"You will need both of those Fortress Coins." I said. "One will get you to my fortress and the other will allow you to return. I would suggest you sell your wares for Fortress Coins, and if you take any raw materials you will likely find one of my people will be eager to split the rewards of the quest with you."

"The portal in the basement isn't wide enough for any sort of cart or wagon to fit through." Gerry said. "That will limit how much I can transport."

"You have the Fortress Shop open, pull up the Items menu." I said. "The Bags of Holding should be what you are looking for."

It took him a few moments to get to the listing, then his jaw dropped.

"Thirty two cubic meters of storage, with full weight negation." Gerry said. "That is more than what a wagon can carry, but would allow much faster travel. What is an Inventory though-"

His question prompted the System to bring up the description for the Inventory for him, and I watched his face settle into a frown as he took it in.

"Frank and I used to be wagoners before we earned enough to settle down in the city." Gerry said. "This. This will make wagons obsolete. How do I join your fortress?"

"I'm not sure how individuals would join." I said. "I usually have to negotiate with the leaders of different groups, and then a treaty is formed that makes the people of a group citizens, on my side I offer a place to survive the end of the world that is coming, and I ask that my people work for the betterment of the fortress. Fortress Coins are the incentive to do that now. Is there a leprechaun town somewhere?"

"There is." Gerry said. "In the hills that separate the Mountains and the Plains, fifty kilometers north of the road. They should have scouts out that will see you if you are heading anywhere near them. If you will wait for a minute?"

I nodded and he left up the stairs to the second floor of the shop. A few minutes later the woman leprechaun that was here the last time I used the portal came down the stairs, she scowled at me.

"You have him making us leave?" She asked.

"The world is ending." I said. "I gave him the option of joining my fortress where it is safe."

"And why are you worthy of our trust?" She asked.

"I am a Champion whose goal it is to save species from the end of the world." I said. "And I make treaties, presided over by Keepers, that offer a safe place."

She stopped scowling at me and turned away to finish opening the shop. Gerry came back down a minute later with a thick letter sealed with red wax. He looked between me and his wife before saying something to her in his language. She replied shortly in the same language and Gerry turned to face me.

"She doesn't trust outsiders much." Gerry said. "This is a letter of introduction to the leprechaun leader. I would like to swear fealty to you now, for myself and my family."

Great. I had no idea how to deal with that properly. I was dealing more with the System than with the native world magic and treaty system though, and that worked by intent. So just go with it and hope for the best, I guess.

"Do you swear that you and yours will work for the benefit of the Fortress?" I asked.

"I do." Gerry said.

"Then I swear that you will have safe place in the Fortress." I said. "I accept you, and your people, as citizens of my realm."

I got a ping from the system that my goal progress had updated.

Goal progress Species with which you have a treaty offering sanctuary from the end of the world. Major species 1/4   Forest Keepers   Biome Forest   Population 1,602   Minimum Viable Population 200 Minor species 3/5 (3/4)   Beastpeople   Biome Plains   Population 109   Minimum Viable Population 60   Humans   Biome Mountain, Forest, or Plains   Population 209   Minimum Viable Population 120   Leprechauns   Biome Mountain or Plains   Population 5   Minimum Viable Population 90

That seems to have worked. I motioned for Gerry to stand from where he was kneeling on the floor and took the letter from him.

"I probably won't go directly to the leprechaun town." I said. "I'm in the middle of dealing with another issue right now. There are five of you?"

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"Yes my lord." Gerry said. "Myself, my wife, and our three children. I received the quest to provide raw materials."

"As did I." Gerry's wife said.

"You should be set, then." I said. "One of the groups in my fortress should be happy to host you until I can get you set up properly. I should be going."

Gerry and his wife both bowed to me as I left. Out on the main street of the city the traffic was just starting up for the day. I set off down the street to the south at a jog, getting some odd looks from the people I was dodging around. There were few enough wagons on the streets that crossed the main street that I was able to easily make my way between them.

The city was huge. Each block was one hundred meters long with ten meter wide streets on either side, and I went thirty blocks before making it to the wall of the city.

The main street ran right up to the wall where there was a huge gate thrown open that was guarded by six priests. Before the gate, on either side of the main street, there was a large area where well over a hundred wagons were waiting. Every few minutes one would go through the gate and down the tunnel behind it. The priests didn't look like they were doing anything to hinder the wagons, but there also wasn't any foot traffic leaving through the tunnel.

I made my way to the gate and looked down into the tunnel. This was probably where they had trapped and killed me before, so I was a little bit hesitant, but it was also the only exit from the city that I knew about. I waited for the next wagon to approach the gate and then followed after it, half expecting the priests to stop me. One of them looked at me as I crossed the threshold into the tunnel, but he made no move to stop me.

I ran around the wagon in front of me and then continued to run through the tunnel until I got out the other side. There were six priests guarding the exit as well, but they didn't make any move to stop me as I left.

I started running down the smooth stone road, which was wide enough for two wagons to easily ride side by side with a half-meter stone lip on either side to prevent falling off. The wagons on the road were spaced out with one wagon every few hundred meters, and after I passed the fifth one the road cleared up.

I picked up my speed, topping out at just over forty kilometers an hour on the slight downward slope. I settled into an easy rhythm, pushing the boundaries of how much pain I could deal with from refreshing the energy in my muscles. Almost an hour later I saw the first wagon coming the other way, and two hundred meters after that a second one, and another after that.

I slowed my pace by half and made my way around them. At roughly forty kilometers along the road from the exit of the city I came across a wagon rest point. It was a large flat area that spread one hundred meters on either side of the road with thick walls surrounding it. There were a lot of wagons inside, and they were leaving up the road to the city one by one every five minutes, maintaining the two hundred meter gap between wagons. I went through the rest zone making it to the other side where there were wagons exiting to travel along the road.

I started running again, going at my slower twenty kilometers an hour pace, dodging around the wagons until the road cleared again. I ran for another half an hour after that before coming to a ridge running to the north that met the road nicely. I headed off the road and up along the ridge for three hundred meters before stopping and taking the claim ward that Chantelle had made for me out of my pocket portal.

I put the ward back through to my pocket dimension and pulled it out five times with about one second in between before leaving it in my Pocket Dimension and heading further up into the mountains. I repeated this roughly every three hundred meters, digging handholds into the mountain when I needed to to continue in the direction I was going.

After a few kilometers I was at a snow covered peak and was just in the process of doing it yet again when I heard a whistle to my left. Two Mountain Keepers seemed to materialise from the snow, the short white fur that covered their entire bodies camouflaging them perfectly, and their huge ski-like feet allowing them to walk on the top of the snow without making any sound.

"We see you, human?-" The first said.

"Is he human?" The other said. "Not lost, not cold, flickering a claim not ours. He is seen, not human."

"We see you." The first said. "You were calling for our attention?"

"I came to offer terms." I said. "A safe place to survive the end of the world and citizenship in my realm. In return those who join me would be expected to contribute to the benefit of all of my people."

"Terms, he says." The second one said. "Not allowed to accept terms, are we. Bound to winter. World be ending, bound to winter, no more of the Barbegazi. The Mountains will go on."

"The terms are good, and surprisingly so." The first said. "If we could add that we would not be made to fight in any capacity there may be a path to safety. What say you?"

"I would agree to that." I said.

"More, more, and more again." The second said.

"Yes, more again." The first said. "If you would give us a few minutes?"

I nodded and the two Mountain Keepers gripped hands and walked into the snow, sinking beneath the surface. The second one seemed more than a little bit crazy.

Five minutes later four Mountain Keepers returned out of the snow and the original two nodded to me and left without a word.

"We are new Mountain Keepers." The new two said together. "We are unbound, and we accept the terms of the treaty."

My goal progress updated again and I opened it up.

Goal progress Species with which you have a treaty offering sanctuary from the end of the world. Major species 2/4   Forest Keepers   Biome Forest   Population 1,612   Minimum Viable Population 200   Mountain Keepers   Biome Mountain   Population 2   Minimum Viable Population 2 Minor species 3/5 (3/4)   Beastpeople   Biome Plains   Population 109   Minimum Viable Population 60   Humans   Biome Mountain, Forest, or Plains   Population 209   Minimum Viable Population 120   Leprechauns   Biome Mountain or Plains   Population 5   Minimum Viable Population 90