After half an hour of careful climbing and jumping, they reached the top of the tower. Alexander gazed at the room Fitz had described. He could picture the baron standing over Agatha’s father, dagger in hand. The stone altar was still there. To one side of the room was a stone workbench that had been cleared of its contents long ago. In the corner next to the bench was a 6-foot free-standing mirror on an ebony wooden stand. The other side of the room held what once had been a bed, a padded chair, and a dresser with a porcelain washbasin. The basin was the only thing still intact. There were windows facing each of the cardinal points. Unlike nearly all of the rest of the keep, these windows were still intact. The views out over the falls and the forest were spectacular as the sun was beginning to set.
Kai, stood with his eyes closed. “There is magic here,” he said. Turning slowly, he sensed for a direction.
Pointing to the altar, he said, “Strong dark magic residue there.”
“Fitz said he found the baron performing a sacrifice there,” Alexander offered. “And that he’d already turned close to a hundred of his citizens. So probably lots of sacrifices happened here.”
The stone stood about three feet in height and width, and was close to eight feet long. There were runes and symbols engraved in the stone on every side. Looking at those runes, Kai said, “This is a thing of evil, not just of darkness.”
“Let’s just see about that!” Brick stepped toward the altar.
Laying his hands on the stone, he activated his shaping skill. First he wiped clean the top surface of the altar, the old blood and bile stains flaking away into dust. Then he wiped all the engraving from every other surface of the stone. “There even be some engravings on the inside,” he informed them as he wiped them out.
After that, he knelt before the altar, asking the others to do the same. He prayed to Durin to cleanse the evil place of the baron’s corruption.
As he murmured his prayer, Brick’s hammer lifted from his hand and rose into the air. From the hammer shot a lightning bolt that struck the altar and, much like with the blessing of the dragon forge, etched the symbol of Durin’s hammer into the front face of the altar. The stone began to glow with a warm, white light.
Max laughed. “You must be Durin’s favorite paladin by now. You consecrated a chapel to him in Whitehall, then a dragon forge, now this altar here. You’ve arranged a basically unlimited supply of free ale and spirits. And everywhere you go, you brag about the size of his balls!”
As the others laughed, Brick grinned. “Aye! He do seem pleased, now that ye mention it!” There was an echo of thunder outside.
As the sun had now set, the group elected to rest in the newly consecrated room. No undead would dare approach it, and with only one door that led back down the stairs, it was an easily defensible position. Just to be safe, Brick used his shaping skill to detach the stone workbench from the wall, and used it to barricade the door.
Sasha managed to open a window enough to allow some air flow, then used the remains of the furniture to start a fire. In no time at all they were eating a hearty stew of boar meat, vegetables, and herbs for flavor. Alexander shared his flask with Jules, as she’d not had one with her when she was taken from her home city. Sasha and Lainey both raised an eyebrow, then shared a smug look between them.
Dinner completed, the friends began to discuss whether to stay the night, or return to the city and report to the king.
“The quest didn’t complete,” Max observed.
“Quest?” Jules asked. Alexander slapped his forehead. He instantly pulled up the quest log in his UI, and shared the quest with her.”
“Oh! Thank you,” Jules said, surprised.
“It’s definite,” Alexander sighed. “The fact that I could still share it with Jules confirms that the quest is not complete. Did we miss a room?
Kai and Max both shook their heads. Kai spoke first. “I did not sense any hidden rooms as we passed through the dungeons. And though I did not enter every room as we cleared the upper floors, I was close enough to the rest of you that I should have sensed any hidden doors.”
Max volunteered, “Maybe we need to clear the mine, too?”
They all took a moment to read the quest description carefully.
“Nooo….” Sasha began. “It clearly says clear the KEEP of any enemies.”
“Did we leave an angry rat alive somewhere?” Lainey half joked.
They all grew quiet, lost in their own ponderings of the quest. Alexander raised a hand to scratch his head. Catching movement out of the corner of his eye, his head snapped around, hand already reaching for his staff.
“Bwahaha!” Brick pointed and laughed. “The elf scared hisself, nearly attacked his own reflection in the mirror!”
Blushing at his own foolishness, Alexander looked to Jules to find her giggling at him, one hand over her mouth.
The mirror! Dammit. I’m such an idiot.
Alexander rose to his feet, approaching the mirror. Brick laughed even louder. “Looks like he wants revenge!”
Turning to look at the group, but keeping one eye on the mirror, he said, “Brick. Remember when we built Millicent’s bakery?”
“Bah! O’ course I remember. It were just a few days ago. And now ye got me hungering for fresh bread and pastry!”
Alexander saw the look on Max’s face as he made the connection. Brick was still focused on dreams of pastry.
“Brick? How did Millicent get upstairs?” Max helped with a hint.
“Fitz made her a magic…” Brick paused. “Well, shit.”
“Mind clueing in the rest of us?” Sasha grumped.
Alexander motioned for them all to get up as he explained. “Fitz created three magic mirrors that allowed Millicent to teleport from her residence upstairs, down to the bakery, and down to the cellar. And back up again.”
They all stared at the mirror now. Kai stepped closer to it, closing his eyes.
“Aye, Alexander, you are correct. There is teleport magic. It was masked by first the evil magic of the altar, then by Durin’s blessing. Even now, I have to focus to sense it.”
Brick spoke up. “Millicent’s mirrors had a trigger word. She had ta say ‘upstairs’ or ‘downstairs’ to activate it.”
Kai shook his head. “I believe one need only touch this mirror to activate the magic. But to be sure, I will go through first. Wait here.”
And with that, he reached out and placed a hand on the mirror. The was no flash, no sound, his body simply disappeared.
After a very tense minute, Kai spoke to them on group chat.
“The way is clear. It is safe to follow”
They each stepped up in turn to touch the mirror. Brick first, followed by Sasha. Then Max, Lainey, and Jules, with Alexander last.
As he stepped through, he found himself instantly in a large stone chamber. There were no doors that he could see. Behind him was a mirror, twin to the one in the tower, though this one was mounted to the wall. To his left there was a single window, just two feet wide and three feet tall. Looking around the room, he saw two more mirrors mounted on the wall. Across the room was a long stone table. Kai had cast a light globe that was floating near the ceiling and providing enough light to see by.
“We are inside the mountain again,” Kai informed them. “Somewhere near the top of the ridge, I believe.” He motioned toward the window.
Looking out, Alexander could see the tower far below, and great expanse of moonlit forest.
“Somebody has certainly been using this room.” Max pointed out a multitude of footprints, drag marks, and what looked like tracks from cart wheels in the dust. All led to the back wall of the room. Casting his mage sight, Alexander could see an archway carved into the stone. The room had been too dark to see it from this distance with normal vision.
“Looks like we found your portal, Kai,” he said, pointing at the back wall.
“Aye. This makes sense. Whoever was capturing all of those animals and other undead, was using a po
rtal to bring them this far, then teleporting them into the dungeon.” Kai nodded as he spoke.
“I didn’t see a mirror anywhere down in the dungeon…” Sasha mused.
“Even a beginner like Alexander here could teleport a small group or some cargo such a short distance,” Kai said.
Alexander, choosing to overlook the slight insult, added, “Remember, there was no dust disturbed in the tower.” Pointing at the mirror they’d just exited from, he said, “That looks like only our tracks below that mirror. And the dust below the others doesn’t look to be disturbed. Maybe whoever has been using this place doesn’t know about the mirrors. Or just had no use for them.”
“I believe you are correct,” Kai said. He turned to look at Brick. “Fitz mentioned that you two helped construct the portal at your home. Do you think you know enough to disable this portal without permanently damaging it?”
Brick stroked his beard. “Aye. Maybe. Alexander mentioned something ‘bout the runes controlling the… frequency? What if I was to just smooth away them runes?”
Smiling at the dwarf, Kai said, “Very good. That would indeed disable it. We can engrave new runes later if we need to make use of the portal.”
Brick moved to the back of the room and laid his hands on the stone. While he was doing that, Max and Kai each went to examine the other two mirrors, to see if they could determine where they went.
Alexander studied the one they’d just passed through, looking for any kind of mark or indicator symbol that suggested ‘Tower’.
After a few moments. Sasha’s voice drifted across the room. “Uhhh… guys?”
Instantly, all eyes located the druidess, expecting to find her in danger. She was simply standing by the long stone table, one hand reaching down toward its surface.
“You should look at this,” she said, some excitement in her voice.
When Alexander reached her side, he looked down upon what seemed to be a plain stone table. Just then, Sasha leaned over and blew the dust off the surface. Exposing four keyhole shaped holes in the tabletop.
“YESSS!” Brick pumped a fist in the air as he reached into his bag with his other hand to retrieve his keys. The others did the same.
“On the count of three?” Brick called out. “one… two… three!” Each of them pushed their key into a hole, and turned it to the right. The table began to hum, and the surface started to glow with a blue light.
Quest Completed: Clear the Keep!
Report to King Charles of Stormforge to claim your rewards.
Max did a little dance. “I’ve seen this before. Mostly in ‘capture the flag’ PVP games where you try to take and hold citadels. This would be the keep’s ‘control room’. The table will be your interface. It should allow you to make changes to the keep itself. Anything from the height of the walls to the furnishings inside!”
“Go ahead, boss.” Lainey poked Alexander in the back with her bow.
Alexander placed a hand on the glowing tabletop.
“Keep ownership entity recognized. Please state your designation.” A voice echoed through the air.
“Alexander?” His answer was more of a question.
“Ownership entity Alexander, confirmed. Welcome to Dire Keep. Do you wish to activate the interface?”
Level up! You are now level 38!
Your wisdom has increased by +1. Your intelligence has increased by +1
You have 26 free attribute points available
Level up! You are now level 39!
Your wisdom has increased by +1. Your intelligence has increased by +1
You have 26 free attribute points available
“Yes, please,” Alexander replied.
A three dimensional diagram appeared above the table, made of the same blue light that glowed upon the table. Next to the diagram was a menu of options.
StatusInfrastructurePopulation
DefenseResourcesAncillary Structures
“Begin at the beginning” Alexander said. “Interface, do you have a name?” he asked.
“The previous master of the keep simply called me Interface.”
“That won’t do. We must give you a name!” Alexander smiled. He could still remember the day when he’d named Alfred.
“Let’s call him Fitz!” Sasha giggled. “That’ll annoy the old wizard!”
Kai smiled, seeming to like the idea.
“How ‘bout Jeeves?” Lainey volunteered.
“Or Durin!” Max grinned at his dwarf buddy. “That way Brick here can claim he’s praying every time he speaks to the interface!” He dodged as the dwarf swung a half-hearted punch at him.
“Methinks Jeeves is better,” Brick growled.
Alexander smiled. “I like Jeeves as well. Any objections?” Hearing none, he said, “Interface, from now on your name is Jeeves.”
“Thank you, master. Would you like to view the current status of the keep?”
“Yes, thank you, Jeeves. But first, are there any other recognized owners of the keep?”
“There are three other recognized ownership entities that have not yet chosen designations.”
“I see. What about the previous owner of the keep?”
“Baron Dire’s claim of ownership was nullified when you and the others captured the keep, and claimed it, master.”
“Thank you, Jeeves. That’s good to know. The others will now introduce themselves.”
One by one, Sasha, Brick, and Max laid a hand on the table and stated their names. Though Max altered his a bit, then guffawed as Jeeves said, “Ownership entity Sir Max the Fabulous confirmed. Welcome to Dire Keep.”
“I propose we add a fifth, in the event we can’t agree on something, we’ll have a tiebreaker,” Alexander suggested.
The others all nodded and looked at Lainey. “Jeeves, we wish to add an additional ownership entity,” he said.
“Of course, master. Simply have the entity place their hand on the control panel, as you did, and state their designation.”
Lainey approached the table, and set her hand down. With a wicked grin, she said, “Princess Lainey!”
“Ownership entity Princess Lainey confirmed. Welcome to Dire Keep”
“Copycat!” Max grinned at her.
Alexander moved on to business. They had their very own keep to play with!
“Jeeves, please show us the keep’s current status.”
The 3-D image changed from the main menu to a list of figures.
Dire Keep: Level 10/25
Physical Status: 340/500
Resources: 14,000 units
See Infrastructure for details
See Resources for details
Current Population: 7
Defensive Capabilities: 60%
Citizens: 5 Guests: 2
See Defense for details
Ancillary Structures: 2
Production rate: 0%
See Ancillary Structures for details
Production will increase with population and use of ancillary structures
“So, the Physical Status makes sense. The keep’s been damaged. Same goes for the Defensive Capabilities. Population is a no-brainer. And Production probably means the mine. No miners, no production. But what are the ancillary structures, and what are the 14,000 resources?” Max thought aloud.
“Let’s start with population.” Alexander smiled at Jules. “Would you like to be a citizen of the keep?” The elfess smiled shyly and nodded her head. “Yes, please.”
Looking to Kai, Alexander said, “You are most welcome as well. Though we certainly understand if your position restricts you in some way.”
Kai grinned and bowed his head. “I am honored by the invitation. We dragons are not so rigid in such things. My title as Prince is my birthright, and would not be affected in any way were I to become a citizen of Dire Keep. However, it may have some impact on your keep. Adopting a dragon is no small thing.”
Alexander looked to the others. “Any objections? Concerns?” No one spoke up. “In t
hat case,” Kai said, “I humbly accept citizenship at Dire Keep.”
There was a flash of blue light, and several things changed on the status page. First, the population explanation changed to Citizens: 7 (1 Dragon).
Next, the Ancillary Structure count went up to 3. And the Defensive Capabilities increased to 75%!
The Greystone Chronicles Book Two: The Dire Lands Page 8
