by Aleron Kong
Richter stroked his chin and cocked his head as if pondering a great decision. He slowly said, “You know, I appreciate that Caulder, but I just wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight if you came to harm because you left this tent too early.” The sergeant quickly opened his mouth to object, but Richter held up a hand, “No, no! Your health is paramount. In fact, Lady Sumiko, I charge you to hold onto this man until he is completely healthy. I mean, you hold onto him if he has so much as an upset tummy! No matter how many days it takes or how many tests you have to do!”
Caulder looked at him in shock and dismay, not believing that his lord would betray him in this most dastardly of ways. Richter looked back and said, “Do you remember when we first met in Leaf’s Crossing, sergeant? Do you remember that you tricked me into paying a gold coin to that government worker, Edwin?” Caulder blinked in disbelief that such an event could be coming back to haunt him. Richter plastered a wide grin on his face and winked at the man, “Rest assured, I do, and I’d say we’re even.”
He turned around and started walking out of the tent. Before he left, he heard Sumiko’s whip-like voice ordering her healers to form a line and begin examining Caulder. The man shouted after him, promising that he would pay the gold back. Then he began cursing the first ‘heavy-handed troll spawn’ that started examining him. As the lord of the Mist Village emerged from the tent and stood in the sunshine, he looked up at the cornflower blue sky with its white, fluffy clouds. Richter let loose an immensely satisfied sigh and couldn’t fight the feeling that all was well with the world.
CHAPTER 8 -- Day 111 -- Kuborn 1, 15368 EBG
Happy to hear that the other members of the war party were either on their feet or about to be, Richter walked with a light-hearted step towards the feast area. Foregoing the high table, he grabbed a wooden plate and heaped some food upon it. Then he sat with his people. Before long, they were all laughing and sharing the details of their lives with him. One man pointed at his daughter and proudly said she was learning to weave. Another woman pointed to her son and told Richter how the boy’s Herb Lore skill was increasing as he helped the gardeners each day. In a world where the best most families could hope for was mindless toil and a daily struggle to feed their families, the parents were overjoyed that their children were learning skills that could prepare them for the future.
More and more people came up to his table and told him similar stories. It was revitalizing. All Richter had been worrying about lately was the upcoming battle with the bugbears, the threat of the eaters, and keeping the lands around the village free of monsters and dangerous predators. While he was focusing on the “big” picture, apparently, right under his nose, the miracle that was normal life had continued. His people had been living, laughing and loving each other. It reminded him of what he was fighting for and energized him for the battles to come.
He tried to get face time with as many of his people as he could. He was even able to meet the two scribes that had been hired. They assured him that they would have two higher quality blank books ready within the next few days. Nodding to them, he moved on. Before long, he ran into Gloran. Since obtaining his Profession Richter had been wanting to see the elf enchanter.
“Greetings, my Lord Enchanter,” Gloran said with a bow. When he straightened, Richter could see that he was smiling.
“I’m glad I ran into you Gloran,” Richter said smiling back. “I need you to prepare yourself. We need to increase your level. I have already been able to do amazing things as a Professed Enchanter. I won’t be able to see to the village’s needs by myself, though. We need to equip our people as best we can. We also need to have more to trade. What I’m saying is, I need you to start going out with the hunting squads. I need you to gain experience, and then you are going for your trial.”
Gloran paled somewhat, “I have never been much with a blade, my lord.”
Richter nodded, “I am not asking you to attack gnolls and goblins. You will be a member of my war party and protected as much as possible. I love that everyone is happy, but we cannot allow this,” he said indicating the smiling people around them, “to distract us from the fight that is coming. The mists are not infallible and we need to grow stronger.”
Gloran nodded, but still didn’t seem convinced.
“The guards will protect you and I will try to bring you out with my group, but I need this to happen.” Richter made his voice firm, “Your lord needs this to happen.”
Gloran’s face lost some of its hesitancy. He placed a fist to his heart and bowed slightly, “Yes, my lord. As you say.”
“Good,” Richter said. He clapped the man on the back and told him to see Krom later to be outfitted for armor and a crossbow. The enchanter walked off, clearly deep in thought. Richter considered calling after him, but whatever he said would just have been empty words. He didn’t like ordering Gloran into harm’s way, but he knew he would do it again. The truth was that his people needed to be stronger. Richter knew he couldn’t protect every one of them. They needed to learn to protect themselves. If all he had to deal with was a bit of hesitancy, he would count himself lucky, but he didn’t think he would be that fortunate. He moved on.
Except for Caulder, each of the other members of the war party found him during lunch and said they were ready to fight. Richter told each to be at the gate at sunrise. He was more than pleased that Beyan had reached level ten.
“So you’re ready for a Profession?” Richter asked with a smile.
Beyan nodded happily, “The only reason I have not gone for my trial yet is because of the quest you gave me. As nice as her butt is, I do not want to work for that angry, wood elf amazon.”
Richter chuckled. He actually thought Tabia was a nice woman. Beyan’s dislike most likely came from the fact that Tabia’s wife had decked the gnome after he got a little too ‘familiar.’ As far as Richter was concerned, he wasn’t sure if Beyan or Tabia would be a better choice. He actually would love for Beyan to continue his magical studies and become a Professed Mage, but a great first step would be for him to become a Professed Alchemist. At the very least, he would get talent points until he reached level twenty.
Richter said goodbye to the gnome as Sion walked up. “I have something you need to see,” the sprite said.
Richter looked around. Most of the people were leaving the feast area now and getting back to work. He nodded to his friend and they started walking towards the meadow north of the village. The two men chatted about this and that as they walked. Richter tried to get Sion to share what he had found, but the sprite just kept saying that he needed to see it for himself. They climbed up the hill to the meadow and Richter took a moment to marvel at how much had changed since he had first come here.
Directly in front of him was a large patch of tilled earth. Herbs of various colors and sizes grew under the careful ministrations of Isabel and her gardeners. Immediately to the west of it was one of Richter’s Core buildings, the Dragon’s Cauldron. The edifice was a thing of beauty. Created entirely from the incredibly hard substance called ‘glass,’ the building refracted the sunlight and made rainbows appear on every nearby surface.
The Cauldron was enough to awe any who saw it, but on the northern aspect of the meadow was a true miracle. The snow white leaves of the Quickening shifted gently in the light wind. The celestial tree served to enrich Richter’s lands and, perhaps even more importantly, was serving as a cradle for the rebirth of the pixie race. The wonders did not stop there. The far western end of the meadow was dominated by a lake. A waterfall fed it from the cliffs lining the northern side of the glade. Richter, or more specifically Sion, had been able to find a hidden cave behind the waterfall and that had become the location of his new crystal garden. Finally, there was also a small, but precious, clutch of skath eggs he had gained after a life and death battle. The creatures might one day be the key to the village having trained monsters, or even a calvary. Richter smiled. Exciting things were afoot!
“Where are we goin
g?” he asked Sion.
“To the crystal garden. The mist workers have cleared out the crystal that was overgrowing the passage. I went inside this morning. There are some things you need to see.”
Richter nodded, “Let’s stop at the Cauldron and the lake on the way then.”
They walked by the garden, nodding to the workers and Isabel as they passed by. As soon as they entered the Cauldron, Richter saw Tabia hard at work. The beautiful, dark-skinned wood elf stood at a crystal table, slowly adding a purple liquid to a bottle of clear liquid. It was clear that she was focusing hard, so the two Companion’s didn’t disturb her. When she finished what she was doing, the elf audibly exhaled in relief and placed both vials in holders on the table. Richter decided he might not want to know exactly what she had been mixing.
“Tabia,” he said.
She looked over her shoulder in surprise. When she saw who had spoken, she turned quickly, her dreaded hair swinging heavily behind her. She placed her hand on her heart and bowed slightly. “I did not see you, Lord Richter. It is a pleasant surprise.”
“Hard at work?” he asked lightly.
“I will be ready with a magnificent potion before the end of the week,” she replied with absolute seriousness.
“I’m glad to hear it,” he said. “Keep doing whatever you are doing. Right now, I need to use the central cauldron.” She nodded and got back to her work.
Richter walked up to the clear cauldron that sat in the middle of the building. He could see glass vessels tracing through the large pot. He could feel the low and slow thrum of the Dragon Cauldron’s heart as it pushed glass blood through the building. Looking at his Companion, Richter said, “It’s time to feed the beast.”
Sion rolled his eyes, but looked on in interest as Richter reached into his Bag of Holding. The first thing the chaos seed took out was the other half of the bag of concentrated crystal. With two fingers, he took the smallest pinch possible and dropped it into the cauldron. A prompt appeared. As always, the building seemed to sense his intent.
It appears you are trying to use the transmutation properties of the Dragon’s Cauldron. In order to do this, a functional unit of a substance must be sacrificed. The amount you have provided is insufficient.
Richter grunted. He had a feeling that wasn’t going to work. Trying not to think about the loss, he emptied the bag into the cauldron.
Do you wish for the Dragon’s Cauldron to consume Enhanced Powdered Crystal for future production via transmutation? The material will be consumed as the Dragon’s Cauldron learns its structure. Yes or No?
Bye bye you sexy thang, Richter thought to his precious enhanced crystal. He chose “Yes,” and the pulse of the vessels lining the central cauldron increased in speed. The crystal began to vibrate as the pulse increased and soon it disappeared.
The Dragon’s Cauldron has learned to create Enhanced, Powdered Crystal.
Richter repeated the process with ingots of elementum, cobalt, quicksilver and moonstone. He also tried both the blood from the dark aberration and ichor from the crypt mistress in the cauldron, but as they were specific ingredients rather than resources, they were not candidates for transmutation. Richter just kept placing anything that would work in the cauldron. Regular crystal, wood, marbled quartz, even water. Each vibrated until they were consumed by the cauldron.
As each new substance was consumed, Richter found he could access the conversion rate of one material into another. The conversion rate was unfortunately high in almost every case, and there was a clear loss. It took more than two hundred measures of crystal to make one measure of enhanced crystal, but one measure of enhanced crystal only made twelve measures of regular crystal. That was one of the better conversion rates.
It took more than one hundred thousand ingots of iron to make one ingot of cobalt. The conversion of high steel was slightly better at ninety-three thousand seven hundred and eighty-five to one, but was still obviously more than he could swing. On the other hand, one kilo of iron could be obtained from three kilos of wood. Water could buy basically nothing though, most likely because it was so common in his lands. All it showed was a sideways infinity symbol when compared to other resources. Richter wondered if water might be equally traded for gold if his village had been in a desert.
He was about to leave when he had a final thought. Gritting his teeth again against the cost, he dropped a pearl into the cauldron. Surprisingly, the jewel began to vibrate and it disappeared. Richter hadn’t really thought it would work, but he supposed it made sense. In the game, jewels had been part of certain spells and definitely were part of certain items that could be crafted. He thought about it for a second and then painfully placed one type of each jewel in the glass bowl. His stomach actually cramped when he saw the gems disappear. When he was done, he added a single copper, silver and gold coin for good measure. Each of them were accepted by the cauldron.
“I know that had to hurt,” Sion said, staring at his friend.
“It really did,” Richter replied with a haggard expression.
“Are you ready to leave?”
Richter shook his head, “I have one last thing to try before we leave.” When he had seen the chest become part of the Forge of Heavens, it had given him an idea. He walked over to a nearby wall and reached into his bag. As always, the space-folding properties of the Bag amazed him. He kept pulling and was able to remove a five foot tall, copper still, even though on the outside the Bag was no more than a foot deep. Hoping this worked, he placed the still on the ground. He almost cheered when a prompt came up.
Greetings, Master of the Dragon’s Cauldron. Do you wish to add this copper still to the structure of the Cauldron? This will cost 17 Alteration Points. Currently, there are 100/100 Alteration Points available in your Core building at level one. Yes or No?
Richter selected ‘Yes’. Surprisingly, a prompt appeared telling him to take the still outside. He was confused at having a building give him instructions, but did as he was told. Walking outside, he saw a flat floor of glass grow out from the main building. Four short knobs appeared on the ground. He placed the copper still on the knobs, not surprised that it fit perfectly to keep the still in place. As soon as the copper tube was in place, it began to glow. The entire 10x10 foot glass floor began to vibrate as well, so the Companions stepped off of it.
Glass grew up from the floor and covered the still. The light pulsed brighter and brighter until Richter had to shield his eyes. When the light died down, Richter looked to see what had happened and whistled in appreciation. The original still had more than quadrupled in size. A copper pipe ran off from one side and entered a second enclosed copper tube. That ran into a third copper tube that had a spigot attached. Glass had been used to join different pieces that even at first glance could clearly be taken apart for cleaning.
You have added Copper Still to the Dragon’s Cauldron. Current Alteration Points available 83/100. Alteration Points will regenerate at 1/day.
“What is this thing?” Sion asked, kicking the still. The large drum rung like a bell.
“You’ll see,” Richter said gleefully. Then he spoke English for the first time in what seemed like an age. It felt strange for his mouth to be forming the words, but the occasion called for nothing less then a deep southern drawl, “We goings ta have sum fun!”
He walked up to the second drum and inspected it. The Cauldron had even included a doubler! Richter didn’t know if the building had read his mind, or it was connected to some cosmic moonshine/alchemy database, but he wasn’t complaining! He looked at Futen and gave specific orders to relay to the village cooks. He wanted his mash to start fermenting immediately. Whistling an off-tune little ditty, he grabbed Sion and the two friends walked away.
CHAPTER 9 -- Day 111 -- Kuborn 1, 15368 EBG
The Companions walked towards the western side of the meadow. Alma flew above them, gliding on air currents with her wings outstretched while the adder slid along in the grass beside them. The huge snake�
��s camouflage was so good that it was practically invisible, despite the fact that Richter knew it was only five feet away. He looked at it as he walked. Soon, he would have to try and tame it again. He just hoped his training with Alma would help him to keep his head this time.
When they were only a hundred yards away from the lake, Richter heard voices. As they got closer, he was able to see two figures standing knee deep in the water. They were laughing and splashing each other. Both were about five-and-a-half feet tall. One was male, and the other female; the similarities in their appearance made it obvious that they were related. More importantly, both were completely nude. Richter was happy to see that their appearances were not exactly the same. In fact, there were some extremely interesting differences. The two friends stopped walking at the edge of the lake bank, two feet above the water level.
They were both human, had fair skin and wild mops of brown hair. Their features were refined, and both of them could only be described as beautiful. When Richter analyzed the woman, he could see why.
Name: Deera Race: Human Disposition: Pleased
Humans are one of the shortest-lived, but most prolific breeders in the Land. Humans have a broader affinity for skills than other races. No special bonuses to race. Humans get four points to distribute per level.
Age: 19
Level: 7, 38%
Health: 120 Mana: 100 Stamina: 130
Strength: 10
Agility: 10
Dexterity: 11
Constitution: 12
Endurance: 13
Intelligence: 10
Wisdom: 10
Charisma: 36
Luck: 10
Deera’s status was almost a mirror image of the male, Derin. Both had heavily invested in Charisma. In retrospect, he realized he had seen them both before during the night of the welcome feast for the new villagers, but he had met so many people that it had been a blur. He remembered them now. Seeing them both naked and together had an effect that he hadn’t truly appreciated before this particular moment.
