Ember swelled with excitement within Glade’s mind at Bragden’s statement. It was strange feeling someone else’s emotions rattling around in his head, but he wasn’t complaining. It had been far too long since he had felt any sense of hope in his own life; his soul soaking up the emotions like a dying tree in the Texas sun.
“Time to see what we can do about rebuilding this hall,” Glade said, resting a hand on Ember’s egg. He didn’t know how it had gotten there, but he didn’t give it much thought either.
“Already on it,” Kedryn replied. “According to the interface, which isn’t that much more elaborate than the one before, the core has 317 mana remaining out of a 3,000-maximum.”
“I be diggin through the interface as well and I see what ye mean ‘bout the page not being detailed,” Krazzik said. “Try delving deeper. I’ve already done opened the building’s interface, specifically the repairs’ function. I’ll be honest with ye, from where I’m standin it doesn’t look good. It’ll cost us more'n 2,000 mana to repair the hall we be standin in.”
Glade opened the interface again, finding the system to be intuitively easy now that he was the Master of Storms' Rest.
Without thought, almost like the settlement wanted him to know its secrets, Glade expanded the information on the core and buildings tabs so he could see what Kedryn and Krazzik were talking about.
Settlement Name: Storms' Rest
Settlement Master: Glade (Title Gained – Master of Storms)
Settlement Core: Tri-Pointed Core
* Available Mana: *317/3000
* Linked Mana Wells: 1/3
* Water/Earth/Pure (Link Strength - Weak)
* Astral (Link Strength - Lost):
* Air/Corporeal (Link Strength - Lost)
* Area of Detection: 50 meters
* Area of Effect: 50 meters
* Integrated Mana Cores (1/3)
Settlement Leadership:
* Master of Storms: Glade
* First: Bei’Kedryn Serevlir
* Second: Krazzik Slaghammer
* Council (None appointed)
Population: 67
Population Disposition: Optimistic
Buildings: 0
* Repair (within area of detection and effect):
* Storms' Rest Council Hall – Cost: 2,248 mana
* Settlement Core Vault – Cost: 450 mana
* Privy – Cost: 30 mana
Settlement Quests: 2 (Locked)
In Glade’s opinion, the updated settlement interface added more questions than it answered.
“Theres a vault!” Kedryn cried. “I know it's not a priority right now, but we have got to see what’s inside!”
“I’m with the royal on that one,” Krazzik said. “A named settlement’s vault that has a core attached? I bet ye there be piles o gold just lyin about waitin for someone like us to snatch it up!”
“Makes sense to me,” Glade replied. “But like Kedryn said, we’ll have to wait on that one. Is there any way we can share the interface with Riya and Bragden?”
“Sorry, I done tried to share the information with Bragden already. Says he has to be part o’ the council to see privileged information. Only the Master o’ Storms, a slagging sparkly and puffed-up title if I’ve ever heard one, can appoint the council members.” Krazzik said, his eyes moving back and forth as he worked his unseen interface. “Course, ye can pass it onto me if’n ye don’t want such a lofty title.”
“I’ll try and dig into the council positions," Glade said while perusing his own interface. "And that is a hard no on passing you the title. Kedryn, what else have you found?”
“I was wrong before. This interface is freaking awesome! It has a much better interactive capability than our status pages,” Kedryn explained.
“From what I can tell, the tri-pointed core is an incredibly potent magical item, but as you can guess, time and neglect have robbed it of most of its power. Another interesting fact, the core doesn’t automatically regenerate mana like we do. According to the interface, each point of the core must be linked to mana wells so it can draw its power. It can link with other sources, but only temporarily. It needs the mana dense wells to sustain itself.”
“Now that be an interestin bit o’ information indeed,” Bragden said, stroking his beard in thought. “The inner workings o’ the Crag’s dual-pointed core be closely guarded. If’n the power source for the core be a mana-well, I could understand why they’d want to keep that quiet like. If someone knew, they could target the well and knock out the core defenses o’ the Crag. What does it say if the well and core be disconnected?”
“If the core is disconnected from its mana well it goes into a sort of shutdown mode, retaining whatever mana it can. Sorry, I’m not finding specific details, but it does say that if the entire core is disconnected from its wells, and is not maintained by a mana source, then the core will collapse in on itself.”
“Let’s avoid that if we can,” Glade said, noticing Bragden’s eyes widening in alarm. “I can see the status of the core’s wells on the interface. It looks like two of the three mana well connections have been lost while the last one is fragile. Any idea what that means other than the obvious?”
“This is where the interface isn’t as helpful,” Kedryn shrugged. “It’s taking in about 1 MP every three days or so, but doesn’t explain why. Either way, it looks to be in bad shape - Hold the phone! We can supplement the core with our own mana! Rather, anyone who is appointed into a leadership or council position can. That means we’re not limited to the 317 mana in the core’s pool.”
“Not right sure what a phone be, but the rest be a bit o’ good news,” Krazzik said. “I was able to break down the costs o’ repairin the council hall, and I can’t even begin to tell ye how incredible this is! Daunting and pricier than an entire set o’ smithy hammers made o’ mithril, but incredible none the less.”
Krazzik shared his information with both Glade and Kedryn.
* Repair:
* Bind Point Rune Circle integrity 84%. Cost to repair: 25 mana.
* Walls and Ceiling integrity at 55%. Cost to repair: 231 mana.
* Entrance to Catacombs - magical and physical barriers integrity at 25%. Cost to repair: 150 mana.
* Foundation integrity at 68%. Cost to repair: 97 mana.
* Thermal Transference Line integrity at 75%; Cost to repair. 75 mana.
* Mana Core Slot integrity at 5%: Cost to repair. 500 mana
* Mana Core Slot integrity at 5%: Cost to repair. 500 mana
* Furniture integrity at 2%. Cost to repair: 98 mana:
* Storms' Rest Council Room – Cost: 2,248 mana
“If’n we’re prioritizin the repairs, I’d recommend the foundation, walls, ceiling, and the thermal transference line to keep us bloody warm. That be a total o’ ‘bout …” Krazzik trailed off, muttering aloud random numbers while counting with his fingers in a way that didn’t make any sense.
“403 mana,” Kedryn said, poking at his invisible screen.
“Right, what the royal elf with the freakishly large head said,” Krazzik muttered. “I’ve got 120 mana meself that I can contribute. It’ll bottom me out, but it’ll be worth it if’n we can get out o’ this cold.”
“I wouldn’t use more than 200 of the settlement’s mana until we can figure out how to strengthen the one fragile connection or reconnect to the other mana wells,” Kedryn said. “Max 250, but only if we have no other choice.”
“How much mana can you contribute?” Glade asked.
“About that,” Kedryn grimaced, scratching the back of his head. “I’ve used a lot over that past few hours and only have about 50 mana left.”
“No need to feel sorry,” Glade said. “You’ve already been a huge help. We’ll use what we can. Unfortunately, I’m at 0 due to my torn mana channels. That means we have a total of…” Glade looked pointedly at Kedryn.
“370 mana between us and the settlement that we can comfortably use. 420 if we feel the need to stretch.”
“So, we have enough to make essential repairs if we want to stretch our resources, but that will result in putting Krazzik and Kedryn on their backs for the next few hours,” Glade pondered out loud. “Thoughts?”
“If’n ye can find a way to get me added to yer slagging council, I’ve got 210 mana just sittin doin nothin,” Bragden said, rubbing his hands in front of the fire.
Kedryn gave a low whistle. “That’s quite the mana pool. If we can do that, we would have enough to repair the bind point or entrance to the catacombs.”
“This place has a slagging bind point!?!” Bragden looked up in surprise.
“Ye haven’t even heard the best part o’ it,” Krazzik said. “The hall has two mana core slots!”
Bragden swayed where he stood. “Two mana core slots?”
“Oh, there's a lot more!” Kedryn said with a broad smile.
“First things first,” Glade interrupted. “Let’s see if we can add you to the council.”
Glade pulled up the council information. Using the intuitive controls, he willed the interface to show a basic description of the role and who within their current population qualified to fill it.
Attention! Not just anyone can be appointed as a council member of Storms' Rest. All potential candidates must meet minimum prerequisites for the positions they are being considered for. If they meet the minimum requirement and have the Master of Storm’s blessing, they can then prove their worthiness.
Note: Members of the population who have met the prerequisites for certain positions follow:
* Chief Steward (Administration, logistics, finance, diplomat, arbitrator)
* Patch Flintbrow
* Storm of Magic (Oversees all Magical Instruction)
* Bragden Grimheart
* Storm of Knowledge (Leads scholarly research and instruction, keeps the histories and knowledge)
* Bragden Grimheart, Croon Stonesinger
* Healer of Storms (Oversees the health and wellbeing of the settlement)
* Da’Riya Ab’Loshere
Attention: Through her unwavering dedication in keeping the Master of Storms, Glade, alive, Da’Riya Ab’Loshere has proven herself worthy to be appointed as the settlement’s healer and may be granted the title – Healer of Storms. Do you wish to appoint Riya as the settlement’s healer?
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
Y/N
Glade couldn’t help but wonder if the orignal founder of their settlement had an unhealthy fascination with storms. Either that, or they didn’t have much of an imagination when it came to naming things. Still, the brief descriptions explaining the roles and who among them had met the minimum requirements to be considered were immensely helpful.
Glade quickly shared the information with the others.
“Thinkin long term, I wouldn’t put just any knuckle dustin pick swinger ye can find on the council,” Krazzik said. “It may be good for the short term, but who knows what bonuses we might get if’n we put someone with the right qualities in. That said, I be a bit surprised Bragden here didn’t qualify for the steward position.”
“Bah, I only be an apprentice ranked administrator,” Bragden said. “Patch though, he be an expert logistician, which likely qualifies him. Though, I wouldn’t count on him takin the job since it wasn’t part o’ the clan charter to begin with. Also, if I had to choose between workin with Patch or a spark eel, I’d choose the eel.”
“Yeah, he’s not the easiest to work with,” Glade said. “I’d like to go ahead and appoint Riya to the position of settlement healer though. Any objections?”
Riya could barely stand, let alone verbalize her shocked reaction at not only being offered the position, but at being found worthy by the settlement itself.
There was some visible hesitation between the dwarves, but in the end no one objected.
Congratulations! You have selected someone worthy to fill the role of settlement healer. Da’Riya Ab’Loshere has the rare Celestial Attunement, making her a natural healer whose access to celestial mana makes her uniquely qualified for this position.
Attention! Da’Riya Ab’Loshere has been appointed as the settlement healer and has earned the title Healer of Storms!
Note: With the appointment of a celestial healer, settlement healing spells have been unlocked.
Note: Due to Da’Riya Ab’Loshere’s rare access to celestial mana, the entire settlement will receive the following benefits:
* +1% active regeneration rate for Storms' Rest population within the settlement's area of effect.
* +15% immunity for Storms' Rest population against basic illnesses within the settlement's area of effect.
* +5% to all applied healing abilities within the settlement's area of effect.
* +1% chance to attune to the celestial sphere of magic.
Warning! Settlement spell levels are intrinsically tied to the settlement level. Accessible spells now available: None
“Now that be a bonus if ever I done seen one,” Krazzik breathed. “Active regeneration and an immunity factor against all basic illnesses? Not to mention there be a chance for someone to gain a celestial attunement! Not even the Crag had a bonus like these."
“I can see the settlement's interface,” Riya whispered while fighting yet another yawn. “The healing spells are listed, but they’re all greyed out. The settlement needs to be at least level one before we can access them.”
Glade nodded, already perusing the list of spells. They were impressive to say the least, but his eyes were focused on the level one spell - mend bone.
“What do we need to do to get the…” Glade began.
“Settlement to level one?” Kedryn interrupted. “Already looking into it. We need to have at least two serviceable structures within the settlement’s area of effect, a population of 50, and one of the three core points needs to be linked with a mana well. We have two of those three already, but need to build two structures, which takes us back to repairing the hall.”
“Got it,” Glade said, a spark of hope kindling within as Ember outright cheered. “That means we need to appoint someone else to a council position seeing as Riya’s mana levels are low for obvious reasons.”
He turned to Bragden. "The good news is there are two positions you qualify for - magic or knowledge. Which of the two positions do you think would benefit us the most?
“Probably knowledge…” Bragden began before being interrupted.
“Naw, we’d likely get better bonuses if’n ye filled the magic role,” Krazzik interrupted, turning to Glade. “His specialization be Astral Enchanter, not to mention…”
“Kraz!” Bragden barked. “That not be somethin to be sharin and ye know it!”
“Wait, you have a specialization in astral magic as an enchanter!?!” Kedryn asked with a stunned look. “When were you going to let us know? I have so many questions!”
Glade kept quiet, curious how Bragden would answer. He and Kedryn had chosen to share most, if not all, of their secrets with the dwarves when he had accepted the blood bond. While he believed that everyone had the right to privacy, placing someone with trust issues into a position of authority was not wise.
“I swear, Kraz, yer far too trustin and open mouthed to be a clan chief,” Bragden growled. “We just met this lot and not only did ye adopt their leader into the clan, but yer blabbin all our secrets like some underage girl who hasn’t grown her first set o' whiskers!”
“They be needin to know sooner than later,” Karazzik said with an unapoloetic shrug. “Besides, yer specialization already be given the clan a bonus. Just think what it might do bein tied to a named settlement!”
“May the Mother keep me from tenderhearted idiots and trusting fools,” Bragden sighed, turning back to Glade. “Krazzik be right, it likely be better for everyone if’n I take the slagging councilman o’ magic position.”
Glade took a deep breath, deliberately pulling away from the feelings of excitement he was getting bombarded with from Ember. It was easy to get lost in the moment with those surges of emotion, but this new revelation, and Bragden’s open reluctance to share important information, was an issue he had to deal with now.
“While I appreciate your advice, however reluctant it might be, I want you to know that I will not ask you to divulge information you are not willing to openly share. Afterall, we are still getting to know one another.”
“Spoken like a man who understands…” Bragden began.
“That being said,” Glade interrupted. “I would rather expend all the mana from the core than allow someone who isn’t willing to reciprocate trust access to this settlement's information and power. While I'd like to give you that time to build trust, we don't have it. You have a choice to make, Bragden Grimheart. Either swear an oath that you will share with us information critical in making this place as great as it can be, or you will be asked to leave the circle of leadership governing our path until you feel we have earned your trust.”
“You expect me to swear an oath to a slagging human?” Bragden snarled, his hands tightening into fists.
“No,” Glade said, refusing to back down. “Swearing an oath to any fallible person is the most short-sighted, moronic action anyone could possibly make. People, regardless of race, be they human, elf, dwarf, gnome, or whatever other species there is on this planet, can be petty, self-centered, and corruptible. No. I refuse to begin building this settlement in a way that history has proven time and time again to be faulty.”
“I’m not sure what Storms' Rest was, and I’m not certain what this place will be in the future, but what we need is a place of refuge where anyone of good, moral, and honorable character can live free of oppression, advance as they are able, and uplift those who can’t do so for themselves. I’d rather die having left this world, or any world for that matter, a better place for us having simply trodden its untold paths.”
"And a place to be able to find my team and get us home," Glade added silently. Ember whole heartedly agreed with him.
“No, Bragden. I do not want you to swear an oath to me. I want you to swear an oath to us. Both to your clan and to your new settlement. To those who seek the opportunity to grow and achieve. To the ideal of what Storms' Rest can be!”
By the end of his impassioned speech, Glade was gasping for breath, the fire in his broken arm and chest burning nearly as brightly as Ember’s excitement.
Congratulations! You have uncovered a hidden settlement quest! Restore the Storm I. Your impassioned plea has uncovered the first of Storms' Rest’s foundational ideals, to provide refuge for those true of heart to grow.
Reward: 500XP; complete restoration of one structure within the settlement core’s area of effect; the dedication and absolute loyalty of Clan Slaghammer to the discovered ideal of Storms' Rest.
Glade’s eyes widened as he read through the notification. That he had stumbled onto another hidden quest was hard enough to believe, but having one of the rewards be exactly what they needed to survive? That was beyond coincidental. And how could he receive a reward forcing the clan not only be loyal, but absolutely loyal?
“By the Mother,” Krazzik whispered, interrupting Glade’s thoughts. “Count me in!”
Without hesitation, the clan chief dropped to one knee on the frozen ground, clapping his good arm to his chest in a salute.
An indescribable weight, much like what Glade had felt when committing to the blood bond, settled over the group.
“What do ye think ye’re doin!” Bragden cried, his eyes widening in panic. “Get up, ye moron!”
“I, Krazzik Slaghammer, Chief o’ Clan Slaghammer, do swear me and me clan to the ideal of what Storms' Rest should be. A refuge from the world so those true o’ heart can grow in strength with the intent to right the wrongs in the world. For this purpose, I pledge me hammer to strike down, or build up, so long as the cause be honorable. This I swear.”
A loud rumble sounded in the distance as another notification appeared.
Congratulations! Krazzik Slaghammer, chief of the Slaghammer clan, has sworn himself and his clan to adhere to the first ideal of Storms' Rest. As the first person to swear an oath, Krazzik Slaghammer has been awarded the Title – First Storm – and has been granted a new Brand.
“By the Mother,” Bragden pled. “Kraz, what have ye done?”
“Thank you, my friend,” Glade responded quietly, his mind reeling at everything that had just happened. All he had wanted to do was impress upon Bragden the importance of trust. Instead, they were uncovering ancient ideals of long-lost powers that, quite frankly, scared him. There was no telling what they were getting themselves into. If it wasn’t for Ember’s relentless surge of emotions that kept him going, or the others overexcited nods of approval, well, all but Bragden's, he would have renounced everything right then and there.
But for reasons beyond his understanding, what had just happened felt… right.
Words came unbidden to his mind.
“Krazzik Slaghammer, your oath is recognized and accepted. I too, swear these oaths, my only addition is that I, as the Master of Storms, with the help of my First and Second, as well as that of the council, will do everything in my power to shape the storms that rage from our rest for the betterment of all.”
Not seeing any reason to wait, Glade cashed in on the reward promised by the hidden quest. He hoped the magical repair would be dramatic enough to grab Bragden’s, as well as the others who had been slowly making their way to the dais to eavesdrop on their conversation, attention.
He wasn’t disappointed.
Thunder roared from the throne, shaking the ground with such force that everyone stumbled to the ground. In moments, half a dozen tempests of wind sprang into existence throughout the ruins, pulling rock, snow, and debris from the ground and into each of the swirling maelstrom’s maws.
Wherever the whirlwinds went, order followed. Hundreds of stones flew through the air, caught by the tempests and stacked, one atop the other, in perfect balance. Damaged floors and walls were torn down and built back in seconds, streaks of silent lightning flew through the air to fuse stones, mend cracks, and melt sand to create glass for the windows. Even trees from the outside were uprooted, stripped, and shaped into massive beams that were used to reinforce the stone roof.
The entire group stood rooted to their spots, mesmerized as the hall reformed from the ground up. What was even more miraculous, not a single person was injured. Unseen currents of wind gently lifted surprised dwarves aside or redirected flying objects.
In moments, the whirlwinds faded, the hall fully restored. It wasn’t as large as Glade had imagined, but what it lacked in size it made up for in elegance.
The stone walls were beautifully fused together with crystal clear arched windows intersperesed along the two sides. The cathedral-like ceilings were supported by pristine beams of wood that were not only sanded, but stained to a high gloss. There was even a variety of tables and chairs placed strategically throughout the hall, prominent among them the intricately carved chairs surrounding the throne Glade was sitting on. And there was more. So much more.
Out of the stillness, Dabbin rushed up to his father, wrapping his arms around his waist, and said what everyone else was feeling.
“Ta-da!”