22nd of Ab, 119 years since megados eruption
Had a terrible hibernation this time around. Couldn't sleep properly, Kept on getting half-woken by this annoying dream where an eel was whispering something right next to my ear. That's the sort of shit I dream about when I don't sleep enough. Now that I think about it, I don't remember sleeping much last year. I got too focused.
Which transitions perfectly into what Aesmo's been up to while I was asleep. She processed almost all of the ore into dense metal dust pillars. Apparently if you heat up metal dust it sticks together like wet sand. So now we have big pillars of metal in the entrance room. It actually looks pretty beautiful.
To be honest, I realize the utter unencessity of the metal dust. It's just a byproduct of my mining. The big project last year didn't solve the problem, just postponed it. It's time to solve the issue. I have two potential solutions. One is to just trade it off to someone, the second is to make a vault.
The problem with the first solution is that anything i trade it with will itself now be something I need to deal with. There's only so much stuff to trade for, and the standard gold has no use to me. I guess I can trade for mythril, but then what? Stockpile it to sell later on? Actually I guess that'll work. Option 1; Trade for Mythril.
The second solution is to vault it all. Obvious problem of finding a good place to vault it. Secondary problem of people like Mike coming in and trying to steal it. Though I guess protecting against thieves is what vaults are for. The thing with vaults is that they limited in space, which is the problem I'm trying to solve right now. I guess this is a dead end.
So it seems like my only option that I can think of is to trade everything for mythril. With what I have right now, the amount of mythril I can buy should fit in my personal pouch, which is perfectly safe from any thieves. Yeah, this seems like a wonderful idea.
Alright, now that I'm done with that tangent, time to talk about Aesmo. Or more specifically the half dozen new centipedes in our home. Starting from least concerning, the different mandibles they have is perfectly normal. It's like horns or hair; they grow however they want, regardless of any genetic influences. The main thing to note is that they're all equally sharp, enough to cut through dragon hide. Which just means Aesmo has an army capable of harming dragons. Fuck.
Next on the concerning list, distinctive personalities. Mostly normal, except that they're clearly sapient. Even the newborns, which means their sapience isn't from consuming dragon blood, but due to Aesmo having sapience. Which technically means they're a new race of sapients. I'll let Aesmo name the race once she wakes up. I'm busy figuring out whether or not this makes me a matriarch. I hope it doesn't.
Now for the most concerning things. Desmo has fire resistance, somehow. Jesmo and Kesmo are naturally talented at making magic circles. Cesmo is either crazy or has a power I've never heard of. And Hesmo is learning to cook with dragon blood... by mixing stuff into it. That should be poisonous. Actually, it was; I had stomach pain for a whole day after eating the 'soup'. The centipedes are doing just fine though. Fuck. I'm harboring living bioweapons. What the fuck am I supposed to do about this?
11th of Aes, 119 years since megados eruption
I've chosen to ignore it. It's not like anyone else knows about them, and I guess it'll be easy enough to hide their more deadly capabilities. Yep, as far as anyone else will know, I'm just a normal dragon living with normal centipedes as pets. Or maybe servants considering they're doing various jobs. (What are we actually to you?) [???]
Now that I've dealt with that question, next is a new problem. Turns out the whispering dreams aren't just for hibernation. I swear am I being cursed? What kind of curse causes harmless but creepy dreams? It's making me feel anxious. (Maybe that's the goal) Good news is that I have just the thing to counter curses (assuming it is one). The tarilite I have absorbs flowing mana from spells and stuff, which should protect me from curses since it's a type of spell. The best method is to consume the dust, which would mean I can't use 'erase memory' for a while. (You can erase memories?) Not that I've used it recently.
Actually, what other spells do I know? I don't remember the last learning ritual I did, so let's try one tomorrow just to find out how many spells I know. My guess is three (I guess 5). It'll at least tell me how many spells I should know. Fun fact, the average sapient can learn up to 4 spells before being physically unable to learn more due to how long the ritual takes. The average for dragons is unknown, but estimated to be around 6. The 7th learning ritual takes a year. No one really tries any more because it takes so long for minimal advantages.
Anyways, after that I'm going to a bunch of places to see if I can trade the metal dust for mythril. Both ore and ingot, doesn't matter. I guess I should look for an upgrade for the pickaxe; the rock I'm mining dulls it too quickly.
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Brildlid was supposed to be retired. He was much too old to be traveling across Nuvil. If you asked him, he'd say he was still recovering from the dragon attack last year (He was unharmed, but the king appointed him as the royal treasurer for the castle's reconstruction and it caused him much stress).
He was definitely too old to be on a ship traveling to Gimhil. And yet, here he was, on a rickety old ship half his age. He had to source the metals needed for the castle. Plenty of iron, copper, some tin or zinc. The king refused lead, instead choosing tarilite for the vault (the vault would now be under the castle). The only place that Brildlid could go to buy all that would be Mikael, the Nickel River.
Unfortunately for Brildlid, Mikael was currently on the edge of a civil war. Something about taxes and lack of good roads led to the miners refusing to work on odd numbered days. Strange to Brildlid, but he wasn't here to judge. He was here to get what he needed and leave quickly.
Of course, when a dragon flew over the city and started circling, then it became Brildlid's problem. Lockdown meant he couldn't leave, or even trade.
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What made it even worse was when Brildlid recognized the dragon. Dull scales, undamaged wings, small for a dragon, and a horseman's pick. This was the very same dragon that terrorized traded in Throldhaven two years ago. The beginning of his problems. But right now, he saw an opportunity.
The city guards were anxious, assuming the worst. They had only a single ballista, but even that wouldn't physically damage a dragon. Yet the dragon kept on circling above, seemingly waiting. Then it landed to the now clear central square. It commanded for mythril, both ore and ingot. An outlandish request at the best of times, and Mikael was not in the best situation.
Then a brave fool stepped forward, and told the dragon to wait until they could gather the mythril. Surprisingly, the dragon accepted, and waited. For two days it sat in the square, unflinching and unconcerned for the guards surrounding it in the shadows. A few even hoped the dragon unaware of the trap.
Behind the scenes, Brildlid was frantic. First, a conversation with the captain of the guard, to not strike until his 'preparations' were ready. The captain was conflicted, but chose to trust the fool, for they seemed confident in their plan. Brildlid then went to the miners. They were bunkering in their vaults, theirs because the nobles who owned it have already ran away.
To the miner's dismay, the fool wanted to give the dragon what it wanted. However, they begrudgingly agreed, understanding that even if the plan failed and the dragon ran off with the mythril, they'd survive by hiding in the vaults. The alternative was for the dragon to come to the vaults.
The next problem was an assumed problem. Preparing transportation of heavy objects. The problem was, where to transport to, and who would pay for it. For this, Brildlid tried to contact the city's lord. Unfortunately, the lord was a coward who refused to even speak. So instead, Brildlid went to the merchants.
A strange offer. Come with me to meet the dragon with your own wagon or cart. Half of what you can fit in the cart is your payment. Only two merchants were desperate enough to agree. One more made a bet with those that remained. He bet that the two merchants would become rich. There was a lost of money at stake, to Brildlid's dismay.
On the third day, a cartful of mythril ingots, and two of mythril ore was brought before the dragon. It nodded, and from its pouch took out a dozen vases, each vase the size of Brildlid. It then put the mythril into its pouch, then flew off. The captain did not know whether to be angry at the fool, or happy, for nothing had happened and all it had costed them was time.
The miners received unexpected payment of eight vases. Of course, it was their mythril, and there was no one who complained. The two merchants each got a vase. It was full of something, but the size made it impossible to open. They'd need a crane to lift the lid. Brildlid had offered two each instead, but they believed he deserved to be paid for being the brave fool who saved the city.
The winner of the bet, a sole merchant, left the city in a rush. He had a story to tell, and knew how to sell it for more money. The rest of the city was woken up from their collective fainting. As streets refilled and shops opened, it was as if the dragon never came. Sans the now independent miners. And poorer merchants.
Brildlid was now in a tough situation. He still needed to buy the metals he came for, yet the miners and merchants would recognize him as either the hero or the fool (some even wondered if he was an opportunistic thief). He sent out his secretary, hoping they wouldn't be cheated out of good metal.
What Brildlid didn't expect was the price of their needed materials being cut to a fraction of their original prices. He left with a ship full of metal and not even a half of his money spent. Maybe the miners lowered the price because there were no longer any nobles who wanted to line their own pockets? He hoped that was the case.
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30th of Aes, 119 years since megados eruption
So I apparently know 8 spells. Or 9, depending on how long the 8th learning ritual takes. This obviously concerns me, because what were the other spells I'm supposed to know? I'll ask mom next time I go and see her.
Anyways, I successfully traded for some mythril. I don't know if I overpaid or underpaid, but as a dragon it apparently doesn't matter. As in, no one stops you if you underpaid. Honestly I don't like that, but not like I can do anything about that. Seeing as how successful that went, I think I'll do that with all of the metal dust we get from now on. At least, until we run out of metal.
So, the whisper dreams are starting to fade away. Sort of? The visual aspect of the dream is gone, that's normal. The weird part is that, even when I'm dreaming of something else, I can still hear a faint whisper. If it weren't for the fact that centipedes can't talk, I'd have assumed it was Aesmo or someone pulling a prank on me. At least the tarilite seems to be having an effect.
Now that we have space, I think I'll start mining again. I'll make some rooms for the other centipedes; up until now they've been sharing Aesmo's room, but it was getting cramped in there. I'll also dig deeper towards the mana spire. I should be near it now.
14th of An, 119 years since megados eruption
Whoops. According to Aesmo i spent a month mining. That's fun. She stopped me because we ran out of places to put the metal dust. And also Jesmo fucked up the magic circle powering everything. And the hydra tree had a parasitic mushroom infestation. And also the tumor was growing and also leaking blood and sweat. (You forgot about Besmo becoming poisonous.)
Let me start with what I mined out. 7 new rooms, each room is for two centipedes to share. I'll make more rooms later. I also mined about 90 meters deeper. I found the tip of the mana spire, and what seems to be an artificial structure. As in a wooden door. It was decayed and broke apart the moment I tried to move it, but it was definitely a door. Strangely, it wasn't connected to anything, nor was there a visible doorway. There might be a buried building deeper down. (How does that even happen. We're on a mountain)
Next is Jesmo's fuck-up. She managed to invert the third ring to make the circle short circuit and fizzle out. Which is lucky since inverting a third ring normally causes an explosion. Good thing we're in the wastes. Now, what concerns me is that Kesmo managed to recreate the circle, though smaller, on Desmo. As a prank (Desmo would've been fine). This is how I found out that the centipedes have no innate mana.
Fun fact, most organisms need at least a little mana in them to survive. The only things that don't are usually parasites. I guess Aesmo did start as a parasite (rude), but I wonder if having no mana as a sapient will have any effects? Oh well, it doesn't matter for now.
What does matter is the hydra tree's infestation. I checked the mushrooms and it seemed like chaga. Which is sort of good, actually. Chaga is fairly harmless despite acting as a parasite (like me :} ). It's a fairly bland tasting mushroom, but apparently it's good for your health. I say apparently, because no one actually bothers to check those types of claims. At least it isn't dangerous. We can ignore it for now.
Now, onto the tumor. To be honest I forgot about it until Aesmo reminded me. So it's definitely growing. And also bleeding and sweating. It's really creepy. According to Cesmo it's hungry and wants to eat anything (You believe her?) [I've seen weirder]. I'll feed it some chaga and hope that sates its hunger. If not, I'll have to hang it up and get it to calm down. I mean, I'm hanging it up anyways, can't let free blood go to waste. Especially since there's more centipedes to feed.
Addendum; Ok, what the fuck is up with my centipedes? Besmo's poisonous now. As in, ingesting anything she touches makes us sick. I can only guess what this would do to anyone that isn't a dragon or concerningly strong centipede. I've banned Besmo from the food room for all of our sakes. If she wants to eat she'll need to ask someone to deliver it to her.
Now, how the fuck did this happen? Besmo hasn't done anything unusual, unlike Desmo. I can't just ignore this. This affects all of us.