Chapter 28: Tough Egg to Crack
My mind raced during the night. I tried to get some sleep but didn’t feel I needed any sleep. I still needed REM sleep, but due to the time dilation, I just needed sleep every third day, or so I was finding. My thoughts were divided between the players and the arrival of the enchanter.
Mad Dog, Black Beaty, and Grinder seemed like good people. They were currently my lifeline to the real world. I had lost myself in the game and hadn’t realized I was missing the real world. When they returned, could I convince the three players to hang around the village? Would they be willing to check on my body in the real world? I was thinking of bribing them with the location of the scaling dungeon. Maybe they would power-level me in the dungeon?
My other thoughts were of the enchanter. I looked at the description for the umpteenth time.
Persephone, Female Sun Elf, Age 239, Master Enchanter, Master Enchanter: Imbue, Master Enchanter: Runes
Curraen’s family were sun elves. So was Black Beauty, if I remember correctly. I decided that rather than using the game to get information on the sun elves, I would go to Curraen. Before the first light, I left and went to the inn. Fareth was preparing breakfast, and I got some sweet rolls, a few breakfast souffles, and a jug of apple juice. I brought the food package to Curraen’s house. I figured it would be nice to talk over breakfast. I knocked, and the young girl Savannah came to the door.
“Dad!” She yelled, “It’s Tallis, and he brought us breakfast!” She looked and made sure her parents heard her. “What do you have? It smells great! Can I take that to the table?” I handed the talkative girl the food packages, and she rushed away. The two girls who cared for the horses, Opheela and Trista, came out of their room and joined her.
Curraen came to the door. “Lord Tallis, what an unexpected pleasure. Thank you for breakfast. I hope this is not in regard to the army leather armor. I told Tanguin and Galana the fastest I could make them was at three per day to their specifications. They are certainly harvesting enough hides, but my son and I labor is the limiting factor.” Curraen motioned me into his house.
“Ah, no, Curraen. I was actually here to talk about sun elves. Our new enchanter is coming sometime today, and I wanted to make sure we kept her happy. I was hoping you and your family could help.” I sat at the table, and the young girl with a sweet bun stuffed in her mouth spoke.
“Can I, Daddy? I can spend the day hanging out with Tallis and tell him all about sun elves! It will be fun! The new enchanter will think he loves sun elves if she sees me hanging out with him. It is a great idea!” The girl rushed her words, and they reminded me of the new alchemist, Tonna.
“Have you ever thought of becoming an alchemist, Savannah? I think Tonna, and you would get along famously,” I said in jest. The girl’s eyes lit up in anticipation.
“MOM! DAD! Please! Alchemy sounds so fun! Did you know she is making potions for the soldiers? She is so awesome, too. Can I work with her? I want to be an alchemist!” The girl’s excitement was genuine, and I looked at Vivale and Curraen.
Vivale, Curraen’s wife, spoke, “Yesterday, you wanted to be an archer, and the day before that, an air mage, and last week you followed Sanso’s golems around most of the day. I also think Lord Tallis may have other plans for you.” Vivale looked at me, and I was at a loss for words.
“Umm, plans. One second, I need to check some things.” I started going through my administration tabs, and under town personnel, I found I could, in fact, assign townsfolk to jobs. I could lose morale and loyalty if I assigned them to a profession they were not good at. I looked at the nine elves in the room. “Well, Savanah, I think you are a bit young, but I can talk with Tonna today to see if she wants an apprentice.” Both the girl’s parents smiled at that.
Curraen shook my hand, “Thank you, Lord Tallis. You have done so much for us. You have employed me, my wife, my sons, and my twin daughters. And now you give my youngest the possibility of a renowned career as an alchemist.” He proceeded to hug me.
Vivale hugged me and then said, “You wanted to know about sun elves. We are called sun elves because we are nomads, always wandering under the sun…so sun elves. It is usually not by choice, though. The other elven sub-races do not like us. Our blood is…muddled…our ancestry is not pure…either a non-elf or a mixture of the elven sub-races. Therefore, we wander looking for a home. The last place we lived had a change in the governor. He was a high elf and raised our taxes beyond our means. You have been good to us, Lord Tallis. For your new enchanter, I suggest you have him or her come and have dinner with us. We will do our best to convince the enchanter to stay in Malcum.”
“Thank you for the help, Vivale. I will send her here. Her name is Persephone, and she is 239 years old and has no family. That is all the information I have on her.” I got up and was getting ready to leave when the young girl jumped to join me.
“Are we going to see Tonna right now?” She was bouncing around in excitement. I wasn’t sure she would be good at brewing potions if she couldn’t remain still.
“Sure, why not? I think it would be best if Tonna made the decision on whether you can become her apprentice, though,” I said and looked at her parents, who nodded.
A thought struck me. “Curraen, could you draw me a rough sketch of what a good tanning, leather working, and storage shop would be like?” I was thinking I could draft a new building and possibly get some bonuses for my esteemed leather worker. We spent an hour sketching out a floor plan while an impatient Savanah bounced around, anxious to see the alchemist and start her new career.
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When I finally left with the girl in tow, I told her, “Patience is a virtue. Even if your mind is running a mile a minute, you need to be in control of your body. Don’t lose your enthusiasm and curiosity, but try not to telegraph it.” She nodded as if I had just given her some sage advice. When we got to the alchemist shop, I found Tonna setting up her store on the first floor.
“Lord Tallis! I brewed your potions last night, and Galana picked them up this morning. I must say this building is amazing. I never realized how beneficial such a structure could be! And I see you have the young elf maiden with you today. I still can not brew flight potions, young girl, but I promise I will let you know when I can!” Tonna’s words rolled out in a tumble. To my utter shock, the elf girl remained still and quiet. It was like she had suddenly become possessed.
I stumbled due to her change, “Uh yeah, Tonna, I came by to make a request. I was looking to see if some of our master crafters were interested in taking on apprentices. This young girl here was interested in learning alchemy.” I put my hand assuredly on the elf girl’s shoulder. Tonna’s smiling visage changed to one of contemplation. She studied the elf girl for a while.
“Lord Tallis, I can not make such a decision at the spur of the moment. How about she helps me out for the next three days, and I will make a decision after that?” The elf girl jumped a little in excitement before getting control of herself. She put her hands behind her back and locked them together. I left them as Tonna was asking Savanah questions to see the extent of her herbalism knowledge.
I walked around the village and found Gwen talking with Zion. Surprisingly the grumpy dwarf was smiling and having a lively conversation. Gwen waved me over, “Lord Tallis! Zion here came into town this morning. He explained that you promised him land and a house. I showed him the barber shop you built for him, and he was thrilled! A barber in little old Malcum! We are coming up in the world!” Zion stood by with a half smile on his face. He then showed the pasture land he wanted for his flock.
“This looks ok, Zion. I will get your house built by tomorrow morning…actually, find Sanso; he could probably do it today. It is great to have you here.” I walked with Zion as we searched for Sanso.
Zion spoke, “Nice little town you have here. It is more than I expected and so…diverse.” I was quiet, and he continued. “Needs more dwarves, though.” He huffed.
“Actually, I am trying to recruit another dwarf. She is a city planner. I hope she accepts, but I won’t find out for another 15 days.” I replied. I hadn’t checked the NPC auction recently, so I checked the tab. No changes for me, but there were now hundreds of player bids. This auction was going to become super competitive during the player gold rush. I hoped I would have enough platinum coins to bid on some grand masters next cycle. I felt it would be my last chance to compete for highly skilled NPCs.
We found Sanso at the general store, and he left with Zion to go and build his house and fence around his pastures with stonework. With that taken care of, I was going to go to the stables and ride Titan around the town for a bit, but a commotion drew my attention. A slender woman was standing on a circular disk that was hovering off the ground as she moved into town. I assumed my enchanter was finally here.
I rushed to meet her. She was standing tall and seemed stiff, and she was looking around the town with disappointment on her face. Hopefully, we could get beyond her first impressions. I wish the barracks had been completed. That building would be impressive.
“Persephone! I am Lord Tallis, and I am in charge of humble Malcum. If you have time, I would like to bring you dinner with some friends of mine.” She hadn’t moved but seemed even stiffer when I addressed her. She looked around again and stepped off her hovering disc. She was tall. Equal to me in height and gave me just a curt nod without changing her blank expression. I talked to her while we walked.
“We built you a residence and workshop. After dinner, Vivale will take you over there to check it out. Tomorrow morning, we can talk about your impression of the village and what we can do to make you comfortable.” I finished but still got the cold shoulder from the enchanter.
We got to the schoolhouse, and Vivale stopped classes to meet with us. She dismissed the students to a roar of approval. Guess even VR students liked to get out of class early. Persephone still seemed standoffish, even with Vivale being a fellow sun elf. They went and talked privately, and Vivale said she would take over hosting duties soon. Vivale only said her journey was tedious, and she wasn’t impressed so far. I could see her again in the morning at the enchanter tower.
I left the enchanter in Vivale’s hands and went home worried. To distract myself, I started drafting with the notes from Curraen. A few hours later, I had four revised drafts, and I was finished.
Rare Tannery/Leatherworks, Health 50,000, Requires Masonry: Structures 43, Woodcraft Carpentry 23 (Bonus 33% chance to increase tanned hide quality, +5 defense bonus to leather crafted armor, 1% chance to increase the rarity of crafted armor)
This was amazing. Apparently, the tannery portion had an increase in quality in one of three tanned hides. The leatherworks had two bonuses…well, one, really. It added +5 defense, which wasn’t huge for heavy armor but was still a big benefit for leatherworkers. The 1% increase in armor rarity would just add additional stat bonuses. So, all in all, I was happy with my effort.
Jaesmin came home, and she had eaten at the inn. She looked at the plans and was impressed. She said I would need to talk with Manarag and draft him a new blacksmith shop as well. I checked my NPC bids again.
Jaylyn
Knight
Human
M
28
Expert Blade: Medium
Lyons
Knight
Human
M
28
Expert Armor: Heavy
Kassta
Brewer
Beastkin: Bull
M
33
Expert Brewer
Warne
Craftsman
Beastkin: Wolf
M
20
Expert Woodcraft: Furniture
Tilda
Farmer
Halfling
F
52
Expert Crop Farming
Breda
Bureaucrat
Dwarf
F
64
Master City Planning
The descriptions had changed again. I no longer had the number of family members visible. I remembered the halfling had a large family, but beyond that, I didn’t remember anything. No one had outbid me. I didn’t like only seeing the NPCs highest skill. When it showed the three top skills, I could better judge who to bid on.
Besides the brewery, I needed to draft plans for a furniture woodshop and a city planning building. No, Breda, the dwarf city planner, could work in the town hall. There were plenty of offices in the town hall structure. I was tired enough tonight to actually sleep tonight.
When I awoke, I walked slowly to the enchanting tower. If this NPC fell through, I would be severely disappointed.