Chapter 80 - The First Domain

Carver felt like he’d studied the control stone long enough. It was time to take action. He picked the thing up, hefting it in his hand.

Once he did this, he’d be linked with the land in a way he still didn’t wholly understand. He would become its ruler and owner in a magical sense. The sort of land ownership humanity practiced before the Event was a pale imitation of this sort of ownership.

This base would become a part of him, he a part of it. He’d know if it was attacked, and it would spawn defenders to aid him. He could expand his area of control by acquiring more control stones, too. Gideon wasn’t sure he wanted to do that. One of these stones would tie him deeply to the land. What would two or more do? Still, it was worth considering, when he came across more.

The hints he’d learned from exploring the memories it deposited while he held the thing told him that mostly, these were granted to beings who were already powerful, already acting as leaders, and already gathering followers to them. These were indeed all things he’d been doing. The broader question was, how many other people had them, too?

One other tidbit he’d gleaned from the device was that other people with their own control stones would get information on the Domain he formed when he used the stone. If they were close by, they’d be able to sense the location of his castle.

The castle walls were coming along just fine. His undead put a ton of work into the project. It had been his primary focus. In fact, since acquiring the control stone it had been the true center of Gideon’s attention. The longer he waited before using the stone, the more advantages he might lose. For example, if someone else used a stone too close to this castle, they would own the land instead of him. All the effort poured into building the castle up would be wasted, then.

But use it too early, and others might come knocking, hoping to take the stone from him. He needed to move soon, but needed to have the castle defenses as complete as possible, too.

A knock sounded on his office door. He put the control stone away. “Enter.”

That it was Brian coming in with news didn’t surprise him. Brian was his seneschal, his executive. When Gideon was gone from the castle, Brian remained in charge. He also managed the other men who’d come to join them. It was normal to see Brian coming in at various times of the time, bringing news he felt Gideon needed to hear.

What wasn’t typical was the alarmed look in Brian’s eyes. “Sir, just got a report in from one of our scouts.”

As the so-called Pirate King began having bands move deeper inland, into the city, Carver had a handful of volunteers moving through the space between his keep and the lake, watching for trouble. It seemed that might have already paid off.

“The pirates?” He hated calling them that, but it’s what they were using as their motif, right down to Jolly Roger flags on their masts.

“Yes, sir. They’ve gathered in force. Right on the shore, in a few of the bigger buildings down by the docks. Cleared out the rat people, and look like they’re settling in to stay.”

That second part was the alarming bit. Gideon felt it likely the pirates had their own control stone. They operated from ships, though. It gave them a flexibility that his fixed location lacked, but it was possible there was a weakness as well.

It was Brian who’d pointed it out, while Gideon discussed some of his concerns with the man. What if the control stone had to be used on a fixed point? A mobile vessel, like their ship, wouldn’t work, then. The base selected had to be a structure or location—not a vehicle.

The idea made sense. Seeing the pirates taking terrain and settling in like they were getting ready to stay meant they were probably getting ready to use a stone of their own.

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Gideon had only a crude idea how large the zones of control were. It might be a mile, or two, or ten. If it was a mile, it’d be touch and go from that location to his castle, depending on just where they used the thing. If it was more than a mile…

Best to use his before they used theirs.

Quickly, he pulled the control stone out of his pocket. He grasped it, turning it over again and again in his hands. He wanted more time. Time to finish the construction, time to grow his army stronger. Time to learn more about this thing’s secrets, and what using it meant.

He was out of time.

“I’ve already put this off long enough,” Gideon said, standing.

Brian backed up as Carver raised the control stone with both hands. He’d never used one before, obviously, but just by holding the thing he had an intuitive sense of how to proceed. Activating the stone was just like casting a spell. He poured mana and will down his arms, into his hands, and out through his fingertips. Black and clear energy swirled into the control stone.

The stone sucked it up, every drop.

Then, when all the mana required for the activation was absorbed by the now-glowing carved rock, it flashed with energy—before fading away entirely. A moment after the flash, it was gone. The control stone had been absorbed into him, much like a spell crystal.

Gideon staggered backward as a wealth of new data flooded his senses. It was a lot—too much to process all at once. He staggered backward, backs of his legs bumping his chair. He half-fell, half-sat in the chair, wincing as the colliding images came to him from all over the castle.

He could see everything inside the core castle itself. Amazing! On the one hand, he had a vague sense of the entire place without even paying attention. It wasn’t like seeing everything in the castle all at once, more like having a general feeling of the place. If someone died here, he would know. If an attacker came calling, Gideon knew he’d sense the approach.

The other form of sight he’d gained was far more precise. Anywhere in the castle proper, Gideon could look just by thinking about it. He had absolute surveillance over the place. That was strange, and a little uncomfortable. Gideon had earned the trust of the families he took in by being honest with them. The last thing he wanted was for them to think he was spying on them.

Telling them would be the honest thing to do. Not telling them might be simpler, though. Even if he never looked at anything he shouldn’t, there would be some people who thought he did. It was… Not ideal.

“Are you all right, sir?” Brian asked.

Carver shook his head to clear it, then realized that looked like a no—Brian had come closer swiftly. Carver held up a palm to stall him. “I’m all right. Just a little overwhelmed.”

Even reaching tier six in Animate Dead hadn’t kicked that hard. The raw quantity of information about his lands that he now had access to was enough to make him dizzy.

Something to the west called to him. Gideon was on his feet and rushing to the west-facing terrace before he even thought about why.

There was a new force in the wind. Some strange power was pulsing, and if it was west of him, it had to be the pirates. The power surged, growing by the moment. It felt familiar. That had to be a control stone! It was seasoned with whatever crystals the pirate lord had installed, so it would feel similar but different.

They must have felt his Domain’s formation, and they were responding by making their own.

The pirate Domain snapped into being a moment later. Its border was not too distant from his. Not idea, but perhaps some sort of accord with those people could be made. It would be better to have human neighbors as allies, especially ones with the strength to obtain a control stone.

“Was that them using their stone, sir?” Brian asked.

Carver nodded. “It was. I think it was centered at the main docks, right downtown. We’ll want to—“

Another surge, this one from the east. It was in the direction of the UVM campus, but felt farther away than that. The Air National Guard base, perhaps? He’d heard rumors of a group of survivors there.

Whoever it was, they had a control stone, too, and must have also felt his Domain go active. They’d also decided it was time to use theirs. The third Domain in the area snapped to life. It was a good distance off. Further than the pirate docks, which was a relief. One near neighbor was going to be potential trouble enough. A second would have been very unwelcome.

Still, he felt sure they’d come into contact sooner or later. As allies or enemies, he had no way of knowing.

“Was that a third one, sir?” Brian asked. Clearly, only those holding control stones could sense what was happening.

Carver nodded. “It was.”

“Will there be more, you think?”

Gideon shrugged in response, but he remained on the terrace, waiting. He gave it a good ten minutes before stopping his vigil. “I think no more, at least not tonight. Anyone else planning to join this game of Domains right away would have done so by now.”

“Three of these things now. Probably more coming eventually, too. We’ll need to make plans to deal with them, sir.”

“Agreed. First off, though, we need to focus on these so-called ‘pirates’ next door to us. They will either become allies, or we will have a second control stone by the end of the month.”