The Greystone Chronicles: Book One: Io Online Read online

  “He be a man of honor, me King. He works hard in service to his people. He suffers no fools, and values the counsel of wise men. He named Alexander here his Knight-Advisor after Alexander figured out a way for the kingdom to battle a demon horde without having to burden its people with more taxes. He named us all friends of the realm for clearing a dungeon of demon spawn and killing their demon overlord,” Brick said, inhaling deeply when he was done, having gotten that all out in one breath.

  “I remember him as an honest lad,” the king said. “It seems he has not let power go to his head. I think we can reach some agreement. What else do you want besides a wagonload of ale and spirits?” the king asked.

  Brick handed him Fitz’s list of spell components. Then he added, “Me King, I’m a smith, when I have the time, and have just begun to set up a workshop in our guild compound. I’d like to purchase a set of quality tools while I’m here. And maybe speak to a Master Smith about possible improvements to me hammer and shield?”

  Brick removed his hammer and set it on the table. The king inspected it briefly. “Infused with holy power from Durin himself. ‘Tis a mighty weapon. I’m sure Master Ironhammer would be happy to take a look.” Then Brick produced his shield, and set it in front of the king. Both the king and his uncle’s eyes widened. The king began to reach for the shield, then hesitated, looking to Brick. Brick bowed his head, and the king lifted the shield. Turning it, then thumping it with his fist, he whispered, “Such a thing as this…” shaking his head. “Ye didn’t just kill a demon lord for this, boy. This came from an ancient demon lord of great power.”

  “Aye, me King. He was no’ easy to kill. Alexander here found a clever way to end him, else we’d all be meat in his belly.” The king looked to Alexander, examining him fully for the first time. Upon noticing the mithril shirt, he gasped. “Send for the council!” he shouted, and servants scattered to fulfil his command. He looked into Alexander’s eyes, and indicated the shirt. “Master Knight, would ye mind?”

  Alexander quickly removed the legendary chestguard and set it on the table before the king. Both the king and Master Stonehand touched it lightly, eyes closed for a moment. Then looked at each other and nodded.

  The king addressed Brick and his friends. “The rest of the council will be here in a few moments. I ask that ye share with us the story of yer fight with Sr’Vok.”

  Brick bowed his head again. “Of course, me King.”

  Alexander spoke up, “If I might ask, Majesty, you seem to recognize this piece. Can you tell me about it?”

  “Oh, aye lad. This was crafted by me grandfather nearly 500 years ago. He made it for a legendary warrior who was on a quest to kill a demon lord. This demon was a general in command of a horde that had broken through into the lowest levels of our mines. He led a party of adventurers who answered our call for assistance. We could not defeat the horde without sacrificing too many of our own warriors, so we outfitted these adventurers with weapons and armor forged by our finest crafters. They went into the mines and slew hundreds of demon scum. They could na’ kill the demon lord, but did force it to retreat to the void, and they destroyed the demon’s portal so it could not return. But the hero this shirt was gifted to was slain in the battle.”

  As the king spoke, the table filled up with several other elder dwarves who arrived in ones and two. As they sat, the shirt and shield were passed around for each of them to examine. There were gasps and looks of concern.

  The king spoke to his council. “As ye can clearly see, the damned demons be back. Brick here is a paladin of Durin. He and his friends encountered the demons, with Sr’Vok. Brick, if ye please?”

  Brick told them the tale of finding the dungeon and working their way down to battle Sr’Vok. He told them of the battle, and of Alexander’s idea that killed the demon lord. He mentioned the loot, which caused Sasha’s staff and Max’s quiver to be passed around for inspection as well. He told them of the keys they found in the box, and of King Charles adoption of Alexander’s idea to reward adventurers who find and eliminate demons within the realm.

  A truly ancient elder with hair so white it was translucent asked to see one of the keys. The king identified him as the clan historian, Master Tomebinder, as Brick handed over his key. The historian examined the key, taking out a jeweler’s glass for a closer look. He passed his hand over it as if he were casting some kind of spell. Handing the key to the king, he nodded his head. “Aye, this makes sense after the boy’s story. The key bears the mark of Baron Dire.”

  “Baron Dire?” Alexander asked.

  “Aye, that were how he was known. I remember not his real name. He were baron of the keep that lay near the base of Dire Falls, close to the caverns ye found. A cruel and devious man. He worked dark magic and made slaves of all his people. Used them to pull gold and gems from the mines on his land. He was killed and his keep destroyed by an angry wizard.”

  That explains a lot.

  “Thank ye, me King.” Brick bowed his head to the king and to the historian.

  The king nodded his head. “I will follow King Charles’ lead in this. I will reward any adventurers who bring me proof of some kind that they’ve killed demon scum within our lands.”

  Brick removed a couple demon horns from his bag. “Me King, I cut these from the monsters as we killed em. King Charles is accepting them as proof of kills, and is paying a reward in gold.”

  Master Ironhammer, who was apparently one of the king’s council, said “Toss me one o’ them, boy”. He examined the horn closely. “Aye, me king. These’ll do nicely. We can use em’ to enchant weapons to increase damage against demons.”

  Sighing mightily, Brick removed the rest of the horns from his bag. It seems that all of Io is conspiring to keep him from crafting his demon horn shot glasses. “I’m afraid that’s all I have left, me King. I sold 400 of them to King Charles.”

  Thalgrin said, “We’ll pay ye for these, Brick.”

  “Please accept them as a gift, Majesty,” Alexander said.

  Brick, nodding his head said, “Aye, we plan to get more,” to which all the dwarves laughed and thumped their hands on the table.

  Quest Received: Death to Demons

  Slay demons wherever you can find them within the dwarven realm. Return demon horns to the Broken Mountain as proof of death.

  Rewards: Variable.

  Alexander and his friends all laughed as they accepted the quest.

  At that, the council disbanded. After a word with the king, Master Ironhammer took up Brick’s hammer and shield, promising to have them back in an hour.

  “’Tis good fortune you came home to us today, Brick,” the king began. “Ye’ve given us warning of the demon’s return, and a plan to protect ourselves. Ye brought us a new friend and potential ally in King Charles. My thanks to all of ye,” he nodded to each of the group in turn. “Now! How many of these pelts did you bring us? And what else do you have to trade?”

  “There be 150 pelts in the wagon, me King. As for other things, what else do ye need?”

  “Well, the soil on the mountain is barren and rocky. Our farmers are barely able to feed us. So fresh fruits, vegetables, grains, all would be appreciated,” the king mused.

  “Your Majesty, if I may?” Max interjected. “Stormforge is a harbor city with a fleet of fishing vessels and merchant ships visiting daily from other lands. We are fortunate enough to have been able to build a permanent portal in our compound. Would fish fresh off the docks be of any interest?”

  “Oh, aye!” The king smiled.

  “Also, Majesty. Do you have any use for obsidian?” Max continued.

  Laughing, the king replied, “Indeed, master Max. Our crafters have recipes to use it in the forging of both weapons and armor. It is useful for its ability to hold enchantments. Only our master smiths be allowed, or can afford, to work with it, as our supply be small.”

  Brick, picking up on Max’s intent, took over. “Me King. We can deliver ye nearly 1 ton of obsidian sto
ne today. In return we ask for two things. First, enchanted weapons for me friends and for the human King’s soldiers. They need not be fancy, just enhanced to kill demons and undead. Oh, and ye fill our wagon with ale and spirits once a week for a year,” he smiled.

  “BWAHAHAHA!” The king laughed so loudly that everyone in the great hall paused to look. “It be good you did na’ say tha’ before old Ironhammer left. He’d follow ye home and marry ye to his granddaughter!”

  Brick blushed. Which only caused the king to laugh harder. “Speakin’ of following ye home, lad. To show me appreciation for all you’ve brought us, I’ll send a few crafters with some supplies home with ye. They’ll build your smithy for you, and leave you with all the tools you need.”

  Brick went from being embarrassed, to awed. “Thank ye, me King! I’ve recently learned to craft with stone as well as metal, and to infuse magic. I plan to become a master smith meself one day!”

  “Brick crafted the portal gateway pedestals out of obsidian this morning. They are beautiful!” Sasha couldn’t help herself.

  “I think I’d like to see those!” the king said. “And a visit to the human King seems a good idea. Can ye set it up for next week? We can work out our trade agreements then.”

  After a bit of small talk, the king wished them well and sent them on their way. Master Stonehand led them back toward the training grounds where the portal was located. When they reached the outer cavern, they found their wagon already filled with barrels of ale and kegs of spirits. Behind that was a cart filled with crafting materials being pulled by three young dwarves, and an empty wagon hooked to four large boars meant to retrieve the obsidian.

  Lainey giggled and pointed back the way they came. Master Ironhammer came strolling up, with a young female dwarf in tow. She was carrying Brick’s hammer and shield.

  “The king was right!” she whispered. “Here comes Brick’s bride to be!” They all chuckled, except Brick. He looked suddenly terrified. While his avatar was a dwarf, and he did his best to role play a proper dwarf, he was still a human man in real life. Ironhammer’s granddaughter might have been a supermodel among dwarven women, which means she was just under four feet tall, with a barrel shaped body, thickly muscled arms and legs, and a full beard of soft looking blonde hair that extended maybe three inches below her chin.

  “M…m, Master Ironhammer,” Brick stammered, unable to look away from the female dwarf. A circumstance completely misinterpreted by the Master Smith.

  “Young Brick! This be me granddaughter, Thea. She will accompany ye back to yer compound to look after the needs of the crafters while they construct yer forge. I trust that ye’ll see to her… safety?” The old dwarf gave Brick a knowing wink.

  Thea stepped forward, handing Brick his hammer and shield.

  “Thea will explain to ye the improvements we made. I’ll come along to supervise the loading of the obsidian. About how many crates will we need?”

  Brick was still speechless.

  “You’ll not need any crates, Master Ironhammer,” Max volunteered as he slapped Brick on the back of the head. “The stone is in one solid piece. You’ll need several strong dwarves to lift it, I’m afraid.” He smiled as the master smith’s eyes seemed to grow to twice normal size, and he became unsteady on his feet. “Also, if it’s too long for your wagon, Brick can reshape it to fit. If he ever remembers to breathe. Or blink.” Both Lainey and Sasha giggled. Thea seemed to have taken Brick’s staring as some kind of challenge, and was staring right back at him, arms crossed, with a defiant glare.

  With everyone impatient to get going, Alexander led the procession outside into the training yard. As they approached the portal stones, he took his medallion in hand and focused on opening the portal to their home.

  He turned to the others. “There are wards set around our compound, and to be honest I don’t know how they’ll treat someone entering via portal. So I officially welcome all of you to our house. In case that doesn’t work, please give me a moment to go through and make sure you’re safe. I’ll wave when we’re ready.”

  Alexander stepped through the portal. He turned and said to nobody in particular, “I officially welcome these dwarves to our guild house. Then, just in case, he focused on the wards and set them to “teleport” rather than kill. Worst case, I’ll have to run and bail some confused dwarves out of jail.

  He waved for the rest of the party to come through, and welcomed each of them as they stepped into the compound. Nobody disappeared. So far, so good. Brick directed his wagon directly to the top of the ramp that led to his cellar. He then escorted the crafter’s wagon around the main house to the front of the compound and the armory/barracks building. Showing them where he wanted to place his smithy, he left them to unload supplies. Thea went inside to explore the building and see to accommodations for herself and the crafters.

  Alexander, and the others waited impatiently for the old master to lead his wagon through. He was last in line, and slightly delayed as he rounded up more dwarves to lift the stone. None of them wanted to miss the look on his face when he laid eyes upon it.

  They were not disappointed. Not 5 seconds after stepping into the compound, his gaze found the stone, a single 12 foot tall block of obsidian weighing something close to a ton. With tears in his eyes, he stumbled toward it, and actually hugged the stone. Or that’s how it looked to Alexander and company. When several of the others did the same, he activated his mage sight and realized they were using their innate earth sense to explore the stone. I’m still going to claim they were hugging it anytime I tell this story.

  Alexander shut down the portal to give them time to commune with the stone. He could always open it again when they were ready to go.

  As they were planning how to load the stone onto the wagon, Fitz approached. He grumbled that he’d been awakened by the portal activation. Alexander suspected that it was more likely the smell of dwarven spirits, and the wizard already held a small keg in his arms like it was an infant child.

  He must have been feeling generous, because when Alexander nodded in the direction of the stone, Fitz didn’t hesitate. He called out to the dwarves to stand back, and levitated the stone, he rotated it so that it lay horizontally, and the dwarves simply pushed it toward the wagon and aligned it before Fitz set it down in the wagon’s bed.

  The dwarven master walked over and bowed to the wizard. “Thank you, Master Fitzbindulum. I assume these are yers?” He produced a large sack that must have contained Fitz’s spell components.

  “Thank you, Master Ironhammer. I hope your family is well?”

  “Aye, that they are. Little Dorin grew up, married, and gave me three grandchildren. The youngest, Thea, be here now, with the crafters.”

  “Has it really been so long since I visited?” the wizard grumbled. “At my age, years pass like days.”

  “That’s because you sleep through most of them!” Sasha poked the old wizard in the belly.

  The old dwarf laughed. “Yer welcome in me house anytime, Fitz. As ever.” With that, he bowed slightly to the group, and headed back to the wagon. As they turned it toward the portal, Fitz waved a hand and activated it. Once they were through, he closed it again.

  Sasha and Lainey went off to find Thea and help her and the crafters get settled. Max went to help Brick unload his share of the dwarven beverages, and then rode with him to deliver the rest to the palace. By the time they returned, dinner was nearly ready.

  Thea and the crafters had stowed their personal gear in the barracks, which were on the second floor of the armory. Each of them got a small 6x6 room with a bunk and a storage chest. There was a communal bathroom at the end of the hall. Upon seeing that, Sasha had refused to let Thea bunk in the barracks. She offered her the last of the guest suites on the second floor of the main house. Thea absolutely refused, saying it would be an imposition. So they compromised, setting up a bunk in the workshop attached to greenhouse. She would have privacy there, and space to work. Thea had brought provision
s for herself and the crafters, and went about setting up to cook in the workshop’s small kitchen. Sasha would have none of that, dragging the dwarfess into the main house kitchen, where they worked together to prepare a meal for everyone. The crowd at the dining room table that evening was quite the group. Five adventurers, an ancient wizard, and four dwarves of Broken Mountain. The young dwarves were amazed by the food, and ate like they’d been starving. The wizard, of course, ate more.

  Once dinner was complete, Sasha informed their guests that she and the rest of the Greystone clan would be away for the next day. Brick told the crafters to take the day and explore the city, and gave them each 25 gold as spending money. Alexander gave each of them medallions so they could safely leave and enter the compound. He explained to them about the wards, so they would not cause any tension by attempting to bring in guests and getting them teleported. He also warned them about the potential for PWP members to be lurking around.

  Fitz, who was already well into emptying his keg, had begun snoring, so they left him where he was. The rest of them retired to their various quarters and turned in for the night.

  Chapter Twelve

  For Those About to Rock

  Alexander awoke once again in his pod. He was getting used to the transition from I0 immersion to the real world, but it was still a bit disorienting at first. The nurse removed his headgear, then with confirmation that he was ready, his facemask. She assisted him with swinging his legs around so that he could stand, then handed him a robe to put on. As was his habit, he stumbled to the bathroom and the shower.

  When he met up with the girls in the living room. Lainey inspected him like a race horse at an auction, checking his eyes, his legs, even his teeth and gums. Satisfied, she hugged him. They sat down, and she started the awkward conversation they both knew they needed to have.