aim for. It didn’t really matter if his orientation was perfect, as he had no idea where he was going. But he felt that it was a good idea to practice.
One of the things he’d learned was that activities earned him skills, and skills helped him survive. His float down the river had earned him Swimming. His multiple murders had increased his One Handed skill several times, much as bludgeoning rats with a chair leg had granted him three points in Blunt Weapons. After several hours of taking sightings on the sun and adjusting his course, he earned himself the Navigation skill.
Lagrass was beginning to fear he’d be spending another night in the wild when he caught the scent of wood smoke. Following his nose into the wind, he quickly came upon a small cabin in a clearing. The stone chimney smoked merrily, and the glow of a candle could be seen through the only visible window, just to the right of the front door.
Wasting no time, he hurried across the clearing and called out, “Anyone home?” before knocking on the door. A muffled voice answered from inside, and he waited impatiently for someone to open the door. After what seemed like an interminably long time for such a small cabin, the door opened. Looking out at him was an old man with a badly scarred face and a long white beard.
“What do ya want!?” the man grumbled, looking Lagrass up and down, clearly not liking what he saw. “Go away!”
“Please, sir. I was hoping to purchase a meal, maybe some clothes?” Lagrass paused, thinking quickly. “I was robbed and tossed into the river, left for dead. The thieves took nearly everything I had, but I managed to hide a bit of coin…” He pulled a silver coin from his inventory and held it up for the old man.
“Bah! I can sell you a meal, easy enough. Was just about to eat, and there’s enough for two. Nothing fancy, just some beans and carrots in a stew with a bit of rabbit.” The old man’s hand flashed out more quickly than Lagrass would have expected, seizing the silver coin and making it disappear. The door opened wider, and the old man motioned for him to come in. “Take a seat there at the table.”
Lagrass sat as the old man moved to the fireplace, where a pot was hanging from a hook over the flames. He stirred it briefly as he spoke. “Got no clothes to sell you. But I got an extra blanket or two. Got a wolf hide stretched out on the rack out back that’s just about cured. I was planning to trade it in town next time I go for supplies. If you have any skill in leatherworking, I could sell you the hide, too.”
“I’m afraid I have no idea how to sew. But I would appreciate the blankets. And if you have a weapon of some sort you’d be willing to part with?”
The old man snorted. “Only weapon I got is old Lizzy there.” He nodded toward a sword mounted on a couple of pegs above the mantle. “Got me through three wars, Lizzy did. Wouldn’t part with her for any price.”
Lagrass considered trying to negotiate, but didn’t figure he was holding enough gold to overcome the old man’s sentimental attachment to the blade. He was the same way with his service weapon back home. It was lovingly cleaned, oiled, and stored in a case under his bed. For a moment, he wondered who owned it now.
“Fair enough. You mentioned a town. How far away is that? Could you direct me there?”
“Not far, a day’s walk to the west. You can follow my walking trail from here.” The old man pulled the pot off the hook and set it on the table. Grabbing two bowls, he filled them both and handed one to Lagrass before taking a seat. “Eat up, before it gets cold!” He tipped the bowl up to his lips and slurped loudly.
Not seeing anything resembling a spoon, Lagrass copied the old man. The stew tasted horrible, but it filled his belly, and would give him energy to continue. By the time they were done eating, darkness had fully fallen in the forest. The old man glanced out the window and said, “It’ll be another silver for the blankets. And you can sleep on the floor by the fire if you like, no charge.”
Lagrass agreed, handing over another coin. The oldster disappeared into another room for a moment, and returned with two blankets that were in decent condition. There were a few thin spots in the weave, but no actual holes. Thanking the man, he spread one out on the floor, then rolled the other up to use as a pillow.
“G’night.” The old man muttered as he stepped into the back room and closed the door. Lagrass heard a bolt click, and smiled to himself. He’d been surprised the old man had let him inside at all, let alone stay the night. The inhabitants of this world were much more trusting than he was used to. Either that, or his Charisma was working hard in his favor. As he settled into his makeshift bed, he happened to glance up at the mantle, and smiled wider when he saw that Lizzy was no longer mounted on her pegs.
The old man was trusting, but not an idiot.
*****
Max froze, unable to decide whether to stand his ground in the face of the giant golems, or scream like a little girl and flee. His mind was filled with a vision of six pairs of eyes shooting laser beams at him and his party.
After several seconds, when the golems didn’t make any further moves, he relaxed a bit. Looking at the equally frightened dwarves, he whispered, “Could these things be controlled long distance? Like, from a guild office somewhere?”
Enoch thought about it for a second, then shook his head. “Unlikely, but again, there be much about this magic that we don’t know, Max.”
Smitty, also whispering, but doing so loudly enough that anyone within fifty feet could have heard him, said, “The message you read to us said that the Guild had been notified. Does that mean this place has a way of communicating? Or is it going to be like the notifications we get about quests and things.”
“This one, I know.” Dalia answered. “The gods will have notified the owner o’ this place that Max has claimed it.” She looked up guiltily at Max. “Or rather, I claimed it for him. I’m sorry, Max.”
“Don’t be sorry. You were trying to help.” He smile
d down at her, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Right now, let’s focus on these golems. They don’t look happy to see us, but they’re not attacking. Any suggestions?”
“Try a verbal command.” Smitty suggested in his overloud whisper, his eyes never leaving the giants.
Max focused on the one they were standing in front of. “Golem, raise your right hand.” He waited for several seconds, but nothing happened. On his shoulder, Red coughed.
“Okay, I think I got it. Been lookin’ at your tabs for this place. There be one called Sentry Golems, and… well just look for yourself.”
“Hang on a minute, guys.” Max said for Enoch’s benefit. “I’m checking something.” He accessed the tab, which Red had helpfully highlighted for him with a blinking red light. Once it was open, there was a list of the six golems, and he was surprised to find that each one had a name, rather than a number. The one at the top of the list was named Bastion. When he focused on that name, a sublist of options appeared. The first option was Assign control.
Concerned that his lack of dwarven blood, or whatever triggered the ability to use the arch and other items down here, might cause him to lose control of the golem, Max assigned control to Enoch. The dwarf’s eyes unfocused as he received the notification. An idea struck Max, and he closed his own eyes for a moment, working through his tabs. When he opened them again, it was just in time to see Enoch read his interface, and laugh.
“Aye, Max. I can do that.” He turned to look up at the golem whose name they now knew was Bastion. “Golem, raise yer right hand.”
Immediately, the sound of grinding stone rang out again, and the golem’s arm lifted until its hand was level with its shoulder. Smitty took an involuntary step back, then looked sheepish. Max didn’t blame him one bit. “Alright, lower your hand again.” Enoch instructed, and the golem complied. The dwarf went through a few more basic commands, having it walk three steps forward, turn around, and walk back. When he was done, Max’s quest was completed, and the dwarf actually leveled up!
“Ha! I can’t even remember the last time I gained a level. Thank ye, Max.”
“You’re most welcome.” Max had been surprised by the huge amount of experience he’d been able to assign to the quest. His best guess was that it had either represented a significant amount of danger, or the rediscovery of this ancient magic carried great significance to the world. On a whim, he assigned the same quest to Dalia and the others, minus Dylan who was still upstairs.
Dalia was able to activate a second golem, Smitty was not. Dalia’s reward experience was significantly less than Enoch’s, so Max figured the initial activation was what had been important to the gods. It struck him just then how easily he accepted that it was indeed a pantheon of gods watching over the world and issuing quests, experience, and such. After all, he’d met one of them face to face.
“Okay, Enoch, Dalia, assign your two golems to sentry duty. Station one here, one by the entrance. Instruct them that anyone entering here other than the members of this party, including Dylan and Princess, should be squashed like a bug.” After a moment’s consideration he said, “Actually, don’t have them attack any Guild members that might show up. I don’t want to start an outright war by trying to kill them if they come to reclaim their outpost.”
“Good idea.” Enoch nodded vigorously.
The dwarves set their golems, watching Dalia’s walk slowly between the buildings to stand to one side of the entry ramp. The ground trembled under their feet with each footfall, and once again Max felt a sense of fear. When it reached its post, it once again went still as a statue. The eyes in all six golems went dark, and the cavern grew silent as a tomb.
“We’ll come back and investigate more later.” Max said as they walked up the ramp. “See about locating that other exit. They certainly didn’t intend to bring those things up this ramp and through the house upstairs. There must be a larger, more direct exit somewhere.”
Enoch cleared his throat. “Eh, Max? I’d like to ask ye a favor.”
“What is it?”
“Let me run this place. Goldentongue can take over me duties at Stormhaven. Now that trade agreements be in place, and the crafters n merchants be fillin’ the city, ye don’t need two of us there. And I can always return to Stormhaven every few days to help, if necessary.”
Max nodded. Goldentongue was the other of Max’s councilors with a merchant background. He and Enoch had performed miracles together getting Stormhaven started.
Enoch wasn’t done. “This be the most important thing ta happen in me lifetime. Hell, in ten lifetimes! Protectin’ this place, learnin’ what we can o’ the rune magic here… it’d be me honor to watch over it all. I’ll claim the house upstairs as me office and residence, maybe expand it a bit to make room for some staff. We’ll secure the area from prying eyes, build the perimeter wall, assign a heavy guard. I’ll bring in engineers n masons to get the projects goin’ right away. It’ll drain yer treasury a bit, but…” the dwarf hesitated.
“But what, Enoch?”
“If ye be willin’ to share this secret with Ironhand and the other clan leaders, they’d flood yer treasury with all the gold ye need to protect this place. Hell, they’d buy the whole city from the Greystone group if ye asked. That be how important this is to us. I’ll dedicate me life to it from this day forward.”
Max was a little taken aback. He’d already been considering whether to let Ironhand know about the outpost. But he had questions. Like why, after so many thousands of years, had no other outposts been found? And could the dwarves be trusted to use the magic, assuming they could figure it out, for good rather than evil?
The one thing he didn’t doubt was Enoch’s sincerity. The dwarf treated the outpost as if it were holy ground, and the reverence in his voice was real. “I’ll need your oath that this place and its contents remain known only to this group, until I say otherwise. I may share this with Ironhand and the others, but not before I think things through a bit.”
“Ye have me solemn oath to keep yer secrets until ye order me otherwise.” Enoch put hand to heart as he swore, and a bright golden light swirled around them both.
“Alright, this place is yours to run. I don’t even know the name of it, do you?” Max smiled at the dwarf, who shook his head. “In any case, I charge you with securing this place. Inform the merchants of our selection, including whatever independent spy buildings you think are best. I’ll bring Redmane into the loop, so he can help you move resources here to accomplish your goals. Hold on a minute.”
Max closed his eyes and opened his Sovereign interface again. There was a Quest Creation tab, which he’d just found and used to give the golem quests. He took several minutes to compose a quest that covered all he wanted for this place, then issued it to Enoch and the other members of his party. The quest included a reinforcement of the secrecy requirement, and significant rewards if all the objectives were complete. It would be a good way to grant some serious experience to his friends, and Enoch could probably use the help. It wouldn’t be easy to get everything done and keep the secret at the same time.
Leaving the building that housed the access point, after convincing Princess to move away from the door, Max looked around. If this outpost was as important as it seemed, and he was beginning to understand that it was, then the first thing he wanted to do was place a portal here. The ability to move supplies and troops here quickly was vital. They needed to get back to the temple as soon as possible and start Glitterspindle working on it. Get him the materials he needed, and probably a much more difficult challenge, get him focused on the job.
Max knew he could go to Ironhand, and the king would dispatch Spellslinger to create a portal immediately. But he wasn’t ready to reveal his secrets yet if he could manage it on his own.
Dylan had been increasing his bond with Princess while they’d been waiting, and was able to convince the lizard to carry three passengers. With Dylan, Blake, and Dalia riding, and Enoch staying behind, the
party was able to run back the way they came at a much faster pace. Smitty, Max, and Nessa all had the Endurance and Agility to run for hours, and recovered quickly during rest stops. Especially Nessa, who simply took her full panther form and trotted along. As a result, they reached Deepcrag in just six hours. Not stopping to check on Lo’tang and the others, they made straight for the portal back to Stormhaven.
There was a bit of panic when they arrived in the courtyard, but Princess remained calm, and Max and the others reassured the guards and nearby citizens that the lizard was tamed. Dylan immediately went to find someone who could help him with a harness and saddle, and maybe get some training in pet management. Smitty went to go check on his new bride, with a warning look from Max about operational security. Dalia and Nessa accompanied Max and Redmane to Max’s study, where they obtained an oath of secrecy and let the old chamberlain know what they’d found.
He began to fidget as soon as they mentioned the door runes, then got up and paced when they described the arch and its gateway. By the time Max had relayed the whole story, with the ladies filling in some details, Redmane was breathing hard and wringing his hands.
“Enoch be right, Max. The entire dwarven race would help ye protect this outpost, if ye’d only ask.”
Max chuckled. “I’m not ready to involve the entire dwarven race just yet. I want to find out how quickly we can place our own portal there, and whether we can protect it ourselves.” He held up a hand as Redmane opened his mouth to object. “I won’t put it at risk. If there’s a threat, I’ll shout for Ironhand and the others to come help. But for now it’s safe enough, and the best way to keep it safe is for as few people to know about it as possible.”
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