by Eric Ugland
The gatehouses were finished quickly, and I got a welcome ‘quest complete’ notification.
You have completed a quest!
Build Your Village 1
Build a wall or defensive structure around your village
Reward for success: 2500 XP, and a follower
Immediately, though, I got the next quest.
You have been offered a quest by Mister Paul:
Build Your Village 2
Build a hall.
Reward for success: XP, and a follower
Penalty for failure (or refusal): unknown
Yes/No
Which obviously completed as soon as I accepted it.
You have completed a quest!
Build Your Village 2
Build a hall.
Reward for success: 2500 XP, and a follower
Which caused another quest to pop up in the line.
You have been offered a quest by Mister Paul:
Build Your Village 3
Gain a population of 100 followers
Reward for success: XP, and a follower
Penalty for failure (or refusal): unknown
Yes/No
Which also completed. This went on for a spell, I got quests for having 200 followers, for building housing for 200 followers, for building a treasury, and for building workshops. Each time, I was reward 2500 XP and a follower. Which made me intensely curious. Where would these followers come from? Who might they be? Would I get to pick them somehow?
At the end of it all though, I had a quest I hadn’t yet completed:
You have been offered a quest by Mister Paul:
Build Your Village 9
Gain a population of 500 followers
Reward for success: XP, and a follower
Penalty for failure (or refusal): unknown
Yes/No
Naturally, I accepted the quest.
The walls were being shifted from wood to stone, the apartment blocks inside the mountain were being finished off, the mine had been opened, the barracks finished, the armory finished, and I finally got notices that the chancellor had finished his overview of the population and the treasurer had taken stock of the treasury.
Dukedom of Coggeshall
Lvl 1 Dukedom
Mood: Hopeful
Morale: High
Your holding has a population of 314 followers, representing less than 25% of the total population of your holding. Caution: if this is not brought above 25% in six months, your holding will lose a level and shrink.
270 Dwarves.
26 Battenti
24 Humans
2 Lutra
2 Elves
1 Kistune-Girl
1 Woch
1 Bullette
1 Fallen
Your holding has the following positions:
Chancellor
Treasurer
Head Carpenter
Head Smith
Architect
Captain of the Guard
Your holding has 14 structures:
Longhouse (x 4)
City Walls
Barn (x 2)
Hall
Smithy
Sawmill
Kitchen
Cantina
Treasury
Barracks
There was also a breakdown of the jobs/Choices the population had. We had a bunch of miners, and we were up to 12 blacksmiths, 4 carpenters, a ton of masons, a sculptor, some farmers (including some cave farmers), 3 ranchers, an animal trainer, and on and on. It was an impressive list, to be sure, but I couldn’t help but feel we were missing things. Definitely the military tab was, well, pretty much empty. We had Ragnar, Skeld, Nathalie, 12 dwarves, and 4 humans. Amber was still listed as a courtesan, and that really bugged me, so I had a feeling it pained her. I knew I needed to get her leveled up, which made me think the best thing I could do would be to get her out into the world with me. We could do some exploring and adventuring in the valley.
Also interesting was the statistic ‘guests’. I had seven guests listed, and I had to imagine those represented Eliza Northwoods and her six ladies-in-waiting. I wondered if they counted for or against my follower percentage. Or if they weren’t counted at all. Just one more topic to speak to Eliza about. She had been quite useful, guiding me through some building selection processes, and offering guidance to Nikolai on how to do his job efficiently. But every time she said something, I found myself wondering if it was genuinely helpful or a long-term plan to sabotage us.
I knew that sort of thinking was just bad, so I resolved to go out exploring. I was mostly just extraneous anyway, at least as far as I could tell. With Lanfrank as the appointed architect, I was really just a rubber stamp on selecting building projects and locations. Lee was spearheading a trade run, prepping to sell treasure. Treasure that was finally catalogued. It was a long and rather tedious list in some ways, so if treasure ain’t your thing, you should skip ahead.
Treasury
Current Value: Unknown
Current Contents:
1,026 Imperial Platinum Coins
24,523 Imperial Gold Coins
84,991 Imperial Silver Coins
256,749 Imperial Copper Coins
12,642 Ancient Platinum Coins
65,992 Ancient Gold Coins
158,209 Ancient Electrum Coins
345,662 Ancient Silver Coins
115,920 Ancient Copper Coins
214 Mahrdumese Gold Coins
1,429 Mahrdumese Silver Coins
82 Mahrdumese Copper Coins
17,459 Gold Coins of indeterminate origin
27,764 Silver Coins of indeterminate origin
2,429 Coins of indeterminate origin and of indeterminate metal
128 assorted diamonds
1 pink diamond of unusual size
6,019 assorted sapphires and rubies
1 large ruby, magical in nature, but unidentified.
14,890 assorted unidentified gem stones
1 crystal urn filled with unidentified grey powder
17 gold crowns with assorted jewels
8 gold scepters with assorted jewels
2 statues of slugs, gold
1 leather folio containing six Complete Restoration scrolls
16 jeweled eggs
1 white and blue tea set with refilling tea pot
17 crystal decanters of various alcohols
24 vials of perfume
7 unidentified jewels of a magic nature
1 full set of cutlery made of platinum
1 full set of flatware made of gold
1 chest full of 18 unidentified masks made of various stones. Magical in nature but unidentified.
1,594 ingots of gold
254 pounds of diamond dust
1 mahogany box of 24 scrolls of banish undead
1 obsidian box containing 1 glowing orb, magical in nature but unidentified.
1 driftwood box containing 3 unidentified tusks carved. Magical in nature but unidentified.
3 sets of armor. Magical in nature but unidentified.
11 suits of Elven chain
4 suits of Full Plate
8 swords. Magical in nature but unidentified.
8 axes. Magical in nature but unidentified.
3 maces. Magical in nature but unidentified.
18 spears. Magical in nature but unidentified.
118 various minor magical rings.
42 various minor magical necklaces
17 various minor magical amulets.
22 various minor magical bracelets.
31 various minor magical cloaks.
4 rings. Magical in nature but unidentified.
2 necklaces. Magical in nature but unidentified.
1 amulet. Magical in nature but unidentified.
14 bracelets. Magical in nature but unidentified.
1 cloak. Magical in nature but unidentified.
1 suit of full plate - The Red Dragon Defense
1 quiver of slaying.
1 Brazier of infinite Imps
1 Platinum Torch - The Blaze of Glory
17 Magic Beans
1 ring - The Ring of MonaHan
144 Books
12 Grimoires
31 Spell books
The bulk of the magic weapons that we’d identified, we put in the armory. As well as all the non-magic stuff. And looking over the list was a good reminder that we needed an enchanter of some kind, because none of my magic users were good enough at identifying things to clean up the list.
Twelve days after the dwarves arrived, I decided I would go out and explore the valley with Amber. I started gathering things together to refill my bag of holding. The following morning, I was going to talk to Amber, and we’d set out into the wilds.
I was pumped. I felt like I’d spent too long doing nothing. I was ready for excitement.
It just seemed too bad that excitement always found me before I was ready for it.
Chapter Twenty-Six
I looked over the cantina, seeing the people eating, laughing, and having a jolly good time, and I knew I had to have the talk I was dreading. Well, I had to have a few talks I was dreading. I didn’t exactly know how to broach the whole adventure thing with Amber. That was going to be an issue. She had no idea that her duke expected her to be out rangering into the wilderness the following day. I definitely intended to tell her, to give her time to prepare, but it always seemed like such an awkward conversation to have.
Hey Amber, I know you want to be a ranger and we’d like you to be one, but for the moment, it looks like your still a courtesan, so, uh, could you come out in the wilds with me, alone, and I’ll totally level you up?
Yeah. That was up there in the creepy statements I’d come up with. But what else was I supposed to do?
Then, there was the talk I needed to have with Ragnar and Skeld. They would want to come. Hell, I wanted them to come. But we had a village of 300 plus souls, and a whopping 15 guards. I needed them to stay with the village, especially if I was going to head out.
So instead of talking to them about it earlier, I chickened out. And, you know, added a bunch of shit to my bag of holding. Lots of spears. A sword and shield. A bunch of dried meat. I took the bag into the treasury, and I looked at the various bits and bobs of magic that we had, trying to see what might be worthwhile.
I currently wore my ring of waterbreathing, my ring of lost things found, and my amulet of prinkies. By my count, I could have at least eight more rings. Unless, of course, overloading magical items would cause the magic to overload or cross pollinate or something. I grabbed the ring of MonaHan, figuring that looking through things would be useful.
I hitched my bag back onto my belt, walked out of the treasury, and ran into Carolene. Literally. I knocked her over.
“Sorry,” I said, helping her up.
“My fault,” she replied. “I was waiting out here because the last thing I wanted was for you to think I was trying to sneak into the treasury. Just, I wanted to see you.”
“See me? Is something wrong?”
“No, sometimes a girl just likes to talk to a boy,” she said with a smile. “Maybe share a glass of wine overlooking the river as the stars come out?”
She pulled a bottle from her bag, then poured out some shards of glass.
“Though we might need new vessels.”
I laughed, and so did she. She had a nice laugh. I was doing my damndest not to compare her to the girl from Earth, but it was hard. Smiling as Carolene led me through the mountain tunnels towards the kitchen, I was actually imagining the time the Earth Girl and I had taken a bottle of champagne to the top of the tent, 150 feet off the ground, watching the moon while laying on the just slightly bouncy tent top. And here I was, doing the same thing, but different. With someone who clearly wanted me in a way I just couldn’t reciprocate.
But before I knew what was happening, I was standing by the river bank, maybe five feet from the falls, struggling with getting a cork out of bottle.
“Having trouble?” Carolene asked.
“No, I got it,” I replied, pretty much a total lie. “Just give me a second.”
“Oh, take your time, I suppose. Not like I wanted to have a glass of wine while I watch the stars come out.”
I looked over my shoulder, and realized she was right behind me.
She smiled.
I smiled.
And then she shoved me.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
I was so surprised that I didn’t react at all. I just fell into the water. Water so frigid it stole my breath as soon as I plunged into it. I popped back up, sputtering and trying to get my bearings, all the while holding onto the bottle. Surely she’d been joking — I didn’t want to lose the wine.
That’s when the first arrow hit, pinning my arm to my chest. I looked at Carolene, and saw her lining up a second shot. She was stone cold sober, and aiming for my head.
I didn’t hear the twang of the bowstring over the noise of the on-rushing waterfall, but I sure as hell felt the arrow as it slammed into my throat. I gurgled once, and then drifted over the falls.
It wasn’t that far of a drop, maybe 50 feet. More than I’d take voluntarily, sure, but not enough for a guaranteed death. I slammed into the water with a loud thwock, taking the hit on my belly.
Blood pumped out of me at an alarming rate. It looked black in the moonlight. I had one arm free — my other hand was attached to my chest at the moment, and was still holding the stupid bottle of wine.
I gritted my teeth and forced my arm up and off the arrow, ignoring the strings of flesh left behind on the shaft. I got my feet up on some rocks, slowing me down long enough to snap the head off the arrow in my neck. The arrow that had gone all the way through my neck. I had to rip it out, which made me flinch and slip off the rocks. The river caught me once again.
The current was strong, and I felt it ripping me down the mountain. I’d gone rafting once in my life, but luckily the river guide’s advice to go down the river feet first came back to me. Also that I should keep my feet up to make sure I didn’t get one caught in between two rocks.
After the nasty rapids under the waterfall, things got much worse. I was slammed from rock to rock, each time watching my health bar deplete. I got to experience the downside of having bones that didn’t break: my muscles and organs were brutalized between the unbreakable bones and the implacable rocks. It was among the worst agony I ever experienced. Yeah, I wasn’t in combat so I regenerated health constantly, but I was in a perpetual war between damage and healing. And there was nothing to mitigate the pain. I blacked out at some point — I just couldn’t do it any longer.
I came-to underwater, swirling gently in an eddy. I don’t know how long I’d been swirling, or where exactly I was, but it was clear that having a body of virtually all muscle meant I didn’t float. I felt exhausted, and my body had some residual aches and pains. Almost lazily, I sidestroked to the river bank, and crawled up onto the rocks. Laying there, I took a moment to read over the notifications I’d just received.
Cool! You just leveled up your skill: Swimming!
Look at you! Due to your ability to withstand extreme pain, you’ve gained +1 Con.
Sweet. Go through hell and get a little prize on the other side.
It took me a hot minute to get to my feet and shake the water out of my head and finally realize where I was: on the other side of the tunnel, almost to the bridge Northwoods had built. But I could see the pathway leading up to the tunnel, so I started running.
The trail was rough, and I knew what the next thing I’d be having the prinkies do. Which reminded me to un-summon all the prinkies. I wasn’t sure what I’d be facing when I got back to the town, and I didn’t need the little guys in the way. Were the ex-noble brother and sister combo attempting to take my dukedom? Was that a thing that could happen? Once again, just a friendly little reminder that I had no fucking clue what was possible in this stupid world I’d stumbled in
to.
I was freezing. The combination of the cold water and the cold wind was cruel. But there was a burning rage inside me. If there’s one thing I hate above all else, it’s Kent Prescott. But a close second is betrayal. Especially betrayal after I’d gone and stuck my neck out for them. I fed that rage as I ran, leaning into the anger, the frustration, and the embarrassment. But then the worry began. Who else had they hurt? Who else might they have killed?
Coming upon the tunnel, I knew I was close. Hell, going at a full sprint, I might be able to throw down a four minute mile. I steamed through the tunnel, my legs pumping, ready to kill.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The gates were closed when I got to them. I slowed my sprint so I could move with more stealth. Though my usual move was breaking shit and killing people, I figured it might help to have a better view of the situation before I did anything.
That’s also when I discovered a rather impressive flaw with our stone walls. If you could manage a little kick off from the cliff side to the wall and back, the 20-foot wall was climbable in seconds. I pulled myself up onto the stone, balancing there in relative darkness. The village spread out in front of me, its bonfire roaring up into the night.
Tonight wasn’t a party though. Or, if it was, there were plenty of uninvited guests. There were more humans than I could count in the moment I had to look. Men and women in patchwork armor, mostly chain and leather, holding gnarly-looking weapons and plenty of chains. Most of my people were chained up and in a large group to one side. There were a few other groups to the right side, nearer the barn.