Vignette - Tier Up

“Come on Hagrid, you go any slower and they’ll close up before we get there!” A wisp of air brought those whispered words to the intendies ears an none other.

A mixed group of six young individuals ran through tall grasses, followed at a small distance by a veritable giant of a man. Or perhaps boy. His features, though large, still had some of the softness and not quite fully formed look of a child. The softness was in his facial features, but no such thing appeared in the rest of his body. That more closely followed a younger, but still roided out Schwarzenegger. If the governator’d been black haired and shaggy. He stood head and shoulders above his teammates, and they were not small people. The men were tall, broad shouldered and well muscled, if lacking some of the bulk that would come with age. The women likewise packed slim, sleek muscles onto still distinctly female forms even as they darted through and around the tall grasses with preternatural grace. A profusion of small scars and a wary light in their eyes ensured that few would mistake the kind of experiences that trained that grace.

His almost unnatural bulk was impressive, and the massive, bulging pack, fully double the size of his compatriots, was quite intimidating to see, even more so when that bulk was moving at the speeds it was. But it also had its price. His breath was getting shorter and he was definitely lagging behind.

‘Don’t call me that, asshole!’ He snarled aggievadly, if only in his head. Aggrieved or not he wouldn’t break discipline by yelling. Not in wild country.

He wished she’d be a bit more reasonable about this. Everyone else got to choose their nickname. But what about him? Could he pick something noble and cool? He even tried for a middle ground with Fridge, would they take it?

NO!

Even as a kid he’d been tagged with names like Bigfoot or gigantor. He’d thought that was bad enough. Then he grew a beard at 15. It wasn’t like he didn’t take care of himself, but he was a deep one. One of the children brought up in the depths of the undercity and who’s only chance out of that depressing place was as a guardian. Well that or self awakening, but really that hardly counted.

So what if he had a beard? He kept it trimmed. At least as well as he could. Shaving or cutting tools that weren’t magic based weren’t exactly common. Nor were the magic ones terribly cheap. Oh they weren’t exorbitant or any such thing. But they didn’t cost any less than a starter weapon either. No way was he going to spend some of his hard earned coin on something so unimportant.

Sometimes he wondered if it would really have set him back so much to do otherwise. Something to avoid this damn nickname. Hagrid! Really?

Still, stupid name or not he increased his pace. Stomping down just a bit harder with every step, pushing his frame to go just that little bit faster. Exhaustion and a lack of breath pulled at him, whispered that it wasn’t that important. Old enemies those, he wasn’t having any of it.

Barbarella wasn’t wrong. They’d been working too hard on this for to long. He wasn’t going to flub it now. Not when they had finally gotten a spot of luck.

So he pushed it. He’d pay for it later. But exhaustion, cramps, bruises and small injuries were a normal part of life, they didn’t scare him. What did was his decreasing situational awareness. WIth his breathing heavy he wouldn’t hear something coming. With his peripheral vision closing in he might not see them coming. That could and would get him killed.

If he was alone.

Despite their snark and poor choice in names that wasn’t the case. He didn’t have breath to spare, but he managed a thankful nod as they dropped back to surround him. Spread out loosely still with a good ten feet between them, but acting as his eyes and ears. Each had his place. His, unfortunately, was as the pack mule right now. So he dropped his head down and bulled on. They were a team, jokes were one thing, but if you couldn’t trust your teammates with your life, then you had damn well better get a new team! The brotherhood taught them better than that.

He descended into that timeless place for a time, one foot in front of the other, feeling the muscles stretch and bulge, past the point where pain mattered and into that special zone of almost euphoria. Where the body tricked itself into thinking that all this exercise was a pleasant thing. Dirty liar that it was.

But even in that state he didn’t miss the signal. His body already started slowing down before his mind caught on to what he saw. A flickering hand sign from ahead of him. From a fast jog they dropped to a steady walk. Mostly for his benefit, no doubt. Barbarell had legs that stretched to her neck and could run like the gazelle she resembled. Just so long as her bra could hold up, he snickered. The rest of them weren’t far off with the physiques of long distance runners.

That was them and he was him. He took advantage of the pace to stretch out his legs with every step. He’d pay for the abuse later, but no reason to make it worse than it had to be. Charley horses were not something he enjoyed. So he stretched through the returning pain and the stitch in his side for what felt like half an hour and was likely only a few minutes. Then he saw a few bits of blue peeking through the tall grasses. The Arteria. River didn’t seem grand enough for something that had such a big impact on their lives.

It was their source of water, fish for food, safe travel (mostly) through the union and the source of all the little trade goods that made life in the mid-city so much better than the deeps. It really was the lifeblood of their union. The massive expanse of water in front of him was a sight for sore eyes, or at least sore legs! And the breeze that along its open expanse felt positively sensual on his overheated muscles.

He didn’t stop moving, walking in a slow, steady circle even as the rest of the team set to. It was a drill they all knew well. Barb already had her identity amulet out and was casting a series of spells with it. Cami, Borg, Michal and Jones had spread out to watch the approaches, small scale defenses were already going up, motion wards, detection spells and a few heavy damage spells that took preparation. That was his que, a small shovel came off his back and he quickly cut a small circular section of turf away. No magic involved, although the device still had plenty of mana in it. That mana had far more important uses than digging a tiny hole. It could turn a charging hog, multiple tons of it at that, into sausage. Albeit at fairly close range.

No, a bit of elbow grease was not going to hurt him. It didn’t take more than 6 seconds, and cami moved in with a nod just as he pulled the 20 foot tall grass clump up. He slipped it into the water, careful neither to splash nor to get to close. Piranha’s didn’t need you to actually be in the water to be dangerous.

He glanced once at Cami, already with a circle drawn and various symbols and shapes taking form. But only once. She had her job, and was good at it. He had his. He did a quick check on his remaining weapons. Several fully discharged after the day they’d had. But more than a few with mana enough to be dangerous. A check of his personal reserves was about the same. Some mana left, and his head wasn’t nearly as soar as his legs. Plenty left for a fight if it came knocking.

He paused and did a second check. Any decent hunter kept a running tab of his remaining mana charge and his felt higher than it should be. Ah! They were back into range of Runehold, or at least close enough for the enchantments to start drawing in the ambient mana. He shook his head, damn but Barb had a good sense of direction. That or luck. Either was possible as they often returned to fairly distant stretches of the river.

In the corner of his eye he saw Barb look up from her spell with a nod. Her personal air elemental darted out again to whisper in their ears. “They’re coming, five minuets.”

Not bad. Not bad at all. It wasn’t a bad wait either. No attack surfaced nor even a wiff of anything land based from the detection spells and a small boat slid into view. Seeming to materialize without origin out of the evening gloom, sliding noiselessly towards them from upstream. Almost home, he stiffened up and snapped his attention back to the inland grasses. They’d been well taught, and this was the most dangerous time for an ambush. Right when you thought you were almost home. Almost safe. Relaxing and happy. Then dead.

They weren’t safe yet, he reminded himself, forcing his attention to stay at the top of his game, waiting for an attack that never appeared. But like old Iron Face taught them. If you acted like it would, then it wouldn’t happen. The one time you don’t prepare for it? Ambush!

The boat slid to a stop just off the shore, hand signals snapped back and forth, then Barb nodded to him. He took several running steps and jumped out toward the boat. No chance of making it when the boat was a good 20 feet out form the bank, but then he didn’t need to. He slid into the slide field. Motion magic lifting even his bulk effortlessly and depositing him on the deck.

A few steps took him off the landing marker and over to the gunwale, replacing his shovel with a barely charged piranha fettish without taking his eyes from the bank. He wasn’t alone in that job. The Daisy wasn’t a huge boat by river standards, but it’s crew wasn’t farting around. And being this close to home, their mana reserves should be plenty full.

Michal made the jump next, stepping to the opposite gunwale to watch the river. Then Cami, pausing to remove several consumable spell components from the ritual circle and to wipe the surface smooth. Much like fires, it wasn’t wise to leave primed spells lying around, even without all the components. She took up a stern watch followed by Borg and Jones. Only Barb remained on the shore. The privilege of rank. Then she was on board as well. Less than 30 seconds from start to end. Not bad.

Without a word the Daisy turned about and slid upstream, still silent except for the wind that whistles a bit now and then. It spoke to him that wind. It told him he was almost home. Only the phantom pain on his upper back kept him at the rail with his eyes peeled. The jagged scar across his upper back was a reminder.

Not yet!

The 15 foot boat slid up river towards a completely empty and inconspicuous lump of land. He knew this river, grew up on it, hunted it’s banks. But even he didn’t recognize this stretch. Then again, that was the point. When a pathfinder wanted to hide something, they HID it. No amount of knowing the surrounding terrain or knowing about where the hold should be was going to help the uninvited.

He suppressed a flinch with difficulty as they sailed directly at the bank without slowing down. He still held his breath, as they sailed through what his eyes told him was a sudden painful stop. Then the world around him crumbled away revealing a dark stone dock house with an already descending portcullis behind them. He waited a few more seconds for the massive bulk to fully descend, snapping into place without a sound or a perceivable thud.

Now they could relax.

“Haaa, it’s good to be home!” He let out, stepping off the boat onto the pier and staggering over to sit on a bench, set well out from the wall to allow those with packs a seat without having to take it off.

It was only for a moment though, Barbarella grabbed his shoulder straps and tugged. “No time for that, Hagrid! Come on, run!”

“Don’t call me that!” He ignored their laughter and her pathetic attempts to lift him up. Dammit, he stood up on his own and moved into a jolting heavy run after his more lithesome teammates. At least from the rear, the scenery was never bad, be thought for perhaps the thousandth time.

Barb used her ident amulet like a stamp on a plaque beside the door, most didn’t bring coins on a hunting trip. With her ident on record they’d get a bill at the end of the week. Then they were off. The security checkpoint down into the city proper was just ahead, and wonder of wonders it didn’t have much of a line! Then again, it was getting pretty damn late, barely a thumbs worth of orange still above the trees. Most sensible people didn’t cut it that close. He flushed a bit guiltily at that thought. But the risk was worth the reward, and it was a jackpot that didn’t fall into hands such as theirs that often. The guilt faded behind the glow of joy that thought brought. It even made the large weight on his back feel lighter than ever.

They passed through the checkpoint, and the tedious illusion, identity and conversational responses required without excess trouble. Time consuming and annoying but normal for all of that. Then they were through and sprinting down the ramps for the first transit shaft, thankfully more than large enough for them even with the packs. They slid down two levels and barreled out making a dash for the Ranking Office. The Ruler with different types of beasts on it was a standard sign throughout the union, and not one any of them dared to take less than seriously.

A run quickly became a somewhat dignified walk as they peeked inside. It was still open, although from the movements of the attendant, already moving a simple broom across the floor, not for much longer.

He raised his eyebrows to see them peeking in. “You cut it pretty close there. Everyone lese already took off. No matter!” They started to droop in disappointment. He considered them for another moment then smiled through an impressive handlebar mustache. ”Oh, come on in. I was young once too.” His greying hair and well traveled face made Hagrid wonder exactly how long ago that’d been. Not that he was dumb enough to ask.

No sir!

“We made it!” Casi was ecstatic. Somehow still having the energy to jump and fist bump the ceiling. He nodded but without the energy to emulate her. The break on the Daisey followed by more running had not done kind things to his legs. On top of that it wasn’t like they could just drop off the loot and go. They would have to manage the test too.

He took several deep breaths, trying to get that annoying stitch in his side to go away. Why oh why couldn’t they do this in the morning? Oh, he knew what they said. Too much temptation for you youngsters! You’d use up all your mana before going out and get yourself killed!

They weren’t fools. They could take the day off afterwards… well probably. He wasn’t one to sit around. None of them were. You couldn’t be and make it as far as they had. It didn’t matter anyway. Rules were rules. All rank ups had to be performed after a full day's hunt, and with sufficient loot to prove you were worthy of that rank up.

Speaking of proof. He began to unstrap his pack. Waist straps and chest strap released easily and he shrugged the shoulder straps off to carefully set the pack on the counter. A man his size has to learn to do most things carefully. He didn’t want to spend any more of his hard earned coin replacing stupid fragile things people always seemed to leave lying about.

Six other packs made their appearance beside his on the counter. Something like a ton all told. All of it prime materials from a Tier 2 hog. If that didn't qualify them to take the tier two rank up, nothing would. They’d spent all day on it, and then into the evening getting it home.

They probably had the strength individually to kill the low tier 2 boar boss. But probably wasn’t something to count on. Besides, a full passel on top of the boss was beyond any one of them individually. It was a reasonable match for all of them together. At least in a straight up fight.

That was their first lesson. The most basic lesson. The one that usually ended up with everyone lying on the ground bruised and bloodied. They were human. Smaller and physically weaker, even him, than nearly everything out there. Straight up fights under those conditions were foolish. Humans had a brain.

USE IT!

A painful lesson, but one they’d learned well. THey spent some time digging a series of spiked pit traps and prepping some heavy spells. The kind that took Cami, Borg and Michal babbling together over a carved circle littered with consumables for a minute. Then the dangerous bit of baiting the hogs into it without falling in themselves. Sweaty heavy work all the way around. All of it worth it for this moment.

They did it, and in under 2 years. Making it out of the first tier in under 2 years was a cleft point for talent. Pull it off and you got rewarded. Pretty heavy rewards too. A small, but noticeable, discount at the enchanters. Priority purchase rights on tiered beast meat and even entrance to the scouting reports lottery. They would still have to pay full price on both, but even at full price the supply for meat didn’t meet demand and the scouting reports were even more important. They’d gotten filthy lucky to find this hog before it was detected and a full tier 2 team sent to take it out.

The attendant oohed and ahhed a bit as he pulled out sealed one-use bags of meat, a must have for hunters, smell isolation and preservation in one easy to use spot. They cost something, but were just too damn useful not to purchase. That Baggins, Hagrid sighed in envy, the man got a half share in the profits as well as a new nick for simply suggesting the idea to the Runefather. Money and a nickname! Why couldn’t he get that lucky? Anything but fucking Hagrid!

The bundle of leg bones got a particularly loud exclamation. “Good Stuff!” They couldn’t manage to carry in the ribs and vertebrae, but they’d preserved and buried them. Might make a return trip later. Intact, undamaged bones were always worth good coin to the enchanters. If they could find the spot again.

In time the attendant finished weighing and categorizing the meat along with checking the bones for damage then tallied up the results on a wooden tablet. Deftly carving out a list of prices that was already a significant amount of cash! His mouth started to fill with saliva. Even a seventh of that price would be enough to eat like a king for months. Or purchase a few Tier two fetishes and eat for a week, he thought ruefully.

The final price took shape and his jaw hit the floor. He goggled for a few moments in shock. But it made sense. Most teams had to pay out how much just to get the scout report? But they still gladly did it. All for this kind of payoff. He absently mindedly slapped Barb on the back, wincing as she slammed forward into the counter. At least she had some padding… nevermind that. He’d pay for the backslap later already, no need to make it worse! He raised a hand placatingly to her glare, but his eyes didn’t leave the plaque.

Damn.

“Alright, congratulations to all of you. But I do need to close up soon, so lets finish the rest of this shall we? I assume you wan’t to test?” The attendant smiled, approval and happiness at their success not the condescending arrogance he’d half expected. Without waiting for their assent he moved over to the far right of the room. “If you’ll step this way we’ll start with the individual tests.”

The entire side of the office was taken up with a regulation shooting range. Maybe 20 feet wide, 30 feet long and only 15 high, separated from the rest of the room by a waist high wall. Towards the back of this space was a grey hog shaped stone dummy. Or Golem rather, Hagrid reflected. The attendant pressed his hand to an activation plate, twisting a simple dial to 2 and the first of 3 hash marks before a 3.

Another reminder on being respectful. He doubted they’d waste a tier 3’s time on sweeping and closing up the office, but if he was willing to test them at all he had to be at least mid tier 2.

The stone pig began to emit an aura that was very familiar, they’d killed something similar just earlier today. Impressive really, how real it felt. In order they each stepped up and flung a spell downrange. It wasn’t a picky test. As long as you could break through the aura defense of a Tier 2, then you qualified. Didn’t have to any significant damage. Just get through the aura. No other rules, and that left a considerable amount of room for cheating. From one use consumables to long cast charged rituals.

The tier office's response? Go for it. Once you ranked up, you were expected to act your rank. Leaving the weaker hunting grounds for the younger guardians. That left cheaters to the mercy of beasts they couldn’t really handle. The office was here to help make suggestions, not to protect people from their own stupidity.

Barb stood up first. A quick breath into her elemental and the almost transparent figure flung a limb out. A gale followed the gesture, condensed down to a visible white line in the air that slid through the aura and left a visible scratch on the beasts stone hide. It wasn’t even close to the strongest spell he’d seen out of her. She could have passed months ago if she was willing to leave the team behind.

Casi stepped up with a bit of quartz, barely a fingernail's worth, she gestured several times chanting for a second, then launched a small arc of electric down field to smash the pig's stone eye. The quartz in her hand crumbled away even as a large number of stone fragments of what used to be the golem's eye sprayed against the side wall. The attendant raised an eyebrow with the slightest trace of a frown. The test was just to leave a mark through the aura, doing considerable damage just wasted energy you might need for the follow up test. It showed a lack of control.

Casi pretended not to notice. It was a character flaw they were all well aware of. She liked to show off. It was annoying at times, but she was steady. That was enough. You had to forgive people their small flaws, otherwise no one would find a team.

Michal chanted a quick earth spell, using a bit of clay for the consumable, and reformed the eye. Hagrid sighed, loudly, in exasperation. That wasn’t showing off any less, although it at least demonstrated considerable finesse. Working a manipulation spell through an aura was way harder than just punching some damage through it. He wasn’t the show off she was… but he was damn competitive. Ah well.

Hagrid stepped up, he needed to change the pace before someone who couldn’t afford to followed those two in their idiocy. Without hurrying he merged his will into a hog bone bracer that thickly circled his entire forearm. Reaching out he felt the interference, standing between him and his goal. An interference he was ready and prepared for. Leaning his will into it brough the expected resistance, but it wasn’t enough to stop him. He simply pushed against a small section of it. Slowly, but steadily increasing the strength of his command, ramping up the mana and will until the hogs exposed ear tip, the smallest section of stone he could see, snapped off. Just enough to to do the job, no more, no less.

He nodded satisfied and stepped aside. Borg took his place chanting a quick couplet and flicking a small dart of flames. It left a small, but noticeable burn on the boar's side. The opposite of Cassi and Michal. Neither showing finesse in casting, nor in aim. Just hit the broadest part of the beast with a spell strong enough to go through plus a little bit to make sure. Eminently practical. He got that nick for a reason.

That left Jones, unfortunately named because he was slightly younger than the rest of them, and he needed to work at it to keep up. This was why they hadn’t moved up last month. Not that he would ding him for it. Team mates held together. That meant sometimes you were held back, and sometimes the team was waiting on you. Jones flicked a feathered charm on a bracelet in a quick shape. Manifesting his personal spirit, a rather cute little mole. It tunneled through the aura, if with difficulty, and parted the stone beneath to leave a small paw print.

Hagrid let out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding. They did it! He excitedly stepped forward to give Jones a pat on the back, only to miss as the smaller man quickly ducked aside with a glare.

“Dammit Hagrid, I told you to stop that! Last time you bruised half my ribs!”

Ah, right. Oops.

“Sorry, forgot.”

The attendant turned aside to cough. A cough that sounded suspiciously like a laugh in fact. Must be respectful, he reminded himself.

“Ok, now the group test!” The attendant managed after he finished with his suspicious coughing fit. He flicked the dial to mid tier 2 and pulsed something to the control plate. The hog previously stationary lifted into the air even as its aura brightened significantly in power. It began to slide back and forth in a jerking unpredictable pattern even as the attendant started a 10 second countdown.

“10, 9, 8-“

He wasn’t worried, Jones’ passing was the only worry. This was simply a test of teamwork, and if there was something he wasn’t worried about it was that. He pushed his will down the familiar brotherhood bindings, linking them together in a loose gestalt. It wasn’t something they could do without help. But the simple dog necklace Barb wore around her neck wasn’t an expensive enchantment either. Years of practice and trust let them merge in moments. His plans were there for them to see, even as theirs were the same for him. Consensus was reached.

Michal and Jones stepped forward first. Melding their respective earth spells together to snap stone spikes out of the floor in a circle, limiting the golems movement. Even as it momentarily paused, reinforcing its aura against the spikes and weakening it slightly everywhere else. A natural response in most beings that the test mimicked. Borg’s fire spell, suddenly much larger than just a dart, shot down stream even as Barb’s air elemental fanned the flames even brighter while twisting them into sharp ended funnel. Hagrid was left, simple but effective was the trick. He reached out once again with his motion enchant feeling the aura and snapping his focus towards a very small ring. Locking his will into a stubborn battle to prevent that section of aura from moving. From being reinforced before the flame drill struck and punched through. Leaving a noticeable slagged chunk of stone on the golems shoulder.

The attendant grinned at them, even as they half collapsed onto the waiting chairs.

“Pass!”

Heaven.

Chapter 8

“Hey Arthur, thanks for dropping by.” Timothy, leaning back in a chair and massaging his bare sore feet, grinned at the craggy, iron faced middle aged man. Still squaresholdered, fit and neat despite a job that was more and more office work. Organizing training schedules, guard rotations and veteran’s leave rotations was an important job, Timothy didn’t doubt it. It also sounded more boring than watching paint dry. He was deeply grateful that someone else was willing and able to step up and take care of it.

“I’m not prepared to take any complaints on your guard detail-”

Arthur easily caught, and immediately dropped with a grimace, the thrown sock. “Relax Arthur, I didn’t ask you here to bitch! Besides, Sven’s good people and I never have a problem when you put him in charge. Some of your other choices-”

“I thought you weren't going to bitch?” He folded his large form down into a chair opposite Timothy, grabbing a cup and pouring water from a pitcher into it.

“Fine, I need you for your uncompromising dickeshness.”

The cup froze, halfway to his mouth then descended to sit on the table again. “Excuse me?” His eyes, the only part of his face Timothy could semi-reliably read, weren’t quite angry, but they were… serious. Best not to push the joke too far.

“I’m a bit stuck with an enchantment, and I need your common sense and willingness to tell me I’m being a dumb ass.”

“Ahhh,” The water traveled back up for a measured drink. “By all means, go on. I always enjoy popping your overinflated egg head.” The eyes, always the eyes. From serious, maybe angry to… predatory? Dammit. This was going to suck. More’s the pity, he was damn good at this role when very few others were. It had to be someone of sufficient status and without loose lips. Timothy could afford to appear like an ivory tower idiot at times. It was a useful fiction. He couldn’t afford to appear incompetent. Too many depended on his work for that.

That left a fairly small circle of people. Regi fit the bill in part. He wouldn’t talk, was loyal to the town, had a great imagination and a great deal of common sense. But he was family. Sometimes you needed someone who would call a spade a spade, and not have the message softened from love, or even strong friendship. That wasn’t a problem here. Timothy sometimes wondered if Arthur even liked him, much less a tight friendship. They’d had more than a few dust ups over the years. But like or not, he did trust Arthur. The man was honor. He’d sooner cut his own hands off then do something to hurt the hold.

So he walked him through it. The shadow step, the problems with diffuse light dodging when you couldn’t feel your body. Even dimmed the lights and walked him through a try. The better part of a half hour later they sat back down again at the work table. Rubbing a bit of cream into glowing sunburns and enjoying a mild luncheon. Quality tiered pork sandwich, fully p[urified with wild picked herbs and sides for Arthur, Timothy wasn’t going to stiff the man when he was doing him a favor, and a healthy mix of fresh vegetables and beans for Timothy.

Arthur crunched through the delicious, juicy looking sandwich, making a point to visibly enjoy it. Those eyes again, damn him. Eventually he sat his empty glass down, wiped his mouth and got down to business. “Alright, It’s a pretty neat idea, despite the drawbacks. What possible solutions have you thought up?”

“That’s the damn problem. I’ve thought up a number of things, but all of them seem to either not work at all, or would require too much expense or effort to implement.”

“Such as?”

Timothy blew out a breath, stood up and walked over to a side table to grab a wooden tablet. There was some paper available, expensive though and he still preferred the feel of a wooden plaque and his pen-is-mightier. Glancing at the scribbled notes he continued, “First was a shadow spell. Enchanting a cloak of darkness around the person to hold off the light. But the shadow dimension is too different, the enchantment doesn’t stay activated reliably. Sometimes it works great, other times I walk out like a charcoal briquette” Arthur wasn’t an enchanter, this one wasn’t really worth going over with him.

“Next I put together some shadow snakeskin armor. If they can live in that dimension, surely their bodies are acclimated to it, right? That works… sort of. It will take the first hit of light, or even two in the same spot. But that’s about it. We don’t have enough snakeskin to destroy a full set of gear for every couple jumps.” He paused, giving Arthur a chance to speak.

“Agreed, that won’t work. Not if it would take you 20 or 30 jumps to make your destination.”

“Then I thought about bunkers. One every mile or so through the jungle. Hell of alot of work to dig them up, and if you jumped into one that a beast decided to occupy… Well, jumping out into a solid object, I haven't found a way to test it, but I’m betting it won’t be pretty. And if they’re completely closed off then what about fresh air?”

Arthur paused, thinking about that. “Might be something there. A way to deal with those issues. Still be a dangerous thing to dig them, but it might be possible. Go on.”

“Next I thought about a tunnel deep underground. But that's way too much digging. And having a direct connection between us could cause its own problems.”

Arthur perked up, “Why? That sounds a lot more reasonable than anything else you’ve mentioned. Forget your fancy shadows, they seem too finicky right now. In a year or so when you’ve worked the bugs out we can revisit. We don’t really have that much time to wait though. This would create a usable path in a couple months of light work. Work you would barely have to be involved in. Just a few dozen condensing cards in the right shape to form a stone walled tunnel. We can easily collect enough sprouts for regularly spaced oxyferns to take care of the air. Be easy to water and fertilize them too, unlike the bunkers.”

“It’s still a pretty damn long way Arthur! You really think you can dig out 30 miles of tunnel in a few months? For each threshold? It’s not like we have a small number of them.”

Arthur waved that away. “It’s just a matter of applied bodies and time, Timothy. Not even heavy work and the thresholds would likely volunteer the manpower just for a safer supply route. A condensing enchantment isn’t that difficult to use, but with emotionally involved veterans who are desperate to see their kids more often? Just watch as it flies together. Hell, I should’ve thought of this earlier!”

“Hold your horses! There are a couple other problems we would need to work out. Ones on the mystical side. I won’t deny this is sounding better than I thought, but it still needs some thought.”

“Go on.” Despite an iron face, his eyes were dancing. All the powers of dimensional hopping and the answer might be a freaking tunnel… dammit! He was enjoying this far too much. Timothy couldn’t even disagree. A solution to the issue was more important than his ego. Even when it hurt...

“A direct connection between the threshold and a hold, or two thresholds would drastically weaken the outer wards. The symbolism of a straight physical connection is antagonistic with confusion and the aspect of the lost. Also people have started to refer to roads and game paths as death traps. That sort of belief can create its own reality.” Timothy paused for a moment, then continued as something else popped into his head. “What happens if something manages to get inside the tunnel? Confusion isn’t going to do much when there’s only one straight path.”

Arthur nodded, “Alright, those are issues, real ones. But not insolvable. Let’s deal with them one at a time. First issue, direct connection is a symbol that messes with the wards. The first thing that comes to mind is to have them start and end outside the wards. A short run is still a hell of a lot safer than the full 20 to 30 miles. Could you, or rather the Cardea flex the wards out to cover the entrance on a regular schedule? Even if it weakened them, as long as it was for a short time it might be worth it. Then the incoming caravan could come up inside the outer wards and walk the code like any other entrance. Would that work?”

Timothy wasn’t completely sure. It should be much better than a constant direct connection that was for sure. That was for damn sure. “I’d need to test it. It should be better, but with something as important as the outer wards I’m not prepared to take a chance without a solid amount of testing!”

“Are you expecting me to argue? Who are you talking to? Test the hell out of it, then hand it to me and I’ll do it all over again personally!”

“...Ok. we can start there. What about beasts getting in?”

“Even if they did, it wouldn’t be that big of a deal. One beast directly ahead is much easier to deal with than maybe a beast coming from any damn direction. Still, it woudn’t hurt to secure the ends. Either hide them with a enchant to open or with a solid gate house. Even manned defenses if needed.”

Timothy hesitated. “Getting better, but still a small issue. Have you ever tried to find Runehold without your identity amulet or a guide?”

“I do go outside occasionally, Timothy. I’m well aware that it’s hidden seven ways to sunday. The shifting mess of illusions and changing reality gives me a headache.”

“It’s not pleasant to bring this up, but those illusions and confusion enchantments are directly tied into the thresholds. They have too much of a mana signature for it to be any other way. The closest four thresholds to be precise. If all four are manned and standing strong, good luck finding this place. If all four fall then so do the spells. Between Jenney, the pools and the shear population density we’d stick out like a sore thumb to anything with even a slight mana sense. We haven't had a beast wave here at Runehold since I set those spells up. But if they drop we’ll draw in things from such a large area…” Timothy shook his head. That thought was somewhat frightening.

“Anyway, my point in all this is that those spells work! But if there’s a freaking tunnel between a threshold and us, even if it’s not all the way through, it will make finding us earlier a hell of alot easier! Maybe after just one fell instead of all four. Just because we haven't lost a threshold yet, doesn’t mean it won't happen. We’ve had more than a few close calls already right?”

Arthur grimaced, taking a deep drink of water. He stared into the cup before giving a sigh. “I know. I was involved with the discussions when you proposed it. I stood behind it then, and I’ll do the same now. The thresholds are bait to protect all the innocent and young here. And you’re right. There is no guarantee that the thresholds will hold out and if they do fall, it shouldn’t lead directly back here. So we need to add a few things. Not a single tunnel, but a maze of tunnels. No a labyrinth, maybe we can trap our own minotaur’s.”

A labyrinth hmm… Now that idea had potential. Then again...

“You said something about a few months and very little work on my part?”

“Builds character!”

Asshole.

Talking with Arthur, Timothy mused while sitting at his pool, always helped to keep him grounded. A reminder that powerful enchantments weren’t the goal. Useful ones were. Shadow stepping wasn’t ready for primetime yet. That didn’t mean it would never be. In the meantime a labyrinth deep underground would provide the transport they needed to loosen the restrictions on the holds. That was what they needed most right now. But in time who knows? A labyrinth might also provide a dark space to put the shadow stepping stones in. A fast lane for those powerful enough to use it. Maybe make them register at each stepping stone before they could use it for security?

Maybe split the labyrinth into distinct sections with long straight tunnels between them to decrease the construction time needed. Call each sub section a ‘floor’... heh! Amusing as it was he simply scribbled down a few notes for later and considered something else.

Something about Jenney’s garden had been tickling his mind. The shadows were one dimension. But Jenney seemed to have created, at least temporarily, a distinctly different dimension. What else was out there? The shadows were a bit limited, and inimical to life, while Jenney’s had some severe drawbacks. But what if he could find other dimensions that better fit their needs?

It wasn’t something he could just pull out of his ass, but it bore thinking about. He pulled out another blank wooden plaque and started writing down what a dimensional boundary felt like. What was consistent between the shadows and Jenney’s garden. If he managed to tie enough bits together, then he could form a gestalt. A mass of impressions and characteristics that might let a scry search detect other forms of nearby dimensional instability.

It was an evolved form of his simplistic species runes. Those still worked, but they were something that could be beaten, given some effort. They identified a few common characteristics and searched for beasts that had all of them. But not every creature shared every set of characteristics. A boar was a quadruped, split hooved, non furred beast with tusks (yes the sows had them too). But what if it lost a leg somewhere? Would quadruped still apply?

A gestalt required a far greater understanding of the target. Many more defining characteristics, but it didn’t require its target to have all of those. Just had to hit a threshold of ‘enough’. An ‘enough’ he didn’t have and couldn’t define yet for dimensions. But he could start building up to it. These things took time, and the more he tried to rush it, the more errors he would have to deal with later.

He wrote what characteristics and plans he had from the top of his head, then getting teased back by his early amusement he grabbed the earlier plaque and started to sketch something else out. Lego labyrinth creation. “Let’s see..” He muttered as he sketched out a few simple tiles. A straight tunnel, a four way tunnel, a T, a left and right turn. Throw in a few descending/ascending tunnels and the labyrinth is easily 3 dimensional. Ya, that would work. Put a small indent in the center of each tile where the user could place the next tile, with four tabs to align directions. Make sure each would snap to the previous tile… Yes, that would work quite well. When each tunnel was exactly like every other tunnel, it would make a hell of a maze. Whip up something to check first for major tree roots, did NOT want to cause any damage to their forest, and it was looking pretty nice.

He threw in a few more small notes, then placed the two plaques to the side. Amusement was great for clearing his head and releasing stress, but he had an important appointment tonight and it would take a bit of prep work. He wasn’t about to short it either. He began to activate a series of enchantments peripherally connected to his pool. Pulsing to life links that led to a dozen holds and one threshold. Bringing to life an illusionary space for a number of people to manifest avatars in.

Tonight was game night after all!