《The Adventures of Valgrim》 Practice chapter (lol, no need to read this)(unless backstory important) Muah ha ha, welcome avid and bored readers. Welcome to the world of Riftera, a wonderful world filled with joy and mutilation... not necessarily connected that way. Standard fantasy world- magic, other sentient races, humans are jerks(mostly), gods, lucky perv moments, etc. So our story takes place at the end of the third era, which in this case is the standard world following its creation and the first interspecies/god war. Good to know, right? The first "part" will be 2 books long about ~more than 10 chapters each~then another 2 books to end, and hopefully a new story right after. I''ll definitely finish the first book, then if interest is high I''ll right the rest. Probably a new chapter once every 2-3 days, slow down end of April for exams, then pick up faster during the summer. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. No idea how to do some of the things like polls, donations, etc. but I''ll learn. Now, lets put this "chapter" up so I can see what it looks like, then I''ll put the real first chapter up later today. Cya then. Prologue story- Chapter 1 (edited) First chapter to be edited. Let me know how you guys feel about it. MATURE WARNING: graphic sadism ----------------- Drip, drip, drip. Slow drops of water fell in the large tunnel, softly echoing in the darkness. Constant, unbroken peace in this underworld, consisting of tunnels that spread under the land. Few dared to travel through though, as many things lurked in the dark. The tunnels traversed the entirety of the continent, which stretched for miles across between two massive oceans. The world of Riftera was a beautiful and deadly paradise for the adventurous and bold. It had a wide range of environments on the surface: forests and deserts, caverns and mountains, lakes and oceans. The underground was just as varied, comprised of caverns, tunnels, and underground lakes that held a beauty all their own. With all that beauty, however, there existed many dangers, and few walked the tunnels at any time. But today, the soft echoes were broken by the sounds of movement. Out of the darkness, a group appeared. Not a typical group, in fact those who would have lived through an encounter would wonder how and why this group even came to be. Three dark elves, obviously nobles by the way they carried themselves, being led by a tall Minotaur, with scaled wings, and a short gnome. While not an unusual group normally, the two leading did not have slave collars, a norm of the dark elf rule. The gnome walked to the left of the minotaur a little behind him. He walked with a swagger few could afford to have in the under tunnels, wearing a wide brimmed hat on his head and a ruby ring on his finger. The dark elves walked at the rear of the group; two females and one male. They moved cautiously, keeping an eye on both the tunnels and the two in front of them. It was obvious this was a new relationship between the two groups. The minotaur paused at the end of the tunnel, breathing in deeply as he observed the fork in front. ¡°Brutus, smell anything?¡± said the gnome. ¡°Hmm, sniff sniff, hmph.¡± The minotaur sniffed some more and knelt to talk to the gnome. The two conversed for a while, and were soon interrupted by a growl from one of the elves. ¡°What¡¯s taking so long Valgrim? We do not like to be kept waiting.¡± The female dark elf said angrily. ¡°Have no fear Magus Saharra.¡± said Valgrim, ¡°Brutus has found the hydra scent, fresh this time.¡± The dark elves had employed the duo of Valgrim and Brutus to track down some hydras for their family. Dark elf politics as they are, hydras would make good pieces for their fighting force. The duo were famous for their success and infamous for making sure they got what they were promised- and not a new slave collar. Their current employers were Saharra, a demon summoner named Scald, and a half-elf alchemist named Meridia. Valgrim wondered for a moment how the alchemist was in such good relations with her full-blood brethren, but quickly pushed it out of his mind. Alchemy was wonderful for revenge; don¡¯t need to think too much about it. He pointed down one of the tunnels. ¡°Seems there¡¯s a nest a few hour from here down the left tunnel.¡± He said, ¡°Seems to be lot of them too. I''d be willing to bet that at least a few can breathe fire or ice." At this, the dark elves gave off an aura of excitement, finally their prize was close. The group had started at one of the dark elf cities and had traveled through for a little over a week now, dodging threats and killing for food in order to get to their destination. It was hard knowing how time passed when underground, most settlements had a heat stone, but the tunnels held no such luxury. Making fire to keep away beasts was a challenge as well, for very little burned underground. The surface was a mystery to those who lived in the tunnels, many would never see it, and the few that did described it with a mix of wonder and fear. Valgrim turned to Brutus and nodded, the big guys seeing this began moving down the tunnel. They had worked together long enough to understand each with minimum talk, which kept complaints about wasting time down from their clients. And what clients they were too: slavers, murderers, back stabbers, and traitors made the majority. Few could afford "sightseeing" in a world where everyone was out for himself. Valgrim sighed, unconsciously rubbing this left wrist, the ghostly feel of slave chains still ever present. That''s how he met Brutus when escaping, so he couldn''t completely rule out the bad experience. Though he still grimaced over the memory of his lost tool.... {Flashback} Dark, always dark. His room held no light, a tomb was his prison. He lay on the floor, unable to move from his pain. He didn''t groan, didn''t complain. He would not give them the satisfaction of knowing they had hurt him. He knew it had been a terrible idea, knew he should have escaped while he could. No, he had chosen to fight, chosen to put his life back into their hands. Her hands, and she would never let him go again. Deep in his thought and pain, the door opened, flooding the room in soft light that burned his eyes. Light was unnecessary in the tunnels when everyone could see in the dark, only disciples of the gods used them in their houses to read their scriptures and show their influence. Two sets of hands were felt, unbuckling the chains that binded him to the floor. They dragged him out easily, for he hadn''t weighed much before his imprisonment and had been starved. They dragged him up the winding stairs from the dungeon, his legs hitting each step and spiking pain. He made no sound, made no noise. They came to the door at the top, taking him into lavish halls decorated with rare fabric and art. They took him through it, still too pained to appreciate the sights before him. Coming to their destination, they waled into a dark, stone room lit only by a singular light that illuminated a stone table with chains. They hoisted him onto the table, and chained him back up. He watched them, noting their slave collars. He held no feelings of hatred toward them, for they could not control their own actions without suffering. When they finished, they left the room through the door, and closed it behind them. He only had to wait a little bit before he felt another presence in the room. He felt her as she entered, but no door had opened to let her in. He felt her smile, sadistic and warm, but he saw no face. She walked around him, slowly, like a beast stalking her prey. Her nails trailed over him, sending sensation up to both of his heads. She quietly giggled in the low-light, a laugh that pervaded his very soul. She stopped right in front of him, looking down. She raised her hand, a whip forming of darkness, and with a few twitches shredded his pants and shirt. She looked down on him and giggled again, girlish and infernal. "Kukuku, such a wimpy d^%k this one has." a priestess said, whipping her weapon on the floor. She disappeared and he felt her hand on his ear, stroking it softly. She whispered, "What would it take to make it bigger I wonder?" Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. She came into his sight again, moving a single nail down his chained arm. He put on the best rueful grin he could and said, "Well, maybe if I saw something I liked it would be presentable. If only their was a young elf to please this old gnome, too bad bewitching hags are all I have in front of me." She pouted, seeming sadden by his words, but her nail dug deeply into his arm, tracing a trail of blood. She reappeared on his other arm, holding it gently against her impressive bosom. "Why do you reject me? I know what you want, what you need." She moved her hands up down down his arm, letting hints of her breasts appear as they caressed him. "You need only ask and I am yours, we can have everything together." He moved his head, looking at the light behind him. "You are not as you were, though corruption seeps though your veins, you still keep the light. Why?" She giggled again, her head appearing between his legs. She slowly crawled up his body, her dress slowly becoming more revealing as she laid her head on his chest. "Light creates shadows, there must always be light so shadows exist. They contrast so well." She caressed his manhood, his physical desires betraying his mind. She whispered into his ear, "Be my light to my shadow." Her hands began stroking, slow and seductive. Valgrim looked her in the eyes, purple and loving. "Your shadow would pollute me, overcoming the light and plundering me into the darkness. I have no desire to be with you, Shtika. Leave me and return to your darkness!" Hearing the term used to describe her, the laugh was quickly replaced by a glare, then just as quickly gone, a smirk-which dominating her face. Her violet eyes lost their warmth, replaced by sadism and hate. "Look at it now, not so small after all. I wonder how many have felt it''s pleasures, pleasure that has been denied to me." She watched it, her hands still moving up and down, teasing him. "With my pleasure denied, you shall not have it either." She locked eyes with him, "You are mine." She hissed. Valgrim did not give her the benefit of his screams as the chains grabbed his arms, pulling them tight against the stone. He stared her right in the face as she took out her curved, jagged dagger. He watched as she twirled it seductively against her bosom, close and closer, raising an eyebrow when she paused to examine her dagger. "Oh, almost forgot the poison, can''t have a priest fixing that." she said wickedly as she enchanted the jagged barbs. "Now, lets see how long your silence lasts." To his benefit, he didn''t scream until he lost consciousness. {End Flashback} Yes, life sucked sometimes for the little undergnome priest, but like his people he quickly replaced the painful memories with thoughts of profit. This little excursion would not only bring in a hefty amount of gold, it would give him some allies with important dark elf families that would come in handy. Can''t have enough favors when people were liable to kill you for being in their sight. Plus, Brutus could really pack away the meat, emergency funds always ran out when he got hungry. Continuing down the cave tunnel, the group soon came across a large cavern, filled with glowing mushrooms and a nest. The cavern had many outcroppings from the wall, filled with crushed eggshells and hydra droppings. The mushrooms grew unopposed from the ground, using the droppings as food. Valgrim knelt down and examined some of the shells. "How many Brutus?" He asked. "Many, hmgh." Brutus replied, kneeling and taking note of the many tracks in the area. "What did he say?" Scald asked arrogantly, his tone leaving no doubt as to what he felt toward the minotaur. Valgrim kept his eyes on the nest. "He said that there were a lot of hydras in this nest." He replied, noting the direction of the tracks. "Oh, so in other words more than the number of fingers on his hand, heh heh." Scald declared, with Saharra laughing at this. Valgrim didn''t bother informing them that while Brutus couldn''t speak the same language as the elves, he was no idiot, in fact, he was one of the smartest beings Valgrim knew. No point giving clients free knowledge however. Pride was cheap in a world where words were coin. "I estimate there to be 50-60 younglings, and 100-130 parents." he said, "Quite a number, and a few of them can probably wield fire, ice and acid. How many babies did you want again? Saharra donned a contemplative look, "How many could you two deal with?" "The younglings, no problem. I would not recommend fighting more that 25 adult hydras a day, in groups no bigger than 5." He responded casually, "Fire breathing Hydras should really be avoided at all costs if possible. This also depends on how much magic we have to use without resting." Saharra turned to her two companions and discussed among themselves. Scald gestured wildly, and the half-elf merely nodded a few times. She turned back abruptly, "50 Gold per youngling, 100 for any that have a breath attack and 250 for any fire Hydras. If you make sure we don''t have any injuries, another 250 gold." In his mind, Valgrim snorted. With those terms, even if the elves went unharmed through the battles, a mysterious bruise would appear when getting payment and they would be thrown out. "Double those bounties and don''t worry about rewarding for lack of injuries. I''ll even cook the hydras for you so you don''t have to eat Brutus''s cooking again." Saharra narrowed her eyes, but at the mention of Brutus gave an involuntary shudder. The duo always made sure the clients tried some of his cooking, it made sure they had something else to bargain with during expeditions. That, and Valgrim was a master chief himself, he noted the tiny hint of drool in the dark elf''s lip before she regained her composure. "So in other words, you expect one of us to be injured?" She asked coldly raising an eyebrow with a dangerous tone. Valgrim took the veiled threat in stride, bowing deep and removing his hat, "My dear lady, you are paying us for capture, not comfort. If we focus on making sure nothing bad happens to you, we get hurt, and when we get hurt, we can''t protect you on our way back to your fair city. In a hunt like this, never trust the hunters that guarantee safety, they will kill you for the advance payment and will never be seen again." Placated, Saharra nodded, "Agreed, now hurry and find them." "Done and done." he bowed, and turned to Brutus, "Come on old friend, time for another adventure." Valgrim nodded, and motioned to Brutus. Following the tracks, they found another tunnel out of the cavern. At the end, hints of daylight came from the curve. Motioning to the dark elves, they headed down the tunnel, moving toward the bright light that was the surface. Chapter 2- Bear dwarf duo (edited) 2nd Edited chapter, let me know what you think :) -------------- Before exiting the tunnels to the surface for a second time, Valgrim and Brutus rested, giving the dark elves a chance to cast their magic on themselves so as to make protection from the sun. The duo chuckled, it was always funny seeing a clients first experience with the sun. Scald had been the worst, shrieking at the sunlight and running back into the cave. His indignant cries emanated from the tunnels for awhile, complaining about the lack of warning and how glad he was that he lived underground. Saharra and Meridia both went pale and backed quickly, following right behind him. They didn''t complain at least, leaving that to Scald, which he did impressively. The two hunters were used to sunlight; even if they had lived most of their life underground, plenty of clients had paid for exotic surface creatures/test subjects. While they didn''t deal with sentient life, the business was profitable enough to warrant adjusting to the sun. Valgrim raised his hand to his head, taking note of the position of the sun and the surroundings in front of him. The tunnel came up to the surface in a valley like area at first glance. Valgrim could see trees in front of him, and mountains behind him. On closer inspection, especially with smell, the area was actually a large swamp, surrounded and populated by trees and hills. It was the favored environment for hydra, for they loved to hunt in wet places with plenty of coverage. Valgrim shook the sleeping giant, "Brutus, go ahead and scout out the area." With a grunt of agreement, the large creature got up and began inspecting the land in front of the cave. He knelt onto the ground and sniffed, taking in the smells and forming a set of pictures in his mind. Valgrim took the time to admire the set of wings on Brutus''s back. Reptilian in nature, the scaled wings were a beautiful array of red colors, matching the red forked tongue in his mouth. A secret to all except Valgrim was that Brutus''s life long dream was to find a way to fly in the sky with his wings, which at the moment could not support is massive weight. Still, there were razor sharp and perfect close combat weapons in a pinch. Brutus liked to admire them in still lakes when he thought no one was looking, but Valgrim knew. He had even offered to wipe them down for him, but Brutus politely refused. Some things on a man should never be touched by another man, except in certain circumstances. His thoughts were interrupted by Brutus''s return. His nose taking in the air, he signaled to Valgrim that he had something. "Hmgh, split, 6 paths, best group-that way." He grunted, pointed toward the forest. On close inspection of the ground, tiny footprints could be seen heading toward the forest, alongside some massive tracks. "Oh, what did the great oaf say this time?" Scald asked haughtily, peeking out from behind a rock. (Brutus snorted in response) "He said the hydras split up to hunt, lucky us, and that the best group went into the forest." He pointed toward one of the game trails leading into the swamp. The dark elves made their way cautiously to the entrance of the cave tunnel, this time protected by their magic from the light of the sun. "Heh, I''m still surprised you can understand the drivel that comes from the beasts mouth. I guess all lowborn creatures have to communicate someway." The two dark elves laughed at this, Meridia staying quiet in the behind them. Valgrim shared a chuckle with them. ''Heh, let them laugh.'' Valgrim thought. After all, while the elves couldn''t understand Brutus, Valgrim and any other race who spoke common would understand him just fine. In fact, Brutus was one of the most intelligent creatures Valgrim knew, and he could understand elves just fine. ''Must be that dragon blood.'' he mused. ''Someday I''ll ask how a dragon and a minotaur made a child....though it would probably best to ask when he''s drunk." On that thought, Valgrim shot a glare at Brutus. Yes, the giant could really tuck away food and drink, in fact, Brutus always carried 5 jugs of ale just to keep himself a little drunk. Makes dealing with arrogance easier if they look like whining pixies. Thinking about all the food Brutus ate made Valgrim mutter about finances. He shook his head, putting aside his thoughts about gold. He smiled at the group, "Shall we continue valued clients?" Nodding in permission, the dark elves allowed themselves to be led into the forest. Following the game trail, Valgrim and Brutus took note on the condition of the game trail, noting broken branches and tracks. After a few minutes, they across the remains of a creature, though the use of the word "remains" was a generous term for the leftovers of a feeding frenzy. The only recognizable things left were a skull with a few bones and what looked like some organ refuse. Stolen novel; please report. Valgrim bent down and examined the bubbling organ remains. Nodding, he looked back toward Meridia, "Good news for you alchemist, its an acid head mother leading this pack." Hydra came in a few varieties outside the normal phenotype- normal looking Hydra with element resistances, element breathing hydra, and acid breathing hydra. Normal hydras were difficult enough, with the standard strengths of a dragon-kin and they grew heads back quickly; and fire/ice hydras had resistances to their respective element. Some Hydra looked normal, but had resistances to multiple elements. Acid heads, an acid Hydra nickname, were the worst however; not only did they breath a dissolving acid that melted anything organic and some metals, their scales were the hardest out of all Hydra varieties. This made them quite a chore to deal with, but also the most rewarding. Even with the risks involved, many had died trying to kill an acid head, for their acid could be used in a variety of potions and poisons, making it highly prized by potion makers. An acid head could also make a formidable force for any that could tame it, or at least control it long enough to get it into their enemies. Meridia merely nodded her head at the knowledge, then gestured that they should keep moving. "Quiet one this girl." Valgrim thought as he got up and continued. The group made their way into the forest path again, following the sign of Hydras. The further they moved into the forest, the worst the smell became. Scald and Saharra wrinkled their noses, but said nothing. The other three were fine, they were used to strong smells. Soon, they came across a fork in the smell trail. The forest did not indicate any fork, but the scent of Hydra moved in two directions, one to the right and one to the left. Both smells led away from the swampy center, so the dark elves were keen to follow either one. Brutus indicated that most of the Hydras went to the right, but just as the group turned to walk, an earsplitting roar was heard from the left. Bewildered, Brutus and Valgrim took a defensive position in front of their clients, who began their own spell preparations. After a couple of roars, they realized the noise did not come any closer, in fact it sounded more like a fight was already in motion. Valgrim looked to Brutus, "I''ll go investigate, you take them down the right trail." Brutus gromphed, then motioned for the elves to follow him. Scald marched up to Valgrim and pointed his finger down at him. "Sir, do you mean to leave us in this Hydra infested forest?'' Scald asked angrily. "No my dear client, but if something is battling a hydra, it would do us good to know what it is so we can avoid others like it." Valgrim pointed out. "Few natural things can deal with a Hydra and survive to talk about it." Scald thought a moment, then nodded. Turning away from the group, he began muttering in a language Valgrim could not identify. All of a sudden, a magic seal appeared on the ground, and a huge serpent rose out of it. It blinked twice, then slithered up to Scald, wrapping itself around him until it''s head was on his shoulder. "This is my familiar Nevian, take him with you." Scald declared, "we can share thoughts so if you die we will at least know what to expect." Valgrim smiled and bowed to the dark elf. ''Charming thought.'' Valgrim considered, than said "Okay, lets go Nevian." The snake hissed once in acknowledgement, then followed him. They made their way through the forest slowly, following the roars and cries of battle. Valgrim took careful note of the snake, for it was rather large and looked big enough that a gnome might make a tasty snack. His cooking skills were probably the only thing that kept Scald from having his pet eat him. After a few minutes and tense walking through the forest, the two came across a thick patch of thicket. They could hear sounds of battle coming though it. Getting on his belly, Valgrim and the snake made their way under it until their heads popped out the other side. Observing the scene in front of him, Valgrim frowned, rubbed his eyes, and re-observed the battle. "Is that...a spiked bear?" Yes, that was a medium sized bear covered in spiked armor. Yes, it was chewing on a recently dispatched Hydra head, then jumping back into the fray. And that was a dwarf hacking at two heads, yelling "Ye no hurt my kin, ye blasted overgrown worm!" A hiss whispered into Valgrim''s ear, " Sssss, ara ara what a sight." Apparently the snake could also talk... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Feedback appreciated ;) Chapter 3- Fight (edited) Edited -------------- Hiding the shock of hearing the snake speak, Valgrim observed the battle taking place in front of him. It seemed pretty even by his sight. While the bear and dwarf had succeeded in removing one head, by tearing it off the body, there were still 4 heads left. Also, the cut off head would eventually grow back, with a decent chance of having a twin as well. Hydras gained new heads through a combination of age and battle experience, one without the other would not make a new head. Hydras were born with 4 heads, gaining a fifth one on adulthood. Judging by the scars on the torso, it was likely time to grow a sixth one. Luckily, this seemed to be a normal Hydra, so no breath attacks thank goodness. Valgrim contemplated his next move. One, he could leave. After all, this was not his problem and he didn''t know the dwarf. Two, he could fight with the dwarf and bear. If he joined, the Hydra would most certainly die, but he had no idea of the dwarf was friendly or not. Three, he let the hydra kill the two, then kill the hydra and loot all three bodies. This was the most profitable course of action he could take. The only downside was that the battle could result in damage to anything valuable on either body. Unfortunately, before he could put the plan into action, one of the hydra head''s turned around and noticed him staring from the bush. "........" - Valgrim "........." - Hydra head A moment of silence ensued, than the head breathed fire at him. "Shittttttttt." went the undergnome as he dodged the flame, rolling away as fast as his little body could go, his back hot from the close encounter. "Hu, hu, hu, hu." He breathed deeply. That had been too close for comfort. Then he heard a soft hiss of laughter. Valgrim glared at the snake, which had wiser moved away from him before the fire. "Okay, now I''m pissed." He declared, turning toward the hydra. After all, he almost lost his favorite hat, and no one messed with his hat. Also his life, which was also pretty important to him. He rolled up his sleeves, kissed his ring, and began his fight----by praying to god. At least, his own god. Contrary to his looks and clothing attire, Valgrim was a cleric. He was a follower of the gnome god of the undergnomes, who specialized in working the earth and it''s metals. This was reflected in his Valgrim''s abilities; he was a professional at crafting and could wield many metal and earth based spells. He could shape the earth of Riftera to his purposes and bend metal to his will merely by touching it. Crafting was looked down upon in a community that had a policy of taking from those who couldn''t defend themselves. It was a crawler eat crawler world in the tunnels, with only family to look after you until you were old enough to be used. A simple introduction of his abilities made some view him as a weakling who only crafted, yet no one messed with him underground. This was most likely because the introduction included his tendency to melt metal armor while it was still being worn or cause ceilings to collapse. Decent reasons why he wasn''t a slave and was never robbed. Wielding his divine powers, Valgrim cast two spells onto his person: haste and ironskin. Haste increased his running speed and ironskin raised the defensive properties of his clothing. Finishing, he dashed toward the battle, taking care to direct all his killing intent toward the Hydra. Only the one head was aware of him, the other three were still chomping at the bear and dwarf. The Hydra head unleashed another blast of flame breath at him, forcing him to tumble to his left. A quick jump to his left allowed him to avoid the jaws snapping shut around where had just been. It swerved up and lunged again. "Ruddy thing." he muttered as the head snapped at him from above, forcing another roll to the left. This time, the head''s teeth stuck on the ground for a moment. As it pulled his mouth out of the ground and glared, Valgrim threw a vial at it''s eyes, which broke and released a sticky substance that covered and blinded him. "Raaahhh." The head roared, shaking his side to side to try to remove the gunk from it''s eyes. Valgrim allowed a grim smile before running toward the bear. The potion had been expensive,for it mimicked a wizard spell that created a spider web over an area. Useful for ambushes, the normal spell was temporary, but the potion version lasted awhile longer. Enough time to distract the head so he could reach the bear. Unfortunately, this also had the added effect of alerting the other heads aware to his presence, resulting in another spray of fire from one of them. A quick dive took him out of harms way. "Hothead, it just had to be a hot head." he muttered as another blast of flame singed the air near him. "Darn breath users always look like a normal Hydra, why can''t they have a marking or something. As he closed in on the bear''s position, he entered the other head''s ranges, forcing him to dodge another jaw that jammed shut just above him. In a feat of agility, he jumped over a head and landed near the bear. The bear growled at him, but couldn''t do much at the moment. It was deep in the middle of it''s own fight, locked in combat with a head, snarling and swiping at it. It was at this time that the stump blossomed into two more heads. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. "Brilliant." Valgrim muttered, "This just get''s better and better." Regrowing heads, as one might imagine, is quite disorienting, so the Hydra paused to accommodate its new brains. Not that it got smarter, just more irritating. Taking advantage of the pause, Valgrim quickly recited a prayer spell and touched the spikes on the bear. "Metal blessing of Flame." He whispered. He then quickly dodged an ax from the ornery dwarf. "Oy, what ye doing to me kin ye hairless bastard!?" Came an angry shout accompanied by an ax. Dodging a Hydra head, who had recovered with it''s fellows, Valgrim shouted, "I just enchanted his spikes, they will burn the hydra now. Tell the bear to use it so the heads won''t grow back!" This time he ran zig-zag to avoid flame and a chomp chomp. "And I happen to have wonderful head of hair under this hat I''ll have you know!" He cried indignantly. It was important to be clarifying in tense situations. The dwarf snorted, but didn''t resume swing at him, opting to resume his pounding on the Hydra heads. Valgrim launched himself on one the heads and began striking it with a small knife he kept in his hidden pocket, trying to get it into an eye. Failing to overcome the dragonic skin, he dropped down next to the dwarf, barely avoiding being eaten by another head. Now that he was close, Valgrim could get a good look at his ally. Short and stocky were typical dwarf traits, though this one was a little leaner than the average dwarf. He wore a spiked helmet which resembled a certain beast used for milk. Chain mail covered his leather clothes, and besides the battle ax the dwarf also had a bow on his back. The arrows were on a pouch on the bear. The dwarf seemed to have kind eyes, but the huge foot and a half beard covered any indication of smile line. That combined with the angry foam coming out of his mouth made him pretty intimidating in this particular situation. ''Well, I think it''s a him.'', he thought, "It can be hard to differentiate dwarf men and women." While he was making all these observations, his spell was activating on the bear''s armor. Metal blessings were temporary enchantments that made metal extremely powerful at a cost depending on the enchantment. The flame blessing acted like a pan on a fire, over time the metal to heat to near melting, then cool down. This ruined armor and weapons by warping the shape of the metal, but as the metal in this instance were just spikes it would be easy to fix. The spikes were now reaching their peak temperature, causing the metal to take on a faint red glow. The air around the bear started to shimmer, sending the closest Hydra heads back in caution as they took in the glowing bear. The moment when the metal reached it''s peak was when the bear, showing a hint of cunning, threw its whole body into a Hydra neck. Upon coming in contact with the scales, the bear began using the spikes as an anchor, rotating it''s body rapidly. The resulting force ripped the Hydra head from it''s body, burning skin, bone, and muscle to medium rare. The result....a delicious scent of cooked meat arose from the well-done stump as the head twitched and died on the ground. Taking a moment of shock, the Hydra began backing rapidly from the bear, retreating toward the forest as fast as it''s legs could carry it. "....."-everyone, "Oy, get back here!" Angry that their quarry was running when the battle was beginning to look up, the three began chasing the Hydra. As the Hydra entered the forest, however, a loud noise cause everyone to freeze and look down. "(chomp)"- went Nevian In the commotion, no one noticed the serpent slide up and bite the leg of the Hydra. The hydra heads all turned, looking down at the snake. The serpentine head all seemed to be asking, "Why?", and then fell on the ground foaming at their respective mouths. A weird, sickly color traveled up the leg and soon covered the entire body. The twitching soon stopped as it was dead. Dead.....in one attack. The three that had done the actual fighting stared at their dead opponent, still filled with battle lust and a need for blood. "....FUEEEE!" "What the heck!" "Growl, grunt, head smack." (the bear) The serpent looked at them. "Ara ara, did I not mention my venom?" it snickered. It paused, looking closely at the reactions of the trio in front of it. For some reason the snake did not fathom, ominous shadows appeared behind each of them, taking the various forms. "Eh? Demonsss? Letsss talk about thisss friendsss.." The serpent sputtered as it backed away slowly. It suddenly felt a distinct fear for it''s life, one that was rapidly growing. "Sure, lets have a nice long talk." Valgrim said ominously, his hands glowing with black magical energy. "I be needing a pair of leggings, seems a good size." The dwarf remarked, hefting his/her battle ax. "Grrrr." Growled the bear, who was now standing on it''s back legs, punching one paw into it''s other paw in repetition. Loud screams soon came from the clearing, sounding almost like cries of "Forgive meee" and "I''m ssssorry!" 3.5- A peaceful forest run (edited) Edited with extreme self prejudice :p Too short for my tastes, so now it''s a half chapter Enjoy ----------------------- "Hu, hu, hu, gasp." The strangled sounds of fleeing filled his mind. He had to escape, he had to flee. They were coming, he couldn''t stop them, couldn''t lose them! He held to fear of death on this plane of existence, if he was hurt, he''d just be sent back home. Yet the fear permeated his entire existence. Nothing could prepare him for this new experience. "No, NO, NOOOOOO." Fast forwarding past the shenanigans of annoyance ---> "Nice to meet you Master Dwarf, my name is Valgrim, may I ask you of yours?" Valgrim said while standing on a twitching serpent body. The dwarf, sitting on the Hydra corpse next to the bear, looked up from his meal- a femur with a large chunk of meat on it. "Me names Dirrg, son of the forest. This is me bear and kin Girr." Dirrg said, patting the bear affectionately. The bear in question looked up from its meal of well done hydra meat, sniffed once, and resumed eating. Large sounds of (nom nom nom) could be heard coming from it''s head. Returning his sights to Dirrg, Valgrim continued, "So Dirrg, what are you doing in this accursed Hydra infested forest? Taking a bite of hydra, the dwarf thought a moment, and said, " Meh kuin en I were esplorin, (gulp), de forest here. I be a ranger of de land and we set out from our homeland to explore all de forests of de land. Thought this wee forest would be no problem, but erey where is filled with these bloody hydras." Valgrim didn''t really believe the dwarf. All dwarfs loved the stone and ground, very much like the gnomes, and rarely had anything to do with trees. Then again, he looked at the bear, it would explain why the bear was so.......good-natured...... in comparison to others he had come across. While holding a brown color, the bear was much larger than other brown bears Valgrim had seen before. In fact, a previous job had called for the deliverance of some bear pelts to a wealthy dark elf. Of course, He and Brutus had had to fight a bunch of them at once. Quite unfortunate that it had breeding season, but at least they didn''t kill the mothers or the children. That would have made eating the delicious bear meat later taste a little...guilty. Shaking his head of the memories, Valgrim considered the duo beside him. "Well Master Dwarf, care to join up with my group to hunt some Hydra? he asked. The dwarf''s eye''s lit up, excitement dominating his features. Apparently even tree loving dwarfs enjoyed a good fight. He began rubbing his hand over his ax handle. "Oh, smashing more a dem Hydras sounds fun, Smashin and bashin heads all day long!" Dirrg gave off a high pitched squell, startling Valgrim. He gave the dwarf a quick glance over. ''Maybe this dwarf really is unstable..." Dirrg got up, brushed himself off, and held out his hand to help Valgrim up. "So, where''re da rest of your group new bashin buddy?" Valgrim looked at the serpent they had been sitting on. He reached down and slapped it''s head a few times to wake it up. "Hey, get up now. Which direction is your master?" Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. The snake woke up, looked around groggily, and poked it''s tongue in the air, tasting it. "Sss, ara ara, I feel like sssomething terrible just happened. Why can''t I remember what jussst happened?" it mused. It noticed Valgrim and the dwarf and gave an involuntary shudder. It looked around, eyeing the sky as it did. Sensing something, he looked back to Valgrim, "My massster iss that way though the treess." It indicated it''s head, "They ssseem to be resssting near water." Valgrim nodded, and turned to Dirrg. "Shall we walk to the group?" The dwarf gave an evil grin, "Now why''d you want to walk when me have an easier solution." He gave a slow indication toward the bear. Valgrim eyed the bear nervously, backing away slowly, followed by the Nevian. "We wouldn''t want to impose on such a noble creature." Dirrg continued smiling, "It be no trouble at all." "But..." He never finished his sentence before a snap from the dwarf kicked the bear into action. The bear charged Valgrim, grabbing him with it''s teeth, and then threw him into the air to land on it''s back. The snake soon followed. Laughing wildly with the occasional high-pitched squeal, the dwarf jumped onto the bear and shouted, "Charge Girr, right through da woods, Ha ha ha ha!" The bear obliged, ignoring the screams of "Noooo, why meee." and "Tooo, fastttt", and charged right into the woods, running at top speed. The dwarf, being used to this, dodged every limb that came into sight with astounding grace and acrobatics. The other two passengers...were not used to it. "(Spitting sounds)Ow! Thessse branches keep hitting me, ow. Animal cruelty!" "Ah! Not the hat, not the hat!" After a good ten minutes, they burst out of the forest, coming across a small lake. The dwarf was smiling on the back of the bear, while the snake was hanging loosely over the bear with Valgrim in the same position. The snake kept muttering silently, "Bears are scary, woods are scary, speed is scary." in a slow mantra. Valgrim slowly lifted his head and muttered, "Need to remember to not do that again." He looked around, noticing his companions staring wide eye''d and jaws open at the bear. Brutus merely raised an eyebrow. "Hmgh, Valgrim has all the fun, snort." ---------------- I''ve decided from now add to add appropriate magic information tables at the end of chapters when magic is used. This is the table for the enchantment magic used last chapter. Just for informative purposes.
Spell CatagoryMetal Blessing
A type of divine enchantment the temporarily changes the properties of the metal. There are numerous types, but are limited depending on the nature of the god providing the power for the spell. Being lower enchantments, their usage of metal often warps the metal, so it''s a double edged blade.
Chapter 5- Decisions, desicions After getting/falling off the bear, Valgrim picked himself, brushed his hat, and turned to his companions. "I found us a guide." Still slightly stupefied at the bear''s sudden appearance, everyone jumped when Scald yelled out, "Nevian, nooo. What have they done to you my precious familiar?!" Scald had noticed the limb serpent hanging off the bear. He rushed over and cradled the snake in his arms, which looked pretty funny as the snake was almost as large as himself. Nevian the snake merely muttered about scary things. Scald looked up angrily at Valgrim, "How dare you harm my familiar! I''ll have you pay for this!" Valgrim sighed. Not much to say when the snake was obviously traumatized. "Don''t lose your head Scald, your snake will be fine if you dismiss it back to it''s plane of existence. Remember, that''s how familiars who die forget their deaths and allows them to recover in peace. I do apologize for the things it went through, but I have to point out I went through the same things." Scald hesitated, glared at the bear, and dismissed Nevian. Valgrim was right, the contract magic allowed for familiars to forgot any terrible things they went through as long as their master had not caused it. If the master did cause it, then the familiar could plan a horrible death for the master- but this rarely happened due to the good relationship between the two. While Scald dismissed his familiar, Saharra came up to Valgrim. She pointed at the bear, now lapping water from the lake, and the dwarf, who was also lapping at the lake. "Explain." Shaking his head at the dwarf, Valgrim spun his tale on how he met Dirrg and Girr, battled the Hydra, and the agreement they came too. He made sure to leave out the trolling snake and it''s punishment. Saharra looked at the dwarf, who was now washing his armpits, in disgust and resignation. "Fine, but keep him away from me and my brethren, he stinks." Valgrim nodded, completely agreeing with her. He walked over to Brutus. "Any indication where the Hydras are? I only an adult, no younglings around anywhere." Brutus nodded, and pointed to the lake. Valgrim followed Brutus''s finger with gaze. He looked from the lake to Brutus a couple of times before saying, "They are really not going to like that." Brutus smiled and chuckled. Valgrim sighed. This was going to be fun. "Dear clients, I regret to inform you that our prey may require us to get a little... wet." Saharra raised an eyebrow, Scald developed an annoyed face, Dirrg grinned and hopped up and down, and Meridia.... uh, where did she go? Valgrim looked around quickly, swiftly spotting her with Girr the bear, who was now on his/her? side being rubbed thoroughly by Meridia. "Meridia, what are you doing?" She didn''t turn around, Valgrim heard the distinct words, "So cute", come from her direction. Guess the silent one really likes cute and fluffy things huh. Must be desperate for fluffyness, because that huge bear was not cute at all, in fact it made Valgrim shudder remembering being on.... "Dirrg is your bear a girl or guy?" "Me kin dere me as feminine as I", he declared. "......."-everyone ''Not feminine at all"- Scald "No taste in clothing"- Saharra "I can''t respond to that."- Valgrim "Sniff, sniff. Obvious is girl."- Brutus They all looked at Brutus. "So the bear''s a girl? This raises some concern on this dwarf..." Valgrim muttered. Shaking his head, Valgrim turned back to the important people. (Oy I ain''t a wee side character bloody author) Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. (Dirrg notices Meridia and starts yelling her to get off, she refuses) "I can create an air bubble for two people to scout the lake, enough for 2 and half hours for each person. If you find some seaweed down there, bring some and I can cast a better spell later. So whose going?" (Dirrg tries to pull Meridia away, fails because of unexpectedly high resistance) Saharra and Scald looked at him pointedly. "Are you not going master hunter? I have no desire to get wet or be ambushed by Hydras." said Scald. Valgrim sighed and explained, "Brutus is going down, so I have to stay up here with the others in case of emergency. I doubt Dirrg or his bear could scout, and Meridia is caught up in her own world. So one of you has to check out the lake with Brutus." (Annoyed her backscratcher is being taken, Girr knocks Dirrg into the forest, and resumes being scratched by Meridia) Hearing that Brutus would be going, the two elves began a game to see who would go with him. Apparently, even if they thought Brutus was an idiot, he would be better protection than Valgrim. (Dirrg returns extremely annoyed with his battle ax out, Meridia faces him with some potions in her hand) "Ha, I win!" said Saharra triumphantly. Scald shakes his hurt hands and mutters about female elves and their wiles. Saharra backhands him onto the ground without looking at him, beaming expectantly at Valgrim. "Congrats." he said dryly, "Give me a sec to cast this." Kissing his ring, he begins praying to his god, while an epic battle occurs in the background. (When...win, give...daughter.-M) (Never ye filthy slob, me daughter ain''t for your hand-D) (Explosions sound as Meridia wields her achemic power against Dirrg''s battle prowess) (Girr sighs, gets up, whacks both of them to the ground with her paws) As Valgrim chanted, a bubble of light formed around Brutus and Saharra. "And I pray.....your benevolence.....in deference to you... grant me....Air Bubble!" The bubble shines, then fades to nothing, leaving a confused Saharra. "It didn''t work." Valgrim snorted, "Why would you need a bubble or air on land? When you reach the water, the air bubble will push the water away from you." (Dirrg and Meridia are seated seiza style as Girr gets up on her back feet and snarls and growls at them in lecture form) Face slightly red, Saharra joins Brutus as they walk into the lake. Valgrim watches them enter the lake, the water being pushed away by the air bubble. He paused and thought a moment, ''Maybe I should have mentioned that fighting under water quickly lessens the air... meh should be fine." He turned around to find Girr being scratched professionally by both Meridia and Dirrg. "...Do I really want to know?" Girr looked at him, and seemingly shrugged -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SpellAir Bubble
A spell that wraps air in the form of a bubble around the recipient. Does nothing on land, completely worthless. In water, pushes it away from the air bubble. Cannot be popped, but can run out, it shrikes as oxygen decreases. Offers no resistance to attacks.
Chapter 6-Falling hard in water takes skill And now presenting two new points of view, Brutus and Saharra. Now, as you readers have probably have noticed, this story is kinda fast right now. Well, that''s partly because that''s how the game went, but mostly because I''ve decided to make this "part" the prologue to the really interesting stuff, complete with more characters and social interaction, buy now and receive one hour of reading time. (cough) Most likely, from what I''ve written so far, maybe 10? more chapters til (insert spoiler here). Trust me, you will definitely enjoy it. [th_0v.gif] Dedicated to SAimNE, you wanted some character development, well here you go ;) Now, on with the show! (Mature warning: violence with extreme prejudice) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --{Saharra''s point of view}-- ''Surprisingly, that little gnome''s spell worked just like he said it would.'' As Brutus and Saharra entered the lake, the water moved away from them like an invisible force was pushing it. Which actually was the case. ''Still, I am still slightly appalled a high Magus like myself has to undergo such treatment. I could be relaxing in my home, beating slaves who moved too slow in my gaze, blasting pathetic suitors off the balcony. Instead, my family made me travel with an idiot giant and annoying runt, both better suited for servants than hunters.'' ''Still, I can''t deny their usefulness and experience. After all, they have successfully dealt with other families in the city for years, having a high success rate and rumored to play a role in the destruction of houses that did not pay. While I am incredulous of the gnome, Brutus obviously could have been involved.'' She gazed at the tall minotaur as they walked further into the lake. While they were together as a group, Valgrim was the only one in the party who could speak to Brutus. While Scald claimed arrogantly it was because only a fool could speak to fools, Saharra was more pragmatic. There were many languages in the world, only a select few were spoken in the caves and tunnels. Most likely, Brutus spoke a surface language, which the elves would not learn out of a mistaken sense of pride. Being a Magus, Saharra knew that knowledge was power. Unlike a Sorcerer who wielded arcane magic from his blood, or a wizard who wielded magic through study, Magus''s had to rely on a healthy mix of both, combined with dangerous experimentation. A Magus stored his/her knowledge in a tome, which could only hold a limited number of spells and had to read each day for the wielder to use the magic. While this limited a Magus magically, it was balanced by an increased martial prowess, more specifically magic swordsmanship. Powerful Magus, like herself, ruled not only long range combat, but also close range. Their spells weakened their enemies and buffed themselves, becoming powerful juggernauts on the battlefield. Still, they weren''t invincible. This was the major reason why she had hired the duo. Hydras, being of dragon-kin, had hard scales and had resistance to magic. As she specialized in neither, they were a tough opponent for her, especially with the numbers present. Scald probably could take a few on with his summons, but he himself was weak and wouldn''t survive after his magic ran out. He also was not a true summoner yet, he had yet to make a formal contract with a demon of significant strength, but he was fast approaching that time. At this point, the two had made it deep enough into the lake that the ground was leveling off. She estimated the lake itself was a mile to two miles long, and about 100-150 ft deep. It had taken them 20 minutes to reach this point, they had 2 hours and 10 minutes of air left. As she looked around, she felt a finger tapping her shoulder. She turned toward Brutus. As their air bubbles were not connected, they could not speak to each other, not that they would understand each other in the first place due to the language barrier. Brutus indicated with his hands that they should split up. Saharra agreed. He went left diagonal, she went right diagonal. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. She reached a forest of kelp, and hadn''t walked more than 30 ft when the ground dropped down from under her. --{Brutus''s point of view}-- ''Hmgh, all this water makes me thirsty'' Brutus was, not sugarcoating it, a barbarian. He had been raised from birth with two rules; 1. Stength is power 2. Knowledge can be strength. Now, that second rule was atypical of a normal barbarian. But is was to be expected, how else would a cow minotaur attract a dragon mate? His mother had been more insightful and cunning than the average minotaur, and quite beautiful too, by minotaur standards. She had bribed a wizard with gems from a labyrinth to make her some polymorph scrolls, which she used to transform into a dragon. Unfortunately, her beauty transferred as well and she had the unfortunate opportunity of being seen by a red dragon, who promptly beat her into submission and love. They had stayed together for a while, but then she became pregnant. Because of the polymorph spell, she gave birth to Brutus instead of normal dragon eggs. Angered by her trickery, the dragon chased her and her newly born offspring into an underground labyrinth. That was actually lucky for her, because Minotaurs could not get lost in a labyrinth, it was a skill all were born with. She was able to escape the dragon, but was trapped underground. She raised Brutus until the spell wore off, loving every bit of him, fur and scales. She taught him how to fight, how to think, and how to rage. Yes, rage was the most important part of being a barbarian. With their rage, they could perform inhuman/monster feats of strength, at a cost of extreme exhaustion after the battle. Most barbarians died young because of this, raging the last of their life away. On his 5th year since birth, he and his mother were attacked by wild beasts. Brutus was still to weak to successfully fight them off, and his mother had lost a lot of her vitality escaping the dragon. She died protecting him, and Brutus was filled with a rage unlike any other. His dragon blood ignited with his minotaur strength, and he slaughtered the beasts with his bare hands, ripping them to shreds and drowning them in their own blood. When he woke up, everything was dead, his hands were buried in his last victim, crushing it''s heart. He didn''t know what to do, he stayed there for days, eating the remains and burying his mother. The dark elves eventually found him, and enslaved him for their fighting games. Brutus didn''t care, fighting was all he knew now. He remembered this all sadly as he made his way into a kelp forest. ''Wonder what would have happened to me if I hadn''t met Valgrim?'' he wondered. He chuckled at the thought. After certain events, he had become fast friends with the little gnome who barely reached his knees. They made a good pair, one specializing in brute force, the other in magic and support. (In case you are wondering, he thinks normally, but has a hard time speaking normally. Vocal cords made for growls, not words) "Hmph, when job done, drink ale and eat meat." he said happily, taking a swig of ale from one of his 5 jugs. It was good ale, blessed by Valgrim to refill as long as Brutus left a drop at the bottom. Which rarely ever happened, poor gnoem wallet. As he was sipping his ale, he heard a thump travel through the water. Curious, he made his way toward the sound, and came across a large circular depression in the ground. It looked like someone had carved a 5 ft circle in the middle of the lake, and Brutus could see a large hole in the middle of it. Looking down, he also saw that Saharra had fallen in the whole on her back. Apparently, Valgrim''s spell had negated water resistance as well, she had fallen under the full effects of gravity. Brutus chuckled. Even if he didn''t outright hate dark elves, he still took a certain pleasure at seeing them come to misfortune. ''Well, better go help her so we don''t lose payment again.'' he thought jumping down to her, ''Valgrim would be as pissed as last time." Chapter 7- Leap of faith Welcome to answer section, where I answer questions posted on the last chapter. Our biggest question today, "What with the Gender Bender tag?" [th_0suit.gif] Well dear readers allow me to answer this without revealing too much. As I mentioned previously, right this a "prologue" section, so the tags for harem, gender bender, and most of the mature content come after. Yes, Valgrim was "castrated" (Brutally maimed more like) and there is no way to get that part back in his current body. Hueh he he. Also, who said the harem was for the MC? I did tag this as "original" didn''t I (wink). Don''t worry, you will see examples of all the tags in this story. Though admittedly, it will be awhile for the gender bender, and not everything affected will be permanent~ Rate honestly, ask questions, and I shall post more, enjoy the story! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --{Valgrim''s point of view}-- Waiting on Brutus was boring. He sighed. Valgrim was sitting on a smooth rock facing the lake with his head resting on his hands. Honestly, he would have prefer''d to have gone with Brutus than babysitting clients. ''After all.'' he reasoned, ''They are strong enough to take care of themselves.'' He looked over at his charges. Scald was meditating on another walk, with suspicious black smoke coming off the ground every few intervals in short wisps. Dirrg and Meridia were now having some sort of debate over Girr''s outfit. Dirrg was arguing the need for spiked leather armor, calling it a way into a mate''s heart? Meridia was arguing no armor and making the fur shiny and fluffy to attract a mate. "...Those two really have a strange idea on how to attract mates." Valgrim''s idea for a mate was obviously very pious and humble; top heavy. The little closet perv had endeavored to see the some of the most beautiful busty women in the caves.....which kinda was responsible for his enslavement and pains... how could he have known that brassiere was a trap for him? Still, he gave props to whoever thought of it, it was genius. Sadly, young pervy days were long behind him, he sighed. ''At least they left me my eyes to appreciate beauty." he thought sadly. He shook his head, it was not his nature to dwell on the past. He looked toward the future, which was filled with relaxation and comfort from all the gold he was going to make. Maybe even a few female initiates to teach and appreciate (remember readers, he can''t ero right now) Important quote: (Life always finds a way. Ero makes life. Ero always finds a way- Ero god) Smiling at his imagined future, Valgrim resumed his position on the rock, and waited. ''....So boring'' --{Saharra''s point of view}-- "Che, ow ow ow." she muttered, "Where did that cliff come from?" She looked up, examining where she had fallen. The kelp forest she had been traveling through ended abruptly at the edge of the hole, allowing for unknowing passersby''s to fall in surprised. Annoyed, she once again regretted leaving her home of comfort for this quest. Looking around, she spotted Brutus jumping down into the hole a bit a ways from her,and walking toward her. ''Great, the big oaf saw me.'' she thought annoyingly, ''He''s sure to tell that gnome later and they''ll have a laugh later at my expense. '' She ground her teeth, because she couldn''t communicate with him, she couldn''t threaten him into silence. She was right of course, they would get a laugh out of it later, but right now the client was the most important thing. Saharra was surprised when Brutus offered a hand to help her up. While admiring that a dumb beast would offer help, she slapped his hand away to preserve her pride. A lower creature helping a dark elf, she''d never live it down. Brutus shrugged, he knew the dark elves views and didn''t pay them much attention. Long as she lived to pay him, he didn''t care what she thought of him. While trying to figure out a way to keep him quiet, she once again felt him tapping on her shoulder. "What?" she barked, annoyed at the familiar way he was getting her attention with. Brutus pointed toward the middle of the hole, she followed and noticed another hole in the middle of the circle. Brutus beckoned her to follow him, which she did with a sigh. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. The two approached the hole and looked in. About 10 ft across, the hole was pretty dark, seemingly leading to an abyss of darkness. Brutus looked at her, waiting. Saharra was confused for a moment, then released he was waiting for her to light up the hole. She snorted, he at least knew dark elves well enough to know what they all could do. She used an ability present in her blood, fairy fire. Not a spell, this ability allowed dark elves to outline something in their sight with magical, non-burning fire. Useful in marking a target, but also useful for scouting in the tunnels. Her fire extended down the hole for 20 feet before it started curving. She could not extend the fire beyond what she could see, but she estimated the hole was fairly long and was more of a tunnel than anything else. Brutus nodded, than turned and started making his way back the direction they came. Saharra quickly followed, not wanting to be left behind in the lake. When they reached the cliff, she looked curiously at Brutus, who was eyeing it. While not deep, She couldn''t jump the cliff and she refused to climb it. ''Oh right, I''ll just levitate.'' she thought. Dark elf nobility could levitate in air, and the air bubble allowed for air conditions around her. Speaking of which, she noticed that Brutus''s air bubble was noticeably smaller than hers. ''Must use a hot of hot air.'' she smirked to herself. Seemingly reading her mind, Brutus turned to her and grinned, which was actually kind of intimidating on his face. "Uh, what are thinkiNNNGGG." she said before he picked her up and threw her over the cliff screaming. As mentioned before, the air bubbles created air like conditions around the user, so Brutus''s strength went the full nine yards with her. He watched her zoom into the distance. "....Opps, Valgrim mad again." he sighed. "Snort, my bad." --{Valgrim''s point of view}-- Valgrim had spent the last 10 minutes snoring on his rock when he heard something emerging from the water. He raised a sleepy eyebrow and observed Brutus and Saharra coming out. Saharra was pissed about something, because she was yelling at Brutus and hitting him repeatedly. Of course, neither could communicate to the other, and Brutus looked at Valgrim with a pleading look that said "Help me". Valgrim chuckled to himself, but put on a serious face and approached the two. "So, I take it your underwater trip was eventful? Saharra through him a withering look, making him flinch. "Your beast friend here threw me threw the water into forest of kelp. We spent an hour trying to get me out, nearly running out of air, and my clothes are dirty and covered in slimy kelp." she berated. Indeed, on close inspection her clothes were indeed dirty- covered in kelp and kelp slime. Valgrim sighed, their pay would take a hit from this. "My lady, I apologize, it is quite obvious my dumb friend merely wanted to help preserve your beauty." he posed She paused in her ranting and raised a delicate eyebrow, "How does getting me dirty keep me beautiful?" Valgrim quickly explained, "The slime in kelp actually possesses a magic affinity to anti-aging magic. Many rich ladies on the surface use creams made from it. It''s use is reserved only for the rich and powerful, only commoners have no use for it. Even your alchemist has made some before." Saharra turned and observed the alchemist, who was currently using Girr as a body pillow. "Fine, I''ll accept your word, my beauty is indeed worth preserving. But teach your dumb beast to never throw me without my permission again!" she stared haughtily down at him. Valgrim bowed, "It shall be done my lady." She nodded, then began walking toward Meridia, obviously wanting to get her to make some cream out of the kelp. Brutus looked down at him, "Kelp, snort, good then?" he asked. Valgrim looked up at him, "Women will believe in anything that promises to keep their beauty. As long as it doesn''t have any side effects, we should be good." They both shuddered at the thought of Saharra finding out she was tricked. Luckily, Valgrim''s bluff was actually partly true, Dirrg apparently had cream made from kelp. Apparently, that was how he made some of his gold. Chapter 8- Subtlety Welcome to answer corner, yay. [th_0suit.gif] 1. Wait and see on the gender bender. No more spoilers on that front :p 2. Bring on the goblins, I''ve got (insert spoiler here) galore. Ku ku. Well, Valgrim wasn''t originally gonna have a "harem" like is tradition, but because the only who comment so far seem to want, I''ll modify my plans a little bit. He''s still not the main harem guy though, hue hue hue. 3. I''m thinking about putting together a short story for the contest, one that tells the story on how Brutus and Valgrim met, plz leave me your opinion on making it a side story, or having in further in the plot. 4. Celebrations, 21 followers and 5 favorites :blush: Now, resume the story- pre-battle mode --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Resuming Valgrim point of view meta: Valgrim listened as Brutus gave a brief description of their findings. He nodded as Brutus explained the hole in the lake. Looking thoughtful, Valgrim gazed at the lake . He looked at Saharra, who was trying to rub as much kelp on her face, and sighed again. The amount of sighs he had given already this trip probably equaled a lifetime of lost happiness. Resolving himself, Valgrim announced loudly, "Dear clients, I have some important news. Please gather around." Everyone gathered around the stone he was standing on. Saharra''s face was covered in kelp, her eyes peaking from a forest of green. Girr''s fur was shinning from the high maintenance, and Scald clothes glowed with arcane energy. ''They are not going to be happy..'' he thought. He clapped, "Now, everyone here still wants to deal with the Hydras right?'' he asked carefully. They all nodded. "And we are willing to go the distance for battle, servants and gold right? They all nodded again, this time with questioning looks. He coughed and adjusted his robes. "In that case, we have to swim." Scald raised an eyebrow, "And how is that a problem? Just cast air bubble on all of us and lets go." he said questioningly. Valgrim looked away and said, "I can''t cast air bubble again today, and even if I could with so many people here the bubbles would not be able to hold enough air to last." he coughed, turned around and held his hands behind his back. "The only we can do is swim, which means breathing underwater, and getting...wet." A moment of silence, then loud sounds of protest erupted from the group. Saharra and Scald did not want to dirty their outfits, which according to them was made by the greatest tailors, Saharra herself did not to lose her kelp wrap. Dirrg and Meridia complained that Girr would lose her fluffiness. Brutus didn''t care, but made noises to mess with Valgrim. "It''s that or we lose valuable tracking time, this may be the only opportunity to catch them while they in small groups." Everyone grudgingly agreed after awhile. Valgrim nodded, than took out the kelp Brutus had given him. He began muttering in prayer, his hands glowing over the kelp. "...and by your favor....Water Breathing!" The glow from the kelp jumped and split to cover every member of the party. As this occurred, Valgrim suddenly remembered, "Ah, should have mentioned the spell disables the ability to use the air to breathe as soon as it kicks in and wears off the next time they enter the air." On that lovely note, everyone began coughing and sputtering. Everyone immediately jumped into the lake to escape death by suffocation, and stared angrily at Valgrim. He shrugged, and Brutus knocked him into a cartwheel underwater. "Warn next time, hmph." He said angrily. Rubbing his head, Valgrim sent as apologetic a look as he could. "By the way, while the spell wears off when we reach air again or in 3 hours, I advise you get rid of all the water in your lungs first, otherwise you will drown." This resulted in another slap, this time from Meridia, "...Idiot..." The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. He looked at her with wounded eyes. It was the strongest spell he could cast right now, why were they not grateful? "Seriously, do they not know how difficult it is to give someone the ability the breathe underwater." he muttered. Anyways, Brutus waved them to follow him, and they swam after him to the hole. It was quite funny to watch Girr doggie paddle under water, dragging Dirrg behind her. Dirrg could swim, apparently another dwarf stereotype that fit. He grumbled about the "bloody water" the entire swim to the hole. It took them 30 minutes to reach the hole, where they had Brutus swim down first, followed by the rest of them, and ended with Valgrim. The tunnel did not lengthen or shrink as they walked along it, the 10 ft radius merely angled up slowly. It took them 30 minutes to swim to the hole, and they had been walking for an hour. It was at this point that Valgrim stopped the party. "We have half our breathing time left." he said seriously, "We have to choose to either continue or go back. If we choose to go ahead and their is no end, we will drown." Even with the cryptic warning, if they went at this point they would lose precious time. It had been darkening when they had met up at the lake, and the Hydra''s would have surely moved by now. They had no choice but to keep moving forward. Luckily, it only took another 45 minutes to reach a steep wall, which high above them showed the surface. Preparing themselves, they all swam up to just beneath the surface. Valgrim pulled out an invention of his, which he called an angle scope. The angle scope was a magic item that worked like a telescope, except it could be used to look around corners and over walls. A useful item in his young ero days, now it served a more practical purpose of scouting. Looking through it, he saw that they were in a cave, half flooded and the other half land. the beach was filled with rocks, no wait, those were countless bones. He could see 9 adult Hydras, and many younglings. Obviously, this was a feeding cave for the young. He conveyed what he saw to the rest of the group. Thinking quickly, Valgrim quickly came up with a plan. "Okay, before we go up, everyone exhale all the water out of your lungs. This way you won''t drown on the surface. We all swim quietly to the beach, then ambush the Hydras, agreed?" They all agreed, thinking it a decent plan from the guy who kept forgetting the important things. Saharra thought to herself, "I wonder why Brutus puts up with this guys?" Still, they all exhaled, and swan stealthily to the surface. Unfortunately, one of Girr''s spike poked into Brutus as they broke the surface. Normally that would not have been an issue, except that particular spike had warped under Valgrim''s earlier spell into an extremely sharp point, and it poked his butt. Breaking the surface, Brutus let out a roar that erupted and echoed all around them. The Hydra''s looked at them in shock. Taking her hands off her ears, Saharra thought, "Better question, how has Valgrim not died yet. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SpellWater Breathing
A spell that temporarily switches the ability to breathe air for the ability to breathe water. The time it takes for the spell to wear off depends on the power of the caster, and is reduced by the number of recipients, which cannot exceed 10. The spell also wears off with the next exposure to air, including bubble. Not recommenced to use for underwater fighting. Also, once spell has ended, user must have expelled all water in lungs, otherwise drowning will occur.
Author note: During the game, we rolled stealth on leaving the water. Brutus rolled a 1 out of 20. Chapter 9-First Epic Fight Welcome once again Question Corner Nothing this time :p --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --{Due to the amount of participants in this fight, the point of view will become 3nd}--
Partyvs.Hydras
ValgrimHydra 1
BrutusHydra 2
SahrraHydra 3
ScaldHydra 4
Meridia
Dirrg
Girr
FIGHT!
In the second following Brutus''s roar, quite a few thing happened. On the Hydra side, they split into 2 groups. The four biggest adult turned to face us snarling, while the others rushed the kids into one of the tunnels. On the party''s side, they all quietly fumed at Brutus for ruining the trap, but went into action. Quickly swimming to the bony beach, they set up in combat positions: Brutus, Sahaara, Dirrg, and Girr in the front, with Scald, Valgrim, and Meridia behind them. As soon as they were in position, all the participants jumped into the fight. The four hydra spread out, 2 in the middle and one on both left and right. Starting off the fight, Brutus and one of the Hydras charged each other, meeting just beyond the bone part of the beach. They clashed together, Brutus wielding his mighty battle ax and the 5-headed Hydra throw it''s whole weight against him. Even with his great strength, Brutus was pushed backwards, his feet leaving heavy marks in the sand. In the back Meridia summoned her familiar, a small monkey, while Valgrim and Scald both began chanting- Valgrim to his god, Scald to his summons. Saharra gathered arcane power to herself in preparation to buff herself. Dirrg, who was riding Girr, took a defensive stance in front of the back-line. As Brutus slashed and hacked at the Hydra, Valgrim finished his casting, "...Fog of Seasickness!" Instantly, a green fog rolled over Brutus and the Hydra, engulfing them. The spell, when breathed in, caused creatures with low fortitude to become deathly sick. Valgrim was counting on Brutus to resist the fog, they had been together long enough to know their capabilities. Valgrim did not count on the other Hydra however. It was the biggest one, with a rare eight heads, signifying it''s battle experience and age. It sniffed at the fog in front of it, eyes narrowing, and breathed a torrent of flame out of all eight mouths. The result was completely unexpected, the fog exploded, throwing flame and force everywhere. Brutus was thrown backwards into the group, while Hydra 1 screeched in terrible pain, it''s once shiny scales now burned. In anger, it turned and charged Hydra 4(eight heads), who promptly cut it down with it''s eight head. The explosion had startled Hydra 2 and 3, who charged with Girr intercepting 2 and Saharra intercepting 3. Girr and Dirrg jumped in, howling in battle lust, slashed with ax and claws against it''s 5 heads. Saharra had finished strengthening her defense, and now thrust her long-sword into on of the 5 heads of Hydra 3. Meanwhile, Brutus was slowly recovering from the blast, but he was badly burned and one of his arms wouldn''t move. Valgrim quickly began channeling healing magic into Brutus. "I need a minute to get him ready for battle!" He yelled to Meridia and Scald, "Keep him busy!" Him referred to, of course, the eight-headed hydra, who had finished massacring Hydra 1, and was now charging to finish the 4 of them. Quickly, Scald finished his summoning spell, which called two strange beings in front of them. They were humanoid, but had long arms which they used as legs, and were terribly skinny with a red and black color. "Go!" Scald ordered, and the beings launched themselves at Hydra 4, screaming. Meridia gave her familiar some potions, who immediately ran toward Saharra, who was still fighting her Hydra. Dirrg had managed to cut off a head, and Girr was slashing at two of the heads by herself. Their strategy was to get all the heads to focus on one of them, so the other could slash into the main body, the only efficient strategy when fire wasn''t available. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. At this point, the monkey had reached Saharra. The monkey climbed up to her shoulder and offered a potion. Jumping back, Saharra quickly drank the potion. The effects were immediate, but unperceivable to a normal onlooker. Feeling her strength rising, Saharra roared out, casting flames out of her hands, "Hand of Flame!" The wounds she had inflicted on the Hydra quickly burnt over, the Hydra howling in pain. Now if she got off heads, it would take even longer to regrow heads, leaving it in a dangerous spot. Back at the middle, Valgrim began sweating as he continued channeling energy into Brutus. He had spent a lot of divine energy today, if this became an extended fight, he would fall unconscious from the effort. Scald finished casting another spell, this time casting "Obscuring Fog!" A fog similar to the earlier one rolled around Hydra 4. Knowing what was coming next, the Hydra tried to back-peddle out of the fog, giving the two creatures time to injure two of the heads. It wasn''t quick enough to escape completely though, as Scald cast his own ''Hands of Fire" into the fog. A second explosion rocked the cavern, destroying the two creatures, who cursed Scald out as they were banished, and burning two of the Hydra''s heads. Dirrg took advantage of the distraction and plunged his ax deep into the Hydra''s body. Howling, it died, collapsing on the ground. Saharra also dispatched her Hydra, her sword slicing so strongly the Hydra split in half. Both of it''s halves fell with a groaning like sound. Valgrim finished healing Brutus, collapsing onto his back, breathing in deeply. Brutus''s eyes shot open, roaring, and charged the final Hydra, invoking his rage. He jumped straight at the Hydra, arms behind his back gripping his battle ax. His eyes glowing red, he smashed his battle straight through the Hydra''s heart. It fell, and Brutus stood atop it''s corpse and roared in victory. "Phew, glad that''s over." said Valgrim, "I need a breather." With that said, Valgrim fell on his back and began snoring. Brutus collected some bones, threw on some heat stones, and poured some ale over it. Having a decent fire, he began to expertly cook the Hydra meat. Saharra looked incredulous, after all, she and the other elves had tasted Brutus''s cooking on the way through the tunnels, it had been terrifyingly bad. She shook Valgrim awake in a rush. He blinked, looked up, and asked, "What''s all the hubbub?" "Brutus is cooking, and it doesn''t look poisonous at all!" Valgrim looked over. "Oh, that because he''s using his ale for the fire, he doesn''t make mistakes when it comes to using ale." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SpellHand of Flames
Basic fire spell. This spell shoots fire from the caster''s hands in a cone shape for a short distance. Useful spell for close combat. Not particularly strong, but may cause standard burns if taken directly.
SpellFog of Seasickness
Spell primarily used in sea combat. While not only blocking sight, the fog also will cause extreme sickness to any who breathe it in and have low fortitude. More effective if the recipients are on a boat. Can easily be dispersed by wind, natural and magical.
SpellObscuring Fog
Similar to seasickness, this fog only blocks vision. No other ill effects. Can also be lit on fire as the two rely on similar properties.
Spell CategoryHealing
These type of spells rely on divine power to renew, rejuvenate, and restore injuries to mortal bodies. These spell, when used by clerics and paladins, do not require incantation. As experience increases, healing abilities increase as well.
Chapter 10- Remnants of the Past Muah ha ham question corner time. Again though, no new questions from the last chapter. Means that I''m doing good, or really bad. Well, here''s some new for you guys. Besides this chapter, there will be 1-2 more regular chapters and an epilogue for this prologue section, then the "real" story begins. I''ll try my best to get them all done today, but school''s back tomorrow so we will see. Now, back to your feature presentation. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --{Valgrim}-- After eating a hefty meal of Hydra meat, the group rested for an hour, allowing the magic users to rest a bit. Also Brutus, who fell to the fatigue of raging. Once they had gotten ready, the group inspected the cave. While not under the Earth, it was clear they were in a cave, most likely in the nearby mountains of the area. It was circular, with 1/4 of it water, which led out to the lake. The half-circle beach was covered in bone for 2-5 ft, then was sandy until it hit stone. There were 3 tunnels, exactly 90 degrees from one another. Due to the time and battle that had occurred, it was no longer obvious which way the Hydras left. The dark elves were clearly annoyed at this, but they couldn''t complain because they had needed the rest. "Any chance you have a tracking spell in that bag of tricks gnome?" Scald asked darkly. He shook his head, "My magic focus is on creation, not hunting. Besides, I''ve run low on divine energy. I need 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep and an hour to pray to restore it." Scald grudgingly accepted this. His magic was similar, he too would eventually need 6 hours sleep and an hour of meditation to renew his spells. This was a drawback to magic users, though elves only needed 6 instead of 8 hours of rest. Still, Valgrim looked thoughtfully at the tunnels. His god did hold the stone and dirt as one of his domains. Valgrim knelt in prayer, kissing his ring, which was the symbol of his god. He began praying for a sign. Divine intervention was a thing in this world, within limits of course. Depending on the god and who was asking, things from minor miracles to temporary power boosts could possibly be granted to those who asked. A god was limited to little things of course, no need for another god war like an era ago. Valgrim''s god was known for little favors to his people, the undergnomes, mostly because they suffered much hardship and asked little in return, preferring to accomplish what they need with their own power. In this case, Valgrim prayed to his god for insight. Annoyed, Saharra approached Valgrim, hand outstretched to shake him, but was stopped by Brutus. He shook his head and motioned her to sit. He offered ale to her, which she grudgingly accepted. She was then taken by surprise, this was high quality alcohol, drunk by the nobility! Before she could drink too much though, Meridia and Scald jumped her, throwing the container back to Brutus, who caught it in surprise. She tried fighting back, hand outstretched toward Brutus, complaining "I wasn''t finished yet." Scald, using his body to hold her down, said seriously, "Stay down you alcoholic, we need you sober." Meridia nodded rapidly, holding Saharra''s feet, "You....drink...too much." Watching the scene in front of him, Brutus felt a chill, as if a million drops of alcohol cried out in pain. Ale was meant to be appreciated, not chugged down to ensure drunkenness. Of course, this was his personal creedo, he really liked his ale. He quickly began drinking all 5 ale jugs to make sure Saharra wouldn''t get waste any. Back to Valgrim, he had spent the last 20 minutes praying, and was wondering if he had to sacrifice again, when he felt magic touch his mind. Instantly, he knew where each tunnel went, and which ones had been used by Hydras. He got up and turned to the group. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. "Okay guys, I know....Brutus you fool!" he exclaimed, whacking Brutus on the head. Brutus had apparently succeeded in drinking all the ale. "You know the replenish spell only works when there is a drop left! Now it won''t work again till we fill it up to the brim again, you know how expensive the stuff you like is?!" Valgrim began crying, watching the his future gold growing wings and flying away. Saharra also cried because the booze was gone, and for some reason Dirrg was too. "Sniff, why are you crying filthy dwarf, sniff?" "(Waah) I an sensitive, sniff, I cry when me friends cry, tear." Taking a few minutes to recover, Valgrim relayed to them the tunnel destinations. The middle tunnel went back under the ground to the nest they had first found. The left tunnel curved upwards and around to another nest. The right tunnel went out to the forest. Hydras had recently used the left and right tunnels. "I can''t tell which tunnel was more recent though." he apologized, "but a wide for forest sounds better than a confined nest when escaping." The others nodded, following his logic. They packed up, Valgrim excited to note at least one of Brutus''s ale kegs was replenishing (kept secret from Saharra), and headed down the right tunnel. It was much longer than they suspected, taking them a good 2 hours to travel through it. When they emerged, the sun was a bit above the ground, signaling the morning of the surface. Brutus bent over and sniffed the area. It was unfortunate, but no Hydra''s had been through this area in a few days. Valgrim sighed, ''Well, I can''t be right all the time I guess." Scald jerked his head to the left suddenly. "I sense magical energy, that way." he pointed. Having no better leads, the group leaded in the direction of the magic. Moving through some trees, they came upon the ruins of a small village. It was clear something bad had happened to the inhabitants, for no building was whole. Most of the houses had only one wall up still, rubble strewn over most of the ground. They walked cautiously into town, for the magic was coming from within it. Meridia soon spoke up, "...No bones.." Valgrim looked at her surprised, then glanced around. She was right, whatever had happened, there were no bones in the area at all. Surprising, because the town was a decent size. They soon came to the biggest building, obviously the former inn. Scald pointed, "Under that rubble pile there." Brutus walked over and began lifting the rubble. Dirrg walked over and joined him, lifting stone and wood. Under the pile, a young Hydra lay dead. Brutus sniffed it, "Sniff sniff, recent." Valgrim sighed. Now they knew what had happened to the town. It had been the perfect spot for the new Hydra babies to hunt. That bone beach probably held the bones of the townspeople, along with all the other prey. It was clear the town had had some magic users, this youngling still radiated magic from it''s death. ''They probably eat their dead'' he thought. Brutus had the same thought apparently, because he bent down and asked Valgrim if a Hydra farm existed. It was an interesting idea he posed, raising Hydras, cutting a head for meat, feeding it other Hydra meat. ''Huh, wouldn''t that be interesting.'' Valgrim thought. Anyways, the expedition had not gone well so far. 2 days in, and only one dead Hydra baby. They needed to be more productive later. While he was considering this, he heard a hoot and holler from Dirrg. Curious, he joined the others. "There be a strange hill eyond de town." he said, "Feels different some''ow." Curious, the group set out to investigate this strange hill. Epilogue of the Prologue- The End of the World Question Corner out of business: lack of questions lol ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The group walked to the strange hill Dirrg spied. While visible from the town, it still took the 10 minutes to walk to it. It was a pretty big hill, it looked more like the land had been dented into the air. Standing 2 1/2 Brutus''s tall at max height (15 ft), 1/6 of a mile diameter, it stood out clearly in this non-forested area. Valgrim stared up at it. "You were right Dirrg, this is really strange." Dirrg let out a high pitched squeal in appreciation. The weird part of the hill has a depression 3/4 from the bottom. It made the normal looking hill remind Valgrim of a sou-fee that had lost some air. It made the hill seem... not natural. "First off lets climb this to check it out." Saharra said, interrupting Valgrim''s chain of thought. Seeing nothing else to do, he agreed with her, and the rest of the party followed. The hill was not steep, and also not flattish. It did not take them much time at all to reach the top. Valgrim knelt down and felt the Earth. Though following a god of the stone and ground, Valgrim had used up most of divine energy for the day, and combined with the earlier favor from his god his abilities were very much reduced. "I can''t sense the Earth." he said puzzled, "Even in my weakened state I should be able to sense something." Brutus looked at Valgrim, listening, then jumped, surprising everyone. When he landed, the ground rumbled slightly under their feet. Getting up off the ground, Valgrim said slowly, "I think we should get off the hill." No arguments from anyone. They quickly moved off the hill. When they reached the bottom, however, Saharra let out a cry of alarm. "Meridia, get down from there!" Meridia was in the grassy depression, messing around with something. Hearing Saharra, she turned and ran down the hill to join the group. "What were you doing up there? "....Boom..." "...Eh?" Valgrim quickly looked up at the depression, which now held some potions and a burning...fuse? The following explosion knocked everyone off their feet. The ground rumbled ominously, this time for a longer amount of time. Slowly getting off the ground, Valgrim muttered, "Great, we have a bomb and fluffy maniac in the group." He inspected the hill. Besides the fire damage from the explosion, the hill looked exactly the same. Saharra and Scald scolded Meridia harshly. She was kneeling on the ground with a sad expression. She had wanted a bigger boom. "Sigh, okay, lets plan our next move back at the town." They made their way back, or would have if Brutus hadn''t put his arm out and shook his head. "Let''s, break, it." he said in a slow, careful voice so his meaning would be heard. Valgrim raised an eyebrow, this meant something important to Brutus if he actually took the time. "Why?" Brutus moved his head side to side, not sure how to communicate his feelings onto words. There was something about that hill that told him to smash it. Barbarian instinct maybe? Valgrim sighed, again. When Brutus got a feeling, he couldn''t be persuaded otherwise. It had saved them in the past. "Well, if we are gonna smash it, might as well make it the biggest smash we can make." He sat down, motioning the others to do the same. "So, what do we have that can make a bigger dent than a bomb?" Everyone pointed at Brutus. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. "....right. Now how can we help him make a bigger impact?" Scald raised his hand, "I can cast enlarge person on him, it''ll increase his weight and size." Meridia also raised her hand, "...Jumping...Potion..." Saharra looked thoughtful, "I can increase his weight with armor with buffs." Valgrim shook his head, Increasing weight alone might cause him to fall through the hill before he could prepare himself. Dirrg called out cheerfully, "Give him some rocks to hold!" He was given dry looks by everybody. Valgrim held his head in his hand for a moment, then looked up. "Okay, so here''s an idea." 1. Brutus walks to the top of the hill alone, all 1.5 tons of him. 2. Brutus drinks the jumping potion, increasing his maximum jumping height. 3. When almost at the max height, Scald casts the enlarge person spell on him. 4. Right before impact, Brutus punches the ground with all his might. Brutus smiled, he liked plans that involved smashing, and this one sounded like it would be fun. Dirrg also smiled. He liked smashing too. Girr snored, apparently bored. With no disagreement, the plan was sent in motion. Brutus took the potion from Meridia, and walked to the top of the hill. When he got up to the top, he looked down, waiting for a signal. Valgrim watched Scald, who was focusing his arcane energy. When he finished, he nodded to Valgrim, who then signaled for Brutus to go ahead. Brutus nodded, and drank the jumping potion. He gathered his strength, and his eyes glowed red, showing his rage. He jumped, peaking at 30 ft in the air when Scald cast the spell on Brutus. He increased from a large size creature to a huge size creature and doubled in weight. Combined with the speed of gravity acceleration and the force he put into his punch, the power of his punch was equal to a force of 14 tons moving at (((we actually did the math for this, but its too much to put on here))) 35 miles per hour. This of course, was the defining moment of the universe. Everything from this point on resulted from this incident. With the amount of force Brutus had, he broke through the hill, which was actually a thick hollow cavity. He fell another 30 ft, smashing through another layer of stone, and again falling 40 more and making a huge crater in the stone floor. Each one of his 3 impacts with the ground caused a 9.0 magnitude earthquake that radiated out and crashed every tunnel, cave, and cavern in a radius of 100 miles. Also, all Hydras in the area were killed, as well as every creature that lived in the tunnels. Aftermath!: The world was forever changed by the earthquakes: 1. For a hundred miles, there was no underground access at all 2. The impact point actually made all the lakes and marshland water in the area pool together. The result would be a new super lake. 3. A certain race lived in some of the lakes, as a result of the pooling water, they were connected together. 4. The super lake created a new river that destroyed 2 major settlements downriver. Heh heh, and now this is the end of the prologue. Now things change completely. My chapters will be much longer and in a more day by day format. They will also take longer to write, of course. Thank you very much for reading the prologue section, and lets have an even better adventure! Please rate honestly, generously, and with much feedback. Cya later Question to the readers Hey guys, it''s Falcon-sempai. So, I''m writing the first chapter and I got an idea. I''m definitely writing this story, but what if I also write a book that use''s Valgrim''s world as a template for a VRRPG world. Think that would be interesting? It would be awhile, of course, since I have to write enough for you guys to see a world worth playing in. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. For that world, I figured, "Hey, why not let the readers input ideas for monsters, items, npc''s and let it be reader dependent." Sounds fun, but I won''t do it if you guys think it''ll be boring. Should have Chapter 1 done tonight. Book 1: Chapter 1- It Begins with Rope and Ale So, the book kicks off where we left off. As you readers may have noticed, I changed the name of the series to the first book''s name. Also added some tags and modified the summary. Some of that to garner interest, mostly to let you guys know the actual story is here. Ideally I''d like to get 2-3 big chapters out a week til school season is over. This story goes out to the 30 followers and 8 favorites who believed in this story enough to be interested. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I opened eyes slowly, feeling sluggish and..pain. I rubbed my head, touched my arms, felt of legs, and checked my body. Everything appears to be working. Okay, next, I need to remember what happened. Umm, my name.....Valgrim. My current job.....Hunter. My last memory.....OH Sh$T Brutus!. I shot up, taking stock of my surroundings. I was currently on the ground, I can see my companions around me, all also on the ground. ''Brutus, where''s Brutus?'' I thought frantically. I remembered, Brutus had smashed the hill, and then the world broke. I look at the hill, rather what was the hill. Now, there was a massive hole in the ground. From my angle, I couldn''t see the bottom. I was scared, and it takes a lot to scare me. I had survived some of the worst experiences in the tunnels, but they would be pleasant memories if I lost Brutus. We were a team, best friends and I''d be damned to see if go without me. I shakily got to my feet, almost falling due to my shaking legs. There was no way I could reach him on time to save him on my own. I heard a growl behind me. Girr the bear was up, very agitated. Seeing her, I felt relief envelop me. "Girr, please help me." I called, "I need to reach Brutus." Girr was the smartest bear I knew, while obviously not sentient, she could understand from the tone of my voice what I needed. She lumbered over to me and threw me with her mouth onto her back. Ignoring the protests from my body, I whispered to her, "Run as fast as you can. We have to save him." Girr nodded, than sprinted to the crater. Jumping down into it, I looked amazed at the destruction. The Crater was huge, resembling a sphere indention in the ground. At the center, there was a large hole that continued down. If I wasn''t so worried, I''d make a joke on how it looked...crap I can''t think of a joke I''m panicking. Reaching the edge of the hole, I heard the terrifying sound of water moving in it. No, not good at all. "Brutus, if you are alive down there, answer me!" I shouted down the hole. I only hoped I wasn''t too late. --------------- {B} ''Ow...ow...ow. That really hurt.'' he thought. He had been dazed by the impact, but now I was regaining my mind. ''Hm, lets go over how I ended up under a rock." It took Brutus a moment to remember. He had been excited to cause wanton destruction for the job. When he had hit the hill, he did not expect to fall through it, straight into the main Hydra cave. As he had fallen, he had gotten really scared that they would eat him. Then he had hit the ground, and fallen through again, ending up in a small crater. Then some boulders fell on him, leaving him in his current condition. "Grr, stupid rocks heavy." he muttered, trying to flex his muscles to lift the boulders off of himself. He spent half a minute trying before he heard a noise, which filled him with dread. The sound of rushing water came to his ears. ''I refuse to die while not in combat!'' he screamed in his head. Desperate strength filled his limbs as he pushed the boulders off of him. Just in time too, for the water knocked into him, barely not dragging him away. He checked his surroundings. He was in a tunnel beneath a tunnel, deep under the ground. Water was rushing in from the collapsed stones above and beside him. There was a trickle of light above him, but too high to reach. He was slowly weakening, his strength spent from surviving the impacts and pushing the stone off of himself. "Hmph, not good." he said. Then he heard a faint echoing shout, "Brutus, are you alive?" Hearing his good friend''s voice, Brutus roared in answer. He was very glad to hear his friend, now he had to reach him. The water around him had reached knee level now, with no sign of stopping. Feeling the start of panic setting in, Brutus looked around the cave for anything that could give him a grip to climb out. There was nothing within reach for him to grab on too, and he was to weak to rage for a boost in strength. Feeling hopeless, he sat down on one of the boulders to consider his options. Oh yeah, the boulder! Brutus got up, and stacked all the rocks , creating a pile that barely let him climb out of the tunnel to the next level. Remember, these are called boulders because they are the same size as Brutus. As he climbed out, the water level was almost to the top as well. "Brutus! I''m throwing some magic rope down! Wrap it around your waist!" he heard Valgrim shout. He looked up, watching a rope snake down from the surface hole. It looked like regular rope, but it moved like a blind serpent, seeking his touch. Waiting a few seconds, the rope reached him and he grabbed it. The rope stopped moving, allowing him to wrap it around his waist and tie it. He gave it a tug, and the rope began raising into the air. He was going to live. {V} "Come on Girr, pull!" I shouted, working my rope animation magic to assist in lifting the 1.5 tons of friend weight. Girr had the other end of the rope around her, putting her entire weight into pulling the rope. I wiped some sweat off my forehead. Rope animation was fairly simple magic, but it was taking all of my reserves and concentration to pull Brutus up. Thankfully, he was climbing the rope as we were pulling it, so it didn''t take as long to get him out. We all lay on the ground panting. Coughing a bit, I looked over at Brutus, who was resting on his back beside me. "Hey buddy, this reminds me of the coliseum. Remember the looks on their faces when we got out?" Brutus smiled, remembering the escape with fondness, and the death of their former masters with glee. "Heh, couch, heh heh. faces never forget." They shared a laugh, while Girr laid on her stomach, not understanding the situation. If the bear could think, she''d probably think, "Men, sigh." ------ {3nd} After resting for 10 minutes, they got up and slowly exited The Crater. When they reached the group, they found them recovering with Meridia''s potions. Dirrg was jumping around yelling in excitement, "Dat were de best boom I''ve ever seen! If only me kin could h''ve been here. I''d tell em, ''See, see what a daughter of de forest helped do''" Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ".......Eh?"- everyone "I tell them......opps, me cats out of me sack." said the dwarf blushing. "Um...Dirrg. Didn''t you say earlier you were a guy?" asked Valgrim. This was getting confusing. Dirrg did have strange mannerisms for a guy, but definitely did not look like a girl, or a girl dwarf. "Uh, well, me used to frolic in the smithy as a wee lass. I was a proud dwarf lass, but I made a wee mistake. I may h''ve disturbed a forest spirit, who took offense at me impressive dwarven scent. Bloody thing cursed me to dis gender and made me a ranger. Me kin were horrified, and threw me out of me home. I''ve wandered de world searching for another spirit to fix me." Dirrg explained. So many questions answered. Dirrg was a girl in a guy''s body, and a dwarf in a ranger job. No wonder he/she was off, it was a wonder his/her mind could take the abuse of switching to the opposite of what he/she knew. "Um, so do you want us to call you something else? Valgrim asked. Dirrg shook his/her head. "Me names Dirrg as long as me body is a male. Treat me different, and me ax hill deny ye children." he hefted his broad-ax for emphasis. No arguments were made. Saharra spoke up, "I hate to interrupt this profound and disturbing revelation, but what happened?" Valgrim shook his head. "We need to rest, lets talk about the future tomorrow." With the sun going down, they all agreed, setting up camp and falling asleep next to the glow of a fire. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Day 1, Month 1, Year 1] They got up as soon as 8 hours had passed. After the hour of preparations for the magic users, they were ready to begin. Using his abilities, Valgrim understood the devastation they had caused. Saharra, Scald, and Meridia went into shock learning that there was no way to get home, and most likely their homes were at least damaged from the quakes. It took awhile for them to recover. Valgrim also informed them that in a month, most of the area would be flooded, making a massive lake. "Since we can''t go back, why not make our home here? The area is not populated at all due to the Hydras, we have plenty of resources, and we could look into finding away to get back to the under city." Valgrim proposed. "If we are going to live here, I want a home worthy of me." Saharra said. Valgrim rolled his eyes, but technically she was the leader of the expedition still. Now, due to the insane wanton destruction, many creatures had died. In this world, people grew in strength from experience, whether crafting a masterpiece or killing a creature. Under normal circumstances, this was acquired slowly and over time. However, so many things died due to their actions that everyone in the group had doubled in strength and power. They were all itching to let their new powers lose, so Valgrim decided this was a good opportunity to burn some energy. "How about we build a castle." he said. Everyone looked at him in surprise. He continued, "The is a mile in radius hill over that way." he pointed, " It will be the only landmass above the new lake. A castle in a lake would look amazing. We have a month before the water rises to that level, so we can make the bridge from the land to the island." Scald interjected, "Where would we get the man power? Bridges, let alone castles, require a lot of stone, and we refuse to dirty ourselves trying." Scald nodded, expecting this. "Due to my increased power, I can create permanent stone walls and supports from pieces of granite. You should be able to summon more demons now Scald, use them to mine in the mountains." Saharra raised an eyebrow, "And who made you in charge little gnome?" Valgrim shook his head, " I''m not in charge, no what I propose is the start of our own kingdom." he shrugged, "Not like we have anything else better to do now. If we make a castle, might as well go all the way." Shrugs were given by everyone, sounded interesting at least. Valgrim continued, "I propose Saharra be in charge, Scald the head of intelligence, Brutus the head the security, Meridia head of agriculture, Dirrg head of the forest, and I the head of commerce. This way, we all can do what we are best at." Scald, eyes glowing in malicious excitement, "Ku ku ku, an important position that is worthy of me. But wait, how can we be a kingdom without subjects? Not much to rule when it''s only the 6 of us." Valgrim grew thoughtful. "I have an idea for that, at least a temporary one any way. Dirrg, if you could come with me after this meeting?" Dirrg nodded, looking excited. So far, Valgrim''s ideas had involved lots of battle and destruction. "Continuing on, Brutus, why don''t you cut some trees and start repairing some of the north most houses in the abandoned town? If you could call some demons to begin mining Scald? I can''t think of anything for you two, Saharra and Meridia, but if you could help them, that would be best." Annoyed, but unable to refute his logic, the four got up and headed off to start working. Brutus headed to the forest to begin cutting wood. Scald went back to the cave where they battled the Hydras to begin mining. The cave had been above ground level, so some of it was still accessible. Meridia went to search for potion ingredients. Saharra joined Brutus, afraid that he might make tacky accommodations to live in. Meanwhile, Valgrim walked with Dirrg into the forest and sat down. "Dirrg, I have an important request for you." he said staring seriously and deeply into Dirrg''s eyes. Dirrg''s blush was hidden under facial hair. ''Oh my, did me confession of being a lass at heart awaken ye''s heart. Oh me heart isn''t ready yet. Oh me poor mmmaidan heart, well maybe a giving a little would be okay'' Dirrg thought. Continuing without being aware of the internal dialogue, Valgrim said, "I need you to bring as many animals as possible to our camp as possible. Why do you look disappointed? Anyway, Bring have them come tomorrow, I will be praying to my god here for the rest of the day." A little let down, Dirrg agreed. Rangers could talk to every non magical animal, so this was no trouble. He got on Girr, and rode off to find some animals. Valgrim wandered deeper into the woods until he found a small clearing with a stump. He keeled down, and began the longest prayer of his life. [End day 1] Chapter 2- Ascension That night, the group met up again. Brutus looked around, "Hmph, where Valgrim?" Dirrg shrugged his shoulders, "E told me to gather as many wee animals as possible, and bring em here tomorrow. I left after he ''ave me de mission." Brutus shrugged, as he was used to Valgrim''s strange antics. He looked around the camp fire, "Day report, snort?" Saharra nodded, "Brutus and I spent the day gathering wood. He cut down many trees and I helped him carve them into viable construction material. Of course, not as high standard material as I am used to, but it will have to do. All this labor was exhausting as well." Of course, her definition of work involved a lot of sitting and throwing orders and complaints toward Brutus''s work. He didn''t care much, at least she had given some smart inputs, other dark elves merely yelled out impossible orders and punished the inevitable failure. He had managed to knock down 20 large trees in the morning, and had cut them into usable building materials in the afternoon. "Tomorrow, build houses. Hmph." he said. Scald began his turn next, "My minions and I found the tunnel leading back to the bone beach. The water level was starting to rise, so I had them seal the entrance to the lake with rocks and mud until they drowned. After re-summoning them, I had them begin preliminary digging into the wall. They sniffed out iron, coal, and small gem deposits deep in the ground. It will be awhile til they can reach them." Dirrg raised a hand, "What ye call dem strange beasties?" Scald considered, "They have a proper name, but I just call them bitches." Everyone fell over. Accurate term though, he worked them til they died, then re-summoned them. Even if they were devils and demons, everyone felt pity toward them. Meridia began her turn. "...Flat land....found. Cleared.....for plants.....slow, no plant seeds..... Need...time....and workers for...planting." She was right of course, they had come for killing, not starting a civilization. They had no seeds for planting, tools for caring for the field, and minimal knowledge on growing in general. After all, few plants grew below ground, and the ones that did were taken care of to feed the herd animals, not to be eaten by sentient people. They had already heard Dirrg''s account for his day, now the only one missing was Valgrim. Not willing to wait, Brutus pulled out some meat to cook. Before he started though, Saharra asked him, "Are you going to use your ale to cook that?" He shook his head. He tried explaining, but the elves still had no idea what he was saying. Brutus could understand dark elf, he was a former "guest" of their''s, but besides short words accompanied by gestures, they might as well try to understand a fish. " E'' says ''Me ale is low, can''t use now''" Dirrg said matter of factually. Startles, Saharra realized that the strange dwarf had been able to talk to them in their own language this entire time, as well as with Brutus and Valgrim. "The oddities surrounding this dwarf just continue to grow don''t they?'' Saharra muttered. Then, the elves realized what Dirrg had said, and immediately jumped Brutus with a shout of "Noooo!" They had no desire what Brutus defined as food. Only his ale cooking was good, everything else was pure poison and a threat to the world. After a brief struggle, Meridia was volunteered to cook for the group. They all went to bed with growling stomachs, deeply missing the cooking of a certain gnome. v
Kingdom Situation
Wood1500 pounds
Lumber500 punds
Stone0 pounds
Iron0 pounds
Gems0 pounds
Food (agriculture)0 pounds
Food (meat)75 pounds
Food (ale)10 pounds (Brutus only)
Inhabitants6 humanoids, 1 bear
Armed ForcesNone
This kingdom is just a kingdom in name. There are minimal citizens, little to no supplies, and not even a house to live in. Unemployment does not exist. The name of the kingdom has yet to be decided. They symbol of the kingdom has yet to be decided. There is no currency system or form of payment in this kingdom. There are no armed forces for this kingdom. It is not advisable to migrate to this kingdom. Low life expectancy.
{Day 2, Month 1, Year 1} The next morning, the party woke up to a warm and delicious scent. Dirrg woke up drooling immensely, next to an equally drooling bear. Running to the fire-pit, they found Valgrim cooking up morning stew that smelled heavenly. Valgrim looked up, huge dark circles under his eye, and said, "Morning guys, have some breakfast." He had to calm them down quickly, otherwise they would have run him over, even Brutus. As they wolfed down their food, Scald looked up and asked suspiciously, "What were you doing all night? Planning our deaths in revenge for our kind''s treatment of you?" Valgrim laughed, "If I wanted you and your companions dead, I would have poisoned the food." Saharra quickly put down her food, stared at it, and shrugged, quickly bringing it back up and wolfed it down. There were worse ways to die then delicious food. Valgrim ate only a little of the stew before he announced he needed to sleep. "Wake me up at lunch time." he said, "I have to recover my magic for the next step." On that note, he fell over and started snoring. Everyone looked at him in wonder. "What did he do that took so much out of him?" they all wondered. After finishing as much stew as possible, they split up and went back to the work they started yesterday. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Brutus continued to cut a few more massive trees down, then under the careful eye of Saharra carved the trees up into usable timber. Saharra even helped him some with the cutting, teaching him as much as noble elf would know about lumbering. Meridia worked on the field some more, but made little progress due to lack of equipment, experience, and stamina. Scald had his bitches using their bare hands to dig into the ground, thankfully for them their hands were designed for digging so this wasn''t too bad. It got worse, though, when they had to dig through the harder stone, but Scald had them work til they expired, and re-summoned them. Cursing in their demonic language, they kept at it all day. Dirrg continued to gather animals atop Girr, and directed all of them to come to the clearing at lunch time. He also had the smaller animals gather all the nuts, berries, and other edible seeds for them. Talking to animals is different from talking to a sentient humanoid. They didn''t understand things like betrayal, selfishness, or pleasure. They understood survival, in which everything they did stemmed from this knowledge. Dirrg got them to do what he said by communicating an increased chance of survival if they helped. Animals had no notion of payment. Once lunchtime came, they all gathered in the clearing between the destroyed town and The Crater. Many animals had also come, driven by curiosity and the delicious smell of food. Though, if Dirrg hadn''t been there to calm them down, they would have all fled from the sight of Brutus. Speaking of Brutus, the big lug had picked up Valgrim and was "lightly" slapping him awake. Valgrim woke with a start. "Hmph, now talk." Brutus demanded, putting Valgrim back down on the ground. Slightly disoriented, it took Valgrim a moment to stand up straight and gaze around. The animals gathered were a healthy mix: bird, mole, bunny, deer, squirral, snake, lizard, groundhog, armadillo, chipmunk, boar, and 3 wolves. Valgrim raised an eyebrow at the wolves, and looked over to Dirrg for an explanation. "Dey were curious on what ye wanted." he explained, "Promised not to eat any of de wee beasties if ye fed dem." Valgrim shrugged, then began cooking a feast for everyone. He made meat more the party and the wolves, and made a berry and nut stew for the herbivore animals. Soon the clearing was filled with snorts, grunts, chews, munches, and gulps as everyone ate. Finishing his meal, Valgrim activated his own ability to talk with animals. Explaining with a series of grunts, whistles, shrieks, whines, and dirt scratching, he communicated his plan to the animals. They listened while they finished their meals. When he was finished, a few of the animals nodded their thanks and left. The majority stayed though. "Alright Valgrim." Saharra said, gulping down the last of her meal, "You have been up to something since last night, now, are you going to spill it or do I have ask Brutus to shake it out of you?" Brutus flexed an arm for emphasis. Valgrim almost cried, ''It took you one night to turn against me?!" he yelled in his head. Shaking his head, he said, "It''s okay guys, I was praying to my god all night. It took a bit of praying to get my request through to him, and longer to give him good enough reasons for him to grant me this power." "And what power is that?" Scald asked, backing up a little. "This." Valgrim stretched out his hand and shouted words of power granted to him by his god. Golden light erupted from his hands, showering the animals. The party watched, stunned as the golden light wrapped itself around the animals, pulling them into the air. Their forms changed, morphing softly, not violently, into new shapes. The intense magical pressure left Saharra and Scald speechless. This was one of the highest spells a person could cast without exploding into magical energy or transcending into godhood. This was polyshape, the spell to change forms. There were various levels of polyshape, but only the highest allowed the caster to change others into something else. Mental limitations still applied though, but this still was a master spell. When the light faded, Valgrim fell on his back panting. But he had been successful. Where a horde of animals had been, now there were only people, all kneeling. They rose, examining their new bodies with interest. The kingdom now had it''s first citizens. At least for the next 12 hours anyway. v
Kingdom Situation
Wood1700 pounds
Lumber800 punds
Stone50 pounds
Iron5 pounds
Gems.5 pounds
Food (agriculture)5 pounds
Food (meat)50 pounds
Food (ale)9 pounds (Brutus only)
Inhabitants6 leaders, 1 bear. People (changed) Birds: 20 Deer: 15 Ground animals:27 Wolves:3 Tree animals: 63 Boar: 13 Bunny: 15 Total inhabitants:163
Armed ForcesNone
This kingdom is just a kingdom in name. There are a few citizens, little supplies, and not even a house to live in. Size of a small village currently. Unemployment does not exist. The name of the kingdom has yet to be decided. They symbol of the kingdom has yet to be decided. There is no currency system or form of payment in this kingdom. There are no armed forces for this kingdom. It is not advisable to migrate to this kingdom. Low life expectancy.
Side Story- A Fated Meeting (Part 1) This is the first side story, which will tell the events leading up to Valgrim and Brutus teaming up. This is also my wizard contest entry, yay. Right, holds the most words of any of my chapters. I hope to increase my overall chapter size as I gain experience. Hope you enjoy, and leave ratings plz :). "Is this the end result of my life? Has this all been for nothing?" he gazed around the room, "Utter foolishness, this has been." The dark room stank of dirt and humidity, leaving little of it''s occupant but his mind and broken body. ''How did this happen?'' he wondered, ''When did it go wrong?" The door to his prison opened with a bang, flooding the room with unexpected light. He didn''t have the ability to raise his arm to block the intrusion of light. He let it wash over him. "It''s time." he thought. {Flashback} [ A certain''s Priestess''s Dwelling] Two slaves walked down stairs to a dungeon. They dragged with them a small body, who might have been mistaken for a child, if one did not notice the thick beard and shaggy hair on his head. The stair case was dark, lit only by the occasional torch as it wound down into the darkness. Reaching the bottom, the two slaves met another slave, who was sitting at a desk snoozing. One of the slaves banged on the table, waking the sleeping slave up. He looked around wildly, but calmed down when he saw the two other slaves. Glancing at their prisoner, he handed them a key and gestured toward a locked door. Nodding, the two slaves unlocked the door, and threw the small body in. Locking the door behind them, they returned the key and returned up the stairs. The former sleeping slave watched and listened til their footsteps had disappeared from his ears and eyes. When he was sure they were gone, he sighed and looked toward the jail cell. He called out, "Sh@t Valgrim, didn''t you learn your lesson the first time you tried to escape? What is it now, 9 escape attempts? What happened this time?" A moment of silence from the cell door, then a voice returned, "How was I supposed to know she would be bathing at that time? It was suppose to be empty." The voice was annoyed, but the jailer could hear the under current in his voice. He snorted, "You can''t fool me Valgrim. You timed your escape attempt so you would be able to get a full glimpse of her naked glory before you escaped, so you''d be able to keep the image for later when you fixed yourself." Silence emanated from the cell, confirming the jailer''s suspicions. The jailer laughed, but fell into a coughing fit. He pulled out his handkerchief, covered in dirt and dust, and coughed into it, flecks of blood landing in it. The voice spoke up from the cell, "You really need a healer, take my word as a cleric, you won''t last long down here without healing." The jailer snorted, and kicked the air, pulling the chain that connected him to the wall. "She put me down here to live the rest of my life as her watcher. I''ve served her my entire life, and I will continue my duty until I die." The voice from the cell sighed, "Mindless devotion never saved anyone you know? She put you down here because your old, she abandoned you so why do you continue this foolish endeavor." The old jailer smiled, "Young one, as a cleric, you should know the feeling of being saved. I owe her my life, and it is her''s to do as she wishes." No comment from the voice in the cell. The jailer chuckled to himself. "So, how did she punish you this time? When she caught you the first time, she took your most important thing. Now, your a source of amusement with your perverted escape attempts. Not to much more a person can do to a man after losing that." He shuddered. The voice from the cell responded, "She was feeling generous today, just some old-fashioned whipping down to the bone. Then their messed up definition of healing. My skin any be healed, but the pain will be with me for a long time." "Really, just whipping? Not even a few broken bones?" "Nope." The jailer was surprised, that was unusual. He quickly ran through a few scenarios in his head. "She must be having guest later today." he finally reached, "Too much violence would ruin her appearance and mood. Would also explain why she took a bath during an atypical time." "Must be important than." the voice from the cell said carefully. The jailer shook his head, "Don''t even think about it Valgrim, security will be tight and there would be consequences worse than death." A muttering of grudging agreement came from the cell. The jailer snorted. Valgrim had really perked up his lonely life since he had been caught and enslaved by the priestess. She had a proper name of course, but he was not worthy to use it. She was the perfect mix of savior and sadist, a trait unusual in dark elf culture. Ironically, she practiced the same type of magic as the unfortunate gnome, divine. He wondered what she had planned for the gnome. Normally, he would have been killed for peeking at the priestess. Instead, he was "adjusted" and enslaved. To further the weirdness of the situation, he hadn''t been kill for any of his nine escape attempts, all of which had failed due to unforeseen pervert factors. It was almost as if she was playing with him, using his weaknesses against him to trap him in her web. He shook his head, there was no way she was that interested in him. But still, it was a puzzle wasn''t it? Deep in his thoughts, a load groan made him jump. The door to the cell opened, and the small figure strolled out. Not only did he unlock the enchanted lock, his hair was cut and his beard was gone. His trademark hat was back on his head, and his walk held no indication that he was in serious pain. The jailer rolled his eyes, "Showoff". Valgrim grinned, "You going to stop me old man." The jailer snorted, indicating the chain that locked him to the wall. "I can only watch little one. You know as well as I that these chains don''t let me near the stairs or the cell." They shared a laugh. Valgrim looked sadly at the jailer. "I can release you too you know? You could be free to live the rest of your days." The jailer shook his head. "I told you already, my life is hers. Beside, I know you used basically all your daily power to make yourself pretty again. Don''t waste your last bit on an old man." Valgrim nodded, then smiled sadly, "Take care of yourself, Old Man" The jailer nodded, and Valgrim left up the stairs. The old jailer listened til Valgrim disappeared, then grinned. The chains connecting him to the wall disappeared, and a soft glow flowed over him. Standing up, he walked over to the cell and closed the door, growing younger with each step. When he reached the door and closed it, a handsome young man was left, glowing with a golden light. He chuckled to himself. Messing with the memories of the other slaves was easy. While they "remembered" him, they didn''t talk about him outside the dungeon. The priestess didn''t know he was down here, she thought there was a guard dog that Valgrim managed to out smart to escape each time. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The man rubbed his chin thoughtfully. The priestess was indeed how he described, savior and sadist. She obviously held the gnome in some emotional capacity, otherwise he''d of been dead long ago. Whether it was for revenge or something else, even his godly power did not know. His domain managed the under gnomes after all, no the dark elves. He looked up the stairs, grinning. Valgrim sure was interesting. Even under the incredible mental and physical torture, he didn''t break. And though his faith was a little perverted, he was a good cleric, trying to help those in need even if it endangered his own life. He had allowed himself to be caught in order to allow a fleeing slave to escape with her child. The man thought to himself, and nodded, fading away into the light, leaving nothing behind but a sense of otherworldlyness. If Valgrim ever prayed for something interesting and major, the being swore to grant his wish to the best of his ability. So sayeth the god of the undergnomes, lord under the earth. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Valgrim hurried up the stairs, not wasting a moment. He may have failed his ninth attempt, but now her defenses were down, expecting him to need time to recover before he tried again. "Oh, silly priestess, this time I''ll make it." he muttered gleefully under his breath. Even better, she was probably distracted by an important guest, making it a better time than ever to escape. "I have to thank him later for the information......who is he again?" Pausing only a moment before continuing, he realized he couldn''t remember who had told him the information, though he it was sure it was accurate. Blaming his memory loss on the earlier torture, he made headway up the spiral staircase to a large wooden door. He closed his eyes and directed a cone of magic out in front of him, searching for signs of magic. The door was clean, and he couldn''t sense the magic slave collars beyond it either. He opened the door slowly, looking around before running out. He quickly made his way down the corridor, diving into a side door as he heard someone coming. The room he was in was a pantry, where he quickly helped himself to some well deserved, in his mind, meal. He looked around the room, then grinned when he found what he was looking for. In the upper corner of the room, a small square indention was hidden. When he had been scouting the house, he had made sure to create various escape tunnels in the thickest walls. It was pretty easy, the entire building was made into the rock face. They were underground after all. He was only happy his hosts hadn''t caught on to his tunnels, they thought he was merely very sneaky. He climbed up to the corner, and sent his magic into the wall. It responded to his magic, opening up a tunnel small enough for a gnome to crawl through. When he made it inside, the wall closed behind him. He crawled quickly down the tunnel, stopping every once and awhile to let some fresh air into the tunnel. He soon reached a fork in the tunnel, one led to outside and the other led to the main room. Valgrim considered, and figured his curiosity hadn''t killed him yet. He crawled down the right tunnel, eager to see who was meeting with the priestess. After finding the right patch of tunnel, he opened a small hole and listened in. In the main room, the priestess was sitting on her obsidian chair, listening to a male dark elf in front of her. The dark elf was accompanied by two guards, who were prostrated in front of her. From what Valgrim understood, the dark elf was talking about the gladiatorial arena in the city. He was asking her to oversee the games. Valgrim also picked up that this particular tournament was different, for it was for the priestess''s hand. Each worthy dark elf would pick a champion from their slaves, servants, or mercenary and have them fight to the death. The winning proxy would then be the most worthy to ask her hand. The priestess had a bored expression on her face, but was not refuting anything he said. She sighed, and reluctantly agreed to oversee the event. They left the room, and Valgrim was left to his thoughts. "So the winner is most worthy huh? Ku ku ku ku." He decided on his plan, and closed the hearing hole. He made his way to the priestess''s room, careful not to actually enter it. He had done that during his third escape attempt, and found that her room was filled with wards that sounded alarms as soon as he set his foot in. In his tunnel, he wrote on a sheet of paper, and sent if fluttering down onto the priestess''s bed. He then made his escape, coming out into the free tunnels, and running away into the darkness, leaving nothing behind him. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Later, the priestess made her way angrily into her room. The gnome had finally escaped, leaving her a mix of conflicting emotion. She really wanted to break his bones, but he was no where to be found. He had covered his tracks well, sending out false trails and loops all over the city. Regretting taking his slave collar off after his beating, she plopped onto her bed. Feeling something under her, she jumped up, expecting an assassination device or poison. Instead, she found a folded sheet of paper, radiating magic that could only belong to the gnome. Picking it up carefully, she unfolded it and read it. She had to reread it a couple of times to make sure she understood what she was reading. A huge smile grew on her face, both malicious and warm at the same time. She dropped the letter on her dresser and left the room, eager to begin her preparations. The note rested on the dresser opened. It read, "Dear Shinla, I''ve escaped, don''t try to find me, you won''t be able too. Instead, go to the tournament. I''ll be sure to win and humiliate you in front of everybody by rejecting your hand. Enjoy your power for as long as you have it. Valgrim. P.S. wear the purple undergarments." Chapter 3- How to start a kingdom (Part 1) And let the story truly begin. -Falcon, 2105 Memory chapter- This will be intense- Mature warning ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ {Day 2 cont.} [Flashback to yesterday] Valgrim knelled deep in prayer to his god. Dirrg and Girr had just left, heading into the forests to search for young animals to recruit. Dirrg didn''t know why Valgrim needed them, but Valgrim trusted he would get the job done. It was important now to get his god to help him with his plans. Clerics relied on their gods for the divine power needed for their spells, so they prayed to their god everyday for at least an hour. This not mean that the god would pay special. direct attention to each believer however. The popular gods usually just set aside a portion of their power for the believers and payed no attention to their prayers. The grand majority of gods had little to no interaction with the world of Riftera, usually only trickster gods and demons communicated often with mortals. Valgrim''s god was not a major god, he was only worshiped by the under-gnomes after all. But he had many godly responsibilities with his portfolio, so Valgrim needed to something that would catch his attention, even for a moment. If it was any other cleric, they could have prayed for a hundred years straight and not hear anything from their god. Valgrim, however, had something they didn''t, and it had cost him. He looked at the ring on his hand, glistening even in the shadow of the grove clearing. The large ruby rested on a two swirling gold bands that had no beginning and no end. Gazing at it, his memories rushed by in front of him; rushes of screams, battle cries, and death moans. Most of all, the face of the ones who wronged him, their faces twisted in scorn, mocking his power and his capabilities. The ring invoked his worst memories, trying to break him. The ring was the symbol of his religion, but it was also more important than that. He had encountered the avatar of his god once, a long time ago. Standing atop a pile of corpses, he had felt despair like no other, his kin butchered, and he had wept. He had managed to overcome his despair with faith, and he had come to him. His god, pleased with his faith, had gifted him the ring, telling him that only once- the ring could be used to contact him. He warned the ring could not be used for trivial things, for it would test his resolve with extreme mental trauma and pain. Only by overcoming the memories and mental constructs would he be able to speak with him. As a gnome, Valgrim was unused to focusing on bad memories, it was not a natural thing. Gnomes had gone through many things over the years, from enslavement to racism. They had only survived by learning to not let the past hold them, making many mistakenly believe they were care free. Only in their nightmares did their memories haunt them. Valgrim steeled himself, and let the memories wash over him. The furthest memories overcame him first. Memories of childhood, happy memories at first. The happy parts were replaced by memory of physical punishment, all the mistakes he had made. All the women who hit him for being too curious, the spankings form his mother for avoiding chores, the disappointment in his father''s eyes when the clergy claimed him instead of following his father''s footsteps in mining. The fasts, exhaustion, and magic failures came next, coming from his studies in the cleric house. He remembered the physical exhaustion from pushing his limits, the whippings from the high priest accusing him of lechery with the female clerics. That actually invoked a small rush of happiness, the female clerics had been worth the whippings, especially the high priest''s wife. The happiness was pushed away, replaced by his memories of an accident. He''d been 2 years into his studies, an accident in the tunnels. Running, running from the beasts that ate everything in their path. He was still young, uneducated, and had no magic to defend himself. His upper class mentors demanding him to leave them, him running away with a bundle in his arm. The beasts screaming in anger, their teeth ripping through armor, through skin, through bone. Their dying cries as they were ripped apart alive, their blood bathing the tunnels in red. The bundle moving, trying to escape the sounds. It was a girl, a young gnome. The young girl screaming in fear as he tried to escape. He tried reassuring her, tried to keep her quiet, she wouldn''t stop screaming. He''d tripped, the bundle went flying. It only took a moment, a moment of silence from the shock of the fall, a moment of her screams, and then silence. She was gone. Taken like the others. Only he was spared, his fatigue depriving him from making a sound. The guilt, always eating away at him. Should have been faster, should have been me, should have saved that girl. No comfort from the priests, it was a fact of life. No comfort for him either. Spending months praying for forgiveness, no answer, no answer, why why why why WHY! Redemption was found. A young girl, lost in the tunnels. Not a gnome, a dark elf, but a little girl. Had to be, yes had to be his redemption. She was exhausted, tired, hungry. He didn''t know where she came from, he had to help. Warnings from the priests, nothing good could come from helping a dark elf, no matter the age. Praise for his intentions, but they told him to let her die. No, he couldn''t do that, she had to live, had to live, had to live. Days turned to months, months to years. The others removed themselves from him, bad luck they called him, the gods did not favor him. He didn''t care, the girl was fine. Living in the tunnels, she was alive. She was happy, he was happy. The priests had enough. Dark elves came, they took her form me. They ripped her away, screaming. They broke my bones trying to help her, they left me. But she was gone, gone away again. His little La, gone. Years passing by, he became a cleric. They gave him his things, then sent him away. They didn''t want him with them anymore. His family didn''t need him anymore, his younger brother now mining the tunnels instead of father. He left, wandering the tunnels and caves and caverns, all alone in the dark. He sold his services to anyone who could pay, doing things distasteful. He was free, and alone. 4 years in, he had sneaked into a priestess''s house. He''d stolen a glance, some clothes, and some gold. She didn''t need it, she was in the top of dark elf nobility. He saw a slave mother fleeing with her son. The guards were coming, she wasn''t going to make it. Memories of his failure came to him, he tricked the guards, letting the two escape. Imprisonment, pain, torture filled his life far a day. Then she came, it was her, he had found her again. She was grown and beautiful, but broken. They''d changed her, tried to make their own spirit hers, raised her with pain and arrogance. Her smiles no longer held warmth. He denied her, rejecting her advances, her perverse,broken affection. Her anger, her wrath- if he couldn''t be hers, no one else could. She took from him that which was most important. Slicing and dicing, poring magic into the hole. Pain beyond that which any man should know. Her sweet whispering in his ear to become hers. He denied her again. He tried to run, 9 times he tried to run. Then he was free again. But his little La was gone, they changed her. They made her Shin. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Valgrim woke violently from the onslaught of memories, pale and breathing hard, sweat covering his entire body. He didn''t feel at all comfortable with the experience. He felt drained, tired, old. He grinned at that last one. Gnomes lived for a while, but under gnome clerics took after their god, becoming as unmoving as the earth. They could live hundreds of years, barring injury and disease. His life had many regrets, but his the memories that had flooded his mind were very selective- the worst of the worst. He had many happy memories, but they were buried at the moment, the bad one''s still fresh in his mind. He laid down, letting the wind blow his fears away. The ring had been a challenge, but he wasn''t broken. In his 150 year of life, he had learned to come to terms with his mistakes, his failures, and his achievements. But the ring had been fishing for the one thing that still eluded his grasp, the thing that he still regretted. "Shinla." he whispered, the name moving through the still forest. At the mention of her name, the ring began a soft glow, enveloping the Valgrim and the clearing in a soft, warm golden light. It formed a barrier, separating the space he was in from his plane. Valgrim slowly got up, and heard a voice directly behind him. "Time flies ey Valgrim?" Valgrim whirled around, but there was no one there. "You should know better than to look upon divinity." The voice chastised gently, coming from behind him again, "Can''t have your eyes burning out of your head before you actually learn to use them." Giving up, Valgrim closed his eyes and sat in a meditative form on the ground. "There we go, well done. So Valgrim, after 50 years you use my gift. What could be so important now that I would consider giving you special consideration?" the voice asked curiously, "If you have used my gift for something trivial, I will kick you out of my clergy." "My god, I swore to use your gift only when the need was utmost, and also most interesting. I feel you will agree." Valgrim explained his plan and vision to the voice. The voice listened, asking the occasional question, but quite intrigued by the idea. When Valgrim was done, the voice was quiet for awhile, contemplating the curious request his cleric had asked of him. "Valgrim, even if I grant this power to you, there will be consequences." he warned, "Channeling a god''s power will permanently mark you, binding your fate to mine. When you die, your soul will not belong to you. It will belong to me and you will never rest in my service. That is why gods only grant such power to their favored, its a blessing and a curse for both god and recipient. Who know, you may become an annoyance to me after a millennium or two..." Valgrim inclined his head, "If this plan succeeds, then your life will be even more interesting. I know that you gods are infinite, but surely it gets boring and repetitive after awhile? This will give you an opportunity to "work outside the box" as they say. Plus, an increase in believers will increase your influence in the pantheon." The voice laughed, pleased with Valgrim''s argument. "Okay then Valgrim, I will grant your request. Know that when you use this power, your soul is mine forever after until I see fit to release it. Remember, it is not a permanent thing, you will have to recast it every 12 hours." Valgrim nodded. "Okay then, it''s time for you to wake up." Valgrim''s eyes shot open, he was still kneeling in the grove. He was also very tired and weak. But he knew he had succeeded. He could feel the power flowing through him. He got up, and began his slow walk back to camp. He had to rest up for lunch after all. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A certain figure watched Valgrim slowly walk away from the clearing. It smiled to itself, its form currently of an old man, with keys hanging off his belt. "Ku ku ku. You''ve really done it now Valgrim. The world will never be the same after this. And I can''t wait to sit back with some stew and watch you change it." The old man slowly faded out of sight, leaving behind only a sense of warmth, and a soft golden glow in the air. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Far in the tunnels A silhouette slowly moved to the entrance to a collapsed tunnel. Ever since the quakes, entire sections of tunnel had collapsed, rendering a huge area impossible to get through. The figure knelt down and inspected a fire place. The pit had a disgusting substance that should have been stew, but was cooked so badly there was no earthly reason to even look at it. It had been hastily covered with stone, but the figure recognized it. "Looks like Brutus''s cooking" a short whisper came from the hood. The figure smiled. It knew the trail, it would find them. Looking at the rubble, the figure stretched out a long, dark, delicate hand and blasted the blockage. When the smoke cleared, more rubble had fallen to take it''s place. The figure frowned, but it quickly disappeared. If it couldn''t reach him through the tunnels, then it would have to travel to the surface and move overland. That was where he was heading in the first place. "You can''t escape me." the figure whispered smiling, "Not when I finally found you. My true love." The figure walked back the way it had came, it''s hood falling back for just a moment, revealing dark skin and pointed ears. Maps and some character pics So, here are some images of the place and people in the story. I''ll add to this when I get the other drawings in- may be awhile :p So this is the original map of the area. Kinda big, I couldn''t figure out how to rotate it without it shrinking badly. Just some map info for ya: 1. Brutus''s massive crater is at the upper right, in the dogbone part. This map wasn''t quite adjusted to length, but each hexagon is about a mile in length. 2. The green line will be the new shore line for the supper lake after the first month for it to till up. 3. Half the destroyed village will be underwater, its right there near the Crater. 4. The small hill over on the left side is the island where the castle will be. It is 1-1 1/2 miles across This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. If I showed you guys the real map, there would be too many spoilers, so you''ll have to be patient for awhile :p http://falcon167.deviantart.com/art/Untitled-524777561 This is Dirrg and Girr. Won''t post here for some reason, shrug http://falcon167.deviantart.com/art/FullSizeRender-524776884 This is Saharra. Also won''t post, no idea why. Hope you guys enjoy, and please give me a vote so I can see how you guys think of me. It says 3 votes, but I still can''t find that third vote >.> P.S. one of votes is mine and I can''t delete it. Makes me feel awkward to vote on it How to star a kingdom (Part 2) [Day 2 cont.] The group was still in shock as they took in what had just happened. All the animals that had been eating merrily with them a moment ago were now PEOPLE! As in fully formed, fully developed (in more ways than one), and fully nude people. With abs. The elves had to take a moment to remind themselves that those were animals in front of them, even ignoring that they were human, much below their station. Meridia recovered first, surprisingly. She then ran over to Valgrim''s downed form and proceeded to whack the crap out of him. The pure blood-lust emanating from her even made Brutus pause, she was as pissed as anyone had ever seen. "Cough cough, ....Why?" came a gurgle. "......You know why." came a cold voice like a knife. "...Owww......I really don''t." There was a pause in the beatings, "...You...stole....fluffy." A loud sound erupted from the plane, as everyone fell on their backs. After using the last of his power to heal himself to a movable degree, Valgrim propped himself against a stone in preparation for the storm. And boy, did it storm. Every member of the party erupted in a flurry of questions that blended together into a loud racket that made the "people" nervous. Noticing this, Valgrim held up a hand to halt their noise. "First", he said, "This transformation lasts 12 hours, then I can recast the spell after another 12 hours. Second, I did not always have this power, I just recently received it as a favor from my god for a price. Third, no the price does not involve any of you. Fourth, no they are still animals in mind, that cannot change. Fifth, They are here to help us make the kingdom in return for food, safety, and peace of mind. Does that satisfy everyone?" Brutus raised a hand. "No Brutus, we can''t eat them." Brutus became sad. Meridia raised a hand. "Yes Meridia, they will become fluffy again." A small smile appeared on her face. Valgrim looked at the sky, taking note of the position of the sun. "How about we answer the rest of the questions later? This spell has a time limit you know." Realizing he was right, everyone dispersed to continue work. The new people could understand them now, but still spoke "animal" and did not understand sentient concepts. Still, with the promise of food and safety, they quickly were set to work. Scald took the ground animals tot he mine, where he showed them what they wanted to mine. He left the methods of digging to them, taking enough pity on them to give them basic leather gloves, which he took from the bi#ches, who cursed him more in their language. Sahara took the larger animals with her and Brutus and had them cut trees. She used her magic to shape the wood and had Brutus make several large wooden carts, for both them and the mines. She had to stop the animals quickly though, because they tried to headbutt the large trees down. She quickly came up with a plan: while in human form they would cut the already downed trees, and when in animal form they would knock trees down. Knowing their simplicity, she gave them basic sharp tools and had them cut the wood, taking the time to heal the more clumsy ones. Meridia was very happy. She took the tree dwellers, birds and rodent, who were actually pretty knowledgeable on planting seeds. Dirrg had them bring nuts and berries, which were planted in the small fields she had tilled already. With the larger workforce, she was able to enlarge the field and fully plant it as well. Though she had to stop some of the animals from eating the seeds, and they were slow due to using only their hands. Dirrg and Girr put their ranger talents to use. Rangers and druids could use magic, in fact they used the same magic power as clerics, divine magic. Their power came from the spirits and gods of the forest, channeling the force of nature itself. Due to his curse, Dirrg was especially good at the one thing that could shame a dwarf: growing plants. While that may have gotten her banished, it was instrumental here. Dirrg and Girr took turns visiting the farm and the wood field, regrowing the trees and improving the growth of the berries and nuts. They didn''t take any animals with them, none had the intelligence or wisdom to learn magic. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Valgrim spent the next 2 hours resting his magic and his slightly broken body. After recovering the ability to walk, he got up and walked to all the sights, taking inventory and stock of supplies. He also spent a few hours helping Brutus make the carts. His cleric power rested in Earth and Artificing after all. He enchanted the carts to hold more weight, and shaped the wood better. That is meant literally, Valgrim''s hands could mold wood the way a potter molds clay into shapes. Satisfied, he left Brutus deliver two carts to the mines, and left for the future island. On his way, he found a dead Hydra youngling. Remembering the other dead Hydra they had, he smiled, the way a merchant smiled when seeing a desperate man. He cast a preserving spell on the corpse and carried back to their camp. They would be useful later. When he reached the hill, he quickly took measurements and checked the ground beneath him. Thankfully, this hill was not hollow like the other one. He inspected the lowered ground, and marked the predicted water level. Satisfied, he made his way back to camp to make dinner. The hours passed quickly, and night soon came upon the land. Everyone returned from working. Due to the sudden increase in workforce, a lot of progress had been made in every section. The party was in high spirits, and though the animals didn''t understand, they shared a positive attitude. The food was delicious too, and soon all the animals were asleep. Valgrim nodded, satisfied with the day''s work. The others had fallen asleep too, so he''d have to share his plan with them tomorrow. He fluffed his pillow, and closed his eyes for the night. [Day 2 end] [29 Days til complete flood] v
Kingdom Situation
Wood1500 pounds
Lumber1100 pounds
Stone150 pounds
Iron8 pounds
Gems.7 pounds
Food (agriculture)10 pounds
Food (meat)45 pounds
Food (ale)8 pounds (Brutus only)
Inhabitants6 leaders, 1 bear. People (changed) Birds: 20 Deer: 15 Ground animals:27 Wolves:3 Tree animals: 63 Boar: 13 Bunny: 15 Total inhabitants:163
Armed ForcesNone
This kingdom is just a kingdom in name. There are a few citizens, some supplies, and not even a house to live in. Size of a small village currently. Unemployment does not exist. The name of the kingdom has yet to be decided. They symbol of the kingdom has yet to be decided. There is no currency system or form of payment in this kingdom. There are no armed forces for this kingdom. It is not advisable to migrate to this kingdom. Low-Medium life expectancy.
Rate of Growth
Wood Rate+200/-300
Lumber Rate+300
Stone Rate+100
Iron Rate+3
Gems Rate+.2
Food (agir.) Rate+20/-10
Food (meat) Rate+20/-25
Food (ale) Rate+2/-3
Remember, comments are gold, ratings are platinum. Hope you enjoy. Chapter 4-Before the Time Skip Time is going to move a little more quickly now. Kinda like re:monsters Though this chapter is very....slow. Have to set up for the next section. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Day 3, Month 1, Year 1] The day began a new routine for the small kingdom. Everyone would wake up early, eat a small meal, and head to work. The animals were split into shifts for their form, half human and half animal in the morning, then a switch in the afternoon. Valgrim rested an hour after each cast. With the carts finished by Brutus and Valgrim, work on houses and the bridge could now begin. Two carts were pulled from the mines by Girr and Brutus to the island, where the stone was unloaded for work on the bridge. The other 2 carts were used to move the lumber to the destroyed village, where the houses were being worked on. Valgrim and Dirrg worked together to inform the animals of the policy of their work: 1. The animals were free to leave anytime 2. Any animal found in the wild near the village that didn''t work for them would be hunted, if an animal left though that animal would not be eaten as long as it stayed out of the hunting party. 3. Any animal that agreed to work would be given food, shelter, and safety. 4. No animal worker was allowed to attack/eat/maim/violently injure a fellow worker. Play was allowed, as were fights for mates/dominance/and territory 5. Animals who wanted to fight could only fight another animal of the same species in animal form, if the animal wanted to fight an animal of a different species, the fight must be in human form. 6. No fighting over food or jobs- will be kicked out and hunted 7. Animals could rest whenever they wanted, but animals that rested too much would not be given food and will be guarded to ensure they would not get food from a different source. 8. No eating seeds designated for planting, wood for building, or plants for gathering. (In case you were wondering, remember Valgrim and Dirrg can speak animal and the animals people can understand them in human form. These rules are in this language to convey the general idea, the true meaning is understood in animal language through feelings, memories, and scent.) There were a few animals that refused, so Valgrim and Dirrg fought them in their human forms and beat them to show dominance. None of the animals left though, not being hunted was a perk they didn''t want to lose. They broke off into their groups after eating, and the day began. In the village: Saharra began working on the houses, Brutus''s first as a test run. She also began teaching the wood-cutting group how to use their tools better, how to sharpen them on stone, and how to cut the wood into lumber. Thankfully, they were able to understand how to use their new thumbs after 5 hours of repetitive use and injuries. The animals also didn''t want a "house" house, just a room and walls with some hay to sleep on. Simple, cheap workers were the best after all was Saharra''s happy motto all day. Because of the lessons, the wood rate fell, but they made a decent dent in making lumber. Concerns: limited number of sharp tools for cutting and no way to renew them once broken. Needs: a blacksmith, knowledge on making houses, workers who could do complicated things. In the mine: Scald had an easier time now that the workers worked in shifts. The workers were better diggers in their animal forms. He used the human forms to transport the mined material to the carts, which were then taken to the island. He had the bit@hs show the workers how to dig the iron out without hurting themselves. Thankfully, the few iron they had found was pure, but Scald knew eventually the ore would become less pure and they would need to melt out the impurities. An unexpected surprise came up as well, the animals were really good at finding gems in the ground: mostly common gems, but also a few unexpected surprises like a diamond the size of a fist. Scald deduced that the Hydras had collected a variety of gems and buried them. Because of the earthquakes, the gems were scattered in the ground now. His inner greed rolled around in glee at the discovery. Concerns: Human forms cannot dig well, impossible to mine into deeper rock without tools-mine cannot deepen, Needs:Tools to dig through the rock for human and animal forms, blacksmith for ingots In the fields: Dirrg helped Meridia out in the fields. His magic green thumb accelerated the plants growth rates, majority were now sprouting a few inches out of the ground. Dirrg worked to teach the animals who to care for the plants using their animal tendencies. Meridia taught the humans how to mold the land into fields with sticks. She had worked on attaching a wooden square on the ends of the sticks, making a makeshift hoe. While not practical, it increases the worker''s speed and gave them something to fight over. End of the day, only the strongest animals were using the prototype hoes. She found one of the rabbits trying to eat a wild carrot, and she promptly punished it with hugs. The poor rabbit was traumatized for life, having nightmares everytime it closed it''s eyes, feeling the crushing pressure of a god-level fluffy lover. Needless to say, no animal tried to eat the plants or seeds after what they would remember as "The Incident". If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Concerns: The animals are avoiding Meridia- she can''t fell their fuzzyness, even with the amount of seeds and nuts gathered their is a lack of variety, also some of the plants are actually poisoness to non-birds Needs- tools for agriculture, knowledge on differentiating seeds and berries, a fluffy doll Brutus spent the day pulling heavy carts from the mine to the island. It was slow work, but he felt a strange pride pulling a cart he himself made. After a good pile of stone was made at the island, he sat down with Valgrim to be gin preparations for the bridge. The island where they wanted to build their castle on was still a hill, so it was relatively easy to bring building material to it. Once the super lake filled, though, then it would be impossible to get to. Hence, they had to build a bridge, a mile and 1/2 bridge in fact. So, Brutus and Valgrim were planning the supports of the bridge. They moved down the ground where the bridge would be, marking the where the supports would be with stone. The supports were set up 20 feet across and 5 feet in width at intervals of 500 feet. The bridge itself had to be a pretty long and very high. Valgrim had a hard time envisioning the bridge, because the area didn''t look too deep from the ground, but it was guaranteed the area would be underwater by at least 100-300 ft of water. After marking the area, the two returned to the base camp. Valgrim cast his spell on the other half of the animals, then went with Brutus to work on the village. They spent the rest of the day working on the houses, which actually came out pretty well, even if they were extremely ugly. The night came quickly, and everyone went to bed with full stomachs. This would become the general routine for the next month. [Day 2 end] [29 Days til complete flood] v
Kingdom Situation
Wood1400 pounds
Lumber1400 pounds
Stone250 pounds
Iron11 pounds
Gems.8 pounds
Food (agriculture)10 pounds
Food (meat)40 pounds
Food (ale)1 pounds (Brutus only)
Inhabitants6 leaders, 1 bear. People (changed) Birds: 20 Deer: 15 Ground animals:27 Wolves:3 Tree animals: 63 Boar: 13 Bunny: 15 Total inhabitants:163
Armed ForcesNone
This kingdom is just a kingdom in name. There are some citizens, some supplies, and some ugly houses to live in. Size of a small village currently. Unemployment does not exist. The name of the kingdom has yet to be decided. They symbol of the kingdom has yet to be decided. There is no currency system or form of payment in this kingdom. There are no armed forces for this kingdom. It is not advisable to migrate to this kingdom. Low-Medium life expectancy.
Rate of Growth
Wood Rate+200/-300
Lumber Rate+300
Stone Rate+100
Iron Rate+3
Gems Rate+.2
Food (agir.) Rate+20/-10
Food (meat) Rate+20/-25
Food (ale) Rate+2/-3
Remember, comments are gold, ratings are platinum. Hope you enjoy. Chapter 5- After the time skip So big thanks to all you guys out there. 41 follows and 10 favorites is a huge step! Yay. This Chapter sets up the second part, so don''t worry, I''ll have another out later today after presents and cake :p Have to apologize for the delay, I had my birthday a few days ago and I''ve been contributing to my friend Scottf14 on his Crystallim site. You guys should read his stories, they are really good :) Without further ado- we have finally reached the next stage --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The first month of the kingdom passed quickly, with everyone doing their job efficiently. Things began to change for the better as time progressed, and the party soon became much more busy. Saharra continued to work on setting up the village. They had finished quite a few of the "houses" for the animal people, consisting of walls, an opening covered by fur, and a roof with a floor covered in soft material gathered from the forest. There were a few fights at first between some of the workers for the houses when they went up, but soon disappeared as more and more were made. Saharra also managed to finish her own house, which was much nicer than all the others, standing two stories tall and covered in wood shaped by Valgrim into beautiful designs. She had gotten him to do that with a smile on her face and dagger on his back. Some of the people thought they could beat her fore her house, they were shown the error of their ways. They now prostrate themselves whenever she passes by. Working with Brutus and Valgrim, they worked and completed a simple blacksmith shop. The inn was also repaired and a short palisade was created around the village. As the month had ended, the super lake had finished filling up with water. Half the original village was underwater and the hill was now a lone island. Before it was filled, however, Valgrim and Brutus had finished creating the bridge supports and had started working on the actual bridge. Valgrim constantly worked to gain new spells for construction, and poured a lot of his free time into learning engineering. He also had to take over the mines from Scald, who was no longer in the village. Also, he still had to cast the spell on the animals everyday to put them in their human form. By the end of the month, the shadows under his eyes were getting quite dark. Even with that, he also began some secret projects with Brutus. During the middle on the month, the group had gotten together to discuss some important matters for the kingdom. {Flashback} Valgrim strolled into the meeting place, eager to begin the talks. They had made some substantial progress in rebuilding the village and making the bridge. Still though, there some important things that had to be decided now before the kingdom could really be a kingdom. The meeting place was just a small circular clearing that had a fire place in the middle and stumps surrounding it. It was a useful spot for talks. Valgrim noted that he was the last one to arrive. Everyone else was already seated and waiting, a roaring fire blazing in the middle. "Good to see you guys again, it''s been so long since breakfast." he bowed, moving his hat in a flourishing movement. Saharra rolled her eyes, "Your late Valgrim. As much fun as it is to listen to you try to be witty, we all have things to do." Nods came from everyone. Valgrim smiled, "And we are all doing good jobs. But we have to talk about these matters, they are very important." Scald nodded, "I agree. This is an important first step in making any form of life anywhere." Dirrg looked around excited, "Ye think dis is going to be de start of it all." Everyone looked incredulously at the dwarf. "It was started when we ripped a new a$$hole in the Earth you stupid dwarf." Scald reprimanded. Dirrg looked down in embarrassment. Meridia looked thoughtful, "He broke....the world....with his fist. ...Dragonfist..." Brutus looked down on his hand and clenched it, working it back and forth. He smiled, which looked terrifying on his face as usual, and growled in approval. Valgrim tilted his head. That actually sounded right. Yes, that was the answer! "All in favor of naming this the Kingdom of Dragonfist?" After some careful thinking, everyone raised their hand in approval. Thus, the kingdom was finally established. The Dragonfist would become the symbol on their flag, and the first village would be named the Village of Brutus. The bridge would be called The Dragonbridge. {End Flashback} This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. They had finalized their decision with Meridia making a flag. It was a long triangular flag with a dragonfist on it, with black triangles coming off the fist like it was in motion. Even the animals were pleased by it. Scald had spent the first half of the month working on the mines, having his summoned bi$ches secure the mine from collapsing. He used his limited knowledge to help Brutus start working toward making tools and ingots. After the meeting however, they decided that Scald could best use his talents in other more civilized areas. Valgrim enchanted a ring that could change Scald''s appearance to that of a regular elf for 24 hours and gave it to him. After good-byes were said, Scald left the kingdom on a mission to use his skill in diplomacy and silver tongue to acquire information on the land around them, more seeds for the fields, and books on magic and construction. His departure left the mines in the care of Valgrim, who began to suffer mild insomnia from all the work he had to do. Meridia continued to work on field. In the end, she was able to cultivate two large fields, one for the nuts and one for the berries. Even with the low variety of each, there would still enough for mile long fields. She was able to also raise some wild grape vines, which with luck would produce a good harvest for alcohol production in a few months. In addition, she was able to start plans for future buildings on the fields: storage, grainnery, tannery, etc. She also started making soft animal toys to sleep with because all the animals stayed far away from her. Brutus was actually as busy as Valgrim. Not only was he in charge of the blacksmith shop, he still had to pull carts from the mines to the bridge. As they didn''t think any of the animals could learn to forge, he had to do all of it himself. In the end, he almost used up all of his ale from drinking away the pain from his newly used muscles. He also helped Valgrim out with setting up some secret projects, mainly one in the lower right lake area, right below Brutus Village in another hill. He also had to teach some of the animals how to set up the bridge. Dirrg and Girr continued their previous duties, regrowing trees for the wood group and helping germinate the plants in the fields. As this didn''t take too long, they occupied themselves by traveling around and setting up ranger lookouts in the forests. Also feeling a bit evil, they recruited more animals to work with the group, leading to more headaches as they had to be taught skills and Valgrim had to use more magic. The four group members spent an entire half day chasing the two through the kingdom in rage. All the animals ran from the site of a terrified bear with an equally terrified dwarf on it''s back running from 4 dark demon shadows. Screams of apologies filled the night. So, the first month went a-okay for this new kingdom. No mass deaths, no plagues, no natural disaster, etc. Everyone was happy. Of course, just having good karma is impossible. Two things happened the beginning of the second month. One, a mine shaft collapsed. Two, one of the deer ladies came forward. She was not changing back. v
Kingdom Supplies
Wood100 pounds
Lumber500 pounds
Stone350 pounds
Iron15 pounds
Gems1 pounds
Food (agriculture)60 pounds
Food (meat)50 pounds
Food (ale)2 pounds (Brutus only)
Inhabitants6 leaders, 1 bear. People (changed) Birds: 35 Deer: 20 Ground animals:35 Wolves:6 Tree animals: 70 Boar: 25 Bunny: 25 Total inhabitants:216
Armed ForcesNone
This kingdom is now forming There are a quite a few citizens, decent amount of supplies, and enough houses for everyone to to live in. Size of a small village currently, but growing. Unemployment does not exist. The name of the kingdom is Dragonfist. They symbol of the kingdom is a speeding fist. There is no currency system or form of payment in this kingdom. There are no armed forces for this kingdom. It is advisable to migrate to this kingdom for peace of mind. Medium life expectancy.
Chapter 6- Holy Deer! Valgrim woke up in his new house feeling quite refreshed. His straw was comfy and he had actually gotten consecutive good nights of sleep. It helped that some of the animals had learned to cook so he didn''t have to, even if their tasts were a bit...gamey He stretched his arms out, stood up and put on his hat, then knelled down for his hour of prayer. When that was done, he left his house to find some food. The little village was going quite well now. As he walked down the path between the houses, he smiled at the animal/people moving around, some taking the time to grunt or growl in his direction for greeting. He headed toward the building delightfully known as "Food Place". Animals had a delightful naming sense. His breakfast was delicious, though the animals could only make basic stew. It was much better today, he only felt slightly nauseous. In the end, only mild stomach cramps went with him as he left for work. Not even the sunny sky blinding him could ruin his good mood, his sleep had been to needed for that. So he walked with a bounce in his step toward the mines and was looking forward to it, when a huge explosion rocked the land. (Imagine this as the first episode of Archer Vice- lol) Having a rude awakening from his mood, Valgrim jumped off his back and ran to the mines, for that was where the noise had originated from. As he approached the mines as fast as his little legs could carry him, he saw the dust pouring out of the entrance. Since the mines were started, it had become a small maze in itself. The original cavern was where the Hydras had been fought, still half underwater with the lake entrance closed off. No mining went in that direction. Two of the original exit tunnels had collapsed, leaving the lone entrance near the village. Due to the original lack of tools, the mine itself had not progressed too far underground. The primary need had been for stone after all for the bridge and castle, so the walls were dug out so the stone could be removed. The original cavern was much bigger now, with the new additions resembling a room filled with pillars that connected the ceiling with the ground. Once Brutus managed to make tools, Valgrim had enchanted them to cut through the stone, making it easier to dig into the harder ground. Once it was realized the former Hydra nests had metals and gems, they had begun to dig toward them, with 3 major diagonal tunnels dug into the ground, leveling out every 20 feet. The actual cavern was about an hour''s walk from the entrance to the cave, so Valgrim jumped into one of the carts set aside at the entrance and quickly enchanted it to move on its own. Moving at top safety speed, it only took Valgrim 15 minutes to travel to the central cavern. Arriving, he saw workers running from one of the mine shafts, dust still heavy in the air. He jumped out and ran to the mine shaft. The animals didn''t have a supervisor when he wasn''t there, so he had to figure out what had happened on his own. When he got to the shaft, he saw a mole and a female human crying at it, trying to move the rubble from the hole. The mole was having trouble moving anything and the female''s hands were bleeding. Valgrim knelled down and grabbed the girl, turning her to face him. "What happened?" he asked urgently. She cried and shook her head, not answering him. He shook her again and stared into her eyes directly. "WHAT. HAPPENED?" (Animal language remember) "Sniff, working, rocks fell, mate trapped." Valgrim nodded. He understood, and turned his gaze to the shaft. It wasn''t completely blocked off, but there were plenty of stones and rubble to block off the exit. He calmed his mind, and cast a summoning spell. Calling upon his connection with his god, he summoned 2 small earth elementals. As soon as they came into being, he directed them to absorb and redistribute the rubble. As soon as a big enough opening was revealed, he jumped into it, falling into the dark. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- He did a rolling landing, minimizing injury to his legs and got up. "Light" he muttered, and a small orb of light appeared in front of him. Spending most of his time in the sun had damaged his dark vision, but the light gave him full clarity of his surroundings. The tunnel divided here at the level off, making a fork in the road that led farther in. The right tunnel had ended due to the harder rock, so they had continued down the left one for mining. It was completely sealed by boulders. Marking his body with magic, he merged with the stone and moved thorough it, it''s feeling to him like being in water. He slowly made his way to the other side, poking one eye through first to see what was on the other side. He first saw the blood. It covered the floor, marking the tunnel as death''s newest domain. Large parts of the ceiling lay on the ground, like sleeping children wrapped in bundles. The scene was surreal, interrupted only by the site of arms from underneath the rocks. The miners had not been so lucky. He counted at least 4 bodies, and was glad the rocks covered what they looked like now. He came through completely, slowly making his way past the tragedy. It was strange thought, the rocks that had crushed his workers were in perfect shape, almost like they were cut. A quick glance up showed holes in the ceiling that matched the shapes of the boulders. He grew concerned, this was not a natural phenomenon. He inspected one of the arms on the ground, it had claw marks. "Not good" he muttered, "This is very not good." As he inspected the slashes, he heard a groan from further down the corridor. Walking briskly, he rounded a corner and came across a boar leaning against the wall. He was bleeding from his gut, and a trickle of red dripped from his mouth. He locked his eyes weakly on Valgrim, his breathing slowly becoming more shallow. Valgrim knelt and listened to his last words. "....Alive..." The last wisp of breath left the boar''s body, his head falling unobstructed onto the floor. Valgrim nodded, he heard and would act. He put his hand on the ground and sent a pulse of magic into it, listening for echos. He got 10, coming from further down the tunnel, and another one heading toward them. He ran down the tunnel as fast as he could, channeling his priestly magic to heal his fatigue. He caught up with the 10 the same time as the other being. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. His workers were huddled together in a small alcove, dug into the wall for emergencies. They were scared, but alive. He took stock of his surroundings. There was nothing else in the tunnel, and the area was littered with various rocks of different sizes. He moved into the alcove, inciting a gasp from the scared workers, but they quickly calmed down after realizing who he was. He looked around, noting that they had no life threatening injuries, and asked, "What happened?" A grizzled looking human spoke up in animal tongue, "Digging good. Dug out hole, hole lead tunnel. Monster come tunnel." he shivered, wrapping his arms around his legs. Valgrim grew more concerned. Animals didn''t describe things well, especially new things. the word "Monster" stood for a lot of things, from Brutus to their hunger. Still, he understood they had found something. After reassuring them, he left the alcove, but not before sealing the alcove with a rock wall, complete with air hole. He treaded more cautiously now, making his way to the end of the tunnel. What he found surprised him. The miners were starting a new descent tunnel, but they had accidentally made an opening into a pre-existing tunnel, which could only mean one thing. "Ah crap." he said, "An under tunnel." This was one of the original tunnels under ground, the same kind that Valgrim and comp. had used to travel to the surface. He had thought they had all collapsed with the earthquakes, but apparently not. "Che, looks like something survived." he observed, taking note of some bones in the tunnel. Normally, he''d leave and go get back up, but he didn''t think he could protect himself and 10 scared miners from an obviously deadly predator. He cast protective magic on himself, and jumped into the tunnel. The air was stale, filled with old bones and unidentifiable liquid. He bent down and inspected a bone. It was scratched, similarly to the arm he had looked at earlier. The bone also had another interesting tidbit, a tooth was lodged in it. "F@@k." was the only thing he could say looking at the tooth. He recognized it, and it resonated with a bad feeling in his heart. It was the tooth of a crawler beast. A crawler beast was an underground predator known for it''s vicious attitude and trap abilities. Most likely, it had sneaked past the miners, set the rock traps, then killed a few and dragged them back to it''s lair. The unfortunate living miners then fell to the trap. As he put the bone down, a low growl emanated form behind him. It rolled across his ears, raising all the hair on his neck. No thought passed through his head as he threw himself to his left his all his power. A huge body flew where he just been standing, crashing into a pile of bones. Valgrim threw up his wards, and sent a blast of fire at the shadow. The shadow moved onto the ceiling, and Valgrim could make it out clearly now. The crawler beat was long and skinny, two legs and two arms ending in sharp talons. It was covered in thin layer of black hair, and had bluish skin. No nose on it''s face, instead having two slits, and above them two black eyes that stared deep into Valgrim''s soul. It''s mouth was filled with small, sharp teeth, and it''s head had short spiky black hair. It drooled as it stared at Valgrim, regarding him with a chitter. It immediately launched itself out of Valgrim''s sight, disappearing into the darkness again. Valgrim put himself in a battle ready position, calmly observing the surrounding. His eye twitched, and he cast a rock blast behind him. A shrill of pain wailed, and he looked. The crawler''s arm laid on the ground, cleanly amputated by the rock blast. Then Valgrim felt his wards shatter as he was thrown across the lair into a pile of bones. He groaned and propped himself up. He felt a few broken ribs and his left arm wasn''t moving. He looked up, trying to regain sight of the crawler beast. He picked it up, it was slowly moving on the ceiling toward him. He began muttering chants under his breath, focusing his remaining magic into his workable arm. The crawler beast launched itself at Valgrim, only to crash head first into the tunnel wall. It crashed to the ground, dead, as the room shifted. Valgrim smiled warily, a small trickle of blood coming down his mouth. Illusion was not his best magic, but he could confuse the senses for a small moment. He dragged himself up, and shot the corpse a few more times. Some crawlers could play dead, so it payed to be sure. He healed his arm and ribs best he could, but it still really hurt. Healing was great, but it couldn''t take away the pain. He also made sure to cut it''s head off. It would be useful later. He made his way back to the alcove, freed the miners, and returned tot he surface with them. The female at the top began crying in happiness on seeing her mate, but the mole wept in sadness. Her mate had not been so lucky. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Uhhh, what a day." Valgrim moaned into his dinner. He had spent the rest of day dealing with the fallout of the mine incident. Brutus had shown up as he got out of the mine. He had quickly explained to Brutus what had happened. Brutus had then gone into the mine and made sure there were no other beasts. Valgrim then had to deal with a mob of angry and scared animals. The prospect of death after being in peace for a month had really freaked them out. He had had a heck of a time keeping them calm and not leaving the kingdom. He then had to give funeral rites to the dead miners with pyres. Then, he had to meet up with the rest of the group to discuss the new discovery. If a crawler could survive for a month to be released by miners, then other beasts could still be alive in other un-collapsed tunnels. He would have to use more of his time now to scout out the ground before new tunnels could be made. He moaned again into his stew. This time, he made his own to prevent bathroom errors. Brutus snorted, a little amused by Valgrim''s troubles, if not sympathetic. He was sad about the miner''s death, but not so much to dwell on it. He had seen enough death in his life. Valgrim looked into the air and said, "What else could go wrong?" His thoughts were interrupted when a very distressed, yet excited, dwarf burst into the room. "Oy Valgrim, ders a girl hu won''t change back!" "..........sh$t" Chapter 7- Magic Interactions! Annnnndddd I''m back! Summer is here and I am ready to write! So lets see: 1. I will go back and work on all the normal story chapters. I''ll add "Edited" to the title so you guys know it''s been fixed 2. I''m still working, so I''ll try to get a new chapter a day Hail summer, Viva! ----------------------- Groaning, Valgrim gulped down his stew as fast as he could, then got up as quick as his tired legs would let him and hurried out of the Eatery. Following the Dirrg, Valgrim and Brutus made their way across the village to the big house. Until the castle quarters were finished, the big house, previously the mayor''s house rebuilt, served as the home for the dark elves and as their meeting place. The house stood at the edge of the village, standing out clearly from the shacks and hobbles near it. It stood two stories tall, with a large roof and two strong wood doors. Two trees had been magically grown together, forming an arch that surrounded the entrance way, and had flowers on it year round. The house itself was made of regular dead wood, but the ladies had insisted on some minor beauty for semantics sake. While Valgrim and the other men of the village didn''t quite understand the need for year long flowers, it did make the doorway smell good when entering, and to a minor extent themselves. Moving at a quick, hobbling pace, the three made it through to the house, coming across a small crowd of people and animals. The small crowd were acting curious, sniffing the air and trying to peak into the windows. "All right, back to work guys." Valgrim called out, "If something important is happening, I''ll let you all know later." Placated, the crowd dispersed, leaving a clear path to the door. The three went up and knocked on the door, waiting patiently for permission. A voice came from the door, "...Password.." Valgrim rolled his eyes. "Fluffy Bear." The door made a clink sound, and opened up, revealing a quiet Meridia. Valgrim inclined his head, "What''s wrong Alchemist?" She looked down, "No... more cute...fur." "...." -the guys and Dirrg They followed Meridia inside into the sitting room, which was filled with chairs and pillows, also doubling as Meridia''s second bedroom. Inside, they found Saharra sitting with a female human, with a male human pacing nearby looking slightly panicked. "So, whats the situation?" Valgrim asked. "This one is one of mine." Explained Saharra, "Apparently, she has been in her human form for two days now. She is a deer and is worried because she likes having her horns to cut down trees. The male over there is apparently her most used mate." The male in question nodded, looking curiously at his mate. Valgrim examined him closely. Few animals mated for life, most took sex when they could for children and didn''t put too much thought into mates besides how worthy they were. Cheating did not exist in the animal world. Clearly though, this male showed more concern than normal for a deer. Male deer often had harems if strong enough to battle other suitors. "What are you?" Valgrim asked. The man communicated that he was a squirrel. Moment of silence followed Valgrim''s communication of this. "Okay, so is this because they are two different species?" Saharra asked. Valgrim shook his head. "When they are in human form, they are of the same species. The magic should not be interrupted by such a thing. Anyway, my magic only gives them the human form temporarily, when the magic is done they should just change back. The only way they wouldn''t is if their animal from was no longer their original form." The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. "Grunt, how?" Brutus asked, raising an eyebrow. Valgrim took a careful look at his oldest friend. "It is kind of similar to your experience Brutus." He said carefully, "But only the result was the same, the magic source is completely different." Brutus nodded, clearly grateful Valgrim hadn''t revealed more than he should. Valgrim considered the female in front of him. "A permanency spell could have been cast on her, that would make the transformation permanent. Have you tried a dispel magic yet? Meridia and Saharra nodded. "That was the first thing we tried, nothing happened though. Also, none of us know how to cast that spell yet." "This spell is divine in nature, so few things could affect it." Valgrim mused, "I do not feel any infernal or abyssal magic in play, nor any other spells on her. Whatever has happened to her, it has to be natural in origin. I have no idea what could overcome divine magic like this however." "O, that there''s a easy un." Dirrg exclaimed, "Like how me body is, nature magic be as tricky as nature herself! Sometimes, magic ne be needed either, all ye has to do is make magic on ye own. Valgrim shook his head, "They don''t have any natural magic. We magic users get our magic from three sources: our blood, our gods, or contracts with other worlders. Animals have not mated with beings outside our dimension or magical creatures, nor do they have the intelligence or experience to contact gods or devils. No offense." The two humans shrugged, they didn''t really understand anyway. Dirrg looked thoughtful, "Well, I don''t suppose ey could work magic, but me be thinking they made their own." Everyone looked at Dirrg in surprise. "Ara, what do you mean?" Saharra asked Dirrg''s face became a split between a crap-eating grin and a cunning one. "Why, de most magic a couple can make of course. Dey had loving under the full moon and made themselves a baby." Brutus, who had been sipping his ale, spit it out across the room in shock. Saharra rolled her eyes into the back of her head and fainted, quickly followed by the deer girl and her mate. Meridia starting panting softly, muttering things like "Fluffy on fluffy" and "ecchi". Valgrim, who had already had a tough day, collapsed on the floor, his legs failing him. Dirrg, who looked rather pleased with himself, walked over to the girl and put his hand on her belly. After a bit of glowing from his hand, he nodded. "Aye, she be pregnant." Valgrim and Brutus finally fainted from shock, followed by Meridia- who seems to have fainted from pleasure form some reason. Observing the room''s occupants, the dwarf sighed to himself. "Dey didn''t react so ard when me told them me was a female. Me wonders what the difference is." he mused. Shrugging, he picked up the bodies and started laying them on the pillows. When he got to Valgrim, he paused- observing the unconscious gnome''s body. Rubbing his beard, the dwarf had a dirty idea. He dragged Valgrim into another room with a chuckle. "Might as well get me an eyefull while I can." He grinned evilly, "Gives me more push to become female again." The door closed slowly behind them. Evil, dirty laughter mixed with panting was soon heard. Chapter 8- Dirty thoughts lead to Dirty Plans First three chapters have been edited and improved, now with 1.5x more words XD. Enjoy my faithful readers! --------------------- "Ugg, my head." Valgrim grimaced, raising his head off the floor. He turned his head left and right, slowly taking in his surroundings. "...Why am I in the spare bedroom?" He wondered, then looked down at himself, "And why am I naked to my waist?" He shivered as the air moved over his bare skin. Unlike regular spell casters, clerics often found themselves in the thick of battle and trained their bodies accordingly. Not the most muscular of sentient beings, Valgrim could stand to get a tan shirtless on the beach. "Besides the obvious indications that I''ve been visually molested, what was her goal with this?" He mused to himself, "At least I hope it was a girl, with this lot you can never be quite sure." Donning his clothes, Valgrim exited the guest room and returned to the sitting room. He found Saharra and the deer girl still there, the others long gone. Saharra explained that Meridia had excused herself to her room, Brutus had left chuckling to return to work, the father had vamoosed as soon as his eyes had opened, and Dirrg had been seen exiting the building at high speed panting and grinning like mad. Various members of their community had come by to see the deer girl and had talked with her, but Saharra had no idea what they were saying. Saharra herself was a bit of an emotional mess herself. Her natural arrogance and superiority complex toward the animal people was fighting with her matron instincts. Dark elves were cunning, devious, arrogant, and borderline evil, but they were very loving toward their own children, at least until they were old enough to be used in their "politics". Her silver hair hung around her head sloppily, as if she hadn''t tended to it in days. Valgrim knelt down and looked the new mother in the eye. "Do you want this child?" He asked gently in animal tongue. The woman, with her hand rubbing her belly, looked down, than up at Valgrim, and nodded. "Ye....ye...yes." She said in broken common. Surprised by her ability to speak even a single world of the language, Valgrim nodded and stood up. "What is your name?" He inquired. The deer woman shook her head, not understanding the distinction in language nuance. Animals like her did not give names to themselves and their offspring, they just were who they were. Nodding, Valgrim turned to Saharra. "I think you are the best choice for keeping an eye on her." He reasoned, "Are you up for it?" Saharra held mixed emotions on her face before nodding reluctantly. She would watch the young mother. Having sorted the mess out, Valgrim left the house and headed back into town. He was still hungry, and there was still time before dark truly set in. ---------------- [The next day] Valgrim walked down the village path, heading south toward the other side of the lake. Everything was progressing smoothly today: the mines had started rebuilding the damaged parts and discussing how to avoid other monster nests, Brutus was humming away at his black-smithy, and no one was dead. He nodded toward a some growls of greeting from some of the people walking near him. He had taken a quick detour to check in on the mother at the big house that morning. She was still confused on her inability to change back into a deer, but she was still adamant about keeping the baby. The father was no where to be found- Valgrim suspected that doing it with a deer and having a child with her had overloaded the squirrels mind. He doubted that they would see him again. He continued his way through the village, coming to the end of it. Making sure no one was watching, Valgrim went east into the forest. Walking beside the quiet trees, Valgrim made sure he could no longer see the village before heading south again. He walked until he could make out a tree with a cross carved into it. Seeing it, he walked west. He soon emerged from the forest, coming to a hill beside the lake. It had been a high point in the swamp before, but no was only a hill nest to a lake. At least, that is what it looked like to everyone else. Valgrim walked around it until he came to a solid rock face on one side of the hill. He put his hand on it and moved it around til he found a slight indention in the rock. "Critafu." He invoked, causing a slight shimmer to appear on the stone. The wall opened out toward him, revealing an entrance way into the hill. The door had no markings, and for any that didn''t know the password, it would just be a plain stone wall. Valgrim stepped inside, and the door closed behind him. Inside the hill was a large, carved cavern. Valgrim had spent his waking moments not working creating this place. It was huge, extending into the ground and forming the inside of a building almost. To the left, there were three stone buildings that were apart of the wall. A path stretched out in front of him, taking him down into a hidden cove, hidden from the outside. To his right, a huge wall with holes in it at varying heights spread from the side, separating large stone vats underneath the holes from the other side. Valgrim walked to the other side of the wall. There, three stone fences completed a pen-like area with the hole wall. Three sentry towers were in place around the pen, but were as quiet as the cave itself. The pen was also empty, save for a lone figure laying on it''s side, dead to the world. Valgrim grinned to himself, "Oh you, lets change the world together." The cave was filled with the sound of magic, and then a roar the echoed around the area, growing stronger until it reached it''s high point. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it------------------ Brutus hummed away as his hammer struck the metal in front of him. He enjoyed music, especially with grog after a hard days work with other people in a tavern. Of course, there was no more grog and no more tavern. He sighed, breaking off his song. It would be awhile before Scald came back, hopefully with beer and spirits aplenty, and maybe some fruit to start their own crop. Meridia had a few plants worthy of wine production, but it would take til the fall to produce, and any number of years to be strong. Sighing again, he went back into the familiar beat of the hammer. Up, down, smack, move, up, down, strike, adjust It was a good beat, he smiled down at his newest creation. The metal he was beating would be smooth soon, perfect for folding in on itself til he could twist it. It was one of the many small supports he was making that would be cut into nails for the castle and other houses. His limited slave training as a blacksmith had taught him the fundamentals, but everything he learned had been successful. He smiled ruefully, remembering the second house he had built with Dirrg. The nails had not been quite strong enough to hold the pieces of lumber together, and he had had to dig the indignant and swearing dwarf out of the wreckage. The dwarf could unfortunately speak most of the languages that Brutus understood, so he had to put up with being sworn at in 4 different tongues for the next hour. Seeing the metal was flat enough, he put it in the furnace to reheat it. He took a swig of ale, savoring the strong bitterness that swept down his tongue into his throat. The pleasant burn in his throat matched the intensity of the flame he felt looking around the village. Every animal person he saw reminded him of his beloved mother, and to even if none of them were the same as her, it still was nice to have the memory fresh in his mind. With though, he was also reminded of the cursed father who spawned him. Brutus gnashed his teeth together in anger, his eyes glowing the tell-tale red of rage. His hand forming a fist, he punched a nearby stone. The stone shattered out into the wall, splintering into little pieces along the woodwork. Quickly calming himself, Brutus went over and inspected the wall. Finding no damage, he wiped his forehead and sighed. Valgrim would have given him hell if he broken another wall. Still, Brutus had two dreams. He wanted to fly with his wings, and he would have vengeance for his mother. He never held any hate toward the dark elves, they hadn''t killed his mother. They did put him chains, but they taught him how to fight, live, survive. His father had chased his mother into the tunnels, trapping her to her death. Taking a sniff, he noticed the metal was ready. He took it out and began hammering it into a fold. Up, down, smack, move, up, down, strike, adjust The rhythm continued in the black smithy, broken only by a soft quiet hum, flowing into the spring air. ---------------- Dirrg was bored. There was nothing else to describe his mood. Everyone else had something to do in the village to occupy their time. Even Girr was off gallivanting with one of the male bears, probably having a great time doing BARE activities. Not poor Dirrg though. He sighed, chewing on a piece of grass while sitting on a stump. True, he was useful regrowing the trees so they didn''t deplete the forest and making the plants in the field grow better. However, he didn''t have a "thing" yet, an important part of the community that made him invaluable. He had stuck around to give the party a hand with building this community, but he really wanted to resume his journey searching for a way to get back his real body. He even had a good incentive to rush now. Blushing fiercely, he put his hands on his face and squealed loudly. That gnome had such a fine body, smooth yet muscular in all the right places. Dwarf women were thought to only love the loudest, dirtiest, strongest, and most facial-haired dwarf men. True, some of those were accurate, and Dirrg would have preferred if Valgrim had a long, thick beard; but it was the body that him panting loudly on his stump. Just imagining a hammer in Valgrim''s strong grip sent him falling backward off his stump, bumping his head on a rock. The mood ruined, Dirrg scowled at the offending piece of riftera. Picking it up, he hurled it through the air, sending it into the sky to become a star. Leaning back onto the stump, he resumed his thoughts on his next move. Depending on the amount of BARE activities, there may be another bear in Dirrg''s future. It would be better to stay in a comfortable place when that happens, he reasoned. Plus, he was curious about the new mother in the village. It might be interesting to see the result before moving on. He got himself of the ground, stretched, and resumed his patrol in the woods. He was still sending the occasional animal toward the village, and making sure civilization didn''t intrude on the budding kingdom. Pausing for a second, he bent down and inspected something in the ground. He started digging, and leaned back to inspect what he had found. Recognizing it, he smiled and resumed digging. "Aye, ye will be useful for what Vallgrimm has planned." He said smiling wildly as he pulled his prize out of the ground. It was indeed a good day. Short story-Scalds Travels Day 1 This may be a side story, but take it as events happening alongside the main plot. Enjoy :) --------------- It was a busy day in the markets. Crowds of people moved through the streets, seeking needs and wants aplenty. Merchants lined the crowds, shouting out their wares for all to hear. Elves, humans, gnomes, halflings, dwarfs, and mixed bloods flowed through with each wave, a resounding cornucopia of diversity in this city of humans. A cloaked figure made it''s way through the crowd, slipping through it as water seeped through rock. No one paid any mind to his figure, and no one remembered him once he was gone from their sights. Coming to a dark alley way, the figure paused a moment, making sure no one had followed him. Entering the alley, he removed his hood from his head. Scald''s silver hair flowed out onto his back, shining in the spring sun. Dark elves were not favored in the lands above, and it was quite a chore reassuring commoners and filth that he meant no harm. Yet. He smirked, the gesture familiar to him. Even in the cities underground, he had been treated with suspicion, even within his own house. Demon-summoners were never trusted, for they themselves could not trust their own source of power. Summoning a demon was a risk to his very soul everytime he invoked his power. If he was weaker than the demon, he would be consumed. Anyway, that was not why he was here today. He inspected the bag under his cloak. His primary mission was to scout out the closest civilizations to the budding kingdom, see who could be a threat. Besides that, he had been requested to acquire certain things for the other party members. He had some on the list: seeds, wine, books on engineering. Today, however, he was on a personal mission. Demon summoners acquired new power through new contracts. The stronger the demon, the greater the power. It also presented a greater risk for being played, for he could beat weaker demons into submission, but not greater ones. The strongest demons could only be summoned by name, and they were picky on who knew such a thing. Today, he was after a grimoire, kept in lock down at a wizard''s house. He had, on reasonable authority, information that suggested a powerful demon''s name was included in that grimoire. The wizard had taken the book from a dark sorcerer he had defeated, and had opted to lock the knowledge away instead of destroying it. It was a natural thing for practitioners to do, for written information on magic was scarce. Even dark mages hesitated to destroy books of light magic, it was that valuable. Scald put his hands on the ground and whispered in tongue''s of power. A summoning circle appeared in front of him, announcing the arrival of his favorite servant. Nevian slithered slowly out of the circle, taking in the new smells with his tongue and watching his caller. "Ara, Masster." He said respectfully, "For what purposse have you summoned this unworthy one to your, pressence." Scald smiled evilly at his familiar, "For the pursuit if power of course. I need you to do some things for me." If snakes could smile, this one would have been. "Anything for my dear masster. You have only to name it." Scald bent down, covering the snake from prying eyes. "Down the alley my friend, we do not wish to be disturbed." The two vanished as quickly as they appeared, a breeze of dust the only indication that someone had just left. ------------------- The moon stood full and bright against the dark city. Fewer traveled the streets, most being drunken folk stumbling back to their homes after a great deal of intoxication. Couriers moved quickly as well, speeding along with their messages. No one stood in their path, for couriers were seen throughout the continent as neutral parties. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Attacking one was paramount to high treason, for they carried news and tidings with the potential for changing history itself. All messages looked the same on the outside, for magic seals were used to identify the parchment''s recipient. Only the person for who the message was meant could read it, and no one, not even the messagers themselves, were aware of what news they carried. They were merely assigned a location with a stack to deliver, each parchment growing warmer the closer their master''s were. Of course, no one would stop a messenger. No one would expect a messenger. A white robed messenger flew along the dirt stone road down the main road. Feeling the parchment within, he turned left at a dirt road, whisking away like quick silver. The parchment grew warmer in his hand indicating his quarry was near, and growing every closer. He didn''t need to look up. He had never looked up before. He should have looked up. A large body fell from the air, knocking him into a wall in the alley. His wind lost, the messenger gasped in pain as his arm throbbed. He could no longer move it under his own power. Looking around, he fixated on the thing that had knocked him off his duty. The large serpentine body of Nevian rose up off the ground, hissing at the messenger. It bobbed back and forth, it''s reptilian eyes fixed on it''s prey. It paused, and struck toward him with lightning speed. The messenger sprung up, dodging the dripping veins by a hair''s breath. He landed, and kicked up toward the snake. It dodged back, clearly surprised by it''s prey''s resistance. It recovered, and sprung again at the messenger. Ready this time, the messenger used his good arm to whip his legs around and knock the snake into the wall. The hit it with a smash and a hiss of pain. Taking advantage of the snake''s disorientation, the messenger activated the magic in his shoes and shot off into the night, quickly leaving the snake behind in his dust. Or so he thought, for he had barely left the snake behind when he smashed into an invisible wall. Groaning in agony, he fell back, too shaky to understand the pain his body was shrieking at him with. He couldn''t move any more, couldn''t bare to stand again. He felt a hand on his shoulder. "Shhh, quiet now. Don''t worry, I''ll take the pain away." The hand moved down his body to his pack. It removed it, slowly, not allowing new pain to grow under his watch. "Naa...Noo." The messenger cried out softly, "My, messages..." The hand patted him softly, "Don''t worry, I''ll make sure to deliver them for you." Smiling in gratitude, the messenger opened one eye to take in the image of his rescuer. Seeing the silver hair and dark skin, the messenger''s smile quickly became replaced by fear as he took in the dark elf before him. The dark elf grinned, an evil smile glowing in the moonlight. The dark elf grabbed the messenger''s hand. "Don''t worry, your messages are safe with me." Letting go, the dark elf stood up and looked back over the messenger. "Nevian, be a dear and help the poor fellow out, he''s very tired after so much hard work." The dark elfe walked away, fading into the moonlight and darkness. All was still around the messenger, all was quiet except his thoughts. A dark elf, here in the city! He had to tell someone, had to retrieve his letters. A low hiss stopped his thoughts cold. He felt a cold tongue moving it''s way lover his hair, his ear, his face. The snake entered his view, looking down on him with unemotionally. He tried to scream, to cry for help, to call for a miracle from the gods. A lunge cut him off before the sound came. As the poison seeped through his veins, he could only watch powerlessly as a giant mouth engulfed his very being. Chapter 9-Move a castle with one finger We hit 50 followers, yay! Thx for the support guys ------------------------- "Phew." The little gnome said as he whipped his head with his arm. Valgrim was currently hanging on a board over the island, working on the castle wall. He had a menagerie of magic spells for working wood and stone, but had nothing on normal maintenance and installing parts to the castle. Which led to his current predicament. Hanging 50 ft off the ground, he was trying to install the supports for a balcony on one of the rooms facing the lake. It was a mix of stone and wood, which he couldn''t manipulate at the same time, so it was old fashion hard work time. He resumed hammering on a stubborn wood piece. Muttering to himself about how magic was unfair sometime, he pounded his thumb into the wood. Wincing, he put the throbbing finger into his mouth. Ironically, his healing spells did not work on minor injuries, especially those caused during labor. According to his teachers back in the day, their god wanted his followers to learn from their mistakes in crafting, and pain was a good teacher. Ignoring the burning in his thumb, Valgrim finally knocked the wood piece into the hole in the stone. Satisfied, he checked the other supports again before pulling the rope and calling down, "Oy Brutus, let me down!" A quick, steady drop took him back down to ground level, where a certain minotaur was waiting, carefully letting the rope up so the gnome could get down. A few feet above the ground, Brutus let go of the rope, allowing Valgrim to experience a rough tumble on the ground. Brutus and some of the workers watching let out a chuckle. Giving Brutus a stink eye, Valgrim got up and brushed himself off. He walked away from the wall and looked up, admiring his handiwork. The veranda was situated beautifully on the side side of the lake, giving a wonderful sunset view. Of course, it was part of Saharra''s room, so he would not get to appreciate it much. He shrugged to himself, it was the journey not the goal that was fun. Putting aside his old gnome wisdom, he made his way around the castle. Progress had been good into the second month, the castle was almost done structurally and they had completed the wall the made it''s away around the entire island. According to the females in the group, it would take the rest of the year to actual make the castle look and feel like a castle, but he agreed with Brutus that that castle was almost done. He made his way toward the bridge gate, located on the north east part of the island. Another building was being worked on between the bridge and the castle. It was a temple, dedicated to the guardian deity who had forged the kingdom with his own hand. Some animal people were beginning to speak words like the mother, who had improved her common to halfway sentences. Seeing the rise in intelligence, the party had decided that giving them things to focus on was very important. One of the items on the list had been religion, which forced another role onto Valgrim as the head priest of the kingdom. His bags were slowly getting darker. Needless to say, he had decided on a multi-religion pantheon for the kingdom. He planned four temples to be built: one in the village of Brutus, the site of the future village of Dragonbridge, one in the forest to the north, and one in the castle. Each temple was dedicated to a different god. The temple in Brutus village was dedicated to Valgrim''s god, for the mines and fields. Valgrim hoped that his god would look favorably on the mines and bless the workers. He had taught the miners to stop and say a pray at the building site before going off to mine, though they did not comprehend the nature of prayer yet. The forest temple was dedicated to Dirrg''s ranger god. Dirrg had been most appreciative, and had set out immediately to grow the trees into a suitable temple. Valgrim hadn''t checked on it yet, but he knew Dirrg would make it amazing. Especially since he still hoped for a sign on how to change back. Valgrim felt a cold shutter, muttering that the cold was still in the area. The third temple was being built a little away from the bridge on the mainland. Valgrim wanted it to start to area for construction for the new village, where he wanted a boatyard built. Land travel from the mines to the castle was slow, especially with heavy carts to pull. Boats for the lake could deliver supplies more easily and efficiently. The temple was dedicated to Saharra''s god. Cthulu. The revelation had shocked everyone in the party. Saharra had shrugged it off, attributing it to her parents and not her personal religion. That being said, Valgrim had seen a certain stone idol in Saharra''s room that looked extremely well cared for. He had decided to take extra care from then on. While all gods had names, they were only used in special ceremonies as a sign of respect, unless otherwise told. Cthulu was not really a god, but he wasn''t a devil or demon either. More like a bundle of mad magic incarnate that embodied the nature of chaos itself and threatened to encroach on this reality in order to spread his influence until noting was left sane in the world. Something like that. No high being could kill him, so Cthulu was banished to a star in the heavens, sleeping mad dreams until the end of time, Which would be when he woke up anyway. His followers could invoke a drop of his thoughts into their enemies- causing the death of both caster and recipient. Cthulu didn''t believe in followers, just vessels of madness. Dark elves could escape that particular side effect because most followed a goddess that embodied chaos herself. Saharra probably just had the idol to cover all her bases. Valgrim refused to make any other dark elf god temple. He was afraid it would introduce the idea of arrogance and slavery into the workers, which would have been bad. Slavery was always bad. On that note, another mother had been unable to return to animal form. She was a snake and her "mate" had been a lizard. The father wasn''t around for the news, but mostly because she had accidentally eaten him after the foreplay. She actually felt embarrassment, an amazing step for her due to her nature. Needless to say, the males were getting antsy. It was spring time, and many workers were having a hard time controlling themselves in either form and around anyone. Valgrim himself had been assaulted by a pair of nubile young females during a walk. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Thankfully, he had the ultimate cock blocker on his side. The disappointment in the two girl''s eyes had made him cry himself to sleep that night. And the next. And the next. Life sucked sometime. The girls were fine, they merely flicked a wand and the males fled. Brutus was okay as well, he no interest in hairless weak human girls, and did not believe in bestiality. Kind of ironic actually. When he pointed that out, Brutus threw Valgrim in the lake. Repeatedly. The first mother was actually progressing quite fast. From what Dirrg could tell, she became pregnant the beginning of the first month, and at her current rate would be due the beginning of the third. He theorized the maturation rate was more animal like than human, yet it did seem short period. Either way, they would all know the result next month. Until, Valgrim was content to forget the whole affair. Especially the hole part. He cried a little inside. The fourth and final temple was dedicated to the newly nominated guardian deity of the kingdom. Valgrim stared up at the huge statue in the middle of the temple. It was of a giant figure punching the ground with his fist. The figure had wings on his back and horns on his head. Brutus snorted from behind Valgrim. "Grr, not enough hair." Brutus disapproved of his relevance to guardian deity, he felt that it implied he had more power than he actually had. Not that it had mattered, for the flag was of his fist, the village was named after him, and "Dragonfist" really didn''t leave much to the imagination. Plus, he was the one who physically broke the world in the area. Saharra and Meridia were all for letting Brutus take the blame for that, and Dirrg and Valgrim didn''t argue. S o Brutus reluctantly became an icon to the people. Valgrim chuckled. His friend had gone from slave to deity, the world sure was an interesting place sometimes. ---------- {The next Day} Brutus hummed as he made his way south past his name sake village. His little gnome friend had called him to see the finished result of his secret project. Brutus was quite excited truth be told, because Valgrim always did interesting things. He made his way down to the hill he had scouted back in the early days with Valgrim. Finding the secret spot, he knocked three times, then once, punched the wall. Shuddering slightly, the door opened up to reveal a winded Dirrg. "Oy ye great lummox- ye dont punch the damned thing, ye hit it!" "Hmph, same thing. Silly dwarf, head like rock wall." Dirrg puffed up in annoyance, "And ye think ye better, oh great minotaur beastie. Pray tell me, have they let ye back in the fields after you last pitiful attempt to prune?" Now Brutus growled in response, he hadn''t know some of the plant was supposed to be left behind, they hadn''t made that clear to him. Both fighters pulled out their respective battle axes, eyeing each other in contempt. The two of them hadn''t had a decent fight in months, It was as good a time as any to let off a little steam. d"Hmmm, mines bigger." Brutus stated matter of factually. Dirrg exploded at him, "I kill ye stupid bastard! I didn''t have un to begin with!" An awkward moment ensued in Brutus''s mind before he fended off the enraged dwarf''s ax. The two were relatively evenly matched. They continued to trade blow for blow until a loud roar made them both pause. It had come from inside the hill door, and it sounded familiar. Worried for Valgrim, the two lowered their weapons and rushed inside to see what the commotion was. They certainly did not expect to see Valgrim inspected a newly severed hydra head on the floor. He turned when he heard the two approach and smiled. "Welcome friends, to the butchery." He proclaimed with his arms outstretched. Seeing the confused looks on the two faces in front of him, Valgrim grinned. "Allow me to demonstrate." He flourished an arm toward the wall sticking out from the side of the cave. A machine was lined up with, resembling a cross between a scythe and a guillotine. Valgrim pushed the machine into a different position, then walked to another machine in front of the wall. This machine held baskets that lined up perfectly right below each hole in the wall. Meat was in each basket, quite fresh by the looks of it, and Brutus''s drool. Once in place, Valgrim took out a bell and clanged it loudly. A snarling sound rushed out from the holes, and hydra heads emerged from each one. Valgrim pulled a rope, and the slicing machine slid down and cut the neck of two and the hydras off. The other heads roared and retreated with their meat. Valgrim pointed at the twitching necks. "After they grow their heads back, we can do it again. Now, we never have to worry about meat again!" Brutus clapped quietly, he was very excited for more meat. Dirrg crossed his arms in annoyance. "I have no love for de cursed beasties, but don''t ye think that this is a bit cruel?" Valgrim shook his head, "Nope, because otherwise they would be dead." Dirrg gaped at him. "Ye mean to tell me dat de dead hydras I found for ye were revived!" Valgrim nodded, "Yup, I used the lowest resurrection spell to bring them back, They could never survive int he wild, so better for them to stay here. They are really low maintenance, they eat any meat including themselves and their poop can be burnt for fuel." "Ye feed them themselves...." Dirrg was at a loss for words, then shrugged, "Well that be the most circular form of life me, I mean I, have seen." Valgrim smiled, Dirrg had been working on his speech habits, and it seemed to be working. "Now, who would like some fresh hydra meat?" The three settled down outside and enjoyed a delicious meat barbecue. Chapter 10- The New One Well, I''ll be honest, I''m kind of bored with this story. Not bored as in no more writing, but I go back and see what I''ve written before and I feel, "That looks childish and silly". It''s good writing experience, but for now I''m going to let this story sleep for awhile, with a chloroform rag. Don''t worry, it''ll be back, shh shhh, good story, go to sleep. I will be writing a new story, yaay, one that''s more chart inclusive and longer chapters across the board. To start, I wrote a fan-fic story for my friend Scott that takes place in his story world Crystallim Galataea Doctor Falcon Andrea''s day The newborn officially ends the first part of the story, so lets get this out so you guys see where I''ll go with this eventually. Enjoy ------------------- After enjoying their delicious hydra barbeque, the three carried as much meat as they could back to the village for a feast. Mostly Brutus though, as the other two were quite short. The meat was well received by everyone in the community, even the ones that only ate plants. Apparently, they all held a hydra related grudge for one family member or another. Standing on a stone, Saharra cleared her throat to get everyone¡¯s attention. Meridia handed her a potion, which she took and drank in one swig. She took a couple of practice words, coming out as animal language for all to hear and understand. She raised her hand for silence. ¡°Thank you all for your help in working toward the creation of this new home.¡± She growled out. Her gaze moved over her audience, ¡°It is only in thanks to your efforts that we could move so fast, so let me thank you from the bottom of my person. You have each done something that will allow for your future generations to appreciate. You have all guaranteed the survival of your line.¡± A chorus of howls, grunts, calls, and ground hitting arose from the audience. While still simple when compared to a normal sentient, the animals had all gained intelligence from the spell of transformation, enough that they understood concepts like ¡°tomorrow¡± and ¡°family¡± beyond what their instincts told them. Valgrim observed the audience in silence. ¡®She is good.¡¯ He thought, ¡®Playing on their hopes and newly discovered dreams, making sure they stay loyal.¡± Saharra was in her element, making speeches and leading the group. While not a leader in the undercaves, she had been in training so that one day she could inherit or make her own family. It helped here that she didn¡¯t have to kill her competition to be in charge, which had been a consideration when the group had been contemplating a leader for the community. Valgrim paused his thoughts as Saharra continued her speech. ¡°I know that the work has been hard, that you have had to do things that went against your naturally instincts.¡± She paused, allowing for the grunts and growls and agreement to be over, ¡°But now, it is time for a reward for your work!¡± She pointed at the hydra meat being cooked, ¡°Look there, your hated enemies the hydras are no more, fit to only be eaten by us! Indulge yourself tonight my ser¡­friends! For by the end of the week, we will finish the castle on the island, and we will feast till we can eat no more!¡± A resounding cry echoed around the eatery, thumbing the ground with a chorus of excitement. The horde of hungry animals descended on the meat, devouring it with ferocity that none of the part had ever witnessed before. The animals had really hated the hydras, and took their vengeance seriously. Saharra got down and took food for her and the mother, who sat with her and ate with an almost quiet dignity. She had been learning leadership skills from Saharra, as the group expected more pregnancies. The other mother was fighting for more food, not quite as far along as to let her condition interfere with her physical ability to get food. Brutus sat with some of the wolf workers and talked to them about working at the hydra farm, to which they readily agreed. The wolves were spread out in disciplines, and looked eager to work ¡°guard¡± shifts. Brutus made a mental note to ask Valgrim and Dirrg for more carnivores, he planned on making a guard unit with them. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Valgrim chuckled as he watched two men fighting for meat by pulling with their mouths. It surely was a wild world with this lot. He had quite a bit of meat earlier, so Valgrim didn¡¯t partake of the food frenzy. Instead, he hopped behind the counter and helped the cooks out by giving them a break. They promptly jumped into the fray for their own food. Dirrg and Girr were asleep on one of the walls, tuckered out from feasting and working earlier. It was quite a comical sight watching them sleep, as Dirrg sucked in air load and Girr blew air out load. They behaved as one unit, breathe in, and breathe out. Meridia was sitting with Saharra¡¯s group, hiding from the intense struggle for food. She was munching quite cutely on a rib, a.k.a neck bone, but seemed quite content to eat and watch the show that came with dinner. The first hydra meat fest continued on the entire night, full of revelry and some over eating. Well, this probably would have happened, but halfway through the feasting, the mother began complaining of belly pain. Saharra was the first one to notice the mother moaning and rubbing her belly. ¡°Hey, what wrong? Too much meat?¡± She asked concerned. The mother was her responsibility and it would reflect poorly on her if something bad happened to her. The mother merely scratched the ground with her foot and motioned toward her belly. It looked normal to Saharra, but then again healing really wasn¡¯t her thing. Pain was though, but usually she was the one that caused it in the first place. ¡°Meridia, see what wrong with her.¡± Saharra barked to the nibbling half-elf. Hearing her name, Meridia moved closer and put her head on the mother¡¯s belly. Taking a moment to listen, her eye widened and moved to Saharra. ¡°It¡¯s time.¡± She said with no hesitation or pause in her voice. Saharra froze in place, as if by a magic ice spell. Actually, because most of the current denizens of the room were animals, and thus had animal hearing, they all froze at those words. The meaning carried through the language barrier. As a whole, the animals evacuated the building as fast as their legs would carry them. Valgrim nearly got trampled himself in the rush and arose quite confused. He, of course, didn¡¯t have animal ears, senses, or anatomy of any kind. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s the commotion?¡± He inquired. Brutus reached down and pulled the bedraggled gnome up. He boinked Valgrim on the head and pointed at the mother, indicating her current condition. ¡°Ah.¡± He said staring, ¡°Well, this is kind of unexpected.¡± Unfrozen and holding the mother¡¯s hand, Saharra glared up and him and cried out, ¡°You think!¡± After getting their wits about them, Valgrim quickly cast magic to reduce the effect of gravity on the mother. Brutus cleared the path as the four of them rushed the mother to the big house, where a room had been set up months ago for the incident. MEANWHILE: The eatery was left deserted after the rush to escape the birthing mother. Bare bones and pieces of refuse littered the floor. The silence was only broken by a loud belch from a pile of fur in the corner. Dirrg and Girr were passed out back at the eatery, from exhaustion and food. They would be knocked out till morning. ¡°Burrrrppp.¡± Went the sleeping bear. ------------------------- Nope, I lied. Muah ha ha, cough cough. I hate leaving things unfinished, so this is more to kick my ass into gear in the future to finish this. TO my 51 followers out there, THANK YOU SO MUCH I really appreciate your support and love, so Look forward to my new series, staring a boy who is the worst and how he fails to gain power but gets da ''ussy. Cya soon- oh, this chapter will be lengthened on my return, (wink)