The Land: Alliances (Chaos Seeds Book 3)

CHAPTER 3

Richter and Randolphus continued walking through the village, talking about this or that. At some point, Alma flew up and took her customary perch on top of Richter’s shoulders. As they walked, Richter greeted everyone that he could. He wanted his people to feel comfortable coming and speaking to him. The best way he could figure out to accomplish that was to go speak to them first.

It also let him get an overall feel of his people’s mood. It was true that the village interface had a Loyalty and Morale bar. It showed Richter that the overall Morale of the villagers was ‘Happy’ and their Loyalty as a whole was ‘Dependable,’ but it wasn’t enough for him to hang his hat on. The interface didn’t show him an individual’s Morale or Loyalty. He also didn’t know how his city screen was updated. He knew he had to spend some time really investigating it, but now was not the time. The truth was, Richter put more stock in actual physical interaction than some mythical mood rock.

He was pleased to see that most of his villagers greeted him with smiles. Actually, many were excited about the Forge having been built and tried to pester him with questions. Randolphus was able to effectively shoo most away. Richter was pleased to see that his chamberlain and the other villagers had a positive rapport. Though they left without the answers they sought, they still left with smiles on their faces and easily accepted the chamberlain’s authority.

Even more important than the one on one interactions, was the fact that Richter often heard laughter as he walked. Children ran around playing and his people smiled at one another. Overall, the village had a bucolic feel, and other than the three villagers he had seen upon leaving the Forge, his people seemed to be recovering well after the attack.

The two men walked to the meadow leading up to the hill, because Richter wanted to check on the project with his own two eyes. To be honest, he also missed the calming influence of the Quickening. As they walked he took the opportunity to check his status page. Some of his stats were lower without the perks of his enhanced sprite armor, his Dexterity especially looked lower without his bow equipped, but he still had a respectable build.

Name: Richter

Age: 24

Level: 18, 81%

Health: 430 Mana: 390 Stamina: 210

Strength: 21

Agility: 24

Dexterity: 19

Constitution: 25

Endurance: 21

Intelligence: 37

Wisdom: 21

Charisma: 24

Luck: 15

Abilities:

Limitless

Gift of Tongues

Fast Learner

Bounty of Life

Psi Bond

Skills:

Herb Lore Lvl 39; 22% to next level

Alchemy Lvl 1; 0% to next level

Enchantment Lvl 29; 44% to next level

Crafting Lvl 1; 0% to next level

Smithing Lvl 1; 0% to next level

Analyze Lvl 6; 7% to next level

Pierce the Veil Lvl 23; 45% to next level

Stealth Lvl 6; 14% to next level

Traps Lvl 21; 87% to next level

Trap Disarm Lvl 21; 99% to next level

Archery Lvl 10; 24% to next level

Imbue Arrow Lvl 5; 18% to next level

Focus Lvl 3; 78% to next level

Double Shot Lvl 3; 31% to next level,

Drill Shot Lvl 2; 40% to next level

Swordsmanship Lvl 2; 15% to next level

Small Blades Lvl 4; 43% to next level

Unarmed Combat Lvl 1; 10% to next level

Pressure Points Lvl 1; 15% to next level

Dual Wield Lvl 1; 37% to next level

Light Armor Lvl 8; 18% to next level

Grace in Combat Lvl 5; 38% to next level

Air Magic Lvl 6; 37% to next level

Life Magic Lvl 5; 82% to next level

Earth Magic Lvl 4; 92% to next level

Water Magic Lvl 5; 47% to next level

Dark Magic Lvl 5; 22% to next level

Light Magic Lvl 4; 48% to next level

Fire Magic Lvl 5; 9% to next level

Map Making Lvl MAX

Trade Lvl 14; 86% to next level

War Leader Lvl 2, 43% to next level

Portal Construction Apprentice

Lore Lvl 1

Marks:

Master of Mist Village

Blood Oath

Forge of Heavens

Resistances:

Air 50%

Life 50%

Mental 15%

Spiritual 15%

Race: Human (Chaos Seed)

Reputation: Lvl 3 “You seem like someone worthy of my attention.”

Alignment: Neutral

Language: All

When they got to the top of the hill, he was greeted by the beautiful sight of his celestial tree. The thick, hand sized leaves were velvety in appearance. Softly swaying in the wind, the tree looked like a lake of cream with gentle moving waves. He couldn’t see much of the trunk from the distance he was standing at because the limbs bent down gracefully like a willow, but what he could see was the same smooth silver that he remembered. Apparently the trunk only glowed at night, because now it only simply reflected the sunlight that occasionally pierced the thick canopy of its white leaves.

They walked closer and Richter saw that a portion of the meadow had been cultivated for the herb garden. Well circumscribed lines of earth had been tilled and plants of all colors were beginning to sprout. Most of the herbs had been found in his secret glen and, according to Sion, all were valuable. He was somewhat surprised by the large amount of growth in what couldn’t have been more than two or three weeks. He wondered if the herbs would be considered a resource and so would benefit from his Bounty of Life ability. He examined a few as he walked.

You have found: Green Spriggan’s Breath. You feel that this herb could make a sneezing powder, could lower a fever and could be a component of a tracking potion.

You have found: Yiren’s Thorn. You feel that the roots of this herb would cause indigestion, the thorns would be hollow and could be used for poison darts, and the leaves will make your tongue orange.

You have found Supple Ivy. You feel that this herb could make a paste to moisturize the skin. It could also be used to make a strong adhesive or relieve headaches.

You have found Star Zenia. Eating this will increase sexual performance. It will also make impregnation impossible for twelve hours. You also feel that this could be used to polish wood.

Well, Richter thought, Viagra, birth control AND it could bring a shine to a nice desk??? Star Zenia really was the triple threat! He made a mental note to have more of that particular herb planted ASAP. He didn’t want it being used by everybody. The faster his population grew at this point, the better, after all. For his personal use though… let’s just say he could think of a nice young lady or two in the village that he wouldn’t mind Netflix and chilling with! It had been a long few weeks since his time at the Whistling Hen, he thought sadly.

He pointed out the herb to Randolphus and told him to ensure a good amount more was planted. Randolphus raised his eyebrows, not understanding, but jotted the note down all the same.

When they were closer to the tree, two sprites seemed to materialize out of thin air. Richter was well familiar with the sprites’ wood craft and concealment abilities, but it still took him by surprise. “I thought you all left with Hisako to hunt the eater queen,” he said.

One of the sprites bowed his head respectfully, “The Hearth Mother did not feel comfortable leaving Queen Elora without protection. She has bonded with the Quickening and is vulnerable until she finishes the current life cycle.”

Richter nodded. He had been wondering why he hadn’t seen the pixie queen since coming back to the village. “Do we know how long until the… life cycle, is complete?” he asked.

“Queen Elora seemed to think that it would take two months, but she admitted that she had never heard of a pixie bonding to a celestial tree before,” the same sprite answered.

“So really we have no idea then,” Richter said. “Where is she physically?”

The other sprite gestured with one hand, “This way, Lord Richter.”

Richter was led right up to the helical trunk of the Quickening. The sprite pointed up within the core of the tree. He could see a delicate cocoon of spun silver, matching the trunk. His gaze continued upward, past the trunk, and into the canopy above. He could see smaller silver cocoons hanging from all of the branches. There were also small hanging fruit. They were round like pomegranates, but were green in color. When Richter focused on one he received a prompt.

You have found: Immature fruit of the Quickening.

Richter cast Far Light to better see the canopy above. The sight was as beautiful as it was before. He smiled, just enjoying the peaceful aura of the Quickening. He turned back to thank the sprites for their diligence, but they had already activated their concealment ability again. He didn’t know where they could have hidden, but it didn’t change the fact that they were nowhere to be found. He said out loud, “Keep up the good work,” then walked out from beneath the canopy.

Against the northern cliff face was an oiled tarp draped over a wooden frame. Richter peeked underneath before dropping the cover back down. He nodded in appreciation to Randolphus, and said, “Good work. Now let’s check the pastures and farmland.”

Richter and Randolphus walked back down the hill to the village. They moved to the gate in the wall and then walked across the log drawbridge. The land allocated for farming was outside of the village walls. It was obviously less secure, but the amount of land needed made farming inside of the village less than feasible. Armed villagers patrolled the boundaries of the farmland and the grassy areas allocated for pastures.

Everything looked like it was going well. To be sure, he spoke with all of the farmers. Outside of a request for more Mist Workers, they seemed satisfied that everything was as it should be. That task completed, he started walking back into the village proper. He sent a mental call to Futen and before long, the remnant floated up to him. He told Futen to have the mist workers dig a trench around the farmland and pastures. He also decided to have the trees cleared back for several hundred yards around both. His villagers simply didn’t have enough protection at present. He wouldn’t forgive himself if a quick monster attack cost the life of one of his villagers. The remnant agreed with his customary deadpan tone of voice.

Richter had spoken to everyone that he needed to. His responsibilities as leader of the village were completed for the moment, and now it was time for him to attend to something he had been putting off for a while. This seemed like as good a time as any. Richter turned to walk through the village and back to the catacombs. It was time to find out what was down that stairway.

Before he had gone more than a step or two however, Randolphus cleared his throat loudly. When Richter looked at him, the chamberlain tapped his nose then looked first at Richter, then the nearby river.

Richter thanked him for the reminder. Once upon a time, he had been the stinky kid in school. It had been a hard year for him. He would NOT become the stinky Master in the village!