Forge of Eternity: Alpha Testing, page 52
I ran to the edge and looked over, feeling a rush of wind and familiar mana as I stared down at a column of energy. My senses told me this was the same mana I’d channeled within the dungeon. The sliver of sunlight on the horizon provided just enough light to see that we were well above the height of most skyscrapers, the port town of Stathmore visible in the distance. Gavin hopped up on the wall next to me with considerable effort behind his jump, plopping down to hang his feet over the edge and look down. The rest of the party joined up with us a moment later as we gazed in companionable silence into the deepening shadows.
“I didn’t survive having a mountain blast me into the sky just to fall to my death,” Foreman Quickhand said as she approached, choosing to look between the rails cautiously. “We’re going to hole up under the staircase tonight, everyone needs a rest and we brought enough bedrolls and tents to be comfortable. Join us when you can and we’ll talk about the future. You did well for us, and we want to do right by you in turn.”
Deacon - Wrapping Up
I sat on a stone tree trunk in the corner of a halfling-sized tent. The rest of the party sat to either side, blocking me in, while the Meritum emissaries and mercenary leader sat opposite us on their own log. Amalie set the mana lantern in the center of the tent, holding Lenny’s mana crystal in her lap. Quickhand passed around jerky and bread, the mood awkward and somber among the NPCs.
“Coal,” Quickhand broke the silence, “can you start?”
The dwarf pursed his lips, then nodded. “Today’s events were… unexpected. The Forges have been lost for generations. The world has been peaceful without them, for the most part, but it has been stagnant. Most land can produce sufficient yield for the populace, while local dungeons and monster management keep the kingdoms or tribes occupied with their own internal matters. There’s little incentive for large-scale conquest, so most territories are static, the occasional border skirmish notwithstanding.”
“I take it uncovering a Forge is going to change that?” Goodwin asked.
“A bit,” the dwarf nodded, “but we’ve also been changing things as well even without them.”
“The factions,” Amalie suggested. “Pooling power voluntarily didn’t have the same issues as conquering by force. Larger collective power makes conquering others seem attractive since the risk is lower.”
This time Edralin took over, nodding. “With the infrastructure we’re establishing, disputes over luxury resources have already started. I will admit, we do have a few territories that weren’t acquired peacefully.”
“War is simply an engine of change and such situations are natural,” Gavin said, tapping the step of his pipe against one hand as he spoke. “It’s a common theme through our own land’s history, even in modern times. Or, is that not the way of things here?”
“It was, in times long passed. There are a few among my people who speak of the old empires from their youth,” Edralin said, his expression pensive. “There are only a handful that can provide a firsthand accounting of the Gods’ War that ended the empires, concealing the Forges. Of them, none will provide details past the nostalgia of a better time before the war. They claim to speak of the war itself would be dishonorable, and that the details deserve to be forgotten.”
“Do you know what year this Gods’ War took place using the Anno Illustratum calendar?” Lenny asked, Amalie placing him next to the lantern so he could be better heard as he glowed. “I might be able to fill in some of your missing history. I will say that we weren’t at war when I died. Beacongarde was a free city between the Adamantine Kingdom and the Velluvium Empire.”
Quickhand snapped her fingers several times in quick succession, silencing Lenny. “History lessons later, let’s focus on now. Coal?”
“To put it bluntly,” Coal started, spreading his arms wide, “we’re at war, or we will be soon enough that it makes no difference. Laying claim to a Forge in an area where we don’t have a strong base of power is a challenge that demands an answer. Our resources aren’t bottomless, but we can rally sufficient troops to hold a fortified floating city for a time. Tomorrow, we’ll scout out a spot in the city to set up the Faction Pillar to call in the first wave of guards. Once we’re secure, we need a plan to use this new resource and make it sustainable.”
“Gods, you’re as insufferable as ever,” Quickhand interrupted, raising her hands in exasperation. “I recommended you all for the governing council. As much as I worked and bled for this chunk of rock, I would have parted with it for coppers on the gold piece without your intervention. Your efforts in trying to keep us alive just solidified my opinion on the matter.”
“I was getting to it,” Coal grumbled. “Regardless, I agree with Lindy’s assessment of your character and ability. I can guarantee this is going to be a hotly contested location, both internally and externally, and you all deserve to have a say in what happens here. You also deserve a cut of the profits this will yield for us as a whole. Between the six of you and Lindy, you’ll have the majority vote on the council. What do you say?”
“Before we agree,” Amalie held up a hand before anyone else could reply. “What do we need to do and what do we get in return?”
“Oh relax, it’s not a full-time commitment,” Edralin said, waving away her concerns. “Meetings once per month, takes about half a day. A bit of paperwork maybe once a week, couple of hours of effort. So far as what you get, well, you profit off a percentage of the taxes collected in the area and can determine local policy.”
I made eye contact with Amalie, then did the same with the rest of the party one at a time. Everyone gave a smile or a slight nod. Turning back to Lorekeeper Coal, I nodded my head.
“We’re honored and happy to accept this offer,” I extended my hand. He clasped it by the wrist with his own stubby hand and shook it once.
The dwarf beamed and clapped his hands together in a decisive gesture. “I’ll draw up the paperwork tomorrow. For tonight, let’s just enjoy the fact that we survived the day. You all bed down here for the night, we’ll drag the logs out and there’s already a watch rotation that you don’t need to be part of. Rest well, the morning will be here soon enough with new challenges for us all.”
The logs were removed from the tent to be used elsewhere in the makeshift camp. We sat in a circle around the lantern, preoccupied with the slew of alerts and messages waiting for us. The silence stretched on for several minutes while we each processed the data and influx of experience.
Quest Complete: Save Your Place, Save Us All
Repair main control power 1/1
Begin dungeon’s self-repair function 1/1
Restore dungeon stability 1/1
Survive ignition sequence 1/1
(Hidden) Go out of your way to help save the Lindy’s Lot (Formerly: Stathmore Miners) 1/1
(Hidden) Ensure Foreman Quickhand survives this quest to claim an additional reward 1/1
Reward:
5,000 Experience
Retain rewards from “Earning Your Keep”
Reputation increase with Lindy’s Lot (Formerly: Stathmore Miners)
Reputation increase with Meritum
Access to Beacongarde
You have reached Level 7!
You have 5 unspent stat points available
You have 1 ability point available
Amalie Valeth has reached level 7!
Gavin Outbuffs has reached level 7!
Phelyya Vendatta has reached level 7!
Urivon Temporus has reached level 7!
Goodwin Satin has reached level 7!
At first, I was a little disappointed in the amount of experience, until I realized that it bumped me a full level and two-thirds through the next one. I was a little over a thousand experience away from the next level already. The other items were just icing on the cake after getting that much experience. I can only assume that access to Beacongarde means we’ll find the gates unlocked, or maybe the key we found in the dungeon would work on that gate too.
I pushed speculation aside, aiming my attention at the more tangible stat and ability points. I allocated three points into constitution and saved the other two for later. The ability point required a little more thought. I remembered Geological Reinforcement and Battle Healing were both at the top of my list from the last time I had a point to spend. There were a few newer skills that I was interested in, but Geological Reinforcement caught my eye since it was glowing like hot iron in my menus.
—Geological Reinforcement - Slate*
——*Achievement synergy: Forge Touched I - Consuming this achievement’s active effect will boost all effects of this skill and subsequent upgrades by 100%
——Tapping into your elemental heritage allows you to temporarily shift the composition of your body’s rocky formations. Slate raises the physical damage reduction of “Like a Rock” to 20% and grants 20% fire damage reduction. This ability drains 5 stamina per second when active.
I was unaware that achievements had any utility past bragging rights. I filtered by class skills and looked for any others sporting glowing indicators without any luck. There didn’t seem to be a way to search by achievement synergy or any other quick and easy way to find other ways of directly using the achievements. Since I had my eye on it even before the Forge Touched I achievement brought it back to my attention, I picked the ability and pulled up my character sheet to see where everything stood after new level.
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Name: Deacon Stone
Level: 7
Class: Aegis
Race: Stonetouched Human
HP: 483/483
Stamina: 362/362
Armor: 175
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Primary Statistics
—Strength: 21
—Agility: 11
—Constitution: 23
—Intelligence: 10
—Luck: 10
Unspent Stat Points: 2
Gear
——Head: (empty)
——Shoulders: (empty)
——Neck: (empty)
——Chest: Locust Chitin Brigandine Vest, Level 4
——Type: Medium Armor
——Armor: 65
——Weight: 25 lb.
——Durability: 21/50
——2.5% Fire Resistance
—Back: (empty)
—Arms: Light Locust Chitin Bracers, Level 4
——Type: Medium Armor
——Armor: 35
——Weight: 7 lbs.
——Durability: 20/30
——1% Fire Resistance
——Hands: (empty)
——Waist: (empty)
—Legs: Locust Chitin Greaves, Level 4
——Type: Medium Armor
——Armor: 30
——Weight: 1 lb.
——Durability: 11/25
—Feet: Soft Cloth Shoes, Level 1
——Type: Light Armor
——Armor: 5
——Weight: 1 lb.
——Durability: 3/15
—Finger 1: (empty)
—Finger 2: (empty)
Weapons
—Main Hand: Kalin’s Hammer, Level 7
——Type: Warhammer
——Damage: 59-89
——Weight: 2 lbs.
——Durability: 55/60
——Socket 1: Elemental Fire Rune, Level 5
——Socket 2: Elemental Earth Rune, Level 5
——Scalable weapon, maximum level 25
—Off Hand: Aegis (Conjured)
——Type: Shield
——Armor: 40
——Weight: 8 lbs.
——Durability: 35/55
Abilities and Traits
—Weight of the Mountain (Racial)
—Tremorsense (Racial)
—Like a Rock (Racial)
—Instant Earthwork (Class Ability)
—Kinetic Capacitor (Class Ability)
—Conjure Aegis (Class Ability)
—Geological Reinforcement - Slate (Synergized Class Ability)
Skills
—Persuasion - Level 1
—Defense - Level 5
—Sword Proficiency - Level 4
—Warhammer Proficiency - Level 4
—Shield Proficiency - Level 5
—Blacksmithing - Level 6
—Mind Craft - Level 2
Achievements
—Slow Learner
—Stubborn Perseverance
—Forge Touched I (Synergized)
—Dungeon Master
I saw there was some gear repair in my near future, though I was overall happy to see this much progress after only a few days. Having some solid damage mitigation that wasn’t on a cooldown was going to be helpful if the battles thus far were any indication. I dismissed my menus, the semi-transparent metallic windows blinking away.
“Everyone get their leveling done?” I asked, looking around. Everyone nodded, and Amalie seemed especially excited about something. “So, uh, anyone here know anything about running magic medieval city during a war?”
I’d asked as a sort of rhetorical bit of gallows humor, but Gavin raised his hand. “I happen to fancy myself as a student of history, with a fascination around ancient warfare. While floating cities don’t have any historical precedence, I’m certain I have some level of aptitude in this area.”
After a few seconds, we all broke out in the sort of infectious hysterical laughter that accompanies being far too stressed for far too long. The reality of the situation started to settle in on my brain and the laughter was a pleasant buffer. I’d wanted to play a game and be the hero, railroaded through easy quests for the illusion of power. Instead, I was dropped into a lucky spot, where I would never have succeeded without the help from the inhabitants of this digital world and our small party. Now that we’d actually stumbled into a position of power, it felt undeserved. It was a sobering and unnerving experience.
Once we quieted back down, I decided to lay things out as I saw them, if only to get them off my chest. “We all lucked out big time today, but I don’t think that should overshadow the work everyone put in. For some of us, this isn’t a game. For the NPCs, the stakes are even higher. We got lucky and fell into a good spot here, now we’re going to have to live up to the position we’ve earned. As much as I hate to say it, we’re going to need a ton of help to make this work. That all being said, I think we all need to get some rest since we’re no longer racing the clock. We’ll have plenty of time to tackle this in the morning.”
Everyone agreed, too tired to talk and looking forward to some rest. Amalie and Phelyya logged off while Goodwin, Uri, Gavin, and I set up makeshift pillows using the softer parts of our gear. I threw a pack over top of Lenny’s orb, the mage spirit already asleep and snoring somehow, and turned off the lantern. Despite my exhaustion, sleep was elusive, my mind a jumble of random thoughts and half-formed plans for the future. A voice, soft and subtle as the evening breeze, whispered in my ear once I finally started teetering between wakefulness and dreaming.
“You did well hero, I know you will serve me fully in due time. Sleep well.”
Intellectually, I knew I should be concerned, maybe even scared. On the edge of sleep, however, with the logic of the waking world melting away, I couldn’t muster the lucidity to be concerned. With a conscious decision, I chose sleep. I could afford to push just one more thing off to the future.
About the Author
Tony L Joy currently lives in Colorado and has spent his adult life explaining increasingly less comprehensible computer problems to similarly less comprehensible people in exchange for money. When not exchanging knowledge for currency, he writes stories and books.
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Tony L Joy, Forge of Eternity: Alpha Testing
