by Aleron Kong
Richter looked at the small divot and thought about it. He could see substantial gains from using the blood crystal. Personalized items of great power were a powerful enticement. On the other hand, the red crystal could be used to make a powerful item specifically geared to kill him. He thought about it for a few more seconds and ultimately it was the third property that decided him. Right now he was too vulnerable to the effects of Deep Magic. If this crystal could give him the chance to gain greater control or power, then it was worth the risk… for now.
“Futen,” Richter said, addressing the glowing orb.
“Yes, my lord,” the light in the center of the remnant pulsed slowly.
“Summon a mist worker every day to harvest the crystal in the cavern. Always give them two instructions. To stay at least ten yards away from the focus crystal, and if they ever detect more red crystal, to harvest all they can find, including whatever may fall to the ground and bring it immediately to either Sion or myself.”
“It will be done, Lord Richter,” came the monotone reply.
“Can you prepare the blood crystal tonight?” Richter asked his Companion. “I don’t want it just sitting around and I need to know what the specific capabilities are.”
Sion nodded, “It will take all night and might go faster if I had a mist worker.”
Richter summoned another two grey workers on the spot and put them both at Sion’s disposal.
“Do you want to leave?” Sion asked.
“Not yet. We have more to do,” Richter replied.
The two men walked through the maze of caverns. Richter ordered the mist workers to start harvesting crystal and placing it by the waterfall entrance. Alma had flown off when they entered the garden. When he mentally asked where she was, she sent an image of a half-eaten, bloody, rat carcass with guts strewn along the floor. She also sent along a feeling of extreme satisfaction. Richter gagged slightly and broke off the mental contact.
The stone rooms adjoining the main cavern had small patches of crystal, but as they walked further in, the stone grew bare. Despite the explosive growth the garden had undergone, it had not reached too far into the extensive cave system. This actually eased Richter’s mind as his first stop was the rune room.
The rune looked exactly the same as the last time he had seen it, a square with concave sides surrounded by a larger triangle. When he focused on it, he again received a prompt asking if he would like to deactivate the enchantment. He still wanted to know if he could retrieve the soul stone that powered the rune, but he didn’t have an immediate use for another high level soul stone even if he could. Richter also didn’t want to ruin any research opportunities this rune might provide his Scholars in the future. He chose ‘No’ on the prompt and moved on. His primary reason for wanting to visit the rune chamber was to ensure that the crystal garden hadn’t compromised it in any way. Now that he saw it was untouched, he felt better.
He moved on to his next task, making a map. At his request, Sion walked off into the caves. It was time to put the mapping ring to good use. Richter pulled up a translucent mini map in the corner of his vision and watched as blackness was replaced by whatever tunnels the sprite was walking through. Nodding to himself, he started exploring as well with a sense of satisfaction. That mapping ring was worth every copper he’d paid for it.
After about ten minutes, he finally came upon the cavern that held the remains of, and items from, the dark aberration’s victims. He had been leaving mist lights strewn about the cavern periodically, but also carried one with him. For the past several minutes, he had been detecting an increasingly foul odor. When he brought light to this cavern, his heart fell, and he knew where the smell was coming from.
Since coming back into the caverns, he had been unconsciously forcing himself not to think about something. He had been able to forget the caves that now held his beautiful, crystal garden had, until recently, been home to a malevolent monster that had resided here for centuries. That coping mechanism failed utterly now that he was confronted with the remains of its victims. The horrors he had personally experienced at the mercy of the dark aberration slithered up from his memory to the forefront of his conscious mind. Richter shuddered involuntarily.
After a few minutes, he was able to collect himself again and forced his mind to look at the scene dispassionately. There were thousands of bones. The clutter was a mix of animal and humanoid remains, some yellowed with age, but others still a relatively pure white. Almost all of the clothing was moldy and tattered, but there were the mutilated remains of a relatively fresh goblin body. He realized it must have been from the group of goblins he had killed, what seemed like so long ago, though it had only been a series of months. This was the source of the horrid stink he had been smelling.
Coming to this cavern had been the third thing on Richter’s agenda and the only thing on his mind was the loot. When he saw layers of dead bodies though, shoved into the large cavern like litter in a hoarder’s home, it drove home how the dark aberration had preyed on hapless travelers for countless years. Richter came to a decision. He didn’t know who these people were, but he knew they at least deserved a proper burial.
Richter summoned two mist workers from his personal mana, then he addressed the remnant, “Futen. Take some of the mist workers and have it start digging a mass grave for these people. I’ll send more when my mana recovers.” Richter could have summoned a third worker right then, but he really didn’t want to bottom out his mana and risk passing out. “After you get it started, go and get Sumiko. We need her here to bless these bodies so they can’t rise again. We don’t need a repeat of the bugbear attack”
Richter realized that Sumiko would probably need to order the mist workers around so he told them to follow the orders of any villagers so long as those orders didn’t harm anyone else. Then for good measure he added in the third law of robotics and resolved to make these standing orders for any future mist workers summoned.
Futen floated off with the three workers in tow. Richter called after him to gather the previously summoned three as well as to help in digging the grave. Richter squinted his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose to ward off the mana headache, but it swiftly left as his MPs replenished. With his increased Wisdom, he replenished more than a hundred mana every three minutes or so. In practical terms, that meant he could summon about twenty mist workers an hour! Richter hadn’t really counted on an increase in village productivity coming from his decision to invest points in Wisdom, but he saw now that his ability to summon workers quickly could be a real catalyst for village growth.
After resting for a few minutes, Richter summoned another mist worker and ordered it to to start pulling the bodies out of the cavern. He singled out the goblin’s body first and searched it after his magical servant had retrieved the remains. All he found was a single, ratty pouch, attached to a belt that contained a few copper coins. The mist worker brought the next body out and Richter started searching again.
Every time his mana went above one hundred, Richter summoned another mist worker. He had them start taking the bodies and skeletons to where the other mist workers were digging. Sion joined him before long, the rest of the caverns now mapped. Richter checked his map and saw no other spots of immediate interest. The sprite looked in shock at the ossuary in front of him. Seeing Richter’s grim expression, he just nodded at his friend and helped him remove anything valuable from the remains the mist workers were retrieving.
Most of the skeletons possessed nothing of value. In fact, before long, what the mist workers pulled out of the cavern were just jumbles of old bones. Whether because of time or trauma, many of the older bones were fractured and crushed. The bones had been mixed together into a heap and the weight of the bones above had proved enough to break those beneath. Richter just kept up a steady stream of mist workers to help dispose of the remains with as much dignity as he could afford, but even he knew it was basically a fool’s errand.
It took several hours to c
lear out the cavern, but ultimately all of the remains were taken outside. While it remained true that there was little to be found on most of the skeletons, he did find some notable items. Richter took great satisfaction in being able to identify magic items
You have found: Cobalt Mace of Mana Stealing. Damage: 3-8 (Max 22-30). Durability: 8/67. Item Class: Uncommon. Quality: Well Crafted. Weight: 2.9 kg. Traits: Mace will steal 13 mana per strike. Charges: 107/107.
You have found: Summoner’s Ring. Durability: 22/116. Item Class: Rare. Quality: Masterwork. Weight: 0.01 kg. Traits: Increases level of summoned creatures by +5.
You have found: Glamour Ring. Durability: 5/17. Item Class: Uncommon. Quality: Above Average. Weight: 0.01 kg. Traits: Can change your visage to look like someone else for 11 minutes. One use per day.
You have found: Orcish Flag of Yarosh. Durability: 2/58. Item Class: Rare. Quality: Superb. Weight: 0.4 g. Traits: +846 to Fighting Spirit when leading orcs.
You have found: Sacrificial Bone Knife. Damage 4-6 (Max 10-16). Durability: 41/95. Item Class: Unusual. Quality: Exquisite. Weight: 0.5 kg. Traits: This blade was carved from the backbone of an elf child and the pieces were fused with a glue processed from the marrow of his bones. It has taken so many lives that it is has become permeated with Death magic. It is exceptionally suited for killing blows. +513% damage when striking a helpless foe.
You have found: Soul Stone. Level: Luminous. Status: Empty. x 37
You have found: Soul Stone. Level: Brilliant. Status: Empty. x 17
You have found: Soul Stone. Level: Special. Status: Empty. x 9
You have found: Soul Stone. Level: Resplendent. Status: Empty. x 3
You have found: Scroll Case of Monster Attraction (Luminous). Durability: 37/102. Item Class: Common. Quality: Well Crafted. Weight: 0.7 kg. Traits: This case contains a Scroll of Monster Attraction. Activating this scroll will attract the strongest monster within a one mile radius. This scroll will only affect creatures with a luminous soul level or lower. x 2.
You have found: Bracelet of Smooth Movement. Durability 23/42. Item Class: Uncommon. Quality: Superb. Weight: 0.03 kg. Traits: Removes 29% of movement penalty for going through difficult terrain.
The Ring of Summoning went onto his finger immediately. Right now the strongest being he could summon was the saproling and it was only level five. If he dual casted the spell it tacked on a couple levels, but this ring would make the creature twice as powerful! His weakest Ring of Health went to Sion, reducing his health by twenty-six but increasing his Companion’s by the same amount. He immediately felt slightly less hale, but this new ring was worth the loss. Besides, it was masterwork! No self-respecting A-T-Alien would let bling like this go to waste!
The Glamor Ring was fascinating as well. Richter cast Mirror then slipped another health ring off and placing the new ring in its place. With a bit of mental flexing, he activated it. Richter thought about looking like Chris Pratt, hoping to get his Guardians of the Galaxy on, but the ring made him look like a slightly overweight, white human. It apparently had only one setting. Richter placed his hand up to his face and still felt his own features. When he spoke, it was still his own voice. The ring apparently cast only the weakest of illusions, not even changing his clothes, but it could still be useful in the right situation. Richter removed the ring and his visage reverted back to normal. He went back to examining the rest of the items.
The battle flag was interesting. He knew anecdotal stories of weary soldiers rallying around a flag, but in The Land this was apparently a quantifiable effect. He didn’t see himself leading orcs into battle any time soon, but it did raise the question of why he couldn’t make his own banner. The ratty thing was almost falling apart, so he carefully rolled it up and placed it into his bag.
He placed the Bracelet of Smooth Movement onto his left wrist and stored everything else. In addition to these more powerful objects, Richter also found a number of weak rings of health, stamina and mana. Those he intended to hand out to his war party tomorrow. Sion picked through the bunch first and grabbed what he wanted. There were also many broken weapons, shields and pieces of armor. Those wouldn’t have been relevant except that two appeared to be made of a metal he hadn’t seen before. Nothing came up when he examined it, so he hoped that Krom could tell him more. There were also the equivalent of several hundred gold coins and jewels of various types and grades, some quite valuable.
Richter summoned another two mist workers to carry away all of the dross. He happily observed that each worker was somewhat larger than before. Analyze showed that they were both level six and had a higher health and stamina than their level one counterparts, though their mana remained at zero.
As the workers started hauling the trash away, Richter happily placed his new, empty soul stones in his Bag. The amber jewels were as good as gold to him and he felt all warm and fuzzy as they flowed through his fingers. Looking around, Richter saw that all of the bodies had been taken away so he and Sion decided to leave the caverns. They moved carefully through the crystal garden. Neither wanted to cut or impale themselves on the overlarge shards.
Both men pushed through the waterfall and walked back into the sunlight. The sunshine quickly started drying them and they were in good spirits. As they walked east towards the Cauldron, they just enjoyed the day. Storm clouds hovered above the mountains to the north, heralding showers overnight, but for now the weather was fine. Richter’s pleasant mood faded as they neared the large hole the mist workers had dug.
CHAPTER 10 -- Day 111 -- Kuborn 1, 15368 EBG
The mist workers had already dug a grave that was ten by ten feet and was eight feet deep. The bones had been laid out in rows. Sumiko’s tan-clothed healers were taking the time to arrange the bodies where it was possible to do so, but there were still piles of bones. Some pieces were only fragments.
Sumiko’s back was to them as they approached. Richter touched her shoulder and his breath caught. The healer’s checks were tear-streaked and her eyes were red. There was nothing timid in the timbre of her voice though, “Promise me that the thing responsible for all of this death has been utterly destroyed.” Her tone was half question, half command. There was no doubt in Richter’s mind that if he had said no, she would organize a war party of her own somehow.
“It’s dead,” he told her. “I can promise you that.”
Her shoulders relaxed ever so slightly, but then she started shaking. “These people,” her voice caught. “These people suffered agony beyond comprehension. They were tortured and played with. Sometimes they were allowed to heal before whatever did this began to hurt them again. The creature that did this was worse than a demon. It has left a residue on these bones that was pure, unadulterated hate.” The healer started sobbing. Surprised that the tough old woman could be so affected, Richter put his arm around her, holding her while she grieved for people she had never met.
Sumiko only allowed herself to vent her emotions for a few minutes. “You were right to call me. Some of these remains are so steeped in powerful emotions, like hate and despair, that if they are not put to rest in the right way you would have more to worry about than some Death mage reviving them. This many tortured souls could have desecrated the land. The evil creatures that would have been birthed or attracted to these remains… it is better not to contemplate.”
Richter’s eyes widened, “Those remains have been hidden with the dark aberration for centuries, maybe millennia., Why isn’t this place already overrun with ghosts?”
“A dark aberration? That is what did this?” the sprite woman shuddered. “From what I know of those foul creatures, they feed on misery. The residual pain coming off of these bones and whatever spirits may still be tied to them must have fed it. As detestable as such a creature would be, its presence kept the evil of these remains in check. Now though, they need to be put to rest. I will do what I can, but we need to align these bones as best we can to truly dispel the evil. I have tried, but,” she stopped and almost started c
rying again. She controlled herself though and said, “but the spell I know to commune with the remains connects me to the unfiltered evil they were steeped in. I have fought undead and monsters for countless years, but this is something different. I simply cannot link my mind to whatever did that. Can you help?”
You have been offered a Quest: Lay to Rest. The remains of the accumulated victims of the dark aberration are steeped in evil and negative energy. Find a way to still these disquieted spirits. Do you accept? Yes or No? Penalty for failure or not accepting: possible desecration of this land. Reward: Unknown.
Well he couldn’t let his village get haunted. This wasn’t a cheesy 80’s horror flick. Why anyone would ever argue with ghosts that told them to leave a house was beyond him. If ghosts had started appearing in his condo back home and told him to get the hell out, well, he’d have gotten the fuck out! Hell, if he left these bones here, he’d be worse than the people in the movies. At least the family in Poltergeist hadn’t known that their house was built on an indian burial ground. They’d just been too dumb to leave when the kid started sliding across the floor. He would have to be the biggest dumbass in the world to actually PUT the evil spirits in the ground. Best just to avoid the problem all together.
Despite the clarity that something had to be done, for a moment Richter considered another option. He could just bury the remains far outside of the village. Hell, if he put them in the right place, the undead that rose might even serve as a defense installation against potential enemies. It was just an idle thought, though. Looking at Sumiko’s tear-stained face, he reminded himself that these people deserved to be put to rest. Also, he had an idea about how to figure this out. “Futen. Go get Beyan as quickly as possible. When you find him, tell him to hurry.”
The remnant floated off and Richter turned to Sumiko, “I trust this won’t be a problem.”