The Greystone Chronicles: Book One: Io Online Read online

  Alexander addressed the crowd. “Unfortunately, not all adventurers are good people. As with any group, there will be some who care only for themselves, and will take from you your possessions, even your lives, without a second thought. You all saw this when PWP attacked Stormforge. I am not telling you to fear all adventurers. Most of us are basically good, if unruly and inconsiderate. But if you see any adventurers acting suspiciously, as these here were today, please let us know immediately! Thank you.”

  Alexander was now very worried for the people of Whitehall. If PWP connected the village to himself and his guildmates these people would become targets. To his surprise, he was not the only one thinking along those lines.

  Millicent walked through the loitering crowd. She stepped up to Alexander, and put out a hand. “Do you have an extra sword?” she asked. “I may be old, but my husband and I did some adventuring in our youth. I still know my way around a weapon. And if those murdering scum who killed my husband come to my new home, I intend to make them suffer for it!” The elder lady was trembling with rage.

  The gathered crowd looked shocked. Alexander chuckled, and began to search his inventory for an appropriate weapon. Max beat him to it, handing her an enchanted sword they’d looted from one of the demons. It was small and lightweight enough that she should be able to swing it.

  Millicent thanked him, then stepped back and took a few practice swings. The villagers let loose a roar of approval. Had she not been swinging a sword, Alexander would have hugged her at that moment.

  Brick and Max began handing out looted weapons, just common ones, from the dungeon and from PWP players to any villagers who asked. Lainey called over the two retired sergeants and arranged for them to provide daily training sessions for any villagers who wished to learn. She gave each of them an enchanted sword as a reward. The two old soldiers saluted the Valkyrie, swords across their hearts, and went off to begin organizing.

  Though it was getting late, Alexander went back to wall building. Whitehall needed to be secure as soon as possible. As he was working, the captain returned with two dozen more guards, as well as Fitz and an earth mage from the Mage’s Guild. The two of them pitched in, and progress sped up immensely. So much so that by midnight they had at least a rudimentary stone wall 20 feet high around the entire village. There were guard towers every 200 feet around the entire circle, and a four-foot wide shelf that ran round the inside of the wall, allowing the guards to patrol the entire perimeter from above, watching both outside and in. As they completed each tower, a guard would take up his post and begin a watch.

  Exhausted, Alexander crawled into his bedroll and fell asleep. He dreamt of players attacking the village and slaughtering NPC’s. It was not a restful night.

  The next morning, he, Fitz, and the earth mage began fine tuning the defenses. The earth mage pushed over the logs of the old wooden palisade and jammed them up against the inside of the wall. Pushing dirt against those, he created a berm that provided reinforcement to the wall itself, and quick access to the top of the wall from inside the village. Fitz began casting enchantments on the walls to strengthen them, protect them from magic damage, and make them impossible to scale. The enchanting gave Alexander an idea. One of the enchantments that the old gnome had taught him was a simple light spell.

  Alexander recruited Brick, and the two of them went outside of the walls. They walked out the gate and stepped to the side of the road roughly 100 feet out from the wall. Alexander raised a stone marker, much like the signpost he had created back at the main road, about 4 feet in height. He asked Brick to work some sand into the top, and mold it into thick glass. Then he enchanted it with the light spell, and raised it up to a height of about 10 feet. For the finishing touch, Brick tied the enchantment to the earth below, allowing it to draw power. Effectively, they had made a lamp post. They went to the other side of the road and repeated the process. The whole thing, once they got a system down, took about two minutes. The pair of them walked around the entire wall, setting up a light every hundred feet, roughly 100 feet out from the wall. This would assist the guards in spotting any incoming threats. They’d have to check the brightness and spacing again once it got dark, to make sure the coverage was sufficient.

  When they got back inside, the priest that Captain Redmond had brought from the city approached them. “Sir Knight, might I have a moment?” he asked.

  “It’s Alexander. And this is Brick, a paladin of Durin.”

  The priest bowed his head to Brick. “Holy one. My name is Father Ignatius, of the church of Asclepius. I’ve come here to see to the needs of these poor villagers who have suffered so much. I intended to build a small chapel and offer services and healing within. Then yesterday I heard the captain’s announcement of demons in the nearby dungeon. Since then I’ve been thinking about how best to help defend against the possibility of their return.” Asclepius was the Greek god of healing.

  I like him already. “How can we help you, father?” Alexander encouraged him.

  “Well, I want to consecrate the ground in and around the village. Make it painful for demons or those of dark magic to even set foot here. Consecration of that nature involves a massive initial blessing, tied to a power source that can maintain it. That power source should be within the chapel where I can protect it. I thought with yourself, and the wizard Fitz, we could work together and accomplish this task?”

  “Aye,” Brick said, “I’ll help as well. There will be dwarves livin’ here as well, and Durin’ll be wantin’ to look out for them. We’ll put the favor o’two gods into the land!”

  “Where do we start, Father? I can construct a chapel for you. Have you spoken to the mayor about a location?”

  “I have. He gave me permission to locate the chapel wherever I find room. It should be as close to the center of the village as possible to maintain coverage over the entire area.” The priest pointed to a place where three homes had been burned to the ground. “That should be acceptable. I just need a small structure. Nothing fancy. There are less than a hundred souls here in the village.”

  “Ah, Father. But we’re going to grow the village. No point in having a chapel so small you outgrow it in a year. As for fancy, I’m afraid I’m too new at this for fancy. I can make it strong and secure, a place of refuge in case of attack. That, I’m good at,” Alexander said.

  “Fair enough,” chuckled the priest.

  So Alexander cleared the debris from the burned homes. He decided to set the chapel back a bit from the road. They had some room, since the new stone walls were 20 feet further out than the old palisade.

  As with the inn, he hollowed out a cellar, cutting large walls sections and raising them up above ground level. He made the dimensions 40 feet wide by 100 feet deep. He raised columns from the bedrock floor, and placed beams across them. He created a stone staircase leading up to ground level. Then he paused.

  “Father, you said you needed a power source. Shall we place it in the cellar? Or would it be better underground?”

  “In the cellar will be fine. That way I can watch over it, and access it if there’s a need to recharge.”

  Alexander decided to get creative. He raised a medium sized block of obsidian from the earth, approximately four feet square, and placed it in the exact center of the cellar. He placed floor sections across the cellar beams, leaving an opening at the stairwell. Then he extended the first floor walls up to a height of 20 feet, with a 3 foot thickness. He placed more beams across, but these were only temporary, to hold the walls together. Picturing in his mind some of his favorite gothic cathedrals, he created a series of 4 ribbed vaults growing up from the walls. Once those were in place, and the ceiling secure, he removed the cross beams. He opened tall arched windows along each side, and created a tall arched doorway 6 feet wide for the main entry.

  The three of them moved inside, and Brick took over. First, he went to the back wall, and laid his hands on it. He pulled sand up through the stone, and created a large circular opa
que glass window high up on the wall. It was about ten feet in diameter, and let in a significant amount of light. He then began to do the same for each of the windows.

  While he was working on that, Alexander created a few interior walls in the back corners of the chapel to act as office and living space for the priest. He included a bathroom in each, and connected them to the water line underground. Then he stepped out back, and raised a 20 foot wide bell tower, with a door connecting it to the chapel and an interior stair. The tower rose up a total of 40 feet in the air. “Father I’m afraid you’ll have to get a bell on your own”.

  Stepping back inside, he found the priest and Brick waiting for him. They went into the cellar, and the priest cast a light globe so that they could see. When they reached the block of obsidian, Brick began to shape it. His hands moved across the stone, and it flowed into the classic shape of an altar. On one side he etched the Warhammer, symbol of Durin. On the other the staff with coiled serpent, symbol of Asclepius.

  Finished with the basic work, Alexander added a few touches. He cast a light enchantment into each of the columns in the cellar so that they’d emit a soft glow. Just enough to see by. As they headed upstairs, he offered to create stone pews.

  The priest laughed, “Thank you, Alexander. But stone is cold and gets hard on the bones after a while. I’ll obtain some wooden pews.”

  “That could take a while, Father. How about I make some simple stone benches for now, and we can get rid of them as you bring in pews later?”

  The priest agreed with that, and Alexander raised ten rows of benches, leaving a wide center aisle.

  Having nothing else to do in the chapel, Alexander headed out. Brick was going to stay and work with the priest to prepare for the consecration. They asked that he send them Fitz if he turned up.

  Being close to lunchtime, it was not hard to find Fitz; he was where the food was. Alexander grabbed some food and sat down next to the wizard. They discussed the plan to consecrate the ground. He expected the wizard to scoff at the idea. After all, they had closed the portal, and would be going back to finish off the remaining demons soon. Instead, the wizard supported the idea fully. Stuffing down the last of his sandwich, he made his way to the chapel.

  Checking in on guild chat, he found that Max and Lainey were once again out hunting. There were a lot of hungry mouths in the village. They had brought one of the farmer’s sons, and one of Millicent's daughters, as both were interested in learning to hunt.

  Lydia and Sasha were combing the woods for herbs and mushrooms. They’d taken the mist cat and Alexander’s tiger along for protection.

  Alexander decided to head down to the inn to check on progress. Thomas and the carpenter, with the help of his sons, had completed the thick wood columns and beams and a staircase on the first floor, and had installed a floor for the second floor. They were busily constructing walls to create individual rooms on the second floor when he walked in.

  “You’re really making progress, Thomas!” he said.

  “Aye, Markham and his sons are hard workers, and they work smart. We’ll be done with the third floor and the roof in a few days. You and your lot will be able to sleep in regular rooms tonight. Though not on beds. Those’ll take quite a bit longer,” Thomas replied.

  Alexander thanked him for his hard work and moved on. Wandering through the town aimlessly, he decided it was a good time to work on his enchanting skills. Finding himself in front of Millicent's, he sat at one of the tables he’d created and pulled out some of the loot he’d collected over the last several days. These were all low level enchanted weapons and gear that weren’t worth selling at auction. He focused on the first item, a sword enchanted with extra strength. First he activated his mage sight. Then he activated the “study” skill from his enchantment skill tree. He watched as a thin thread of magic wrapped itself around the weapon, seeking out the enchantment. He began to see the form and texture of the magic, the intent behind it. Strength. Increased force. Increased resistance. The power of the earth. Then, as if a bubble had burst, he understood how to duplicate the magic. He had learned a strength enchantment!

  Unfortunately, the weapon dissolved to dust in his hands. Master Baleron had warned him this could happen. But Alexander considered it a good trade.

  Next, he decided to try his new enchantment. He removed one of the small gems from his bag, part of their loot from the dungeon. He wrapped his hand around the gem and focused on the idea of strength. He poured his mana through that idea, into the gem. After a moment there was a brief flash of light that leaked out between his fingers. Opening his hand, he found an enchanted gem.

  Gem of +5 Strength

  Quality: Uncommon

  So, not the best quality, and only a plus 5. Still, not bad for his first effort! This proved that he could accurately learn enchantments on his own, and use them, as opposed to the ‘pre-packaged’ enchantments that Baleron had taught him, like the light spell. It felt better somehow to think and learn for himself.

  Following that train of thought, he wondered if he could alter or combine enchantments. He didn’t want to waste a gem on wild experimentation, so he reached into the ground and pulled a small hunk of his old friend, obsidian. The dwarves had said it holds enchantments well. He set a roughly 5 pound piece on the table in front of him. Breaking a very small chunk off one corner, roughly the same size as a gem, he readied himself. He’d try for strength again, but he was going to do it differently.

  Reaching into the earth with his earth magic, he held ready the strength enchantment at the same time. He imagined the strength of a mountain, its immovable permanence. The power of an earthquake, the giant plates of unyielding energy grinding against each other. The pressure of a volcano, hot magma pressing against stone, trying to burst free. Channeling that strength up from the earth and through himself into the gem, there was a flash of light, and searing pain as the spell was completed. His UI was flashing red, indicating he’d taken some damage. It felt as though his entire body had been burned from the inside out. Too weak to even hold the gem, he let it fall from his hand as he slumped over the table. The burning sensation continued.

  “What did you do!?” Sasha demanded in group chat. She must have seen his health bar drop in their group UI.

  “Enchanting experiment. Might have overdone it. Burned myself, I think.”

  “You THINK?” This was Lainey. “When I get back there I’m shooting you in the balls with a stun arrow. You seem to enjoy pain. Moron.”

  “We’re coming back,” Sasha again.

  “No need. I’m fine. Keep doing what you’re doing.”

  “I be with father Ignatius right now.” Brick this time. “Where are ye? We’ll come toss ye a quick heal.”

  “I’m sitting in front of Millicent's.”

  Alexander sat there patiently, still unable to raise his head. It felt like his body was cooking inside. Slowly. He was used to enduring pain, but this pain was frightening. He didn’t know what it was, or what was causing it. Other than his being a moron.

  After a few minutes, he felt a hand on his head. There was a cool, tingling sensation. Not a heal. More like a probe. He heard the priest’s voice, “What have you done, Alexander? I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

  Fitz snorted. “I have. The boy was playing with fire. Literally.”

  The priest rested a hand on each of his shoulders, and began a prayer. Alexander felt the cool wash of holy magic flood through him. The pain subsided. He felt 100% better.

  “Thank you Father,” he said. Lifting his head up, he sat up straight on the bench. He looked around to see Fitz looking quite amused, and Brick and the priest looking confused.

  “What did ye mean, Father? Never seen what before?” Brick asked.

  “His blood was literally boiling. His body was cooking from the inside out,” the priest said.

  “BWAHAHA!! Ye nuked yerself! Ye might as well have crawled into a microwave!”

  Brick is never goin
g to let me live this down.

  “Let me guess, boy. You were trying to enchant something with fire,” the wizard chortled.

  “Strength, actually.” Alexander considered. “But I WAS imagining a volcano when the spell activated. I was trying to channel the strength of the earth into the stone, to see if it would make a stronger enchantment.”

  Fitz looked around, then picked up the bit of obsidian Alexander had been working on. Looking at it, he whistled. He handed the stone to Brick, who was suddenly not laughing. Brick handed the stone to Alexander.

  Elemental Stone

  Item quality: Unique

  This stone has been infused with the power of the earth, and the element of fire. When affixed to a weapon, it will provide a bonus of +20 to Strength. In addition, the weapon will inflict +150 fire damage.

  “Well, shit,” Alexander muttered. On the one hand, this was a damned impressive stone. On the other, he’d very nearly killed himself to make it. So, no making another one. He needed to rethink his experiment.