The Land: Catacombs (Chaos Seeds Book 4)

by Aleron Kong

  Krom told him that the moonstone had been a richer vein than he had originally thought. He had already smelted two dozen ingots of the white stone and told Richter that he should be able to make three full suits of chainmail armor from them. The dwarf warned, that making the white armor would take a fair bit longer to forge than the highsteel armor he had been making. Richter nodded, now understanding why Terrod’s armor was mismatched. Krom also said that he had been able to master the creation of Heavy Arrows and had used the moonstone to make two bundles of them.

  Richter thanked him and said he would need to work with him soon anyway to practice his new Enchanting Profession. He moved on to Sumiko, who said that she had been working with Roswan to make the latrines more sanitary and she had also dealt with the pit that the hunters threw offal into. It had apparently been breeding a bad disease when she first examined it. She had ordered the entire pit burned for three days and then had cast a series of cleansing spells. There was also a new ordinance that trash was to be placed in a central pit and burned weekly. She said the ash could be used to make a high quality fertilizer.

  Richter thanked her. Then he thanked her again. He was truly grateful that she had stepped in and helped to put some new health protocols in place. In retrospect, he should have immediately known that a pit filled with rotting remains was a disease risk. He hadn’t seen an outbreak here, but even on Earth, plagues had still existed. True there was magic here, but didn’t that also open the door to magical plagues? Richter started considering the possibilities of that and shuddered. He closed the mental door to that particular brand of horrors and just thanked Sumiko again.

  Shivona didn’t have too much more to report. The ship construction was going well. Krom had done a good deal of work on a scorpion ballista. It would have the capability to fire both bolts and pots of various weaponized potions. The boat itself would take another five to seven weeks to complete. Richter did some quick math in his head and realized that, as suspected, the timeline to finish the ship had increased once he lost the bonuses for increased Morale and Loyalty. The fact that he had changed his request for her to make a war vessel rather than a simple trading boat also probably had something to do with it. He still felt that the decrease in production was more than a fair trade-off for increasing the population of the village.

  Roswan and Terrod had joined the table as well. Richter asked if anyone else had pressing issues to discuss. Randolphus of course had his unending list of notes to go over, but when Richter glared at him, the chamberlain begrudgingly said there was nothing that couldn’t wait. Richter nodded calmly, but internally was doing a fist pump and cheer that he had been able to back Randy the Reporter down.

  “Terrod, get our war party together. The same people and no one else. We have a Challenge to complete. Everyone is to be ready to go and at the gate at midday. Have everyone go by the Forge first though. Krom, outfit them with the best gear that you can. Also go to the Philosopher’s Cauldron and pick up any helpful potions. Speaking of which, how is our newest marvel, Sion? How has Beyan been?”

  Everyone looked at each other uneasily until Sion said, “We have been able to make some potions in the Cauldron, but we haven’t been able to use any of its abilities.”

  “Why not?” Richter asked, confused.

  “You didn’t give anyone permission to use it before you were taken to your Trial.”

  “Oh, my bad,” he said. He still didn’t understand why everyone was looking like they had bad news. If anything, he would have thought that people would be irritated with him for wasting a week of potential potion making. He looked at Sion quizzically until the sprite started speaking again.

  “Beyan has been having a few issues with the other alchemist, Tabia. They don’t exactly… mesh.”

  “Ha,” Sumiko said. “I’ve seen wet cats with dysentery trapped in a bag that get along better.”

  “Well thanks for that visual, Sumiko,” Richter complained. He turned back to his Companion. “So you’re basically saying that this is a problem that requires my direct intervention?”

  “That might be best,” Sion said brightly. The sprite was clearly happy not to have to be put in the middle of the two alchemists anymore.

  “Fine, I’ll deal with that too,” Richter said with just a touch of irritation. “As I was saying before, Terrod, make sure everyone is equipped with at least some health and stamina potions, because then we’re going hunting.”

  “Yes, my lord,” Terrod said.

  Richter dismissed everyone except for Roswan and Randolphus. Before leaving, Krom handed him the copper cylinder and piping that he had requested. Richter’s grin almost split his face in half. He placed the entire five-foot-long device into his Bag of Holding. No matter how many times he saw a large object disappear into the small space, it never got old. Of course, that was the way all of his exes had felt as well, he realized.

  Richter chuckled to himself as the rest of his informal council stood and left. Before Richter could start speaking again, Randolphus placed a small pouch on the table. Opening it, Richter saw that it contained at least two dozen glowing soul stones. The chamberlain said they had been collected by the hunters and the patrol that had cleared the iron mine while Richter had been gone. Richter opened his mouth to ask a question, but the chamberlain preempted him by saying that the bonus had been paid for each soul. Then the man went on to say that it would be nice if such financial decisions were communicated to him before villagers came up asking for money. Richter took the slight rebuke in stride and said, “Yes, dear.” Randolphus just gave a long suffering sigh and flipped through his notes. Richter winked at him and said, “You’re pretty when you’re angry.” Randolphus didn’t respond.

  “What can I help you with, Lord Richter?” Roswan asked. As always, the gruff elf’s expression seemed fixed into a perpetual slight frown. The mustache on his face shifted like a fuzzy brown caterpillar as he spoke.

  “I have been trying to talk with you for the longest, Roswan. Things just seem to keep getting in the way, though, so I thought I’d take this time and do it now. What have you been able to build so far?” Richter asked.

  “We built another longhouse while you were gone. I personally believe that real men should sleep under the stars, but I was told that I sounded like a forest loving maniac. Less than a third of the wall has been converted to stone, but the work speed is improving with the influx of villagers. We are still having to divide our effort between the wall and the outer trench you ordered dug, however. Things might go faster if we had a workshop.”

  You have received a Quest: Every Tool has its Place. One of your villagers is requesting for you to have a workshop built. Yes or No? Reward: Settlement bonus from building a workshop.

  “That’s exactly what I wanted to talk to you about,” Richter said. He accepted the quest. “I’ve been getting a good number of requests for buildings. I think that we’ve been spreading ourselves too thin on too many projects and we might do better focusing on one at a time. What do you think?”

  “Grrrrmmm” and a nod was the only reply Richter got. It sounded like a low, rumbling way to say the word “grim.”

  He sighed. “Well after the workshop, what do you think we should build next?”

  Roswan looked at him with that perpetual half frown. The caterpillar above his lip seemed to dance as his frown lines deepened. Then the elf said, “More buildings.”

  Richter prayed for strength. “This is what I was thinking. We build the workshop, then the Healer’s hut. After that we build the barracks and a storage shed. How does that sound?”

  “Grrrmmm.”

  “Roswan, I love these talks we have.”

  “Grrrmmm.”

  “You are my Oprah, buddy.”

  “What’s an opahbudie?”

  Richter shook his head. What he wouldn’t give for just one person to discuss primetime cable with. “So can you make them one at a time so we can get them done faster? How many workers do we hav
e, Randy?”

  The chamberlain flipped back through several papers. “Of the three hundred and forty-eight workers, seventy-three have become militia, which with the eighteen guards from Leaf Crossing and Sergeant Caulder and Captain Terrod give us a fighting force of ninety-three men and women. Eighty-two villagers spend their days caring for the crops and the animals. Including Isabella, there are six villagers that tend to the herb garden. There are seven smiths, seventeen hunters including Ulinde, eight fishermen, fourteen cooks, eleven washers, and nine weavers. Twenty of the villagers have been assigned to watch the one hundred and thirty-three children.” Richter’s eyes bulged a bit at hearing how many children he was responsible for, but he didn’t interrupt. “The nineteen children who you awakened magical power in have been taken charge of by Lady Sumiko. She instructs the Life magi children and teaches the Air children mental exercises and healing techniques for a portion of each day. Lady Sumiko has also commandeered all of the Life magi. Twenty-two of the Life magi have joined the militia, but the other ten are being taught by the village Healer each day and so cannot help with other duties. Quasea and Zarr have also spoken to each of the village children and villagers. One child with Dark magic has been identified and two with Earth magic. They have also found three adult mages with an affinity in each magic. Twelve of the villagers have mining experience, and are now back to work in the iron mine since Captain Terrod cleared the first level. The two scribes have been helpful to me, and nine of the villagers have the Construction skill and have been leading the building efforts under Roswan’s direction. Finally, Shivona has two apprentices helping her with ship building. That leaves only fifty-seven unskilled workers that have been helping with manual labor, my lord.”

  The sheer amount of work that was taking place every day just to keep the village running was staggering. Richter was again immensely grateful for the chamberlain’s tireless efforts. “How much do I pay you, Randy?”

  The chamberlain paused for a second with a slightly surprised look on his face. “I make the same four silvers as the other villagers.”

  “Not anymore,” Richter said. He took a piece of paper from Randolphus’s clipboard and then took his pen. Richter surreptitiously wrote a number on the paper, folded it in half, and then slid it across the table to the chamberlain. “Now you make this much.”

  Randolphus opened the paper and coughed. “This isn’t necessary, my lord!”

  “I disagree,” Richter said.

  “My lord, it is my honor to serve. You have given me a home. If you would do anything for me, then I would appreciate it if you would stop calling me ‘Randy.’”

  Richter waved the request away. “Naw, that’s not going to happen. Congratulations on your raise though!”

  “Uhhh, thank you, my lord. Why did you write my salary down and then slide it across the table, however?”

  Richter made a face to indicate that the answer was obvious. “Because it’s a baller move, Randy. Try to keep up. Now just for my own curiosity, what do you have the unskilled people doing?”

  “Various jobs,” Randolphus answered. “They have been helping with chopping down trees and carrying some of the iron ore. Most recently they built the fire in the hunter’s refuse pit and helped to dig a new latrine pursuant to Lady Sumiko’s new health regulations.”

  Ugh, Richter thought to himself. The message here is stay in school, kids. Apparently being unskilled and uneducated led to “shit” jobs no matter what world you lived in. Hearing about their duties reminded him of something. “I heard that the iron mine can sometimes yield gems. When I asked Krom if anyone had found jewels and not turned them in, he seemed a bit cagey. I don’t want to believe the villagers are stealing from me, but on the other hand, I absolutely believe that some of them would steal from me. What can we do?”

  Randy nodded. “Futen notified me of your concerns. Zarr knows a level eight Earth spell that can detect the presence of gemstones within two feet. He has agreed to teach this spell to his new novices. Once they know it, part of their duties will be to scan everyone that comes in and out of the mine. I have limited entrance and exit from the site to three times a day. I have also started a story that the magi will be casting spells on everyone entering and leaving to detect any dangerous earth creatures that might hide in their clothes or in the ore. I have also made it clear that the spell will also detect any metals or gems present on a person.”

  Richter nodded. He saw the wisdom in letting people know they would get caught if they stole, but also supplying a cover story so they wouldn’t feel like they were being scrutinized. Basically, it would let him catch the guilty and not offend the innocent. He motioned for Randolphus to go on. “As you may know, in light of the attack on the mist workers as well as the gibberlings that were found in the mine, Captain Terrod has also dispatched a squad to patrol the area in and around the mine whenever there are workers present. I think these measures should be sufficient to deal with the problem, though any theft that has occurred so far will remain undiscovered.”

  “That’s alright, Randy. A little bit of graft is inevitable in a setting like this. I’m not worried about the past. I’m looking towards the future. Which bring us back to you, Roswan. Defense is obviously important, but we can hold off on transitioning the walls to stone for a few days. Can you use these fifty or so free workers, the other builders, and the mist workers to build each structure quickly rather than spreading the work around?”

  Roswan looked up from the food he was eating. A bit of egg was nestled into the left side of his mustache. Rather than answer, he flagged down a passing woman who was carrying a jug of water. For the first time, Richter heard the elf speak with a lighthearted tone and with joy in his voice. “Excuse me, ma’am. Would you please bring me some more bacon and eggs? Please and thank you.” She smiled and bobbed her head before continuing on. Only then did Roswan look at Richter and say “No.”

  Richter stared at him, then over at Randolphus. The chamberlain shrugged his shoulders slightly and wore a perplexed expression. Richter turned back to the builder and said, “You gotta give me more, man. I feel like I’m talking to a Kardashian. I have no idea if there’s actually anything going on in your head.”

  Roswan frowned for a minute then said, “When you build something, you should build it right.” Silence followed the statement.

  Richter looked at Randolphus again to make sure he wasn’t missing something. “It’s like he’s trying to communicate with us. If only he knew the language.” No one could miss the irritation in his voice. Roswan looked completely unperturbed by Richter’s ire and just kept chewing his bacon like a cow eating cud. The chamberlain proved his value again by diffusing the situation.

  “I believe Roswan is referring to the quality of the building created. Perhaps you could tell Lord Richter how that works.”

  “Grrmmmm.” The elf’s frown deepened until Richter couldn’t be sure that the man wasn’t taking a poop, or at the very least wasn’t extremely constipated. Like lactose intolerance plus chocolate shake topped with cheese constipated. Since he didn’t smell anything and the elf started talking, Richter let it go.

  “I am journeyman ranked in my Construction skill. That means I have a high chance of building a well built or exceptional work quality building. I have a smaller chance of building an above average or superb craftsmanship quality building.”

  Richter interrupted. He took Randolphus’s clipboard and drew a bell curve on a piece of paper. “Is this the way the probability would shake out?”

  Roswan glared at him. “I can tell you about making strong buildings. If you want to discuss drawing and finger painting, the children are up in the meadow. If you hurry you can make it in time for juice.”

  Richter started silently counting backwards from ten: Ten, don’t kill him. Nine, he’s the best you have. Eight, I could shave his mustache while he’s sleeping. Seven, I’m sure that Isabella could whip me up a potion to knock him out… That was as far as he got
because Roswan started talking again.

  “There are several levels of building quality: slum, shoddy, poorly made, average, above average, well built, exceptional work, superb craftsmanship, and masterfully constructed. There are also Core-level buildings, which are the highest quality known. Those are basically like cheating though. A real craftsman would never really count them as true buildings.”

  Is that this guy’s problem? Richter asked himself. Building envy?

  Roswan continued, “Anything below average quality has a chance of just collapsing, being blown over by the wind, or catching on fire depending on what type of building it is. Each rank below average also decreases any building perks and there is a higher risk of injury just from someone being inside. That’s just to name a few potential issues. On the other hand, any building with a quality greater than average gets a 10% durability increase. Well built has a +20% increase to durability and exceptional work has a +30% increase to durability. What I build is even stronger because I have the subskills ‘masonry’ and ‘woodworking.’”

  “Why don’t I ever see durabilities when I look at a building?”

  “It is a benefit from the Construction skill. Feel free to come swing a hammer with the real men if you get tired of watching us work.”

  Richter ground his teeth. With a strained voice, he said, “Okay, I’m still not seeing the issue with having everyone work on one project.”

  “Grrmmm,” Roswan grrmmed. The sound was starting to make Richter’s eye twitch. “If someone without any Construction skill tries to build then they have a strong chance of creating a shoddy or poorly made building. I can use others to help me, including unskilled labor, but only so many on one project. For each rank in Construction, I can include five other workers and still have my rank and skill level apply to the final quality of the building. At my journeyman rank, I can also include three other builders who can have work crews of their own, as long as their Construction rank is less than mine. The problem is that all of the other villagers with the Construction skill are novices except for one initiate. So the maximum number of people I can have working on any project is forty-five. The best thing to do if we want to erect one building quickly would be to put all of the villagers with the construction skill on my crew and fill the rest of the slots with unskilled workers. That means there is no one else to work on other projects, though, unless you want subpar work. Luckily, the mist workers don’t seem to affect the number of people counted on the crew and they have been a great help.”