Broka 20th

Six had gained a level in Meditation and Mindfulness this morning during his routine. He relaxed with Nibbler, giving her scratches and playfully wrestling. He looked at his terrarium and enjoyed watching the woodbugs crawl about. An intrusive thought occurred to him and he watched the thought win. He pulled a blood branch out of his ring and picked a handful of leaves and twigs off it. “This should do you guys goooood, enjoy!” He added the magical plant material to the environment and closed it up. Should be pretty neat to see what happens.

“Aight, time for work.”

Six made his way to the village and joined the early workers. He started by laying down casts of Stone Wall in the same segmented way he created Ravna’s floor. Again he ran into limited mana regen and he began to bloodcast but today the other workers didn’t seem so off put by it. He expected Alison to come and chew him out but she didn’t. Six knew what project management was like, she probably just wanted it done and didn’t have time to chastise him… he felt pity for her.

As Six laid down the floor the rest of the work crew worked with Franklin to begin the framing of the exterior. The bloodlog accepted two more rotations of magical waste blood from Six before it ceased absorbing it. Its colour had shifted to a brighter more translucent red. Must be full.

Unlike the longhouses that were in essence just one extremely large A-frame made of logs, the townhall had vertical sides, more akin to a box building like Ravna’s smithy. It was going up with supportive logs and milled lumber. They had been preparing this material as the longhouses were being constructed and Six didn’t even have to waste mana on enchanting any of the materials as Franklin had contracted his services before.

The work progressed quickly and by mid afternoon there was enough of the floor and frame complete to incorporate the blood log into the structure. Franklin had chosen a central load bearing pillar that would be replaced with the blood log and they moved it into position and just before the movement to raise it into place the work crew was shown a prompt.

You are attempting to incorporate a Fire Hardened Magic Blood Log into a Townhall(in progress) This will require the equivalent of one hundred Mundane Common Mana Cores, or ten Enhanced Unusual Mana Cores, or one Superior Rare Mana Core, to complete.

This will act as the keystone reagent for the completed building and provide the following effect(s) for residents within the building’s domain of influence:

Bleeding Resistance2: Nullify bleeding conditions up to rank 2

Tempered by Flame: Being exposed to fire increases natural durability by 50% for a short while.

Would you like to begin the incorporation? Yes/No.

That was pretty darn good, especially for a town wide buff. He felt an immediate desire to join the town to get the effect, he hated the bleeding condition. But no, instead Six hesitated as he imagined himself in a beautiful filigreed set of wood bloodplate, standing imperiously with his glaive, he felt like he should hold onto the resource. But, he had the sap and seeds and branches. It was whatever, this would probably be cool too.

Franklin had a helper bring over a large bag and she began pulling out Mana Cores of all types. She began to place the cores on the floor, piling them all right next to the blood pillar. She had quite the number of mundane and enhanced cores but clearly nowhere near the amount she needed as she shook her head in defeat.

“Wasn’t prepared for a Superior ranked material, its costs far more than I was expecting to incorporate such a thing. We may have to go back to our original plan of using the stone.” She stood there thinking.

Six looked at all those cores and instantly knew that Alison had scammed him for his initial enchanting. He felt a flare of rage but it strangely dissipated surprisingly fast. He usually took theft very seriously. Yet he was still considering helping them. Perhaps it was Franklin's tired but determined look into the distance, perhaps it was the hopeful and faithful looks of the townspeople around them.

There were 65 mundane and 1 enhanced core from the stockpile Franklin had. Six pulled out another 30 mundane cores and offered them to Franklin.

You’re just giving us these

Six shook his head no. The cores weren’t that much with how much grinding he had been doing, still he didn’t want to work for free. “You can pay me back whenever you get the chance.”

Franklin nodded and added them to the pile, she accepted the prompt and Six watched as the cores melted into a silver mist and flowed into the blood log. Cool. But other than that…

“Should something happen?” Six asked a little confused.

“When we finish the building, the effect will occur.” Franklin offered.

Six thanked her and the work continued.

It took another day for them to finish and on the night of the 21st when the last shingle was placed on the large imposing building, everything was still for a moment. Then, a ripple of colour and motion exploded out from the center of the wood building, from the peak down, dying it all a deeper red. The movement and colour settled and then Six received a prompt,

Construction Successful!

-The Leyhall of Blood and Ash-

Quality: Enhanced

Rarity: Rare

Durability: 7000/7000

Traits:

Domain of Influence(radius of 2.5k) buffs: Administration and Scholar Productivity +5%, Bleeding Resistance2, Tempered by Flame.

Note: The Bloodwood Log reagent used in the construction of the townhall had previously absorbed sufficient blood of a Ley Master to connect the Townhall to the Deathspire Ley Nexus.

The building owner has the ability to grant Ley Champion status to any resident of the village. At tier one the Leyhall can grant champion status to 10 individuals.

Ley Champions receive the following additional effects.

One leyline has been aligned and thus one additional effect has been unlocked.

Blood From a Stone has been unlocked

Blood From a Stone: Health Regen/M += MaxHealth*(0.025*N)

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Skill Increase:

Construction - Initiate - 11

Masonry - Initiate - 10

Carpentry - Initiate - 8

This was far beyond anything Six could have expected. Franklin had said that a regular administration bonus was 1 to 3 percent, this building had already doubled it. Not to mention its name change, what was a Leyhall?

Alison had been there during the final moments and she nodded at Franklin and Six for their help before she approached the finished building and touched it gently. There was the far off look of system access and then everyone in the surrounding area received a prompt.

The village of Mountain End was founded by Alison Lamora. Would you like to request residency? Yes/No?

He wanted to select Yes. The buffs were strong, improving defense and survivability but Six was sure that Alison would expect anyone who received these buffs to fall in line in recompense for the power it gave. While Six wanted all three buffs he wasn’t willing to engage in any deals to get them. The stupid tree had found that out. The log was most likely worth hundreds of gold but Six thought the satisfaction from creating something unique was priceless. Also, free food.

He selected No. He was his own man. He would not be beholden to anyone but himself.

The crowd murmured amongst itself at the revelation of success. They had founded their village and completed the initial goal they sought, a ripple of excitement and exaltation spread through the gathering crowd. The whispered murmurs grew in volume as the reality set in. Six could hear the name “Lady Lamora,” whispered by many.

Alison lifted a hand and those assembled quieted. She spoke and her voice resonated around the open glade.

“People of the Mountain End Village, I stand before you today tired from the battles we have fought and the challenges we have faced. But amidst this weariness, I find myself filled with an overwhelming sense of pride and gratitude. We have come together as a community, rising from the dim and uncertain future to build a place we can now call home.

Our settlement is our home, a testament to our determination to create a better future for ourselves free from the pressure of the empire. But with progress and freedom, comes the weight of responsibility.

My friends, responsibility is not a burden to be borne lightly. It is a sacred duty that we owe to ourselves, to one another, and to the land that sustains us. It is a solemn pledge to safeguard the little we have painstakingly forged, the life we have delicately nurtured.

Every action we take ripples through the lives of our fellows. Our choices, both great and small, shape the fabric of our community and leave an indelible mark upon its history. The decisions we make today, however wearisome we may be, will resonate far beyond our time, impacting generations to come.

With this foundation, the Leyhall, we truly begin our own story and I think the first scene should be that of a party!”

And with that a small music troupe that consisted of two muldstanni, a dwarf, and a vrill began playing a jaunty tune while Min and Jebbedo appeared out of nowhere to begin handing out food.

Alison retrieved a few kegs of ale from her ring and soon the atmosphere had become much more relaxed.

Six did not partake of the ale as he didn’t drink, but he definitely blazed his new smokeweed to new heights, sharing and packing bowls for anybody who wanted a hoot off his pipe. It was new weed but was of the same potency, still got stoned though.

Six people watched and enjoyed the food. Min had made tons of fresh bread, Jebbedo had roasted fifteen boar and had made several bowls of some coleslaw like thing that was delicious. Six made sure he and Nibbler ate their fill.

He danced at one point by himself and later again when Ravna tracked him down. Six was a little wooden at first but once he forced himself to be a little silly he began to relax and enjoy the experience of dancing with a lady again. Ravna was a beautiful woman and while Six was past the pretty woman equals stupid phase of his life, he was still struck by her.

It was a good night.

He awoke the next morning surrounded by the pained moans of hangovers. Many, himself included, had fallen asleep in the field before the Leyhall, The night had been cold but Six had been very stoned, burnt out, and had not wanted to chance wandering back to his cave in the night while inebriated. So when he pulled himself up from the dewy grass it was done with a shiver. He was grumpy and felt the impulse to wake and bake but didn’t. Instead he meditated and visualized. When he began to stretch, someone joined him. It was Tavi, she reminded him of a beaten house dog. Someone that had once had it easy but lost it, refined but broken and sharp. Her rich brown hair had begun to lose its softness and her dark brown eyes were hard and had a depth of sad acceptance.

But she joined Six in his stretching. He made eye contact with the young woman and he could see a resolute firmness behind a tinge of jealousy. What she was jealous of he did not know. He didn’t care, her jealousy cost him nothing. They finished the routine and she followed his kata. He could hear her scoffing at his imitation of Narhurin but she tried her best regardless.

He finished and he turned to her and bowed in completion.

“You’re done?” she asked, a little perturbed.

“Yea?”

“What about sparring? You haven’t come to spar since Nar and Keegan left.”

“Oh, I suppose that’s true.” Sparring was always a good time, so he assented. They left the field and went to the dirt patch in front of the soldiers' shack.

The first spar was with glaives. Tavi was just as good as Six with a glaive but her stats were too low to stand up to him. It was easy for Six to overpower her and create openings for himself. She lost when he cross checked her in the face while tripping one of her legs, she flew backwards and rolled in the dirt, coming up and taking a breath before taking a ready position.

They sparred with swords and Six pressured her, swinging with wild strength before slipping in a front kick and once again sending her to the dirt. She had managed to get a few cuts and nicks on him but nothing substantial. She stood and faced him.

“Again?” he asked?

She nodded, so he shrugged and lifted his fists then weaved his way forward, throwing out some light jabs. He held back with his enhanced strength and focused on technique. Tavi’s unarmed skill was much higher than his and he found it hard to engage without taking three times the blows, he didn’t even try to grapple her as she was just too hard to control. Wiggling around like a deadly constrictor. Even still his endurance regen was too much and his slow onslaught led to her gasping.

Six had improved clearly as he remembered her as far more trouble than he was having. The few days spent fighting in the rainforest had done something to shape his ease with creating violence.

Skill Increase:

Polearms - Initiate - 14

Swords - Initiate - 9

Unarmed - Initiate - 8

Six scratched his head. “Alright, good sparring. I gotta get going with the rest of my morning.”

Tavi looked at him as if he was ridiculous. “No. I wish to continue training.”

Six narrowed his eyes, he didn’t like her tone.“Maybe Jebbedo or Gatbark could help you out.”

She scoffed good naturedly. “But you are stronger than them. They’re glorified crafters. I want to get stronger, like you. You are one of the strongest here, so it only makes sense for you to train me while the soldiers are gone.”

He could see her sincerity but still he shook his head no. “Sorry, stuff to do.

There was a brief flash of rage on her face. The look of dumbfounded hate. It passed quickly, but it was there. Her face quickly switched back to her usual neutral yet intense gaze. “Well, thanks for sparring with me anyways.” She plastered on a serene smiled that Six was sure she practiced.

He left to wrangle up some breakfast.

Stew and flatbread. Min had stayed up too late to start the bread early enough, Six didn’t begrudge the mam, he worked hard and deserved the break. By now he had woken and was making his classic flatbreads, albeit with a pained face.

“Yo,” Six whispered and both Min and Jebbedo stared at him with thankful narrowed eyes. “Some party eh?”

They smiled

“Hey Min,” Six whispered.

The baker gave him an inquiring look but didn’t say anything, he kinda looked sick.

“You know how to make pie?”

“Of course I know how to make pie. Im a fucking baker.”

“Oh, nice. What would I need to do to get you to make me a pie. Kinda been wanting some pie lately you know?”

“Well what kinda pie?”

“Berry? I guess?” Apple preferably but I don’t know if you even have apples.”

“Do you have berries or apples?” Min asked a little snippy.

“No.”

“I got a few apples but not enough for a pie,” Jebbedo said.

“Do you got some apple seeds?” Six asked, he wanted an orchard and apples were great, whatever kinda were.

Jebbedo nodded and dug about amongst his cases before giving Six a dozen apple seeds.

Six clucked his tongue. “Nice.”

Min passed Six his bowl of stew and flatbread. “Bring me the filling and I’ll make you a pie no problem, but no more talking. It hurts.”

Six nodded and zipped his smiling lips.

After eating he fetched his repaired armor and thanked Ravna for her second job well done.

“K, So… Spicy cheese,” he said this to himself when it was time to reprioritize and get moving. He really wanted that pie and while apple pie was his favourite, a nice berry pie would be nice too. His mind flashed back to those giant purple berries he spawned next to.

Now, looking back and thinking about it, according to tropes and game logic those berries were probably something game changing and important. Also, they looked delicious. Yes, his main priority should still be finding his way to the ley nexus but there was no reason he couldn’t look for those berries at the same time.

So with the combination of the Survival skill and his gut, Six made his way up the mountain in what he remembered as the rough direction he took down that first day. Killing things on his way.