There was a LOT of stuff going on here, but when it was done, I had a master suite for myself and my harem, nice rooms for guild officers, Iqnora, and visiting dignitaries, barracks for guild members when they were in the castle, some well-equipped kitchens, a dining hall that also served as a guild hall, and baths (including a separate, and more luxurious, one for myself, my pets, and the officers). I also had a private study/office. All to the tune of 25000 GP and 200000 MP from the castle stores. Of course, most of that was just bare space, with the basic equipment needed. I’d have to get craftsmen to make furnishings.
That done, I opened the Upgrades page again, to see what had changed.
Facility Upgrades
Name
Cost
Description
Mystic Forge
N/A
Upgrades the current Forge and Smithy to a Mystic Forge, allowing the processing of magical metals and materials. Allows advanced smithing techniques.
(Locked until Forge repaired.)
Magic Research Lab
N/A
Creates a lab suitable for magical research. Is an upgrade of the Enchanter’s Lab.
(Locked until Enchanter’s Lab repaired.)
Craftsman’s Workshop
N/A
Upgrades the Workshop to a Craftsman’s Workshop, giving +20% bonus to all general crafting skills (Woodworking, Sculpture, Painting, and so on).
(Locked until Workshop repaired.)
Stables
1000 GP
Creates basic stables for up to 20 mounts.
Throne Room, Lv 3
N/A
Upgrades Throne Room to Level 3.
(Locked until Throne Room repaired.)
Living Quarters
Special
Creates residences, kitchens, dining halls, baths, and so on for castle residents and staff. Price depends on options selected.
Dungeons
Special
Creates a dungeon to keep prisoners secure. Price depends on options selected.
Dark Temple
20000 GP
Upgrades Dark Shrine to Dark Temple. +20% to all divine spells cast by Evil or Neutral characters. Additional +20% to all divine spells cast by worshipers of the Goddess venerated at the Temple (Currently: Sharess).
Area Upgrades
Locked until new features explored.
Townland Upgrades
Locked until townlands settled.
Defensive Upgrades
Area Scan
N/A
Provides detailed map of area, including enemy troop movements.
(Locked until Astrogatorium built.)
Veil
100000 GP
Creates a magical veil that hides the castle from view to anyone hostile to the Owner or the residents. Reserves 50000 MP from Castle stores.
Deathwater Moat
50000 GP
Moat becomes filled with Deathwater Poison, killing enemies that touch it. Useless against Undead or Constructs.
(Current Moat: Cursed Moat)
Acid Moat
5000 GP
Moat becomes filled with potent acid, dissolving everything except for earth (will affect allies as well). No effect on Earth-type creatures.
(Current Moat: Cursed Moat)
Flaming Moat
10000 GP
Moat becomes perpetually filled with flaming oil, doing damage to all who try to cross it. Smoke may impair vision.
(Current Moat: Cursed Moat)
Augmented Walls
N/A
Augments castle walls with various effects. Price based on options selected.
(Locked until Magical Research Lab built.)
Weapons Upgrades
Magic Ballista
1000 GP
Creates a magical ballista. Can be upgraded or enchanted for further effects. Ammunition costs 1 MP per shot from castle stores.
Magic Trebuchet
10000 GP
Creates a magical trebuchet. Can be upgraded or enchanted for further effects. Ammunition costs 10 MP per shot from castle stores.
Extras
Everful Larder
2000 GP
Creates a larder that never runs out of beginner-level ingredients. Not as bad as field rations, and starvation isn’t an issue, but still…
Basic Book Lot
100 GP
A lot of books providing a 10% bonus on skills relating to a single subject (such as Alchemy, or History).
Intermediate Book Lot
500 GP
A lot of books providing a 25% bonus on skills relating to a single subject (such as Alchemy, or History). Counts as 3 book lots.
Advanced Book Lot
1500 GP
A lot of books providing a 50% bonus on skills relating to a single subject (such as Alchemy, or History). Counts as 5 book lots.
Master Book Lot
5000 GP
A lot of books providing a 75% bonus on skills relating to a single subject (such as Alchemy, or History). Counts as 10 book lots.
General Book Lot
200 GP
A lot of books providing a 5% bonus on skills relating to any subject. Counts as 3 book lots.
Class Trainer
100 GP
Creates Trainer Orb, allows user to unlock most Classes and Advanced Classes.
Training Dummy
100 GP
Creates basic training dummy for weapons and spell training (indestructible).
Enchanted Training Dummy
N/A
Creates a construct training dummy enchanted to fight back.
(Locked until Enchanter’s Lab repaired.)
Transport Tiles
N/A
Creates a teleport tile that transports those who step on it to a designated spot.
(Locked until Magic Research Lab built.)
Secret Passage
N/A
Creates a ‘Passage’ that allows two-way travel between two points. Options: Concealed, Password, Master only. Further options may be unlocked with later research.
(Locked until Magic Research Lab built.)
Portal
N/A
Creates a two-way Portal to a single point.
(Locked until Magic Research Lab built.)
Mystic Gate
N/A
Creates a one-way Portal to a point determined by traveler. May result in mishaps if user is not familiar with destination or imprecise with directions.
(Locked until Magic Research Lab built.)
I was definitely going to have to get those magic facilities repaired! But some of the extras were appealing immediately. While I doubted we’d be using it much with Cookie around (no way would she use ‘beginner’ ingredients unless there was no choice), I picked up the Everful Larder, because having food to go with the water from the well would make a siege much easier to outlast. The Training Dummy and Class Trainer orb were also immediate buys, so that when my slaves and guildmembers needed classes or advanced classes unlocked, they wouldn’t have to run off if they didn’t want to, except for obscure classes. And being able to train weapons and spells on an indestructible dummy was a no-brainer.
Then I picked the ‘Advanced Book Lot’ for History, to put in the Library. I’d have to expand that library later, or add in new ones around the castle, but given the angry dragoness, Iqnora, and all the other things going on, being able to research lore was going to be a potent weapon in this game.
I realized I’d been at this for a whole hour! I took a brief look at the building interface again, and was pleased to see that at least some of the damage to the building and defenses had been repaired. Apparently, the debris from the attacks counted as having at least a bit of the appropriate materials on hand. I still needed to go and see about getting resources, though.
Building Interface
Lithaes Castle
HP
1318608/8500000
MP
400060/900000
HP Regen
0 per min
MP Regen
1 per min
Defense
350690/500000
Shield
1000/1000000
9043 PP
173750 GP
15600 SP
125032 CP
Statistics
See building statistics by section or type.
Upgrades
Choose available upgrades to castle.
Settings
Current display and power management settings.
Status
View damaged areas, prioritize repairs.
But first, I ought to take a look through these treasuries, right? Just to get an idea of what was in there besides a (now reduced but still quite) extreme amount of money? Yes, I really must! Of course, the mental interface went and ruined my plans of ‘Scrooge McDucking’ through the vault, and just popped up an inventory sheet. Spoilsport.
There was pages of stuff in the list, broken down by different factors. Of the six ‘lesser’ treasuries, I found that there was one each for different types of crafting materials, and they were all chock full of magically preserved, high level stuff. Which of course meant that none of our crafters could use them yet, but once someone got to the point where they could make things out of mithril or Hellspawned Spider Queen’s Silk or other such things, then we’d be in good shape. The storehouses were for Ores, Stones and Gems, Herbs, Fabrics, Leathers (including bones), and Miscellaneous (things like drop items from quests and such).
The magic items in the main vault were all really too high level for me, but once I got to level 80 or so, I’d be able to trick myself out with some truly badass gear. Same story with the armories. They were great, for your level 80+ characters, but for those of us who had just started, we were going to need to wait a while.
Dismissing the inventory sheet for now, I got up from the console, and sealed the vault once more. I didn’t want to do any more upgrades until everything was repaired, and we were going to need more Greenstone in order to make that happen. Which meant I’d have to organize a work party, and head out to the quarries to see about getting the stone. Even if we got more than was needed, having a supply laid in for the auto-repair if we came under attack wasn’t a bad thing.
As I considered these options, I found myself moving through the keep, towards the new living quarters. That wasn’t what concerned me, however. What concerned me (well, maybe ‘concerned’ is too strong a word) was the moans I heard from one of the rooms. Female moans. Like any good pervert, I was very interested in seeing what was going on.
Stepping into one of the servants’ quarters, I found myself presented with Severa, naked from the waist down, with a winged human woman kneeling submissively between her legs, servicing her. I could tell it was a woman, despite her armor, due to the shape, without even Observing her. Severa looked up as I came in, but didn’t stop the woman’s attentions.
“Mind telling me what the fuck is going on?”
Chapter 56 – Initiative and Boundaries
Severa moaned as the woman’s tongue continued its work, and said, “Master, it is as you see, this slave is pleasuring me because I ordered her to. Emmete is learning her place after giving me lip.”
I chuckled. “Oh? I thought you hated it when I used those methods to teach you, slut. And tell me, why do you have authority to make this woman eat you?”
A look of displeasure crossed Severa’s face, and she said, “I did hate it, and you. I still do. But it is effective, I’ll give you that. And I have the authority because she is my slave. I caught her while on my trial, but the magic wouldn’t let me bring her back into your chambers, so she was kept in stasis until we arrived here.”
I chuckled at that, and took a moment to Observe the woman, while I considered the implications of this. I knew that a slave of someone who was then made a slave would be transferred into the new owner’s property, but it appeared that someone already a slave could take another as a slave. Very interesting.
Emmete the Valiant
Half-Celestial Human Female
Level 41 Valkyrie (Paladin) / Rogue
Titles: Blessed of Uhona, Valiant One, Undying, Humanbane, Manslayer, Slave
Oh-ho! This was another powerful catch, and would do nicely as a guard for this place, along with the drow. I considered, and then said, “Severa, order your slave to stop. Then, you will give her the following orders: She is never to attack me, my property, my associates, or those of my guild save in self-defense after being attacked; She is to aid in the defense of this castle; and She is to follow the commands of myself, Iqnora, or any officer of my guild. And I forbid you from countering any of those orders later.”
Severa grimaced as the implications of those rules crossed her mind, but complied, not having a choice in the matter. That done, she looked up to me, and said, “Is there anything else I can do for you, Master?” She sounded resentful. Well, I’d just spoiled an attempt to free herself from me, it seemed, so that’s too bad.
“Yes. You showed good initiative with this little scheme, but it seems you need to remember the importance of boundaries. Turn around and bend over. Command your slave to watch, so she can see the lesson, as well.” I paused, and looked down at the new slave for a moment. She was strikingly beautiful, like a warrior goddess. Or a warrior slave queen. It was an alluring look, to be sure. “Emmete, was it? I am Zayn Darkmore, and your Mistress is my slave. She has commanded you to obey me, but do not worry. Serve well, and I won’t order you to defile yourself with me. If I take you, it will be for one of three reasons. You have done something worthy of punishment, your Mistress sent you to me, for reasons of her own, or you come to me of your own will.”
That done, I pulled off my pants, and said, “Now Severa, you remember when we first met?”
“Yes Master.”
I lined up at the woman’s back door, and smiled, “Time for round two.”
(LATER)
After thoroughly showing Severa why she shouldn’t try to push the boundaries of her enslavement to me, I had Emmete clean the girl up with her tongue. Severa was not really coherent at the moment, so I decided to get more information about her trial later. It seemed I was going to have to talk with all my pets to see what they did on their trials, and keep any other surprises from coming up.
For now, though, I considered the question about getting supplies to heal the damage to the castle. Stone and lumber could be gathered in the surrounding areas, and the mist workers would easily be able to drag them back to the castle, but securing them in the first place would be a problem. For that we needed men.
Well, I took that back. After checking the interface again and seeing the descriptions of the mist workers, I figured that I could have them harvest raw stone from the quarry easily enough. That didn’t take much in the way of skill since I only needed the raw stone, not worked blocks, and I didn’t need to separate them like I’d have to do mining for ore and gems. Anything more complicated than ‘slab of stone’, and I’d need actual people. I summoned a few of them, and sent them to work.
Right. Now what was next? I’ve set the castle rebuilding itself, so I should check in with the drow slaves, and make sure they had orders to guard this place and serve the guild members. They would hate that, so I was looking forward to hearing their reactions. That reminded me, I still had to go to drow lands and see what my new properties looked like, but I’d want to be stronger before I did that.
There was too much to do. If I tried to do it all at once, I’d go mad. And I had a new bedroom complete with a nice comfy bed that I was eager to see. Might as well set my chambers in order. After giving the generic orders to the women, I picked out four of the drowesses, and had them follow me.
Ratha Yelris
Drow Female
Level 33 Priestess / Fighter
Titles: Spiderkissed, Manslayer, Elfbane, Blademistress, Slave
Ayla Inasys
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Drow Female
Level 32 Swashbuckler / Ice Sorceress
Titles: Sadistic, Spiderkissed, Frosttouched, Elfbane, Slave
Thaola Daera
Drow Female
Level 35 Rogue / Priestess
Titles: Catlike, Elfbane, Ladykiller, Poisoner, Slave
Jastra Sylrya
Drow Female
Level 38 Bard / Monk
Titles: Beautiful One, Cunning One, Stonefist, Manslayer, Slave
The drowesses followed silently to my chambers, apparently not trusting their mouths not to get them into the same trouble they’d seen Enania get into. As we walked, I explained how things were going to be from now on. “As I am lord of this castle, it is only fitting that I post a guard on my chambers. You three,” I pointed to Ratha, Ayla, and Thaola, “are going to be my Guardians. At all times of the day or night, one of you shall be posted by my door, safeguarding my chambers, and any guests I allow inside, while keeping at bay any who do not have my leave to enter. You will leave your post for no reason save for my command, or your relief comes at the appointed hour. Understand?”
Rules-Free VRMMO Life: Volume V - Power Base Page 6