Day 133: Toilday the 29th, Abadius, 4708
I awoke to my daily report that learn Savah's Armor upgrade had been finished, and that Dame Rebekah's Armor upgrade had been started. Her armor would focus around increasing deftness and enhancing resiliency, whereas Savah's was based around increasing her strength and resiliency. Mine had also been focused around increasing my strength and but instead of resiliency, I went for increasing my ability to make my reactions to events more functional, so we were running the gamut. Faunra's, starting tomorrow, would be similar to Savah's, in that it would be focused around the same facets. I got up and got dressed before heading to the house's library to get in some studying. After an hour, I went back and got Savah up. She told me that she was feeling a bit tired, and asked if I could put a movie on for her. I loaded up The Princess Bride on my Tablet, but she asked for Iron Man instead. I loaded up all Iron Man one and two, and then the Incredible Hulk and Thor. That would give her over eight hours of binge watching.
Savah smiled when I told her and she thanked me. Already Erika was getting the store set up for another day and I went to the school to check out the plan of the day. I went ahead and got the two rods from the storage place and headed down to the danger room. All that was left was the ceiling, so I used the rods to complete that section and to set up some corrals for fire tests for firearms and ranged weapons. I'd have to expand this whole concept later. I walked upstairs and got the breakfast that Jonathan had made and we talked about what we were planning for the day.
Jonathan, simply, was going to keep up our good name in the town, especially with the change that had been made to his gear. I was confused for the reason at first, but then realized that him getting an additional four cesti that focused his punching strength through them would definitely serve him well. I guess he will be able to go by "Jonathan of the Five Fists" or something like that when we are all done. Much better than his initial idea, of Five Fisted Death Punch. And a HELL of a lot better than his battle cry of "You're about to get fisted five times!" Dame Rebekah was getting a pair of enhanced swords to go with her regular gear, and she would be having her lance and her bow enchanted as well as the two new swords. Maybe we'll find a way to enchant them to look like they are wielded by Iomedae herself. Faunra was getting three massive weapons made, one scythe, one great sword, and one earth-breaker. They would pair up with her gladius.
I thought for a minute and figured that I'd get the modified grenade launcher for one of the items, maybe another machine gun and my rifle. I'd have to get Faunra to transfer some enchantments if she could. I want my shotgun-pistol to be the one designed to go against Special K. The last weapon came as a bit of inspiration after the shotgun, a Chainsaw-sword hybrid, but electrically powered not internal combustion. Four weapons that would be worthy of being integrated into the armor. Maybe they'll even help me to be able to make a difference.
Faunra noted that our final day here before moving on would be a series of rituals, where Faunra and I would do one for her, with Shalelu included. My Ritual would be with Faunra and Savah, whereas Jonathan and Dame Rebekah would have to have both Faunra and myself to perform the rituals to ensure that they were done accordingly. Faunra indicated that Jonathan and Dame Rebekah would be the ones in charge of the ritual for that purpose, but that Chelger and Shayliss would be included in the appropriate rituals, so that they could control the weapons if the need arose.
I thanked her for the exposition and explained that I'd be finishing up on Dame Rebekah's armor today, and starting on her own armor upgrades tomorrow. Dame Rebekah announced that she'd be helping Niddler with his greenhouses, with her castings of Wall of Stone and the invisibility rod and the second ectoplasmic rod. I thanked her and she said that it was a good deed, that we were looking to help make Sandpoint stronger with the addition of food and resources. I agreed and noted that since the training room was now completed we could use it for testing any of the weapons or spells that needed to be tested. In fact, I demanded that we do so, as much as possible.
Dame Rebekah asked if we'd want to offer it up to the Sheriff and town guard for their practicing. I readily agreed, and asked her if she could take point on that. She agreed to go talk to the town guard and I went about getting a group of unseen crafters to work on making targets, as well as the other two groups working on helping Niddler with his farming duties. Then I joined the Quads in making Dame Rebekah Faster and Tougher (TM) with her upgrades. When she came back half way through the day, with Sheriff Hemlock, I told her that her raiment would be done by the end of the day today, and that she could pick it up then.
Sheriff Hemlock noted that these upgrades were interesting to him, and asked if they would be rolled out to the town. I told him to get with Savah about whatever discount it would take, but the cost of raw materials alone would be exorbitant. He asked how much and I quoted him about two hundred and forty pounds of gold. He blanched and asked if we were going to be charging rent for accessing the training area. I told him no, but that if they were especially rowdy and destroyed the targets, they might be responsible for getting new ones. Sheriff Hemlock agreed to that and went to check out the targeting area with Dame Rebekah.
I continued on my work with making the adjustments to Dame Rebekah's armor. On a whim, I added a pair of longsword sheaths to the back for her "spare" longswords. When I was finished, it certainly looked a lot stronger. I set her armor up to stand after the modifications and got it powered up. I noted to include some instructions for the winding aspects of the armor, as the back up to the battery that I'd have the crew create and install.
I got up and stretched, twisting from side to side. I walked over to my own suit of armor and powered it up. I had it open up and got into it. I put my phone into its cradle and went through some of the new options that Faunra had installed into it. I walked over to a wall and held my hand to it. I activated the gloves and an image of what was on the other side of the wall appeared on my cellphone's screen. I nodded thoughtfully as the picture saved on the phone, under the camera directory.
I walked back to my bench and got my new "pistol". I loaded up the magazine full of shells and walked down to the "danger room". I walked to the entrance and held up my hand to the door. It created an image on the other side of the door. It showed Dame Rebekah in one area and a group of the town guard were all practicing their chosen weapons.
There was a stall open, so I resolved to make a scene. I activated my boots to create a larger booming for the boots and opened the door to walk inside. Several of the town guard turned to look at me and were taken aback, as they had not seen the armor in its most recent configuration. I looked to the open stall, modified my voice to sound like Robocop, and asked if that lane was open. Dame Rebekah smiled and said that it was. I cautioned everyone to have hearing protection on.
I waited for those who were making movements to get their hearing protection to finish up and then took aim with the gun. I verbalized single shot and selected the appropriate selection. I fired off a round at the target that was ahead of me. Boom. The armor was very good about taking up the recoil and controlling the gun. The other guards who were shooting at the time stopped and moved back to get a bit further away. I announced four round burst, and moved the selector into the appropriate position. I aimed at the target and pulled the trigger. Boom-Boom-Boom-Boom. Everyone looked a bit more uncomfortable and I looked back at my new toy. I announced Automatic and flipped the switch to its final position. I readied myself and pulled the trigger. Boom-Boom-Boom-Boom-Boom-Boom-Boom-Boom-Boom-Boom. The target was completely gone.
I looked at the target and the at the gun. There was smoke coming out of the barrel, but the barrel made of Adamantite thus still was in perfect condition. I dropped the magazine from the bottom and inspected it for how many were remaining to ensure it was empty. I ensured that the chamber was clear as well, and put the slug thrower in a holster that had been set up on the armor for it. Sheriff Hemlock asked if he could give it a try and I shrugged, reinserting a different magazine and ensuring that the chamber was empty and the safety was on before handing it to him. I warned him not to fire more than a single round at a time, and that he should probably use both hands.
He followed my first piece of advice, but not my second. He tried to pull the same kind of thing that he did with his version of the Taurus Magnum. He got a black eye from the gun's recoil. He handed me back the gun carefully, as Dame Rebekah healed him quickly. I put it back in four round burst and fired it at the target. He seemed a bit miffed but I told him that the entirety of the gun's recoil was being handled by the armor's modifications.
I fired off another two four round bursts and Dame Rebekah asked if she could try it. I ensured that the chamber was empty and that the safety was on, giving her a similar warning to the good Sheriff. I knew that she was a good deal stronger, but she also didn't have the experience with this kind of weapon. She fired off the first shot and she barely managed to keep the gun from causing her damage from the recoil. She steadied with both hands, and aimed at the target. She pulled the trigger and hit the target. She was ecstatic, and I congratulated her on a great shot.
I took the firearm back and checked it safe. I grabbed up all of the spent casings and thanked all of the guard for letting me get a few shots in. I walked back to my workshop and checked out the gun to make sure that there were no further issues. My new gun didn't have any defects that I could see, but I still opted to utilize a mending effect to ensure it was in its best condition. I walked over to Faunra's temporary shop and brought my new gun with me. I went to the first Faunra looking entity I could find, but it wasn't her. It was one of her Wax-work golems that were enchanted to operate like the Dedicated Wrights.
Once I figured it out, it was an extremely good likeness, I asked where Faunra was. It pointed to a back room, where the future teacher's office would be, and I thanked it before heading that way. Faunra was looking over an item that she had just finished working on and was moving it over to a collection point. It was one of Dame Rebekah's items, her outfit that changed to be the best for the occasion. She had just swapped over some enchantments to add further benefits to it from another article of clothing that had been purchased in Magnimar.
Faunra looked up and looked at the new "pistol" that I was bringing in. She smiled, lifted an eyebrow, and asked if I was compensating for something. I laughed and told her that I couldn't carry a gun big enough to compensate. She laughed as well and asked what I might need. I asked her if it would be possible to transfer the Runeforge enchantment over to this firearm from the rifle. Faunra looked at it and shook her head, saying that it wasn't really feasible, that once it was set, it was set.
Faunra stopped for a second and she noted that she could look over this new weapon and see if she couldn't upgrade it some. I thanked her and she literally whistled while she looked it over. Faunra asked if this was the booming she had heard earlier. I told her that it was, and that we'd need to quiet it down when we went into sneaky situations. She nodded and told me that I should figure out what four weapons I was going to set up to function semi-autonomously.
I thanked her and said that I'd figure that out today and start getting work done on them as soon as I could. She nodded and said that she was going to get Jonathan's finished up shortly, and then she'd get Dame Rebekah's ordered from Magnimar. I asked Faunra if Jonathan had presented her with his chosen catch phrase or new nickname. I could see the mirth in her eyes as she nodded and I told her that I had tried to talk him out of both of them. I laughed and added that we had worked together on the "Jonathan of the Five Fists" name. Faunra said that it sounded catchy, and that she'd tell him that, just to reinforce it to him.
I nodded and took my leave. The Wax Homunculi watched me leave before continuing with their rituals and enchantments. I headed back to the house and Savah was just finishing up on the last movie I had set up. She jumped up out of bed and hugged me, saying that she had had a good day relaxing and asked why I didn't take a day off to relax as well. I told her that I'd try to get a break in on Starday or Sunday, the last day before we head out, but that we needed to be as prepared as we could so that there wouldn't be anything left to chance. Savah asked if I really thought it was that dangerous. I told her that we'd be facing off against a Runelord, and that we didn't know what else there might be.
Savah thought about this and asked if I was worried about not coming back. I told her that I had always come back before, but that if I didn't for some reason, I had made the best preparations I could so that we could be resurrected or found, and if not that, then that she and the other spouses would be as set as they could be. Savah asked what that meant, and I told her that we had all decided that we would leave a pool of funds for everyone and that if we were to not make it, or report back in several days, that everyone would be informed of what to do.
I noted that there was enough funds secretly at five different churches to afford bringing us back, and that there was even more in the Sandpoint Vault that would be released to the four of them if we should happen to not be recoverable, as I wanted to make sure that everything was safe for everyone else. Savah nodded ruefully. Then I added that all of this would be moot when we came back, as it would allow us to throw the biggest party in the history of Sandpoint to coincide with the opening of the school. Savah smiled at that.
We went to The White Stag, just the two of us, and had a very nice dinner together. We enjoyed the meal and the quiet time away from the noise and bustle of the growing school, and farm, and worksite, and store, and everything else that was there. We made our way back slowly, walking back to the house. We were accosted by a young Varisian woman who was fidgeting with some clockwork assembly. When she recognized us she demanded that I teach her. I told her that I was busy for the next few weeks, but that if she wanted, she could take up residence in one of the class lodges and start studying and I would start training her as soon as I could. She introduced herself as Virina Pictor and then ran off saying that she was going to go get her things. Savah gave me a bit of a side eye before laughing and saying that she was going to have to expect this, and that at least she wasn't an assassin.
We got home and got about getting ready for bed. The Unseen Crafters were still working away at fabricating up all of the labor and time saving devices for Niddler's Farm. Tomorrow I would have a different task for another group of Unseen Craftsmen. It was time for me to get another sword, of sorts. I always loved Doom anyway. No point in putting this off any further. I'm also going to start pumping out the batteries with whatever Unseen Crafters I can. No point in not doing so. We are going to be running through what I can only imagine is hell, so I don't want to run out of juice.