“A year, maybe,” the ogre answered.
“You will all get a share of the loot we just took from these PK’s. And there will be many more dead players to loot in the days to come. As well as dungeons to run, armies to fight.” He gave them a moment to do some math.
“There will be people watching you. And if you do something wrong, like talk about today, you will likely be arrested and banned, just like these folks. And that sucks. But if you do nothing wrong, you have the potential to benefit greatly from your predicament. I’ll leave it up to you. Let me know when you’ve decided what you want.”
“What about Dirk? Does he know?” Helga asked.
“I don’t think so. Dirk hasn’t been online since we stepped through the portal, as far as I know,” Alexander said.
“Come to think of it, anybody know why Dirk’s been offline? It has been a couple days.”
“He said something about work when he logged off. I wasn’t really listening,” Lugs said.
“Ah, okay well I’m sure everything’s fine,” Alexander said. He would be sure and have Fitz check the player again when he logged back on.
“Alright, folks. We should know soon enough whether more are approaching. So far, most of the attacks have been by small groups. Even the PWP raid on the city was less than a hundred players. I expect, though, that he’s putting together a much larger force. So, keep an eye out today. We’ll be making a raid of our own, soon enough. I plan to take out the PWP guild house in Antalia. But not until this place is secure.”
With that, he teleported them all back to the top of the wall. He left the raid party in place, for the time being, to save time if another attack was imminent. Heading across the field toward the keep, he saw the farmers start to drift out. He waved and nodded at them, letting them know the immediate danger had passed.
Passing through the gate, he cried out, “We’ve dealt with the enemy party. They won’t be bothering us again!” A cheer went up from the gathered citizens. “You can all go back to doing what you were doing. And thank you for your quick response. Sorry to interrupt breakfast” He grinned.
Finding Master Silverbeard, he said, “Ready to go to Whitehall? We can be there and back in a few minutes.”
“Aye, Alexander. The quicker the better,” the dwarf agreed.
In a flash, the two of them were standing on the road in front of the quarry’s workshop. Heading inside, they found Master Breakstone and a couple other masons working at various projects. Silverbeard was looking up at the clear crystal ceiling. “This be your work, lad?” Alexander looked at his feet. “Yes. Stupid, I know.”
“No, this be a wondrous thing. Ye put some thought into makin’ life easier fer the dwarves here. That shows ye’ve a good heart.” Silverbeard argued.
Breakstone noticed them, and called out “Alexander! Master Silverbeard! Welcome to me shop!” the dwarf moved to greet them. “What can I do fer ye?”
“I’m actually here for some marble.” Alexander grinned. “You won’t believe this, but we’ve adopted a tribe of rock trolls. And they have a sweet tooth for marble. So, in return for their help in the mine, we’re feeding them, and giving them a slab of marble per week as dessert.”
“BWAHAHA! Ye always have a surprise fer me!” the dwarf laughed. “We can cut some slabs fer ye, easy enough. What size, and what type of marble?”
“Well, the size would be three feet by six, and three inches thick. As for type, I’m ashamed to admit I know very little about marble. Is one type better than another? Or rather, is one type likely to be more tasty to a rock troll?” Alexander shrugged helplessly.
Breakstone looked thoughtful. “Well, in me line o’ work, I’ve tasted the dust o’ every kind of marble. Can’t say I enjoyed the taste o’ any of em. But if I were a troll, me guess’d be the pure white limestone. Got a hint of citrus. Maybe the green, with a bit of magnesium in it, fer kick.”
“And which of these is most common? I don’t want to be feeding these big fellas rare marble,” Alexander asked.
“The white be most common, and therefore least expensive.”
“Alright then, I need a year’s supply. Fifty-two slabs with those dimensions. What will that cost me?”
“Lemme check if we got that much. We only just got started, as ye know.” Breakstone laughed.
“I don’t need it all today. In fact, one slab will do for now. I can send a wagon in… six days?” Alexander asked.
“Aye, lad. That be plenty of time. As for cost… let’s say a hundred gold per slab,” the master offered.
“Actually, I’m horrible at conversion rates.” Alexander looked at Silverbeard, who nodded. “Would you be interested in mithril, instead. I can offer you half a pound for the whole lot.”
Breakstone’s eyes got wider. He quickly did some math in his head. Every dwarf knew the precise value of mithril. After a moment, he shook his head. “Thank ye, lad, but that be too much. Me stone’s not worth half a pound,” he said sadly.
“But your friendship has value to me, as well. Take the mithril. I’ll send it when we pick up the shipment in six days. In the meantime, can you prepare a slab for me now? I don’t want to break my promise to nine large rock trolls with a sweet tooth!” He grinned.
Laughing, Breakstone said, “Aye lad, we can take care of ye.” The dwarf shook his hand, then moved across the shop. He called over two other dwarves, and in short order they’d cut a slab to fit his needs. Breakstone carried it over. “It be a mite heavy, lad. D’ye need me to carry it for ye?”
Alexander shook his head. A slab of stone that size weighed a good 200lbs or more, and the dwarf carried it like it was nothing. “No, thank you, Master Breakstone. If you’ll set it here, I’ll teleport it directly to the trolls. They can lift it, I’m sure.” He grinned.
“Mind if I come with ye? Ain’t never met a rock troll. And I’d like to see this Dire Keep o’ yers,” the dwarf asked.
“Certainly! You’re always welcome at my home. Ready to go now?” Alexander asked.
When the mason nodded, Alexander teleported them, and the heavy stone, to the ledge above the troll’s cavern. He saw the trolls scattered below, looking much like the field of boulders he’d originally thought them to be.
“Hello!” he called out. Hoping he’d recognize the chief among the others. Troll heads rose to follow the sound of his voice. Seeing who it was, and the large slab of dessert standing next to him, they all rose to their feet and approached the ledge. It was only ten feet or so above the floor, so Alexander was quickly looking at several troll faces with what he imagined were eager looks on them.
Solving his problem, the trolls parted as the chief approached. He stepped up to the ledge, and looked at Alexander, then the dwarves. At a nod from Alexander, Breakstone moved the slab forward a bit, presenting it to the chief. “Here you go, chief. One slab of marble for the first week. As promised.”
The troll extended one massive arm, and took the slab in hand. Pulling it closer, he used two fingers of his other hand to break a small piece off one corner. Popping it into his mouth, he moved it around a bit, tasting it. Then his mouth grew very wide in what Alexander hoped was a troll smile. “Goooood!” the troll rumbled.
Surprised, Alexander laughed. So did the dwarves. “I’m glad you like it, chief. We’ll bring another with next week’s food.” He bowed his head slightly, then teleported back to the keep with the two dwarves.
Breakstone immediately said, “He speak’d to us! I never hear’d of a troll speakin common. The boys’ll never believe me!”
“Aye, that were a surprise to me, too.” Silverbeard chuckled. “I don’t get many surprises at my age. Thank ye, lad.”
“Master Breakstone, we’ve been building a new wall and moat outside. Would you like to check them out?” Alexander asked.
“O’ course I would!” The dwarf grinned.” To save time, Alexander teleported them again, this time to top of the outer gatehouse. As both dwarves examined the wall, and look
ed down its length, the mason asked, “Ye did all this in a day?”
“Not me, alone,” Alexander replied. “Fitz and two other earth mages did most of the work. And they’re finishing the moat today.”
When he showed them the bridge and told them about his plans for a drawbridge, Breakstone said, “Ye could have a stone drawbridge if he like. Ironwood be strong, no doubt. But it’ll burn if ye make it hot enough. Stone won’t.”
“But wouldn’t stone be too heavy to lift?” Alexander asked.
“Bwahaha!” Breakstone laughed. “Ye be talkin to dwarves, boy. Movin’ heavy stone be what we do! Ye leave it to me. Ye’ve got masons here, yes? Good. I’ll need to go back to Broken Mountain fer some heavy chains. And some gears. And…” Breakstone and Silverbeard fell to the logistics and supply list needed to build the drawbridge. Alexander pondered the idea. A stone bridge would certainly be impressive. And it wouldn’t burn, or rot, like Breakstone had said. But stone was more brittle than ironwood. They’d need enchantments to strengthen it…”
Alexander slapped himself in the forehead. Those were exactly the enchantments Fitz and Kai were already putting on the walls themselves.
Returning his focus to the two dwarves, he found them staring at him. “I’m sorry, lost in my thoughts. Where were we?” he asked.
“Ye be about to give me a heap o’ gold and send me through the portal to Broken Mountain so I can get ye yer gate! Breakstone grinned at him.
“Ha! Okay. You mind if we check in with Kai and Fitz first? They’re just down there.” He pointed toward where the two were widening the moat. They’d already almost reached the ridge.
Alexander teleported them again to a spot just ahead of where the two were working. Breakstone bowed his head to the dragon prince. Then he became distracted, inspecting the moat, and the ridge they were about to reach. Producing a pick axe, he slammed it into the ground near the end of the moat. Then he produced a rope, and after tying it to the axe, he held the rope in one hand and leapt over the edge.
Slightly alarmed, Alexander stepped to the edge and looked down. He found the master mason hanging about ten feet below, holding the rope with one hand while he used a small hammer to tap at the stone.
After a couple of minutes, the dwarf pulled himself back up the rope. “Ye have granite, quartz, and high-quality marble here. D’ye have a quarry o’ yer own already?”
Alexander laughed. “No, we don’t. But I bet I know a dwarf who’d be willing to help me start one…”
“BWAHAHA! Aye, lad. I’ll make ye a deal. Ye let me bring some lads n put a quarry here, same deal as in Whitehall. And in return, I’ll build yer gate for ye for free.” Breakstone said.
“Where would you put this quarry? It can’t be too far from the keep, or we won’t be able to protect you.”
Breakstone put his hand to the ground, and closed his eyes. Then he pointed to their left, along the ridge line. “Half a mile or so, that way. There be a high concentration there.”
“That’s not far from the mine. We could probably bribe the trolls to help protect you,” Alexander mused.
“Aye lad, and we’ll cut our workshop and living quarters right into the ridge. No enemy’s likely to break into a dwarven stronghold!” The dwarf smiled.
“Okay. You have a deal.” Turning to Fitz, he said, “Fitz, when I widened the moat at the other end, I continued it into the ridge about 100 feet, to give your moat monster a cave to shelter in, if it wished. Maybe you could do the same on this end?”
The wizard nodded his head. “Good thinking, boy. And with a moat this size, I might bring two. So they can make some baby moat monsters!” He waggled his eyebrows. This got a laugh from everyone.
“Well, if you think they’ll be alright,” Alexander said. “We can connect the moat to the lake, so there will be fresh water. And fish to eat. And we’ll be feeding them lots of enemy adventurers, I think!”
Leaving Kai and Fitz to their work, Alexander teleported the two dwarves back to the courtyard. Breakstone went to go find Brogin, the head mason at the keep. Needing to hang around near the portal, Alexander decided to check in with Jeeves. Climbing up onto the wall, he looked at the main structure. Most of the holes had been filled in! Those that remained were on upper floors. He said “Jeeves, what is the status of the repair work?”.
Alexander had initiated the self-repair the evening after clearing the mine. That was roughly thirty-six hours ago. He’d initially been surprised that the repairs weren’t nearly instantaneous. But as he’d thought about it, he realized the time requirement made sense. If repairs didn’t take some time, a keep with a large amount of resources would never be taken. It could just insta-repair over and over.
“Repairs are nearly complete master. The original structure is at 95%, and will be at 100% physical condition by day’s end. New structures are at 90%.”
“New structures at 90%?” he asked.
“The new wall and moat are both incomplete. The moat structure is being widened, and has not been filled. The gates for the new wall are incomplete,” Jeeves detailed for him.
“Ah, of course. Thank you, Jeeves.”
Both of those were already in the works. Fitz and Kai would finish the moat, and hopefully add the moat monster. Alexander was VERY curious as to what form that would take! He pictured a giant octopus, arms waiving, grabbing up minions of the Dark One and dragging them down to a watery doom. Or maybe a large Kraken-looking creature with webbed feet and claws, and a massive maw filled with razor sharp teeth.
His musing was interrupted by the return of Breakstone and Brogin. The dwarves were excitedly talking over the potential new quarry as they walked toward the portal.
Heading down the stairs, Alexander called out, “Breakstone, I know you’re excited about the quarry, but I need you to focus on the drawbridge first. Completing the gate and the moat could increase the level of the keep. And we need all the defense we can get right now.”
“Aye, Alexander. We’ll be grabbin’ all the gear we’ll need at home. Be back here by noon. If ye’ll pull and shape the stone, yer gate’ll be up by noon tomorrow,” Breakstone assured him.
“Thank you,” Alexander said as he opened the portal. “I’ll open it again at noon.”
The dwarves stepped through, and he closed the portal again. Another job begun. He was starting to enjoy this whole building aspect of the game.
“Ambush!” Max’s shout came across the raid chat. “Lainey’s hit! There are a dozen of them that I can see!”
“Everybody to the courtyard, NOW! Guards, and hunters, stay on the wall!” Alexander shouted in raid chat.
“Jeeves, loudspeaker, emergency message!” he said aloud. Then, “Attention, everyone, our hunters have just been attacked in the forest. We’re going to go deal with it. Keep doing what you’re doing, but be prepared to defend the keep if they get closer.”
Brick, Sasha, Lugs’ group, and Dayle’s group all rushed into the courtyard. Without a word, Alexander focused on Max’s medallion, and teleported them to his location.
They were in a sparsely wooded area, with widely placed trees and little in the way of brush. The first thing Alexander saw was Lainey, laying on the ground at the base of a tree. Her health bar was below 10%, and she wasn’t moving. Sasha threw a heal at her.
Fitz and Kai appeared, Kai standing over Lainey’s body protectively.
Alexander took a moment to look around. Max was up in the tree above him, firing arrow after arrow. Alexander followed his line of fire to see a group of players mixed into the trees about fifty yards away. There were four tank types, shield up, making a wall between two large trees. Behind the tanks were three sword-carriers who weren’t doing much but laying low. There were three archers, firing at Alexander’s group now. A caster near the archers must be their healer. Alexander guessed this because there were half a dozen of Max’s arrows in her face and head. The last caster was throwing bolts of dark magic at Lainey, trying to finish her off. Fitz had thr
own up a magic shield that was protecting himself, Kai, Lainey, and Sasha, who had dashed over to try and heal Lainey. Kai was reaching down toward his friend’s stomach. That was a bad sign. It meant she had one of those spike-wormy things in her.
Even as he watched, Kai stayed his hand. Lainey’s health bar had dropped to zero. She was gone. Dead.
With a roar of rage, Alexander shouted, “They killed Lainey! Make them pay!” He liquefied the ground below the enemy players. They’d been expecting this move, though, and all of them leapt to the side. Only one of the tanks made it clear, but he linked hands with the others, and began to pull them free. The healer didn’t move, and was sinking. So were two of the archers.
Lugs activated his charge ability, and smashed into the tanks. He’d target the one on solid ground, knocking him back into the mud. Not having anything to hold onto, the others resumed sinking. Lugs’ momentum had carried him into the mud as well. But he ignored it, using his massive hammer to crush the skull of one of the distracted tanks. Alexander shouted, “Don’t kill them!”, but he thought it was probably too late for that one.
The Greystone Chronicles Book Two: The Dire Lands Page 33