Another thirty minutes of dodging the guards, and he reached the outer wall. Several homes were built right up against the inner face of the wall, a tactical mistake as far as Lagrass was concerned, but one he was grateful for. He used an empty crate to boost himself up to the roof of a warehouse, and from there went up and over the wall. One of the guards stationed fifty paces down the parapet spotted him, and shouted. But Lagrass was already gone, dropping the twenty feet and rolling when he hit, then dashing off toward the river. Wasting no time, he dove into the water and began swimming as fast as he could downstream.
Five minutes later, as he was getting tired, guards on horseback and carrying torches came galloping down the riverbank. Lagrass took several deep breaths, filling his lungs with oxygen, then ducked down under the water and relaxed, letting the river’s current move him. He stayed under as long as he could, nearly a minute, then surfaced just long enough for another breath. He kept at this for an hour, until he no longer saw the light of torches through the water. Surfacing for good, he rolled over onto his back and simply floated downstream until the sky began to lighten.
Chapter 18
When Dalia and Smitty finally returned, they brought bad news. The Blooded were still not yet ready to become citizens of Stormhaven. They were willing to enter into an alliance, and establish trade, which Max supposed was a good start. Picklet had returned with Dalia, the two of them not even trying anymore to hide the blossoming relationship between them.
As it turned out, Dylan had been in Stormhaven the entire time, learning from the minotaur enchanter as he help him set up shop. Though Max certainly could have used his help at Deepcrag, he considered the ogre’s time well spent on learning to enchant.
“Has he made any progress on the project I gave him?” Max purposely didn’t state out loud what it was, and Dylan took the hint. “A little. He’s working to combine some other enchantments that he’s already used, and it involves a lot of trial and error.” The ogre shrugged. “He estimates it’ll be a few more weeks, at least.”
Max didn’t complain. If it was something that was easy to do, someone surely would have done it by now. Besides, he could wait. The plan was to work on finding a way to cleanse the heart of the mountain stone, which Max expected would involve a lot of research, and waiting around.
Still, since everyone was back home, he gathered his party, including Nessa, Redmane, and Spellslinger, in his informal meeting room. They sat around a long table with refreshments set in the center, drinking and nibbling on sandwiches as Max relayed his entire adventures through the portals. Redmane had administered an oath to Nessa the day before, as soon as she returned through the portal. She’d leveled up, and learned a few assassin skills for completing her contract. Max was surprised when Redmane had included a statement in her oath that ensured she had sworn no contradictory oaths to the two guilds she’d worked with. It hadn’t occurred to him that she might be a plant from one or the other, and the fact that he’d missed it bothered him.
He amused himself by watching the faces of his friends as he revealed some of the more exciting details. Of all of them, only Redmane had heard it all, and of course Red had experienced it with him. She kept quiet, sitting atop a pile of sandwiches as Max spoke, still invisible to Nessa, Redmane, and old Puckerface.
As Max reached the part where he killed the lich and retrieved the stone, Dylan laughed aloud. “I was wondering why I got a quest completion and leveled up all of a sudden. I was carrying a stack of materials for Erdun, nearly stumbled and dropped them all.” Smitty and Dalia nodded, having had similar experiences. Though Dalia didn’t share it, she’d been about to kiss Picklet when she leveled up. It caused some confusion, and a little awkwardness.
When he’d finished the story with Nessa unlocking all the boxes before they left the vault, Smitty jumped to his feet. “Whaaat? Are you kidding me? Chests and crates full of loot, and you just left without checking? That’s… you… you’re not human, boss!” Dylan nodded his head, emphatically agreeing. “We need to go down there right now!”
Smitty was headed for the door, and Dylan was getting to his feet, when Max called them back. “Hold on, hold on. We’ll head down there next. But we’ve got some things to discuss.” First, Max invited them all to a party and shared the new quest with all of them that didn’t have it. It was faster than sharing it individually. Then he looked at Redmane and Spellslinger. “Any thoughts yet on how we cleanse the stone?”
Spellslinger shook his head, answering first. “Not yet. Our tried and true method fer banishing a lich from a stone be to simply smash it with a hammer. Simple, effective, but not helpful for yer purposes.”
“I doubt it would work in any case.” Redmane added. “The Heart o’ the Mountain be no simple crystal. It were formed under the weight of a mountain, imbued with the ancient power o’ the earth, and possesses the strength o’ the mountain herself. No simple hammer bash would even scratch it.”
“Right. Smashing is off the list. Thanks for that.” Max’s voice dripped sarcasm.
Redmane continued. “I met with Ironhand, and he’s ordered his scholars to do a quiet search o’ the library. He also summoned the Grand Master Enchanter, Master Crystalsinger, from his cousin’s city. It’ll take another day or so for him to arrive.”
Dylan piped up. “I’ll ask Master Erdun, on the off chance he has an idea. I won’t share the information about the gem being the heart of the mountain, just that we want to banish the lich without damaging its crystal.”
Max looked around the table, but nobody else had anything to offer. “Alright, it sounds like this might take a while. Which I suppose is what you’d expect of an epic quest line. If it were too easy, it wouldn’t be epic, would it?” He thumped the table. “So while we wait, let’s make the most of our time here in the city. Dylan, I suggest you go back and help Erdun, continue to learn all you can. Dalia, your father and I have been crafting health potions like crazy. If you’d like to help? He can fill you in on the details. Nessa, there’s supposed to be a hidden door somewhere here in the keep that leads to a ritual room. At least, if we believe the lich. I’d like you to see if you can locate it? And, Smitty… didn’t you mention something on the trip here with Gr’tok and his people about marrying that lady orc you brought with you? I think it’s about time we made that happen.” He grinned at his corporal, expecting him to cringe.
Instead, Smitty surprised him. “Great idea, boss! You can marry us, and we’ll have a party!”
Slightly disappointed, but happy for his friend, Max smiled. “Okay you guys figure out the details, and tell me where and when. In the meantime, unless anyone has anything else…?” When nobody spoke, he continued. “I suppose we should go check out the treasury before Smitty or Dylan’s head explodes.”
It turned out that the lich had been quite the packrat. There were bags and piles of coins, from copper to platinum, and another couple thousand of the heavy square silvers. Redmane and Spellslinger transferred them to the shelving with the coins from the banks as they found them, the chamberlain keeping an accurate accounting as they did so.
One of the larger chests had turned out to be a chest of holding, with one thousand storage slots. Max felt like jumping for joy, until Redmane informed him that it was mostly empty. Only a quarter of the slots were filled, and it was all weapons and armor. None of it matched any of the other pieces, and they surmised it was gear looted from adventurers that had fallen into the same trap that Max had. The good news was that it would let them arm another hundred or so soldiers, and provide at least a piece or two of armor for each. That combined with more gear found in other chests that was more uniform, likely belonging to the Deepcrag guard force, and their armory was going to receive quite a boost.
There were a few high quality weapons, rare and epic, that the party members claimed for themselves. Nessa claimed a black leather belt filled with throwing knives that looked like it had been crafted with her in mind. All sixteen daggers were e
nchanted to cause a bleed effect that was stackable with each hit.
Spellslinger claimed a gnarled wood staff that fit his personality perfectly. It had a plain looking blue crystal mounted at its top that initially seemed to be of little value, just +4 to Wisdom. But upon seeing it, the old dwarf mage cackled happily. “The crystal be a mana storage crystal. It’ll hold five thousand mana!”
Redmane took a golden quill and ink set that offered an Intelligence boost of +5 just for having it sit on his desk. In addition, the inkwell magically refilled itself, and the quill always remained perfectly sharpened.
Dylan discovered a pair of elven boots that reformed to fit his giant feet when he claimed them. They added +10 to agility, and reduced his weight by half. They were meant to help an elven ranger dance through the tree branches, but for the massive ogre, they were a true blessing. “With these, I can walk faster and not get tired!” Max thought it would make things easier on whatever mount they eventually found for the ogre, but kept that to himself.
Dalia found an epic quality healing wand that contained ten charges of a light magic spell that would heal one thousand points instantly. While the potions they were making could heal more, they were slower to use, and slower to act. The wand might save a life in a critical moment. She also found a leather helm with raven’s wings on the sides above the ears, which had no bonus attributes, but that she quite liked.
Smitty claimed a quiver full of metal arrows much like the ones that Max had purchased from Fitchstone. The metal not only accepted his archer’s skill enchantments more easily, but actually amplified the effects by twenty percent. There was also a bow that matched the quiver, but it wasn’t as nice as Smitty’s Bow of Shootyness that was crafted by Regin. Still, he stuck it in his inventory as a backup, just in case.
Max hadn’t planned to claim anything for himself, happy with the gear that Regin had crafted or upgraded for him. Until Dalia removed an item from one of the last crates that he couldn’t resist. It was a pair of enchanted bracers that would go a long way toward easing his mind regarding one particular issue.
Bracers of Dire Winter
Item Quality: Rare
Attributes: +50 Armor, Wisdom +10, Intelligence +5
Enchantment: Frost Cone
When activated by wearer, these braces will each produce a cone of ice crystals that will reach up to twenty feet. This spell can be channeled at a cost of 20mps per bracer.
In addition, the wearer receives a forty percent resistance to fire and fire magic.
Max beamed at the dwarfess after he’d read the description. “Forty percent fire resistance? Yes, please!” He removed his bracers and replaced them on the spot, holding them up for everyone to admire. They seemed to glow faintly with a blue-ish white light.
As they were finishing up, Teeglin came running into the vault. “Master Redmane! There’s a problem in the kitchen! The chef told me…” Her voice drifted off as she took in the piles of money and loot. “Wow!”
“What did the chef tell you, lass?” Redmane nudged her.
“What? Oh, one of the barrels of pork sprung a leak, and the meat went bad. He said to ask you to order more…” She drifted off again, her gaze fixed on a nearby belt with a sheathed dagger. It was a simple weapon with small Agility and Dexterity bonuses. Max picked it up and handed it to her. “In case m’lady needs to help defend the castle.”
“For me?” The little dworc’s bottom lip trembled. “Thank you King Max!” She hugged the belt and weapon tightly to her chest. Dylan cleared his throat, and handed her a medallion he’d been eyeing for himself. It offered +10 to Constitution, which would bring a nice health boost to the little girl.
“Here, this will help to protect you while you protect us.”
The girl leapt up into Dylans arms, surprising him so that he barely managed to catch her. Throwing her own arms around his neck, she gave him a kiss on the cheek. “If I wasn’t going to marry King Max when I get bigger, I would choose YOU!”
Blushing, the ogre gave her a gentle squeeze before setting her down. She thanked them both again and rushed from the room even faster than she’d entered, already feeling the Agility boost.
Smitty snorted. “Who knew? The way to a young lady’s heart is jewelry and knock-knock jokes!”
“Shut it, greeny.” Dylan retorted, still blushing. “Aren’t you about to get married? Maybe you should find something in this pile for your girl?”
“Oh, right.” Smitty was suddenly serious. “Good idea. Is that okay, boss?”
Max kept his face blank, barely looking at the corporal’s face. “I’ll just deduct it from your pay.”
Smitty balked for a second, hunching his head down between his shoulders as he calculated the likely value of something in this treasure pile. The others watched him, waiting…
“Hey, what pay? Are we supposed to be getting paid for this?” He looked up at Max, who burst out laughing. The others joined in, including Smitty himself. “Good one, boss.”
*****
The party spent a full week going about the business of improving their skills, assisting the citizens of Stormhaven, or in Smitty’s case, getting married. Max presided over the ceremony, which consisted of a few quick vows and a pronouncement. There was a big party, during which Dylan got drunk and showed off more of his dance moves. Picklet, not realizing how bad they were, joined in and did his best to imitate the ogre, which encouraged several drunken dwarves and orcs to join in. Seeing that he had a crowd, Dylan started teaching them the electric slide, even getting Dalia, Teeglin, Smitty and his new bride in on the action. Which was about the time Max snuck away to get some sleep.
Max, Dalia, and her father completed the thousand health potions, with the two younger alchemists leveling up their skills several times. Max also had a couple more lessons from Oakstone, learning the finer points of forging with steel. By the end of the week, Dylan, Smitty, Dalia, and Max all had their dragonscale chest pieces delivered. They featured a jaw-dropping +500 armor, plus ten percent resistances to all elemental magic. The pieces were lightweight and flexible, and though Dalia was very complimentary of the work, she declined hers in favor of Regin’s gift, as Steelbender had predicted. Instead, the old smith refitted it for Nessa, who was thrilled by the magical gear.
Steelbender also presented an awestruck Smitty with his sword, a mithril-edged blade like Max’s with +10 Agility, +10 Endurance, and an enchantment called Creep that let him move in absolute silence, at half his normal speed. Thrilled with the name as much as the effect, Smitty tried to hug the smith, who nearly punched him in the gut when he approached. They settled on a firm handshake, and Smitty’s declaration of undying gratitude.
Despite all efforts, none of them had found a viable way to cleanse the lich’s soul from the stone. Max asked Redmane and Spellslinger to continue their efforts while he took the party out for some additional exploring and leveling. His plan was to take the portal to Deepcrag, check on how things were going there, then visit the other two settlements to see what holdings he’d ended up with. While they were out, they could battle whatever denizens of the underground they encountered.
The afternoon before they planned to leave, Max visited the bakery just outside the inner gate. The baker’s nephew had set up his shop, which had become among the most popular spots in the city. He’d hired a young orc and two goblins to help him increase production, and still was often sold out by mid-afternoon each day.
Max was happily cleaning out the remaining inventory, when the bell on the shop’s door rang behind him. He turned to see a gnome with strawberry red hair entering the shop. “I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I’ve just cleaned out the inventory.” Max apologized, then held out a couple of apple cinnamon pastries. “Here, these are for your trouble. I’m sure he’ll have more for you first thing in the morning.”
The gnome silently accepted the gifts, then looked up at Max, tilting his head way back in order to meet his eyes. “Maximilian Storm? The Chimera Ki
ng?”
Max nodded. “And you are?” Max used Identify on the gnome and saw the name “Undertall”, which made him smirk, but didn’t sound familiar.
The gnome took a step back, spreading his arms wide, and grinning just as widely. “What? You don’t recognize your old buddy? Wolf three, reporting for duty!” The gnome came to attention and snapped a sharp salute.
Max blinked in confusion for a second, then his jaw dropped. “Blake? Blake! Holy shit am I glad to see you!” Max dropped to one knee and shook the gnome’s hand, then pulled him in for a bro hug.
“Easy there, boss! Don’t crush me!” the corporal complained. Max let him go immediately, sitting down right in the middle of the baker’s shop to be closer to eye level with Blake.
“A gnome?” Max chuckled. On Earth, Blake had been one of the largest humans Max had ever met. At six foot six and two hundred eighty pounds of wide shoulders and pure muscle, they often joked that the man could flip an APC if it pissed him off.
Blake shrugged. “What can I say? I usually played a tank or bard with the fellas. It just sort of seemed natural, yaknow?” Max did know. He’d heard the corporal pretending to sing some nonsense bard spells during their games. Even one where he attempted to seduce a dragon. And Blake often sang at night when they were outside the wire. He had a voice that could have made him a lot of money as a singer.
“But when I died, and they let me choose my new body… the gnome just called to me. And I’m a squishy caster, too!” He grinned at Max. “Level twenty already. I spawned in a gnome city that was under attack by grey dwarves. The battle lasted for weeks, and I ran fetch quests, crafted, and took low level mage guild quests inside the city until I was strong enough to stand on the walls and fight. We repelled attack after attack, and I had a quest for each one. Talk about power leveling!”
“Awesome!” Max fist-bumped the gnome, his tiny fist barely the size of Max’s thumb. “How’d you find me here?”
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