Felix’s manor was even nicer, but although the former Prefect did not have any immediate family in Orom, the town records mentioned an uncle living in a village several days to the south of town. A message had been sent with a traveling farrier that frequented that route. Until word got back, the Pontes’ palace remained vacant. A search of the place hadn’t found anything incriminating, but there was a vault in his basement, magically sealed to that only his heirs could open it. Hawke intended to be at the opening, to make sure there was nothing there that could threaten the town.
Antana nodded. “We do not expect any news from the Pontes family, if any of them remain, for at least another week. As to the other properties, there are no heirs on record. According to the law, they devolve to the Town to sell or use as you see fit.”
“We could always use more cash. On the other hand, maybe we can use them to entice more people to move back into Orom. Have we gotten any offers?”
“One of the warehouses abuts the Petros Bathhouse; he has indicated a willingness to purchase it from the town to expand his business,” Antana said with a sniff.
Hawke hadn’t even known there was a bathhouse in town. The place wasn’t big, but its hot- and cold-water baths were popular with the town’s well to do. Several of Petros’ attendants, both male and female, also had side jobs as prostitutes, which wasn’t illegal but considered to be distasteful by some, Antana among them.
“Sounds good,” he told her, ignoring her disapproving expression. “Let’s make that happen.” Something occurred to him. “Is one of the homes in a good location for a Temple? I would like to build one dedicated to the Triune Goddesses.”
A second Temple would not only be a source of spiritual and magical help, it would increase the town’s Mana generation capacity. Everything ran on magic in the Realms. Finding a Priest to take over the job of running the Temple would be a complication, but maybe if you built the Temple, the gods would send him a Priest.
“I think a couple of places are likely candidates. I will send one of my assistants to do a survey tomorrow. As to bringing in more citizens, they are more likely to come here if we had more in the way of trade. Without mining, Orom has little to offer. Furs, olive oil – but only one press currently working on producing it – and some rare woods and herbs. To exploit the woods would require a lumber camp in the Highlands Forest or the Shadowy Foothills, both of which are rather hostile to intruders. When the mines were a going concern, things were different.”
“The Sterns are working on that,” Hawke said.
The Dwarven clan had sent five Adventurers to Orom, all Arcane Miners. There were major gold, silver and other metal deposits throughout the Sunset Range west of the Auric river, but that area had a slight Necromancer and Arachnoid problem. If everything went according to plan, that would be over by the end of the week. Meanwhile, the Dwarves had explored the hills to the south and were planning on doing more prospecting there before the expedition to the west.
“I would suggest tabling any further discussions on how to proceed until that situation is resolved, then,” Antana said. “Meanwhile, I will expedite the sale of the warehouse.”
“Good. I’ll be with the big map.”
Just before Hawke could access the Town Interface, however, a Town guardsman came rushing in.
“Your Eminence! There’s been an attack.”
Hawke gritted his teeth. “Tell me.”
Seven
Congratulations! You have learned the Riding (Horses) Skill at Level 1!
Hawke had ridden horses a couple of times on Earth, but only the sort of tame and gentle critters they let tourists play with. Between that know-how and his Unlimited Potential Perk, he found that he could keep his seat and even not bounce up and down like an idiot as he followed a couple of town guardsmen toward the scene of the crime.
Normally he would have run there, but now that he was the Prefect, he had access to a whole stable full of horses, and time seemed to be of the essence, so he had gotten on, actually remembering at the last second not to screw up and end up facing the wrong way, and had gotten the horse, a fairly placid bay mare, to go the way he wanted. He didn’t think he was ready to go jousting any time soon, but being able to ride from point A to point B at a good fourteen miles an hour was nothing to sneeze at. He only wished he were riding toward something good, and not a farmhouse full of murdered people.
Most farms around Orom were large, with properties marked by stone fences built from the rocks that apparently rose to the surface every few years. The place in question had been six miles west of town, near the hilly scrublands that separated the fields from the Highland Forest. It had belonged to the Caseres family, led by an old Arcane Farmer by the name of Morio and his wife Luca. Other inhabitants included their two sons and two daughters, and their spouses, as well as twelve grandsons, one of whom had recently married. They lived a multi-building ‘greater villa,’ with a main house built around a courtyard and a handful of smaller homes for younger family members and servants. One of the guards, a sergeant by the name of Clado, told Hawke the details as they rode there.
Sometime last night, raiders had struck the farmhouse and murdered the whole family and three servants. Twenty-six people in total, dead.
The walled villa looked intact. The attackers had put out the fires that normally burned in a home twenty-four-seven and which, if left unattended, would have probably burnt down the whole place. Nobody had noticed anything was wrong, not until early that morning. A neighbor had found a stray calf and tried to return it, only to find the victims.
“Nobody has done much more than take a quick look,” Clado said as the three horsemen slowed down at the open gate of the compound. “Normally we wouldn’t bother you, Prefect, but your orders…”
“Were that any attacks or disturbances should come straight to me. You did the right thing,” Hawke said, dismounting. His legs were a little shaky despite the short ride. He had been gripping the horse’s sides with his legs, straining muscles he normally didn’t use when walking. The first thing he saw through the open gate didn’t help his mood. The attackers had taken Farmer Morio’s head and hung it from one of the pillars on the front porch. That was just the first of many horrors to be seen in the blood-splattered villa.
He didn’t focus on the grisly sights scattered throughout the farmhouse, but on trying to find information. It took him all of five minutes to figure out who had been responsible. The tracks on the ground had been made by triple sets of spiky feet. He had seen those tracks before, on his very first day on the Realms. Murk Arachnoids. The victims’ wounds included spear stabs, but most had been hacked down by heavy blades or axes. He remembered the spider-people’s Warriors had wielded those weapons.
We are on our way to you, Tava sent to him through Saturnyx. She must have just reached the sword’s telepathic range, about five miles.
“Good,” he said.
“Your Eminence?”
“Nothing, Clado. Just thinking out loud. You two, keep watch on the farmhouse until someone with a legal claim to it can take possession of it.”
And if there was nobody to claim the farm, the Town would get it. Hawke was getting sick of profiting from the suffering of innocent victims. Sick of standing over the bodies of people he had a duty to protect.
“You can take my horse back with you when you get back.”
“What about Your Eminence?”
“I’ll be traveling on foot from here. I’m gonna hunt down the Arachnoids who did this. None of them is going to live long enough to reach the Auric.”
The expression on Hawke’s face made Clado go pale and take an involuntary step back.
* * *
Congratulations! Your Tracking Skill has risen to 2.
He met the other five members of the hunting party a few minutes later.
&nbs
p; Tava led the way, followed closely by Desmond and Alba, with Nadia and Gosto in the rear. That should be a big enough group to do the job. Nadia and Desmond were fifth and sixth level, respectively, and Alba was only fourth but was also an elite Shadow Assassin. Desmond’s gear was top-notch, since Hawke had made sure Brunes’ Warrior-specific weapons and armor ended in the hands of Hawke’s fellow Eternal.
Desmond had become a formidable fighter in the past few days:
Desmond the Destroyer (Human, Eternal)
Level 6 Warrior
Health 251 Mana 47 Endurance 231
Alba was riding on Desmond’s shoulders, which added to the Warrior’s armor and gear meant he was carrying almost two hundred pounds worth of stuff without slowing down. She waved as Hawke as the group reached the clearing where he’d been waiting. He waved back and smiled. A few days ago, he’d thought Alba would be good for Desmond, who didn’t have a good track record with the ladies back on Earth and had developed some bad attitudes as a result. He was glad the two had hit it off without him doing or saying anything.
Of course, Hawke realized as the Warrior walked over and high-fived him; the two gauntleted hands made a loud gong when they met. Alba, still perched over the Warrior, jokingly squeezed her thighs tighter around Desmond’s uncovered head.
“We’ll get them,” Desmond said as he ran a hand over his girlfriend’s muscular leg.
“You said it.”
That was fast, he said, temporarily forgetting that he’d gotten engaged twice after spending less than a month in the Realms.
Tava gave Hawke a hug and he made his helmet disappear so they could kiss. “I heard it was the Caseres,” she told him.
He nodded. “Everyone at their villa.”
Tava shook her head. “They were good folks. I learned my letters with two of their grandsons. None of them deserved any of this.”
“We’ll make them pay. Arachnoids hate sunlight and travel only at night. They couldn’t have made it to the farmhouse and back to the mountains last night, so they are holed up somewhere nearby. I couldn’t follow their tracks, but you can.”
“I’m sure she can,” Nadia said, approaching them while also giving Desmond and Alba a wide berth. “But has it occurred to anybody that this might be a trap?”
Nadia Morganna
Level 5 Sorceress
Health 53 Mana 163(203) Endurance 74
“The Elf is right,” Alba said before she somersaulted away from Desmond’s shoulders. “Not even a drunken fool strikes a blow and expects no reaction. They provoked us to a fight. I’d wager they expect to win it.”
Hawke wanted to disagree with both of them, but he couldn’t. The raid could well be designed to trick Orom’s defenders into an ambush.
“Well, if it is a trap, we’ll have to smash our way out of it,” he said instead.
“You are very brave,” Tava told him.
“And very handsome,” Nadia added.
Desmond grinned. “Oh, I know the next line. And very stupid!”
“I’m open to suggestions,” Hawke said after everyone was done laughing at him. If he was ever in danger of letting his new position as Prefect go to his head, all he had to do was spend some quality time with his friends.
“I’ll track them down,” Tava said. “We will on our guard. Alba should follow us from a distance, using her abilities to be out of sight. If something goes wrong and she cannot help us, at the very least she can go for help.”
“I was going to suggest something like that anyway.”
“Or,” Desmond said. “We could get Korgam and his boys to join in. Eleven is better than six.”
Hawke shook his head. “I want them in Orom, in case this is a feint and they try something while we’re away. Between Kinto and Korgam’s people, the town should be safe.”
“Fair enough.”
“Father will not be easily fooled,” Gosto said. The Druid had done a lot of growing up in the past month, but he still trusted his father with the conviction of someone younger than sixteen.
Gosto Kintes (Human)
Level 7 Druid
Health 123 Mana 245 Endurance 176
Hawke included everyone except Alba into his Party Interface. She would be able to do so after she reached fifth level.
You have formed an Adventurers’ Party: all members gain a 10% bonus to all tasks, ability or spell effects, damage, and morale.
As a Party Leader, Level Ten or higher, you can choose to devote a percentage of the Party’s XP towards developing Leadership Abilities.
Assign XP? Y/N
He selected ‘Yes’ and a new prompt asked him to select a percentage. He figured ten percent wouldn’t kill anyone and it would have long-term benefits.
“Anything else? Okay, let’s go get them.”
Eight
It was a trap, of course.
The spider-people had done their best to hide their tracks, avoiding soft patches of clear ground where their distinctive spiky feet would leave visible marks. In some cases, they had used branches to sweep up after them. Against a tracking noob like Hawke, that would have been enough, but not against a Ranger trained by a Hunter with decades of experience. She always managed to spot any errors the Arachnoids made as they moved through the woods. Hawke earned another level in Tracking just from watching Tava follow the trail of the raiding party.
“A party of sixteen cannot hide their tracks, unless they are all highly skilled,” she explained. “These folks are led by someone with some woodcraft, but most of them are new at the art of moving through forests.”
The raiders had been headed for the Auric River that separated the Sunset Range from the rest of the valley. From Tava’s estimate of their speed, they wouldn’t have gotten there before dawn. They had to have taken shelter by dawn, given their hatred for sunlight. All Hawke’s team had to do was find a likely hiding spot. But where?
“One finds sinkholes in the forest, sometimes,” Tava said. “Hidden tunnels, leading to ancient chambers built like homes or even small forts beneath the earth. And… I see something.”
Hawke gestured at the group behind him to stop, and looked at the area the Ranger was examining. At first glance, it seemed to be a lightly wooded patch of forest, looking much like any other. He couldn’t even see any tracks leading there.
“What is it?”
“They stopped a little ways back, then entered this spot, one at a time. I don’t see where they went, but there are no tracks leading out. Do you see the far side? Lots of loose foliage, but nothing has been disturbed. They didn’t go any further.”
“Wait,” Hawke said. “Let me refresh my Enlightenment spell.”
Hawke had been casting it every few minutes, but the spell had expired not too long ago and he’d forgotten to renew it. The Light effect greatly increased his chance of detecting hidden doors, traps and other hard to spot stuff. Unfortunately, it only lasted a couple of minutes and was meant to be used indoors. But when he cast it now, a large trapdoor began to glow yellow, less than fifty feet from where he and Tava were.
“I’ve got something,” he told everyone. “I think…”
The ground opened up under his feet and he dropped into darkness.
* * *
Hawke fell for less than two seconds before hitting the ground, en
ough time to insta-cast Aura of Light and Shield of Light. His inhuman Dexterity allowed him to twist like a cat and land in a crouch, limbs spread to minimize the impact. He still took thirty-one points of damage. Falling in a suit of plate armor, even one that was lighter than a steel version, hurt like hell. Four of his friends dropped with him. The group had clustered relatively close together when somebody opened a pit under them. He heard several cries of pain and a loud clatter when Desmond landed. A glance at the Party interface showed him that Nadia had suffered the most damage. Hawke cast Wave of Healing while he looked around.
His Dark Vision let him see an underground cave, with the nearest wall almost fifty feet from his landing spot. That was all he had time to notice before two overlapping area-of-effect spells hit him and everyone else. Stone spikes exploded from the ground. One stabbed him right through his foot for another five points of damage. He heard Nadia cry out in terrible agony – and saw her icon on the Party interface go dark. She’d been killed! A thrown spear hit him on his shoulder and glanced off; a moment later, he saw a pack of Murk Arachnoids closing in while two of their shamans used magic on the party:
Murk Arachnoid
Level 6 Warrior
Health 72 Mana 36 Endurance 60
Murk Arachnoid
Level 8 Shaman
Health 56 Mana 160 Endurance 80
Desmond was next to Hawke, trying to extricate his left leg from a stone spike that had torn through his upper thigh. Off to his left, Tava tossed aside an empty Lesser Healing Potion bottle and calmly drew and loosed. An Arachnoid Warrior dropped almost at her feet, its hands clawing at the shaft protruding from one of its eyes. Hawke wasn’t just watching the sights, either: he threw his go-to energy hammer at one of the Shamans – and hit a shield made of greenish-brown energy. A moment later, a Warrior tried to hack him down. He caught the descending chopping blade with his left blade, and used the other to deliver a savage slash that completely severed the spiderling’s humanoid torso from its lower abdomen. The bisected corpse fell, spraying ichor everywhere as Hawke cast another Wave of Healing to help his teammates.
Lord of the Dead: A LitRPG Saga (The Eternal Journey Book 2) Page 5
