Defenders of the Realm

by Dave Willmarth

  Fitz disappeared without another word. Presumably back to his tower, where he kept Baron Dire. Kai stepped over to the shelves and took a look for himself. He nodded his head “Fitz is right. There are items here with truly dark enchantments on them.”

  Alexander pointed to the small crossbow. “I was thinking Jules would like that one. Can you tell me if it’s safe?”

  Kai inspected the weapon, then a leather bandolier filled with quarrels. “The bolts are coated in poison. Drow poison.” He said with disgust. “The crossbow has a stealth enchantment on it. Good for a rogue, indeed. I see nothing harmful to the user. Still, you should wait for Fitz to examine it.”

  Alexander said “I’ll leave most of this gold here. Can each of you carry five bricks?” He asked as he lifted a brick and stuck it in his bag. Kai and Norval began to do the same, each settling five of the heavy bricks into their bags of holding. Alexander led them back out to the control room, and Norval showed him how to trigger the door closing mechanism on the way. The door clicked shut behind him, and once again it looked like a normal wall.

  They showed Kai the various secret areas that Jeeves had revealed. Alexander took some time to examine a few others as well. There was apparently one below the stables, and another set into the wall behind where the smithy was now located. That one appeared to be a secret exit with doors inside and outside the wall. Alexander made a note to investigate that passage and find a way to secure it. If Baron Dire knew about it, there was a chance he’d shared that information with his allies, and they’d use it to gain access to the keep.

  “Thank you, Jeeves. Please coordinate with Norval as needed during his investigation. Please ask Blix to meet us at his vault.” Alexander said before teleporting the three of them to the lower level of the bank. They were only there for a minute or so before the gnome banker descended the ramp to join them.

  “Hello again, Alexander. Prince Kaibonostrum. Norval.” The gnome greeted them. “What can I do for you? You wish to make a withdrawal?”

  Alexander produced a brick from his bag, saying “On the contrary Blix. We’ve come to make a deposit. Fifteen thousand gold, in nice, stackable bars.” The dragon and the dwarf each produced a brick as well, and Blix’s smile grew from ear to ear. “Of course! One moment while I open the vault!” The gnome had the door opened in just a few heartbeats, and the three deposited their loot. They stacked the bricks neatly in the back corner and exited the vault. As he closed and locked it, Blix asked “From the mine?”

  Alexander answered. “We found a stash we suspect was left behind by Baron Dire.”

  Blix nodded thoughtfully. “Well, it will certainly come in handy if your loan program becomes popular. In the meantime, it never hurts to increase our rating with the Banker’s guild by having more collateral on hand.”

  Kai said his goodbye and teleported back to his roost. Alexander and Norval walked back upstairs with Blix and bid him good day. Once outside, Norval went to work out what materials he’d need for Alexander’s laboratory door and get a list to Silverbeard.

  Alone in the courtyard, Alexander checked his UI. It was nearly time to go to Broken Mountain. The two merchants were already waiting near the portal, chatting with some other dwarves who intended to visit their homeland. Alexander put out a call in guild chat. “Anybody want to go to Broken Mountain? I’m opening the portal in five minutes.”

  While he waited, he went to speak with Thagin. “Headed to purchase your first shipment of spirits for Antalia?” he asked jovially. The dwarves all turned and bowed their heads. Alexander held up his hands. “Please, no bowing. No ‘majesty’ or ‘sire’. Unless we’re in a formal gathering of some kind, I’m still just Alexander.”

  Thagin replied “Aye, Alexander. And we be thankin ya fer the loan. This’ll be quite the profitable business fer us. Them folks in Antalia nearly beat each other’s brains out tryin to get ta Brick’s kegs during the celebration. We’ll be sellin our kegs fer three times what we pay for ‘em.” He stroked his beard with pride.

  “In that case, you should take another wagon! I’ll wait if you want to round one up.” Alexander volunteered. Thagin shook his head. “Too much product at once and we’ll be havin’ to lower the price. Scarcity be a good thing.”

  Alexander chuckled at that, after all, the dwarf was right. It was the most basic principles of any business. Supply and demand. Short supply creates high demand. “Well, as it seems we’ve no more takers, I guess I should get you on your way. I’ll need to visit with King Thalgrin for a bit. Meet me back at the portal when you’re loaded up. Say, one hour?” All the dwarves nodded in acknowledgement, and he opened the portal. He let the dwarves go through before he stepped through himself and let it close behind him.

  As usual, the guards at the portal motioned for a young dwarf to run and alert the king. Alexander called to him to stop. “I’m sorry, my friends. But time is short. I’m afraid I’ll have to teleport myself there. I’ll tell King Thalgrin that I prevented you from warning him.” He smiled at the runner. When the guards nodded their agreement, he teleported himself to an area off to the side of the great doors, where he could be reasonably sure nobody was standing.

  As expected, this caused a bit of a ruckus in the hall, until several of the dwarves recognized Alexander. Someone was sent to notify Thalgrin as they offered Alexander a seat and brought him ale and bread. Thalgrin joined him before he had more than a few swallows of ale. “Alexander! Nay, ‘tis King Alexander now, isn’t it!” Thalgrin gave a small bow of his head as Alexander rose to greet him. Alexander returned the gesture with a deeper nod. “King Thalgrin, my apologies for popping in unannounced. I’m afraid I ruined your favorite joke and kept your messenger at the portal.”

  “Bah! Yer welcome here anytime.” The dwarf king actually looked a little disappointed. Then his smile brightened as he said, “I’ll teach that scamp to take orders from a king other than his own!” Alexander chuckled along with the dwarf.

  The two sat down and talked as council members drifted into the hall and joined them. They spoke about the events in Antalia, the taking of the Chaos Nation house, the merging of the original PWP guild members with clan Greystone. Alexander asked after the rockworms he’d left with the dwarves. He was told they’d hatched and were just beginning to be trained. Thalgrin was thrilled to inform him that they were indeed both mithril worms.

  While they spoke, Alexander pulled some obsidian from his bag and created two more light cannons. Thalgrin himself shaped the triggers and handed them back for Alexander to place the trigger word. Thalgrin chose a different word, much to the delight of his fellow dwarves. “Bollocks!”

  Handing the cannons over, he said “These make good drow detectors. Just pull the trigger and sweep an area” he made a sweeping motion with both arms as if he were strafing with a machine gun.

  “Thank ye, Alexander. As always, ye’ve been a good friend to us.” Thalgrin said.

  “Speaking of friends.” Alexander began. “I’m going to talk with the elves, soon. Mainly, to ask that they join our alliance, I wanted to ask if you had any advice on dealing with them?”

  Thalgrin thumped his fist down on the table. “Damned aggravatin’, them elves!” He shouted. “They be snooty n uppity n full o’ themselves!” He added. Remembering Alexander himself was an elf, he qualified. “Present company excepted. Ye don’t be a real elf anyway!”

  Alexander leaned in close and whispered “Don’t tell Jules. She’d be crushed.”

  Thalgrin looked at him for a moment, seeming confused until Alexander winked at him.

  “BWAHAHA! Ye got me!” He clapped Alexander on the back.

  Alexander absorbed the blow from the immensely strong dwarf with as much grace as he could manage. Then he changed the subject a bit. “Grimble will be opening another mine soon. I’ve been thinking about what to do with the ore. Do you have a particular need? Iron? Tin?”

  Thalgrin nodded. “Aye, we be needin most metals. Our smiths be hard at wo
rk producin’ weapons n armor for the upcomin’ war. But I’ll tell ye what I be needin most.” He straightened his back and leaned forward. “Obsidian. Fer me own dragon forge. Me masters won’t be satisfied with anythin’ less than those ye’ve built fer yerself, damn them! I telled them to make do with the block ye already give’d us, but there be so many masters here, and masters be horrible at sharing!”

  Alexander laughed loudly at the king’s mock indignation. He knew full well that Thalgrin himself wanted an obsidian forge as much as any master in the mountain. He played along.

  “I see. Yes, Ironhammer can be quite pig-headed, I’ve noticed.” He eyed the dwarven master smith, who was sitting across the table from him. The old master and all the dwarves present pounded the table in agreement and laughed. Alexander looked back at Thalgrin. “Of course you shall have the obsidian. In fact, if you have a wagon meet me at the portal, we’ll go straight to Stormforge and I’ll pull some up for you. Would you like Brick to come and shape the rough structure for you?”

  Thalgrin looked to Ironhammer, who nodded. “Aye, that’d be grand. Tell him we’ll send him back with a bit o’ mithril and an extra wagonload o’ spirits. Now, what can we give ye in return for the stone?” He motioned for a runner to go fetch a wagon.

  Alexander shook his head. “Not a thing. You have the best smiths in the land. We’ll need every weapon, every shield and chest piece you can produce for the upcoming war. Making sure you have the best possible forge is only good sense. I would ask a favor, though.”

  Thalgrin said “Name it, and it shall be done.”

  Alexander winked at Ironhammer as he said “Well, as you mentioned, the new forge here will be crowded. I’d like you to leave at least one master at each of my dragon forges to help train my people, and a few of King Charles’ smiths, to make better weapons and armor.”

  Ironhammer snorted and rolled his eyes. “Aye, that be a real sacrifice. Havin ta work a dragon forge, blessed by the gods o’light, that ain’t crowded with other masters tryin’ ta peek at yer work n hoggin’ the flame!” Several of the others at the table nodded their heads, and volunteered on the spot.

  Alexander made one more qualifying statement. “I know the masters who’ve been working at Greystone Manor have been staying at the Stallion. I would suggest that with drow infiltrating Stormforge, it would be safer if they took up residence inside the compound. Our accommodations aren’t as luxurious, but they’re far safer. I wouldn’t want to lose a master to a poisoned dagger in the dark.”

  Ironhammer answered for the king. “Yer armory quarters be more than comfortable enough fer these old ironbenders. They’d sleep in the barn if it meant workin that forge.”

  With that settled, Alexander said his goodbyes and took his leave. He teleported himself back to the open training area near the portal. The merchants and a few of his citizens had already returned. Thagin was affectionately patting the side of a very heavily laden wagon stacked high with barrels and kegs. A second, empty wagon was approaching, being led by six large boars. Alexander looked to Thagin. “I can open a portal now to Antalia if you prefer. Silverbeard should be ready to return by now.”

  Thagin nodded his appreciation and Alexander opened the portal. Sure enough, Silverbeard sat atop the wall between the two guild houses, chatting with Michael. They waited as the dwarven merchants drove their wagon through, then both man and dwarf stepped through to Broken Mountain. Alexander let the portal close as Silverbeard stepped closer. “All arrangements be made. Ye can establish yer embassy as soon as ye like.” He reported.

  Michael bowed his head, saying “Good day, Majesty. Silverbeard here thought I might make a decent ambassador to Antalia.” He grinned sheepishly.

  “As usual, Silverbeard is absolutely right. If you want the job, it’s yours. I doubt that Elysia will ever find itself in an adversarial situation with Antalia, but if that comes to pass, can you overlook your loyalty to Antalia in order to serve Elysia?”

  Michael nodded his head. “I give you my oath on it.”

  “Well then, mister Ambassador, you’ll need to pick appropriately sized quarters in one of the two Antalia houses. Unless you prefer to find your own elsewhere?” Alexander asked. Michael shook his head. “Any of the quarters in the former PWP house will do fine. I would ask that Sam have her own, as well?”

  Alexander smiled. “Of course. Someplace quite close to yours, where you can keep an eye on her, maybe? And Silverbeard can assign you similar quarters at the keep. Lots of watchful aunts and uncles there!”

  “Exactly right!” Michael chuckled.

  By this time, the wagon meant for the obsidian had arrived. Alexander opened the portal and stepped through, welcoming the dwarves and Michael to the manor. They all moved through, and he let it close. He quickly explained to Silverbeard and the others what he was doing, then raised a two-ton block of obsidian right there in the courtyard. He marveled at how much easier it had become. The first couple of times he’d done it it had nearly killed him.

  Once the stone was sitting in the courtyard, Alexander got ambitious. He tried to duplicate Fitz’s trick with the last stone. He closed his eyes and focused his magic, casting Levitate on the stone.

  There was an instant wrenching, tearing feeling in his gut. A groan of pain escaped his lips, and he nearly passed out. Silverbeard took hold of his shoulders as he sank to his knees, arms wrapped around his stomach. Michael was asking him what was wrong, but the voice sounded as if it were coming from a great distance.

  Alexander managed to reach into his bag and pull out a health potion, then a mana potion. Seeing that he didn’t have the strength to open them, Silverbeard and Michael each seized one and took turns pouring them down his throat. The potions helped ease the pain enough that Alexander could breathe more freely. He gasped in a lungful of air and tried to stand. Silverbeard helped him up.

  “Damn. That was stupid.” He mumbled. He looked up to see that the stone was floating just slightly off the ground. The dwarves from the wagon team were moving it so that it was lined up with the wagon bed. Alexander shook his head. “Too heavy. I cast levitation magic on the stone. Wasn’t prepared for that much weight. I think I tore something. Inside.”

  He decided that sitting was better than standing, and let Silverbeard lower him back to the ground. Opening guild chat, he said “Brick, can you come to Stormforge? Got a job for you.”

  He watched as the dwarves tilted the top end of the block down onto the wagon, then pushed it forward to slide into the bed. He waved weakly at them to acknowledge their thanks. The portal opened, and Brick stepped through. Alexander motioned for the dwarven citizens who had left the keep earlier to head back through, and Brick let it close behind them. Alexander explained about Thalgrin’s need for him to shape another dragon forge. Brick happily agreed, and after casting his “Lay on Hands” spell on Alexander to cure his internal damage, opened the portal to Broken Mountain. He led the wagon through and the portal closed behind him.

  Alexander looked at the portal. “Silverbeard, I don’t think I can cast the spell to open the portal for us.” He said. “I tore something inside me trying to lift that block. Even with the heals, I don’t feel… right.”

  “Don’t ye worry. I’ll get ye home.” Silverbeard raised a hand and opened the portal. When he saw Alexander’s surprised look, he laughed. “I tell’d ye before, lad. I be knowin many things what’s part o’ me job. I was there when Fitz built the portal at Broken Mountain. What use would I be now, if’n I couldn’t open a portal for a king who builds portals every damn place he sets his arse?” The old dwarf asked, seeming slightly offended.

  Alexander shook his head as they stepped forward through the gate. “I should have known, master Silverbeard. My apologies. I’ll not underestimate your abilities again.”

  “Ye just get up to yer room. I’ll be findin’ the wizard and send him to ya.” Silverbeard was already walking toward Fitz’s tower. Alexander decided the dwarf was right, and walked into
the donjon. When he reached his quarters, he found Norval and another dwarf in his study. They were creating a diagram of his new lab door. Several diagrams, actually. Alexander quietly observed them, examining the drawings upside down where they sat on the desk.

  Norval paused, having just taken a measurement and turned to mark something on the drawing, finally noticing Alexander standing there. “Ah, apologies. Are we disturbin ye?”

  “No, no. Keep doing what you’re doing. I was just curious.” Alexander stepped back from the desk and sat down in one of the chairs. “Don’t let me keep you from your work.”

  Norval made his notation, then said “We’ll be a day yet, designin’ and obtainin’ materials. Then maybe three days ta build all the parts and install it.” Alexander was about to tell the dwarf to take his time, when Fitz appeared in the sitting room. Alexander waved to Norval and joined Fitz.

  The wizard looked him up and down. Wasting no time, he said “Tell me.”

  Alexander looked sheepish. “I pulled a block of obsidian for the dwarves to build their dragon forge. When the wagon was ready, I cast Levitate on the block of stone. It lifted, slightly. But I felt something … tear… inside me. Like a pulled a muscle, or one of those black shitweasel things eating at my gut.”

  The wizard put his hand on Alexander’s forehead and closed his eyes. After a moment, he shook his head. “Remember our discussion about enchanting, and explosions?”

  Alexander nodded wordlessly, already guessing where the wizard was heading.

  “Well, this is the explosion version of levitation magic. You tried to lift something maybe twenty-two times your own mass. Into thin air. It’s not like moving it through the earth. Your skill level isn’t high enough for that. Or it wasn’t. You’ve somehow forced yourself into the next level. Hold still, this will hurt.”