When he led the caravan to Akila, there would be a lot of normies and non-combatants around. His improved Leadership would allow him to bring them all into the party and increase their chances to live through a fight. It was the least he could do. If they ran into trouble, it would be because Hawke had made enemies in the big city.
Worrying about yourself was tough, but having to extend those worries to everyone who depended on you was a heavy weight.
Forty-Six
“And finally, three of the Eternals that left us a month back had returned,” Kinto said, finishing up his report of the past few days. Most of the news had been ordinary, or one might even say boring: a couple of promotions in the Town Guard, a few minor altercations, and a merchant getting fined when he tried to drive a big wagon down a narrow street and got it stuck, blocking traffic for half a day.
“Which ones?”
“Lounge Lizard – your naming traditions are strange indeed – and two Goblins, Deeno and Josiah. There was an incident in one of the mountain passes to the Southwest, and they decided that life in Orom was preferable to the dangers on the road. The other three pressed on.”
“I’ll talk to them,” Hawke said. The former players had been unhappy in town because they’d felt like outsiders. They had selected non-human ‘characters’ and found it hard to fit in among the largely human community in Orom. He would try harder to help them out. They could use all Eternals they could get in the Valley, provided they didn’t abuse their power.
“Antana’s sister Helena has assembled a caravan of eight wagons and twelve horses for the trip to Akila. Six merchants, including Helena, and a dozen drivers and guards. Korgam and the two Dwarven Eternals will bring another wagon, for a total of nine. Some of them are ready to leave as early as tomorrow, although they expect it will take a few more days for everyone. That’s all I know. I am sure Antana has all the details well in hand.”
“And she will be happy to share those details with me whether I want her to or not,” Hawke said, earning an amused smile from Kinto.
“Tava, Alba and I will be along as well,” Hawke said. “Plus our pets and our baby Drakofoxes, except they aren’t babies anymore. And three to five other Eternals, names to be decided. Maybe I should buy a wagon, too.”
“Your foxes seem like pleasant companions,” Kinto conceded. “Growing fast, too.”
The old Hunter was suspicious of all Fae things, with good reason. Hawke had seen that Blaze and Luna could be shockingly callous toward outsiders. And the sad part was that they were better than the typical pureblooded Fae, who treated even their own families like crap.
“They take after us,” he told Kinto. “So we’ll just have to set a good example.”
“If the trip goes as planned, you will be back a week or two before the wedding.”
“Yes,” Hawke said, feeling a slight flutter in his stomach.
Marriage. He’d hoped to settle down eventually; back on Earth, he’d been worried that he’d never find someone he wanted to spend his life with. Now he had two, even if one was a living sword. And then there was Nadia, although he didn’t think that was going to get serious enough to warrant a wedding. He had a feeling that, sooner or later, she would want more than he could give her.
Their casual – and, under Orom’s codes, perfectly legal – arrangement had been fun, but they both knew it had an expiration date. That time might be close, as a matter of fact. Nadia had disappeared into the Arachnoids’ territory, sending word that she was finalizing Big Web’s entry into the Domain, and would speak to Hawke before he left for Akila, but apparently not interested in anything else. Whatever had happened to her at the Pool of Fear had left a long-lasting effect behind. He wanted to help, but she had effectively shut him out. That didn’t bode well for their relationship, such as it was.
And that was all right. Hawke was discovering that polygamy wasn’t as much fun as it sounded. When one of your main squeezes was a Fury who was always ready for some passionate fun, and the other a Ranger who wanted to make the most of her spare time, you really didn’t have much left to give to anyone else.
“Tava is happy. I still worry about her safety,” Kinto said. “But safety is rare and dearly bought in the Realms.”
“As long as I’m alive, she will be safe.”
“Don’t make that sort of promise, Hawke. The gods delight in making mortals break them. You kept your word when we went into a Lair we were ill-prepared to handle. But neither of us can control what the Fates bring to us.”
“It’s not easy, is it?”
Having grown up in a peaceful and prosperous part of the US, where people rarely died before old age or its associated diseases took them away, he hadn’t understood how precious life could be. It would have been different if he’d lived in a slum, or a war-torn country on Earth, he supposed. He had witnessed the horrible deaths of over twenty percent of a town’s population. One in five of the townsfolk, rich and poor alike, had died in a handful of days. And he had seen plenty of death elsewhere, sometimes inflicted by him. The Woodlings had paid a terrible price for following Akaton; Gosto was trying to do some outreach there, and maybe he could help the Wild Sidhe do better, provided they stopped their sacrificial practices Maybe they could switch to goats or chickens.
Caring for people meant knowing you could lose them. He still wasn’t sure how to handle that.
“Dying is easy, but leading a good life is not,” Kinto said. “But enough of gloomy thoughts. You have become stronger in a few weeks than most Adventurers or even Eternals manage to do in years, or a lifetime for many. You have turned this entire valley into a safe haven for those who wish to live in peace. The people of Orom and the surrounding lands know this, and most of them are thankful for it.”
“Thank you. Well, I’m off to the Domain Map, to help make sure we remain safe.”
* * *
Sunset Valley (Level 4 Domain)
Current Population/Maximum Pop.: 5,318/15,000
Warning: If its population decreases below 4,000, the Domain’s Level will be reduced to 3.
Available Mana/Mana Pool: 1,800/17,159
Mana Recharge/Day: 2,610
Mana Sources:
Big Web: Level 1 Meeting House: 50. Level 1 Temple of Tenebra (100)
Orom: Level 1 Keep: 100. Level 2 Temple of Shining Father: 200. Level 1 Mana Node (Life, Temple of Shining Father): 20 Total: 320
Death Spire: Level 5 Mage’s Tower (500), Level 10 Mana Node (Death) (200), Level 3 Death Temple (300), Level 2 Darkness Temple 200. Total: 1,500
Other: Level 10 Mana Node (Darkness): 200, Level 5 Mana Node (Nature): 100, Level 1 Temple of Triune Goddesses (100), Level 2 Grove of Cerunnos (200), 2 Level 1 Life Mana Nodes (40). Total: 640
Current Mana Expenditures: 850/day. Minions: 400 (Death Spire). Processes: 150 (Light Runes, Death Spire). Enchantments: 300 (Undead, Demonic and Fae Wards. Death Spire: Undead, Demonic and Fae Wards, Orom).
Enchantments Available: Arcane Appointment, Call to Arms, Demonic Ward, Empower Champions, Empower Defenders, Fae Ward, Undead Ward.
Nadia had been true to her word, arranging the union between Big Web and Hawke’s Domain. The Arachnoid Matriarch in charge had been more than willing to join up in return for some financial help to rebuild the damage the Tarakkens had inflicted, and some of them had shown willingness to try working as miners under the Dwarves’ supervision, provided that they were treated fairly. The news had barely registered with Hawke at the time, since he had been too busy dealing with the Dungeon, but when he’d come back he’d discovered that the town’s five hundred or so residents were now part of the Sunset Valley. Big Web was now the second-largest population center of the Domain. And the fledgling territory was growing in other ways as well.
Hawke had spent most of the Domain’s Mana – and his own – to accelerate the ‘birth’ of the Mana Node Seeds. They were all level one Nodes now, helping repay the investment with interest. There were a few more investments
he wanted to make before leaving, however. He opened the menu linked to Orom’s Keep:
Keep (Level I)
The seat of government of a village or town, the Keep is usually fortified to serve as a refuge of last resort. It also holds the Core of the settlement, which generates Mana at a rate determined by the Keep’s level. To raise the Keep to the next level, you need to add four Upgrades.
Current Upgrades: 0/4.
Available Upgrades: Fortify (150 Mana), Garrison (150 Mana), Mana Lens (350 Mana), Node Connection (300 Mana), Observatory (350 Mana), Expanded Prison (150 Mana), Ritual Circle (300 Mana), Strongpoint (300 Mana).
Expanded Prison I (150): Creates a dozen additional holding cells in a sub-basement section, and two additional rooms for guards or interrogation purposes.
Fortify I (150): Increases the durability of the Keep by 1,500. The upper floor will be converted into a fighting tower with an attached catapult on a spinning platform.
Garrison I (15): Adds an attached barracks that can house up to 20 guards and three officers.
Mana Lens (350): Allows the Town’s Official to use his Mana to purchase improvements and upgrade, using 10 Mana to provide 1 Structural Mana.
Node Connection I (300): Links the Keep to one Node up to twenty-five miles away. This increases the Keep’s Mana generation by 25 per Node level.
Observatory (350): Creates a small tower on the upper floor of the Keep. The Steward or a designated observer can observe any outdoor area in the Domain as if from a height of 120 feet over the selected zone.
Ritual Circle (300): Creates a room where magical rituals can be conducted, with a +50% bonus to the total Mana generated. The Circle also increases the Keep’s Mana generation by 20%.
Strongpoint: The Keep’s resistance to all forms of damage is increased to 75%. Additionally, any defenders fighting inside the building gain +5 levels and +10% resistance to all forms of damage. This is cumulative with effects like Empower Champions or Empower Defenders.
He had four slots to choose from. He added Mana Lens, Node Connection, Observatory and Ritual Circle, burning through the 1,300 Mana without a second thought. Mana Lens alone was worth the expenditure. There was the expected mini-earthquake, making the Keep rumble and shift as the magical construction project went into effect, but he had warned everybody to expect the changes and had them move a safe distance away from the Keep. The entire structure grew around him. The ceiling’s clearance in the main room went from eight to nine feet, and unlike normal construction, every brick and support pillar would be flawless and work exactly as advertised.
Keep Level 2: (Damage Capacity: 4,000/4,000). Mana Generation: 247. Features: Mana Lens, Node Connection I (Temple of Shining Father), Observatory, Ritual Circle.
Upgrades Needed for Level III: 4/8.
That would be enough for today, Hawke decided. Even with the Mana Lens allowing him to use his own energy far more efficiently, he wanted to give the Domain’s energy reserve a few days to regenerate, and he also had plans to increase the Stronghold’s garrison and make some more upgrades there before leaving for Akila. To help even things out, he poured his entire Mana pool into the Lens, increasing the Domain’s reserves by over 200 points. Hawke drank a Major Mana potion and prepared himself for what would be a challenging ‘meeting.’
Two days had come and gone, spent on mundane but necessary things. He’d dumped more gold into the town’s reserves, since taxes were still having a hard time meeting all the necessary expenses. Paying for the needs of Orom – well, the entire Domain, although Orom was the biggest money pit – out of his own pocket wasn’t exactly what one would call fiscally responsible, but it was all he could do until a number of projects got into gear and started bringing in more income.
His last order of business didn’t involve money. Only a very powerful entity that would likely react violently to Hawke’s decision.
Forty-Seven
No words of advice? Hawke asked Saturnyx as he checked his gear and buffs one last time.
My thoughts exactly, he replied.
He was standing in the Oval Office. The Domain Map was glowing brightly, and he gave it one last look. If things went wrong, it wouldn’t be the same. It might even cease to be. Sighing, Hawke concentrated and summoned the Stronghold Core.
The Undeath construct manifested as a floating twenty-sided shape of dark purple, green, and black energy. It wasn’t happy to see Hawke; his Advanced Mana Sight made the entity’s feeling clear. The Core absolutely loathed the former Paladin, and would have happily killed him if it could. It also wished for the return of the Necromancer who had controlled the Stronghold for over four decades. Visions of zombies tearing their way out of their graves flashed past Hawke’s eyes. He had been uneasy about the Stronghold since learning the true nature of the entity that imbued it. And he was done accepting it. The times of making alliances with evil forces were over.
“I’ve got some bad news, Chocula. You are not a good fit for this organization, moving forward. I’m afraid you’ve got to go.”
Without bothering to respond, Hawke produced the purified Dungeon Core and a Mana Seeds and went to work. The Stronghold Core stopped talking as notifications popped up and the Arbiters or their programmed subroutines froze time until certain decisions were made.
You are attempting to replace: Stronghold Core (Undeath) with: Dungeon Core (Order).
Warning: Dungeon Cores cannot perform many of the functions of Stronghold or Settlement Cores.
You are attempting to reconfigure: Dungeon Core (Order) into: Stronghold Core (Order). Chance of success: 5% per Node Mastery Level.
You have added Mana Node Seed (Life) to the new Stronghold Core. Chance of success (reconfigure Core) increased by 10%.
The Undeath construct fought back, of course. It shot bolts of pure anti-life energy at Hawke, but with all his auras and defenses up, they didn’t do much. Meanwhile, he used Advanced Mana Sight to monitor the reconfiguration process and help out with extra energy infusions when he could. Watching a Core construct being reprogrammed was something else; this was his second time, or maybe his third, if he counted the liberation and purification of the Dungeon Core two separate events. The Cores were gigantic Mana generators, but that was only the tip of the iceberg. They were engines of creation that could raise buildings, summon minions, and empower and ready hundreds of spells and other magical effects. Lairs didn’t need that much processing and creative power; they relied on their Masters to provide their defenders, and happenstance to provide the location and its components. Dungeons, on the other hand, were planned structures, and required an extraordinarily complex system to exist, one that could – and often did – develop full sapience. Or maybe a preexisting entity was bound to the Core to help run all its software. Hawke wasn’t sure how that part worked.
The intelligence in charge of the Undeath Core did its best to destroy Hawke, but his status as the ruler of the Stronghold protected him from most of its abilities. In desperation, it called for help – and Hawke felt a new presence come in, hovering near the dying Core. The Maker of Undeath appeared as a pale man with an insane, lopsided grin that made Laughing Man seem like the model of mental health. There was nothing he could do against a Demiurge. He concentrated on his task and ignored the crazy bastard. If he died, he died. The higher powers might be able to destroy him, but he’d be damned if he would just roll over for them like a puppy.
Vazalak reached out toward the dying Core and took it into his fold before disappearing. Maybe he would find it a new home. Or maybe the Core would show up at the worst
possible moment to extract some payback from Hawke. He’d worry about it later. The important thing was that the removal of the Core made the conversion system a lot easier. A few minutes later, he succeeded:
Death Spire Stronghold is no more.
Serenity, a Bastion of Order (Level 16 Stronghold), has risen.
You have earned 2,000 Experience towards your Arcane Steward Vocation.
Congratulations! You are now a Level Five Steward.
Hawke had evacuated the Stronghold, so he was the only person who witnessed the massive alteration of the tower and the other buildings. The relatively minor changes he had made before had triggered minor tremors. This time, the earthquake was felt all throughout the Sunset Mountains and even as far as Orom. Fortunately, the shifts weren’t powerful enough to damage settlements or hurt people, although Hawke was sure that Nadia was going to spend a lot of her political credit helping unruffle the Arachnoids’ figurative feathers. The poor locals must have been terrified when they felt the entire mountains shaking over their heads.
The great tower twisted and reshaped itself. The hostile, gothic architecture of the Stronghold changed, remaining stern and severe but losing the skull-and-bone motifs, which were replaced by orderly clockwork figures. The persistent gloom that only dozens of magic lamps could keep at bay was replaced by stark, unblinking light that filled all the public areas, leaving only the Darkness and Death temples untouched. Hawke wondered if he could make or find a pair of sunglasses somehow, because he had a feeling those lights were not going to go out even in the middle of the night.
Undeath was replaced by Order. As far as Hawke was concerned, it was a massive improvement; gone was the feeling of despair that had clung to the air inside the Stronghold. The place wasn’t exactly welcoming, but it felt more like a library or a courthouse, rather than a graveyard. Not exactly somewhere you wanted to live, but not a bad place in which to work. Order valued predictability and rules. Hawke wondered if the new attunement would affect the people who spent too much time there, and the crafts they practiced.
Labyrinth to Tartarus: A LitRPG Saga (The Eternal Journey Book 3) Page 29