Day 96: Sunday the 23rd, Kuthona, 4707
I got up today and checked in with my bevy of homunculi to see that everything was good. The twins were working on more stuff for the store, since the tools that they made were apparently a well-liked side offering to the normal weapons and armor that Savah's usually carried. War-Bringer was doing rounds up on the roof, walking back and forth and sighting down anything that remotely looked threatening. Niddler however, Niddler was the most interesting of the four. When I got in touch with him, he informed me that all of the chickens were doing fine, but that one was seemingly attacking the others. I sent to him that the one was probably a rooster and that this was probably normal behavior, but that if he finds that all of the chickens all gang up on one, that he should let me know. He told me that he would and asked what I'd like to do with the eggs. I asked him what he meant, and he told me that he had collected the eggs up the past evening.
I thought about it and told him that we would have to find a way for him to get in to put them in the pantry. Niddler said that he could just drop them off in a basket on the porch every morning, and we could do that. I carefully got up out of bed and went to the pantry to find a sufficient basket. I set this out on the patio and Niddler came down to inspect it. He nodded to me and took off. I went back inside and saw that Savah was just waking up. I summoned an Unseen Servant and quietly ordered it to make coffee and breakfast. It floated on its way, and I went to sit back on the bed with Savah.
After a few minutes, the unseen servant came in with steaming mugs of coffee. It gave Savah hers and took mine. Savah drank deep and breathed out with relief. Saying a simple word, coffee, with a sigh. We sat together for a few more minutes and a platter with food came in. Savah and I ate the light breakfast together. I sent the servant to clean up the kitchen while Savah and I slowly got up and out of bed. We hugged for a bit and I used my spell to summon our clothes and armor onto us. Savah smiled and said that I really needed to figure out how to do this in reverse. I thought about talking to Faunra to have a pair of manikins enchanted to just stand around and maybe operate as a defense if needed. Then I could just shunt the armor from us and onto them.
We both got armed up with our favorite weapons, finished getting ready, and headed downstairs. I had the unseen servant move from cleaning up the kitchen to tidying up the bedroom. Savah headed downstairs to her store and Vaeren was already there, getting it ready for operation. Vaeren told us this and that we can be there for it if we wanted. Savah said that she trusted him and that we had to head to Destrier Manor. Vaeren brightened and asked us if we could drop a letter off for Faunra on our way past, and Savah said that we would. Vaeren reached into his robe's pockets and handed us a sealed scroll and Savah told him that we would drop it off on the way back.
We went into the garage and I got on my bike. Savah jumped on behind me, and noted that mine was faster than her bike. She smiled at me when I turned to look at her. She slammed her helmet's face shield into place and I turned to take off. We rode down the Lost Coast Road, making excellent time. I kind of wondered how much time could be saved if the roads were actual roads, rather than this compacted ground, while I drove.
When we headed down Foxglove River Road, we found that it was a bit in better condition, and the bridge was now all stone, of a manner similar to the wall that Chelger was calling down in Sandpoint. I was exceptionally happy that the road was less bumpy. All in all, it took a little over an hour to get there, and when we did, Dame Rebekah and Chelger were both outside, performing some morning calisthenics. When they heard our bike, they quickly finished up their processes and welcomed us in. I parked the bike and we both got off of it. Savah ran up to Dame Rebekah and gave her a big hug. I walked up and shook Chelger's hand, before he pulled me in for a hug. We all said our hellos and good mornings before we retreated to their foyer.
I asked Dame Rebekah if they had done their divinations, and they both shook their heads, and indicating that they were actually just about to. We went up to drawing room and there were various items of mystical nature on shelves. Dame Rebekah went over to a large well-made silver mirror, and lit some incense next to it. I think it was the incense that I had gotten her for Yule/Crystalhue. For ten minutes, Dame Rebekah chanted and we sat around silent, waiting.
When she finished her chanting, I saw the mirror start to change, so I started taking a video of what it showed. In the mirror, we were seeing a bird's eye view of the town, then it zoomed in on the Northern Gate. A group of giants were attacking it. Almost simultaneously, another group was attacking my property, and a third group were going after the Noble's buildings up on the ridge. It was kind of odd, seeing all of this with no sound, but it looked to be quite dangerous. We couldn't pick out the exact numbers or details of how many we were going to be fighting, but we knew that the ambush was going to happen now. We all re-watched the video on my phone, and although there was some lessening of detail, it was all there.
We all discussed this for a minute before Chelger volunteered to perform a divination to assist us in this, but asked what he should ask about. After a brief discussion, we all agreed that the most important bits of info to get would be when the attack was to start. Chelger started his chanting and the burning of incense while he beseeched Shelyn for any possible information about when the assault on Sandpoint would begin. He chanted for ten minutes and stopped. He looked around confused for a second, before my phone started up playing a song.
Now I swear that I didn't have this song on any kind of alarm or playlist, or even in my phone at all, that I could remember anyway. It was All Star by Smash Mouth. For me it had been played out by all the Shrek memes I had seen in the past, so I didn't listen to it. Ever. We listened to it and Chelger said that he KNEW that this was the message from Shelyn. It was just in the form of a riddle. I laughed that the gods of this realm used random music for divination just like I did back on Earth. I got some odd looks before the four of us decided that we should talk to Faunra and Shalelu about all of this.
We left drawing room and headed to the stables, where the pseudo-pegasi were. Savah and I went back to my bike while Dame Rebekah and Chelger got on their mounts. When everyone was ready, we headed to the Ashen Rise to talk to find our Arcane Specialist's house. Savah held on tight onto me as we headed back to down Foxglove River Road. Maybe now it should be Destrier River? We made our way back and hit the Lost Coast Road. We headed North and made our way to the path that was growing a little bit more worn down with every trip we made. Maybe I'll find a druid that can enchant my tires to not cause the terrain to be worn down when I drive off road?
We got to the residence of our hunter and archer allies and they were both outside ready to welcome us. They brought us in to their abode and we all sat in their common room. After a minute of silence, Faunra asked us what brought us here today. Savah spoke up and told her that she had a letter from Vaeren, but that we were here to discuss the vision that Dame Rebekah provided for us, and the divination that Chelger had summoned for clarification. I pulled up my phone and the homemade projector and set it to play.
After a few times of replaying the video, Faunra said that we could stop. Then she asked for the results of the divination that Chelger had performed. I pulled my phone out of the projector and looked to play the last song. It wasn't All Star. It was something that I had remembered playing a few days ago when I was working in the shop. I had to search to find a song that I had no recollection of even putting on my phone. Savah asked what was wrong, and I told her that I had to look for the song because I didn't have records of having played it recently. Chelger offered up to Faunra that when he cast the spell that he knew it was successful, but that he didn't receive the response. Then suddenly, my phone had started playing the song and he just knew that the response had come in the that form, from my phone. By the time that he was finished, I had finally found the song and hit play.
Faunra and Shalelu both listened to the song, and asked for a few repeats. Faunra had to snicker a little after she had heard the song a few times. She gave me quite the questioning look before asking about the meanings of the song. I told her that it was basically just a feel good song designed to uplift and give people confidence. She asked if this had any specific association with a day or time. I told them that not really, but that there was a line that kept sticking out to me. They asked me which one it was, and I told them that it was "go for the moon".
I told them that most people thought that the line was a reference to Apollo 11, but that it was actually uttered by Michael Collins during the Apollo 8 mission to the moon. I told them that it was the first manned space shuttle to leave my old world, fly to the moon and circle it before returning back to land. This mission was first launched on what was a Saturday back home. Faunra asked what day that would correspond to here. I shrugged and said that I actually lost track, especially since it wasn't that useful anymore. I added that my phone wasn't really able to get the updating signals to get an accurate date/time anymore. Chelger said that he didn't think that Shelyn would require us to know some obscure knowledge from a world far away, especially when the name of the song itself includes a reference to a day. Faunra nodded and said that Star-day would be the right at the end of the normal ranges of divination, which would fall in line with how far in advance the spells can predict the future.
I asked if we could figure out what we could do with this information. Faunra noted that we had about five days to get the town ready. Dame Rebekah and Chelger noted that they had a few rooms that they could use to store people. Faunra shook her head and noted that the small amount of people that we could have at the Manor were a pithy amount compared to the actual amounts of people in the town. Chelger nodded and said that the tunnels were still the best bet. I agreed and said that we should push this info to the Mayor.
Everyone agreed with what we had so far and we had a quick discussion about what our further plans for today should be. Faunra and Shalelu noted that they wouldn't be very much use going into town. Faunra said that they would be better off working on continuing to make whatever they could to add to the town's defenses. Dame Rebekah and Chelger noted that they would both be better served communing with their deities and trying to hash out whatever plans they could today. I asked both pairs to have their radios on in case the Mayor or someone else needed to confirm the message. Faunra and Dame Rebekah said that they would.
I got back on my bike and Savah got on behind me. We high-tailed it back towards the town. While we were travelling up the Lost Coast Road, we saw what I now know is a wyvern coming straight for us. It was over a hundred feet away, so I tried to do some quick and dirty mental math and expected it to be on us within eighteen seconds. Since I was going at max speed, and it was flying towards us on an intercept, I elected to slow down and give Savah a chance to shoot. Savah gracefully pulled out her rifle, carefully took aim, and fired a shot off at it. After I heard the dampened sound of her shot, I cut off the water to the boiler and started to hit the brakes.
We slowed down from our cruising speed of about twenty-seven miles an hour to what I would guess was around fourteen. I figured that if I pushed more to slow down, I could possibly get down to walking speed within another six seconds. Certainly not what I was used to when having to stop quick. Savah's shot had struck true, and enraged the flying beastie. It flew even faster towards us, to try to get within striking distance.
Seeing how I was going to have to be a bit more proactive in this, I continued to slow down while Savah lined up another shot. It hit the aerial beastie again, and drew further ire. The Wyvern dived right at her, before it pivoted to line itself up and lash out with its tail at her. The armor I had made had done its job, and prevented the barb from getting in. Savah did the most acrobatic flip I think I have ever seen and tried to hack it with my former axe. Sadly, the head did not find purchase in the thing's hide.
This was when the combat started to turn. It lashed out at Savah and bit her. It tried to grab ahold of Savah, but she proved too slippery and got away with only a vicious bite. I fired off a shot with my pistol as I wheeled my bike around to flank it. It tagged me with its tail in retaliation. With the wyvern flanked, Savah managed to get in a good hit on it with the survival axe, while I fired away my pistol at it a second time, tagging it in the back of the head.
The wyvern dropped with that last hit, and I looked to check in on Savah. Surprisingly, she was rushing over to me, apparently more concerned about my hit than I was. Savah told me that she had seen the wyvern stab me, and was worried about the poison. I told her that I didn't feel different in any way, and that I was fairly certain that I wasn't actually poisoned, that I didn't see any fluid coming from the barb or the wound aside from the normal blood. We both drank potions that had been labelled as healing by our group and instantly felt better. Savah took a second one and was almost completely healed, with only a set of ugly bruises where the teeth had been.
I asked her if there was anything that we could get out of a wyvern and Savah responded that she was certain that Lars would be happy to tan the hide. She noted that the poison would normally be worth maybe something in the neighborhood of three thousand gold a piece, but most people who would buy something like that would be most certainly evil. She took a look over the corpse and found that it was completely out of poison. Either it had pumped all it could into me, and I managed to not get effected, or more likely, it had just come from another encounter and was all tapped out. We were not too far from town, so I fished out some paracord, a tarp and the like, and made a travois to drag behind the bike.
We would need some help to bleed this thing out. We made our way on the Lost Coast Road and called ahead on the radio for Jonathan. He picked up after a minute and we told him that we needed his help at the house, if he was available. Jonathan responded that he had just kicked the shite out of a pack of Sczarni thugs who were trying to shake down his place of business, so he was all amped up and ready to go. We got back to the property, and looked for a tree that was strong enough to hang the wyvern from.
Eventually, we found one and just in time, Jonathan arrived. He helped us hoist and set up the wyvern. While we were getting that done, I briefed Jonathan on what the divinations held. Much to all of our surprise, when it was all strung it, we discovered that it was still alive. Jonathan said that he would handle it, and told us to continue on to the Mayor. I thanked him and Savah and I went to walk over to the town hall. When we got there, we were escorted up to the Mayor's office immediately. The Mayor said that she was expecting us after the conversation yesterday, and that we should go ahead and tell her the bad news.
I looked at Savah and pulled out my phone. I started the video of the mirror for the Mayor. We asked her to watch it all the way through first and then we could stop it and answers any questions that she might have after the first viewing. She dutifully watched the prediction and afterwards asked how certain we were of all of this. I told her that we had received a verification through a second deity that this was going to happen on Starday. The Mayor asked if we were certain that it would be this Starday. I told her that both of the divinations that were used had a limit of one week for their predictions.
The Mayor was quiet for a minute. Savah and I waited for her to say something, anything. Eventually the Mayor stood up, walked to the door of her office and got one of her secretaries to come up to the door. The secretary nodded and told her that he would head over immediately. The Mayor came back to her desk and sat back down. She told us that she was bringing the Sheriff in on this, and that she was certain that the town would have to take action quickly. I apologized to the Mayor, and noted that if what we saw in the mirror was accurate, we could expect at least a three-point attack.
The Mayor agreed and noted that divinations were rarely exceptionally accurate, but that this didn't show what the forces consisted of. I told her that we had also just killed a wyvern on the way back from checking in with both the clerical and arcane members of the group for clarification, and that it might have been rustled up by the approaching horde. The Mayor face palmed a bit and asked if we ever ended up going anywhere without causing an event. I told her that I was going to be working as much as possible for the next few days to get the town as prepared as I can for this. Savah nodded and said that she would cut back on prices as much as possible to help the town as well.
The Mayor thought about this for a minute, and asked what kinds of things I could make. I told her that I had already delivered forty ranged explosives to the Sheriff, delivered him a new firearm, a new bike, and some other goods. I added that I would even offer training on how to use all of these items, if necessary for the town guard. The Mayor asked how many firearms I could make in a week. I did some mental math and told her that if I diverted the entirety of my workshop to it, I could make four a day, just the firearms.
The Mayor asked if I would be willing to do this, and I told her that I would if the town arranges for the materials. I added that I'll do the work for free and also spend time training whomever in the usage of the firearms. Savah spoke up and said that she would help with the training as well. The Mayor said that she would talk to a few of the town council to see what they think. I shuddered as she mentioned the town council. She smiled and said that she could get away with getting the approval of at least four members, then she really wouldn't need to worry about it.
The Mayor called another worker in and asked them to get the following townsfolk to come here, to her office, at their immediate availability. They were to tell the individuals that "it wasn't just a zoning issue". She then told them the names: Father Abstalar Zantus, Ameiko Kaijitsu, Ilsoari Gandethus, and Kaye Tesarani. The worker went off, and Mayor Deverin smiled to us. She must have known that every single one of those people were someone who I had either done something for, or were well acquainted with and did not think ill of me. The Mayor asked if it was wise to put that many firearms into the hands of the guards.
I thought about it for a minute and said that we might run afoul of some organization from another area, as I had remembered some vague notion that firearms were just as protected as technology was in this world, but oddly by two different groups, but that you could look at them like crossbows without the strings. Mayor Deverin asked me next how much ammunition we could make if we were to make only nineteen of the firearms, since Sheriff Hemlock already had one. Savah cleared her throat, and I corrected the Mayor with seventeen, as my cousin Oren and his newly betrothed Arika both had one as well.
The Mayor corrected, and asked for eighteen guns like Sheriff Hemlock, Oren, and Arika received. I thought for a minute, and told her forty. She balked, and asked forty pieces of ammunition total. I corrected her with forty pieces of ammunition each. Mayor Deverin seemed to like that a bit more. Sheriff Hemlock came just as we got past that detail. Mayor Deverin asked him how he liked his new sidearm. Sheriff Hemlock noted that he really enjoyed how easy it was to have everywhere he could possibly need it. Mayor Deverin said that this was good, and asked what he thought about arming all of the guard in town with these.
Sheriff Hemlock said that he might need to think about that. Mayor Deverin told him that we had just found out that the town would be attacked by a horde of giants on Starday. Then we showed him the video of the mirror's prediction. Sheriff Hemlock pondered for a few seconds before he looked me in the eye, and asked if I could have the guns made by then. I told him that I could, with enough ammunition to kill a giant for each gun. I told him that there was a different option, however. That I could work on bigger guns for the north walls, if they wanted, but that it would take up most of the week for either.
The Sheriff thought about it and told the Mayor that if the town really was going to be assaulted on multiple fronts, then it would be better to get all of the guard armed and ready. I told them both that we could start work immediately, but the Mayor suggested that we just wait for a few minutes and go over what we thought could work and would not work. Unsurprisingly, the Mayor was a bit appreciative that we were already working on the fortification without needing town financial incentives. I told her that she might want to contact Dame Rebekah and Chelger regarding continuing on the wall work and adding more reinforcement to the existing wall.
The first of the town council members summoned to arrive was Father Zantus, who knocked and then entered when he was requested to come in. The Mayor gave him a brief description on what was going on, and we showed him the video. I wondered if we were going to show everyone individually, but then realized that this wasn't the worst thing, even if it would play hell on my battery life today. Father Zantus asked us which deities it was that provided us with these predictions. I told him that it was Iomedae with confirmation by Shelyn. Father Zantus nodded, noting that they really had nothing to gain from the town misunderstanding the portents.
Ilsoari was the next to show, and we went over the video again. He asked us which spells were the ones that we used, which required a radio to Dame Rebekah. She managed to pick up the call, and responded back that it was a spell called Fortune's Path for the mirror, and confirmation by Divination. Ilsoari nodded and said that he felt that there was no reason to disbelieve it. He had finished up his statement when Ameiko entered what felt like a quickly shrinking room.
Ameiko saw the replay and asked for what form the confirmation from Shelyn came in. I pulled up the song and played it before telling her the name and the title. Ameiko told everyone that it made sense that Shelyn would work through a song title while still trying to give people hope. The rest agreed and Ameiko asked how many more we were waiting for. Just then Kaye Tesarani showed up and came in. We replayed both the video and the song a few times, trying to find any correlation between what we were seeing and what was playing. Ultimately, we all decided that Shelyn had decided to utilize the phone because it was the thing that was used to record the video from the previous divination. I tried timing it so that the song played while the attack happened, but the phone glitched and shut down both programs.
The Mayor then got everyone's attention, and asked if she could have a vote, to bring the town to a full on preparation mode for this projected attack, and to make plans for the evacuation of people when the time comes. There was one hundred percent affirmative votes on both. Next came what I had thought was the tricky part. The Mayor then asked if she could release funds to provide for the raw materials for building weapons for the guard that will be more effective against the giants. Ilsoari was the only one with a question and he asked if it would be at profit. I told him that it wouldn't, that I would be doing this at cost only.
When the vote came, it was still a complete affirmation vote, with Ilsoari noting that he would have preferred some compensation for my time. I shrugged and said that this was the fight for the town, and that whatever compensation that I might receive should be figured out after we deal with everything that is coming our way. I immediately sent a thought to both of the twins that they should focus on making the revolvers and got back confirmations that they were changing focus. The Mayor thanked Savah and me for our contributions, and sent us on our way. We rushed back to the house.
Savah gave me a hug and a kiss before I rushed into the workshop for two reasons. One, I was going to recharge my phone and put some music on. The other of course was that I would have to work just as hard as Veronica or Igor to get the guns finished in as quick a time as I could. With as much of the day spent as it was, I kind of put everything else on autopilot. I summoned up a pair of unseen servants to deal with minor tasks and to get food ready. I guess that Savah spoke to Jonathan, as he had taken the wyvern meat and hide of to be worked on.
After eight hours, we had four guns made. It took all of my effort and all of Veronica and Igor's but we had four new Taurus style revolvers. I had Niddler fly to the Sheriff to pass along the message that four could be picked up, but that I had not made any ammunition for them yet. He seemed a little confused at first, hearing my voice from Niddler's body, but he told Niddler that he would start sending people by to pick them up tomorrow. I thanked him and said that I would try to see if I couldn't get some ammo made tomorrow. Sheriff Hemlock said that he would also eventually like to talk more about a prisoner carrier. I told him that after this is solved, we can look to other improvements. With that, I had Niddler say good bye and fly back to the house.
Savah and I enjoyed a decent meal, and we planned on what we would be doing tomorrow, and how we would be getting the people of the town set up as best we could before the event. I decided that I needed to get all of this down before I collapsed, but it was a good day, at least.