In contrast to the peaceful ambience of the native environment, the humans of this region seemed to be loud and social creatures. Not to mention a bit dirty, for the most part. Perhaps walking around on two fleshy legs turned up a lot of dust and dirt when traveling? Not to mention that their flesh and fur was not at all resistant to the accumulation of such substances. More insights of face value added to the list, it supposed. In either case, being surrounded by these folk was cause for both enlightenment and consternation.
Through the mutterings of passers by, it realized rather quickly that it could comprehend the base of their language innately. Though certain outliers, like the farmer who’s cart it had incidentally appeared on, made it hold off on that deliberation for a while. It was due to the humans like him who especially deviated from the base language that emphasized the differences of dialect and accent. Fascinating indeed… At least until the novelty of these new experiences was starting to wear off, and by then it started to long for quieter times.
So far this settlement had displayed so many people, all varied despite their common origins and close proximity. Such a thing was probably anathema to the lights that sought to consume. When it had first awoken it could not actually commune with the malicious presence directly, but it felt a desire through the power that was exerted. Harsh and grating, believing in their own inevitably.
Yet escape was found. It tried to assure itself, but its thoughts soon began to wander for it had naught much else to do. What is to come next?
It pondered this question while some men in armor guided the cart through quieter streets and into a secluded garden of sorts. It appeared they were reluctant to physically touch the dark stone-like shard. The faint subsurface illumination gave away its arcane nature, something these men clearly felt was beyond their capacity to deal with personally.
It was true in more ways than one, but in all fairness it doubted anyone it’d seen so far could handle the situation better. To every human who’d seen it so far, it was just a rock. A mystical rock, sure, but nothing more. Some of the guards theorized that it fell from the heavens, or that it was a shard of a demonic shrine. Either way no one had even mentioned the possibility of it being a form of domain core. Seeing as how no one seemed to have a way to fully analyze it yet, a mere curiosity it remained.
Were cores like itself so rarely encountered? It hadn’t found a way to vocalize such questions to them. When it reached out to them mentally, their minds were hazy and shied away on contact. It was probably why the guards felt so uncomfortable around it, the mental nudges feeling alien and ominous. Was there no one it could commune with, was it relegated to being treated as a lifeless stone? It was feeling something new then, a profound moment of sadness at the idea of an eternal disconnect between itself and others.
No matter. It refocused with numbing clarity. I cannot check my status without anchoring, but I do not see an opportunity to establish myself here. As intriguing as these humans seem, the proximity to a major settlement of them would be disconcerting. Who knows what consequences might arise if I anchored my domain here…
Assuming they’d be occupied sourcing their version of an expert on such things, it figured it might be able to gather enough ambient energy to attempt another stint of travel through its inner void again. Somewhere it could find the safety of seclusion to experiment with abilities and figure out its purpose. The only problem was the ambient energy of this place was far below that of the dark cavernous space it’d been before; The accumulation would take far longer than last time...
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Magus Valencia Tharn of Strahaim walked with a smooth gait down the familiar halls of the city assembly. The building was nothing to scoff at, after all it boasted an entire wing for each logistical center of the city. The clerks in financing who oversaw budgeting and taxes, residential committees to represent the interests of property holders, outlet offices for the many guilds that represented an astonishing amount of the workforce. This was the grand locus of Strahaim’s control and governance, a testament to its prosperity on the frontier.
Despite that, it was not enough. Strahaim was far from the only established city, and in fact represented the lesser of them. Located in the far western reaches of the temperate Lithian continent, Strahaim was merely a blip in the periphery of the central factions. Much further inland, a few months travel by road, were monstrous forces like Trollsbane and Hillgate that were fortified behemoths eclipsing them many times over in size and system amenities. That was ultimately what every leader of a dense enough population zone chased: unique system-granted amenities.
Hillgate had a powerful dwarven dynasty at the helm and it was founded at the base of a crystal attuned dungeon. Centuries of delving had filled their coffers with not just mountains of coins and trinkets, but with unique gems and crystals that had uses in many fields of arcane craftwork. It was a land of opportunity for all kinds of miners, delvers, enchanters, and smiths. With their accomplishments they built an economic empire, and the system itself acknowledged such advancements. Opportunities arose allowing them access to exclusive tools such as instantaneous transport pads for inner-city travel, wide scale enchantments capable of enhancing the production rates of an entire city district, and more.
Trollsbane had seen similar success on the edge of a dark forest that dealt with frequent incursions of high leveled beasts, accumulating valuable resources with each foe they struck down. As such, they were a hotspot for mercenary types who fed the gathered materials into a flourishing crafting zone of its own right, specializing in refined beast cores, leatherwork, and dark attuned alchemical ingredients.
Strahaim had… none of that. It was a gathering of circumstance mostly, and beyond the docile agricultural lands to the south it did not have some unique boon that elevated its status. As such, the potential for Strahaim’s growth revolved around a variety economy that catered to its guilds more than anything else. Almost all of the guilds were profit oriented of course, and they would look after their own interests above those of outsiders. So Strahaim’s political elite leaned into that and had a history of easing up on the regulations for guilds that proved beneficial to the city’s growth.
Ultimately, it was a flawed system that provided opportunities for corruption. Instead of an independent city council that sought objective rulings to mediate the disputes of individual guilds, it became a cycle of ultimatums and schemes. In the worst case, the highest bidder could simply prop up their own representative. With the resources of an entire guild at their disposal, they could compel said representative to continue looking after their interests while elevating themselves politically.
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Magus Valencia was no such representative, and she would never accede to such influence for a short term profit anyway. However she was currently the acting head of the city magi, which was a loose coalition of mages, artificers, and various arcane researchers of the local region. They were technically a neutral faction, or they would be if it wasn’t for Magus Raicaird who she suspected of taking bribes and employing magi resources at the convenience of certain guild leaders. Yet Raicaird had been absent from his station since heading up an expedition where he reportedly needed to ‘look after the interests of the people’. It’d be more accurate to say he wanted to look after his own interests and investments, for he took along with him the entire upper echelon of city magi to ensure everything went accordingly.
Leaving myself and a skeleton crew of lesser mages to keep up appearances! She huffed with indignation. If whatever he is seeking in the west does not serve to uplift the magi or the city of Strahaim as a whole, I would- well, I would… express my displeasure certainly…
In reality there was not much she could do within the proper channels, and yet she wasn’t the type to find retribution in the shadows either. So all she would do was face the music and be diligent in her own work. In essence, exactly the reason that old bastard Raicaird had felt Valencia would be the safe choice representing the magi in his absence. She took a steadying breath as she stepped out of the assembly and waved for a rickshaw to take her home.
Now to see about this mysterious rock the guards are babbling about.
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Over an hour had passed in the walled off garden where the domain core still laid in the bed of a rickety cart. It was substantially quieter here than when it had been at the city gates. A bit greener as well, thanks to the neat rows of what it assumed were herbs and the occasional decorative arrangement of flowering vines. The sun was shining through the sparse clouds above and gave warmth to the enclosed space. Altogether it was a quaint atmosphere, and not at all unpleasant to idly sit and think within. Only, it wasn’t idly pondering at the moment but instead was testing the effects of willpower on the accumulation of energy. It figured that if it somehow willed the energy to fill its reserves, surely it would speed up the process. Though the process had yet to reveal its merits…
It decided to shift its perspective and instead focus on the fact that it was a domain core, which of course meant it had a domain. It could not feel the edges of its domain currently but it knew that the entire garden was within its influence, which must be uncontested or it would’ve received another alert from the system. In that case, instead of abstractly trying to hurry along the ambient energy dispersed through the air and the ground, what if it drew upon a specific source…
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Valencia elegantly dismounted from the back of the rickshaw and tipped the runner handsomely. The ride was wonderfully smooth and quicker than expected, no doubt a product of his focus on agility. The young man thanked her warmly and turned back towards the street to continue with his business.
Industrious family. She noted with some local pride.
On the ride over he had mentioned he was just starting out in the ‘patron transit business’ as his father apparently called it. He had worked hard to raise his agility and endurance from the day he was of age to get a class, and he was confident he could make a nice living providing the same quality of service his father had years prior when starting as a courier. Now his father had a merchant license and ran his own kiosk in the city center as an information broker. His son could finally contribute directly by gathering tidbits of relevant information from the various city officials and businessmen he transported each afternoon. Valencia could hear the contentment in his voice from being given the chance to prove his worth. It was a lovely story, and she made a note to check in on them in the future.
She turned to regard her modest home. Well, modest for the upper echelons of Strahaim perhaps. It was a two floor stone renovation that boasted multiple comfortable bedrooms with space remaining for the essential amenities and an office space. Outside a gruff looking man, representing the city guard based on his simple teal tabard, stood to the side of the gate to the enclosed garden.
“Greetings ma’am, the item in question is straight through the gate and within the garden.” He announced as she approached. “Apologies for not delivering it to the city assembly but the captain wished to avoid causing a scene. You know how the bureaucrats are-” He coughed, catching himself from continuing after remembering her current status.
“It’s fine” she said, waving off his concern and not bothering to hide her amusement. “Please do accompany me while I take a look at this artifact that seems to be the source of no small amount of superstition among you guards”.
Now it was his turn to look amused.
“You’re not wrong about that ma’am. I was personally selected by the captain to oversee it because my compatriots were indeed lacking in temperament.” He said with a slow gravelly voice. “Apparently the team who delivered it here felt anxiety verging on hysteria the longer they stayed in its presence”.
“Really, though you haven’t felt such effects yourself?” She threw a surprised glance his way as she unlatched the gate.
“No ma’am, got an Iron stomach I do” the guardsman said with a smirk as the gate swung open revealing a much different scene than a mere couple hours ago. His expression turned into a confused grimace.
Within the garden the once neat and well tended vegetation was shriveled, and instead of gentle green hues they were met with mottled browns and grays.
“Good gods, what happened here?” he muttered quietly before turning sharply towards Valencia and inclining his head. “Ma’am I apologize for our carelessness on behalf of the guard. Without the city magi around we’ve clearly made incorrect assumptions while handling this matter”.
He raised himself back up, expecting to meet the furious gaze of the leader of the magi, but her eyes were glazed over and locked onto the contents of the cart in the middle of the lifeless garden.
“Ma’am, should I send for a team to begin removing this thing?” He asked as she slowly walked towards the sinister looking shard in a daze. “Magus Valencia?” He pressed.
Valencia didn’t answer, lost in her own world as she approached the ‘rock’ as everyone kept calling it. But it wasn’t a rock at all, and she knew it. It had been over a decade since she had witnessed a similar aura, once upon a time when she was a fledgling adventurer. This was not a shard of some demonic shrine, nor did it fall from the heavens… This was a living dungeon core, and the kind of potential it had was exactly the kind of windfall Strahaim needed.