Then it was revealed that the Stone Raiders had fought real Demons in Ashal. Loughbreck just thought it was the work of songwriters and tale tellers. There were no Demons anymore and there was no way that a group of four hundred were capable of defeating them. Loughbreck had an army of two hundred thousand at his command, half of them with magical talents. Gudalo, being so close to the headquarters of the mage’s guild and college, attracted a large number of proficient mages.
Loughbreck used his interface to send messages off to some of the captains commanding the “bandits,” ordering them to move toward Verlun. He also sent messages to the forces in Verlun. He wanted to know everything about the Stone Raiders’ defenses. He cared not for economic warfare and whether they would give over the teleport pad amicably.
Lord Esamael has said that we get to keep half of what we find. Imagine the kind of goods that these Stone Raiders have piled in their guild hall
A greedy look crossed Loughbreck’s face as he thought of the wealth and prestige he would gain for supporting Lord Esamael.
Once this is all over, then we can do what we should have done a hundred years ago. We can finally rid ourselves of those non-Human creatures to our south and those Dwarves. We’ll make it clear that the mage’s college and guild are under our control. We can’t have the other races gaining power to try to bully us anymore.
***
Bronx made excited noises as he looked at the glass-blown item in front of him. The Stone Raiders who had found the item had pleased looks on their faces, just imagining what they could get for the piece.
“Could you stop making noises like a damned preening peacock?” Florence smiled. It was odd, looking at the massive man using his large fingers to delicately trace the beautiful lines that formed the simple vase.
The other Stone Raiders chuckled, including the traders who were used to Bronx’s idiosyncrasies.
“Sorry, boss. Just, ohh…it’s so damned beautiful!” Bronx practically squealed, not caring what it looked like in the slightest.
“We’ll put it up for auction for the noble houses. I know a number of different houses and even kings and queens would be very interested in having this,” Florence said to the fighters.
“See, I told you it was worth grabbing.” A thief-looking character punched a melee fighter with a large shield on his back.
“Okay, your hunch was right,” the melee fighter agreed.
Bronx looked like a kid being told that they couldn’t take a puppy home from the store.
Florence chuckled as a message pinged on her interface. She hummed to herself as she walked out of the back of the guild hall and toward the front.
She swiped the message away and frowned. She walked through a sound barrier and into the front of the store.
“I demand to talk to your manager. This is unacceptable. I will not have some Gnome treating me like a damned copperless beggar,” a man in the essential red robe and staff with a glowing red crystal of a Fire mage said.
Ugh. Why do they all have to color-code themselves. Do they not know how easy it will be to pick them out in a fight and know how to fight back against them? Florence moved to Unasli’s aid.
“I’m sorry, sir. I meant no offense. I was just stating the price for that particular soul gem,” Unasli said.
“Trying to rob me of my gold, you are, with those over-the-top prices! Look here, I will let you off with a warning, but you will have to find a way to compensate me!” The man’s eyes thinned, looking down at Unasli, who sat on a high stool to compensate for her smaller stature.
“Hello. I heard that there was something the matter.” Florence stepped up beside Unasli.
“Your pet here slandered my name and tried to sell me a soul gem for well above market value to steal some gold for herself,” the mage said, not hiding the way he studied Florence.
She hid her shiver, just feeling his eyes trying to look through her clothes.
“One moment.” Florence opened her interface to check the recording of Unasli. She trusted the Gnome but she had to make sure that she was impartial to these things.
She got to the part about the customer using rather nasty racial slurs about Gnomes, and then Unasli snapped back just a bit before regaining her cool. The man had gone into a tirade after that.
“Unasli, I can take over this transaction.” Florence decided to get the two of them apart as soon as possible.
“Yes, boss.” Unasli dropped off her chair, looking like a furious child as she walked to the back. Florence felt some of her parental feelings flare up. Unasli was only fifteen in Emerilia, a POE who had been looking for work after her mother and father had died in a plague a few years back. They’d had enough money to get their daughter healed, but hadn’t survived.
“Good—someone knows their place around here. I will take four of your grand soul gems as repayment for the slight on my honor.” The mage held an imperious hand out.
“I’m sorry, sir mage, but this is a business and while we are sorry that Unasli lost her temper, it wasn’t without some provocation. Please feel free to browse our wares and tell one of my associates when you are ready to order.” Florence tilted her head slightly and smiled at the man.
He seemed to have trouble understanding what she had said before veins started to pop out across his forehead and his pale Human features turned red.
“Do you know who I am!” The man’s aura surged outward at Florence.
“I don’t,” Florence admitted.
“I am Mage Adept Research Tolondur of the Forty-Third Island! Son of Lord Gesar! I will not be treated this way!” The mage slammed his staff on the floor. A bloom of flame appeared above his staff. As soon as it appeared, it disappeared. “Prostrate and bow before me, so that I might spare you!” Tolondur declared.
Florence noticed that a squad of eight fighters held their weapons. They didn’t look happy about the circumstance, but it was clear that Tolondur was their master.
“Mister Tolondur, I must ask that you please leave our premises. We do not want to fight you and this is a peaceful establishment,” Florence said, not even fazed by the mage’s aura or his display of power. I wonder what would have happened if we didn’t have the defenses keyed up, so that all Mana not coming from a Stone Raider is absorbed by the vault soul gems?
“You dare to—” Any words Tolondur was going to say turned into choking noises as the staff he was lowering to point at Florence dropped to the ground and he was forced to his knees.
“Ugh, well, he was a loud one.” Kim yawned as she came out the back of the guild hall. “Florence, do you have any nectar of Egun?” She scratched her head idly.
“Yes, I believe we do. Hector knows where it is,” Florence said.
“Thanks.” Kim yawned again, not showing any strain of putting Tolondur on the ground with her aura alone.
The guards looked from Tolondur to Kim and Florence.
Florence raised her eyebrow; the guards released their weapons slowly. She gave them a nod and stepped around the counter. She touched Tolondur’s shoulder; the man collapsed into unconsciousness.
“It seems that Mister Tolondur is under the weather. Could you see that he gets home safely? Could you also inform him that he is banned from our guild hall here and the Stone Raiders and their affiliates will no longer trade with him or his father. We would be willing to discuss possible terms of lifting this ban with Lord Gesar, but for insulting my fellow guild member and my guild, Mister Tolondur is banned for life. Thank you.” Florence nodded to the guards.
“Thank you, milady,” one of the guards said as the others gathered the noble up.
“Uh, you wouldn’t perhaps have any job openings?” the same guard asked in a low voice as he got close.
“You would have to talk to one of the fighters. You can find them at the teleport pad. They will know more on that side of things.” Florence smiled. They were probably good fighters and were smart enough to know when to fight and stay their blades. If th
ey were kicked out of Tolondur’s employ, well, the Stone Raiders were growing and she needed dedicated guards, not just Stone Raiders taking a break from raiding across Emerilia.
Tolondur was escorted out.
“Ah, the young—so rash,” an older and refined-looking gentleman said, walking up to the counter.
A few people who saw the man went big-eyed and talked to their fellow shoppers.
Florence appraised the man.
Alamos Ecanil
Level 310
Human
With her extra senses, she could tell he was a mage, a powerful one. There was a flash of a badge under his robe but she didn’t get a long enough glance at it.
“I was wondering if you could help me. I was told by an old friend that you Stone Raiders might be able to get me some of these items.” Alamos produced a list and handed it to Florence.
She took the list and checked over the items. Nearly all of them were rather hard to find and she knew of their numbers and stock because of their rarity. “I think we can get most of these items. Might I ask who gave you our name?”
“You know Deia?” Alamos asked.
“Yes, she was one of the people who helped the Exdar’s and Raiders unite.” Florence smiled.
“Ah, well, her dad is an old adventuring friend of mine and Jelanos.” Alamos grinned.
Jelanos…that sounds familiar, important in the—Wait, he doesn’t mean the Jelanos? Then Alamos is the second arch mage? Wait, Deia’s dad plays this game? But then how does he have a past with the leaders of the arch mage’s college and guild?
“Oh, I will have to thank her for that. Might you be Arch Mage Alamos?” She lowered her voice.
Alamos took on an amused look. “Seems that I can still hide under the radar in places. Thanks for not yelling my name out.” He winked.
“No problem. If you want to come with me, I can show you these items.” Florence held up the list.
“Thank you. That would be great.” Alamos looked more like an excitable kid than a venerable mage.
“Florence, we need to reinforce the back room. I think I nearly melted the west wall,” Kim said, heading back to her bedroom turned laboratory.
“Use the damn lab in the back!” Florence hissed under her breath.
“Aw, but it doesn’t have any heating, or windows!” Kim complained like a two-year-old. She even stomped her feet.
“Cause you keep blowing out the damn windows and you know how to do some enchanting!” Florence hissed back, catching Alamos’s amused look as he followed behind them.
Kim made annoyed noises and frowned.
“Didn’t you know that Dave is going to be teaching people how to magically code things?” Florence said, getting an idea.
“He is?” Kim perked up.
“Said he’s opening up a school in the guild. I think Josh posted it. Best to get there before someone else takes your spot,” Florence advised.
“Turn that teleport pad on! I’m going to the guild hall!” Kim took off at a run.
“Don’t forget your experiments!” Florence yelled after her, seeing Kim leave out of a door and then run back in and rush upstairs.
“Quite lively in here.” Alamos chuckled.
“Ugh, ever since they got back, it’s been hectic.” Florence sighed. Weaving past appraisal rooms and stacks of different items, she stepped down a wide set of stairs.
Alamos followed. “Yes, I have heard of a number of Stone Raiders joining the college. It seems that they are quite powerful. I have a meeting with the leaders of Devil’s Crater in a week. I’ve heard from the students we’ve taken on that you are a force to be reckoned with. Even the POEs have been buying recording stones with the videos from the battle of Devil’s Crater.”
“Miss adventuring?” Florence smiled as she led to an elevator.
“Some days,” Alamos said as the lift started downward. “I didn’t believe that your storage was so vast.”
“Well, we do have a large number of items.” Florence smiled. Don’t need to tell him that all fourteen floors underground are filled with wards and traps, that we just use the trader hub the Aleph gave us and a drop pad in the basement to move goods between our guild halls and to our customers.
After all the information they had been getting from their scout automatons, they were not taking any chances with their goods. Lord Esamael wanted them gone and all signs pointed to him trying to take the throne of Gudalo for himself.
Lucy was the one dealing with that: gathering information, creating contacts, and preparing them for whatever might come.
***
Malsour stretched as he got up in his bedroom; he’d been assigned one at the housing facility. He grabbed a water skin of juice and headed out of his room.
“Hey, Malsour, this is awesome!” Gelimah yelled from the first floor, where he was drinking with a bunch of rowdy Stone Raiders.
Well, that answers why I woke up. “Don’t get too drunk.” Malsour rubbed his eyes.
He walked to the edge of the balcony; a shadow pushed him over the banister. He controlled the steel in his shoes and the ground beneath him, slowing his descent.
He yawned and rubbed his head as he headed deeper into the guild hall. Gelimah wasn’t allowed any deeper but Malsour knew that his brother could see everything that the guild hall was going to become.
Gelimah liked to stay with his baubles and his experiments, much like Malsour used to be. When did I start thinking of him as a recluse? I used to think of him as the most sane one out of my family.
Malsour snorted at his own thoughts. He yawned, extending his senses as he did so; he continued yawning but his face turned to alarm at what he sensed. The heck is going on?
He saw Josh walking around, talking to Lucy.
“Josh, what is happening in the city?” Malsour asked.
“Not sure. Dave’s apparently in there doing something.” Josh shrugged. “Said something about needing to speed things up.”
“He’s also bought a bunch of land and space for factories, smithies, and the rest. Gave Alkao a good price for all the work he’s doing,” Lucy said. “Well, Suzy was in charge of the negotiations. Though it seemed to be his idea.”
“I think you might want to give that to him for free. If I’m right, he’s doubled the number of miners out there. He’s already cutting out the exterior runners to turn the city on and he’s hooking up a massive power system, I think. Can’t really get all the runes.” Malsour frowned and picked up his pace.
“What? I thought he was just looking for a place to tinker,” Josh said.
“I’ll check on him, but he’s got fourteen vault-classed soul gems all powered up and working on different projects.” Malsour had to yell as he was too far away for normal talking and broke out into a jog.
“What the hell are you doing now?” Malsour shook his head, even as an excited grin appeared on his face. Well, at least one of us has to look like a respectable and upright pillar of society, not an engineering madman!
***
Dave floated around on his floating spinning chair. It had got annoying on the uneven floor to deal with the rough edges, so he’d add in a levitating ability.
Now he pushed off the walls, humming to himself as he worked with a carver, entering the last rune on the metal box he was working on. He floated back down. He pulled off some melted silver from the burner and poured it into the runes. A conjured blade appeared in his hand. Scraping away the excess, he placed the box down on a table top filled with boxes.
He had been working for hours. His eyes were itchy when he closed them. Oh, that feels pretty nice. Work to be done, and I need my eyes to be open for that! Well, I kind of do have Touch of the Land.
Dave floated through his workshop. It had grown since he’d first started. There were multiple different factories he’d set up, from a small repair bot factory, to a factory of miner bots around the size of a dog, and a runner factory.
He floated over to the runners.
“Well, these should work.” Dave looked at the metal. The ebony, Mithril, and silver runners would be embedded on the cylindrical walls of the city. They would act like opposing magnets, pushing against one another, imparting velocity onto the city and keeping it suspended. They would turn the city fast enough, so that all of its interior could be used. Their power requirements were large and each of them were as large as a large garbage can. Hundreds would be put all over the city.
A beeping noise drew Dave’s attention. He sped over in mid-air toward the noise. Dave checked one of his interfaces.
“Whoa!” Dave yelled, pumping his fist in the air as he spun around in his chair.
“Dave! What are you up to in here?” Malsour asked, from the entrance of Dave’s workshop.
Dave rushed over, stopping right before Malsour. “Malsour! Okay, so, I made these boxes—they’re basically upgraded magical code of my Touch of the Land spell. Then I made a bunch of repair bots to take them and put them across the city, so we can know what the heck’s around us. They’re really good and they gather a ton of information. Unlike me, where I use the spell once and see what’s in a limited area. These ones send out a continuous pulse, mapping everything around them for as long as they’re powered. Really good at it too—found some nice deposits of materials.”
“Dave, you’re rambling. What are you talking about?”
“Oh, yeah, sorry, got more Endurance, so I wouldn’t need to sleep. Anyway. Seems that they found a ley line. Now I need your help in putting together those dots on portals and teleport pad. Once I’ve got that, then I could maybe open up a hole near the ley lines and we can send miners in to make us a power station!”
Malsour didn’t say anything for a while.
“What? Do I have something on my face?” Dave rubbed away anything that might be stuck to him.
“No, just—what is this all?” Malsour pointed to the different machines.
“Well, I needed a few things to help me out and it’s cheaper to make factories, so that I don’t have to deal with it all the time. These are all conjured, most I engraved again, so it costs less and I can work longer.” A repair bot moved out from under a table, carrying a hot cup of Xer.
This is Our Land (Emerilia Book 5) Page 35