B01DCAV4W2 (S) (9 page)

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!

CHAPTER 4

One cool thing that he discovered while bathing were aquatic herbs.  Richter hadn’t really thought to search the water for plants before.  Two specifically caught his interest.

You have found: Green Waterthread.  You are getting a very strong feeling that this plant has healing properties.  It also can be used to make waterproof clothing and flavor a tasty stew!

You have found: Muckweed.  This a component of a sticky solution, it can make a Water magic based poison, and can be used as a fire repellent. 

Both of the plants were extremely plentiful.  Richter gathered his fill of each, placing them in his Bag.  He withheld one waterthread.  Knowing it was a bit creepy, but needing to know about the effectiveness of this new herb, he steeled himself and drew his new short sword against his bare arm.  He didn’t cut too deeply, but with the bleeding status he achieved, he lost a small amount of health over time.  He started chewing the waterthread.

You have eaten: Green Waterthread.  You will recover 65.1 health over 30 seconds. 

Richter did some quick math and figured that outside of the bonus he got for his Herb Lore, the base healing would have been 30 health over 30 seconds.  That was three times as strong as the previous healing herbs he had been using.  Hopefully, it would make a proportionally stronger potion as well.  

As he worked, Alma happily snacked on a fish she had caught while Richter bathed.  He personally thought she was a bit of a cheat.  Rather than try and grab her prey, she had simply directed a
Psi Blast
towards the water.  It was basically the equivalent of dropping a stick of dynamite in a pond, Crocodile Dundee style.  It was definitely efficient, but kind of a douche move in his opinion.  When he tried to explain this to his familiar though, she just rolled her eyes at him and kept snacking.  

Shaking his head and chuckling at his soul familiar, he finished bathing.  Happy with his new discovery of the water herbs, and satisfied that he no longer smelled like goblin taint, he got out of the water.  He pulled a fresh set of clothes from his bag, and rolled his old clothes up into a ball.  Now that he was clean the garments seemed absolutely filthy to him. 

When he had walked back into the village proper, he found one of the older children helping with washing.  The boy accepted the bundle of soiled clothing with an obviously forced smile.  Richter didn’t blame the kid for not wanting any part of that stinky pile, so he tossed the boy a copper, which seemed to help the lad’s mood.   

He didn’t waste any more time getting to the room of the Great Seal.  Walking into the room, the downward staircase seemed to draw him forward, beckoning him to adventure.  Before going down the stairs though, he decided to check out the boxes that Krom had mentioned.   Richter had set Randolphus loose before he bathed, and sent Futen to monitor the village, so now his only company was the sated dragonling.  He opened the door to the armory and walked in.  Making his way to the back of the room, he did see three stacked metal boxes that he had previously overlooked.

One box was about four feet long and a foot wide, a second was half that length and the third was a simple box.  Good things come in small packages, he thought.  He raised his left wrist to align with the clear circle on the box.  It read his Mark of the Mist Village like a bar code and, with an audible click, the lid popped open.  Looking inside, he saw a metal collar.  It looked like it was made of quicksilver links, each about an inch long.

You have found: Quicksilver Collar of Submission.  Durability 300/300.  Item class: Rare.  Quality: Superb.  Weight: 0.5 kg.  If you manage to collar a monster with this item, they will become your slave.  The monster will be unable to harm you and will strictly follow your commands.  Can only be used once.

Why did it always come down to dominance, Richter thought.  Academically, he didn’t like the idea of controlling anything against its will, but he also knew himself.  If he were able to find a high level monster with some awesome abilities… well let’s just say, he would 50 shades of grey the hell out of it!

Richter moved on to the medium sized box.  After holding his wrist to the glass circle, he looked inside and smiled.

You have found: Heavy Cobalt Arrows.  Quantity 80.  Durability 15/15.  Item class: Uncommon.  Quality: Above Average.  Accuracy – 2.  Damage +5.  Chance to cause Knock Back.

You have found: Weapon Schematic: Heavy Arrows.  This design of arrow requires a skilled bowman.  The extra weight makes precise shots more difficult, but most find the extra damage and possibility to knock down their enemies to be more than a fair trade off.  This type of arrow inflicts blunt damage unlike most piercing arrows. 

These arrows could definitely come in handy!  The arrow heads were strange in their design, almost looking like a round weight with a slight point at one end.  Funny looking or not, the extra stopping power was welcome.  The biggest danger for an archer was for his target to get within melee range.  These arrows could definitely help with that!

After seeing the pure awesomeness in the first two boxes, he couldn’t wait to see what was in the big one.  He quickly held his wrist to the magic lock and threw the lid back.  A prompt appeared with purple writing appeared, and Richter’s eyes widened in shock.

You have found: Ranock Din.  Damage 58-72.  Durability 900/1000. Item class: Legendary. Quality: Masterwork. Weight 28.3 kg. 
Requirement: Dwarven or Duergar race.  Strength 50.
  This axe was forged of the finest thorium.  It has long been the royal weapon of the Dwarven Kingdom of Stone.  Traits: When fighting underground, can activate ‘Weight of the Earth.’  For one blow, The Land itself pulls the axe downward.  This massively increases the damage that it can cause.  The strain on the weapon will also cause a 100-point drop in durability each time Weight of the Earth is invoked.  The unique properties of this weapon will maintain its base damage no matter how low the durability drops, but it will be destroyed if durability drops to 0.  +30% Earth Resistance.  +20% Dark Resistance.

A named weapon!  And it was Legendary!  This was amazing… and thoroughly irritating!  Richter had finally found a legendary item, of course, it would have to have two crazy requirements.  One that he was nowhere near fulfilling and a second that he could never fulfill.  He couldn’t deny that the weapon was beautiful though. 

The axe was double bladed and the metal was dark grey.  A wicked spike extended up from the center of the weapon about six inches past the height of the half-moon blades.  It was clearly dangerous not just as a slashing weapon, but as a piercing weapon as well.  The haft was composed of a heavy wood and was just over three feet long.   Part of the way down its length was another piece of metal that must be present to aid in balancing the heavy weapon.  The bottom of the haft was wrapped in a knobbed hide that was midnight black. 

He stared at the weapon for a while, just admiring it.  After a few moments, he came to a decision.  He needed to keep the axe a secret.  He would make a discreet inquiry with Randolphus, but this weapon sounded like the type of thing that nations went to war over.  If it was as important to a royal family as the prompt said, there were probably many people that would grind his village to dust to get it.  The Mist Village just wasn’t ready to fight in that weight class.  Growing the Quickening and creating the Forge of Heavens were already enough to make the Mist Village a tempting treat for raiders or other malevolent forces.  No, he thought, this needed to remain hidden.  He closed and locked the lid again. 

He picked up all three boxes.  The weight wasn’t a problem, but the shapes made it a somewhat unwieldy task.  Despite that he carried them with minimal difficulty to the treasury.  He placed all of the boxes inside, but withdrew the chain, arrows and schematic.  Almost all of it went into his Bag of Holding, but he placed ten of the heavy arrows into his quiver.