The Greystone Chronicles: Book One: Io Online

by Dave Willmarth

  Alexander took a seat, finding it comfortable and slightly warm to the touch. Seeing him sitting, the others all followed. Brick stood next to the priest as he gave a short prayer of thanks. When it was over, villagers began to filter back outside to finish their day’s business or retire.

  Brick led the adventurers, included Fitz, Thea, and the Redmonds, down into the cellar. There they found the obsidian altar, but it looked nothing like it had earlier in the day. The basic shape was still the same, but the pitch black obsidian had become clear crystal with a light that pulsed in its center.

  “Oh, it’s beautiful!” Lydia exclaimed. She stepped forward with the others, and laid a hand softly on the top of the altar. As she ran her hand along the smooth top, she gasped and stood very straight.

  Sasha immediately rush to her, Heal at the ready. “Are you okay?”

  Lydia’s eyes closed, and she smiled. She whispered, “What? Yes. I’m wonderful! The baby… I just felt a connection to the baby. I could hear his thoughts. So much love…” she drifted off as her husband gathered her in his arms.

  Giving the Redmonds some privacy, the others headed upstairs. Father Ignatius spoke quietly.

  “The gods were generous. This place has so much more power than I had expected. No being of darkness would survive long here. The ground itself now has healing powers. I think you’ll find that minor wounds will heal much more quickly when you’re within the altar’s area of influence.”

  Heading for the inn, Alexander told the group he’d need a piece of armor from each of them. He planned to give each of them the life enchantment, to be sure Sasha had time to heal them if they happened to take a fatal blow, especially the NPC’s, who would not respawn. As it turns out, Fitz had already done so for the captain and Lydia, so he would focus on the others.

  Stopping at Millicent's on the way, he retrieved the small chunk of obsidian he’d left on the table after his nearly disastrous enchanting experiment. Locating Fitz, he asked a few questions about what he planned. Fitz told him it was relatively harmless, and simply warned him not to overtax himself.

  Setting up back at the inn, which now had proper sleeping rooms and a few rough tables and chairs in the common room, he called Lainey to him. He asked if she could use leather straps to make either thong necklaces or bracelets. She sat with him and went to work.

  First he enchanted armor pieces for Thea and the other dwarves. Then Brick, Lainey, Max, and Sasha. He tried to enchant his own chest piece, but it wouldn’t accept the spell. There was a limit to how much magic a single item could hold.

  Alexander and Sasha worked late into the night. He broke off pieces of the obsidian and enchanted them with the Undying spell. Lainey then attached them to a necklace or bracelet. When they were done, they had one for each villager and guard. He had drained his mana several times, and boosted it back with potions.

  Lainey helped him to his room, where he simply fell into his bedroom and passed out.

  Alexander woke the next morning to the smell of breakfast. Sasha and Lydia had decided to test the new kitchen at the inn with bacon, eggs, and oatmeal with honey. Alexander has risen late, and arrived downstairs to find Lydia waving a wooden spoon at the wizard, trying to preserve the last of the food they’d set aside for Alexander.

  “You old goat! You’d eat till you explode if I let you! Three full plates is enough!”

  Laughing, Alexander ducked past the wizard and under Lydia’s menacing spoon to scoop up his plate and make a break for the common room. He’d made a point of leaving a bit of eggs and a slice of bacon for Lydia to surrender to the wizard.

  After breakfast, Alexander, Fitz, and the earth mage began to work their way through the village, replacing the wooden structures that survived the fires with stone. For the homes housing families, they enlarged the structures, making some of them two storey. All of them were connected to the new plumbing and sewage lines, and all of them were built with defense in mind.

  It occurred to Alexander that the inn’s wooden roof would be a liability, so he found a good spot off to one side and created a simple potter’s shop with two large kilns. If one of the villagers had skill in pottery, or if they could recruit someone who did, then ceramic roof tiles could be made.

  After lunch, he left Fitz and the mage to finish the last of the homes, while he went with Thea, the dwarves, and the Greystone clan to finish clearing the dungeon.

  They began in the main corridor of the first floor, and worked their way through, room by room. Max checked every room and corridor for hidden doors and traps, and Alexander used his earth magic to double check what he could. Having cleared the first floor, killing several dozen imps, that they’d bypassed with Fibble’s shortcuts, they moved down to the second. Again, they cleared every room, searched every corner. They found half a dozen secret compartments, which held decent loot. The dwarves all got several levels from the mass killing, and the adventurers were all approaching level 28 by the time they headed for the third floor. The demons were tougher on this level, and they nearly lost Harin when the team had gotten a little careless and pulled three groups at once. Harin had gotten a lucky crit on one of the demons, drawing aggro and taking a vicious sword slash near his collarbone that severed an artery. Sasha was able to heal him in time, but it had been a very close thing.

  After that, they were much more careful. They used the opportunity to test different fight mechanics, tightening up the teamwork of the larger group. They experimented with different attack types, to learn what attacks were effective, or not, against demonkind. Normal fire spells were nearly useless. Lightning was moderately effective as a stun, but did little damage. Holy spells were by far the most effective, followed by simple physical damage from weapons and kinetic spells like magic bolt and Sasha’s thorns. They also learned that any demons stepping into range of Sasha’s AOE heals would take damage as well, so she began targeting the spell so that it covered the group and extended just a few feet in front of Brick to damage any demons stupid enough to stand there and pound at him. Which was pretty much all of them.

  After nearly two hours in the dungeon, they finally reached the final boss room with its broken throne. Max took the opportunity to search that room, as well as the bottom room, again while the others rested. Finding nothing else, they grouped together and Alexander mass teleported them back to the road outside the village.

  Walking toward the mayor’s resident, Alexander saw that the remainder of the structures in the village had been converted to stone. Including the mayor’s now larger home, which was doubling as the town hall. It was nearly the same size as the inn, with the ground floor functioning as the mayor’s office and a meeting room large enough for a hundred people or more. The upper two levels were the mayor’s residence and a couple of guest suites. The mayor insisted on being prepared if he had another royal visit.

  Locating the mayor himself, Alexander reported that the dungeon had been completely cleared.

  Quest Completed! Rebuilding Whitehall

  You have far exceeded the mayor’s expectations for this quest. You literally rebuilt the village, even adding to its original size. You cleared a demon horde from its doorstep. You provided strong defenses, magical and holy protections, and opportunities for growth. He has nothing to offer as a reward that would be sufficient to express his gratitude to you.

  Reward: 1000 gold. Your reputation with the village of Whitehall is now Revered. Safe Haven – in times of need you will always find protection and allies within the walls of Whitehall.

  Experience: 9500

  Level up! You are now level 28!

  Your wisdom has increased by +1. Your intelligence has increased by +1

  You have 16 free attribute points available

  Alexander insisted the mayor keep the gold from the reward, and use it to hire more guards and buy weapons. The village would need the added security in the coming days.

  Sasha and Lydia had gone off with the farmer and his sons to look at some
thing in the fields. Alexander decided to join them and see what was going on. Walking toward the gate, he passed by Millicent's bakery, with its tantalizing aromas of fresh bread and pastries. Sticking his head in the door, he saw Theresa setting out a display of freshly baked scones. He gave her a quick wave and a smile, and continued on. It was good to see folks adjusting to their losses and finding ways to move forward.

  He’d only gone a short way when a small voice called “Mister ‘Zander!” behind him. He turned to find Danny running after him.

  Catching up, the boy held up a warm scone, “Mum says you need to eat more, to grow up big and strong!”

  Alexander took the scone and ruffled the boy’s hair. “She said that, did she?”

  Looking slightly annoyed, the boy replied, “She says the same thing to me, only I have to eat vegetables! How come you get treats?”

  Laughing loudly, Alexander broke off part of the treat, handing it to the boy with a wink and a “don’t tell your mother” gesture that needed no words. The boy grinned and took off to consume his prize in a safe place.

  Passing through the gate, Alexander located the ladies and the farmer in the first patch of ground he’d tilled, just to the left of the road. They were bending over and looking at some very small plants sprouting from the ground. He had almost no knowledge of farming, and no clue what the plants were.

  “It’s a miracle!” the farmer was telling the ladies. “I just planted these seeds two days ago. It should be weeks before they’ve grown this far.”

  Lydia was examining one of the seedlings. She replied to the farmer absently, “Sasha and I cast a druid’s blessing on the fields as you planted them. But while our magic can increase the speed of growth, the blessing is mainly for increased health and production. It shouldn’t have done this.”

  Not knowing what to look for, Alexander activated his mage sight. What he saw caused his jaw to drop. “Uhh… you guys should see this.” He cast mage sight on each of them. Each spell was accompanied by exclamations of surprise.

  He didn’t blame them. He was seeing magic infusing the entire field. Each plant pulsed faintly with the glow of magic that it was pulling like water from the surrounding soil. But it wasn’t just the normal ‘green’ magic Alexander had seen in the plants and trees in other places. There was a silvery white thread wound through the green as it flowed up from the earth.

  Lydia whispered, “It must have been the consecration of the chapel” she placed one hand on her belly as she spoke. “When the holy magic spread out from the chapel, it must have somehow enhanced the blessing we put on the land. I’ve never seen druid magic and holy magic combined…” her voice drifted off.

  “Aye, like I said. A miracle.” The farmer nodded, “And at this rate, we’ll have a crop of corn to harvest in two weeks. Maybe less! I hadn’t planned to be able to harvest for seven or eight weeks. And the wheat in the next field has sprouted already. What should be a four-month crop will be ready in one!”

  “We’re very happy for you,” Sasha smiled at the man. He looked sheepishly at the ground, and cleared his throat twice. Clearly, he wanted to say something, but was embarrassed.

  “This causes a problem for you somehow, doesn’t it?” Alexander created an opening for him.

  “Aye, it does.” The farmer looked up quickly, then back down again. Shifting some soil with his boot. “The thing is, with the seedlings sprouting so soon, I ain’t had time to make proper protection. Normally I’d have a fence up by the time they cleared the soil. But now they’re here, and I’ve already had to chase off all kinds of hungry critters. Deer, and rabbits…”

  Alexander couldn’t help himself. He burst out laughing, followed shortly by Sasha. Lydia and the farmer just looked confused.

  “Wait… wait, please,” he gasped. “I need to call in…a… specialist!”

  In guild chat he sent out an urgent call. “Brick! We need you in the farmer’s field outside the gate!! There has been an invasion of fluffy bunnies devastating the new crops!”

  He and Sasha both held their breaths through the silence that followed.

  “Kiss me armor plated arse!” Brick’s reply sent them both to the ground, unable to control themselves. It only got worse when Lainey piled on. “If they kill him again, will he respawn all the way back on that hill where we started?”

  After taking a few moments to recover, Sasha patted the unsettled farmer on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. We’ll help you keep the rabbits away.”

  She and Lydia walked to the edge of the field, and began to cast spells. In front of them, thorny vines rose from the earth and coiled about each other as they grew. In just a few moments, there was a section of brambles that formed a thick barrier about 3 feet high that stretched a dozen or so feet along the field’s boundary. Splitting up, they walked opposite directions along the boundary line, raising brambles and extending the barrier until they eventually met up on the opposite side of the field. They left an opening wide enough for a wagon to enter and exit.

  “I’m afraid you’ll have to figure out a gate on your own,” Lydia said.

  The farmer bobbed his head. “Oh, aye! Easy enough! Thank you, Lady Druids!” He started shouting for his sons to gather materials for the gate.

  Alexander left Lydia and Sasha to create thorn fences for the remaining fields. Heading back to the inn, he found Thea sitting on one of his benches, waiting for him.

  “Alexander. I were hoping ye’d have a moment?” she asked.

  “For my favorite dwarven princess? Always!” He gave her a wide smile, which made her blush.

  “Erm, yes. Well, I were hoping ye’d take me back to me home? I’d like to inform me King about the trade agreements fer the quarry’n farmers’n such. Get me people here quick as can be.”

  “Certainly. We’ve a few hours before suppertime. I’d be happy to take you back. Is it just you?”

  “Aye, Harin’s at the smithy working on a project, and the other two be in the chapel basement, carving tributes to Durin in the stone,” she replied.

  So after a quick message in guild chat to let the others know where he was going, he stepped closer to Thea, and activated his group teleport. Once back in the compound, they opened the portal to Broken Mountain.

  Stepping through, this time they caused only a short pause in the training activities before being recognized, then mostly ignored. Two guards, who had apparently been posted to watch over the portal, bowed their heads slightly to Thea as she and Alexander began the walk to the great hall to see the king.

  As they walked through the main gate to the citadel, a couple of young runners dashed off, presumably to alert the king or others that they had guests. Thea took the time as they continued through the hallways to ask Alexander some questions about his friends in the guild. He couldn’t help but notice that most of the questions were about Brick. After a particularly awkward and indirect query, he happily confirmed for her that Brick was indeed single. The intensity of her smile was nearly matched by his own face-spanning grin.

  Upon reaching the great hall, they were met once again by the king, Master Ironhammer, and a few members of the council. When the formal greetings were accomplished, they all sat at the same large table as before. Thea outlined what had happened at Whitehall, the goblins and demons, the quarry, and the agreements she’d made on their behalf.

  When she was through, the king looked to Alexander. “What me niece has said is true? Yer King Charles offers us these contracts?”

  Alexander shook his head. “No.” At the confused looks from the king and Thea, he chuckled before adding, “The king offered nothing. Thea here negotiated like a lioness to secure the contracts with the village. The king merely approved of them afterward.”

  “BWAHAHAHA!” the king slapped Alexander on the shoulder. “Ye had me going there, boy!” he said, as Thea gave Alexander a dirty look. The dwarves then fell to a discussion of the quarry and the available farmland, manpower (dwarfpower?) and supplies. Alexander t
ook the time to wander around the hall, taking in more of the battle scenes carved into the stone that had so impressed him upon his first visit.

  Dwarves being an organized and efficient people, it only took ten minutes for decisions to be reached and runners dispatched. When brought into the conversation to discuss logistics, Alexander hadn’t been comfortable trying to teleport a large group of dwarves, wagons, ponies, and supplies, so they’d agreed to use the portal to the Greystone compound and drive the wagons to Whitehall. Thea said they’d all be ready to go in an hour. More dwarven efficiency. In the meantime, Alexander was offered some fresh fruit to snack on and ale to drink while he waited.

  As he munched on slices of a melon that tasted a bit like cantaloupe, Alexander looked up to find Master Tomebinder approaching. The ancient dwarf took a seat next to him, and popped a slice of fruit into his own mouth before speaking.

  “Welcome back, lad. After yer last visit, I decided to look about me archives a bit more for information on yer Baron Dire.” The dwarf produced a scroll that was so old and brittle Alexander worried it would crumble before it could be opened. The elder saw his look of concern. “Fear not, lad. It be preserved with magic,” he said before handing over the scroll.