The Land: Predators Read online

  Richer went through the list.

  Building Name

  Traits

  Level

  Longhouse x5

  (wood)

  Durability: 124/127

  Quality: Well Built

  Houses 30/60/90 people (comfortable/adequate/overcrowded)

  0

  Livestock Pen x4 (wood)

  Durability: 161-163/170

  Quality: Above Average

  Houses livestock, capacity varies based on animal. 60x20 yards

  0

  Skath Pen

  (steel net)

  Durability: 582/614

  Quality: Well Crafted

  Circular pen, 20 yards in diameter

  0

  Walls

  (mix of earthwork and marbled quartz)

  Hard packed Earthworks (31%) –

  Defense: +2 to +7

  Durability: Variable due to variation in Building Quality.

  Quality: Slum to Well Crafted

  Marbled Quartz (69%) –

  Defense: +38

  Durability: 15,225/15,225

  Quality: Well Built

  Building Bonus:

  +10% defense for defenders (2% per foot)

  +15% Line of Sight (3% per foot)

  +10% distance to ranged attacks (2% per foot)

  0

  Ship Cradle

  (wood)

  Durability: 156/163

  Quality: Well Built

  Building Bonus:

  +5% Shipbuilding speed bonus

  +5% bonus to ship stats

  0

  Healer’s Hut

  (wood)

  Durability: 1,058/1,060

  Quality: Well Built

  Building Bonus:

  +5% village Health

  +5% disease prevention

  +5% recuperation speed after injury

  0

  Trenches

  Inner Trench – 20 feet deep x 30 feet wide. Lined with wooden stakes.

  Outer Trench – 15 feet deep x 21 feet wide. Lined with wooden stakes.

  0

  Towers x 18 (earthwork)

  Durability: 276/276

  Quality: Slum

  Defense: +3

  +60% Line of Sight (3% per foot)

  0

  Roads

  (gravel)

  Durability: 4/7

  Quality: Slum

  +5% Movement speed

  0

  The next series of buildings were his Core buildings. More than anything else, they were the secret to his village’s power. The main reason every single one of his guards hadn’t been wiped out in the battle with the goblins was the fact that they had superior weapons and potions. Even with the sprites bolstering them and luring the goblins into traps, it had been the Forge of Heaven’s arms and armor that had kept his people alive. Hundreds more would still have died without Hisako using her one-off magic from her Place of Power to revive them. Thinking about that brought back to mind those men and women he hadn’t saved. To help stave off the guilt, he dove back into the interface.

  Forge of Heavens

  (Elementum)

  Durability: 5,500,000/5,500,000*

  Quality: CORE

  *Self-healing building

  Building Bonus:

  1) +10% chance of an item of a given quality being automatically upgraded to a higher quality once completed.

  2) Elementum Bonus: Weapons have +10% damage to spell barriers. Each piece of armor has a +2% resistance to a specific type of magic determined by the properties of your Forge.

  3) Each Magic Forge will have a specific character based upon the location where it has been created. The movement of heavenly bodies are now clearly seen by you, even in the light of day. Based upon which cosmic alignments are present above, there is a small chance of the weapon or armor obtaining certain powers.

  Absorbed Enchantments:

  Weapon Damage effect Life

  Freeze (Water)

  Damage type Unarmed

  Slaying Beast

  Goblin

  Confusion (Dark magic)

  Armor Darkvision

  Resistance Earth

  Increased movement speed

  Increased attack speed

  CORE Level 1

  Dragon’s Cauldron

  (Aged Glass)

  Durability: 8,000,000/8,000,000*

  Quality: CORE

  *Self-healing building

  Building Bonus:

  1) Any potions created by the Dragon’s Cauldron will have a 0.08% chance of having an extra effect that will permanently increase a characteristic, skill, affinity, or resistance. Potions you create will grow stronger over time.

  2) +10% chance of a potion being automatically upgraded to a higher quality once completed.

  3) +10% chance of a potion being successfully created.

  4) Placing any one base ingredient or resource into the central cauldron will allow you to transmute it into another. The conversion ratio will be greatly determined by the abundance of both the initial resource and the final resource in the surrounding lands. The Cauldron can only make ingredients or resources that have already been placed in the central cauldron and subsequently consumed.

  5) Placing an assortment of ingredients into the central cauldron will allow you to know if a potion can be created from that combination. At the Cauldron’s current level, this can be used once per day.

  6) Placing a potion into the central cauldron will give you the chance to learn the exact recipe used to create the potion. The potion is used up during this procedure. If local equivalents of the ingredients exist, those will be provided as a substitute recipe. Each time the potion is created there is a small chance to learn another recipe for either that potion level, the level below, or the level above.

  7) Your Map Making skill is synergistic with your Cauldron. While ingredients common to your location will not be marked, the general location of rarer ingredients may be indicated. Increase your Herb Lore and exploration skills to increase the effectiveness of this bonus.

  8) If a potion is successfully created, it can be placed into the central cauldron. If enough materials can be provided, there is a 100% chance to make nine additional potions of the same level and strength. Potions created in this way cannot be used to trigger this or the Cauldron’s other powers.

  Known Recipes:

  1) Luck Potion. Level: Elixir

  2) Restore Health. Level: Brew, Tincture, Solution

  3) Restore Stamina. Level: Brew, Tincture

  4) Restore Mana. Level: Brew, Tincture, Solution

  5) …

  CORE Level 1

  Seeing the stats of the Core buildings spelled out in black and white, or black and gold rather, impressed even Richter. The enchantments the Forge of Heavens had been able to learn were really adding up. Enchantments were literally more precious than jewels, and journeyman crafters normally had to devote ten to twenty years of their life to a master in order to learn even one. The fact that he had able to accumulate ten in the Forge was a treasure many would kill for.

  The list of abilities of the Dragon’s Cauldron was even more extensive. The potions the Cauldron could make had saved Richter’s life, and the lives of his people, time and again. The Potion of Gaseous Form, Red Foxfire and the Potion of Selak’s Luck were only a few of the recipes supplied by the Cauldron. Richter hadn’t understood the true power of a Core building at first, but if they could achieve so much even at level one, it was obvious why wars were fought over Magic Cores.

  As Richter scanned through the potion list of the Cauldron, he was extremely pleased. The list had grown quite extensive. It was obvious that Tabia had not been idle. Some of the potions were even surprises to Richter. There was one entry lower on the list called “Metal Decay” that he resolved to ask the mercenary elf maiden about as soon as possible.

  The next series of entries showed the level one buildings of the village. They had been built with a speci
fic blueprint and had improved building bonuses. At the bottom of the list were the goblin structures.

  Workshop

  (Marbled Quartz)

  Durability: 15,988/15,988

  Building Quality: Well Built

  Building Bonus:

  +1% chance of a building being spontaneously increased one quality level on completion

  +10% increase to Production when erecting Buildings

  +10% increase to Building Durability

  1

  House of Scholarship

  (marbled quartz)

  Durability: 15,911/15,914

  Quality: Well Built

  Building Bonus:

  +10% Increase in village Research speed

  +10% to Scribing speed and success while inside building

  +10% to village education (knowledge retention, conceptual understanding, etc.)

  +1% chance to have a scientific breakthrough

  1

  Bat Roost

  (wood)

  DEFUNCT

  Durability: 131/573

  Quality: Above Average

  Building Bonus: (All bonuses negated until Durability increased above 50%)

  +10% to strength of bats living in the roost

  +10% attraction of bats

  +10% chance of attracting a more powerful bat

  1

  Goblinhold

  (hardwood)

  DEFUNCT

  Durability: 419/902

  Quality: Well Built

  Building Bonus: (All bonuses negated until Durability increased above 50%)

  Allows governmental options

  Allows creation of buildings +1 level above level of Goblinhold in your settlement

  Allows accumulation of Diplomacy Points

  1

  One thing was clear to Richter. He needed more blueprints. While the “Building Bonuses” might be modest, they certainly added up. Even the “Level 0” buildings, or “huts,” gave a definite bonus to the village. The +5% to recuperation after injury was something every guard would appreciate in the days to come. Before he could examine the interface any further, another prompt appeared in his vision.

  Know This! As Master of this Place of Power and village, you are bound to your settlement. As with all rulers, your character, abilities, and soul will affect your land and your people. Your Limitless ability applies to the buildings that your settlement can use. Your village is not limited by race, alignment or any other specifics in the buildings which it can benefit from. Purchase and procure building Schematics to construct better buildings. “We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.”

  Richter read the prompt again. Silence reigned for a few moments with Randolphus looking at him. Then he looked up, “I want the buildings repaired.” After a moment’s thought, he clarified, “I want them moved from the hill to the inside of the village, then I want them repaired.”

  “Ahhh, I am not sure that is possible, my lord,” Randolphus said frowning.

  “I also want them to be examined and blueprints to be made,” Richter said, ignoring any possibility of his will not being done. He looked at his chamberlain, and the pain that he had pushed down for a moment carried through, “I need this to be done, man. The goblin encampment had to be dealt with, but we paid a high price. If we can salvage these buildings, it gives a bit more meaning to our people’s sacrifice. Help me honor our fallen.” There was a quiet desperation in his voice.

  Randolphus looked back at him, understanding something about what Richter was feeling that the chaos seed didn’t even grasp himself. His liege didn’t just need to protect himself and his people. Richter needed to make the battle, and the deaths that it had caused, mean something. He said the only thing he could, “It will be done, my liege. It is my honor to serve.”

  “Good,” Richter breathed out, nodding. “That’s good.” The relief in his voice was obvious and Randolphus was reminded just how much his liege cared about his people. After having served many callous men that had deigned to call themselves “lords,” it was almost too good to be true to once again serve a man who valued the lives of those beneath him.

  A prompt appeared in Richter’s vision.

  Your desire to serve your people, as well as rule them, has moved Randolphus. You have gained +731 Relationship Points. Total Relationship Points: +20,517

  Congratulations! Your relationship with Randolphus has improved from Admiring (+10,000) to Steadfast (+20,000). “I know I can rely upon you.”

  Richter’s eyes widened in surprise. Before he could speak, Randolphus went down on one knee and said, “Through service, ascendance.”

  The chaos seed reached out and hand and laid it on his friend’s shoulder, finishing the motto of the village, “Through dedication, transcendence.”

  Randolphus raised his head and looked Richter in the eye. There was an intensity to his gaze that the chaos seed had not seen before. The chamberlain’s voice was strong, “I am truly honored to serve you, my lord. I do not make promises that I cannot keep and I have learned that the future is promised to no man. Please know that, today, I am thankful to be in your service. Long may you reign.”

  Richter blinked, both flattered by Randolphus’s words and taken aback by his sincerity. “Thank you,” he said simply as the man stood.

  They held each other’s gaze for another second, then Randolphus looked as if he had come to a decision. He started shuffling his papers. If Richter didn’t know better, he would think the unflappable man was nervous. Randolphus pulled a page out of the stack of papers. “There are a few other matters to address, my lord. We should have just enough time to cover them all before the ceremony.”

  CHAPTER 10 – Day 141 – Kuborn 31, 0 AoC

  The next thing Randy let him know was that more had been found on the hill than just buildings. A large number of weapons and armor had been transported from the goblins’ stores. Most of it was extremely low quality and had scant durability remaining, unfortunately, but it might still have some utility as scrap. The chamberlain said he had already arranged to have it taken to the Forge of Heavens for smelting. One building was thought to have been an armory though because it had items of higher quality and even three enchanted weapons. The chamberlain handed Richter a sheet of paper with an inventory.

  High Steel Goblin Cleaver +2

  Damage: 12-15

  Durability: 35/41

  Item Class: Uncommon

  Quality: Well Crafted

  Weight: 1.2 kg

  Traits: +2 Damage

  Orichalcum Round Shield of Rust

  Defense: 11

  Durability: 64/64

  Item Class: Unusual

  Quality: Well Crafted

  Weight: 3.3 kg

  Traits: Each charge released from this shield will cause 0.3 points of Durability damage to the weapon that strikes it. Works only against metal weapons.

  Charges: 97/97

  High Steel War Hammer of Soul Trap

  Damage: 16-20

  Durability: 38/44

  Item Class: Uncommon

  Quality: Above Average

  Weight: 3.5 kg

  Traits: Any creature struck by this weapon is afflicted with the spell Soul Trap for 5 seconds.

  The +2 Damage enchantment was more than useful. It was a static enchantment. Static enchantments were superior to active in that they weren’t dependent on charges. They were inferior in other ways, of course. The magic on Richter’s elementum blade was far more powerful than just +2 Damage, for instance. His weapon both imparted Sonic Damage with each strike and possessed the capability to Disarm his opponents. The downside was that every time the enchantment was unleashed, it used up charges. If the charges were completely depleted, the weapon was for all intents and purposes just a regular sword until the enchantments built back up or were restored with filled soul gems. In contrast, the attribute boosts on his armor were an excellent example of powerful static enchantments, which never ran out.

  He ha
dn’t understood the real difference between static and active at first. It had helped a great deal when Gloran, the other village enchanter, had explained the difference between enchantment levels and enchantment ranks. Active enchantments could achieve higher ranks, meaning they would increase in strength concordant with a rise in rank. Reaching rank two for his Freeze enchantment had increased the base cold damage his weapon imparted from +1 to +2. It had also made it more likely for the weapon’s Freeze effect to trigger, something that could turn part or all of an enemy’s body to ice for a short time.

  Another important factor regarding static enchantments was cost. Put simply, they cost more. Every enchantment Richter could add onto a piece of armor or a weapon had a base cost that had to be paid with captured souls. His Freeze enchantment, for example, had a base cost of three. The first rank cost three soul points, the second rank six points, then twelve, then twenty-one, thirty-three, etc. The static enchantment +1 damage, on the other hand, cost more initially, requiring five soul points. It added exactly the same damage to a weapon as the first rank of Freeze, but without the added effect of turning an opponent to ice.

  Another large difference between static and active enchantments was that the former were immune to one of the Forge of Heaven’s most prolific abilities. When most people learned an enchantment, they could only imbue an item with it at that specific rank. If you were taught Fire Damage rank three then you could only enchant weapons at rank three. The Forge allowed you to learn other ranks. Each time Richter learned a new enchantment, it was rank one, but the more he practiced it, there was a chance that he could learn the next rank. He was currently up to rank five with Freeze.