by Aleron Kong
The next columns showed investments the village had made.
INVESTMENTS
1) Loan to the Company of the White Pearl in the amount of 862 gold to be repaid in enchanted items and books
2) 200 gold loaned to Basil to aid in his diplomatic mission to the dwarf tribes of the Serrated Mountains
Richter had lent a good amount of gold to Hafiz’s sons after they had stopped in the village on their way down to the Twins. In addition to securing a 10% discount on all future trades, he had gotten the four young men to agree to purchase magical items and books to fill the library Richter wanted to build one day. The loan to Basil was so that he could buy his way out of trouble and, hopefully, wouldn’t wind up eaten by mountain pygmies or some such nonsense.
The last set of data on the page was Richter’s least favorite, the dreaded expense report. At this point, the only line items were the salaries he was paying his people. Unfortunately, it added up to quite a bit.
MIST VILLAGE EXPENSES
(in gold)
Salary owed to 160 workers each fortnight
(First wave of colonists)
64
Fortnights of salary incurred before arrival of 2nd wave of colonists
4
Salary owed to 329 workers each fortnight
(1st and 2nd wave of colonists)
131.6
Fortnights of salary owed 329 workers
3
Current salary owed 2 scribes each fortnight
1.2
Fortnights of salary owed scribes
3
Current salary owed to Randolphus per fortnight
1
Fortnights of salary owed to Randolphus
5 (adjusted for wage increase)
Total salary owed to date
659.4 = 256 + 394.8 + 3.6 + 5
Amount owed to families of slain workers:
9 slain in bugbear attack
1 lost in skirmish with scouts
3 lost in battle with goblin witch doctor
46 lost in raid
790.6 = 59 slain * 4 silver per fortnight * 33.5 fortnights in calendar year
Hard currency available
3,524.97
… less salary owed to date
… less death payouts
2,074.97 = 3,524.97 - 659.4 - 790.6
Current salary owed to 646 workers + scribes + Randolphus, each fortnight
258.2 = 256 + 1.2 + 1
Fortnights remaining in first year
26.5
Coin needed to pay out debts at end of first year
8,292.3 = 659.4 + 790.6 + 258.2*26.5
Total coin on hand (hard coin + kobold silver)
8,680.97
Fortnights of hard currency remaining before needing to use Kobold Silver
8
Coin (remaining)
388.67 = 8,680.97 - 8,292.3
“These numbers are right?” Richter asked, already sure of the answer.
“Yes, my lord,” Randolphus affirmed.
“Well… shit,” Richter said quietly. In the back of his head, he’d been wondering why every ruler in history didn’t just try to own everything like he was doing. This was why. For all the awesome benefits he’d enjoyed, an entire village fueling his Profession for instance, this was the downside. It was frackin’ expensive!
The way things were going, the village would be out of cold currency in ten months. It wasn’t exactly an emergency. The ship Shiovana was building should be ready soon, so they could start trading, which should help the village coffers. This, at least, was an area that the village was sitting pretty in. At least, that was what Richter thought until Randolphus handed him the next sheet of paper. Reading it, the chaos seed’s heart sank.
APPROXIMATE MATERIAL COST OF PORTALS
Novice
11,000 gold
Initiate
28,000 gold
Apprentice
126,000 gold
“Before you ask, my lord, these are just rough estimates, but I have studied the documents you made about the portals. A novice portal alone requires ten pounds of refined gold. Each pound costs two hundred gold crowns and that is not the only expensive resource. If the list you wrote down is correct, initiate and apprentice portals require even more rare resources.”
“Well, I made two lists,” Richter added hopefully. “The second list had less expensive material options.”
“I used the second list,” Randolphus answered gently.
“Goddammit,” Richter cursed under his breath. Slapping both hands to his face, he slowly dragged them downward. “So even with all the money we have, even with all the adventuring I’ve done, I still don’t have enough coin to build even a novice ranked portal?”
“No, my lord, not if you intend to pay the wages you promised your people. To be clear, I highly advise that we follow through with that promise. The consequences of reneging would be severe, and quite possibly deadly. You are also only viewing the cost of building a portal here, my lord. Keep in mind, you will need to build receiving portals in other locations.”
“Hisako said she’d cover the cost of building one at the Hearth Tree, but still, you’re right. We have to find a way to make more. I know the portals will be a huge boon for us, and will definitely pay for themselves many times over, but this initial cost…” he trailed off shaking his head.
“There is the Dungeon, my lord, but only so much can be gained if you continue to restrict your people from farming it.”
Richter looked up at him, “You’re suggesting I allow more people to go inside?”
The chamberlain shrugged, “I know you want to protect your people, and I believe this is an admirable trait. You are their lord, however, not their father. You must allow your people to grow, even if that risks their safety.”
Richter thought long and hard about it, until finally responding, “I won’t let anyone without combat experience in. I won’t let the Dungeon grind them up. But… but anyone that knows the risks, agrees to pay the village their cut and is approved by either Terrod, Caulder, Sion or Kentyiro can enter in a five-man squad.” He shook his head. Richter had no illusions that he hadn’t just signed the death warrant of some of his people. Randolphus was right though. He needed to think about the needs of all his people, of all one thousand and fifty-three souls that relied upon him for safety. It was time he accepted that blood would be needed to grow his kingdom, but that didn’t mean he had to like it.
There wasn’t too much else to say after except… “Wait, you … I did include all the gold I found in the cave with the dark aberration, right?” Richter asked.
The chamberlain’s eyes lasered in on his liege like a cobra about to strike. His voice was deceptively calm, “What gold, my lord? If you had anything else to add to the village finances after I have spent countless hours trying to find a way to stave off financial ruin, that would be quite helpful to know. Is it a large amount?”
In his heart, Richter knew this was one of those times where there just wasn’t a right answer like, ‘Why were you staring at my sister?’ or ‘What’s that spot on your dick?’ so instead he pulled a large satchel out of his Bag of Holding and pushed it towards Randy. The chamberlain just tapped his pen against the side of his clipboard for long moments before setting both down and opening the bag. When he saw the gold bars inside, he closed his eyes and threw his head back as if he was praying for strength.
Finally, he looked at his lord again, “You do realize that each of these bars is worth one hundred gold coins, yes, my lord?” Randolphus pinched the bridge of his nose, “There are twenty-one bars in this satchel. A veritable fortune.”
Richter plastered a smile on his face, “Nice to have a little breathing room, huh?”
The chamberlain let out a long-suffering sigh, “Quite, my lord. In the future, if you could make me aware of resources earlier…”
The chaos seed nodded magnanimously, “Anything I can do to help.”
> Randolphus had to stifle an eye roll. Straightening his papers, he asked to take his leave, but there was one more item that Richter needed to address. “Randy, I know that I couldn’t do this without you. I think it’s high time we made your position more official. Since I leveled in my Administration skill, I can assign someone to act in my stead. Will you become my Town Administrator?”
“I was hoping that you would ask, my lord,” Randolphus said with a bow. “I am honored. There may be a problem with that, however.”
Unfortunately, the Universe seemed to agree.
The lack of a Townhall prohibits you from assigning a Town Administrator.
Richter was thoroughly tired of the lack of a Townhall cramping his style. Hopefully, it would be done soon though. The two men left the room and walked down the hall. Once they reached the central chamber, they saw Hisako, Sumiko, Yoshi, Sion, Terrod and Caulder standing over the Great Seal. Richter ordered the other guards to wait outside the Catacombs. He wasn’t sure what was about to happen, and he had secrets that he didn’t want the whole village to know about.
Richter quickly repeated the story of the kindir sepulcher for everyone, and told them that it was time to check the memory that he had gained from the Death Knight. He also warned them that the last time he’d had a memory involving the lich lord, that creature had been able to detect his presence.
“How do you plan to protect against that happening again?” Sion asked.
“About that,” Richter responded. He sent a mental call to Alma, who flew down to hover in front of him. He looked around at everyone assembled, “Now just stay calm, guys. This might look a little weird.” Then the Messeji began.
Twin beams of glacial blue-white light flowed from Alma’a eyes into his own. He could feel how excited she was to join with her master once again. Their thoughts flowed together, becoming more in the process yet still somehow distinct. Her body turned into pure psychic energy, and those with him in the cavern had to look away from the blinding light. His own muscles and bones shifted. It felt a bit easier this time; his body seemed to almost welcome the change. His skin thickened to scales, his fingers became talons and his face lengthened to a draconian snout. Once again, while Richter felt like it had taken long seconds, it was only an instant in the eyes of his audience.
Everyone looked at him in surprise and shock. Terrod had even taken a step back and was holding the hilt of his sword. A sharp-toothed smile crossed Richter’s draconian face. It was the exact response he’d been looking for. The chaos seed chuckled at his own joke and then marveled at the fact that he sounded exactly like Muttley when he laughed. That made him think about how Dick Dastardly had always been a dick… obviously.
*Focus, master!*
*What… Right!* he thought back. Then speaking aloud, his voice hissed out, “Get ready.”
“For what?” Sion asked
“Exactly,” was the only answer Richter had.
After forming his mental defenses and entering his mindscape, he visualized the memory. A three-sided pyramid popped into existence. It was made of semi-clear, purple-black light and was surrounded by a neon-green aura of eldritch energy. It hovered outside his castle, forty feet off the ground and twenty feet away. Richter looked up at it from where his avatar stood atop the battlements of his mental defenses. Alma landed on the crenellation next to him, once again the size of a large dog. He smiled at his familiar’s avatar and laid his hand on her warm, scaly neck. As prepared as he would ever be, he accessed the memory.
Congratulations! You have captured a memory from a Ghast Soul Eater. This memory can only be accessed for the next fourteen hours and twelve minutes before dissolution into the ether. Do you wish to access this memory? Yes or No?
Richter selected “Yes,” and another prompt appeared.
Living through this memory will be instantaneous in regard to your timeline. Due to the presence of your mindscape, however, you may now also view this memory remotely. If you choose this second option, time will pass commensurate to the time dilation of your mindscape. Which do you choose, Direct Experience or Remote Viewing?
Curious, Richter chose “Remote Viewing.”
To his surprise, his mindscape didn’t disappear. The only two times he had done this before, his consciousness had been drawn into the memory itself. That was probably the default “Direct Experience” option. He had felt the actual sensations and feelings of the decaemur knight and the goblin Witch Doctor. This time, the pyramid just started to spin and revolve in multiple directions at once until it was moving so fast it looked like a sphere. Then, from the heart of the illusory globe, an image formed. Richter quickly realized he was seeing the memory perspective of the Death Knight, but he instead of being held hostage by it, he was watching a 3D movie. While the memory was starting to “play,” he found he could even switch his view to still be aware of his physical surroundings and everyone standing with him at the Great Seal.
Marveling at the change, Richter wondered what other opportunities this afforded. Could he pause the memory? Even rewind it? No sooner had he thought that than four symbols appeared on the spinning disc. They were VR movie symbols! One was two overlapping arrows pointing backwards, the next a large “play” triangle, followed by two vertical lines for “pause” and then a “fast forward.” Somehow his mind had conjured these familiar icons to aid his manipulation of the memory. The fact that Richter needed such infantile tools to manipulate his own mind might have bothered someone else, but the chaos seed wasn’t about to be brought down. This was cool!
A prompt appeared in his vision. Richter pushed pause on the memory, and then read it.
Congratulations! Your foresight and preparations have served you well. Due to erecting mental defenses first, you have learned that the pull of captured memories can be resisted. You may now review the memories gained from Brain Drain without actually living through them. This greatly protects your mind from potentially dangerous Mental energies. You may still live through the actual memory if you choose, but as before, this will degrade the memory and cause it to vanish. Observing it remotely allows you to view it multiple times until the 24-hour time limit has elapsed.
“This is what you have been doing?” Alma asked. Her hissing voice had a dangerous undertone.
Richter was still so geeked out about not having to actually suffer through whatever this memory might involve that he didn’t pick up on the obvious warning signs that there was an angry woman within striking distance. Instead, he just spoke to her in a tone of happy surprise, “I had no idea I could watch the memories this way. I might miss one or two details from not actually living through it, but this also means I won’t have to deal with whatever pain or other horrible sensations that person went through. I’ll take it!”
“Good for you, master!” Her response was overly animated and encouraging this time, the emotions easily detectable even with her sibilant voice. The angry undertone was completely gone. The fact that she was so cheery should have been another warning sign but, unfortunately for Richter, he had missed the first signal and so didn’t catch this one either. His oversight in this case was completely understandable, but sadly, that fact wouldn’t save him. Alma had skipped the second level of Woman Anger, Yelling, and had progressed all the way to the third level, Sweetness. A stage also known as ‘the honey trap.’
She continued in the same loving voice, “It is almost as if there are benefits to erecting mental defenses before you plunge your mind blindly into the memories of a dead man.” She snaked her head to the left to glare at him.
Richter finally heard the train whistle. Rather than wisely leaving the tunnel though, he instead opted for the often-regretted ‘I’ll just talk shit to the train’ strategy. Looking at her sourly, he mumbled, “You don’t have to be a dick about it.”
“What?” she shrieked. “What!” she shrieked even louder. Richter’s foolish choice to challenge her skyrocketed Alma all the way to level six of Woman Anger, Supersonic Dea
th Goddess. “You have been exposing yourself to the memories of undead, creatures that are essentially evil incarnate, without mental defenses and without me! Living through a memory can have the same consequences as living through the acts themselves. You could have been exposed to energies that your mind couldn’t endure! You could have died! Or worse, your mind could have been fractured!
“Even if you died and were resurrected, you have no idea if those mental wounds would have healed! Since I have gained this level of consciousness, I have come to understand how rare you are, master. No other creature I have observed has gained so many powers so fast, but you are still mortal! If you continue to play with forces and magics beyond your control without taking precautions, you will kill yourself. You just might take me and everyone else you love with you. After we are gone, even if you come back you will be alone, my love.”
Her verbal attack had begun as a fiery tempest, but her last words were more of a sorrowful entreaty. His heart aching from the love in her voice, Richter reached out a hand and rested it on her head. She was a lot bigger in the mindscape, more of a great dane than a cat, but she was still his soul familiar.
Her voice almost caught when she spoke again, “If something were to happen to you, I don’t know…”
“Shhh,” he comforted her softly. “In all the worlds, in all the dimensions, across all of space and time, the most unlikely thing happened. We found each other. If we are ever separated, I promise, I will find you again.” He gave her a wan smile and she bumped him with her large head in loving response. Even in the mindscape, time seemed to freeze for a moment as if the Universe stopped to witness his vow.
Richter chuckled, and now with a normal and joking voice, he told her, “Now stop interrupting. We’re missing the movie.” He mentally pushed play again.