Brad

"[Flight]," Brad intoned, triggering the enchantment on his golem body that turned his rainbow wings from ornaments to useful appendages. Snake strikes might well be lightning fast, but they relied on the back end of the snake remaining mostly stationary. Instead of trying to launch himself into the air, Brad had learned he had to unfurl his wings and let the enchantment give him a bit of lift before he could start directing his flight with his wings.

"Scouting again?" Dibbs asked, a wry smile on his lips.

"Yeah, sure," Brad said. More like getting space from Feltz. The Archmage did not appreciate riding on a wagon. Too bad he also had too much dignity to follow Dibbs' example and walk when he had sat too long.

"This time bring back a rabbit or something!" Feltz said.

"No," Brad said, flapping his wings hard to gain altitude and distance from the crotchety old bigot.

"Ease off him, Feltz! If the ride and the food are bothering you that much, you've got ways to change that, now don't you?" Dibbs asked.

Brad left the pair wrangling with each other like that and focused on the pure joy of soaring through the skies. After getting a taste of this, he had no further interest in returning to a ground-bound human body. Dancing with the wind was the most freeing experience he had ever experienced.

They were a little over half way to the last spot of civilization on the way to their destination, and Brad was still getting skill up notices for [Mana Manipulation] every time he took to the air, not to mention the actual [Flight] skill. He was getting into the high twenties in [Mana Manipulation] from trying to trickle fill the enchantment's mana reservoir while in use, but he had yet to maintain the enchantment effects for longer than a half hour so far.

Below him stretched a sea of grass, dotted here and there with the trees one of the caravan guards had identified as a Water Tree. According to the yellow scaled arassas, if they got lost on the steppes of the Free Cities they need only navigate from Water Tree to Water Tree to find civilization. The fern like fronds of the trees might leave behind a pucker worthy bitter taste, but chewing the leaves provided a wealth of water. Omnivorous and herbivorous creatures rarely took ill from eating the leaves, but even for the carnivorous critters the masticated mass made a good basis for a lot of the local herbal healing craft.

Under Feltz's prodding, the guard had gone on and on about the local ecology and wild life. Brad, thinking of Aaron, had taken notes, and now they kept replaying in his mind as he tried to identify what he saw.

Small herds of diminutive wild asses mingled with some kind of plains deer, and massive gray lizard-skinned cows the guard had called rhomkips. A family group of woolly boars had settled near one of the Water Trees not far from the caravan. Brad tried to memorize their location. Some of the guards might go hunting for one of the porcine beasts.

A flash of movement attracted Brad's gaze and he watched a sand colored fox dash after … something that hopped, but was smaller than a rabbit. Brad swooped down closer for a look, which was fortunate for the kitteagle that would have otherwise broken a paw on Brad's rock hard and magically resilient body.

*** *** ***

Special Action: LCK +1

*** *** ***

The first time Brad had seen a kitteagle, he had thought, "baby griffon?" The rear part of the bird looked like a feather covered domestic cat while the front part looked like a bird of prey. The head was a mix of avian and feline with rounded ears that could fold flat to its head. So far, the kitteagles were a woody brown in color and had a knack for attacking from the sun.

Brad's dip had taken him out of the kitteagle's dive path at the last moment and he watched it right itself just before the ground. It was a beautiful sight, and he took the time to appreciate the kitteagle's grace in flight.

Then he withdrew a crossbow with a bolt (both sized to his reduced stature) from the spatial storage ring Dibbs had given him. He took advantage of the [Flight] enchantment's maneuverability to hover in place while he loaded the crossbow and took aim. Brad did not actually want to strike the kitteagle, but the aerial predator was already turning to make a second attack pass.

*** *** ***

Crossbow +1

*** *** ***

The bolt skimmed over the top of the kitteagle's right wing where it joined the body, drawing a shrieking cry from it. The kitteagle banked a hard right with its partially successful dodge and continued on its way.

*** *** ***

You have killed a Horned Rabbit.

*** *** ***

Dammit. It looked like he was bringing back a rabbit for the stew pot after all.

*~*~*

Jason

Jason stabbed his spear at the training dummy, getting used to the feel of his spear tip piercing and slicing across the somewhat realistic torso targets. Lena had discovered a way to give the dummies the texture of flesh and muscle without using actual flesh or muscle. She had also added this martial training room as an offshoot of the common level.

Even as he practiced the motions of the Lotrot soldiers, Jason's mind wasn't fully on his immediate surroundings. That was why he was poking the dummy. Distracted as he was by the puzzle of the harpies' contract to Sha'vord, Rob would have bruised him but good at least a dozen times over. As it was, Rob and Aaron sparred with each other behind him, the clack of the spear shafts meeting an irregular background noise.

Candy had also been roped into learning how to handle a spear and was stabbing the training dummy opposite him to the beat of a metronome. That was the start of her physical conditioning. Once she could keep it up for a set of two hundred strokes they had some stepping patterns to add to the stationary drill.

Three weeks, as the Studio crew counted the time, had passed and still the Sun elf noble refused to surrender his ownership contract over the harpies. On the bright side, he had to be physically present to give them any orders so keeping them separated at least allowed the harpies to enjoy their semi-freedom with Ouliel.

Jason stabbed into the training dummy's shoulder and a piercing wail erupted from the site of the wound, startling Jason into jumping back, stumbling, and losing his footing. "What the fu-!"

Rob and Aaron laughed.

Candy yelled, "You freaking bastards! Don't you ever do that again!" She stood with her feet braced, knees slightly bent, and body poised to lunge. Her knuckles shone white as she gripped her spear, her eyes wide with fright and fury.

The brothers just grinned back at them.

"It's called realism," Rob said.

Lena's avatar, today shaped like a green and gold cartoon genie, popped into existence between the two pairs. "What the fruiting lima beans did you do!?"

Aaron straightened up and puffed his chest out. "I figured out how to make a random function for the computer golems, and combined that with the new [Illusionary Sound] technique Candy unlocked. They can already detect movement, so the golem triggers the scream a random number of times after the dummies get stabbed."

"Why?" Candy asked, the metaphorical light of murder in her eyes.

Rob's grin eased to a wide smile, fading to a pleased expression as he said, "The hardest part about fighting is the fact that you're fighting another living being. Your opponents are going to make noise, yell, scream, do whatever they can to spook you. Remember, it's better for your friends to screw with your head first than to leave that to your enemies."

Jason stood up, dusting off his pants. He straightened up, stretched his body, rolled his head to let the tension out of his neck. "And why did you think it was a good idea to set that up without telling us first?"

"Oh, that's easy. I wanted to see you jumping like a spooked toddler. That's why we didn't put one of the screamers in Candy's buddy."

Jason absently noted that Lena's avatar stilled, a sign that her attention had been pulled from them. His gaze on the pantalooned parody Lena had made, he said, "Well, don't worry, old buddy, old pal o'mine. I am more than happy to return the favor."

*~*~*

Lena

Computer golems. Lena had completely forgotten about them, but Candy had been familiarizing herself with them ever since learning about them in relation to the Zone Cores. Aaron had taken to golem programing almost like it was instinctive. Together, he and Candy had discovered that the computer golems responded best to a ternary logic system: positive, negative, and neutral. Beyond that, Lena hadn't paid attention.

She had been more interested in the techniques that the two together, with occasional brain picking sessions involving Sha'lanadi and the Lotrot Rangers, had unlocked for the Studio. Extra dimensional storage seemed a lot cooler than getting a golem to say "Hello, world." At least until Aaron smacked her in the metaphorical face with the combination of computer golems and Studio techniques.

Possibilities played through her mind. The habit of reaching for the Tapestry system had become so reflexive during the past month, much like surfing the internet had been in her prior life, that Lena didn't notice how much many of the ideas she was exploring were resonating with the Grand Tapestry.

Certainty filled her. Plans took shape and only the tug of her liaison contract with Jason stopped her from initiating them right away.

The Morgan brothers had returned to sparring and Jason to stabbing the training dummy, but Candy had left the room.

"Jason, I know how to take over all the dungeons and make it so that their cores can't be stolen ever again. We can't keep them all, though, so we need to create a governing system and recruit Dungeon Managers."

*~*~*

Lena sent a pleasant bell tone ahead of her toon to announce her appearance in the guest rooms she had made for the two cooperative Sun elves. She used her regular appearance so as not to confuse her not so welcome guests.

Sha'lanadi and Sha'dakai were seated across from each other in the living room of their shared suite. Zair and Jzun, Sha'dakai's two hemat wolf companions, were in the room they shared with him, napping.

"To what do we owe this visit?" Sha'lanadi asked after he and Sha'dakai rose to their feet.

"We've got a strong lead on how to get the Zone Cores active in the core-less dungeons, but I need to open a portal very close to one of those dungeons to test the lead. Are either of you able to provide a detailed description the Tapestry can use to pinpoint where to place the portal?" Three weeks had not dulled Lena's dislike of the mage, but it had given her time to put on a professional facade.

"Which dungeon do you intend to attempt this with?" Sha'dakai asked.

Lena shrugged. "It doesn't matter to us. Whichever one you can get us closest to will do."

The Sun elves looked to each other. Without speaking, small facial movement conveyed a conversation taking place. Sha'dakai nodded encouragingly and Sha'lanadi said, "Will milord Sha'vord be released after this portal is established?"

Lena repressed the urge to make a disapproving face at the mage for the vagueness of his wording. "We have no intention of keeping him here for life. If he complies with our decision before hand then he will be released before then. Otherwise, after. And, probably more to what you were asking, if the area is safe enough to boot him out of my dungeon, yes, he's getting booted regardless of his compliance."

Directing his question to Sha'dakai, he asked, "The Otel Caverns or Priesley's Folly?"

"The Folly." Sha'dakai's answer came without hesitation. At Lena's inquiring look, he said, "Zair's birth pack is bonded into the dungeon town. That gives us a slight advantage when working with the townsmen."

"Okay," Lena said. "Describe the dungeon entrance if you would, please. Visual aids are appreciated."

A fond smile softened Sha'dakai's face as his gaze grew distant with memory. "The town of Priesley's Folly is one of the foundational stops on the Northern Silk Road. The dungeon was discovered by cat kin, and one of the more fanciful of the ranking cat kin by the name of Priesley funded a lot of the early construction of the town. He decided that the dungeon needed a grand entrance and also that building the Adventurers Chapter House right on top of the dungeon was a great idea, so he combined the two. The structure is whimsical, and as the Chapter House has expanded over the years, it has only grown more so."

Lena listened intently as he went on to describe the town that had grown up literally right in front of the dungeon entrance. She had already established a portal room off of the underwater cell block, complete with plain stone archway, to use for the Karth dungeons project, so as she listened she also began to activate the portal.

*** *** ***

Synergy of intent detected.

Location information from synergy sufficient.

Establishing portal.

Portal location within a highly patterned zone. Creation cost cubed. Maintenance cost quartered.

Portal established.

Zone mana pool quadrupled.

Zone MPR increased by 200.

*** *** ***

The air that blew in from the new portal was humid and hot in a way Lena had never personally experienced before.

"I think that may be sufficient, thank you," she said upon feeling the portal open. "Would you please come with me to verify that I've connected to the correct destination?"

"So soon?" Sha'lanadi asked, startled.

Lena gestured for the Sun elves to proceed out the door of their suite, a silent "see for yourself." She divided her attention as soon as they started moving. The smaller part of her concentration walked her toon with the Sun elves to guide them as they made their way to new portal. The larger part of her consciousness watched the new portal, on guard against any sudden hostile invasion.

The rest of the Studio crew were already gathered in the cell room. Aaron had his bow at hand while Rob and Jason had their spears at the ready. Candy had that ornate tube thingie of hers, with a few more refinements to the decorations, on a shoulder sling. Ouliel, armed with a dainty crossbow, stood shoulder to shoulder with Wisp. Two more spears had been laid upon the table they had sat at to hand down their decision to the Sun elves.

Sha'vord watched them from his cell with a disdainful interest. On spotting his fellow Sun elves, he asked, "What news?"

Sha'lanadi spread his hands, palms up. "The Design Lead says she has opened a portal to Priesley's Folly. We are here to verify that."

Sha'vord's attention shifted to Lena's toon, his eyes narrowing. "Explain your intentions," he commanded, no less arrogant after three weeks of imprisonment.

The Studio crew ignored him.

Lena walked her toon through the hidden door dividing the new portal room from the cell block. She was able to walk right up to the edge of the new portal, but no farther. Outside, she saw a small clearing before the start of a lush jungle environment, but the air was quiet.

Probably a reaction to the portal opening, Lena thought. From what she had gathered, there was a certain amount of seismic activity that accompanied the opening of a dungeon portal.

Lena signaled the structure core to complete the last part of the door's construction. As soon as that was done, she opened the door. "Ouliel, would you be safe scouting around the new entrance?" Lena asked as the Studio crew, followed by the two Sun elf guests, entered the portal room.

The noct and the wolf advanced. They moved with caution as they approached the portal, taking their time to peer out of it. Sha'lanadi's face cramped from holding back his impatience, but no one said anything. The Studio crew appreciated the noct's caution, while Sha'dakai's attention belonged to the room they had just left. Lena thought he was eyeing the spears still on the table.

Ouliel eased back, leaving Wisp to continue watching the jungle. "It's too quiet, but the bugs are starting to drone again and a few of the birds and smaller hunters are chasing them. Whatever danger they sensed is probably past us, but I'd rather wait for the full cacophony before leaving, if Mistress minds not."

"Time is something we have an abundance of for now and you're the jungle expert among us," Lena said.

Tension left Ouliel's shoulders.

«Told you,» Wisp said across the G.C. «Earth's disturbed, smells like clay and rock have been brought up from under loam.»

Lena nodded. «That's so far been the case with making a new portal.»

Wisp's head cocked, his ears pricking with a more focused alertness. «Sounds like bipeds heading this way.» Obviously sniffing the air, he added, «Cat folk smells, and more Wolves.»

"Looks like it's time to meet the natives," Jason said.

Ouliel nodded. "I'll take to the skies now, I think," he said, suiting actions to words by darting toward the nearest mature tree and running up it like a squirrel.

Several moments later, the noct's voice came over the G.C. «We're really close to a city. I think it's Priesley's Folly. Closer than to Lotrot. The cat folk headed this way are all puffed up. Wisp, maybe a welcome song?»

Wisp looked to Lena. She nodded and he sat down and raised his voice in a musical howl that sounded oddly like the wailing of a smooth jazz saxophone.

A moment after he finished singing, an answering howl, this one deeper but no less musical, sang out over the jungle.

«Three will come to verify I'm not leading them to a trap. They are of the Stone Box pack, and they bring their bond companions.»