The Land: Founding (Chaos Seeds Book 1) (33 page)

They linked with the other two boats
in Leaf’s Crossing, carrying the human settlers, supplies and livestock. Rosy
met them at the docks. Richter thanked her and pressed a few more coins into
her hand. There was no difficulty or trouble in either arriving at or leaving
the town. Not surprising as their speed on the river had considerably shorted
the trip time between Law and Leaf’s
Crossing
. While a
scout on a fast horse might have made the same time, the count very likely
didn’t know who had made off with his property yet.  Even if he had, it
would take a large force considerably longer to gather and oppose them. The
bigger fear would be if an attack ship had pursued them, but
Terrod
said they were not many of them. The royal fleet was
comprised more of transport ships to move soldiers quickly among the numerous
waterways. Luckily, they continued on after Leaf’s
Crossing
unmolested.

 Richter decided to invest four
of his new characteristic points into Intelligence, and another two into
Wisdom. He needed a greater capacity for mana usage. The 50% from level nine
and ten he invested into Archery. It was his most advanced skill, and seemed
like the best way to get a lot of bang for his buck.

 A day after leaving Leaf’s
Crossing, they entered the forest, and five days after that, they reached the
mist. Richter had spoken with all the ships captains and warned them of the
mist’s confusing properties. He had split his Companions, and
Randolphus
among the four ships, giving each immunity from
the swirling grey vapors in the air around them. Though they had to move
slowly, they were able to navigate the river with each helmsman listening to
the four.

 A monotone voice greeted him as
the village came into view, “Welcome back my Lord.”

 Chuckling lightly, Richter
replied, “Hello
Futen
. I missed your pretty face.”

 The orb just pulsed slowly
without replying.

 The Mist Workers had apparently
been busy. The trench was now a good twenty feet deep and thirty feet wide.
Trees had been cleared from the areas surrounding the village leaving a
potential killing ground if ever they were attacked. Large stacks of white
stone were piled, alongside large mounds of iron ore. Several pyramidal piles
of logs had been made with dozens of trees each as well. The loose rocks and
debris within the ruined walls had all been removed. The village had been
turned into an RTS gamer’s wet dream.

That actually wasn’t quite right, he
reflected. Richter had vast plans for his new home. What he was looking at was
closer to the foundation for a grand strategy. The kind of wonderfully
beautiful morass that could devour your personal life for days or weeks at a
time. Either way it was a blank slate with plenty of resources! Richter shook
his head. It had not been easy, and had involved travel, pain, blood and loss,
but he was finally ready to start making his new world. To begin the Founding
of his own Kingdom.

 A small ceremony was held for
Jeremy. His body was burned on a pyre. All of the nonhumans gathered to show
respect to the man who had died for their freedom. That night several deer were
roasted, and a small feast was held.
Terrod
told
humorous stories about his old friend to the laughter of many. He later told
Richter that Jeremy would have appreciated being remembered like this.

It took a couple days to unload
everything from the ships. Once everything was removed, Richter, Sion,
Terrod
and
Randolphus
guided the
ships back out of the mist. Richter arranged for one ship to come back to this
point in about a month’s time. He needed a quick way to get back to Leaf’s
Crossing
to bring his trade goods. Hopefully he would have
his own boat soon, but until then the cost of paying for transport was worth
shortening the
weeks
long trip to only a few days. It
was also considerably less dangerous on the waterways then hiking through the
forest.

They made the ten mile hike back to
the village on foot. Richter had been somewhat concerned that Randy wouldn’t be
able to keep us, but he kept pace with no difficulty. The weather was
thankfully not too cold as spring was just starting. The higher altitude did
make a colder temperature than in Law, and the nearby mountains didn’t help,
but it was only slightly uncomfortable, not dangerous. The primary task
everyone focused on was making shelters. The readily available resources made
the task go quickly though. While it was being constructed, all two hundred and
ninety souls stayed underground. It was not exactly comfortable with that many
people, but it was safe and dry.

 
Randolphus
,
or Randy, as Richter insisted on calling him to his clear frustration, showed
his value immediately. He organized having a latrine dug, hunting parties,
creating guard rotations and assigning countless necessary tasks that Richter
would not have thought of. The hunters were also given immunity from the mists,
but only after each had been spoken too and vetted by Richter again personally.
While it would be difficult for a traitor to lead someone back to the village,
he didn’t want to take the risk unnecessarily. Granting everyone immunity now
was premature. He did roll the mists back a full mile from the center of the
village though to make it easier to move around. The farmers were also eager to
cultivate the lush soil outside of the city wall. They began preparing the land
for planting with guards along the periphery to protect against animal, or god
forbid, monster attacks.

 The dwarves were massively
excited about having access to relatively untouched land and several
disappeared on the first day into the hills north of the city exploring tunnels
and caves. As far as Richter was concerned, the forge was the next priority
construction after shelter. According to the dwarves, a tavern was a close
third. Apparently a few dozen casks of ale had been packed on the ships as
“essential” supplies.

 The first building was finished
in little over a week. It resembled a meeting hall more than a house. It was
two hundred feet long and seventy feet wide. Each log had been denuded by
stripping the bark. The bark hadn’t gone to waste though as it was rendered
down to make a rudimentary tar. The builders had strewn gravel along the ground
from the quarry stones to protect from the damp. Overtop the gravel, they had
placed logs sawn in half longitudinally to make a crude floor a few inches
above the ground. The walls had been erected in only a few days, but the roof
took twice as long. It would have taken even longer, but the high strength and
nearly endless stamina of the Mist Workers had saved considerable time. Two
rudimentary fireplaces had been built at either. The large room that resulted
was dry and more importantly warm at night. Everyone’s mood improved
drastically once everyone had more space to spread out in. Richter knew that
for a fact.

You have constructed your first
building! Shelter is one of the basic necessities of survival.  Your
people require more than just the bare essentials, however.  Though they
have not complained, tensions were getting tight, and morale would have
suffered if they had suffered cramped conditions for much longer.  Morale
increased by 50.  Further information regarding morale can be found on
village interface.

 I have got to spend some time
looking at that interface, Richter thought. He resolved to do it soon.

 Once the shelter was finished,
the frantic pace slowed down a bit. Initially everyone had worked almost
feverishly from sunup to sundown to make the village livable. Sion had even
take charge of the kids to see which had an affinity for herb lore, and
surprisingly most did. The smell of drying herbs and ingredients became
commonplace in the caverns that had all been sharing as a living space. A
welcome surprise was that the lake in the hills above the village held many
rare herbs, according to Sion.

 Richter had initially been
concerned that there might be a problem with the humans and nonhumans working
together, but his worries came to nothing. Everyone seemed happy to apply
themselves to honest work, unhindered by unjust laws. His new people walked
around with smiles on their faces.

 There were many things to be
done. Quests to be completed. Enemies to be stopped. People to be rescued.
Items to be identified, and weapons to forged. He also had an appointment to
keep in Leaf’s Crossing in about five weeks as arranged with Hafiz. That meant
they needed to collect the Potions of Clarity. Richter couldn’t wait for more
adventure! He would be lying though, if he said he wasn’t a bit tired. It was,
he decided, time for a short vacation before everything got crazy again. When
he discussed it with Sion, his friend whole heartedly agreed.

The next morning they left for the
Hearth Tree. Both of their armors had taken a beating in the past several
weeks, and the smiths in the village said they could not fully repair them as
they were completed with sprite magic. Sion assured him that Hisako would be able
to restore their armaments to full strength, though she might give them an
earful about being more careful as well. It seemed like a fair trade to
Richter. Both of them were missing the tough diminutive woman. Richter left
Terrod
in charge with
Randolphus
as his capable aid. Richter stressed that he wanted construction started on a
ship as soon as possible.

 They decided to take a relaxed
pace, speaking little, nearly retracing their initial journey that seemed so
long ago. Encountering nothing more dangerous than a deer, they simply enjoyed
the peace of the Forest. It was a balm to both of them. It felt like coming
home. After several days, they were greeted with the sight of the Hearth Tree
surrounded by the sea of golden grass. As always, Hisako seemed to know
they
approaching, and was waiting at the boundary of the
golden grasses.

 “Be welcome at the Hearth Tree,
Richter of the Mist Village,” she said with a warm smile. “And welcome home my
son, I see you have grown in strength, hopefully in wisdom as well,” the last
said with a wry arch of her eyebrow.

 “Thank you mother. Yes, I have
learned much, and found a good friend and ally,” Sion replied with a smile.

 Richter walked forward and took
her hand, “Hearth Mother, thank you. Sion is more than a friend to me, he is
like a brother. There is no way I could have accomplished what I have
accomplished without him. I formally extend the friendship and welcome of the
Mist Village to you and your people. I sincerely hope that you will ask me for
any help that you might need.”

 A serious look came over her
face, “I was hoping you would say that. There have been small camps of goblins
and bugbears seen in the forest between here and the Fire Tip Mountains to the
east. They are slaughtering all of the local wildlife and despoiling the
Forest. We need to clear them out and learn why they are making inroads into
the Forest. I will not stand by and watch the Forest of Nadria become like the
Whisper Woods, overrun with evil creatures. The Forest
will
be protected, no matter how many battles it takes. Will you
help?”

You have been offered a Quest:
Protect the Forest I. Bugbears and goblins have invaded the forest, and are
disrupting nature’s balance.  The Hearth Mother is asking your help. 
You must destroy an enemy camp.  Optional: Find out why the invaders are
coming into the Forest. Reward: Unknown. Yes or No?

    
Richter looked at Sion, “Ready to
take out some more bad guys?”

 Sion looked back with that
blood thirsty grin of his, “Oh yes,
brother
! That’s
what we do!”

Thank you all for
reading! I really hope that this story and my characters find a resonance
within you. “The Land: Forging” will be coming soon! Peace, love, and the
perfect margarita!

Aleron