Chapter 97

Knock Knock

Dellia Lucerne

Oh, but to be an oarsman. And as such, it was time to be more corporeal once again. Not too corporeal, there was no sense in being seen.

To Sweet Gale I flew as a mere wrinkle of air. The scene upon pasture land was profound. A massive crowd circled my temple. Almost all of them were grievers. It was my name that they said. Dellia Lucerne’s Loved Ones Mausoleum. The libation ales that Hawkin had been brewing were delivered via the system to Ryi’s inventory.

There he was now, upon a dais. And he was doing so well filling Brien’s shoes. I should hope so, since I helped make his loot chests more rewarding.

“A Ms. Lausteen?” Ryi said to the crowd. The woman’s name was repeated by other disciple Dream Cutters in the temple grounds until a raised hand sailed through the crowd. It was Ms. Lausteen’s raised hand, and she emerged from the crowd with tears in her eyes. She bowed several times before Ryi. She was given a small bottle of beer with a forged label and directed over to another disciple beside Ryi.

“Drink this,” said the disciple, and poured another bottle of beer into a small wooden cup. “It will transport you to Dellia Lucerne’s Loved Ones Mausoleum. A man in a gold cape will greet you. His name is Evon and he will escort you to a private garden. You may take your time there. All you need to do is pour a drop of the beer Ryi has given you.”

The woman nodded emphatically while she wept. She sipped from the wooden cup and disappeared.

“Rodney and Cindy Akams?” said Ryi.

A young, tortured couple emerged from the crowd. The woman held a small folded cloth at her breast. The man stared ahead without obvious emotion. His eyes seemed shell-shocked.

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The disciple told them my name and gave them instructions. They too disappeared a moment later.

And at the edge of the crowd, further up the road that led to the city center of Sweet Gale, Dream Cutter disciples were directing others to travel to Lavenfauvish.

With but a thought, I traveled to Lavenfauvish and peered down at the Rose Quartz tavern on Rue St. Kinni. Another crowd had amassed around the building and they packed the neighboring intersections. That lot was a mix of adventurers and grievers.

On the outskirts of Lavenfauvish, I found Brien. It was good to see his plump cheeks. He’d eaten much on his journey to Lavenfauvish and his spirits seemed good and high.

He would need all the energy he could get to watch over the construction of my second temple. And already a small crowd had gathered, repeating my name!

Stone blocks were lifted and stacked for walls. Drums of quartz crystal were stacked and carved into columns. Quarried stone was delivered and unloaded from wagons. He had a shard quest in store for him once the temple was complete. And soon, he would be able to perform ritual in order to craft ethereal planes.

With a little push—a little incentive—humans became much more receptive to adventure. Some needed a greater push more than others.

It was time to see how far my adventurers had traveled. I flew north along the coast until I passed Greditch City. On the plains there, I found them. A crowd of 50 humans were tunneling through the tree-deep snow. They traveled at such a pace that it made no sense to stay mounted on horse or donkey. Dungeon seekers, beer collectors, Brewers, Dream Cutters, Planes Cutters, Alchemists, and others slowly crossed the plains. The storm had delayed their travel by a few weeks, but they would soon arrive at Hawkin’s base. And would he mentor these dream cutters as I had already asked several times? What could I do to push him to do more for me?

Two temples was not nearly enough.

And the other Brewers whom I’d been assigned to their quest paths, how were they doing? Ah, Garrett was the only one close to silver now. He would soon be forging ethereal ingredients and brewing ethereal planes himself. Though that should speed things up, it wasn’t enough. No other Brewer was in the position of bringing as much beer to market as Hawkin. Nor as fast. If Hawkin hadn’t befriended Thrush and the goblins… I would be a decade or more out from rising to greatness. It was really them I had to thank—those colorful besties too.

I thought of Potere and cackled wildly. Was it true what I’d been hearing? He was working with another god—Khos, was it?—to bring about a new carbonation for beer.

Like that was enough to compete with me!

Go forth adventurers! Knock on Hawkin’s door!