Alkao sat at the top of the table, talking to his trade councillor. The brothers and Kala were lounging in seats. Efri had his feet on the table while Kala was using quills and pens to show different battle tactics to the generals. There was also Frenik, council member of the Aleph and manager of their mines and forges. Koza was talking animatedly with the generals as well, listening to Kala’s show piece. A shrewd looking Orc wearing fashionable rings in his tusks and a high quality robe sat beside Frenik—Oxul, a trader from the Aleph, Suzy’s opposite in the talks.
Alkao raised a hand in greeting to the new arrivals and knocked on the table.
The generals’ conversation quieted down as they looked to the new arrivals.
“Efri,” Alkao said in a tired voice.
Efri’s boots dropped to the ground. The large general looked a little shamefaced. “Sorry, King Alkao,” Efri said.
“Ah, we’re used to it at this point!” Dave said with a grin and a wink at Efri.
“Don’t say that. I’m trying to get manners into their thick skulls,” Alkao growled, but Anna saw the happiness one has when they greet their good friends again.
Alkao clasped arms with Dave and then Kol, looking impressed with the old Dwarf’s grip. “You’re strong for someone so old.”
“Old? I’ll have you know I have barely reached my middle age,” Kol grumbled, shooting a glance at Frenik. Frenik rolled his eyes as if to say, “Younglings—what do you expect?”
“Okay, if we might start this meeting?” the Devil’s Crater trader said.
“Certainly!” Alkao waved for everyone to take their seats.
Dave shared nods with the generals as Koza and Anna stood off to the side of the meeting.
“We have looked at the contracts put forward by both the Aleph and the Cliff-Hill smithies. We have come to partial conclusions. Looking at your contracts, we are interested in purchasing weapons from the Aleph.” The trader nodded to the orcish trader and Frenik. “We have also decided to go with the Cliff-Hill smithies to supply us with full body armor.”
The trader proceeded to share messages with the two groups vying for the armament contracts. They talked in private chats, so no one could hear them. It was basically what they had thought would happen; the only difference was delivery times and adjustments to cost.
“These terms are amenable to us.” Oxul’s voice was deep and flowing, unlike most orcish’s grunting manner of speech.
“Thank you. What time can you start delivering on this contract?” Alkao asked.
They had made up an emergency contract to get some battalions armed in case anything happened. This contract was for the entire DCA.
“We can start in about a week, with a firm quota of our production numbers to you in two days,” Frenik said.
“Good. I look forward to having my people with weapons instead of just stones and claws.” Alkao looked to the other group.
“These terms are acceptable, and match with our previous agreements. We agree to it,” Suzy said.
“We can start armoring up your people within the week,” Kol said.
“With that, we can draw this meeting to a close,” the Devil’s Crater trader said.
“I have one more thing.” Dave stood and opened his bag of holding. “While one is a leader of an army, they must be ready to lead, as they are ready to fight.” Dave pulled out weapons from his bag, throwing them to each of the generals. He threw a war hammer to a grinning Kala and placed a sword and shield in front of Alkao.
“I thought it was time to make you an upgrade.” Dave grinned.
“This…this is Mithril.” Malkur looked at the textured metal and back to Dave.
“Well, it is a Dwarven secret,” Dave said.
“Would be damned impossible to form this much without his cheat.” Kol nodded to Dave.
Anna smiled as the Aleph unconsciously moved forward to study the weapons.
“Weapons of Power?” Frenik looked to Kol, getting an affirming nod in return. “How could you do this all in just a few days?”
Kol let out a laugh. “A few days? He made those blades last night! I worked on the war hammer and shield.”
The interested faces turned to shock, looking to the grinning Dave and proud Kol.
“I knew that they were master craftsmen, but how much have the master Dwarves changed since we left?” Koza asked Anna in a low voice.
“Kol is a rank seven Dwarven Master Smith; Dave just turned into a level four. The Dwarves haven’t changed that much except in the last year. Dave was the first Halfling to ever be admitted into the Council of Anvil and Fire. Since he’s been there, he’s created a stir. Not only with his techniques but the information he has brought to their council that even I can’t compute what the final result will be.”
“He certainly has turned the world upside down. I know that Ela-Dorn and many of the Aleph who attend our college see him as an almost holy figure for giving them access to an unconnected portal,” Koza said.
“If you think that’s something, ask him about the summoner’s hall.” Anna snorted and shook her head.
The generals gave their deep thanks to Kol and Dave, discussing the weapons with an excited air. Suzy and Oxul were off in a corner, having a rapid conversation. Kol and Frenik were talking to each other about different ideas they had, both of them deeply interested in the other’s process.
To Anna, she felt as if she was seeing the birth of one of the strongest alliances in the history of Emerilia.
Chapter 30: To the Guild Hall
Josh stepped through the teleport pad and into the guild hall. Automatons, Aleph from all races, Stone Raiders, Dwarven groups, and people from Devil’s Crater were walking around the teleport control room, waiting to go somewhere or admiring the Stone Raiders’ guild hall
Josh weaved his way through the crowds, thankful for Cassie, who handled most of the talking and getting them through without making others think that they were ignoring them.
“Damn, you’re good at that,” Josh said as they left the room.
“A few hundred different events where everyone wants an autograph or you to endorse their brand without going through your manager and you find a way to small talk like a boss.” Cassie winked.
Josh laughed and shook his head. He saw Lucy talking to a group of her leaders inside the first housing facility.
“Well, look at you two. Looks like the date was a good idea. Hope you got walls that were a bit thicker than the Cliff-Hill guild hall’s.” Lucy gave them both a look. Josh grinned as Cassie turned an odd shade of crimson. “Well, I bet that you want to know what’s going on here. We’ve got a bunch of groups who are in Devil’s Crater looking for dungeons and helping clear out the nastier animals in the area. Dwayne and Kim are out there. We’ve accepted three hundred more people to be Stone Raiders. We’ve got most of them off training in Cliff-Hill, in Devil’s Crater, or at the mage’s and Aleph colleges. I didn’t want to get many more lest we have more recruits than veteran Stone Raiders.”
“Makes sense. We don’t want to lose our identity with all of these changes,” Josh said.
“Good, because we have another three thousand applicants,” Lucy said.
Cassie whistled as Josh developed a twitch at the corner of his eye.
“Don’t worry—we’ll turn this lot into true Stone Raiders quick enough. We’ve got a lot of open contracts that we need to be finished. I’m going to do half-and-half parties. One veteran Stone Raider party with another new Stone Raider party—get them out there fighting and seeing what it takes to be a real Stone Raider,” Lucy said.
“That’s a good plan. I know when the Golden Sabres took in a whole bunch of new people, we started having disputes about the proper direction of the Golden Sabres. The older members and the younger ones wanted to do different things and it created tension within the guild.” Cassie sighed and shook her head. “Damn shame, but happy to be here now.” She looked to Josh and gave him a smile.
Jo
sh returned it before he looked to Lucy.
“In other news, Dave is in. Suzy is here as well, talking to Florence. Verlun is booming right now. We’re buying foodstuffs by the ton and selling it off to the Aleph and the people in Devil’s Crater, and there are talks to open trading outposts in the Egas Nation and the Orun Free States. They’re getting gouged for food and with the difficulty to grow it in Ashal, we can undercut their current suppliers and still make a good profit.”
“Also opens possibilities for us to go to their lands and access the dungeons that they know of.” Josh nodded. “Damn, this is getting a hell of a lot bigger than I thought it would.”
“Yeah, we’ve got the backing of some of the most powerful groups in Emerilia. We’ve shown that we’re reliable and we can act as a middle ground for everyone. If we were just a group of POEs or Players, then it wouldn’t have worked out. We have a balance of both. Makes the groups we’re dealing with feel at ease,” Lucy said.
“I knew that the Stone Raiders had a lot of friends and were strong, but this is more than just a guild now. It’s more like an adventuring empire. You’ve got alliances with nations and sects that few people gain access to. You’ve got military might and trading clout. I doubt most people know the full reach of your guild.” Cassie shook her head.
“Good, because it’s going to need your help.” Josh smiled.
Lucy shared in the smile as Cassie’s eyes thinned, looking at them both with clear suspicion.
“What are you two thinking?” Cassie asked slowly.
“Well, we thought it would be best to tell you once you got back,” Josh said.
“We’re getting a lot bigger and while we can manage the fighting and trading side of things,” Lucy continued.
“We aren’t the best at public relations. We were wondering if you could help deal with the different groups we’re allied with?” Josh finished. The two of them stared at Cassie.
Cassie cocked her hip, holding her chin with her hand. “Would I be pulled from fighting?”
“Nope, you fight and do as you want. You could hire people as you want. Both from the traders and the fighting Stone Raiders. Florence is great in dealing with trading contracts but we need someone to talk to those who we not only trade with, but have a mutual defense treaty with,” Lucy said.
“You have that?” Cassie’s eyes went wide.
“Yeah, we had them drawn up instead of money in some cases. Put us in a better light and opened us up to more raids,” Josh said, as if it were of no consequence.
“Those treaties are basically declaring that if you, or any of the signatories, were attacked, you would assist one another, right?” Cassie asked, a confused and slightly shocked look on her face.
“Yes, we wrote them up when we learned of the events that are supposed to start next year,” Lucy said.
“I’ll take the position. You don’t understand how big that is. You could levy less taxes in some places as well as a higher reputation with different groups for your statuses. Like damned children with nuclear codes!” Cassie muttered the last part to herself.
“Told you we needed someone for the job sooner rather than later.” Something caught Lucy’s eye. “Excuse me, just have to meet with some people from the Council of Anvil and Fire. Seems having just Dave here isn’t enough for them to be happy with our contract. I feel that they’re just excited to see an Aleph city being built.” Lucy sighed.
“Good luck!” Josh waved to her as she wandered away. “Well, talking about Dave—we should go and see what he’s done with the rest of the guild hall.”
“Just how powerful is Party Zero?” Cassie asked as they walked.
“Well, that depends.” Josh looked thoughtful as they walked through the first housing complex. The vertical gardens were growing, lights bathing the area in warm light as Stone Raiders lounged around a tavern that had been made out of a few homes on the bottom floor near the middle of the courtyard. Josh waved to them, looking at another apartment on the bottom floor opposite that was run by the traders, taking in gear to be sold as well as giving out gear and selling different items to their fellow guild members.
There was a relaxed, jovial atmosphere to the housing complex. Like a bunch of friends renting out a house together for the summer and relaxing. People yelled to one another from the balconies above. It was busy but no one was rushing around, taking their time and enjoying themselves.
Aleph and Stone Raiders gardeners used a series of pulleys and seats to move up and down the vertical gardens. Automatons moved goods and items around.
“Well, it seems a lot more alive than when I was last here,” Josh said with some pride, waving to a few people here and there. The veterans called out to Josh and Cassie, inviting them for a drink or a mission they were going on. Josh declined, saying he was heading off to find Dave.
They gave directions and extracted a promise for him to join them in a drink at a later time.
“The strength of Party Zero depends on where they are and what they’re doing. If one of them is in danger or the guild and their friends are,” Josh’s eyes darkened, “then nothing could stay in their way. They will tear down the gods and drive armies before them to protect one another.
“Looking at their levels is not an accurate measurement of their abilities. When they’re not together, they’re two, maybe three times more powerful. When together, they’re four or five times stronger. If incited, they’re an army onto themselves.” Josh frowned. I don’t know how Malsour and Induca did it, but I’m sure that they’re related to those Dragons who were at Boran-al. Their aura—the only person similar to it is Deia, and I can never penetrate Anna’s suppression. She makes it seem that she’s in the high 200s, but the way she fights—I can’t help but feel that she’s much more powerful.
Another person might demand to know their secrets but Josh counted them as his friends. He trusted them and their judgment. He wouldn’t pressure them in telling him their secrets.
Cassie seemed satisfied with his answer.
“They’ve come far since Boran-al’s Citadel. It’s going to be hard to catch up with them.” She had a smile on her face.
“Oh, up for the challenge?” Josh smiled.
“Well, it would be pretty fun. Going to need to do some dungeon grinds.” She looked to Josh.
“I’ll always go dungeon diving with you.”
“Oh, so romantic.” Cassie snorted as her fingers interlaced with his.
They passed through the second housing complex, which was less rowdy than the first. Crafters were all over the place, talking to one another and looking into the new passages off to the sides of the housing complex. It was a lot warmer in the complex.
Josh looked to the right, where there were two refineries working overtime. Automated carts waited, being loaded up with refined materials and driven to several apartments that had been knocked down to make a holding area for the materials.
They continued through the complex and entered a long corridor that went left and right, with entrances facing forward.
Josh took a right and went to the farthest entrance. The noise of grinding and large machinery could be heard in the background as Dave, Frenik, and Kol talked to one another, pointing at different things in the pitch-black darkness ahead of them.
“Looks like you’re up to something,” Josh said, making the trio turn around.
“Yeah, making a city. Come look!” Dave said in an excited tone, waving them over.
The lights were turned off, so Cassie held onto Josh’s hand tighter. Josh’s night vision was in the master levels, allowing him to see in the darkness. It was still hard to see anything at the end of the corridor that extended into darkness.
Lights turned on at random points in the darkness beyond.
Josh’s jaw dropped as Cassie breathed in a surprised breath. In front of them was a massive cavern, easily four times longer than the housing complexes that they had walked through and two of them tall, cut out into a cyl
inder.
Closest to the entrance, an elevator led down to the edge of the city. Miners littered the city, working to cut out more of the city.
Josh watched as a steel box glowed, pushing out a miner. Instead of grinders on its front, it held lasers. It moved forward to help its fellow mining automatons. Automated carts followed it as it started cutting.
“It looks like reverse 3D printing,” Josh said. The miners cut out different buildings, giving them shape as they passed.
“Pretty much. Just put in the plans and watch them go. We’ve got some Air mages and runes working to collect all the dust and debris in the air. Then we’ve got automated carts that travel to the refineries, break down everything into useful and not. What can be burned is sent to our fledgling power stations down there. I removed the power sources that are in the housing complex. We can run everything on ambient energy collectors I set up and some of the vault-classed soul gems,” Dave said.
“How long until we run out of that as a power source?” Josh asked.
“Well, we’re working on putting in an automaton factory to help out with the finer detailed work needed in the city. The power source will last for about two months.” Dave held up a hand, stalling Josh’s angry words.
This is Our Land (Emerilia Book 5) Page 29