by Galen Wolf
Jason says, 'The smoke won't be visible outside the valley. He points to the circling hills. It's right, there's no obvious way in our out. The hills to the south are bare but those on the west and north are thickly covered in dark pines.
'If anyone gets close enough to see the smoke, they've seen the settlement anyway.'
Armand says. 'I'm planning to get patrols up on the hilltops as soon as I can. That's why I need the barracks. Anyone we catch up there won't be going home to tell tales to Satanus.'
'What about flying creatures?'
Armand scratches his cheek. 'That is an issue. We've got archers to shoot them down, but we could do with some airborne troops.'
'Maybe some eagles?' Bernard says. 'I guess you can buy some from Asterix and nest them in the trees over there.'
Sounds like a plan, but I'm worried about cash flow. I frown and ask Jason about our treasury.
'Not too bad actually. Geraint the Blacksmith is levelling, he's able to make better jeweler and weapons out of higher level material like silver and gold. And the miners have levelled really fast from doing all that digging, so they can now find and excavate that high level material. When Geraint's made it, he sells it to Simon the Vendor.
'Pity we don't have a mining vendor who can buy the raw material.'
Jason shakes his head. 'It makes more sense this way. Geraint adds value and we make more profit from selling worked products than raw material.'
I shake my head. 'I feel like I'm still at school learning economics. How come you know all this stuff?'
Jason smiles. 'I've got the power of a state of the art quantum computer in my digital head, Sir Gorrow; you've only got a human brain.'
'But the short of it is that we have some cash?'
He nods.
I turn to Armand. 'Very well, Sergeant Armand, we'll build your barracks. Train your troops. Speak to Asterix and get a flight of eagles and get them patrolling.'
Armand salutes sharply.
'By the way,' I say. 'I promote you to Captain.'
Armand blushes and smiles at the same time. 'Thank you, Sir. I won't let you down.'
'I know.'
'So I just select the building tab?' It's been a while since I did it but Jason says, 'Not my area. I'll get Oliver Stone, he's over there by the barley farm.'
Oliver joins us and talks me through buildings once again. I look on my HUD, select the settlement building types and pick Barracks. Armand and Jason have already earmarked some flat ground where it can go.
'Just select the rectangle and then you should see it appear where you want to place the building.'
It's correct. I white rectangle floats over the green grass and when I get the place I want the barracks to be, I select
I turn back to Oliver. 'Do I pay extra for these trainer NPCs?'
He shakes his head. 'No, Sir Gorrow. These NPCs are part of the building as far as the game is concerned. They don't exist separately.'
Armand is excited about his barracks and he goes over to talk to the instructors. Then I watch as he rounds up the Raffles Light Archers and the Currock Yeomanry and takes them to their new home.
On my HUD I now see the barracks icon has a figure of an archer with a number 6 beside it and a figure of a general soldier with an 4. This must be all that survived the trials and tribulations since the fall of Camelot.
I turn to Jason and Oliver. 'What now? How are the farms?'
Jason nods. 'We have our oats and barley growing and also a crop of hops. So that's three fields.'
'How soon before we can brew again? That is quite urgent.'
'I thought you wanted the brewery underground?'
I had said that. I remember the burning of the old Silver Drift Settlement and don't want that repeated. Having the brewery underground makes it more defensible.
I tell him that and Jason says, 'I'll get the miners on it as their next task.'
'What about grazing?' I'm thinking of Spirit.
Oliver says. 'We have a couple of fields just put to grass. I was considering a stud farm...'
Jason chips in. 'Armand was wondering whether you'd want cavalry in due course.'
Of course I do. There's so much I want. 'We need an armory and a sawmill to make spears and lumber, we need a corn mill and a bakery.'
'And we need houses for the peasantry,' Jason says. 'The two ways the population will increase is by buying new NPCs from Asterix, but also if we have men and women NPCs here, then the game will produce children.'
'Who will need a school...' Oliver says.
I rub my eyes. 'Man, a school? What don't we need?'
'You'll need a village hall to run the village, eventually.'
Jason says, 'You need to grow your village so that you get population for your army. Soldiers aren't just going to arrive here, they'll need to be born and trained here.'
He's right of course. No help will come from the outside. If we are to grow an army to support the King on his return, we'll have to do it ourselves.
But all this planning is making my head spin. I turn to Bernard. 'I think we need to go kill some bad guys. Just to de-stress me.'
Bernard laughs. 'Sure thing. I'll go get Henry.'
15
THE GREEN KNIGHT
Before I leave to go raiding, I want further discussions about the creation and levelling of the Silver Drift Mine settlement. I meet with Thorvald and Geraint and Jason in my chambers. Asterix the dwarf is there too, sipping at a pewter tankard of dwarf ale and listening quietly. The torches gutter as we talk and I hear the sound of the people walking down the stone passage outside, an indication of our growing population.
'Thorvald, I need your guys to hollow out a space for the brewery. That's our next building down here.'
He raises his eyebrows. 'You want it underground?'
'I want it defensible, so underground. The only things that go overground are the things that absolutely can't do without sunlight.'
Jason asks, 'What about the barracks?'
'I want the soldiers out there because they need to protect the farms.'
Thorvald nods. He's always been agreeable. 'Sure. We'll get to it.'
'What about the armory?' Geraint asks. I know he's been busy creating loot for the dungeon and levelling his skills. I mentioned the armory and his role in it earlier.
'We need to make good quality weapons for our soldiers, for when the time comes for us to go to war. We've got minerals aplenty down here, and there are the forests on the hills outside for spears, bows and arrows.'
'I'm going to have my work cut out for me,' he says. 'What with stocking the dungeon and arming your troops.'
'The dungeon is the main focus until we raise the troops and we can't raise the troops until we get the population.' I ponder for a while. 'We can get you an assistant.' I peer at Jason. 'Do our finances run to that?'
'We're fine money wise. Sure.'
Geraint clears his throat. 'I'd rather have a wife. She can do some of the work in the forge too. And we can have kids. I want kids.'
That surprises me, he doesn't look like a guy who'd want little tiny black haired smith children running around his ankles. It could work though. I want kids. Silver Drift wants kids. We need population.
'So brewery, then forge. Get digging.'
The NPCs salute and I walk out to go find Bernard in preparation for our
raid.
Instead of Bernard, I run into Fitheach.
'Sir Gorrow, if I may have a word.'
'Of course.' I bow to the saint.
'In my chambers?'
Fitheach’s chambers are a lot neater than mine. Big white church candles burn in alcoves in the rock. He has a low wooden bed and a personal altar with golden icons of Jesus and Mary.
'What is it?' I ask.
He indicates for me to sit and I sit on a wooden seat that he must have had brought in himself, because I never created this. He sits on its twin on the other side of the narrow stone cell. The place smells of roses and incense. He smiles like he always smiles. 'Gorrow, I believe you wanted to train as a paladin?'
I nod. 'Do you think I could?'
'A paladin is unswerving in his devotion to the Church. He puts loyalty first and his life second. He is devoted to doing good, to driving out evil and all its creatures.'
I could do that. I think. I let him talk.
'In game terms, you can't choose a prestige class until you get to Level 15. What are you now?'
'Twelve.'
He ponders. 'Hmm. So you have three levels to think about whether this is the path you want to take.'
I've read up a bit about prestige classes for knights. I could choose to become a baron, a lord of field and wood, who has his own village. Barons rise up to become Earls and then Dukes. That makes sense. I mean, I'm building a village already, so I'm actually on the road to becoming a baron, once approved by the King. But my heart always wanted to be a holy warrior. When I came into the game in fact, that's how I saw myself — a righter of wrongs, a bringer of justice.
'You realize when and if you become a paladin, you'll have to give up all of this.' He gestures to the rock walls around him. He means the mine and the dungeon of course. That will be hard to give up.
'What are the benefits of becoming a paladin?'
He smiles. 'Virtue is its own reward. None, really. None compared with the wealth you'd amass as a baron.'
I clear my throat. 'Let me put it another way. What new skills would I get as a paladin, that I don't have now?'
Fitheach shrugs. 'You would get holy magic to help you drive back the forces of evil. You'll get bonuses to your weapons and armor when attacking enemies sworn to evil. You will get a range of spells — healing spells, but also spells that cow the enemy's morale, making it more likely they will flee in awe of you. You will be able to add holy damage enhancements to your weapons.'
It sounds good.
He's in his flow. 'For example, the high level spell Sacred Warrior adds to your armor and elemental resistance as long as you stand still and wherever you stand you and your companions benefit from a heal over time effect making you extremely difficult to kill...'
I imagine standing on the battlefield defending my King and defending our lands from the evil hordes. I imagine them smashing against me and finding me unbreakable, a holy warrior standing against a wicked tide. Yes, I like the sound of that.
I look around and then I think of my plans for Silver Drift. How I'd wanted to delve my dungeon and fill it with tricks and traps and treasure. If I became a paladin, I'd have to give all of these things up.
Fitheach smiles kindly. 'Gorrow, come to me again when you're Level 15. You don't have to decide until then. Maybe the path of the paladin isn't for you, but then again, maybe it is.'
Later when we're outside, I sit on Spirit, one hand on the pommel of the saddle leaning forward so I can see better over the rolling expanse of heather and sedge that makes up the moorland. Once again, we've gone a long way north of Silver Drift before starting to raid. Bernard is with me on Henry the mule. Bernard has his red and white spotted kerchief pulled up over his mouth. He pulls it down to say, 'Over there.'
Coming down the long road from the town of New World Order is another wagon train. The town commander, Maligon, has probably managed to get supplies through to Carrionburg since I've been preoccupied with the dungeon and the settlement, but I hope the survivors of our last attack told him about the Green Knight.
'Wonder what it's carrying,' I say.
Bernard shrugs. 'Dunno. But they don't want to lose it. Look at the guards.'
Then I see there are stragglers. The first three wagons are separated by a good quarter mile from the last two. 'Let's go down out of sight'.
I click my tongue and Spirit easily descends the grassy slope so we're in dead ground and can't be seen by the Minions of Evil. 'Let's let it pass on and then we'll go for the stragglers.'
Bernard says, 'There are hill giants with them. Big dudes. Mean too.'
I wink. 'You can take them.'
We wait in the hollow for around ten minutes then I nudge Spirit with my knees and he snorts and climbs up out of the hollow. We get up high enough so we can see where the enemy have gone. Sure enough, the leading wagon have progressed towards Carrionburg and the last two with the hill giant guards, which is what's slowing them down, are just level with us, but about five hundred yards away across the tussocky ground.
'Let's get behind them.'
Bernard nods and Henry brays in his excitement.
'That didn't give us away much,' I say.
'No need to be sarcastic,' says the mule. 'I was just being keen.'
We go into a canter, Henry trying to keep up with Spirit and we cut across diagonally so we come to the stony road about two hundred yards behind the straggler wagons. They're aware of us. I make sure I hold my lance straight up so they see the pure green pennant blowing in the easterly breeze.
The hill giants have stopped and stand uneasily watching.
I glance at Bernard. He's looking nervous. Henry's eyes are staring wide and his big tombstone teeth are showing. I can't tell if he's scared or excited. Maybe he's both.
I ask Bernard. 'Ready?'
He nods and pulls up his kerchief to cover his mouth and nose. A green glass globe glows in his hand, there's an ammonia type stink and a stream of vapor coming from it. 'Acid bomb,' he says.
'Let's go.'
I urge Spirit forward. He breaks into a walk, then a trot then he's cantering down towards the enemy. The huge hill giants pull out their clubs. I level my lance and tip my visor down so I'm looking through a slit in the metal. They square up to us. To my right, I see Bernard's acid bomb sailing through the air in a graceful arc until it explodes against the ragged tunic of the right-hand giant. The creature yowls and starts to pat and rake where the acid's burning him.
I'm close now. Spirit breaks into a gallop before I signal him to. He knows what he's doing. I hear his hooves pound on the stony road beneath us, I'm focusing the tip of my crystal lance on the left-hand giant. His big watery eyes are fixed on me, I see him concentrating, raising his club.
We cover the last few yards like a joined meteor of man and horse. The impact of my lance striking the giant knocks me back in the saddle.
It's not even a crit with the lance. These are souped up Hill Giants and I don't know what health they will have. But he's not dead yet. I switch to my sword.
He swings his club.
I have armor worth 6370. Of course he doesn't.
I hack him down for 735.
He swings again, hits, but does no damage. I glance left to see Bernard has thrown a potion that covers his giant with a rubbery web. The creature fights to pick it from his face and Bernard pulls out his alchemical sword and jabs the giant in the guts with it. I hear the creature's scream.
My giant decides running is wise, so he turns and attempts to flee, but I'm on Spirit so he's got no chance of getting away. Cutting him down as he runs, I get a crit and damage him for 2205.
<200xp>
The two wagons are manned by hobgoblins. Bernard has slaughtered his giant and we spur our way to catch the wagon as they rock and roll, trying to get away down the bu
mpy road. They don't make it. The first hobgoblin is dead in two cuts of my sword. Bernard finishes his pretty quick too. The others run and we let them go. I'm not merciless, and I want fear of the Green Knight to spread.
I see that the wagons contain iron ore — we have plenty of that in Silver Drift, and oats. We can always use more of those. But there are the three leading wagon. I look ahead, they are a good way away now, and they'll probably get to Carrionburg before we catch them. I don't care about stealing their contents, though more beer would have been good until we got our own brewery up and running.
'Hey, who's that?' Bernard's pointing down the trail. The three wagons are further away now but someone is coming towards us. It's a black knight on a coal black horse.
'Think he's one of them?'
'Without doubt.'
'You gonna fight him?'
'A knight of King Arthur never turns his back on a just fight.'
'Black Knight versus Green Knight, eh?'
'Looks that way.'
'I hope you win.'
'Thanks.'
The black knight gets closer until he's within hailing distance. He yells down the road, the wind snatching at his words. 'You, coward knight who attacks NPCs far lower level than himself, tell me your name before I kill you.'
'You won't be killing me. I'm the Green Knight, loyal to King Arthur.'
'That craven cur has fled long ago from these lands. You should have too, before you met me.'
Bernard mutters, 'He talks the talk, I'll give that to him.'
I don't like the way this guy is talking about my King, and I don't want to invest time in chatting when I could be killing him.
'What level do you think he is? Higher than you, I bet.'
I nod. 'But this game isn't about levels. It's about investment of skill points. You can be a Level 10 and be useless. I should know. Early on I put most of my skills into smithing and mining rather than into being a knight. That put me at a disadvantage then.'
'But a big advantage now. Look at your armor!'
I study the black knight. Maybe he'll win, maybe he won't. I shout, 'What's your name?'