Rise of The Runelords - David Drake's Saga

by Raulfur

This is the Rise of the Runelords series as told by of David Drake, an American pagan who got tricked into the adventure. This series shows how he comes to understand the world and his journeys through it. The first three posts detail his companions, Faunra: a time displaced elven Magus, Dame Rebekah: a child of crusaders, and Jonathan: a skinwalker monk/kineticist. Still ongoing.

156. Day 152 or Prophecy and Profit

Day 152: Sunday the 17th, Calistril, 4708

I was woken up by Faunra, who had found me with my head face down in a book. Apparently, I couldn't actually get to sleep last night, so I decided to take look through what we had access to. It was one of the spellbooks of the villains that we had faced. I had gone through and bypassed the magical traps and had been looking through it for insights before I had fallen asleep last night after sending my messages to Savah. Hmm, might be a good train of thought to pursue later.

Faunra had woken me up because there was an announcement for all of us that she wanted to do as early as possible. I sighed, at least these four hours of sleep a night were sufficient for me for daily activity. I got up and summoned my armor to me. Ah, dressed and ready in under six seconds. I would have killed for this in boot camp.

When I made my way to the passenger compartment, everyone else was waiting there already. It wasn't even dawn yet. Yawn. I sat down and Jonathan handed me a cup of coffee. I thanked him and cooled it off to drinkable levels of lava. Faunra let me get a few sips in before I noticed her watching me. I nodded to her, and she began.

Faunra indicated that she only needed eight more hours to finish off her set up. She noted that she had to have me manufacture some mirrors to finish it off. I gave her the thumbs up, indicating that I would help her out in this. Faunra said that she'd have this set up so that we had a small, foldable mirror, that would buzz to alarm whenever the sending starts. She noted that when she modifies it later, it will be able to be patched into whatever communication system I set up in Sandpoint or Magnimar.

I nodded along, noting in my bleariness that this would decrease the requirements for my planned radio blanket. Then again, there's no reason to not have multiple different options for communication. Back up options can't ever hurt. Faunra said that she'd be ready for us to head out at around noon. She looked to me, and I shrugged, saying that I would be done with whatever I needed to do here long before then.

Dame Rebekah and Ayruzi both indicated that they would be finished with their mutual temples well before then as well. Dame Rebekah asked if Faunra would be willing to utilize her ability to generate the continual fire to illuminate the interior of her temple. Faunra nodded and said that she would as soon as she was done with the communication device. Dame Rebekah thanked her, and Ayruzi politely requested that it be done for their shrine as well. I cautiously sipped my coffee, trying to not bring attention to myself.

Jonathan spoke up and said that he would have to come back to finish up training later on, but that he would figure out who would be best to run the food service area up here. I just kept my words to myself, slowly sipping the coffee. I don't know that I can ever give up caffeine, even with the lower requirement of sleep. I got to keep my stocks in good supply, just so that I could keep up with my requirements. I decided that I needed to finish of the JoSVAB for Morgiv.

We broke off and I went with Faunra to go get the mirrors made. After a few minutes of hemming about the different details, but I got the mirrors completed. There was a lot of extra material, so I finished off making more mirrors for future projects for Faunra. That was a failing of this ability, it can only be used to make one kind of thing. I can make as many of that kind of thing as is possible, based on raw materials and volume of the material, but only one kind of object.

I took a few moments after that to invoke the ability to increase the hardness of the objects on both of the mirrors that were to be used for the current communication system that Faunra was finishing up. She thanked me for my initial assistance, and the addition of the hardening. I shrugged and said that it wouldn't do for either one to be broken without some effort. I wished her well with the rest of her work, before heading off to do my own thing.

It sucks that I had to utilize two of my limited effects to harden the mirrors, so I'll only be able to do the effect on three of the critical heat stones. One would have to wait, along with the tanks. Eh, it will be what it will be. I decided to spend some time modifying the steel from the fine full plate armors into what was going to be needed for the boiler. I'd get some of the sunsilver later and utilize it as an inner liner for everything, as well as the turbines. This would also all be hardened.

I took a lot of the remaining steel and made the articulating frame. There was enough to get everything that I had needed made of steel, done, from just all of the armor that we had confiscated from the Rune Giants. Funny enough, it was next to worthless, as it was too large for even the Storm Giants, and wouldn't shrink to fit others, so after enchantments were transferred from them, the suits of full plate became mostly show pieces. They would have only been of use to the Rune Giants that they had come from or maybe a Titan if they were lucky. And there were no Titans in Jotunburg right now.

That meant that aside from enough sets donated for whatever the new city wanted to do with them, we could dismantle the remainders. Amusingly enough, Faunra and I had separately decided that we needed to save a pair of them to have her enchant them into constructs for Sandpoint as defenders of the towns. She had indicated that she would want to have something fun to do to relax after everything was dealt with in Crying Leaf. I had wanted the armors because who wouldn't want giant suits of armor protecting the town.

We still had more than enough of the Rune Giant's armor to fulfill our needs, in any event. Also, I was scavenging the steel from their weapons that they had had with them as well. I spent a large amount of time getting the steel into usable forms, such that it almost sunrise. I cued up a set of unseen servants to quietly, and necessarily slowly, disassembling all of the remaining non-allocated weapons and armor into components to be better utilized later. They would be focusing in the cargo area, a.k.a. former secondary and tertiary passenger compartments, which had been transformed into those new cargo areas.

By the time that they were done, everything would end up being reduced to the basest components that can still be utilized to build something. With not much more to do inside the plane, I decided to go outside again and increase the quantities of unseen craftsmen working to build the new runway. Before doing so, I checked in on the unseen craftsmen's log for the ones who had been created to repair and prepare the engines. They had written down a fair number of details, most of which were not that crucial to work on, the rest would be better to keep an eye on if they could not be worked on before the flight. I summoned up a set of unseen craftsmen to work on the list.

I walked out to the new tarmac where the massive horde of unseen craftsmen working away. I went to the end of all of the different groups and started summoning up the next few batches. Each group could only work in a radius around where I was when I cast the spell, or around me, if I anchored it to me, so one batch couldn't do the whole of this long, sloped tarmac. I summoned up the next few batches to start working on the sloping section's foundations. Everything being carved from volcanic flow stone was an interesting choice but being that it was being extremely thoroughly sanded down to smooth should mean less damaged to the landing gear.

I walked back to the hangar to see Dame Rebekah and Ayruzi heading out to their tasks. They were having decent discussions, and I didn't want to interrupt them, so I just nodded and continued on it. When I got back into the ship, Jonathan was there with a few different blank books. He told me that Faunra had dredged them up out of her stock, and since she wasn't going to be needing blank spell books anymore, I could have them. I thanked him for the raw material and retreated to my own rooms to start summoning up the lore that the world might have.

The first time that I focused the spell today, I focused on getting all of the information on the Technic League that I could muster. I transferred that across then learned that they were a group of mages that had uncovered a relic of a fallen spaceship and were diligently trying to recover all of the information that they could from it and preventing others from accessing the same. This kind of tracks with them attacking me after I had shown some kind of ability with the batteries. Speaking of which, I had figured that I would need to learn more about all of this.

I focused up on the subject of the batteries, to try to get more of what was understood about them from the general populace. The was a great deal of common information about them, like how they were known as either shimmerdisks or silverdisks depending on if they are charged or not, that they can be determined to be charged by if they shimmer in reflecting light, and that they are used as currency inside Numeria. The batteries might have issues with being recharged when they are very old but can usually be recharged readily if new. They were known to be something of interest to the Technic League, and that they were rumored to send people after those who hoarded or even attempted to acquire the shimmerdisks.

This was all useful, learning what the regular people might know. It was obvious that there were other, more advanced, groups of people here in Varisia had studied very advanced science. The reactor that we had found in Kaer Maga was enough to prove that. That was not likely a very recent thing, so there had been a decent amount of time that technology could have spread. It is doubtful that the society was all relegated to that one city, especially since there was Numeria that had relics of technology.

I decided that I needed to go broader and get a brief history of Numeria. I focused up the effect and copied it over to another book. I'll keep the geography and nation lessons in a separate book than my lessons on the technological expertise of this world. The spell that summoned information from all of the world's books basically provided me a better than stock blue book could provide. The capital, major towns, what they are known for, some intrigues for each, and some of the major attractions in and outside of the towns. Basically, a primer on where to go for each thing that I might want. Damn this is useful.

I decided to get some more detailed information on a town called Torch and invoked the spells again. It seems like there was something that was generating enough heat to work with "skymetals". I could only think of a few things that would do that, especially with the way that the "Torch" was described as working. That might either be a reactor letting off controlled bursts of heat to prevent a meltdown, or a malfunctioning set of engines. Depending of course on how the ship had landed.

This is something that we'll have to mark out that we need to look into. Or at least, me and those who would be in the school would be interested in it. Well, it is something that we can look into later, as it seems to be a stable thing for the moment. I won't put it off forever, but I certainly won't put it above any of the rest of the group's future ambitions. Just something to put a pin in for later.

Going back on the subject of geography, I figured that the best thing to research would be the capital, Starfall. There was a bit more in-depth information about the capital, the ruler (Black Sovereign), and the fact that the Technic League has a stranglehold on technology there. The information about Silver Mount and everything else was probably a bit too much to keep me out of the Technic League's Book of Grudges, but I have a feeling that I am already in it. Oh yeah, and the air and water are polluted. What a joy to visit.

I decided that I should check into Ustalav, as that was a country that the former footman of Foxglove was from. Pulling the information magically made it seem like it was a Halloween Horror country, with their own horror monsters, secret societies, and such. If we travel via land (to minimize the immediate attack from the Technic League when they see a flying vehicle), we will have to travel secretly through the land-based paths. We'd also have to be prepared to deal with Werewolves, Vampires, Ghouls, and other horror movie monsters. If we have to deal with Lovecraftian bullshit, I'll be out though.

Going back over the map of the continent that we had acquired and saw that there was another country called the "Hold of Belkzen". I had decided to summon up info on that as well. Apparently, it was a massive quantity of orcs, and the "laws" of the country were among the stupidest and comically evil that I had heard. Not exactly a place that we could get through without arguments or conflicts. Not exactly a good proposition, but it was also something that we needed to keep an eye on, even if we did not end up travelling through.

I had one more usage of the knowledge gathering spell today, so I decided to get some information on the Worldwound, since I knew that Dame Rebekah was planning on heading there. A bit of forward espionage wouldn't hurt us. I mean, that's what I had thought. There was an interesting amount of different information about the different forces, and the history of the Worldwound itself. I figured that I would tell Dame Rebekah of what all I had learned, and that I would continue to research, to get her all of the knowledge that I could for her.

With my research done for the day, I figured that I could just spend most of my morning working on the JoSVAB. I figured that I would just jot down whatever I could think of as a battery of questions for each of the five categories left. This way, Morgiv could work out which questions he would want for each. I also didn't want to specify what score would mean what job. This was designed to be an aptitude test, not a determinative one.

This took me a few hours, but they were finally done. I used the effect that I had done so often to put them all into a book and then a separate book for the questions with the answers and explanation of each, when needed. It was more of theory craft than rote memory questions. I got the two books together and figured that I would spend a few minutes making copies of the test for a bunch of people to be able to take the test initially. Once someone was able to produce the effect of copying the test by magic or physically, they could do the trick themselves.

I wrapped up the bundle of books and tests and got ready to go find Morgiv. When I left my quarters again, I found that Faunra was waiting for me. She had finished her project and was delivering the mirror for Jotunburg to them. She asked if we could just take a bike, and I accepted. I pulled the bike out of the storage area, we nodded to each other and started off out of the plane and then the hangar.

When the bike was clear of the door, I sat down on the bike and Faunra just jumped on the back of the bike behind me. I sighed to myself at her exuberance and kicked the bike into operation. We took off and headed towards the building that had been decided to be the current governmental base. There were quite a few interesting sights on our way. Oh yeah, and the fact that we were ambushed by a pair of Denizens of Leng, both of which were riding on a Shantak. Ugh.

The trio actually managed to get the drop on us, when we had slowed down too much to get around a bunch of debris in the road, since they must have known that we were on this path. They were even disguised as us, Faunra and me. The Shantak quickly leapt up into the air, before wheeling about to come at us. I had been wearing my armor, but both of the Denizens managed to get swipes in on us. Or rather, they both had attempted to do so anyway.

They both had timed it right so that they could take their vicious swipes at us. The one who looked like me even managed to latch on with its stupidly long and otherworldly teeth. I could feel my manual dexterity and general deftness temporarily leaving me as those teeth managed to make it past all of the armor to get at my temporarily exposed bicep. The wound hurt a lot more than I would have expected. It wasn't enough to drop me though.

It got what was coming to it though. It was still latched on to my arm, trying to get enough purchase to continue to slash and claw at me. I pulled my bolter from my holster and pointed it at the thing's head as its teeth dug in. I think that I could see the dawning occur as the first of two rounds shot at it. Or at least after the first shot that took off half of its head should have given it the hint. The second round completely destroyed the head. It changed back to its regular form as the enchanted mask that it had been wearing was basically disintegrated.

Faunra had been missed by her attacker but had not missed it in turn. Her arrows had ripped into it and perforated the thing. It fell alongside the bike as its companion, changing back into its original form as its mask slipped off as well. Faunra and I both shifted our aims to fire at the Shantak, dropping it between two rounds and two arrows. We stopped our trip to see what we could determine from these things.

Shortly after the two were killed, they dissolved, leaving just their leathery robes, the masks, a pair of necklaces, and a pair of bags filled with tiny rubies. I looked to Faunra and shrugged. She tossed it all into one of the saddlebags and we took off. I was a bit more careful, as I was worried about my lessened reactions and the road. Faunra had offered to drive, but I told her that I would be fine.

We made it the rest of the way into town and found Dame Rebekah's chapel. Alongside it was Ayruzi's shrine. We stopped and found that the both of them were coming out to us. Ayruzi noticed my wound and hit me with the same enchantment that Proctor Jyronn Imikar had provided me with so long ago. The miracle that Ayruzi brought forth completely healed the damage both to my dexterity and the physical damage.

Dame Rebekah asked if we had been attacked as well. Faunra explained that we had, and that we had grabbed what they left behind when they dissolved. I thought to myself, We? I let it slide, and Dame Rebekah explained that she had done much the same, all that was left was a bag of rubies, a stitched together mask, the necklace, and the tattered robes. Faunra announced that it seemed like there were more Denizens of Leng, and that they must be here looking to attack whoever was placing claim over the portal.

I asked her if this meant that the area wasn't safe for the new government. Ayruzi offered up that it seemed like they were attacking us, rather than the members of the new government, but that their assessment could be changed if there were more reports of attacks. I could agree to that information, and asked Ayruzi how much time that she had left on her summons. Ayruzi offered up that she would be leaving nine days from now. I did some quick math after hearing that and realized that we could make it to Sandpoint and back in that amount of time, especially if Faunra decided to teleport us back in case of an emergency.

Faunra announced that she would delivering the communication device to the new proto-council, and that we would be grateful if Ayruzi could keep an eye out on the council and get us a sending if it seemed like things were not going well. Ayruzi said that they would definitely do so, and that they would get in contact with Dame Rebekah when it was time to head to the Worldwound. I offered up that I had done a bit of research on that subject and produced the book that had pages that I had gotten on it.

Ayruzi and Dame Rebekah both took turns reading the book and asked if I could get more specific information. I offered up that the spell that I can do needs to be detailed in what I am looking for, but that I would continue to be utilizing it as time goes on. Faunra offered up that she can look into lending me her ring of wizardry when we get some relaxation time and I could go on a spree, getting all of the information that I could want. I countered and told her that I had wanted to talk to her about maybe getting a specific item enchanted, so that we could have someone else utilize it, and then have the images automatically copied over into a blank book or journal. Faunra's eyes seemed to light up with the thought.

I told her that we could talk about this more after we got back to Sandpoint. I told her that the library would need to have an extradimensional restricted section where truly dangerous information could be kept. Faunra said that she had just the thing, and we would talk more when we got back. Dame Rebekah wisely interrupted our geek out session with asking us where we were heading next. Faunra announced that we should go get Jonathan and then head to the governmental building. I asked why we should head over there when we had the radios.

Dame Rebekah and Faunra both head palmed. Ayruzi looked at me a bit oddly, and I pulled out my radio, switch to the channel with Jonathan, and waited a second. Then I heard Jonathan and Shayliss talking about details for Sandpoint, including how Jonathan wanted to set up a branch of the restaurant here in Jotunburg after the one in Magnimar. When there was a natural pause, I double chirped the microphone and Jonathan answered, asking what I had needed. I told him that the rest of us were heading to the government building, and that we would request that he come with. Jonathan said that he would meet us there and I signed off.

Dame Rebekah asked if any of us could listen in on each other's conversations. I told her that I had not thought about the interactions between the magic of the Sending effect and the technology of the radios. I offered up that I could work with Faunra to find a way to make the Sending times silent or get a different specific channel set up for just the personal usage. Dame Rebekah said that she didn't feel that we needed it, just that we should all be respectful. Faunra chimed in that it meant that any one of us could actually communicate with any other radio in the circle.

I had a thought and told everyone that I was going to try something. I chimed in on my radio to Savah and waited for her to respond back to me. She responded back and asked what I might need. I asked her to see if she could get Sheriff Hemlock or the Mayor on the other channel to switch to our channel and try to contact her. Savah said that she would, without question.

After a minute or so, I heard the voice of Sheriff Hemlock over the radio. He asked Savah if there was some issue that he needed to be on this channel for. Savah responded that there was something that I had needed to try. The Sheriff addressed me and asked me what this all was about. I keyed my radio with everyone listening in and asked if he could hear me sufficiently.

The Sheriff responded back in the affirmative and asked if I was just doing distance checks and asked if I was in Magnimar or something. I told him that we were over five hundred miles away and that we might have just figured something out that would make the communication with Magnimar and everyone a LOT easier. I told him that we could be back in Sandpoint by tomorrow morning, and that we would have a LOT to discuss when we got back. The Sheriff thanked me and told me that Mayor Deverin would like to talk to all of us when we returned anyway. I acknowledged and said that I would communicate that to the rest of the group.

He signed off and Savah asked me if this meant what she thought that it meant. I told her that I would have to check with Faunra, but that if it works, and once we got an efficient energy force, we will begin pumping out radios with specific channels for the government and important groups. Savah told me that she would get the schedule confirmed with the Quads. I noted that there was a lot that we were going to have to go over, because there were a LOT of things that we were going to have to plan for in the future.

Dame Rebekah and Faunra both took the opportunity to chime in on their own radios and say hi to Savah. Savah was a bit flustered and said hi back to both of them. I looked at them sternly and told Savah that we had to get some things straightened out with the Jotunburg government before we headed back, but that it should not take that long at all. Savah said that she had heard that we could be back by tomorrow morning. Faunra chimed in and said that if she was remembering correctly, we could be back in six hours if we flew straight there.

I chimed in that we needed to get the last thing delivered, pick up Jonathan and set ourselves in order to split. Savah wished me luck and said that she hoped to see me tonight. I said that as long as everything goes well, we should be home. Savah quipped back that I should not have said that, as now I would be jumped by assassins. I laughed and replied that the assassination attempt had already happened and failed. Savah responded back with yelling what? I quickly told her that everyone was fine, that I was the only one who was even wounded, and that we needed to get to this meeting to get home quicker.

As if on cue, Jonathan chimed in on my channel saying that he was at the building and asked me where we were. Savah said that she loved me and wished us all luck. I replied in kind and thanked her. I heard a chorus of three different, "oh, you're in trouble.", singsongy voices. I KNOW that one of those voices was from a member of a heavenly choir.

I looked around but by then, everyone was looking in different locations. I muttered that we should just get to the governmental center and get this done with. I got on my bike and started off. Faunra yelled after me that she had not yet gotten on. I slowed down and stopped before telling her that I thought that she might have had something more interesting to do, judging by how hard she was staring and something and concentrating. Faunra huffed and flew to catch up to me before alighting on the seat behind me.

Dame Rebekah had summoned up Bucepherous and got on the winged divine horse. Ayruzi seemed to give the horse a questioning look, before taking off and flying in the same direction that we all were going. The rest of the trip to the new center of government was fairly tame. Just dodging a bit of movement from the city dwellers. Jonathan caught up to us at one point and continued on the rest of the way on foot.

I asked him why he came back from the government building. He said that he had not, that he had not even gotten there, it was just that he was listening in and wanted to get this done with. He added that if he had not, he feared that we could be talking all day without a way to sufficiently end the conversation. I sighed and thanked him.

When we got there, there seemed to be a somewhat heated discussion on the different merits of what I had gifted to them. Funnily enough, it wasn't really a specific thing, rather it was the verbiage of Congress, United States, and similar things that were specific to the original country. I gave them a brief rundown of what the equivalent might be for them, and how they could go about converting the wording over to what would be more useful for them. The representative of the Spared asked how long it took to think these all up initially, and I searched my memory to pull up a timeframe of six months. There was some uproar about how they were supposed to be a city without a government for six months.

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. I waited for about eighteen seconds and declared that I could interpret a set of rules for them to go by, temporarily, and that they could work together to determine a full set of rules. I took out a sheet of paper and wrote fifteen things on it. A laymen's understanding of the first fifteen amendments to the constitution. Not going to include taxes at this stage, they are a far way away from dealing with that right now.

Faunra took the time when I was writing to explain that we were going to be providing them with a way to communicate with one of us, each passing it off according to a fixed schedule for a few weeks, or until the government was fully actualized. Furthermore, she had added that the Angel Ayruzi would be remaining here for the next nine days, to provide assistance and a further venue of communication. Ayruzi spoke up and mentioned that they would be looking into summoning another servant of their deity to continue on in the role of helping to provide aid to this fledgling community when they are to leave. Dame Rebekah spoke up after Ayruzi finished and said that she would also be summoning a servant of her deity to be stationed at the chapel to Iomedae that she had built, and that she hoped that this entity would be of assistance to the community.

Jonathan took the finishing of Dame Rebekah's announcement to chime in. He mentioned that he would not be starting a temple here, or anything like that, for his contribution to the nascent city, but that he had been working with some of the people here to develop a good food network. He offered up that he would be looking in to getting a restaurant set up here, for all to eat at, and was also specifically looking in to how to get supplies up here for it and for a market, for them to get quality goods, and for the fruits of their labor to be able to be sold for those usable goods.

By the time that everyone else was done with their expositions and explanations, I was finished with writing fifteen quick sentences. I handed this to the Ayruzi, and she nodded, invoking a spell to engrave it into the very wall. Fifteen sentences, five on each wall except the wall that people enter in from, written in three languages, that of the Giants, that of the Spared (or ancient Thassilonian), and one in the language of what is known here as the Taldane Tongue, or what I understand as English. Confirming the rights of the people first and foremost. As it should be.

The heads of the individual groups all took time to read in their own language and compare it to what was written in one of the other two languages, as they knew them. There was not much griping or grumbling from them, at least while we were there anyway. They seemed to take it well, and we then announced that we would be leaving, at least for a few weeks, while we dealt with the fallout of our actions back where we were living. Faunra again noted that they would be able to, and should, communicate with us at least once a day via the communication mirrors, which would only work when a duly appointed representative to the city invokes the command word. Faunra added that if there was an emergency, and the communication mirror had been expended, Ayruzi or another entity should be available.

We wished them all good luck, and I announced that work would continue on the runway outside of the city in the magma flow area until completed, and that they should stay away from it, if at all possible, to ensure that nothing happens to them. They seemed perplexed, but the Storm Giant Beng nodded and told them that he would explain what I mean. I thanked Beng by name and said that I would be glad to provide further information, but that if all goes well, it should be completed within two weeks.

We left the burgeoning committee, and all started to head back to the hangar. We were all done with this place and ready to get back to Sandpoint. Dame Rebekah asked for us to give her a few minutes to perform her required summoning. I asked her how much, and she shrugged, saying that it might take fifteen minutes or so. I offered to go back to get the plane out of the hangar, get it in to position, and get it ready to launch.

Jonathan said that he would go with me, and Faunra offered up that she could either stay with Dame Rebekah or go with us two, whichever was the better option for Dame Rebekah. Ayruzi said that they would be staying here in Jotunburg, so they would be happy to stay with Dame Rebekah until she was finished with her summons. It was settled, Ayruzi, Faunra, and Dame Rebekah would remain in Jotunburg, while Jonathan and I headed back to the hangar and got the plane out of the building. It was on our way back that I realized that we had never made a section of the wall removable by easy means. Ugh, I guess that this means that I'll be manually destroying that section of the wall.

When the two of us got back to the hangar, I told Jonathan that we needed to remove a section of the front wall, with the door, to permit us to get the plane out. Jonathan said that he could work on that, and that he would start on it while I started up the plane and got it ready to be removed from the hangar. I offered up that we could start at opposite ends and start the demolition work on either side, and meet wherever it was that we did, get it done in less time, and remove the material in more manageable chunks. Jonathan accepted that proposal and I sketched out what we needed to remove to safely get the plane out. He started at his end of the removal, and I started at mine.

It wasn't even close. Even with the adamantine bladed chainsword ripping through the stone like it was nothing, I still didn't have much distance that I could travel. Even with my chainsword being enhanced, and myself being improved by a haste effect, I wasn't nearly as effective as Jonathan's fists of fury. For every four swings that I could take, Jonathan performed seven enhanced slams. He seemed to have pinpoint accuracy for flaws that I didn't even realize existed.

After that first embarrassing minute, I stopped my chainsword and offered up to Jonathan that he could easily finish this up. He agreed and said that in a few minutes he would have the entire side down and removed, and that then he could remove the plane from the hangar and get ready to lift it for a vertical lift. I thought for a second and asked him why we needed to wait for the girls to get back before we lifted up the plane. Jonathan said that it would be more difficult for him to maintain the levitation for too long, even with something as light at this. I offered up that we could get the plane taxied out of the hangar with the bike, and by now they should be finishing up with their summoning, so we can be ready to take off in the proper direction as soon as they get here, or get the plane airborne, and bring it around above them.

Jonathan shrugged and suggested that I just get the plane up and going, and that we would figure out what we were doing next when we were ready. I sighed, went inside the hanger, and then the plane. I did the final checks on everything that the Unseen Crafters had worked on, tidied up whatever had been left over, and started the engine up. Everything seemed ready to go, so I started the engines up and ready to go and got everything else in travel condition as well. I went to the cockpit and checked out that the front of the hangar was completely gone.

I felt the ship levitate and it started to float out to open air. Jonathan slowly levitated up in front of the plane in the Magneto stance. He floated backwards and the plane followed him. When the plane was completely out in the open, Jonathan nodded to me, and I saw him fly from the front of the plane to outside of my field of view. He came into the cockpit and noted that he can keep this floating for another twenty minutes or so, so it might be best to go catch up with them.

I agreed and we started floating towards the rest of the city. I noticed that the three and the winged horse were coming to catch up to us. I remembered that Morgiv still needed to get the JoSVAB, and I mentioned such to Jonathan. He told met hat he'd pass it along to Ayruzi, that she can pass it along. I told him that this was smart and handed him both of the books.

Jonathan took the books from me and headed back towards the ramp. I got the engines ready to fire up from my order and waited for the go ahead. After a few minutes, I got the notice that Ayruzi would be taking the books to Morgiv, and that the rear ramp was closed up. Faunra sent me a message that everyone was buckled up. I acknowledged that everything was ready and kicked the engines into operation.

The plane started speeding up and I aligned the plane to head directly towards Sandpoint. After a minute, Faunra paged back to me that we needed to go talk to Svevenka. I lowered the speed for the plane and redirected towards the swamp. When we were above the swamp, I slowed down to hover a few feet about the swamp's surface. Svevenka and the cloud giant that we had sent here, Anaxagoras, were sitting, having a discussion.

Anaxagoras waved to the plane, and Svevenka smiled at us. I told everyone that I would maintain the plane in hover mode while they gave the updates to the Fen Nymph. Faunra shook her head, saying that it needed to be me, that I was the only one who could really get the information across appropriately, and that she could keep the plane hovering fine while I went to pass on the good news. I sighed and got up from the pilot's seat, as Faunra rushed forward to the copilot seat. I walked back to the ramp, that Dame Rebekah had "helpfully" already gotten the ramp opened.

I started floating and then flew out to land, superhero style, on the most stable section of swampland. Anaxagoras welcomed me warmly and asked me what brought us here to the Fen. I told the both of them that we had slain the Dragon that was in Xin Shalast, the Devil that had been there as well, and completely destroyed Karzoug. Svevenka looked at me with a lifted eyebrow and asked which one of us took up the mantle. I told them that none of us were taking up the mantle of Runelord, or controller of Xin-Shalast, or Jotunburg as the city was being reformed to be.

Anaxagoras looked a little intrigued at that, while Svevenka was a bit more scornful about it. She asked me who or what would the new tyrant be, and how we could justify leaving the realm in chaos, even if we removed the ancient threat. I told her that we were attempting to institute a representative governmental system where quick decisions can be acted upon by a council, with an elected position for even more immediate concerns can be reached. There should be voting for other matters, and the ways that each group elects their own representatives is their own choice.

Svevenka looked at me a bit oddly, and I told her that it was honestly my recommendation that she keep close tabs on the society, and if it gets bad, in her opinion, she should find a way to contact us, even if only via sending a fey creature to contact us. Svevenka quickly dropped into the water and sprung up beside me to pull a single hair off of my head. Svevenka smiled and noted that she would easily be able to have a creature track me down now. I reiterated to her that if it got bad there, to get in touch with me, and I would be on my plane first thing. I looked to Anaxagoras and told him that he'd be free to go back to the city, if it was his choosing.

Anaxagoras looked a bit sheepish and replied that he thinks that he might stay in the Fen for a while. I nodded and wished him well. Svevenka thanked me for removing the ultimate reason why her sister was killed. I told her that it was a group effort and that I would pass the thanks along. Svevenka looked me in the eye and told me that she knew that it was I who ended his life and ensured that it would be much more difficult to bring him back.

I thanked her sheepishly and told her that it was the right thing to do. I hastily added that I needed to get back to Sandpoint. Svevenka agreed and said that she would pass along the words of how we had worked to correct a wrong done to the Fey. I was silent for a minute before telling her that I needed to get back. Svevenka laughed her Fey laugh, got a far away look in her eyes, and then she got REALLY serious.

Svevenka uttered a prophecy there and then. She told me that, "Unto the Ides, Scal will shed a single tear. That tear will send the Wave of Harbors to the Quay of Aenigmas." I knew the intonation of prophecy enough to know that this was important. I thanked her again and took flight, landing up on the ramp. Dame Rebekah snickered and asked what had caused me to leave so quickly.

I looked at her and told her that I had just been told that many people might die, in a prophecy, and that we needed to figure out everything about this. Dame Rebekah shut up immediately and shut the door behind me as I rushed off to the front of the plane. Jonathan was about to say something, but Dame Rebekah shushed him, saying that we needed to get going. I made my way into the cockpit and jumped into my seat. Faunra had been reading from one of her books and asked what was wrong. I slammed the throttle back and said one word, prophecy.

After we got to a speed of almost one hundred and forty miles an hour, I regained the ability to focus elsewhere. I realized that Faunra had been yelling at me the whole time, asking me what the prophecy was. I asked if there was anything we could do to have something else control the plane for a bit. Faunra whipped out the Anathema Archive, twinged a bit from some mental effort, and summoned forth a nearly transparent entity in the copilot seat. It started to take over the controls, and I asked Faunra how long it would last. Faunra indicated that it should easily last until we are closer to Sandpoint.

I nodded, got up and went into the pilot's cabin, before popping my head back out to tell her that she should get everyone to come into it, as it was the most secure area that I knew of on the plane. Faunra rushed back to the others and after I was in the room for a minute, getting things straightened out, everyone came in. I told them that first and foremost, that Svevenka was most grateful to us for righting the ultimate cause behind her sister's demise, and that the fey would probably be looking out for us. Dame Rebekah asked me to get on with the prophecy and I repeated it.

I tried to convey as much of the tone and expression for each part of the prophecy to everyone. I repeated it as many times as was requested. Then I was surprised when Faunra asked me what I took from it. I thought about it and mentioned that both "Ides" and "harbor waves" could be references to some things back on Earth. Ides was a reference to the fifteenth of certain months, and the thirteenth day of all others.

I offered up as well that harbor wave was the literal translation for a tsunami in a language back on Earth. I told them that I thought about the prophecy a bit more and reckoned that a tear producing a tsunami was a bit odd, but something large enough, like a meteorite, dropping into a body of water or striking an island can generate a tsunami. I looked to everyone else, and Dame Rebekah perked up with mentioning that she had a vague memory about a deity and meteorites, from something discussed by the Masked Abbess when she was crossing the courtyard with a cloaked figure. She didn't think about it at first with the mention, but there was a name referenced in their conversation, Scal. She added that she betted that Scal was the deity of such things.

I nodded along with her explanation. I started putting it all together and muttered it out, out loud. There would be a Tsunami at some place, on some thirteenth or fifteenth day of some month, due to a meteorite striking either the water by the place or an island by it. I asked how long everyone thought that we had. Faunra noted that her studies of prophecy were a bit dated, but usually they provide enough time to get the events into occurrence, but not enough time to prevent them from occurring.

I asked her how long that she thought that this might give us. Faunra offered up that it wasn't likely to be a multiple month waiting time, especially since it should be someplace that we can reach fairly quickly. I thought about it and noted that it was possible that the since Ides traditionally were related to the Earth month of March. Jonathan asked how long away that might be, and I offered up that the Ides of March would be about thirty-one days away. Faunra said that it was much more likely that it would reference that one but reiterated that we should keep in mind that the prophecy does give some leeway.

Everyone agreed that we needed to find the "Quay of Aenigmas". Faunra said that she'd check in with Shalelu when we get back. I noted that we needed to look into whatever we could do to mitigate something like this. Faunra said that we could add it to the list of everything that we needed to do. I offered up that we all needed to get our own lists of everything that we need to get done in the future. We all agreed about this and agreed to work on this after we all got back.

The rest of them all went out to their own areas, presumably to jot down some ideas about what all they needed to do in the future. I set up a timer for about three hours and then went about working on getting my own lists started. It wasn't much, just a vacation for me and Savah, a visit to Numeria, and maybe a trip back to Earth to get some things sorted out and purchased from whatever was needed. Especially a whole pallet of radios, and maybe some trips back to get some of the higher tech things. Now maybe a bit more mass-produced survival gear, especially if we are looking at having to rescue a city.

Then I remembered that we could use getting more tablets, phones, and such. Since these radios can be used to simulate a network, this will be a massive improvement for us and maybe even the Pathfinders. The would be a massive improvement. Maybe I'll download a bunch more schematics and such to set up a switchboard. I'll make a shopping list for it and go over it with Savah, just to make sure that I'm not missing anything.

I'm not going to mess around with lots of different voltages, or crap like that. This isn't going to be some kind of fight or competition. Maybe if we need to patch in the technology form Numeria, I might see it as a necessary, but other than that, safe, simple, DC power. Magic can do too much here, and technology can be worked into working alongside it, instead of trying to replace it. No need to do something to stop the wonder when it can be done easier, especially if science and technology can fill in the areas where Magic had issues.

After about two hours, I felt that there was something calling me to the pilot's chamber. I went back the pilot's seat and noticed that we were flying over the Malgorian Mountains. To our left was the Sanos Forest. As I looked further ahead and slightly to the left, I noticed that there was a fairly large illusion celebrating us. It was a lightshow of fireworks and other colorful explosions. I picked up the radio and announced to everyone that they should stop what they are doing and look out the left side windows, quickly.

I slowed us down as best I could, and I decided to circle around the celebration twice. After those two circles, I launched off the railgun in a series of three blasts as I took off. I messaged to the passenger compartment that we had just witnessed a congratulations from the fey of Sanos Forest. I added that our next planned stop was Sandpoint, and that we would be getting there at high speed, hopefully within an hour and a half. I directed the plane on to continue its trek and sped it up to the speed we needed.

After an hour and change, we were damn near were within spitting distance of Sandpoint. I slowed the plane down to landing speed, to get to the landing area for the school. Everyone slowly came to cockpit to check in, until we got above the school's courtyard. I paged Niddler telepathically and asked him to open up the courtyard's gate. He responded back to me that he will do so.

Within a few moments, the courtyard alarms sounded, causing a few people that were standing there, staring up to vacate the area. The courtyard split open, and Jonathan telekinetically lowered the plane down into the hangar. When the plane was down in the hangar below ground level, the courtyard closed up again. I powered down the engines and went to lock up the Pilot's Cabin.

Before I did so, I decided to take one last look around, just to make sure I didn't leave anything in there that I needed or would miss if stolen. Everything that I had needed to pack up had been packed away before I took control over the plane the second time, so I was a bit surprised when I saw that the Anathema Archive was there. I grabbed it and put it into one of my extradimensional pockets, thinking that I would return it to Faunra later. I made sure that there was nothing else in there that could not be left and went to join the rest of the group. I made my way out of the pilot's cabin, finally locked it up, and reentered the cockpit.

Just as I was doing so, Faunra was leaving the Copilot's cabin. I told her that she had left the Archive in my cabin, and she shushed me, saying that she was leaving it with me and that we would talk about it at a later date. Faunra was fully kitted out and equipped, as was I. I guess we were looking to play the part of the powerful heroes coming home, rather than a ragtag group of people who probably just managed to make it through a few of the tough parts by being lucky rather than good. We both left the cockpit to head to the forward passenger compartment.

Jonathan was there with his minimal array of gear. He had taken to wearing the Robes of Karzoug and cut a very impressive figure. I'm guessing that there was some degree of extradimensional space in the Robes' pockets, as it wasn't obvious that he had the rest of his gear, but it was obvious that he wouldn't be leaving anything behind. Dame Rebekah had come out from the other passenger compartment, with her gear either worn or hidden. No one was leaving their hard-earned equipment here, when they could wear it out about the town.

We walked to the back of the plane and lowered the ramp. There was a small crowd there, waiting for us. Niddler, of course, Savah, Shayliss, Shalelu, and Chelger were all there. Sheriff Hemlock, Mayor Deverin, Ameiko, Father Zantus, Oren, Arika, Erica, Vaeren, and even Brodert were all there as well. We walked down the ramp two abreast, Dame Rebekah and Faunra, Jonathan and I. There was applause as we walked down the ramp and I broke up the applause up with announcing that the Runelord of Greed was no more.

Cheers went up again, and Brodert looked just a little bit intrigued. Ameiko yelled out that I was going to have to tell everyone the story at the Inn. Savah said that she would make sure that I did, but only after we had some time to "discuss what all had happened". That quieted a lot of the conversation. I looked at her with a smile but noted to her and everyone that we needed to have an immediate discussion with almost everyone here.

Eyes shot up, and the Mayor asked us what we meant by "almost everyone" here. I looked to the others, and they all nodded. I noted that I didn't think that we needed to burden Oren, Arika, Vaeren, Erica, Brodert, or of course Niddler, with this important information, and that we would be glad to host a party with everyone after we get this important meeting done with. Mayor Deverin nodded, and Jonathan spoke up that we'd be having the party at the Barghest, and that everyone can go there for free food, and those of the group who feel that they don't need to be at this meeting, that isn't discussing anything that happened at Xin Shalast or with Karzoug, can go on ahead and enjoy what will be made.

Shayliss and Chelger both volunteered to go with the group, so that they could get everything done up right and ready. Savah noted that she had to close up the shop, since she had just come over here after seeing that there was a crowd on the way down the road. Shalelu said that she would head out as well, as she had rushed in from negotiations with a goblin tribe out in the nearby swamp. She mentioned that she would finish that and come back to the Barghest, and Niddler volunteered to go with her. That left the four of us, Sheriff Hemlock, Mayor Deverin, Ameiko, and Father Zantus.

Once we were alone, we lead them all up into the plane, where divination from the outside can't penetrate easily. We brought them up to speed on the prophecy that had been uttered by Svevenka. There was some confirmation of some of our thoughts and questioning of others. What was agreed upon was that a) the Ides was most likely the one next month, b) Scal was to bring reference to a meteorite crashing down and c) that it would be causing a tsunami. Where would be the big question. Mayor Deverin mentioned that she thought that somewhere in the back of her head, the city sounded familiar, while Father Zantus admitted that he just can't figure out this riddle.

We mentioned that we would be looking into it further, but that we felt that as the most immediate governing body, that they should know. Faunra offered up that we would be providing a means to communicate with the peoples of Jotunburg, in a few weeks, once everything is settled. Mayor Deverin asked how that would help her town. Faunra offered up that having a group of Giants that might be able to back us up would be a very valuable thing. As it stands, we had a set of Boots of Teleportation, that we could provide to the city, and an Ioun stone that could eliminate the need to breath at that altitude, to negate the altitude sickness, if we had a sufficient person for being an ambassador.

Mayor Deverin kind of shrugged and noted that this was likely something that she had to hand up the chain, to the Lord-Mayor of Magnimar, rather than just keep to the town. I nodded, noting that we were planning on including them in on this, and on expanding the airport capabilities of all three locations. Mayor Deverin asked what that meant, and Dame Rebekah responded that it meant that the town would be joining the big leagues. The Mayor was a bit taken aback by this, when I gave her my vote of confidence. I added that the Lord-Mayor would likely want all of the allied towns to have both the improved roadways and the airports, if only so that he doesn't need to spend as much time in transit.

I added that it was exceptionally likely that we would be setting up an airport in Andoran, when we end up talking things over with the Ambassador again. I added that it was likely that other locations would even push to get this kind of access as well, and that I would be counting on her and the rest of the town council's advice on these other locations. Sheriff Hemlock asked if the town guard would be getting any goodies. Faunra smiled and said that we would be working on three things for the town itself, a new vehicle for the guard, and two defenders to assist in the protection of this town. Sheriff Hemlock smiled at that and said that he'd like to see that.

With our reasons for the discussion coming to an end, Mayor Deverin asked if we wanted to do some kind of parade or anything. I looked at the rest and noted that most of whom I'd want to see would be at the Barghest. Jonathan agreed, as did Faunra and Dame Rebekah. Father Zantus smiled and said that he'd be glad to put this business behind the town. I looked at him like I was confused and told him that we'd be lucky if we got a few months before the next issue.

We all silently agreed to put off more discussion until tomorrow. Now was a time to celebrate. We all decided to head to the next destination. The bikes were pulled out of the hangars, Bucepherous was also summoned from their stone forms, and Jonathan got ready to walk along side us. Sheriff Hemlock had his bike out and was getting on it. The other remaining members of our group, Mayor Deverin, Ameiko Kaijitsu, Father Zantus were currently without rides.

It was eventually determined that Mayor Deverin would ride on the bike behind Sheriff Hemlock, Father Zantus was going to be behind Faunra on her bike. That left Ameiko, who got on the back of Bucepherous. Savah had come out from her store after locking up and asked if we could just walk. I agreed, and offered up a different mode of transit, if she desired. I nodded to everyone else to head on to the Barghest, while I put the motorcycle up in the garage.

As we walked out of the garage, Savah asked me what I had in mind to get us there. I scooped her up in my armored arms, as Savah giggled, and activated my jump jets. While we were quickly flying towards the Barghest, we got a great view of the town in the waning hours of the day as Savah continued squealing with delight as we flew over the town. We landed right in front of the restaurant, just next to a line that started forming of different townsfolk who seemed to have caught up on some of the rumors of our group being back. They were looking at the both of us and asking all kinds of questions.

Savah looked at my closed helm faceplate with a smile, and she said that she guessed that I am now some kind of celebrity. I smiled, activated the voice changer before telling everyone that, "Yes. The Saviors of Sandpoint are back." I could see that Savah suppressed a giggle as we were allowed into the restaurant. We were welcomed into the restaurant and saw the group of everyone waiting for us. I ditched the armor and left it in the corner of the room. If needed, I felt that I could probably get armored up fairly quickly.

Savah and I joined everyone, and we got a very good meal from Jonathan's staff. We all talked a bit about how it was done. Ameiko asked for us to provide a detailed story about the whole assault on Xin-Shalast. I obliged and told everyone the tale of the Vesper Brothers, the ghosts in the snow, and how we encountered another of the Fey who had recognized that we had provided such assistance to her sister that she gave us crucial information about the city. I continued with how we snuck into the city, aboard our hovering, thanks to Jonathan, plane, and then set about dismantling the power structure within the town.

I took a drink while Jonathan and the others answered questions that the people listening had for them and myself. It was nice to have people there to back me up and confirm that I wasn't being crazy or hyperbolic, because it certainly did feel like it at times. They even "corrected the record" a few times, when I sought to minimize my own contributions. Like them describing how I basically took a fireball to the face to use the Runelord's Intelligent Flying Artifact Glaive to behead him after it had tried to stab me and then take control of me. Mayor Deverin looked at me oddly, as did Ameiko.

I held up my hands, telling them that I didn't approve of assassination of government officials anymore than any other person, but that I was damned tired of him just healing back up and coming again for another barrage of spells and effects. Mayor Deverin noted that it was not uncommon for the rulership of a place like Xin-Shalast to be decided by combat where the victor becomes the new ruler. Ameiko chimed in and noted that even though I had the back up of my group, Karzoug did as well, so the fact that I had incapacitated him and then beheaded him puts me to have a claim for the throne. I sighed and muttered that I didn't need to hear it from them as well. Ameiko questioned me what that was about and Faunra answered for me that basically everyone, including the glaive itself, has tried to get me to take over the position of either the Runelord of Transmutation or the position of ruler of Xin-Shalast, or both.

The group that had not basically been read in on this fact, and in fact the rest of the restaurant itself, all got quiet at that. You could hear a pin drop. Sheriff Hemlock asked if I had taken the role. I shook my head, saying that there were some very negative connotations with either one of those positions, what with both of them having had the last person in them, having died suddenly very recently, and that they didn't seem to really hold my interest. I added that I did talk to the most important person to see what she would say about it, just to make sure that I wasn't messing up.

A member of the crowd expressed disbelief, when Jonathan piped up, saying that he had indeed been holding the glaive for some period, to prevent it from accomplishing mischief, when I needed both hands for one reason or another. During those periods, the glaive raged at him telepathically, and insulted him, and instead of trying to get him to accept the position, kept asking how he thought that I could be persuaded to take up the position. I had not been privy to that specific bit of information. That hurt a little, and while I was reflecting on that Dame Rebekah announced that even she had attempted to convince me to take up the role, but was convinced instead, that I could probably do more good as the teacher that I had wanted to be, rather than as a dictator, no matter how benevolent.

That heckler kind of quieted down for a minute, but then noted that we could have all made it up. Father Zantus spoke up and said that of all the things he has ever known of me, being a liar is not one of the characteristics I have shown. Kind of soft praise there, now that I think about it. Sheriff Hemlock noted that our group had done so much for the town, that he had no doubts about what had been said about me. I chimed up and noted that this was good, because we were going to be making Sandpoint the major point of contact for the government for the new city of Jotunburg.

One of the members of the crowd asked what not having power over chicken means. I muttered something about it being nonsense that was just intended to confuse the artifact, and what could be more confusing than an arbitrary line that doesn't parse even though all of the words together should. The good mayor helpfully changed the subject and announced that Jotunburg was going to be forming and figuring out their governing system, and that Sandpoint would be there to help them along the way. One of the townsfolk who were at another table yelled back that they didn't want Giants of any kind in the town. Jonathan, quick as a whip, asked them if they were feeling a little bit self-conscious.

The person shut right up with that, and a different person asked what benefit the town would get out of this allegiance. I offered up that they were on a high mountain area, where produce and animals were a bit harder to come by, so the ability to sell produce and other goods would definitely be a positive. That same person asked how we could get stuff there from hundreds of miles away. I offered up that we would be building a set of planes, and that the trip only takes about four hours to get there, maybe more if it isn't a rush. Faunra offered up that she would be looking into methods to speed up the planes as well, if not offer up other possibilities.

I told everyone that they would not be forced to go to Jotunburg if they did not want to, but that it would be a great opportunity for anyone who wanted to go. In addition, I added, if Mayor Deverin and the Town Council approves, we would consider joining up our budding mercantile endeavors with both Magnimar and Andoran, to allow the citizens of Sandpoint to have ready access to all of these locations and business opportunities. There was a bit of quiet, before Jonathan announced that business talk was done, and it was time to celebrate.

We had a good time, the rest of the night. Savah decided that she had had enough of the festivities for a while and asked to be flown home. I got back in the armor, and we headed back. We took a detour to fly around Sandpoint, and look out over Chopper's Isle, which was being recovered as the spirit of the Chopper had been exercised by Savah, Chelger, Shayliss, and Shalelu while we had been dealing with other issues. And the Sandpoint Devil had been fully put down by them as well. Lots of little things that they dealt with in the background that I just couldn't wait to hear about.

We got home, telepathically announcing ourselves to the various entities of the grounds and went into the house. My armor is starting to get a bit too bulky for easy walking though interior doors, but I'll manage, or put a better door upstairs on one of the balconies and put in an actual armory. Well, I might need to do that anyway, what with the four guns, the chainsword, and everything else. Maybe I'll have Faunra put in an extradimensional room or something. But that's enough for today. I still can't get the prophecy out of my head though. "Unto the Ides, Scal will shed a single tear. That tear will send the Wave of Harbors to the Quay of Aenigmas."