Day 128: Oathday the 24th, Abadius, 4708
I woke up to Jonathan waiting for me in the Tower, patiently. He asked me what my plans were for the day, and I told him that I'd be finishing my armor modifications. I added that if we were leaving today, I could utilize his assistance in getting the equipment that I had modified changed back. Jonathan asked me how, and I told him that I just needed him to lift it out of the hallway and into the main hall, where it should revert back to normal. Jonathan nodded and told me to page him over the radio when I was done. I thanked him and told him that I would.
I got up, got dressed, and hurried off to the Hall of Transmutation. The equipment was still chugging away at all of the minor processes that I had left it to do, including sorting raw materials. I selected all of the raw materials that I was going to be finishing up with today and tasked three groups of unseen crafters to bundle up the raw materials back out in the hallway for storage and extraction. I dismissed those who had been assigned to gather things from the other halls and finished up my modifications for the armor.
I did the best with what I had, and I knew that using these batteries from this place would end up being my doom, but at least I can try and rebuild the four that got trashed when I got back to Sandpoint, depending on how long we have until we have to move on. When I was done with getting the armor modified, I gave up on trying to get any further options or benefits. Maybe if I find a way to get back here, I can start again, but I needed to make sure that this technology didn't pollute this realm faster than I could ensure it was safe to do so.
Jonathan got there very soon after I called him, and he was there to watch the armor power up as I summoned it around me. I spent a few seconds calibrating everything and figured that I'd have to do that every few hours anyway, just to make sure that everything was properly working, much better than some other systems I might have been tempted to try. As it was, they certainly sped up my reactions and increased the strength that I could apply by using it. I could work on upgrading the leg armatures to increase my personal movement speed, but I figure that I'll check into that if I really need to later. The bike moves plenty fast enough for me.
We got everything moved out into the hallway, and all of the machines that I had fabricated turned back into their base components, which amounted to a lot of blanks and blocks that base metals had been melted into before being turned into whatever I had needed them to become. I'm certain that if there was any water left after being split and then burned, it would have converted itself back. Several copper, silver, gold, and platinum coins reformed as I had utilized them for power transmission, contactors and fuses, solid state components, and thermal probes and the fuel cell. All back to cold hard coinage.
Some of the gemstones that I had sequestered from the group treasury were back, along with the lens from the magnifying set that the zombie that we had found in the halls of Necromancy had been using. All in all, it took about an hour, but when we were done, there wasn't anything left in the Halls of Transmutation that could be considered more advanced than was in it previously. Then Jonathan and I brought everything that we were not taking back to Sandpoint back into the Fabrication Chambers, to be broken down further.
I did some stretches in the armor and worked on the response triggers for the armor and then followed Jonathan back to the Halls of Evocation to meet up with everyone else. Dame Rebekah and Faunra were there with all four of the improved and prepared weapons. I asked what was the deal and Dame Rebekah said that we were planning on getting out of here immediately after weapons were fully enhanced. I asked if they thought that there was anything to worry about. Faunra nodded and Dame Rebekah reiterated something to me that I had told them, that "Special K" would likely be focusing on this and might take more notice when we enchant one or more weapons.
I asked what order we should enchant the weapons to be Runeforged. Faunra indicated that the order that we should get them done is that Jonathan's gloves first, as those utilized the wine from the halls of Necromancy and the Ashes from the Halls of Evocation. This would also be our least straight forward enchantment, and if there were issues, we needed to deal with it first. The second one to be modified would be Dame Rebekah's blade, which was just finished with being ready. This one required the Ashes of Evocation and the Shards of Illusion. This would give some continuity and also a bit of misdirection if he is watching. I nodded and continued to listen. Faunra indicated that her bow would be next, as she had some worries about how the enchantments would work with her bow. It also utilized the Shards of Illusion along with one of the "tools" of Enchantment. My rifle would be last, and utilized the same components as Faunra's but if we needed to get out of here quickly, it should give us the least issues.
I agreed completely, and noted that we would have our best weapons available to us as soon as Faunra's Bow was done, and that my rifle would be the icing on the cake. Faunra added that none of our equipment would be available for use until it was enchanted by the Runeforge, as we'd need to put it through further purification after we utilized it again. I nodded, checked on my pistol, and asked what we needed to further pack up. Dame Rebekah told me that everything was packed, and that we were ready to start our path over.
As a whole, the group left the Halls of Evocation, with Jonathan instructing the Warriors of Wrath to stand guard at the master teleport circle, to ensure that we can get out safely. I wondered what we were going to do with them, but didn't ask. While we were slowly walking towards the Runeforge Pool, Faunra initiated a whispered message to me. She indicated that me going in guns blazing if we have a confrontation might not be the best method of maintaining the surprise factor of my abilities. I quietly sent back to her, asking what I should do. She told me that since, in my new armor upgrades, I looked like a golem, I should be invisible and keep myself as hidden as possible before getting into the area.
I thanked her and held back a little. Not a difficult thing as all of the others moved faster than me naturally. I started to prepare all kinds of anti-detection based effects, and finished it off with activating my armor's new concealment properties. I honed in on all of the different hiding and blocking technologies I could, and, for lack of a better thought process, hid behind the statues of Special K. I figured that if he was going to be looking at the pool, he'd be stupid enough to not look behind the statue, to notice a hidden, invisible, unaligned, golem of unknown origin, as opposed to the active humanoids.
By the time I had taken up my position, Faunra had set the two components into the Runeforge Pool, and retreated from it, leaving only the gloves on the side of the pool. The pool started to glow a golden hue, and wisps of energy writhed up and touched the gloves, them being the closest weapon to the pool. Faunra set the gloves gently into the pool and they too started to glow. I could just barely see the Thassilonian runes embroider themselves into the cuffs. Faunra waited for the process to end and then Jonathan stepped forward to remove them and go back to his waiting position outside of the thirty-foot radius.
Next up was Dame Rebekah's blessed sword. Faunra stepped forward again, to set the blade next to the pool, and then set the ashes and the shards into the pool. The pool again glowed gold, and energy lashed out to the awaiting sword. There was a bit of play back and forth, between the energies of the pool and the sword, until Faunra stepped forward and dipped Dame Rebekah's black blade into it. Dame Rebekah rushed forward and got her sword out of the pool. The blade had faintly glowing golden runes etched into it. There seemed to be a bit of conflict in the blade at first, but the blade stabilized and the runes shown greatly. The pool seemed even more anxious now.
Faunra dropped the shards and one of Delvahine's "toys" into the pool and instantly the pool started roiling and glowing gold. She put her bow in and it glowed as well, the green of the bow getting a golden hue coming from it, and golden runes etching into it as it solidified. She stepped back from the pool only for a familiar booming voice to ring out from the statue that I was standing behind. The statue moved as the voice said that it was inspired by our optimism but that we would never reach Xin-Shalast, and proceeded to threaten the three of them.
Faunra yelled out that we'd never lose to him, and that her people would have vengeance for the atrocities that he inflicted upon them. I'd swear that the statue seemed to squint at her in a slight response her statement as she unloaded her volley of arrows into it. She subtly shook her head to me, and subvocalized that they should have this fight, and that secrecy was key.
Dame Rebekah rushed in, in an attempt to slice the thing with her newly enhanced blade. The statue swung its stone glaive in a vicious arc, damaging her greatly, and slowly turning her to stone! The blood that sprayed from her wound as the blow had shattered armor turned first, with her body quickly turning until she stood still. There was a malevolent feeling from the statue as if to say that this was what he'd be striking next. I resolved to take action to do something to stop it before it could, secrecy or strategy be damned.
Jonathan was enraged and launched off to strike away at the statue, its reflexes not sufficient to strike at him as well as Dame Rebekah. Jonathan flew up in a rage and pummeled the statue. He didn't even activate his telekinetic enhancement, just pure rage. His first hit didn't land true, but his second one hit, and he continued his barrage with three more hits, his second hit in the whole volley being the hardest. The statue crumbled under his attack, and Jonathan gently landed down next to Dame Rebekah.
While the head crumbled, the voice came out again, telling us that he had laid low one of our own and that we would be fool-hardy to attempt to seek him at Mhar Massif. He added that we should be honored that she was the first one slaughtered by his hand to bring back Shalast. He cut off after that, the mouth of the statue disintegrating. Everyone looked despondent at first, and then a bit of inspiration hit me. I remembered that we could fix this. I rifled through my backpack and pulled out an aged scroll, one of the scrolls that we had found in the Thanos chair of Jordimandus. I activated my ability to Read Magic while I did so and started to read from the scroll.
Dame Rebekah changed back from stone to flesh and collapsed to the ground. She couldn't move but was breathing and was conscious. I scooped up the poor woman and carried her over to a safe place. Jonathan helped remove rubble from in front of us and Faunra rushed over to where Dame Rebekah was now hovering above the ground in my invisible arms. Apparently the effect didn't go away when a magic scroll was used, if I didn't use it in an attack.
Faunra spoke to my general head area, that we needed to finish the process and get out of here. Dame Rebekah looked up at me and said that she was fine for now. Jonathan looked me dead in the eyes - a great feat considering that I was a) invisible and b) had my eyes shielded by the lens of the helmet, and said that he would defend Dame Rebekah while we did this. I rushed over to my position for the event and watched as Faunra got the shards and the second "toy" ready and placed into the pool. She got my rifle out and put it next to the pool before dipping it into the pool.
The rifle glowed with the golden light, with no sign at first of the runes that had appeared on the other weapons. Then the pair of runes flared up on the stock of the rifle. I instantly knew that they meant love and pride. A positive and a negative connotation sin, where the love was the reflection of lust and the pride was the reflection of humility. I could see the pride rune on Faunra's bow, along with the lust one. I grabbed the rifle from the pool and we walked back towards Jonathan and Faunra, my rifle disappearing into invisibility as I stowed it while we walk. The pool was calming now, no longer churning with energy, and we were done with what we needed to do here in the Runeforge. We needed to head home to try to get to someone who could help Dame Rebekah.
I noticed Jonathan's gloves had the runes for wrath and gluttony, the wrath one matches the mark that is on Jonathan's forehead, from when he bested the Halls of Evocation wielder. Dame Rebekah's sword was carefully placed in its sheath as we got there, with the sigils for humility and wrath on the blade shining. What a mixed batch we were. We got back to the teleport circle with the Warriors of Wrath waiting for us. There was a quick discussion with Jonathan asking if any of the Warriors of Wrath were willing to stay to keep the place in operation so that it does not deteriorate any further.
One of them noted that they needed to follow the High Lord of Wrath, and Jonathan shrugged, saying that we would need to figure out how to get the Pathfinders back here. Faunra noted that we had found a tuning fork that had the resonance of the plane in the Halls of Necromancy, and that we could give it to them. I asked Jonathan if he thought that it would be good for the Pathfinders to work with the Warriors of Wrath to get their combat abilities improved. Jonathan smiled and said that we could possibly get transplants between the two groups. Faunra, tired of us plotting, cast a teleportation spell and we disappeared from the Halls of Evocation and reappeared at the base of Rimeskull.
I looked at everyone else and noted that I'd be a minute or two getting the ship. Faunra indicated that she could use a scroll to Teleport us all to the top, and I just smiled and activated the jump jet boots that she had enchanted. I flew up towards where we had parked the ship. Ten feet a second, so it wasn't the fastest ascent, but it did a little over a six mile an hour elevation. About what I could comfortably walk at a fast pace without strain. After twenty seconds of continuous vertical elevation, I was on the platform that I had landed the plane on.
I got to the entrance and unlocked the ramp. I went straight for the engine and found that the stones had cooled off somehow. I was unaware of how they could do that, but I found that I could actually cause them to heat up now, via a spell, like Vaeren could. This was awesome. I got the engines heated back up to operating temperature and did all of my preflight checks as quickly as I could. I lifted off and used the descent to get the plane situated correctly.
When I touched down, the snow blew away. I triggered the remote latch for the access gate and everyone got on. There were more people than seats, so Dame Rebekah was carefully loaded into to my copilot seat. She was strapped in as tight as we could without damaging her, and we wanted to make sure that she wasn't suffering any ill effects from being on her side while we travelled. As soon as we got back into the air, I was on my phone with Savah, telling her that we had an emergency and that we were going to have to get assistance.
Savah came back almost immediately, asking me what kind of emergency. I told her that we were stable, but that Dame Rebekah was in need of assistance from a cleric, and that we would likely be heading directly to Magnimar. Savah asked why we didn't get ahold of Chelger. I looked to Dame Rebekah and she told me that her enchanted radio was in her backpack. I messaged to Faunra's radio that we could use her assistance.
Faunra came up forward and asked what was needed. Dame Rebekah asked Faunra to grab her radio and send to Chelger. Faunra nodded and found the radio where it was placed and asked what we needed to send. Dame Rebekah said that she should hold the radio up to her face and she would tell Chelger what was needed. Faunra did so and Dame Rebekah told Chelger that she needed him to be available to cast a Restoration spell on her, or be ready to utilize a scroll if needed.
Chelger sent back that he had prayed for that spell this morning, so we continued on towards Sandpoint. He asked us how long it would take for us to get there. I told Faunra that we would get there in less than three hours. Faunra looked oddly but repeated it to Chelger. He sent that he'd be in Sandpoint. Faunra put the radio back in Dame Rebekah's bag and looked at me. I told her that she needs to get everyone buckled up, that I was going to push this faster.
Faunra rushed back and I asked Dame Rebekah if she was good. She told me that she was, and I pulled the throttle back and ramped us up to our high level speed. We could go faster, but it would start to cause damage to the plane. If we were closer, I might push it but we'd fall apart before we even got close. After the first hour Dame Rebekah asked me how we were doing.
I looked over what readings I could and told her that we were doing fine. We would have enough fuel and the engines would be fine to get to Sandpoint, but we wouldn't be able to do a return trip at least. I told her that we'd not get head back to Rimeskull until I went over the engines and everything. Dame Rebekah laughed a little and I apologized for not being able to help her. Dame Rebekah said that it wasn't a big deal, but I knew that this would fuck me up pretty good.
We shared a discussion about what it would have been like back where I am from and I told her that we had a lot wounded veterans and how we tried to do what we could for them. I added that a lot of our medical science was advanced by the wars and militaries. Dame Rebekah asked what happened to those who were completely unable to be healed. I told her that we would try our best to help them, but if the person needs to, we will help them pass with as little pain as possible.
Dame Rebekah said that she could respect that. She asked me for an update after our conversation and we had about forty-five minutes left. Dame Rebekah thanked me and asked what I expected to happen next. I shrugged and said that we needed to figure out everything, that we needed to check everything that we could to get ourselves prepared for the next mission. I added that Special K was obviously dangerous and getting closer to being able to harm and hinder us, aside from what he did to her, of course.
We continued on our conversation until we were about five minutes out of Sandpoint. I dropped the speed back down to our normal speed and got on the radio to Savah, to tell her that we were on the approach. Everything went fairly well on our descent from where we were cruising and we got into place above our landing spot in the center of the school. As we lowered, the center of the courtyard split and we lowered into a warehouse that had been built for the plane.
As we landed I came over the intercom, telling everyone that we were in Sandpoint, and that this would be our final stop for the day. I got up, unbuckled Dame Rebekah and carried her to the steps and the ramp up to ground level. Chelger was there and he had me set her down. He asked if we had any diamond dust and Faunra brought some forwards.
Chelger started the spell and I was silent while he worked. After eighteen seconds of casting, a golden glow formed around Dame Rebekah and she stood up like nothing had happened. Jonathan and his new cohorts were unloading the plane into the underground storage centers underneath my school. I stood there silently for a minute before heading to go check in with Savah. It was just about then that the armor powered down. I did my checks and powered it back up, engines starting up.
I got to the house and Savah was there. I utilized a new feature of the armor, that allowed it to assist me in removal, so it only took six seconds to be completely free of it. Savah and I hugged and she told me that she was glad that I was okay. I told her that I was glad that we could get the help that we could to Dame Rebekah. I added that we had seen a lot of wrong things in the Runeforge, and were attacked by someone after we had finished making our weapons stronger. I added that this wasn't over but that we were going to need to prepare to finish up on this task. Savah corrected me, quest. I sighed and agreed.
With everything offloaded, Jonathan took the eight Warriors of Wrath back to the Bolting Barghest to get them meals, as this would be the first time that they actually ate, ever, and then figured he would take them to talk to Brodert, for both their sake and Brodert's. Faunra got her bike out and her own pile of goodies. She noted that we were going to have to do a trip to Magnimar soon. Savah smiled and said that we could take the plane. I added, tomorrow, that we could take the plane tomorrow. I needed to give it a once over before we used it again.
Before she could leave, I told Faunra that we were going to need another extradimensional chamber in it to account for extra passengers. Faunra shrugged, saying that she figured that we'd need to do so as soon as we brought the Warriors back, and then took off. I walked back over to my armor and stepped back into it, with it sealing itself around me in six seconds. Savah laughed and noted that I was going to have to figure out a way to do that with her armor. I told her that I had a lot to tell her about my time in the Runeforge.
We walked the rest of the way to the house and I told her about the fight with the dragon and then the Elementals. By the time that we had gotten to the Bedroom to deposit my effective power armor, I had been explaining how I had rigged up the lens that I had gotten for Niddler, to be able to see what he sees, to the gun to help aim it. Savah listened intently to what I was saying and then when I was out of the armor and had all of my gear packed up, she leapt on me, hugging me fiercely.
I was a bit surprised by the alacrity, but I was not displeased. After a few moments with her, we calmed down and she told me how worried she had been when the Lantern Archon had shown up with the message, thinking at first that I was injured or worse. She was relieved that it was just an update since we could reach her. I nodded, saying that the radios were more powerful with Faunra's enchantment, but not powerful enough for that. I grabbed the four more or less slagged batteries and brought them down with me to head to the workshop.
It was another display room for Savah's armory. I was confused for a minute and then realized that Veronica and Igor were in the school workshops. I congratulated Savah on the upgraded shop and Erica was behind the counter of the upgraded area, acting all mysterious and wizardly. She smiled to us coyly and we both smiled back. Savah told her that she'd be out of the shop for a minute and Erica said that it was foretold as such and that she would regale us of the events that had come to pass when we returned. Savah sighed and we went to the school's workshops.
As we walked there, Savah asked if we had any new things for her shop to sell. I told her that we had recovered a fair amount of gear, and that it was currently stored away in the storage areas next to the plane. She actually might have squeed a little when she saw the horde of armor and weapons. I asked her if there was much interest in this stuff, considering all of the stuff that we had already passed through her store. Savah told me there were a bunch of people who were coming in to get the "authentic" treasures from our adventures. Especially from nobles from Magnimar, who were travelling to Sandpoint with more frequency, especially with the improved roadway that the stone giants are being paid to build. I smiled, noting that their crafts were especially good, and that it was a good fit.
We left the storage rooms and headed up to the first workshop where Igor was working on making armor material for a visiting paladin. Savah whispered that it was an Iomedean who had volunteered for their six-month tour. I nodded, and whispered asking how many had come through. Savah noted that this was the fourth one so far. I whispered back asking if we had confirmation from Chaplain Tira that they were on the assignment. Savah said that we did, that she sent a sealed scroll with each one. I thanked her. I sent to Igor that he should keep up the good work. Igor held up a tool briefly as a salute and went back to work.
We went to the electronics workshop, and Veronica was working on some of the testing equipment for the future classrooms. I brought her the four fried batteries and she welcomed me back. I told her that I had shorted these out running some high process copying on my tablet and I would appreciate it if she could take a look at them. She sent to me that she would, and welcomed me back. I thanked her and told her that she was doing a good job. Veronica thanked me with a salute and continued on with her work.
I checked out the other classroom and noted that they looked ready with some fairly roughhewn chairs and tables. There were blackboards and shelves with storage for class books. We were going to have to get a printing press going just to get the books prepared correctly. Then I realized that I could get the paper and such made with some more Unseen Crafters. I'd have to get some large amount of hemp to make easy paper, but it would be worth it. I asked Savah to see if she had contacts for such large amounts of hemp rope and she told me that they were all in Magnimar. I smiled and noted that the reasons to head back to Magnimar were mounting further and further.
We finished up with checking out the dormitories and other rooms and then we checked in on the bike workshop. Vaeren was there, tooling away on his bike. He smiled at us and dropped what he was doing to come right over. He asked me if there had been any changes, and I told him that I had a great deal to tell him about, but that right now we were going to go get something to eat. At Risa's, Savah volunteered. Vaeren smiled and said that he'd ask Erica if she wanted to go too. He got on his bike, started it up and drove out the garage door. A wizard biker, huh, who knew?
We went down to the hangar and got my bike out. The bike was a little awkward as it was built around me wearing my armor, but it hadn't been updated to the most recent upgrade of my armor, so it wasn't as awkward as it would be. I resolved to get some kind of modular system for the cushion. Such a simple thing, but so important for long duration travel. We drove up the ramp and over to the house. Erica was just locking up the door to jump on the back of Vaeren's bike. All four of us headed to Risa's.
Risa was there and welcoming as always. We got a good seat and some good food. I had missed some good sausage peppers and onions. I told them all what I could without mentioning names or too much identifying details. I didn't want any of them targeted if it came to it. Our conversation continued with me getting the down low on everything that had went on while I was gone. Apparently, Savah's store had drawn some attention from Magnimar and that was why people were coming to visit. I smiled, realizing that her goals were getting accomplished as well. Vaeren had taken up studying every bit of mechanical text he could, from my world or this one. Erica had taken up the mantle of "knower of secrets". She was sworn not to give out false information by Madame Mvashti, but the aged diviner seemed to approve of her carefree nature.
Then the subject of conversation came around to who we were going to have teaching each class for the school. I noted that the best thought that I had was putting the call out to Pathfinders to try to get interested parties that might have reasonable knowledge, and then working to train further knowledge into them as needed. Savah pointed out that we could talk to Sheila Heidmarch in Magnimar, and I agreed, saying that it was pointing to another reason why we needed to go there.
We talked about less important things, and Savah filled me in on why Niddler wasn't at the house. He had gotten his buildings set up for the farm and was out inspecting livestock to get his three animal rotation started. I asked if it was chickens, cows, and goats, and Savah agreed with a bit of confusion. I told her that it was a rotation method back where I was from that was the best for soil health and minimized the chance of disease propagation. They all nodded along, understanding the words but not exactly understanding the science. That would change.
We finished up our meals and headed out. Vaeren and Erica went off to go get drinks at Cracktooth's and Savah proffered that she wanted to head home to relax. I nodded and we took the bike back to the garage and parked it in my bike's stall. We talked for a bit about a lot of things, including the future that we were building for ourselves and I noted that we didn't really need to worry too much about gold anymore, as we could have the Unseen Craftsmen that I can create work to build whatever we need. I added that we didn't even need to worry about the house. She asked why, and I smiled, and led her out to the balcony.
I pointed to the hastily constructed stonework walls that had been constructed around the property. I pointed to a section as far away as I could reasobly manage with the spell, about two hundred and fifty feet away, and summoned up a length of five-foot-tall stone wall to reinforce the three foot placed stone wall. The wall I summoned stretched out seventy-five feet from where I started it. Savah was amused, and then I added another two right in line with it, increasing our wall's protection for over two hundred and twenty feet. Savah laughed and asked what good that would do. I told her that we didn't need to even be in Sandpoint if we didn't want to, that we could go anywhere and set up a place to live, with it getting better and better the more that we worked at it.
Savah thought for a minute and suggested that I reinforce the school and the grounds with this, and that we can set up Oren and Arika with a stone house even quicker than what they were requesting. I told her that I had wanted to respect Oren's wishes, of independence from us, but would ask him if he'd like the assistance now that it was very easy. Savah said that it would be good, because we might be needing the other room before too long. I smiled and we both headed to bed after a very long day.