Escape From Litchfield

by Isra Bhuthimethee

  Tamara asked, "Jare, how did you plan on getting me out of here?"

  Jare replied, "Well, we had a number of plans depending on if you were awake or not. We planned on fighting our way in if you were sleeping or still in captivity. And plan B was to coordinate with you if you were awake. Then we could plan how to meet up. We never thought you would have a mage capable of porting party members to you."

  Azdel chimed in as he looked at Arnaud for confirmation. "In all my years, I have met only a handful of mages capable of porting party members. Perhaps we can convince Arnaud to teach us?"

  Arnaud shook his head. "I'm sorry that spell is a personal spell that only I can use. There's a similar one in the Shadow spell if you dive deep enough, but I use a different but similar mechanism to port party members."

  Jare said, "One of our secondary objectives was to find and retrieve the fabrication machine. Research 1 provided us with a device to detect the machine." Jare pulled out a small rectangular box. "It integrates directly with our mini-map. Your mini-map should also know where the fabricator is at."

  Sol's eyes glazed as he checked his mini-map settings, then he confirmed, "Yes. I have it too. It appears to be below us. Is everyone getting the same reading as me?"

  Tamara replied, "Yes. We're heading that way anyhow. I'm guessing that we're close to the end of the dungeon if the fabrication machine is nearby." She took a big bite of her bratwurst, juices spilling out.

  Jare licked his lips as he stared at Tamara's bratwurst. While Auth merely failed at pretending not to notice the delicious morsel.

  Azdel furrowed his brow as he said, "I'm so glad we didn't have to go through all the floors to get here. What floor are we on anyway?" Looking around, he commented, "It appears we're pretty deep."

  "We just killed the level 25 boss." Replied Sol.

  Tamara looked up and her eyes lighted up. "Jare. You are pretty strong. Later, could you help me get rid of these chains?" She held the magical chains up. "They have been on me the whole time I've been awake, and they are a total drag!"

  "Holy cow! I didn't even notice those chains! I was just so glad to see you. We can get those chains off now!" Jare moved over to her and grabbed her chains to examine them.

  The bard shook her head. "The chains are too strong to take off casually. I think I can forge something to cut them off. No offense, Sol, Arnaud. But we didn't have anyone strong enough to use the ax I had in mind to cut these chains off. I want to make a few items for you guys before we go down further into the dungeon."

  Jare was testing the chain strength, and he had to nod in agreement with Tamara's assessment of the strength of the chains. "We'll get the chains off soon."

  Sol was watching Jare and Auth stare hungrily at Tamara's bratwurst, and it amused him greatly. He was glad to let them squirm because the sausages were incredible, but he grinned and said, "Hey great meeting everyone! Let's stop standing around and eat some breakfast. We've got Tamara's specialty, beer basted bratwurst."

  Given permission to eat, Jare and Auth immediately made a beeline for the food, however, they got in each other's way and shoved each other, trying to be the first to the fire pit to eat some grub.

  "Hey stop pushing, Jare, you stole my last snack that Tamara made, I should get some first!" Declared Auth, even as he shoved Jare as hard as he could.

  In response, Jare merely grunted and sped up. He was being a warrior again.

  Sol turned to ask his Oathmaster if the pair always acted like this and caught the half-elf smiling fondly, if a bit exasperated, at them. The question left unsaid, he turned his attention back to the pair, he could see how they could grow on you. They loved Tamara's incredibly delicious, buffing food. And how they mounted a rescue mission against a vastly superior organization to free their friend impressed him.

  After a satisfying meal, the friends chatted about news about friends and Hopetown. Sol just listened in, learning about his new friends and future home.

  Clapping her hands loudly to get everyone's attention, Tamara announced, "Everyone. I've prepared a new treat for everyone." She recalled a plate and several large, round, bakery items. They had to have been at least as big as a hand. "These are called cookies." She handed out different flavored cookies to each member of the party. She had chocolate chip, cinnamon sugar, and lemon crisp cookies. Each one gave a buff of five points to agility and intelligence for 8 hours. The entire crew ate in silence, enjoying their desert.

  Item: Chocolate Chip Cookie

  A delicious dessert made with love by Tamara Owlkins

  +5 Agility

  +5 Intelligence

  Unleash potential

  ***

  Auth proudly announced, "Tamara. I became a jeweler. I've got a bunch of dual slot rings and amulets for you." He had his chest puffed out as he recalled several rings and amulets for Tamara.

  Tamara's eyes welled up with tears, and she hugged Auth. She suspected Auth became a jeweler to complement her Rune Magic. This was a permanent profession, so he will be a jeweler for his entire life. Most adventurers won't level high enough to get a second profession, so in a way, it was a statement on how much he cared about her. On the other hand, jewelers tended to make a great deal of wealth. Not only did they create jewelry for adventurers, but many men and women, both Awakened and not, loved to decorate themselves with jewelry. "Auth. I've just learned how to create spell gems. This is amazing!" After a few minutes, she had a realization. "I can make storage gems. Can you imagine how much more efficient fighting and crafting will become if you store and recall items directly from storage?"

  Storage bags required you to reach into your bag and will the correct item to appear in your hand. Then you pull it out, with the weight taking effect as you pull out. A storage ring, in theory, would allow you to pull items directly into your hands.

  Jare perked up when he heard the words storage ring. He got up to join Auth and Tamara. "So. I'd love to store items in a ring. Does that mean I won't be carrying the weight of the item like a dimensional bag?"

  Tamara nodded eagerly with a huge grin on her face. "Better than that! You should be able to recall shields and weapons into your hands just by thinking it."

  Jare immediately said, "I want one!"

  The runemaster nodded. "We should test the capabilities first."

  Auth nodded as well. He approved of testing. He looked at Jare, and the warrior had his full attention on the testing. Chuckling to himself, he was certain his plan to teach Jare to test would succeed someday.

  Grinning, Tamara recalled her engraving tools, a level 51 core, level 52, and a level 53 core. Each was capable of storing sixty-four objects into an alternate dimension. She engraved the rune for dimensional storage onto each of the cores. Then taking her newly acquired dual gem slot rings, she carefully attached the storage core to the first slot. She took off her fireball rings, pried the core out, and placed it into the second core slot. The resulting rings were known as Storage Ring of Fireball with a capacity of 64.

  Item: Storage Ring of Fireball

  This is a Dimensional Ring capable of storing 64 objects

  On Use: Fireball

  Now for some tests! She unsheathed her sword with her right hand and readied her shield with her left, then stored the sword in her ring. When she restored the sword, it appeared in her right hand as expected. Next, she stored the shield. On restore, it appeared next to her right hand and dropped to the ground. Perhaps the fact she was wearing the ring on her right hand made the item try to appear in her right hand. She stored her sword, then picked up her shield with her right hand. Now, she wanted to simultaneously store the shield and restore her sword. Willing it at the same time took a few tries, but in the end, it worked as she expected. Her shield got stored, and her sword came equipped into her hand. Next, she stored her armor while wearing it. It restored already equipped.

  The others watched the tests enthusiastically. With ooh's and ahh's as her tests failed and succeeded. Obviously, everyone wa
nted a new storage ring.

  Jare commented excitedly, "So. If you store the item while equipped, they restore equipped. Except for weapons which restore to your right hand. Did I get that right?"

  She nodded her head. "That looks like the way it is. But, let's try something else." She took off the storage ring and carefully pried out one of the spell gems. Then taking out a new empty dual slot ring, she slotted the free spell gem in. Putting one ring in each of her hands, she picked up her sword and shield. Then alternately made the items store and restore. This time they appeared equipped.

  The warrior shouted, "What just happened! It appeared in the correct hand!" He was practically jumping in excitement.

  The half-elf smiled in satisfaction, then turned to him to explain. "It seems that it matters which ring you store the item at, and which hand you're wearing it. I had to concentrate to get the left storage ring to store my shield and the right storage ring to store my sword. But once I stored them, all I had to do was will my sword to appear. And it naturally appeared equipped. I think if I had the same item type stored in both rings, I'd have to either concentrate on which storage ring goes off, they would both go off, or one will randomly work." Testing which rings would restore their item in the case where both rings had the same item type, she found that both rings pulled out their items on the same command. However, putting the same item type in the same ring didn't result in all of the items restored with one command. It seemed that one command could trigger all of her storage rings with the correct item, once.

  Auth said, "Tamara. I don't want to interrupt your testing, but I have a relevant question." He paused for Tamara to acknowledge him.

  Tamara just smiled and said, "No problem. Go ahead" as she turned to face him.

  "When I enchant an item, I use a core, a gem, and the enchant spell. The gem I use seems to combine with the core, and I get an enchanted gem/core. Traditional enchanting makes use of gems to give bonuses. Do you know if this applies to your Rune spell gems?"

  "That's a good question," the half-elf responded thoughtfully. "I'm not an enchanter, so I can't cast that spell, but perhaps we can combine our talents. I'll write the rune on the core, then you can enchant with the correct gem."

  Auth nodded. He restored a peridot. "Ready." He nodded at her again to let her know to start. He started the enchant spell, and fortunately, he could finish the spell and hold it while Tamara finished her engraving.

  Tamara restored a level 53 core. She began to engrave. When she finished her work, Auth released his enchant spell.

  Nothing happened.

  Then magic began accumulating around the gem. Sparkling green mana strands wove around the gem and core. In a flash of blinding light, they combined, creating a Gem of Storage. The merged core retained the same shade of color from the gem, but the new gem had storage space for 128 items. Using the peridot had doubled the capacity of the gem.

  ***

  Today was the day to cut the chains. They needed to be prepared for anything. They had cleared all the rooms leading up to the boss's room. If Jenny was going to show up, she would do it soon. Hopefully, they could kill the boss, take the fabricator, and get out. But Jenny had the habit of throwing a wrench in their plans.

  "Myst, try and chew off this chain," said Tamara as she held out her wrist chains.

  [Bob89: I'll monitor the chain integrity]

  [Tamara: thanks]

  Myst began to chew on the chains.

  [Bob89: In ten minutes of chewing, I estimate at that rate, he will chew off the chains in about a year.]

  "Myst, stop." Tamara motioned for Myst to take his usual place, so he scampered up her arm.

  Next, Jare walked up to her and took out his sword. "Do you have something to place your wrists on? It would be smoother and less likely for accidents."

  Tamara pulled out her anvil from storage. She placed her wrists on top, and as wide apart as possible. She nodded to Jare.

  Jare took a couple of practice swings, then attacked the chains with all his might. A small but noticeable notch appeared in the metal. This method would take awhile.

  [Bob89: Jare will take about five days to break the chains at that rate]

  "Auth. Would you please heat up the chains while Jare tries his attack again?"

  Auth nodded and walked up to the anvil. He began casting a small Flame spell that heated the chains to a cherry red.

  Jare swung again and a larger, yet still small, chunk was taken out.

  [Bob89: That will probably take about a day to destroy the chains]

  [Tamara: One day isn't bad]

  [Bob89: We need to worry about Jenny finding out what we're up to. She won't be happy. And you have a second chain around your legs, which would mean a total of two days to break the chains. And you are forgetting that these chains drain mana.]

  [Tamara: Meaning?]

  [Bob89: Cutting the chains will give you more movement, but you will still be drained of mana. You need the chains completely removed.]

  [Tamara: OK this calls for extreme measures then.]

  Looking determined, Tamara stood up and faced her group. "Guys. We need a different more radical approach." Pausing to make sure everyone was listening, she continued. "I have been working my magic skills, so I should be able to take some extreme temperatures. I'd like to suggest creating a super hot and super cold environment to break the chains. This way I'll completely remove the chains all at once. Let's try superheating the chains first."

  All the mages nodded their heads agreeing with the plan. Jare, on the other hand, wasn't so sure. "Tamara, I have no problems hacking the chains away. We don't need to do anything drastic."

  The half-elf replied, "Jare. It's not completely about the chains. I think Jenny is using them to track me. Also, they have to be completely cut off me, otherwise, they would drain my mana. Chipping away at them using normal gear will take forever, and I'd probably get hit a few times due to the chains being so close to my skin."

  Nodding, he said, "I see."

  Sol took off his amulet and placed it on Tamara. "You need this more than me right now. I want it back though."

  Tamara smiled, she had noticed how the dark elf had grown very fond of her gift. "I'll give it back right after the chains are off!"

  Shyly she asked, "Sol, can you make an enclosed space with air walls to keep in the heat? Also, it needs a hole to let in fireballs. I'll need Resist Elements as well."

  Sol said, "It would be my honor to do so." Sol erected walls in preparation for the chain destroying. He created special bowls that would allow her to capture the chain materials as it melted off her armor. Imitating Tamara in the queen boss fight, he created air walls with a small window that would allow fireballs to enter, and the majority of the heat to stay.

  After stacking several Mana Shields from the combined mages, she nodded to the group. Everyone started blasting the hot room. After several minutes, she entered the hot room. The room was incredibly hot. The chains warped and became a dull red, but it wasn't enough to break them.

  [Tamara: Keep those fireballs coming. As fast as you can!]

  As the mages continued their onslaught, the chains grew to a cherry red, then finally to a bright red before melting onto the floor, the majority of the metal making it into the special hollow.

  Stepping out of the hot room, she spread her arms wide in the air to show that she was free. Then she bowed to the group and said, "Thank you. It feels good to be free!" She unconsciously rubbed her hands across her wrists where the manacles had been secured.

  Everyone cheered. The easy part was over. With Tamara freeing herself, if Jenny had the means to discover the chains were destroyed, she would go all out to attack them. Only time would tell what the future had in store for them, but they could move forward with confidence because they had each other to keep themselves safe. Now, all they had to do was take the fabricator and get back to Hopetown without dying.

  Azdel stood up suddenly and cursed.

&n
bsp; Sol asked, "What happened?" As he moved closer to the mage.

  "The fabricator is moving! I don't like the looks of this. Either they know we're here for the machine, or they're taking it somewhere else."

  Tamara said, "We are ready to move. With this group, we can move faster. We can catch it if we want." She looked around to see what everyone was thinking.

  Sol nodded and said, "Let's go get it." That was enough to get everyone moving.

  ***

  "Wait," said Tamara. "Let's review our signals and formation. Also, it might be better if I make a couple of enchanted items now. Being prepared will speed us faster than jumping at their pace."

  The group quickly decided on the movement signals. Azdel and Tamara were the strategists, while Jare continued to be the combat leader. Myst would continue to scout ahead; Jare and Sol took the front lines, while Tamara, Azdel, and Auth made up the rear position. Azdel volunteered to keep a lookout for wanderers and respawns - as an experienced wizard, he had some decent single target crowd control.

  Since they were already at the boss room, they were already at the stairwell to go down a level.

  "Tamara, go make your items. I agree that it's better to make them now rather than trying to do it surrounded by enemies. I see it too often when shortcuts end up being long cuts, but let's make only the essentials." Said Azdel.

  Tamara nodded to the gnome as she slotted in a storage gem into the storage ring. She had stored Jare's spare armor and weapons in her dimensional storage, assuming that they would never be separated. Now, she transferred the items to the storage ring. For the second gem slot, she created and engraved a strength gem, combining the combination into a Storage Ring of Strength. After she finished, she handed the ring to Jare. "Make sure to equip and restore the items you will find handy! I'm making one for each hand."

  Item: Turquoise Storage Ring of Strength

  This dimensional ring stores up to 64 objects

  Protection rune

  +6 strength

  6% Armor