The Land: Predators

by Aleron Kong

  After the welcoming ceremony was done, Richter received a series of prompts showing how these newest villagers had changed the village’s Dynamics.

  Know This! Your village has grown by leaps and bounds. Never forget, there are consequences to your actions.

  Your village had 694 souls with an average base Morale of +1592 and an average base Loyalty of +1,485

  You have now added 359 souls with an average base Morale of -628 and an average base Loyalty of +3,811

  The following adjustments have been made to your village values:

  Base Morale decreased by -757

  Morale Modifiers: +835 x 1.74 (+25% Undefeated x +12% Administrator x +10% Health x -2% Crime)

  Total Morale Points: +1,210

  Base Loyalty increased by +762

  Loyalty Modifiers: +2,278 x 1.47 (+25% Undefeated x +12% Administrator x +10% Health)

  Total Loyalty Points: +3,349

  DING!

  The Loyalty Rank of Mist Village increased from Reliable (Rank 3: +1000) to Trusting (Rank 4: +2500)

  “Your people believe your words and follow your commands easily. Your words can even start to sculpt their ideas and beliefs. They begin to put the well-being of the settlement above their own.”

  Loyalty Rank Reward (40% → 70%): +70% to Productivity

  Richter hadn’t known exactly how down in the dumps the freed slaves had been, but he was actually relieved that it hadn’t been worse. They had been the victims of murder, rape and other horrible abuses; that they could even smile now was a testament to their inner strength, in his opinion.

  The fact that they had recently been freed and given three hots and a cot had probably improved their Morale somewhat as well. On the whole, adding the new villagers had been a positive change for the village. The overall Loyalty had jumped a rank and he was already excited about the boost to Productivity. True, he had lost a great deal of Morale Points, but the village was still rank three, elated, so there hadn’t been any direct negative effects. He had to think that the freed prisoners’ Morale would improve as more time passed.

  The increase in the village’s Loyalty was staggering. He’d finally broken into the fourth rank of one of his City Mechanics, and the boost was awesome! Even with the -2% loss from having a negligible Crime level, factoring in all the numbers from Loyalty, Morale and Health gave his village a +98% boost to Productivity! Just what he needed before a big battle, he thought with a smile.

  There were a few more notifications.

  The Housing available in your settlement is now 50% below capacity for your population. You have 1 week to solve this issue or -5 will be subtracted from village Morale each day for a max loss of -500.

  That prompt was not the best, but he did have a full week to fix the problem. With the boost to Productivity, he wasn’t overly worried. There was some other good news as well.

  Congratulations! You have completed a Quest: Potential for Greatness I

  The fruit of the Quickening has been fed to ten Professionals in your village. Your people are on the path towards a celestial evolution.

  Reward: 1,250 (base 1,000 x 1.25) experience

  Reward: +1% chance of Professionals who have both sworn fealty to you and eaten the flesh of the Quickening fruit to have up to 1 of their Talents celestially augmented.

  He also got the next link in the quest chain calling for another twenty Professionals to be fed the fruit of the Quickening. Even though Randolphus couldn’t partake because of his evil alignment, there were now more than enough Professionals in the village to fulfill the criteria and Richter was rewarded with another completion prompt.

  Congratulations! You have completed the Quest: Potential for Greatness II

  The fruit of the Quickening has been fed to thirty Professionals in your village. The next step in celestial evolution has been taken.

  Reward: 2,500 (base 2,000 x 1.25) experience.

  Reward: +2% (total 3%) chance of the Professionals who have both sworn fealty to you and eaten the flesh of the Quickening to have 1 (up to 2) of their Talents celestially augmented.

  Congratulations! You have unlocked a Quest: Potential for Greatness III

  Only Professionals with a “Good” or “Neutral” alignment may safely consume the fruit of the Quickening. Current Count: 32/60.

  Success Conditions: Feed the fruit of the Quickening to sixty different Professionals

  Reward: Unknown

  Penalty for Failure or Refusal: None

  Do you accept? Yes or No?

  Know This! Your leadership has inspired more than 50% of your villagers to swear fealty. Ongoing changes in Loyalty are now 3x as effective.

  You have no ongoing changes in Loyalty!

  Richter gratefully accepted the third link in the quest chain. The red prompt reminding him that he’d lost the Honorable Tenet was a bit of a nut flick, but he didn’t let it bring him down. The party kept going and the new villagers seemed to be integrating without too much bother. There were definitely some haunted faces, but there had been loss among the old villagers as well. He saw more than one group off to the side, raising toasts to fallen friends and lost loved ones, making sure they were not forgotten.

  The chaos seed actually got tired a bit early despite his Belt of Sustenance. The day had been extremely long. Even his short nap on the bank of the river hadn’t been enough to balance the physical demands of the dungeon dive. He was about to sneak away and leave his people to their festivities when a guard rushed up and whispered in his ear.

  His mind instantly cleared and he jumped up. Randolphus and Sion looked at him in surprise. Richter motioned with his head for them to follow as he started jogging towards the south gate. When he got there, he looked around to no avail. One of the guards said, “A black disc opened, he came through, then it sounded like there was angry shouting coming from the other side. He just stayed there with that expression on his face. You know, the one that means he could be thinking about birds or plotting your death and he is mad about it either way?”

  Richter nodded; he knew it all too well. The guard continued his story, “Then he asked where the Dungeon was. I did not see any reason not to tell him, but as soon as I did, he took off running. I swear, my lord, I told him to wait, that it was not safe beyond the village walls at night, but he did not listen. I sent two guards to protect him and another to find you, Lord Richter.”

  Richter nodded and told the guard he’d done well. He kept jogging, his two Companions in tow. Even though the sun had fallen, it was easy to navigate thanks to the many mist lights positioned outside the city walls. The three of them moved quickly to the hill that held the Dungeon and jogged up to the top. When they got there, the chaos seed saw something he had never thought he’d ever see.

  Roswan was giggling. Like, giggling like a little girl. His gaze was locked on the entrance to the Dungeon and he didn’t even notice Richter until the chaos seed walked directly in front of him. When that happened, the elf turned his gaze and his mustache on the chaos seed. “Well done, my lord. Well done!” He looked at the cave mouth again before turning his gaze back to his liege. His eyes unfocused for a moment in the way people did when they were accessing their interface. Then a new round of giggles pealed forth. “I am a Dungeon Keeper!”

  CHAPTER 76 – Day 144 – Kuborn 34, 0 AoC

  “What!”

  “I am a Dungeon Keeper!” Roswan repeated excitedly. The normally taciturn elf’s eyes were positively dancing. His mouth was set in a super-creepy rictus of a grin, though the thick brown caterpillar mustache seemed too heavy for the man to keep that expression for long. “It is my Specialty!”

  “Specialty?” Richter asked. None of this was making any sense and it was starting to piss him off. For one thing, you had to get a Profession before you could get a Specialty. And as far as he knew, once you got your Profession, you had to advance for at least ten personal levels. Roswan had only been level twelve when he’d left for his Trial. Not wanting to waste m
ore time or risk more maddening answers, he decided to just use Analyze.

  Name: Roswan

  Race: Wood Elf

  Profession: Engineer

  Level: 22

  Disposition: Happy

  Specialty: Dungeon Keeper

  STATS

  Health: 170

  Mana: 330

  Stamina: 250

  ATTRIBUTES

  Strength: 23

  Agility: 15

  Dexterity: 35

  Constitution: 17

  Endurance: 25

  Intelligence: 33

  Wisdom: 12

  Charisma: 15

  Luck: 14

  SKILLS

  Construction: 47

  Masonry: 38

  Carpentry: 35

  Design: 28

  Repair: 36

  Unarmed Combat: 27

  Cooking: 14

  Tracking: 15

  Fishing: 24

  Puzzle Solving: 23

  ALLEGIANCE

  Liege Lord: Richter of the Mist Village

  Job: Builder of the Mist Village

  DESCRIPTION

  Elves have several subclasses that determine their specific powers. Wood Elves are gifted in archery, woodcraft, and healing. Increased accuracy and damage when using ranged weapons. Bonus to dodge. Wood Elves get three points to distribute per level, and each level gives +1 to Dexterity and +1 to Intelligence.

  “How in the holy hells did you jump ten levels?” Richter blurted in surprise. “And how did you get a Specialty? And what the hell is Puzzle Solving? And why are you so good at Unarmed Combat?”

  Roswan finally came back to himself a bit, and gave his signature, “Grrrmmm. The answer to the last question is that for some reason an inordinate number of people need a good punch to the face. In answer to your third question, I do not want to talk about it. In answer to the first two questions, you should know that the magic of the Trial prevents me from giving too many details, but this is what I can tell you.”

  Then the mustached elf began a story of epic proportions. It had love, drama and the involvement of what Richter thought could only be gods! At the end, Richter, Sion and even Randolphus were gasping and laughing.

  “You have to tell the scribes about this,” Sion said, wiping his eyes free of tears. “It deserves to be a book.”

  “Grrrmmm,” the elf responded. “but for now, at least you understand how I became a Dungeon Keeper. Now,” he stated, “I assume that you are the Dungeon Master, Lord Richter?”

  “I am,” the chaos seed replied, still reeling a bit at Roswan’s insane story.

  “Will you make me the Dungeon Keeper for the Dungeon of Bloody Chaos?”

  Something clicked in Richter’s head. “Wait. So, after you went through all that during your Trial... and I imagine there must be even more that happened that you can’t tell us about... after all that you came back to the village and irrevocably chose the Specialty, Dungeon Keeper.” Roswan nodded. “A Specialty that only works if you have access to a Dungeon,” Richter continued. Roswan nodded again but with a frown this time. “And it just so happens that lil ol’ me has the only Dungeon around, huh?” Richter was getting giddy with finally having something he could hold over the implacable elf. “Is that about right?” he asked with a horrible grin.

  Roswan’s face was growing more and more grim as he watched Richter working himself up to the finale.

  “I think,” Richter’s voice was casual and innocent, totally in contrast to the deviltry in his eyes, “that you would be a great Dungeon Keeper. But,” and his voice was full of fake sorrow, “I just wouldn’t feel comfortable giving you command of my Dungeon… unless I knew a bit more about you personally.”

  Roswan’s glare could have lit Richter on fire if he’d been an X-man. His frown could have provided structural support to the Coliseum. His mustache could have been a Lord of the Dance the way it quivered… if his mustache were sentient, and Richter wasn’t a hundred percent sure that it wasn’t. His ‘Grmmm’… as well as his ‘Grmmmm’ … were so deep they probably felt the aftershocks all the way in Yves.

  Richter was not about to be dissuaded though. He’d had a hell of a long day. He’d almost died multiple times but somehow managed to come out on top. Then he’d increased the population of his village by almost 50% and had given the village’s Productivity a serious boost. Being able to fuck with Roswan, the elf who’d continually met his every question with a goddamned ‘Grmmm’ was the cherry on top of his day, and he was going to have his fucking cherry!

  “Oh yeah,” Richter said, nodding and grinning like a maniac. “If you want to be my Dungeon Keeper, then we are about to bond. We are going to have five minutes of… you know what? I’ll take one minute. We will have one minute of small talk. And hear me well, elf. It is going to be casual, and it is going to be amicable!”

  The sound that Roswan let out this time sounded like a yak with intestinal problems. Kind of a low groan that also squealed a bit at the end. His face tightened up so much that Richter thought his nose might actually have the gravitational pull of a black hole. The chaos seed waited him out, knowing he was holding all the cards. Sion and Randolphus just stood off to the side, watching this most philosophical of battles between an unstoppable force and an immovable object. That night, they saw a miracle. The object moved.

  “Fine!” Roswan finally caved. “Damn you, human! What exactly do you want to know?”

  “I want one minute of you telling me personal facts about yourself,” Richter told him, his smile unwavering. He’d won! He was riding so high he didn’t even mind that the elf had sworn at him. Roswan was clearly about to start ranting again, but the chaos just said, “Startiiiing… now.”

  The elf heaved a deep sigh, but did as he was bid, “I do not eat vegetables. That includes fish… because it is a vegetable. I also do not believe in drinking water. It is a beverage that does not try enough. Be whiskey or do not exist. I love riddles. I only have nine toes, and the most graceful animal on the planet is a mini-horse.”

  “You mean a pony?” Sion asked completely confused.

  “No, son! A mini-horse!” It was clear from Roswan’s tone that he felt the sprite had just used fighting words.

  Sion looked at the chamberlain, who just widened his eyes and shook his head. Richter got them back on track, “Okay. Is there anything else I should know? Are you ready for this responsibility?”

  The elf looked back at Richter with a fierce gaze and firmly pronounced, “I was born ready. I’m Ro-fucking-swan.”

  There was absolute silence for a moment, but every one of them knew he meant it in the cockles of his heart.

  “Good enough for me, buddy,” Richter told the elf with a laugh. “There are still a lot of buildings that need to be constructed though. I can’t have you just playing around in the Dungeon all day. If I make you Dungeon Keeper, I still need you to devote at least eight hours a day to building up the village. The Townhall will need your attention first. Any of the rest of your time you can spend working in the Dungeon.”

  “Grrmm,” the elf expressed in displeasure. “How long do I have to split my focus?”

  “For the foreseeable future,” Richter told him firmly, “but I might be open to decreasing your hours if we find a replacement for you.”

  “Actually, my lord,” Randolphus interjected. He was looking at his clipboard, “There is a Builder gnome among the new villagers who is a journeyman in Construction.”

  “Well that’s good news,” Richter replied. “What’s her name?”

  “Lezli, Lord Richter. She is also among those who swore fealty to you.”

  “Lezli,” Richter repeated slowly, as if tasting the name. “Lezli Gnome.” It rang a bell for some reason, but he just couldn’t place it. “Okay. If she agrees to become the village Builder, and if you do what you can to train her up, then I’ll be open to decreasing the hours I need you to commit to the village.” He plastered a big smile on his face again. “See
! Isn’t this fun? Us talking? I feel closer to you already, Roswan!”

  With his stoic face, Roswan replied, “I feel closer to you too, Roger.”

  Richter looked at him like he was crazy, but decided a win was a win. They’d talk more about what it meant to be a Dungeon Keeper in the morning, but right then he was dying for some sleep. He accessed his interface and assigned Roswan as the Dungeon Keeper.

  Do you wish to assign the wood elf, Roswan, to the Job of Dungeon Keeper? Yes or No?

  Richter chose “Yes,” but then got a warning prompt.

  A person may only hold one village Job at a time. Assigning Roswan as the village Dungeon Keeper will remove him from the Job of village Builder. Do you still wish to make this personnel change? Yes or No?

  With a faint sigh, Richter chose “Yes” again. He hoped this Lezli chick was up to the task.

  Roswan has been removed from his position as village Builder. The bonus from him holding this position has been removed. -6% to speed of Constructing buildings.

  Congratulations! You have filled another Job. Roswan is now the village Dungeon Keeper! This position can only be filled by an Engineer who also meets the particular criteria to choose this rare Specialty. The bonuses afforded will reflect such a rare individual.