Despite the late hour, I couldn’t sleep.

No matter how I tried to work it, I couldn’t see a way out of this mess. There was no strategy, no trick, no plan I could use to get my clan through this calamity.

I was screwed.

That’s it, game over. I thought miserably to myself.

Shut up Vic. I grunted.

My secret was out. My clan was as good as dead.

My nemesis, Vatras, was looking for me, and if he didn’t already know where I was, he would soon. I couldn’t even run, since my soul was bound to the clan’s cemetery from the moment I’d established it.

They’ll come for me and they’ll destroy everything we’ve worked so hard to build. I continued commiserating to myself. There’s nothing I can do to stop them. We barely stopped a small, level 20 group. No matter how strong my clan gets, the invaders will be stronger.

Vic, in his purple goblin form, watched me worriedly, fidgeting.

“Eh, come on boss. It’s not all bad. We still have time. You can wall off the valley, that’ll keep them out for a while.”

I didn’t bother raising my head from the table. “And what good would that do? I’m the highest level here, and I’m only level 20. My old clan could field over a hundred level 200 warriors. At least. They would smash through every one of our defences. Effortlessly.”

“Oren, come on. You have time, plenty of it, remember the time difference? Look at what you’ve accomplished in just under six weeks. You have at least a few more weeks to prepare. We can do it!”

I appreciated his attempt to raise my morale, but he simply didn’t get it. We could never hope to match the strength of the Travelers, the undying scourge upon our world.

“Just leave me be Vic.” I said tiredly.

He grumbled something, and a moment later I heard the door shut as he left the house.

Leaving me to wallow in despair.

But just a few moments later the door opened again.

“Damn it Vic, I said I wanted to be left...”

I stopped as I saw Vic lead Tika, and of all people, Bek, into the room. Both looked haggard, as both had just been awakened.”

Tika immediately approached me, laying a comforting hand against my cheek, bending to whisper in my ear. “Me help. All the clan help. You not worry, you good chief. Tika have belief in you.”

Just being there she calmed my angst a bit, but my outlook about the clan’s future remained bleak.

“I appreciate that Tika, but you don’t know everything. I...I don’t know what to do.” I looked up into her sweet face. She gave me her beautiful, loving smile, and I couldn’t help smiling back. It did make me feel a little better.

“I know. Vic tells. Bek knowing way.”

Bek?? What can the munchkin possibly know that will help thwart a horde of blood-thirsty, high level Travelers?

“Hear him out boss,” Vic suggested.

I looked at Bek questionably.

The little goblin looked uncomfortable with all the attention focused on him.

He cleared his throat. “Bek be praying at Shrine to Dark God. Bek sleeps. Bek sees great darkness come from Shrine, make night-time everywhere. Clan be strong in night-time, not-clan be weak.”

I looked at him with incomprehension.

“What he means” Vic rolled his eyes, “is that you have options. You have a powerful, tier 8 boss as your clan deity, remember? And as luck had it, he is stationed just under your feet. This is his place of power. You can use that to your advantage.”

I frowned. “How?”

“You can purchase permanent buffs and blessings with Faith Points, remember? There’s one blessing that matches this pinhead-puppet’s description. Eternal Night.”

Instead of trying to remember, I simply willed up the zone blessings details. There it was.

Eternal Night: the zone of influence will be covered with perpetual darkness. Cost: 1000 PF

My shoulders slumped.

“It just says the area will be shrouded in darkness. How could that possibly make any difference?”

Vic gave me a pointed look. “For a meat suit who’s advanced enough to see and manipulate the connections to his own puppet, you sure are slow on the uptake sometimes. Ignore the user description. Look deeper, find the metadata.”

That was unexpected. Usually Vic disapproved the connection I’d achieved with NEO. I closed my eyes and directed my thoughts at the Eternal Night blessing. I could sense thin streams of data coming from world around me, as NEO fed me with information. The short description I’d read a moment ago suddenly looked pale and inadequate compared to what I found. There was a lot more to it than a simple perpetual darkness effect. That blessing was a shroud that emanated directly from Nihilator and manifested through his shrines, converting the land around to his domain. Under it, only his Shadow-Touched minions may pass unharmed, all other living creatures, especially those who served the light would be weakened and suffer various debuffs.

My mood began to lighten, the worry-lines easing.

Vic raised one purple hand. “There’s more, keep digging into it.”

I concentrated, tapping more deeply into the tightly woven streams of information.

I saw...and I understood! That was one of the major advantages my kind had over Travelers, we had an innate connection to the world around us. I now understood that the Eternal Night blessing could be much more powerful than first indicated.

While it could be activated using a Shrine, it limited the effectiveness of the blessing. Activating it with a Dark Temple would produce stronger result. Better yet, it would open other blessings and options that could enhance and expand the original. While I could sense the other blessings had various potential effects, exactly what they did was not clear. Those information streams were too ‘distant’ for me to reach.

My previous gloom evaporated completely. I jumped from my seat, rubbing my hands together.

“What are you all standing around for?! We have lots of work to do!”

***

I paced in my living room floor impatiently, back and forth. There were a ton of details waiting for me to attend to. Revitalized, with new hope, I’d sent Vic to fetch Zuban, we had much to discuss.

I hadn’t made best use of my time, these last couple of weeks. After we repelled the Ogre attack, I let myself relax from the furious pace we had been holding up to that point. I spent many hours with Tika, talking, walking out together, and deepening our relationship. I relaxed the clan’s work schedule, allowing the clan to work at a more leisurely pace, building the settlement unhurriedly. I purposely avoided spending too much of our accumulated food and energy, not willing to commit to a particular path. I cut back on my own training and didn’t even invest much effort in my runecrafting, despite my new innate understanding of its inner working.

All I had to show for the last couple of weeks, was a slight increase in my skills, two or three points at most.

Well, then. I thought to myself. I guess break time's over.

I had new goals and obstacles in my path. But I was a seasoned clan chief now, I knew how the system worked. I formulated the goals I had to achieve:

The first priority, obviously, was to build the Dark Temple, but we lacked its blueprint.

The second concern was Faith Points. I needed 1000 FP to purchase the Eternal Night blessing. I currently had exactly 457 at my disposal, so I had to collect more. I could convert Energy Points to FP, but with a 10 to 1 conversion rate, it’ll take 5430 EP. I almost had enough energy for that now, but energy was a valuable resource that could be used for other things, and I prefered not to squander it in an unfavorable exchange unless I absolutely had to.

Another concern was that even with a Temple and the Eternal Night blessing, our forces would still be weak. The barracks should help. I could sense that now, but I’d have to wait for the structure to be completed to see exactly how it will work.

And as always, I need soldiers, lots of them. I need them to be as high level as possible, which required combat experience or energy. However, buying levels for my followers using energy was progressively expensive. Raising a soldier from level 1 to ten would cost 2,569 EP. I needed better ways to level up my future army.

I sighed. Suddenly, the 5,079 EP we had accumulated didn’t seem like much.

A light tap on the door tore me away from my musing.

“Enter.”

Zuban came in, letting a few rays of sun into my house.

The hobgoblin bowed respectfully though he looked tired. “You summoned me, Dread Totem?”

I nodded. “Please have a seat.” I motioned at the table, seating myself.

He looked at me, searchingly. “I heard you had a tough fight, and that our casualties were high.” He took a steadying breath. “Did Ash...”

I raised my hand. “Don’t worry Zuban. Yes, we suffered casualties, and yes, Ashlazaria was among them,” Seeing his stricken expression I added hurriedly, “but they will return to us. As Nihilator is my witness, you will have Ash back very soon.”

You have made a vow in the name of your deity, Nihilator

Condition: Resurrect the hobgoblin scout Ashlazaria within 12 hours.

Failure: Nihilator’s Wrath debuff, -1000 reputation with Nihilator.

Success: 5 FP

Crap, I should really better watch what I’m saying. Otherwise, I might wind up finding myself biting more than I could chew. Nihilator was not an easygoing, or benevolent, god, I really didn’t want to get on his bad side.

At least Zuban seemed somewhat assured by my vow.

I decided to get to business.

“You and Romil are currently researching the Research Center building, right? and you...” I closed my eyes for a moment. “You have researched 18 of the 100 required points, correct?”

He looked impressed at my knowledge. “That is correct, Dread Totem.”

“Hmm…” I rested my arms on the table. “I need the Dark Temple to become a priority.”

He nodded grimly. “Yes, your purple companion has briefed me on our situation. We will switch to research the temple immediately.” He made to stand up.

I raise my hand, “Hold on Zuban, there’s more to consider.”

I rubbed my chin and tried to evaluate the amount of time I had. The forest around us was located in the middle of the Deadlands, a vast, barely explored territory. The nearest Traveler settlements was hundreds of kilometers away. It could take up to a week for a sizeable force to march that distance. A smaller, faster force, with strong, fast mounts could probably make that in a day, but even a high level strike force would be delayed by monster encounters. Our forest was considered to be a relatively low level zone. There were other zones all around us, with monsters with levels over 200. So even the most direct route would probably take a fast moving force at least a day. Considering the time difference, that meant I had between two weeks, to about three months to get ready. In any case, there was enough time to complete researching both structures. After all, it was a shame to lose the research points that were gained already.

“Keep working on the Research Center blueprints,” I instructed. “As soon as you finish, start on the Dark Temple. I’m going to summon another Researcher to help you.”

His worried expression relaxed. “Wonderfull! With two Researchers working in a proper workplace, we will be able to come up with new blueprints much faster, and I can get back to overseeing the construction.”

I nodded and opened up the Construction Interface. I could simply pull the information directly into my mind, but I wanted to see the information laid out in front of me.

Buildings and Construction

Max Constructor skill: 15

Builders count: 6 (skills 15, 15, 15, 15, 15, 16)

Daily BP: 112.2

Under construction: Cabin (5U BP) [rush], Cabin (12U BP) [rush], Barracks (31€ BP) [rush]

Research (Daily RP: 25.7)

Available Resources: 10 Timber, Stone 50, Metal 17, Bones 137, Pelts 42

We had three different buildings under construction; the last two Cabins and the Barracks. For a moment I was tempted to hit the ‘rush’ button and use energy to instantly complete them, but I resisted. Every energy point was precious. Besides, in an emergency I can always use the ‘rush’ option if needed, I reasoned.

As for the research, with the current daily RP our researches were generating, both blueprints would be finished in about ten days. Another researcher would shave two to three days off that.

The interface also drew my attention to our low metal supply. We had 17 units in stock, and though it might be enough for our construction projects, I planned on manufacturing weapons and armors for my troops, so we would definitely need more metal.

Better start stockpiling it now, I reasoned.

That meant I needed to recruit another miner. I really should have done that earlier. Our one miner couldn’t supply all the clan’s growing needs by himself.

Zuban waited while I reviewed the clan’s information.

“Was there something else, Dread Totem?”

I rubbed my chin. “It looks like it will take about a week to complete the Cabins and the Barracks.”

“Seven days and a half exactly.” he corrected me.

I nodded, “that’s about the time it would take you to finish researching the Dark Temple, so let’s make that our next project.”

“I understand.”

“And then we will have to build up our military strength. We’ll need to manufacture armor, weapons…” I trailed off in thought.

Zuban brought me back to the present. “If I may offer a suggestion?”

“Of course.”

“It will take time to build Weapon and Armor workshops. And they will have to be manned by proficient craftsmen. I suggest you summon them now, let them improve their skills in the Smithy. They won’t be able to produce high quality items at first, but when the workshops are ready, they should be able to produce more, and better works, at a higher efficiency.”

“Good idea Zuban, I’ll do just that.” I really should have thought of it myself.

Governor skill level increased to 8

Heh, looks like my progress meetings with Zuban merited a skill increase.

Aside from other, obvious, benefits, reaching tier 2 boss rank raised my Social attribute from zero to 1. With my Social ‘potential’ now above zero, I finally had access to Social based skills not usually available to ‘regular’ goblins.

The Governor skill was one of those Social based skills, and I got it shortly after ranking up. Ostensibly it increased my clan management potential. At its current level, it conferred a small morale and efficiency bonus to my workers.

The skill level was increasing gradually. I could tell that it was connected to the settlement’s progression. The more my goblins worked and our clan expanded, the more the skill progressed. Though I now learned I could actively train it by engaging in clan management.

Vic spoke in my mind

I think you’re exaggerating. I said defensively.

I coughed embarrassedly. I had reasons for that, we really needed that stone, Nihilator was about to destroy us all, remember?

There was no arguing with Vic once he built up a certain momentum, so I gave up on the conversation. IT was still daylight, so I let Zuban go back to sleep. I still had a lot to do, but it would have to wait for the next night time. The goblin’s time.

***

Several hours later, when that last accursed rays of light has disappeared behind the mountain’s tops, I left my house. With Vicloak once again around my shoulders, I walked along the new road leading to the Mess Hall, just beyond the pond.

As usual, Gandork was at the kitchen, cooking. His eyes lit up when he saw me.

“Oh, Dread Totem! How good to see you. Come look, I have invented another recipe!”

He opened the big stone oven and retrieved a large tray of something that smelled delicious.

My mouth watered at the aroma. Due to our recent unexpected guests, I hadn’t eaten all day. I was famished.

“What do we have here?”

I call it a Meat Pie!” he announced proudly. “You see chief, I sliced mushrooms and some raw meat, then took some of the herbs and vegetables, mixed them all with a--”

“I got it”’ I interrupted. “It smells delicious.”

His chatter didn’t falter. “Why yes! It is! It requires four different ingredients, but the dish is enough to feed six!”

So not only it smelled good, the new recipe had also the highest ingredients-to-food ratio than all our other Advanced Food recipes.

That was good news!

Reaching into the tray, I took a fist full of the mushy food in my hand, dripping fat and juices all over the floor. I ignored Gandork’s horrified expression at my uncivilized behaviour, and stuffed the sloppy mass into my mouth. Well, what did he expect, we were goblins after all.

The food was delicious, I licked my dripping fingers, enjoying Gandork’s disgusted face.

“Good! How much can you make?”

His face took a sorrowful expression. “I’m afraid our mushroom supply is down, we have less than 30 left.”

I frowned. “The farmers are not providing you with more?”

One of the few instances I spent resources on these the last couple of weeks, was on summoning a pair of goblin farmers. They had performed poorly so far. Either the valley’s ground was not suitable for growing crops, or goblins were simply bad farmers.

Gandork shook his head. “I went as far as going to the fields myself to give them a piece of my mind, but they are working hard. They’ve only managed to grow some wild potatoes, it's barely enough to supply their own upkeep.”

I clenched my jaw. I couldn’t have members who didn’t carry their own weight around here. Both of them had the skill Farmer at level 6. I’d let them reach the Apprentice rank and see what happened before resorting to drastic measures.

“So how many units of food can you cook with your current supply?”

He thought it over for a moment.

“I should have enough for about a 160 portions.”

And that was Advanced Food we were talking about, it was much more difficult to produce than Simple Food. The Mess Hall bonus to cooking really payed off.

I will need to find a way to get Grandork more mushrooms, I thought. We were using them for almost all our recipes.

“For now, please cook all the Meat Pies you can” I instructed him. “Then load them up to the Breeder’s Den.”

He made a sour face, but nodded all the same. “By your command.”

He went back behind the counter, and started rummaging the pantry, taking out sacks and boxes of food and placing them on the counter.

With the new food boost, it was time for some fresh blood around here. The Breeder’s Den is going to be well fed tonight, I chuckled.

Now that we had a proper Warehouse, I didn’t have to go rummaging through the chaotic clan supply pile anymore. Everything was ordered and organized efficiently. I opened the Warehouse interface and selected ‘Food’.

Warehouse [Food]

265 raw meat 305 raw fishes 274 gathered edibles 268 gathered ingredients 0 mushrooms 190 travel rations

I gave a low whistle. I hadn’t viewed our food stores since I’d summoned the two deadbeat Farmers. We had built up an impressive store of food since then. I was surprised at the amount.

I shook my head, that won’t do. I had to get back on top of things. I needed to pay attention to details, and keep on top of everything around here to optimize the development of the clan.

At first glance, the amount of food looked like a lot, but, it was not nearly enough.

Sure, compared to our first few days around here, it was an amazing amount. But I needed warriors, and a lot of them. And warriors cost a lot of food to get, and needed a lot of food for upkeep.

I’d decided not to summon any more goblin warriors. They were just too fragile, and came with too many combat restrictions. It would have to be hobgoblin soldiers all the way.

A hob warriors cost 70 food, so with our current food stock I'd be able to recruit about 14 of them. And that was the cost of the most basic hob warrior. I needed better, more expensive soldiers, and in large numbers.

I opened the Breeder’s Den interface, then cracked my knuckles.

Time to get back into the game.

Breeder’s Den

Goblin (Foblin): 20 basic food. Goblin Worker: 30 basic food. Goblin Advanced Worker: 30 basic, 20 advanced food. Goblin Warriors: 50 basic food. Goblin lieutenant: 50 basic, 20 advanced food. Goblin Crafter: 30 basic, 20 advanced food. Goblin Advanced Crafter: 30 advanced, 20 exquisite food. Goblin Adept: 30 advanced, 20 exquisite food. Hobgoblin: 30 basic food. Hobgoblin Warrior: 70 basic food. Hobgoblin Lieutenant: 70 basic, 30 advanced food. Hobgoblin Adept: 50 advanced, 30 exquisite food. Hobgoblin Noble: 100 basic, 50 advanced food.

I selected a Miner worker first, then I queued in an Advanced worker with the Research skill. Acting on Zuban’s advice I queued in two Crafter goblins; a Weaponsmith and an Armorsmith.

A trio of goblin workers walked into messhall, moving mechanically. They walked over to the counter and began carrying the bundles of food Gandork stacked for them, out of the Mess Hall.

I chuckled. I could now see the faint streams of information guiding them, leading them to fulfill the Breeder's Den demands. Almost like puppets on a string.

I froze at that fleeting thought.

Vic sounded smug.

I furrowed my brow.

There are dozens of string coming out of you too. I pointed out.

His voice was condescending.

Exactly what are you pulling at, Vic? I didn’t like what he was implying. I was not some puppet!

I eased up at that. He was right. He would need a significant amount of access to do the job he did for me properly.

“All right Vic,” I said audibly. “I’m sorry for doubting you.”

He said in a sarcastic tone.

I turned my attention back to the Breeder’s Den Interface. Should I start using the food surplus to summon warriors? I wondered.

I accessed the Settlement Interface, the hamlet’s daily food production was at 124 units per day. Not bad. Then I checked my clan’s upkeep, not including the soon-to-arrive recruits, we were consuming 53 units of food per day. We were producing enough food to summon one new hob warrior per day. Not nearly enough.

Once again, I needed to increase the food production to make progress. Unfortunately, we had already reached the maximum of four hunters that the valley could support. We had four Gatherers, and the valley could accommodate up to seven, so I queued three more gatherers in the Breeder’s Den. And our two Fisherman were already fishing the maximum amount of fish from our little pond. With the available resources, it seemed that we had reached the food production limit for the valley. This was one of the reasons the Deadlands were considered a poor choice for colonial attempts. The resources here were simply not enough to support a large population.

I have to find other methods to produce food. I thought.

I went out of the Mess Hall, following several goblins who were hauling trays of Meat Pies to the Breeder’s Den. Three new workers were already standing in front of the structure.

More food was loaded into the building, which began emitting its troubling grunting and screeching noises. I could also smell unsavory odors coming from within, and for the hundredth time since I got it, I shuddered at the thought of what must be going on in there.

Soon, seven new goblins stood before me; four simple, mindless workers and three which had names. I didn’t bother analyzing them. Each one of my new clan members was giving off thick ribbons of information that I easily deciphered.

“Welcome to the GreenPiece clan.” I welcomed them. “Together we will build a nation, and together we will become a force to be reckoned with. Serve our clan well.”

“Yes Dread Totem.”

“Yes Bread Totem.”

“Yes Bread Totem.”

I groaned. I’ve had it up to my ears with those unfeeling automatons’ reactions. What I was really missing was someone to direct new workers and take the weight of micro managing each one off my shoulders.

Wait I minute… I thought suddenly. There was an option to do just that. According to zuban, the most expensive hob in the Breeder’s Den, the Hobgoblin Noble, was just the one for the job. 150 food in total for one individual was a lot, but then, I would only need one...

Resolved, I selected the Noble and waited impatiently. A few minutes later, four workers, burdened with the weight of the food, came and placed it inside the building.

The ruckus that ensued was louder and more violent than usual, and there were new sounds. This time I heard vicious snarling in the background. I closed my mind and ears to the sounds and information streams, and waited.

A moment later the noises stopped and a low fanfare could be heard.

Lady Luck has smiled on your clan!

You were awarded an improved creature. Your new Noble has the following trait: Mind Eater.

Mind Eater: A select few of the hobgoblin nobility can track their ancestry back to their demonic heritage. Some of those individuals still display the various powers of their ancestor.

Mind Eater Nobles are much more intelligent than the average hobgoblin Nobles. They also possess minor psionic and telepathic abilities.

Though they can subsist on normal food, a Mind Eater must consume the brain of a humanoid creature once a week or risk devolving into a savage creature that kills indiscriminately, to sate its hunger.

Holy hell! Is luck working for me or against me on this one? I thought dumbly.

The building’s cover flap was pushed aside and a tall, slender, almost skeletal creature, stepped out. It was unmistakably a hobgoblin, but he was so thin, his bones literally protruded under his skin, making him a truly disturbing sight.

I analyzed him.

Kaedric, Hobgoblin Noble

Level: 5

HP: 55, MP: 85

P: 1, M:5, S: 5

Skills: Administrator 10, Etiquette 10, Telepathy 10, Mindshock 10, Quest Giver: 10

Traits: Goblinoid (+1 Physical, -1 Social), Mind Eater (+3 Mental, +3 Social, Telepathic)

Background: A remnant of old, when Hobgoblin wizards tried to crossbreed their race with demons for further enhancing their strength. Kaedric was recruited to help manage the GreenPiece clan by a Dread Totem goblin.

Even for a race of monsters, this one was monstrous.

He moved gracefully, moving with sure, confident steps towards us. I tightened my grip on my staff.

The creature stopped and bowed deeply to me. As he straightened, four black, curved mandibles spread apart around his mouth, stretching his lips wide in a horrific display of needle-like teeth. Then the mandibles snapped shut, and he began to speak

“Greeting, Dread Totem,” he said in a hollow, scratchy voice. “I am here to serve.”

I coughed nervously. “So, err…I’m… eh, I mean…”

Vic butted in.

Kaedric’s head turned sharply toward my Vicloak, examining it with narrowed, calculating eyes.

I coughed again. “I’m the leader of this clan. I’ve summoned you to help me with its management.”

Vic complemented

Yeah, I got it! I snapped at him.

I looked at the new hob apprehensively. “As I said, I could use some help managing the clan, though I have to admit, I’m not sure exactly what your role would be around here.”

He bowed again. “If I may demonstrate, my lord?”

I nodded.

Kaedric looked at the assembled goblins around him. He looked like a teacher standing amidst a host of schoolkids. A classroom in a school from your worst nightmares.

Without him saying a word, the three Gatherers and the Miner went toward the Warehouse. Primla walked toward the Construction Yard. Only the two new smiths remained.

I stared at Kaedric with puzzlement. “What just happened?”

He smiled thinly, his protruding mandibles giving the friendly expression a disturbing viciousness.

“I ordered the four simple workers to get tools from the Warehouse and to start working immediately. There are three more hours till daylight, so I directed them to the closest area of their respective jobs, to maximize their contribution. I also sent Primla to Zuban, your foreman, and instructed her to select the ‘construction’ Research specialization.”

I stared at the two remaining smiths. “What about them? Why didn’t you send them to work at the Smithy?”

He bowed again, “Forgive my assumption, my lord, but those two are Advanced Workers. To perform efficiently in their lines of work, they need two assistants each. So my recommendation is to recruit four more simple workers and assign them the Gofer skills.”

I looked at him with respect. “Your depth of knowledge is impressive.”

He bowed again. “I thank you, my lord. I have also noticed a beginning of a rat infestation in the Mess Hall’s cellar. I’ve ordered our only combatant clan member, I believe his name is Bek, to handle the problem. I’m afraid he is being somewhat reluctant to follow my instructions, but I’m sure that next time I’ll be able to correct this behaviour. On a side note, such tasks could be delegated to friendly Travelers in the future in the form of quests.”

I stared numbly at him. He can detect rats in the Mess Hall from here? Do we even have a cellar?”

“That’s quite a demonstration, Kaedric. Please don’t bother Bek, he’s earned his status around here. As for the extra workers…”

I accessed the Breeder’s Den again and queued in four Gofer workers. Once the structure spit out the newly minted workers, I used the Settlement Interface to review their skill.

Gofer (P) [Monster Race]

Everyone can use someone to do their dishes, fetch water, light the brazier. A good Gofer does all that and more, with a smile on his face.

Assists advanced craftsmen with their job.

Level 1: Novice

Effect: improve assisted crafter’s production by 5.5%.

There was more to the skill than what the text specified. As with many other ‘monster only’ features, the rudimentary description was lacking. I could detect the underlying information beyond it. Aside from improving their master’s productivity, Gofers could also produce stuff on their own, though at a limited capacity. So their contribution, in actuality, would be higher than what the text implied.

In the space of an hour, I’ve summoned a total of 12 new members to my clan, a staggering amount. I’ve opened the energy Options menu and spent 550 energy points, raising all the workers to level 2.

Kaedric watched me with detached interest.

“Ah, I see. Very shrewd, my lord. I’d recommend spending additional 726 energy to raise everyone to level 3. With the current clan’s morale, we would see return on our investment in exactly two months. If you wish, I may also handle the energy management aspect of the clan.”

That’s could come be useful, I thought.

But I shook my head. “I need the energy. I still need to resurrect some fallen troops, and in the coming days we might find ourselves needing a lot of energy for quick upgrades. As for your other suggestion, I’ll handle the energy management on my own, for now”

He bowed again, “I understand my lord.”

I grimaced, all that bowing was making me feel uncomfortable, especially coming from a creature nearly twice my height.

“You don’t need to keep bowing, Kaedric.”

He didn’t bowed this time. “As my lord wishes.”

“Now, eh…” I didn’t exactly know how to approach the next subject.

“About your...dietary requirements…”

Kaedric shot a look directly at Vic, and in a confident tone said, “My dear Vic, old Guba is contributing more to the clan in every passing hour than any three other workers combined.”

He turned his gaze upon me. “As for your question, do not fret yourself, my lord, I am more than capable of attending to my own culinary requirements”

Vic mumbled in my mind.

Kaedric shot another look at Vic, then added ”at worst, I might have to sample a purple goblin’s brain. Though it would probably be a small, unfeeling meal.”

“Hey!” Vic called audibly in an insulted tone.

I chortled. It had seemed that Vic might have found his match.

Ignoring Vic protest, Kaedric continued. “If my lord wishes, I may resurrect the clan’s fallen members in your stead.”

It was the same as letting him have access to the energy management. I wasn’t ready to give such control to someone I didn’t knew yet. Especially one so… unusual.

I shook my head, “I’ll handle it myself for now.”

“Then with your permission, my lord, I will perform a survey of the clan and seek to contribute where I can.”

“Very well,” I replied, “just eh...you know, don’t eat any of my clan members.”

He didn’t seem offended by that. “Of course, my lord.”

Walking away from this weird encounter, I made my way up to the shrine at Totem’s Watch, overlooking the valley.

Standing facing the cemetery’s lone tombstone, I brought up the Energy Options menu and selected Resurrection.

Resurrection

Borbarabsus, hobgoblin lieutenant, level 10; Resurrection cost: 100 EP Ashlazaria, hobgoblin scout, level 7; Resurrection cost: 70 EP Zia, hobgoblin warrior, level 7; Resurrection cost: 70 EP Kilpi shīrudo, hobgoblin warrior, level 7; Resurrection cost: 70 EP Kroakar, hobgoblin warrior, level 7; Resurrection cost: 70 EP Ryker, hobgoblin warrior, level 7; Resurrection cost: 70 EP Vrick, goblin lieutenant, level 7; Resurrection cost: 70 EP

I grimaced. Having my troops level up after the fight was great, but it sure wasn’t easy on my energy allowance. At least my troops had become more formidable after the fight. All the hobgoblins had gained one level from the skirmish. Bob, who survived the longest gained two levels, making him the first clan member to have reached level 10.

With a mental nod I approved all the resurrections, paying the 520 EP, leaving me with 3289. It sure spends quickly. I thought somberly. A few more fights like that, and I would be out of energy. That was another thing I should keep in mind and another reason not to spend energy too quickly.

The small stone tombstone emitted a soft green light and seven ethereal shapes stepped out of it. My soldiers, alive once again.

Vow completed: Resurrect Ashlazaria

Reward: +5 Faith Points

They looked around in bewilderment and when they noticed me, their expression filled with awe and respect. Bob stepped forward and kneeled before me.

“We are yours to command again, Dread Totem.”

Even on his knee he was slightly taller than me.

I put a hand on his shoulder. “You fought well.” I looked over the others “All of you. As I promised, you will never truly die as long as you serve our clan faithfully.”

I approached Ashlazaria, taking out the bow I looted from the Traveler Scout. “I have a gift for you.”

She took the bow from me, looking at it in wonder. Her behaviour was easy to understand. The bow was powerful and expensive, looted from the the corpse of an undying Traveler.

“Consider this a reward for you valor in combat.” I smiled at her.

Then I faced the others. “There will be more fights, and more loot. With time, each of you will be rewarded appropriately.”

I could feel waves of respect coming from all of them, bringing a cascade of message alerts about my reputation increases. I waved them away, I didn’t need the messages. I could sense the attachment my soldiers had for me. I only had to look at my people to know it.

“It will be morning soon, our time to sleep.” I nodded toward the horizon, and the coming dawn. “You will need to rest before you can resume your duties.”

I remained, watching them go.

Then I turned and approached the Shrine.

I could feel the small structure of bone and stone calling me, giving off bits of information that resonated with me. As I lay my hand on the Shrine, my mind was filled with knowledge. The travellers I sacrificed awarded me enough Faith Points to attain the next Faith Rank and now it was time to reap the benefits.

Faith Rank 2 reached

The Following divine spells are now unlocked: Shadow Teleport

Progress to rank 3: 569 / 1000

New Spell acquired: Shadow Teleport (M)

Instantly transport you through the Plane of Shadow. Entry and exit points must be in a shadowed area. Limited range. Destination must be within sight. Speed: 12. Cost: 50 MP. Shadow discipline.

Level 6: Novice

Effect: distance: 16 meters.

That was a useful ability, though its highest potential was probably during combat. It was nowhere as powerful as the Traveler’s continental teleport abilities, but it was still a valuable spell. Most Travelers found short-distances spatial magic too disorienting to use in combat. Their feeble minds could not compensate fast enough with the change of perspective.

Vic said sarcastically

I stopped and turned my head, looking at Vic. Why do you keep doing that? You know I loathe it when you treat the world as a game. I thought we were pass that nonsense, especially after what we’ve been through.

I exhaled in annoyance. Somehow his reply sounded less than sincere.

Standing at the edge of the stone shelf that hid the shrine, I looked at the ground below me.

It was almost dawn, and there were plenty of shadows around.

I closed my eyes, reached with my mind and activated my new spell.

In a flash I found myself emerging from the shadows on the ground below, just in front of the cave opening.

I stared at the dark entrance before me, musing.

The Eternal Night blessing was a good start, but it was always good to have backup. For example, a nearly invincible, demigod beast of darkness.

Yep, it was time for another chat with our dark deity.

Vic chortled.

I rolled my eyes, and started heading home. It was late and I was tired, first I would get a full ‘night’ of rest.

I needed to be alert and focused for my meeting with Nihilator.