by Aleron Kong
“Derin. Deera,” Richter greeted them.
“Hello, Lord Richter. That seemed,” Deera began with a smile.
“like quite an exciting event,” Derin finished with a jaunty smile of his own.
“You were watching?” Richter asked surprised.
“From the beginning,” Derin said with a laugh. “I am glad that you finally went swimming. You have seemed,”
“so tense,” Deera said as she stood up. Mud spackled her body but did nothing to cover up her lady bits. She smiled when she saw his admiring gaze. “Will you join us in caring for the eggs, my lord? And,”
“perhaps for some more relaxation?” Derin finished, standing up as well.
Richter looked at the twins. Their abnormally high Charisma had given them the kind of bodies and faces that would get them on a magazine cover, or at least to the front of the line at New York clubs. They moved even closer and held hands while they looked at him. He sighed while his hand reached for the fastening on his pants. Being the lord of these lands was a responsibility. He supposed it really was his duty, to please that booty. Richter took some star zenia from his bag and popped it into his mouth. His pants and bag dropped to the ground, and he clapped his hands together, “Who wants a mustache ride?”
An hour or so later, the three of them swam in the lake to rinse off. Richter had been cautious to get back in the water at first, but thankfully no more fish came to attack him. It would have been completely irritating if his relationship with all the fish in the lake had dropped to Hatred for the rest of his life. As he cooled off, it did make him wonder, though.
His Herb Lore skill had shown him some very impressive uses for the stillwater lantern, but the description hadn’t included that defense mechanism. Specifically, for the lantern plant, it would be amazing if he could call on the very beings of the deep to fight for him. It was a good reminder that his skill only showed him up to three possible uses for plants. There was always more knowledge to unlock and discover.
Richter swam back to the shore, leaving the twins to splash and frolic in the water. He wanted to check on the eggs. He walked to the clutch, feeling the cool mud squish between his toes. Kneeling down, he touched each egg in turn. The last time he had seen the eggs, a prompt had told him they would hatch “in a matter of days.” After gaining his new Animal Husbandry skill, though, the prompt changed to say specifically “seven days, fourteen hours and thirty-eight minutes.” Because of that, he now knew where he would be a week hence.
It also meant that Krom had two days to build a cage. Richter envisioned an iron grate with holes large enough for water to pass through easily, but small enough that the baby skaths could not enter the rest of the lake. It would extend far enough out into the lake that the skaths could swim, and would also circle around onto the land. It would be a perfect pen.
Richter held each egg and, in turn, connected with the almost-formed creatures. Through his inspection, he was able to see that they continued to be perfectly healthy. The hunger he had felt coming from each egg before was a touch stronger. Satisfied that his infant amphibious cavalry was well cared for, he washed the rest of the mud off of his legs and feet and climbed back up onto the bank. The chaos seed swiftly put on his clothes. He considered forgoing his armor, but the fact that he had already been attacked multiple times today, the last of which involved hundreds of cod, made him a bit cautious. His green sprite armor went back on and his body flooded with increased strength as the armor’s enchantments affected him. Both swords settled onto his back. Still hearing the twins playing in the lake, he jogged back towards the village.
Richter stopped at the garden, “Isabel, I have a surprise for you.”
The chestnut haired beauty turned toward him with a smile. Her skin was the golden brown of toasted honey. “What have you found, Lord Richter?”
He pulled the stillwater lantern out of his bag. She clapped her hands in delight. “Well done, my lord!”
Quest Update: If It Grows From The Ground, It’s Probably Okay II. You have found your first rare herb and brought it back to Isabel. To finish this quest, bring four more rare plants back to the Dragon’s Cauldron.
Isabella examined the herb in her hands. “Truly this is amazing, my lord, but it is an aquatic plant. I do not think we will have a place to plant it. I would hate for it to die when we could cultivate it. Can you help with this?”
You have been offered a Quest: If It Grows From The Ground, It’s Probably Okay III. You have brought Isabel a rare plant. Despite the incredible Core building you have provided for herbs, it lacks a facility for growing aquatic herbs. Isabel has asked you to help with this. Do you accept? Yes or No?
Richter selected ‘Yes’. He thought about it for a moment and then beckoned for Isabel to follow him. He went into the greenhouse attached to the Dragon’s Cauldron and pulled open the trap door set into the floor. Summoning a mist light, he walked down the steps that had been revealed. The stairs crossed back and forth three times and ended at a stout door. He pushed his way inside and saw the wall sconces and rows of tables that were supplied to cultivate plants that were better suited to growing in the dark. Wasting no time, he walked to the back of the room and placed his hand on the back wall.
Greetings, Master of the Dragon’s Cauldron. It appears you wish to add a room with a pool of water to the structure of the Cauldron? This will cost 112 Alteration Points. Currently, there are 83/100 Alteration Points available in your Core building at level one. Would you be interested in a different option? Yes or No?
Richter chose ‘Yes’ and a list of options appeared.
A small room with a pool will cost 91 Alteration Points. A large alcove with a pool will cost 60 Alteration points. A small alcove with a pool will cost 38 Alteration Points. Do any of these options interest you?
Richter selected ‘a large alcove’. The wall started ballooning outward away from his hand. The surface bubbled out like a sheet of glass exposed to high heat. It slowly stretched back for several minutes and then stopped. Corners appeared and the surface of the widening sphere began to solidified and harden. The final space was shaped like a cube, fifteen yards to a side, all made of glass. The floor was the only surface that wasn’t flat, instead sloping down another fifteen feet, leaving space for a deep pond. The bottom was pockmarked with divots that resembled the scalloped spaces on the walls. Each would be perfect for soil. The only problem was, there was still no water. Even as he was thinking that, a clear glass column rose up from the floor. Inside were two hollow tubes. One filled with water that spilled out of the bottom, filling the pond. It took several minutes, but the pond filled. Richter started being concerned about the water overflowing, but when it was a foot shy of the level of the floor, the other tube filled with water. This one flowed up towards the ceiling, though. Richter smiled. It was a filtration system!
“Will this do?” Richter asked smugly.
“You are amazing, Richter!” Isabel exclaimed. She immediately caught herself, “I mean, my lord.”
“Just call me Richter, Issy. Terrod is my Companion, which almost makes you two family.”
Her answering smile was as bright as the sun, and she wrapped her arms around him in a warm hug. He chuckled and hugged her back before letting go. He really had meant what he’d said. Isabel was a beautiful woman, but the affection he felt for her was the same as he would feel towards a sister. When he let go, she said, “This is perfect! I will just need to bring dirt to line the bottom of the pond.”
“I think I can help with that too,” he said.
Richter summoned three mist workers and left them with Isabel. Before they had even reached the surface again, she was giving them instructions. Don’t tempt a woman with a sale, a knick-knack or someone she could put to work on home improvements. Just like the women who raised him, he thought with a chuckle. Richter said his goodbyes and started walking back down to the village. On his way down the hill, he was passed by several mist workers and villagers carry
ing items up to the meadow for the night’s feast. Richter checked his new prompts.
You have completed the Quest: If It Grows From The Ground, It’s Probably Okay III. You have provided a location for growing underwater herbs. You have gone above and beyond the call of this quest by supplying a Core-level building! All rewards doubled! As this was a villager supplied quest, it will aid in the progression of your Administration skill.
Reward: 2,500 (base 2,000 x 1.25 x 2.0 x 0.5) experience points.
Reward: +10 (base +5) village-wide Loyalty.
Congratulations! You have reached skill level 7 in Administration. +1% to Morale, Loyalty, and Production for your village.
Richter greeted his people as they walked by. Everyone had caught on that something special was going to happen tonight. Seeing as how it involved being near the Quickening, they had guessed that the birth of the pixies might be imminent. The village was practically buzzing with anticipation. The chaos seed smiled as he quickly made his way to the catacombs.
Richter jogged up the hill leading to the entrance and returned the salute of the guards stationed there. He walked down the several hundred yards of the corridor and entered the room of the Great Seal. The spirals representing his Life and Air magic pulsed with light and color. The other two dormant spirals, Water and Dark magic, seemed almost to reproach him for not having claimed mastery of them yet. A part of Richter itched to do just that and improve his personal magic, but he couldn’t take the risk. Each Power he awakened increased the amount and the level of the monsters around his village. The monsters were already more than most of his guards could handle. Unlocking his powers had to wait.
He moved past the seal and walked back to Randolphus’s office. As usual, the chamberlain was doing his Sisyphus act, trying to overcome his mountain of papers. He looked up when Richter walked in, “My lord. It is great that you are here. There is a long list of things we need to discuss. First, there is a report of a female guard beating her husb-”
“Ah! Randy. Stop. Stop! How did you even manage to say that much? I was planning to cut you off as soon as I got in here. It’s like you cast a spell on me!” Randolphus just stared at him sourly, not appreciating his lord’s wit. Richter still smiled, “It’s time to have a talk with the scribes, and I want you there with me. So grab your clipboard and come on.”
Richter turned around quickly, not giving his chamberlain a chance to retort. He was happy the two of them had had a heart to heart. Despite that, speaking with Randolphus was still like getting cheese out of a mouse trap. If you didn’t move quickly, you would be caught up in a soul-crushing vice of conversation for what seemed like the rest of your life. So he extricated himself from Randy’s office and walked over to the room the Scholars occupied. The two men worked closely with the chamberlain, so they had been situated just down the hallway.
He approached the door and was about to knock but decided to wait for Randolphus. The tall chamberlain caught up a few tics later, though, so he rapped on the door and let himself in. Two rudimentary wooden tables were pressed together and were serving as desks for the scribes. The men were currently writing upon sheaves of parchment. Several books were open in front of each of them, and they seemed to be compiling information. Both stood when they saw who was standing in the doorway, though. He used Analyze to remind himself of their names.
“Greetings, Lord Richter,” Bartle said.
“Greetings, Lord Richter,” Bea said.
The two scribes were both six feet tall and athletic. Richter had been surprised when he had first met them. He had expected the Scholars to have gangly frames, with The Land’s equivalent of pocket protectors, but that wasn’t the case with these two. They did not have the large muscles of warriors, but it was clear that the training the men had gone through was not limited to taking notes. Both were human, but there the similarities ended. Bartle’s face was pockmarked, and he had shoulder length hair that always seemed oily and perhaps the slightest bit greasy. Bea’s face, on the other hand, was smooth and slightly rounded in a way that seemed incongruous with his lean frame. His long red hair was woven into a single braid that hung down his back.
“Hey guys,” Richter greeted. “Sit down, sit down. We need to talk.”
CHAPTER 26 -- Day 112 -- Kuborn 2, 15368 EBG
“We are at your service,” Bartle said, taking his seat. Richter and Randolphus pulled two other chairs over and joined them.
“The first thing I need to know is, what can you do?” Richter asked. “Beyan told me about some of your Talents: Association, Still Image, Copying, and…”
Richter looked to Randolphus for help. “Confidential, Perfect Scribing, and Knowledge Tablet, my lord,” the chamberlain supplied.
The chaos seed snapped his fingers, “That’s right!” He pulled out the knowledge tablet. The two by two-foot wooden item came alive when he pressed the white stone in the corner. A picture of one of the villagers appeared, along with her name, level, and skills. He felt a bit bad that he hadn’t gone through the tablet in depth yet, but it always seemed like there were other things to do. “I want to know, can you make this thing bigger?”
Bartle and Bea exchanged a look, “Bigger, Lord Richter?”
“Yes,” he responded. “bigger. Ideally the size of a large table. I also want to know if you can put other information on this kind of device. Off the top of my head, I would want to be able to examine an interactive map.”
Bartle nodded in understanding, “What you are describing is a cartographer’s table. The Traveler’s guild utilizes these to combine the information from the maps of their many members. The creation of such an object is well beyond our abilities, unfortunately. Only the Traveler’s Guild knows the secret of making their interactive maps. Even then, a high level crafter and enchanter would be required. I know that the guild sells such devices, but the costs are… prohibitive.”
“How much gold are we talking?” Richter asked.
Bea gave a soft snort, “Suffice it to say that only nobles and guild masters normally have them.”
Richter nodded. Bartle seemed like a good guy, but Bea’s superior attitude was already somewhat grating. It wasn’t worth making a big deal out of, though. At least not yet. He focused on the information he had been given. The versatility of such an object would pay for itself. The reportedly high cost was not a surprise. His own small Traveler’s Map had cost him more than five thousand gold. He had even paid over a hundred gold for the mapping ring that he had given Sion, and that thing only worked if you already had a map!
No, it seemed that the cartographer’s table was beyond his economic reach. Perhaps he could use other, more covert, means to get one… The Scholar had said that nobles had them. From what Richter had seen, most nobles were total asshats. It might be time to make a little trip back into Yves. A faint smile played across his face. It would be great to get a few more rugs and paintings to hang next to Count Stonuk’s.
The chaos seed shook his head. He needed to focus. “What about just making a large version of the knowledge tablet?”
“That will cost much less,” Bea replied. “I would still need access to powdered crystal and a specially treated wood, but the task is within my capability. Specifically, I would require wood from a tree with a rarity of scarce or higher. There are several options, though lumina pine would most likely work best. The Knowledge Table would not auto-update as a Cartographer’s Table would, but map information could be added manually and the picture could be manipulated to be made larger or smaller.”
“So you could add information from my Traveler’s Map, and we could periodically update it?” Richter asked.
Bea thought about it, stroking his chin, “If you affixed a specific image onto your map then I could add the information. You would only be able to access that particular map, however, Lord Richter. We could add various images from your Traveler’s Map, but it would be a time-consuming process.” The Scholar did not seem excited about the prospect. “A Know
ledge Table is still a powerful and versatile tool, however. Many other types of information could be uploaded to aid your chamberlain in the administration of the village’s daily affairs. Simple functions such as basic math and acting as a recording tablet are well within its capabilities.” Bea’s face adopted a smug look, “Creating such a large item is outside of the scope of the contract we signed with your trader, however.”
“How much?” Richter asked flatly. Everyone was always trying to nickel-and-dime him.
When Bea spoke, his voice had the practiced cadence of a sales pitch, “For a simple knowledge tablet like the one you are holding, the cost is normally forty to fifty gold. Updating the information costs several gold each time. For a project such as you are describing, a knowledge table one could say, I believe a fair amount would be,” he paused and looked at Bartle before continuing, “two hundred and eighty gold.”
“Oh, is that it?” Richter asked. A bit of irritation had worked itself into his voice. “From what I understand, Basil paid off your debt to your guild, and you agreed to provide your services for six silvers a week. 50% more, by the way, than I am paying others in this village. I have fed you, given you shelter, and now you’re trying to shake me down?” He raised up from his chair as he spoke, stabbing one finger down on the table to punctuate his words. Alma rose up on all fours and the ridges running down her back stood up a bit. She glared at the Scholar.
Bea looked a bit off put by Richter’s tone and more than a bit bothered by the dragonling’s aggressive posture. He also looked confused, “I am not going to attack you, Lord Richter!”
Richter glared at the man, confused himself. An amused voice spoke in his head.
*You have used another idiom, my love.* Alma continued to look aggressively at the Scholar, but the entertained tone of her mental message made it clear it was just an act. He ran the words he had used through his head and realized that ‘shake me down’ did indeed translate as ‘wrestle me to the ground.’ Somewhat amused that his familiar was basically conning the man, he had to struggle to keep any mirth off of his face.