The Land: Predators

by Aleron Kong

  “Thank you, my lord,” she replied happily. Even behind the cloth mask, he could see her smile. “After our stock was depleted because of the raid, I decided to use a few more of my Talent Points to strengthen my Alchemist Profession. I purchased Potion Strength I and Healing Potion Strength I. The first increases the strength of all my potions by 5%. The second increases the potency of my healing potions by a further 10%.”

  “It couldn’t have been cheap,” Richter said looking at the elf. Talent Points could be earned in a variety of ways, but they grew much harder to obtain as time went on.

  She paused a moment, “I am happy here. It only seems right that I would use my Profession to help our people. Yesterday, the pixies’ song made it hard for me to do anything but lie down. After half the time on the debuff had elapsed however, I found I could muster the will to move again. More than that, I felt inspired to help you and the village however I could. I am still alive after all, when so many fell in the battle. Once I felt up to moving again, I came back to the Cauldron, purchased the Talents and finished brewing the health potions. We are all in this together, after all, my lord.”

  Richter blinked. Tabia had never caused problems in the village, but neither had she ever been warm and cuddly. She’d always come off as exactly what she was, a coldly rational mercenary. He had to imagine that there were other areas in her Profession she could have invested her precious Talent Points into that would have served her better personally. Instead of being selfish, she’d done the opposite.

  The elf had acted somewhat selflessly and purchased a Talent that might save the lives of her fellow villagers. Richter remembered the words that had accompanied the new ranks of Morale and Loyalty for the village: ‘You can expect small gifts from time to time,’ and ‘Your people will… begin to put the well-being of the settlement above their own.” When he remembered that, it all started to make sense. A smile broke across his face. He loved The Land!

  Randolphus and Tabia watched him just stand there and think for a few seconds. The cloth made it only slightly less creepy that he was staring at the elf with a doofy smile on his face. He finally caught the hint that he was making her uncomfortable when Randolphus fake coughed. Richter shook himself out of it. “If the potions went so well, then what’s with all this killer smoke?”

  “This is just the byproduct of a failed experiment, my lord,” Tabia replied, waving her hand dismissively.

  Richter’s amusement faded and he blanched slightly. Her last “experiment” had involved trying to stabilize the equivalent of magical nitroglycerin. She had ultimately been successful, but there had been several failed attempts. Failed attempts that had shook the very ground the village was built upon and made the village dogs yap themselves into little doggy seizures. When he had asked her about those experiments, she had just smiled ruefully and said she was thankful that the building was both self-healing and made of one of the hardest known substances. He had made a prompt life decision to not be around the Cauldron while she was experimenting from that moment on.

  Perpetually uninterested in a man’s blood flow, the lesbian elf failed to notice her liege’s red-faced apprehension. Instead, she just slid over two full trays of potions.

  You have found:

  Stamina Potion x 36

  Alchemy Class: Uncommon.

  Alchemy Level: Solution

  Alchemy Strength: Processed

  Durability: 5/5

  Weight: 0.1 kg.

  Traits: Will restore 384 Stamina Points over 18 seconds.

  You have found:

  Mana Potion x 42

  Alchemy Class: Uncommon.

  Alchemy Level: Solution

  Alchemy Strength: Processed

  Durability: 5/5

  Weight: 0.1 kg.

  Traits: Will restore 287 Mana Points over 17 seconds.

  Richter had no idea why it was harder to restore mana than stamina or health. It was that way even for his enchantments. The magic rings he had found that boosted health, stamina and mana might have the same class and quality, but the boost to mana was always less. Health and stamina seemed to rise equally.

  “This is great, Tabia,” Richter told her thankfully, “but why aren’t there fifty of each?”

  She sighed. “The sad fact is that we are out of resources, my lord.”

  “Out?” Richter asked, surprised.

  He looked at Randolphus who readily spoke up, “I have asked Alchemist Tabia for more detailed reports of what ingredients and potions she has, but she has been less than forthcoming.”

  Richter knew Randy had nothing against Tabia, but the elf really did view the Dragon’s Cauldron as her own little fiefdom. Randolphus, in turn, may have been lying about the fact that he was a half-undine Spy, but he had never hidden the fact that he was also a fastidious prick. Tabia’s lack of compliance with his documentation requests and her indignation at having him in “her” lab had caused the two of them to be a bit prickly with one another.

  For his own part, the chaos seed sympathized with Tabia. He had wanted to scream a time or two after being subjected to Randolphus’ to-do lists. In fact, he had screamed once. But even though paperwork wasn’t his thing, he did greatly appreciate the chamberlain’s attention to detail. The man had at his fingertips information ranging from average water consumption to how many kernels of grain the village had. It had driven the chamberlain crazy for months that Tabia wouldn’t let him snoop in the Cauldron and wasn’t the best at providing accurate reports.

  “I am too busy serving Lord Richter and the village to give you updates every hour for your little ledger,” the elf responded archly.

  “My ledger,” Randolphus retorted, “keeps this village running smoothly, and there is nothing little about it!”

  “Did I say ledger, I meant-”

  “Enough!” Richter said, not even trying to keep a smirk off his face. “Tabia, what exactly did you mean by ‘we are out’?”

  “There are always more resources, my lord, but it takes time to collect and prepare them. Arrowroot, for example, is plentiful in the forest and grows well in Isabella’s garden, but it must be properly dried first in order to make high quality stamina potions.”

  “Then dry some,” Richter told her, his tone indicating the idea was the most obvious thing in the world.

  “We have no more fresh arrowroot,” she answered primly. Her tone made it obvious just what she thought about his tone. “More will grow soon, but since you have stopped everyone from going past the village walls, the flow of herbs from the forest has stopped. If you want the production of potions to resume I will need more. I made a list,” the last word was said with a bit of emphasis and her eyes flicked to Randolphus, “of what we will need at a bare minimum.”

  Richer looked at the list. His eyes widened slightly when a prompt filled his vision.

  You have been offered a Quest: Needed Ingredients I

  The prodigious rate at which your Core building, the Dragon’s Cauldron, can create potions is both a blessing and a curse. More ingredients are needed to continue producing the potions you require.

  Success Conditions:

  The minimum requirements to fulfill this quest are:

  1) 500 Arrowroot Plants or an equivalent that can restore stamina

  2) 500 Forest Sage Plants or an equivalent that can restore health

  3) 500 Speckled Mountain Flowers or an equivalent that can restore mana.

  Reward: Resumption of normal production in the Dragon’s Cauldron

  Penalty for Failure:

  1) Decreased relationship with Tabia.

  2) Continued decreased potion production.

  This Quest is a charge from one of your villagers and cannot be refused.

  “Five hundred? Of each?” Richter asked incredulously. “And this is the bare minimum you need?”

  “Yes, my lord,” Tabia answered earnestly. “The Cauldron’s replication ability is amazing, but it doesn’t diminish the amount of resources req
uired. When you left for the raid on the goblin camp, you took our entire stock of potions. Few raw materials were left. If I don’t get these ingredients immediately, there will not be enough potions for the next large engagement. When will that be by the way, my lord?”

  Richter gave a large sigh before answering. He had planned to have a talk with the village leadership that night, but now that they were throwing a party, he had decided to push it to the next morning. Since she was asking though, he outlined the undead threat. He quickly told her about the undead lair he had found and the memory he had lived through. Richter spoke of the lich lord that had spotted him somehow, and Hisako’s theory that the increased undead sightings around the village were harbingers of something worse to come. Finally, he told her about the time limit to use Krista’s Summoning Coin, and how there were only nine days left before they would have to fight the lich without the spirit’s support.

  Tabia’s eyes had widened while he spoke, but upon hearing that she had at most a week to make more potions, she cursed, “I need these supplies immediately, my lord!”

  Richter’s mind began to spin as he tried to figure out how to fulfill such an order, when Randolphus spoke up, “If I may, my lord, I believe the meidon sprites would be ideal for this assignment. It will allow them to take their pixies into the forest and gain some experience. Whereas hunters we send might ruin the plants, almost all sprites have the Herb Lore skill, I believe. I am sure that Hisako’s army would be happy to help as well if offered a small portion of the potions that will be made.”

  The chamberlain’s suggestion was a good one. If the pixies were truly going into battle in a week’s time, then it would be a good idea for them to get some experience first. With any luck, a few might even level. The fact that both sprites and pixies were so attuned to the forest was also an amazing bonus. Richter well remembered how difficult it was to harvest his first herbs. Without the Herb Lore skill and the proper technique, it was damn near impossible.

  “I like it,” Richter said. He sent out a mental call to Futen. “Is there anything else you need?”

  The alchemist cocked her head in thought, “I actually have a few ideas for potions that might work well against the undead. I should be able to make a few with the ingredients I have on hand.”

  Tabia fixed her gaze back on Richter and spoke warmly, “I want to express that I appreciate what you said last night. I know you spoke the truth because you have already made it possible for Mimi and me to live in a safe place. We might never have gone for our Trials without you and the security you provide. I am with you, my lord, and I will continue to sing your praises. I am happy to tell you that the other villagers I have recruited to help me in the Cauldron are already excited about the possibilities here. If you continue to bring me any interesting ingredients you find, I am sure we will be able to make you some amazing potions. We will even make them with a smile on our faces.” Her eyes twinkled as she finished her speech.

  Another window opened in Richter’s vision.

  You earned an Open Quest: Ingredients for Love!

  Alchemist Tabia is extremely appreciative of what you have done for the village and for her personally. She promises to do what she can to further improve your relationship with any villagers that possess the Alchemy skill. She also states she will investigate potential new potion recipes if new ingredients are brought to her.

  Success Conditions: Bring new ingredients to Tabia

  Reward: New Potions

  Fail Conditions: This quest will only remain available while the village Loyalty and Morale both remain rank 3 or above.

  Penalty for Failure: None

  This Quest is a charge from one of your villagers and cannot be refused.

  Richter had to stifle another creepy grin. An open quest? The holy grail and ultimate cheat for any game! All he had to do to make every alchemist in the village love him was to keep bringing new ingredients to the Cauldron. He told Tabia that he would take care of it. By that time, most of the fumes had cleared. They removed their handkerchiefs and Richter filled several vials with the solution in the bowl that held the strips of cloth.

  You have found:

  Basic Cleansing Potion x 7

  Alchemy Class: Common.

  Alchemy Level: Tincture

  Alchemy Strength: Processed

  Durability: 5/5

  Weight: 0.1 kg.

  Traits: Will filter the air you breathe of common fumes.

  Richter also asked Tabia for one measure of every ingredient she had. She looked at him quizzically but agreed. Soon his Bag was full of various herbs: Tiger Lily, Arrowroot, Forest Sage, and other more valuable components like Crypt Mistress Ichor, Spectral Dust and Dire Wasp Venom. Richter truly regretted not having had more of the shrieke venom to feed the Dungeon. It was an incredibly potent weapon and had helped him in more than one battle, but because it was a naturally occurring venom, the Dragon’s Cauldron couldn’t reproduce it. He’d used the last of it to kill the assengai spider queen. The idea of the Dungeon making it a loot drop was insanely attractive.

  Tabia asked why he needed one measure of each ingredient, but he just smiled and told her it would be made clear soon enough. The two men left the Cauldron and the elf got back to her alchemy.

  CHAPTER 20 – Day 142 – Kuborn 32, 0 AoC

  Randolphus also had them stop by the garden to retrieve some living plants before they left the meadow.

  “We already have a dried measure of most of these,” Richter commented. “Why are we uprooting plants?”

  “You plan to place those ingredients in the Dungeon’s Well of Offering, my lord?”

  “Yes,” Richter replied. The village knew about the Dungeon, or would soon, but he wasn’t sure how he was going to handle their access to it. That was why he hadn’t told Tabia why he wanted the plants. Until he had a policy in place, he wanted to keep information about it curtailed to avoid an annoying bumrush.

  “Prepared ingredients will be treated like an item or loot,” the chamberlain explained. “There is a chance of being rewarded with these items after slaying monsters or finding chests. If you offer the Dungeon living plants, however, there is a chance they will start to grow naturally.”

  One of the gardeners walked up with a smile on his face. Richter told him to gather up one of each plant in the garden, roots and all. The man lightly placed a fist to his heart in salute of his liege and called the other gardeners to do as commanded. Richter turned to his new Companion, “So it doubles the chances of finding them? The Dungeon will make more?”

  “Not exactly, my lord,” the chamberlain hedged. “Seeing as how we have a few moments, I will explain a bit of Lore. Dungeons do not ‘want,’ my lord. They have Motivations. These Motivations will determine how the Dungeon develops.”

  “You kinda lost me, man.”

  Randolphus frowned slightly, “I will… endeavor to find you, my lord. An example of a Motivation might be to connect to water. This would be completely understandable if the monster type of the Dungeon were plant-based. In that scenario, the growth of the Dungeon’s tunnels will be towards a water source. Why this matters to a Dungeon Master such as yourself is that it can help predict the Dungeon’s progression. Imagine that the closest water source was a mile deep. The tunnels it created would go almost straight down. That is why the choice of Harbinger and Item of Power are so important. The wrong choice might lead to a Dungeon whose Motivations were horribly mismatched with its environment.”

  Richter’s heart started to race, “Yeah, sooooo, what about a Beast Dungeon in a forest?”

  “I believe that is entirely appropriate, my lord,” Randolphus assured him.

  Whew, Richter thought. He plastered a smile on his face and shrugged nonchalantly, “I knew that, of course. So, the Harbinger and the Item of Power determine the Motivations?”

  “The source of Motivations is as hard to fathom as the beginning of love or the ending of hate.” Richter rolled his eyes a bit, but didn
’t interrupt. “The fulfillment of Motivations is as definable as the end of the night sky,” Randolphus’ voice had the tone of recitation and just a hint of irritation at the end, having caught his liege’s eye movement. Richter opened his mouth to complain about useless poetry, but the chamberlain cut him off, “It basically means Motivations can be anything and it doesn’t always have to make sense.”

  A broad smile broke across Richter’s face, “Now was that so hard?”

  A faint smile creased the Spy’s face in spite of himself, “Merely endeavoring not to ‘lose’ you again, my lord. I do know one thing for certain. While Motivations can be extremely varied, the primary Motivation of every new Dungeon is to connect to the Labyrinth.”

  “I thought Dungeons were already part of the Labyrinth,” Richter protested. The all-too-familiar ‘quit confusing me with this doubletalk bullshit’ headache was looming on the horizon.

  “The Labyrinth is all Dungeons, but not all Dungeons are of the Labyrinth,” Randolphus said in the same recitational voice. Seeing Richter’s nostrils flare dangerously, he cut to the chase again, “Anyone traveling through the Labyrinth might find your Dungeon, but you cannot use this Dungeon to enter the Labyrinth until it reaches level ten.”

  “Well, that’s not fair,” Richter said in a mock whine.

  Not getting the dry humor, Randolphus just decided to agree with his strange liege, “No, my lord, it is not. As I told you last night, new Dungeons are quite susceptible to destruction until they mature, or at the very least, your position as Dungeon Master remains precarious. That is why it is important that we strengthen it as soon as possible.

  “In Law, there are multiple entrances to their Dungeon. Each is closely regulated by the crown. The king takes a large percentage of whatever treasure the Adventurers find. It is also true however, that a great deal of new Adventurers lose their lives. This also benefits the crown by feeding the Dungeon.”