“It seems as though you’re between world-sundering crises.” Loth said beside Will’s sunchair overlooking the cliffs to the east of his city. At this time of morning the clouds rolling over the mountains sometimes became brilliant gilding because of the sun behind them.
Will had gotten into the habit of watching the sun come up while Brianna slept in. He enjoyed it and didn’t see any reason to change it just because- Will forcibly dragged his attention back to the present.
“I’m sure the next world-sundering crisis has already begun, but I’m not aware of it yet.” Will replied to the slender dragon-lady looming over him.
It always stunned him when he took note of how much taller she’d become. Limbs that had been short and stubby, ideal for cave-living, had become far more humanoid in proportion.
“Mm..” Loth nodded in agreement. Will heard the creak of miasma move beside him and in a couple heartbeats Loth had her own chair.
“Will, I’d like to take advantage of you while you’re not busy.”
“Shoot.”
“I want to hunt a dragon and start my Stronghold on the 15th Floor and I’d like your help.”
Will could see where she was going with this. For her, hunting a dragon and starting a stronghold were one and the same.
Why? Because kobolds were generally weak and stupid things that survived more on strong tribal bonds and malicious innate cunning than anything else. Until Loth they had considered level fifteen to be a high level.
They would not survive unless they all got a similar racial upgrade to Loth’s. No dragon would agree to be torn to pieces to become sacrifices for hundreds of kobolds.
The problem Will had with that was that dragons were closer to people than monsters…mostly. It was generally considered rude to break into their house, kill them then chop them up for parts.
“I suppose if we can find one that deserves to die…”
“Oh there’s plenty of those. I’m not worried about that.” Loth waved the thought off. “I could probably do it on my own. I just want to hunt a dragon together.”
Never been invited on a dragon hunt before.
Will’s gaze caught the road carved into the mountain connecting the Burned Stronghold to the Crystal Giant village. The one that Badur had arranged without Will’s knowledge or consent.
It had been one of the key reasons why the giants hadn’t been slaughtered, and even now, Will could see a huge amount of freight being moved between the two locations.
Badur, despite…or perhaps because he was a giant stick-in-the-mud, was excellent at keeping a Stronghold running smoothly. His choices were generally for the betterment of the Stronghold as a whole. Except for that one noise ordinance he made to harass the tavern.
Ordinance aside, the Stronghold would be fine without him.
The only thing Will was good for was killing things in creative ways, which was a major part of starting a Stronghold, but not necessarily running one.
I think someone warned me about that once.
Will should play to his strengths. One of those strengths was killing dragons.
“…Sounds fun.”
They made plans to go in three days, giving Loth time to organize the kobolds currently staying at the Burned Stronghold for the trip, and giving Will time to foist all his responsibilities off on Badur.
“Please rethink this milord! You just got back from a trip and the Stronghold was attacked immediately during that trip, don’t you think you should stay and put people’s minds at ease!?” Badur begged, practically clinging to Will’s leg as he left.
“Badur, do you think that there are an unlimited number of Lords willing to risk getting their heads cut off in order to steal my Stronghold?” Will asked the gangly administrator.
As far as Will knew there were only a handful of Lords, and they all knew what happened to Marksman.
The Logistician paused, head cocked. “Huh. I didn’t think about that.”
Of course, without Brianna to warn him instantly a swift response like last time was impossible, but no one needed to know that. It was best to let his legend do the work at this point.
As they walked discussing the last details of Badur’s regency, Will caught a familiar scent in the air. If he had to describe the smell, it would be ‘sparkly’.
He stopped and glanced over at crates of constellation Sacrifices from the 11th Floor. The caravaneer hauling them down to Akul was currently loading them onto his wagon, having purchased the Sacrifices from a local wholesaler. The jostling was why the smell had spread.
Hm. That reminds me of the wedding that I brought Bri-
Will cut off that train of thought and turned his attention back to Badur
“It’s just a quick hunting trip.”
Famous last words.
“Are you…sure you want to be the only human around several hundred Advanced Class kobolds?” Badur asked.
Will opened his mouth to reassure Badur that it would be fine, but couldn’t assert with full confidence that he wouldn’t have to kill any of them.
“We’ll see. Keep growing the Stronghold like you have been, and it’ll all turn out fine.”
Badur deflated, his last hope of keeping Will around seemingly vanishing before his eyes.
“Very well, milord.”
Will met Loth and the rest of her extended family outside the gates of the Burned Stronghold, every inch the twitchy kobolds he remembered. Each of them was wearing an Abby which Loth had given to them.
I wonder if they understand how valuable those Abbys are?
“Why this human coming along?” the nearest kobold demanded. It was about the height of Will’s belt, pointing up at him with a dull red claw.
“Because I said so.” Loth replied.
“…Oh.” The twitchy creature looked up at Will. “You Lord of Stronghold?” it asked, pointing past Will at the walls beyond him.
“Yes.”
“Law against traps in public places stupid.” It spat as though the words had left a bad taste in it’s mouth.
“Noted,” Will said, trying not to smile.
“Will, this is Snipper, my grand-nephew.” Loth said, introducing the kobold glaring up at him. In fact, most of the kobolds here are descendants of my siblings.”
Will scanned the crowd of twitchy kobolds watching him with deep suspicion.
“Hard to see the resemblance.”
“I’m the sole beneficiary of atavism.” Loth said. “I’m hoping that in the years to come, the higher concentration of miasma will cause that particular mutation to trigger at a higher rate.”
Will cocked his head. So she was assuming they wouldn’t use birth control – they didn’t seem the type – and the extra miasma concentration might wind up creating more throwbacks like herself?
“…You’re running a breeding experiment on your extended family because you’re lonely?”
“They don’t mind.” Loth said with a wicked smile.
“Gah, big words!” Snipper said, clutching his head. “Only Great One allowed big words! You serve her! Not equal!”
“Oh, that reminds me.” Loth said, glancing down at her great-nephew with icy disdain. “If any of them give you any trouble, grab them by the horns and press their snout into the dirt. That usually clears up any bad behavior.”
“I thought that was a sex thing,” Will said.
“…It depends on if your dick is out.” Loth replied, nearly causing Will to choke.
“I’ll pass for now.” Will said, chuckling as the two of them set out on the road.
Over the next day, they escorted the kobolds to the nearest infested Key Site, moving up to the 11th Floor.
Kobolds were not suited to the cold and vast emptiness of the 11th Floor. Half of them were flailing, trying to find some kind of foothold, while the others were wrapping their travelling clothes tighter around themselves, their Resistance barely effective at keeping the chill away.
They gathered up the flailing kobolds in the empty expanse of the 11th Floor and moved up to the 12th in about a day.
The kobolds were extremely at home on the 12th Floor. The lightless expanse of underground caves made them act like children skipping for joy and recklessly exploring their surroundings, as if they weren’t in danger of monster attacks at all times.
Loth had to leverage her authority as the kobold’s living god to get them to pack up and leave the Floor. Some of them were claiming specific caverns and setting up traps by the time they managed to herd them to the exit.
The 13th Floor went by quickly. They gave The Rotwitch the customary greeting, steered clear of Nora’s cave to avoid the noise and any potential trouble, making it up to the 14th Floor in about a day.
The 14th Floor had come a long way in the time Will had been shut away in his tower.
Carrie Envar’s base had at tripled in size, at least. The walls were now made of enchanted wood rather than rough lumber, and Will counted at least a dozen Resource nodes.
That’s one point two million, plus a bunch of administration buildings and…that’s gotta be a Lord-specific building. Will thought as they flew up.
They gave the customary greetings between Lords passing by, but Will couldn’t help himself but ask:
“How in the world did you get so much Influence?” Will asked, vaguely gesturing to the explosion in development all around him.
“Marksman paid me five million to stop you on the way back down.”
Loth’s eyes narrowed.
“But…you didn’t.”
“I tried really, really hard.” Carrie said with the most sarcasm Will had heard from anyone since his days in the orphanage.
“I don’t like her,” Loth said as they left.
“Why not?” Will asked.
“Too similar to me.” Loth replied.
With Carrie’s permission they spent a week power-leveling the kobolds on the 14th Floor before finally bringing them up to the 15th Floor.
The Meat Floor.
Will was proud to say that they’d only lost a dozen kobolds by the time they arrived, usually because they wandered off and died instantly to some monster.
“Great one! It’s so cold!” Snipper said, tucking his travelling cloak tight around himself shortly after they arrived.
The other Kobolds didn’t seem to be faring much better either, but none of them seemed to have the privilege of complaining to Loth that was reserved for her great-nephew.
“Keeps the meat from spoiling.” Loth replied, gesturing to the ground, which was coated in pulsing red meat.
“Oh. Oh!” Snipper hooted in amazement before he knelt down and tore up a clump of floor-meat with a clawed hand, giving it an experimental sniff before shoving it down his throat.
In short order the other kobolds fell about the place, tearing up the floor and eating it with wild abandon.
In fact, the kobolds ate so much that they had managed to clear a small patch of the ancient cursed city that they had arrived in.
In an hour, the little bastards were stuffed to the gills, bellies distended as they collapsed about the floor, laying where they had simply lost the will to continue moving. Between the cold temperatures and the full bellies, they were practically rooted in place.
“They’ll be like that for a couple hours at least.” Loth said, scanning the passed-out mob of tongue-dangling kobolds. “Let’s go hunt us a dragon.”
“Easy way or fun way?” Will asked.
Now that he could see miasma on his map, he could find any dragon within twenty miles blindfolded.
It was as simple as checking to see if there were any large dragon-shaped lumps of miasma on the map. That was the easy way.
“Surprise me.” Loth said.
“Fun way it is.” Will said, slotting his new wand.
Will’s Wand of Burning Spirits (X18.65)
+ 294 Strength
+ 589 Resistance
+ 295 Kinesthetics
+ 35 Acuity
+ 884 Focus
+60% Eidolon and Fire Ability Potency
Active:
1 charge: Repair Eidolon. Repairs and restores spiritual or manifested tissue. Will not repair an eidolon that has completely disintegrated.
5 Charge: User may summon one permanent Undead Retainer, to a maximum of 18.
The Undead Retainer is an intangible spirit with the ability to interact with the physical world, performing complex tasks for the wielder. They are sustained by the wand, not reliant on the wielder's Focus. If the wand is unequipped, the Undead Retainer is dismissed.
Passive:
When Eidolons under the user’s control are damaged, they gain a small amount of effective Resistance. This effect persists until either the subject or the wand is destroyed.
Reduces Focus cost to manifest Eidolons by 99% each, rounded down. Cannot lower the Focus cost below 1.
Eidolons under your control gain a flame aura while in combat. Scales with Focus. Toggleable.
Eidolons summoned by this Relic can be the target of Abilities requiring a living sacrifice and subject to lifedrain, as though it were alive. Allies are protected from damage dealt by the wand and the summons therof.
Whenever an enemy is killed, Fire Abilities and Eidolons gain potency until the end of battle or 18 hours pass. Scales with Focus.
Part of the Summer Fae Regalia set.
Will tensed, ready to dodge an attack from the fae ghosts.
He saw one of them standing beside him with their hand on his shoulder. The bodyguard, Neka, was poised in the miasmatic dimension, a bundle of untapped potential ready to leap into the physical world and start slashing immediately.
The fact that she hadn’t tried to slit his throat was an excellent sign.
The other six stood behind Will in a chevron, talking among themselves as they awaited summoning, their appearances stripped down to just their miasmatic skeletons. If they were summoned into the real world, Will would be able to see their physical bodies as well.
I noticed the sixty percent bonus to eidolons didn’t get buffed. Because it boosts Phantom Hand, it can’t apply to itself…
All in all, not bad. More power from a single Relic than most people had in their entire lives.
“Stevie.” Will said, summoning the butler.
332-> 317 Charges remaining.
“Milord.” Stevie appeared, kneeling.
Manifest.
Focus 1120->1119
Will manifested Hammer of God and offered the gilded bow to the butler. It was good that the fae hadn’t tried to kill him, but for his first test of the second set effect, Will wanted someone he could trust.
The butler accepted the bow, which disappeared into his hand, absorbed in the blink of an eye. Instead of wielding it, the butler began to glow and crackle with lightning.
So he can’t wield it directly as a Relic, but he gets boosted by it. That’s a good sign that nonliving eidolons might be able to use them. I wonder if I can give him more than one Relic?
“Here, try this one,” Will said, manifesting another.
Manifest.
Focus 1119->1118
Will handed Stevie the Dimensional Coiled Serpent Amulet.
Stevie’s lips peeled back from rapidly growing canines as the lightning flickering around his body began writhing like living snakes. His limbs burst free of the sleeves of his shirt in a most un-butler-like way, growing lithe and muscular.
“Any more and I think he’s going to explode,” Loth said, her gaze wandering over to the miasmatic fae standing invisible behind Will.
The butler did look a little…hopped up, for lack of a better phrase.
“Stevie. Your job today is a hunting dog. Go find the most irredeemable piece of garbage dragon you can and scare him or her out of their lair.”
“Understood, milord.” the butler said around the massive fangs.
“Go.”
BOOM!
Stevie vanished in an explosion of lightning and lingering faefire.
“I hope you don’t mind me testing out some new Kit.” Will said.
“I find it a source of inspiration, actually,” Loth said as they flew up into the sky. “Do you mind if I upstage you a bit?”
Wordlessly, Will gestured ahead of them. ‘help yourself’.
Draconic Domain twisted inside Loth, and the world around them warped and shuddered in response. The fae standing behind Will wavered as though they were being observed at the bottom of a stream.
Loth reached her hands up to the sky, which split with lightning…silent lightning.
For miles in every direction, one after another, bolts descending from the sky and froze in place, as though trapped in amber. A moment later, wasps the size of buildings climbed out of the brilliantly glowing cracks in reality and took up positions around the valley.
“Are you trying to impress me?” Will asked.
“…Yes.”
“Well, it’s working,” Will said, patting Loth’s head.
There was a distant rumble of thunder, and a few minutes later, the fattest dragon Will had ever seen came barreling their direction. Nipping at its heels was a living bolt of lightning that took the appearance of an eight-headed snake.
So that’s what Hammer of God looks like when combined with the Family Gathering set.