Xavier sat next to the rekindled fire his eyes seeming to stare off into the distance as he studied his character screen to see how his past several days had affected his stats and skills. He also took the time to allocate his new points from achieving level three. The fights he had already experienced showed him if he was going to continue to be in physical fights he needed to be able to avoid being hit better, however he balanced that with the fact he was now a master of a village and that meant leading people.
Name: Xavier
Level: 3, 0.69% to Next Level
Age: 32
Race: Human
Alignment: Neutral
Languages: Basic
Reputation: 600 – Who Are You Again? - Your name might be whispered in the winds, but most can’t recall it. If you were a knight, you’d be the one who gets left out of the battle plan. People might nod at you in the market, but they’re mostly confused.
Stats
Health: 120/120
Stamina: 110/110
Mana: 100/100
Attributes
Strength: 9
Agility: 8
Dexterity: 9
Constitution: 10
Endurance: 9
Charisma: 8
Intelligence: 8
Wisdom: 8
Luck: 9
Resistances
Skills
Marks
None
Survival: 1
Woodworking: 1
Tracking: 1
Herbalism: 1
Cooking: 2
Crafting: 1
Spears: 1
Clubs: 1
Knives: 1
Ard'Maelor - The Grand Forgemaster
Abilities
Unbound Possibilities – While the inhabitants of Arath are constrained by rules limiting how they can grow and what they can learn you have been blessed by Danu to be unbound. These limits guide you but do not constrain you.
Linguist – You have the capacity to know, understand, and speak any mortal language
Weighing those needs he allocated his twelve new points across his stats. He placed one point into strength to round it out besides being stronger would always help while he was exploring, he assumed. The next two went to agility since that was supposed to help him dodge easier and hopefully have fewer cracked ribs. He winced slightly remembering all the club blows to his body and the pain of those injuries, granted he now had some herbs that helped but he was worried they would be lacking if the injuries were worse. He studied the screen a little longer and adjusted his endurance up to ten as well, stamina hadn’t been a concern yet but the handful of fights and his running from the wolflike creatures had started to tax him and made him worry about how it would be if he had bottomed out. Satisfied with how his more physical attributes had rounded out he pursed his lips in thought. He was left with eight points and his non-physical attributes to work through. Knowing he would have to interact with people he immediately placed four points into his charisma score. When playing games back on Earth, he remembered that a higher-level charisma could open paths and discussions he would have missed, and it made sense that it would be the same here. Besides it was a lot less painful to talk through situations rather than fight through them. He decided to place two more points into wisdom, he knew it affected his mana but wondered if it would help guide decisions for the village overall as well. Street smarts were better than no smarts when it came to decisions right? His eyes finally fell on the esoteric attribute of luck. He didn’t know if the attribute had helped him, or if it was a different guidance since things had seemed to work out well for him so far. On a hunch, he placed his final two points there anyway and nodded at the changes.
Satisfied with what he had done he let his eyes focus on the room around him. Aelriva had disappeared, back to the mosaic room he assumed, but Ella was still there and sitting beside the fire quietly. He smiled at her and returned his attention to the new tabs he could look at, quickly he moved through them until he found the one he desired. “Settlement Statistics.”
* Level 1: Village
* Mana Cap: 1500 (regenerates at 75 mana points per hour Max/20 hours)
* Radius: 15 Miles from center of Mosaic Room
* Requirements to Reach Next Level
* Population: 100
* Individual Buildings: 15
* Completed Settlement Quests: 5
* A quaint little gathering of huts, fields, and maybe a single ramshackle inn. The biggest excitement is when Old Man Barlow’s goat escapes and terrorizes the local cabbages. Hardly a booming metropolis, but it’s home… for now.
Well, that answered several of his questions on what his settlement’s limitations and requirements to grow were. He could see there were eight additional levels listed below but all their details were blurred out. It gave him a goal though. He would build his settlement into the best it could be. Now he just had to survive long enough to do so. Closing the screen, he rose quietly to his feet, not wanting to disturb Ella where she had shifted to lie down. He moved towards the doorway leading out of the building and leaned against the frame. Life, well life was good it seemed. He actually felt like he was accomplishing something and not just living day to day. Closing his eyes he offered a silent prayer of thanks to Danu for giving him this chance at a change, then he settled in for his watch.
Several hours later he felt a hand touch his shoulder and looked back to see Ella standing there. “You should get some rest now; we have a long day ahead of us and it is my turn to watch.” She spoke quietly so as to not disturb the peace of the night.
Outside they could hear the calls of various night creatures in the forest and the gentle woosh of the breeze through the trees. Xavier nodded in agreement and went to lie down beside the fire. As he tried to make himself comfortable, he decided that bedding would be one of the first things they needed to acquire, stone floors and dirt just were not comfortable to someone who had spent their whole life sleeping on a mattress. With those thoughts, his eyes closed, and he slipped into the gentle warm embrace of slumbers depths.
Xander was woken, what seemed only moments later, by Ella nudging his foot with hers. Yawning he stretched in place and hissed as he closed his eyes against the lance of light coming in through the shutterless windows directly into his eyes. He pushed himself to his feet and ran his tongue over his teeth, he was going to have to figure out a way to brush them cause the sock feeling was not something he wanted to live with. Come to think of it, he was going to have to develop a whole new routine of hygiene since there was a distinct lack of showers, toilets, and other amenities that enabled what he was used to back on Earth. He cast a glance towards Ella as his eyes had finally adjusted to the early morning light.
“Before we do anything I think we should find something to eat and fresh water. Work on an empty stomach will likely just make us frustrated and angry.” He mused aloud. “But before that, I will be right back. Call of nature and such.” He hurried out of the building and down one of the many paths that led between the ruined buildings towards the woods.
It didn’t take long for him to answer his body’s needs; it actually took longer to find some leaves that he figured were up to the task of cleaning afterward. Suitably relieved he made his way back to where he had left Ella only to discover that she had already found a decent gathering of berries and was sitting cross-legged next to the building that had become their shelter contentedly munching on her sweet trove. When he looked askance at her she pointed down another path. “There are several berry bushes that way if you go past three collapsed buildings.”
Nodding his thanks he quickly retrieved enough berries for his own breakfast, staining his increasingly tattered shirt as he did so. He made his way back to Ella and sat to eat as well. Aelriva had joined them by the time he had made it back and she hovered in the air between the two. Aelriva had the solution to their freshwater issue and guided them to a lone remaining shallow well. It was fed by a spring coming out of the rock face at the back of a small pool, in turn, the water drained off underground keeping the pool consistently filled with fresh clear water.
“Ok according to the settlement tab, there are several things we need to do to grow the village. People are an obvious one, but we also need buildings and to complete some settlement quests.” He looked out towards the rest of the ruins “I have no idea how we will be able to clear away those without more villagers, and no idea how to get more villagers without somewhere for them to stay”
Aelriva quirked an eyebrow at him a moment then shook her head. "Ye didn’t scour all the tabs for the village, did ye? Seems ye’ve overlooked a few key things, mayhaps in the section on settlement skills and abilities. Did ye not know ye can call forth forest golems to handle the menial work? They’re suited only to simple tasks, true, but diggin', minin', felling trees, and carryin' loads are well within their ken."
Xavier stared at her a moment as Ella giggled behind her hand before he focused back on the interface and sought out the tab “Village Skills and Abilities.” Sure enough, there was a section of daily abilities and one of them was “Summon Minor Forest Golem.”
He smiled broadly as he saw each would remain for a full day from the time it was summoned. Well, a full day as it was defined in this world, he was sure he would get use to the twenty-hour day eventually. Even better they only cost 150 mana. He could almost summon one with his own mana, but he found with just a slight mental focus he could tap into the mana of the village as well. He turned his attention back to the skill in the tab and a few moments later moss and wood on the ground around him started to coalesce into a humanoid form about four and a half feet in height. It did appear humanoid as it had two legs, a torso, two arms ending in rounded club-like hands, and a head but that was about it. There were no features on the face of the creature as, he assumed, it looked to him for instructions.
“Can you tear down all of the collapsed buildings and stack the rocks near the edge of the village?” He asked the creature. It… stared blankly at him and didn’t move.
“"Aye, I did say they were simple creatures. Ye’ll need to give 'em instructions as if ye were speakin' to a child. If ye want somethin’ done in a particular way, ye’ll likely have to show 'em how to do it yerself first." Aelriva’s voice sounded over his shoulder.
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Xavier sighed and nodded. “Follow me,” he said to the golem and moved over to one of the buildings. “I want you to take apart any building that looks like this.” He motioned to the semi-collapsed structure then picked up one of the stones from the partial wall. “And then bring the stones over here and stack them together.” He walked to where the forest was starting to reclaim the ruins in earnest and set the stone in a clear area. “Now show me.”
The golem moved to the nearest pile of rubble and its hands shifted, growing long woody fingers from their club like ends, before lifting up a stone and bringing it back to the pile.
“Good now keep doing that with all of these ruins.” Xavier grinned as it seemed at least part of the issue would be resolved. He quickly tapped into the village’s mana reserve and summoned another nine golems to aid the first quickly giving them the same instructions and soon they were busy silently at work. The ruined buildings would be removed, and their components would be salvaged for further use. Now he needed to figure out how to house people… and where to find people.
Looking back to the others he brought up the question. “So, any idea where we find people willing to live here?” Ella shook her head in response but Aelriva, as before had an answer for him.
"Several days' journey to the northeast, outside yer realm, lies the edge of the forest. If ye head east from here, ye’ll find the river Silverflow. Follow it to where I’ve spoken of. At the edge of the forest, on the river’s banks, lies the village of Bramblegate. There, ye can begin yer search for the villagers, I believe. I’ll remain here, as I cannot leave the domain of yer mastery. While ye’re gone, I’ll make use of the village’s abilities to summon golems each day and continue clearin’ the village."
Xavier turned to Ella, and she shrugged and nodded. It was something to go on at least. “Alright but before going there we probably should prepare for the journey. We need food, something to carry water, some more weapons maybe, and I definitely need some cleaner clothes with less holes in them.” He said as he stuck a finger through the hole the Can Geann had left in the shoulder of his tunic. “This would also give us a better chance to examine the more intact ruined buildings in detail and explore the warrens fully.”
Leaving Aelriva to watch over the golems as they worked the pair turned their attention back to the rest of the ruins. They spent the better part of the day exploring structures that had at least three mostly intact walls and discovered several root cellars and basements where the doors hadn’t collapsed and let in the elements. Of course, there were no stores of food to be found in them but one of the root cellars had an impressive array of what seemed to be potato plants and an odd carrot like plant.
You have discovered:
Cave Tater
Ingredient Class: Common
Item Quality: Raw
Weight: .2 kg
Durability: 5/5
Traits: A small, root tuber. “Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew!”
You have discovered:
Cave Kraton
Ingredient Class: Common
Item Quality: Raw
Weight: .1 kg
Durability: 5/5
Traits: A small, brownish orange root vegetable.
It seemed that the food stores that had originally been kept in that cellar had adapted to the darkness and flourished, the entire floor of the root cellar was overgrown by the two vegetables. That discovery was only added to when in the back corner of a nearby basement they found several different edible mushrooms had taken root as well.
You have discovered:
White Cave Shunt
Ingredient Class: Common
Item Quality: Raw
Weight: .02 kg
Durability: 5/5
Traits: Small white mushrooms that grown in lightless caves and caverns. This mushroom is a hardy foodstuff and very filling.
You have discovered:
Elf Ear Mushroom (Cave)
Ingredient Class: Common
Item Quality: Raw
Weight: .01 kg
Durability: 5/5
Traits: A small, tan mushroom which resembles the shape of an elf’s ear. This lighter woody tasting mushroom is commonly dried and used in trail ration snacks along with nuts and berries
The pair emerged from the basement both carrying a handful of each mushroom having left enough behind to propagate until they had somewhere else to cultivate them. Not that they really had any idea how to move them to a new location and were just hoping it was going to be possible. After dropping their finds of veggies and mushrooms off at the central building, the two paused to take a short break. Digging and crawling through the ruins had taken a lot more energy than it had the other day when they were hurriedly checking for other enemies. While they had walked back Xavier had noticed a tree that had longer straight branches and several birds’ nests. A plan had begun to form in his head about how they could be used.
“Are you any good with a bow?” He asked of Ella. “I think I might be able to make a simple one. I have the woodworking skill, and we still have the rabbit gut from the other day. I remember seeing somewhere that gut can be used to make string in survival situations.”
She lifted her head slightly as she pondered his words then nodded. “I am a better aim with thrown objects, but a bow would let me reach out further. It wouldn’t do much against skeletons if we must face them again however.”
“Ok wait here I will go get the wood. I think I saw some nests as well that could give us feathers.” He quickly got to his feet and trotted back down the pathways to where he had noted the potential items. He had changed his interface after finding the foodstuffs earlier to not immediately prompt him with every component found. He thought it was best when he was exploring not to have his vision obstructed in that way.
About thirty minutes later he came back to where Ella waited. A long branch clutched in one hand along with a number of shorter straight sticks, and in the other he held a small bundle of feathers. Ella had retrieved the rabbit gut from where it had been hanging to dry, they had come to the mutual understanding that they needed to use as much of their game as possible. Xavier smiled gratefully to her and sat down. His eyes moving over the materials critically as he studied them and tried to remember anything he had seen or read about making a bow or arrows. As he did so he started to notice small marks on the various sticks and ghostly outlines of where pieces might be put together. His lips curled up at the ends and he got to work.
The sun was half obscured by the horizon by the time he finished with his task. A broad grin spread across his face as he held up the new items to show them to Ella. In one hand was a short, curved piece of wood. Stretched from one end to the other was a taut string of carefully worked rabbit gut. The moisture had been worked out of the material giving it a good tensile strength to the length. He had also wrapped the grip in a lace of leather he had cut from one of the hides. The other hand held a small sheaf of arrows, ten in total. They were firmly, if inelegantly fletched with the feathers he had retrieved earlier and tipped with stone shards similar to his previous knife.
You have discovered:
Rough Short Bow
Item Class: Common
Item Quality: Average
Weight: 2 kg
Durability: 15/15
Traits: This short bow looks like it was crafted by someone with more enthusiasm than skill. It’s made from wild wood that still has a few splinters, a rabbit leather-wrapped handle that’s more “functional” than “comfortable,” and a rabbit gut string that looks like it’ll hold—unless it gets a bit too humid. It'll shoot, sure, but don’t expect precision… or durability… or really anything more than “slightly better than throwing rocks.”
You have discovered:
Crude Stone Arrows x 10
Item Class: Common
Item Quality: Average
Weight: .01 kg ea
Durability: 5/5
Traits: These arrows look like they were put together in a hurry—or maybe by someone who was just getting creative with forest scraps. They’ll fly… mostly in the right direction. Just don’t count on hitting anything farther than a squirrel’s throw away.
Congratulations! You have learned a new skill – Woodworking level 2. Once again, your crude methods have wrought a new wooden weapon. The intricacies of whirl and knot have further opened your eyes to the capabilities of wood. +4% to crafted items, +4% to crafted wooden weapon damage.
Congratulations! You have learned a new skill – Crafting level 2. Every tool and item in this world are made by something. You now climb within the ranks of those crafters. Will you stall with the most basic of tools or will you rise to craft wonderous pieces of jewelry and tools that will shape the world? +4% to crafted items, +4% to crafted tools.
Xavier held the weapons out to Ella who took them and eyed them critically. A slight smirk on her lips, she looked about for a moment then seeing a nearby tree she nocked an arrow to string and pulled it to her cheek before loosing the arrow. It flew, just slightly wobbly, across the space and sunk its stone head into the tree. She smiled wider and looked back to Xavier.
“Seems I have enough skill to use it properly. Food should not be an issue if we can find some as we travel. Maybe we should wait and hunt around the village first if you want new clothes. I could also use a quiver unless you are expecting me to carry the arrows by hand.” She quipped to him the mischievous twinkle in her eye betraying the laugh she was trying to suppress.
He winced slightly at not thinking about a quiver. She would need that, or her travels would be awkward as hell. “You’re right, I didn’t even think about that. I was too caught up in those actually coming together the way I wanted.” He paused thoughtfully, “I don’t know if I can do leatherworking. I have the crafting and woodworking skill but haven’t tried to work leather besides to augment those.”
Overhead the sun had settled below the horizon and a pair of moons rose in the night sky, one silvery and the other a rich emerald green. Also, though barely noticed was a void of stars rising just below the other two. Night had settled over the village. The susurration of sound from the forest hung in the air nearly drown out by the noise of the golems still tearing down ruins and stacking the stone. Xavier and Ella prowled near the edge of the woods searching for animal tracks, hoping to add some fresh meat to their skewers of vegetables and mushrooms. A small burst of movement caught both of their attention at the same time and Ella loosed an arrow after the creature. It barely missed the small deerlike thing as it bolted into the woods. She sighed and glumly retrieved the arrow to check if it was still intact enough to be reused.
Luck had held when it came to the arrow, if not to their hunting exploits. They returned to what Xavier was starting to call the Hearthstead Hall, the central building of the village and access to the warrens and rekindled the fire. Placing the cut vegetables and mushrooms onto wooden skewers Xavier slowly roasted them. Cooked, they were soft and filling but were bland in flavor tasting more of starch and chewy. Xavier paused a moment as he gnawed on his stick of food. “Yes, chewy was a good word to describe how this tasted.” He thought to himself.
It was on the third day, the duo paused outside the other mostly intact building within the ruins. The great forge stood silent but there was a presence to its remains. A ghostly warmth hung in the cool morning air as if the fires inside still burned hot and ready to craft. Chimneys still rose from the edges and central dome though parts of the ceiling and roof had collapsed. The presence of the building had driven the pair to give it berth until now. Now as its owner and still carrying the Heart of Creation, Xavier felt driven to finally breach its sanctum and behold what was inside.
"The Mael’Anthir remembers, mortal. Ye feel the power that yet lingers, though its former glory be faded, don’t ye? I warn ye once more—do not rekindle its spirit, not yet. When ye’ve founded a true village and gathered a people, then shall it be reborn. Aye, ye can rebuild its walls and use it as a forge, but do not waken it with the heart. Even in a lesser state, it would lend its strength to any who craft within." Aelriva, spoke from beside his head in hushed tones, almost reverent of the structure. She cocked her head to look at him a moment before she flew inside and vanished into the shadows.
Stepping carefully inside Xavier caught his breath at the sight. The central anvil still lingered in the middle of the floor, cracked and covered in rust but it bore runes, runes that matched others throughout the building and they seemed to bear the thrum of magic still. The place bore witness to the majesty the building once held. A relic of time when the master smiths of the Sylmyrian people forged powerful weapons that could carve through enchanted steel as if butter, and armor that could defy dragon’s fire itself.
Scattered across the floor are fragments of rusted, twisted metal. Forgotten weapons and tools left unfinished, as if the forge was abandoned in a single moment of calamity. Piles of coal, now covered in moss, line the walls, and the ground is littered with the broken remains of tools heavy enough that only a giant might wield them. A cold, ghostly wind whistles through the cracks, carrying the faint scent of smoke and iron, as though the forge itself remembers the fires it once held. Even in its ruin, there’s a strange warmth emanating from the ancient stone hearth, hinting at embers that may still flicker, deep within.
Aelriva paused at the great anvil and rested a small shifting hand on its broken form a quick glance at Ella as she did so was missed by Xavier in his awe of the rest of the structure. She lingered only a moment as Ella joined her mimicking her gesture and then they both moved away and about the interior of the building. Xavier gathered some of the broken metal but lacking any real way to work the pieces he simply sat them in a stack near the remains of the smelter and walked back out into the sunlight.
It took several days spent in the budding settlement each passing as the one before. Xavier would often stop and stare at the forge as they passed it. The golems tore down buildings under the watchful eye of Aelriva, careful to avoid the forge and Hearthstead Hall. Aelriva spoke each morning with Xavier to get guidance on what he wanted done. And the pair of Ella and Xavier prowled the forests edge gathering herbs and managing to shoot a few of the deerlike creatures adding to their stock of drying meat and hides.
Xavier still had intense dreams of different scenarios ranging from him sitting on a throne to dying starving and alone in the darkness. Each dream still had flashes of those haunting eyes and bright red hair but never more than just a hint of the goddess to whom they belonged. He would often wake from those dreams shuddering and wondering if the goddess was toying with him or his imagination was just running that wild given the changes he had experienced.
Finally, after five days had passed, Xavier stood in rough leather breeches and a loose leather tunic. His work on replacing arrows for Ella had increased his skill with crafting another three points. To go with that his nightly struggles in making the leather garments, a pair of waterskins, a single bag for carrying provisions and a new quiver for Ella had granted him the leatherworker skill as well.
Congratulations! You have learned a new skill – Crafting level 5. Every tool and item in this world are made by something. You now climb within the ranks of those crafters. Will you stall with the most basic of tools or will you rise to craft wonderous pieces of jewelry and tools that will shape the world? +10% to crafted items, +10% to crafted tools.
Congratulations! You have learned a new skill – Leatherworking level 2. You’ve mastered the art of… not cutting yourself (as much) while working with leather. At this level, you can create basic pouches, straps, and other questionable-quality items that smell faintly of burnt flesh. But hey, everyone starts somewhere, right? Just don’t get too ambitious and try making anything with “fancy” buckles. +4% to crafted item quality, -4% to weight of crafted items.
They were ready he felt, in the morning they would gather up their smoked and dried meat and some of the other vegetables and mushrooms. Then head towards the river and on to Bramblegate. Hopefully, there he would be able to find some people who would be willing to brave the woods and start a new village.
As he leaned against the doorway into the Hearthstead Hall, Xavier sat, spear across his lap. Though he hadn’t gotten any further skill improvements in his cooking, he assumed it was because he wasn’t making anything more challenging than skewered meat and veg, tonight’s dinner was filling and satisfying. His eyes scanned the darkness of the clearing, most of the ruins around the hall he was residing in had been cleared. Tomorrow they would set out for the village of Bramblegatr and then the drive to rebuild his own village would begin in earnest.