“Thanks.” Dave wiped the sleep from his eyes.
“That’s better than Gorrund. Showed up in the nude a few times after some long nights with female company. They thought that he was dead. Couldn’t believe that he was a Master Smith!” Quino laughed and slapped a bright-red Gorrund on the back.
“Thank you, teacher. I wonder where I got that trait from,” Gorrund said.
“Thankfully I was blind by the time he started forgetting his pants.” Kol came from a conversation with another Dwarf as Edmur smacked his hammer against the table, taking the position of mediator from Sola.
“Grab yer seats and shut yer traps!” Edmur said. It seemed that he didn’t quite like being the leader of ceremonies.
He talked about preparations for the upcoming contest in a year. He got different Dwarves to talk about how they were promoting interaction between the species across Emerilia. There were reports from the different factions in Ashal. They were still at war but no one was messing with the Dwarven mountain there.
Dave opened his blinking messages. There was just one message from Suzy.
Private Message: Suzy
Suzy> I talked to Alkao last night. It seems that he has made it back to his homeland and is starting to work at clearing the area in preparation of his people returning. He said that some of his people had arrived already. He is working to make his home habitable once again and has requested our help. It has turned into a mini quest for us (I’ve shared it to you).
I proposed that we give them a trading terminal that will allow them to barter and trade. I also need you to make a drop pad that will allow us to move resources that we can build or buy, to help them.
It might cost us a lot in time and effort, but having one of the most powerful offensive races on our side could be very useful in our future. Also, I feel that Bob might be working the strings on this one.
Dave scratched his head and moved to his other notifications. He put his combat logs aside. Totally forgot to look at those. Whoops!
He checked the quest over, knowing just the person who would be the best to go and meet with Alkao to drop off the terminal and the drop pad.
Dave cleared his interface away with a swipe.
“The Mithsia Mountains and the Kufo’tel forest have been completely walled off. It has been deemed that in any case of battle that the Mithsia Mountains will be our fallback position,” Edmur said.
Endur, his thick-set brother, sat nearby, smiling obnoxiously at his brother and loving every minute of his brother being in the mediator’s seat.
“Fallback? How would we get there?” Dave asked.
“Did you read the council’s book?” Edmur asked. By his look, he already knew the answer.
“No.” Dave drew the word out.
“Every Dwarven mountain has at least two teleport pads ready to be used at all times. It is why no one has ever been able to breach a Dwarven mountain. We move our people from one mountain to another, reinforce, move the population out and move food through,” Edmur said.
“Wow, that would suck for whoever was attacking—fighting an entrenched enemy with the ability to replace your forces with fresh ones and have food always at hand.” Dave nodded and stroked his stubble in appreciation.
“Exactly. So, in the case that we are ever overrun, we will move back to the Mithsia Mountain, which is heavily fortified and now has a massive wall surrounding it, which brings us on to our next point. The wall is large, but it will need people to guard it and hunt down the creatures within the walls. I believe it would be a good opportunity to field some more Dwarven units, get them out there and training instead of having them hide away.” Edmur looked to the other Dwarves.
“It is good to keep our numbers secret from the outside world,” Fena said, an older lady but with arms bigger than some men’s skull.
“War is coming in, one way or another. We know that ancient beasts and creatures will soon be upon us. That is reason we are having a tournament. Now is the time to make alliances and work together. The Dwarves are strong. Keeping behind our walls is a good tactic, but it will just mean that our enemies, whoever they might be, will destroy the other races before banding together and coming after us. We need to strike out at them. To do that, we need forces that are bloodied and used to moving in the field, not just in the mountains,” Dave said.
“I second Dave,” Olda, a Mithsia master smith declared, scanning the table. “We will not get many opportunities like this. While we use the games and tournaments as a cover to gift people Weapons of Power and to make alliances with other races, we need to be prepared for anything. The walls are in place. With the War Clans needed to man the wall and make sure that nothing gets past, there is plenty of room for other warbands and clans to move through, to train and gain fighting experience with something other than the creatures living in the depths of our mountains.”
There was grumbling and muttering around the table as Dwarves talked to their peers.
Dave was only just understanding the power that the council had. The lords of the mountains were given a War Clan each to command; the others were under the command of the Dwarven master smith’s council but could then be agreed to, vetoed, or altered by the war council that was made of eleven Dwarven war mountain leaders.
When Lord Fend of Mithsia Mountain had pushed his War Clans out to clear out the Earth elementals, his Master Smiths had to okay his actions.
“We put it to a vote. Move Dwarven War Clans to the Mithsia Mountains for training outside the mountain.”
A pop-up appeared with the same words, the only difference being the Accept or Decline buttons underneath.
Dave cast his vote and waited. It took all of five minutes with Edmur looking over the results.
“We will begin rotating the forces through the mountain at their earliest convenience. I will inform the war council of our decision and seek their advice on the units to do so with and the necessary supplies needed. That brings closure to our important items of this conference. Does anyone have anything else that they wish to share with the council?”
Dave’s hand shot up, but Manda was picked first.
“We have found a large deposit of Mithril, about five bars worth that will be made available by month’s end,” she said, not without some pride as the mutters and excited looks broke out around the table.
“This is a good find. I will add it to the rotation so that it is equally dispensed,” Edmur said.
There were a few annoyed mutters from people who weren’t near the top of the rotation list to get Mithril and other rare resources for their use.
“Dave?”
“Does everyone know about the periodic table?” Dave asked.
“No, why?” Edmur asked, confused.
“This might take awhile but it will be worth it in the end. We also might get several metals from what we had previously thought of as scrap.” Dave looked around; he had their attention.
“Continue,” Edmur said.
“Very well.” Dave smiled as he took control of the conference room and periodic tables appeared in front of everyone.
“Basic elements one-oh-one,” Dave started, knowing that what he was about to tell them would change their knowledge of elements and materials forever.
Chapter 27: An Accounting
Dave blinked as he looked up at the ceiling of the apartment he and Deia had been given. After passing on his information on the periodic table, he’d left the Dwarves in awed curiosity, treating the periodic table in front of them like some holy text. The information that he had pulled from the Internet was invaluable.
Dave knew most of them would be running down to the slag piles hidden in their mountains, pulling out what they had thought to be waste and forming it into a multitude of materials.
I wonder why no one else did it. Dave turned over and pulled Deia to him. She shifted in her sleep, making happy noises as they cuddled.
There have been many generations of Players coming to Emeril
ia, though none made it to the Master Smith level and few thought about taking something from Earth and giving it to the POEs. Hell, the Dwarves didn’t know that there was anything but the eight smithing materials. The Players didn’t see an issue with it, so they never tried showing them more than what they knew and the Dwarves didn’t either. I guess it’s all about perspective. Toilets and hot water are all things that Players would want to have and, therefore, that changed. But different types of materials, having to mine, sift, and use multiple processes to just get it was not necessary for the Players to have.
I wonder what will happen.
Dave had passed on his request to Quino to make a drop pad that he would include with the Exdar’s Traders’ repair order of Stone Raider weaponry.
He was just starting to drift back off to sleep when a chat notification blinked at him from his notifications. Dave checked the pop-up.
Private Chat: Shard
Shard> I have been talking to Communications Officer Sato. I have splintered off a part of my consciousness that is using your mirror to communicate with them. They have a great number of questions. I was wondering about your power remaining on the Mirror of Communication that is relaying all this information. It would be good to see that it doesn’t fail. A Mirror of Communication losing power will wipe its memory of all previous contacts.
Dave finished reading the message and dismissed it. Bob was keeping a lookout on the mirror and it still had plenty of charge for the bi-monthly chats that he had with Sato, or Sato had with Bob or Shard.
Private Message: Shard
Dave> I have Bob overlooking the Mirror of Communication. I hooked it into a simple charging net because I wanted to see the difference between charging soul gems and items with soul gems in them. It’s still hooked up so it should have plenty of power. I also memorized the contact information to Sato. When I return to Cliff-Hill, I’ll look in on the mirror.
He went back to cuddling, falling back to sleep shortly afterwards.
***
The magistrate looked over the reports. The Stone Raiders had completely disappeared. She’d ordered that all of their accounts be closed in Selhi. She didn’t want them getting more resources.
Where the hell did they go?
No one had been able to see them. Her spies who worked in the mountains and the other cities of Selhi all reported that the Stone Raiders hadn’t shown up.
Exdar’s Traders, who were buying and selling to the guild, had dispersed across Emerilia. There were a number of them reported to be at the Zolun Mountains, though they had moved through the mountains into the Southern Grasslands. They seemed to be waiting on something from the mountain before setting off for Zol’sou.
“How the hell did they disappear so completely?” the magistrate asked herself. “The main body of the guild just disappeared. There are still their training forces dotted all over Emerilia, though their main raiding force is nowhere to be found.” She scanned the map, as if looking at it harder would reveal the Stone Raiders’ location.
“Magistrate?” One of her secretaries entered her office.
“Yes?” She tried to hide her hope that they had found out something on the Stone Raiders.
“Word has arrived from the Dwarves. It seems that they wish to hold a competition of arms in a year’s time. They are sending out word now so that fighters can begin preparing themselves for the battles to come,” the secretary said.
Her hopes of finding the Stone Raiders were dashed. The magistrate’s face turned thoughtful. Why are they having a competition now? It has been a long time since they had their last, almost five years. Maybe they have some new powerful weapon or item that they want to put on display?
The secretary waited patiently as the magistrate pondered the Dwarves’ possible angles.
“Where will it be held?”
“Aldamire.”
The magistrate raised her eyebrow in interest.
Aldamire was the only Dwarven mountain in Ashal. They boasted the largest of the War Clans, the best Dwarven fighters, and weapons from the rare materials that they were able to mine and gather there.
“Pass the word to our fighters. Start having competitions among the ranks to find the best competitors. See that the message is sent to the Queen.”
“It will be done.” The secretary bowed low and left as quickly as they had arrived.
“First the Raiders disappear, now the Dwarves are announcing a competition.” The magistrate pondered on her own words. She was not one to believe in coincidences, but she couldn’t see a connection between the two things—yet.
***
Shard felt excitement as seven people appeared in the middle of his control tower at Alephir.
They looked around in confusion. Council Leader Hamdir was the first to speak.
“Shard, status update.” The man sported a light stubble, and had silver eyes, lightly pointed ears, and a thick frame. He wore flowing robes with seven x’s in a circle, meeting in the middle. A black piece of metal, which seemed to suck in all light, hung from his neck; its straps led up toward an infinity sign that rested under Hamdir’s chin.
The others wore the same robes, but without the necklace. They were from all manner of species, from Argonian to Orcish and Elven hybrids.
“System damage high. Currently using unorthodox means to restore control of the city to my systems in order to prepare for Aleph people returning to Emerilia,” Shard said.
“So, the Gray One kept his promise,” Ela-dorn, the Orcish woman, said. The large muscled woman had an overbite that sprouted tusks.
“Tell me of these unorthodox methods,” Hamdir snapped.
“A Player guild by the name of Stone Raiders is clearing out the various areas that have been overrun with creatures and vile forces.”
“What was your reasoning for letting them into the Aleph stations?” Hamdir’s tone was flat. Shard knew he was being judged, but he had nothing to fear.
“Ally Anna’kal first found one of my broken stations; the Gray One guided her. She was with a party of five others. They worked to cleanse a housing substation of kobolds. Due to power concerns, I was in Standby mode. A power surge alerted me to their presence and made my programs pull me from hibernation. Upon seeing Ally Anna, I reached out for her aid. She offered it freely. She and her party came to Alephir. I tested and watched them to ascertain their allegiances and their intentions. I kept all of the security protocol active, shadowing them with guardians in case they were found to be harming rather than helping.
“My actions were not needed. They worked to bring Alephir online and were capable of assisting in the taming of the rogue AI program Steve.”
“How bad are our damages here?” Frenik asked. A serious man of few words, his Dwarven features seemed to make him constantly look as though he were frowning.
“They worked to restore all of our power systems and freely shared with me information on portals that the Dark Lord used, as well as plans for a different power system to support our cities. I have done limited testing, but it seems to be highly effective. A Dwarven Master Smith of the name Dave gave me this information as well as his experiments on soul gems to increase their capacity and have continuous charging that increases the amount of power that a soul gem can hold, instead of reducing the power held every time it is discharged and charged,” Shard said, unhurried and rather happy that he had even more people to talk to. If he had been able to fully express his emotions, he might have felt giddy with excitement at the prospect of his people’s return.
“How did the Dwarves get down here?” Hamdir asked.
“Dave is a Dwarf Halfling Player, the first of his kind to be accepted as a Master Smith. In fact, his rise to the master level was one of the fastest ever recorded. He, as well as the rest of the party with Anna, is part of the guild Stone Raiders. It was clear that I was not able to clear the different stations and maintain their machinery by myself. Dave has assisted in teaching me maintenance and I was will
ing to give the Stone Raiders a trial against the highest population of undead, and an unknown Creature of Power made by the Dark Lord. They cleared the city of Anais yesterday. I have certain trading agreements that will allow us to use them as a go-between with the rest of Emerilia to buy and sell various goods that we do not have here while keeping ourselves hidden.” Shard looked to the council, who were looking to one another and Shard.
“I do not find fault in your decisions. First, we shall need to gain an understanding of our resources. I have received a quest titled Homecoming which lists conditions that we must meet in order to have more of our people join us. Having the Stone Raiders as an ally would be useful, but for now we will watch and observe.” Hamdir looked to the rest of the council.
They gave their signs of agreement.
“It feels good to be home,” Hamdir said with a rare melancholy smile.
“It is good to have the Aleph Masters return.” Shard smiled openly. He had been so lonely for so long. Now, he could see a future where he was once again the Aleph’s constant companion, their guardian, friend, mentor, assistant, and aide.
***
Dave pulled on fresh clothes. He’d had to get new ones since he’d updated his stats last time he was in Alephir. Thankfully, Shard had some clothes he was willing to sell.
They were simple dark-gray pants and a white top. Both of them were comfortable and stretchy, as if they were made from cotton.
Another resource I should look into seeing if Emerilia has or can use. Just having people looking at materials and items to be used from Earth here would be worth it. I should send Kol and Wis’Zel a message to see if I can get them working on that stuff. Been awhile since I talked to them.
“Have you checked your stats yet?” Deia walked into the room. She’d gotten up before him to go talk to Dwayne to get their orders for the day.
For The Guild (Emerilia Book 2) Page 34
