Glade appeared on the dais in a flash of light and looked around the crowded hall. Krazzik was laughing and slapping backs with the group of fighters that had done so well against the greater slime. They were outfitted with whatever weapons and shields they had on hand and were surrounded by a couple dozen spider golems.
Bragden and Kedryn were engaged in what looked to be an intense conversation with Patch, the clan’s quartermaster. It was clear that varying shades of dwarven politics were in use as Bragden’s finger was systematically poking into Patch’s the chest, the logistician growling loud enough for everyone to hear reference to the clan charter more than once.
Those who had been conscripted by both Gent and Croon to help cook were coming and going with platters of meat. Glade’s stomach growled as the smell of what he assumed was smoked ice drake assaulted his senses. He was famished!
Just as he was about to make his way to the cooking area, a small boy ran through crowd giving out random high fives. A smile crossed Glade’s lips as he watched Dabbin dart through the milling dwarves.
A flash of white and blue chasing after Krazzik’s son caused Glade to do a double take. His jaw dropped as he watched the astral striker spider following closely behind Dabbin with a leathery ice drake wing hanging from its mandibles, bouncing on its many legs like a loyal puppy following its best friend.
“Just how long have I been asleep?” Glade stammered. He continued to stare at the boy and his new pet spider. From the looks and mild cries of surprise, it was readily apparent the dwarves weren’t as comfortable with the situation as Dabbin was. Then again, not a single person stopped them either.
“The boy tamed the spider last night,” Riya explained with a gentle smile, stepping up to stand next to Glade. Her gaze was one of wonder and affection as she watched the two dart around as if playing a game of tag. “I think he knew his father was planning to exterminate the creature after we left. Dabbin spent all night trying to befriend Ghost…”
“Ghost?” Glade asked with genuine surprise. “He’s already named it?”
“Oh, the boy’s done more than just name the beast,” Riya laughed. “Woke up his father by trying to ride Ghost up the side of the wall. As near as we can tell, the two were trying to climb up to the ceiling and dangle over Krazzik in an ill-conceived attempt to surprise him.”
Glade gave her an incredulous look.
“You think I’m joking?” Riya laughed. “It was funnier than seeing a dwarven maid serving tea! The moment when Dabbin fell onto Krazzik's lap just as Ghost began scurrying up the wall was priceless! To make matters worse, the spider turned around to check on Dabbin. Can you guess who, or should I say what, our esteemed clan chief saw first?”
A picture formed in Glade's mind of Krazzik’s cry of alarm as he found a doberman sized spider hanging off the wall directly above him. The thought made Glade laugh so hard that his chest hurt.
“What else did I miss?” Glade asked, wiping a tear from his eye.
“Besides hearing Krazzik scream like a little girl? Not much,” Riya returned his smile tenfold. “The plans are moving forward at pace. Kedryn was able to pull myself, Bragden, Krazzik, and a few others together last night to flesh out the details of our upcoming excursion. Krazzik and Gent were placed in charge of clearing the catacombs. Croon and some others have been smoking the majority of the ice drake meat since last night. The jerky should tide us over for several days if we have trouble hunting. Bragden and Kedryn are working with Patch to finalize our supplies…”
“Yeah, I see them,” Glade broke in, his mirth fading somewhat. While clearing the catacombs and preparing travel rations were a great help, he would likely have to weigh in with Patch to get what they needed for the trip. He had found most dwarves to be difficult to deal with at the best of times, but their quartermaster was a special case. “I’ll head over and make our requirements clear to our stingy friend, Patch. I’m not going into the unknown without the best gear we can muster.”
He had taken a step toward the group when Riya caught his arm.
“No need,” she said quickly. “Kedryn convinced Patch to part with whatever we needed.”
Glade’s eyebrow shot up in surprise. “Kedryn convinced Patch? How?”
He didn’t mean to sound so shocked, but this was Kedryn they were talking about. It was one thing to believe Bragden or Krazzik had convinced Patch, but Kedryn?
“It wasn’t that hard really,” Riya said. “He has the highest charisma of everyone here, so its natural that others would want to listen to him. Also, once Patch learned we were heading to one of the human free cities he happily filled our packs with whatever we wanted.”
“That’s all well and good, but we need to be careful about weight,” Glade explained. “We'll be traveling with literally the packs on our back. That gets exhausting after a while, I imagine we'll be on the road for a long time. Not only do we need the essentials, but we also need to bring some coin and items to trade so we can pay the dwarves’ tax as well as purchase a substantial amount of goods for the settlement. That includes horses and carts to ferry the equipment back, enough food to last us several months if not years… Why are you looking at me like that?”
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“Kedryn sounds just like you,” Riya said with a smirk. “Also, Bragden and Krazzik can do that in their sleep. It honestly didn’t take long. We’ve identified how much in coin we’re taking, the number of shards, and other items that we can sell or trade for a substantial profit. My only real concern is being robbed before we get there.”
Surprised, Glade turned back to where Bragden and Patch were heatedly arguing back and forth with one another.
“Then why are the arguing?” he asked.
“About that, Patch provided a list of items he believes we need to better establish ourselves here at Storms’ Rest,” Riya said, a look of concern crossing her face as the quartermaster’s exacting tone broke through the din of the hall.
“…according to the Clan Charter! As such, it is my prerogative to prioritize the material goods o’ the clan. I don’t care how many times ye say it, a slagging still is not a priority!”
At that last comment, several dwarves stopped what they were doing and gave the quartermaster an incredulous look. Some even took a threatening step toward the quartermaster.
“Both are a bit passionate about what they believe is important,” Riya said quietly. “They’ve been going at it for well over two hours and I don’t foresee them stopping any time soon. Especially, if some of the others take it upon themselves to join in.”
Glade slowly nodded as he continued to watch the verbal altercation evolve before his eyes. He had no desire to be in the middle of another dwarven debate.
“I guess I’ll go help with clearing the upper levels of the catacombs then,” Glade began.
“And we’d normally like to have ye join us,” Krazzik said with a grin as he joined them on the dais. “But we need to learn how to work without yer particular skill sets seein as yer leavin us for a month or three. We’ve got plenty o’ golems to help hunt the slagging spiders and whatever else is down there, but our boys need to learn how to work with ‘em. This will be good training. Besides, if’n we need yer help, we’ll be sending up the signal.”
“And what signal would that be?” Glade asked as he fought down his disappointment. He had been looking forward to clearing the tunnels.
“That be a right good question. Seein as yer blood and all, I feel that it be safe to share with ye an ancient dwarvish tactic that brings reinforcements a runnin. Pay attention, as this has been handed down from father to son for centuries,” Krazzik whispered conspiratorially, drawing Glade in. “Now, if’n that time comes, it’ll look an awful lot like us runnin mad, screamin our bloody heads off for you and the royal to burn whatever be chasin us to cinders. If’n ye see that, well, ye can bet yer last gold tooth that be the signal!”
Krazzik roared with laughter at his own joke and slapped Glade so hard on the back that he stumbled forward.
“You’re a hoot,” Glade groaned. He didn’t know whose humor was worse, Krazzik’s or Hero’s. His Chinese friend was a brilliant soldier but couldn't tell a joke if he read it from a book. Seeing that he wasn’t going to help with the catacombs, Glade went to the next item on his mental checklist. “While you’re all doing that, I’ll put together some ideas on what we should spend our mana on before we leave. So you know, I’ve increased the regeneration rate for the settlement core," both Riya and Krazzik smiled at the news, "but there are some things we need to decide as a council. We can discuss those when everyone is back.”
“Already done,” Krazzik said with a wave of his hand. “Kedryn outlined some ideas last night and the rest o’ us agreed. You and the royal need another one o’ those elvish twigs ye call bows with plenty more arrows. They not be as handy or as powerful as a dwarvish crossbow, but they’ll have to do. That’ll cost us roughly 650 mana. Gent and Gird have already found the materials needed and have brought ‘em within the settlement’s area of effect. We’re givin ye all o' the health and mana potions to take with ye, and we’ll use whatever mana is left to make more.”
Glade nodded along. Over the next couple of minutes both Riya and Krazzik outlined the plan they had come up with the night before. It wasn’t perfect, but it was as close as they were going to get. Bragden would join them on their journey to the human free city, which left only Krazzik as the sole person who could use the settlement’s core. This decision also resulted in most of their mana potential leaving, which would significantly reduce the settlement’s growth.
The problem was they couldn’t find a way around it. Glade, Kedryn, and Riya had to leave as part of the quest. Bragden or Krazzik had to represent their clan to the dwarvish ambassador within the free city. Out of the two of them, Bragden made the most sense as he was more educated in the finer points of dwarvish law and politics.
However, the group did come up with a partial solution. Kedryn had suggested they make Croon a temporary council member. Not only would this help with mana potential, but Krazzik would have someone else that he could relatively rely on to do the right thing.
Glade accepted the recommendation and offered the role to Croon, who readily accepted. Another pleasant surprise was the settlement immediately approved the request seeing as the Verser had made a significant contribution by helping them defeat the spider queen.
After that, Krazzik and Riya quickly outlined the settlement’s rationing plan, hunting priorities, and exploring the area. Kedryn had even extended the Keeper’s quest to the entire Slaghammer Clan, going so far as to provide a map to the grotto where the fen turtles' eggs were nested. Both Gird and Bragden were working up a simple detection device to track slimes and the blacksmith was creating star silver bolt tips so they could paralyze the dangerous creatures from a distance.
As the explanation went on, Glade realized that the group had planned everything without him. The only addition he could really make was to enhance Kedryn’s third grade drawing that he called a map, which honestly didn’t take him long because of his new cartographer and drawing skills. It was refreshing in a way that he was once again working with professionals. They weren’t as good as his old team, but they were definitely on top of things.
That left him with only one real problem.
“So, what am I supposed to do?” Glade asked, looking around the hall and seeing that everyone was busily engaged in something or another. He did note that several had joined in the discussion about whether a still was a priority item. Patch remained firm and emphasized the point first with words and then with a fist to a jaw.
“That be stone simple!" Krazzik laughed, handing Glade a small pouch. "Bragden said that once ye were done sulking, that ye need to finish leveling your mana channels before the sun sets or he’ll trade places with Croon.”
An involuntary shiver ran down Glade's spine as he imagined the Verser singing and playing his accordion non stop on their trip.
With a sigh, Glade opened the pouch and found several mana shards glittering back at him. Not seeing any reason to delay, he pulled one out and went in search of a quiet corner. It was going to be a long day.