by Pwyll Duggan
Think, think Paul Think. Daily going out and killing. But I don't have to stay out all day. Just need maximum firepower to hit and run away. No night time sorties. Can do single patrol ambushes. I need explosives.
"Battle Mage."
New Ability: Spirita set to 5
New Ability: Arcana Spirita. Foci Use. Scroll Use.
Select Two Spirita Powers: Firebolt, Boost, Mageshot, Chaotic Globe, Find Familiar, Summon Servant, Summon Lesser Undead, Summon Lesser Monster, Summon Lesser Daemon, Summon Minor Elemental, Fireball, Lightning Bolt, Invisibility, Unseen Sight, Armor, Shield, Magic Weapon, Elemental Weapons, Enhancement, Flame Fan, Fog, Hidden Script, Lock, Blur, Levitate, Dragon's Breath, Mimic, Web, Fly, Fog form, Remove Curse, Elemental cloud, Elemental Wall, Vampire's touch, Tongue.
"Fireball. And Enhancement"
First is a no-brainer. Second is a guess and hope for the best.
Fireball (30) and Enhancement (20) powers added.
Level 5 - Ability Increase or Power Choice (x2)? Utility Point?
"Power choice."
Powers available.
Spirita: Firebolt, Boost, Mageshot, Chaotic Globe, Find Familiar, Summon Servant, Summon Lesser Undead, Summon Lesser Monster, Summon Lesser Daemon, Summon Minor Elemental, Delay, Lightning Bolt, Invisibility, Unseen Sight, Armor, Shield, Magic Weapon, Elemental Weapons, Enhance Companion, Flame Fan, Fog, Hidden Script, Lock, Blur, Levitate, Dragon's Breath, Mimic, Web, Fly, Fog form, Remove Curse, Elemental cloud, Elemental Wall, Vampire's touch, Tongue.
Fighter: Power Strike, Cleave, Overpowering Strike, Shield Bash, Charge, Leap attack, Reinforced Block, Defensive Fighter, Duelist, Two Weapons, Two Handed Specialist, Weapon Specialist, Eagle Eye.
Mage: Wand Specialist, Staff Specialist, Rod Specialist, Silent Casting, Ritualism, Scroll Scribe, Potion Brewer, Item Creator, Reusable Foci, Enchanter.
I leap at Delay, that's a first choice. I need fighting options. I have bow and spell for range but little in close. Staff is good. Could go staff specialist for mage and later do enchanting, giving me killer options on what my staff can do. Or Two Weapons and go dual daggers as those elven daggers are sharp. Long term thinking maybe here. "Delay and Staff Specialist."
Delay added to Spirita List
Staff Specialist Added. Cross-over power detected.
.........allowed
Staff Specialist Added to Fighter.
Staff Specialist Added to Battle Mage.
Combat with Staves increases Fighting by 1.
Channeling spells with Staff decreases Spirita usage by 10% per level of specialty.
Level 5 - Utility Point?
Awesome, a decent bonus there for me. Now let’s see where this goes. "Utility."
Utility Points are for skills usually not based on combat.
That's it? Okay. "Information on Utility?"... and nothing happens. What a surprise. Use and abuse time, I guess.
"Utility. Double Benefits from all rest types?"
Ability Added: Double Bonuses for Resting for all statistics.
Level 6 Power Point? Special Point?
"Power point, Spirita."
Spirita Increased to 6
Level 6 Special Point?
"Special." What to do now? It's an open book waiting to be abused. But if what I ask for is impossible, do I lose the option? Can I afford to take that chance?
No, I can't. Maybe? Shit - no idea. Do I go for damage? Defense or weird? Maybe utility and damage? Something I can use for escapes, chained up or not. I'll be gagged. Something that will break whatever is holding me. Unlocking spell? No good if no way to open, like goop or a hardened secretion. Break it would need to shatter, internally on the item. And could be used on walls, doors and shields or armor, if I get in too close. Yes, from the old bad fashion choice Superboy.
"Special. Tactile Telekinesis into item touching my body, doing shatter times my level damage to the item. On mental command."
Ability Added: Internal Shatter (x6 damage currently) on one touching item per day. Resets at midnight, daily.
Levels chosen, adjusting Shielder Container and resetting.
Rinse and repeat from last time, heat flows, brain stops, and I fall flat. I'm no longer injured; my body is toned, and I feel...strong. Level 6 strong hehehe.
Boon Selection 1
1. Increase Villager production 5%.
2. Increase Villager mobility 5%.
3. Increase Shielder Container Regeneration to 0.1% health per minute.
Regeneration! 0.1% = 10 minutes for 1%. 6% per hour. 16 hours 40 minutes 100% regeneration. Means back at full health most mornings. Ding Ding Ding, we have a winner.
"3."
Regeneration added.
Stacks with Rest bonus.
Boon Selection 2
1. Increase Villager production 4%.
2. Increase Villager Speed 3%.
3. Increase Villager Well Being 5%.
Random as all hell. Guess I'll try not to get my hopes up.
"3" Can only help.
Boon Selection 3
1. Increase Monster Speed 5%.
2. Decrease Villager size 5%.
3. Increase Villager production 5%.
"3". I thought boon meant benefit. Not in Stone Speak.
Boon Selection 4.
1. Change one Follower to a Companion.
2. Increase Village yield by 5%.
3. Lower road wear by 5%
Follower to Companion? Can't hurt. "1"
Boon Selection 5.
1. Increase Villager Speed by 5%
2. Grant Shielder Container Blacksmith Skill
3. Increase Villager size by 5%
"1"
Ability Added: Speed increase by 5%
Boon Selection 6.
1. Increase Villager Production 5%
2. Decrease Villager Intake 4%
3. Increase Village arable land 5%
"3"
Villagers will now have 5% better Well Being.
Villagers will now get 5% increase to Production
Villagers Speed increased by 5%
Village arable land increased by 5%
Boons Added.
Operational Power Now at 00:150:02:32:17
#57824 now at: Level 6, Fighter, Battle Mage
Fighting 5 Strength 4 Agility 4 Constitution 3
Intellect 3 Reason 3 Spirita 6 Leadership 3
Abilities: Wilderness Survival
Scout
Speed +5%
Regeneration 0.1% per minute
Archer (Fighting +1)
Healing, 15% total health, 3/day
Shatter(x6 power), touch, 1/day
Arcana Spirita
Foci Use
Scroll Use
Staff Specialist. (Fighting +1)
Spirita: Fireball (30)
Enhancement (20)
Delay (20)
No options detected
And the cursor stops flashing.
Chapter Twelve
The villagers watch me walk thru again, this time with more smiles. Seems someone has run ahead and given everyone the new total, 150 days. I have the bandages in my hands and staff over one shoulder. I pass the Bakery and a noodle shop, getting nods and waves. I head towards the most noise I can hear, the bang of metal on metal. The smithy is slightly off the main road, heading to the river that I haven't viewed. Its chimney belching heat and smoke matching the noise from inside.
A bored orc male, possibly then youngest person I've seen in the village is sitting on the porch, racks of cookware, tools and a few weapons in-front of him. He looks up to see the dangling silver necklace on my chest.
"You're...You're him." He falls off his stool sideways and scampers inside. "Dad...dad" trails off inside. I stand and wait, looking around. I nod a hello to the two heads that are looking out from across the street, out of a second story window.
"Afternoon Ladies." The heads disappear inside.
Barin comes charging out of the smithy, so
oty and sweaty. His arms shoot out and I clasp wrists with him.
"Lad you survived and kicked some from all accounts." I keep hold.
"Tried. Destroyed the armor you gave me. Need more and I really need some gloves, for archery. Top of the fingers uncovered, apart from the two drawing fingers. Bracers also, hard leather or steel. Whatever you can scrounge up. Bunko will have a load of ‘scrap and crap’ for you later. I bought a cart load back with me." He's nodding away, looking me up and down.
"Shite lad, what level did you get to? You look at least level 3 now, all toned up. Few weeks swinging the hammer and you might beat my daughter! Hahahaha."
"Hit Level 6." He keeps laughing for a bit, but I don't.
"Ye serious?"
"Level 6 Battle Mage now. With a bit of Fighter thrown in too." He puts his arm around my shoulders.
"Well then, let’s go see this scrap and go from there then my boy."
We walk off with him discussing the virtues of his daughter, her strengths and beauty. I only get to butt in when I ask for a lot of arrows and a few quivers. Plus, a lot for practice. He nods dismissively and keeps complimenting his daughter. Not that I have a problem with that. Chen is at my gate waiting.
"My Lord."
"Officer Chen. Hate to say it, but we'll need more guards. And I need an archery range, targets at 50, 100, 150 and 200 yards come metres – whatever you use. Metres is more accurate for me. Somewhere nearby that won't hurt anything when I miss. Thank you." Saluting he leaves and we pass through the gate. And I’m tackled by two robed bundles, with a Bunny standing back, unsure in her leathers.
"You made it back."
"Your injuries are gone!"
"oh my, muscles."
"Aysun!"
"Feel them. Stop blushing Rika. Told you." I reach down and grab someone's shoulders and move her away. Aysun grabs my hands as I move her, winking. I then push Rika back, noticing she's wiping a tear away. I smile and move up to Bunny. I hug her. At first, she is stiff, then she accepts it melts into my arms. I leave an arm around her shoulders as I turn to all present.
"Okay. Yes, I was injured. I leveled at the Stone and am now level 6. Yes, the village has 150 days. Yes, I had help, so we need that cart load of items, preferably a reinforced cart, so I can take it across fields. First let’s go inside, get food and I'll tell you what happened. Then look at what we have."
Lunch is served, even catering for Barin as we go thru my day. I tell them all what happened, not leaving anything out. The fact that I had assistances from the other side is a shock to them. Seems the stories of the Shielders are rarely shared. I eat and answer the questions going my way, then stand to see what we have.
There's a huge pile of junk.
"That's the scrap-able pile. It has little use beyond that." Bunny tells us. The pile next to it is almost as big, a hodge-podge of various armors and weapons.
"That's repairable items for the village. We'll use them to train our crafters and supply basic gear for the village." She continues. The next pile is smaller.
"Decent quality items. The best is the Lamia Longbows. High strength bows, with a lot of draw strength needed. A fair number of arrows with them. Your best choice for a bow is one of those Paul. Higher strength will get you better armor penetration and range."
"Awesome, put them aside, with all the arrows. And our lucky last pile?" Bunny breathes deep.
"These are real magical enhanced items. We have the Elven Bow, Orcish Axe, Black Steel Cuirass with Tassets that will cover your upper legs and um, your crotch. Three Lamia spears that would make pole arms for us. Some minor jewelry that Amaya said only had glamour’s on them to look better. The weapons have minor toughness and sharpness enchantments, the armor has some weight, toughness and damage protection on it.”
I look them over. The armor is so mine. The bow could have uses. The axe isn't a military weapon, not really appropriate for generalist uses. Idea time.
"How much are these worth here?" Barin hops in at that.
"Your standard low-grade magical enhancement normal add 100 Imperials to the cost of the weapon. But none of the nearby villagers have an enchanter. Draisen, the nearest town has not one either. Dukehold may have one, but if that's the case they only do work for the Duke's Family, nothing is ever on the market from them. For the last few years you could get maybe a thousand or two, depending on the weapon and if a noble could use it in battle."
"What would that buy? I have no idea what anything is worth." Rika clears her throat.
"Allow me on this one. Those rice balls you like?" I nod assent.
"They are 3 copper pieces each. I use high quality ingredients. They are sold 35 to the silver. Thirty-Five could feed a family, just, for a week. If you just buy rice and a few vegetables, not using my spices and sugars, for the same family, that silver piece might feed them for a month. One hundred silver gets you a gold piece. One hundred gold will get you one Imperial. Ten Imperials will buy you a small farm on the outskirts of town. Or a townhouse. One thousand would buy you this house, lands, guards, servants and food for around 5 years of living like a King. And you would have a few farms and houses in change left over."
"Holy shite. That's a lot. Is that why the old Priestess had so much money?" Rika answers.
"Possibly. I'd have to look into it."
"Do that. How do we sell them?" Rika and Barin look at each other. She lowers her eyes and sighs. Barin speaks.
"The Tanaka Family is the local Trade Guild leaders, well they are the trade guild. I couldn't sell it. They'd just take it and I would get a very small commission. We would need someone on the inside to bypass them to even get half what they sold it for."
"Could we go through the military? Maybe bribe someone, gifts, something like that?"
Barin shakes his head. "Not really. If they found out life would get...harder."
"Explain please?"
"The Tanaka's own all the land in this village, as in on our side. We pay rent to them. I don't know a deal that would work, without getting killed that is."
"They would send someone to kill us?"
"How else do you think they stay in charge?" Ahh, The old adage ‘might makes right’. People with power stay in power, by any means available.
"Could we talk to them? Make a deal for land? Kill them off?" I add jokingly.
Rika perks up. "By the gods yes. Start with my two uncles then my brother. Or either way, I'd be good." I freeze.
"Your family?" Rika sighs.
"Told you I hate my family. You can probably guess why now." Fuck. My brain is going into overload, thinking of ways out of this. What can I do? Do the nobles answer to anyone? Do they classify as nobles? Can I go over their heads? What is the duke like? If I sell thru them, they get more power. Too many questions and no answers.
"Does the military have a private messaging service? One that the nobles can't read? And are the Tanaka's nobility? Landed Gentry? Is the guild trustworthy? Are the 'inner' towns as racist, um, species-ist as here? If we threaten them, what would they do?" Rika's laying a hand on my arm. I didn't even see her get up and move next to me.
"Calm down Killer. We can talk later, when you get your head together. Decide on these and move from there. Okay?" I'm breathing fast, without knowing it. I slow my breathing and nod.
"Your right. Too much too soon. Trying to make everything right for everyone, at once. Fine, later." I run my hand over my shaved head.
"Armor is for me, Bow stays here, Axe for sale. One spear for here, one can be sold and the third I may use as a bribe. Barin takes whatever he needs from the other piles, for himself and the village. Also, can you tell the Trade Guild I wish to sell the axe and ask what I would get for it. Tell them to come to me. You’re sure 1000 Imperials?"
"Does an Orc Rut?"
"Probably?"
"Easily."
Wheels turn, or as my sister used to say, 'I can smell the sawdust burning between your ears.’ Yeah, we don't get along well.
I stand, grab a Lamia bow and the quivers and my new armor. "I'll go and practice and see if I can hit anything. All the options are making my head hurt. I thought beyond the wall was hard." Barin salutes me with a fist to the chest and heads to his daughter again. Aysun gives me a subtle smile, then looks to Rika as well. Rika looks conflicted, deep in thought.
A soldier opens the gate for me when I knock and leads me south. A small table, chairs and sunshade is set up just down from the wall. Out over the paddy fields, covered in water are three lantern poles approximately every 50 yards / metres - almost the same. Chen is sitting down in a chair, steaming pot and cups on the table. Two trays of snacks are set out.
"Afternoon tea Officer?"
"Coffee my lord. Would you like some?" I laugh.
"Not yet Chen. Um, what should I call you? Is Chen alright? Lieutenant? Officer? I feel I'm making you work more than needed."
"Chen is fine. Although being called Officer is nice. Being a Junior officer in the Duke's Guard can be hard if you are not 'noble' born."
"You earned your commission?"
"My Father earned his lands as a General in the Duke's Army. Our family Estate is off to the west, and south. Mostly Mountains with little arable land. We have some mines and lumber camps. My father accepts all peoples and treats them well. As he says 'Treat them well, they will fight well. Treat them poorly, die in your sleep.' He treats everyone equally and then he expects them to work equally. So yeah, I had to earn it, but people don't believe that. Until they face me in a duel."