The inside of Allalessa's house was just as decorated as the gardens. Interior adornments were wood and plaster instead of stone. Every doorway, baseboard, and strip of crown molding was covered in some type of vine or leaf. The paneling in the wainscoting in the foyer was divide into a triptych carving on each side. On the left, the center piece was Celestium floating over the city of Aeseiriral. Rays radiated from him. The rays were discontinuous between the panels but picked back up on either side, striking down foes and empowering allies. The left of the triptych were filed with fields and farmers. The right panel was horde of goblins falling to an army elves.
The triptych on the right was an arrangement of elvish words surrounded by more leaves and vines. I couldn't read the words at first but I recognized the pattern. I searched out the word for [Faith] in elvish, which I did know, and that confirmed that this was a list of the forty-nine Virtues. It was a very pious display. Either Allalessa was very religious or she needed to appear that way. Being a Bard in Aeseiriral was like being a rock and roll star in the 1960's. The young people loved you, but the establishment didn't. Allelessa running for Quaestor was like Elvis trying to get elected as mayor of Memphis.
The walls were white. Even the wainscoting was painted white. The triptych carvings were three dimensional relief. It was religious a nature, and wasn't gaudy. A chandelier hung in the middle of a plaster cartouche on the ceiling, which was two stories high. The lighting elements were Magic crystals. It reminded me of electric lights, something I hadn't seen in a while. The chandelier was gold and trimmed in lapis lazuli, and hung down from the ceiling to height equal to the the second floor.
In the center of the foyer was a stair that split halfway up, and turned in opposite directions before reaching the landing above. The landing railing surrounded the foyer, affording a place to look down on us. A few people were standing up there talking. Directly aligned with the center stairs on the first level was a hallway on the landing above. It would be the perfect place to make a dramatic entrance.
There were exits to my immediate left and right, as well as one under each stair along the back wall. I looked to my left and right and saw more tables filled with food. Several people had wine glasses in each room.
“Oooooh,” I exclaimed.
I started to move to to get some food when Laerenshel sent me a message over [Party Chat]. 'Allalessa is upstairs in the V.I.P. lounge. You can eat later. As if you have not had enough already,' She chastised.
'I only sampled. There were too many vendors to dig in and really eat,' I sent back.
'I think if I ate that much I would hurt,' Emearia added.
'Isn't that how you know you're full,' I asked, a little confused.
Both of them looked at me like I had grown a second head.
I sighed at the loss of more goodies, but I had business to attend to.
“Let's go ladies,” I said.
We climbed the stairs with a few onlookers and went around to the hallway. I felt something wash over me like I was passing through a portal between Dungeon Levels. The hallway ended in a T-junction. There was table with a large, white, gold trimmed urn holding what looked like white ostrich feathers blocking the path to right. To the left I could see people mingling in a room at the end of that hallway.
When I entered the room Laerenshel said, 'Remember, select a place and let her come to us.'
I had no problem finding where to go. There were more tables full of food here. I headed to the one with the most meats. Or what I thought was meat. This table was a collection of different types of shellfish. Several glowed with obvious traces of Magic. It was all fingerfood so I got a plate and filled up with a selection.
The first one was a shrimp or prawn, coverd in a blue-white sauce. It had a shrimpy taste as I expected, but also a creamy flavor followed by a hint of a sweet and tart berry. The really impactful part was when I remembered the orcs falling to our blades and bows. The Legion had scoured the shores, descending with death from above. The orc at my feet had died easily, but the next few in the redoubt along the coast would not be so easy.
As I stared at my plate trying to figure out how I was remembered something that never happened to me, the attendant said, “That is about a third of the way into the battle. It really is best if you start at the left side of the table and work your way down.”
My insightful response was, “Battle?”
“Yes the Battle of Einlach Beach. It was the most heated fighting in last year's campaign. All three of the legionaires awarded the Honorable Combatant Ribbon are included in the rememberance. They are the end and should be eaten rapid succession to get the full effect,” he said proudly.
“I should start at this end,” I said pointing to my left.
He nodded vigorously.
'You are not going to eat a whole rememberance, are you,' Learenshel asked, over [Party Chat].
'Am I breaking a social taboo or something,' I asked.
'No, but I cannot finish a remembrance when I am famished. You just at two meals worth of food outside,' she sent.
'No, I ate two plates worth of food. There is a difference,' I corrected her.
I said, “Hold my beer,” as I materialized a stein of the best red beer I could find out of my [Inventory]. It wasn't quite a Killians Red, but it was close.
“Why should I hold this,” she asked as she took the beer.
“It's custom among my people,” I shared.
“Why,” she asked perplexed.
“It signifies I'm about to something with a good chance of failure. Holding my beer means you'll either be impressed or get to laugh at me.”
She stood taller and asked, “I will be your judge?”
“Yeah,” is said. She was judgy person, she would be good at that.
I moved to the beginning of the table and began the mind movie with what appeared to be a pig-in-blanket. It was actually a juicy sausage in a honey glazed puff pastry. Sweet and savory well done!
The Wing Centurion gave the command and we began to shower the beach with arrows. We drove their battle casters under cover while the third century began the landing phase. Each new food item gave a new insight into the progression of the battle. There was a spiced whitefish that led to visualizing a mass of elves swarming against three breached towers on a barrier island that was little more than a sandbar. The shrimp I had previously had eaten showed the battle at the redoubts had taken place at hastily erected fortifications on the second beachhead. A crab cake recalled a bloody fight in coastal salt marsh at the foot of sea cliffs. The bloodshed in the visions was starting to affect my appetite, but I pushed on, wanting to finish the story. After the fighting moved up and over the craggy black cliffs, the attack on the coastal batteries began. Narrow horizontal gaps in the cliff facings provide windows for casters and siege weapons to fire from.
At the end of the buffet the last three dishes showed stories of the three elves who had earned the Honorable Combatant Ribbon. Each completed an assault virtually single handed. The first two taking out primary bunkers and the third penetrating deeply into the warren of tunnels at the back of a bunker. The vision of elf fighting through the tunnels portrayed not just his death but the elation of victory after his resurrection. The three Honorable Combatants single minded drive to win reminded me of Audie Murphy in to Hell and Back.
The medal winners' memories all came from ice cream bonbons. The first was sea salt caramel ice cream bonbon with milk chocolate shell painted over a hardened caramel shell. The second was mint ice cream with a dark chocolate shell. The final was a butter pecan ice cream with a sweet milk chocolate shell drizzled with butterscotch.
The attendant at the of the table was beside himself.
“You finished my remembrance! In the home of Allalessa. I will savor this moment always! Thank you, sir! Might I know your name,” he begged.
“Eric Swindall,” I replied. “Thank you. It was memorable in more way than one.”
If possible the elf seemed even happier.
“How did you manage to eat all of that,” Laerenshel asked.
“Rapidly. The secret to [Gluttony] is to eat so fast your body doesn't know it's full yet,” I responded with the pro tip.
At the mention of the Carnal, a few of the elves around me were shocked. Their faces made it seem like I'd let out a loud fart.
You have earned a [Chaos Karma Point] for following your passions to the point of causing yourself pain.
Yeah. I'd take that. The endorphins from feeling stuffed made it worth it.
Allalessa chimed in from behind me, “Even Celestium said, 'A life lived to perfection can only come from the [Cowardice] to test the limits of your character. The motivation to judge others for failing to live a perfect life comes from [Pride].'”
The redheaded Grandmaster Bard slinked up wearing a tight fitting, full length black velvet dress. The strapless dress had a knee high slit up her right leg, revealing black, ankle strap heels.
Visibly [Noticing] the horror that had been on the faces of those around me she commented, “Grant him the indulgence of the bard. Not every bit of [Chaos] is [Evil].”
Everyone seemed to relax at that.
“Thank you, for welcoming me to your home, and for the food,” I said.
“I only delayed in approaching you because you seemed so involved your Quest to finish the remembrance,” she said.
“I didn't know Magic could be used on food like that,” I said.
Learenshel used [Party Chat] to send, 'Invite her to the Party.'
I had forgotten. I sent the invite and Allalessa joined my Party.
“Any object can be ensorcelled. My brother once enchanted a chair to move out from under me as prank. I wrote a song about it him and we both learned our lesson,” she said and we all laughed at her joke.
Almost at the same time she was speaking she put out a sending over [Party Chat], 'Let me appologize again for the trouble I have caused you.'
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
'You did nothing wrong, and I did nothing wrong. The last time we spoke you said you might help me out. Can you get me into the Dungeon? I've spent thirty four gold at the Faction and I still haven't seen the inside of this Dungeon.'
As the laughter was dying down she sent back, 'I might be able to help with that. I will have to consider it.'
“These are my guests Emearia and Laerenshel. Learenshel is big fan. Have you heard it was her enthusiasm in giving out your albums for your campaign that got me in trouble,” I said.
Silently, I followed that up by sending, 'Leanosel said to say 'It sounded [Good].''
Learenshel blushed and Allalessa responded with, “Thank you so much for the support. This is my first election and I want to do well.”
Over [Party Chat] she sent, 'That old elf has everybody marching to a beat for you. All I know is several prominent nobles send their children to you. What is so special about your training sessions?'
Learenshel responded to the compliment with, “It was no trouble! All I had to do was share your songs. It was your music that interested people, not my effort.”
'I will tell you my plans, but I need them to stay secret. Do have your word,' I asked.
“Emearia is fan too. She is a budding song writer,” I said aloud.
'You have my word. I will keep your secrets,' Allalessa sent over [Party Chat]. Her vocal response came right on top of her sending, “What type of music do you like to write?”
Emearia was momentarily befuddled but then said, “Anything with vocals and an energetic tempo.” Through party chat she asked, 'Why did you say I was a song writer?'
'It was the Class you told me not to mention. Isn't that what it does?'
'No! A Grandmaster Songcrafter Crafts with Song. They may create a Song to make a special item, but Crafting by Song is one of the few ways to make Fetishes for the Spirit Arts,' she replied.
“Which of my songs have a tempo you like then,” Allalessa said, continuing the audible conversation we were having.
'Oh. Sorry, Emearia. I didn't know. Allelessa, I have [Recharge Stamina], [Recharge Mana], and [Recharge Chi] at Level 0 from [Limit Breaks]. The groups trains under a teacher provided by Master Meadowwalker, and I refill everyone's pools. The students train at maximum output for hours on end.'
Emearia answered, “'Floor Boss Boogie' is my favorite right now, but before that it was 'Righteous Wrath.'”
Allelessa's eyes got big, and didn't think it had anything to do with 'Righteous Wrath.' She sent, 'The elfess in charge of the substitution schedule for the Dungeon is a friend of mine. If you could include my son in your training course, I am sure that an openings in the Dungeon might come your way from time to time.'
I was little surprised. Allelessa didn't look much older than me, but it was hard to tell with elves and impossible to know for sure because of Magic and Oaths.
“Do your parents know you listen to 'Righteous Wrath?' That is the song I constantly get complaints about,” the bard said.
Emearia said, “I will not tell if you do not. That secret earns me more [Law Karma] than the [Chaos] I get from the music.” Everyone laughed at the irony of using the System loophole for keeping secrets that allowed [Chaos Karma] to help earn [Law Karma].
'Allelessa, we are about to shift the training regime to Dungeons. I'll escort the students through the Dungeons, so they only fight Floor Bosses. That will let them Level by delving instead of Questing. Leveling will go from a decade to less than a year. I'm sure if you paid the standard rates for training we could include your son in the delvings. That is if your friend could supply enough slots for our group.'
“As long you keep the music in perspective the [Chaos] will not overwhelm you,” the Allalessa said in response to Emearia. In [Pary Chat] she said. 'That might take some money, but the detials can be worked out. You may send any correspondence to the the fuchsia and teal post in the mail room in my house. How can I get in touch with you?'
That's how [Post Letter] worked. It didn't require a specific address. It was possible to describe where you wanted the letter to go. Common practice was to put several posts with different descriptions in a room in your house to act to act like a spam filter. There could be a post for close friends, one for business transactions, and even one for creditors and legal notices.
'You can contact me through Bloomemia for negotiations on the specifics and the legal waivers for taking your son into a Dungeon,' I sent.
“Your display at the remembrance was noteable. If you will excuse me I have my own performance to attend,” Allelessa said as she left the V.I.P. lounge.
We milled around the lounge for a while, but I was in no mood for more food. An hour later Allalessa came to stand on her front porch. About dozen people with musical instruments stood behind her. We had moved to the landing on the first step on the left side of the lawn. There were more people in front of her porch standing on the grass, but the view from the step was better.
She activated a Bard Ability and her voice projected. “Thank you for coming. The polls have closed, the votes have been counted...” She had paused for dramatic effect. The only sound that could be heard was the rain falling outside of the walls on the other side of a the [Stormguard] Spell. “...and I won!”
Applause roared across the gathering. I was clapping and yelling too.
When the noise died down she continued, “Thank you everyone who voted for me. Thank you to all those who campaigned for me, led by my campaign manager, Nezhulfor. I must also say Thank you to my family, and my husband. Your support was essential. I will do my best as the new Quaestor General. Enough of that. It is time to celebrate!”
The musicians all readied their instruments. A drummer started in a familiar beat followed by bassline. 'Floor Boss Boogie' was a great song to start with. For the rest of the night Allalessa proved she truly was a Grandmaster Bard of the Concert. The audience enjoyed it. There was some foot tapping, and a lot of head bobbing and swaying, but no one danced. I made us look like the extras from Flashdance. I wanted to dance but I was too sated. The rest of the evening was a wonderful time, made more so by being in the company of friends.
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It had taken almost an hour to run to the Shrine. It was near one of the city gates that led from the Inner Lands to the Outer Lands. The very last wall between the elven territory and the wilderness beyond was within sight. There was always a guard or two posted at every shrine in Aeseiriral, but there were several here. I topped up Aern'Lenninisal and myself before making an sacrifice at the Shrine. Normally I used a copper coin, the bare minimum for connecting to the shrine and getting a buff. This time I used a gold.
The Concealment Spirit of the Shrine accepts your offering and grants the Greater Blessing of Concealment for one week.
Over [Party Chat] chat he sent, 'That is why you were so evasive about why were coming here. My Blessing is not as good as the Amulets Master Meadowwalker has lent us. Did a gold sacrifice do better?'
'Yes. Greater Blessing of Concealment. It ought to be as good as the Amulet and it lasts a week. That's not why I brought you here. Turn on [Double Temporal Flow] and jump through the [Portal] as fast as you can. If the edge catches you it'll cut off a limb.
He furrowed his brow for a moment but then agreed.
I reach out with my [Nodes] Implement Ability to the Shrine. When I was linked I searched out the nearby Shrine of Dexterity. I had previously connected to it by making the minimum sacrifice, so I was on the list of Shrines I could use for [Recall] or in this case, as an Implement for my [Local Portal].
Shrines and Standing Stones were natural [Nodes] occuring at the intersection of two or more [Ley Lines]. Using the [Node] as an implement extended my range with [Local Portal] from strides to leagues. Using two [Nodes] at once doubled my range again. I had to use one Point of Spell Power for a two second [Portal] and one Point of Spell Power to make the [Portal] two strides across. I used [Empower Spell: Local Portal] to add two Spell Power to bring me up to a total of eight. That gave me a range of twelve leagues.
The [Portal] snapped open and we lept through to the Dexterity Shrine. The guards here were a group of elves from Aeseiriral. It wasn't in the city proper, but it was close enough to place guards here just in case. The two legionaires went into an attack stance with their spears when we appeared out of a whole in the air.
“Just passing through, guys,” I said using the [Tongues] Spell my friend had cast on me. I realized I still had [Double Temporal Flow] up. I toggled it off long enough to repeat myself so they could understand me better. I think I recognized one of the elves from when I passed through here two days ago. The guards relaxed and I cast my Spell again. This time I reached out to a Stone Shrine. This was only ten leagues away so I gave us an extra second on the [Local Portal] Spell duration. With [Double Temporal Flow] it seemed like six seconds, which was nice.
I kept jumping from Shrine to Shrine, stopping only long enough to recharge my Mana every few jumps. Eventually we passed through the Manticore Shrine just outside of the mountian village of Fairmount that we had stopped at all those months ago. The Shrines that I visited while travelling with Harmin and his caravan formed the basis of the route I took back to Everdale. I had only needed a few days prior to this journey to visit enough Shrines to complete a continous sets of hops between Aeseiriral and Everdale.
The first goal to be reached was not the city itself. It took five minutes to reach a Shrine on the outskirts of Everdale. From there it took half an hour to arrive at the [Chaotic Evil] Dungeon Entrance. We made our way down to the Shrine to Manticore on Level 3. From there I used [Local Portal] to hop to a Shrine in the mountains outside of the Dungeon, and then into the [Chaotic Neutral] Dungeon. It didn't matter which part of the Dungeon we were in after we activated our day passes, so we got to bypass the line for the [Chaotic Neutral] entrance.
I had managed to get in on the previous Mindelday, when the rush of [Lawful Neutral] Adventurers was at a lull. I travelled down and connected to several Shrines in that Dungeon entrance. A few hops later we stepped out of a [Portal] on the fifth floor. We were on a small island in the middle of tiny, underground, salt water lake.
Neon green was splattered unevenly around the cavern walls, like a glow stick factory got in a fight with a rollercoaster. Highlights of glowing yellow and red were spread about too. Bioluminesence blue came from the surface of the water. This place could host a rave and didn't even have a blacklight yet.
'It's a Shrine to Kraken,' I sent. 'Go ahead and connect to it.'
He smiled and replied, 'Thanks! This is even better than finding out we could get to Everdale without going through a Gate operator. Your annoying and mysterious silence has resulted in a welcome surprise.'
He performed the ritual of giving a sacrificial offering of a copper to the Shrine. The Blessing gave bonuses to confusion effects if I recalled correctly. That wasn't the point.
'I don't know how to get to all the Shrines that connect to the Constellation of Kraken this Shrine is a part of yet, but I'm working on it. Would you like to contract with me to take you to them in exchange for you teaching me [Kraken Style],' I asked silently.
'Yes! Are you going to take me to complete the Constellations for all of the Houses of the Zodiac,' he replied.
'I am, but those are seperate contracts. That will let you get [Law] and [Balance Karma Points] for each one we visit,' I sent.
We made another agreement for the Shrine to Minotaur in the [True Neutral] Dungeon entrance and the corresponding Style. Then we went to work grinding for Karma in the [Chaotic Evil] Dungeon entrance. Aern'Lenninisal had a contract to decore my kills, and now he would be able to get permission to leave Aeseiriral to travel to the Shrines as contract Quests. My plan to get him set to Level up free from the need for Quests was shaping up. All I needed now was to find him some more Quests to reach Level 9 so we could start.
Near the middle of the morning we went into Everdale to sign him up for an open [Lawful Neutral] Quest. We had to travel to the Shrine near the Southern Entrance Segment. It's possible to leave a city from a Shrine with the [Local Portal] Spell, but arriving is a bit different. Even if I could breech the [Wards] stopping it, the guards at the [Portal] would certainly object to it. We could have travelled directly into the city by going through a Gate, but I was getting tired of dropping a gold for each of us to do that. Now that I had this system down I could afford to come to Everdale everyday.
The Quest he signed up for was to help the crowds around the temple on Celestiumday. It wasn't as bad as it was on Mindelday. The [Lawful Good] population was the second largest in Everdale so their ceremonies still caused a commotion. He ended getting assigned to group that was keeping the roads clear. I left him to play in traffic while I went to get lunch.
Sandwiches weren't a very popular food in Aeseiriral, especially hoagie style sandwiches. I had found a cheap place in to get a close approximation of Philly cheesesteak in Everdale. It was a small food stall that reminded of a me of a Japanese yatai. The cook operated a small flattop grill right behind the counter where customers ate. There was small roof to keep the sun and rain off the four bar stools that comprised the only seating. It was more of food truck that didn't move than a restaurant. There were several other similar places to eat lining the back alley I was in.
The place was run by gnome named Sammish and his family. I had convince Sammish to make my cheesesteak without any of the usual Magical spices that low end places like this used. [Personal Pantry] wouldn't replicate them. It only worked on mundane food. The Magical spices took the place of soy powder and MSG on Earth. They were a cheap way to make low grade food taste better. In order to get my sandwiches made without Magic, I had brought the bread, and the cheese, butter, and milk for the cheesesauce.
I used a white chedder instead of yellow. It didn't have the classic yellow look, but mixed with the butter and milk it was the same texture of melted Velveeta. Sammish wasn't a big fan of adding bell peppers but I was paying him ten silver for this so he didn't complain too much. In addition to the sauted peppers and onions I had him add a whole clove of garlic sliced into thin pieces. If I couldn't use Magical MSG, I'd use the natural MSG in garlic.
The main reason I chosen Sammish was that he had a very practical Magical device for toasting bread. It was round rod of metal that could toast a scooped out roll. He toasted the top of the bread that been cut away on his flattop. Once the shaved beef was laid in the trough of the baguette, he scooped up peppers, onion, and garlic on his spatula covered the meat. He topped it all off by pouring the cheesesauce over everything.
He made three of them, two for me and one for himself. I took one bite before I decided to add my second sandwich to my [Personal Pantry]. After he tried it he decided to add it to his menu. I recalled the cheesesteak from the [Pantry] just make sure Sammish hadn't cheated with the Magical spices when he made the meat, but I was just as [Good] as one I had already bitten into. I was going to bring the best of Earth to Elfandrael. They just needed a little guidance.