The camp had been devastated in a mere instant, the message clear. Do not block people from entering, or you will be punished. Kerto and a few other helpers had barely managed to save a fraction of their supplies, as if the earlier humiliation wasn't enough. And now, instead of exploring and training in the tower, it had taken three days to resupply and rebuild their camp, this time further from the tower, even with its expanded base.
Patrols were arranged to abide by their deal with the priests, but surprisingly they hadn't come across anyone attempting to sneak to the tower, or climbing in it. Either nobody even tried to enter, or a few had managed to do so successfully, which was unlikely. But it did unfortunately leave Kerto in a harder place than before. Their access to the tower might be removed at any moment, the trust various cities had on the helpers guild might collapse, and the tower might decide to punish them for whatever made the spirit angry.
But if they keep on training and climbing as far as they could, it would negate the damage done if the access to their tower was revoked. They might even be able to forcefully take the tower from Valessa. Eventually Kerto would kill the clerics who murdered one of their helpers, which would resolve all of Kerto's problems in one nice sweep, if the priests of Valeria didn't hear about the recent events. No more outlaws to spread rumors of their guild, no more clerics who's blocking would result in the deaths of more helpers via combat or angry spirit, and the priests would be happy with the guild having done their job. Best of all, even if something went wrong, they would've collected more resources, so even failure was worth something.
At least, that's what Kerto told himself, that it was worth throwing caution away, that it was worth attempting to get past the fourth floor, even at the high chance of death. But if he found a better way, Kerto wouldn't hesitate to take it.
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Two dozen villagers had been interested in the black dust, enough people that Evelyn suggested they gather in the town center to listen to what Michelle and Evelyn had to say about the runes and dust. The two dozen people would all get some dust for free, so long as they agreed to share all the knowledge and ideas they had for the various uses of runecraft, as they'd begun to call it.
After a few examples of practical uses for the tattoos, such as lighting fires, conjuring water, drying clothes and hair with warm air, along with a showing off the tattoos combative capabilities, most of the village was all for it. Not long after, most of the vials had been given away to make tattoos for nearly three dozen people, though it would take a few days to do so. Michelle made sure they had enough of the dust for Audrey to eventually get his stump covered, when it had healed enough to properly tattoo the skin.
Evelyn had been asked about the politics behind having a fifth of a village's population become clerics to a god whose domain the clerics hadn't even stepped foot in, but she shrugged, and let that thought go. She had more pressing concerns.
"So… we're outlaws, and wanted by the helpers guild. Because we're outlaws, the guild has every right of punishing us how they see fit. Yeah, I think the smartest choice is to leave." Audrey said. Before Evelyn and Michelle could interrupt, Audrey continued "But, that's not something either of you, or I, want to do. We have a few friends here, our lives, it's our home. So instead, we make our own organization."
"What, why? And better yet, how?" Evelyn blurted.
"We'd need to go to the nearest city, register the existence of whatever guild we create, and get confirmation. We wouldn't be protected by the laws of Valessa, but we'd be protected by the guild. If we can prove our actions were out of self defense, the helpers guild couldn't legally kill us, and would have to come to an agreement with our guild over what punishment we'd receive." Michelle explained.
"Close, but not exactly what I had in mind. Registering a guild in the city would take too long, and besides, anyone with a tattoo can't enter the city. Instead of a guild, we declare this village a city. A city is by definition a settlement with either fifty thousand residents, or fifty active clerics of a god. We just gave tattoos to 34 adults, with us, that's 37 active clerics. Just thirteen more clerics, a name, and we will be a city. We just need to elect a leader, and type of government after that. Whoever we elect would be responsible for our punishment." Audrey enthusiastically stated.
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"I doubt the guild would care if we're a city or not, who would stop them from killing us? And besides, how would we get more dust vials?" Evelyn asked.
"If they killed us, if word got out, the helpers guild would be considered criminals according to every city, and lose their permission to do their business near cities. They wouldn't want that." Michelle said.
"And as for how we get more dust, we could steal it, or try to sneak in the tower."
"So it's either this, or we run away." Evelyn solemnly said. "And after we've made a city, what then?"
"I guess we could grow the city, make it larger, and teach runecraft to more people. Who knows what will be in the tower, what the god has to offer. We have a possibility to help anyone anywhere use the powers of clerics, I think we should do what we can to spread the word."
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As it turned out, getting in the tower had been easier than expected, as it had changed since the last time Evelyn and Michelle had visited it. Spiraling and twisting away from its base were multiple tunnels, through which Michelle and Evelyn easily entered it in the dead of night. Once they were inside they merely had to be careful not to be seen while in the first two floors, and then getting out once they'd found a few vials of dust.
It felt odd to have everything go their way after the catastrophe of the last visit. But it hadn't taken long for Michelle and Evelyn to make it back to the village, with all the dust they needed.
When morning came, the thirteen remaining necessary clerics received their tattoos. With almost everyone present at the village center, the village was named the city of Gressa, of the god Greto. It wasn't the most imaginative name, being shortened from "great tower", but it was good enough. After deciding to simply have the elders of the village act as the law, all that was left to do was to settle things with the helpers guild, and later inform the city of Valessa about the creation of Gressa.
The most important piece of information to them was that Gressa was the nearest city to the tower, and with it being the domain of the city's god, the tower, and the nearby land belonged to them now instead of Valessa. The helpers guild would need their permission to stay there.
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It was noon when a poorly dressed old peasant with an entourage of six other peasants, walked to their newly rebuilt camp, demanding to speak with their leader. After a few questions, Kerto was informed, and brought to the local.
"On behalf of our city, I, the eldest of the city, have come to inform you that the city of Gressa, belonging to the Spire god Greto, has been formed. You are on our land, and we wish to discuss the future of your stay." The old woman nervously muttered, dumbfounding Kerto in an instant. After a moment of silent thinking, Kerto started laughing.
"Spirits dammit! I should have thought of that first, your village already had enough clerics to legally found a city, didn't it?" He said
The old woman took a moment to answer in the positive, "We have an understanding that you attempted to punish a few of our citizens without trial. We suggest that we forget the entire thing, and in return, we give you unrestricted access to this area, freedom to build any long term settlements, and an agreement to share our knowledge of known runes now, and in the future. Oh, and a ten percent tax on any powder vials, and any food you get from the tower."
Kerto mulled over it for a minute, the deal wouldn't change anything but give them the right to build something more than a small camp, which alone was worth the tax. A guild city merged with the city of a god would be a first, and wasn't a bad idea at all, but there was the risk of how the priests of Valeria would react. "What would you use the tax for?" Kerto decided to ask.
"We are planning to give tattoos to everyone in the city, and offer education on the use of runes. We need the dust to do that. And without the food from valessa, we'll need some from the tower, it's my understanding that's where you get your food."
"Alright, I'll agree so long as anyone who wishes to make a profit from their tattoos outside the city, something like what we helpers, or usual clerics in cities do, do so as members of our guild. And in case the helpers guild needs help, your clerics need to be willing to help." Kerto said, holding out his hand to shake. The elder hesitantly shook it after a moment. Kerto smiled, he would need to inform the priests of Valeria their deal was no longer active, they weren't the owners of the spire anymore.