The Land: Forging (Chaos Seeds Book 2) (19 page)

Wisteria withdrew her hand from Richter’s cheek. She offered a hand to help him stand up. He gently disengaged from the woman he had been holding. She stood as well, and then shuffled over to some of her kin who held her in turn. Richter accepted the offered hand and stood. Her grip was sure and reassuring.

Poltan
spoke again, “It is easy for us to forget your youth when we are confronted with the knowledge that you are Master of a Place of Power. You made a mistake, and it was a terrible one. It had real consequences, and as a result, lives were lost. You will have to live with this forever. Nothing you
do
will ever undo what happened here tonight.” Richter would not have thought it possible, but his heart sunk even lower with the dwarf’s words. He didn’t try to deny it, though. He deserved these words of recrimination and more. So much more.
Poltan wasn’t done speaking
though, “If I guess correctly though, you have gained in wisdom tonight.” He looked at Alma, “And perhaps you have gained a great deal more as well. Know that you do not need to make every decision alone. If you but ask, we will readily give our counsel and help. Either
way however, if your offer remains to stand with us come what may, then we will stand with you.”

Richter looked around at all the faces around him. Many of the villagers nodded to show agreement with
Poltan’s
words. The
rest at least
looked at him with acceptance. Terrod gave him a small smile while he held Isabel, and Sion moved to stand beside him. The sprite didn’t say anything, but then he didn’t need to. They had been through fire and death together. They would always stand together.

Richter squared his shoulders and set aside his self-pity. His guilt would be with him for some time to come, but
Poltan
was right. He had made a mistake. He had forgotten that this was not a game. He had been so wrapped up in the loot of the Tome, and so eager to use his cool new ‘toy,’ that he had sacrificed the safety of his people. He would have to live with that.

A mistake was not all he had made, however. He had also made a promise to stand with these people come what may. He couldn’t undo what had happened, but he could start preparing for the future. It was time to get back to work.

He was about to address everyone,
when a prompt clouded his vision. The notification symbol in the corner of his vision was blinking indicating that at least one other message had appeared, and been auto-minimized during the course of the battle. He was about to minimize
this one as well to just deal with them all later, but the interface was a silvery color that he hadn’t seen in a prompt before.

Congratulations! Your actions on behalf of your village have awarded you your first Tenets! A
Tenent
is achieved when a preset series of conditions are met. The
Tenent
will provide certain qualities or privileges to your settlement. At the current level of your
village, you may have: one Tenent
. At the next
level,
you may have two Tenets. All previous Tenets can be replaced at the time of the village leveling.

Congratulations! You have been awarded the
Tenent
: Don’t mess with Texas I! You have been attacked, and taught those fools a serious lesson! Specifically, less than 10% of those who started the attack lived to see another day. Defense +10% in future attacks, small chance of future attackers acquiring ‘Fear’ status when faced with your merciless forces.

Congratulations! You have been awarded the
Tenent
: An Honorable Ruler I! You have made an error that negatively impacted your settlement. More importantly, however, you acted in a way that was consistent with your conscience. You were honest with your people and admitted your fault.
As a result they will trust you more and feel more comfortable relying upon
you. Loyalty for all inhabitants increased by +0.5 per day.

Would you like to assign a Tenent
now? If you do not, then one will be randomly assigned in one week. Yes or No?

Richter shook his head. His first impulse was to choose the first prompt. Right now all he could think about was protecting his people, but he resisted the urge to act impulsively. That was the kind of the action that had led to the attack. He would have to learn more about
both options. He decided to deal with it later. What he needed to do was take care of his people. There were tasks in front of them that needed to be completed.

Richter started speaking, “Okay then. This is what we do.” Over the next several minutes he outlined tasks for everyone that was able to help. Even the children were given assignments. He detailed several of those more comfortable with weapons to go stand guard around the trench. The defenses may have been back up, but Richter wouldn’t take chances again. Randolphus thankfully had survived the
attack and assured Richter that a guard rotation would be setup
around the clock.
Quasea, the gnome Dark magic adept, promised to cast
Night Vision
on the guards for the night shifts. A quick request to Yoshi also got him a detail of sprites to sweep the village and surrounding land a final time, to ensure no other enemies were near.

He then tasked
several of the villagers with collecting the bodies of their fallen comrades. The enemy
bug bears
would be left for the Mist Workers. Sumiko said she would aid with the disposal of the bodies. There was apparently a simple blessing that would keep the corpses from being resurrected in the future. He instructed Futen to summon as many of the workers as possible as quickly as possible, but to pay special attention to having the full four hundred mana needed at midnight to pay the upkeep of
Confusing Mist
. Futen responded with his customary, “Yes, my Lord.”

He asked Sion to make more potions, specifically as many mana potions as possible. It was time to put the superb quality alchemy set he had bought to good use. Thankfully another sprite said he was skilled in Herb Lore, and an arcane gnome said he was quite skilled at potions. Unless they could make their own mana and health potions, the only other source
would be to wait until they got a shipment from Leaf’s Crossing. That would take at least a month. That brought him to the next important issue.

He asked Shiovana
to go with the sprites once they went outside of the city walls. He needed to know if work done on the ship had been destroyed or not. Connection to the outside world was of the utmost importance. He also asked several of the farmers to go on the same trip and check the crops.

The children that had shown skill with Herb Lore were to sweep the meadow with Sion or the other sprite and help collect herbs for potion making. The rest of the villagers were to salvage whatever could be useful from the fallen invaders and the ruins of the longhouse. Terrod was in charge of that group. His ability to get along with people would make this day go much easier. It might also soften the realization that they would all be staying in the rooms off of the Great Seal until another longhouse could be built.

Elora flew up while he was talking. She felt terrible that she had not been helpful during the attack. In turn, Richter just apologized for putting her in danger. He assured her that her only task was to live and grow. She seemed to feel better after their short
talk,
and flew over to hover by Hisako. Richter checked in with the Hearth Mother, who besides being a bit tired, appeared to be none the worse for wear. She agreed to rest in Richter’s quarters for at least the next couple of hours. Yoshi and a few other sprites would stand guard. She protested it wasn’t necessary, but the adept was not to be budged on this matter.

Richter addressed the group of human and nonhuman villagers once again, “Thank you for everything! We will rebuild. I promise you that. When you first arrived here, I chose not to
include all of you in the immunity to the mists. Right or wrong, I own up to that decision. We are in a different place now, though. We rise, or fall, together. I trust you all with the safety of our village. I will work to keep us safe. Make sure you do the same.” Richter’s voice took on a heavy tone, and he drew his glass dagger, “I swear to you that this attack
will
be avenged. I will find the rest of those responsible. They are already dead; they just don’t know it yet!” He drew his dagger against his palm and showed the blood to his people. Hisako gasped a weak, “No,” but the deed was done. Richter squeezed his fist shut, and the first drop of blood dripped down and struck the ground. There was
rumble of thunder.

Know This! You have made a Blood Oath of Vengeance. In The Land, your words have
meaning
. You have one year to enact vengeance on the attackers of your village. If you do not accomplish this, the anger in your heart will poison your soul. This soul sickness will cause the loss of one Charisma per week until your vengeance is complete. Any losses will be permanent.

You have received a Mark: Blood Oath of Vengeance.

A tingling began all over his body
and swept over him until it concentrated on his inner right wrist. Looking down, he saw a red diamond with
skull
inside of it. A slight glow was in the center of the eyes. It faded from view in a few seconds.

Richter could live with the countdown. Whoever was responsible for this attack would be lucky to make it a year. As far as the physical Mark … He would figure out what it meant and deal with that too. He was preparing to leave the
meadow
when he heard someone say “Through service, ascendance.” The other villagers answered together in a shout, “Through dedication,
transcendence
!” Yes, Richter thought, I will protect these people. In fact…

“My people! Before you leave to start your tasks, I would like to make an offer. If any of you wish it, I will use my power as an Air Master to awaken any Air magic you have inside of you.”

His announcement drew a sharp intake of breath from most of those present, and everyone started talking at once. He could only awaken Air magic in those who had over 50% affinity for that school of Power. Just because they had over 50% did not mean they would ever naturally
manifest
though. With Richter’s intervention, however, anyone over 50% was
guaranteed
to be able to cast spells. His pronouncement raised such an
uproar
because knowledge and magical power were jealously guarded secrets in Yves. Only the rich or powerful would be able to be taught magic without a lifetime pledge of service to the King or one of the magical guides. It was like Richter had just offered a chance for a free ride to Harvard (or somewhere even better like Dartmouth or Morehouse), to EVERYONE in the glade!

The quickly formed a line, and as each passed by he placed his left hand on their heads’ and his right hand on their hearts. He would then murmur, “By the Right of My Power, I Awaken Your Power.” For most nothing happened, and they would leave with a disappointed, but
grateful
expression on their faces. In no less than
thirty one villagers
though, eleven of them children, he felt the same warmth he had experienced when he had awoken Sion’s power. The feeling would emanate from the center of his chest and flow down his arms into the man, woman or child, and find
a resonance
within them. For only a few hours of work, he now had
thirty-one
new Air novices in his village. Each of them
were
pulled aside from their duties, and Randolphus documented their affinities, and any starting spells they were granted.

Most of the villagers only received one spell or none. It seemed like it was tied to their
affinity
however, and five villagers with affinities above 90% at skill level one, received two spells.
For the most part, the spells were the same as what Richter had started with,
Haste
and
Errant Wind
, but a few received spells that Richter didn’t have.
Randolphus’s descriptions were exact.

Glitterdust! This spell will create a 5x5 foot area of shining sharp dust. Anyone caught in the AoE will suffer certain effects. Effect 1: Hidden creatures will be revealed. Effect 2: Chance to blind creatures susceptible to such attacks. This is a spell of Air Magic. Cost: 30 mana. Duration: 1 min. Range: 10 feet. Cast Time: 1 second. Cooldown: 30 seconds.

Air Push! This spell creates a column of air ten feet in front of you, one foot in diameter. Does no real damage, but will knock enemies back and possible prone. This is a spell of Air Magic. Cost: 15 mana. Duration: 1 second. Range: 10 feet. Cast Time: 1 second. Cooldown: 2 min.

Gentle Rain! This spell summons a small rainstorm. This can be cast inside. This is a spell of Air Magic. Cost: 40 mana. Duration: 20 min. Range: 100 yards. Cast Time: 5 min. Cool Down: 1 hour.

Some of the spells were very useful! Glitterdust would have been indispensable in the attack on the Night Daggers. At the very least, it might have kept Richter from being
shived
in the back. The Air Push was also a good offensive spell, and as far as Gentle Rain… Richter smiled, he had a feeling that the crops would always have what they needed.

To finish increasing the Air magic skill of his villagers, he had a group teaching session. When he was done, all
thirty-one Air novices knew
at least, Haste and Errant Wind. He left
them with the instruction to practice their new powers every day
. Unfortunately, they could not teach Richter their spells, but
at least
someone knew them, he thought. When he was done, he started walking down the hill.