The Land: Alliances (Chaos Seeds Book 3)

CHAPTER 2

Richter looked around. When he had first come back to the village, dawn was just breaking. His villagers had still been mostly asleep, but now the village had awoken and everyone was moving around. Word of his return seemed to spread like wildfire. More and more of his villagers came to greet him, some laughing, some cheering, but all decided to barrage him with questions. After five minutes, he could barely hear himself think. A gruff voice came to his rescue.

“Get back, get back ya vultures! Let the man breathe! He didn’t fight through monsters for the past two weeks just to fight through you turkeys. Get back afore I knock ya into next week!”

Krom, the newly appointed and official smith of the Mist Village, elbowed his squat and powerful body through the crowd. “I’m sorry about all of this yer Lordship,” the dwarf said loudly. “It seems everybody in this village has forgot they have jobs to do!” He looked around fiercely and most of the villagers backed away, cowed by the gruff blacksmith. Soon only Krom, Randolphus and a gnome were still around. Richter looked around for Terrod, but didn’t see him. It wasn’t overly surprising. The love of Terrod’s life was still recovering from an emotional trauma. Since the growth of the Quickening, she had been spending time beneath its boughs. Terrod said it was helping her to relax and hopefully heal. He was probably up there with her, in the meadow just north of the village.

The gnome wasted no time speaking. “Lord Richter. I know that you planned to use the Magic Core to make a Forge, but that is a large mistake in my opinion! The Core should instead be used to make a Philosopher’s Crucible. We would be able to make the most powerful potions and powders in the River Peninsula. Perhaps one day, in the entire Land!”

Taken aback by the impassioned speech coming from the gnome, who Richter only vaguely remembered and recognized, he asked what seemed to be the most logical question, “Who are you again?”

The wind seemed to be taken out the gnome’s sails as his shoulders slumped. Before he could answer, Krom interjected, “It don’t matter who he is, yer Lordship, and it don’t matter what you think, Beyan. I done told you fifty times over the past few weeks, if I told ya once! The Lord here has decided to make a Magic Forge!”

Richter opened his mouth to add to the conversation, but Krom spoke up first. “And more than that! If his Lordship wasn’t going to make a Magic Forge, he wouldn’t waste a Magic Core on what is basically just a fancy way to make wine!” The dwarf started muttering to himself, “Probably couldn’t even make a decent ale with that cauldron thing, so what good is all yer potions and magicky elixirs?” His voice rose again as he clapped Richter on the shoulder. “You tell him your Lordship!”

Richter opened his mouth to speak a second time, but again Krom started on a ranting discourse that focused on the foolishness of gnomes who couldn’t even be trusted to grow a beard. Beyan wasn’t some shrinking violet, though. He was puffing up his chest with the clear intent to start shouting down the dwarf, when Richter decided he had had enough. If he was being honest with himself, watching the two short men, one bespectacled and portly, the other muscle bound and bearded about to come to blows, Richter just wanted to shout, ‘Cripple Fight!!!’ The only reason he had let Krom’s tirade last as long as it had, was because in his mind he was trying to figure out which of them would say, ‘Tim-maaae.’

It was time to get back to business though, and overbearing or not, Krom had a point. He put his thumb and forefinger in his mouth, curving both slightly and whistled sharply. The gnome and dwarf looked up at him surprised, seemingly having forgotten that he was even present. “Enough! Beyan, Krom is right. The production of quality arms and armor for our village is the primary concern. We must be able to defend ourselves.” Seeing the gnome’s crestfallen look, Richter decided to throw him a bone. “I am interested in this… Philosopher’s Cauldron, I believe you called it. Jot down the important points and get it to Randolphus here. He and I will discuss the idea and will decide its merit.”

Beyan opened his mouth to protest again, most likely to argue that once the Magic Core was used, then there wouldn’t be any point to talking about the Cauldron anymore. Richter just held up his hand to forestall the argument and told the gnome to have faith. Looking over, Richter saw Krom with an overly smug expression on his face. Seeing that smarmy grin, Richter couldn’t help responding to that as well. “And Krom, I’ll thank you to let me speak for myself. If you are so obsessed with what I have to say, then you can give up your position as village smith and become my secretary!” Richter raised his voice to a yell at the end. Not because he was actually angry mind you, but because Krom seemed to respond better to it.

With a pull on his beard, a chastised Krom bowed his head slightly, “Of course yer Lordship! Didn’t mean to speak on your behalf.”

Feeling that everything was right with the world again, Richter looked to Beyan one more time, “Please find me after the evening meal. I believe you are our most senior potion maker, and I will need your help with a project.”

Beyan nodded his head in near pantomime of Krom, but then corrected Richter, “Er, alchemist, my Lord.”

“What,” Richter asked confused.

“I am an alchemist, my Lord. The skill is called Alchemy, and it actually covers the making of potions, salves, powders, medicines and many other useful items. Alchemist is the correct term.”

Shaking his head and the bald and officious gnome, Richter just decided to take another tact. He analyzed the gnome.

Name: Beyan. Arcane Gnome. Level 9. Health 130. Mana 400. Stamina 110. Disposition: Friendly. Arcane gnomes are obsessed with knowledge. Increased dodge and sneak. Gifted in magical arts. Bonus to Intelligence each level. Arcane Gnomes get three points to distribute per level and each level gives +2 intelligence.

Richter raised an eyebrow. That mana pool was more than respectable. It was almost the same size as his and his level was twice as high. Of course, Beyan would have gotten his racial Intelligence bonus of 180 mana points, but that still didn’t explain all of it.

“Why is your mana level so high,” he asked. “Are you a caster?”

Beyan’s face froze a bit before answering, “No, Lord Richter. I always wanted to learn to cast, but I don’t have any affinity unfortunately. I invested points into Intelligence hoping that I would one day be able to cast some type of spell, but I was never so lucky.”

Richter’s eyes narrowed slightly as he regarded the gnome. The man was clearly lying. He was deciding how to proceed when Krom spoke up again.

“So yer Lordship, do you have something for me?” The dwarf was rubbing his hands together in gleeful anticipation. His smile was somewhat hidden behind his black beard, but Richter still saw the flash of white teeth.

Richter continued to stare at Beyan for a second, somewhat enjoying the fact that the gnome was now squirming under his scrutiny. Richter didn’t mind his people having their own private lives, but he hated being lied to so blatantly! It was most likely because he personally enjoyed lying so much and really didn’t appreciate it when people didn’t take the craft seriously! He decided to put in one more dig before just getting Randy to investigate the gnome, “Yes Krom, one moment though. Beyan, I see that you are only one level away from being able to get a noncombat profession. We will be making groups of fighters and casters to hunt in the surrounding areas soon, and I will personally be tackling some of the lower levels of the catacombs. I think you would be a great addition to the team.”

Beyan’s eyes grew somewhat wide, “I’m not a fighter, my Lord! I don’t think-”

“Nonsense,” Richter said cutting him off. “You can just hang in the background. Perfectly safe but you will get experience from the kills. Right? Good! It’s settled! Krom, let’s make our way to the smithy.” Richter started walking away with the village’s smith in tow, effectively ending the conversation. His recent experience with Yoshi had taught him the truth of Hisako’s words. There was no better way to get to know someone than in combat.

After Richter had put a bit of distance between himself and the gnome, he leaned in towards Randolphus and said, “See what you can find out about Beyan. His mana pool is fairly large and he’s clearly hiding something. Also, get me a list of our best fighters. I plan on doing some scouting around the area in the next few days, and I want several teams of five. There should be two casters in each group for support. And tonight, gather everyone at the Quickening.” Randolphus nodded along with each order.

Krom hadn’t spoken again since Richter told him to wait, but the loud dwarf was not known for his patience, “Well what have ye got, yer Lordship?! Were you able to find some cobalt?”

Richter smiled. He was really enjoying dragging this out. It was Krom after all, who had put him on the spot a couple weeks ago. The dwarf had asked him to either get the metal or basically punk out, in front of all of the other dwarf smiths.

“Simma down na! We will talk when we get to the smithy.”

Krom grumbled, but seeing as how they would be there in just a few short minutes, he let the matter drop.

Richter heard the clanging of metal on metal once he got closer to the blacksmiths’ workshop. The structure was very rudimentary. It was more a series of stacked logs with a roof than a proper building. It was four sided, but there were also multiple large openings that let the air flow freely through the smithy. It helped to combat the intense heat of the forge and smelter. The floor was laid stone.

When the trio walked in they saw two dwarves hard at work. One seemed to be making a sword and the other a woodsman’s axe head. A third was by the smelter breaking rocks with a sledgehammer.

“What’s he doing?” Richter asked, indicating the last dwarf.

Krom gave a grunt, “To get the iron out of the ore we have to remove the impurities. That’s what the smelter is for. We get a better result if we break up the ore into small pieces first. That’s a large part of what we have been doing since you’ve been gone, yer Lordship. That’s how we have been able to make all of that.” Krom gestured to the back of the smithy. There was one four-foot-tall pyramid of blue high steel ingots and two more pyramids of simple steel. There were even two small piles of dark iron and dull bronze.

“Have you guys been working nonstop?” Richter asked impressed.

“Well, yer Lordship,” Krom replied, “it isn’t often that we get large amounts of free time and get paid for it. Now SOME of these slugabugs thought that they should just use the time you were gone to just sit around and drink ale, but we… negotiated,” he finished with a grin. One of the dwarves at the anvil glared over at him. Before the dwarf turned back to his work, Richter noticed that he had an almost healed black eye.

Richter gave his smith a clap on the back, “Where are the others?” There were at least three other dwarves with some smith training in the village.

“Either exploring or mining, we’ve had to do it ourselves since you left. Those mist workers have been sorely missed. Now, milord,” Krom said with some impatience and irritation, “what did you bring back?”

Richter smiled, still enjoying dragging this out. He reached towards his Bag of Holding, but just before putting his hand in, he stopped as if he had just remembered something. Krom ground his teeth together.

“What does the difference in metal really mean,” Richter asked. “I mean, I know you said that it could make stronger weapons, but what do higher level metals actually do? What do the metals that you have here do if they make a Magic Forge?”

Krom visibly calmed himself. He had caught on that Richter was playing with him, but since slugging his liege lord was probably not the best idea, he had to play along. After a long suffering sigh, he answered, “We’ve been checking just that milord. That’s why we took the time to make those bronze and iron ingots. All you need to do is hold the Core and an ingot near an anvil, and it will give you the information about the type of Forge that would be created.”

“You would only need one ingot for that?” Richter asked. “Why did you make a whole stack of iron and bronze.”

Krom shrugged, “We had the raw ore, and like I said, we had some time to kill. Also we weren’t sure if higher or lower quality ingots would make a difference. Depending on the purity of the smelting process, the ingots can affect the quality of weapons or armor that are made with it. Didn’t seem to make any difference. I didn’t let them make too many bronze ingots though, I figured you could sell the copper.”

“You found a copper mine?” Richter asked excited.

"Sorry to say that we didn’t, yer Lordship,” Krom replied. “Just a small vein in the iron mine. It was strange, though. The miner that found it swore he had been in that particular shaft just days before and hadn’t seen anything except rock and iron.”

Richter still smiled at hearing that news. He couldn’t be sure, of course, but it looked like the level two benefit from the Quickening was already helping the village out. It specifically made it 25% more likely to find rare resources, while at the same time increasing the yield of already discovered resources by 25%. Copper wasn’t exactly a rare resource, but it was still money in the bank! And besides, the copper gave him an… interesting idea. He looked over at Randolphus with an inquiring expression.

The chamberlain understood the unasked question, “The copper is in a locked chest in the armory, my Lord.” He checked his clipboard, “That was item #312 for us to discuss.”

Richter shook his head in irritation. Eager to do anything that would keep Randy from dragging him back into his bottomless hole of “honey do’s,” he walked over to the ingots. He grabbed one ingot from each pile. A check showed that all of the ingots were above average quality or better. Richter asked Krom about it.

“That’s the other reason we made so many ingots, milord. If I’m the village smith, then this is MY smithy. And in my smithy, we won’t have inferior products. So if someone makes an ingot that is average quality or worse, then we resmelt it until they do better.”

Richter smiled again, knowing he had found the right dwarf for the job. Enough stalling though, he thought. Even he was eager to get the Forge made. He asked Krom for the Core.

The dwarf called all the other dwarves over from their tasks. After a few minutes they stopped what they were doing and walked over to an anvil. Richter and Randy shared a confused look. The dwarves each grabbed a corner of the large anvil, and with grunts all around, picked it up a scant inch. They moved to the side together before placing it back down in the center of the smithy. Krom then reached into the top of his shirt and pulled out a key that was strung on a chain about his neck.

Richter and Randolphus walked closer and they saw that a space had been hollowed out under the anvil’s previous location. A metal chest that had the blue gleam of high steel had been set into the hole. Krom reached down and lifted the chest, before setting it down on the ground and inserting the key to open it. Once he threw the lid back, Richter could see that the Magic Core rested within.

“THIS is the other project that’s been occupying my time since ye left, my Lord.”

“Abrams and Whedon, Krom! Who were you protecting this from,” Richter asked. He was glad that the Core had remained safe, but this seemed a bit overboard. Except for the prisoners that had been brought through the mists, the only other people here were fellow villagers.

“Pff,” Krom pffed. “I wouldn’t trust any of these jackanapes! That enchanter kept going on about a Creation Table one of the human builders keeps droning on and on about a golem, and Beyan wasn’t the only annoying gnome that I’ve had to deal with! Basically every one of those little bastards has an idea about what the Core should be used for; weapons, force shields, stasis nets, summoning circles, gah! They have been driving me crazy!”

Randolphus gave a cough that sounded surprisingly like, ‘Told you!’ When Richter looked though, the man was just holding his clipboard, looking innocent. Richter squinted one eye at his chamberlain, but the man remained unflappable. Shaking his head, he said, “Enough! Let’s do this.”

Richter took the Magic Core from Krom and then walked over to the anvil. He set all of ingots on the ground except for the bronze. He held the Core in one hand and the copper colored ingot in the other and placed each on the anvil. A prompt appeared.

You have brought the components together necessary to make a: Magic Forge. Would you like more information? Yes or No?

Richter selected ‘Yes.’

Know This! The metal that is used to create a Magic Core will determine the Traits given to forging offensive and defensive items. You have supplied the metal: Bronze.

Offensive items: Decreased Weight

Defensive items: Decreased Weight

Would you like to create a Magic Forge with the component’s you have supplied? Yes or No?

Hmmm, not bad, Richter thought, but really not impressive. He selected ‘No.’ Krom looked at him and said, “Now you see why I wasn’t in a rush to make a Forge out of base metals, yer Lordship. Might as well move onto the rest so you can finally show us what ye’ve brought.”

Richter nodded and picked up the others in quick succession.

Know This! The metal that is used to create a Magic Core will determine the Traits given to forging offensive and defensive items. You have supplied the metal: Iron.

Offensive items: Increased Durability

Defensive items: Increased Durability

Know This! The metal that is used to create a Magic Core will determine the Traits given to forging offensive and defensive items. You have supplied the metal: Steel.

Offensive items: Increased skill leveling with the skill relevant to that weapon

Defensive items: Increased skill leveling with the skill relevant to that armor

Know This! The metal that is used to create a Magic Core will determine the Traits given to forging offensive and defensive items. You have supplied the metal: High Steel.

Offensive items: Increased maximum charges than would otherwise be gained from a soul stone

Defensive items: Increased camouflage

Well, iron wasn’t that impressive either, Richter thought. If increased durability could be applied to walls or defensive structures then it might be useful, but otherwise it would be a waste. Steel could be impressive though. It would make training a militia a lot easier and much faster. High steel would be great for training quick strike groups. Being able to use the magic powers of an enchanted weapons more often and at the same time being able to hide more effectively… it screamed spec ops! Definitely a real contender!

Richter called out each combination to Randolphus who jotted down the statistics. As he saw his chamberlain record the valuable information, it made him realize that one of the buildings he needed to have built was a library. He didn’t have many books now, but it never hurt to plan for the future. He would also have to get Randolphus to bind his notes into a series of books. They could probably serve as an early history of the village. That thought made him realize that he should probably assign someone the task of being the village’s historian. Why was there always so much to do?

“Okay Krom,” he said. “AREEEE YOOUUUU REEADDDYYYY?”

Krom’s only answer were his nostrils flaring over and over. It was actually kind of impressive that he could do that, Richter thought, but the slow reddening of the dwarf’s face made him realize that perhaps he had pushed this particular joke too far. Even though he was Master of the village, it wouldn’t necessarily protect him from an irksome dwarf’s oversized fists.

Richter pulled the first ingot out of his Bag. It was moonstone. Holding both it and the Core close to the anvil earned him a prompt.

Know This! The metal that is used to create a Magic Core will determine the Traits given to forging offensive and defensive items. You have supplied the metal: Moonstone.

Offensive items: Increases both natural recharge rate of enchanted items and the amount of charges gained from using soul stones.

Defensive items: Decreased mana cost per item (cumulative per piece of armor).

“That’s awesome,” Richter exclaimed.

“What?” Krom and Randolphus asked together.

Richter realized he hadn’t told them what he had found. “This is moonstone,” he said shaking the white metal slightly. Krom nodded like that was obvious, impatient for Richter to share the perk. Randolphus just made a notation and held his pen ready to continue.

“Offensive items get a bonus to natural recharge and soul stone recharge. That could come in useful, but listen to the defensive Trait. There is a cumulative reduction in mana usage for each piece of armor worn! That could be huge!”

Krom wasn’t so excited, “Ay, I could see that being a boon to someone like yerself, yer Lordship. You seem blessed with high affinities in both weapons and magic.”

Richter kept his face passive. A piece of advice he had gotten from Xuetrix upon first arriving to The Land was to keep his Limitless ability to himself. Apparently an ability like that was extremely rare and could make him even more of a target than he already was. Even though he thought Krom was a good guy, and his villagers were becoming like an extended family, Richter believed in playing things close to the chest.

Krom continued on, unaware of Richter’s silent reaction to his words, “I don’t know if the benefit would be that great for most casters though. As I’m sure yer Lordship already knows, most armor has a spell casting penalty. Low level spells might not be affected by the light armor you’re wearing, but more complex spells require complicated gestures. Medium and heavy armor would be even worse. The only ones who could really use this trait would be mages that were also highly skilled in the type of armor they were wearing. The high armor skill would remove or lessen the penalty. Otherwise, I think ye would be wasting the Trait. Most casters will only be able to wear cloth or leather armor.”

Richter was always impressed by the transformation in Krom when he started talking about his trade. As irritable and hot tempered as the dwarf could be, he certainly loved his vocation and treated it with respect.

“Those are good points,” Richter said, “but we aren’t going to rule it out yet. Even if casters are only wearing leather or hide armor, an army of armored magicians that can cast more spells than their enemies would be a force to be reckoned with.”

Krom didn’t argue, but it wasn’t clear if that was because he conceded the point or if he was just eager for his Lord to move on to the next metal. Richter didn’t keep him waiting. He pulled a shimmering silver ingot from his Bag.

Know This! The metal that is used to create a Magic Core will determine the Traits given to forging offensive and defensive items. You have supplied the metal: Quicksilver.

Offensive items: Increased attack speed

Defensive items: Increased movement speed

Richter told the dwarves and his chamberlain about the Traits. He had a question though, “The increased speed is obviously useful, but the question is how much? I mean if the increase in speed from quicksilver was only 0.1% but bronze gives a 50% decrease in weight, then I might actually choose the bronze.”

Krom nodded, “I understand milord. That was frustrating for us too when we discussed it. We won’t know until we actually make the Forge. No one here in the village has any lore that could guide us specifically as to the Traits the Forge will obtain. The one thing all the old stories agree on is that as the Forge levels, the benefits from the Traits increase.”

Richter nodded. He brought out the next ingot.

Know This! The metal that is used to create a Magic Core will determine the Traits given to forging offensive and defensive items. You have supplied the metal: Cobalt.

Offensive items: Increased attack against alignment of your choice (chosen at time of item creation)

Defensive items: Increased defense against alignment of your choice (chosen at time of item creation)

Krom finally smiled, “Well this’ll come in handy! Most goblins and orcs are negative alignment and it’ll make it much easier to crack some skulls!” The smith was looking off into the distance with a manic smile on his face. Richter could see him visualizing taking on a horde green skinned enemies single handed.

“Hold your horses,” Richter said. Krom and Randolphus looked around confused. Richter groaned. Fucking idioms! “I mean slow down. We have one more metal to examine. I think you’re going to like this Krom!”

The smith’s eyes widened, “You found mithril?!?”

Richter lips pressed together in annoyance, “No! I didn’t! Way to make what I found seem not as good! Kind of a dick move, man!” Krom looked at him sheepishly. Richter shook his head in irritation. He pulled out the last ingot. It was completely clear, and looked to be made out of dark green glass.

Know This! The metal that is used to create a Magic Core will determine the Traits given to forging offensive and defensive items. You have supplied the metal: Elementum.

Offensive items: Increased ability to damage magical shields

Defensive items: Increased spell resistance. Type of resistance random.

“Game on!” Richter shouted. If there was one thing that had really grinded his gears since coming to The Land, it was fighting magic users. It was soooo irritating having to wear down a magical shield while your enemy fired back at you with impunity. He shared what he had found with the others.

Krom begrudgingly agreed that the elementum would be the right choice. Richter took one look at his smith’s crestfallen face, and added, “I’m sure we will still be able to kill loads of orcs and goblins with this type of Forge, AND it’ll be easier to kill their magi!”

Krom’s eyes lit up and he gave a gap toothed grin at that, “Ay milord! I hadn’t thought of that.”

Richter smiled back and then turned to the anvil again. All of the other dwarves had stopped what they were doing, and gathered around. While Richter had been testing each metal, other villagers had been walking by and picked up that something was afoot. The number of Richter’s spectators had grown. He set both the ingot and the Core down so he could drink a Potion of Clarity. Between having given Basil a large number of vials and having shared them around with his comrades in the dungeon, his stores had taken a serious hit. Sometime in the next couple weeks he would have to make another run to his hidden glen.

He picked up both the ingot and Core up again and held them together over the anvil. His villagers held their collective breath at the chance to see such an amazing item created. He gained the prompt again asking him if he would like to create the Magic Forge. This time he chose ‘Yes.’

The surface of the anvil began to ripple. The movement concentrated into a circle which began to spin counterclockwise. The disc shaped portion of the anvil spun into a whirlpool that seemed to drain away into the rest of the anvil. A hole was left in the top of the anvil. The Magic Core’s clockwork mechanisms came alive. The sphere vibrated and its internal workings began to emit a thrum that could be heard by all present.

The sphere slowly lifted up from Richter’s hand. The red and white light that normally seemed to slowly seep from the cracks in the gears that comprised the Core grew brighter. It slowly floated towards the hole in the anvil and gently settled inside. Once it had disappeared from view, the elementum ingot started to grow warm. That warmth quickly grew into a scorching heat. Richter would have dropped it, but the metal flowed into a thick and sticky green gel like substance.

Richter began to shake his hand trying to dislodge the colloidal metal. When he began to smell cooking meat though, he abandoned all pretense and just started screaming.

“Oh my god! What the fuck! Fuck! It’s burning me! It’s burning ME! Get this fucking Nair off of me!!!!”

Richter was hopping from one foot to the other at this point, while waving his hand wildly up and down at this point. If any other Chaos Seeds had been present they might have thought he was a reenacting the signature dance from Criss Cross’s “Jump Around.” They would have been wrong though.

As quickly as the heat built, it vanished. The malleable elementum became even more fluid and flowed off of Richter’s hand. It didn’t drop and pool on the floor though, like everyone expected. Instead it seemed almost alive. The stream of clear green metal flowed around the anvil, sometimes stopping in front of a villager and coalescing for a moment before moving on. Everyone present watched the dancing metal in silence until it gathered in the shape of a sphere over the anvil.

It spun in silence for several seconds and Richter took the time to cast Slow Heal on himself. The worst of the pain abated, but didn’t vanish completely. It probably had something to do with the “Seared” status icon that appeared in the corner of his vision. The villagers had just started looking around wondering what would happen next when the sphere lost cohesion and the liquid metal dropped in a loud splash upon the anvil.

The black iron began to vibrate. Before everyone’s eyes, it increased horizontally in size. It kept growing until it was twice its original width and length. Luckily it remained the same height, otherwise working metal upon it would have been logistically difficult. It ultimately was uniformly the clear dark green of elementum. The changes did not stop there however. The vibrations that were shaking the anvil spread. Like a drop of wine onto white cloth, the alterations leeched into the floor around the anvil. Before anyone could react, the transformation spread beneath the feet of everyone present and extended to the walls, climbing up in an expanding wave until the edges met again on the ceiling.

Everyone looked around in surprise and wonder. The smithy had changed completely. After Richter’s pained antics, no one had spoken, and except for some ambient noise it was quiet as they took in the grandeur around them.

The basic slate floor had changed to a gleaming black stone that shone like obsidian. The walls had been replaced by columns of marble quartz, the beautiful and sturdy rock that comprised some of the cliffs around the village. The columns were spaced regularly around the edge of the Forge that Richter now realized had at least doubled in size. Judging by the exclamations of wonder coming from the villagers they registered the change in scale at the same time as Richter.

It wasn’t only the basic structure and anvil that had changed. Every facet of the rudimentary smithy had been upgraded and seemed to be constructed with the materials common in the area. The smelter was no longer simple stone, but was now made of marbled quartz just like the columns. The other anvils had become smaller versions of the main one containing the Magic Core. Each was now composed of the same clear green metal as the first. Even the tools that had been hanging from the walls were no longer black iron, but instead had handles of burnished high steel and elementum heads. Multiple sets were stacked on stands made of quartz.

The entire Magic Forge was a balance of utility and beauty. Before anyone could touch anything, a pulse of light drew everyone’s gaze upward.

The roof had become a flat black surface. From looking around, Richter could see that the roof extended out past the pillars several feet in every direction. The floor of the Forge was now well protected from the elements. The pulse of golden light had come from near the center of the ceiling. As Richter watched tiny motes of light appeared randomly as well. More and more appeared, and he realized that he was staring at a starlit sky. As the ceiling became filled with more celestial bodies, Richter’s eyes kept being pulled back to the one large yellow circle that didn’t seem to fit with the rest of the ceiling. It wasn’t until he saw two pale circles, one red and the other white, that it clicked.

“The sun,” Richter exclaimed delighted. Everyone looked at him confused. Shaking his head in disbelief at what he was seeing, he continued, “We are looking at the heavens above us! As if it were night!” An excited whispering picked up around him. He clapped his hands together in awe of what he was seeing. Of course that brought another round of vile cursing to his throat. The changes around him had pushed the fact that his hand had been badly burned right out of his head. He looked around embarrassed, and curtailed his profanity when he saw one of the high elves holding her hands over her son’s ears. Besides, he was being bombarded with prompts.

Congratulations! You have created: The Forge of Heavens! Each Magic Forge will have a specific character based upon the location where it has been created. The movement of heavenly bodies are now clearly seen by you, even in the light of day. Based upon which cosmic alignments are present above, there is a small chance of the weapon or armor obtaining certain powers.

Know This! Your Magic Forge has been built with elementum. Any weapons and armor made within the confines of the Magic Forge will have increased spell penetration and spell resistance respectively. Your Magic Forge is currently: level 1. At this level, weapons have +10% damage against spell barriers. At this level, each piece of armor has a +1% resistance to a specific type of magic determined by the properties of your Forge.

Congratulations! You have crafted a Legendary Object: The Forge of Heavens. You have learned two new skills.

Congratulations! You have learned the skill: Crafting. It is not only weapons and armor that will serve you well in The Land. Rings, belts, bracelets and other items have their own value. If enchanted, these items can easily be the difference between life and death. You now have the ability to take base components and create something greater than the sum of its parts.

Congratulations! You have learned the skill: Smithing. You may now take raw materials and unlock their potential to help or harm. It may be shining silver or gleaming gold that capture a woman’s eye, but it is sharp steel and mighty mithril that can cut out a man’s heart!

In light of this amazing achievement, you may choose to drastically increase your skill level in either of your two new skills or your existing skill of enchanting. Which do you choose? Smithing skill, Enchanting skill or Crafting skill?

Richter blinked and minimized the prompts. He took in his surroundings. Everyone around him was walking around entranced by their surroundings. The creation of the Forge of Heavens had attracted many more villagers and they were all walking through it amazed. Even the dwarves were walking around with expressions of quiet glee, and sometimes they weren’t even that quiet. Richter didn’t know how long the detente between the territorial smiths and the other villagers would last, but he planned to take advantage of the peace and silence as long as he could.

Crafting, Smithing or Enchanting, he asked himself. When he had planted the Seed Core, he hadn’t been given an option. His Herb Lore skill had just skyrocketed. He hadn’t been able to make too much use of that yet, but he was sure it would come in handy in the future. So now Richter had a decision to make. With his Limitless ability, it wasn’t really a question of which skill he should learn. Given enough time, he should theoretically be able to learn everything. The real question was, what would give him the best bonus right now? It would be great to make his own weapons. He could just see himself wielding his own katana, fighting off ninjas and then moving his mouth dramatically to form Japanese words while waiting for English words to come out on a delay. Shogun Assassin style!

On the other hand, it probably took a good while to make a good sword, let alone a great one. It also meant that he could only level his Smithing skill when he was physically at a forge. He had A LOT to do, and couldn’t waste time just leveling up his Smithing skill when there were bugbears and eaters to kill.

Another thing to consider was that he had a second Magic Core. Hopefully he would get another skill boost to either Crafting or Enchanting once he used it. Since he wasn’t planning on making another Magic Forge, he probably wouldn’t get to jump levels in Smithing. He knocked swinging a hammer out of the running. After that is just came down to Enchanting or Crafting. Unlike smithing, rings and bracelets could probably be made on the go.

His musings were interrupted by a shout. The dwarves were starting to get annoyed at the men and women wandering around their domain, so Richter knew he only had a bit of time left before total pandemonium broke out. It ultimately wasn’t a hard choice. Even if he maxed his Crafting skill, without being a solid enchanter he would just be making baubles to sell. He chose Enchanting.

Congratulations! You have reached skill level 2 in Enchanting. All enchantments 1% more effective and increased chance of enchantments taking hold.

Congratulations! You have reached skill level 3 in Enchanting. All enchantments 1% more effective and increased chance of enchantment taking hold.

…

Congratulations! You have reached skill level 29 in Enchanting. All enchantments 1% more effective and increased chance of enchantment taking hold.

You have received 2,500 (base 2,000) bonus experience for reaching level 10 in the skill: Enchanting.

You have received 5,000 (base 4,000) bonus experience for reaching level 20 in the skill: Enchanting.

Congratulations! You have advanced from Novice to Initiate in: Enchanting. You now will gain more charges when recharging with a soul stone. Items you enchant now have their enchantment potential increased by +2. For each new rank in Enchanting that you achieve, enchantment potential will increase by another two points. You can now add enchantments to already created items, albeit with an 80% penalty to effectiveness.

Congratulations! You have advanced from Initiate to Apprentice in: Enchanting. You can now enchant scrolls based on spells that you already know. Items that you enchant with a finite number of charges will now have +10 charges. For each new rank you obtain in Enchanting, you will get another +10 charges. You can now add enchantments to already created items, albeit with an 60% penalty to effectiveness.

Know This! Every enchantment has an assigned enchant cost. The quality of an item determines its maximum enchantment potential. The breakdown based on quality is as follows:

Average Quality = 1 point, 10 charges

Above Average Quality = 5 points, 50 charges

Superb Quality = 10 points, 100 charges

Exquisite Quality = 15 points, 150 charges

Masterwork Quality = 20 points, 200 charges

You have completed the Quest: The Right Tool for the Right Job. You have created a Magic Forge created with elementum. You may now enjoy the weapons and armor created in the Forge of Heavens.

Reward: 12,500 (base 10,000) experience points.

Bonus Reward: Increased relationship with all smiths in the village.

Bonus Reward: Your people are impressed by the creation of a Legendary Object. Morale increased by +50.

Bonus Reward: Your relationship with Krom has improved from trusted to loyal.

Congratulations! You have won +1,000 fame points! You have created a Legendary Object!

Know This! You have built a fully functional forge. Your settlement will now enjoy the Building Bonus of increased chance of higher quality weapons and armor.

Know This! As you have built a Magic Forge, you have maxed out the Building Bonus of having a forge. +10% chance of an item of a given quality being automatically upgraded a higher quality once completed.

Know This! You are intrinsically linked to your Place of Power. By creating a Legendary Object within its boundaries, you have been Marked. Your choice to use elementum to create the Forge of Heavens will manifest in your own abilities. Your attacks will have +10% damage to spell barriers. This bonus will increase as the level of your Forge increases.

You have received a Mark: Forge of Heavens.

Richter was delighted at the cascade of prompts. The experience took him a fair way to level 19! It reminded him that he still had to allocate the characteristic points and skill percentage points from reaching level 17 and 18. He couldn’t spare the brain power to deal with that right now, though. He had a new toy to play with!

One thing did capture his attention. An intense tingling sensation covered his body and then localized in his burned hand. Holding up his right palm, he saw the red angry skin becomes its normal light brown and then a symbol appeared. It was a pentagon with a hammer in the middle, the exact color and lucency of elementum. As with all of his Marks, it soon faded from view.

Krom had walked over, “You did it! You really did it ya beautiful bastard! Sorry, sorry, yer Lordship, but this is amazing!” The smith looked around again with barely concealed glee. From the way his hands were shaking slightly, it seemed like he didn’t know what he wanted to touch first.

Richter made the decision for him, “Come on Krom. It’s time to load an enchantment or two! Everyone else! Clear out! I’m not sure how this is going to work and unless you want to risk being burned,” he waved his hand around in the air, “I suggest you go on about your day.”

Everyone filed out at his instruction, though a few children had to be physically carried away by their parents, protesting loudly. Richter walked over to the central anvil and took out the first item he intended to deconstruct, the battered and beaten Life dagger.

He looked at Krom, “So how does this work? And how can we improve our chances that the Forge learns the enchantment?”

Krom raised both hands in a shrug, “Your guess be as good as mine, yer Lordship. I do believe that it be a matter of luck. Most likely when the Forge levels up we will have a better chance, but if there be a knack to this, I do na know it.”

Sigh, things could never be easy, Richter thought. Nonetheless, there was only one way forward. He placed one hand on the anvil and with the other, held the Life dagger to the green metal. A prompt appeared:

You have brought an enchanted weapon in contact with the Forge of Heavens: Steel Dagger of Life. Do you want to deconstruct this weapon for a chance to have the enchantment stored for future use? Yes or No?

Richter chose ‘Yes.’

Sparkles of white light began to surround the dagger. The light began orbiting the weapon in Richter’s hand and grew bright enough to be uncomfortable to look at. After a few seconds, the light stopped swirling and leeched into the anvil. The dagger itself fell to dust. The luminous dots could be seen swirling in the heart of the anvil before coalescing into a solitary point of golden light. It hung fixed in one place, though the intensity of the light slowly waxed and waned. Richter could faintly hear the sound of a bell chiming.

Your Forge of Heavens has learned the enchantment: Life Damage. Using the Forge of Heavens now provides the chance to learn this enchantment.

Home run right out of the gate, Richter thought excitedly. He pulled out the next item, the Minor Ring of Stealth. Once again, he placed one hand on the Forge and pressed the ring down on the Forge with the other. He received a different prompt this time, however.

You have brought an enchanted item in contact with the Forge of Heavens, but this category of item cannot be deconstructed by the Forge.

Richter grimaced, but supposed it made sense. A ring wasn’t exactly arms or armor. He drew a sprite arrow from his quiver. He didn’t know if the +1 was due to an enchantment or was intrinsic to how the arrows were made, but it didn’t hurt to try.

This time, he didn’t even receive a prompt. He put the sprite arrow away in frustration and removed another arrow from his Bag of Holding. Richter’s heart beat faster in anticipation as motes of white light began to swirl around it. The bright twinkles drained into the Forge and this time a blue light was kindled within the central anvil.

Your Forge of Heavens has learned the enchantment: Freeze Damage. Using the Forge of Heavens now provides the chance to learn this enchantment.

Yea boy! Richter gave a double fist pump and Krom clapped him on the back. Randolphus spoke up asking for a report on what was happening. Richter told him about the successful enchantments and also about how the ring wouldn’t work. It all triggered the chamberlain scratching more notes down.

Not all of Richter’s attempts were successful. The next two magic arrows, Flame and Poison, failed to be absorbed. They still faded to ash, but the swirling light just cascaded along the outside of the anvil and did not kindle a light within it. Regretful over the waste, he brought something out of his Bag that he hadn’t wanted to use. He was about to drink the potion when someone called out, “Stop!”

Beyan had apparently not heeded Richter’s instruction to leave the Forge. “My Lord! If that potion is what I think it is, then it is very valuable! May I see it?”

Richter was starting to get annoyed with the gnome, but he still handed it over. Beyan oohed and aahed over the silvery potion for a full minute before Richter lost his patience, “Well?! What about it. How much is it worth?”

Beyan looked up at Richter, startled. The irritating man had forgotten Richter was even there! “What? Oh yes, I was right! This is extremely valuable. It’s an elixir,” Beyan’s words trailed off as he got distracted by the silvery liquid again.

Richter had had enough. He took the potion back and rapped his knuckles twice against the gnome’s head, “Earth to McFly! If you don’t give me a reason not to, I’m going to be drinking this potion in about two seconds! Why does it matter that it’s an elixir?” Krom stood in the background with a shit eating grin on his face.

Beyan glared at Richter, but caught himself before he said something crass to the Master of his new village. “An elixir is a higher level of alchemy. I’m guessing that this is the first elixir you have seen?” Richter nodded. “That’s not surprising. They are far harder to create and far more expensive than brews or tinctures, therefore they are also far more rare. That’s why I stopped you. An elixir shouldn’t be wantonly used. I can’t promise anything, but if you let me examine it further, then I might be able to figure out its constituent parts. Then I should be able to recreate it. If you had made a Philosopher’s Cauldron instead of this,” Beyan waved his hand dismissively around, “I could tell you EVERY possible combination of ingredients that could make the elixir.”

Richter stilled his irritation again. As prickly as the gnome was, Beyan had information that Richter needed. He knew he had a lot to learn, and he wouldn’t turn his back on any opportunity to gain knowledge. “So that’s what the Cauldron does? It lets you know what’s in a potion so you can make more?”

Beyan rolled his eyes, “I said that I would be able to know every recipe. Given enough time that is. Each time the potion is made, there would be a chance to learn another recipe. Many of the widely known recipes for higher level potions contain ingredients which are nearly impossible to find. Invisibility potions for instance require several petals of a moon glass flower. The problem is that the only place that they grow is under the Crimson Spectre’s alchemy guild. Since they have a monopoly on a key component, they can charge whatever they wish.”

“Hmmmm,” Richter said, “So if we could figure out a different way to make the potion out of common ingredients…”

“Then we not only could use the potions for the village, but we could also sell them and break the guild’s monopoly. It would make you a fortune.”

Richter nodded in new appreciation of the Philosopher’s Cauldron.

Beyan continued, “Of course, the transmutation properties are why many truly covet such an item?”

Richter looked at him confused again.

Giving a long suffering sigh, Beyan said loudly and slowly, “TRANS-MU-TAY-TION. It means turning one substance into another. Often, a given area may be rich in one resource and poor in another. A Philosopher’s Cauldron fixes that. If you were lacking in say, powdered crystal, a certain amount of another resource could be used to make it.”

Richter closed his eyes and did his silent mantra, ‘Dooo NOT slap the annoying little man. Dooo NOT slap the annoying little man.’ It took so long this time that Krom said, “Uhhhh, milord. You are just standing there.”

Taking one final deep breath, Richter opened his eyes at look at his smith, “Thanks man. Yeah, I went somewhere for a moment. Okay, Beyan. Can the Philosopher’s Cauldron do anything else?”

“I’m sure it can, but I have never seen one before. I suppose now I never will.” Beyan looked around at the Forge again, then gave a pfft of dismissal and walked out. Richter looked after the irritating man, shaking his head.

Richter was conflicted because the gnome actually made a strong argument for building the Cauldron. Right now though, Beyan was the highest level Alchemist in the village, and Richter just didn’t trust or like him. While another Legendary Object that could solve supply issues sounded great, it would still just be an object. He would need someone to run it and as of now, the prickly gnome was not someone he would trust with that power. Krom was LISTED as being a loyal person. Richter didn’t know exactly how much faith he could put into the fact that Krom was now quote unquote ‘loyal,’ but he also got a good feeling from the dwarf. He shook his head again, maybe he would learn more about the gnome once they had battled together. He put it out of his mind. Besides, he thought with a grin, he had some crazy kool stuff to do!

Richter looked at Krom, “Okay let’s try learning an enchantment? How do we proceed?”

“THIS I do know,” the dwarf said excitedly. “Every smith worth the name dreams of using a Magic Forge. It is as simple as making weapons or armor on the forge. The higher the quality of arms or armor made the greater the chance of learning an enchantment. That’s one of the problems with paying to use a Magic Forge. One day is barely sufficient to forge a higher level sword or cuirass. That will not be a problem here though!”

“That’s it?” Richter asked.

“Well, that, and you would need to give me permission, milord.”

Richter stared for a moment, “So, you can only use it if I allow it?”

Krom nodded, “That’s right, yer Lordship. I don’t know how permission is given, but an old master smith once told me about the time that he used a Magic Forge. It was in Rione. He had been given a boon by the King and was allowed to use the Inferno Forge. He told me the owner of the Forge just held his hand, and they both placed their other hands on the anvil.”

Cocking his head to the side and shrugging, Richter reached out towards Krom. The dwarf stared at it for a second, then with a slight twist to his face took the offered hand. Some of the other dwarves oooohed and aaaahed in the background and Richter was pretty sure one said, “Does he smell pretty Krom?”

The village’s official smith glared back at his compatriots. Richter looked at the gruff dwarf with a smile on his face. With a slightly effeminate tone of voice he said, “Eh, just ignore them Kromy.” Krom turned his glare towards Richter, but in light of the fact that he was about to achieve one of his life’s desires, he decided to let the teasing go. When Richter tried to interlace their fingers together though, the smith issued a roar of indignation. He decided to quit torturing Krom and instead just put a hand on the anvil and waited for Krom to do the same. Once they had completed the circuit, a prompt appeared.

As creator of the Forge of Heavens, you have sole discretion as to who can access the properties of your Legendary Object. Would you like to allow, Krom, the ability to learn enchantments from the Forge of Heavens? Yes or No?

Richter selected, “Yes.” Another prompt then asked for the duration of Krom’s access. Richter shrugged and thought to himself, I don’t know. I guess as long as he stays loyal.

Surprisingly, that was enough.

Krom, the Smith of the Mist Village, is given access to the Forge of Heavens as long as his relationship to you is loyal or better.

Krom had apparently been given a similar prompt because he turned to Richter, letting go of his hand. He then bowed his head and placed a closed fist over his heart. He said the same words he had spoken when he had pledged fealty to Richter, “If ye maintain faith with me, I shall never break faith with you. Thank you for granting me this honor, my Lord.”

Richter was once again taken aback by the commitment he heard in the dwarf’s voice. The idea that he would have men and women not only follow him, but pledge their loyalty to him was insane in some ways. Less than a few months ago, all he had thought about was getting laid, passing his classes and getting some epic gaming done. He shook off the remembrances of the past though, and looked at Krom with the same gravity, “I again accept your fealty. Serve me well and I swear that as I rise, you will rise as well.” The dwarf picked his head up and thanked him again.

Richter couldn’t resist one last dig though, “I liked your soft hands, boo.”

Rather than getting all riled up again like Richter expected, Krom instead gave him an evil little smile, “I seem to remember ye have a soft skull. Would ye like to head butt again?”

Richter coughed and took a step back, “Ahhh, no. That won’t be necessary.” The last time he had tried that, two things had happened. Krom had laughed his head off and he had suffered a concussion. Best not to repeat that particular series of events. Having your ass beat regularly in front of your own villagers really didn’t go with the overall vibe of being a badass Master of ancient powers.

The question was, what to do about the Elixir of Luck? Richter really wanted to put more enchantments into the Forge, but he didn’t have that many enchanted items, and they probably cost a mint. His arrowheads alone had cost him a precious gem. He needed to maximize his chances of the enchantments being absorbed. That meant using the elixir, unless he could learn another way to increase the Forge’s retention rate. On the other hand, if Beyan was right, he didn’t want to waste the chance to make more of the high level alchemical concoction.

Richter sighed. He had decided to at least try and learn more about the elixir. Like the man said, ‘Teach a man to fish, and he will eat for a day, but stop teaching grown men to fish. They sound lazy and should have learned this when they were kids. Also, real men eat beef.’ With that little nugget of wisdom guiding his way, he put the elixir back into his Bag.

He turned to Krom, “That’s it for now.” Krom looked a bit disappointed, which was actually a bit disconcerting to see on the face of a man built like a short Conan the Barbarian. Richter pressed on anyway, “I know how annoying you must find Beyan, because he irritates me too, but he might be right. Work on these enchantments for now and see if you can learn them. Let me know if you have any luck.”

Krom nodded, “I understand, milord. I got carried away with wanting as many enchantments as ye could give. Just the chance to work on a Magic Forge now, though,” the dwarf’s smile was ear to ear, “well that’s enough to give any dwarf a tingle in his dingle!”

Richter just looked at him, “That’s great Krom. Thanks for sharing.”

Krom kept up his manic grin while he nodded again. Then he walked over to grab an ingot of high steel and a hammer, eager to forge his first weapon.

The other dwarves walked over and one spoke up, “What about us, milord? Will we be given leave to learn the enchantments?” They all looked at Richter with hopeful and expectant gazes.

Richter had thought about this and had decided to take a firm line. “Sir dwarves, I appreciate your time and help, but currently all we have is a contractual arrangement. You are paid for your work and time. I also provide food and shelter. I truly hope that at the end of the year you decide to stay in the Mist Village, but until you show me more than just the loyalty of an employee, you will not be given access to the Forge’s powers.” Krom had walked back over and was standing by him. Richter clapped him on the shoulder and the dwarf stood taller, “Krom has made a choice and pledged his fealty. I know that he is loyal. Follow his example, and you will find yourself able to learn the enchantments. Until then, make sure you follow his instructions. Where the Forge of Heavens is concerned, after me, Krom’s word is law.”

One of the dwarves took a half step forward, anger evident on his face. In response, Krom took a full step forward, the hammer held purposefully in his hand. The other dwarves stood back to see how things would play out. Richter stood in place as well, albeit with one hand on his dagger and a spell at the ready with the other. He had just drawn a line in the sand. If Krom was going to maintain order on his behalf, the dwarf needed to be able to handle issues like this.

“Ye have something to say Ardrim?” Krom asked in a low voice.

The angry dwarf stood up to his full height, but didn’t close any more of the distance between himself and Krom, “We should all be able to use the Forge. Who are you to keep us from it?”

Krom smiled with no real mirth, “I am the Smith of the Mist Village. I am the one who Lord Richter has put his trust in. I am in charge here, and I am the one who will pound those facts into your head if your ears aren’t working.”

The two dwarves stared at each other for a while longer, but Ardrim backed down and gave a short angry bow of his head.

“I don’t want to have to talk about this again,” Krom said. “Now go help the others in the mines. I’ve seen enough of you today!”

Ardrim walked off muttering angrily to himself in the direction of the iron mine. Now that the battle of wills had concluded, the other dwarves walked over and expressed their acquiescence to Richter’s terms. They expressed their happiness to be in the village making it clear that Ardrim had spoken only for himself. They went back to their previous tasks.

“What was that all about,” Richter asked his smith. “I didn’t think they would be happy with my decision, but that seemed like an extreme reaction.”

“Bah,” Krom said. He hawked some spit in his mouth before looking around and realizing that it would almost be sacrilege to mar the floor of the Forge of Heavens. He walked over to the edge of the black stone floor and spit outside before continuing. “That bastard always has something to say. Some complaint about this or that. It’s no surprise really, considering he’s from the Bone Crusher clan.”

Richter looked at him with a questioning expression.

“Ah, ye wouldn’t be knowing about the way things work in the mountains. Under the mountains are a few large dwarf kingdoms, but above ground, the dwarves live in mostly tribes and clans. We will fight together against a common threat and some will trade, but that be as far the clans normally get along. It not be unheard of for blood feuds and small skirmishes to pop up. The Bone Crusher clan be one of the worst in that way. If ye ask me, the blood of the duergar runs deep through their veins.”

Richter felt completely vindicated about his decision after Ardrim’s reaction. “Do you need me to do anything about this,” he asked Krom.

The burly dwarf gave a laugh, “Naw, I can handle a Bone Crusher. I be a Red Stone, and there is no dwarf above or below the mountain tougher than us!”

Richter laughed back, “That’s what I want to hear!”

Krom looked Richter over, “I hope you don’t mind me saying, yer Lordship, but some of your arms and armor are looking the worse for wear,”

Richter had been about to ask Krom more about the dwarf culture. Hisako had been clear that he needed to enlist their aid. Perhaps now was not the best time though, he did have other things to do. Richter looked down at his armor and couldn’t deny the dwarf’s words. “I know. That dungeon was not easy. I’ll have to talk to Hisako about repairing the armor when she comes back.”

“Or you could just give it to me now,” Krom said in an offhand manner.

Richter looked at him confused, “I thought you couldn’t repair this type of armor.”

Krom laughed again, “That was then! We have the Forge of Heavens now! Do ye really think that some little woodsfolk could do more with armor than a dwarf with a Magic Forge?! Leave the armor with me and I’ll have it back good as new.”

Well that’s certainly convenient, Richter thought. He had Krom help him while he removed his armor, and stood in just his clothes for the first time in what felt like forever. Taking off the green sprite armor seemed to free all of the accumulated funk that had been percolating underneath. Even Krom wrinkled his nose.

“That bad, huh?” Richter asked.

“Well the good news is, we could use that stink to burn some warts off the pigs.”

“Har-de-har-har,” Richter said. A bath was on his list of errands now, though. He handed over his high steel longsword along with the armor.

Krom took the sword, but shook his head when Richter asked about repairing the glass dagger. Apparently the secret for working that material was closely guarded by islanders who lived south of the forest, and the Forge, though wondrous, could not teach Krom new smelting techniques. Richter looked at the dagger in regret. It had served him well and the high durability had come in handy. After all the wear and tear though, it had barely half its original damage potential. He would need a replacement.

“Krom I need a short sword. The best you can make. There is more moonstone, cobalt, quicksilver, and a few bars of elementum in the treasury. Let me know what you need and I will get it to you. Feel free to make use of it. Learn the enchantments and start making weapons. The elementum is for my use only until I say otherwise, though.”

“I understand, milord. It will be done. That does remind me of something. Like I said, most of the weapons in the armory were beyond saving. In the far back though, I found three metal boxes that had a clear circle on them, like on the doors. I couldn’t open them, but yer Lordship should be able to with that fancy Mark of yours.”

“I’ll take a look at it.” Richter put his glass dagger back into his Bag and handed over most of the filled soul stones he had collected. He kept the resplendent level stone that held the crypt mistress’s soul to himself though. He didn’t want Krom using it until the dwarf had a better grasp on the Forge’s abilities.

While accessing his inventory, Richter did see something he had forgotten about. “Krom, what do you think of this?” Richter handed him one of the palm sized scales from the giant skeeling he and Sion had killed.

“Hmm,” Krom said turning the thin scale over. He kept looking and then let out a more interested, “hmmmmm. Lightweight, but strong.” Krom drew an awl from belt. He scratched the scale, then did it again harder. Then he laid it down on the anvil and drew the awl down it with all of his force and barely left a scratch.

“What is this,” the dwarf asked with a bit of awe in his voice.

“They are the scales of a large monster Sion and I killed not too long ago,” Richter answered.

“How did you manage it? These scales are as tough as me first wife!”

Richter chuckled, “It wasn’t easy. Well do you think you can do something with it?”

“I might have an idea or two,” Krom said. “Do me a favor and stand still for a second.”

Krom took a length of string from one of his pockets and took a quick series of measurements from Richter. He was quick and industrious, making notations in a small leather bound book. He was a touch rough when measuring the inseam, prompting Richter to tell him to, “watch the monster,” but that moment passed quickly. When he was done, Krom handed Richter a high steel short sword that the smith had made while he was gone. It was nothing special, but it was at least a weapon.

You have been given: High steel short sword. Damage 11-15. Durability 35/35. Item class: Common. Quality: Above Average. Weight 1.8 kg.

“Thank you Krom,” Richter said. “It seems like what you make is normally high steel. Why would anyone make something out of steel or plain iron?”

“Well milord, there be a few reasons. Ye must be at least an Apprentice rank smith. Ye also must know how to make xanthite. It not be hard, but ye still must know the trick of it. Also because it be a higher grade material smiths do charge more and it takes longer to forge. It be much cheaper for a noble to outfit most of his guards with iron or simple steel.”

“So if we make only high steel weapons and armor, then we will be better equipped than most people out there?” Richter asked.

Krom scratched his salt and pepper beard, “I can guarantee we will have an edge over any goblin tribal scum or even most of them bugbears. I wouldn’t hang yer hat on having better gear in general. Mercenary guilds will have many members with specialty armor, and the higher ranked soldiers in Yves may even have magic arms and armor. We have a long way to go if ye want to go head to head with groups like that!”

After that Krom had no more time for his liege apparently. He took the rest of the scales and then said absently that he would work on them, but his focus was obviously on the Forge. The other dwarves had started stoking the fires near the central anvil while the smith was taking Richter’s measurements and now they started heating a high steel ingot. The dwarves got to work with a single minded obsession and not even a ‘goodbye milord’ was thrown in Richter’s direction as he walked out.

Richter realized that recently he hadn’t been correcting people to just call him Richter anymore. The ‘milords’ and ‘your Lordships’ had started to feel natural. He wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing. It was true that he definitely didn’t want to become an elitist a-hole that didn’t value others. On the other hand, if he was going to lead his people, then he needed to be a leader. Back in Georgia he had been raised to say ‘Yessir’ and ‘No ma’am.’ That wasn’t to be a kiss-ass. That had been because showing the proper respect was a social convention that made society run smoother. To be sure he had also said some ‘less nice’ things to people when the situation required it, and their age be damned, but that was the exception, not the rule. Whatever his thought process behind it, he had to admit that it felt comfortable to be given respect as a matter of course. He was the Master of the village, so he would just need to live up to it.

As if the Universe wanted to stress the point, Richter was again reminded of his responsibility to his people and his earlier mistakes. When he looked around after leaving the Forge he saw three people, two men and a woman standing off to the side. They had a melancholy air, and when they saw Richter, there was no smile or happy greeting. They merely bobbed their heads and then dispersed.

Randolphus had remained at Richter’s side through the entire transformation of the Forge and walked out with him. Richter spoke to his chamberlain, “I feel bad about this, but I don’t remember their names,” he said indicating the three.

“They are farmers, my Lord. The woman is Parul, the taller man was Wuren and the shorter is Lenric.”

“Why did it seem like they were avoiding me?” Richter asked.

“They all lost loved ones during the bugbear attack,” Randolphus said gently.

Richter’s chest clamped up. Over the past several weeks in the dungeon, he had been focused on just surviving. When he had come back to the village, there had been another flurry of activity with Hisako’s response to the eaters being back in the Forest. The fact was he hadn’t really wanted to dwell on the lives that had been lost during the attack, an attack that had happened because of his poor judgement. Seeing the sadness that his people were still living with every day, brought it all flooding back. He watched them walk off and then asked, “Is the project I asked to be completed ready?”

“Yes, my Lord. It was finished several days before you returned. As you requested, it has remained covered. I was told by Gloran that it will only require one basic soul stone.”

“Good,” Richter said. He handed over one of the soul stones. “Gather everyone tonight under the Quickening. Let’s say right after the evening meal. We will unveil it then. I need everyone together anyway.”

“It will be done, my Lord.”