The Greystone Chronicles Book Two: The Dire Lands

by Dave Willmarth

  Brega and Morig both nodded their heads. Gelag said, “We will discuss with our people. Alexander makes good offer. Dream we came to surface for. Trade and live with others.”

  As it was nearing sunset, Alexander teleported them back to the keep.

  “If you would like to wait a few minutes, we can gather some supplies for you to take home to your people. And you can meet some of the new members from Broken Mountain that we’ll welcome today.”

  Silverbeard strode over. He’d already anticipated the duergar’s needs. There was a small cart filled with fresh fruit, meat, and a barrel of ale behind him, pulled by Lugs. “Lugs said there were a hundred and fifty of them. This should feed them for the evening. We can make better arrangements tomorrow,” the old chamberlain explained.

  The duergar gathered around the cart, touching the food and shaking their heads as they murmured among themselves.

  Leaving them to it, Alexander turned and opened the portal. Lola waited on the other side with a significant contingent of dwarves with wagons.

  Smiling at Alexander as she passed through, she said, “I bring’d more of me people. And food. And me King sent Brick’s next shipment.”

  Looking at the crowd behind her, he said, “You certainly did! How many of this crowd are staying?”

  “All of em,” Lola said. “There be twenty more guards. Six farmers. Three hunters. One woodcutter. Two smiths. Six masons. And one dwarven lass who be interested in fishing. There also be an auctioneer.” She pointed to a gnome who was riding the back of a wagon. “I talked to a banker who’ll be wantin’ to help us set up our bank. Fer a fee o’ course. And we bring’d enough food fer everyone for two weeks. I paid with guild funds.” She hesitated, expecting Alexander to object to her spending money without approval.

  “Well done, Lola!” he said. “Thank you for thinking of the food. As it turns out, we’ve got new neighbors, and we’ll be needing much more than we planned.” He waved toward the duergar gathered around the cart, who were now staring at the mass of dwarves coming through the portal.

  The contingent of dwarven guards noticed the duergar at about the same time. Instantly they had shields up and weapons out.

  Alexander leapt in front of them, as did Master Silverbeard. “No, wait! These duergar are allies! They are friendly! There’s no threat here!”

  The guards lowered their weapons, looking suspiciously between Alexander and the grey dwarves.

  Silverbeard pulled them aside, and gathered all the others as they came through. He explained to them as a group the situation. Alexander moved to calm the wary Stoneburners.

  “I’m sorry. I should have thought to warn them before they came through. Please forgive them. And me.”

  “Nothing to forgive,” Morig said. “Hate between duergar and dwarf go back many lifetimes. Many more lifetimes pass since we came here. Maybe we start to fix hate.”

  Silverbeard approached, the entire band of thirty-nine newcomers behind him. He bowed slightly to the duergar. “Me people wish to apologize, and welcome ye back to the living.”

  The leader of the guards stepped forward and offered his hand to Morig, who smiled and shook it heartily. The dwarf moved on to Gelag as another dwarf held out a hand to Morig. And so the entire line of dwarves greeted each of the duergar. Dwarven honor was really something to behold.

  Alexander raised himself up on a column of stone. Facing the newcomers, he said, “Jeeves, loudspeaker, please.”

  After a moment he called out, “I welcome you all to Dire Keep. I am Alexander. What I have just seen here, ancient enemies coming together in friendship, makes me proud to be among you. The honor of dwarves is legendary. And the duergar of the Stoneburner clan sacrificed nearly their entire population to achieve freedom from the cruel ways of their people. Together with all the races represented here today, we are forming a new, stronger, better nation of brothers and sisters willing to support and defend each other, regardless of race!”

  There was clapping and cheering from both the newcomers and the citizens of the keep. The dwarves began to separate and move their supplies at the direction of Lola and Silverbeard.

  Alexander turned to the duergar. “I can take you back to your people now, if you’d like.” When Gelag nodded his head, Alexander said, “Okay, just one moment.”

  He quickly teleported up to the command center and grabbed the mirror that led down into the duergar complex. He then teleported back to the keep, and moved over to the cart full of food. Looking around, he waved at a young dwarven girl with strawberry blonde hair and a very short beard. As she approached, he asked “Would you be the young lady who is interested in fishing?

  She stuck out her hand. “Aye! I be Elsbett. Nice t’meetcha.”

  Alexander took the offered hand. “Elsbett. Pleased to meet you as well. I’m about to take these folks over to the fishing pier. Would you like to join us, and meet your new teacher?”

  “Aye, that’d be grand. Thank ye.” She smiled.

  With a wave of his hand, he teleported the group of duergar, the cart, and Elsbett to an area near the fishing pier. Waving Lars over, he said, “Lars, this is Elsbett. She’s your new apprentice. I’ve also got to put up a structure really quickly. It’ll serve as a gateway for the Stoneburners until we can make other arrangements.”

  Lars nodded, and led Elsbett away toward the pier. “The fish bite better as the sun comes up and goes down…” he heard the old fisherman say as they walked away.

  Alexander turned and strode some ways toward the ridgeline. Being this close to the mountain’s face, he changed his mind about creating a new structure out in the open. Instead, he moved to a spot where a large outcropping extended forward. Moving to the side, he opened a narrow space in the joint where it met the flatter stone. Pushing diagonally into the mountain’s stone, he created a cave about twenty feet wide and deep. Turning to the wall on the left of the entrance, he created a small alcove, where he placed the mirror.

  Moving back up and out of the structure, he joined the duergar, who were still standing around the cart. Looking toward the cave he’d just created, he made sure the entrance wasn’t visible. One would have to be standing right next to it to spot it.

  With a wave, he teleported the group and the cart into the first room that he and his team had entered in the duergar complex.

  Looking around, they immediately recognized where they were.

  Alexander pointed to the mirror. “Go ahead. Touch the mirror. Just one of you.”

  Gelag stepped forward and touched the mirror. He disappeared, only to reappear laughing a few moments later.

  “That’s your way out,” Alexander said. “For now. You must go one at time, and never linger in front of the mirror, in case another is coming through.”

  They all nodded their heads. “We thank you again, Alexander,” Gelag said.

  “You’re welcome. If you wish, stop by the keep tomorrow and we can talk further. Also, your people are welcome to hunt and fish. But be careful. There may be enemies in the forest.”

  Alexander waved goodbye and teleported himself back to the keep.

  Heading back to the kitchen courtyard, where most folks were having their dinner, Alexander found it was standing room only. With the additional dwarves, there just weren’t enough seats.

  So, stepping back a bit from the area, he began to raise stone. He raised three long tables, and benches on either side of each. Brick moved over and smoothed the tops to make sure there were no splinters. And just like that, there was seating for thirty more people.

  Having already eaten with the duergar, Alexander took a seat and socialized with the folks who joined him. While they talked, he pulled out a block of obsidian and began enchanting fifty more small pieces with the Undying and healing spells. If the Stoneburners joined up, he was going to need more obsidian.

  Brick sat with him, and called over a couple of smiths and masons. They shaped the stone into dragons, and sunk the pins inside the backs. Bric
k gave the finished pins to Lola for distribution.

  Alexander wandered over to the auction house building to find that the gnome was already set up and doing business. Unsurprisingly, Max was at the counter, looking to sell some rare loot items. Alexander left them to it. He’d introduce himself later.

  He thought about Baron Dire, locked up in Fitz’s tower. He really wanted to speak to the man. But Fitz clearly had a bone to pick, and Alexander figured it wasn’t wise to get in his way.

  Alexander decided to retire for the evening. Making his way upstairs to his chambers, he lowered himself into a comfortable chair in the sitting room. The same chair he’d died in recently. Luckily the game mechanics wiped away all blood stains when a dead body disappeared.

  He’d gotten some levels today, as had the others. And they’d not been in the city to visit trainers for a week now. As best he could recall, his group had all gained more than ten levels since then. He would need to encourage them to visit the city in the morning to see trainers.

  Pulling up his own stat sheet, he contemplated spending some points.

  Mage: Alexander Level 45

  Build: Ranged magic/Melee dps

  Health: 12,100ExperienceAttribute pts avail: 31

  Mana: 11,8004,900/63,000Skill pts avail: 5

  Stamina: 4(12) Dexterity: 6Armor: 140 Health Regen: 60

  Strength: 4(15) Wisdom: 55(60)Defense: 100 Mana Regen: 75

  Agility: 6(11) Intel: 55(65)Phys Attack: 25 Magic Attack: 70

  Luck: 10(13) Charisma: 9Stam Regen: 2 Race: Elf

  He was becoming a real glass cannon. With each new level, his intel and wisdom increased, but he’d neglected his other stats.

  Making some quick calculations, he dropped three points each into Strength and Agility. He put five in Stamina. After a moment, he put four in Luck, hoping it would improve his chances of discovering new enchantments, or inventing new rare and epic items.

  With his current gear upgrades, the five points he spent would give him twenty-one Stamina, or roughly 30% more than before. He rarely got tired during fights, but large earth-moving projects had left him exhausted. Hopefully the upgrade would cure that problem. The extra points increased his health bar by 25% as well.

  That left him with sixteen attribute points left. He slipped two into Charisma, taking it up into double digits. With all the speeches he’d been making, he needed it. He left Dexterity alone, as he had no real requirement for it, as yet. He’d save the remaining 14 points, and his 5 skill points, for later.

  With the Stoneburner complex secured, they still had one more mirror to investigate. He thought they probably still had a couple days before any attack force from Antalia would show up. And he felt much better about their defenses. The moat was filled, the drawbridge done…

  Wait! Both structures were finished. It must have happened while he was under the lake.

  “Jeeves, did you happen to increase in level since this morning?” he asked.

  “I am now level 16, master. With the large number of ancillary structures you have been adding to me, I am accumulating points quickly. If you were to increase the population to 200, I would reach level 17.”

  “Do you have enough levels to activate the Improved Interface option, Jeeves?”

  “Yes, master.”

  “Then please activate the Improved Interface upgrade, Jeeves.”

  There was an extended moment of silence. Then Jeeves spoke again. “Upgrade complete. Thank you, master. With Baron Dire in charge, I did not expect to ever receive this upgrade.”

  “Feel good, does it?” Alexander chuckled at his keep’s AI.

  “It does, master. I can now sense well beyond the moat, to a distance of approximately two hundred yards. I can sense the fish in the moat, as well as in the lake. And the life forms in the caverns below. I can also hear the voices of the miners inside the mine. And the rumblings of the trolls. My senses still do not reach within the wizard’s tower, however. Lastly, I can sense the location of individual citizens within my range.”

  “Any other abilities beyond improved awareness?” Alexander was fascinated.

  “Yes, master. I can control many of the magical circuits within my structures. I may now turn water pipes on and off. Or the ovens and stove tops in the kitchen. With a simple enchantment from the wizard Fitz, I could open and close the drawbridge and gates. I can open and close the cells in the dungeon levels, and adjust their settings to be immune to various types of magic. Also, I have the ability to light or extinguish any fireplace in the keep. Or torches. And I am now able to extend new rooms into the stone of the mountain, per a pre-set plan. I do this by removing stone from the area, absorbing it as stone resource units.”

  “Thank you, Jeeves, and congratulations! If you would, once Master Silverbeard has finished his breakfast in the morning, please inform him of your upgrade. I believe he will want to talk about scheduling and resource monitoring functions. Also, ask him for a plan for a large dining room. Place it as near the kitchen as possible. Room for long tables. Enough for… three hundred people.”

  “Gladly, master. It feels… good. To be of service.”

  Alexander was considering calling it an evening, when there was a knock at his door. Standing, he called “Who’s there?” as he moved toward the door.

  Two voices answered simultaneously. Outside the door, Jules’ soft voice said, “It’s me, Jules.”

  While Jeeves replied, “It is guild member Jules, master”.

  Chuckling to himself, Alexander said, “Thank you, Jeeves,” as he opened the door.

  “Jules! I’m glad to see you. Please come in.” He found himself with a ridiculously large smile on his face.

  The elf rogue stepped into the room, looking around. “This is very nice,” she said.

  “I share it with Edward. Though it wasn’t my choice. The others put me in here for… appearances.” He tried not to think about Sasha’s references to the large bed.

  Jules moved to sit on a sofa, patting the seat next to her. Alexander quickly moved to comply with the unspoken order to ‘sit’ like a puppy eager for a treat.

  Jules looked down at her hands for a moment, before saying, “I wanted to thank you for what you did today.”

  “Did I do something special? There’s been a lot going on today. If you tell me what it was you liked, I’ll be sure to do it again!” He grinned.

  Jules smiled back. “Silly man. I meant not killing Gelag’s people. A lot of the group, maybe most of us, were thinking the same as Lugs. Piles of easy xp. But you took the time to learn what happened, and made the decision to help those poor people.” Jules took a ragged breath.

  “To be trapped like that. Like I was. In the darkness. For thousands of years…” Tears began to form in her eyes.

  Alexander gathered her into a hug. “Jules, I’m so sorry. I didn’t even realize how that might affect you. I should have known.” He awkwardly patted her back. He didn’t have much practice in comforting people. But he’d been comforted many times in his life, and he tried to remember what had helped him.

  “Listen, you’re going to be just fine, right? I spoke to my dad while I was dead. He said your body is healing. The progress is slow, but you ARE getting better.”

  Jules leaned into him, burying her face in his chest. Her arms wrapped around him and squeezed tightly. Alexander just held her, listening to her breathing. He couldn’t think of any place he’d rather be.

  After several minutes, she sighed deeply. “I should go. You need to sleep,” she mumbled into his chest. Alexander noticed she didn’t let go as she said it.

  “Sleep is overrated. And I don’t want you to go,” he said softly. He gave her a quick squeeze, to reinforce that she should stay right where she was.

  At that moment, Edward opened the outer door and entered. He took two steps into the room and froze. Taking in the scene on the sofa, he smiled mischievously. “Uh, sorry to interrupt.” He began an exaggerated tip-toe movement through the sittin
g room, ducking into this room.

  Jules giggled. “Well, that was embarrassing.”

  “Yeah. I’m going to have to work out some kind of signal with him. Tie a sock on the door knob or something.” Alexander’s voice was flat.

  Jules sat up, giggling again. “So he doesn’t interrupt your snuggle time?” she teased.

  “Snuggle time? I like that! Yes. So he doesn’t interrupt our snuggle time.” He reached to pull her closer.

  “Not so fast, mister handsy man.” She mocked him, gently slapping his hand away. “What will the others think if they come in here and find us together?”

  “They’ll wonder what took so long. They’ve all decided you’re perfect for me. I’m afraid I don’t have any choice, really. The group voted. I simply must snuggle you.” He sighed, as if put-upon.