by Aleron Kong
“Na I be sure yer wondering what was the point of all this, yer lordship. Ay dinna mind telling ye that Gem Forging offer all manner of options. Ay could increase the number of enchantment slots for ye ta work with, ay could increase the number of charges on yer enchanted weapons; there be many options and each has its own Talent. As ay told ye though, ay chose to buy Jeweled Essence and that be why ay needed such a bright and shining gem.
“What ay have learned, yer lordship, be that every gem have a true power deep within them. Adding them to yer weapons and armor give a taste of that power! Now look and see what old Krom be givin ye!”
The dwarf’s hammer blazed with green power again and a beam of light shot from the tool into the breastplate. Right after, a prompt appeared in Richter’s vision.
Know This! Each carat of Sun Sapphire used by a Smith with the Jeweled Essence Talent increases Life magic spell strength by +0.5% and increases the power of Life enchantments on the bejeweled item by +1%. The vibrant clarity of the stone increases this bonus by +200%.
The edge of each of the off-white scales developed a slight yellow tinge, and the enchantments increased in power.
“Now!” Krom exclaimed with pride, “Look at yer new armor in all its glory!”
Richter did and finally saw the true power of his skeeling armor!
Every single piece had been dual enchanted. He had initially debated over exactly which enchantments to use as he now had so many to choose from. Earth Resistance, Fire Resistance, Increased Attack Speed, the list went on. He had waffled back and forth until he realized something. He didn’t really have to choose. Even though he’d only ever had two suits of armor since coming to The Land, there was no reason he couldn’t have five or ten or fifty! He was a lord and an Enchanter. What was the point in having so many resources if he couldn’t make different sets of gear to fit different needs. That was why Richter had decided to make the skeeling scales into his zombie-undead-ass-kickin’-armor!
You have found:
Skeeling Life Helmet
Defense: +19
Durability: 123/123
Item Class: Unusual
Armor Type: Head, Light
Quality: Superb
Weight: 1.7 kg
Traits:
+8 Life Defense*
+3-4 Damage/5 seconds to Death creatures
+2% Earth Resistance
*+100% vs Death
You have found:
Bejeweled Skeeling Life Chest Piece
Defense: +24
Durability: 135/135
Item Class: Scarce
Armor Type: Chest, Light
Quality: Exquisite
Weight: 3.3 kg
Traits:
+10 Life Defense*
+4-5 Damage/5 seconds to Death creatures
Contains the Jewel: Sun Sapphire
+2% Dark Resistance
*+100% vs Death
You have found:
Skeeling Life Braces
Defense: +15
Durability: 126/126
Item Class: Unusual
Armor Type: Arms, Light
Quality: Superb
Weight: 1.5 kg
Traits:
+8 Life Defense*
+3-4 Damage/5 seconds to Death creatures
+2% Earth Resistance
*+100% vs Death
You have found:
Skeeling Life Gauntlets
Defense: +15
Durability: 125/139
Item Class: Unusual
Armor Type: Hands, Light
Quality: Superb
Weight: 1.4 kg
Traits:
+8 Life Defense*
+3-4 Damage/5 seconds to Death creatures
+2% Fire Resistance
*+100% vs Death
You have found:
Skeeling Life Greaves
Defense: +16
Durability: 122/122
Item Class: Unusual
Armor Type: Legs, Light
Quality: Superb
Weight: 1.3 kg
Traits:
+8 Life Defense*
+3-4 Damage/5 seconds to Death creatures
+2% Air Resistance
*+100% vs Death
You have found:
Skeeling Life Boots
Defense: +17
Durability: 124/124
Item Class: Unusual
Armor Type: Feet, Light
Quality: Superb
Weight: 1.5 kg
Traits:
+8 Life Defense*
+3-4 Damage/5 seconds to Death creatures
+2% Water Resistance
*+100% vs Death
You have found a
Complete Armor Set:
Skeeling Life Armor
(Fitted to Richter of the Mist Village)
Class: Unusual
Matched Armor Set Bonus: Defense given by each piece increased by 25%
Fitted Bonus: +10% Defense when worn by Richter of the Mist Village. -10% Defense when worn by anyone else.
Material Bonus:
+15% Defense vs Slashing and Piercing attacks
Shell - ???
Gem Bonus (Sun Sapphire):
Life Magic Strength: +5%
Life Enchantment Strength: +11%
Life Aura Bonus:
The cumulative Life Aura enchantments will discomfort up to common-souled Death creatures and turn away basic Death creatures
The armor was amazing! Not only did it offer twice as much defense as his enhanced sprite armor, but the entire thing was unusual class or better. Looking at all the stats, he could well imagine why. With the 10% defense “Fitted Bonus” and the 25% “Armor Set Bonus” and the Life enchantments, his new chestplate had almost four times as much defensive power as his old defense. That didn’t even account for the fact that the enchantment would be twice times as effective against Death creatures.
The skeeling armor also increased defense against slashing and piercing attacks dramatically. He remembered the monster the scales had come from, shrugging off any blows that didn’t land head on. Richter chuckled to himself, remembering that heart-thudding battle. He could probably kill a giant skeeling single-handedly these days, but back then? He’d nearly strangled Sion for drawing the armadillo-looking monster out of its hole.
After they had slain it though, they’d found a Seed Core, the same item that had grown into the Quickening. Having the Core in its nest is what had let the skeeling grow to such a large size and had made its scales as strong as quicksilver. Now, about a hundred and thirty days later, he was going to be wearing its hardened skin. Between the armor and the celestial tree, he supposed Sion’s choice to rile the monster had turned out all right. That didn’t mean his friend wasn’t still a total asshole… because he was. That was why they were best friends!
The gem was awesome as well! It had increased the power of his Life magic by 5% and, even better, it had increased the Strength of his armor’s Life enchantments by 11%. It almost gave another point Life defense to each piece. If he fought an undead in melee, including his Light Armor skill, his chest plate would give him +70 defense. Suddenly, he felt a lot better about the upcoming battle.
The enchantment boost also gave another point of Life damage to the Life Aura enchantments, increasing the harm his armor did to Death creatures. With the various enchantments on all six pieces of armor, Richter was basically radioactive to the undead! Any Death monster within five feet of him might be turned away and any zombies actually touching him would lose five points of health every second.
He looked at Krom at a loss for words. With a rush of emotions, he stepped next to the dwarf and embraced him. The Smith was taken completely off guard and just stood there, arms out to the side. It got more uncomfortable as the seconds drew on. The fact that Richter was also over six feet tall and Krom was just over four and a half added to the weirdness. The snickering of the other dwarves was what broke the Smith.
Stepping
back and shaking Richter off, he gruffly said, “Ahhh, ay be glad ye like me work yer lordship. Ay just be doing me Job as village Smith.”
“No,” Richter said shaking his head. “You have gone above and beyond. When we first met, you were a cocky asshole.” Silence reigned in the forge for a second before Richter added with a smile, “But now you’re my cocky asshole.” There were a few more snickers from the dwarves. When Richter realized how that sounded, he harrumphed in irritation. He was trying to make a moment here!
“The point is, Krom,” he continued, “months ago you swore to serve by my side in war and to make this village your own. You have done that and more. You are not just the village Smith. You are my friend. If there is anything that I can do for you, then ask. If it is within my power, then you will have it.”
You have offered a Favor to your village Smith, Krom.
Know This! As leader of a Settlement, your words are not idle. Though a Favor does not have the same strength and consequences as a Vow, they are still not to be given lightly!
Richter hadn’t been expecting the prompts, but he did not shy from them. He had meant every word. Silence reigned in the forge once again. A lord offering his friendship was no small thing, but an open Favor was something else entirely. The dwarves and few human smiths waited for the Smith’s response.
Krom looked back at Richter, no longer immune to the emotions of the moment. When he spoke, his voice was rough, “Yer lordship… ay be honored to serve this village. When ay first came here, ay admit, ay was more balls than brains. Ay thought ay could force ye ta do as ay wanted. Ay was wrong, and serving a great man like yerself be the deepest honor ay could imagine. Ay be moved beyond words,” he bowed his head and placed a fist over his heart before adding, “Lord Mist.”
A chorus of “Lord Mist” “Lord Mist” echoed out from the other smiths.
Krom raised his head and then a broad grin split his face. “If ye be serious about that Favor though, there do be something ye could do.” He leaned in and whispered something to Richter.
The chaos seed pulled back and looked at the dwarf with a funny expression on his face, “Really? You really want me to do that?”
“Oh ay,” Krom said, dragging the second word out with a crazy gleam in his eyes.
Richter shrugged, “Okay. I don’t know if this is going to work out like you want, but good luck.” He looked over at Futen, “Relay this message to Sumiko after the battle with the lich. I need her to personally take over Krom’s education in Life magic.” The dwarf cleared his throat and looked at his liege meaningfully. Richter sighed, but added, “He is to get at least two hours of individual instruction each week.” The Smith let out a telling cough, and Richter closed his eyes before shaking his head and adding the last bit of Krom’s requested Favor, “It would be fine if it happened over dinner.”
“Ha! That be worth every Talent Point!” Krom exclaimed. He looked over at the other sprite, “Ay like that sprite. Ye can always tell a good woman. Ay guarantee she can bring a man back to life in more ways than one!” His ribald laughing echoed through the forge.
Richter wasn’t nearly as amused. Somehow, he was pretty sure there would be consequences for having just pimped out his village Healer.
Krom had none of the same reservations, and more than one high five was given in the Forge of Heavens that night. When he was done with his opening celebration, he looked to Richter and asked, “Be there anything ay can do for ye, yer lordship?”
Richter thought about Krom’s little joke with the sun sapphire, and plastered an innocent smile onto his face, “Now that you mention it, there is one more thing I’d been meaning to discuss with you.”
To move the Forge of Heavens, visualize the new location. The amount of Settlement Points required will be based upon the new location.
Richter’s smile leveled up to I got you good, you fucker!
CHAPTER 96 – Day 150 – Kuborn 39, 0 AoC
Richter made his choice and mist began to rise directly through the floor of the forge and all around it. With a series of startled oaths, all the smiths ran out of the Core building. Their liege jogged after them, a mischievous smile on his face. The opaque grey tendrils continued to spread until the entire building was hidden in a dome of mist.
A moment later, the dome collapsed in on itself, dissipating as it fell. All that was left in its place was a rectangle of bare earth exactly the dimensions of the Forge of Heaven. Worms and other insects scrabbled in panic to dig themselves into the safety of the ground.
“By the hairless balls of Odir! Where be me godsdamn forge?!” Krom bellowed in panic.
Richter couldn’t help himself. He fell over laughing. After everything he’d been through over the last few days, it felt amazing. Krom had to physically restrain himself from attacking his beloved lord, but his fingers still tightened dangerously around the hammer in his grasp. Another impressive stream of profanity issued from the dwarf’s mouth as he asked again where his smithy was. Richter took pity on him and told him to look in the upper meadow. Every single dwarf took off at a sprint and the chaos seed looked on impressed. Dwarves could really move those short legs when they were motivated!
He jogged after them, nodding to the confused guards stationed at the gated entrance to the northern meadow. Richter was sure Krom had passed through the gates like a hurricane, violent and unstoppable. When he jogged up to the top of the hill, he saw that the forge was exactly where he had wanted it to go. The two Core buildings now lay next to one another safely out of view of any strangers that might one day come to the village. Every major structure, barring the Dungeon, was now safely behind another layer of walls. The dwarves had made their way into the Forge of Heavens searching to ensure that everything was where it was supposed to be. From what Richter could see, it had been moved without setting one thing out of place. An entirely new round of cursing went up when the pixie children woke up and decided the forge was their new playground that was conveniently right outside of their house.
Half an hour and some stern words from Elora later, all the pixie children were forbidden from entering the forge without permission. From the stubborn looks on some of their faces, Richter was pretty sure the village had only seen round one of the pixie-dwarf battle royale. It took a little bit longer to have Krom forgive him, but soon the dwarf helped Richter don his new armor.
They spent the next thirty minutes doing final tightenings and loosenings on his armor. The smiths were a bit too aggressive in cinching the straps in Richter’s opinion, but he took it in stride. As they did, he asked a few questions, like what would happen if someone pried the jewel out of the chestplate. Krom assured him that his Gem Forging Talent made that impossible. The durability of the breastplate would have to drop to zero and be destroyed before the gem could be removed. The dwarf wasn’t sure if the gem would also be destroyed if that happened.
The next question Richter had was why they couldn’t add more jewels to the armor. Even though he didn’t like how much it cost, this seemed like an awesome usage of his wealth. Krom told him that there were limits to his Gem Forging Talent. Until he bought the next rank of the Talent, he could only use one gem on each suit of armor or weapon.
When the final adjustments were completed, Richter cast Mirror and saw himself in his new armor for the first time. Krom had arrayed the scales in an overlapping cascade, the higher ones covering the top section of the lower. They were tightly bound together, however, so even slipping a blade under one wouldn't allow his skin to be pierced. The individual scales were supple even though they could stop an arrow strike. When Richter bent, he could feel them conform to his body. His arms were completely covered and the gauntlets both had a sharpened scale sticking out past the knuckles. The dwarf explained that in close quarter combat, they should be the equivalent of a quicksilver punch knife. They would make shallow but dangerously powerful strikes.
The greaves and boots were made of the same, and all of it was lined with soft leat
her so that it wasn’t overly harsh against Richter’s skin. He was still wearing simple pants and a sleeveless shirt under the armor, but without extra padding, you were just asking for open sores when the armor rubbed you the wrong way.
As powerful as the armor was though, Richter knew immediately that it wouldn’t be ideal for every situation. The off-white color would make hiding in the forest much harder. With his Cloak of Concealment and Stealth skill it would be possible, but neither were an invisibility spell. Hiding yourself in The Land wasn’t too different than hiding yourself on Earth. Concealing himself among green trees wearing this white armor would be much harder than while wearing sprite armor with its soft earth tones. He supposed it might be better for hiding in winter though… or if he ever made it to Hoth. As advanced as his Enchanting skill was, he also just couldn’t match the stat boosts the enhanced sprite armor had provided. The main point was that there were other factors to consider than just defense.
Richter was already missing the extra eight points of Strength and seven points of Dexterity that his old armor had provided. There was a noticeable difference in how easy it was to swing his weapons and move around. He might also come to miss the forty-four points of mana his old helmet provided. The sprite armor had given +20% Earth resistance as its special perk as well, which hadn’t come up too often yet but had still been nice to have. He absolutely couldn’t complain about his new armor though. He was one lean, mean, undead-killing machine! The Forge of Heavens had even made itself known by giving every piece of armor a random 2% resistance to a Basic Element. There were pluses and minuses, but at the end of the day, his new armor was seriously clutch!
With a grin on his face he asked Krom a final question about the armor, “One thing I don’t understand is-”
“Ay,” the dwarf said interrupting him, “the ‘Shell’ material bonus.” It was the trait that had appeared as only question marks on the interface. “Ay dinna know, yer lordship. This be the first time anyone be making armor out of this type of creature. If yer lordship was right about it only growing big because it were near a Seed Core, then yer armor just might be unique. Ay dinna know what ‘shell’ means, but ay suppose ye will learn in time.”